Social Media And Political Participation In Pakistan

Political participation is considered a key factor for well-functioning democracy. Past studies, however, suggest a declining trend of citizen participation in politics, especially among youth, in many parts of the world. Recent evidence found the popularity of social media has contributed to participatory politics as people are increasingly exposed to political news via social media. The current study develops an integrated model of social media use and political participation to test its role in promoting political participation in Pakistan

USE OF DIGITAL RESOURCES BY MEDICAL STUDENTS

21st century is considered as the “era of technology”. Technology has modernized the field of education. Modern students prefer to use digital resources in their routine studies. The study was conducted to find the “Use of Digital Resources by Medical Students of Services Institute of Medical Sciences Lahore”. The descriptive data analysis technique was used in this research work to answer the research questions for the fulfillment of research objectives. A group of 276 students was selected among which a total of n=126 respondents were male with a total percentage of 45.7% whereas the total number of female respondents who participated in the study were 150 in number with a cumulative percentage of 54.3%. The results revealed that majority of students (160 out of 272) was aware with the use of both types of resources like electronic and print. Moreover 38% responded that subscribed e-journals/database were available in the library of their medical colleges. Overall awareness regarding use of e-resources among medical students of services institute of medical was good. Medical students are highly depending on information technology; although the electronic resources have not completely replaced the hard form of books but still utilization of electronic resources by medical student and residents is very high, even the result of research demonstrates that more than half students like to use the internet- resources rather than print resources. The findings of this study showed that students were aware with the use of both type of resources

Media Exposure Regarding Terrorist Events And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Youth

Throughout its history Pakistani citizens are bearing the losses resulting from terrorism. After 9/11, 2001, there is a rise in suicide attacks on public places in Pakistan especially in major cities. Media give massive coverage to these attacks and highlight all aspects in detail which create a great sense of fear in general public particularly in youth. These threats and fears can become serious psychological problems if not met with proper treatment. In this experimental study of media exposure regarding terrorist events and posttraumatic stress disorder in youth, depression level and posttraumatic stress disorder are assessed by using intervention among the 150 undergraduate students of three universities of Faisalabad, using the technique of cluster sampling. “Self-rating Inventory Posttraumatic Stress Disorder of 22 items” and Beck’s Inventory Depression were used to measure the posttraumatic Stress Disorder in students. It showed 79% reliability while inter-items reliability was observed .807. Before using the intervention Mean score of Total Pretest Posttraumatic Stress Disorder was 14.31 which increased after intervention (14.86 - 14.32) = .54. It means there was significant psychological effect of exposure of terrorist events , which is really a sign of contemplate for media policy makers, owners and practitioners for telecasting terrorist event on screen because the psychiatrists recommend the prescription and coping strategies if the person score 10 on the Self-rating Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The findings also reveals that the total mean score of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after intervention was 15.89 in female students which was higher than male students 13.96. Beck’s Inventory Depression finds that the depression among female undergraduate students was higher than male undergraduate students after the usage of intervention. Both posttraumatic Stress Disorder and depression increase after the exposure of terrorist events which is a point of serious concern for media monitors in Pakistan

Positive Organizational Study: A Comparison between Private and Government University Teacher

The study conducted explored the relation between Psychological Capital, General Health and Organizational Citizenship Behavior and its variation between the teachers of private and government universities of Karachi, Pakistan. Based on existing literature, following hypotheses were formulated; (1) Difference would be observed in psychological capital of private and government university teachers, (2) Difference would be observed in efficacy levels of private and government university teachers, (3) Individuals with good health will have high psychological capital, (4) Individuals with high OCB will have high psychological capital. Through convenient sampling, 261 teachers teaching at graduate-level were taken as participants. Psychological Capital Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Checklist were employed. All the hypotheses were proved when results were analyzed through SPSS. In conclusion, people having high psychological capital live healthier life and are more likely to indulge in pro-social activities and organizational citizenship behavior

Foreign Direct Investment Lead to Exports of Pakistan: An Econometric Evidence

The objective of the study is to empirically analyze that whether foreign direct investment lead to exports of Pakistan for the period from 1972 to 2014. Econometric results are estimated using Partial Adjustment Model for long run as well short run and then some diagnostic statistics are also applied for reliability of results. Long run and short run results propose positive influence of foreign direct investment, exchange rate, trade openness, and real GDP of Pakistan while inflation is found to have inverse effect of exports of Pakistan. Further tests indicate regression model free from Autocorrelation, Heteroskedasticity, abnormality of residuals and dynamic instability problems. Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment, Real GDP, Exports, Exchange Rate, Inflation

