Children influence on parents buying decisions in Delhi (India)

The existing literature has confessed that children have an influence on parent's buying decisions for a wide range of products. This study is based on survey approach and aims to examine the impact of children on parent's buying decisions regarding children and family related product groups. A sample of mother's along with their children aged between 6-14 years was studied in Delhi (India). Results of the study mostly supported the findings of previous researchers with certain exceptions. Moreover the influence of child on parents buying decisions is found to be dependent on some demographic characteristics of children, mothers and families.Key words: Children, Influence, Parents buying decision, Product groups, Delhi

Prevalence of needle stick injury and its associated factors among nursing staff working at a tertiary care hospital of North India

Background: Needle stick injury is a serious concern for healthcare workers as it poses a major risk for HIV, Hepatitis and other diseases transmission. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of NSI and its associated factors among nursing staff working at SKIMS, a tertiary care hospital of Kashmir, India. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 nurses working in different departments of SKIMS. Data regarding socio-demographic, various organizational and behavioral factors that may contribute to NSI, was collected using self-structured questionnaire and analysed using IBM statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), version 23. Results: The overall prevalence of NSI among nurses of SKIMS was 61% and it was 43.5% in the last 1 year. The nurses working for >40 hrs per week were found more at risk of NSI and it was more prevalent in young nurses with ≤5 years of experience. The nurses working in emergency unit were found more prone to NSI than the other units and recapping was found as the most common practice responsible for NSI. Post exposure to NSI, only 21.5% were found to wash the injury site with soap, water and applied antiseptics and most of them (75%) had not reported NSI to the concerned body. Conclusions: The magnitude of needlestick injury among nurses was high. Awareness generation regarding occupational health hazards of NSI, protective measures, the importance of reporting of incident and sharp management is the need of hour

Status of Wheat Seed Sector in Pakistan: Opportunities and Challenges to Improve Quality Seed Supply for Increased Production and Food Security

Wheat accounts for 60% of the daily diet and 72% of the daily calorie intake in Pakistan. The average per hectare wheat yield in Pakistan is only 2.8 tons, which is far below potential yield of 6.8 tons/ha for wheat in Pakistan. In this study, we use time-series data from the previous 1.5 decades to analyze wheat seed supplies in four major wheat-growing provinces: Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. The regression analysis indicates that the use of certified seed has a positive and significant impact on wheat production which is a key pillar of ensuring food security at the national level. Province-wise there exist some variation as results show that certified seed is available from public and private sources in Punjab to meet nearly a quarter of the province’s requirements and also supply a significant portion of Sindh’s wheat seed needs. However, available certified seed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces constitutes only 10% or less of the wheat seed sown. Throughout Pakistan, early-generation improved wheat seed comes mostly from public sector institutions; the private sector is involved primarily in the sale of improved seed and does not take part in wheat research or development programs. Farmers’ access to improved wheat seed can be enhanced through sustainable public-private partnerships, swift availability of pre-basic seed to well established private seed companies and introduction of legally-binding arrangements between public and private entities. This would not only help increase the wheat production but also bring improvement in the food security of rural households and country’s economic growth. Keywords: Wheat seed, Production, Public-private Partnership, Food security, Pakistan

Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography in diagnosis of biliary disorders in children - Sharing our experience.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of Magnetic Resonance Cholangio-pancreatography in the diagnosis of biliary disorders in children. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised data related to the period between August 2005 and December 2013. All children from age of 1 day to 17 years who had undergone Magnetic Rasonance Cholangio-pancreatography examination for suspected pancreaticobiliary disorders were included. Clinical presentation, Magnetic Rasonance Cholangio-pancreatography findings, operative findings and histopathological results were recorded. Sensitivity and specificity of Magnetic Rasonance Cholangio-pancreatography for different diseases was worked out. RESULTS: Of the 50 patients in the study, 12(24%) showed findings of choledochal cyst. Of these patients, 11(91.6%) underwent surgery and operative findings were consistent with choledochal cyst. Only 1(8.3%) who was assessed as biliary atresia was found to have choledochal cyst on surgery Magnetic Resonance Cholangio-pancreatography was found to be 91% sensitive and 100% specific for diagnosis of choledochal cyst with diagnostic accuracy of 98%. CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic Resonance Cholangio-pancreatography is a very accurate non-invasive investigation for the diagnosis of biliary disorders

Impact of land tenure arrangements, Bt cotton adoption and market participation on welfare of farm households in rural Pakistan

Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producing country. Cotton and cotton products contribute about 3.2% to GDP and 60-65 % to foreign exchange earnings of the country. In this dissertation three important aspects of cotton production and marketing are focused, i.e. adoption and impact of Bt cotton, land rights’ influence on farmers’ decision to invest in land improvement measures and efficiency level, and cotton farmers’ market participation. Cross sectional data was collected from 325 cotton farmers in Pakistan during 2007. The Propensity score matching approach was employed to estimate the adoption and impact of Bt cotton technology. The empirical results indicate that Bt cotton adopter farmers were getting 50-60 kgs per acre higher yields, household income was higher in the range of Rupees 16500-17000, while the demand for pesticide was less in the range of 0.62-0.68 liters. The probability of adopters being poor was found to be lower by 13-14%. The land rights results indicate that owner cultivated lands exhibit the higher levels of technical, allocative and economic efficiency compared to fixed-renters and sharecroppers. The net returns are positive and significant for the farmers selling at market compared to farmers selling at farm gate. From the empirical results it can be concluded that targeting the small scale farmers with Bt cotton technology can help them a way out of poverty, as well as land reforms in favour of tenants and small scale farmers can help them increase their efficiency level. Similarly, regarding farmers’ market participation, small-scale farmers can be linked to the markets by investing in human capital, improving the village infrastructure and readdressing the formal credit programme

Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction: (Book Review)

Contemporary Linguistics was initially (First Edition 1989) composed to present an introductory textbook on linguistics to enlighten the students about different areas of linguistics (morphology, phonology, psycholinguistics, semantics, syntax, and sociolinguistics) with the aims to provide up-to-date coverage of the subject areas, and provide a clear and direct presentation of materials for the students of linguistics. In this regard, editors of the book strived to: incorporate up-to-date and comprehensive text; present the knowledge of the subject from working experts on a particular topic; adopt a modular approach to explain complicated concepts in an engaging and digesting style; and offer extensive support to instructors and students to teach and understand the book. The book was warmly welcomed by the students, and well appreciated by the experts in the field of linguistics. As a result, the editors have been charting various developments in the subject through different editions (1-6). The current edition (7th 2017) of Contemporary Linguistics comprises of 14 chapters. Chapter one previews language and its features. Chapter two discusses the sounds of speech focusing the part of articulators to produce sounds, symbols representing sounds, grouping of sounds into classes, and features of sound. Chapter three reviews the distinctiveness of sounds, and the use of transcription to describe the variation of sounds. Chapter four throws light on word structures explaining different concepts on morphology. Chapter five presents the analysis of sentence structures explaining how words: are categorized; and combined to form phrases and sentences; and how sentence structures are diagrammed. Chapter six describes different concepts of semantics e.g., derivation of meaning, contribution of speaker’s attitude and belief, context, and setting toward meaning. Chapter seven explains how different languages are classified based on morphological, phonological, and syntactic similarities. Chapter eight discusses: how and why a language and its sounds change over time; and what syntactic and morphological changes are noticed in a language. Chapters nine and 10 explain how children acquire first and second language by developing vocabulary in different stages of acquisition, and what factors influence the acquisition process. Chapter 11 answers the questions related to the: methods employed by psycholinguists to study language processing; linguistic principles involved in language production and comprehension; and psycholinguistic models applied to explain language processing. Entitled ‘Brain and Language’ chapter 12 describes the structure of human brain and its relation with language, and neurolinguistic investigations on language and brain. Chapter 13 explains the use of language in social contexts focusing on how: class, ethnicity, gender and place influence language variation; dialect variation takes place over time; language contact influences development and use of language; social interaction influences the use of language; and people deal with language. Chapter 14 explains the development of writing systems, the emergence of alphabetical systems, the development of writing systems in non-European languages, the development of modern English spelling system, and the relation between reading and writing. Each chapter of the textbook starts with a quote from world-famous literary works followed by the chapter objectives, a detailed overview of the topic, and ends in a chapter summary, key terms, recommended reading, and exercises. Quotes (at the start of every chapter) are very concise and exciting, and present a very appealing introduction of the topic. Chapter objectives comprise of short statements that present an easily understandable aim of the particular topic. A detailed overview of the topic provides a comprehensive discussion of different aspects of the specific topic. Chapter summary (titled ‘Summing Up’) presents a precise summary of the discussion on a specific topic, and makes it easy for the reader the digest the essence of the discussion. ‘Recommended Reading’ section provides references to the materials for further reading on the topic. Exercises, at the end of every chapter, are also very interesting and help to assess readers’ comprehension of the topic. The current edition is very advantageous for several reasons such as it: presents revised content on four chapters (2, 3, 4, and 5) on phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax; updates two additional chapters ‘Second Language Acquisition’, and ‘Language in Social Contexts’ with the aim to incorporate the recent scholarship in the field; provides LaunchPad Solo that offers features (interactive exercises, advanced questions, interactive IPA audio charts, additional reviews on core topics, further exploration of four chapters); provides study guide of the book; presents ‘Instructor’s Resource Manual’ as a teaching guide for the teachers of the textbook; gives detailed and advanced information on the subject; provides online exercises to support multimedia technology in the classroom; and reflects recent research on linguistics. Important boxes like ‘Language Matters’ (present general knowledge on specific topics) and ‘For the Student Linguist’ are the plus of the textbook that is rarely found in any other textbook of linguistics. To be brief, Contemporary Linguistics is a wonderful textbook that features valuable and unique things that further make it a ‘springboard to the realm of scientific analysis’, and ‘a greater appreciation for the wonder of human language, the variety and complexity of its structure, and the subtlety of its use’ (Preface, p. xiv). About Book Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (7th Edition). Edited by William O’Grady, John Archibald, Mark Aronoff and Janie Rees-Miller. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s Macmillan Learning, 2017, pp. 674, 35.99$ (Paperback), ISBN: 978-1-319-03977-6

