PENGELOLAAN TANAMAN TERPADU (PTT) JAGUNG MENINGKATKAN PENDAPATAN PETANI Dl LAHAN KERING PAPUA

Kajian bertujuan menganalisis dan memperoleh informasi teknologi peningkatan produktivitas sebagai sumber pertumbuhan baru jagung pada lahan kering agroekosistem dataran rendah di sentra pengembangan Kabupaten Nabire. Pengkajian dilaksanakan Agustus hingga November 2013. Pemilihan lokasi secara purposive atas dasar Kabupaten Nabire merupakan salah satu sentra pengembangan jagung di Papua. Dari Nabire ditentukan Distrik Wanggar yang terluas menanam jagung, kemudian ditentukan kampung Wiraska, kemudian ditentukan kelompok tani Sri Rejeki. Kegiatan lapang menggunakan rakitan teknologi spesifik lokasi dengan pendekatan PTT jagung, melibatkan 12 petani sebagai kooperator (introduksi) dengan luas kajian tiga ha. Sebagai pembanding, data dikumpulkan dari petani non kooperator (eksisting) menggunakan kuisioner sebanyak 55 petani. Data yang dikumpulkan: data sosial ekonomi (input dan output), keragaan teknologi usahatani jagung. Untuk petani kooperator dikumpulkan dengan farm record keeping. Data dianalisis secara kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Hasil: pada kondisi eksisting, petani menggunakan pupuk Urea 35,6 kg+14,5 kg SP-36_KCl 7,2 kg+fhonska 62,4 kg per ha dengan tingkat produktivitas 2,71 ton per ha dengan tingkat pendapatan Rp 6.030.310 per ha. Petani kooperator produktivitasnya 3,957 ton per ha, tingkat pendapatan Rp 10.616.500. Produktivitas petani kooperator lebih tinggi 31,5 persen. Diketahuinya produktivitas penerapan PTT yang lebih tinggi menunjukkan perlu dikembangkannya lebih lanjut, terutama di kawasan pengembangan jagung di kabupaten Nabire

Exchange Rate Uncertainty and Workers’ Remittances: Empirical Bayesian Approach

Exchange rate is one of the important determinates of worker’s remittances to a country. Level of exchange rate as well as any fluctuation in it influences the volume of workers’ remittances. The present study uses data of workers’ remittances from ten major countries to Pakistan for the period 1973 to 2012. Uncertainty of exchange rate is estimated through GARCH model. We use Empirical Bayesian approach to compute posterior information (estimates, for which, the GMM estimates are used as prior in order to avoid biasness and inconsistency due to the presence of endogeniety in our model. The Empirical Bayesian estimates are found to be more efficient in terms of significance and correct signs of modeled variables. The findings suggest a significant role of home and host country characteristics in most of the cases. The findings also reveal a negative impact of exchange rate uncertainty on the inflow of remittances. The political instability reveals an insignificant impact on remittances. The study recommends different policy options for different host countries. Apart from the Middle East, the policy for other regions (like USA, Canada, and Germany etc.) must be considered separately to encourage inflow of remittances. Appropriate stabilization measures have to be taken on priority basis to curtail volatility of exchange rates and to ascertain regular inflow of remittances.&nbsp

Temporomandibular Disorders: Association between Psychosocial Symptoms and Persistent Pain

This longitudinal study of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) reports the association of psychosocial dysfunctions (depression, somatization without pain, somatization, and anxiety) with characteristic pain intensity (CPI), pain interference (PI), and number of disability days (DD) for subjects with TMD. Subjects (N=330) underwent a thorough series of assessments at baseline and follow-up (5-10 years later) to receive both Axis I and Axis II diagnoses per the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD). They reported their levels of CPI, PI, and DD at baseline and follow-up. Linear and log-binomial regression analyses were used to evaluate the change in CPI and PI and assess the risk of DD by baseline categories of psychosocial symptoms as measured by the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90). Linear regression analysis revealed that subjects with depression at baseline had higher PI at follow-up. Also, subjects with moderate to severe somatization with and without pain had higher CPI at follow-up than subjects without somatization. In conclusion, we found that psychosocial impairments (depression, somatization) were associated with increased characteristic of pain intensity, pain interference, and disability days at follow-up

