Drifting continents and endemic goitre in northern Pakistan.

Although Baltistan, north east Pakistan, is in a region of iodine deficiency disorders, the distribution of goitre within the district, according to age and sex, has not been clearly defined. To establish the prevalence of the condition and to measure the reported difference in prevalence in the north and south of the district thyroid size was assessed in new patients attending the Aman clinic, Khapalu, and outlying areas between April and September from 1981 to 1986. Samples of potable water collected from villages were analysed for iodine (as iodide) concentrations in Britain. Population weighted prevalences were: in the north in males 20.4%, in females 28.1% and in the south in males 13.9%, in females 21.2%. There was an overall deficiency of iodine in the water (mean iodine (as iodide) concentrations (north) 11.0 nmol/l (1.4 micrograms/l), (south) 11.8 nmol/l (1.5 micrograms/l) (95% confidence interval -0.7 to 0.9). The differences followed the Main Karakoram Thrust, suggesting a geological goitrogen in the north, which might be minerals containing ions such as BF4- and SO3F-, and molybdenite and calcium, which are present in rocks in Baltistan. A new hypothesis for the genesis of endemic goitre is proposed--that is, that continents on crustal plates drift across the earth and collide, one plate sliding under the other and melting, giving rise to characteristic mineral assemblages in the overlying rocks. As the minerals weather out they enter the diet of the local population, where in the presence of iodine deficiency they produce or enhance iodine deficiency disorders. Despite the current iodised oil campaign by the Pakistani government with Unicef a long term working iodisation programme is still urgently needed.     

Investigation of the Greek ancestry of populations from northern Pakistan

Three populations from northern Pakistan, the Burusho, Kalash, and Pathan, claim descent from soldiers left behind by Alexander the Great after his invasion of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. In order to investigate their genetic relationships, we analyzed nine Alu insertion polymorphisms and 113 autosomal microsatellites in the extant Pakistani and Greek populations. Principal component, phylogenetic, and structure analyses show that the Kalash are genetically distinct, and that the Burusho and Pathan populations are genetically close to each other and the Greek population. Admixture estimates suggest a small Greek contribution to the genetic pool of the Burusho and Pathan and demonstrate that these two northern Pakistani populations share a common Indo-European gene pool that probably predates Alexanders invasion. The genetically isolated Kalash population may represent the genetic pool of ancestral Eurasian populations of Central Asia or early Indo-European nomadic pastoral tribes that became sequestered in the valleys of the Hindu Kush Mountains.     

Length and weight relationships of five different fish species from northern areas of Pakistan

In present study five different species were studied from three different rivers from northern Pakistan. Specimens were collected in the period of January to December 2017 using cast nets (10–12 mm mesh size) for Barilius, Glyptothorax and Schistura species while cast nets (mesh size 1.25 × 1.25 cm) used for Schizothorax species. Total length (TL) and fork length (FL) to the nearest 0.1 cm and body weight (BW) to the nearest 0.1 g were recorded for each individual.     

Length‐weight relationships of four Triplophysa species from northern,Pakistan

In the present study four Triplophysa species Triplophysa hazaraensis (Omer and Mirza, 1975) and Triplophysa kashmirensis (Hora, 1922) collected from River Kunhar and Triplophysa naziri (Ahmad & Mirza, 1963) and Triplophysa brahui (Zugmayer, 1912) from River Barandu were analyzed for length and weight relationship.     

Cultivable bacteria in the supraglacial lake formed after a glacial lake outburst flood in northern Pakistan

International Microbiology - Recently, a supraglacial lake formed as a result of a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in the Dook Pal Glacier. Lake debris and meltwater samples were collected from...     

Paleomagnetism of the middle siwalik formations of northern Pakistan and rotation of the salt range decollement

Sampling for paleomagnetic study has been carried out at seven localities in the Potwar Plateau region of Pakistan in the vicinity of the Salt Range. In all, 253 sites, consisting of three samples per site, were studied. The sites were taken from the Chinji, Nagri, Dhok Pathan and Upper Siwalik formations which span the last 14 m.y. of Earth history. The formations have been deformed in the ongoing Himalayan orogeny and are exposed today in sections which dip at angles of from 10° to 90° in different directions.A characteristic direction of magnetization was isolated at all sections by thermal demagnetization at temperatures of from 550° to 650°C. The sediments have been folded within the last 2 m.y. and because of a positive fold test it can be shown that the characteristic magnetization of these sediments was acquired before folding. Four of the sections have directions of magnetization which have been rotated in a counter-clockwise fashion up to 40°; however, sections taken along the Indus River, the north flank of the Soan syncline and the south flank of the Salt Range show small counter-clockwise rotations of under 10°. These observations are in agreement with previous suggestions that strata in the Salt Range have been moved to the south and rotated in a counter-clockwise fashion. The observations reported here indicate that the paleomagnetic poles derived from Cambrian and Permian formations within the Salt Range have probably also suffered rotation and should be removed from consideration in Gondwanaland reconstruction of the Paleozoic.     

