Search

The study examines the effect of sustainable economic growth on “FDI inflow” using comparative panel econometrics on two panels: “low-income” and “middle-income” economies between 1970 and 2021. For this, 18 “low-income” and 53 “middle-income” economies constitute the sample. The data were retrieved from the “world development indicator” website. Pre-diagnostic and post-diagnostic estimations were performed using static panel and dynamic panel approaches. Sustainable growth increases “FDI inflow” in “low-income” and “middle-income” economies during the study period, according to the findings. In addition, trade openness and the exchange rate have the potential to boost “FDI inflow” in “low-income” economies. Similarly, in “middle-income” economies, the real growth rate and exchange rate are significant boosts, however inflation significantly reduces the “FDI inflow”. The findings show that policymakers in “low-income” and “middle-income” economies should maintain long-term, sustainable economic growth in order to attract more “FDI inflow” in their respective economies. Compared to the current state of knowledge in the subject, the study’s findings provide evidence for “low-income” and “middle-income” nations that have been mainly overlooked in terms of sustainable growth for attracting FDI inflow. The study’s outcomes are applicable and generalizable only for “middle-income” and “low-income” economies. Future researchers may include additional control factors and expand the scope of the study to include “high-income” groups.

Objective: Aim was to compare the visual results of patients who received ECCE and phacoemulsification for the treatment of age-related cataracts. Study Design: Prospective study Place and Duration: Conducted at Jinnah International Hospital during from Jan, 2021 to Dec, 2021. Methods:There were 130 patients of both genders presented for cataract surgery. Patients were aged between 35-75 years.When patients signed an informed permission form, demographic information such as age and sex were recorded. Patients were equally divided in two groups. Group I received phacoemulsification (phaco) cataract surgery and group II received conventional extracapsular cataract extraction. Intraoperative and post-operative complication among cases was assessed. At last follow up best corrected visual acuity was assessed and compared among both groups. SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze complete data. Results:Among 130 cases, majority of the cases 85 (65.4%) were males and 45 (34.6%) were females. 15 (11.5%) patients were aged between 35-45 years, 45 (34.6%) patients were aged between 46-55 years, 38 (29.2%) were aged between 56-6 years and 32 (24.6%) had age > 65years. Post-operative we found significantly good vision among patients of phaco group in 54 (83.1%) cases as compare to group II in 31 (47.7%) cases. Frequency of intraoperative complications was higher in group II 9 (13.8%) as compared to group I 3 (4.6%) cases. Post-operative complications in group I was corneal decompensation, high astigmatism and posterior capsule opacity but in group II high astigmatism and corneal decompensation were the complications. Conclusion:We came to the conclusion that the visual outcome was considerably better in the Phaco operation compared to the ECCE technique (p = 0.003). As a result, we advocate for the provision of Phaco equipment in hospitals that have sufficient capabilities for the performance of intraocular surgery. Keywords:PhacoemulsificationSurgery, Extracapsular cataract extraction, Complications, Vision Acuity

Aim: To determine the frequency of hyperopia in children between 5 and 15 years of age. Study Design: Cross sectional study Setting and Duration of Study: Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi between March 2015 to September 2015 Methodology: 150 children between the ages of 5-15 years were included in the study. All children with eye disorders like corneal opacity, retinoblastoma, cataracts, amblyopia, chronic metabolic disorders, and hemoglobinopathies were excluded from the study. The participants were assessed for visual acuity was checked through a LogMAR visual acuity assessment chart for each eye. Those who found to have decreased visual acuity their pin-hole visual acuity was determined and then they got thorough examination by slit lamp biomicroscopy and fundoscopy to rule out causes of decreased vision other than refractive errors. Results: A mean (SD) age of 8.57 (2.52) years with 106 (70.76%) children between 5-10 years and 44 (29.33%) were between 11-15 years of age. Males were predominant in our study with 90/150 (60%) male patients and 60 (40%) female population. The frequency of hyperopia I our study was 93 (62%). Out of 60 female patients, 35 (58.33%) had hyperopia whereas, out of the 90 male patients, 58 (64.4%) patients had hyperopia. Conclusion: We reported that hyperopia is a very frequent refractive disorder found in children. Male are more frequently diagnosed with the disorder between the ages of 5-10 years. Further large-scale cohorts should be conducted to determine the correlating factors that increase the risk of hyperopia and prognosis. Keywords: hyperopia, refractive disorders, strabismus, emmetropia, ocular examination, visual acuity

