Attain and sustain competitive advantage: A system dynamics model of customer-based brand equity

Using Vensim® I developed a simulation model of customer based brand equity based on the theoretical framework of Aaker (1991) incorporating the two way linkages of the elements of brand equity and market performance of the firm. I have incorporated three of the four elements/dimensions of brand equity and could not include brand association because many do not consider it part of brand equity and for many others it is part of perceived quality and for some others there is difficulty in measurement (please see section 3.2.3). This may be a limitation of this study. Further, I could not perform all model validation tests which is also a limitation of this study. Model simulations indicate that Mobilink is bound to lose its market share if it continues its current policies. However, heavy investment in its cell sites will help improve its market share and reverse declining trend of the market share.Master of Philosophy in System DynamicsGEO-SD350MASV-SYSD

The cross-sectional study of anxiety levels and ratio of severity of thirteen symptoms of anxiety among medical students

Background: Anxiety is defined as physical, behavioral, social and psychological response to treat self-concept characterized by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of tension. Nowadays anxiety is most commonly found among medical students. This study was conducted to find out the anxiety levels and ratio of severity of thirteen symptoms of anxiety.Methods: A questionnaire based study was conducted among 178 medical students which tests the level of anxiety and severity of symptoms of anxiety. The questionnaire used was hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAM-A).Results: Out of 178 students, 80 (44.94%) students scored mild anxiety levels, 63 (35.39%) students scored moderate anxiety levels and 35 (19.66%) students scored severe anxiety levels.Conclusions: Mild form of anxiety is much more common among medical students and majority of these medical students are females. Moreover, the symptoms of anxiety including tension, anxious mood, depressed mood, insomnia, fear and CVS symptoms appear with moderate severity in majority of medical students while on the other hand some symptoms including general somatic muscular and sensory symptoms, difficulties in concentration and memory, genitor-urinary symptoms, respiratory symptoms, GIT symptoms and other autonomic symptoms appear with least severity among majority of medical students

Attain and sustain competitive advantage: A system dynamics model of customer-based brand equity

Using Vensim® I developed a simulation model of customer based brand equity based on the theoretical framework of Aaker (1991) incorporating the two way linkages of the elements of brand equity and market performance of the firm. I have incorporated three of the four elements/dimensions of brand equity and could not include brand association because many do not consider it part of brand equity and for many others it is part of perceived quality and for some others there is difficulty in measurement (please see section 3.2.3). This may be a limitation of this study. Further, I could not perform all model validation tests which is also a limitation of this study. Model simulations indicate that Mobilink is bound to lose its market share if it continues its current policies. However, heavy investment in its cell sites will help improve its market share and reverse declining trend of the market share

Prognostic Potential of MicroRNAs in Glioma Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Introduction MicroRNAs are a noncoding RNA involved in affecting several transcription and translation pathways. Their use has been discussed as potential predictors of several tumors. Their use as potential biomarker in glioma patients is still controversial. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to explore the possible role of such microRNAs in glioma patients. Methods After an extensive literature search done on PubMed and Embase, 20 studies were chosen for our analyses with the 9 discussing 11 tumor promoting microRNAs and 11 studies discussing 11 tumor suppressing microRNAs. The data needed was extracted from these studies including the hazard ratio that was used as the effect size for the purpose of our analysis. The needed analysis was performed using Stata and Excel. Results The pooled hazard ratio for our analysis with patients having a lower microRNA expression for tumor promoting microRNAs came to be 2.63 (p < 0.001), while the hazard ratio for patients with higher expression of tumor promoting microRNA was 2.47 (p < 0.001) with both results being statistically significant. However, as significant heterogeneity was observed a random effect model for analysis was used. Subgroup analysis was further performed using grade, cutoff value (mean or median), sample type (Serum or Blood), and Karnofsky performance score, all of them showing a high hazard ratio. Conclusion Our results showed that both tumor inhibitory and promoting microRNA can be used as prognostic tool in glioma patients with a poorer prognosis associated with a lower expression in tumor suppressive and higher expression in tumor promoting microRNA, respectively. However, to support this, future studies on a much larger scale would be needed