Potential of Indigenous Plants for Skin Healing and Care

The outer protective layer of body is skin which not only guards it from external fluctuations and effects but also performs its thermoregulation. Its functioning may get affected due to several factors like dermal wounds, injuries, aging and many other disorders. These dermal ailments can be cured with the help of indigenous flora to get economical pharamcognosal benefits with no side effects which is a serious concern of synthetic drugs now days. Furthermore, research efforts are necessary for their proper dose optimization and administration to achieve low cost and side effects free pharamcognosal skin cure and care gains

Trade Openness, innovation, and Economic Growth: A causal Effect Analysis of OECD Countries

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a country's economic growth and its trade openness, innovation, and technological advancement. We discover evidence that public policies that promote increased trade openness have a significant impact on a country's level of innovation. The positive correlation between openness to trade and innovation is significantly stronger in developing countries. We dissect the causal relationship between economic growth and trade precisely by applying new advances in the econometric method for heterogeneous panel data to 127 OECD countries divided into developed and emerging economies. We examine Granger causality using a test for heterogeneous board knowledge. The findings contradict the hypothesis that trade openness and economic growth have a general, unidirectional, and even homogeneous relationship in developing countries and the OECD, but not in developed countries

The Corporate Governance, Dividend Payout, and Ownership Structure: Evidence From Pakistan Non-Financial Listed Firms

This study examines the impact of corporate governance on the Pakistan Stock Exchange non-financial sector dividend payment ratio. Research demonstrates that certain features or elements moderate organizations and industries. Thus, ownership limits dividend payout ratio. The study examines the relationship between corporate governance, ownership structures, and dividend payment ratios. The board structure, CEO duality, and independent board of directors are also covered. Panel data analysis examines standard accounting variables. Uses 2016–2020 non-financial firm statistics. These discoveries have made independent boards with non-resident members and higher dividends more crucial. Bigger boards with independent directors pay less dividends. CEO duality in the top five stockholder boards also negatively impacts dividend decisions at 5% significance. The ownership structure moderated findings that contradict earlier work but are supported by current conditions. Our analysis enriches literature in two ways: First, we evaluate corporate governance and dividend payout ratio for the non-financial sector across time. Second, we use ownership structure as a moderator   &nbsp

Does financial flexibility drive firm's risk‐taking in emerging markets? The moderating role of investment efficiency

Using a sample of 2301 listed firms from emerging markets for 2014–2023, we examine the effect of financial flexibility (FF) on firm risk-taking (FRT) and how this relationship is moderated by investment efficiency (INVEFF). GMM and bias-corrected method of moments models indicate a positive impact of FF on FRT. Notably, INVEFF emerges as a significant moderator, influencing the FF–FRT relationship. High INVEFF strategically amplifies the effect of FF on FRT. Robustness analysis ensures the stability of study findings. This study contributes valuable insights to the nuanced understanding of the FF–FRT relationship in emerging markets

Self-reported health and smoking status, and body mass index: a case-control comparison based on GEN SCRIP (GENetics of SChizophRenia In Pakistan) data

Introduction Individuals with schizophrenia are at a high risk of physical health comorbidities and premature mortality. Cardiovascular and metabolic causes are an important contributor. There are gaps in monitoring, documenting and managing these physical health comorbidities. Because of their condition, patients themselves may not be aware of these comorbidities and may not be able to follow a lifestyle that prevents and manages the complications. In many low-income and middle-income countries including Pakistan, the bulk of the burden of care for those struggling with schizophrenia falls on the families.Objectives To determine the rate of self-reported physical health disorders and risk factors, like body mass index (BMI) and smoking, associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in cases of schizophrenia compared with a group of mentally healthy controls.Design A case-controlled, cross-sectional multicentre study of patients with schizophrenia in Pakistan.Settings Multiple data collection sites across the country for patients, that is, public and private psychiatric OPDs (out patient departments), specialised psychiatric care facilities, and psychiatric wards of teaching and district level hospitals. Healthy controls were enrolled from the community.Participants We report a total of 6838 participants’ data with (N 3411 (49.9%)) cases of schizophrenia compared with a group of healthy controls (N 3427 (50.1%)).Results BMI (OR 0.98 (CI 0.97 to 0.99), p=0.0025), and the rate of smoking is higher in patients with schizophrenia than in controls. Problems with vision (OR 0.13 (0.08 to 0.2), joint pain (OR 0.18 (0.07 to 0.44)) and high cholesterol (OR 0.13 (0.05 to 0.35)) have higher reported prevalence in controls. The cases describe more physical health disorders in the category ‘other’ (OR 4.65 (3.01 to 7.18)). This captures residual disorders not listed in the questionnaire.Conclusions Participants with schizophrenia in comparison with controls report more disorders. The access in the ‘other’ category may be a reflection of undiagnosed disorders