Strategies and Effective Decision-Making against Terrorism Affecting Supply Chain Risk Management and Security

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the knowledge gaps in the published research on terrorism-related risk in supply chains, and to develop a framework of strategies and effective decision-making to enable practitioners to address terrorism-related risks in supply chain risk management (SCRM) and security.Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a novel combination of triangulated methods comprising a systematic literature review (SLR), text mining and network analysis. These methods have not been jointly utilized in past studies, and the approach constitutes a rigorous methodology that cross-validates results and ensures the reliability and validity of qualitative data.Findings The study reveals a number of key themes in the field of SCRM and security linked with terrorism. The authors identify relevant mitigation strategies and practices for effective strategic decision making. This subsequently leads us to develop a strategic framework of strategies and effective decision-making practices to address terrorism-related risk, affecting SCRM and security. The authors also identify key knowledge gaps in the literature and explore the main contributions by disciplines (e.g. business schools, engineering and maritime institutions) and countries.Practical implications The authors provide a strategic framework of strategies and effective decision-making practices that managers can use to minimize terrorism-related risk in the context of SCRM and security.Originality/value This paper introduces a novel methodological combination for improving the quality of SLRs. It uses the approach to systematically review the strategies and effective decision-making practices interlinked with terrorism risk, affecting SCRM and security. It identifies significant knowledge gaps and defines directions for future research

Impact of External Monitoring Mechanism on Deal Amounts in Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions: Evidence from Pakistan

The studies regarding the deal amount paid in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) become especially important, as reduction of profits in such deals might be due to large amounts paid in acquisitions. The methodology of this study is novel as it takes into account the external governance mechanism by considering both the institutional ownership and external block-holders along with bidder and targeted firm characteristics on deal prices involved in M&As in case of Pakistan during period of 2005-12. The results of study show the existence of external monitoring in form of institutional ownership in both sectors. The study proves that the aim of acquisitions is to achieve a big size instead of value maximization and the managers who exaggerated their confidence attempt to overemphasize their capability to handle the target company, which leads to high amounts paid to acquire target. The nonfinancial sector proves the absence of agency conflicts, however agency hypothesis is not proved significant in financial sector case. The financial sector result shows that cash financed deals are associated with lower price that depends on presence of asymmetric information about acquiring firm, as management (i.e. managers of firm) possess more information as compared to other stakeholders

A new species of cucullanus (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) from marine edible fish Otolithus ruber (sciaenidae) based on light and Scanning Electron Micrscopy.

Based on light and scanning electron microscopical observations, a new species of Cucullanus Müller, 1777 (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) is described from the intestine of marine edible fishes Otolithus ruber (Schneider, 1801), were collected ( February 2006 to July 2007) from fresh landing of Karachi coast, Pakistan. Detailed light and scanning electron microscopy revealed some important taxonomical features like, Broader anteriorly, posterior end pointed, provided with small bifurcated spike at the tip of the tail. Lateral alae absent. Oral opening dorsoventrally elongate, surrounded by narrow membranous flange or collarette supported by row of numerous teeth. Three submedian cephalic papillae and a pair of prominent lateral amphids are present. Pseudobuccal capsule or esophastome wider than posterior part of esophagus. Deirids simple, just anterior to esophagus and intestinal junction. Tail broadly conical, bifurcated at the tip

The Development of Employees’ Knowledge Sharing Behavior through Team Innovation Climate and Organization Culture

The purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence concerning the impact of team innovation climate on knowledge sharing behavior and individuals’ altruistic intentions in software sector. A survey base study was conducted. Survey based-data was collected from 319 employees at software center in Pakistan. The results of this study revealed that all the constructs of team innovation climate had positive impact on altruistic intention and knowledge sharing behavior. Moreover, altruistic intention and organization culture had positive impact on knowledge sharing behavior. However, it was found that one construct of team innovation climate (Participative safety) did not have impact on organization culture. The present research contributes to the literature pertaining to the psychosocial sides of knowledge sharing behaviors. Keywords: Team innovation climate, altruistic intention, organization culture, knowledge sharing behavior

