Problems of Married Women at Higher Education in Pakistan: Academic, Social and Cultural Context

The major focus of the study was to explore the social, cultural, financial and academic problems of married women at higher education, and also to sensitize, orientate relevant stakeholders to address them. It was descriptive research following qualitative approach to collect data with the semi-structured interview. Population of the study were married female students enrolled in private Universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and 20 participants were selected through snowball sampling technique to collect the data. It is concluded that education is basic necessity for every human beings whether male or female, however, certain families in Pakistan do not allow women in general and married women in particular for higher education because of social, cultural, religious, economic and educational factors. Support for the education of married women depends upon family attitude, educational status, financial stability and husband viewpoint. Most of the conservative families think that higher education environment will bring moral deprivation, grant unrestricted freedom, and delay in marriage for their daughters. It is recommended that seminars and focused programs are required to be designed to change the perceptions of the society about female education, and universities as well as HEC increase the number of scholarships for female education. Non-formal education system may target to female who are not allowed to go out of their cities for education. It is also recommended that higher education institutions design flexible working hours for married women so that they will be able to cope with the domestic work and academic workload without stress and tension

Fault Control on Groundwater Flow in An Alluvial Aquifer, Chaman and Khojak Basins, Balochistan, Pakistan

Geological structures such as faults play a critical role in the flow of fluids in a reservoir by affecting its permeability. This study explores the role of the Chaman Fault in the distribution of hydrological division, groundwater separation of the aquifer systems of Khojak and Chaman basins. The Chaman Fault is a left-lateral strike-slip transform plate boundary located at the border city of Chaman, District Killa Abdullah, Balochistan. The Chaman fault plays an important role in the division of groundwater in the subsurface, accommodating the structural compartment of the aquifer system. The studies showed that the strike-slip movement of the fault made the aquifer impervious along the fault line. This assertion may also be confirmed by the drastic change in the water table across the fault. Sharp changes in the groundwater table and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) were observed during the study. The Karazes which are an indigenous method of irrigation is present in the eastern foothills of Khojak mountains called Khojak basin. Here the water table is as shallow as ≈ 6 meters in comparison to the western side of the fault, where the water table drops to ≈274 meters towards the valley of Chaman basin. The average TDS level on the eastern side of the fault line is 773 mg/L and 1361 mg/L on the western side. Therefore, the Chaman fault is acting as a groundwater barrier which is feeding the Karezes for centuries

Phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of the Genus Berberis (Berberidaceae): A review

Plants belonging to Berberis are reported in several folklore medicinal pharmacopeias and are used in traditional medicines in Asia and European countries. The plants have been used in the preparation of various traditional and synthetic medicines since pre-historic times for wound healing, fever, eye disease, jaundice, vomiting during pregnancy, rheumatism, kidney and gall balder stones, and several other illnesses. Their healing properties are appear to be due to the presence of secondary metabolites and important alkaloids with different pharmacological activities. Their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-diabetic, and anti-tumor activities as well as positive effects on the cardiovascular and body immune systems have been reported. Root extracts of some species of the plant genus contain quinine which acts as a powerful anti-malarial agent. The main chemical constituents of Berberis plants are alkaloids, steroids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and reducing sugars. Of these alkaloids, berberine is the most important. The present review focuses on recent advances in phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of plants belonging to Berberis genus.Keywords: Berberis, Alkaloids, Berberine, Pharmacology, Phytochemistry, Ethnomedicinal use

A Quasi Experimental Study of Helicobacter Pylori Eradication in Afghanistan: Comparison of Treatment Preferences for Helicobacter Pylori Eradications, Sequential Therapy Versus Hybrid Therapy

