Different Regions Of Pakistan Research Articles

Addressing the Pitfalls of Single Poverty Line in the Estimation of Poverty in Different Regions of Pakistan

Addressing the Pitfalls of Single Poverty Line in the Estimation of Poverty in Different Regions of Pakistan

Prevalence of molecular markers of sulfadoxine\u2013pyrimethamine and artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum from Pakistan

BackgroundIn Pakistan, artesunate (AS) in combination with sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine (SP) is the recommended treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Monitoring molecular markers of anti-malarial drug resistance is crucial for early detection and containment of parasite resistance to treatment. Currently, no data are available on molecular markers of artemisinin resistance (K13 mutations) in P. falciparum isolates from Pakistan. In this study, the prevalence of mutations associated with SP and artemisinin resistance was estimated in different regions of Pakistan.MethodsA total of 845 blood samples that were positive for malaria parasites by microscopy or rapid diagnostic test were collected from January 2016 to February 2017 from 16 different sites in Pakistan. Of these samples, 300 were positive for P. falciparum by PCR. Polymorphisms in the P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (pfdhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (pfdhps) genes were identified by pyrosequencing while polymorphisms in the propeller domain of the pfk13 gene were identified by Sanger sequencing.ResultsThe prevalence of the PfDHFR 108N and 59R mutations was 100% and 98.8%, respectively, while the prevalence of PfDHFR 50R and 51I mutations was 8.6%. No mutation was observed at PfDHFR position 164. In PfDHPS, the prevalence of mutations at positions 436, 437, and 613 was 9.9%, 45.2%, and 0.4%, respectively. No mutations were found at PfDHPS positions 540 and 581. The prevalence of double PfDHFR mutants (59R + 108N) ranged from 93.8% to 100%, while the prevalence of parasites having the PfDHFR 59R + 108N mutations in addition to the PfDHPS 437G mutation ranged from 9.5% to 83.3% across different regions of Pakistan. Nine non-synonymous and four synonymous mutations were observed in the PfK13 propeller domain, none of which correspond to mutations validated to contribute to artemisinin resistance.ConclusionThe absence of the highly resistant PfDHFR/PfDHPS quintuple mutant parasites and the lack of PfK13 mutations associated with artemisinin resistance is consistent with AS + SP being effective in Pakistan.

Inappropriateness of medication use and associated health risks: A cross-sectional study from Pakistan

Purpose : To evaluate the patterns of medication use and medication appropriateness among people in different regions of Pakistan. Methods : A cross-sectional study involving 410 individuals in four provinces of Pakistan (Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) as well as the capital city, Islamabad, via a convenient sampling method. The questionnaire used comprised three major sections: (a) medication use patterns of the population, (b) medication storage and wastage practices, and (c) development of secondary disease after medication use. The questionnaires were completed under the supervision of pharmacists trained for the purpose. Results : The majority of the study population preferred bottle caps for taking oral liquid medicines (83.9 %), and the proportion using bottle caps was highest in Punjab (55.2 %) followed by Sindh (21.8 %). A significant proportion of the population consider the use of very hot water as a reconstitution medium for suspensions (36.3 %). In many cases, suspensions were constituted by mere estimation of the vehicle used (56.1 % from Punjab, 18.9 % from Sindh, 16.1 % from KPK, 7.7 % from Baluchistan, and 1.1 % from Islamabad). Significant differences were observed in the handling of leftover drugs among respondent populations, as well as the overall diverse modes of disposal recorded (43.9 %). Doctors (46.6 %) and relatives were the main sources of instructions on medicine usage (37.6 %). A disinclination to purchase a full course of medicine was observed. Knowledge of medicine storage and measuring tools for oral liquids showed striking peculiarities among the various study populations. Conclusion : Inappropriate medication use among the general population of Pakistan requires educational interventions and awareness programs to promote rational drug use in the society. Keywords : Inappropriate, medication, population, healthcare, use

