DETERMINANTS OF REMITTANCE: PAKISTANI MIGRANTS IN YIWU, CHINA

Remittances are the transformation of payment send by international migrants to be used in their home country. This study explains the remitting behavior of Pakistani migrants in Yiwu. For this study, the primary data were used for analysis which collected. Of these, 116 Pakistani migrants participated in the interview. Snowball sampling technique used to collect data. Linear regression model used to estimate the likelihood and determinants of remittance of migrants. The results show that Pakistani migrants remit 50,290 Yuan per year on average. More than 91% Pakistani migrants are sending remittance to their home country. This research shows that Pakistani migrants are sending money to their families and parents that are purely altruistic. The main contribution of this research is to explore the relationship between various factors and remittances.  Article visualizations

Some compositional and biochemical attributes of jaman fruit (Syzygium cumini L.) from Potowar region of Pakistan

Jaman (syzygium cumini L.) is among the neglected fruits of tropical and sub-tropical regions having certain food and pharmaceutical values. Numerous studies are available world over on the compositional potentials of this fruit; however, very limited work has been done in Pakistan. The present investigation was therefore undertaken to assess some compositional properties and antioxidant potentials of jaman fruit parts. Proximate composition in terms of crude protein, fat, fiber and ash content were estimated in pulp, skin and seed portions and found in the range of 3.57-5.05%, 1.60-8.00%, 3.09-3.33%, 4.51-6.21% respectively. Seed was leading in protein, fat, ash and crude fiber, whereas varying levels were found in pulp and skin. Among the chemical attributes, total sugars, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid were assessed only in fruit pulp on dry weight basis that were 52.48%, 5.66% and 187.63 mg. 100g-1, while total soluble solids (9.11oBrix) were estimated in fresh pulp. Bioactive composition revealed that jaman fruit parts were rich in phenolics (4812.03- 5103.03 mg GAE. 100g-1), flavonoids (2380-3920 mg QE. 100g-1), anthocyanins (272.26-384.32 mg Cya.3-rut E. 100g-1) and antioxidant activity (82.52-90.66%). Fruit skin had higher amounts of bioactive components and antioxidant capacity followed by pulp and seed. All fruit parts were rich in mineral composition; however, seed had higher contents followed by skin and pulp. Among the individual minerals, potassium, phosphorus and calcium were abundant followed by magnesium, sodium and iron respectively. These findings revealed that Syzygium cumini fruit is a junction of health promoting phytochemicals and major mineral elements

Influence of Packaging Material and Ethylene Scavenger on Biochemical Composition and Enzyme Activity of Apricot Cv. Habi at Ambient Storage

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of different packaging materials and ethylene absorbent on biochemical composition, antioxidant and enzyme activity of apricot cv. Habi during ambient storage. Perforated (0.25%) polyethylene films of low, medium and high densities and wrapping paper were used along with KMnO4 dipped sponge cubes. Biochemical characteristics (pH, ascorbic acid, phenolics and carotenoids), antioxidants and enzyme activity were determined at 2 day intervals during storage. The results demonstrated that low density polyethylene retained maximum chemical and bioactive compounds, higher antioxidant activity and lower enzyme activities during storage, while the maximum loss of quality was observed in control and paper wrapped sets followed by high and medium density packaging films. It was concluded that apricot harvested at commercial maturity stage and packed with low density polyethylene films along with ethylene scavenger (KMnO4) can be successfully stored at ambient conditions up to two weeks. Keywords: Apricot, biochemical composition, packaging material; ethylene absorbent, ambient storag

Impact of Intellectual Capital on Performance of Karachi Stock Exchange 30-Index Companies of Pakistan

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of Intellectual Capital (IC) on the financial performance of the organization. IC relationship is measured with the firm performance by using Pulic’s method known as value added intellectual coefficient (VAICTM) and its mechanisms i.e., human, structural and capital employed efficiencies (HCE, SCE, CEE). The outcome provides an additional empirical confirmation for the contribution of IC on the company’s financial performance. The financial indicators of this study are Karachi stock exchange (KSE)-30 index companies. In this regard, quantitative data is collected by the companies of Pakistan from the period of 2010 to 2014. In the era of competition, every company is seeking for the efficient way to increase their financial performance, the IC plays a significant role in the economy as found evidence in developed countries, this study will help the organizations to make modern operations by using different sources in order to increase their financial performance. The study of IC has endured on various stages, from initial conscious awareness efforts to the sorting of IC, and to the search for suitable measures of IC. This article presents the first study that explores IC impact on financial performance of KSE-30 index companies in Pakistan

