BACKGROUND: At present osteoporosis has come into view as a major health concern. Skeletal diseases typified by weak and fragile bones have imposed threats of fissure. Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is known to induce osteoblast like differentiation and provide mechanical strength, hence, used in bone tissue engineering; whereas, Nigella Sativa has also demonstrated potential to treat bone and muscle diseases. This study was aimed to develop potential orthopedic scaffold exploiting natural resources of Saudi Arabia which can be used as prospective tissue engineering implant. METHODS: The bone scaffold was developed by grafting biogenic HAP with Nigella Sativa essential oil. Nigella Sativa was applied for boosting osteogenesis and to stimulate antimicrobial potential. Antimicrobial potential was investigated utilizing S. aureus bacteria. Spectroscopic and surface characters of Nigella Sativa grafted HAP scaffolds were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography and Scanning electron microscopy. To ensure biocompatibility of scaffolds; we selected C2C12 cell-lines; best model to study mechanistic pathways related to osteoblasts and myoblasts differentiation. RESULTS: Grafting of HAP with Nigella Sativa did not affect typical spherical silhouette of nanoparticles. Characteristically; protein loaded polynucleated myotubes are result of in vitro myogenesis of C2C12 myoblasts in squat serum environment. CONCLUSION It is first study of unique combination of Nigella Sativa and HAP scaffold as a possible candidate of implantation for skeletal muscles regeneration. Outcome of this finding revealed Nigella Sativa grafted HAP enhance differentiation significantly over that of HAP. The proposed scaffold will be an economical natural material for hard and soft tissue engineering and will aid in curing skeletal muscle diseases. Our findings have implications for treatment of muscular/ bone diseases.

BACKGROUND: At present osteoporosis has come into view as a major health concern. Skeletal diseases typified by weak and fragile bones have imposed threats of fissure. Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is known to induce osteoblast like differentiation and provide mechanical strength, hence, used in bone tissue engineering; whereas, Nigella Sativa has also demonstrated potential to treat bone and muscle diseases. This study was aimed to develop potential orthopedic scaffold exploiting natural resources of Saudi Arabia which can be used as prospective tissue engineering implant. METHODS: The bone scaffold was developed by grafting biogenic HAP with Nigella Sativa essential oil. Nigella Sativa was applied for boosting osteogenesis and to stimulate antimicrobial potential. Antimicrobial potential was investigated utilizing S. aureus bacteria. Spectroscopic and surface characters of Nigella Sativa grafted HAP scaffolds were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography and Scanning electron microscopy. To ensure biocompatibility of scaffolds; we selected C2C12 cell-lines; best model to study mechanistic pathways related to osteoblasts and myoblasts differentiation. RESULTS: Grafting of HAP with Nigella Sativa did not affect typical spherical silhouette of nanoparticles. Characteristically; protein loaded polynucleated myotubes are result of in vitro myogenesis of C2C12 myoblasts in squat serum environment. CONCLUSION It is first study of unique combination of Nigella Sativa and HAP scaffold as a possible candidate of implantation for skeletal muscles regeneration. Outcome of this finding revealed Nigella Sativa grafted HAP enhance differentiation significantly over that of HAP. The proposed scaffold will be an economical natural material for hard and soft tissue engineering and will aid in curing skeletal muscle diseases. Our findings have implications for treatment of muscular/ bone diseases.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between need satisfaction and mental well-being among university students in perspective of gender and job status. The sample was randomly selected from different universities of Islamabad, comprised of (N=160; n=80: working; n=40 males, n=40 females, n=80: n=40 males, n=40 females non-working) university students. Age range was 20 to 40. Basic need satisfaction scale was used to measure the satisfaction of basic needs and The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale was used to assess the mental well-being. Results found that Basic Need Satisfaction and Mental Wellbeing has significant relationship (r=0.30, p=0.000) among university students. Results revealed that there was a significant difference of basic need satisfaction (t=-4.68, p<0.000) and mental wellbeing ((t=3.21, p<0.002) between male working and female working students. Female working students have high basic need satisfaction (M=88.93, SD=19.47) and Mental well-being (M=52.88, SD=9.14) than male working students. While no significant difference of Basic Need Satisfaction (t=0.64) and Mental Wellbeing (t=-1.31) among overall sample in perspective of gender and job status.

