An Empirical Investigation on Behavioral Determinants of Perceived Investment Performance; Evidence from Karachi Stock Exchange

The study aims to explore behavioral determinants of perceived investment performance from Karachi Stock Exchange. Risk perception is mediating the process while financial literacy has moderation role in this study. Data are collected from the sample of 150 perceived investors of Karachi Stock Exchange. For the purpose of data collection study uses adopted questionnaire. Results are indicating that both framing and herding effects have a positive significant relationship with perceived investment performance. Mediation is not established and financial literacy shows moderating relationship with framing effect and perceived investment performance. Keywords: Behavioral determinants, Risk Perception, Financial Literacy, Perceived Investment Performance, Pakista

Prospects of Wheat and Sugar Trade between India and Pakistan : A Simple Welfare Analysis

This paper asks how opening up of wheat and sugar trade between two nuclear neighbours, India and Pakistan, would affect welfare in the two countries. We conduct a partial equilibrium analysis to simulate welfare implications of trade between the two countries under three alternative trade regimes : a) under an FTA between India and Pakistan, b) under SAFTA, and c) under a grant of mostfavoured nation (MFN) to India by Pakistan. We conduct simple welfare analysis for wheat, on the basis of real world data of FY2005, and for sugar, based on data for FY 2000-01. In both these years, India had a net surplus and Pakistan had a net deficit for both wheat and sugar. We show that among other things, favourable weather conditions play a critical role in generating these surpluses, which are most likely to get reversed in years when weather conditions become more favourable to Pakistan. While we find there would be net gains to both countries, in case trade happens, the highest welfare gains accrue to both countries under free trade agreement. Further analysis reveals that if subsidies to Indian wheat farmers are removed, their competitive edge disappears in favour of wheat farmers in Pakistan.wheat, sugar, trade, weather conditions, Pakistan, India, subsidies

Performance Evaluation of Modified Bitumen with Replaced Percentage of Waste Cooking Oil & Tire Rubber with Bagasse Ash as Modifier

Flexible pavements are the major type of pavement use in recent days. Bitumen is the main constituent’s part of flexible pavement. Bitumen is the by-produce of petroleum. The depleting reserve of petroleum led researcher to look for alternative binder. This research work explicitly aim at replacing certain percentage of bitumen with Tire Rubber powder (TR), Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) in the presence of Bagasse Ash (BA) as a modifier. Physical test were performed to determine optimum percentages of TR, WCO and BA that can be used as a percentage replacement in bitumen. Result shows that up to 20 % of bitumen can be successfully replaced without affecting performance of bitumen. Performance Tests such as Dynamic Shear Rheometer, Rotatory thin film oven, Pressure aging Vessel and Bending Beam Rheometer were performed on modified samples for its physical and rheological properties. Modified bitumen showed good resistance against rutting, skidding and low temperature cracking. The research work directly contribute in developments of alternative binder for flexible pavement which is a leading research trend these days and environmental friendly initiative

The power of the CEO and environmental decoupling

This paper examines the impact of the power of the chief executive officer (CEO) on environmental decoupling. We define environmental decoupling as a gap between firm's claims about the environmental sustainability and actual environmental sustainability performance. Based on the managerial power theory, we argue that powerful managers are more involved in environmental decoupling and use environmental reporting in a more opportunistic manner than their less powerful peers. We analyse a dataset of 4576 firm-year observations of US-listed firms for the period 2002–2017. We find that powerful CEOs decouple firm's environmental performance from environmental reporting. These findings are robust to a battery of analyses and show that powerful CEOs do not show true commitment towards corporate environmental sustainability. The results provide important implications for investors, policymakers and fund managers. Useful future research recommendations are also provided to guide the research in the domain of environmental sustainability

Anatomical transition of trilaminar cerebellar cortex between reptiles and Aves

Background: Motor coordination in vertebrates is primarily regulated by cerebellum. Divergence of aves from reptilian ancestors results in noticeable improvement in the motor coordination. This study aims to explore anatomical innovations in the cerebellar cortex during the course of evolution of reptiles and aves.Methods: Three representative species each from reptilian and avian lineages were selected to represent both vertebrate classes. Complete brain was dissected out from the cranial cavity of each specimen after radiological assessment of its extent. After gross examination, the brains were subjected to detailed histological investigation using conventional and special strains. Micrometry of layer and cellular architecture of cerebellar cortex were undertaken digitally using ImageJ and statistically compared using GraphPad Prism.Results: Grossly, significant increase (p<0.0001) in brain mass, brain volume and cerebellar volume was observed in aves compared to reptiles. Histo-morphometric analyses of granular and molecular layers of cerebellum showed statistically significant decrease (p<0.0001) in the thickness of avian representatives compared to reptilian counterparts. Similarly significant decrease (p<0.0001) in the interpurkinje neuronal distance was observed in aves compared to reptiles. Conversely, increase cellular and neuronal count (p=0.0332 to <0.0001) count was observed in all three layers of avian cerebellum in comparison to reptiles. This suggests increased cellular packaging and/or density in the avian cerebellum compared to reptiles. Conclusion: In summary, significant increase in the cellular density and differentiation in the cerebellum of avian representatives may provide anatomical basis of increased motor coordination in aves compared to reptiles.  Keywords: Cerebellum; Evolution; Granular Layer; Molecular Layer; Purkinje Laye

