The effect of greenfield foreign direct investment, merger and acquisitions and institutions on economic growth for ten selected Asian countries

This thesis aims to examine the effect of Greenfield foreign direct investment (GFDI), merger and acquisitions (MNA) with the interaction effect of institutional factors on economic growth in ten selected Asian countries. The inconsistent results of previous studies are appealing researchers to advance further empirical testing with disaggregated FDI in the form of GFDI and MNA. The gap in the literature, as decreasing trend of GDP growth and increasing tendency of FDI in Asia need to be addressed. Therefore, the study examines the interaction effect of institutional factors separately on the relationship between GFDI, MNA and economic growth, in selected Asian countries. In this thesis, we use a two-stage least squares methodology to control endogeneity, while the results of the Hausman test recommends that the fixed effect model is more appropriate for the analysis of ten selected Asian countries covering the period 2002-2016.The findings of the study show that MNA has positive impact on economic growth. while greenfield FDI is not significant in ten selected Asian countries. The results of the interaction effect of institutional factors show that performance of MNA increases with interaction effect of institutional factors. The institutional factors like political stability, rule of law and control of corruption show positive interaction effect with MNA. Similarly, government effectiveness and COC depict the positive interaction effect with GFDI although, voice and accountability and regulatory quality have negative interaction effect on economic growth in selected Asian countries. The results suggest that MNA needs to be encouraged to enhance its potential impact to contribute positively to economic growth. The study further suggests that countries should improve their regulation which are in the favour of investors to get positive results from both types of investments (GFDI, MNA)

Human Capital and Economic Growth: Evidence from Selected Asian Countries

Impact of human capital on economic growth of selected Asian countries was examined, in the context of a visual search task. The main aim of this study is to find the empirical relationships among human capital and economic growth by using panel data technique for the period 1990-2012. In this study Government Expenditure on Health and gross school enrolment at secondary level used as a proxy variables for measuring human capital. The results of econometric estimation and panel least squares estimates indicated, a strong positive association of government expenditure on health and gross fixed capital formation with GDP. Another result of this study is that the gross school enrollment has positive but insignificant impact on gross domestic product. The study recommends that Government should escalate the enrollment of students in primary and secondary level, incentives to the people working abroad and should also facilitate the private sector to develop the labor force. Moreover, government should increase their expenditure on different areas of health sector such as for the development of infrastructure of health sector and provision of better health care facilities to the patients. Keywords: Human capital, Economic growth, Capital, Asian countries.

Human Capital and Economic Growth: Evidence from Selected Asian Countries

Impact of human capital on economic growth of selected Asian countries was examined, in the context of a visual search task. The main aim of this study is to find the empirical relationships among human capital and economic growth by using panel data technique for the period 1990-2012. In this study Government Expenditure on Health and gross school enrolment at secondary level used as a proxy variables for measuring human capital. The results of econometric estimation and panel least squares estimates indicated, a strong positive association of government expenditure on health and gross fixed capital formation with GDP. Another result of this study is that the gross school enrollment has positive but insignificant impact on gross domestic product. The study recommends that Government should escalate the enrollment of students in primary and secondary level, incentives to the people working abroad and should also facilitate the private sector to develop the labor force. Moreover, government should increase their expenditure on different areas of health sector such as for the development of infrastructure of health sector and provision of better health care facilities to the patients. Keywords: Human capital, Economic growth, Capital, Asian countries

GERM CELL TUMOURS OF THE OVARY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A CLINICAL STUDY OF 109 PATIENTS IN A SPECIALIZED CANCER CENTRE

Objective: Paediatric ovarian germ cell tumours (GCTs) are rare tumours withmalignant tumours extremely rare.Methods: All the paediatric patients who received treatment for histology proven ovarian GCT at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital from January 2006 to December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients over the age of 18 years were excluded from the study. A total of 109 patients were included in the study. A set of parameters were identified to record initial clinical presentation and examination, imaging and laboratory investigations including tumour marker levels. Decisions of multidisciplinary team meetings, surgical treatment, neo adjuvant, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation data retrieved. Data analysiscarried out using SPSS 20.Results: In total 109 girls presented to our hospital during the study period, most of them above the age of 5 years, with dysgerminoma being the most common followed by yolk sac tumour. Most of the patients received treatment outside our hospital and were referred here for chemoradiotherapy. Fertility preserving surgery was the most commonly performed surgical procedure with a mean follow-up of 50.4 months and >75% overall 5-year survival.Conclusion: Regardless of histologic types, the outcomes of GCT can be improved with a multidisciplinary approach.Key words: Dysgerminomas, germ cell tumours, ovarian tumour

Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124. Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98). Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial

Ultrasound Guided Catheterization of Internal Jugular Vein Technique Versus Standard Landmark Technique

 Background: To compare, average access time, number of attempts and the complications resulting from cannulation of internal jugular vein by standard landmark technique with real-time ultrasound guided technique.Methods : In this comparative study, patients(n=200) undergoing different types of major surgical procedures, were divided in two groups. Anaesthetists and other staff were blinded to the randomization schedule and block size. After successfully securing the endotracheal tube, patients were placed in supine position with 15 degree head down.CV lines were first attempted on right side of neck and patients face was turned to left. On real time ultrasound unit carotid artery was selected and linear- arry ultrasound probe was attached to it and gel was applied to it and wrapped in a sterile plastic sheath. Transducer was placed parallel and superior to right clavicle over the groove between sternal and clavicular heads of sternocleidomastoid. This readily visualized internal and external jugular vein and carotid artery. Real time two dimensional view was used to identify Internal jugular vein and after checking its compressibility , an 18G, 10cm needle was advanced through skin under ultrasound guidance. After successful aspiration of blood a guide wire was placed through needle and needle was removed and after dilating the tract with dilator a CV line was placed over guide wire. In land mark technique patients were prepared in the similar manner as for ultrasound guided technique. A 10cm 18-gauge needle attached with 10 ml syringe was introduced in the direction of respective nipple (right or left side) at the apex of triangle made by sternal and clavicular heads of sternocleidomastoid muscle. Return of venous blood in to syringe on aspiration was taken as confirmation of entry in to vein but color of blood and pressure of flow back was used as indicator whether needle has accidentally punctured the carotid artery or not.Results: Both the groups were similar with respect to age, gender, weight , site of cannulation, and for presence of risk factors for difficult cannulation. Hematoma was observed in only one patient in ultrasound group as compared to nine patients in landmark group. Haemothorax and pneumothorax were not observed in any patient in ultrasound group. In land mark group 2% had haemothorax and 3% had pneumothorax.. Carotid puncture was noted in 7% in landmark group , while in ultrasound group carotid puncture was not observed(p less than 0.050).Average access time was significantly lower in ultrasound group than in landmark group. Procedure success rate was 100% in ultrasound group and 95% in landmark group.Conclusion: Ultrasound guided technique, as compared with landmark technique, is effective in reducing the complications associated with central venous cannulation

Effect of Energy Consumption on Environment: A Case Study of China

The issue of environmental degradation was forced by significant energy consumption. This study examined the effect of energy consumption on environmental degradation in People’s Republic of China region. To explore the relationship between dependent variables Carbon emission CO2 and independent variables Domestic Investment, Primary Energy Consumption, Population, FDI, Trade. The annual time series data used from 1990 till 2020. In this research, the study applied Ordinary Least Square Method (OLS), and Granger Causality Test. The result of OLS of model shows that there is a significantly positive impact of energy consumption, Population, Domestic Investment and, Trade on carbon emission CO2 and FDI negative impact on Carbon emission CO2.  Findings of the study suggest that to reduce the positive effects of energy use on CO2 emissions, environmentally friendly technology should be promoted alongside increases in energy efficiency

Kuntien varat ja taloudellinen tilanne - varojen käsitteestä ja talouden analyysistä.

The main concern of this study is to analyze the impact of agricultural exports on macroeconomic performance of Pakistan. This study estimated the relationship between Gross domestic product (GDP) and agricultural and non-agricultural exports for Pakistan employing Johansen co-integration technique by using secondary data for the period 1972-2008.The main findings of the study depict that agricultural exports have a negative relationship with economic growth of Pakistan while non-agricultural exports have positive relation with economic growth. On the basis of empirical results this study suggested that Pakistan have to do structural changes in agricultural exports by converting its agricultural exports into value added products. Keywords: Pakistan, Agricultural exports, non-agricultural exports, economic growth, Capital

Regional climate assessment of precipitation and temperature in Southern Punjab (Pakistan) using SimCLIM climate model for different temporal scales

Unbalanced climate during the last decades has created spatially alarming and destructive situations in the world. Anomalies in temperature and precipitation enhance the risks for crop production in large agricultural region (especially the Southern Punjab) of Pakistan. Detailed analysis of historic weather data (1980–2011) record helped in creating baseline data to compare with model projection (SimCLIM) for regional level. Ensemble of 40 GCMs used for climatic projections with greenhouse gas (GHG) representative concentration pathways (RCP-4.5, 6.0, 8.5) was selected on the baseline comparison and used for 2025 and 2050 climate projection. Precipitation projected by ensemble and regional weather observatory at baseline showed highly unpredictable nature while both temperature extremes showed 95 % confidence level on a monthly projection. Percentage change in precipitation projected by model with RCP-4.5, RCP-6.0, and RCP-8.5 showed uncertainty 3.3 to 5.6 %, 2.9 to 5.2 %, and 3.6 to 7.9 % for 2025 and 2050, respectively. Percentage change of minimum temperature from base temperature showed that 5.1, 4.7, and 5.8 % for 2025 and 9.0, 8.1, and 12.0 % increase for projection year 2050 with RCP-4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 and maximum temperature 2.7, 2.5, and 3.0 % for 2025 and 4.7, 4.4, and 6.4 % for 2050 will be increased with RCP-4.5, 6.0, and 8.5, respectively. Uneven increase in precipitation and asymmetric increase in temperature extremes in future would also increase the risk associated with management of climatic uncertainties. Future climate projection will enable us for better risk management decisions