BackgroundTo determine the agents of poisoning and demographic distribution of children brought to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) with a history of accidental poison intake and to examine the factors associated with it.MethodsThis hospital based descriptive study of first 100 patients from both sexes who presented to Pediatric department, CHK from 1st January 2006 till 31st December 2008 with exposure to a known poisonous agent and fulfilling other inclusion criteria were included in the study. Data regarding their demographic profile and potential risk factors was collected on a well structured proforma, cases were followed until discharge or expiry. Data was analyzed using frequencies, proportions, group means, median and standard deviations.ResultsThe male to female ratio in our study was 1.2:1, with kerosene (50%) being the most common household agent followed by medicines (38%), insecticides (7%) and bathroom cleaners (5%). Factors such as mother's education level, number of siblings and storage place of poison correlated significantly with the cases of accidental poisoning. Most of the children (70%) presented within 3 hours of ingestion. Dyspnea was the most common symptom observed. The mortality rate in our study was 3%.ConclusionsChildren belonging to age group 2-3 years are the most susceptible both in terms of morbidity and mortality. Preventive strategies need to be adopted at a national level to spread awareness among parents.

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Strategies for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration apply adult mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) that can be sourced from bone marrow‐ and lipo‐aspirates. Adipose tissue‐derived MSCs are more easily harvested in the large quantities required for skeletal tissue‐engineering approaches, but are generally considered to be less osteogenic than bone marrow MSCs. Therefore, we tested a new molecular strategy to improve their osteogenic lineage‐differentiation potential using the fungal metabolite cytochalasin D (CytoD). We show that CytoD, which may function by redistributing the intracellular location of β‐actin (ACTB), is a potent osteogenic stimulant as reflected by significant increases in alkaline phosphatase activity, extracellular matrix mineralization, and osteoblast‐related gene expression (e.g., RUNX2, ALPL, SPARC, and TGFB3). RNA sequencing analyses of MSCs revealed that acute CytoD treatment (24 hours) stimulates a broad program of osteogenic biomarkers and epigenetic regulators. CytoD decreases mRNA and protein levels of the Polycomb chromatin regulator Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2), which controls heterochromatin formation by mediating trimethylation of histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3). Reduced EZH2 expression decreases cellular H3K27me3 marks indicating a global reduction in heterochromatin. We conclude that CytoD is an effective osteogenic stimulant that mechanistically functions by blocking both cytoplasmic actin polymerization and gene‐suppressive epigenetic mechanisms required for the acquisition of the osteogenic phenotype in adipose tissue‐derived MSCs. This finding supports the use of CytoD in advancing the osteogenic potential of MSCs in skeletal regenerative strategies. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2018;7:197–209

BackgroundAn ongoing evaluation system is essential to determine if the academic system in place has worked to produce a better product, hence the objective of our study was to evaluate the satisfaction level among medical students regarding their academic teaching and assessment method and what measures will they suggest for the future to rectify the current situation.This questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted in a public sector medical university from February to July 2010. A well structured questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 375 final year medical students. However 292 of the students provided informed consent and filled in the questionnaire which included their demographic profile as well as questions in line with the study objective. Data was entered in a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version.16) and analyzed using descriptive statistics.FindingsThe male to female ratio in our study was 1:2. Most of the students (57.2%) were dissatisfied with the quality of teaching in the university. Fifty-seven percent of the participants believed that the current standard of their institute were not at par with those of international medical universities. BCQ's were the mode of examination questions preferred by the majority of the students. Most of the students (66.1%) wanted the university to conduct career planning seminars to help them plan their career.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the students of public sector medical universities are unsatisfied from current academic facilities and teaching activities. Students recommend increased emphasis on better lectures and practical training as well as a need to incorporate career planning sessions for the students to help plan them their future career paths.

BackgroundTo determine the etiology, management, bacteriological spectrum and outcome of neonatal patients admitted in Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) and to examine the factors associated with it.MethodsThis hospital based descriptive study of 1463 patients from both sexes who were admitted to Paediatric department, CHK from 1st January 2008 till 31st December 2010 with an established cause according to modified Wigglesworth classification and fulfilling other inclusion criteria were included in the study. Data regarding their demographic profile and potential risk factors was collected on a well structured proforma. Cases were followed until discharge or expiry. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsThe male to female ratio in our study was 1.12:1. Seven hundred and thirty-four patients were delivered at home (50.2%) and 1010 were less than 7 days old (69%). Out of the total cohort of expired subjects, 89 participants (74.8%) were < 7 days of life. Mortality was more in neonates born at home in rural areas to illiterate mother; 74 patients (62.2%). Most of the deaths; 57 were in neonates suffering from specific infections (47.9%) followed by 38 deaths in immaturity group (31.9%) and 19 related to asphyxial conditions (15.9%). The most common isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (28.7%) followed by Klebsiella (24.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (16.6 ). One hundred and nineteen (8.13%) of the neonates died in our study group.ConclusionsThese results suggest that neonates with illiterate mothers with high parity and below average socioeconomic level were more susceptible to mortality in the early neonatal period. Most of the cases of mortality were due to specific infections.