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The divalent transition metal ions (Ni, Co, and Fe)-doped MgO nanoparticles were synthesized via the sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction showed the MgO pure, single cubic phase of samples at 600 °C. Field emission electron microscope showed the uniform spherical shape of samples. The magnetic behavior of Ni, Co, Fe-doped MgO system were varied with Ni, Co, Fe content (0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07). The magnetic nature of pure had changed from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic. The number of oxygen vacancies increases with increasing amounts of dopant ions that lead to an ionic charge imbalance between Ni 2+ /Co 2+ /Fe 2+ and Mg 2+ , leading to increase magnetic properties of the samples. The magnetic nature of prepared samples makes them suitable for biomedical applications. A comparative study of the antibacterial activity of nanoparticles against the Gram-negative ( E. coli ) and Gram-positive bacteria ( S. aureus ) was performed by disc diffusion, pour plate techniques, and study surface morphology of untreated and treated bacterial cell wall. An investigation of the antibacterial activity of doped MgO nanoparticles reveals that the doped MgO nanoparticles show effective antibacterial activity against the Gram-negative ( E. coli ) and Gram-positive ( S. aureus ) bacterium. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the synthesized nanoparticles against microorganisms was recorded with 40 μg/ml, while the maximum inhibitory concentration was observed with 80 μg/ml. At a concentration of 80 μg/ml, the complete growth inhibition of the E. coli was achieved with 7% Co-doped MgO and 7% Fe-doped MgO, while bacterial growth of S. aureus was inhibited by 100% in the presence of 7% Fe-doped MgO. The present work is promising for using nanomaterials as a novel antibiotic instead of the conventional antibiotics for the treatment of infectious diseases which are caused by tested bacteria.

meningitis is usually observed among neonates. We present a rare case of meningitis in a 33-year-old immunocompromised male patient with Burkitt lymphoma. Initially, the patient exhibited nonspecific symptoms, including postprandial vomiting, blurred vision, and episodic memory loss. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and imaging revealed meningitis. Empiric antibiotic therapy with ceftriaxone and vancomycin, followed by targeted ampicillin treatment, resulted in complete resolution. This case highlights the importance of considering unusual pathogens in immunocompromised patients with nonspecific symptoms and underscores the need for prompt diagnosis and targeted antibiotic therapy.

Software requirements (SRs) selection is a multicriteria group decision making (MCGDM) problem whose objective is to select the SRs from the pool of the requirements on the basis of different criteria. In MCGDM, different decision makers have different opinions of the same requirement so it is difficult to decide which set of SRs to implement during the different releases of the software. During the MCGDM process, decision makers may use linguistic variables to specify preferences of requirements over other requirements. In real life applications, it has been observed that sometimes decision makers cannot evaluate the SRs due to their lack of knowledge and limited expertise related to the problem domain. In this situation, incomplete linguistic preference relations (LPRs) are constructed. In literature, SRs selection with incomplete LPRs is still an unresearched problem. Therefore, to address this issue, a method is presented for the selection of SRs with incomplete LPRs. Finally, the applicability of the proposed method is explained with the help of an example.

