What Determines Innovation in the Manufacturing Sector? Evidence from Pakistan.

This study analysed the behaviour of a sample of manufacturing firms in Pakistan in order to understand what determines innovative activity employing a panel data set for the years 2002 and 2006-07. Probit estimation results reveal that size of the firm and human resource quality are important internal factors that increase the likelihood of a firm innovating. Interestingly, whether a firm is exporting or not has no bearing. However, post innovating there is a large increase in number of firms who export. Externally, presence in a geographic cluster is important though further analysis reveals that the impact varies according to firm size. Size per se does not increase likelihood of innovating for medium sized firm who only have an advantage over small sized firms when present in a cluster. Large firms on the other hand continue to have an advantage and the advantage further increases with presence in a cluster. Finally, analysis by product and process innovators reveals that the characteristics of firms undertaking the two types of innovative activity are similar. The only noteworthy difference being that process innovation does not benefit from presence of a firm in a cluster which might be attributable to the more visible nature of product innovation which benefits from technological spillovers that are a characteristic of presence in a cluster. JEL classifications: O14, O31, O33, L6 Keywords: Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentive, Developing Countries, Industry Stud

Patterns of Suicidal Poisoning Cases in Three Tertiary Care Government Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Suicidal attempts are a global problem and their rate of incidence is increasing day by day. This study aimed to elucidate the patterns of suicidal poisoning cases presenting in three tertiary care government hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, past data records of 627 suicidal (poisoning) cases of the three tertiary care hospitals of Karachi from a period of January 2016 to December 2016 were evaluated to see patterns of suicidal cases. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 via Chi-squared test. Results: Majority of the cases (36.4%) belonged to the 9-25 years’ age group. Mean age of the cases was 25.31 ± 9.92. Females (57.3%) considerably outnumbered males (42.7%). The greatest number of cases reported was from Southern district of Karachi (23%) followed by West (21.5%), central (20.9%) and East (11%) reported mainly at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The most common poisoning agent used for suicidal attempts was insecticide (40.2%), followed by rodenticide (19.9%). Majority of patients were examined on the same day of attempting suicide (95.5%), majority were in conscious state (76.2%). Admission record for most cases was unmentioned. (66.3%) Conclusion: Majority of the cases presented at three tertiary care government hospitals who attempted suicide were young female adults mainly from South district of Karachi followed by West, Central and East Karachi. Pesticides, specifically, insecticides and rodenticides, were the most commonly used poisoning agents used for suicide. Majority of cases were brought at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre in the conscious state

Comparative evolutionary and structural analyses of the TYRP1 gene reveal molecular mechanisms of biological functions in mammals

Molecular mechanisms underlying adaptation to the environments are still challenging in evolutionary biology. This study conducted a comparative analysis of tyrosine protein across different mammalian species to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of adaptive evolution in response to oxidative stress. By examining tyrosine protein's structural and evolutionary patterns, the study identified specific amino acid residues that may have played a role in adaptive evolution in response to oxidative stress. We examined this protein's structural and evolutionary patterns and identified specific amino acid residues that may have played a role in adaptive evolution. Our results suggest that changes in the tyrosine protein may have contributed to the evolution of antioxidant defense mechanisms in mammals. We also reconstructed the evolutionary history of tyrosine protein in mammals and identified key events and lineages that may have contributed to the observed patterns of adaptation. These findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie adaptive evolution in response to environmental stressors and highlight the importance of the tyrosine protein in the evolution of antioxidant defense systems in mammals. The results suggest that changes in the tyrosine protein may have contributed to the evolution of antioxidant defense mechanisms in mammals. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie adaptive evolution in response to environmental stressors.The authors extend their appreciation to the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R165), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Peer reviewe

Anchoring Carboxyl Functionalized Gold-Aryl Nanoparticles to Graphene Oxide Platforms for Environmental Nanoremediation

Graphene oxide (GO) was decorated with gold-aryl (Au-C) nanoparticles AuNPs-COOH by sodium borohydride reduction of aryldiazonium tetrachloroaurate(III) salt at room temperature in aqueous solutions. BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) measurements supported the anchoring of GO by AuNPs modified with carboxyl functional groups; surface area dropped significantly. Morphology of AuNPs-COOH/GO nanocomposite (NC) was probed using AFM and TEM and images showed surface roughness and wrinkling. Molecular dynamics (MD) calculations endowed support of favorable wrinkling at the edges and carboxyl intercalation to GO surface of types p-p, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. Solvent accessible surface area calculations (SASA) of GO showed a decrease in total surface area, in agreement with BET results. Environmental nanoremediation of the catalytic reduction of nitrophenol and the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 (model pollutants) were investigated. The apparent rate constants Kapp of the four catalytic reduction cycles of nitrophenol were measured. The highest value is 1.17 × 10-1 min-1 for the first cycle which decreased to 4.49 × 10-2 min-1 for the fourth cycle. Electrocatalytic studies revealed that the NC enhanced the CO2 reduction. The NC exhibited higher current densities in the CO2 solution saturated (48 mA/cm2) compared to N2 (37 mA/cm2), indicating its superior catalytic activity in CO2 reduction

Evaluation of MONOFER-induced hypersensitive reactions: A retrospective cohort study

Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anaemia. Over the years, various IV preparations of iron have been developed, including Monofer® (Iron isomaltoside 1000), that showed a remarkable reduction in the occurance of hypersensitivity reactions. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the severity and extent to which hypersensitivity reactions occur after the administration of IV iron isomaltoside 1000 in an Asian population. Multistage sampling was adopted for this study. The overall sample size was 864. The mean age of the participants was 55.29 ±18.44 years. The results depicted that 63 (7.29%) of the entire participants faced hypersensitivity reactions after IV administration. A total of 43 (68.25%) participants who experienced hypersensitivity reactions showed clinical symptoms within one hour, 11(17.46%) showed reaction in 1-3 hours and 9 (14.29%) showed in \u3e 3 Hours. The majority of the studied population showed significant improvement only after the administration of Pheniramine maleate, while only a few of them received Hydrocortisone

High Refractive index Ti3O5 films for dielectric metasurfaces

Ti3O5 films are deposited with the help of an electron beam evaporator for their applications in metasurfaces. The film of subwavelength (632 nm) thickness is deposited on a silicon substrate and annealed at 400 degrees C. The ellipsometry result shows a high refractive index above 2.5 with the minimum absorption coefficient in the visible region, which is necessary for high efficiency of transparent metasurfaces. Atomic force microscopy analysis is employed to measure the roughness of the as-deposited films. It is seen from micrographs that the deposited films are very smooth with the minimum roughness to prevent scattering and absorption losses for metasurface devices. The absence of grains and cracks can be seen by scanning electron microscope analysis, which is favorable for electron beam lithography. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveals the transmission and reflection obtained from the film deposited on glass substrates. The as-deposited film shows high transmission above 60%, which is in good agreement with metasurfaces.1111Nsciescopu