Effect of Carbamazepine on the Serum Level of Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone

Background: The thyroid gland is endocrine gland located in front and lower side of neck. Thyroid gland secretes two types of thyroid hormones that are triiodothyronine (T3) and tetraiodothyronine (T4). The hypothalamus is a center for regulation of thyroid hormones. It senses the low hormone levels and in turn releases thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). TRH stimulates anterior pituitary to release TSH which then acts on the thyroid gland to maintain normal level of T3 and T4. The objective of study is to determine the effects of carbamazepine on TRH in euthyroid rabbits.Methods: An experimental study performed on 30 rabbits. These were divided into three groups having 10 rabbits in each group. 10 rabbits were treated with 10mg/kg/day of CBZ (OD), other 10 with 35mg/kg/day CBZ (three divided doses) and 10 rabbits served as control. T3, FT4, TSH and TRH levels were evaluated at baseline and after 21 days of treatment in all three groups by Electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay and ELISA respectively.Results: Comparison of the hormone levels of the control group and the group having a dose of 10 mg/kg/day for 21 day of treatment. Comparative results showed serum level of T3 (P=0.031), FT4 (P=0.030), and TRH (P=0.044) levels significantly lower than the control group and TSH (P=0.057) levels remain unaltered. It was also found that group having a dose of 35 mg/kg/day; TDS showed decrease in T3 (P value 0.001), FT4 (P=0.001), TSH (P=0.003) and TRH (P=0.001) level as compared to control group.Conclusions: Our data suggest that Carbamazepine monotherapy does alter thyroid hormones and its central regulatory hormone TRH. Decrease in TRH level increase level of depression and suicidal thoughts and also risk of tertiary hypothyroidism. These findings could have very important clinical implications

Evaluation of bla SHV, bla TEM and bla OXA encoding Clinical Isolates from Chronic Tonsillitis using Phenotypic and Molecular Technique: First report from Pakistan

Objective: To evaluate bla SHV, bla TEM and bla OXA encoding clinical isolates in chronic tonsillitis using phenotypic and molecular techniques.Place and Duration:  The study was conducted in Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Punjab, Lahore from August 2016 to August 2017.Methodology: Sample processing, identification and characterization of isolates was done by using (CLSI, 2016) criteria. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by using disc diffusion assay and biofilm forming ability was analyzed by ring test and slime production test. Combination disc test was used for phenotypic detection of antibiotic resistance genes. Multiplex-PCR assay was used to check the presence of bla SHV, bla TEM and bla OXA genes. 16S rRNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis was performed.Results: Here, variable resistance pattern was observed against applied antibiotics. 100 % resistance towards azotreonam and penicillin was observed. While 60-85 % resistances were observed against cephalosporins. Biofilm formation increased with the passage of time. 77% strains indicated positive combination disc test. Multiplex-PCR indicated 60% strains harbored tested genes. 40 % bla SHV genes, 30 % bla TEM genes and 60% bla OXA genes were observed among selected isolates. GenBank Accession number obtained for Klebsiella pneumoniae was KY810693 and for S. aureus was KY810692.Conclusion: In conclusion, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus came out to be common causative agents of tonsillitis in the current study. Resistance towards multiple classes of antibiotics and strong biofilms of these micro-organisms explain the chronicity and recurrent nature of the infection. bla OXA genes were frequent among genes tested

Carotid artery Disease Assessed by Color Doppler Flow Imaging: Comparison Between Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients

Background: Carotid artery disease is most often seen in hypertensive patients and in patients with diabetes mellitus. More than 50% stenosis of extra cranial internal carotid arteries is linked with about 8–15% of ischemic strokes. The incidence of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) among diabetic patients is rising as compared to non-diabetic patients.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 120 patients, out of whom 60 were diabetic and 60 non-diabetics with clinically suspected carotid artery disease.  The study was conducted at the university ultrasound clinic in Green Town by Doppler ultrasonography using the Toshiba XARIO XG, which features a linear probe of 5-7.5 MHz frequency. The data was analyzed with the help of SPSS version 25.0. Variables like age, gender, diabetes, and Intima-media thickness (IMT) were reported and the mean ± standard deviation of Pulsatility Index, Resistive Index, Peak Systolic Velocity, and End Diastolic Velocity were calculated with a significant p-value, which is less than 0.05. An independent t-test was applied to compare Doppler indices in diabetic and non-diabetic subjects.Results: Data was collected from 120 patients. IMT of right and left carotid artery, PI and RI of right carotid were observed to be statistically significant in diabetic and non-diabetic.Conclusions: This study concluded that there is a significant correlation found between carotid artery disease and diabetes. Through ultrasonography, the presence of plaque and stenosis was found in more diabetic patients than in non-diabetic patients.Keywords: Ultrasonography; Carotid artery disease; Carotid artery stenosis; Carotid plaque; Vascular ultrasound; Diabetes   