Heating and Cooling Degree-Days Maps of Pakistan

The building sector consumes about 40% of the world’s primary energy. Seasonal climatic conditions have a significant effect on the energy consumption in buildings. One of the famous methods used for decoding this seasonal variation in buildings energy consumption is the “Degree Days Method”. Data has been widely published for the heating and cooling degree days of different countries. Unfortunately, there is very limited and outdated published data for the heating and cooling degree-days of Pakistan. In this study, yearly average heating and cooling degree-days for different regions of Pakistan are established by using 30 year long-term measured data for different base temperatures. The data is presented in tables and figures whereas heating and cooling degree-day maps of Pakistan have been developed.

The linkage between fertilizer consumption and rice production: Empirical evidence from Pakistan

Rice is one of the most important staple foods for 70 percent of the population of the world. It is among the main cereal crops grown in different regions of Pakistan as food crop. Pakistan has very much potentials for growing the crop and the potential rice production sown area is estimated to be about 2724 thousand hectares. The purpose of this study is to examine the linkage between fertilizer consumption and rice production in Pakistan from 1984 to 2014. For checking the stationarity of the data, this study incorporated Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) unit root tests. Furthermore, the Johenson Co-integration test is used to detect the long-term relationship among the series. Likewise, on the basis of annual time series data the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is employed to evaluate the impact of fertilizer consumption on the production of rice in Pakistan up to now. The results of ADF and PP unit root tests reveal that fertilizer consumption and water availability are integrated at I(0) whereas area and rice production are integrated at I(1). The empirical findings of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model indicate that area and fertilizer consumption for rice has a significant effect on the rice production in both short-run and long-run. In contrast, water availability has a significant effect on the rice production in the long-run but it was statistically insignificant in the short-run. The estimated equation remains stable from the period of 1984 to 2014 as showed by stability tests.

Acoustic Feature Analysis and Discriminative Modeling for Language Identification of Closely Related South-Asian Languages

With the advancement in technology, communication between people around the world from different linguistic backgrounds is increasing gradually, resulting in the requirement of language identification services. Language identification techniques extract distinguishable information as features of a language from the speech corpora to differentiate one language from other. Without publicly available speech corpora, comparison between different techniques will not be much reliable. This paper investigates state-of-the-art features and techniques for language identification of under-resource and closely related languages, namely Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Urdu. For language identification, speech corpus is designed and collected for mentioned languages. The dataset is a read speech data collected over telephone network (mobile and landline) from different regions of Pakistan. The speech corpus is annotated at the sentence level using X-SAMPA, its orthographic transcription is also provided, and verified data are divided into training and evaluation sets. Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients and their shifted delta cepstral features are used to develop language identification system of target languages. Gaussian mixture model with universal background model (GMM-UBM)-based and I-vector-based language identification approaches are investigated. The results show that GMM-UBM is more effective than the I-vector for language identification of short duration test utterances.

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF INFECTIOUS BURSAL DISEASE VIRUS FROM COMMERCIAL POULTRY IN PAKISTAN

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an immunosuppressive disease of young, growing chickens which results in impaired growth or mortality of rearing flocks. In the current era there is a re-emergence of very virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Viruses (vvIBDV) and classical variant (cv) IBDV strains which increased the financial losses of poultry industry worldwide. Recent studies were conducted to characterize the existing vvIBDVs prevailing in Pakistan. The suspected samples were collected from the field outbreaks during the period from 2014–2017. IBDV was detected by RT-PCR. The sequences of VP2 gene (hyper variable region) were determined and available details were aligned with sequences submitted inGenBank. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that both vvIBDV and classical variant strains were circulating in different regions of Pakistan. In Indo-Pak isolates, the presence of virulent markers, amino acids (A222, I242, Q253, I256 and S299) and “Serine rich- heptapeptide” indicated the presence of very virulent viruses. The presence of T284A isan indicator of vvIBDVs in local poultry farms. More than 99% similarity of Pakistani isolates with Indian sequences reflects the trans-boundary spread of IBD. In recent studies amino acid, Glutamine (Q) is present at position 221 (as reported in previous studies) rather than Histidine (H) in Pakistani sequences. It is investigated that Glutamic acid (E) is located at position 300 in minor hydrophilic region III of VP2 protein in all reported Pakistani isolates. It is the unique feature of indigenous strains. This study will be useful in understanding the origin and pathotypes of IBDV circulating in Pakistan.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: knowledge and practices of doctors at a tertiary care hospital in Lahore

