Paediatric femur fractures and long leg splinting

BackgroundSpica casting is frequently used for treating the paediatric femur fractures encounter injuries. However, patients may find Spica casting expensive and burdensome. Long leg splint is the other alternate possible treatment.MethodsThe children between the age of 6 months to 5 years having a femoral shaft fracture were treated with a long leg splint extended over the waist and it resembles with patient undergoing treatment with a Spica cast.ResultsAt the time of healing, the alignment with respect to coronal angulation is considerably better in Spica cast group as compared to splint group

Aerodynamic measurement-Maximum Phonation Time in young patients with benign vocal fold lesions and with normal voice: a comparative analysis

Background: Clinicians use Maximum Phonatory Time (MPT) as one of tool to verify the glottic efficiency objectively. Impairment of vocal fold mucosa integrity due to lesions results in alteration in MPT. The aim of current study was to compare MPT in young adults with vocal fold lesions and age and sex matched normal subjects.Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of ENT & Head and Neck surgery of Government Medical College Srinagar on 41 adult patients with benign vocal fold lesions and 41 healthy subjects matched for age and sex for a period of 2 years from April 2017- April 2019. The aerodynamic measure was measured as maximum phonation time in seconds and the results were analysed statistically. Both patients and controls were explained the procedure. Results: Mean MPT in seconds in males with vocal fold lesion was 14.42 seconds with SD of 5.62 seconds and in females was 10.81 seconds with SD of 3.44 seconds. Coefficients of variation (CV) was 0.35 and 0.21 respectively. In control group it was 18.15 seconds with SD of 5.88 in males and in females it was 15.72 seconds with a SD of 6.21. Mean difference between patients and controls in males and females was 3.8 and 4.9 respectively. P-Value in males and females was 0.053 and 0.003 respectively.Conclusion: Vocal cord lesions decrease MPT in both sexes even in young adults

Corporate Social Responsibility and Firms’ Financial Performance: A Conceptual Framework

This paper conceptually analyses the impact of corporate social responsibility(CSR) on firms’ financial performance. CSR is considered as an important business strategy that achieves a steady growth in firms’ profitability through improving their image. It includes all those strategies which account for are an ethical conduct and society friendly approach beneficial for the development of society. In addition to profit-maximization, the firm is also supposed to undertake activities which uplift the life of employees and the general public. In this regard, the conceptual framework of the current study shows that firms spend on awarding scholarships to needy students, health activities such as health awareness program, free medical camps, environmental protection awareness programs and sports activities. The conceptual framework alsohighlights that firms with large capital spend more on CSR activities owing to anincreased pressure of the government, public, media and other stakeholders. Based on the previous extant literature, it is also assumed that firms which earn higher profits spend more on CSR in the coming year/s that have positive impacts on their profitability. However, by following theoretical postulations, it is assumed the relationship between CSR and firms’ profitability may be endogenous. Accordingly, this study proposes dynamic GMM estimation that is a preferred technique, particularly in the presence of endogeneity

Comparative Productive Performance of two Broiler Strains in Open Housing System

Background: The present study was conducted to compare the growth performance and ultimately to calculate the profitability of the two locally available commercial strains of broiler (Ross 308 and Cobb 500).Methods: For the purpose of study, 900 number of day-old chicks (DOC) of each strain were purchased from the local market. The birds were reared in conventional broiler house with the provision of standard managemental conditions throughout the experimental period. The parameters recorded on weekly basis were feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality.Results: Result shown that the total body weight of Cobb-500 and Ross-308 on 1st week was 207.40±14 gram and 196.00±16 gram respectively and these result represented significant difference of weight gain (P0.05) among the strains. Furthermore, significant difference of feed conversion ratio (FCR) was observed (P<0.05) among both the strains but from day 7th till the market age weekly FCR of Cob-500 was significantly higher (P<0.05) than Ross-308. Comparatively high mortality (4.8±0.4%) was noticed in Ross broiler strain than Cobb broiler strain (3.7±0.4%). Conclusion: It was concluded from the current study that the Cobb-500 is performing better in conventional open housing system at high altitude than Ros-308.Keywords: Broiler; Cobb-500; Ross-308; Conventional broiler houses; Mortalit

A Miniaturized Wide Band Implantable Antenna for Biomedical Application

In this paper, a miniaturized high gain antenna was designed for biomedical applications. The designed antenna operates on the industrial, medical, and scientific(2.40 - 2.4835) GHz band. The proposed antenna consists of the radiating element having rectangular, and circular slots, and a ground plane with rectangular slots. The total volume of the designed antenna is (7x7xO.2) mm 3 , and the thickness of the superstrate and substrate is 0.1 mm. The Rogers ULTRALAM (e , = 2.9, tanD = 0.0025) material is used for substrate and superstrate. The proposed antenna is placed inside the different phantoms of the human body. The maximum gain achieved by the simulations of the proposed antenna is -12 dBi at 2.45 GHz. The designed antenna has better results than the antennas discussed in the literature in term of size, gain, and bandwidth

A Multi-Institutional Survey on Faculty Development Needs, Priorities and Preferences in Medical Education in an Asian Medical School

10.3885/meo.2009.Res00317Medical education online1416

Genome-wide physical activity interactions in adiposity. A meta-analysis of 200,452 adults

Physical activity (PA) may modify the genetic effects that give rise to increased risk of obesity. To identify adiposity loci whose effects are modified by PA, we performed genome-wide interaction meta-analyses of BMI and BMI-adjusted waist circumference and waist-hip ratio from up to 200,452 adults of European (n = 180,423) or other ancestry (n = 20,029). We standardized PA by categorizing it into a dichotomous variable where, on average, 23% of participants were categorized as inactive and 77% as physically active. While we replicate the interaction with PA for the strongest known obesity-risk locus in the FTO gene, of which the effect is attenuated by similar to 30% in physically active individuals compared to inactive individuals, we do not identify additional loci that are sensitive to PA. In additional genome-wide meta-analyses adjusting for PA and interaction with PA, we identify 11 novel adiposity loci, suggesting that accounting for PA or other environmental factors that contribute to variation in adiposity may facilitate gene discovery.Peer reviewe

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together in collaborative environment individuals and organizations interested in natural product scientific research, and to empower their interactions by using digital communication tools. Methods: In this work, we present a general overview of INPST activities and showcase the specific use of Twitter as a powerful networking tool that was used to host a one-week "2021 INPST Twitter Networking Event" (spanning from 31st May 2021 to 6th June 2021) based on the application of the Twitter hashtag #INPST. Results and Conclusion: The use of this hashtag during the networking event period was analyzed with Symplur Signals (https://www.symplur.com/), revealing a total of 6,036 tweets, shared by 686 users, which generated a total of 65,004,773 impressions (views of the respective tweets). This networking event's achieved high visibility and participation rate showcases a convincing example of how this social media platform can be used as a highly effective tool to host virtual Twitter-based international biomedical research events

Genome-wide meta-analysis of 241,258 adults accounting for smoking behaviour identifies novel loci for obesity traits

Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for environmental exposures, like smoking, potentially impacting the overall trait variance when investigating the genetic contribution to obesity-related traits. Here, we use GWAS data from 51,080 current smokers and 190,178 nonsmokers (87% European descent) to identify loci influencing BMI and central adiposity, measured as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio both adjusted for BMI. We identify 23 novel genetic loci, and 9 loci with convincing evidence of gene-smoking interaction (GxSMK) on obesity-related traits. We show consistent direction of effect for all identified loci and significance for 18 novel and for 5 interaction loci in an independent study sample. These loci highlight novel biological functions, including response to oxidative stress, addictive behaviour, and regulatory functions emphasizing the importance of accounting for environment in genetic analyses. Our results suggest that tobacco smoking may alter the genetic susceptibility to overall adiposity and body fat distribution.Peer reviewe