Anti-microbial Resistance (AMR) has become one of the major contributors to mortality and disability globally. After the discovery of antimicrobials, it was believed by the medical industry that the battle against microbes would be conquered. However, the rise in resistance of microbes changed the dynamics of the battle. The numbers of morbidity and mortality are staggering due to AMR in 2021 about 21.36 Million people died due sepsis and 4.71 people died due to drug-resistant infections. If this trend continues, it is estimated that 39 million people will be expected to die by 2050. AMR has grown from a clinical issue to a systemic threat that is challenging global health security and economic stability. AMR, if overlooked, can cause critical economic losses according to WHO AMR can cause an additional 1 trillion dollars in healthcare costs by 2050 and GPD loss of about 3.4 trillion per year by 2030. The high-burden pathogens, especially those belonging to the ESKAPE group, are at the centre of HAIs as well as treatment failures. The health burden caused by AMR is not limited to increased mortality rates but also includes increased durations of hospitalization, increased risks of complications during critical medical procedures such as cancer chemotherapy, organ transplantation, and neonatal care, as well as compromised surgical safety. Based on projections by global institutions, unless effective control measures are put in place, AMR is expected to significantly impact global GDP in the coming decades. The global response to AMR, such as antimicrobial stewardship programmes and surveillance, as well as the One Health approach, is critical but needs to be more effectively implemented. The issue of AMR requires urgent, sustained, and multidisciplinary action to reduce its growing health burden as well as economic consequences. Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance, AMR Health Burden, AMR Economic burden, Antimicrobial Stewardship

Background: The prevalence of Hepatitis C virus infections (HCV) and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is escalating and is associated with more morbidity and mortality. Patient with HCV are more prone to develop DM and this study aims to determine the distribution of DM in HCV patients. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional enrolled 160 HCV patients from 27th October 2020 till 26th April 2021 at Medicine Unit, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar and Khushal Medical Center (KMC) Peshawar. After ethical approval from KMC, the enrolled HCV patients were screened for DM. After detailed interview, blood samples were collected and subsequently processed for glycated hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. Results: The mean age of the patients was 61.1±12.1 years. Similarly, the mean height, weight and body mass index (BMI) was 71.6±11.4 kg, 166.2±9.7 cm and 26.1±4.7 kg/m2 respectively. Family history of DM was positive in 30.6% patients while family history of obesity was positive in 23.8% individuals. The DM was prevalent in 31.3% HCV patients in which 58% were newly diagnosed. Statistical significant association was observed in HCV obese patient than non-obese patients with DM (p-value 0.03). Furthermore, obese patients were 12.4 times more likely to develop DM as compared to non-obese patients (OR, 95%CI 12.4 (5.52-28.5). Conclusion: DM is more common in HCV patients particularly if the patient is obese. It is necessary to screen and control earlier for the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and also rule out HCV infection among diabetic populations which is rarely done on population-based studies.

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is considered as an outstanding material for thin film solar cell with a direct bandgap of 1.5 eV and high optical absorption. However, a short lifetime of minority carriers in absorber layer and lower photogenerated carrier concentration hinders the improvements in open circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF) of the device. Various techniques such as passivation, doping, charge reflective coating and buffer layers are employed to overcome defects in CdTe layer and improve charge extraction for efficient device. A buffer layer in CdTe based PV device is used to enhance the device performance and stability. The SnO2 is widely used in optoelectronics applications including solar cell due to its remarkable optoelectronic properties. Here, the photovoltaic (PV) performance of SnO2 buffer layer in CdTe based solar cell has been investigated by numerical analysis using SCAPS-1D simulation software. The PV device comprises of SnO2 buffer layer, CdS window layer, CdTe absorber layer and metal back contact. The optimum thickness of buffer layer, window layer and absorber layer were varied including the variation in donor density of SnO2, Cds and acceptor density of CdTe. Furthermore, the temperature effect was considered along with the tuning of series and shunt resistance to investigate their effect on device performance. The SnO2 buffer layer properties were improved with addition of 2D MXene materials. The Ti2C3 MXene is used to tune the bandgap, work function and importantly electron affinity of SnO2 buffer layer using different MXene mixing concentration. The optimized simulated device using SnO2 buffer layer modulated with 0 and 0.1 wt% MXene concentration demonstrates enhancement in FF from 82.87 % to 84.82 % mainly due to work function tuning and improved band alignment, thus increasing PCE from 21.86 % to 22.42 % respectively. In addition, the PV device showed an external quantum efficiency of around 90 % at visible wavelength. These results indicate the effectiveness of numerical modelling using SCAPS-1D for the MXene incorporation in PV.

