119 research outputs found
IMPACT OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PHARMACEUTICAL FIRMS: EVEDENCE FROM PAKISTAN
The goal of this study is to investigate the financial performance of listed Pharmaceuticalcompanies in Pakistan impacted by different board characteristics. These board characteristics are discussedthrough two theories: agency theory and resource dependency. The understudy characteristics include research& development, independent board directors, leverage, CEO/Chair duality, board size and audit committee. Thepaper used panel regression analysis on 11 firms from period of 2010 to 2019. It was found that investment inresearch & development and audit committee have significant and positive impact on the performance of firmsas per agency theory. Whereas the characteristics like Independent directors, CEO duality, leverage and boardsize had negative impact on the performance of the firms. The study helps to clarify the Board's performancerelationship and offers academic proof of existing and future governance changes for policy makers in Pakistan.The conclusions add to the literature by presenting fresh and original perspectives into how the existingknowledge of corporate governance and financial performance is applied within a developing context ofPakistan
Evaluating implementation of management of possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) when referral is not feasible in primary health care facilities in Sindh province, Pakistan
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a guideline in 2015 for managing Possible Serious Bacterial Infection (PSBI) when referral is not feasible in young infants aged 0-59 days. This guideline was implemented across 303 Basic Health Unit (BHU) Plus primary health care (PHC) facilities in peri-urban and rural settings of Sindh, Pakistan. We evaluated the implementation of PSBI guideline, and the quality of care provided to sick young infants at these facilities.Methods: Thirty (10%) out of 303 BHU Plus facilities were randomly selected for evaluation. A survey team visited each facility for one day, assessed the health system support, observed the management of sick young infants by health care providers (HCP), validated their management, interviewed HCPs and caretakers of sick infants. HCPs who were unable to see a young infant on the day of survey were evaluated using pre-prepared case scenarios.Results: Thirty (100%) BHU Plus facilities had oral amoxicillin, injectable gentamicin, thermometers, baby weighing scales and respiratory timers available; 29 (97%) had disposable syringes and needles; 28 (93%) had integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI)/PSBI chart booklets and job aids and 18 (60%) had a functional ambulance. Each facility had at least one HCP trained in PSBI, and 21 (70%) facilities had been visited by a supervisor in the preceding six months. Of 42 HCPs, 19 (45.3%) were trained within the preceding 12 months. During the survey, 26 sick young infants were identified in 18 facilities. HCPs asked about history of breastfeeding in 23 (89%) infants, history of vomiting in 17 (65%), and history of convulsions in 14 (54%); weighed 25 (97%) infants; measured respiratory rate in all (100%) and temperature in 24 (92%); assessed 20 (77%) for movement and 14 (54%) for chest indrawing. HCPs identified two infants with fast breathing pneumonia and managed them correctly per IMCI/PSBI protocol. HCPs identified six (23%) infants with clinical severe infection (CSI), two of them were referred to a higher-level facility, only one accepted the referral advice. Only one CSI patient was managed correctly per IMCI/PSBI protocol at the outpatient level. HCPs described the PSBI danger signs to eight (31%) caretakers. Caretakers of five infants with CSI and two with pneumonia were not counselled for PSBI danger signs. Five of the six CSI cases categorized by HCPs were validated as CSI on re-examination, whereas one had pneumonia. Similarly, one of the two pneumonia patients categorized by HCPs had CSI and one identified as local bacterial infection was classified as CSI upon re-examination.Conclusion: Health system support was adequate but clinical management and counselling by HCPs was sub-optimal particularly with CSI cases who are at higher risk of adverse outcomes. Scaling up PSBI management is potentially feasible in PHC facilities in Pakistan, provided that HCPs are trained well and mentored, receive refresher training to appropriately manage sick young infants, and have adequate supplies and counselling skills
A prospective study of hearing impairment in school going children of Ghaziabad city attending a tertiary care hospital
Background:Overcrowding, poor hygiene, socio-economic status, climate, lack of resources to avail medical facilities, poor medical awareness have their bearing on the incidence of hearing loss. The family of each hearing-impaired child has its own cultural, social, educational, and financial background, and its own special needs. The aim of this study is to determine the percentage of hearing impaired school going children in Ghaziabad city.Methods:The material for the present study were a representative sample constituting 1000 school children selected from various localities of Ghaziabad city within age group of 6-12 years. The children belonged to all the strata of society and children from both sexes were evaluated for hearing loss and its underlying etiological factors. Children were subjected to detailed ENT examination in our OPD. Results:In the present study sample the incidence of hearing loss is 9.3%. The maximum cases 60.22% belonged to the low socio-economic strata. A statistically significant difference of distribution by gender was noticed with a male preponderance (61.29%) as against 38.71% for females. The hearing loss in majority of cases was of a mild degree i.e., 26 to 45 dB (34.41%) of which majority of cases (87.10%) had conductive loss. Wax was the commonest cause of hearing loss (41.94%). CSOM was found in 21.50 % of all cases. Peak prevalence of hearing loss was found at 8 years of age, again declining after that from 20.43 % to 5.38 % by 12 years of age. Also it was observed that 59.14% children were living in crowded localities of city & 40.86% were living in non- crowded/open locality which is again statistically significant (P ≤0.05).Conclusion:The inferences drawn from the present study substantiates the view point of earlier workers that school screening is the most effective method of diagnosing deafness in school going children and should be extended to all schools in all the areas. Proper assessment and diagnosis of hearing loss in children at a very early age is important because an early diagnosis determines the efficacy of methods used for the correction of the hearing loss. Also early diagnosis of hearing impairment is a key to proper rehabilitation. The cases reporting to the hospital for treatment and rehabilitation can be regarded as the tip of the ice-berg and can have more management difficulties when compared to sub-clinical cases.
SPATA: Strong Pseudonym based AuthenTicAtion in Intelligent Transport System
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) is generally deployed to improve road safety, comfort, security, and traffic efficiency. A robust mechanism of authentication and secure communication is required to protect privacy and conditional resolution of pseudonyms to revoke malicious vehicles. In a typical ITS framework, a station can be a vehicle, Road Side Unit (RSU), or a server that can participate in communication. During authentication, the real identity of an Intelligent Transport System-Station (ITSS), referred to as a vehiclečň should not be revealed in order to preserve its privacy. In this paper, we propose a Strong Pseudonym based AutenTicAtion (SPATA) framework for preserving the real identity of vehicles. The distributed architecture of SPATA allows vehicles to generate pseudonyms in a very private and secure way. In the absence of a distributed architecture, the privacy cannot be preserved by storing information regarding vehicles in a single location. Therefore, the concept of linkability of certificates based on single authority is eliminated. This is done by keeping the real identity to pseudonym mappings distributed. Furthermore, the size of the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) is kept small, as only the most recent revoked communication pseudonyms are kept in the CRL. The privacy of the vehicle is preserved during the revocation and resolution phase through the distributed mechanism. Empirical results show that SPATA is a lightweight framework with low computational overhead, average latency, overhead ratio, and stable delivery ratio, in both sparse and dense network scenarios
Knowledge of Safe Swaddling Practices among Mothers of Neonates Visiting a Tertiary-Care Hospital in a Developing Country
OBJECTIVES
Swaddling of new-borne and infants remains common in the developing world, but little is known about maternal knowledge of swaddling. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge of safe swaddling practices among mothers of neonates visiting a Tertiary-Care Hospital.METHODOLOGY
This cross-sectional study was conducted in the paediatric unit of tertiary care hospital in Peshawar city, Pakistan, between July and December 2018. A total number of 370 mothers of neonates who volunteered their participation were selected using a non-probability consecutive sampling technique. The study was based on a questionnaire comprised of socio-demographic and other questions related to the knowledge of safe swaddling practices.RESULTSA total number of 370 mothers of neonates knowledge were assessed. The study participants ranged between 17 - 49 years, with a mean age of 27.14 (SD ± 5.46). Of the total, 365 (98.6%) mothers were swaddling their babies, while only 5 (1.3%) reported not practising swaddling. Most mothers (51.1%) had good knowledge, while 44.3% had adequate knowledge, and only 4.6% had insufficient knowledge regarding safe swaddling. Knowledge of safe swaddling increased with age and parity. Most mothers (90%) correctly identified that "cotton cloth or light blanket should be used to swaddle baby".CONCLUSIONIt is concluded from this study that most mothers have adequate knowledge about safe swaddling, and the level of knowledge increases with age and parity. Safe swaddling techniques and information should be given to mothers at the beginning of antenatal care to benefit from its positive outcomes and, at the same time to avoid its drawbacks
Patient satisfaction after cataract surgery using visual functioning questionnaire
Background: NEI VFQ-25 questionnaire is widely used to determine different health benefits to patient’s daily activities, social and mental health. The objective of this study was to determine satisfaction of patients undergoing cataract surgery.Methods: After ethical approval, a cross-sectional study using non-probability convenient sampling technique was done. Post-operative cataract patients between 18-75 years of both gender were included and patients reluctant to participate, <18 years of age or above 75 were excluded. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Scoring of NEI VFQ-25 questionnaire was done. Chi-square test was applied between groups of patients with or without glasses using distant and near visual acuities keeping p-value of ≤0.05 as significant.Results: Mean age of 100 patients was 58.56±9.63 years, 78 patients were female housewives. Significant improvements in visual acuities was reported with distant or near vision with or without glasses after cataract surgery (p-value <0.01). Patient’s difficulties in worrying with eye sight, reading newspapers, reading stuff well up close, reading street signs, having issue in visiting others, going out to movies/plays, feeling of accomplishing less, having limited endurance and need for help from others in order to perform visual tasks were associated independently with reduced visual acuity and visual impairment.Conclusions: Cataract surgery significantly improved patients’ visual acuities, daily activities, mental and social health issues. Most patients were satisfied with cataract surgery and had fulfilling improvements to post-operative quality of life
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