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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of job satisfaction among Indian pharmacists, and factors associated with job satisfaction. The study also explored the suggestions of pharmacist to improve the profession of pharmacy in India. Methods: A cross sectional web-based study was conducted on working pharmacists in India, using a validated questionnaire for a period of 2 months. The participants were contacted via email and social websites and data was collected by using web-based survey. The data were coded and entered to statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed by performing descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The satisfaction rate of pharmacists was 17.5%. Similar numbers of pharmacist were satisfied with promotional opportunities at their workplace. 68.7% participants believed the reason for dissatisfaction was irresponsible government policies which hamper pharmacists from seeking jobs compared with other professionals. Majority of pharmacists agreed with the suggestion of determining payscale on the basis of both qualification and experience (85.1%) followed by 84.8% who agreed that pharmacy degree should be deemed essential to acquire registration. Age, qualification and practice setting were significantly associated with differences in mean satisfaction score (p

Objective: Nature is the kindest of all to provide man with all the necessary components for a healthy life at easily accessible lengths. The deprivation arises with unawareness and lack of correct measures to extract the benefits. Medical education makes the youth aware of the numerous disorders and diseases, as well as their preventions and treatments. This awareness needs to be realized and implemented in the society, and it is not possible without the advisers acting on the same lines. Since doctors are the most trusted and their advice is adopted without much thought, it is extremely inevitable to analyze the attitude of medical students of various levels to understand the cause of their negligence toward their own deficiencies, the focus for this study being vitamin D (VD). Method: A cross sectional descriptive study was done on undergraduate medical students of health profession from different universities of Pakistan to access the awareness regarding VD deficiency associated with sunlight. Informed consent was duly signed by each participant after which self-constructed questionnaire was provided to them and data are collected. SPSS 17 was used for Statistical analysis. Results: Final students are well aware of VD significance, take food rich in VD but still suffer from fatigue and muscular pain. No treatment was taken for fatigue and muscular pain by majority of these sufferers and those who took treatment were VD supplement. The health sufferers were mostly those who avoided sunlight highlighting the role of VD in maintaining an active lifestyle as well as the significance of sunlight in maintaining VD levels. Conclusion: It can be concluded that in spite of awareness, the role of sunlight exposure and the proper time and duration of exposure cannot be ignored to create a healthy and active society.

The present study has been deliberated in order to compare the cardioprotective potential of 3-hydroxymethyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, Atorvastatin and Simvastatin in hyperhomocysteinemic rat hearts. L-methionine (1.7 g/kg/day orally) was administered to rats for 4 weeks to produce experimental hyperhomocysteinemia (Hhcy). Isolated Langendorff-perfused normal and hyperhomocysteinemic rat hearts were subjected to global ischemia for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 120 min. The extent of myocardial damage was assessed in terms of myocardial infarct size using triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, and release of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the coronary effluent; whereas the oxidative stress in the heart was assessed by measuring lipid peroxidation, superoxide anion generation and reduced glutathione. Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) was noted to produce myocardial injury in normal and hyperhomocysteinemic rat hearts, assessed in terms of increase in myocardial infarct size, LDH and CK in coronary effluent and oxidative stress. Treatment with Atorvatstain (50 µM) and Simvastatin (10 µM) afforded cardioprotection against I/R-induced myocardial injury in normal and hyperhomocysteinemic rat hearts as assessed in terms of reductions in myocardial infarct size, LDH and CK levels in coronary effluent and oxidative stress. It may be concluded that reductions in the high degree of oxidative stress may be responsible for the observed cardioprotective potential of Atorva-and Simvastatin, and both statins can be used interchangeably to afford cardioprotection against I/R-induced myocardial injury in normal and hyperhomocysteinemic rat hearts.

The microstrip patch antenna (MPA) has been in use and has been studied extensively during the past three decades. This antenna, which consists of a metallic patch printed on a dielectric substrate over a ground plane, offers several advantages including ease of design and fabrication; low profile and planar structure; and ease of integration with circuit elements. The minimum dimension of a conventional MPA is in the order of half a wavelength. In recent years, with the advent of new standards and compact wireless devices, there has been a need to reduce the size of this type of antenna. This study discusses some of the principal techniques that have been reported in the literature to reduce the size of an MPA. These miniaturisation techniques include material loading, reshaping the antenna, shorting and folding, introducing slots and defects in the ground plane and the use of metamaterials. The major features and drawbacks of each of these approaches are highlighted in this study along with their effects on the antenna performance metrics.

