Search

The basic priority to neutralize carbon emissions (CE) is to achieve the sustainable development goal of climate action. In this regard, the role of renewable energy (RE) is widely debated. Transition to RE and environment-related innovation in technologies (ERIT) is a need of the hour. However, the challenge of uncertain economic policies in the transition process is interesting to study. Therefore, the present study intends to add a value to the literature by re-examining the interactive effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in RE and ERIT and the transition process towards carbon neutrality. The second-generation econometric methodology is applied to empirically test the proposed interactive linkage of EPU, RE, ERIT, and CE. Findings reported the negative role of EPU in adopting RE and ERIT in seven emerging economies: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. However, the ERIT and RE are found to be supportive of neutralizing the CE. Emerging seven (E7) countries are suggested to be consistent in their economic policies to nurture the transition process toward a sustainable environment.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to test a model for cross-border technological acquisitions (CBTAs) focusing on the level of ownership acquired in the target firm and the acquiring firm's post-acquisition innovation performance (PAIP), with the degree of integration as a mediator, based on the dynamic capability perspective of the resource-based view. This study further concludes the role of the country-of-origin effect (COE) (when emerging economies' acquiring firms purchase technological resources from developed economies' target firms) on the success of the acquiring firms in CBTAs. Design/methodology/approach Data on CBTAs initiated by 542 acquiring firms was quantified from four high technology industries from 1995 to 2015 for the empirical investigation of the research hypotheses. Hierarchical fixed year effect negative binomial regression technique was used to analyze the proposed model for the success of CBTAs. Findings The analysis of the CBTAs confirmed that acquiring firms who opt for a higher level of acquired ownership strategy increase the degree of integration of the target firm's technological resource stock. The level of acquired ownership improves the PAIP of the acquiring firms; however, the degree of integration positively accelerates the relationship between the acquired ownership and the PAIP. Considering the COE, acquiring firms that initiated CBTAs from emerging economies to purchase technological resources from developed economies' targets have firm-specific technological capability holes to execute the integration, which negatively impacts the emerging economies acquiring firm's PAIP. Originality/value This study contributes to the CBTAs literature by exploring the enabling role of the degree of integration between the level of acquired ownership and the PAIP of the acquiring firms. Further, this study put forward empirics on the COE of the acquiring firms for their integrative capability to integrate the target firm's resource stock and subsequent innovation performance.

The basic purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting non-performing loans of microfinance banks in Pakistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The research used secondary data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and SBP websites regarding the banking industry in FY 2020–2021, and the data was subjected to a multi-regression analysis. The analysis included a number of variables, including GDP growth rate, management efficiency, bank size and return on assets. According to the study's results, all three variables had a statistically significant affect on the outcome except business size. Non-performing loans have been found to have a important positive association with the country's economy.

Purpose Money laundering (ML) is the process used to convert the proceeds of crimes into lawful form. This global problem promotes social ills, corruption and organized crimes. Various instruments are used to counter individual illicit behavior. However, in low-income countries, these regulations are not common because of weak institutions, poor governance and a lack of awareness about the negative consequences of ML. In these countries, multinational corporations take advantage of poor law and order, lower environmental regulations and corruption and shift their domestic operations into foreign countries. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multiple mediator model to investigate the link between foreign direct investment (FDI), environmental degradation measured as CO2 emissions (CE), exports and ML for 118 countries between 2008 to 2018. Findings Results indicate that FDI promotes exports and CE, leading to illicit financial flows. Originality/value Policymakers should enforce checks on foreign funds flow and adopt illicit flow mitigation measures to minimize ML globally.

This study tests a model of three-dimensional organizational justice (i.e., distributive, procedural, and interactional) and extra-role customer service, with thriving at work as a mediator, based on social exchange theory. We also explore how servant leadership moderates the linkages between these organizational justice dimensions and thriving. Our analysis of data collected from 292 employee-supervisor dyads in the hotel industry affirms that organizational justice dimensions are positively associated with thriving, and thriving is positively related to extra-role customer service. The analysis also corroborates that thriving mediates the associations among distributive, procedural, interactional justice, and extra-role customer service. Moreover, servant leadership strengthens the positive relationships of all three organizational justice dimensions and thriving at work. Building on the analysis results, our study discusses theoretical contributions and practical implications related to the perception of justice in enabling thriving and illustrates how social exchange shapes employee behavior.

