Performance Evaluation of Mutual Funds in Pakistan

In Pakistan Mutual Funds were introduced in 1962, when the public offering of National Investment (Unit) Trust (NIT) was introduced which is an open-end mutual fund. In 1966 another fund that is Investment Corporation of Pakistan (ICP) was establishment. ICP subsequently offered a series of closed-end mutual funds. Up to early 1990s, twenty six (26) closed-end ICP mutual funds had been floated by Investment Corporation of Pakistan. After considering the option of restructuring the corporation, government decided to wind up ICP in June, 2000. In 2002, the Government started Privatisation of the Investment Corporation of Pakistan. 25 Out of 26 closed-end funds of ICP were split into two lots. There had been a competitive bidding for the privatisation of funds. Management Right of Lot-A comprising 12 funds was acquired by ABAMCO Limited. Out of these 12, the first 9 funds were merged into a single closed-end fund and that was named as ABAMCO Capital Fund, except 4th ICP mutual fund as the certificate holders of the 4th ICP fund had not approved the scheme of arrangement of Amalgamation into ABAMCO capital fund in their extra ordinary general meeting held on December 20, 2003. The fund has therefore been reorganised as a separate closedend trust and named as ABAMCO Growth Fund. Rest of the three funds were merged into another single and named as ABAMCO Stock Market Fund. So far as the Lot-B is concerned, it comprised of 13 ICP funds, for all of these thirteen funds, the Management Right was acquired by PICIC Asset Management Company Limited. All of these thirteen funds were merged into a single closed-end fund which was named as “PICIC Investment Fund”. Later on the 26th fund of ICP (ICP-SEMF) was also acquired by PICIC Asset Management Company Limited

Detecting Earning Management: Deferred Taxes vs Accruals: A Pakistani Perspective

Objective: Earning Management has been one of the major areas of accounting research which has received a great attention in the past and also quite recently. Detecting earning management has always been one of the major areas of concern for the researchers. Earnings Management is pervasive. There are a number of models available to Detect and measure the earnings management activity. Methodology: The accrual models are the most used models to proxy the discretionary accruals and the earnings management. The effectiveness of the accrual models is somewhat skeptical at times when researchers found some inconsistencies in results while using the accrual models.  The researchers are still finding some better and effective model that can be used to better measure and capture the earnings management activity. The focus of this study is to find out as to whether a deferred tax as compared to accrual models is more useful in measuring or detecting the earnings management in Pakistani perspective. The study is based on the Pakistani companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). This study is expected to be an addition to the existing research as to whether the models used for detecting earnings management through deferred taxes by Philips et al (2003) are also applicable to Pakistani Scenario which is a developing country. The study used Probit Regression Model with pooled cross sectional data to measure the usefulness of both; accruals and deferred taxes (the proxies)   used as better measure for Earnings management. Results: The results of the study are inconsistent with the Philips et al. (2003) study. Based on this study it is concluded that deferred tax is not incrementally useful along with the other accrual measure. The accruals models show significant results and are more powerful metric to detect earnings management as compared to the deferred taxes in Pakistan

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Measurements of Higgs boson production cross sections and couplings in the diphoton decay channel at root s=13 TeV

Measurements of Higgs boson production cross sections and couplings in events where the Higgs boson decays into a pair of photons are reported. Events are selected from a sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13TeV collected by the CMS detector at the LHC from 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). Analysis categories enriched in Higgs boson events produced via gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, vector boson associated production, and production associated with top quarks are constructed. The total Higgs boson signal strength, relative to the standard model (SM) prediction, is measured to be 1.12 +/- 0.09. Other properties of the Higgs boson are measured, including SM signal strength modifiers, production cross sections, and its couplings to other particles. These include the most precise measurements of gluon fusion and vector boson fusion Higgs boson production in several different kinematic regions, the first measurement of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pair in five regions of the Higgs boson transverse momentum, and an upper limit on the rate of Higgs boson production in association with a single top quark. All results are found to be in agreement with the SM expectations.Peer reviewe

Increasing frailty is associated with higher prevalence and reduced recognition of delirium in older hospitalised inpatients: results of a multi-centre study

