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Background: The purpose of the study was to explore a relationship between serum Selenium level and diabetes. Methods: Analysis of 100 blood samples were carried out, collected from Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, Pakistan. All the subjects selected were local inhabitants of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and their serum selenium levels were measured by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometer. Results: Analysis of the mean serum selenium level in the male and female patients of both type I and II were 169 ± 91 μg/L and 199.25 ± 120 μg/L respectively while mean serum selenium level among males and females of healthy subjects was 245.59 ± 131 μg/L and 239.92 ± 138. Conclusion: Serum Selenium level and Diabetes has an inverse relation.

Objective: To evaluate the factors responsible for the late presentation of carcinoma of breast in Pakistani women. StudyDesign: Prospective, Cross sectional, Interventional. Setting: Women Medical Complex Sialkot and Surgical Unit II. Aziz Bhatti Shaheed(Teaching) Hospital. Nawaz Sharif medical College, University of the Gujrat. Study. Period: January 2009 to June 2012. Results: A total of87 patients of all age groups with carcinoma of breast were enrolled in this study. Mean age of presentation with breast cancer was 43years. Stage III carcinoma breast was the most common presenting stage seen in 56 (64.36%) women. Socio economic status, delay inpresentation and diagnosis, fear of mastectomy and its social consequences found to be major factors in the late presentation ofcarcinoma of breast. Conclusions: There is need to launch cancer public health campaign mechanisms, should include teaching ofBreast Self Examination (BSE) to patients, Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) to health workers. Strenuous efforts should be made tobreak the vicious cycle of late presentation, poor treatment outcome and reluctance of patients to present to health facilities because ofsocial mindset.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of non -traumatic lower extremity amputations in diabetic inperipheral teaching hospital catchment area. Study Design: Prospective, Cross sectional, Interventional. Setting: Surgical Unit II. Aziz BhattiShaheed (Teaching) Hospital. Nawaz Sharif medical College, University of the Gujrat. Study Period: February 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012.Results: A total of 132 patient were subjected to non traumatic lower extremity amputation were enrolled in this study out of which 89 (67.42%)were diabetic, followed by non specific infections n=39 (23.48) Out of 89 total diabetic patients 53 (40.15%) patients were female whereas 36(27.27%) were male. Both major and minor non traumatic lower extremity amputation rate was more in female diabetic patients than malediabetics. Conclusions: The prevalence of non –traumatic below knee amputations at an early age is high in our diabetic patients, especially infemale population. By improving primary health care service regarding foot care awareness in diabetics appears to be the main way to reducethe amputation rate.

This paper discusses for the first time the use of noninvasive and nondestructive microwave spectroscopy to analyze the effect of chemical treatment on the absorption properties of waste rubber aggregate material when it is reacted and heated with bitumen. Oxidation and cross-linking was used to treat the waste rubber aggregates. The surface properties of oxidized rubber were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The bitumen samples obtained from treated and untreated rubber-bitumen blends were analyzed using microwave spectroscopy. This technique was to measure instantaneously the reduction in absorption properties of rubber when it is reacted with bitumen after treatment, compared with the bitumen samples obtained from untreated rubber-bitumen blends before treatment. The results of the scanning electron microscopy analysis show that the surface properties of waste rubber have been changed, developing surface roughness after the oxidation process. This was consistent with the microwave sp...

