Oral Contraceptives, Abortion and Breast Cancer Risk: a Case Control Study in Saudi Arabia

Karim, Syed Mustafa,Baeshen, Wijdan,Neamatullah, Syed Nehal,Bin, Bakr Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.9

Background: Several studies have examined the relationship between oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use, abortions and breast cancer, with mixed results. Hormonal changes associated with OCP use and abortion may increase risk of breast cancer over time, but there is a lack of studies studying this association in Saudi Arabian women. Materials and Methods: We thererfore conducted a case control study in 192 women (92 as cases and 100 as controls), aged 30 to 65, and collected information on variables including examples related to study objectives and those which may confound findings. The Chi square test was used to detect associations between various factors and risk of breast cancer. Results: We found no evidence of interaction between history of abortion or frequency of abortion and breast cancer risk (Chi square=0.422, p =0.420 and 1, p =0.169) respectively. Oral contraceptives did not confer risk for breast cancer overall (OR=0.276, 95%CI 0.092-0.829, p=0.524), while long term use of OCP was associated with increased risk of breast cancer (OR=0.297, 95%CI 0.158-0.557, p=0.001), with higher association for those who used 10 years or more of OCPs (OR=0.282, 95%CI 0.095-0.835, p=0.02). Age at first use of OCPs had no effect on breast cancer risk (p=0.452) or age at diagnosis (p=0.074). Conclusions: Prolonged use of OC (more than 10 years) may be associated with increased risk of breast cancer in Saudi women. Larger population based studies are needed to confirm this finding in this population.

Adsorption of heavy metal ions in ternary systems onto Fe(OH)3

Muhammad Waseem,Syed Mustafa,Muhammad Irshad,Khizar Hussain Shah,Umer Rashid,Wajid Rehman 한국화학공학회 2013 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.30 No.12

The adsorption behavior of amorphous Fe(OH)3 has been studied in multicomponent metal system. The metal ions uptake in the ternary system is lower than in the single system, suggesting that certain sites on the surface of the solid are blocked due to competition. The selectivity trend in the ternary system is observed to be Ni2+>Zn2+>Cd2+ which is, however, lost with increase in the temperature of the aqueous solution. Further, the observed selectivity trend is neither related to electronegativity of the metal ions nor to the pH of the hydrolysis, but has been found dependent on charge to radius ratio. The metal ions adsorption is found to increase with pH, while the converse is true with the rise in temperature. The uptake of metal ions data has been interpreted in terms of stoichiometry, binding constants and adsorption capacities. The negative values of ΔG show that uptake of metal ions is favored at lower temperatures,indicating that the adsorption mechanism essentially remains ion exchange in nature.

Use of abdominal compression device in colonoscopy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Yousaf Zafar,Ahmed Mustafa Rashid,Syed Sarmad Javaid,Ahmed Kamal Siddiqi,Adnan Zafar,Arsalan Zafar Iqbal,Jagpal Singh Klair,Rajesh Krishnamoorthi 대한소화기내시경학회 2023 Clinical Endoscopy Vol.56 No.4

Background/Aims: Colonoscopy for screening is associated with unpleasant experiences for patients, and abdominal compression devices have been developed to minimize these problems. However, there is a paucity of data supporting the therapeutic benefits of this strategy. This study examined the effects of using an abdominal compression device during colonoscopy on the cecal intubation time (CIT), abdominal compression, patient comfort, and postural changes. Methods: We searched PubMed and Scopus (from inception to November 2021) for randomized controlled trials that assessed the effects of an abdominal compression device during colonoscopy on CIT, abdominal compression, patient comfort, and postural change. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Results: Our pooled analysis of seven randomized controlled trials revealed that abdominal compression devices significantly reduced CIT (WMD, –0.76 [–1.49 to –0.03] minutes; p=0.04), abdominal compression (OR, 0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28–0.94; p=0.03), and postural changes (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.27–0.78; p=0.004) during colonoscopy. However, our results did not show a significant change in patient comfort (WMD, –0.48; 95% CI, –1.05 to 0.08; p=0.09) when using an abdominal compression device. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that employing an abdominal compression device may reduce CIT, abdominal compression, and postural change but have no impact on patient comfort.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Adults - an Analysis of 51 Cases from a Tertiary Care Center in Pakistan

Sultan, Sadia,Irfan, Syed Mohammed,Parveen, Saira,Mustafa, Sanober Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.4

