Open Access Computer Science Journals in the DOAJ: An analytical study

Open Access movement has shown tremendous growth over the years throughout the world in various regions, countries and disciplines. This paper aims to evaluate the publishing trends of the open access journals in the computer science discipline registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The data collected after the in-depth examination of the directory was analysed and tabulated using simple techniques to fulfil the set objectives. The study evaluates the highest number of contributions country wise, language wise and other factors associated with journals found in DOA

Data for Thinking Healthy Programme Pakistan trial (THPP-Pakistan)

An anonymised dataset of 570 women (one row per woman) who gave informed consent to participate in a cluster randomised, parallel, superiority, controlled trial in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 2014-2017. The intervention was an adapted version of the Thinking Healthy Programme, delivered by peers; the control was enhanced usual care. Further details are available in the published protocol and paper. The dataset contains records of variables on stratified randomisation and clusters, socio-demographic information, depression and related outcomes, and therapy adherence. Visits occurred at baseline, and 3 and 6 months post-natal

The content and delivery of psychological interventions for perinatal depression by non-specialist health workers in low and middle income countries: a systematic review.

Psychological interventions delivered by non-specialist health workers are effective for the treatment of perinatal depression in low- and middle-income countries. In this systematic review, we describe the content and delivery of such interventions. Nine studies were identified. The interventions shared a number of key features, such as delivery provided within the context of routine maternal and child health care beginning in the antenatal period and extending postnatally; focus of the intervention beyond the mother to include the child and involving other family members; and attention to social problems and a focus on empowerment of women. All the interventions were adapted for contextual and cultural relevance; for example, in domains of language, metaphors and content. Although the competence and quality of non-specialist health workers delivered interventions was expected to be achieved through structured training and ongoing supervision, empirical evaluations of these were scarce. Scalability of these interventions also remains a challenge and needs further attention

In vitro storage of synthetic seeds: Effect of different storage conditions and intervals on their conversion ability

In vitro derived shoots of olive cv. Moraiolo were employed in synthetic seeds preparation by alginate encapsulation, and then stored in artificial endosperm solution at cold (4°C) and room storage (21 ± 2°C) conditions in interaction with different storage intervals of 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days to evaluate the comparative regrowth and conversion capacity of synthetic seeds. Cold stored synthetic seeds were superior in terms of their regrowth capacity than that of room stored ones for all the growth parameters studied. A promising degree of interaction was observed between 4°C and 45 days of storage interval for regrowth percentage as well as for shoot and root development. Moreover, an ascending trend was recorded in conversion potential with an increase in storage intervals up to 45 days (S3) whereas there was a declining trend after that up to 60 days (S4). Moreover plantlets regenerated from synthetic seeds, with 4 - 6 fully expanded leaves and well developed root system were successfully acclimatized under ex vitro conditions. The protocol can be used for germplasm exchange of woody trees and preparation of synthetic seed.Keyword: Synthetic, seed, olive, encapsulation, storage, conversionAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(35), pp. 5712-5721, 30 August, 201

On the Flow of Generalized Burgers' Fluid Induced by Sawtooth Pulses

This paper presents a study for the MHD flow of an incompressible generalized Burgers' fluid through a rectangular duct in porous medium. The flow is generated due to the velocity sawtooth pulses applied on the duct. Exact solutions of the governing equations are obtained by using the Laplace transform and double finite Fourier sine transform in this order. The obtained solutions satisfy all the initial and boundary conditions and are written as a sum of steady and transient solutions. Graphs are plotted for both developing and retarding flows. The effects of magnetic parameter, porosity parameter, and various parameters of interest on the flow characteristics are discussed. The problem reduces to the flow between two plates in the absence of side walls

A scientometric analysis of birth cohorts in South Asia: Way forward for Pakistan

The present study aims to: a) systematically map the of birth cohort studies from the South Asian region b) examine the major research foci and landmark contributions from these cohorts using reproducible scientometric techniques and c) offer recommendations on establishing new birth cohorts in Pakistan, building upon the strengths, weaknesses and gaps of previous cohorts. Bibliographic records for a total of 260 articles, published during through December 2018, were retrieved from the Web of Science (core database). All data were analysed using Microsoft Excel (2013), Web of Science platform and CiteSpace. A series of network analysis were then run for each time-period using the link reduction method and pathfinder network scaling. The co-cited articles were clustered into their homogeneous research clusters. The clusters were named using the Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) method that utilized author keywords as source of names for these clusters. The scientometric analyses of original research output from these birth cohorts also paint a pessimistic landscape in Pakistan- where Pakistani sites for birth cohorts contributed only 31 publications; a majority of these utilized the MAL-ED birth cohort data. A majority of original studies were published from birth cohorts in India (156), Bangladesh (63), and Nepal (15). Out of these contributions, 31 studies reported data from multiple countries. The three major birth cohorts include prospective and multi-country MAL-ED birth cohort and The Pakistan Early Childhood Development Scale Up Trial, and a retrospective Maternal and infant nutrition intervention cohort. In addition to these, a few small-scale birth cohorts reported findings pertaining to neonatal sepsis, intrauterine growth retardation and its effects on linear growth of children and environmental enteropathy

Compartmental System of Reaction and Diffusion Mechanism of Carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Mammalian Cell

The effect of ubiquitous carcinogen pollutants in mammalian cells is the source of several problems. Carcinogenic compounds present in environment as persistent pollutants become the root of carcinoma, toxicity or cancer when they react with hereditary material. To study the cellular exposure of reaction and diffusion mechanism of these carcinogenic compounds in mammalian V79 cell earlier, mathematical modeling with the set of spatially distributed system (PDEs) was developed. In this paper, compartmental modeling approach have used with the inclusion of perinuclear space. The system reduced the spatially distributed (PDEs) system to the temporal (ODEs) system, thus reducing the complexity and computational cost. The compartmental system has been simulated computationally in Virtual Cell using homogenization technique. The quantitative consideration of the results of spatially distributed system and temporal system shows a nice agreement. We can extend the compartmental system adding more compartments, reaction and diffusion processes

Mother-to-mother therapy in India and Pakistan: adaptation and feasibility evaluation of the peer-delivered Thinking Healthy Programme.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal depression is highly prevalent in South Asia. Although effective and culturally feasible interventions exist, a key bottleneck for scaled-up delivery is lack of trained human resource. The aim of this study was to adapt an evidence-based intervention so that local women from the community (peers) could be trained to deliver it, and to test the adapted intervention for feasibility in India and Pakistan. METHODS: The study was conducted in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and Goa, India. To inform the adaptation process, qualitative data was collected through 7 focus groups (four in Pakistan and three in India) and 61 in-depth interviews (India only). Following adaptation, the intervention was delivered to depressed mothers (20 in Pakistan and 24 in India) for six months through 8 peers in Pakistan and nine in India. Post intervention data was collected from depressed mothers and peers through 41 in-depth interviews (29 in Pakistan and 12 in India) and eight focus groups (one in Pakistan and seven in India). Data was analysed using Framework Analysis approach. RESULTS: Most mothers perceived the intervention to be acceptable, useful, and viewed the peers as effective delivery-agents. The simple format using vignettes, pictures and everyday terms to describe distress made the intervention easy to understand and deliver. The peers were able to use techniques for behavioural activation with relative ease. Both the mothers and peers found that shared life-experiences and personal characteristics greatly facilitated the intervention-delivery. A minority of mothers had concerns about confidentiality and stigma related to their condition, and some peers felt the role was emotionally challenging. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates the feasibility of using peers to provide interventions for perinatal depression in two South Asian settings. Peers can be a potential resource to deliver evidence-based psychosocial interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pakistan Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02111915 (9 April 2014), India Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02104232 (1 April 2014)

Predictors of Prenatal Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Pakistan

Objective: To determine the prevalence and association of prenatal depression with socioeconomic, demographic and personal factors among pregnant women living in Kallar Syedan, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Methods: Five hundred women in the second and third trimester of pregnancy, living in Kallar Syedan, a rural area of district Rawalpindi Pakistan, were included in the study. Depression was assessed using “Patient health questionnaire” (PHQ9) in Urdu, with a cut-off score of 10. Multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) was used to assess perceived social support. Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) were used to measure stressful life events in past 1 year. Tool to assess intimate partner violence (IPV) was based on WHO Multi Country Study on “Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women.” Results: Prevalence of prenatal depression was found to be 27%. Number of pregnancies was significantly associated with prenatal depression (p < 0.01). Women living in a joint family and those who perceived themselves as moderately satisfied or not satisfied with their life in the next 4 years were found to be depressed (p < 0.01, OR 6.9, CI 1.77–26.73). Depressive symptomatology in women who experienced more than five stressful life events in last 1 year was three times higher (p < 0.001, OR 3.2, CI 1.68–5.98) than in women with 1–2 stressful events. Women who were supported by their significant others or their family members had 0.9 times (p < 0.01, OR 0.9, CI 0.85–0.96) less chance of getting depressed. Pregnant women who were psychologically abused by their partners were 1.5 times more depressed (p < 0.05 CI 1.12–2.51). Odds of having depression was also high in women who had less mean score of MSSI (p < 0.05, OR 1.1, CI 1.01–1.09). Women who had suitable accommodation had 0.5 times less chance of having depression than others (p < 0.05, OR 0.5, CI 0.27–0.92). Conclusion: Over a quarter of the women in the study population reported prenatal depression, which were predicted predominantly by psychosocial variables