Occurrence of new Philometra sp. in mangrove red snapper Lutjanus argentimaculatus from the Karachi coast, Pakistan

A recent examination of Philometra nematodes from mangrove red snapper Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal, 1775) from the Karachi coast, Kemari was done in the years 2021-2022. The present study reported three new species of genus Philometra (Costa, 1845) (Nematoda: Philometridae) Philometra kolachii, Philometra lutjani and Philometra kemarii. A total of 140 fish samples were examined, and 76 were infected. The intensity of infected fish was 54.28%. In Pakistan, literature on Philometrid nematodes is limited, therefore, this research would be helpful for the documentation and enhancement of nematods in Pakistan.

Prevalence of Gram positive bacteria in the affected individuals of Otitis media with effusion from the indigenous population of Southern Punjab, Pakistan: first report

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a type of otitis media (OM) characterized by the presence of fluid behind intact tympanic membrane and is one of the most common diseases of early childhood. It is an infectious disease associated with the presence of many pathogenic bacteria in the middle ear of affected individuals. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of Gram-positive bacteria from the middle ear of OME patients in the population of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The incidence of OME under comprehensive healthcare setting was investigated in patients who consulted at the department of ear, throat and nose, Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur, from December, 2019 to May, 2021. Ear swabs were taken from affected and normal individuals. After culturing bacteria from the ear swabs, microscopic analysis and biochemical tests were performed to characterize the cultured Gram-positive bacteria. Out of 352 patients examined, 109 (30.9%) patients had OME. Age of the participants ranged from 14 to 50 years; individuals between the ages of 14 and 22 years had the highest infection rates, while individuals between 40 and 50 years had the lowest rate of infection. Tympanic membrane perforation, fever, cough, sore throat, ear pain and hearing problem showed association with symptoms of OME. Microscopic analysis and biochemical characterization showed the presence of streptococci and staphylococci in all the studied samples. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus with percentage of 53.3%, 20% and 13.3% respectively. Enterococcus faecalis (6.6%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (6.6%) were also identified in the studied samples. This study will help in the better medical administration of OME affected individuals.

A REVIEW ON SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT POLICY IN MALAYSIA

Sustainable transport is an essential aspect of supporting urban mobility. The current percentage of urban population growth, with an estimated 75% of the population living in urban areas in Malaysia has led to increased travel demand. This population growth supported an increase in travel trips from 40 million trips in 2010. It is estimated to increase to 133 million trips in 2030. Based on the expected increase in Trips and CO2 emissions, the Government's priority is to provide consistent policies with the need for Global Sustainable Transport Policy. Therefore, this study will assess the interrelationship of global sustainable transport policies with the relevant national transport policies. This assessment will measure the translation level of global transportation policy to national policy. Therefore, using a Y shape matrix with seven criteria related to sustainable transport will be used to see the relevance of each policy. As a result, it was found that there is a relationship between global policy and national policy provided. The Five-Year Malaysia plan and National transport policy have translated the sustainable development goal policy and new urban agenda related to sustainable transport at most. However, the National Physical Plan also has a policy that covers almost all SDG and NUA policies. Overall, based on the global policy outlined by the United Nations and the national policy, the growing demand for trip development and analysis of the existing policy shows that the current transport policy focuses almost the same criteria as the global. Among the focus are road safety, transportation for all and sustainable infrastructure. These three criteria have highlighted most policy statements globally and nationally.

Analyzing the relationships between travel mode indicators and the number of passenger transport fatalities at the city level

OBJECTIVE

A number of efforts have been conducted on travel behavior and transport fatalities at the neighborhood or street level, and they have identified different factors such as roadway characteristics, personal indicators, and design indicators related to transport safety. However, only a limited number of studies have considered the relationship between travel behavior indicators and the number of transport fatalities at the city level. Therefore, this study explores this relationship and how to fill the mentioned gap in current knowledge.

METHOD

A generalized linear model (GLM) estimates the relationships between different travel mode indicators (e.g., length of motorway per inhabitants, number of motorcycles per inhabitant, percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, percentage of daily trips by public transport) and the number of passenger transport fatalities. Because this city-level model is developed using data sets from different cities all over the world, the impacts of gross domestic product (GDP) are also included in the model.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the results imply that the percentage of daily trips by public transport, the percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, and the GDP per inhabitant have negative relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities, whereas motorway length and the number of motorcycles have positive relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities.

A bicycle safety index for evaluating urban street facilities

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this research are to conceptualize the Bicycle Safety Index (BSI) that considers all parts of the street and to propose a universal guideline with microscale details.

METHOD

A point system method comparing existing safety facilities to a defined standard is proposed to estimate the BSI. Two streets in Singapore and Malaysia are chosen to examine this model.

RESULTS

The majority of previous measurements to evaluate street conditions for cyclists usually cannot cover all parts of streets, including segments and intersections. Previous models also did not consider all safety indicators and cycling facilities at a microlevel in particular. This study introduces a new concept of a practical BSI to complete previous studies using its practical, easy-to-follow, point system-based outputs.

CONCLUSIONS

This practical model can be used in different urban settings to estimate the level of safety for cycling and suggest some improvements based on the standards.

Sleep and wakefulness patterns of nurses engaged in rotational shift work

Shift work can be attributed to some of social and health problems in working community. In this study an attempt was made to study the sleep and wakefulness patterns in nurses engaged in rotational and non-rotational shift work in a hospital through sleep charts. It was observed that non-rotational workers enjoyed more frequent and longer naps and had less disturbances in their sleep patterns than rotational workers.