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Background/aim: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an emerging tropical disease that remains a serious public health issue in Pakistan, particularly in North Waziristan. The current research was carried out to investigate the presence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in this region. Materials and methods: This prospective observational study was conducted from October 2018 to December 2020 at District Head Quarter Hospital Miranshah in North Waziristan with the collaboration of the Pathology Department of Gomal Medical College Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Needle aspirates were used for the microscopic Giemsa-stained slides. SPSS was used for data analysis. Results: Of the 5406 clinically-suspected cases, 2603(48.2%) were positive by microscopic examination. Of these 2603 patients, 1474 (57%) were male and 1129 (43%) were female. Most of the lesions were on the face, followed by upper and lower limbs. The 5-10-year age group had the highest percentage of 1167 (45%). A single lesion affected 96.6% of the patients, while 2.7% had double lesions and 0.7% had triple lesions. A high number of cutaneous leishmaniasis were seen from April to August, while the lowest number was seen November to December. Conclusion: This study provides extensive information in relation to the existence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the North Waziristan district of Pakistan, as well as the detailed demographic features of those affected by the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a Pakistan spy chief told journalists in Kabul: 'don't worry, everything will be okay' in Afghanistan. What is interesting to note in this assertion is that Pakistan had consistently been accused of playing a 'double game' in the war on terror since 2001. This paper examines the return of the Taliban and Pakistan's role in their victory in August-2021. In particular, it addresses the following questions: Why are Pakistan-Afghanistan relations so fraught? What is the pattern of Pakistan's influence over the Afghan Taliban? How different is the post- 2021 Taliban regime from its Taliban predecessors (1996–2001)? What might the long-term implications of the Taliban victory be for Pakistan? This paper employs the security-cum-rentier state framework to explain Pakistan's double game in the war on terror. Moreover, this paper aims to situate and contextualize the situation in Afghanistan (2001–2021) in the ongoing geopolitical rivalry, i.e. Quad/ Indo-Pacific Strategy (West) versus the Belt and Road Initiative (China). Methodologically, this study is based on secondary sources and some primary sources (official documents). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a taxonomic study of genus Vincetoxicum s.str. from southern Asia. Eleven regional endemic species are recognized on the basis of herbarium studies and fieldwork. Three new species are described: V. lenifolium sp. nov. (endemic to Pakistan), V. stewartianum sp. nov. (endemic to India), and V. subcanescens sp. nov. (endemic to Pakistan, Kashmir and Tibet). Three species names, V. cabulicum, V. glaucum and V. kenouriense, previously treated as synonyms of V. glaucum, V. canescens and V. hirundinaria, respectively, are resurrected. A neotype is designated for the Afghani endemic V. cabulicum. A lectotype is chosen from the syntypes of V. glaucum. We resolve the long-standing taxonomic problems in three species complexes: V. arnottianum, V. luridum, V. sakesarense, and V. stocksii; V. glaucum, V. canescens and V. cabulicum; and V. hirundinaria and V. kenouriense. Geo-taxonomic distinctions of southern Asian taxa are highlighted by excluding from henceforth the long misrecognized western Eurasian taxa V. canescens and V. hirundinaria. Furthermore, a detailed account of the genus including illustrations of whole plants, leaves and corona, distribution maps, a taxonomic key, morphological descriptions, synonymy, notes, and information on phenology, distribution and habitats is provided. Finally, provisional conservation assessments are provided, which indicate that V. cardiostephanum and V. sakesarense are critically endangered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examinethe views of the delinquent juveniles about the socioeconomic factors causing juvenile delinquency. The study participants for this research were recruited through purposive sampling from the district jail Mardan. Data were elicited through a structured interview schedule from n=150 out of N=250 juvenile offenders. The data were quantitatively analyzed using the Chi-square test. The results show a strong association of juvenile delinquency with poverty and impoverished status of the family (p=.001); the low living standard of the family (p=.005); unemployment and the lack of resources to sustain life (p=.018); unlimited lust of youth for gaining the material wealth (p=.000), adopting illegitimate ways of fulfilling basic needs (p=.006); lack of recreational facilities and quality education (p=.001), lack of proper care, supervision, protection and abandonment from the family (p=.019); violent community environments, belligerent cultural values, frequent domestic violence, and land disputes (p=.003); forced and bonded child labor (p=.006). Furthermore, this study identifies the lack of social and financial support system for destitute parents, which pushes their children to indulge in delinquent acts. Therefore, this study recommends the need for social inclusion programs, counseling, and skilled-based education fordelinquents and the children of broken families. Similarly, awareness campaigns, provision of recreational facilities, and implementation of anti-child labor and child protection lawscould help weed out juvenile delinquency's menace and mitigate thepotential criminals of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, funding from the Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia accelerated data mobilization and georeferencing by Pakistani herbaria. The funding directly benefited only two herbaria but, by the end of the project 9 herbaria were involved in sharing data, 2 through GBIF (ISL 2019, SINDH 2019; codes according to Index herbariorum) and 6 others (BANNU 2019, BGH 2019, PUP 2019, QUETTA 2019, RAW 2019, SWAT 2019) through OpenHerbarium, a Symbiota based network. Eventually, all collections in OpenHerbarium are expected to become GBIF data providers. Additional Pakistani herbaria are being introduced to data mobilization and several individuals have expressed interest in learning to use OpenHerbarium to generated documented checklists for teaching and research and others for learning to link information in OpenHerbarium to other resources. These are the first steps to developing a "a large group of individual... to train, mentor, and champion [biodiversity] data use" in Pakistan, but it is important to remember that good bioidiversity data starts in the field. We need to provide today's collectors and educators with easy access to a) information about what constitutes a high-quality herbarium specimen; b) tools for making it easier to record and provide high quality specimen data; c) simple