Methods: The quantitative study was conducted at Punjab (Pakistan) from July 2018 to October 2018, and comprised final year students from eight medical colleges in Pakistan. Each respondent was given to experience laparoscopy operation in text, video and virtual reality-based learning methodologies. User experience and usefulness was assessed against a pre-validated scale and compared with the three learning methodologies.
RESULTS: Of the 87, students, 50(57.5%) were male and 37(42.5%) were female. The overall mean age was 22.5±4 years. Result of virtual reality was better than others (p<0.05). Data was analysed using SPSS 20.
CONCLUSIONS: Virtual reality-based learning provided better user experience than traditional learning methodologies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytotoxicity was measured by the MTT assay and further confirmed via apoptosis, ROS, cell cycle, DNA fragmentation and cytokine assays.
RESULTS: ITHB4 demonstrated a lower IC50 compared to zerumbone in inhibiting the proliferation of MCF-7 cells. ITHB4 showed no toxicity against normal breast and human immune cells. Apoptosis assay revealed that ITHB4, at a concentration equal to the IC50, induces apoptosis of MCF-7 cells and cell cycle arrest at the sub-G1 and G2/M phases. ITHB4 triggered accumulation of intracellular ROS and nuclear DNA fragmentation. Secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines induced inflammation and potentially immunogenic cell death.
CONCLUSION: ITHB4 has almost similar chemotherapeutic properties as zerumbone in inhibiting MCF-7 growth, and hence provide the basis for further experiments in animal models.
METHODS: Serum and urine samples were collected from healthy human subjects. The experiment was divided into two parts, part one to evaluate 2,2,2,2-tetradeutero-4,4-dimethyl-4-silapentanoic acid (TSP) and 4,4-dimethyl-4-silapentane-1-ammonium trifluoroacetate (DSA) as the optimal internal standard for the serum and urine samples. The second part investigated the effects of preservatives in the serum and urine samples on extended storage.
RESULTS: Overall, TSP and DSA are suitable to be used as an internal standard in human urine samples. However, DSA is a superior internal standard in serum samples for NMR analysis. For the effect of preservative, the results indicated that human serum and urine samples could be stored without addition of preservative in -80 °C, as no changes in NMR fingerprinting have been observed during storage in the absence or presence of the preservative.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the use of DSA and TSP as an internal standard in serum and urine samples, respectively. Storage of serum and urine samples without any addition of preservative for an extended period has no effect on the metabolites changes. By having a standardised method, it will offer a considerable saving in both operator and spectrometer time and most importantly produce reproducible and reliable data.
Methods: This qualitative study was conducted among Nepali migrant and non-migrant workers in February 2020. Four focus group discussions comprising 25 men and a total of 15 in-depth interviews were conducted with male non-migrant and returnee migrant workers from Gulf countries and Malaysia. The discussions and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated into English and analysed thematically.
Result: Migrant workers reported a higher risk of developing adverse mental health conditions than non-migrant workers. In addition, fever, upper respiratory infection, abdominal pain, ulcer, and occupational injuries were common health problems among both migrant and non-migrant workers. Other major illnesses reported by the migrant workers were heat burns and rashes, snake-bites, dengue, malaria, gallstone, kidney failure, and sexually transmitted diseases, while non-migrants reported hypertension, diabetes, and heart diseases. Adverse living and working conditions including exploitation and abuse by employers, lack of privacy and congested accommodation, language barriers, long hours' hard physical work without breaks, and unhealthy lifestyles were the contributing factors to migrant workers' poor mental and physical health. Both migrant and non-migrants reported poor compliance of job conditions and labor protection by their employers such as application of safety measures at work, provision of insurance and healthcare facilities that affected for their wellbeing negatively. Family problems compounded by constant financial burdens and unmet expectations were the most important factors linked with migrant workers' poor mental health.
Conclusion: Both migrant and non-migrant workers experienced poor mental and physical health, largely affected by their adverse living and working conditions, unmet familial and financial needs and unhealthy life styles. Greater compliance is needed by employers of work agreements and the promotion of labor rights for worker's health and safety. In addition, policy interventions to raise awareness about occupational health risks and effective safety training for all workers (migrant and non-migrant) are recommended.