Management and Organization of Theses held in University Libraries: An Investigation from Information Professionals in Pakistan

This research aims to investigate the management and organization of theses collection held in university libraries of Punjab Province. It also examines the availability of theses in university libraries, procedures, and techniques applied to organize theses collection and provide access. The quantitative research method by using a questionnaire as a research tool has been applied to collect data from libraries. Results revealed that university libraries possess an adequate number of theses collection in hard and soft form. They are organizing a print collection of theses by using traditional methods. Users can use theses collection under the supervision of library staff and are not allowed to get a photocopy of required pages due to copyright issue. In most of the statements provided by the respondents from public and private sector university libraries, there was no significant difference in the opinion of respondents to organize and manage thesis collection in university libraries. The study recommended that university libraries should manage this important piece of collection by using digital repository development software in their libraries and ensure proper management of theses collection and its use by the research community around the globe. The study also recommended that e-theses should be submitted in the national repository so that no one can pirate this intellectual work and users may get the maximum benefit from this intellectual source of information

Comparative Analysis of Understanding of Pictograms among Pharmacy and Non-Pharmacy Students.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate awareness and significance of pictograms among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students. The study was conducted in two public and private sector institutes of Karachi during July to Oct 2013. Altogether 306 pharmacy and non pharmacy students participated in the study. A self administered questionnaire was used for this purpose. Nineteen pictograms from the USP-DI and corresponding set of 19 locally developed pictograms conveying the same medication instructions or messages were evaluated. Respondents were evaluated for their interpretation of all 38 pictograms. More than 98% of the pharmacy students agreed that pictograms attracts attention of people to provide information about medicine use. 97% considered that pictograms are used as universal language that can be easily understood by everyone and they are effective tools for educating the illiterate patients. 97.87% non pharmacy students agreed that patients are unfamiliar with medical terminologies and pictograms may be used to convey the medically significant information to patients. Both pharmacy and non pharmacy students preferred USP-DI pictograms over the pictograms of local origin. It is a need of time to introduce pictograms as a topic in curriculum of Pharm -D courses like Dispensing Pharmacy, Hospital pharmacy and Community pharmacy so that during professional life pharmacist can use these tools to improve patient counseling techniques. It is a way to maximize patient care and provide patient education regardless of any barrier

The Approach of Pharmacy Students Towards Communication of Medication Errors in Karachi, Pakistan

Purpose: To assess pharmacy students’ knowledge of communicating medication errors in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: The study design was cross-sectional and conducted from February to May 2014. A previously validated questionnaire was adopted, modified and distributed to final year pharmacy students in four universities of Karachi. Descriptive statistics were used to present students’ demographic information and their response to the questionnaire items. Pearson chi square test and Logistic regression model were executed to evaluate the association of gender and institution of students with their response.Results: Out of 600 survey questionnaires distributed, only 464 were returned in useable form, giving a response rate of 77.33 %. A majority of the students showed moderately positive attitude towards general communication and training in communicating medication errors. More than 40 % of the respondents were not satisfied with the training they received in communicating and reporting incidence of medication errors. Incorrect drug (14.65 %), incorrect dose (8.40 %) and improper storage of medicines (7.97 %) were the most common errors observed by the students during clerkship.Conclusion: The findings indicate the need for a more standardized approach to improving knowledge of medication errors as well as training in the communication of occurrence of medication errors.Keywords: Communication, Medication error, Pharmacy students, Standardized trainin

Compost enriched with ZnO and Zn-solubilising bacteria improves yield and Zn-fortification in flooded rice

Zinc (Zn) is an essential element for humans, animals and plants, however, its deficiency has been widely reported around the world especially in flooded rice. Adequate amount of Zn is considered essential for optimum growth and development of rice. We hypothesised that management practices like Zn-mineral fertiliser, -compost, and -solubilising bacteria would improve Zn availability and uptake in flooded rice. A series of studies were conducted to find out the comparative efficacy of Zn-enriched composts (Zn-ECs) with Zn solubilising bacteria (ZnSB) vs. ZnSO4 for improved growth, yield and Zn accumulation in rice. There were six treatments viz. control, ZnSB, ZnO (80% Zn), ZnSO4 (33% Zn), Zn-EC80:20 and Zn-EC60:40. In all the treatments, Zn was applied at the rate of 5 kg ha–1 except the control. The treatment Zn-EC60:40 resulted in the maximum Zn release in soil as compared to ZnSO4 and all other treatments during incubation study. The treatment Zn-EC60:40 significantly improved root dry weight, grain yield and 100-grain weight of rice by 15, 22 and 28%, respectively as compared to ZnSO4. The same treatment resulted in the maximum increase in photosynthetic rate (11%), transpiration rate (21%), stomatal conductance (17%), chlorophyll contents (8%) and carbonic anhydrase activity (10%) while a decrease of 27% in electrolyte leakage was observed in comparison with ZnSO4 application. Moreover, the maximum increase in grain quality parameters and Zn bioaccumulation was observed with the application of Zn-EC60:40 in comparison with ZnSO4 application and all other treatments. We conclude that Zn-EC60:40 are not only an effective strategy to improve growth, physiology and yield parameters of rice, but also to improve the grain quality and Zn-bioaccumulation in rice compared to ZnSO4

Study of electronic, structural and magnetic properties of electrodeposited Co2MnSn Heusler alloy thin films

Spintronics is the new emerging field that recasts the modern information technology using electron spin along with its charge. Various spintronic devices have been under research for the last few years such as GMR based devices, MRAMs, etc. These devices are based on the conventional ferromagnetic materials that exhibit spin asymmetry. Half metallic ferromagnetic materials, especially Heusler alloys, are considered as most promising candidates because of high spin polarization. Previously, Heusler alloys have been investigated theoretically. Few experimental reports are available that belong to high-cost vacuum-based methods. Furthermore, detailed magnetic study at room temperature is rare to be found. In this research work, structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Co2MnSn Full Heusler alloy are investigated experimentally and through density functional theory by ADF. Theoretical results of this study predict the half metallic and asymmetric behavior of the Co2MnSn Full Heusler alloy with L21 structure. The cobalt manganese tin thin films are prepared by the electrodeposition method by varying applied reducing potential from 1 to 2 V. Mixed phases are observed at an applied potential ranging from 1 V to 1.5 V. Co2MnSn phase of full Heusler alloy is observed at an applied voltage of 1.75 V. Further increase in applied voltage to 2 V results in strengthening and stability of Co2MnSn phase. Magnetic moment μB of 4.10 is in close agreement to the one calculated by Slater-Pauling Rule for full Heusler alloys. The M−H loops of cobalt manganese tin Heusler alloy electrodeposited thin films exhibit soft ferromagnetic behavior. Arrott plots show the ferromagnetic nature of cobalt manganese tin electrodeposited thin films by exhibiting convex shape. MH curves show variation in exchange bias with varying the applied potential