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Present research was designed to access the relationship, between livelihood capitals and strategies of small-scale farmers in rain-fed areas of Pakistan. Results highlighted that households possessed limited human, financial, physical, social and natural assets. Chi-square statistics showed a highly significant relationship (P<0.05) between livelihood assets and diversification strategies. It was found that social asset was highly influenced and depends upon income level of households as a majority (67.0%) of the poor people with a low income level had a low level of financial capital. The preference or choice of livelihood strategies by different income groups was measured through a chi-square test of independence (χ 2 = 1 2 2 . 7 7 0 ) which shows that the majority (79.3%) of low income households used farming as their only major livelihood strategy. Due to which they were considered as more prone to poverty as the high majority (98.0%) of households were facing the problem of poverty and hunger (98.0%) at the household level. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the problem of poverty & hunger (PPH) can easily be estimated from livelihood assets of respondents. 

Aim: To evaluate pathologies of the petrous temporal bone in cochlear implant candidates on CT and MRI preoperatively. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Combined Military Hospital Lahore from Jan 2014 to April 2016. 163 candidates were evaluated on CT and 149 were evaluated on MRI. All patients belonged to pediatric age group. Pathologies were grouped using classification of Sennaroglu & Saatci and every pathology was sought in all the cases ensuring that the pathologiesare not missed. Results: High-resolution CT scan temporal bone revealed 69.9% normal studies. Chronic otitis media with mastoiditis was major abnormality observed in 16.6% of cases. Unilateral mastoiditis was seen in 6.1% of patients. Bilateral CSOM without mastoiditis was seen bilaterally in 1.8% of cases. While unilateral CSOM was observed 0.6 % of patients. Among inner ear malformations, Mondini malformation was seen in 4 cases (2.5%). A high jugular bulb was seen in 2 cases (1.2%).93.3% of cases were labeled as normal study on MRI. Four cases showed Mondini malformation. Infective process of middle ear showed a cumulative frequency of 2.7%. Inner ear aplasia was found in one patient. Sclerosing labyrinthitis was also found in one case. Conclusion: Both CT and MRI have substantial role in pre-operative evaluation of petrous temporal bone in cochlear implant candidates. Preoperative evaluation of petrous temporal bone by CT scan and MRI successfully identifies pathologies which can be absolute or relative contraindications of the cochlear implant as well as conditions in which surgical procedure needs to be modified. Keywords: Cochlear implants, HRCT temporal bone, MRI cochlea, Mastoiditis, Mondini malformation

Dried fruits are a popular and convenient snack option for many consumers, providing a nutritious alternative to processed snacks. Thus, consumer demand for dried fruits has significantly increased worldwide due to increasing health consciousness and a growing interest in natural and organic food products. Though Pakistan is one of the world's largest producers of mangoes, dried mangoes are a relatively new product in the country’s markets. Hence, the study’s objective is to understand consumers' awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) for dried mangoes which is crucial for producers and marketers to target and capture the growing market effectively. We collected the data from 300 respondents from three metropolitan cities of Punjab: Lahore, Faisalabad, and Multan. We employed logistic regression to investigate the determinants of consumers’ awareness of dried mangoes and Tobit regression to estimate factors affecting willingness to pay. The results show that 46% of respondents knew the dried mangoes. Furthermore, gender, education, income, and access to information are the important factors affecting consumers’ awareness. On average, consumers were willing to pay Rs. 373/ 125 grams of dried mangoes. The estimates of the Tobit model show that gender, age, education, income, profession, promotion, packing, and health consciousness significantly affect the consumers’ willingness to pay. Therefore, producers and marketers must develop effective positioning, pricing, and promotional strategies based on these factors to target and capture the growing markets for dried fruits.

In the scenario of Pakistan, the demand for frozen chicken products such as nuggets, a variety of chicken, drumsticks, burger patties, and chicken candies has increased with the passage of time. Rise in consumer income, change in the demographics and lifestyles, and changes in the preferences of the people because of the awareness as well as new technologies. The present research was carried out in the city of Multan. The city selected for research, as it is a densely populated city in southern Punjab. Multan is also the fourth largest city in Pakistan, and it is a purposive study-targeting customers related to value-added chicken products, A representative sample of consumers was drawn. A sample of 200 customers was interviewed by employing a convenient sampling technique. The researcher used the pre-tested items for the questionnaire of the present study for the collection of data from participants selected through personal interviews. Data collected from 1-20 April 2021. The consumer preferences for frozen chicken products were estimated by using the binary logistic regression technique. According to the results, all independent variables (qualification of consumers, consumer family size, income of consumer, hygienic factor, taste, appearance, availability, location, and season) are influencing the consumption of frozen chicken products significantly except the availability of frozen chicken products in the study area. The consumers highlighted various problems such as lack of advertisement, high prices, and lack of awareness, location, and availability of frozen chicken products in the study area. Advertisement campaigns should initiate to enhance the awareness and usage of frozen chicken products by the companies in the study area.