Financial development, fiscal policy and economic growth: The role of institutional quality in Pakistan

The study examines the influence of financial development, fiscal policy , and institutional quality on Pakistan’s economic growth. We investigate whether financial development and or fiscal policies promote economic growth. We also analyse the effect of institutional quality on economic growth in Pakistan. We use time series data from 1985 - 2016 , and use GDP to proxy economic growth. We use unit - root tests to check for stationary of our sample. We perform a logarithmic transformation on the series to reduce outlier effects and use Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model . The results show that financial development and revenue have a positive impact on growth. Our study results implicate that sound, strategic, and result - oriented policies should be formulated to transform our institutions and financial sectors into the well organized, powerful, and trusted frameworks. These transformations will ensure efficient and productive utilization of savings

THE CHILDHOOD’S TRADITIONAL GAMES AND PHYSICAL FITNESS OF RURAL, URBAN AND PRIVATE SCHOOL GIRLS- A CASE STUDY OF BAHAWALPUR CITY, PAKISTAN

This study was designed in two folds, first) to explore the physical fitness and performance the rural, urban and private school girls in the capacity of traditional games, and second) to examine the relationship between the performance of traditional games and physical fitness. Data were obtained from (n = 120) of school girls of Bahawalpur city, of 11-to-15 years of age. These measurements were attained as stature for height, body mass- for weight, speed test of the 30-meter run, set and reach for flexibility, zig-zag run for agility, standing broad jump for leg power, set-ups for trunk strength, finally skipping rope, and shtapu for traditional games. One-way ANOVA was applied to compare the physical fitness and ability of traditional among groups, and the Pearson product of correlation was applied to examine the relationship between the physical fitness and performance of traditional games. Results exhibited the rural girl's students were significantly superior to the urban school girls in the 30-meter dash. The rural girls were also significantly higher in the performance of skipping rope and shtapu than urban and private school girls. On the other hand, stature, body mass, leg power, zig-zag run, sit-and-reach, trunk strength was a significantly positive correlation with skipping rope and shatpu. The main finding of this study was that traditional games have a strong relationship with the physical fitness of school girls. Therefore, this study suggests the traditional games would be a part of co-curriculum activities in school as well as in the social life of the school girls to improve their physical fitness

IMPACT OF THE FUNCTIONAL LEADERSHIP DIMENSIONS ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN DIVERSE ORGANIZATION IN PAKISTAN

This paper examines the connections among the dimensions of functional leadership of situation clarification, strategy clarification, coordination leadership, and organizational performance within highly gender-diverse organizations in Pakistan. A sample of 500 employees from universities in Pakistan was taken. The data collection process was conducted among the university employees. For data analysis PLS-SEM through SmartPLS3 was employed. The results of the study indicate that within the higher education sector in Pakistan, the distinct dimensions of functional leadership of situation clarification, strategy clarification and coordination leadership individually exert a positive and noteworthy influence on organizational performance. These results carry strong message for leaders to adopt and apply these functional leadership dimensions to improve the overall performance of the organization. The findings strongly support the notion that implementing effective functional leadership dimensions of situation clarification, strategy clarification and coordination leadership can significantly enhance organizational performance. The outcomes robustly affirm the idea that the efficacy that these dimensions of functional leadership are pivotal in augmenting organizational performance

3-[4-(Acetamido)­benzene­sulfonamido]­benzoic acid

In the title compound, C15H14N2O5S, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 63.20 (11) Å. The crystal structure displays classical inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding typical for carb­oxy­lic acids, forming centrosymmetric dimers. These dimers are further connected by N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form an extended network

Relationship between Kinesiophobia, Fall Risk and Activity Level among Elderly Females after Total Knee Arthroplasty

Objective: To determine the effect of Mulligan’s Mobilization on unilateral tibiofemoral osteoarthritis. The objective of the study was to evaluate co-relation between fall risk, kinesiophobia, and physical- activity level among elderly females after one year of TKA. Methodology: This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted on females who had their Total Knee arthroplasty from Ghurki Trust & Teaching Hospital and Punjab Medical Centre, Lahore. Data was collected from 200 (n) elderly females who had undergone their Total Knee Arthroplasty at least one year before the study was conducted. Fall risk (Berg Balance Scale), fear of movement (Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia), and physical activity (IPAQ) were the key outcome measures. Results: Pearson correlation determined higher levels of association between fall risk, fear of movement and physical activity. Higher the berg balance score, lower the score of Kinesiophobia i.e. negatively significant correlation; r (198) = -.54, p=0.00. Higher berg balance scores were also found to be positively related to higher minutes of low, moderate and vigorous exercise per week. Kinesiophobia was found to be negatively significant for physical activity of low, moderate and vigorous intensity i.e. r (198) = -.11, p= .01, r (198) = -.03, p=.00 and r (198) = -.07, p= .02 respectively.   Conclusion: A significant negative correlation was observed between fall risk and Kinesiophobia. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was observed between fall risk and physical activity in elderly females who have had TKA. Key words: Berg balance scale, fall risk, kinesiophobia, Total Knee Arthroplast

Deep eutectic solvent-mediated synthesis of ceria nanoparticles with the enhanced yield for photocatalytic degradation of flumequine under UV-C

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd This study investigated the use of a deep eutectic solvent (DES) for promoting the yield and stability of ceria nanoparticles used for the degradation of flumequine (FLU) under UV-C irradiation. The characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and BET surface area analysis revealed the synthesis of highly stable, highly crystalline, and mesoporous ceria nanoparticles using DES which led to the high removal, i.e., 50 % and 94 % of FLU using DES-Ceria and UV-C/DES-Ceria, respectively. Removal of FLU by the UV-C mediated ceria nanoparticles was due to [rad]OH and thus factors that influenced the reactivity and yield of [rad]OH retarded the removal efficiency of FLU. The pH of aqueous solution affected the removal of FLU by the photocatalysts and removal of FLU was inhibited at highly alkaline and acidic pH. The degradation pathways of FLU were established from the pattern of its degradation and nature of the degradation products. Acute and chronic toxicities of FLU as well as its products were measured. The photocatalyst synthesized in DES was found to be environmentally benign and showed significant potential in the remediation of FLU

Morphological Identification and Resistance Profile of Antibiotic and Heavy Metals-Resistant Bacteria in Hospital Sewage of Peshawar

Background: Increased resistance of microorganisms to commonly prescribed antibiotics has emerged as a significant hurdle in contemporary medical practice. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared antibiotic resistance as a " major threat to public health.". In the present study, bacterial isolates were selected based on high antibiotic and heavy metal tolerance from a water sample taken from hospital sewage.Methods: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were isolated through the disk diffusion method. Gram staining was done for morphological identification. For molecular identification, the 16s rDNA PCR amplification was done with universal primers. Results: The strain BC1 was found resistant to ampicillin (10μg/ml), and cefixime (5μg/ml). While, susceptible to kanamycin (30μg/ml), azithromycin (15μg/ml) and intermediate in response to amoxicillin (30μg/ml). The strain BC2 was resistant to ampicillin (10μg/ml), cefixime (5μg/ml) and kanamycin (30μg/ml). While, Susceptible to amoxicillin (30μg/ml), and intermediate in response to azithromycin (15μg/ml). The strains were also found resistant to heavy metals.Conclusion: The recent investigation on bacterial strains from hospital effluent found interesting candidates for understanding the AMR bacteria and developing novel active biomolecules to combat the antibiotics problem. The isolated strains could be a source of novel resistant genes however; a comprehensive molecular analysis is needed for advanced studies

Synergistic effects of H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and S\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e\u3csup\u3e2−\u3c/sup\u3e in the gamma radiation induced degradation of congo-red dye: Kinetics and toxicities evaluation

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Gamma radiation has received increasing attention due to their high potential in degradation of recalcitrant pollutants. Thus in the present study, gamma radiation was used for degradation of congo-red (CR) dye, a highly toxic and carcinogenic pollutant, in the presence of H2O2 and S2O82−. The CR was significantly degraded by gamma radiation (i.e., 53%), however, presence of H2O2 and S2O82− promoted degradation of CR to 98 and 87%, respectively, at 1184 Gy absorbed dose. The radical scavengers and electron spin resonance studies revealed that gamma radiation decompose H2O2 and S2O82− into [rad]OH and SO4[rad]− and both [rad]OH and SO4[rad]− caused degradation of CR. The CR showed high reactivity, i.e., 3.25 × 109 and 8.50 × 108 M−1 s−1 with [rad]OH and SO4[rad]−, respectively, and removal of CR was inhibited in the presence of [rad]OH and SO4[rad]− scavengers. The removal of CR was promoted with elevating initial concentrations of H2O2 and S2O82− and decreasing initial concentrations of CR. pH of aqueous solution also significantly influenced removal of the dye. The proposed degradation pathways of CR were established from the [rad]OH mediated degradation of CR and nature of identified degradation products. The greater mineralization of CR, formation of small molecular mass degradation product, and decline in concentration of acetate after extended treatment suggest the gamma-ray mediated peroxide based process to be a promising alternative for potential degradation of CR

The global retinoblastoma outcome study : a prospective, cluster-based analysis of 4064 patients from 149 countries

DATA SHARING : The study data will become available online once all analyses are complete.BACKGROUND : Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular cancer worldwide. There is some evidence to suggest that major differences exist in treatment outcomes for children with retinoblastoma from different regions, but these differences have not been assessed on a global scale. We aimed to report 3-year outcomes for children with retinoblastoma globally and to investigate factors associated with survival. METHODS : We did a prospective cluster-based analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed between Jan 1, 2017, and Dec 31, 2017, then treated and followed up for 3 years. Patients were recruited from 260 specialised treatment centres worldwide. Data were obtained from participating centres on primary and additional treatments, duration of follow-up, metastasis, eye globe salvage, and survival outcome. We analysed time to death and time to enucleation with Cox regression models. FINDINGS : The cohort included 4064 children from 149 countries. The median age at diagnosis was 23·2 months (IQR 11·0–36·5). Extraocular tumour spread (cT4 of the cTNMH classification) at diagnosis was reported in five (0·8%) of 636 children from high-income countries, 55 (5·4%) of 1027 children from upper-middle-income countries, 342 (19·7%) of 1738 children from lower-middle-income countries, and 196 (42·9%) of 457 children from low-income countries. Enucleation surgery was available for all children and intravenous chemotherapy was available for 4014 (98·8%) of 4064 children. The 3-year survival rate was 99·5% (95% CI 98·8–100·0) for children from high-income countries, 91·2% (89·5–93·0) for children from upper-middle-income countries, 80·3% (78·3–82·3) for children from lower-middle-income countries, and 57·3% (52·1-63·0) for children from low-income countries. On analysis, independent factors for worse survival were residence in low-income countries compared to high-income countries (hazard ratio 16·67; 95% CI 4·76–50·00), cT4 advanced tumour compared to cT1 (8·98; 4·44–18·18), and older age at diagnosis in children up to 3 years (1·38 per year; 1·23–1·56). For children aged 3–7 years, the mortality risk decreased slightly (p=0·0104 for the change in slope). INTERPRETATION : This study, estimated to include approximately half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017, shows profound inequity in survival of children depending on the national income level of their country of residence. In high-income countries, death from retinoblastoma is rare, whereas in low-income countries estimated 3-year survival is just over 50%. Although essential treatments are available in nearly all countries, early diagnosis and treatment in low-income countries are key to improving survival outcomes.The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and the Wellcome Trust.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/homeam2023Paediatrics and Child Healt