In under two decades, the world has encountered three flare-ups of fatal Coronaviruses, including the ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. COVID-19 represented a crisis of worldwide concerns, and cases have been accounted for more than 200 nations/districts that came about in wellbeing, lives, and monetary misfortunes. China's financial development is anticipated to tumble to 5.6% this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) anticipated that arrangement venture and expense strategies to execute $3.3 trillion and contributes further $4.5 trillion. IMF conjectures develop from 3.7% of worldwide total national output (GDP) in 2019 to 9.9% in 2020. Gross domestic product proportion anticipated from 3.0%in 2019 to become 10.7% in 2020, the US proportion expected to increment from 5.8-15.7%.There is a desperate requirement for local and universal co-activity to stretch out hands to forestall further spreading of COVID-19. The IMF has reacted to the COVID emergency with exceptional speed and greatness of financial aid.This paper shows the response of the world against COVID-19. How the countries are helping each other to control the spread and discovering the cure of this virus. Asia has survived usefully and also defending the second wave of virus, but on the other hand, the Europe is the most infected region with the highest rate of death. Why Asia is near to win this fight with a stable economy, but the Europe is not, instead of this the economyisgoing to be crashed.These questions raisesto the Economy, Behavior andPolicies, of respective Countries.

The study aimed to explore the significance of the relationship between current asset management, and financial efficiency in the textile sector of Pakistan. Financial data were collected for 50 textile companies for the year 2001 to 2017. The researchers analyzed the study using panel-data estimation techniques like the fixed as well as the random-effect after applying the Hausman-test, and LM-test. Fisher type panel unit root test was also applied. The empirical results of the study indicate that current asset ratio as the measure of current asset management is a highly negatively significant driver of financial efficiency in the textile sector of Pakistan. Also, the controlling factors like leverage, and tangibility are significant factors of financial efficiency. The policymakers, and management of the companies in the textile sector of Pakistan should carefully consider current asset ratio for deciding on enhancing the financial efficiency of their firm as current asset ratio decreases financial efficiency in this sector.They should take careful decision in their current asset management practices.

Purpose: To compare the intraocular pressure (IOP) during 12 hour day-time phasing with one-time supine position IOP. Study Design: Prospective, observational. Place and Duration of Study: Glaucoma clinic of a tertiary eye – care center in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from September 2020 to February 2021. Methods: Forty two eyes of 21 participants with primary open angle and normal tension glaucoma were included in the study by convenient sampling technique. Three hourly diurnal Applanation tonometry was performed in sitting position from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. Mean IOP and standard deviations were calculated. One-time supine position IOP was taken by Perkins tonometer at 9:10 pm. Mean IOP at 9:00 pm in sitting position was compared with the mean IOP in supine position. Results: There were 15 males (71.42%) and 6 females (28.58%) in the study. Means of sitting position IOP during different times of the day ranged between 16.64 and 18.16 mmHg. The mean of IOP measured at 9:00am, 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm was 17.62 ± 4.04 mmHg. Mean supine position IOP at 9:10 pm was 22.38 ± 5.92 mmHg. Mean difference between supine and sitting position IOP was 4.75 ± 3.65 mmHg. This was statistically significant p-0.001.Direct comparison between sitting and supine IOP at 9:00 pm and 9:10 pm revealed the values to be 17.88 and 22.38 mmHg respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion: One-time supine position IOP gives a higher value than any one – time of IOP recorded during 12-hour diurnal phasing performed in sitting position. Key Words: Intra ocular pressure, diurnal phasing, Primary open angle glaucoma, Normal tension glaucoma.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the firm's specific, opacity and economy-specific variables to explain the variation in South Asian market returns and indicate that how the difference in adoption of accounting standards refers to the effect of the movement in stock returns.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the scope of the study, factor analysis, fixed effect, Driscoll and Kraay standard errors (DKSE) and Panel Corrected standard error (PCSE) models have been inducted to determine the influence of firm-specific, opacity and economy-specific variables on stock returns. The sample of study comprises 1,885 firms from five countries located in the South Asia region with the period 2005–2018. To ensure the reliability of data, firm-specific data have been collected from DataStream International, while an international country risk guide was used to compile the data for economy-specific variables.FindingsThis study concluded that firm-specific variables showed a consistent and significant association with stock return except for beta, accrual and momentum while earning aggressiveness was the only factor in opacity measure to capture the variation in stock return. The implementation of international accounting standards seemed to be significant and proves to be helpful to enhance the quality of accounting information.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study comprised the estimation error by avoiding the firm's observations with negative equity in case of earning opacity and majority (more than 50%) of the observation belongs to a single market as India out of final sample which leads to having biasedness in findings.Practical implicationsThis study helps the investors to consider the firms with smaller market capitalization and lower book to market ratio and avoid the momentum strategy under firm specific factors. Moreover, earning aggressiveness under opacity domain capture the variation in stock return and must be considered while investing funds.Originality/valueThe influence of adoption of international accounting standards along with firm and economy specific variable in South Asian Equity Markets return was the major contribution. Moreover, the inclusion of DKSE and PCSE models to examine the relevance of the financial and economic informational environment was also considered as a part of major contribution of this study.

The motivation for this research enquiry is to identify the role of the business age, size and risk for the choice of debt financing in the textile and apparel sector of Pakistan along with other controlled factors. The textile and apparel sector of Pakistan comprises 464 listed entities as the targeted population while the study randomly finalized 60 firms as the sample after carefully analyzing the required information from the financial statements during the annual revenue streams of 2013-2019. The predicted variable for this research enquiry is measured by short, long and total-debt ratios while the predictor variables include the business age, firm’s scale and risk. In addition, the research includes tax shield, tangibility, liquidity, profitability, and growth as the controlling factors. The study estimated that the choice of total-debt ratio is strongly affected by business age, size and risk along-with tax shield, tangibility, liquidity and profitability while the choice of short-term debt ratio mainly depends upon the firm’s scale and age along with the tax shield. In addition, the choice of long-term debt ratio is strongly explained by the firm’s scale and age along with the tax shield, liquidity and profitability. The estimated evidence provides management with the implications for the textile and apparel sector of Pakistan to consider as significant factors in deciding the debt financing choice of this sector. The estimated evidence of this research enquiry applies to the non-financial textile sector only and cannot be generalized to the financial sector. Future research may enhance the financing choice towards the inclusion of equity financing with the same set of variables.

The sole aim of the study is to analyze the effect of the lease as a potential driver of firm’s financial performance in oil and gas industry of Pakistan. The population for the current research study comprises of 18 listed companies of oil and gas sector of Pakistan but the final sample includes only nine companies which were using lease financing. The data were collected from the annual reports of companies from the year 2013 to 2017. Lease financing is used as an independent variable while firm performance as dependent variable defined by ROA. ordinary least square method was used. The study concludes that financing through the lease is not a significant driver of financial performance in oil and gas companies of Pakistan and also negatively affecting it rather these companies heavily rely on debt financing which decreases their performance. Only the firm size has a positive and significant effect on a firm’s performance in this sector. The policy makers and management should consider lease financing as a potential factor of decreasing the firm performance in oil and gas industry of Pakistan for future consideration. The research study has considerable importance for the oil and gas sector of Pakistan as the first in this domain for the future research, especially for the lease financing

Covering the period from 1980 through 2020, with an emphasis on COVID-19, this paper analyzes how trade policy uncertainty and sustainable development policies affected investment in medical innovation. In a twofold difference-in-differences (DiD) approach, using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), the paper takes account of exogenous and heterogeneous exposure to trade policy uncertainty and trade policy adjustment in developing nations, which limited tariff increases on imported products. Both long- and short-term effects have been analyzed. Beyond patent applications, margin responses, and exports, the study indicates that eliminating tariff uncertainty boosts innovation. Developing countries have had little effect on the long-term ramifications of sectoral innovation patterns, political shifts, and imported technology. A negative response to the innovation shock and a positive response by R&D corroborate bidirectional and unidirectional causality, respectively. They demonstrate a long-term link between medical innovation, trade policy uncertainty, and R&D spending. As regards sustainable development, GDP growth and HDI have positive, and GINI index and CO2 emissions, have negative long-run relations with medical innovation. This study contributes to the literature on innovation and policy uncertainty together with sustainable development factors in developed countries, and especially on innovation trends in the medical sector, where there is a current policy ambiguity regarding the influx of foreign technology and its significance.

