Financial Development and Textile Sector Competitiveness: A Case Study of Pakistan

Kletzer and Bardhan (1987) argue that countries with a relatively well-developed financial sector have a comparative advantage in industries that rely on external finance. Beck (2002), and Fanelli and Medhora (2002) find that well-developed financial sector translates into a comparative advantage in the production of manufactured goods. There has been no attempt so far to explore the relationship between the financial development and international trade competitiveness in the case of Pakistan. We construct Balassa’s Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index for textile sector of Pakistan. Using ratio of credit extended to the textile sector to the total non-government credit of the banking system (TCS) as proxy for external finance we estimate long run relationship, and ECM, between RCA index and TCS while controlling for other determinants of the international trade competitiveness of textile sector of Pakistan. In line with the findings of Beck (2002), and Fanelli and Medhora (2002), our results suggest that recourse to external finance has a strong positive impact on the country’s textile sector competitiveness both in the short and the long run even when we control for traditional determinants of competitiveness.Financial Development, Competitiveness

Evaluation Of Conventional Digital Camera Scenes For Thematic Information Extraction.

The increasing availability of remote-sensing images, acquired periodically by satellite sensors on the same geo makes it extremely interesting to develop the monitoring systems capable of automatically producing and reg landcover maps of the considered site (Bruzzone, et ai., 2002)

Knowledge and use of the international classification of functioning, disability and health (icf) among health professionals in a developing country

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) provides a biopsychosocial framework for understanding all the factors that should be considered while managing any health condition. The ICF has been employed for clinical, academic, research, and policymaking purposes in developed as well as developing countries. There is a great disparity in the representation in the literature regarding knowledge and potential application of the ICF in professional practice around the world especially from low middle-income countries like Pakistan. This study aims to evaluate the profile and knowledge of health professionals in Pakistan about the application of ICF in their practice

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis – Current perspectives

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. It usually occurs 7–10 years after measles infection. The clinical course is characterized by progressive cognitive decline and behavior changes followed by focal or generalized seizures as well as myoclonus, ataxia, visual disturbance, and later vegetative state, eventually leading to death. It is diagnosed on the basis of Dyken’s criteria. There is no known cure for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis to date, but it is preventable by ensuring that an effective vaccine program for measles is made compulsory for all children younger than 5 years in endemic countries

Granulomatous gastritis: a diagnostic dilemma?

Granulomatous inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract is an uncommon entity, an aetiopathogenic diagnosis can be reached only by combining the morphological examination with clinical and laboratory investigations. We report two cases of granulomatous gastritis: a 27-year-old woman presenting with weight loss and a 55-year-old woman presenting with epigastric pain and vomiting. Upper oesophagastroduodenoscopy in these cases showed antral hyperaemia and histopathology showed non-caseating gastric granulomatous inflammation. Both the cases were extensively worked-up for possible tuberculosis (TB) as the Patients lived in an endemic area, before starting steroids for the possibility of Crohn\u27s disease (CD). The first Patient improved but the second Patient had a flare of underlying undiagnosed TB. Granulomatous gastritis present a diagnostic challenge for treating physicians because of similar clinical, laboratory and endoscopical features between CD and intestinal TB

Establishing A Global Algorithm For Water Quality Mapping From Multi-Dates Images.

Water quality assessment of ocean and inland waters using satellite data has been carried out since the first r satellite Landsat-MSS has been operational (Thiemann and Kaufmann, 2000)

Autosomal recessive primary microcephaly: an analysis of locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Locus heterogeneity is well established in autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) and to date five loci have been mapped. However, the relative contributions of these loci have not been assessed and genotype-phenotype correlations have not been investigated. DESIGN: A study population of 56 consanguineous families resident in or originating from northern Pakistan was ascertained and assessed by the authors. A panel of microsatellite markers spanning each of the MCPH loci was designed, against which the families were genotyped. RESULTS: The head circumference of the 131 affected subjects ranged from 4 to 14 SD below the mean, but there was little intrafamilial variation among affecteds (± 1 SD). MCPH5 was the most prevalent, with 24/56 families consistent with linkage; 2/56 families were compatible with linkage to MCPH1, 10/56 to MCPH2, 2/56 to MCPH3, none to MCPH4, and 18/56 did not segregate with any of the loci. CONCLUSIONS: MCPH5 is the most common locus in this population. On clinical grounds alone, the phenotype of families linked to each MCPH locus could not be distinguished. We have also shown that further MCPH loci await discovery with a number of families as yet unlinked

Studies on ash reduction of a non-coking coal sample by froth flotation

Coal is a vital energy fuel world over, statistically contribution upto 55-60% and it plays a major role in the economic development of the country. In general Indian coals are poor in quality with high ash content and they need beneficiation prior to their utilization. CSIR-NML is pursuing dry beneficiation of non-coking coal for application in DRI, cement and thermal power plant. However, during the crushing of coal for dry separation, some amounts of ultrafines are generated. There are limitations in treating ultrafine particles by dry separation methods. To maximise the overall combustible recovery an attempt was made for ash reduction in a typical non-coking sample from Rajmahal by froth flotation with an initial target of 25% ash in the product. Kerosene and diesel oil were used as collectors for coal flotation. The coal sample was characterised thoroughly in terms of petrography characteristics, size analysis and proximate analysis. Proximate analysis indicated that the coal contains 34.8% ash, 23.52% VM, 6.86% moisture and 34.82% FC. The coal sample of -150μm was taken for flotation studies. The effect of important variables such as collector dosage, frother dosage and pH level are investigated for arriving the optimum value of yield/combustible recovery. Use of dispersant/depressant with diesel oil as collector was found to give better yield with an ash content of 25% with a combustible recovery of 72%. Efforts are put in to further reduce ash content in clean coal for metallurgical application

Altered Platelet Function in Patients with Severe Congestive Heart Failure

Platelet function was assessed in 15 patients with severe congestive heart failure (CHF) and in 26 control subjects of similar ages. The platelet count (mm3), surface reactivity, aggregometry studies, release factors, and circulating aggregates were investigated. The mean number of circulating platelets was normal, but a hyperactive platelet response was found in 53% of the CHF patients. CHF patients had a 42% mean for the spread type platelet, and the average number of aggregates was 64: control subjects had a 12% mean for the spread type platelet, and the average number of aggregates was 40 (p \u3c 0.05). Aggregation with all of the inducers was normal, although 27% of CHF patients showed spontaneous aggregation. The mean plasma levels of both platelet factor 4 and betathromboglobulin were abnormally elevated. No circulating platelet aggregates were detected. Our studies indicate that platelet function is abnormal in patients with CHF. The abnormal platelet reactivity found might contribute to the increased incidence of thromboembolic events observed in CHF patients