Urbanization growth dynamic model of metropolitan city Karachi

The city Karachi has grown from a small fishing village to the enormous metropolis and now becomes the biggest and most industrialized city of Pakistan due to its multi-ethnic character. It population now exceeds 12 million (approximately) and its current growing rate is about 5% per year. This phenomenal, growth of the metropolitan city affects nomads as well as high class society and covers almost all aspect of life such as social, economical, political, sociological, psychological etc. This unchecked increase becomes the origin of the problems of slums, katchi abaadis, and encroachment. It has been estimated that one-third of the total population resides in squatter settlements and slums which results in chronic shortage of dwelling units, water supply, public transport, and civic amenities such as schools, hospitals , parks and playgrounds. This rapid growth of population is a burning issue for developing and governmental agencies. In this study attempts has been made to provide a systematic analysis of the population growth in the metropolitan city Karachi and model have been constructed by using the available demographic data. Finding of this model will serve as a basis for making planning to control rate of population growth in both Urban and Rural areas and develop a strategy to attain higher level of structural change of urbanization

Waste Animal Bones as Catalysts for Biodiesel Production; A Mini Review

Slaughterhouse waste is considered to be an emerging issue because of its disposal cost. As an alternative, it would be a great prospect for the bioeconomy society to explore new usages of these leftover materials. As per food safety rules mentioned by EU legislation, all bone waste generated by slaughterhouses ought to be disposed of by rendering. The huge quantity of worldwide bone waste generation (130 billion kilograms per annum) is an environmental burden if not properly managed. The waste animal bones can be efficiently employed as a heterogeneous catalyst to produce biodiesel. This mini review summarized the recent literature reported for biodiesel generation using waste animal bones derived heterogeneous catalyst. It discusses the sources of bone waste, catalyst preparation methods, particularly calcination and its effects, and important characteristics of bones derived catalyst. It suggests that catalysts extracted from waste animal bones have suitable catalytic activity in transesterification of different oil sources to generate a good quality biodiesel

Prevalence and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders among tertiary hospitals in Pakistan; findings and implications

INTRODUCTION: Mental health and neurological disorders are prevalent in Pakistan. However, there are considerable concerns with their management due to issues of access, availability of trained personnel and stigma alongside paucity of such data. Consequently, there is a need to document current treatment approaches starting with tertiary hospitals in Pakistan where patients with more severe mental and neurological disorders are typically treated. Subsequently, use the findings to help direct future policies and initiatives. METHODS: Multi-centered, cross-sectional, prospective study principally evaluating current medicine usage among patients attending tertiary hospitals in Pakistan with psychiatric and neurological disorders. In addition, possible factors contributing to the prevalence of these disorders in this population to help with future care. All 23 tertiary care hospitals in the ten major Districts in Pakistan were included, which cover 75% of the population. RESULTS: 57,664 patients were evaluated of which 35.3% were females. Both females and males had multiple brain disorders and multiple co-morbidities. Schizophrenia was the most prevalent disorder overall among both females (25.2%) and males (30.4%). A median of six medicines were prescribed per patient, with antipsychotics and antidepressants the most prescribed medicines. Clozapine was the most prescribed medicine in males (12.25%) and females (11.83%) including for psychiatric disorders, with sodium valproate the most prescribed medicine in epilepsy in males (42.44% of all anti-epileptic medicines) as well as females (46.38%). There was a greater prevalence of both disorders among the lower classes. A greater prevalence of schizophrenia was seen in patients abusing alcohol and smokers. The divorce rate was higher among the studied patients and the prevalence of depression was higher among the widowed population. CONCLUSIONS: There were concerns with the quality of prescribing including the extent of polypharmacy as well as possible overuse of clozapine especially in patients with epilepsy, both of which need addressing

Are we doing enough? Evaluation of the Polio Eradication Initiative in a district of Pakistan's Punjab province: a LQAS study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was remarkable, but four countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria - never interrupted polio transmission. Pakistan reportedly achieved all milestones except interrupting virus transmission. The aim of the study was to establish valid and reliable estimate for: routine oral polio vaccine (OPV) coverage, logistics management and the quality of monitoring systems in health facilities, NIDs OPV coverage, the quality of NIDs service delivery in static centers and mobile teams, and to ultimately provide scientific evidence for tailoring future interventions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study using lot quality assessment sampling was conducted in the District Nankana Sahib of Pakistan's Punjab province. Twenty primary health centers and their catchment areas were selected randomly as <it>'lots'</it>. The study involved the evaluation of 1080 children aged 12-23 months for routine OPV coverage, 20 health centers for logistics management and quality of monitoring systems, 420 households for NIDs OPV coverage, 20 static centers and 20 mobile teams for quality of NIDs service delivery. Study instruments were designed according to WHO guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five out of twenty lots were rejected for unacceptably low routine immunization coverage. The validity of coverage was questionable to extent that all lots were rejected. Among the 54.1% who were able to present immunization cards, only 74.0% had valid immunization. Routine coverage was significantly associated with card availability and socioeconomic factors. The main reasons for routine immunization failure were absence of a vaccinator and unawareness of need for immunization. Health workers (96.9%) were a major source of information. All of the 20 lots were rejected for poor compliance in logistics management and quality of monitoring systems. Mean compliance score and compliance percentage for logistics management were 5.4 ± 2.0 (scale 0-9) and 59.4% while those for quality of monitoring systems were 3.3 ± 1.2 (scale 0-6) and 54.2%. The 15 out of 20 lots were rejected for unacceptably low NIDs coverage by finger-mark. All of the 20 lots were rejected for poor NIDs service delivery (mean compliance score = 11.7 ± 2.1 [scale 0-16]; compliance percentage = 72.8%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low coverage, both routine and during NIDs, and poor quality of logistics management, monitoring systems and NIDs service delivery were highlighted as major constraints in polio eradication and these should be considered in prioritizing future strategies.</p

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy