Nutritional status and physical abuse among the children involved in domestic labour in Karachi Pakistan: a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of physical abuse among domestic child labours and to assess the nutritional status by calculating the Body Mass Index of children involved in domestic labour in Karachi. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted in the squatter settlements of Karachi. Questionnaire based interviews were conducted to capture physical abuse with 385 children who worked as domestic labour in the household of their employer. The ages of the children were between 10 to 14 years belonging to both genders. The children were enrolled in study by snow-ball sampling technique. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of physical abuse among domestic child labour in Karachi was found to be 8.3 %. Over 9 % had low weight and about 90% were stunted. This study also highlighted that 95% of the children involved in domestic labour perform overtime work in their employer\u27s home, more than once per week. CONCLUSIONS: There is high burden of physical abuse among the domestic child labour and these children are malnourished. There is a need to recognize and regulate this form of labour in Pakistan

Impact of Remittance on Economic Growth of Pakistan

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to analyse the impact of remittance on economic growth in context of Pakistan. Pakistan ranks eighth among remittance receiving countries. An improved understanding of this relationship can support policy makers.  Methodology: The data for this study is collected from World Bank Data website from 1976 to 2018 for Pakistan. Economic growth proxied by GDP per capita growth is independent variable (DV) and Remittance, Household consumption, foreign direct investment, gross capital formation and trade as percentage of GDP as dependent variable (DV) . OLS method and Granger Casualty Test is used to analyse the data. Findings: The study results show that remittance has both long term and short term significant positive impact on economic growth. Both OLS and Granger Causality confirm long-term relationship between remittance whereas short term relationship is only established by Granger Causality test. Practical implications: The outcomes of the research can be utilised by the policy makers in designing strategy for future migrant labour management.   &nbsp

Prostate cancer and glutathione S-transferase deletions

GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms have been studied in many populations to evaluate their association with prostate cancer risk with contrasting results. The current study was aimed to find out the association of GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms with prostate cancer in Pakistani men. This case control study included pathologically confirmed prostate cancer patients and age matched male controls. Epidemiological data was collected by a standard questionnaire and presence or absence of GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene was observed by multiplex PCR using CYP1A1 as housekeeping gene. Prostate cancer was more prevalent in age of >60 years and most of the patients were at stage IV (70 %) and have undergone surgery. Family history of cancer, smoking, metastasis and surgery were found to be significant (P0.05) with prostate cancer risk. No significant association was found when comparing GSTM1 (OR=0.78) and GSTT1 (OR=0.89) gene deletions with prostate cancer risk. Smoking and TNM staging were also not associated with deletion of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes. Comparison of dual null deletion of both genes with prostate cancer also showed nonsignificant associations. Deletion of GSTM1 gene at stage IV prostate cancer patients was significantly higher compared with other stages of cancer while no significance was shown by GSTT1 gene deletion. GSTM1, GSTT1 and deletion of both GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes do not contribute towards increased risk of prostate cancer in Pakistani population

Modified Impact Factor (MIF) at Specialty Level: A Way Forward

AbstractJournal Impact Factor (JIF) is gold standard in the field of bibliometric whether published or perished. Its opposition is mainly because of inter- and intra-disciplinary discrepancies. By normalization compared to highest JIF, Modified Impact Factor (MIF) were calculated at disciplines, branches and specialties level & termed as Red, Yellow and Green MIF respectively. For this purpose 10 Top JIF during 2010 from some disciplines of medical & engineering were taken. Then JIF of their branches and specialties were accounted and converted to MIF. Comparative analysis of MIF was more meaningful to remove inter- and intra-disciplinary discrepancies. This new method will help universities as well as researchers to find their proper place values at the specialty level in the era of advancing bibliometric in general & journal reputation, in particular

Role of Family, Neighbourhood and Peers in Development of Delinquent Behavior in Adolescents

All over the globe juvenile delinquency is a major issue. Even after lots of efforts to minimize it, it is increasing. Therefore, the review paper aims on looking at the basic causes of development of delinquent behavior in adolescents. Objectives of this study are, finding out what role family plays in development of adolescents’ delinquent behavior, what role neighborhood (local neighborhood or extra-local neighborhood) plays in development of delinquent behavior in adolescents, what role do peers play in development of delinquent behavior in adolescents and what role do economic factors and personal factors play in development of adolescents’ delinquent behavior. Researches from past 12 years (from 2004 till 2016), including 39 papers, relevant to the study have been selected on basis of the keywords of the study from different websites PubMed, WileyOnline Library and some other online sociology, criminology and community psychology journal websites. Type of studies included in this paper are quantitative, qualitative, case study, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Results indicated family, peers, neighborhood, economic factors and personal factors are the reasons of development of delinquent behavior of adolescents. Interventions in keeping consideration of these issues should be planned for the reduction of juvenile crimes

Probiotics supplementation reduces cigarette smoke-induced damage in the respiratory micro-architecture of mice

