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A recent examination of Philometra nematodes from mangrove red snapper Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal, 1775) from the Karachi coast, Kemari was done in the years 2021–2022. The present study reported three new species of genus Philometra (Costa, 1845) (Nematoda: Philometridae) Philometra kolachii, Philometra lutjani and Philometra kemarii. A total of 140 fish samples were examined, and 76 were infected. The intensity of infected fish was 54.28%. In Pakistan, literature on Philometrid nematodes is limited, therefore, this research would be helpful for the documentation and enhancement of nematods in Pakistan. Resumo Um exame recente dos nematóides Philometra do pargo vermelho de mangue Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal, 1775) da costa de Karachi, Kemari, foi feito nos anos 2021 e 2022. O presente estudo relatou três novas espécies do gênero Philometra (Costa, 1845) (Nematoda: Philometridae): Philometra kolachii, Philometra lutjani e Philometra kemarii. O total de 140 amostras de peixes foram examinadas e 76 estavam infectadas. A intensidade de peixes infectados foi de 54,28%. No Paquistão, a literatura sobre os nematóides Philometrid é limitada, portanto, esta pesquisa seria útil para a documentação e aprimoramento dos nematóides no Paquistão.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene variants may cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, some of which are associated with a distinct phenotype. Most studies assess limited variants or sample sizes. In this international, retrospective observational study, we compare phenotypic and demographic characteristics between people with SOD1-ALS and people with ALS and no recorded SOD1 variant. We investigate which variants are associated with age at symptom onset and time from onset to death or censoring using Cox proportional-hazards regression. The SOD1-ALS dataset reports age of onset for 1122 and disease duration for 883 people; the comparator population includes 10,214 and 9010 people respectively. Eight variants are associated with younger age of onset and distinct survival trajectories; a further eight associated with younger onset only and one with distinct survival only. Here we show that onset and survival are decoupled in SOD1-ALS. Future research should characterise rarer variants and molecular mechanisms causing the observed variability. Analysis of age of onset and disease duration in a large, international cohort of people with SOD1-ALS shows that there is a distinct phenotype and that onset and progression are decoupled., United Kingdom, Medical Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; European Community’s Health Seventh Framework Programme; European Research Council (ERC); Horizon 2020; Framework Programme; Programme Grants for Applied Research; Research and Innovation Programme; Avexis/Novartis; United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London Maudsley Foundation Trust; King’s College London; Motor Neurone Disease Association; ALS Association; Psychiatry Research Trust; Health Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health; ALS Foundation Netherlands

Introduction: This work was devoted to an in silico investigation conducted on twenty-eight Tacrine-hydroxamate derivatives as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease using DFT and QSAR modeling techniques. Methods: The data set was randomly partitioned into a training set (22 compounds) and a test set (6 compounds). Then, fourteen models were built and were used to compute the predicted pIC50 of compounds belonging to the test set. Results: All built models were individually validated using both internal and external validation methods, including the Y-Randomization test and Golbraikh and Tropsha's model acceptance criteria. Then, one model was selected for its higher R², R²test, and Q²cv values (R² = 0.768, R²adj = 0.713, MSE = 0.304, R²test=0.973, Q²cv = 0.615). From these outcomes, the activity of the studied compounds toward the main protease of Cholinesterase (AChEs) seems to be influenced by 4 descriptors, i.e., the total dipole moment of the molecule (μ), number of rotatable bonds (RB), molecular topology radius (MTR) and molecular topology polar surface area (MTPSA). The effect of these descriptors on the activity was studied, in particular, the increase in the total dipole moment and the topological radius of the molecule and the reduction of the rotatable bond and topology polar surface area increase the activity. Conclusion: Some newly designed compounds with higher AChEs inhibitory activity have been designed based on the best-proposed QSAR model. In addition, ADMET pharmacokinetic properties were carried out for the proposed compounds, the toxicity results indicate that 7 molecules are nontoxic.

Background: Pott’s disease is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that manifests in a variety of clinical patterns. Delays in diagnosis and treatment can lead to serious complications. About 10-40% of patients with spinal tuberculosis may have a neurological deficit. Urgent measures are needed to halt the progression of the disease and deformity, especially to prevent and overcome paraplegia. In regards to management, every case is different and has a unique procedure. It includes simple medical management, simple decompression and debridement, anterior approach, and posterior approach, etc. Surgical decompression of the cord and instrumentation are needed in many cases besides chemotherapy. Although the anterior approach is used for cervical Pott’s disease but this procedure is very time-consuming and technically difficult in the lumbar and dorsal spine, especially in compromised patients and morbidity is more. The posterior approach alone is enough for achieving adequate decompression, debridement, reduction, fusion, reconstruction of the body, and maintaining sagittal alignment in the dorsal and lumbar Pott’s spine. The aim of the study was to describe the treatment modality and observe the outcome of treatment methods and incidence rate of infection sites among the patients of Potts spine. Material & Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the Department of Neurosurgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh. The study duration was 7 years, from March 2016 to January 2023. During this period, a total of 30 cases of Pott’s disease were included in the study following inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: 53.33% had been from the youngest age group of 15-34 years, and 80 % were male. Very few participants had been female in the present study. Back pain was the primary complication for 50% of cases, while spinal infection was observed in the cervical region for 16.67% of cases, 43.33% had infections in the dorsal region, and 30 % in the lumbar region. 10.00% of the participants had been treated with non-surgical methods, with only anti-TB medication for 18 months or more. Posterior decompression was the most common treatment method, with 23.33% having only posterior decompression, and 40.00% having posterior decompression with the use of additional instruments. Conclusion: The study observed that Pott’s disease was most common among young adult males, and the most common sites of spinal infections were in the dorsal and lumbar regions in the present study population, contradictory to the general findings. Decompression treatment, with and without additional instruments, was the most common form of treatment among the present study population.

