Long-run Performance of Public vs. Private Sector Initial Public Offerings in Pakistan

The private sector had its major share in the economic development of the country in the early years of its independence in the 1950s. However, the private sector suffered a set back in the early 1970s, when a huge process of nationalisation of a large number of private industrial units was undertaken by the then government. Over the decades these enterprises were not professionally managed and the political influences in the management and running of these enterprises played havoc with them and consequently the experiment proved to be a failure. Attending to the weaknesses and inefficiencies inherent in the public sector enterprises, privatisation was systematically initiated by the then government in the early 1990s. Various privatisation commissions were set up in subsequent years and the privatisation process got some momentum during the present government and many large and profitable firms were privatised in the last few years, particularly at a time when the overall climate in the country was responsive and conducive for investment. The government, however, privatised many enterprises through public offerings on individual-case basis

Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak after Repair of Congenital Spinal Pathologies, Incidence and Management

Objective:  To know the incidence of CSF leak and role of tincture benzoyl in the management of CSF leak after the repair of congenital spinal deformities like myelomeningocele, meningocele and tethered cord syndrome.Materials and Methods:  All patients who were operated for congenital spinal surgeries in the form of MMC, Meningocele and TCS by a single surgeon were followed for a minimum of 3 months. Patients with already CSF leak/ruptured MMC prior to surgery were not part of the study. The particulars like gender and type of surgery, days since first surgery, associated infection, hydrocephalus and type of management were noted on a proforma.Results:  A total of 73 patients with spinal dysraphism were operated during the study period and of them about 13 patients returned with problems of the CSF leak. The mean duration and duration since the CSF leak was from 6 days to 16 days. Among them, 10 patients had an MMC repair and one patient had TCS release, while 2 patients were having meningocele repair. The patients were stitched and one patient was re-operated two times for repair of CSF leak. Two patients had a CSF leak along with post op signs of HCP that settled by placing a shunt along with primary repair of the wound reinforced with tincture benzoyl in a single setting. Conclusion:  CSF leak is a common complication following repair of spinal dysraphism and most patients can be managed with the application of tincture benzoyl alone or after simple skin reinforcement

Bibliometric study on the literature related to dental research and education published in Journal of Pakistan Medical Association

Objective: To analyse characteristics of literature related to dental research and education published in a single medical journal, The Journal of Pakistan Medical Association.Method: The bibliometric study was conducted at the Sindh Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Jinnah Sindh Medical University from March till May 2020, and comprised electronic and hand search of scientific literature relevant to dentistry published in the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association from the first issue published in 1953 till March 2020. The selected articles were analysed for year of publication, field of study, type of article, institute and country of first author, number of authors and citation count. Keyword mapping was also carried out. Data was analysed using SPSS 19.Results: Of the 159 articles identified, 117(73.6%) were contributed from Pakistan. The most common specialties were Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Epidemiology with 20(12.6%) articles each, followed by Operative Dentistry and Endodontics 19(11.9%). Majority of articles were Original / Research 87(54.7%). The highest number of articles were published in 2019 26(16.35%). The Aga Khan University, contributed the most publications 30(18.9%), followed by Dow University of Health Sciences, 11(6.9%). Majority of the articles were contributed by three authors 48(38.4%). The top cited article was found to have 113 citations, followed by articles with 103 and 91 citations.Conclusions: The contribution of scientific papers related to dentistry and dental education in the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association was significant. With growth of dentistry as a discipline along with a parallel increase in the publication of dental research papers, it is imperative that a dedicated indexed journal for dental research be commenced

Spectrophotometric Quantification of Trace Elements and Toxic Metals in Raw Milk Samples of Peshawar City, Pakistan

The present study focused on the physicochemical characterization and spectrophotometric determination of the concentrations of trace elements (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) and toxic heavy metals (Cd and Pb) in raw milk samples collected from various commercial sites of Peshawar city, Pakistan. Evaluation of the nutritional values as well as the possible health concerns associated with the consumption of contaminated milk shown the average percentage composition of protein, fats, solid non-fats, lactose, salts and added water in the milk sample as 2.78, 4.81, 6.41, 3.05, 0.47 and 31.1 %, respectively. The values of pH, conductivity, density and freezing point were observed as 6.59, 3.51 mS/cm, 1.04 g/mL and -0.3674 ºC at 26 ºC. The physicochemical characteristics such as percentage protein, fat, lactose, salts, water, solid not fat, total solids, pH, conductivity and density were evaluated and found in the safe limits of the WHO/FAO. The average concentration of trace elements such as zinc and copper were found to be 1.4035 mg/L and 0.2588 mg/L, respectively. The concentration of Zn and Cu was found within permissible limits suggested by WHO. However, the average concentration of Fe, Mn, Cd and Pb were found higher than the permissible limits of WHO. The observed concentrations were: Fe = 1.5553, Mn = 0.4354, Cd = 0.1865 and Pb = 1.1162 mg/L. The presence of the non-essential and hazardous Cd and Pb in milk samples even in lower concentrations may cause severe health problems since these are the most noxious pollutants due to their non-biodegradable and bio-accumulative nature. Over-dose of Fe and Mn also leads to several health issues. A thorough and more precise investigation of raw milk consumption in Peshawar is highly recommended to ascertain the actual reasons and sources in the larger public interests

Wideband and High Gain Array Antenna for 5G Smart Phone Applications Using Frequency Selective Surface

This work presents an eight element array antenna with single layer frequency selective surface (FSS) to obtain high gain. The eight elements are fed by single port. The FSS consists of 14 × 6 unit cells with one unit cell size is 5 × 5 mm2 having wideband behavior. The antenna uses Rogers RT Duroid 5880 substrate and giving very wide bandwidth from 20 GHz to 65 GHz, covering millimeter wave 5G bands (including 28 GHz, 38 GHz and 60 GHz). The designed FSS is showing stop band transmission characteristics below −10 dB threshold from 25 GHz to 42 GHz and 59 GHz to 61 GHz. The eight element antenna integrated with the FSS reflector, which results an improvement in the gain level from 12 dB to 15 dB at 28 GHz, from 10 dB to 12 dB at 38 GHz, and from 9.5 to 11 dB at 60 GHz. The dimensions of the antenna are 65 × 27 × 0.857 mm3. The proposed antenna shows stable gain and directional radiation patterns. The simulation findings are experimentally confirmed, by testing the fabricated prototypes of the proposed antenna system

A Febrile Patient with Polyarthritis, Visceromegaly and Cytopenias

A case report of asymmetrical polyarthritic patient with history of fever of 6 months duration. Clinically also had hepatosplenomegaly. The lab reports revealed Cytopenias with TLC of TLC 1830μl, Hb 9.5g/dl, platelets 44000mL, and high ESR that is 75. Patient was worked up for possible SLE and RA, bone marrow biopsy was done for Cytopenias. While RA, ANF and Anti-DNA came out positive, thus bone marrow revealed hairy cell leukaemia, which was further confirmed by immuno-histochemistry. Patient was started on steroids due to painful arthritis and discharged to be followed up after two weeks and mediation for HCL. Surprisingly, the CBC report reverted significantly normal this period. Now the distinguishing point is, unlikely for hairy cell leukaemia to respond steroids so quickly within 10 days, or this was all SLE related manifestations and HCL was an incidental finding during the workup of pancytopenia. On further follow up, we will do BRAF and flow cytometry for HCL

Optimizing Conservation of Nili Ravi Buffaloes in Southern Region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Phenotypic, Morphometric, and Productive Traits

In Pakistan, Nili Ravi buffalo is highly valued breed due to its high milk yield. Native to Punjab province, the breed is now extensively distributed throughout the country. To assess and optimize the conservation strategies for Nili Ravi buffaloes in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by evaluating their phenotypic, morphometric, productive, and reproductive characteristics. Buffaloes were maintained at Livestock Research and Development Station in Paharpur, Dera Ismail Khan from 2010-2023, under breed conservation program. A sum of 298 records Nili Ravi buffaloes were used for the investigation. The research examined physical attributes such as coat color, horn morphology, and other qualitative characteristics. In addition to body weight, body length, withers height, chest circumference, and hip breadth, morphometric measurements were recorded. Mean body weight of Nili Ravi buffaloes was recorded was 677 + 213 Kg, produced 1387.12 + 32.87 liters milk during their lactation period of 292.87 + 32.40 days that was substantially impacted by year (p \u3c 0.05) and calving season. Calving interval was 480.18 + 22.09 days, whereas parity year and calving season bear considerable (p \u3c 0.05) impact on their characteristic. Dry period was 181.2 + 18.01 days. This research aided in the development of conservation and enhancement strategies for Nili Ravi buffalo in the region. Nili Ravi buffaloes in the region have excellent milk yield but the study disclosed morphometric variations within the breed, demonstrating the need for targeted breeding and management practices

Assessment of Change Orders Attributes in Preconstruction and Construction Phase

Construction projects are very complex in nature. Each activity involves multiple varying tasks. Construction industry is the main source of economic growth. When change order occur performance of projects momentously affected.  Change orders often have a serious impact on the quality, time and cost. Eventually it results in disputes, delays, and dissatisfactions among stakeholders and ultimately results in failures of projects. In past several studies have been done to evaluate the causes of change order and its effects. Attempts have been made to quantify these impacts by many researchers, but the aim of this study is to identify the causes of change order in two different phases i.e. preconstruction and construction stage. Views were taken from relevant experts over included factors after in-depth literature review from past researches. A questionnaire was made and floated with different construction players from clients, consultants and contractors side. The data was analyzed by SPSS using average index technique. The analysis of data showed that, Mistakes in specifications, Mistakes in design and Lack of experience in selecting construction team by client are the most critical factors during preconstruction phase. Whereas, Design modification by owner, change in scope at later stage and Delays in payment by client are most critical factors of construction phase, responsible for change order. The extensive discussion of these factors revealed various parameters related to Pakistan construction. This study will enable the clients, consultants and contractors to be aware of factors which causes changes in orders and their consequences on project completion. By the identification of possible reasons, the right decisions can be made to mark the project successful