Reading Habits Among Undergraduate Students of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan: A Pilot Study

Reading is an art that tends to expose ourselves to the knowledge of the worlds. To put it another way, it is an art of decoding message through written words. This study is based on undergraduates’ students’ experience on reading preferences regarding print or paperback books. The scope of this research focuses on a holistic view on trends of reading paperback books and did not aim to confer any particular aspect or impact of reading books on respondents. However, the findings have shown that paperback books still are of great importance and significant driving force when it comes to reading for pleasure and/or academic purposes among university student

Treatment of Typhoid Fever in Children: Comparison of Efficacy of Ciprofloxacin with Ceftriaxone

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of ciprofloxacin vs ceftriaxone in terms of the proportion of children becoming afebrile in 96 hours. Study Design: Randomized controlled design study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pediatrics, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi from March 2010 to September 2010. Methodology: 88 children who fulfilled the clinical criteria of having typhoid fever were included in the study. They came to the indoor and outdoor of the department. 44 patients were treated with injectable ciprofloxacin, while 44 were treated with injectable ceftriaxone. Results: The study included 88 patients with febrile illness who were suspected of having typhoid fever. The mean age was 8.3±1.94 years and 41 (46.6%) were males. The mean weight was 24.7±6.3 kg. Only 15 (17%) used boiled water as a routine. 68 (77.3%) children in total became afebrile within 96 hours and 20 (22.7%) failed to become afebrile in 96 hours. In the ciprofloxacin group, 25 (56.8%) patients became afebrile in 96 hours and 19 (43.1%) failed to become afebrile in 96 hours. In the ceftriaxone group, 43 (97.7%) patients became afebrile in 96 hours and 1 (2.3%) failed to become afebrile in 96 hours. The proportion of patients becoming afebrile within 96 hours was significantly higher in the ceftriaxone group as compared to the ciprofloxacin group, p= 0.00. Conclusion: Ceftriaxone is more effective in children with typhoid fever in terms of greater proportion of children becoming afebrile in 96 hours

Social Media and Pakistani Journalists: WhatsApp Usage for News and Ethical Performance

With the fast expansion and acceptance of the Social Media in Pakistan, it is observed that the traditional journalism has entered in a new avenue because social media not only facilitating networking platform for the communities but also it has also been becoming a source of news for the traditional media journalists. As previous studies discussed that social media including Twitter and Facebook become the important tool to disseminate the news. Previous researches are the evidence of the usage of social media as a news source however they also pointed out the questions of the credibility of the information provided by these social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp therefore the objective of this study is to find out how social media especially WhatsApp is being used as source of information for the journalists working in the traditional media and to what extent it is influencing the ethical performance of the journalists in Pakistan. This will be a qualitative study in which interview technique is employed and theoretical framework has been used based on the diffusion of innovation theory. Population of the study is all the news TV channels in Pakistan. Sample of the study will be ten field reporters and news room personnel from one private and one public main stream news TV channels of Pakistan. The results show that the Journalists, newsroom personnel and reporters use WhatsApp because of its extra ordinary features to enhance their reporting magnitude. Results also show that journalists and reporters ignore ethical rules and regulations during the reporting and in field even they are aware of rules and regulations of journalism. Keywords: Online media, journalists, news, diffusion of innovation, credibility, ethical performance, WhatsApp DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/88-02 Publication date: February 29th 202

Determine the Severity of Acute Respiratory Infections by Using Pediatric Respiratory Severity Score (PRESS) in Children Visiting Federal Govt. Polyclinic hospital, Islamabad

Objective: To determine the severity of acute respiratory infections in children by using Pediatric Respiratory Severity Score (PRESS). Methodology: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at the outpatient and emergency paediatric department of the Federal Govt. Polyclinic hospital, Islamabad, from October 2017 to December 2019. One hundred and seventeen children with acute respiratory infections were enrolled in the study by a non-probability sampling technique. Epidemiologic variables of interest included age, sex, and breastfeeding or not. Clinical variables of interest included respiratory rate, use of accessory respiratory muscle, wheeze on auscultation, and oxygen saturation at room air.  PRESS assessed tachypnea, wheezing, accessory muscle use, SpO2 and feeding difficulties with each component given a score of 0 or 1, and the total score were categorized as a mild(0-1), moderate (2-3) or severe(4-5). Results: Out of 117 children, 98 (83.8%) belonged to the age group > 2 months– 12 months, while 19 (16.2%) belonged to the age group > 12 months– 24 months. Among them, 17 (14.5%) were mild, 53 (45.3%) were moderate, and 47 (40.2%) were severe according to their severity of respiratory distress. The hospitalization rate for moderate infection was 84.9% while 100% for severe infection and none of the patient with mild infection was hospitalized (p<0.001). Conclusion: Early assessment by simple bedside technique will help in managing the respiratory distress according to its severity, reducing the undue investigation and improving the outcome of illness. Moreover it can be easily administered at primary health care facilities for triage of pediatric patients with respiratory distress

Adaptation and Concurrent Validity of Screen for Children Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED)

The current study was designed to adapt and investigate the psychometric properties of SCARED (screening children for anxiety related emotional disorders) as the first anxiety related emotional disorder screening tool for Pakistani children. The sample consisted of 8 to 11-year-old (N=322, mean age= 9.48) primary class children, including 157 girls and 165 boys. The 41-item child version of SCARED was translated into Urdu language by following Brislin’s translation method. The convergent validity of this scale was determined by comparing it with DBDRS (Disruptive Behaviour Disorder Rating Scale). Cronbach’s alpha reliability of SCARED scale was 0.89 and its subscales demonstrated internal consistencies ranging from 0.68 to 0.76 i.e. moderate to high, except one subscale SH, 0.45. The total score of SCARED was positively correlated with conduct disorders (r= 0.16, p 0.05), inattention(χ2= 0.11, p > 0.05), hyperactivity/ impulsive(χ2= 0.23, p > 0.05), ODD (χ2= 0.05, p > 0.05) and with ADHD combined scores (χ2= 0.27, p > 0.05.The findings supported convergent validity for anxiety disorders with disruptive behaviours depicting the comorbidity of anxiety and disruptive behaviour. The study provides support for the convergent validity of SCARED with DBDRS

