Qazi Mahmud Bahri: A mystic poet of the 12th century A. H. His times, life and poetical works.

The theory that Vali was the first Urdu poet was disproved some years ago by the discovery of a number of MSS. three and four hundred years old. Only a few articles have been published hitherto giving a general view of the existence and nature of these MSS.; but so far no serious attempt has been made by any scholar to decipher and interpret any one of them. This thesis is the first attempt to discuss in detail the history, life and the poetical works of Bahri which up till now were buried in oblivion; the text and translation of sixty ghazals which have been deciphered for the first time are also included. The first chapter deals with the history of Bahri's times and gives a short account of the decline of the Adil Shahs and the condition of society in Aurangzib's time, when Bahri wrote his Man-Lagan. The second chapter consists of a survey of Bahri's contemporaries and some specimens of their poetry to enable readers to form a comparative estimate of the value of Bahrl's poems. The third chapter is devoted to Bahrl's life mostly based on internal evidence drawn from his Masnavi Man-Lagan and supported by quotations. Very little is known of him from external evidence. The fourth chapter is divided into five sections:- (1) a discussion of some variant readings of the three copies of Man-Lagan, with a full account of the main theme and its mystical bearings; (2) the general literary characteristic of the Ghazaliyat; (3) a few Marsiyas; (4) two Qasidas; (5) the leading ideas of the twelve Jams of the Bangnama. The fifth chapter contains the text of 60 ghazals deciphered from the original MS. in the candidate's possession. The sixth chapter contains literal translation into English of these ghazals. The seventh chapter comprises (1) a short account of some of the peculiarities of the script employed in the MS.; (2) some striking lines from the Masnavi; (3) glossary of archaic words, and (4) some grammatical characterisations of Bahrl's ghazals

Psychosocial risks experienced by international students in the security industry of New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Business Studies (specialisation in HRM), Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

Many international students in New Zealand are employed under non-standard work arrangements as part-time/casual security guards in the security industry. The literature on the experiences of international students indicates that they often work irregular schedules, are paid minimum wages and benefits, and tend to be exploited by employers due to their limited knowledge about employment rights. Similarly, the literature concerning work in the security industry worldwide suggests that security guards generally work under unsafe and hazardous working conditions and are provided with limited equipment and training, which tends to have negative repercussions for their psychosocial wellbeing. However, there is sparse literature at both the national and global level discussing the experiences of international students working as security guards in the security industry. Thus, the present research was designed to qualitatively explore the experiences of international students engaged in non-standard work arrangements in the security industry of New Zealand and investigate their psychosocial wellbeing. Seven international students working as casual security guards within the broader Auckland region were interviewed. Three main overarching themes were identified in the analysis. Theme 1 highlighted ‘accessibility issues’ identified as workers’ inaccessibility to adequate provisions such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), kitchen and toilet facilities, sufficient training, adequate income and benefits, regular working hours, and knowledge about employment rights; all of which had negative consequences for their wellbeing. Relatedly, theme 2 ‘threats to psychosocial wellbeing’ presented a picture of the vulnerability of international student security guards in the industry by illuminating their exposure to physical and psychosocial harm, such as physical abuse and racial harassment, during their work. Additional stressors due to this group’s extended engagement with both studies and part-time work were also explored. In theme 3, the ‘unprofessional practices’ of both international students and employers (subcontractors) in relation to New Zealand employment law were outlined. Here, sub-themes of exploitation and self-exploitation were further investigated. Overall these findings emphasised the need for vigorous policy initiatives focussed on improving the working standards of the security industry and wellbeing of international students working as security guards, through collaborative efforts on the part of the regulatory agencies, main- contractors and subcontractors

Synthesis And Characterization Of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Ascorbic Acid For Evaluation Of Antioxidant Activity

Synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles using ascorbic acid has become one of the focus of researchers over the past decades due to its lower energy consumption and cheaper alternative. In this research, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized by a chemical precipitation method. A precursor zinc acetate dihydrate and ascorbic acid act as reducing agent were used. The effects of solution pH and the concentration ratios of ascorbic acid to zinc acetate dihydrate (AA:Zn) were the chosen parameters to be studies. Over the range of pH studied at a constant AA:Zn of 1.0, pH 11 was found the best based on the highest absorption peak at 355 nm and the highest absorbance of 0.92 that was measured using the Ultraviolet Visible spectrometer (UV-Vis). It was found that the presence of ZnO was displayed from the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra at the wavenumber range of 470-520 cm-1 for all samples. SEM analysis showed that the nucleation and size of particles were decreased as the solution pH increased. The concentration ratios of ascorbic acid to zinc acetate dihydrate (AA:Zn) were changed from 1.0 to 4.0 while keeping the optimum pH of 11. Particle sizes, purity and morphology were study using Ultraviolet Visible spectrometer (UV-Vis), Energy Dispersed X-ray (EDX), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). SEM analysis showed that the size and aggregation of particles decreased as the concentration increased. EDX analysis verified that the synthesized ZnO NPs has a higher purity because of the high composition of Zn and O. UV-vis spectra results showed the absorption band at 355 nm, 365 nm, 359 nm, 355 nm and 350 nm for ncentration ratio of AA:Zn 1.0, 1.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0, respectively. Antioxidant activity of the synthesized ZnO NPs was determined by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assay. The IC50 values of the synthesized ZnO NPs were 29.38 and 27.65 μg/ml for both DPPH and ABTS, respectively, which were lower than the standard ascorbic acid. The current research suggests that the synthesized ZnO NPs can be a substitute to the chemical drugs against antibiotic resistant foodborne pathogens

Spectrum of Diseases in Patients with Non-Traumatic Acute Abdomen.

Introduction: Acute Abdomen is the most common presenting complaints about 20% of all emergency department, due to its varied etiology it poses significant diagnostic challenges for emergency surgeons. The proper management of patients with acute abdominal pain requires a timely decision about the need for surgical operation. Objective: To identify the spectrum of diseases in patients of non-traumatic leading to Acute abdomen, presenting in a surgical unit. Methodology: During Jan 2012 to Dec 2014, this retrospective study conducted at Surgical Department of Muhammad Medical College, all patients presenting with non-traumatic acute abdominal pain were included in this study. Gynecological and urological causes were excluded. The patient diagnosis and management were recorded from the case files and OT registers. Results: During the period, a total of 216 patients presented with non-traumatic acute abdomen; of which there were 145 (67.12%) males and 71 (32.87%) females, with a male to female ratio of 2:1. The highest incidence of acute abdomen 72 (33.33%) was found in patients of 22-32 years age group followed by under 21 years age group i.e. 51 (23.61%) and 33-42 years age group 43 (19.90%). There were 31 (14.35%) cases in 43-52 years and 19 (8.79%) cases in 53-70 years. The most common cause of acute abdomen was acute appendicitis 105 (48.61%) admissions. These patients were mostly young males in twenties. Intestinal obstruction was second cause 45 (20.83%) cases and this affected more commonly the middle-aged persons. Two hundred and seven (95.83 %) patients were treated successfully and discharged home while 5 (2.31 %) left against medical advice, while 4 expired giving a mortality of (1.85) % in patients with gut perforation Conclusion: The most common cause of acute abdomen is acute appendicitis affecting young population mostly. Another common cause is intestinal obstruction and gut perforation. Acute cholecystitis commonly affects the middle aged, post-menopausal women. Hepatic abscess and Pancreatitis are rare cause of acute abdomen in this area. Key Words:  Acute abdomen. Non-traumatic Acute appendicitis, Intestinal obstruction

The effects of roller conveyor on muscle activity in workpiece loading on CNC machining centre: a preliminary study

In the recent years, Advance Manufacturing Technology (AMT) has been widely used in manufacturing industry to increase manufacturing process capability. However, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine designs have only focused on its operational capability. The harmonious coordination between users and CNC machines is often neglected, which can contribute to hazardous working practices that can affect the health of users. Bending posture while loading the work piece to the machine can cause fatigue and discomfort to the users. Thus, the focus of this preliminary study is to analyse the effect of CNC machine work piece loading on muscle activity levels and to determine the effectiveness of roller conveyor in reducing muscle activity levels. Muscle activity has been analysed using surface electromyography (sEMG) technique. Erector spinae, biceps and trapezius muscles were concurrently measured during the work piece loading. Five male subjects (n=5) participated in the pre-intervention study and two subjects (n=2) in the post-intervention study (roller conveyor implementation) participated to test the effectiveness of the roller conveyor. Result pre-intervention study found that muscle activity level of biceps was the highest followed by trapezius and erector spinae. Based on the post-intervention study involving the roller conveyor, muscle activity of the erector spinae was reduced meanwhile the muscle activity of biceps and trapezius increased for both subjects

