Pakistani Individuals Research Articles

A Cross-Sectional Study of Potential Antimicrobial Resistance and Ecology in Gastrointestinal and Oral Microbial Communities of Young Normoweight Pakistani Individuals.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health concern mainly affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to lack of awareness, inadequate healthcare and sanitation infrastructure, and other environmental factors. In this study, we aimed to link microbial assembly and covariates (body mass index, smoking, and use of antibiotics) to gut microbiome structure and correlate the predictive antimicrobial gene prevalence (piARG) using PICRUSt2. We examined the gastrointestinal and oral microbial profiles of healthy adults in Pakistan through 16S rRNA gene sequencing with a focus on different ethnicities, antibiotic usage, drinking water type, smoking, and other demographic measures. We then utilised a suite of innovative statistical tools, driven by numerical ecology and machine learning, to address the above aims. We observed that drinking tap water was the main contributor to increased potential AMR signatures in the Pakistani cohort compared to other factors considered. Microbial niche breadth analysis highlighted an aberrant gut microbial signature of smokers with increased age. Moreover, covariates such as smoking and age impact the human microbial community structure in this Pakistani cohort.

Investigation of the CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) delta32 and gene variants in HIV infected patients

CCR5 is an important CC chemokine receptor for the normal entry of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in host cells. Mutations in this gene have been linked with delayed HIV infection, therefore, the current case-control study was conducted to identify genetic polymorphism in CCR5 gene in Pakistani population and to evaluate its association with resistance for HIV infections. All regulations of MOOSE and Helsinki Declaration were strictly followed during the entire study. DNA was extracted from the blood samples of HIV positive and HIV negative patients. Extracted DNA was amplified for CCR5 gene by PCR. Amplified product was sequenced to screen out polymorphism mutation, including most prevalent 32 base-pairs deletion through Bioedit. Novel SNP in 5?UTR region was identified and examined by CRYP-SKIP server. None of the studied samples demonstrated any previously reported polymorphisms. CRYP-SKYP server predicted that this polymorphism has no effect on splicing or transcription of CCR5 gene. Genetic Polymorphism of delta32 mutation in CCR5 gene was found in Pakistani individuals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from this region. However, large scale studies should be conducted for extensive view of the association of delta32 mutation in CCR5 gene and resistance for HIV infection.

NDSP 12: Atherogenic index of plasma as a useful marker of cardiovascular disease risk among Pakistani individuals; a study from the second National Diabetes Survey of Pakistan (NDSP) 2016–2017

AimTo investigate the reliability of atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) as a marker of cardiovascular disease risk and its correlation with CVD risk factors. MethodologyIt is a sub-study of the second National Diabetes Survey of Pakistan (NDSP) 2016–2017, an epidemiological survey including both genders with >20 years of age in all four provinces of Pakistan. Out of 213 clusters, twenty-seven clusters were selected and households were identified from each cluster. Selected members of every 10th household were counseled for a visit to the campsite after observing an overnight fast. Standardized techniques were used for measuring height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Biochemical parameters including oral glucose tolerance test, lipid profile, and various lipid-derived parameter/ratios were also analyzed via standardized methods. ResultsA total of 7351 individuals were selected for this sub-analysis after fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Mean AIP score was calculated as 0.38 ± 0.31 with statistically significant difference among all groups (p < 0.0001), and according to the AIP risk categorization, a majority of 6996 individuals (95.2%) fell in the high-risk category of developing CVD, whereas 258 (3.5%) were in moderate and only 97 (1.3%) individuals were found in the low-risk category. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed male gender and diabetes as risk factors for developing CVD based on the AIP score. Furthermore, various lipid-derived parameters LDL-C and HDL-C, TG and HDL-C, lipoprotein combined index (LCI) were shown a strong correlation with AIP. ConclusionThe significant association between AIP and CVD risk factors exists and high levels of AIP in Pakistani population may be an alarming sign in developing cardiovascular disease.

Do mountains move faith?

This study investigates the relationship between exposure to the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and religiosity. We use detailed information on 19,340 Pakistani individuals, including time devoted to religious activities and the intensity of the damage generated by the earthquake, to analyze how religiosity is related to earthquake exposure. Our key finding is that exposure to the earthquake positively correlates with religiosity. This finding supports the religious coping hypothesis that individuals enhance religiosity following an extreme event. We also observe that the strength of religious coping varies with education and age. Additionally, men and women differ regarding the relationship between exposure to the earthquake and religiosity. Finally, we find that being affected by the earthquake is associated with higher social and individual religiosity. • We investigate the connection between the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and religiosity. • Earthquake exposure is positively associated with religiosity. • Earthquake exposure is associated with higher social and individual religiosity. • The results support the religious coping hypothesis. • The strength of religious coping increases with education and age.

Genetic diversity and forensic application of Y-filer STRs in four major ethnic groups of Pakistan

17 Y-chromosomal STRs which are part of the Yfiler Amplification Kit were investigated in 493 unrelated Pakistani individuals belonging to the Punjabi, Sindhi, Baloch, and Pathan ethnic groups. We have assessed the forensic parameters and population genetic structure for each group. Among the 493 unrelated individuals from four ethnic groups (128 Baloch, 122 Pathan, 108 Punjabi, and 135 Sindhi), 82 haplotypes were observed with haplotype diversity (HD) of 0.9906 in Baloch, 102 haplotypes with HD value of 0.9957 in Pathans, 80 haplotypes with HD value of 0.9924 in Punjabi, and 105 haplotypes with HD value of 0.9945 in the Sindhi population. The overall gene diversity for Baloch, Pathan, Punjabi, and Sindhi populations was 0.6367, 0.6479, 0.6657, and 0.6112, respectively. The results had shown us that Pakistani populations do not have a unique set of genes but share the genetic affinity with regional (Central Asia and Northern India) populations. The observed low gene diversity (heterozygosity) values may be because of endogamy trends and this observation is equally supported by the results of forensic parameters which are mostly static across 4 combinations (minimal STRs, extended 11 Y-STRs, Powerplex 12 Y System, and Yfiler 17 Y-STRs) of STRs in these four populations.

Colibactin possessing E. coli isolates in association with colorectal cancer and their genetic diversity among Pakistani population

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cause of tumorigenesis and several pathogenic bacteria have been correlated with aggressive cases of cancer i.e., genotoxin (colibactin) producing Escherichia coli (E. coli). This study was designed to investigate the genetic diversity of clb+clb+ E. coli strains and their association with CRC. Pathogenic E. coli isolates from colorectal biopsies were characterized based on phylotypes, antibiotic resistance pattern, and (Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Sequence-based Polymerase Chain Reaction) ERIC-PCR. Furthermore, isolates were screened for the presence of the Pks (polyketide synthase) Island specifically targeting colibactin genes A and Q. The selective clb+clb+ isolates were subjected to cytotoxicity assay using Human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell lines. We revealed that 43.47% of the cancer-associated E. coli isolates were from phylogroup B2 comparatively more pathogenic than rest while in the case of healthy controls no isolate was found from B2. Moreover, 90% were found positive for colibactin and pks (polyketide synthase) island, while none of the healthy controls were found positive for colibactin genes. All healthy and cancer-associated isolates were tested against 15 antibiotic agents, we observed that cancer-associated isolates showed a wide range of resistance from 96% against Nalidixic acid to 48% against Doxycycline. Moreover, E. coli isolates were further genotyped using ERIC-PCR, and selected clb+clb+ E. coli isolates were subjected to cytotoxicity assay. We recorded the significant cytotoxic activity of clb+clb+ E. coli phylogroup B2 isolates that might have contributed towards the progression of CRC or dysbiosis of healthy gut microbiota protecting against CRC pathogenesis. Our results revealed a significant p&lt;0.023 association of dietary habits and hygiene p&lt;0.001with CRC. This is the first study to report the prevalence of E. coli phylogroups and the role of colibactin most virulent phylogroup B2 among Pakistani individuals from low socioeconomic setup.

Family supportive supervisor behavior and work-family boundary control in teleworkers during a lockdown: Portugal and Pakistan comparison.

The imposition of telework due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it the need for individuals to readjust their work-non-work boundaries. In this crisis situation, individuals’ needs to manage these boundaries may have been influenced by contextual factors, such as family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and macro-structural aspects, such as the country to which the teleworkers belong. This study tests the mediating effect of boundary control on the relationship between FSSB and satisfaction with life and examines the moderating effect of the country (Pakistan vs. Portugal) in the relationship between FSSB and boundary control. With a sample of 108 Portuguese and 118 Pakistani individuals, the results were analyzed using Process tool. FSSB was found to be important for teleworkers to control their boundaries and for their satisfaction with life and this control was also seen to contribute to higher levels of life satisfaction. Differences between the two countries were observed: boundary control mediates the relationship between FSSB and satisfaction with life for Pakistani teleworkers and these workers are more dependent on FSSB to exercise boundary control than Portuguese teleworkers. This study highlights the importance of considering contextual factors when implementing telework. Practical implications are discussed.

Eid-al-Fitr festivity and Ramadan fasting attitude among individuals with diabetes from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe present study aimed to assess the attitude of Saudi and Pakistani individuals with diabetes regarding Eid-al-Fitr festivities, exploring diabetes care during the month of Ramadan and these individuals’ dietary...

Transferability of genetic loci and polygenic scores for cardiometabolic traits in British Pakistani and Bangladeshi individuals

Individuals with South Asian ancestry have a higher risk of heart disease than other groups but have been largely excluded from genetic research. Using data from 22,000 British Pakistani and Bangladeshi individuals with linked electronic health records from the Genes & Health cohort, we conducted genome-wide association studies of coronary artery disease and its key risk factors. Using power-adjusted transferability ratios, we found evidence for transferability for the majority of cardiometabolic loci powered to replicate. The performance of polygenic scores was high for lipids and blood pressure, but lower for BMI and coronary artery disease. Adding a polygenic score for coronary artery disease to clinical risk factors showed significant improvement in reclassification. In Mendelian randomisation using transferable loci as instruments, our findings were consistent with results in European-ancestry individuals. Taken together, trait-specific transferability of trait loci between populations is an important consideration with implications for risk prediction and causal inference.

Estimating the causal effects of cardiometabolic factors on coronary artery disease in British Pakistanis and Bangladeshis: A trans-ancestry Mendelian randomisation study

Background and Aims : British people with South-Asian ancestry have a higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) than other ancestry groups. Statistical power can be the limiting factor when extending Mendelian Randomisation (MR) to non-European populations because ancestry-matched GWAS for risk factors (RFs) of interest might not be sufficiently large.Methods: We compared different strategies for trans-ancestry MR to assess the causal effect of cardiometabolic RFs (BMI, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) on the risk of CAD in 22,000 British Pakistani and Bangladeshi (BPB) individuals from the Genes&Health cohort. We used an ancestry-matched sample to derive instruments in a two-sample MR of CAD in G&H, with summary statistics for RF from the UK Biobank BPB group. However, insufficient numbers of genome-wide significant instruments were identified in the UK Biobank BPB population. Therefore, we used a less stringent p-value threshold (p<5x10-5) for selecting instruments, incorporated results from large European GWASs, and used a subset of loci with evidence of transferability.Results: We found that most of the associations were not significant in the ancestry-matched MR. We found a risk increasing effect for LDL-cholesterol and risk decreasing effect for HDL-cholesterol when using the variants from the large European GWAS as instruments, and also for the subset of loci that were transferable. The association of BMI with CAD was significant only for transferable loci.Conclusions: We showed that incorporating findings from large European GWAS can increase power for MR in other ancestry groups. We demonstrated the importance of considering transferability of RF loci to ensure causal inference. Background and Aims : British people with South-Asian ancestry have a higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) than other ancestry groups. Statistical power can be the limiting factor when extending Mendelian Randomisation (MR) to non-European populations because ancestry-matched GWAS for risk factors (RFs) of interest might not be sufficiently large. Methods: We compared different strategies for trans-ancestry MR to assess the causal effect of cardiometabolic RFs (BMI, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) on the risk of CAD in 22,000 British Pakistani and Bangladeshi (BPB) individuals from the Genes&Health cohort. We used an ancestry-matched sample to derive instruments in a two-sample MR of CAD in G&H, with summary statistics for RF from the UK Biobank BPB group. However, insufficient numbers of genome-wide significant instruments were identified in the UK Biobank BPB population. Therefore, we used a less stringent p-value threshold (p<5x10-5) for selecting instruments, incorporated results from large European GWASs, and used a subset of loci with evidence of transferability. Results: We found that most of the associations were not significant in the ancestry-matched MR. We found a risk increasing effect for LDL-cholesterol and risk decreasing effect for HDL-cholesterol when using the variants from the large European GWAS as instruments, and also for the subset of loci that were transferable. The association of BMI with CAD was significant only for transferable loci. Conclusions: We showed that incorporating findings from large European GWAS can increase power for MR in other ancestry groups. We demonstrated the importance of considering transferability of RF loci to ensure causal inference.

Shifts in Fecal Metabolite Profiles Associated With Ramadan Fasting Among Chinese and Pakistani Individuals.

The human gut microbiota has been proposed to serve as a multifunctional organ in host metabolism, contributing effects to nutrient acquisition, immune response, and digestive health. Fasting during Ramadan may alter the composition of gut microbiota through changes in dietary behavior, which ultimately affects the contents of various metabolites in the gut. Here, we used liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to investigate the composition of fecal metabolites in Chinese and Pakistani individuals before and after Ramadan fasting. Principal component analysis showed distinct separation of metabolite profiles among ethnic groups as well as between pre- and post-fasting samples. After Ramadan fasting, the Chinese and Pakistani groups showed significant differences in their respective contents of various fecal metabolites. In particular, L-histidine, lycofawcine, and cordycepin concentrations were higher after Ramadan fasting in the Chinese group, while brucine was enriched in the Pakistani group. The KEGG analysis suggested that metabolites related to purine metabolism, 2-oxocarboxylic acid metabolism, and lysine degradation were significantly enriched in the total subject population pre-fasting vs. post-fasting comparisons. Several bacterial taxa were significantly correlated with specific metabolites unique to each ethnic group, suggesting that changes in fecal metabolite profiles related to Ramadan fasting may be influenced by associated shifts in gut microbiota. The fasting-related differences in fecal metabolite profile, together with these group-specific correlations between taxa and metabolites, support our previous findings that ethnic differences in dietary composition also drive variation in gut microbial composition and diversity. This landscape view of interconnected dietary behaviors, microbiota, and metabolites contributes to the future development of personalized, diet-based therapeutic strategies for gut-related disorders.

Young Pakistani Individuals are Genetically Predisposed to Lumbar Degenerative Disc Degeneration

Aim: Even though the specific processes that cause degenerative disc degeneration are unknown, a major hereditary effect has indeed been discovered. Concentrating on DDD in emerging adults can help determine the precise role of genetic susceptibility to DDD. Methods: MRI imaging (1.6 Tesla) was used to analyses individuals (41 years old) having lumbar disc degeneration, and genome wide association testing was made for 58 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 38 potential genes. Pfirrman's grading had been used to classify disc degeneration in specific lumbar spine discs from L1 to S1. The participants have been divided into 2 sets based on their Total Disc Degenerative Score. DDD intensity has been rated as mild or severe depending on TDDS. Results: MRI imaging (1.6 Tesla) was used to analyze individuals (41 years old) having lumbar disc degeneration, and genome wide association testing was made for 58 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 38 potential genes. Pfirrman's grading had been used to classify disc degradation in specific lumbar spine discs from L1 to S1. The participants have been divided into 2 sets grounded on their Total Disc Degenerative Score. DDD intensity has been rated as moderately severe depending on TDDS. Conclusion: The researchers discovered significant SNP correlations of five genes in young people with serious lumbar disc degeneration. Those five genes have various roles in matrix metabolism, intracellular transmission, and the inflammatory cascade. The current demonstrates that disc degeneration is very complicated illness characterized by the intricate interaction of several genetic variations. Keywords: Lumbar Degenerative Disc, Degeneration, Predisposed.

Evolution of Pakistani Marriages

This paper researches the way in which marriage as a concept has evolved in Pakistani culture. Pakistani individuals are studied and researched within Pakistan, as well as outside in foreign countries. The customary arranged marriage situation is studied, as well as its effects on the life of both the husband and wife. We also look at the evolution and how change has brought love marriages or arranged love marriages have begun to arise within Pakistani culture. The effect of love marriages on Pakistani culture and its connection to violence has also been studied. Ultimately, Pakistani culture regarding marriage has been evolving over time and in the future, we hope to see even more change which includes an acceptance for customs and traditions that are new.

Serum PIVKA-II: Reference Interval of Healthy Population and Establishment of Its Cutoff Value for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Diagnosis in Pakistan

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background and Objective&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;PIVKA-II (Protein induced by vitamin K absence II) is an upcoming and promising new biological marker cited as having a definitive role in the early detection and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Preliminary research shows PIVKA-II reference intervals (RIs) in serum to have substantial racial disparities globally. &amp;nbsp;Hence, this study aimed to determine the RIs and cut-off value of the serum PIVKA-II for the first time in healthy and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods:&lt;/strong&gt; This cross-sectional study comprised of 240 participants (120 diagnosed cases of HCC and 120 healthy individuals) registered at the Department of Chemical Pathology and Immunology, Chughtai Institute of Pathology, Lahore, Pakistan. The PIVKA-II serum level was analyzed using the Chemistry Analyzer through chemiluminescent micro-particle immunoassay (CMIA). The reference interval was subsequently established using the percentile method.&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results:&lt;/strong&gt; In healthy Pakistani adults, the 95 percent reference interval for PIVKA-II was 15.55-43.03mAU/ml, and the cut-off was 148.81mAU/ml in HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) cases. The male participants, exhibited higher PIVKA-II levels than the females (P &amp;lt; 0.002). There were no significant differences in the serum levels of &amp;nbsp;PIVKA-II with respect to age however variations were observed with respect to gender.&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;Determination of the reference interval for serum PIVKA-II in healthy adult Pakistani individuals and a cut-off for HCC diagnosis emphasizes the growing need to establish and verify reference intervals of analytes at a larger scale in our population. Ideally all clinical laboratories should establish their own reference intervals.&lt;/p&gt;

Molecular genetic landscape of hereditary hearing loss in Pakistan.

Approximately 14.5 million Pakistani individuals have a hearing loss and half of these cases may be due to genetic causes. Though significant progress has been made in uncovering genetic variants for recessively inherited nonsyndromic deafness, Pendred syndrome, and Usher syndromes, the same is not true for dominantly inherited hearing loss, most syndromic cases and deafness with complex inheritance patterns. Variants of 57 genes have been reported to cause nonsyndromic recessive deafness in Pakistan, though most are rare. Variants of just five genes GJB2, HGF, MYO7A, SLC26A4, and TMC1 together explain 57% of profound deafness while those of GJB2, MYO15A, OTOF, SLC26A4, TMC1, and TMPRSS3 account for 47% of moderate to severe hearing loss. In contrast, although variants of at least 39 genes have been implicated in different deafness syndromes, their prevalence in the population and the spectrum of mutations have not been explored. Furthermore, research on genetics of deafness has mostly focused on individuals from the Punjab province and needs to be extended to other regions of Pakistan. Identifying the genes and their variants causing deafness in all ethnic groups is important as it will pinpoint rare as well as recurrent mutations. This information may ultimately help in offering genetic counseling and future treatments.

Nationality and body location alter human skin microbiome.

Skin microbiomes function directly in human health and are affected by various external and internal factors. However, few studies have showed the variation of human skin microbiota at multiple body sites in individuals of different national origin living in the same environment. Here, using 16S rRNA sequencing, we investigated the diversity and function of skin microbiomes in different body locations of Chinese and Pakistani individuals from a single college in China. Body location and nationality significantly affected community structures, while season and gender only impacted community member. Due to different lifestyles and likely genetic characteristics of the hosts, Proteobacteria was more abundant in Pakistanis than in Chinese individuals. There were significant differences in the Shannon diversity of skin microorganisms among different skin sites of Chinese individuals, but not in Pakistanis. PICRUSt prediction indicated that gene functions involved in carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, and xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism were higher in bacteria collected from Pakistanis than those from Chinese individuals, but the amino acid metabolism of skin microorganisms in Chinese people was higher. The relative abundances of potential pathogenic bacteria also differed in different body locations, providing a foundation for studying skin-associated bacterial diseases. Through a meta-analysis of 233 human skin samples from eight elevational sites in western China, we found that skin microbial diversity first decreased and then increased with increasing altitude. Network analysis showed positive correlation between altitude and Lactobacillus, Chryseobacterium, or Acinetobacter. Our results uncover the variation of human skin microbiota allowing future explorations of potential significance for human health. KEY POINTS: • Body location and nationality affect skin microbiota diversity and function. • Proteobacteria was more abundant in Pakistanis than in Chinese. • Skin microbial diversity first decreased and then increased with elevated altitude.

Anthropological analyses of 30 insertion/deletion autosomal markers in five major ethnic groups of Pakistan

We investigated the forensic efficacy of the 30 insertion/deletion (Indel) markers included in the Qiagen Investigator® DIPplex kit in 529 Pakistani individuals from five major subpopulations in Pakistan (Punjabi, Pashtun, Sindhi, Saraiki, and Baloch). In the Sindhi population, the distribution of HLD81 and HLD97 alleles deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. The combined match probability ranged from 2.0E-12 (Pashtun and Baloch) to 1.0E-12 (Sindhi), and the mean paternity exclusion power varied from 0.995 (Punjabi, Sindhi, and Saraiki) to 0.996 (Pashtun and Baloch). The high combined power of discrimination (0.999 999 999 999 97) and low combined match probability (1.7E-12) for all subpopulations studied support the utility of the 30 Indel markers for forensic identification in the studied subpopulations. The allele frequencies of the Indel markers in the Pakistani subpopulations were compared with those from 18 other populations. The results show that the populations clustered according to geography. The subpopulations investigated in this work showed a close genetic relationship with others from Pakistan, as well as with South Central Asian and Middle Eastern populations. The results suggest that the Investigator® DIPplex kit can be useful as a supplementary tool for human identification in the five Pakistani subpopulations investigated in this study. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2021.1933366 .

Analysis of Skin Pigmentation and Genetic Ancestry in Three Subpopulations from Pakistan: Punjabi, Pashtun, and Baloch.

