Cycling vs Running – An in-depth analysis

This short letter to the editor provides ideas about exercises that improves cardiovascular fitness

GRADUAL CHANGES IN SNOW PEAKS IN UPPER INDUS BASIN, PAKISTAN: A GOOGLE EARTH BASED REVIEW

The hydrology and climate of mid to high-latitude mountainous areas are significantly impacted by snow cover. Since adding or removing snow cover significantly impacts the snowpack’s capacity to operate as a reservoir for water storage, the snowfall-dominated basins of mid- to higher latitudes are anticipated to see the largest shifts in the hydrological cycle because of global warming. By moving the time slider in the historical imagery feature of Google Earth Pro, the Upper Indus Basin study area was examined from the years 1984 to 2020 to track changes in the snow cover. All observations were made with longitude and latitude at 35o, 34', 51.79" N and 74o, 34', 24.21" E, and the eye altitude at 344.46 miles. Google Earth captured pictures of all the observations on December 31st of every year. The data from 1984 to 2020 was examined keenly, and it was observed that as time goes on, global warming is showing its effects and producing climate changes, which has a negative impact on the region's snow and glacier availability. The Landsat images make it abundantly evident that the lower areas of the upper Indus Basin's snow cover are more negatively impacted than the downstream side areas due to the variation in altitude. The authors also referred to the research work by other researchers in the study to compare with their work. The study observed that some areas were utterly showing no snow in 2020 as compared to 1984 as time moved on with an increase in global warming in 36 years

Does academic assessment system type affect levels of academic stress in medical students? A cross-sectional study from Pakistan

Introduction Stress among medical students induced by academic pressures is on the rise among the student population in Pakistan and other parts of the world. Our study examined the relationship between two different systems employed to assess academic performance and the levels of stress among students at two different medical schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods A sample consisting of 387 medical students enrolled in pre-clinical years was taken from two universities, one employing the semester examination system with grade point average (GPA) scores (a tiered system) and the other employing an annual examination system with only pass/fail grading. A pre-designed, self-administered questionnaire was distributed. Test anxiety levels were assessed by The Westside Test Anxiety Scale (WTAS). Overall stress was evaluated using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results There were 82 males and 301 females while four did not respond to the gender question. The mean age of the entire cohort was 19.7±1.0 years. A total of 98 participants were from the pass/fail assessment system while 289 were from the GPA system. There was a higher proportion of females in the GPA system (85% vs. 59%; p \u3c 0.01). Students in the pass/fail assessment system had a lower score on the WTAS (2.4±0.8 vs. 2.8±0.7; p=0.01) and the PSS (17.0±6.7 vs. 20.3±6.8; p \u3c 0.01), indicating lower levels of test anxiety and overall stress than in students enrolled in the GPA assessment system. More students in the pass/fail system were satisfied with their performance than those in the GPA system. Conclusion Based on the present study, we suggest governing bodies to revise and employ a uniform assessment system for all the medical colleges to improve student academic performance and at the same time reduce stress levels. Our results indicate that the pass/fail assessment system accomplishes these objectives

Exploring the better genetic options from indigenous material to cultivate tomato under high temperature regime

Screening test was conducted on 54genotypes of tomato to analyze the effect of heat stress and categorize them as heat tolerant or heat susceptible ones. Seedlings were grown at temperatures of 28/22oC day/night. Four weeks after sowing, plants were exposed to high temperatures of 40/32oC day/night for one week. Data for various morphological (root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight, number of leaves) and physiological parameters (chlorophyll contents, sub-stomatal CO2, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency and leaf temperature) were recorded. Heat stress had a negative effect on all physiological and morphological processes of the genotypes. However, “Parter Improved”, “Legend” and “Roma” were the most tolerant genotypes whereas “Grus Chovka”, “Nepoli”, “Tima France”, “Kaldera” and “Cold Set” were susceptible to heat stress

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Refeeding Syndrome in a 5 Years Old Child: A Rare Complication of Malnutrition Management

Refeeding syndrome is a rare but preventable complication of malnutrition management. This is the second case of refeeding syndrome being reported from Pakistan. Although many cases have been reported worldwide. It is a clear indication of lack of knowledge of the entity (Refeeding syndrome) in our doctor’s community. Refeeding syndrome presents with a mix picture of clinical manifestations and thus it is necessary to keep a regular check and balance of electrolyte disturbance especially serum phosphate levels before and after initiating nutrition irrespective of the route nutrition are given through. We are reporting a case of refeeding syndrome in a severely malnourished 5-year-old child which unfortunately died despite taking strict lifesaving actions

EFFECT OF STATE MINDFULNESS ON EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION AND WELL-BEING: ROLE OF WORK-FAMILY BALANCE: Dr. Hafiz Ghufran Ali Khan, Zafar Abbass, Muhammad Faizan Akbar, Muhammad Jehanger Khan

This study aims to know how; committed and satisfied employee is an asset to an organization. How’ Scan help the organization to compete and grow aggressively in a dynamic global environment. Therefore, state m unless is a factor that increases employee job satisfaction and well-being by ensuring work-life balance as a mediator which is vital for organizational productivity and profitability. Quantitative data from 400 respondents of the telecom and banking sector of Pakistan has been collected through self-admin red questionnaires for analysis. The collected data has been analyzed through IBM SPSS 23 to explore the relationship among independent and dependent variables and the mediating effect of work-life balance has also been substantiated. Testing of mode confirms the positive impact of state mindfulness on employee job satisfaction and well-being by ensuring work-life balance as a mediator. This research is providing a theoretical and empirical foundation to link state mindfulness with employee job satisfaction and wellbeing of employees. This study also adds to the limited stick of knowledge, providing a mediating link of work-family balance between state mindfulness and job satisfaction and employee well-being. This study also broadens previous research findings

Intelligent Sensors for dc Fault Location Scheme Based on Optimized Intelligent Architecture for HVdc Systems

We develop a probabilistic model for determining the location of dc-link faults in MT-HVdc networks using discrete wavelet transforms (DWTs), Bayesian optimization, and multilayer artificial neural networks (ANNs) based on local information. Likewise, feedforward neural networks (FFNNs) are trained using the Levenberg–Marquardt backpropagation (LMBP) method, which multi-stage BO optimizes for efficiency. During training, the feature vectors at the sending terminal of the dc link are selected based on the norm values of the observed waveforms at various frequency bands. The multilayer ANN is trained using a comprehensive set of offline data that takes the denoising scheme into account. This choice not only helps to reduce the computational load but also provides better accuracy. An overall percentage error of 0.5144% is observed for the proposed algorithm when tested against fault resistances ranging from 10 to 485 Ω. The simulation results show that the proposed method can accurately estimate the fault site to a precision of 485 Ω and is more robust