The Impact of Corruption on Firm Performance: Evidence from Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of bribery on firm performance and provides quantitative estimates of the impact of corruption on the performance of the firm. Impact of bribery is checked through the questionnaire which is distributed among 100 respondents. In theoretical framework, firm performance is dependent variable and bribery is independent variable. The correlation between firm performance and bribery which is measure in obtaining more government contracts in questioner and bribery which is measure as cost of obtaining the contracts is (r = -0.8012) having negative association between them. The size value of correlation is (r = -0.0074 & -0.0056) showing that the size is not important in bribery and have subsequently have no affect on firm performance. The value of R-Square in table 2 is close to 0.649 which indicate very well fit to data. It means that almost 65 % change is due to the response variable (bribery). F-test value is very significant in both table showing that the model is best fitted with the data. Sample size is one of the study limitation which could be removed in future research by enlarging sample size. Keywords: Corruption. Bribery.  Firm performance. Economic growth. Government contract

Effects of Inluin and Oligofructose Fortification on the Physico-Chemical, Sensory and Functional Properties of Clarfified Banana Juice

A comparative study conducted between Berangan and Mas banana cultivars at the same maturity index 6 (fully yellow-good eating stage) revealed that Berangan was more suitable for value added processing because of its lower soluble protein concentration, peroxidases and polyphenoloxidase activity. The two enzymes are responsible for developing browning in fruit tissues and also ultimately in the juice. Berangan has better sensory attributes in terms of taste, colour and over-all acceptability. Inulin and oligofructose are non-digestible oligosaccharides found in banana at 0.3-0.7%, respectively. These are considered too low to have any significant prebiotic effect for host health. Therefore clarified banana juice was prepared and fortified with inulin and oligofructose in order to increase its nutritional and functional properties. The fortification levels of inulin and oligofructose optimized at 2% and 10%, respectively yield banana juice with acceptable sensory and physical characteristics without effecting the original taste and flavour of banana. Storage study was conducted for 8 weeks at 4 0C, 25 0C and 35 0C to determine the storage stability of clarified banana juice fortified with inulin and oligofructose. The juice quality remained stable in terms of its physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics for 8 weeks at different storage temperatures except for turbidity, whose continuous increase during storage in all the samples was found a critical quality problem especially for samples stored at 35 0C. However juice samples stored at 4 0C had less turbidity problem and were rated highest and most acceptable for different sensory parameters. The results of the in vivo study revealed that administration of fortified banana juice significantly increase the growth of health promoting bacteria i.e. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, short chain fatty acids especially butyrate in the gut of the treated rats compared to rats fed distill water and with plain clarified banana juice. There was also an increase in mucosal thickness in cecum and proximal colon of rats fed with fortified juice, hence reduces the chances of many large bowel diseases. Rats of this same group also observed significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL (Low density lipoprotein) concentration in the serum lipid thus contributing to hypochlesterolemic effect for patients with high serum cholesterol level

Financial Sector, Democracy and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis

Economic growth depends on many factors like the traditional factors of capital, labour and technological advancement and the somewhat novel factors of financial development and the nature of political regime. The relationship between the nature of political structure and economic growth is quite complicated. There may be direct and indirect impacts of the nature of political set up on economic growth. However, these channels remain un-explored to larger extent. The present study is conducted to analyse economic growth under democracy and dictatorship for a considerably larger set of countries from 1974 to 2013. The indirect impact of democracy on economic growth is analysed through an unexplored channel of financial sector performance, which is expected to be sensitive to regime type. The direct impact of democracy is found to be positively significant on economic growth. Likewise, direct impact of financial sector performance on economic growth is also found to be positive and significant. However, democracy had negative indirect impact on economic growth through financial sector but the magnitude of this indirect negative impact is minute enough to be ignored as compared to large individual direct effects of democracy and financial sector. JEL Classification: O40, O43, O16 Keywords: Economic Growth, Democracy, Dictatorship, Financial Sector Performanc

Complications of Tube Thoracostomy- How Well Are We Training our junior Doctors?

Objective:   This study aims to explore the common causative factors of dysfunctional closed chest drainage unit, their relative frequency and to give recommendations for its prevention. Study Design: Retrospective study Place and Duration of study: Department of Thoracic surgery, Nishter Medical University, Multan, between February 2015 and January 2017 Method: 139 patients were included in whom tube thoracostomy had been performed but it had failed in draining the pleural collection. Detailed history and thorough physical examination were carried out, Chest x-ray and where necessary chest CT scan were done to evaluate placement of chest tube and to work out the causative factor of dysfunctional closed chest drainage unit. Results: Out of the 139 study cases, 36(25.9%) were females while 103(74.1%) were male patients. Mean age of our study cases was 37.2 ±14.5 years (minimum age was 12 while maximum age was 65 years). A wrong connection of CDU was the most common cause of dysfunctional closed CDU. It was found in 24 cases (17.3%).Where as inadequate prime fluid, loose connections, kinked tubes; over full bottles were the other common problems. Conclusion: Dysfunctional closed chest drainage unit is a common but serious clinical problem which results in significant rise in morbidity, prolonged hospital stay and economic burden. It can be prevented by adopting proper protocol of tube thoracostomy. Keywords: Dysfunctional chest drainage unit, Faulty chest tubes, Non-functioning tube thoracostomy, Failure of chest drainage system. Abbreviations: Chest drainage unit-CDU, tube thoracostomy-T

Pharmacokinetic Interactions of Rosuvastatin: A Review

Rosuvastatin was claimed a “super-statin” to lower the LDL cholesterol comparing with other statins. An excellent benefit-risk profile of Rosuvastatin makes it more acceptable to treat dyslipidemia.   Safety profile is also comparable with other marketed statin. This statin is widely prescribed to treat hyperlipidemics in combination with other drugs. Interactions with other co-prescribed drugs might potentiate or lower its therapeutic effectiveness. This review accentuates the origin of rosuvastatin in the family of statins and highlights the various interactions specifically pharmacokinetic interactions with other drugs that are commonly prescribed in its combination. Keywords: Rosuvastatin, Interactions, Statins, Hyperlipidemi

Dynamic stereoselective annulation via aldol-oxa-cyclization cascade reaction to afford spirooxindole pyran polycycles

Spiro polycyclic compounds bearing pyran ring systems are found in bioactive molecules, and we recently reported the construction of spirooxindole all-carbon polycycles. Here we show the development of catalytic stereoselective annulation reactions that afford spirooxindole pyran polycycles. Oxindole-derived spiro[4,5]decanes are reacted with arylglyoxal to construct a pyran ring via the formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen bonds through dynamic aldol-oxa-cyclization cascade reactions, leading to the formation of spirooxindole pyran polycycles bearing six stereogenic centers as single diastereomers. During the reaction, the starting material is isomerized to the diastereomer, and this is key to afford the product. Taking advantage of this isomerization, highly enantiomerically enriched single diastereomers of spirooxindole pyran polycycles are obtained. The reactions generating the spiro pyran polycycles show stereoselectivities distinct from those previously observed in the construction of all-carbon polycycles

Synthesis of Functionalized Spirooxindole Polycycles: Use of Cyclic 1,3-Diones as Reactants or as Condition-Tuning Molecules

This account describes the strategies for the synthesis of functionalized spirooxindole polycycles, including enantiomerically enriched forms, that we have developed and reported. The syntheses of these complex molecules were accomplished in a few steps starting from relatively simple oxindole derivatives and other reactants. Organocatalytic reactions involved in kinetic resolution or in dynamic kinetic transformation led to the formation of products with high diastereo- and/or enantioselectivities. Cyclic 1,3-diones, such as 1,3-cyclohexanedione, were used as reactants to provide two reaction sites for the construction of polycyclic ring systems. To tune the reaction conditions, 2-methyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione was employed. The developed methods enabled the synthesis of complex functionalized spirooxindole polycycles bearing up to seven stereogenic centers, and will be useful for the synthesis of potentially bioactive molecules.journal articl