Arsenic in the Food Chain in Pakistan: Assessing Risks to Human Health and Ensuring Food Security Through Comprehensive Contamination Mitigation Strategies.

Arsenic is a natural element found in the earth's crust and is extensively present in various environmental components. Anthropogenic activities and a few natural events have generated contaminants that have led to massive environmental pollution, one form of which is arsenic contamination. Arsenic enters the human food chain via contaminated crops, water, seafood, and dairy products.

Enhancement in the dielectric and magnetic properties of Ni-Cu co-doped BaFeCuNiO hexaferrites (0.0 ≤ ≤ 1.0).

Herein, Ni-Cu co-doped barium hexaferrites (BaFeCuNiO, 0.0 ≤ ≤ 1.0 with an interval of 0.

Exploring the role of ranking systems towards university performance improvement: A focus group-based study.

The development of multiple university ranking systems at national and global levels has been driven by increasing interest in improving efficiency in the national educational sector without compromising the demand for international standards. Global university ranking systems play an important role by providing the foundation for competing in this global era. One approach could be developing and evaluating criteria to reduce the unnecessary use of standard, less productive indicators.

Unusual semiconductor-metal-semiconductor transitions in magnetite FeO nanoparticles.

Magnetite (FeO) nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a co-precipitation method. Rietveld refinement on the X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the development of a single-phase cubic spinel structure with space group 3̄. However, Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy suggested the presence of Fe and Fe (mixed Fe and Fe) ions at the tetrahedral and octahedral sites of the inverse spinel structure, respectively.

An assessment of potential biomarkers of environment enteropathy and its association with age and microbial infections among children in Bangladesh.

Interventional studies targeting environment enteropathy (EE) are impeded by the lack of appropriate, validated, non-invasive biomarkers of EE. Thus, we aimed to validate the association of potential biomarkers for EE with enteric infections and nutritional status in a longitudinal birth cohort study. We measured endotoxin core antibody (EndoCab) and soluble CD14 (sCD14) in serum, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in feces using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits.

Isolation of Several Indigenous Microalgae from Kallar Kahar Lake, Chakwal Pakistan.

Background: Kallar Kahar lake, Punjab, Pakistan is a rich source of phytoplankton which can be used for biofuel production.

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the presence of different microalgae species present in this lake and their possible utilization for bioenergy production.

Materials And Methods: The crude culture was examined under microscope.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis-Awareness, knowledge and practices among general population in rural and urban areas in Malakand region, Pakistan.

Malakand region is an endemic area for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). However, there are limited number of studies of this disease in Pakistan. Therefore, a study was conducted to understand the level of awareness attitude and practice among the residents of Makaland towards CL and the disease vectors.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis-Awareness, knowledge and practices among general population in rural and urban areas in Malakand region, Pakistan.

Malakand region is an endemic area for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). However, there are limited number of studies of this disease in Pakistan. Therefore, a study was conducted to understand the level of awareness attitude and practice among the residents of Makaland towards CL and the disease vectors.

Effectiveness of phytase pre-treatment on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and mineral status of common carp () juveniles fed Moringa by-product based diet.

Several anti-nutritional substances are found in plant derivatives for example phytate, that make the nutrients and minerals unavailable to fish, hence leading to poor growth performance. Presence of the anti-nutrient factor such as phytate is a chelated compound and need enzyme for its breakdown and availability of nutrients to improve fish growth. This research work was performed to check the improvement of overall performance of fingerlings by the help of phytase addition in by- products based diet.

SUMOylation mediates CtIP's functions in DNA end resection and replication fork protection.

Double-strand breaks and stalled replication forks are a significant threat to genomic stability that can lead to chromosomal rearrangements or cell death. The protein CtIP promotes DNA end resection, an early step in homologous recombination repair, and has been found to protect perturbed forks from excessive nucleolytic degradation. However, it remains unknown how CtIP's function in fork protection is regulated.

Improvement in overall performance of fingerlings fed phytase included low cost plant by products-based diet.

Phytic acid's presence in low-cost Moringa by-products effect the availability of important nutrients, diminishing the fish quality and blood composition in fish. Phytate having chelating effects with nutrients and minerals, can be reduced by the supplementation of phytase enzyme. Without the use of enzyme, plant meal may cause water pollution and decrease the fish health that results in higher culture cost.

Immunogenicity of a killed bivalent whole cell oral cholera vaccine in forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

After the large influx of Rohingya nationals (termed Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National; FDMN) from Rakhine State of Myanmar to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, it was apparent that outbreaks of cholera was very likely in this setting where people were living under adverse water and sanitation conditions. Large campaigns of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) were carried out as a preemptive measure to control cholera epidemics. The aim of the study was to evaluate the immune responses of healthy adults and children after administration of two doses of OCV at 14 days interval in FDMN population and compare with the response observed in Bangladeshi's vaccinated earlier.

Safety and immunogenicity of the oral, inactivated, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine ETVAX in Bangladeshi children and infants: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 1/2 trial.

Background: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli causes diarrhoea, leading to substantial mortality and morbidity in children, but no specific vaccine exists. This trial tested an oral, inactivated, enterotoxigenic E coli vaccine (ETVAX), which has been previously shown to be safe and highly immuongenic in Swedish and Bangladeshi adults. We tested the safety and immunogenicity of ETVAX, consisting of four E coli strains overexpressing the most prevalent colonisation factors (CFA/I, CS3, CS5, and CS6) and a toxoid (LCTBA) administered with or without a double-mutant heat-labile enterotoxin (dmLT) as an adjuvant, in Bangladeshi children.