Comparative efficacy of nanofilled and microfilled resin-modified glass ionomer as pits and fissure sealant in permanent molar teeth

The purpose of the present study was to compare the efficacy of nanofilled and microfilled resin- modified glass ionomer as pits and fissure sealants in permanent molar teeth. Ninety six teeth having fissure at the occlusal surface were randomly divided into two groups: Group I: Treated by nanofilled resin-modified glass ionomer sealant and Group II: Treated by microfilled resin- modified glass ionomer sealants. Clinical assessment was performed by modified Ryge´s criteria by means of retention, color match, marginal adaptation at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up visit. Chi-square test was used for testing differences between the two groups; a value of p<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The results revealed that at 12 months observation period, nanofilled resin-modified glass ionomer sealant showed better retention, color stability and marginal adaptation than that of microfilled resin-modified glass ionomer sealants. Furthermore, the differences between two groups in respect to marginal adaptation and color match were statistically significant (p<0.05). It can be concluded that nanofilled resin-modified glass ionomer sealant could be a better alternative to microfilled resin- modified glass ionomer sealant

A Comparative Analysis Of Conventional Software Development Approaches Vs. Formal Methods In Call Distribution Systems

When we think about formal method; the first thing which comes in our mind is mathematical approach. The process of formalization is an approach based on mathematics and used to elaborate the properties of systems (hardware and software). The mathematical modeling or formal methods provide us a framework for large and complex systems. Thus these systems can be specified, analyzed, designed, and verified in a systematic way rather than the approaches which are used conventionally. Formal verification and the methods are applied using theoretical computer science fundamentals to solve the complex and difficult problems in large and complex software and hardware systems to ensure the systems will not fail with run-time errors. Conventional approaches of software verification in call distribution systems rely on quality assurance to verify the system behavior and robustness. The process of software testing cannot show the absence of errors it can only show the presence of errors in software systems. [1] In contrast, the mathematically-based techniques of verification are based on formal methods to prove certain software attributes, for example proving that software does or does not contain the occurrence of errors at run-time such as overflows, divide-by-zero, and access violation, invalid memory access and stack/heap corruption. [1] In this paper later we will have comparative analysis of formal methods vs. conventional software development approaches in call distribution systems. Using this comparison we‘ll try to identify the methodologies and approaches which would be better in SDLC for call distribution systems.