HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and beliefs based prediction models for practices in prison inmates, Sindh, Pakistan.

This study was conducted on prison inmates in Sindh to determine whether HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitudes and beliefs can predict their practices which risk HIV infection. A pre-designed questionnaire was administered in this cross-sectional study to collect the data on HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, practices and demographic variables in a systematic sample of 3,395 prison inmates during July 1994. The data on responses of inmates to HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs were analyzed and a clear interpretable factor structure emerged for each set of questions labeled as knowledge, attitude and beliefs.

Risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection in male adults in Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Pakistan.

Objective: To identify risk factors associated with HCV infection in Islamabad-Rawalpindi.

Methods: Fifty-seven cases and 180 controls were enrolled from various departments of the nine major hospitals of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad during July-September 1998. Cases were enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) positive for antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV), aged 20-70 years, and residents of Islamabad or Rawalpindi division.

Immunohistochemical cathepsin-D expression in breast cancer: correlation with established pathological parameters and survival.

Breast cancer is an increasingly important cause of illness and death among women. In recent years, several novel prognostic determinants of breast cancer have been identified, including Cathepsin-D (CD) protein. CD protein expression was analyzed immunohistochemically (IHC) in tumor specimens (315 patients) of infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma.

Predictability of medical students' performance at the Aga Khan University from admission test scores, interview ratings and systems of education.

Introduction: Performance in an admission test and carefully conducted, structured interview provides a uniform basis for the assessment of applicants prepared in different systems of education for admission to an institute of higher professional learning. We studied the predictability of the system of education followed by the students prior to entrance into the Medical College, the admission test scores, and interview ratings on performance after five trimesters at the Aga Khan University Medical College.

Method: A cohort of 374 medical students who were admitted during 1989--1994, were considered.

Hypertension and its determinants among adults in high mountain villages of the Northern Areas of Pakistan.

We studied the prevalence and determinants of hypertension among adults in mountainous rural villages in the Ghizar district Northern Areas of Pakistan, an area that recently has undergone substantial economic development. We selected a stratified random sample of 4203 adults (age > 18 years) from 16 villages in Punial Valley of Ghizar district where the number of study subjects from each village was proportionate to the size of the village. We obtained blood pressure (BP) records by taking the mean of the second and third BP measurement, using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer, and assessed risk factors for hypertension in the study subjects.

Prevalence of plasmodium slide positivity among the children treated for malaria, Jhangara, Sindh.

Objective: The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of malaria amongst the children with fever or history of fever.

Setting: Rural Health Centre (RHC), Jhangara, a town near the Manchhar Lake in Taluka Sehwan, District Dadu, Sindh.

Subjects: Four hundred and thirty eight children of 6 months to 10 years of age, who attended above described RHC during August through October 1997.

Risk factors for stunting and wasting at age six, twelve and twenty-four months for squatter children of Karachi, Pakistan.

Objective: A high proportion of stunting and wasting in children under-five has been reported from developing countries. This paper presents the nutritional status of a two year cohort of urban squatter children in Karachi, Pakistan and assesses risk factors for wasting and stunting at the reference ages of six, twelve and twenty-four months.

Methods: A birth cohort of 738 children were visited at specific intervals by trained nurses to collect information on anthropometric measurements, feeding practices and intercurrent illnesses.

Multivariate analysis of risk factors associated with genital ulcer disease among incarcerated males in Sindh.

Objective: To evaluate the potential risk behaviors associated with the lifetime risk of self reported genital ulcer disease (GUD) among prison inmates.

Setting: Prison inmates from 14 prisons of Sindh Province.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 3395 prison inmates during July to December, 1994.

Clinical and functional staging of oral submucous fibrosis.

Objective: To investigate the association of location of bands in oral submucous fibrosis and extent of mouth-opening.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: University hospital, Pakistan.

The effect of grandmultiparity on pregnancy related complications: the Aga Khan University experience.

Background: Grandmultiparity has been associated with complications for both mother and the fetus.

Objective: To evaluate if grandmultiparity is a risk factor in the presence of adequate antenatal care.

Setting: A tertiary care teaching hospital.

Role of intrauterine growth retardation on physical growth of Pakistani squatter children from birth to 2 years of age.

A birth cohort of 727 squatter children from Karachi was followed to study growth patterns by measuring anthropometric parameters at specific ages during the first 2 years of life. The mean weight and length of the intrauterine growth retarded and appropriate for gestational age children fell below the 10th percentile of the NCHS standards after 9 months and further deteriorated in the subsequent study period. However, the intrauterine growth retarded children showed slightly higher growth velocities compared to appropriate for gestational age children in the first few months for all four measurements, but subsequently these differences in growth velocities diminished.

Risk behaviours associated with urethritis in prison inmates, Sindh.

Objective: To identify sexual risk behaviours associated with lifetime risk of urethritis in prison inmates.

Design: A cross-sectional study using a pre-designed questionnaire.

Setting: Fourteen prisons throughout the Sindh Province, Pakistan.

Does use of a government service depend on distance from the health facility?

To reduce mortality from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea and upper respiratory infections, it is important that health services are available and used appropriately. Physical accessibility to a health facility may influence its use, particularly in rural areas. We assessed whether use of government services for treatment of the three most common acute childhood illnesses (fever, diarrhoea and upper respiratory infections) was influenced by the physical accessibility of the government primary health care centres.

Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis: a 2 year experience at a university hospital in Pakistan.

In this study we report our two years experience of methotrexate (MTX) in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. We studied the clinical course of 124 RA patients. The mean age was 44 +/- 11 years (range 19-72) and mean duration of RA was 5 +/- 4 years (range 0.

Spontaneous systemic anaphylaxis as an unusual presentation of hydatid cyst: report of two cases.

We report two cases presenting with severe spontaneous systemic anaphylactic reaction who were subsequently found to have hydatid cyst(s) in one or more intra-abdominal organs. This unusual presentation in otherwise asymptomatic patients, without known precipitating factors, i.e.

Is there an association between season of birth and reading disability?

Reported associations between season of birth and reading failure suggest medical causation and prevention. The relationship between season of birth and two measures of reading outcome in two cohorts of children (n1 = 2411 and n2 = 1972) was studied using chi2 tests. None was significant.

The effects of age and gender on reading achievement: implications for pediatric counseling.

The hypothesis that age of school entrance and gender interact to affect academic achievement was tested on three samples of children at the end of 1st (n = 1215), 2nd (n = 1141), and 3rd grade (n = 1037). Multiple regressions of age, gender, and their interaction on reading achievement resulted in significant effects of age for each sample. However, these variables together accounted for less than 1% of the variability in reading scores at each grade.

Potassium cyanide protects Escherichia coli from complement killing by the inhibition of C3 convertase activity.

The exact mechanism by which deposited C5b-9 complexes kill Gram-negative bacteria is unclear. It has been proposed that during complement activation the membrane attack complex triggers an energy dependent process in Gram-negative bacteria that mediates destruction of the inner membrane. This observation in part resulted from the survival of Gram-negative bacteria that were incubated with an uncoupler (DNP) or an inhibitor (KCN) of oxidative phosphorylation during complement activation.

Electrophysiological correlates of dyslexic subtypes.

The construct validity of Boder's typology of dyslexia was investigated using quantified EEG. Thirty-nine children, ranging in age from 7-0 to 10-11, were recorded during a contextual reading task and at rest. During reading, children with dyslexia were expected to show increased theta and beta amplitude compared to nondisabled readers.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in sarcoidosis.

This is the first report of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy associated with sarcoidosis. A forty-five year old black woman with clubbing, a history of bone pain, and a four year history of diagnosed sarcoidosis, was found to have symmetrical subperiosteal bone formation.