An Empirical Study of Technology Business Incubation on Economic Growth of Pakistan

Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) are seen as a mechanism that could create supportive and entrepreneurial environments for technology-based start-ups, helping them to increase their survival rates. TBIs are designed to offer start-ups the technological support and services and a solution in bridging the knowledge gap to help them develop their own viable businesses, by providing are source-based necessary for supporting their development in early and critical stage. Many TBIs have been established in hoping to promote national economic growth. To promote the success of TBIs in emerging markets, it is therefore important for the incubator management team or policy makers to understand the necessary resource required to support the development of their start-ups in order to help them to become viable businesses. The purpose of this paper is to determine enabling factors influencing the success of technology business incubators (TBIs) with respect to existing and acquired resources, and describe how these enabling factors have been implemented in practice to increase the economic growth of Pakistan. Keywords: Technology, business Incubators, Entrepreneurship, Innovatio

Exploring discontinuous intentions of social media users: a cognition-affect-conation perspective

IntroductionDrawing on the cognition-affect-conation (C-A-C) framework, this study investigates how perceived information and social and system feature overload induce depression and anxiety, which leads to affect discontinuous intentions of the social media users.MethodsThe data collected from 570 social networking site users in China are analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM).Results and DiscussionThe findings show that perceived information overload, perceived social overload, and perceived system feature overload directly affect depression and anxiety among social networking site users, which directly leads to discontinuous intentions. This study fulfills the identified need for an in-depth investigation of discontinuous behavior in social networking sites. The findings provide social networking site providers with guidelines on how to actively manage social networking site user’s behavior to reduce the effects of negative emotions on social networking sites

Anxiety amongst physicians during COVID-19: cross-sectional study in Pakistan

Background: Ensuring safety and wellbeing of healthcare providers is crucial, particularly during times of a pandemic. In this study, we aim to identify the determinants of anxiety in physicians on duty in coronavirus wards or quarantine centers. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative survey with an additional qualitative item. Five constructs of workload, exhaustion, family strain, feeling of protection, and anxiety were measured using items from two validated tools. Modifications were made for regional relevance. Factor analysis was performed showing satisfactory Cronbach alpha results. Overall, 103 physicians completed the questionnaire. Results. T-test results revealed significant associations between gender and anxiety. Structural equation modeling identified that high workload contributed to greater exhaustion (beta =0.41, R-2=0.17, p=0.47, R-2=0.22, p=0.17, p=0.34, p=-0.30, p<0.001) significantly explained anxiety (R-2=0.28). Qualitative findings further identified specific needs of physicians with regard to protective equipment, compensation, quarantine management, resource allocation, security and public support, governance improvement, and health sector development. Conclusions: It is imperative to improve governmental and social support for physicians and other healthcare providers during the corona pandemic. Immediate attention is needed to reduce anxiety, workload, and family strain in frontline practitioners treating coronavirus patients, and to improve their (perceptions of) protection. This is a precondition for patient safety

Exploring UK medical school differences: the MedDifs study of selection, teaching, student and F1 perceptions, postgraduate outcomes and fitness to practise.

BACKGROUND: Medical schools differ, particularly in their teaching, but it is unclear whether such differences matter, although influential claims are often made. The Medical School Differences (MedDifs) study brings together a wide range of measures of UK medical schools, including postgraduate performance, fitness to practise issues, specialty choice, preparedness, satisfaction, teaching styles, entry criteria and institutional factors. METHOD: Aggregated data were collected for 50 measures across 29 UK medical schools. Data include institutional history (e.g. rate of production of hospital and GP specialists in the past), curricular influences (e.g. PBL schools, spend per student, staff-student ratio), selection measures (e.g. entry grades), teaching and assessment (e.g. traditional vs PBL, specialty teaching, self-regulated learning), student satisfaction, Foundation selection scores, Foundation satisfaction, postgraduate examination performance and fitness to practise (postgraduate progression, GMC sanctions). Six specialties (General Practice, Psychiatry, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery) were examined in more detail. RESULTS: Medical school differences are stable across time (median alpha = 0.835). The 50 measures were highly correlated, 395 (32.2%) of 1225 correlations being significant with p < 0.05, and 201 (16.4%) reached a Tukey-adjusted criterion of p < 0.0025. Problem-based learning (PBL) schools differ on many measures, including lower performance on postgraduate assessments. While these are in part explained by lower entry grades, a surprising finding is that schools such as PBL schools which reported greater student satisfaction with feedback also showed lower performance at postgraduate examinations. More medical school teaching of psychiatry, surgery and anaesthetics did not result in more specialist trainees. Schools that taught more general practice did have more graduates entering GP training, but those graduates performed less well in MRCGP examinations, the negative correlation resulting from numbers of GP trainees and exam outcomes being affected both by non-traditional teaching and by greater historical production of GPs. Postgraduate exam outcomes were also higher in schools with more self-regulated learning, but lower in larger medical schools. A path model for 29 measures found a complex causal nexus, most measures causing or being caused by other measures. Postgraduate exam performance was influenced by earlier attainment, at entry to Foundation and entry to medical school (the so-called academic backbone), and by self-regulated learning. Foundation measures of satisfaction, including preparedness, had no subsequent influence on outcomes. Fitness to practise issues were more frequent in schools producing more male graduates and more GPs. CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools differ in large numbers of ways that are causally interconnected. Differences between schools in postgraduate examination performance, training problems and GMC sanctions have important implications for the quality of patient care and patient safety