A Potential Approach to Enhance the Seebeck Coefficient of UHMWPE by Using the Graphene Oxide

Thermoelectric materials have been a competent source for the production of energy in the present decade. The most important and potential parameter required for the material to have better thermoelectric characteristics is the Seebeck coefficient. In this work, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites were prepared by mechanical mixing by containing 10000ppm, 50000ppm, 70000ppm, 100000ppm, 150000ppm, and 200000ppm loadings of graphene oxide. Due to the intrinsic insulating nature of UHMWPE, the value of Seebeck for pristine UHMWPE and its nanocomposites with 10000ppm & 50000ppm of GO concentration was too low to be detected. However, the Seebeck coefficient for composites with 70000ppm, 100000ppm, 150000ppm, and 200000ppm loadings of GO was found to be 180, 206, 230, and 235 µV/ K, respectively. These higher values of Seebeck coefficients were attributed to the superior thermal insulating nature of UHMWPE and the conductive network induced by the GO within the UHMWPE insulating matrix. Although, the values of the figure of merit and power factor were negligibly small due to the lower concentration of charge carriers in UHMWPE/ GO nanocomposites but still reported, results are extremely hopeful for considering the composite as the potential candidate for thermoelectric applications

Micro-Endoscopic Discectomy versus Open Discectomy: A Struggle for Better Clinical Outcomes

Objective:  The objective of the current study was to compare the clinical outcomes of a micro-endoscopic discectomy with an open discectomy. Materials & Methods:  This Quasi-experimental study was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery, Alrazi Healthcare, Lahore, and Ammar Medical Complex, Lahore. The sample consisted of 40 patients with lower back pain with radiation to the lower limbs. A lumbar disc single-segment hernia was diagnosed based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. Independent sample t-test was used to explore the difference in outcomes and level of pain between group A and group B. Chi-square test was used to compare the recovery rate of patients in both groups. Results:  A significant difference between the two groups in terms of surgery duration (t = 15.977, P = .000), blood loss during surgery (t = -10.256, P = .000), length of incision (t = -58.355, P = .000), and hospital stay after surgery (t = -4.687, P = .000) was found. The overall recovery rate for the micro-endoscopic Discectomy group was 95% whereas, in the open discectomy group, it was 90%. Conclusion:  Micro-endoscopic discectomy is superior to open discectomy in terms of lesser surgical trauma, lesser blood loss, lesser hospital stay, earlier return to work, and higher pain resolution

Comparison of Radiation Dose in CT Examinations At PIMS with European Commission Reference Doses

OBJECTIVE - The purpose of this study was to assess the radiation dose levels from common computed tomography (CT) examinations performed in Radiology Department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), and evaluate these according to diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) proposed by European Commission (EC) guidelines, and thus contributing towards the establishment of local and national DRLs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to explore radiation doses from CT examinations in Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN - This was a quantitative study conducted at PIMS, Islamabad, spanning a duration of eight weeks. Scan parameters and dose profile data of 1506 adults undergoing examinations of head, neck, chest and abdomen-pelvis regions, comprising of single- and multi-phase, contrast-enhanced and unenhanced studies. Dose indicators utilized by EC guidelines for DRLs include volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and Dose Length Product (DLP) for single slice and complete examination radiation doses, respectively. METHOD - Values of CTDIvol, DLP and scan lengths were extracted from the CT operators console. Other control variables included gender, contrast enhancement and phasicity of study. IBM SPSS package was used to obtain descriptive statistics such as mean and quartiles. RESULTS - DRLs calculated as 75th percentile of CTDIvol, DLP for various anatomical regions are by and far comparable to European DRLs. CONCLUSION – This study describes institutional diagnostic reference levels for common CT exams in Islamabad and provides benchmark values for future reference. Our DRL values are mostly comparable to European and international DRLs. Similar, albeit large scale, surveys are recommended for establishment of local and national DRLs, eventually contributing towards development of regional DRLs. KEYWORDS: CTDIvol, DLP, Diagnostic Reference Levels, Computed Tomography, Radiation Monitoring, Scan lengt

