Explore the vast range of titles available.

Objectives To estimate Global, Regional, and National prevalence of Malnutrition, specifically Coexisting forms of malnutrition (CFM) and its various types: Coexistence of underweight with stunting (CUS), Coexistence of underweight with wasting (CUW), Coexistence of underweight with wasting & stunting (CUWS), Coexistence of stunting with overweight/obesity (CSO) among children under five years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This cross-sectional observational study utilized latest nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) datasets of 62 LMICs corresponding to six global regions from 2006 to 2024. Data of 541,707 children aged 0 to 59 months with complete anthropometry were analysed descriptively (prevalence estimates) and inferentially (multivariate logistic regression). Results The global malnutrition prevalence among children was 43.9%, of which CFM was observed among 20.9% children. Among various CFM types, CUS was highly prevalent (11.8%), followed by CUW (4.2%), CUWS (3.2%), and CSO (2.1%). South & Southeast Asian had highest CFM prevalence of 29.6%, while Central Asia and Latin America & Caribbean reported the lowest CFM prevalence of 8.1% and 6.2%, respectively. Among all the LMIC included, Timor-Leste exhibited the highest CFM at 41.8%. In general, children aged between 12 to 35 months had 2-3 times higher odds of various forms of CFM. However, female sex, maternal education, improvement in socioeconomic status, medium to large family size showed significantly lower odds with various forms of CFM. Conclusions This study advances the understanding of CFM’s prevalence, determinants, and regional variations, filling a critical gap in global nutrition research. The findings serve as a reminder to reinvest in efforts to protect children from malnutrition during their early years of life. Governments and other global health sector must invest in a well-established system of nutrition surveillance for addressing CFM, informing targeted interventions to improve child health outcomes in LMICs.

The electronic waste generation rate is increasing drastically at a rate of 3 to 5% per year in developing countries. The aim of this study is to analyze the environmental sustainability and economic benefits of such e-waste management in the developing economies like Pakistan. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method has been employed for streamlined impact analysis of the end-of-life processing of e-waste focusing mainly on laptop computers and liquid crystal display (LCD) desktop computers in Pakistan. The method of cumulative exergy extraction from the natural environment (CEENE) has also been deployed for the relative assessment of resources’ consumption of e-waste recycling versus landfilling scenario. The determined impact scores are 1.79E + 03 kg CO 2 eq., 7.19E-07 kg CFC-11 eq., 1.02E + 03 kg 1,4-DCB, 7.13E + 01 kg 1,4-DCB, and 3.41E-03 kg Cu eq. in climate change potential , stratospheric ozone depletion, ecotoxicity potential, human noncarcinogenic potential, and mineral resource depletion impact categories, respectively. The results of CEENE analysis reveal that approximately 80% of the impact on natural resources is reduced by the efficient recycling of e-waste. The comparative assessment of respective scores for current and target material weight recovery (MWR) indicators represented that by increasing the MWR indicator by 33.8% for laptop computers and by 27.2% for LCD computers, the country will achieve an annual economic benefit of US $191.56 million. This is greatly significant for a transitional shift towards e-waste revalorization while realizing the objectives of sustainable resource consumption. Innovative improvement measures ensuring economically feasible, energy-efficient, and environment friendly waste collection, treatment, and recycling practices present an invaluable opportunity for developing countries.

Toxic elemental exposure through consumption of contaminated crops is becoming a serious concern for human health. Present study is based on the environment and health risk assessment of wastewater irrigated soil and crops in a semi-arid region Faisalabad, Pakistan. The concentrations of potentially toxic elements (Cu, Cr, Mn, Fe, Pb, Zn, Ni) were analysed by atomic absorption spectrometer in five different crops (Corn, rice, wheat, sugarcane and millet), while, their topsoil’s and multi targeted risks analysis were assessed. Results showed, the mean values of Pb and Zn were higher in crop than Food and Agriculture Organization guidelines for food additives and contaminants. A strong positive correlation was found among wastewater and crop’s toxic metals (r 2 values in Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni and Cr were 0.913, 0.804, 0.752, 0.694, 0.587 respectively). Whereas, a strong correlation was also found among soil and wastewater lead (r 2  = 0.639). The calculations of Nemerow Integrated Pollution Index (NIPI) showed the soil samples maximum pollution limit (NIPI > 3) and Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) was found to be higher than maximum limit (PERI > 600) for all samples. While, for non-carcinogenic risk, Hazard Index (HI) values in adult were near threshold (HI > 1) for all crop samples. In children, the HI values for Corn, Rice and Wheat were above threshold limit and for Sugarcane and Millet, these were near to threshold. Cancer risk values for Cr found higher than safe limit (1 × 10 –6 ) in adult and children for crop samples. Crop irrigation by wastewater irrigation is a prominent alternative option for water scarce countries, however prior testing and treatment of such wastewater streams must be employed to minimize the adverse impacts on human health and environment.