Aim: To find the association of conjunctivitis through microflora in optical lenses users. Study design: Cross sectional study Place and duration of study: Department of Ophthalmology, Pakistan Railways Hospital, Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi from 1st January 2021 to 30th June 2021. Methodology: Forty patients were enrolled. Patient’s clinical symptoms, features were examined for conjunctivitis and slit lamp examination was also followed. Swab cultures from optical lenses were taken for conducting various agar v=based cultures for identifying microorganisms presence. Results: There were more males than females with mean age were 25±4.5 years. Clinical examination presented dryness in eyes as highest percentage. The anti-microbial sensitivity showed highest susceptibility pattern for resistance of ampicillin. Various bacterial types showed that highest frequency of Micrococci as 47.5%. Conclusion: A Robust association of conjunctivitis through microflora was found optical lenses users. Key words: Hygiene practices; Microflora; Optical lens users; Conjunctivitis

Aim: To identify the prevalence of bacterial and viral conjunctivitis. Study design: Prospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Ophthalmology, Pakistan Railways Hospital, Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi from 1st April 2021 to 30th September 2021. Methodology: Fifty conjunctivitis patients enrolled within age of 14-29 years. Clinical examination, slit lamp test and lab testing separated cases as viral or bacterial conjunctivitis. Polymerase chain reaction post culturing was sued in viral conjunctivitis cases while Kirby-Baur disc diffusion assay was sued in bacterial conjunctivitis confirmation. Results: There were 91.17% patients with viral conjunctivitis in age of 24-29 years and 62.5% patients with bacterial conjunctivitis within 14-18 years. The odds ratio value between the male and female gender showed a significant difference between both genders with 95% confidence interval with higher female frequency in both. Coronavirus cases were highest with 52.9% while cases of Micrococciwere highest as 37.5% with conjunctivitis. Conclusion: Viral conjunctivitis was more common in general cases due to recent covid-19 infection followed by Micrococci bacterial conjunctivitis. Keywords: Allergic conjunctivitis; Bacterial conjunctivitis; Children; Vision Impairment

Neurologic complications are a hallmark of infective endocarditis (IE). IE leading to intracranial abscess has an unfavorable prognosis. A 17-year-old boy with a past medical history of aortic valve replacement presented with fever and seizure. On examination, he had tachycardia, systolic murmur, slurred speech, meningeal signs, and right homonymous hemianopia. His laboratory analysis revealed an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. The brain's magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple ring-enhancing lesions in the frontal, occipital lobe, and occipitotemporal lobe, consistent with intracranial abscess. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a mobile mass adjacent to aortic value, consistent with possible infective vegetation. He was diagnosed with multiple cerebral septic emboli leading to intracranial abscess due to IE. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid culture revealed methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus growth. He was started on intravenous nafcillin and gentamycin. His condition improved gradually, and he became afebrile on hospital day four. On his recent follow-up, he was doing well.

Purpose: To document the complications of Manual suture-less cataract surgery in eyes with pseudo-exfoliation. Study Design: Interventional case series. Place and Duration of Study: Naseer memorial hospital, Dadyal, Azad Jammu Kashmir, from 4 July 2017 to 3 July 2019. Methods: One hundred and fifty patients with pseudo-exfoliation (PEX) and cataract were selected by convenient sampling. Patients with systemic diseases, history of trauma, intraocular pressure ≥15 mm Hg on Applanation tonometry and any other associated ocular disease for example retinal detachment or retinal disease, previous history of glaucoma or narrow/closed angle on Gonioscopy were excluded from the study. Dark brown cataracts were also excluded. Pseudo-exfoliation was diagnosed on slit lamp on the basis of presence of dandruff like material on the pupil and the anterior lens capsule. The patients underwent manual suture less cataract surgery under local anesthesia Intraoperative and post-operative complications were noted. first day postoperatively. The collected data and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21 for analysis. Results: The study group consisted of 64% males and 36% females with mean age of 65 ± 15.32 years. The most common difficulty encountered was poor pupil dilatation in 37.3% cases followed by Zonular dehiscence in 7.3%. On the first post-operative day, the most common complication was intraocular lens decentration in 2.6% of the cases. Conclusion: Pupils of patients with pseudo-exfoliation dilate poorly and makes surgery difficult. With good pupillary dilatation, careful capsulorhexis and minimal stress on the zonules, MSCS can be safely performed in eyes with cataract and PEX. Key Words: Pseudo-exfoliation, Cataract, Pupil.

