Newsletter 64

BUITEMS Quality & Excellence in Education

NEWSLETTER Vol

64

Balochistan University of Information Technology,Engineering & Management Sciences

BUITEMSQuality & Excellence in Education


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Our Vision

To be among the leading universities of the world -accessible to all, imparting qualityeducation and promoting cutting edge research.

Mission Statement

At BUITEMS, we are committed to providing quality education with focus on research andto equip students with the art of living as productive members of society, contributing to thesocio-economic uplift of Pakistan in general, and Balochistan in particular.

Our Goals

X To provide outstanding academic programs that further strengthen our performance,pre-eminence and efficiency.

X To provide an excellent teaching and learning environment to students to reach a levelthat matches the atmosphere prevailing at best universities in the world.

X To raise revenues from partnerships, research grants and technology transfer whilestrengthening our ability to more effectively invest and allocate resources for education.

Our Core Values

Accountability: We are committed stewards of the human, fiscal and physical resources entrusted to us.

Diversity : We recognize that diversity leads to excellence, enhancing ourteaching, scholarship and service as well as our ability to respectand interact with people.

Integrity : We practice honesty, truth and integrity in all that we do.

Respect: We treat each other with civility, dignity and respect.

Social We contribute to intellectual, cultural, spiritual and economic well-beingof the society.

responsibility:


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CONTENTS

Chairman Fatimid Foundation Visits BUITEMS 5

Ex Federal Minster for Education Visited BUITEMS 5

Meeting of the BUITEMS Syndicate 6

Ration Distribution among Low Paid Employees 6

CPD Short Courses Series “SEISMIC DESIGN & DETAILING” 6

Nepal Summer School in Advanced Language Engineering (NSS-NLE) 7

Pink Ribbon Day Observed 8

Piloting the ‘Transforming English Language Skills’ 8

Project by HEC and British Council at BUITEMS

TELS PROGRAM LAUNCHED 9

Children’s Literature Festival 9

BUITEMS Clinched 2ndPosition in Presentation Skills Competition, 2012 10

Workshop on “Mastering Qualitative Research Methodology and Analyzing

Qualitative Data Using SPSS and NVIVO” 11

Seminar on “Structural Analysis employing Finite Element Numerical

Approach with Solid Works” 11

Motivational Seminar Series 12

Research Publications 13


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Editorial

Fall Semester 2012 has started with a fresh intake of students. BUITEMS offers opportunitiesof academic and professional growth in contemporary fields which are crucial to nationaldevelopment and economic independence. That is why students flock to BUITEMS doors foradmission after their HSSC studies. Our specific emphasis on the provision of meaningfuleducation has yielded rewarding results and our uncompromising stance on quality singles outBUITEMS as an institution which gives the message of hope and optimism.

Education entails advancement in every field – social, economic, scientific or technical – andprovides strength and vision for enlightened approaches in life. One of the numerous advantagesof advance technology is that the developing countries can exploit their natural resources ontheir own and can come out of the vicious circle of debt and dependency. They don’t have tobank upon the expertise of foreign technologists and engineers for harvesting the crop of theirnatural resources. However a joint effort is required to achieve this goal. This effort should beat every possible level, including top brass, faculty and students. Developing countries shouldjoin hands together and excel in the domain of higher education by conducting seminars,conferences and colloquiums. The empowerment of the indigenous human resources and acommon thrust against the blockade of dependence can lead to prosperity and alleviation ofpoverty in the under-developed world.

Economically and technologically advanced countries are the dominant powers today, and it istheir culture and values that are gaining prevalence on the globe. Excellence in higher educationis in fact an effective deterrent in the way of cultural storm rushing on us from the alien societies.Colonial powers do not have to come physically to a region in this era. They can maneuver theirinterests from a distance. Only education and strength in technology can protect our interestsagainst greedy colonial attitudes. It is worth noting that the record of the East in observance ofethical values is much better as compared to that of the West. So we in the East do not need acultural revolution. All we need is excellence in higher education and technology for which mutualcooperation is extremely important. Our youth must realize this truth and make concerted effortsto attain competence of playing their role in the national development efforts.


