Baluchistan Province Research Articles

Epidemiological and pathological characteristics of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis from Baluchistan Province of Pakistan.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is considered a neglected tropical disease which in Pakistan can now be considered as a growing public health problem. The exact figures on the magnitude of the disease are lacking both at the national and regional level and only a few health centres are available for diagnosis of CL. The present study was designed to identify the epidemiology of CL infection from August 2018 to December 2019 and to assess clinical aspects of CL in Baluchistan Province of Pakistan. A total of 4072 clinically suspected CL cases were analysed statistically. The highest number of CL cases were reported in May, followed by April, January and then July, February and June and the lowest number of cases were observed in March and November. The highest prevalence rate was found in males where 38% of reported cases were aged 0-9 years. The majority (24.4%) of lesions were found on the hands followed by the face in which cheeks, ears and nose were the effected organs. About 50% of the participants have single lesion while 14% of the participants had two and nearly 3% of the participants have six lesions. The atypical clinical presentations were observed in Baluchistan and common unusual presentations were lupus erythematosus. The study findings suggest that more epidemiological studies and health education campaigns are needed for the population awareness regarding CL in Baluchistan. It is recommended that risk factors should be evaluated to establish control and management strategies to prevent disease at the individual and community level.

GALVANIZING DEVELOPMENT IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH CHINA PAKISTAN ECONOMIC COORIDOR PROJECTS

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a $ 60+ billion plan between China and Pakistan to build a network of highways, trains, and pipelines between these regions. It is a key project for China's One Belt, One Road Initiative (OBOR) project, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and New Silk Road. This is a 2,000-mile route from China, across Pakistan, to the newly built Gawadar port, located on the Arabian Sea in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, connecting from Asia Minor to the Arabian Sea and the Channel of Hormuz. . Several energy and infrastructure development projects will boost economic growth on roads from north to south. This paper is an analysis of the implications of CEPEC projects on KPK.

Ascaris Lumbricoides Infestation as an Unexpected Cause of Acute Pancreatitis

Ascariasis is the most common helminthic infection. It is most common in children of tropical and developing countries where the transmission is by contamination of soil by human feces or use of untreated feces as fertilizer. Transmission in most endemic areas is via person to person contact. We hereby present a case report of acute pancreatitis due to ascariasis. Twenty-five-year-old male patient presented to us with chief complaint of acute epigastric pain radiating to back and associated with vomiting. Initial lab investigations revealed increased serum amylase and lipase. Probable diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was made. CT scan was done and report revealed bulky pancreas, and significant peri-pancreatic fat stranding. He was managed symptomatically with intravenous fluids, analgesics, anti-emetics and enteral nutrition. However, the cause remained undetermined as we ruled out the possible etiologies of acute pancreatitis until one day the patient vomited a 15-cm round worm. Thereafter, his condition improved dramatically. This is one of the first few case reports of ascariasis-induced pancreatitis from Pakistan and the first one from Baluchistan province of Pakistan. Thus it highlights ascariasis as possible etiology of acute pancreatitis in regions where ascariasis is geographically endemic.

Crimean congo hemorrhagic fever: Introduction and overview of the cases reported from Pakistan

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever is a tick borne lethal zoonotic disease caused by Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus belonging to the genus Nairovirus and Family Bunyaviridae. It contains Single stranded negative sense segmented RNA genome. The host range of CCFHV includes domestic as well as wild animals and birds. The incubation period of the disease varies from 3 to 13 days depending on the mode of transmission of disease, resulting in high grade fever, headache, dizziness, Photophobia, low blood pressure, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hemorrhages, multi organ failure and death. No specific treatment is available so far, suspected cases are given supportive treatment and an antiviral agent Ribavirin. It is a global epidemic and was reported for the first time in Pakistan in 1976. Since 2000 sporadic cases have been reported in Pakistan mostly effecting Baluchistan and KP province due to the cross-border trade and migration of human beings and animals. Proper surveillance systems and guidelines need to be established to control and prevent the spread of disease. Keywords: Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever; Epidemic; Pakistan http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2020.90260

A new species of Phyxioschema (Araneae: Dipluridae) from Iran

Phyxioschema gedrosia sp. nov. is described from a single male collected in Sistan & Baluchistan Province, southeastern Iran. The new species appears most closely related to P. roxanaSchwendinger & Zonstein, 2011 found in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, from which it clearly differs by the shape of tibia II (angle between article and its ventral spur acute instead of rounded; apical megaspines of spur situated one behind the other instead of side by side) and of metatarsus II (proventral keel subquadrangular instead of triangular). The presence of two additional Phyxioschema populations in southwestern and central Iran is mentioned and the currently known distribution of the genus in Iran is mapped.

