COVID-19 and Prophylactic Measures for HIV Children of Ratodero, Larkana

Ratodero is Taluka of population 224,000 in the district Larkana of Sindh, Pakistan. In the HIV outbreak (2019), 1132 HIV patients were reported in the Ratodero, amongst them, 901 (80%) were children, and the majority (735) below the age of 5 years.1 Larkana district is included among the cities where eight (8) COVID-19 carrier pilgrims from Iran were first confirmed as virus positive.2 Followed by community transmission in the area with the confirmation of the virus in the two individuals.3 There was reported shortage of the personnel protection equipment (PPEs) for the Medical Professional engaged in the tests of the COVID-19 as well as the shortage of Kits, so less number of COVID-19 tests were conducted, therefore the actual number of COVID-19 positive can abruptly raise with the availability of Kits and PPEs.4 There is a complete lockdown in the area since last week of March 2020. There is one medical University with an affiliated hospital. Collaborative efforts of the University teaching hospital and the district administration have constituted a team of experts for necessary actions to combat with expected Corona-19 outbreak. In such circumstances of the existence of HIV in Ratodero as an alarm of threats for another health risk for the poor HIV children of Ratodero Larkana. Dated 09 April 2020. there was a random selection of 20 such HIV children of Ratodero below the age 5,  to have look on their physical health and to confirm the quantity/availability of ART (antiretroviral treatment) at their home. It was found that 30% of children were found physically weak. The confirmed average availability of remaining ART drugs was found available for use in the next 14 days. Generally, the children are the population of developing immunity (vulnerable age group) hence there can be increased risk if Co-Infection of COVID-19 if hits the Ratodero Taluika. Therefore the District of Larkana in general but the Taluka Ratodero, in particular, need special attention from the health administration. Following preventive measures can be useful to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the HIV children of Ratodero, Larkana. Better compliance of prophylactic SOPs verses COVID-19 through proper surveillance at the rural level in Ratodero. Availability of Rashan on priority for the families of registered HIV children of Ratodero, taking into account the inclusion of all requirements of good nutrients in the daily intake. COVID-19 screening of registered HIV children. HIV Screening of any COVID-19 career of Ratodero if the individual is not amongst already registered HIV patients. Establishment of a dedicated isolation ward in case of Co-Infection in these children along with the provision of special care to prevent the onset of COVID-19 symptoms in these patients. Advance Supply of 03 to 06 month ART at home as per instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO) for such HIV patients.

Footwear-integrated force sensing resistor sensors: A machine learning approach for categorizing lower limb disorders

Lower limb disorders are a substantial contributor to both disability and lower standards of life. The prevalent disorders affecting the lower limbs include osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, and ankle. The present study focuses on the use of footwear that incorporates force-sensing resistor sensors to classify lower limb disorders affecting the knee, hip, and ankle joints. The research collected data from a sample of 117 participants who wore footwear integrated with force-sensing resistor sensors while walking on a predetermined walkway of 9 meters. Extensive preprocessing and feature extraction techniques were applied to form a structured dataset. Several machine learning classifiers were trained and evaluated. According to the findings, the Random Forest model exhibited the highest level of performance on the balanced dataset with an accuracy rate of 96%, while the Decision Tree model achieved an accuracy rate of 91%. The accuracy scores of the Logistic Regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, and Long Short-Term Memory models were comparatively lower. K-fold cross-validation was also performed to evaluate the models’ performance. The results indicate that the integration of force-sensing resistor sensors into footwear, along with the use of machine learning techniques, can accurately categorize lower limb disorders. This offers valuable information for developing customized interventions and treatment plans

Experimental Study of Physical, Fresh-State and Strength Parameters of Concrete incorporating Wood Waste Ash as a Cementitious Material

The increasing demand and production of cement have caused a huge environmental burden and thus researchers are involved in discovering waste materials having cementitious properties to reduce the production and usage of cement in order to contribute towards the development of a sustainable environment. The present study, therefore, sought to quantify the influence of wood waste ash (WWA) as a cementitious resource on the fresh-state, physical, and strength parameters of concrete. The water absorption, workability, density, compression strength,  tensile strength, and flexural strength of concrete was checked at various replacement levels i.e. 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% by weight fraction of cement. The density and water absorption were checked  on the 28th day of curing while the strength parameters were tested at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days of curing period. The water absorption, density, and workability of concrete reduced with an increase in wood waste ash content while the strength values were increased up to 10% replacement level. Hence, this study suggests that 10% WWA can be used instead of cement for concrete structures

Experimental Study of Physical, Fresh-State and Strength Parameters of Concrete incorporating Wood Waste Ash as a Cementitious Material

