• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2013

Purpose: Demirjian's dental maturity scores and curves have been widely used for human age determination. Several authors have reported considerable differences between the true and estimated age based on the Demirjian curves, which have been accounted for by ethnicity. The purpose of the current study was to assess the role of ethnicity-specific dental maturation curves in age estimation of Saudi children. Materials and Methods: A sample of 452 healthy Saudi children aged 4 to 14 years were aged based on the original French-Canadian Demirjian curves and several modified Demirjian curves specified for certain ethnic groups: Saudi, Kuwaiti, Polish, Dutch, Pakistani, and Belgian. One-way ANOVA and a post hoc Scheff$\acute{e}$'s test were used to assess the differences between chronological age and dental age estimated by the different curves (P<0.05). Results: The curves designed for Dutch, Polish, Saudi, and Belgian (5th percentile) populations had a significantly lower error in estimating age than the original French-Canadian and Belgian (50th percentile) curves. The optimal curve for males was the Saudi one, with a mean absolute difference between estimated age and chronological age of 8.6 months. For females, the optimal curve was the Polish one, with a mean absolute difference of 7.4 months. It was revealed that accurate age determination was not related to certain ethnicity-specific curves. Conclusion: We conclude that ethnicity might play a role in age determination, but not a principal one.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2015

Speech and language are uniquely human-specific traits, which contributed to humans becoming the predominant species on earth. Disruptions in the human speech and language function may result in diverse disorders. These include stuttering, aphasia, articulation disorder, spasmodic dysphonia, verbal dyspraxia, dyslexia and specific language impairment. Among these disorders, stuttering is the most common speech disorder characterized by disruptions in the normal flow of speech. Twin, adoption, and family studies have suggested that genetic factors are involved in susceptibility to stuttering. For several decades, multiple genetic studies including linkage analysis were performed to connect causative gene to stuttering, and several genetic studies have revealed the association of specific gene mutation with stuttering. One notable genetic discovery came from the genetic studies in the consanguineous Pakistani families. These studies suggested that mutations in the lysosomal enzyme-targeting pathway genes (GNPTAB, GNPTG and NAPGA) are associated with non-syndromic persistent stuttering. Although these studies have revealed some clues in understanding the genetic causes of stuttering, only a small fraction of patients are affected by these genes. In this study, we summarize recent advances and future challenges in an effort to understand genetic causes underlying stuttering.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.11
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• pp.987-998
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• 2020

This study aims to examine OL as a potential mediating variable in the relationship between IT and organizational performance. Organizational learning (OL) has been proposed as the mechanism to accomplish this task. Existing empirical research demonstrates that OL may indeed act as a mediator for the effect of IT on organizational outcomes. Also, existing literature discusses the use of technology in the organization, and the case for OL as the key knowledge process, and the intersection between technology and OL as a knowledge-based means for improving organizational performance. Many studies use a descriptive measure of OL despite the theory suggesting that a normative measure may be more appropriate. This study aims to address these concerns in a setting by using structural equation modelling (SEM) to compare the effectiveness of descriptive and normative measures of OL as mediating variables in knowledge-intensive organizations. Survey results support OL as a mediator between IT and organizational performance in addition to normative measures of OL outperforming descriptive measures. Implications for research and practice are discussed. To test the model, we will apply (SEM) structural equation modeling in the analysis of a moment structures (AMOS) on the empirical evidence collected from 218 Pakistani CEOs and top managers.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.11
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• pp.817-825
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• 2020

Over the last few decades, corporate frauds have highlighted the significance of corporate governance in deriving firm performance. By using different sample data, extensive research has examined how corporate governance structure influences firm's profitability, but limited research was undertaken on the banking sector of Pakistan. This research adds to the literature by testing how board structure derives bank's performance by using sample data of 19 banks for the period from 2010 to 2017. In addition, the study analyzes the controlling part of size on the link between board governance and bank performance. Findings reveal that banks having small board size, fewer non-executive directors and minimum activity level perform better. Analysis related to bank size illustrates that board size has value in increasing benefits in large size banks in contrast to small size one, while higher participation by board members enhances performance of small size banks more. The correlation results and findings showed that there existed no multicollinearity issue between independent variables. Board size showed positive correlation with the market variable, while board activity tended to correlated negatively with the market performance. Inverse correlation between board size and independent directors indicated that Pakistani banks with greater board size had fewer independent directors.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3842-3861
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• 2019

In cut throat competition, organizations all over the world try to utilize the immense opportunities the Internet has to offer in almost all of their operations. Today, Social networking sites (SNSs) provide utilities designed to help companies to recruit right personnel. Considering the implication of social media for recruitment at infancy stage in Pakistan and lack of studies related to it, this study aims to investigate the role of different SNSs qualities (Easily navigate, Secure process, Eminence Proficiency, Candidate's Attraction and Network Expedition) in effective E-recruitment (EER). Data were collected through structured questionnaire from employees and managers of major telecom companies of Pakistan. Finally, the result of 355 returned and valid questionnaire with 55% response rate show that the relationship between SNSs qualities and EER is significant. Moreover, results also prove that EER is better than the tradition recruitment and a SNSs comparison show that Facebook is more effective than LinkedIn for EER. The results of this study will help Pakistani companies to develop a successful e-HRM and EER strategy in the current scenario.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.665-673
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• 2021

