Objectives: According to a recent survey, Pakistan was ranked as the third highest country with malnutrition and the under-five child mortality. No realistic solution for this growing problem has been found despite the fact that the struggle to tackle the issue of malnutrition among young Pakistani children has been going on for the last several decades. The objective of our study was to look into the relationship between parental education and malnutrition in Pakistan and to make a recommendation to improve the nutritional condition of the children.Method: We carried a case-control study among 400 mothers from February 2016 to July 2016 in a primary health care center located in a peri-urban community in Pakistan. A self-constructed questionnaire comprising of 75 questions was used to collect the data.Results: The mean age of mother was found to be 27.61 ± 5.130. The majority of the mothers were uneducated 168 (42.0%) while only 116 (29.0%) fathers were uneducated. About 226 (56.5%) of the children had a normal nutritional status while 102 (25.5%) had first-degree malnutrition, 52 (13.0%) had second-degree malnutrition, and 20 (5.0%) had a third-degree malnutrition. Higher paternal educational status (p = 0.008) and maternal educational status (p = 0.011) were found to be significantly associated with normal child nutritional status.Conclusion: It is recommended that the education of parents, especially females, in the rural and semi-urban areas should be promoted and given due importance. The focus of all these programs should be the mother in terms of security, employment, literacy, justice, healthcare, food, shelter, and social equality.

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of nontherapeutic use of methylphenidate as well as to ascertain any benefits, side effects, and other factors associated with this use.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in medical colleges in Pakistan using a self-constructed, validated questionnaire. The sample size was calculated using Open Source Statistics for Epidemiological Health software (OpenEpi web-based open-source program, MIT license), and it was determined to be 400. The type of sampling was cluster sampling. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the questionnaire, and it was found to be 0.80.ResultsOut of the 400 participants, 197 (49%) were male and 203 (51%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 21.02 (±1.54) years. Most of the participants (84%) reported they usually studied 1-3 hours a day, and 149 participants (37%) reported a score ranging from 70 to 80% in exams. Methylphenidate was admitted to be used by 37 participants. Out of these 37 participants, only 10 participants believed they had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants revealed they used the drug to either cope with the anxiety related to their scores or merely as a personal, recreational choice. Methylphenidate was mostly acquired from peers (68%), and peer pressure was found to be a major factor in its misuse.ConclusionsMost of the methylphenidate misuse is linked to student underperformance in examinations and an underlying dissatisfaction. The problem is more aggravated when the social influence exerted by other students is taken into account. The side effects of drug usage are found to outweigh the benefits that have been reported.

Microbes (e.g., plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and endophytes) are the natural inhabitants of the soil-plant-environment ecosystem having the potential to ameliorate the negative effects of environmental extremities. Plant-microbe interactions are integral events of agricultural ecosystems which must be studied in order to modulate the systemic mechanisms in field crops. Under changing climatic scenarios, drought and heat stresses tend to induce numerous physiological, morphological, metabolic and biochemical alterations in crop plants, while microbes hold the potential to mitigate these adverse impacts in a sustainable way. However, plant-microbe interaction mechanisms remain understudied owing to their complexities in the rhizosphere and within the cellular systems of plants. In this review, we have attempted to summarize microbes’ interactions with crop plants that tend to influence hormonal and nutrients balance, and the biosynthesis of metabolites and phytohormones, etc. In particular, focus has been kept on the underlying mechanisms related to plant-microbe interactions which confer abiotic stress tolerance. Moreover, various physiological, morphological, metabolic and biochemical responses of plants subjected to water scarcity and elevated temperatures have been synthesized objectively. Lastly, from the perspective of microbes’ application as biofertilizers, both challenges and future research needs to develop microbe-mediated tolerance as a biologically potent strategy have been strategically pointed out.

This study sought to evaluate the awareness of bioethics among faculty at Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan, and to assess their interest in becoming part of a bioethics discussion group and enhancing their knowledge of this subject. 122 faculty members from the medical college, hospital and school of nursing filled out a questionnaire on ethics. 53% were aware of bioethics as a specialty. 85% showed an interest in educating themselves further in the subject and 61% were interested in becoming part of a bioethics discussion group. Only 50 out of 122 faculty members knew what an ethical dilemma was and only 38 were able to describe one in detail. The awareness level of bioethics as a specialty increased with seniority. However the enthusiasm to join a bioethics discussion group was greater among those at a junior level.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of utilization of family planning methods among married women of reproductive age in a semi urban community of Islamabad. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was done using two stage sampling, including cluster and consecutive sampling techniques. A proportionate sample from each mohallas of Nurpur Shahan was taken to achieve our sample size. All married women of the reproductive age group (15-45 years) living with their husbands, not diagnosed as a case of infertility and permanent residents of Nurpur Shahan were included. Results: Total of 550 women were included in the study with mean age of 31.64 years. Majority of women 497 (94.7%) were currently married while 322 (59.9 %) were literate. Of all the women, 72 (13.2%) women were currently pregnant and only 62 (11.3%) had a planned pregnancy. Induced abortion was practiced once by 9 (1.8%) women and 21 (4.1%) had done it twice. 394 (72.8%) had knowledge of family planning methods and only 102 (19.5%) women were using family Planning methods currently. Conclusion: Miscellaneous challenges are involved to increase involvement of the women and their families in the use of family planning services. Health education campaigns at community level to increase awareness regarding different family planning methods are highly needed. Government needs to improve the LHWs services to increase the use of family planning methods and combat induced abortions as a method of contraception. Controlling population through sterilization after attaining a large family size should not be the preferred method of family Planning.