Turning Adversities into Opportunities: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Muniba Mazari’s Inspirational Speech

This study aims to analyse Muniba Mazari’s selected TEDx speech from the perspective of critical discourse analysis to reveal her motivational stance on turning the adversities of life into opportunities. Mazari\u27s inspirational speech is primarily gender specific, and she discusses the physical and psychological trauma she experienced during her life struggle against the backdrop of Pakistan\u27s sociopolitical context. Muniba Mazari, the Iron Lady of Pakistan, is the representative of Pakistani women on various national and international platforms. This research highlights the way the speaker, despite initially being the object of suppression and later abandoned by her husband, has positioned herself in her own words to portray a positive image of a woman who is a leading figure in the public sphere, who is not inferior to men, and who is also performing her duties responsibly in the domestic sector. This speech also reveals a beautiful face of society, in which she was treated with excessive care and attention by male members of her family while fighting physical and psychological injuries. Fairclough\u27s (1989) three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis is used to study how the selected speech contributes to revealing the gender ideologies of Pakistani society and the persuasive techniques underlying the speech to inspire people on a broader level. This critical discourse approach is combined with Halliday\u27s textual analysis model to address the textual dimensions of the speech. &nbsp

Psychological complications of polycystic ovarian syndrome and women’s health

Background: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) affects approximately 5-10% females of reproductive age worldwide. Recent research shows that this syndrome is associated with psychological upset and devastating effects on women′s mental health and wellbeing.  Lack of clinicians′ awareness of adverse psychological effects is a major concern in developing countries to provide standard care and to improve overall health outcomes.Purpose of study was to determine the frequency of anxiety and depression among women with PCOS in order to promote awareness among clinicians about psychological complications of disease.Methods: Present study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology/ University Medical and Dental College, from October 2018 to March 2019. Sixty patients with diagnosis of PCOD and sixty participants without this disease were included in the study. Participants having other endocrine or metabolic disorders were excluded from study. Hospital anxiety and depression scale was used to detect anxiety and depression among both groups. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis. Chi- square test was applied to compare prevalence of anxiety and depression in both groups, p-value ˂0.05 was taken as statistically significant.Results: Women having PCOD exhibited statistically significant prevalence of anxiety (78.3% vs 35%) and depression (60% vs 30%) with p value of 0.0001 and 0.001 respectively.Conclusions: It is highly recommended that initial evaluation of these patients should include assessment of psychological domain of disease to provide more comprehensive treatment to improve overall health related quality of life

Adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting among physicians and pharmacists in Pakistan:A cross-sectional study

Background: The success of a reporting system of adverse drug reaction (ADR) depends on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the health care professionals. However, due to a lack of knowledge and poor contribution by healthcare workers, ADR remains underreported. To improve safety, proper identification and ADR reporting is necessary. Objective: This study was carried out to determine knowledge, attitude, and practices of ADR among physicians and pharmacists working in Pakistan and the factors which encourage and discourage effective reporting. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a pretested questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed among 333 physicians and 34 pharmacists with a 95.5% response rate. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Results: Pharmacists have more knowledge regarding ADR compared to physicians (47.1% vs. 13.8%, p < 0.001). Pharmacists also have a positive attitude compared to physicians (97.1% vs. 76.3%, p < 0.001). No significant difference was noticed in ADR practice by physicians and pharmacists (12.3% vs. 11.8, p = 0.92). The seriousness of ADR was the main factor that encouraged nearly all pharmacists to report, whereas among physician’s, seriousness and the unusualness of reaction, the new drug involvement, and confidence in diagnosis were the factors which encouraged them to report ADR. Conclusion: Overall, pharmacists had more knowledge and a positive attitude regarding ADR reporting compared to physicians, but practices of ADR reporting remained the same among both. Therefore, it is suggested that educational interventions, along with training programs, should be developed

Impact of Public-Private-Partnership Programmes on Students’ Learning Outcomes: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment

Learning outcomes refer to the performance of the students in academic tests pertaining to the respective grade level. In Pakistan, survey evidences from Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) show a significant dispersion in learning outcomes of public schools as compared with private sector counterpart. The perceived results of learning outcomes in private schools very clear but less evidence is found for educational outcome of schools run under public-private partnership programs. This becomes especially relevant when status of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities is compared between public school, private schools, and schools run under public private partnership. In recent literature, it is found that schools taken up by public-private partnership have been providing a better learning environment—Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Development, Administrative changes, Academic Innovation and Planning, Teacher Reform and Student Affairs—is perceived to have a positive impact on learning outcomes. It is to investigate and document that the investments in these areas are justifiable. To promote this fact, we conduct a quasi-experiment to examine the profiles of students in a public-private partnership school at Karachi (running under Zindagi Trust program) and a public school (as counterfactual) in the same neighbourhood. We also recorded the household and socioeconomic characteristics to create a good set of control variables. The propensity-score results show that public-private school is performing better than that of comparison group in attaining learning outcomes thus showing positive effects of PPP. Finally, the study probed into household and parental covariates of student's educational outcomes to enhance internal validity of results. JEL Classification: I21, C21, L32. Keywords: Educational Learning Outcomes, Public-Private Partnership, Quasi-experiment

Oral versus intravenous maternal hydration in isolated third trimester oligohydramnios

Background: To study the effect of oral and intravenous maternal hydration in patients with isolated oligohydramnios in terms of mean change in amniotic fluid.Methods: A total number of 38 patients included in the study which fulfill the selection criteria.  Patients were randomly divided in two groups. Amniotic fluid index (AFI) of all patients was measured before the hydration therapy according to the method of Phelan et al.  In maternal oral hydration (Group A), every patient was instructed to drink two liters of water over two hours daily for 1 week. In intravenous hydration (Group B), every woman infused two liters of 0.9% normal saline in two hour daily for 1 week. After 48 hours and 1 week of oral and intravenous hydration, the AFI was reassessed by the same observer. Patients were monitored closely for sign and symptoms of fluid overload. Data was stratified for mean difference in improvement in amniotic fluid index.Results: After oral hydration therapy AFI was 5.926±0.4593 after 48 hours and 8.286±0.6000 after 7 days in Group A. In Group B AFI was 5.784±0.4622 after 48 hours and 7.868±0.2810 after 7 days of intravenous hydration. P value after 48 hours is 0.348 and p=0.014 after 7 days means oral hydration therapy significantly increase amniotic fluid index.Conclusions: Oral maternal hydration significantly increase the amniotic fluid index in patients with isolated oligohydramnios. It is simple, safe and non-invasive method

Assessment of genetic diversity among different indigenous Xanthomonas isolates via RAPD and ISSR

The genetic diversity among seven Xanthomonas isolates representing four species was assessed using RAPD and ISSR PCR-based techniques. Both techniques revealed high degrees of polymorphisms among the studied isolates. A cluster dendrogram based on the combined data of RAPD and ISSR showed that genetic diversity exists in local isolates of Xanthomonas. In terms of percentage similarity values, the genomic variation was found to be in the range of 29.29% - 100% among the isolates. X. campestris (Mangifera indica) remained unclustered in cluster dendrogram and revealed a unique genomic profile compared to other isolates used in this study

Hospital preparedness in community measles outbreaks-challenges and recommendations for low-resource settings

We have reviewed various strategies involved in containment of measles in healthcare facilities during community outbreaks. The strategies that are more applicable to resource-poor settings, such as natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation with heating and air-conditioning systems allowing unidirectional air-flow, and protection of un-infected patients and healthcare workers (HCWs), have been examined. Ventilation methods need innovative customization for resource-poor settings followed by validation and post-implementation analysis for impact. Mandatory vaccination of all HCWs with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis of immunocompromised inpatients, and stringent admission criteria for measles cases can contribute toward reduction of nosocomial and secondary transmission within facilities

A Qualitative Account of The Nature and Use of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Strategies Employed by University Students

Students\u27 conceptions of how they initiate, plan, implement and monitor self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies have practical implications for teaching and learning. This study explores the nature and use of SRL strategies employed by university students as it occurs in naturalistic settings, for example, studying in non-classroom environments. Framed within the social cognitive perspective, it focuses on a group of students from an under-researched population. Focus group interviews were used to elicit information about the nature of SRL strategies and contexts for their use. The findings reveal that students employ a range of SRL strategies, from shallow to cognitively rich and deep processing. Furthermore, the use of SRL strategies alters under different contextual influences such as personal goals, SRL phase specific conditions, semester and academic capabilities