Diabetes knowledge, beliefs and practices among people with diabetes attending a university hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

A structured questionnaire on knowledge, beliefs and practices regarding diabetes was administered to 199 persons with diabetes (92.5% type 2) attending the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. Mean age [standard deviation (SD)] was 53 (11) years. Mean duration of diabetes (SD) was 8 (7) years in men and 9 (6) years in women. Men had a significantly better knowledge score than women (P = 0.02); there was no significant difference in the beliefs and practices scores. Scores were classed as good (\u3e 60%) in only 13.6% of participants for knowledge, 17.6% for beliefs and 11.2% for practices. About 38% of the participants had received education on diabetes care

Macrovascular complications and their associated factors among persons with type 2 diabetes in Karachi, Pakistan--a multi-center study

Objective: To assess the prevalence of macrovascular complications and factors associated with these complications among persons with Type 2 diabetes.Methods: A multi-center, cross-sectional survey was conducted in three diabetes clinics of Karachi from November 2000 to April 2001. Six hundred and seventy-two persons were interviewed to determine the prevalence of ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVA) and diabetic foot (DF). Demographic data and co-variables obtained include age, sex, duration of diabetes, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, exercise habits and history of hypertension (HTN).Results: Overall, 26.4%, 6.8% and 3.9% of individuals had IHD, CVA and DF respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that subjects having IHD were more likely to have HTN (AOR=1.88, 95% CI 1.31-2.69), not performing regular exercise (AOR = 2.09, 95% CI 1.39-3.17) and be current smokers (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.10-3.10) Subjects having CVA were more likely to have diabetes for more than 5 years (AOR = 1.94, 95% CI 0.97-3.87). Males were more prone than females to have DF (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI 1.46-8.31). Those who had DF were more likely to have diabetes for more than 5 years (AOR = 3.29, 95% CI 1.09-9.89) and of reporting current smoking (AOR = 4.01, 95% CI 1.49-10.71).CONCLUSION: Large proportions of persons with Type 2 diabetes were suffering from preventable macrovascular complications in Karachi, Pakistan. There is a need to develop risk factor modification interventions to reduce the impact of long-term complications

Experiencing space–time: the stretched lifeworlds of migrant workers in India

In the relatively rare instances when the spatialities of temporary migrant work, workers’ journeys, and labour-market negotiations have been the subject of scholarly attention, there has been little work that integrates time into the analysis. Building on a case study of low-paid and insecure migrant manual workers in the context of rapid economic growth in India, we examine both material and subjective dimensions of these workers’ spatiotemporal experiences. What does it mean to live life stretched out, multiplyattached to places across national space? What kinds of place attachments emerge for people temporarily sojourning in, rather than moving to, new places to reside and work? Our analysis of the spatiotemporalities of migrant workers’ experiences in India suggests that, over time, this group of workers use their own agency to seek to avoid the experience of humiliation and indignity in employment relations. Like David Harvey, we argue that money needs to be integrated into such analysis, along with space and time. The paper sheds light on processes of exclusion, inequality and diff erentiation, unequal power geometries, and social topographies that contrast with neoliberalist narratives of ‘Indian shining

An aggregator-based-strategy to minimize the cost of energy consumption by optimal utilization of energy resources in an apartment building

© 2019 IEEE. Buildings and transport consume two thirds of the total global energy. It is desirable to maximize the use of renewable generation in these sectors, and to optimize the use of that energy by managing diverse sources and loads. This is particularly challenging in high-density residential premises where the space for such infrastructure is limited, and storage can have significant impact on energy utilization and demand. In this paper, we have proposed an aggregator-based-strategy (ABS) to optimally utilize the available energy resources and storage in an apartment building with twenty households, each having an electric vehicle (EV), and an aggregated solar photovoltaic (PV) energy and stationary battery storage (BS) system. The strategy is flexible and can be applied to any building with EVs, solar PV and BS to minimize the cost of energy consumption without compromising the flexibility of energy usage or travel requirements. The model also accounts for the battery capacity degradation and its associated cost to make it more realistic. The model is evaluated using real data and the results show that the strategy not only reduces the cost of energy consumption but also reduces the amount of energy drawn from the grid significantly

2,4-Dichloro-N-p-tolyl­benzamide

In the title compound, C14H11Cl2NO, the C—N—C(=O)—C amide unit is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0317 Å) and subtends dihedral angles of 65.93 (6) and 29.45 (7)°, respectively, to the dichloro­benzene and tolyl rings. The two aromatic rings are inclined at 37.92 (6)° to one another. In the crystal structure, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains along b. Additional weak C—H⋯Cl and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds combine with C—H⋯π and very weak π–π contacts [Cg⋯Cg distance = 4.0217 (12) Å] to stack the mol­ecules down b

Recent Development and Results with the MERLIN Tracking Code

MERLIN is a high performance accelerator simulation code which is used for modelling the collimation system at the LHC. It is written in extensible object-oriented C++ so new physics processes can be easily added. In this article we present recent developments needed for the Hi-Lumi LHC and future high energy colliders including FCC, such as hollow electron lenses and composite materials. We also give an overview of recent simulation work, validation against LHC data from run 1 and 2, and loss maps for Hi-Lumi LHC

A varicocoele mimicking a hydrocoele in a man with portal hypertension: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Hydrocoele is a condition frequently encountered in adult urological practice. It is usually of benign aetiology and often diagnosed on clinical grounds. Surgical repair, if indicated, is generally straightforward.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a 53-year-old man with liver cirrhosis and clinical features of a hydrocoele, in whom flow was demonstrated using Doppler ultrasonography in the fluid around the testis, which communicated via varices with the left renal vein.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this patient with misleading clinical signs, diagnosis was established radiologically. Had surgery proceeded without this investigation, significant intra-operative bleeding would have been likely.</p

Novel MIMO Antenna System for Ultra Wideband Applications

The design of a 4 x 4 MIMO antenna for UWB communication systems is presented in this study. The single antenna element is comprised of a fractal circular ring structure backed by a modified partial ground plane having dimensions of 30 x 30 mm2. The single antenna element has a wide impedance bandwidth of 9.33 GHz and operates from 2.67 GHz to 12 GHz. Furthermore, the gain of a single antenna element increases as the frequency increases, with a peak realized gain and antenna efficiency of 5 dBi and >75%, respectively. For MIMO applications, a 4 x 4 array is designed and analyzed. The antenna elements are positioned in a plus-shaped configuration to provide pattern as well as polarization diversity. It is worth mentioning that good isolation characteristics are achieved without the utilization of any isolation enhancement network. The proposed MIMO antenna was fabricated and tested, and the results show that it provides UWB response from 2.77 GHz to over 12 GHz. The isolation between the antenna elements is more than 15 dB. Based on performance attributes, it can be said that the proposed design is suitable for UWB MIMO applications.The authors would like to appreciate Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme for the funding of this research work under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant 801538

Digital signal processing based on inverse scattering transform

Through numerical modeling, we illustrate the possibility of a new approach to digital signal processing in coherent optical communications based on the application of the so-called inverse scattering transform. Considering without loss of generality a fiber link with normal dispersion and quadrature phase shift keying signal modulation, we demonstrate how an initial information pattern can be recovered (without direct backward propagation) through the calculation of nonlinear spectral data of the received optical signal