Spending Behaviour of Northeast Normal University Students by Using Plastic Money

Plastic money is precious financial instrument which is being used to place of money due to its easiness. It bases on bank ATM, debit and credit cards as well as university and organizations’ cards are also come under it due its payment services. This paper explores the spending behavior of Northeast Normal University, Changchun, students. The students use university cards mostly inside the campus supper markets for shopping and bank cards as well. The questionnaire was used to collect the data. Hypothesis testing are showing that if age increases then the usage of cards increases as compare to hard cash. Furthermore, male has more share in spending than females. Keywords: Plastic money, bank cards, payment solutions, student cards, buying and spending behaviour

Extending Transit Facility to India: Implications for Pakistan’s Bilateral Trade with Afghanistan

The paper examines patterns of bilateral trade between Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and CARs. It also investigates whether providing India transit route to Afghanistan has opportunity costs for Pakistan’s trade potential with Afghanistan and CARs. In 2009, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan amount to US$ 1.3 billion which make up for 7.8 % of Pakistan’s total exports. For the same year, India’s exports to Afghanistan stand at 471 million dollars which make 0.3 % of India’s total exports. Looking at the product wise composition of Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan, mineral fuels, oils, distillation products are on the top with share of around 29%. Salt, sulpher, earth, plaster, lime and cement and cereals have a share of around 11 %. While animal, vegetable fats and oils, cleavage products and articles of iron and steel have the share of around 7%. On the other hand, the top five exports of India to Afghanistan are man-made filaments with 42 % share, pharmaceutical products with 11 % share, electric and electronic equipment with 7% share and rubber and articles with 6% share. Clearly there is no overlap between exports of Pakistan and India to Afghanistan. Nonetheless Pakistan has already lost its market share to India in pharmaceuticals. The tariff applied to Pakistan by Afghanistan on pharmaceuticals is 2.50 % while India which enjoys Preferential Trade Agreement with Afghanistan only faces an average tariff of 0.60% on pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are Pakistan’s top performing exports to CARs with 42.5 % share of total exports to CARs. India also exports pharmaceuticals to CARs but its share in total exports to CARs is only 25.5 %. In Afghanistan, Pakistan has clearly lost its market share to India due to presence of preferential tariffs for India in Afghanistan. If Pakistan provides transit route to India for its exports to Afghanistan, cheaper pharmaceuticals of Indian origin can then be re-exported to CARs capturing Pakistan’s market share in CARs. Much like pharmaceuticals there are other Pakistani products which are likely to lose out to India in Afghanistan and CARs if India is provided transit route to Afghanistan. The Wagah-Peshawar-Torkham route which roughly extends up to 800 km is probably the shortest possible one between India and Afghanistan; which would greatly reduce the logistics cost of shipping goods from India to Afghanistan and beyond. In addition to that, the preferential treatment currently enjoyed by Indian products in Afghanistan under the PTA would further cost Pakistani goods by eroding their competitiveness in the Afghan market. In the absence of a robust mechanism to contain the informal trade, allowing Indian goods a passage through Pakistan’s territory would, in all likelihood, worsen the smuggling situation, something Pakistan can ill afford to accept. Therefore, under the circumstances, there are clear economic disadvantages to Pakistan in extending the transit facility to India without adequate safeguards and preferably a quid pro quo, be it political or economic.International Trade, Transit Trade Agreements, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Sectoral Analysis

Prevalence of Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak in Traumatic Head Injury at a Tertiary Care Center

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid circulates around the surface of brain and spinal cord and through the brain’s ventricles. CSF leak is a condition that occurs when the CSF leaks through a defect in the dura or skull and out through the ear or nose. The most common causes of CSF leak include head injury, brain and sinus surgery. The objective of this study was to determine the frequencies of post-traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leak in traumatic head injury. Material and Methods: A descriptive case series was carried out in the Department of Neurosurgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar for a period of 1 year, from 1st February 2016 to 31st January 2017. A total of 422 patients presenting within 48 hours of acute trauma to the head were included in a consecutive manner and followed up till 7th day to determine the CSF leak. Results: The mean age group of our sample was 37.37 + 12.3 years of which 79.6% were male patients and 20.4% female patients. Most of the patients (55.5%) were ≤ 40 years of age. CSF leak was observed in 5.2% of patients, with otorrhea seen in 2.1% patients and rhinorrhea in 3.1% patients, respectively. Conclusion: CSF leak is quite common in our population after acute trauma to the head. The high prevalence may be due to high frequency of accidents in our society with high velocity impact and more commonly seen in the younger age group (≤ 40 years)

English language as a medium of instruction among Pakistani International students in Northeast Normal University

