Assessing the Lack Awareness and Dangers of Dengue in Rural Punjab Pakistan

Dengue is one of the dangerous fevers which are taking hundreds of precious lives every year in Punjab province of Pakistan. This disease is caused by an infection from a virus namely Flavi virus which is transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, also called Aedes albopictus. This study was undertaken to assess the lack of awareness about the dengue and how dangerous it is in the rural Punjab in order to suggest ways and means to control thy menace. The study has identified that lack of awareness among the rural citizens is the major reason besides integrated policies by the government. 5-point Likert scale was used to gather the opinion from respondents. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for reliability analysis. Descriptive and inferential analyses were done to find the fact. ?2 test was used to test the hypotheses on ordinal scale for environmental, personal and chemical control as major variables of the study. The study have identified that illiterate were less aware about the environmental and personal control then the literate with no information about chemical control. The study concludes that government must initiate strategies ahead of dengue season to educate the people through massive awareness campaign to save the precious lives. Keywords: Dengue, Environmental, Personal, and Chemical Control

Students’ Perception about MPhil Leading to PhD Program in Library and Information Science: A Case Study

This paper reports findings of three focus group interviews conducted to obtain students’ perception about MPhil (Master of Philosophy) leading to PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) program in Library and Information Science (LIS) at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. The results represent four open-ended questions of discussion that comprise, (a) students’ opinion about the admission policy and procedure of this program, (b) students’ reflection on program of the study, (c) students’ view on the coursework curriculum and its relation with writing a research dissertation, and (d) students’ opinion about the availability of required facilities. The key findings reveal that this academic program is a great opportunity for the LIS professionals. Being in initial stage, it has certain skill related challenges ahead. Hence, preparing LIS students for the future leadership roles does involve teaching them technology skills, practical research skills, communication skills, and management and leadership skills. Further, the availability of required facilities needs improvement

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in lower extremity amputations – a gigantic health-care problem or a false alarm?

Objectives:  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses not only an increasingly serious health-care problem but also a notoriously gigantic public issue.  We aimed to evaluate whether MRSA infection is a significant negative predictive factor for amputation healing and morbidity, in comparison to non-MRSA infections.Materials and Methods:  A cross-sectional comparative study of all the lower extremity amputations during the 25-month study period to examine the influence of MRSA and non-MRSA infection on clinical outcome.  Results were compared between MRSA- and non-MRSA-infected patients using Fisher’s exact test.Results:  During the two-year period, 171 patients underwent lower limb amputations for acute or chronic limb ischemia.  Sixteen (9.3%) had documented wound infection; including 10 MRSA (62.5%), 2 methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (12.5%), 2 Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.5%), 1 coagulase-negative staphylococci (6.2%) and 1 enterococcus (6.2%).  Patients with MRSA and non-MRSA infections were well matched in demographics, indication & level of amputation, duration of operation, American Society of Anesthetists (ASA) grades, and wound classification (p<0.05).   There was no death or morbidity observed within 30 day post-operative period in all groups within the study.  Over a 28 months median follow-up (range 16-50 months), an overall survival of 93% was observed.  Twelve patients (7%) died including one in MRSA group and 11 in no infection group. Conclusion:  MRSA infection does not adversely affect the clinical outcome in patients undergoing lower extremity amputations.  Regardless of presence of MRSA bacteria; common infection control measures, thorough wound debridement, careful wound surveillance and judicial administration of antibiotics should be routinely applied to all patients

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION (A CASE OF GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSITY, LAHORE)

The gender differences can never be ignored in any society or community in all fields of life. Similarly, Academic performance in higher education may also be influenced by gender according to the demographic behaviour and personal attitude of the students towards studies. The objective of this study is to investigate the possible differences in gender wise academic performance in higher education. A sample of 285 students was selected from Government College University, Lahore and the requisite information was collected through a questionnaire which was developed for this purpose. The reliability of the instrument/questionnaire was measured by Cronbach Alpha. Descriptive and inferential measures were used to explain the factors affecting the students‘ academic performance. Furthermore, the levene’s and t-tests are used for inferential analysis. The software SPSS (Version-16) was used for the data analysis. The Levene's test suggested that the variances of both male and female students’ performance were equal with F = 2.16 at p-value=0.143 and pooled t-test analysis has suggested that the average percentage marks of male and female students’ are significantly different with t = 2.206 having p-value= 0.028. The averages of the performance of male and female students were 72.12 and 74.54, respectively. The performance of female students’ in higher education is found to be better as compared to the male students

An Empirical Investigation Between Trade Liberalization And Corruption: A Panel Data Approach

The present study empirically investigates the relationship between trade liberalization and corruption, using data from twenty four countries divided into three panels: low income, middle income and high income countries for a 13 years period, from 1995-2007. That period is taken to see this effect after the establishment of WTO.  Many other economic and non economic variables have also been incorporated in this study. Fixed effect model have been used for estimation. The results show that trade liberalization is both statistically significant and negatively correlated to the corruption level of these countries included in the study. The results are robust even after controlling for other variables like economic freedom, democracy, size of bureaucracy, average income level and level of education. The focus of study is mainly on South Asian nations. Because according to the recent survey published by Transparency International related to Corruption, these nations are at the bottom of ranking ladder. Keywords: Corruption, Trade liberalization, Economic Freedom, Bureaucracy, Education