Amyloid fibril formation by proteins leads to variety of degenerative disorders called amyloidosis. While these disorders are topic of extensive research, effective treatments are still unavailable. Thus in present study, two anti-tuberculosis drugs, i.e., pyrazinamide (PYZ) and D-cycloserine (DCS), also known for treatment for Alzheimer's dementia, were checked for the anti-aggregation and anti-amyloidogenic ability on Aβ-42 peptide and hen egg white lysozyme. Results demonstrated that both drugs inhibit the heat induced aggregation; however, PYZ was more potent and decelerated the nucleation phase as observed from various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Furthermore, pre-formed amyloid fibrils incubated with these drugs also increased the PC12/SH-SY5Y cell viability as compare to the amyloid fibrils alone; however, the increase was more pronounced for PYZ as confirmed by MTT assay. Additionally, molecular docking study suggested that the greater inhibitory potential of PYZ as compare to DCS may be due to strong binding affinity and more occupancy of hydrophobic patches of HEWL, which is known to form the core of the protein fibrils.

In this study, the multi-attribute utility theory model, one of the most widely utilized multi-criteria decision-making methods, is employed to analyze the relative sustainability and cleaner development mechanism (CDM) potential of a novel bioenergy project in Pakistan and four registered CDM bioenergy installations in China, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Four major sustainability evaluation criteria selected for the study are technology, economy, environment, and social aspects, whereas “simple multi-attribute rating technique” (SMART) and “additive synthesis method” were utilized for the calculation of weighting factors. The most significant indicator was emission reduction, and least significant indicator was job creation with 24% and 15% respective weightages, in the sustainability scoring. Moreover, for three considered evaluation scenarios, (I) base case, (II) per kilowatt, and (III) per kilowatt hour, the bioenergy project in Pakistan has the highest comparative sustainability values of 0.735, 0.592, and 0.492 respectively. This analysis will provide an insight assistance to developing countries for establishing sustainable energy installations under CDM.

Breast cancer stands as the most prevalent form of cancer amongst females, constituting more than one-third of all cancer cases affecting women. It causes aberrant cell development, which can assault or spread to other sections of the body, perhaps leading to the patient’s death. Based on research findings, timely detection can diminish the likelihood of mortality and enhance the quality of healthcare provided for the illness. However, current technologies can only identify cancer at an advanced stage. Consequently, there is a substantial demand for rapid and productive approaches to detecting breast cancer. Researchers are actively pursuing precise and timely methods for the diagnosis of breast cancer, aiming to achieve enhanced accuracy and early detection. Biosensor technology can allow for the speedy and accurate diagnosis of cancer-related cells, as well as a more sensitive and specialized technique for generating them. Additionally, numerous treatments for breast cancer are depicted such as herbal therapy, nanomaterial-based drug delivery, miRNA targeting, CRISPR technology, immunotherapy, and precision medicine. Early detection and efficient therapy are necessary to manage such a severe illness properly.

Carbon capture and utilization is an attractive technique to mitigate the damage to the environment. The aim of this study was to techno-economically investigate the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol and then conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether using Aspen Plus® (V.11, Aspen Technology, Inc., Bedford, Massachusetts 01730, USA). Hydrogen was obtained from alkaline water electrolysis, proton exchange membrane and solid oxide electrolysis processes for methanol production. The major cost contributing factor in the methanol production was the cost of hydrogen production; therefore, the cost per ton of methanol was highest for alkaline water electrolysis and lowest for solid oxide electrolysis. The specific cost of methanol for solid oxide electrolysis, proton exchange membrane and alkaline water electrolysis was estimated to be 701$/ton, 760 $ /ton and 920$/ton, respectively. Similarly, the specific cost of dimethyl ether was estimated to be 1141 $ /ton, 1230$/ton and 1471 $ /ton, using solid oxide electrolysis, proton exchange membrane and alkaline water electrolysis based hydrogen production, respectively. The cost for methanol and dimethyl ether production by proton exchange membrane was slightly higher than for the solid oxide electrolysis process. However, the proton exchange membrane operates at a lower temperature, consequently leading to less operational issues.