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Chairman Fatimid FoundationVisits BUITEMS

Reported by: M. Aslam Nasar

Lt. Genl. (R) Moinuddin Haider Chairman,Fatimid Foundation visited BUITEMS onSeptember 18, 2012. The main objectives ofhis visit were (i) to observe the making andfunctioning of a prime institution (BUITEMS)and (ii) to inspire the youth to participate inlife-saving endeavors through blood donation.The distinguished guest was briefed by theVice Chancellor on various aspects of theUniversity. Chairman, Fatimid Foundationeulogized the outstanding work done by theVice Chancellor and his team in exalting theimage of the institution among national andinternational circles of education.

Talking about the Fatimid Foundation, Lt.Genl. (R) Moinuddin Haider stated that hisorganization is determined to make Pakistanself-sufficient in the provision of primaryhealth care and is resolved to minimizedeadly health problems of Thalassemia andHemophilia.

Ex Federal Minster for EducationVisited BUITEMS

Reported by: Fakhra Ramzan

Ex, Federal Minister of Education Ms.Zubaida Jalal visited Takatu Campus ofBUITEMS on August 30, 2012. She wasaccompanied by Ms. Fareeda Nawsherwaniand Ms. Bushra Rind, prominent socialworkers of Balochistan. The visitors werewarmly welcomed by the senioradministrators of the university and wereescorted to the Vice Chancellor’s Secretariatwhere they exchanged ideas with the ViceChancellor about the state of education in theprovince.

The group visited the Directorate of IT, whereMr. Mohammad Anwar Khan, Director ITgave a briefing on the functions and facilitiesavailable in the CMS Center. The visitors alsosaw the admission test in progress at thecampus and expressed satisfaction at thecalm and disciplined manner in which thetests were conducted.

Ms. Zubaida Jalal invited the Vice Chancellorto present a key-note address at a workshopthey were holding shortly for the benefit ofeducators in Balochistan. She urged theuniversity to establish a motivational stall atthe children’s Literature Festival to beorganized by the Foundation Open SocietyInstitute at the Boy Scouts Headquarters,Quetta. Ms. Zubaida Jalal extolled theservices of the Vice Chancellor and hiscolleagues in making BUITEMS a modelinstitution in the country.

Vice Chancellor briefing the distinguished guests

Lt.Gen(R) Moinuddin Haider in the CISCO Laboratory

Distinguished visitors in IT directorate


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Meeting of the BUITEMS SyndicateReported by: Manzoor Hussain

A meeting of the BUITEMS syndicate washeld on August 15, 2012, under thechairmanship of the Vice Chancellor, AhmedFarooq Bazai. The meeting commenced withthe recitation of verses from the holy Quran.Different academic and administrativematters of the university were taken up fordiscussion and relevant decisions were madeprior to seeking approval of the Chancellor.The recommendations made at the 12th

meeting of the Academic Council ofBUITEMS were also thoroughly examinedand finalized.

The Vice Chancellor, in his concludingaddress thanked the syndicate members fortheir contribution in resolving various issuespresented at the meeting.

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanksfor the chair.

Ration Distribution among LowPaid Employees.

Reported by: Abdul Qadeem

Distribution of ration bags amongst the lowpaid employees of the University has nowbecome an annual feature of BUITEMS staffWelfare initiatives.

This year, too, ration bags containing cereals,rice, ghee, tea and sugar were distributedamongst the low paid employees of theUniversity in August, 2012.

Tehrik-e-Idara Bahali-e-Mustehkeen (TIBM),a philanthropic non-government organization,headed by renowned social worker, Mrs.Surayya Allahdin collaborated in this regard.Vice Chancellor BUITEMS, Ahmed FarooqBazai, Pro vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. M.A.KMalghani, Registrar Dr. Mohammad Nawazand Additional Registrar (Academics), Mr.Abdul Qadeem Khan distributed ration kitsamongst the low-paid employees during theholy month of Ramadan, so that the low paidemployees could celebrate Eid, without beingtormented by the minimal food needs.

