Teachers’ Perception towards Pre-Service Teacher Education Program at Higher Secondary Level

The basic purpose of this study was to find out the teachers’ perception about pre-service teacher education program at higher secondary level. The teachers of Higher Secondary level from both public and private organization were randomly taken as sample. Total 30 teachers were conveniently taken as sample. A self-designed survey was selected to be used in this study. The questionnaire which was used in this study consisted of two parts. The first part of questionnaire was about demographic factors while second part covered the teachers’ perception about teacher education program. The measurement of variables such as teaching skills, pedagogical skills and professional skills were collectively used as teachers’ perception about pre-service Teacher Education programs. Teachers responded to the items on five point likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. The major findings of this study were that teachers have positive perception about teacher education because mostly teachers said that teacher education means development of teacher proficiency and competences. The male & female, public & private, regular & private and B.Ed & M.ED teachers’ perception towards pre-service teacher education programs have no significant mean differences at higher secondary level. Teachers who have different qualification and age groups have no significant mean differences while teachers who have different teaching experiences have significant difference towards teachers’ perception about pre-service teacher education program at higher secondary. Keywords: Teacher Education, Teaching Skills, Pedagogical Theory, Professional Skill

FORMULATION AND IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF MOUTH DISSOLVING TABLETS OF AMLODIPINE AND ROSUVASTATIN

Objective: Mouth Dissolving Tablets (MDT) are most accepted and exploited for the drug delivery for the patients who are having difficulty with swallowing i.e., mainly pediatric's and Geriatric's. Amlodipine besylate (ADB) is an anti-hypertensive and it is also used in many Coronary artery diseases, Whereas Rosuvastatin Calcium (RSC) is an anti-hyperlipidemia that prevents of Atheroma. In the present study a combination of ADB, RSC is formulated into a mouth dissolving tablet using three super disintegrants such as Croscarmellose Sodium (CCS), Cross povidone (CP), Sodium Starch Glycolate (SSG) at various concentrations to enhance the disintegration and dissolution of ADB, RSC to improve bioavailability of the drugs Methods: The tablets were prepared by using direct compression method and evaluated for weight variations, Hardness, Friability, Wetting time, disintegration time (DT) and Dissolution study. Prepared tablets are subject to FT-IR Study for Characterization and compatibility study. Results: No Chemical interaction between drug and excipients were indicated in the FT-IR. Disintegration and dissolution profiles decreases with addition of super disintegrating agents like Croscarmellose Sodium (CCS), Cross povidone (CP), Sodium Starch Glycolate (SSG). Conclusion: Among all the formulation F12 with CP in 5% and SSG 5% Concentration found to be best in drug release profile

Enhanced sporulation and toxin production by a mutant derivative of Bacillus thuringiensis

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains along with insecticidal crystal proteins (ICP) also produce proteases, and chitinases during growth and sporulation. These both potentate the activity of ICPs. This work aimed to obtain bioinsecticide over-production and thermotolerant mutant through classical mutagenesis of vegetative cells of Bt by using UV-mutation multiple times. The isolated survivors were screened on the basis of their production of β-glucosidase, delta-endotoxins and biomass in glucose-based medium. Maximum spore and crystal proteins were produced at 40°C with corn steep liquor as nitrogen source and hydrol as a carbon source. The best mutant MUV7 supported significantly (P = 0.0001) higher values of all kinetic parameters than those supported by the wild culture. Lower demand of activation energy (47.4 kJ mol-1) for crystal protein formation revealed that the best mutant was comparable with those of thermophilic group of organisms.Key words: Bioinsecticide, biomass, delta-endotoxin, insecticidal crystal proteins, kinetics, spores

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width as a Surrogate Marker of Disease Activity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective: To determine the association between red blood distribution width and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and to compare the red blood distribution width in patients of rheumatoid arthritis with that in healthy subjects. Methodology: This comparative case-control observational study was conducted at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, on rheumatoid arthritis patients visiting the (Out Patient Departments) OPDs between September, 2020 and March, 2021. Study subjects were selected by non-probability convenient sampling and a control group comprising of healthy subjects was similarly selected from general medical OPDs. Complete blood picture and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were obtained for each patient and disease activity score was calculated for rheumatoid arthritis patients. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 was used for data analysis. Data was checked for normality by using the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. An independent samples t-test was used for comparing means and Pearson’s correlation coefficient for establishing an association between variables. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of the total 140 patients, 60 (85.7%) in each group were female and 10 (14.3%) were male. The mean age was 39.23 years and 36.87 years in the case and control groups respectively. The mean disease duration of rheumatoid arthritis was 6.63 years. RDW was significantly elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (16.82%) as compared to the control group (14.47%) and strong positively correlated  with disease activity score (p 0.00038). Conclusion: Red blood cell distribution width is strongly related to disease activity in patients of rheumatoid arthritis and may help in monitoring disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Correlation of Body Mass index with Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective:  To evaluate correlation between body mass index and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methodology: This comparative case-control observational study was conducted at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, on rheumatoid arthritis patients visiting the (Out Patient Departments) OPDs between July, 2021 and December, 2021.The study subjects were selected by non-probability convenient sampling from outpatient department. Body mass index and disease activity score were calculated for rheumatoid arthritis patients in OPD. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 was used for data analysis. Mean ± S.D was calculated for age, body mass index and disease activity.  Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used for establishing an association between variables. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Simple scatter with fit line was plotted to show graphical association between body mass index and disease activity.  Results: A total 60 patients with 35 (58.3%) female and 25(41.7%) were male. The mean age was 47.21 years. The mean DAS-28 for normal weight group was 2.74 and for overweight group was 4.17. There was positive correlation between body mass index and DAS-28 with r was 0.584 (p<0.05). When correlation on gender basis was calculated, for female patients r was 0.653 and for males 0.529, respectively.  Conclusion: In Rheumatoid Arthritis patients, body mass index is positively correlated with disease activity. Evaluation of this requires trial on large scale, thus, helping in tailoring new management plan, including, weight reduction rather than escalating drug treatment for disease control and improving quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis patients

