Search results for: Sumaiya Amir Khan

Authors: Amir Saber Gharamaleki, Beitollah Alipour, Zeinab Faghfoori, Ahmad YariKhosroushahi

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers and intestinal microbial community plays an important role in colorectal tumorigenesis. Probiotics have recently been assessed as effective anti-proliferative agents and thus this study was performed to examine whether CRC undergo apoptosis by treating with isolated Iranian native dairy yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus YAS, secretion metabolites. The cytotoxicity assessments on cells (HT-29, Caco-2) were accomplished through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay as well as qualitative DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining) and quantitative (flow cytometry assessments) evaluations of apoptosis. To evaluate the main mechanism of apoptosis, Real time PCR method was applied. Kluyveromyces marxianus YAS secretions (IC50) showed significant cytotoxicity against HT-29 and Caco-2 cancer cell lines (66.57 % and 66.34 % apoptosis) similar to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) while apoptosis only was developed in 27.57 % of KDR normal cells. The prophylactic effects of Kluyveromyces marxianus (PTCC 5195), as a reference yeast, was not similar to Kluyveromyces marxianus YAS indicating strain dependency of bioactivities on CRC disease prevention. Based on real time PCR results, the main cytotoxicity is related to apoptosis phenomenon and the core related mechanism is depended on the overexpression of BAX, CASP 9, CASP 8 and CASP 3 inducing apoptosis genes. However, several investigations should be conducted to precisely determine the effective compounds to be used as anticancer therapeutics in the future.

Keywords: anticancer, anti-proliferative, apoptosis, cytotoxicity, yeast

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Authors: Kamal Khan Abro, Nasreen Memon, Attaullah Ansari, Mahpara Pirzada, Saima Pathan

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Jacobabad district has a hot desert climate with very hot summers and insignificant winters. The highest recorded temperature is 53.8 °C (127.0 °F), and the lowest recorded temperature is −4.9 °C (25.0 °F). Rainfall is short and mostly occurs in the monsoon season (July–September). Agriculture point of view Jacobabad district is very important district of Sindh Pakistan in which many types of crop and vegetables are cultivated annually such as Wheat, Rice, and Brassica, Cabbage, Spinach, Chili etc. which are badly attacked by many crops pest. Insects are very tiny, sensitive and most attractive mortal and most important collection of animal wildlife they play important role in biological control agent, biodiversity & agroecosystem. The brassica crop extremely infested by many different types of pest such as Aphids, Whitefly, Jassids, Thrips, Mealybug, scale insect pink worm, bollworm and borers Mealy bug, scale insect etc. These pests destroy many crops. The present study was carried out from Jacobabad district from January 2017 to April 2017.

Keywords: prevelance, green peach aphid, Jacobabad, Sindh Pakistan

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Authors: Behnaz Sohani, Sahand Shahalinezhad, Amir Rahmani, Aliyu Aliyu

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Recently, medical imaging and specifically medical image processing is becoming one of the most dynamically developing areas of medical science. It has led to the emergence of new approaches in terms of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases. In the process of diagnosis of lung cancer, medical professionals rely on computed tomography (CT) scans, in which failure to correctly identify masses can lead to incorrect diagnosis or sampling of lung tissue. Identification and demarcation of masses in terms of detecting cancer within lung tissue are critical challenges in diagnosis. In this work, a segmentation system in image processing techniques has been applied for detection purposes. Particularly, the use and validation of a novel lung cancer detection algorithm have been presented through simulation. This has been performed employing CT images based on multilevel thresholding. The proposed technique consists of segmentation, feature extraction, and feature selection and classification. More in detail, the features with useful information are selected after featuring extraction. Eventually, the output image of lung cancer is obtained with 96.3% accuracy and 87.25%. The purpose of feature extraction applying the proposed approach is to transform the raw data into a more usable form for subsequent statistical processing. Future steps will involve employing the current feature extraction method to achieve more accurate resulting images, including further details available to machine vision systems to recognise objects in lung CT scan images.

Keywords: lung cancer detection, image segmentation, lung computed tomography (CT) images, medical image processing

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Authors: Md. Maksudur Rahman Khan, Chee Wai Woon, Huei Ruey Ong, Vignes Rasiah, Chin Kui Cheng, Kar Min Chan, E. Baranitharan

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The present work represents a preparation of non-precious iron-based electrocatalyst (FeN) for ORR in air-cathode microbial fuel cell by pyrolysis treatment. Iron oxalate which recovered from the industrial wastewater and Phenanthroline (Phen) were used as the iron and nitrogen precursors, respectively in preparing FeN catalyst. The performance of as prepared catalyst (FeN) was investigated in a single chambered air cathode MFC in which anaerobic sludge was used as inoculum and palm oil mill effluent as substrate. The maximum open circuit potential (OCV) and the highest power density recorded were 0.543 V and 4.9 mW/m2, respectively. Physical characterization of FeN was elucidated by using Brunauner Emmett Teller (BET), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) while the electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis. The presence of biofilm on anode surface was examined using FESEM and confirmed using Infrared Spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric Analysis. The findings of this study demonstrated that FeN is electrochemically active and further modification is needed to increase the ORR catalytic activity.

Keywords: iron based catalyst, microbial fuel cells, oxygen reduction reaction, palm oil mill effluent

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Authors: Serin Darwish, Hakim Saibi, Amir Gabr

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is situated within an arid zone where the climate is arid and the recharge of the groundwater is very low. Groundwater is the primary source of water in the United Arab Emirates. However, rapid expansion, population growth, agriculture, and industrial activities have negatively affected these limited water resources. The shortage of water resources has become a serious concern due to the over-pumping of groundwater to meet demand. In addition to the deficit of groundwater, the UAE has one of the highest per capita water consumption rates in the world. In this study, a combination of time-lapse measurements of microgravity and depth to groundwater level in selected wells in Al Ain city was used to estimate the variations in groundwater storage. Al-Ain is the second largest city in Abu Dhabi Emirates and the third largest city in the UAE. The groundwater in this region has been overexploited. Relative gravity measurements were acquired using the Scintrex CG-6 Autograv. This latest generation gravimeter from Scintrex Ltd provides fast, precise gravity measurements and automated corrections for temperature, tide, instrument tilt and rejection of data noise. The CG-6 gravimeter has a resolution of 0.1μGal. The purpose of this study is to measure the groundwater storage changes in the shallow aquifers based on the application of microgravity method. The gravity method is a nondestructive technique that allows collection of data at almost any location over the aquifer. Preliminary results indicate a possible relationship between microgravity and water levels, but more work needs to be done to confirm this. The results will help to develop the relationship between monthly microgravity changes with hydrological and hydrogeological changes of shallow phreatic. The study will be useful in water management considerations and additional future investigations.

Keywords: Al-Ain, arid region, groundwater, microgravity

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Authors: Muhammad Saad Shoaib Khan, Rasbin Basnet, Qingyao Shu

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Phospholipids are one of the major classes of lipid comprising 10% of total grain lipid in rice. Phospholipids are the main phosphorus containing lipid in the rice endosperm, contributing to rice palatability and seed storage property. However, in the rice grain, the majority of phosphorus occur in the form of phytic acid and are highly abundant in the bran. Phytic acid, also known as hexaphosphorylated inositol (IP6), are strong chelating agents which reduces the bioavailability of essential dietary nutrients and are therefore less desirable by rice breeders. We used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate mutants of a phospholipase D gene (PLDα1), which is responsible for the degradation of phospholipids into phosphatidic acid (PA). In the mutants, we found a significant reduction in the concentration of phytic acid in the grain as compared to the wild-type. The biochemical analysis of the PLDα1 mutants showed that the decrease in production of phosphatidic acid is due to reduced accumulation of CDP-diacylglycerolderived phosphatidylinositol (PI), ultimately leading to lower accumulation of phytic acid in mutants. These results showed that loss of function of PLD in rice leads to lower production of phytic acid, suggesting the potential application of Ospldα1 in breeding rice with less phytic acid.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9, phospholipase D, phytic acid, rice

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Authors: Sohaib Z. Khan, Farrukh Mustahsan, Essam R. I. Mahmoud, S. H. Masood

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Materials or structures that contract laterally on the application of a compressive load and vice versa are said to be Auxetic materials which exhibit Negative Poisson’s Ratio (NPR). Numerous auxetic structures are proposed in the literature. One of the most studied periodic auxetic structure is the re-entrant honeycomb model. In this paper, a modified re-entrant model is proposed to enhance the auxetic behavior. The paper aimed to investigate the elastic behaviour of the proposed model to improve Young’s modulus and NPR by evaluating the analytical model. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is also conducted to support the analytical results. A significant increment in Young’s modulus and NPR can be achieved in one of the two orthogonal directions of the loading at the cost of compromising these values in other direction. The proposed modification resulted in lower relative densities when compared to the existing re-entrant honeycomb structure. A trade-off in the elastic properties in one direction at low relative density makes the proposed model suitable for uni-direction applications where higher stiffness and NPR is required, and strength to weight ratio is important.

Keywords: 2D model, auxetic materials, re-entrant honeycomb, negative Poisson's ratio

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Authors: Esther Liyanage, Indrajith Liyanage, Masih Khan

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Neck pain has become a common epidemiological problem. One of the reasons for this is a sedentary way of life, connected with using a personal computer during all daily activities. Work place and work duration has not been properly adapted to the personal physical conditions of these employees. During 1990’s the importance of workstation design and work methods, or ergonomics on health was brought to the forefront of public attention. Ergonomics is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects. Ergonomic intervention results in improvement of working posture and a decrease in prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Stretching and resistance exercises to the neck are easy to do, when performed 1-2 times daily reduce discomfort and ease neck stiffness. This study is aimed at finding if ergonomics with exercises to the neck prove beneficial to reduce neck pain in Computer Professionals. The outcomes measures used were: Oswestry neck disability index and VAS score for pain. 100 subjects satisfying the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Results: Ergonomic intervention along with isometric neck exercises and stretching proved to reduce neck pain and disability among computer professionals.

