Unintentional, paediatric domestic injury in a semi rural area of Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the characteristics of unintentional domestic injury in children living in a semi-rural area of Karachi. METHODS: This retrospective descriptive study was carried out at a private hospital located at the northern outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, from January 2005 to January 2007. We enrolled 271 out-patient children of either gender with a positive injury history. A questionnaire inquiring socio-demographic characteristics, timing of injury, monthly variation, injury pattern and factors was filled out. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square test were applied to find out the statistically significant differences. RESULTS: Among the 271 patients, the male-to-female ratio was 1.2:1. Fall from height 145 (54%) or at the same level 52 (19%) was the commonest form of domestic unintentional injury across all ages. Children younger than 2 years of age, 140 (52%), were more prone to injuries, with 49 (51%) having fallen from the lap. Cuts with sharp domestic utensils were noted in 19 (6%), while 15 (6%) had burns. Submersion in underwater tank was noted in 20 (7%) cases and poisoning in 7 (3%). Majority of the injured children were from the low socio-economic stratum and more injuries, 194 (72%), were reported during the summer months. CONCLUSION: Male children are more prone to suffer unintentional domestic injuries especially during summer vacations. Fall was the commonest pattern noted

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH, VOL

Abstract: This paper investigated the effects of teaching one of the most fundamental concepts of Chemistry 'Atom and its Structure' using Traditional Teaching (TT

Occupational exposure to HIV in a developing country: assessing knowledge and attitude of healthcare professional before and after an awareness symposium

Objective: Health care providers (HCPs) are at risk of occupational exposure to HIV infection. In developing world these exposure occur due to general lack of awareness, education and structured training of HCPs. The objective of the study was to asses if continuing medical education symposium can be used as an effective educational tool to improve attitude, awareness and knowledge regarding occupational exposure to HIV infection. This quasi-experimental study was conducted among HCPs from Karachi, Pakistan. After assessing the baseline knowledge, awareness, and attitude by means of pretest; HCPs were reassessed with posttest after an education symposium on occupational exposure to HIV infection. Results: Among 364 participating HCPs, 14.2% had previous training on post exposure prophylaxis. There was an overall statistically significant (P value \u3c 0.001) improvement in the attitude of the participants. A statistically positive improvement in the number of participants giving correct answer was observed in 9 out of 11 questions (P value \u3c 0.001). The mean score of participants’ knowledge before intervention was 6.44 ± 1.84, which improved to 8.82 ± 2.17. Along with the increase in knowledge, a positive change in the attitude regarding safety against HIV was observed after the education symposium

A Study of School Lunch Habits in Primary School Children during Recess Time

Children are the asset of any nation. These should be take heed very carefully. The paper aims to examine the eating habits of children during recess time in primary schools of Hyderabad, a city of Pakistan. Recess is the crucial time for the healthy development of the school children. Continue teaching and learning process in a particular classroom without taking any food makes the students tired and fatigue which ultimately affects their learning. The main objective of the study was to explore the food items that are mostly taken up by the children during recess time and their reason. For the study, all Government primary schools of Hyderabad city were selected as the population while; convenient method of sampling was used to select the 80 children from 20 selected primary schools. Qualitative method approach was used to collect the data from these students which consist of an interview schedule. The findings show that majority of the students neither eat breakfast at home nor bring food from home to eat during recess time and like to take food from the pushcarts standing inside or the outside the school. Keywords: School lunch, Recess time, Health, Primary school Children

The Influence of Internet Usage on the Academic Achievements of the Students in Pakistani Universities

The advent of the Internet has invaded every aspect of students’ life in all college and university campuses throughout the nation and throughout the world. At the same time the use of the Internet in the academic arena has empowered students to sharpen and refine their skills and communication capabilities in their pursuit of successful strategies of success. Present study was conducted to know the effect of internet use on the academic achievement of the students. The study also focused to examine the gender differences among students on excess usage of internet. It has delimited the whole world and made a man able to access anywhere, anytime and in any field of life. Facilities are available at one’s door step. Likewise, excessive use of Internet has become a problem today. This part of research contribution will analyze the reality and gap between the positive and negative impact and aspects of usage of Internet on education. For this purpose quantitative research was conducted. The respondents were the universities students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad city. Two (2) universities were selected from Rawalpindi and three (3) universities from Islamabad. Researcher used simple random sampling technique. Researcher conducted face to face structure interview based on interview schedule. The data obtained in this way were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Most (60.4%) had positive effect of internet on academics performance, slightly less than one third (31.6%) had low GPA/poor results as an effect of Internet usage on academics performance

The Influence of Internet Usage on the Academic Achievements of the Students in Pakistani Universities

The advent of the Internet has invaded every aspect of students’ life in all college and university campuses throughout the nation and throughout the world. At the same time the use of the Internet in the academic arena has empowered students to sharpen and refine their skills and communication capabilities in their pursuit of successful strategies of success. Present study was conducted to know the effect of internet use on the academic achievement of the students. The study also focused to examine the gender differences among students on excess usage of internet. It has delimited the whole world and made a man able to access anywhere, anytime and in any field of life. Facilities are available at one’s door step. Likewise, excessive use of Internet has become a problem today. This part of research contribution will analyze the reality and gap between the positive and negative impact and aspects of usage of Internet on education. For this purpose quantitative research was conducted. The respondents were the universities students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad city. Two (2) universities were selected from Rawalpindi and three (3) universities from Islamabad. Researcher used simple random sampling technique. Researcher conducted face to face structure interview based on interview schedule. The data obtained in this way were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Most (60.4%) had positive effect of internet on academics performance, slightly less than one third (31.6%) had low GPA/poor results as an effect of Internet usage on academics performance

Mantle Cell Lymphoma in the Thyroid: A Rare Presentation

Background: While 2% of all extranodal Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas present in the thyroid, there exists insufficient data to describe the incidence of mantle cell lymphoma in the thyroid. A case series of 1400 patients revealed that \u3c 1% of thyroid lymphomas may be MCL; hence better understanding of the disease course is essential. Patient Findings: A 65-year-old female was referred for a multinodular goiter. Multiple fine needle aspirations from the dominant right nodule were consistent with Hashimoto\u27s thyroiditis and flow cytometry was negative. Due to progressing dysphagia, she underwent total thyroidectomy. Summary: Pathology revealed MCL with mantle zone growth pattern in the right thyroid. Flow cytometry showed monoclonal B cells comprising 9% of total cells. The Ki-67 index was 10%. She was diagnosed as having stage IIE MCL and offered conservative management by medical oncology, given that she had no B symptoms. Conclusion: Though chemotherapy is the treatment of choice in MCL, a subset of patients with low-grade disease may be observed. As in our patient, mantle zone growth pattern and a Ki-67 index \u3c 10% suggest a favorable prognosis. A diagnosis of primary MCL in the thyroid remains rare and staging modalities as well as treatment options continue to evolve

Quality control and HPTLC analysis of a polyherbal Unani formulation Habb-i-Shahtara recommended for skin diseases

The Unani system of medicine (USM) is one of the popular traditional systems of medicine. World widely, this system of medicine becomes an important health care system. Since many years back Unani medicines were used by the Unani physicians for treating the diseases ailments. In USM most of the drugs are of plant origin and their therapeutic effects are due to the presence of active phytochemicals. The proper standardization methods must be necessary for preparation of formulations otherwise secondary metabolites or active constituents might not be up to the quality. The standard operating procedures (SOP’s) are adopted for the preparation of Unani formulation. This study evaluated the quality of polyherbal unani formulation Habb-i-Shahtara, which is used in the treatment of skin diseases. The standardization parameters which were used for the development of quality standard of the study formulation were pharmacognostical studies, physicochemical and phytochemical parameters, HPTLC analysis, microbial load, aflatoxins, heavy metals and pesticide residues determination to evaluate the pharmacopoeial standard. The polyherbal Unani formulation Habb-i-Shahtara have been successfully standardized and the data and procedures which were used may serve the guidelines and standard reference in future for the preparation of formulation and for further study

Bomb blast injuries: an exploration of patient characteristics and outcome using Pakistan National Emergency Departments Surveillance (Pak-NEDS) data.

