Impact of Personal Remittances on Economic Growth of Pakistan: A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis

The study targets the impact of personal remittances on economic growth in case of Pakistan for the time period 1980-2014. For this purpose, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Human Capital are used as control variables. Using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Philips-Peron (PP) unit root tests, all the variables came stationary at order one or I (1). Johansen Cointegration showed a long run relationship between personal remittances, FDI, human capital and economic growth. The results showed a positive long run impact of personal remittances, FDI and human capital on economic growth of Pakistan. Similarly, ECT (-1) term was -0.04 and also significant. Granger causality also showed a unidirectional causality running from personal remittances to economic growth. Moreover, the diagnostic tests showed normality of residuals, no autocorrelation and stationarity of residuals at level. Government should formulate such policies that encourage remittances in Pakistan by formulating reliable and efficient transfer mechanism to cheap transfer cost. Keywords: Personal Remittances, FDI, Economics Growt

Charismatic Leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iranian Revolution: A Sociological Study

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Clinical and laboratory profile of primary hyperparathyroidism in Kashmir Valley: A single-center experience

Background: Although primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) has become an asymptomatic disease in the West, in India, PHPT is still an uncommonly diagnosed, overtly symptomatic disease with skeletal, muscular, and renal manifestations. Aims: To describe the profile and surgical outcome of 78 consecutive PHPT patients over a period of two decades at a single center. Materials and Methods: All patients who underwent evaluation and surgery for PHPT from January 1996 to December 2015 were included. Evaluation included measurement of serum total calcium, inorganic phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, intact parathyroid hormone, 25-hydroxy Vitamin D, 24 hour urinary calcium and radiological survey. Ultrasonography neck and technetium-99m sestamibi scan were used for preoperative localization. Results: A total of 78 patients were identified during the two decades of whom 29 patients were studied retrospectively and 49 patients prospectively. Mean age of patients was 44.72 ± 12.46, and male:female ratio was 1:6. The most common presenting features were nephrolithiasis and/or nephrocalcinosis (64.10%), bone pain (44.1%), abdominal pain (39%), constipation (26%), and myopathy (14.10%). Fractures were present only in 10.25%, and brown tumors in 6.41% patients. The cure rate in our series was 96.15%. The mean parathyroid gland weight was 2.05 ± 3.03 g. None of the 41 patients in whom long-term follow-up was available, had recurrence of PHPT. Conclusions: The profile of PHPT is changing with older age at presentation, and emergence of renal stone disease and decline in overt skeletal disease as common presentation. The parathyroid weight in our study resembles that reported from developed countries

Antibacterial efficacy of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against metallo-β-lactamase and extended spectrum β-lactamase producing clinically procured isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract Resistance to carbapenems is a global threat, especially in developing countries with limited health resources. Prevalence, antibiogram, PCR detection of antibiotic resistance genes, and potency of Silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs) against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa were studied. Kirby-Bauer disc method and PCR were used to study antibiogram and drug resistance genes respectively in 255 isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa obtained from a tertiary care hospital. Silver nitrate (AgNO3) precursor salts were reacted with Aspergillus flavus culture filtrate to trigger the extracellular mycosynthesis of AgNPs. Mycosynthesis was first monitored regularly by visible ultraviolet spectroscopy that recorded AgNP peaks of approximately 400–470 nm. Confirmation by Transmission electron micrographs provided confirmation of AgNPs formed within a range of 5–30 nm. Individual and combined antibacterial activity of ten antibiotics and AgNPs was analyzed. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were calculated for phenotypic and genotypic multidrug resistance. Data were evaluated using SPSS version 20. p-value  amikacin + AgNPs (25 mm) > aztreonam + AgNPs (23 mm) > meropenem + AgNPs (22 mm) > imipenem + AgNPs (20 mm) > gentamycin + AgNPs (17 mm) > ciprofloxacin + AgNPs (16 mm) > cefoperazone/sulbactam + AgNPs (14 mm) ≥ ceftazidime + AgNPs (14 mm). The conjugated effect of AgNPs plus antibiotics showed a 0.15–3.51 (average of 2.09) fold-area augmentation of antimicrobial activity. AgNPs conjugated with antibiotics effectively inhibited MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To the best of our understanding, this is an inaugural report from Punjab Pakistan enlisting co-expression of Metallo-β-lactamases, extended-spectrum β-lactamases, and AmpC-β-lactamase plus activity of antibiotic-AgNPs