Role of Psychosocial Factors In Vicarious Traumatization: A Comparative Study

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed at investigating the role of psychosocial factors such as, gender, marital status, profession, and personal history of trauma in vicarious traumatization (VT). METHODOLOGY: Cross sectional study was conducted at various hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad over the period of 6 months from January 2018 to June 2018. A sample of 170 healthcare professionals (doctors=39, psychiatrists=27, psychologists=36, nurses=30 and others=38) (men=67, women=103) was taken from various hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Data were collected by using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. RESULTS: Results revealed significant differences have been found among various groups of healthcare professionals (doctors, psychiatrist, psychologists, nurses and others) in whom psychiatrists are the most vulnerable group for vicarious traumatization and psychologists are the least vulnerable group. Moreover, healthcare professionals who are married and have personal history of trauma are more vulnerable for vicarious traumatization as compared to those who are unmarried and without personal history of trauma. No significant gender differences have been found among health care professionals on vicarious traumatization. CONCLUSION: The findings of present research have emphasized that vicarious traumatization must be addressed and identified in a health setting

Limnological Study of River Soan (Punjab), Pakistan

River Soan is one of the important aquatic systems of the Punjab province in Pakistan and flows into Indus River near Kalla Bagh (District Mianwali). In order to measure the quality of water and to evaluate planktonic community, an integrated monitoring system was applied from May to December 2001. During the study period total of 202 genera were observed of which 134 were of phytoplankton present in various phylums including Cyanophyta (22), Cyarophyta (7), Xanthophyta (5), Bacillariophyta (22), Euglenophyta (5), Chlorophyta (62), Chrysophyta (8), Pyrrophyta (1) and Cphryrotophyta (2). 53 genera of zooplankton were observed including Protozoa (33), Rotifera (8), Cladocera (7), Copepoda (4) and Aquatic insecta (1). In addition to phyto and zooplankton 3 genera of Charophyta and 11 genera of Macrophyta were observed. Diversity index of phytoplankton ranged from 4.6 to 13.5 and of zooplankton from 1.94 to 5.90. Water samples were collected on monthly basis for estimation of various physical and chemical water quality parameters i.e., water temperature (9-31 0C), light penetration (1.2-22.3 cm), viscosity (0.8570-1.0572 mNS m-2), conductivity (7-19 mv), surface tension (69.28-72.63 dynes cm-1), density (0.980-1.022 mg l-1), specifi c gravity (0.796-1.025), boiling point (95-98 0C), turbidity (0.02-0.48 mg l-1), pH (8-9), dissolved oxygen (4.6- 9.3 mg l-1), alkalinity (19-36 mg l-1), acidity 1.0-1.8 mg l-1), carbonates (0), bicarbonates (19-36 mg l-1), total solids (0.56-4.24 mg l-1), total dissolved solids (0.53-4.83) and total dissolved volatile solids (0.05-0.29). Among elements, sodium (22.50-168.75 ppm), potassium (3.94-12.31 ppm), calcium (2.75-34.25 ppm), strontium (0.00-0.47 ppm), magnesium (0.00 ppm) and zinc (0.00 ppm) were detected through atomic absorption while seasonal variation in planktonic diversity was analyzed by calculating the frequency of occurrence, relative abundance and diversity index of planktonic life. The overall water quality of the study site remained within safe limits throughout the study period

The Effect of Oil Prices on the Global Competitiveness of National Economies

The effect of various parameters on the competitiveness of the national economy has been studied in various articles, yet the effect of resource prices has been barely investigated. The aim of this article is to study the effect of oil prices on the international level competitiveness of oil manufacturers and declined nations. According to a regression analysis of sustainable panel data based on annual data of 50 countries from 2005 to 2020, the growth rate of GCI (Global Competitiveness Index) is crude oil compared to GDP growth rate. It is noticed that prices fell far below the annual growth rate. Oil-exporting countries are twice as strong as non-oil-exporting countries. And the proportion of employees in average labour productivity, total factor productivity and total population increases GCI high-tech exports and total capital formation. Exports are less globally competitive than non-oil exporters due to rising global crude oil prices.Keywords: Oil prices, Global Competitiveness Index, Panel DataJEL Classifications: Q41, C12, F63DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.11254</p

Evidence of apoptosis in some cell types due to pentachlorophenol (PCP) in Heteropneustes fossilis

AbstractThe study aimed to clarify the role of apoptosis in pentachlorophenol (PCP) induced testicular, ovarian and renal cell genotoxicity of Heteropneustes fossilis. It was further intended to find the target germ cell type and assess the cellular and nuclear damage. Treatment of PCP was used for multiduration on the germinal tissues and they were processed to detect structural changes by light and electron microscopic evaluation and kidney cells for subsequent detection of DNA fragmentation by agarose gel electrophoresis. Findings suggest functional and morphological changes in the tissues are due to apoptosis, as evidenced by some biochemical and cytological signs. Histological observation on germinal epithelium reveals cell suicidal symptoms such as vacuolization, liquefied regions in the cytoplasm of oocytes, margination of nuclei, clumping of chromatin, and compaction of cytoplasmic organelle. Biochemical manifestation concurrent to this, is; cleavage of kidney cell DNA into low molecular weight fragments confirming apoptosis. Subsequently, it is further cleaved into nucleosome size fragments or its multiples. Ultra-structural histopathology and DNA studies conclusively lead to the PCP induced apoptosis in the exposed cell types. Results further support the usefulness of this assay in the related studies and its feasibility in generating a base line data

