627 research outputs found

    Re-Visioning Personal Myths In Executive Coaching

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    The purpose of this capstone is to study how executive coaches use stories to help their clients author a more empowering personal myth, in support of the client’s long- term vision that accounts for diverse personal and professional stakeholders. Through a multidisciplinary review of literature, the study enunciates how people create personal myths to make sense of their lives and why those invisible myths need to be continuously updated to account for life changes. The review of organizational research emphasizes the importance of choosing an archetype that supports a desired social identity at work. Following interviews with experienced coach practitioners, the study outlines a process by which coaches can ask for stories that not only help clients change but also lay the foundation of the deeper work clients need to do to articulate and realize their future vision. At the core of the long-term personal transformation is the need to evoke a way of being that allows clients to “be their best self.

    Reservoir Characterisation of Gas Shale through Sedimentary, Mineralogical, Petrophysical and Statistical Rock Types Evaluation

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    The successful exploration and production of the gas shale reservoirs can help to face the current energy crisis. However, shale is a fine-grained heterogeneous rock, so its exploration and development are challenging. This research has provided an integrated method for analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of potential gas shale formations in the Canning Basin, Western Australia. The results form a valuable case study that is applicable to many other sedimentary basins throughout the world

    Navigation of a high velocity tele-operated ground vehicle through an obstacle rich environment

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    Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 41).An experiment was designed and conducted to investigate the use of a priori overhead images in navigating an unmanned tele-operated ground vehicle through an obstacle rich environment. The obstacle courses contained many of the same types of elements that would exist in an urban setting. The corresponding a priori images depicted these obstacle courses but included some drawbacks that could be expected in an overhead image of an urban environment. For instance there were objects on the course that were not depicted on the overhead image and vice versa. The overhead images were prepared in low, medium, and high resolutions. These resolutions, one meter, half meter, and centimeter scale, were selected to be representative of what might be available in real situations. Subjects controlled the vehicle using a joystick, with reference to the a priori image and a real-time video image from the vehicle. The subjects' times to navigate the courses and their paths were recorded during the experiment. From this information, post analysis showed what types of decision errors they made on each course. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant performance difference between the three different obstacle courses. Subjects took the longest time to navigate the courses using the low resolution overhead images, and took the shortest time with the high resolution images. There was a statistically significant difference between the average course completion time with the medium resolution map and the high resolution map. Medium and high resolution lead subjects to rely less on the video image from the vehicle. This caused them to occasionally make incorrect navigation choices. With low resolution subjects tended to use clearly discernible paths and avoid shortcuts which could have saved time. This nuance in the behavior with different resolutions underscores the importance of experimentation and suggests that further study is necessary.by Atif Iqbal Chaudhry.S.M

    STAT3 Genotypic Variant rs744166 and Increased Tyrosine Phosphorylation of STAT3 in IL-23 Responsive Innate Lymphoid Cells during Pathogenesis of Crohn\u27s Disease

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    Crohn\u27s disease (CD) results from dysregulated immune responses to gut microbiota in genetically susceptible individuals, affecting multiple areas of the gastrointestinal tract. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are tissue-resident innate effector lymphocytes which play crucial roles in mucosal immune defense, tissue repair, and maintenance of homeostasis. The accumulation of IFN-γ-producing ILC1s and increased level of proinflammatory cytokines produced by ILCs has been observed in the inflamed terminal ileum of CD patients. To date, the precise mechanisms of ILC plasticity and gene regulatory pathways in ILCs remain unclear. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) regulates gene expression in a cell-specific, cytokine-dependent manner, involving multiple immune responses. This study proposes the positive correlation between the prevalence of STAT3 rs744166 risky allele A with the severity of disease in a cohort of 94 CD patients. In addition, the results suggest an increased STAT3 activity in the inflamed ileum of CD patients, compared to unaffected ileum sections. Notably, IL-23 triggers the differentiation of CD117+NKp44- ILC3s and induces the activation of STAT3 in both CD117+NKp44- and CD117-NKp44- ILC subsets, implying the involvement of STAT3 in the initiation of ILC plasticity. Moreover, carriage of STAT3 A risk allele exhibited a higher basal level of STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation, and an increased IL-23 triggered the pSTAT3 level. We also demonstrated that there was no delayed dephosphorylation of STAT3 in ILCs of both A/A and G/G donors. Overall, the results of this study suggest that IL-23-induced activation of STAT3 in the CD117-NKp44- ILC1s involves in ILC1-to-ILC3 plasticity and a potential regulatory role of ILC1 function. Those genetically susceptible individuals carried STAT3 rs744166 risky allele appear to have higher basal and cytokine-stimulated activation of STAT3 signal, leading to prolonged inflammation and chronic relapse

    Job stress among community health workers: a multi-method study from Pakistan

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In low income countries, the task of providing primary health care is often the responsibility of community health workers. In Pakistan, community workers called Lady Health Workers (LHW) deliver basic health care at the doorstep in the rural areas and urban slums. Evaluations show that it is a successful programme but point out inconsistencies in the quality of service provided. In order achieve this, it would be important to obtain the workers' viewpoint on their job-description, the problems they face and the levels of stress they encounter.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a multi-method study to investigate the aforementioned issues. All LHWs from one typical rural sub-district in Rawalpindi were surveyed. Focus group discussions with a sub-set of these workers were also conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>About a quarter of the LHWs were found to have significant occupational stress. Factors associated with stress included having low socio-economic status and having to travel long distances for work. Inconsistent medical supplies, inadequate stipends, lack of career structure and not being equipped to communicate effectively with families were the main factors for job dissatisfaction among these workers.</p> <p>Recommendations</p> <p>Improvement in remuneration, better administration of supplies and a structured career path should be ensured for better performance of community health workers. In addition, communication skills learning should be an essential part of their training programme.</p

