18 research outputs found
Gender Dimensions of Demographic Change in Pakistan
The achieving of equality and equity between men and women in different spheres of life is essential for the attainment of sustainable development goals. In this context, the need for enhancement of womenâs participation in national development programmes and their full integration into the development process has been widely recognised in various global and regional forums. More recently, the Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development at Cairo in 1994 reaffirmed and elaborated the role of women in national development, and endorsed a new strategy that emphasises âgender equality, equity and empowerment of womenâ. In this context, the Programme of Action recommends that countries should act to empower women and should take steps to eliminate inequalities between men and women by providing them with more choices through expanded access to education and health services, skill development and employment, and eliminating all practices that discriminate against women [United Nations (1995)]. Pursuant to these principles, it is of interest to study the gender related aspects of population and development with a particular focus on the current situation and role of women in the family. While it is true that men are viewed as head of the family in almost all social structures who participate more in the formal economic and social affairs and decision making in the community, it is equally true that women tend to play a major role in household affairs, in forming production and consumption patterns and in generating income for the family.
Towards Linking Four Emerging Paradigms in Economic TheoryâRegulationist, Institutionalist, Post-modernist, and Post-development
This paper is an epistemological attempt to synthesise four emerging paradigms in economic theory. These paradigms are the regulationist, the institutionalist, the post-modernist, and the post-development. Arguably, these are paradigms rather than models of behaviour because they each presents an analytical framework for examining different economic phenomena. We shall attempt to show that the four paradigms are useful, complementary, and can be symbiotically linked into a broader paradigm especially to examine the phenomenon of low growth in the region. If we use a modified Kuhnian (1970) model for paradigmatic shifts in a discipline, we can argue that there are three dominating, competing, normal paradigms in economic theory: neoclassical, Marxist, and development theory. In Kuhnian fashion, these three dominant paradigms are pressured by several crises of inability to explain phenomena. Many of these explanational crises are about Less Industrialised Countries (LICs), but increasingly these crises are also about the inability to explain change in the Industrialised Countries (ICs) and the Newly Industrialising Countries (NICs). One, these three paradigms have to explain the differential growth rates of economies. They have to explain the low growth of LICs relative to both the old NICs (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) and the new NICs (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and China). The collapse of the Soviet model also has to be explained. Two, these paradigms have to explain the coexistence of significant levels of poverty with affluence in the LIs, and NICs, and now emergent poverty in the ICs. Three, these paradigms also increasingly have to explain why in a country growth and distribution is biased in favour of particular ethnic and social groups, excluding others, fuelling ethnic and social conflicts within countries and across countries globally. Four, these paradigms have to establish whether the IC market-determined patterns of consumption demand can be satisfied globally.
An Analysis of Reproductive Health Issues in Pakistan
Population programmes in many developing countries have emphasised on family planning services driven largely by numbers and demographic targets. With the advent of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, it has been recognised to move beyond a narrow focus on family planning to a more comprehensive concern of reproductive health oriented towards meeting the needs of individuals and families. This advocated shift in population and development strategy, especially in health emphasises that services be offered to women, men and adolescents with a special focus on fulfilling womenâs health needs, safeguarding their reproductive rights and involving men as equal partners in meeting the goal of responsible parenthood [United Nations (1995)]. In response to ICPDâs mandate, Pakistanâs population programme has increasingly been focussed on various aspects of reproductive health and is in the process of broadening the scope of services for a transition to reproductive health without losing focus on achieving fertility reduction goal. In this regard, the government has adopted a comprehensive population and development policy incorporating an array of reproductive health services and has integrated population and health departments and their activities in dealing with RH problems.
Towards Linking Four Emerging Paradigms in Economic TheoryâRegulationist, Institutionalist, Post-modernist, and Post-development
This paper is an epistemological attempt to synthesise four
emerging paradigms in economic theory. These paradigms are the
regulationist, the institutionalist, the post-modernist, and the
post-development. Arguably, these are paradigms rather than models of
behaviour because they each presents an analytical framework for
examining different economic phenomena. We shall attempt to show that
the four paradigms are useful, complementary, and can be symbiotically
linked into a broader paradigm especially to examine the phenomenon of
low growth in the region. If we use a modified Kuhnian (1970) model for
paradigmatic shifts in a discipline, we can argue that there are three
dominating, competing, normal paradigms in economic theory:
neoclassical, Marxist, and development theory. In Kuhnian fashion, these
three dominant paradigms are pressured by several crises of inability to
explain phenomena. Many of these explanational crises are about Less
Industrialised Countries (LICs), but increasingly these crises are also
about the inability to explain change in the Industrialised Countries
(ICs) and the Newly Industrialising Countries (NICs). One, these three
paradigms have to explain the differential growth rates of economies.
