Parwan University

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) serve as pivotal engines of sustainable economic development, employment generation, and innovation diffusion. Their lean organizational structures, operational flexibility, and relatively low capital requirements render them highly effective in poverty alleviation and social empowerment. In Afghanistan, promoting SME growth constitutes a strategic pathway for economic reconstruction and societal resilience. This study employs a descriptive-survey design to investigate the key determinants of SME expansion in Parwan province. Data were collected from 322 active enterprises and analyzed through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The results highlight eight principal growth drivers: innovation and production productivity, workforce competencies, institutional support and legal framework, managerial and leadership capabilities, technological and logistical infrastructure, financial performance and management, human capital and technological capacity, and preparedness for external competition. Targeted enhancement of these factors can equip policymakers with actionable insights to formulate evidence-based strategies, fostering sustainable and resilient SME driven economic growth in the region.

The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between knowledge, religiosity and experience, and the behavior of employee provident fund (EPF) investors investing in Islamic and conventional unit trusts. The variables are extracted from the literature to achieve the objective. Additionally, 125 valid responses were composed through surveys of Malaysian government and private employees. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences has been applied to analyze the collected data, using correlation analysis techniques. This research found that knowledge about Islamic unit trusts and religious beliefs have a positive significant relationship with the EPF investors’ behavior of investing in Islamic unit trusts. Moreover, the experience of investing in Islamic and conventional unit trusts is also positively and significantly associated with the EPF investors’ behavior of investing in Islamic and conventional unit trusts, respectively. As research in this area is insufficient, this study will play a vital role for the unit trust industry in exploiting the financial strategies that are highly and positively observed by Malaysian EPF investors.

This research looks at how the growth of cities and industries affects the levels of heavy metals in the soil, which can impact people's health. We find out where the pollution comes from, such as factories, car fumes, and improper waste disposal, by reviewing existing studies. We use different methods to test the soil for heavy metals and study how exposure to these metals in urban areas affects people's health. The evidence shows a connection between high levels of heavy metals in city soil and health problems like breathing issues, brain disorders, and overall toxicity in the body. We also explore how these metals get into the human body, highlighting the importance of understanding how they are available and the ways people are exposed. To deal with polluted city soils, we look at different ways to manage the soil and suggest sustainable methods to reduce heavy metal pollution. Our discoveries add to what we know about urban environmental health, emphasizing the need for actions to protect city residents. Ultimately, this study aims to give important information and insights to policymakers, city planners, and public health officials for managing and lessening the health risks linked to heavy metal contamination in urban soils.

Abstract 
 Objective: Garbage is waste solid materials that are left over from the use of people and production and service institutions and are unusable. These seemingly inefficient sources are the most important urban pollutant in different amounts and in liquid and solid form and cause harm. and the citizens' interest, but in the case of optimal management and use of these valuable resources as raw materials in addition to protecting the environment, reducing the level of pollution, reducing the amount of diseases and deaths, it can be considered the best driver of production activities, recycling management Household solid waste in Kabul city is handled according to municipal standards and regulations (collection, transfer, burial and reuse), which is the main goal of this research to investigate the effects of household solid waste management and recycling in Kabul city.
 Method and tools: Since the nature of this research is descriptive-applicative, in order to collect information from two sources, the library and a questionnaire with a 7-point Likert scale from 384 citizens of the 15th district of Kabul city were randomly sampled and analyzed using spss software. First, the confidence level of the questionnaire of both variables was determined by Cronbach's alpha method with the output coefficient (waste management 0.86 and recycling rate 0.82) and then its correlation intensity was determined by the Pearson method and also to predict the dependent variable from the linear regression function of the information received and investigated. And the dispute has been placed.
 Finding: Pearson's correlation analysis with 95% confidence level of the number placement (p=0.004, N=384, R=0.86) with a coefficient of determination of 0.73 and a statistical value (t) of 4.76, which is greater than the critical value of table t 2.3, shows the relationship There is a strong positive among the variables and it states that the increase in the amount of recycling and the decrease in the consumption of family solid waste depends on the improvement of waste management, in the same way, the beta coefficient of 0.59 and t=7.31>1.96 and sig<0.05 of linear regression were obtained. It shows that improving family solid waste management will reduce the amount of waste consumption and recycling by 59%, also the extracted information shows that about 97% of household waste is bought and collected by informal garbage collectors.

Poultry industry is one of the main source of income in Afghanistan, where about 1.5 million people are engaged in this sector. In recent years, from 476 poultry farms only 165 farms are continuing their activities in Parwan province of Afghanistan, which means that most of previous farms are broken down. In this research, 30 broiler chicken farms were selected by random sampling method and to evaluate the production performance and economical status of broiler farms in Parwan, Afghanistan. Data were collected by using questionaries’ and personal interviews. Based on the results, it was found that the production performance of the chickens was such as the feed conversion ratio was 1.83, the livability percentage was 90.23%, the average market weight was 1.9 kg, and the mortality rate was 9.77%. The fixed costs included 5.64% worker's salary, 0.79% farm rent and 0.32% electricity bill which are totally (6.75%). Variable costs include the cost of a day-old chicken 6.98%, feed cost 70.45%, veterinary service cost 3.44%, litter cost 1.41%, worker food cost 2.11%, fuel cost 7.05% and miscellaneous cost were 1.47%, which totally reached (93.25%). The total income which were earned 97.93% from live chickens as main product and 2.07% from manure as by product and the benefit cost ratio was 1.07%. To conclude this, as the broiler production is profitable, but the proportion of income is less than the investment. In order to improve the income, it is recommended to provide high-quality feed, prevent diseases, providing high-quality vaccines and medicines, and hiring experts in broiler farms.

