Abstract: Cataract is a highly treatable condition due to advances in cataract surgery, procedures and intraocular lens design. Currently 90% of the cataract surgeries are performed with intraocular lens (IOL). The aim of cataract surgery to improve visual function which also improves overall quality of life. The objectives were to find out the current visual outcome among subjects of post cataract surgery (IOL) over a period of 3 to 10 years and correlate visual outcome with selected variables. A community based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in selected urban field practice area of Rajah Muthaiah Medical College and Hospital from December 2015 to August 2016. Totally 120 subjects underwent cataract surgery were included in the study. The socio-demographic data and details regarding the surgery were collected using a pretested proforma and visual acuity was measured by Snellen’s chart. The visual acuity has been classified namely good, borderline and poor. The majority of the subjects were in the age group of 46-60 years (65%). 87 were females (72.5%) and 49 were illiterate (40.8%). Among these subjects 83 were homemakers (69.2%), 96 (80%) underwent surgery in institution (picked up through camp). 10.8% had complications immediately after surgery, 50% study subjects had a history of chronic diseases, such as DM, HT or both. Visual acuity measured as good vision (6/6-6/18) 54.2%, borderline vision (<6/18-6/60) 33.3% and poor vision (<6/60-unable to appreciate hand movements) 12.5%. 12.5% of the post cataract surgery (IOL) subjects had poor vision. 30% of the subjects those who had cataract surgery (IOL) surgery more than 5 years ago has poor vision.

Population parameters such as asymptotic length (L∞), growth coefficient (K), mortality rates (Z, F and M), exploitation level (E) and recruitment pattern of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis were estimated using length– frequency data from the Ivorian coastal water. Asymptotic length (L∞) was 31.50 cm and growth coefficient (K) was estimated at 0.500 year−1. Total mortality (Z) for S. officinalis was 1.32 year−1, while natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) were 0.94 and 0.38 year−1, respectively. The growth performance index (φ‟) was 2.69 and the exponent “b” of the length–weight relationship was 2.77 during the study period. The asymptotic wet weight estimated from length– weight relationship was 2869.57 g. Exploitation level (E) of Sepia officinalis was 0.29. The recruitment pattern was continuous with one major peak in the months of July–August. The exploitation level (0.29) and lower fishing mortality (0.38 year−1) indicate that the common cuttlefish is under-exploited from Ivorian coastal waters.

Abstract: This study sought to determine the average time spent on social media by medical undergraduates in University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria and to determine the relationship between social media use and disturbances of sleep quality and quantity amongst medical undergraduates in University of Uyo. It was a cross sectional population based study among 208 medical students in University of Uyo, Southern Nigeria. They were randomly selected with a proportionate stratified random sampling method and data collection was done using a self-reporting anonymous questionnaire. Social media use was assessed using multiple items reflecting the frequency, volume, location and platform of social media use. The average time spent on social media by respondents was 1-3 hours. Proportionately, the most time was spent on Facebook. In models that adjusted for all covariates, participants who spent more time on social media per day had significantly greater odds of having disturbance of sleep quality. Compared with those who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media, those who spent 1-3 hours per day had an adjusted odds ratio of 4.59 (95%CI: 4.14-5.48, p value < 0.001) for sleep disturbance. A significant association was reported between volume of social media use and sleep disturbance. This has important clinical implications for the health of young adults. Future work would focus on the interactions on the various social media platforms that make their use significant to young adults.

Abstract: Although many students are opting for the convenience of online study, there is a paucity of literature documenting the rationale for students’ choice of face-to-face or online learning format. As such, this study examined learner preferences for discussions in reading instruction. The study also compared the discussions generated by different sub-groups of students and explored the variances within students’ discussions generated from online and face-to-face learning formats. The following research questions guided the study: (a) What are learners’ preferences for discussions in reading instruction? (b) Does one discussion format facilitate meaning-making more than the other for various sub-groups and (c) Do patterns of discourse and learners preferences stay consistent across time and learners sub-groups or do differences occur due to diversity? Results indicated that majority of the participants preferred face-to-face discussion format to online discussion format in reading instruction. Participants also professed a belief that face-to-face discussions facilitate meaning-making more than online discussion. While such perception does not apply to all learner groups in the study, the results further showed that patterns of discourse and learners preferences stay consistent across time and learners, but differences occur due to learner diversity. Recommendations are made on how to facilitate learner inclusion and collaborative learning in both learning formats.

