Human Resource Practices in SME Sector: An Exploratory Case Study of Pakistan

The role of human resource practices (HRP) at its significance in small and medium enterprises (SME) become an emerging topic, especially in developing countries. This study aims to gauge the level of HR practice being exercise in SME. Quantitative approach has been followed and data was collected from 195 SMEs, operating in Karachi, through a structure questionnaire. Findings suggested that SME are performing moderate level of HR practices and owner/managers are aware with the importance of HR practices in their organizations. Moreover, compensation is the most significant factor of HR practices followed by employee performance, recruitment and selection and training and development. HR function has been substantially implemented and HR practices are being carried out in number of SME and is contributes at all phases of organization’s functions. The globalization and dynamic milieu is forcing the SME sector to switch informal functions to formal manner. However more coherent approach is required to replace the traditional way of practicing HR functions. This study validates the implementation of HR practices in SME as documented in the literature. It further provides a reference for academicians and practitioner to build upon a contention for future research

Implications of non-volatile memory as primary storage for database management systems

Traditional Database Management System (DBMS) software relies on hard disks for storing relational data. Hard disks are cheap, persistent, and offer huge storage capacities. However, data retrieval latency for hard disks is extremely high. To hide this latency, DRAM is used as an intermediate storage. DRAM is significantly faster than disk, but deployed in smaller capacities due to cost and power constraints, and without the necessary persistency feature that disks have. Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) is an emerging storage class technology which promises the best of both worlds. It can offer large storage capacities, due to better scaling and cost metrics than DRAM, and is non-volatile (persistent) like hard disks. At the same time, its data retrieval time is much lower than that of hard disks and it is also byte-addressable like DRAM. In this paper, we explore the implications of employing NVM as primary storage for DBMS. In other words, we investigate the modifications necessary to be applied on a traditional relational DBMS to take advantage of NVM features. As a case study, we have modified the storage engine (SE) of PostgreSQL enabling efficient use of NVM hardware. We detail the necessary changes and challenges such modifications entail and evaluate them using a comprehensive emulation platform. Results indicate that our modified SE reduces query execution time by up to 40% and 14.4% when compared to disk and NVM storage, with average reductions of 20.5% and 4.5%, respectively.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme under grant agreement number 318633, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain under contract TIN2015-65316-P, and a HiPEAC collaboration grant awarded to Naveed Ul Mustafa.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Contaminated bone grafts and tuberculosis in three spine surgery patients: a case series

Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health issue affecting millions of people every year. Previous articles displayed cases of TB resulting from contaminated bone grafts used in spinal surgeries. However, deeper understanding about the serious health consequences for patients affected by TB-infected bone grafts is lacking. Here, we discuss three unique patients who contracted TB after undergoing lumbar spinal surgery. We describe three patient cases in which individuals initially presented with back pain, underwent required lumbar spinal fusion surgery with bone graft implants, and, afterwards, contracted TB. All patients were given RIPE therapy, had additional surgery to remove the faulty hardware, and lived with significant and prolonged pain. In addition, patient X experienced night sweats, patient Y had a subcutaneous abscess positive for TB, and patient Z had severe burning pain, rash, and sweats. Altogether, we emphasize the importance of increasing our awareness about the potential risks and complications associated with utilizing contaminated surgical products. We encourage healthcare professionals to take necessary precautions to ensure the safety of their patients by screening bone grafts for potential pathogens and practicing proper sterilization techniques.

Formulation and stability of topical water in oil emulsion containing corn silk extract

Purpose: To formulate the water in oil (W/O) emulsion of corn silk (CS) extract and to evaluate its stability at various storage conditions.Methods: Ethanol CS extract was prepared using maceration (cold) technique. A 4 % CS emulsion was prepared using varying concentrations of liquid paraffin, ABIL EM90 and water. The formulations were kept at 25 oC for 28 days and to screen out the less stable formulations. The remaining formulations were further stressed at 40 oC to choose the most stable formulation. The optimized formulation was evaluated for physical characteristics including phase separation, rheology and mean droplet size. The physical stability of the formulation was evaluated by monitoring these parameters over a period of 12 weeks at 8, 25, 40 and 40 oC, and 75 % RH.Results: The chosen formulation showed good resistance to phase separation on centrifugation under all storage conditions. Rheological behavior followed non-Newtonian pseudoplastic pattern at various storage conditions. Mean droplet size of freshly prepared formulation was 2.98 ± 1.32 μm and did not show significant (p < 0.05) changes at normal storage conditions (8 and 25 oC).Conclusion: The findings indicate that the developed CS extract W/O emulsion is stable and therefore may be suitable for topical use on skin as an antioxidant preparation.Keywords: Corn silk, Emulsion, Nonionic surfactant, Rheology, Flow index, Droplet size, Non-Newtonian pseudoplasti

