Capital Structure and Financial Performance: Evidence from Pakistan

The research is done with the purpose of increasing knowledge about the importance of working capital management. The research investigates the impact of working capital management on the profitability of the firms along with the impact of the same on the fixed capital investment of the firm. The research also finds out the interrelationship of fixed capital investment and profitability because the ultimate goal of the firms is to achieve maximum profitability at the lowest level of risk. The research has thoroughly examined the impact of variables involved through ratio analysis and tools like regression and correlation. The data was gathered from Karachi Stock Exchange. The data gathering was archival and panel data was used as a method to extract the needed information. The 20 companies are selected from KSE-30 index because they were considered the best-performing stocks in the market. The remaining 10 companies fall in the Banking sector which has a totally different perspective of debt and equity situation, thus, commercial banks are eliminated from the KSE-30 companies in this research. The results of the study show that working capital management does not affect the profitability of the firms in isolation, but there is a slight impact of managing the current assets and current liabilities. These should be accompanied by other variables as well to ensure profitability. The fixed capital investment has an extremely low, in fact, negligible impact on profitability. The effect of working capital management varies among industries

Quality of life in the Iranian Blind War Survivors in 2007: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Quality of Life measurements are necessary tools for effectively evaluating health services. In the population of patients afflicted with war-related blindness in Iran, such measurements have yet to be documented and utilized. "The design and implementation of this study involved the determination of a baseline score for QOL in a population of Iranian blinded in the Iraq-Iran war in order to facilitate the design of interventions intended to improve the population's QOL."</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study of a representative population of 250 war victims blind in both eyes at a 14-day recreational conference.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participants had a mean age of 43.20(SD8.34) and their composition was 96.5% male and 3.5% female with a mean SF-36 QOL score of 59.20(SD22.80). An increasing level of education among the participants correlated with a higher QOL score (p = 0.006). The QOL also has a significant correlation to number of injuries (p < 0.0001). High systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hearing loss, and tinnitus had negative individual correlations to QOL (p = 0.016, 0.016, 0.005, p < 0.0001). The male sexual disorders of erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation both had significant correlations to QOL (p = 0.026, p < 0.0001). Hypercholesterolemia showed significant correlation to QOL (p = 0.021).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As blind war survivors' age, they will present with a greater set of burdens despite their relatively better QOL in the physical component scale when compared with lower limb amputees. Risk factors of cardiovascular attack such as high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia were present and need future interventions.</p> <p>Key words</p> <p>Quality of life, blindness, SF36, health</p

Overt and Latent Cardiac Effects of Ozone Inhalation in Rats: Evidence for Autonomic Modulation and Increased Myocardial Vulnerability

Background: Ozone (O3) is a well-documented respiratory oxidant, but increasing epidemiological evidence points to extrapulmonary effects, including positive associations between ambient O3 concentrations and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality

Prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in Iran

BACKGROUND: Estimates of the annual prevalence for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) were consistent across the international sites range, 1.9% – 2.5%. The nine population surveys, which used Diagnostic Interview Schedule, estimated a six-month prevalence of OCD ranging from 0.7% to 2.1%. This study performed in order to determine the prevalence of OCD in a population-based study among Iranian adults aged 18 and older and to study the association of them with factors such as sex, marital status, education, type of occupation and residential area. METHODS: A cross-sectional nationwide epidemiological study of the Iranian population aged 18 and older was designed to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and their association with the above mentioned factors. 25180 individuals were selected and interviewed through a randomized systematic and cluster sampling method from all Iranian households. Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) criteria were used in diagnosis of OCD. 250 clinical psychologists interviewed the selected subjects face to face at their homes. RESULTS: The prevalence of OCD in Iran is 1.8% (0.7% and 2.8% in males and females; respectively). 50.3% of the survey sample were men, 49.9% women, 29.1% single, 67.45% married, 0.4% separated or divorced, 2.5% widow/widower and 4% undetermined. All of the above-mentioned factors were examined in the univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Although the data did not fit the models well, but in univariate models, sex, the category "single" of marital status, age, the categories "business" and "housewife" and residential areas showed significant effect adjusting for the factors, but the models didn't fit the data properly. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that the prevalence of OCD is not rare in the community of Iran and is within the range of other countries. Similar to prior studies in other communities, OCD is more common in females than males

The Recent-Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains among Iranian and Afghan Relapse Cases: a DNA-fingerprinting using RFLP and spoligotyping

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Relapse of tuberculosis (TB) may develop as the result of reactivation of the endogenous primary infection, or as a result of a exogenous reinfection. This survey evaluated the rate of reactivation versus recent transmission among Iranian and Afghan relapse cases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sputum specimens were digested, examined microscopically for acid-fast bacilli, and inoculated into Löwenstein-Jensen slants by standard procedures. Thereafter, the susceptibility and identification tests were performed on culture positive specimens. Subsequently, the strains that were identified as <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(258 isolates) were subjected to IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and spoligotyping. Additional patient's information was collected for further epidemiological analysis. Patients whose isolates had identical genotyping patterns were considered a cluster with recent transmission episode.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 258 available isolates, 72(28%) had multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB) in ratio and 42 (16.2%) had other resistant. Notably, 38 of MDR-TB cases (52%) were isolated from Afghan patients. By IS6110-RFLP typing method, 65 patients (25%) were clustered in 29 clusters. In cluster cases, the intra-community transmissions between Iranian and Afghan patients were 41%. All MDR-TB patients in clusters had either Haarlem I or Beijing characteristic. The risk factors like sex, family history, close contact, living condition, PPD test result and site of TB infection were not associated with clustering. Although, the MDR-TB strains were more frequent in non-cluster cases (31%) than cluster one(18%) (P < 0.05). Majority of <it>M. tuberculosis </it>strains isolated from non-cluster cases were belong to EAI3 (51; 30%) and CASI(32;18.6%) superfamilies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>During the studied period, reactivation of a previous infection remain the more probable cause of recurrence. Although, the evidence of intra- community transmission between Iranian and Afghan TB cases, highlighted the impact of afghan immigrants in national tuberculosis control program (NTP) of Iran.</p

Multiple interactions between the alpha2C- and beta1-adrenergic receptors influence heart failure survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Persistent stimulation of cardiac β₁-adrenergic receptors by endogenous norepinephrine promotes heart failure progression. Polymorphisms of this gene are known to alter receptor function or expression, as are polymorphisms of the α_2C-adrenergic receptor, which regulates norepinephrine release from cardiac presynaptic nerves. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible synergistic effects of polymorphisms of these two intronless genes (<it>ADRB1 </it>and <it>ADRA2C</it>, respectively) on the risk of death/transplant in heart failure patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixteen sequence variations in <it>ADRA2C </it>and 17 sequence variations in <it>ADRB1 </it>were genotyped in a longitudinal study of 655 white heart failure patients. Eleven sequence variations in each gene were polymorphic in the heart failure cohort. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to identify polymorphisms and potential intra- or intergenic interactions that influenced risk of death or cardiac transplant. A leave-one-out cross-validation method was utilized for internal validation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three polymorphisms in <it>ADRA2C </it>and five polymorphisms in <it>ADRB1 </it>were involved in eight cross-validated epistatic interactions identifying several two-locus genotype classes with significant relative risks ranging from 3.02 to 9.23. There was no evidence of intragenic epistasis. Combining high risk genotype classes across epistatic pairs to take into account linkage disequilibrium, the relative risk of death or transplant was 3.35 (1.82, 6.18) relative to all other genotype classes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Multiple polymorphisms act synergistically between the <it>ADRA2C </it>and <it>ADRB1 </it>genes to increase risk of death or cardiac transplant in heart failure patients.</p

Gluten sensitivity enteropathy in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) is an autoimmune enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten-containing grains in susceptible individuals. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) may be the sole manifestation of GSE. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of gluten sensitivity enteropathy (GSE) in a large group of patients with RAS and assess the efficacy of gluten free diet (GFD) on the improvement of aphthous lesions in those who were diagnosed with GSE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and forty seven patients with RAS were included. The patients had at least three aphthous attacks per year. Patients were screened by IgA anti-endomysial antibody (EMA), IgA anti tissue transglutaminase (TTG) and serum IgA level. Those with a positive serology underwent endoscopic biopsies of the duodenal mucosa and patients with negative serology were excluded. The diagnosis of GSE was based on a positive serological test and abnormal duodenal histology. For patients with GSE, gluten free diet was recommended.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six out of 247 RAS patients had positive TTG test alone, and one had positive EMA and TTG. All 7 patients with positive serologic tests underwent duodenal biopsies. Histological findings were compatible with GSE in all of them (Marsh I in four patients, Marsh II in two patients and Marsh IIIB in one another.). The mean age of GSE patients was 27.42 ± 10.56 (range, 13 to 40) years old. They were suffering from RAS for an average duration of 4.5 years. All of the 7 GSE patients had not responded to the routine anti-aphthae medications, including topical corticosteroids, tetracycline and colchicine. Four patients who adhered to a strict gluten-free diet showed noticeable improvement in their aphthous lesions over a period of 6 months.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A significant minority (e.g. 2.83%) of RAS patients have GSE. This could be compared with the 0.9% prevalence of GSE in the general population of Iran. This study suggests that evaluation for celiac disease is appropriate in patients with RAS. Additionally, the unresponsiveness to conventional anti-aphthae treatment could be an additional risk indicator.</p