HIV/AIDS stigma at the workplace: Exploratory findings from Pakistan

People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) are stigmatised socially. They are devalued and considered like outcasts by having lesser opportunities for education, treatment and housing, and in an organisational context they get reduced opportunities of selection, promotion and income. The phenomena have been extensively researched in developed countries but limited literature addresses the situation in underdeveloped countries like Pakistan, which is also facing spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There are a number of groups who are carrying the disease but the problems being faced by PLHA employed in different organisations have rarely been analysed. Stigma at the workplace can generate a number of negative outcomes. The present study considers two such outcomes among stigmatised PLHA. These outcomes are organisational cynicism and breach of psychological contract. A questionnaire was used to collect data froma sample of 174 PLHA, having a work experience after identification of the epidemic, working in different organisations across Pakistan. These PLHA were identified and recruited through a scattered record available with some government/non-government organisations operating in Pakistan to control HIV/AIDS. Findings of the study extend the knowledge about HIV/AIDS stigma indicating that PLHA are subjected to stigma, which is significantly associated with a breach of psychological contract and organisational cynicism. There is a need at governmental and  organisational level as well to increase awareness about the disease and formulate policies to reduce stigma against PLHA working in different organisations

Organisational change from the perspectives of translation : a case study of transformation in the Libyan banking system

This study examines an organisational change process in its real-time. Two theoretical approaches have inspired a search for explanations to the process of change occurring as part of large transforming the Libyan banking sector to become compliant with the Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) model. The first is change as fluxing reality (Tsoukas & Chia, 2002). The second theoretical approach reflects insights mainly from new translation embodied in process philosophy and neo-institutionalist perspectives as articulated by Czarniawska and Joerges (1996). The two theoretical views are seen as complementary to empirical investigations that seek to capture the dynamic unfolding nature of organisational change. The study draws upon a cross sectional case-study approach in the banking sector in Libya and qualitative abductive reasoning.The methodology of this study incorporates qualitative thematic analysis situated within the theoretical framework underpinning this study. This study is an exploratory in nature, consequently, the unit of analysis revolves around the idea of IBF and its associated processes which designed to transform the idea into organisational practice. This includes, the change process subsequent process associated with this change and the unintended consequences of such complicated large scale program. The study combines different research method and data sources, including interviews, IBF literature and literature on the Libyan banking system.The outcome of the research can be considered as a contribution to the knowledge of change and translation as well as the field of IBF. The current study, through adopting a processual analytical mind-set has described for the first time the organisational change process in the context of Islamic banking. Thereby, opening up a field which is in need of further and extensive research. The key findings of this study were in fluctuation with the translation model. This fluctuation due partly to the different nature of the change process in the Libyan banking context. In this regard, it can be argued that the translation model depicts change as utterly an open-ended process. However, this research has revealed that change process is constructed and translated within various historical social and institutional limitations

Micromechanical fracture analysis of high strength steel weldments

Industrijska primena celika povišene cvrstoce u elementima zavarenih konstrukcija cini neophodnim poznavanje ponašanja spojeva ovih materijala pri žilavom lomu. Stoga, procena integriteta zavarenih struktura je potrebna da bi se obezbedio potrebni nivo sigurnsti i pouzdanosti, imajuci u vidu uticaj ogranicenog deformisanja i heterogenosti na ponašanje pri lomu kriticnih zona spoja: zone uticaja toplote (ZUT) i metala šava (MŠ), koji cesto imaju nižu žilavost i višu prelaznu temperaturu. Takode, veoma je važno da procena integriteta bude uradena realno i da ne bude previše konzervativna, kako bi se sprecilo povecanje mase strukture i obezbedilo ekonomicno korišcenje materijala. U ovoj disertaciji, mikromehanicki pristup je korišcen za analizu uticaja mehanicke heterogenosti i ogranicenog deformisanja na žilav lom zavarenih spojeva celika povišene cvrstoce. Ovaj pristup je korišcen kao rešenje za problem prenosivosti parametara klasicne mehanike loma. Takode, motiv za njegovu primenu je i to što standardni parametri mehanike loma: faktor intenziteta napona, otvaranje prsline i konturni Jintegral, ne mogu na odgovarajuci nacin opisati odgovor materijala sa prslinom na dejstvo spoljnog opterecenja u svim uslovima, kao što su izraženo plasticno tecenje (large scale yielding), razliciti uticaji heterogenosti, obika i geometrije zavarenih konstrukcija u eksploataciji. Parametri mehanike loma, odredeni laboratorijskim ispitivanjem epruveta, nisu direktno prenosivi na komponente i stoga se moraju uzeti u obzir dodatni faktori (kao što je uticaj ogranicenog deformisanja). Takode, cilj ove disertacije je odredivanje mehanickih osobina zona zavarenog spoja korišcenjem kombinovanog eksperimentalnonumerickog postupka, što je narocito važno kod zona male širine u okviru ZUT koje su izložene opterecenju u transverzalnom pravcu. Rad na disertaciji je podrazumevao primenu metode konacnih elemenata i eksperimentalna ispitivanja. Eksperimentalna ispitivanja su uradena na zavarenim glatkim epruvetama (uz korišcenje ARAMIS stereometrijskog mernog sistema) za odredivanje mehanickih osobina, kao i epruvetama za savijanje u tri tacke i epruvetama za zatezanje sa pocetnom prslinom u metalu šava i zoni uticaja toplote za analizu ponašanja pri lomu. J-R krive i vrednosti parametra mehanike loma koje odgovaraju pocetku rasta prsline odredene su eksperimentalno i numericki na epruvetama sa pocetnom prslinom u ZUT i MŠ. Numericka analiza elasto-plasticnih modela konacnih elemenata (2D i 3D) je uradena u programskom paketu Abaqus, a mikromehanicki kompletni Gursonov model (CGM) je primenjen preko korisnickog potprograma UMAT (autor Z.L. Zhang). Ograniceno deformisanje oko vrha prsline i promena troosnosti u ligamentu su numericki analizirani na epruvetama za savijanje u tri tacke i onim za zatezanje, da bi se analizirala prenosivost mikromehanickih parametara oštecenja sa jedne epruvete na drugu. Takode, mikromehanickim pristupom je odreden uticaj geometrije i rezultati su uporedeni sa eksperimentalnim podacima. Najveci deo numerickih rezultata dobijenih korišcenjem CGM modela pokazuje dobro slaganje sa eksperimentalnim rezultatima...The industrial application of high strength steel in structural welded components has increased the demand for understanding the ductile failure behavior of this type of welded materials. Therefore, integrity assessment of those welded structures is required in order to ensure a certain level of safety and reliability, having in mind the effects of constraints and heterogeneity on fracture behavior of crucial regions such as: heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal (WM) which usually have low toughness and higher transition temperature. It is also essential that the assessment is done in a realistic and not too conservative way in order not to increase the mass of the structure or impair the economic efficiency too much. In this thesis, micromechanical approach has been used to study the effect of mechanical heterogeneity and constraints on ductile fracture of high strength steel weldments. This approach has been used as a solution for the transferability problem of conventional fracture mechanics parameters. It has also been used on basis of that fracture mechanics parameters recommended by standard, such as: stress intensity factor, crack opening displacement and contour J-integral, cannot reliably describe the reaction of a pre-cracked material to the effects of external loading under all conditions such as: large scale yielding, various effects of heterogeneity, shape and geometry of real welded structures. The fracture mechanics parameters, determined from laboratory scale experiments are not also directly transferable to components and hence additional considerations (like constraint effects etc.) need to be taken care of. In addition, the aim of the thesis was to estimate precise mechanical properties using a combined experimental and numerical procedure for various welded joint regions, especially for narrow HAZ regions, when they are subjected to transversally applied load. The study was carried out using finite element method and experiments. Experimental analysis was carried out on: welded smooth tensile specimen with ARAMIS measuring system for estimation mechanical properties, welded single-edge notched bend and flat tensile specimens with pre-cracks in weld metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) for studying the ductile fracture behavior. J-R curves and crack growth initiation iii values of fracture mechanics parameter were experimentally and numerically obtained for specimens with a pre-crack in HAZ and WM. Numerical analysis of elastic-plastic finite element models (2D and 3D) was performed in software package Abaqus, with micromechanical complete Gurson model (CGM) applied through user subroutine, UMAT (author: Z.L. Zhang). The crack tip constraint and variation of stress triaxiality in ligament were numerically analyzed on single-edge notched bend and tensile specimens to analyze the transferability of micromechanical damage parameters from one specimen to another. In addition, the geometry effects were also studied by the micromechanical approach and the results were compared with those of the experiments. Most of numerical results obtained with CGM model are in good agreement with the experimental results..

Photovoltaic sample-and-hold circuit enabling MPPT indoors for low-power systems

Photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting is commonly used to power autonomous devices, and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is often used to optimize its efficiency. This paper describes an ultra low-power MPPT circuit with a novel sample-and-hold and cold-start arrangement, enabling MPPT across the range of light intensities found indoors, which has not been reported before. The circuit has been validated in practice and found to cold-start and operate from 100 lux (typical of dim indoor lighting) up to 5000 lux with a 55cm2 amorphous silicon PV module. It is more efficient than non-MPPT circuits, which are the state-of-the-art for indoor PV systems. The proposed circuit maximizes the active time of the PV module by carrying out samples only once per minute. The MPPT control arrangement draws a quiescent current draw of only 8uA, and does not require an additional light sensor as has been required by previously-reported low-power MPPT circuits

Inhibition of lipolysis: A novel explanation for the hypothermic actions of acetaminophen in non-febrile rodents

Acetaminophen is both widely used to treat children with fever and is also responsible for thousands being hospitalised annually. Historically the antipyretic actions of acetaminophen were attributed to the inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX-1/2) enzymes and more recently a novel COX-1 variant (COX-3) located in the brain. However, the evidence for acetaminophen-mediated COX inhibition remains contentious. This study assesses the impact of acetaminophen and other putative COX-3 inhibitors on the release of fatty acids during lipolysis as an alternative mechanism by which antipyretics can reduce body temperature during fever. 3T3-L1 adipocytes, primary brown adipocytes and isolated mitochondria were exposed to COX-3 inhibitors and lipolysis and mitochondrial electron transport chain function assessed. Acetaminophen, aminopyrine and antipyrine at 1–10 mM caused a significant decrease (up to 70%; P < 0.01, from control) in lipolysis within 1, 3 and 24 h without affecting cell viability. The inhibition was observed regardless of where along its signalling pathway lipolysis was stimulated. All three compounds were found to significantly attenuate mitochondrial function by up to 30% for complex I and 40% for complex II (P < 0.01, from control). These novel observations combined with the known limited inhibition of the COX enzymes by acetaminophen suggest both the antipyretic and hypothermia induced by acetaminophen and related compounds could be attributed to the direct inhibition of lipolysis and mitochondrial function, rather than cyclooxygenase inhibition centrally. Further these observations could provide new drug targets for reducing fever with the added bonus of fewer individuals being hospitalized by accidental acetaminophen overdose

Biological activities of aerial parts of Tylophora hirsuta Wall

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Mechanism of Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) induced Hypothermia

Paracetamol is a potent analgesic and antipyretic with limited side effects compared to the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opiates. Worldwide paracetamol is commonly used to treat pain and fever in both children and adults. Although, this drug has been in clinical use for more than a century, the mechanisms of action are not fully understood. Historically some of the actions of paracetamol were attributed to the inhibition of central cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2) enzymes however given the weak inhibitory effects on COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes, alternative targets have been suggested including a possible novel COX-3. The inhibition of COX-2 is accepted as the mechanism by which paracetamol reduces core temperature (Tc) in febrile animals. However, in non-febrile animals where COX-2 is not induced, paracetamol has also been shown to cause hypothermia by a mechanism that is not fully understood. Both the reduction of pyresis and induction of hypothermia can only occur when peripheral metabolic rate decreases and/or heat loss increases. In terms of antipyresis and hypothermia, the inhibition of lipolysis, fatty acid oxidation and mitochondria function are obvious alternative targets. Studies were undertaken to identify and characterise the putative COX-3 at protein and mRNA level using western blot analysis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in mouse brain endothelial cells (b.End3) and whole brain tissues isolated from male C57BL/6 mice. Additional studies were also undertaken to assess if the hypothermic properties of paracetamol could be attributed to direct inhibition of thermogenic pathways in both 3T3-L1 adipocytes and primary brown adipocytes isolated from male Wistar rats. Adipocytes and isolated mitochondria were exposed to paracetamol and lipolysis, fatty acid oxidation (FAO), mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC), assessed by measuring oxygen consumption rate (OCR). In these studies no expression of the COX-3 protein could be detected in brain endothelial cells and homogenates and no evidence of a COX-3 was detected at mRNA level. However, paracetamol caused a significant decrease (upto 70%; P<0.01, from control) in both basal and stimulated lipolysis at 1, 3 and 24 hours without affecting cell viability. Paracetamol (10 mM) and its metabolite N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) at 50 µM also significantly (P<0.01, from control), reduced endogenous and exogenous FAO by 50% and 70% respectively. NAPQI (50 µM) had limited effect on mitochondrial uncoupling. Finally, paracetamol and other antipyretic compounds also significantly reduced ETC activity (upto 90%; P<0.01, from control). Both the maintenance of normal body temperature (Tb) and the induction of pyresis require increased mitochondrial ETC activity normally initiated centrally and driven peripherally by reduction of substrates such as fatty acids and glucose. The failure to identify the COX-3 protein and the direct inhibition of lipolysis, FAO and ETC activity indicate that antipyretic actions of paracetamol could partly be attributed to it actions on peripheral energy generation systems and provide new drug targets for reducing fever and chemically inducing hypothermia

Fractional-order multivalued problems with non-separated integral-flux boundary conditions

In this paper, we study the existence of solutions for a new kind of boundary value problem of Caputo type fractional differential inclusions with non-separated local and nonlocal integral-flux boundary conditions. We apply appropriate fixed point theorems for multivalued maps to obtain the existence results for the given problems covering convex as well as non-convex cases for multivalued maps. We also include Riemann-Stieltjes integral conditions in our discussion. Some illustrative examples are also presented. The paper concludes with some interesting observations