EMOTIONAL CONTAGION AND JOB SATISFACTION AMONG TEACHERS OF CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IN PAKISTAN

The Objective of current study was to investigate the relationship between emotional contagion, job satisfaction and different demographic variables among special education teachers. A sample of 80 special education teachers with age range of 20 to 50 years, from all kinds of learning disabilities, more than six months teaching experience were recruited from different special education centers of federal and Punjab. Emotional contagion was measured by Emotional Contagion Scale developed by Doherty (1997) and job satisfaction of teachers was measured by Teaching Satisfaction Scale (TSS) developed by Ho and Au (2002). Result showed that happiness is positively associated with job satisfaction and anger and sadness are negatively associated with job satisfaction, whereas emotions of love and fear were not associated with job satisfaction. Moreover, it has been found that different demographic variables of special education teachers such as education and pay scale are associated with job satisfaction whereas gender, age, job experience and marital status are not associated with job satisfaction. Results suggest that in order to improve job satisfaction of teachers, emotional contagion should be considered.   Article visualizations

FINANCIAL REWARDS CLIMATE AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES TOWARDS JOB SATISFACTION IN THE RETAIL ORGANIZATIONS

Job satisfaction is an attitudinal variable that reflects how people feel about their jobs overall. All aspects of the particular job, good or bad, Positive or negative, are likely to contribute to the development of feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The endeavor of this research was to find out whether financial rewards have an influence on the attitudes and feeling of employees. A questionnaire was constructed, analyzed and managed a total of 172 employees in the retail organization. Thus 172 usable surveys were analyzed the attitudes of employees on different aspects of their job. Findings showed that financial rewards caused positive job satisfaction of employees and boosted their commitment and increase the output of the organization. However, a high level of employee dissatisfaction was recorded in employee compensation and the amount of work they perform and the amount of responsibilities they accept. The result of this study highlights the role of job satisfaction of employees' and responsibilities of organizations in the promotion of good quality practices of HRM in retail business, and offers a substitute alleyway for employees' satisfaction and performance

Focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) in blunt paediatric abdominal trauma

Objective: To evaluate the role of focussed abdominal sonography for trauma in blunt paediatric abdominal trauma patients, and to see if the role of computed tomography scan could be limited to only those cases in which sonography was positive.Methods: The retrospective study covered 10 years, from January 1,2000 to December 31,2009, and was conducted at the Department of Radiology and Department of Emergency Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. It comprised cases of 174 children from birth to 14 years who had presented with blunt abdominal trauma and had focussed abdominal sonography for trauma done at the hospital. The findings were correlated with computed tomography scan of the abdomen and clinical follow-up. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of focussed abdominal sonography for trauma were calculated for blunt abdominal trauma. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis.Results: Of the total 174 cases, 31 (17.81%) were later confirmed by abdominal scan. Of these 31 children, sonography had been positive in 29 (93.54%) children. In 21 (67.74%) of the 31 children, sonograpy had been true positive; 8 (25%) (8/31) were false positive; and 2 (6%) (2/31) were false negative. There were 6 (19.3%) children in which sonography was positive and converted to laparotomy. There was no significant difference on account of gender (p\u3e0.356). Focussed abdominal sonography for trauma in the study had sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 95%, positive predictive value of 73%, and negative predictive value of 73% with accuracy of 94%. All patients who had negative sonography were discharged later, and had no complication on clinical follow-up.Conclusions: Focussed abdominal sonography for trauma is a fairly reliable mode to assess blunt abdominal trauma in children. It is a useful tool to pick high-grade solid and hollow viscous injury. The results suggest that the role of computed tomography scan can be limited to those cases in which focussed sonography is positive

Some morphometric relationship traits of Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822) from Head Panjnad, Pakistan

In the present research work, 127 Labeo bata having diverse body size ranging from 8.20 to 16.00 cm total length collected from Head Panjnad, Pakistan were used for the analysis of some morphometrics, that is, length-weight and length-length relationships. Condition factor and their relationships to investigate growth external morphometric characters, that is, total length (TL), standard length (SL), fork length (FL), head length (HL), head width (HW), body girth (BG), dorsal fin length (DFL), dorsal fin base (DFB), pectoral fin length (PtFL), pectoral fin base (PtFB), pelvic fin length (PvFL), anal fin length (AFL), caudal fin length (CFL) and caudal fin width (CFW) showed highly significant correlation with both cases, that is, increasing total length and body weight. A significant positive relationship was found between condition factor (K) and body weight, while no significant correlation was found in condition factor and total length.Key words: Morphometry, length-weight, length-length relationship, condition factor, Labeo bata

Mechanical Properties of Amorphous Silica Filled RSS1

Rice husk contains about twenty percent silica contents. Uncontrolled burning of rice husk in the commercial incinerators leads to the crystals formation of silica which cannot be used as fillers in rubber composites. Also incomplete combustion leads to high quantity carbon black in the rice husk ash. In the current study, rice husk ash was prepared by the controlled combustion of dilute HCl treated rice husk .Controlled burning was carried out in the Rice Husk Combustor.  Rice husk ash contained high percentage of white amorphous silica. Amorphous silica was mixed in RSS1 in lab scale internal mixer in various percentages. Multifunctional additives were also added in a fixed ratio to facilitate mixing and curing of RSSI. Blends were converted into uniform thickness sheets, cut into dog bone and trouser shape and were subjected to mechanical testing. TIRAtest 2810 E6 universal testing machine was used for investigation of tear and tensile characteristics .Measurement of tensile features was done  by going through ASTM D412 and tear properties were investigated according to ASTM D624.Shore A type hardness meter was used to measure the hardness of Ribbed smoke sheet (RSSI) blend. It was observed that by adding amorphous silica up to 25 percent in RSSI, tensile properties and tear properties were enhanced .Only there was a decrease in tear properties after filler loading greater than 25%. Hardness was improved by addition of various percentages of amorphous silica

