OUTCOME OF ENDOSCOPIC THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS: ARE THEY DIFFERENT AMONG VARIOUS NON- MALIGNANT ESOPHAGEAL DISEASES

Background: This study was carried out to evaluate and compare the outcome of various causes of non-malignant lesions of the esophagus after endoscopic therapeutic intervention. Methods: A cohort of patients with non-malignant dysphagia presenting at Aga Khan University hospital, a tertiary care setting who underwent endoscopic intervention was studied. Response to treatment was evaluated by improvement in dysphagia score on a scale of 0-4 and weight gain. Results:99 subjects (53 males) were included. Mean age was 48.6 +/- 17.2 years. Dysphagia for solids was present in 48%, for liquids in 3% and for both in 49% patients. Significant weight loss (\u3e10% body weight) occurred in 35 (35.3%) patients. Achalasia was diagnosed in 49.5%, peptic stricture in 30.4%, post sclerotherapy stricture in 12.1%, corrosive injury in 4%, post-operative stricture in 4%. In comparative analysis of achalasia and inflammatory groups, good response to dysphagia was seen in 40/49 (82%) and 22/50 (44%) respectively p \u3c 0.001. Weight gain was 35/49 (72%) and 22/50 (44%) p Conclusion: Dysphagia and weight loss were common presentations in non-malignant esophageal diseases. Therapeutic intervention in inflammatory group was associated with high complication than the achalasia group

Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Epoxy-Composites: Electrical And Mechanical Characterization

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) got great attention because of their interesting physical and mechanical properties. Due to these interesting properties observed at the nanoscale have motivated scientific community to utilize CNTs as reinforcement in composite materials. In the present study, different CNTs and epoxy nano-composites with different wt% (1, 2, 3, and 4%) of f-MWCNTs were prepared and their surface morphology and orientation has been investigated in detail. Further, the surface investigation, electrical and mechanical tests were carried out on CNTs-filled and unfilled epoxy at maximum sonication time 30 minute to identify the loading effect on the properties of the materials. Experimental results depicts well dispersion of f-MWCNTs, significant improvement that the resistivity of pure epoxy decreased from 108 .m to average value 103 .m with 1, 2, 3, and 4wt% f-MWCNTs. The 4.5wt% CNTs/epoxy was attributed to poor dispersion of f-MWCNTs in the nanocomposte. The hardness of nanocomposite loading 1, 2, 3, 4wt% of CNTs, increased 20.7%, 23.02%, 25.62%, 29.09% respectively as compared to pure epoxy. We believe that our strategy for obtaining CNT–reinforced epoxy nanocomposites is a very promising technology and will open a new doors in fields of aviation, aerospace, marine and sporting goods

Sequential damage study induced in fiber reinforced composites by shear and tensile stress using a newly developed Arcan fixture

This work presents the application of both uniaxial and bi-axial in-plane loads to unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates using a newly developed Arcan fixture, which is a reliable experimental set-up to obtain a uniform shear stress field in a butterfly specimen. The set-up can be used for both damage model validation and parameters identification at various fiber orientations while using the same specimens. A sequential damage study was completed to highlight the influence of diffused damage induced in pure shear on the fiber direction tensile behavior of the laminate. This was accomplished by applying load on the specimens in two steps: (i) the pure shear step and then unloading at approximately 70% of the shear failure strength, (ii) in the tensile step until final failure. A clear drop in the tensile behavior of the laminate was observed by the diffused damage induced in the first loading step of pure shear. The experimental study is also supplemented with numerical simulations using a nonlinear elasto-plastic coupled damage constitutive law by employing Puck’s failure theory for mesodamage activation. In addition to the damage pattern, the non-linear mechanical behavior in shear is predicted and found in good correspondence with the experimental results

Firm performance, corporate governance and executive compensation in Pakistan

yesThis study examines the effects of firm performance and corporate governance on chief executive officer (CEO) compensation in an emerging market, Pakistan. Using a more robust Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation approach for a sample of non-financial firms listed at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period 2005 to 2012, we find that both current and previous year accounting performance has positive influence on CEO compensation. However, stock market performance does not appear to have a positive impact on executive compensation. We further find that ownership concentration is positively related with CEO compensation, indicating some kind of collusion between management and largest shareholder to get personal benefits. Inconsistent with agency theory, CEO duality appears to have a negative influence, while board size and board independence have no convincing relationship with CEO compensation, indicating board ineffectiveness in reducing CEO entrenchment. The results of dynamic GMM model suggest that CEO pay is highly persistent and takes time to adjust to long-run equilibrium