Empowering Entrepreneurship in Gulmi, Nepal: Overcoming Barriers for Growth

This research examines how entrepreneurs see important obstacles such risk aversion, fear of failure, scarce social networks, resource scarcity, political and economic instability, and their effects on the growth of entrepreneurship. A structured questionnaire was given to a sample of entrepreneurs using a quantitative research methodology. Descriptive statistics were used to get insight into their opinions, and correlation analysis was used to examine the connections between these variables and the growth of entrepreneurship. Limited social networks and resource scarcity emerged as significant obstacles, highlighting the need for stronger community support systems. The findings also show that fear of failure and risk aversion significantly hinder entrepreneurial activities, highlighting prevalent psychological barriers. With implications highlighting the need of cultivating psychological resilience, creating strong social networks, and putting strategic resource management techniques into practice, the study suggests that tackling these issues is essential for improving the growth of entrepreneurship. These observations provide legislators, educators, and support groups with a road map for fostering an atmosphere that encourages entrepreneurship, which will eventually spur innovation and economic progress. Stakeholders can encourage a thriving business environment and enable entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles more skillfully by giving priority to these areas.

Radiation Effects on Medical Grade Polycarbonate Urethane

Polycarbonate Urethane (PCU) is a material of growing prominence for use as a biocompatible material for joint replacements. PCU has good wear properties, is easy to lubricate, and is very compatible with natural tissues. Extensive studies stil have not been performed to fully investigate the radiation effects on PCU components. Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study radiation-induced defects in materials, while electron spin resonance (ESR) is a technique to directly detect free radicals in a material. To better investigate radiation effects on PCU materials, we have subjected PCU to X- and UV-irradiation and analyzed the thermally-stimulated luminescence (TSL) and radiation-induced free radicals. The materials used for the study were Bionet hip linear obtained from Active Implants Corporation. The resulting TSL and ESR data were analyzed to obtain new insights into the molecular properrties of Polycarbonate urethane

THE PERCEPTION OF INVESTORS TOWARDS INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING: EVIDENCE OF NEPAL

The main aim of this study is to examine the perception of investors towards initial public offering (IPO), to analyze the relationship between different factors (quality management, company goodwill, company performance, company sector, and market information) and investment decision to examine the factors that impact in IPO to making an investment decision. This research used primary data. The data was collected from 290 respondents which were related to five different brokerage firms at Kathmandu district. The inferential analysis was preferred in SPSS by using statistical tools such as correlation and regression analysis to analyze the relationship between variables and the impact of different factors on investment decisions. The study revealed that quality management, company goodwill, company performance, company sector, and market information are the highly considerable factors before making investment decisions in IPO.   &nbsp

Do community-based health insurance schemes fulfil the promise of equity? A study from Burkina Faso

Objective: To examine whether the community-based health insurance (CBHI) scheme in Burkina Faso has been effective in providing equitable healthcare access to poor individuals, women, children and those living far from health facilities. Methods: We used the Nouna Health District Household Survey to collect panel data on 990 households during 2004?08. By applying a series of random effects regressions and using concentration curves, we first studied determinants of CBHI enrolment and then assessed differences in healthcare utilization between members and non-members. We studied differences with regard to rich and poor, men and women, children and adults and those living far vs those living close to health facilities. Findings: With regard to enrolment, we found that poor (odds ratio [OR] = 0.274) and children (OR = 0.456) were less likely to enrol while gender and distance were not significantly correlated to enrolment. In terms of utilization, poor (coefficient = 0.349), women (coefficient = 0.131) and children (coefficient = 0.190) with CBHI had higher utilization than the group without CBHI. We also found that there was no significant difference in utilization between members and non-members if they were living far from health facilities. Conclusion: The CBHI scheme in this case was only partially successful in achieving the equity objectives. This study advises policy makers in Burkina Faso and elsewhere, who see CBHI schemes as a silver bullet to achieve universal health coverage, to be mindful of the chronically low enrolment rates and more importantly the lack of equity across the various groups that this study has highlighted

Deception Detection with Feature-Augmentation by soft Domain Transfer

In this era of information explosion, deceivers use different domains or mediums of information to exploit the users, such as News, Emails, and Tweets. Although numerous research has been done to detect deception in all these domains, information shortage in a new event necessitates these domains to associate with each other to battle deception. To form this association, we propose a feature augmentation method by harnessing the intermediate layer representation of neural models. Our approaches provide an improvement over the self-domain baseline models by up to 6.60%. We find Tweets to be the most helpful information provider for Fake News and Phishing Email detection, whereas News helps most in Tweet Rumor detection. Our analysis provides a useful insight for domain knowledge transfer which can help build a stronger deception detection system than the existing literature

Striving for Excellence: The Role of Work-Life Balance in Optimizing Job Performance Among Employees in Nepalese Microfinance Institutions

Purpose: Work-life balance is vital to employee well-being and organizational effectiveness in today's fast-paced, ever-changing workplace. Employee engagement and performance boost Nepal's microfinance industry's financial inclusion and growth. This study examines the relationship of work-life balance, quality of work life, and employee engagement affect microfinance job performance in Nepal. It examines how these characteristics affect employee work performance.   Theoretical Framework: The study stresses work-life balance, quality of work life, and employee engagement as independent variables affecting job performance.   Design/Methodology/Approach: A 210 respondents from 20 Nepalese microfinance institutions (MFIs) completed structured questionnaires for the quantitative study. Work-life balance, quality of work life, employee engagement, and job performance were examined using questionnaire data.   Findings: The findings of the study reveal that work-life balance and employee engagement positively impact job performance. Employees who can strike a healthy balance between work and personal life and are actively engaged in their roles exhibit enhanced job performance.   Research, Practical, and Social Implications: This study impacts BFIs, MFIs, regulatory agencies, HR analysts, and planners. These stakeholders may build supportive work environments that encourage employee well-being and organizational success by understanding the essential linkages between work-life balance, quality of work life, employee engagement, and job performance.   Originality/Value: The study sheds light on how work-life balance, quality of work life, employee engagement, and job performance affect the Nepalese microfinance industry. The study improves microfinance employee performance and well-being by comprehensively addressing these elements