Effect of clopidogrel on platelet CD markers in normal individuals and in patients with untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of clopidogrel response in patients with untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus as compared with normal individuals. One hundred and seven subjects i.e. 32 normal and 75 patients with untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus were enrolled in this study. In the first step, normal subjects as well as diabetic patients were selected and tested for various laboratory parameters and platelets flow cytometry. In the second step, an antiplatelet drug (clopidogrel) was administered for 10 days to each individual enrolled in the study. After 10 days blood samples were collected for platelets flow cytometry. CD41 and CD61 did not show any change after the administration of clopidogrel in resting and activated platelets. CD63 and CD62p positivity was increased in normal and in diabetic patients\u27 platelets after activation with ADP before clopidogrel. It was decreased in normal resting and ADP stimulated platelets after clopidogrel treatment. CD63 and CD62p positivity in resting and ADP stimulated patients\u27 platelets was also decreased after clopidogrel treatment. The change was, however, not as marked as in normal subjects

LINKING EMPOWERMENT AND CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT WITH INNOVATIVE BEHAVIOR: TESTING A MODERATING MODEL OF EMPLOYEE’S CREATIVE SELF-EFFICACY

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect ofempowerment and capability development on employee’s innovative behavior. We also examine the moderating effect of worker’s creative self-efficacy. The software developers working in IT firms have been selected for this study. The data were collected randomly from200 software developers by using questionnaires. The results indicate that empowerment and capability development is significantly and positively related with employee’s innovative behavior. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that employee’s creative self-efficacy moderatesthe empowerment and capability development relationship withemployee’s innovative behavior. The results of the study are novel and productive for the top management of the IT sector. The study provides insight into employee’s innovative behavior and suggests how organizations can boost innovations by empowerment is consistence with effective capability development programs

Measuring Efficiency of Hospitals by DEA: An Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

ABSTRACT There has been increasing focus on efficiency measurement in health sector around the world. This empirical study aims at measuring efficiency level of non-profit private organization by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in the health sector of Pakistan. DEA is non-parametric linear programming based approach for homogeneous decision making units. Layton Rehmatullah Benevolent Trust (non-profit private organization) will be subject matter for investigational analysis constituting over 16 sub-units spreading across the country. Secondary data of number of patient beds, specialists and nurses in all the 16 branches of LRBT hospitals will be used applying quantitative specification tool, both scale and technical efficiency levels in an environment where multiple of inputs and outputs are in place, will be used for final evaluation. The outcomes so expected will help policy makers to formulate effective plans and programs in order to enhance the efficiency of health measures conducted by non- profit private organizations.

Relationship of Job involvement with Employee Performance: Moderating role of Attitude

Job involvement was considered very important in the previous literature for increasing the performance ofthe employees. It is hypothesized that involved employees exert considerable efforts for achieving the goalsand objectives of the organization. These kinds of employees are highly productive and produce betterresults as compare to the employees who are not involved with their job. These employees work for theorganization with their hand, head and heart. Several studies examined the relationship of job involvementwith employee performance and claimed that there is a positive relationship between these two variables. Inthis paper we try to further explain the construct of job involvement and combined the results of differentstudies in this context. This paper also tries to explain the controversies between the results of differentstudies and propose to make more construct valid measure for job involvement. Further we alsoconceptualize the relationship of employee attitude in this connection.Keywords: Job involvement, Employee performance, Attitude, Empowerment, Knowledge, Informatio

Expatriate Performance in the Host Country: How to Maximize the Cultural Adjustments?

In today's era of globalization, companies from different nationalities are trying to capture new markets and proving their presence all over the globe the value of expatriates increase substantially. Every global organization is trying to maintain a department of cosmopolitan managers that can be used to achieve the required degree of globalization. However, the history evident that the success ration of expatriates is very low and lot of efforts had been done on this area to incorporate new ideas and dimensions to minimize the failure of expatriates. The significant impediment of expatriate's success in the host country is the cultural adjustment. This paper specifically proposes a model to increase the probability of expatriate's cultural adjustments in the host country. After reviewing different previous studies on this topic, we propose that three variables are very important for the adjustment of expatriates. These variables are cultural training, international experience and cultural distance. Keywords Expatriate, Culture, Cultural Training, Experience, Host Culture, Cultural Adjustmen

MICROFACIES STUDIES OF THE JURASSIC TAKATU FORMATION, WESTERN SULAIMAN FOLD-THRUST BELT, PAKISTAN

Takatu Formation is well exposed in the western Sulaiman Fold- Thrust Belt, Pakistan. It has an unconformable upper contact with Sembar Formation which is marked by oxidized surface and lower contact with Triassic Wulgai Formation. The Takatu Formation contains a wide variety of limestones, which are fine to coarse grained, palatal, lumpy, skeletal, micritic, nodular, oolitic, and intraclastic. The Takatu Formation is mainly carbonate-litho package with minor siliciclastic content interbedded as shale and marls. The petrography of limestone allowed the differentiation and demonstrated of four major and sub microfacies types. These includes, Mudstone, Wackestone, Packstone and Grainstone microfacies, which are further sub-divided into five microfacies such as, Bioclastic wackstone, Calcispheric packstone, Peloidal packstone, Ooidal grainstone, and Lithoclastic grainstone. These microfacies were compared with standard microfacies and standard zones for their possible depositional environments. On the bases of our studies, it is interpreted that Takatu Formation was deposited in diverse environment ranging from the marginal shallow shelf, upper slope and in deeper parts of the shelf

