Median Regression Analysis of Gender-wise Income Gap in Punjab, Pakistan

This paper primarily examines the impact of gender on the monthly income of the working class in Punjab, Pakistan. The relevant data have been obtained from Pakistan Labour Force Survey (2008-9). A special case of quantile regression i.e. the median regression is used for the desired investigation. In addition to gender, the other covariates are marital status, area of residence, level of education, job type and status etc. As in many other regions and countries, the male workers in Punjab tend to have higher average income and the income tend to increase with increase in level of education. The workers with permanent jobs earn more as compared to temporary job holders

Impact of Capital Structure on Firms’ Financial Performance: Evidence from Pakistan

This research examines the impact of capital structure on firms’ financial performance in Pakistan of top 100 consecutive companies in Karachi Stock Exchange for a period of four years from 2006 to 2009. Exponential generalized least square regression is used to test the relationship between capital structure and firms’ financial performance. The results show that all the three variables of capital structure, Current Liabilities to Total Asset, Long Term Liabilities to Total Asset, Total Liabilities to Total Assets, negatively impacts the Earning before Interest and Taxes, Return on Assets, Earning per Share and Net Profit Margin whereas Price Earning ratio shows negative relationship with Current Liabilities to Total Asset and positive relationship is found with Long Term Liabilities to Total Asset where the relationship is insignificant with , Total Liabilities to Total Assets. The results also indicate that Return on Equity has an insignificant impact on Current Liabilities to Total Asset and Total Liabilities to Total Assets but a positive relationship exists with Long Term Liabilities to Total Asset. These results, in general, lead to the conclusion that capital structure choice is an important determinant of financial performance of firms. This is the first study in Pakistan examining the relationship between firms’ performance and capital structure of top 100 consecutive companies in Karachi Stock Exchange for a period of four years. Keywords: Capital Structure, Firms’ Performance, Performance Measures, Profit, Pakistan

Adaptive Algorithms Design for Active Noise Control Systems with Disturbance at Reference and Error Microphones

Active noise control (ANC) is a popular choice for mitigating the acoustic noise in the surrounding environment resulting from industrial and medical equipment, appliances, and consumer electronics. ANC cancels the low frequency acoustic noise by generating a cancelling sound from speakers. The speakers are triggered by noise control filters and produce sound waves with the same amplitude and inverted phase to the original sound. Noise control filters are updated by adaptive algorithms. Successful applications of this technology are available in headsets, earplugs, propeller aircraft, cars and mobile phones. Since multiple applications are running simultaneously, efficiency of the adaptive control algorithms in terms of implementation, computations and performance is critical to the performance of the ANC systems. The focus of the present project is on the development of efficient adaptive algorithms that perform optimally in different configurations of ANC systems suitable for real world applications.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, 202

Pattern of Dyslipidemias and their Association with Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke

Objective: To find out the association between dyslipidemias and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Medical Unit I, Jinnah Hospital Lahore (JHL) from 1st January 2015 to 30th Jun 2015. A total of 420 cases of stroke were included via Nonprobability consecutive sampling technique. The sample size was calculated with 95% confidence level, 2% margin of error. At the time of admission, every patient underwent CT scan in the radiology department of JHL, fasting blood samples were taken, on next day of admission. Every sample was processed for lipid profile in pathology department of Allama Iqbal Medical College, (AIMC) Lahore. Based on CT scan findings, patients were labelled as ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Demographic details, BMI, blood pressure and Diabetic status were also recorded. Results: Out of 420 study participants, 47.6% (n=200) were male and 52.4% (n=220) were females, the mean age was 39.29 + 11.82 years, mean BMI was 39.29 + 11.82 kg/m2. History of hypertension (HTN) was most frequent risk factor seen in 82.6% (n=347) followed by Diabetes mellitus (DM) 49.8% (n=209) and smoking found in 32.1% (n=135) cases. Frequency of Hypercholesterolemia (>200 mg/dl) was observed in 26.2% (n=110) and Hypertriglyceridemia (>150 mg/dl) in 7.9% (n=33) patients. High LDL (>130 mg/dl) levels were observed in 5.7% (n=24), high VLDL (>35 mg/dl) in 6.9% (n=29) patients, while low HDL (<35 mg/dl) was noticed in 17.1% (n=72) patients. There was significant association between type of stroke & hypercholesterolemia as well as low HDL levels (p-value<0.05). While insignificant association was found between type of stroke & hypertriglyceridemia and high VLDL (p-value>0.05). Effect modifiers i.e.; age, BMI, gender, history of smoking, HTN and DM were not significantly associated with type of stroke (p-value >0.05). Conclusion: Hypercholesterolemia & HDL levels are significantly associated with type of stroke, whereas serum hypertriglyceridemia, high LDL and high VLDL were not significantly associated with type of stroke