Introduction ( ) is one of the major causes of diarrhea transmitted by the fecal-oral route.  type BI/NAP1/027 is responsible for the most severe infection (CDI). It is a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea followed by  and Historically, clindamycin, cephalosporins, penicillins, and fluoroquinolones were related to CDI. We conducted this study to evaluate the antibiotics associated with CDI in recent times. Methods We conducted a retrospective, single-center study over a period of eight years. A total of 58 patients were enrolled in the study. Patients with diarrhea and positive toxin in stool were evaluated for antibiotics given, age, presence of malignancy, previous hospital stay for more than three days in the last three months, and any comorbidities. Results Among patients who developed CDI, prior antibiotics for at least four days duration were given in 93% (54/58) of patients. The most common antibiotics associated with infection were piperacillin/tazobactam in 77.60% (45/58), meropenem in 27.60% (16/58), vancomycin in 20.70% (12/58), ciprofloxacin in 17.20% (10/58), ceftriaxone in 16% (9/58), and levofloxacin in 14% (8/58) of patients, respectively. Seven percent (7%) of patients with CDI did not receive any prior antibiotics. Solid organ malignancy was present in 67.20% and hematological malignancy in 27.60% of CDI patients. Ninety-eight percent (98%, 57/58) of patients treated with proton pump inhibitors, 93% of patients with a previous hospital stay for more than three days, 24% of patients with neutropenia, 20.1% of patients aged more than 65 years, 14% of patients with diabetes mellitus, and 12% of patients with chronic kidney disease also developed infection. Conclusion The antibiotics associated with infection are piperacillin/tazobactam, meropenem, vancomycin, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and levofloxacin. Other risk factors for CDI are proton pump inhibitor use, prior hospital admission, solid organ malignancy, neutropenia, diabetes mellitus (DM), and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Introduction: Pakistan has been experiencing an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) outbreak of typhoid for some years. We sought to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted typhoid epidemiology in Pakistan, from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 through the end of 2022, and the reduction of COVID-19 cases. Methodology: We compared national public COVID-19 data with retrospectively obtained patient data of confirmed S. Typhi isolates between January 2019 and December 2022 from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre and the hospital’s extended network of laboratory collection centers across Pakistan. Results: We observed that during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 peaks, typhoid positivity generally decreased. This suggests that restrictions and non-pharmaceutical interventions that limited social interactions and promoted good sanitation and hygiene practices had a positive secondary effect on typhoid. This led to an overall yearly decrease in typhoid positivity between 2019 to 2021. However, the percentage of S. Typhi cases isolated that were ceftriaxone-resistant continued to increase, suggesting the continued dominance of XDR typhoid in Pakistan. In 2022, with the alleviation of pandemic restrictions, we observed increased typhoid positivity and COVID-19 and typhoid positivity started to follow similar trends. Conclusions: Given the continued presence of COVID-19 along with XDR typhoid in Pakistan, it will be imperative to use differential testing to ensure that the epidemiology of each reported is accurate, the spread of each it contained, and that antibiotics are not misused. The use of approved vaccinations will lessen the burden of both diseases.

Objective Vancomycin-resistant (VRE) is an important cause of infection in immunocompromised populations. In Pakistan, very limited data are available regarding infection and its outcomes. We conducted this study to evaluate the trends including risk factors, treatment options, and outcomes of infections due to vancomycin-resistant enterococci in cancer patients in Pakistan. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study. We extracted data from medical records of our center over a period of seven years. All admitted cancer patients with any vancomycin-resistant positive culture were included. The following parameters were evaluated: age, gender, type of cancer, febrile neutropenia, prior antibiotics, admission, comorbidities, system-wise infections (including bacteremia, catheter-related infection, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, intra-abdominal infection, bone and joint infections, skin and skin structure infections), intensive care unit admission, and 30-day all-cause mortality. Frequencies of infections, mortality, and drug susceptibility were evaluated over the course of seven years. Results Risk factors for infection included prior exposure of piperacillin/tazobactam (n=209, 86.7%), meropenem (n=132, 54.8%), vancomycin (n=126, 52.3%), metronidazole (n=67, 27.8%), prior admission for more than 48 hours (n=198, 82.2%), and comorbidities (n=76, 31.5%), with acute kidney injury being most common (n=72, 95%) followed by diabetes mellitus (n=70, 92.1%). Precursor B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B ALL) was the most common malignancy in which infection occurred (n=54, 38.3%). Among patients who developed infection, 46% (n=111) had febrile neutropenia. caused infection in 61% (n=147) and in 39% (n=94). Bacteremia occurred in 45.2% (n=109) patients followed by urinary tract and intra-abdominal infection; 45.6% (n=110) patients were admitted to ICU, and 30-day all-cause mortality was 44.8% (n=108). Linezolid sensitivity was 100%. The total number of enterococci infections decreased over seven years. Frequency of infection, bacteremia, intra-abdominal, skin-related infections, and recurrent infection also decreased, but the frequency of infections, ICU admission, and 30-day all-cause mortality was increased. Conclusion VRE infections have become less frequent but more severe in recent years with increase in mortality. Prior use of antibiotics (including piperacillin/tazobactam, vancomycin, carbapenems, and metronidazole), diagnosis of hematological malignancy, febrile neutropenia, diabetes mellitus, and renal failure are the risk factors for VRE infection. Bacteremia was the most common infection with high mortality rate. All strains remain sensitive to linezolid. Patients with these risk factors should be worked up for VRE and can be treated with linezolid empirically.