Keywords: ergonomics, neck pain, neck exercises, physiotherapy for neck pain

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Authors: Bardia Khafaf, Mehrdad Ghaffari, Amir Hussein Samakar

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It is currently desirable to use Hollow Square Sections (HSS) in moment resistant structures in construction of building because they offer fewer restrictions for designing and more useful space while adhering to build design codes. This paper present a through bolt connection in HSS column. This connection meets building code standards that require the moment resistant connections to deflect and absorb energy resulting from gravity and seismic loads. Connection through bolts is installed and pretension to provide the connection strength needed to make a beam–column moment rigid zone. A rigid joint is typically used to resist lateral forces by holding columns and beams fixed in relation to one another. With bolted moment frames using HSS columns, a through–bolt connection could be used to secure the beam and end plate to the column. However, when multiple columns and beams are used to span a length of building, the use of through-bolts would necessities aligning multiple beams simultaneously to the columns. In the case of a linear span, the assembly process requires the holes of a first beam end plate to be aligned with through bolt holes in a column and aligning the holes of a second, opposing beam plate with the column through bolt, then inserting the through bolts in each hole for tightening with nuts and washers. In moment resistant building, a problem arises when assembling beams to columns where multiple beams and columns are required. Through bolt, moment connections are among the economical, practical and not difficult rigid steel connection for HSS column building. In this paper, the results of numerous analytical studies performed for moment structures with HSS columns with through bolt based on AISC standard codes are shown.

Keywords: through bolt, moment resistant connection, HSS columns section, construction engineering

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Authors: Sajjad ur Rahman, Mariam Azam, Mukarram Bashir, Seemal Javaid, Aoun Muhammad, Muhammad Tahir, Jawad, Hannan Khan, Muhammad Zohaib

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Partially fermented soya hulls and wheat bran through Saccharomyces cerevisiae (DL-22 S/N) substantiated as a natural source for quality milk production. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (DL-22 S/N) were grown under in-vivo conditions and processed through two-step fermentation with substrates. The extra pure metabolites (XPM) were dried and processed for maintaining 1mm mesh size particles for supplementation of pelleted feed. Two groups of a cow (Holstein Friesian) having 8 animals of similar age and lactation were given the experimental concentrates. Group A was fed daily with 12gm of XPM and 22% protein-pelleted feed, while Group B was provided with no metabolites in their feed. In thirty-nine days of trial, improvement in the overall health, body score, milk protein, milk fat, ash, and solid not fat (SNF), yield, and incidence rate of mastitis was observed. The collected data revealed an improvement in milk production of 2.02 liter/h/d. However, a reduction (3.75%) in the milk fats and an increase in the milk SNF was around 0.58%. The ash content ranged between 6.4-7.5%. The incidence of mastitis was reduced to less than 2%.

Keywords: microbial metabolites, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, milk production, fermentation, post-biotic metabolites, immunity

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Authors: Nashi Khan, Amina Khalid

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Aim: The purpose of this research was to find the psychiatric morbidity and level of sexual satisfaction among women with polycystic ovarian syndrome and their comparison with women with general medical conditions and to examine the correlation between psychiatric morbidity and sexual satisfaction among these women. Design: Cross sectional research design was used. Method: A total of 176 (M age = 30, SD = 5.83) women were recruited from both private and public sector hospitals in Pakistan. About 88 (50%) of the participants were diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (cases), whereas other 50% belonged to control group. Data were collected using semi structured interview. Sexual satisfaction scale for women (SSS-W) was administered to measure sexual satisfaction level and psychiatric morbidity was assessed by Symptom Checklist-Revised. Results: Results showed that participant’s depression and anxiety level had significant negative correlation with their sexual satisfaction level, whereas, anxiety and depression shared a significant positive correlation. There was a significant difference in the scores for sexual satisfaction, depression and anxiety for both cases and controls. These results suggested that women suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome tend to be less sexually satisfied and experienced relatively more symptoms of depression and anxiety as compared to controls.

