PERSPECTIVE ON CODE SWITCHING IN CONTENT-BASED CLASSROOMS: GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS CONTEXT IN PAKISTAN

Teaching in Pakistan has always shown irregular policy decisions with reference to medium of instructions, and choice of language used by teachers and students. This has resulted in below average education quality in government schools.  Multitude of research has been done, both internationally and nationally, on use of language for teaching and learning. Using language repertoire of a learner has been found useful and effective for development and learning (Manan et al., 2017, Liebscher & Dailey, 2005). With recent trend towards code switching by declaring EMI as a challenge (p.47, National Education Policy Report, 2017), the paper aims at mapping teachers’ perspective on the policy. This is achieved through a questionnaire and series of interviews on code switching developed on patterns of Translanguage theory (García & Lin, 2017, García & Wei, 2014).  By considering translanguaging, the pedagogic counterpart of code switching, the research provides direction and suggests a solution to a national problem that is which language to use for teaching and communication in government schools for effective teaching and learning

EVALUATION THROUGH E-GOVERNANCE IN EDUCATION

This study focuses on the importance of monitoring and evaluation in education through E-governance especially in low-budgeted educational institutions of Punjab, Pakistan. In this era of fast-paced world, monitoring and evaluation system for education needs to be revamped in terms of digitization for effective and efficient progression, results and follow-up (Sabbagh et al, 2012). There are some reference documents/frameworks available in Pakistan to evaluate and monitor schools, however, there is near to none collaboration among the public and private sector schools with respect to evaluation in education through e-governance.  So, there is a need to answer that how ready is the education sector for e-governance in terms of monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, how effective it will prove to be a support for the school leadership to make informed decisions. To answer these questions, this research is expedited with the help of Hertzberg’s Two Factor (Motivation and Hygiene factors) Theory of Motivation (1968). The idea of digitized monitoring and evaluation was piloted in a cluster of 20 private (Primary and Secondary) schools with the help of Android Phones. This Data base has already been designed to generate reports as per the required formats, levels, and forms. This research provides direction to future evaluators and emphasize on the significance of digitization in educational monitoring and evaluation. It certainly has major implications for educators, evaluators and for the policy makers to implement e-governance through digitized monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, this unique idea of digitized monitoring enabled us to create paper free environment, have standardized and central monitoring, unified reporting formats, data base record keeping (safe and secure), and, access of data for evaluators and School Management Team (SMT)

Genetic diversity of rose germplasm in Pakistan characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers have been found to be very useful in studying the genetic variability of different species, including Rosa. Present studies were undertaken for the identification and  analysis of genetic variation within a collection of 4 species and 30 accessions of rose using RAPD analysis  technique. The results showed the molecular distinctions among the genotypes when analysed using 25 RAPD primers. Total amplified bands were 146, out of which 110 were polymorphic, with an average of seven bands per primer. Maximum number of bands (10) was produced by primer GLD-20, while GLC-02 produced the  minimum number of bands (2). Maximum polymorphism in the present study was obtained by primer GLA-03, GLA-05, GLA-07, GLA-10, GLC-02, GLC-06, GLC-08, GLC-10, OPG-11 and OPE-19 which produced 100%  polymorphic bands, while primer GLB-11 produced only 42.85% polymorphic bands. This study demonstrated the potential of RAPD technique for the characterization of genetic variation within the rose germplasm.Key words: Random amplified polymorphic DNA, polymorphism, rose germplasm, primer

Comparing sensitivity and specificity of pacemaker ID application and cardiac rhythm management device-finder application in identifying cardiac implantable electronic device manufacturer using chest radiograph - An observational study

Background: Smartphone-based applications to identify cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) are extremely useful in circumstances, where urgent device interrogation is needed, and a device identification card is not available. Few studies have provided insights regarding the utility of these applications. We have studied two widely available applications i.e., Pacemaker ID app (PMIDa) or Cardiac Rhythm Management Device-Finder (CRMD-f) to identify device manufacturers in CIEDs.Methods: 547 patients who underwent CIED implantation from the year 2016-2020 in our institute were enrolled. There were 438 Medtronic and 109 St. Jude\u27s devices. All chest radiographs were de-identified and resized into 225*225 pixels focusing on the CIED. PMIDa and CRMD-f applications were used to identify the CIED. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value for both applications were calculated and compared.Results: Overall, CRMD-f application has higher specificity (93.58 vs. 82.5%) but lower sensitivity (53.6 vs. 55%) than PMIDa. The accuracy of both applications was comparable (61.6% vs. 60.5%). Accuracy varied with CIED model and type tested, and radiograph projection used. Accuracy is greatest with Cardiac-Resynchronization-Therapy (CRT) devices for both applications, followed by a single lead pacemaker.Conclusion: CRMD-f has higher accuracy and specificity for CIED manufacturer identification. Both PMIDa and CRMD-f are specific tools to identify CIED but have low sensitivity

Genetic variability and evolutionary dynamics of atypical Papaya ringspot virus infecting Papaya

