New horizons: COVID-19 and the burden of neuropsychiatric illness in Pakistan

This manuscript reviews the current state of knowledge about the burden of mental illness and assesses the impact of COVID-19 illness on mental health in Pakistan. For this we analyzed secondary data obtained from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study draws from a wide range of data sources to quantify global and regional effects of a disease. We also did a literature search on the effects of COVID-19 illness on mental health and the psychosocial effects of COVID-19 and other Corona virus related illnesses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Data from the studies obtained was utilized to extrapolate the anticipated effects of COVID-19 illness on healthcare workers, COVID-19 patients and the general public in Pakistan. Mental illness poses a significant challenge to Pakistan\u27s under resourced health care system. COVID-19 has the potential to strain Pakistan\u27s healthcare system to the breaking point. So far, the general morbidity from COVID-19 illness in Pakistan has been low compared to other countries but this could change in the coming weeks and months. Hidden within this crisis are also some opportunities for both healthcare and education

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: A STUDY IN AVIATION SECTOR

In this research, it has been investigated to evaluate the operation of human capital management on the employees’ viewpoint in the aviation sector of UAE. The subsequent developments in the international financial framework offer prompted increment the competition among organizations, the survival and success has turned into a major goal of these organizations. In the present study, it has been intended to quantify the degree of applying the HCM practices on employees in a standout amongst the most advancing and developing sectors in the UAE. In UAE, the civil aviation sector is on the top. Following to reviewing the literatures, three variables have been separated which are leadership practices, employee engagement and talent management. The effect of these variables on human capital management has been checked by the researcher in the area of expertise. Therefore, the effect of leadership practices, talent management, and employee engagement on human capital management has been explored in this research. Eventually, through a comprehensive analysis, it has been found that leadership practices and talent management are not significant to HCM, and employee engagement alone has a remarkable effect on the human capital management.  Article visualizations

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AVIATION SECTOR

This research has been conducted to assess the implementation of human capital management on the employees’ perspective in the UAE aviation sector. The resulting developments in the worldwide financial framework have prompted increment the competition among organizations, the survival and success has turned into a vital target of these organizations. The present study intended to quantify the degree of applying the HCM practices on employees in a standout amongst the most progressive and development sectors in the UAE, which is the civil aviation sector. Subsequent to studying the few papers three variables were separated which were leadership practices, employee engagement and talent management. Researcher checked the effect of these variables on human capital management in her area of expertise. Hence, this research explored the effect of leadership practices, talent management, and employee engagement on human capital management. Finally, after careful analyses the outcomes found that leadership practices, talent management, employee engagement, have noteworthy effect on human capital management.  Article visualizations

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN THE AVIATION SECTOR: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN UAE

On the employees’ perspective in the UAE aviation sector, this research has been conducted to evaluate the execution of human capital management. The subsequent growths in the global financial framework have driven the rise of competitions among organizations, and survival of success has turned into a vital goal of these organizations. This study intends to measure the degree of applying the HCM practices on employees in a standout amongst the most advanced and developed sectors in the UAE - the civil aviation sector. Following the literatures, three variables have been parted which were leadership practices, employee engagement and talent management. Researcher has checked the effect of these variables on human capital management in her area of expertise. Henceforth, this research explores the effect of leadership practices, talent management, and employee engagement on human capital management. Lastly, after carefully analyzing the results, it has been found that leadership practices and talent management are insignificant to HCM and only employee engagement has noteworthy effect on human capital management. JEL: J24; L91; L93  Article visualizations

Climatic variability and periodicity for upstream sub-basins of the Yangtze river, China

The headwaters of the Yangtze River are located on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, which is affected by climate change. Here, treamflow trends for Tuotuohe and Zhimenda sub-basins and relations to temperature and precipitation trends during 1961–2015 were investigated. The modified Mann–Kendall trend test, Pettitt test, wavelet analysis, and multivariate correlation analysis was deployed for this purpose. The temperature and precipitation significantly increased for each sub-basin, and the temperature increase was more significant in Tuotuohe sub-basin as compared to the Zhimenda sub-basin. A statistically significant periodicity of 2–4 years was observed for both sub-basins in different time spans. Higher flow periodicities for Tuotuohe and Zhimenda sub-basin were found after 1991 and 2004, respectively, which indicates that these are the change years of trends in streamflows. The influence of temperature on streamflow is more substantial in Tuotuohe sub-basin, which will ultimately impact the melting of glaciers and snowmelt runoff in this sub-basin. Precipitation plays a more critical role in the Zhimenda streamflow. Precipitation and temperature changes in the headwaters of the Yangtze River will change the streamflow variability, which will ultimately impact the hydropower supply and water resources of the Yangtze Basin. This study contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of the hydrological cycle and may lead to better hydrologic system modeling for downstream water resource developments

Applying a mixed-method approach to improve on-the-job learning and job satisfaction in a cohort of interns at a university hospital

Introduction: Job satisfaction is vital for the optimal functioning of medical practitioners. Herein, we report our experience of restructuring the internship program by identifying the gaps, developing, implementing strategies to overcome gaps and sharing the results of the pre-implementation and post-implementation audit, as an example for establishing a system for improving intern\u27s work-based learning and satisfaction in a university hospital setting.Methods: Using Kern\u27s six-step instructional model, a prospective mixed-method study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital. In phase 1 (2013) gaps were identified by evaluating various aspects of the internship program. Strategies were developed and implemented to overcome the identified gaps. In phase 2 (2014-2016) the impact of these developmental strategies was assessed.Results: A total of 65 interns, 30 residents, and 22 faculty members participated in phase I, while 71 interns participated in phase II. The reformation of orientation sessions, including practical exposure and content of sessions, opportunities to enhance hands-on experience and supervision in inpatient areas, operating rooms, supervision by fellows, supervision for hands-on procedures, career counseling, and mentorship, led to significant improvement in satisfaction. It was identified that the lack of hands-on opportunities can be overcome by surgical skills-based workshops. These reforms led to an overall rise in intern satisfaction (50% vs 75.4%, p=0.02).Conclusion: Periodic restructuring of an existing program helps to improve the work-based learning experience and overall satisfaction among interns. This not only maximizes learning but also eases interns into their postgraduate life and workload subsequently enabling them to become more competent and well-rounded health practitioners

Comparative evaluation of in vitro cytotoxic effects among parent abietyl alcohol and novel fatty acid ester derivatives against MCF7 and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines

Synthesis of twelve hitherto unreported esters of abietyl alcohol and screening of these esters against four cancer cell lines including one breast cancer line MCF7 and four hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (HCC) Huh7, Hep3B, Snu449 and Plc has been determined using SRB assay. The Cell cycle progression showed changes in cellular behaviour after 48 and 72 hours in MCF7 and Huh7 cell lines. Abietyl alcohol was obtained from the reduction of abietic acid, a tricyclic diterpene, isolated from oleoresin of Pinus longifolia Roxberghii

COMPARATIVE PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF BEETAL GOATS IN ANNUAL AND ACCELERATED SYSTEM

ABSTRACT Fifty adult Beetal goats were divided into two groups viz. accelerated kidding and annual kidding having 25 animals each. Each group was further divided into 5 sub-groups, 5 animals in each and considered as replicate. The accelerated kidding group produced three crops where as the annual breeding group produced two crops. Birth weight of kids produced in three different seasons of March-April, 2010; October-November, 2010 and June-July, 2011 were as 2.85±0.13, 3.32±0.40 and 3.29±0.31 kg as compared to kid crop produced in annual kidding system showing birth weight as 3.09±0.16 kg and 3.08±0.16 kg, respectively. The average body weight at 3 months of age of first, second and third kid crop in accelerated kidding system was noticed as 12.72±2.29, 11.31±0.98 and 11.44±1.60 kg, respectively as compared to 11.82 and 11.81 kg in annual kidding system. In order to minimize the gap of animal protein in human food, strategies like accelerated kidding may be adopted which might satisfy nutritional demands. The growth rate at 3 months age of two kid crops of annual and three kid crops of accelerated systems were observed as 97.00±2

A conformal, dynamic pattern-reconfigurable antenna using conductive textile-polymer composite

A conformal antenna with electronically tuning capability of its radiation pattern between broadside and monopole-like patterns is proposed. The antenna is based on a proximity-fed circular patch, loaded with a ring patch and four rectangular slots. The design is planar without any use of rigid shorting posts or complex feeding network. The reconfigurability is achieved by activating and deactivating the slots using PIN diodes, to switch between TM02 (monopole-like mode) and perturbed TM02 distributions (broadside mode) of the antenna. For conformability, the antenna is fabricated using highly flexible PDMS-conductive fabric composite. All the antenna parts, including the RF switches, wires, and DC biasing circuit are fully encapsulated by PDMS to provide resilience against deformation and harsh environment. Investigations on the RF performance and mechanical stability of the antenna were conducted. Under various bendings, it was demonstrated that all the antenna components, including those for electronic switching, remained intact and in working order even under radius bending of 30 mm, thus maintaining good pattern reconfigurability and overall performance. When bent, the measured results at 5.2 GHz show a stable radiation performance relative to those of the flat case (i.e., maximum gain of 2.9 dBi and efficiency of 64% in broadside mode, corresponding to 1.75 dBi and 52% in monopole-like mode). To the best of our knowledge, all these features have never been demonstrated in previously published pattern reconfigurable antennas