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The magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) viscous Jeffrey heat transport flow past a permeable extending sheet is analyzed. The Alumina ([Formula: see text]) is chosen as nanoparticles immersed in sodium alginate ([Formula: see text]) as the based fluid. The effect of heat generation, Ohmic heating and viscous dissipation are also being investigated adopting Tiwari and Das model. The adequate similarity transformation is used to convert the governing equations to non-linear of higher-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The numerical solution of the transformed ODEs is accomplished using a finite-difference technique. The results are described in graphs according to selected parameters' values provided. The flow velocity reductions when the porosity parameter is augmented. The thermal distribution is affected by the presence of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Deborah number and the volume fraction of nanoparticles affect the skin friction coefficient in opposite ways. A higher volume percentage of nanoparticles and a higher Deborah number are both shown to boost the rate of heat transfer. These findings suggest that the concentration of nanoparticles can be used to manipulate heat transport and nanofluid motions., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

MXene, a novel class of 2-dimensional transition metal carbides has evolved as a promising material for various applications owing to its outstanding characteristics such as hydrophilicity, high electrical conductivity, surface area, and attractive topological structure. MXenes can form dispersion in common solvents and constitute composite with other nanomaterials, which can be utilized as effective transducers for molecular sensing. MXene-modified support materials, thus provide an intriguing platform for immobilization of target molecules onto their surface. The literature reveals that it has been increasingly utilized in the sensing of diverse types of analytes including glucose, pharmaceuticals, metals and dyes, cancer markers, pesticides, neurotransmitters, small valuable molecules, and so on. In this review, we summarize the recent updates in the MXene modified materials for sensing. For the convenience of our audience, we have distributed the analytes into categories and discussed them comprehensively. Not only we present the synthesis approach, electrochemical properties and surface chemistry of MXenes but also discussed briefly the current challenges and an outlook for future research in the related area.

Survey of literature unveils that nanofluids are more efficient for heat transport in comparison to the traditional fluids. However, the enlightenment of developed techniques for the augmentation of heat transport in nanomaterials has considerable gaps and, consequently, an extensive investigation for aforementioned models is vital. The ongoing investigation aims to study the 2-D, incompressible Jeffrey nanofluid heat transference flow due to a stretchable surface. Furthermore, the effect of dispersion of graphene nanoparticles in base liquid ethylene glycol (EG) on the performance of flow and heat transport using the Tawari-Das model in the existence of Ohmic heating (electroconductive heating) and viscous heat dissipation is contemplated. The boundary-layer PDEs are reconstituted as ODEs employing appropriate similarity transformation. Keller-Box Method (KBM) is utilized to determine the numerical findings of the problem. Graphene conducts heat greater in rate than all of the other materials and it is a good conductor of electrical energy. Graphene/EG nanofluid is employed to look out the parametric aspects of heat transport flow, drag coefficient, and heat transference rate phenomena with the aid of graphs and tables. The numerical outcomes indicate that concentration and magnetic field abate the shear stresses for the nanofluid. An increase of Graphene nanoparticle volume fraction parameter can boost the heat transport rate. The effect of Prandtl Number is to slow down the rate of heat transport as well as decelerate the temperature. Additionally, the rate of heat transportation augments on a surface under Deborah's number. Results indicate that the temperature of the graphene-EG nanofluid is greater than the convectional fluid hence graphene-EG nanofluid gets more important in the cooling process, biosensors and drug delivery than conventional fluids., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Urdu version of Quality of Life Questionnaire for Physiological Pregnancy., Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1 to October 31, 2020, at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department of Sandeman Provincial Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan. The Quality of Life Questionnaire for Physiological Pregnancy was translated into Urdu by using a forward-backward procedure. The test-retest reliability was assessed through Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis. The validity of the translated questionnaire was constructed by using exploratory factor analysis through principal axis factoring extraction and Oblique rotation with Kaiser Normalisation. The constructs were retained based on extracted communalities. Data was analysed using SPSS v 21., Results: The Urdu version of the questionnaire exhibited acceptable test-retest alpha values of 0.780 and 0.812 at two-time points, with an overall value of 0.790. All items showed good stability with intraclass correlation coefficient values of >0.80. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure for factor analysis was 0.812. Barlett's Test of Sphericity was significant (p<0.05). Three factors explaining the variance were extracted and the loading values for all nine constructs were acceptable (>0.40). All items of the translated version were retained, proving the validity of the Urdu version of the questionnaire., Conclusions: The translated version of Quality of Life Questionnaire for Physiological Pregnancy was found to be a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of quality of life for pregnant women in regions where Urdu is the prime language of communication.

Objectives: This study is aimed to synthesis and evaluate PEGylated Eu enabled spherical alumina submicron particles (s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu) for potential theranostic applications., Methods: This study is bisected into two parts, a) synthesis of PEGylated Eu enabled spherical alumina submicron particles (s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu), and b) characterization of the synthesized particles to determine their efficacy for potential theranostic applications.The synthesis of the particles involved the following steps. In the first step, s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu is synthesized using solvothermal synthesis. In the next step, the particles undergo post synthesis water-ethanol treatment and calcination. The surface of the synthesized s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu particles is then coated by PEG to increase its biocompatibility.Once the particles are prepared, they are characterized using different techniques. The microstructure, composition and structure of the particles is characterized using SEM, EDX and XRD techniques. The detection of the functional groups is done using FTIR analysis. The photoluminescence emission spectrum of s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu is studied using Photoluminescence spectroscopy. And, finally, the biocompatibility is studied using MTT assay on RD cell lines., Results: The microstructure analysis, from the micrographs obtained from SEM, shows that the spherical alumina particles have a submicron size with narrow size distribution. The compositional analysis, as per EDX, confirms the presence of Oxygen, Aluminum and Europium in the particles. While, XRD analysis of s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu confirms the formation of alpha alumina phase after calcination at 700 °C. Emission peaks, obtained by Photoluminescence emission spectroscopy, show that the optimum emission intensities correspond to the transition from 5 D 0 to 7 F j orbital of Eu +3 . FTIR analysis confirms the successful coating of PEG. Finally, a cell viability of more than 86% is observed when the biocompatibility of the particles is studied, using MTT assay on RD cell lines., Conclusions: s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu with narrow distribution are successfully synthesized. Structural and functional characterizations support the suitability of s-Al 2 O 3 :Eu as potential theranostic agent., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

The present article presents a novel idea regarding the implementation of Tiwari and Das model on Reiner-Philippoff fluid (RPF) model by considering blood as a base fluid. The Cattaneo-Christov model and thermal radiative flow have been employed to study heat transfer analysis. Tiwari and Das model consider nanoparticles volume fraction for heat transfer enhancement instead of the Buongiorno model which heavily relies on thermophoresis and Brownian diffusion effects for heat transfer analysis. Maxwell velocity and Temperature slip boundary conditions have been employed at the surface of the sheet. By utilizing the suitable transformations, the modeled PDEs (partial-differential equations) are renewed in ODEs (ordinary-differential equations) and treated these equations numerically with the aid of bvp4c technique in MATLAB software. To check the reliability of the proposed scheme a comparison with available literature has been made. Other than Buongiorno nanofluid model no attempt has been made in literature to study the impact of nanoparticles on Reiner-Philippoff fluid model past a stretchable surface. This article fills this gap available in the existing literature by considering novel ideas like the implementation of carbon nanotubes, CCHF, and thermal radiation effects on Reiner-Philippoff fluid past a slippery expandable sheet. Momentum, as well as temperature slip boundary conditions, are never studied and considered before for the case of Reiner-Philippoff fluid past a slippery expandable sheet. In the light of physical effects used in this model, it is observed that heat transfer rate escalates as a result of magnification in thermal radiation parameter which is 18.5% and skin friction coefficient diminishes by the virtue of amplification in the velocity slip parameter and maximum decrement is 67.9%., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

