Farmer’s Literacy Rate as Key Driver in Food Production and Food Security: An Empirical Appraisal from Punjab, Pakistan

Farmer’s education in rural areas is an essential element to get better agricultural productivity (Mellor, 1976). The main purpose of the study is to examine that the literacy rate is key determinant in every aspect of agricultural production (food production). Either it is land, irrigation, livestock, agricultural credit or agricultural labor; literacy rate is serving as key driver in agricultural production as well as in food security. For this purpose cross-sectional data of Punjab province of Pakistan is used. Desired data were collected from Food Insecurity Report 2009 (SDPI, SDC and World Food Program 2009), Punjab Development Statistics (Government of Punjab 2009) and Punjab Agricultural Census Report 2010 (Government of Pakistan, 2012). OLS model was used to find out the results and the results show that the farmer’s literacy rate has positive and significance relationship with food security in both separate cases and overall contribution of all possible variables. Government should intervene in enhancing the educational programs for Farmers and play vital role in enhancing the farmer’s literacy rate

Performance Evaluation of Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactors for Dispersion-Free Extraction of Cu2+ through Modelling and Simulation

In this work extraction of copper (II) (Cu2+) from aqueous solution has been studied theoretically in commercially available hollow fiber membrane contactors (HFMCs) X-40 and X-50 modules from Liqui CelTM. Trifluoro-acetylacetone (TFA) has been used as extractant. A mathematical model based on resistance-in-series has been presented to investigate the mass transfer mechanism and distribution of Cu2+ at interface. Model simulation was performed for various hydrodynamics and membrane geometrical characteristics in order to determine the solute efficiency, transmembrane flux and height of transfer unit (HTU) for both modules. In case of X-40 module, extraction efficiency reached to 78 % when the feed flowrate was 1.67 m3s-1 while that for X-50, it was found to be just 20 % under same hydrodynamic conditions. On the basis of model results it was inferred that HFMCs could be the appropriate devices for extraction owing to exceptional low HTU value

Dysphagia among Middle-Aged Females

Objective: To assess the association of dysphagia with iron deficiency anemia in female patients. Study Design: Descriptive Study Setting & Duration: Department of ENT at Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi from April 2019 to April 2021. Material and Methods: Approval of the study was obtained from the Hospital Ethical Committee and then Informed Consent was obtained from all the patients. A total of 42 female patients with dysphagia were selected by Consecutive convenient sampling. After detailed history and physical examination, Complete Blood Count and X-ray Barium Swallow were done in all these patients, followed by Rigid Endoscopy under GA. Tissue biopsy was done in all the patients from suspicious areas. The data was analyzed for frequencies by SPSS 24. Results: 42 female patients were included in this study. The mean age of these patients was 46.30 years, ranging from 32 to 65 years. 40 (95%) of these patients showed Esophageal webs in the cricopharyngeal region, while 2 (5%) of them had irregular strictures in the post cricoid region of Hypopharynx. Iron deficiency anaemia was found in 32 (76.19%) patients. Histopathology report showed Squamous Cell Carcinoma in 2 patients with post cricoid strictures, while the rest 40 with webs showed chronic inflammation with fibrosis. Rigid esophagoscopy with web dilatation was highly effective procedure for treatment in 40 (95%) patients. Repeated dilatations were needed in 14 (33%) of the patients. The 2 patients with malignancy underwent Chemo-radiotherapy. Conclusion:  Iron deficiency anemia has a strong association with dysphagia in middle age female patients and is a potential risk factor for malignant transformation. Timely diagnosis and prevention of anaemia may result not only in decrease in PVS but also a decreased incidence of hypopharyngeal carcinoma in the vulnerable population. Key words: Dysphagia, Iron deficiency anemia, Post cricoid Carcinoma

Comparison of Peritonsillar Bupivacaine versus Peritonsillar Dexamethasone in Post-Tonsillectomy Pain Management

Objective: To compare efficacy of Peritonsillar Dexamethasone with Peritonsillar Bupivacaine in managing post-tonsillectomy pain in children. Study design: Randomized Controlled Trial Setting & Period: ENT Department Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) Rawalpindi from 01-06-2019 to 31-11-2020. Material &Methods: A total of sixty patients of both genders between ages of 5-15 years fulfilling the recognized criteria for tonsillectomy were selected. They were equally divided into two groups; Group A received peritonsillar Bupivacaine while Group B received peritonsillar Dexamethasone. Mean post-tonsillectomy Visual Analogue Score (VAS) at 1st, 2nd and 7th day were recorded in both groups and compared using independent sample ‘t’ test. Results: In group A Mean post-tonsillectomy VAS at 24 hours was 6.73±1.44 SD while in group B it was 5.93±1.26 SD (p-value 0.025). Mean post-tonsillectomy VAS at 48 hours was 5.60±1.25 SD and 4.37±1.03 SD (p-value 0.000) respectively in groups A and B. At 7th post operative day, Mean VAS was noted as 3.27±0.74 SD and 2.30±0.79 SD (p-value 0.000) respectively in group A and B.  Conclusion: Peritonsillar Dexamethasone is more effective than peritonsillar Bupivacaine in controlling post-tonsillectomy pain in children. Statistically significant difference was noted for mean post-tonsillectomy VAS at 1st, 2nd and 7th day. Key Words: Tonsillectomy, visual analogue score, postoperative pain, dexamethasone, bupivacaine

