HOST-COUNTRY TRAITS, INTRA-FIRM TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A CONCEPTUAL STUDY

Technological innovations have emerged as crucially significant factor for sustaining market competition and achieving competitive advantage in the 21st century. The Multinational Corporations (MNCs) as celebrities of innovation play significant role in diffusing technological knowledge throughout firms both nationally and internationally. Although numerous studies exist on technology transfer the majority of existing literature addresses the issues related to inter-firm transfer of technology only while the area related to intra-firm transfer of technology has been largely underexposed; study of which is believed to be ideal for fruitful exploration of profitability in technology transfer projects. Using data from MNCs in Malaysia the current study for the very first time would attempt to empirically find the effect of host-country traits on the performance of technology transferred by the MNCs and its subsequent impact on competitive advantage. Findings of this study are expected to contribute both theoretically in the body of knowledge and also in terms of practical implication for policy makers and MNCs and hence enriching the existing literature simultaneously

Short-term oral administration of risperidone induces pancreatic damage and hyperamylasemia in Sprague-dawley rats

Risperidone is an atypical antipsychotic acting mainly as a dopamine D2 and serotonin 5-HT2 receptors antagonist prescribed in the treatment of schizophrenia and various affective disorders. Risperidone has been reported to be associated with weight gain, panreatitis and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Various mechanisms of risperidone-induced toxicities have been reported but the histology of tissues especially pancreas has never been studied. Therefore, the current study was designed to elucidate the toxic effects of chronic administration of risperidone on pancreas, liver and kidneys. Animals (rats) of either gender were divided into two groups, the risperidone and control groups. Risperidone was administered in a dose of 2.5 mg/kg/d for three weeks. The controls received acidified saline only. Both the groups received restricted diet (20 g/12 h). The body weight and level of random blood sugar (RBS) were measured on a weekly basis. The levels of lipase and amylase were determined at the conclusion of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the tissues were dissected out for histopathological evaluation. Risperidone showed no weight gain, hyperglycemia or rise in the level of lipase (P> 0.05); however, the level of amylase was raised (***P<0.05). Histological examination under light microscope showed no hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity but did show damage to the pancreas. The findings of this study indicated that the incidence of adverse effects associated with risperidone could be prevented/alleviated/delayed by allowing restricted diet

Effect of entrepreneurial orientation on competency and micro-enterprise performance

Purpose - This study aims to examine the effect of creativity and innovativeness, risk taking propensity, proactiveness and autonomy on entrepreneurial competency and performance among micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - Adopting a cross-sectional design, the authors collected data from 403 micro-entrepreneurs who were registered under “Majlis Amanah Rakyat” and “Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat”. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews from September 2017 to December 2017. Findings - The findings revealed that creativity and innovativeness, proactiveness and autonomy had a positive influence on entrepreneurial competencies. In addition, autonomy and entrepreneurial competencies had a positive effect on micro-enterprise performance. Then, entrepreneurial competencies showed a mediating effect on the relationships between creativity, innovativeness, autonomy and micro-enterprise performance. Originality/value - The findings contributed to resource-based view and enriched the entrepreneurship literature, particularly in the context of small businesses in emerging economies. This study recommended underlying organizations to pay attention to the improvement of creativity and innovativeness, proactiveness, autonomy and entrepreneurial competencies among low-income entrepreneurs through useful policies and training programs, which were expected to improve micro-enterprise performance and encourage poor households to perform entrepreneurial activities for better socio-economic conditions

Diabetes mellitus does not predict discharge in hospitalized patients with acute pyelonephritis: A study from Karachi, Pakistan

Introduction: The incidence of acute pyelonephritis (APN) in the diabetic population is comparatively higher and tends to be more complicated, with serious outcomes. Although complicated pyelonephritis (PN) needs hospital admission and intravenous antibiotics, the magnitude of hospital stay due to comorbidities is limited. This study\u27s aim was to assess the impact of diabetes mellitus on length of hospital stay among patients with PN.Methods: We did a retrospective data review of 520 randomly selected hospitalized patients of PN from March 2015 to December 2019 from a tertiary care center. Electronic medical records were used for identifying medical conditions through ICD-10 coding. Length of stay (LOS) was categorized as \u3c five days and ≥ five days. Chi‐ squared tests were used to compare categorical parameters. Logistic regression models were used for multivariate analyses.Results: The study included 520 patients with PN; 194 (37.3 %) men and 326 (62.7%) women. Overall, there were 353 (67.8 %) and 167 (32.1 %) patients with LOS \u3c five and ≥ five days respectively. Most of the patients had lower urinary tract symptoms (90%); among them, the majority (92%) were discharged within five days. Likewise, half of the patients had diabetes (51.2); among them, 53% were discharged after five days. Older age (OR:1.7, 95%CI: 1.1 - 2.6), upper urinary tract symptoms (OR:1.6, 95%CI: 1.1 - 2.4), lower urinary tract symptoms (OR:1.9, 95%CI: 1.1 - 3.5), creatinine greater than 1.5 mg/dl (OR:1.6, 95% CI: 1.1 - 2.4) was positively associated with LOS ≥ 5 days after adjusting for other covariates. Diabetes mellitus was not found to be associated with LOS ≥ 5 days (OR: 0.9, 95%CI: 0.8 - 1.5).Conclusion: In patients with acute PN, diabetes mellitus is not independently associated with prolonged hospital stay beyond five days

Recycling intention and behavior among Low-Income Households

To improve our knowledge of how to protect the environment, this study examined the factors that influence recycling intention and behavior among low-income households. The study adopted a cross-sectional design that relied on 380 low-income households who live in coastal Peninsular Malaysia. The findings revealed a positive effect of eco-literacy, environmental concern, and self-efficacy on the attitude towards environmentally friendly products. Subsequently, the findings also illustrated a positive effect of normative beliefs on subjective norms. Moreover, the results revealed a positive effect of attitude towards environmentally friendly products and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on recycling intention. Finally, there was a positive effect of both PBC and recycling intention on recycling behavior. Although this study’s focus on a specific income group from a single country could limit generalizability; the findings nevertheless provide scholars and policymakers with significant insights into promoting recycling activities, which are expected to contribute to the environment and reduce the environmental and economic vulnerability among low-income households. Therefore, environmental and socio-economic development organizations should assess the feasibility of recycling materials and develop a supportive system that facilitates and encourages recycling activities

The relation of ABO blood group to the severity of coronavirus disease: A cross-sectional study from a tertiary care hospital in Karachi

Background: Blood groups are considered to have an impact on the occurrence and severity of coronavirus disease. While among Chinese and Caucasian, blood group O individuals were less and group A were more likely to have severe disease and mortality, data on South Asians aren’t available. Objective: This study aimed to find out the association of disease severity with blood group among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.Materials and methodology: Data were collected on a predesigned questionnaire containing details of patient demographics, medical comorbidities, clinical presentation, and laboratory parameters. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association of the blood group with the severity of coronavirus disease.Result: Among the study participants, blood group B has the highest distribution (39.8%), followed by O (30.0), A (21.9%), and AB (8.1%). About three-fourths (69.9%) had mild to moderate disease while 30.0% had severe disease. Age, gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hemoglobin level were all associated with disease severity among COVID-19 patients in univariate analysis on P-value for selection (Conclusion: Blood groups don’t have any role in forecasting the severity of coronavirus disease. However, the male gender and diabetics are prone to have severe disease

Entrepreneurial leadership, performance, and sustainability of micro-enterprises in Malaysia

This study probed into the impact of entrepreneurial leadership dimensions (i.e., responsibility, accountability, analytical thinking, and emotional intelligence) on the performance and sustainability of micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia, through the lens of resource-based view (RBV) theory. Through the implementation of a cross-sectional design, data were randomly gathered from 403 micro-entrepreneurs whose names appeared in the list of low-income households registered under “Majlis Amanah Rakyat” Kelantan and “Majlis Agama Islam Dan Adat Istiadat” Kelantan. The quantitative data were collected during structured interview sessions held between September and December 2017. The findings of the study revealed that the aspects of responsibility, accountability, and emotional intelligence exhibited significantly positive effects on micro-enterprise performance; while accountability, analytical thinking, and micro-enterprise performance displayed a significantly positive influence on sustainability among micro-enterprises owned by low-income households in Kelantan, Malaysia. The outcomes further portrayed a significant mediating effect of micro-enterprise performance on the correlations of responsibility, analytical thinking, and emotional intelligence with micro-enterprise sustainability. The outcomes of this study extend the scope of RBV theory and simultaneously enhance our understanding pertaining to leadership, performance, and sustainability interplay, particularly within the context of micro-enterprises in emerging economies. As such, it is recommended that the government of Malaysia formulate and to adopt policies that promote varied entrepreneurial-leadership-related traits among budding micro-entrepreneurs, which may not only boost sustainability performance among firms, but also encourage low-income household heads to actively engage in more entrepreneurial activities