Purpose Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder delineated by an acute change in cognition, attention, and consciousness. It is common, particularly in older adults, but poorly recognised. Frailty is the accumulation of deficits conferring an increased risk of adverse outcomes. We set out to determine how severity of frailty, as measured using the CFS, affected delirium rates, and recognition in hospitalised older people in the United Kingdom. Methods Adults over 65 years were included in an observational multi-centre audit across UK hospitals, two prospective rounds, and one retrospective note review. Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), delirium status, and 30-day outcomes were recorded. Results The overall prevalence of delirium was 16.3% (483). Patients with delirium were more frail than patients without delirium (median CFS 6 vs 4). The risk of delirium was greater with increasing frailty [OR 2.9 (1.8–4.6) in CFS 4 vs 1–3; OR 12.4 (6.2–24.5) in CFS 8 vs 1–3]. Higher CFS was associated with reduced recognition of delirium (OR of 0.7 (0.3–1.9) in CFS 4 compared to 0.2 (0.1–0.7) in CFS 8). These risks were both independent of age and dementia. Conclusion We have demonstrated an incremental increase in risk of delirium with increasing frailty. This has important clinical implications, suggesting that frailty may provide a more nuanced measure of vulnerability to delirium and poor outcomes. However, the most frail patients are least likely to have their delirium diagnosed and there is a significant lack of research into the underlying pathophysiology of both of these common geriatric syndromes

Increasing frailty is associated with higher prevalence and reduced recognition of delirium in older hospitalised inpatients: results of a multi-centre study

Purpose: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder delineated by an acute change in cognition, attention, and consciousness. It is common, particularly in older adults, but poorly recognised. Frailty is the accumulation of deficits conferring an increased risk of adverse outcomes. We set out to determine how severity of frailty, as measured using the CFS, affected delirium rates, and recognition in hospitalised older people in the United Kingdom. Methods: Adults over 65 years were included in an observational multi-centre audit across UK hospitals, two prospective rounds, and one retrospective note review. Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), delirium status, and 30-day outcomes were recorded. Results: The overall prevalence of delirium was 16.3% (483). Patients with delirium were more frail than patients without delirium (median CFS 6 vs 4). The risk of delirium was greater with increasing frailty [OR 2.9 (1.8–4.6) in CFS 4 vs 1–3; OR 12.4 (6.2–24.5) in CFS 8 vs 1–3]. Higher CFS was associated with reduced recognition of delirium (OR of 0.7 (0.3–1.9) in CFS 4 compared to 0.2 (0.1–0.7) in CFS 8). These risks were both independent of age and dementia. Conclusion: We have demonstrated an incremental increase in risk of delirium with increasing frailty. This has important clinical implications, suggesting that frailty may provide a more nuanced measure of vulnerability to delirium and poor outcomes. However, the most frail patients are least likely to have their delirium diagnosed and there is a significant lack of research into the underlying pathophysiology of both of these common geriatric syndromes

Development of a Small Scale Concentrating Parabolic trough Solar Collector for Drying Purposes

A high performance solar collector was developed to modify agricultural building environment such as dairy, poultry farm buildings and greenhouses. Moreover it should be efficiently utilized as a solar dryer for drying various agricultural products and by products. The materials used include steel sheet with high performance of reflecting light, absorber tube, and angle iron and fully insulated drying chamber. A CPTSC was a tilted at 340south (Equivalent to the latitude of Peshawar) Pakistan. A CPTSC a total reflecting surface area was 2.9 m2 respectively. The absorber tube having a surface of 0.376 m2 was fixed in front of the reflector at the distance equal to the focal length. The total volume of drying chamber was 0.3135 m3. An experiment was conducted to enhance the efficiency of the CPTSC and two air mass flow rate treatments were tested with normal and convective mass air flow rate, 0.6 kg. Min-1 and 1.72 kg. Min-1 under the average temperature of the month (January, February and March, 2012). Moreover, the process was replicated three times under the completely randomized design. The result showed that both air mass flow rate and average temperature of the month significantly effected the efficiency of a concentrating parabolic trough solar collector. The new model of a CPTSC increased the efficiency from 8 to 25 % with increase in both air mass flow rates and average temperature of the months. Therefore it is concluded that the solar collector efficiency increased with increasing air mass flow rate

Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of Maxwell nanofluid containing gyrotactic micro-organisms with heat source/sink

This paper discusses the three-dimensional flow of Maxwell nanofluid containing gyrotactic micro-organisms over a stretching surface. The effects of magnetic field and heat source/sink are also considered. Theory of microorganisms is utilized to stabilize the suspended nanoparticles through bioconvection induced by the effects of buoyancy forces. HAM (homotopy analysis method) is used to acquire analytic solution for the governing nonlinear equations. The effects of Deborah number, Hartmann number, mixed convection parameter, buoyancy ratio parameter, bioconvection Rayeigh number, stretching ratio parameter, brownian diffusion and thermophoresis diffusion parameters, Prandtl number, Lewis number, micro-organisms concentration difference parameter, bioconvection Peclet number and the bioconvection Lewis number on velocity, temperature, density of motile microorganisms and nanoparticle concentration are discussed graphically. The local Nusselt, Sherwood and motile micro-organisms numbers are also analyzed graphically. The reduction of the boundary layer thickness and velocity due to magnetic field is noted. The heat source/sink parameter have opposite effects on the temperature profile. We found that In comparison to the case of heat sink the thermal boundary layer thickness and temperature increases in the case of heat source