Dengue: pathogenesis, prevention and treatment – A mini review

Dengue is a threatening tropical disease which has become the cause of significant mortality, morbidity and economic burden. Dengue is an epidemic in over 100 countries, and it causes up to 25000 deaths every year. There is no specific cure available for the disease, hence fluid resuscitation is the only ultimate treatment given to patients in severe conditions. Dengue is more threatening in Southeast Asia, where it is the leading cause of deaths in children, and where all four serotypes of the dengue virus and the vector, Aedes aegypti, are endemic. In last few decades, an overwhelming increase was seen in dengue infections around the world and it is estimated that two fifths of the world's population is now at risk from dengue with the mortality rate of about 5%. To control dengue infection, combination of care measures are utilized which depends on the symptoms and severity of the fever, including oral rehydration solution or isotonic intravenous fluids and/or blood transfusions. Currently, the only effective way of preventing the dengue epidemics is eliminating the vector. This review covers pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of dengue infection

Executive remuneration, corporate governance and corporate performance: Evidence from China

This study investigates the impact of corporate performance and corporate governance on executive remuneration in a Chinese market setting. Using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation approach for a sample of 860 non-financial firms listed on Chinese Stock Exchanges over the 15 years period of 2004–2018, the study found a positive and significant association between corporate profitability and executive pay. The study further reports that ownership concentration is positively related to executive pay revealing an entrenchment effect i.e., collusion between large shareholders and top management. Consistent with managerial power and agency theory CEO duality exhibits a positive relationship with executive remuneration, while board size and board independence also reveal a positive association with executive pay, indicating board ineffectiveness in reducing managerial entrenchment. Interestingly, non-state-owned enterprises report a negative relationship of board size with executive remuneration which means non-state-owned enterprises with larger board size tend to reduce executive pay because they may have better control and monitoring. Following the managerial power propositions, CEO duality weakens the performance sensitivity of executive pay, but contrary to agency theory the impact of board independence on this sensitivity is in contrast and weakens the relationship of managerial pay and performance, making the independent director’s role ambiguous

Impact of wellness indicators on intellectual dimensions of medical teachers of Karachi: Findings from cross sectional study

Objective: To measure impact of social, spiritual, occupational, physical, financial and emotional wellness on intellectual wellness of medical teachers.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at 8 medical universities in the Sindh province of Pakistan from January 2012 to December 2014, and comprised faculty members. Using a self-administered questionnaire, teachers\u27 responses on physical, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, occupational and financial spokes of the wellness wheel that were graded on a 4-point Likert scale. Generalised linear models were executed to find the best predictive scores for intellectual wellness.Results: Out of 300 subjects approached, 261(87%) returned the questionnaire fully completed. Of them, 86(33%) were males and 175(67%) were females. Occupational wellness followed by spiritual, financial and emotional wellness depicted significantly high correlation with IW (p0.05). In the final model, occupational wellness effect increased to 0.504 score and spiritual wellness effect projected to 0.273 score for intellectual wellness (p\u3c0.05).Conclusions: Amongst all the spokes of the wellness wheel, occupational, financial, social, emotional and spiritual wellness improved mental capabilities of medical teachers to overcome the challenges for acquiring intellectual wellness. However, wellness at workplace played the major role in enhancing intellectual proficiencies

Current status and overview of farm mechanization in Pakistan – A review

Economic growth in Pakistani agricultural sector lags behind growth in industry and services, creating an ever widening rural-urban income fissure.  Agricultural mechanization plays a strategic role in improving agricultural production and productivity in developing countries. The average farm size in Pakistan is small (2.5 acres) and small and marginal land holdings (less than 2.0 ha) account for 85% of land holdings.  Mechanizing small and non-contiguous group of small farms is against ‘economies of scale’ for individual ownership of farm machinery. It was observed that there was a direct correlation between farm power availability and productivity during the past six decades. Being an agrarian country, mechanization can be called as back bone of Pakistan’s economy as it optimizes the use of biological, chemical and hydrological inputs.  So far, Pakistan has only experienced selective farm mechanization as this concept has remained limited to use of tractors only and at the country level, the temporal analysis shows that an increase in tractor population from 1975 -1984 was about 341% while it was 61% from 1984-1994.  At present there are about 0.94 million tractors in Pakistan, which alone provides 0.84 hp/acre.  Land preparation is the only operation that is nearly 100% mechanized in the country for almost all crops with 901 thousand chisel plough and 108 thousand Mould board ploughs.  The market of planting and spraying machinery has grown from 70 and 21 thousands in 2004 to 295 and 1438 thousands in 2014 respectively due to the inclination of the farming community towards mechanized sowing and spraying.  The thrasher’s market in Pakistan is estimated at 20,000-30,000 units annually by sales resulting in nearly 100% mechanized threshing operation for cereal crops. By increasing the available horse power per hectare and by the proper management of agricultural machinery the average crop yield can be enhanced

Viability assessment of in vitro produced synthetic seeds of cucumber

Friable, embryogenic calli of F1 cucumber (Cucumis sativus) cultivar, Royal, were induced from the hypocotyl pieces cultured on solidified MS-basal media supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) and benzyl amino purine (BAP). Embryogenic calli were transferred to liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS)-basal  media supplemented with 5 ƒÊM naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 1 µM BAP. The mature somatic embryos  were encapsulated in sodium alginate mixture in synthetic seeds. The encapsulation mixture containing 3%  sodium alginate, 100 mM calcium chloride and one-fourth volume of the cell suspension nutrient mixture  containing 5x10-4 somatic embryos per ml was found the best. Synthetic seeds remain viable up to 14 weeks  when stored at 4°C. Germination efficiency of synthetic seeds was decreased to 57% after 10 weeks of  storage followed by rapid decrease in survival rate to 0% after 15 weeks. Genetic diversity between mother  plants and in vitro produced synthetic seeds showed resemblance as assessed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers.Key words: Artificial seed, Cucumis sativus, encapsulation, somatic embryogenesis, sodium-calcium alginate

Factors ssociated with complicated appendicitis: view from a low-middle income country

Introduction Factors associated with complicated appendicitis have been inconsistently identified. Moreover, studies are lacking from low and low-middle countries where access to surgical care is limited. Our objective was to identify factors predicting complicated appendicitis as diagnosed intraoperatively in a low-middle income country hospital. Methodology Retrospective case-control study of patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy from 01/2008 to 12/2015 was completed. Based on intraoperative diagnosis of complicated appendicitis, patients were divided into two groups; those with complicated appendicitis (CA) and those who had non-complicated appendicitis (NCA). CT scans were further reviewed to identify presence of appendicolith. Result Of the 442 patients included, 88 (20%) patients were in the CA group while 354 (80%) patients were in the NCA group. Patients in the CA group were older [CA vs. NCA: 34.6 ± 14 vs. 30.4 ± 11.5; p-value \u3c 0.001], had symptoms for longer duration [CA vs. NCA: 2 ± 1.2 vs. 1.5 ± 0.8; p-value: 0.001] and had a greater proportion of patients with appendicoliths [CA vs. NCA: 37 (42%) vs. 84 (23.7%); p-value: 0.001]. On multivariable regression analysis, patients with complicated appendicitis had greater odds of having appendicoliths (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.4-4.07; p-value \u3c 0.001) and symptoms for a longer duration (OR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.25-1.97; p-value \u3c 0.001). Conclusion Patients with complicated appendicitis had greater odds of having appendicoliths and symptoms for a longer duration. Further studies are warranted in low and low-middle income countries to gauge the impact delay in presentation and intervention has on appendicitis and its outcomes

Evaluation of stress and its clinical correlation among the students of Allied Health Sciences

Background: Stress is a key indicator affecting the psychological and physical health of students throughout the world. The current study was planned to find out depression, stress, and anxiety and their impact on obesity and different clinical markers among the students of Allied Health Sciences.Methods: To assess stress, anxiety, and depression levels; the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS- 21) was utilized. A total of 1446 individuals participated in the current research project. After assessing the BMI of students, a blood sample of two hundred and two (202) obese students were collected. Spectrophotometry, latex agglutination, and flow cytometry were employed to determine the different clinical markers.Results: Stress was found in 63.10% population, while depression was 59.70% and the prevalence of anxiety was 61.90%. After analysis of the blood samples of students, a significant increase was seen in cholesterol and HDL, while VLDL was moderately decreased. LDL, triglycerides, and CBC showed no significant change. Random blood glucose was normal, and CRP was also found negative in all the participants. There was no significant correlation between serum lipid profile and CBC parameters during stress, anxiety, and depression in students.Conclusion: A significant stress level was found among the students of Allied Health Sciences. It is a dire need of time to be focused on the mental health of students. Psychological counseling should be provided in the institutes for the mental well-being of the students.Keywords: Stress, Depression, Anxiety, Dass-21, Health sciences students     

Preparation of cellulosic Ag-nanocomposites using an ionic liquid

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Cellulose-based nanocomposites have gained much attention due to their remarkable biological properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, and low toxicity. In this research work, 1-h-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ionic liquid was employed as an efficient solvent for preparation of cellulosic Ag-nanocomposites (CRC/AgNPs composite) from Neem plant. Ionic liquid plays a dual role in obtaining cellulose-rich compound (CRC; removing lignin and hemicellulose components) and plant’s extract (phenolic compounds such as flavonoids, tannins, etc.) that reduces the AgNO 3 into AgNPs for preparation of CRC/AgNPs composite. The prepared CRC/AgNPs composite was characterized using XRD, FTIR and SEM techniques. The XRD and FTIR spectral analysis showed the characteristic peaks assigned to cellulosic constituent and AgNPs. SEM analysis revealed the particles in the range from 26 to 56 nm. The CRC/AgNPs composite was evaluated for its antibacterial and mechanical properties. The antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli for CRC/AgNPs composite was observed in comparison to CRC. Cell viability and morphology were performed on MC3T3-E1 cells which showed no as such toxicity for the prepared CRC/AgNPs composite. Moreover, the addition of CRC/AgNPs composite as a filler increased the compression strength of polymeric materials