GENERAL OVERVIEW OF PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF RHEUM PALMATUM (CHINESE RHUBARB)

Recent probe of medicinal plants incorporated in traditional systems for curing infection and sustaining holistic health, has exposed good sum of therapeutic efficiency against deleterious infections and chronic illnesses. Rheum palmatum (Chinese Rhubarb, family Polygonaceae) is a significant medicinal herb, which finds an extensive use in Unani (Traditional) system of medicine. It has been traditionally employed as antiseptic, liver stimulant, diuretic, diabetes, stomachic, purgative/cathartic, anticholesterolemic, antitumor, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, tonic, antidiabetic, and wound healer. The most vital components from Rheum palmatum are the phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, and anthraquinone derivatives such as aloe-emodin, chrysophanol, physcion, rhein, emodin and its glucorhein, and glycoside. Rhubarb also contains tannins which include hydrolysable-tannins, containing glycosidic or ester bonds composed of glucose, gallic acid, and other monosaccharide’s and condensed tannins, resulting principally from the flavone derivatives leukocyanidin and catechin. In recent years, new components such asrevandchinone-1, revandchinone-2, revandchinone-3, revandchinone-4, sulfemodin8-O-b-Dglucoside, and 6-methyl-rhein and aloe-emodin have been reported from the same class. It also encompasses some macro and micro mineral elements such as Ca, K, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Na, Cu, and Li. Anthraquinone derivatives demonstrate evidence of anti-microbial, antifungal, anti-proliferative, anti-Parkinson’s, immune enhancing, anticancer, antiulcer, antioxidant, and antiviral activities. This review article covers published study on therapeutic uses of different constituents from rhubarb

The influence of female:male ratio of Fayoumi layers on fertility, hatchability of eggs and chicks livability | Influencia de la relación macho:hembra de ponedoras Fayoumi sobre la fertilidad, eclosión de huevos y viabilidad de los polluelos

To examine the effect of male:female ratio on the fertility and hatchability of eggs and chicks livability in Fayoumi layers, three groups were managed where each of 8, 9 and 10 hens were offered 1 cock for mating. Study was carried out at the Poultry Experimental Station, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam during 2005. Average initial egg weight in group C (10 layers) was significantly (

EFFECTIVE INTENSITY OF EXERCISE FOR IMPROVING THE MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS OF CVD IN OVERWEIGHT ADULT MALES

The leading cause of death is CVD worldwide. Physical activity has been labeled as the single most important modifiable risk factor that alters majority of the other risk factors. However, the existing literature about the effective intensity of exercise to influence other modifiable risk factors is obscure and contradictory. Therefore, this study is aimed to find out the effective exercise intensity beneficial enough to influence the other modifiable risk factors. Methodology:After ethical approval and written informed consent 20 male overweight and apparently healthy participants, (age = 31 ± 6.1 years) were recruited. Participants attended the lab for 4 days one week apart. On day 1, height, weight,  blood pressure,  heart rate,  waist and hip circumference, and body composition was measured using Tinnita body analyzer was measured. Based on submaximal exercise testing the intensity for 50%, 60% and 70% of the predicted maximum heart rates were calculated. On subsequent visits, blood samples for fasting sugar, fasting lipid and insulin were taken. The participants performed exercise test on the treadmill as per calculated intensity for 30mins. Exercise induced thermogenesis and substrate metabolism was calculated using breath by breath analyzer. Post exercise blood sampling for lipid, blood sugar and insulin were taken immediately after intervention. Results: A dose response relationship of exercise with majority of the parameters was found. Exercise intensity of 60% and above were found to be significantly influencing the other modifiable risk factors including cholesterol (0.04 & <0.001), HDL (0.03), Triglyceride (0.023 & <0.01), insulin (0.12 & 0.05) and blood sugar level (0.02 & 0.001). Conclusion: Exercise intensity need to be in the influential range for affecting the other modifiable risk factors. If well planned even a single bout of exercise can be proved beneficial and add towards prevention of CVDs

