Impact of Inflation and Interest Rate on Economic Growth in Pakistan

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of major economic variables includes inflation rate and interest rate on economic growth of Pakistan. The secondary data has been taken for the years from 2008 to 2017. The results from linear regression model describe that inflation rate spread negative impact on Pakistan’s economic growth while interest rate is found positively significant on the economy. Therefore, all the variables that have been selected show less impact on economic growth of the country as compared to other factors that put a solid impact on Pakistan’s economic conditions. The type of influence of these variables of the economy varies from country to country such as developed economies and developing economies. The developing economies like Pakistan suffering from different problems such as energy & water shortages, political instability, lack of policy implication, continuous increase in inflation, security concerns, burden of foreign debt, and misbalance between import and export payments etc

Microbial Status and Resistance Profile of Bacterial Species Isolated from Recreational and Agricultural Sites in Multan

Background: Humans are in continuous contact with recreational areas and agricultural fields. However, recent discovery of resistant bacteria in these sites have posed serious threats to the community.Methods: This study is designed to investigate prevalence of resistant bacteria in agricultural and recreational areas i.e., parks and rivers, to investigate their resistant profiling against antibiotics and metals by culture dependent agar techniques and to investigate effect of local medicinal plants on isolated resistant bacteria.Results: A total of 106 isolates from 35 water and sediments samples were isolated. A resistant rate of 46.05% was reported against antibiotics; the highest against ampicillin (75%) and the lowest against streptomycin (8.9%). Identified resistant strains were Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. Co-occurrence of metal resistance with antimicrobial resistance was also reported. Ethanolic leaves extracts showed promising results against isolated resistant bacteria. The highest and lowest zone of inhibition was reported in Syzygium cumini (37mm) and Ziziphus mauritiana (10mm).Conclusion: The finding of this study has demonstrated presence of resistant bacteria in publicly accessed areas that support various needs. The potential of Syzygium cumini, Ficus benghalensis and Psidium guajava against resistant bacteria in combination can be explored as an alternative green method against resistant bacteria.Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Irrigational land; Medicinal plants; Metal resistance; Multi drug resistance; River   

Causes and Effects of Cyber-Crime Victimization among Educated Youth: A Study of BZU, Multan

As criminal activities are increasing in Pakistan, there are different types of crime that come into the mind. Cyber-crime is the most common among internet users, especially students who are connected online most of the time for different purposes. This study examined the nature of cyber-crime, causes of cyber-crime and its effects on victims. The sample for the study consists of 201 students from department of social sciences Bahauddin Zakirya University, Multan. The researcher used multi stage sampling and questionnaires as a tool for data collection. The results were analyzed by using SPSS. The results revealed that 86.5% of the respondents used internet every day, while 95(47.2%) of respondents used internet for study, other 30(14.9%) heard songs by using internet, 45(22.3%) youth played games and 41(20.3%) watched movies. University students become victimized due to fake online job 124(61.6%), while monetary reward 37(18.6%), chat in open room 20(9.9%) and downloaded games 20(9.95%). There are different effects like 80(39.8%) psychological losses which include mental effect of private information losing and risk of re-victimization. While 55(27.3%) respondents are harassed, on the other hand, 21(10.4%) respondents lost their financial data and 45(22.3%) students lost their personal information data. Future research will be needed to let the youth be fully aware of cyber-crime effects

Cyberbullying in Individuals: Implications for Psychological Health

The aim of this research article and survey is to acknowledge the modern term of bullying, and develop better understanding of it by accessing all facts and causes of this problem. The effects of cyberbullying are directly proportional to effects of face to face bullying. Cyberbullying is negativity and aggressive behaviors that is often generated in a person's mind, it's traumatically effecting the psyches of adolescents and adults too. It also negatively effects the development of children, their academic performance, physical and mental health. Cyberbullying is a worldwide problem and many countries are experiencing its consequences. Cyberbullying has various impacts, and causes on one's health, so many services are provided by service providers such as physicians, nurses, parents and social workers. The objective is to educate parents, society and adults about symptoms of cyberbullying in victim as well as prevention and controlling over this problem. This paper includes consequences of cyberbullying on both victim's and bully's psyches. A survey has been conducted and its results are also included in this paper which shows the awareness rates, online bullying percentages and also other related factors that arises from cyberbullying

Serum Anti-Nuclear Antibodies and their patterns on immunofluorescence in patients with joint pain from Lahore, Pakistan

Background: Autoimmunity is the deviation of the immune system from its natural course and evoking a potent inflammatory response against organs or systems of its own body. Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) are an important marker for the diagnosis of autoimmune. The incidence of autoimmune diseases is increasing globally due to advancements in civilization, so it becomes crucial to monitor its trends. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of ANA and its specific pattern in individuals with joint pain.Methods: The duration of this cross-sectional study was 6 months, from December 2018 to May 2019. ANA profiles of 155 subjects were evaluated using the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) technique.Results: Amongst 155 enrolled subjects 101(65.2%) were females and 54(34.8%) were males. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 61 (39.3%) patients. ANA was found positive in 35 (22.5%) individuals, 5(14.3%) males, and 30(85.7%) females. Homogenous pattern was positive in 25(71.4%), 5(14.3%) fine speckled, 5(14.3%) centromere, and 1(2.8%) presented nuclear dots. The most frequent titer observed was 1/320 in 14(40%) individuals.Conclusion: The homogenous pattern was frequently observed patterns ANA positive subjects. There was also a significant relationship between age group and their patterns. The homogenous pattern was most frequent among the 60-69-year age group

