Iqra Ashraf

Background: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-cutaneous cancer in American men. In 2007, approximately 218,890 men were diagnosed with and 27,050 men died from prostate cancer. With the advent of PSA screening, younger men are being diagnosed with prostate cancer at the earliest stages of disease. Over 90% of cancers are detected at the localized or regional stage, and early detection allows for a number of treatment options. Currently, there is no consensus on the best treatment for localized prostate cancer, but the most commonly utilized options are prostatectomy, radiation therapy and active surveillance. Without evidence from randomized controlled trials on the mortality benefits of these treatments, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is becoming an increasingly important factor in treatment decision-making. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the evidence regarding HRQOL after primary treatment for localized prostate cancer. Methods: Incl...

Understanding patient concerns regarding skin surgery during the Covid-19 pandemic is a vital way of learning from individual experiences. A shift towards using absorbable superficial sutures has been anecdotally observed. We explored patient attitudes to the use of absorbable sutures and their experiences and perceptions of attending for skin surgery during the pandemic. 35 participants were interviewed (74% male, 100% White British, mean age 72.5 years; range 43-95 years). Participants were reassured by precautions taken to minimise exposure and risk from Covid-19. The majority (86%) did not feel that personal protective equipment worn by staff impaired their experience. 29% reported their experience of attending for skin surgery during the lockdown period was more efficient and organised than on pre-pandemic visits. 94% of participants would opt to have absorbable sutures again or had no strong preference for either suture type. Based on their experiences, most participants would have no concerns about attending for further skin surgery during the pandemic and would opt to have absorbable sutures.

Chemoresistance is a major obstacle in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive breast cancer subtype. Here we identify hypoxia-induced ECM re-modeler, lysyl oxidase (LOX) as a key inducer of chemoresistance by developing chemoresistant TNBC tumors in vivo and characterizing their transcriptomes by RNA-sequencing. Inhibiting LOX reduces collagen cross-linking and fibronectin assembly, increases drug penetration, and downregulates ITGA5/FN1 expression, resulting in inhibition of FAK/Src signaling, induction of apoptosis and re-sensitization to chemotherapy. Similarly, inhibiting FAK/Src results in chemosensitization. These effects are observed in 3D-cultured cell lines, tumor organoids, chemoresistant xenografts, syngeneic tumors and PDX models. Re-expressing the hypoxia-repressed miR-142-3p, which targets HIF1A, LOX and ITGA5, causes further suppression of the HIF-1α/LOX/ITGA5/FN1 axis. Notably, higher LOX, ITGA5, or FN1, or lower miR-142-3p levels are associated wi...

In this paper a discovery of the philosophy of educational systems from an Ancient Indian perspective. A limited number of articles have been written from a standpoint of philosophical, historical, and the Ancient perspective when resultantly, this article not only aims to fill in the gaps in literature, but also aspires to provide an insight on educational philosophy from the Ancient Indian perspective. In the Indian context, the origin of education can be traced from the Vedic literatures such as the Valmiki Ramayana, the Mahabharata (includes the Bhagavad-Gita) and the Puranas. The foundation of this paper revolves around hermeneutics, which are a qualitative research methodology involving the studying, understanding and interpretation of ancient text. With the help of the aforementioned methodology, authors disclose some ancient lessons on today’s educational system. The aim of this paper is to knowing the Educational System of Ancient India. In the ancient times, two education ...

The 8th century desert palace Khirbat al Mafjar remains (in present day Jordan) is a matchless specimen of Umayyad luxurious lifestyle and their perception for art. The palace is amalgamation of variety of decoration type like carved and moulded stucco, stone relief and birds and figure sculpture and also frescos paintings.  It is famous for its well-preserved floor mosaics.  Although credited to caliph Hisham (r. AD 724– 743) but his successor and also his nephew named as  Al Walid   II probably built this palace (r. AD 743– 44) . However after five years Al-Walid’s died and, the palace was smashed due to an earthquake. This article discusses the building designed structure and the ornamentation and decoration varieties used in the architecture. Though this palace is famous for its mosaics but this paper covers its main parts of architecture and all types of varieties. It’s an explorative study collected from historical data, literature and excavation reports and in the end it conc...