Social-cultural impacts of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor on the well-being of local community

In this research, the impact of infrastructure improvement as a result of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative on the well-being and quality of life (QOL) of residents has been studied. Using the primary data collected from the local population of the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, a link between the socio-cultural effects of CPEC development and the subjective well-being of local citizens has been established. A total of 495 relevant responses were used to assess the well-being of the population through structural equation modeling. Results have shown that the social, cultural, and educational benefits of local communities are significant predictors of the well-being of citizens, and QOL issues have shown to have a major impact on the well-being of citizens. However, findings have also shown that the community resource has an important link with the subjective well-being of citizens. Furthermore, the results also give the local community perceptions of the CPEC initiative; hence the officials of the province can use the findings of this study to create prospective approaches based on the local community perceptions toward better exploitation of CPEC as an opportunity.

Investigating the performance of staff members of environment organization of Sistan and Balochestan

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the environmental management Sistan and Baluchistan province. Methodology: Given that the most important factor in any organization's management to evaluate performance and factors affecting productivity beyond. Results: The research was descriptive and from the viewpoints of 200 managers, supervisors and experts with a standard questionnaire EFQM and with considerable validity and Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient and then with me T-Test and collected survey data and their analysis, the results presented in the study. Conclusion: The results showed a descriptive study management received good scores.

Risk Factorsfor Construction Workforce Safety towardsSustainability

This research article is based on the identification of safety risk factors associated with construction projects in Pakistan related with the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC). In this paper, four construction sites have been targeted from Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan province of Pakistan. The research was based on quantitative mode where the questionnaire survey was adopted for data collection and analysed statistically. The targeted respondents were 400 CPEC construction workforces from four different targeted sites in Pakistan. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistical methods of Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0 software. According to the findings, it has been specified that the respondents fromall four targeted construction sites in Pakistan has considered three major safety risk factors such as administrative, personal protective equipment (PPE) and workforce safety. Risk factors for administrative is between 1.06 and 2.65 (low level to moderate level), for PPE is between 1.06 and 2.65 (low level to moderate level) and for workforce safety is between 2.4 and 3.60 (moderate level to high Level). Meanwhile, the safety experts have been indicated the lack of proper training & PPE equipment’s, falling from height and falling object hazardsare as the major cause of injuries at Pakistani construction sites related with CPEC projects.The findings of this study will be the catalyst for the CPEC projects in Pakistan to minimize the safety and health concern among construction industry workforce.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Among Pregnant Women and Small Ruminant Populations in Sistan Region, Iran

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasmosis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in human societies and ani- mal populations, particularly pregnant women and domestic animals. This life-threatening infection may cause severe consequences in the fetus. OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of anti-parasite antibodies in pregnant wom- en and sheep and goat populations of Zabol city, Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Southeast Iran. METHODS: Ninety serum samples of pregnant women and 184 serum samples of sheep and goats were collected and anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies were examined using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Subsequently, the correlation between the seroprevalence of infection and socio-de- mographic data was statistically calculated. RESULTS: Among pregnant women, 13/90 (14%) samples were IgG positive and seroprevalence was signifi- cantly correlated to history of abortion (p <0.05). Among examined sheep and goats, 34 sheep (24.6%) and 3 goats (6.5%) out of 184 (138 sheep and 46 goats) serum samples were positive for parasite-specific IgG. Also, the seroprevalence of infection was significantly associated with animal species (p <0.05), history of abortion (p <0.05) and parity (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: According to the findings of this study, despite the relatively low prevalence of infection in pregnant women in Sistan, given the high prevalence of infection in the small ruminant population of the region, more careful monitoring and control of transmission of infection from small ruminants along with other common vectors of the disease are essential. However, more precise investigations are needed to reveal the epidemiological aspects of the parasite in Sistan.

قاضی نصیب اللہ کی فقہ حنفی میں خدمات کاتجزیاتی جائزہ

In term of agriculture and contemporary knowledge Baluchistan province is barren but&#x0D; as far as religious concerned it is gateway of Islam. Many companions of Prophet (SAW) are buried here still this province is fertile in respect of producing religious scholars. However, it is fact that due to lack of resources many books of religious scholars couldn’t publish. Many writers’ books are uncountable and mostly books are being read and utilized in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and many other countries of the world. But these people either prevent themselves from fame or being ignored by media due to lake of religious knowledge. One of these then tic researchers Molana Qazi Naseebullah he belong to Hanafi Sect. He is born in union council Ajram district Pashin in 1968.He studied in different seminaries of Baluchistan and Sindh and completed his education in 1993.After completion of education he started teaching. In his 26 years of teaching he wrote many magnificent books which are prominent work on Hanfi, jurisprudence.He wrote six books up till now.Students of Seminaries read his books and shared with each other’s.Hopefully he would set more milestones in respect of Hanfi sect.I am going to write an analytaical report on his services in fiqa hanfi jurisprudence.

&lt;p class="Body"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First report of marine intertidal mites of the family Fortuyniidae (Acari: Oribatida) from Iran, with description of a new species and an updated key to the world’s species of &lt;em&gt;Fortuynia&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

The marine intertidal zone constitutes one of the most interesting ecosystems on the earth. Oribatid mites of the family Fortuyniidae inhabit marine intertidal habitats in the tropical and subtropical coasts of the world. This family has not been known from Iran until now. The present work deals with a new oribatid species of this family found at the coast of the Gulf of Oman, southeastern Iran, from algae in the intertidal zone of a rocky shore. Fortuynia iranica sp. nov., is described from littoral environments of Chabahar Beach, Sistan and Baluchistan province based on adult and juvenile (deutonymph) stages. The new species is characterized by the presence of both prodorsal external and internal channels; fourteen smooth, thin and long notogastral setae, with a light-colored porose spot in the insertions, c3 completely absent; sensilli with a very slightly oriented head; glove-like lenticulus; epimeral setation 3-1-3-2 and presence of one pair of aggenital setae. An updated diagnostic key to the adults of known species of Fortuynia van der Hammen, 1960 is given.

Molecular, histopathologic and electron microscopic analysis of white spot syndrome virus in wild shrimp (Fenneropenaeus indicus) in the coastal waters of Iran.

So far, there have been no studies on the distribution of viral white spot syndrome in wild Indian white shrimp (Fenneropenaeus indicus) brooders at Iranian capture sites. This study was conducted to investigate the presence of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in wild Indian white shrimps in Iran, using PCR, histopathologic, and electron microscopic surveys. The samples were collected within two seasons (autumn and spring) and from two provinces (six capture sites), from the major hatcheries providing spawners. Eight hundred thirty-three samples were collected and analyzed first by PCR, after which the positive samples were examined using histological tests, and if inclusion bodies were observed, electron microscopy was also used. White spot syndrome virus was detected only at the capture sites in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, where the mean infection rate was significantly higher in the spring (8.7%) than in the autumn (2.03%). At the Chabahar, Pasabandar, and Govater capture sites, the mean infection rate was significantly higher (4.9%, 2.1%, and 9.2%, respectively), than in Hormozgan Province. The results showed that there was no significant difference in infection rate between the two different sizes and sexes of shrimps (P < 0.05). Phylogeny analysis revealed a close relationship between the viruses from this study and those in other Asian countries, including China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. It is possible that the virus has spread across the Indian Ocean to other countries. Therefore, the spawners in this study, particularly those collected during the spring and those from capture sites in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, were found to be more susceptible to WSSV infection, and the virus might have been transmitted vertically from WSSV-infected brooders to post-larvae.

Determinants of households' food insecurity with severity dimensions in Pakistan: Varying estimates using partial proportional odds model.

This study is conducted to determine the impact of some selected socioeconomic and demographic factors on households' food insecurity in Pakistan. Data are taken from national-level survey Household Integrated Income and Consumption Survey 2015-2016. Inclusion of gender dimensions of some important factors and estimation of varying estimates at four severity levels of households' food insecurity status using partial proportional odds model may be considered unique features of the study. It is concluded that household's income, employment, agricultural income, donations, parental education level and some households' characteristics are important factors for improving food security in Pakistan. Maternal education, and maternal paid employment compared to paternal education, and paternal paid employment show strong positive effects to improve severe food insecurity. Couple paid employment, livestock ownership and operating agricultural land seem to have the most effective role for improving food security. Social welfare programmes and religious institution of Zakat are helpful to cope with severe food insecurity in Pakistan. Some special efforts or development strategies are recommended to improve food insecurity of rural households and Baluchistan province. Moreover, the observed U-type quadratic impact of household size and the adverse impact of dependency ratio induce effective policies to control high birth rate in Pakistan. Hence, creation of employment opportunities especially for women, appreciation of couple paid employment, easy access to education for women, steps to raise level of education, growth of agricultural sector, rural development, social welfare and development schemes for Baluchistan, and continuation of Benazir Income Support Program are recommended to overcome severe and moderate level food insecurity in Pakistan. Since socioeconomic conditions and food insecurity issues of developing countries and especially in South Asian countries are homogeneous and therefore, the analysis in this study might be relevant to South Asian region.