Interactivity of E-Service Quality, Students’ Collegiate Stress and Academic Efficacy: The Moderating Role of Motivation to Learn

E-service quality and students’ retention has become a critical component of competitiveness in higher education. There are many factors associated with effective e-services but interactivity is assumed as one of the most significant factors in education sector. Higher education institutes are investing lucrative resources to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of e-services to attract and retain students. The quantitative study was designed, first to see the relationship between interactivity of e-service quality and students’ collegiate stress, academic efficacy and motivation to learn.  A sample of 430 students from private sector higher education institutes (universities) was selected from district Lahore by simple random sampling. The students’ perception about interactivity of e-service quality was measured by adopting a dimension from e-SQ (e-Service Quality) proposed by Al-Nuaimi, Mahmood, & Jebur, (2014). The students’ collegiate stress, motivation to learn was measured through adopting a dimension from College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) developed by Davidson, Beck, Grisaffe, & Practice, (2015). The study suggests that interactivity of e-SQ had completely non-significant association with motivation to learn, collegiate stress and academic efficacy among university students. On the other hand, motivation to learn held a significant relationship with collegiate stress of the students. Furthermore, motivation to learn had highly non-significant correlation with academic efficacy of the students. Lastly, academic efficacy of the students was also non-significant in relationship with collegiate stress of the students. &nbsp

Morphology and seed protein profile for a new species of the genus Cleome L. (Cleomaceae) from Pakistan

A new species of the genus Cleome L. from Pakistan is described and illustrated. The new species is described under the name C. karachiensis sp. nov. and compared with two closely related species i.e., Cleome brachycarpa and C. viscosa in terms of morphology, palynology, seed morphology and seed protein profile. A key to the species of genus Cleome L. from Pakistan is also provided

Comparison Of Naproxen And Diacerein In The Treatment Of Knee Joint Osteoarthritis

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a common disease in older age. Pain and limitation of movement are the main symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. Many pharmacological options are available for symptomatic relief but NSAIDs are mostly prescribed. Diacerein is also prescribed for osteoarthritis but data regarding its efficacy is still controversial. Moreover, studies regarding the comparison of diacerein with NSAIDs are deficient in Pakistan. Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the clinical efficacy of naproxen (NSAID) with diacerein in treating knee osteoarthritis. Methodology: Patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were included in the study. After written informed consent 60 patients of knee osteoarthritis were included in the study. They were divided randomly into two groups. Group A (n=30) was prescribed with tablet naproxen 500mg twice daily and group B (n=30) was given capsule diacerein 50mg twice daily for 12 weeks. Baseline VAS and WOMAC scores of the patients were noted. These scores were compared with scores achieved 12 weeks after intervention. Intra-group comparison of the scores was also carried out. SPSS version 23.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: WOMAC and VAS scores comparison of the two groups (A & B) before intervention showed an insignificant p-value that is 0.815 for the WOMAC score and  0.509 for the VAS score. After intervention means WOMAC score i.e.10.50 ± 2.46 of group A (treated with naproxen) was better than the mean 29.62 ± 7.03 of group B (treated with diacerein) showing significant p-value (< 0.001). Similarly mean VAS of group A 1.92 ± 0.58 improved more than the mean VAS of group B i.e 3.38 ± 0.75 with significant p-value (< 0.001). Intra-group comparison of the groups also showed a significant p-value. Conclusion: Clinical efficacy of naproxen is better than diacerein in treating knee osteoarthritis

Novel acridine-based thiosemicarbazones as ‘turn-on' chemosensors for selective recognition of fluoride anion: a spectroscopic and theoretical study

New thiosemicarbazide-linked acridines 3a–c were prepared and investigated as chemosensors for the detection of biologically and environmentally important anions. The compounds 3a–c were found selective for fluoride (F−) with no affinity for other anions, i.e. −OAc, Br−, I−, HSO4−, SO42−, PO43−, ClO3−, ClO4−, CN− and SCN−. Further, upon the gradual addition of a fluoride anion (F−) source (tetrabutylammonium fluoride), a well-defined change in colour of the solution of probes 3a–c was observed. The anion-sensing process was studied in detail via UV–visible absorption, fluorescence and 1H-NMR experiments. Moreover, during the synthesis of acridine probes 3a–c nickel fluoride (NiF2), a rarely explored transition metal fluoride salt, was used as the catalyst. Theoretical studies via density functional theory were also carried out to further investigate the sensing and anion (F−) selectivity pattern of these probes