Bankers perception towards Bai Salam method for agriculture financing in Pakistan

Islamic banking is planning to increase its market share up to 12 per cent of the total banking sector in Pakistan by 2012, as compared to its current market share of 5.6 per cent. This article collected the bankers views towards agriculture financing under the Islamically acceptable mode-Bai Salam (forward sale agreements of crop). It further compared agriculture financing under Islamic and interest-based financial systems. Overall, findings from this article are that bankers at large are confused about the application mechanism of Bai Salam contracts mainly because of improper land record maintained by the Revenue Department, widespread illiteracy and current government policy of issuing a single loan against each passbook (property record). The article presents recommendations that can be useful for the financial institutions not only in developing effective monitoring mechanisms, but also in minimizing financial losses. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd

Determinants of SMEs' perceptions of electronic banking in Pakistan

This study aims to collect the perceptions of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) owners/executives/managers on the potential benefits and risks associated with Electronic Banking (EB) in Pakistan. The SMEs were selected from the yellow pages and every hundredth company was targeted randomly. Data were collected through primary sources and examined via frequency analysis and mean score analysis. The results indicate that the SMEs perceive EB as a tool to save time, facilitate quick responses and minimise the risk of carrying cash. The firms' most desired EB facilities are the payment of utility bills, submission of complaints and downloading of daily account reports. The SMEs also consider that EB increases the chances of government access to public data, fraud and data losses. The outcomes help bankers understand the concerns and demands of SMEs which not only represent a viable market segment in terms of the number and value of accounts, but also provide a considerable amount of retail profits

Zooming in on the workplace bullying and turnover intentions pathway: The role of well-being and a cultural boundary condition

Purpose: Despite the well-established association between workplace bullying and turnover intentions, the mechanisms underlying this relationship and its boundary conditions remain understudied. The purpose of this paper is to examine employee affective well-being as a mediating mechanism by which exposure to workplace bullying may trigger employee intentions to leave the workplace. It also aims to explore the role of national culture in moderating the effects of workplace bullying on employee well-being and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach: This research is conducted through a cross-cultural analysis of data obtained from 627 Australian and Pakistani employees. Findings: The findings reveal that exposure to workplace bullying triggers turnover intentions through its negative effect on affective well-being in cross-cultural/national contexts. However, national culture moderates these effects such that the effects of workplace bullying on well-being and turnover intentions are weaker for Pakistanis than for Australians. Originality/value: This paper reports original research that deepens the understanding of how, why and when exposure to workplace bullying will prompt employees to leave the workplace in a cross-national context. The research findings will assist international organisations in designing strategies tailored to the national culture in order to mitigate the adverse effects of workplace bullying on staff turnover. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Academics’ perceptions of bullying at work: insights from Pakistan

© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Despite an extensive history of research into workplace bullying and the psychosomatic harm associated with it in western contexts, research into the occurrence and manifestation of bullying behavior in the academic workplaces of non-western countries is sparse. In response to this gap, the purpose of this paper is to start a research conversation by reporting an empirical enquiry into the occurrence, forms and perceptions of workplace bullying among academics in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted with a representative sample of academics in a large Pakistani province through a cross-sectional survey. Findings: This study reveals that workplace bullying is prevalent among academics in the Pakistani context, with up to half of them regularly exposed to practices such as excessive work monitoring, undermining of professional competence, lack of recognition of work contributions and obstruction of important work-related matters. Research limitations/implications: The findings underscore the need for developing broader institutional actions, clear policies and grievance procedures to discourage bullying at work in Pakistan. Higher educational managers will find the results useful for development of anti-bullying policies and codes of conduct. Originality/value: This is the first study to examine the perceptions, occurrence and demographic risk factors associated with workplace bullying among academics in the Pakistani context

How ethical leadership stimulates academics’ retention in universities: The mediating role of job-related affective well-being

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and academics’ retention in universities. It draws on the conservation of resources theory to deepen the understanding of a process underlying this relationship whereby academics are more likely to stay in universities through the practice of ethical leadership. Specifically, it advances academics’ job-related affective well-being as a potential mediating mechanism, fostered by ethical leadership, which lowers their intention to leave. Design/methodology/approach: This study is conducted through a cross-sectional survey of 303 academics in Australian universities. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis procedures are deployed to analyse academics’ data. The research hypotheses are tested through a bootstrapped regression analysis of academics’ perceived ethical leadership, affective well-being and intention to leave. Findings: The findings lend support to the hypothesised relations, indicating a significant role of ethical leadership on enhanced intentions of academics to stay in universities by directly conserving their job-related affective well-being. Research limitations/implications: This paper contributes to knowledge of the relationship between ethical leadership and academics’ retention by identifying job-related affective well-being as an underlying mechanism in the university sector. Practical implications: This paper has practical implications for higher educational institutes seeking to retain their academic staff. Its findings show that the practice of ethical leadership in universities matters, because it lowers academics’ intentions to leave by nurturing their well-being at work. Originality/value: This is the first study to examine the impact of ethical leadership on academics’ well-being and intentions to leave in the context of universities in Australia. It is one of the first studies to explore the mediating role of affective well-being in the ethical leadership and leadership and intention to leave relationship. © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