Objective: To compare the outcome of two different procedures of non operative treatment of uncomplicated second degreehemorrhoids in terms of efficacy and patients compliance. Study Design: Prospective interventional. Controlled Phase II clinical trial. Setting& Duration: Surgical Unit DHQ (Teaching) Hospital Rawalpindi from 10th September 2004 to 20th May 2006. Methodology: Regardless ofage and sex, first hundred patients attending the out patients department of surgical unit, DHQ( Teaching) Hospital , Rawalpindi withuncomplicated second degree hemorrhoids after informed consent were enrolled in the trial. Patients were divided into two treatment groupsA&B with 50 patients in each by random draw sampling. Patients in Group A were subjected to injection sclerotherapy (SCL) whereas of GroupB, Rubber band ligation (RBL) was performed. Results: One hundred patients of mean age of 42.24 years with uncomplicated second degreehemorrhoids with standard deviation of + 13.63 years were enrolled in this study. Out of total one hundred patients, 62 were male and 38 werefemale. The major indications of treatment were bleeding per rectum and prolapse. Patients in Group A were subjected to Injectionsclerotherapy (SCL) and of Group B , Rubber band ligation (RBL) was performed. In Group A , 28 patients (56%) were symptoms free after 4-6weeks with single session of SCL , 16 patients (32%) required additional second session at eight week and 6 patients (12%) required thirdsession at 12 weeks respectively due to persistence of symptoms. In Group B , 44 patients (88%) were symptom free after four weeks withsingle session of RBL, while 6 patients (12%) required second session at 10 weeks to become symptom free. At 12 month follow-up 46 patients(92%) remain symptomfree and 4 patients (8%) had recurrence of symptoms in Group A and rubber band ligation was performed. All thepatients of Group B (RBL) remained symptom free. (P value=0.041). Conclusions: Rubber band ligation is a safe, effective, economical nonoperative treatment option for second degree uncomplicated hemorrhoids with good patients compliance.

In the course of studies directed towards the synthesis of novel AChE and BChE inhibitors, for the treatment of Alzheimer disease, we focused on the conventional versus microwave assisted synthesis of seventeen benzohydrazide derivatives and tested their ability as AChE and BChE inhibitors. These derivatives were characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and EI-MS. Seventeen derivatives exhibited varied acetylcholinesterase inhibition with IC50 values ranging between 72.04 ± 1.12 to 1320.65 ± 0.95 μM as well as butyrylcholinesterase activity with IC50 values ranging between 3.04 ± 1.48-1876.17 ± 0.95 μM as compared with standard eserine (IC50=0.85 ± 0.0001 μM). Only two analogs 3k and 3o exhibited moderate acetylcholinesterase inhibitor potential with IC50 values 72.04 ± 1.12 and 94.06 ± 1.17 μM respectively. Five analogs 3d, 3h, 3q, 3o and 3l exhibited good potent butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory potential with IC50 values 3.04 ± 1.48, 9.01 ± 0.58, 15.12 ± 0.66, 45.00 ± 0.99 and 50.19 ± 0.62 μM respectively. Molecular docking studies were carried out in order to find out the binding affinity of benzohydrazide derivatives with the enzyme.

It is said that the social conflicts and disputes can be resolved by dialogue between opposing groups. Karl popper argues that if social conflicts are resolved with the authoritarian attitude that our arguments are conclusive then this attitude imposes its opinion and hence it cannot provide the ground for reasonable dialogue. Karl Popper rejects authoritarian attitude on the basis of his critique of absolute knowledge. He believes in fallibility of knowledge. He thinks that if disagreementsare resolved with an attitude that our arguments are rational but are not conclusive then this attitude is ready to be convinced by other. Hence it can provide the ground for reasonable dialogue. Popper is of the view that an attitude is moral as it believes in equality of men. Hacohen and O’Hear critically examine Popper’s fallibilism. They identify a problem that fallibilism ultimately leads Popper to anti-foundationalism which makes ethics purely individualistic. In this paper I focus on this problem and workout how Popper’s moral individualism is inadequate for possibility of reasonable dialogue.

Intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) introduced as an effective method of contraception in 1959. Since its introductionit has been accepted as a safe, convenient and acceptable means of preventing conception. IUCD has some documented complications,notably perforation of the uterus by the device. A unique case of translocation of an IUCD was located within the lumen of the caecum ispresented.