Default has become an extreme concern in the current world due to the financial crisis. The previous prediction of companies' bankruptcy exhibits evidence of decision assistance for financial and regulatory bodies. Notwithstanding numerous advanced approaches, this area of study is not outmoded and requires additional research. The purpose of this research is to find the best classifier to detect a company's default risk and bankruptcy. This study used secondary data from the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and it is time-series data to examine the impact on the determinants. This research examined several different classifiers as per their competence to properly categorize default and non-default Pakistani companies listed on the PSX. Additionally, PSX has remained consistent for some years in terms of growth and has provided benefits to its stockholders. This paper utilizes machine learning techniques to predict financial distress in companies listed on the PSX. Our results indicate that most multi-stage mixture of classifiers provided noteworthy developments over the individual classifiers. This means that firms will have to work on the financial variables such as liquidity and profitability to not fall into the category of liquidation. Moreover, Adaptive Boosting (Adaboost) provides a significant boost in the performance of each classifier.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.69-77
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• 2021

The objective of this research is to explore the inconclusive theoretical and empirical association between institutional ownership and firm performance in the context of emerging Pakistani economy. The data set consists of all the non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Annual data set covers the period ranging from 2010 to 2015. However, the econometric analysis does not include those firms with incomplete data. Thus the final data set comprised of an unbalanced panel of sample of 276 firms with 1231 firms years observations. Data related to the institutional ownership and other variables taken for the study were extracted through the annual financial reports of the firms. The research used Tobin's Q as a proxy of market measure of firm performance and tested the endogenous relation with institutional ownership through OLS and 2SLS approach. The study also applied Durbin-Wu-Hausman test to determine the endogeneity before analyzing the 2SLS model. The Durbin-Wu-Hausman Test (DWH) conform the endogenous link between institutional ownership and performance and vice versa. The results derived from 2SLS also confirm a highly significant relationship and two way direct proportional relationships between the institutional investment and corporate performance in the studied companies.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.717-729
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• 2021

This paper examines the efficacy of the default risk factor in an emerging market context using the Fama-French five-factor model. Our aim is to test whether the Fama-French five-factor model augmented with a default risk factor improves the predictability of returns of portfolios sorted on the firm's characteristics as well as on industry. The default risk factor is constructed by estimating the probability of default using a hybrid version of dynamic panel probit and artificial neural network (ANN) to proxy default risk. This study also provides evidence on the temporal stability of risk premiums obtained using the Fama-MacBeth approach. Using a sample of 3,806 firm-year observations on non-financial listed companies of Pakistan over 2006-2015 we found that the augmented model performed better when tested across size-investment-default sorted portfolios. The investment factor contains some default-related information, but default risk is independently priced and bears a significantly positive risk premium. The risk premiums are also found temporally stable over the full sample and more recent sample period 2010-2015 as evidence by the Fama-MacBeth regressions. The finding suggests that the default risk factor is not a useless factor and due to mispricing, default risk anomaly prevails in the Pakistani equity market.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.25-39
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• 2021

This purpose of this study is to investigate the association among mutual funds (MFs) risk measures and return parameters, evaluate mutual fund performance and also explore the best appropriate mutual fund performance measure for investment in Pakistan. Therefore, thirty-five mutual funds have been selected for the period 2007-2015. The Sharpe, Treynor, Jensen Alpha, Information ratio and Fama's Net Selectivity measures has been used to analyze MF performance. Our study findings show significant positive relation exist between Sharpe and Jenson alpha & information ratio (IR); Treynor ratio is negatively correlated to Jenson alpha and Jenson alpha is positively allied with IR. Moreover, association among performance measures, Fama's net selectivity is a major driver in leading to other measures but Sharpe and IR lead to Treynor ratio as well. Furthermore, performance measures are ranked in accordance standard deviation with the arrangement of Fama's net selectivity at top, Jenson Alpha at second, Sharpe ratio at third, IR at fourth and Treynor ratio at fifth position according to risk parameters in Pakistan. Overall, Jensen Alpha measure appears to be the best suitable mutual fund performance measure in Pakistan due to its practical nature. Finally, the Pakistani stock market index KSE100 (as benchmark) performs better than MF industry of Pakistan.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2021

With regard to the recent developments in public diplomacy, the increasing fusion of strategic communication appears necessary. China engages in public diplomacy with a strategic purpose to shape its national image abroad. Hosting diplomatic advocacy event is regarded as an instrument with expectations to present reliable and responsible image and promote international collaborations. The present research focuses on the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in May 2017 with the objective to analyze its outcomes and influence on the international news agenda, news frames, and foreign citizens' comments online. The quantitative content analyses are used to compare the media reports (N=364) and Facebook users' comments on the selected news (N=957) between the US and Pakistan. Results reveal that Pakistani media provided more diverse frames and attributed more positive evaluations to the BRF than the US media. However, Facebook comments expressed more unfavorable opinions toward the BRF and China's image with rare differences between two countries. In conclusion, the BRF has served as an eye-catching advocacy of Chinese foreign policy, as it influenced the news agenda in two selected countries. However, news frames vary due to the differences in media system and the involvement in the BRF. China's public diplomacy practices follow a traditional top-down communication which needs meticulous subdivision of target stakeholders, delicate messaging strategies, and integrated tactics.