Polygamy: Chaos in Relationships of Children

Polygyny occurs when a man is married to multiple partners at one time. It is an act that alters the family structure and has been known to affect the lived experiences of all family members involved. The purpose of the study was to explore the immediate and long-term and lasting effects of polygyny on the interpersonal and social relationships of children from polygamous families. A sample of six participants between the age range of 24 and 30 years, was recruited (3 men and 3 women). The impact of polygyny on the social and interpersonal relations of the participants was explored using semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The participants described the immediate and long-term effect that polygamy had on their relations with their immediate family, step-family and romantic and social relations. The results of the study indicated that the experience of polygamous households were underlined with negative experiences such as disintegration of the family unit, a sense of deprivation and social, economic and educational constraints. These factors in turn affected the participants’ relationships with their immediate and step families, and marital relationships. It was concluded that polygamy has an adverse impact of the interpersonal relations of individuals and lead to discord and maladjustment in their social and romantic lives

Association between hypodontia and angles malocclusion

Abstract This study was planned to determine the prevalence of hypodontia in permanent dentition and to test whether an association was present between hypodontia and Angle\u27s malocclusion. The retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Karachi, and comprised record of all patients visiting the orthodontic clinics of the hospital from 2005 to 2015. Orthodontic records of 790(79%) subjects, including 189(23.9%) males and 601(76.1%) females, were reviewed. Their mean age was 17 ± 5.06 years. A tooth was considered missing if no evidence of tooth germ was observed on orthopantomograms and dental casts. The total sample was distributed into three groups on the basis of Angle\u27s classification. Chi-square test was applied to determine an association between hypodontia and Angle\u27s malocclusion. Tooth agenesis was observed in 34(4.3%) and a statistically significant difference was found between the genders (p=0.005). A positive association was found between hypodontia and malocclusion groups. Higher frequency of missing teeth was seen in Class III malocclusion which indicates a great need for orthodontic treatment as it has a psychosocial impact on the quality of life

Financial Ratios and Firm's Value in the Bahrain Bourse

This paper attempts to measure how financial ratios explain the firms' value through price earnings ratio or market to book ratio in the Bahrain Bourse. All listed companies in Bahrain Bourse, with the exception of the closed ones, are used over the period of 1995 to 2013. Using all the main categories in financial ratios such as profitability, liquidity, efficiency and debt, the paper found that return on assets (ROA) is the most determinant factor in explaining the market value followed by financial leverage and beta. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the size of the firm also has a significant effect on its market value. The size of the firm is measured through total assets and Tobin's Q ratio. In this respect, investors perceive different signals from small firms compared to large ones, and from growth firms compared to no-growth firms. On the sector analysis, it is found that ROA is the main determinant factor for explaining the value of the firm. Keywords: Bahrain Bourse, Firm Value, Tobin's Q, Financial Ratios, Size and Sector Effect

Neonatal vitamin A supplementation for the prevention of mortality and morbidity in term neonates in developing countries

Background:Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in developing countries. Vitamin A supplementation in children greater than six months of age has been found to be beneficial, with no effect of supplementation between one to five months. Supplementation in the neonatal period has been suggested to have an impact by increasing body stores in early infancy.Objectives: To evaluate the role of vitamin A supplementation in term neonates in developing countries with respect to the prevention of mortality and morbidity.Search strategy: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, May 2010), EMBASE and MEDLINE (1966 to May 2010) via PubMed.Selection criteria: Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials. Trials with factorial designs were also included.Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted the data.Main results: Seven trials (51,446 neonates) were included in this review, with only few trials reporting disaggregated data for term infants. Therefore, we analysed data and presented estimates for term infants (where specified) followed by all infants. Data for term neonates from three studies showed a statistically significant effect on the risk of infant mortality at six months in the vitamin A group compared with the control group (typical risk ratio (RR) 0.82, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.99, I(2) 63%). Analysis of data for all infants from five studies showed a 14% reduction in the risk of infant mortality at six months in neonates supplemented with vitamin A compared to control, this reduction was statistically significant (typical RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.97, I(2) 39%). These findings should be interpreted with caution, however, due to the small number of included studies, wide confidence intervals with upper levels close to the null effect and statistical heterogeneity. Vitamin A supplementation failed to show any significant effect on infant mortality at 12 months of age compared to control (typical rate ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.23, I(2) 49%). Limited data were available for the outcomes of cause-specific mortality and morbidity, vitamin A deficiency, anaemia and adverse events.Authors\u27 Conclusion: Considering mortality in early infancy being a major contributory cause of overall child mortality for the under five year old group in developing countries, it is critical to obtain sound scientific evidence of the effect of vitamin A supplementation in neonates. Evidence provided in this review does indicate a potential beneficial effect of supplementing neonates with vitamin A at birth for reducing mortality in the first half of infancy. Considering the absence of a clear indication of the biological mechanism and conflicting findings from individual studies in settings with varying levels of maternal vitamin A deficiency and infant mortality, and given four additional ongoing trials with approximately 100,000 neonates being enrolled, we propose a delay in any policy recommendations for neonatal vitamin A supplementation

