Girls Academic Performance in Science Subjects: Evidences from the Industrializing and Least Industrialized Countries

The study reviewed the published empirical evidence on girls’ academic performance in science subjects in Industrializing and Least Industrialized Countries. Empirical evidences suggest that girls have been outperforming boys in education across the globe. Policy makers and academics have extensively studied this gender reverse change in the context of technologically advanced countries. The issue is an emerging phenomena in the context of industrializing and least industrialized countries and has received some academic attention in the last two decades. This gender reversal change in academic performance is an interesting trend in the context of industrializing and least industrialized countries. Nevertheless, girls as compared to boys, are not doing well in science subjects: technology, engineering and math (STEM). This review paper seeks to give a succinct picture of gender differences in academic performance in STEM subjects in the socio-cultural contexts industrializing and least industrialized.  The findings of our umbrella review of different studies in the developing countries show girls’ underperformance in STEM subjects in the industrializing and least industrialized countries. Findings (skimmed from a number of empirical studies) suggest boys’ outperformance in STEM subjects

The nature, consequences, and management of emotions in interfirm paradoxical relationships - a conceptual framework

We develop a theory of emotions in interfirm paradoxical relationships with a focus on coopetition and emotional ambivalence. We suggest that appraisals of paradoxical coopetition situations lead to the arousal of multiple, oppositely valenced emotions of various intensities, combinations of which correspond to different states of emotional ambivalence. We explicate how emotional ambivalence, through managers’ appraisal and emotional contagion processes becomes collective and how it impacts coopetition performance. We further theorize how the negative effect of ambivalence on performance could be minimized and the positive effect could be amplified through emotional capability. Our theory provides a nuanced understanding of the complex nature of emotions, and how they arise, manifest, and impact outcomes in interfirm paradoxical relationships

Restructuring Compulsory Education in Pakistan in the Post-eighteenth Constitutional Amendment Era: Insights from the Region and Developed Nations

Free and compulsory education has become a constitutional right of all the Pakistanis since the eighteenth amendment has come into effect. Compulsory and free education requires the laws to implement the education offerings in the compulsory age group. This study draws on a desk review of the compulsory education offerings in five countries: India, USA, UK, Singapore and Finland. The study is aimed at getting insights into how compulsory education is being organized in the region and globally, and forwards some recommendations regarding how it may be organized by various provinces of Pakistan.&nbsp

Ethically Minded Consumer Behavior, Brands’ Commitment to Sustainable Development and Brand Equity in the Apparel Market of Pakistan

Purpose-The current research paper elaborated effect of ethically-minded consumer behavior on the brand pledge to sustainable development and consumer perception and how it further impact “brand equity-loyalty-word of mouth statement. Designing/Methodology/Approach - To evaluate proposed hypotheses, a quantitative study method with a close-ended questionnaire was structured to collect the responses with the convincing non-probability sampling method. About six hundred questionnaires were distributed among the various people and 217 valid responses were received back. To measure the participants’ response, 5- Point Liker Scale was employed. Smart PLS was used to analyses the collected data Findings - The findings of the study recommend and allow an increasing series of suggestions for the brand holders to adopt sustainable development practices and it will raise the attention of the ethically minded consumers. Research Limitations/Implications - The research was conducted in the cities of Punjab Pakistan. Where the level of education and earnings are high. This study should also be conducted in other cities of Pakistan. The researchers have conducted this study for the apparel industry it should also be conducted on the other industries. At the final note for the further study in line with this study mediated relationship between variables used in this proposed model should be done. The new variable can also be introduced like brand image, satisfaction, perceived quality. This study has several implications for managers and academia. As a result of exposure and information, consumer behavior has changed in Pakistan and requires that organizations and brands must take necessary steps for owing sustainable development goals. This pledge to sustainable development is completely supposed by the consumer to boost brand equity, Loyalty, and constructive word of mouth. Originality/Value - To the best of Author’s Knowledge no study has been conducted to measure the impact of consumer behavior on Brands commitment to sustainable development in the Apparel Market of Pakista

Manifestation of Mobile Phone Assisted Personal Agency among University Students: Evidence from Lahore

The study was carried out to explore the manifestation of mobile phone assisted personal agency among university students. Personal Agency of Mobile Phone Users Scale was adapted to measure the practice of personal agency. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 401 university students in Lahore. Findings of the study indicated three constituents of personal agency among youth; contactability, organizability and derestriction. Furthermore, duration of the possession of mobile phone was found significantly correlated with the practice of mobile phone assisted personal agency. Respondents reported that mobile phone has conferred upon them a sense of individual freedom and social connectedness. It has helped them to organize their daily activities. According to them, this electronic gadget has enabling effect and it enlivened their lives through its beeps and bells. The findings of the study are aligned with the results of D’Souza (2010) who did the pioneering study in exploring personal agency through mobile phone use. However, further research is required to explore the impact of mobile phone use on the lives of youth who have not been enrolled in the universities.&nbsp

Universal Primary Education in Pakistan: constraints and challenges

This paper addresses the issue of universal primary education (one of the MDGs) in Pakistan. It is unlikely for Pakistan to achieve Universal Primary Education (UPE) by 2015. The main assumption in this study is that existence and proper functioning of a school in a locality need its integration with the community and other local institutions by making them the stakeholders. It also intends to identify the problems in the way of universal primary education in Pakistan. An allencompassing approach (that addresses all the constraints) to this issue may be useful to achieve the goal of Universal Primary Education in Pakistan. The study draws on secondary data such as review of government reports, scientific published material and other relevant literature. We found that the issue has multiple dimensions, such as insufficient educational services, especially in rural areas, incompetent and untrained teachers (mostly recruited on the basis of political recommendation) and poor quality of education. We also identified other constraints concerned with the UPE, such as poor physical and educational environment, poverty, lack of community participation, illiterate parents and lack of political commitment and good governance. This situation, with regard to primary education, creates doubts about the utility of schooling among the resource constrained parents. Additionally, inadequate and insufficient technical and vocational training institutions for those students who successfully complete the primary education are also an inhibiting factor. It is important that the school is made a part of the larger social structure and ought to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of students, parents and the community at large.&nbsp

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Population‐based cohort study of outcomes following cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases

Background The aim was to describe the management of benign gallbladder disease and identify characteristics associated with all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications in a prospective population‐based cohort. Methods Data were collected on consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy in acute UK and Irish hospitals between 1 March and 1 May 2014. Potential explanatory variables influencing all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications were analysed by means of multilevel, multivariable logistic regression modelling using a two‐level hierarchical structure with patients (level 1) nested within hospitals (level 2). Results Data were collected on 8909 patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 167 hospitals. Some 1451 cholecystectomies (16·3 per cent) were performed as an emergency, 4165 (46·8 per cent) as elective operations, and 3293 patients (37·0 per cent) had had at least one previous emergency admission, but had surgery on a delayed basis. The readmission and complication rates at 30 days were 7·1 per cent (633 of 8909) and 10·8 per cent (962 of 8909) respectively. Both readmissions and complications were independently associated with increasing ASA fitness grade, duration of surgery, and increasing numbers of emergency admissions with gallbladder disease before cholecystectomy. No identifiable hospital characteristics were linked to readmissions and complications. Conclusion Readmissions and complications following cholecystectomy are common and associated with patient and disease characteristics

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions