In-silico analysis of potential anticancer drug for NEK7 and PPP1CA proteins overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

NIMA-related kinase 7 (NEK7) and phosphoprotein phosphatase-1 catalytic subunit alpha (PPP1CA) are the most common proteins overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, which is the most common type of pancreatic cancer. The goal of the current study was to identify a possible NEK7 and PPP1CA therapeutic inhibitor. For this investigation, 5000 compounds were retrieved from the IMPPAT library of phytochemicals, which were docked with our respective target proteins.

In silico identification of potential drug-like molecules against G glycoprotein of Nipah virus by molecular docking, DFT studies, and molecular dynamic simulation.

Nipah virus (NiV) is a novel zoonotic pathogen that belongs to the family. The pathogen has infected a number of people in countries like Bangladesh, India, Singapore, and Malaysia with high mortality rates. Although the NiV has been classified as a biosafety level four pathogen (BSL-4), there is no drug approved for treatment against it.

TULP3 NLS inhibition: an study to hamper cargo transport to nucleus.

TULP3 is involved in cell regulation pathways including transcription and signal transduction. In some pathological states like in cancers, increased level of TULP3 has been observed so it can serve as a potential target to hamper the activation of those pathways. We propose a novel idea of inhibiting nuclear localization signal (NLS) to interrupt nuclear translocation of TULP3 so that the downstream activations of pathways are blocked.

Incidence and Nature of Respiratory Events in Patients Undergoing Bronchoscopy Under Conscious Sedation.

Background: During diagnostic bronchoscopies, conscious sedation improves patient tolerance, but it can contribute to hypercapnia and hypoxia by various mechanisms including depression of ventilatory drive. This prospective study was undertaken to determine the frequency of respiratory events and associated oxygen desaturations during bronchoscopy with conscious sedation.

Patients And Methods: The Nox-T3 monitoring system was placed before starting the bronchoscopy and remained in place for 30 minutes following the procedure.

Kidney Recovery and Death in Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Treated With Dialysis: The STOP-COVID Cohort Study.

Rationale & Objective: Acute kidney injury treated with kidney replacement therapy (AKI-KRT) occurs frequently in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We examined the clinical factors that determine kidney recovery in this population.

Study Design: Multicenter cohort study.

A computer aided drug discovery based discovery of lead-like compounds against KDM5A for cancers using pharmacophore modeling and high-throughput virtual screening.

KDM5A over-expression mediates cancer cell proliferation and promotes resistance toward chemotherapy through epigenetic modifications. As its complete mechanism of action is still unknown, there is no KDM5A specific drug available at clinical level. In the current study, lead compounds for KDM5A were determined through pharmacophore modeling and high-throughput virtual screening from Asinex libraries containing 0.

Persistence of Semen on five different fabric types in various water environments.

Evidence collected from biological fluids obtained from a crime scene is essentially important in forensic cases. A potential profile can be generated from these obtained samples and this can help in identifying the victims and/or suspects of sexual assault. The water environments selected for this study are all related to the potential crime scenes from which there is a possibility of finding a dead body or clothing of a sexual assault victim.

Provision of Surgical Services to COVID-19-Infected Patients at a Tertiary Care Center in Pakistan: A One-Year Clinical Review of the Year 2020 in General Surgery Department.

Background and objectives The frequency of COVID-19-positive or suspicious patients grew steadily, and these patients were received in emergency and outpatient departments at an unprecedented pace for the need of an elective or emergent surgical assessment. We conducted this survey to document the number of surgeries performed on COVID-19-positive patients during the ongoing pandemic at a tertiary care center in Pakistan. Materials and methods A retrospective clinical audit was conducted in a tertiary care hospital that receives surgical cases from almost all over the country.

Prognostic Value of Preoperative Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide: Early Predictor of Cardiovascular Complications and Mortality After Major Abdominal Surgery.

Background and objectives In surgical patients, coronary disease is the main cause of perioperative mortality. The incidence of serious cardiovascular complications is reported as 5% with a probability of 1-2% of death from the cardiac cause in major non-cardiac surgery. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a sensitive and specific predictor of left ventricular systolic dysfunction and predicts first cardiovascular event and death in the general population.

Paromomycin: A potential dual targeted drug effectively inhibits both spike (S1) and main protease of COVID-19.

Objectives: With the increasing number of people suffering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there is a dire need to look for effective remedies against this pandemic. Drug repurposing seems to be the solution for the current situation.

Methods: In a quest to find a potential drug against this virus, 15 antimalarial drugs (including chloroquine) and 2413 US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs were investigated for activity against both the protease and spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 using an in silico approach.

Crime scene investigation in Pakistan: A perspective.

Crime scene investigation is an important tool in criminal investigation process. Proper processing of crime scene is a prerequisite for successfully solving a criminal case. In Pakistan, local policemen are not properly trained and equipped with the necessary items required for systematic processing of crime scene including proper identification and collection of evidence.

A Retrospective Observational Study of Domiciliary Oxygen Usage in a Subset of Veterans.