FACTORS AFFECTING BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS VISITING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors affecting blood pressure (BP) control in adult hypertensive patients.  METHODS: A total of 246 adult hypertensive patients of both genders, age 20 years and above were included in this descriptive study conducted at the Department of Medicine, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from May 2019 to September 2019. Statistical analysis of the data was done with SPPS version 21; Chi-square (χ2) test was applied using crosstab/correlation for the association of factors affecting the control of BP in patients with hypertension. P-value≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Out of 246 patients, 64 (26%) were males, and 182 (74%) were females. The mean age of patients was 56.09±10.33 years. Overall, BP was controlled in 74 (30.1%) and uncontrolled in 172 (69.9%) patients. Among the total, 107 (43.5%) patients were adherent and 139 (56.5%) were non-adherent to medications. Among the 107 adherent patients, 72 (67.3%) had controlled BP and 35 (32.7%) were uncontrolled. Among the 139 non-adherents, 134 (96.4%) had uncontrolled BP and 05 (3.6%) had controlled BP (p=0.000). Economically, 10.5% (n=4/38) of the ‘poor’ and 33.7% (n=70/208) of the ‘satisfactory’ patients had controlled BP whereas 89.5% (n=34/38) and 66.3% (n=138/208) had uncontrolled BP respectively (p=0.004). Age, gender, education level, duration, comorbidity, and a class of antihypertensive drugs did not affect the control of BP significantly (p>0.05). CONCLUSION:  Overall, one-third of the study participants had controlled BP and two-thirds of the adherents had controlled BP. Good adherence to medications and economic status significantly correlated with the control of hypertension

Blood Lead Levels and Health Problems of Lead Acid Battery Workers in Bangladesh

Introduction. Use of lead acid battery (LAB) in Bangladesh has risen with sharp rise of motor vehicles. As result, manufacture of LAB is increasing. Most of the lead used by these industries comes from recycling of LAB. Workers in LAB industry are at risk of exposure lead and thus development of lead toxicity. Objective. The objective of this study was to measure the blood lead concentration and to assess the magnitude of health problems attributable to lead toxicity among the LAB manufacturing workers. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the workers of LAB manufacturing industries located in Dhaka city. Result. Mean blood lead level (BLL) among the workers was found to be high. They were found to be suffering from a number of illnesses attributable to lead toxicity. The common illnesses were frequent headache, numbness of the limbs, colic pain, nausea, tremor, and lead line on the gum. High BLL was also found to be related to hypertension and anemia of the workers. Conclusion. High BLL and illnesses attributable to lead toxicity were prevalent amongst workers of the LAB manufacturing industries, and this requires attention especially in terms of occupational hygiene and safety

Characterisation of the Cullin-3 mutation that causes a severe form of familial hypertension and hyperkalaemia

Deletion of exon 9 from Cullin‐3 (CUL3, residues 403–459: CUL3Δ403–459) causes pseudohypoaldosteronism type IIE (PHA2E), a severe form of familial hyperkalaemia and hypertension (FHHt). CUL3 binds the RING protein RBX1 and various substrate adaptors to form Cullin‐RING‐ubiquitin‐ligase complexes. Bound to KLHL3, CUL3‐RBX1 ubiquitylates WNK kinases, promoting their ubiquitin‐mediated proteasomal degradation. Since WNK kinases activate Na/Cl co‐transporters to promote salt retention, CUL3 regulates blood pressure. Mutations in both KLHL3 and WNK kinases cause PHA2 by disrupting Cullin‐RING‐ligase formation. We report here that the PHA2E mutant, CUL3Δ403–459, is severely compromised in its ability to ubiquitylate WNKs, possibly due to altered structural flexibility. Instead, CUL3Δ403–459 auto‐ubiquitylates and loses interaction with two important Cullin regulators: the COP9‐signalosome and CAND1. A novel knock‐in mouse model of CUL3WT/Δ403–459 closely recapitulates the human PHA2E phenotype. These mice also show changes in the arterial pulse waveform, suggesting a vascular contribution to their hypertension not reported in previous FHHt models. These findings may explain the severity of the FHHt phenotype caused by CUL3 mutations compared to those reported in KLHL3 or WNK kinases

Paternal diet impairs F1 and F2 offspring vascular function through sperm and seminal plasma specific mechanisms in mice