Planning Fog networks for time-critical IoT requests

The massive growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the challenges of Cloud computing have increased the importance of Fog networks for timely processing the requests from delay-sensitive applications. A Fog network provides local aggregation, analysis, and processing of IoT requests that may or may not be time-critical. One of the major issues of Fog is its capacity planning considering the traffic load of time-critical requests. The response time can be huge if a time-critical request is processed on Cloud. The response time of a time-critical request can be big on the Fog layer if it is not prioritized. Hence, there is a need to handle the time-critical traffic on a priority basis at the Fog layer. In this paper, a priority queuing model with preemption has been proposed considering the mixed types of requests at the Fog layer. The proposed approach determines the required number of Fog nodes in order to satisfy the desired Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of IoT requests. The proposed mechanism is evaluated through simulations using the iFogSim simulator. The work can be used in the capacity planning of Fog networks

Gender Differences in Imaginary Audience And Depressive Symptomatology Among College Students

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate gender differences on Imaginary Audience (IA) and depression among college students. METHODOLOGY: Six hundred college students, both boys (n=299) and girls (n=274) completed cross sectional survey. Data was collected from different colleges of Peshawar (KPK) from September- December 2016 using purposive sampling technique. The age range of the sample was 17-22 (M=19, SD=1.47) years. Two scales, New Imaginary Audience Scale (NIAS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered to them.   RESULTS: Analysis of the findings was made using stepwise deletion technique for sample distribution and t-test. Statistically significant gender differences were found on New Imaginary Audience Scale (t=-2.48, p= .001) and Beck Depression Inventory (t=3.07, p= .02). Mean score was on NIAS were among girls, while on depression boys mean scores were prominent. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study concluded gender differences on both variables i-e NIAS and Depression. The findings further suggest that girls have prominent features of new imaginary audience in their student’s life whereas, boys pertain depressive symptoms during this period

Personality Traits as Predictor of Aggressive Behavior in Pubg Gamers. A Comparison between Agreeableness and Neuroticism

Background: PUBG has been criticized for being a violent game and extreme violence can lead to aggressive thoughts, emotions, and behavior which can negatively impact a player's mental health. Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between personality traits (agreeableness, neuroticism) and aggressive behavior among PUBG Gamers.  Design of the Study: A co relational research design and non-probability purposive sampling technique was used.  Place and Duration of the study: This study was conducted from March 2021 to December 2021 in Lahore and Faisalabad. Sample and Method: A random sample of 210 students, aged between 18 to 125 years (mean age=1.57, SD=.496.) were selected from different private and government academic institutions. A self-developed demographic sheet was administered along with the Big Five Inventory (BFI) (Goldberg, 1993), and The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) (1992) were used for assessment. For data analysis, IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis, and independent-sample t-test was used for result analysis. Results and Conclusion: It was revealed that neurotic (personality trait) is significantly and positively correlated with aggressive behavior, whereas it was negatively and significantly correlated with agreeableness (Personality Traits). The findings will be helpful for Families, friends, teachers, and therapists to manage the harmful impacts of PUBG on gamers having different personality trait

Evaluation of bla SHV, bla TEM and bla OXA encoding Clinical Isolates from Chronic Tonsillitis using Phenotypic and Molecular Technique: First report from Pakistan

Objective: To evaluate bla SHV, bla TEM and bla OXA encoding clinical isolates in chronic tonsillitis using phenotypic and molecular techniques.Place and Duration:  The study was conducted in Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Punjab, Lahore from August 2016 to August 2017.Methodology: Sample processing, identification and characterization of isolates was done by using (CLSI, 2016) criteria. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by using disc diffusion assay and biofilm forming ability was analyzed by ring test and slime production test. Combination disc test was used for phenotypic detection of antibiotic resistance genes. Multiplex-PCR assay was used to check the presence of bla SHV, bla TEM and bla OXA genes. 16S rRNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis was performed.Results: Here, variable resistance pattern was observed against applied antibiotics. 100 % resistance towards azotreonam and penicillin was observed. While 60-85 % resistances were observed against cephalosporins. Biofilm formation increased with the passage of time. 77% strains indicated positive combination disc test. Multiplex-PCR indicated 60% strains harbored tested genes. 40 % bla SHV genes, 30 % bla TEM genes and 60% bla OXA genes were observed among selected isolates. GenBank Accession number obtained for Klebsiella pneumoniae was KY810693 and for S. aureus was KY810692.Conclusion: In conclusion, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus came out to be common causative agents of tonsillitis in the current study. Resistance towards multiple classes of antibiotics and strong biofilms of these micro-organisms explain the chronicity and recurrent nature of the infection. bla OXA genes were frequent among genes tested