Physician assisted suicide perceptions among patients presenting to family physicians at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To study the perceptions on physician assisted suicide, among patients presenting to family physicians, at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Method: The study was carried out at the Community Health Center of The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, between December 1999 and May 2000. The principal and co-investigators filled a pre-coded and pre­tested questionnaire consisting of important demographic characteristics and bio-medical ethics issues. A system of convenience sampling was used and a written consent was taken from respondents over the age of 16 years, who agreed to participate. The data were managed by using the Epi Info (version 6.0) program. Results: Four hundred twenty respondents were interviewed against an estimated sample size of 385. Majority (88%) were males between 25 and 34 years of age, and were self employed or in private service. Overall 9%respondents were advocated of physician assisted suicide. advocates was 9%. Those who advocated the Physician assisted suicide were more likely to be female, elderly, married and educated amongst the total respondents. Those who support Physician assisted suicide were less likely to attach divine qualities to physicians and were more bold, courageous and tolerant towards broader biomedical ethics issues. Conclusion: We have found a substantial acceptability to the idea of Physician assisted suicide in a Muslim society and have identified characteristics of those who support it (JPMA 51 :233;2001)

Detectability and impact of repetitive surveys on threatened West African crocodylians

West African crocodylians are among the most threatened and least studied crocodylian species globally. Assessing population status and establishing a basis for population monitoring is the highest priority action for this region. Monitoring of crocodiles is influenced by many factors that affect detectability, including environmental variables and individual- or population-level wariness. We investigated how these factors affect detectability and counts of the critically endangered Mecistops cataphractus and the newly recognized Crocodylus suchus. We implemented 195 repetitive surveys at 38 sites across Côte d’Ivoire between 2014 and 2019. We used an occupancy-based approach and a count-based GLMM analysis to determine the effect of environmental and anthropogenic variables on detection and modeled crocodile wariness over repetitive surveys. Despite their rarity and level of threat, detection probability of both species was relatively high (0.75 for M. cataphractus and 0.81 for C. suchus), but a minimum of two surveys were required to infer absence of either species with 90% confidence. We found that detection of M. cataphractus was significantly negatively influenced by fishing net encounter rate, while high temperature for the previous 48 h of the day of the survey increased C. suchus detection. Precipitation and aquatic vegetation had significant negative and positive influence, respectively, on M. cataphractus counts and showed the opposite effect for C. suchus counts. We also found that fishing encounter rate had a significant negative effect on C. suchus counts. Interestingly, survey repetition did not generally affect wariness for either species, though there was some indication that at least M. cataphractus was more wary by the fourth replicate. These results are informative for designing future survey and monitoring protocols for these threatened crocodylians in West Africa and for other endangered crocodylians globally

Multiloop control strategy for grid-interfaced three-phase voltage source inverter with passively damped LLCL-filter

In inverter-based distributed generation (IBDG) and similar to the conventional third order LCL filter, the high order LLCL filter is difficult to stabilize, and may cause a resonance between the inverter and the grid. Passive damping techniques were explored in literature by connecting a resistor in different locations of the LLCL filter. This paper presents the performance of the high-order LLCL-filter with RC passive damping circuit through evaluating the system stability using dual-loop control strategy that has been applied to the LCL-filter. Comparative analysis regarding PI and PR controllers used in the proposed control strategy is offered. Simulation results using Matlab are conducted, presented, and discussed.Qatar National Research FundScopu

Clubfoot: The Treatment Outcome Using Quantitative Assessment of Deformity.

The recent trend in management of congenital idiopathic clubfoot tends towards conservative treatment. This study reviews the outcomes of treatment in our practice using the quantitative clubfoot assessment of the deformity (QCAD). Methods: Thirty patients (38 cases of clubfoot) with congenital idiopathic clubfoot treated at Sarawak General Hospital were followed-up for a mean of 3.6 years. The quantitative assessment consists of limb anthropometric measurement and the Pirani deformity severity score. Results: There were 15 boys and 15 girls, with a mean age of 4.4 years (range, 13m - 8y). Most patients were of the Malay race (67%), followed by Chinese (23%) and others (10%). Eight patients suffered from bilateral congenital idiopathic clubfoot (33%), 12 were left unilateral (40%) and 10 were right unilateral (27%). Out of the total of 30 patients, 12 were treated conservatively with serial casting and 18 patients were treated surgically after resistance to serial casting at the age of nine months. At follow-up, there were significant differences between the surgical group (2.57 ± 1.45); (0.86 ± 0.36) and conservative group (0.7 ± 0.81); (0.34 ± 0.35) respectively (p < 0.05) regarding the mean difference in mid-leg circumference and foot length discrepancy in patients with unilateral clubfoot. There were no significant difference noted between groups with regards to results of the Pirani score, leg length discrepancy and mean difference of mid-foot circumference. Conclusion: There were significant differences in calf atrophy and foot length discrepancy when comparing surgically treated clubfoot patient compared to conservatively treated patients. Conservative treatment of clubfoot is the preferred method of treatment while surgical treatment may be necessary in more resistant cases