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant disease in which early lymphoid precursors proliferate and replace the normal hematopoiesis. It has distinctive clinical and biological features. In respect to adult ALL, available data from Pakistan are limited. Therefore we reviewed the demographical and clinicohematological profiles along with FAB stratification of adult patients with ALL presented at our hospital. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 51 adults (${\geq}15years$) patients with ALL were enrolled from January 2010 to December 2014. Results: The mean age was $23.8{\pm}12.9years$ with the median age of 18.0 years. The male to female ratio was 2:1. The major complaints were fever (60.7%), generalized weakness (47.0%), overt bleeding (19.6%) and weight loss (13.7%). Physical examination revealed lymphodenopathy as a predominant finding detected in 43.1% followed by splenomegaly and hepatomegaly in 23.5% and 21.5%, respectively. The mean hemoglobin level was $9.0{\pm}2.75g/dl$ with a mean MCV of $82.2{\pm}15.4fl$, a mean total leukocyte count of $31.1{\pm}64.0{\times}10^9/l$, a mean ANC of $2.1{\pm}3.0{\times}10^9/l$ and a mean platelet count of $71.7{\pm}85.7{\times}10^9/l$. According to FAB classification, 47.1% were L1 type, 45.1% L2 and 7.8% L3 variant. Conclusions: Clinico-pathological features appeared comparable to published data. Febrile illness associated with lymphodenopathy was the commonest presentation. FAB classification revealed a predominance of ALL-L1 variant in Pakistani adult patients with ALL.

Service innovation capabilities as the precursor to business model innovation: a conditional process analysis

Kiani Malkah Noor,Ahmad Mehboob,Gillani Syed Hussain Mustafa 기술경영경제학회 2019 ASIAN JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION Vol.27 No.2

Espousing a continuous innovation in existing business models is a necessity to sustain in present dynamic status quo of emerging mobile banking sector of Pakistan. Therefore, this research aims to empirically investigate the factors that affect the business model innovation among the key players of the mobile banking sector of Pakistan. In this regard, four research questions have been formulated. Research survey has been conducted from the 365 employees of mobile banking sector of Pakistan through a stratified sampling strategy. The collected data were analyzed using the regression-based process approach of Andrew Hayes [2017. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press]. The results of the collected data revealed that the service innovation capabilities, innovation success and knowledge exploration serve as the antecedents of business model innovation among Pakistani mobile banking sector. The contribution of this research work is evident from the fact that no or negligible researches on the business model innovation have been carried earlier in the cultural context of Pakistan. Furthermore, this research work attempts to close some of the identified gaps in the literature.

Characterization and application of nano-composite zinc oxide/poly vinyl alcohol thin-film in solar cell performance enhancement

Shaheer Ahmed Khan,Ataur Rahman,Wajahat Khan,Syed Mustafa Haider 대한기계학회 2023 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.37 No.10

Flexible, economical, and low-toxic organic solar cells are becoming highly popular in photovoltaic research. Interestingly, its efficiency of energy conversion remains lower than that of silicon-based solar cells. As a result, it is unavoidable to focus on organic solar cell efficiency enhancement. This article presents a nano-composite thin-film developed using zinc oxide (ZnO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a solution casting technique varying weight percentage (wt.%) of ZnO into the PVA matrix. The characterization of the thin-film of ZnO/PVA has been made using SEM, XRD, FTIR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The characterization reveals that the ZnO nanoparticle network forms an excellent path for electron flow in the PVA matrix at the optimal ZnO concentration of 16.66 % and a PVA concentration of 83.33 %. The thin film was applied to an organic solar cell of architecture consists of carbon fiber reinforced with ZnO-epoxy resin/CuO-epoxy resin for performance investigation. The solar cell's maximum efficiency was determined to be 9.01 % before and 14.65 % after using the nanocomposite film. 5.64 % increase in the efficiency of organic solar cells are observed after the ZnO/PVA nanocomposite thin film is applied.

Students’ Satisfaction and University Reputation through Service Quality in Private Higher Educational Institutions in Bangladesh

Mohammad Manjur ALAM,Md. ALAUDDIN,Mohd Yasin SHARIF,Evana Nusrat DOOTY,Syed Md. Hasib AHSAN,Mustafa Manir CHOWDHURY 한국유통과학회 2021 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.8 No.9

Educational institutions play a critical role in national development through the advancement of skilled human resources and intellectual society. The number of higher educational institutions (HEIs) is increasing significantly in Bangladesh. Students have a number of options from which to select their preferred educational institutions. Hence, HEIs should think about the quality of services they provide to students. The objective of this study is to measure students’ satisfaction and university reputation through service quality (SQ) in a private higher educational institution (PriHEI) in Bangladesh. Primary data was collected from 270 students of International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC), Bangladesh, through a simple random sampling technique. In this study, data was analyzed through descriptive statistics, correlation, measurement model using confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that transport services have indirect but medical and physical facilities have both direct and indirect significant effects on overall students’ satisfaction. Further, the administrative services and research facilities have significant indirect effects on overall students’ satisfaction. Finally, the results of structural equation modeling (SEM) confirm that the reputation of the university is directly associated with overall students’ satisfaction.