IntroductionGender inequity in healthcare academia is rising. Female healthcare professionals are struggling to balance their work and family leading to reduced productivity and disparity in three main areas of academic evaluation including teaching, service and research.ObjectiveThe objective of the current study was to explore perceptions of healthcare academicians regarding gender equity and its associated barriers in healthcare academia in Pakistan.MethodologyA qualitative study design was used. Study site for this research included medical colleges, pharmacy schools and healthcare educational institutes. Study respondents included healthcare professionals including doctors and pharmacists working as faculty members. Snow ball sampling was used and interviews were conducted till saturation point was achieved. All interviews recorded were transcribed verbatim. Transcribed interviews were then subject to thematic analysis and were analyzed for relevant content.ResultsThematic analysis of the study yielded many themes and sub themes. The main themes include: Gender equity an issue for healthcare academicians; Barriers toward promoting gender equity among healthcare academicians; Perceived teaching effectiveness among female healthcare academicians; Professional relationship of female healthcare academicians; Representation of female healthcare academicians at leadership positions; Research opportunities for female healthcare academicians; impact of academia as profession on married life and Strategies for improving gender equity disparities in academia of healthcare profession. The results showed that almost all the females as well as male healthcare academicians were of the view that female academicians are competent, hardworking and committed with their jobs. Mixed responses were observed regarding teaching effectiveness of female academicians. Half of the females as well male healthcare academicians thought that female were more effective teachers while other half was of the view that teaching effectiveness is based on individual trait irrespective of gender.ConclusionThe results of the present study concluded that majority of the male as well as female healthcare professionals perceived gender equity as an issue in academia in Pakistan, especially in underprivileged areas. Non-conducive work environment, harassment at workplace and cultural issues were the main barriers identified toward gender equity in healthcare academia in Pakistan.
A water injection trial in one of the giant fields of Southern Iraq has been designed in order to test water injection and sweep efficiency in middle Cretaceous carbonates. Three water injection trial areas have been identified. The areas exhibit different reservoir architectures which will help to understand the nature and mechanisms of water movement. Water injection is underway and the trial is ongoing with preliminary results available.The reservoir carbonates under investigation are composed of massive grainstones with good reservoir quality, lower reservoir quality mudstones with intercalated wackestones and interbedded packstones, grainstones, wackestones and mudstones. The reservoir section is capped by cemented carbonates. The grainstones are interpreted as a progradational grainstone shoal with rudist build-ups. The mudstones were deposited in a lagoonal setting and overlying carbonates are interpreted to have been deposited in a back shoal and lagoon. The tightly cemented carbonates are interpreted to have been effected by exposure and cementation related to a major sequence boundary.The water injection pilots are placed to explore these different reservoir architectures. The water injection trial is centred around existing injectors, which had been shut-in since drilled. Production wells were planned to be drilled at 636m and 300m in up-dip locations from the injectors, and the first of these have already been drilled. In addition observation wells will be drilled at 150m from the water injectors. It is planned to take core from the observation wells so as to assess the water saturation and by-passed oil in core.To this date (after 18 months of injection) water has not reached the newly drilled producers 636m away. During the first 6 months of the water injection trials, injection resulted in an initial pressure increase at existing wells 900m away (50-150psi). This increase in pressure enabled an increase in production in the trial areas, and this offtake caused pressures to stabilise. The water injection trial will provide important information about sweep efficiency in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs. Furthermore results will be integrated into the development of this large carbonate field.
Drought stress is an inevitable factor that disturbs the production of plants by altering morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular functions. Breeding for drought tolerance requires a complete understanding of the molecular factors controlling stress-responsive pathways. The plant responds to drought stress by adopting four mechanisms: avoidance, escape, tolerance, and recovery. Traditional plant-breeding tools have been employed to increase tolerance in cotton, but the complexity of drought tolerance has limited the use of these breeding methods. The plant adopts several key strategies against drought stress, such as activating the signaling network and activating molecular factors. Cotton breeders have been engaged in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance in cotton using significant molecular tools such as quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, transcription factor (TFs) analysis, transcriptome analysis, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genetic engineering, and CRISPR/Cas9. Breeders have studied the functional description of genes and the interacting pathways accountable for controlling drought tolerance in cotton. Hundreds of genes/QTL have been identified, and many have been cloned for drought tolerance in cotton; however, a complete understanding of these traits still needs more study. This review presents a detailed overview of molecular tools, their application for improving drought tolerance in cotton, and their prospects. This review will help future researchers to conduct further studies to develop drought-tolerant cotton genotypes that can thrive under conditions of water scarcity.
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