This work presents the design of a planar microwave absorber based on frequency selective surface (FSS). The absorber provides wide absorption bandwidth above the X-band. The proposed design consists of a single-layer FSS over a ground plane. The unit cell of the FSS is a miniaturized form of a rectangular loop structure made of perfect electric conductor (PEC). For absorption, lumped resistive elements are inserted on the four sides of the loop. The designed is modeled and analyzed using a commercial full-wave package and the absorption mechanism is explained by an equivalent circuit. Through simulations, the absorption bandwidth obtained for the proposed design is between 14.2–30.3 GHz. The angular stability of the proposed design is also analyzed and it is found be stable for 45 ° and 30 ° in TE and TM modes, respectively.

Aim To compare relative efficacy and safety of mechanical compression devices (AutoPulse and LUCAS) with manual compression in patients with cardiac arrest undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Methods For this Bayesian network meta-analysis, seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected using PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, and CENTRAL (Inception- 31 October 2017). For all the outcomes, median estimate of odds ratio (OR) from the posterior distribution with corresponding 95% credible interval (Cr I) was calculated. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) modeling was used to estimate the relative ranking probability of each intervention based on surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). Results In analysis of 12, 908 patients with cardiac arrest [AutoPulse (2, 608 patients); LUCAS (3, 308 patients) and manual compression (6, 992 patients)], manual compression improved survival at 30 days or hospital discharge (OR, 1.40, 95% Cr I, 1.09–1.94), and neurological recovery (OR, 1.51, 95% Cr I, 1.06–2.39) compared to AutoPulse. There were no differences between LUCAS and AutoPulse with regards to survival to hospital admission, neurological recovery or return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Manual compression reduced the risk of pneumothorax (OR, 0.56, 95% Cr I, 0.33–0.97); while, both manual compression (OR, 0.15, 95% Cr I, 0.01–0.73) and LUCAS (OR, 0.07, 95% Cr I, 0.00–0.43) reduced the risk of hematoma formation compared to AutoPulse. Probability analysis ranked manual compression as the most effective treatment for improving survival at 30 days or hospital discharge (SUCRA, 84%). Conclusions Manual compression is more effective than AutoPulse and comparable to LUCAS in improving survival at 30 days or hospital discharge and neurological recovery. Manual compression had lesser risk of pneumothorax or hematoma formation compared to AutoPulse.

This paper presents the design of a compact tri-band printed monopole antenna for personal communication system (PCS) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) applications. The proposed design consists of C-shape element and a semicircular arc with a rectangular ground plane to achieve resonance in three bands. A prototype is designed and fabricated based on the proposed design methodology. The antenna has a compact size of 33 × 18.5 mm2 which corresponds to 0.20λ ×0.11λ. The measured result show that the proposed antenna is operating in three bands i.e. 1.82–1.97 GHz, 3.35–3.95 GHz and 4.95–6.8 GHz covering both the PCS band and WiMAX 3.5/5.5 GHz bands. Measured result is in agreement with the simulations and show the antenna is capable of obtaining three distinct bands. The antenna exhibits omnidirectional radiation patterns and acceptable gain.

This work surveys the electrically small printed monopole antennas found in literature and examine them based on the theory of electrically small antennas. Various techniques used in the miniaturization of printed monopole antennas are analyzed and their merits and demerits are explained. Further, a design of an electrically small tri-band printed monopole antenna is proposed. The design consists of a C-shape element, Inverted G-shape element and a defected ground plane. The antenna size is 0.14λ × 0.19λ. It operates in three bands, i.e., 2.34–2.5 GHz, 3.3–3.8 GHz and 5.15–6.2 GHz. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated. The antenna achieves three distinct operating bands with its compact size and the measured results are in agreement with the simulations. This work further validates the theoretical design guidelines for small antennas and proves that miniaturization of an antenna is a compromise between bandwidth, gain and efficiency.

In this paper, a miniaturized planar absorptive frequency selective radome is presented. The proposed design acts as a transparent sheet in the X-band (9.1–10.4 GHz) and behaves as an absorber above the X-band from 17.8 GHz to 27.5 GHz. The design is composed of a bandpass FSS and a resistive FSS separated by a foam spacer. The bandpass FSS consists of a slotted modified Jerusalem cross structure which transmits the signal in the X-band while reflecting the signals other than X-band. The resistive FSS consisting of modified square loop with surface resistance absorbs the signals above the X-band. The unit cell size and the overall thickness of the design with respect to X-band is 0.2λ o and 0.07λ o , respectively. The small periodicity of a unit cell of the proposed design ensures the passband angular stability. The proposed design is verified by full wave numerical simulations. The maximum insertion loss in the X-band is 0.75dB while the absorption above the X-band is above 20dB. The design is ideal to reduce the RCS of antennas operating in the X-band.

