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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive view of barriers that restrict the adoption of new specializations and courses in the higher education institutions of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative methods were used to get the responses from the respondents of different institution of target areas. Results were further analyzed with the help of statistical tools. In total, 203 respondents were approached to fill the carefully designed questionnaire. Findings: Results of the study clearly show four major factors, including internal barrier, external barrier, cultural barrier and leadership barrier, that are restricting the introduction and adoption of new specialization courses in higher education institutes of Southern Punjab. Suggestions at the end are made to address the restrictions. Research limitations/implications: The current study states only six higher education institution of Southern Punjab, which is a kind of limitation itself. This study is conducted by taking into account the needs and trends of the businesses and markets; student perspective is not taken about the situation in this study, which is an another limitation of the study. To get more accurate and validated results, the higher education institutions located in other areas of Pakistan could be studied, which was not done in this study because of time and resource limitations. Practical implications: This study may prove worthy to bring a positive and practical shift in the Pakistani higher education system. This study may also prove beneficial to show the actual picture of the situation to national leaders, academicians and policy makers so that things are taken seriously to actually align the Pakistani higher education system with the emerging market demands and trends. Suggestions made in this study may provide comprehensive guidelines to the academic strategists to uplift the higher education institutions of Pakistan up to the international standards and requirements, so the Pakistani higher education institutions can get a respectful place in the international academic rankings. Originality/value: The paper highlights the restrictions and helps the institutions to introduce new specialization courses.

Background: Child mortality is a major challenge to public health in Pakistan and other developing countries. Reduction of the child mortality rate would improve public health and enhance human well-being and prosperity. This study recognizes the spatial clusters of child mortality across districts of Pakistan and identifies the direct and spatial spillover effects of determinants on the Child Mortality Rate (CMR). Method: Data of the multiple indicators cluster survey (MICS) conducted by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was used to study the CMR. We used spatial univariate autocorrelation to test the spatial dependence between contiguous districts concerning CMR. We also applied the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to measure the spatial spillover effects of factors on CMR. Results: The study results showed 31% significant spatial association across the districts and identified a cluster of hot spots characterized by the high-high CMR in the districts of Punjab province. The empirical analysis of the SDM confirmed that the direct and spatial spillover effect of the poorest wealth quintile and MPI vulnerability on CMR is positive whereas access to postnatal care to the newly born child and improved drinking water has negatively (directly and indirectly) determined the CMR in Pakistan. Conclusion: The instant results concluded that spatial dependence and significant spatial spillover effects concerning CMR exist across districts. Prioritization of the hot spot districts characterized by higher CMR can significantly reduce the CMR with improvement in financial statuses of households from the poorest quintile and MPI vulnerability as well as improvement in accessibility to postnatal care services and safe drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School dropout is known to be a major issue individually, socially, educationally, and economically. Primary school dropout has been increasing in Pakistan in general and in Balochistan in particular. The determinants of primary school dropout vary across the province to province and district to district. This study finds the determinant of primary school dropout in district Kech of Balochistan. Primary data has been collected randomly from all tehsils of the district. Data were collected from 100 respondents using the Z-score method of sample size selection. Moreover, the study uses frequency distribution and charts to represent the data and applies Cronbach's Alpha for the reliability of the responses. The findings of the study showed that there are many economic, social, and cultural factors that are causing primary school dropout in the district such as distance of the school from home, uneducated parents, cultural issues regarding female education, lack of transportation, child labor issue, non-availability of teachers, a high number of dependent children and unemployed parents. Thus, it is recommended that the Government should take into consideration the aforementioned factors to improve human capital and business productivity across the industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recognizing the need for improving maternal and newborn care, the Punjab public health department (Pakistan) launched emergency obstetric neonatal care (EmONC) services under WHO guideline. Unfortunately, the program implementation is facing some serious problems. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to implementation of EmONC in district Bahawalnagar (Pakistan). Methods: This study used sequential exploratory design. Specifically, a qualitative study was conducted to identify barriers to EmONC. Subsequently, the relative importance of these barriers was determined in a quantitative study. Participants were health service providers involved in 24-hours basic EmONC services in the basic health units of district Bahawalnagar (Pakistan). Qualitative data were gathered by interviewing the participants using key informant guide. Quantitative data were collected in a rank order survey of the same participants. The methodological quality was assessed using mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) version 2011. Results: The results indicate that lack of teamwork, conflict management, communication, and improper power distribution are important interpersonal barriers. The significant organizational-level barriers include job insecurity, lack of organizational culture, human resource deployment issues, and lack of role clarity. Lack of target management, lack of resource availability, house job requirement, and dual practice issues were