    FREQUENCY OF CAROTID ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN CEREBRAL INFARCTION

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    Objective: To know the frequency of carotid atherosclerosis in ischaemic stroke patients in our population using color Doppler ultrasound. Methodology: This is an observational study conducted in the department of Medicine Nishtar Hospital, Multan. All the patients admitted during this duration with CT scan proof of stroke were included in the study. Risk factors in all these patients were stratified. Doppler ultrasound was performed on all patients with ischaemic stroke according to the study protocol. Results: A total of 100 patients were included in this study over a period of five months. 66% of these were having cerebral infarction. Hypertension (72%), diabetes (35%), smoking (29%) and obesity (20%) were the common risk factors. The frequency of significant carotid atherosclerosis in acute ischaemic stroke patients was 21%. Conclusion: Carotid atherosclerosis is one of the most important indicators, predictors as well as an independent risk factor in the development of ischaemic stroke. KEY WORDS: Carotid, Atherosclerosis, Doppler ultrasound

    Fetal Anomalies in Ultrasonographically Detected Polyhydramnios

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    Background: To determine the frequency and types of fetal anomalies in cases of polyhydramnios detected on ultrasonography and to compare maternal age and parity of these subjects with fetal anomalies and those without fetal anomalies. Methods: In this cross sectional study, using colour and power Doppler ultrasound machine, one hundred diagnosed patients with ultrasonographically detected polyhydramnios were included . Sonographic examination was conducted between 12 to 40 weeks of gestation and fetal anomalies were examined. Results: Out of 100 patients, 35 fetal anomalies were found in 30(30%) patients. The age of the patients included in the study ranged from 18 to 40 years. Majority of the anomalies (73%) were found between age group 30 – 40 years and in multigravida (83%). Central Nervous System was the commonest site with fetal anomalies (46%) followed by gastrointestinal tract (20%) Conclusion: Prenatal detection of fetal anomalies has a decisive effect on the outcome of pregnancy and helps the obstetrician in planning the intrapartum management and for post delivery resuscitative measures, if require

    EFFICACY OF INTRAVENOUS ACETAMINOPHEN VERSUS KETAMINE FOR POSTOPERATIVE PAIN AFTER ABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMY

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    Objective; To determine the efficacy of intravenous acetaminophen versus ketamine for postoperative pain after abdominal hysterectomy. Material and Methods; A total of 114 women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy were taken in this study. The study was conducted from June 2017 to May 2018 at department of Anesthesiology, Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Results; Our study comprised of 114 ladies undergoing abdominal hysterectomy, mean age of the study cases was 54.13 ± 6.89 years (with minimum age of the patients was 39 years while maximum age was 68 years). Majority of our study cases i.e. 92 (80.7 %) had parity more than 3 and American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score level 1 in 93 (81.6%). Sixty one (53.1%) belonged to rural areas, while mean duration of surgery was 72.80 ± 11.32 minutes. Mean BMI level in our study cases was noted to be 23.98 ±4.17 Kg/m2 and obesity was present in 34 (29.8%) of our study cases. Efficacy was noted in 60 (52.6 %) of our study cases. Efficacy was 73.7% study cases in group A while 18 (31.6%) in group B (p=0.000). Conclusion; Our study results support the use of intravenous acetaminophen (IVA) for pain management in patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy compared with ketamine. Intravenous acetaminophen is safe, reliable and effective for the pain management in postoperative abdominal hysterectomy patients which was associated with shorter hospital stay and cost effective for the suffering families. No adverse reactions were noted in this study with the use of intravenous acetaminophen. Keywords; Intravenous acetaminophen, Ketamine, Abdominal Hysterectomy.

    An Event-Triggered Robust Attitude Control of Flexible Spacecraft With Modified Rodrigues Parameters Under Limited Communication

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    The attitude regulation of spacecraft using continuous time execution of the control law is not always affordable for the low-cost satellites with limited wireless resources. Of late, within the ambit of control of systems over networks, event-triggered control has proved to be instrumental in ensuring acceptable closed-loop performance while respecting bandwidth constraints of the underlying network. Aligned with these design objectives, a robust event-triggered attitude control algorithm is proposed to regulate the orientation of a flexible spacecraft subjected to parametric uncertainties, external disturbances, and vibrations due to flexible appendages. The control law is developed using a state-dependent single feedback vector, which further assists in obeying the constrained network. The current information of this vector is updated to the onboard controller only when the predefined triggering condition is satisfied. Thus, the control input is updated through communication channel only when there is a need, which ultimately helps in saving the communication resources. The system trajectories, under the proposed approach, are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) in a small neighborhood of origin by using a high gain. Moreover, the practical applicability of the proposed scheme is also proved by showing the Zeno free behavior in the proposed control, i.e., it avoids the accumulation of the triggering sequence. The numerical simulations results are indeed encouraging and illustrate the effectiveness of the designed controller. Moreover, the numerical comparative analysis shows that the proposed approach performs better than periodically sampled data technique and sliding mode-based event-triggered technique.Qatar UniversityScopu
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