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Objectives:To determine students’ perception of bedside teaching, to find out barriers in its effective implementation and to suggest strategies to make it an effective learning tool.Methods:This study was conducted in Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between November 2013 and January 2014. The study design was qualitative inductive thematic analysis using transcripts from audio-recorded focus group discussions. Four focused group discussions with medical students of 4th and 5th year MBBS were conducted. Each 40 to 50 minutes discussion session was audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis extracted key themes pertaining to objectives of the study.Results:A total 75 students of 4th and 5th year MBBS took part in the study, 48 were female and 27 of them were male. Students believed that bedside teaching is valuable for learning essential clinical skills. They described many barriers in its effective implementation: uncooperative and less number of patients and faculty attitude. Our students suggested various strategies to address these barriers: promotion of awareness among general public about students’ learning and its benefits, free medical treatment for expatriates and building of university hospital.Conclusion:Bedside teaching is an important learning tool. Its utility can be enhanced by orienting local patients’ attitude towards importance of students’ learning, by providing free medical treatment to expatriates and by including bedside teaching in faculty development programs.

Background and Objective:Appendicectomy for acute appendicitis is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures. Acute appendicitis has remained a clinical entity and an ongoing diagnostic challenge. A retrospective study was performed to determine histological diagnosis, demographic data, the rate of perforated appendicitis and negative appendicectomies.Methods:Histopathological records of 480 resected appendices submitted to histopathology department at Arar Central Hospital in the Northern Border Province of Saudi Arabia over the period of 3 years from July 2011 to June 2014 were reviewed retrospectively, to determine acute appendicitis, complication (gangrene, perforation) rate, negative appendicectomy rate, histopathological diagnosis and unusual finding on histology.Results:Out of 480 specimens of appendix, appendicitis accounted for 466 (97.0%) with peak occurrence in the age group of 11 to 50 years in male and 11 to 40 years in female. Histopathological diagnosis include acute appendicitis 250 (52.0%), suppurative appendicitis 135 (28.0%) acute gangrenous appendicitis 60 (12.5%), perforated appendicitis 9 (2.0%), chronic appendicitis 12 (2.5%). Negative appendicectomy rate was 14 (3%) and two time more common in female with peak occurrence in the age group of 20-30 yrs. There was no unusual histological finding like carcinoid tumour of appendix.Conclusion:The present study showed a high number of appendicitis in adolescents and young adults. Negative appendectomy was more common in females. The study support routine histological examination of all the appendicectomy specimens to avoid missing of any clinically important and treatable condition.

This work presents an analysis of a two-dimensional model of a liquid chromatographic column. Constant flow rates and linear adsorption isotherms are assumed. Different sets of boundary conditions are considered, including injections through inner and outer regions of the column inlet cross section. The finite Hankel transform technique in combination with the Laplace transform method is applied to solve the model equations. The developed analytical solutions illustrate the influence and quantify the magnitude of the solute transport in radial direction. Comparing Dirichlet and Danckwerts boundary conditions, the predicted elution profiles differ significantly for large axial dispersion coefficients. For further analysis of the solute transport behavior, the temporal moments up to the fourth order are derived from the Laplace-transformed solutions. The analytical solutions for the concentration profiles and the moments are in good agreement with the numerical solutions of a high resolution flux limiting finite volume scheme. Results of different case studies

The limited aqueous solubility of many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is responsible for their poor performance and low drug levels in blood and at target sites. Various approaches have been adopted to tackle this issue. Most recently, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) have gained attention of pharmaceutical scientists for bio-imaging, bio-sensing, gene delivery, drug solubility enhancement, and controlled and targeted drug release. Here, we have successfully incorporated the poorly water soluble antiviral drug velpatasvir (VLP) in MSN. These spherical particles were 186 nm in diameter with polydispersity index of 0.244. Blank MSN have specific surface area and pore diameter of 602.5 ± 0.7 m2/g and 5.9 nm, respectively, which reduced after successful incorporation of drug. Drug was in amorphous form in synthesized VLP-loaded silica particles (VLP-MSN) with no significant interaction with carrier. Pure VLP showed poor dissolution with progressive increment in pH of dissolution media which could limit its availability in systemic circulation after oral administration. After VLP loading in silica carriers, drug released rapidly over a wide range of pH values, i.e., 1.2 to 6.8, thus indicating an improvement in the solubility profile of VLP. These particles were biocompatible, with an LD50 of 448 µg/mL, and in-vivo pharmacokinetic results demonstrated that VLP-MSN significantly enhanced the bioavailability as compared to pure drug. The above results clearly demonstrate satisfactory in-vitro performance, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and in-vivo bioavailability enhancement with VLP-MSN.

Objectives:To determine the frequency of obesity disorders and their co-morbidities in medical students.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted in Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Ar’ar, Saudi Arabia. All medical students who consented to participate were included in the study. Their relevant information was recorded on a structured proforma. Weight and height of the participants were measured using calibrated manual weighing scale and Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. The obtained results were interpreted according to classification of body weight disorders. The participants who turned out to be over-weight and obese were further assessed for hypertension, diabetes mellitus and gallstones. The collected data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.Results:A total of 405 students participated in study, age range was 19-25 years. Male were 169 (41.7%) and female students were 236(58.3%). Family history of obesity was present in 34.3%. Out of 405 students, 126 were having BMI between 25 and 45.6, among them 34(8.4%) students were obese and 88 (21.7%) were overweight. Sixty two (15.3%) among them were male and 64 (15.8%) female. Fourteen (11.1%) were hypertensive and 9(7.1%) were having gall stones.Conclusion:The frequency of obesity among medical students was 8.4%. Increasing frequency of obesity associated with unhealthy life style needs to be controlled at national level to raise a healthy generation and to reduce burden on health economy.

A large discrepancy exists on the use of the investment-cash flow sensitivity as a measure of financing constraints of firms. We examine this discrepancy by considering business group affiliated firms in Pakistan. The study includes 58 group affiliated firms and 32 non-group affiliated firms listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange during 2006-2010. Results of OLS and 2SLS shows a positive investment-cash flow sensitivity for business group affiliated firms and negative investment cash flow sensitivity for nongroup affiliated firms. Additional tests accordingly express that investment-cash flow sensitivity of Pakistani group affiliated firms is significantly lower to non-group affiliated firms.