Festival and Urban Space: A Systematic Literature Review

Festival studies is not only an important field of research for tourism or event industry but is also critical for an architectural and urban design field. Due to the amount of the progress done in this field by many inter-disciplinary areas, the subsequent corpus of research on festivals appears to be relatively disintegrated. Through a systematic literature review (SLR) from 2000 to 2021, this paper examined festivals studies from tourism to urban design disciplines. In this paper, descriptive and thematic analysis were carried out to analyse the state of existing research in order to understand the concept of festival studies. The purpose is to describe a SLR that intends to establish the knowhow on festival spaces and try to explore the advancement in the field and deliver potential research directions. The corpus thus helps us in establishing the topic which is very least investigated and would need more research on

Comparison of Frequency of Pseudo-Exfoliation Syndrome in Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery in Different Regional Hospitals of Pakistan

Objective: To compare the frequency of Pseudo-Exfoliation Syndrome (PXS) in patients undergoing cataract surgery in different regional hospitals in Pakistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Three Tertiary Care Hospitals of Karachi, Rawalakot and Skardu Pakistan, from Sep 2017 to May 2020. Methodology: Patients aged 45 years and more undergoing age-related cataract surgery were evaluated for Pseudo-Exfoliation Syndrome. Initially, each patient underwent a complete outpatient ophthalmological workup. Demographic details like age and gender were noted. All the patients were screened for hypertension and diabetes mellitus. In addition, patients were screened for pseudo-exfoliation syndrome. Congenital, developmental, secondary and traumatic cataracts were excluded. Results: A total of 1882 patients were included in the study. Pseudo-exfoliation was carried out in 249(13.23%) patients. In Hospital-A, 23(3.23%); in Hospital-B, 145(14.92%) and Hospital-C, 81(40.70%) of the patients had pseudo-exfoliation. The frequency of pseudo-exfoliation syndrome was significantly more in Hospital-C and then in Hospital-B and least in HospitalA (p<0.01). Conclusion: Pseudo-exfoliation syndrome was significantly more common in Skardu and then in Rawalakot and least in Malir, which in the same order have more latitude away from the equator, have less average annual temperature and are situated at higher altitudes

Toxicopathological effects of endosulfan in female Japanese Quails (Coturnix japonica)

Background: The current study was planned to investigate the toxico-pathological effects of endosulfan in female Japanese quails.Methods: A total of 120 quail of 4 weeks old were divided into six equal groups (A-F) and administered endosulfan in feed at dose rate of 0, 5, 25, 50, 100, and 500 mg/kg feed, respectively for 90 days. Parameters studied included clinical signs, feed intake, body weight and mortality. Hematology, serum biochemistry, hatchability and fertility were also determined. Gross and microscopic changes on different organs were recorded.Results: The quails of the group B did not show any clinical signs and had significantly lower values of feed intake, testes relative weight and leukocyte number than those of the control group A. The quails of group C and D had mild depression while those of the group E and F showed nervous excitation following ingestion of endosulfan. There was a dose related delay in onset of crowing, appearance of foamy material in the droppings. The feed intake, erythrocyte and leukocyte counts, hematocrit values, and serum total proteins of endosulfan fed quails were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of the group A. The total egg production in groups A, B and C was significantly higher from group D, E and F.  The hatchability in group A and B was significantly higher from groups C, D, E and F. The difference of dead in shell % and early dead among different groups was nonsignificant. Infertile egg percentage was significantly higher in group E compared with all other groups except group F. The necrotic changes were observed in all parts of oviduct in high dose groups, similarly necrotic changes and vacuolar degeneration was observed in hepatic parenchyma in high dose groups D-F.Conclusion: It may be concluded that endosulfan leads to dose dependent changes in the quails.Keywords: Body weight; Coturnix japonica; Endosulfan; Haematological values; Histopatholog

