Efficacy assessment of salicylidene salicylhydrazide in chemotherapy associated peripheral neuropathy.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is an increasingly important problem for cancer survivors and is the foremost cause of drug-induced morbidity. In this study, the antinociceptive efficacy of salicylidene salicylhydrazide (SSH) in CIPN was investigated. SSH was evaluated for acute toxicity, antinociceptive effectiveness against tonic and phasic pain modalities, anti-inflammatory propensity, and effect on motoric balance. SSH was tested in the mouse models of oxaliplatin, paclitaxel, and vincristine associated established neuropathic nociceptive paradigms. The tested doses of SSH (10-75 mg/kg) strongly suppressed the expression of acetic acid-induced tonic visceral nociception, formalin-induced biphasic nociception, and acute phasic thermal nociception. SSH selectively antagonized the capsaicin-elicited nociceptive behavior. SSH produced a significant reduction in the phlogistic agents-induced temporal inflammatory escalation involving prostaglandins, serotonin, and histamine. SSH was devoid of any adverse-effects that impair the neurological processes involved in the arousal and coordination of movements. The neuropathic nociception inflicted by chemotherapeutic agents were expressed as reduced sensitivity to non-noxious mechanical stimuli (mechanical allodynia), increased nociceptive response to cold (cold allodynia), and decreased nociceptive latency to heat (heat hyperalgesia). SSH (50 and 75 mg/kg) significantly suppressed the expression of CIPN-induced established neuropathic allodynia and hyperalgesia and the anti-neuropathic effects were equipotent to gabapentin. These findings concluded that SSH is a novel analgesic that can be useful for treating peripheral neuropathic pain conditions linked with chemotherapy with the advantage of being free of neurological adverse-effects encountered with gabapentinoids.

Efficacy of Gingocap as compared to pyridoxine in the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Nausea and vomiting is the common problem disturbing almost 80% of the females in initial three months of conception and later sometime throughout pregnancy. To find out the efficacy and safety of herbal coded test drug Gingocap in comparison with the control drug Pyridoxine, a randomized clinical case control study was conducted at the OPD of Yusra Medical Centre, Karachi and Amir Habib Medical Center and Maternity Home, Karachi. After administration of test and control drug the frequency of nausea and vomiting was noted after every 2 weeks on 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th weeks during 60 days of the course of study. The percentage of reduction of nausea and vomiting symptoms from the baseline in cases treated with test Gingocap compared to control drug Pyridoxine was recorded. Overall 35 and 30 patients were administered Gingocap and Pyridoxine between 6-16 weeks conception respectively. The data analyzed through T-test using SPSS version 18.0. It was concluded that Gingocap has the potential to relieve the symptoms of nausea and vomiting and exhibited no side effects and this drug was acceptable by maximum number of the patients.

Analysis of factors affecting employee satisfaction: A case study from Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Employee job satisfaction has been a research focal point throughout the world. It is a key factor when measuring the performance of an organization and individuals. A leading engineering goods manufacturing enterprise in Pakistan, has been used in this case study. In Pakistan, very limited research has been done with respect to factors affecting job satisfaction. Some research has been done in medical institutions, banks, universities and the information technology sector but large public sector organizations in Pakistan have not been studied. A theoretical foundation for researching factors affecting job satisfaction in large organizations is outlined. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to analyze various demographic, financial and non-financial factors affecting the satisfaction level of employees and to study the effects across different employee groups. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY: This study is based on quantitative data analysis. The employees of the organization under study have been divided into 10 homogeneous groups based on their departments. Information on job related factors (affecting the satisfaction level) have been collected from subsamples of each group using a self-administered questionnaire. An overall sample of 250 (out of total 1100) employees has been selected. Before conducting the survey, reliability of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's alpha. The normality of data was also examined using the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Hypotheses devised to address the research questions were tested by using non-parametric Spearman correlation and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: The response rate was 73.2%. Research findings indicated the significant factors that affect the satisfaction level of employees. Median group differences existed between responses based on age, work experience, salary and designation (i.e. job position/rank) of employees. Job satisfaction was also positively and significantly associated with job related factors such as pay, promotion, relation with employees, relation with supervisor, work stress and job security. CONCLUSIONS: Job satisfaction of employees was significantly affected by demographic, financial and non-financial factors. Employees who are older than 50 years, with greater experience, and in higher management positions were more satisfied with pay, promotion, work stress, work condition and working environment. The employees' departments did not play any significant role in affecting satisfaction levels.