A highly directional multi-wideband Quasi-Yagi antenna is presented based on rectangular loop excitation. A miniaturization of 64% is achieved using a simple loop meandering technique and a small ground plane size. The overall size of the antenna is 55 × 60 × 0.76 mm3. The proposed antenna system covers the Telemetry L-band and several celluar and WLAN bands. It has a minimum measured −6 dB bandwidth of 376 MHz in the desired band centered at 2 GHz and a measured bandwidth of at least 200 MHz in rest of the bands. A defected ground structure (DGS) is employed to achieve a very high front-to-back ratio of 20 dB using a small ground plane size. The proposed antenna has very low cross-polarization in the end-fire direction. It has a gain of 5.4 dBi and an efficiency of 94%.

This paper presents a small broadband circularly polarized square slot antenna for future 5G communication systems. The proposed antenna has a compact size of 5.5×5.5 mm2 and consists of a wide square slot (WSS) and a T-shaped stub in the ground plane. The WSS structure is fed through a microstrip transmission line designed on the other side of the substrate. Symmetric and asymmetric fractals are made with in the WSS structure to achieve wide CP bandwidth. The impedance and 3dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of the proposed antenna is 72.15% (21.6–41.8 GHz) and is 67.17% (25.69–44.5 GHz) respectively. The simulated peak gain of 4.85 dBic is achieved with in the AR band.

This paper presents a dual-band spiral planar monopole antenna working in 5G candidate bands of 28 and 38 GHz. Structure of the proposed antenna is a spiral that has two arms, each one responsible for a different resonant frequency. The antenna has a peak gain of 4.73 dBi and efficiency greater than 90% in both bands. The proposed antenna has a size of 4×8 mm2. A very high gain of 12.7 dBi is obtained when the antenna is used in an 8-element array configuration. The overall antenna array has a size of 8×48 mm2. The radiation patterns exhibit a very narrow beam-width of as narrow as 8 degrees. The high gain and small size makes this antenna suitable for future 5G mobile phones.

In this paper, a dual-band dual polarized antenna for 5G applications is presented. The proposed antenna has a compact size of 7.5×8 mm2 and consists of a fractal patch with rectangular slot etched in it. The fractal patch is fed by two 50-Ω microstrip transmission lines to achieve dual polarization operation. The antenna presents two common 10dB impedance bandwidths of 3.6GHz (25.7–29.3 GHz) and 2.7GHz (37.740.4GHz). Furthermore, it possesses stable broadside radiation patterns and high gain with in both operating bands.

A 2-element dual-band frequency reconfigurable multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is presented. Consisting of meandered slot antennas as the elements, the proposed antenna is planar and provides large and smooth frequency transition in two bands from 1.35–1.62 GHz and 1.95–2.2 GHz. The frequency reconfigurability is achieved through varactor diode loading across the slot. Isolation between antenna elements is improved by etching out an isolation structure in the ground plane which results in a minimum 20 dB isolation in the entire operating band. The antenna is analyzed for MIMO evaluation parameters and shows good performance.

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) based leaky wave antenna (LWA) with narrow beamwidth, low side lobe levels and high directivity is proposed. The desired radiation characteristics are attained by periodic arrangement of a group of slots whose lengths follow the binomial distribution. Without the need for any complex feeding structure, the antenna exhibits a beamwidth of 11.3° and sidelobe level (SLL) < −10 dB at 5.6 GHz. Designed on an Rogers Duroid 5880 substrate, the antenna's size is 250×45 mm2. Achieving a good match between simulated and measured results, the proposed antenna can be used in applications requiring narrowbeam patterns in the 5 GHz band.

Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the practices and attitudes of young Malaysian adults towards the use of antibiotics, and to determine the socioeconomic factors associated with the antibiotic use. Methods: A survey was carried in Cheras community by approaching a conveniently selected sample of 480 participants. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Result: Of 480 participants approached, 400 agreed to participate in this study, giving a response rate of 83.3%. The study results showed that 42.75% of the participants exhibited poor attitudes towards antibiotic usage. Chinese race and high income were significantly associated with the positive attitudes towards antibiotic usage. It is shown that the practice of the participants towards antibiotics was relatively poor. The majority of participants agreed that they do not consult a doctor for minor illnesses (64%). The main reason for not consulting a doctor was the high fees of consultation (34.25%) and the inconvenience of visit (29.25%). However, a large proportion of respondents (77.5%) agreed that there is a need to enhance antibiotic education among public. Conclusion: The study results identified some crucial gaps in the attitudes and practices of Cheras community about the use of antibiotics. Thus, improving the public knowledge and changing their attitude towards antibiotic use along with proper interventions to regulate the ease of their availability would play a significant role for the effective use of antibiotics in the community.

