Exchange Rate Misalignment in Pakistan: Evidence from Purchasing Power Parity Theory

This paper examines the validity of the purchasing power parity to evaluate whether the Pakrupee vis-à-vis the US-dollar has been overvalued since the introduction of managed floating exchange rate. The Johansen multivariate cointegration technique is applied for the period 1982Q2-2002Q4. A single cointegrating vector is identified whose coefficients conform in broad terms to the restriction implied by the PPP theory, lending support to the interpretation of the model as describing a long-run relationship. This support is reinforced by the results derived from the adjustment coefficient, which is identifies clear short-run tendency for the exchange rate to revert to the equilibrium value defined by the estimated long-run model. Furthermore, exchange rate misalignment is also calculated using the estimated long-run relationship to evaluate whether the Pak-rupee vis-à-vis the US-dollar was undervalued or overvalued since the inception of managed floating exchange rate system. Calculated misalignment shows a substantial undervaluation of the Pak-rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar.Exchange Rate, Pakistan

Depth-Camera-Aided Inertial Navigation Utilizing Directional Constraints.

This paper presents a practical yet effective solution for integrating an RGB-D camera and an inertial sensor to handle the depth dropouts that frequently happen in outdoor environments, due to the short detection range and sunlight interference. In depth drop conditions, only the partial 5-degrees-of-freedom pose information (attitude and position with an unknown scale) is available from the RGB-D sensor. To enable continuous fusion with the inertial solutions, the scale ambiguous position is cast into a directional constraint of the vehicle motion, which is, in essence, an epipolar constraint in multi-view geometry. Unlike other visual navigation approaches, this can effectively reduce the drift in the inertial solutions without delay or under small parallax motion. If a depth image is available, a window-based feature map is maintained to compute the RGB-D odometry, which is then fused with inertial outputs in an extended Kalman filter framework. Flight results from the indoor and outdoor environments, as well as public datasets, demonstrate the improved navigation performance of the proposed approach

Exchange Rate Misalignment in Pakistan: Evidence from Purchasing Power Parity Theory

Exchange rate provides a key link between the domestic and world markets for goods and assets. Therefore, a proper and detailed analysis of the behaviour of exchange rate is required. There is also growing agreement that prolonged and substantial exchange rate misalignment can create severe macroeconomic disequilibria and the correction of external balance will require both exchange rate devaluation and demand management policies. Thus the policy-makers have used PPP theory as a guide to represent the external competitiveness of a country, and as a benchmark against which floating exchange rates are judged to be misaligned. Developments in 1990s and 2000s show that cost associated with exchange rate misalignment is very high. Hence, the analysis of exchange rate determination in the presence of exchange rate misalignment is crucial for the policy purpose because of its role as a component of an early warning system [Berg, et al. (2000)]

Biological Monitoring of Blood Naphthalene Levels as a Marker of Occupational Exposure to PAHs among Auto-Mechanics and Spray Painters in Rawalpindi

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Routine exposure to chemical contaminants in workplace is a cause for concern over potential health risks to workers. In Pakistan, reports on occupational exposure and related health risks are almost non-existent, which reflects the scarce availability of survey data and criteria for determining whether an unsafe exposure has occurred. The current study was designed to evaluate blood naphthalene (NAPH) levels as an indicator of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) among automobile workshop mechanics (MCs) and car-spray painters (PNs). We further determined the relationship between blood NAPH levels and personal behavioural, job related parameters and various environmental factors that may further be associated with elevated risks of occupational exposures to PAHs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty blood samples (n = 20 for each group i.e. MC, PN and control group) were collected to compare their blood NAPH levels among exposed (MCs and PNs) and un-exposed (control) groups. Samples were analyzed using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Data regarding demographic aspects of the subjects and their socioeconomic features were collected using a questionnaire. Subjects were also asked to report environmental hygiene conditions of their occupational environment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified automobile work areas as potential sites for PAHs exposure, which was reflected by higher blood NAPH levels among MCs. Blood NAPH levels ranged from 53.7 to 1980.6 μgL^-1and 54.1 to 892.9 μgL^-1among MCs and PNs respectively. Comparison within each group showed that smoking enhanced exposure risks several fold and both active and passive smoking were among personal parameters that were significantly correlated with log-transformed blood NAPH levels. For exposed groups, work hours and work experience were job related parameters that showed strong associations with the increase in blood NAPH levels. Poor workplace hygiene and ventilation were recognized as most significant predictors related to differences among workplaces that may enhance the extent of exposure to chemical contaminants.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It appeared that chemical exposure at the workplace may be influenced by multiple environmental factors, but poor workplace hygiene and duration of exposure (long work hours) were the most important factors. Smoking and negligence of workers regarding self protection were among some of the important personal behaviours than can be addressed with better training. There is also a need to improve workplaces hygiene and to rationalize work hours to minimize health risks. Since smoking was an important confounding factor that supplemented most of the actual occupational exposure, a study based on non-smoker subjects is needed to separate out the effects of smoking and other confounding factors that may obscure measurements of actual extent of occupational exposure.</p