Skin pigmentation is one of the most prominent and variable phenotypes in humans. We compared the alleles of 163 SNPs and indels from the Human Pigmentation (HuPi) AmpliSeq™ Custom panel, and biogeographic ancestry with the quantitative skin pigmentation levels on the upper arm, lower arm, and forehead of 299 Pakistani individuals from three subpopulations: Baloch, Pashtun, and Punjabi. The biogeographic ancestry of each individual was estimated using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel. All individuals were mainly of mixed South-Central Asian and European ancestry. However, the Baloch individuals also had an average proportion of Sub-Saharan African ancestry of approximately 10%, whereas it was <1% in the Punjabi and Pashtun individuals. The pairwise genetic distances between the Pashtun, Punjabi, and Baloch subpopulations based on the ancestry markers were statistically significantly different. Individuals from the Pashtun subpopulation had statistically significantly lower skin pigmentation than individuals from the Punjabi and Baloch subpopulations (p < 0.05). The proportions of European and Sub-Saharan African ancestry and five SNPs (rs1042602, rs10831496, rs1426654, rs16891982, and rs12913832) were statistically significantly associated with skin pigmentation at either the upper arm, lower arm or forehead in the Pakistani population after correction for multiple testing (p < 10−3). A model based on four of these SNPs (rs1426654, rs1042602, rs16891982, and rs12913832) explained 33% of the upper arm skin pigmentation. The four SNPs and the proportions of European and Sub-Saharan African ancestry explained 37% of the upper arm skin pigmentation. Our results indicate that the four likely causative SNPs, rs1426654, rs1042602, rs16891982, and rs12913832 located in SLC24A5, TYR, SLC45A2, and HERC2, respectively, are essential for skin color variation in the admixed Pakistani subpopulations.

Role of emotional intelligence and grit in life satisfaction

BackgroundThere is a pressing need to study life satisfaction in the context of collectivistic culture, particularly of undergraduate students. Various socio-cultural factors influence the level of emotional intelligence and grit of an individual. Even though a wide array of research on life satisfaction is available, it hasn't been studied in relation to grit and emotional intelligence (as conceptualized by Bar On), both of which can be acquired and enhanced over time. To the best of researcher's knowledge, a research that collectively studies emotional intelligence, grit and life satisfaction in the context of a collectivistic culture has not been carried out MethodThe study discusses the relationship between emotional intelligence (as conceptualized by Bar-On), grit and life satisfaction. Scales employed to investigate the relationship between each of the constructs include Scale of Emotional Intelligence (SEI), 12-item Grit scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). 350 undergraduate students were selected through random sampling. Statistical analyses included Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of correlation, Independent Sample t-test, one-way between group analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression. ResultsThe study concludes that the two constructs, i.e. emotional intelligence and grit, are weakly related to life satisfaction, r(348)=.25, p<.01 and r(348)=.22, p<.01 respectively. A moderately strong association is found between emotional intelligence and grit r(348)=.46, p<.01. Significant gender differences are found in emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence and grit are not influenced by academic majors and academic years. Emotional intelligence and grit can influence life satisfaction by a variance of 15.6%. Participant's age ranged from 18 to 26 years (M = 21.20, SD = 1.62). ConclusionThe study concludes that emotional intelligence and grit have a moderately strong association with one another. Emotional intelligence and grit positively influence the level of satisfaction experienced by an individual, however small it maybe. The study presents important insight into each of the primary constructs within the cultural context of Pakistan. The results also highlight the importance of educating Pakistani individuals regarding improving emotional intelligence and grit. Both emotional intelligence and grit are learnable and teachable, which means that individuals can be educated to help them improve their performance and subjective well-being. Parents, educators and health professionals can also benefit from findings of this study, in a way that they can identify areas of emotional intelligence and grit that can be enhanced in order for the children, students and clients, respectively, to achieve better well-being and individual effectiveness.

Fecal Microbiome and Resistome Profiling of Healthy and Diseased Pakistani Individuals Using Next-Generation Sequencing.

In this paper, we aimed to characterize the fecal microbiome and its resistomes of healthy and diseased subjects infected with multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli using next-generation sequencing (NGS). After initial screening, 26 stools samples belonging to healthy (n = 13) and diseased subjects (n = 13) were selected and subjected to NGS. A total of 23 and 42 antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) conferring resistance to 6 and 9 classes of antibiotics were identified in the resistomes of healthy and diseased subjects, respectively. Bacteroidetes were found to be the major phylum in both healthy and diseased subjects; however, Proteobacteria was predominantly present in the diseased subjects only. Microbial dysbiosis and predominance of various ARGs in the resistome of diseased subjects reflect the excessive usage of antibiotics in Pakistan and warrants immediate attention to regulate the use of various antimicrobials.