Battery health analysis is crucial for the efficient and reliable operation of battery-powered systems, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy systems. In recent years, machine learning techniques have gained significant attention for battery health analysis due to their ability to handle complex and nonlinear relationships in battery data. In this study, a machine learning-based approach for battery health analysis using MATLAB has been presented. To analyze battery data, a combination of unsupervised and supervised machine learning, not excluding support vector machines, k- means clustering, principal component analysis and decision tree, has been employed. The efficacy of the technique is illustrated by using experimental battery data to show that it can properly estimate battery health and identify potential degradation causes. This approach can be easily integrated into battery management systems to improve performance and extend the life of batteries in various applications.

The objective of this study is to compare the combustion, emissions, and engine performance of two different modified fuels. The oxygenated nanoparticles (CeO2 and Al2O3) were homogeneously mixed into B20 with an ultra sonicator at a specific ratio of 50,100 ppm to explore the potential of nanoparticles as a flexible booster in physiochemical properties of biodiesel. The generated nanoparticle fuel samples are then put to the CRDI VCR engine at various loads (3,6,9,12 kg): B20+50 Al2O3, B20+100 Al2O3, B20+50 CeO2, B20+100 CeO2. The different nano fuel's engine capabilities, combustion, and emissions are then contrasted with biodiesel, diesel, and one another. Performance-wise, BTE was 11.39% higher and SFC was 13.74% lower than B20 for B20+ 50 Al2O3 at high load. The cylinder pressure and heat release rate for B20+50 Al2O3 are respectively 16.77% and 21.48% greater at full load than for B20. In terms of hazardous emissions, B20+50 Al2O3 reduced CO emissions by 15.06% compared to B20, while B20+50 CeO2 reduced HC emissions by 50% compared to diesel at peak load. Additionally, at engine peak loads, B20+50 CeO2 Reduces NOx by 18.29% compared to B20. The findings suggest using nano fuel as a diesel oil replacement fuel.

Developing highly potent covalent inhibitors of Fibroblast growth factor receptors 1 (FGFR1) has always been a challenging task. In the current study, various computational techniques, such as 3D-QSAR, covalent docking, fingerprinting analysis, MD simulation followed by MMGB/PBSA, and per-residue energy decomposition analysis were used to explore the binding mechanism of pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyridazinone derivatives to FGFR1. The high q2 and r2 values for the CoMFA and CoMSIA models, suggest that the constructed 3D-QSAR models could reliably predict the bioactivities of FGFR1 inhibitors. The structural requirements revealed by the model’s contour maps were strategically used to computationally create an in-house library of more than 100 new FGFR1 inhibitors using the R-group exploration technique implemented in the SparkTM software. The compounds from the in-house library were also mapped in the 3D-QSAR model that predicts comparable pIC50 values with the experimental values. A comparison between 3D-QSAR generated contours and molecular docking conformation of ligands was performed to reveal the fundamentals to design potent FGFR1 covalent inhibitors. The estimated binding free energies (MMGB/PBSA) for the selected compounds were in agreement with the experimental value ranking of their binding affinities towards FGFR1. Furthermore, per-residue energy decomposition analysis has identified Arg627 and Glu531 to contribute significantly in improved binding affinity of compound W16. During ADME analysis, the majority of in-house library compounds exhibited pharmacokinetic properties superior to those of experimentally produced compounds. These new compounds may help researchers better understand FGFR1 inhibition and lead to the creation of novel, potent FGFR1 inhibitors. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Technology for providing clean drinking water to remote areas of low-resource nations remains a significant challenge for human life The study aimed to develop a simple technology for rural households that might be adopted to utilize the bactericidal properties of metals. Three thick metal sheets made of copper, zinc, and brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) were used in this study work. These metallic sheets were placed in three plastic (polythene) containers with base areas 11cm x 7cm each so that the metallic sheets covered the entire base areas of the respective containers. Fifty ml, one hundred ml, and four hundred ml of contaminated water from a public pond were added to each container, covered with lids, and shaken/left undisturbed at room temperature. The microbial analysis of Total Aerobic Bacteria (TAB), Total Coliform Bacteria (TCC), and E. coli was done every 24 hours up to twenty-eight days of storage at room temperature. E. coli is considered an indicator of diarrhoeal pathogens. The initial bacterial counts were TAB: 4.22 log CFU/ml, TCC: 3.15 log CFU/ml, and E.coli: 3.13 log CFU/ml, respectively. TAB count did not reduce significantly for any of the metals used in this study. Total coliform counts decreased to almost half the original for all three metals in the first 24 hours but remained almost the same afterward. However, E.coli was inactivated entirely after treatment with copper within 24h and remained constant afterward. On the other hand, brass and zinc reduced E. coli by almost half in the first 24 hours but remained almost constant throughout the rest of the measured period. The findings mentioned above, a simple copper sheet might help inactivate diarrheal bacteria and provide safe drinking water within 24 hours. As a result, this may lead to the development of an easy technique to provide clean drinking water in remote areas of low-resource nations like Bangladesh. It is crucial to determine whether the level of copper in the water is within the safe range, as regular usage of higher doses might result in copper poisoning. A future study will attempt to optimize the relationship between the water volume to the copper sheet’s exposed surface area and the treatment time. Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 39, Number 2, December 2022, pp 54-59

