Attitudes towards entrepreneurship among the students of Thailand: an entrepreneurial attitude orientation approach

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The present study predicts attitude towards entrepreneurship among the students of Thailand through the entrepreneurial attitude orientation (EAO) model. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach is used, based on cross-sectional data from public sector universities of Thailand. The respondents are bachelor\u27s and master\u27s students who are acquiring entrepreneurship education. A random sampling technique was used to approach students to participate in the survey. A total of 392 useable questionnaires were returned, providing data for analysis. Findings: Using structural equation modeling, the results show a positive and significant impact of achievement, personal control and innovation on attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Self-esteem, however, has a non-significant impact on attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Practical implications: This study may be helpful for university policymakers wishing to know more about students\u27 entrepreneurial attitudes, as there is a strong need to divert more students towards entrepreneurship. This study may contribute to the entrepreneurship literature and the EAO scale, particularly in developing and Asian contexts. Originality/value: This study offers evidence of the development of entrepreneurial attitudes among the students of Thailand, which ensures the further validation of the EAO scale in a developing country

Enablers of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in a developing country

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) in a developing country (Pakistan). The literature reports that entrepreneurship education does not enhance the level of ESE of the students. In the same vein, it is strongly emphasized that self-efficacy is the basic element in the entrepreneur’s undertakings. However, limited research has been conducted on the subject and the factors that impact ESE in the context of developing economies. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was adopted, and data were collected from the 564 target respondents of different private and public universities of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the association between the variables of the conceptual model. Findings: This study found a positive and significant impact of the predictors, entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial experiences, instrumental readiness and risk propensity on ESE among the students. Practical implications: The findings of the study will help in developing self-efficacy for entrepreneurship in young potential entrepreneurs. They will also assist higher education management in developing and designing entrepreneurship academic curriculum and programs for the achievement of program learning outcomes. In addition, the findings will contribute to the literature of entrepreneurship and self-efficacy factors in the context of the developing country. Originality/value: The results of the study confirm empirically tested factors that have a positive impact on ESE in a developing country setting

RObustness of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB): A Comparative study between Pakistan and Thailand

© 2018, Allied Business Academies. As in the present era, an intention level for entrepreneurship among the people is continuously increasing on account of the important factors such as accomplishment of career and self-employment options. The present study attempts to explore out the entrepreneurial intention of Pakistani and Thai university students on the comparative basis. The development of theoretical framework is grounded on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) which is applied among bachelor and master level students at the different public sector universities of Pakistan and Thailand. In total 385, from Pakistan and 392 valid samples Thailand being used for the final analysis. Overall results suggest a significant difference in personal attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control towards entrepreneurial intention existing between the students from Pakistan and Thailand. The findings may contribute for the further validation of TPB in other Asian developing countries, particularly for comparison of students\u27 entrepreneurial intention

Detection of Macula and Recognition of Aged-Related Macular Degeneration in Retinal Fundus Images

In aged people, the central vision is affected by Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). From the digital retinal fundus images, AMD can be recognized because of the existence of Drusen, Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV), and Geographic Atrophy (GA). It is time-consuming and costly for the ophthalmologists to monitor fundus images. A monitoring system for automated digital fundus photography can reduce these problems. In this paper, we propose a new macula detection system based on contrast enhancement, top-hat transformation, and the modified Kirsch template method. Firstly, the retinal fundus image is processed through an image enhancement method so that the intensity distribution is improved for finer visualization. The contrast-enhanced image is further improved using the top-hat transformation function to make the intensities level differentiable between the macula and different sections of images. The retinal vessel is enhanced by employing the modified Kirsch's template method. It enhances the vasculature structures and suppresses the blob-like structures. Furthermore, the OTSU thresholding is used to segment out the dark regions and separate the vessel to extract the candidate regions. The dark region and the background estimated image are subtracted from the extracted blood vessels image to obtain the exact location of the macula. The proposed method applied on 1349 images of STARE, DRIVE, MESSIDOR, and DIARETDB1 databases and achieved the average sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predicted value, F1 score, and area under curve of 97.79 %, 97.65 %, 97.60 %, 97.38 %, 97.57 %, and 96.97 %, respectively. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method attains better performance, in terms of visual quality and enriched quantitative analysis, in comparison with eminent state-of-the-art methods

The descriptive study of anxiety levels among diabetics: insulin users versus non-insulin users

Background: Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of turmoil often accompanied by nervous behaviours such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints and rumination. Diabetes is the most metabolically active disease which can influence the psychological state. This study evaluates the anxiety levels among diabetics (Insulin users versus non-insulin users) along with its relation to certain demographic factors like age, sex, education, type of medication and medication compliance.Methods: Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAM-A) was used to test the anxiety levels in 187 diabetic patients visiting the diabetic clinic and research centre, Nishtar Hospital, Multan and other diabetic clinics in the area. 97 (51.87%) patients of the total sample are males and 90 (48.12%) patients are females.Results: In this study, 170 (91%) had type 2 diabetes while 17 (9%) suffered from Type 1 Diabetes. 66.66% of the patients in the sample were insulin users while 34.34% were non-insulin users. The overall mean anxiety level in insulin users is 24.55 and in non-insulin users is 23.92.Conclusions: Our study showed a high prevalence of anxiety levels in insulin users as compared to non-insulin users. Certain symptoms like anxious mood, tension, fears, depressed mood, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal symptoms appeared with mild anxiety levels while other symptoms like insomnia, somatic symptoms, autonomic symptoms, respiratory and genitourinary symptoms appeared with high severity levels. The presence of risk factors for anxiety among patients of diabetes predicts a causal relationship and deserves attention from clinicians

High resolution ultrasonography of thyroid nodules: can ultrasonographic assessment obviate the need for invasive aspiration cytology in ultrasonographically benign lesions?

