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Introduction Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, yet it is also the poorest and most impoverished, particularly in terms of neonatal healthcare. In order to build and tailor strategies to improve neonatal outcomes, it is necessary to identify barriers and facilitators for interventions. Therefore, we conducted this study to provide an overview of neonatal healthcare quality and assess the structural capacity for the improvement and further development of neonatal healthcare facilities in Balochistan. Methods A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in Balochistan, a province of Pakistan. The survey was designed to assess the level of staffing and facilities in the neonatal health care units. Data were gathered through trained staff either by in-person visits to the facility or via telephone. Results A total of 177 facilities were assessed in 25 districts of Balochistan. A majority (88.7%) of the facilities were from the public sector. Birth and neonatal care services were provided at only 63 (36%) of the assessed facilities and only three had newborn intensive care units (NICUs) with a 1:5 staff: patient ratio. Unfortunately, all NICUs lacked the basic advanced facilities. None of the hospitals had an infection control policy or staff nor any training program for doctors. Conclusion In conclusion, healthcare facilities to manage neonatal patients requiring hospital care are extremely limited in Balochistan and the ones that are available have very limited resources. To improve the healthcare system in Balochistan, all stakeholders should be involved in the planning, decision-making, and implementation of healthcare programs at all levels to ensure sustainability and efficiency.

Biomineralization plays an important role in stabilizing the soil by modifying its geological and physical properties, hence, acting as a stabilizer against wind erosion specially in regions characterized by harsh soil (calcareous and dry) and weather such as the Arabian Gulf. Among the micro-organisms existing in soil, ureolytic bacteria can modify the characteristics of soil, thereby inducing biotic mineralization. One of the aim of this study was to explore the occurrence and diversity of ureolytic bacteria in soils of Qatar, for further application in soil stabilization, among other applications. The focus was to study the potential of bacteria adapted to the harsh environmental conditions to exhibit urease activity. Indigenous bacteria were isolated from six locations across Qatar. The most common genus found to exhibit ureolytic activity was Bacillus while the most common species was Bacillus cereus. 18 isolated ureolytic bacteria were identified and differentiated by MALDI-TOF MS while for 6 isolates, molecular 16S rRNA technique was used. All isolates were screened for the urease activity based on a modified method optimized in this work. Arbitrary urease activity (AUA) and specific production (AUA/cfu) were considered as main screening parameters. The isolates with high specific production of ureolytic activity are considered as inducer of calcium carbonate formation. The analysis of precipitates obtained in cultures using SEM-EDS analysis showed the precipitates of calcium carbonates while XRD analysis confirmed the presence of calcium carbonate in two mineral phases: aragonite and calcite. The quantification of CaCO3 precipitated was done using back-titration and by analysis of calcium ions using atomic absorption spectrometer. Under lab conditions, the process of Microbial induced calcite precipitation (MICP) increased the calcium carbonate content to 142.96 mg/g of soil (acid treated) in 20 mL liquid cultures quantified by titration, however, bacteria were able to induce 29 mg of CaCO3 per gram of natural soil. The application of MICP on large scale was done in Qatar University Al-Khor farm where an increase in the CaCO3 content was quantified to be of 16.2 %. This research illustrated high occurrence and distribution of indigenous Bacillus sp. in soil of Qatar that are capable of biomineralization and hence, can be proved helpful if properly utilized in enhancement of soil properties.

To compare the effectiveness of zinc supplementation in tablet form with that of the suspension form in the treatment of acute diarrhoea.A comparative study was carried out at the Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, Pakistan from October 2008 to April 2009, and comprised children aged6-24 months suffering from acute diarrhoea. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of even and odd numbers. Group A (even numbers) received dispersible zinc tablets, and group B (odd numbers) received zinc suspension. The patients were admitted for 3 days and improvement was checked at the end of 3rd day in terms of decrease in the frequency of stools/day. SPSS 15 was used for data analysis.The 88 patients were divided into two groups of 44(50%) each. Overall, 49(55.7%) patients were male and 39(44.3%) were female. At the end of the 3rd day 51(58%) patients improved, while 37(42%) did not. In the zinc tablet group, improvement was in 32(72%) patients compared to 19(43%) in the zinc suspension group (p0.05).diarrhoea.The results of tablets preparation were clinically significant in reducing the duration and severity of diarrhoea.