Perceptual Learning of Uncategorized Arabic Phonemes Among Congenitally Deaf, Non-native Children with Cochlear Implants

The advancement in cochlear implant (CI) technologies and how CIs help their users have far exceeded expectations. Speech perception remains the focus of many studies related to cochlear implant clinical research to ensure the technology maximizes the benefits to be obtained by CI users. This chapter will discuss the perception of non-native sounds among congenitally deaf pediatric CI users, specifically emphasizing Arabic consonants. This language is used and learned by billions of non-native Arabs worldwide. Non-native auditory signals are perceived differently by children with CI due to speech processor signal processing and native language learning effects. This study measured the perceptual learning of uncategorized-dispersed-assimilated Arabic consonants for a group of non-native children with CI using a newly developed, FizBil© bottom-up, customized software training module. The framework and hypothetical pathway will be discussed

Transforming consumers' intention to purchase green products: Role of social media

This research aims to examine consumers' green product purchasing intentions and observe how social media marketing (SMM) and social media usage (SMU) actively influence consumers' sustainable consumption behavior. We propose a new model for evaluating consumers' green purchase intentions (GPI) through social media (SM) by expanding the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with additional variables, namely green thinking, social media usage, and social media marketing. 785 usable responses were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, and PLS-SEM was applied to perform the analysis. Findings suggest that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, green thinking, and social media marketing have a strong and positive association with the intention to purchase green products on social media. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical research to explore the moderating-mediating impact of social media usage interaction on the proposed TPB model, bridging research gaps by investigating the effect of consumers' green purchase intentions. Theoretical, managerial, and policy contributions are discussed.publishedVersio

Comparison of foeto-maternal outcome in pregnant women with hepatitis E - A review of 12 years.

Objective: To compare adverse maternal and foetal outcome in pregnant women with hepatitis E immunoglobulin M reactive versus non-reactive.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised records of pregnant patients at any gestational age with clinical and biochemical evidence of hepatitis E from January 2002 and December 2014. . Maternal and perinatal outcome of the subjects were analysed. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis.Results: Out of the 200 subjects, 168(84 %) were hepatitis E immunoglobulin M reactive and 32(16%) were non-reactive. The overall mean age was 26.7±4.5 years. Also, 12(7%) patients in the immunoglobulin M reactive group were admitted to intensive care unit compared to no one from the non-reactive group. Similarly fulminant hepatic failure was seen in 12(7.1%) patients in the immunoglobulin M reactive group compared to no one in the other group. Post-partum haemorrhage was more frequent in the immunoglobulin M reactive group compared to the non-reactive group. There were 5(3%) maternal deaths in the reactive group compared to no death in the other group.Moreover, 34(20.2%) neonates of the immunoglobulin M reactive group needed neonatal intensive care unit admission compared to none in the non-reactive group. There were 4(2.4%) neonatal deaths in the reactive group.Conclusion: Participants in the immunoglobulin M reactive group had a higher percentage of adverse foeto-maternal outcomes compared to the non-reactive group

Property management enabled by artificial intelligence post Covid-19: an exploratory review and future propositions

The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak across the globe has disrupted human life and industry. The pandemic has affected every sector, with the real estate sector facing particular challenges. During the pandemic, property management became a crucial task and property managers were challenged to control risks and disruptions faced by their organizations. Recent innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), have supported many sectors through sudden disruptions; this study was performed to examine the role of AI in the real estate and property management (PM) sectors. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted using structural topic modeling and bibliometric analysis. Using appropriate keywords, the researchers found 175 articles on AI and PM research from 1980 to 2021 in the SCOPUS database. A bibliometric analysis was performed to identify research trends. Structural topic modelling (STM) identified ten emerging thematic topics in AI and PM. A comprehensive framework is proposed, and future research directions discussed.publishedVersio

Implementing Industry 4.0 in the Manufacturing Sector: Circular Economy as a societal solution

The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 (I4.0), has disrupted the notions of economic transactions, value generation and appropriation to become a central interest among academics and practitioners. I4.0 is predicted to create new frontiers for society’s sustainable growth by encouraging the development of a circular economy. However, significant obstacles prevent its widespread application. Therefore, this research investigates the broader social problems associated with the implementation of I4.0 and the potential solutions. The research takes the form of a comprehensive and systematic literature review that uses bibliometric analysis to consider papers published between 2011 and 2020. Fifty-two research articles from 32 different journals were thoroughly reviewed to fulfil the research objective. This innovative and novel study explores I4.0 technologies in terms of the potential to solve societal problems, the associated social challenges they present and the related opportunities. The paper concludes by discussing possible future research directions.publishedVersio

Predictors of diarrheal mortality and patterns of caregiver health seeking behavior in in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Pakistan is unfortunately among the five countries that contributed to the most deaths due to diarrhea and pneumonia in 2010. To explore factors associated with diarrheal deaths we assessed care-seeking behavior and other predictors of diarrhea-related mortality in children in selected low-income peri-urban communities of Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A mixed methods study (qualitative and quantitative) using matched case-control design and focus group discussions with parents of children with moderate to severe diarrhea (MSD) was undertaken. Cases were children Demographic, clinical, and care-related behavioral predictors of mortality were assessed. Conditional logistic regression was performed, matched adjusted odds ratios (mOR) are reported.Results: Parents of 77 cases and 154 controls were interviewed. Cases were less likely to receive appropriate care compared to controls (mOR=0.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.05-0.91). Refusal for hospital admission (OR=8.9, 95% CI 2.6-30.8), and delays in reaching the health facility (OR=3.6, 95% CI 1.0-12.9) were significant independent predictors of mortality. We found strong beliefs in traditional and spiritual healing in the population; use of both modern and traditional/spiritual treatments concurrently was common.Conclusion: Appropriate care seeking behavior predicts survival in children with diarrhea in Pakistan. There is a complex belief system relating to traditional and standard therapies. Health education for appropriate health care seeking should be implemented in order to achieve a substantial decline in diarrheal disease mortality in Pakistan

Aeromonas-Associated Diarrhea in Children Under 5 Years: The GEMS Experience.

