ABSTRACT The idea of climate engineering still remains elusive, particularly in several of those developing countries that are most affected by climate change. This knowledge gap can be addressed by knowing the perception of climate change and then introducing and getting feedback on its modification via climate engineering, from the select group of developing countries. Building upon an earlier attempt to achieve these aims, a new group of three developing countries in the global South (Pakistan, Nigeria, and Kenya) is selected to examine their perspective via a total of more than 1000 responses. Descriptive and inferential results indicate that there are significant differences within the global South on awareness of global warming and climate engineering, as well as on the deployment of sulfate aerosols as a measure to delay the harshest effects of global warming.

RESUMEN La idea de la ingeniería climática sigue siendo esquiva, particularmente en varios de los países en desarrollo que se ven más afectados por el cambio climático. Esta brecha de conocimiento se puede abordar conociendo la percepción del cambio climático y luego introduciendo y obteniendo retroalimentación del grupo selecto de países en desarrollo sobre la modificación del mismo a través de la ingeniería climática. Sobre la base de un intento anterior para lograr estos objetivos, se seleccionó un nuevo grupo de tres países en desarrollo en el sur global (Pakistán, Nigeria y Kenia) para examinar su perspectiva a través de un total de más de 1000 respuestas. Los resultados descriptivos e inferenciales indican que existen diferencias significativas dentro del sur global sobre la conciencia del calentamiento global y la ingeniería climática, así como sobre el despliegue de aerosoles de sulfato como medida para retrasar los efectos más severos del calentamiento global.

Abstract Objective: To study the in-hospital outcome of adult patients who had undergone surgical repair for Tetralogy of Fallot. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology searching the hospital records. All those adult patients who had undergone repair for Tetralogy of Fallot from January 2012 to December 2014 were included in the study. All the patients were operated by the same surgical team. Patients who underwent primary repair as well as those with previous palliative procedures were included in the study. Thirty days outcome was studied by recording variables from the database. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16. Results: A total of 80 patients was included in the study, in which there were 48 (60%) male patients and 32 (40%) female patients. Mean age was 21±0.21 years. Those with previous palliation were 15 (18.75%). The associated problems observed were: atrial septal defect 27 (33.75%), right aortic arch 30 (37.5%), patent ductus arteriosus 6 (7.5%) and double outlet right ventricle 3 (3.75%). In-hospital mortality recorded was 7 (8%). Postoperative complications encountered were low cardiac output syndrome 9 (11.25%), pleural effusion requiring tapping 3 (3.75%), reoperation for bleeding 3 (3.8%), pulmonary regurgitation (moderate to severe) 20 (25%) which occurred in the transannular patch group only and atrial arrhythmia 4 (5%). Conclusion: A large number of adult patients are still operated for tetralogy of Fallot in Pakistan. With increasing experience in the technique the mortality and morbidity is comparable to international literature.

Plants have been source of fantastic natural compounds that range in complexity. Chemical studies on traditional medicinal plants have led to discovery of potent bioactive components. Pistacia integerrima belonging to family Anacardiaceae has been traditionally effective for rheumatic pain, analgesic and antipyretic effects and used in treatment of coughs, phthisis, asthma and dysentery. Natural products have served as basis for compounds to be utilized in drug discovery. Stem extract of Pistacia integerrima was investigated with the aim to find some novel components that can later be used as drugs or active pharmaceutical intermediates. Plant material was collected from Margalla Hills Islamabad, shade dried and subjected to cold maceration technique for extraction. Crude extract was partitioned into different fractions on polarity basis. Repeated normal and reverse phase column chromatography of ethyl acetate fraction supported by Thin Layer Chromatography have led to the isolation of pure single compound. Isolated compound was further analyzed towards structural elucidation using LC-MS, IR and NMR spectroscopy. Present finding will be a useful and novel addition in already known chemical components from Pistacia integerrima.

Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, is classified as a class IV anti-arrhythmic agent. It is used in the treatment of hypertension, as an important therapeutic agent for angina pectoris, ischemic heart disease, hypertension and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Many in-vivo studies have been carried out to find out the effects on concurrent use of calcium channel blocker with various groups of drugs. In the present paper an in-vitro approach was adapted to study the interaction of verapamil with commonly administered fluoroquinolones i.e. ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, norfloxacin and sparfloxacin. The interaction studies were carried out in different simulated body fluids pH ranges from 1-9 at 37 ºC. To perform these studies first-derivative UV spectrophotometric (using zero-crossing technique) and simultaneous RP-HPLC methods were developed and validated. HPLC analysis was conducted on Shim-pack CLC-ODS (6.0 X 150 mm) column. The mobile phase constituted of acetonitrile: water (45:55), whose pH was adjusted to 2.8 and pumped at a flow rate of 1.2 mL min-1 at 230 nm. The results obtained from both methodologies indicated that the availability of verapamil was not affected by simultaneous administration of fluoroquinolones. Hence the two drugs could be safely administered concomitantly.