A journey from Cure to Care- Wellness management for healthy lifestyle: Diabetes management a case study

Smart ubiquitous computing has a vital role to avoid and indicate the preventable lifestyle-based chronic diseases. It is focusing to adopt a healthy lifestyle by converging science and technology in this digital world for improving health and quality of life. From the last decade, the development of wellness applications has supported personalization and self-quantification. These applications facilitate the users through activity tracking and monitoring, based on the raw sensory data to adopt healthy behavior. The challenge of behavior change is not only to indicate the issues but also provides step-by-step coaching and guidance at real time. The realization of behavior change theories through digital technology has revolutionized the lifestyle change in a systematic and measurable manner. We have proposed a methodology to understand the behavior for generating just-in-time intervention for adopting a healthy lifestyle. Wellness platform based behavior analysis is performed using unbiased life-log and questionnaire for qualitative assessment of behavior. Behavior stage wise intervention is provided to adapt behavior for enhancing the quality of life and boost the socio-economic conditions. Personalized education is provided to understand the importance of healthy behavior and motivate the users, whereas just-in-time context-based recommendations have supported the stage-wise adaptation of unhealthy behavior. These capabilities require status evaluation of the activities and an efficient way to portray the comprehensive index of lifestyle habits. The real focus is to correlate the primarily linked habits in appropriate proportion through healthy behavior index (HBI) for personalized wellness support services. The healthy behavior index and behavior change theories through smart technologies

Prevalence of anxiety and depression among Medical Students in MMCH, Sindh, Pakistan

Introduction: Medical education is stressful. High levels of stress have been seen in medical students in various studies. The academic stressors include the volume of material to be learned, academic performance and evaluation, examination and continuous assessment, mental tension and too much work load. All this can result in decreased life satisfaction among students.  Stress during medical school can lead to problems later in professional life compromising patient care. Objectives: To know the prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students of Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas, Sindh, Pakistan  Methodology: A Cross-sectional study was done on the students of Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas, Sindh, who had spent more than six months in the medical college. Self-administered questionnaire was given to the students, present in the class and willing to participate in the study. The instrument used to assess the anxiety and depression levels was the, Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS). Additional quotations regarding socioeconomic variables were also included in them survey instrument, such as student’s age order, family monthly income, and gender, marital status. Results: Using anxiety and depression scale it was found out that 318 (96.36%) students had anxiety and depression. Among them 215 (67.61%) were females and 103 (32.38%) males. Prevalence of anxiety and depression in students of Final, 4th year and 3rd year 2nd and 1st years was 13%, 15%, 20% and 21%, 28% respectively. It was significantly higher in 1st year and 2nd year students, as compared to final and 4th year and students. Conclusions: Most of medical students have anxiety and depression due to study burden and a busy schedule. It is also seen that anxiety and depression is more among female medical students, and more among in 1st year and 2nd year MBBS students, as compared to the final and forth year students.   Keywords: Anxiety, depression, Medical students, prevalenc

Multimodal framework based on audio‐visual features for summarisation of cricket videos

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166171/1/ipr2bf02094.pd

Design of Noise Insulator for Metal Stamping Operation in Manufacturing Sector

Metal stamping is one of the processes involved in metal manufacturing in which dies are used to cut or form flat metal sheets into desired shapes. Consequently, noise is produced from the process. Prolonged exposure to the noise can lead to the health problems, low productivity and low performance of workers. The aim of this study is to design a noise insulator for noise level reduction in a metal stamping operation. This study applied workplace observation, questionnaire survey and noise mapping at the metal stamping workstations.  A prototype design of noise insulator was developed through brainstorming among the metal stamping workers, questionnaire survey and morphological chart. Recycled papers and coconut fibers were used as materials of the noise insulator. Noise level assessment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the developed noise insulator. The noise levels have been effectively reduced to 70.3 dBA by 17.2%. This study concluded that application of materials such as recycled papers and coconut fibers in making of noise insulator was able to reduce noise levels in metal stamping operation. This study suggests that the real fabrication and application should be implemented in the metal stamping operation to reduce the risk of noise exposure to the workers