The Ulam stability of non-linear Volterra integro-dynamic equations on time scales

This manuscript presents the Ulam stability results of non-linear Volterra integro-dynamic equation and its adjoint equation on time scales. First, we obtain the Ulam stability of adjoint equation by using the integrating factor method. Then, the Ulam stability of the corresponding equation is proved by means of the property of the exponential function and related results that are proved in adjoint equation with the help of integrating factor method. At the end, an example is given that shows the validity of our main results

A Distributed Approach for Networked Flying Platform Association with Small Cells in 5G+ Networks

The densification of small-cell base stations in a 5G architecture is a promising approach to enhance the coverage area and facilitate the ever increasing capacity demand of end users. However, the bottleneck is an intelligent management of a backhaul/fronthaul network for these small-cell base stations. This involves efficient association and placement of the backhaul hubs that connects these small-cells with the core network. Terrestrial hubs suffer from an inefficient non line of sight link limitations and unavailability of a proper infrastructure in an urban area. Seeing the popularity of flying platforms, we employ here an idea of using networked flying platform (NFP) such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones, unmanned balloons flying at different altitudes, as aerial backhaul hubs. The association problem of these NFP-hubs and small-cell base stations is formulated considering backhaul link and NFP related limitations such as maximum number of supported links and bandwidth. Then, this paper presents an efficient and distributed solution of the designed problem, which performs a greedy search in order to maximize the sum rate of the overall network. A favorable performance is observed via a numerical comparison of our proposed method with optimal exhaustive search algorithm in terms of sum rate and run-time speed.Comment: Submitted to IEEE GLOBECOM 2017, 7 pages and 4 figure

Input Efficiency of Financial Services Sector: A Non-parametric analysis of Banking and Insurance Sectors of Pakistan

Purpose In an attempt to enrich the literature of the efficiency of financial services sector with holistic perspective, this study aims to empirically investigate the input efficiency of banking and insurance sectors with further probe into Islamic segments of these sectors in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach This study measures the technical, allocative, cost, and scale efficiencies of banking and insurance firms in our sample using the non-parametric frontier method, data envelopment analysis (DEA).Findings The findings show that, on average, the allocative efficiency of the overall Islamic financial services sector has increased during the period of study and has also remained well above their conventional counterparts. The study also revealed that, insurance sector is more technically efficient than banking sector. Finally, the study also found that overall efficiency of financial sector can also be improved by exchanging experts between two sectors.Originality/value The results of this research study provide empirical findings as to how two segments of Financial Services Sectors had fared in the competitive environment from 2007 to 2015

Consumption of Family Takaful affected by Microeconomic Factors: A Case Study of Islamic insurance Takaful in Pakistan

This study empirically verifies the link between macroeconomic variables (i.e. income per capita, savings, inflation, stock and index) with the demand for Family Takaful in the context of Pakistan using time-series data from 2006 to 2016 of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Company and Dawood Family Takaful Company. It was concluded from this study that per capita income is a strong forecaster of Family Takaful demand in Pakistan, while other macro-economic factors such as KSE composite index has significant and positive relationship with Takaful demand in Pakistan. The other three variables i.e. saving, interest rate and inflation are having insignificant relationship with Family Takaful demand in Pakistan

Credit card usage behavior among working student

This study seeks to examine the credit card usage behavior among working students. Research questionnaires were distributed among young working adults who are pursuing their Bachelor Degree in the executive mode at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). T-test showed there is no significant different between male and female in terms of credit card usage. However, ANOVA analysis showed that there are significant different in credit card usage behavior among respondent within different gross monthly income

Endostatin concentration in plasma of healthy human volunteers

Background: Angiogenesis is involved in many cardiovascular and cancerous diseases, including atherosclerosis and is controlled by a fine balance between angiogenic and angiostatic mediators. Endostatin is one of the main angiostatic mediators, and inhibits angiogenesis and prevents progression of atherosclerosis. The available literature shows a broad range of concentrations in relatively small samples of healthy controls and is calculated by using different techniques. This study was aimed to determine the basal endostatin concentration in plasma of healthy volunteers, to fully understand its physiological role. Methods: Fifty healthy adult volunteers were recruited to the study. Participants were advised not to participate in any physical activity on the day before the blood sampling. The volunteers’ physical activity, height, weight, heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. The samples were analysed for plasma endostatin concentration, using ELISA. The participants were divided by gender and ethnic groups to calculate any difference. Results: Endostatin and other variables were normally distributed. Most of the participants had a moderate level of physical activity with no gender related difference (p=0.370). The mean value for plasma endostatin in all samples was 105±12 ng/ml with range of 81–132 ng/ml. For males, it was 107±13 ng/ml, while for females; 102±12 ng/ml. There were no significant gender or ethnicity related differences in endostatin concentration. Moreover, endostatin was not significantly related with any anthropometric and physical variable. Conclusion: This study gives endostatin levels in normal healthy people and show no gender and ethnicity related differences in endostatin levels. Endostatin was not related with any anthropometric and physical variable

Assessing the Factors Influencing Service Innovation Capabilities and Performance

Innovation has been recognized as a central source of business growth and a key determinant of competitive advantage for many organizations. This paper seeks to address two main objectives. The first objective is to examine the direct effect of organizational structure (i.e. centralization and formalization), transformational leadership, organizational learning and customer orientation on innovation capabilities. The second objective is to examine the effect of innovation capability and organizational performance. Findings show that customer orientation, organizational learning, and transformation leadership had significant positive effects on innovation capability. The results further show that innovation capability had a significant impact on organizational performance

Compulsive buying and credit card misuse among credit card holders: the roles of self-esteem, materialism, impulsive buying and budget constraint

Purpose: This study aims to examine the factors that influence credit card misuse among working adults in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The relationship among self-esteem, materialism, impulsive buying, budget constraint, compulsive buying and credit card misuse are explored in this study. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 186 questionnaires was collected via convenience sampling from credit card users of working adults in Malaysia. A structural equation model that assesses the relationship between the proposed variables is tested using AMOS 20. Findings: The findings reveal that budget constraints, impulsive buying and materialism have a statistically significant influence on compulsive buying. In terms of credit card misuse, it is influenced negatively by self-esteem while positively by compulsive buying. Originality/value: Despite vast research on compulsive buying and credit card misuse, very few studies have examined it in the non-Western context.Peer Reviewe

Understanding students compulsive buying of apparel: an empirical study

Most compulsive buyers tend to be highly interested in fashion as well as their physical appearance and attractiveness. This study aims to investigate the impact of depression, materialism, excessive internet usage on compulsive buying behaviour among university students in buying apparels. A total of 177 questionnaires were collected via convenience sampling from university students located at Klang Valley. It is found that, depression and materialism are having a significant impact to compulsive buying behaviour. These findings will appeal to those interested in consumer behaviour in buying apparel