Ground Fracturing Related to 7.8Mw Saravan Earthquake, Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran - Evidence for Brittle Deformation

Abstract The eastern parts of the Sistan and Baluchistan province, southeast Iran is a tectono-magmatically active zone that continues to witness numerous small and large earthquakes. The volcanism in this region is related to the subduction of the Oman plate below the Eurasian plate. The study of the spatial distribution of the epicenter and focus of the earthquakes suggests close association with the numerous faults related to collisional tectonics. Evidence of ground fractures and faulting related to Saravan earthquake of 16th April 2013 which is the largest (7.8 Mw) recorded earthquake in the region is documented. This earthquake occurred along a segment of the NW-SE trending Saravan normal fault and its reverberations were felt as far away as New Delhi and Dubai. En echelon, 2-km long, northwest-southeast trending surface fractures and faults are recorded in the field near Hampani village southwest of Gosht city. The epicenter is located in the remote hilly terrain east of Gosht. Many of the fractures are listric. The fault records a downthrow of about half a meter and some segments record brecciation of phyllite, liquefaction of sediments and emergence of saline springs are associated features. Despite the high magnitude only a few casualties and minor damage to civil structures were recorded in Iran due to the sparse population and its remoteness.

Identification and assessment of sites for solar farms development using GIS and density based clustering technique- A case of Pakistan

Site selection plays a vital role in the entire life cycle of solar farm and merits further consideration. Current studies for the site selection have several limitations. First, application of criteria related to infrastructure in the initial phase can screen out prospective solar farms or make them less desirable. Second, infrastructure criteria are less significant in circumstances where new cities and town are to be planned. Lastly, clustering is often ignored in site selection problem to classify farms and determine their sizes. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes a methodology that focuses primarily on areas that has maximum energy potential and excludes the infrastructure requirements initially from the analysis. The methodology uses Geographical Information System (GIS) for data acquisition and mapping, whereas a novel density-based clustering approach is employed to identify and group sites with high solar potential. The methodology is applied to the geographic boundaries of Pakistan. However, the methodology can be applied to any spatial context subject to the availability of similar data. The paper concludes with recommendations to energy policy makers by providing a list of potential clusters, with their sizes ranging between 10−289km2 located in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan.

Application of a standardized precipitation index for mapping drought severity in an arid climate region, southeastern Iran

Drought is a recurring climate phenomenon causing many environmental and agricultural problems among others. To limit drought consequences, it is essential to monitor drought and implement efficient control measures. The aim of this study is to investigate the application of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) for the 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 48-month timescales for mapping the drought severity as an effective water management tool in an arid climate region. Calculations of the SPI were performed using historic records of monthly precipitation data of 50 stations over the Sistan and Baluchistan province, southeast of Iran. The majority of the SPI variants showed a moderate to strong spatial correlation with a spherical structure. In 1997, having a higher amount of rainfall, all areas across the province were in a wet or normal condition. In the years with a low rainfall amount (e.g., 2012), the western and southeastern parts of the province have been affected by different degrees of drought especially at the moderate timescales 6 and 12 months. The generated SPI maps identified the most vulnerable regions to drought over the province where government investments should be prioritized for an improved resiliency of the water management infrastructures and for designing a strategic crop management plan with less irrigation water demands.

An initial assessment of tidal energy resources using GIS for Miani Hor, Baluchistan province, Pakistan

An attempt is made for the first time to assess tidal energy resources at Miani Hor tidal lagoon of Baluchistan province of Pakistan by applying an innovative approach using Geographical Information System (GIS) tools/techniques to develop different geo-statistical models. Baluchistan is the largest province of Pakistan and fortunate to have a natural tidal lagoon called Miani Hor. The potential of harnessing tidal energy in Miani Hor tidal lagoon is considered to provide great benefits for future energy resource in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, but no relevant research has been carried out to estimate potential of tidal energy at Miani Hor tidal lagoon; the main reason seems to be unavailability of tidal data at said site. Therefore, a study is required to estimate and exploit energy resources of Miani Hor tidal lagoon. For this purpose, tidal data of five different locations was acquired along the coast, predictions were made for tidal data at Miani Hor, and validation was performed. To estimate the energy resources at Miani Hor, best-fitted method was selected for the model development. Based on the results of model, consideration of tidal lagoon impoundment and location for the sluices is discussed. Finally, with an impoundment area of 161.50 km2 and sluices’ width of 1.72 km, 121.1 MW power generation is estimated with proposed turbine array.

Data-Driven load management of stand-alone residential buildings including renewable resources, energy storage system, and electric vehicle

Demand side management (DSM) plays a critical role in dealing with power system reliability as one of the main challenges of generating energy in stand-alone residential buildings. This paper introduces a new effective approach of DSM based on predetermined hourly generation and time-varying tariffs to enhance the reliability and quality of a stand-alone energy system. This research focus on two main novelties: 1) analyzing data via clustering method to improve the efficiency and accuracy of DSM, and 2) a state-of-the-art modeling framework DSM for a stand-alone residential building. Looking at first novelty, the well-known linkage-ward clustering method is used for defining time-varying tariffs and in the second novelty the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulates the power system components, load management and objective function considering user's priority and convenience to improve the reliability of a stand-alone energy system. The proposed method outperforms DSM in hybrid power systems consisting of photovoltaic, wind turbines, and energy storage systems. To illustrate the efficiency of this strategy, the proposed DSM is applied to a stand-alone building located in Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran as an experimental case. Considering four different case studies that include a battery energy storage system and electric vehicle, the results reveal that the power system reliability and energy supplying quality are significantly improved by utilizing the aforementioned DSM.

Surgically confirmed cases of cystic echinococcosis from Baluchistan Province, Pakistan for the years 2011–2018

IntroductionCystic echinococcosis (CE) is a parasitic zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus tapeworms. It has a worldwide geographic distribution and can threaten the livestock industry and human health in endemic areas, including Pakistan. CE prevalence is high in Pakistan due to lack of local knowledge about disease transmission and a lack of control measures. The Pakistan province of Baluchistan shares a border with Iran and Afghanistan and is largely agricultural. However, little is known about E. granulosus transmission in this region. MethodsInformation on surgically confirmed cases of CE in Baluchistan Province was obtained through evaluation of paraffin fixed cyst samples and patient records obtained from three local hospitals for the years 2011–2018. ResultsA total of 22 paraffin fixed samples were collected during the study period. The majority of cysts were obtained from the liver (9/22; 40.9%), with anatomical location not available for two of the cysts. Demographic information was available for 18 cases. Females made up 61.1% (11/18) of the cases. The largest numbers of cases were found in the 31–40 years age group (5/18; 22.7%). DiscussionThis study shows that Echinococcus spp. parasites are circulating in the study area. In order to control the disease, a comprehensive regional surveillance and control program is needed.

Epidemiological study of injuries caused by violence and conflict in forensic medical records of selected cities of Sistan and Baluchistan province in 2020.

Background and Aims:Interpersonal violence is a socially traumatic and unpleasant phenomenon. These violence-related injuries are sometimes irreparable and can become a permanent problem, Violence in Iran is one of the five most socially harmed and has increased dramatically in recent years, therefore the present research aimed to investigate epidemiological study of injuries caused by violence and conflict in forensic medical records of selected cities of Sistan and Baluchistan province in 2020 considering this subject must be one of our priorities.Methods:This study was a descriptive study performed in forensic medicine centers of two cities in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran. The population consisted of existing citations and records, sample size based on similar studies and the recommendation of professors, all available records were considered and census method was used to select the samples. The data gathering tool consisted of two sections: demographic information and violence and conflict. Content validity method and reliability test were used to determine the validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS24 software.Results:The results showed that the majority of the sample was 20-29 years old, male, married, self-employed and high school graduated, living in the eastern part of the city, with no history of mental illness, domestic violence, child abuse, and spouse abuse. The majority of the study units did not use any drugs. The most violent were beatings and bullying. It included several organs such as limbs, soft tissue damage with bleeding.Conclusion:The results of this study indicate the importance of epidemiological analysis of violence and conflict in the provinces under study and show that appropriate solutions and culture building, as well as increasing awareness of the impact of violence and conflict on individuals and their injuries.