Sawdust amendment in agricultural and pasture soils can reduce iodine losses

Iodine loss is common in the soil of hilly regions due to higher precipitation rates and steeper slopes. Iodine deficiency in soil reduces iodine’s bioavailability to fruits and vegetables and consequently may contribute to health complications. However, the iodine retention of soils after the addition of selected organic and inorganic amendments has not been studied. Therefore, a study was carried out to investigate iodine loss during surface runoff. For this purpose, a soil amendment (namely, sawdust, charcoal, wood ash, lime or gypsum) was applied separately to pasture and agricultural soils under natural rainfall conditions. The soil was fertigated with iodine in the form of potassium iodide (KI) at the rate of 200 ppm. Surface runoff was related to soil properties. Results showed that iodine content in surface runoff was linearly related with soil pH (R2 = 0.89, p charcoal > wood ash > lime > gypsum. The study results indicated that organic amendments, especially sawdust, improved soil properties and increased the iodine retention capacity of soils

An Unbiased Lipid Phenotyping Approach To Study the Genetic Determinants of Lipids and Their Association with Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors.

Direct infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry (DIHRMS) is a novel, high-throughput approach to rapidly and accurately profile hundreds of lipids in human serum without prior chromatography, facilitating in-depth lipid phenotyping for large epidemiological studies to reveal the detailed associations of individual lipids with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors. Intact lipid profiling by DIHRMS was performed on 5662 serum samples from healthy participants in the Pakistan Risk of Myocardial Infarction Study (PROMIS). We developed a novel semi-targeted peak-picking algorithm to detect mass-to-charge ratios in positive and negative ionization modes. We analyzed lipid partial correlations, assessed the association of lipid principal components with established CHD risk factors and genetic variants, and examined differences between lipids for a common genetic polymorphism. The DIHRMS method provided information on 360 lipids (including fatty acyls, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and sterol lipids), with a median coefficient of variation of 11.6% (range: 5.4-51.9). The lipids were highly correlated and exhibited a range of associations with clinical chemistry biomarkers and lifestyle factors. This platform can provide many novel insights into the effects of physiology and lifestyle on lipid metabolism, genetic determinants of lipids, and the relationship between individual lipids and CHD risk factors

Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124. Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98). Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency THE ABDUS SALAM INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS VELOCITY SELECTION FOR ULTRA-COLD ATOMS USING BIMODAL MAZER CAVITY

Abstract In this paper, we discuss the velocity selection of ultra-cold three-level atoms in Λ configuration using a micromazer. Our model is the same as discussed by Arun et al [Phys. Rev. A 62, 023809 (2000)] for mazer action in a bimodal cavity. We have shown that significantly narrowed velocity distribution of ultra-cold atoms can be obtained in this system due to the presence of dark states

Frequency of High Antimicrobial Susceptibility Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Clinical Isolates of a Set of Population

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae among clinical isolates in Karachi, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: This observational study was conducted at Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, from January to December 2017. The consecutive clinical isolates of the Enterobacteriaceae were collected and analyzed, using established conventional microbiological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and Carbapenem resistance were detected by the initial screen test using the CLSI method. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 17. Results: The total of 2100 clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae attained during this study time period, were predominantly from female patients 1300/2100 (61.9%), while male patients were 800/2100 (38.1%). The femaleto-male ratio was 1.6:1. The overall frequency of CRE among isolates of Enterobacteriaceae was 136/2100 (6.5%). Within individual organism group Klebsiella species had highest {108/136 (79.41%)} frequency, followed by E.coli 22 (18.38%) and Enterobacter species 03 (2.21%). All CRE isolates were sensitive to Colistin and Fosfomycin. No resistance was observed against Tigecycline among Carbapenem-resistant isolates of E. coli and Enterobacter species. Conclusion: Both Colistin and Fosfomycin antimicrobials can be considered empirical treatment options for CRE suspected infections. Better practices and changes in policy matters are required to improve the deteriorating situation of health care. Keywords: Antimicrobial Susceptibility, Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Klebsiella. Escherichia coli