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The Avoidance Endurance Questionnaire (AEQ) successfully measures the fear-avoidance and endurance-related responses to chronic pain. The objective of this study was to translate, cross-culturally adapt AEQ into Urdu and assess the reliability and validity of the Urdu version. For the translation and cross-cultural adaptation process, the Beaton Guidelines were followed. A total of 103 participants responded to the Urdu version of the AEQ SF-12, Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) at baseline and after 48 hours. The test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure internal consistency. To measure validity, Pearson’s correlation between the subscales of AEQ-Urdu and other outcome measures (SF-12, PCS and NPRS scores) were used (p< 0.05). The mean age of the total 103 participants was 32.7 ± 10.90 among which 45 (43.6%) were male and 58 (56.3%) were female. The pre-final version of the translated AEQ was tested on 40 Urdu speaking participants and no major changes were made. The Cronbach’s alpha for all subscales of the AEQ-Urdu ranged from 0.848–0.990. AEQ-U showed an excellent test-retest reliability with the ICC ranging from 0.775–0.996. The majority of the subscales of AEQ showed significant (p< 0.05) positive correlation with pain scales (PCS and NPRS) and negative correlation with the domains of SF-12. The AEQ-U has reliable and valid construct validity, good internal consistency, and test-retest reliability, indicating that it has adequate psychometric features and can be a useful tool for evaluating pain responses in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the cold steel method and bipolar diathermy in tonsillectomies in terms of posttonsillectomy hemorrhage. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting: Department of ENT, Head & Neck Surgery, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad. Period: 29th October 2020 to 1st June 2022. Methods: A total of 102 patients of both genders with ages 3 to 59 years undergoing tonsillectomy were included. Patients undergoing antiplatelet therapy, experiencing bleeding diathesis, possessing a high anesthetic risk, having uncontrolled medical conditions, suffering from anemia, or currently dealing with acute infections were not included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups A & B. Group A patients were operated by the Cold steel method and Group B were operated by Bipolar diathermy. All the surgeries were performed by the same surgical team. Both tonsils were fully exposed by Boyl Devi's mouth gag under general anesthesia. Complete removal of both tonsils was done with the Cold steel method in group A and by using Bipolar diathermy in group B. Post-operative hemorrhage (occurring 24 hours after surgery) without the necessity to return to the operation theatre for intervention was assessed. Results: The mean age of patients in group A was 20.0 ± 13.83 years and in group B was 19.12 ± 13.17 years. The majority of the patients 79 (77.45%) were between 3 to 30 years of age. Out of 102 patients, 63 (61.76%) were males and 39 (38.24%) were females with male to female ratio of 1.6:1. Frequency of secondary hemorrhage in Group A (cold steel method) was found in 01 (1.96%) while in Group B (bipolar diathermy) was 06 (11.76%) (p-value = 0.050). Conclusion: This study concluded that the frequency of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage is higher in patients operated by bipolar diathermy as compared to the cold steel method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current work is an experimental study, with the primary goal of investigating and exploring ways to improve thermal contact conductance through a detailed examination and analysis of metallic contacts and discovering opportunities for enhancement, increased efficiency, and thus heat dissipation using thermal interface materials. The steady-state experiments have been carried out on a simple and calibrated experimental set-up. A comprehensive investigation was conducted to assess the thermal performance of Cu-Al contacts for the selected range of contact pressures and temperatures to suit the electronic industry's distinctive characteristics and technical requirements. As a thermal interface material, graphene paste has been tested under various combinations of interface pressure and heating circumstances against the bare metallic contacts. Error analysis has also been performed for the current experimental investigation. It has been demonstrated that using graphene paste as a thermal interface material thermal contact conductance is improved, significantly enhancing heat dissipation. The results of thermal contact conductance for graphene paste have been compared with the same for silicon grease from literature. The present results thus demonstrate the application and suitability of the selected thermal interface material in the specified range of heating and contact pressure conditions in the context of particularly thermal management applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to predict the bankruptcy risk of companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India using the Altman Z-score model. By examining the impact of variable factors such as market value equity/book value of total liabilities, retained earnings/total assets, working capital/total assets, earnings before interest and taxes/total assets, and sales/total assets, the research sought to assess their influence on the financial condition of listed companies. The Altman Z-score model is a widely accepted tool for predicting bankruptcy risk and has been utilized in various industries across different countries. The model comprises five financial ratios that capture a company's liquidity, profitability, leverage, solvency, and activity. By analyzing these ratios, the model calculates a composite Z-score, which can be used to classify companies into different risk categories. Using a sample of NSE-listed companies, this study employed the Altman Z-score model to predict bankruptcy risk and examined the impact of the five variable factors on the firms' financial health. The findings provided insights into the relationship between these financial ratios and the companies' bankruptcy risk, offering valuable information for investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders in the Indian financial market. The study demonstrated the applicability of the Altman Z-score model in predicting bankruptcy risk for NSE-listed companies in India and highlighted the importance of each variable factor in assessing a firm's financial condition. These findings can help stakeholders make informed decisions regarding investment, risk management, and policy formulation in the Indian financial market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

52 -adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an enzyme that regulates cell homeostasis and is associated with modulating diabetes, cancer, obesity, and viral infections. This makes the enzyme a promising target for treating multiple diseases all at once. Interestingly, bioactive compounds (like curcumin) and drugs (like metformin) that are linked with the treatment of COVID-19 disease and post-coronavirus complications, also activate AMPK signaling. Note that the long-term post-COVID-19 health issues are under study and can have lingering effects like the onset of diabetes, cancer, and other cardiac diseases. Here for the first time, the therapeutic potential of AMPK enzyme in the treatment of post-COVID-19 symptoms has been reviewed. We have also discussed the natural compounds that regulate AMPK activity and computational studies that have been conducted for the identification of AMPK activators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]