Utility of participatory rural appraisal for health needs assessment and planning.

BACKGROUND: While poverty and lack of life opportunities are root causes of a high burden of disease and infant and maternal mortality, inadequate health care contributes heavily. Often those who are left without care are those who need it most. Existing health services are managed without taking into account acceptance and need perspectives. This further reduces the effectiveness of and equity in health care. In order to guide the planning of reproductive health services by a national NGO, health needs were assessed in a district in Sindh using a combination of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and qualitative and quantitative research methods. PRA is considered as a better framework to assess, analyse and develop programs with communities. OBJECTIVE: The objective of PRA was to initiate community involvement and to understand the needs of health care from a community perspective. METHODOLOGY: PRA was conducted with groups of men and women from three rural areas in a district of Sindh, Pakistan using a life cycle framework. The community members identified various stages of their life with the associated health issues. RESULTS: This research was empowering to community members as it facilitated community involvement. The respondents took charge of the process of identification of health needs at PRA sessions. PRA helped identify health problems considered prevalent and important by the community. More importantly, it helped potential service providers and the community to initiate community involvement in planning. CONCLUSION: PRA is not only an effective tool for assessment and analysis of health issues but also a vehicle to promote community involvement. Additionally, participatory methods contribute to understand the context of quantitative data generated for planning purposes

Delignification of Rice Husk by Microwave Assisted Chemical Pretreatment

Rice husk has the potential to be used as a source of alternative energy e.g. as biofuel. Its high lignin content, however, poses difficulty to this use. This study investigates the use of microwave assisted acidic and alkaline pretreatment methods to improve the characteristics of rice husk for energy production. The use of microwave assisted 3.5% NaOH provided optimum pretreatment of rice husk; the lignin content was reduced from 17.8 to 10.2%, the cellulose content increased from 38.6 to 59.3% and the C/N ratio was within the optimum range of 25-35. The results showed enhanced potential of biofuel production from rice husk by this pretreatment

Bladder Sparing Approaches for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancers.

OPINION STATEMENT: Organ preservation has been increasingly utilised in the management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Multiple bladder preservation options exist, although the approach of maximal TURBT performed along with chemoradiation is the most favoured. Phase III trials have shown superiority of chemoradiotherapy compared to radiotherapy alone. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy gives local control outcomes comparable to those of radical surgery, but seemingly more superior when considering quality of life. Bladder-preserving techniques represent an alternative for patients who are unfit for cystectomy or decline major surgical intervention; however, these patients will need lifelong rigorous surveillance. It is important to emphasise to the patients opting for organ preservation the need for lifelong bladder surveillance as risk of recurrence remains even years after radical chemoradiotherapy treatment. No randomised control trials have yet directly compared radical cystectomy with bladder-preserving chemoradiation, leaving the age-old question of superiority of one modality over another unanswered. Radical cystectomy and chemoradiation, however, must be seen as complimentary treatments rather than competing treatments. Meticulous patient selection is vital in treatment modality selection with the success of recent trials within the field of bladder preservation only being possible through this application of meticulous selection criteria compared to previous decades. A multidisciplinary approach with radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, and urologists is needed to closely monitor patients who undergo bladder preservation in order to optimise outcomes

IMPROVEMENT OF CONCEPTION RATE IN CROSSBRED CATTLE BY USING GnRH ANALOGUE THERAPY

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of Dalmarelin (Lecirelin acetate, GnRH analogue) administration at the time of artificial insemination (AI) on conception rate in repeat breeding crossbred cows. A total of 64 cows maintained at the Military Farm Okara, Pakistan were included in the study. The experimental cows were divided into two groups A and B, with 32 cows in each group. Cows of group A received no treatment at the time of AI and served as untreated control, while 32 cows of group B received Dalmarelin therapy at the time of AI. The cows were examined for pregnancy 60 days post insemination per rectum. A total of 12 animals out of 32 were pregnant with a conception rate of 37.5% in control group and in treatment group 22 animals out of 32 were pregnant, having conception rate of 68.75% (P<0.05). The study revealed that use of GnRH analogue therapy improved the conception rate in repeat breeding crossbred cows when it was administered at the time of AI

Effect of Planting Dates on Growth and Yield of True Potato Seed (TPS) in Nursery Raising Approach

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Advanced nanomaterials synthesis from pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization: A review

Background: Carbon-based structural materials are widely studied in the field of renewable energy and environmental sciences. Utilization of abundant, natural, renewable energy precursors together with simple and low energy processes can contribute to reduced emissions of greenhouse gas so is considered as fundamental for manufacturing of sustainable nanostructured materials. Description: Among different resources available for the generation of nanostructured materials, plant biomass is superior in terms of economic, environmental and social issues. In addition, transformation of low-value biomass to emerging renewable materials is advantageous compared to dumping and incinerating the biomass. There are a number of techniques and processes for the production of nanostructured materials from biomass. Pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) may be used to convert biomass into nanostructured materials. Objective: This study reviews and compares the production of nanostructured materials from pyrolysis and HTC. Furthermore, the latest developments in pyrolysis and HTC for nanomaterials production are assessed and comparative characteristics are studied for nanomaterials obtained

EFFECT OF N APPLICATON AND N SPLITING STRATEGY ON MAIZE N UPTAKE, BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND PHYSIO-AGRONOMIC CHARACTERSTICS Effect of N application and N spliting strategy on maize N uptake, biomass production and physio-agronomic characteristics. Sarhad J.

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