Purpose The primary purpose of this study is to explore the impact of acquired ownership in Chinese target firm on the innovation performance of developed economies (DE) acquiring firms. Furthermore, the study aims to empirically investigate the moderating influence of institutional distance between two parties’ home countries. Design/methodology/approach For the empirical investigation of the hypotheses, the authors identified cross-border technological acquisitions from the Securities Data Company between 1995 and 2015. A hierarchical negative binomial regression technique was used to analyze 177 technological acquisitions completed by DE acquiring firms in China. Findings Analysis of technological acquisition deals confirmed that acquired ownership undertaken in the Chinese target firms increases the DE acquiring firms’ post-acquisition innovation performance. The authors found that DE acquiring firms underperform in innovation in institutionally distant host countries. Originality/value This study contributes to the international business literature by explaining the importance of acquired ownership undertaken in the Chinese target firms for the DE acquiring firm’s innovation performance. Second, institutional theory defines how institutional uncertainty in terms of distance modifies the positive impact of acquired ownership on acquiring firm’s innovation performance.

Background: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of DWI and MRS in assessment of the malignant brain lesions. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in Department of Diagnostic Radiology from March 2021, to December 2021 in Lahore General Hospital. Sample size selected was 50 patients referred to the Department of Diagnostic Radiology for their suspected brain lesion assessments. The patients were evaluated by the DWI magnetic resonance imaging and MRS. Classifications of lesions were benign and malignant on the basis of radiological findings. The data was compared with the histopathological results as a gold standard. Results: The malignant lesions from benign lesions were differentiated with DWI images and ADC mapping. Lower ADC values with restricted diffusion was considered malignant and higher ADC value with no restricted diffusion was considered benign. DWI images findings had the 77% sensitivity and 75% specificity. Cho/Cr, Cho/ NAA ratios has highest sensitivity and specificity at short TE (96%,86%) Conclusion: DWI and MRS are helpful noninvasive techniques in detecting the malignant brain lesions and can help to avoid unnecessary biopsy in the patients suspecting brain lesions. Keywords: Brain lesion, Diffusion weighted image, Malignant, Benign, MRS

The current study aimed at investigating the role of three dimensions of autonomy (work method autonomy, decision-making autonomy, and work scheduling autonomy) in promoting extra-role customer service behavior (ECS) based on social exchange theory. We also propose the mediating role of cognitive trust and affective trust between three-dimensional autonomy and ECS. Dyadic data (supervisor-employee) was collected through the survey method from front-line hotel employees (N = 255) in China. The results through structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrate that three forms of autonomy have positive effects on two-dimensional trust and ECS. Moreover, two-dimensional trust mediated the relationship between the three dimensions of autonomy and ECS. The results also highlight theoretical and managerial implications for autonomy, trust, and ECS in the hospitality context.

Technology has invaded the field of education and has become a major source of gaining and spreading knowledge. Among the various technological advancements currently facilitating teaching and learning in several educational disciplines, mobile technology is noteworthy. These days, almost all students keep a mobile phone and use its applications for different purposes. With the integration of technology in education, mobile devices are also being incorporated in numerous educational disciplines including language learning. This research was carried out to study students’ perception of the impact of WhatsApp in learning English language. A questionnaire of 27 items was administered to find out the perception of 157 students about the impact of WhatsApp in English language learning. Students’ access to internet was also explored to study the influence of the availability of internet on students’ perception. The findings showed that students have a positive perception of the influence of WhatsApp in English language learning. They believe that using WhatsApp for language learning gives them confidence, improves their English language knowledge and enhances their four language skills. They also gave a positive response about the ubiquitous use of WhatsApp and their preference of using WhatsApp as compared to other teaching and learning pedagogies.

The literature has highlighted that international students abroad exhibit a strong preference for products from their country compared with foreign products and services, thus suggesting that the cultural disposition of consumers influences their purchasing decisions. Therefore, this current research aimed to determine how the feeling of groundedness could affect international students’ purchasing behavior in Malaysia through cultural products and services. To this end, quantitative data were collected from international students at the University of Malaya and the University Utara Malaysia and then analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM). The findings of this research highlighted that consumer behavior was influenced by a “feeling of groundedness”. This suggested that cultural services and products are valued by international students in foreign universities because of their ability to evoke a feeling of groundedness. The theoretical contributions of this study, particularly to the consumer behavior literature, are extensive, including how it highlights the influence of the feeling of groundedness on international consumers’ purchasing behavior. The marketing implications of this research are also valuable for businesses targeting international students.

