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Firms in the past have based their marketing and promotion strategies on the assumption of infinite resources and zero environmental impact. With the growing importance of environmental costs associated with finite resources, firms need to revisit their marketing and promotion strategies. This study defines and conceptualizes horizontal/vertical individualism–collectivism (H/V I-C) cultural value orientations as antecedents of sustainable consumption. Drawing on H/V I-C value orientations, this study attempts to build a sustainable consumption model to better understand how horizontal/vertical individualism–collectivism cultural values are reflected in consumers’ sustainable consumption motives and how they can be translated into persuasive advertising appeals tailored to specific cultural segments. This study contributes to provide new theoretical and managerial insights into understanding culturally relevant sustainable consumption motives and to establish appropriate strategies of sustainable consumption promotion in cross-cultural contexts. Most importantly, this study provides implications to companies for balancing more carefully their growth goals with the need to pursue sustainability across different cultures.

Soybean is considered one of the important crops among legumes. Due to high nutritional contents in seed (proteins, sugars, oil, fatty acids, and amino acids), soybean is used globally for food, feed, and fuel. The primary consumption of soybean is vegetable oil and feed for chickens and livestock. Apart from this, soybean benefits soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen through root nodular bacteria. While conventional breeding is practiced for soybean improvement, with the advent of new biotechnological methods scientists have also engineered soybean to improve different traits (herbicide, insect, and disease resistance) to fulfill consumer requirements and to meet the global food deficiency. Genetic engineering (GE) techniques such as transgenesis and gene silencing help to minimize the risks and increase the adaptability of soybean. Recently, new plant breeding technologies (NPBTs) emerged such as zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9), which paved the way for enhanced genetic modification of soybean. These NPBTs have the potential to improve soybean via gene functional characterization precision genome engineering for trait improvement. Importantly, these NPBTs address the ethical and public acceptance issues related to genetic modifications and transgenesis in soybean. In the present review, we summarized the improvement of soybean through GE and NPBTs. The valuable traits that have been improved through GE for different constraints have been discussed. Moreover, the traits that have been improved through NPBTs and potential targets for soybean improvements via NPBTs and solutions for ethical and public acceptance are also presented.

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

Betasatellites are single-stranded DNA molecules associated with most monopartite begomoviruses of family Geminiviridae. They are symptoms modulating molecules and depend on their helper viruses for replication, encapsidation and movement. To investigate the genetic diversity of cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMuB), different Pakistani isolates of betasatellites were retrieved from the NCBI data bank. The sequences were compared to all available sequences of CLCuMuB in the database, identified from cotton in Pakistan, India and China. Phylogenetic and recombination analysis showed the sequences are separated into five major groups. This is primarily based on recombination within the satellite conserved region (SCR) of the betasatellite genome. The first group consists of sequences of the original betasatellite associated with the first epidemic of cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) in the 1990s, while the second group consists of recombinant betasatellites associated with the second epidemic of CLCuD, containing a short fragment of tomato leaf curl betasatellite (ToLCB) DNA in the “satellite conserved region (SCR)”. The third group contains a short fragment of papaya leaf curl betasatellite (PaLCuB), while the fourth group contains a short fragment of tobacco curly shoot betasatellite (TbCSB) in the SCR region. The fifth group consists of sequences of betasatellite associated with the recent begomovirus disease complex identified from Vehari. This betasatellite contains a short fragment of sequences in the SCR region of a defective betasatellite (KT228331) from India. This new strain of CLCuMuB is named CLCuMuBVeh. Here, the significance of the evolution of CLCuMuB with respect to the CLCuD complex is discussed.

The purpose of this chapter is to conceptualize the characteristics of the successful business model (BM) of green digital-born globals (GDBGs) and how they identify and capture opportunities for sustainable growth. This chapter theoretically identifies and links various antecedents of business model innovations (BMI) in the GDBG context. First, we outline the key barriers and drivers of developing ‘dynamic consistency’ and strategic agility. Then, we build on Taran et al.‘s (2016) 5-V framework, which identifies key value drivers (value proposition, value segment, value configuration, value network, value capture) and discuss how value is created and captured through digitalized BM enabling the GDBG’s offering to be honed to specific customer needs. Finally, we discuss the entrepreneurial dynamic capabilities necessary in the process of the BMI and how digitalization supports and enables this process of sustainable growth and opportunity seeking and capture.