Climate change is one of the major challenges for agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods for billions of poor people in the world. Agriculture is most vulnerable to climate change due to its high dependence on climate and weather. Asian agriculture sector is already facing many problems relating to sustainability. The present study was conducted to identify the impact of climate change on the socio-economic status and livelihood of farmers. A sample of 280 farmers’ respondents was selected from tehsil Jampur of Rajanpur district. The data were obtained through well designed interview schedule and analyzed statistically. All the respondents reported that climate change had always influences on the income and agricultural yield. Climate change had influenced on income and economics weighted scores (1400). Although there were differences between (before -2930832.1) and (current -2684400.0) annual income. All of the respondents reported that climate change had very high effect on the practicing crop diversification while, more than half (53.0%) of the respondents reported that climate change had very high effect on planting different crops. The rank order regarding crop diversification was on high rank due to the high weighted score (1400). All of the respondents reported that climate change had greatly extent on forest burning. The comparisons of different means of different factors like mobility, health, economics, income, environmental destruction, agricultural yields and size of land holding affected by climate change were non-significant. The comparisons of different means of different factors like deforestation, pollution from vehicles, pollution from power generation, pollution from waste, pollution from agri. Activities, shifting cultivation, forest burning and any other factors were non-significant.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Pakistan has faced failure despite being implemented successfully. Polio cases were successfully reduced by 99% until 2005. However, thereafter, new polio cases were registered, which continue to rise annually. This repeat polio outbreak has placed the country on watch by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to travelers, and Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. The present report reviews the published literature for determining the social constraints to the polio eradication initiative in Pakistan. Religion, politics, awareness, insecurity, inequity, governance, and social responsibility have been identified as key social factors in the failure of any vaccination campaign. Possible interventions have been proposed, which include effectively using modern mass media and educating vaccinators on the social and cultural background of the target community.

Patuletin isolated from Tagetes patula was used as a capping and reducing agent to synthesize in one pot gold nanoparticles capped with patuletin. Conjugation of gold with patuletin was confirmed by FT-IR and UV–visible spectroscopy and amount of patuletin conjugated to gold nanoparticles was found to be 63.2% by weight. Particle sizes were measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and were found to have a mean diameter of about 45 nm. Patuletin-coated gold nanoparticles were found to be highly fluorescent. To examine their potential as chemical sensors, they were contacted with fourteen different drugs. Of these drugs, only one, piroxicam, was found to quench luminescence. Quenching obeyed Beer's law in a concentration range of 20–260 µM. Important for molecular recognition applications, fluorescence quenching by piroxicam was not affected by pH variation, elevated temperatures, addition of other drugs and addition of blood plasma to the colloidal suspensions.

Pakistan is a South Asian country with a high population seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) antibody. In administrative districts of its most populous province, Punjab, the frequency of seropositivity for HCV in different age groups of adult men, the usual bread winners for their families, is not known. This study describes the frequency and age-distribution of seropositivity for anti-HCV antibodies in 58,680 clinically healthy, adult men, from nine districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan, undergoing pre-employment health screening. Laboratory records belonging to these men, screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay 3 for antiHCV antibodies in serum, were analysed and frequencies were calculated. A total of 4034 (6.9%) were seropositive for HCV. The highest frequency of HCV seropositivity was noted in men from Multan (9.6%), followed by Lahore (9.4%) district. The lowest (5.0%) was noted among men residing in Bahawalpur district. There was a progressive increase in seroprevalence with increasing age in men from all districts. Further research needs to be initiated to describe differential HCV risk factor distribution in various districts and sustainability of relatively low seroprevalence noted in younger men.

To compare intercostal nerve block before and after rib harvest in terms of mean postoperative pain score and mean postoperative tramadol usage.Randomized controlled trial.Department of Plastic Surgery, Mayo Hospital, KEMU, Lahore, from January 2011 to July 2012.Patients (n = 120) of either gender with ASA class-I and II requiring autogenous costal cartilage graft were inducted. Patients having history of local anaesthetic hypersensitivity and age15 years or60 years were excluded. Subjects were randomly assigned to pre-rib harvest (group-1) and post-rib harvest (group-2). Local anaesthetic mixture was prepared by adding 10 milliliters 2% lidocaine to 10 milliliters 0.5% bupivacaine to obtain a total 20 ml solution. Group-1 received local anaesthetic infiltration along the proposed incision lines and intercostals block before the rib harvest. Group-2 received the infiltration and block after rib harvest. Postoperative consumption of tramadol and pain scores were measured at 6 and 12 hours postoperatively using VAS.Mean age was 31.43 ± 10.78 years. The mean pain scores at 6 hours postoperatively were 1.033 ± 0.609 and 2.4667 ± 0.812 in pre-rib harvest and post-rib harvest groups respectively (p0.0001). The mean pain scores at 12 hours postoperatively were 1.45 ± 0.565 and 3.65 ± 0.633 in pre-rib harvest and post-rib harvest groups respectively (p0.0001). The mean tramadol used postoperatively in first 24 hours was 169 ± 29.24 mg and 255 ± 17.70 mg in prerib harvest and post-rib harvest groups respectively (p0.0001).Intercostal block administered before rib harvest as preemptive strategy result in decreased postoperative pain scores and narcotic use.

