Search

Purpose This study aims to identify the intentions of immigrant entrepreneurs to start new projects by investigating the role of influence of institutional support, social context, cultural intelligence, self-efficacy, optimizing personality traits and hierarchy legitimacy on intentions to start new ventures. In addition, the strength of the relationship for such factors and intentions to start new ventures was determined through the moderator role of easy access to venture capital. Design/methodology/approach To this end, this study complements the academic literature by integrating the structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. Thus, the MCDM (i.e. analytic hierarchy process and vlsekriterijumska optimizcija i kaompromisno resenje [VIKOR]) is an effective approach to solving the problem of complexity and evaluation (i.e. multiple evaluation criteria, important criteria and data variation). Hence, to complete the strategic guideline solution, this study uses a survey for collecting data from 202 immigrants in Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Singapore. Findings The results from SEM prove several critical factors of immigrants’ entrepreneurs. These factors of immigrants’ entrepreneurs can be vital for academics and host countries. By focusing on these aspects and by developing some personality traits (such as self-efficacy and optimal personality traits), these factors can contribute a good deal to increasing the capabilities of immigrant’s entrepreneurs toward entrepreneurial intentions. In the validation, the statistical objective method indicates that the immigrants' prioritizations in all countries are supported by the systematic ranking. Thus, entrepreneurial intentions for immigrants can pursue the order proven by the VIKOR results. Research limitations/implications This study has some significant practical and theoretical implications. Practically, the study findings will enable managers to develop strategies to support immigrants for entrepreneurial intentions to start new ventures. Originality/value The novelty of the context under given circumstances of global environment adds to the originality of this study. Several previous studies have also emphasized the need for this type of study in other contexts. The findings can call managers’ attention toward a critical issue of immigrants’ entrepreneurial intentions to start new ventures.

This study aims to determine the impact of the job demands-resources model and professional identity on open innovation in the industrial sector by adopting technology as a mediating variable. The ...

Growth and immunity are opposing processes that compete for cellular resources, and proper resource allocation is crucial for plant survival. BSK1 plays a key role in the regulation of both growth and immunity by associating with BRI1 and FLS2, respectively. However, it remains unclear how two antagonistic signals co-opt BSK1 to induce signal-specific activation. Here we show that the dynamic spatial reorganization of BSK1 within the plasma membrane underlies the mechanism of signal-specific activation for growth or immunity. Resting BSK1 localizes to membrane rafts as complexes. Unlike BSK1-associated FLS2 and BRI1, flg22 or exogenous brassinosteroid (BR) treatment did not decrease BSK1 levels at the plasma membrane (PM) but rather induced BSK1 multimerization and dissociation from FLS2/BSK1 or BRI1/BSK1, respectively. Moreover, flg22-activated BSK1 translocated from membrane rafts to non-membrane-raft regions, whereas BR-activated BSK1 remained in membrane rafts. When applied together with flg22, BR suppressed various flg22-induced BSK1 activities such as BSK1 dissociation from FLS2/BSK1, BSK1 interaction with MAPKKK5, and BSK translocation together with MAPKKK5. Taken together, this study provides a unique insight into how the precise control of BSK1 spatiotemporal organization regulates the signaling specificity to balance plant growth and immunity.

VIA Water was an innovation programme of Aqua for All and IHE-Delft funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. VIA Water stands for Valorisation and Innovation in Africa in the Water sector. Between 2015 and 2019 the programme supported 62 urban water innovations across eight countries in Africa with a total grant of € 8.3 million. The programme offered grants to pilot new ideas and innovations in combination with technical, learning and business development support. Of the 525 original concept notes that were received, 62 secured a contract with VIA Water (12 %). Of the supported innovations, 53 % reached a stage of market introduction and dissemination, while less than 10 % of pilots failed. VIA Water has demonstrated a high inclusivity of African-led innovators with a similar level of effectiveness. Its portfolio was almost evenly distributed between innovations led by African and non-African lead partners. The programme was able to create a level playing field by providing special support to African innovators. This article explores the conditions which are needed to create this level playing field, including building a trustworthy environment in which learning and exchange are stimulated. Further, the article analyses some possible success factors, such as the country in which the innovation is applied, the theme (“pressing needs”) addressed by the innovation, the type of contract organisation and the approach chosen by the programme. Compared to three selected reference programmes, VIA Water has shown comparable performance despite being less risk averse.

