The influence of woven fabric structures on the continuous dyeing of Lyocell fabrics with reactive dyes

Tencel, a regenerated cellulosic fibre is synthesised by an environmental friendly process. It can be dyed by the same dye types as recommended for other cellulosic fibres. The behaviour of reactive dyes on Tencel woven fabric varies with the type and the density of woven fabric. The highly crystalline Tencel fibre is less easy to dye uniformly by the continuous dyeing methods because of the short time of contact between the dye and fibre. The purpose of this work is to investigate the influences of weave structure on dyeing of standard Tencel fabric using reactive dyes applied by continuous dyeing methods. Programmes are developed using Matlab software to measure the fabric porosity and uniformity of fibre coloration (UFC) in the yarns of the woven fabric. UFC is also measured subjectively. Firstly, fabrics of four different weave structures (plain, 2/1, 3/1, 5/1 twill fabric) are studied. The visual depth and UFC standard deviation values is highest for the 2/1 twill fabric, gradually reducing towards the 5/1 twill fabric. Secondly, nine plain weave fabrics of different fabric densities are dyed using different padding procedures - a liquor temperature of 40⁰C with a 1 min dwell time and with a 5 min dwell time, and liquor at room temperature without any dwell time. The padded fabrics are then fixed by pad-steam, pad-dry-steam, pad-batch and pad-dry-thermosol continuous dyeing processes. To improve colour depth the plain weave fabrics are given a caustic pre-treatment and their dyeing characteristics are compared with untreated fabrics. The causticised fabrics are dyed using the same padding procedures, for comparison. The optimum dyeing procedure is found to be padding with a dwell time of 1 min in liquor at 40⁰C after caustic pre-treatment to achieve the highest visual depth, dye uptake, and uniformity of fibre coloration. The fibrillation tendency of the Tencel plain weave fabrics is also reduced using this procedure. Numerical relationships are established to enable the prediction of dyeing properties such as colour strength, UFC for fabrics of different weave structures, applied by the various continuous dyeing processes

Management of pregnant women in times of COVID-19 our experience from Kashmir valley

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is a global public health emergency. COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving situation, and there is limited data reporting its impact on pregnant women. Our study aimed to find the symptomatology, clinical courses and outcome of pregnant women with COVID-19 and to assess the vertical transmission potential of COVID-19 in pregnancy.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Medical College, Department of Gynaecology and obstetrics, Srinagar from May 2020 to September 2020. All COVID-19 positive pregnant patients admitted in our institution were included in our study.Results: The study included 100 Covid-19 positive pregnant women. Most of them were between 30 to 40 years of age. Median gestational age was 32.8 weeks. Comorbidity was present in 18 of our patients. 7 patients had gestational diabetes and 1 with overt diabetes, 5 were hypertensive, 3 had hypothyroidism, 1 with anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome (APLA) and 1 with asthma.44 patients were primigravidae and 56 were multigravidae. 27 patients delivered preterm and 44 with term pregnancy. 47 had undergone caesarean section and 24 normal vaginal delivery.88% of our patients were asymptomatic for covid-19 disease while as 12 patients had Covid-19 disease symptoms. The main complaints reported by patients related to covid-19 disease was mild dry cough and fever (9%). Two patients developed severe covid-19 pneumonia with ARDS and were put on ventilator, expired after 20 days of illness. All neonates were subjected to RT-PCR with none producing positive results.Conclusions: Appropriate and timely management of Covid-19 positive pregnant women is a principle for safe motherhood and healthy offspring in times of global pandemic. The present data do not suggest an increased risk of severe disease among pregnant women. We encourage the breast feeding immediately after delivery as benefits overweigh any potential risks of virus transmission if any

Role of IDH as a prognostic marker in preeclampsia/eclampsia: a comparative case control study