Background: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a potentially fatal yet preventable zoonotic haemorrhagic disease which has consumed the lives of many health care workers in different regions of Pakistan over the past few years. There is neither a specific therapy nor an effective vaccine for the disease, which makes prevention the most rational approach towards CCHF. Hence, our main objective in this study was to determine the knowledge and practices of doctors regarding Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Lahore.Methods: Non-probability convenience sampling was used to recruit the study sample (N=136). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data comprising of 35 multiple response questions pertaining to demographic information and knowledge and practice of the respondents regarding CCHF. Descriptive statistics was used to present data as numbers and percentage.Results: The study participants included 46 house officers, 69 post-graduate trainee/medical officers and 21 consultants. Among the respondents, 80% rated their knowledge regarding CCHF to be insufficient and 71% revealed that they did not feel confident while managing a patient of CCHF. While managing patients with active haemorrhage, 32% of our respondents either never or only sometimes used personal protective equipment. Nearly all study participants (93%) expressed the desire to acquire more education on CCHF in future.Conclusions: Knowledge of doctors regarding CCHF and compliance in terms of standard infection control protocols were inadequate.

Comparison of Phenacoccus solenopsis specimens from different regions of Pakistan using COI molecular barcoding (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

SummaryBecause correct identification of insects is crucial for pest management involving chemical or biological control agents, we have used a molecular approach to identify and characterize specimens of the cotton pest Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Sternorrhyncha: Pseudococcidae) present in different regions of Pakistan. The specimens were analyzed through DNA sequence analysis of their mitochondrial COI (mtCOI) gene using an improved procedure that could distinguish between the pest and its associated parasitoid. Our analysis showed no variation among the mealybug specimens from different geographical locations of Pakistan and confirmed that this is the same species and haplotype that is infesting cotton plants in other parts of Asia. This information will assist in the development of biological control programs against P. solenopsis in Pakistan and other Asian countries.

Evaluation of climatic and geographical effects on bioactive compounds and minerals profile of two selected samples of white turnip

With the rise of various disorders in human beings related with free radicals perceived to recompense the scrutiny on synthetic and natural antioxidants to control the numerous perilous ailments and other carcinogenic hazardous diseases. Vegetables and fruits are the major source of natural antioxidants because these are majorly composed of natural antioxidants. Therefore, current study was carried out to focus on the significance and assessment of antioxidants in the ethanol and methanol extracts of turnip peels. Turnip samples were collected from two different regions of Pakistan i.e. Soon Valley and Sargodha region. Further two different solvent systems i.e. Methanol and Ethanol were used for each variety of turnip. Evaluated the antioxidant activity through DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity, total flavonoid contents, determined the total phenolic contents via Folin-Ciocalteu method and reducing power assay. Estimation of mineral profile was done by wet digestion method. In the samples of turnip percentage yield of methanolic extracts exhibited maximum antioxidant activity as compared to ethanolic extracts. Analysis of results revealed that methanolic extract of Sargodha region turnip possessed maximum concentration of TPC (Total pheolic content) as compared to the 80% ethanolic extract of soon valley region. In 100% methanolic extract radical scavenging activity exhibited maximum % inhibition as compared to ethanolic extract. In the extracts of turnip peels 100% methanol exhibited greater reducing potential. Mineral composition and levels vary across two different samples of turnip indicated the maximum concentration of minerals in Sargodha region turnip. As a consequence of this study solvents that were used possessed significant results (P<0.05) for the antioxidant compounds extraction from turnip samples. Keywords: Turnip; Antioxidant potential; Reducing powers; Moisture content; Minerals profile http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2017.60030

Chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from leaves of three Melaleuca species of Pakistani flora

This study presents essential oil composition of three Melaleuca species namely, Melaleuca bracteata F. Muell, Melaleuca fulgens R. Br. subsp. steedmanii and Melaleuca leucadendron (L.) L. collected from different regions of Pakistan. The chemical composition of essential oils was analyzed by GC-FID and GC–MS. Eugenol methyl ether was identified as a principal component in M. bracteata (82.3%), M. fulgens (87.8%) and M. leucadendron (95.4%) oils. In vitro antibacterial studies were done by agar well diffusion and microdilution method and the tested essential oils exhibited bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects against the tested foodborne pathogens at 4–8µg/ml. Time kill assay showed significant bactericidal effect of oils for four weeks. The antioxidant potential was assessed by free radical scavenging activity and reducing power assay. The oils showed strong antioxidant activity with approximately 89.0–89.5% inhibition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical and ferric reducing power in the range of 1.94±0.007–2.04±0.04% at 100µg/ml.

A Pashtu speakers database using accent and dialect approach

A small scale Pashtu speakers' database with multiple accents and dialects has been developed to use in Pashtu Speaker Identification Systems (SIS) and accents and dialect identification systems. Pashtu is a major spoken language of Pakistan and Afghanistan. At present, it has become very prominent worldwide due to its regional importance. The regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan where Pashtu is spoken are mostly occupied by the extremists who use Pashtu for their communication. In order to design Pashtu voice-based systems for security and other applications, a database has been designed in which the voice data is collected from 32 native Pashtu speakers of different regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Finally, using a subset of the data, Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP)-based SIS has been designed. The designed system achieved overall 87.5% identification accuracy and outperformed the recently proposed i-vector and GMM-based accent identification systems by showing 3.8% and 12.0% relative improvement respectively.

Anti-cholinergic and Ca2+-antagonist mechanisms explain the pharmacological basis for folkloric use of Sisymbrium irio Linn. in gastrointestinal, airways and vascular system ailments

Ethnopharmacological relevanceSeeds of Sisymbrium irio Linn has been used traditionally in different regions of Pakistan for the treatment of gastrointestinal, airways and vascular system ailments. To insight the pharmacological basis, in vitro study was conducted in order to validate its folkloric uses. Material and methods70% aqueous-methanolic extract of seeds from S. irio (Si.MEs) was tested on isolated rabbit aorta, jejunum and trachea strip hanged in tissue bath having physiological solutions aerated with carbogen and their responses were measured and recorded via Power Lab. ResultsThe Si.MEs exhibited the transient spasmogenic effect (0.01–1.0mg/mL) on spontaneous jejunum contractions, followed by the spasmolytic effect. The addition of atropine resulted in blocking in spasmogenic effect while the spasmolytic effect was originated, suggesting the presence of an antimuscarinic effect. Likewise verapamil, Si.MEs (0.03–5mg/mL) repressed the high concentration K+(80mM)-induced contraction and also drifted the Ca2+ concentration-response curves toward right (0.3–3.0mg/mL), possibly signifying the Ca2+ channel blockade. Furthermore, Si.MEs exhibited nonspecific relaxant effect on carbachol (1µM)- and high concentration K+(80mM)-induced tracheal contractions in a way comparable to dicyclomine, suggesting the coexistence of Ca2+-antagonistic and/or antimuscarinic properties. Additionally, Si.MEs also relaxed the phenylephrine(1µM)- and high concentration K+(80mM)-induced aortic contraction (0.01–3mg/mL), suggesting blockade of Ca2+ channel. Moreover, oral administration of Si.MEs, as high as 6g per kg, did not produce lethality among the treated groups of mice. ConclusionsAqueous-methanolic extract of seeds from S. irio (Si.MEs) exhibited the bronchodilator and gut modulator (spasmogenic and spasmolytic) activities, probably through dual blockade of muscarinic receptors and Ca2+ channels, whereas, vasodilator effect may be due to Ca2+ channels blockade.