Use Of Apitherapy: A Sweet Approach To Bony Healing Of Extracted Tooth Socket

Objective: To determine the effect of honey in enhancing the height of bony socket healing after tooth extraction. Methods: This Quasi-experimental study includes 100 patients had were selected through convenience sampling and divided into two groups, i.e. 50 each. A tooth radiograph was taken both preoperatively and postoperatively followed by nonsurgical extraction of tooth. The experimental group was provided with honey and instructed to apply it 3 times daily for the next 10 days using an I/V syringe so that honey reached up to the depth of the socket during the initial healing phase. On the 90th postoperative day, patients were repeated with the periapical radiograph. The bony outline of the extracted tooth socket was traced on a tracing paper on the preoperative radiograph and the 90th postoperative day of the radiograph and compared for wound healing by overlapping and measuring the height through a ruler. Hence, the post-operative height of the socket was evaluated in both groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Results: The mean age was 30.76 ± 6.57 and 31.02 ± 5.97 years in the non-honey and honey group respectively. A total of 24 (48%) subjects were male in the honey group compared with the non-honey group 19 (38%). Females were 26 (52%) and 31 (62%) in the honey group and non-honey group. Statistically significant  (p-value 0.001) was observed between the radiological Height of the socket on 90 days in honey and non-honey groups. Conclusion: It has been determined that honey is significantly efficient honey in enhancing the height of bony socket healing after tooth extraction. To encourage adequate socket repair after tooth extraction, it may be given as a postoperative treatment.

Does economic policy uncertainty, energy transition and ecological innovation affect environmental degradation in the United States?

Climate change traps heat, affecting a variety of species in already dry areas. Severe storms, earthquakes, plagues, and food delivery problems are all exacerbated by climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gases. The United States, the world’s largest economy and second-largest carbon emitter is expertly planning to reduce its environmental difficulties and help the accomplishment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13. Given that, the study explores the renewable energy transition, ecological innovation, economic policy uncertainty, and globalization from 1990 to 2019 by using novel econometric approaches augmented ARDL and gradual shift causality. The results show that variables are cointegrated, particularly in the long and short term; renewable energy transition and economic policy uncertainty reduce carbon emissions, while ecological innovation contributes to long-run depletion in CO2 emission. Globalization significantly accelerates emissions in the long and short term. Furthermore, gradual shift causation reveals that renewable energy transition and globalization are unidirectional, but economic policy uncertainty is bidirectional. Finally, the conclusion implies that transitioning from fossil to renewable energy, adequate use of technology, efficient management of policy uncertainties and globalization may contribute to the United States meeting SDGs 7 and 13

Non-Contact Monitoring of Dehydration using RF Data Collected off the Chest and the Hand

We report a novel non-contact method for dehydration monitoring. We utilize a transmit software defined radio (SDR) that impinges a wideband radio frequency (RF) signal (of frequency 5.23 GHz) onto either the chest or the hand of a subject who sits nearby. Further, another SDR in the closed vicinity collects the RF signals reflected off the chest (or passed through the hand) of the subject. Note that the two SDRs exchange orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, whose individual subcarriers get modulated once it reflects off (passes through) the chest (the hand) of the subject. This way, the signal collected by the receive SDR consists of channel frequency response (CFR) that captures the variation in the blood osmolality due to dehydration. The received raw CFR data is then passed through a handful of machine learning (ML) classifiers which once trained, output the classification result (i.e., whether a subject is hydrated or dehydrated). For the purpose of training our ML classifiers, we have constructed our custom HCDDM-RF-5 dataset by collecting data from 5 Muslim subjects (before and after sunset) who were fasting during the month of Ramadan. Specifically, we have implemented and tested the following ML classifiers (and their variants): K-nearest neighbour (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT), ensemble classifier, and neural network classifier. Among all the classifiers, the neural network classifier acheived the best classification accuracy, i.e., an accuracy of 93.8% for the proposed CBDM method, and an accuracy of 96.15% for the proposed HBDM method. Compared to prior work where the reported accuracy is 97.83%, our proposed non-contact method is slightly inferior (as we report a maximum accuracy of 96.15%); nevertheless, the advantages of our non-contact dehydration method speak for themselves.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Storage stability of potato variety Lady Rosetta under comparative temperature regimes

Potatoes are usually stored under low temperatures for sprout prevention and to ensure their continuous supply. Low temperature sweetening in potato is the major temperature related disorder being faced by the growers and is also known to be associated with variety specific storage temperature. The present study aimed at identifying the appropriate storage temperature for the premium potato variety Lady Rosetta with special reference to the changes in its quality attributes, that is weight loss, total sugars, starch, ascorbic acids, total phenolic contents, radical scavenging activity, enzymatic activities and potato chip color. The selected potato variety was stored under different temperature (5, 15 and 25oC) regimes to identify appropriate storage temperature. Our results showed significant variations in the tested quality attributes in response to different storage temperatures. Storage at 5oC maintained tuber dormancy up to 126 days, however, found associated with increased sugar accumulation (2.32 g/100 g), rapid starch depletion (13.25 g/100 g) and poor post processing performance (L-value, 52.00). In contrast, potato storage at 15oC retained lower sugar contents (1.33 g/100g) and superior chip color (L-value, 59.33) till the end of storage. However, they were found associated with the increased polyphenol oxidase (38.47 U/g f.w) and peroxidase (15.25 U/100 g f.w) activities as compare to those potatoes stored at 5oC during the same storage period. Storage life of potato tubers at 25oC was significantly reduced due to dormancy break on 84th day and subsequent starch degradation (15.29 g/100 g) increased sugar accumulation (1.32 g/100 g) and increased polyphenol oxidase (79.89 U/g f.w) and peroxidase activities (40.69 U/100 g f.w). Our results showed that potato variety Lady Rosetta is cold sensitive and requires specific temperature for prolonged storage and best post processing performance

Asymmetric impact of renewable and non-renewable energy on economic growth in Pakistan: New evidence from a nonlinear analysis

This paper explores the asymmetric relationship between renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy, and terrorism on economic growth of Pakistan. We applied a novel econometric cointegration method known as a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag modeling (NARDL). Our empirical findings indicate that positive and negative changes have a significant long-run asymmetric relationship between renewable energy, and terrorism on economic growth. We also found a negative and significant effect of non-renewable energy consumption on economic growth. To keep our environment clean and free of emissions, the study specifies policies that rely on renewable energy sources to boost economic growth. However, reduces terrorism has a positive impact on economic growth in the long-run and shows as an influential tool to combat terrorism in Pakistan. These novel results will help policy-makers and government officials to understand better the role of renewable energy and economic growth in Pakistan's development

Evaluation of quality of warfarin therapy by assessing patient\u27s time in therapeutic range at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

Objective: To assess the time in therapeutic range in patients on warfarin anti-coagulation therapy. Methods: The retrospective chart review was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised data of patients having undergone anti-coagulation with warfarin from January 2013 to April 2015. To determine the mean time in therapeutic range, Rosendaal method was used. Association of time in therapeutic range with the composite outcome, bleeding and thromboembolic events was also assessed. Percentage of patients with time in therapeutic range \u3c60% was calculated. Results: There were 92 patients whose median time in therapeutic range was 34.9% (interquartile range: 20.0- 55.7). Overall, 71(77.2%) patients had time in therapeutic range below 60% which had statistically significant correlation with the composite outcome (p\u3c0.05). Number of comorbids was significant in predicting time in therapeutic range and patients with time in therapeutic range\u3c 60% (p\u3c0.05). Conclusion: Subjects had poor anti-coagulation quality. It might be prudent to move towards novel oral anticoagulant drugsas the first choice for therapeutic anti-coagulation