Application of Financial Decisions, their Determinants, and Financial Performance: A Tabular Summary of Systematic Literature Review

Financial decisions (capital budgeting, capital structure and dividend policy) are the most important components of corporate finance and now a days have received the attention of researchers and practitioners. Financial decisions influence the financial performance of a firm. Uncertainty, corporate social responsibility, and stakeholders interest are the most important determinants of the financial decisions. The purpose of this study is twofold: firstly, this study provides a systematic review of literature summarizing the theoretical and empirical literature of the financial decisions, their determinants and financial performance. Secondly, it provides the empirical evidence based on survey and data was collected from Chief Financial Officers of Telecommunication, Banking, and Insurance companies listed in Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) of Pakistan. This study used SPSS and AMOS for data analysis. This study finds that the financial decisions and their determinants are critical factors for the financial performance of firms

Women’s Empowerment and Antenatal Care Utilization in Pakistan

This study aimed at examining the role of women’s empowerment in antenatal care utilization among married women in Pakistan. The population of the study was based on secondary data from the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey 2017-18. A sample of 6,996 married women was selected, and the women reported their antenatal visits in the last five years. The descriptive, Chi-square, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression methods were used for data analysis through SPSS. The results of the study showed that only 15% of women had adequate antenatal visits. Bivariate analysis showed that women who had higher income status, higher education, and were working in managerial positions had significantly adequate antenatal health care (

Comparison between Mesh Hernioplasty and Simple Suture Repair in the treatment of Paraumbilical Hernias at Bahawalpur Hospitals

To compare the rate of recurrence between mesh hernioplasty and simple suture repair in the management of paraumbilical hernias. Total 215 patients were selected in medical ward of Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur. They were subdivided into three groups. Group A 112 patients were repaired in traditional way and group B 88 patients underwent mesh repair and the in third group C 15 patients undergone other ways of repair which we did not covered in our study. And the patients who showed the recurrence of hernia were selected and those were subject of interest. A comparison was made between two groups in terms of, complications and rate of recurrence. In Group A, 12(10.71%) patients had recurrence which was quite high compared to the group B which had only 2(2.27%) patients. Rate of infection was higher in group B (12%). There were incidences of postoperative hematomas and seromas formation in group A but none in group B. Mesh hernioplasty significantly reduced the recurrence rate as compared to the traditional suture repair. Unlike results of the other studies, infection rate was not high in mesh group. Keywords: Paraumbilical hernia, Mesh repair, Simple suture repair

Chemical composition and pharmacological bio-efficacy of Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana (Decne) Rehder for anticancer activity

Consistent STAT3 (Single transducer and activator of transcription 3) activation is observed in many tumors and promotes malignant cell transformation. In the present investigation, we evaluated the anticancer effects of Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana methanol fraction (PJM) on STAT3 inhibition in HCCLM3 and MDA-MB 231 cells. PJM suppressed the activation of upstream kinases i.e. JAK-1/2 (Janus kinase-1/2), and c-Src (Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase c-Src), and upregulated the expression levels of PIAS-1/3 (Protein Inhibitor of Activated STATs-1/3), SHP-1/2 (Src-homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase-1/2), and PTP-1β (Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1 β) which negatively regulate STAT3 signaling pathway. PJM also decreased the levels of protein products conferring to various oncogenes, which in turn repressed the proliferation, migration, invasion, and induced apoptosis in cancer cell lines. The growth inhibitory effects of PJM on cell-cycle and metastasis were correlated with decreased expression levels of CyclinD1, CyclinE, MMP-2 (Matrix metalloproteinases-2), and MMP-9 (Matrix metalloproteinases-9). Induction of apoptosis was indicated by the cleavage and subsequent activation of Caspases (Cysteine-dependent Aspartate-directed Proteases) i.e. caspase-3, 7, 8, 9, and PARP (Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase) as well as through the down-regulation of anti-apoptotic proteins. These apoptotic effects of PJM were preceded by inhibition of STAT3 cell-signaling pathway. STAT3 was needed for PJM-induced apoptosis, and inhibition of STAT3 via pharmacological inhibitor (Stattic; SC-203282) abolished the apoptotic effects. Conclusively, our results demonstrate the capability of PJM to inhibit cancer cell-proliferation and induce apoptosis by suppressing STAT3 via upregulation of STAT3 inhibitors and pro-apoptotic proteins whereas the down-regulation of upstream kinases and anti-apoptotic protein expression. In future, one-step advance studies of PHM regarding its role in metastatic inhibition, immune response modulation for reducing tumor, and inducing apoptosis in suitable animal models would be an interesting and promising research area

Effects of Mood and School Related Stress on Academic Performance: A Mood Induction Investigation

This experimental research has been designed to explore the impact of visual cues (visual clips) of school stress on student’s mood and academic performance. It was aimed at investigating the relation between positive guided imagery and negative mood. Participants in the study included 90 boys and 95 girls (N = 185) with the age range of 10-14 years. The sample was randomly selected from different public and private schools of Multan and Bahawalpur. They were randomly assigned to two groups: Group 1 had negative Mood Induction Procedure (MIP) only; group 2 was treated with negative mood induction procedure which was followed by a Positive Guided Imagery (PGI). Students completed demographic sheet and School Situation Survey (Helms &amp; Gablem, 1989) prior to experimentation. The results revealed that academic performance decreases after negative mood induction but not after positive guided imagery. Both groups showed insignificant difference at pre and post-induction 1 level, while a significant difference was found between both groups at post induction phase 2.</jats:p