BACKGROUND: In this study an approach was made to efficaciously synthesize gold enhanced titania nanorods by electrospinning. This study aims to address effects of gold enhanced titania nanorods on muscle precursor cells. Additionally, implant related microbial infections are prime cause of various disastrous diseases. So, there is predictable demand for synthesis of novel materials with multifunctional adaptability. METHODS: Herein, gold nanoparticles were attached on titania nanorods and described using many sophisticated procedures such as XRD, SEM, EDX and TEM. Antimicrobial studies were probed against Gram-negative Escherichia coli. C2C12 cell lines were exposed to various doses of as-prepared gold enhanced titania nanorods in order to test in vitro cytotoxicity and proliferation. Cell sustainability was assessed through Cell Counting Kit–8 assay at regular intervals. A phase-contrast microscope was used to examine morphology of exposed C2C12 cells and confocal laser scanning microscope was used to quantify cell viability. RESULTS: The findings indicate that titania nanorods enhanced with gold exhibit superior antimicrobial efficacy compared to pure titania. Furthermore, newly synthesized gold-enhanced titania nanorods illustrate that cell viability follows a time and concentration dependent pattern. CONCLUSION Consequently, our study provides optimistic findings indicating that titania nanorods adorned with gold hold significant potential as foundational resource for developing forthcoming antimicrobial materials, suitable for applications both in medical and biomedical fields. This work also demonstrates that in addition to being extremely biocompatible, titania nanorods with gold embellishments may be used in a range of tissue engineering applications in very near future.

To explore the effect of social media burnout on loneliness and body image among university students in Pakistan. Current study was conducted in Riphah International University Islamabad, Pakistan and comprised of 306 university students including 152 male and 154 females with age range from 19-29 years. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 students including 10 male and 10 females to explore the effect of social media usage on body image. Cross sectional research design was used in which quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. UCLA loneliness scale by Russell was used to assess loneliness. Multi-dimensional body self-relations scale by Cash was used to measure body image and social media burnout scale developed by Han was used to measure social media burnout. Findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between social media burnout and dissatisfaction with body image (r=0.175, p<0.01) and positive relationship exists between social media burnout and loneliness (r=0.187, p<0.01). There is also a positive relationship between loneliness and dissatisfaction with body image (r=0.314, p<0.01). Female students feel more exhausted by social media than male students (t=4.28, p<0.01). Loneliness and body dissatisfaction are found to be high in social media exhausted university students. Loneliness also leads to dissatisfaction with body image. Female university students got social media burnout more quickly than male students.

Introduction: It is agreed all over the world that liver cancer can influence a woman's approach of self-acceptance and self-efficacy. Limited literature addressing levels of self-acceptance and self-efficacy separately among women with liver cancer is available in Pakistani population. Objectives: The aim was to study the role of self-acceptance and self-efficacy among women with liver cancer, and to analyse the influence of socio-personal characteristics of women with their self-efficacy. . Data Source and Settings: To address the objectives, a sample of 60 women (N=60) was selected from different hospitals of Islamabad. Period: The duration of the study was 6 months Methods : The present study made use of the two scales i.e., self-efficacy scale and Self-Acceptance. Clinical group was selected through random sampling to collect data from different hospitals of Islamabad. Results: To determine the psychometric properties; alpha correlation, and t-test analysis and ANOVA were computed. Self-acceptance and self-efficacy was found significantly associated with each other. Results indicated that the low sense of identity as a whole, leads women to be low self-efficacy regarding their abilities in their daily lives. There was also a significant difference in demographic variables on Self-acceptance and self-efficacy. Conclusion It is concluded from the finding of the current study that women suffering from liver cancer demonstrated low level of Self-Acceptance. Several associated factors with self-acceptance and self-efficacy were also found among female liver cancer patients of Islamabad.

The current study aimed to determine efficacy of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for the emotional dysregulation and mental health of visually impaired adolescents. In a quantitative pre-post design, a purposive convenient sample of seven visually impaired adolescents with age range of 18 to 23 was recruited. Difficulties in emotion regulation scale were used to recruit the participants. After baseline assessment participants were subjected to six individual sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy. One week after the completion of intervention phase post test scores were obtained. A paired sample t-test and Reliable Change Index were applied. Results showed that there was significant difference of emotion dysregulation and mental health. Individual analyses were also performed. Tau-u statistics showed that ACT is an effective approach to enhance emotion dysregulation and mental health issues in visually impaired adolescent. The results of the study have important implications for clinical practitioners.

Aims: Mobile phones are used extensively by healthcare workers (HCWs) who are unaware of the amount of contamination these phones carry and act as reservoirs for organisms causing hospital-acquired infections. This investigation was aimed to find the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination and antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolates from HCW’s cellphones. Methodology and results: This study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. A total of 120 samples were isolated from HCWs’ cellphones and subjected to culture and sensitivity as per the standard guidelines. Five (18.1%) out of 120 collected samples were from 11 lab technicians’ phones and were positive for S. aureus and 6.25% were obtained from 48 nurses’ cellphone swabs. Conclusion, significance and impact of study The findings of this study reveal that HCWs’ cellphones could be apossible source of infection since a high prevalence of MRSA was found on lab technicians and nurse cellphone sample swabs. On the other hand, all S. aureus isolates were resistant to methicillin and ceftazidime. Also, no significant relationship between the prevalence of MRSA was detected.