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT CRISES IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF PESHAWAR CITY

Due to the speedy increase in population, the solid waste management issues are becoming a challenge for the developing countries. Unhealthy collection, improper transportation and open dumping of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is causing a serious threat to the environment and the people residing in the surroundings. In Pakistan, unsustainable way of solid waste management, lack of the authorities to deal with effectively with the MSW and least vision of the society towards the emerging issues of the solid waste is depicting the worst situation in the country. To highlight the significant Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) issues in the developing countries of the world, Peshawar city has been selected as a case study. Peshawar city is experiencing serious environmental issues due to speedy urbanization pace, rapid industrialization, deficiency of the authorities to manage the solid waste issues properly and lack of public awareness towards the challenging issue. Open dumping of the MSW on the open lands, utilized as dumping sites are responsible for the environmental problems increasing day by day. The research findings clearly reveal the MSWM crises in the city. Improper MSWM practices are not only creating air, land and water pollution but it also causes the blockage of open drains, smaller canals and ruining the aesthetics of the city

Median Regression Analysis of Gender-wise Income Gap in Punjab, Pakistan

This paper primarily examines the impact of gender on the monthly income of the working class in Punjab, Pakistan. The relevant data have been obtained from Pakistan Labour Force Survey (2008-9). A special case of quantile regression i.e. the median regression is used for the desired investigation. In addition to gender, the other covariates are marital status, area of residence, level of education, job type and status etc. As in many other regions and countries, the male workers in Punjab tend to have higher average income and the income tend to increase with increase in level of education. The workers with permanent jobs earn more as compared to temporary job holders

Identification of Input Nonlinear Control Autoregressive Systems Using Fractional Signal Processing Approach

A novel algorithm is developed based on fractional signal processing approach for parameter estimation of input nonlinear control autoregressive (INCAR) models. The design scheme consists of parameterization of INCAR systems to obtain linear-in-parameter models and to use fractional least mean square algorithm (FLMS) for adaptation of unknown parameter vectors. The performance analyses of the proposed scheme are carried out with third-order Volterra least mean square (VLMS) and kernel least mean square (KLMS) algorithms based on convergence to the true values of INCAR systems. It is found that the proposed FLMS algorithm provides most accurate and convergent results than those of VLMS and KLMS under different scenarios and by taking the low-to-high signal-to-noise ratio

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT CRISES IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF PESHAWAR CITY

Due to the speedy increase in population, the solid waste management issues are becoming a challenge for the developing countries. Unhealthy collection, improper transportation and open dumping of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is causing a serious threat to the environment and the people residing in the surroundings. In Pakistan, unsustainable way of solid waste management, lack of the authorities to deal with effectively with the MSW and least vision of the society towards the emerging issues of the solid waste is depicting the worst situation in the country. To highlight the significant Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) issues in the developing countries of the world, Peshawar city has been selected as a case study. Peshawar city is experiencing serious environmental issues due to speedy urbanization pace, rapid industrialization, deficiency of the authorities to manage the solid waste issues properly and lack of public awareness towards the challenging issue. Open dumping of the MSW on the open lands, utilized as dumping sites are responsible for the environmental problems increasing day by day. The research findings clearly reveal the MSWM crises in the city. Improper MSWM practices are not only creating air, land and water pollution but it also causes the blockage of open drains, smaller canals and ruining the aesthetics of the city