They have to explain the low growth of LICs relative to both the old
NICs (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) and the new
NICs (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and China). The collapse of the
Soviet model also has to be explained. Two, these paradigms have to
explain the coexistence of significant levels of poverty with affluence
in the LIs, and NICs, and now emergent poverty in the ICs. Three, these
paradigms also increasingly have to explain why in a country growth and
distribution is biased in favour of particular ethnic and social groups,
excluding others, fuelling ethnic and social conflicts within countries
and across countries globally. Four, these paradigms have to establish
whether the IC market-determined patterns of consumption demand can be
satisfied globall
An Analysis of Reproductive Health Issues in Pakistan
Population programmes in many developing countries have
emphasised on family planning services driven largely by numbers and
demographic targets. With the advent of the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, it has been recognised to
move beyond a narrow focus on family planning to a more comprehensive
concern of reproductive health oriented towards meeting the needs of
individuals and families. This advocated shift in population and
development strategy, especially in health emphasises that services be
offered to women, men and adolescents with a special focus on fulfilling
womenâs health needs, safeguarding their reproductive rights and
involving men as equal partners in meeting the goal of responsible
parenthood [United Nations (1995)]. In response to ICPDâs mandate,
Pakistanâs population programme has increasingly been focussed on
various aspects of reproductive health and is in the process of
broadening the scope of services for a transition to reproductive health
without losing focus on achieving fertility reduction goal. In this
regard, the government has adopted a comprehensive population and
development policy incorporating an array of reproductive health
services and has integrated population and health departments and their
activities in dealing with RH problems. Under the consideration that the
revised programme can not simultaneously address all of the RH problems,
an integrated National Reproductive Health Services Package has been
developed to provide services to eligible women, men and adolescents
[Pakistan (1999)]. The major components of RH package
include
Gender Dimensions of Demographic Change in Pakistan
The achieving of equality and equity between men and women in
different spheres of life is essential for the attainment of sustainable
development goals. In this context, the need for enhancement of womenâs
participation in national development programmes and their full
integration into the development process has been widely recognised in
various global and regional forums. More recently, the Programme of
Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and
Development at Cairo in 1994 reaffirmed and elaborated the role of women
in national development, and endorsed a new strategy that emphasises
âgender equality, equity and empowerment of womenâ. In this context, the
Programme of Action recommends that countries should act to empower
women and should take steps to eliminate inequalities between men and
women by providing them with more choices through expanded access to
education and health services, skill development and employment, and
eliminating all practices that discriminate against women [United
Nations (1995)]
Diagnostic Measures in Childhood Tuberculosis: A Short Review
The trends of incidence, morbidity and mortality of tuberculosis in children have always remained unclear because of lack of a definitive diagnostic tool in mostly cases. The diagnosis of tuberculosis in children remains a major challenge as it is seldom confirmed and is mostly based on clinical signs, symptoms and special investigations e. g. TST, chest X-ray and sputum smear microscopy. Sputum smear microscopy is positive in less than 10-15% of children with TB and culture yields are nearly about 30-40%. In low burden countries, the triad of (a) known contact with an infectious source case, (b) a positive tuberculin skin test and (c) a suggestive CXR is usually used to establish a diagnosis of childhood TB. The research on childhood tuberculosis is often neglected due to technical difficulties like slow growth in culture, the difficulty of obtaining specimens and the diverse and relatively nonspecific clinical presentation of tuberculosis in this age group. The complexity in making an exact diagnosis of tuberculosis in children have led to the development of several diagnostic approaches like point scoring systems, diagnostic classifications and diagnostic algorithms. The aim of this study was to review and analyse the different diagnostic approaches to childhood tuberculosis. In this paper, the mostly used techniques like culture methods as well as the non-culture methods including serology, biochemistry and polymerase chain reaction and DNA fingerprinting for the diagnosis of tuberculosis will be discussed. Keywords: Diagnostic measures, Childhood, Tuberculosi
Hybrid Nano-carriers for Potential Drug Delivery
Nanocarriers have provided the versatile platform for the delivery of various therapeutic and diagnostic agents. Liposome, niosomes, polymeric and solid lipid nanoparticles are the most promising nanocarriers that have been entered in the clinical trials and become commercially available. However, each system has been associated with some problems that can be minimized by using the combinatorial approach of hybrid nanocarriers. These hybrid systems combine the benefits of different structural components to synergize the outcome of the therapy. In this chapter, the different types of hybrid nanocarriers have been described with particular emphasis on the brief rationale for the development of these hybrid nanocarriers along with different fabrication approaches with greater emphasize on the lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles. A brief description factors governing the optimized response characteristics and their potential application of these hybrid nanoparticles are also presented
Plastic waste management: case study of tower market, Hyderabad
Plastic consumption is continuously increasing due to urbanization and growing global demand. The consumption of plastic deteriorates the quality of the urban environment of most cities, especially in developing countries. To overcome this issue to some extent, this study was conducted to prevent the usage of plastic products to provide a healthy environment. The data was collected by using the closed-ended questionnaire survey and by reviewing the literature. The collected data were assessed and analyzed on SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software. The survey observed that there is no proper plastic waste disposal system in the study area. People who reside in the area and those who visit the market face an unhygienic environment. The results highlighted that 50% to 60% of residents use plastic items which are dumped at open spaces without proper management after their consumption. This study suggests short-term, mid-term and long-term mitigation measures to reduce the production by using bio-based plastic and consumption by reducing the unnecessary packaging of plastic waste
Rapid and sensitive direct detection and identification of poliovirus from stool and environmental surveillance samples using nanopore sequencing
Global poliovirus surveillance involves virus isolation from stool and environmental samples, intratypic differential (ITD) by PCR, and sequencing of the VP1 region to distinguish vaccine (Sabin), vaccine-derived, and wild-type polioviruses and to ensure an appropriate response. This cell culture algorithm takes 2 to 3âweeks on average between sample receipt and sequencing. Direct detection of viral RNA using PCR allows faster detection but has traditionally faced challenges related to poor sensitivity and difficulties in sequencing common samples containing poliovirus and enterovirus mixtures. We present a nested PCR and nanopore sequencing protocol that allows rapid (99.9%. This novel method shows promise as a faster and safer alternative to cell culture for the detection and real-time sequencing of polioviruses in stool and environmental samples