MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Business is one of the oldest professions that mankind possesses, as time passed and with the advent of technology the earth seemed to squeeze, distances started to minimize, the age of globalization had begun. Businesses operating in different countries and continents could not confine them to a particular area and geography as it was not in line with globalization and it required things to be looked from a global perspective. Progressive businessmen always wanted to be ahead of their counterparts, this zeal of utilizing first mover advantage inspired mighty businessmen to opt for geographical expansions. Some of them did achieve this by going for mergers and acquisitions, which seems a smart move as one gets a running business. These mergers and acquisitions however can backfire as well and cannot prove to be a success story always. In the last decade, businesses from developing countries have started to buy out businesses of developed countries as their economies are doing better compared to the developed world due to low cost of production. Indian and Chinese businessmen are the most aggressive compared to rest in this regard

Designing Motivational Games for Robot-Mediated Stroke Rehabilitation

The repetitive and sometimes mundane nature of conventional rehabilitation therapy provides an ideal opportunity for development of interactive and challenging therapeutic games that have the potential to engage and motivate the players. Different game design techniques can be used to design rehabilitation games that work alongside robotics to provide an augmentative therapy to stroke patients in order to increase their compliance and motivation towards therapy. The strategy we followed to develop such a system was to (i) identify the key design parameters that can influence compliance, prolonged activity, active participation and patient motivation, (ii) use these parameters to design rehabilitation games for robot-mediated stroke-rehabilitation, (iii) investigate the effects of these parameters on motivation and performance of patients undergoing home-based rehabilitation therapy. Three main studies were conducted with healthy subjects and stroke subjects. The first study identified the effects of the design parameters on healthy players‘ motivation. Using the results from this study, we incorporated the parameters into rehabilitation games, following player-centric iterative design process, which were formatively evaluated during the second study with healthy subjects, stroke patients, and health-care professionals. The final study investigated the research outcomes from use of these games in three patient‘s homes during a 6 weeks clinical evaluation. In summary, the research undertaken during this PhD successfully identified the design techniques influencing patient motivation and adherence as well as highlighted further important elements that contribute to maintaining therapeutic interaction between patients and the therapy medium, mainly the technological usability and reliability of the system

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is the most severe form of drug-induced skin reaction and includes denudation of >30% of total body surface area. The mechanism of disease is not completely understood, but immunologic mechanisms, cytotoxic reactions, and delayed hypersensitivity seem to be involved. Drug-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis (TENS), also known as Lyell’s syndrome, remains one of the most dramatic dermatological emergencies characterized by extensive destruction of epidermis and mucosal epithelia that often can be caused by drugs. TEN affects between 0.4 and 1.5 cases per million people every year with a mortality rate between 15% to 40%, with a large portion of patients dying from infections or multi-organ failure.1-4 The pathogenesis of drug-induced TEN is unknown, although several theories have been developed. Recent discoveries have shown that keratinocytes in TEN undergo apoptosis, not simply necrosis.5,6 Further research has elucidated that this apoptosis can be induced by interactions between cell surface death receptor Fas and its ligand, FasL or CD95L. The management of these patients is primarily supportive, although the use of corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy has been widely used with controversy. We report a case of risperidone induced toxic epidermal necrolysis with excellent response to corticosteroid

Selective transportation of molybdenum from model and ore through poly inclusion membrane

The extraction of molybdenum from the aqueous solution through poly inclusion membrane (PIM) containing tri-caprylylmethylammonium chloride (Aliquat-336) as a carrier has been investigated. A solution of molybdenum in phosphoric acid was used as a feed side while sodium hydroxide was used as stripping reagent. The results indicate that maximum flux value was obtained at 0.16 M Aliquat-336. Increase in H3PO4 concentration from 0.05 to 1.5 M results into an increase in molybdenum ions. The maximum flux of 3.00×10−6 mol/m2s through PIM was found at 1.5 M H3PO4. The optimized conditions were applied for removal of Mo(VI) from ore and more than 97 % Mo(VI) was extracted.   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(1), 93-104. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i1.

First international workshop on usability and accessibility focused requirements engineering (UsARE 2012): summary report

Usability and accessibility issues are common causes why software fails to meet user requirements. However, requirements engineers still focus on functional requirements and might ignore to also elicit system usability and accessibility requirements. This is a high risk which can lead to project and software failure. Improving the usability and accessibility of a system in a later development stage is costly and time consuming. Targeting these concerns, the workshop envisioned that research must address the proper integration of system usability and accessibility requirements into the requirements engineering process and also must focus on how to manage and control the evaluation of these requirements in a systematic way. UsARE 2012 provided a platform for discussing issues which are relevant for both fields, the Requirements Engineering (RE) and the Human Computer Interaction (HCI). The workshop aim was to bring\ together people from these two communities (RE and HCI) to explore this integration. Researchers and practitioners were invited to submit contributions including problem statements, technical solutions, experience reports, planned work and vision papers. Envisioned results may help aligning RE and HCI processes in order to overcome open issues in these fields