BACKGROUND: Bomb blast injuries result in premature deaths and burdening of healthcare systems. The objective of this study was to explore the characteristics and outcome of patients presenting to the emergency departments in Pakistan with bomb blast injuries. METHODS: Active surveillance was conducted in seven major emergency departments of Pakistan from November 2010-March 2011. All the sites are tertiary care urban centers. All the patients who presented to the hospital\u27s emergency department (ED) following a bomb blast injury as per self-report or the ambulance personnel were included in the study. Frequency of demographics, injury pattern, and outcomes were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 103 patients with bomb blast injuries presented to the selected emergency departments. The median age of patients was 30 years. Around three-fourth of the patients were males (n = 74, 74.7%). Most of the bomb blast patients were seen in Peshawar (n = 41, 39.8%) and Karachi city (n = 31, 30.1%) and the most common mode of arrival was non-ambulance transport (n = 71, 76.3%). Upper limb injuries (n = 12, 40%) were common in the under 18 age group and lower limb injuries (n = 31, 39.2%) in the 18 years and above group. There were a total of 8 (7.7%) deaths reported out of these 103 patients. CONCLUSION: Bomb blast injuries in Pakistan generally affect young males. Non-ambulance transport is the most common way to access emergency departments (ED). Overall ED mortality is high and capturing data during a disaster in an emergency department is challenging

Effect of Covered Metallic Stents Compared With Plastic Stents on Benign Biliary Stricture Resolution A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Endoscopic placement of multiple plastic stents in parallel is the first-line treatment for most benign biliary strictures; it is possible that fully covered, self-expandable metallic stents (cSEMS) may require fewer endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedures (ERCPs) to achieve resolution. Objective To assess whether use of cSEMS is noninferior to plastic stents with respect to stricture resolution. Design, Setting, and Participants Multicenter (8 endoscopic referral centers), open-label, parallel, randomized clinical trial involving patients with treatment-naive, benign biliary strictures (N = 112) due to orthotopic liver transplant (n = 73), chronic pancreatitis (n = 35), or postoperative injury (n = 4), who were enrolled between April 2011 and September 2014 (with follow-up ending October 2015). Patients with a bile duct diameter less than 6 mm and those with an intact gallbladder in whom the cystic duct would be overlapped by a cSEMS were excluded. Interventions Patients (N = 112) were randomized to receive multiple plastic stents or a single cSEMS, stratified by stricture etiology and with endoscopic reassessment for resolution every 3 months (plastic stents) or every 6 months (cSEMS). Patients were followed up for 12 months after stricture resolution to assess for recurrence. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome was stricture resolution after no more than 12 months of endoscopic therapy. The sample size was estimated based on the noninferiority of cSEMS to plastic stents, with a noninferiority margin of −15%. Results There were 55 patients in the plastic stent group (mean [SD] age, 57 [11] years; 17 women [31%]) and 57 patients in the cSEMS group (mean [SD] age, 55 [10] years; 19 women [33%]). Compared with plastic stents (41/48, 85.4%), the cSEMS resolution rate was 50 of 54 patients (92.6%), with a rate difference of 7.2% (1-sided 95% CI, −3.0% to ∞; P < .001). Given the prespecified noninferiority margin of −15%, the null hypothesis that cSEMS is less effective than plastic stents was rejected. The mean number of ERCPs to achieve resolution was lower for cSEMS (2.14) vs plastic (3.24; mean difference, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.46; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance Among patients with benign biliary strictures and a bile duct diameter 6 mm or more in whom the covered metallic stent would not overlap the cystic duct, cSEMS were not inferior to multiple plastic stents after 12 months in achieving stricture resolution. Metallic stents should be considered an appropriate option in patients such as these