Volatility of Exchange Rate and Export Growth in Pakistan: The Structure and Interdependence in Regional Markets

The study empirically investigates the effect of exchange rate volatility on exports growth between Pakistan and leading trade partners. The countries are selected to determine the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and the other countries under various regional economic blocks such as SAARC, ASEAN, European, and Asia-Pacific regions. Cointegration and Error Correction techniques are used to establish the empirical relationship between exchange rate volatility and exports growth, using quarterly data from 1991:3 to 2004:2. The results indicate that the volatility of exchange rate has negative and significant effects both in the long run and short run with major trade partners, namely, UK and US. A similar pattern was observed in case of Australia, Bangladesh, and Singapore, where the volume of trade with Pakistan is comparatively consistent and less volatile. The relationship between exports growth and exchange rate volatility for India and Pakistan is observed only in the long-run perspective. However, of countries like New Zealand and Malaysia, no empirical relationship is observed between export growth and exchange rate volatility.Export, Exchange Rate, Pakistan

Bodies tell stories: Freudian hysteria in Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She-Devil

Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She-Devil deals with the nature of the hysteric psychological state women in abusive relationships or situations may suffer from and how they may react in either passively relenting to these conditions or taking control of their lives to achieve change. Thus, the question is raised as to whether the hysteric condition may be used as a means to an end. Women's Freudian hysterical symptoms are often physically manifested by anorexia nervosa, loss of speech (muteness), disturbed sleep, and alienation, among other maladies which may be subsumed under the category of symptoms of Freudian hysteria. Such symptoms, according to Freud, appear as the consequences of sexual violations a subject may have encountered, resulting in the manifestation of psychological disturbances characteristic of hysteria. This paper aims to investigate Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She-Devil from Freud's theoretical perspectives on hysteria in order to indicate the influences of hysteria and its symptoms and reactions, focusing on the actions taken by the heroine of the novel under discussion to actualise herself

Utilization of Palm Kernel Cake in Muscovy Ducks

Four experiments were conducted on Muscovy ducks to evaluate their utilization, performance and nutrient digestibility when offered diets containing different levels of palm kernel cake (PKC). In the first experiment, two types of PKC (solvent and expeller extracted) were force-fed to male and female ducks 7 weeks of age and the nutrient digestibility, true metabolizable energy and true amino acid digestibility were determined. There was no significant (p>0.05) effect on the type of PKC used on crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), metabolizable energy (ME) and amino acid (AA) digestibility, except for those of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) which was higher in solvent extracted compared to expeller extracted PKC. It was found that the ducks utilized about 47% of the gross energy in PKC. The average apparent metabolizable energy value of PKC for Muscovy ducks was obtained to be 1870 kcal/kg, which was rather higher than those reported in broiler chickens. The performance of male and female Muscovy ducks when fed diets containing 15% and 35% levels of PKC were investigated. The results indicated that inclusion of up to 15% of PKC in growing diet for ducks did not depress growth nor feed conversion ratio (FCR) at any significant degree. Given the low cost of PKC, such usage is likely to be economic, depending, to some extent, on cost of added oil. At this level no negative effect in faecal consistency nor carcass fatness were observed. As PKC level increased up to 35%, the ducks ate more feed and as a result had poorer FCR. The explanation for the poorer FCR could be related to the decline in the energy and protein digestibility when ducks were fed at higher PKC level as compared to the control diet. It could be suggested that addition of oil to PKC based diet may improve the palatability and thus the feed intake and the performance of the ducks. Differences in the feed efficiency and nutrient digestibility between Muscovy ducks and broiler chickens were found when PKC was included up to 25% in the diet. Feeding up to 25% level of PKC to ducks was not associated in any detrimental effects on the performance and FCR. However, FCR was depressed when PKC was added at 25% level to broiler grower diet. The ME value was found to be higher in ducks than in chickens. This indicates that the ME value for chickens cannot be applied to ducks. The digestibility of NDF was found to be higher for ducks than for chickens and this could be due to the higher hemicellulose digestibility for ducks than for chickens