Dysphagia among Middle-Aged Females

Objective: To assess the association of dysphagia with iron deficiency anemia in female patients. Study Design: Descriptive Study Setting & Duration: Department of ENT at Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi from April 2019 to April 2021. Material and Methods: Approval of the study was obtained from the Hospital Ethical Committee and then Informed Consent was obtained from all the patients. A total of 42 female patients with dysphagia were selected by Consecutive convenient sampling. After detailed history and physical examination, Complete Blood Count and X-ray Barium Swallow were done in all these patients, followed by Rigid Endoscopy under GA. Tissue biopsy was done in all the patients from suspicious areas. The data was analyzed for frequencies by SPSS 24. Results: 42 female patients were included in this study. The mean age of these patients was 46.30 years, ranging from 32 to 65 years. 40 (95%) of these patients showed Esophageal webs in the cricopharyngeal region, while 2 (5%) of them had irregular strictures in the post cricoid region of Hypopharynx. Iron deficiency anaemia was found in 32 (76.19%) patients. Histopathology report showed Squamous Cell Carcinoma in 2 patients with post cricoid strictures, while the rest 40 with webs showed chronic inflammation with fibrosis. Rigid esophagoscopy with web dilatation was highly effective procedure for treatment in 40 (95%) patients. Repeated dilatations were needed in 14 (33%) of the patients. The 2 patients with malignancy underwent Chemo-radiotherapy. Conclusion:  Iron deficiency anemia has a strong association with dysphagia in middle age female patients and is a potential risk factor for malignant transformation. Timely diagnosis and prevention of anaemia may result not only in decrease in PVS but also a decreased incidence of hypopharyngeal carcinoma in the vulnerable population. Key words: Dysphagia, Iron deficiency anemia, Post cricoid Carcinoma

Trade Liberalization and Economic Welfare: A Case of Pakistan

Trade liberalization has now become the main focus of the literature as it is considered as the contributor of economic growth and welfare. The previous literature showed an overall positive impact of trade liberalization on the economy except for few studies; recommend adopting trade liberalizing policies. Whereas in case of developing country like Pakistan, major part of the literature showed positive impact of trade liberalization on the economy. This study examines the impact and relationship of trade liberalization and economic welfare in case of Pakistan. The variables used in the study are; gross domestic product recorded in millions of rupees as a dependent variable, whereas balance of trade is taken as a proxy of trade liberalization as an independent variable along with foreign direct investment, worke

Farmer’s Literacy Rate as Key Driver in Food Production and Food Security: An Empirical Appraisal from Punjab, Pakistan

Farmer’s education in rural areas is an essential element to get better agricultural productivity (Mellor, 1976). The main purpose of the study is to examine that the literacy rate is key determinant in every aspect of agricultural production (food production). Either it is land, irrigation, livestock, agricultural credit or agricultural labor; literacy rate is serving as key driver in agricultural production as well as in food security. For this purpose cross-sectional data of Punjab province of Pakistan is used. Desired data were collected from Food Insecurity Report 2009 (SDPI, SDC and World Food Program 2009), Punjab Development Statistics (Government of Punjab 2009) and Punjab Agricultural Census Report 2010 (Government of Pakistan, 2012). OLS model was used to find out the results and the results show that the farmer’s literacy rate has positive and significance relationship with food security in both separate cases and overall contribution of all possible variables. Government should intervene in enhancing the educational programs for Farmers and play vital role in enhancing the farmer’s literacy rate

Macroscopic Traffic Flow Characterization at Bottlenecks

Traffic congestion is a significant issue in urban areas. Realistic traffic flow models are crucial for understanding and mitigating congestion. Congestion occurs at bottlenecks where large changes in density occur. In this paper, a traffic flow model is proposed which characterizes traffic at the egress and ingress to bottlenecks. This model is based on driver response which includes driver reaction and traffic stimuli. Driver reaction is based on time headway and driver behavior which can be classified as sluggish, typical or aggressive. Traffic stimuli are affected by the transition width and changes in the equilibrium velocity distribution. The explicit upwind difference scheme is used to evaluate the Lighthill, Whitham, and Richards (LWR) and proposed models with a continuous injection of traffic into the system. A stability analysis of these models is given and both are evaluated over a road of length 10 km which has a bottleneck. The results obtained show that the behavior with the proposed model is more realistic than with the LWR model. This is because the LWR model cannot adequately characterize driver behavior during changes in traffic flow