SAMAN MUFRIT (OBESITY) CONCEPT AND MANAGEMENT IN THE LIGHT OF UNANI LITERATURES

Obesity is a term used to describe body weight that is much higher than what is thought to be healthy for his or her height. It has become a serious public health problem. It affects 32.2% of the population. The worldwide prevalence of obesity is 1.6 billion and is reached epidemic proportions mostly in high income groups. Changes in dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles are known to be associated with changes in health and increased prevalence of chronic diseases. During the past decades efficacious strategies have been developed for prevention of these changes. These strategies involve general lifestyle changes, which include healthy diet, optimal weight, physical activity, no alcohol consumption. In the management strategies, Unani medicine plays an important role. Details about Saman Mufrit (Obesity) are described in various classic literatures of Unani medicine. For example Ibn Sina has mentioned a chapter on the disadvantages of obesity (Oyub al-Saman al-Mufrit) and a chapter on regimen of weight decrease (Tahzeel). Number of herbs is documented in Unani classics to reduce weight which includes Luk-e-Maghsool, Muqil (Commiphora mukul Linn.), Kharkhask (Tribulus terrestris Linn.), Haldi (Curcuma longa Linn.) and Zeera Siyah (Carum carvi, Linn.) etc. These herbs are the most common traditional Unani medicines used for weight loss, but there is a need to explore the efficacy of these drugs in a scientific manner. This paper focuses on the management of obesity through three basic fundamentals which are Ilaj bil Ghiza (diet therapy), Ilaj bil Tadbeer (regimental therapy) and Ilaj bil Dawa (drug therapy)

PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF ENGAGEMENT IN ACTIVE LEARNING THROUGH PEER TEACHING AND PEER ASSESSMENT

The study intends to investigate the perceptions of higher education students about their engagement in active learning through peer-teaching and peer-assessment. A group of 22 students comprising nine female and thirteen males participated in the study. The researchers taught the course within six weeks, and then divided it amongst students through assignments. The students prepared it, discussed with researchers, shared and taught the assigned part of the course to their peers in the classroom in the presence of one of the researchers. The peers assessed the quality of presentation and mastery of the content and teaching skills of their peers against a given rubric. Three instruments namely: questionnaire, interviews and focussed group discussion were used to investigate students’ perceptions. The analysis of data revealed that students felt actively engaged in their studies through peer teaching and peer-assessment. Moreover correlation between peer assessment and teacher assessment was also calculated. Peer teaching and peer assessment can be confidently used in higher education in Pakistan on condition that teacher as a supervisor is highly vigilant

Implementation of ANN technique for performance prediction of solar thermal systems: A Comprehensive Review

Solar thermal systems (STS) are efficient and environmentally safe devices to meet the rapid increasing energy demand now a days. But it is very important to optimize their performance under required operating condition for efficient usage. Hence intelligent system-based techniques like artificial neural network (ANN) play an important role for system performance prediction in accurate and speedy way. In present paper, it is attempted to scrutinize the approach of ANN as an intelligent system-based method to accurately optimize the performance prediction of different solar thermal systems. Here, 25 research works related to various solar thermal systems have been reviewed and summarized to understand the impact of different ANN models and learning algorithms on performance prediction of STS. Using ANN, a brief stepwise summary of researchers’ work on various STS like solar air heaters, solar stills, solar cookers, solar dryers and solar hybrid systems, their predictions (results) and architectures (network and learning algorithms) in the literature till now, are also discussed here. This paper will genuinely help future researchers overview the work concisely related to solar thermal system performance prediction using various types of ANN models and learning algorithm and compare it with other global methods of machine learning. Citation: Ahmad, A., Ghritlahre, H. K., and Chandrakar, P. (2020). Implementation of ANN technique for performance prediction of solar thermal systems: A Comprehensive Review. Trends in Renewable Energy, 6, 12-36. DOI: 10.17737/tre.2020.6.1.0011

Assessing Generic Competence Development among Higher Education Students

Present study intended to assess the generic competences of higher education students. Self-perceived level of generic competences of the students in the beginning and the end of an academic session was recorded to explore the role of higher education in imparting them the generic competences. All the students entering the University of Sargodha (Pakistan) during 2012, constituted the population of the study. Cluster sampling technique was used to carry out the panel survey. The same cohort of the students was surveyed twice over a period of one academic year. This study adopted a version of the Reflex Project instrument, consisting of 19 competences, to collect data from students of both genders in public-sector universities in Pakistan. Data were collected from 932 students (cluster sampling) studying at 10 (randomly) selected departments. There were 408 male and 525 female students in the study. The students rated themselves on a seven-point scale whose reliability was 0.82. The results indicated that higher education played its role in imparting and promoting the existing set of generic competences from the beginning to the end of the academic session; but the increase in the competence level was noted only to a modest level. Gender differences were found among the students in a few of the generic competences.

THE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS BY UNANI PHYSICIANS IN QARABADIN (UNANI MATERIA MEDICA)

Qarabadin (Unani pharmacopoeias) have a rich armamentarium of natural drugs, consisting of mostly herbs but also materials of animal, mineral and marine origin. There are over 2,000 species of plants in the Unani Materia Medica of which many species of plants occurring in India found a place. In addition to treatises concerned just with medicinal substances, books were also composed listing recipes in which a number of medical substances would be compounded. Such medical formularies (Qarabadin) were usually arranged into Chapter concerned with a particular type of remedy, such as laxatives or salves or eye remedies, and some were prepared specifically for use in hospitals. There are many collections of different formularies in Qarabadins have been written by Unani physicians. The first true medical formulary ever created was al-Aqrabadhin written in Arabic by Sabur ibn Sahl (d. 869). The book included medical recipes stating the methods and techniques of compounding remedies, their pharmacological actions, the dosages, and the means of administration. The formulas are organized by the type of preparation to which they belong - i.e. tablets, powders, ointments, electuaries or syrups. Sabur's formulary-type compendium is unique in its organization and purposely written as a guidebook for pharmacists, whether for use in their own private drugstores or in hospital pharmacies. This article describes the contribution of eminent Unani Physicians, scholars, scientists and authors in development of Pharmacy

Self-Assessment of Students’ Anxiety during High Stake Laboratory Work Examinations

The present study intends to explore the level of practical examination anxietyamong secondary and higher secondary school students and its causes andremedies. A self-developed Perceived Science Practical Anxiety Scale (PSPAS)was used to collect quantitative data from 900 science students of two districts of central Punjab: Sargodha and Faisalabad. Moreover, 50 students were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the causes of science practical examination anxiety and the remedies to reduce it. All students had recently taken science practical examination and therefore had first-hand vivid experience of science practical examination anxiety. The analysis of responses in the questionnaire revealed that on an average more than half (61.50 %) of the students experienced anxiety during practical examination. Fourteen sources of anxiety during practical examination were ranked and synthesis of qualitative data from interviews recorded five categories of anxiety causes: shortage and unavailability of the materials, lack of practice, harsh behaviour of laboratory personnel, over loaded syllabus and lack of guidance. The students’ opinion regarding reducing anxiety was synthesized into four themes: relaxation during practical examination, individual level preparation, completion of practical syllabus well before time and training of laboratory personnel. The findings of the study may be beneficial for teachers, school mangers and policy makers and those who are responsible for the preparation and execution of examination policies, to reduce anxiety among students.Keywords: high stake examinations, higher secondary schools, laboratory work examinations, self-assessment, student anxiet

Quality of School Work Life of Public School Teachers: Cases from Turkey and Pakistan

The Quality of Work life (QWL) is the employees’ feeling or perception of being comfortable with their work. The objective of the present study was to compare Quality of School Work Life (QSWL) of public school teachers from Turkey and Pakistan. A QSWL scale developed by Ilgan, Ata, Zepeda and Ozu-Cengiz (2014) having 30 items was used as the research instrument. The sample included 995 Turkish teachers (from 8 cities) and 716 Pakistani teachers (from 5 cities of Punjab). Reliability coefficient of QSWL scale was 0.81. Further, five subscales within the QSWL tools were identified through its exploratory factor analysis. On all these 5 subscales of QSWL (when analysed separately), Turkish and Pakistani teachers differed significantly in their perceptions; however, they were found appreciating similar QSWL in the aggregate analyses. In detailed analyses of various subgroups only female teachers from Pakistan were found better on QSWL than their Turkish counterparts

Does Higher Education System of United Kingdom Produce Enough Graduates?

In this discourse the researcher tried to make the readers view the three-dimensional image of the productivity and contribution of higher education of United Kingdom, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, through the prism of comparison with that of USA and France. The researcher presented information regarding population, economic status, graduate enrolment and entrance trend of the higher education students in the United Kingdom. And at the end the researcher gave the data depicting the impact of higher education on the UK economy. Although, UK comes to the second place (after the USA, a giant in knowledge and economy) in the world, yet the competing situation in France could not be overlooked. The researcher thinks it will make the reader able to have, not only, some knowledge of the higher education system but also the relationship of higher education and labour market. It will also help the reader to dig out into the efficacy and efficiency of the system with regards to the economic development of the state

Wave Equation on Spherically Symmetric Lorentzian Metrics

Wave equation on a general spherically symmetric spacetime metric is constructed. Noether symmetries of the equation in terms of explicit functions of θ and ϕ are derived subject to certain differential constraints. By restricting the metric to flat Friedman case the Noether symmetries of the wave equation are presented. Invertible transformations are constructed from a specific subalgebra of these Noether symmetries to convert the wave equation with variable coefficients to the one with constant coefficients

Identification of polymorphisms in Apolipoprotein M gene and their relationship with risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism

Apolipoprotein M (ApoM) plasma levels have been reported to be associated with risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence. However, the role of genetic alterations in the ApoM gene in VTE recurrence remains unknown. The aim of this study was to identify genetic aberrations in ApoM gene in VTE recurrence and their role in prediction of VTE recurrence in a prospective follow-up study of 1465 VTE patients. During follow-up, 156 (10.6 %) patients had VTE recurrence. First screening of whole ApoM gene was performed by Sanger's sequencing in selected age and sex matched non-recurrent and recurrent patients (n=95). In total six polymorphisms were identified and two polymorphisms (rs805297 and rs9404941) with minor allele frequency (MAF) ≥5 % were further genotyped in the whole cohort by Taqman PCR. ApoM rs805297 polymorphism was significantly associated with higher risk of VTE recurrence in males but not in females on both univariate (p= 0.038, hazard ratio = 1.72, confidence interval = 1.03-2.88) and on multivariate analysis adjusted with mild and severe thrombophilia, family history, location and acquired risk factors for VTE. However, ApoM rs9404941 polymorphism showed no significant association with risk of VTE recurrence in all patients as well as in different gender groups. Moreover, ApoM rs805297 and rs9404941 polymorphisms were not associated with the ApoM plasma levels. In conclusion, for the first time we have sequenced whole ApoM gene in VTE and identified six polymorphisms. ApoM rs805297 was significantly associated with higher risk of VTE recurrence in male but not in female patients