Corporate Governance and Performance of Financial Institutions in Pakistan: A Comparison between Conventional and Islamic Banks in Pakistan

Corporate Governance refers to the way an organisation is directed, administrated or controlled. It includes the set of rules and regulations that affect the manager’s decision and contribute to the way company is perceived by the current and potential stakeholders. The corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation such as; boards, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders and spells out the rules and procedures and also decision-making assistance on corporate affairs. By doing this, it also provides the structure through which the company’s objectives are set and the means of obtaining those objectives and monitoring performance. Corporate governance may be the ways of bringing the interests of investors and managers into line and ensuring that firms are run for the benefit of investors

Comparative Study of Early Neonatal Versus Late Circumcision in Terms of Post Operative Complications

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare early neonatal versus late circumcision by plastibell in terms of postoperative complications. Methodology: It was a comparative study conducted at Department of Pediatric Surgery at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad from January 2018 to November 2019. The present study is a prospective analytical review of 482 uncircumcised patients who presented to the Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad. The variables that were observed in this study were age, mode of presentation, and complications. Patients divided into 2 groups. In Group A circumcision was done within the first 3 days of life and in Group B circumcision was done from in conventional manner after one week of life till 3 months of age. Results: Total 482 patients were presented during this study period, out of which 70 belong to Group A and 412 belong to Group B. In Group A, bell retraction was seen in 4 patients (5.71%), infection of glans in the form of flakes of pus was seen in 1 patient (1.42%), delayed fall was seen in 2 patients (2.85%) and meatal ulcer was seen in 1 patient (1.42%). In Group B, bell retraction was seen in 8 patients (1.94%), infection in 4 patients (0.97%) and delayed fall in 4 patients (0.97%). Complications like bleeding, over/under circumcision, smegmal cyst, meatal stenosis and urethrocutaneous fistula were not seen in any group. Conclusion: We conclude that neonatal circumcision done within first 3 days of life or even soon after birth is safe and has no significant difference of complications as compared to patients in whom circumcision is done at a later stage

FineCodeAnalyzer: Multi-perspective source code analysis support for software developer through fine-granular level interactive code visualization

Source code analysis is one of the important activities during the software maintenance phase that focuses on performing the tasks including bug localization, feature location, bug/feature assignment, and so on. However, handling the aforementioned tasks on a manual basis (i.e. finding the location of buggy code from a large application) is an expensive, time-consuming, tedious, and challenging task. Thus, the developers seek automated support in performing the software maintenance tasks through automated tools and techniques. However, the majority of the reported techniques are limited to textual analysis where the real developers’ concerns are not properly considered. Moreover, existing solutions seem less useful for the developers. This work proposes a tool (called as FineCodeAnalyzer) that supports an interactive source code analysis grounded on structural and historical relations at fine granular-level between the source code elements. To evaluate the performance of FineCodeAnalyzer, we consider 74 developers that assess three main facets: (i) usefulness, (ii) cognitive-load, and (iii) time efficiency. For usefulness concern, the results show that FineCodeAnalyzer outperforms the developers’ self-adopted strategies in locating the code elements in terms of Precision, Recall, and F1-Measure of accurately locating the code elements. Specifically, FineCodeAnalyzer outperforms the developers’ strategies up to 47%, 76%, and 61% in terms of Precision, Recall, and F1-measure, respectively. Additionally, FineCodeAnalyzer takes 5% less time than developers’ strategies in terms of minutes of time. For cognitive-load, the developers found FineCodeAnalyzer to be 72% less complicated than manual strategies, in terms of the NASA Tool Load Index metric. Finally, the results indicate that FineCodeAnalyzer allows effectively locating the code elements than the developer’s adopted strategies

Comparative evaluation of in vitro antioxidant potential of Punica granatum L. leaves extracts

A comparative evaluation of tannins, flavonoid, phenol quantification and antioxidant potential of aqueous, methanol, n-hexane, acetone and chloroform extracts of Punica granatum leaves were determined. Quantification of phenolic was carried out by the technique of Folin-Ciocalteau, using rutin as standard flavonoids were evaluated through the technique of colorimetry, tannin was measured by the difference of total phenolics and free phenolics assay procedure. Antioxidant activities were evaluated by four standards antioxidant techniques including Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity,1, 1’-diphynyl- 2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) activity and Nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity method using ascorbic acid as standard. The antioxidant activities showed that methanol extract at 500μg/mL calculated maximum DPPH inhibition activity was 78±1%, H2O2 scavenging activity was 90±0%, SOD-like activity was 88±0% and NO scavenging activity was 90±0%. The outcomes indicated the major antioxidant actions were carried out by the extract of methanol; the entire potential was increased in the directive of methanol> chloroform> acetone>aqueous>n-hexane extracts. The results indicate that Punica granatum leaves extracts to have potent antioxidant activities that would have beneficial effects on human health and methanol extracts are superior with better antioxidant potential. The leaves extracts of Punica granatum could be of enormousattention in the enhancement of top value-added secondary products and the appliance of functional and green substitutes in thecosmetics, food and pharma industries