Synthesis of Ni 1- x Co x O ( x  = 0, 3, 7, 10%) nanoparticles have been done by microwave gel combustion method. The structural analysis of the synthesized nanomaterials was investigated with the help of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and crystallite size was calculated from Debye–Scherrer’s method which varies from 13.11 to 19.03 nm. The temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity shows the enhancement in the dielectric permittivity of the Co-doped NiO NPs. The Co-doped NiO NPs show ferromagnetic nature with enhanced magnetization as compared to pure NiO NPs. Bacterial growth inhibition effect /anti-bacterial analysis of Co-doped-NiO NPs was investigated by disk diffusion method against Pseudomonas aeruginosa as gram-negative and Staphylococcus aureus as gram-positive bacteria. Due to increased and tuned dielectric, magnetic, and antibacterial behavior, Co-doped NiO may find its application in diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) spintronic, electronic devices, as well as developing antimicrobial nanomaterial.

Pristine Tin Oxide (SnO 2 ) and Zirconium-doped Tin Oxide (SnO 2 :Zr) with varying composition Sn 1– x Zr x O 2 ( x = 3, 5, 7 and 10%) are synthesized using sol-gel method. The structural, optical, and thermal properties of synthesized pristine SnO 2 and SnO 2 :Zr nanoparticles were examined by using various characterization techniques including XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, UV-visible, and TGA/DSC. The EDAX analysis confirmed the presence of Zr atoms within SnO 2 phase. FTIR analysis revealed presence of various functional groups such as antisymmetric Sn–O–Sn stretching mode, symmetric Sn–O–Sn, Zr–O bonds, C–O stretching mode, and stretching vibration. TEM analysis indicated uniformity in polycrystalline grains within Zr-doped SnO 2 sample. UV-visible analysis demonstrated decrement in optical band gap which confirmed that Zr doping tuned the optoelectronic properties of SnO 2 nanoparticles. Results combined with TGA/DSC analysis establish that 7% doping is the optimum limit after which steric hindrance effects destabilize the structural and thermal properties of the material. Therefore, Zr doping plays crucial role in modifying structural, thermal and optoelectronic properties of SnO 2 thereby proposing their use in optoelectronic devices.

Digital forensic tools (DFTs) are used to detect the authenticity of digital images. Different DFTs have been developed to detect the forgery like (i) forensic focused operating system, (ii) computer forensics, (iii) memory forensics, (iv) mobile device forensics, and (v) software forensics tools (SFTs). These tools are dedicated to detect the forged images depending on the type of the applications. Based on our review, we found that in literature of the DFTs less attention is given to the evaluation and analysis of the forensic tools. Among various DFTs, we choose SFTs because it is concerned with the detection of the forged digital images. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to classify the different DFTs and evaluate the software forensic tools (SFTs) based on the different features which are present in the SFTs. In our work, we evaluate the following five SFTs, i.e., \"FotoForensics\", \"JPEGsnoop\", \"Ghiro\", \"Forensically\", and \"Izitru\", based on different features so that new research directions can be identified for the development of the SFTs.

Sodium borohydride has been utilized to synthesize Au-NPs as stabilizing agents. The characterization of Au-NPs have been done by different techniques. X-ray diffraction machine has been used to study the structural properties of Au-NPs, which shows that the Au-NPs were in spherical and cubic structure. The surface morphology and the elemental composition of Au-NPs were analysed by SEM attached with the EDAX. UV-visible spectroscopy has been utilized to study the optical properties which shows the absorption peak of Au-NPs at 521nm. The crystallite size of Au-NPs was calculated via Debye-Scherrer and come out to be 12 nm.