Safety and cardiovascular effectiveness of bempedoic acid remains uncertain. Ten randomized control trials were selected using Pubmed and Embase through October 2019. The clinical endpoints included major adverse cardiovascular outcomes (MACE), serious adverse events, muscle related adverse events

Lower reimbursement rates amongst Medicaid beneficiaries raised concerns on the unintended consequences of reduced utilization of required therapies which might lead to worse outcomes compared with private insurance in patients with advanced heart failure treated with mechanical circulatory devices(

Development of accelerated coronary artery disease in cardiac transplant is one of main limitation factor in long term survival of the transplant recipient. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes were used to identify heart transplant patients with acute myocardial

Prosthetic valve stenosis is an important complication in patients with history of prior aortic valve replacement. There is a lack of randomized trials comparing outcomes of subsequent intervention, either transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in

BACKGROUND: Targeted Temperature Management (TTM) is a class I recommendation for the management of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) patients with presumed brain injury. We aimed to study trends, predictors and outcomes in SCA patients from a nationally represented US population sample. METHODS: We utilized the National Inpatient Sample from years 2005 to 2014 for the purpose of our study. Patients with SCA and anoxic brain injury were selected using relevant ICD-9 codes. Data were analyzed for trends over the years and key outcomes were assessed. Logistic regression analysis was done to determine predictors of TTM utilization in our study population. RESULTS: A total of 78,465 patients with SCA and anoxic brain injury were identified from January 2005 to December 2014. Out of these, approximately 4,481 (5.7%) patients underwent TTM. Patients that underwent TTM were younger compared to patients without TTM utilization (60.67 vs. 63.27 years, P < 0.01). African Americans, Hispanics and women were less likely to undergo TTM. Myocardial infarction, electrolyte disorders and cardiogenic shock were associated with higher odds of TTM utilization. Sepsis, renal failure and diabetes were associated with underutilization of TTM. Inpatient mortality was higher in patients who did not undergo TTM when compared to patients who underwent TTM (67.30% vs. 65.10%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Although TTM utilization increased over our study period, the overall application of TTM was still dismal. Factors that circumvent TTM utilization need to be addressed in future studies so more eligible patients could benefit from this life saving therapy.

9. R.W. Ziolkowski, Design, fabrication, and testing of double negativemetamaterials, IEEE Trans Antennas Propag 51 (2003), 1516–1529.10. S.E. Lauro, A. Toscano, and L. Vegni, Symmetrical coupled micro-strip lines with epsilon negative metamaterial loading, IEEE TransMagn 45 (2009), 1182–1185.11. F. Bilotti, A. Alu, and L. Vegni, Design of miniaturized metamate-rial patch antennas with l-negative loading, IEEE Trans AntennasPropag 56 (2008), 1640–1647.12. T. G€unel, A genetic approach to the synthesis of composite right/left-handed transmission line impedance matching sections, AEU IntJ Electron Commun 61 (2007), 459–462.13. J.-X. Niu, Dual-band dual-modepatch antenna based on resonant-type metamaterial transmission line, Electron Lett 46 (2010),266–268.14. J. Oh and K. Sarabandi, Low profile, miniaturized, inductivelycoupled Capacitively loaded monopole antenna, IEEE Trans Anten-nas Propag 60 (2012), 1206–1213.15. M. Rafael Booket, M. Veysi, Z. Atlasbaf, and A. Jafargholi,Ungrounded composite right-/left-handed Metamaterials design, syn-thesis and applications, IET Microwave Antennas Propag 6 (2012),1259–1268.16. J. Ha, K. Kwon, Y. Lee, and J. Choi, Hybrid mode wideband patchantenna loaded with a planar metamaterial unit cell, IEEE TransAntennas Propag 60 (2012), 1143–1147.17. A. Bonakdar, J. Kohoutek, D. Dey, and H. Mohseni, Optomechanicalnanoantenna, Opt Lett 37 (2012), 3258–3260.18. D.L. Nguyen, K.S. Paulson, and N.G. Riley, Reduced-size circularlypolarised square microstrip antenna for 2.45 GHz RFID applications,IET Microwaves Antennas Propag 6 (2012), 94–99.

1Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, No. 1 Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2Department of Pharmacy Management, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India 3Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy Shenandoah University, 1775 N Sector Ct, Winchester, VA 22601, USA

Introduction Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation remains a valuable long-term option for patients with end-stage heart failure. Often these patients present with multiple comorbidities, including concomitant renal dysfunction. Patients with renal dysfunction prior to LVAD implantation are considered to be at increased risk for bleeding, right ventricular dysfunction, and mortality. Due to this increased risk, it is suggested that patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) should be excluded from LVAD implantation, unless they are being considered for heart and kidney transplantation. No current guidelines are provided for chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3-5 patients who are implanted with an LVAD. We intend to examine outcomes in these patients. Methods We retrospectively investigated all patients with CKD stage 3-5 who received a durable LVAD at our institution from January 2015 until December 2017. Those patients who underwent a second LVAD implantation or were lost to follow up were excluded from the analysis. CKD stage 3-5 was defined by eGFR Results Of the 293 patients who underwent LVAD implantation between January 2015 until December 2017, 135 were identified to have CKD stage 3-5. 82.2% of patients had CKD stage 3, 9.6% had CKD stage 4, and 8.2% had CKD stage 5. The median eGFR was 44 mL/min/1.73m3 prior to LVAD implantation and 51 mL/min/1.73m3 after implantation. 62.2% had diabetes and 76.3% had hypertension. The adverse event rates were as follows: 62.2% bleeding (including gastrointestinal bleeding, epistaxis, and mediastinal hemorrhage), 29.9% bacteremia, 22.2% hemolysis, 20% stroke, and 11.9% had home inotropes for right ventricular dysfunction. After implantation, 28.2% required renal replacement therapy (RRT). 7% of patients requiring RRT had persistent renal failure, and required hemodialysis at the time of discharge. 74% of patients were implanted as DT, and 11.9% underwent heart transplantation. The 1- year survival rate was 80.7%, with 63.7% of the cohort alive presently. Conclusions Our findings suggest that those patients with eGFR

The role of nutritional supplements and dietary interventions in preventing mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes is unclear.To examine evidence about the effects of nutritional supplements and dietary interventions on mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in adults.PubMed, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library from inception until March 2019; ClinicalTrials.gov (10 March 2019); journal Web sites; and reference lists.English-language, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses of RCTs that assessed the effects of nutritional supplements or dietary interventions on all-cause mortality or cardiovascular outcomes, such as death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary heart disease.Two independent investigators abstracted data, assessed the quality of evidence, and rated the certainty of evidence.Nine systematic reviews and 4 new RCTs were selected that encompassed a total of 277 trials, 24 interventions, and 992 129 participants. A total of 105 meta-analyses were generated. There was moderate-certainty evidence that reduced salt intake decreased the risk for all-cause mortality in normotensive participants (risk ratio [RR], 0.90 [95% CI, 0.85 to 0.95]) and cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive participants (RR, 0.67 [CI, 0.46 to 0.99]). Low-certainty evidence showed that omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) was associated with reduced risk for myocardial infarction (RR, 0.92 [CI, 0.85 to 0.99]) and coronary heart disease (RR, 0.93 [CI, 0.89 to 0.98]). Folic acid was associated with lower risk for stroke (RR, 0.80 [CI, 0.67 to 0.96]; low certainty), whereas calcium plus vitamin D increased the risk for stroke (RR, 1.17 [CI, 1.05 to 1.30]; moderate certainty). Other nutritional supplements, such as vitamin B6, vitamin A, multivitamins, antioxidants, and iron and dietary interventions, such as reduced fat intake, had no significant effect on mortality or cardiovascular disease outcomes (very low- to moderate-certainty evidence).Suboptimal quality and certainty of evidence.Reduced salt intake, omega-3 LC-PUFA use, and folate supplementation could reduce risk for some cardiovascular outcomes in adults. Combined calcium plus vitamin D might increase risk for stroke.None.

The design of a compact two element multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system is presented. The antenna operates in four bands. It resonates at 750 MHz, 1.17 GHz, 1.7 GHz, and 2.35 GHz. The elements of the MIMO antenna system are patch antennas loaded with complementary split-ring resonators (CSRR). A CSRR is used to lower the resonant frequency of the patch as well as to achieve multiple resonances. The antenna occupies a total space of 120 × 60 × 0.8 mm3. Measured results of fabricated antenna show good agreement with simulation results. The evaluation of antenna for various parameters including bandwidth, isolation, total active reflection coefficient, mean effective gain, correlation coefficient, and radiation patterns is presented in this article. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:1371–1375, 2014