Keywords: level of sexual satisfaction, psychiatric morbidity, polycystic ovarian syndrome

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Authors: Silindile Gumede, Amir Hossein Mohammadi, Mbuyu Germain Ntunka

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Goal 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encourages sustainable consumption and production patterns. This necessitates achieving the environmentally safe management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle and the proper disposal of pollutants and toxic waste. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts are widely used in the refinery to convert heavy feedstocks to lighter ones. During the refining processes, the catalysts are deactivated and discarded as hazardous toxic solid waste. Spent catalysts (SC) contain high-cost metal, and the recovery of metals from SCs is a tactical plan for supplying part of the demand for these substances and minimizing the environmental impacts. Leaching followed by solvent extraction, has been found to be the most efficient method to recover valuable metals with high purity from spent catalysts. However, the use of inorganic acids during the leaching process causes a secondary environmental issue. Therefore, it is necessary to explore other alternative efficient leaching agents that are economical and environmentally friendly. In this study, the waste catalyst was collected from a domestic refinery and was characterised using XRD, ICP, XRF, and SEM. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box Behnken design were used to model and optimize the influence of some parameters affecting the acidic leaching process. The parameters selected in this investigation were the acid concentration, temperature, and leaching time. From the characterisation results, it was found that the spent catalyst consists of high concentrations of Vanadium (V) and Nickel (Ni); hence this study focuses on the leaching of Ni and V using a biodegradable acid to eliminate the formation of the secondary pollution.

Keywords: eco-friendly leaching, optimization, metal recovery, leaching

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Authors: Bahador Bardshiri, Omid Moradi, Amir Komeilian, Nima Panahifar

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Formation of a conjunctival membrane over the corneal surface is a condition unique to rabbits that has been labeled aberrant corneal occlusion or pseudopterygium. In the summer of 2013, a five years old male Standard Chinchilla rabbit were presented to Karaj Central Veterinary hospital and the owner complained that his rabbit shows degrees of blindness and there were opacities on both eyes of the presented rabbit. Ophthalmic examination of the affected eyes revealed a conjunctival fold stretching over the cornea of both eyes. The fold originated from limbus and it was vascularized and centrally thickened. There were no attachments to the corneal epithelium and the fold could be easily lifted. Surgery was performed under general anesthesia. The conjunctival fold was incised centrifugally up to its attachment at the limbus and the lid margin using small scissors. The central rim of the segment was then replaced to its normal position in the fornix and fixed with mattress sutures (7/0) passing through outside skin. After the surgery, eye drops containing dexamethasone, gentamicin and polymixin were applied twice daily up to 3 weeks. Within the observation period (8 months) no recurrence was noted. "Pseudo" in the term pseudopterygium refers to the fact that the conjunctival membrane is not adhering to the underlying cornea, but growing over it. In rare cases, the membrane may be loosely attached to the cornea, but can be easily separated without causing damage. It can cover only a small part of the cornea with an annular peripheral opacification of the cornea, or cover it almost fully, leading to blindness. Ethiopathogenesis remains unclear and recurrence of the problem is very likely. The surgical technique that used here decreases probability of recurrence of conjunctival fold.

Keywords: rabbit, cornea, aberrant corneal occlusion, pseudopterygium

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Authors: Imran Khan Pathan, Anil Bhandari, Peeyush K. Sharma, Rakesh K. Patel, Suresh Purohit

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Floating tablets of Marichyadi Vati were developed with an aim to prolong its gastric residence time and increase the bioavailability of drug. Rapid gastrointestinal transit could result in incomplete drug release from the drug delivery system above the absorption zone leading to diminished efficacy of the administered dose. The tablets were prepared by wet granulation technique, using HPMC E50 LV act as Matrixing agent, Carbopol as floating enhancer, microcrystalline cellulose as binder, sodium bi carbonate as effervescent agent with other excipients. The simplex lattice design was used for selection of variables for tablets formulation. Formulation was optimized on the basis of floating time and in vitro drug release. The results showed that the floating lag time for optimized formulation was found to be 61 second with about 97.32 % of total drug release within 3 hours. The in vitro release profiles of drug from the formulation could be best expressed zero order with highest linearity r2 = 0.9943. It was concluded that the gastroretentive drug delivery system can be developed for Marichyadi Vati containing piperine to increase the residence time of the drug in the stomach and thereby increasing bioavailability.

Keywords: piperine, Marichyadi Vati, gastroretentive drug delivery, floating tablet

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Authors: Abdullah Arafat, Ali Al-Farhan, Amir Omair

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Objectives: To review and assess the effectiveness of the implemented modified five-levels triage and acuity scale triage system in AL-Yarmook Urgent Care Center (UCC), King Abdulaziz Residential city, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method: The applied study design was an observational cross sectional design. A data collection sheet was designed and distributed to triage nurses; the data collection was done during triage process and was directly observed by the co-investigator. Triage system was reviewed by measuring three time intervals as quality indicators: time before triage (TBT), time before being seen by physician (TBP) and total length of stay (TLS) taking in consideration timing of presentation and level of triage. Results: During the study period, a total of 187 patients were included in our study. 118 visits were at weekdays and 68 visits at weekends. Overall, 173 patients (92.5%) were seen by the physician in timely manner according to triage guidelines while 14 patients (7.5%) were not seen at appropriate time.Overall, The mean time before seen the triage nurse (TBT) was 5.36 minutes, the mean time to be seen by physician (TBP) was 22.6 minutes and the mean length of stay (TLS) was 59 minutes. The data didn’t showed significant increase in TBT, TBP, and number of patients not seen at the proper time, referral rate and admission rate during weekend. Conclusion: The CTAS is adaptable to countries beyond Canada and worked properly. The applied CTAS triage system in Al-Yarmook UCC is considered to be effective and well applied. Overall, urgent cases have been seen by physician in timely manner according to triage system and there was no delay in the management of urgent cases.