Purpose One aspect of agency theory suggests that dominant shareholders use the firm’s assets for their personal benefits and 1thus expropriate minority shareholders (tunneling). Accordingly, this paper aims to examine the effect of capital structure and cash holding decisions on minority shareholders' expropriation for short and long periods. Design/methodology/approach Data of 16 years (2000-2015) has been obtained from 200 non-financial firms registered at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The study used fixed effect and autoregressive distributed lagged to obtain the results. Findings The results suggest that the presence of more debts in capital structure is positively associated with minority shareholders' expropriation, whereas a negative association has been found between the level of cash holding and minority shareholders expropriation. These results have been observed as significant both for the short and long run. Research limitations/implications This study also suggests some important measures to control minority shareholders' expropriation by the dominant shareholders and thus to protect their rights. Originality/value There is a lack of literature for this severe issue in the developing countries especially Pakistan, so this study narrates the potential measures to the regulatory authority of the market to curb tunneling and to protect minority shareholders.

Objective: To determine and compare the effects of Deep Transverse Friction (DTF) Massage and Mill’s manipulation (Cyriax) with Mobilization with movement (MWM) and Taping (Mulligan) in lateral epicondylitis patients. Material & Methods: A Randomized Control Trial (NCT03848117) was conducted in Physiotherapy Department of DHQ Hospital Bahawalnagar after the approval from the competent authority. Non-probability convenient sampling technique was used to collect sample. The n=30 sample size was randomly allocated in two groups as Group A i.e. the Cyriax group (DTF Massage & Mill’s Manipulation) and Group B i.e. the Mulligan group (Taping & MWM), with 15 participants in each group having sub acute lateral epicondylitis. Data was collected in terms of age, gender, BMI and occupation. Patient related tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) questionnaire was used to determine the level of pain, functional disability and hand grip strength. Mann Whitney U statistics test was used for between the group analysis and Friedman with Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used for within the group analysis. The significance level was set at p

Tomato is an important part of daily food, rich source of multitude nutrients, suitable candidate for bio-pharmaceutical production due to berry size and has numerous health benefits. Transcriptional regulation of metalloregulatory heat shock protein-70 family plays pivotal role in plants tolerance against abiotic stress factors including salinity, heat, cold, drought and trace metal elements such as cadmium (Cd2+).Here, we provide comprehensive report onCd2+ is a widespread heavy metal soil contaminent which is continously polluting fertile soils, a knotty issue which has serious implications over photosynthesis, nitrogen assimilation, minerals and water absorption by plants. Plants exposure to Cd2+ and subsequent qRT-PCR analysis revealed increased expression of

Project delay adversely affects the cost overrun, poor quality and stakeholder’s disputes thus resulting in unsuccessful projects. Project delay has a number of antecedents including the governance of project and information technology. The study provides empirical analysis of determinants of schedule delays in project completion. This will test the hypothesis that assumes that project governance and information technology governance are major predictor of project schedule delays. The study considers the software industry located in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Security and Exchange Commission, there are 245 software houses registered in Islamabad while 80 are registered in Rawalpindi. The study has used survey questionnaires to gather required information. Data was collected through simple random sampling techniques from 220 respondents. The data collected was analysed by doing structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the said relationships. The reliability and validity of the instrument is established by the Cronbach’s α, composite reliability, and average variance extracted having values above threshold of 0.7, 0.7, and 0.5, respectively. The regression weight for first hypothesis (H1) assuming negative relationship between ITG and PD is −0.292. The second hypothesis (H2) assuming negative relationship between PG and PD has regression value of −0.418. The values of both hypotheses are significant. The study empirically tests the relationship between ITG, PG, and PD. The results suggest that better project governance (PG) reduces project delay (PD) and vice versa. Similarly, an appropriate information technology governance (ITG) also reduces the project delay (PD).