Evaluation of the safety and immunogenicity of the oral inactivated multivalent enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine ETVAX in Bangladeshi adults in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase I trial using electrochemiluminescence and ELISA assays for immunogenicity analyses.

The safety and immunogenicity of the second generation oral enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) vaccine ETVAX, consisting of inactivated recombinant E. coli strains over-expressing the colonization factors (CFs) CFA/I, CS3, CS5 and CS6 and the heat labile toxoid LCTBA, were evaluated in Bangladeshi volunteers. To enable analysis of antibody responses against multiple vaccine antigens for subsequent use in small sample volumes from children, a sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay for analysis of intestine-derived antibody-secreting cell responses using the antibodies in lymphocyte secretions (ALS) assay was established using Meso Scale Discovery technology.

Rotavirus-Specific Immunoglobulin A Responses Are Impaired and Serve as a Suboptimal Correlate of Protection Among Infants in Bangladesh.

Background: Rotavirus (RV)-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses following oral RV vaccination are impaired in low-income countries, where the utility of RV-IgA as a correlate of protection (CoP) remains unclear. In a monovalent oral RV vaccine (Rotarix) efficacy trial among infants in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we identified factors associated with poor RV-IgA responses and explored the utility of RV-IgA as a CoP.

Methods: Infants were randomized to receive Rotarix or no Rotarix at 10 and 17 weeks of life and followed with active diarrheal surveillance.

Prediction of Un-erupted Canine and Premolar Tooth Size in Mixed Dentition among Bangladeshi Population.

Accurate prediction of the space available to accommodate the size of the un-erupted canines and premolars plays an important role in mixed dentition in Orthodontics. This Descriptive cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Orthodontics of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from July 2014 to June 2015. Dental study models of 140 patients were taken as sample.

Kinetics of antibody-secreting cell and fecal IgA responses after oral cholera vaccination in different age groups in a cholera endemic country.

Immune responses to oral enteric vaccines in children and infants may be influenced by factors such as age, previous priming with related microorganisms and breast feeding. In this study, we aimed to determine optimal time points to assess immune responses to oral enteric vaccines in different clinical specimens. This was done by investigating antibody secreting cell (ASC) and fecal antibody responses on different days after vaccination using the licensed oral cholera vaccine Dukoral, containing cholera toxin B-subunit (rCTB) and inactivated Vibrio cholerae bacteria, as a model vaccine.

Biomarkers of Environmental Enteropathy are Positively Associated with Immune Responses to an Oral Cholera Vaccine in Bangladeshi Children.

Environmental enteropathy (EE) is a poorly understood condition that refers to chronic alterations in intestinal permeability, absorption, and inflammation, which mainly affects young children in resource-limited settings. Recently, EE has been linked to suboptimal oral vaccine responses in children, although immunological mechanisms are poorly defined. The objective of this study was to determine host factors associated with immune responses to an oral cholera vaccine (OCV).

Geochemical controls of high fluoride groundwater in Umarkot Sub-District, Thar Desert, Pakistan.

Groundwater samples (n=152) were collected in the Thar Desert of the Umarkot Sub-District, Pakistan to evaluate the geochemical controls on the occurrence of high fluoride (F(-)) levels within the study area. Fluoride concentrations range from 0.06 to 44.

Cryopreservation of sugarcane using the V cryo-plate technique.

Background: Sugarcane is a tropical crop of major importance primarily for its high sucrose content. It is difficult to conserve it in the field or in vitro because of biotic and abiotic stresses. Cryopreservation of sugarcane germplasm is an appropriate approach for conserving its genetic diversity.

Evaluation of fresh and stored rainwater quality in fluoride and arsenic endemic area of Thar Desert, Pakistan.

In the current study, the chemistry of fresh and stored rainwater of Thar Desert, Pakistan, was estimated during two consecutive monsoon periods. The present research deals with the variation in physicochemical parameters, total arsenic (As(t)), inorganic arsenic species (As(i), As(V), As(III)), and fluoride (F(-)) in stored rainwater (SRW) at different time intervals (1 week to 3 months). The pH of fresh rainwater (FRW) samples showed slightly acidic to neutral in nature (6.

Impact of seawater on distribution of fluoride and other ions in groundwater of Diplo area, Thar Desert Pakistan.

The role of seawater dilution, along with other water-quality components, has been studied to determine the causes of spatial distribution of high fluoride concentrations in the groundwater of the Diplo sub-district, Thar Desert, Pakistan. Fluoride ion concentration ranges of up to 7.60 mg/L were discovered, with mean and median values of 1.

V-cryo-plate procedure as an effective protocol for cryobanks: case study of mint cryopreservation.

A vitrification procedure using aluminium cryo-plates (V-Cryo-plate procedure) was successfully developed and adjusted for in vitro-grown mint (Mentha spp.) shoot tips. Shoots were cultured at 25°C on MS medium containing 0.

Development of a cryopreservation procedure using aluminium cryo-plates.

A cryopreservation procedure using an aluminium cryo-plate was successfully developed using in vitro-grown Dalmatian chrysanthemum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium) shoot tips. Shoot cultures were cold-hardened at 5 degree C on MS medium containing 0.5 M sucrose over a period of 20 to 40 days.

Lithological influences on occurrence of high-fluoride groundwater in Nagar Parkar area, Thar Desert, Pakistan.

Factors regulating the occurrence of high fluoride (F(-)) concentrations in groundwater near Nagar Parkar Town, SE corner of Pakistan have been investigated considering lithological influences. F(-) ion concentrations in groundwater range up to 7.85 with mean value of 3.