This study evaluated the protective efficacy of probiotics supplementation against cigarette smoke-induced lung emphysema, inflammation, and loss of cilia in mice. Probiotics are known to promote mucosal tolerance and mitigate respiratory injuries. Twenty-four adult mice were randomly divided into three groups: control (Ctr), cigarette smoke (CS), and cigarette smoke + probiotics (CS+P). Probiotics were given for 7 days before exposure to smoke in the CS+P group. Tissue samples of the trachea (goblet cell count and index, loss of cilia), lungs (airspace distention), and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected and processed. The results showed a significant increase in acidic and neutral goblet cells in the CS group compared to the Ctr and CS+P groups (P < 0.05). Overall, goblet cell number and index were lower in the CS+P group (41.71 ± 5.76, 0.67 ± 0.073) than CS group (56.28 ± 5.34, 1.31 ± 0.28). Inflammatory cells and loss of cilia significantly decreased in mice fed probiotics before exposure to cigarette smoke (P < 0.05). Lung emphysema was also significantly reduced in the CS+P group compared to the CS group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of probiotics reduced lung emphysema, inflammatory cells, goblet cell index, and loss of cilia under conditions of cigarette smoke exposure in mice.O presente trabalho avaliou a eficácia da suplementação com probióticos contra a indução de enfisema, inflamação e perda de cílios por fumaça de cigarro em camundongos. Sabe-se que os probióticos promovem a tolerância da mucosa e mitigam as injúrias respiratórias. Vinte e quatro camundongos foram divididos, ao acaso, em três grupos: controle (CTR), fumaça de cigarro (CS) e fumaça de cigarro + probióticos (CS+P). Os probióticos foram fornecidos por sete dias antes da exposição à fumaça no grupo CS+P. Foram colhidas e processadas amostras de tecidos da traqueia (contagem de células caliciformes e index, perda de cílios), pulmões (distensão do espaço aéreo) e fluido de lavagem broncoalveolar. Os resultados obtidos revelaram um aumento significativo em células caliciformes acidificadas e neutralizadas no grupo CS quando comparado aos grupos Ctr e CS+P (P<0,05). Os números global e o índice de células caliciformes foram menores no grupo CS+P (41,71+ 5,76; 0,67+ 0,073) que no grupo CS (56,28+ 5,34 e 1,131+ 0,28). As células inflamatórias e a perda de cílios decresceram em camundongos alimentados com probióticos antes da exposição à fumaça de cigarro (P<0,05). O enfisema pulmonar também foi significativamente reduzido no grupo CS+P quando comparado ao grupo CS (P<0,05). A conclusão obtida foi que o fornecimento de dieta suplementada com probióticos reduziu o enfisema pulmonar, as células inflamatórias, o índice de células caliciformes e a perda de cílios nos camundongos expostos à fumaça de cigarro

Efficacy of mannan-oligosaccharide and live yeast feed additives on performance, rumen morphology, serum biochemical parameters and muscle morphometric characteristics in buffalo calves

The objective of the current study was to assess the effect of dietary supplementations of mannan-oligosaccharide, live yeast, and a combination of these two additives on growth performance, histo-morphology of the rumen, and muscle morphometric attributes in buffalo calves. A total of twenty buffalo calves (average weight of 25 kg) having 3 months of age were distributed according to a complete randomized design. All animals were individually stalled in the shed and were fed ad-libitum. Experimental animals were divided into four groups for 67 days: Control group(without the inclusion of dietary supplementation); MOS group (Mannan oligosaccharide 5 g/clave/day; Yeast group (Live yeast 2g/calve/day) and Mixed group (MOS + Live Yeast 2.5g + 1g )/calve/day. Experimental results revealed that combined supplementation of MOS and Yeast and MOS alone resulted in an increased number of short-chain fatty acids in the rumen as well as ruminal pH (P<0.05). Results showed a significant improvement in average daily gain and FCR of MOS and Mixed supplemented groups (P<0.05). Histomorphological evaluation of rumen mucosal epithelium showed a significant improvement in the mixed-supplemented group (P<0.05) as compared to the yeast-supplemented and control groups. Muscle quality parameters such as meat texture showed significant improvement in MOS and mix-supplemented groups. Histological examination of longissimus dorsi muscle cross-section showed a significantly higher(P<0.05) muscle fiber and muscle fascicle diameter in both MOS and mix-supplemented calves groups. In conclusion, the results of this experiment revealed that the dietary addition of MOS, Live yeast, and their combination have positive effects on growth performance, rumen histology indices, and muscle morphometric features in buffalo calves.Comment: Pages 13, 4 figure

Antibacterial evaluation of three widespread weeds Mazus japonicus, Fumaria indica and Vicia faba from Pakistan

Present study was carried out to explore the antibacterial potential of three weeds Mazus japonicus, Fumaria indica and Vicia sativa grown widely in Pakistan. Different extracts (aqueous, methanolic and petroleum ether) of the respective weeds were prepared and tested against nine bacterial strains using agar well diffusion assay. Bacterial strains included both gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus megaterium, Enterococcus faecium, Enterrococcus faecalis and Enteroccocus sp) and gram negative (Pseudomonas putida, Escherichia coli and Escherichia coli top10) bacteria. Ten different concentrations of each extracts were used. Enterococcus faecalis JH22 and Bacillus megaterium MB141 were the most resistant bacteria while Escherichia coli top10 was found highly susceptible and inhibited by all three extracts of Mazus japonicas and Fumaria indica. Vicia sativa was effective only against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas putida at limited crude extract concentration while all other strains showed resistance against different extracts of the respective plant. Amongst the plant extracts screened for antibacterial activity, methanolic extracts showed best antibacterial activity whereas aqueous and petroleum ether were found least active. This study significantly supports the usage of these widespread weeds as traditional medicines for various bacterial infections.Â

Rumor Detection in Business Reviews Using Supervised Machine Learning

© 2018 IEEE. Currently, a high volume of business data is generating with a high velocity in different forms like unstructured, structured or semi-structured. Due to social media arrival, there is a deluge of business rumors and their manual screening is time-consuming and difficult. In the current social computing era, it is necessary to move towards an automated process for the detection of business rumors. This work aims at developing an automated system for detecting business rumors from online business reviews using supervised machine learning classifiers, namely Logistic Regression, Support Vector Classifier (SVC), Naïve Bayesian (NB), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) to classify the business reviews into rumor and nonrumor. Experimental results show that Naïve Bayesian (NB), achieved efficient results with respect to other classifiers with an accuracy of 72.43 %