‘A Night of Shame’: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Newspaper Narratives of the Mass Molestation Event in Bangalore, India

On December 31, 2016 amidst New Year’s Eve revelry in Bangalore, India, about 700 young women faced a mass molestation. This research analyzed and compared 299 news articles (N=299) between January 1, 2017 and February 1, 2017 from three leading English language newspapers in India through a quantitative content analysis. Results indicated that there were differences in how the regional and national newspapers framed their stories. While national newspapers deployed the episodic frame in their news stories, the local newspaper used both thematic and episodic frames. The episodic frame focuses on individual events, whereas the thematic frame focuses on trends over time. Local newspapers discussed causes and attributions of responsibility more than national newspapers. National newspapers mostly used celebrity and official sources in their coverage, whereas local newspapers covered the testimonies of the victims and eyewitnesses more. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in this paper

ANALYSIS OF MORTALITY IN PATIENTS ADMITTED IN MEDICAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES HOSPITAL, ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to ascertain the causes of death and mortality rate in patients admitted to medical intensive care unit (ICU) of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan. METHODS: Current study enrolled 775 patients admitted in Medical ICU of KRL Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan from April 16, 2016 till April 16 2017. KRL Hospital is a 350 bedded hospital and has a 13-beded level II ICU. This was a descriptive study involving non-probability consecutive sampling. Statistical analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 20). RESULTS: Out of 775 patients, 125 (16.1%) patients died. Out of these 125 patients, 68 (54.4%) were males and 57 (45.6%) were females. Majority of patients (n=69; 55.2 %) were ranging in age from 71-100 years of age, while 37 (29.6%) patients were ranging in age from 56-70 years and 19 (15.2%) were less than 55 years of age. Among the deceased, pneumonia was the most common reason (n=49; 39.2 %) for admission followed by urinary tract infection (n=16; 12.8%) and septicemia (n=14; 11.2%). Hypertension (n=33; 26.4%) was the most common co-morbid followed by diabetes mellitus (n=24; 19.2 %) and ischemic heart disease (n=18; 14.4 %). CONCLUSION: More than half of deceased patients admitted to ICU had age more than seventy years. Sepsis related conditions were responsible for death in more than sixty percent of patients. Majority of patients had diabetes mellitus, hypertension or ischemic heart disease as co-morbid conditions

Pattern of Antimicrobial Sensitivity and Resistance in Large Series of Indoor Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: In the era of increasing antibiotic resistance, associated with increasing hospital stay and morbidity, the purpose was to define guidelines for antibiotics in different clinical situations. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted at Khan Research Laboratories Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan, from July 2014 to December 2016. 3277 patients admitted in Medical, Surgical, Gynaecology & Obstetrics, ENT, Eye and Dental departments were included. Positive cultures from different sources including blood, urine, pus, central venous lines, bronchial washings and cervical swabs were taken. Age, gender, common pathogens, their sensitivity and resistance to 27 antimicrobial drugs were taken into account. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used for data analysis. Results: 53.1% (n=1738) were females while 46.9% (n=1539) were males.2800 samples were available for analysis. Majority of the patients belonged to Medical ward, 56.9% (n=1864). Major source of culture was urine, 38.3% (n=1073). Escherichia coli (E. coli) was the most common isolate 51.3% (n=1436) followed by Staphylococcus aureus 19.9% (n=558). E. coli showed maximum sensitivity to Imipenem i.e. 94% (n=1349) followed by Amikacin, 93% (n=1335). It was resistant to ceftriaxone (77%).Staphylococcus aureus showed maximum sensitivity to Linezolid and Vancomycin i.e. 98% (n=548) followed by Chloramphenicol 84% (n=470), while being resistant to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin (54%). Klebsiella pneumoniae showed maximum sensitivity to Imipenem i.e. 75%, while showing resistance to Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid (95%) and Ceftriaxone (80%).Staphylococcus epidermidis showed maximum sensitivity to Linezolid i.e.99%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed maximum sensitivity to Piperacillin and Tazobactam i.e. 76% . Acinetobacter baumannii showed maximum sensitivity to Colistin i.e. 91%.Salmonella typhi showed maximum sensitivity to Ceftriaxone i.e. 99% while resistance to Ciprofloxacin (94%).Enterococcus faecalis showed maximum sensitivity to Linezolid i.e.100% and Salmonella Paratyphi A showed maximum sensitivities to Cefixime and Ceftriaxone i.e 100% Conclusion: Antibiotic resistance is emerging. Rationale use of antibiotics is required to curtail the surge of antibiotic resistance. There is also a need to modify treatment guidelines in different clinical situations based on local sensitivity and resistance patterns in order to reduce hospital stay, morbidity and mortality.&nbsp