Development of a unified railway track stability management tool to enhance track safety

Track buckling is a serious problem for railways. High longitudinal rail stresses contribute to many problems such as track buckling, rail joint failure, rail breakage and failure of turnouts. The direct and indirect costs of track buckling problems are very high. The influences of rail temperature, SFT and lateral misalignment of track on track buckling need comprehensive investigation. In this paper, an experimental design comprising strain gauges, thermocouples and rail stress sensors has been implemented on the QR heavy haul 60kg/m rail network. A new creep measurement technique using internal rail stress has been developed. The changes in rail neutral temperature due to the variation of actual rail temperature and the occurrence of rail creep in straight and curved track is quantified. Modes of differences of SFT in the two rails at a location, and of SFT in straight track and in curved track are discussed. The relationship of SFT to rail temperature is also presented. Daily variation in rail temperature due to ambient air temperature is presented. Field trials showed that SFT can vary by 2-30C during the day. Based on this finding and the derivation of an equation for change of SFT, an improvement in utilising rail creep measurements for assessing track condition has resulted. This finding suggests that it is possible to determine the SFT throughout a day rather than just a single SFT value.This paper also presents a simple track stability management tool that is based on two major parameters, namely rail stress and track resistance. Each parameter in the tool has been given three levels of value to determine the required preventive measures. Overall, the tool decides the need for speed restriction during hot weather based on the quantified parameters from the field trials and rail standards

Simulation of circulating fluidized bed gasification for characteristic study of Pakistani coal

A process model for turbulent pressurized circulating fluidized-bed coal gasifier is created using ASPEN PLUS software. Both hydrodynamic and reaction kinetics parameter are taken into account, whose expressions for fluidized bed are adopted from the literature. Various reactor models available in ASPEN PLUS with calculator as External Block are nested to solve hydrodynamics and kinetics. Multiple operational parameters for a pilot-plant circulating fluidized-bed coal gasifier are used to demonstrate the effects on coal gasification characteristics. This paper presents detailed information regarding the simulation model, including robust analysis of the effect of stoichiometric ratio, steam to coal ratio, gasification temperature and gasification agent temperature. It is observed that, with the increase in the flow rate of air, the components hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane reduce, which causes the Lower Heating Value (LHV) of synthesis gas (Syn. Gas) to decrease by about 29.3%, while increment in the steam flow rate shows a minute increase in heating value of only 0.8%. Stoichiometric ratio has a direct relationship to carbon conversion efficiency and carbon dioxide production. Increasing the steam to coal ratio boosts the production of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and causes a drop in both carbondioxide concentration and the conversion efficiency of carbon. High gasifying agent temperature is desired because of high concentration of CO and H2, increasing carbon conversion and LHV. A high gasifying agent temperatureis the major factor that affects the coal gasification to enhance H2 and CO production rapidly along with other gasification characteristics

Improvement of rail creep data to measure the stress state of a tangent continuously welded rail (CWR) track

Monitoring the longitudinal rail movement or rail creep is regarded as one of the effective ways to understand the rail-stress states in critical locations such as fixed structures (level crossings,turnouts and fixed top bridges), in sags at the bottom of gradients or any track segment with a history of buckles. However, rail stress can be changed due to thermal and mechanical loads in both longitudinal and vertical directions. Many railway companies use a fixed schedule to assess rail creep, particularly in critical locations. This may not be adequate to reduce the risk of summerbuckling and winter pull-apart problems. Current practice of creep measurement does not consider the effect of rail temperature, the vertical movement of track, inherent inaccuracy of the measurement system and any non-uniformity in track structures. In a field test, Total Station Survey equipment has been used to monitor the changes inlongitudinal and vertical displacements of the rail at points on a tangent track section in the heavy haul Blackwater system of the QR National network at Edungalba. This 26 tonne axle load track section with 1% gradient and 60 kg/m rail was instrumented with strain gauges, thermocouples and rail stress modules. The creep in this section has been quantified in terms of rail strain and rail stress with respect to the rail temperature. In this paper, a method is proposed considering the longitudinal creep data, vertical displacement of the rail and rail temperature to accurately predict the stress state of a tangent rail track