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has rapidly become the procedure of choice for gallbladder removal and has become the most common major abdominal procedure performed throughout the world. To observe the extrabiliary complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy this research work was done. Materials and methods: This observational study was carried out in the Department of Surgery, Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Chattogram, duration December 2015 to November 2016. A total of 100 Gall stone diseased patients were enrolled in this study and they were randomly allocated. Post operatively patients were observed, Data were collected, and Statistical analysis were obtained by using window based computer software devised with Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS-22). Results: Among 100 patients male to female ratio was 4.6:1 with maximum age group of third and fourth decade. Seventeen patients were associated with other disease e.g. diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Per-operative complication rate was 5(5.0%) among those, per-operative port site bleeding 2(2.0%), cystic artery bleeding 1(1.0%), liver bed bleeding was in 2(2.0%) cases. All these complications were managed successfully and smooth recovery within normal time.Post-operative complication rate was 1(1.0%). Among those port sites infection were in 1(1.0%) case. Conclusion: The findings of this study are expected to help taking perioperative measure to prevent extra-biliary complications. There may be some other devastating complications which may cripple the patients as well as surgeon. IAHS Medical Journal Vol 5(1), June 2022; 45-48

Background: Although the global thalassemia zone covers Bangladesh, there are very limited studies conducted in this region. Therefore, the focus of our study is to understand the prevalence and burden of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathy in Bangladesh. Methods: The analysis was based on a retrospective evaluation of laboratory diagnoses between 2007 January and 2021 October. A total of 8503 specimens were sampled and analyzed which were either referred by corresponding physicians or self-referred. This was neither any epidemiological nationwide survey nor was the study population chosen randomly. Hematological data were obtained through capillary zone electrophoresis and corresponding complete blood count. Results: 1971 samples (~23.18% of the total) were found with at least one inherited hemoglobin disorder. The most common hemoglobin disorder observed was the hemoglobin E (Hb E) trait (10.67%), followed by the β-thalassemia trait (8.4%), homozygotic Hb E (1.59%), and Hb E/β-thalassemia (1.58%). Other variants found in this study with minimal percentages were Hb N-Seattle, Hb S, Hb D-Punjab, Hb Lepore, Hb C, Hb Hope, Hb H, and hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin. Discussion: The pattern of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathy in our study is diverse and heterogeneous. A broad and detailed spectrum of such inherited hemoglobin disorders will ultimately be helpful in implementing nationwide thalassemia management and strategy policy in Bangladesh.

Purpose: Young individuals regularly consume a wide range of drinks with caffeine content. In this study, healthy young subjects' intraocular pressure (IOP) was evaluated in relation to energy drinks, tea,coffee and water. Methodology: A prospective longitudinal, multi-centered study was conducted from March 2022 to August 2022. Data was collected through non-probability consecutive sampling technique. A total of 100 subjects of both genders (male and female) age ranging between 15 to 30 years were included. A thorough ophthalmic examination was required for subjects to satisfy a set of study protocol, that included not suffering any ocular diseases, intraocular pressure of 10-20 mmHg, absence of systemic diseases. Exclusion criteria included patient who had undergone anterior and posterior segment ophthalmic surgeries. The participants were randomized into four groups at random. Each group comprises of 25 subjects. IOP was measured before as baseline and after 60 min of intake. SPSS was used for data analysis. Results: Out of 100 subjects 77 were female and 33 were male. The first group consumed tea, the second group coffee, the third group energy drinks, and the fourth group water. Baseline IOP on average in each group water, tea, coffee and energy drink intake was 15.58 ± 1.79, 15.49 ± 1.87, 15.23 ± 1.05, 15.68 ± 1.32 respectively. While IOP was 14.89±2.01, 15.01 ± 1.23, 15.67±1.98 and 16.01 ± 2.33 after 60 minutes of consuming water, tea, coffee, and energy drinks. IOP fluctuations between before and after consuming water, tea, coffee, and energy drinks were 0.69, 0.48, -0.75, and -1.29. Practical Implication: This study has important clinical implications since it may help people realise they should limit their intake of certain beverages in order to lower their intraocular pressure (IOP). No research on the impact of beverages on intraocular pressure (IOP) has been done in Pakistan, as far as we are aware. This led to the formulation of the current investigation. Conclusion: Two groups demonstrated an increase in IOP, whereas the IOP in the other two groups declined. Compared to tea consumption, which has a modest quantity of caffeine, consuming coffee and energy drinks raises intraocular pressure. This study suggested avoidance of coffee and energy drinks intake should be emphasized prior to IOP measurement to avoid any potential error. Keywords: intraocular pressure, beverages, energy drinks, tea, coffee, water