The long-run relationships between transport energy consumption, transport infrastructure, and economic growth in MENA countries

This paper investigates the impact of transport energy consumption and transport infrastructure on economic growth by utilizing panel data on MENA countries (the Middle East and North Africa region) for the period of 2000-2016. The MENA region panel is divided into three sub-groups of countries: GCC panel (containing the Gulf Cooperation Council countries), N-GCC panel (containing countries that are not members of the Gulf Cooperation Council), and North African countries (called MATE — Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt). Using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), we find that transport energy consumption significantly adds to economic growth in MENA, N-GCC and MATE regions. Transport infrastructure positively contribute to economic growth in all regions. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality analysis shows the feedback effect of transport energy consumption and transport infrastructure with economic growth. The empirical results add a new dimension to the importance of investing in modern infrastructure that facilitates the use of more energy-efficient modes and alternative technologies that positively affect the economy with minimizing negative externalities

Monitoring Ice Break-Up on the Mackenzie River Using Remote Sensing

The Mackenzie Basin is composed of eight sub-basins (North Mountains, Liard, Peace, Athabasca, Great Bear Low Plains, Great Slave and Arctic Red) and includes three large lakes (Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Athabasca) and three deltas (Peace-Athabasca Delta, Slave Delta, Mackenzie Delta), one of which is the world’s largest inland delta (Peace-Athabasca Delta). Annually, the Mackenzie River experiences freeze-up during the fall season and ice break-up in the spring, having an important influence on the basin hydrology Furthermore, the type of ice break-up event is dependent on the magnitude of hydrological and meteorological conditions present. In light of the decreasing network of ground-based stations operated by the Water Survey of Canada on the Mackenzie River, this study explored the use of satellite remote sensing data to improve monitoring capabilities during the ice break-up period. MODIS Level 3 snow products (MOD/MYD10A1) and MODIS Level 1B radiance products (MOD/MYD02QKM) are used to monitor ice cover during the break-up period on the Mackenzie River, Canada, for 13 ice seasons (2001-2013). The initiation of the break-up period was observed to occur between days of year (DOY) 115-125 and end DOY 145-155, resulting in average melt durations of 30-40 days. Floating ice running northbound could therefore generate multiple periods of ice-on and ice-off observations at the same geographic location. At the headwaters of the Mackenzie River, ice break-up was thermodynamically driven as opposed to dynamically, as observed downstream near the Mackenzie Delta. MODIS observations also revealed that ice runs were largely influenced by channel morphology (islands and bars, confluences and channel constriction). MODIS was found to be a powerful tool for monitoring ice break-up processes at multiple geographical locations simultaneously along the Mackenzie River. Finally, MODIS was found to be a viable tool for estimating river ice velocity where channel morphology least affected river flow. Ice run velocities north of 66° N ranged from 1.21-1.84 ms-1

Adopting Green Practices: Challenges for University Libraries of Pakistan

A green or sustainable library seeks to maximize the use of natural and renewable resources. The adoption of green practices in libraries of developing countries like Pakistan is much needed where water and energy resources are scarce and unsustainable. This move from conventional to green libraries also poses certain challenges. This study aims to explore the challenges encountered in the adoption of green library practices in the university libraries of Pakistan. The scholarly literature is reviewed to encompass the dimensions and challenges of a green library in the global context. The feedback from the selected, senior university librarians of Pakistan regarding challenges and their solutions in adopting green library practices is collected through interviews. These challenges include a lack of awareness about green libraries and practices, policy for green libraries, technologies for a paperless environment, awareness regarding the use of natural construction materials and biodegradable products, awareness regarding the use of natural and renewable energy sources, and seriousness of librarians and management. The experts also suggest required skills and resources to overcome these challenges comprising knowledge about green libraries and practices, paperless environment, space management, solar panels, glass windows, skills regarding the use of renewable energy sources, and the ability to find out the environmental impact of a resource. This study may also be useful for libraries in other developing countries

The National Library of Pakistan: A Survey of Users’ Satisfaction

This study aims to assess users’ satisfaction with the National Library of Pakistan (NLP). The study variables include facilities, collection, services, and attitude/behavior of staff along with demographics and open-ended comments. To carry out the objectives of the study, a semi-structured paper questionnaire using a modified Likert-type scale is administered personally by the principal researcher. Responses from one hundred (100) users are obtained employing a non-probability (accidental, voluntary) sampling technique. The majority of users show their satisfaction against all the variables. The users in open-ended comments suggest further improvement in facilities and services. This study may be helpful for the NLP administration to plan and proceed accordingly. Other national libraries especially in developing countries like Pakistan may also conduct user satisfaction surveys to assess their resources following the example of this study

Adoption of Green Practices in University Libraries of Pakistan: A Qualitative Study

Conceptual, technological, and material advancement has a deep influence on all sectors of life including libraries. Libraries are coping with these developments accordingly, however, the pace of development is not the same around the globe. This study aims to explore the adoption status of green library practices in the university libraries of Pakistan. The peer-reviewed literature including IFLA’s checklist was encompassed to model twelve aspects/practices of green library initiative. The feedback from the selected, senior university librarians of Pakistan on the proposed model of green library practices was collected through interviews. The librarians apprise the green library model as an effective combination of related aspects and technologies. The findings reveal that each participating library has adopted some of the green library practices. However, a lot of more work is to be done to fully understand and adopt the green library initiative