Pak J Med Sci
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To investigate the clinical correlation between the expression of serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) as well as cognitive impairment and disease burden in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. ⋯ Patients with first-episode schizophrenia have remarkably increased expression levels of serum TNF-α and iNOS, which is associated with cognitive impairment and disease burden.
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In resource limited countries facing a huge burden of multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant (XDR) enteric fever, treatment is a great challenge on the part of a patient as well as a health care professional. This study was conducted to determine the association of XDR enteric fever with various studied factors among hospitalized culture-positive pediatric patients in a tertiary care hospital setup. ⋯ Prehospitalization fever duration, use of boiled/mineral water, ciprofloxacin use and typhoid vaccine status showed strong association with XDR salmonella infection. Prioritizing the focus on healthcare awareness, early access to proper health care facility, discouraging over-the-counter drugs and enforcement of immunization will help decline the dissemination of this dreadful disease.
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Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic change in the increasing prevalence and emergence of HIV subtypes for more than two decades. Pakistani population is increasingly engaged in high-risk practices, and the prescribed drugs are potentially causing resistance. There are chances that these resistant strains are beginning to circulate from high-risk to the general population. ⋯ We hereby report major novel mutations and several minor mutations that may have a drastic change in the drug resistance pattern.
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Sialolithiasis is a disease process involving the formation of conglomerates of calcifications in the ductal system or the parenchyma of the salivary gland. The Submandibular gland is more vulnerable to form sialoliths than the other major salivary glands due to its salivary composition and anatomic factors. The management of sialolithiasis is determined by the dimensions and position of the calculi. Here, we discuss a case of a twenty eight mm submandibular sialolith managed by an intraoral approach.
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To investigate the value of CT arterial enhancement fraction (AEF) in the post-processing technique of liver perfusion-like phase III enhanced CT scan in evaluating the degree of liver function impairment in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis. ⋯ AEF boasts the value of differentiating liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and of evaluating the degree of liver function impairment in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis.