CDX-2 expression in colorectal cancer: A single centre study from Pakistan

Introduction:  Tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, share a major burden for mortality and morbidity all over the world. The most common site of carcinoma of GIT is colon and rectum (70%). The etiological factors may be environmental (diet) and genetic. CDX-2 has been proposed as being present in most of the cases with colorectal carcinoma. Objective: To determine the frequency of positive expression of CDX2 in diagnosed cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed on haematoxylin and eosin stain. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study and was conducted at ---(deleted for blind review)--- over period of 2 years We included all paraffin embedded tissue sections of colorectal carcinoma of both genders with an age range of 25-75 years. Specimens were stained with Heamatoxylin and Eosin (H & E) and examined microscopically for presence or absence of invasive cancer. Another specimen was taken and stained with CDX2. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: A total of 125 cases with colorectal carcinoma diagnosed on H & E stain were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was found to be 52.66 ± 14.62 years. In this study, 67 patients (53.6%) were male and 58 patients (46.4%) were having final diagnosis of Adenocarcinoma. Regarding the site, most common lesion involved rectum, followed by sigmoid colon and ascending colon. Among 125 specimens reviewed, 112 patients (89.6%) were CDX-2 positive while 13 patients (10.4%) were CDX-2 negative. Also we stratified the CDX-2 expression according to site and type of colorectal carcinoma and was found significant for both of these (P<0.05). Conclusion: We concluded that CDX-2 was present in almost 90% of colorectal carcinoma specimens so it can be used as an important diagnostic tool for colorectal carcinoma during histopathological diagnosis. Keywords: Colorectal carcinoma; CDX-2; Hematoxylin; Eosi

Analysis of user-generated content from online social communities to characterize and predict depression degree

The identification of a mental disorder at its early stages is a challenging task because it requires clinical interventions that may not be feasible in many cases. Social media such as online communities and blog posts have shown some promising features to help detect and characterise mental disorder at an early stage. In this work, we make use of user-generated content to identify depression and further characterise its degree of severity. We used the user-generated post contents and its associated mood tag to understand and differentiate the linguistic style and sentiments of the user content. We applied machine learning and statistical analysis methods to discriminate the depressive posts and communities from non-depressive ones. The depression degree of a depressed post is identified using variations of valence values based on the mood tag. The proposed methodology achieved 90%, 95% and 92% accuracy for the classification of depressive posts, depressive communities and depression degree, respectively. </jats:p

What Factors Lead to Affect Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan? A Sector Level Empirical Investigation

This study investigates the factors that lead to affect foreign direct investment (FDI), using Pooled data for five sectors namely, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, transport, storage and communication, construction and trade and commerce for 1972 to 2018 in Pakistan. This study also investigates that whether the determinants of FDI are same or different across sectors? To further analyze the role of policy variables, dummy for privatization and liberalization have been introduced. Using Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), this study found the presence of long run relationship among variables. Further, the results of panel as well as individual time series regression suggest that in the long run, variables such as agglomeration, market size, market growth, domestic investment, labor productivity, financial performance, political instability, privatization and liberalization are deep determinants of FDI across sectors. Results also show that in the short run, only agglomeration, market size, market growth and dummy of political instability are significant variables. Moreover, the importance of policy variables (privatization and liberalization) cannot be denied. The result of this study recommends coherent and sound policy measures for further policy formulation of FDI inflows across sectors. With reference to policy formulation, special attention should be given to manufacturing sector-based infrastructure, research and development and outward looking export orientated policies to improve manufacturing sector performance. Political stability is most desirous phenomenon to attract FDI

A New Era of Multiculturalism and the Role of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 21st Century

Multiculturalism is thoroughly connected with &ldquo;identity politics,&rdquo; &ldquo;the politics of difference,&rdquo; and &ldquo;the politics of recognition,&rdquo; which assigns a promise to increasing disparaged appearances and shifting leading arrangements of illustration as well as interaction which disregards definite units. It encompasses claims of fiscal benefits, political power, distinctiveness and culture. In this backdrop, the article targets to analyze traditional interaction as a panacea of all social and border disputes in this new century through the Chinese BRI connecting the current situation along historical linkages of Old Silk Road (OSR). Likewise, the basic purpose of this study is to investigate how seventy states in BRI project can be unified through cultural collaboration other than political, economic and strategic partnership, following Chinese pushing forward scheme in New Silk Road (NSR). In fact, BRI would provide all stakeholders of this project a golden opportunity to value their disregarded culture whose ethos lost actual worth because of Western rule since decades in this landmass. Moreover, the study is grounded with the theoretical approaches of cross-cultural power and leading theorizers of multiculturalism supported by Confucius, Iqbal, Nietzsche, Ibn Khaldun, Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka. Besides, the data have been taken from the official reports, reports on cultural meetings among diplomats from BRI official sites and archival holy manuscripts to reevaluate the value of marginalized local cultures of Arabian, Indian and Chinese civilizations. Overall, the study distinguishes that how diversity is the real beauty of Asia and manifold culture of Asia is embedded with each other because of erstwhile historical links and it‟s tough to separate diverse identities of Asia on ethnic and communal ground

The determinants of the CEO successor choice in family firms

This paper studies the factors that influence the CEO succession decision in family firms whose incumbent CEO is a member of the controlling family. The sample includes all such firms from France, Germany and the UK. We propose a new measure of directors' independence, which adjusts for various links with the controlling family. While we find that conventionally defined directors' independence has no impact on the CEO succession decision, our corrected measure reduces the likelihood of the successor being another family member. There is also evidence that firms from France that are cross-listed in the UK or USA are less likely to appoint another family CEO

Some new lichen records from Pakistan

During a survey of the lichens in the state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, many specimens were collected from the Jhelum and Neelum valley and characterized using morpho-anatomical, molecular and chemical test methods. Two taxa new for Pakistan, i.e., Physciella chloanta and Xanthoparmelia protomatrae s. l., were found in the collection while Physconia enteroxantha represent range extensions within Pakistan. Morpho-anatomical descriptions, ecology and distribution are provided

Urinary Tract infection in patients of Diabetes Mellitus

ABSTRACTObjective:This study was conducted to know the incidence of Urinary Tract Infection in the patients of diabetes mellitus.Place and time of study:                                           This study was conducted in Outdoor patient department of THQ Hospital Pattoki, Pakistan lasting from January 2018 to June 2018.Materials and Methods:                                       Every patient who had diabetes mellitus from last 3 years was included in our study. Patients were asked about asked about symptoms of UTI and fever on a preformed questionnaire. Urine samples were collected and then urine cultures were obtained. Informed Consent was obtained from every patient prior to inclusion in the study.Results:             A total of 376 patients were included in our study. The mean age was  49.32  + 2.2 with range from 36-60 years. 200 patients were male whereas 176 patients were female. 49(13.03%) patients had positive blood cultures. Out of 49 UTI patients , 30(61.22%) were asymptomatic whereas 19(26.54%) were having symptomatic UTI. Out of 49 UTI patients , 36(73.46%)  were female whereas 13(26.54%) were males. The most common organism isolated was E.Coli, in 32(65.30%) patients whereas rest of the patient cultures showed other species.Conclusions:                      Asymptomatic bacteriruia is very common and every known patient of diabetes mellitus must be screened for UTI periodically.Keywords:                  UTI ; Diabetes Mellitus; Urine culture ; E.Col