Revitalising the Planning Commission

This paper considers the key problems confronting the Pakistan Planning Commission, briefly examines the essentials of planning for a mixed economy, draws lessons from the experience of countries, both developed and developing, that have formulated and implemented successful plans, and suggests measures to revitalize the Planning Commission. Some suggestions are put forward for continuous upgrading of the institution’s skills in the longer run. The paper also describes ways in which policymakers can learn from their counterparts in successful countries in the region

Contribution of Onion Seed Production to Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Malakand Division, Pakistan

According to the latest estimates, roughly one-third of the total population of the developing countries live in poverty, majority of which are rural inhabitants (as reported 35 percent of the Pakistani rural mass). In Pakistan, the income distribution has worsened in the rural areas while it has marginally improved in urban areas during the period 1979 through 1996-97 [Pakistan (2001)]. The rural poverty is continuously feeding unemployment through migration of unskilled people to the urban areas. Poverty reduction is a priority area for Pakistan. The government is taking measures for addressing problems of the poor who are the most vulnerable amongst the different socioeconomic groups. Poverty alleviation is the main focus of the government in addition to develop physical infrastructure in rural areas and remove income disparities between income groups and regions. The government of Pakistan has initiated measures to poverty reduction through establishing number of institutions namely Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Micro-credit Bank (Khushali Bank), Pakistan Baitual Mal, Income Safety Nets, and launching Khushal Pakistan Programme and Food Support Programme. All these programmes are aiming at helping poor and hungry people by providing them food for temporary relief and micro credit for initiating sustainable economic activities. Since the majority of our population is living in rural areas, so the government is diverting more resources to improve the access for rural services and encourage greater participation in economic activities through creating employment opportunities. The programmes in education, health and population sectors have been specifically designed to extend socioeconomic opportunities to rural poor.

The impact of demographic trends on economic growth ? productivity in Pakistan (1980-2007)

This paper seeks to examine the impact of demographic variables on economic growth in Pakistan. A long-run relationship between the variables has been found by applying Johanson?s Co-integration Technique after finding the series I(1). The Error Correction Model (ECM) has been applied to streamline the short-run and long- run impacts of the variables on economic growth. Population has a positive but decreasing impact on economic growth in the long run. Trade liberalisation and Human Capital Formation have a negative impact on globalisation in the long run and an insignificant impact in the short run. As a result of an increase in unemployment in the labour market in the short run, Life Expectancy, Labour Productivity Per Capita and Population Growth Rate have a negative impact on economic growth. This analysis will help decision makers in developing strategies and policies to accelerate economic growth, human capital formation and trade liberalisation in Pakistan

Research in Dentistry at Saudi Arabia: Analysis of Citation Impact

Aim: The study aims to assess the Saudi Arabian publications on dentistry and their citation impact as reflected in the Web of Science (WoS). Methods: WoS database categorized dental research under “Dentistry Oral Surgery Medicine”. Dental sciences publications with citation impact by Saudi Arabian affiliated authors produced during 2009-2018 have been searched by using suitable searching strategy and dental research of 10 randomly selected countries has been carried out for comparison. The downloaded data was transferred into Microsoft Excel format to measure the bibliometric indicators and citation impact of publications. Results: A total of 1,771 documents on dentistry were published by Saudi Arabia from the time span of 2009 to 2018. These publications received a total of 10,320 citations with an average of 5.83 citations per paper. The subcategory of “Engineering biomedical” in dentistry got maximum citation impact. Review articles received higher citations as compared to original research articles. Dataset by organizations showed that the research carried out in the hospital sector have a higher number of citations as compared to teaching institutions. The research collaboration by Saudi Arabian authors with the researchers of the University of Michigan, USA got maximum citations while by country analysis shows that research collaboration with Italy, Germany and Japan have more citations as compared to the US, Egypt and England. Conclusion: Although there is promising growth in dental research in Saudi Arabia, even then researchers need to write on the novel and innovative ideas to get global attention and citations. Articles published in Q1 impact factor journals and research collaboration with talent-rich countries got higher citations

Literature on Dental and Oral Health by King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Science, Saudi Arabia; A Bibliometric Study

ABSTRACT This present paper examines the bibliometric assessment of research performance on dental science literature by researchers affiliated to King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), its teaching hospitals and Research Centre, to determine the statistical scenario and highlight the emerging trends in dental research. It is a retrospective observational study that had been carried out in of College of Dentistry library, KSAU-HS during January 2018. Published research on dentistry in authorship affiliated to KSAU-HS was collected from different online sources; Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and the archival record of King Abdullah International Research Centre from inception of KSAU-HS to December 2017. Year-wise distribution of articles, subject-wise segregation, collaboration pattern, authorship, and most productive authors have been calculated. The data is analyzed by using Microsoft Excel 2010.The finding of the study exposed that 144 research items published in 84 different journals contributed by 586 authors with an average of 4.06 authors per article. The rising tendency in publication and collaborative research was observed, 68% articles published during 2015-2017. Original research article (72.22%) being favorite design and Public Health Dentistry (30.55%) found to be the most preferred area of research. Dr. Khalid Al Fouzan emerged as most productive author. Authorship and citations pattern had also been calculated. Assessment of dental research revealed that there has been a growing emerging trend in publications. It’s the first bibliometric study on dental research in KSA, highlighted the collaboration style and pointed out the strong and weak areas of research

