Smoking Behaviour Among Resident University Students In North India: Some Issues And Challenges

The use of tobacco as cigarettes has taken a form of epidemic. Unless it is not managed properly and in time it may become an uncontrollable behavior leading to long term health and social problem. This paper is based on a survey that was intended to explore the smoking habits of university students residing in hostels, their perception towards it, factors associated with it and their implications. The study was conducted using a questionnaire based survey among 200 students, who were in the habit of smoking, belonging to different classes and residing in the hostels of a residential central University of North India. It was found that smokers were mainly from urban background. More than a quarter of the smokers spent more than 600 rupees per month on smoking only. The most important reasons given by students for smoking behavior was peer pressure followed by tension. Most of them had started smoking between 14-17 years of age, followed by 17- 21 yrs. age group. The number of cigarettes used increased with seniority. Most of the surveyed students wanted to leave the habit but could not do so because of bad habit followed by tension. 51% faced health problems, the major ones being respiratory problems. The study suggests that most effective control of the habit can be achieved by targeting the students of adolescent age and minimizing the tension among them.   Keywords: Smoking, Adolescents, students’ behavior, central universit

Mobile Based Multi-Appointment Management System For ITU-UUM

Managing appointment for the executives in any institution and especially to bring different people from different places together is really hard to coordinate. Technologies improve lives as many people are going to benefit from Information and Communication Technology to reduce time and effort in doing routine work. The objectives of this study are to develop and evaluate a mobile based multi-appointment management system. The proposed system would be easier to coordinate meetings. Moreover, the users will be aware of any modification or cancellation on the appointment timing. The system requirements have been achieved for these objectives. It is called Mobile-based Multi-Appointment Management System M-MAMS which was modeled, prototyped, and evaluated throughout this study. This study will also propose a new scheduling technique that relies on a managerial hierarchy of the meeting system of ITU-UUM ASP CoE

Early Versus Delayed Feeding in Paediatric Patients Following Stoma Reversal in a Resource Limited Environment

Introduction: Institution of early enteral nutrition is essential after stoma reversal. There is no consensus on the time feeding should be started after closure of a stoma in children. It is established that after stoma reversal early achievement of full feed and early discharge affects the overall cost in resource limited countries. Materials and Methods: This Randomized control trial was conducted in the Paediatric Surgery Department of Services Hospital, Lahore. Over a period of 1 year, from April 2016 to March 2017, a total of 100 cases were included.  In group A, early feeding (after 36 to 48hours) and in group B delayed (after 5days) feeding was given to the patients. Time for restoration of full feed and length of hospital stay and complications were compared in both groups. Each patient was observed in the ward till discharge and followed up to 30 days in the out-patient department. The data was recorded and analyzed in SPSS version 20. Independent sample t-test was applied to obtain the p-value for comparing the means. P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results:  In both groups age, weight and etiology of stoma was comparable.  The full feed was achieved within 56.66 ± 7.77 hours in group A and 156.76 ± 7.96 hours in group B (P<0.005). Mean length of hospital stay was 5.84 ± 0.84 days in group A, while it was 9.50 ± 0.76 days in group B (P<0.005). Conclusion: Early enteral feeding after stoma reversal is well tolerated and beneficial. It is suggested that early feeding protocol should be encouraged in a resource limited environment

Relationship between IoT Service User Quality and Network QoS Factors

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a complete network of networked computer devices, digital and mechanical equipment, and the capacity to send data over the Internet based on machine to machine interaction. It is also known as the Internet of Everything (IoE). The Internet is a packet-switched network, which means that the Quality of Service (QoS) elements (such as packet loss, latency, jitter, and so on) have an influence on the Quality of Experience (QoE) for the Internet of Things services. This research used a subjective evaluation method in order to evaluate the relationship between the quality of service (QoS) measures such as packet loss, latency, and jitter and the quality of experience (QoE) for Internet of Things services. In addition to that, a mapping model from quality of service to quality of experience was suggested. According to the results of this research, there is a close connection between the subjective opinion score and the quality of service (QoS) variables such as packet loss, latency, and jitter. The results of this investigation open up possibilities for additional research into the quality of experience of Internet of Things services

Quantum chemical study of heterocyclic organic compounds on the corrosion inhibition

Corrosion damages all materials, necessitating replacement and inspection related expenses. Thus, the demand has increased for new corrosion inhibitor materials. The ratios of corrosion inhibition of materials are different, but organic compounds have high efficiency in aqueous corrosion inhibition for various alloys and metals. This efficiency can increase in the presence of O, N and S. The molecule provides great inhibition with the presence of both S and N atoms in the same compound. This paper investigates the 1, 3, 4-thiadiazole molecule and electronic structure of several organic compounds such as R1 and R2 which consist of different substituent groups. They were united to the ring of 1, 3, 4-thiadiazole to provide nine different derivatives. Quantum computations (density functional theory, DFT) at 6-311G++ (d, p) basis set and Becke’s three parameters hybrid (B3LYP) level were performed using Gaussian program. The purpose of this study is to determine the chemical behaviour of several heterocyclic organic compounds and to understand the process of the corrosion inhibition

The functional outcome of direct lateral approach for fixation of proximal humeral fractures: A case series from a tertiary care hospital

Displaced proximal humeral fractures warrant surgical fixation for early rehabilitation and better functional outcome. These fractures are traditionally fixed by delto pectoral surgical approach. Direct lateral approach has recently gained interest as it involves less soft tissue dissection and is particularly helpful in certain fracture patterns. However, there have been concerns of axillary nerve damage with this approach. We report a case series of proximal humerus fractures fixed by direct lateral approach from our institution. All displaced Type 2 and 3 fractures were included in our study. Pathological and comminuted Type 4 fractures and fractures with ipsilateral clavicle or elbow fractures were excluded. Oxford Shoulder Score was done at regular intervals for assessment of functional outcome. We did not observe any axillary nerve damage in our case series and the outcomes of 70.5% of our patients were excellent while in 29.5% it was good. We recommend direct lateral approach for specific pattern of proximal humerus fractures

Hybrid Machine Learning Technique for Forecasting Dhaka Stock Market Timing Decisions

Forecasting stock market has been a difficult job for applied researchers owing to nature of facts which is very noisy and time varying. However, this hypothesis has been featured by several empirical experiential studies and a number of researchers have efficiently applied machine learning techniques to forecast stock market. This paper studied stock prediction for the use of investors. It is always true that investors typically obtain loss because of uncertain investment purposes and unsighted assets. This paper proposes a rough set model, a neural network model, and a hybrid neural network and rough set model to find optimal buy and sell of a share on Dhaka stock exchange. Investigational findings demonstrate that our proposed hybrid model has higher precision than the single rough set model and the neural network model. We believe this paper findings will help stock investors to decide about optimal buy and/or sell time on Dhaka stock exchange

Preventive role of Withania somnifera on hyperlipidemia and cardiac oxidative stress in streptozotocin induced type 2 diabetic rats

Purpose: The present study was intended to investigate the preventive role of Withania somnifera (WS) on hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress in the heart of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic rats.Methods: Single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (100 mg/kg) was given to 2 days rat pups to induce type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes was confirmed 90 days after the administration of STZ by measuring blood glucose level. WS (200 and 400 mg/kg) was administered orally once a day for 5 weeks after the confirmation of diabetes. Glucose, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine kinase (CK), total cholesterol (TCh), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), verylow density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and markers of oxidative stress parameters like lipid peroxidation (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were evaluated in the heart of type 2 diabetic rats.Results: Oral administration of WS for 5 weeks resulted in a significant (P<0.001) reduction in glucose, LDH, CK, TC, TG, LDL-C, VLDL-C levels with significant elevation of HDL-C levels. On the other hand, WS treated diabetic rats significantly (P<0.01-P<0.001) reduced the elevated levels of LPO, increased levels of antioxidant enzymes (i.e, GSH, GPx, GR, GST, SOD and CAT).Conclusion: These findings propose the role of hyperlipidemia and cardiac oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic rats and suggested protective effect of WS in this animal model.Keywords: Withania somnifera; Hyperlipidemia; Oxidative stress; Streptozotocin; Type 2 diabete

Development and optimization of fluoxetine orally disintegrating tablets using Box-Behnken design

Purpose: To develop and optimise some variables that influence fluoxetine orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) formulation.Methods: Fluoxetine ODTs tablets were prepared using direct compression method. Three-factor, 3- level Box-Behnken design was used to optimize and develop fluoxetine ODT formulation. The design suggested 15 formulations of different lubricant concentration (X1), lubricant mixing time (X2), and compression force (X3) and then their effect was monitored on tablet weight (Y1), thickness (Y2), hardness (Y3), % friability (Y4), and disintegration time (Y5).Results: All powder blends showed acceptable flow properties, ranging from good to excellent. The disintegration time (Y5) was affected directly by lubricant concentration (X1). Lubricant mixing time (X2) had a direct effect on tablet thickness (Y2) and hardness (Y3), while compression force (X3) had a direct impact on tablet hardness (Y3), % friability (Y4) and disintegration time (Y5). Accordingly, Box-Behnken design suggested an optimized formula of 0.86 mg (X1), 15.3 min (X2), and 10.6 KN (X3). Finally, the prediction error percentage responses of Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, and Y5 were 0.31, 0.52, 2.13, 3.92 and 3.75 %, respectively. Formula 4 and 8 achieved 90 % of drug release within the first 5 min of dissolution test.Conclusion: Fluoxetine ODT formulation has been developed and optimized successfully using Box- Behnken design and has also been manufactured efficiently using direct compression technique.Keywords: Box-Behnken experimental design, Orally disintegrating tablets, Direct compression, Antidepressant, Magnesium stearate, Mixing tim

Antidiabetic potential of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf extract in type 2 diabetic rats, and its mechanism of action

Purpose: To explore the antidiabetic potential of Moringa oleifera leaf extract in type 2 diabetic rats, and the underlying mechanisms.Methods: Streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 40 mg/kg was given to high fat diet (HFD)- fed rats to induce type 2 diabetes. M. oleifera leaf extract at doses 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg were given to 3 groups of type 2 diabetic rats. The area under curve (AUC) of glucose and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-R) were calculated using appropriate formulas, whereas levels of glucose,insulin, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPARγ, dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β and TNFα) were assayed using ELISA kits.Results: The leaf extract of M. oleifera significantly reduced the levels of glucose, insulin and cytokines in treated type 2 diabetic groups (p < 0.05). DC group had significantly increased AUC for glucose, whereas the extract-treated groups showed significant  decrease in glucose AUC. There was significant decrease in insulin sensitivity parameters, as indicated by increase in HOMA-R and decrease in PPARγ levels in the DC group (p < 0.05). However, treatment with the M. oleifera extract reversed this trend via marked decrease in HOMA-R level and significant rise in PPARγ level. In contrast, the extract had no effect on DPP-IV concentration in diabetic treated groups (p < 0.05).Conclusion: These results indicate that M. oleifera leaf extract mitigates hyperglycemia in type 2 DM by modulating hyperinsulinemia, PPARγ and inflammatory cytokines. Thus, the extract is a potential source of drug for the management of type 2 DM. Keywords: Moringa oleifera, Diabetes mellitus, Streptozotocin, Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ, Dipeptidyl peptidase I