Urban areas under the influence of multi-industrial activities with arid and semi-arid environments witness the significant increase in environmental pollution especially in the water sector. The present study evaluated the water quality and associated health risk assessment through heavy metal pollution. Drinking ( n = 48) and surface ( n = 37) water samples were collected from semi-arid multi-industrial metropolis, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Physio-chemical and biological parameters and different metals (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni and Zn) were investigated using standard procedures and multivariate water quality assessments. Many physio-chemical and biological parameters and metals especially arsenic were exceeding the permissible limit of Punjab environmental quality standards and the World Health Organization. The results from water quality index showed that < 56% samples have poor, < 8% have very poor and < 6% have unsuitable water quality for drinking purposes. Water quality for the Gugera Branch Canal was found suitable with medium sodium (alkalinity) and salinity hazards, while it was found poor with magnesium absorption ratio. Hazard quotient (HQ) values for arsenic were found at the threshold level (HQ > 1) and carcinogenicity was found in case of arsenic and chromium (1 × 10 −4 ) in adults and children. Semi-arid weather combined with different anthropogenic activities and unusual water features provoked metal contamination. Results of the present study can deliver basic information for effective management of water in the most populous and industrial areas.

BackgroundMurmur is one of the commonest reasons for referral to paediatric cardiologists. This has caused a long waiting time for clinic and increased parental anxiety.ObjectivesTo assess the local cardiology services for suspected congenital heart diseases in neonates and infants at Princess Alexandra Hospital Harlow, Essex, UKMethodsRetrospective data was collected from period of May 2018 to November 2018 from online database and patient notes including all the neonates and infants referred and seen in paediatric cardiology clinic during this period.ResultsTotal 30 patients were studied. 56.6% were females and 43.3% were males. The mean waiting time was 4 months. Commonest reason for referral was heart murmur in 40% patients and 2nd common reason was family history of congenital heart diseases in 30%. Echocardiogram was normal in 20% and the commonest defects were VSD and ASD 20% each. Amongst those having heart murmurs 16.6% were normal and discharged, 8.3% had PFO and discharged and 8.3% had tiny PDA. Our local referral pathways recommend discussion with consultant before referral but only 10% patients were discussed with the consultant and 83.3% had no documentation regarding discussion with consultant. In only 105 of referrals the local referral pathway was followed.Abstract P196 Figure 1ConclusionThe commonest reason for referral to cardiology clinic for infants and neonates is heart murmur. If we develop our local murmur guidelines then it will be easy to decide whom we need to see in cardiology clinic and this can avoid un-necessary cardiology clinic referrals without missing the pathologies. We intend to develop our local murmur guidelines as a next step to quality improvement project.RecommendationsCreate awareness amongst doctors about cardiology clinic referral form for neonates and infants with suspected congenital heart disease through teaching sessions and during induction of new doctors.The referral form should be duly signed by the consultant making referral and the cardiology consultant accepting and the signed form should be attached in the patient notes in correspondence.We need to develop out local cardiology guidelines for neonates and infants with heart murmur and/or suspected congenital heart disease so that un-necessary referrals can be avoided without missing the congenital heart defects.

There is a serious concern regarding freshwater resources of Pakistan which have been mismanaged and now are depleting extensively due to other reasons like intensive application of agricultural pesticides and insecticides. The present study was conducted to determine the concentrations of cypermethrin, deltamethrin, permethrin, and bifenthrin in the samples of water, sediments, and fish collected from various locations of River Chenab, Pakistan, during summer and winter seasons. These locations include namely Marala, Khanki, Qadirabad, and Trimu Headworks. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was deployed for analysis and determination of pyrethroid concentrations in these samples. The analytics show the order of pyrethroid concentrations in river as fish> sediment>water. Whereas maximum concentrations of 0.472 μg g −1 found in fish and minimum concentrations were determined in water, i.e., 0.087 μg L −1 at the sampling locations of Trimu and Marala headworks, respectively. Moreover, highest mean concentrations of pyrethroid, i.e., 1.248 μg g −1 in fish were detected in winter season as compared to summers, i.e., 0.087 μg L −1 . However, all the values of pyrethroid were found to be lower than the maximum permissible levels specified by EU and WHO-FAO. Whereas the levels of deltamethrin and permethrin in water were found much higher than the specific limits set by EU.