Assessment Of A Pharmacist Initiated Health Education Programme In Improving Hypertension Patients' Health Related Quality Of Life, Disease State Knowledge And Medication Adherence In Quetta City, Pakistan

The role of pharmacists in chronic disease state management is becoming a norm especially in the developed nations. In developing countries context, the role of pharmacists in chronic disease state management such as hypertension is yet to be fully explored. Therefore the aim of this research was to assess the impact of a pharmacist led educational intervention for improving clinical and quality of life outcomes among hypertensive patients in Quetta city, Pakistan. A mix methodological approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods was used to conduct the research. For the qualitative arm of the research, sixteen hypertensive patients were interviewed and thematic content analysis identified five major themes. In order to gain an insight of self management of hypertension, a focus group discussion was conducted with 19 hypertensive patients. The study found that the self management strategies were influenced by social sources, peers or family members with little information received from healthcare professionals. Exercise of self-management was strongly linked to the comparative advantages and disadvantages of long term medication use

Faculty members' perceptions toward the Learning Opportunities During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) via Learning Management System (LMS)

The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has severely affected educational institutions. Learning has become wholly dependent on digital platforms that have helped the immediate transition from face-to-face to distance education. This study focused on faculty members' perceptions and opinions regarding opportunities to use learning management systems (LMS) during the pandemic. The phenomenological qualitative approach was used, and the sample included (10) faculty members. The data was collected through the semi-structured interview tool and analyzed using objective analysis. The results showed several opportunities for learning through learning management systems considering the Corona pandemic. These can be developed in the future by continuing learning through electronic platforms and applying the integration between the electronic system and the traditional system. These opportunities were represented in four main topics: e-learning structure, social interactions, outputs, and attitudes toward e-learning, where each main topic contains a set of subtopics

Antimicrobial dispensing practices and determinants of antimicrobial resistance: a qualitative study among community pharmacists in Pakistan

BackgroundThere are concerns with the extent of dispensing of antibiotics among community pharmacists in Pakistan often without a prescription adding to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates.ObjectiveTo explore the determinants of AMR and the pattern of antimicrobial dispensing among community pharmacists.DesignIn this qualitative study design, a semistructured interview guide was developed based on an in-depth review of published papers. Audio-recorded interviews with transcripts were analysed by thematic content analysis.SettingInterviews were conducted among community pharmacists in Lahore, Pakistan.ParticipantsIn order to obtain individual points of view, in-depth face-to-face interviews with purposively selected pharmacists were conducted.ResultsA total of 12 pharmacists were interviewed for the study. After analysis, four major themes emerged: (1) knowledge and perception of community pharmacists about antimicrobials, (2) antimicrobial dispensing practices of community pharmacists, (3) determinants of AMR, (4) potential interventions to control AMR. Most of the pharmacists have limited knowledge about AMR, antimicrobial stewardship programmes and related guidelines. However, all the pharmacists strongly agreed that different appropriate actions should be taken in order to rationalise future antimicrobial use.ConclusionThe results indicated that irrational antimicrobial dispensing and use is common among community pharmacists in Pakistan owing to lack of knowledge. The community pharmacists perceived that behaviour of patients and the societal environment contributed to irrational antimicrobial use and subsequent development of AMR. They suggested a need for a multidisciplinary framework in order to improve future antimicrobial use and reduce AMR in Pakistan.</jats:sec

Effect of different artificial diets on biological parameters of female Chrysoperla carnea under laboratory conditions

Chrysoperla carnea (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) is considered as a cosmopolitan polyphagous generalist predator. Chrysoperla carnea can be used in biological control programs. The biological parameters of Chrysoperla carnea were studied to check the effect different diets under laboratory conditions. The results indicate that preoviposition, oviposition and post oviposition periods were 8.2±1.25, 30.6±1.72 and 9.4±1.02 days, respectively. The highest mortalities were occurred reared at Water+ Sugar+ Yeast+ Evion diets while no mortality was observed at H2O + Sugar +Yeast + Honey.&nbsp; The female longevity was 51.2 ± 2.18 days. The fecundity of female was 301.31 eggs per female with 10.36 eggs per day per single female on artificial diet, H2O + Sugar +Yeast + Honey. The study revealed that H2O + Sugar +Yeast + Honey was showed highest survival and fecundity while Water+ Sugar+ Yeast+ Evion least one

Neuro-Fuzzy Based High-Voltage DC Model to Optimize Frequency Stability of an Offshore Wind Farm

Lack of synchronization between high voltage DC systems linking offshore wind farms and the onshore grid is a natural consequence owing to the stochastic nature of wind energy. The poor synchronization results in increased system disturbances, grid contingencies, power loss, and frequency instability. Emphasizing frequency stability analysis, this research investigates a dynamic coordination control technique for a Double Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) consisting of OWFs integrated with a hybrid multi-terminal HVDC (MTDC) system. Line commutated converters (LCC) and voltage source converters (VSC) are used in the suggested control method in order to ensure frequency stability. The adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference approach is used to accurately predict wind speed in order to further improve frequency stability. The proposed HVDC system can integrate multiple distributed OWFs with the onshore grid system, and the control strategy is designed based on this concept. In order to ensure the transient stability of the HVDC system, the DFIG-based OWF is regulated by a rotor side controller (RSC) and a grid side controller (GSC) at the grid side using a STATCOM. The devised HVDC (MTDC) is simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK, and the performance is evaluated in terms of different parameters, such as frequency, wind power, rotor and stator side current, torque, speed, and power. Experimental results are compared to a conventional optimal power flow (OPF) model to validate the performance.© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed