Impact of Asymmetric Information in Islamic Financial contract: An Empirical Analysis

A primary source of asymmetric information arises from banks’ uncertainty about borrowers’Creditworthiness. This can generate two types of barriers to efficient credit allocation in the loan market: ad-verse selection in the likelihood of repayment and moral hazard in the riskiness of firms’ business decisions, also affecting repayment. This study investigated the consequences of asymmetric information on Islamic financial contracts in the Pakistani market for small and medium enterprise (SME) business lines of credit. Islamic bank’s main financial contracts were discuss the two of them which are Istisna and Murabah .The methods of’ T test’ was conducted to ascertain the difference in means of both forms of financing, whereas Multiple Regression Analysis using panel data to assess the relationship of critical variables with Disbursed amount, profit rate, spread, tenor. Data of three year i.e. from 2016 to2018 of 35 firms, with 105 number of observations having istisna and murabah contract, were taken. The results suggested that both the means of murabah and istisna financing are significantly different in major performance indicators, implicating companies that have taken these two financing have performed differently. Secondly, in most of the ratio that mattered like efficiency and profitability, murabah based financing have yielded more efficient results and better performed as compared to istisna

Impact of External Communication on Internal Brand Management Outcomes Using Employees as a Second Audience: A Comparative Analysis of Manufacturing and Service Sectors of Pakistan

This study investigated the effect of External Brand Communications on internal brand management practices using brand commitment and brand understanding as factors determining the phenomenon and subsequently analyzing the effect of both internal and external factors on brand citizenship behavior. A sample size of 300 respondents was selected from manufacturing and service oriented companies and the effects were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. It was found that there is significant and positive influence of brand understanding in determination of brand citizenship behavior and reflected mediating role of external communication congruence. Furthermore, it has also found that internal brand management practices are more evident in case of manufacturing firm i.e. a reputed Biscuits Manufacturing Company as compare to financial firm i.e. a renowned Private Limited Bank. It reveals necessity of work required in case of Private Limited Bank to work on external communication practices and integrate it with internal brand management practices to increase its role in determination of employee behavior and their role in propagating brand image as second audience

Adherence of surgeons to the World Health Organization recommendations of hand scrubbing in a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar

Background: In an effort to combat the global rise of wound infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended hand scrubbing guidelines for surgeons. Our study aimed to determine the adherence of surgeons in Peshawar to these recommendations.Methods: The method and duration of scrubbing for the first surgical procedure of the day was anonymously observed for 182 surgical consultants and residents in the operating theatre of Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar from July to August 2019 followed by a questionnaire which assessed the knowledge of the participants regarding scrubbing protocols. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Students t test was used and p>0.05 was taken as statistically significant.Results: Out of 182 participants, 41 (22.5%) were consultants and 141 (77.5%) were residents. A total of 3 (1.6%) participants were observed to strictly adhere to the WHO standards of scrubbing. Average time taken by each surgeon was 0.95±0.6 seconds. Students t-test showed no significant difference between the mean time of consultants and residents (p>0.05). The results of the questionnaire revealed that 90.7% of the staff was aware of the WHO recommendations of scrubbing and 82.6% had noticed relevant display charts in the OT. Majority of participants (69.8%) reported that patient load and limited time were the main cause of lack of compliance.Conclusions: A serious lack of compliance to protocol was noted in the operating theatre of Khyber Teaching hospital. There is a dire need to improve scrubbing practices.

Empirical Study of the Impact of Brand Name on Market Performance through Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Brand Loyalty as Moderator in Pakistani Context

This research examined the impact of sustainability based marketing asset (e.g., brand name) on market performance through the sustainable competitive advantage and with the moderating effect of brand loyalty. The data was collected from 360 respondents who were customers of hotels/restaurants, on likert scale from 1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree that was used to empirically test the hypotheses. Primarily the current research is carried out to know the relationship among the brand name, brand loyalty, sustainable competitive advantage and market performance in Pakistani hotel/restaurants industry. The current research is conducted through questionnaire-based survey from individuals who were the customers of hotel/restaurants in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling technique is adopted through AMOS version 23. The results of the research show that sustainable competitive advantage partially mediates the relationship between brand name and market performance and brand loyalty moderates the relationship between sustainable competitive advantage and market performance. The results of this research are beneficial for the service industry and help the marketers in formulating their marketing strategies to attract the more and more customers toward service industry. In addition, according to researcher knowledge sustainable competitive advantage was not studied as a mediator between sustainability-based marketing asset (e.g., brand name) and market performance and brand loyalty as a moderator between sustainable competitive advantage and market performance before this study

Empirical Study of the Impact of Brand Name on Market Performance through Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Brand Loyalty as Moderator in Pakistani Context

This research examined the impact of sustainability based marketing asset (e.g., brand name) on market performance through the sustainable competitive advantage and with the moderating effect of brand loyalty. The data was collected from 360 respondents who were customers of hotels/restaurants, on likert scale from 1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree that was used to empirically test the hypotheses. Primarily the current research is carried out to know the relationship among the brand name, brand loyalty, sustainable competitive advantage and market performance in Pakistani hotel/restaurants industry. The current research is conducted through questionnaire-based survey from individuals who were the customers of hotel/restaurants in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling technique is adopted through AMOS version 23. The results of the research show that sustainable competitive advantage partially mediates the relationship between brand name and market performance and brand loyalty moderates the relationship between sustainable competitive advantage and market performance. The results of this research are beneficial for the service industry and help the marketers in formulating their marketing strategies to attract the more and more customers toward service industry. In addition, according to researcher knowledge sustainable competitive advantage was not studied as a mediator between sustainability-based marketing asset (e.g., brand name) and market performance and brand loyalty as a moderator between sustainable competitive advantage and market performance before this study

Humoral response of broilers to live Newcastle Disease virus vaccines manufactured by different companies

Increased incidence and severity of fatal Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) in commercial and domestic poultry has been reported from across Pakistan. The present study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of various live NDV vaccines (Gallivac, Intervet and Ceva) by adapting different vaccination schemes in broilers. Antigenic count of each vaccine and its generated antibody were determined by Haeamagglutination and Haemagglutination inhibition tests respectively. Two different NDV vaccination schemes were tested in such a way that one group had received three vaccines in different time periods whereas, the other after priming at 0 day, was followed by a single booster dose. For this purpose, healthy broilers were divided into four groups A, B, C, and D. On zero day of vaccination, there was no detectable anti NDV-HI titer for all vaccines (Gallivac=2, Intervet=2 & Ceva=2). In first vaccination scheme, detectable anti NDV-HI titer was observed on 16th day of vaccination (Gallivac=3.8, Intervet=4.2 & Ceva=3.6). All vaccines showed protective anti NDV-HI titer on 32nd day, post vaccination (Gallivac=5.8, Intervet=6.2, Ceva=5.8). In second vaccination scheme, detectable anti NDV-HI titer was achieved on 16th day of post vaccination (Gallivac=3.8, Intervet=4.2 & Ceva=3.6). While on 32nd day vaccination, all vaccines showed protective anti NDV-HI titer (Gallivac=5.4, Intervet=5.6 & Ceva=5.2). It is concluded that the two-dose vaccination program, with interval of 12 days, is much effective than the 3-dose vaccination scheme. However, in broilers, anti-NDV antibody titer was induced by all three types of vaccines manufactured by various companies. Keywords: Newcastle disease virus, Humoral Response, Haemagglutination inhibition test, Vaccine schedul

Fast Specimen Boundary Tracking and Local Imaging with Scanning Probe Microscopy

An efficient and adaptive boundary tracking method is developed to confine area of interest for high-efficiency local scanning. By using a boundary point determination criterion, the scanning tip is steered with a sinusoidal waveform while estimating azimuth angle and radius ratio of each boundary point to accurately track the boundary of targets. A local scan region and path are subsequently planned based on the prior knowledge of boundary tracking to reduce the scan time. Boundary tracking and local scanning methods have great potential not only for fast dimension measurement but also for sample surface topography and physical characterization, with only scanning region of interest. The performance of the proposed methods was verified by using the alternate current mode scanning ion-conductance microscopy, tapping, and PeakForce modulation atomic force microscopy. Experimental results of single/multitarget boundary tracking and local scanning of target structures with complex boundaries demonstrate the flexibility and validity of the proposed method

ACC-deaminase producing plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and biochar mitigate adverse effects of drought stress on maize growth

Availability of good quality irrigation water is a big challenge in arid and semi arid regions of the world. Drought stress results in poor plant growth and low yield; however, the rhizobacteria, capable of producing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC)-deaminase are likely to improve crop growth and productivity under drought stress. Similarly, biochar could also ameliorate the negative impacts of drought stress. Therefore, this pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of ACC-deaminase producing plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) alone and in combinations with timber-waste biochar in improving maize growth under drought stress. The ACC-deaminase producing rhizobacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Leclercia adecarboxylata were studied along with two rates (0.75 and 1.50% of the soil weight) of biochar under three moisture levels i.e., normal moisture, mild drought stress and severe drought stress. The E. cloacae in conjunction with higher rate of biochar produced a significant improvement i.e., up to 60, 73, 43, 69, 76 and 42% respectively, in grain yield plant-1, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll and carotenoids contents of maize as compared to the control under mild drought stress. Similarly, A. xylosoxidans with higher rate of biochar also enhanced grain yield plant-1, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll and carotenoids contents of maize up to 200, 213, 113, 152, 148 and 284%, respectively over control under severe drought stress. In conclusion, combination of ACC-deaminase containing PGPR, A. xylosoxidans and biochar (0.75%) proved an effective technique to improve maize growth and productivity under drought stress

Designing dual inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease as well as Type 2 diabetes mellitus via pharmacoinformatics approach: A step towards better medication for diabetes-associated neurological disorder

Purpose: To design dual inhibitors against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) via pharmacoinformatics approach.Methods: Dual Drug Candidates (DDC) were designed and explored for their molecular interaction with several AD and T2DM targets. Pterostilbene, a natural anti-T2DM compound was coupled with different cholinesterase inhibitors to design DDC. Orisis Datawarrior online property calculator  tools, Autock 4.2 and Hex 5.1 were used to investigate the potency of all DDC relative to positive controls.Results: The study found that DDC2 (pterostilbene - methylene linker -octa hydro amino phenothiazine), DDC3 (pterostilbene - ethylene linker - N-phthalimide) and DDC5 (pterostilbene - carbonyl linker - 2-methyl-4-aminoquinoline) were the most promising out of all the DDCs. DDC2 showed strong molecular interaction with most of the AD and T2DM targets, including acetylcholinesterase, butrylcholinesterase, β-secretase, receptor for advanced glycation end products and ATP sensitive potassium channel, dipeptidyl peptidase IV and sodium glucose transport protien 2. The findings also revealed the amyloid anti-aggregation potential of DDC.Conclusion: The results show that DDC3 and DDC5 significantly interfer with the primary nucleation process of β amyloid. Thus, DDC2, DDC3 and DDC5 have strong anti-T2DM and anti-AD potential. Keywords: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease, Dual drug candidate, Amyloid-beta, Pterostilben