A Study of School Lunch Habits in Primary School Children during Recess Time

Children are the asset of any nation. These should be take heed very carefully. The paper aims to examine the eating habits of children during recess time in primary schools of Hyderabad, a city of Pakistan. Recess is the crucial time for the healthy development of the school children. Continue teaching and learning process in a particular classroom without taking any food makes the students tired and fatigue which ultimately affects their learning. The main objective of the study was to explore the food items that are mostly taken up by the children during recess time and their reason. For the study, all Government primary schools of Hyderabad city were selected as the population while; convenient method of sampling was used to select the 80 children from 20 selected primary schools. Qualitative method approach was used to collect the data from these students which consist of an interview schedule. The findings show that majority of the students neither eat breakfast at home nor bring food from home to eat during recess time and like to take food from the pushcarts standing inside or the outside the school. Keywords: School lunch, Recess time, Health, Primary school Children

Critical Analysis of the Impact of Job on the Social Status of Women in Pakistan

Although the larger portion of the world population is women but hardly 25% women are employed. Furthermore, they have been given second class status. Considering the need and importance of job for women, a survey regarding the impact of job on the social status of women has been conducted. A sample of 100 employed and 100 unemployed women was randomly selected from access population for the study. The findings of the study showed that there was significant effect of the job on the social status and empowerment of women. The employed women of the urban area had got more opportunities than the employed women of rural area. The marriages of women were also closely associated with their jobs. However, to unemployed women, the social status of men and women was equal but employed women, rejecting the statement, believed that social status of men was higher than women at their work place. Nevertheless, the social status of employed women was higher than unemployed men. Keywords: Social status, job, marriage, empowerment & workplace

Testing for explosivity in US-Pak Exchange Rate via Sequential ADF Procedures

Global Financial Crises (GFC) of 2007-08 has disclosed the fact that economists and policymakers were unable to foresee bubble in housing prices in the US and other countries that consequently triggered the economic downturn. However, serious attempts have been made afterwards by researchers towards early identification of asset price bubbles, so that necessary policy measures could be taken to avoid any future mishap. Current study is conducted in similar vein to identify bubbles in nominal Dollar to Pakistani Rs exchange rate, from January 1982 to May 2020. Whether any identified bubble in nominal exchange rate is a rational bubble or otherwise generated by fundamentals, nominal exchange rate is adjusted for traded goods price differential and non-traded goods price differential in two countries as there is growing trend to take underlying fundamentals into account while studying asset prices to get accurate results on bubble detection (Bettendorf and Chen, 2013; Jiang et al., 2015 and Hu & Oxley, 2017). Further to explore whether nature of bubble changes with regime switching from managed floating to flexible floating in Pakistan is an addition of the study. Results of Generalized sup Augmented Dicky-Fuller (GSADF) test show that traded goods fundamental fully explain the movements in exchange rates even when non-traded goods are taken into account. Exchange rates were volatile both in managed floating and flexible floating regimes. However, volatility in only managed floating regime can be attributed to traded goods price difference. Various explosive episodes have been observed during flexible floating regime, which are either collapse or collapse and recovery phases

Behavioral Characteristics Rated by District Education Officers (DEOs) for Effective Principalship

The purpose of this study was to investigate, by means of quantitative research methods, District Education Officers (DEOs) perceptions regarding the behavioral characteristics of effective secondary schhol principals. The major findings were based on the results of the eight interviews conducted with DEOs. In an effort to determine the findings, the research worked with the data, organizing it, breaking it down question by question, interview by interview, then synthesizing it searching for patterns of responses. It was noted that DEOs value common aspects of the principal’s role differently and to avoid degrees. If the principalship is about leadership and effective leadership is defined differently by different people, then what an effective principal does may be viewed differently. Key Words: Perception, District Education Officer (DEO), Effectivity, Principal, Leadership, Behavioral Characteristics

Assessment of Triglycerides Levels in Gestational Diabetes - A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the impaired glucose tolerance that is recognized first time during pregnancy. When a woman gets pregnant, glucose intolerance increases and manifests as a positive GDM diagnosis. It has been considered a transient condition because after delivery the majority of cases return to normoglycemic levels. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad. Data were collected in a period of 06 months between July 2020 to January 2021. A total of 100 women were included in the study and 5cc of their blood was taken from the vein under aseptic measures for measuring serum triglyceride levels after 12 hours of overnight fasting. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 20.0. Results: The overall mean Serum Triglyceride level of study subjects was 181.17±33.62 mg/dl, with a range of 151-359 mg/dl. Around two-third, 66% of women had <181 mg/dl of Serum Triglyceride level, and 34% of patients had it >181 mg/dl. Our observation was that the mean level of Serum Triglyceride was not different significantly among age, BMI, gestational age, educational and socio-economic groups with p-value >0.05.Conclusion: This study highlights that the circulating mean triglyceride level in GDM subjects was significantly elevated from the normal pregnancy levels

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

NONCLOSURE OF PERITONEUM

Introduction: This study reflects the comparison between closure Vs nonclosureof peritoneum during Caesarian section. Objectives: The aims of study are: 1. To makea comparative trial between closure versus nonclosure of peritoneum during cesarean section.2. To know the requirement of postoperative analgesia in each group of patients. Study Design:A randomized controlled trial. Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Arar CentralHospital, North Zone, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Duration of Study with Dates: The durationof study was six months from 02-07-2012 to 01-01-2013. Subjects and Methods: A total of170 patients (85 in each group) were included in this study. Parietal peritoneum was closedusing a continuous absorbable suture in closure group. In non-closure group both layers wereremained unsutured. Results: Both groups of patients had equal availability of analgesia, butthe women in the non closure group used significantly less mean number of narcotic analgesicdoses during the first 24 hours after cesarean section. Besides, the operation time and exposureto anesthesia was found less in the non-closure group. Conclusion: Non-closure of peritoneumat caesarean section produces a significant reduction in postoperative analgesic requirement.</jats:p