External Determinants of Growth and Growth Projections: SAARC and Pakistan

In the global trading arena, the regional integration perhaps represents the most important legacy of the 20th century. This paper focuses on the scope and promise of economic cooperation between the SAARC region countries. Descriptive statistics is used to provide the evidence for the argument that very high share of trade in the GDP of the region’s economies exposes them to external shocks in a potentially harmful manner, and these countries ought to be paying greater attention to increasing the size of their economies. In order to determine the importance of the external sector in the economies of the region, a simultaneous equations model is formulated and estimated, utilising the pooled data for the period from 1972–2001, by applying the 2SLS technique. The coefficients of two of the three external sector variables included in the model, namely, export earnings and trade balance, turn out to be significant, providing the evidence on the importance of the external sector in the economic growth of the SAARC region countries. Keeping in view that Pakistan needs to adopt sustainable growth strategies, the authors maintain that extended economic cooperation within the SAARC region is the most viable alternative for the country. The argument is substantiated with the help of inferential statistics, providing the evidence that exports to SAARC countries are positively related with the economic growth of Pakistan. The simulation output also shows that increasing and diverting the country’s exports to the SAARC region have positive impact in terms of growth projections. By estimating and simulating another model, it is inferred that in the short run, diverting exports to both the SAARC and ASEAN region countries appears to be a viable strategy to help Pakistan move towards greater integration within the SAARC region, and that the SAARC forums must make meaningful progress in terms of delivering concrete results.Trade, Economic Growth, Pakistan

External Determinants of Growth and Growth Projections: SAARC and Pakistan

The world is increasingly being divided into regions. The regional trading blocs are becoming more and more deepened and widened around the globe. The European Union (EU) has already reached a stage approximating to the trading relations usually found within a country rather than between the countries. The existence of regional economic groups, particularly in European and American continents, pose a range of theoretical, empirical and organisational questions for developing countries like Pakistan who depend on the countries of these regions for a significantly high share of their international trade. This paper focuses on the prospects of extended economic cooperation of Pakistan with the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).1 The argument is structured around three parts. Part I reviews the theoretical rationale of regional economic cooperation and the recent developments shaping the trading relations within the cooperating blocs. Part II critically evaluates the relative size and significance of the external sector of the SAARC region countries, along with presenting statistical estimates of the major external determinants of the region’s economic growth. Finally, Part III estimates the relationship of major directions of Pakistan’s exports with the economic growth of the country and presents the growth projections by increasing and diverting the exports to the SAARC and ASEAN region countries

Association of oxidative stress with female infertility - a case control study

Objective: To compare stress markers and reproductive hormones in fertile and infertile females, and to relate the markers with age, duration and cause of infertility, and body mass index..Methods: The case-control study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from March 2017 to February 2018. Females aged 16-50 years regardless of ethnic background were recruited from the Australian Concept Infertility Medical Centre, Karachi, and were equally divided into infertile cases group A, and fertile controls group B. Serum follicular stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, glutathione reductase and cortisol were measured using enzyme-linked innmunosorbent assay. SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis..Results: There were 328 female subjects divided into two equal groups of 164(50%). Serum luteinizing hormone and cortisol was higher in the group A than in group B (p\u3c0.001). Serum glutathione reductase was low in group A compared to group B (p\u3c0.001). Duration of infertility, serum levels of glutathione reductase and cortisol were also significantly different among infertile females when distributed on the basis of cause of infertility (p\u3c0.05). Serum cortisol had negative correlation with glutathione reductase (p\u3c0.001). Age and body mass index had a positive correlation with serum cortisol (p=0.035; p=0.63), while there was a negative correlation with glutathione reductase (p = -0.732)..Conclusions: Prolonged duration of infertility, age of females and body mass index enhanced the production of stress hormones and decreased antioxidant activity which augmented the risk of infertility

Effectiveness of Mckenzie Traction and Exercises on Neck Pain Secondary to Upper Crossed Syndrome.

OBJECTIVES:  To examine the effects of McKenzie traction and exercises on neck pain, cervical ranges, functional activities and posture secondary to upper crossed syndrome. METHODS: Randomized control trial was conducted on patient of neck pain secondary to upper crossed syndrome from physical therapy setups of Lahore and Sargodha in total six months. 120 patients of 20-60 years’ age group were allocated in two groups (experimental and control), both contained 60 respondents, both groups received neck pain exercises with TENS for eight weeks, weekly three times and McKenzie traction and exercises were additionally received by experimental group. Partakers were assessed after eight weeks of treatment. Oswestry questionnaire was used for assessment, reed co scale and goniometer parameters, was used. RESULTS: Collected data was analyzed in SPSS 20. Independent sample t-test was applied to compare mean of quantitative data at the end of treatment in both groups. Mean pre-treatment Oswestry disability score in general exercise group and McKenzie group was 60.37 and 56.82 respectively (with p-value > .05). Mean post treatment Oswestry disability score in general exercise group was 30.63 and in McKenzie group was 26.70 (with p-value.02). Mean pre-treatment flexion, extension, side flexion and rotation means in general group were 36.38, 47.10, 36.32, and 66.37 respectively whereas in McKenzie these values were 38.30, 45.47, 37.47 and 67.38 respectively (with p-value > .05). CONCLUSION: Both general exercises and McKenzie treatment improved neck pain secondary to upper crossed syndrome, however the McKenzie treatment stood significantly better than general exercise. Keywords: Mckenzie Traction, Exercise, Neck Pain, Mckenzie Treatment, Syndrome DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/74-07 Publication date:May 31st 202

Correlation of Foot Wears with MSK Disorders in Ankle Joints Among Females

AIM: This paper is a report of study conducted to explain the factors that causes ankle sprain by wearing high heels among students of Sargodha medical college and university of Sargodha.BACKGROUND: High heeled shoes have been worn for several centuries and despite numerous cautions against their use, they remain extremely popular. Wearing high heeled shoes is thought to increase the individual’s likelihood of experiencing a lateral ankle sprain. The 19th century saw the first warnings that wearing high heels footwear could lead to trips and falls. Previous investigations have shown that high heeled shoes align the foot in planter flexion, modifying the relative orientation of the skeletal structures of ankle, midtarsal, and metatarsophalangeal joints, and alter the insertion angles of the foot and gliding joint muscles, therefore increasing the risk factor for ankle sprain.METHODS: observational non-experimental study was conducted via a questionnaire which was distributed among 500 female students of SMC (Sargodha medical college) and university of Sargodha. These female students fall in age group between18-26.RESULT: The result of our study concluded that the types of heel and height of heel are the most significant factors that cause ankle sprain. The ankle sprain caused by wearing pencil heels and by use of <3 inch heels are greatest. Keywords: Pencil heel, height of heel, Ankle sprain, SMC, Female student. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/80-09 Publication date:September 30th 202

Interplay between oxidative stress, SIRT1, reproductive and metabolic functions

Silent information Regulators (SIRT1) gene stimulates antioxidants\u27 expression, repairs cells damaged by oxidative stress (OS), and prevents the cells\u27 dysfunction. In particular, the role of different Sirtuins, particularly SIRT1 in reproduction, has been widely studied over the past decade. Decreased SIRT 1 causes mitochondrial dysfunction by increasing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, and DNA damage in both male and female gametes (Sperms and Oocytes), leading to infertility. In the female reproductive system, SIRT1 regulates proliferation and apoptosis in granulosa cells (GCs), and its down-regulation is associated with a reduced ovarian reserve. SIRT1 also modulates the stress response to OS in GCs by targeting a transcription factor vital for ovarian functions and maintenance. ROS-mediated damage to spermatozoa\u27s motility and morphology is responsible for 30-80% of men\u27s infertility cases. High levels of ROS can cause damage to deoxyribo nucleic acid (DNA) in the nucleus and mitochondria, lipid peroxidation, apoptosis, inactivation of enzymes, and oxidation of proteins in spermatozoa. SIRT 1 is a cardioprotective molecule that prevents atherosclerosis by modulating various mechanisms such as endothelial injury due to impaired nitric oxide (NO) production, inflammation, OS, and regulation of autophagy. SIRT 1 is abundantly expressed in tubular cells and podocytes. It is also found to be highly expressed in aquaporin 2 positive cells in the distal nephron suggesting its involvement in sodium and water handling. SIRT1 improves insulin resistance by reducing OS and regulating mitochondrial biogenesis and function. It also decreases adiposity and lipogenesis and increases fatty acid oxidation. So, its involvement in the multiple pathways ensures its unique role in reproductive and metabolic derangement mechanisms