It is extremely prudent and highly challenging to design a greener bifunctional electrocatalyst that shows effective electrocatalytic activity and high stability toward electrochemical water splitting. As several hundred tons of catalysts are annually deactivated by deposition of carbon, herein, we came up with a strategy to reutilize spent methane reforming catalysts that were deactivated by the formation of graphitic carbon (GC) and carbon nanofibers (CNF). An electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized by in situ deposition of noble metal-free MoS 2 over spent catalysts via a hydrothermal method that showed exceptional performance regarding the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). At 25 mA cm -2 , phenomenal OER overpotentials (η 25 ) of 128 and 154 mV and modest HER overpotentials of 186 and 207 mV were achieved for MoS 2 @CNF and MoS 2 @GC, respectively. Moreover, OER Tafel slopes of 41 and 71 mV dec -1 and HER Tafel slopes of 99 and 107 mV dec -1 were obtained for MoS 2 @CNF and MoS 2 @GC, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized catalysts exhibited good long-term durability for about 18 h at 100 μA cm -2 with unnoticeable changes in the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) curve of the HER after 1000 cycles. The carbon on the spent catalyst increased the conductivity, while MoS 2 enhanced the electrocatalytic activity; hence, the synergistic effect of both materials resulted in enhanced electrocatalysts for overall water splitting. This work of synthesizing enhanced nanostructured electrocatalysts with minimal usage of inexpensive MoS 2 gives a rationale for engineering potent greener electrocatalysts., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Objective: To determine the impact of pharmacist-led interventions on satisfaction, disease state knowledge and perception of self-management of diabetes patients., Methods: The interventional, quasi-experimental study was conducted in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, from December 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, and comprised data data from a community pharmacy of patients who had diagnosed type 2 diabetes for at least one year. Both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventional tools were used as part of a care package administered by pharmacists. The modified version of the Diabetes Disease State Management Questionnaire was used to assess patient satisfaction, disease state knowledge and perception of self-management. Data was analysed using SPSS 20., Results: Of the 100 patients initially enrolled, 80(80%) completed the follow-up. The mean age of the sample was 49.33±8.31 years. Of the total, 63(78.8%) patients had diabetes for <10 years. A significant improvement was seen in patient satisfaction (p=0.04), disease state knowledge (p=0.009) and self-management of diabetes (p=0.02) scores after the intervention., Conclusions: Interventions by pharmacists in a community pharmacy resulted in significant improvement in patient satisfaction, disease state knowledge and perception of self-management among type 2 diabetes patients.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and determinants of prediabetes among adolescents., Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at a public-sector medical university in Quetta, Pakistan, from December 2019 to February 2020, and comprised students aged 16-19 years. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather socio-demographic data. Fasting blood sample was taken to measure the fasting plasma glucose level, lipid profile and glycated haemoglobin levels. Height, weight, neck circumference and waist circumference were also measured. Data was analysed using SPSS 21., Results: Of the 351 subjects, 158(45%) were males and 193(55%) were females. The overall mean age was 18.81±0.41 years. Of the total, 81(23.1%) participants were found to have prediabetes. Neck circumference was identified as the strongest predictor for prediabetes, followed by high level of triglycerides, high systolic blood pressure, low levels of high-density lipoproteins, high levels of low-density lipoproteins, high diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference and body mass index (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of prediabetes among male and female students (p>0.05)., Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the prevalence of prediabetes among male and female medical students. Neck circumference, Waist circumference, Body mass index, systolic blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure, Triglyceride and High density Lipoprotein were strong predictors of prediabetes in adolescent population.

Introduction: Ethics plays an elementary role in current medical practice. Recent advancement in medical technology and its implications have raised many ethical issues and dilemmas in clinical practice, requiring dire needs for incorporation of bioethics into medical curriculum., Aim: The objective of this study is to assess the base line knowledge and perception of medical students regarding bioethical issues in clinical practice based on exposure to formal bioethics teaching in their medical curriculum., Setting and Design: This cross sectional study was conducted among medical students of a private and government medical college who were currently enrolled into third to fifth year MBBS., Methods and Material: A pretested questionnaire was used to collect data. A structured questionnaire consisting of 27 questions was used for this study. An Ethics Review Committee approval was taken., Analysis: Data analysis was done under SPSS version 17 and frequencies were calculated., Results: A total of 285 medical students, 145 from private and 140 from government medical college participated in this study. Private college medical students (57%) had slightly better knowledge of bioethics as compared to the government students 43%., Conclusion: The study clearly signifies the need of teaching bioethics in the both the medical colleges. Our findings provide strong evidence for major educational initiatives related to bioethics education in medical curriculum., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)

