The Fiscal Reaction Function and the Transmission Mechanism for Pakistan

Modern macroeconomics literature emphasises both the short run and long run objectives of fiscal policy [Romer (2006)]. In the short run it can be used to counter output cyclicality and/or stabilise volatility in macro variables, which is descriptively same as of effects of the short run monetary policy. Further for the long-run, fiscal policy can also affect both the demand and supply side of the economy. But in most traditional analyses it is assumed that fiscal policy would adjust to ensure the intertemporal budget constraint to be satisfied, while monetary policy is free to adjust its instruments [‘Ricardian Regime’ by Sargent (1982)] such as stock of money supply or the nominal interest rate [Walsh (2003)]. The debt financing methods, expenditure and tax powers of fiscal authorities i.e. the fiscal policy has also been seen as to affect both the supply and demand side of the economy. As noted by Baxter and King (1993), the initial Real Business Cycle models had only the supply side effects of the fiscal policy, where these were transmitted through the wealth effect and labourleisure choices of the household. Recently also New-Keynesian type models with micro-foundations and sticky prices argue that still through the supply side fiscal policy management could be accorded for stabilisation [Linnemann and Schabert (2003)]. The demand side effects of the fiscal policy could also be found only with more imperfections such as ‘Rule of Thumb’ consumers or those with liquidity constraints, which lead to exclusion of Ricardian equivalence [Gali, et al. (2005)]. But all that depends on the structure of the economy, as Blanchard and Perotti (2002) stated

Management of myelomeningocele

Objective: T To find out best possible protocol to provide productive life to children born with myelomeningocele.Study design: Descriptive study.Place & Duration of study: Department of Neurosurgery, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Karachi from December 2001 to December 2006.Patients and Methods: The medical record of 415 children with myelomeningocele operated at our center was reviewed retrospectively. The surgical & medical management protocol used for different sites of myelomeningocele was studied.Results: The age of most of the patients at the time of myelomeningocele repair was between 25-30 days; however, children with ruptured myelomeningocele were consistently repaired early. All paraplegic patients with dorsolumbar myelomeningocele were treated with either a low-pressure ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt only, direct repair or both. Patients with cervical, dorsal and lumbo-sacral myelomeningocele requiring VP shunt were operated either simultaneously for both procedures or with delayed insertions of a VP shunt after treatment of ventriculitis All 16 patients with ruptured myelomeningocele (3.8%) were treated for repair as well as ventriculitis. Complications including CSF leak, wound infection or necrosis after repair of myelomeningocele occurred in 22 cases (5.3%). The postoperative follow up for all patients was 1- 2 years.Conclusions: Surgical intervention with a low-pressure VP shunt in large dorsolumbar myelomeningocele produced good results

Aid and irritants in Pak-US relations in the wake of 9/11 incident

This paper analyses the nature of post 9/11 relations and its impact on South Asia especially Pakistan. Pak-US relations have been perplexing and intricate since inception of their relations. This relationship manifests the classical example of convergence and divergence of national interests. Client-patron state relations between Pakistan and United States measure level of interaction and commitments. The 9/11 was a hapless event, which drastically changed the scope of relationship and level of engagement. This dastard act was the tipping point of revitalized bilateral relationship in altogether different circumstances. United States was bent on hunting perpetrators of heinous act of 9/11 at any cost and it was not possible without cooperation and facilitation of Pakistan being next door neighbour of Afghanistan. Pakistan grabbed this opening to end international isolation and overcome its economic handicaps. Pakistan again became strategic partner of US in war on terror and being frontline state earned the title of the US major non-NATO ally. However, the relations remained fraught due to various allied factors such as distrust and lack of confidence. This paper tries to analyze the impact between aid given to Pakistan, in the context of irritants between civil and military regimes in Pakistan

Unhappy on the Job: An Unpleasent Experience Faced by Cashiers in the Banking Sector of Pakistan: Evidence from District Faisalabad

The study is aimed to depict the factors that affect the job satisfaction of cashiers in the banking sector of Pakistan and make them to feel unhappy on the job. For in-depth understanding of the concept under study, qualitative research strategy is applied. To achieve the objectives, MCB Bank Limited and Habib Bank Limited were selected as population of the study from city district Faisalabad, Pakistan. A semi structured interview technique is employed to collect the data from cashiers of study who provide the necessary information about their feelings at their jobs and its different facets. Nvivo-10 software is used to analyze the data. Different queries are run to explore the factors contributing towards unhappiness of employees. We find that cashiers feel unhappy on the job at banks due to low salary, limited benefits & opportunities for promotion, job insecurity, long working hours, imbalance in work & family life, lack of participation in decision making and nature of work itself. The findings are helpful to the HR departments of the banking sector as the findings reveal cashiers are unhappy on their jobs which may lead towards increased absenteeism/turnover. HR department of banks can make effective policies to change the feelings of cashiers to increase their performance and avoid turnover costs. A wide range of factors contributing to unhappy feelings of cashiers, but in the current study we explore not many factors. Furthermore the study is limited to only two banks of district Faisalabad with only 30 interviews

Giant valley-polarized spin splittings in magnetized Janus Pt dichalcogenides

Altres ajuts: ICN2 is funded by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.We reveal giant proximity-induced magnetism and valley-polarization effects in Janus Pt dichalcogenides (such as SPtSe), when bound to the europium oxide (EuO) substrate. Using first-principles simulations, it is surprisingly found that the charge redistribution, resulting from proximity with EuO, leads to the formation of two K and K' valleys in the conduction bands. Each of these valleys displays its own spin polarization and a specific spin texture dictated by broken inversion and time-reversal symmetries, and valley-exchange and Rashba splittings as large as hundreds of meV. This provides a platform for exploring spin-valley physics in low-dimensional semiconductors, with potential spin transport mechanisms such as spin-orbit torques much more resilient to disorder and temperature effects