Gene Locater: Genetic linkage analysis software using three-point testcross

Locating genes on a chromosome is important for understanding the gene function and its linkage and recombination. Knowledge of gene positions on chromosomes is necessary for annotation. The study is essential for disease genetics and genomics, among other aspects. Currently available software's for calculating recombination frequency is mostly limited to the range and flexibility of this type of analysis. GENE LOCATER is a fully customizable program for calculating recombination frequency, written in JAVA. Through an easy-to-use interface, GENE LOCATOR allows users a high degree of flexibility in calculating genetic linkage and displaying linkage group. Among other features, this software enables user to identify linkage groups with output visualized graphically. The program calculates interference and coefficient of coincidence with elevated accuracy in sample datasets

Geology, Petrographical Features and Ore Mineralization of Volcanic Hosted Iron Ore Deposit in the Mashki Chah Area Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan

The Mashki Chah iron ore deposits are located in the western Chagai magmatic belt and hosted withinandesitic rock units in the Late Cretaceous Sinjrani Volcanic Group. Geometry, morphology, and structure of iron orehave massive, thin to thick-bedded and veins type of iron. The major ore type including magnetite as primarymineralization of iron ore and hematite, siderite, goethite, and limonite are secondary mineralization of iron ore.Petrographically, the iron ore is hosted within the basic to the intermediate type of units (Basaltic Andesite, Andesite,and Dacite) within the Late Cretaceous Sinjrani Volcanic Group. Major constituents of basaltic andesitic units arecomposed of clinopyroxene and amphibole with minor constituents of quartz. Andesitic units consist of plagioclase,hornblende, k-feldspar, quartz and biotite. The dacitic unit is comprised of quartz, albite, k-feldspar, biotite, andmuscovite. SEM-EDX and BSE analysis of ore mineralization of iron ore to identify the mineral crystal structure,texture, and elemental composition of iron ore. BSE images indicate the crystal morphology of magnetite and hematitehave well-developed cubic and octahedron crystal shapes with a coarse grain texture. Elemental composition isidentified by the EDX graph that is indicated the high peaks of Fe and O elements associated with the high peak rockforming minerals elements Si and O with sub-peaks of Al, Na, K, and Ca and as well as have sub-peaks of ore-formingmineral elements are include a Cu, Ag, Ti, and Sn. The total iron reserve in the deposit area is approximately about 45to 50 million tons and an average percentage of magnetite is 86.16% and hematite is about 69.40 %. These ore deposithas significant value for economic purpose and as well as economically the Mashki Chah iron ore deposit is viable foriron ore mining

SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF THALIDOMIDE IN TRANSFUSION-DEPENDENT β-THALASSEMIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

OBJECTIVE: The current meta-analysis was carried out to identify the efficacy and safety of thalidomide in transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) patients. METHODS: Six databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Library, EBSCOhost, and MEDLINE were searched until November 18, 2021, for studies that assessed the efficacy of thalidomide in TDT patients by using the following search terms: “Thalidomide”, “thalidomid”, “thalomid”, “N-phthaloylglutamimide”, and Thalassemia” using Boolean or wildcard operators. Original research publications in English with observational and/or experimental designs having a sample size ≥10, regardless of age and gender, used thalidomide for ≥3 months exploring the impact of thalidomide in ameliorating transfusion needs among TDT patients were included in this meta-analysis. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers using a data extraction form. The National Institutes of Health tool was used for quality assessment. RESULTS: Nine studies collectively involving 407 TDT patients fulfilled eligibility criteria. Thalidomide was associated with complete cessation of blood transfusion requirements with an overall response of 54% (95% CI, 34–75%) to a transfusion-independent state; heterogeneity was considered high with an I2 of 94.7%, p-value<0.001. Mild adverse events were reported in 44% of patients. CONCLUSION: Thalidomide is a well-tolerated, effective and safe drug among TDT patients, these findings, however, should be confirmed through well-designed clinical trials. PROSPERO Review registration number: CRD42021289950

