Toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by Toxoplasma (T.) gondii Apicomplexa protozoan, is widespread in humans and other animal species, having already been reported in many countries and different climates. In Pakistan, no data is available on this aspect among food animals. This study was undertaken to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in sheep and goats. A total of 200 serum samples from sheep and goats, were collected from urban area of Rahim Yar Khan (Punjab), Pakistan and tested for Toxoplasmosis with a commercial latex agglutination kit (Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd. Japan). The overall seroprevalence of Toxoplasmosis was 19%. Goats had a significantly higher (p < 0.01) prevalence (25.4%) as compared to the sheep (11.2%); and higher (p < 0.01) in the female (24%) than in the males (19%) for both species. In the present study the male (both in sheep and goat) are found less seropositive T. gondii (OR = 0.23; 99% C.I. = 0.01, 1.81) as compared to female sheep and goat. The prevalence was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in adult sheep than younger animals. Among both the sheep and goats the group from 1-1.5 years are highly seropositive (OR = 1.75; 99% C.I. = 0.47, 6.51) as compared to the group less than one year of age followed by the 2-2.5 years age group (OR = 1.63; 99% C.I. = 0.50, 5.74) whereas group with more than 3 years of age least seropositive.

We are living in an era of technology where smart phones and hence social media has entered into many aspects of our life. Many professions are using social media to improve communication between colleagues. Social media tools are gaining attention in medical education as well.Objective: To explore the potential of WhatsApp as an instructional strategy for 4 th Year MBBS students in Ophthalmology. Methods:We made two groups of students on WhatsApp one for males and one for females. Topic of lecture, relevant images of taught topic and MCQs and SEQs were shared in both groups and students were encouraged to ask questions if they had any. After ten lectures the students were asked to give their feedback on our activity of WhatsApp group on an anonymous questionnaire.Results: Two hundred and thirty four students, 145 (62.0%) female and 86 (36.8%) males students filled in the anonymous questionnaire. One hundred and eighty nine students (88.77%) were using social media to learn medicine while 45 students (19.23%) were not. Sixty seven students (29.39%) were using both WhatsApp and Facebook, 65 students (28.51%) were using Facebook, 57 students (25%) were using WhatsApp. Sixty percent of students were using social media once or more than twice a day. Eighty eight (63.8%) female students and 66 (77.7%) male students ranked this activity as high or above. To the open ended question we got appreciative comments and some suggestion. Conclusion:WhatsApp is an effective social media tool to motivate, augmentand perhaps improve the learning of undergraduates in addition to traditional teaching.

Over the last 60 years in the oil and gas industry, lost circulation has been the major nonproductive time (NPT) issue worldwide during well construction (12% of total NPT). According to industry figures, more than USD 2 billion are spent combating circulation loss each year. In the Rumaila field of Iraq, the NPT due to lost circulation is significant, estimated to be 46% of the total NPT recorded. The Rumaila oil field is a super-giant oil field in southern Iraq; the field is estimated to contain 17 billion barrels, which accounts for 12% of Iraq's oil reserves. In the Rumaila field, at least 45% of the wells experience severe to total circulation loss at depths of 450 to 650 m true vertical depth (TVD) while drilling in the karst facies of the Dammam formation. Numerous strategies, requiring up to 24 days of rig time or 15 cement plugs in some extreme cases, have been applied by different service companies without consistent results. This has resulted in higher operating costs and delayed production. Some of the identified reasons for the low success rate are poor wellbore characterization, weak assessment of the problem, and improper execution. The foundation of the proposed engineering and operational approach is the characterization of the wellbore with the caliper and formation image logs for better understanding of fractures and estimation of fracture volume. The approach also includes two cement slurry-type options—an increased slurry rheology with reduced density and a slurry with rapid gel strength development. The proposed approach is made complete with the engineered estimation of cement slurry volume, based on loss rate, and proper field deployment. Developed on the basis of previous experiences and optimization of hydrostatic pressure, cement slurry rheology, and gel strength development, the engineered lost circulation solution significantly improves the lost circulation control results. Extended evaluation of cement plug jobs with the engineered design and proper execution has proven the effective impact of the solution, curing losses during the drilling phase (&lt;3 days). This solution has proven to be an effective and key element, contributing to the increased success rate of the subsequent primary cementing operation and overcoming the challenges of zonal isolation.

Introduction. This study investigated librarians’ attitudes towards application of information technology in academic libraries and interrelationship between their attitudes and different factors of their professional and personal traits. Method. Primary data was collected from 288 academic librarians working across Pakistan. Analysis. Answers from 219 valid questionnaires were used for data analysis through frequency runs, cross-tabulation, Pearson correlation coefficient, and t-test.. Results. The findings revealed, overall, that respondents showed slightly positive attitudes towards information technology. However, several librarians were confused over the ownership of information technology applications in libraries. A significant relationship was determined between librarians’ information technology attitudes and availability and usage of information technology in libraries, expenditure on information technology, librarians’ expertise in information technology, their awareness about new technologies, experience in computer usage, information technology training, academic qualifications, and experience as librarians. No significant relationship was found between librarians’ information technology attitudes and library budget, size of libraries, type of libraries, location and librarians’ gender. Conclusions. One of the outcomes of this study is that the information technologyattitudes of librarians have been found to be positively associated with the libraries’ information technologyavailability level and librarians’ expertise in information technology. Therefore, a significant effort is needed to enhance the librarians’ positivity towards application of information technologyin libraries. This requires librarians’ exposure to, and experience of latest technologies. Librarians’ role in information technology-related decision making needs to be enhanced.

In this paper, we have studied proper conformal vector fields of pp-wave space-times in the [Formula: see text] theory of gravity using algebraic and direct integration techniques. From this study, we found that a very special class of pp-waves known as plane fronted gravitational waves (GWs) is a solution in the [Formula: see text] theory of gravity. In order to find proper conformal vector fields, plane GWs are further classified in ten cases. Studying each case in detail it turns out that in two cases proper conformal vector fields exist while in the rest of eight cases, conformal vector fields become homothetic vector fields.