Personal and Social Resources Interplay Synergistically to Enhance Academic Motivation

Guided by self-determination theory, the present study examines independent and interactive roles of self-efficacy and perceived social support in predicting types of academic motivation. Data were collected from 325 university undergraduates in 18-23 years of age (M=21.09, SD=1.34) from the fifth biggest city of South Asia. Results showed the independent and interactive effects of self-efficacy and social support from friends and from a significant other on intrinsic academic motivation after controlling the potential confounding due to demographics. Social support from friends, but not from family and a significant other, independently predicted extrinsic academic motivation. Neither self-efficacy nor social support significantly predicted amotivation

Efficacy of Asparagus recemosus (Satavar) in stimulating follicular growth and ovulation in anovulatory infertility: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Anovulation is the commonest cause of female infertility, responsible for 30% of cases and the most frequent cause of anovulation in women is polycystic ovarian syndrome. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anovulatory efficacy of Asparagus recemosus, commonly known as Satavar, in stimulating follicular growth and ovulation in an ovulatory infertility.Methods: A randomized standard controlled study was carried out at the National institute of Unani medicine Hospital, Bangalore. Patients (n=40) were randomly allocated to test (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. Infertile women in the age group of 18-40 years with menstrual irregularities, polycystic ovarian disease & spouse normal seminogram were included in the study. Patients with primary ovarian failure, thyroid dysfunction, hyperprolactinaemia, systemic illnesses, malignancy and those on hormonal therapy in last 3 months were excluded. In test group, 6 grams of A. recemosus powder twice daily from day 1-14 of cycle and in control group, clomiphene citrate 50 mg once daily from day 2-6 of cycle was administered orally for 2 consecutive cycles. Primary outcome measures (follicular growth & ovulation) and secondary outcome measure (conception) were assessed for improvement. Data were analyzed using Student ‘t’test, chi-square and Fisher exact test.Results: After 1st and 2nd cycles of treatment, follicular growth was 30% and 40% in test group and 60% & 50% in control group; ovulatory rate was 25% & 30% in test group and 40% & 25% in control group and conception rate was 0% in test group and 10 % and 5% in control group.Conclusions: The effect of test drug was comparable with that of control drug in stimulating follicular growth & ovulation, though the drug was not as effective as control drug to achieve conception. 

Empyema thoracic presenting as low back ache

AbstractA 24 years old female was presented with a 2 weeks history of fever (high grade), cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain right side and low back ache. Patient prefers to lie towards right side. CECT thorax reveals empyema thoracic with paravertebral extension. Patient was put on IV antibiotic according to culture and sensitivity. Clinical and Radiological improvement was evident after 1 week

Personal and Social Resources Interplay Synergistically to Enhance Academic Motivation

Guided by self-determination theory, the present study examines independent and interactive roles of self-efficacy and perceived social support in predicting types of academic motivation. Data were collected from 325 university undergraduates in 18-23 years of age (M=21.09, SD=1.34) from the fifth biggest city of South Asia. Results showed the independent and interactive effects of self-efficacy and social support from friends and from a significant other on intrinsic academic motivation after controlling the potential confounding due to demographics. Social support from friends, but not from family and a significant other, independently predicted extrinsic academic motivation. Neither self-efficacy nor social support significantly predicted amotivation

Sonographic Evaluation of Splenic Dimensions in Healthy Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women

Objective: To compare the ultrasonographic findings of splenic dimension in healthy pregnant and non-pregnant women. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at University Ultrasound Clinic, Lahore from August 2022 to February 2023. A total of 200 females (100 non-pregnant and 100 pregnant) were examined. Mindray and Toshiba Ultrasound Machines were used to perform the ultrasonography. The measurements of splenic length, width, and thickness were recorded. The length of the spleen was measured in a longitudinal view. The width of the spleen was measured in a transverse view. The anteroposterior diameter (thickness) of the spleen was also measured. Results: The overall mean age was 29.0 ± 7.8 years. The mean difference of splenic width, thickness, and volume were significantly higher in pregnant women as compared to non-pregnant women i.e., 5.58 ± 1.44 cm vs. 5.15 ± 1.42 cm (p-value 0.033), 6.37 ± 2.56 cm vs. 4.46 ± 1.10 cm (p-value <0.001), and 178.2 ± 97.90 cm³ vs. 118.8 ± 47.57 cm³ (p-value <0.001) respectively. A significant difference of splenic width (p-value <0.001) and thickness (p-value <0.001) were observed with respect to gestational age of the individuals. Moreover, mean difference of splenic width was significantly increased in age group 15-30 years as compared to 31-51 years i.e., 5.68 ± 2.25 cm vs. 4.94 ± 2.00 cm (p-value 0.022) respectively. Conclusion: In pregnancy, the splenic thickness and splenic volume is seen to be increased when compared to non-pregnant women.

A Survey of Genetic Algorithms for the University Timetabling Problem

The university timetabling problem is a scheduling problem that many educational institutions need to solve in order to plan their courses and/or exams by allocating these events to specific timeslots, rooms, lecturers…etc. There are also a number of hard and soft constraints that must be observed while solving this problem, which makes the solution algorithm a challenge for researchers. Genetic Algorithms (GAs) is a popular meta-heuristic technique that has been successfully applied to many hard combinatorial optimization problems, among which are timetabling and scheduling problems. In this paper we describe some GA techniques that have recently been applied to different variants of the university timetabling problem producing promising results. We briefly describe the overall technique, focusing on the chromosome representation and the crossover and mutation operators. A summary of the described algorithms and their most distinguishing features is then presented at the end of this paper.Singapore Institute of Electronics and International Association of Computer Science and Information Technolog

Efficacy of Asparagus recemosus (Satavar) in stimulating follicular growth and ovulation in anovulatory infertility: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Anovulation is the commonest cause of female infertility, responsible for 30% of cases and the most frequent cause of anovulation in women is polycystic ovarian syndrome. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anovulatory efficacy of Asparagus recemosus, commonly known as Satavar, in stimulating follicular growth and ovulation in an ovulatory infertility.Methods: A randomized standard controlled study was carried out at the National institute of Unani medicine Hospital, Bangalore. Patients (n=40) were randomly allocated to test (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. Infertile women in the age group of 18-40 years with menstrual irregularities, polycystic ovarian disease &amp; spouse normal seminogram were included in the study. Patients with primary ovarian failure, thyroid dysfunction, hyperprolactinaemia, systemic illnesses, malignancy and those on hormonal therapy in last 3 months were excluded. In test group, 6 grams of A. recemosus powder twice daily from day 1-14 of cycle and in control group, clomiphene citrate 50 mg once daily from day 2-6 of cycle was administered orally for 2 consecutive cycles. Primary outcome measures (follicular growth &amp; ovulation) and secondary outcome measure (conception) were assessed for improvement. Data were analyzed using Student ‘t’test, chi-square and Fisher exact test.Results: After 1st and 2nd cycles of treatment, follicular growth was 30% and 40% in test group and 60% &amp; 50% in control group; ovulatory rate was 25% &amp; 30% in test group and 40% &amp; 25% in control group and conception rate was 0% in test group and 10 % and 5% in control group.Conclusions: The effect of test drug was comparable with that of control drug in stimulating follicular growth &amp; ovulation, though the drug was not as effective as control drug to achieve conception.