Background: Antibiotic resistance due to irrational use of antibiotics is on an alarming level and self-medication is a key factor behind this. Self-medication refers to the use of medicines to treat self-diagnosed disease. Parent's knowledge and behavior is an important factor to reduce practice of self-medication. This study aims to evaluate prevalence of parental self-medication with antibiotics and knowledge, attitude and practices toward antibiotics use. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive statistical analysis was performed which targeted parents of children between ages 1-14 by self-administered questionnaire. Results: Responses showed that 81.9% of participants had knowledge about antibiotics and among this percentage 21.8% did not visit physician and self-medicated their child in case of disease. Of those who had visited physician in case of disease, 50.8% refilled last prescription in case of recurrence of disease. Study showed there is a significant relationship between parent's education and physician visit. Only 15.2% of participants had good knowledge about antibiotics resistance. Practical Implication: Adults in Pakistan have been documented as engaging in antibiotic self-medication. However, there is scant data on parents who medicate their kids at home. To the best of our knowledge, however, there has been no research done on the prevalence of self-medication among the people of Punjab. Conclusion: Parent's awareness and health education are the main contributing factors in proper use of antibiotics and should be considered by health policy makers. Antibiotics stewardship programs must be tailored in favor of parent's awareness about antibiotics use. Keywords: Self-medication, Antibiotics, Parents education, Children, Pakistan

Background: The skeletal correlations in a sagittal plane do not correlate to the dental relationship each time. For orthodontic treatment planning, differential identification In the past, the terms overjet and overbite were used to examine sagittal jaw connections. The goal of the study was to see how closely a dental characteristic (overjet) correlated with skeletal angles (ANB, WITTS). Objectives: This research aims to see if occlusal characteristics are used in evaluating cranial and facial connections in the vertical and sagittal planes. The sagittal connection of upper with lower teeth is studied using the metrics overjet. Methodology: This study is done at the orthodontics department, Institute of Dentistry, LUMHS, Jamshoro. The total sample size was 110, random sampling technique was utilized to select the subject. For the patients coming to the orthodontic department data was collected from previous and new patients. The overjet and overbite value will be measured on dental casts using vernier caliper. The impression of patient will be taken by irreversible hydrocolloid and the cast will be poured with orthodontic hard plaster. This study also includes pre-treatment digital cephalometric xrays.

The newly discovered coronavirus also known as (COVID-19), according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is a worldwide epidemic, and it has altered people's way of life in general. The Internet of Things also known as (IoT) management and structure have also been impacted, along with other significant areas of the global economy and industry. This study provides a brief analysis of how a serious pandemic, like COVID-19, would affect the IoT sector. It looks at how the Internet of Things and related sensor technologies have helped to stop the spread of different infections and track their movements and uderstand trends of their spread. The challenges of deploying sensor hardware in the face of a pandemic that is spreading swiftly have been investigated in this review study. A worldwide pandemic's impacts on the development of IoT architectures and administration have also been discussed, which has led to predictions about how future IoT deployments will probably turn out. In general, this article gives readers a glimpse into how sensor-based E-health is progressing in its application to the control of pandemics around the world. It also provides an answer to the query of how the future of IoT networks has been influenced by a global virus epidemic

We examine the emotional and behavioral impacts of a randomized telementoring intervention on Bangladeshi primary school-aged children during COVID-19 school closures. We measured the prevalence of emotional, conduct, hyperactivity/inattention, and peer-relation problems among children twice. We found significant reductions in conduct and hyperactivity problems among the treated one month after the intervention ended. However, these impacts disappeared after one year. We also observed significant deterioration in the mental health problems of all children. These results highlight that remote learning can prevent mental health problems among children in the short term, but sustained support is necessary to effectively address the problems.