In examining the need for Nigerian economy to encourage the domestic manufacturing sector, this study looks at the effect of imported manufactured goods on the performance of manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The study employed econometric analysis with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of data estimation and analysis and Augmented Dickey fuller test to conduct unit root test to ensure the stationarity states of the variables used. The estimated result of model one shows a positive statistically significant relationship between domestic manufacturing sector output and the Nigeria manufactured imports. Model two estimates also indicate that domestic manufacturing sector contributes positively to economic growth of Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommended among other things the use of fiscal policy measures to checkmate or control high importations of goods that can be manufactured domestically to enable domestic manufacturers expand and thus, create employment opportunities for Nigerians.

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the compressive strength of concrete. An exploratory study on the suitability of the tannery shredded waste as partial replacement for normal fine aggregate in concrete works has been carried out. Physical and mechanical properties of tannery shredded waste and locally available normal aggregates have been determined and compared. A large number of concrete cubes of size 150X150X150 mm were cast with different percentage replacements of fine aggregates by tannery shredded waste in the order 100:0, 5:5, 10:10, and 15:15, were cast and compressive strength test values were determined.

Introduction: Local anaesthetic like bupivacaine is commonly used in spinal anaesthesia, but the duration of spinal anaesthesia may be short and limited, and higher doses of rescue analgesics may be required in the postoperative period. This can be avoided by using higher doses of bupivacaine which again can produce cardiac toxicity. Studies have shown that duration of analgesia due to bupivacaine in spinal anaesthesia can be prolonged by using adjuvants such as midazolam, opioids, neostigmine, dexmedetomidine, and clonidine. Almost all opioids have been used as adjuvants intrathecally. Material and methods: This randomized controlled study was carried out over a period of 6 months, after obtaining approval from the Hospital Ethics Committee and written informed consent from the patients. Ninety-nine patients of Anaesthesiologists Classes I or II of either sex and of age 25-60 years, posted for lower abdominal surgery were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 33) using computer-generated program. Assigned random group was enclosed in a sealed envelope to ensure concealment of allocation sequence. The anaesthesiologist, who was not involved in the study, opened the envelope in operation theatre and prepared the drug accordingly. The observation was done by the anaesthesiologist who was blinded to the drug. Patients having severe systemic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart disease, allergy to bupivacaine, spine deformity, increased intracranial pressure, neurological disorders, haemorrhagic diathesis, and infection at the puncture site were excluded from the study. Result: A total of 106 patients initially enrolled in this study, 7 patients had to be excluded because of logistical reasons or other violations of the study protocol. Ninety patients were included and randomly assigned to their treatment groups. Conclusion: Intrathecal clonidine (75 μg) when added to bupivacaine in spinal anaesthesia provides prolonged duration of postoperative analgesia than 25 μg of fentanyl but with higher degree of sedation. Fentanyl (25 μg) may be recommended as a better option when sedation is not desirable. We concluded that intrathecal clonidine 75 𝜇g with bupivacaine prolonged intraoperative anaesthesia and the time to first analgesic request compared to fentanyl, however, the total analgesic consumption in the first 24 h postoperative was similar in fentanyl and clonidine groups following elective lower abdominal surgeries.

This paper proposes a new model for design of standalone two axis sun-tracker (SATAST) and some considerations regarding design, modeling and control solutions. Proposed overall system model and sub-models are developed to allow designer to have maximum numerical visual and graphical data to select, test and analyze a given SATAST system for desired output performance and characteristics, under given input operating conditions, to meet desired outputs for specific application requirements.

