Iran-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline—An Economic Analysis in a Game Theoretic Framework

Over the last four decades world economy has experienced several wide swings in energy prices. These swings have very serious repercussions for countries of Asian, in general, and South Asian regions, in particular; the latter having tremendous economic potential. Rapidly growing economies like India, China and Pakistan will face serious energy crisis if they do not plan well for future needs. Energy is one of the most critical inputs to several variety of production function. And we have very limited ability to replace it by other means in the short run, without having serious setback to our GDP. Energy conservation is a topic that has been discussed over a long period of time. Energy conservation is not a local issue but a global one, affecting the strategic planning and policy making of the governments worldwide. Energy conservation is proving as a catalyst for globalisation and international trade of energy

Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Intention and Desire for Venture Creation: An Empirical Study of Entrepreneurs and Non Entrepreneur Graduates

Study Objectives: The scope of entrepreneurship education is increasing round the globe but in Pakistan, entrepreneurship education is being neglected because of unawareness of its paybacks. Realizing the significance of entrepreneurship education, this research aims at investigating the scope of entrepreneurial education in developing and designing creative ideas and implementing them innovatively. This research focuses on the impact of entrepreneurship education on intention and desire for venture creation among university students of Pakistan. The study describes the main effects found in the literature by explaining that how this education can contribute to develop, design new ideas and finally to implement them.Research Design/Methodology: This study uses positivism paradigm. A survey was conducted from 160 respondents from private and public sector educational institutes by using close ended questionnaires. For explanation, this study used a five point Likert scale questionnaire. The students, who have taken entrepreneurship education and who have not, were the respondent’s category to explain the results. Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyze the results. Results and analyses were derived by independent sample t-tests with the help of SPSS software to measure the significance and difference of two groups. Research Limitations: This study is focused only on the students studying in Lahore and Faisalabad with the sample size of 160 participants. The sample size is narrow which can hinder the generalization of results of study. The financial implication of new venture creation is missing which may change the effect of the study. Further studies can accommodate these limitations for more effective results.  Practical Implications: The study proposes that education has strong impact on venture creation. The candidates, who hold an entrepreneurship degree, grow exponentially by exploiting opportunity, situation and ability (O-S-A). Knowledge of venture creation and confidence to venture has more impact on the establishment and growth of the venture.Originality/Value: Literature recognizes that entrepreneurship education and research on its importance is minute. So, this study will suggest avant-garde techniques for graduates to start new ventures. The results of this study will help graduates to make the economy stronger and independent by adopting new businesses. This study will open gate for new researchers to invent more creative techniques.   Keywords: Entrepreneurship Education, Venture Creation, Overseas, Team Building, Trust, Intention and Desire

Psychology university students’ mental health status during COVID-19 pandemic in Karachi, Pakistan

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges in various domains of life but for low and middle-income country university students very demanding situations have emerged. University students’ psychological well-being has always been an area of concern worldwide and higher rates of anxiety and depression have been extensively reported among this cohort. Objective: To determine the frequency of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and quality of sleep and the association of sleep quality and personality traits with anxiety and depressive symptoms among university students in Karachi, Pakistan in the context of the pandemic COVID-19. Method: This web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the students of a renowned, private, and HEC-recognized university during March 2020 to April 2020. Google forms were used to disseminate the online questionnaire to screen for depression-Patient Health Questionnaire—PHQ-9, anxiety-Generalized Anxiety Disorder—GAD-7, sleep-quality-Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale— PSQI and personality traits-Short Term Big Five Inventory—BFI-S. Results: Among the total sample size of 227 students, a considerable proportion of student participants had symptoms of mild anxiety [34.8%], moderate anxiety [15.9%], severe anxiety [18%], mild depression [19.8%], moderate depression [21.5%], moderately severe depression [13.3%] and severe depression [12%]. The majority of them were poor sleepers [77.5%]. Poor sleep quality was also associated with the level of depression and anxiety with a p-value of \u3c0.001. Those with Conscientiousness, Extroversion & Neuroticism were comparatively more vulnerable to anxiety and depression than people with other traits. Conclusion: This study gives strong evidence that a large percentage of university students have been suffering from depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic accompanied by poor sleep quality. Protecting students’ mental health is an inevitable target during health crises by developing preventive strategies and interventions to address the psychological well-being of university students. The findings also highlight the significance of personality traits as a relevant component of individual differences to respond to various health-related emergencies

Efficacy of Melatonin and Pentoxifylline combination therapy in treatment of endotoxin induced hepatic dysfunction in white albino mice

Introduction: Despite major expansion and elaboration in treatment protocols of septic patients, mortality rate is still very high due to multiple organ damage including hepatotoxicity. We in study evaluated the role of two strong anti-inflammatory agents, melatonin and pentoxifylline, as a combined treatment in lipopolysaccharide induced hepatic dysfunction in white albino mice. Material and Methods: Endotoxemia was reproduced in white albino mice through intraperitoneal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of serotype E.Coli. Therapeutic potential of the both melatonin and pentoxifylline alone and as combined therapy was adjudged by administering agents 2 hours after LPS delivering. The extent of liver damage was evaluated via serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation along with histopathological examination of liver tissue. Results: Lipopolysaccharide administration (Group 2) resulted in marked hepatotoxicity as evident by statistically raised serum ALT ((p≤0.01) and AST (p≤0.01) at the end of experimentation. Also liver cross section examination showed marked distortion of liver parenchyma. Melatonin (Group 3) was prosperous in aversion of LPS invoked hepatotoxicity as proved by lessening of augmented ALT (p≤0.01) and AST (p≤0.01) along with restoration of pathological changes on liver sections (p≤0.05). Pentoxifylline generated similar results and serum ALT, AST and histological alteration abated considerably (p≤ 0.05).Combination therapy in animals of Group 5 also tapered LPS evoked hepatic dysfunction statistically considerably. Conclusion: Melatonin and pentoxifylline alone and as combination therapy as effective in countering LPS induced hepatotoxicity. However the combination therapy did not yield synergistic effects. Keywords: Lipopolysaccharides, Endotoxin, Hepatotoxicity, Melatonin, Pentoxifylline

Exploring Play of Children with Sensory Impairments in Special Schools at Karachi, Pakistan

Prevalence of disabilities in Pakistan is 2.4 % (3.2 million), with 7 % population suffering from hearing impairments. This study focuses on many aspects of development including physical development, which have never been studied exclusively in developing countries. This pilot study was aimed to explore play pattern of children with hearing & speech impairments in school settings, Karachi, Pakistan. In this article play behaviors of 53 children with sensory impairments aged 8-12 years were explored. Observations were recorded through semi-structured checklist, using norm-based time sampling procedure, recording various types of behavior in a group play context. Three major play categories were observed and recorded under: a) Social Play; proximity and attentiveness b) Cognitive Play; level of child’s involvement and purpose for engaging in the activity c) Non- Play; marked by absence of focus. Frequently observed play behavior was; group play under cognitive play; games with rules and functional play behavior; engagement of child in physical activities for the enjoyment of physical sensation and in non-play behavior active conversation, rough and tumble play, recorded. Study findings reveal the importance of play as an essential component for healthy child development. Dire need of capacity building of school staff and of caregivers regarding child development and importance of play was felt at larger scale

Transvaginal Ultrasonographic Findings of Infertile Females in Population of Lahore

Failure of conception in women after frequent unprotected intercourse for one year is known as infertility. Ultrasound examination can detect certain pathologies that may result in primary or secondary infertility. Objective: To describe the various transvaginal ultrasonographic findings of infertile females in population of Lahore. Methods: The study was started after the consent of ethical committee of the University of Lahore. All the patients were registered in this study after signing the informed consent form. Toshiba Xario with transvaginal transducer frequency ranging from 9-12 MHz was used. Pathologies were evaluated through transvaginal scanning and sonographic data was kept in the ultrasound machine. A consecutive sampling technique was used and data was further evaluated with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 24. Results: Among 138 females, PCOS was seen in 40.6% of the subjects. The second most common pathology was ovarian cyst which was seen in 10.9% of subjects. And the incidence of multiple fibroids was 5.1% as third most common pathology in both primary and secondary infertility cases. Most ovarian pathologies were found to be bilateral. 12.3% subjects had no findings on ultrasound. Conclusion: PCOS was the utmost common pathology connected with primary and secondary infertility. The second and third most common pathologies were ovarian cyst and multiple fibroids respectively. Keywords: female infertility, PCOS, PID DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-12-05 Publication date:June 30th 202

Policy Failure in Achieving Universal Basic Education: A Theoretical Analysis

Universal attainment of basic education is recognised as a key development goal; whereas early-age work is considered as a barrier to achieving this goal. The literature suggests that returns to education are larger than those of early-age work, and that child-labour results in long term social loss that reduces human capital. This study evaluates the argument that earlyage work can itself lead to accumulation of human capital when it takes the form of apprenticeship career path. The paper develops a model that allows a rational agent (parent) to compare the early-age work as apprenticeship career path with the formal education career and shows that the parents’ career choice for their child will depend on the lifetime earnings of both careers. The theoretical model is further extended and empirically tested to check whether benefits of education are higher for all levels of education. The simulation analysis suggests that for lower level of education up to Grade-12, the benefits of apprenticeship exceed the net benefits of education whereas, at Grade-12 and beyond, the net benefits of education in terms of earnings outstrip the apprenticeship career. The study implies that early-age work may not necessarily be inefficient when compared with low levels of schooling and that any intervention should ensure universal education for all without compromising skill development of resource poor children. This can be achieved through making skill development complementary to education. JEL Classifications: H44, H52, I26, J24 Keywords: Child-labour, Basic Education, Human Capital, Public Polic

Uncertainty in Fiscal and Monetary Policy and its Impact on Economic Growth: An Analysis from Pakistan

Uncertainty or shocks in macroeconomic policies have been a debated issue all over the world because these shocks severely influence the growth of economies. To analyze the impacts of these shocks in the context of Pakistan, the current study determined the role of fiscal and monetary policy uncertainty by taking the time series data for the period 1971-2020. In this regard, GARCH and ARDL cointegration model were applied. Empirical evidence revealed that in the long-run, fiscal uncertainty in terms of government expenditure positively affects the economy and monetary uncertainty in terms of money supply negatively affects the economy. While, in the short-run, uncertainty of both policies has a negative influence on the economic growth of Pakistan. The study also gauged other factors, such as, exchange rate, interest rate, and inflation with respect to their impact on economic growth. It was found that these factors positively and significantly sway growth in the long-run

Evaluation of Records of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Cases Reported at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, Pakistan

Background: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department is a diverse field in dentistry. Record maintenance has been established as one of the key factors in the success and integrity of health care institutes.Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the records of oral and maxillofacial surgery casesreported to oral and maxillofacial surgery department, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and oral surgery OPD ofKarachi Medical and Dental College.Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted in at ASH and KMDC from July 2019 to September 2019.The data from January 2017 to July 2019 was retrospectively noted through electronic surgical recordof ASH and records of the Oral Surgery OPD of KMDC. Inclusion criteria was patients records of bothgenders of 5–70 years age, having complaint of any oral or dental pathology or pathologies, trauma andimpactions. Data was calculated manually by calculating frequencies and percentages for the trauma,impaction and pathology cases of patients.Results: In 2017, 239 cases were treated under general anesthesia from which trauma 11. 45% (n=11),followed by 48. 11% (n=115) cases of oral pathologies, total 11.7% (n=28) cases of complicated exodontias. In2018, among 211, 51.1% (n=108) cases were trauma followed by 39.3% (n=83) cases of oral pathologies,whereas, total 9.4% (n=20) complicated exodontias cases were observed. During 2019 (January to July),168 cases 36.2% (n=62) cases were diagnosed as trauma, in oral pathology, overall 36.2% (n=62) caseswere surgically excised. Total 23.2% (n=39) complicated exodontias. In 2017, 25122 cases were reported in Surgery OPD of Karachi Medical and Dental College. Total 36.2% (n=9097) teeth were extracted from which 1.93% (n=486) cases were surgical impaction. On the other hand, 1.65% (n=416) patients were treated through minor oral surgeries. In 2018, 29008 cases were reported in Surgery OPD. Total 42.7% (n=12377) teeth were extracted from which 0.92% (n=268) cases were surgical impaction. On the other hand, 0.71% (n=208) patients were treated through minor surgeries. In 2019, January till July 13028 cases were reported in Surgery OPD. Total42.6% (n=5559) teeth were extracted from which 0.66% (n=87) cases were surgical impaction. On the other hand, 0.68% (n=89) patients were treated through minor surgeries.Conclusion: It has been concluded that evaluation of the records of oral and maxillofacial surgery casesreported to oral and maxillofacial surgery department, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and oral surgery OPD ofKarachi Medical and Dental College were high and appropriate measures should be taken in order tomanage these problems timely and effectively