We report the clinical findings, epidemiology, and risk factors for moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) associated with Aeromonas species in children 0-59 months of age, from the Global Enteric Multicenter Study, conducted at three sites in south Asia and four sites in sub-Saharan Africa. Children with MSD were enrolled along with controls matched for age, gender, and neighborhood. Pooled, age-stratified conditional logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the association of Aeromonas infection controlling for coinfecting pathogens and sociodemographic variables. A pooled, age-stratified, multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to identify risk factors associated with Aeromonas positivity in MSD cases. A total of 12,110 cases and 17,291 matched controls were enrolled over a period of 48 months. Aeromonas was identified as a significant pathogen in 736 cases of MSD in Pakistan and Bangladesh (22.2%). Aeromonas remained a significant pathogen even after adjustment for the presence of other pathogens and sociodemographic factors. Odds ratio (OR) for Aeromonas were higher in the presence of Shigella (matched OR: 6.2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.9-20.2). Cases of Aeromonas were likely to present with dysentery, particularly in the 0-11 months (OR: 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-2.0) and 12-23 months (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.3-2.5) age group. The odds of Aeromonas increased with increasing degree of stunting, being highest for severe stunting (OR: 10.1, 95% CI: 3.6-28.9). Aeromonas is a significant pathogen for MSD in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Presence of dysentery and co-occurrence with other pathogens, notably Shigella spp. are significant features of Aeromonas-associated diarrhea

An improved vision after treatment of endophthalmitis following keratoprosthesis — a report of two cases

Endophthalmitis following keratoprosthesis could lead to permanent loss of vision and the eye. It needs systematicmanagement and close follow-ups as the outcome is unpredictable. We present two cases of endophthalmitis following type I Boston keratoprosthesis (KPro). Both of our patients hadlost one eye while the other eye developed endophthalmitis after they underwent prosthokeratoplasty. They wereaggressively treated with topical and oral antibiotics with close follow-ups. Vitreous cultures were obtained, andintravitreal antibiotics were given. The endophthalmitis resolved with a dramatically improved vision

Role of Service Quality in Improving Customer Loyalty towards Telecom Companies in Hungary during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The telecommunication sector is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an increased dependence of customers on telecommunications to continue their work and studies. The increased usage of internet and telecom services during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many risks and challenges for the telecom companies to meet the requirements of the consumers. In this regard, it is crucial to understand the factors affecting customer loyalty towards telecom companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is conducted to evaluate the effect of service quality, perception towards promotional packages, and customer delight on customer loyalty towards telecom companies in Hungary. The study also examined the mediating role of customer delight and perception towards promotional packages between service quality and customer loyalty. Another aim of the study is to compare the behavior of Hungarian customers and foreign customers living in Hungary towards telecom companies in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used a linear snowball sampling method and a well-structured questionnaire to collect the data. In total, 589 completed responses were used for analysis out, of which 208 responses are from Hungarian customers and 381 are from foreigners. To analyze the collected data, regression analysis was applied by using AMOS 22 package. The results of our study revealed that service quality and perception towards promotional packages positively influence customer loyalty among both Hungarian and foreign customers. On the other hand, customer delight significantly influences customer loyalty only among foreign customers. The results also proved the mediating role of promotional packages and customer delight between service quality and customer delight. This study will provide significant practical implications for managers of telecom companies in Hungary

Role of Service Quality in Improving Customer Loyalty towards Telecom Companies in Hungary during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The telecommunication sector is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an increased dependence of customers on telecommunications to continue their work and studies. The increased usage of internet and telecom services during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many risks and challenges for the telecom companies to meet the requirements of the consumers. In this regard, it is crucial to understand the factors affecting customer loyalty towards telecom companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is conducted to evaluate the effect of service quality, perception towards promotional packages, and customer delight on customer loyalty towards telecom companies in Hungary. The study also examined the mediating role of customer delight and perception towards promotional packages between service quality and customer loyalty. Another aim of the study is to compare the behavior of Hungarian customers and foreign customers living in Hungary towards telecom companies in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used a linear snowball sampling method and a well-structured questionnaire to collect the data. In total, 589 completed responses were used for analysis out, of which 208 responses are from Hungarian customers and 381 are from foreigners. To analyze the collected data, regression analysis was applied by using AMOS 22 package. The results of our study revealed that service quality and perception towards promotional packages positively influence customer loyalty among both Hungarian and foreign customers. On the other hand, customer delight significantly influences customer loyalty only among foreign customers. The results also proved the mediating role of promotional packages and customer delight between service quality and customer delight. This study will provide significant practical implications for managers of telecom companies in Hungary