Length–weight relationships of nine rarely occurring carangids in the northern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan

In this paper, we document length–weight relationships (LWRs) for nine rarely occurring carangids, opportunistically sampled form commercial catches between 2012 and 2015 being fished from the northern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan. After confirmation in the FishBase database all nine species Alectis indica (25), Alepes melanoptera (20), Alepes vari (22), Atropus Atropos (25), Carangoides praeustus (50), Seriolina nigrofasciata (21), Trachinotus blochi (30), Trachinotus mokalee (34) and Uraspis uraspis (17) found no LWRs previously documented. The slope values for species presented range from 2.44 to 2.93, intercepts 0.0001–0.048, coefficient of determination 0.89–0.99, and confidence intervals for slopes and intercepts of each species calculated. The LWRs data of nine species would be added in the FishBase database, and provide underlying biological data to the regional biologist for further exploration of these species.     

Identifying the habitat suitability and built-in corridors for Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) movement in the northern highlands of Pakistan

Identifying habitat suitability and potential corridors are important tools for biodiversity conservation in the face of climate change. We modeled habitat suitability and simulated possible corridors for movement and gene flow among the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) population in the Northern Highlands of Pakistan (NHP). Results indicated that the areas of 13,923 km² and 21,931 km² suitable for the Asiatic black bear under current and future scenarios respectively. Under the future scenario, we found an area of 12,657 km² (57.21%) as increase in suitable habitat (ISH_f) and 4649 km² (33.39%) area as a decrease in current suitable habitat (DSH_c). Our model predicted that about >65% (9274 km²) of the current suitable habitat as a climate refugia which is projected from the center to southeast east and northwest of the NHP primarily in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK). The attitudinal range of refugia was projected from 688 m to 4483 m with >56% at the elevations between 2001 m to 3000 m. A very small portion of suitable habitats (current suitable habitat = 2.75%, future suitable habitat = 5.11%) were projected under the protected areas. Maps connecting suitable habitats identified different regions delineated as important for the dispersal of Asiatic black bears, which mainly distributed in the PAK and KPK. Our results help informs conservation strategies and management plans for mitigating the impacts of climate change on Asiatic black bears in the NHP.     

Birth spacing in Pakistan

Life table analysis was applied to data from the 1975 Pakistan Fertility Survey to identify child spacing differentials between population subgroups. Women in urban areas had shorter birth intervals than their rural counterparts from parities 1-6; only after parity 7 was this differential reversed. Similarly, women with some education had shorter birth intervals at the earlier parities than uneducated women. While overall family size is relatively homogeneous in Pakistan, women of more modern backgrounds seem to space their children more closely than traditional women. Age at marriage appears to play an important role not only in determining the length of the 1st interval, but also that of subsequent intervals. An unexpected finding was that ever users of contraception had distinctly more rapid spacing of their births than never users. The median interval to 1st birth was shortest in North West Frontier Province, but similar in Punjab and Sind. Multiple classification analysis revealed that some differentials in child spacing by education, residence, and province persisted even after other variables were controlled. Cohort of mother had an independent effect, with younger cohorts having shorter birth intervals. However, the variable that had the strongest effect on length of interval (aside from the 1st interval) was breastfeeding duration. It is likely that increasing urbanization and improved levels of education among women will lead to high levels of marital fertility associated with shorter birth intervals. Even though these trends tend to increase the age at marriage, they are associated with shorter durations of breastfeeding. In the longer term, greater use of contraception among women in the modern sector may partially counteract the fertility increasing effect of reduced birth intervals.     

Poverty and blindness in Pakistan: results from the Pakistan national blindness and visual impairment survey

Objective To explore the association between blindness and deprivation in a nationally representative sample of adults in Pakistan.Design Cross sectional population based survey.Setting 221 rural and urban clusters selected randomly throughout Pakistan.Participants Nationally representative sample of 16 507 adults aged 30 or above (95.3% response rate).Main outcome measures Associations between visual impairment and poverty assessed by a cluster level deprivation index and a household level poverty indicator; prevalence and causes of blindness; measures of the rate of uptake and quality of eye care services.Results 561 blind participants (<3/60 in the better eye) were identified during the survey. Clusters in urban Sindh province were the most affluent, whereas rural areas in Balochistan were the poorest. The prevalence of blindness in adults living in affluent clusters was 2.2%, compared with 3.7% in medium clusters and 3.9% in poor clusters (P<0.001 for affluent v poor). The highest prevalence of blindness was found in rural Balochistan (5.2%). The prevalence of total blindness (bilateral no light perception) was more than three times higher in poor clusters than in affluent clusters (0.24% v 0.07%, P<0.001). The prevalences of blindness caused by cataract, glaucoma, and corneal opacity were lower in affluent clusters and households. Reflecting access to eye care services, cataract surgical coverage was higher in affluent clusters (80.6%) than in medium (76.8%) and poor areas (75.1%). Intraocular lens implantation rates were significantly lower in participants from poorer households. 10.2% of adults living in affluent clusters presented to the examination station wearing spectacles, compared with 6.7% in medium clusters and 4.4% in poor cluster areas. Spectacle coverage in affluent areas was more than double that in poor clusters (23.5% v 11.1%, P<0.001).Conclusion Blindness is associated with poverty in Pakistan; lower access to eye care services was one contributory factor. To reduce blindness, strategies targeting poor people will be needed. These interventions may have an impact on deprivation in Pakistan.     

Pakistan santonica

This anthelmintic drug, consisting of dried unexpanded flower heads of several species of Artemisia native to widely separated areas in both the Old and New Worlds, has heretofore been commercially obtained principally from A. Cina of Turkestan. Today A. maritima of West Pakistan has supplanted the Russian source as the principal supplier.