Myopia is a major cause of worldwide avoidable blindness and its prevalence increasing rapidly. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of glaucomatous optic nerve damage with various myopia levels as well as the relationship between myopia and glaucoma. Methods: A multi-centered cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2022 to July 2022. 250 individuals between the ages of 40 and 65 were recruited using non-probability purposive sampling technique. Mild, moderate and severe degree of myopia who had never had any surgery were included. All subjects underwent refraction and the optic disc ratio was assessed by slit lamp biomicroscopy, perimetry was performed to evaluate the visual field defects and IOP was determined using air puff tonometer. Frequency of glaucoma indicated by presence of visual field defects, glaucomatous optic disc. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results: 145 (58%) of the 250 total subjects were female and 105(42%) were male. 67 (26.8%) people had refractive errors of mild myopia up to 3D. While 85 (34%) had a severe degree of myopia (refractive error greater than 6D) and 98 (39.2%) had a moderate degree. No intragroup's intraocular pressure showed a significantly distinct configuration. Age-related VF anomalies (a larger blind region, a vertical cup to disc ratio, and an unjustified defect) were associated with both glaucoma and high myopia. Findings from the study indicated that glaucoma risk increased for those with high myopia (p=0.001). Conclusion: High myopia is strongly associated with glaucomatous changes and a high prevalence of optic disc damage.

Background: The salivary composition in diabetic patients varies depending on the type of saliva examined (whole or parotid, resting or stimulated) and the choice of participants insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients, or a heterogeneous population with various additional systemic diseases or treatments. In Pakistan there is very few studies done on the clinical significance of saliva amongst diabetic patients. Objective: Clinical oral findings and salivary analysis of patients with and without diabetes mellitus Study Design: Case-control study Study Setting: This study was conducted at Department of Oral Biology Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore from September 2022 to February 2023. Methodology: Out of 421 participants 228 were healthy taken as control and 193 were diabetic patients taken as cases were enrolled in this study. The questionnaire was made to describe the demographic variables age, gender, weight and height for BMI, educational status, socioeconomic status, marital status, and ethnicity. The biochemical parameters were estimated in saliva, collected from diabetic and non-diabetic participants. The 5ml saliva was collected from case and control participants in container and aliquoted at -800C. The samples were thawed at the time of estimation. The salivary biochemical parameters including glucose (mg/dl), insulin (IU/ml), creatinine (umol/L), urea (mml/L), albumin (md/dl), Lactoferrin (ug/ml) and IgA (mg/dl) were done in the lab and estimated through Randox kit according to the manufacturer protocol. The statistical analysis was done by using SPSS version 20. Results: The research included 421 participants in which 294 men (69.8% of the total) and 127 women (30.2% of the total). The average age was 26.4±5.1 years (range: 16.0 to 48.0) of both groups enrolled participants. While the mean of BMI was 23.4±4.5 Kg/m2 (range: 15.10 to 41.90). In this study very low- income status (73.9%) and high frequency of married with 84.6% were enrolled. Diabetics also had considerably higher levels of creatinine, urea, lactoferrin and IgA in the saliva of diabetic patients (p=0.0001). However, albumin was significantly low in diabetic saliva as compared to healthy participants (p=0.015). Practical implication: Studies towards the effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) on oral health has been conducted, but it is not yet known how common oral manifestations of the disease are or how widespread these effects are, especially in Pakistan. The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of diabetes on the dental health and salivary evaluation of people with and without the disease. Conclusion: New information on salivary parameters and oral results on Pakistani population with and without diabetes was presented in this research. The major results showed that those with diabetes had a decreased salivary flow rate, an increase in salivary glucose, and an increase in urea, creatinine, lactoferrin and IgA concentrations. However, the albumin is low in concentration. The results showed that the clinical significance of saliva amongst diabetic patients and can be used as diagnostic marker. Keyword: Saliva, biochemical parameters, diabetes mellitus, glucose, urea, Albumin

Background: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a well-established risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, the optimal achieved LDL-C level with regard to efficacy and safety in the long term remains unknown. Methods: In FOURIER (Further Cardiovascular Outcomes Research With PCSK9 Inhibition in Subjects With Elevated Risk), 27 564 patients with stable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease were randomized to evolocumab versus placebo, with a median follow-up of 2.2 years. In the open-label extension (FOURIER-OLE), 6635 of these patients were transitioned to open-label evolocumab regardless of initial treatment allocation in the parent trial and were followed for an additional median of 5 years. In this prespecified analysis, we examined the relationship between achieved LDL-C levels (an average of the first 2 LDL-C levels measured) in FOURIER-OLE (available in 6559 patients) and the incidence of subsequent cardiovascular and safety outcomes. We also performed sensitivity analyses evaluating cardiovascular and safety outcomes in the entire FOURIER and FOURIER-OLE patient population. Multivariable modeling was used to adjust for baseline factors associated with achieved LDL-C levels. Results: In FOURIER-OLE, 1604 (24%), 2627 (40%), 1031 (16%), 486 (7%), and 811 (12%) patients achieved LDL-C levels of P trend Conclusions: In patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, long-term achievement of lower LDL-C levels, down to Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT01764633.

