Comparative analysis of knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about induced abortions among medical and non-medical students of Karachi

Objectve: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding induced abortions among university students of Karachi and compare these aspects among medical and non-medical students. STUDY Design: Cross sectional opinion survey. Methods: The study is a cross sectional opinion survey of medical and non-medical students from four educational institutions of Karachi using a pretested questionnaire. Results: Of the 381 students interviewed, 201 were medical and 180 were non-medical. More medical students were aware of the correct definition of induced abortion. An encouraging finding was the awareness of our study population about the only legally acceptable circumstance for induced abortion in Pakistan, that is, if conceptus is a risk to maternal health (p \u3c 0.001). More medical students cited complications that were technical like uterine perforation (p \u3c 0.001), cervical trauma (p \u3c 0.001), DIC (p \u3c 0.001), and sepsis (p \u3c 0.001). More medical students thought induced abortion to be a health issue (p=0.001) as compared to non-medical students. Most of the medical students felt the need to modify Pakistan\u27s law regarding abortion (p=0.008) especially for fetal anomalies (13.9%) and rape (7%).CONCLUSION: Though medical students were more knowledgeable about induced abortions as compared to the non-medical population, there is a need to improve awareness regarding induced and unsafe abortions and their consequences

Hepatitis B virus infection among different sex and age groups in Pakistani Punjab

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious health problem in the developing countries including Pakistan. Various risk factors are responsible for the spread of this infectious disease. Prevalence of HBV infection in apparently suspected individual of Punjab province of Pakistan was analyzed during January 2008 to December 2010. Current study was aimed to investigate the epidemiology and risk factors of HBV infection.</p> <p>Methodology</p> <p>Four thousand eight hundred and ninety patients suffering from chronic liver disease were screened for the presence of HBV DNA using qualitative Real Time PCR methodology to confirm their status of infection. A predesigned standard questionnaire was filled for all the patients that included information about the possible risk factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 4890 ELISA positive patients were screened for Hepatitis B virus infection. Of these 3143 were positive for HBV, includes 68.15% males and 31.85% females. Male were observed to be more frequently infected as compared to the female with a positivity ratio of 2.14: 1. The rate of infection increases with the passage of time in the course of three years. Highest frequency of infection was found in the age of 21-30 was 34.93% followed by 23.83% in 31-40. Only (13.39%) were belonging to the age group 11-20 year. The rate of infection declines with increasing age as shown by age groups 41-50 (16.13%) and 51-60 (7.09%). While children aged 0-10 and very old >60 age groups were very less frequently 1.49% and 1.65% infected respectively. Important risk factors contributing to HBV spread include barber risk (23.60%), blood transfusion (4.04%), History of injection 26.19%, Reuse of syringes 26.60%, dental risk (11.20%) and surgical procedure (4.26%). Among the entire respondents trend sharing personal items was very common. History of injection, barber risk, surgery and dental procedure and reuse of syringes appear as major risk factors for the transmission.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Male were more frequently exposed to the risk factors as compared to female. Similarly the younger age group had high rate of infection as compared to the children's and the older age groups. Reuse of syringes', barber risk and History of injection were main risk identified during the present study. To lower HBV transmission rate Government should take aggressive steps towards massive awareness and vaccination programs to decrease the burden of HBV from the Punjab province of Pakistan.</p

Data from a pre-publication independent replication initiative examining ten moral judgement effects

We present the data from a crowdsourced project seeking to replicate findings in independent laboratories before (rather than after) they are published. In this Pre-Publication Independent Replication (PPIR) initiative, 25 research groups attempted to replicate 10 moral judgment effects from a single laboratory's research pipeline of unpublished findings. The 10 effects were investigated using online/lab surveys containing psychological manipulations (vignettes) followed by questionnaires. Results revealed a mix of reliable, unreliable, and culturally moderated findings. Unlike any previous replication project, this dataset includes the data from not only the replications but also from the original studies, creating a unique corpus that researchers can use to better understand reproducibility and irreproducibility in science

The pipeline project: Pre-publication independent replications of a single laboratory's research pipeline

This crowdsourced project introduces a collaborative approach to improving the reproducibility of scientific research, in which findings are replicated in qualified independent laboratories before (rather than after) they are published. Our goal is to establish a non-adversarial replication process with highly informative final results. To illustrate the Pre-Publication Independent Replication (PPIR) approach, 25 research groups conducted replications of all ten moral judgment effects which the last author and his collaborators had “in the pipeline” as of August 2014. Six findings replicated according to all replication criteria, one finding replicated but with a significantly smaller effect size than the original, one finding replicated consistently in the original culture but not outside of it, and two findings failed to find support. In total, 40% of the original findings failed at least one major replication criterion. Potential ways to implement and incentivize pre-publication independent replication on a large scale are discussed

Understanding online customer repurchasing intention and the mediating role of trust - an empirical investigation in two developed countries

2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journa

eCRM capabilities of SMEs: a model and its relationships

Organizations today have a diversity of applications available to support the management of customerrelationships, namely electronic-customer relationship management (eCRM) applications. Despite thegrowing need of understanding eCRM in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), eCRM research islargely focused on large organizations. Building on the theory of dynamic capabilities, this paperexamines the relationships among use of the internet infrastructure, eCRM capabilities, and theirresulting benefits through a survey across 286 SMEs in Ireland. Findings present significant theoreticaland practical contributions. It is posited that the ICT infrastructure strongly impacts eCRM capabilitiesof SME’s. Further, it is posited that the level of ICT use impacts on eCRM capabilities. Ultimately, themore proficient the eCRM capabilities, the higher the levels of benefits recorded for SME’s. Our eCRMfocused study provides a valuable theoretical contribution and also aims to inspire further research inthe SME context of this important are