THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE TEXTILE SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

The textile sector is the backbone of the economy of Pakistan. This sector contributes 60% of the total export of the country. The current budget allocation is $640 million from 2014 to 2019. The export of textile sector is constantly declining. Pakistan faced problems in the year 2009 to 2014 as the government allocated a budget of$ 2.3 billion. There was only 15% implementation of this budget seen in Pakistan’s textile industry. This sector is facing many structural problems. The major problem is in analyzing the impact and measurement of human capital. There are many variables which the researchers have investigated, like job satisfaction to organizational tenure for representing the concept of human capital at both the national and as well as firm-level. However, there is a disagreement that exists among the different researchers for selecting those indicators which can appropriately represent the concept of human capital. There are more complications when it comes to the textile firms because there are not many scholastic studies which have seriously focused on investigating the indicators of human capital, specific to the textile sector of Pakistan. However, till today, no scale or criterion is available which can help in capturing the level of the human capital in this sector. By introducing of these HC measures which will be specific to the textile sector will bridge this gap. This study will contribute to increasing the performance of the textile firms by increasing their absorptive capacity by focusing on specific human capital indicators

Factors Affecting Online Buying Behavior with Technology Adapting Curve using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Purpose: Many factors influence customer’s online buying behavior. The need to identify these factors and their priorities in the mind of the customer when they are purchasing online is crucial for a marketer. This paper exemplifies the priorities of these factors under the technology adaptive curve (TAC). A comparative analysis of adaptation technology in between the first two stages of TAC place in this study. Methodology: The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) used to know consumer priorities under MCDM (Multi-CriteriaDecision Making). To get the saturated factors data total of fifty-seven studies were analyzed. To assign the weight to selected factors, a bipolar questionnaire survey was conducted. For further analysis of AHP, the expert choice software used to know the relative importance of selected factors. Findings: Results of AHP show that the priorities of factors that influence online shopping behavior change with respect to TAC phases. The findings of this study are helpful to managers in the case of technology adoption in the consumer market, and many others can get benefit from this.   Conclusion: A specific segment of customers has the same behavior to adopt the technology. This study must be considered before introducing and the second phase of TAC especially in Pakistan

Molecular Mechanism of Cancer Susceptibility Associated with Fok1 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of VDR in Relation to Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women worldwide. It is a multi-factorial disease caused by genetic and environmental factors. Vitamin D has been hypothesized to lower the risk of breast cancer via the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR). Genetic variants of these vitamin D metabolizing genes may alter the bioavailability of vitamin D, and hence modulate the risk of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: The distribution of Fok1 VDR gene (rs2228570) polymorphism and its association with breast cancer was analysed in a case–control study based on 125 breast cancer patients and 125 healthy females from North Indian population, using PCR-RFLP. An In silico exploration of the probable mechanism of increased risk of breast cancer was performed to investigate the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cancer susceptibility. Results: The Fok1 ff genotype was significantly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (p=0.001; χ2=13.09; OR=16.909; %95 CI=2.20 - 130.11). In silico analysis indicated that SNPs may lead to a loss in affinity of VDR to calcitriol, and may also cause the impairment of normal interaction of liganded VDR with its heterodimeric partner, the retinoid X receptor (RXR), at protein level, thereby affecting target gene transcription. Conclusion: Breast cancer risk and pathogenesis in females can be influenced by SNPs. SNPs in VDR may cause alterations in the major molecular actions of VDR, namely ligand binding, heterodimerization and transactivation. VDRE binding and co-activator recruitment by VDR appear to be functionally inseparable events that affect vitamin D-elicited gene transcription. This indicates that breast cancer risk and pathogenesis in females may be influenced by SNPs

Delay in Diagnosis of Brain Tumors: A Dilemma For Neurosurgical Community Due To Spirituality and Quackery In A Developing Country

Objectives:  Primary and metastatic brain tumors are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity. The complex pathway to a cancer diagnosis is not human error and the achievements of better outcomes solely depend on the early diagnosis and management of symptomatic tumors. The estimated time between the first presentation to any health care professional and diagnosis is approximately 3 times longer in the UK as compared to other developed countries. Material and Methods:  It was a descriptive study and included 52 patients who were admitted to the Neurosurgery department at Jinnah hospital Lahore. The required data were collected either directly from the patients or from the hospital record of discharged patients. Our study compares the time interval difference of presentation of a patient to a local care provider (Quacks, Hakeem, and spiritual healers) and Neurosurgeon as well as delay in surgical intervention even after diagnosis and radiological investigations. Results:  54% of patients presented with supratentorial lesions and out of these, parietal lobe lesions were more common (39%) while 29% of lesions were infratentorial. Around 50% of patients presented to a Local Care Provider within 20 days. However, only 42% of patients presented to a neurosurgeon after 6-9 months of the onset of symptoms. Conclusion:  Public awareness is the key to timely diagnosis, proper management, and better outcomes. The availability of specialists in peripheral hospitals can bring a change in this regard

Engagement of private healthcare providers for case finding of tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus in Pakistan

Background: The rising co-epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM) is a challenge for constrained health systems in low and middle-income countries. Diabetes is a known risk factor for tuberculosis and associated with poor tuberculosis treatment outcomes, while tuberculosis is associated with worsening glycemic control. We investigated the performance of bi-directional TB and DM case finding approaches through a private-sector engagement model in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: Between July 2016 and July 2018, private health care providers were engaged to generate referrals for bi-directional TB and DM screening at private diagnostic and treatment centers in Karachi, Pakistan. Individuals diagnosed with TB underwent glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) testing at the time of anti-tuberculous treatment initiation and at three -month follow up stage. All individuals with a history of diabetes or random blood sugar of greater than 200 mg/dl were screened for TB using a chest X-ray and Xpert MTB/RIF.Results: A total of 6312 persons with tuberculosis were tested on HbA1c at treatment initiation, of whom 1516 (24%) were newly diagnosed with DM. About one third of those with HbA1c in the diabetic range (≥ 6.5%) at baseline were found to have a normal HbA1c (\u3c 5.7%) result at 3-month follow-up. A total of 3824 individuals with DM, of whom 2396 (63%) were known cases and 1428 (37%) were newly identified with random blood sugar \u3e 200 mg/dl, underwent chest x-ray and Xpert MTB/RIF testing, with 321 (13.4%) known and 54 (3.8%) new diabetics respectively identified with tuberculosis.Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high yield of TB and DM through bidirectional screening and the feasibility of engagement of private sector in finding missing cases of tuberculosis and diabetes. Given the high prevalence of undiagnosed DM in individuals with TB tuberculosis patients, there is a need to scale-up DM screening within TB programmes. Increased awareness of the high risk of TB among individuals with DM is needed among private health providers and screening for TB among diabetics should be strongly considered

Virtual reality in neurosurgery- a neurostimulator – based postgraduate residency training: a novel step towards skillful young neurosurgeons

Introduction/Objective: Virtual Reality (VR) is the need of time in every field of life. Recent biotechnological advances have molded the surgeon-computer relationship. Department of Neurosurgery Jinnah Hospital Lahore has updated the postgraduate training program by adding the virtual reality simulator. We aim to explore the current and future roles and applications of VR and simulation in neurosurgical training that may reduce the learning curve, improve conceptual understanding and enhance visuospatial skills. Materials & Methods: Eight residents were enrolled in this program. They exercised the basic skills of neurosurgery e.g. suction, use of bipolar cautery, handling of CUSA, use of micro scissors, etc., and the automated software recorded each participant’s graph of performance separately. After 1.5 years, they were assessed in real-time on actual patients under the direct supervision of a qualified neurosurgeon. The assessment was done on DOPS (Directly Observed Procedural Skills) Performa. Results: The results showed that there was a gradual upward learning curve in simulator-based procedures from negative marking to 70% in basic surgical skills and 60% in advanced procedures on average for all the residents whereas the DOPS showed that all residents performed above expectation i.e., 4 or above. Conclusion: Neurostimulator-based postgraduate training program is opening new horizons for the safe and skillful training of residents. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, its use in training programs will lead to structured and systematic training patterns in the world of neurosurgery

The Policy of Residential Plots Secretion And its results Dr. Jamal Baker Al-Sa'ady Case Study (Baghdad City)

Housing considered as a basic need for humtn being. It's provision in Iraq depends on all society sectors. This is required a proper means and methods, and one of these means are the legislations and laws, The two mairs decisions, which were dealing with the secretion of residential plots (The decision ltlo. 850 in 1979 and the decision No. 940 in 1987), were one of the methods used ir solving the Housing Shortage Problem in Baghdad. Also they were a reaction to the Prevailing policy which was dealt with the providing of large residential plots, The research aims to study this policy and its results in relation with the housing demand, the horizontal extension and the housing densit'r. The research reached to a theoretical Model shorved the existing condition of the residential plots in each planning area, where the research had divided Baghdad city to (7a) planning area. The research showed that this policy was more legible in low-income areas, and the area factor (mainly which is more than 400m2; w,rs considered the more effective factor in this policy, in order to reach the minimum area required. This policy was more effective in single family housing market in obstructing portion of housing shortage