Main aim of this paper was to explore the usage of English Language by way of the source of training among Pakistani International students at Northeast Normal  University. The paper employed qualitative approach; semi-structured interviews were used to assemble facts from 20 international offers an initial representation of the speedily rising worldwide phenomenon of English medium instruction (EMI). English, today emerges because the predominant medium of international tutorial discourse. English is perceived because the key to the socio-cultural advancement.  Almost the student spent more than two hours to self study English, which purpose is to make strong his skill in English.60% agree with a quality of English Language in this school in some aspects, like write, speech, read in the classroom. Working EMI definition: using the English language to train instructional subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the primary language (L1) of most people of the population isn't always English. Key Words: English Language, International Students, Medium of Instruction

Myth in Wole Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests and The Bacchae of Euripides

Essentially a playwright, Soyinka is also recognized as a prolific essayist, poet, novelist and theatre director. He is also one of the continent‘s most imaginative advocates of native culture and of the humane social order it embodies. He writes mainly in English. His works are distinguished by their exploration of the African world view, and are steeped in Yoruba mythology, imagery and dramatic idioms. His satiric pen, directed at the leadership iniquities on his continent and inhuman conduct among people, has also produced powerful works. As a human rights activist who declares that human liberty is his abiding religion, Soyinka has endured incarceration at the hands of repressive regimes. He has been placed on trial on trumped-up charges of treason and has undergone spells of political exile. In the midst of several violent and repressive African regimes, Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 to become the first African Laureate. Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and Soyinka has always been critical of its dictators ever since. In 1967, in what became one of his most contentious essays, ―The Writer in a Modern African State‖, he questioned the Negritude movement. Soyinka sees that negritude affirms one of the central Eurocentric prejudices against Africans, namely the dichotomy between European rationalism and African emotionalism. In his essay ―Reparations, Truth and Reconciliation‖ (1999), Soyinka defended the idea that the West should pay reparations for crimes committed against African people. Soyinka‘s representation of Postcolonial African identity will be examined in the light of his two plays, The Bacchae of Euripides and A Dance of the Forests to show how this writer‘s idiom of cultural authenticity both embraces hybridity and defines itself as specific and particular. His works conceptualize identity in ways that modify colonial perception of ‗Africaness‘. Soyinka has been one of the most outspoken critics of the concept of negritude, - 7 - which has been associated with Leopold Senghor, the writer and former President of Senegal. Soyinka sees that negritude encourages into self-absorption and affirms one of the central Eurocentric prejudices against Africans. Soyinka negates the inferiority of Africans by saying― A Tiger does not show his tigritude but acts‖

Development of Quality Standards of Aegle marmelos L. Leaves

Aegle marmelos L (Rutaceae) is a moderately size deciduous tree, growing wild throughout the deciduous forest of India. It is commonly used in day to day life. In present investigation an attempt has been made for the pharmacognostical standardization and evaluation of Aegle marmelos leaves. The pharmacognostical evaluation comprises of detailed macroscopy, powdered microscopy, fluorescence analysis, quantitative microscopy and physical constants such as ash and extractive values. The leaves extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening. The data obtained in present study will serve as valuable tool for identification, authentication and detection of adulterants, standardization and quality control of the drug. The developed technique will also be useful for the standardization of formulations containing A. marmelos.ÂÂ

Spatial variations in COVID-19 risk perception and coping mechanism in Pakistan

The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, which instigated governments to impose lockdowns across their countries. Amidst the lockdown in Pakistan, this study comprised measures of the COVID-19 risk perception, coping mechanism, and spatial variations. The data from 40 selected indicators was collected using an online questionnaire and grouped into domains (4 risk perception and 3 coping mechanisms domains). The results revealed the spatial variations and the levels of risk perception and coping mechanisms within the study area. Relative to each other, overall risk perception was highest in Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir) and Islamabad, and lowest in Balochistan province. Very little spatial variation was observed in terms of coping mechanisms. Age, gender, and marital status influenced the risk perception associated with COVID-19. The findings suggest spatial variation in risk perception, implying the need for localized and modified COVID-19 risk communication and risk reduction strategies. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41324-022-00498-7

Identification of Input Nonlinear Control Autoregressive Systems Using Fractional Signal Processing Approach

A novel algorithm is developed based on fractional signal processing approach for parameter estimation of input nonlinear control autoregressive (INCAR) models. The design scheme consists of parameterization of INCAR systems to obtain linear-in-parameter models and to use fractional least mean square algorithm (FLMS) for adaptation of unknown parameter vectors. The performance analyses of the proposed scheme are carried out with third-order Volterra least mean square (VLMS) and kernel least mean square (KLMS) algorithms based on convergence to the true values of INCAR systems. It is found that the proposed FLMS algorithm provides most accurate and convergent results than those of VLMS and KLMS under different scenarios and by taking the low-to-high signal-to-noise ratio