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy. In the Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), 58% of ALL cases were recorded among 455 newly diagnosed malignancy patients in a single year. Studies found that remarkable hypertriglyceridemia occurs with L-asparaginase therapy and steroid. This study was done to evaluate the changes of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) during and after induction chemotherapy in children with ALL. Methods: This prospective observational study was performed in the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology of BSMMU from March-November 2013. Newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients aged 3-15 years were included in this study after having written consent from the parents of the participants to participate in the study and enrolled for the treatment of ALL (according to modified UKALL 2003 protocol). Results: Total cholesterol, TG, HDL, and LDL changed significantly due to induction therapy. Serum total cholesterol and LDL decreased after completion of L-asparaginse in comparison to before induction, increased significantly after completion of induction in comparison to after completion of L-asparaginase (P=0.001), and increased significantly after induction in relation to before induction therapy (P=0.003). TG decreased significantly (P=0.033) after completion of L-asparaginase than before induction but increased after completion of induction. HDL increased after completion of L-asparaginase and after induction significantly (P=0.001). LDL decreased after completion of L asparaginase which was significant (P=0.005). Conclusion: After induction chemotherapy, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL level increased and TG level decreased among ALL patients. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Journal 2023;16(1): 35-40

Covid -19 caused by a virus to which the people with low immunity response are being affected. Immune boosters play a vital role in protecting human being from various infective organism. The immune boosters include vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, probiotics etc. Indian Government gave emphasis on improving immunity in March 2020. At That time many people started using immunity booster agents. : To study perception and preference of medical teachers about immunity booster agents against Covid -19. A questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted among medical teachers. Questionnaire was framed in Google form and circulated in social media.Data was noted from excel sheet derived through google form and results were calculated in frequency and percentage, mean &SD. 78% participants were aware about immune boosting agents in initial period of Covid and highest used immune booster agent was Kadha (98%). Participant opined that source of information during this Covid period were Government & WHO guidelines (15%), TV/ newspaper (50%) and social media (41%). Most preferred and convenient to take immunity booster agent was fruits (67%). Reason for high search and use of immunity boosters is that in initial stage of Covid- 19 pandemic, there was theat to life especially in first and second wave of Covid. Along with immune boosters, diet, sleep, exercise and stress reduction are some of the most recommended measures. In present study highest used immune booster agent was Kadha. Allopathic, Ayurvedic and Homeopathic medicine were used as immunity booster agent.

The advent of the Internet and portable devices, including smartphones and watches, has brought unprecedented opportunities for embedded application systems developments. Along with these developments, there is an increasing need for embedded devices to handle important services, such as the ability to pay bills or manage bank accounts remotely via mobile phones. Such applications and developments have also highlighted the issues of cyberattacks and computing network security--these developments have made mobile phones a potential target for malware, trojans, and viruses, so it is critical to design a set of security technologies for embedded devices. In fact, security has become an essential requirement in the process of embedded system design. Thus, ARM has proposed system-level security solutions based on TrustZone technology. TrustZone technology is tightly integrated with Cortex™-A processors and extends the system through the AMBA® AXI bus and specific TrustZone system IP blocks to protect peripherals such as secure memory, encryption blocks, keyboards, and screens from software attacks. It divides the system into TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) and REE (Rich Execution Environment) by hardware and provides intrinsic software security services and interfaces. More precisely, it has built system security by combining hardware and software. It is worth noting that it does not influence performance, power consumption, and area as much as possible. Owing to such characteristics, the technology has gained the wide attention of researchers worldwide. There is lack of systematic documentation of the technology. Therefore, this paper documents the significant progress achieved in the field. In particular, this article mainly analyses the primary mechanism implementation, and how to build the Trusted Execution Environment in different environments. Then, this paper discusses the related research works in the academic field and business applications of the technology. Furthermore, the advantages and weaknesses of the TrustZone technology as well as the proposed possible solutions aiming at the deficiency are outlined. Finally, a comparison of TrustZone technology with another mainstream commercial SGX, and future directions are presented.

The future of healthcare systems is being shaped by incorporating emerged technological innovations to drive new models for patient care. By acquiring, integrating, analyzing, and exchanging medical data at different system levels, new practices can be introduced, offering a radical improvement to healthcare services. We present a novel smart and secure Medical health record system which, leverages blockchain technologies, permits patient centric medical records transactions .Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology is seeking patient-centric MHR designs that shift data ownership from providers to patients. There are multiple barriers to patient-centric MHR in the current system, such as security and privacy concerns, data inconsistency, timely access to the right records across multiple healthcare facilities. After investigating the current workflow of MHR, our system provides a feasible solution to these challenges by utilizing the unique features of blockchain. In particular, we develop a blockchain-based architecture and enable a flexible configuration thereof, which optimize medical data sharing between different health entities and fulfill the diverse levels of Quality of Service (QoS) that MHR may require. Finally, we highlight the benefits of the proposed MHR system and possible directions for future research.

The mechanical and thermal properties of nylon 6.6 on polypropylene (PP) blends were investigated. Five weight percentages of nylon 6.6, 1 wt%—5 wt%, were blended with PP by an injection molding process to produce PP/nylon 6.6 blends. The impact of the mixture on the mechanical properties was investigated by performing a three-point bend test to determine the flexural strength and hardness test using nanoindentation. Both differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis were used to study the thermal properties of the mixture. Chemical and morphological testing was performed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope tests. Mechanical testing revealed improved strength, modulus, and hardness of the PP/nylon 6.6 blends. The 2 wt% blend showed elastic modulus, tensile, and yield stress enhancement. TGA showed variable results with improved thermal resistance for the 3 wt% and 4 wt% blends, whereas there was no effect for the 2 wt% blend and reduced thermal resistance for the 1 wt% and 5 wt% blends. DSC analysis revealed no influence on the melting temperature of the blends. SEM images showed a homogeneous mixture between PP and nylon 6.6, which substantiated the interfacial adhesion between PP and nylon 6.6 and was verified by FTIR.