The increasing demand and production of cement have caused a huge environmental burden and thus researchers are involved in discovering waste materials having cementitious properties to reduce the production and usage of cement in order to contribute towards the development of a sustainable environment. The present study, therefore, sought to quantify the influence of wood waste ash (WWA) as a cementitious resource on the fresh-state, physical, and strength parameters of concrete. The water absorption, workability, density, compression strength,  tensile strength, and flexural strength of concrete was checked at various replacement levels i.e. 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% by weight fraction of cement. The density and water absorption were checked  on the 28th day of curing while the strength parameters were tested at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days of curing period. The water absorption, density, and workability of concrete reduced with an increase in wood waste ash content while the strength values were increased up to 10% replacement level. Hence, this study suggests that 10% WWA can be used instead of cement for concrete structures

Low Private Investment and Government Failure as the Binding Constraints to Pakistan’s Economy Growth Diagnostics Analysis

This research targets the most binding constraints in the economy of Pakistan during the period from 2007 to 2013 using Husmann-Rodrick-Vilasco (2005) decision tree. The growth diagnostics proves that the economy of Pakistan undergoes and passes from the stages of dilemma and huge economic complexities during this period. The economic growth of Pakistan is continuously being affected by structural problems including domestic energy crisis, low investment, high inflation, and security issues. Growth diagnostics points out to four major constraints to economic growth of Pakistan and these are: energy crisis, inadequate market development, poor performance of institutions, and lack of efficient public sector management. Only two of these constraints are explained in this study including low level of private investment and government failure. For policy implications, several areas like private sector growth, good governance, institutional strength, market development, macroeconomic stability, infrastructure development are important to make considerable reforms

Low-Power Wireless for the Internet of Things: Standards and Applications: Internet of Things, IEEE 802.15.4, Bluetooth, Physical layer, Medium Access Control,coexistence, mesh networking, cyber-physical systems, WSN, M2M

International audienceThe proliferation of embedded systems, wireless technologies, and Internet protocols have enabled the Internet of Things (IoT) to bridge the gap between the virtual and physical world through enabling the monitoring and actuation of the physical world controlled by data processing systems. Wireless technologies, despite their offered convenience, flexibility, low cost, and mobility pose unique challenges such as fading, interference, energy, and security, which must be carefully addressed when using resource-constrained IoT devices. To this end, the efforts of the research community have led to the standardization of several wireless technologies for various types of application domains depending on factors such as reliability, latency, scalability, and energy efficiency. In this paper, we first overview these standard wireless technologies, and we specifically study the MAC and physical layer technologies proposed to address the requirements and challenges of wireless communications. Furthermore, we explain the use of these standards in various application domains, such as smart homes, smart healthcare, industrial automation, and smart cities, and discuss their suitability in satisfying the requirements of these applications. In addition to proposing guidelines to weigh the pros and cons of each standard for an application at hand, we also examine what new strategies can be exploited to overcome existing challenges and support emerging IoT applications

Groundwater-food security nexus under changing climate-historical prospective of Indus basin irrigation system in Pakistan

Irrigated agriculture plays a vital role in the economy of Pakistan by contributing about 90% of food production, 22% of GDP, employing about 45% of the overall labor force, and generating over 60% of foreign exchange. The role of water resources has become significant which underpins the food security in the country. Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) is the lifeline for the economy of Pakistan and is the major pillar of food security. IBIS is one of the largest irrigation networks in the world and is confronted with multidimensional challenges out of which climate changes have attained paramount importance. The irrigation system was designed on a 67% irrigation system during the 19th century while the current cropping intensity has crossed the limits of 150-160% or even more. Continuous increase in population and consequently more food demands have shifted the pressure on the aquifer underlying the Indus Basin. India, USA & China, and Pakistan has become the 4th largest user of groundwater where about 40% of irrigated food production is dependent on groundwater. In Punjab province, about 1.2 million tubewells are extracting about 40-45 MAF of groundwater annually. Consequently, groundwater management has confronted a multitude of tiny users in Pakistan. Climatic changes have made the availability and reliability of surface water a question mark. Resultantly pressure on groundwater is increasing and water levels are dropping abruptly taking this resource beyond the bounds of rural poor farmers. The intrusion of saline water into the fresh aquifer, secondary salinity, and seawater intrusion are the major threats to groundwater quality.  About 3000 piezometers have been installed to monitor groundwater behavior (levels and quality) in the Punjab province. A research study carried out in Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC) has indicated that by falling of water table from 40 to 70 ft. the cost of pumping per acre-feet of groundwater has increased by 125%.  Similarly, it has been observed that in many urban areas groundwater is depleting at an annual alarming rate of 2.54 ft., (Lahore city) and the water table in sweet water zones in rural areas (Vehari District) has gone beyond 70-90 ft. Human activities like increasing cropping intensities, unplanned over pumpage, lack of awareness/capacity, use of chemicals in agriculture/food production, industrialization, urbanization, solid waste landfills, domestic effluents, lack of legal and regulatory framework, etc. are the major threats to sustainable use of groundwater for food security. Climatic changes are posing severe adverse impacts on the sustainable use of groundwater which is putting food security under threat. Global warming, rising sea levels, glacier melting, unprecedented rainfall, prolonged droughts, and floods are the consequences of changing climate which are affecting directly or indirectly the groundwater resources in the aquifer underlying the Indus Basin