Impact of Project Performance Measurement System on Project Success: A Study Based on NGO Sector of Pakistan

This research strives to examine the relationship between the two profound dimensions of Project Performance Measurement System (i.e. project design and Monitoring and Evaluation) and project success in NGOs. A self-administered survey was used to collect responses from project practitioners on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and project design practices in health sector NGOs (Non-Governmental Organization): Of 220, 108 useful responses were received and then analyzed in SPSS. The results showed that: 1) M&E practices are being frequently used in NGO projects of Pakistan, 2) particular care has been taken while designing the projects, and 3) both variables have a positive relationship with project success 4) M&E showed greater impact than project design on project success. Therefore, NGOs should strengthen project design and M&E in order to improve project implementation as well as the chances for project success

Design and Modeling of 9 Degrees of Freedom Redundant Robotic Manipulator

In disaster areas, robot manipulators are used to rescue and clearance of sites. Because of the damaged area, they encounter disturbances like obstacles, and limited workspace to explore the area and to achieve the location of the victims. Increasing the degrees of freedom is required to boost the adaptability of manipulators to avoid disturbances, and to obtain the fast desired position and precise movements of the end-effector. These robot manipulators offer a reliable way to handle the barrier challenges since they can search in places that humans can't reach. In this research paper, the 9-DOF robotic manipulator is designed, and an analytical model is developed to examine the system’s behavior in different scenarios. The kinematic and dynamic representation of the proposed model is analyzed to obtain the translation or rotation, and joint torques to achieve the expected position, velocity, and acceleration respectively. The number of degrees may be raised to avoid disturbances, and to obtain the fast desired position and precise movements of the end-effector. The simulation of developed models is performed to ensure the adaptable movement of the manipulators working in distinct configurations and controlling their motion thoroughly and effectively. In the proposed configuration the joints can easily be moved to achieve the desired position of the end-effector and the results are satisfactory. The simulation results show that the redundant manipulator achieves the victim location with various configurations of the manipulator. Results reveal the effectiveness and efficacy of the proposed system

Frequency of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients Infected with Hepatitis C Virus visiting a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore for Computed Tomographic Evaluation

Background: Hepatitis C virus has been identified as one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease and its complications world-wide. Subsequent development of hepatocellular carcinoma in these patients is a major complication of this infection having serious implications on morbidity and mortality rates. The objective of this study was to find out the frequency of Hepatocellular carcinoma in patients suffering from Hepatitis C visiting Radiology department of a tertiary care hospital for multi-detector computed tomography evaluation.Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at Shalamar Hospital Lahore. A total of 195 patients, suffering from Hepatitis C, visiting Shalamar Hospital, Lahore for evaluation by CT during 6 months study interval were included in this study. Abdominal CT was performed using Triphasic contrast enhancement protocol. All images were interpreted by a senior Radiologist. Frequency of Hepatocellular carcinoma was calculated. Statistical analysis was made using MEDCALC.Results: Out of 195, 63(32.3%) patients were seen to have hepatocellular carcinoma. This disease was more common in male, 45(34.6%) as compared to female patients 18 (27.7%). The presence of HCC showed statistically significant association with alcoholism, obesity, diabetes mellitus and cirrhosis.Conclusion: The study concluded that a substantial number of HCV positive patients develop HCC, which is more common in men as compared to women. The presence of HCC is strongly associated with alcoholism, obesity, diabetes mellitus and cirrhosis.Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); Hepatitis C (HCV); Multi-detector Computed Tomography (MDCT)

Performance Prediction for Undergraduate Degree Programs Using Machine Learning Techniques - A Preliminary Review

Academic Performance prediction for undergraduate students is considered as one of the hot research areas since last couple of decades. An accurate and timely prediction of the student’s performance can directly influence the three participants; learner, instructor and the institution. This study presents a brief, preliminary review to explore existing literature from 2010 to 2022 in the context of performance prediction for Undergraduate Degree Programs (UDP). This review is organized according to Online and Traditional Education Systems (TES), and granularity level of performance output i.e., Degree program (Final CGPA), Next-semester, and the Course level grades. Aggregate analysis of the extracted data reveals that course level prediction is highly worked area deploying classification and regression techniques using data from academic domain. Existing empirical studies are mostly evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall and F1-measure and are validated with 10-fold cross validation. Contribution of this study is the novel categorical distribution of studies with respect to education system and granularity levels. Another important finding was the Success ratio of different Machine learning (ML) techniques used for these prediction studies. It is concluded that further research is required for TES to discover interdependent group of courses and Course Clusters for a certain degree program and then to develop prediction models for those course clusters

Effect of Intravenous Phloroglucinol Injections upon duration of Active First Stage of Labor