Objective: To evaluate the spectrum of HRCT findings of COVID-19 in RT-PCR positive patients according to duration of infection and severity of disease. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at Radiology department of Lahore General Hospital, Lahore from May to July 2020. Total 40 COVID-19 patients were reviewed for clinical features, HRCT chest findings based on time from symptom onset and CT conduction. Chi-square and fissure exact test were used for measuring association with severity of COVID-19, p value ≤0.05 was reported significant. Mean CT scores were calculated. ROC curve analysis showed threshold values of CT-SS for severe disease. Results: Of total 40 patients with age ranged from 22-83 years, 22(55%) were males and 18(45%) females. The hallmark of COVID-19 was combined GGO and consolidation, GGO alone and consolidation alone in bilateral, sub pleural and posterior distribution. Early stage had normal CT or GGO alone, intermediate and late stage had both GGO and consolidation. Septal lines/bands and crazy paving pattern were prevalent in late stage. Clinically, 24 (60%) were in severe group and 16(40%) in mild group. Severity of COVID-19 was associated with GGO alone (p=0.05), GGO and consolidation (p=0.01), crazy paving (p=0.01) and lung scores (p≤0.05). The threshold values of CT-SS for identifying severe disease by two radiologists were 18.50 and 20.50. Conclusion: HRCT manifestations along with CT-SS aids in predicting disease severity. Staging according to duration of infection is effective in understanding variation in pattern of chest findings in coronavirus disease. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4204 How to cite this:Irshad N, Hanif N. Spectrum of High Resolution Computed tomography chest findings in PCR positive COVID-19 patients according to duration of infection and CT severity score assessment. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(1):106-112. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4204 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective To compare the diagnostic accuracies of HRCT chest and RT-PCR results in diagnosis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a tertiary care hospital in Lahore. Study design Descriptive study. Place and duration of study Department of Radiology and Central Research Lab, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, from April to July, 2020. Methodology Patients aged 18 to 83 years, who had clinically suspected symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough/sore throat or shortness of breath) presenting in outpatient or emergency department, were included. These patients had their HRCT chest conducted from Radiology Department and RT-PCR performed at Central Research Lab. These data were retrieved from electronic system of PACS. Results were categorised into positive and negative findings for COVID-19. Diagnostic accuracies of HRCT chest and first RT-PCR along with 95% confidence interval were calculated. Results A total of 94 patients, 55 (58.5%) males and 39 (41.5%) were females. Out of them, 83% patients had positive HRCT chest findings of COVID-19, 17% had negative HRCT chest findings; while 40.4% had positive and 59.6% had negative first PCR. Among the repeat second PCR, 19.6% had negative, 1.8% had positive PCR results; while 78.6% patients didn't undergo repeat PCR. The sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV and accuracy of HRCT chest was 92%, 23%, 81%, 45%, and 51%; while of first RT-PCR was 45%, 81%, 23%, 92% and 51%, respectively. Conclusion The sensitivity of HRCT chest is higher (92%) as compared to first RT-PCR (45%). Key Words: COVID-19, RT-PCR, HRCT chest, Sensitivity, Specificity.

This study assesses the simultaneous influence of hard and soft infrastructural indicators on exports in 46 Asian states from 2001 to 2017 with panel data. We constructed two main aggregate indicators such as hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure with fifteen primary or sub-group variables. The infrastructural aggregate indicator contains four groups: transportation, communication, and financial infrastructural and border-transport efficiency. These indicators are taken into account in estimating the influence on export levels and probability between bilateral Asian trading partners by using factor analysis, the augmented gravity model and the two-stage sample selection model. Findings show that simultaneous improvement in hard infrastructure such as transport and telecommunication improved bilateral exports. Similarly, simultaneous improvement in soft infrastructure like financial infrastructure and border-transport efficiency increased bilateral exports in Asian countries. For both export and import, the coefficients of infrastructural indicators have a positive impact and are statistical significant at each econometric scale. Improving financial infrastructure is important in achieving a higher level of trade volume and increasing the probability of exporting between partners. We also examine the evidence on the complementarity or substitutability between hard and soft infrastructure as captured by indicators which shows us that main aggregate indicators have a lower impact on exports.

Revealing accurate and complete information of the business is the prime focus of Islamic finance as it proposes to avoidance any sort of Gharar (uncertainty). Lack of disclosure could lead to exploitation of the information by few members in the market at the expense of others. The difference between Islamic Bank and Conventional Bank is that Islamic bank takes disclosure of governance status as a religious obligation as compared to disclosure of conventional banks based upon legal obligation of the country. Similarly, Islamic banks put efforts in disclosing information of Shari’ah governance and social responsibility as per religious obligation as compared to voluntary disclosure by conventional banks. This study is built on the idea that if Islamic Bank considers Shari’ah disclosure and social responsibility as voluntary disclosure then it is expected that there will be a significant difference between all present Islamic banks. Lastly, this study has generated an overall disclosure index using principal factor analysis and evaluated its impact on the performance of the banks to reveal that disclosure entails positive impact on performance.

On the eve of depleting energy resources and global warming, there is a sincere push by OECD and other economies toward the sustainable energy consumption. This change of perception is mainly coined with the aim to change in attitude of people for the posterity. This study sets to evaluate the effect of development in human capital on the selection of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption. Further, this study put insights into the interaction effect of technology innovation to propose an early turning point for the energy—human capital Kuznets curve for OECD and non-OECD emerging countries. Panel FGLS model confirms the presence of the Kuznets curve for both OECD and non-OECD emerging countries, and there is an evidence of the supportive moderating role of technology innovation. Further practical implications are discussed.