Soil acidification and salinity: the importance of biochar application to agricultural soils

Soil acidity is a serious problem in agricultural lands as it directly affects the soil, crop production, and human health. Soil acidification in agricultural lands occurs due to the release of protons (H+) from the transforming reactions of various carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur-containing compounds. The use of biochar (BC) has emerged as an excellent tool to manage soil acidity owing to its alkaline nature and its appreciable ability to improve the soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties. The application of BC to acidic soils improves soil pH, soil organic matter (SOM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), nutrient uptake, microbial activity and diversity, and enzyme activities which mitigate the adverse impacts of acidity on plants. Further, BC application also reduce the concentration of H+ and Al3+ ions and other toxic metals which mitigate the soil acidity and supports plant growth. Similarly, soil salinity (SS) is also a serious concern across the globe and it has a direct impact on global production and food security. Due to its appreciable liming potential BC is also an important amendment to mitigate the adverse impacts of SS. The addition of BC to saline soils improves nutrient homeostasis, nutrient uptake, SOM, CEC, soil microbial activity, enzymatic activity, and water uptake and reduces the accumulation of toxic ions sodium (Na+ and chloride (Cl-). All these BC-mediated changes support plant growth by improving antioxidant activity, photosynthesis efficiency, stomata working, and decrease oxidative damage in plants. Thus, in the present review, we discussed the various mechanisms through which BC improves the soil properties and microbial and enzymatic activities to counter acidity and salinity problems. The present review will increase the existing knowledge about the role of BC to mitigate soil acidity and salinity problems. This will also provide new suggestions to readers on how this knowledge can be used to ameliorate acidic and saline soils

Sustainable Irrigation Management for Higher Yield

Sustainable irrigation is sensible application of watering to plants in agriculture, landscapes that aids in meeting current survival and welfare needs. Sustainable irrigation management can help with climate change adaptation, labor, energy savings, and the production of higher-value and yield of crops to achieve zero hunger in water-scarce world. To ensure equal access to water and environmental sustainability, investments in expanded and enhanced irrigation must be matched by improvements in water governance. Sustainable irrigation must be able to cope with water scarcity, and be resilient to other resource scarcities throughout time in context of energy and finance. The themes and SDGs related to clean water, water resources sustainability, sustainable water usage, agricultural and rural development are all intertwined in the concept of “sustainable irrigation for higher yield.” Sustainable irrigation management refers to the capability of using water in optimum quantity and quality on a local, regional, national, and global scale to meet the needs of humans and agro-ecosystems at present and in the future to sustain life, protect humans and biodiversity from natural and human-caused disasters which threaten life to exist. Resultantly higher yields will ensure food security

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

IDENTIFYING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM) TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES BEING ADOPTED & APPLIED IN TEACHING HOSPITALS

Globalization is affecting the management of different types of organizations including healthcare organizations. In the knowledge-based economy, the management of knowledge has become an important mechanism to improve the performance of professionals and organizations. Knowledge management helps in transferring and generating new knowledge among professionals including hospital doctors. The Services Hospital Lahore is a teaching hospital and one of the leading health care organizations in the public sector of Punjab, Pakistan. The main purpose of this study was to explore the tools being adopted by medical officers for Knowledge Management (KM) practices. The nature of this study was quantitative. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample from the whole population in the selected hospital. The study found that knowledge management practices among doctors were good, but it required more attention from higher administration to supports the knowledge sharing, capturing, and generating activities among doctors in Services Hospital Lahore. Previous studies revealed that good management of knowledge in a hospital has a positive effect on the performance of patients\u27 care delivery. This study concluded that through effective knowledge management practices, the hospital cloud improves the patient\u27s care services. The key recommendations from this study were that management of knowledge could be improved by the use of the latest technological tools

Federal Investigation Agency against the Crime of Book Piracy in Pakistan

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is a counter-intelligence, criminal investigation and security agency of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which was established in 1975. The Economic Crime Wing (ECW) of the FIA has the mandate to protect the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the people of Pakistan. The main objective of this study is to investigate the role of FIA against the crime of book piracy in Pakistan. To achieve this objective, data was collected from the annual administration reports of FIA. The study found that FIA has been playing a vital role against the crime of book piracy in Pakistan. Through their prescribed procedures, FIA has been initiating inquires and registering cases against the culprits and confiscating the pirated books. The study suggests that easy legal redressal and mass public awareness can reduce the criminal act of book piracy in Pakistan. The study further suggested to the government of Pakistan to provide all out support to the FIA to make its role more effective against piracy and to safeguard intellectuals at national and international level