Al-Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University: A Bibliometric Research Profile

Aim: To investigate the status of research productivity and publication trends of Al-Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) during the period of 2009 to 2018. Method: A quantitative and retrospective research method was used. Publications data of IMSIU researchers have been retrieved from Scopus database published during the period of ten years from January 2009 to December 2018. The retrieved dataset has been transferred in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to analyse the bibliometric indicators, as the growth of publications by year, subject stratification, national and international collaboration, frequently used journals and productive authors. Results: IMSIU affiliated researchers have produced 2010 documents with an average of 201 documents per year. These documents received 12,594 citations, with citation impact of 6.26. Majority of the research has been conducted on the subjects of Engineering, Computer Sciences and Physics & Astronomy. King Saud University with 435 publications found top preference in research collaborative at the national level while at an international level, Université de Gabès, Tunisia with 159 publications stand on the top. Research collaboration analysis by country shows that Egypt is on the top 324 documents. Frequently used journals and 20 most productive authors in term of the number of publications have also been identified. Conclusion: Growth in the tendency of publications was found by IMSIU expect the year 2017. Open access documents received a higher number of citations. The ratio of Scopus based publications in proportion to the number of faculty and students is not very encouraging. Young faculty and students should involve in the research process to enhance publication output

Research Productivity at King Saud bin Abdul Aziz University for Health Sciences, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Bibliometric Appraisal

To examine the research outcome having an authorship affiliated with KSAU-HS, its teaching hospital and King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre (KAIMRC) since the inception of the university to December 2015. Method: Data retrieved from Institute of Scientific Information (ISI)Web of Science, InCiteTM Database of Thomson Reuters, which produced the list of 775 research documents published in 346 different journals. Some bibliometric indicators such as annual growth, subject segregation, authorship pattern, collaboration etc. had been used to illustrate the research performance of researchers. The data was analyzed by using SPSS 20. Results :Majority of articles (15.35%) were written on the subject of medicine, bulk (94%) of the research work had been carried out by collaborative efforts. In 475(61.29%) publications, the principal author belonged to KSAU-HS. Majority of the research work (64.65%) had been produced by the collaboration of other organizations.Research cooperation with the universities of United States was highest, followed by Canada and Pakistan.Conclusion: There is promising growth in biomedical publication and collaborating research trends are increasing

Prostate cancer metastasis to cervical node chain-an unusual clinic-pathological finding

Prostate carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in males all around the world. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is amongst the leading carcinoma (HNSCC) in men especially in the sub-continent. There are around 150 lymph nodes on either side in the neck and cervical lymph nodes are a common site for head and neck malignancies to metastasize however carcinoma of prostate may in rare cases metastasize to cervical chain, therefore warranting a neck dissection. In case of unknown primary of head and neck extensive work up is required to find the primary site. Our case provided a similar picture with a single enlarged node which on biopsy to our surprise revealed adenocarcinoma of prostate

Contribution of Onion Seed Production to Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Malakand Division, Pakistan

According to the latest estimates, roughly one-third of the total population of the developing countries live in poverty, majority of which are rural inhabitants (as reported 35 percent of the Pakistani rural mass). In Pakistan, the income distribution has worsened in the rural areas while it has marginally improved in urban areas during the period 1979 through 1996-97 [Pakistan (2001)]. The rural poverty is continuously feeding unemployment through migration of unskilled people to the urban areas. Poverty reduction is a priority area for Pakistan. The government is taking measures for addressing problems of the poor who are the most vulnerable amongst the different socioeconomic groups. Poverty alleviation is the main focus of the government in addition to develop physical infrastructure in rural areas and remove income disparities between income groups and regions

Clinico- haematological spectrum of females with inherited Bleeding Disorders

Background: Inherited bleeding disorders in females are under-diagnosed, eventually leading to multiple problems. This situation is further worsened by the inadequate information , non – availability of diagnostic facilities and low awareness on the clinical side Methods: In this non – interventional descriptive study , females with inherited bleeding disorders were assessed. Clinical presentations, demographic data and management received was recorded. Complete blood counts, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time and platelet function studies were performed, where required.. Results: In all the patients with inherited bleeding disorders , females constituted 16.85%. von Willebrand disease was the commonest (50.84%) out of all inherited bleeding disorders in females. In rest of the females autosomal recessive coagulation defects and platelet function defects constituted 25.42% and 23.72%, respectively. Majority of the females (83.04%) were below 17 years of age. Menorrhagia (46.87%) was the commonest clinical episode. Spontaneous bleed was seen in 95% episodes. Majority of the episodes (94.14%) were soft tissue bleeding episodes and joint bleeds were minimal (5.68%). Tranexamic acid was the most commonly used therapeutic agent . Surgical intervention was employed in 18 episodes. Conclusion: Females with inherited bleeding disorders have severely impaired quality of life , fail to get proper management and go through unwanted surgeries ( D&C; Hysterectomies)