Ground cherry (Physalis pubescens) is the most prominent species in the Solanaceae family due to its nutritional content, and prospective health advantages. It is grown all over the world, but notably in northern China. In 2019 firstly bacterial leaf spot (BLS) disease was identified on P. pubescens in China that caused by both BLS pathogens Xanthomonas euvesicatoria pv. euvesicatoria resulted in substantial monetary losses. Here, we compared whole genome sequences of X. euvesicatoria to other Xanthomonas species that caused BLS diseases for high similarities and dissimilarities in genomic sequences through average nucleotide identity (ANI) and BLAST comparison. Molecular techniques and phylogenetic trees were adopted to detect X. euvesicatoria on P. pubescens using recQ, hrpB1, and hrpB2 genes for efficient and precise identification. For rapid molecular detection of X. euvesicatoria, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and real-time PCR techniques were used. Whole genome comparison results showed that the genome of X. euvesicatoria was more closely relative to X. perforans than X. vesicatoria, and X. gardneri with 98%, 84%, and 86% ANI, respectively. All infected leaves of P. pubescens found positive amplification, and negative controls did not show amplification. The findings of evolutionary history revealed that isolated strains XeC10RQ, XeH9RQ, XeA10RQ, and XeB10RQ that originated from China were closely relative and highly homologous to the X. euvesicatoria. This research provides information to researchers on genomic variation in BLS pathogens, and further molecular evolution and identification of X. euvesicatoria using the unique target recQ gene through advance molecular approaches.

Approximate computing is known for enhancing deep neural network accelerators' energy efficiency by introducing inexactness with a tolerable accuracy loss. However, small accuracy variations may increase the sensitivity of these accelerators towards undesired subtle disturbances, such as permanent faults. The impact of permanent faults in accurate deep neural network (AccDNN) accelerators has been thoroughly investigated in the literature. Conversely, the impact of permanent faults and their mitigation in approximate DNN (AxDNN) accelerators is vastly under-explored. Towards this, we first present an extensive fault resilience analysis of approximate multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) using the state-of-the-art Evoapprox8b multipliers in GPU and TPU accelerators. Then, we propose a novel fault mitigation method, i.e., fault-aware retuning of weights (Fal-reTune). Fal-reTune retunes the weights using a weight mapping function in the presence of faults for improved classification accuracy. To evaluate the fault resilience and the effectiveness of our proposed mitigation method, we used the most widely used MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, and CIFAR10 datasets. Our results demonstrate that the permanent faults exacerbate the accuracy loss in AxDNNs compared to the AccDNN accelerators. For instance, a permanent fault in AxDNNs can lead to 56\% accuracy loss, whereas the same faulty bit can lead to only 4\% accuracy loss in AccDNN accelerators. We empirically show that our proposed Fal-reTune mitigation method improves the performance of AxDNNs up to 98%, even with fault rates of up to 50%. Furthermore, we observe that the fault resilience in AxDNNs is orthogonal to their energy efficiency., Comment: Accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration Systems (TVLSI) journal

Abstract: Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder with no disease modifying therapeutics. HD is characterized by extensive neuronal loss and is caused by the inherited expansion of the huntingtin (HTT) gene that encodes a toxic mutant HTT (mHTT) protein having expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) residues. Current HD therapeutics only offer symptomatic relief. Infact, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two synthetic small-molecule VMAT2 inhibi-tors, tetrabenazine (1) and deutetrabenazine (2), for managing HD chorea and various other diseases in clinical trials. Therefore, the landscape of drug discovery programs for HD is evolving to discover disease-modifying HD therapeutics. Likewise, numerous natural products are being evaluated at different stages of clinical development and have shown the potential to ameliorate HD pathology. The inherent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of natural products mitigate the mHTT-induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, improve mitochondrial functions, and augment the anti-apoptotic and pro-autophagic mechanisms for increased survival of neurons in HD. In this review, we have discussed HD pathogenesis and summarized the anti-HD clinical and pre-clinical natural products, focusing on their therapeutic effects and neuroprotective mechanisms.