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning.

BACKGROUND: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). METHOD: The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. RESULTS: A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. DISCUSSION: UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training

PVDF based ionogels: applications towards electrochemical devices and membrane separation processes

Ionogels have emerged as one of the most interesting and captivating form of composites which credits to the outstanding characteristics. One of the most important constituent of ionogels is ionic liquid, which show many attractive properties notably non-volatility, in-flammability, negligible vapor pressure, tunability, thermal stability and solvating ability. A large variety of matrix materials have been under consideration for ionogels, presently, polymer/ionic liquid based ionogels have attracted much attention. Numerous polymeric materials such as have been utilized for these polymer/ionic liquids based ionogels. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has been on top of the line as a matrix material for polymer based ionogels owing to its stability, aging and chemical resistance and mechanical strength. This review is primarily concerned with the properties of polyvinylidene fluoride based ionogels with an emphasis on their applications in various domains electrochemical devices, gas separation and liquid/liquid separations

Narrative synthesis systematic review of Pakistani women\u27s health outcomes from primary care interventions

Objective: Women living in Pakistan have complex health problems including infectious and non-communicable diseases, accident and injuries, and mental health problems. While a majority of these women rely on primary healthcare services for all of their healthcare needs, there has to date been no overview of the extent of their effectiveness. The objective of this review was to (1) synthesise the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of primary care based interventions aimed at improving women\u27s mental and physical health and (2) identify the factors that promote effectiveness for women\u27s health outcomes.Methods: Five academic databases were searched, including PubMed, BMC Medicine, Medline, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library. A search was also made of the grey literature. The quality of included studies was assessed using a standardised critical appraisal tool, and the findings summarised using a narrative synthesis.Results: In total, 18 studies were included in the review. Eight involved evaluations of counselling interventions, three health education and awareness interventions, two social and psychosocial interventions, and five were evaluations of combination interventions. Twelve of the included studies were randomised controlled trials. Of these 14 reported significant outcomes, and 4 further interventions showed partially favourable results. However, interventions mostly targeted women\u27s mental or reproductive health.Conclusions: While the evidence is limited in terms of quality and what has been evaluated, a number of interventions appear to be effective in improving outcomes for women. The three key approaches include the adoption of an active door-to-door and group-based approach; utilisation of community peers who can deliver care cost-effectively and who are more accepted in the community; and the integration of financial vouchers to support uptake in poor populations.Prospero registration number: CRD42020203472

Protocol for a systematic review of barriers, facilitators and outcomes in primary healthcare services for women in Pakistan

Introduction: The lack of universal health coverage and high poverty rates among the majority of women in Pakistan makes it essential to understand the quality and effectiveness of primary healthcare services. The aim of this project is to systematically review the available literature for interventions for primary healthcare services for women in order to provide the basis for future healthcare policy. The primary objective is to identify the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of how successful it was in improving health of women; whereas the secondary aim is to identify barriers and facilitators for delivery of primary healthcare services. Methods and analysis: A systematic review using a narrative synthesis will be undertaken, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies from January to June 2021. Electronic databases will be used including PubMed, BMC, Medline, CINAHL and Cochrane Library. The search will be conducted in English and no date restrictions will be applied. A thematic synthesis method will be used for data synthesis involving three steps: (1) the identification, coding and initial theme generation for effectiveness of primary healthcare interventions in Pakistan for women, (2) identification and grouping of overarching themes, and related subthemes, to develop descriptive themes for barriers and facilitators for primary healthcare delivery, and (3) generation of general analytical themes in order to present recommendations in terms of improved health outcomes for women. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board, Forman Christian College University. Results will be disseminated via publications in international peer-reviewed journals. In addition, conference proceedings will be used to inform the government, researchers, donors, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. This study will result in a systematic identification and synthesis of barriers and facilitators for women's health outcomes that will help inform future primary health policies. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020203472