Oral Cavity Cancers: Ethnic Differences in Radiotherapy Outcomes in a Majority South Asian Leicester Community

Aims Squamous cell carcinoma oral cavity cancers (SCCOCCs) have a higher reported incidence in South Asian countries. We sought to compare presenting stage and outcome by ethnicity in patients with SCCOCC treated with radical radiotherapy in a single centre in the UK. Materials and methods All patients with SCCOCC treated with radical radiotherapy at an oncology department in Leicester (UK) between 2011 and 2017 were identified. Baseline demographic, clinical data and 2-year treatment outcomes were reported. Results Of the 109 patients included, 40 were South Asian and 59 were non-South Asian. South Asians had significantly poorer 2-year disease-free survival compared with non-South Asians (54.6% versus 73%, P = 0.01). Conclusion Our analysis suggests that South Asians with SCCOCC have poorer outcomes despite a younger age and similar disease characteristics. Environmental, social factors and differing biology of disease may be responsible and further research is required to inform targeted interventions.</p

Global, regional, and national burden of diabetes from 1990 to 2021, with projections of prevalence to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, and affects people regardless of country, age group, or sex. Using the most recent evidentiary and analytical framework from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), we produced location-specific, age-specific, and sex-specific estimates of diabetes prevalence and burden from 1990 to 2021, the proportion of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in 2021, the proportion of the type 2 diabetes burden attributable to selected risk factors, and projections of diabetes prevalence through 2050. Methods: Estimates of diabetes prevalence and burden were computed in 204 countries and territories, across 25 age groups, for males and females separately and combined; these estimates comprised lost years of healthy life, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs; defined as the sum of years of life lost [YLLs] and years lived with disability [YLDs]). We used the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODEm) approach to estimate deaths due to diabetes, incorporating 25 666 location-years of data from vital registration and verbal autopsy reports in separate total (including both type 1 and type 2 diabetes) and type-specific models. Other forms of diabetes, including gestational and monogenic diabetes, were not explicitly modelled. Total and type 1 diabetes prevalence was estimated by use of a Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, to analyse 1527 location-years of data from the scientific literature, survey microdata, and insurance claims; type 2 diabetes estimates were computed by subtracting type 1 diabetes from total estimates. Mortality and prevalence estimates, along with standard life expectancy and disability weights, were used to calculate YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs. When appropriate, we extrapolated estimates to a hypothetical population with a standardised age structure to allow comparison in populations with different age structures. We used the comparative risk assessment framework to estimate the risk-attributable type 2 diabetes burden for 16 risk factors falling under risk categories including environmental and occupational factors, tobacco use, high alcohol use, high body-mass index (BMI), dietary factors, and low physical activity. Using a regression framework, we forecast type 1 and type 2 diabetes prevalence through 2050 with Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and high BMI as predictors, respectively. Findings: In 2021, there were 529 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 500–564) people living with diabetes worldwide, and the global age-standardised total diabetes prevalence was 6·1% (5·8–6·5). At the super-region level, the highest age-standardised rates were observed in north Africa and the Middle East (9·3% [8·7–9·9]) and, at the regional level, in Oceania (12·3% [11·5–13·0]). Nationally, Qatar had the world's highest age-specific prevalence of diabetes, at 76·1% (73·1–79·5) in individuals aged 75–79 years. Total diabetes prevalence—especially among older adults—primarily reflects type 2 diabetes, which in 2021 accounted for 96·0% (95·1–96·8) of diabetes cases and 95·4% (94·9–95·9) of diabetes DALYs worldwide. In 2021, 52·2% (25·5–71·8) of global type 2 diabetes DALYs were attributable to high BMI. The contribution of high BMI to type 2 diabetes DALYs rose by 24·3% (18·5–30·4) worldwide between 1990 and 2021. By 2050, more than 1·31 billion (1·22–1·39) people are projected to have diabetes, with expected age-standardised total diabetes prevalence rates greater than 10% in two super-regions: 16·8% (16·1–17·6) in north Africa and the Middle East and 11·3% (10·8–11·9) in Latin America and Caribbean. By 2050, 89 (43·6%) of 204 countries and territories will have an age-standardised rate greater than 10%. Interpretation: Diabetes remains a substantial public health issue. Type 2 diabetes, which makes up the bulk of diabetes cases, is largely preventable and, in some cases, potentially reversible if identified and managed early in the disease course. However, all evidence indicates that diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, primarily due to a rise in obesity caused by multiple factors. Preventing and controlling type 2 diabetes remains an ongoing challenge. It is essential to better understand disparities in risk factor profiles and diabetes burden across populations, to inform strategies to successfully control diabetes risk factors within the context of multiple and complex drivers. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation