Does Supplier And Customer Involvement In New Product Development Enhance The Performance Of Product? Evidence from Pakistani Banking Sector

The objective of this research is to find the impact of supplier and customer involvement on new product development. This study aims to explore what factors affect supplier and customer involvement altogether and how such involvement affects new product performance. The study is about the empirical survey data from 190 questionnaires distributed in three private banks of Pakistan. The study found that modular design, product innovation, and internal coordination are positively correlated with the supplier and customer involvement. Such involvement and product innovation leads to better new product performance. The study is limited to the use of cross-sectional data The study not only provides new empirical evidence to support the importance of supply chain management in product development, but also extends existing literature to identify new contextual factors for such involvement. Keywords: Product development, Supplier involvement, Customer involvement, Modularity, Innovativenes

Does Organizational Support Enhance the Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Service Industry with Moderating Role of Service Climate?

This study shows that the organizational support and altruism play vital role in increasing the organizational citizenship behavior. In the service industry, service climate play moderator role where the individuals of the organization feel the high intensity of obligation to perform their duties. Employees contact directly with their customers and it is necessary for employees to perform the supportive and helping behavior to achieve the effectiveness of organization while delivering services. Results of this study are based on the conceptual theory. It indicates that the organizational support and altruism have positive impact on the citizenship behavior. In other words perceived organizational support and altruism increases the OCB in the moderating effect of service climate. This study also indicates that the intensity of the OCB depends on the service climate if it will be weak the OCB will be low and if it is high the OCB will be high. Its importance has increased in the service industries. Managerial implications are also discussed in this study. Keywords: Organizational support, altruism, organizational citizenship behavior, service climate

Knowledge management maturity and growth: A strategic perspective of Pakistani universities

Purpose of the study was to provide a road map for practitioners to access the knowledge management maturity and align the knowledge management with business strategies achieving the objectives. This study is conducted in Pakistani universities. Knowledge management maturity assessment questionnaire is use in this study for accessing the level of knowledge management maturity and growth. Data is analyzed through SPSS and AMOS. Descriptive statistics, correlation, confirmatory factor analysis and structure equation modeling techniques are use in this study to interpret the data. Result of the study show that information management is enabler of knowledge the management but not a knowledge management. Results show that knowledge management is strategic resource, which is not transferable. Mean of variable show that organization considered the knowledge management as strategic resource and trying to build infrastructure for successful institutionalization of knowledge management. But there is still gap in formulation of knowledge management strategies and implementation of knowledge management strategies. This study suggests that knowledge management is not at maturity level in Pakistani universities. There is still need to focus more and more on knowledge management for achieving the knowledge management growth. Keywords: Knowledge management, Knowledge as asset, Formulation of knowledge management strategies, Implementation of knowledge management strategies, Knowledge management performance, Knowledge management maturity, Knowledge management growt

Increasing Employee Organizational Commitment by Correlating Goal Setting, Employee Engagement and Optimism at Workplace

The aim of this study is to explore the link among important factors with effect organizational commitment. Secondly this study focuses to make a positive significant relation in setting of goals, engagement of employee and optimistic approach of behavior at work place environment in order to enhance organizational commitment level of employee. The data for that hypothesized model will be collected form individual belongs to from different organizations and research institutions. The results of this study will contribute new improved ways to achieve maximum level of organizational commitment from employees. This study will provide new insight for the field of performance management. Key words: Organizational commitment, Employee engagement, Work place optimism, Enhancing performance, Goal Settin

Comparison of chest X-ray with lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of pneumonia in children aged 02 months to 12 years

Objective: To observe the reliability of lung ultrasound in diagnosing pneumonia as compared to chest X-ray.Materials and Methods: This Prospective cohort study was carried out over a period of three months in the Paediatric Department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi. One hundred patients, 2 months to 12 years of age were enrolled in the study. All the patients were subjected to chest X-ray and lung ultrasound within 12 hours of admission. Data was recorded on predesigned Performa and processed on SPSS version 25. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were calculated for chest X-ray and lung ultrasound.Results: LUS was found to be more efficient in detecting consolidations (64 out of 100) as compared to CXR (50 out of 100). In 14 patients CXR was not able to detect consolidations but LUS detected the same. Fourteen patients in whom lung ultrasound was positive for consolidations but CXR was negative were subjected to CT chest. Out of these 14 CT scans, 11 were positive and 3 were negative for consolidations. Lung ultrasound was found to have a Sensitivity of 100%, the specificity of 92.30%, PPV 95.31%, NPV of 100%, and accuracy of 97% as compared to Sensitivity of 81%, the specificity of 100%, PPV 100%, NPV of 78% and accuracy of 89% for CXR in the diagnosis of pneumonia in children.Conclusion: Results from our study confirmed by many other studies on the same research question allow us to conclude that Lung ultrasound is a fast, low cost, reliable, radiation-free alternative to chest x-ray in the diagnosis of pneumonia in children. &nbsp

Variation Analysis of Acanthopagrus latus found in the costal belt of Lasbella by using Mitochondrial DNA, D- Loop region

Background: Fish is a major source of food and plays major role in the blue economy of Baluchistan, Pakistan. The Yellow fin Sea Bream (A. latus) is found in coastal belts and locally known as “Dhandya”. Variation analysis between fish species were studied, using mitochondrial DNA. To understand genetic diversity of fish, mitochondrial DNA D-loop provides a good source of information for the management as well as the selective breeding of the sea fauna.Methods: The current study was focus on variation analysis, phenotypic and genetic variation in A. latus fish found in different region of coastal belt of Baluchistan. A total of forty-five fish  A. latus from three different areas of Baluchistan (Gaddani, Dam, and Kund Malir) were collected aseptically. The Phenotypic study was done on the bases of their body shape, body color and color of the fins. Four different kinds of A. latus  were observed and named  as type  A, B, C and D. The genetic characteristics were studied by observing the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region.Results: For Mitochondrial DNA analysis, the blood samples were collected from the selected samples and processed for DNA extraction. Primer was designed and PCR was performed. PCR products were sequenced and analyzed for observing genetic variation in mitochondrial DNA of A. latus.Conclusion: The analysis revealed three genetic variations; two heterozygous variations at 32 and 172 nucleotide positions (Adenine substituted by Thymine and Thymine substituted by Guanine) and one homozygous variation at 72 nucleotide position (an insertion of a Thymine).Keywords: Acanthopagrus latus; Mitochondrial DNA; Fish; Polymerase Chain Reaction   

Developing A Synthetic Composite Membrane For Cleft Palate Repair

An oronasal fistula is a passage between the oral and nasal cavity. Currently, surgical procedures use mucosal flaps or collagen grafts to make a barrier between oral and nasal cavities. Our aim was to develop a cell-free synthetic repair material for closure of nasal fistulas. We surface functionalized electrospun polyurethane (PU) and poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) and composite polymer (PU-PLLA) membranes with acrylic acid through plasma polymerization. Membranes were treated in a layer-by-layer approach to develop highly charged electrostatic layer that could bind heparin as a pro-angiogenic glycosaminoglycan. The properties were evaluated through physical, chemical, and mechanical characterization techniques. Cytotoxicity was tested with MC3T3 pre-osteoblast cell lines for 3, 7, and 14 days, and vasculogenesis was assessed by implantation into the chorio-allantoic membrane in chick embryos for 7 days. In vivo biocompatibility was assessed by subcutaneous implantation in rats for 1, 3, and 6 weeks. The membranes consisted of random fibers of PLLA-PU with fiber diameters of 0.47 and 0.12 μm, respectively. Significantly higher cell proliferation and migration of MC3T3 cells at 3, 7, and 14 days were shown on plasma-coated membranes compared with uncoated membranes. Further, it was found that plasma-coated membranes were more angiogenic than controls. In vivo implantation of membranes in rats did not reveal any gross toxicity to the materials, and wound healing was comparable with the native tissue repair (sham group). We therefore present a plasma-functionalized electrospun composite polymer membrane for use in the treatment of fistulas. These membranes are flexible, non-cytotoxic, and angiogenic, and we hope it should lead to permanent closure of oronasal fistula

Nature-inspired spider web shaped UHF RFID reader antenna for IoT and healthcare applications

This paper proposes a nature-inspired spider web-shaped ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) reader antenna and battery-free sensor-based system for healthcare applications. This antenna design consists of eight concentric decagons of various sizes and five straight microstrip lines.These lines are connected to the ground using 50 Ω resistors from both ends, except for one microstrip line that is reserved for connecting a feeding port. The reader antenna design features fairly strong and uniform electric and magnetic field characteristics. It also exhibits wideband characteristics, covering whole UHF RFID band (860–960 MHz) and providing a tag reading volume of 200 × 200 × 20 mm3 . Additionally, it has low gain characteristics, which are necessary for the majority of nearfield applications to prevent the misreading of other tags. Moreover, the current distribution in this design is symmetric throughout the structure, effectively resolving orientation sensitivity issues commonly encountered in low-cost linearly polarized tag antennas. The measurement results show that the reader antenna can read medicine pills tagged using low-cost passive/battery-free RFID tags, tagged expensive jewelry, intervenes solution, and blood bags positioned in various orientations. As a result, the proposed reader antenna-based system is a strong contender for near-field RFID, healthcare, and IoT applications