Issues and Challenges in Managing Catering and Food Retail Business in Karachi: Study of Tikka Inn Caterers

Catering Business is one of the fastest growing businesses hence managing this with limited resources in tough market conditions is a big challenge for entrepreneurs. Same is valid for Pakistan where the industry is dominated by giants like Hanif Rajput Caterers and United Caterers etc. Tikka-Inn is treated as one of the new and fastest growing parts of the industry. Therefore this study has been purposively designed on Tikka-Inn, in order to demonstrate the challenges pertaining to new entrepreneurs. Hence in order to validate findings of the case, data achieved through systematic interviews has been linked with the company’s records and available research literature. After all the association and validation findings of the study indicated that scarcity of financial resources is still a major issue for the entrepreneurs coupled with the intense level of competition, conditions of the city and regularity issues which entails entrepreneurs to device proper mechanism to overcome these hurdles especially in the category of catering and food retail business

Comparison of Efficacy of Resin-Modified Glass Ionomer and Composite Restoration in Inhibition of Secondary Caries in Primary Molars

Objective: To evaluate and compare clinical performance and caries inhibition of Resin modified glass ionomer cement and composite restoration in primary molars Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Operative Dentistry, Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Feb 2019 to Jan 2020. Methodology: Eighty-three patients fulfilling the selection criteria having at least one carious mandibular primary molar on both sides were divided by split-mouth design. Resin-modified Glass ionomer restorations were done on one side and termed Group-A, and Composite Restorations were done on the other side and termed Group-B. Each restoration was clinically evaluated regarding the appearance of secondary caries at 3, 6 and 12 months after placement by the same operator who performed the treatment. Results: A total of 166 conventional restorations were placed in the 83 children having carious mandibular primary molars, at least one on each side of the arch. The assessment of restorations, performed after six months, showed an 89.2% success rate of Resin modified Glass ionomer restorations and a 66% success rate of Composite Restoration. One year of follow-up showed an 80% success rate for Resin modified Glass ionomer restorations and 60% for Composite Restoration, as regards secondary caries; statistically significant differences were found in both groups. Conclusion: The study results showed that Resin modified Glass ionomer cement used to restore primary molars affected by caries performed better clinically than composite in assessing secondary caries

Multi crop high efficiency seed drill with solar hybrid seed metering: A step toward precision and sustainability

High crop production with limited energy resources is always the priority area of developing countries. Conventional agricultural experimenting and crop production methods are time-consuming, challenging, laborious, and energy intensive. Various developments and experimental studies have been carried out for advancement in agriculture technologies. This study is mainly focused on the design and development of a unique high-efficiency seed drill machine to increase the energy efficiency of agricultural experiments, and crop production and conserve the tillage, seed, fertilizer, and power requirement. This machine has a special seed dividing head and seed distributor triggered with a mechanical timer. The mechanical timer is responsible to deliver seed to the seed distributor as per fixed plotting intervals. The seed distribution unit distributes the seeds uniformly in all furrows as per the pre-decided seed rate aided with a centrifugal glider aided with a DC motor powered by a 30 W solar PV plate and backup battery. Moreover, the machine has 9 × 9 s-type spring tines for seed and fertilizer, which are mainly designed for better soil pulverization and aeration with significant in-field resource conservation as per conventional alternatives. The effective width is seven feet and adjustable rows with versatile seed rate options. Overall, the results from different field tests verified the uniform seed dispersal with improved germination rate. The analysis of power requirements compared to conventional machines results in the 40% less power requirement. Overall, the machine has customized unique features for experiments and energy-efficient precision agriculture to conserve input resources

Modelling Framework for Reducing Energy Loads to Achieve Net-Zero Energy Building in Semi-Arid Climate: A Case Study

Buildings consume a significant 40% of global energy, where, reducing the building energy consumption to a minimum, virtually zero, has become a thriving research area. Accordingly, this research aimed to determine and portray the huge potential of energy conservation in existing structures by making a retrofit at relatively low costs in finance strained economies. A walk-through of the survey of energy consuming appliances determined the energy consumption based on the power rating; the appliances were then virtually replaced and the reduced energy consumption was determined in terms of the cooling loads. Modelling these intervention using the hourly analysis program (HAP) showed significantly positive results. The pre- and post-retrofit model analysis of an institutional building in Pakistan exhibited significant potential for reducing the cooling load of 767 kW (218 TON) to 408 kW (116 TON) with an investment payback period of 2.5 years. The additional benefit is the reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which reduce the overall energy requirements. The study continues with the design of a solar energy source using the system advisor model (SAM) for the reduced energy demand of a retrofitted building. It is then concluded that using the available area, a solar energy source with a capital payback period of 5.7 years would bring an institutional building within its own energy footprint making it a net-zero building, since it will not be consuming energy from any other source outside of its own covered area. The study has the limitation to exposure and climate related conditions. In addition, the decline in heating and cooling loads represents model values which may vary when calculated after an actual retrofit for the same structure due to any site related issues

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Issues and Challenges in Managing Catering and Food Retail Business in Karachi: Study of Tikka Inn Caterers

Catering Business is one of the fastest growing businesses hence managing this with limited resources in tough market conditions is a big challenge for entrepreneurs. Same is valid for Pakistan where the industry is dominated by giants like Hanif Rajput Caterers and United Caterers etc. Tikka-Inn is treated as one of the new and fastest growing parts of the industry. Therefore this study has been purposively designed on Tikka-Inn, in order to demonstrate the challenges pertaining to new entrepreneurs. Hence in order to validate findings of the case, data achieved through systematic interviews has been linked with the company’s records and available research literature. After all the association and validation findings of the study indicated that scarcity of financial resources is still a major issue for the entrepreneurs coupled with the intense level of competition, conditions of the city and regularity issues which entails entrepreneurs to device proper mechanism to overcome these hurdles especially in the category of catering and food retail business

Time-varying Stock Market Integration and Diversification Opportunities within Developed Markets Using Aggregated Data Approach

This study examines the time-varying feature of Developed stock markets to identify diversification opportunities. For this purpose, we sample 21 developed countries ranging from 2000-2018 from the Pacific Region, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Southern Europe, and G7, with each region consisting of a panel with one home country and other as remaining countries portfolio. We applied Panel co-integration and VECM to test the stock market integration and diversification opportunities in short and long run. Our results indicate few short and long-run diversification opportunities for international investors in the post-crisis period that are more relevant. Canada, Japan, and Italy have long-run opportunities for diversification in the G7, and only Japan has short-run opportunities for diversification. Hong Kong and Japan have short-and long-run opportunities for diversification in the Pacific region. In the Northern Europe region, we have only the short-run diversification option of the UK and Norway. In the Western European Region, Australia and Switzerland have long-term diversification. There are no long and short-run diversification opportunities in the Southern European Region in the post-crisis period

A unique triad of invasive sinusitis, brain abscess with focal cerebritis, and COVID-19

BACKGROUND: We present a case of invasive sinusitis with rhinocerebral infection in a patient who had mild symptoms of COVID-19 infection and did not receive any immunosuppressive therapies. CASE REPORT: A 49-year-old man with a history of uncontrolled diabetes presented to the hospital with multiple generalized tonic clonic seizures. He had recently been diagnosed with mild COVID-19 and was treated at home with supportive care only. He was found to have cerebritis in the right frontal lobe along with right fronto-ethmoid sinusitis. He underwent extensive testing with nasal endoscopy with gram stain and culture, cryptococcal studies, 1-3-Beta-D glucan, blood cultures, fungal CSF studies, Lyme disease, HIV, Fungitell assay, and galactomannan studies, which were all negative. He was started on i.v. antibacterial therapy with cefepime, vancomycin, and metronidazole along with amphotericin B. After 2 weeks, his repeat imaging revealed progression of cerebritis along with new early abscess. Given these findings, his antibiotics were changed to meropenem and the amphotericin B dose was increased. He was recommended debridement and sinus surgery but refused. During the course of treatment, he developed acute kidney injury and was switched to Posaconazole. Unfortunately, the patient decided to leave against medical advice 6 weeks into admission. He was advised to continue Posaconazole and levofloxacin but he could only afford levofloxacin. He was then recommended long-term levofloxacin. He has since recovered, with resolution of cerebritis noted in follow-up imaging 1 year later. CONCLUSIONS: Our patient had mild COVID-19 infection and presented with secondary infective complications, which are usually associated with an immunocompromised state, despite receiving no immunosuppressives. It is imperative that all clinicians treating COVID-19 be watchful for fungal or bacterial co-infections in patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection, even if the presenting symptoms are mild, particularly if other risk factors are present

Multi crop high efficiency seed drill with solar hybrid seed metering: A step toward precision and sustainability

Gefördert durch den Publikationsfonds der Universität Kasse