Spinal anesthesia (SA) is a safe anesthetic technique used for both elective and emergency operations. Shivering is known to be a frequent complication in patients undergoing surgery under neuraxial anesthesia with incidence of 40–70%. SA inhibits tonic vasoconstriction and causes redistribution of core heat from the trunk (below the block level) to the peripheral tissues predisposing patients to hypothermia and shivering. Post spinal anaesthesia shivering (PSAS) is an involuntary, repetitive activity of skeletal muscles as a physiological response to core hypothermia to raise the metabolic heat production. PSAS increases O2 consumption, CO2 production, plasma catecholamines and cardiac output. Shivering may interfere with the monitoring of ECG, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. Te mainstay of prophylaxis and treatment of PSAS remain pharmacological due to inadequate control of central hypothermia by techniques based on physical principles (e.g., intravenous infusion (IVI) of warm fluids and forced air warmers). It appears logical to prevent PSAS rather than to treat it once it develops.

Modern enterprises face mounting pressure to demonstrate compliance with multiple regulatory and industry standards simultaneously, creating fragmented control environments that obscure executive risk oversight. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for mapping multi-standard compliance controls into unified enterprise risk dashboards that enable integrated governance and strategic decision-making. Building upon the unified control architecture proposed by Chinenye (2013), this research synthesizes control rationalization methodologies, cross-framework mapping strategies, and dashboard design principles to address the challenge of transforming disparate compliance requirements into coherent executive visualizations. The framework integrates controls from ISO 27001, COBIT 5, NIST SP 800-53, and ITIL through systematic harmonization processes that reduce redundancy while preserving regulatory integrity. Three dashboard abstraction layers, strategic, tactical, and operational, are proposed to serve distinct organizational audiences with appropriate metrics and update frequencies. The research demonstrates that control rationalization can reduce duplicative requirements by 40-75% while improving executive visibility into enterprise risk posture. Implementation guidance addresses technical architecture, data integration challenges, and organizational change management considerations essential for successful dashboard deployment. This work contributes to the governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) literature by providing actionable methodologies for enterprises seeking to transition from fragmented compliance activities to integrated risk oversight through unified dashboard implementations.

Our study investigated the effects of extracts from tobacco (Nicotiana rustica L.) and stemona (Stemona tuberosa Lour.) on parasitic ticks infested on dogs, in order to give a pharmacological explanation for their traditional uses in ectoparasite diseases. The comparison of extracts from different solvents with different extracting times revealed that NaOH 5% with water was the best extracting solvent, while 24 h was the best extracting time for the extraction of these plants’ acaricidal effects. After applying these optimal solvent and extracting time to yield those extracts of the highest effects, we examined their effects on ticks at different concentrations, and the results showed that they exerted their best effects when being applied at 20%. These effects were later confirmed by clinical trials, which demonstrated that the extracts also had high treatment effects on those dogs that had been heavily affected with tick diseases. These results partly provide scientific explanations for the therapeutic uses of tobacco and stemona in ectoparasite diseases. In addition, the promissory treatment observed in clinical trials is a step forwards to widen the uses of these medicinal plants in tick diseases, and thus suggesting that follow-up researches are worth to exploit their potentials

Background: Neonatal hypoglycemia is a common metabolic complication in infants born to diabetic mothers. The risk is influenced by the type of maternal diabetes, glycemic control during pregnancy, and neonatal birth weight. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and associated factors of neonatal hypoglycemia in relation to maternal diabetes in a Bangladeshi population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 mother-neonate pairs at BSMMU, Dhaka, and Sibchar Health Complex, Madaripur, from June 2015 to May 2016. Data on maternal age, gravida, residence, type of diabetes (gestational or pre-gestational), glycemic control, and neonatal birth weight were collected. Neonatal blood glucose was monitored within the first 24 hours of birth to detect hypoglycemia. Associations were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Results: Among the neonates, 40.0% developed hypoglycemia. The incidence was significantly higher in infants born to mothers with pre-gestational diabetes (60.0%) compared to gestational diabetes (25.7%). Poor maternal glycemic control was associated with a higher rate of neonatal hypoglycemia (72.0%) than good control (17.1%). The highest rate of hypoglycemia was observed in macrosomic infants (>4.0 kg) at 85.7%, followed by normal-weight (40.6%) and low birth weight infants (20.8%). Conclusion: Pre-gestational diabetes, inadequate glycemic control during pregnancy, and macrosomia are strongly associated with neonatal hypoglycemia. Early diagnosis and tight glycemic control are essential to reduce the risk of neonatal complications in diabetic pregnancies.

Higher education falls outside the ambit of merit category since the personal benefit from higher education exceeds the social benefit. In this milieu, the heavy spending on higher education by the government led to some structural changes withdrawing the huge subsidy elements and allowing the entry of private providers in higher education. However there are fairly large amount of subsidy on higher education even at present. The rationality of subsidy as well as fee can be found out only in terms of the cost incurred for providing the education and comparing it with fee collected from the student. The paper is an attempt to find out the unit cost of providing medical education particularly the MBBS course in Kerala and the rationality of the fee charged by the government and self financing institutions. The study found that there is a mark-up profit for the self financing institutions and at the same time government has a heavy spending burden.

Objectives: To assess the data on smoking's role as an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) risk factor. Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and Scopus were thoroughly searched. Qualifying papers were assessed and data was extracted by two impartial reviewers. Results: Our data consists of eight studies with 1458 children, 864 (59.3%) of whom were female. All of the included studies used ROME criteria for IBS diagnosis. The prevalence of smoking among IBS patients ranged from 3.8% to 37%, with a total prevalence of 405 (27.8%). Five studies have demonstrated that the incidence of IBS was not significantly correlated with cigarette smoking. Two studies reported that smoking was a significant risk factor for IBS incidence and one found that IBS-M was the only variant related to smoking. Conclusion: There is still no obvious connection between smoking and irritable bowel syndrome because the analyzed research produced inconsistent results. While some studies indicate that smoking may worsen the symptoms of IBS or raise the likelihood of getting the condition, other research rejects this link. Clinicians should keep encouraging smoking cessation due to its many health benefits until more conclusive data is available, but they should also be open to the potential that it could improve the outcomes of IBS patients. To reconcile these contradictory results and get a deeper comprehension of the possible contribution of smoking to the etiology of IBS, more investigation is required.

Background: Cytogenetic abnormalities are critical prognostic factors in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This study aimed to analyze the cytogenetic profiles and risk stratification of AML patients in a tertiary care setting. Methods: This observational study was conducted at the Department of Haematology, BSMMU, Dhaka, from July 2015 to June 2016, involving 50 adult patients diagnosed with de novo AML. Cytogenetic analyses were performed to identify chromosomal abnormalities, and patients were stratified into favorable, intermediate, and adverse risk groups based on established cytogenetic criteria. Results: The age distribution shows that 22% of patients were under 30 years, 40% were between 30 and 50 years, and 38% were over 50 years. The gender distribution reveals a slight male predominance, with 56% of the patients being male and 44% female. The study identified t(8;21), inv(16), and t(15;17) as the most common cytogenetic abnormalities, accounting for 20%, 10%, and 14% of patients, respectively. Overall, 44% of patients were classified into the favorable risk group. Among the favorable group, 81.8% achieved complete remission, whereas the adverse group showed a significantly lower remission rate of 21.4%. The presence of monosomy 7 and complex karyotype was noted in 16% and 12% of patients, respectively. Conclusion: Cytogenetic analysis is essential for risk stratification in AML. The findings highlight the importance of specific chromosomal abnormalities in predicting treatment outcomes, emphasizing the need for personalized therapeutic strategies. Integrating cytogenetic evaluation into routine clinical practice can enhance the management of AML and improve patient care.