Corporate governance (CG) is key to enhance firm’s value. The purpose of this research is to examine effects of various aspects of corporate governance on firm’s value. We used secondary penal data of 100 companies on Pakistan Stock Exchange for the period: 2010 – 2016. Findings revealed that among other aspects of CG, managerial ownership and board size have significant influence on the value of a firm. Among controlled variables, firm size and firm ages were also found significant in firm’s value. We are convinced that findings of this study would help addressing agency issues through effective corporate governance measures. This study has come up with some practical implications as well. It is suggested that for better firm performance and increasing efficiency the board size may be kept at minimum.

The aim of this study is to find the moderating role of cognitive style index on servant leadership style and leadership effectiveness relationship. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 415 teaching staff from public and private universities. A total of 200 completed questionnaires were returned and used in the analysis. Bivariate correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were used to test the hypotheses. It is concluded that cognitive style index does acts as moderator voluntary subordination, covenantal relationship and transcendent spirituality while for other it does not act as moderator. So, it means that these variables can bring change in the effectiveness of leaders while making decision to serve for society, community, employees, followers or customers.

This study aimed to determine the effect of organizational resilience and chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism on project success via the mediating role of organizational risks. The study also ...

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of COVID‐19 on the attractiveness of work in the Iraqi health sector by looking at the mediating role of employees' attitudes. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 218 health sector employees. The results revealed that there is a significant impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on employees' attitudes that influence their decision to quit the health sector and look for jobs in other sectors. As health sector employees are prone to suffer the most in the pandemic, this crisis significantly affected the attractiveness of jobs in the health sector, leading to an increase in employees' negative attitudes and their desire to leave work.

This exploratory study has been carried out in different branches of a larger bank within two cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province viz Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan. The culture of province is dominantly based on ‘Pakhtunwali’ that refers to the ‘unwritten code of life that governs and negotiates the everyday life of Pakhtuns. Pakhtunwali imposes certain cultural barriers on female employment. Among others, ‘Namos’ (protection of honor) is a foremost tenant of Pakhtunwali, which does not allow females to participate in public life. However, a recent trend reveals that more females, especially young ones, are getting engaged in paid work. These female employees demonstrate their organizational commitment through negotiating the cultural barriers at workplace. Grounded Theory techniques have been used to collect and analyze field data. This study makes important contributions in terms of understanding the work life of Pakhtuns female employees in a novel context. It will also contribute in policy formulation towards gender equity and equality in the context of Pakhtun region.

This research examines comparative effects of corporate governance internal mechanism on Profitability (ROA/ROE) in financial vs non-financial firms indexed on Pakistan Stock Exchange.The data of 296 firms (both types of firms) was taken from companies' audited accounts and various available documents of the State Bank of Pakistan for the period of 14 years (2001-2014). Panel data study is conducted as the data have the characteristics of both time series and cross-sectional. Multiple regression and fixed effect methods were employed to analyze the given dataset. Results revealed significance of both board characteristics and managerial ownership in the profitability of the selected companies.

In this paper, It is discussed that why Mobile Ad Hoc Networks are unreliable and some other issues with link stability between the nodes. Then their current solutions are suggested. On the behalf of the vulnerable nature of the MANET, these vulnerabilities disturb the development of mobile ad hoc networks. On the base of these vulnerabilities it is proved that mobile ad hoc networks are unreliable& instable Networks. While in the other part, the mechanism to reduce the unreliability & instability of the wireless link between the devices discussed. Ended up by suggesting some ideas and the solutions that makes Mobile Ad hoc network reliable and stable links between the nodes.

Due to ease of installation, cost efficiency, scalability and mobility the Wireless networking technology is being deployed everywhere in our daily routine life. With all these advantages WLAN also has security threats and vulnerabilities. Wireless security is necessary to measure, detect and prevent those threats and vulnerabilities. Network security is not only a security threat issue but it is basically a management issue. In this paper some most common types of security threats and vulnerabilities has been discussed and then relevant security policies are being concerned which are implementable to secure the network of any organization or company. This paper also helps normal home users and Security Managers to understand and assess the various threats while using wireless networks and the solutions for countering those threats.

Background Pregnancy is a hyper dynamic state and depression plays a devastating role among women diagnosed with hypertension during any trimester of pregnancy. It is believed that hypertensive distress is recognised as major psychological issue among Pakistani pregnant women. Objectives Our study aims to identify hypertension associated distress among Pakistani pregnant women diagnosed with hypertension. We also aim to find out the relationship among depression, distress caused by hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in Sir GangaRam Hospital Lahore during February 2015 to June 2016. Total 80 pregnant women diagnosed with hypertension during their 2nd trimester were included in the study. Blood pressure and certain laboratory investigations were done including total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL and HDL. A personalized health questionnaire was used to classify depression among women. Hypertension distress scale was used to identify hypertension distress and other factors such as social distress, interpersonal distress, physician related distress, emotional distress and regimen related distress. Results The rate of depression was 39% among women diagnosed with hypertension. 8% were categorised as mild depression, 14% moderate depression and 17% with severe depression. Hypertensive depression was found in 71% of the selected population. Rates of social distress, interpersonal distress, and physician related distress, emotional distress, infant death distress, regimen related distress were 23%, 33.5%, 17.8%, 73.4% and 42.6 respectively. There was no association between depression and low HDL. Conclusion Our study concludes that hypertensive distress is very common among pregnant women in Pakistan and this is an alarming condition for Pakistani population. We need to develop and modify our management plans in order to combat this deadly distress. Mass media should be involved in order to raise awareness about.

Objectives Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. The most interesting feature of cardiovascular diseases is that they can be prevented. Majority of the risk factors are controllable including hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, diabetes, smoking, stress and sedentary life style etc. We aim to assess knowledge, awareness, perception of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors among pregnant women living in rural areas of Pakistan. We also aim to evaluate the level of prevention of cardiovascular diseases as a result of awareness and knowledge. Methods The study was conducted in peripheral areas of Lahore, Pakistan during the year 2016. A structured questionnaire was established that targeted 350 female population >20 years during their 1st and 2nd trimester. Informed consent was obtained and questionnaire were filled. The data was analysed using SPSS 16.0. Results Only 26% of the participating pregnant women agreed that cardiovascular diseases are the most leading causes of mortality. Knowledge regarding cause, risk factors and complications was found inadequate. There was identified lack of health promoting behaviours and practices among the subjects. Practices regarding diet and lifestyle were also found unsatisfactory. Awareness of risk factors was present in 110 (31%) of targeted population. On risk assessment scale, 62% were found at high risk and 38% at low risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Conclusion It has been concluded that a significant number of people had little or now awareness regarding the cardiovascular diseases and its complications. We can surely lessen the morbidity and mortality of both mother and fetus by primary prevention followed by early detection of the diseases and early interventions. The proportion of individuals found high risk and low risk should be screened regularly. We should prevent CVD though outreach programs and mass media.

Background In Pakistan, It has been strongly suggested that women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are at risk of developing cardiovascular disorders. Objective Our objective was to ascertain the persistence of endothelial activation in hypertensive pregnancies compared to women with normal pregnancies. Methodology Case control study design was chosen in two matched group. Endothelial activation was determined by the evaluation of adhesion molecules namely P selectin, E-selectin, Intercellular adhesion molecules-1(ICAM-1) and vascular cellular adhesion molecules-1 (VCAM-1). Results In the first study, adhesion molecules were measured in 40 women with hypertensive pregnancies and in a matched control group with an uncomplicated pregnancy one month and three months after delivery. In the second study, adhesion molecules were measured in 40 patients with a history of HELLP syndrome several years after pregnancy and in 40 matched controls. Shortly after the delivery, increased levels of soluble adhesion molecules were found in women with hypertensive complications. However women with uncomplicated pregnancy did not have any increase level of soluble adhesion molecules. Significant differences were still present, several years after delivery comparing levels of adhesion molecules in women with a history of HELLP syndrome with those found in control patients. Conclusion An abnormal activation of endothelium was seen in hypertensive pregnancies. It has also been concluded that is abnormal activation of endothelium remains increased even after delivery which pre disposes the patient towards cardiovascular disorder. The risk of cardiovascular complications including ischemic heart diseases, chronic hypertension and stroke is more commonly seen in women experiencing HELLP syndrome.