Confronting our mistakes: A comprehensive evaluation of radiographic errors in digital chest radiography among adult population in a public sector hospital

Objective: To find out the various types of radiographic errors in digital chest radiography and their effect on image quality leading to image rejection. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Radiology department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for a period of One month, September 2019. The study included 1560 digital Chest X-Rays, reaching the Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS), fulfilling the inclusion criteria. All these X-rays were analyzed by two radiology residents for the presence of radiographic errors in them. The various radiographic errors were then classified as: Positioning error, poor collimation, Artifacts, improper exposure, motion blur and mislabeling. The frequency of each radiographic error was measured along with their implication on image quality resulting in three major image categories: ACCEPT, JUST ACCEPTABLE and REJECT. The SPSS was adopted for inferential statistical analysis. Results: The study included 1013 (64.9%) male patients and 547 (35.1%) female patients. The mean age came out to be 36 +/- 15 years. Out of 1560 X-rays, 964 (61.8 %) had radiographic errors in them while 596 (38.2%) were completely devoid of radiographic errors. Positioning error (44.5 percent) was the most frequently encountered error followed by poor collimation (29.8%), artifacts (14.9%), Improper exposure (8%), motion blur (2.2%) and mislabeling (0.5%). The rejection rate came out to be 16.5 %. The major cause of image rejection was anatomy cutoff, especially the cut-off of cardio phrenic (CP) angle. Conclusion: Positioning errors represent the commonest cause of image rejection in chest radiography. The main identified pitfall was lack of radiographer’s education and training in performing an examination and indicates a need to improve their performance. Key words: Digital Radiography, Chest X ray, Radiographic error, Image reject &nbsp

Derivation of an analytical expression for the power coupling coefficient for offset launch into multimode fiber

The demand for higher bandwidth in local area networks (LANs) has fuelled considerable research in techniques for mitigating modal dispersion in multimode fiber (MMF).These techniques include selective mode excitation, offset launching, angular multiplexing and electronic dispersion compensation, all of which strive to optimize the channel impulse response of a MMF.To obtain the optimal bandwidth-enhancement results from these techniques, knowledge of the distribution of power coupling coefficients given an arbitrary offset launch in a MMF is important.In this paper, an analytical expression for the power coupling coefficient for an incident Gaussian beam launched with a radial offset into a MMF having an infinite parabolic refractive index profile is derived.This expression is useful in understanding the parameters which may affect the power coupling coefficient and how they may enhance the MMF bandwidth. The power coupling coefficients obtained from the derived analytical expression are compared with numerical results and are in excellent agreement.The analytical expression may be extended to manufactured MMF

Impact of Personality Trait of Emotional Stability on Oral Parafunctional Habits

OBJECTIVES To find the impact of emotional stability on oral parafunctional habits. METHODOLOGY A Cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the College of Dentistry, Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore, over five months, from July to November 2021. Data was collected using a medical questionnaire and a ten-item personality inventory scale (TIPI). The medical questionnaire comprised two sections with 11 items. The first section had six demographic statements, including age, gender, marital status, occupation, educational level and medical condition. The second section consisted of a pre-validated parafunctional habits questionnaire. RESULTSThere was a non-significant difference in the scores of the personality trait of emotional stability across categories of oral parafunctional habits of nail-biting (p=0.093), tooth grinding (p=0.192), tooth clenching (p=0.055), biting on hard objects (p=0.17) and chewing gum (p=0.116). CONCLUSION Emotional stability was most prevalent in individuals who denied having the habit of nail-biting, teeth grinding, tooth clenching and biting hard objects but neither agreed nor disagreed with having the habit of chewing gum

Utilization of Marble Wastes in Clay Bricks: A Step towards Lightweight Energy Efficient Construction Materials

Marble dust is one of the hazardous byproducts of marble-processing factories and requires planned disposal. Its beneficial use as a construction material will add to the sustainability, and most importantly, might overcome the burden of marble waste disposal. However, the use of marble dust in concrete has a negative impact. Therefore, this research examines various properties related to the utilization of such material in ceramic clay, and therefore its effects on the use of clay bricks are investigated. The research activity covers the categorization of marble dust powder from three different sources: Ziarat in Mohmand Agency, Buneer, and Mullagori (Pakistan). Its utilization in different proportions preparation of bricks is also addressed. Through the partial replacement of clay with marble dust from 0 to 30% by weight with amplification of 5%, seven mix designs are examined. The test result includes Bulk density, water absorption, porosity, thermal insulation, and strength. The partial replacement of clay with marble dust reduced its weight, strength and increased its porosity, water absorption, and thermal insulation. Furthermore, the utilization of marble powder in bricks minimizes soil erosion and reduces pollution to the environment. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091738 Full Text: PD