Interpersonal Problems in Arranged and Love Marriages

Marriage is often considered to be the cornerstone of a healthy social structure. The stronger the quality of a marriage, the healthier the social structure of society. The present research investigated the interpersonal problems among arranged and love marriages. The sample of this study comprised 100 couples who had married for love, and 100 couples whose marriage had been arranged by their families. The age range of participants was 20 to 40 years (Mean = 28, SD = 5.2). Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32 (Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 2000) was administered to assess the nature of interpersonal problems experienced by the sample. The findings of present study revealed that the couples whose marriage was arranged by their families were more domineering and vindictive, compared to couples who had married for love.. However, couples in love marriages were more socially inhibited, non-assertive and intrusive when compared to arranged marriage couples. This research has important implications for social psychologists, marital counsellors and families

Isolation and characterization of mesophilic bacteria from rhizosphere of plant rice (Oryza sativa) from Lodhran, Pakistan

The present study demonstrated isolation and characterization of 48 bacterial strains (ABOs01-ABOs48) from rhizosphere of rice plant (Oryza sativa) of Rind Jada (Kahror Pacca), Punjab, Pakistan. Morphological studies including colony color, bacterial shape and gram staining were performed and colonies were observed to be either orange yellow, light yellow, pink, greenish yellow, white, or off-white in appearance. Gram staining showed that out of 48 isolates, 38 were gram positive and 10 were gram negative. Various Biochemical tests were performed to identify these strains; the results were used to identify these strains at the species levels. These strains belongs to the following species Erwinia stewartii (13), Klebsiella terrigena (9), Klebsiella pneumonia susp. Ozaene (8), Serratia plymuthica (6), Yersinia (5), Escherichia blattae (5), 1 Edwardsiella ictaluri (1), and Obesumbacterium proteus (1). Additionally, amylase test showed that 39 strains were positive while 9 were negative. Conversely, all strains were negative for cellulase production. Finally, Antibiotics resistance showed 23 isolates were sensitive vs 25 resistant to ampicillin and 4 isolates were resistant vs 44 sensitive to penicillin. These findings suggested a great microbial diversity in rice plant rhizosphere which demands more investigations for agricultural and industrial purposes

Daily contact with a patient and poor housing affordability as determinants of pulmonary tuberculosis in urban Pakistan

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) among individuals aged 15years or more in urban Karachi, Pakistan.DESIGN AND SETTING: A case-control design was implemented in three major tertiary-care hospitals to select cases (n=342) with active pulmonary TB (i.e. two sputum smears positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis with clinical and radiographic evidence of current pulmonary TB and diagnosed between August 2002 and October 2003. Selected controls (n=342) were surgery patients from the same hospitals at time of recruitment of the cases, without clinical and radiographic evidence of pulmonary TB.Results: Multivariable logistic regression model showed that daily contact with a pulmonary TB patient (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj])=5.07; 95% CI: 3.31, 7.78), and poor housing affordability (i.e. rented vs. owned) (ORadj=1.59; 95% CI: 1.13, 2.26) were significantly associated with pulmonary TB status. The overall adjusted summary population attributable risk (%) for both the risk factors together was 38.7.CONCLUSION: Reaching out to underprivileged TB patients for delivery of DOTS and focused education of patients and their contacts about M. tuberculosis transmission mode may substantially minimize pulmonary TB risk in this and similar settings

Effect of Clark’s twin-block appliance (CTB) and non-extraction fixed mechano-therapy on the pharyngeal dimensions of growing children

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Narrow airway dimensions due to mandibular deficiency can predispose an individual to severe respiratory distress. Hence, treatment with mandibular advancement devices at an early age might help improving the pharyngeal passage and reduce the risk of respiratory difficulties. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the mean changes in the pharyngeal dimensions of children with mandibular deficiency treated with Clark\u27s twin-block appliance (CTB) followed by fixed orthodontic treatment. METHODS: Orthodontic records of 42 children with mandibular deficiency were selected. Records comprised three lateral cephalograms taken at the start of CTB treatment, after CTB removal and at the end of fixed appliance treatment, and were compared with 32 controls from the Bolton-Brush study. Friedman test was used to compare pre-treatment, mid-treatment and post-treatment pharyngeal dimensions. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the airway between pre-treatment and post follow-up controls. Mann-Whitney U test was applied to compare the mean changes in pharyngeal dimensions between treatment group and controls from T2 to T0. Post-hoc Dunnet T3 test was used for multiple comparisons of treatment outcomes after CTB and fixed appliances, taking a p-value of ≤ 0.05 as statistically significant. RESULTS: Superior pharyngeal space (p \u3c 0.001) and upper airway thickness (p = 0.035) were significantly increased after CTB, and the change in superior pharyngeal space remained stable after fixed mechano-therapy. CONCLUSION: CTB can have a positive effect in improving pharyngeal space and the resultant increase in airway remains stable on an average of two and a half years