mechanisms for sharing data in ways that provide immediately useful resources; and d) learning to make use of the data becoming available. OpenHerbarium addresses the third and fourth needs and also makes it simple for collections to become GBIF data providers. This year, the focus will be on first two of the three steps identified. Introduction of the new resources will be used to introduce collectors and educators to the ideas underlying provision of biodiversity data that is fit for use and reuse. When Symbiota2 is functional, OpenHerbarium will be moved to that system. This will encourage development of additional tools for using biodiversity data. All these activities are essential to helping spread understanding of the concepts integral to biodiversity informatics. It is, of course, possible "to train, build, and champion data use" using data for other parts of the world, or provided by institutions from other parts of the world, but embedding good biodiversity data practices into the fabric of a country's biodiversity education and research activities better benefits the country if a substantial portion of the data is generated from within the country. It also helps to spread knowledge of the country's biodiversity among its students. Consequently, our focus in developing Pakistan's capacity in biodiversity informatics is on engaging collections and collectors in sharing biodiversity data, then helping them discover, use, and create methods for developing the insights needed to encourage wise use of the country's biological resources, and encouraging interaction. This will lead to a "community of practice" within Pakistan that can both benefit from and contribute to an international "community of practice". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited health facilities and malnutrition are major problems in the Karakorum Range of Northern Pakistan, often resulting in various human disorders. Since centuries, however, local communities in these areas have developed traditional methods for treating various ailments and local foods capes that can be significant for devising public health and nutritional policies. This study was intended to document the ethnobotanical knowledge of the local peoples in the Tormik Valley, especially in the medical and food domains. Methods: Field trips were undertaken in 14 different villages of the study area from 2010 to 2012. Ethnobotanical data were gathered using semi-structured interviews and group conversation with 69 informants. Details about local uses of plant species were recorded along with demographic characteristics of the visited communities. Relative frequency citation index (RFCi) and preference ranking index (PRi) tools were applied to determine the cultural significance of the reported species. Results: Sixty-three plant species, with a predominance of Asteraceae and Fabaceae family members, as well as their detailed folk uses were documented. Forty-three percent of the species were used to treat various diseases, 21 % were consumed as wild fruits and vegetables and 53 % of the species had multipurpose applications. Thymus linearis Benth, Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. turkestanica L. and Convolvulus arvensis L. were found to be the most utilized medicinal plant species, i.e. those with significant RFCi values (0.54, 0.51 and 0.48, respectively). Betula utilis D. Don was the most versatile taxon (seven different ways of utilization); being this species a common and easily accessible subalpine tree and then under anthropogenic pressure, the implementation of concrete strategies aimed at its in-situ and ex-situ conservation is strongly recommended. Conclusion: The valleys in the Karakorum Mountains in the Northern Pakistan host significant Traditional Knowledge on local food and medicinal plant species, which need to be reconsidered and cautiously re-evaluated by ethnopharmacologists, and public health/nutrition actors. Furthermore, germane trans-disciplinary investigations are suggested to ensure the dynamic conservation of precious local knowledge systems, as well as plant diversity in Pakistani mountain regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western Himalayan alpine pastures are among the most diverse ecological locations on the globe. Four alpine pastures were investigated to study species distribution patterns, richness, similarity, and community structure in Bagh District, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Four communities, Poa-Primula- Sibbaldia, Primula-Caltha-Primula, Poa alpina-Poa pratensis-Scirpus, and Sibbaldia-Poa-Scirpus, were identified on the basis of an importance value index. The average value of species richness was 1.42; Simpson's and Shannon-Wiener's diversity values were 3.13 and 0.91, respectively; the degree of maturity index was 44.1; and species evenness was 0.901. Local alpine flora was dominated by a hemicriptophytic life form with microphyllous leaf spectra. The species-environment correlation was analyzed using canonical correspondence analysis. A negative correlation of both diversity and richness was revealed with altitudinal gradient. Anthropogenic disturbances showed a significant negative impact on distribution of medicinal and palatable species. Unpalatable species dominated the local flora, indicating the heavy grazing pressure in the area. Development and implementation of regional conservation strategies are recommended to protect the threatened Himalayan alpine biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The documentation of local food resources among linguistic/cultural minorities is essential for fostering measures aimed at sustaining food biocultural heritage. Moreover, interdisciplinary studies on food cultural heritage represent a vital aspect of promoting environmental and social sustainability. The current study aimed to record the traditional foraging of wild food plants (WFPs) among three minority groups (Kalasha, Muslim Ismaili Yidgha, and Muslim Sunni Kamkata-vari speakers) as well as the dominant (Sunni Muslim) Kho/Chitrali people in the Kalasha and Lotkoh valleys, Chitral, NW Pakistan. A field survey recorded fifty-five locally gathered wild food plants and three mycological taxa. Most of the WFPs were used raw as snacks or as cooked vegetables, and Yidgha speakers reported the highest number of WFPs. Although the wild food plant uses of the four considered groups were quite similar, Yidgha speakers exclusively reported the use of Heracleum candicans, Matricaria chamomilla, Seriphidium brevifolium, and Sisymbrium irio. Similarly, Kalasha speakers reported the highest number of use reports, and along with Yidgha speakers they quoted a few WFPs that were frequently used only by them. The results of the study showed a remarkable degree of cultural adaptation of the minority groups to the dominant Kho/Chitrali culture, but also some signs of cultural resilience among those linguistic and religious minorities that were historically more marginalized (Kalasha and Yidgha speakers). The recorded food biocultural heritage should be seriously considered in future development programs aimed at fostering social cohesion and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]