Impact of Parental Involvement on Achievement Score of Students at Elementary Level

The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of parental involvement on the achievement score of elementary-level students. Parental involvement was the independent variable and the achievement scores of students were the dependent variable. Whereas, demographic variables like school status, SES, and parents’ qualifications were also important. This study was comparative in nature and all elementary-level schools were taken as population. Elementary campuses of boys and girls were conveniently selected from the public sector in Faisalabad and taken as accessible population. From this accessible population, a sample of 376 students (307 male and 69 female) were drawn who have passed the elementary exams. Demographic sheets, copies of elementary result cards, and questionnaires were collected in order to find out the impact of parental involvement on the achievement scores of students at the elementary level. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency) was employed along with ANOVA, and t-test for data analysis. Keeping in view the results taken from Punjab Examination Commission, significant differences between the academic performance of the children belonging to the businessmen class and the job holders’ class were noticed. Further, it was also determined from the dished-out results that the difference in academic achievement level is significant when more involvement of parents was there

The health seeking behaviour of elderly population in a poor-urban community of Karachi, Pakistan

OBJECTIVES: To presents socio-demographic characteristics and health seeking behaviour of elderly and to determine frequency of Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension in elderly population of a poor peri-urban community in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted, targeting population aged 65 or above. A total of 438 respondents were interviewed after taking informed consent, between November 2005 and December 2005. Frequencies and Chi square values were calculated for different variables using SPSS 13.0. RESULTS: Total population surveyed comprised of 438 elderly, 158 (36%) women and 280 (63.9%) men. Mean age for the population was 71.44 +/- 7.74. A total of 238 (54.3%) elderly were found to be economically active. More than half (n = 269, 61.4%) of the elderly were found to be illiterate. Only 72 (16.4%) of the elderly population were Diabetic and 132 (30.1%) were Hypertensive. Common symptoms that prompted elderly of Azam Basti to seek health care were fever (61.2%), generalized body aches (43.4%) and cough (40.4%). Over half of the (n = 269, 61.4%) responders reported factors which deterred them from seeking health care, out of which 62% reported financial constraint as the commonest factor. Deterrence from seeking health care was associated with illiteracy (p = 0.001) and living alone (p = 0.06). CONCLUSION: The elderly population of this peri-urban community has financial constraints in seeking health care. Hypertension was found to be more prevalent among women as compared to men, ratio being 1:2. Less number of people knew they were diabetics; this might be attributed to ignorance and non-availability of investigations and screening

Can Different Salt Formulations Revert the Depressing Effect of Salinity on Maize by Modulating Plant Biochemical Attributes and Activating Stress Regulators through Improved N Supply?

Salinity is a major constraint in improving agricultural productivity due to its adverse impact on various physiological and biochemical attributes of plants, and its effect on reducing nitrogen (N) use efficiency due to ion toxicity. To understand the relationship between sodium chloride (NaCl) and increased N application rates, a pot study was performed in which the ammonical (NH4+) form of N was applied as urea to maize crops at different rates (control, 160, 186, 240, 267, 293, and 320 kg N ha−1) using two salinity levels (control and 10 dS m−1 NaCl). The results indicate that all biochemical and physiological attributes of the maize plant improved with increased concentration of N up to 293 kg ha−1, compared to those in the control treatment. Similarly, the optimal N concentration regulated the activities of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., catalase activity (CAT), peroxidase activity (POD), and superoxide dismutases (SOD), and also increased the N use efficiencies of the maize crop up to 293 kg N ha−1. Overall, our results show that the optimum level of N (293 kg ha−1) improved the salinity tolerance in the maize plant by activating stress coping physiological and biochemical mechanisms. This may have been due to the major role of N in the metabolic activity of plants and N assimilation enzymes activity such as nitrate reductase (NR) and nitrite reductase (NiR)

Single nucleotide polymorphism and phylogenetic analysis of the exon 2 of leptin gene in Lohi sheep