The Vice Chancellor appreciated thegenerous gesture of TIBM and exhorted allwell-to-do people to discharge theirhumanitarian obligations of helping the poorand the needy.

CPD Short Courses Series“SEISMIC DESIGN & DETAILING”

Reported by: Dr. Ehsanullah

The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC)Quetta organized a one day short course on“SEISMIC DESIGN & DETAILING” onSeptember 10, 2012 at Pakistan EngineeringCouncil, Quetta Chapter, for ProfessionalEngineers and Non-Engineers underContinuing Professional Development (CPD)Program.

The program is an essential activity under theCPD Bye-laws 2008 in pursuit of professionaldevelopment of engineers. Resourcepersons from potential organizations,including BUITEMS conducted the program.Twelve faculty members from BUITEMSattended the workshop.

Syndicate meeting in progress

Ration kits being distributed


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Nepal Summer School inAdvanced Language Engineering

(NSS-NLE)Reported by : Dr. Aftab Ahmed

The Summer School in Advanced LanguageEngineering was co-organized byKathmandu University, Nepal (the hostinstitution), the University of Konstanz,Germany and University of Engineering andTechnology (UET) Lahore, Pakistan fromAugust 24 to September 22, 2012.

The objective of the summer school was toreinforce the area of Natural LanguageEngineering (NLE) in the region of SouthAsia. The subject area falls within the scopeof computer science, engineering andlinguistics and is application-oriented, so thefocus was on engineering viable solutionsfor computational applications dealing withthe languages of South Asia. The objectiveof the summer school was to provide accessto international experts who couldcommunicate advanced knowledge about

NLE to graduate students and youngresearchers in South Asia, particularly inthose countries where NLE is still in the earlystages of development. In addition to theparticipants from Nepal,students/researchers from Bangladesh,Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka wereselected as well. The training programcomprised two graduate level courses,where each area was divided up into twomodules. The entire training program wasstretched over four weeks of duration.Training program contained theory andpractical sessions. The program plan andconcerned resource persons are mentionedbelow.Course 1: Advanced Resources forNatural Language Processing

Module A: Grammars and Treebanks forSyntactic Processing(Stefanie Dipper, Univ. Bochum and HeikeZinsmeister, Univ. Stuttgart)

Module B: Word and Verb Nets forSemantic Processing(Mariam Butt, Univ. Konstanz)(Annette Hautli, Univ. Konstanz)

Course 2: Advanced Applications forNatural Language ProcessingModule A: Statistical Machine Translation(Alex Fraser, Univ. Stuttgart)

Module B: Automatic Speech Recognition(Sarmad Hussain, Univ. of Engineering andTechnology, Lahore)

On the completion of the Summer School,the participants of the program wereawarded certificates. Kathmandu Universityalso issued transcripts with grades for twoM.S level credit courses on “Speech andNatural Language Processing” and“Machine Translation” against the fourmodules taught in the Summer School. Inorder to provide a good balance betweenacademics and leisure time and in order toexpose visitors to aspects of Nepali historyand culture, the Summer School organizers

A section of course participants

Summer School program in progress


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arranged a sight-seeing tour aroundKathmandu and Bhaktapur to places ofhistorical significance and also hosted acultural program introducing Nepali folksongs and dances.

Pink Ribbon Day ObservedReported by: Jamal Abdul Nasir

Pink Ribbon Day was observed at BUITEMSon July 8, 2012 under the aegis of Students’Affairs, Centre. The objective of the eventwas to create awareness among the studentsand the general public about the need ofearly medical checkup in order to detect thesymptoms of breast cancer among Asianwomen. The campaign focused on removingmisconceptions and social taboos related todiscussions on the subject.

Groups of students distributed leaflets amongthe faculty and students and stuck pinkribbons on the sleeve shoulders in order tomark the importance of the day for tacklingsocial barriers that prompt people to shyaway from discussing the potentially fatal butcurable disease. They urged the females to

show courage and contact medical centersimmediately on feeling any unusual chestsymptoms.

The campaign included appeals to theaffluent members of the society to come upwith financial support in the form ofdonations, so that effective and adequatesteps could be taken to tackle the breastcancer cases.

