Učinak hranidbe usitnjenim sjemenkama uzgojene crnjike Nigella sativa L. na proizvodnju jaja i njihovu neškodljivost za ljudsku upotrebu.

The effect of Kalongi (Nigella sativa, L.) seeds was studied on the performance of layers and cholesterol contents of their egg-yolks. A total of 96 White-Leghorn birds of 40 weeks of age and at the egg laying stage were randomly divided into 12 experimental units, eight birds in each unit. These units were randomly allotted to four treatments in such a way that each treatment received 3 experimental units. Four test rations were prepared by supplementing a commercial layer-ration with powdered Kalongi seeds at the rates of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%. Effects of feeding these rations on feed intake, egg production, egg mass, egg shell thickness, Haugh unit, yolk index, blood spots, meat spots and total cholesterol in eggs were determined after a period of 12 weeks. Blood samples of the two birds selected at random from each replicate were taken at 0, 6 and 12 weeks. The serum obtained from these samples was analyzed for total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins and triglycerides. Data on feed intake, feed refused and egg production were used to calculate the feed conversion ratio. Results showed that Nigella sativa seeds significantly (P0.05) change in yolk index, blood and meat spots. The Nigella sativa seeds also significantly (P0,05) u odnosu na indeks žumanjka te prisutnost krvnih i mesnih mrlja. U jaja nesilica hranjenih usitnjenim sjemenkama crnjike zabilježena je značajno manja količina (P<0,05) kolesterola. Ustanovljene su i niže razine serumskih triglicerida, lipoproteina niske gustoće i ukupnog kolesterola, dok je razina loipoproteina visoke gustoće bila povišena dodavanjem komercijalne hrane sa sjemenkama crnjike

ICI Cancellation in OFDM Systems by Frequency Offset Reduction

With the rapid growth of digital communication in recent years, the need for high speed data transmission is increased. Moreover, future wireless systems are expected to support a wide range of services which includes video, data and voice. OFDM is a promising candidate for achieving high data rates in mobile environment because of its multicarrier modulation technique and ability to convert a frequency selective fading channel into several nearly flat fading channels. Now OFDM is being widely used in wireless communications standards, such as IEEE 802.11a, the multimedia mobile access communication (MMAC), and the HIPERLAN/2. However, one of the main disadvantages of OFDM is its sensitivity against carrier frequency offset which causes inter carrier interference (ICI). A well-known problem of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), however, is its sensitivity to frequency offset between the transmitted and received signals, which may be caused by Doppler shift in the channel, or by the difference between the transmitter and receiver local oscillator frequencies. This carrier frequency offset causes loss of orthogonality between sub-carriers and the signals transmitted on each carrier are not independent of each other. The orthogonality of the carriers is no longer maintained, which results in inter-carrier interference (ICI). The undesired ICI degrades the performance of the system. Depending on the Doppler spread in the channel and the block length chosen for transmission, ICI can potentially cause a severe deterioration of quality of service (QOS) in OFDM systems. ICI mitigation techniques are essential in improving the performance of an OFDM system in an environment which induces frequency offset error in the transmitted signal. The comparisons of these schemes in terms of various parameters will be useful in determining the choice of ICI mitigation techniques for different applications and mobile environments. This project investigates an efficient ICI cancellation method termed ICI self-cancellation scheme for combating the impact of ICI on OFDM systems. The ICI self-cancellation scheme is a technique in which redundant data is transmitted onto adjacent sub-carriers such that the ICI between adjacent sub-carriers cancels out at the receiver. The main idea is one data symbol is modulated onto a group of adjacent subcarriers with a group of weighting coefficients. By doing so, the ICI signals generated within a group can be self-cancelled each other. At the receiver side, by linearly combining the received signals on these subcarriers with proposed coefficients, the residual ICI contained in the received signals can then be further reduced. Although the proposed scheme causes a reduction in bandwidth efficiency, it can be compensated, by using larger signal alphabet sizes in modulation. The average carrier-to-interference power ratio (CIR) is used as the ICI level indicator, and a theoretical CIR expression is derived for the proposed scheme. The proposed scheme provides significant CIR improvement, which has been studied theoretically and supported by simulations. Simulation results show that under the condition of the same bandwidth efficiency and larger frequency offsets, the proposed OFDM system using the ICI self-cancellation scheme per- forms much better than standard OFDM systems in AWGN channel with large Doppler frequencies. In addition, since no channel equalization is needed for reducing ICI, the proposed scheme is therefore beneficial in implementation issue without increasing system complexit