Islamic Branding

The market of halal food and Islamic finance sector which have increased dramatically in the past decade and many other Islamic products and services including cosmetics, real estate, hotels, fashion and insurance, (Alserhan, 2010a), have amplified the role of Islamic brand at present. Fatema et al. (2013) stated that Islamic marketing is aimed at Muslim consumers who are significantly different from the average consumer and that it utilizes specific recourses, skills, and tools that are directly relating and attractive to this particular segment. Therefore, with the presence of Muslim customers, this market segment can be targeted, reached and to a certain extent, predicted by marketers. The demographic changes and purchasing power of Muslim consumers and the success of Muslim businessmen have begun to make Islamic marketing an intellectually and managerially attractive area. As a result, the use of Islamic brands as marketing strategies has intensified in academic circles within the past few years, both inside and outside the Islamic world (Alserhan, 2010). This claim was further supported by Wilson and Liu (2011), stating that the phenomenon of Islamic branding as a new and independent discipline has attracted the attention of both academics and practitioners

The Effect of Water Restriction on Performance and Behaviour of Broiler Breeders

A study was carried out to investigate the effect of water restriction on various traits of broiler breeders under tropical conditions. The experimental treatment comprised of water available 24h/d and restricted to 8h/d and 6h/d. Body weight for male and female birds were not affected by water restriction during the growing period. Body weight was reduced significantly during the production period for 6h1d compared with 24h1d but showed no difference with 8h/d. Flock uniformity was similar for all groups at week 21. Water intake was significantly higher in water available ad libitum either on or off feed day compared with restricted groups. Water intake of 8h/d was significantly higher than those on 6h1d on feed day, while there was no significant effect on off feed day. There was no effect of water restriction on the percentage of birds spent standing and walking, resting, preening and spot pecking for all treatments, with the exception of scratching and pecking litter in which the water restricted treatments recorded higher proportion in this activity. Egg production, egg weight and hatchability were reduced significantly by water restriction. Fertility and several defects of egg were not affected by water restriction. Mortality was not affected during rearing, while in production periods mortality was significantly higher in the water restriction treatments. The results of this study showed that water restriction could be used during the growing period, but not during the production periods, since water restriction had a detrimental effect on egg production and mortality

Topical antihistamines and mast cell stabilisers for treating seasonal and perennial allergic conjunctivitis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Examining the relationships between quality assurance, training need and choice of study destination: a study of Nigerian students in UUM

Several studies identified quality of education as a major criteria influencing international student’s choice of study destination. But only recently has it seems to have gain a huge momentum by emerging as a theme which involves empirical studies.However, despite such momentum previous studies do not provide sufficient evidence linking quality assurance and international student’s choice of study destination.This paper therefore presents a study of international student’s perception of higher education quality assurance practices, as well as how it affects their choice of study destination.The paper tries to examine how training needs play a role in influencing such choice also. The paper through descriptive analysis identified six dimensions of quality assurance in education: “Tangibles” “competence” “attitude contends;” “delivery;” and “reliability” as well as three dimensions of training needs such “occupational” “organizational” and “individual” needs. Hence it present the inter-relationship between quality assurance, training needs and choice of study destination using the above nine dimension; it concludes with Implications and recommendations to stimulate further studies on study destination choice by the international students from other countries especially from the Arabian and the middle-east

Utilization of waste as a constituent ingredient for enhancing thermal performance of bricks – a review paper

In view of the environmental regulations, practitioners have been inclined to use bricks with higher insulation capability, however with minimal attention to sustainable material composition, let alone waste material. From a research perspective, in the wake of the growing concerns for the environment, the use of waste material to develop bricks which can exhibit suitable characteristics attributed to the material composition has been on the rise. However, the extant literature on utilization of waste materials for brick mix design has neglected to provide detailed literature review on the influence of waste materials on the thermal performance of bricks. Methods: This paper provides detailed review of research conducted on thermal properties of bricks produced from various types of waste. Influence of the method of manufacturing and type of waste on thermal performance of bricks is discussed. A sustainability selection criteria format is provided to assist optimal decision making in considering alternative sustainable waste material. Findings: A sustainability selection criteria format is provided to assist optimal decision making in considering alternative sustainable waste material. Applications: The outcome of this paper can serve as a common reference for practitioners and researchers attempting to seek out solutions for further improving overall quality of thermally insulated waste-incorporated bricks, paving the way for more focused research on waste utilization in the development of more sustainable wall material based on the current brick production process