Piloting the ‘Transforming EnglishLanguage Skills’ Project by HECand British Council at BUITEMS

Reported by: Sadiqa Ramzan

HEC and British Council launched a jointproject titled ‘Transforming English LanguageSkills’ (TELS). The project started with a needanalysis based on the expectations ofundergraduate students from their coursesin terms of English language, therequirements of non-English subject teachersregarding the proficiency in English and a oneday focal group discussion of Englishteaching faculty from various universities onthe course outlines and their shortcomings.

Following the need analysis, a group ofauthors from 11 universities includingBUITEMS and others from all corners of thecountry was selected to compile a propercourse based on the recommendations andfindings of the need analysis report. A teamof coordinators from Open University UK alsoprovided assistance. The final product wasthe development of 3 distinct modules; twoof them titled ‘English for AcademicPurposes’ or EAP (replacing English I),

Group phonograph of NSS-NLE participants

Group photo of students participating in the event

Group photograph of TEL Master Trainers


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‘English for Employment’ or EFE (a non-credited subject to be introduced in 7th or 8th

semester) were designed specifically forstudents, and the third one named‘Professional Development’ (PD) for helpingthe non-English subject teachers in devisinglesson plans to encourage interactivitybetween students and teachers. EachModule was accompanied by a teacher’s/trainer’s manual as well. Once the moduleswere developed, the project heads decidedto pilot the same at 11 Universities includingBUITEMS, to test the productivity beforelaunching it country wide.

For this purpose a 5 Day Master Trainer’sWorkshop was held at Islamabad where fourEnglish Teachers, namely Ms SadiqaRamzan, Mrs. Sarah Waseem, Ms AqsaMaryam and Syed Ahmed Wali receivedtraining for EAP and EFE modules and Engr.Shah Marjan from Department of ComputerEngineering was trained as a Master Trainerfor the Professional Development module.The purpose of the workshop was to acquaintthe trainers with the designed contents andto encourage them in implementing andevaluating the project at their respectiveuniversities. It was emphasized time andagain during the workshop that the mastertrainers would cascade the training theyreceived and evaluate the project realistically.During the workshop, many problems andconcerns were highlighted and discussed. Atthe closing ceremony of the workshop, Dr.Noor Amna Malik, Director LID HEC said thatHEC is aware of the concerns that the mastertrainers shared with the organizers,particularly the ones regarding the immediateimplementation and acceptance of the

project. She, however, ensured that HECwould try its best to ‘Super Impose’ the pilotproject in order to gauge its productivitybefore its country wide roll out. Shecongratulated the Master Trainers whilestressing that they had huge responsibility interms of making this project not onlysuccessful but a workable plan. Certificateswere awarded to all master trainers at theend.

TELS PROGRAM LAUNCHEDReported by: Ms. Sadiqa Ramzan

On July 12, 2012, the launching ceremony ofthe TELS modules took place at HEC office,Islamabad. Miss Nishat Riaz, Head ofProgram, British Council, handed over themodules to Dr. Nasir Ali Khan, MemberOperations & Planning HEC. The event waschaired by Dr. Nils Tomes, DirectorEducation Wider, South Asia, British Council.Miss Sadiqa Ramzan Ali attended theceremony and represented BUITEMS.A delegation from British Council comprisingof Dr. Saeeda Asadullah, Project Advisor,Miss NishatRiaz, Head of Program HigherEducation, and Syed Khawer Abbas, ProjectOfficer Higher Education, had a meeting withthe BUITEMS English teaching faculty. ProVice Chancellor Dr. M.A.K. Malghani andProf. Sultan Mahmood Niazi, Head of thedepartment of English were also a part of thedeliberations. The British Council delegationbriefed the faculty about TELS and discussedhow the modules were developed. They toldthe faculty that BUITEMS is amongst thoseeleven Pakistani universities that shall betaking the pilot roll out of the modules in theupcoming semester. At the end of the eventthe delegation presented the modules to ProVice Chancellor Dr. M.A.K. Malghani andProf. Sultan Mahmood Niazi.

