Stock Market Returns and Weather Anomaly: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Financial economists believe that the arbitrage forces in the market are the main reason of market efficiency and these forces are the fundamental concept of efficient market hypothesis (EMH). During last few years, various theoretical and empirical evidences have been presented to support the work of financial modeling for the markets with less than rational investors whose trading strategies are based on psychological factors like mood and emotions. Weather condition is among the substantial factors affecting investors’ mood and emotions. Present study investigates the impact of temperature on stock market returns in emerging economy of Pakistan. Using the daily temperature records and stock market indices of Karachi and Islamabad, the study has employed auto regressive (AR) – generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model from 2006 to 2010. Based on AR (1)-GARCH (1, 1) estimation the study has found that weather temperatures of both Karachi and Islamabad are negatively related with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) index returns, respectively

Utilizing Militia Forces in Modern Warfare: Role and Challenges

The militia as an informal pro-government irregular force helps government forces through a range of asymmetric security threats. Since 9/11, the employment of militia forces has been on the rise. Although the informal Pro-Government Militias (PGMs) operate in juxtaposition with the regular land forces, they are loosely aligned with them. Given the nativity of its members to the battlefield, a militia is best suited to comprehend the operational and tactical situation and, making itself a viable option for state-led forces both from the perspective of low-cost force or its flexibility to deal with irregular threats. Most informal PGMs maintain a stronger ideological and political base, they do not often care about the limitation of their sponsoring state's sovereignty and the legitimacy of their actions. They may even develop linkages with the terrorist outfits for their immediate goals. This puts national security in grave danger. Given the risks, weaker states become vulnerable at the hands of their sponsored militants. Still, the state-led forces will remain inclined to exploit such paramilitary forces to let them shoulder the burden of national security against asymmetric threats. </p

An Empirical Study on the Effect of Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use on Purchase Intention Through Mobile Devices in Pakistan: A Mediating Role of Online Trust

In Pakistan, electronic commerce market is in developing phase, and people are not much familiar with technology. Customers feel fear for providing debit/credit card information to online retailers. This research proposes a theoretical model in which online trust is used as a mediator among perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and intention to purchase through mobile devices. In this study Smartphone, cellular phones and tablets with internet connection conceived as mobile devices. Data were collected through questionnaire from the students and employees of different universities in Pakistan and analyzed by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. Results suggest that PEOU have an insignificant effect while PU has a positive effect on online trust and purchase intention through mobile devices. Also, online trust does not mediate between PEOU and purchase Intention through mobile devices while it partially mediates between PU and purchase intention through mobile devices. Keywords: Electronic Commerce, Online trust, Intention to purchase through mobile devices, Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness

Insomnia and Sleep Deficiency in Pregnant Women: A Potential Study with Two Contrasts

Insomnia in pregnancy is associated with depression, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and preterm labor. In normal pregnancies, maternal plasma melatonin levels increase significantly as pregnancy proceeds, reaching its peak near term. However, the role of melatonin in insomnia during pregnancy is not known. The objective of this study was to measure nocturnal saliva melatonin levels in pregnant women with and without insomnia. Results did not show a significant difference in melatonin levels between insomniac (treated and untreated) and healthy pregnant women in all trimesters. However, sub-group analysis showed significantly lower melatonin levels in untreated insomniac pregnancies compared to healthy pregnancies and those treated with sleep medications. Results of this study confirmed lower levels of nocturnal melatonin in untreated pregnancies with insomnia. Future research is needed to investigate the safety and efficacy of melatonin supplementation for the treatment of insomnia in pregnancy, replacing psychotropic drugs

Gastroprotective potential and mechanisms of action of Hedera nepalensis

Hedera nepalensis (H. nepalensis)&nbsp;, belonging to the family Araliaceae, is a medicinal plant traditionally used to treat stomach problems. The current study investigated the gastroprotective potential and the mechanism of action of&nbsp;H. nepalensis&nbsp;in diclofenac-and ethanol-induced ulcer models. Anti-oxidant and lipid peroxidation inhibitory prospects of&nbsp;H. nepalensis&nbsp;were checked out by free radical scavenging assay and UV spectrophotometer respectively. Effect of&nbsp;H. nepalensis&nbsp;on the pH, gastric total acidity of gastric juice and protective effects of&nbsp;H. nepalensis&nbsp;against ulcer models have been examined. Histopathological studies have been carried out. The aqueous methanol extract of&nbsp;H. nepalensis&nbsp;(100 µg/mL) showed anti-oxidant (83.55%) and lipid peroxidation inhibitory (70.88%) potential at 1000 µg/mL; the extract had no buffer potential. The extract (400 mg/kg) significantly (81.12% and 63.46%) showed gastroprotective effect in diclofenac and ethanol-induced rat ulcer models respectively. Histopathological studies confirmed the biochemical findings. FTIR analysis showed the presence of carboxylic acid, alkanes, conjugated alkanes, aldehydes and alkyl-aryl ethers. Gallic acid, M-coumaric acid and quercetin were found by HPLC analysis.&nbsp;H. nepalensis&nbsp;exhibited significant protection against diclofenac and ethanol induced gastric damage by anti-oxidant and lipid peroxidation suppression effects suggesting potential broad utility in treatment of diseases characterized with gastric damage

Policy analysis of girls’ primary school completion in rural Sindh: Root causes and policy recommendations using IIEP education policy toolbox

This report emerged from the policy analysis work produced as part of the course titled ‘Diagnostic tools for improving education policy planning’ by the IIEP-UNESCO with support from KIX. This course enabled us to explore diagnostic tools and their implications, specifically for developing countries, and helped the team unpack diagnostic tools and learn the history of their evolution. We further learned how the education management information system works and how data is essential for policy decisions. Finally, we engaged with real policy analysis using the IIEP Education Policy Toolbox. As a team, we chose to study the issue of girls’ completion of primary education in two districts of the Sindh province: Larkana and Dadu. Using the Policy Toolbox, we made a policy decision tree, gathered data that could help us understand each factor and then made policy decisions and forward policy recommendations

Investigation of the cardiac depressant effect of Caralluma tuberculate N.E.Br on isolated rabbit heart

Purpose: To investigate the histopathological and cardiac depressant effect of the aqueous methanol extract of Caralluma tuberculata N.E. Br (AMECT) (family: Asclepiadaceae)’ and to determine if there is a scientific basis for its cardiovascular diseases-related folkloric use. Methods: The effect of AMECT in different concentrations ranging from 0.00001 to 1.0 mg/mL were evaluated in isolated perfused rabbit heart to assess their effect on the force of contraction and heart rate using Langendorff’s apparatus. Atropine and adrenaline were used to identify the underlying mechanism of response produced by AMECT. The extract was studied for its possible mechanism in the absence and presence of atropine and adrenaline. In addition, sub-chronic toxicity and histopathological study of heart tissues in rats were assessed by administering 500 mg/kg of extract. Results: At all concentrations, AMECT produced significant (p &lt; 0.001) negative ionotropic and negative chronotropic effects. The most significant effect was observed at 0.001 mg/mL and higher concentrations hence 0.001 mg/mL was selected for further studies. Pre-incubation with atropine did not significantly inhibit the effects of AMECT. However, AMECT significantly (p &lt; 0.01) blocked the cardiac stimulant effect of adrenaline. In the histopathological studies, AMECT did not produce any significant cellular changes or signs of toxicity in the sub-chronic toxicity study. Conclusion: The cardiac-depressant responses of AMECT may involve the β-adrenergic receptors in the myocardium of isolated rabbit heart thus confirming the rationale for its use in ethnomedicine for cardiac diseases