Gender Variations in Research Productivity: Insights from Scholarly Research

Abstract The variations in research productivity available in the scholarly world, between men and women, have always attracted the interest of many researchers across the globe. The present study aims to identify the differences in research productivity, patent creation, funding, collaboration, citation and impact between men and women across regions and disciplines over a period of time. After the comprehensive literature survey, results of various studies were correlated in a systematic manner for further analyses to reveal the findings and draw conclusions. The findings clearly depict that comparatively, males have a higher average productivity than females for all the performance indicators especially research productivity, patent creation, funding and collaboration across regions and disciplines; however, the gap is narrowing with the passage of time. The researchers have noted many factors, personal as well as academic, responsible for the limited productivity of women in research. Age, marriage, children and domestic workload are some personal factors badly affecting research productivity of women whereas less representation of women in higher education, low academic ranks, and fewer research funds are some of the academic factors affecting the research productivity negatively. In order to eliminate the gender differences in research productivity, some recommendations have been provided. Keywords Gender Variation; Gender Differences; Research Productivity; Research Performance; Research Output; Research Funding; Gender Bias; Research Impac

Lead-Free KNN-based Piezoelectric Ceramics

In many commercial devices, there are a number of ways in which energy is wasted or dissipated. This waste energy can, in principle, be harvested by using the correct functional material. In the case of vibrational energy, the logical materials of choice are piezoelectric ceramics. However, all current commercial piezoelectrics contain lead oxide which is classed as a restricted material in environmental legislation. The main contenders for lead free piezoelectrics are based on K0.5Na0.5NbO3 (KNN) and Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3. The former however, has the advantage in that it is compatible with cheap Ni-based internal electrodes and thus it is feasible to manufacture low cost KNN based multilayer devices provided formulations do not deteriorate in the reducing condition required to suppress the formation of NiO. Consequently, KNN based lead free piezoelectric ceramics have been studied from the perspective of optimising their performance for multilayer actuators, potentially for energy harvesting applications. To this end, the defect chemistry of KNN has been investigated under different sintering conditions, dopants (acceptors: Mn2+, Ti4+, Sn4+ in KNN_50/50 ratio; Donor: Sr2+ in KNN_50/50 ratio; Ta5+ as an isovalent in KNN-51/49 ratio; and co-dopants: Bi3+ and Zr4+ in KNN_50/50 ratio) have been incorporated into KNN to enhance the piezoelectric performance and prototype multilayers of 10 and 16 layers with inner Pt electrodes have been fabricated to demonstrate the potential of 0.942KNN-0.058BNZ+ZrO2 for the fabrication of multilayer actuators. This lead free composition has the potential to replace PZT-4 and PZT-8 in piezoelectric devices for room temperature applications. To fabricate the multilayers, a novel Wet-Multilayer-Method (WMM) was also developed to overcome the issues of delamination during firing of MLCCs

Lead-Free KNN-based Piezoelectric Ceramics

In many commercial devices, there are a number of ways in which energy is wasted or dissipated. This waste energy can, in principle, be harvested by using the correct functional material. In the case of vibrational energy, the logical materials of choice are piezoelectric ceramics. However, all current commercial piezoelectrics contain lead oxide which is classed as a restricted material in environmental legislation. The main contenders for lead free piezoelectrics are based on K0.5Na0.5NbO3 (KNN) and Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3. The former however, has the advantage in that it is compatible with cheap Ni-based internal electrodes and thus it is feasible to manufacture low cost KNN based multilayer devices provided formulations do not deteriorate in the reducing condition required to suppress the formation of NiO. Consequently, KNN based lead free piezoelectric ceramics have been studied from the perspective of optimising their performance for multilayer actuators, potentially for energy harvesting applications. To this end, the defect chemistry of KNN has been investigated under different sintering conditions, dopants (acceptors: Mn2+, Ti4+, Sn4+ in KNN_50/50 ratio; Donor: Sr2+ in KNN_50/50 ratio; Ta5+ as an isovalent in KNN-51/49 ratio; and co-dopants: Bi3+ and Zr4+ in KNN_50/50 ratio) have been incorporated into KNN to enhance the piezoelectric performance and prototype multilayers of 10 and 16 layers with inner Pt electrodes have been fabricated to demonstrate the potential of 0.942KNN-0.058BNZ+ZrO2 for the fabrication of multilayer actuators. This lead free composition has the potential to replace PZT-4 and PZT-8 in piezoelectric devices for room temperature applications. To fabricate the multilayers, a novel Wet-Multilayer-Method (WMM) was also developed to overcome the issues of delamination during firing of MLCCs