Pharmacist-patient association is a decisive component in improving health care system. To offer patient centred services, the pharmacists need to fully understand patients' perspectives and views to meet their needs and expectations.To evaluate patients' perception of pharmacist and pharmacy practice in Pakistan.A cross sectional study was conducted between July and September 2012 on patients attended out-patient clinic in a teaching hospital of Pakistan. By using raosoft sample size calculator, questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 376 patients. Questionnaire included different section which evaluated the demographic information, frequency and reason of interaction, perception and choice of pharmacy. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS (v.17).A total of 301, out of 376, surveys returned giving a response rate of 80%. 51.8% (n = 156) participants interacted with pharmacist on regular basis. The major reasons of interaction were drug alternative and drug availability queries (41.5%, n = 125 and 26.2%, n = 79). The finding also showed that 84.1% (n = 253) of participants agreed that pharmacists are important part of health care system. Interestingly, all the patients (n = 301) either agreed or strongly agreed that discount was the major influencing factor on their choice of pharmacy.The patients' perception of pharmacist in Pakistan was generally positive but their understanding is very primitive as majority of the patients are unaware of pharmaceutical care services. However, they are more devoted to witness such services being practiced in Pakistan. This transition in practice could be brought into certainty by proactive involvement of pharmacists in community setup.

A 2 × 2 (four-element) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) patch antenna system is designed and fabricated for a 2.45-GHz ISM band operation. It uses complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) loading on its ground plane for antenna miniaturization. This reduces the single-element antenna size by 76%. The total board size of the proposed MIMO antenna system, including the GND plane is 100 × 50 × 0.8 mm3, while the single-patch antenna element has a size of 14 × 18 mm2. The antenna is fabricated and tested. Measured results are in good agreement with simulations. A minimum measured isolation of 10 dB is obtained given the close interelement spacing of 0.17λ. The maximum measured gain for a single operating element is -0.8 dBi.

This paper investigates a planar monopole antenna for fifth generation (5G) wireless communication networks. The proposed antenna has an ultra-wide band impedance response in millimeter wave (mmW) spectrum, 25–39 GHz covering Ka band. The antenna has unique structural layout resembling hexagonal honeycomb and has low profile (8×7 mm2) on 0.254 mm thick Rogers substrate, enabling the design for incorporation into future mobile phones. This antenna provides peak gain of 4.15 dBi along with 90% efficiency in the working band. The design is also extended to an 8×1 element array presenting maximum gain of 12.7 dBi at central frequency of the antenna.

In this paper, a two element frequency reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system is presented. The proposed antenna consists of miniaturized patch antenna elements, loaded with varactor diodes to achieve frequency reconfigurability. The antenna has bandwidth of 30 MHz and provides a smooth frequency sweep from 2.12 GHz to 2.4 GHz by varying the reverse bias voltage of varactor diode. The antenna is designed on an FR4 substrate and occupies a space of 50×100 × 0.8 mm

A poor understanding of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) among Health Care Professionals (HCPs) may put our lives at risk. We aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs of HCPs towards Ebola at Gondar University Hospital (GUH) in Northwest Ethiopia. We conducted a hospital based, cross-sectional survey among 245 randomly selected HCPs working at GUH from August-October, 2015. A validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. We calculated descriptive statistics with P0.05 being statistically significant. Of the 245 participants, 211 (86.1%) completed the study. The majority had heard about EVD and used news media (62%) as a source of information. Still, many were afraid of getting EVD (56.4%; P=0.001). A significant number of HCPs thought EVD can cause paralysis like polio (45%) and can be treated with antibiotics (28.4%). In addition, 46.4% of the HCPs felt anger or fear towards Ebola infected patients (P=0.006). We identified poor knowledge and negative incorrect beliefs among doctors and allied health professionals. There is a need for intensive training for all HCPs reduce EVD risk.

A compact multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)/ diversity ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna with planar structure is presented in this paper. It comprises of two modified rectangular slot antennas excited by microstrip transmission lines. An inverted U-shaped slot is inserted in the feeding transmission line to create a band-rejection at WLAN band (5.15–5.825 GHz). The mutual coupling between the two antenna elements is decreased by introducing T-shaped slot and a rectangular slot between them. The rectangular slot reduces the coupling at lower frequencies i.e. 3–5 GHz while T-shaped slot maintains good isolation at higher frequencies i.e. 5–10.6 GHz. The proposed antenna has a bandwidth of 7.5 GHz and operates at 3.1–10.6 GHz. It occupies a space of 22 × 26 mm2 and achieves minimum isolation of 20 dB between its antenna elements over the whole operating band. The small size, good isolation and stable radiation patterns of the proposed antenna make it suitable candidate for UWB diversity applications.

This work presents a zeroth order resonant (ZOR) antenna. The antenna is based on the metamaterial transmission-line and consists of a single unit LC cell made using microstrip transmission-lines. A systematic approach is followed to realize the single cell ZOR antenna for any desired resonant frequency. The shunt inductor is realized using a meander line microstrip structure while the series capacitance is obtained through an inter-digital capacitor. Using the design approach, a uniplanar ZOR antenna is designed on FR4 substrate which operates at a frequency of 8.34 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 12% and occupies an area of 15 × 15 mm2. The prototype is fabricated and good agreement is found between the measured and simulation results.