The aim of this research was determining the factors of growth in the textile and food sector of Pakistan. The research study analyzed data from the financial statements of textile and food sector companies of Pakistan for the period 2013-17. A fixed effect regression model was used for regression analysis after the conformation of (Hausman, 1970) specification test. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant and positive impact of profitability and negative impact of leverage on firm growth in textiles as well as the food sector of Pakistan. The results also indicated that firm growth was not significantly affected by innovation, liquidity or solvency. Growth of assets was used to measure firm growth. The findings of the study are applicable to textile as well as food sector companies in Pakistan. This research study suggested that management and policymakers in the textile as well as in the food sector of Pakistan should consider profitability as a driving factor for enhancing growth in both sectors. A small number of research studies could be found for the driving factors of growth especially in the textile as well as for the food sector of Pakistan. The present research study contributed to the existing literature by providing fresh evidence from Pakistan as a developing market. It allows the research community to explore the differences and similarities for the driving factors of growth in both sectors of Pakistan.

This research study aims to investigate the potential inner factors of the lending rate in the commercial banking sector of Pakistan. For this purpose, seven bank-specific explanatory variables (capital adequacy, management efficiency, liquidity, asset quality, investment to asset, loan to asset and deposit to asset ratios) were selected to determine their impact on lending behavior. Panel data techniques were emplyed on secondary data collected from the annual financial reports from a sample of ninteen major commercial banks over a period of 2007 to 2014. For the purpose of analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and panel data techniques for regression analysis such as the fixed effect regression models were considered after conforming to the Hausman specification (1978) test. The findings of this study revealed that only four out of seven explanatory variables (ratio of investment to total assets, deposit to asset, loan to asset and liquidity ratio) have a significant relationship with lending rate. Two of the significant determinants (liquidity ratio and investment to asset ratio) are positively correlated while the remaining two significant explanatory variables (loan to asset ratio and deposit to asset ratio) are found negatively correlated with lending rate. The findings of the study are applicable to the banking sector of Pakistan. The current study ignored the use of macro factors like GDP and inflation, etc. which could be used in future research.

In present study, different foliar treatments were applied on peanut to check their ameliorative effect on Fe deficiency. In hydroponics experiments, foliar applications of FeSO4, Fe-EDTA, sequestrene and ferric chloride were applied to check their effect on Fe deficiency chlorosis in two varieties of peanut already screened as BARI-2000 (Fe deficiency tolerant) and BARD-699 (Fe deficiency sensitive). Sequestrene proved to be more effective in increasing the growth of plant. Photosynthetic rate increased up to 58 and 70% in BARI-2000 and BARD-699 respectively as compared to control with foliar application of sequestrene. Similarly higher active Fe concentration was recorded in both genotypes. Up to 14 and 41% increase in active Fe concentration was observed. Various morpho physiological parameters including root length, shoot length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, shoot fresh and shoot dry weights, SPAD values, photosynthetic and transpiration rates showed that BARD-699 was more responsive to foliar applications, while foliar application of sequestrene can be used in correcting Fe deficiency in both genotypes. Active Fe was significantly correlated with different morphological parameters in both genotypes. The results of presense experiment suggested that foliar applications were helpful in correction Fe deficiency in peanut and growth can be enhanced.

This paper explores the relationship between electricity consumption, employment rate, Inflation and economic growth in the developing countries. This study incorporates the data of 5 developing countries namely Pakistan, China, India, South Africa and Malaysia over the period 1990 to 2012 and analysis has been made by employing the method of random Generalized Least Square (GLS) model. Hausman specification test and random effect model is used in this paper. The result reveals that Electricity consumption is highly significant in developing countries. The insignificant relationship find between inflation and electricity consumption during this time span (1990-2012) means inflation has no direct impact on economic growth of developing countries. So this study proves that employment rate and electricity consumption are the main variables that shows the positive impact and inflation has no direct impact on economic growth of developing countries. Developing Governments should adopt different policies namely sustainable electricity

Enterobacter cloacae is not a primary human pathogen but has obtained an important role as a nosocomial pathogen. Acquiring this property of metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) producers, the pathogen becomes very virulent for the susceptible neonates and leaves little choice of antibiotics for its management. Blood samples (n=103) were collected in peadriatic blood culture bottles from suspected neonates aseptically. The samples were processed in BACTEC 9120. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method according to CLSI 2009. Carbapenems resistant E. cloacae were further analyzed for the detection of carbapenamase as per CLSI guidelines and MBL production by double disc potentiation method. Of 103 blood cultures specimens, 71 were declared positive by BACTEC 9120 and 91 isolates were recovered. Among these isolates, E. cloacae (n=12) were found to be carbapenems resistant and 10 out of these were carbapenamase and MBL producers. All MBL producing pathogens were pan-drug resistant. The spread of MBL among E. cloacae is an emerging threat particularly in hospitalized neonates. Key words: Enterobacter cloacae, metallo-β-lactamases (MBL), antimicrobial resistance.

