Bahauddin Zakariya University

This study examines the impact of social media and digital technologies on political participation in the digital age through a qualitative case study approach. Three country-specific cases—youth mobilization in India, hashtag activism in the United States, and digital political campaigns in Kenya—were analyzed using data collected from social media content, online campaigns, news reports, and interviews with active participants. The results show that digital platforms can be viewed as drivers of civic engagement, where they contribute to the spread of information related to politics, peer-to-peer mobilization, and amplifying the voices of marginalized individuals, but also introduce some problems to the platform, such as misinformation, algorithmic biases, polarization, and inequality of access. The paper points to the potential change brought forth by digital technologies to improve democratic engagement, especially among young people and digitally literate citizens, and the need to improve digital literacy, fair access, and governance protection to create an inclusive and effective democracy. These observations aid in the interpretation of the changing nature of political interaction in the digital communication world.

Abstract The sustainability of public health systems relies heavily on the mental health and well-being of the healthcare workforce. In resource-constrained settings like South Punjab, Pakistan, excessive job demands pose a significant risk to both employee welfare and the quality of healthcare delivery. This study examines the impact of job demands on job performance, specifically investigating the mediating role of emotional exhaustion as a critical determinant of public health service effectiveness. Grounded in the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model and Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) theory, this research utilized a quantitative cross-sectional design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to a purposively selected sample of 249 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff, from public sector institutions. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings indicate that high job demands exert a significant positive effect on emotional exhaustion (β = 0.835), which subsequently degrades job performance. Emotional exhaustion was found to significantly mediate the relationship between job demands and performance (β = 0.426), suggesting that workforce burnout is a primary pathway through which systemic pressures undermine healthcare service quality.

Cavity-nesting birds play a vital role in forest ecosystems, yet their habitat preferences remain poorly understood in managed subtropical plantations. This study examines the ecological drivers of nest-site selection among cavity-nesting birds in southern Punjab, Pakistan, offering critical insights to inform biodiversity friendly forestry practices such as retaining snags and structural complexity within managed plantations. Across three managed plantations (Lal Suhanra, Chichawatni, Perowal) in Southern Punjab, Pakistan, we identified all cavity-bearing snags from randomly selected forest compartments and systematically monitored 962 snags (204 cavity-bearing, 106 occupied) through visual surveys and verified nesting activities, between 2021 and 2023, to record snag structural attributes, cavity characteristics, and nesting activity. Multivariate analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant function analysis (DFA), and occupancy models, were used to identify key snag attributes and species-specific nesting preferences by cavity nesting bird species. PCA revealed three dominant ecological gradients: structural richness (PC1), decay status (PC2), and vertical positioning (PC3), explaining 78% of the total variance. DFA effectively differentiated between occupied and unoccupied cavities (82% classification accuracy), with cavity depth, snag diameter, and height as key predictors. Species-level DFA correctly classified grey-capped woodpecker (GCPW, 100%) and spotted owlet (SPOW 87%), indicating distinct nesting niches. Occupancy modeling showed the highest site use in Lal Suhanra (ψ̂ = 0.74 ± 0.05), while younger plantations showed significantly lower occupancy rates. Our findings highlight the critical role of snag structure, decay stage, and plantation maturity in shaping cavity-nesting bird assemblages and underscore the need for structural retention and diversified management in plantations.

Background: Benign urological lesions in adults are frequently encountered in clinical practice and include renal angiomyolipoma, benign renal masses, and selected symptomatic benign proliferative conditions managed within urology. Although these lesions are non-malignant, they may still cause hemorrhage, pain, obstructive symptoms, diagnostic uncertainty, and treatment-related loss of organ function. Contemporary management has shifted toward more selective intervention and greater emphasis on nephron preservation, but the evidence remains fragmented across lesion types and treatment pathways. Objective: To systematically evaluate current diagnostic approaches and management strategies for benign urological lesions in adults, with emphasis on diagnostic utility, symptom outcomes, complications, lesion progression, recurrence, and preservation of organ function. Methods: A systematic review with qualitative synthesis was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020. PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science were searched for studies published between January 2014 and March 2024. Eligible studies included adults with radiologically characterized or histologically confirmed benign urological lesions and reported diagnostic or management outcomes. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality using RoB 2 for randomized trials and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for observational studies. Owing to substantial clinical and methodological heterogeneity, findings were synthesized narratively. Results: Eight studies involving 1,427 adults were included. Five studies evaluated renal angiomyolipoma, two examined benign small renal masses, and one assessed symptomatic benign prostatic proliferative disease. Active surveillance was safe for most small asymptomatic angiomyolipomas, with 94% showing no clinically meaningful growth over 36 months in one prospective cohort and 60% of tuberous sclerosis complex-associated cases remaining intervention-free over 5 years. For larger or symptomatic angiomyolipomas, selective arterial embolization preserved renal function better than partial nephrectomy, with a smaller decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate at 12 months (-3.2 vs -11.5 mL/min/1.73 m²; p<0.01), although post-embolization syndrome was more frequent. Percutaneous biopsy for indeterminate small renal masses showed 88% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and a 15% non-diagnostic rate. Conclusion: Current evidence supports surveillance for selected small asymptomatic renal angiomyolipomas and selective arterial embolization as an effective kidney-preserving option for larger or symptomatic lesions. However, the evidence base is predominantly observational and heavily renal-focused, underscoring the need for higher-quality prospective comparative studies across the broader spectrum of benign urological lesions.

The examination had been carried out to find out how guar gum affects the nutritional and qualitative characteristics of bakery goods, particularly cookies and cakes. At first guar beans were analyzed for their different physiochemical characteristics and guar gum was produced from guar beans. Then, using various concentrations, guar gum was introduced as a fat substitute in cookies and cakes. After thorough examination of these items, assessing a variety of quality factors, nutritional characteristics and sensory qualities. The prepared products will be assessed in terms of quality factors, nutritional characteristics and sensory attributes. According to the research, the mean values of the components of cookies’ moisture, fat, ash, protein and fibre ranged from 2.98% to 3.35%, 9.36% to 15.05%, 1.41% to 2.17%, 6.64% to 7.34% and 1.41% to 2.17%, respectively. Similar results were found for cakes, where the mean values for moisture, fat, ash, protein and fibre, respectively, ranged from 19.06% to 23.03%, 6.70% to 7.34%, 12.6% to 15.17%, 1.55% to 2.35% and 1.49% to 2.22%. Physical factors including cookie thickness, spread factor and hardness as well as sensory traits were significantly altered. Additionally, the presence of guar gum had a significant impact on the physiochemical characteristics (volume and colour) and sensory qualities of cakes. The results of this physiochemical and sensory analysis conclusively showed that guar gum addition significantly increase the positive impact on the quality characteristics and customer acceptance of a variety of bakery items.

Our findings indicated that fluctuations in FBG levels among individuals with diabetes were not associated with pathological responses to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. This suggests that the rise in blood glucose levels in diabetic patients are more likely driven by their pre-existing metabolic dysfunction rather than their chemotherapy related pathological responses.