Automated Laboratory Launched, First in Pakistan
20 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in AKU Pakistan Tags: AKU, Hospital, Laboratory
Pakistan’s first fully automated biochemistry laboratory was inaugurated at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi today by Mr Firoz Rasul, President of the University.
This state-of-the-art lab, capable of processing 8-10 million clinical chemistry tests annually, represents a milestone in diagnostic testing in Pakistan. For the patient it means even more accurate test results within a shorter period of time. For AKUH, it will increase the clinical laboratory’s workload capacity two- to three-fold.
“With over 700 test menus offered, the University Hospital’s laboratories perform over seven million tests every year, processing samples from Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, the UAE, East Africa and Central Asia,” said Dr Farooq Ghani, Director, Clinical Laboratories, AKUH. “The automated system has streamlined and improved the analysis of blood samples, increasing not only our capacity but our efficiency as we can provide improved quality, a reduction in lab errors and a shorter and more predictable turnaround time.” The system also requires less space and fewer staff helping meet cost improvement objectives. More
13 Common (But Silly) Superstitions
15 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Brain Sciences, Psychology, Science Tags: Human Behaviour, Psychology
By Stephanie Pappas
If you are spooked by Friday the 13th, you’re in for a whammy of a year. This week’s unlucky day is the first of three for 2012. And it would come as no surprise if many among us hold at least some fear of freaky Friday, as we humans are a superstitious lot.
Many superstitions stem from the same human trait that causes us to believe in monsters and ghosts: When our brains can’t explain something, we make stuff up. In fact, a 2010 study found that superstitions can sometimes work, because believing in something can improve performance on a task.
Here, then, are 13 of the most common superstitions.
13. Beginner’s luck Usually grumbled by an expert who just lost a game to a novice, “beginner’s luck” is the idea that newbies are unusually likely to win when they try out a sport, game or activity for the first time.
Beginners might come out ahead in some cases because the novice is less stressed out about winning. Too much anxiety, after all, can hamper performance. Or it could just be a statistical fluke, especially in chance-based gambling games.
Or, like many superstitions, a belief in beginner’s luck might arise because of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a psychological phenomenon in which people are more likely to remember events that fit their worldview. If you believe you’re going to win because you’re a beginner, you’re more likely to remember all the times you were right and forget the times you ended up in last place. More
What Your Eyes Say About Who You Are?
15 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Science, Technology Tags: Brain Sciences, Eyes, Physical Science, Research
Using eye-tracking technology, scientists are discovering clues to how we think and learn
By Annie Murphy Paul
As you read these words, try paying attention to something you usually never notice: the movements of your eyes. While you scan these lines of text, or glance at that ad over there or look up from the screen at the room beyond, your eyes are making tiny movements, called saccades, and brief pauses, called fixations. Scientists are discovering that eye movement patterns — where we look, and for how long — reveals important information about how we read, how we learn and even what kind of people we are.
Researchers are able to identify these patterns thanks to the development of eye-tracking technology: video cameras that record every minuscule movement of the eyes. Such equipment, originally developed to study the changes in vision experienced by astronauts in zero-gravity conditions, allows scientists to capture and analyze that always-elusive entity, attention. The way we move our eyes, it turns out, is a reliable indicator of what seizes our interest and of what distracts us. Scientists are now using eye-tracking technology to explore how we learn from text and images, including those viewed onscreen. More
Aga Khan seeks a way to make unstable democracies work
14 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
Imam of world’s Shia Ismaili Muslims given honorary doctorate from U of O
- Chancellor Huguette Labelle of the University of Ottawa, left, His Highness, the Aga Khan and University of Ottawa president Allan Rock chat following the honours ceremony Friday.
The list of honours the Aga Khan has received during his illustrious lifetime consumes three pages in Wikipedia. In this country alone, he’s been named an honorary Companion of the Order of Canada and granted honorary Canadian citizenship – just the fifth person, and first Muslim, ever so honoured. He also has 19 honorary degrees from universities around the world, including five from Canadian institutions.The latest came Friday from the University of Ottawa, which awarded him an honorary doctorate for his service to humanity.
The 75-year-old hereditary Imam of the world’s Shia Ismaili Muslims, who assumed the position in 1957, has earned the recognition. An unstinting advocate of the virtues of pluralism, he’s the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, now one of the world’s largest private development networks. ”His work has bettered the lives of people in communities around the world,” said Huguette Labelle, who awarded the honorary degree Friday as her last official function as chancellor of the University of Ottawa. More
International Financial Reporting Standards – Pocket Guide 2011
13 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
The complete International Financial Reporting Standards – Pocket Guide 2011 is available for Download in Pdf Version.
The Book can be download from:
*Note: The Book is in Pdf format, first Install Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or laterDrinking Coffee can reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes
13 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Diabetes, Health Tags: Coffee, huma, Human Behaviour, Human Health, Psychology
Why do heavy coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a disease on the increase around the world that can lead to serious health problems? Scientists are offering a new solution to that long-standing mystery in a report in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.
Ling Zheng, Kun Huang and colleagues explain that previous studies show that coffee drinkers are at a lower risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90-95 percent of diabetes cases in the world. Those studies show that people who drink four or more cups of coffee daily have a 50 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. And every additional cup of coffee brings another decrease in risk of almost 7 percent. Scientists have implicated the misfolding of a substance called human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) in causing Type 2 diabetes, and some are seeking ways to block that process. Zheng and Huang decided to see if coffee’s beneficial effects might be due to substances that block hIAPP. More
Want to know the Language of Lies?
13 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Brain Sciences, Psychology, Science Tags: Brain, Mind Sciences, People, Psychology, social cognition, social emotions, social psychology
It turns out to be difficult to tell when other people are lying
By Art Markman
There are lots of cues that we believe will tip us off to whether someone is telling the truth. We expect people telling the truth to be more confident, to look us in the eye when they talk, and to speak more fluently. But, these cues aren’t really reliable indicators of truth telling. Someone might be uncomfortable talking about a topic and look away from you, yet still be telling you the absolute truth.
A nice set of studies by Tom Gilovich, Kenneth Savitsky, and Victoria Medvec in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1998 made this point. They had people answer questions about themselves to a group. Some people were asked to tell the truth, while other people were told to lie. Afterward, the speakers who lied were asked to rate how many people in the room would think they were lying, while those in the audience rated each speaker for whether they were telling the truth or lying. Speakers who were told to lie strongly overestimated how many people would know they were lying. They felt as though the evidence for the lie was leaking out of them, even though the audience actually had a hard time determining who was lying and who was telling the truth. More
Online dating 2.0.1.2
10 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Brain Sciences, Psychology, Science
The mistletoe may be tucked away for another year, but Valentine’s Day tchotchkes already are overflowing on store shelves. And in these weeks between Christmas day and Cupid’s night, Internet dating sites reportedly see a surge in traffic.
Social psychologists say that’s true now more than ever. In years past, people were more skeptical about putting personal information online and didn’t know which sites to trust. Has that changed? Social networking sites are a daily, if not hourly, habit for millions of Americans. So why not put your Facebook profile on OkCupid, too?
Plus, sites such as eHarmony and Match.com have been advertising long enough that their brand name recognition adds to a sense of trust for singletons. Nevertheless, does this increasing popularity correlate to their effectiveness? If the Internet made shopping for books and music easier, can it simplify match-making, too? More
Why we make Bad Decisions???
29 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Brain Sciences, Psychology, Science Tags: Emotional Intelligence, Mind, Mind Sciences, Parents, People, Psychology, social cognition, social emotions, social psychology
From Occupy Wall Street to on-line dating, our surroundings can dictate the choices we make.
By Hannah Tepper
What role do our surroundings have in the choices we make? Consider the fact that we are more likely to commit a “random” act of kindness toward a person who has already done something kind toward us. We are less likely to help someone in serious trouble when we’re in a crowd, or choose different professions based on the sound and spelling of our first names. It turns out the context in which we make our decisions has a huge impact on their outcomes.
In his new book “Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World,” author Sam Sommers, an associate professor of psychology at Tufts University, looks at what context can teach us about everything from test questions to romantic partners to career choices. Sommers offers a fascinating glimpse into the way our most important judgments are framed by the world around us. More
‘Baby brain’ is real… and it do makes you a better mom
27 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Brain Sciences, Health, Mental Health, MotherHood, Psychology, Science, Women Development, Women Health Tags: Child Health, Early Childhood Development, Health, Mind, Mind Sciences, Mother, Pregnancy, Psychology, Women
Pregnant women DO suffer short-term memory loss …but that’s so because your brain keep focusing on the needs of your baby – New Research claims.
By Sophie Borland
Pregnant women have long complained that their condition makes them forgetful. Now a researcher has claimed there may be scientific truth in this ‘baby brain’ syndrome – and that there is a very good reason why expectant mothers develop short-term memory loss. The suggestion is that women’s brains change during pregnancy so that they will be better able to concentrate on their newborn’s needs after the birth, with the result that they become less focused on other things, such as where the car keys might be.
Laura Glynn, a psychologist at Chapman University, California, claims that these changes may be brought about by massive fluctuations in women’s hormones as well as tiny movements by the foetus. Dr Glynn has carried out extensive research on already published studies that look at how women’s brains and emotions change during pregnancy. She said that there ‘may be some cost’ of these changes – such as absent-mindedness – ‘but the benefit is a more sensitive, effective mother’. More
Pigeons can do maths – study
27 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Wild Life Tags: Animal Psychology, Birds, Brain Sciences, Pigeons, Research, Wildlife
Pigeons may not be so bird-brained after all, as scientists have found the birds’ ability to understand numbers is on par with that of primates.
By Joseph Castro
Previous studies have shown that various animals, from honeybees to chimpanzees, can learn to count when trained with food rewards. In 1998, researchers discovered that rhesus monkeys can not only learn to count to four, but can also pick up on numerical rules and apply them to numbers they haven’t seen before, allowing them to count up to nine without further training. With this finding in mind, psychologists at the University of Otago, in New Zealand, sought to find out if pigeons another animal shown to count have a numerical competence similar to rhesus monkeys. More
Rheumatoid Arthritis – A Joint Disease which can be helped by Exercises – study
27 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Health, Joints Tags: Arthritis, disease, Health, Hospital, Medical, Physical Science, Research, Rheumatoid Arthritis
“Mindfulness” exercises, irrespective of how difficult they are, it can help to limit the stress and fatigue linked to painful rheumatoid joint disease.
by Petra Rattue
A small study published online in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases reveals that “Mindfulness” exercises, irrespective of how difficult they are, that focus on experiencing the present moment can help to limit the stress and fatigue linked to painful rheumatoid joint disease.
Researchers assessed 73 patients aged between 20 and 70 years with painful joint disease due to rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or psoriatic arthritisfor a minimum of 12 months. Half of the patients were randomly allocated to receive 10 group sessions of “mindfulness” exercises over a course of 15 weeks, plus a booster session about 6 months following the completion of the course, whilst the other half received standard care plus a CD with similar exercises home use, as and when they wanted. More
Study shows Mom-Child Bonding may make them Stable in their Adult relationship
23 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Psychology, Science Tags: Adults, Child behaviour, Human Behaviour, Mothers, Psychology
The bonding between a baby and the mother may affect the child”s romantic relationships later in adulthood, a new study has found.
The more a baby is attached to his mom during childhood, the better he is at resolving relationship conflicts and enjoying stable, satisfying ties with their romantic partners in early adulthood, the researchers found. ”It”s often very difficult to find the lingering effects of early life being related to adult behaviour, because life circumstances change,” said study author Jeffry Simpson, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota. More
Helping your Loved Ones to lose weight will be the best gift in this Christmas
22 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Health, Heart Tags: food, Health, Obesity
Christmas may be a time of indulging for many, but health experts believe it is the perfect time to tell a loved one they are overweight.
The National Obesity Forum and International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk said it was important to be upfront because of the health risks. Being overweight – particularly around the waist – increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. But a poll by the groups suggests too many people shy away from the issue.
The survey of more than 2,000 people found 42% of 18 to 24-year-olds would not tell a loved one they should lose weight because of a fear they would hurt the other person’s feelings. For those aged 25 to 44 it was just over a third, while for older people it was about one in four. Men find it hardest to tell their partners, while women were more worried about bringing up the issue with a friend. More
Going through some Hard times may make people Strong
22 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Brain Sciences, Health, Mental Health, Psychology, Science Tags: Brain Sciences, Emotional Intelligence, Mental Health, People, Psychology
The number of adverse experiences may determine whether someone becomes more resilient and better able to handle what life throws at him or her.
By Jeannine Stein
During the holidays people can experience an enormous amount of stress, even more so these days with a bad economy thrown in. But a study finds that having some adverse experiences in the past may make you mentally tougher.
A meta-analysis of studies that looked at how traumatic events affect mental health and well-being found a pattern. Those on opposite ends of the spectrum — people who had no or few hardships or many adversities — generally had worse coping skills than those who had some bad times, such as a serious illness or injury to themselves or a loved one, a death in the family or a divorce. More
Knee Pain Common In Older Women
21 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Health, Life Long Study, Women Development, Women Health Tags: Arthritis, Health, Hospital, Medical, Research, Women, Women's Health
Written by Catharine Paddock
It appears that knee pain of some kind is a common complaint in middle-aged and mature women, with varying possible causes leading to varying types of pain. A new study on knee-pain patterns assessed periodically over 12 years in a representative UK population finds that nearly two-thirds (63%) of women aged 50 and over experience knee pain at least once, persistently, or intermittently over such a period. The authors found these patterns were more likely in women with higher BMI, with a previous knee injury, or whose scans showed they had osteoarthritis (OA). They write about their findings in the 19 December online issue of the journalArthritis & Rheumatism.
Senior author Dr Nigel Arden, a Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Oxford in the UK, told the media that this was the first study involving community-based participants that investigates patterns of knee pain using “multiple assessment points” over a period of 12 years: ”Understanding the prevalence and predictors of knee pain is the first step in developing comprehensive pain assessment plans that could lead to more targeted treatment options for those burdened by OA.” More
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