(Z)-4-Hexyl-1-(5-nitro-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-3-yl­idene)thio­semicarbazide

In the title compound, C15H19N5O3S, intra­molecular N—H⋯O, N—H⋯N and C—H⋯S inter­actions occur and the three terminal C atoms of the hexyl group are disordered over two sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.664 (12):0.336 (12). In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds occur and C—H⋯O bonds link the dimers into chains. A short C=O⋯π contact is also present

Expression of androgen receptor and cancer stem cell markers (CD44 +/CD24 - and ALDH1 +): Prognostic implications in invasive breast cancer

Background: Androgen receptor (AR) has emerged as a significant prognostic marker in early breast cancer (BCa). Association of AR with cancer stem cell (CSC) markers in BCa is unknown. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of AR, CD44, CD24 and ALDH1 in a cohort of Pakistani patients diagnosed with invasive BCa and to correlate the expression with 5- year disease free survival.Patients and methods: We evaluated immunohistochemical expression AR, CD44, CD24 and ALDH1 in formalin fixed paraffin embedded archival blocks of 166 cases of primary invasive BCa (stage I-III) and correlated the expression with clinicopathological variables and outcome using univariable and multivariable analysis. Survival data was computed by Kaplan Meier curves.Results: Expression of AR was observed in 62.7% tumors whereas CD44, CD24 and ALDH1 were expressed in 61.4%, 44% and 30.1% tumors, respectively. AR expression was significantly associated with T1-T2 tumors, lower grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor expression (P \u3c .05) and remained an independent prognostic indicator in multivariable analysis (adjusted HR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13-0.81; P = .016). Significant association was observed between concordant expression of AR and CD24 (P = .001) with a favorable impact on survival (P = .007) whereas expression of CSC phenotypes (CD44+, CD44+/CD24- and ALDH1+) did not correlate with adverse outcome (P \u3e .05). However, AR expression retained the association with better prognosis even in patients whose tumors exhibited a CSC phenotype.Conclusions: Expression of AR and CD24 in stage I-III invasive BCa correlates with favorable clinicopathological features and delineates a subgroup of patients with better disease-free survival

Petri Net modelling approach for analysing the behaviour of Wnt/[inline-formula removed] -catenin and Wnt/Ca 2+ signalling pathways in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is an inherited heart muscle disease that may result in arrhythmia, heart failure and sudden death. The hallmark pathological findings are progressive myocyte loss and fibro fatty replacement, with a predilection for the right ventricle. This study focuses on the adipose tissue formation in cardiomyocyte by considering the signal transduction pathways including Wnt/[inline-formula removed]-catenin and Wnt/Ca2+ regulation system. These pathways are modelled and analysed using stochastic petri nets (SPN) in order to increase our comprehension of ARVC and in turn its treatment regimen. The Wnt/[inline-formula removed]-catenin model predicts that the dysregulation or absence of Wnt signalling, inhibition of dishevelled and elevation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 along with casein kinase I are key cytotoxic events resulting in apoptosis. Moreover, the Wnt/Ca2+ SPN model demonstrates that the Bcl2 gene inhibited by c-Jun N-terminal kinase protein in the event of endoplasmic reticulum stress due to action potential and increased amount of intracellular Ca2+ which recovers the Ca2+homeostasis by phospholipase C, this event positively regulates the Bcl2 to suppress the mitochondrial apoptosis which causes ARVC

A REVIEW ON OPTIMIZATION OF DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

The present review article aims at determining the various possible techniques available to enhance the quality, safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical formulations by exploring most suitable and practically applicable experimental designs and optimization techniques. As we know that pharmaceutical industries are constantly in search of novel ideas to improve quality by various optimization techniques, hence in present review article we shall discuss latest optimization techniques and experimental designs to achieve the best combination of product and process characteristics under the given set of conditions. Experimental designs and optimization techniques are the tools that are simultaneously and systematically used to identify various types of problems that may influence research, development and production of pharmaceutical formulations. These are organized an approach to determine the relationship between the factors affecting a process and the output of that process. The screening methods discussed here include factorial design, fractional factorial designs, full factorial design, mixture designs etc. Recently, different software has been used in implementing optimization techniques in pharmaceutical products to enhance product quality by using most suitable available facilities

Smoking and blood pressure levels in hypertensive patients: evaluating the role of gender, age and hypertension duration

Background: Hypertension is estimated to affect about 40% of adults above 25 years of age globally. While many of the risk factors of hypertension are well known, such is not the case with smoking. Pertinent published literature is heterogeneous, with a dearth of relevant local data. Objectives was to study the relationship between smoking and blood pressure levels in hypertensive patients and to assess the effects of gender, age and hypertension duration on such a relationship.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on a total of 298 conveniently sampled patients, aged 18 or above, from the medical outpatient department of a secondary care hospital of Karachi. The relevant data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire whereas the blood pressure level was checked using sphygmomanometer with stethoscope. Mann Whitney U test was used for inferential analysis whereas the significance level was set at 0.05.Results: Overall, both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were significantly associated with smoking history (p<0.05 for both) where they were found to be higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Furthermore, after gender, age and hypertension duration based stratifications; both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were still significantly associated with smoking history in patients who were male, were ≥35 years old and had <5 years hypertension duration (p<0.05 for both) where they were again found to be higher in smokers than in non-smokers.Conclusions: The study results showed a significant association of positive smoking history with higher mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels, though after stratifying for gender, age and hypertension duration, this relationship persisted only in patients who were male, were ≥35 years old and had <5 years hypertension duration