Although the impact of maternal diet on adult offspring health is well characterized, the role that a father's diet has on his offspring's health remains poorly defined. We establish the significance of a sup-optimal paternal low protein diet for offspring vascular homeostasis and define the sperm and seminal plasma specific programming effects on cardiovascular health. Male C57BL6 mice were fed either a control normal protein diet (NPD; 18% protein) or an isocaloric low protein diet (LPD; 9% protein) for a minimum of 7 weeks. Using artificial insemination, in combination with vasectomized male mating, we generated offspring derived from either NPD or LPD sperm (devoid of seminal plasma) but in the presence of NPD or LPD seminal plasma (devoid of sperm). We observed that either LPD sperm or seminal fluid at conception impaired adult offspring vascular function in response to both vasoconstrictors and dilators. Underlying these changes in vascular function were significant changes in serum, lung and kidney angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity, established in F1 offspring from 3 weeks of age, maintained into adulthood and present also within juvenile F2 offspring. Furthermore, we observed differential expression of multiple central renin-angiotensin system regulators in adult offspring kidneys. Finally, paternal diet modified the expression profiles of central epigenetic regulators of DNA methylation, histone modifications and RNA methylation in adult F1 male testes. These novel data reveal the impact of sub-optimal paternal nutrition on offspring cardiovascular well-being, programming offspring cardiovascular function through both sperm and seminal plasma specific mechanisms over successive generations

Role of bacillus cereus in improving the growth and phytoextractability of brassica nigra (L.) K. Koch in chromium contaminated soil

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) mediate heavy metal tolerance and improve phytoextraction potential in plants. The present research was conducted to find the potential of bacterial strains in improving the growth and phytoextraction abilities of Brassica nigra (L.) K. Koch. in chromium contaminated soil. In this study, a total of 15 bacterial strains were isolated from heavy metal polluted soil and were screened for their heavy metal tolerance and plant growth promotion potential. The most efficient strain was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and was identified as Bacillus cereus. The isolate also showed the potential to solubilize phosphate and synthesize siderophore, phytohormones (indole acetic acid, cytokinin, and abscisic acid), and osmolyte (proline and sugar) in chromium (Cr+3 ) supplemented medium. The results of the present study showed that chromium stress has negative effects on seed germination and plant growth in B. nigra while inoculation of B. cereus improved plant growth and reduced chromium toxicity. The increase in seed germination percentage, shoot length, and root length was 28.07%, 35.86%, 19.11% while the fresh and dry biomass of the plant increased by 48.00% and 62.16%, respectively, as compared to the uninoculated/control plants. The photosynthetic pigments were also improved by bacterial inoculation as compared to untreated stress-exposed plants, i.e., increase in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll a + b, and carotenoid was d 25.94%, 10.65%, 20.35%, and 44.30%, respectively. Bacterial inoculation also resulted in osmotic adjustment (proline 8.76% and sugar 28.71%) and maintained the membrane stability (51.39%) which was also indicated by reduced malondialdehyde content (59.53% decrease). The antioxidant enzyme activities were also improved to 35.90% (superoxide dismutase), 59.61% (peroxide), and 33.33% (catalase) in inoculated stress-exposed plants as compared to the control plants. B. cereus inoculation also improved the uptake, bioaccumulation, and translocation of Cr in the plant. Data showed that B. cereus also increased Cr content in the root (2.71-fold) and shoot (4.01-fold), its bioaccumulation (2.71-fold in root and 4.03-fold in the shoot) and translocation (40%) was also high in B. nigra. The data revealed that B. cereus is a multifarious PGPR that efficiently tolerates heavy metal ions (Cr+3 ) and it can be used to enhance the growth and phytoextraction potential of B. nigra in heavy metal contaminated soil

Arsenic Exposure of Mothers and Low Birth Weight

Low birth weight (LBW) of the babies was found to be associated with arsenic exposure through consuming arsenic-contaminated water in Bangladesh. But the influences of maternal nutritional status and hemoglobin level remains to be dealt with. This study was conducted to assess the LBW of the babies in reference to arsenic exposure of mothers controlling the influences of the nutritional status (BMI) and hemoglobin level. This was a cross-sectional study carried out amongst the pregnant mothers who came to a district hospital for delivery. The mothers aged ≥18 years and had no complication were included in the study. A total of 101 mothers and their newborn babies were the study sample. Of the total 101 participant mothers, 41.5% were arsenic exposed. Comparatively, on an average, lower birth weight (2492± 477gr) was found among the babies born to arsenic exposed-mother. The exposed mother of LBW babies had significantly a higher urine arsenic concentration (381.38µg/L). The correlation analysis revealed that there was a negative relationship with the urine arsenic concentration (r=-.619; p=.000) and positive relationship with the hemoglobin level (r=.280; p=.092) and BMI (r=.204; p=195) of the exposed mother with the birth weight. After controlling the influence of hemoglobin level and BMI, an almost same association was found between LBW and urine arsenic. Mothers with arsenic exposure were at risk of giving birth to LBW babies, this could increase as evident by higher maternal urine arsenic concentration. And any positive effect of maternal nutritional status and hemoglobin level on birth weight of newborn could be offset by arsenic exposure