Keywords: CTAS, emergency, Saudi Arabia, triage, urgent care

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Authors: S. U. Khan, T. Ayub, N. Shafiq

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The properties of locally produced metakaolin (MK) as cement replacing material and the comparison of reactivity with commercially available micro-silica have been investigated. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and load-deflection behaviour under bending are the properties that have been studied. The amorphous phase of MK with micro-silica was compared through X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. Further, interfacial transition zone of concrete with micro-silica and MK was observed through Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Three mixes of concrete were prepared. One of the mix is without cement replacement as control mix, and the remaining two mixes are 10% cement replacement with micro-silica and MK. It has been found that MK, due to its irregular structure and amorphous phase, has high reactivity with portlandite in concrete. The compressive strength at early age is higher with MK as compared to micro-silica. MK concrete showed higher splitting tensile strength and higher load carrying capacity as compared to control and micro-silica concrete at all ages respectively.

Keywords: metakaolin, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, load deflection, interfacial transition zone

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Authors: Zareen Khan

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Islamic Banking has experienced high growth in Pakistan in recent years and has successfully survived the economic downturn of 2009-2011. Despite the increase in branch network and expansion of services, it is unclear if Islamic banks are truly following the theory and practical application of Shariah Law. This paper explores the theological basis of Islamic finance and examines the discrepancies between the theory and practice of Islamic banking using Pakistan as a case study. It discusses areas where Islamic banks lack proper Shariah compliance and analyzes the financial weaknesses of Islamic banks in terms of the services offered. Furthermore, the paper offers plausible explanations for the clientele of Islamic banks. The case study has three major findings. Firstly, most of the employees of Islamic banks come from conventional banking backgrounds and the banks have to invest in additional trainings to specialize employees in Islamic Banking. Secondly despite the efforts of State Bank of Pakistan, there is a lack of accounting and auditing standards tailored for Islamic Banking. Thirdly, majority of the clients of Islamic banks in Pakistan are accustomed to conventional banking causing the bankers to “speak the conventional banking language.” Combined, these three factors can create gaps in the practical application of Islamic finance in Islamic banks in Pakistan.

Keywords: islamic finance, comparing theory with practice, islamic banking, Pakistan

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Authors: Nadiya Zahra Karimi, Amir Ghiami Rad

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The physical health of students from an early age and the proper formation of the musculoskeletal system of their body is part of the overall health of these people. Most chronic musculoskeletal problems and pains can be controlled and reduced with education at an early age. Therefore, with the correct and timely diagnosis of these abnormalities, we can play an important role in their proper treatment and control, and in a way, raise the level of quality of life and positive self-concept in students. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between erectile dysfunctions of the upper limbs (head and neck, shoulder, thoracic and lumbar) and the quality of life and self-concept of male students aged 7 to 10 years. The statical population of the study consists of 227 students of shahadat boys’ primary school in khajeh city. Due to the corona pandemic conditions, the research samples were identified after screening and available according to the entrance criteria of the study. To validate the quality of life, the valid WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire will be used for self-concept variables, Dolatabadi, Fatemeh (2007) questionnaire, and for physical screening, a checkerboard, plumb line, and flexible ruler will be used. There is a negative and significant relationship between the dimensions of upper limb anomalies and quality of life factors, and also there is a negative and significant relationship between the dimensions of upper limb anomalies and self-concept factors. The results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between head and neck abnormalities with quality of life and self-concept factors, with a significance level of less than 0.05 in male students aged 7 to 10 years.

Keywords: upper limb erectile dysfunction, quality of life, self-concept, erectile abnormalities

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Authors: Yasir Khan, Qiu Bin, Antonio-Mihi Ramirez

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This study determines the inflow of international students to China in recent years and the corresponding internationalization strategies in the higher education sector. China has placed attracting international students on in its plan along with the growing of global impact. Acknowledging the stable economy, growth rate, trade, lower renminbi rate, high wages, employment opportunities, high level income per capita, relative low taxes and political system consolidate to attract more international students. A large number of international students making a vast contribution to the higher education sector of China. Understanding the significance of education mission as well as of financial ‘bottom line’ the Chinese government gave great importance to invite more international students from worldwide. The large number of international students in the China has been particularly notable from Asian countries specifically neighboring countries, Pakistan, Thailand, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Magnolia, Malaysia, and Russia. This study summarizes internationalization of higher education in China and also provides directions for future research in this regard.

