Vasculo-Protective Cover: A Novel Action of Metformin

Type 2 diabetes is associated with multiple changes/complications in the body that affects almost every organ and system. Inthe cardiovascular system main pathology lies in the vascular endothelium leading to atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis.Different treatment options are available for diabetes including both oral and injectable drugs. Oral drugs have better compliancelike Sulfonylureas, Alpha glucosidase inhibitors, Glitazones and Maglitinides. These groups of anti-hyperglycemic drugsmaintain blood glucose level, providing diabetics cost effective better life through a physiological route. However, it has beendocumented that these drugs do not delay vascular complications in diabetic patients. Metformin is the first line oral anti-diabeticdrug from biguanide group used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is a euglycemic agent which decreases glucose levels andhave additional benefit of decreasing the progression of vascular effects in multiple ways

Placental Morphology And Feto-Maternal Outcomes In Gestational Diabetes

Objective: To observe the placental morphology and feto- maternal outcomes in patients having gestational diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive pilot study placentae were collected from 20 patients having gestational diabetes. They received oral and or parenteral drugs along with diet control and exercise during pregnancy. After verbal informed patients, placentae were collected within 30-40 minutes of delivery and preserved in formalin. Gross examination was done including weight, size consistency of placental tissue, attachment, size and color of the cord, membranes complete or incomplete, retro-placental hemorrhages and any other gross abnormality in the placental tissue. Weight and health of the baby and mode of delivery were observed as determinants of fetal and maternal outcome. Results: Mean placental size was 18.3±3.22 cm and 14.2±2.14 cm in two dimensions with mean placental width of 2.4±0.94 cm. Mean placental weight was 680± 122.9 grams, mean cord length was 19.55±7.22 cm and mean cord width 1.17±0.51cm. Out of 20 placentae, 13 placentae were disc shaped, 19 placentae were soft in consistency, 8 were blue in color, 7 had central insertion of umbilical cord, 14 had complete membranes and 16 had other gross pathologies such as hemorrhages, fibrinoid necrosis etc. Weight of the baby was 3.4±0.38 kg. There was 1 intrauterine death and out of 20 patients 13 had cesarean deliveries. Conclusion: Gross morphology of placenta exhibited deformities with adverse fetal and maternal outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus Key words: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Placenta, Placental morphology, Fetal outcome, Maternal outcom

Factors contributing to SMEs innovative culture in Punjab, Pakistan: a pilot study

The objective of this research is to measure the reliability and validity of SMEs innovative culture and its construct developed by Rao & Weintraub (2013).60 questionnaires were used to collect the responses from SMEs’ CEOs and senior top executives in Punjab, Pakistan.The study adopted the simple random sampling method for data collection.The reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed through experts from academia and industry and also from small sample of the data.Results provide the evidence of validity and reliability of the instrument.This study will help to identify the factors contributing for innovative culture in SMEs Pakistan

Incomplete miscarriage during the first trimester: a comparison of indoor versus outdoor procedure

Introduction: Miscarriage is defined as the natural death of a fetus inside the uterus. To remove complete conception material after a miscarriage, vacuum aspiration or dilatation & curettage are methods to remove uterine contents. Controversies exist regarding both procedures. So we conducted this study to confirm the more successful method. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of manual vacuum aspiration versus traditional evacuation and curettage (E & C) among females presenting with incomplete miscarriage during the first trimester of pregnancy Materials and Methods: This randomized controlled trial was done at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Shalamar Hospital, Lahore for 6 months. Then the selected females were divided randomly into 2 equal groups. In group A, females had manual vacuum procedure while in group B, females had evacuation & curettage under general anesthesia. After 12 hours of the procedure, ultrasonography was done to confirm complete evacuation. Results: The mean age of the patients was 29.87 ± 6.71 years, the mean gestational age was 8.06 ± 2.82 weeks. The effectiveness was noted in 248 (91.85%) patients. Statistically, manual vacuum showed significantly more effective as compared to evacuation & curettage procedure in the management of incomplete miscarriage i.e. p-value = 0.008. Conclusion: It has been proved that manual vacuum aspiration is more effective than traditional evacuation & curettage in the management of incomplete miscarriage

Advanced energy management system with the incorporation of novel security features