Background: Dengue fever is an acute viral illness causes by a Flavivirus, called dengue virus. Worldwide, its affect about 350 million people yearly. It can cause serious complications like dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). This study aims to determine the role of mean platelets volume (MPV) in dengue patients and predict recovery. Methods: This Prospective observational study was conducted during 2021 dengue outbreak, starting from 20th August 2021 till 19th November 2021 at Medicine Unit, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar where a total of 276 patients of either gender who remained inpatients for at least 3 days and were afebrile on the day of discharge were enrolled using consecutive sampling technique. Prior ethical approval was taken. MPV was measured on the day of admission and discharge. Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results: In total 276 patients, 180 (65.2%) were males while 96 (34.8%) were females. Result reveals significant differences among hemoglobin value, hematocrit value, platelet count and mean platelet volume with p-values, 0.02, <0.001, 0.009 and <0.001 respectively. The results were also statistically significant at the time of admission and discharge among the three variables with p-value <0.001, <0.001 and 0.003 respectively. Conclusion: Dengue patients need constant monitoring to prevent complications predicts their recovery. This study concludes that MPV can be used as marker for dengue fever to determine the severity and/or improvement of patients.

Triboelectric nanogenerators are remarkable devices that show great potential in harvesting energy from mechanical work and are generally used for sensing purposes. Here we report a novel method for the fabrication of ZnO microspheres and the formation of TENG based on ZnO/PDMS composite. The zinc oxide microspheres with needle decorated structure via thermal oxidation of metallic zinc was grown at 500 °C. The TENG was then fabricated using ZnO/PDMS composite with Au sputtered electrode. While PDMS is a good triboelectric material, its output power density is low. Embedding ZnO micro/nanostructures in PDMS increases the output power of PDMS-based TENG manifolds. ZnO with a high dielectric constant exhibits semiconductor properties as well as piezoelectric properties. This combines with the triboelectric properties of PDMS and gives a significant boost to the TENG performance. This composite structure is used for the fabrication of high output power density TENG using contact separation mode, where the power density of 27Wm −2 was achieved. Consequently, a novel device application to detect surface charge density through the fabricated TENG is reported and the subsequent reconstruction of surface charge topology based on the detected surface charge density on large surfaces is presented. This technique may be used for the study of surface charge morphology, electrostatics, triboelectric constants, and various other material properties for characterization and application purposes.

Over the last half-century, reduction in poverty and reasonable economic growth have been the fruit of continued industrial development, mostly in Asia. Improved telecommunication, liberalized markets, and better infrastructure cannot accelerate economic growth unless an appropriate level of investment in human capital is not available. The study mainly targets to investigate impact of investment in human capital on industrial development in Pakistan from 1980 to 2023. The study incorporates government expenditures on education (EXE), government expenditures on health (EXH), and growth in enrollment rate in vocational institutes (EVG) as indicators of investment in human capital. The study has applied Augmented Dickey-Fuller to check stationarity of variables followed by estimation of Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) model to find co-integration. It is resulted from estimation that expenditure in health and enrollment in vocational training confirm leaves positive impact on industrial development in case of Pakistan. The empirical outcomes are consistent with existing evidence found on the same subject for other economies. In Pakistan, there is a need for policy formulation to achieve the right direction of educational development for industrial development.