Pakistan is one of the two countries where polio remains endemic. Among multiple reasons of polio prevalence, false religious beliefs are accounted as major barriers towards polio immunization in Pakistan. Within this context, religious scholars are now engaged in polio immunization campaigns to dismantle the myths and battle the resurgence of polio in Pakistan. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes and perceived barriers of Muslim scholars towards polio immunization in Pakistan. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey of Muslim scholars was conducted in Quetta and Peshawar divisions of Pakistan. From October to December 2015, a convenience sample of 770 Muslim scholars was recruited from the local mosques and religious institutions to participate in this study. Knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers were assessed by using self-administered, anonymous and pretested questionnaire. Descriptive and regression analyses were used to express the results with p

On March 10, 2016, the Indian Government banned around 3 3 0 “ i r r a t i o n a l ” f i xe d d o s e combination drugs (FDCs) with immediate eff ect. FDCs are products that contain two or more active drugs in a fixed-dose ratio, and are useful for minimising pill burden and lowering cost. However, FDCs should ideally contain constituents that act via diff erent mechanisms and do not cause additive toxic effects. An FDC is described as irrational if these conditions are not met. The government’s decision was infl uenced by reports expressing concern about the safety and efficacy of FDCs manufactured in India. In view of the substantial fi nancial loss to industry, some pharmaceutical companies have taken legal action to exempt their FDCs from the ban. However, we believe the government’s action was necessary to safeguard public health. 63 (19%) of the 330 banned FDCs are antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is of increasing concern worldwide, but initiatives to curtail inappropriate use have had little success. Studies of several antibiotic combinations, such as meropenem and sulbactam, have reported no additional advantage over their individual constituents, and have been reported to cause toxic reactions and promote resistance. Despite repeated investigations into the shortcomings of some FDCs, such drugs are still being manufactured and promoted on the Indian drug market. 118 antibiotic FDCs are available on the Indian market, 80 (68%) of which are not registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation. The regulation of FDCs of antimicrobials in India is important from a global perspective. The growth of worldwide trade and travel has allowed resistant microorganisms to spread rapidly to distant countries and continents. New Delhi metalloβ-lactamase, an enzyme that causes bacteria to be resistant to antibiotics, was fi rst reported in India in 2008 and is now found worldwide. Moreover, FDCs that have been banned in India have been reported to be exported to other African and Asian countries. Such exports are a setback for the individuals or organisations trying to implement antimicrobial stewardship initiatives in these settings. Inadequate knowledge of physicians about FDCs is also an exacerbating factor in antibiotic resistance. The Indian Government has taken a much-needed step to restrict antibiotic resistance by banning irrational FDCs. Since implementation of the ban is still pending, we urge the international community to support the Indian Government’s initiative to ensure full implementation of the ban on irrational FDCs, because controlling antibiotic resistance in India is key for controlling antibiotic resistance worldwide.

The biomass and quality of Pseudostellariae heterophylla suffers a significant decline under monoculture. Since rhizosphere miobiome plays crucial roles in soil health, deep pyrosequencing combined with qPCR was applied to characterize the composition and structure of soil bacterial community under monoculture and different amendments. The results showed compared with the 1st-year planted (FP), 2nd-year monoculture of P. heterophylla (SP) led to a significant decline in yield and resulted in a significant increase in Fusarium oxysporum but a decline in Burkholderia spp. Bio-organic fertilizer (MT) formulated by combining antagonistic bacteria with organic matter could significantly promote the yield by regulating rhizosphere bacterial community. However, organic fertilizer (MO) without antagonistic bacteria could not suppress Fusarium wilt. Multivariate statistics analysis showed a distinct separation between the healthy samples (FP and MT) and the unhealthy samples (SP and MO), suggesting a strong relationship between soil microbial community and plant performance. Furthermore, we found the application of bio-organic fertilizer MT could significantly increase the bacterial community diversity and restructure microbial community with relatively fewer pathogenic F. oxysporum and more beneficial Burkholderia spp. In conclusion, the application of novel bio-organic fertilizer could effectively suppress Fusarium wilt by enriching the antagonistic bacteria and enhancing the bacterial diversity.

In this paper, a frequency reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is presented. The proposed antenna consists of miniaturized patch antenna elements, loaded with varactor diodes to achieve frequency reconfigurability. The antenna has a bandwidth of 50 MHz with frequency reconfigurability range from 2.1 GHz to 2.4 GHz. The antenna is designed on an FR4 substrate and occupying a space of 50×100×0.8 mm3. The antenna is analyzed from far-field characteristics as well as for MIMO performance parameters.