The use of high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) thyroid imaging has resulted in a significant revolution in the treatment of thyroid nodules. The enigma of thyroid nodules has been a blind spot for radiologists for a long period. Reporting a thyroid nodule as benign or malignant is quite difficult and many times not accurate. The American Collage of Radiology-Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR-TIRADS) 2017 classification has solved this problem to a large extent. However, the classification needed pathological confirmation for it to be highly accurate. We compared our HRUS-based TIRADS labeling of thyroid nodules with thyroid cytopathology using revised Bethesda classification system. Patients detected with thyroid nodules by HRUS were categorized using ACR-TIRADS and further were taken for fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in our department. The pathological results were compared with the initial TIRADS category of the nodule and the effectiveness of the TIRADS classification in categorizing nodules into benign and malignant was assessed using various statistical variables. The initial USG and the FNAC were performed by a single radiologist with over 10 years of experience. A total of 201 patients underwent HRUS followed by FNAC after obtaining written consent in our department. The thyroid nodules labeled as true benign on ACR-TIRADS (TIRADS 2) were all true benign on Bethesda cytopathology (less than Bethesda III), confirming the high accuracy of HRUS. The diagnostic accuracy of HRUS in cases of ACR-TIRADS 3 nodules was approximately 90.6% with an error rate of 9.4%. Nodules labeled as ACR-TIRADS 4 and 5 had error rates of 47% and 10% in labeling nodules as malignant. The ultrasound-based ACR-TIRADS system can accurately predict the likelihood of specific nodules being benign. There is a strong concordance between Bethesda cytology and ACR-TIRADS classification, particularly for benign nodules. In resource-constrained system like ours, patients with TIRADS 2 and 3 nodules can be safely followed obviating the need for an invasive procedure like FNAC

The descriptive study of imposter syndrome in medical students

Background: Imposter syndrome is characterized by chronic feelings of self-doubt and fear of being discovered as an intellectual fraud. Despite evidence of abilities, those suffering from imposter syndrome are unable to internalize a sense of accomplishment, competence, or skill. Overall, they believe themselves to be less intelligent and competent than others perceive them to be. IS has several potential implications for medical education. The current study was designed to find out the frequency of imposter syndrome among medical students college so that certain measures must be taken to improve the teaching and learning methodologies as well as the curriculum.Methods: A cross-sectional, psycho-social analysis was conducted from March to July, 2018 at Nishtar Medical College, Multan after taking informed consent from the students. Clance Imposter Phenomenon Sclae (CIPS) was used to assess the prevalence and degree of severity of Imposter syndrome among medical chosen on basis of random sampling. The data collected was entered and analysed on SPSS v.20.Results: Two hundred (200) students were selected for the study and were asked to return the completed 20 items questionnaire. One hundred and eighty-nine (189) students returned the questionnaires, so the response rate was 94.5%. Out of 189 students, 121(64.36%) were males and 68(35.97%) were females. According to Clance imposter phenomenon scoring, of the total 189 students the severity of imposter syndrome is as follows: mild, 5(2.64%), moderate,72(38.09%), severe,103(54.49%) and very severe, 09(4.76%). Moreover, third year students were found to have high prevalence and degree of severity of imposter syndrome.Conclusions: Imposter phenomenon exists in a significant percentage of medical students and appears to peak in the third year of medical school. Both genders are at equal risk of having imposter syndrome. It is associated with various psychological illnesses. Further discussion regarding medical education paradigms in light of high levels of imposter phenomenon is needed

Insomnia among medical students: a cross-sectional study

Background: Insomnia, the most common sleep disorder, is the perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep because of one or more of the following conditions: difficulty in falling asleep, frequent waking up during the night with difficulty for returning to sleep, waking up too early in the morning, or unrefreshing sleep. It is the most common sleep related complaint reported in the primary care setting. Medical students are specially at risk of developing insomnia and its consequences. This study evaluates the prevalence and severity of insomnia in medical students in relation to certain socio-demographic factors like age, sex and class of education.Methods: A questionnaire based study was done on 135 medical students of Nishtar Medical University, Multan chosen on basis of random sampling to test the prevalence of insomnia using Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Out of these students 75 were males and 60 were females. Students were interviewed to obtain information about age, sex and academic year of education.Results: According to Athens insomniac scale scoring, 55 (40.74%) students were found insomniac while 80 (59.25%) were non-insomniac. Out of 55 insomniac students, 23 (41.81%) were males while 32 (58.18%) were females. Likewise, out of 80 non-insomniac students, 52 (65%) were males while 28 (35%) were females. The prevalence of insomnia in medical students was found to be increased with the increasing age. It was found that the females have more insomnia prevalence as well as more severe signs and symptoms of insomnia. Moreover, final year students tend to show more prevalence and severity of insomnia than their juniors.Conclusions: According to this study, 2 out of every 5 students were insomniac. Demographic comparison showed that the prevalence and severity of insomnia was more in females and final year students. Also, it was increasing side by side with increasing age