Risk factors associated with depression among chronic heart failure patients in Pakistan; A Systematic Review

Abstract   Objective: To systematically review the number of studies carried out to find the risk factors associated with depression among chronic heart failure patients in Pakistan. Methods: A systematic and methodological search strategy was established by using key words i.e., depression, heart failure, Pakistan, risk factors on databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, Research Gate, PakMedinet, JSTER and Emerald Insight.  Data screening for a period of ten years i.e., 2010 to 2020 identified 771 studies while only 59 met the inclusion criteria. Only 6 out of 59 studies were declared eligible for meticulous review. Results: Out of total search result of 771 articles, 59 (8%) full text Pakistani articles were found. Altogether 06(10%) studies met the inclusion criteria and selected for systematic review. Conclusion: Depression among chronic heart failure patients in Pakistan is predominately linked with lack of social support, lower socioeconomic status, sedentary life style, sleep disturbance and old age. Furthermore, severity and duration of the disease, prior history of acute myocardial infarction, repeated hospitalization and co-morbidities were also reported as disease linked depression risk factors. Keywords: Depression, Chronic heart failure, risk factors, Pakista

Public Policies versus Institutional Structures: A New Perspective of Assessing Economic Growth Dynamics in Developing Nations

This study is performed to find out the impact of policy and institutional factors on the economic growth of the developing countries. These include Economic management, Structural policies, Social inclusion/equity and Governance. Panel data of 72 countries is being taken for this study and the time period is from 2005-2013. Simple ordinary least square (OLS) model has been applied to find the impact of these variables on economic growth of developing countries and the results showed that overall institutions are related more to the economic growth of these nations as compared to policy contents. On the other side from institutional parameters, role of budgetary management and equity of public resource use by the government is positively contributing to economic performance of these nations. Nevertheless few variables have showed negative impact as well in which the process resource mobilization and transparency of the system is exhibiting more negative role in economic growth of these nations. Overall results showed that non-economic parameters of the political systems are more closely interrelated with the process of economic growth in these nation as compared to pure economic factors. Key Words: Fiscal Policy, Economic Integration, Budget, Debt Management, Government Regulations, Economic Development JEL Classification: E63, F15, H61, H63, I18, O1

Spiritual Intelligence, Self-Management Skills, Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Tuberculosis

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the relationship between spiritual intelligence, selfmanagement skills, depression, and anxiety in patients with tuberculosis. Study Design: Correlational survey research design was used. Place and Duration of the Study: This study was conducted in Pakistan and data was collected from Government TB Hospital Sargodha, from year December 1, 2019, to September 2020. Materials and Methods: Participants comprised Tuberculosis patients (N= 113) both in and outpatients of Government TB, Hospital Sargodha. Four self-report measures including Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report 1 2 3 Inventory, The Self-Control and Self-Management Skills Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and 4 Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale were used for data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for the analyses of data. Results: The results of Pearson product-moment correlation revealed that spiritual intelligence has a significant positive correlation with self-management skills (r = .42, p < .001) and a significant negative relationship with depression (r = -.25, p < .01) and anxiety (r = -.27, p < .01); self-management has a momentous negative relationship with depression (r = -.59, p < .001) and anxiety (r = -.38, p < .001). Depression has a significant positive association with anxiety (r = .73, p < .001). Hierarchical Regression analysis showed that selfmanagement clarified 14 % variance in anxiety with F (1, 111) = 18.51, p < .001; and self-management clarified 35 % variance in depression with F (1, 111) = 60.21, p < .001. Conclusion: The outcomes of the present study revealed that there is an important negative association between spiritual intelligence, depression, and anxiety. It was also revealed that there is a substantial positive relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-management skills in the present population of patients with tuberculosis

Drivers of Terrorism in Pakistan: An Evidence Through Institutional Prism

At present, the South Asia is one of the regions that qualify to conduct research on issues of terrorism in this specific region where Pakistan is the highly victimized nation of such attacks. It’s not only the issue of facing terrorism but is also the accusation of providing shelter to terrorists. Therefore, it is the need of time to find actual parameters behind this brutal activity in a nation which has its strategic importance for the whole region. Many studies have tried to relate this phenomenon with a range of social, political and economic factors but ignored the role of institutions which are actually responsible for factors mentioned above. Therefore, the present study attempts to fill this gap by incorporating the role of institutional set up in the empirical model. Keeping in view the institutional constraints faced by the region, this research work will help the policy makers to know as to where, the actual flaw exist in the economic system which does not let reforms to penetrate. This is the reason that all over the world, it is acknowledged that these developing countries have less serious issues related to their policy contents. Rather the problem is becoming acute in the case of implementation process which is related to the ‘Governance Structure’ of these economies. But, if we talk about these governance issues then we must keep in mind that it is not the cause of improved or poor institutional structure, instead it is the consequence of institutional set up of a country. Hence, the root cause of policy failure or success is those institutional parameters which are involved in decision and law making process. Such crimes are found less in their quantum where law and order situation is strong due to refined and well-integrated institutional networks. Therefore, the main objective of this research work is also to discover as to how much, such activities are motivated by different types of institutions as Pakistan who is facing both the issues simultaneously, i.e., poor institutional structure and the increasing number of terrorist attacks. For this purpose, various types of institutions have explored to see their individual role and its effects. Moreover, both the long-run and short-run dynamics have been analyzed for terrorist incidents, using the method of Johansen co-integration for the period 1975-2013