In this paper, a 4-element multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is presented. The antenna elements comprise of half circle shaped printed monopoles. The antenna is designed on an FR4 substrate of dimensions 110×60×0.8 mm3. The antenna operates in the 2.45 GHz band with a bandwidth of 250 MHz. The antenna maintains a minimum isolation of 11 dB between its elements in the operating band. The far-field results of the antenna show that each element has a peak gain of 3.57 dBi and a radiation efficiency of 92.5% at 2.45 GHz. The correlation coefficient is also calculated from the far-field results which shows that antenna has a maximum correlation coefficient of 0.2 in the operating band.

In this paper, a method to calculate the correlation coefficient for four antenna elements that have parallel RLC equivalent circuit is presented. The method is simpler than using the 3D far field pattern method and also more reliable and accurate than using the S-parameters method. It only requires the S-parameters and the radiation efficiency and gives good estimation of the correlation coefficient. The results of the proposed method are in close agreement with the values obtained from the far field method. It is an extension to the work in [1].

In this paper, a 4-element reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is characterized for channel capacity in an indoor environment. The measurements are performed by implementing a 44 MIMO system using software defined radios (SDR). The given antenna operates across several well-known frequency bands between 0.7 GHz to 3 GHz while the channel capacity measurements are performed at 2.45 GHz WLAN band. The performance of the reconfigurable printed antenna is compared with an array of four standard monopoles which are half wavelength apart. The MIMO system using the printed antenna showed a channel capacity of 8 bits/sec/Hz in line-of-sight (LOS) indoor environment and 10 bits/sec/Hz in non-LOS (NLOS) indoor environment.

A novel dual-band 4-shaped printed multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system of two elements is designed and fabricated for Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless handheld and portable terminals. The low frequency band covered is 803-823 MHz, and the high frequency band covered is 2440-2900 MHz. The isolation between the two elements was more than 17 dB in the low band after using a defected ground plane structure (DGS) between the two antenna elements. The overall size of the printed MIMO antenna system was 50× 100×1.56 mm3.

Background 68 Ga-PET imaging is showing slow but steady progress when compared to 18 F-FDG PET. The advantage of in-house preparation of 68 Ga without necessity of a cyclotron, and the new generator configuration with future possibility of freeze-dried kits would make it a promising PET agent for the future. Methods An exhaustive literature exploration was performed using the search engines High-Wire Press, Pubmed, Embase and library databases. Recent reviews on the subject and up-to-date studies on the topic were found that described the role of 68 Ga-PET imaging. Clinical experiences, including our own are described. Results Recent resurgence in development of peptides labelled with radiometals, for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, resulted in a new beginning for 68 Ga-PET imaging. Pre-clinical experience employing animal models and investigation of tracer kinetics/tumour uptake measurements using dynamic 68 Ga-PET have provided data regarding identification of Somatostatin receptors subtypes on many tumours. Present published experiences including our own support these and highlight current clinical utility of 68 Ga-PET imaging. 68 Ga-DOTATOC and 68 Ga-DOTANOC are the most prominent radiopharmaceuticals used nowadays. Conclusion 68 Ga-PET is employed in the management of neuroendocrine tumours and neural crest tumours (phaeochromocytoma and paraganglioma) with diagnostic and therapeutic implications where it compliments present radiologic and scintigraphic procedures. Diagnosis and radiotherapy treatment planning for meningiomas in pertinent clinical setting is another potential use of 68 Ga-PET. Limited studies have shown its utility in prostate cancer but further studies are contemplated. Therefore, current experience tends to open a new horizon for the clinical utility of 68 Ga-PET imaging in future.

Objective The objective of this study was to assess the association of the constructs of theory of planned behaviour (behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs, control beliefs) and demographic variables with the intentions of pharmacy students to become pharmacy owner. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted between October and November, 2014, using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire delivered to a sample of 350 pharmacy students at a private university of Pakistan. Behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs were assessed on four point Likert scale of agreement. The scores were summed and dichotomized based on an arbitrary 50 % cut-off score to assess positive and negative beliefs. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the data. Results A total of 313 participants (89.4 %) responded to the questionnaire. Participants’ behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs were negative towards pharmacy ownership with the mean scores of 13.90 ± 0.41 (score range: 6–24), 9.66 ± 0.49 (score range: 4–16) and 16.88 ± 0.40 (score range: 7–28) respectively. Professional year and family business were significantly associated with intentions of pharmacy students to own a pharmacy (p