Background: Leptin hormone, encoded by leptin (LEP) gene is involved in many biological and physiological processes in the body. Polymorphism in LEP gene has been observed and correlated with a variety of reproductive and productive traits in several sheep breeds worldwide, but its role has not been much studied in local sheep breeds of Pakistan. The present study was conducted to analyze polymorphism in LEP gene in Lohi breed of sheep.Methods: Subsequent to statistical analysis (generalized linear model), 18 animals were selected randomly from the flock for blood samples collection followed by DNA extraction, amplification using PCR prior to sequencing. The amplified product of exon 2 and partial intron 2 regions of LEP gene was 268bp.Results: Molecular analysis showed a heterozygous condition i.e. C>Y at position 15 and 18 in exon 2. The data on average daily weight gain (ADG) from birthday to 90 days were used for association study, while environmental effects were minimized by means of generalized linear model. Association of polymorphisms in LEP gene with ADG did not yield any significant results.Conclusion: In conclusion, analysis of LEP gene sequence verified the existence of genetic changes in Lohi sheep. Further investigations are needed to find variations that might be linked with traits of economic importance for upcoming breeding program sand marker-assisted selection.Keywords: DNA; Exon 2; LEP; PCR; Loh

Nitrous oxide emission from agricultural soils: Application of animal manure or biochar? A global meta-analysis

Organic amendments (animal manure and biochar) to agricultural soils may enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) contents, improve soil fertility and crop productivity but also contribute to global warming through nitrous oxide (N2O) emission. However, the effects of organic amendments on N2O emissions from agricultural soils seem variable among numerous research studies and remains uncertain. Here, eighty-five publications (peer-reviewed) were selected to perform a meta-analysis study. The results of this meta-analysis study show that the application of animal manure enhanced N2O emissions by 17.7%, whereas, biochar amendment significantly mitigated N2O emissions by 19.7%. Moreover, coarse textured soils increased [ = 182.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 151.4%, 217.7%] N2O emission after animal manure, in contrast, N2O emission mitigated by 7.0% from coarse textured soils after biochar amendment. In addition, this study found that 121–320 kg N ha−1 and ⩽ 30 T ha−1 application rates of animal manure and biochar mitigated N2O emissions by 72.3% and 22.5%, respectively. Soil pH also played a vital role in regulating the N2O emissions after organic amendments. Furthermore, > 10 soil C: N ratios increased N2O emissions by 121.4% and 27.6% after animal and biochar amendments, respectively. Overall, animal manure C: N ratios significantly enhanced N2O emissions, while, biochar C: N ratio had not shown any effect on N2O emissions. Overall, average N2O emission factors (EFs) for animal manure and biochar amendments were 0.46% and −0.08%, respectively. Thus, the results of this meta-analysis study provide scientific evidence about how organic amendments such as animal manure and biochar regulating the N2O emission from agricultural soils.The part of work contributed by Muhammad Aammar Tufail, has received funding form the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under the Maria Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 722642 (project INTER-FUTUR

Mandibular Third Molars and Lower Anterior Crowding: Comparison of Opinions of Oral-Maxillofacial Surgeons and Orthodontists

Objective: To compare the opinion of orthodontists and oral-maxillofacial surgeons on relation between erupting mandibular third molars and lower incisal crowding.Patients and Methods: This descriptive study involved 100 Pakistani clinicians (50 orthodontists, 50 oral-maxillofacial surgeons) to answer online questionnaire regarding their opinions on link between erupting Mandibular Third Molars along with their extraction opinion with reference to development and prevention of lower incisal crowding. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. Pearson's chi-square test was applied and statistical significance was defined at <=0.05.Results: Statistically insignificant differences were found between oral-maxillofacial surgeons and orthodontists regarding question of erupting mandibular third molars in causing lower incisal crowding. Similarly, statistically insignificant differences between oral-maxillofacial surgeons and orthodontists were found regarding question of recommending preventive extraction of mandibular third molars for developing lower incisal crowding.Conclusion: No opinion differences were observed between Pakistani oral surgeons and orthodontists, regarding the link of lower third molar as a cause of lower incisal crowding

Renewable electricity enables green routes to fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Syntheses of chemicals using renewable electricity and when generating high atom economies are considered green and sustainable processes. In the present state of affairs, electrochemical manufacturing of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals is not as common place as it could be and therefore, merits more attention. There is also a need to turn attention toward the electrochemical synthesis of valuable chemicals from recyclable greenhouse gases that can accelerate the process of circular economy. CO2 emissions are the major contributor to human-induced global warming. CO2 conversion into chemicals is a valuable application of its utilisation and will contribute to circular economy while maintaining environmental sustainability. Herein, we present an overview of electro-carboxylation, including mechanistic aspects, which forms carboxylic acids using molecular carbon dioxide. We also discuss atom economies of electrochemical fluorination, methoxylation and amide formation reactions