Student Perceptions of Gender Studies as an Academic Discipline in Pakistan

The article aimed to highlight the varied perceptions of students studying Gender Studies as an academic discipline at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Pakistan. The research objective of this article was to document the students’ experiences, perceptions, misconceptions, and anxieties regarding Gender Studies. This research is the result of a continuous journey in this field where we have actively engaged and interacted with students studying in various semesters. The research was qualitative in nature and in-depth interview guidelines were employed to conduct interviews with the students of the Center of Excellence in Gender Studies (CEGS) at QAU, Islamabad. The sample size consisted of 20 students who hailed from different geographical areas of Pakistan and belonged to diverse socio-cultural and economic backgrounds. Additionally, the sample was purposely selected to include only students in their final semester. The study revealed that the instructors teaching Gender Studies were accused of propagating Western theories, and this had become a cause of concern and provocation for many students. A large number of students have indicated that they were unaware or ignorant of this academic discipline and were familiarized only after securing admission based on merit. The research demonstrates that these students were unsure of the scope of the subject and the employment opportunities it offered upon completion of their degree in Gender Studies. The respondents were under the impression that this academic discipline is not only antagonistic to their Pakistani culture but also promotes a Western agenda. A few respondents shared their experiences and pointed out that feminism faces a strong backlash in Pakistani society; hence, they found it difficult to see the relevance of feminism in Pakistan. The research also revealed that studying the discipline of Gender Studies has helped the respondents to introspect, deconstruct, and criticize their preconceived notions about gender and women. While Gender Studies as an academic discipline has equipped the students to deal with gender-based issues, it has also stirred arguments with their families. Lastly, Gender Studies created awareness related to gender issues and helped the students to overcome their misconceptions

Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty: Best Obesity Treatment

Obesity and its related health problems like diabetes mellitus, stroke and heart disease are an epidemic not restricted to industrialized countries. However, around 115 million people in developing countries suffer from obesity-related problems. 1 Regarding treating obesity, GI weight loss surgery (GIWLS) has shown remarkable results. 2,3 However, a very small percentage of individuals requiring GIWLS undergo this treatment. 4,5 That is mainly due to the high risks associated with surgical procedures. The GIWLS has evolved from mechanical restriction resulting in malabsorption to manipulation of gut anatomy, causing changes in the gut neuroendocrine signalling to the associated organs for regulation of food intake by enhancing satiety & improving glucose homeostasis. 6,

Reduction in Packaging Wastes Through Identification of Lean Wastes to Deliver Efficient Waste Controlling Techniques for a Pharmaceutical Industry

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method of reducing material and time waste during packaging in the pharmaceutical industry. This is done by means of identifying the four major lean wastes i.e., motion, inadequate processing, waiting, and defects. These wastes are identified and reduced by means of using lean tools and proposing other cost-effective solutions that would increase process efficiency. Material waste is dealt with through selecting optimal requirements under the constraint limits of ergonomics, engineering, and machine space availability. Along with reduction in change over time, a strategy ensuring improvement in the primary packaging area was developed. The validity of this research has been brought about by means of a case study of a multinational pharmaceutical company. The proposed system proves to be highly beneficial in ensuring wastage and time reduction in changeovers. This strategy provides improved results without any new costs introduced and the production targets were met faster. There is also a special consideration given to the ergonomic aspect of the production processes

FUNCTIONAL OUTCOME AFTER DECOMPRESSION FOR DORSAL SPINE TUBERCULOSIS SURGREIS

OBJECTIVE: functional outcome of improvement after decompression for dorsal spine tuberculosis in terms of frankle grading. METHODOLOGY: This prospective study was conducted after ethical approval at neurosurgical ward mmc/mti through non-probability sampling. Clinical and radiological examined patients with carriers of dorsal spine tuberculosis were enrolled in study. After surgery they were followed for three months and improvement were measured comparing pre and post op Frankle grading. RESULTS:  Total of 38 patients underwent surgical procedure decompression ± fusion through postero-lat approach (costotransversectomy) in which 42% were male and 58% were female. Mean age was 34±5. Distribution for age group was 18-30(08), 31-40(13), and 51-60 (06). Level of disease D4-D8 were 17(44.8%), D9-D12 were 21(55.2%). CONCLUSION: decompression and stabilization in spine tuberculosis is safe, effective and results in good outcome clinically. The advantages of surgery include through debridement, decompression and achievement of spinal stabilization. KEY WORDS: Dorsal spine tuberculosis, corpectomy with fusion, laminectomy, outcome measure

Impact of mobility models on clustering based routing protocols in mobile WSNs

This paper presents comparison of different hierarchical (position and non-position based) protocols with respect to different mobility models. Previous work mainly focuses on static networks or at most a single mobility model. Using only one mobility model may not predict the behavior of routing protocol accurately. Simulation results show that mobility has large impact on the behavior of WSN routing protocols. Also, position based routing protocols performs better in terms of packet delivery compared to non position based routing protocols

PO5.53 critical illness polyneuropathy and myopathy: experience at a tertiary care center in Pakistan

Background: Polyneuropathy and Myopathy are frequently encountere in the setting of Critical illness patients. Up to 50% of intensive care unit (ICU) patients show electrophysiological features of either or both conditions. These conditions interfere with functional recovery and delay weaning from mechanical ventilation, resulting in excess morbidity,mortality and cost of care. This study was to define the clinical spectrum of critical illness Polyneuropathy (CIP) and Myopathy (CIM) in a setting of developing country. Methods: Hospital records spanning the period 2000 through 2005 weresearched with ICD-9 codes to identify patients with CIP and CIM. Functional improvement was judged by (i) increment of at least 1grade on the Medical Research Council scale of motor strength: and (ii)reappearance of deep-tendon reflexes. Results: CIP or CIM was established in 47 patients of these, mean age was 54: mean length of stay in hospital 34 (range 8100) electrophysiological studiesrevealed CIP in 31 patients (66%) CIM in 12 (26%) and a mixedpicture in 4 (8%). Major co-morbid conditions included sepsis (39%) anddiabetes mellitus (17%), with an additional 28% having both and 17% having either. Neuromuscular blocking drugs were administered to 14 (30%) and steroids to 10 (21%) patients: an additional 11 (23%) patients received both agents while 12 (26%) patients received neither. In hospital mortality was 51%. At discharge and follow-up, motor improvement was seen in 11 (23%) while 12 (26%) remained neurologically unchanged. Conclusions: We conclude that CIP and CIM are frequent identifiable complications of critical illness in our setting. These observations need further prospective studies to delineate risk factors and out come predictors, to improve critical care patients

Catalytic Decomposition of 2% Methanol in Methane over Metallic Catalyst by Fixed-Bed Catalytic Reactor

The structure and performance of promoted Ni/Al2O3 with Cu via thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) of CH4 mixture (2% CH3OH) were studied. Mesoporous Cat-1 and Cat-2 were synthesized by the impregnation method. The corresponding peaks of nickel oxide and copper oxide in the XRD showed the presence of nickel and copper oxides as a mixed alloy in the calcined catalyst. Temperature program reduction (TPR) showed that Cu enhanced the reducibility of the catalyst as the peak of nickel oxide shifted toward a lower temperature due to the interaction strength of the metal particles and support. The impregnation of 10% Cu on Cat-1 drastically improved the catalytic performance and exhibited 68% CH4 conversion, and endured its activity for 6 h compared with Cat-1, which deactivated after 4 h. The investigation of the spent carbon showed that various forms of carbon were obtained as a by-product of TCD, including graphene fiber (GF), carbon nanofiber (CNF), and multi-wall carbon nanofibers (MWCNFs) on the active sites of Cat-2 and Cat-1, following various kinds of growth mechanisms. The presence of the D and G bands in the Raman spectroscopy confirmed the mixture of amorphous and crystalline morphology of the deposited carbon

Public perception and willingness towards bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and performance in Pakistan

Background/Aim: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during out of-hospital cardiac arrest increases both survival rates and neurological recovery, but in Pakistan, an alarmingly low 2.3 % of these individuals receive bystander CPR. This study was designed to identify the reasons that affect the perception and willingness of the public toward bystander CPR training and performance in Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: A CPR master trainer from the USA visited various organisations from 1 December 2022 to 31 January 2023, to conduct training sessions. Before and after the training, a questionnaire was distributed among respondents to fill in. The subjects were asked to answer questions about their perception and willingness to perform bystander CPR. Results: Out of 401 participants, 240 completed the survey, with a response rate of 59.85 %. The majority of them were males [146 (60.8 %)], 215 (89.6 %) were below the age of 40, 107 (44.6 %) were graduated, 182 (75.8 %) never participated in any CPR training, mainly due to their ignorance towards the importance of bystander CPR (52.8 %) and 152 (63.3 %) were eager to participate in the CPR training course. Furthermore, the leading problem in providing bystander CPR was lack of technique or fear of possible harm that can be proved fatal (48.8 %), followed by concerns related to involvement in any legal procedure (10.0 %). Conclusions: Bystander CPR is still uncommon in Pakistan. Participants were reluctant to perform bystander CPR because of various concerns and fears. Lack of proper skill and causing additional harm were the main reasons associated with this. Hence, while improving CPR training and public education, these findings must be considered

Statistical analysis of waiting time of patients by queuing techniques: case study of large hospital in Pakistan

[EN] The purpose of this empirical research was to analyze the comfortable waiting time (CWT) of patients at the outpatient department (OPD) of Gastrology of ABC hospital of Karachi. It is based on the analysis of CWT of patients who were being served at the OPD of Gastrology of ABC hospital of Karachi. The data was collected by the help of questionnaire. Altogether 250 questionnaires were distributed among the patients, 210 of them were collected back and 10 of them were incompletely filled. Data was analysed in the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22. Data analysis included frequency distribution of various demographics;stratification tables were made for the comparison of CWT across various demographics. Results indicated that more females (old aged) had greater CWT in the comparison of males. It is found that the mean CWT of patients decreased with decreasing age, increasing OPD visiting time and increasing income. It is also found that he mean CWT for the patients from Afghanistan was greater than the patients from other regions i.e. Baluchistan, interior Sindh and Karachi. The authors highlighted that when patients arrive at the hospital and wait for their service, in this scenario, waiting cost is associated with their waiting time; since it is the matter of cost, thus it should be known to the hospital that if patients are made to wait longer, it can lead to the customer dissatisfaction. In this regard, analysis of comfortable waiting time of patients was extremely needed. Since, Karachi is the biggest city of Pakistan and targeted hospital is one the biggest private hospitals of Karachi and in the analysis of this paper. Only 200 patients were approached for data collection which is the main limitation of the paper. In future, the researchers should also focus on the same OPD for more responses and at the same time, other departments can also be targeted for conclude better and precise results. The authors have tried to focus on the CWT of patients so that the waiting capacity of patients could be highlighted. At the same time, detailed analysis was conducted across demographics so that their influence on CWT could be analysed. Authors of this research paper thank the management committee of ABC private hospital of Karachi for allowing us to collect the data and we are also thankful to the patients who cooperated in filling the questionnaires.Kalwar, MA.; Memon, MS.; Khan, MA.; Tanwari, A. (2021). Statistical analysis of waiting time of patients by queuing techniques: case study of large hospital in Pakistan. 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