Venture Capital Sector in Pakistan: Ratio Analysis Approach for Financial Performance Assessment

The purpose of study is to rank the venture capital companies operating in Pakistan during the period of 2006-2009 on the base of their financial performance. Ratio analysis technique was used to rank the venture capital companies using profitability / efficiency ratios and total assets as proxies of financial performance. This study concludes that TRG Pakistan Limited is at first in ranking on the bases of return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and total assets, and at second on the base of earnings per share (EPS). AMZ Ventures Limited is at first on the base of earnings per share (EPS), at second in ranking on the bases of return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and total assets. TMT Ventures Limited is third on the bases of all ratios, and total assets. This is the first attempt that was made with an objective to facilitate the students, investors and management of company with useful information regarding financial performance of all venture capital companies operating in Pakistan

Empirical Analysis of Determinants of Economic Growth: Evidence from SAARC Countries

This study investigates the factors that determine and enhance economic growth. The factors to determine the economic growth of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are foreign direct investment, total debt, gross domestic investment and inflation. Simple ordinary least square is applied to analyze the determinates of economic growth with the help of panel data for 39 years with annual frequency from 1971 to 2009. The economic growth may gain boost by the factors not only by these but also many others. In this study foreign direct investment and inflation are found having inverse relationship with economic growth while gross domestic investment and total debt are found positively associated with economic growth. This study may prove useful contribution for policy making for South Asian countries

Unit Interval Time and Magnitude Monitoring Using Beta and Unit Gamma Distributions

Quick detection of an assignable cause is necessary for process accuracy with respect to the specifications. The aim of this study is to monitor the time and magnitude processes based on unit-interval data. To this end, maximum exponentially weighted moving average (Max-EWMA) control chart for simultaneous monitoring time and magnitude of an event is proposed. To be precise, beta and unit gamma distributions are considered to develop the Max-EWMA chart. The chart’s performance is accessed using average run length (ARL), the standard deviation of run length (SDRL), and different quantiles of the run length distribution through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Besides a comprehensive simulation study, the proposed charting methodology is applied to a real data set. The results show that the proposed chart is more efficient in detecting small to medium-sized shifts. The results also indicate that simultaneous shifts are detected more quickly as compared to the pure shift

Rare Complication of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: Nephrostomy Tube in Renal Vein and Inferior Vena Cava

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is considered as the gold standard treatment for renal stones > 2cm. We encountered a patient who underwent PCNL and inadvertently placement ofpercutaneous nephrostomy tube in the inferior vena cava through the left renal vein from the left Kidney.There was profuse bleeding during the procedure (PCNL), and the procedure was abandoned by placing a nephrostomy tube. PNT was removed after 04 days in two steps without any bleeding

COLLISION OF DEMOCRATIC COACHING LEADERSHIP STYLE TO IMPROVE TECHNICAL SKILLS OF BADMINTON PLAYERS

This research study was carried out on the game technique of badminton players during the tournament educational organizational structure for developing successful inter-collegiate and inter-department level badminton players of Sukkur region, Sindh. The study was conducted on 200 male players of Badminton. The student-players of 20 affiliated colleges (N=100) and 20 teaching departments (N=100) of Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur participated in the study through a survey questionnaire was applied for the collection of data. The results show that the majority of students were with the higher impact of democratic coaching on technical skills of the badminton players. The frequencies, percentages were differently found with the overall means such as; 2.51, 2.55, 2.41, 2.39 and 2.48, respectively which were significantly different to each other. It is concluded that this information will help the coaches to improve the techniques of badminton players. Therefore, it is suggested that the University or College level inter-collegiate and inter-department badminton tournaments should be arranged and encouraged.  Article visualizations

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Does Income Level affect Saving Behaviour in Pakistan? An ARDL approach to co-integration for empirical assessment

The purpose this study was to identify the short-run and long-run relationship between income level and saving behaviour in Pakistan along with inflation and age dependency ratio by using co-integration and error correction model (ECM) for the period of 1985-2009. Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, bounds testing approach to co-integration were used to delineate the short- run and long –run relationship between income level and saving behavior. It is found that in short and long-run, income levels acquire highly significant and positive relationship with the saving behavior in case of Pakistan. This was the first attempt made by the researcher to estimate the income level effect on saving behaviour in case low income developing country like Pakistan. Given that Pakistan capital market is growing, the empirical assessment has direct policy relevance.Savings, Pakistan, Income level, ARDL, Life-cycle hypothesis