Assessment of social capital to internationalize educational institutions

Social capital promotes internationalization and competitiveness.Prevalent notions to measure Internationalization content of organizations are ill with ‘social capital’.Social capital is the core competency in knowledge-based organizations. This paper uses the Leif Edvinsson’s scheme of Intellectual Capital (IC) as the basis of analysis; because the IC causes change in the internationalization content.The particular concern of this paper is to assess and enhance the social capital in the internationalization content of the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT system), Pakistan, based on measured behavioral actions by utilizing Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, (KAP) Analysis technique.The internationalization content of CIIT system is characterized by Internationalization Academic Staff (IAS) and Non Internationalization Academic Staff (NIAS). IAS was found more responsive to the questionnaire.The results showed that IAS was having more internationalization knowledge.The attitude of both IAS and NIAS was positive and the practices were found to be more positive among IAS.The social capital exists at 65% as grand mean of the survey showed. Recommendations are offered on how the social capital can be built, thereby to enhance the CIIT system’s capacity to learn, adapt and internationalize in the marketplace

Assessment of Social Capital to Internationalize Education Institutions

Social capital promotes internationalization and competitiveness. Prevalent notions to measure Internationalization content of organizations are ill with ‘social capital’. Social capital is the core competency in knowledge-based organizations. This paper uses the Leif Edvinsson’s scheme of Intellectual Capital (IC) as the basis of analysis, because the IC causes change in the internationalization content. The particular concern of this paper is to assess and enhance the social capital in the internationalization content of the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT system), Pakistan, based on measured behavioral actions by utilizing Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, (KAP) Analysis technique. The internationalization content of CIIT system is characterized by Internationalization Academic Staff (IAS) and Non-Internationalization Academic Staff (NIAS). IAS was found more responsive to the questionnaire. The results showed that IAS was having more internationalization knowledge. The attitude of both IAS and NIAS was positive and the practices were found to be more positive among IAS. The social capital exists at 65% as grand mean of the survey showed. Recommendations are offered on how the social capital can be built, thereby to enhance the CIIT system’s capacity to learn, adapt and internationalize in the marketplace

Double-Blind Parallel Treatment Randomized Controlled Trial of Prebiotics’ Efficacy for Children Experiencing Severe Acute Malnutrition in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

The prevalence of malnutrition among children under five is alarmingly high in Pakistan. However, there are ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) available which may be used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). This study aims to assess the efficacy of prebiotics as a synergistic additive to RUTF to enhance blood parameters and anthropometric measurements in children with uncomplicated SAM living in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. A double-blind parallel treatment randomized controlled trial was conducted on 204 children aged 6–59 months. Participants were randomized and allocated to the placebo (n = 102) or experimental arms (n = 102) in a 1:1 ratio. One group of children was provided with RUTF and 4 g prebiotics, while the other group was given RUTF and starch as a placebo. Participants recruited for both arms were given treatment for eight weeks, and then their biochemical and anthropometric outcomes were evaluated. A substantial difference between the mean weight, mid-upper-arm circumference, haemoglobin, haematocrit, platelet count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, and albumin was revealed. During the two-month follow-up phase of the trial, children who were enrolled in the treatment group gained about 20% of their initial weight (pre-study mean weight = 5.44 ± 1.35 kg; post-study mean weight = 6.53 ± 1.45 kg). The analysis showed a significant difference (p &lt; 0.005) between the control and treatment groups for MUAC and complete blood counts. Conclusively, supplementation with RUTF and prebiotics has proven to be an efficient, effective, and safe therapy for children suffering from SAM to improve their growth and development indicators and reduce the dangers of malnutrition in comparison to RUTF alone.<br/

The role of technological innovation in a dynamic model of the environmental supply chain curve: Evidence from a panel of 102 countries

Advancing smart production systems for green production remains a crucial priority for manufacturers, while the vision to achieve green supply chain management process (GSCMP) remains obstructed due to using less fuel-efficient technologies. This study suggested an intelligent logistics design that infused technological indicators with logistics performance indices (LPIs) to minimize carbon damages in a panel of 102 countries. The study used patent applications and trademark applications to analyze the technological progress, whereas LPIs-i.e., LPI-1 for assessing quality and competence services, and LPI-2 for trade and transport infrastructure-are used to determine supply chain management process across countries. The results show that carbon damages follow a U-shaped structure with technology-induced LPIs (TI-LPIs) and GDP per capita. The country's GDP per capita and TI-LPIs decrease carbon damages up to US$15,000,000, while the moderation of patents application (and trademark applications) with LPI1 and LPI2 substantially decreases carbon damages up to US$13,800,000 (US$34,100,000) and US$6,100,000 (US$20,200,000), respectively. The causality estimates confirmed the growth-led carbon damages, technology-led carbon damages, growth-led logistics indices, and technology-led growth across countries. The results emphasized the need to move forward by adopting fuel-efficient technologies to minimize carbon damages across countries

Women's Political Empowerment in Balochistan: A Focus on Political Literacy Among Policymakers

&lt;p&gt;JQSS is the research Journal of HRA (AL-HIDAYA RESEARCH ACADEMY (Rg)Balochistan Quetta, it is a bi-annual journal and offers double-blind peer review, started at 2021.&lt;/p&gt

Relationship of stunting with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices among children under the age of five: a cross-sectional study in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract Background Reasons for undernutrition are food insufficiency, impaired child care, limited access to healthcare, and maternal lack of health literacy. In addition, there are several environmental factors, such as drinking water quality, poor sanitation, and hygienic practices that can lead to poor nutritional status in children. The present study aimed to compare household-associated risk factors, including water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices of mothers, with children’s stunting under the age of five. Methods A face-to-face cross-sectional survey was conducted with mothers of children under the age of five in the Dera Ghazi Khan district in southern Punjab, Pakistan. World Health Organization criteria for stunting were used to identify the participants. A sociodemographic questionnaire was used to collect information from consented parents/guardians on children’s age, feeding, and WASH practices. Pearson’s chi-square, simple regression, and hierarchical regression models were applied for data analysis. Results A total of 204 mothers of children of both genders participated in this study. The children’s mean (SD) age was 15.67 (± 10.2) months, their weight was 5.44 (± 1.45) kg, their height was 67.69 (± 10.05), and their mid-upper arm circumference was 9.75 (± 1.30) cm. Children’s stunting was mild (z-score > -2) at 17.6%, moderate (z-score − 2 to -3) at 16.7%, and severe (z-score < -3) at 65.7% of participants. A simple regression model showed a strong association, r2 = 0.062, p = 0.013, with age as the most significant sociodemographic factor. The hierarchical regression model showed a combined value of r2 = 0.0128, p = 0.027, with hand pump and tank water as the significant source of drinking water that was related to stunting among children. Conclusion Stunting can be associated with several risk factors, including WASH parameters. This study concluded that children aged under five years are susceptible to stunting in southern Punjab, Pakistan. The contamination of hand pumps and tank water resources was found to be the major contributing factor to stunting