How the Students’ Competitive and Collaborative Styles of Learning are Affected by Personality Traits at the University Level

Investigating how personality traits affect competitive and collaborative learning is the goal of the current study. When examining the influence of personality traits on learning styles, Big Five Theory was employed. Two hundred students were casually picked using the non-probability selection approach for this descriptive study design. After translation into the native language, a large-scale portfolio and the Grasha-Riechmann Scales of Student Learning Skills were utilized. Cronbach's alpha provided proficient estimation, pilot testing, and consistency, which all confirmed the instrument’s validity (α = 0.94). Five elements correlated with students' learning styles, including their personality traits. Students may benefit from a teaching approach that considers their unique characteristics and learning styles. Social training, academic achievement, and collaborative chances influenced personality traits and learning

Comparsion of Topical Corticosteroid Nasal Spray / Second Generation Antihistamine with Topical Corticosteroid Nasal Spray

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of topical nasal corticosteroids alone and in combination with second generation oral antihistamine in the treatment of moderate to severe allergic rhinitis.Study design: Randomized control trialDuration of study: One year from 15th June 2011 to 15th June 2012, E.N.T outpatient department Fauji foundation hospital Rawalpindi.Methodology: 200 cases meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were taken from the outpatient E.N.T Department Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi and informed consent was taken from each of them for using their data in this study. My study variables are age, gender, the effectiveness of treatment given to each of the two groups, rhinorrhoea, sneezing, nasal blocking, nasal itching, post nasal drip and condition of nasal mucosa. Nasal speculum is used to examine the nose with the head light and post nasal drip is seen with the help of tongue depressor. There were 200 patients divided into two groups of 100 patients each. Group I treated with topical nasal corticosteroid spray (flunisolide) and group II receiving second generation oral antihistamine tablet (loratadine) in addition to the topical nasal corticosteroid (flunisolide). Results: 200 patients were included in the study from E.N.T outpatient department in Fauji foundation hospital Rawalpindi. On the basis of treatments, intranasal corticosteroid spray (INCS) alone and in combination with second generation oral antihistamine patients were divided into two groups of 100 patients in each group and evaluated for effectiveness of each treatment. Effectiveness was assessed by improvement score in symptoms for both the types of treatments to see which treatment of the two was more effective. Conclusion: The comparative study of Intranasal corticosteroids spray alone and in combination with second-generation antihistamines proved that combination treatment of INCS with antihistamine is better therapy than intranasal corticosteroid spray alone in allergic rhinitis

Malrotation after reamed intramedullary nailing with and without a fracture table for closed fractures of the femoral shaft

Abstract Introduction: To observe the effect of the choice of surgical table on the incidence of malrotation. Methods: The randomised trial was conducted from July 2012 to January 2013 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, during which 74 patients were inducted. Randomisation was done via random allocation software version 1.0.0 and sealed envelopes were used to guide the choice of table. Malrotation was assessed by the operating surgeon using the lesser trochanteric shape signunder intra-operative fluoroscopy. SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The 74 patients in the study were divided into two groups of 37(50%) each using fracture table and the regular table.Overall, there were 55(74%) male and 19(26%) female patients with a mean age of 37±17 years. Overall incidence of malrotation was 13(17.6%). Malrotation was observed in 7(19%)patients in the fracture table group and 6(16%)in the regular table group (p=0.760). Conclusion: The choice of fracture table did not influence the occurrence or direction of malrotation

Musculoskeletal tumours throughout history and beyond: Clinical features, imaging, staging and biopsy

Background: Over the last century, there has been a remarkable development in the study of bone and soft tissue sarcomas. This is primarily due to the improved knowledge of the nature of these lesions and the improved imaging technology. In literature there are many protocols that are being used and all of them have reported various advantages and disadvantages of each technique used. However, there is no set guideline and whatever has been proposed has been developed on the basis of the experience of different centres and different surgeons.Objective: The current systematic review was planned to thoroughly evaluate the levels of evidence on which we base decisions for surgical management of lower extremity bone tumours.Methods: The review included descriptive studies published in the English language. Studies included case reports, case series and experiences of different centres for the surgical management of lower extremity bone tumours. Articles reporting all levels of evidence - Level I to V - were included. PubMed, ERIC, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Reviews databases from 2002 to 2012 were searched.Results: Information was gathered and thoroughly studied from 63 articles. There were no Level I studies, 2(3.2%) Level II studies, 47(74.6%) Level III, and the remaining 14(22.2%) studies were Level IV and Level V

Fog Computing in Medical Internet-of-Things: Architecture, Implementation, and Applications

In the era when the market segment of Internet of Things (IoT) tops the chart in various business reports, it is apparently envisioned that the field of medicine expects to gain a large benefit from the explosion of wearables and internet-connected sensors that surround us to acquire and communicate unprecedented data on symptoms, medication, food intake, and daily-life activities impacting one's health and wellness. However, IoT-driven healthcare would have to overcome many barriers, such as: 1) There is an increasing demand for data storage on cloud servers where the analysis of the medical big data becomes increasingly complex, 2) The data, when communicated, are vulnerable to security and privacy issues, 3) The communication of the continuously collected data is not only costly but also energy hungry, 4) Operating and maintaining the sensors directly from the cloud servers are non-trial tasks. This book chapter defined Fog Computing in the context of medical IoT. Conceptually, Fog Computing is a service-oriented intermediate layer in IoT, providing the interfaces between the sensors and cloud servers for facilitating connectivity, data transfer, and queryable local database. The centerpiece of Fog computing is a low-power, intelligent, wireless, embedded computing node that carries out signal conditioning and data analytics on raw data collected from wearables or other medical sensors and offers efficient means to serve telehealth interventions. We implemented and tested an fog computing system using the Intel Edison and Raspberry Pi that allows acquisition, computing, storage and communication of the various medical data such as pathological speech data of individuals with speech disorders, Phonocardiogram (PCG) signal for heart rate estimation, and Electrocardiogram (ECG)-based Q, R, S detection.Comment: 29 pages, 30 figures, 5 tables. Keywords: Big Data, Body Area Network, Body Sensor Network, Edge Computing, Fog Computing, Medical Cyberphysical Systems, Medical Internet-of-Things, Telecare, Tele-treatment, Wearable Devices, Chapter in Handbook of Large-Scale Distributed Computing in Smart Healthcare (2017), Springe

Early experience of dynamic hip screw with spiral blade and locking side plate for the stabilization of trochanteric fractures.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate early experience with helical hip system in osteoporotic elderly patients with per-trochanteric fractures. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised records of patients having low-velocity pertrochanteric fractures who were fixed with spiral blade Dynamic Helical Hip Systemfrom July to December 2014 and were followed up for a minimum of 3 months. Demographic variables and clinical outcomes were noted from the medical records whereas operative details were recorded from the operative note. Radiological variables and outcomes were assessed by viewing appropriate pre-operative, post-operative and follow-up radiographs. RESULTS: Of the 32 patients in the study, 14(44%) were men and 18(56%) were women, with an overall mean age of 77.81±7.04 years and mean body mass index of 25.99±4.13 kg/m2. Of the total, 1(3.13%) patient had implant cut-out, 1(3.13%) had myocardial infarctionand 2(6.2) expired. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of spiral blade dynamic hip screw manifested favourable results and good clinical and radiological outcomes with low cut-out rates

Does tranexamic acid reduce blood transfusion following surgery for inter-trochanteric fracture? a randomized control trial

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency of blood transfusion after surgery for fixation of inter-trochanteric fractures in patients given tranexamic acid versus placebo. METHODS: The randomised control trial was conducted at the Aga khan university hospital from May 1 to October 31, 2014, and comprised patients diagnosed with Inter-trochanteric fracture based on X-ray imaging. The patients were randomised into two equal groups based on a computer-generated random number table. The Intervention group received two doses of 10mg/kg body weight of tranexamic acid just before surgery and three hours later intravenously. The Control group received two doses of 10mg/kg body weight of normal saline at similar intervals. Numbers of blood transfusions required postoperatively were noted based on the postoperative haemoglobin readings. RESULTS: There were 100 patients who were divided into groups of 50(50%) each. Mean post-op haemoglobin for the intervention group was 10.2±2.4 g/dl and for the control group it was 8.9±2.4 g/dl (p=0.007). Nine (18%) patients in intervention group required blood transfusion compared to 21(42%) in control group (p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Administering tranexamic acid was a useful and safe option for reducing requirement of blood transfusion postoperatively after inter-trochanteric hip fractur

Single stage bilateral total hip replacement: Is it an option or a risk?

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate safety and feasibility of two-stage total hip arthroplasty and to compare it with single-stage procedure. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at The Aga Khan University Hospital and comprised all cases of total hip replacements between January 2001 and December 2014 that were retrieved from the database using International Classification of Diseases (9th Revision) coding. A standardised questionnaire was completed, including patient demographics, primary diagnosis, peri and postoperative morbidity and mortality. Differences among patients\\u27 data were analysed using chi square test for dichotomous variables and student t-test for continuous variables. RESULTS: Of the 48 cases, 34(71%) had single-stage bilateral total hip replacement and 14(29%) had two-stage procedure. The mean hospital stay in the single-stage group was 8.1±3.2 days compared to 19.6±5 days in the other group. The two-stage group required a significantly greater need for transfusion compared to the single-stage group (P\u3c0.05). There was no statistically significant increase in peri or postoperative complication (p\u3e 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous bilateral total hip arthroplasty was found to be a safe and viable option with a decreased transfusion requirement and shorter hospital stay along with no significant increase in morbidity or mortality

Current methods for the detection of Plasmodium parasite species infecting humans

Malaria is the world’s fatal parasitic disease. The ability to quickly and accurately identify malaria infection in challenging environments is crucial to allow efficient administration of the best treatment regime for human patients. If those techniques are accessible and efficient, global detection of Plasmodium species will become more sensitive, allowing faster and more precise action to be taken for disease control strategies. Recent advances in technology have enhanced our ability to diagnose different species of Plasmodium parasites with greater sensitivity and specificity. This literature review provides a summary and discussion of the current methods for the diagnosis and identification of Plasmodium spp. in human blood samples. So far not a single method is precise, but advanced technologies give consistent identification of a Plasmodium infection in endemic regions. By using the power of the recent methods, we can provide a broader understanding of the multiplicity of infection and or transmission dynamics of Plasmodium spp. This will result in improved disease control strategies, better-informed policy, and effective treatment for malaria-positive patients

Prognostic predictors relevant to end-of-life palliative care in Parkinson's disease and related disorders: A systematic review

Parkinson's disease and related disorders (PDRD) are the second most common neurodegenerative disease and a leading cause of death. However, patients with PDRD receive less end-of-life palliative care (hospice) than other illnesses, including other neurologic illnesses. Identification of predictors of PDRD mortality may aid in increasing appropriate and timely referrals. To systematically review the literature for causes of death and predictors of mortality in PDRD to provide guidance regarding hospice/end-of-life palliative care referrals. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL databases (1970-2020) of original quantitative research using patient-level, provider-level or caregiver-level data from medical records, administrative data or survey responses associated with mortality, prognosis or cause of death in PDRD. Findings were reviewed by an International Working Group on PD and Palliative Care supported by the Parkinson's Foundation. Of 1183 research articles, 42 studies met our inclusion criteria. We found four main domains of factors associated with mortality in PDRD: (1) demographic and clinical markers (age, sex, body mass index and comorbid illnesses), (2) motor dysfunction and global disability, (3) falls and infections and (4) non-motor symptoms. We provide suggestions for consideration of timing of hospice/end-of-life palliative care referrals. Several clinical features of advancing disease may be useful in triggering end-of-life palliative/hospice referral. Prognostic studies focused on identifying when people with PDRD are nearing their final months of life are limited. There is further need for research in this area as well as policies that support need-based palliative care for the duration of PDRD