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Nutritional and medicinal properties of black sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum) make it very valuable in traditional system of food. Minerals in Sesamum indicum play an important role to enhance its nutritional value. The present research comprises on proximate and chemical analysis of Sesamum indicum. This study is also based on the development of ashing methods for extraction of metals in black sesame seeds. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Black sesame seeds were taken from local market at Karachi-Pakistan. Proximate analysis of seeds comprises of moisture content, ash content and total metal content by EDTA titration. Digestion of this herb was done in different medium, i.e. HNO₃, HCl, H₂SO₄ and simple ash (ash was prepared without using any acid). Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used for the analysis of metals, i.e. Fe, Zn, Cu and Mg in all these ashes.

From the results it is concluded that best medium for ashing is H₂SO₄, by which maximum ash (5.39±0.0021 per cent) produced. Qualitative analysis (based on Ksp values) also confirmed the presence of maximum number of metals in H₂SO₄ medium. Complexometric titration also revealed that maximum metal content was found to be in HCl and H₂SO₄ ash. Results from atomic absorption spectroscopy revealed that H₂SO₄ is the best method for copper (0.399±0.0001 mg/g) and iron (0.3993±0.0015 mg/g), while simple ash can extract zinc and magnesium at their maximum level.

This research demonstrates the best ashing method for the extraction of micronutrients, present in Sesamum indicum. These micronutrients are very beneficial for human health.

The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the influence mechanisms of specific HR practices variables – salary, job stability and job enrichment – upon employee commitment, through the mediating role of job satisfaction, in a developing country context. Crucially, these indicate employee commitment.

The study analyzed three specific HR practices with a sample of 263 employees in the banking industry of Pakistan. A structural equation modeling methodology is adopted.

The findings indicate that remuneration strategies were positively related to job satisfaction and employee commitment. Regarding the intervening impact of job satisfaction, this study found that it mediates only for non-monetary strategies between job satisfaction and employee commitment.

A key limitation is that this is a cross-sectional study, perhaps not generalizable over longitudinal approaches. Another limit is posed by the developing country context of this study, perhaps not applicable to some developed countries.

From an HR perspective, managing salary structure is an ongoing issue. The proposed model suggests the use of specific practices about satisfaction and commitment as intermediate steps to manage employee commitment.

The research offers a unique understanding from the developing country context of Pakistan. This provides a novel study conducted to examine employee commitment using the high-performance work practices model.

Misinformation on social media has become a great threat across the globe. Therefore, the authors aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of social media users' misinformation combating behavior, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the authors merged the uses and gratifications theory, social cognitive theory and theory of prosocial behavior into one theoretical framework (e.g. information seeking, status seeking, entertainment and norms of reciprocity) to understand their effect on users' prosocial media sharing experience and misinformation self-efficacy to combat misinformation.

The authors collected data from 356 social media users through “Google Forms” during the third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan. Further, the authors applied structural equation modeling for hypotheses testing.

The authors noted that entertainment and perceived norms of reciprocity positively affect social media users' prior experience and misinformation self-efficacy to enhance their misinformation combating intention. However, information seeking positively affects social media users' prior experience and insignificantly affects their misinformation self-efficacy. Similarly, status seeking was noted to be insignificantly associated with social media users' prior experience and misinformation self-efficacy.

The authors tested this model of misinformation combating intention in a developing country during the COVID-19 pandemic and noted that entertainment and status seeking motives are context-specific. Therefore, this study may likely benefit researchers, academicians and policymakers to understand the causal relationship between motivations and the behavior of combating misinformation on social media within a developing country.

In this study the authors merged three theories (e.g. uses and gratifications theory, social cognitive theory and theory of prosocial behavior) to understand information seeking, status seeking, entertainment and norms of reciprocity as the main motives for social media users' misinformation combating intention.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the scant literature on the effect of abusive supervision on knowledge sharing by examining the roles of Islamic work ethic and learning goal orientation in moderating the effect.

This paper utilizes a cross-lagged survey research design to collect data from 735 employees working in the services and manufacturing sectors of Pakistan.

The data analysis revealed that abusive supervision has a damaging effect on knowledge sharing in the workplace. However, employee learning goal orientation and the Islamic work ethic help in mitigating this detrimental effect.

The main theoretical implication is to advance knowledge on the boundary conditions that help in mitigating the undesirable effect of abusive supervision on sharing of knowledge in organizational settings.

This paper provides practical insights into mitigating the damaging effects of abusive supervision, a prevalent issue in Asian societies, through the lenses of Islamic business ethics and learning goal orientation.

This is the first study that examines the boundary conditions placed by the Islamic work ethic and learning goal orientation around the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge sharing in the context of Pakistan.

Human misbehaviors are responsible for climate change as they waste resources and pollute water and air that dilapidate the environment. Considering the fact and contributing to the United Nations sustainable development goals of 2019, organizations started focusing their green HRM practices to develop employees' green attitudes and behaviors. This study is an attempt in this direction. It examines the impact of ethical leadership on individuals' green in-role and extra-role behaviors with the mediating role of green HRM practices and the moderating role of individual green values.

The study collected data from 645 MBA executive students working in various manufacturing industries with at least one year of experience. The data were collected using a questionnaire-based survey in two-time lags.

Hypothesized relationships are tested through structural equation modeling. Findings reflected a significant impact of ethical leadership on green HRM practices, in-role, and extra-role green behaviors. Besides, green HRM practices mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and both types of green behaviors. Furthermore, it was observed that the individual green values strengthened the association between green HRM practices and both types of green behaviors.