Glue That Pain: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Tarlov cysts are cystic lesions of the nerve root sheath in the lower spine. With a reported incidence ranging from 1 to 5%, these lesions are fairly rare, benign and often asymptomatic. When they cause neural compression they may become symptomatic with sensory, motor, bowel/bladder and sexual dysfunction. The treatment of symptomatic Tarlov cysts is a controversial issue, ranging from conservative management and local steroid injections to a bewildering assortment of surgical options including CSF diversion procedures and advance microsurgical approaches with various ways of cyst manipulation. All these surgical modalities carry a high risk of serious complications, recurrence with need of a redo operation and a very variable rate of symptomatic relief ranging from 38 – 100 % in different series. Developing from the CT guided needle aspiration of the cyst which suffered disappointment in the form of re accumulation and heralded by earlier reports of aseptic meningitis, CT guided aspiration and subsequent filling of the cyst with fibrin glue has now emerged as a safe, highly effective and first line of treatment for symptomatic Tarlov cyst

Gender Based Linguistic Variations in Urdu Language and Their Role in Suppression of Females

Sociolinguistics deals with linguistic variations such as dialect, idiolect, genderlect, register etc. It deals with ways of using particular languages and the social roles of speakers of these languages.  It is the speaker-oriented approach. Genders have different characteristics in the use of language, which lead to the gender differences in language. The present study was conducted to analyze the gender-based linguistic variations (variations at discourse and communication level) in Urdu language. Deborah Tannen’s Genderlect theory is the theoretical Background of the study. She has presented six sets of language contrasts that are used as instrument to analyze male and female conversations. It is commonly believed that women language is more sophisticated, apologetic as compared to men. These differences are called gender preferential differences in a patriarchal society with their own fancies and whims. The hypothesis is that men and women have different ways of communicating, based on male and female perception of the world as they are made of different things and contrasting style. The qualitative paradigm used in this study. Direct observation, interview and tape recording are used as tools for the data collection. Recorded conversation has been transcribed and analyzed to provide data from which these issues have been discussed. The researcher has analyzed Urdu language conversation among Urdu speech community living specially in Sialkot, according to Tannen’s speech contrasts. The data was analyzed manually. The findings show that variations occur due to the use of various linguistic devices, style, topic of discussion, power etc. This study is limited to the Urdu speech community. The limitation of my research is that I observed the language of middle class Urdu speech community not the other classes. In this research, I only highlighted variations at communication level, and delimited all other variations such as morphological, syntactic, phonological variations. Future researchers can study these aspects. The study will benefit the whole society in creation of awareness about non-sexist language to give a psychological identity of females in Pakistan

Development of a highly sensitive electrochemical sensing platform for the trace level detection of lead ions.

Herein we report for the first time a highly sensitive electrochemical platform for the trace level detection of Pb (ӏӏ) using glassy carbon electrode modifiedwith 1-dodecanoyl-3-phenylthiourea (DPT). The performance of the designed sensor was tested by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, chronocoulometry, cyclic voltammetry and Square Wave Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (SWASV). The DPT was found to play an efficient role in enhancing the sensing response of the electrode for the detection of lead ions in aqueous samples. A number of experimental conditions such as deposition potential, accumulation time, surfactant concentration, pH, number of scans and supporting electrolytes were examined to optimize conditions for getting intense signal of the target analyte. Linear calibration curve was obtained using SWAS voltammetric data obtained under optimized conditions. The limit of detection with a value of 0.695 μg/L suggests that the designed sensor can sense lead ions even below the permissible concentration level (10 μg/L) recommended by the World Health Organization and Environmental Protection Agency of USA. The designed sensor demonstrated sensitivity, selectivity and stability for the targeted analyte. Percentage recoveries from real water samples with standard deviations of less than 2% suggested precision of the proposed method. Moreover, computational findings supported the experimental outcomes