Brand extension is considered to be a highly plausible and essential factor for the success of new products. It is an elusive concept that adds value to the offered products and gives a competitive advantage for strategical positioning of new products in the consumers' minds. This study carefully considers the influential factors for the evaluation of brand extension for products targeting young customers. This study analyzed the three important characteristics of consumers by employing a new and proposed nomological network to assess the brand extension and its strategies. First, the brand extension was directly regressed with the need for uniqueness and with innovativeness. After observing the significance of the regressed model, the model was finally analyzed with the intervening variable of need for variety. Six hypotheses were developed, and the proposed theoretical model was assessed through structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of SmartPLS. Data was collected from 331 university students of southern Punjab, Pakistan. It was found that all three personal characteristics of young consumers (need for uniqueness, innovativeness, and need for variety) are highly significant with the evaluation of brand evaluation. The proposed model explained more than 30% variation in the observed phenomenon. It was observed that the need for variety partially mediates the relationship between the need for uniqueness, innovativeness, and brand extension. As per the results of this study, it was found that the variety of products matters a lot for young customers so, marketers must consider the variation in the products while extending their product line. Theoretically, this study contributed and enhanced the nomological network of brand extension for young consumers. Practically, the study would help the decision-makers understand the preferences of the young generation to devise the new strategies of brand extension.

Objective: To determine effect of iron deficiency anemia on the patients developing surgical site infection at surgical department of a tertiary care setup in Pakistan. Study Design: Comparative prospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Surgery, Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from Nov 2018 to Mar 2019. Methodology: A total of 152 indoor hospitalized patients were included in the study. Surgical site infection was assessed by a consultant surgeon according to definitions provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National nosocomial infections surveillance system. Iron deficiency anemia was classed on the basis of hemoglobin and ferritin levels. Results: Eighty six (56.6%) patients were male while 66 (43.4%) patients included in the study were female. Commonest surgical procedure was laparotomy 29 (19.1%) followed by the hernioplasty 27 (17.7%). Out of 152 patients undergoing surgery & admitted in ward, 35 (23.1%) showed the presence of surgical site infection while 117 (76.9%) had no infection. Seventy eight (51.3%) patients had iron deficiency anemia while 74 (48.7%) patients were not anemic. History of transfusion during the surgery and presence of iron deficiency anemia was significantly associated with surgical site infection in the target population. Conclusion: Study exhibited high frequency of surgical site infection in the target population. Regular screening for anemia should be performed at surgery department and patients with history of transfusion during the surgery should be looked after especially. Iron deficiency anemia emerged as an independent factor associated with presence of surgical site infection among surgical patients.

Objective: To assess the bacteriological profile of infected diabetic foot and its relationship with limb salvation among the patients treated for diabetic foot infection at a tertiary setup.Study Design: Correlational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Surgery, Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from Dec 2018 to Mar 2019. Methodology: A total of 160 cases of infected diabetic foot were included in the study. Diagnosis of diabetic foot was made by the consultant surgeon and bacteriological analysis was done on the specimen by the microbiology laboratory of the same hospital. Relationship of bacteriological profile and other socio-demographic factors was assessed with limb salvation in these patients. Results: There were 121 (75.6%) male patients while females were 39 (24.4%). Commonest organism found was Staphylococcus aureus 49 (30.6%) which was followed by pseudomonas 39 (24.4%). Out of 160 patients treated for the diabetic foot infection, 71 (48.4%) had to undergo the process of limb salvation while 89 (51.6%) were managed conservatively. Poly-microbial infection and raised body mass index (BMI) were significantly associated with limb salvation in the target populace (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: This study depicted high frequency of patients undergoing limb salvation due to diabetic foot infections in our setup. Patients with raised body mass index and those with poly-microbial infection on the culture should be specially attended in order to avoid this irreversible damage to the patient in the process of saving his life from the infective process.