The main objective of this study is to show the importance of the Difference in Difference (DiD) method and its applicability in the field of human and social sciences. The DiD method is one of the famous tools in econometrics to investigate the causal effect of the policy before and after treatment or policy. Why difference in difference method is most important in these days? Because the traditional methods requires more instructions as compare to DiD method which is easier and applicable without randomization of the data. The difference is compared with treated and non-treated group in two time’s period model with the same unit of data. The first difference removes the time-invariant factors while Difference in Difference removes the time-variant factors of the model and the remaining statistic shows the original impact of the treatment or policy.

Syphilis is increasingly being recognised as a prevalent sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Pakistan, with almost 5% of adult men in some cities testing positive for it.1 We present the results of screening for syphilis using the Venereal Disease Research …

Motivation of the employee’s is the major issue in the today’s organizations. Our study focuses on to find out the relationship of motivation and employee’s commitment. Two number of hypothesis are surveyed in our study also we have two numbers of research objectives. The statistical population in this research covers employees of “Banking Sector” of D.G.Khan out of whom 45 employees are selected randomly as sample group. Data was collected by standard questionnaire. For data analysis, correlation coefficient was used through “ANOVA and IBM SPSS”. There are the two determinants of Motivation which are job involvement and Incentives. Results showed Positive relationship between Job Involvement and employee’s commitment and also there is the Positive relationship between Incentives and employee commitment. Divisional banks can use the motivation as their key element to improve the performance of their employees

Bitumen is a complex mixture of high molecular weight organic compounds, predominantly hydrocarbons, with carbon numbers greater than C24. It has high carbon to hydrogen ratios, and also contains small amount of metals such as nickel, iron and vanadium. The application of bitumen in the pavement industry is mainly as a binding agent for road construction/surfacing. Hence, this paper discusses the use of microwave spectroscopy (MS) as a potential technique to analyse bitumen's dielectric properties to indicate change in some of its physical properties after its interaction with both treated and untreated coarse rubber in the field of pavement engineering. A comparison of the existing techniques for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of bitumen is given. The drawbacks of the existing techniques are also discussed and the paper addresses how the MS technique can overcome these drawbacks. The MS technique is investigated by analysing different bitumen samples including pure bitumen and samples taken from rubber–bitumen blends. Each of the blends used rubber with different surface properties which have different effects on the properties of the resulting bitumen. The paper highlights the novelty and advantages for the MS technique in reducing analysis time, solvent usage and potential take-up by the industry.

This study proposed a microwave sensor system to monitor single and two phase flow systems. The microwave sensing technology in this study utilises the resonant frequencies that occur in a cylindrical cavity and monitor the changes in the permittivity of the measured phases to differentiate between the volume fractions of air, water and oil. The sensor system used two port configuration S21 (acted as transmitter and receiver) to detect the fluids inside the pipe. In principle, the strong polarity of water molecules results in higher permittivity in comparison to other materials. A tiny change of water fraction will cause a significant frequency shift. Electromagnetic waves in the range of 5 GHz to 5.7 GHz have been used to analyse a two phase air-water and oil-water stratified flow in a pipeline. The results demonstrated the potential of a microwave sensing technique to be used for the two phase systems monitoring. A significant shift in the frequency and change in the amplitude clearly shows the percentage fraction change of water in the pipe. The temperature study of water also demonstrated the independence of microwave analysis technique to the temperature change. This is accounted to overlapping modes negating the affect. Statistical analysis of the amplitude data for two phase systems shows a linear relationship of the change in water percentage to the amplitude. The electromagnetic wave cavity sensor successfully detected the change in the water fraction inside the pipe between 0-100%. The results show that the technique can be developed further to reduce the anomalies in the existing microwave sensor.

