Psychosocial predictors of quality of life post myocardial Infarction: A prospective cohort study in Pakistan

Introduction: The current study examined the psychosocial predictors (Type D personality, anxiety, depression & social support) in patients following MI. It further assessed the influence of these psychosocial predictors on quality of life of MI patients. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 300 patients with definite myocardial infarction were recruited and assessed at baseline (2 -8 weeks) post MI (time 1). Out of 300 participants 191 completed assessments at 9 months follow up (time 2). Type D personality was evaluated with Distress scale 14(DS-14). Depression and anxiety were assessed with Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). Social support was measured with Social support scale (SSS), while quality of Life was assessed with WHO quality of life scale (WHOQOL-BREF) at time 1 and time 2. Results: Analysis revealed that a significantly high percentage of MI patients had Type D personality characteristics, high levels of anxiety, depression and low level of social support. Type D personality and depression emerged as most significant predictors of quality of life after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables at time 1 and time 2 assessments. Discussion & Conclusion: This research emphasized the importance of Type D personality, anxiety, depression, and lack of social support in risk stratification for adverse outcomes such as impaired quality of life. This research highlighted the need for a more personalized approach to therapeutic interventions along with medical treatment for the management and rehabilitation of MI patients.Fatima Jinnah Women University of Pakistan and The Higher Education Commissio

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

Investigating English Speaking Problems of Lawyers in Court Proceedings

Lawyers of Pakistan are facing numerous challenges while performing at their workplaces. One of the major challenges is proficiency in English language which plays the key role in getting justice. The aim of this paper is to investigate the English-speaking problems faced by the lawyers in court proceedings of Hyderabad, Sindh. For this purpose, qualitative methodology has been used in which Semi-structured interviews were conducted from (n = 5) lawyers. Convenient sampling was used to select the participants based on their convenience. Thematic analysis was done for analyzation of the data. Findings of the data revealed that lawyers were facing numerous English-speaking problems such as grammatical mistakes, vocabulary error, inappropriate use of sentences and so on. Keywords: English-speaking, Lawyers, Court Proceedings, Problems. DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/83-02 Publication date: November 30th 202

Exploring Language Attitudes of Undergraduate English Language Learners Towards Sindhi (L1) and English (L2)

The aim of this paper was to investigate the language attitudes of undergraduate English language learners (ELLs) towards Sindhi (their mother tongue) and English language which were affected through dominant discourse of language policy. The participants for the current study were selected from the Institute of English language and Literature, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. The study used semi structured interviews in order to collect the in-depth data about language attitudes of students towards Sindhi and English language. The researcher used purposive sampling, total number of the participants considered in the study were (n=10). Thematic analysis was used for analysisng the data of the study. The findings of the study revealed that undergraduate English language learners (ELLs) have more positive attitudes towards English language than Sindhi language (their mother tongue). The participants perceived that their personalities are grooming. They are being encouraged and considered educated when they speak English language. On the other hand talking about language attitudes towards Sindhi language participants shared that they don’t feel any change in their personalities. They are discouraged to speak Sindhi language and considered as less hard working and less intelligent when they speak Sindhi language. Keywords: Language attitude, English language learners, Sindhi, English, language policy. DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/84-02 Publication date: December 31st 202

Increasing access to reproductive health care through improved service delivery

The study documented in this report examines the provision and utilization of public and private sector maternal and child health services in Punjab, Pakistan with a focus on family planning (FP) services. It is aimed at enabling a better understanding of the specific demand and supply dynamics leading to low contraceptive prevalence despite unmet need, and the opportunities that must be seized to enhance access to quality family planning services. The report is part of a larger project being implemented by the Population Council with the assistance of the Department for International Development, UK entitled “Sustaining Focus on Provincial Governments for FP 2020 Goals and Increasing Access to Reproductive Healthcare through Improved Service Delivery.” The findings of the study suggest that there is scope for improving delivery of FP services and methods through all four major sectors, i.e., the public health facilities, the private health facilities, Lady Health Workers, and pharmacies. Based on its findings, the report recommends specific measures and approaches to address unmet need for family planning and the skewed method mix in Punjab

The availability and quality of family planning services across eight districts in Pakistan: The potential and the constraints