Some new fossils have been reported from Neogene basin of the Dhok Pathan type locality in the district Chakwal, northern Pakistan. The sample includes isolated dentition. The remains are assigned to the hipparionine genus Sivalhippus. Sivalhippus is well known in the Pakistani Siwaliks during Late Miocene-Early Pliocene.

The purpose of this investigation was to find out types of technologies being used in institutions working for children with mental retardation and explore perceptions of speech language therapists about the integration of technology into speech and language therapy of children with mental retardation. The population of study included all speech therapists working in seventeen institutions for children with mental retardation at Lahore, Pakistan. The sample of study comprised 20 speech therapists. A validated questionnaire (Cronbach Alpha 0.85) consisting of two parts, one about different types of technologies being used in different institutions and second part including 13 questions about the integration of technology was developed by the researchers. The respondents were required to respond on two point criteria (Yes and No).The collected data were analyzed and tabulated by using descriptive statistical techniques. The results indicated that communication books and computer soft wares were technologies largely integrated into speech and language therapy of children with mental retardation. It was also investigated that majority of speech language therapists were of the view that integration of technology proved helpful in developing speech and language of children with mental retardation.

Essential oils of three different Salvia species [Salvia aucheri var. aucheri (endemic), Salvia aramiensis and Salvia pilifera (endemic)] were screened for their possible antioxidant and antimicrobial properties as well as their chemical compositions. According to the gas chromatography (GC)/EIMS (gas chromatography/electron impact mass spectrum) analysis results; 41 (97.2%), 51 (98.5%) and 83 compounds (98.2%) were identified, respectively. While 1,8-cineole (30.5%), camphor (21.3%) and borneol (8.50%) are the major compounds for S. aucheri var. aucheri oil, beta-pinene (10.3%), was the main constituent for S. aramienesis together with 1,8-cineole (46.0%) and camphor (8.7%). In the case of S. pilifera oil, alpha-thujene (36.1%) and alpha-pinene (13.8%) determined as the major compounds. Antioxidant activity was employed by two complementary test systems namely 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and beta-carotene/linoleic acid systems. Antioxidant activity of S. aramiensis was found to be higher than those of the others for the both systems (12.26+/-1.09 and 92.46%+/-1.64 microg mg(-1), respectively). Additionally, antioxidant activities of BHT, curcumin, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol were determined in parallel experiments. In the case of antimicrobial activity, similar activity pattern was obtained (both in disc diffusion and MIC tests). Antimicrobial activity of S. aramiensis was followed by S. aucheri var. aucheri and S. pilifera, respectively. In these experiments, the most sensitive microorganism Acinetobacter lwoffii was followed by Candida albicans.

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Abstract Lead-free strontium-doped ferroelectric ceramics with the compositional formula Ba1-xSrxTiO3 (barium strontium titanate, BST) at (x = 0, 0.25, 0.3, and 0.35) are effectively synthesized through a solid-state reaction. The as-prepared samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Further dielectric properties and impedance are examined in detail. XRD and Raman studies reveal that the lattice constant, unit cell volume along with tetragonality ratio change with the Sr concentration, Curie temperature (Tc), and dielectric constant along with dielectric loss factor decrease with increasing Sr2+ ions in BST. A stable dielectric constant is detected in a wide frequency range of 1–1000 kHz. Curie–Weiss law and theoretical estimations indicate a large difference in structural disorder in BaTiO3 (barium titanate, BT) ceramics. Consistent with applied temperature and frequency, a noteworthy change is observed in dielectric constant and loss tangent behavior between lowly and highly doped BT samples. Diffusivity decreases with the increase in Sr2+ amount up to x = 0.3. The relaxation response in BST ceramic is observed for higher values of x. Impedance spectroscopy reveals those oxygen vacancies (OVs) are responsible for conduction in BST ceramics. This study is a systematical investigation on the relationship among the structure, dielectric, and impedance properties of Sr2+ substituted BT ceramics.