A phytosociological study on the community of Palaquium gutta (Hook.f.) Baill. (Sapotaceae) at Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor, Malaysia

A phytosociological study on the flora and vegetation community of Palaquium gutta (Hook.f.) Baill. was carried out in Compartment 13 of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor. The main objectives of this study were to identify, characterize and classify the P. gutta community which is naturally distributed in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve. A total of 10 plots (30×30 m in size) were constructed according to the line transect method. The vegetation sampling and data analysis were done according to the Braun-Blanquet approach. The results showed that there were 59 species belonging to 54 genera and 34 families in the form of herbs, shrubs, understorey trees and also canopy tree layers. The most common species in the study area were P. gutta and Endospermum diadenum (Miq.) Airy Shaw. The phytosociological study identified a community of Palaquium gutta-Endospermum. diadenum along with two sub-communities known as Dracaena sp. sub-community and Streblus elongatus sub-community. The results also showed that most of the species belong to the Euphorbiaceae. This indicates that the forest is a secondary forest

Increase in formalin-induced tonic pain by 5alpha-reductase and aromatase inhibition in female rats

Little is known about the role of steroidogenic enzymes in pain modulation. This study examined the effects of 5α-reductase and aromatase inhibition on formalin-induced tonic pain (FITP) in adult female rats. The animals received subcutaneous injection (5 mg/kg) of finasteride (an inhibitor of 5α-reductase) and letrozole (an inhibitor of aromatase), either separately or in combination, 15 min before formalin injection at a low (0.25%) and high (2.5%) concentration. Pretreatment with inhibitors increased FITP evoked by injection of 0.25% formalin, but they were not effective on 2.5% formalin pain. The enhancing effects of finasteride and letrozole on FITP induced by 2.5% formalin was demonstrated by inhibitory actions of these drugs on morphine (7 and 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) induced antinociception. The nervous system could be considered as the main target of the enzymes inhibition, since the pronociceptive effect was also observed after administration of inhibitors to ovariectomized rats. Altogether, these findings suggest that the biological activity of the enzymes 5α-reductase and aromatase modulates FITP and may help to develop effective therapeutic strategies to counteract pain. © 2010 Elsevier Inc

Impacts of Energy Storage Facilities on Resilient Operation of Multi-Carrier Energy Hub Systems

Nowadays, with respect to the new strategic insight into the management of power systems, the grids are inevitably restructuring from centralized networks toward multiple sub-systems encompassing many local networks and microgrids. Hence, during the recent decade, the necessity for the deployment of multi-carrier energy hub schemes has assumed special attention. An energy hub scheme is a kind of multi-carrier system which is capable of converting, storing, and transmitting energy carriers from inputs toward outputs. The energy hub system acts as a connector and interface between consumers and energy infrastructures to maintain the demand reliably and optimally in terms of economy. Due to the uncertainty of parameters, volatile conditions, and widespread pervasiveness, the accurate modeling of hub systems seems to be indispensable. Such schemes have witnessed significant revolutionary developments and have undergone innovative progress during recent years. In this study, a new model for the hub scheme is proposed encompassing two types of thermal and electrical storage units in addition to an objective function for operation under normal and faulty conditions. Thus, the impacts of the presence of storage facilities on the optimal operation of the hub scheme regarding resilience objectives and total operation cost are investigated. This non-linear, non-convex, and non-smooth problem is optimized using a novel metaheuristic solver called Slime Mould Algorithm (SMA), which has demonstrated a stunning performance in terms of accuracy and computation metrics. The results allude to the prominent virtues of the proposed hub scheme in diminishing operation cost and augmenting reliability and resilience of supply