PO10.19 clinical spectrum of pseudo seizures at a tertiary care hospital Karachi: a video EEG based study

Background: Nonepileptic seizures are involuntary episodes of movement, sensation, or behaviors (e.g., vocalization, crying and other expressions of emotion), that do not result from abnormal cortical discharges. The events typically occur in teenage patients with anxiety and affective disorders. Psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, drugs, hypnosis and placebo are mainstay of treatment. There is no published data on clinical characteristics of pseudo-seizures from Pakistan. The objective of our study is to describe the clinical characteristics of pseudoseizures in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This is a descriptive study. Patients with pseudo-seizures were identified from departmental Video EEG monitoring register, over a period of three years (2004 2006). Their neurophysiologic and video recording data was reviewed and their demographic, clinical and neurophysiologic data was recorded and analyzed. SPSS version 15.0 was used for analysis. Results: A total of 132 patients underwent video EEG during the period and 51 (38%) had pseudo-seizures. Their mean age was 26.7±15.3 years. Thirty-two (63%) were female and 19 (37%) were male. Twelve (23.5%) patients were known epileptics. Median recording time was 24 (range; 0.33 55) hours and median number of events was 3 (range; 1 14). Limb movements were most common manifestation (67%) followed by muteness with no response to verbal commands (49%), behavioral symptoms (35.5%), ocular findings i.e. eye blinking and closure (25.5%), depressed conscious level (13.7%), headache (10%) and GI symptoms (10%). Six (11.8%) patients experienced epileptic seizures, in addition to pseudo-seizures. Conclusions: Pseudo-seizures are common in patients referred for video EEG monitoring. It is more common in young women. Limb movements, muteness and behavioral symptoms are most common manifestations. The pseudo-seizures and epileptic seizures may coexist in the same patient

Strategic orientations, the mediating effect of absorptive capacity and innovation: a study among Malaysian manufacturing SMEs

Strategic orientations (SOs) and absorptive capacity can significantly enhance innovation capacity in manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This study explores the relationship of SOs i.e., Market Orientations (MOs), Entrepreneurial Orientations (EOs) and Customer Orientations (COs) to absorptive capacity on the one hand, and to innovation on the other hand. The study also delves into the issue of how absorptive capacity mediates the effects of SOs on innovation in manufacturing SMEs from emerging countries’ perspective. This study uses a cross-sectional design and quantitative data collected through a structured interview of top managers from 360 manufacturing SMEs. The findings show that MO, EO and CO have positive and significant effects on innovation and that absorptive capacity partially mediates SOs’ effects on innovation

Patterns of Admission in Intensive Care Unit of Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: It is well known that early appropriate referrals of critically ill patients to an ICU can significantly reduce the mortality. At the same time, improper admissions to ICU limits bed availability that adversely affects ICU functioning. Objective: To determine the patterns of admissions and outcome in Medical and Surgical Intensive care Units.Material & Methods: A retrospective review of all patients admitted in medical and surgical ICU of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad from 2014 to 2016 was done. Data was collected from admission registers and patients’ files. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0. Chi-square test was applied and P-value < 0.05 was considered significant.Results: Study recruited data of 1652 patients admitted to intensive care unit of PIMS hospital. There were 769(46.5%) males and 883(53.5%) females. Among all the patients, 503(30.4%) were admitted to medical intensive care unit while 1149(69.6%) were admitted to surgical intensive care Unit. 684(41.4%) had undergone mortality while 968(58.6%) remained alive. Overall mean length of hospital stay was 7.4±4.1SD, mean length of mechanical ventilation 4.1±2.1SD and mean length of supplemental ventilation was 1.5±0.11SD. Acute abdomen (13.1%) and head injuries (12%) were most common causes for admission in ICU. Statistically significant association between years (2014, 2015 & 2016) and disease (p=0.000), years and mortality (p=0.000), years and age (p=0.000), intensive care unit and gender (p=0.01), intensive care unit and age (p=0.02) was reported.Conclusion: Acute abdomen and Head injuries had highest number of admissions in Medical and Surgical intensive care unit of PIMS hospital. Developing a well-equipped trauma ICU with adequately trained staff will help improve the outcome of patients