BackgroundThe prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is growing in Pakistan; however, there are no national screening programs or guidelines in place to curb its development. This study was conducted with the aim of ascertaining public awareness and attitudes regarding CRC and current screening practices. Furthermore, the study assessed perceived barriers which could impact future screening processes.MethodsA cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among urban dwellers of Karachi, Pakistan. We excluded any individuals belonging to the medical profession, those diagnosed previously with CRC or having any significant co-morbidity. The validated and pre-tested questionnaire was administered among the study participants to record demographic information, awareness of CRC risk factors, symptoms and screening tests. Attitudes towards screening and perceived barriers to screening were also assessed. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0) (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). A knowledge score, out of a total of 14 points was calculated to reflect a participant’s overall knowledge regarding CRC risk factors and signs/symptoms.ResultsThe prevalence of CRC screening in eligible individuals (50 years or older) was 2.6% in our study population. Positive attitudes towards CRC management and screening were observed, with 75.1% (n = 296) acknowledging the preventive role of screening tests. Despite this only 14.9% (n = 58) of study participants expressed a future desire to undergo screening. Major barriers to screening were reported to be “a lack of knowledge regarding the screening procedure”, a “lack of screening facilities” and that the “screening procedure is too expensive”. A majority (n = 285, 72.3%) of the participants expressed a greater willingness to undergo screening if their doctor recommended it.ConclusionA national CRC screening and awareness program should be launched to promote awareness and facilitate screening in risk groups. General practitioners are needed to play a key role in counseling patients and endorsing healthy screening practices.

BackgroundThe prevalence of autism is growing worldwide. Owing to parents being the primary caregivers in most situations, their ability to recognize the signs and symptoms of autism and respond appropriately is of paramount importance in aiming to provide the best healthcare to autistic individuals. This study was conducted with the aim of ascertaining the parent’s knowledge and awareness of autism.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents residing in Karachi, Pakistan. We excluded any individuals belonging to the medical profession, those who have autistic children, and those who couldn’t completely comprehend English and Urdu. A sample size of 339 parents was selected. A validated and pre-tested questionnaire was administered among the study participants to record demographic information, knowledge, and perceptions regarding autism and its signs and symptoms. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23.0, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, US). A knowledge score was calculated for opinions about autism and its sign and symptoms individually to reflect a participant’s overall knowledge regarding autism.ResultsFrom our study population, 75% of our population had heard of autism, with those who knew of someone with the disorder displaying greater awareness. However, our participants displayed poor knowledge scores, with a mean score of 5.59 in the section concerning correct opinions on autism and that of 6.84 in the section testing knowledge of signs and symptoms. Despite this, 95.6% of the participants were willing to get their children treated, in the event of them being diagnosed with autism.ConclusionUnfortunately, our population displayed a lack of awareness and knowledge regarding autism. To fill this gap, awareness programs should be conducted to promote parent’s knowledge regarding autism, so as to allow for early diagnoses and an appropriate treatment plan/therapy. On a positive note, most were willing to get their children tested and treated in case of a diagnosis. However, only a small number of participants knew of autism centers in Karachi. General practitioners are needed to play a key role in counseling parents about autism.

The aim of present study was to enhance topical permeation of clotrimazole gel preparation by using various permeability enhancers such as coconut oil, pistachio oil and sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). Clotrimazole gel preparations were prepared and optimized by using three factor, five level central composite design. A second-order polynomial equation was generated in order to estimate the effect of independent variables i.e. coconut oil (X 1 ), pistachio oil (X 2 ) and sodium lauryl sulphate (X 3 ) at various dependent variables i.e. flux (Y 1 ), lag time (Y 2 ), diffusion coefficient (Y 3 ), permeability coefficient (Y 4 ), and input rate (Y 5 ) of clotrimazole gel formulations. Ex vivo skin permeation study was performed through rat skin by using modified Franz diffusion cell system. Optimized formulation F8 exhibited highest flux 2.17 µg/cm 2 /min, permeability coefficient 0.0019 cm/min and input rate 1.543 µg/cm 2 /min, along with moderate lag time 77.27 min and diffusion coefficient 0.063 cm 2 /min, which is further supported by anti-fungal activity that exhibited more prominent zone of inhibition against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Mucor. Thus, it can be concluded that permeation of clotrimazole gel was enhanced by various combination of coconut oil, pistachio oil and sodium lauryl sulphate but optimized formulation F8 containing 0.4 ml pistachio oil, 0.8 ml coconut oil and 0.04 g of SLS exhibited more pronounced and promising effect through rat skin.

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A new micro heat exchanger was analyzed using numerical formulation of conjugate heat transfer for single-phase fluid flow across copper microchannels. The flow across bent channels harnesses asymmetric laminar flow and dean vortices phenomena for heat transfer enhancement. The single-channel analysis was performed to select the bent channel aspect ratio by varying width and height between 35–300 μm for Reynolds number and base temperature magnitude range of 100–1000 and 320–370 K, respectively. The bent channel results demonstrate dean vortices phenomenon at the bend for Reynolds number of 500 and above. Thermal performance factor analysis shows an increase of 18% in comparison to straight channels of 200 μm width and height. Alumina nanoparticles at 1% and 3% concentration enhance the Nusselt number by an average of 10.4% and 23.7%, respectively, whereas zirconia enhances Nusselt number by 16% and 33.9% for same concentrations. On the other hand, thermal performance factor analysis shows a significant increase in pressure drop at high Reynolds number with 3% particle concentration. Using zirconia for nanofluid, Nusselt number of the bent multi-channel model is improved by an average of 18% for a 3% particle concentration as compared to bent channel with deionized water.