Zeolite-Assisted Immobilization and Health Risks of Potentially Toxic Elements in Wastewater-Irrigated Soil under Brinjal (Solanum melongena) Cultivation

Application of wastewater to agricultural soils not only enhances economic benefits but is also considered as a safe disposal option by the administrators. Worldwide, peri-urban horticulture is a common practice for growing vegetables. When agricultural soils are irrigated with wastewater, numerous potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contained therein are bioaccumulated and pose health risks. The presented study aimed to reveal the PTEs, i.e., copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) concentration in the agricultural soils irrigated with wastewater for longer times. Zeolite, a natural mineral was used to immobilize these in contaminated soils to reduce its availability to brinjal (Solanum melongena L.). During a pot study, zeolite was applied at four different levels, i.e., 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00% in contaminated soil, keeping one control. The results revealed that growth as well as biochemical and physiological characters were found best with treatment receiving zeolite at 2.00%. In edible parts (fruit), PTE contents were found lowest in the same treatment. Relative to the control, ~121, 87, 120 and 140% less DTPA-extracted Cu, Cd, Ni and Pb in soil was found with this treatment. Based on the results, it was revealed that zeolite effectively immobilized Cu, Cd, Ni and Pb in the soil. Although all the applied levels of zeolite had positive potential to immobilize PTEs in wastewater-contaminated soil, zeolite applied at 2.00% proved most effective.11s

Evaluation of computer aided detection of tuberculosis on chest radiography among people with diabetes in Karachi Pakistan

Pakistan ranks fifth among high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries and also has seventh highest burden for diabetes mellitus (DM). DM increases the risk of developing TB and contributes to adverse TB treatment outcomes hence screening and integrated management for both diseases in high burden countries is suggested. Computer-Aided Detection for TB (CAD4TB) can potentially be used as triage tool in low resource settings to pre-screen individuals for Xpert MTB/RIF testing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and performance of CAD4TB software in people with diabetes (PWD) enrolled in a TB screening program in Karachi, Pakistan. A total of 694 individuals with a diagnosis of DM (of whom 31.1% were newly diagnosed) were screened with CAD4TB and simultaneously provided sputum for Xpert MTB/RIF testing. Of the 74 (10.7%) participants who had bacteriologically positive (MTB+) results on Xpert testing, 54 (73%) had a CAD4TB score \u3e70; and 155 (25%) participants who tested MTB-negative had scores \u3e70. The area under the receiver operator curve was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.77-0.80). Our study findings indicate that CAD4TB offers good diagnostic accuracy as a triage test for TB screening among PWD using Xpert MTB/RIF as the reference standard

In silico CD4+, CD8+ T-cell and B-cell immunity associated immunogenic epitope prediction and HLA distribution analysis of Zika virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus distributed all over Africa, South America and Asia. The infection with the virus may cause acute febrile sickness that clinically resembles dengue fever, yet there is no vaccine, no satisfactory treatment, and no means of evaluating the risk of the disease or prognosis in the infected people.In the present study, the efficacy of the host’s immune response in reducing the risk of infectious diseases was taken into account to carry out immuno-informatics driven epitope screening strategy of vaccine candidates against ZIKV. In this study, HLA distribution analysis was done to ensure the coverage of the vast majority of the population. Systematic screening of effective dominant immunogens was done with the help of Immune Epitope & ABCPred databases. The outcomes suggested that the predicted epitopes may be protective immunogens with highly conserved sequences and bear potential to induce both protective neutralizing antibodies, T & B cell responses. A total of 25 CD4+ and 16 CD8+ peptides were screened for T-cell mediated immunity. The predicted epitope "TGLDFSDLYYLTMNNKHWLV" was selected as a highly immunogenic epitope for humoral immunity. These peptides were further screened as non-toxic, immunogenic and non-mutated residues of envelop viral protein. The predicted epitope could work as suitable candidate(s) for peptide based vaccine development. Further, experimental validation of these epitopes is warranted to ensure the potential of B- and T-cells stimulation for their efficient use as vaccine candidates, and as diagnostic agents against ZIKV