PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND TRAINING NEEDS OF COLLEGE LIBRARIANS IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

Purpose of study: The core aim of the study is to identify the level of professional activities and training needs of library practitioners serving in Government colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Research Method and Procedure: This study is quantitative, and the survey method is applied to achieve the desired objectives. The public sector college librarians of seven districts of the southern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the study population. Data Collection and analysis: A structured questionnaire was distributed among fifty-nine (59) college librarians. Out of total, fifty-five (55) librarians return the filled questionnaire with a response rate of 93%. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21 is used to analyze the collected data. Major Findings and Recommendations: it was reflected that sixty- four percent of the respondents had not attended any training program in the last five years. The main reason for not attending the training program is the lack of management support with library professionals. Only thirty-six percent of the college librarians had attended conferences, workshops, seminars, and webinars organized by academic libraries, training institutes and universitie

Co-movement between Exchange Rate Fluctuations and Economic Factors in Pakistan’s Economy (1990-2013)

Prior to 1976, business community of the world followed gold as a stable standard exchange rate for international business. After flexible exchange rate system implemented in the world in 1976, different solutions for stabilizing the exchange rate system were introduced to reduce the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on business. Pakistan and US Economy relies on trade for improving its GDP, lowering inflation rate and enhancing the economy of the Country. However if the trade balance is sufficient but the exchange rate fluctuation is significant then GDP would decrease instead of increasing and the economy might be negatively affected. It is understandable that imports of Pakistan are more than its exports and if exchange rate also fluctuates between Pakistan and the imported country then the country economy would disturb. Due to this imbalance in import/export, Pakistan relies on different institutions like IMF, World Bank, etc. These loans many help in balance of payment, partial stability but on the same time depreciate the economy if Pakistan. These loans are in the form of US dollars and Pakistani rupees are mostly associated with US dollars. Pakistan economy suffers a setback when these loans are returned. This paper looks as to how exchange rate fluctuations between Pakistan and USA and affects Pakistan’s economy and what are the factors which are disturbed due to exchange rate fluctuations between the two countries

Analysis of Unsteady Axisymmetric Squeezing Fluid Flow with Slip and No-Slip Boundaries Using OHAM

In this manuscript, An unsteady axisymmetric flow of nonconducting, Newtonian fluid squeezed between two circular plates is studied with slip and no-slip boundaries. Using similarity transformation, the system of nonlinear partial differential equations is reduced to a single fourth order ordinary differential equation. The resulting boundary value problems are solved by optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM) and fourth order explicit Runge-Kutta method (RK4). It is observed that the results obtained from OHAM are in good agreement with numerical results by means of residuals. Furthermore, the effects of various dimensionless parameters on the velocity profiles are investigated graphically

An Empirical Analysis of Employment Status, Nature of Employment and Poverty Incidence in Pakistan

This study measured poverty incidence and decomposition of poverty incidence across employment status, industry /sectors of employment and occupation of employment in Pakistan. Impact of employment status and nature of employment of household head on household poverty incidence is also analysed by employing logistic regression technique. The study used Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey (PSLM) data set for the year 2013-14 for empirical estimations. A class of Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (1984) method is employed to estimate poverty incidence as well as decomposition of poverty incidence. The results showed that poverty incidence is about 36 percent in Pakistan in year 2013-14. Poverty decomposition results depicted that poverty significantly varies across employment status, sectors/industry of employment and occupation of employment. Employers, electricity, gas & water industry and legislative, senior official & managers group have lowest poverty incidence while sharecropper & paid employee, construction sector and elementary occupations had highest poverty incidence. The results of Logit Model indicate that age of the household head, education of the household head and  general employment of the household head are inversely related to poverty while being male as head, residence of household in rural area, household size and dependency ratio are positively related to poverty incidence. Employment of the household head significantly reduces while dependency ratio immensely increases the odds of being in poverty. Therefore, sufficient employment opportunities should be provided to all for massive reduction in poverty and sustainable development of the country. Employment of the household head as share cropper, paid employed & livestock only, in construction, transport & storage sector, and in elementary occupations etc. have higher prospect of being in poverty. Thus, for fabulous reduction in poverty government should implement minimum wage policy and provide social safety nets to enhance the income of these poor workers to bring them out of poverty

Importance of clinical toxicology teaching and its impact in improving knowledge: sharing experience from a workshop

