Socio-economic determinants of the family history of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Pakistan

This article aims to assess the role of important socio-economic factors in the family history of tuberculosis patients in Pakistan. Data were collected from 269 patients, and a logistic regression was used to determine the association between risk factors and the vicious circle of TB. Results of the logistic model show that significant risk factors associated with TB history in patients were education, household size, house structure, rooms in the home, room ventilation, monthly income, income food sufficiency, smoking, diabetes, and heart disease. The current TB control programme needs to formulate strategies to target specific risk factors and poverty reduction simultaneously to break the vicious circle of tuberculosis.     

Understanding accessibility to healthcare for elderly people in Bangladesh

Healthcare facilities for the rising number of elderly people living in rural and semi-urban areas in Bangladesh are insufficient. This article assesses the accessibility to healthcare for elderly people living in rural and semi-urban areas. Data collection was carried out using surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, and both quantitative and qualitative tools were used in analysis. Upazila hospitals, which are geographically easily accessible for elderly people in rural and semi-urban areas, have a dearth of specialist doctors to treat their chronic diseases and lack sophisticated diagnostic facilities. It is recommended that a course on gerontology be introduced in the medical curriculum to increase the number of available geriatricians, and resources allocated for sophisticated diagnostic facilities in upazila hospitals.     

Factors affecting access to primary health care services in Pakistan: a gender-based analysis

This article explores access to primary health care (PHC) services and associated factors in Pakistan. Data were collected from 302 respondents. The findings revealed that women accessed PHC services more than men due to their greater health needs. However, a large proportion of both genders did not access any PHC services. Besides general weaknesses, gender-related barriers were found in basic health unit locations, distance, transport, staff availability, income, service hours, and service organisation, confirming gender issues in access to PHC services. Policymakers are recommended to take measures to improve access to PHC services through the formulation of gender-responsive policies and strategies.     

Interaction of human and physical capital in a model of endogenous growth

A model of development is presented where growth is initially driven by physical capital accumulation, as in the neoclassical model. After a critical level of physical capital is reached, the economy ‘takes off’ and enters a stage of sustained growth driven by human capital accumulation. The link between these two stages is provided by the assumption that private incentives for human capital accumulation increase with the average levels of human and physical capital. At the early stages of development, these incentives are low so the level of human capital stays stagnant until sufficient physical capital is accumulated. Other results are that some economies may reach a steady state of physical capital before a ‘take-off’ is possible. This is especially likely for economies in which agents have low savings propensities. Such economies remain stuck in a no-growth equilibrium forever. Economies that do grow may experience endogenous cycles if the return to investment in human capital is sufficiently increasing in the level of physical capital.     

New challenges for a post‐Cold War Japan

Najmul Saqib Khan was Pakistan's ambassador to Japan from 1985 to 1988. He says of Japan, “The country made a profound and lasting impact on me. The economic achievements of a resource‐poor country, the retention of cultural identity by a synthesis of tradition and modernity, and the innovativeness and communitarian values of Japanese society were genuinely impressive. Japan showed a virtually untapped potential to play a more active and independent role in the world.” Khan subsequently wrote a book that distilled the lessons that Southwest Asia could learn from Japan.’ He argued that countries undergoing modernization should shed their elitism and concentrate on attaining a high standard of capability for the average citizen. In this essay, he analyzes the challenges facing Japan in the post‐Cold War era.     

Earnings and Caste: An Evaluation of Caste Wage Differentials in the Nepalese Labour Market

This paper examines the sources of wage differentials among castes in Nepal, a country which had, until 1963, an age-old caste-based social division of labour. We use an extended Oaxaca decomposition model with occupation and firm size augmenting the conventionally used measures of human capital endowments. Our results indicate that caste wage differentials in Nepal are large and that human capital endowments and lack of access to better paying occupations and larger firms have a significant impact. Furthermore, we find mixed evidence that the government policy of affirmative action has narrowed down the caste wage differential.     

STR and SNP analysis of human DNA from Lucilia sericata larvae's gut contents

Importance of forensic entomology becomes inevitable when come across some incident where corpse is unidentifiable and lot of maggots or other insects are present. The most common application of forensic entomology is to use insects for the identification of specimens or human remains. DNA analysis recovered from a larva's gut contents can be used to identify a missing body. The obtained human STR and SNP profile support the association of a maggot to a specific patients or corpse. Main aim of this research was the identification of human DNA from gut contents of third instar maggots (larvae of Lucilia sericata) placed on diabetic patient's wounds for treatment purpose. Maggots (8–15) were taken from each diabetic patients (no. of the patients 8) and DNA was extracted from the gut contents manually by using Qiagen tissue protocol. Agarose gel electrophoresis was performed and the total size of DNA was seen using UV transilluminator. PCR amplification, STRs and SNPs profiling was then performed using PCR 9700 and AmpFLSTR Identifiler and SnaPshot Multiplex Kit (Applied Biosystems) respectively. The results were analyzed on ABI 310. SNP profiles were good and identifiable compared to the STRs where amplification was poor and the peaks were low. This may be the fact of the enzymatic activity present in the gut of the larvae which cause tremendous reduction in DNA size and thus yield. The results of this study reveals that it is possible to obtain a complete human profile using STRs and SNPs even if DNA is recovered from gut contents of maggots.     

Landholding size and farmers’ access to credit and its utilisation in Pakistan

This article reports on a study that aimed to investigate the differences in access to, and utilisation of, agricultural credit among subsistence farmers in Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 87 randomly selected subsistence farmers. Results show that subsistence farmers with more land had greater access and utilisation, and that education, experience, type of farmer, and landholding size were significant factors influencing access to credit. As subsistence farmers with the least land were the most disadvantaged, there is a need for revamping the credit policy to protect their interests. Moreover, simplifying the existing complex procedures involved in securing agricultural credit is highly recommended.