Towards an Islamic Theology of Nonviolence: A Critical Appraisal of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan\u27s View of Jihad (Part II)

In the second and last part of his article (see September issue, 671·80) Dr Omar explains the true meaning of Jihad in the ancient Islamic sources, which does not stand for violent warfare but for the struggle that every Muslim , indeed every person, should go through to remain obedient to God\u27s Word and to fulfil the will of God on earth. With this we wish to commemorate the UNO declared day dedicated to non·violence, the day known in India as Gandhi Jayanti (Oct. 2)

Impact of caregiving on various aspects of the lives of caregivers

Objective: This study was designed to assess the impact of caregiving on the lives of the caregivers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and September 2015 at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants who were more than 18 years old and were involved in caregiving (former or current) of a family member were invited to participate in the study. The participants were recruited through consecutive sampling technique. A total of 400 caregivers were interviewed. Written informed consent was obtained from all the participants. A pretest structured questionnaire was used for data collection and included sections on demographic details and impact of caregiving on various aspects of the lives of caregivers. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 19 (IBM, NY, USA). Results: Information about a total of 400 caregivers (215 men and 185 women) was included in the final analysis. The majority (57.0%) of the participants were aged between 18 and 30 years. About three-fifths (60%) of the participants were single and the majority of the participants were students. Approximately 64% of the participants were currently involved in caregiving and about 48% of the participants responded that caregiving has an overall negative impact on various aspects, such as physical (40.8%), psychological (47.8%), and professional aspects(51.8%) of their lives. Conclusion: Negative impact of caregiving was observed among caregivers due to extensive demands of caregiving and limited resources. Therefore, it is imperative for health care providers to explore, identify and support caregivers to cope in a better way to the challenging task of caregiving

A multi-robot educational and research framework

Robots have greatly transformed human’s life. Multi-disciplinary research in robotics essentially demands having sophisticated frameworks with diverse range of capabilities ranging from simple tasks like testing of control algorithms to handling complex scenarios like multiple robot coordination. The present research addresses this demand by proposing a reliable, versatile and cheap platform enriched with enormous features. The framework has been conceptualized with three robots having different drive mechanisms, sensing and communication capabilities. The proposed ‘Wanderbot’ family consists of ForkerBot, MasterBot and HexaBot. The ForkerBot is a four-wheeled robot equipped with ultra sonic range finder, wheel encoder, bump sensor, temperature sensor, GSM, GPS and RF communication modules. The robot, having a payload capacity of 8 pounds, supports both Differential and Ackerman drive mechanisms and can be used to validate advanced obstacle avoidance algorithms. The MasterBot is also a wheeled robot with an on-board camera and is skid-steered. The robot finds potential in research on image processing and computer vision and in analysis and validation of algorithms requiring high-level computations like complex path traversal. The third member in the Wander family, HexaBot, is a six-legged robot, which is able to exhibit the movement of tripod gait and can be used for investigating walking and climbing algorithms. The three members of Wander family can communicate with one another, thus making it a good candidate for research on coordinated multi-robots. Additionally, such a prototyped platform with vast attractive features finds potential in an academic and vocational environment

Peer Mentoring: Exploring the Impact on the Learning Culture of a Business Institute in Pakistan

University education is a new transition from school to undergraduate programs for underprivileged students. Recruiting students from rural areas of Pakistan challenge teachers to teach at a Higher Education while teaching underprivileged students struggling for a better future. The aim of this paper was to introduce peer mentoring between the Business and Professional Speech (BPS) students and the freshmen. The researcher being course faculty of both the Business and Professional Speech and Foundation English students undertook the experiential learning project. The initiative for the project was to explore the impact of peer mentoring on the learning culture of a Business Institute in Pakistan, subsequently, highlighting the skills of lifelong learners in the 21st century of global citizenship. The aim of this paper was also to investigate the strength of mentors in keeping the course objectives aligning with students’ interpersonal, intrapersonal and public communication abilities, at developing students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Kolb’s experiential learning model (1984) was implemented to carry out the project; whilst, students direct data of interviews, video clips, pictures, questionnaires and documents were used to validate the research. Findings demonstrate the benef icial impact on the cyclical learning between the faculty, BPS and freshmen in terms of their improved results, retention of reading tasks and exposure to the real-life challenges of the diverse groups at the university. Peer mentoring could be the possibility of bringing about a change in society if introduced at universities in Pakistan

Pharmacological Threat to Lungs: A Case Series and Literature Review

Drug-induced organ damage stands as a prevalent yet much-neglected issue globally. Keeping in view it\u27s rising frequency, health care providers stand obliged to be well versed with the de-merits of the agents they prescribe. Drug therapies causing damage present with a non-specific clinical presentation, histological findings or radiology, which further elaborates on the necessity of a conscientious diagnosis. Pulmonary architecture ranging from the airways, lung parenchyma, mediastinum, pleura, pulmonary vasculature or the neuromuscular system, all can fall victim to the dreaded outcomes of this menace. In order to establish successful diagnosis, the definite temporal relation between initiation of drug therapy and the development of the respiratory symptoms needs to be drawn. The most common form of pharmacologically arising lung toxicity is drug-induced pneumonitis or interstitial lung disease. Unfortunately, there is no adequate data available to review the extensiveness of this medication-associated risk in Pakistan which further highlights the necessity of carefully monitoring this overlooked yet assessable malady. Furthermore, identification and surveillance of this drug attributed peril shall help diminish burden on healthcare resources of the country. We present three recent cases of different types of drug-induced lung damage under treatment at our University Hospital

Current state of knowledge of basic life support in health professionals of the largest city in Pakistan: A cross-sectional study

Background: Basic Life Support (BLS) is the recognition of sudden cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system, followed by resuscitation, and rapid defibrillation. According to WHO, Pakistan has one of the highest mortality rates from accidental deaths therefore assessment and comparison of BLS knowledge in health professionals is crucial. We thereby aim to assess and compare the knowledge of BLS in doctors, dentists and nurses. Methods: A multi-centric cross-sectional survey was conducted in Karachi at different institutions belonging to the private as well as government sector from January to March 2018. We used a structured questionnaire which was adapted from pretested questionnaires that have been used previously in similar studies. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS v22.0, where adequate knowledge was taken as a score of at least 50%. P \u3c 0.05 was considered as significant. Logistic regression was used to identify the factors affecting the knowledge regarding BLS in health care professionals. Results: The responders consisted of 140 doctors, nurses and dentists each. Only one individual (dentist) received a full score of 100%. In total, 58.3% of the population had inadequate knowledge. Average scores of doctors, dentists and nurses were 53.5, 43.3 and 38.4% respectively. Doctors, participants with prior training in BLS and those with 6 to 10 years after graduation were found to be a significant predictor of adequate knowledge, on multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Even though knowledge of BLS in doctors is better than that of dentists and nurses, overall knowledge of health care professionals is extremely poor. Present study highlights the need for a structured training of BLS for health care workers

Successful resection of lymphangioma of the neck and mediastinum presenting as stridor in a 12 year old child

Lymphangiomas are congenital malformations of lymphatic tissue. This benign condition is generally found in the neck region and is discovered by 2 years of age. Here we report the case of a 12 year old child who presented with a cervical and mediastinal cystic hygroma that had progressed to such a space occupying nature as to cause the shifting of the trachea. The entire mass was successfully resected with a lower neck incision. Our case suggests the necessity of considering cystic lymphangioma in the differential diagnosis of lateral neck masses and use of adequate imaging to substantiate the preoperative diagnosis

Segmental excision versus intralesional curettage with adjuvant therapy for giant cell tumour of bone

Abstract PURPOSE: To review the functional outcome and local recurrence rate of 29 patients who underwent segmental excision or intralesionalcurettage with adjuvant therapy for giant cell tumour (GCT) of bone. METHODS: Records of 17 men and 12 women (mean age, 30.17 years) who underwent segmental excision (n=18) or intralesional curettage followed by adjuvant therapy (n=11) for GCT of the femur (n=13), tibia (n=8), radius (n=6), or ulna (n=2) were reviewed. Nine of the patients had recurrent GCT of bone and had undergone segmental excision (n=6) or intralesional curettage (n=3) elsewhere. Functional outcome was evaluated using the Musculoskeletal Tumour Society (MSTS) scoring system. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 6.4 (range, 3-13.5) years. 14 patients were followed up for 3 to 5 years, 12 for 5 to 10 years, and 3 for \u3e10 years. Of 20 patients with primary GCT of bone, 12 underwent segmental excision and had no recurrence, and 8 underwent intralesional curettage, 2 of whom developed local recurrence. Of the remaining 9 patients with recurrent GCT of bone, there was one re-recurrence in each surgical option. Local recurrence was not associated with Campanacci grading or type of surgery. One of 18 patients with segmental excision and 3 of 11 patients with intralesional curettage had local recurrence (5.6% vs. 27.3%, p=0.139). The MSTS score was excellent in 7, good in 6, moderate in 2, fair in 2, and poor in one patient after segmental excision, whereas the score was excellent in 9 and good in 2 patients after intralesional curettage (p=0.206). The proportion of yielding an excellent outcome was higher after intralesionalcurettage (38.9% vs. 81.8%, p=0.0289). Nonetheless, the mean MSTS score of the 2 groups was comparable (74.17% vs. 86.36%, p=0.054). CONCLUSION: Local recurrence of GCT was not associated with the surgical option. Nonetheless, intralesional curettage resulted in better functional outcome

Influence of responsible leadership on inclusive organizations: A mixed- method study

The ever-increasing diversity in organizations demands deliberate efforts to include the members in organizational activities. Responsible leadership, a blend of corporate social responsibility, ethics, and leadership, can generate willing cooperation and an urge to fully participate, which is pivotal to the success of the inclusive organization. This study explores the influence of responsible leadership on inclusive organization and uncovers its domains and pathways. Sequential mixed methods design has been adopted using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative data comprise 25 semi-structured in-depth interviews, and quantitative data 800 responses on questionnaires, collected from eight organizations, four each from the manufacturing and services sectors. It has been found that responsible leadership significantly influences the inclusive organization. The influence is exerted in social and ethical domains and follows five different pathways within each domain. It is also concluded that a responsible leadership style is better suited for inclusive organizations