A cross-sectional design with time lags was used to avoid common method bias. The findings of the study contribute to supply-value-fit theory and validate the scale of individual green value.

This study guides management that employees only perceive their organizational practices as green when they find their leaders are ethical. Further, considering individual green values in the recruitment process can help organizations accomplishing their green goals.

This study is novel in examining the mediating role of green HRM practices between ethical leadership and green behaviors. Further, the analysis not only validates the scale of individual green values but also noted its moderating role between green HRM and green behaviors.

Workplace well-being has emerged as an important aspect in the field of health care. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the role of managerial coaching on nurses’ well-being through psychological ownership and organizational identity.

The authors approached 284 nurses working in both public and private hospitals (between December 2019 and February 2020) on convenience basis, and data were collected through an online questionnaire-based survey.

The data were analyzed using AMOS version 24 and structural equation modeling confirmed psychological ownership and organizational identity as explanatory variables between managerial coaching and well-being.

The study used self-reported data using convenience sampling which may raise a question on causality. The findings suggest the management to consider the importance of managerial coaching in shaping positive workplace behaviors of employees.

Drawings on social exchange theory, this study extends past studies to examine the mediating roles of psychological ownership and organizational identification between managerial coaching and workplace well-being among nurses. The study has theoretical and practical implications.

This study aims to investigate individual-related consequences of workplace bullying among the health-care section. Specifically, this study examined the mediating role of burnout between workplace bullying and nurses’ well-being. Moreover, passive avoidant leadership is examined as a conditional variable between workplace bullying and burnout.

This study collected data from 314 nurses working in various hospitals through a questionnaire-based survey using Google Form in two waves.

Structural equation modeling confirmed the negative effect of workplace bullying on nurses’ well-being, whereas burnout mediates this relationship. In addition, passive avoidant leadership was identified as a conditional variable that strengthens the positive association between workplace bullying and burnout.

Although data for the study were collected in two waves, still cross-sectional design limits causality.

This study suggests management to focus on developing and implementing counter-bullying rules to avoid the adverse consequences of workplace bullying (e.g. capital loss, recruitment costs, burnout, well-being, etc.). In addition, leaders/supervisors must be trained to fulfill their responsibilities to reduce negative consequences.

Studies on workplace bullying in high-power distance cultures are scant. Therefore, drawing upon conservation of resource theory, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has investigated the moderating role of passive avoidant leadership on the association between workplace bullying and burnout.

Innovation has become a necessity for the information technology (IT) sector, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how knowledge sharing affects employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB). Specifically, the study examined occupational self-efficacy (as mediating mechanism) and entrepreneurial leadership (as boundary condition) to encourage IWB.

The study used social media platforms to collect data from 270 employees working in the IT sector through “google forms” on convenience basis between March and August, 2021. The study applied structural equation modeling in two stages to examine the measurement model (for uni-dimensionality) and the structural model (for hypotheses testing).

The study noted that knowledge sharing positively affects employees’ IWB and occupational self-efficacy positively explains this association. In addition, employees’ perception of entrepreneurial leadership strengthens the association between knowledge sharing and IWB.

The study collected data from a developing country during COVID-19 by using a cross-sectional design that may restrict causality. However, the findings suggest the management not only encourages knowledge sharing environment but also engages employees in various training that motivate them to experiment with new ideas and techniques.

This study extends the existing literature on knowledge sharing and IWB by exploring occupational self-efficacy as mediating mechanism and entrepreneurial leadership as a boundary condition.

Country of origin is a well-studied topic for developed countries that have a favourable image. However, how country of origin image affects the consumers of an emerging country on a frontier market with high uncertainty avoidance still needs to be shed light. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship of country of origin image with consumer purchase intention through consumer uncertainty. The study further explored the conditional effect of brand image between country of origin and consumer uncertainty.

The data for this study was collected from 400 Pakistani consumers. As this study assessed purchase intentions and consumer uncertainty related to high technology products of China, therefore, the consumers of the Huawei brand were selected.

The findings revealed a negative influence of country of origin image on consumer purchase intentions both directly and indirectly through consumer uncertainty. Furthermore, the positive brand image of high tech products was found to moderate the effect of country of origin image on consumer uncertainty.

This study is the first of its kind that explores the intervening role of consumer uncertainty between country of origin image and consumer purchase intention in an emerging market. In addition, the study highlights the importance of strong brand image as it buffers consumer uncertainty because of stereotypes.

The purpose of this paper is to access the present situation of the Pakistani population that suffers from vitamin D deficiency.

A review-based study was conducted based on publications from Pakistan between the years 2008 and 2018. The publications were archived from Pub Med and Google Scholar databases. A total of 18 publications were shortlisted, based on the cutoff values of vitamin D sufficiency, insufficiency and deficiency.

As per the data, 38.5 per cent of the participants were males, 48.7 per cent were females and 12.8 per cent of the studies have not mentioned the genders of the participants. The cumulative results show that 58.17 per cent (95 per cent CI: 52.17, 64.16) of the population is vitamin D-deficient and 26.65 per cent (95 per cent CI: 21.63, 31.66) is insufficient in vitamin D. The highest level of vitamin D deficiency was reported from Sindh (62.15 per cent), followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (60.57 per cent), Punjab (51.75 per cent) and the Federal Capital (49.25 per cent). Moreover, Cochran’s Q test indicated considerable heterogeneity (p = >0.001) with regard to Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) prevalence found among samples from the selected studies.

The present analysis suggests that more than half of the Pakistani population suffers from VDD, which, thus, should be considered as an epidemic and treated likewise.