Papaya ringspot virus biotype-P is a detrimental pathogen of economically important papaya and cucurbits worldwide. The mutation prone feature of this virus perhaps accounts for its geographical dissemination. In this study, investigations of the atypical PRSV-P strain was conducted based on phylogenetic, recombination and genetic differentiation analyses considering of it’s likely spread across India and Bangladesh. Full length genomic sequences of 38 PRSV isolates and 35 CP gene sequences were subjected to recombination analysis. A total of 61 recombination events were detected in aligned complete PRSV genome sequences. 3 events were detected in complete genome of PRSV strain PK whereas one was in its CP gene sequence. The PRSV-PK appeared to be recombinant of a major parent from Bangladesh. However, the genetic differentiation based on full length genomic sequences revealed less frequent gene flow between virus PRSV-PK and the population from America, India, Colombia, other Asian Countries and Australia. Whereas, frequent gene flow exists between Pakistan and Bangladesh virus populations. These results provided evidence correlating geographical position and genetic distances. We speculate that the genetic variations and evolutionary dynamics of this virus may challenge the resistance developed in papaya against PRSV and give rise to virus lineage because of its atypical emergence where geographic spread is already occurring

Experimental validation of bulk-graphene as a thermoelectric generator

Quest for alternate energy sources is the core of most of the research activities these days. No matter how small or large amount of energy can be produced by utilizing the non-conventional techniques and sources, every bit of innovation can reshape the future of energy. In this work, experimental analysis of the thermoelectric (TE) properties of bulk-graphene in the temperature range of (303 to 363) K is presented. Graphene powder was pressed to form a pellet which was used to fabricate the TE device. The effects of temperature on the Seebeck coefficient, electrical and thermal conductivities, and the dimensionless figure of merit (FOM) were measured. The increasing value of the Seebeck coefficient (thermopower) with temperature is indicant of the metallic behavior. Additionally, the observed thermopower (TEP) is positive, which shows that the majority charge carriers are holes and peaked to a value of 56 μV K-1 at 363 K. The thermopower of the pellet is four times larger than the previously reported values for single layer graphene (SLG) and few layer graphene (FLG). In addition to this, low values of the thermal conductivity were observed for the pellet which is one of the requirements of a good TE material. Besides this, an upward trend is observed with increasing temperature for FOM, which attains a peak value of 0.0016 at 363 K, which is almost ten times that of the previously reported values

A nationwide virtual research education program for medical students in Pakistan: Methodological framework, feasibility testing, and outcomes

Introduction: Equipping young medical trainees with fundamental research skills can be a promising strategy to address the need for professionals who can understand and responsibly communicate evolving scientific evidence during a pandemic. Despite an ardent interest to partake in research, most educational institutions in Pakistan and other low-middle income countries have not yet adopted a comprehensive strategy for research skills education. The authors aimed to design and assess the feasibility of implementing the first nation-wide virtual research workshop for medical students in Pakistan. Methods: The course Beginners Guide to Research, designed as a nation-wide virtual research workshop series, was conducted for medical students across Pakistan in June 2020. Four interactive live workshops took place online on alternate days from June 22nd, 2020, to June 27th, 2020, each lasting 1-2 h. Outcomes included: (i) reach, (ii) efficacy as indexed by pre-post change in score pertaining to knowledge and application of research and (iii) self-rated perceptions about understanding of research on a Likert scale. Results: 3,862 participants enrolled from 41 cities and 123 institutions. Enrolled participants belonged to the following provinces: Sindh (n = 1,852, 48.0%), Punjab (n = 1,767, 45.8%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (n = 109, 2.8%), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (n = 84, 2.2%) Balochistan (n = 42, 1.1%). We also saw a few registrations from international students (n = 8, 0.2%). Mean (SD) age of enrolled medical students was 21.1 (2.1) years, 2,453 (63.5%) participants were female and 2,394 (62.0%) were from private-sector medical colleges. Two thousand ninety-three participants participants filled out all four pre-test and post-test forms. The total median knowledge score improved from 39.7 to 60.3% with the highest improvements in concepts of research bioethics and literature search (p \u3c 0.001) with greater change for females compared to males (+20.6 vs. +16.2%, p \u3c 0.001) and private institutions compared to public ones (+16.2 vs. +22.1%, p \u3c 0.001). Conclusion: The overwhelming enrollment and significant improvement in learning outcomes (\u3e50% of baseline) indicate feasibility of a medical student-led research course during a pandemic, highlighting its role in catering to the research needs in the LMICs

Graphene Based Functional Hybrids: Design and Technological Applications

Because of the versatile chemical, physical, and electrical properties, graphene as well as its nanocomposites are regarded as the backbone of engineering and scientific innovation. Different physical and chemical methods are used to create sustainable carbon materials. Furthermore, fabrication methods are employed in order to produce the composites, which are of constituents with desirable properties. Because of their biocompatibility, graphene nanomaterials have enormous potential for improving biology and drug delivery. The proposed chapter provides a variety of fabrication methods for sustainable graphene composites and highlights various applications of graphene. Furthermore, graphene nanocomposites are promising multifunctional materials with improved tensile strength and elastic modulus. Despite some challenges and the fact that carbon nanotube/polymer composites are sometimes better in some specific performance, graphene nanocomposites may have a wide range of potential applications due to their outstanding properties and the low cost of graphene. Because these graphene composites have a controllable porous structure, a large surface area, high conductivity, high temperature stability, excellent anti-corrosion properties, and composite compatibility, they can be used in energy storage as electrocatalysts, electro-conductive additives, intercalation hosts, and an ideal substrate for active materials. Meanwhile, the chapter summaries the graphene nanocomposites requirements for technological innovation and scientific applied research