Investigation of Educational Language Policy of Pakistan: An Evaluative Study

Language policy and planning (LPP) is a mechanism of policy makers’ decisions and its implementation through documentational or non-documentational practices. This study has established stance around the term ‘Language Policy and Evaluation (LPE)’, which includes documents related to the language policy. The chief purpose of this study is to evaluate the policy planning with regards to evaluation of policy document ‘National Education Policy (NEP) 2017’, by applying proposed checklist on the basis of Haddad and Demsky’s (1995) framework for policy making and planning at macro-level Therefore, the current study has critically investigated: how educational Language Policy in Pakistan is designed. For the analysis purpose, the policy document was collected through online source. The findings of this study revealed that policy has mostly discussed the elements said by the modal at macro-level. The conclusion and educational implications of this study suggest stakeholders and researches for ELP assessment and evaluation for further development of policies and the field of study

Focused Ion Beam Tomography

To study the fundamental effect of shape and morphology of any material on its properties, it is very essential to know and study its morphology. Focused ion beam (FIB) tomography is a 3D chemical and structural relationship studying technique. The instrumentation of FIB looks like that of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), but there is a major difference in the beam used for scanning. For SEM, a beam of electrons is used with scanning medium whereas in FIB, a much focused beam of ions is used for scanning. FIB can be used for lithography and ablation purposes, but due to advancements and high-energy focused beam, it is nowadays being used as a tomographic technique. Tomography is defined as imaging by sectoring or cross-sectioning any desired area. The hyphenation of FIB with energy-dispersive spectrometry or secondary ion mass spectrometry can give us elemental analysis with very high-resolution 3D images for a sample. This technique contributes to acquaintance of qualitative and quantitative analyses, 3D volume creations, and image processing. In this chapter, we will discuss the advancements in FIB instrumentation and its use as 3D imaging tool for different samples ranging from nanometer (nm)-sized materials to micrometer (μm)-sized biological samples

Immunization status of students of Nishtar medical university against hepatitis B

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Occupational exposure of health care workers and medical students increase their risk of acquiring HBV infection, and many authorities recommend vaccination. However, significant proportions of health care workers do not receive HBV immunization, and remain at increased risk to HBV infection. The present study was conducted on medical students to evaluate their knowledge regarding HBV and to know their vaccination status.Methods: This cross sectional, randomized, observational study was done at Nishtar medical university, Multan from November 2017 to July 2018. A pre-structured and tested questionnaire was given to 150 medical students from first year to final year. Out of these students 75 were males and 75 were females. The students were also interviewed about age, gender, year of study, screening before vaccination, history of vaccination, completion of all 3 doses and reasons for not getting vaccinated.Results: Out of 150 participants, 117 (78%) were vaccinated against HBV. In the vaccinated group, 90 (77%) completed all the three doses of their vaccination schedule and remaining 27 (23%) students were incompletely vaccinated. Rate of vaccine uptake was higher in females; 63 (84%) than in males: 53 (71%). Reasons of not being vaccinated were lack of knowledge about consequences (15.5%), casual behaviour (36%), not knowing from where to get vaccine (12%), fear of injection (10%), busy in studies (10%) and financial problems (8%). Prior screening was done in 74 (63%) students before the vaccination.Conclusions: Despite the availability and accessibility of a cost-effective hepatitis B vaccine since mid80's, the vaccination coverage among medical students is low. Health education needs to be improved in all medical students. The orientation and awareness programmes should be held to create awareness regarding HBV infection

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Phytoremediation of Cu and Mn from Industrially Polluted Soil: An Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Approach

Water and soil polluted by heavy metals (HMs) are the primary problem due to rapidly increasing urbanization and industrialization. For the treatment of polluted soil, phytoremediation turns into a cost-effective and eco-friendly technique. The current research aimed to examine the load of pollution, specifically HMs, in sediment and wastewater (WW) of the GadoonAmazai Industrial Estate (GAIE), Pakistan and compare the ability of native grass species Cynodon dactylon and Digiteria sanguinalis for the phytoaccumulation of HMs. The industrially polluted soil was analysed for HMs using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) and compared with healthy soil (irrigated by freshwater), which served as a control. The HM accumulation was considerably higher in the soil irrigated with WW than in control soil samples. The most substantial metal pollutant was manganese (Mn), which accumulated up to 2491.7 mg/kg in the WW irrigated soil. For assessing the bioremoval efficiency of grass species, pot experimentation was performed for 90 days. Soil samples and grasses were collected from the pots to examine the HM removal efficiency. A significant reduction was noted in physicochemical characteristics of the soil, such as electrical conductivity, total organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, and saturation. The grasses removed up to 59.0% of the Cu and 59.9% of Mn from the soil. The highest bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) of Cu were observed for D. sanguinalis. While the highest BCF and TF of Mn were obtained for C. dactylon. The research showed that the grass significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced HM in soil samples. Moreover, the selected grasses found a higher capability to accumulate HM in the roots than in the shoot. The maximum Cu removal was obtained by D. sanguinalis and Mn by C. dactylon. The research study concluded that phytoremediation using D. sanguinalis and C. dactylon is an eco-friendly and cost-effective method that can be utilized for soil remediation

Investigating the Potential Climatic Effects of Atmospheric Pollution across China under the National Clean Air Action Plan

To reduce air pollution, China adopted rigorous control mechanisms and announced the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) in 2013. Here, using OMI satellite, the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Application Center (SEDAC), and Fifth ECMWF (ERA5) data at a 0.25° × 0.25° resolution, we explored changes in NO2, PM, SO2, and O3 and climatology over China in response to the Action Plan between 2004 and 2021. This study attempts to investigate the long term trend analysis of air pollution and climatic variations during two scenarios before (2004–2013) and after (2013–2021) APPCAP. We investigated the climatic effects of air pollution in China before and after APPCAP adoption using geographically weighted regression (GWR) and differential models to assess the contribution of air pollution. The spatial representation analysis demonstrated how air pollution affected climatic factors before and after the APPCAP. Several important findings were derived: (1) the APPCAP significantly influenced air pollution reduction in China post-scenario (2013–2021); (2) the Mann Kendall test investigated that all pollutants showed an increasing trend pre-APPCAP, while they showed a decreasing trend, except for O3, post-APPCAP; (3) for climatic factors, the MK test showed an increasing trend of precipitation and mean minimum air temperature tmin post-APPCAP; (4) innovative trend analysis (ITA) showed a reduction in NO2, SO2, and PM, although O3 showed no trend post-APPCAP; and (5) pre-scenario, NO2 contributed to an increase in the mean maximum air temperature (tmax) by 0.62 °C, PM contributed to raising tmin by 0.41 °C, while O3 reduced the tmax(tmin) by 0.15 °C (0.05 °C). PM increased tmax and precipitation with a magnitude 0.38 °C (7.38 mm), and NO2 contributed to increasing tmin by (0.35 °C), respectively, post-scenario. In particular, post-scenario led to an increase in tmin and precipitation across China. The results and discussion presented in this study can be beneficial for policymakers in China to establish long-term management plans for air pollution and climatological changes

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P &lt; 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)