Pain assessment and management in different wards of a tertiary care hospital

OBJECTIVE: To assess the pain management by medical team, emergency room (ER) team and Acute Pain team in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was done in Medical Ward, Surgical Ward and Emergency Room of Aga Khan University, Karachi, in March-April 2010. The assigned research medical officer visited the three locations every day and selected patients by way of convenient sampling. The study comprised 75 patients; 25 each in three groups. Information was collected on patient\u27s demographics, general characteristics, type of drugs and modalities used. Specific queries about pain were sorted out like adequacy of pain assessment done by primary physician, pain intensity, any intervention done and pain relief post-intervention. SPSS version 17, analysis of variance and Chi square test were used for statistical purpose. RESULTS: The mean current pain score on the visual analogue score (VAS) was lowest in the Surgical Ward which was being managed by the Acute Pain Management Service (APMS) team followed by the Medical Ward and then Emergency Rooms. The difference was found to be statistically significant. The mean of worst pain score was also the lowest in the Surgical Ward. There was significant difference between wards in terms of the use of pain medications. Proper documentation for pain was done for all patients in the Surgical Ward, followed by the Emergency Room and then the Medical Ward. CONCLUSION: Better pain assessment, re-assessment, documentation and patient satisfaction were observed in the Surgical Ward compared to the other two locations of the study

H.pylori Infection inhibits Inflammatory Bowel Disease(IBD) by affecting the intestinal flora: A systematic Review

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic, relapsing-remitting diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohn’s disease (CD), Ulcerative Colitis (UC), and Unclassified IBD (IBDU). Their pathogenesis involves genes and the environment as cofactors in inducing autoimmunity; mainly, the interactions between enteric pathogens and immunity are studied. For example, Helicobacter pylori (HP) is a common pathogen causing gastric inflammation. However, studies found that the number of people with HP was lower than those with IBD. Therefore, it suggests that HP might protect against IBD. Methods: The search terms "helicobacter pylori," "inflammatory bowel disease," "Crohn's disease," and "ulcerative colitis" were entered into the PubMed database. Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed publisher, Cochrane, and Google Scholar were also searched. The HP prevalence rates in IBD patients, CD patients, UC patients, and IBDU patients were calculated. So its to prove that there is an inverse relationship between HP and IBD, each group was compared to a control group. Results: Even when the comparison was made separately between each group of newly diagnosed patients and controls to rule out the possibility of pharmacologic bias, the data showed an inverse relationship between the IBD group and the controls. Conclusion: The results of this review demonstrate a striking inverse association between HP infection and the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), regardless of the type of IBD considered across different geographic regions. Anyway, data should be interpreted with care because more research is needed on this topic that is broader, more prospective, and more consistent. This could lead to new ideas about how the environment could cause IBD. Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Helicobacter pylori; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis; Colorectal cancer DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/72-04 Publication date: May 31st 202

Latest research trends in gait analysis using wearable sensors and machine learning: a systematic review

Gait is the locomotion attained through the movement of limbs and gait analysis examines the patterns (normal/abnormal) depending on the gait cycle. It contributes to the development of various applications in the medical, security, sports, and fitness domains to improve the overall outcome. Among many available technologies, two emerging technologies that play a central role in modern day gait analysis are: A) wearable sensors which provide a convenient, efficient, and inexpensive way to collect data and B) Machine Learning Methods (MLMs) which enable high accuracy gait feature extraction for analysis. Given their prominent roles, this paper presents a review of the latest trends in gait analysis using wearable sensors and Machine Learning (ML). It explores the recent papers along with the publication details and key parameters such as sampling rates, MLMs, wearable sensors, number of sensors, and their locations. Furthermore, the paper provides recommendations for selecting a MLM, wearable sensor and its location for a specific application. Finally, it suggests some future directions for gait analysis and its applications

Phytotoxic characterization of crude methanolic extract of Periploca aphylla

Periploca aphylla is traditionally used in the treatment of various ailments. Phytotoxic activity of crude methanolic extract of P. aphylla was tested on the germination of wheat seeds and on the growth of the germinated seedlings. In both the field and plate studies, the extract showed inhibitory effect on the germination of the growth of root and shoot of the seedlings. The inhibition was found to be dose dependent. The higher concentration of 1000 μg/ml showed maximum inhibitory effect on the growth of root and shoots in the studies of plate as well as on fresh and dry weight of wheat plant. Similarly, the herbicidal activity is also dependent on the concentration of extract. In this study, it was found that inhibitory potential of methanolic extract of P. aphylla increased as 1000 >100 >10 μg/ml.Keywords: Phytotoxic activity, herbicidal activity, germination, plates and field studies, Perifloca aphyll