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Objective: To review clinico-pathological data of Dengue infection in paediatric patients admitted during epidemic of 2015. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Department of Pediatrics during the epidemic from 1 July to 31 December, 2015. Materials and Methods: Febrile patients, aged 1-12 year of both genders (fulfilling the criteria of dengue infection according to the reporting form designed by Dengue Advisory Expert group for dengue infection) were included. Their clinical features, blood counts and dengue markers were recorded and followed up during hospital stay. Findings were subjected to SPSS 20 for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 133 febrile patients, half of them were male, were included after confirmation of diagnosis on dengue markers. More than two third 79.7% patients were above five years of age with mean age 8.5+ 3.2 year and mean duration of fever was 5.88+2.14 days. Headache was the most prominent symptom in 54.9% febrile patients followed by vomiting 52.6%. Hepatomegaly was seen in 36.8% patients. Dengue fever was the most common presentation followed by Dengue Haemorrhagic fever and Dengue Shock Syndrome. Patients with Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever and Dengue Shock Syndrome had restlessness, abdominal pain and cold clammy skin on presentation. Leukopenia was more frequent than thrombocytopenia. Conclusion: This study depicts that children more than five year of age more commonly suffer from dengue fever with full recovery within 96 hours of admission. As vaccine is not available in Pakistan, these patients need timely diagnosis and critical monitoring during disease course to prevent mortality.

The use of essential oil–based nanoemulsions (NEs) has been the subject of extensive research on a variety of conditions affecting the oral cavity. NEs are delivery methods that improve the solubility and distribution of lipid medicines to the intended areas. Because of their antibacterial and antifungal properties, itraconazole and thyme oil–based self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS) were created to protect oral health against oral microorganisms. The ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS were created utilizing an extreme verices mixture design, and varying concentrations of ThO (10% and 25%), labrasol (40% and 70%), and transcutol (20% and 40%) were used. The ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS had droplet sizes of less than 250 nm, a drug-loading efficiency of up to 64%, and a fungal growth inhibition zone of up to 20 mm. The accepted design was used to obtain the ideal formulation, which contained ThO in the amount of 0.18 g/ml, labrasol 0.62 g/ml, and transcutol 0.2 g/ml. The best ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS formulation was incorporated into a honey-based gel, which demonstrated improved release of ItZ in vitro and improved transbuccal permeation ex vivo. In addition, when compared with various formulations tested in rats, the optimized loaded emulgel decreased the ulcer index. This study therefore demonstrated that the ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS could offer an effective defense against oral diseases caused by microbial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pandemics have always been a nightmare for humanity, especially in developing countries. Forced lockdowns are considered one of the effective ways to deal with spreading such pandemics. Still, developing countries cannot afford such solutions because these may severely damage the country’s economy. Therefore, this study presents the proactive technological mechanisms for business organizations to run their standard business processes during pandemic-like situations smoothly. The novelty of this study is to provide a state-of-the-art solution to prevent pandemics using industrial internet of things (IIoT) and blockchain-enabled technologies. Compared to existing studies, the immutable and tamper-proof contact tracing and quarantine management solution is proposed. The use of advanced technologies and information security is a critical area for practitioners in the internet of things (IoT) and corresponding solutions. Therefore, this study also emphasizes information security, end-to-end solution, and experimental results. Firstly, a wearable wristband is proposed, incorporating 4G-enabled ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for smart contact tracing mechanisms in industries to comply with standard operating procedures outlined by the world health organization (WHO). Secondly, distributed ledger technology (DLT) omits the centralized dependency for transmitting contact tracing data. Thirdly, a privacy-preserving tracing mechanism is discussed using a public/private key cryptography-based authentication mechanism. Lastly, based on geofencing techniques, blockchain-enabled machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is proposed for quarantine management. The step-by-step methodology and test results are proposed to ensure contact tracing and quarantine management. Unlike existing research studies, the security aspect is also considered in the realm of blockchain. The practical implementation of the proposed solution also obtains the results. The results indicate the successful implementation of blockchain-enabled contact tracing and isolation management using IoT and geo-fencing techniques, which could help battle pandemic situations. Researchers can also consider the 5G-enabled narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) technologies to implement contact tracing solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software effort estimation is one of the most difficult tasks in software development whereas predictability is also of equal importance for strategic management. Accurate prediction of the actual cost that will be incurred in software development can be very beneficial for the strategic management. This study discusses the latest trends in software estimation focusing on analogy-based techniques to show how they have improved the accuracy for software effort estimation. It applies the standard deviation technique to the expected value of analogy-based estimates to improve accuracy. In more than 60 percent cases the applied technique of this study helped in improving the accuracy of software estimation by reducing the Magnitude of Relative Error (MRE). The technique is simple and it calculates the expected value of cost or time and then uses different confidence levels which help in making more accurate commitments to the customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urticaria affects all age groups of a population. It is triggered by allergens in foods, insect bites, medications, and environmental conditions. Urticaria is characterized by itching, a burning sensation, wheals and flares, erythema, and localized edema. The aim of this study was to develop a polymeric dosage form of ebastine using Carbopol 940 and mixture of span and tween. The emulsion was prepared, the gelling agent was added and the desired emulgel loaded with active drug was formulated. The formulations were subjected to physical stability, pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug content analysis, thermal analysis, in vitro drug release, and in vivo anti-allergic activity in animal model. The formulated emulgel exhibited good physical stability. The pH of the formulation was in the range of 5.2 ± 0.17 to 5.5 ± 0.20 which is suitable for topical application. Insignificant changes (p>.05) were observed in viscosity and spreadability of stored emulgels. The drug content was in the official limit of Pharmacopeia (i.e. 100 ± 10%). DSC measurements predicted that there is no interaction between the active moiety and excipients in emulgel formulation. The optimized formulation (ES3) released 74.25 ± 1.8% of ebastine after 12 h. The ebastine emulgel showed significant (p<.05; ANOVA) in vivo anti-allergic activity as compared to commercial product BenadrylVR in histamine-induced allergy in rabbits. This study concluded that a topical drug delivery of ebastine-loaded emulgel could be well tolerated and safe for the treatment of urticaria/hives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]