DYNAMICS OF MANAGEMENT IN MULTICULTURAL PROJECT TEAMS

With the emergence of globalization, the business models have been completely transformed. A growing number of businesses are operating globally giving rise to diverse multicultural teams. Nevertheless, cultural differences have undermined the efficiency and decision-making of the international project teams as there is more cultural diversity in the teams than ever before. Hence, it has become imperative for the organizations to take cultural diversity into consideration. Prominent cultural studies postulate that having diverse teams in the organizations can have both challenges and opportunities, yet it lacks emphasis of cultural understanding in project management. Moreover, digitization of business operations has moved organizations towards more specialized roles instead of traditional roles. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of team dynamics, their cultural backgrounds, values, and beliefs. It also emphasizes project team development to adopt increased empathetic attitude and emotional intelligence. The research has employed qualitative data retrieved from questionnaires and interviews. A paradigm for project group development is provided in order to avoid disputes caused by a lack of cultural understanding. The findings indicate that cultural differences will cause disputes in multicultural project groups. Therefore, cultural awareness is essential for group members prior to beginning to collaborate. Cultural training, good communication, team-building exercises, and well specified project objectives are also important for avoiding team conflicts. Furthermore, project management approaches should include cultural components of project groups in addition to technical details, as present studies lack any cultural recommendations

REDEFINING CONTRACT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

 Led by technological innovations and digital disruption, business models have changed dramatically, and organizations have evolved their products and services to remain competitive with most organizations moving to servitization to deliver better customer services. The focus now is on delivering core business functions whilst partnering with their supplier for delivery of non-core business functions. Contract management has become a key driver to deliver such business models. This research is based on a similar scenario whereby one of the leading industrial products manufacturers embarked on a journey to transform its global logistics. It focuses on how good practice contract management principles helped the organization to choose the right business partner at a reduced cost whilst delivering improved service levels and better quality. The study revolves around supply chain management principles. It has a qualitative design and is mainly primary in nature. It explores different principles that gave confidence to both parties to have the required flexibility and agility in case of any future changes in the business model. The focus of the business partnership was not only to deliver in-year cost savings but also to de-risk the organization from future commercial exposure. Although the case study is about the industrial products sectors, however, the same guidelines and principles can be adopted across multiple industries. The fact that apart from the amalgamation of pre-existing literature, it also deals with a real-life scenario that makes it more thorough and substantial in nature.Keywords: Business Partnerships; Contract Management; Contract Manufacturing; Outsourcing & Service Industry&nbsp

PEPPERMINT OIL, ITS USEFUL, AND ADVERSE EFFECTS ON HUMAN HEALTH: A REVIEW

Fundamental oil of Mentha piperita are perplexing blends detached from sweet-smelling plants which may have antimicrobial, cooling receptor trigger, pesticidal, anticancer, hack, asthma, and use in painkiller, exercises of enthusiasm for the sustenance and corrective enterprises just as in the human well-being field in pharmaceutical. According to the German Commission E monographs, peppermint oil is greatly employed as an antispasmodic in the stomach and intestine in bile channel and for the treatment of peevish entrails disorder, inflammation of the respiratory tract, and aggravation of the oral mucosa. Remotely, M. piperita has been employed for myalgia and neuralgia. As indicated by German Commission E, M. piperita may likewise go about as a carminative, disinfectant, and pectolytic, having soothing activity. Enteric-covered peppermint oil containers (Colpermin) are mostly employed as an orally controlled antispasmodic premedication in the study of large intestine

Demographic profile and associations of dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease patients in federal capital of pakistan.