Effects of Hepatitis C on Hematological Parameters in local areas of Mirpurkhas

Introduction: Various diseases have emerged as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HCV) confection, now that antiretroviral therapies become more effective e and has prolonged life expectancy in HIV-infected patients1. One of the most frequently identified extra-hepatic abnormalities often seen at the time of diagnosis of HIV is the hematological abnormalityObjective: To determine possible effects of Hepatitis C in local Population of MirpurkhasMethodology:140 diagnosed patients of Hepatitis C were selected from OPD/Ward MMCH and Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas, Patients of Hypertension, Heart Failure, Renal diseases and respiratory disease were excluded Their ALT, GGT, Alk Sodium was determined by kit method. Their RBC count, TLC, Platelet Count was counted and ESR was determinedResults: It was a prospective study and out of 140 hepatitis C patients 86 were male and 54 were female. The mean age was 54.77 ± 14.046 years. The mean height was 159.42 ± 11.188 cm and the mean weight was 53.69±10.604 Kgs. The mean BMI was calculated as 21.235 ± 5.0607 kgs/m2 (Table.1). The mean Hemoglobin was estimated as 10.639± 2.6924 gm% the mean RBC count was found 3.832 ± .8460 millions/cmm. The mean total leukocyte count was 9111.63 ± 4612.845 per cmm and the mean Platelet count was 160447.67 ± 93788.194 /dl. the mean ESR was 51.70 ± 26.320 (Table.2) The mean Alkaline phosphatase was 273.76± 96.818 IU, the mean GGT was 83.40 ± 102.650 IU and the mean ALT was 74.98 ± 58.614 IU. (Table.3.) The Correlation of hepatitis C was estimated by Pearson’s correlation using SPSS 15 and found that hepatitis has a significant correlation with Hemoglobin, RBC count, TLC and Platelet count (r=.167, .165, .181, 238 and p=.092̽*, .031*, 018* and .002** respectively) and it has an inverse correlation with ESR (r=-.213, p=.005**)Conclusion: Our data shows that hepatitis C has positive correlation with Hb, RBC Count, TLC and Platelet count while the hepatitis has a significant inverse correlation with ESR. More work is required to establish criteria regarding correlation between Hepatitis C and Hematological parameter

Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014

In England and Wales, prisoners with mental disorder of such severity as to warrant inpatient treatment may be transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act. UK Government guidance recommends that this process should be completed within 14 days; however, evidence suggests that in many cases it can take much longer. This retrospective service evaluation of 64 male prisoners, who were transferred under Section 47 or Section 48, aimed to evaluate transfer durations. The mean time from referral to admission was 76 days. Prisoners with a psychotic disorder were admitted more quickly. Remand prisoners were admitted more quickly than sentenced prisoners. Findings suggest that, in the UK the transfer time of prisoners under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act continues to far exceed the 14-day target which raises concern about equivalence of care for prisoners. Our findings support arguments for fundamental amendments to the admissions process

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Recent Advances and Achievements in Nanomaterial-Based, and Structure Switchable Aptasensing Platforms for Ochratoxin A Detection

Aptamer-based bioreceptors that can easily adopt their surroundings have captured the attention of scientists from a wide spectrum of domains in designing highly sensitive, selective and structure switchable sensing assays. Through elaborate design and chemical functionalization, numerous aptamer-based assays have been developed that can switch their conformation upon incubation with target analyte, resulting in an enhanced output signal. To further lower the detection limits to picomolar levels, nanomaterials have attracted great interest in the design of aptamer-based sensing platforms. Associated to their unique properties, nanomaterials offer great promise for numerous aptasensing applications. This review will discuss current research activities in the aptasensing with typical example of detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). OTA, a secondary fungal metabolite, contaminates a variety of food commodities, and has several toxicological effects such as nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, neurotoxic, teratogenic and immunotoxic activities. The review will introduce advances made in the methods of integrating nanomaterials in aptasensing, and will discuss current conformational switchable design strategies in aptasensor fabrication methodologies

Label-Free Aptasensors for the Detection of Mycotoxins

Various methodologies have been reported in the literature for the qualitative and quantitative monitoring of mycotoxins in food and feed samples. Based on their enhanced specificity, selectivity and versatility, bio-affinity assays have inspired many researchers to develop sensors by exploring bio-recognition phenomena. However, a significant problem in the fabrication of these devices is that most of the biomolecules do not generate an easily measurable signal upon binding to the target analytes, and signal-generating labels are required to perform the measurements. In this context, aptamers have been emerged as a potential and attractive bio-recognition element to design label-free aptasensors for various target analytes. Contrary to other bioreceptor-based approaches, the aptamer-based assays rely on antigen binding-induced conformational changes or oligomerization states rather than binding-assisted changes in adsorbed mass or charge. This review will focus on current designs in label-free conformational switchable design strategies, with a particular focus on applications in the detection of mycotoxins