Objectives: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac Computed Tomography (CT) and echocardiography for the diagnosis of congenital heart diseases (CHD) at Rehman Medical Institute (RMI), Peshawar. Methodology: We conducted a cross sectional study at Rehman Medical Institute between January 2020 to July 2022. Patients of different ages referred for suspicion of congenital heart diseases were enrolled. The data was collected prospectively which included demographics, Echocardiography findings, CT scan results and procedure notes. Data was analyzed on SPSS the results of descriptive variables expressed as median and percentile. A p-value

Objective: To find out the frequency of delirium associated with peri-operative use of dexmetedomidine and propofol in post CABG patients. Study Design: Comparative Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Adult Intensive Care unit, Department of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Armed Force Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi Pakistan from Feb to Jun 2022. Methodology: All post CABG patients who have undergone elective surgery were included through non-probability consecutive sampling technique. All the delirious patients amongst them were subjected to a modified version of ICU-CAM to establish post-operative delirium (POD) caused by either dexmedetomidine or propofol. POD in both the category of patients was compared. Results: A total of 179 CABG patients were included in our study. 140(78.2%) of the patients were subjected to the use of dexmedetomidine throughout their surgery while 39(21.8%) of the patients were given propofol. After subjecting the patients to our exclusion criteria which aimed to eliminate the confounding causes of POD in post-CABG patients, only 30(16.8%) had delirium while 149(83.2%) didn’t develop delirium (p-value=0.003). Majority of the delirious patients were given dexmedetomidine (n=29; 20.77%) in the operation theatre while only a fraction (n=1; 2.58%) were given propofol. Average duration of ICU stay in our study population was 5 days. 15(8.4%) cases out of our total study population underwent reintubation and re-ventilation because of low cardiac output or respiratory distress. Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine could possibly be associated with POD in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Propofol on the other hand is considerably safe in this regard and doesn’t cause POD.

Bilal Aslam,1 Muhammad Hussnain Siddique,2 Abu Baker Siddique,1 Muhammad Shafique,1 Saima Muzammil,1 Mohsin Khurshid,1 Muhammad Hidayat Rasool,1 Moeed Ahmad,1 Tamoor Hamid Chaudhry,3 Afreenish Amir,3 Muhammad Salman,3 Zulqarnain Baloch,4 Norah A Alturki,5 Ahmad Alzamami6 1Department of Microbiology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 2Department of Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 3Public Health Laboratories Division, National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan; 4Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 5Clinical Laboratory Science Department, College of Applied Medical Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Clinical Laboratory Science Department, College of Applied Medical Science, Shaqra University, AlQuwayiyah, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Bilal Aslam, Department of Microbiology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan, Email drbilalaslam@gcuf.edu.pk Ahmad Alzamami, Clinical Laboratory Science Department, College of Applied Medical Science, Shaqra University, AlQuwayiyah, Saudi Arabia, Email aalzamami@su.edu.saBackground: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the multi-drug resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae as one of the critical bacterial pathogens. The dearth of new antibiotics and inadequate therapeutic options necessitate finding alternative options. Bacteriophages are known as enemies of bacteria and are well-recognized to fight MDR pathogens.Methods: A total of 150 samples were collected from different clinical specimens through a convenient sampling technique. Isolation, identification, and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) of K. pneumoniae were done by standard and validated microbiological procedures. Molecular identification of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) was carried out through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by using specific primers. For bacteriophage isolation, hospital sewage samples were processed for phage enrichment, purification, and further characterization ie, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and stability testing, etc. followed by evaluation of the lytic potential of the phage.Results: Overall, a total of 41% of isolates of K. pneumoniae were observed as hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (hvKp). Among hvKp, a total of 12 (42%) were detected as MDR hvKp. A total of 37% of all MDR isolates were found resistant to colistin, and 66% of the colistin resistance isolates were recorded as mcr-1 positive. Isolated phage KpnM had shown lytic activity against 53 (79%) K. pneumoniae isolates. Remarkably, all 8 mcr-1 harboring MDR hvKp and non-hvKp isolates were susceptible to KpnM phage.Conclusion: Significant distribution of mcr-1 harboring hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae was observed in clinical specimens, which is worrisome for the health system of the country. Characterized phage KpnM exhibited encouraging results and showed the lytic activity against the mcr-1 harboring hvKp isolates, which may be used as a prospective alternative control strategy to fight this ominous bacterium.Keywords: Klebsiella pneumoniae, bacteriophages, colistin, MDR, virulence

The use of electronic devices like tablets, smartphones, desktop and laptop users has been increased to a lot of extent from past few years. So, the workers are more prone to be affected by neck pain, shoulder pain and other forms of musculoskeletal problems, due to lack of awareness about bad posture and ergonomics about workstation in their environment. Objectives: To find out the frequency of work-related neck pain in freelancers. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study containing of questionnaire based online survey in which the data were collected by asking the participants to fill the form online. There were 100 participants who were actively working in this field from last 6 months and all of them were having neck related problems. The data was analyzed using statistical packages of social sciences and different tests were performed including Chi-square and standard deviation and square tab. Results: Statistics show that 27% of freelancers were suffered from neck and shoulder pain, 43% suffered from neck pain along with other symptoms and followed by headache in which 34% rarely suffered from headache, 38% suffered from moderate headache and 28% from severe headache. Emotional findings show that 44% faced frustration, anger and sadness to some extent. Conclusions: The neck discomfort due to working online increases with sitting still for more than 1 hour, making physical activity difficult as well as making lifestyle change. A significant Association was found between lifestyle changes due to neck pain, neck pain intensity with online working.