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic Gram negative coccobacillus that can grow easily in moist as well as dry conditions. During the last decade, A. baumannii emerged as one of the most resistant opportunistic pathogens responsible for nosocomial infections including ventilator associated pneumonia. The bug remains an important and difficult to treat pathogen whose pan-drug resistant nature has created a serious challenge. This has restricted the choice of treatment modalities. Currently, it appears as if all the available antibiotics are failing against this pathogen while single antibiotic therapy is certainly not working anymore. Thus, there is a strong need, thus, to explore new regimens to combat this resistant organism. A wide range of various combinations of drugs should therefore be tested for their synergistic activity against this pathogen. This study was aimed to find some effective combinations against extensively drug resistant (XDR) A. baumannii by combining various antibacterials. The microdilution checkerboard titration method was used for this purpose and fractional inhibitory concentrations (FICs) were calculated. In-vitro synergy was found in polymyxin B-colistin (n = 3; 15%) and polymyxin B-rifampin (n = 3; 15%) combinations. Only additive effect was noted with polymyxin B-doxycycline (n = 12; 60%), polymyxin B-rifampin (n = 11; 55%), and polymyxin B-colistin (n = 13; 65%). However, antagonism was detected in the polymyxin B-rifampin combination in one of the 20 strains evaluated for the purpose. Polymyxin B in combination with rifampin and colistin may be exploited against XDR A. baumannii. Synergy between polymyxin B and colistin have been demonstrated in only 15% of strains, this fully warrants the testing of more combinations. Key words: Acinetobacter baumannii, extensively drug resistant, fractional inhibitory concentration.

Extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) producing members of the family Enterobacteriaceae are a major health problem in the hospitals and community. These enzymes confer bacterial resistance to penicillins, first, second and third generation cephalosporins and aztreonam. The prevalence of ESBLs varies from organism to organism and is increasing day by day. The study was designed to test typhoidal salmonellae for production of ESBL. One hundred and fifty eight (158) isolates of typhoidal salmonellae; Salmonella Typhi (n=126), Salmonella Paratyphi A (n=26) and Salmonella Paratyphi B (n=6) were collected from different hospitals of Lahore and Gujranwala. The isolates were identified morphologically, biochemically (API-20E) and serologically (BD Difco, USA). ESBL production has been tested by three methods; CLSI screening method, double disk diffusion synergistic method and CLSI phenotypic confirmatory method. CLSI screening method detected twenty two (22) strains as ESBL producers. However, when tested by the CLSI confirmatory method and by disk diffusion synergistic method, none proved to be ESBL producer. Based on our study, we concluded that the extended spectrum beta lactamase enzyme does not exist in tested clinical isolates of typhoidal salmonellae, however the isolates suspected to be ESBL by phenotypic methods must be subjected further for molecular analysis. Key words: ESBL, typhoidal salmonellae, isolate.

To the best of our knowledge, Non-O1 Vibrio cholerae (NOVC) bacteremia has never been documented in Pakistan. This case report is the first reported case of bacteremia in an infant due to NOVC in Pakistan. A neonate was admitted to a hospital with fever and no history of diarrhea. The isolate was identified biochemically and serologically and was sensitive to all the drugs tested as per CLSI 2014 guidelines.

Lead is a non-essential element reduced plant growth and development that may cause multifarious disturbance in physiological, biochemical and structural integrity of plants. SA is an efficient signal molecule induces systemic resistance responses that control local defense reactions in plants. To evaluate the effect of SA on photosynthetic activity of Pb affected plants therefore a pot experiment was conducted on barley genotype Juo- 93 and Juo- 87 in the Old Botanical Garden, University Of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Three treatment levels (0, 100 and 200 µM) of lead sulphate (PbSO4) were applied in thrice replication with or without SA (0.5 mM) along half strength of Hoagland’s solution till the termination of experiment. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design. During course of study growth and pigments modulations were recorded. The result indicated that growth parameters such as root and shoot length, leaf area, fresh weight of shoot and root, dry weight of shoot and root were reduced under lead toxicity. Pb stress damaged the photosynthetic pigments such as Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids but chlorophyll a/b was increased under Pb stress whereas exogenous application of SA alleviated the negative effect of lead toxicity. Juo- 93 showed more tolerance to Pb toxicity as compared to Juo-87.