Objective: To assess the impact of a one-day clinical toxicology workshop in improving knowledge.Methods: A one-day clinical toxicology workshop was conducted as a pre-conference workshop of the Annual Emergency Medicine Conference at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in April 2012. The course was composed of poisoning-related common clinical scenarios. The pre-test and post-test understanding was used to assess the impact of the course in improving knowledge. The participants also evaluated the workshop as a whole thorough written evaluation forms. SPSS 19 was ued for statistical analysis of the data.RESULT: There were 22 participants in the course. The pre-test mean score was 31.6 +/- 15.1% (95% CI; 24-40; n = 19) compared to the post-test the mean score of 56.0 +/- 10.8% (95% CI; 47- 61; n = 17). The positive difference was also statistically significant (p \u3c 0.001). The overall workshop was evaluated as excellent by 08 (47.46%) and very good by 10 (52.63%) participants.CONCLUSION: Short training in clinical toxicology improved knowledge of the participants

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

Effect of Deficit Irrigations and Sowing Methods on Mung Bean Productivity

A field experiment was designed to study the response of Mungbean to deficit irrigation levels and sowing methods. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement replicated three times. Water treatments were controlled at I0 (zero percent irrigation), I33 (33% of full irrigation), I67 (67% of full irrigation) and I100 (full irrigation). Full irrigation was determined on the basis of 65% management allowed deficit (MAD). Results shows that I67 and I100 not significant for pods plant-1 while these were highly significant for the sowing methods. The pods per plant are highly significant for I0 and I33 levels. The sowing methods and irrigation levels both have significant impact on grain yield and biological yield. The biological yields continuously and consistently increase with the increase in irrigation levels. The harvest index of Mungbean and its water productivity both increase in irrigation levels certain level. The maximum irrigation applied at 65% MAD substantially decreases the Mungbean water productivity when compared to the harvest index. It was concluded that Mungbean MAD in semi-arid region of Peshawar may be exploited further; more moisture contents may be further extracted before applying next irrigation in raised bed technique in special and as usual in flat beds. Keywords: Deficit irrigation, Irrigation levels, Sowing method, Growth attributes, Mung bean

Effect of Deficit Irrigations and Sowing Methods on Mung Bean Productivity

A field experiment was designed to study the response of Mungbean to deficit irrigation levels and sowing methods. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement replicated three times. Water treatments were controlled at I0 (zero percent irrigation), I33 (33% of full irrigation), I67 (67% of full irrigation) and I100 (full irrigation). Full irrigation was determined on the basis of 65% management allowed deficit (MAD). Results shows that I67 and I100 not significant for pods plant-1 while these were highly significant for the sowing methods. The pods per plant are highly significant for I0 and I33 levels. The sowing methods and irrigation levels both have significant impact on grain yield and biological yield. The biological yields continuously and consistently increase with the increase in irrigation levels. The harvest index of Mungbean and its water productivity both increase in irrigation levels certain level. The maximum irrigation applied at 65% MAD substantially decreases the Mungbean water productivity when compared to the harvest index. It was concluded that Mungbean MAD in semi-arid region of Peshawar may be exploited further; more moisture contents may be further extracted before applying next irrigation in raised bed technique in special and as usual in flat beds. Keywords: Deficit irrigation, Irrigation levels, Sowing method, Growth attributes, Mung bean

current state of poison control centers in Pakistan and the need for capacity building.

Background: Chemical exposure is a major health problem globally. Poison control centers (PCCs) play a leading role both in developed and developing countries in the prevention and control of poisonous chemical exposures. In this study, we aimed to assess the current state of PCCs in Pakistan and highlight capacity building needs in these centers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of the two registered PCCs was done during August – December 2011. Necessary services of the PCCs were evaluated and the data were recorded on a predesigned checklist. Results: Both PCCs are affiliated to a tertiary care hospital. Clinical services to poisoned patients were available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Information on common local products was available to poison center staff. Both centers were involved in undergraduate and post graduate teaching. Telephone poison information service was not available in either of centers. There was a limited capacity for qualitative and analytical toxicology. Common antidotes were available. There were limited surveillance activities to capture toxic risks existing in the community and also a deficiency was observed in chemical disaster planning. Conclusion: PCCs in Pakistan need capacity building for specialized training in toxicology, toxicovigilance, chemical disaster planning, analytical laboratory tests and telephone service for consultation in poisoning cases

A micro-level implementation mechanism to enhance corporate sustainability performance: A social identity perspective

According to United Nations Agenda 2030, the concept of corporate sustainability is deemed to be a significant driver for sustainable development. The literature of corporate sustainability has paid little consideration to the conceptual understanding of sustainability implementation process in organizations to enhance corporate sustainability performance. Therefore, this paper aims to develop the process of effective implementation of sustainability in organizations. Drawing upon social identity theory, this study proposes that the CEO’s responsible leadership may enhance corporate sustainability performance by involving employees in sustainability activities. Using data from 313 middle managers from 38 organizations listed on the Pakistan stock exchange (PSX), the study found that employee involvement in sustainability activities mediates the relationship between CEO responsible leadership and corporate sustainability performance