CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE DECISIONS: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF GENDER DIVERSITY

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the corporate governance attributes and capital structure decisions with the help of gender diversity taken as a moderating variable. The research methodology constitutes regression analysis, between corporate governance attributes and capital structure further moderation is tested with gender diversity. The findings of this study demonstrate that there is a strong influence of the presence of gender diversity on the attributes of corporate governance and financial structures. Resulting, there is an encouraging impact on the companies’ governance attributes on the financial structure, whereas women representation and presence in the boardroom causes a positive impact. Corporate governance could be improved by different means and attract more capital. There might be a chance that the principles may involve more females as the board of directors in the company, which may further add transparency and attract capital specially debt. The scope of this paper is limited to Pakistan non-financial sector of economy. This study provides evidence to top management of companies regarding the incorporation of women representation in boardrooms which may further add transparency and attract capital specially debt. The financial companies are fully ignored which may represent different results and may vary according to the sectors as well. As the companies are selected from cement sector therefore, the results may differ from sector to sector. Keywords: Corporate governance; Capital structure; Firm’s Leverage; Board attributes; Gender diversity; Agency theor

Diagnostic Validity Of Low Dose CT KUB In Demonstration Of Genitourinary Tract Calculi Compared To Normal Dose Ct Kub: A Provisional Study

Objective: Renal colic is a common clinical condition. Our objective is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of low dose CT KUB for detection of urinary stones, to minimize radiation dose to the patients, and to analyze diagnostic accuracy of LDCT KUB in comparison to standard dose CT KUB. We speculate the LDCT KUB may reduce patient radiation dose while maintaining diagnostic value. Materials and Methods: This comparative cross sectional validation study was conducted at Department of Radiology in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi June 2021 to Feb 2022. After approval of hospital ethical committee, a sample of 49 kidneys of 31 patients was collected by non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Included were the patients diagnosed with renal calculi referred from other departments. All the included patients were scanned by Toshiba Aquilion 16 slices, using automated tube current modulation, without any oral or IV contrast. CT scan started from diaphragm down to pubic symphysis with standard dose CT (SDCT) followed by low dose CT (LDCT). After the data was recorded, statistical package for social sciences, version 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) was used to analyse the data and generate results. Mean + standard deviation was calculated for qualitative data while frequency and percentage for qualitative variables. The means were compared by independent sample t test while the agreement between standard and low dose was depicted by kappa value. Results: A total of 49 kidneys of 31 patients with renal stones was included in this study. The mean age of the patients ranged from 27 years to 48 years with a mean of 36.42 + 9.97 year. In gender distribution, 75.5 % (37) were male while 24.5 % (12) were females. More than half 59 % (29) were right while 41 % (20) were left kidneys. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that LDCT was a productive and effective technique in the detection of urothelial stones despite considerable reduction in radiation dose and exposure as seen in SDCT

Analyzing the Firm and Country Level Determinants of Capital Structure in the Dynamic Political Regimes: A Case of Emerging Market Economy

Capital structure acts as a backbone in the functioning of the firms. The disparities in the political system affect the whole economy of the country and this leads the firms to undergo financial stress and bankruptcy thus affecting their capital structure in several ways. This study analyzed and compared the firm level and country level variables of capital structure of firms during dynamic political regimes in the country. The sample comprised of secondary data of 50 companies from the 28 manufacturing sectors of Pakistan Stock Exchange for the time period 2005-2018. The data is divided into five regimes based on the tenure of the Prime Ministers of Pakistan. The results indicated that the manufacturing sector of Pakistan mostly relies on short term debt financing in all the political regimes. Firms which were highly profitable and had high liquidity did not rely much on the debt but in case of uncertain political conditions firms borrowed long term debt, when required, due to their high tangibility. The volatility risk of the firms was higher in regimes which comprised of global financial crises and the dismissal of the government. Due to high inflation and fluctuations in exchange rate the firms had to pay more interest on debt

Comparative Analysis of Privacy Preserving Location Based Services Mechanisms

Recent trends in computing have enabled the provision of location-based services, offering practicality and convenience to users. Moreover, this has also given rise to new challenges and vulnerabilities that can potentially compromise user privacy. As these services are predominantly used on handheld devices, the risk of security breaches is higher. This research collates existing studies that have conducted quantitative and qualitative comparisons and analyses on how to address related challenges, with a particular focus on protecting user privacy in location-based services