English 123: Contemporary World Literature

This is a syllabus for an Introduction to Contemporary World Literature course that explores major cultures through short stories and excerpts from world-renowned authors. The focus of this course is on multicultural texts, with an emphasis on gender, post-colonialism, memoir, magic realism, indigenous peoples, migrants,and self-reflection. This course is meant to teach students how to demonstrate familiarity with important authors, works, genres, and themes of contemporary world literature; how to analyze and interpret themes using the conventions of literary analysis; and how to demonstrate the ability to analyze the literature by using textual evidence to support an interpretation of an author’s work.Ope

Implications of Cultural Capital in Women’s Higher Education Participation and Social Mobility

Equality of opportunity in higher education participation is a basic right of people in a society that leads to their social mobility in the long run. Benadusi (2002) endorsed Bourdieu’s explanations that cultural capital acts as an empowering force that predetermines equality/inequality of educational opportunity of people in a society. The study, thus, aimed to explore cultural capital as means of participation in higher education and eventually social mobility of women. A cross sectional survey was used to collect data from 103 working and 97 non-working women using purposive and convenience sampling. The study found positive relation of cultural capital of women with their participation in higher education and social mobility. Significant difference was also found between cultural capitals of working and non- working women, where cultural capital of working women was high as compared to non-working. The study therefore, concludes that education for women must be the core value of our society to enhance their cultural capital as well as social mobility in a society. Because higher is the cultural capital of women; higher would be their participation rate in higher education and social mobility for them.

Hypoglycemic status in low birth weight neonates during first 24 hours of life after birth

Objective: The study aimed to determine the frequency of hypoglycemia in low birth weight neonates during the first 24 hours of life after birth. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st March 2016 to 31st August 2016 in the NICU and postnatal ward of POF Hospital, Wah Cantt. All the babies with birth weight less than 2.5 kg including preterm and term were included in the study. After the aseptic measure blood, sugar was checked and a value less than 45 mg/dl was labelled as hypoglycemia. Results: Out of 96 neonates,51 (53%) were male and 45 (47%) were female.  The minimum weight of the patient was 1.6kg and the maximum was 2.40 kg. Hypoglycemia was noted in 49 (51%) babies after 2 hours of birth whereas 36 (37.5%) had hypoglycemia at 4 hours and 13 (13.5 %) had at 24 hours. 68 (70.8%) babies included in the study were appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and 28 (29.1%) babies were small for gestational age (SGA). After 2 hours of birth, hypoglycemia was present more in SGA babies i.e.20 (71.4%) as compared to AGA babies i.e. 29 (42.6%) which had statistical significance also (p-value 0.01). Conclusion: Neonatal hypoglycemia is a well-recognized complication in newborns and low birth weight infants are more susceptible to hypoglycemia. Early identification of vulnerable infants and the use of preemptive measures can result in better outcomes

Comparative antimicrobial activity of clove and fennel essential oils against food borne pathogenic fungi and food spoilage bacteria

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of essential oils obtained from fennel seeds (Feoniculum vulgare Mill) and clove buds (Syzygium aromaticum) were studied by agar well dilution technique. Both essential oils (EOs) from fennel and clove exhibited pronounced and varying degrees of growth inhibition against fungal (86 to 39%) and bacterial pathogens (42 to 20%). Fennel oil depicted significant and greater fungitoxicity in case of three fungal strains Alternaria alternate (7.7, 3.8 cm) Fusarium oxysporum (5.9, 4.1 cm) and Aspergillus flavus (4.5, 3.7 cm) except two Aspergillus strains, Aspergillus acculeatus and Apergillus fumigatus where clove oil showed greater inhibition zone (5.5, 5.9 cm) (3.5, 3.7 cm) respectively. A. alternate was found to be most sensitive strain, which growth was suppressed up to 86% by fennel seeds oil. Bactericidal activity of culinary spices was evaluated against five food spoilage bacteria namely: Pseudomonas syringae, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp., and Aeromicrobium erythreum. Fennel oil was found fairly active against bacterial strains as compared to clove oil with highest antibacterial activity against Gram positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis (3.8 cm) and least against Gram negative bacteria E. coli (2.2 cm). The summarizing results from the present investigation showed that fennel seeds oil is a relatively stronger antimicrobial agent against broad range of pathogens as compared to clove oil, except in case of certain Aspergillus strains and E. coli.Key words: Food spoilage, anti-bacterial, pathogenic fungi, clove, fennel, essential oil

Antidiabetic activity of aqueous extract of Sigesbeckia orientalis (St. Paul’s Wort) in alloxan-induced diabetes model

The current study evaluated antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activities of aqueous extract of Sigesbeckia orientalis L. (St. Paul’s Wort) (AESO) in an alloxan-induced diabetic rat model. Following OECD guidelines safe doses of AESO were assessed in rats for the main study. Serum/bood glucose, α-amylase, and lipids levels and histopathological evaluations were conducted to assess antidiabetic and associated antihyperlipidemic efficacies of AESO. AESO was found to be safe up to the dose of 2000 mg/kg. Significant (p < 0.05) reduction in glucose and lipids (total cholesterol, triglycerides, low‑density lipoproteins) levels was observed in AESO treatment groups. Serum α-amylase, high‑density lipoproteins, and total body weight was increased significantly (p < 0.05) in diabetic rats treated with AESO. Histopathological data showed improvement in hepatocyte and pancreatic β-cells islets architecture. HPLC analysis identified quercetin, gallic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, m-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid in AESO which are suggested to be responsible for observed antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic attributes. Further studies to standardise the extract and evaluation of safety profile in long-term toxicity studies are recommended for safe and effective antidiabetic nutraceuticals development

Isolation and Screening of Highly Cellulolytic Filamentous Fungi

A large number of microorganisms are capable of degrading cellulose, only a few of these microorganisms produce significant quantities of enzymes capable of completely hydrolysing cellulose. Fungi are the main cellulase-producing microorganisms. In this purposed study, seventeen fungal species belonging to three genera i.e. Trichoderm , Aspergillus and Penicillium were isolated from different sources, screened and compared for their ability to degrade cellulose. The plate screening assay recommended by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) were used in the investigation. Cellulolytic fungi were evaluated after 7 days for the production of cellulolytic enzymes by staining with 1% Congo red. The diameter of clear zone on fungal plates, gave an approximate indication of cellulase activities. Fungal species were grouped as high and low celluloytic isolates on the basis of cellulase activity using Index of Relative Enzyme Activity (ICMC). Fungal species i.e. Trichoderm harzianum , Trichoderm viride , Trichoderm koningii , Aspergillus japonicus , Aspergillus nidulans ver. dentatus Penicillium lanosum , Penicillium expansum and Penicillium oxalicum gave the highest cellulase activity. Whereas, Aspergillus flavus , Aspergillus raperi , Aspergillus acculeatus , Aspergillus tamarri , Aspergillus niger , Aspergillus terreus , Aspergillus nidulans, Penicillium citrinum and Penicillium simplicissimum showed least or no enzyme activity

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation–attitudes and awareness among physical therapists of Karachi–A Cross-sectional Survey

Background: The prime objective of CPR is to maintain enough circulation to preserve existence till specialized treatment is provided. As mentioned, early CPR is an essential aspect in the chain of survival in Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC). Objective: To compare and study the attitude and awareness level related to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) among physical therapists in Karachi. Methods: The total sample was 126 physical therapists in this study. This was an observational study based on a cross-sectional design conducted for the assessment of CPR attitude and awareness of physical therapists through simple convenient sampling technique during the period of December 2020 to June 2021 from various public and private sector hospitals and rehabilitation centers of Karachi. Data collection was done through a questionnaire consisting 31 questions categorized into three sections including demographics, CPR attitudes and CPR awareness. Results: Results revealed more female physical therapists (76%). Most of them (70%) were aged less than 35 years and had less than 15 years of working experience. Most of them were engaged in musculoskeletal practice (40.5%). Almost 31% participants had CPR certifications. Less than half of the physical therapists (38.9%) reported ≤ 25% success rate of CPR. Majority of the participants stated that their ability to perform CPR was satisfactory (44.4%). Conclusion: The overall awareness of physical therapists regarding CPR was evident, but the attitude regarding CPR need improvement. It was also evident from the results that mandatory professional training programs should be conducted.   Keywords: Attitude, Awareness, Cardiac Arrest, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Physical Therapist

Enhanced production of β- glucosidase by locally isolated fungal strain employing submerged fermentation

β-glucosidase has wide spectrum of biotechnological applications in different industries including food, textile, laundry detergents, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical and biofuel industry. The present investigation related to isolation, screening, and process optimization of fungal strain for enhanced production of β-glucosidase (BGL). For this purpose, different fungal stains were isolated from different sources including soil, fruits, bark of tree as well as from the compost. The screening of fungal strain for BGL production was carried out via submerged fermentation. All the tested strains were identified on the basis of micro and macroscopic features. The fungal strain having greater ability for BGL synthesis among tested ones was identified as Aspergillus niger and given the code SBT-15. The process parameter including fermentation media, temperature, pH, rate of fermentation, carbon and nitrogen sources, volume of media were optimized. Five different fermentation media were evaluated M3 medium gave maximum production. The optimal conditions for BGL production was 72 hours of incubation at 40°C, pH 6 and 50 ml fermentation medium. Glucose (1%) and ammonium sulphate (3%) were optimized as best carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively