Calendar Anomalies in Stock Market: A Case of KSE 100 Index

This paper aims to investigate the calendar anomalies in Karachi Stock exchange by using KSE 100 index during the period of 2008 to 2012. The study examined the existence of week days, weekend and monthly seasonal anomalies. These calendar effects are examined by applying different statistical techniques. First of all series of daily and monthly returns were calculated. Then mean and standard deviation of daily and monthly returns were calculated. The values of mean and standard deviation have rejected the first two null hypothesis and accepted the third one. The results provide an evidence for the existence of calendar anomalies at KSE 100 index. The results showed that there is significant difference among the returns of days of the week, and Friday has highest mean average return which makes it confirm that weekend effect exists at KSE. Finally monthly anomaly in stock returns is also present because there is highest positive return in the month of March.     Keywords. Stock Market, Anomalies, weekday effect, weekend effect, monthly effect, Return

Protozoidal activities of Eucalyptus cammeldulensis, Dalbergia sissoo and Acacia arabica woods and their different parts on the entozoic flagellates of Heterotermes indicola and Coptotermes heimi

Different parts of three woods of Eucalyptus cammeldulensis, Dalbergia sissoo and Acacia arabica were analyzed for their toxicity potentials against two species of termites (Heterotermis indicola and Coptotermis heimi). Termite workers were allowed to feed on 2 g complete wood powder of plant species and their parts, including; bark, sapwood and heartwood. Samples of flagellates were collected after each 24 h from the termites’ gut and they showed a significant variation in their mortality rate as per the wood species and their parts used in the experiments. After six days, mortality rates in flagellates were 100% with all wood parts of E. cammeldulensis, whereas it was 87.2, 47.61 and 100% with bark, sapwood and heartwood of D. sissoo respectively. However, in the case of A. Arabica, only bark inflicted 44.5% mortality on the flagellates in termites on the 6th day. It is revealed from the results that different woods or their specific parts have some specific toxic compounds that inflicted varying degree of toxicity on enteric flagellates of termites. Considering the toxigenic nature of different woods and their respective parts, the three woods; E. cammeldulensis, D. sissoo and A. arabica and their parts barks, sapwoods and heartwoods were analyzed for the presence of water soluble constituents such as lignin, benzene-ethanol soluble components and alpha cellulose contents. However, it is highly recommended that such protozoicidal compounds should be isolated, purified and biochemically characterized in order to apply them as commercial products for the control of pest like termites, which cause a huge damage to woody plants, and their products.Keywords: Bark, sapwood, heartwood, Eucalyptus cammeldulensis, Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia arabica, termite flagellate

Resurgence of Russia: A case Study of Syrian Crisis

This explanatory study focuses on the main attributes of Russian policy towards the Middle East. The Russian resurgence in the Middle East and its defensive posture towards the western military and economic policies in the region depicts that Russia is overwhelmingly feeling insecure towards its international standing. Russia is running a foreign policy which is less aggressive towards the Middle East and Syria. Russo-Syrian relations have always been more strategically oriented rather than more economic or cultural. It is a fact that Syria will remain an important ally of Russia for the coming years because of the decades of old strategic partnership. Syrian Crisis has divided the world into two blocks, thus resulting into New Cold War. All the major powers should form an environment for negotiation with the help of UN, instead of doing politics to fulfill their strategic, economic and military interests

FinTech implementation: a way forward to expedite bank operations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of FinTech implementation on operational performance in the banking industry of Pakistan. Using Smart PLS analysis, the study examined the relationship between FinTech implementation and three dimensions of operational performance: accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency. Data was collected from employees working in commercial banks in Pakistan through a self-administered questionnaire. The results of the study revealed that FinTech implementation has a positive effect on operational performance, as evidenced by the significant positive relationships between FinTech implementation and accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency. These findings suggest that the implementation of FinTech solutions can significantly improve operational performance in the banking industry, and that investing in FinTech solutions can lead to improved competitive advantage, enhanced customer experience, and reduced costs. The study concludes with recommendations for banks in Pakistan to adopt FinTech solutions to achieve operational excellence, and suggests areas for future research to further explore the impact of FinTech on operational performance in the banking industry

