FINANCIAL STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN’S’ RUGBY IN SRI LANKA

The Sri Lankan women’s rugby team has not achieved the same level of international success as the Sri Lankan men's rugby team. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the financial stability of female rugby players in Sri Lanka and assess their accomplishments in rugby. Employing a qualitative research design, a thematic analysis is conducted through one-to-one, open-ended telephone interviews. The sample comprised 12 women rugby players who had participated in at least two provincial-level tournaments in Sri Lanka. Among them, four players represented military forces, while the remaining eight played for rugby clubs in Sri Lanka. Five key themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) purchasing ability and the use of nutritional supplements for rugby; (2) access to infrastructure facilities for women’s rugby; (3) quality of coaching and support from team officials for women rugby players; (4) structure of payments for women’s rugby; and (5) acquisition of high-quality rugby gear. All participants confirmed that their current financial situations do not allow them to support their rugby endeavors adequately. The lack of financial support impedes women rugby players’ ability to purchase nutritional supplements, sports equipment and cover domestic travel expenses for accessing better training facilities. However, respondents noted that the support they receive from their rugby coaches motivates them to continue playing despite their financial challenges. In conclusion, ensuring the financial stability of female rugby players would provide them with essential resources, including the ability to purchase nutrition supplements, access better infrastructure facilities, and acquire high-quality rugby gear. This support is crucial for ensuring their performance in rugby

Benzodiazepine use among adults residing in the urban settlements of Karachi, Pakistan: A cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are hardly any studies carried out in Pakistan on the usage of benzodiazepines at the level of community. This research was aimed to determine the frequency of benzodiazepine use, along with its associations with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics among community dwelling adults, residing in two urban settlements of Karachi, Pakistan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a cross sectional study from August 2008 to December 2009, in 2 areas of Karachi, namely Garden and Sultanabad. We followed the systematic sampling strategy to randomly select the households, with an adult of either sex and of age 18 years or more. Data collection was carried out through interview, using a pre-tested questionnaire, with items on socio-demographic position, medical history and benzodiazepine use. Student's t-test and χ²test was employed to determine the associations between socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and their relationship with benzodiazepine use was determined using applied logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall percentage of benzodiazepine consumption was estimated to be 14%. There were significantly more benzodiazepine users in the peri-urban Sultanabad community to the urban community of Garden (p-value = 0.001). The mean age (± SD) for users was 51.3 (± 15.6) years compared to 37.1 (± 14.4) years among non-users. Bromazepam was the most widely used benzodiazepine (29%); followed by diazepam, with a median duration on primary use being 144 weeks (IQR = 48-240). The adjusted logistic regression model revealed that increasing age, location, female sex, unemployment and psychiatric consultation were associated with increased likelihood of benzodiazepine use.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We believe the unregulated over-the-counter sales of benzodiazepines and social conditions might be playing a role in this high consumption of benzodiazepines in the community.</p

Significance of Elevated Blood Metal Ion Levels in Patients with Metal-on-Metal Prostheses: An Evaluation of Oxidative Stress Markers

It is widely known that cobalt and chromium ions can enhance the production of reactive oxygen species, known to be damaging to cells by disturbing their redox status and then generating oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to determine if increased metal ion levels induce a state of oxidative stress in patients with metal-on-metal (MM) hip arthroplasty. Results indicated that there was no significant difference in the concentration of oxidative stress markers (total antioxidants, peroxides, and nitrated proteins) in the patients with MM bearings compared to patients without prostheses. The activity antioxidant enzymes was stable (catalase and glutathione peroxidase) or slightly decreased (superoxide dismutase and heme oxygenase-1) over time. This work is the first to determine the biological effects of metal ions released from MM hip implants with regards to mid-term systemic oxidative stress and showed that the increased levels of Co and Cr ions are not associated with significant oxidative stress damage in the plasma of patients with these implants

A UI/UX Evaluation Framework for Blockchain-Based Applications

The decentralised nature and the traceability of multi-chain transactions increase the use of blockchain technology in various domains such as finance, supply chain, health, governance, and entertainment [1]. There remains a need for more studies about the usefulness of blockchain technology in different applications, particularly requiring an understanding of the effectiveness of blockchain adoption. There is also a need for providing standards for evaluating and measuring the User Interface (UI)/ User Experience (UX) functionalities. In fact, there are only a few studies that have evaluated the UI/UX aspects of the blockchain space. Appropriately evaluating the design of a UI will enable the enhancement of the UX and facilitates a deeper understanding of the usefulness of the technology. In this research, we propose a novel evaluation framework to measure the UI/UX aspects of blockchain-enabled applications based on the requirements, volume of data, and performance. We demonstrate the utility and usability evaluations of the framework through a case study of a visualisation tool for blockchain transactions. The outcome of the evaluation shows that due to the intrinsic nature of the blockchain the UI elements of its applications need special consideration in performance and responsiveness. These could enhance the potential use of this emerging technology and bring confidence among stakeholders to integrate that into their core business or daily life.No Full Tex

A Step Down Transformerless Single Switch Integerated Buck and Buck-Boost Converter

This paper presents about the designing of the controller for integrated Buck Buck-Boost converter for maintaining the constant DC output voltage. This constant output voltage can be used for low voltage application. The absence of transformer includes the advantages of losses is less, efficient power factor and high efficiency. It provides the simple control structure with the positive constant output voltage .It operates on the closed loop with the designing of the PI controller for a MOSFET switch to provide the gate pulse. Whatever may be the input voltage it will produce the constant output voltage. The converter is successfully done by using MAT Lab/Simulink and verified the error reducing to negligible values