Prevalence and patterns of physical activity among school aged adolescents in Pakistan: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Less than one fifth of Pakistani adolescents, aged 13–15, years achieve recommended activity levels. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to determine a pooled estimate of the prevalence of PA, and to systematically evaluate the literature available on PA among adolescents in Pakistan. A systemic search of databases was conducted. In addition, hand search of references of all the included relevant publications was performed. Random effects meta-analysis was used to get weighted prevalence of PA among adolescents. Quality of undertaken studies was assessed using New-Castle Ottawa Scale. After removing duplicates, reviewing titles and abstracts and screening full texts, 15 articles were included for analysis. All studies were conducted in school setting, with a total sample size of 10,651. Weighted pooled prevalence of PA among adolescents was 36.0% with high heterogeneity (99.28%). Most of the studies met study quality assessment criteria except for comparability of subjects in different outcome groups and assessment of outcome. Prevalence of PA among adolescents is low in Pakistan. Formal strategies are needed for promoting PA among adolescents for their improved health and for reducing future burden of NCDs

Ethical Consumerism in Emerging Markets: Opportunities and Challenges

Despite the economic, social, and environmental importance of emerging countries, most existing research into ethical consumerism has focused on developed market contexts.We introduce this Special Issue (SI) and provide a comprehensive thematic literature review considering three broad categories or aspects of ethical consumerism research, (1) contexts of ethical consumption, (2) forms of ethical consumerism, and (3) approaches to explaining ethical consumer behavior. We summarize the articles of this SI as part of the thematic literature review to provide an understanding of how these articles and this SI’s overall contribute to ethical consumerism research. Each article in this SI offers new insights into a specific field of ethical consumerism while focusing on emerging market contexts. Overall, this SI expands knowledge related to the dynamics and challenges of ethical consumerism and offers future research directions in this area

CFD Analysis of Aerodynamic Drag Effects on Vacuum Tube Trains

Aerodynamic aspects of train shapes suitable for Vacuum Tube Train System are investigated in this paper. Three feasible geometries for the vacuum tube train system have been considered and modelled in three dimensions and have been computationally studied using the commercial software Ansys Fluent. Aerodynamic drag loads on these geometries have been calculated under different tube pressures and speeds of the train, which provide insight on various operating parameters that need to be considered while designing the vacuum tube train system. The present computational research shows that, the suitable vacuum pressure, and different shapes of head and tail of the train have significantly effects the drag force of the vacuum train in the tunnel. Overall, the elliptical train shape with a height to base ratio of 2:1 is more efficient for aerodynamic drag reduction of the vacuum tube train at the vacuum tube pressure of 1013.25 Pa

INTRPERITONEAL INJECTION OF GABA B RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST (CGP 35348) FOLLOWING NEONATAL BRAIN DAMAGE AFFECTS THE BLOOD CHEMISTRY IN ALBINO MICE

ABSTRACT Aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of GABA B receptor antagonists (CGP 35348) on hematological and serum biochemical profile of albino mouse injected for 12 days following neonatal hypoxic ischemic insult. Blood samples from 35 albino mice [CGP35348 treated (N = 19) and saline treated (N= 16)] were collected from direct cardiac puncture and various hematological [blood glucose, packed cell volume (PCV), total WBC count, total RBC count] and selected serum biochemical parameters (cholesterol, AST, ALT, HDL, LDL total protein, triglycerides) were determined. Glucose (P < 0.001), TRBC (P < 0.001), MCV (P < 0.001), TWBC (P = 0.02) and PCV (P = 0.005) concentrations were significantly lower in CGP35348 treated as compared to saline treated albino mice. Gender based data analysis revealed that CGP 35348 had more drastic effects in blood chemistry of female than male albino mice as glucose (P = 0.002) and TRBC (P = 0.007) were the only significantly different parameters when compared between GABAB receptor antagonist and saline treated male albino mice while glucose (P = 0.01), TRBC (P = 0.01), TWBC (P = 0.01), PCV (P = 0.01) and MCV (P = 0.047) concentrations were significantly lower in CGP 35348 treated female albino mice than their respective control group indicating gender specific effect of hypoxic ischemic brain damage and CGP 35348 in albino mice

Hawking radiation of scalar particles from accelerating and rotating black holes

Hawking radiation of uncharged and charged scalars from accelerating and rotating black holes is studied. We calculate the tunneling probabilities of these particles from the rotation and acceleration horizons of these black holes. Using the tunneling method we recover the correct Hawking temperature as well

Tunnelling Methods and Hawking's radiation: achievements and prospects

The aim of this work is to review the tunnelling method as an alternative description of the quantum radiation from black holes and cosmological horizons. The method is first formulated and discussed for the case of stationary black holes, then a foundation is provided in terms of analytic continuation throughout complex space-time. The two principal implementations of the tunnelling approach, which are the null geodesic method and the Hamilton-Jacobi method, are shown to be equivalent in the stationary case. The Hamilton-Jacobi method is then extended to cover spherically symmetric dynamical black holes, cosmological horizons and naked singularities. Prospects and achievements are discussed in the conclusions.Comment: Topical Review commissioned and accepted for publication by "Classical and Quantum Gravity". 101 pages; 6 figure

Effect of temperature anisotropy on various modes and instabilities for a magnetized non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian plasma

Using kinetic theory for homogeneous collisionless magnetized plasmas, we present an extended review of the plasma waves and instabilities and discuss the anisotropic response of generalized relativistic dielectric tensor and Onsager symmetry properties for arbitrary distribution functions. In general, we observe that for such plasmas only those electromagnetic modes whose magnetic field perturbations are perpendicular to the ambient magneticeld, i.e.,B1 \perp B0, are effected by the anisotropy. However, in oblique propagation all modes do show such anisotropic effects. Considering the non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian distribution and studying the relevant components of the general dielectric tensor under appropriate conditions, we derive the dispersion relations for various modes and instabilities. We show that only the electromagnetic R- and L- waves, those derived from them and the O-mode are affected by thermal anisotropies, since they satisfy the required condition B1\perpB0. By contrast, the perpendicularly propagating X-mode and the modes derived from it (the pure transverse X-mode and Bernstein mode) show no such effect. In general, we note that the thermal anisotropy modifies the parallel propagating modes via the parallel acoustic effect, while it modifies the perpendicular propagating modes via the Larmor-radius effect. In oblique propagation for kinetic Alfven waves, the thermal anisotropy affects the kinetic regime more than it affects the inertial regime. The generalized fast mode exhibits two distinct acoustic effects, one in the direction parallel to the ambient magnetic field and the other in the direction perpendicular to it. In the fast-mode instability, the magneto-sonic wave causes suppression of the firehose instability. We discuss all these propagation characteristics and present graphic illustrations

Dynamics of MOOC Discussion Forums

In this integrated study of dynamics in MOOCs discussion forums, we analyze the interplay of temporal patterns, discussion content, and the social structure emerging from the communication using mixed methods. A special focus is on the yet under-explored aspect of time dynamics and influence of the course structure on forum participation. Our analyses show dependencies between the course structure (video opening time and assignment deadlines) and the overall forum activity whereas such a clear link could only be partially observed considering the discussion content. For analyzing the social dimension we apply role modeling techniques from social network analysis. While the types of user roles based on connection patterns are relatively stable over time, the high fluctuation of active contributors lead to frequent changes from active to passive roles during the course. However, while most users do not create many social connections they can play an important role in the content dimension triggering discussions on the course subject. Finally, we show that forum activity level can be predicted one week in advance based on the course structure, forum activity history and attributes of the communication network which enables identification of periods when increased tutor supports in the forum is necessary