This report forms part of a multipronged investigation to determine why, despite evident unmet need for family planning, contraceptive prevalence especially for modern methods remains so low in Pakistan. The research, conducted by the Population Council with the support of the Research and Advocacy Fund, consists of four component studies: 1) review of relevant academic, program, and policy literature; 2) a qualitative study of perspectives of men, women, and service providers in the country on family planning; 3) a situation analysis of contraceptive quality, supply, and access factors at health facilities; and 4) an examination of supply issues affecting the availability of contraceptives. This report presents the latter two studies

Post-abortion care in Pakistan: A national study

The objectives of this Population Council study were twofold: first to collect information on prevailing practices of abortion and post‐abortion care in Pakistan and, second, to gauge changes in the magnitude and quality of abortion‐related complications and care during the last decade (since the 2002 national study of “Unwanted Pregnancy and Post‐abortion Complications in Pakistan”). The study found that the level of post‐abortion family planning (FP) counseling in both public and private health facilities offering PAC services was inadequate. There has been no improvement over the decade in the level of counseling reported, and, even more disappointingly, only half of health facilities provided women receiving PAC with contraceptives. We therefore recommend that family planning should be included in all medical curricula, from the undergraduate level to in-service trainings. Interaction, coordination, and synergy between the departments of family planning and gynecology/obstetrics in hospitals should be strengthened to ensure that contraceptive supplies and FP counseling become standard operating procedure both following a delivery (postpartum) and after women have received post‐abortion care

Influence of personality traits on open access mode of publishing

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence of personality traits on perception and acceptance of open access (OA) mode of publishing by the author community of University of Kashmir, India. The study is an attempt to highlight the relationship between personality traits of authors and OA mode of publishing. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on the responses of 48 faculty members affiliated with different Departments of Science Discipline of University of Kashmir. Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience) were tapped through ten-item personality inventory, and information regarding OA was gauged through six self-devised statements. Findings – Pearson correlation test confirms statistically significant relation between personality traits and different dimensions of OA mode of publishing. Personality traits are found to have an influence on author’s perception of OA mode of publishing. However, the study could not ascertain any relation between the notions of an author about the quality of OA content with any of the personality traits. Emotionally stable authors are found to explicitly submit their work in OA journals without any anxiety or negativity. Agreeable and conscientious authors also prefer to keep their work open to make it helpful to the broader audience and get maximum recognition from peers and citations to their work respectively. However, some authors (agreeable) hesitate in submitting their work in open platforms due to the fear of getting their works easily copie

Using Spiritual Connections to Cope With Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress and anxiety were pervasive among the masses due to high morbidity and mortality. Besides the fear of coronavirus was also particularly driven by social media. Many people started to look for faith and spiritual connections to gain comfort. The role of spiritual ties and religious beliefs in relation to coping with pandemic stress has acquired the attention of researchers in some parts of the world. This cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the intensity of stress and anxiety symptoms experienced by people and how much they were alleviated by employing spiritual connections. The study sample comprises 795 respondents with 52% males and 48% females living in Saudi Arabia. The brief online study questionnaire collected data about background variables, anxiety and stress scale from DASS-21, and items from the WHOQOL (SRBP) instrument assessed the use of spiritual beliefs to cope. Multiple regression models were tested to determine the role of spiritual connections after adjusting demographic variables. Results illustrated that after adjusting for gender and age, participants’ anxiety symptoms decreased by (β = −0.27; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in the use of spiritual connections, and participants’ stress symptoms reduce by (β = −0.36; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in coping with spirituality. Additionally, females’ risk to experience anxiety and stress symptoms was more than males [(β = 0.88; p = 0.01) and (β = 0.92; p = 0.000)], respectively. An increase in age decreases the likelihood of experiencing anxiety symptoms and stress symptoms by (β = −0.75; p = 0.02) and (β = −0.11; p = 0.000) units, respectively. Findings support the protective role of spiritual connections despite small beta coefficients. The social and cultural context in Saudi Arabia favors deep-rooted connections with spirituality and faith. Our findings support the fact that the reliance on spiritual connections helped older people to deal with exaggerated fear during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduces the risk of experiencing anxiety and stress symptoms. Females and younger participants were relatively vulnerable to developing these symptoms. We discussed these findings considering some recent studies that reported similar relationships and made recommendations for future research