Anti-MRSA potential and metabolic fingerprinting of actinobacteria from Cholistan desert, Pakistan

Purpose: To investigate the actinomycetes from an extreme environment for their inhibitory potential against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and the metabolic fingerprinting of the active strains.Methods: A total of 80 actinomycetes strains were recovered from Cholistan desert, Pakistan. The isolated strains were identified by morphological, biochemical and physiological characterization and by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The antimicrobial activity of the selected actinomycetes strains against MRSA was determined by agar well and disc diffusion assays. All the strains were screened against MRSA for the identification of potent antimicrobial producers. Further, validation of MRSA, strains was carried out using a portion of mec-A gene (533bp) of five strains including A1, A6, A7, A8 and A9, amplified and sequenced.Results: The desert actinomycetes strains exhibited promising antimicrobial activity against MRSA with zone of inhibition of up to 25 mm recorded in agar diffusion and disc diffusion assays. The MRSA strains also showed maximum genetic similarity with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in GenBank. Most of the actinobacterial strains exhibited 99 % genetic similarity with the genus Streptomyces, including strains AFD6, AFD12, AFD23, AFD25, and AFD26 while isolate AFD18 has 100 % similarity with a Pseudonocardia, named Saccharothrix xinjiangensis.Conclusion: The results reveal that actinomycetes from the desert ecosystem studied are significant producers of useful antimicrobial agents, and should be explored further for novel drug candidates against MRSA.Keywords: Anti-MRSA potential, Actinomycetes, Extreme environments, Metabolic fingerprinting, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, Mec-A gene characterizatio

Relationship between Father Rejection and Psychological Maladjustment of Criminals

The present study assessed the degree of perceived father acceptance-rejection and its relationship with psychological maladjustment in a group of 81 prisoners (40 males and 41 females) with the mean age of 37.2 years (SD=13.77), selected from the Central Jail, Peshawar. For comparison, 90 non- criminal adults (45 males and 45 females) having mean age of 36.23 (SD=12.68), were selected from the general population, matched with the criminal group in terms of their demographic characteristics. Short form of Father Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (Adult PARQ Father), and Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Adult PAQ ) by Rohner & Khaleque (2008), translated into Urdu by Riaz (2011) were used for assessment. Results revealed that criminals perceived more father rejection than non-criminals and multiple regression analysis showed that father rejection, specifically father indifference/neglect, is a significant predictor of psychological maladjustment in criminals/prisoners. These findings, therefore, support the hypotheses of the study

Impact of HR Practices on Perceived Performance of Hospital Employees in Pakistan

The objective of our study is to establish the relationship between Employee’s Performance and HR practices in the developing countries like Pakistan. Few studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between employee’s performance and HR practices in the developing countries. The core aim of our study is to investigate relationship between employee’s performance and three Human Resource practices (Performance Evaluation, Promotion and Compensation) among hospital employees in Pakistan. The outcomes of this paper shows the positive association between promotion practices and compensation practices with employee performance but employee performance are not significantly associated with performance evaluation. Pakistani hospitals need to change some compensation practices for the improvement of hospital employee’s performance. Keywords: Employee performance, HR practices, Hospital employees, Pakistan

Consanguinity and its socio-biological parameters in Rahim Yar Khan District, Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Background: Rahim Yar Khan (RYK) District is a multi-ethnic assemblage of both ancient and migrated communities in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. There is a paucity of knowledge on the bio-demographic structure of this endogamous population. Methods: We have carried out a cross-sectional epidemiological study in RYK District and recruited 2174 random Muslim married females. Detailed account of marital union types, level of consanguinity, and subject\u2019s fertility, was taken. Results: The analyses of these data revealed that consanguineous unions (CU) were 58.46 %, rendering an inbreeding coefficient (IC-F) = 0.0355. The CU were observed to be significantly higher in subjects originating from rural areas, speaking Saraiki language, illiterate or having a religious/Madarsa education only, and belonging to nuclear family type. The rate of consanguinity was also higher in subjects whose husbands were engaged in unskilled manual or skilled manual jobs, and had consanguinity in the parental generation. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that variables like Saraiki language, illiteracy, reciprocal marriages, and parental consanguinity, were the significant predictors of CU in the subject. Among the first cousin unions (which constituted 52 % of all marriages), parallel-cousin and patrilineal unions were in the majority (54 and 57 %, respectively), and father\u2019s brother\u2019s daughter type had the highest representation (31 %). The analyses further demonstrated that fertility and mean live-births were significantly higher in women who had CU compared to the non-consanguineous (NCU) group (p < 0.006); and significantly higher number of sons per women were born to the mothers who had CU compared with the NCU sample (p = 0.0002). However, there were no differences in the CU and NCU samples with respect to pre- or post-natal mortalities and child morbidities. Conclusions: The scientific findings in RYK District are distinct from the observations in other Pakistani populations and clue to a unique nature of this population. This study presents a comprehensive account of consanguinity and IC-F in RYK District and would be helpful in getting an insight into the structure of this population

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards Cervical Cancer and Screening amongst Female Healthcare Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Cervical cancer is a potentially preventable disease if appropriate screening and prophylactic strategies are employed. However, lack of knowledge and awareness can result in underutilization of the preventive strategies. Healthcare professionals with adequate knowledge play a huge role in influencing the beliefs and practices of the general public in a positive way. We assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of cervical cancer and screening amongst female healthcare professionals at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Saudi Arabia.Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study on female healthcare professionals at KFMC. Data were collected using a predesigned, tested, and self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included specific sections to test the participants’ knowledge, attitude, and practices related to cervical cancer and its screening. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics.Results. Data from 395 participants were included in the final analysis. The majority of the study participants were nurses (n = 261, 66.1%). The mean age of the participants was 34.7 years and 239 (60.5%) participants were married. Only 16 (4.0%) participants appeared to have good level knowledge of cervical cancer (in terms of risk factors, vulnerability, signs and symptoms, ways of prevention, and ways of screening) and 58 (14.7%) participants had fair level knowledge. A total of 343 (86.8%) participants believed that Pap smear test is a useful test for the detection of cervical cancer and 103 (26.2%) participants had undergone Pap smear testing. Conclusions. Our study population showed poor knowledge of cervical cancer as a disease. The participants had a fair knowledge of Pap smear testing, but only a quarter of the cohort had undergone testing themselves. This study highlights the need for formal educational programs for the healthcare workers at KFMC specifically to improve their knowledge regarding the risk factors and early signs and symptoms of cervical cancer

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to breast cancer screening among female health care professionals: a cross sectional study

Background: Incidence of breast cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has increased in recent years. Screening helps in early detection of cancer and early diagnosis and timely treatment of breast cancer lead to a better prognosis. Women in the healthcare profession can have a positive impact on the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of general public. Therefore, it is important that the healthcare workers themselves have adequate knowledge and positive attitudes. We conducted a study to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to breast cancer screening among female healthcare professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on female health professional of KFMC (King Fahad Medical City). Data was collected using a pre-designed, tested, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included specific sections to test the participants’ knowledge, attitude, and practices related to cervical cancer and its screening. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 395 health care workers participated in this study. The mean age of the participants was 34.7years. Participants included physicians (n=63, 16.0%), nurses (n=261, 66.1%), and allied health workers (n=71, 18.0%). Only 6 (1.5%) participants had a good level of knowledge of breast cancer and 104 (26.8%) participants demonstrated a fair level of knowledge. Overall, 370 (93.7%), 339 (85.8%), and 368 (93.2%) participants had heard of breast self-examination, clinical breast examination, and mammography, respectively. A total of 295 (74.7%) participants reported practicing breast self-examination, 95 (24.1%) had undergone clinical breast examination, and 74 (18.7%) had ever undergone mammography. Conclusion: The knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to breast cancer screening were found to be lower than expected. Active steps are required to develop educational programs for the health care staff, which might empower them to spread the knowledge and positively influence the attitudes of female patients in the hospital

Analysis of a free machining α+β titanium alloy using conventional and ultrasonically assisted turning

Rapid advancements in power generation and aviation industries have witnessed a widespread use of titanium and its alloys in many applications. This is primarily due to their excellent mechanical properties including, amongst other, high strength-to-density ratio, outstanding fatigue properties and corrosion resistance with the ability to withstand moderately high temperatures. However, this combination of properties results in poor machinability of the material, increasing the cost of components machined with conventional cutting techniques. Recently, Ti 6Al 2Sn 4Zr 6Mo, a modern titanium alloy with improved mechanical properties, has been introduced as a possible replacement of Ti 6Al 4V in aerospace industry. However, its poor machinability and formation of long chips in conventional turning are main limitations for its wide-spread application. Therefore, a new alloy based on Ti 6Al 2Sn 4Zr 6Mo, namely Ti 6Al 7Zr 6Mo 0.9La, was developed; it shows enhanced machinability generating short chips during metal cutting, which prevents entanglement with cutting tools improving productivity. To further enhance the machinability of this material, a novel hybrid machining technique called ultrasonically assisted turning (UAT) was used. Experimental investigations were carried out to study the machinability, chip shapes, cutting forces, temperature in the process zone and surface roughness for conventional and ultrasonically assisted turning of both alloys. UAT shows improved machinability with reduced nominal cutting forces, improved surface roughness of the machined workpiece and generation of shorter chips when compared to conventional machining conditions