A Miniaturized Wide Band Implantable Antenna for Biomedical Application

In this paper, a miniaturized high gain antenna was designed for biomedical applications. The designed antenna operates on the industrial, medical, and scientific(2.40 - 2.4835) GHz band. The proposed antenna consists of the radiating element having rectangular, and circular slots, and a ground plane with rectangular slots. The total volume of the designed antenna is (7x7xO.2) mm 3 , and the thickness of the superstrate and substrate is 0.1 mm. The Rogers ULTRALAM (e , = 2.9, tanD = 0.0025) material is used for substrate and superstrate. The proposed antenna is placed inside the different phantoms of the human body. The maximum gain achieved by the simulations of the proposed antenna is -12 dBi at 2.45 GHz. The designed antenna has better results than the antennas discussed in the literature in term of size, gain, and bandwidth

Occurrence of HCV genotypes in different age groups of patients from Lahore, Pakistan

Background: Hepatitis C virus is a small, enveloped single stranded, positive sense RNA virus. Different genotypes are distributed in different geographical areas of the world. Determination of HCV genotype is a powerful tool for the treatment of chronic and acute liver disease.Method: The present study was carried out to find the occurrence of different HCV genotypes in the city of Lahore, a populous city of Pakistan from January 2010 to December 2010. Blood sample of patients positive for anti HCV by ELISA as well as HCV by PCR were collected and plasma was separated. HCV viral RNA load was analyzed in these samples using Real Time PCR. Qiagen HCV mini kit for RNA extraction and Qiagen HCV amplification kit for PCR amplification were used. Amplicons were subjected to HCV genotyping using Third Wave Technology.Results: Among 489 patients, 211 (43.1%) patients were males and 278 (56.9%) were females. Occurrence of HCV in the age group of 36-45 years was 32.5 %. Occurrence of HCV genotype 1 was 9.6% (47), genotype 3a was 80.77% (395), genotype 3h was 1.0% (5) , genotype 4 was 4.9% (24), co-infection of genotypes 1 & 2 was 0.2% (01), co-infection of genotypes 1 & 3 was 0.6% (03) and co-infection genotypes 1 & 4 was 0.4% (02).Conclusion: HCV genotype 3a is most prevalent HCV genotype in subjected population during said duration with most infected people from 26 to 35 years of age. Female population is having more of HCV infection as compared to males

Determining the potential scalability of transport interventions for improving maternal, child, and newborn health in Pakistan

Background: Pakistan is far behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals regarding the reduction of child and maternal mortality. Amongst other factors, transport barriers make the requisite obstetric care inaccessible for women during pregnancy and at birth, when complications may become life threatening for mother and child. The significance of efficient transport in maternal and neonatal health calls for identifying which currently implemented transport interventions have potential for scalability. Methods: A qualitative appraisal of data and information about selected transport interventions generated primarily by beneficiaries, coordinators, and heads of organizations working with maternal, child, and newborn health programs was conducted against the CORRECT criteria of Credibility, Observability, Relevance, Relative Advantage, Easy-Transferability, Compatibility and Testability. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) techniques were used to analyse seven interventions against operational indicators. Logical inference was drawn to assess the implications of each intervention. QCA was used to determine simplifying and complicating factors to measure potential for scaling up of the selected transport intervention. Results: Despite challenges like deficient in-journey care and need for greater community involvement, community-based ambulance services were managed with the support of the community and had a relatively simple model, and therefore had high scalability potential. Other interventions, including facility-based services, public-sector emergency services, and transport voucher schemes, had limitations of governance, long-term sustainability, large capital expenditures, and need for management agencies that adversely affected their scalability potential. Conclusion: To reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality and increase accessibility of health facilities, it is important to build effective referral linkages through efficient transport systems. Effective linkages between community-based models, facility-based models, and public sector emergency services should be established to provide comprehensive coverage. Voucher scheme integrated with community-based services may bring improvements in service utilization