The impact of socio-economic factors on small business success

Small enterprises play a vital role in economic development as they can provide the economy with efficiency, innovation, competition and employment. Entrepreneurs are responsible for the success of their businesses and have to face up with definite challenges in doing so. To know what constitute critical determinants of small business success data were collected from 60 randomly selected respondents in the Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Pakistan, who were administered with structured questionnaires. Regression analyses of the findings showed the positive and significant impact factors of investment, entrepreneurial experience, business profile and culture with R2=0.638 and F= 11.222. The provision of ample opportunities to develop skills for business enhancement is suggested as the rational way forward

Analysis of reporter proteins GUS and DsRed driven under the control of CaMV35S promoter in syncytia induced by beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii in Arabidopsis roots

Background: Cyst nematodes induce specialized feeding structures called syncytia in the plant roots. The expression of CaMV promoter in syncytia has remained topic of debate. The objective of this research was to study the activity of CaMV promoter by using reporter proteins like GUSand DsRed under the control of CaMV35S promoter in syncytia induced by H. schachtii in Arabidopsis roots.Methods: pMAA-Red and pPZP3425 plasmids were used to study expression of GUS and DsRedin syncytia.  The plants were grown in 2% Knop medium under sterile conditions in growth chambers at 25°C in long day conditions. GUS activity in syncytia was studied through staining of syncytia using X-gluc solution. Ds-Red fluorescence in syncytia was detected by using an inverse microscope equipped with UV filter.Results: The expression analysis of DsRed protein driven by CaMV promoter demonstrated that this promoter is active in syncytia at all the time points. All the syncytia showed DsRed expression at 5 dpi. At 7 dpi, 10 dpi and 15 dpi over 90%, 80% and 50% of the syncytia showed DsRedfluorescence respectively. There was very high fluorescence in the syncytia as compared to the uninfected root segments due to high expression. CaMV::GUS lines showed GUS expression in 80% of 5dpi syncytia. However, unlike expression of DsRed, the number of GUS stained syncytia decreased quickly to around 50% at 7 dpi and to about 5% in the 15 dpi syncytia.Conclusions: The results conclude that CaMV promoter is more active in younger syncytia as compared to older syncytia but can be used for expression in syncytia. Moreover, DsRed protein could be used as better reporter for evaluation of gene expression in syncytia as compared to GUS

Direct Solar Absorption Nanofluids for Forward Osmosis Desalination

Solar energy is the most abundant and easily accessible source of renewable energy, however, its efficient use is not an easy task. Absorption of solar energy directly by the working fluid is an emerging trend in solar collection, known as direct solar absorption. On the other hand, almost one-third of the world population is living in water stressed conditions and this figure is expected to continuously increase in next a few decades. Desalination of sea and brackish water and reclamation of wastewater is being progressively practiced worldwide through different techniques. Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging desalination technology, which operates under an internal osmotic gradient across the FO membrane. The lack of proper draw solutions with high osmotic pressure, minimum reverse solute flux and easy regeneration properties, however, limits the FO’s development. This work develops a novel concept of combining solar energy, nanoparticles and FO to produce potable water suitable in arid areas, far away from the grids. Two independent functions i.e. osmotic pressure and direct solar absorption, are integrated for the first time into purposely formulated nanofluids for FO solar desalination. The direct solar absorptive nanofluid based novel draw solutions (NDS) are aimed at developing high osmotic pressure for enhanced water flux across FO membrane and, at the same time, to absorb solar energy efficiently for their regeneration. A number of nanofluids were formulated and characterized in terms of their morphologies, structures and elemental compositions. The characterized nanofluids were investigated experimentally for their direct solar absorption behaviour and FO performance. A unique hybrid of direct absorptive nanofluid and osmotically active matters was developed that sufficiently performed the proposed two functions in FO solar desalination. The photothermal conversion performance of engineered NDS was examined under a solar simulator and the results revealed the influence of nanoparticle type and concentration. The inclusion of low concentrations of nanoparticles could improve solar capture significantly. In direct solar absorption and steam generation experiments, nine nanofluids were examined and an enhancement in bulk photothermal efficiency (PTE) of about 95%, 100% and 105% over the base fluid was observed with gold, silver and carbon nanofiber (CNF) nanofluids respectively. The most absorptive carbon nanofiber based nanofluid was surface functionalized for osmotic pressure enhancement and experimented as NDS for FO performance in terms of osmotic pressure, water flux, reverse solute flux and water recovery. The NDS developed sufficient osmotic pressure and an enhancement of 80% in water flux was observed over 1M salt solution used as reference. The reverse solute flux of the NDS was negligible and the quality of product water was within the potable water standards. The experimental results showed that the proposed novel draw solutions can sufficiently develop osmotic pressure to permeate water across the FO membrane and in the same time, significantly enhance the potable water generation using solar energy. Moreover, the quality of produced water suggested that these novel draw solutions could be potential candidates for future FO desalination in arid areas by using the energy from the Sun

The use of ADR methods in the context of the barriers obstructing access to non ADR justice in Indian sub-continent.

This research considers the related questions on access to justice in India sub-continent: what exactly is wrong with the judiciary, what is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and why do people prefer it to the judiciary in settling their disputes? What advantages does it have over the judicial system of justice? What are the types of ADR and what can be done to improve on it so as to ensure good performance? Is there any way or indicator to measure the barriers in the access to Justice and how it can be implemented? In the Indian sub-continent are allegations of corruption, abuse of office and ineptitude of government officers have also affected to the judiciary. Supposedly, Justice Users are faced with a lot of barriers in their path to access justice and, because of this, they are discontented, isolated and willing to shift away from the Judiciary. The reasons for this discontent are not far-fetched. One, the judiciary seems to be too corrupt, slow, too expensive and inefficient. From the high court judge to the court Clerks are issues bothering corruption, making it difficult for the less privileged to seek or get redress. The politicians are also implicated as contributing to the systemic inefficiency. At the time of recruitment and promotions for example, politicians could influence procedures of selection and promotions and hoping that such favoured Judges return favour when their political gladiators have issues to settle in the courts. Such practice affects cost, quality of the procedures and the quality of outcomes. Faced with this dilemma, the people are demonstrably turning to the age-long alternative dispute resolution system ADR, and this paradigm shift is generating curiosity among the people, especially among researchers

Towards competitive theorizing of strategy implementation process – empirical evidence from applying the RBV lens on implementation process

This study identified the core knowledge gap of a lack of competitive theorizing of strategy implementation (SIMP) in the processual and resource-based views of strategy. This gap exists due to tactical perception and relative inattention to variety in strategy implementation process and related competitive implications. It is argued that strategy process and the RBV perspectives can provide complementary insights necessary to move towards competitive theorizing of strategy implementation. A grounded research is conducted to compare how strategy implementation patterns explain implementation success and how those patterns explain heterogeneity in resources management in different firm types – foreign and indigenous. Content analysis of the interview data revealed significant heterogeneity in the strategy implementation process patterns and achieved implementation success. These SIMP process patterns are categorised based on the approach towards strategy implementation as a strategic phenomenon, firm’s type, and thrust of implementation process. Important sources of variations in implementation success emerged in the Competitive and Tactical implementing patterns. Three resources management activities emerged from the data and revealed important distinctions for the heterogeneous implementing patterns. The Tactical implementing patterns showed preference of strategic actors for use of internally available resources and acquisition of ready-made resources. The Competitive implementing patterns showed a balanced approach towards resources management by pursuing optimization of resources. These resources management heterogeneities are shaped by the SIMP process pattern and revealed implementation process performance, action timing and resources optimization as the key sources of competitiveness from strategy implementation. The empirical findings refute the notion that the role of strategy implementation is only to complement as an operational process without much competitive gains. This empirically challenges the conventional conceptions of implementation to adopt and institutionalize strategy and extends to the contribution of SIMP for strategy refinements to gain competitive gains. These findings strongly support that competitive theorizing of strategy implementation is a worthwhile scholarly pursuit via using the complementary views of strategy. Future research should build on this agenda of competitive theorizing of strategy implementation using other firm types, research settings and more micro level analysis

Modeling of Electrical Grid Systems to Evaluate Sustainable Electricity Generation in Pakistan

Pakistan has always had a history of severe energy shortfalls, which rose up to an alarming 33% in 2013. This situation was countered by investments in the energy sector through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which were unfortunately largely based on brown fuels. Although beneficial in the short term, these investments do not bode well for the climate scenario of Pakistan, with various parts of the country already having experienced temperatures rise of 1-3°C. To ensure that the current situation doesn’t exacerbate and is tackled in a timely manner, this research aims to examine how the untapped potential of renewable energy in Pakistan can be better utilized by modelling the entire electrical grid system for multi-portfolio based sustainable electricity generation, in line with the sustainable development goals chalked out by Pakistan with the United Nations (UN). Delving further into the matter, a gap is observed that demands coalescence between sustainability and portfolio-based generation in the context of Pakistan, since the prevalent narrative is of Business As Usual (BAU). The research methodology implemented is a cross sectional case study employing qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and outcomes, in which the entire grid system of Pakistan is studied and sustainability metrics are defined; followed by a comprehensive use of Multi-Criteria Decision Methodology in decision making process. Portfolios defined are a combination of different generation technologies, each simulating a possible avenue of policy, and are then evaluated for a range of sustainability metrics to understand the tradeoffs involved to arrive at a set goal. The process decision framework developed shall enable the Pakistani energy sector in meeting the energy demands by providing the decision-makers with various routes to do so, while informing on the sustainability impact of their decisions