Nexus Between Economic Development and Energy Poverty to Gain Energy Efficiency: Empirical Evidence From China

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Evaluating the accuracy of a cataract surgery simulation video in depicting patient experiences under conscious anesthesia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of a point-of-view cataract surgery simulation video in representing different subjective experiences of patients undergoing the procedure. METHODS: One hundred consecutive post-cataract-surgery patients were shown a short simulation video of the surgery obtained through a porcine eye model during the first postoperative week. Patients then answered a multiple-choice questionnaire regarding their visual and tactile intraoperative experiences and how those experiences matched the simulation. RESULTS: Of the patients surveyed (n = 100), 78% (n = 78) recalled visual experiences during surgery, 11% recalled pain (n = 11), and 6.4% (n = 5) recalled frightening experiences. Thirty-six percent of patients (n = 36) were interviewed after their second cataract surgery; there was no statistically significant difference between anxiety scores reported before the first eye surgery and second eye surgery (p = 0.147). Among all patients who recalled visual experiences (n = 78), nearly half (47.4%) reported that the video was the same/similar to their experience. Forty-eight percent of the patients recommended future patients to watch the video before their procedures, and more than a third (36%) agreed that watching the video before surgery would have helped them to relax. CONCLUSIONS: Our model reflects the wide range of subjective patient experiences during and after surgery. The high percentage of patients who found the video accurate in different ways suggests that, with more development, point-of-view cataract simulation videos could prove useful for educational or clinical use. Further research may be done to confirm the simulations utility, by screening the video for subjects before operations

Nexus Between Equity Pricing Models and Equity Price Fragility: Empirical Insights From Pakistan

Purpose: The study tests conventional and behavioral pricing multifactor impact on price fragility from the equity market of Pakistan. Methodology: The positivist approach is used to deduct study rationale via probability sampling. At the same time, systematic sampling for data collection of PSX is tested in parallel to mean-variance random walk theory. Findings: The impact of conventional factors is significant on price fragility in the short run and vice versa in the long run. Specifically, herd behavior and disposition effects are found to be insignificant. But size, value, illiquidity, and price earning had a significant impact on price fragility in the short run. Limitations: The current research has not covered the desired scope of the topic due to time limitations, lack of harmony in corporate data on databases, and literature on price fragility being very scarce. Implication: In PSX, there is a need to develop a corporate culture to promote the standard modern financial practice to enhance financial productivity and sustainability. For corporate culture to be established, corporate governance boards should be established, and family governance systems should be replaced by an independent democratic board. Mispricing and arbitragers need serious control. Originality: The value of the research is that little research currently exists on about pricing multifactor impact on price fragility. Copyright © 2022 Anser, Yusop, Abbas, Ali and Ahmad.APC will be provided by the corresponding author

Ascites Is a Poor Prognostic Factor in Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and May Be Undertreated: A Prospective Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is associated with significant morbidity and mortality as most patients present with advanced disease. The development of ascites has been associated with poor outcomes and further characterization and contemporary management strategies are needed. METHODS: A total of 437 patients enrolled in the Gastrointestinal Biobank at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who had epithelial pancreatic malignancy were included in the prospective cohort group. Overall, 41.7% of patients included in this study developed ascites. Most patients with ascites (>80%) had high serum-ascites albumin gradient ascites. In both univariate and multivariate analysis, a history of ≥1 form of chemotherapy was significantly associated with ascites. Estimated median overall survival in patients with ascites was significantly lower than in patients without ascites, 473 days vs 573 days, and ascites had a hazard ratio of 1.37. RESULTS: Patients with ascites who received diuretics and indwelling peritoneal catheter had an estimated median survival of 133 days from diagnosis of ascites, and those who received only the indwelling peritoneal catheter without diuretics had an estimated median survival of only 54 days. The estimated median survival from the diagnosis of ascites was 92 days, and the median time to puncture was 7 days. The median time from first tap to death was 45 days. DISCUSSION: The use of diuretics is lower than would be expected for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with elevated serum-ascites albumin gradient. Other therapies such as beta blockers should be investigated in this subset of patients. The etiology of ascites in these patients is poorly understood, and further research is needed to establish treatment guidelines and improve outcomes

Security Challenges and Air Quality Management in india: Emissions Inventory and Forecasting Estimates

The defense and peace literature have focused mainly on the military-growth nexus, with little attention paid to the environmental sustainability agenda, which is impacted by increased global arms transfers. The supply of lead-containing ammunition generates complex gas mixtures (including CO2 emissions) and particulates that harm the healthcare sustainability agenda. Based on the significance of the subject matter, the study uses the Indian economy as a case study, with a significant rate of arms transfers associated with higher carbon emissions. The study analyzed data from more than four decades, from 1975 to 2020. Data on arms imports, military personnel, and military expenditures are used to evaluate the ‘ammunition emissions function’. It corresponds to the three research hypotheses, namely, the ‘emissions-defense burden hypothesis’ (arms transfers increase carbon emissions), the ‘emissions-cleaner hypothesis’ (arms transfers reduce carbon emissions), and the ‘emissions-asymmetric hypothesis’ (positive and negative shocks of arms transfers either support the ‘defense burden hypothesis’ or ‘cleaner hypothesis’). The non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) results confirmed the ’emissions-defense burden hypothesis‘ in the long run, as positive and negative shocks from arms imports increase carbon emissions. However, in the short run, positive arms imports increase carbon emissions while negative arms imports decrease carbon emissions. Furthermore, the findings supported the ’emissions-cleaner hypothesis‘ in the relationship between armed forces personnel and carbon emissions. The findings imply that the positive and negative shocks experienced by armed forces personnel reduce carbon emissions in the short and long run. Positive shocks to military spending support the ’emissions-defense burden hypothesis‘ in the short run; however, the results vanished when negative shocks to military spending supported the ’emissions-spillover hypothesis‘ (lowering military spending reduces carbon emissions and increases economic productivity) in the short and long run. The country’s unsustainable economic activities are viewed as a negative factor contributing to long-term carbon emissions increases. The negative shocks of armed forces personnel and positive arms imports would almost certainly have a significant long-term impact on carbon emissions. As a result, the ‘treadmill theory of destruction’ has been confirmed in a country. The study concludes that lead-free ammunition and managing ammunition safety are beneficial to a country’s environmental sustainability agenda. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP-2021/87), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Integrating the Role of Green Fiscal Policies With Energy Prices Volatility and Energy Efficiency: Presenting a COVID-19 Perspective

Energy and other related sectors are changing in China. This study attempted to estimate the energy product price volatility with energy efficiency during COVID-19 with the role of green fiscal policies. For this, we applied unit-root tests, ADCC-GARCH, and CO-GARCH techniques to infer the study findings. The results showed that energy price volatility was significantly connected until 2018. More so, the green fiscal policies were significantly connected between energy product price volatility and energy efficiency during COVID-19 (2019–2020). From energy products, the crude oil price volatility was significant at 16.4%, heating oil volatility was significant at 18.2%, natural oil price volatility was 9.7%, gasoline price volatility was 28.7%, and diesel price volatility was 34.1% significant with energy efficiency, due to the intervening role of green fiscal policies. The findings of this study are robust in comparison to previous studies. Multiple stakeholders can take guidelines from the findings of the recent study. As per our best understanding and knowledge, if suggested recommendations are implemented effectively, these results will help to enhance energy efficiency through green fiscal policies in the post-COVID period. Copyright © 2022 Yin, Anser, Abbas, Ashraf, Ahmad, Jamshid and Osabohien.Special Funds for the Basic Research and Development Program in the Central Non-profit Research Institutesof Chin

Sanitation, water, energy use, and traffic volume affect environmental quality: Go-for-green developmental policies

Carbon emissions are primarily the result of human activity in urban areas. Inadequate sanitary facilities, contaminated drinking water, nonrenewable energy, and high traffic congestion have all impacted the natural ecosystem. Using data from 1975 to 2019, the study assessed the impact of the aforementioned variables on Pakistan’s carbon emissions in light of this crucial fact. The ARDL cointegration method was used to estimate the short- and long-run parameter estimates. Urban sanitation challenges and energy consumption increase carbon emissions, which affects the natural environment by raising a country’s carbon intensity. Economic expansion confirmed the inverted U-shaped relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth to verify the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in the long run. In contrast, the monotonically rising function of carbon emissions provides evidence of the nation’s economic development in the short run. Access to clean drinking water improves population health and encourages the purchase of eco-friendly products. The government must improve sanitation services and use renewable energy sources to enhance air quality. © 2022 Khalil et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Cyber security threats: A never-ending challenge for e-commerce

This study explores the challenge of cyber security threats that e-commerce technology and business are facing. Technology applications for e-commerce are attracting attention from both academia and industry. It has made what was not possible before for the business community and consumers. But it did not come all alone but has brought some challenges, and cyber security challenge is one of them. Cyber security concerns have many forms, but this study focuses on social engineering, denial of services, malware, and attacks on personal data. Firms worldwide spend a lot on addressing cybersecurity issues, which grow each year. However, it seems complicated to overcome the challenge because the attackers continuously search for new vulnerabilities in humans, organizations, and technology. This paper is based on the conceptual analysis of social engineering, denial of services, malware, and attacks on personal data. We argue that implementing modern technology for e-commerce and cybersecurity issues is a never-ending game of cat and mouse. To reduce risks, reliable technology is needed, training of employees and consumer is necessary for using the technology, and a strong policy and regulation is needed at the firm and governmental level. Copyright © 2022 Liu, Ahmad, Anser, Ke, Irshad, Ul-Haq and Abbas

In-vitro Antagonistic Potential of Different Fungi Against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Capsici

The current research was conducted in Lab. to assess an antagonistic effect of various fungi against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici. In the present research, each treatment (Trichoderma viride, T. harzianum and T. Koningii) with three concentrations viz.

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data