Metacognitive Instruction and Students’ Achievement in Solving Mathematical Word Problems

Mathematics is considered as an important subject of elementary curriculum throughout the world due to its use in different fields of life. The compulsory component of mathematics is mathematical word problems. Word problems are considered as the difficult part of mathematics not only by students but mathematics teachers as well. Special teaching strategies are required to teach mathematical word problems to cope with the recent educational standards. Metacognitive instruction for teaching word problems has been proved affective by different educationists and researchers of world. Metacognitive instruction uses the hypothetical definition of metacognition, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive skills and practicing of self addressed questions. Students are practiced to ask a series of self addressed questions while solving word problems about: understanding, connection, strategies, and reflection. The present study was an attempt to experiment metacognitive instruction for teaching mathematical word problems on sixth class students at Govt. High School Abbottabad and to check its effectiveness as compared to traditional method of teaching. The study used true experimental research design; specifically the pretest-posttest control group design with 80 subjects (40 + 40) and data was collected and analyzed by t-test and descriptive analysis. The finding of study proved metacognitive instruction as an effective method for teaching mathematical word problems at elementary level

Association of airborne Aspergillus with asthma exacerbation in Southern Pakistan.

Background: Exposure to airborne fungi has been related with exacerbation of asthma in adults and children leading to increased outpatient, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Hypersensitivity to these airborne fungi may be an important initial predisposing factor in the development and exacerbation of asthma. Objective: This study was conducted to determine an association between fungal types and spore concentrations with the risk of asthma exacerbation in adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2008 to August 2009 at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, Pakistan. All adult (age≥16 years) patients presenting to the hospital with acute asthma exacerbation were enrolled after informed consent. A home survey was conducted for each patient to assess their environmental characteristics. Indoor air samples were also obtained from the patient’s home to determine the type and spore concentration of fungi within the week of their enrollment in the study. Results: Three hundred and ninety-one patients with an acute asthma exacerbation were enrolled during the study period. The mean age of participants was 46 years (standard deviation, ±18 years) and 247 (63.2%) were females. A trend of higher asthma enrollment associated with higher Aspergillus concentrations was found in two consecutive summers. A total of nineteen types of fungi were found in air samples. Aspergillus spp. was the most frequently isolated fungus with acute asthma exacerbation. Conclusion: An association of higher concentration of indoor Aspergillus spp. with asthma exacerbation in adults was observed in this study

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Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV2 Antibodies among Patients and Healthy Individuals of Lahore

Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV2 antibodies in patients and healthy individuals presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Lahore. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Pathology Department of Surayya Azeem Hospital, Lahore Pakistan, from May to Jul 2020. Methodology: The study included clinically suspected patients of COVID-19 referred by clinicians and healthy individuals presenting to the hospital for the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test, irrespective of age and gender. Results: The SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity was 704(59.4%) in our study. Out of 1184 individuals tested, 690 patients had a positive clinical history of COVID-19 infection, and 517(74.9%) were positive for COVID-19 antibodies. Out of 494 asymptomatic healthy individuals, positivity for COVID-19 antibodies was 187(37.8%). It was observed that positivity was significantly higher 169(44.0%) in contacts of COVID-19 infection patients compared to asymptomatic healthy individuals 18(16.3%). Conclusion: Our study shows that the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the general public in Pakistan has greatly increased

Association Of BCR-ABL Alternative Splice Variants with Disease Progression, Treatment Response and Survival in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients Treated with Firstline imatinib Monotherapy

Background: Alternative RNA splicing has diverse biological effects in heath as well as disease. It also contributes to cancer onset and progression. Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) results due to BCR-ABL fusion oncogene that is created due to chromosomal translocation t [9; 22] [q34; q11]). BCR-ABL is target of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). BCR-ABL through alternative splicing can generate b2a2, b3a2 and some other rare splicing variants. BCR-ABL variants may vary in their response to TKI treatment and disease progression potential, which is a major factor contributing to dismal treatment outcome in CML. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate correlation of BCR-ABL splice variants with TKI treatment outcome and survival in three phases of CML that has rarely been studied previously.Methods: BCR-ABL splice variants were studied using reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). in 70 CML patients from three phases of CML who were receiving imatinib (TKI) treatment.Results: Frequencies of different BCR/ABL splice variants like b3a2, b2a2 and b3a2+b2a2 were 49 (70%), 15 (21.4%) and 6 (8.6%), respectively. Splice variant b2a2 were more common (53.3%) in chronic phase CML (CP-CML) while b3a2 had higher frequency in advanced phases of CML (44.9%). CML patients with b2a2 transcript had better complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response to TKI treatment overall (100% vs. 24.5%) as well as in CP-CML (100% vs. 85.7%) and superior survival when compared to patients with b3a2 splice variant. All patients who died had male gender, less than 33 years age, b3a2 transcript, advanced phases of CML and imatinib resistance.Conclusions: Splice variant b3a2 was associated with CML progression, poorer survival and inferior treatment outcome as compared to b2a2. Further investigations on BCR-ABL splice variants and their roles in CML pathogenesis can provide deeper insights into CML biology and new targets for BCR-ABL positive leukemia treatment.          Keywords: CML; BCR-ABL splice variants; Progression; Survival; Treatment outcome 

Comparing the Pretreatment with Lignocaine 40 mg and Fentanyl 100 ug as an Adjuvant for Preclusion of Pain Associated with Intravenous Propofol Injection

Abstract Background: Propofol (2,6-di-isopropylphenol) is one of the most favored drugs used for induction of anesthesia. Pain on injection is a common problem. Various methods have been tried to alleviate this pain but with conflicting results. Objective: To compare effectiveness of lignocaine versus fentanyl in patients receiving propofol for general anesthesia in population of Pakistan who come to PIMS hospital in Islamabad. Materials and Methods: 120 participants of either sex, between 18 and 40 years of age, belonging to ASA physical status I and II, undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia, were randomized into two equal groups of 60 participants. They received, intravenously, either lignocaine 2 ml (20 mg/ml )or fentanyl 2 ml (50 mcg/mL) as a pretreatment before propofol injection. Results: The efficacy of lignocaine as a pretreatment drug injection was higher (96.7%) compared to fentanyl (85.0%). In the lignocaine group, 2.3% of the participants experienced pain as compared with 15% in the fentanyl group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Compared with fentanyl, lignocaine pretreatment was more effective in preventing pain on propofol injection. KEY WORDS: Comparison, Fentanyl, LIgnocaine, Propofol, Pain

Biomonitoring of fluoride pollution with gladiolus in the vicinity of a brick kiln field in Lahore, Pakistan

Although there are thousands of small-scale, poorly regulated brick kilns in rural areas of South Asia their impact on local agricultural crops is largely unknown. The impact of fluoride on crops in a brick kiln area in the Northern Punjab Region of Pakistan was investigated. Fluoride accumulation, leaf necrosis, and reduced corm diameter and weight were found in the brick kiln area in two cultivars of Gladiolus that have been widely used as biomonitors in Europe. The rate of increase in leaf injury of the sensitive Gladiolus cultivar was greatest at all sites when the temperature was lower and there was a high relative humidity of 60–75%. The necrotic leaf tip lengths of the indicator plants correlated very well with their fluoride concentrations. The fluoride accumulation was directly proportional to the Fluoride Injury Index, although a higher injury index was observed with the fluoride-sensitive cultivar Lavendell Puff compared to the fluoride-tolerant cultivar Flower Song. These results suggest that injury to sensitive crops from fluoride may occur in other brick kiln areas in South Asia, and that Gladiolus plants could be used as a cost-effective biomonitor for further investigation in this region.</p