[en] This document reviews the activities of the Pest Control Research Group in Indonesia. Pests under study are the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), the rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis), the sugar cane borer (Chilo auricilius), bean flies (Agromyza spp.), tobacco insects (Heliothis armigera and Spodoptera litura) and cotton insects, especially the pink bollworm

[en] Objective: To determine frequency of hepatitis B and C in surgical patients Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Duration: 1st April to 1st Nov 2009. Setting: Combined Military Hospital, Lahore; tertiary care, 1000 bedded hospital. Methods: All patients prepared and admitted for elective surgery were included in the study. Sampling technique was purposive non-probability. Testing of venous blood was done for HBsAg and Anti HCV antibody using 3rd generation ELISA for HCV and indirect ELISA for HBV in the preoperative period. Results: A total of 850 patients undergoing surgery were studied. Mean age of the study population was 41.7+-13.7 years. Out of the study population 481(56.5%) were male and 369 (43.5%) were females. Two hundred and eighty eight (33.9%) patients were from urban background and 562 (66.1%) were from rural areas. There were 79 (9.3%) patients found positive for HCV, 37(4.3%) for HBV and 12 (1.4%) patients were found to have both HBV and HCV infections. Conclusion: There is very high frequency of Hepatitis B and C in surgical patients. We recommend mandatory screening of all patients undergoing elective surgery. (author)

[en] The screwworm is thought to have reached North Africa with a shipment of contaminated livestock imported from Central or South America. The parasite's presence in Libya poses a great threat to livestock, wildlife, and the environment in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean Basin. The parasite's present restricted distribution in Africa - confined to an area of approximately 20,000 square kilometers, 30 kilometers south of Tripoli and 60 kilometers east of the border with Tunisia - offers the possibility for eradication, if an international emergency action programme can be fully instituted. The programme is a collaborative effort of the Government of Libya and international agencies including FAO, IAEA, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). If eradication is achieved before much additional spread occurs, savings will be very great indeed. The sterile insect technique, in conjunction with surveillance, preventive, and curative treatment of animal wounds, is the only available technique for eradicating the New World Screwworm. The sterile insect technique requires the releases of huge numbers of factory-reared, sexually sterile insects. Sexual sterility is induced by exposing the late pupal stage to gamma rays. When these sterile insects mate with native females, the eggs laid on open wounds fail to hatch and no progeny are produced. By sustained releases and maintaining a ratio of 10 or more sterile insects to each native insect over several generations, eradication is achieved in a relatively short period of time.

[en] To ascertain the effectiveness of immunosuppressants along with ACEI and /or ARBS in proteinuria in patients with solitary kidney post nephrectomy. Study Design: Prospective quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Peshawar and Multan, from 2010 to 2016. Subjects and Methods: The sample population comprised of 07 cases of post nephrectomy solitary kidney developing proteinuria from 2010-2016 reporting to hospitals. Patients were given initially ACEI and/or ARBS to lower proteinuria for three months. They were followed up to see for complete or partial remission. Deltacortil 1mg/kg max 60mg/day along with ACEI and /or ARBS was added to patients who didn’t go into remission. Results: Out of 7 patients, 3 (42.9%) were males and 4 (57.1%) were female patients. Addition of deltacortil 1mg/kg max 60mg/day along with ACEI and /or ARBS reduced proteinuria to less than 1 gram in 3 patients (2 males and 1 female) and less than 300mg in 4 patients (1 male and 3 females).There was a reduction in the mean 24hrs urinary protein excretion as a whole from the baseline 2.33 ± 0.84 g/24 hrs to 0.48 +- 0.33 g/24 hrs. Remission was achieved on the average in three months and maintenance on tapering doses for 12 months. Cyclosporine was used in three cases who relapsed on tapering steroids and remission was achieved with 5-10mg steroids and 100-200mg of cyclosporine. Conclusion: Non respondent patients with solitary kidney developing proteinuria being treated with ACEI and /or ARBS had good chance to lower their proteinuria with steroids. Relapses even with steroids responded to cyclosporine. (author)

