The Long Term Impact of Health on Economic Growth in Pakistan

The paper investigates the impacts of different health indicators on economic growth in Pakistan. Cointegration and Error Correction techniques have been applied on the time series data of Pakistan for the period of 1972-2006. We find that per capita GDP is positively influenced by health indicators in the long run and health indicators cause per capita GDP. However, in short run the health indicators fail to put significant impact on per capita GDP. It reveals that health indicators have a long run impact on economic growth. It also suggests that impact of health is only a long run phenomenon and in the short run there is no significant relationship exists between health variables and economic growth. The major policy implication of the study is that if we desire high levels of per capita income, we can achieve it by increasing and improving stock of health human capital, especially when current stocks are at lower end. Moreover, study also points out a rather diminutive role of public health expenditure in determining the per capita GDP.Health Human Capital; Economic Growth; Cointegration, Error Correction

NOMA based resource allocation and mobility enhancement framework for IoT in next generation cellular networks

With the unprecedented technological advances witnessed in the last two decades, more devices are connected to the internet, forming what is called internet of things (IoT). IoT devices with heterogeneous characteristics and quality of experience (QoE) requirements may engage in dynamic spectrum market due to scarcity of radio resources. We propose a framework to efficiently quantify and supply radio resources to the IoT devices by developing intelligent systems. The primary goal of the paper is to study the characteristics of the next generation of cellular networks with non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) to enable connectivity to clustered IoT devices. First, we demonstrate how the distribution and QoE requirements of IoT devices impact the required number of radio resources in real time. Second, we prove that using an extended auction algorithm by implementing a series of complementary functions, enhance the radio resource utilization efficiency. The results show substantial reduction in the number of sub-carriers required when compared to conventional orthogonal multiple access (OMA) and the intelligent clustering is scalable and adaptable to the cellular environment. Ability to move spectrum usages from one cluster to other clusters after borrowing when a cluster has less user or move out of the boundary is another soft feature that contributes to the reported radio resource utilization efficiency. Moreover, the proposed framework provides IoT service providers cost estimation to control their spectrum acquisition to achieve required quality of service (QoS) with guaranteed bit rate (GBR) and non-guaranteed bit rate (Non-GBR)

Teachers Perception Regarding Facial Expressions As An Effective Teaching Tool

The major objective of the study was to explore teachers perceptions about the importance of facial expression in the teaching-learning process. All the teachers of government secondary schools constituted the population of the study. A sample of 40 teachers, both male and female, in rural and urban areas of district Peshawar, were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through a questionnaire containing ten items regarding facial expressions. It was concluded that teachers deemed the technology of facial expressions very essential and important, not only for themselves, but also for the attainment of students learning outcomes

Using genetic algorithms for the single allocation hub location problem

Hub location problem is an NP-hard problem that frequently arises in the design of transportation and distribution systems, postal delivery networks, and airline passenger flow. This work focuses on the Single Allocation Hub Location Problem (SAHLP). Genetic Algorithms (GAs) for the capacitated and uncapacitated variants of the SAHLP based on new chromosome representations and crossover operators are explored. The GAs is tested on two well-known sets of real-world problems with up to 200 nodes. The obtained results are very promising. For most of the test problems the GA obtains improved or best-known solutions and the computational time remains low. The proposed GAs can easily be extended to other variants of location problems arising in network design planning in transportation systems

Assessing knowledge of lady health workers regarding sexually transmitted infections in rural Pakistan