Nowadays, energy management is a subject of great importance and complexity. Pakistan, being in a state of developing country, generates electrical power mainly by using non-renewable sources of energy. Non-renewable entities are fossil fuels such as furnace oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power. Pakistan has been facing a severe shortage of production in energy sector for last two decades. This shortfall is affecting the industrial development as well as economic growth. With the growing population, the load demand is rapidly increasing and there must be a need to expand the existing ones or to build new power systems. In this paper, an autonomous management system has been proposed to enhance quality, reliability and confidence of utilization of energy between end consumers and suppliers. Such objectives can only be fulfilled by making the power supply secure for end consumers. Distributed and centralized control systems are involved for maintaining a balance between renewable energy resources and base power, so that end consumers demand can be fulfilled when required. A reliable Two-way communication system between suppliers and end consumers has been proposed by using Message Digest algorithm which ensures that there would be no energy theft. Simulations have been done in MATLAB/ Simulink environment and results have been presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed model

Relapse Rate after Opioid Detoxification in Drug Addict Patients

Background: Drug addiction is widely regarded as a pathological condition that involves the continued abuse of drugs in the development of drug-seeking behavior and a decrease in the ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli. Objective: To determine the frequency of relapse after opioid detoxification in drug addict patients. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was performed in psychiatry department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, PIMS, Islamabad, from October 2017 to April 2018. All adult patients who were using cannabis for at least 1 year, irrespective of gender ages between 18 to 60 years were included in the study. For drug use characteristics about preferred choice of drugs and injection-related risk behaviors were noted and analyzed. All findings were entered in a structured Proforma. Data was entered in SPSS version 21 and analyzed. Effects modifiers like age, gender, marital status, types of drugs, etc., were controlled by stratification. Post stratification chi square test was applied. A p value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Total 310 patients were included; 83% patients were male and 17% were females. The mean age of the patients was 39.02±21.42 years. 70% patients had relapse after opioid detoxification while 30% patients had NO relapse. The relapse rate after detoxification was more common in first month of detoxification (56%). After 3 months the relapse rate after detoxification was 12.5%. The statistical analysis showed that there was a very significant association between types of drugs, ages of patients, marital status and relapse rate (p ≤ 0.05). There was an insignificant association between gender and relapse rate (p ≥ 0.5). Conclusion: The study concluded that the relapse within six months of opioid detoxification in drug addicts is very common. Many factors contribute in relapse rate

Relapse Rate after Opioid Detoxification in Drug Addict Patients

Background: Drug addiction is widely regarded as a pathological condition that involves the continued abuse of drugs in the development of drug-seeking behavior and a decrease in the ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli. Objective: To determine the frequency of relapse after opioid detoxification in drug addict patients. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was performed in psychiatry department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, PIMS, Islamabad, from October 2017 to April 2018. All adult patients who were using cannabis for at least 1 year, irrespective of gender ages between 18 to 60 years were included in the study. For drug use characteristics about preferred choice of drugs and injection-related risk behaviors were noted and analyzed. All findings were entered in a structured Proforma. Data was entered in SPSS version 21 and analyzed. Effects modifiers like age, gender, marital status, types of drugs, etc., were controlled by stratification. Post stratification chi square test was applied. A p value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Total 310 patients were included; 83% patients were male and 17% were females. The mean age of the patients was 39.02±21.42 years. 70% patients had relapse after opioid detoxification while 30% patients had NO relapse. The relapse rate after detoxification was more common in first month of detoxification (56%). After 3 months the relapse rate after detoxification was 12.5%. The statistical analysis showed that there was a very significant association between types of drugs, ages of patients, marital status and relapse rate (p ≤ 0.05). There was an insignificant association between gender and relapse rate (p ≥ 0.5). Conclusion: The study concluded that the relapse within six months of opioid detoxification in drug addicts is very common. Many factors contribute in relapse rate

Nanomaterials for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections

The diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) remain challenging due to the lack of convenient assessment techniques and to the resistance to conventional antimicrobial therapy, showing the need for novel approaches to address such problems. In this regard, nanotechnology has a strong potential for both the diagnosis and therapy of UTIs via controlled delivery of antimicrobials upon stable, effective and sustained drug release. On one side, nanoscience allowed the production of various nanomaterial-based evaluation tools as precise, effective, and rapid procedures for the identification of UTIs. On the other side, nanotechnology brought tremendous breakthroughs for the treatment of UTIs based on the use of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) for instance, owing to the antimicrobial properties of metals, or of surface-tailored nanocarriers, allowing to overcome multidrug-resistance and prevent biofilm formation via targeted drug delivery to desired sites of action and preventing the development of cytotoxic processes in healthy cells. The goal of the current study is therefore to present the newest developments for the diagnosis and treatment of UTIs based on nanotechnology procedures in relation to the currently available techniques