Children’s Literature FestivalReported by: Sameen Khan

First Children’s Literature Festival wasorganized under the auspices of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), Oxford UniversityPress (OUP) and Foundation Open SocietyInstitute (FOSI) Pakistan on the premises of

Another group photograph of TEL Master Trainers


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Balochistan Boys Scouts Association. Thepurpose of the event was to promote thehabit of reading across the country and toarouse creativity and critical thinking amongthe children. The program was organized onthe basis of readings, writing, theater/filmsand discussions, for children.

For this purpose BUITEMS was also invitedto set up a motivational stall on the event.Interesting projects from Faculty ofEngineering (FOE) and Faculty ofInformation and Communication Technology(FICT) were displayed at the festival.

School children, their teachers andprofessionals from other organizations,visited BUITEMS stall and were briefedabout the projects by the BUITEMS team.Visitors appreciated the stall and efforts ofBUITEMS in the field of education.Provincial Minister for Sports and Culture,Mir Shah Nawaz Marri, was the chief gueston the occasion. He appreciated the effortsof the participating institutions.

BUITEMS Clinched 2ndPosition inPresentation Skills Competition,

2012.Report By: Sameen Khan

A Provincial Inter University PresentationSkills Competition on the topic “ChallengesBeing Faced by Umat-E-Muslima and theirSolutions” was organized by Al-MezanSociety, University Law College, Quetta.Seven teams representing BUITEMS,

SBKWU, UOB, ULC, Al-Hamd University,Iqra University and Quetta School of Lawparticipated in the competition.

The panel of judges for the competitionincluded Mr. Dawood Kasi,PresidentBalochistan Bar Association, Mrs. SurayyaAlladin, a renowned social worker and Ms.Zohra Durrani, a senior educationist.

From BUITEMS Ms. Rukhsar Bibi, a studentof BS (International Relations) and Ali Zain-ul-Abidin from BS (Business Administration)participated in the competition. Ms. Rukhsarexplained the challenges faced by Umat-e-Muslima while Ali Zain identified theirsolutions. Both gave an impressivepresentation and clinched 2ndposition in thecompetition.

Barrister Arbab Adnan Kasi, PrincipalUniversity Law College was the chief guestof the event. Addressing the participants andguests, he threw light on the challenges facedby the Umat-e-Muslima and suggested theirsolutions in the light of International Law. Hesaid that youth of Balochistan are talentedand such competitions go a long way increating awareness about global issues. Heappreciated and congratulated the winnerinstitutions.

At the end Chief Guest distributed Shieldsamong the leaders of the participating teams.Mr. Sameen Khan, Coordinator StudentAffairs received trophy on behalf of BUITEMS.

Mr. Khalid Anum entertaining the children

A section of the audience at the competition


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Workshop on “MasteringQualitative Research Methodology

and Analyzing Qualitative DataUsing SPSS and NVIVO”

By Abdul Basit

A 2-day International Research Workshop onthe topic ‘Mastering Qualitative ResearchMethodology and Analyzing Qualitative Datausing SPSS and NVIVO’ was jointlyorganized by the Directorate of QualityEnhancement & Accreditation, BUITEMS,Quetta and Research Center for Training &Development (RCTD) on 26th and 27thSeptember, 2012, through High Definition(HD) Video Conferencing. Dr. Liz D. Molina,from Harvard University, USA and Mr. JonnaChrzanowska, Head of ‘Foundation ofQualitative Research’ (UK) were the keynoteresource persons for the workshop. Theywere assisted by Mr. Mohammad Naseem,Head, Department of Survey and DataManagement, Government of Pakistan andMr. Mohammad Nadeem Iqbal, NVIVOSoftware expert.

The main objective of the Workshop was toimprove research competencies of thefaculty. The workshop was attended by 40participants from all the five Faculties ofBUITEMS.

The inaugural session was chaired by theDirector QE&A, Syed Dara Shikoh. Theprogram started with the recitation of versesfrom the Holy Quran. The workshop wasintroduced by Director QE&A, whoemphasized the importance andeffectiveness of the workshop as a goldenopportunity for the Faculty members.