Background: In a conservative culture with limited social mobility like Pakistan, a lady health worker (LHW) provides a valuable opportunity for women with STIs to be diagnosed early, referred for appropriate treatment, and can counsel regarding further prevention. The study was intended to assess LHWs knowledge regarding early assessment and referral of women with STIs in a rural area of Pakistan.Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at health centers in a district of interior Sindh, Pakistan called Badin. A sample of 105 lady health workers were recruited using systemic random sampling technique, during six months from September 2015 to March 2016. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 and Microsoft excel.Results: Majority (29%) of LHWs were aged between 25 and 29 years. Half sample (51%) of LHWs were educated up to middle school and 6% were intermediate. Eighty-five percent respondents were married. More than half (59%) of LHWs were trained regarding STIs and 21.9% got the special training for it. Among them, 59% of respondents defined STIs correctly. Two thirds (67.6%) of participants knew the meaning of safe sex. One third (37%) of sample was aware of complications due to STIs during pregnancy. Two fifth of LHWs (40%) stated to refer the women with suspected STIs to the hospital for confirmation and further intervention. Near half of LHWs (48%) recommended the use of condom for prevention.Conclusions: The current study concludes that there are gaps in knowledge of LHWs regarding STIs which makes it unsatisfactory. Therefore in service periodical sensitization and advocacy workshops and trainings of these LHWs are recommended to fill information gaps, remove misinformation and provide quality information in a way that is linked to the women’s reproductive health in Pakistan

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISKS TO FARMERS AS A RESULT OF PESTICIDES’ MISMANAGEMENT IN KHANYOUNIS GOVERNORATE, GAZA STRIP

Several poisoning and death cases were reported in Khanyounis Governorate as a result of mis-use and mishandling of pesticides. Carcinogenic and internationally banned pesticides are still available in the markets in all the governorates of the Gaza Strip. This study aims to investigate the awareness and health issues of the farmers. Fortyfive farmers were randomly selected to fill a questionnaire prepared for this purpose. The results showed that protective clothing are totally not worn during application of pesticides. Lack of storage faculties, unlicensed pesticide shops, improper disposal of the empty containers and smoking and eating during application are among the hot spots related to pesticides handling and application. Also, 44.5% of the farmers complain of health problems, of which headache, coughing, skin rashes and difficulty in breathing. Only 4.5% of the farmers attended general agricultural training courses. In conclusion the study suggests that the government, public, the non-governmental organizations and all the interested parties should cooperate in a collective and serious work to minimize these environmental and health risks

Nonclassical Symmetry Analysis of Boundary Layer Equations

The nonclassical symmetries of boundary layer equations for two-dimensional and radial flows are considered. A number of exact solutions for problems under consideration were found in the literature, and here we find new similarity solution by implementing the SADE package for finding nonclassical symmetries

Feasibility of Primary PCI as the Reperfusion Strategy for Acute ST elevation MI at PIMS

Objective: To determine the feasibility of primary PCI in terms of frequency of patients with acute ST elevation MI found to have a first-medical-contact to needle time of 90 minutes.Methodology: The descriptive, cross sectional case series was conducted at department of Cardiology, PIMS, Islamabad from January 2017 to April 2017Results: A total of 350 patients were enrolled into the study, 67% (235) of which were males and 33% (115) females. Mean age of the participating population was 54 ±7.8 years. The mean first medical contact needle time was 2.3±1.1 hours, out of which a vast majority (73%) fell into the 90 minutes range. The patients had a median first medical contact to needle time of 74 minutes.Conclusion: The study concluded that majority of patients presenting to the emergency department with acute STEMI were found to be feasible for primary PCI as the reperfusion strategy with an FMC to needle time of less than 90 minutes. Therefore, accelerated efforts need to be made to develop this center as a primary PCI capable facility providing such standards of care to patients with ST-elevation MI

The Long Term Impact of Health on Economic Growth in Pakistan

Human capital plays pivotal role for sustainable economic Growth. As different growth theories suggest the role of human capital as a significant for growth process. The concept of human capital in economic literature defined broadly by including education, health, training, migration, and other investments that enhance an individual’s productivity. However, the growth economists that have incorporated human capital in the growth studies, paid greater attention on analysing the impact of education on economic growth, while ignoring the role of health human capital. It is only in very recent times that studies have started looking at health and tried to estimate the relationship between health status and economic growth. There exists a two-way relationship between improved health and economic growth. Health and other forms of human and physical capital increases the per capita GDP by increasing productivity of existing resources coupled with resource accumulation and technical change. Furthermore, some part of this increased income is spent on investment in human capital, which results in further per capita growth. According to Fogel (1994), approximately one third of GDP of Britain between 1790 and 1980 is the outcome of improvements in health especially improvement in nutrition, public health, and medical care facilities and these improved health facilities should be considered as labour enhancing technical change