Pattern of drugs of abuse identified in chemical samples

OBJECTIVE: To determine the pattern of drugs of abuse in urine and blood samples processed at referral laboratory in Pakistan so that information on the type of drugs used can be identified and used for ready reference for future strategy. Study Design: Observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Clinical Laboratory of The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from July 2006 to March 2008. Methodology: Retrospective review of records were done for the common drugs that are used for screening at the Clinical Laboratory include alcohol, amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine and opiates. Alcohol was tested in blood and others were identified using urine. Percentages of tests screened positive and negative for individual drugs were computed by using SPSS 16.0. The ratio between male and female users was also established. RESULTS: A total of 17,714 tests were performed for drugs. The mean age of the patients whose samples were processed was 30+/-14.84 years. Majority used benzodiazepines 520/1317 (39.5%) among the samples tested for drug of abuse, followed by cannabinoids 423/5450 (7.8%), alcohol 75/1302 (5.8%), barbiturates 32/1148 (2.8%), opiates 137/5640 (2.4%), cocaine 5/1655 (0.3%) and amphetamine 3/1202 (0.2%). In all, males 15411 (87%) were tested more frequently as compared to females 2303 (13%). CONCLUSION: Males were more frequently tested for drug abuse; however, drug abuse is increasingly seen among females. Benzodiazepines are the most frequently used. The same pattern of drugs abuse existed in different gender and age group. There is a need to explore the pattern and type of drug abuse on national scale

Non-Timber Forest Products Collection Affects Education of Children in Forest Proximate Communities in Northeastern Pakistan

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are crucial in driving the economy of communities living inside or around forests. The scarcity of business and employment opportunities often push the forest proximate communities to tap a range of NTFPs for earning their livelihoods. In many forest-based communities around the world, children are actively involved in NTFPs collection, which is likely to affect the socioeconomic paradigms of these children. We aim to investigate how the NTFP collection venture affects the education of the children involved in the forest proximate communities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan. A stratified sampling followed by a series of focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews were carried out to collect information on collection behaviour, patterns, income generation, and other socioeconomic variables. We used a binary logistic regression model to explain children’s state of attending schools using a range of socioeconomic variables. The empirical evidence showed that 42% of the NTFP-collecting children were not going to school, and nearly two-thirds were working in unfavourable working environments. The regression model showed that the role and behaviour of contractors, along with factors like household conditions, were important factors in employing children for long working hours. The study has implications for reforming policies regarding the nexus of income generation and education in the forest-based communities

Graphical sequences of some family of induced subgraphs

The subdivision graph $S(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the graph obtained by inserting a new vertex into every edge of $G$. The $S_{vertex}$ or $S_{ver}$ join of the graph $G_{1}$ with the graph $G_{2}$, denoted by $G_{1}\dot{\vee}G_{2}$, is obtained from $S(G_{1})$ and $G_{2}$ by joining all vertices of $G_{1}$ with all vertices of $G_{2}$. The $S_{edge}$ or $S_{ed}$ join of $G_{1}$ and $G_{2}$, denoted by $G_{1}\bar{\vee}G_{2}$, is obtained from $S(G_{1})$ and $G_{2}$ by joining all vertices of $S(G_{1})$ corresponding to the edges of $G_{1}$ with all vertices of $G_{2}$. In this paper, we obtain graphical sequences of the family of induced subgraphs of $S_{J} = G_{1}\vee G_{2}$, $S_{ver} = G_{1}\dot{\vee}G_{2}$ and $S_{ed} = G_{1}\bar{\vee}G_{2}$. Also we prove that the graphic sequence of $S_{ed}$ is potentially $K_{4}-e$-graphical

Bacteriological profile of wound infections and antimicrobial resistance in selected gram-negative bacteria

