Chlorfenapyr containing anions uptake from industrial wastewater by ethylene glycol functionalized benzyl dimethyl tetradecyl ammonium bromide membrane.

The preservation of water and wastewater treatment has become a global challenge. The concentration of anions such as chlorides, fluorides, cyanides, and perchlorates above the permitted levels in water is harmful to human and aquatic life. Chlorfenapyr is an insecticide that contains the aforesaid anions and is abundantly present in industrial wastewater. This research is focused on the removal of these anions from wastewater by ethylene glycol functionalized benzyl dimethyl tetradecyl ammonium bromide immobilized on soluble polymer anion exchange membrane. The real wastewater samples rich in chlorfenapyr from two different sources (industrial and pond) were analyzed. Membrane efficiency was more than 50 ppm for each anion in a single fold. The double folds of membrane showed enhanced uptake and separation efficiency for chloride, fluoride, and cyanide from wastewater samples between 0.01 and 0.02 ppm down to lethal concenetrations values (LD 50). The membrane shows maximum separation efficiency between the pH ranges of 6-7. The interference effect on membrane separation efficiency showed that the replacement ability of sample anions was in the order of fluoride > chloride > perchlorate > cyanide. This high replacement efficiency of fluoride and chloride is attributed to the more chemical interactions of these anions with membrane.

Polio in Pakistan: Social constraints and travel implications.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Pakistan has faced failure despite being implemented successfully. Polio cases were successfully reduced by 99% until 2005. However, thereafter, new polio cases were registered, which continue to rise annually. This repeat polio outbreak has placed the country on watch by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to travelers, and Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. The present report reviews the published literature for determining the social constraints to the polio eradication initiative in Pakistan. Religion, politics, awareness, insecurity, inequity, governance, and social responsibility have been identified as key social factors in the failure of any vaccination campaign. Possible interventions have been proposed, which include effectively using modern mass media and educating vaccinators on the social and cultural background of the target community.

Former DDT factory in Pakistan revisited for remediation: severe DDT concentrations in soils and plants from within the area.

A factory in Amman Garh near Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, produced dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) from 1963-1994. Consequently, earlier papers reported a soil contamination in the per mille range inside the former factory wall (88 m × 106 m) and up to 10 mg/kg of DDT in the surroundings in 2005-2007. The site within the factory wall was remonitored systematically in 2011 to complement the earlier data as a prerequisite for remediation, to put them in exposure context in a population developing area, and to suggest and evaluate the optimal remediation technique for the site. The contamination was drastically higher than the earlier published data, and the sum of DDT and its metabolites (ΣDDT) was up to 65% in the soil. Grasses, shrubs, and trees growing in this severely contaminated site had 50-450 mg/kgdw of ΣDDT. Thus, people living nearby and husbandry as well as wild animals are heavily exposed to DDT. The semiarid climate favors wind drift and deposition of the pollutant. Additionally, DDT from products of herbivore animals feeding on the contaminated plants will enter the food web. To overcome the exposure and distribution of the DDT, the site within the factory wall was capped with 1.5 m of soil. This remediation technique represents the easiest and least expensive solution. Nevertheless, DDT can still evaporate or leach, and groundwater can rise in this flood-prone area and thereby become contaminated, especially because a binding layer is missing.

Association of ANRIL polymorphism (rs1333049:C>G) with myocardial infarction and its pharmacogenomic role in hypercholesterolemia.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of non-coding RNA in the INK4 locus (ANRIL) have been found to be associated with myocardial infarction (MI). However, the effect of rs1333049:C>G in INK4 locus in familial hypercholesterolemia patients and on lipid profile of the patients has not been studied in Pakistan. We therefore investigated the association of SNP rs1333049:C>G with MI as well as familial hypercholesterolemia patients and also determined the effect of genotype on lipid levels in a northern Pakistani population. A case-control association study was performed in which 611 individuals (294 patients, 290 healthy controls and 27 patients from hypercholesterolemia families) were genotyped for rs1333049:C>G, using an Allele specific polymerase chain reaction. We found a significant association of rs1333049:C>G with MI (χ(2)=22.3, p<0.001). The frequency of risk genotype CC was significantly different from the healthy controls (p<0.001, χ(2)=22.3). The risk allele C was at a higher frequency in the MI patients as compared to the controls (odds ratio [OR]=1.55 (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.22-1.96), p<0.001). The logistic regression analysis for the genotype distribution resulted in strong association of risk allele C with MI under recessive model (OR=3.17 (95% CI=1.85-5.44) p<0.001). When the data were further analyzed along the lines of gender, a significant association with both males and females was observed. The pleiotropic role of rs1333049 was revealed further when CC genotype hypercholesterolemic individuals on statins were found to have a significantly lower TC, LDL-C and Tg levels as compared to the CG and GG individuals (p<0.05). The current study demonstrates a strong association of the ANRIL SNP (rs1333049) with MI as well as familial hypercholesterolemia patients in a northern Pakistani population and could be used as a useful genetic marker for the screening of MI in the general Pakistani population.