Knowledge and beliefs among health care workers regarding hepatitis B infection and needle stick injuries at a tertiary care hospital, karachi

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a recognized occupational risk for health care workers (HCWs). This study aimed to assess the knowledge and beliefs of HCWs regarding HBV transmission and needle stick injuries (NSIs). A cross-sectional questionnaire based KAP study was conducted at Civil Hospital, Karachi, during the period of January to September 2006. HCWs were inquired about possible modes of HBV transmission and association with NSIs. Data were entered using EpiInfo 6.04d software. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 12.5 software. A total of 343 HCWs participated, and those answered at least 5 correct modes of HBV transmission were considered knowledgeable. Knowledgeable group was more likely to report NSIs (p \u3c 0.006), more vaccinated (p \u3c 0.001) and were also more likely to attend awareness session (p \u3c 0.009). Overall knowledge were inadequate and behaviour and attitude towards clinical practices were found compromised. To reduce the occupational risk, effort should be focused to establish effective infection control program and training of staff

Robustness of dengue complex network under targeted versus random attack

Dengue virus infection is one of those epidemic diseases that require much consideration in order to save the humankind from its unsafe impacts. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 3.6 billion individuals are at risk because of the dengue virus sickness. Researchers are striving to comprehend the dengue threat. This study is a little commitment to those endeavors. To observe the robustness of the dengue network, we uprooted the links between nodes randomly and targeted by utilizing different centrality measures. The outcomes demonstrated that 5% targeted attack is equivalent to the result of 65% random assault, which showed the topology of this complex network validated a scale-free network instead of random network. Four centrality measures (Degree, Closeness, Betweenness, and Eigenvector) have been ascertained to look for focal hubs. It has been observed through the results in this study that robustness of a node and links depends on topology of the network. The dengue epidemic network presented robust behaviour under random attack, and this network turned out to be more vulnerable when the hubs of higher degree have higher probability to fail. Moreover, representation of this network has been projected, and hub removal impact has been shown on the real map of Gombak (Malaysia)

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

A Socio-pragmatic Perspective of Hudaibiya Treaty in the light of Grice’s Maxims

The present research will analyze the presence of Grice’s maxims in the treaty of Hudaibiya. The perfect idea of communication is that people will cooperate with each other during a conversation. Treaty has a lot of historical value as it suggests and reflects the cooperation of two leaders for the benefit of their people. It is a qualitative research but descriptive approach will be used for the analysis. Paul Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle: maxim of quality, maxim of quantity, maxim of relation, maxim of manner will be used to draw inferences. It was found that treaty follows all the maxims. All the points of the treaty are reality based and no compromises over religion have been made. Treaty is without any ambiguity, false or vague statements by using appropriate and relevant phrases and words. Furthermore, it promotes peace, prosperity, freedom and security of the people of that time which shows the socio-pragmatic culture of Islam

THE ROLE OF ERROR ANALYSIS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AS FOREIGN AND SECOND LANGUAGE

The paper aims to explore the mistakes of students who learn English as a second and foreign language. Most of the time, errors are considered flaws or foibles that are cause of perturbation, agitation and embarrassment. In fact, errors are like a gadget that can be used to rectify the mistakes of learners while acquiring English as L2. Moreover, the study elaborates the attitude of students towards errors and mistakes that they commit in learning process of English as L2. Error analysis is a tool that gives a road map not only to teachers but also to students to learn from their mistakes. Error analysis is also pivotal for the tutors to enable them to devise new teaching strategies and make proper planning for better learning process and to teach English to students in better and organized way. The present work depends on the syntactic analysis of students‟ written composition and on the questionnaire delineated to the students of BS (Bachelor Science) to collect data in the sequel of peculiarity of error analysis. The findings and the discovery of the study endorse that students need to learn proper syntactic structure, linguistic precision and parts of speech.L1 of the learners also influence the learning curve of L2. The examination further recommends the proper spoken expression, listening skill and reading ability for refined written project as language learning is an intricate system of different building blocks. &nbsp

Dyspepsia in Cirrhotic Hepatitis C Patients

Abstract Background:To determine the frequency of patients with dyspepsia, its patterns of presentation and causes along with their associations with gender and age, amongst HCV cirrhotic patients presenting to a tertiary care health facility of Rawalpindi. Methods: In this cross sectional study 207 HCV cirrhotic patients,above 25 years of age irrespective of gender, were included. Patients receiving prolonged treatment of acid suppression prior to hospitalization were excluded. After taking history and performing thorough physical examination, routine laboratory investigations, abdominal ultrasonography and endoscopies were performed to determine the cause of dyspepsia. Results:Amongst 207 HCV cirrhotic patients 146 (70.5%) were presented with dyspepsia. Pain in epigastrium 92 (63.0%), heart burn 81 (55.5%) and water brash 65 (44.5%) were most common patterns of presentation of dyspepsia in HCV cirrhotic patients.Portal hypertensive gastropathy 77(52.7%) came out as leading etiology of dyspepsia, followed by gastritis 9(6.2%), ulcer 6(4.1%) and cholelithiasis4(2.7%). Amongst those diagnosed with Dyspepsia, 25(17.1%) patients were found to have functional dyspepsia i.e. no organic cause was found. Conclusion:Dyspepsia is very frequent phenomenon in HCV cirrhotic patients with most common patterns of presentation as pain in epigastrium and heart burn. The leading cause of dyspepsia was portal hypertensive gastropathy

The Greetings in the Holy Quran; A Socio-Pragmatics Study

The paper aims to scrutinize about the tasks of socio-pragmatics in breaking down greetings salutations relevantly inside the structure of the Holy Qur’an. It ponders Quranic greetings inside the structures of Austin’s and Searle’s discourse analysis. To accomplish the motivation behind the investigation, some verses of greetings have been browsed from the Holy Qur’an, gathered and interpreted. At that point, the expressions have been characterized and investigated by the Quranic clarification. Those models have been isolated by addresser, recipient, and incidents into different ways and means. In this study five kinds have been selected, at first greetings by Allah almighty, secondly, greetings for Angles, thirdly greetings for Prophets, fourthly greetings for Muslims and fifthly orders for heathens. In the wake of having studied a genuinely delegate group of significant writing, the specialists have found greetings in the Holy Quran are utilized to pass on different capacities, for example, applauding, respecting, inviting, supplicating, conveying happy news, acknowledging, good notice, rich reward, consolation, setting up companionship and closeness between individuals who don't have any acquaintance with one another, producing shared love, and a feeling of connectio