In 2016, begomovirus-like symptoms were observed in mungbean (Vigna radiata) and black gram (Vigna mungo) in Pakistan. Symptomatic and asymptomatic leaf samples were collected and total genomic DNA was extracted. Full length begomovirus and betasatellite genomes were PCR amplified and cloned in plasmid pTZ/57RT cloning vector. The cloned molecules were subjected to Sanger sequencing. Based on Sequence Demarcation Tool, the begomovirus clone SR-3 identified in mungbean showed 94.50% highest identity with cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus-Kokhran (CLCuKoV-Ko), while the clone SR-5 isolated from black gram showed 99.7% highest identity with CLCuKoV-Ko. In phylogenetic tree analysis the identified isolates made a lower branch tree with CLCuKoV-Ko. The betasatellite clone SR-79 isolated from black gram showed 97% similarity with chili leaf curl betasatellite (ChLCB) and the betasatellite clone SR-93 isolated from mungbean showed 97.7% similarity with ChLCB. Southern blot analysis also confirmed the presence of CLCuKoV-Ko. This is the first report of CLCuKoV-Ko associated with ChLCB infecting both mungbean and black gram in Pakistan. This presents the new combination of disease complex and increase in host range of this virus species, which shows a real threat to other crops especially legume crops in Pakistan.

Hidden hunger is emerging as a major challenge for agricultural scientists because world population is increasing and food production is augmenting. Metals deficiencies (micronutrient malnutrition), especially Zn and Fe, are affecting over half of global population because they are depending cereal crops mainly wheat rice and maize for their daily diet. There are various possible techniques to overcome the hidden hunger but agronomic biofortification is one of the major agricultural strategies to enhance the grain concentration of micronutrients. Application of iron sulphate (FeSO4) zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) and as alone or in combination either soil and foliar application increased the height of plants, number of tillers, spike length, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, thousand grain weight, economical yield, biological yield and harvesting index, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and protein contents. Among different Zn and Fe concentrations applied either soil supplement or foliar spray, combine foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 and 1% FeSO4 significantly improved the maximum growth or quality attributes of wheat. Biofortification is one of the major agricultural strategies to enhance the concentration of micronutrients in grains to minimize the malnutrition. Combination of Zn and Fe as foliar spray (0.5% ZnSO4 and 1% FeSO4) increased the yield traits of wheat crop as well as quality parameters of grains. Foliar application method is more appropriate for availability of nutrients to plants for optimum growth as compared to soil application method. Combined application of Zn and Fe (0.5% ZnSO4 and 1% FeSO4) through foliar spray is recommended to enhance the productivity of wheat crop with good quality of grains.

Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is the most important limiting factor for cotton production in Pakistan. The CLCuD passed through two major epidemics in this region with distinct begomoviruses/satellites complexes. Since 2015 the disease has again started to appear in epidemic form, causing heavy losses to cotton crop, which we termed as the “third epidemic”. We applied CIDER-seq (Circular DNA Enrichment Sequencing), a recently developed sequencing method for PCR-free virus enrichment to produce a full length read of a single circular viral genome coupled with Sanger sequencing to explore the genetic diversity of the disease complex. We identified a highly recombinant strain of Cotton leaf curl Multan virus and a recently evolved strain of Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite that are dominant in all major cotton growing regions in the country. Moreover, we also identified multiple species of alphasatellites with one distinct species, Mesta yellow vein mosaic alphasatellite (MeYVMA) for the first time in cotton. Relative abundance of virus and associated satellites was also determined by real-time quantitative PCR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that determined the CLCuD complex associated with its third epidemic.

Begomoviruses; have devastating impact on the yield of many economically important crops around the globe. During field survey in 2016, typical symptoms of begomovirus infections were observed in green beans in district Hazara, Pakistan. We identified a new strain of Malvastrum yellow vein Lahore virus in green beans for the first time in Pakistan.

Purpose The online purchasing behaviour of consumers has recently become a topic of increased interest and attention for marketers, policymakers, and researchers. However, due to its complex nature, this phenomenon is still in its infancy in many developing countries and needs to be paid more attention. Using the technology acceptance model (TAM), the purpose of this paper is to examine the role of utilitarian and hedonic shopping motivations, as well as the trust and privacy concerns of consumers in their online purchasing intentions, in a developing South Asian country: Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 859 respondents through a self-administrated questionnaire using the non-probability convenience sampling technique and were analysed using the structural equation modelling. Findings The results of this study demonstrate that, more than hedonic values, trust, and privacy concerns, utilitarian values positively influence consumers’ attitudes to online purchasing. Consequently, consumers’ attitudes positively influence their online purchasing intentions. The findings indicate that Pakistani consumers buy online for goal-oriented reasons. Not surprisingly, they feel unsafe buying online due to concerns over trust and data privacy. Practical implications The findings of this study have various practical and managerial implications for electronic businesses in developing countries. This study serves as a guide for the development of effective online marketing and selling strategies. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing literature on business to consumer e-commerce by identifying and empirically validating motivational factors and factors of concern using the TAM model. The extended TAM model, which integrates shopping motivations, trust, and privacy factors, can provide a solid theoretical foundation for consumers’ online purchasing behaviour in a developing country.

Adoption of renewable energy technologies is a complex and intricate process affected by a multitude of factors. The objective of this study is to examine the factors influencing consumers' intention to use renewable energy technologies for household usage in Pakistan. In order to understand the adoption behaviour, we have extended the actual framework of the theory of planned behaviour by integrating three additional factors, i.e., environmental concern, cost, and awareness. The findings of this research are based on primary data collected from 244 households in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi through survey questionnaires. The proposed hypotheses were then tested and analysed using structural equation modelling. The results reveal that factors such as subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and attitude positively influence consumers' intention to use renewable energy technologies in Pakistan, whereas cost has the opposite effect. Interestingly, awareness and environmental concern were found to be insignificant. The results of this study highlight the need to increase environmental awareness, frame innovative financing mechanisms, and address the benefits that renewable energy technology offers, all through an integrative and coherent effort.

The purpose of this research is to determine Muslim consumers’ purchase perceptions of Halal products in Pakistan. The research team has integrated different factors such as processing, Halal logo, ingredients, health consciousness, perceived value, food safety concern, and religious factor with Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and they investigated their influence on consumers’ attitudes and intentions to purchase Halal food products. A survey was conducted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi city, Pakistan. A total of 282 (56.4%) completed questionnaires were received from 500 respondents. Structural equation modeling technique was used to determine consumers’ purchase intention and behavior regarding Halal products. Except for health consciousness and Halal logo, all factors positively influence consumers’ attitude and purchase intention of Halal food products and, subsequently, their purchase behavior.

A novel method is devised for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted oxazole derivatives via the coupling of α-diazoketones with amides using copper(II) triflate as the catalyst. The synthetic versatility of this approach is exemplified in the synthesis of an analogue of balsoxin.

Quality of life of the future generations depends on the efforts of current generations to protect environment. The purchase decisions based on their green behavioral intentions not only helps the society, but also helps companies to gain a green competitive advantage. In this study, the relationships between green satisfaction, green trust, green equity and behavioral intentions are examined. Data were collected from Turkey, Finland and Pakistan with self-administered questionnaires regarding with green white goods. The hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling. Results of a structural model reveal positive relationships green satisfaction, green trust and green brand equity across three countries. In addition, green brand equity plays a remarkable role in behavioral intentions towards green white goods in general. Managers should consider green trust, green satisfaction, and green brand equity while implementing green marketing strategies in a global marketplace.

The protective role of glycine and glutamic acid against the toxic effects of oxidized oil was studied for the first time. Mustard seed oil was thermally oxidized and characterized for quality characteristics and polyphenolic composition using reversed phase HPLC-DAD. Significant changes in the quality characteristics occurred with thermal oxidation. Fourteen polyphenolic compounds were identified and quantified in oils. Quercetin-3-glucoside, quercetin-3-feruloylsophoroside, catechin, quercetin-3-rutinoside, quercetin-3,7-diglucoside, sinapic acid and vanillic acid hexoside were the major compounds in the fresh and oxidized oil. Oxidized, un-oxidized mustard oils, glycine and glutamic acid were given to rabbits alone or in combination. The biochemical responses were studied in terms of haematological and biochemical parameters and histopathology. It has been observed that biochemical and haematological parameters were adversely affected by the oxidized oil, while supplementation of both amino acids was beneficial in normalizing these parameters. Both amino acids alone have no significant effects, however, oxidized oil affected the liver by enhancing fat accumulation, causing hepatitis, reactive Kupffer cells and necrosis. The co-administration of oxidized oils with glycine or glutamic acid revealed significant recovery of the liver structure and function. In conclusion, glycine or glutamic acid is beneficial and protective against food toxicity and can be considered as an ameliorative food supplement.

Solar energy is an abundant and accessible source of renewable energy available on earth, and many types of photovoltaic (PV) devices like organic, inorganic, and hybrid cells have been developed to harness the energy. PV cells directly convert solar radiation into electricity without affecting the environment. Although silicon based solar cells (inorganic cells) are widely used because of their high efficiency, they are rigid and manufacturing costs are high. Researchers have focused on organic solar cells to overcome these disadvantages. DSSCs comprise a sensitized semiconductor (photoelectrode) and a catalytic electrode (counter electrode) with an electrolyte sandwiched between them and their efficiency depends on many factors. The maximum electrical conversion efficiency of DSSCs attained so far is 11.1%, which is still low for commercial applications. This review examines the working principle, factors affecting the efficiency, and key challenges facing DSSCs.

Building on horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism (HV I-C) typology and regulatory focus theory (RFT), this study aims to examine cross-cultural environmental behaviour differences...

A novel method is devised for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted oxazole derivatives via the coupling of α-diazoketones with amides using copper(II) triflate as the catalyst. The synthetic versatility of this approach is exemplified in the synthesis of an analogue of balsoxin.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of consumer ethnocentrism (CE), country of origin (COO) and consumers' attitude towards grey market goods/parallel imports on foreign products' quality and purchase intention (PI). This study also investigates the indirect effects of independent variables on PI mediated by foreign products' quality. This study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypothesised relationships. The empirical results show that CE negatively influences PI, but positively influences foreign products' quality. Consequently, COO and consumers' attitude towards grey marketing goods positively influences foreign products' quality and PI. Mediation results show that foreign products' quality plays a role of full mediator variable in the path from CE, COO and consumers' attitude towards grey market goods to PI. This study has several managerial implications for local and foreign companies.

This research work reports the evaluation of methanol crossover through newly developed composite membranes prepared from inorganic proton conducting material (tungstophosphoric acid (TPA)/Y-zeolite) with sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) polymer. The composite membranes were prepared by embedding different proportions (10-40 wt %) of conducting material (TPA/Y-zeolite) into SPEEK polymer matrix. Methanol crossover through these membranes was studied using potentiometric technique. It was found that membranes with low loading of inorganic conducting material show better reduction in methanol crossover. The membranes are thermally stable up to around 160 ºC. These membranes have potential to be considered for use in low power methanol fuel cells due to their low methanol crossover, adequate stability and low cost.

This study examined the antecedents of brand equity such as, brand awareness, perceived quality and the mediating role of a brand Image on brand loyalty. Total number of (n = 150) questionnaires were distributed among the consumers living in four cities (Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, and Sargodha) of Pakistan. Out of the total questionnaires only (n = 130, 86.6%) completed questionnaires were received. Pearson correlation, linear regression and multiple regression tests were used to test the data and infer the results. Results show a positive relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Additionally, mediation has been found between brand awareness, perceived quality and brand loyalty due to brand image. It means that brand awareness and perceived quality develop the brand image which ultimately yields brand loyalty. Thus loyalty programs of beverage companies should focus on brand awareness and consumers’ perception of quality. Overall, these results show that the influence on brand loyalty varies across various variables of the study. The results contribute significantly to the brand equity topic.

Fashion adoption is concerned with how consumers accept a prevailing style during a particular time. Fashion is accepted by the consumers and influences their behavior in many ways. It is one of the strongest drivers to influence and motivate their intention to buy and adopt new products. Either through advertisement and promotion of brands, or through endorsement of celebrities companies motivate consumers of different socioeconomic backgrounds to follow the new fashion trends and buy their products. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that compel consumers to adopt apparel fashion in Pakistan. It has been investigated that, how and why different factors i.e., Fashion innovativeness, Consumer innovativeness, Fashion involvement, Opinion leadership, and Status, influence consumers’ intention to adopt new apparel fashion and how that intention influence their actual fashion adoption. Total 500 questionnaires were distributed among the respondents in different places (i.e., shopping plazas or malls, public places such as bus stops, playgrounds, and inside the educational institutions, in the cities of Islamabad and Lahore, Pakistan. Out of the total, only 332 (66.4%) questionnaires were retrieved. The regression test and the model fit results using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that, except fashion innovativeness, and consumer innovativeness, the fashion involvement, opinion leadership and status of consumers positively influence their intention to adopt new fashion. However, Intention to adopt has no significant effect on their actual adoption of fashionable clothes. The positive and negative effects are discussed accordingly. In the light of the results and findings, the implications and future research recommendations are also debated at the end.

