Hard times: young people’s and young parents’ experiences of living through poverty in Luton

This research report is primarily concerned with the experiences of young people (16-24 years) and young parents bringing up children within the context of poverty in Luton. It is divided into three sections. Part One provides a general overview of poverty research in the UK. Part Two presents the findings from the study of young people and young parents’ experiences of poverty in Luton. Part Three discusses the implications of the findings presented and recommendations that arise from them. The overview of research presented in part one of this report is organised under the following headings: measures of poverty commonly adopted in UK poverty research; the extent of poverty in the UK including a short discussion of gender and ethnicity; attitudes to poverty amongst the general public; the impacts of poverty on children and families; poverty amongst young people; parenting in poverty; patterns of poverty. Part two of the report provides a brief description of the methodology adopted for this study and the sample amongst whom the research was conducted. Key findings are then summarised. Following this a thematic analysis of interview data is presented. This covers the following themes: how participants defined poverty; how participants explained poverty; the images of ‘poor people’ participants employed; whether participants considered they or their families were poor; participants’ descriptions of living through poverty; what participants thought the Local Authority should do to tackle poverty. Part three presents a discussion of the implications of the findings from this study and the recommendations that arise from them

Meeting the challenge of diabetes in ageing and diverse populations: a review of the literature from the UK

The impact of type 2 diabetes on ageing societies is great and populations across the globe are becoming more diverse. Complications of diabetes unequally affect particular groups in the UK older people, and people with a South Asian background are two population groups with increased risk whose numbers will grow in the future. We explored the evidence about diabetes care for older people with South Asian ethnicity to understand the contexts and mechanisms behind interventions to reduce inequalities. We used a realist approach to review the literature, mapped the main areas where relevant evidence exists, and explored the concepts and mechanisms which underpinned interventions. From this we constructed a theoretical framework for a programme of research and put forward suggestions for what our analysis might mean to providers, researchers, and policy makers. Broad themes of cultural competency; comorbidities and stratification; and access emerged as mid-level mechanisms which have individualised, culturally intelligent, and ethical care at their heart and through which inequalities can be addressed. These provide a theoretical framework for future research to advance knowledge about concordance; culturally meaningful measures of depression and cognitive impairment; and care planning in different contexts which support effective diabetes care for aging and diverse populations

Causal Relationship Between Exports and Agricultural GDP in Pakistan

This paper is an attempt to investigate the causal relationships among agriculture and exports in Pakistan by using time series data for the period between 1971 and 2007. There are several efforts reflecting greater interest in exploring the possible relation between the international trade and economic growth. Increasing of Gross Domestic Product is the main target of almost every economy. Promoting exports of the country is one of the ways of achieving economic growth. Pakistan is among the developing countries, emphasizing to boost its exports since its inception. The major share of Pakistan’s export has strong backward linkages with the agricultural sector both in terms of primary and value added commodities. The findings have significant implications on Pakistan’s economic policy as both the variables have shown strong long-run relationship. There is also a bi-directional Granger-causality between the total exports and agricultural GDP. However, for short-run, both the variable does not cause each other in either direction.Causality, Growth, Gross Domestic Product, Agriculture, Exports, Pakistan

RESOURCE USE AND FARM PRODUCTIVITY UNDER CONJUNCTIVE WATER MANAGEMENT IN PAKISTAN

The paper describes a study of canal and supplemental ground water used by 544 farmers for wheat crop in the Rechna Doab catchment of Pakistan. The main objective was to assess the on-farm financial gains through conjunctive water use. For econometric analysis, a linear relationship between the wheat production and different determinant variables was assumed. The results highlighted the problem of increased use of tubewells water in the saline zones that had resulted in the deterioration of the groundwater quality and led to the problem of permanent upconing of saline groundwater. Conjunctive water management increased the farm income by about Rs. 1000 and 5000 per hectare compared to only using the canal and tubewell water, respectively The results of financial analysis show that the net-gains were 30 percent higher on the farms using conjunctive water management as compared to the farms using only tubewell irrigation.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Pro-poor intervention strategies in irrigated agriculture in Asia: poverty in irrigated agriculture: issues and options: Pakistan

Irrigated farming / Poverty / Irrigation management / Irrigation systems / Water policy / Water rights / Water law / Irrigation scheduling / Organizations / Social aspects / Households / Economic aspects / Expenditure / Irrigation programs / Performance evaluation / Water delivery / Equity / Models / Crop production / Productivity / Wheat / Pakistan

