Customer Loyalty in FMCG Sector of Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to find an empirical relationship of proposed variables and to find the impact of customer satisfaction, trust, and corporate reputation on customer loyalty. This study attempts to contribute to the knowledge how FMCG companies of Pakistan can retain their customers by making them loyal through satisfaction, trust, and corporate reputation. A theoretical framework is proposed to suggest links among variables. The sample size selected for research constitutes 200 respondents, and these respondents belong to the cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. Multiple regression and correlation coefficient was used to examine hypothesized relationship. Regression analysis reveals that customer satisfaction, trust, and corporate reputation bring 79.0% change in customer loyalty. There is a strong positive yet significant relationship of trust and customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction & corporate image also posit a positive and significant impact on customer loyalty. The results indicate that FMCG companies in Pakistan should pay more attention toward the reputation of their company, satisfaction of their customers, and trust in order to build loyalty of customers. Generalizability and time constraint are the limitations of the study

Urease Inhibitor Application Stages and Nitrogen Levels Influenced on Morpo-Phenological Traits of Wheat Cultivars

A field trial was carried out at New Developmental Farm of The University Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan during winter 2012-13, in order to study the urease inhibitor application stages and nitrogen levels influenced on morpo-phenological traits of wheat cultivars. Therefore the field experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with split plot arrangement having four replications.  Nitrogen levels (60, 120 and 150 kg ha-1) and urease inhibitor  stages (100% sowing stage, 50% sowing stage + 50% booting stage and 100% booting stage) were allotted to main plots, while  wheat cultivars (Siran and Atta Habib)  were allotted to sub plots.  Plots treated with 120 kg N ha-1 took maximum days to booting (128), improved plant height (97.9 cm), leaf area tiller-1 (117.8 cm2), spike length (11.3 cm) and biological yield (10382 kg ha-1) but maximum (185) days to maturity  was observed when plots treated with 150 kg N ha-1 as compared with control plots. Application of urease inhibitor 100% at sowing stage took maximum booting (133) days, maturity (186) days, improved plant height (102 cm), leaf area tiller-1 (128 cm2), spike length (11.6 cm) and biological yield (11386 kg ha-1) as compared with urease application 100% at booting stage. Wheat cultivar Siran had significantly took maximum booting (123) days, maturity (178) days, plant height (94.5 cm), leaf area tiller-1 (97.6 cm2), spike length (10.3 cm) and biological yield (9331 kg ha-1) as compared to Atta Habib. Hence cultivar Siran treated with 120 kg N ha-1 and coated urease inhibitor 100% at sowing stage produced the best results in terms of plant height, leaf area tiller-1, physiological maturity and biological yield. Keywords: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), urease inhibitor application stages, nitrogen levels, wheat cultivars, phenology, morpholog

Cost-effective visual odometry system for vehicle motion control in agricultural environments

In precision agriculture, innovative cost-effective technologies and new improved solutions, aimed at making operations and processes more reliable, robust and economically viable, are still needed. In this context, robotics and automation play a crucial role, with particular reference to unmanned vehicles for crop monitoring and site-specific operations. However, unstructured and irregular working environments, such as agricultural scenarios, require specific solutions regarding positioning and motion control of autonomous vehicles. In this paper, a reliable and cost-effective monocular visual odometry system, properly calibrated for the localisation and navigation of tracked vehicles on agricultural terrains, is presented. The main contribution of this work is the design and implementation of an enhanced image processing algorithm, based on the cross-correlation approach. It was specifically developed to use a simplified hardware and a low complexity mechanical system, without compromising performance. By providing sub-pixel results, the presented algorithm allows to exploit low-resolution images, thus obtaining high accuracy in motion estimation with short computing time. The results, in terms of odometry accuracy and processing time, achieved during the in-field experimentation campaign on several terrains proved the effectiveness of the proposed method and its fitness for automatic control solutions in precision agriculture applications

Value of routine preoperative tests for coagulation before elective cranial surgery. Results of an institutional audit and a nationwide survey of neurosurgical centers in Pakistan

Background: Routine preoperative blood testing has become a dogma. The general practice is to order preoperative workup as a knee-jerk response rather than individualize it for each patient. The fact that the bleeding brain tends to swell, which coupled with limited options for proximal control, packing, and overall hemostasis, leads to an overemphasis on the preoperative coagulation profile.Material and methods: This is a retrospective review of the medical records of patients admitted at Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2010 to December 2015 for an elective craniotomy. The hospital registry was used to identify files for review. Data were collected on a predefined proforma. A nationwide survey was performed, and 30 neurosurgery centers were contacted across Pakistan to confirm the practice of preoperative workup.Results: The survey revealed that all centers had a similar practice of preoperative workup. This included complete blood count, serum electrolytes, and coagulation profile, including prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and international normalized ratio (INR). A total of 1800 files were reviewed. Nine (0.5%) patients were found to have deranged clotting profile without any predictive history of clotting derangement; 56% were male and 44% were female. Median age was 32 years with an interquartile range of 27 years. Median aPTT was (40.8 with 20.8 IQR). Median INR was (1.59 with 0.48 IQR). Median blood loss was (400 with 50 IQR). No significant association between coagulation profile (aPTT, INR) and blood loss was found (P = 0.85, r = -0.07).Conclusions: We conclude that patients without a history of coagulopathy and normal physical examination do not require routine coagulation screening before elective craniotomy

Triad of Iron Deficiency Anemia, Severe Thrombocytopenia and Menorrhagia—A Case Report and Literature Review

