446 research outputs found

    Role of testicular elastography in the evaluation of male infertility: a comparative cross-sectional study

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    Background: An estimated 70 million people worldwide are thought to be affected by some severity of infertility. Ultrasound, MRI, and invasive procedures like venography and vasography are the usual investigations taken for the evaluation of infertility. Ultrasound is the preferred initial modality due to its availability and non-invasive nature. In our study, we evaluated the usefulness of advanced ultrasound techniques like Doppler and Elastography and compared the results with biochemical parameters of semen analysis. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of one year, on men between the ages of 22 and 45, with normal or abnormal sperm analysis reports, who presented with inability to conceive. The testicular parenchyma resistive index, shear value and shear ratio were recorded. The mean values of the data and their standard deviations were assessed and compared by Student’s t-test. The correlation of semen parameters with RI and shear wave indices was tested by One way ANOVA test, with a p value<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: Our study found that strain value and strain ratio were significantly elevated in the non-fertile group compared to the fertile group. The resistive index of the intraparenchymal arteries did not show any difference between infertile and fertile men. Conclusions: Hence, we concluded that strain value and strain ratio are important investigative tools in the evaluation of male infertility. However, since our study was conducted on a small sample, larger large-scale studies are useful in establishing a concrete conclusion

    Exploring Association of Economic Ties and Social Interaction Between Minorities and Muslims in Pakistan

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    Financial The socio-political adjustment and economic well-being of minority groups has been reported as one of the important issues in the recent time in Pakistan. The study was conducted to know the adjustment issues of Christians and Sikhs minorities in District Peshawar and Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. More specifically, the aim of this study was to explore how Sikhs and Christian minorities in Pakistan are adjusted in the social fabric of Muslim majority areas and to what extent their economic ties with Muslims are strengthening their overall social interaction in the area. A total of 372 respondents from the targeted locales were selected through proportional allocation through Sekaran table and data was collected based on five-point Likert scale. The economic activities of the minorities were selected as independent variables while the level of social interaction was obtained as dependent variables. The collected data was analysed at uni-variate level through frequency distribution and Chi square test was performed at bi-variate level. It was found that minorities are fully enjoying participation in the economic activities which results in strong social ties and interaction in their daily lives with Muslim majority in the study area. However, it was also found that the minorities are still underprivileged in the area of economic and business activities in Pakistan

    EFFECTS OF REMITTANCES ON PER CAPITA ECONOMIC GROWTH OF PAKISTAN

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    This study investigates the effects of remittances on per capita economicgrowth of Pakistan for the period 1976 to 2013. The Auto RegressiveDistributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds testing model was employed toexplore short run and long run liaison of remittances with per capitaeconomic growth. The analyses evidence statistically significantpositive long run and short run impacts of remittances on per capitaeconomic growth. Based upon the empirical results, this study suggeststhat government should formulate and adopt policies which canfurther motivate and enhance remittances inflow, and hence a morepromising economic growth

    Genetic diversity in threatened plant species Alnus nitida (Spach.) Endel

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    Alnus nitida (Spach) Endl. is an ethnobotanically important threatened plant species. The genetic diversity among the 50 different genotypes of Alnus nitida was carried out using sodium dodecyl sulfate poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) characterization. A considerable amount of genetic diversity (90%) was observed among the genotypes of A. nitida. The protein characterization was carried out on 12% gel electrophoresis. A total of 10 protein bands were detected in A. nitida genotypes. SDS-PAGE procedure is a useful method for the investigation of both genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship. Especially, B-5 was monomorphic in A. nitida genotypes and was considered as species specific. All other bands/loci were polymorphic. These polymorphic bands displayed 12, 16, 72, 88, 2, 44, 84, 54 and 12 percent variation respectively. In the present examination, the high intra-specific diversity was observed representing SDS-PAGE is a powerful tool for determining the genetically diverse germplasms in A. nitida. The results obtained by this study could be helpful in the identification and selection of desired genotypes of Alnus nitida for conservation programmes in future. Today, there is still a need to assess genetic variation and protect genetic resources, especially of wild species for prospective benefits in plant conservation programmes

    Debt capacity, debt choice, and underinvestment problem: Evidence from China

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    This study investigates how short-term debt and debt capacity help firms to make efficient financing decisions and reduce underinvestment problem. The sample includes Chinese nonfinancial firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges over the period 2007 to 2017. The findings indicate that short-term debt is positively related to leverage. The results also indicate that growth positively influences leverage. The results further show that short-term debt enhances the positive impact of growth on leverage. These findings reveal that short-term debt makes firms financially flexible, and allows them to obtain more cost-effective debt by repricing and renegotiation of debt contracts in the presence of valuable growth opportunities. Furthermore, the results illustrate that debt capacity is positively associated with leverage, suggesting that debt capacity helps firms to have an easy access to the credit market and reduce liquidity risk. Overall, the findings remain consistent across different types of firms (state-owned [S.O.E.] and non-state-owned enterprises [N.S.O.E.]) and by considering alternative proxy of growth

    Predictors of hospital stay and mortality in dengue virus infection-experience from Aga Khan University Hospital Pakistan

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    Background: Dengue virus infection (DVI) is very common infection. There is scarcity of data on factor associated with increased hospitalstay and mortality in dengue virus infection (DVI). This study was done to know about factors associated with increased hospital stay and mortality in patients admitted with DVI. Results: Out of 532 patients, two third (72.6%) had stay ≤3 days while one third (27.4%) had stay greater than 3 days. The mean length of hospital stay was 3.46 ± 3.45 days. Factors associated with increased hospital stay (\u3e3 days) included AKI (acute kidney injury) (Odd ratio 2.98; 95% CI 1.66-5.34), prolonged prothrombin time (Odd ratio 2.03; 95% CI 1.07-3.84), prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) (Odd ratio 1.80; CI 95% 1.15-2.83) and increased age of \u3e 41.10 years (Odd ratio 1.03; CI 95% 1.01-1.04).Mortality was 1.5%. High mortality was found in those with AKI (P \u3c0.01), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) (P \u3c0.001), respiratory failure (P0.01), prolong PT (P 0.001), prolong aPTT (P0.01) and increased hospital stay (P0.04). Conclusion: Increasing age, coagulopathy and acute kidney injury in patients with DVI is associated with increased hospital stay. Morality was more in patients with AKI, DHF and DSS, respiratory failure, coagulopathy and these patients had more prolonged hospitalization

    Analysis and verification of leakage inductance calculation in DAB converters based on high-frequency toroidal transformers under different design scenarios

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    High-frequency transformers are becoming an essential component in the integration of power resources that rely on power electronic converters; their efficiency and performance are influenced by parasitic characteristics in the interface. In this article, the design of a high-frequency toroidal transformer has been explained in detail using the ANSYS Maxwell platform. Various parameters, such as leakage inductance, magnetic flux density, magnetic field strength and uniform magnetic flux line are analyzed using Finite element analysis. High-frequency transformers using a toroidal core with different winding configurations are examined and all parameters obtained through simulation are validated by an analytical approach. Analysis of each design is based on its leakage inductances, which will aid in the appropriate selection of transformers as a function of their operating frequency. This analysis is expected to guide designers to optimize the high-frequency transformer parameters based on practical applications. The optimized parameters are then applied for a dual active bridge (DAB) converter within MATLAB/Simulink to verify the design process. A prototype has been built to validate the simulation and design procedure. The results obtained from both simulation and experiments are compared and show great correlation
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