Association of Physical Activity with Co-morbid Conditions in Geriatric Population

To find out association of physical activity with co-morbid conditions in geriatric population, a cross-sectional study was conducted in different cties of Pakistan in 2015. A total of 114 participants were inducted by non-probability convenience sampling technique. Data was collected after informed verbal consent by a validated questionnaire that is Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA). Participants were categorized into two groups i.e. physically active and physically inactive. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 20. There were 66 (57.9%) males and 48 (42.1%) females with mean age of 57.04±7.348 years. Among hypertensive individuals (n=43, 37.7%) there were 39 (90.7%) physically inactive, among individuals having angina (n=17, 14.9%) there were 15 (88.2%) physically inactive. Out of 37 (32.5%) diabetics, 35 (94.6%) were physically inactive. Among individuals suffering from arthritis (n=40, 35.1%), there were 38 (95%) physically inactive. A significant association was found between physical activity and diabetes and arthritis with p-value of 0.048 and 0.029 respectively. Physical activity is significantly associated with diabetes and arthritis in geriatric population. Adequate physical activity should be performed to reduce the risk of co-morbid conditions and improve the quality of life in geriatric population

Uncovering the burden of intentional injuries among children and adolescents in the emergency department

Introduction: In low- and middle-income countries, injuries are a leading cause of mortality in children. Much work has been done in the context of unintentional injuries but there is limited knowledge about intentional injuries among children. The objective of this paper was to understand the characteristics of children with intentional injuries presenting to emergency departments in Pakistan.Methods: The data was from the Pakistan National Emergency Departments Surveillance (Pak-NEDS), conducted from November 2010 to March 2011 in seven major emergency departments of Pakistan. Data on 30,937 children under 18 years of age was collected. This paper reports frequency of intentional injuries and compares patient demographics, nature of injury, and discharge outcome for two categories of intentional injuries: assault and self-inflicted injuries.Results:Intentional injuries presenting to the emergency departments (EDs) accounted for 8.2% (2551/30,937) amongst all other causes for under 18 years. The boy to girl ratio was 1:0.35. Intentional injuries included assault (n = 1679, 65.8%) and self-inflicted injuries (n = 872, 34.2%). Soft tissue injuries were most commonly seen in assault injuries in boys and girls but fractures were more common in self-inflicted injuries in both genders. Conclusion: Intentional injury is one of the reasons for seeking emergency treatment amongst children and a contributor to morbidity in EDs of Pakistan. Moreover, such injuries may be underestimated due to lack of reporting and investigative resources. Early identification may be the first step leading to prevention

Three divergent subpopulations of the malaria parasite plasmodium knowlesi

Multilocus microsatellite genotyping of Plasmodium knowlesi isolates previously indicated 2 divergent parasite subpopulations in humans on the island of Borneo, each associated with a different macaque reservoir host species. Geographic divergence was also apparent, and independent sequence data have indicated particularly deep divergence between parasites from mainland Southeast Asia and Borneo. To resolve the overall population structure, multilocus microsatellite genotyping was conducted on a new sample of 182 P. knowlesi infections (obtained from 134 humans and 48 wild macaques) from diverse areas of Malaysia, first analyzed separately and then in combination with previous data. All analyses confirmed 2 divergent clusters of human cases in Malaysian Borneo, associated with long-tailed macaques and pig-tailed macaques, and a third cluster in humans and most macaques in peninsular Malaysia. High levels of pairwise divergence between each of these sympatric and allopatric subpopulations have implications for the epidemiology and control of this zoonotic species

Graphene oxide deposition on neodymium doped zinc borotellurite glass surface: optical and polarizability study for future fiber optics

Neodymium oxide doped tellurite-based glass has been widely documented for potential uses in optoelectronics, but graphene oxide (GO)-coated tellurite-based glass has rarely been reported. In this work, we compare two sets of glass series which were GO-coated and uncoated tellurite-based glass series denoted as ZBTNd-GO and ZBTNd, respectively. The two sets of glasses were fabricated via melt-quenched process. A set of glass was coated with GO using low-cost spray coating method. The structural and morphological properties of the glass samples were investigated to confirm the type of structure in glass and formation of graphene oxide on glass surface. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirmed the amorphous structural arrangement in both sets of glass series. The morphological study proved the existence of GO layers on top of the ZBTNd-GO surface. The optical bandgap energy of ZBTNd-GO glass was found in the range of 3.253 eV–3.381 eV which was higher than ZBTNd glass. Meanwhile, the refractive index of ZBTNd-GO glass varies from 2.301 to 2.332 which was higher than ZBTNd glass due to the presence of functionalized oxygenated groups in GO structure. The oxide ion polarizability of ZBTNd-GO glass was found decreased due to the shift of optical band gap when coated with GO. This work offers a new form of glass that could be used as a new strategy to upgrade the current photonic materials

AC conductivity and dielectric properties of 98[20Li2O-xBi2O3-(80-x)TeO2]-2Ag mixed ionic-electronic glasses

