Single dose Dexamethasone versus multi-dose Prednisolone in prevention of exacerbation and relapse in Asthmatic children; A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Introduction: Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. The first line of treatment in the management of acute asthma is inhaled beta 2 agonists (salbutamol). This study is design to determine the effectiveness of i/v dexamethasone compared to oral prednisolone in asthmatic children in preventing exacerbation and relapse. It may be more helpful in improving the quality of life of asthmatic children being a better convenient treatment modality. Aim: to compare the frequency of relapse of asthma with dexamethasone and prednisolone in treatment of asthma exacerbations in children. Subject and Methods: this is a randomized controlled trial conducted atICU of Paediatric Department, Holy Family Hospital from 16th March 2016 to 15th September 2016.468 patients with an asthma exacerbation were selected in this study. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups. A total 234 patients in group A were treated with single IV dose Dexamethasone and 234 in group B was treated with oral prednisolone. Baseline characteristics of children were recorded in the structured proforma along with the signs and symptoms assessed through history, physical examination and PRAM Scoring. After treatment and assessment, the patients were discharged on day 5 and they were called back by the end of 2 weeks for final follow up visit. In case of any relapse they were clearly instructed to immediately return to hospital that was recorded. Results: The average age of the children 3.31±0.97 years. There were 173(37%) female and 295(63%) male. Rate of relapse was significantly low in group A as compare to group B (9.8% vs. 17.9% p=0.011). Conclusion: it is concluded that dexamethasone is an effective alternative to prednisone in the treatment of moderate acute asthma exacerbations in children, with the added benefits of improved compliance and cost

Relationship between Volatility of Economics Variables and Economics Growth

Economic growth of an economy is defined as the steady state path through which the productivity of an economy is improved and increases the levels of national output and income. The government consumption expenditures and investment play a key role in the process of investigating the macroeconomic performance of an economy and determinants of economic growth. The countries which grow quickly, invest a substantial fraction of their GDP for consumption expenditures as well for the sources which encourage private investment. The objective of this study to calculate the volatility in economics growth in Pakistan. The annual time series data are used from 1975 to 2014 from WDI, Economics survey of Pakistan and Hand Book of Statistics. GARCH model has been used to measure volatility of all variables. The empirical results of the study confirmed that the volatility of the different variables (volatility of inflation, volatility of interest rate, volatility of political instability, volatility of GDP, and volatility of foreign direct investment) significant affect the government consumption expenditures and private investment in the economy of Pakistan. The study analyzed data by using the autoregressive distributive lag model which is mainly used in time series data Econometrics to estimate the non-stationary models with mix order of integration. The estimated results of the study evaluated that volatility of the inflation lead to uncertainty which is also suggested by the Able (1980) and negatively affect the economy consumption expenditures as well as private investment in the economy of Pakistan. Because uncertainty directly affects the cost of capital as well as reduce private investor confidence

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase maintains glycolysis-driven growth in Drosophila tumors

Published online: 14 September 2017Tumors frequently fail to pass on all their chromosomes correctly during cell division, and this chromosomal instability (CIN) causes irregular aneuploidy and oxidative stress in cancer cells. Our objective was to test knockdowns of metabolic enzymes in Drosophila to find interventions that could exploit the differences between normal and CIN cells to block CIN tumor growth without harming the host animal. We found that depleting by RNAi or feeding the host inhibitors against phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was able to block the growth of CIN tissue in a brat tumor explant model. Increasing NAD+ or oxidising cytoplasmic NADH was able to rescue the growth of PEPCK depleted tumors, suggesting a problem in clearing cytoplasmic NADH. Consistent with this, blocking the glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle blocked tumor growth, as well as lowering ROS levels. This work suggests that proliferating CIN cells are particularly vulnerable to inhibition of PEPCK, or its metabolic network, because of their compromised redox status.Rashid Hussain, Zeeshan Shaukat, Mahwish Khan, Robert Saint and Stephen L. Gregor

Salinity Stress in Arid and Semi-Arid Climates: Effects and Management in Field Crops

Salinity stress is one of the most vital abiotic stresses which results in significant damages of agricultural production, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas of the world. Salinity causes by high accumulation of soluble salt, especially NaCl in soil and water. Salinity hampers the growth and survival of many field crops such as rice, wheat, maize, cotton, sugarcane, and sorghum. It affects the plant growth by three ways such as osmotic stress linked with an increase of phytotoxic ions, ionic stress e in the cytosol, and oxidative stress facilitated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). These stresses caused by salinity hinder the water uptake, causes ion imbalance, ROS production, and hormonal imbalance, and results in the decline of photosynthesis activities reduce the plant growth and final yield. However, the sensitivity of field crops depends on the nature of cultivar and growth stages. There are many strategies to cope with salinity stress which are the development of salinity tolerant crop cultivators by using genetic and molecular techniques such as QTLs and CRISPR CAS9 technique, nutrients management strategies, use of hormones regulators (AVG, 1-MCP, D-31). This chapter will give a brief idea to the scientist to understand the effects of salinity on field crops and their management strategies

Assessment of ameliorative effect of Aab-e-Shifa polyherbal formulation in experimentally-induced wound in rabbits

Purpose: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the wound healing potential of a polyherbal formulation (PHF) Aab-e-Shifa in normal and diabetic albino rabbits. Methods: The activity of PHF application was evaluated in comparison to tetrachlorodecaoxide (TCDO) on experimentally-induced excision wound in the thigh of normal and diabetic rabbits under ketamine anesthesia. Preliminary phytochemical analysis, total phenolic contents, wound contraction, as well as toxicological and histopathological studies were also investigated. Results: PHF exhibited parallel (p < 0.05) activity for initial wound healing in both normal (48.07 %) and diabetic groups (36.32 %), when compared to their respective control groups. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of high levels of total phenolic contents in Allilum sativum L. (54.25 ± 0.15 GAE mg/g), Curcuma longa L. (25.45 ± 0.48 GAE mg/g), Zingiber officinale Rosc. (29.08 ± 0.35 GAE mg/g) and some phytochemicals such as flavonoids, couramins, terpenoids in these plants. No adverse sign of PHF was observed when applied at a dose of 2000 - 3000 g on rabbit skin. Conclusion: Aab-e-Shifa has great potential in wound healing and may be used as an alternative treatment for the healing of wounds in animals. The phytochemicals present in PHF might play a role in the wound healing activity possibly due to their antioxidant potential. However, further detailed studies are required to buttress this

Causes Of The Decline Of Education In Pakistan And Its Remedies

Low literacy rate and poor quality of education are the major drawbacks of the educational system in Pakistan. Our education is influenced by a number of factors that cause this downfall. Some of them are more prominent, such as low enrollment and high dropout rate at the primary level, different standards of education, low budget allocation for education sector, political interference, low quality of curricula and textbooks, rapid growth in population, poverty and unemployment, poor quality of teachers and irrelevant induction of duties, and our substandard evaluation system. Although the government claims for some bold steps to overcome these problems, there is still room for improvement.&nbsp

Job Satisfaction and Marital Adjustment among Paramedical: Mediating Role of Work Family Conflict

Purpose: An extensive pressure arose by work environment or by family environment resulted as work-family conflict. Occurrences of such conflicts are observed when employees experienced interference of work to family and family to work. Keeping the literature available on effects of work-family conflict in relationship to job satisfaction and marital adjustment, this study was designed to investigate the mediating role played by work family conflict between the relationship of job satisfaction and marital adjustment among paramedical staff. Another aim of this study was to explore the relationship among three variables. Furthermore, it was aimed to find out if there are any differences on gender or other demographical variables.  A sample of 100 employees was taken from Jhang and Faisalabad city. Instruments for measuring Work family developed by Netemeyer et al. (1996), job satisfaction developed by Paul E. Spector, (1994), and adapted and translated by Shazad, (2011) were used. Dyadic adjustment scale developed by Spanier, (1976) and adapted and translated into Urdu by Naseer (2000) were also used. Results revealed positive correlation between work to family and family to work conflict, while negative with marital adjustment and job satisfaction. The regression analysis showed Job satisfaction contributed 29% and family to work contributed 27% in predicting marital adjustment. Significant gender differences were found. The results of partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) found significant mediating role of work to family conflict and family to work conflict

Emotional Climate, Work Stress and Occupational Cognitive Failure in Doctors

The current study was conducted to explore emotional climate, work stress and occupational cognitive failure among doctors. The sample of 150 doctors was selected from two cities i.e. Jhang and Faisalabad. Emotional climate was measured by Emotional climate scale by Yurtsever& De Rivera (2010), for work stress, Work Place Stress Scale by American institute of stress and adapted by Fatima Chohan (2013) was used. Occupational Cognitive Failure was measured by occupational cognitive failure questionnaire by Allahyari, Rangi, Khosravi and Zayeri (2011). The data was analyzed by administering t-test, correlation and regression analysis. Results revealed that Emotional climate, work stress and cognitive failure are significantly positively correlated. No significant difference between male and female, rural and urban, government and private doctors on the level of emotional climate, work stress and occupational cognitive failure was found. Significant difference between nuclear and joint family doctors on the level of work stress was found. Doctors from nuclear family system showed higher level of work stress as compared to Joint family doctors. Emotional climate, work stress and demographic variables are predictors which collectively and significantly contributed to occupational cognitive failure