Effects of rock water content on CERCHAR Abrasivity Index

Cerchar Abrasivity Index (CAI) has been commonly used to represent rock abrasion for estimation of tool wear in rock excavation applications. This test is a simple and effective measure of rock abrasion but operating parameters can impact its results. This paper focuses on the influence of water saturation on CAI values based on laboratory testing of 33 sedimentary rock units collected from different regions of Pakistan. The tests include CAI measurements as well as engineering rock properties on both dry and saturated rocks. It was found that overall 79% of CERCHAR abrasivity index values measured on saturated rock surfaces “CAIsat” were less than the CERCHAR abrasivity index values measured on dry rock surfaces “CAIdry”. Meanwhile, 52% of CAIsat values showed significant reduction from CAIdry values in the statistical analysis of CAI results with significance level of 15% (α=0.15). Regression analysis was used to correlate CAIsat values with CAIdry, normally measured in CERCHAR testing. The proposed formula can be used to estimate CAIsat from result of laboratory testing where CAI reported is often CAIdry. This could lead into more accurate estimation of tool wear and related adjustments when CAI is used for estimation of tool wear when excavation is done under wet conditions. Multiple regression was also used to establish a predictive model of CAIsat with petrographical, wear indices and geotechnical rock properties of saturated rock samples. In addition, the validity of correlations of CAI with rock properties that are already published was evaluated.

Spatial analysis and identification of high risk plague regions in Pakistan based on associated rodent species distribution.

Plague, caused by Yersinia pestitis, is an infectious bacterial disease that has a high fatality rate if untreated. Rodents are plague reservoirs and play an important role in disease spread. Plague cases have been reported extensively since the second pandemic from the 14th century in countries sharing borders with Pakistan, such as China and India, as well as nearby countries including Russia and central Asia. Despite being centrally located in a plague-infested geographical zone, there has been no plague incidence reported from Pakistan. This study aims to pinpoint some of the potentially important aspects of the disease, which have to be considered when assessing potential risk associated with a plague outbreak in Pakistan. In this context, the occurrence and distribution of plague-associated rodent reservoirs in different regions of Pakistan in relation to those found in the neighboring countries were mapped. In addition, the climatic factors that may also influence disease spread by affecting the growth of the bacteria are also discussed. The combined epidemiological and ecological surveillance studies suggest a prevalence of several potential rodent carriers in certain districts with the possibility of a plague outbreak in Pakistan.

Genetic analysis of the Saraiki population living in Pakistan

ABSTRACTAutosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers are a powerful tool used in forensic sciences for profile matching and paternity testing, sibship and kinship analysis. This study represents the allele frequency distribution of 15 autosomal STR multiplex of the Saraiki population living in Pakistan. Allele frequencies of this population were compared with the other populations living in Pakistan. Buccal swabs were taken from 150 unrelated individuals of the Saraiki population living in different regions of Pakistan and profiles were generated using an AmpFlSTR Identifiler PCR Amplification kit. Population genetic calculations were performed on this population. Allele frequencies of the Saraiki population showed that this population is at Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium except at loci D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, TPOX and FGA, with distinct differences in HObs and HExp values. The average heterozygosity and polymorphism information content (PIC) at all loci were 0.77 and 0.766, respectively. Each STR marker showed a high degree of polymorphism and a high power of discrimination (PD). A phylogenetic tree shows that the Saraiki population living in Pakistan is genetically distinct from other geographically neighboring populations of the country. The population data presented in this study can be used as a reference database for the Saraiki population in forensic casework.

Distribution of some heavy and essential metals Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe and Zn in Mango fruit (Mangifera Indica L.) cultivated in Different Regions of Pakistan

 In the present study, the concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn and Fe from 50 mango samples (Mangifera indica L.) were detected by electro-thermal/flame atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS/FAAS). In this study three varieties such as Dusahri, Langra and Chaunsa were collected from different regions (Multan, Sadiqabad, Rahimyar Khan and Mirpurkhas) of Pakistan. The effect of different varieties and environmental conditions on metal accumulation was also investigated. The aim of this study is to compare the level of essential and toxic metal in different regions and correlate the differences observed in metal accumulation to environmental conditions. The accuracy of the conventional acid digestion (CAD) method was checked by analyzing Certified Reference Materials (CRM) i.e. fortified water (TMDA-70), apple leaves (1515) and standard addition technique. The limit of detections (LODs) of the method were found to be 0.113, 2.0, 22.7, 3.85 and 3.05 µg L-1 for Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, and Zn, respectively.

Detection of Trends and Seasonal Variation in Tropospheric Nitrogen Dioxide over Pakistan

In this study, spatial and temporal distributions of tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities over Pakistan during the time period of 2002–2012 are discussed. Data products from the satellite instrument SCIAMACHY are used. The results show a large NO2 growth over major cities of Pakistan, particularly the areas with rapid urbanization. Different seasonal cycles were observed in different regions of Pakistan. In the provinces of Punjab (north east), Khyber Paktunkhwa (north west) and Sindh (south east), NO2 columns are maximum in winter and minimum in summer months while a reversed seasonality was observed in the province of Baluchistan (south west). We compared the observed spatio-temporal patterns to existing emission inventories and found that for the most populated provinces the NOx emissions are clearly dominated by anthropogenic sources. In these areas also the strongest positive trends were observed. NOx released from soils and produced by lightning both together contribute about 20% for the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Paktunkhwa, while its contribution in Baluchistan is much stronger (~50%). NOx emissions from biomass burning are negligible. This finding can also explain the observed summer maximum in Baluchistan, since the highet lightning activity occurs during the Monsoon season. Our comparison also indicates that the inventories of anthropogenic NOx emissions over Pakistan seem to underestimate the true emissions by about a factor of two.

Dengue transmission based on urban environmental gradients in different cities of Pakistan.

This study focuses on the dengue transmission in different regions of Pakistan. For this purpose, the data of dengue cases for 2009-2012 from four different cities (Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi) of the country is collected, evaluated, and compiled. To identify the reasons and regions of higher risk of Dengue transmission, land use classification, analysis of climate covariates and drainage patterns was done. Analysis involves processing of SPOT 5 10m, Landsat TM 30m data sets, and SRTM 90m digital elevation models by using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The results are based on the change in urbanization and population density, analysis of temperature, rainfall, and wind speed; calculation of drainage patterns including stream features, flow accumulation, and drainage density of the study areas. Results suggest that the low elevation areas with calm winds and minimum temperatures higher than the normal, rapid increase in unplanned urbanization, low flow accumulation, and higher drainage density areas favor the dengue transmission.

Measuring efficiency of cotton cultivation in Pakistan: a restricted production frontier study

Massive groundwater pumping for irrigation has started lowering water tables rapidly in different regions of Pakistan. Declining water tables have thus prompted research efforts to improve agricultural productivity and efficiency to make efficient use of scarce water resources. This study employs a restricted stochastic production frontier to estimate the level of, and factors affecting, technical efficiency of groundwater-irrigated cotton farms in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The mean technical efficiency estimates indicate substantial technical inefficiencies among cotton growers. On average, tube-well owners and water buyers can potentially increase cotton production by 19% and 28%, respectively, without increasing the existing input level. The most influential factors affecting technical efficiency positively are the use of improved quality seed, consultation with extension field staff and farmers' perceptions concerning the availability of groundwater resources for irrigation in the future. This study proposes that adopting improved seed for new cotton varieties and providing better extension services regarding cotton production technology would help to achieve higher efficiency in cotton farming. Within the context of falling water tables, educating farmers about the actual crop water requirements and guiding them about groundwater resource availability may also help to achieve higher efficiencies. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.