A Context-aware and Intelligent Framework for the Secure Mission Critical Systems

Recent technological advancements in pervasive systems have shown the poten-tial to address challenges in the military domain. Research developments in mili-tary-based mission-critical systems have refined a lot as in autopilot, sensing true target behavior, battle damage conditions, acquiring and manipulating command control information. However, the application of pervasive systems in the military domain is still evolving. In this paper, an intelligent framework has been pro-posed for mission-critical systems to incorporate advanced heterogeneous com-munication protocols; service-oriented layered structure and context-aware infor-mation manipulation. The proposed framework addresses the limitation of “time-space” constraints in Mission-critical systems that have been improved signifi-cantly. This improvement is courtesy to enhancing situation-aware tactical capa-bilities such as localization, decision significance, strategic span, strategic inten-tions, resource coordination and profiling concerning the situation. A comprehen-sive use case model has been presented for a typical battle-field scenario followed by a comparison of the proposed framework with existing techniques. It is evi-dent from experiments and analyses that the proposed framework provides more effective and seamless interaction with contextual resources to improve tactical capabilities. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: A Context-aware and Intelligent Framework for the Secure Mission Critical Systems, which has been published in final form in Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Version

Attitudes and practices of postgraduate medical trainees towards research--a snapshot from Faisalabad

Objective: To assess the attitudes and practices of postgraduate medical trainees towards research.Methods: It was a self-administered questionnaire based cross-sectional survey conducted on 55 conveniently selected trainees in Allied Hospital, Faisalabad.Results: Only 11 trainees read journals monthly, seven had written an article for a journal, 51 regarded reading literature important, 39 intended to engage in future research and 37 said they received inappropriate research training. The major reasons cited for poor research activity in Pakistan were poor research training and awareness.CONCLUSION: Though the attitudes towards research were positive, they were deficient practically in terms of reading and writing literature. There is an immediate need to improve research training in our educational institutes to facilitate the development of the local literature both in terms of research utilization and productio

Exchange Rate Misalignment in Pakistan: Evidence from Purchasing Power Parity Theory

In this study we have tested the validity of purchasing power parity hypothesis and exchange rate misalignment for Pakistan over the period 1982Q2-2002Q4. From the empirical analysis we can say that nominal exchange rate is cointegrated with WPI ratio. The cointegration coefficient between nominal exchange rate and the WPI-based price ratio is close to one. Furthermore, the coefficient restrictions are tested using maximum likelihood ratio statistic, lend support for the validity of the long-run PPP. Pakistan has been pursuing trade and exchange rate liberalisation policies from the late 1980s. Through these reforms, Pakistan has successfully eliminated most price controls and liberalised trade. These trade and exchange liberalisation policies allowed the law of one price to work more efficiently as shown by the supportive evidence of PPP. Moreover, the short-run deviation from PPP has frequently occurred, but the long-run validity of absolute PPP could not be rejected. The adjustment coefficient is negative and significant. However, the size of this coefficient is small indicating that the speed of adjustment is very slow. Even though long-run PPP holds, the speed of adjustment is rather slow, implying that misalignment is eliminated in the absence of shocks but only after a substantial period of time. The exchange rate remained undervalued vis-à-vis US dollar since the adoption of managed floating exchange rate system. Finally, the predictive power of these findings implies that exchange rate misalignment relative to PPP would eventually be corrected through commensurate movements in nominal exchange rates