Laws of Consumption - An Economic Construal

Consumption is one of the important variables of macro economics.  It is that part of income of a house hold which is not saved.  It plays a vital role in the economy; this is the reason that, Quran has given special emphasis on it and gives some basic laws in this regard.  Quran has warned the human being that your consumption is under observation of God and on the Day of Judgment questions will be asked about that.  Moreover it is also ordered that, do not waste your wealth in any way and consume it in the optimum manner.  In addition gratitude of wealth is also compulsory.  The way of gratitude is the obedience of laws of God.  Keywords: Quran; Verses, Consumption, Wastage; Obedience

Therapeutic Potential of Probiotics and Prebiotics

Advancement in technology is continued as the time is passed. The biological active ingredients technology is the challenging issues for both the researchers and manufacturers. In last decade, much research has been happened about the potential health benefits of pro and prebiotic ingredients. Probiotics are the live microorganisms when given in adequate amount confer health benefits but the prebiotics are indigestible ingredients that enhance the activity of one or more probiotics in the colon. The therapeutic potential of these two biological active ingredients is the outcome of emerging field of biotechnology. A number of studies indicating therapeutic potential of probiotics regarding gastrointestinal health, cancer, constipation, immunomodulation, Helicobacter pylori, liver disease and urogenital infection have been documented. Similarly, prebiotics also improved helpful for many communicable and non-communicable diseases. It can be seen that advancement in the biotechnology field offer great choice to deliver a marvelous health advantages. Although the market for probiotic and prebiotic food and supplements has been increased in this new era but still need to develop food and supplements containing these two active ingredients with the cooperation of legal bodies of the country

Correlation of humeral length and its segments in a sample of Indian population: an osteological study

Background: Anthropometry measurements are very useful and have definite medico legal significance. In case of missing persons in the absence of pelvis and cranium, the remains of long bones of an individual play an important role in anthropological practice for morphometric analysis. The stature of an individual can be estimated from the humerus alone. Estimating the mean values of different segments of humerus helps in forensic and anthropometric practice. Previous studies have confirmed that humerus is one of the strongest long bones of the human skeleton and its fragments can be recorded in a forensic case. The present study was done to assess the mean values of different segments of humerus and their correlation with its length.Methods: Seventy dry adult humerus bones (32 rights and 38 left) were collected randomly from the anatomy department. Broken bones and the bones in a poor condition were excluded from the study. The segments of the humerus were studied for morphometric analysis.Results: All of the measurements were obtained in millimetres (mm). The measurement of the maximum length of humerus (MHH) was done by using an otseometric board and the different segments of humerus were measured by a vernier calliper (precision=0.cm). Mean and SD were calculated.Conclusions: This study has helped us to observe the maximum length of humerus and the mean values of the different segments of humerus in a sample of Indian population. The study also suggests that there are some differences between various segments of humerus within different populations

Comparison of clinico-pathological characteristics and survival of recurrent ovarian cancer patients on seven different chemo-protocols

Despite the growing prevalence of ovarian cancer (OC) in Pakistan, no literature evidence exists regarding its clinic-pathological characteristics, survival and compliance of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer and various chemo-protocols. An observational study was conducted by enrolling 251 recurrent OC patients on 7 different chemo-protocols, from a specialized cancer care hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, using convenient judgmental sampling. The study was conducted for a period of 6 months. Most of the patients were between 18 and 70 years of age, with IIIC FIGO stage and papillary serous histological grade. As per RECIST, improved partial response (PR) (63.3 %) and complete response (CR) (52.1 %) was observed in the CP (carboplatin + paclitaxel) arm, substantiated by improved median progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in CP and CD (carboplatin + docetaxel) arms, respectively, yet with no significant differences in survival curves, PFS (p = 0.12) and OS (p = 0.22). Interestingly, the highest and the lowest patient non-compliance were observed in CG (carboplatin + gemcitabine) (81.6 %) and paclitaxel (4.5 %) arms, resp. As per the hazard model for survival, topotecan showed significant association with the therapy related events/deaths compared to other protocols. These data suggest that CP regimen exhibited improved clinical efficacy and decreased toxicity related non-compliance in recurrent ovarian cancer patients of Lahore