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic bacterial disease. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, being the leading member of the MTB complex, is the main cause of tuberculosis worldwide. Tuberculosis is managed with combination of drugs: streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide. Over the recent past years resistance against first line antituberculous drugs has emerged rapidly throughout the world resulting in MDR strains. The new threat in the management of MDR-TB is the development of resistance against second line drugs: aminoglycosides, polypeptides, fluoroquinolones, and thioamides. Multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant TB (XDR) strains have become a major concern to control TB particularly in the developing countries. The need of the hour is to look for new modalities having antimycobacterial activity. Honey has been well known for its antibacterial activity. We intended to explore its antimycobacterial activity against MDR-TB. Objective. The objective of this study was to determine whether Pakistani Beri honey has any antimycobacterial activity. Method. The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore. Clinical isolates (n=21) of MDR-MTB were evaluated for their susceptibility to Beri honey. The isolates were provided, courtesy of Pakistan Medical Research Council. These isolates were identified by MTBc ID test (Becton & Dickinson) and further tested for their antimycobacterial activity using Beri honey. The honey was tested at the following concentrations (v/v): 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% in MGIT 960. Growth controls were also inoculated with each isolate (growth control has no concentration of honey, only containing growth of isolate). Results. MDR-TB isolates (n=21) were tested; 3 (14%) isolates were susceptible at 1% v/v honey, while at 2% v/v of honey 18 (86%) isolates were found to be susceptible. All the 21 isolates (n=21) were susceptible at 3% v/v of honey. Conclusion. The present study clearly demonstrates that Pakistani Beri honey possesses significant antimycobacterial activity in vitro. The antimycobacterial activity of Pakistani Beri honey may, therefore, be exploited in an appropriate mouse model.

To compare Bactec MGIT 960 with LJ media in terms of time taken for the initial isolation of mycobacteria.A total of 100 AFB (acid fast bacillus) positive sputum samples were processed and inoculated in both the Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) media and mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT) tubes.Of the 100 samples, positive growth was obtained from all the samples on both the MGIT and LJ media. In MGIT 53% samples grew in 4 days, 30% in 5 days and 17% in 6 days (Mean = 4.6 days) while on LJ media, 44% grew in 30 days, 20% in 35 days and 36% in 44 days (Mean = 37 days). Significant difference was observed between two systems with a p-value of less than 0.05.Bactec MGIT 960 is a much faster and efficient system for the initial isolation of mycobacteria.

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be one of the commonest pathogens encountered in clinical as well as laboratory practice. It has become a major health problem worldwide. Newer antimicrobials/agents are urgently needed to combat this problem MRSA resistance to various anti-staphylococcal agents. In the back-drop of this difficult situation Nigella sativa commonly known as black seed (ethanolic extract) was aimed at to evaluate if it had any anti-staphylococcal activity.The extract was prepared by reflux extraction method. Disc diffusion and in agar dilution methods were performed to assess the antibacterial activity. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 was used as the standard reference strain.All tested strains of MRSA were sensitive to N. sativa extract at a concentration of 4 mg/disc while the extract had an MIC range of 0.2-0.5 mg/ml.The results indicated that N. sativa has inhibitory effect on MRSA. This finding warrants necessity of further investigation of this product of folk medicine.

Diarrhoeal disease is a common cause of major public health concern in many parts of the world including Pakistan.Eighteen stool samples were received from Civil Hospital Mirpur Khas (Sindh). All the specimens were processed for culture and antimicrobial susceptibility according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines.Eight out of eighteen (44.4%) samples were positive for Vibrio cholerae. The isolates were gram negative rods, showed darting motility and were Oxidase positive. Contact with distilled water immobilized all these strains (Mdw). API 20NE was used for the biochemical identification and serological confirmation was done with 'difco' antisera. Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was performed for their respective susceptibility to various antibiotics. All these isolates were confirmed to be Vibrio cholerae O1 Biotype El Tor Serotype Ogawa. The isolates were generally sensitive to majority of the antibiotics but resistant to nalidixic acid except one strain. Six out of eight isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole.Cholera must be suspected in outbreaks of such kind of 'gastro'.