Depression is quite prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease. Knowing the frequency of depression in such patients and its association with different variables may be helpful in devising strategies for better and timely management of such patients in our setup. Materials and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted by recruiting 315 patients of either gender, ≥ 18 years of age with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and receiving care at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. Patients were divided into two groups; group A: pre-dialysis and group B: dialysis (End Stage Renal Disease). Prevalence of depression in CKD and dialysis group and its association with gender, level of formal education and socioeconomic status was evaluated using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Results: Out of 204 (100%) patients in group B, 171 (83.8%) patients had depression while in group A, 68 (61.3%) out of 111 (100%) patients were depressed. The prevalence of depression in all stages of CKD combined was 75.87 % (239 out of 315) and that in dialysis group was 83.82% (171 out of 204). Frequency of depression was significantly higher in the dialysis group (p=0.01). Those with higher level of education less commonly suffered from depression (p=0.01). No such association was found with gender (p=0.68) or socioeconomic status (p=0.12).Conclusion: Frequency of depression is significantly higher in dialysis dependent CKD patients with an overall prevalence of 75.87% in CKD and 83.82% in dialysis dependent ones. Higher level of formal education positively affects the outcome while gender and socioeconomic class have no significant association

Etiology of stroke in young pakistani adults; results of a single center study

The aim of this study was to determine the demographic profile and incidence of young stroke at a tertiary care setup in Islamabad, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: This single centre, cross sectional study was conducted by recruiting 119 patients of either gender, ≥ 12and ≤ 45 years of age with stroke and receiving care at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. Results: Total number of young strokes was 119 out of a total of 322 strokes i-e-, 36.9 %; 1/3rd strokes were in ≤ 45 years of age. Ischemic arterial strokes were 47% (56 out of 119) while venous ischemic strokes were 11.7 % (14 out of 119) and almost all in females (13 out of 14; 92.8 %).Infective causes of central nervous system were identified in24.3 % (29 out of 119). 49 patients (41.1 %) had hemorrhagic strokes. Major individual risk factors for stroke included hypertension identified in 35 (29.4 %)followed by diabetes mellitus in 8 (6.7 %) patients. Amongst infectious causes, CNS tuberculosis was the major infection associated with young stroke i-e-, 89.6 % (26 out of 29). Conclusion: Nearly 1/3rd of strokes in our population are in young.While risk factors in general for stroke stand true for young stroke as well namely hypertension and diabetes, CNS infections are a major cause of young stroke in Pakistan; particularly CNS TB. While majority of strokes in elderly are ischemic, strokes in young comparatively are almost equally divided between ischemia and hemorrhage i-e-, 1.4:1. 1/5th of these ischemic strokes are due to cerebral venous thrombosis. National level guidelines should therefore adopt different strategies for primary and secondary prevention, laboratory work up and imaging, and treatment of stroke in young

4-Chloro-N-cyclo­hexyl­benzene­sulfonamide

The title compound, C12H16ClNO2S, adopts an L-shaped conformation, with the central C—S—N—C torsion angle being −78.0 (2)°. The cyclo­hexyl ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, adjacent mol­ecules are connected by pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds around an inversion centre, forming cyclic dimers [graph set R 2 2(8)]

Study protocol of DIVERGE, the first genetic epidemiological study of major depressive disorder in Pakistan

INTRODUCTION: Globally, 80% of the burdenof major depressive disorder (MDD) pertains to low- and middle-income countries. Research into genetic and environmental risk factors has the potential to uncover disease mechanisms that may contribute to better diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, yet has so far been largely limited to participants with European ancestry from high-income countries. The DIVERGE study was established to help overcome this gap and investigate genetic and environmental risk factors for MDD in Pakistan. METHODS: DIVERGE aims to enrol 9000 cases and 4000 controls in hospitals across the country. Here, we provide the rationale for DIVERGE, describe the study protocol and characterise the sample using data from the first 500cases. Exploratory data analysis is performed to describe demographics, socioeconomic status, environmental risk factors, family history of mental illness and psychopathology. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Many participants had severe depression with 74% of patients who experienced multiple depressive episodes. It was a common practice to seek help for mental health struggles from faith healers and religious leaders. Socioeconomic variables reflected the local context with a large proportion of women not having access to any education and the majority of participants reporting no savings. CONCLUSION: DIVERGE is a carefully designed case-control study of MDD in Pakistan that captures diverse risk factors. As the largest genetic study in Pakistan, DIVERGE helps address the severe underrepresentation of people from South Asian countries in genetic as well as psychiatric research