identified as major system-level barriers. Conclusion: Barriers to EmONC implementation must be addressed for improving maternal and neonatal care in district Bahawalnagar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive view of barriers that restrict the adoption of new specializations and courses in the higher education institutions of Southern Punjab, Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach Quantitative methods were used to get the responses from the respondents of different institution of target areas. Results were further analyzed with the help of statistical tools. In total, 203 respondents were approached to fill the carefully designed questionnaire.Findings Results of the study clearly show four major factors, including internal barrier, external barrier, cultural barrier and leadership barrier, that are restricting the introduction and adoption of new specialization courses in higher education institutes of Southern Punjab. Suggestions at the end are made to address the restrictions.Research limitations/implications The current study states only six higher education institution of Southern Punjab, which is a kind of limitation itself. This study is conducted by taking into account the needs and trends of the businesses and markets; student perspective is not taken about the situation in this study, which is an another limitation of the study. To get more accurate and validated results, the higher education institutions located in other areas of Pakistan could be studied, which was not done in this study because of time and resource limitations.Practical implications This study may prove worthy to bring a positive and practical shift in the Pakistani higher education system. This study may also prove beneficial to show the actual picture of the situation to national leaders, academician and policy maker so that things are taken seriously to actually align the Pakistani higher education system with the emerging market demands and trends. Suggestions made in this study may provide comprehensive guidelines to the academic strategists to uplift the higher education institutions of Pakistan up to the international standards and requirements, so the Pakistani higher education institutions can get a respectful place in the international academic rankings.Originality/value The paper highlights the restrictions and helps the institutions to introduce new specialization courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this research is to explore the domestic and international causes of terrorism specific to Pakistan. Given that the country is a victim of widespread terrorist activities, an inquiry into the causes of terrorism is required. In-depth interviews and content analysis have been used to explore the initial causes of terrorism. Based on the results of content analysis a quantitative analysis was conducted to collect rank-order data from experts. The results indicate that the most important causes of terrorism include lack of law enforcement, poverty, Pakistan's participation in war on terror, foreign involvement, and unemployment. This study concludes that no cause has a unilateral connection with terrorism, and focusing on a single factor may not suggest effective policy measures. This research suggests a multifaceted but a more focused diagnostic into the complex causes of terrorism in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of biofertilizer on wheat variety Zardana production at four locations of Balochistan. Biofertilizer (Azospirillum Al-Q + N 45 kg ha-1, P25O 30 kg ha-1) was used to substitute for half of the Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer application rates as compared to a high fertilizer treatment (N 90 kgha-1, P2O5 60 kgha-1). The high mineral fertilizer and biofertilizer + half mineral fertilizer treatments were compared with a control treatment (no fertilizer). Significant grain yield were measured at all sites, although, at all sites both fertilizer treatments apparently out yielded the control and the biofertilizer + half mineral fertilizer treatment out yielded the high fertilizer treatment by 220-1180 kgha-1. Fresh yields differed significantly at all sites. At Mastung field, both fertilizer treatments out yielded the control by 3000 kgha-1 and at Quetta (Aghbarg field-2) the biofertilizer + half mineral fertilizer treatment out yielded the others by over 3000 kgha-1. The results proved that the application of biofertilizer in combination with N 45kgha-1 and P2O5 30 kgha-1 increased fresh yield from 11% to 59% and suggested increases in grain yield of 20-46% as compared with control treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Globally, rotavirus is a leading cause of childhood diarrhea and related mortality. Although rotavirus vaccination has been introduced in many countries worldwide, there are numerous low- to middle-income countries that have not yet introduced. Pakistan is one of the countries with the highest number of rotavirus deaths in children under five years. Although rotavirus infection is almost universal among children, mortality is often a result of poor nutrition and lack of access to health care and other aspects of poverty. We assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of introducing childhood rotavirus vaccination in Pakistan. We use household data from the 2012–2013 Demographic Health survey in Pakistan to estimate heterogeneity in rotavirus mortality risk, vaccination benefits, and cost-effectiveness across geographic and economic groups. We estimate two-dose rotavirus vaccination coverage that would be distributed through a routine vaccination program. In addition, we estimate rotavirus mortality (burden), and other measures of vaccine cost-effectiveness and impact by subpopulations of children aggregated by region and economic status. Results indicate that the highest estimated regional rotavirus burden is in Sindh (3.3 rotavirus deaths/1000 births) and Balochistan (3.1 rotavirus deaths/1000 births), which also have the lowest estimated vaccination coverage, particularly for children living in the poorest households. In Pakistan, introduction could prevent 3061 deaths per year with current routine immunization patterns at an estimated $279/DALY averted. Increases in coverage to match the region with highest coverage (Islamabad) could prevent an additional 1648 deaths per year. Vaccination of children in the highest risk regions could result in a fourfold mortality reduction as compared to low risk children, and children in the poorest households have a three to four times greater mortality reduction benefit than the richest. Based on the analysis presented here, the benefits and cost-effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination can be maximized by reaching economically and geographically vulnerable children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]