Since their discovery in 2011, 2D transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides, known as MXenes, have attracted considerable global research interest owing to their outstanding electrical conductivity coupled with light weight, flexibility, transparency, surface chemistry tunability, and easy solution processability. Here, the promising abilities of 2D MXenes, from both experimental and theoretical perspectives, for designing conductive materials for a range of applications, including electromagnetic interference shielding, flexible optoelectronics, sensors, and thermal heaters, are presented., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Lightweight, ultrathin, and flexible electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are needed to protect electronic circuits and portable telecommunication devices and to eliminate cross-talk between devices and device components. Here, we show that a two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbonitride, Ti 3 CNT x MXene, with a moderate electrical conductivity, provides a higher shielding effectiveness compared with more conductive Ti 3 C 2 T x or metal foils of the same thickness. This exceptional shielding performance of Ti 3 CNT x was achieved by thermal annealing and is attributed to an anomalously high absorption of electromagnetic waves in its layered, metamaterial-like structure. These results provide guidance for designing advanced EMI shielding materials but also highlight the need for exploring fundamental mechanisms behind interaction of electromagnetic waves with 2D materials., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)

Cancer is the one of the fatal and dreaded disease responsible for huge number of morbidity and mortality across the globe. It is expected that the global burden will increase to 21.7 million fresh cancer cases as compared to present estimate of 18.1 million cancer cases in addition to nearly 9.6 million cancer deaths worldwide. In response to cancerous or certain benign conditions; specific type of tumor or cancer markers (biomarkers) are produced at much higher levels which are secreted into the urine, blood, stool, tumor or other tissues. Therefore, the efficient and early detection of cancer biomarkers is necessary which can offer a reliable way for cancer patient screening and diagnosis. This process not only helps in the evaluation of pathogenic processes but also the prognosis of different cancers and pharmacological responses to therapeutic interventions are secured. Over the past several years, electrochemical detection methods have proved to be the most attractive methods among many, due to the advantages, such as simple instrumentation, portability, low cost and high sensitivity. Furthermore, the modifications of these electrochemical immunosensors by utilizing various types of nanomaterials enable these systems to detect trace amount of target tumor markers. Hence, herein, we intend to review the selective works on electrochemical detection of various biomarkers using wide range of nanomaterials with a particular focus on graphene., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Industrial utilization of nuclear resources greatly depends on the effective treatment of nuclear waste. The efficient removal of radioactive nuclides from liquid effluents by using different adsorbents has thus become crucial. Herein, for the first time, two-dimensional transition metal carbides (MXenes) are investigated as scavengers of cesium (Cs + ) from contaminated water. Due to the combined advantages of the layered structure and the presence of heterogeneous sites (hydroxyl, oxygen and fluorine groups), the adsorbent reached the steady state within 1 min with the maximum Cs + adsorption capacity of 25.4 mg g -1 at room temperature. The kinetics studies of the Cs + scavenging process demonstrated that the adsorption of Cs + followed the pseudo-second-order model whereas the adsorption equilibrium data obeyed the Freundlich model. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption process was endothermic. The adsorbent showed an excellent Cs + removal efficiency in neutral to slightly alkaline solutions. Moreover, it can retain Cs + even in the presence of a high concentration of competing cations (Li + , Na + , K + , Mg 2+ and Sr 2+ ). The Cs + loaded adsorbent was regenerated with a 0.2 M HCl solution and reused at least five times for over 91% removal of contaminants.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in medical students., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Bolan Medical College, Quetta, Pakistan, from August 2015 to January 2016, and comprised healthy first-year medical students. Demographic data was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Height, weight and waist circumference were measured along with fasting blood sugar, high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides by using automated biochemistry analyser. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis., Results: Of the 225 participants, 127(56.4%) were females. The overall mean age was 18.80±0.426 years. Frequency of metabolic syndrome was 32(14.2%). Increased waist circumference, fasting blood sugar and triglycerides were associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting metabolic syndrome (p<0,05 each). Male gender and high-density lipoprotein were found to be protective against metabolic syndrome (p<0.05 each).., Conclusions: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing in our adolescent population which demands screening from childhood and early adolescence..