The use of organic solvents indoors as well as outdoors causes severe toxic effects on both the occupants and non-occupants. In the present study, effects of shoe polish, organic solvents, and adhesives on the health status of shoe makers in upper d istrict Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan were evaluated. Histories and blood samples were taken from both the exposed and non-exposed people. Blood biochemical parameters and hematological analysis was performed using UV Double Beam Spectrophotometer and Fully Automated Hematology Analyzer SYSMIX (Japan). There was significant increase in blood triglyceride, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, and uric acid level of workers. No effect on blood glucose level was observed in workers as compared to non-exposed control. In shoe making workers, the results for hemoglobin level, total red blood cells count, hematocrit value, mean corpuscular volume, mean cell hemoglobin level, mean cell hemoglobin concentration were normal. There was significant increase in total leukocyte count, lymphocytosis, Eosinophilia and monocyte count in shoe making workers as compared to control. A significant decrease was observed in platelets and neutrophil count of workers when compared to the control group. The results showed an alteration in biochemical parameters and up to some extent in hematological parameters in exposed workers as compared to control. The study suggests that these people are at a higher risk to various health hazards as compared to those who are not exposed to such environment. Concentration of these compounds must be measured so that proper protective measures may be adopted by the workers. Also same study involving a large population size is also recommended to identify other health problems related to exposure to these chemicals.

Pesticides are a large and diverse group of chemicals used to kill and eradicate rodents, fungi, insects, and weeds. The present study was designed to check the effect of pesticides on liver as well as kidney function of the workers engaged in occupations in which there is persistent exposure to pesticides, (dealers, gardeners and owners of gardens), and to check the prevalence of hepatitis in these workers indistrict Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Blood samples were collected and history was taken from different groups of individuals exposed to pesticides. Four groups were made, owners, gardeners, dealers and control, which had approximately same age and were engaged in this field for an average of 8 years. A significant decrease in hemoglobin concentration was noticed in all the exposed groups. The level of glutamate pyruvate transaminase, uric acid, bilirubin (direct and total) and calcium was high among exposed groups compared to control. The prevalence of both hepatitis B and C was also high in exposed groups. Pesticides significantly affected the hemoglobin level, and altered liver and kidney functions. The same study may be preceded to other biochemical and hematological parameters considering a large number of exposed persons.

Vehicles refueling station workers are a class of labors prone to long term petroleum product toxicity due to their routine work at vehicles refueling stations. Health problems posed by the pollutants at the work environment of an individual are closely linked to the nature and level of exposure to these hazardous chemicals. The adverse effect of the toxicants in such environment is a common phenomenon in all the developing countries. The awareness about this problem is lacking in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In present study, blood biochemical parameters like calcium, cholesterol, glucose, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and triglyceride levels were determined among workers and control individuals. The results of the workers showed an increase in glucose, cholesterol and phosphorus level; while significant decrease was observed in calcium and potassium level as compared to the control group of individuals. While the level of magnesium and triglyceride level was same in both groups. In comparative picture, the blood biochemical parameters were normal in control as that of workers. Further study may be conducted to investigate the effect of such environment on other blood parameters and large size population may be included in the study.

Each genotype has an optimum range of temperature for growth and development, when the temperature increases beyond this critical limit, it generates temperature stress which affects its performance adversely. The aim of the study was evaluate the variation exists among genotypes regarding heat stress, 25 maize hybrids were tested at Maize and Millets Research Institute, Yusafwala-Sahiwal, Pakistan. The studies were focused on screening for heat tolerant maize hybrids that are adaptable in agro-climatic conditions of Pakistan. Results indicate that the all the maize hybrids were significantly affected by high temperature stress. Maize hybrids YH-1898, KJ. Surabhi, FH-793 ND-6339 and NK -64017 showed reasonable tolerance against high temperature and they produced higher grain yield per unit area as compared to other maize hybrids.

The present survey aimed to study the age, gender, residency and occupation wise occurrence of Parkinson’s disease in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. The Parkinson’s patients, who were visiting Neurology Department, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, were interviewed and the information were recorded in questionnaires. The age limit of patients was 30 to 80 years. The data obtained was analyzed for gender, age, occupation and residency wise occurrence of Parkinson’s disease. The survey showed that Parkinson’s disease is more common in male than in female. The elderly age group (61-70 years) and farmers were more affected. The disease was more common in rural areas than in urban. The current investigation analyzes the pattern of Parkinson’s disease and gives information about the related factors in the province.