The first day of workshop comprised of foursessions by the corresponding Trainers:Joanna Chrzanowska ( UK) and ProfessorDr. Lay Yoon Fah ( Malaysia) based onresearch methodologies. The fourth sessionof the second day was conducted byMuhammad Asif Hanif (Biostatistician),Muhammad Akram Naseem (Statistician)and Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal(Expert ofQualitative Data Analysis) Using NVIVOfocused on SPSS and NVIVO software.

Seminar on “Structural AnalysisEmploying Finite Element

Numerical Approach with SolidWorks”

Reported By: Arshad Ali

A one day seminar, titled “Structural Analysisemploying Finite Element NumericalApproach with Solid Works” was organizedon 28th September 2012, by HumanResource Department, BUITEMS incoordination with Pakistan EngineeringCouncil.

Engineers from local bodies andorganizations, faculty members, teachingstaff and students participated in theSeminar. Registrar, Dean Faculty ofEngineering and Chairman Department ofCivil Engineering delivered introductoryspeeches about the aims and objectives ofthe seminar. They highlighted the importanceof Continuing Professional DevelopmentProgram introduced by the PakistanEngineering Council. The technicalpresentation of the seminar was delivered byMr. Arshad Ali, the resource person of theevent.

The program was organized into three partsin which the first part was about theintroduction of Finite Elements and theirprinciples, techniques and utilization.

The 2nd part of the presentation wasstructured for presenting several types ofsoftware, being used in the field of StructuralEngineering. The software can be utilized byEngineers to develop structural models and

Mr. Arshad Ali delivering his lecture


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can later be used for various types ofsimulation analysis. Solid Works and BuiltWorks were among the topics which werefocused in detail.

Solid Work itself is 3D Modeling Design andAnalysis Software having various simulationcapabilities. In addition to the designmodules, these simulation capabilitiesinclude, Stress Analysis, Structural Analysis,Buckling, Motion simulation, Design ofComplex Truss Analysis, CompositeMaterials etc.

In the last session, another kind of software,namely SAAP 2000 was also discussed byMr.Naik Muhammad. He highlighted thefinite element approach for seismic analysisand design of multi-storeyed building andgave a presentation on earthquake modeling.

At the end of the seminar, a question answersession was conducted. Certificates weredistributed among all registered participantsby Prof. Dr. M.A.K. Malghani, Pro ViceChancellor. He, in his concluding remarksstressed the need of CPD program so thatengineers could continually enhance theirprofessional capacities through learning thelatest developments in their fields and couldget immense benefits.

MOTIVATIONAL SEMINAR SERIESReported by: Sameen khan

BUITEMS Student Affairs Centre initiated aunique program for the benefit of studentswith the objective of instilling in them the willto surge ahead with a clear sense of directionbefore them. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Qasim

Chairman of theE n v i r o n m e n t a lManagement & Policyand URP Department,conducted a series oflectures, deliveredevery Thursday at theGreen Seminar Hall,Takatu Campus duringthe quarter ending 30th

September, 2012. The need for positivethinking was emphasized in the seminars.

These seminars were conducted from Mayto September and drew a large audiencecomprising students, faculty and staff. Theseminars were open to all stakeholders of theuniversity.

The theme of the seminars revolved aroundtwo main topics, “Total Success System” and“Success or Chance”. A clear lesson wasimparted to the students that success is notonly learning of the curriculum rather it is astructured and learned process of properplanning with goal formation and thenconstantly working for the achievement of theset goal.

A section of the program participants

Dr. Mohammad Qasim


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RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

_ Springer Science+Business Media B.V.2012

A missense mutation (p.G274R) in gene ASPAcauses Canavan

Disease in a Pakistani familyRashida Hussain • Shakeela Daud •

Naseebullah Kakar • Adeel Ahmad • AbdulHameed Baloch • Abdul Malik Tareen •Muhammad Azam Kakar • Jamil Ahmad

Received: 12 September 2011 / Accepted: 26December 2011 / Published online: 5 January2012

AbstractCanavan disease (OMIM 271900) is anautosomal recessive lethal neurodegenerativedisorder characterized by spongy degenerationof the brain. A highly consanguineous Pakistanifamily with Canavan disease was enrolled on thebasis of diagnosis. All the affected individualshave mental retardation, megalocephaly anddegradation of motor skills, poor head control,partial vision loss, weakness of the muscles andraised urinary concentration of N-acetyl asparticacid in the urine. Blood samples were collectedfrom affected as well as normal siblings andprocessed for DNA purification. Linkage analysiswas performed by typing three short tandemrepeat markers D17S1583 (7.19 cM), D17S1828(10.02 cM) and D17S919 (14.69 cM) for analready-reported gene/locus ASPA atchromosome 17p13.2 causing Canavan disease.During linkage analysis, all the affectedindividuals were homozygous for short tandemrepeat markers while the normal siblings wereheterozygous showing co-segregation of thedisease. Gene ASPA (NM_000049) wasundertaken to sequence for mutation analysis.As a result of sequence analysis, we foundmissense substitution 740A?G (p.G274R) in exon6 of gene ASPA. To our knowledge, this is thefirst report about Canavan disease on a Pakistanifamily.

KeywordsCanavan disease _ ASPA gene _ Pakistani family_ ASPA mutation _ SpringerScience+Business Media B.V. 2012

Various Aspects, Patterns and RiskFactors in Breast Cancer Patients of

BalochistanAbdul Hameed Baloch1*, Jameela Shuja2,Shakeela Daud3,4, Muneer Ahmed2, AdeelAhmad5, Mehrullah Tareen2, Farah Khan2,Muhammad Azam Kakar1, Dost MohammadBaloch1, Naseebullah Kakar1, Hafiz Khush

Naseeb2, Jamil Ahmad1*

AbstractPurpose: Breast cancer is the commonestmalignancy of females throughout the world withone million new cases each year. In Pakistan,the burden of breast cancer disease is high withthe late stage presentation being a commonfeature and it has been observed that more thanhalf of the patients present in advance stages(stage III and stage IV). The objective of thisstudy was to study various aspects, patterns andrisk factors in breast cancer patients ofBalochistan.Method: Present study was performed on 134patients of breast cancer who were registered inCENAR. These patients were interviewed byproviding a questionnaire. Informed consent wastaken from the patients who took part in thisstudy and the patients who did not agree werenot included in the study. Before taking a formalinterview, the patients were explained about thestudy. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated bymeasuring height and weight of the patients.Available biopsy reports were obtained frompatients files. After getting the data from thepatients and their respective files, all the caseswere classified into age, gender, ethnic group(Baloch, Pashtoon, Punjabi, Afghani, Hazara)BMI, cancer type, cancer grade, hormonalstatus, side of the cancer, infertility and maritalstatus.Results: Out of 134 patients, the common ethnicgroup was Pashtoon with a total of 42 breastcancer patients and the common age group was41-50 years with a total of 51 patients. Invasiveductal carcinoma (IDC) was the common featureof breast cancer by presenting in 128 patients(95.5%) followed by Invasive lobular carcinoma(ILC).Conclusion: Pashtoon was the most commonethnic group, IDC was common type and most ofthe patients were With ER/PR positive hormonalstatus.

Keywords: Breast cancer - Balochistan -hereditary cancer - CENAR cancer registry


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BUITEMS

BUITEMS contributes in defining standards andsystems for the up-lift of socio-economic orderthrough quality education and services by:

v Providing an environment conducive tolearning, teaching, academic inquiry andinnovation

v Maintaining academic excellence andprofessionalism

v Adhering to established systems for ensuringgood governance for management and transferof knowledge

v Benchmarking with other leading institutions ofhigher education for improvement

v Enhancing efficient and effective operations byencouraging participation of stakeholders

v Pursuing continuous improvement throughcreativity, team work and adaptation to change

for

Playing a catalytic role to achieve the national,regional and global harmony.

Quality Policy Statement


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www.buitms.edu.pkUAN: 111-717-111

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Newsletter 64