Keywords: international student mobility, 2020 Govt Planning, emerging market, internationalization of higher education

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Authors: Mazen Al-Bulaihed, Nissar Wani, Abdulrahman Al-Arainy, Yasin Khan

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Partial Discharge (PD) measurements are widely used for diagnostic purposes in electrical equipment used in power systems. The main cause of these measurements is to prevent large power failures as cables are prone to aging, which usually results in embrittlement, cracking and eventual failure of the insulating and sheathing materials, exposing the conductor and risking a potential short circuit, a likely cause of the electrical fire. Many distribution networks rely heavily on medium voltage (MV) power cables. The presence of joints in these networks is a vital part of serving the consumer demand for electricity continuously. Such measurements become even more important when the extent of dependence increases. Moreover, it is known that the partial discharge in joints and termination are difficult to track and are the most crucial point of failures in large power systems. This paper discusses the diagnostic techniques of four samples of XLPE insulated cable joints, each included with a different type of defect. Experiments were carried out by measuring PD and tanδ at very low frequency applied high voltage. The results show the importance of combining PD and tanδ for effective cable assessment.

Keywords: partial discharge, tan delta, very low frequency, XLPE cable

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Authors: K. Ali, M. F. Qamar, M. A. Zaman, M. Younus, I. Khan, S. Ehtisham-ul-Haque, R. Tamkeen, M. I. Rashid, Q. Ali

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This study centers on molecular identification of Haemonchus contortus and isolation of Benz-imidazoles (BZ) resistant strains. Different abattoirs’ of two geographic regions of Punjab (Pakistan) were frequently visited for the collection of worms. Out of 1500 (n=1500) samples that were morphologically confirmed as H. contortus, 30 worms were subjected to molecular procedures for isolation of resistant strains. Resistant worms (n=8) were further subjected to DNA gene sequencing. Bio edit sequence alignment editor software was used to detect the possible mutation, deletion, replacement of nucleotides. Genetic diversity was noticed and genetic variation existing in β-tubulin isotype 1 of the H. contortus population of small ruminants of different regions considered in this study. H. contortus showed three different type of genetic sequences. 75%, 37.5%, 25% and 12.5% of the studied samples showed 100% query cover and identity with isolates and clones of China, UK, Australia and other countries, respectively. Interestingly the neighbor countries such as India and Iran haven’t many similarities with the Pakistani isolates. Thus, it suggests that population density of same genetic makeup H. contortus is scattered worldwide rather than clustering in a single region.

Keywords: Haemonchus contortus, Benzimidazole resistant, β-tubulin-1 gene, abattoirs

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Authors: Amir Hossein Allahdadi

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The mystical and intuitive look of Islamic artists inspired by the Koranic and mystical principles and also based on the geometry and mathematics has left unique works whose range extends across the borders of Islam. The relationship between Islamic art and music in the traditional art is of one of the concepts that can be traced back to the other arts by detection of its components. One of the links is the art of painting whose subtleties that can be applicable to both architecture and music. So, architecture and music links can be traced in other arts with a traditional foundation in order to evaluate the equivalents of traditional arts. What is the relationship between physical space of architecture and nonphysical space of music? What is musical architecture? What is the music that tends to architecture? These questions are very small samples of the questions that arise in this category, and these questions and concerns remain as long as the music is played and the architecture is made. Efforts have been made in this area, references compiled and plans drawn. As an example, we can refer to views of ‘Mansour Falamaki’ in the book of architecture and music, as well as the book transition from mud to heart by ‘Hesamodin Seraj’. The method is such that a certain melody is given to an architect and it is tried to design a specified architecture using a certain theme. This study is not to follow the architecture of a particular type of music and the formation of a volume based on a sound. In this opportunity, it is tried to briefly review the relationship between music and architecture in the Iranian original and traditional arts, using the basic definitions of arts. The musician plays, the architect designs, the actor forms his desired space and painter displays his multi-dimensional world in the form of two-dimensions. The expression language is different, but all of them can be gathered in a form, a form which has no clear boundaries. In fact, in any original art, the artist applies his art as a tool to express his insights which are nothing but achieving the world beyond this place and time.

Keywords: architecture, music, geometric proportions, mathematical proportions

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Authors: Hammad Khan, Wookeun Bae

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The objective of this study was to optimize and control the highly loaded and efficient nitrite production having suitability for autotrophic and heterotrophic denitritation. A lab scale CSTR for partial and full nitritation was operated to treat the livestock manure digester liquor having an ammonium concentration of ~2000 mg-NH4+-N/L and biodegradable contents of ~0.8 g-COD/L. The experiments were performed at 30°C, pH: 8.0 DO: 1.5 mg/L and SRT ranging from 7-20 days. After 125 days operation, >95% nitrite buildup having the ammonium loading rate of ~3.2 kg-NH4+-N/m3-day was seen with almost complete ammonium conversion. On increasing the loading rate further (i.e. from 3.2-6.2 kg-NH4+-N/m3-day), stability of the system remained unaffected. On decreasing the pH from 8 to7.5 and further 7.2, removal rate can be easily controlled as 95%, 75% and even 50%. Results demonstrated that nitritation stability and desired removal rates are controlled by a balance of simultaneous inhibition by FA and FNA, pH affect and DO limitation. These parameters proved to be effective even to produce an appropriate influent for anammox. In addition, a mathematical model, identified through the occurring biological reactions, is proposed to optimize the full and partial nitritation process. The proposed model presents relationship between pH, ammonium and produced nitrite for full and partial nitritation under the varying concentrations of DO, and simultaneous inhibition by FA and FNA.

Keywords: stable nitritation, high loading, autrophic denitritation, hetrotrophic denitritation

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Authors: Nasiruddin Khan, Saud Iqbal

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Arabian Gulf region has undergone enormous development due to oil boom resulting in overwhelming changes in the lifestyle of the population over the past few decades. This study focused on food consumption patterns of Omani university students. Information, on anthropometric measurements, dietary intakes (measured by a food frequency questionnaire) of students was recorded. Anthropometric data revealed 62.5% of the subjects to be of normal weight and approximately 25% being overweight. Female students appeared to be more weight conscious than males. Dietary intakes in terms of servings (Mean ± S.D) per day among normal weight (BMI 18.5 – 24.9) males vs. females were approximately; cereals (7.5 ± 5.9 vs. 4.9 ± 2.9 servings), meat and alternatives (1.9 ± 0.9 vs. 1.5 ± 0.9 servings), dairy foods (0.9 ± 0.8 vs. 1.1 ± 0.9 servings) per day, respectively. Overall 55.3% of both males (average 1.9 servings) as well as females (average 1.7 servings) had severely inadequate intakes of vegetables on a daily basis as per the food guide pyramid recommendations. Only the fruit group intakes were adequate in about 70% of the population. Adequate intakes of dairy and meat and alternatives group were found in only 22% and 32% of the subjects, respectively. These results indicate a significant influence of a modern lifestyle on dietary habits and food selection of the target population.

Keywords: dietary pattern, food guide pyramid, lifestyle, Oman

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Authors: Muhammad Rizwan, Naveed Ahmad, Akhtar Naeem Khan

Abstract:

Seismic behavior factors are evaluated for the performance assessment of low rise reinforced concrete RC frame structures based on experimental study of unidirectional dynamic shake table testing of two 1/3rd reduced scaled two storey frames, with a code confirming special moment resisting frame (SMRF) model and a noncompliant model of similar characteristics but built in low strength concrete .The models were subjected to a scaled accelerogram record of 1994 Northridge earthquake to deformed the test models to final collapse stage in order to obtain the structural response parameters. The fully compliant model was observed with more stable beam-sway response, experiencing beam flexure yielding and ground-storey column base yielding upon subjecting to 100% of the record. The response modification factor - R factor obtained for the code complaint and deficient prototype structures were 7.5 and 4.5 respectively, which is about 10% and 40% less than the UBC-97 specified value for special moment resisting reinforced concrete frame structures.

Keywords: Northridge 1994 earthquake, reinforced concrete frame, response modification factor, shake table testing

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Authors: Muhammad Zubair Khan, Yugyung Lee

Abstract:

Deep learning has recently achieved enormous response in semantic image segmentation. The previously developed U-Net inspired architectures operate with continuous stride and pooling operations, leading to spatial data loss. Also, the methods lack establishing long-term pixels connection to preserve context knowledge and reduce spatial loss in prediction. This article developed encoder-decoder architecture with bi-directional LSTM embedded in long skip-connections and densely connected convolution blocks. The network non-linearly combines the feature maps across encoder-decoder paths for finding dependency and correlation between image pixels. Additionally, the densely connected convolutional blocks are kept in the final encoding layer to reuse features and prevent redundant data sharing. The method applied batch-normalization for reducing internal covariate shift in data distributions. The empirical evidence shows a promising response to our method compared with other semantic segmentation techniques.

Keywords: deep learning, semantic segmentation, image analysis, pixels connection, convolution neural network

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Authors: Hafiz Sajjad Hussain, Asad Razzaq

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The study aims to explore the relationship between application of speech and discourse used by the political workers and their leaders for maintaining authoritative approach and dialog power. The representation of these relationships between ideology and language in the analysis of discourse and spoken text following Van Dijk Socio-Cognitive model. Media and political leaders are two pillars of a state and their role is so important for development and effects on the society. Media has become an industry in the recent years in the globe, and especially, the private sector developed a lot in the last decade in Pakistan. Media is the easiest way of communication with the large community in a short time and used discourse independently. The prime time of the news channels in Pakistan presents the political programs on most favorite story or incident of the day. The current program broadcasted by a private channel ARY News July 6, 2014 covered the most top story of the day. The son of Ex. CJ Arslan Iftikhar moves an application to Election Commission of Pakistan about the daughter of the most popular political leader and chairman PTI Imran Khan. This movement turns the whole scenario of the political parties and media got a hot issue form discussion. This study also shows that the ideology and meanings which are presented by the TV channels not always obvious for readers.

Keywords: electronic media, political discourse, ideology of media, power, authoritative approach

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Authors: Muhammad Jamil, Ning He, Aqib Mashood Khan, Munish Kumar Gupta

Abstract:

Ti-6Al-4V has numerous applications in the medical, automobile, and aerospace industries due to corrosion resistivity, structural stability, and chemical inertness to most fluids at room temperature. These peculiar characteristics are beneficial for their application and present formidable challenges during machining. Machining of Ti-6Al-4V produces an elevated cutting temperature above 1000oC at dry conditions. This accelerates tool wear and reduces product quality. Therefore, there is always a need to employ sustainable/effective coolant/lubricant when machining such alloy. In this study, Finite Element Modeling (FEM) and experimental analysis when cutting Ti-6Al-4V under a distinctly developed dry ice mixed hybrid lubri-coolant are presented. This study aims to model the milling process of Ti-6Al-4V under a proposed novel hybrid lubri-coolant using different cutting speeds and feed per tooth DEFORM® software package was used to conduct the FEM and the numerical model was experimentally validated. A comparison of experimental and simulation results showed a maximum error of no more than 6% for all experimental conditions. In a nutshell, it can be said that the proposed model is effective in predicting the machining temperature precisely.

Keywords: friction coefficient, heat transfer, finite element modeling (FEM), milling Ti-6Al-4V

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Authors: Ajeevan Gautam, Gulam Anwer Khan, Pratibha Pokhrel

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Introduction: Dermatoglyphics is the science which deals with the study of dermal ridge configuration on the digits, palms and soles. It is grooved by ridges and forms variety of configurations. The aim of the study was to identify dermal ridge patterns on fingertip of hypertensive patients and in normal population and to compare patterns among them. Methods: The subjects of the study were 130 hypertensives and 130 non-hypertensives cases of Kathmandu Valley aged between 40 to 80 years. Case history was recorded after consent finger prints were taken. Different parameters as whorl, loop, arch and composite patterns were studied and analysed. Result: It revealed, increased whorl pattern in hypertensive. It showed 65.69% whorl, 29.23% loop and 5.07% arch patterns in right hand of hypertensive people. In control, it was found to be 34.46% whorl, 58.15% loop and 5.38% arch patterns respectively. Similarly in left hand 63.69% whorl, 32% loop and 4.30% arch in hypertensive group. In control group it was 60.15% as loop, 35.69% as whorl and 15% as arch. Discussion: Based on findings of the result, it was concluded that the whorl, loop and arch patterns observed as 65.69%, 29.23% and 5.07% respectively in hypertensive cases in right hand. Similarly in left hand, it was found to be 4.30% as arch, 32% as loop and 63.69% as whorl patterns, but in normotensive subjects these patterns were recorded as 36.43%, 58.15%, 5.38% in right hand and 35.69%, 60.15%, 4.15% in left hand as whorl, loop and arch respectively.

Keywords: arch, dermatoglyphics, hypertension, loop, whorl

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Authors: Hammad Khan, Wookeun Bae

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to achieve, optimize and control the highly loaded and efficient nitrite production having suitability for autotrophic and heterotrophic denitritation. A lab scale CSTR for partial and full nitritation was operated to treat the livestock manure digester liquor having an ammonium concentration of ~2000 mg-NH4+-N/L and biodegradable contents of ~0.8 g-COD/L. The experiments were performed at 30°C, pH: 8.0, DO: 1.5 mg/L and SRT ranging from 7-20 days. After 125 days operation, >95% nitrite buildup having the ammonium loading rate of ~3.2 kg-NH4+-N/m3-day was seen with almost complete ammonium conversion. On increasing the loading rate further (i-e, from 3.2-6.2 kg-NH4+-N/m3-day), stability of the system remained unaffected. On decreasing the pH from 8 to 7.5 and further 7.2, removal rate can be easily controlled as 95%, 75% and even 50%. Results demonstrated that nitritation stability and desired removal rates are controlled by a balance of simultaneous inhibition by FA & FNA, pH affect and DO limitation. These parameters proved to be effective even to produce an appropriate influent for anammox. In addition, a mathematical model, identified through the occurring biological reactions, is proposed to optimize the full and partial nitritation process. The proposed model present relationship between pH, ammonium and produced nitrite for full and partial nitritation under the varying concentrations of DO, and simultaneous inhibition by FA and FNA.

Keywords: stable nitritation, high loading, autrophic denitritation, hetrotrophic denitritation

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