The main objectives of this study are to construct a valid and reliable asset index at the household level for 10 districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by using Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey micro-data and to estimate economic disparities by calculating Gini-coefficient and Palma Ratio. The asset index is considered a better estimate than expenditures or current household income to gauge a household’s living standard and its potential resilience to deal with economic shocks. The dimensional structure of assets is assessed by applying Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Tetrachoric Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Further, this paper has applied Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) to ensure the reliability of the household-based asset index. Furthermore, the Gini-coefficient and Palma ratios are estimated by using the composite household-based asset index to estimate economic disparities in all 10 districts of AJK. The dimensional structure of assets, reliability, and validity analysis suggest to use 21 assets (out of 30 items) to construct the household-based asset index. The nine items (assets) are excluded from the analysis to avoid systematic errors and random errors. The results show that districts Bhimber and Mirpur have achieved the highest average asset scores, which are 0.62 and 0.64 respectively. The score of the Gini-coefficient index and the Palma ratio analyses shows that the asset distribution in the districts Neelum and Haveli are highly unequal. The Gini-coefficient is highly responsive to midpoint distribution while the Palma ratio concentrates more on top and bottom distribution, and it ignores the middle 50 percent from the analysis. Interestingly, both approaches have produced similar district rank ordering because we have adopted a systematic process for construct validity and reliability to minimize measurement errors.

Hemodialysis is a process in which the blood is resected using a dialysis apparatus and a specific strainer known as dialyzer. Poor nutritional status is common among hemodialysis patients, but only a few studies are found on how hemodialysis is affected by other factors in the local environment. The aim of this study was to find out hemo-dialysis patients’ nutritional status and the factors that influence it. A total of 100 hemodialysis individuals (50 patients and 50 volunteers) was enrolled in this study. Anthropometry and biochemical assays, as well as nutrition assessments, were used as additional evaluation methods. According to multiple linear regression analysis, malnu-trition is linked to older age, poor and lean body mass, and higher body mass index. Factors, such as interdialytic weight gain, insufficient calorie and protein consumption, and existence of morbidities, are considered along with inflammation. This study was performed at various hospitals of Sargodha district in Pakistan. Various variables of hemodialysis patients’ poor nutritional status are changeable, and these must be considered when developing and implementing effective intervention programs for this vulnerable group. Nutritional health status of hemodialysis patients was evaluated using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), concerning multiple factors, such as demographics, anthropometrics, body composition, vital signs, clinical manifestations, dietary intake, edema on the feet, triceps skin fold thickness, mild arm circumference, hand grip strength, and micronutrients. FFQs showed the overall effect of hemodialysis. Further statistical calculations and studies were conducted using SPSS, Minitab 8.1 for descriptive analysis tests for demographic features, and analysis of variance ANOVA.

The underwater images (UWIs) are one of the most effective sources to collect information about the underwater environment. Due to the irregular optical properties of different water types, the captured UWIs suffer from color cast, low visibility and distortion. Moreover, each water type offers different optical absorption, scattering, and attenuation of red, green and blue bands, which makes restoration of UWIs a challenging task. The revised underwater image formation model (RUIFM) considers only the peak values of the corresponding attenuation coefficient of each water type to restore UWIs. The performance of RUIFM suffers due to the inter-class variations of UWIs in a water type. In this paper, we propose an improved version of RUIFM as the Diverse Underwater Image Formation Model (DUIFM). The DUIFM increases the diversity of RUIFM by deeply encountering the optical properties of each water type. We investigate the inter-class variations of Jerlov-based classes of UWIs in terms of light attenuation and statistical features and further classify each image into low, medium and high bands. Which, in turn, provides the precise inherent optical attenuation coefficient of water and increases the generality of the DUIFM in color restoration and enhancement. The qualitative and quantitative performance evaluation results on publicly available real-world underwater enhancement (RUIE), underwater image enhancement benchmark (UIEB) and enhanced underwater visual perception (EUVP) data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed DUIFM.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has shown a growing association with osteoporosis, comprising part of the broader CKD-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD). CKD-MBD is marked by alterations in calcium, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and vitamin D metabolism, significantly elevating fracture risk. While traditional osteoporosis treatments such as bisphosphonates, denosumab, and teriparatide have been adapted for CKD patients, recent innovations have introduced agents aimed at enhancing bone mass and reducing fracture incidence. This study aims to evaluate the pathophysiology, diagnostic methods, and tailored management strategies for osteoporosis in CKD patients. A detailed review of the literature was conducted, involving an in-depth search of PubMed, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), and the Cochrane Library databases for studies published between 2017 and 2024. Studies were selected based on inclusion criteria focusing on CKD-related osteoporosis, diagnostic criteria, and treatment outcomes. Data extraction and quality assessment were independently performed by multiple reviewers to ensure thoroughness and reduce bias. Findings highlight that conventional treatments, such as bisphosphonates, denosumab, and teriparatide, when tailored to CKD stages, demonstrate variable effectiveness in lowering fracture risk. Additionally, emerging pharmacologic agents hold promise in improving bone density, though evidence on these newer therapies remains limited. Osteoporosis management in CKD patients necessitates a personalized approach guided by the disease's stage and individual profile. This review underscores the potential of emerging therapies and emphasizes the need for further research to refine treatment protocols, aiming to enhance patient outcomes in this complex population.