[en] Objective: To assess validity of platelet count/spleen diameter ratio in cirrhotic patients, as a non-invasive predictor of high risk esophageal varices (EVs). Study Design: Cross sectional validation study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medicine, Military Hospital Rawalpindi. Material and Methods: A total of 160 cases with cirrhosis due to any cause were included in this study. The study included both male and female subjects and was restricted to age 35-70 years. Exclusion criteria were also applied to this group of patients. All these patients underwent blood test for platelet count and ultrasound abdomen for splenic diameter. For each patient calculation of platelet/splenic ratio was determined with a cut off value of 909 determined. Values greater than this cut off were supposed not to have high risk esophageal varices. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed on all patients and then on the basis of endoscopy results the patients were divided into two groups, first group in which high risk EVs (grade 2 and grade 3) were present and second group in which they were absent. Subsequently sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and accuracy were calculated, keeping in view the calculated cut off value and endoscopy findings. Results: In our study, 60 percent (n=96) were between 35-50 years of age and 40 percent (n=64) were between 51-70 years of age, mean ± SD was calculated as 50.15 ± 9.28 years, 55.63 percent (n=89) were male and 44. 37 percent (n=71) were females. Validity of platelet count/spleen diameter ratio in cirrhotic patients for diagnosis of high risk EVs, keeping endoscopy as gold standard was recorded which showed that 58.13 percent (n=93) were true positive, 5.63 percent (n=9) were false positive, 27.5 percent (n=44) were true negative and 8.75 percent (n=14) were false negative. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy rate were calculated as 86.92 percent, 83.01 percent, 91.18 percent, 75.86 percent and 85.63 percent respectively. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the platelet count/spleen diameter ratio may be a useful tool for detecting EVs in patients with hepatic cirrhosis but some-other trials in our local population are required to further authenticate its accuracy. (author)

[en] To determine the prevalence of hyperuricemia in predialysis CKD patients in a tertiary care hospital and analyze its relationship with various socio-demographic factors. Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from 1st Jun 2017 30th Nov 2017. Material and Methods: The sample population comprised of 200 predialysis CKD patients, stage 1-5, of a tertiary care hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Fasting serum uric acid level was obtained from the patients. Relationship of age, gender, education status, marital status, smoking history, dietary history, BMI, eGFR, lipid profile and blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) was assessed with the serum uric acid level. Results: Out of 200 patients, 62.5% had hyperuricemia and 37.5% had normal levels. After applying the logistic regression we found that presence of increased systolic blood pressure, raised cholesterol level, increasing age, lowe GFR and smoking history had significant association with the hyperuricemia.Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of hyperuricemia in predialysis CKD patients. Special consideration should be remunerated to the predialysis CKD population having risk factors like hyperlipidemia, high systolic blood pressure along with hyperuricemia as propitious management can procrastinate the progression of CKD and eventually paring down the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. (author)

No abstract available

No abstract available

[en] The screwworm is thought to have reached North Africa with a shipment of contaminated livestock imported from Central or South America. The parasite's presence in Libya poses a great threat to livestock, wildlife, and the environment in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean Basin. The parasite's present restricted distribution in Africa - confined to an area of approximately 20,000 square kilometers, 30 kilometers south of Tripoli and 60 kilometers east of the border with Tunisia - offers the possibility for eradication, if an international emergency action programme can be fully instituted. The programme is a collaborative effort of the Government of Libya and international agencies including FAO, IAEA, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). If eradication is achieved before much additional spread occurs, savings will be very great indeed. The sterile insect technique, in conjunction with surveillance, preventive, and curative treatment of animal wounds, is the only available technique for eradicating the New World Screwworm. The sterile insect technique requires the releases of huge numbers of factory-reared, sexually sterile insects. Sexual sterility is induced by exposing the late pupal stage to gamma rays. When these sterile insects mate with native females, the eggs laid on open wounds fail to hatch and no progeny are produced. By sustained releases and maintaining a ratio of 10 or more sterile insects to each native insect over several generations, eradication is achieved in a relatively short period of time

[en] Objective: To determine the prevalence of patterns of CKD-MBD in dialysis patients at a tertiary care hospital and analyze its relationship with various socio demographic factors. Study Design: Analytical cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from Jul 2017 to Dec 2017. Methodology: The sample population comprised of 100 patients undergoing hemodialysis and blood samples of calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase and intact PTH were obtained from these patients. CKD-MBD was classified on the basis of biochemical abnormalities and their relationship with age, gender, marital status, smoking history, dialysis count per week, dialysis duration was assessed. Results: Out of 82 patients consisting of 62 males and 20 females, the mean age was 49.8 ± 16 years, 68% of dialysis patients had biochemical abnormalities of which 73% showing high turn over bone disease and 26.8% showing low turnover bone disease (adynamic and osteomalacia). After applying the logistic regression we found that age, gender, dialysis vintage and other socio-demograhic factors had no significant association with the CKD-MBD subtypes. Conclusion: Biochemical abnormalities although common in dialysis patients but the sturdy interconnection between them is still shrouded in disputation. Special consideration should be remunerated to the dialysis population with different spectrum of CKD-MBD as propitious management can procrastinate the progression of CKD and eventually paring down the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. (author)