Introduction Thrombocytosis is a common disorder in patients diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia. The decreased platelet counts commonly found iron deficiency anemia is rarely reported in clinical practice. The exact mechanism of the occurrence of thrombocytopenia in iron deficiency anemia remains unclear. In this case report we discuss a triad of symptoms seen in the African American population: Iron deficiency anemia, menorrhagia and thrombocytopenia. Case presentation A 40 year old multiparous African-American woman presented with heavy vaginal bleed, severe anemia (3.5 g/dL) and thrombocytopenia (30,000/mm 3 ). The peripheral blood smear showed marked microcytic hypochromic cells with decreased platelets counts. After excluding other causes of thrombocytopenia and anemia, increased red cell distribution width and low iron saturation confirmed the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. Treatment for iron deficiency anemia was initiated with intravenous and oral iron supplements. Two months following treatment of iron deficiency anemia, the triad of manifestations resolved and patient remained stable. Conclusion Profound degree of iron deficiency anemia can present with thrombocytopenia and severe menorrhagia. Iron replacement should be the main treatment goal in these patients. This case report further supports the 2 compartment model of the role of iron in maintaining platelet counts

fabrication of ni ti al schottky contact to n type 4h sic under various annealing conditions

Forward I-V characteristics of a silicon carbide Schottky diode, with triple layer metallization Ni/Ti/Al as Schottky contact, are presented. Effects of different annealing conditions on the Schottky barrier height and ideality factor are discussed. The diodes were annealed in inert Ar atmosphere for 30 minutes at temperatures ranging from 600 °C to 800 °C. The ideality factors of the four diodes, chosen out of 20 diodes, range from 1.02 to 1.13 and the Schottky barrier heights range from 1.47 eV to 3.17 eV

Heterologous Expression of Genes in Plants for Abiotic Stresses

Abiotic stresses are considered to be the major factors causing a decrease in crop yield globally, these stresses include high and low temperature, salinity, drought, and light stress etc. To overcome the consistent food demand for the ever-growing population, various genes from micro-organisms and non-plant sources have been expressed in transgenic plants to improve their tolerance against abiotic stresses. Gene expression in transgenic plants through conventional methods are time-consuming and laborious that’s why advanced genetic engineering methods for example Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and biolistic methods are more accurate, useful, and less time-consuming. This review provides an insight into various bacterial genes for example mtID, codA, betA, ADH, IPT, DRNF1 and ggpPS, etc. that have been successfully expressed in transgenic plants against various abiotic stress for stress tolerance enhancement and crop yield improvement which exhibited good encouraging results. Genes from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) have been introduced in transgenic plants against drought and salinity stress. All these genes expressed from non-plant sources in plants can be very helpful to enhance crops for better yield productivity in the future to meet the demands of the consistently rising population of the world

Role of Surgical Feeding Gastrostomy in Patients Requiring Prolonged Nutrition in a Neurosurgical Department

Objective: To build up the nutritional status of the neurosurgical patients with an easy and practical way. Patients and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Neurosurgery department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad in a six months’ time. In total thirty adult patients of either gender with H/O road traffic accident with severe head injury and GCS less than 8/15, persistent vegetative state, brain tumor patients who had developed lower cranial nerve palsies were included in the study. 28 for two way Foleys catheter was used in feeding gastrostomy. Results: Thirty patients, with the median age of 35 years (range, 18-55 years) underwent feeding gastrostomy. Before the gastrostomy tube insertion, 18 patients had enteral nutrition by a nasogastric tube and 10 had parenteral nutrition (PN), with a median duration of 14.5 (range, 4-60) and 12 (range, 7-25) days, respectively. Two patients accidentally pulled out the gastrostomy tubes 10 and 11 days after insertion. Buried bumper syndrome developed in 1 patient. Two patients died 8 and 34 days after the procedure in the neurosurgical ICU. Twenty-eight patients were discharged from the hospital while being fed via the gastrostomy tubes. In 11 patients who were able to resume oral feeding, the tube was removed, with a median interval of 62 (range, 25-150) days. There was no Procedure-related mortality. Conclusion: An improvised method of nutritional support according to our circumstances. This study can be extended to other surgical and medical patients who need nutritional support for longer period of time.&nbsp

Examining the effectiveness of consuming flour made from agronomically biofortified wheat (Zincol-2016/NR-421) for improving Zn status in women in a low resource setting Pakistan: Study protocol for a randomised, double blind, controlled cross over trial (BiZiFED)

Introduction: Dietary zinc (Zn) deficiency is a global problem, particularly in low and middle-income countries where access to rich, animal-source foods of Zn is limited due to poverty. In Pakistan, Zn deficiency affects over 40% of the adult female population, resulting in sub-optimal immune status and increased likelihood of complications during pregnancy. Methods and analysis: We are conducting a double blind, randomised controlled feeding study with crossover design, in a low resource setting in Pakistan. Households were provided with flour milled from genetically and agronomically biofortified grain (Zincol-2016/NR-421) or control grain (Galaxy-2013. Fifty households were recruited. Each household included a female aged 16-49 years who is neither pregnant nor breastfeeding, and not currently consuming nutritional supplements. These women were the primary study participants. All households were provided with control flour for an initial 2-week baseline period, followed by an 8-week intervention period where 25 households receive biofortified flour (Group A) and 25 households receive control flour (Group B). After this eight-week period, Group A and B crossed over, receiving control and biofortified flour respectively for eight weeks. Tissue (blood, hair and nails) have been collected from the women at five time points: baseline, mid and end of period 1, mid and end of period 2. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was granted from the lead University (reference number: STEMH 697 FR) and the collaborating institution in Pakistan. The final study methods (including any modifications) will be published in peer reviewed journals, alongside the study outcomes on completion of the data analysis. In addition, findings will be disseminated to the scientific community via conference presentations and abstracts and communicated to the study participants through the village elders at an appropriate community forum