The nighttime captured images mostly suffer from low contrast, color distortion, and glow effects due to the presence of haze (fog or smog), illumination variations, and artificial lighting. In this paper, we present an image enhancement framework, which successfully deals with the aforementioned effects faced while imaging at night time. At first, the proposed approach achieves glow decomposition by performing white balancing of the image. Next, we enhance the low-contrast areas by performing contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE) which achieves image enhancement at the cost of introducing noise and edge distortion. In order to eliminate the introduced noise and preserve the edges we perform bilateral filtering. The proposed framework capitalizes on the individual strength of each method while encountering the artifacts produced during processing at each stage. We perform suitable tuning of the parameters of the methods involved for their performance coherence. The quantitative and qualitative comparison with the existing approaches demonstrate the increased effectiveness of the proposed approach in dehazing the nighttime images.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has emerged as a significant global health concern, closely linked to the obesity epidemic and metabolic syndrome. This review explores emerging therapies for NASH that go beyond traditional lifestyle modifications. The complex pathophysiology of NASH, involving insulin resistance, lipotoxicity, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation, offers multiple targets for therapeutic intervention. While lifestyle changes remain fundamental, their limitations in achieving sustained improvements highlight the need for effective pharmacological and interventional therapies. This review discusses novel pharmacological approaches, including farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonists, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists, and agents addressing metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and fibrosis. Promising candidates such as obeticholic acid, lanifibranor, and semaglutide are highlighted, along with combination therapies targeting multiple pathways simultaneously. Non-pharmacological interventions, including bariatric surgery, endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies, and innovative exercise regimens, are also examined for their potential in NASH management. Despite significant advancements, NASH drug development faces challenges due to the disease's complexity, patient heterogeneity, and stringent regulatory requirements. This review also addresses these limitations and explores future directions, including personalized medicine approaches, non-invasive diagnostic tools, and the potential of microbiome modulation and regenerative therapies. The evolving landscape of NASH research emphasizes the need for multidisciplinary approaches integrating advances in diagnostics, therapeutics, and digital health technologies. As the field progresses, the focus remains on developing more effective, personalized, and accessible strategies for preventing, diagnosing, and treating NASH, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients affected by this increasingly prevalent liver disease.

This research aimed to evaluate the carbon footprint and life-cycle costs of grain maize production between conventional and regenerative agriculture practices. The material for the analyses was data from 2022–23 collected on Al-Rehman Dairy farms located in the Dunyapur region and growing maize for grain in two ways: conventional, and Regenerative (No-Till). The life-cycle assessment and life-cycle costing methodologies were applied to assess the GHG emissions and costs associated with the grain maize production in the stages from “cradle-to-farm gate”, i.e., from obtaining raw materials and producing means for agricultural production, through the processes of maize cultivation to grain harvesting. The SOC concentrations under NTS in the 0–15 cm soil layer and under NT in the 15–30 cm layer were significantly greater compared with those under CT. In the 15–30 cm soil layer, the SOC concentration under NT was higher than under CT. The difference in SOC content for the different soil depths between CT and NT was similar to the trend observed in the SOC concentration. NT produced a significantly higher SOC content in the 15–30 cm soil layer than the CT system and compared with CT in the 15–30 cm soil layer. The largest source of GHG emissions was the use of nitrogen fertilizers. Non-inversion tillage with rice straw mulch and leaving a large amount of crop residues in the field increased the sequestration of organic carbon and contributed to a significant reduction of the carbon footprint in maize production. The conventional tillage system demonstrated the highest overall life-cycle costs per hectare.

