Distribution of sensory taste thresholds for phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) taste ability in North Indian Muslim populations

AbstractThe ability to taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), a bitter organic compound has been described as a bimodal autosomal trait in both genetic and anthropological studies. This study is based on the ability of a person to taste PTC. The present study reports the threshold distribution of PTC taste sensitivity among some Muslim populations of North India, as till now no detailed information is available. A survey was conducted among healthy individuals within the age range of 10–45years who were randomly selected from among six populations viz; Syed, Sheikh, Pathan, Ansari, Qureshi and Saifi. The PTC tasting ability was measured using a serial dilution method of Harris and Kalmus. A bimodal distribution was observed from the graphs plotted for the PTC threshold distribution. The mean PTC threshold values (±SD) of the male and female individuals were calculated as 8.12±0.21 and 8.39±0.20, respectively. The threshold values among the six populations ranged from 7.71 to 8.81 among males, 7.44–9.04 among females and 7.86–8.91 as combined. The results found that females show a higher mean threshold value than males, though of no statistical significance. This type of study will provide brief information on the distribution of PTC sensory thresholds among some Muslim populations of North India. This study has some physiological relevance to highlight the adaptability of endogamous groups to behavioral traits in the same place

Robust Controller for a Vision Feedback Based Telepointer

Telepointer is a very useful tool for teleconsultation and teleproctoring, whereby a telepointer via teleconferencing is a perfect example of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and digital telepresence. To this end, many telepointers are introduced for digital telepresence. However, there are still concerns regarding the speed of response and robustness of the system. It is rather difficult to model the actual system in order to design the controller. This paper described the development of a telepointer and its controller for a real time communication using vision feedback. The main focus of this study was to control the Laser Pointer (LP) with a discrete time PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controller which was tuned using Ziegler-Nichols (ZN) method. The results indicated that the tuned controller bring about fast response with no overshoot and steady state errors at the output response. The controller was shown to be robust against changes in sampling time and external disturbance

Problems and Challenges in the Preservation of Digital Contents: An Analytical Study

This paper probed the issues and changelogs related to the preservation of digital contents. A literature-based approach was adopted to identify the major problems related to the preservation of these unique contents. After studying the literature, it was identified that basic principles that should be kept in mind while preserving digital contents are longevity, selection, quality, integrity, and accessibility. It was found that the most critical problems and challenges faced during the digital preservation including nature of the contents keeping the data, maintaining trust in the data, coping with the data deluge, technological obsolescence, media fragility, lack of expert and copyright & intellectual property right issues, etc. It was concluded that the libraries, archives, and information centers should be equipped with ICT facilities, and the staff has the necessary skills to handle the management of digital resources and their preservation. Moreover, sufficient funds should be allocated for the procurement and preservation of digital objects

Smart cities framework adoption for sustainable living in province Balochistan of Pakistan: a systematic literature review

Governments and companies are investing in ICTs to build smart cities that can adapt to changes and challenges, such as smart living, competent governance, smart climate, intelligent people, smart tractability, and wonderful economics. To better comprehend the smart city, several scholars have sought to define it and highlight the benefits and drawbacks of constructing intelligent city communities using the Internet of Things. With respect for the smart city system and its activities, city leaders and organizers/designers must distinguish between the two, which smart city implementation advocates must eagerly endorse. Enforcing standards and building collaborations helps inhabitants in smart cities that leverage IoT and cutting-edge innovation-based assets. It also promotes the development of an SLR for smart city framework adoption and behaviour intention, perceived privacy, perceived security, and perceived value, as well as self-efficacy and effort-expectancy of smart cities (Smart Economy, Smart Environment, Smart Government, Smart Living, Smart Mobility and Smart People). According to these findings, two cities in Balochistan Province chose the appropriate path while deploying smart city technologies. 17 UN Development Goals aim to provide peace and prosperity to people and planet (UN SDGs). This study looks at how smart cities may help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. SLR focuses on Smart Economy, Smart People, Smart Governance, Smart Mobility, Smart Environment, Smart Living, and Smart City Adoption and provides a valuable summary of the relevant literature on smart cities framework adoption by reviewing and addressing key findings from research on smart city difficulties. This study's findings may help academics and practitioners explore and construct smart cities

Clinical outcomes of sirolimus with eluting stent implantation in coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the immediate post procedure, thirty-days, and six-months clinical outcomes of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) implantation in patients with single and multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: A case series of all consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with SES implantation at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, were evaluated at early post-procedure, 30-days and six-months clinical follow-up for the incidence of major adverse cardiac event (MACE). This included death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and repeat revascularization. RESULTS: Out of 206 consecutive patients, 324 had SES implanted. Cumulative MACE rate was 2.93% and 6% at 30-days and six-months follow-ups respectively. Five patients developed ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI). One patient developed non-STEMI. Emergency Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) was done in two patients. Repeat (PCI) was carried in three (1.46%) patients for acute in-stent thrombosis. Diabetes Mellitus and multivessel stenting were found to be the independent predictors for acute in-stent thrombosis (P-value \u3c 0.02 and 0.05 respectively). CONCLUSION: SES implantation in coronary artery disease can be safe and effective MACE at one and six months follow-ups

Effect of diabetic counseling based on conversation map as compared to routine counseling on diabetes management self-efficacy and diabetic distress among patients with diabetes in Pakistan: a randomized controlled trial (study protocol)

Background: Novel interactive and pictorial health education tool named Diabetes Conversation Map (DCM) might be effective for the improvement of diabetes management self-efficacy (DMSE) and diabetes distress (DD) among diabetic patients in lower middle-income setting. This study protocol will assess the effectiveness of DCM as compared to routine care (RC) to improve DMSE, decrease DD and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: This will be two arms randomized controlled trial, conducted at national institute of diabetes and endocrinology (NIDE) in Karachi, Pakistan. A sample of 120 T2DM patients of age 30–60 years with suboptimal diabetes control will be screened through eligibility criteria and DD screening tool. Patients who fulfill the eligibility criteria and have diabetes distress will be randomized into interventional and control arm. The intervention arm will receive four education sessions (40 min each) using DCM for 4 weeks duration of enrollment. Controlled arm will receive RC. DMSE and DD will be measured using the validated Likert tools at baseline and after 3 months of enrollment. Latest results of HbA1c will be retrieved from the respective medical record files at baseline and 3 months. Change in DMSE, DD scores and HbA1c levels within groups (pre-post) and between the groups after 3 months of enrollment will be compared. Multivariable linear regression will be conducted to adjust for any potential confounders. Discussion: In a study in UK, 70% of the patients with diabetes reported DCM had helped them in controlling their diabetes and recommended this method to teach other patients with diabetes also. In China, a study found that patients with diabetes who received DCM based education had significantly lower DD and significantly higher diabetes empowerment score after six months of the intervention as compared to the traditional counselling. A cross sectional study conducted in Pakistan also demonstrated that teaching based on DCM was useful in improving the knowledge, attitude and practices of patients with T2DM. Besides, no other study has evaluated the effectiveness of these novel tools for DMSE and diabetes distress DD in well-designed, sufficiently powered clinical trials. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03747471. Date of registration: Nov 20. 2018. Version and Date of Protocol: Version 1, IRB Approval date 28 June 2018

Interacting with a Chatbot-Based Advising System: Understanding the Effect of Chatbot Personality and User Gender on Behavior

Chatbots with personality have been shown to affect engagement and user subjective satisfaction. Yet, the design of most chatbots focuses on functionality and accuracy rather than an interpersonal communication style. Existing studies on personality-imbued chatbots have mostly assessed the effect of chatbot personality on user preference and satisfaction. However, the influence of chatbot personality on behavioral qualities, such as users’ trust, engagement, and perceived authenticity of the chatbots, is largely unexplored. To bridge this gap, this study contributes: (1) A detailed design of a personality-imbued chatbot used in academic advising. (2) Empirical findings of an experiment with students who interacted with three different versions of the chatbot. Each version, vetted by psychology experts, represents one of the three dominant traits, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion. The experiment focused on the effect of chatbot personality on trust, authenticity, engagement, and intention to use the chatbot. Furthermore, we assessed whether gender plays a role in students’ perception of the personality-imbued chatbots. Our findings show a positive impact of chatbot personality on perceived chatbot authenticity and intended engagement, while student gender does not play a significant role in the students’ perception of chatbots

COVID-19: Implications, reactions and future directions

Humanity has faced several foes over the centuries, a formidable one amongst them is the current pandemic of COVID-19. The symptoms of COVID-19 are more or less related to the nose and throat. Therefore, patients more often present to Ear Nose Throat (ENT) clinics with symptoms including cough, sore throat, fever and shortness of breath. In the management of head and neck pathologies, as the airway is a direct source of infection, the impact of COVID-19 holds special significance. This review has attempted to explain the various aspects of the disease itself, its diagnosis, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to provide an overview of the evolving recommendations in head and neck patients, the future outlook and the limitations faced in developing countries specifically for ENT patients