World Children’s Festival: The Art of Empathy

The International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) brings about positive change through its national and global programs, traveling exhibitions, conferences and events, and the World Children\u27s Festival (WCF).The Arts Olympiad is the ICAF\u27s flagship program. Like the Olympics, the Arts Olympiad has a four year cycle. It commences in classrooms with structured lesson plans that introduce students to the Artist-Athlete Ideal of the creative mind and healthy body. The self-image as artist-athlete solidifies when a child renders it into a personal work of art. In the second year, local exhibitions provide communities an opportunity to celebrate the creativity and artistic talents of their children, and to select the winners to represent their school district or country at the WCF. The WCF in the third year provides a global community setting for the development of empathy, so the children grow up to be creative and empathetic global leaders. In the fourth and final year, the International Arts Olympiad Exhibition travels to major venues to grow awareness of the importance of fostering creativity and empathy in world, with children as the catalysts

New approach to forecasting agro-based statistical models

This paper uses various forecasting methods to forecast future crop production levels using time series data for four major crops in Pakistan: wheat, rice, cotton and pulses. These different forecasting methods are then assessed based on their out-of-sample forecast accuracies. We empirically compare three methods: Box- Jenkins’ ARIMA, Dynamic Linear Models (DLM) and exponential smoothing. The best forecasting models are selected from each of the methods by applying them to various agricultural time series in order to demonstrate the usefulness of the models and the differences between them in an actual application. The forecasts obtained from the best selected exponential smoothing models are then compared with those obtained from the best selected classical Box-Jenkins ARIMA models and DLMs using various forecast accuracy measures

Therapeutic implications of ofloxacin in the treatment of typhoid fever caused by multiply resistant Salmonella typhi

The antibiotic of choice for the treatment of typhoid fever in most parts of the world is still chloramphenicol. Ampicillin and cotrimoxazole have been used in recent years. Selection of antimicrobials for therapy has been complicated by the emergence of Salmonella typhi strains resistant to the above mentioned antibiotics. Blood and/or bone marrow cultures of 30 adult patients grew S. typhi that was resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin and cotrimoxazole. However, these strains were sensitive to cefotaxime, ceftrioxone, aztreonam and ofloxacin. Ofloxacin 400 mg twice a day was given orally to these patients for 14 days. All patients recovered with no untoward side effect. We concluded that ofloxacin can be used as a drug of choice for typhoid fever, in those adult patients who are infected with S. typhi resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin and cotrimoxazole

Hierarchical forecasts of agronomy-based data

In this article we explore the hierarchical nature of time series of various agriculture crops in Pakistan at the subdistrict level and produce short-term forecasts for these time series. The data and forecasts are organized in a hierarchy based on disaggregating the data according to the division and subdistrict levels (geographical regions). Following Athanasopoulos, Ahmed, and Hyndman, we consider five approaches to hierarchical forecasting; two variations of the top-down approach; the bottom-up method; top-down approach where top-level forecasts are disaggregated according to the forecasted proportions of the lower level series; and the new optimal combination approach introduced by Hyndman, Ahmed, Athanasopoulos, and Shang. The forecasts are obtained from these five approaches using two well-known methods; Exponential Smoothing (ES) and an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA). The forecasts are then compared across the two methods and across the various approaches by using various out-of-sample forecast evaluations. The forecast performance evaluation shows that in most cases either the top-down or the bottom-up approach performs best while the optimal combination method approach is the second best for the major crops production hierarchies we consider. By applying these methods, we produce detailed forecasts of the production of major crops in Pakistan for all levels of hierarchies and draw some useful conclusions for policy makers

An economic evaluation of impact of soil quality on Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton productivity

The study was conducted with the aim to determine the impact of soil quality on the Bt cotton productivity. Asample of 150 farmers was selected by using multi-stage sampling technique from three districts i.e. Rahim YarKhan, Multan and Mianwali. A Cobb Douglas production function was employed to assess the effect of variousagronomic and demographic variables on the Bt cotton productivity. Results of the analysis indicated that landpreparation cost, seed cost, fertilizer cost, labour cost and dummy variable of soil quality were significant andpositively contributing towards higher Bt cotton yield. While the spray cost and irrigation cost variable were foundpositive but non-significant. Findings of the study suggested that focusing on maintaining and improving the qualityof soils is necessary to obtain higher crop yields. All this needs attention of agricultural extension department toprovide information about advance techniques to farmers for improving soil quality