The reliability of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) is measured in terms of energy consumption (EC), end-to-end delay(E2E), and packet delivery ratio (PDR). The adverse effects of a channel may cause data loss. Reducing delay up to the possible extent improves the reliability of the network, also increasing the number of nodes in a particular network increases reliability. Besides, increasing the number of nodes improves reliability but also increases power consumption. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the two routing protocols are proposed in this paper, namely the Delay and Reliability Aware Routing (DRAR) protocol and the Cooperative Delay and Reliability Aware Routing (Co-DRAR) protocol for UWSNs. In the DRAR protocol, the network is divided into two equal regions where two sink nodes(SNs) are positioned at the upper region of the network and two SNs are placed at the mid-region of the network. The protocol chooses the relay node based on residual energy (RE), distance, and Bit Error Rate (BER). These parameters protect the data packets from corruption and also provide a stable path (where nodes remain active for longer periods and do not die quickly). The protocol uses a single link and may get worse sometimes while changing channel circumstances. To address this problem, a cooperative routing scheme is added to the DRAR protocol in order to develop its enhanced version known as the Co-DRAR protocol. The protocol works by allowing the destination to receive multiple copies of data packets in order to decide the quality of packets. The proposed protocols DRAR and Co-DRAR perform routing irrespective of the geographical position of sensor nodes conversely to some conventional routing protocols. This is why our proposed protocols perform better than the well-known protocol i.e. Depth base routing (DBR) in terms of EC, E2E, PDR, dead nodes, packet drop ratio, and number of alive nodes.

Yogurt has a higher consumer acceptance due to claimed health benefits and sensory characteristics. It provides 40% calcium and 30-45% phosphorus of an adult's requirements in a day, as well as the vital amino acids proline and glycine. It is an excellent source of protein, carbohydrates, calcium and phosphorus, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, and cobalamin, but low in fiber. Yogurt's health benefits might be enhanced by adding a source of dietary fiber to it. Objective: To investigate the impact of fiber addition on physicochemical and nutritional attributes of buffalo milk yogurt during storage. Method: Overall Six samples were prepared, one for control, four by adding 10% and 20% puree for each carrot and turnip in 200 mL buffalo milk yoghurt along with one composite sample of carrot and turnip. All six samples were analyzed for moisture, pH, acidity, ash, and protein after 07 and 14 days of ripening. Results: A significant decrease in pH was observed during storage of yoghurt. Acidity of yoghurt rise significantly with storage. Lowest acidity level was observed in control sample 0.83. Conclusion: Addition of Turnip and carrot puree improved therapeutic potential of yoghurt significantly by modifying its dietary fiber contents.

Cholesterol is a natural substance produced by liver in human body According to research based on Framingham Heart Study, ideal cholesterol level is below than 150 mg/dL. Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) is an important medicinal plant belongs to family Rosaceae which is also grown in Pakistan. In local language it is called “Kubani” having nutritious flesh, pits containing kernels. Objective: To explore therapeutic potential of apricot kernel oil on hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Method: Apricot kernel oil was extracted by cold extraction method. Rabbits were adapted for two weeks before starting treatments. Total feed doses i.e. 250 g was divided in two portions and were given to rabbits in early morning and early evening. Food consumption for every rabbit was consistent to 250 g/day for four week’s experimentation. Results: After usage of 1 % apricot Kernel oil (supplemented) the maximum blood cholesterol level decreased from 159.38 mg/dL to 122.8 mg/dL and also decreased in blood triglyceride level was from 237.82 mg/ dL to 192.20 mg/ dL. The HDL contents of rabbits were increased from 26.750 mg/ dL to 33.450 mg/ dL. LDL contents of rabbits were decreases from 46.90 mg/ dL to 36.05 mg/ dL. VLDL contents of rabbits were decreases from 23.7 mg/ dL to 18.3 mg/ dL detected after Six weeks. Conclusion: Current study was carried out. Apricot kernel oil has ability to remove the lipid profile especially cholesterol

The effect of the Ti3C2Tx MXene modification of the SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL) was studied for the concentration range 0-7.4 wt% MXene. The electronic properties of the MXene-modified ETL were studied by the electrical conductivity measurements, density of states mapping by the energy-resolved electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. The structure and morphology of the MXene-modified ETL and the top perovskite layer were analyzed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy, grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction and in situ grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). The increased electrical conductivity and electron selectivity for the MXene-modified SnO2 ETL was confirmed up to 1 wt% MXene. For 7.4 wt% MXene, significant suppression of the hole blocking property of the ETL was found. The in situ GIWAXS was performed during the post-deposition annealing of the perovskite layer. The increased perovskite grain size on the SnO2 ETL modified by MXene compared to the pure SnO2 ETL visible by SEM was confirmed. The uniaxial texture of the perovskite crystals was revealed in both cases with an increased misorientation angle for the MXene-modified ETL. The grain size and misorientation angle do not exhibit any systematic temporal changes during the post-deposition annealing. The increasing number of the grains during the annealing was observed. These results are explained using the nucleation and growth model. The increased power conversion efficiency from 17.4% to 18.3% of the archetypal methylammonium-lead-iodide perovskite solar cell after the modification of the SnO2 ETL with 0.1 wt% MXene is the effect of two contributions -increased electrical conductivity of the ETL and improved crystallinity and larger grain size compared to the pure SnO2 ETL, which lowers the total boundary area and charge recombination at trap states typically formed at grain boundaries.

Objective: In patients with kidney stones larger than 2 cm, it is intended to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of small percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PCNL) with conventional percutaneous nephrolithotomy (standard-PCNL). Study Design: Retrospective study Place and Duration: Institute of Kidney Diseases, Hayat Abad Medical Complex, Peshawar, 1st July 2019 - 30th June 2021. Methods: Therewere 170 patients of both genders were presented. All the presented patients had renal stones >2cm were admitted for surgery. Detailed demographics of enrolled cases included age,sex, BMI and comorbidities were recorded after taking informed written consent.Patients were equally divided in two groups. Group I received mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PCNL) among 85 patients had renal stone size 2-3cm and 85 patients of group II had renal stone >3cm received standard percutaneous nephrolithotomy (standard-PCNL). Post-operative outcomes among both groups were assessed in terms of Stone-free rate (SFR). SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze all data. Results:Among 170 included cases, 114 (67.1%) patients were males and 56 (32.9%) cases were females. We found that 45 (26.5%) patients had age 20-30 years, 50 (29.4%) patients had age 31-40 years and 75 (44.1%) patients had age >40years. Majority of the patients 130 (76.5%) had BMI <25kg/m2 and 40 (23.5%) had BMI >25kg/m2. Comorbidities were hypertension and diabetes mellitus. We found that operative time of group II was lower 40.7±10.9 minutesas compared to group I 52.4±8.13 minutes while hospitalization, blood transfusion and hemoglobin drops were lower in group I as compared to group II. We found that SFR was higher in group I among 80 (94.1%) cases as compared to group II 78 (91.8%) but difference was insignificant. Most common complications were fever, hematuria and urosepsis but their frequency was higher in group I. Conclusion: Mini-PCNL was an efficient and trustworthy substitute for standard-PCNL in the treatment of renal stones larger than 2 cm (30F). Although there is less blood loss, a lower transfusion rate, and a shorter hospital stay than with standard-PCNL, it nevertheless achieves a similar SFR. The 24F standard-PCNL clearly outperforms the mini-PCNL, but not by much. This method, however, requires more time to complete.

Objective: This study aims to determine the awareness among educated and uneducated parents of beta-thalassemia major patients about antenatal screening. Setting: The study was conducted by the Lady Reading Hospital Medical Teaching Institution (MTI), Peshawar. Duration of the study: This study was conducted for six months. Materials and methods: A total of 296 parents of beta-thalassemia major were interviewed. Parents who were not ready to give consent and other hemolytic anemia patients were excluded. Data were collected on self-structure pretested Performa. The demography of the patients and awareness of the parents regarding antenatal screening were recorded from each participant. A chi-squared test was used to assess the association between parental education and antenatal screening. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 296 patients were studied; 160 were males (54.1%), and 136 were females (45.9%). The mean age was 6.84 years. Mothers (74.3%) accompanied majority of the patients. Most of the parents (265; 89.5%) were uneducated, and 80% of the parents were not aware of any antenatal screening. Conclusion: There was a significant association between the education of parents and awareness of antenatal screening (p = 0.01).