Faculty Satisfaction In Higher Education: A TQM Approach

This paper was aimed to investigate the levels of satisfaction among faculty members in higher education in Pakistan. Five hundred faculty members were surveyed from leading public and private universities through an instrument developed by the authors and 450 were completed and returned. Percentage method was used to analyze and interpret data. The results highlighted the value of the survey as a strategy for management and human resource planning in universities

Systematic Risk Factors and Stock Return Volatility

This study analyzes the transmission of systematic risk exhaling from macroeconomic fundamentals to volatility of stock market by using auto regressive generalized auto regressive conditional heteroskedastic (AR-GARCH) and vector auto regressive (VAR) models. Systematic risk factors used in this study are industrial production, real interest rate, inflation, money supply and exchange rate from 2000-2014. Results indicate that there exists relationship among the volatility of macroeconomic factors and that of stock returns in Pakistan. The relationship among the volatility of macroeconomic variables and that of stock returns is bidirectional; both affect each other in different dynamics

Effect Of Direct Teaching Method On The Academic Achievement Of High And Low Achievers In The Subject Of English At The Secondary Level

The major objective of the study was to determine the role of the direct teaching method in the academic achievement of students in English at the secondary level. To achieve the said objective, the Solomon Four-Design pre-test/post-test equivalent group design was considered to be the most useful design for this study. The pre-test was used to measure the achievement. The pre-test was used only to equate the control and experimental groups. Thus, the Solomon four-group design was applied for treatment of the data. The experimental group was taught by the direct method, while the control group was taught by the traditional method for a period of six weeks. At the end of the treatment, a post-test was administered and scores of pre-test and post-test were served as data for the study. Applying t-test and analysis of variance tested to know the significance of difference between the scores of groups at 0.05 levels. After analyzing the secured data it was concluded that the direct teaching method was more effective as a teaching-learning technique for English compared to the traditional teaching method. Students in the direct teaching method outscored the students working in the traditional learning situation. Low achievers in the direct teaching showed significant superiority over low achievers learning English by the traditional method. Thus, direct teaching was found to be a more effective method for quality teaching of English to the low achievers as compared to the traditional method of teaching. High achievers, whether they were taught English by the direct or traditional method, retained learned material at the same rate. Low achievers who were taught English by the direct method retained more material as compared to low achievers taught by traditional method of teaching

In-Service Training of Secondary Level Teachers: a Follow up of Teachers' Performance in Comparative Perspective

It was a follow-up study of teachers training in comparative perspective. The study was delimited to all Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs) working in Federal Government Secondary Schools of Islamabad who received in-service training during years 2005-2009. Out of 1265 TGTs 32 INSET TGTs (with in-service education and training) and 32 NON-INSET TGTs (without in-service education and training), 64 colleague teachers, 256 students and 32 head teachers were selected as sample. One observation schedule and three five point Likert rating scales were used to collect the data on four selected parameters i.e. Classroom Management, Teaching Methodology, Use of AV Aids, and Evaluation Techniques. Mean scores, t-test and SD were applied. Out of five, four null hypotheses were rejected at 0.05 level of significance. It was concluded that the performance of INSET TGTs was comparatively better than the NON-INSET TGTs. The recommendations for training for working teachers and improvement of training contents were made. Keywords: In-service Training, Secondary School Teacher, Teachers' Performance, Follow-up Stud

Water Permeability Characteristics of Normal Strength Concrete Made from Crushed Clay Bricks as Coarse Aggregate

Water permeability characteristic of concrete made from crushed clay bricks as coarse aggregate is investigated and compared with concrete made from natural stone aggregate. For this, six different brick and five different natural stone samples were selected. Crushing strength of brick samples and water absorption of aggregate produced from them were also measured. Concrete samples of three different compressive strengths were prepared as per ACI mix design method from each of these aggregate samples. Compressive strength of concrete that could be achieved with brick aggregate varied between 19 and 28 MPa, whereas, for stone aggregate, compressive strength varied between 24 and 46 MPa. These samples were then tested for water permeability using the AT 315 machine as per EN 12390-8: “Depth of Penetration of Water under Pressure.” Experimental results and subsequent analysis indicate that water permeability of brick aggregate concrete is 225% to 550% higher than that of concrete made from natural stone aggregate of identical compressive strength. Water permeability was found to be directly related to compressive strength, water absorption, and porosity of hardened concrete. It was also observed that water permeability of concrete is influenced by water absorption of brick aggregate and crushing strength of brick

Status of Phosphorous in Soil and Plants of Apple Orchads in Quetta Valley

The study was planned to assess the phosphorous status of apple orchards around Quetta valley through soil and plant analysis. Two hundred soil samples were acquired from 40 different locations of 05 orchards at  0-15, 15-30, 30-45, 45-60, 60- 75 and 75-90 cm depths. The soil samples were analyzed for available phosphorous by AB-DTPA method. At the same time forty apple trees were selected for leaves samples and analyzed for plant phosphorous content by Rhoades, 1982 .AB-DTPA phosphorous in soil showed a sizeable variation ranging from 0.24 to 14.46 mg kg-1. Whereby plant analysis registered minimum phosphorous content 0.06% and the maximum phosphorous content 0.47% in apple plant leaves which confirms phosphorous concentration found deficient in apple orchards of Quetta valle

Status of Phosphorous in Soil and Plants of Apple Orchads in Quetta Valley

The study was planned to assess the phosphorous status of apple orchards around Quetta valley through soil and plant analysis. Two hundred soil samples were acquired from 40 different locations of 05 orchards at  0-15, 15-30, 30-45, 45-60, 60- 75 and 75-90 cm depths. The soil samples were analyzed for available phosphorous by AB-DTPA method. At the same time forty apple trees were selected for leaves samples and analyzed for plant phosphorous content by Rhoades, 1982 .AB-DTPA phosphorous in soil showed a sizeable variation ranging from 0.24 to 14.46 mg kg-1. Whereby plant analysis registered minimum phosphorous content 0.06% and the maximum phosphorous content 0.47% in apple plant leaves which confirms phosphorous concentration found deficient in apple orchards of Quetta valley

Association of Beta-2 Adrenoreceptor Single Nucleotide Polymorphism with Risk of Type II Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: To determine the genotype of Arg16Gly & Gln27Glu polymorphism in type-2 diabetes mellitus and to find possible association of ADRβ2with type-2 diabetes mellitus. Methodology: A case control study was designed and a total of 192 subjects (98 in each group) were included. After formal approval, subjects were recruited from North West General Hospital (NWGH) Peshawar. After taking consent blood samples were collected from the participants and DNA analysis was done using commercially available kits by salting out protocols, while other biochemical parameters were analyzed using normal laboratory protocols for respective tests. Results: The comparative analysis of SNP rs1042713 indicates that allele G/A was 42(49.4%) in diabetic and 43(50.6%) in non-diabetic subjects. While GG was more frequent 22(59.5%) in diabetic as compare to non-diabetic 15(40.5%). Among AA allele, 19 (65.5%) were non-diabetic while 10(34.5%) were diabetic. However the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.22). In case of “rs1042714” gene the commonest allele was C/C 80 (41.7%) out of which, 47(58.8%) was found in diabetic and 33(41.2%) were non-diabetic. Similarly CG was second common allele out of which diabetics were 27(44.3%) while non-diabetics were 34(55.7%). Allele G/G was found only among 11 subjects (p=0.085). Conclusion: Based on the result of the present study, it is concluded that polymorphism in ADRB2 genes rs1042713 (Arg16Gly) and rs1042714 (Gln27Glu) is associated with susceptibility of T2DM through alteration in BMI & HbA1c