Prevalence of Nemathelminthes in Cart Pulling Camels

Background: Camels are multipurpose animals, raised for the source of animal protein and transportation. Pakistan is also a major camel raising country and its population is one million. Parasitic disease cause impaired camel production, although the camels are less affected by the parasites, but some helminths affect them.Methods: The present study aimed to determine camels’ gastrointestinal helminths (nemathelminthes) in Sakrand, Sindh. The study was carried out in a total 100 dromedaries. The samples were collected and processed through the direct smear and floatation techniques.Results: The overall data showed a high infestation of nemathelminthes (62%) with the presence of following parasites; Trichostrongylus, Moniezia, Ostertagia, Haemonchus, Marshallagia, Trichuris, Toxocara, Ascaria, Escaria.Conclusion: To conclude nemathelminthes are major problem in camels under traditional husbandry. Regarding the high prevalence of infection use of parasitic control programmes are essential to improve camel health and productivity because camels play an important role in human lives by helping in transportation, work and provide production

CROSS LOC TRADE BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN- CONTOURS AND DYNAMICS

The once economically prosperous region of Kashmir hasended up being decelerated in trade and trade relations as a falloutof the Indo-Pak conflict post partition. This phenomenon has hadcosts transcending the economy and the society at large. Thepartition has led to the division of families, local culture has beenaffected and the economy has suffered a great deal. The paper is anattempt to put cross-LoC trade in the larger framework of the conflictbetween India and Pakistan. While historicizing the conflict-ravagedeconomy of erstwhile united J&K, the paper discussescomplementariness of patrilineage and trust, which constitutes avery important aspect of cross-LoC trade since 2008. The paperattempts to highlight the common bottle necks which have beenplaced in conducting trade between the two divided parts ofKashmir. Besides, the paper also points out that the policy of banningtrade between patrilinear families is bound to have an adverseeffect on the economic future of the region and cross LoC tradeitself

Temperature Dependent Piezoelectric Properties of Lead-Free (1-x)K0.6Na0.4NbO3–xBiFeO3 Ceramics

(1-x)K0.4Na0.6NbO3–xBiFeO3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were successfully prepared in a single perovskite phase using the conventional solid-state synthesis. Relative permittivity (εr) as a function of temperature indicated that small additions of BiFeO3 not only broadened and lowered the cubic to tetragonal phase transition (TC) but also shifted the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition (TO–T) toward room temperature (RT). Ceramics with x = 1 mol.% showed optimum properties with small and large signal piezoelectric coefficient, d33 = 182 pC/N and d∗33 = 250 pm/V, respectively, electromechanical coupling coefficient, kp = 50%, and TC = 355°C. kp varied by ∼5% from RT to 90°C, while d∗33 showed a variation of ∼15% from RT to 75°C, indicating that piezoelectric properties were stable with temperature in the orthorhombic phase field. However, above the onset of TO–T, the properties monotonically degraded in the tetragonal phase field as TC was approached

Does Organizational Learning Orientation Matter? Investigating the Impact of Learning Orientation on SMES Performance

The purpose of this study was to conduct an investigation into the link between organizational learning orientation and business performance in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).  Data were analysed using sample of 213 SMEs belonging to the manufacturing sector in Sialkot, Pakistan. The findings indicated that learning orientation is positively and significantly associated with the organizational performance of SMEs. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed and possible future research directions are provided

Job behaviors and their impact on Performance Appraisal Effectiveness: Conceptual Propositions

The current study is a prepositional study which looks employee behaviours and their impact on human resource intervention effectiveness. It is a literature based study. Extant literature has been explored and relationships have been presented in a new way. The study is the first one in conceptually presenting new insights. The study is believed to open a fresh research discussion. It has theoretical implications. The study recommends empirical testing of the proposition presented in this study. The study has all the limitations of a social science research

LEARNING ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE: THE INTERACTION EFFECT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION

The current study examines the impact of learningorientation (LO) on organizational performance and also themoderating role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on therelationship between LO and organizational performance amongthe small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan. Thisquestionnaire survey was conducted among 213 managers/ ownersof manufacturing SMEs. Previous studies on LO in combinationwith EO have been conducted in large organizations in developedeconomies. Studying the relationship between LO and performanceand moderated by EO in manufacturing SMEs in a developingeconomy like Pakistan, this research attempts to fill this gap. Thefindings reveal that there exist a positive relationship between LOand organizational performance. The findings also demonstratethat the effects of LO on organizational performance are positivelymoderated by EO. The paper also includes research implicationsand possible future directions

Open Access Religious Journals- An Analytical Study of the DOAJ

The main purpose of the paper is to study the publishing trends of the open access religious journals available in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The data were collected online from the Directory of Open Access Journals and quantitative method was applied for data analysis. The data were collected in December 2017 and later presented in tabular forms to reveal the findings. The findings show that 119 religious journals are registered in the DOAJ, published from the 27 countries by 114 publishing agencies in 14 languages. The maximum number of journals (21, 17.65%) is published from Indonesia in the English language (79, 66.39%) during the 2nd decade (2010-2017) of the 21st century