Purpose–This study aims to examine how consumer behavior toward social media advertising among Afghan consumers relates to belief determinants, attitudes, and consumer behavior. The study also examines the impact that social media advertising has on consumer behavior in Afghanistan in order to properly comprehend how it impacts men's and women's consumption patterns separately.Design/methodology/approach–Data were collected from Parwan city in Afghanistan. A total of 433 questionnaires delivered functional data and were examined using IBM SPSS 26 and IBM AMOS 24. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the participant's demographic traits (frequencyand percentage). The structural equation model (SEM) is used to test the research hypothesis.Findings–Information, entertainment, credibility, economy, and value corruption were shown to be the five belief elements that affect Afghan consumers' attitudes regarding social media advertising. The attitude toward social media advertising was significantly predicted by entertainment, credibility, economy, and value corruption. The attitude of Afghan customers was discovered to be a highly important and favorable predictor of behavioral actions related to social media advertising. The association between Afghan consumers' attitudes and behaviors about social media advertising is unaffected by the moderator (gender).Discussion–Understanding how people from a potentially rising market view social media as a method of advertising might be beneficial for Afghan marketers. As a result, the study will help companies and organizations employ social media advertising in their regional marketing campaigns more successfully and effectively. Since there hasn't been any previous research on the subject from an Afghanistan perspective, the investigation of Afghan consumers' attitudes about social media advertising enhances existing research on attitudes in Afghanistan and may have important consequences for growing the economy nationwide.

The results of numerous scientific researches in developed countries shows that the content produced by social media has a significant impact on the behavior and lifestyle of young people, especially in developing countries such as Afghanistan; But the main problem is that there has been no serious awareness and cognition about the harmful impact of social media content on young people on developing countries, which is comprehensively discussed in this research paper. The general purpose of this paper is to provide information and create awareness about the negative impact of social media on youth's social behavior through content analyses and qualitative research. Social Media refers to different types of platforms or applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. through which people share information and use it as a communication resource.This study has specifically addressed the basic questions that How social media changes youth's social behavior and what are the main factors which because social behavior changes in youths by using social media and what are the negative impact of social media on youth's social lives by using reliable resources. Even though social media sites and platforms have more advantages and positive impacts and provide a lot of communication, business, and entertainment opportunities, it leads to social isolation, anxiety, depression, cyberbullying, sexuality, loss of privacy, terrorism, etc. It reduces the number of face-to-face interactions among the youth because they normally spend most of their time on online social platforms. The result of this research shows that social media leads to social isolation and this can cause several effects such as physical, emotional, mental, and psychological issues on youths. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and many other problems.

Soil salinity is a serious environmental threat with varied effects on several aspects of growth and production of plants. Recently, however, the utilization of chitosan in agriculture has increased as it enhances the resistance of crop plants to different stresses factors such as salinity. In this experiment, the effects of chitosan seed-priming on alleviation of salinity stress was investigated in common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) using a completely randomized design with six replications. Chitosan pretreatment was applied at three levels (2, 4, and 8 g/l) and salinity of sodium chloride (NaCl) was applied at four levels (50, 100 and 200, and 300 mM). Different variables have been measured, including germination percentage, hypocotyl length, radical length, hypocotyl dry weight and radical dry weight. Salinity is found to affect the germination percentage of vetch by decreasing germination with increasing in NaCl concentration (50, 100 and 200, and 300 mM). However, the results showed an increase in germination percentage upon priming seeds with different levels of chitosan (2, 4, and 8 g/l) even with increasing the concentration NaCl salinity. Additionally, all salinity levels caused a significant reduction in vetch hypocotyl and radical dry weight and resulted in a decrease in their length when compared with the water control. However, chitosan at all levels of concentration improved all of these growth parameters (hypocotyl length, radical length, hypocotyl dry weight and radical dry weight) irrespective of salinity level indicating a successful role of chitosan in alleviating salinity stress. In general, these results may suggest that in saline soil seed pretreatment in chitosan could be utilized successfully for alleviating the effect of salinity stress on germination and on some growth parameters of common vetch.

Cobalt nano particles (CoNPs) were synthesized and tested against microalgae isolated from fresh water cyanobacterial blooms by assessing the effects on growth rate, biomass concentration and biochemical parameters. <em>Oscillatoria </em>was identified as the predominant isolate from algal blooms and treated with varying concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mg L^-1) of CoNPs. Steady decline in the growth rate of microalgae was observed at the end of 5 days indicating the toxicity of CoNPs on microalgal growth. At the end of cultivation period, 88% of reduction in biomass concentration of <em>Microcystis </em>and <em>Oscillatoria </em>were observed at 5 mg L^-1 of CoNPs. Both protein and carbohydrate contents of the microalgae were reduced with increasing concentration of nano particles. Based on the findings, this study demonstrates the efficiency of cobalt nano particles (CoNPs) on inhibition of fresh water algal blooms thereby reducing the eutrophication problem.