Background: Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) delivered continuously is known to decrease mortality in patients with COPD and who are hypoxemic; however, supportive data for LTOT use in patients without COPD is lacking. In addition, many patients may be prescribed LTOT without a definitive etiology for hypoxemia. First, we investigated the diagnoses for which oxygen was prescribed to a sample of veterans and whether each diagnosis was supported by confirmatory testing.

Intra-abdominal Rupture of a Live Cervical Pregnancy with Placenta Accreta but Without Vaginal Bleeding.

We describe an unusual ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The unique features of the case include abdominal pain without vaginal bleeding; cervical implantation and a placenta accreta; and the late presentation at 16 weeks of gestation without prior symptoms. Both the initial point-of-care ultrasound and the formal ultrasound were interpreted as showing an intrauterine pregnancy.

Stabilization studies of sunflower oil with antioxidants extracted from green and black cardamom.

Extracts from green and black cardamom have been used to evaluate their antioxidant potential for sunflower oil samples for a period of 45 days. Synthetic antioxidants BHA/ BHT were also used parallel over a period of 45 days for comparison. Antioxidant potential of natural and synthetic antioxidants were evaluated by measuring free fatty acids (FFA), peroxide value (PV) and iodine value (IV) values by ambient storage of sunflower oil.

Glycosylated Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 as a potential lung cancer serum biomarker.

Presently existing screening approaches for lung cancer are not being proving sufficient and sensitive, so a study was conducted to identify disease related biomarker proteins for diagnostic applications. A total of 100 lung cancer patients (88 non-small cell lung cancer and 12 small cell lung cancer) and 50 healthy controls were included in this study. Serum samples of patients and healthy controls were subjected to a series of proteomic approaches and as a result of two dimensional gel electrophoresis, a ∼ 43 kDa protein was found to be differentially expressed compared to healthy controls.

Mass spectrometric identification, characterization and validation of the haptoglobin β-chain protein as a lung cancer serum biomarker.

Lung cancer is the major contributor to overall cancer-related mortality. Biomarkers are important in early detection and prognosis, in addition to developing treatment regimes, which may improve the patient survival rates. Biomarkers may also assist in investigating the in depth metabolic pathways and in establishing a set of therapeutic agents leading to early detection of the disease.

Molecular alterations in the hippocampus after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) frequently have deficits in learning and memory that may or may not be associated with detectable brain lesions. We examined mediators of long-term potentiation after SAH in rats to determine what processes might be involved. There was a reduction in synapses in the dendritic layer of the CA1 region on transmission electron microscopy as well as reduced colocalization of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and synaptophysin.

Different effects of clazosentan on consequences of subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.

One of the major complications after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is angiographic vasospasm in the large arteries at the base of the brain. However, a clinical trial of clazosentan demonstrated a 65% relative risk reduction in angiographic vasospasm but no effect on mortality or clinical outcome, raising questions about the role of angiographic vasospasm played in outcome after SAH. The purpose of this study was to determine if reducing or reversing angiographic vasospasm with clazosentan reduced other secondary complications such as microthromboembolism, loss of long-term potentiation (LTP) and neuronal cell death in a rat model of SAH.

Uncoupling of endothelial nitric oxide synthase after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage.

We studied whether endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is upregulated and uncoupled in large cerebral arteries after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and also whether this causes cerebral vasospasm in a mouse model of anterior circulation SAH. Control animals underwent injection of saline instead of blood (n=16 SAH and n=16 controls). There was significant vasospasm of the middle cerebral artery 2 days after SAH (lumen radius/wall thickness ratio 4.

Neurological and neurobehavioral assessment of experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage.

About 50% of humans with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) die and many survivors have neurological and neurobehavioral dysfunction. Animal studies usually focused on cerebral vasospasm and sometimes neuronal injury. The difference in endpoints may contribute to lack of translation of treatments effective in animals to humans.

Anterior circulation mouse model of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

A model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) first described in rats where blood is injected into the prechiasmatic cistern was adapted to mice. The hypothesis was that such an anterior circulation SAH model would produce vasospasm of greater severity and longer duration than other mouse models. The goal was to create a mouse model that could then be used in transgenic and knockout animals in order to further knowledge of SAH and vasospasm.

Factors associated with non-adherence among psychiatric patients at a tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study.

Objective: To elucidate predictors of non-adherence among psychiatric patients presenting at a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan, for follow-up with consultant psychiatrist.

Methods: A convenient sampleof psychiatric patients from Aga Khan University Hospital was enrolled between April and May, 2005. An interviewer assisted, standardized questionnaire was used for data collection.

Myths and fallacies about epilepsy among residents of a Karachi slum area.

Misconceptions about epilepsy may explain the considerable stigma accompanying it. We aimed to identify such fallacies through questionnaire-based interviews of 487 adult residents of a slum area in Karachi, Pakistan. Of those interviewed, 25% believed that epilepsy was caused by evil spirits, black magic and envy by others - those without a school education were more likely to hold these views (P < 0.