How does brand promotion on special occasions impact consumer purchasing behavior?

The objective of this study is to examine the methods used by brands to market their products during special occasions and analyze the influence of these promotional strategies on consumer buying patterns. To accomplish this, brands employ a range of promotional tactics during significant events like Independence Day, Mother's Day, New Year's Resolution Day, Blessed Friday, Eid, and others to boost sales and outperform their competitors. The study employed the AIDA model as the research instrument and gathered data through surveys. The findings suggest that promotional activities conducted by brands during special occasions have a favorable impact on consumer buying behavior, resulting in heightened sales. Consumers are enticed by various discount offers provided by different brands in the market

COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers of Teaching Hospitals Affiliated with Rawalpindi Medical University

Objectives: To overview COVID-19 scenario among healthcare workers in teaching hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical University Subjects & Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive research was done among 482 coronavirus infected healthcare professionals from three teaching hospitals (Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Head Quarters) that were affiliated with Rawalpindi Medical University during January 2021. Healthcare workers with COVID confirmation via RT-PCR testing reports were included in the study through consecutive sampling. Their demographic profile, workplace attributes, clinical manifestations, oxygen saturation, source of infection, re-infection, hospitalization, requirement for oxygen supply and disease severity according to COVID-19 adult cases categorization were inquired. Data analysis was done by means of SPSS version 25.0. Results: Mean age of 482 healthcare workers was 29.6 ± 5.7 years. Mainstream (69.1%) of our study participants was constituted by female healthcare staff. Majority (34%) were postgraduate trainees followed by 29% nurses and 20% house officers. Mean duration of sickness was 13.6 ± 6.4 days. About 63.1% of study subjects were COVID infected during July –December 2020. About 4.8% healthcare personnel were asymptomatic and 78% caught infection from their workplace. Approximately 82% suffered from fever while 71.4% and 55.8% went through bodyaches and cough respectively. Out of 39 hospitalized workers, 23 required oxygen supply for their vitality. Severe COVID infection was determined only among 5.4% healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Healthcare workers are more susceptible to acquire COVID infection from their workplace. In view of this vulnerability, firm compliance to preventive measures against coronaviurs infection by healthcare staff and general public is deemed necessary for their viability

Effect of Cadmium Levels on the Growth Curve of Candida albicans

Environmental pollution by toxic heavy metals is one of the most pressing problems. Metals are released in the environment in industrial effluent. Cadmium is one of the heavy metal toxic to microorganisms; however, there are yeast strains resistant to this metal. One of yeast species Candida albicans is a diploid fungus (a form of yeast) that is a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. In the present study, effect of Cadmium on the growth curve of Candida albicans was demonstrated. Candida albicans was grown both in the presence and absence of Cadmium in YEPD media. Growth curves of the Candida albicans were plotted to study the growth pattern of the yeast isolate. It was found that Candida albicans grow well at 50 µg/ml concentration of cadmium. The organism was found to be resistant to the used heavy metal. Growing metal resistant cells is very important as it can ensure better removal through the process of biosorption. Such approaches may help in the removal of toxic metals from the environmental thus reducing environmental pollution

Bacteriostatic Activity of Lemon Juice against Staphylococcal Skin Infections

Antimicrobial herbs are center of attraction from a very long time back. These herbs can cure variety of the infections including GIT, liver and skin infections. In this conducted study we have analyzed lemon as an antibacterial herb against skin infections. A total of 25 skin lesion samples were collected out of which 14 were Staphylococcus epidermidis and 06 were Staphylococcus aureus were isolated. By pure culture study method all the species of Staphylococci gives bacteriostatic growth by the activity of lemon juice which was analyzed by Agar well diffusion method. Some other antimicrobial herb are also efficient against skin infections like aloe vera, neem etc. Because of the presence of Vitamin C lemon juices aids some more health effects to the skin and have less side effects than antibiotics