Background: Preeclampsia is a multisystem disorder which complicates 5-8% of all pregnancies. LDH is an intracellular enzyme and its level is increased in these women due to cellular death. Serum LDH levels can be used to assess the extent of cellular death and thereby the severity of disease in this group of women. Methods: It was a prospective case control study. Data was analysed using SPSS 16.0. The sample comprised of approximately 154 cases. All patients were of gestational age 28 weeks and above. They were divided into three groups 45 normotensives, 40 mild pre-eclamptics, 41 severe pre-eclamptics and 28 eclamptics. Results: Serum LDH levels consistently increased with increasing systolic and diastolic blood pressure, more so with diastolic blood pressure with a p value of <0.001. Most of the women with severe preeclampsia and eclampsia had severe proteinuria and serum LDH significantly increased with the severity of proteinuria (p<0.00). The incidence of operative delivery was moderately elevated with increased LDH level. The mean gestational age at the time of delivery in patients with serum LDH less than 600, 600 to 800 and more than 800 are 37.94 35.36 and 33.87 weeks. The mean baby weight in patients with serum LDH less than 600, 600 to 800 and more than 800 was 2.80, 2.62 and 1.81 kg. Conclusions: Serum LDH values were significantly high in pre-eclamptic patients depending on the severity of the disease. Serum LDH levels had a good correlation with all the diagnostic components of preeclampsia like SBP, DBP and proteinuria, similarly with maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality

Socio-demographic determinants of pregnancy induced hypertension

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension is a major health problem affecting the maternal and neonatal health, this serious obstetric problem occurs in women with pre-existing primary or secondary hypertension or women who are not having hypertension before pregnancy.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among the women suffering from pregnancy induced hypertension, admitted in the gynaecology wards of Lal-Ded hospital, Srinagar from May 2021 to July 2021. A total of 100 sample patients were taken and data was collected using structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed by using SPSS 16.0.Results: Women suffering from PIH were having the mean age of 28 years with the mean gestation period being 36 weeks+6 days. Their mean systolic blood pressure was 150 mmHg and mean diastolic blood pressure was 98 mmHg. Out of 100 women, 75% were multigravida and 25% were primigravida and 40% were having a history of hypertension before pregnancy. Only 48% had a history of PIH in previous pregnancies while 52% had no such history. In 14% of PIH patients, there was an associated systemic disease. Out of 100, 48% belonged to rural areas, 15% were living in urban areas while 37% resided in semi-urban district. 46% of the patients were illiterate while 54% were educated, be it primary, secondary or higher level. Only 8% were employed while the rest were house wives. 11% had not been to a gynaecologist during their pregnancy while 13% had one visit done, 30% two and 46% had three or more antenatal visits. 67% had a history of hypertension among blood relatives.Conclusions: Pregnancy induced hypertension and socio-demographic determinants like the age of mother, blood pressure, history of hypertensive disorders in blood relatives,do show correlation Among these, history of PIH and chronic hypertensive disorders in blood relatives and high BP seemed to be the strongest risk factors among these 100 women

Maritime Trade and Pakistan’s Merchant Marines

Being a maritime country, Pakistan is facing challenges and difficulties to take advantage of the resources of the ocean effectively. In the past, there is no strong footing and attentions have given to the maritime industry. Whereas the ocean trade has might become the backbone of Pakistan's economy. The Private and government shipping companies and the Maritime industry can boost the economic process of Pakistan. It is a need of time to pay attention to effective maritime policies and built the infrastructure for direct foreign investment. 80 % of Pakistan's trade volume is done through the ocean and a major part of this trade is through international shipping companies. New shipping business policies must be business-friendly. Provide opportunities to the Private and Public sectors both to explore the offshore resources. Provide facilitation to the tourism and hotel industry on the seashore can play a significant role in the maritime industry

Value Related Practices Used by Teacher Educators at a Public University, Islamabad

Values play a vital role in any teacher-training program. The value practices, used by teacher educators affect students’ understanding and practicing of values. This study aimed to explore the value related practices of teacher educators and to rank the value practices of education programs at a public sector university. Survey method was used for the study and the population comprised prospective teachers of education program at the university.100 prospective teachers were selected through simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through questionnaire and analyzed by using mean. It was found that there were several value related practices used by teacher educators such as realness, prizing, empathic understanding, fully functioning person, humility, lovingness, courage – overcoming one’s own fears, tolerance, decisiveness, living the tension between patience and impatience and the joy of living. With reference to ranking, realness stood above all other values. It is recommended that there may be more focus on different value related practices and that these are introduced in contents of teacher education program

Evaluation of Nurses Competency about Surgical Hand Scrubbing

Objective:  Hands play a significant role in organism transmission. Poor hand hygiene practices in health care settings lead to nosocomial infection. Aseptic practice is the cornerstone of current surgery, thus rigid adherence to prescribed sterile techniques in the operating room is essential.The objective of this study was to evaluate nurses’ competencies regarding surgical hand scrubbing. Material and Methods: Cross sectional observational design was used. The study was conducted in operating rooms in a tertiary care hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.This setting contains total seven operating rooms with 250 registered nurses. Sample size calculated through Slovin’s formula. Sample size was 154. Convenient sampling technique was used. An adopted checklist was used for observing the nurses’ practices of hand scrubbing. Data was analyzed in Statistical Software of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results:  Majority of nurses (72.7%) were between 21-30 years age group. Only 38.3% participants wore a face mask and surgical cap correctly and 61.7% did not wear correctly. Majority participants, 76% had short nails.All participants (100%) removed nail polish, artificial nails, and jewelry before scrubbing. Majority of participants applied a proper amount of Povidone iodine. Conclusion:  Operational hand scrub is very vital component of operative procedure. Results of this study showed inadequate practices of nurses in the operating room, which was overall 77%. There is a need to improve nurses’ practices so, periodically audit, manager supervision and feedback, workshops should be organized

Pakistani High Performing and Low Performing Secondary School Science Students’ Beliefs About Ability to Learn Science

Beliefs of ability to learn are identified as a key dimension of students’ epistemological beliefs. These beliefs can range from the ability to learn is innate, unchanging to the ability to learn is not innate, changing and improvable. These beliefs are acknowledged as the principal predictor for students’ effort to learn, learning strategies and motivational behaviour in school learning. The current study discovered the nature of Pakistani science students’ beliefs about ability to learn. The qualitative approach was chosen and students were purposefully selected from two sections of 9th grade of a public secondary school for focus group interviews. These students were identified as above average and below average performing students. Students’ excerpts about their beliefs of ability to learn revealed noticeable differences in students’ beliefs of ability to learn with regard to their association with above average and below average performing students’ groups. The patterns visible in opinions of students from below average performing group were naive beliefs of ability to learn. The results are discussed in perspective of sampling characteristics and there are recommendations suggested to improve teaching learning situations in Pakistani schools

Effect of Leadership Styles in Employee Performance During COVID Pandemic: Evidence from the Banking Sector of Pakistan

The Covid-19 epidemic is harming the world economy. Due to the economic domino effect, practically all business sectors are affected. Because of the economic slump and modification in client transaction penchants, COVID-19 had a considerable sway on the banking industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the banking industry, this paper intends to determine and evaluate the direct and indirect possessions of transformational, transactional leadership, and laissez-faire leadership on employee performance because of the indirect influence mediated by work engagement. The findings revealed that transformational leadership has a progressive but little influence on employee performance, but transactional management has a positive and considerable influence. Furthermore, through mediating the influence of work engagement, transformational leadership's influence on employee performance became positive and substantial. Meanwhile, in the appearance of the COVID-19 Pandemic, work engagement was much higher, bolstering the influence of transactional leadership on employee performance in the banking industry

Role of Diversity-Focused HR Practices in Mitigating Deviant Workplace Behavior: A Review

Organizations in today's scenario are faced with a large number of HRM challenges resulting from workforce diversity. Workforce diversity has become one of the most pertinent management issues in organizations from all sectors and changing workforce has required organizations to change how they think about HRM. It is quite evident that all organizations are impacted by diversity either directly or indirectly, which has made it significant for organizations to manage diversity for which HRM plays a very significant role. Thus, due to the diverse nature of workforce, it has become significant for organizations to make their HR practices diversity-oriented so that deviant workplace behaviors are reduced to minimal. It is believed that employees will not indulge in deviant workplace behaviors when they perceive their organizations to be adopting adequate and diversity-oriented HRM methods and practices. Given this contention, the purpose of this paper is to examine the role that diversity-focused HR practices play in mitigating the deviant workplace behaviors in organizations. An extensive literature review on the said constructs was conducted where both variables were studied independently and the relationship that both variables exhibit together was also studied. A systematic review of the literature was carried out with the keywords like diversity management, diversity-focused HR practices and deviant workplace behavior from several electronic databases like Google scholar, emerald insight, Springer, Taylor, and Francis