Search

ObjectiveAdequate dietary intake during pregnancy is vital for the health and nutritional status of both mother and fetus. The nutritional status of reproductive age women in Pakistan is poor, with 14 % being underweight (BMI < 18·5) and 42 % experiencing Fe deficiency anaemia. This may stem from beliefs, practices and other barriers influencing dietary intake. This qualitative study seeks to determine which factors impact dietary intake during pregnancy in rural Punjab.DesignIn-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted and then analysed using thematic analysis.SettingThree purposively selected rural districts (Sahiwal, Okara and Pakpatan) with the highest prevalence of maternal and child malnutrition in the province of Punjab, Pakistan.ParticipantsMothers with children under age two (n 29) and healthcare providers with at least 5 years of experience working in the district (n 12).ResultsWe identified a combination of physiological, socio-cultural and structural barriers that inhibited healthful dietary intake during pregnancy. The primary physiological barriers to optimal dietary intake and dietary practices included food aversions and food cravings. Food classification, fear of a difficult childbirth, fear of high blood pressure and household food politics were the principal socio-cultural barriers. Additionally, two structural barriers, inadequate antenatal counseling and a lack of affordable food options, were identified.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that complex barriers prevent pregnant women in the Punjab area from consuming adequate dietary intake and that antenatal health education programmes and structural interventions are needed to support healthful dietary practices during this critical period.

The population is increasing rapidly globally, and urban expansion of the cities has become an extensive trend in developing nations. Urban expansion patterns, such as transportation structure and road networks, affect transportation planning. This research was conducted on a mega project in Lahore city of Pakistan, i.e., the Lahore Ring Road (LRR) project. Limited research focused on the beneficiary assessment of the road project, and this research was carried out to fill this research gap. This research aims to evaluate the beneficiary assessment of DHA Phase 8 and Halloki Settlement along the Lahore Ring Road. The simple Random Sampling technique was used to conduct the household survey in the study area. This study concluded that most of the residents did not modify their houses nor increase the built-up area and height after the introduction of the project. This study inferred that the rental potential was high at some locations and low at old existing settlements. This research further concluded that community participation was ignored, and public facilities were not improved in the study area. But a project of LRR was very much beneficial and alive for the residents of Lahore city. Community participation should be enhanced in such types of megaprojects, and allied facilities in the nearby community should be upgraded. This research will be helpful for policymakers, urban planners, transportation planners, development authorities, and other stakeholders in planning future road projects in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual, technological, and material advancement has a deep influence on all sectors of life including libraries. Libraries are coping with these developments accordingly, however, the pace of development is not the same around the globe. This study aims to explore the adoption status of green library practices in the university libraries of Pakistan. The peer-reviewed literature including IFLA s checklist was encompassed to model twelve aspects/practices of the green library initiative. The feedback from the selected, senior university librarians of Pakistan on the proposed model of green library practices was collected through interviews. The librarians apprise the green library model as an effective combination of related aspects and technologies. The findings reveal that each participating library has adopted some of the green library practices. However, a lot of more work is to be done to fully understand and adopt the green library initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A green or sustainable library seeks to maximize the use of natural and renewable resources. The adopt ion of green pract ices in l ibraries of developing count ries like Pakistan is much needed where water and energy resources are scarce and unsustainable. This move f rom convent ional to green libraries also poses certain challenges. This study aims to explore the chal lenges encountered in the adopt ion of green library pract ices in the university librar ies of Pakistan. The scholarly literature is reviewed to encompass the dimensions and chal lenges of a green library in the global context. The feedback from the selected, senior university librarians of Pakistan regarding chal lenges and their solutions in adopt ing green library practices is col lected through interviews. These challenges include a lack of awareness about green libraries and practices, policy for green libraries, technologies for a paper less envi ronment, awareness regarding the use of natural construct ion materials and biodegradable products, awareness regarding the use of natural and renewable energy sources, and seriousness of librar ians and management. The exper ts also suggest requi red skills and resources to overcome these chal lenges comprising knowledge about green libraries and pract ices, paperless envi ronment, space management, solar panels, glass windows, skills regarding the use of renewable energy sources, and the ability to find out the environmental impact of a resource. This study may also be useful for libraries in other developing count ries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study was conducted at experimental area of Citrus Research Institute, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan during 2016-18 to examine the response of exogenous growth regulator and fungicide against fruit drop of Kinnow before harvesting. Ten years old kinnow plants grafted on rough lemon rootstock were selected for spray of growth regulators and fungicides for three successive