Background: Use of smokeless tobacco is common in South Asia. Tobacco is a major preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. Doctors make one of the best avenues to influence patients' tobacco use. However, medical students addicted to tobacco are likely to retain this habit as physicians and are unlikely to counsel patients against using tobacco. With this background, this study was conducted with the objective of determining the prevalence of smokeless tobacco among Pakistani medical students.

Background: On July 27 2003, a ship carrying crude oil run aground near Karachi and after two weeks released 37,000 tons of its cargo into the sea. Oil on the coastal areas and fumes in air raised health concerns among people. We assessed the immediate health impact of oil spill from the tanker Tasman Spirit on residents of the affected coastline in Karachi, Pakistan.

BackgroundIndiscriminate prescription of Benzodiazepines in Pakistan and subsequent availability over-the-counter without prescription is a major public health problem, requiring systematic inquiry through research. Additionally, there is limited data on the awareness and use of Benzodiazepines from developing countries making it impossible to devise meaningful health policies.Methodology/Principal FindingsThis was an Observational, Cross-Sectional study. conducted at Aga Khan University. A total of 475 (58.5% males, 41.5% females) people visiting a tertiary care hospital were interviewed by means of a structured questionnaire. The results showed that majority of population was aware of one or more Benzodiazepines (80.4%) and 30.4% had used them at some point in life. 42.4% of the users had been using it for more than a year. Commonest reason for use was sleep disturbance. Frequency of usage was higher for females, married individuals, educated (>Grade12), high socioeconomic status and housewives. More (59%) were prescribed than not and of them most by GP (58.5%). Only 36.5% of them were particularly told about the long-term addiction potential by the use of these drugs.ConclusionEasy availability, access to re-fills without prescription and self prescription compounded with the lack of understanding of abuse potential of benzodiazepines constitutes a significant problem demanding serious consideration from health policy makers.

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A field experiment on influence of sulphur and potassium levels on yield and yield attributes of sesame was conducted in Agronomy Research Farm, University of Agriculture Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during Kharif season, 2017. Varying levels of sulphur (0, 25, 50 and 75 kg ha-l) and potassium (0, 25, 50 and 75 kg ha-l) were applied to experimental plots. The results revealed that sesame significantly responded to the application of sulphur and potassium up to 50 kg ha-l for growth, quality, yield and yield attributes of sesame. The taller plant (76.83 cm), maximum number of branches per plant (3.87), more number of capsules per plant (43.82), more number of seeds per capsules (59.36), maximum seed yield (673 kg ha-1), maximum stover yield (1078 kg ha-1), more oil content (48.76 %) and maximum oil yield (291.7 kg ha-1) were noticed where 50 kg ha-1 sulphur treated. On the contrary taller plant (76.97 cm), maximum number of branches per plant (3.93), more number of capsules per plant (42.77), more number of seeds per capsules (59.36), maximum seed yield (617 kg ha-1), maximum stover yield (1043 kg ha-1), more oil content (48.65 %) and maximum oil yield (286.6 kg ha-1) were recorded from 50 kg ha-1 potassium treatments.Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.5(2): 147-150, August 2018