New approach to Forecasting Agro-based statistical models

This paper uses various forecasting methods to forecast future crop production levels using time series data for four major crops in Pakistan: wheat, rice, cotton and pulses. These different forecasting methods are then assessed based on their out-of-sample forecast accuracies. We empirically compare three methods: BoxJenkins’ ARIMA, Dynamic Linear Models (DLM) and exponential smoothing. The best forecasting models are selected from each of the methods by applying them to various agricultural time series in order to demonstrate the usefulness of the models and the differences between them in an actual application. The forecasts obtained from the best selected exponential smoothing models are then compared with those obtained from the best selected classical Box-Jenkins ARIMA models and DLMs using various forecast accuracy measures. </p

Reliability of Dual Inclinometer for Lumbar Range of Motion using two different Landmarking Techniques

Purpose: To measure the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of active lumbar extension and flexion movements using dual inclinometer with two different landmarking techniques. Method: The reliability study was conducted at the Physical Therapy Department of the University Teaching Hospital, The University of Lahore, Pakistan, in January 2020, and comprised patients of either gender aged >18 years with mild or symptomatic lower back pain, and healthy subjects s controls. Repeated measurements with dual inclinometer were taken by two examiners and data was recorded by two separate observers. A set of three active lumbar extension and flexion movements were performed for an initial warm-up. The examiners repeated a palpation of bony landmarks prior to each trial. The two different landmarking techniques were applied on the lumbar spine to identify the start and end points. Both the examiners measured each participant thrice. For each examiner and each landmarking technique, the three data sets were acquired for active lumbar extension and flexion for a total of 120 sets per session per examiner per landmarking. Each set comprised three alternating active lumbar extension and flexion movements. Data was analysed using 26. Results: Of the 40 subjects with mean age 27.8+11.0 years, 19(48%) were males and 21(52%) were females. There were 15(38%) cases; 6(40%) males and 9(60%) females. The remaining 25(62%) were controls. The two landmarking techniques with dual inclinometer produced a high to very high intra-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient:0.73-0.91) ---Continu

A Correlation Analysis among Pain Intensity, Functional Disability and Range of Motion using Low Level Laser Therapy in patients with Discogenic Lumbar Radiculopathy: Correlation among Pain Intensity, Functional Disability and Range of Motion using Low Level Laser

Background: Laser is a pain-free and non-invasive treatment modality. It is used in many acute and chronic painful conditions. In recent times, the use of low intensity laser for physical therapy has been shown to significantly reduce pain with a variety of causes.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Objectives:&nbsp;To determine the correlation among pain intensity, functional disability and range of motion using Low Level Laser therapy in patients with Discogenic Lumbar Radiculopathy. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted as a part of a randomized controlled trial of Low Level Laser therapy in treating patients with Discogenic Lumbar Radiculopathy at Physical therapy departments of three different hospitals from August 2021 to September 2021. The study was conducted according to STROBE guidelines. Fifty Five (55) patients from experimental group of trial were invited to participate in this study. The outcomes of treatment were recorded on a semi-structured questionnaire on the first day and last day of treatment from each patient’s pain intensity, functional disability and Lumbar range of motion by using Visual Analogue Scale, Oswestry Disability Index, Dual Inclinometer respectively. The data was analyzed through SPSS version 21.0. Results:&nbsp;The results of Correlation Coefficient/ Pearson’s Correlation of VAS, ODI and Dual Inclinometer were varied. The strength of correlation between variables was weak to moderate (r = 0.033 to 0.425) with statistically Insignificant correlation coefficient (P &gt; 0.05, CI 95%) except for Lumbar Flexion (P &lt; 0.05, CI 95%). Conclusions:&nbsp;Weak to moderate correlations were found among pain intensity, functional disability and Lumbar range of motion using Low Level Laser Therapy at a wavelength of 830-nm and a dose of 3 J/point for acute LBP with Discogenic Lumbar Radiculopathy. In addition, no major side effects were observed during and after the use of LLL