seasons 2016-18. Exogenous application of growth regulators and fungicide were applied at three different times during growth season i.e. first application in July, second in August and third application in October every year. Data indicated that maximum physiological fruit drop (6%) was recorded in control and minimum fruit drop (1.76%) was recorded in T6: 2, 4-D @ 20 ppm + Topsin – M 1.5 g L-1 treatment. Similarly, maximum (6.01%) pathological fruit drop occurred in control whereas effective results depicted by T6 2,4-D @ 20 ppm + Topsin-M 1.5 g L-1 with 0% fruit drop. Correspondingly, minimum fruit due to insect attack was recorded in T6: 2, 4-D @ 20 ppm + Topsin-M 1.5 g L-1 despite of that control depicted maximum fruit drop with 5% value. This experiment concluded with a good degree of success. Out of various and alone combination of growth regulator and fungicide treatments 2, 4-D + Topsin-M @ 20ppm and 1.5 g L-1 reduced the drop significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes the contribution of researchers in the field of the energy from Pakistan in the period 1990-2016. A scientometric approach was applied to analyze the scientific publications in the field using the Scopus Elsevier database. Different aspects of the publications were analyzed, such as publication type, major research areas, journals, citations, authorship pattern, affiliations as well as the keyword occurrence frequency. The present research trends are analyzed and future research directions are outlined. The impact factor, h-index and number of citations were used to investigate the strength of active institutes, authors, and journals in the field of the energy in Pakistan. From 1990 to 2016, 991 articles have been published by 2139 authors from 213 research institutes. The total number of citations and impact factor are 10,287 and 2301 respectively, corresponding to 10 citations per paper and an impact factor of 2.32 per publication. The research articles originate primarily from COMSATS, NUST, PIEAS, and PINSTECH. Pakistan has published 60% of publication with the collaboration of the foreign institutes, mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. The core research activities in the field are mainly focused on resource assessment, energy policy, energy efficiency, feasibility study, energy economics, and performance assessment. The most productive journal, author, institution, are renewable & sustainable energy review, Shahbaz M., and COMSATS, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, Pakistan has been facing a shortage of between 3000 MW and 6000 MW in the supply and demand of electricity, leading to several hours of power cut. Sixty-three percent of current electricity generation is based on fossil fuels, leading to cost vulnerability, whereas only one percent is based on renewable resources (non-hydroelectric). The geographical location and climatic conditions of the country offer a high solar energy potential, which signifies the need for solar resource assessment for the planning of solar energy projects. The article provides an overview of the solar resource assessment based on surface measured data and satellite data carried out by researchers. Various researchers have developed solar energy potential maps for the country based on solar insolation data measured by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The data measured by PMD reported in the previous literature have been compared with the long-term data from the World Radiation Data Centre (WRDC), and both data show good agreement. The approximate annual mean daily global horizontal insolation for the whole country, based on surface measured data by WRDC, is 5.30 kW h/m 2 (19.0 MJ/m 2 or 221 W/m 2 ). The government of Pakistan sought to exploit the solar and wind energy potential during the last decade with the help of international agencies. Based on satellite data, the solar resource assessment was done by National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA (NREL) in 2007, and the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank in 2015. The solar atlas prepared by NREL was not validated by the surface measured data, whereas the solar atlas prepared under ESMAP is to be validated in 2017. A comparison of NREL estimated data and WRDC data shows that NREL's atlas overestimates solar insolation up to 25% in some regions. The annual mean daily solar global horizontal insolation estimated under ESMAP is 5.67 kW h/m 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy, either from non-renewable or renewable sources, is of paramount importance as the progress of a country is gauged on economic development. However, with the use of non-renewable energy resources, the environmental degradation is exacerbating with every passing day in developing countries including Pakistan. On the contrary, the developed countries are resorting to sustainable and renewable energy resources to achieve sustainable development goals. The primary consumer of the non-renewable energy sources is transportation sector in Pakistan, with the total consumption amounting to almost two-third of the total utilization. Keeping in view the existing energy expenditures and its share in environmental pollution by transportation sector, Lahore Metropolitan area has been selected for this research paper. This research analyzed the environmental data collected from multiple road junctions of Lahore City. In light of the existing data, the research exhibited improvements in overall environmental quality by comparing the existing and proposed energy solutions comprising of Hydrogen in transportation sector. The comparison carried out by utilizing International and National Environmental quality standards. Additionally, research also addresses the energy savings with the transition from non-renewable energy sources to renewable and innovative energy solutions. • Environmental degradation is exacerbating with use of non-renewable energy resources. • Primary consumer of non-renewable energy sources is transportation sector in Pakistan. • Comparison of the existing and proposed energy solutions. • Comprising of Hydrogen fuel cell in transportation sector. • Hydrogen fuel cell technologies for the transportation sector for safe and clean future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]