Repositioning Virtual University of Pakistan

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the concept of repositioning with a single case study design.  Case study selected for this research is the Virtual University (VU) of Pakistan. VU is the first Pakistani university based completely on modern information and communication technologies, was established by the Government as a public sector, not-for-profit institution. One of the challenges VU management faces as of now is regarding the perception of the university. Generally, VU is perceived as a sub-standard university and it is thought that only those who could not secure admission anywhere else have joined this institution. Secondly, masses have always been skeptical about the quality of education imparted at VU. The low fees are assumed to indicate poor quality of education and the government funding and subsidies are not considered as efforts to improve the standard of education in the country. VU has also signed a number of MOUs with top foreign and local universities, but these important associations have not been promoted effectively by VU so far.  Perhaps the greatest challenge surrounding the VU management is the consumer’s perception about the employability of VU graduates. This perception of masses about VU could have been changed by repositioning VU with an appropriately redesigned promotion campaign. Soon VU management realized the lack of advertising effectiveness and changed their positioning strategy. Three important changes they have made. Firstly, instead of targeting graduation ceremony or convocation, they moved towards Endorsements. They contacted their well-placed graduates in corporate sector and ask their endorsements. This was sensed immediately by the target audience and helped VU in enhancing their image.  Secondly they moved towards color advertisements in black and white classified pages which resulted in immediate recognition of their advertisements. Thirdly, they changed their program offerings and started offering 18-year MS degree programs which has resulted in enhancing consumer perceptions towards high quality education at VU. This capstone decision was proved fruitful measured by subsequent perception surveys. Keywords: Marketing, Positioning, Repositioning, Advertising Campaign, Services, University, Pakista

Perceptions towards Music Preferences in Pakistan

The purpose of this paper is to present the public perceptions towards Music preferences in Pakistan. For this survey research 125 Men and 115 Women, aged between 18 and 34 from different universities were interviewed. The data was Factor Analyzed and six factors were extracted (1) Moody; (2) Modern; (3) Manifest; (4) Mild; (5) Milieu; (6) Mingy. Moody are straight forward and have a preference of heavy music beat. Modern wants the top-hit list music to be there in their playlists with the latest gadgetry. Manifest enjoys the music made on several instrumental ballads mostly of high beat.  Mild ranges from slow, emotional ballads to the classical melodies that are mostly designed for dancing purpose. Milieu has a preference of going in musical concerts and love for vulgar lyrics.  Mingy enjoys listening cheap music. Age and gender differences among different music preferences also highlighted here. These factors have more preference over one another, and as the new generation are found to be ‘’Addicted’’ towards Music. The findings indicate that each preference group has demonstrated its own style of Music. Keywords: Music Preferences, Perceptions, Factor Analysis, personality trait

A Multi-Color Technique For Three-Dimensional Flow Characterization

Turbulent flows are fundamentally three-dimensional. Due to their inherent complexity, turbulent flow characterization is heavily relies on experimental research. A multi-color grid technique was recently proposed by the authors as a novel method for characterizing and measuring three-dimensional flows. In this paper, further improvements of this technique are reported by implementing a new method based on color permutations. Several new advances in the experimental implementation and analysis algorithm are then presented and detailed. Results are presented using color streak images and three-dimensional particle trajectories

Incidence and epidemiology of cerebral venous thrombosis.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is a disorder whose epidemiology has changed over the past few decades. It is no longer regarded as a uniformly fatal disease. CVST is not a rare disorder. It may have a differential geographic distribution with a higher incidence in the Asian world. It is a disease of neonates, younger women and men, often a hypercoagulable state, either acquired (e.g., cancer) or a genetic prothrombotic condition may be present. Outcome is not uniformly dismal and prognostic criteria that detect patients with a poor outcome have become available from prospective studies. There is a paucity of well designed large scale epidemiologic studies focused on venous thrombosis from regions where it is relatively frequent (South Asia, Middle East). The newer epidemiologic data derived from a Caucasian database; suggest a better overall prognosis, younger age at distribution than arterial stroke

Complications associated with cerebral venous thrombosis.

Although CVT is associated with a good outcome in the majority of cases, it may be complicated by numerous unique and sometimes rare complications. The purpose of this review is to discuss the acute and chronic complications of CVT in greater detail. Awareness may lead to a more aggressive approach in those in which these complications are anticipated and perhaps avoided.The complications of CVT may be temporally divided into those unique to the acute stage and those that are associated with the chronic stage of CVT. They are venous infarction and haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, a rapid progression and pulmonary embolism. In the chronic stages of CVT, one may encounter dural AV - fistula, progressive psychiatric disease, residual epilepsy and recurrence. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is associated with unique acute and chronic complications, some of them may be avoidable e.g. pulmonary embolism. The chronic complications are rare but are potentially treatable e.g. dural AVFistula nidus obliteration with intervention

ChatGPT and Death of an Author

The proposed piece seeks to critically explore pedagogical implication of ChatGPT, especially on students’ capacities to author a text. The piece suggests that increased reliance on the ChatGPT, while provide short term solution to produce a text, in the long term it is likely to lead to ‘death of an author’. Here the usage of the phrase is a twist to earlier usage by Barthes- which refers to ‘death of an author’ where once the text is written, it gets re-created in readers’ reception and through interpretive act and imagination. The overarching argument of the paper emphasizes that technology is not neutral, especially in a context where its opacity has risen concerns about surveillance, control, and manipulation of human behavior, and therefore its infiltration in education begs critical questioning and sensitive e-value-ation. The discussion argues that rise of AI in education should be checked and not embraced uncritically, but rather it should be critically scrutinized, debated, and scaffolded through critical theoretical, pedagogical, and ethical references to counter its hegemonic and de-humanization of learning. For empirical part, the analysis draws upon reflections generated through a focus group discussion with four undergraduate students enrolled in a Bachelors degree in Computer Science who employed use of ChatGPT in preparing their speeches in context of a humanities course. The students found ChatGPT useful in terms of composing a text/speech and saving time and efforts. However, they realized that its use caused them loss of authentic learning, imagination and suppressed self’s voice. Based on the analysis, the piece shares further insights into pedagogic implications, and suggest a pedagogical scaffolding using critical pedagogical references of relationship between technology and human/learners’ values, distinction between information, knowledge, and wisdom, application and experiential learning references, and praxis in learning

Selection of a Survey Research Instrument: Impediments of Personality Inventory in Non-English Speaking Countries like Pakistan.

This paper aims to share the experiences of using two empirically-related yet conceptually distinct instruments i.e., Goldberg’s IP-IP and Costa and McCrae’s NEO-PI-R to measure the respondent’s personality factors and facets. This research paper presents findings on six methodological issues i.e., sampling, validity, reliability, data collection, screening confirmatory factor analyses. For validity concerns both instruments reached to obsolescence as these were developed ages ago and not updated with pace of human development. For replication in non-English countries Goldberg’s IP-IP has edge over Costa & McCrae’s NEO-PI-R for three counts; (a) it has less words and relatively simple syntax made it really easy for participant with linguistic barriers; (b) shows no sign of US cultural specificity in terms of places, slang or implicit meanings made it closer to participants in a non-English speaking country like Pakistan and (c) it takes less than half time to complete the survey. For reliability issues NEO-PI-R represented better results. For both instruments consistency might be compromised while replicating these instruments in non English speaking country. IP-IP does not provide any guideline for data screening while NEO-PI-R provides a very detailed data screening process. During factor analyses it was revealed both instruments replicated five factor model at both levels i.e., first order factor analyses resulting in facets and second order factor analyses provided the factors but during the NEO-PI-R factor analyses it was observed that a large number of items were dropped out from the analyses that raised the question of item validity in non-English speaking countries. Keywords: Goldberg’s IP-IP, Costa & McCrae’s NEO-PI-R, Research Instrument, personality Inventory

Stereotactic radiosurgery for pituitary adenomas: A review of literature

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a choice of treatment for pituitary adenomas (PA), particularly for residual or recurrent disease, apart from surgery. It has a progression free survival and endocrine remission rate comparable to surgery, with fewer side effects, making it an ideal tool for dealing with PA. In this review, we have discussed the role of SRS for primary as well as post-operative residual/ recurrent PA, and have assessed its safety and outcomes

Public Opinion towards Advertising: Factor Analytic Findings From Pakistan

This study aims to investigate the public opinion about advertising in Pakistan. A survey of respondents studying at various universities was conducted [N = 575]. This study uses Polly and Mittal (1993) model of beliefs and attitudes towards advertising. The data was collected from SEC A and B classes through survey method using quota sampling technique. The public opinion was first analyzed using Factor Analysis and resulted in seven opinion categories  i.e., a) Skeptic; b)  Ecstatic; c) Sarcastic; d) Trendy; e) Rationalist; f) Dogmatic; and g) Sagacious. These opinions were finally summarized into two schools of thoughts i.e., a) Sanguine; and b) Antagonist. This piece of research will provide tremendous opportunities to marketers in understanding consumers and their attitudes towards advertising in Pakistan. Advertisement is a ubiquitous part of modern life and previous research shows that consumers around the globe hold a negative view of advertising (Shavitt, lowrey & Hafner, 1998). Consumers are deluged by advertisements and media in a variety of ways every day. In an era where communication with customer is considered critical, it becomes crucial to assess the attitudes and confidence of general public towards advertisement (O’Guinn, Allen, and Semenik, 1998: Krugman, Reid, Dunn, and Barban, 1994). Keywords: Public opinion, advertising, Factor Analyti