Industry 4.0 is the transformation of industrial manufacturing through digitisation and the use of different emerging technological advancement, when coupled together forms the smart factory. However, the roadmap of adoption is a journey rather than an absolute solution. The objectives of this paper are to give general insights and a roadmap towards the smart factory. A six-gear roadmap concept is proposed and discussed together with different challenges and practical ways of overcoming them. The significance of this paper can serve as a steppingstone for a detailed strategic roadmap for a successful implementation and transformation into a smart factory.

This paper investigates the feasibility of using an innovative microwave sensing technology to characterise and study various properties of polymer material such as difference between various polymer types, particle size and particle size distribution, contamination and pigmentation. A microwave sensor designed previously has been utilised to carry out this initial study to analyse the capability of microwave techniques to carry out the analysis. The curves obtained from material response to microwaves are distinguishable showing the shift to the lower frequency end with the insertion of polymer material. S11 measurements have shown distinctive peaks for each size and type of the sample tested. The results are quantifiable in terms of various polymer properties under consideration. In terms of S21 measurements, microwave sensor clearly distinguishes between coarse and fine polymer samples in terms of particle size. The effect of air voids in the sample and the particle size distribution has also been studied. The results are promising and justifies a thorough design and development of a dedicated microwave sensor unit for the characterisation of polymers. The sensor will have a significant industrial benefit in terms of costs associated with the industrial analysis, increase in the efficiency of manufacturing and production operation as well as material quality, control and validation.

This paper reports on the feasibility of using a novel and robust microwave sensing technique to analyse and detect silver materials in an aqueous solution. Two products are tested, namely: silver chloride and silver oxide. The study mainly focused on indicating the difference between them and also any change in the size/size distribution of the sample. A microwave sensor designed previously is utilised to identify the potential of the technique to carry out the analysis. The results are presented as microwave spectrums that are the material response to microwaves. The results have shown that the technique has reasonably indicated the change in material type as well as size distribution. The results also show that these curves are distinguishable and can be related to the material and the change in its size. It is concluded that there is a potential of extending this technique to determine various other properties of silver products. The study suggests a design and development of a bespoke unit as a dedicated analysis tool and to address any anomalies arising from the current feasibility. This will have a huge industrial benefit in terms of cost reduction and time associated with the industrial analysis of silver material.

This paper reports on the feasibility of using a novel and robust microwave sensing technology to detect and analyse various silverbased products such as silver nitrate and silver oxide. The focus of the investigation is to differentiate between the two products, identify the contamination and change in the sample size. A microwave sensor designed previously in house has been utilised to carry out this initial study to analyse the capability of microwave sensing technique to carry out the analysis. The change in the microwave spectra are used as an indicator of the difference in the silver products and any contamination they may have. The results and their detailed repeatability confirm the viability of using microwave sensing technique as a potential method to analyse various silver products. The curves obtained from the material response to microwaves are distinguishable and can be related to the materials’ properties. The study suggests a design and development of a bespoke unit as a dedicated analysis tool and to address any anomalies arising from the current feasibility. This will have a huge industrial benefit in terms of cost reduction and time associated with the industrial analysis.

A non-invasive-monitoring of concentration and dielectric properties of calcium hardness in heat exchanger cooling water was conducted with a 2.5 GHz microwave cavity resonator designed and fabricated locally for the experiment. The principle of electric dipole moment theories were used to analyse the sample solution that occurs as a function of calcium ion content. Artificial difference of water hardness was prepared by mixing CaCl 2 in deionised water . The sample was centrally positioned in the electric field of the TM 010 mode of a resonant cylindrical cavity. COMSOL simulation package was used to compare and validate the experimental cavity resonator frequency. Transmission signal (S 21 ) measurements via vector network analyser at different concentrations were observed a linear relationship in amplitude with different frequency changes. In addition, calcium absorption provides a first-order change in material polarisation (i.e. real permittivity), and second-order transitions associated dielectric losses (i.e. imaginary permittivity). These research findings introduce a novel technique of real-time monitoring of water hardness concentration by using non-invasive microwave sensor. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group