Tourists’ Personal Development Through Participatory Consumer-Generated Content

The paper seeks to investigate key factors influencing the personal development of tourists. This study examines the relationship between participatory consumer-generated content and tourists’ capabilities, emotions, and skills, as well as the moderating effect of previous tourists’ experiences. To evaluate the research model, 301 valid responses were examined using the PLS-SEM technique. The empirical findings showed that participatory consumer-generated content positively relates to tourists’ capabilities, emotions, and skills. Moreover, previous tourists’ experiences moderate the relationships of participatory consumer-generated content with tourists’ capabilities and skills; however, previous tourists’ experiences have no moderation effect on tourists’ emotions. Thus, our paper\u27s findings offer valuable contributions to theory and practice. Practitioners and authorities should stimulate users to share their tourism experiences and take the initiative to share easily traceable and searchable data. Moreover, businesses should implement activities that encourage tourists to share their experiences as soon as possible and make travel and tourism websites and social media platforms readily available

ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF STEM BARK EXTRACT OF BOMBAX CEIBA COLLECTED LOCALLY FROM SOUTH PUNJAB AREA OF PAKISTAN

Background: Ethnic medication systems have been used extensively by humans since their origin. Now a day, in the developing countries these systems are being used due to their effectiveness and affordability. Especially inhabitants of rural areas still rely on these systems as first line of treatment against diseased conditions. Till now, majority of medicines is derived from the natural origin particularly plants owing to their little side effects and cost effectiveness. Materials and Methods: In the present work, we evaluated antibacterial and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of Bombax ceiba stem bark. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were also assessed in the extract. The antioxidant capacity was determined by DPPH, Nitric Oxide scavenging and reducing power activity. For antibacterial activity, Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi) and Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus) were used. Results: Phenolic content was 133.21±1.56 μg GAE/mg of extract while Flavonoid content was 997.93±2.14 μg QE/mg. Plant extract demonstrated strong antiradical activity with EC50 18.78 ± 0.69 and 23.62 ± 1.99μg/ml for Nitric Oxide and DPPH assay respectively while EC50 in case of reducing power activity was 139.4 ± 0.98μg/ml. Plant extract displayed inhibitory effect against microbial growth with S. typhi as the most resistant strain and Staphylococcus aureus the most sensitive one. Conclusion: This study revealed that Bombax ceiba of local origin has broad spectrum antibacterial activity and it can also provide defense against oxidative stress

Comparison of Cerebrospinal Fluid Leakage in Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Adenoma with and without Sellar Floor Reconstruction

Objectives:  This study aimed to compare CSF leak in endoscopic endonasal TSS of pituitary adenoma with and without reconstruction of the sellar floor with no intraoperative CSF leakage. Materials and Methods:  It was a randomized controlled trial of 116 patients of both genders diagnosed case of pituitary adenoma who underwent endoscopic endonasal TSS over 1 year. The cases were randomized into 2 groups. In Group A endoscopic endonasal TSS and the sellar floor, reconstruction was done while in Group B only endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery was done without reconstruction. Results:  The patient’s mean age in group A was 40.7 ± 9.56 years, and in group, B was 41.9 ± 10.5 years. The gender distribution, for group A, males and females were 29 each (50%) and in group B, the males were 36 (62%) and females were 22 (38%). There were 52 (89.7%) cases of macroadenoma and 6 (10.3%) cases of microadenoma in each group. On the 1st postoperative day, CSF leakage was noted in 2 (3.4%) patients of group A, and CSF leakage was observed in 2 (3.4%) patients of group B. Results revealed no difference in CSF leakage between both groups. There were minor nasal complications in both groups. Conclusion:  There is an equal chance of success with endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) of pituitary adenoma with and without reconstruction of the sellar floor, concerning post-operative CSF leak, in patients who have no intraoperative CSF leak which enlarges the pool of options for treatment

A 10-year review of indications for penetrating keratoplasty in a tertiary care setting in Karachi Pakistan

Abstract The retrospective study was conducted to determine the indications and outomes of penetrating keratoplasty(PKP) in a tertiary caresetting in Pakistan. All eyes that had undergone PKP between January 2005 and December 2014 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, were included.Data were collected on the indications of PKP, graft survival (graft clarity at final follow-up), andbest corrected visual acuity (BCVA).Kaplan-Meier\\u27s method was usedto analyse graft survival.Out of 437 eyes, 383(87%) were for visual purpose. Trauma-related corneal scarring 113(26.2%) was the leading cause of PKP, followed by keratoconus 74(17.1%), redo graft 56(13%), infection-related corneal opacity 46(10.6%), corneal dystrophy 44(10.2%) and bullous keratopathy 36(8.3%). The probability of graft survival at 30 months was 90% for keratoconusversus 75% for the non-keratoconus grafts. Most of the PKPs in this case series were due to preventable causes. Our long-term PKP results were favourable, with a graft survival ratecomparable to those of other centres