A Case of Atrial Fibrillation from Cyclosporine Toxicity

We describe the unusual occurrence of atrial fibrillation immediately after a seizure in a young patient with cyclosporine toxicity. The new onset atrial fibrillation was triggered by high levels of cyclosporine and possibly facilitated by the electrolyte imbalances post seizure and the presence of underlying mild left atrial enlargement

Macroeconomic Implications of Capital Inflows in India

The study attempts to analyse the behaviour of some macroeconomic variables in response to total capital inflows in India using quarterly data for the period 1994Q1-2007Q4. Time trend of all variables except nominal effective exchange rate-both export and trade based and current account balance shows instability over the period of study. Current account balance is the only variable which is stationary in level form all other variables are stationary in first difference form. Cointegration test confirms the long run equilibrium relation between total capital inflows (TCI) and real effective exchange rate-both trade based and export based and between TCI and nominal effective exchange rate-export based. Granger causality test confirms the bidirectional causality between real effective exchange rate-export based and TCI and between foreign exchange reserve & TCI and unidirectional causality from TCI to real effective exchange rate-trade based.International Capital Inflows, Time Series Econometrics

Foreign Capital Inflows and Domestic Savings in Pakistan: Cointegration Techniques and Error Correction Modelling

The various form of inflow of foreign capital (loans, FDI, grant and portfolio) was welcome in developing countries to bridge the gap between domestic saving and domestic investment and therefore, to accelerate growth [Chenery and Strout (1966)]. Some other have been challenged the traditional view that foreign aid impedes domestic savings growth and mobilisation and have economic growth.1 Much attention have been paid in past 30 years, relationship between foreign capital flows and domestic saving, the main purpose of these studies have been determined whether in less developed countries foreign capital inflow and domestic saving are complementary or substitute. However, there is a controversy at theoretical and empirical levels, over the effects of foreign capital on both economic growth and national saving. A number of studies in Pakistan have been conducted during the early 1990s to examine the relationship between saving and foreign capital inflow.2 All studies shows the inverse relationship between foreign capital inflows3 (aggregate level) and saving rate, but the impact of FCI at disaggregate levels (loans, grants, FDI) on saving rate show different magnitude and signs, similarly impact of FCI on decomposition of saving rate (Public, private, household, corporate) also have different magnitude and sign. However, the most important problem associated with previous studies is that these are based on the assumption that the time series data that are being used are stationary.

Macroeconomic implications of capital inflows in India

The study attemts to analyse the behaviour of some macroeconomic variables in response to Total Capital Inflows in India using quarterly data for the period 1994-2007. The paper consist two sections, in first section we have analysed trend behaviour of macroeconomic variables included in the study. Time trend of all variables except NEERX, NEERT and CAB shows instability over the period of study. In second section we have have made an attempt to impirically analyse the behaviour of some macroeconomic variables. With the help of DF, ADF and Schmidt & Phillips test we have concluded that CAB is the only variable which stationary in level form all othe variables are stationary in first difference form. Cointegration test confirms the long run equilibrium relation between REERX & TCI, REET &TCI and between NEERX & TCI. Granger causality test confirms the bidirectional causality between REERX & TCI and between FOREX & TCI and unidirectional causality from TCI to REERT.peer-reviewe

Problems and Prospects of Islamic Banking: a case Study of Takaful

The paper is an attempt to analyse the working of Takaul in the world and its popularity in the insurance sector in the world. Keeping in view of Sharia we have also tried all possible aspects of insurance system popular in the world and tried to look at its possibility to familiarize more amongst Muslims of the world. It is observed that customer awareness remain low, however this is often attributed to a limited understanding of Islamic finance in the banking and insurance world. We wish to have a proper salesmanship and advertisement of Islamic banking system in India and all around the world.Islamic Banking, Takaful

Designing an ESP Course for Medical Representatives in Pakistan

The aim of this research paper is to investigate professional needs of English language for Medical Representatives in Pakistan. For the purpose of finding out English language needs for Medical Representatives, mixed method approach has been applied. Three groups of research population are selected for gathering data considering them main stakeholders of this professional discourse community. These population groups: medical representatives, professional trainers and Ex-medical representative. A questionnaire was developed to collect data from medical representatives and interviews were conducted to gather relevant information from professional trainers and Ex-medical representatives. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 17) and qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis identifying common themes from respondents’ responses. The findings of this research paper indicate that proficiency in English language is a key factor for success in medical representatives’ profession. The study presents recommendations and directions to design ESP course for medical representatives in Pakistan. Keywords: English for specific purposes (ESP), English for academic purposes (EAP), English for occupational purpose (EOP), needs analysis, course design

Composite Blades of Wind Turbine: Design, Stress Analysis, Aeroelasticity, and Fatigue

In this chapter, four main topics in composite blades of wind turbines including design, stress analysis, aeroelasticity, and fatigue are studied. For static analysis, finite element method (FEM) is applied and the critical zone is extracted. Moreover, geometry, layup, and loading of the turbine blades made of laminated composites are calculated and evaluated. Then, according to the stress analysis, critical layer is specified and safety factor is studied based on Tsai-Wu failure criterion. Aeroelasticity is the main source of instability in structures that are subjected to aerodynamic forces. One of the major reasons of instability is the coupling of bending and torsional vibration of flexible bodies, which is known as flutter and considered in this study. Numerical and analytical methods are applied for considering the flutter phenomenon of the blades. For numerical method, the FEM and Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR-23) standard and for analytical method, two-degree freedom flutter and Lagrange’s equations are utilized. Also, lifetime prediction of a horizontal axis wind turbine composite blade is investigated. Accumulated fatigue damage modeling is employed as a damage estimation rule based on generalized material property degradation

Effectiveness of Islamic Counseling Protocol (ICP) on Depression, Anxiety and Stress among University Students at IUB

This study was carried out to estimate the effectiveness of newly developed Islamic Counseling Protocol (ICP) in managing the level of stress, anxiety and depression of university students at IUB. For this purpose, a pilot-testing was conducted on a sample of (N=24) volunteer university students who scored higher on DASS-42 scale. The participants were further divided into two groups (n=12) experimental group and (n=12) control group. After the screening process (pre-testing), the Islamic Counseling Protocol (ICP) was administered as a treatment/intervention on a sample of (n=12) participants of experimental group. The control group did not receive any treatment or intervention. After completing the 8-weeks sessions of Islamic Counseling, the post-test analysis was conducted. The follow-up session was conducted for 3 months. The results from pre-test, post-test and follow-up analysis revealed a significant healing effect of using Islamic Counseling Protocol (ICP) on the mental health of university students. The statistical analysis (Paired sample t-test and Mean differences) showed a significant reduced level of mental health problems in the participants of experimental group (post-test analysis). Similarly, the follow-up assessment also showed reduced mental health problems for 3 months. Hence, the Islamic Counseling Protocol (ICP) proved as a significant tool to manage the mental health issues of the university students

Political Economy of Fiscal Reforms in the 1990s

Throughout the decade of the 1990s, major emphasis in Pakistan remained on fiscal reform as a part of the reform programmes undertaken by the various governments of Pakistan. Fiscal reform assumes significance considering the high budget deficits that Pakistan has been experiencing. These have added to Pakistan’s total debt burden in general and external debt in particular. Increase in the burden of debt adds to debt-servicing expenditure which further feeds back into the issue of high fiscal deficit. Debt-servicing increased to almost 47 percent1 by the middle of the decade of 1990s and comprised 8.3 percent of the GDP, up from less than 1 percent mid-1960s. Pakistan’s external debt at over $32 billion2 in 1998 was 41 percent of its GNP which was amongst the highest in the South Asian region with India’s at 20 percent of GNP in the same year and Sri Lanka’s also at 41 percent3 of its GNP. In this paper, we attempt to explore the rationale behind the emphases on the improvement in both the deficit-to-GDP and the tax-to-GDP ratios that have remained the cornerstones of Pakistan’s fiscal reform effort in the decade of the 1990s. Section 2 is a discussion of the extent of successes and failures of the fiscal reform effort thus far and explores the relationship between tax generation and budget deficit. Section 3 discusses the impact of expenditures on budget deficit. Section 4 shows the rise in dependence on external sources of financing. Section 5 gives the conclusions

Web Based Services Provided by University Libraries of BRICS Nations: A Comparative Study

The developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and their subsequent absorption in library and information science (LIS) have forced information professionals to change the way they are functioning at present. Because of their popularity with the users, an overwhelming attention is being given to the web-based information services in libraries .The web 2.0 technologies have rapidly gained huge popularity and as such, the university libraries, being the heart of the highest seats of learning, need to equip themselves with all the possible web based, i.e. web 2.0 and allied services. The present study made an endeavour to study the various web 2.0 and allied web based services offered by select university libraries of BRICS nations. This study shows that the web based services in the university libraries of BRICS nations are quite better. The findings show that India and china universities are far behind as compared to Brazil, Russia and South Africa in employability of web 2.0 tools in librarie