ASSESSMENT OF RADIOLOGICAL HEALING IN ELDERLY HIP FRACTURES FIXED WITH INTRAMEDULLARY VERSUS EXTRAMEDULLARY IMPLANTS AT THREE MONTHS

OBJECTIVE: To compare the radiological healing in elderly patients with hip fractures fixed with intramedullary versus extramedullary implants at 3 months by using Radiological Union Score for Hip (RUSH score). METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from September 2020 to March 2021, in elderly patients (50-80 years) with hip fractures. Out of 238 patients, 119 were non-randomly assigned to Group-A undergoing intra- medullary implants and 119 to Group-B undergoing fixation with an extra-medullary implant. After the surgery, the patients were followed up periodically at 2nd week, 6th week and 12th week after surgery and assessed for radiological healing through RUSH score. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. RESULTS: Out of 238 patients, 96 were males and 142 were females. In Group-A, 51 (42.9%) were males and 68 (57.1%) were females. In Group-B, 45 (37.8%) were males and 74 (62.2%) were females. Majority (n=135/238: 56.72%) were aging from 50-60 years. Mean±SD of age was 63.1±8.8 years and 61.7±8.1 years in Group-A & Group-B respectively. Mean±SD of RUSH score in Group-A & Group-B was 19.50±6.92 and 22.51±5.60 respectively. Mean RUSH score for males in Group-A and Group-B was 21.52±6.39 and 22.33±6.99 (p=0.354) and for females in Group-A and Group-B was 19.36±7.33 and 22.18±5.75 (p=0.025) respectively. Median and IQR of RUSH score in Group-A & Group-B was 21±10 and 23±8 respectively (p=0.069). CONCLUSION: There was statistically insignificant difference in median RUSH score with use of either intramedullary or extramedullary implants in the management of hip fractures

Phenotypic characterization, genetic analysis and antibiotic sensitivity of Aeromonas hydrophila isolates causing dropsy in cultured Labeo rohita from Punjab, Pakistan

Motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) is a common freshwater fish disease and major threat to the aquaculture in Pakistan. The present study was carried out on suspected fish samples to isolate and characterize local strains of Aeromonas hydrophila, a key pathogen responsible for the said disease in aquacultured fishes. A total of ninety suspected fish specimens were collected from fish farms in Kasur, Okara and Gujranwala districts of Punjab, Pakistan from June 2018 to April 2019. The specimens were processed and A. hydrophila strains were isolated. The primary identification of sixty seven isolates were verified by colony morphology, microscopy and phenotypic characterization with ten biochemical reactions. The A. hydrophila strains of test samples were molecularly characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using 16S rRNA at desired size of 356bp. The PCR amplified product was subjected to DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed homology with related strains of Aeromonas spp. By antibiotic sensitivity test, the isolates were checked for nine antibiotics in which the pathogen was sensitive to four and resistant to five drugs. Results of genetic analysis confirmed strains as A. hydrophila which are useful to take preventive measures against the said disease

Biochemical Markers of Liver Toxicity among Coal Mine Workers of Punjab, Pakistan Suffering from HCV

Hepatitis C is among the leading hepatic disorders in current period through which about 3 % world population has been anguish among them 170 million were diagnosed as persistent carriers. A great range of alteration in liver biochemical parameters were found to be allied with HCV infestation. Current study was designed to evaluate the extent of HCV mediated abnormalities in liver biochemical markers which includes ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (Aspartate transaminase), ALP (Alkaline Phosphatase) and serum bilirubin. The study was conducted on coal miners of Punjab province, Pakistan. HCV was primarily diagnosed through one step rapid test device after which positive samples were confirmed through ELISA. Biochemical markers were determined through Autoanalyzer by using standard procedure provided with spinreact kits. Simple linear regression analysis significantly explained 24 %, 56.2 %, 68.8 % and 56 % variance in ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (Aspartate transaminase), ALP (Alkaline Phosphatase) and serum bilirubin level among HCV positive coal mine workers respectively. Results have clearly indicated significant correlation between HCV seropositivity and liver biochemical markers. Findings of present study conclude monitoring of liver biochemical markers is crucial during HCV infectivity as it represents the degree of impairment in liver functioning. In addition to this elevation in these diagnostic markers could points toward the presence of HCV in respective individual