Mixed ionic-electronic 98[20Li2O-xBi2O3-(80-x)TeO2]-2Ag (x = 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 15 mol%) glasses were prepared by melt-quenching technique to investigate their AC conductivity and dielectric properties. Structural analysis revealed the increase of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) up to x = 5 mol% before dropping at x = 7 mol% followed by a further increase at x > 7 mol%. The nonlinear behaviour of AC conductivity with Bi2O3 showed an initial increase in sAC until reaching a minimum at x = 7 and 11 mol% before increasing again at x > 11 mol%. The minimum is suggested to be due to the blocking effects of Bi2O3 towards ionic conduction caused by mixed ionic-electronic (MIE) effect. Other than that, dielectric constant displayed an anomalous decrease at x = 7 mol% followed by a steep increase at x > 7 mol%. This decrease could also be related to blocking effects induced by MIE that contributes to a reduction of space charge polarization. The anomalous decrease at x = 7 mol% coincided with a minimum of sAC for the same glass composition. Meanwhile, another nonlinear behaviour is observed on M' with a maximum at x = 7 and 11 mol% which coincided with the location of sAC minimum that may be due to MIE effect attributed to the blocking effect of Bi2O3 to migrating ions which then led to high resistance. Electrical modulus analysis reveals the non-Debye relaxation nature for the glass samples indicating the presence of dynamic ions processes

Rancang Bangun Sistem MyITS Dorm Menggunakan Metode Domain Driven Design dan Onion Architecture

MyITS Marketplace merupakan sebuah platform yang berfungsi sebagai integrasi dari banyaknya layanan yang tersedia di Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. Selain sebagai integrasi dari banyaknya layanan, sistem ini juga akan membantu pihak ITS dalam mempromosikan layanan ITS di luar sivitas akademik ITS. Salah satu layanan yang terdapat pada sistem myITS Marketplace adalah layanan Asrama Mahasiswa. Layanan Asrama Mahasiswa menawarkan Fasilitas hunian sewa yang disediakan bagi mahasiswa untuk tinggal selama masa studi di ITS Surabaya. Pengelolaan layanan Asrama Mahasiswa tersebut akan dikelola oleh sebuah sistem yang dirancang pada penelitian ini, bernama myITS Dorm. MyITS Dorm mempunyai tiga fungsional utama, yaitu pemesanan kamar oleh mahasiswa ITS, pengelolaan Fasilitas hunian oleh pengurus asrama ITS, dan pengelolaan kontrak antara mahasiswa dan pengurus asrama ITS. Tiap fungsional tersebut akan mempunyai sebuah proses bisnis yang cukup rumit, sehingga perancangan sistem myITS Dorm akan menggunakan metode Domain Driven Design, dimana melakukan analisis terhadap proses bisnisnya. Melalui rancangan yang telah dibuat, sistem akan diimplementasikan menggunakan Onion Architecture. Penggunaan Onion Architecture pada implementasi sistem ini akan membagi sistem myITS Dorm menjadi beberapa layer untuk mengurangi kompleksitas dari sistem myITS Dorm. Sistem myITS Dorm yang telah dibuat pada penelitian ini akan dievaluasi untuk setiap fungsionalnya, terutama fungsional yang berkaitan dengan fungsional utamanya. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah menghasilkan sebuah sistem myITS Dorm yang berjalan dengan baik sesuai dengan proses bisnisnya, terstruktur dan terkelola dengan baik, sehingga dalam pemeliharaan aplikasi maupun dalam pengembangan aplikasi lebih lanjut, dapat dilakukan dengan lebih efektif dan efisien

Hypersensitivity and nephelauxetic effect of Er3+ in bismuth tellurite glass system

The optical absorption and emission properties of 20Li2O-xBi2O3-(78-x)TeO2-1Er2O3-1Ag glass system had been analyzed to investigate the hypersensitivity shift and its mechanism. According to the Covalent model, the hypersensitive shift indicated by the drop of F2 at x = 5 mol% can be attributed to charge transfer from O2– ligands to Er3+ ions meanwhile according to the Dielectric screening model, drop of F2 may due to Er3+ ions contraction. The dynamic coupling mechanism was used to explain hypersensitivity transition probabilities in non-centrosymmetric systems. The addition of Bi2O3 may modify the site symmetry of Er3+ ions and oxygen to a high asymmetry τ2, resulting in an asymmetrical electron distribution, thus increasing Er-O covalency, as shown by the maximum Ω2 value at x = 5 mol%. The Er3+ ions site symmetry was investigated using Hamiltonian crystal field fitting in the frame of the D4 point symmetry model, which yielded maximum crystal field strength Nv at x = 5 mol%, indicating low point symmetry distortion of the Er3+ ions site symmetry

Comparative performance of single and binary metal selenides in dye-sensitized solar cells

Iron selenide (FeSe2), cobalt selenide (Co3Se4), and iron cobalt selenide (FeCo2Se4) have been synthesized via a two-step hydrothermal process. The formation of FeSe2, Co3Se4, and FeCo2Se4 has been proven by sample characterization to support their catalytic activity as the counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP)/propylene carbonate (PC)/1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME)/1-methyl-3-propyl imidazolium iodide (MPII)/sodium iodide (NaI)/iodine (I2) gel electrolytes were assembled into DSSCs with FeCo2Se4, FeSe2, Co3Se4, or platinum (Pt) as the counter electrode. The DSSC with FeCo2Se4 counter electrode shows an efficiency of 8.55, whereas Pt counter electrode shows an efficiency of 7.06. The highest performance of DSSC achieved with FeCo2Se4 can be attributed to its highest surface area and pore volume. Hence, FeCo2Se4 can be used as a Pt-free counter electrode for high-performance DSSCs