Patterns of Head Injuries in Pediatric Patients Treated in Emergency Department of Children Hospital and Institute of Child Health Lahore

Objective:  To analyze the pattern of head injuries along with characteristics and outcomes among pediatric age group presenting in The Children hospital Lahore, Pakistan. Material and Methods:  A cross-sectional study was conducted and a total of 384 children of both genders aged up to 12 years presenting with head injuries were included. After initial review and resuscitation by the trauma unit or neurosurgery unit, children were evaluated clinically and radiologically and the plan was decided for further treatment. Gender, age, place of injury occurrence, etiology of injury, Glasgow coma score (GCS) at the time of enrollment, the interval between injury and admission, management, outcome, and total duration of hospital stay were recorded on a predesigned proforma. Results:  In a total of 384 children, 249 (64.8%) were boys. Overall, the mean age was 5.8 ± 3.3 years. Falls were the commonest etiology in 210 (54.7%) children while motor vehicle accidents were the cause of head trauma among 78 (20.3%) children. The mean interval between injury and presentation was noted to be 3.2 ± 2.1 hours. Mortality was reported in 56 (14.6%) children and it was observed that a significant association was noted between outcome and GCS at the time of presentation (p < 0.0001). Conclusion:  The majority of the pediatric head injury cases were male and aged above 5 years. The most common etiology of head injuries was falls followed by motor vehicle accidents. GCS ? 8 at the time of presentation was significantly linked with poor outcomes

Biochemical, Molecular and Morpho-Physiological Attributes of Wheat to Upgrade Grain Production and Compete with Water Stress

Enhancing grain quality and quantity is going very perilous with the incessant climate changes and rising population. Under these circumstances, to review the current strategies and researches regarding biochemical, physiological, morphological and molecular perspectives gain more consideration. Hence, its important to have know-how related to this in different parts of the world to utilize possible stratagems to increase our current production. Wheat is one of this foremost considerable crop as it is food of 21%25 of the world population and 77%25 developing countries import and consume wheat annually. Wheat is primarily important in Pakistan as it is staple food but adversely affected because of water and heat stresses. By using the information and approaches of expertise, we can achieve our objectives of high yield and admirable quality. In most of countries, yield is less than the actual potential yield, this can be overcome by utilizing appropriate resources and proper techniques. Advance knowledge and extrapolative capabilities can help us to find out best possible tools to contribute in world food security and to withstand changing climatic conditions

Cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of ellagic acid derivatives from Conocarpus lancifolius (Combretaceae)

Purpose: Isolation, characterisation and structure elucidation of compounds obtained from Conocarpus lancifolius and screening of their pharmacological effects in vitro.Methods: After collection, authentication and extraction from whole C. lancifolius plants, screening for secondary metabolites, thin-layer  chromatography and subsequent open column chromatography were performed for phytochemical analysis and subsequent purification of the compounds. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic (UV-visible, infrared and mass) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR including BB, DEPT-135, 90 and two-dimensional correlation techniques, including HMBC and HSQC). The cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of extracts and compounds obtained from C. lancifolius were evaluated using in vitro models.Results: Two ellagic acid derivatives, 2,3,8-tri-o-methylellagic acid (A) and 3-O-methylellagic acid 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (B), were isolated. Both compounds (A and B) were cytotoxic in a variety of cancer cell lines, including murine lymphocytic leukaemia (P-388, half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) =3.60 and 2.40 μg/mL, respectively), human colon cancer (Col-2, IC50 = 0.76 and 0.92 μg/mL, respectively) and human breast cancer (MCF-7, IC50 = 0.65 and 0.54 μg/mL, respectively). Moreover, both compounds showed significant antioxidant potential in vitro.Conclusion: C. lancifolius extract and isolated ellagic acid derivatives (compounds A and B) possess cytotoxic and antioxidant properties. These findings suggest that C. lancifolius contains bioactive compounds that can be potentially developed as natural cytotoxic and antioxidant compounds. Keywords: Conocarpus lancifolius, Ellagic acid, Combretaceae, Cytotoxic activity, Antioxidan

A Survey on 6G Enabled Light Weight Authentication Protocol for UAVs, Security, Open Research Issues and Future Directions

This paper demonstrates a broad exploration of existing authentication and secure communication of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a ‘6G network’. We begin with an overview of existing surveys that deal with UAV authentication in 6G and beyond communications, standardization, applications and security. In order to highlight the impact of blockchain and UAV authentication in ‘UAV networks’ in future communication systems, we categorize the groups in this review into two comprehensive groups. The first group, named the Performance Group (PG), comprises the performance-related needs on data rates, latency, reliability and massive connectivity. Meanwhile, the second group, named the Specifications Group (SG), is included in the authentication-related needs on non-reputability, data integrity and audit ability. In the 6G network, with blockchain and UAV authentication, the network decentralization and resource sharing would minimize resource under-utilization thereby facilitating PG targets. Furthermore, through an appropriate selection of blockchain type and consensus algorithms, the SG’s needs of UAV authentication in 6G network applications can also be readily addressed. In this study, the combination of blockchain and UAV authentication in 6G network emergence is reviewed as a detailed review for secure and universal future communication. Finally, we conclude on the critical identification of challenges and future research directions on the subjec