Colonization by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) of the gastric epithelial lining epitomizes a pervasive and clinically consequential infectious etiology. Therapeutic strategies aimed at bacterial eradication inherently hinge on a confluence of determinants-regional antimicrobial resistance spectra, localized clinical algorithms, and pharmaceutical attainability. Best practices in the medical milieu underscore sagacious antibiotic stewardship, predicated on a patient-centric antibiotic historiography prior to therapeutic commencement. The overarching objective of this study-executed in a quasi-experimental comparative framework at Sheikh Zayed University Teaching Hospital, Khost, Afghanistan-was to discerningly evaluate and contrast two paradigms of treatment: Sequential Therapy and Hybrid Therapy. The subject pool encapsulated a demographically diverse set of individuals, aged 16 to 80, manifesting symptoms of peptic ulcer diseases or gastritis. Those ineligible for inclusion included follow-up patients, immunocompromised subjects, and individuals undergoing oncological interventions. Employing the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25 for data stratification, the Hybrid Therapy arm was subjected to an initial seven-day treatment window with amoxicillin (1g, BID) and omeprazole (20mg, BID), succeeded by a seven-day regimen involving clarithromycin (500mg, BID) and metronidazole (400mg, TID). Conversely, the Sequential Therapy cohort received a bifurcated, five-day course of omeprazole and amoxicillin, followed by an additional five-day regimen of omeprazole, metronidazole, and clarithromycin. Outcome variables, inclusive of treatment efficaciousness, regimen completion, and patient adherence, were rigorously evaluated via Chi-Square statistical testing. Encompassing 145 patients, the study observed a gender dispersion of 156 males (41.1%) to 224 females (58.9%). Per-protocol analysis unveiled a statistically significant eradication rate-86.8% vs 83.0% (P=0.021)-tilted in favor of Hybrid Therapy. Both Modified Intention-to-Treat and Intention-to-Treat analyses corroborated this proclivity, registering significant eradication rates of 92.1% versus 67% (P=0.031) for Hybrid Therapy. Conclusively, Hybrid Therapy demonstrated a superior safety and efficacy profile vis-à-vis Sequential Therapy in extirpating H. pylori, intimating its plausible preferability for the clinical management of associated peptic ulcer diseases and gastritis

Hybrid treatment of an ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm following multiple sternotomies

Ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm following prior cardiac or aortic surgery is a rare entity that requires reoperation. Surgical repair is a complex procedure associated with high operative mortality. We report the case of a 76-year-old male patient with an ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm developing from distal anastomosis of a Dacron aorto-aortic prosthesis. This high-risk patient had previously undergone multiple cardiovascular operations and was treated by performing an extra-anatomic bypass between the descending thoracic aorta and supra-aortic vessels, followed by endovascular stent graft placement, avoiding median re-sternotomy

Energy-aware Demand Selection and Allocation for Real-time IoT Data Trading

Personal IoT data is a new economic asset that individuals can trade to generate revenue on the emerging data marketplaces. Typically, marketplaces are centralized systems that raise concerns of privacy, single point of failure, little transparency and involve trusted intermediaries to be fair. Furthermore, the battery-operated IoT devices limit the amount of IoT data to be traded in real-time that affects buyer/seller satisfaction and hence, impacting the sustainability and usability of such a marketplace. This work proposes to utilize blockchain technology to realize a trusted and transparent decentralized marketplace for contract compliance for trading IoT data streams generated by battery-operated IoT devices in real-time. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: (1) we propose an autonomous blockchain-based marketplace equipped with essential functionalities such as agreement framework, pricing model and rating mechanism to create an effective marketplace framework without involving a mediator, (2) we propose a mechanism for selection and allocation of buyers' demands on seller's devices under quality and battery constraints. We present a proof-of-concept implementation in Ethereum to demonstrate the feasibility of the framework. We investigated the impact of buyer's demand on the battery drainage of the IoT devices under different scenarios through extensive simulations. Our results show that this approach is viable and benefits the seller and buyer for creating a sustainable marketplace model for trading IoT data in real-time from battery-powered IoT devices.Comment: Accepted in SmartComp 202