Diagnostic Accuracy Of Barium Swallow For Dysphagia, Keeping Rigid Esophagoscopy As The Gold Standard

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of Barium Swallow in detection of patients presenting with dysphagia. Study Design: Cross-sectional validation study. Study Setting & Duration: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, District Headquarter Hospital Rawalpindi from 01-09- 2022 to 01-03-2023. Materials and Methods: Approval of the study was obtained from the Hospital Ethical Committee. A total of 111 patients both male and female patients were selected. The patients suffering from dysphagia as per operational definitions and who have reported for work-up to the Department of ENT, District Headquarters Hospital, Rawalpindi, and fulfill the complete inclusion and exclusion criteria, were selected. Informed consent was obtained from all the patients. Patients were selected by consecutive non-probability sampling technique. The data was analyzed using SPSS 24. Results: A total of 111 patients were included in this study. The mean age of these patients was 50.79 ± 13.01 years, ranging from 28 to 70 years. The frequency distribution of females 70.27 % was found to be more than that of males 29.73 %. Majority of patients' barium swallow (74.77%) revealed pathologies, while only a small percentage of patients (25.23%) had normal barium swallow. Most of patients (87.39%) had pathologies found during rigid esophagoscopy, while just a small number (12.61%) had normal rigid esophagoscopy. Comparing both investigating tools, esophagoscopy discovered 87.39% of pathologies while Barium swallow detected 74.77%, indicating that esophagoscopy was a more accurate procedure. Patients had esophageal web 55 (25.2%) on barium swallow and 69 (62.2%) on the Rigid esophagoscopy. Barium Swallow had esophageal stricture 28 (52.2) and no Pathology was detected in 28 (25.2 %) patients. As well as Rigid esophagoscopy had esophageal growth13 (11.7), esophageal stricture 15 (13.5), and no Pathology was detected in 14 (12.6 %). Rigid esophagoscopy is more efficient in detecting esophageal pathology than Barium Swallow. In Barium swallows most patients had esophageal web 55 (25.2%) than the esophageal stricture 28 (52.2) and no pathology was detected 28 (25.2). In rigid esophagoscopy most patients had esophageal web 69 (62.2%) than the esophageal growth13 (11.7), esophageal stricture 15 (13.5) and no pathology detected 14 (12.6). Conclusion: A range of diseases are associated with dysphagia can be found in patients. Two often used diagnostic methods are barium swallow and rigid esophagoscopy. Both Barium swallow and Rigid esophagoscopy are successful in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. The use of a Rigid esophagoscopy is still a gold standard diagnostic and therapeutic tool for upper aerodigestive tract pathologies

A cross sectional study on the risk factors of gallbladder stone

Background: Gallstone diseases are one of the most common public health problems. Approximately 10%-20% of the national adult populations currently carry gallstones, and gallstone prevalence is rising. The purpose of the study was to find out association of gallstone with fatty liver, gender and age in Lahore, Pakistan.Methods: Ultrasonographically Hundred patients were scanned for liver type and gall stone. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 17.0. Chi-Square statistics was used to check the association between the variables. The effect of age and gender was also statistically analysed.Results: One hundred patients were scanned between ages 21-60 years. Out of hundred 76% patients were female and 24% were male. In this study there were no stones in 37% cases and there were stones in 63% cases. Gallbladder stone found associated with age as p-value is found less than 5% level of significance, maximum patients were found in age ranges between 31-35 years, showing that risk of developing gallstone increases by age. Gallstone is gender specific, females are more victims of developing the stone than among males, and those who have fatty liver are more at risk of developing gallstone than those having normal liver.Conclusions: The study showed that ultrasound (US) is the most sensitive, specific, yet very practical and useful imaging test for the detection of gallstones with a high degree of confidence. Gallstones represent high prevalence disease in adult females more than males and it increases by age where as those who have fatty liver, they are more likely to develop gallstone

A Path to Empowerment: Usage of Facebook by Pakistani Women Entrepreneurs.

Facebook has become popular tool amongst women entrepreneurs in Pakistan and is a good source to earn their livelihood, while staying at home. This study was aimed to enlighten the role of potential women entrepreneurship, who are successfully running their businesses on Facebook. According to the World Bank report (2019) 48.5 percent population in Pakistan is women. Due to the unavoidable reasons majority of them are only allowed to work at home therefore the easy access of Facebook has become a reasonable platform to earn their livelihood. However, their success stories are not being highlighted as they deserve. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 female entrepreneurs actively involved in web-based activities during a three-month time frame of this study by using Snowball sampling Technique. The questionnaire was adapted and inspired from Ajjan et al.'s (2014) Conceptual model. The findings showed that Facebook has an overall positive impact on the lives of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Due to the user-friendly nature, customized options and monetary incentives, Facebook is transforming from just social networking site to business platform for women in Pakistan.  Due to the unique, innovative and novel characteristics of Facebook, more and more women are getting motivated to run their businesses through Facebook. It is expected that this could further imitate strategies directed to improve entrepreneurial movements among women of emerging economies and conclusively increasing female leadership around the globe