Comparative effect of water extract of parthenium hysterophorus, Datura alba, Phragmites australis and Oryza sativa on weeds and wheat

Laboratory and pot experiments were conducted at the Department of Weed Science, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during fall 2011 and repeated in 2012. Allelopathic plants were used against wheat and associated weeds. Allelopathic plants showed significant activity against three selected species - Triticum aestivum, Avena fatua and Rumex crispus. Aqueous extracts of Parthenium hysterophorus and Datura alba showed significant effect against weeds of Triticum aestivum although aqueous extract of Phragmites australis possessed moderate activity. It was noted that aqueous extract of Oryza sativa and control were comparable for all parameters studied. Aqueous extract of P. hysterophorus and D. alba decreased seed germination, shoot length, fresh and dry biomass as compared to the rest of the treatments. The degree of toxicity of different treatments can be placed in the following order of inhibition: P. hysterophorus > D. alba > P. australis > O. sativa ≥ control. The present studies showed that the plants used contain water soluble allelochemicals that retard or inhibit the germination, growth and biomass of other species. These experiments suggests that P. hysterophorus, D. alba and P. australis extracts may have negative effect on major weeds like A. fatua and R. crispus. Thus there is a possibility of using these plant extracts for weed management. However, more extensive studies is required to identify the allelopathins responsible for inhibitory effects on seed germination and plant growth

Frequency of Infected Healthcare Workers and Factors Leading to Infection in Emergency Neurosurgical Trauma during COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective:  The aim of this study was to know the frequency of COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers and to identify the risk factors leading to infection in emergency neurosurgical trauma during COVID-19 pandemic. Material and Methods:  This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery, Ayub Teaching Hospital. A total of 99 healthcare workers with an age range from 22 – 55 years attending or carry emergency procedures with both male and female gender were included in the study. Age, gender, sign and symptoms, safety measures and COVID PCR reports were recorded. Results:  12 (12.1%) out of 99 healthcare workers got an infection with COVID-19. 83.3% of the infected healthcare workers were male while 16.6% were females. A maximum of the healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 was in the age range 31 – 40 (50%). Most of them were Doctors (66.6%) followed by nursing staff (25%). Low-grade fever and cough were the most common symptoms. The most important factors which affect the transmission of infection to healthcare workers were improper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves by healthcare professionals, and inability to maintain social distancing with the patients. Conclusion:  To protect healthcare workers from getting infections, proper personal protective equipment should be used. Early recognition of the infected patient and prompt isolation should be done to prevent or minimize the chain of transmission

Impact of Service Quality on Customers’ Advocacy; Mediating Role of Customers’ Loyalty: A case of selected Private Hospitals of Peshawar

The aim of the current study is to determine how service quality influence customers’ advocacy directly and indirectly through customers’ loyalty in private sector hospitals of Peshawar. Famous servqual model used for the analysis of service quality of the selected hospitals. Confirmatory factor analysis used to examine the fitness of the model and then with the help of path analysis hypotheses were checked. After analysis it was found that the relationship of service quality and customer advocacy was fully mediated by customer loyalty. The current study would be very useful for the hospital’s management in evaluation of service quality. Furthermore, the findings of the current study would also be useful in getting more customers. Marketing and management personnel of the hospitals would more emphasis on service quality to produce loyal customer, who eventually turns into advocates.Â

Supporting Serendipity through Interactive Recommender Systems in Higher Education

Serendipiteetin käsite viittaa onnekkaisiin sattumuksiin, jossa hyödyllistä tietoa tai muita arvokkaita asioita löydetään yllättäen. Suosittelujärjestelmien tutkimuksessa serendipiteetistä on tullut keskeinen kokemuksellinen tavoite. Ihmisen ja tietokoneen vuorovaikutuksen kannalta olennainen kysymys siitä, kuinka käyttöliittymäsuunnittelu suosittelujärjestelmissä voisi tukea serendipiteetin kokemusta, on kuitenkin saanut vain vähän huomiota. Tässä työssä tutkitaan, kuinka suosittelijajärjestelmän mahdollistamaa serendipiteetin kokemusta voidaan soveltaa tutkimusartikkelien suositteluihin korkeakouluopetuksen kontekstissa. Erityisesti työ tarkastelee suositusjärjestelmäsovellusten käyttöä kehittyvissä maissa, sillä suurin osa kehittyvissä maissa tehdyistä tutkimuksista on keskittynyt pelkästään järjestelmien toteutukseen. Tässä väitöskirjassa kuvataan suosittelujärjestelmien käyttöliittymien suunnittelua ja kehittämistä, tavoitteena ymmärtää paremmin serendipiteetin kokemuksen tukemista käyttöliittymäratkaisuilla. Tutkimalla näitä järjestelmiä kehittyvässä maassa (Pakistan), tämä väitöskirja asettaa suosittelujärjestelmien käytön vastakkain aikaisempien teollisuusmaissa tehtyjen tutkimusten kanssa, ja siten mahdollistaa suositusjärjestelmien soveltamiseen liittyvien kontekstuaalisten ja kulttuuristen haasteiden tarkastelua. Väitöskirja koostuu viidestä empiirisestä käyttäjätutkimuksesta ja kirjallisuuskatsausartikkelista, ja työ tarjoaa uusia käyttöliittymäideoita, avoimen lähdekoodin ohjelmistoratkaisuja sekä empiirisiä analyyseja suositusjärjestelmiin liittyvistä käyttäjäkokemuksista pakistanilaisessa korkeakoulussa. Onnekkaita löytöjä tarkastellaan liittyen tutkimusartikkelien löytämiseen suositusjärjestelmän avulla. Väitöstyö kattaa sekä konstruktiivista että kokeellista tutkimusta. Väitöskirjan artikkelit esittelevät alkuperäistä tutkimusta, jossa kokeillaan erilaisia käyttöliittymämalleja, pohditaan sidosryhmien vaatimuksia, arvioidaan käyttäjien kokemuksia suositelluista artikkeleista ja esitellään tutkimusta suositusjärjestelmien tehtäväkuormitusanalyysistä.Serendipity is defined as the surprising discovery of useful information or other valuable things. In recommender systems research, serendipity has become an essential experiential goal. However, relevant to Human-Computer Interaction, the question of how the user interfaces of recommender systems could facilitate serendipity has received little attention. This work investigates how recommender system-facilitated serendipity can be applied to research article recommendation processes in the context of higher education. In particular, this work investigates the use of recommender system applications in developing countries as most studies in developing countries have focused solely on implementation, rather than user experiences. This dissertation describes the design and development of several user interfaces for recommender systems in an attempt to improve our understanding of serendipity facilitation with the help of user interfaces. By studying these systems in a developing country, this dissertation contrasts the study of recommender systems in developed countries, examining the contextual and cultural challenges associated with the application of recommender systems. This dissertation consists of five empirical user studies and a literature review article, contributing novel user interface designs, open-source software, and empirical analyses of user experiences related to recommender systems in a Pakistani higher education institution. The fortunate discoveries of recommendations are studied in the context of exploring research articles with the help of a recommender system. This dissertation covers both constructive and experimental research. The articles included in this dissertation present original research experimenting with different user interface designs in recommender systems facilitating serendipity, discuss stakeholder requirements, assess user experiences with recommended articles, and present a study on task load analysis of recommender systems. The key findings of this research are that serendipity of recommendations can be facilitated to users with the user interface. Recommender systems can become an instrumental technology in the higher education research and developing countries can benefit from recommender systems applications in higher education institutions

Effective Management of Global Distribution Network of a Growth Company

Growth companies face numerous challenges on their journey from SMEs to MNCs and ultimately public limited companies. The growth can be achieved organically and/or through acquisitions, but in both the importance of marketing channel and distribution network cannot be ignored. Therefore, companies are forced to design their distribution network and make effective distribution management strategy that can achieve and afford the fast growth. This research explores the effective management of a global distribution network of a growth company. The research employed an explorative and qualitative case study. To achieve the objective of this study, both theoretical and empirical research were conducted. Theoretical section covers different components related to distribution network of a growth company by analyzing different literature. This literature is used to create a preliminary framework to guide this research. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The data was collective through semi structured interviews and from two workshops designated for this process. The data is later used to inductively refined the preliminary framework into a final analytical framework for the effective management of distribution network. The findings show that three main components for effective management of distribution network for a growth company are: total offerings, market segmentation, and distributors. Several factors related to these components were discovered by using in-depth empirical research. Furthermore, the discovered results emphasize on the importance of customer understating for effective management of distribution network for a growth company. Especially the linkage of the total offerings and market segmentation to managing distributors was considered important for the effective management of distribution network of a growth company. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on the global distribution network and its effective management for a growth company. The three important components found in this study, should be helpful for managers when designing and managing the global distribution network for a growth company. It also explains how and where managers need to concentrate when managing distribution network

Review of User Interface-Facilitated Serendipity in Recommender Systems

Peer reviewe

Assessment of Measured and Calculated Dose Rate of Co-60 Teletherapy Machine: 06 Years’ Experience at NORIN Nawabshah, Pakistan

It is essential to determine the absolute output dose of Co-60 source in the radiation treatment periodically. It is because overdosage may cause radiation hazards whereas under dosage may lead to the unsatisfactory treatment of cancer. The current study is focused on the consistency of monthly dose output verification of the cobalt-60 Teletherapy unit which should be within ±2% as per international standards. In the present study, the measured and calculated dose rate of the Co-60 teletherapy unit at Nuclear Medicine Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute Nawabshah (NORIN) for the last 6 years is analyzed. The dose measurement was done in water phantom 30×30×30 cm3 at 80 cm Source to Surface Distance with 5cm depth by using calibrated electrometer and PTW ionization chamber. The measured output dose rate obtained by actual dosimetry is within ±2% of the dose rate calculated by the decay method and the deviation lies within the permissible limit as prescribed by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurement (ICRUM)and American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). The variation in measurements obtained is within the tolerable limits according to standard protocols and codes. Thus, our study shows a homogenous trend in the dose rate of the Co-60 teletherapy machine

The dynamics of leader technical competence, subordinate learning, and innovative work behaviors in high-tech, knowledge-based industry

This study tests a conceptual model for understanding the relationship between subordinates’ ‘learning work behaviour’ and ‘innovative work behaviour’, with the moderating role of their leaders’ self-reported as well as subordinates’ rated ‘leader technical competence’. The study was conducted in the context of a high-tech, knowledge-based telecommunications industry. Based on the evaluation of job description, leaders/managers with responsibilities of not only managing internal and external stakeholders but also capable to lead engineers to resolve any technical issue multiple-source data were collected from the identified leaders and their respective subordinates working with telecommunication operator (n¼179). This study proposed a three-way interaction moderation model between the independent variable (subordinate learning work behaviour) and the moderator variables (that is, the self-assessed leaders’ ‘technical competence’ and subordinates’ rated ‘leader’ technical competence’) to predict the subordinates’ ‘innovative work behaviour’. Our results demonstrate that that subordinate learning work behaviour had the strongest positive relationship with subordinate innovative work behaviour when both the leader self-assessment of technical competence and the subordinates rated leader’s technical competence were high. This study fills an important gap in leadership literature by focussing on the technical competence of leaders which has received little attention from leadership research in knowledge-based industries

Heritability estimates and traits association in wheat advanced lines

Development of superior genotypes is the main aim all breeding programs. For this purpose comprising 14 spring wheat advanced lines with four checks were evaluated for six yield parameters during 2011-12 in an RCB design with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences (P?0.01) for all the studied traits except harvest index which showed significant differences (P?0.05). Mean values ranged between 87.7 to 110.4 cm for plant height, 29.1 to 38.1 cm for peduncle length, 1.91 to 2.89 g for grain weight spike-1, 5617.3 to 7197.5 kg for grain yield ha-1, 15679 to 20123 kg for biological yield ha-1 and 34.94 to 42.40% for harvest index. Grain yield has significant correlation with grain weight spike-1 (0.407**), biological yield (0.486**) and harvest index (0.549**). High heritability was observed for grain weight spike-1 (71.74%), grain yield ha-1 (69.01%) and biological yield ha-1 (71.87%)