SHORT-TERM FINANCING AND RISKADJUSTED PROFITABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN

This study explores the impact of short-term financing on theoperational performance of firms and the relationship of the formerto risk-adjusted profitability. The sample consists of 352 nonfinancialfirms listed on the KSE (now Pakistan Stock Exchange)from 2003 to 2014. We use several dynamic panel data estimationtechniques and find that short-term financing is positively butinsignificantly related to firms’ profitability. As far as short-termfinancing and risk-adjusted profitability are concerned, the resultsconfirm the hypothesis that short-term financing has no impact onrisk-adjusted profitability under GMM estimation procedure. Thisstudy contributes to the literature as no prior study exists on theassociation of risk-adjusted profitability and short-term financing

Can Momentum Portfolios Earn More in the Karachi Stock Exchange?

In this study, we attempt to show empirical evidence of momentum profits in Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) using monthly stocks returns data of 609 stocks over the period June 2004 to March 2014. Using Jegadeesh and Titman (1993) methodology, we find that investors can earn positive returns by holding a zero-investment momentum portfolio i.e. buying past winners stocks and selling past losers stocks. These results are robust to excluding small stocks (share price< PKR 5) as well as to using different sample periods. Further research in this area might consider factors such as risk, size, liquidity, book-to-market value, transaction costs, and trading volume to see which of these factors can explain momentum profits in KSE

Situation awareness amongst emergency care practitioners

The increase and changes in the demand for emergency care require pro-active responses from the designers and implementers of the emergency care system. The role of Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) was introduced in England to improve the delivery of emergency care in the community. The role was evaluated using cost-benefit approach and compared with other existing emergency care roles. An analysis of the cognitive elements (situation awareness (SA) and naturalistic decision making (NDM)) of the ECP job was proposed considering the mental efforts involved. While the cost-benefit approach can justify further spending on developing the role, a cognitive approach can provide the evidence in ensuring the role is developed to fulfil its purpose. A series of studies were carried out to describe SA and NDM amongst ECPs in an ambulance service in England. A study examined decision-making process using Critical Decision Method interviews which revealed the main processes in making decision and how information was used to develop SA. Based on the findings, the subsequent studies focus on the non-clinical factors that influence SA and decision making. Data from a scoping study were used to develop a socio-technical systems framework based on existing models and frameworks. The framework was then used to guide further exploration of SA and NDM. Emergency calls that were assigned to ECPs over a period of 8 months were analysed. The analysis revealed system-related influences on the deployment of ECPs. Interviews with the ECPs enabled the identification of influences on their decision-making with respect to patient care. Goal-directed task analysis was used to identify the decision points and information requirements of the ECPs. The findings and the framework were then evaluated via a set of studies based on an ethnographic approach. Participant observations with 13 ECPs were carried out. Field notes provided further insight into the characteristics of jobs assigned to the ECPs. It was possible to map the actual information used by the ECP to their information needs. The sources of the information were classified according to system levels. A questionnaire based on factors influencing decision-making was tested with actual cases. It was found that the items in the questionnaire could reliably measure factors that influence decision-making. Overall, the studies identify factors that have direct and indirect influences on the ECP job. A coherent model for the whole emergency care systems can be developed to build safety into the care delivery process. Further development of the ECP role need to consider the support for cognitive tasks in light of the findings reported in this thesis

Role of Computerized Physician Order Entry Usability in the Reduction of Prescribing Errors

Some hospitals have implemented computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems to reduce the medical error rates. However, research in this area has been very limited, especially regarding the impact of CPOE use on the reduction of prescribing errors. Moreover, the past studies have dealt with the overall impact of CPOE on the reduction of broadly termed "medical errors", and they have not specified which medical errors have been reduced by CPOE. Furthermore, the majority of the past research in this field has been either qualitative or has not used robust empirical techniques. This research examined the impacts of usability of CPOE systems on the reduction of doctors' prescribing errors. Methods: One hundred and sixty-six questionnaires were used for quantitative data analyses. Since the data was not normally distributed, partial least square path modelling-as the second generation of multivariate data analyses-was applied to analyze data. Results: It was found that the ease of use of the system and information quality can significantly reduce prescribing errors. Moreover, the user interface consistency and system error prevention have a significant positive impact on the perceived ease of use. More than 50% of the respondents believed that CPOE reduces the likelihood of drug allergy, drug interaction, and drug dosing errors thus improving patient safety. Conclusions: Prescribing errors in terms of drug allergy, drug interaction, and drug dosing errors are reduced if the CPOE is not error-prone and easy to use, if the user interface is consistent, and if it provides quality information to doctors

Crime in the United States of America: testing the ‘Broken Window’ hypothesis

This study wishes to examine and validate the ‘broken window’ hypothesis among the fifty one states in the United States. The chosen method for this analysis is Johansen cointegration test to test for cointegration, and if any cointegrating vector is found, we proceed to test for Granger causality based on VECM. We test whether property crime (proxy for minor crime) leads to violent crime (proxy for major crime) in the fifty one states with respect to the period 1960 to 2007. Result of the study indicates that violent crime and property crime are cointegrated in forty eight states out of fifty one states. Further analysis to test for the validity of the broken window hypothesis provides stunning result whereby we found that the hypothesis is indeed valid in forty four out of forty eight states

Association of hypoadiponectemia with smokeless/dipping tobacco use in young men

Background: Low levels of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with anti-diabetic, antiatherogenic and cardioprotective properties, is associated with increased risk of coronary disease in young men. Previous studies have demonstrated that smokeless tobacco is linked with a reduction of plasma adiponectin levels. However, the influence of smokeless tobacco (dipping tobacco) on plasma adiponectin levels still remains unknown. This study was conducted to assess the plasma adiponectin levels in young men who were using dipping tobacco. Methods: This was a community based study, which consisted of 186 young lean healthy males aged 20 to 35 years. Among these, 96 men were dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.07 ± 2.68) and 90 were non-dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.67 ± 1.46). Serum adiponectin levels were assessed by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: A statistically significant difference in the mean adiponectin level between tobacco dipper and non-dipper groups was observed (p = 0.0001). A significant difference between the two groups was also observed in baseline parameters including triglyceride and random blood sugar levels (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in other clinical parameters. Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that dipping tobacco use was significantly associated with low level of adiponetin in community dwelling young males. This emphasizes the importance of developing community intervention to reduce the use of dipping tobacco, which will reduce the tobacco associated disease burden in the community and will improve public health

Towards an integrated sociotechnical framework for situation awarenss and decision-making for emergency care

Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) is a work role in the Ambulance Services in the UK that was introduced to provide an alternative emergency care within the community. In order to further understand the cognitive aspects of the work role, a study was carried out to identify factors influencing situation awareness and decision-making among ECPs in an Ambulance Service in England. Two ECPs participated in observations (40 hours of ride-outs) and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the interview reveals factors that can be categorised into a number of systems-related levels of analysis (macro-micro). The outcomes from the study form the basis of an integrated sociotechnical system framework for emergency care with a focus on situation awareness and decision-making

System-related influences on assigning patients to emergency care practitioners

The deployment of advanced paramedics in ambulance services in the UK has been reviewed in the last few years. This study examined the role played by a computerised dispatch system (AMPDS – Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System) which was reported to be not predictive in terms of selecting suitable patients to assign to emergency care practitioners (ECPs). The aim of this paper is to further examine the AMPDS data in order to understand influences on ECPs deployment and the resulting patient outcomes in an Ambulance Services NHS (National Health Service) Trust. AMPDS data for cases where ECPs were dispatched during a six-month period was extracted. The data was analysed using SPSS 12.0 to examine the number and types of cases across different time frames. In order to understand the factors related to ECP deployment and decisions to transport patients, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen ECPs and three ambulance control room staff. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using emergent themes analysis with NVivo7. Results: There was an increase in the number of cases assigned to ECPs in the months covered by the data set. There are differences of the rate of patient transport among the Primary Care Trusts (PCT) within the Ambulance Services which are not due to fluctuations in workload across days of the week. The interviews help to explain the variations by identifying wider systemic influences. Themes derived from the interviews are patient’s social needs, geographical factor, technical factor, information factor, and connectivity to care pathways. Conclusions: The variations in the deployment of ECPs within the Ambulance Services can be partly attributed to wider systemic influences. Designing a paramedic role for pre-hospital care in the community should take into accounts the factors that influence their decisions regarding patient’s care pathway

System-related influences on assigning patients to emergency care practitioners

The deployment of advanced paramedics in ambulance services in the UK has been reviewed in the last few years. This study examined the role played by a computerised dispatch system (AMPDS – Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System) which was reported to be not predictive in terms of selecting suitable patients to assign to emergency care practitioners (ECPs). The aim of this paper is to further examine the AMPDS data in order to understand influences on ECPs deployment and the resulting patient outcomes in an Ambulance Services NHS (National Health Service) Trust. AMPDS data for cases where ECPs were dispatched during a six-month period was extracted. The data was analysed using SPSS 12.0 to examine the number and types of cases across different time frames. In order to understand the factors related to ECP deployment and decisions to transport patients, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen ECPs and three ambulance control room staff. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using emergent themes analysis with NVivo7. Results: There was an increase in the number of cases assigned to ECPs in the months covered by the data set. There are differences of the rate of patient transport among the Primary Care Trusts (PCT) within the Ambulance Services which are not due to fluctuations in workload across days of the week. The interviews help to explain the variations by identifying wider systemic influences. Themes derived from the interviews are patient’s social needs, geographical factor, technical factor, information factor, and connectivity to care pathways. Conclusions: The variations in the deployment of ECPs within the Ambulance Services can be partly attributed to wider systemic influences. Designing a paramedic role for pre-hospital care in the community should take into accounts the factors that influence their decisions regarding patient’s care pathway

Factor structure of the student engagement instrument among Malaysian undergraduates

Keterlibatan pelajar telah diketahui secara positif berkaitan dengan prestasi akademik, tetapi terdapat kekurangan kajian yang menyerlahkan fenomena ini di kalangan mahasiswa Malaysia. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji struktur faktor Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) dengan sampel pelajar di Malaysia. Alat kajian telah ditadbirkan kepada 290 pelajar ijazah dari Fakulti Ilmu Wahyu dan Sains Kemanusiaan dan Fakulti Ekonomi dan Sains Pengurusan Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia. Ekstraksi principal axis factor dengan putaran Promax telah digunakan dalam analisis faktor penerokaan (Exploratory Factor Analysis) dan mendedahkan satu penyelesaian enam faktor yang konsisten dengan struktur faktor yang terdapat dalam kajian asal oleh Appleton et al. (2006). Faktor baru yang dinamakan kepunyaan tidak dibincangkan dalam kajian sebelum ini telah ditemui dan patut diterokai. Student engagement has been known to be positively associated with academic performance, but there has been a lack of studies that highlight this phenomenon among Malaysian undergraduates. This study seeks to examine the factor structure of the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) in a Malaysian sample. The scale was administered to 290 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences as well as the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences of the International Islamic University of Malaysia. Principal axis factor with Promax rotation was used in exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and revealed a six-factor solution that was consistent with the factor structure found in the original study by Appleton et al. (2006). A new factor labelled belongingness which was not discussed in previous studies was also discovered, which is worth exploring