Objective: In our part of the world poverty and illiteracy has adversely affected our core objective of pregnancy i.e. healthy mother and healthy child. Exploring the role of a routinely used drug in reducing the duration of labor could be a breakthrough. Present study was planned accordingly to evaluate the effect of phloroglucinol (PHL). Materials and Methods: It was a Randomized controlled trial conducted at Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Combined Military Hospital, Bahawalpur from January 2019 to June 2019. This study included 60 cases of age 18 to 40 years, having singleton pregnancy and in active first stage of uncomplicated labor. Patients with history of multiple pregnancies, obstetrical and surgical complications and cardiorespiratory diseases were excluded. The cases were placed randomly into Group A & Group B and given intravenous PHL and a placebo respectively. After this, duration of the first stage of labor was recorded in minutes from when there was 3-4 cm cervical dilatation with regular uterine contractions to complete cervical dilation i.e. 10 cm and descent of the presenting fetal part. Results: Mean duration of active first stage of labor in experimental group A (230.20 ± 52.96 minutes) was significantly higher than that of control group B (345.30 ± 50.57 minutes). Conclusion: This study concluded that intravenous PHL has efficiently reduced the duration of active first stage of labor in these randomly selected nulliparous and multiparous women. PHL is a useful drug serving the purpose of a spasmolytic, analgesic and labor augmentation at the same time

Design and Implementation of Force Sensation and Feedback Systems for Telepresence Robotic Arm

Humans put their own lives aside to save other human’s life and perform risky and dangerous activities. The risk can be reduced by using new technologies. This research study focuses on telepresence and teleoperation systems with motion and force control systems that replace humans in hazardous workspaces. In telepresence, the system helps humans to visualize the environment in real-time. In teleoperation, the system provides sensation to assist human beings in performing out-of-reach and dangerous operations safely as in real, providing a shadow hand to the operator. In this study, a system is developed that consists of a slave robotic arm and a master wearable device with bidirectional communication between the robotic arm and operator (master wearable device). It also presents a gesture-controlled robotic arm that uses sensors to read and translate human arm movements as commands. The slave robotic arm, senses applied force on an object and a master wearable device develops the force according to sensed force, in a result operator senses/feels the same object in the control room at distance. The slave robotic arm also mimics the operator arm to reach the proper position of an object. Several experiments were conducted with untrained personnel and satisfactory results were yielded, which showed that the motion and force replication is 90-95% accurate

The Rv3874-Rv3875 chimeric protein shows a promiscuous serodiagnostic potential for tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) stays a major cause of death globally after COVID-19 and HIV. An early diagnosis to control TB effectively, needs a fast reliable diagnostic method with high sensitivity. Serodiagnosis involving polyclonal antibodies detection against an antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in serum samples can be instrumental. In our study, Rv3874 and Rv3875 antigens were cloned, expressed, and purified individually and as a chimeric construct in Escherichia coli BL21. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) based findings revealed that the Rv3874-Rv3875 chimeric construct was two-fold more sensitive (59.7%) than the individual sensitivities of Rv3874 (28.4%) and Rv3875 (24.9%) for 201 serum TB positive samples. Furthermore, the fusion construct was a little more sensitive (60.4%) for male subjects than that for females (58.8%). Lastly, our preliminary findings, molecular insights of secondary structure, and statistical and in silico analysis of each construct also advocate that CEP can be considered a better immunodiagnostic tool in addition to previously reported EC skin test

New proboscidean material from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan with remarks on some species

Over the years a diverse assemblage of proboscidean remains has been recovered from the Lower to Upper Siwalik Subgroups of Pakistan and India. This article reports newly discovered dental material of tri- and tetralophodont proboscideans that includes cf. Paratetralophodon hasnotensis and Choerolophodon sp., and a Gomphothere gen. et sp. indet., recently collected from late middle to late Miocene localities of the Pakistani Siwalik Group, with a brief history of these species. The partial premolar of cf. Pa. hasnotensis is described for the first time from the Siwalik Group, recovered from the Dhok Pathan Formation, and the specimens reported herein are the latest to be described after a 38-year gap from previously described material for this species. A preliminary survey of the literature and previously described material of Siwalik species suggests a revision of Siwalik Group proboscideans is much needed

Decision Support System for Hepatitis Disease Diagnosis using Bayesian Network

Medical judgments are tough and challenging as the decisions are often based on the deficient and ambiguous information. Moreover, the result of decision process has direct effects on human lives. The act of human decision declines in emergency situations due to the complication, time limit, and high risks. Therefore, provision of medical diagnosis plays a dynamic role, specifically in the preliminary stage when a physician has limited diagnosis experience and identifies the directions to be taken for the treatment process. Computerized Decision Support Systems have brought a revolution in the medical diagnosis. These automatic systems support the diagnosticians in the course of diagnosis. The major role of Decision Support Systems is to support the medical personnel in decision-making procedures regarding disease diagnosis and treatment recommendation. The proposed system provides easy support in Hepatitis disease recognition. The system is developed using the Bayesian network model. The physician provides the input to the system in the form of symptoms stated by the patient. These signs and symptoms match with the casual relationships present in the knowledge model. The Bayesian network infers conclusion from the knowledge model and calculates the probability of occurrence of Hepatitis B, C and D disorders