Effective extraction of cephalosporin C from whole fermentation broth of Acremonium chrysogenum utilizing aqueous two phase systems

The downstream processing of biotechnological products from fermentation broth is an important step of production and development of cost effective, efficient downstream processing of many biotechnological products. The present study was conducted by employing aqueous two phase systems (ATPSs) for the extraction of cephalosporin C (CPC) from whole fermentation broth of Acremonium chrysogenum. The biphasic system was prepared by mixing equal aliquots of 15% w/w polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350 with 15% (NH4)2SO4. The effects of pH, neutral salts, temperature and centrifugal force on partitioning in ATPS to develop efficient extraction system for recovery of CPC from fermentation broth were also examined. The extraction efficiency was improved by enhancing the centrifugal force. Similarly centrifugation for 12.5 min also gave the maximum extraction. Improvement in the recovery yield was also observed by the addition of 0.1% NaCl. The concentration of CPC was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Slight modifications in the mobile phase from 10 to 5% MeOH improved CPC resolution. Further development of more inexpensive systems for extraction can be the future target of research.Keywords: Cephalosporin C, Acremonium chrysogenum, fermentation, aqueous two phase system (ATPS

Concern with COVID-19 pandemic threat and attitudes towards immigrants: The mediating effect of the desire for tightness

Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from 41 countries (N = 55,015) collected as part of the PsyCorona project, a crossnational longitudinal study on responses to COVID-19. Our predictions were tested through multilevel and SEM models, treating participants as nested within countries. Results showed that people’s concern with COVID19 threat was related to greater desire for tightness which, in turn, was linked to more negative attitudes towards immigrants. These findings were followed up with a longitudinal model (N = 2,349) which also showed that people’s heightened concern with COVID-19 in an earlier stage of the pandemic was associated with an increase in their desire for tightness and negative attitudes towards immigrants later in time. Our findings offer insight into the trade-offs that tightening social norms under collective threat has for human groups

Time to endoscopy for acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding: results from a prospective multicentre trainee-led audit

Background: Endoscopy within 24 hours of admission (early endoscopy) is a quality standard in acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (AUGIB). We aimed to audit time to endoscopy outcomes and identify factors affecting delayed endoscopy (>24h of admission).Methods: This prospective multicentre audit enrolled patients admitted with AUGIB who underwent inpatient endoscopy between Nov-Dec 2017. Analyses were performed to identify factorsassociated with delayed endoscopy, and to compare patient outcomes, including length of stay and mortality rates, between early and delayed endoscopy groups.Results: Across 348 patients from 20 centres, the median time to endoscopy was 21.2h (IQR 12.0- 35.7), comprising median admission to referral and referral to endoscopy times of 8.1h (IQR 3.7- 18.1) and 6.7h (IQR 3.0-23.1) respectively. Early endoscopy was achieved in 58.9%, although this varied by centre (range: 31.0% - 87.5%, p=0.002). On multivariable analysis, lower Glasgow-Blatchford score, delayed referral, admissions between 7am-7pm or via the Emergency Department were independent predictors of delayed endoscopy. Early endoscopy was associated with reduced length of stay (median difference 1d; p= 0.004), but not 30-day mortality (p=0.344).Conclusions: The majority of centres did not meet national standards for time to endoscopy. Strategic initiatives involving acute care services may be necessary to improve this outcome