JUXTAFACET CYST OF CERVICAL SPINE: A RARE NEURAL FORAMINAL LESION

Juxtafacet cysts (JFC) are well recognized entities occurring in the spine in relation to facet joints. These lesions include synovial cysts and ganglion cysts. Lumbar spine is more common location amongst other regions of the spine. Rarely these cysts can be seen in cervical spine. Only 29 cases of cervical synovial cysts has been reported so far to the best of our knowledge.2 The cervicothoracic junction is the preferential site of involvement. Usual location is in the dorsolateral spinal canal. Foraminal juxtafacet cyst, as seen in our case, are extremely rare

Follicular sensitivity index: A tool to predict successful conception after intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection

Follicular sensitivity index (FSI) is used for estimation of follicular responsiveness to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) during intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In a retrospective study, FSI of 1,385 females was calculated as [pre-ovulatory follicle count (PFC) × 100,000]/ [antral follicle count (AFC) × total received stimulation doses]. Females were then categorised into low, middle and high FSI groups according to FSI tertile values. FSI was 8.65 ±2.82 in non-pregnant as compared to 12.02 ±2.04 (p \u3c0.01) in pregnant cohort. FSI turned out to be a strong predictor of successful conception on the receiver operating curve with cutoff value 10.36 at 76% specificity, sensitivity of 86% and area under the curve (AUC; 0.83). Calculation of FSI can thus predict the chances of successful conception in females with different causes of infertility

The Impact of Service Quality Dimensions on Customers’ Trust

Customers’ trust is an inevitable asset for organizations. The long-term relationship of customer-organization depends upon the presence of customers’ trust on the organization. The significance of this phenomenon in services industry becomes even more critical where organizations have to know individual as well as contextual factors that influence on customers’ trust. This study tested the impact of different dimensions of perceived service quality (reliability, assurance, responsiveness, empathy and tangibility) on customers’ trust. 220 customers from Insurance sector of Pakistan were selected to form the sampling frame. Explanatory factor analysis, correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test proposed hypotheses. The results indicate&nbsp;&nbsp; positive relationship between different dimensions of service quality and customers’ trust. This study has several insights and valuable implications for the researchers and policy makers. First, deliberate efforts are needed on the part of policy makers in Insurance companies to nurture a climate that is conducive to build long-term customer’s trust to retain and expand extent of customers. In particular, front line officers must be trained to harmonize customers’ need with swift and rational solutions

Association between leptin, obesity, hormonal interplay and male infertility

Male infertility is a major health problem worldwide. We investigated a possible association between leptin, obesity, hormonal interplay and male infertility. This cross-sectional study of 313 males (178 infertile and 135 fertile) was carried out in 2017. The subjects were categorised by body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%) into normal weight, overweight and obese. Significantly higher levels of BMI and BF% (p-value \u3c 0.001) and lower levels of FSH, LH, testosterone, and SHBG (p-value \u3c 0.001) were found in infertile males. However, no significant difference was observed in leptin levels (p-value = 0.35). Leptin levels were significantly higher, and all the sex hormones were significantly lower (p-value \u3c 0.001) in obese subjects, whereas according to BF% only leptin, FSH and SHBG were significantly different. Leptin showed a significant positive correlation with BMI and BF% (p \u3c 0.001). A strong positive link to serum testosterone was found with age, FSH, and LH (p \u3c 0.001) and a negative one with BMI and BF% (p \u3c 0.001). In mutivariable anlaysis, after adjusting for the other covariates, a significant association between FSH and testosterone (p-value \u3c0.001) was found. Serum leptin levels did not differ significantly in fertile and infertile groups, and no association was found with infertility. Furthermore, male obesity was found to be associated with infertility with the decrease in levels of sex hormones

Percutaneous venoplasty for central venous stenosis: Effect on patient\u27s symptoms and patency of arteriovenous accesses

Objective: To determine symptomatic relief and patency rate of arteriovenous (AV) fistulae and grafts after venoplasty in patients with central venous stenosis (CVS) on hemodialysis.Study Design: Case series.Place and Duration of Study: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2012 to December 2017.Methodology: The data of patients who had one session of successful venoplasty for CVS were reviewed. The outcomes measured were symptomatic recovery and improvement in the patency of AV accesses. Symptomatic recovery was termed \u27complete\u27, when there was complete symptomatic relief after venoplasty; and \u27partial\u27 when the procedure was technically successful, but symptoms were not resolved. Primary patency of AV access was the duration from first intervention till further intervention. Cumulative patency was the total duration of time fistula remains patent with multiple interventions. Events, considered end points to functional access status, were placement of new access site, ligation of access site, dialysis catheter placement or the patient death.Results: Thirty-five patients had technically successful venoplasty with mean age of 56.86 ±14.6 years. Twenty-one (60%) were female patients. All patients tolerated the procedure well. Twenty-one (60%) patients had complete relief of symptoms. Fourteen patients (40%) had partial relief of symptoms. Twenty-one patients required repeat angioplasties. The mean follow-up was 18.6 ±9.02 months. Primary patency was 40%, 24%, 24% at 6, 12 and 24 months. Cumulative patency was 69%, 66% and 59% at 6, 12 and 24 months.Conclusion: Percutaneous venoplasty provided symptomatic relief to the patients and improved the short-term patency of AV accesses

Predicting Distress in Islamic Banks: The Effectiveness of Capital Measures in CAMELS Framework

This study aims to identify key capital adequacy measures and other parameters that effectively predict distress in Islamic banks taking a panel of 65 banks from 13 countries between 2008-2017 using logistic regression model. The paper also intends to see whether simpler ratios perform better than more complex, risk weighted measures in predicting distress in these banks. A total of nine alternative capital and leverage indicators are used in the model that mainly rely on financial and accounting data, which are supplemented by the addition of market leverage for listed banks. In order to capture variability in cross country analysis and impact of economic conditions and shocks, the study also adds several macroeconomic indicators in the model. The results suggest that most of the standard CAMELS indicators are relevant for studying distress in Islamic banks. Further, it is shown that three other capital ratios – Tier 1, tangible common ratio and market leverage - are equally effective in studying Islamic bank failures. The findings, however, reflect that Basel III leverage ratio and other accounting-based ratios do not offer effective early warning signals of Islamic bank stress. Overall, equity based risk-weighted capital ratios offer a more robust framework of regulation and supervision in Islamic banks

Association of circulatory kisspeptin levels and hormonal interplay with male infertility: A cross-sectional study in Karachi, Pakistan

Objectives: To determine the impact of Kisspeptin on male reproductive axis in a selected urban population.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Sindh Institute of Reproductive Medicine in collaboration with Aga Khan University, Karachi, from July, 2017, to February, 2018, and comprised infertile males with abnormal sperm parameters who were placed in Group A and fertile males with normal sperm parameters placed in Group B. Serum samples were estimated for Kisspeptin, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data was analysed using SPSS 22.Results: Of the 313 male subjects, 178(57%) were in Group A and 135(43%) in Group B. Median Kisspeptin levels were higher among fertile males compared to infertile males (p\u3c0.001). Mean follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and testosterone values were higher among the fertile males (p\u3c0.001). There was significant interaction between follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone (p\u3c0.1).Conclusions: Fertility in males depended on optimal secretion of Kisspeptin which exert edits effect on hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis to increase male reproductive hormone production

Radiological and Clinical Outcome of Volar Barton Distal Radius Fractures Treated by Variable Angle Volar Locking- Plates (Chinese Version)

Background: To evaluate the functional and radiological results of treating volar Barton fractures of the distal radius with the variable Angle Volar Locking Plates (Chinese version). Methods: In this prospective study patients(n=50), of volar Barton fractures, which were fixed with Variable Angle Volar Locking Plates (Chinese version) were evaluated. Short arm back splint was applied . Volar approach was used for distal radius. After sweeping away the FPL muscle belly and retracting it ulnarly, pronator quadratus was exposed and released from its radial attachment in L shaped fashion using scalpel. Under direct visualization and with the aid of fluoroscopy, the fracture was then reduced. Plate was initially secured proximally with a 3.5-mm cortical screw in the oval hole of plate. Distal fixation with locking screws was then performed while maintaining the reduction. Radiological outcome (residual dorsal angulation, radial shortening and loss of radial inclination) was assessed according to Lidstorm criteria and clinical outcome was done using Mayo score . Results: Forty five cases were caused by road traffic accident and five cases were of domestic fall. Majority (n=28) sustained B3.1. Majority of the patients were operated within the first week of injury (60%). Mean time for radiological union was 08 weeks (6-12 weeks).Duration of hospital stay ranged from 2 to 3 days. Forty-six patients had excellent functional score at the end of six months. Forty-three patients (86%)had volar tilt in the range of 6-11 degrees and 2 patients (4%) had volar tilt in the range of 11-15 degree.Radiologically 96% patients had excellent to good results. Conclusion: Volar Barton fracture are best treated with osteosynthesis using variable angle volar locking plate