China-Pakistan economic corridor: towards a new ‘heartland’?

Omar Alam discusses the proposed China-Pakistan Economic corridor, China’s largest overseas investment project to date. He writes that the corridor, if managed effectively, presents a win-win scenario for Islamabad and Beijing, but also has extensive geopolitical implications that could potentially shift the centre of global politics

Technical Efficiency in the Malaysian Gill Net Artisanal Fishery

Artisanal fishing communities include some of the poorest fishers in Malaysia. The paper presents the first technical efficiency study, whichfinds that artisanal fishers are poor, but enjoy a higher level of technical efficiency than found in the other Malaysian gill net fisheries. It suggests that targeted development assistance to the harvesting sector may be better directed to other priorities in artisanal fishing communities.artisanal fisheries, fisheries development, technical efficiency

Incidence, diagnosis and management of adult cases presenting with symptomatic lumbar spondylolisthesis in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Five lumbar vertebrae bridge between the thoracic and the sacral. The first four are typical in nature and the fifth is of a standalone atypical variety. Normal inward curvatures are observed in both cervical and lumbar regions of the vertebral column. These lordotic curvatures usually help in shock absorption and support the weight of the head. Spondylolisthesis occurs when one vertebra slips forward over the vertebra below it. This condition usually develops in the lumbar region of the vertebral column. It is due to the lumbar spine being exposed to directional pressures while carrying and distributing most of the body weight during activity and at rest. Such a combination of weight bearing and multidirectional movement may cause forward slippage of any random lumbar vertebra over the vertebra beneath it. The aim of this study was to observe retrospectively adult male and female cases presenting with spondylolisthesis in the outdoor clinic of the Department of Orthopaedics in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: Adult cases of either sex presenting with low back pain were clinically and radiologically investigated. Data regarding age, sex and occupation were recorded.Results: The incidence of symptomatic spondylolisthesis was reported to be 211 out of 5117 cases that presented with low back pain. We observed that majority of cases were in the age group of 23 to57 years with higher preponderance among males. A small fraction of presenting cases were advised for laminectomy.Conclusions: Incidence of symptomatic lumbar spondylolisthesis was high. Sex ratio among presenting cases was observed to be higher in males. Cases were clinically examined and diagnosed radiologically. Most cases were managed conservatively

Goniometry of elbow carrying angle: a comparative clinical study on sexual dimorphism in young males and females

Background: Carrying angle of the elbow joint is an angle formed between the axis of arm and axis of forearm in an extended elbow joint supinated at the radio-ulnar joints. It is an obtuse angle which facilitates free swinging of arm by deviating it from the pelvis during walking or carrying an object. Carrying angle increases with age and is reportedly greater in females. Morphometry of this angle may be helpful in identification of elbow disorders along with surgical reconstruction and evaluation of traumatic elbow. The aim of this study was to clinically observe sexual dimorphism of carrying angle among young males and females with normal anatomy and bony configuration of elbows between 21 to 25 years of age the in the outdoor clinic of the Department of Orthopaedics.Methods: Four hundred individuals of equal sex ratio underwent bilateral goniometry. The measurement of carrying angle was performed using goniometer.Results: Carrying angle was observed to be greater in females. There was no correlation between carrying angle and height of individual or length of forearm.Conclusions: Carrying angle is greater in females may be because exhibits high sexual dimorphism. It may also considered be as a secondary sexual characteristic. Utility of goniometry of carrying angle is observed during orthopaedic reconstruction of elbow disorders after treatment of distal fractures of humerus and evaluation of traumatic injuries at the elbow joint.

Credit card usage behavior among working student

This study seeks to examine the credit card usage behavior among working students. Research questionnaires were distributed among young working adults who are pursuing their Bachelor Degree in the executive mode at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). T-test showed there is no significant different between male and female in terms of credit card usage. However, ANOVA analysis showed that there are significant different in credit card usage behavior among respondent within different gross monthly income

Numerical Analysis of a Highly Sensitive SOI MRR Refractive Index Sensor with Performance Enhancement using Graphene and Gold

This study proposes a simulation-based design for a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) ring resonator with a Figure of Merit (FOM) of 56.15 and a high sensitivity of up to 730 nm/RIU. The Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) technique was used to assess and evaluate the design quantitatively. Our design demonstrates higher sensitivity compared to many recent studies conducted on SOI-based sensors. The device structure follows a conventional ring resonator arrangement with a single waveguide, incorporating a 2D graphene layer on top of the SiO2 wafer and a gold nano-disc positioned at the center of the ring. Our findings highlight the device's susceptibility to refractive index variations, making it a desirable choice for various sensing applications. We have investigated the sensor's capabilities for sensing different concentrations of milkmilk. Graphene and gold materials enhance the device's response to light and provide comparatively higher sensitivity. The suggested design can serve as a blueprint for device fabrication, considering the practicality of implementing an SOI-based device using standard techniques for silicon processing.Comment: 23 pages, 29 figures, Journal: Heliyon by Cell Press (Accepted

Combating the impact of COVID- 19 on Public University Students through Subsidized Online Class: Evidence from Bangladesh

We strived to explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on public university students with barriers to the online class through surveyed 1092 students of 15 public universities in Bangladesh using Google Form. Eight barriers were explored. About half, 542(49.6%) students shouldered learning-related costs, 489(45%) students had part time job, 461(42.2%) had COVID-19 patients nearby, 805(73.7%) faced income reduction, 367(75.2%) lost part-time jobs and 688 (63%) had financial crises, 703(64.3%) deterioration of psychological status,  827(75.7 %) had internet access and 526(48.2%) had devices to attend online classes but 519 (47.5%) failed to bear the internet cost.  Besides, the study time reduced significantly from (3.67±2.17) to (1.23±1.34) hours, and career planning of 853(78.2%) struck. COVID-19 has multiple catastrophic impacts on the educational, financial, and psychological aspects. To curb these impacts, public universities must provide financial subsidies to those disadvantaged students to ensure the success of the online class. Keywords: Covid-19, Education, Public University, Financial crisis, Online Class, Subsidy DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-27-17 Publication date:September 30th 202

Capacity And Offshore Fisheries Development: The Malaysian Purse Seine Fishery

Many developing countries pursue offshore fisheries development strategies to increase protein supply, expand employment, earn foreign exchange, and militate the conflict between large- and small-scale fisheries over the inshore resource stocks. This study evaluates the economic success of Peninsular Malaysia\u27s offshore fisheries development policy for the west coast purse seine fleet, finding it has largely succeeded on economic groundshttps://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsbooks/1063/thumbnail.jp

Assessing the Factors Influencing Service Innovation Capabilities and Performance

Innovation has been recognized as a central source of business growth and a key determinant of competitive advantage for many organizations. This paper seeks to address two main objectives. The first objective is to examine the direct effect of organizational structure (i.e. centralization and formalization), transformational leadership, organizational learning and customer orientation on innovation capabilities. The second objective is to examine the effect of innovation capability and organizational performance. Findings show that customer orientation, organizational learning, and transformation leadership had significant positive effects on innovation capability. The results further show that innovation capability had a significant impact on organizational performance