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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2007.00162.x Byline: Abdul Waheed Bhutto (1), Aqeel Ahmed Bazmi (2) Keywords: Rural poverty; Agriculture sector; Population growth-agriculture growth-poverty alleviation linkage; Pakistan Abstract: Abstract Poverty is rampant in the rural areas of Pakistan, where people are in a state of deprivation with regard to incomes, clothing, housing, healthcare, education, sanitary facilities and human rights. Agriculture generates nearly 20.9 percent of the country's GDP and provides employment for 43.4 percent of its workforce. Most importantly, 65.9 percent of the population living in rural areas is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Rising population, shrinking agricultural land, increasing demand for water resources, widespread land degradation and inadequate infrastructure appear to be major concerns of the agriculture sector in Pakistan. An attempt has been made to examine the population growth-agriculture growth-poverty alleviation linkage. It is argued that agriculture will continue to be one of the most important sectors of Pakistan's economy for years to come. To alleviate poverty, it is suggested that Pakistan enhance the productivity of the agriculture sector through the provision of a series of inputs including provision of easy credit to the small farmer, availability of quality fertilizers and pesticides, tractor and harvester services, improvement in the effectiveness of the vast irrigation system and, finally, farmer education. It is concluded that the high rate of population growth needs to be curbed for increased agricultural productivity to have any significant effect on poverty in rural areas of Pakistan. Author Affiliation: (1)Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Karachi-Pakistan. (2)COMSAT Institute of Information Technology, Lahore-Pakistan.

The relation between access to energy and indicators of development is well established. It is directly related to most pressing social, economic, environmental, and security issues like poverty, jobs and income level, access to social services, population growth, industrial and agricultural production, food security, health, climate change and environmental quality which affect sustainable development. It is predicted that access to energy will become an acute problem in developing countries in the near future, mainly under the impact of population growth and the rising cost of fuels. This paper looks at how access to and use of energy are related to poverty. It also provides an overview of Pakistan''s energy sector, discusses levels of energy services available to people in Pakistan, and potential future energy resources available at local level and their benefits. The study concludes by addressing the growing energy challenges; it has become inevitable for Pakistan to diversify its energy resources through developing indigenous energy resources, especially the renewables. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: To determine the reliability of pedicled latissimus dorsi flap for reconstruction of extensive defects around the elbow in terms of flap survival and coverage of exposed bones, vessels or nerves., Study Design: Case series., Place and Duration of Study: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, from February 2003 to January 2008., Methodology: Patients with extensive traumatic wounds around the elbow and wounds secondary to release of postburn elbow contracture were included. Patients above 60 years of age with previous history of myocardial infarct, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or insulin dependent diabetes were excluded. Pedicled latissimus dorsi flap was used for defect reconstruction. Overall flap survival and postoperative complications were the outcome measures., Results: There were 28 patients, including 20 males and 8 females, age ranging from 17 to 60 years. Evaluation of the defect considering extent of tissue loss, depth of the defect and exposed vital structure was done. Myocutaneous flap was used in 4 (14%) patients. Muscle only flap was used in 24 patients (86%). Twenty five (90%) flaps survived completely and 3 (10%) had partial loss. Other minor complications were partial graft loss seen in 3 (10%) patients and wound infection seen in 2 (7%) patient. There was no considerable morbidity at donor site and all patients had satisfactory healing., Conclusion: Pedicled latissimus dorsi flap is a reliable and safe option for resurfacing extensive soft tissue defects of arm, elbow and forearm.