Background: Managing wound infections is a challenging task. Understanding their resistance pattern is an essential step at reducing its burden in hospital settings. Objective: To determine the bacteriological diversity of wound infections and the antimicrobial resistance exhibited by a selected Gram-negative bacterium in the Aljouf region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: The study retrospectively analysed the antibiograms of wound infections from hospitalized patients for the year 2019. The European Centre for Disease Control guidelines were adopted for the classification of resistant bacteria. Multidrug-, extensive drug-, and carbapenem-resistant isolates are presented as frequencies and percentages. Results: A total of 295 non-duplicate wound swab antibiograms were retrieved, 64.4% (190) and 35.6% (105) isolates were Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections respectively. Predominant pathogens included Staphylococcus species 21.0% (62), E. coli 16.3% (48) and K. pneumoniae 13.5% (40). 148 (77.9%), 42 (22.1%) and 43 (22.6%) of the Gram-negative isolates were multidrug-, extensively drug- and carbapenem-resistant. The antibiotic resistance exhibited by gram-negative bacteria was 43.4% (234/539), 59.1% (224/379) and 53.7% (101/188) towards carbapenems, 3rd - and 4th – generation cephalosporins. Conclusions: The majority of wound infections are caused by multidrug-, extensively drug- and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Further studies should focus on the molecular basis of this resistance. Keywords: Wound infections; hospital; Gram-negative bacteria; antibiograms; multidrug-resistance; E. coli

Tailoring Motif and Channel Terminating Groups of Conventional Copper MOFs for Their Enhanced Activity, Selectivity, and Stability toward the Electroreduction of CO2 to Hydrocarbons

Judicious tuning of electronic effects, chemical functionalities, and type and distribution of active sites is a promising strategy to manage the selectivity, efficiency, and electrochemical stability of electrocatalysts toward the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (ERCO2). Herein, we report a simple postsynthetic modification to tune electronic effects and Lewis basicity in copper-based three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) involving the chemical transformation of the free −COOH/-OH groups into amide/amine groups that improves their electrocatalytic stability and performance for hydrocarbon production. Detailed structural and voltammetric characterizations reveal that the unique electronic and structure-enhancing effects in the modified MOFs (especially in 2D MOF) endow them with excellent electrocatalytic performance (overall faradaic efficiency (FE) 81%, with FEC1 = 62% and FEC2 = 19%) and stability toward ERCO2 (>4 h). The significantly high FE for the production of hydrocarbons over the modified MOFs is attributed to the improved Lewis acidity of the open metal centers and confined pores resulting in alternate active sites for *CO adsorption, hydrogenation, and C-O bond dissociation

Sonographic Association of Cholelithiasis with Obstructive Jaundice in Adult Patients

Background: Cholelithiasis is the commonest cause of obstructive jaundice and for the investigation of cholelithiasis and obstructive jaundice ultrasound is a gold standard modality. Obstructive jaundice is generally due to biliary obstruction, which is a blockage of the common bile duct or any duct that carries bile from the liver to the gallbladder and then enters into the small intestine. Objective: To determine sonographic association of cholelithiasis with obstructive jaundice in adult patients. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among 138 individuals. All were young adults within the age range of 18-35 years. Data was collected from Civil Hospital Gujranwala city, by using simple random sampling technique. The examination was done with Toshiba Xario 3.5-5MHz curvilinear transducer. Gallbladder scan was started with the patient in the supine position from both subcostal and intercostal approaches. It was analyzed through SPSS version 24.0 and presented through frequency and percentages. Results: Total 138 individuals were included in this study. Out of 138 subjects, 69 individuals with cholelithiasis out of 69, 24 individuals with obstructive jaundice. And other 69 individuals without cholelithiasis in which 26 subjects presented with jaundice. It was found that females (51.4%) were more commonly affected than males (48.6%).Conclusion: It was concluded that cholelithiasis is one of the main causes of obstructive jaundice and ultrasound can easily diagnose the cases of cholelithiasis. It was found that females were more commonly affected than males. Keywords: cholelithiasis, obstructive jaundice, jaundice, ultrasound. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/72-04 Publication date:March 31st 202

Karyoevolutionary and karyosystematic considerations on Schizothorax curvifrons and Schizothorax niger (Teleostei: Cyprinidae): Important hill-stream food fishes of Kashmir Himalaya

Cytogenetic studies have helped in clarifying the problem of disagreement amongst taxonomists on the identity of a given species. Cytogenetic studies were performed on two fishes of the genus Schizothorax viz. Schizothorax curvifrons Heckel and Schizothorax niger Heckel (Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae) obtained from Sindh Stream and Dal Lake Srinagar Kashmir, respectively. These fishes are considered to be the subspecies of the same species. The two species showed a diploid number of 98 in S. niger and 94 in S. curvifrons. The karyological data are analyzed in terms of the taxonomic aspects within this genus, and the validity of their existence as species chromosomally distinct from each other is emphasized.Keywords: Sindh stream, karyotype, cytotaxonomy, Kashmir Himalaya, chromosome

Historical Importance of the Place Names and Archaeological Remains of Tehsil Pulwama

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