Exchange Rate Misalignment in Pakistan: Evidence from Purchasing Power Parity Theory

In this study we have tested the validity of purchasing power parity hypothesis and exchange rate misalignment for Pakistan over the period 1982Q2-2002Q4. From the empirical analysis we can say that nominal exchange rate is cointegrated with WPI ratio. The cointegration coefficient between nominal exchange rate and the WPI-based price ratio is close to one. Furthermore, the coefficient restrictions are tested using maximum likelihood ratio statistic, lend support for the validity of the long-run PPP. Pakistan has been pursuing trade and exchange rate liberalisation policies from the late 1980s. Through these reforms, Pakistan has successfully eliminated most price controls and liberalised trade. These trade and exchange liberalisation policies allowed the law of one price to work more efficiently as shown by the supportive evidence of PPP. Moreover, the short-run deviation from PPP has frequently occurred, but the long-run validity of absolute PPP could not be rejected. The adjustment coefficient is negative and significant. However, the size of this coefficient is small indicating that the speed of adjustment is very slow. Even though long-run PPP holds, the speed of adjustment is rather slow, implying that misalignment is eliminated in the absence of shocks but only after a substantial period of time. The exchange rate remained undervalued vis-à-vis US dollar since the adoption of managed floating exchange rate system. Finally, the predictive power of these findings implies that exchange rate misalignment relative to PPP would eventually be corrected through commensurate movements in nominal exchange rates

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) Hybrids Evaluation for Oil Quality and Yield Attributes under Spring Planting Conditions of Haripur, Pakistan

Field experiment was conducted at the University of Haripur, Pakistan, to explore the role of photothermal units on oil contents, fatty acids profile, yield and yield traits of four sunflower hybrids viz SMH-0917, NK-S-278, SMH-0907 and Hysun-33. These sunflower hybrids were selected because the farmers of that area are mostly relying on these hybrids for sunflower production. Sunflower hybrids were sown in spring and arranged under Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications under field conditions. Significant variation (p 0.05%) was found among the sunflower hybrids for photothermal unit requirements for flower completion and physiological maturity. Highest photothermal unit accumulation was found in Hysun-33 followed by SMH-0917 and SMH-0907. Highest seed oil content and oil composition (linoleic and oleic acid were most abundant, whereas palmitic acid was least) was recorded in Hysun-33, SMH-0917 and SMH-0907. Overall Hysun-33, SMH-0917 and SMH-0907 performed better for plant height, head diameter, number of achenes per head and achene yield under field conditions. It was also observed that temperature and moisture availability positively influenced the oil quality of sunflower hybrids under spring planting conditions. The significant amount of variation within the sunflower population for photothermal unit accumulation, oil content, oil quality, and yield traits under these uniform field conditions reveals potential genetic variation that could be useful in breeding early maturing and high yielding local sunflower hybrids

Heat tolerance indicators in Pakistani wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes

The effect of high temperature stress on six wheat cultivars exposed to 35–40 °C for 3 h each day for five consecutive days was examined. High temperature significantly affected total proline, soluble protein content, membrane stability index (MSI), yield, and various yield components, and had a direct effect on growth and other physiological attributes of wheat at anthesis and the milky seed stages. The wheat cultivar AS- 2002 achieved better osmotic adjustment by accumulating more leaf proline. Higher MSI was also observed in AS-2002, as well as Inqalab-91. The anthesis growth stage was found to be more sensitive to heat stress than seed development at the milky stage. Overall heat stress reduced yield 75% at anthesis and 40% at the milky stage. AS-2002 performed better on the basis of yield and yield components. Seed weight per spike was highest in AS- 2002, and lowest in SH-2002. The cumulative response of AS-2002 was better on the basis of physiological and yield attributes. In addition to yield, plant breeders should also include proline and MSI as selection parameter in the breeding program for development of heat tolerant wheat cultivars. Most of the evaluated wheat cultivars/lines were developed for cultivation in the rainfed areas of Pakista