Crisis intervention for people with severe mental illnesses

Background A particularly difficult challenge for community treatment of people with serious mental illnesses is the delivery of an acceptable level of care during the acute phases of severe mental illness. Crisis-intervention models of care were developed as a possible solution. Objectives To review the effects of crisis-intervention models for anyone with serious mental illness experiencing an acute episode compared to the standard care they would normally receive. If possible, to compare the effects of mobile crisis teams visiting patients' homes with crisis units based in home-like residential houses. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group’s Study-Based Register of Trials. There is no language, time, document type, or publication status limitations for inclusion of records in the register. This search was undertaken in 1998 and then updated 2003, 2006, 2010 and September 29, 2014. Selection criteria We included all randomised controlled trials of crisis-intervention models versus standard care for people with severe mental illnesses that met our inclusion criteria. Data collection and analysis We independently extracted data from these trials and we estimated risk ratios (RR) or mean differences (MD), with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We assessed risk of bias for included studies and used GRADE to create a 'Summary of findings' table. Main results The update search September 2014 found no further new studies for inclusion, the number of studies included in this review remains eight with a total of 1144 participants. Our main outcomes of interest are hospital use, global state, mental state, quality of life, participant satisfaction and family burden. With the exception of mental state, it was not possible to pool data for these outcomes. Crisis intervention may reduce repeat admissions to hospital (excluding index admissions) at six months (1 RCT, n = 369, RR 0.75 CI 0.50 to 1.13, high quality evidence), but does appear to reduce family burden (at six months: 1 RCT, n = 120, RR 0.34 CI 0.20 to 0.59, low quality evidence), improve mental state (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) three months: 2 RCTs, n = 248, MD -4.03 CI -8.18 to 0.12, low quality evidence), and improve global state (Global Assessment Scale (GAS) 20 months; 1 RCT, n = 142, MD 5.70, -0.26 to 11.66, moderate quality evidence). Participants in the crisis-intervention group were more satisfied with their care 20 months after crisis (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8): 1 RCT, n = 137, MD 5.40 CI 3.91 to 6.89, moderate quality evidence). However, quality of life scores at six months were similar between treatment groups (Manchester Short Assessment of quality of life (MANSA); 1 RCT, n = 226, MD -1.50 CI -5.15 to 2.15, low quality evidence). Favourable results for crisis intervention were also found for leaving the study early and family satisfaction. No differences in death rates were found. Some studies suggested crisis intervention to be more cost-effective than hospital care but all numerical data were either skewed or unusable. We identified no data on staff satisfaction, carer input, complications with medication or number of relapses. Authors' conclusions Care based on crisis-intervention principles, with or without an ongoing homecare package, appears to be a viable and acceptable way of treating people with serious mental illnesses. However only eight small studies with unclear blinding, reporting and attrition bias could be included and evidence for the main outcomes of interest is low to moderate quality. If this approach is to be widely implemented it would seem that more evaluative studies are still neede

Biomarkers for diagnosis of pre-eclampsia and endometriosis

Gynecological disorders are leading public health problems in developing countries with substantial impact on women&#39;s quality of life. Significant proportion of maternal mortality and reproductive morbidity is attributed to misdiagnosis andmismanagement of pregnancy related lethal pathological conditions and affect women&#39;s health. Timely diagnosis is necessary to prevent maternal deaths and to manage complications. Biomarker development will create a wide window of opportunity for early diagnosis. This review discusses the current status of biomarkers and recent advances in &#39;omics&#39; technology for early screening of endometriosis and pre-eclampsia because of significant global bioburden associated with these disorders. This review will also give baseline data for future biomarker development strategies.</p

Impact of guillain barre syndrome on psychosocial functionings of patients in islamabad

GuillainBarre Syndrome (GBS) is a rare autoimmune disease of unknown causes that affects peripheral nervous system. Objectives: To review the impacts of the GuillainBarre Syndrome on the psychosocial functioning of the patients and to assess the relationship between GuillainBarre Syndrome and the psychosocial functioning Methodology: Comparative cross sectional survey was conducted on 100 participants (50 GBS patients from Shifa International Hospitals and 50 normal participants from Islamabad in 6 months time from February to July 2013. Data collected through Structured Questionnaire in hospital settings for GBS patients and normal persons from Islamabad through Psychosocial functioning scale and social functioning scale and analyzedby using SPSS version 17