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Assessment the Quality of Life in Karachi City through the Integration of Space and Spatial Technologies
Get PDFThis study is an attempt to map and measure the quality of life in the urban area of Karachi, Pakistan, by using Landsat-7 sensor, Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) combined with Census data through the state-of-the-art Geographic Information System (GIS). For this purpose, the physical environment of the city is determined by the variables of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), surface temperature and land cover/use. These are extracted from the satellite image data through various techniques of remote sensing. On the other hand, the socioeconomic variables were obtained from the 2000 Karachi District Census Reports, to represent the living environment of the city. Finally, the integration of the physical variables with the socioeconomic variables was conducted in a GIS framework using an aggregated Z Sum score approach, in order to derive the quality of life scores for the city of Karachi on the basis of Administrative-Spatial Units called Union Councils (UCs). The results effectively demonstrated the efficiency of the Index raster techniques to evaluate and map the quality of life over the study area. In addition, the GIS techniques also isolated the contributing variables that may be responsible for the spatial variability in the quality of life
Delineation of Water Logging and Salinity for Salvaging Built Environment
Get PDFMillions of acres of splendidly productive land and valuable infrastructure are deteriorated continuously. The reason for such deterioration in majority of areas is mainly due to water logging and salinity. Rise of water table level and the dearth of drainage and lack of continuous monitoring and timely remedial measures, extended the circle of devastation to historical heritage and precious archeological sites as well.
Mohenjo-Daro has been selected for this study, it has global significance but due to water logging and salinity, it is in danger of total destruction. The archeological buildings and other infrastructure and land in its environs are being gradually eroded by the capillary rise of saline ground the intensity of which constitutes a serious threat.
For delineating and periodic monitoring of the salinity and waterlogging and to effectively implement the appropriate remedies, use of the latest technologies is essential. In this study the remote sensing technologies are used to address this issue with the help of Soil investigation parameters mainly EC and pH.
The aftermaths of this study would provide a methodological framework along with practical application in delineation saline areas using satellite technology. The final value-added products of this research would be useful for all interested stakeholders including conservationists, environmentalists, archeologists, planners and decision-makers at various levels. The international community at large would be the beneficiary of this study since Mohenjo-Daro is the heritage of entire mankind
Structural and Phylogenetic Profiles of Muscle Actins from Cephalopods
Get PDFStructural properties of cephalopod muscle actins have not been characterized in detail to date. Sequences of these actins have been determined by cDNA cloning from the arm muscles of four cephalopod species, namely, Japanese common squid Todarodes pacificus, spear squid Loligo bleekeri, common cuttlefish Sepia esculenta, and common octopus Octopus vulgaris. The sequence identities of the deduced amino acid sequences among the cephalopod actins were around 98%, and the substitutions were mostly limited to Subdomains 1 and 3. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that cephalopod actins formed one cluster and were distinguishable from the bivalve counterparts. The modeled tertiary structure of squid actin was very similar to that of rabbit counterpart, but the structures of Subdomains 1 and 3 were slightly different
Microwave Assisted Reduction for Screening Banned Aromatic Amines in Azo Dyes
Get PDFThe study proposes a simple, novel and green alternative for the efficient reduction of azo dyes by the standard method, EN 14362-1:2012 (Annex. F) for detection of harmful aromatic amines in colorants, by incorporating microwave heating in place of convective heating. Basic dye response to reduction methods was explored by UV-visible spectroscopy and the results were confirmed through GC-MS and HPLC-DAD. Four azo dyes namely Acid red 1 (AR-1), Direct blue 15 (DB-15), Direct red 28 (DR-28) and Direct red 7 (DR-7) were reduced with sodium dithionite at 70 °C for 30 min in a buffered solution at pH 6.0, serving as a reference method. The decline in dye absorbance after their reduction was explored by UV-visible spectroscopy with carefully chosen bands of maximum absorbance from 300 to 700 nm. The alternative method exposed dye solutions to short microwave heating (10 s) and immediate cooling, in cycles till the desired duration of microwave heating was achieved. Results obtained from reference method were used for comparison with MAR (experimental method 1). Most prominent results of MAR were observed in the case of DR-28 dye. Hence DR-28 was further subjected to the conditions of experimental method 2, which was simply EN 14362-1:2012 (F) method modified with MAR. For standard method and experimental method 2, amines were analysed by GC-MS and HPLC-DAD. MAR methods were compared with reference and standard reduction methods for efficiencies. The total saving with MAR in terms of time and energy was ~70% and ~92% respectively
The Effect of Chronic Alcohol Intoxication on the Daily Rhythm of Some Micromorphometric Parameters of Rat Hepatocytes
Get PDFThe effect of chronic alcohol intoxication on the daily rhythm of micromorphometric parameters characterizing the morphological and functional state of the liver is studied on 80 male Wistar rats of 6 months age, divided into 2 equal groups. The first group served as control; rats of the second group (experiment) were kept under similar conditions but got as a drink a 15% ethanol solution ad libitum instead of water. After three weeks of the experiment, animals were euthanized consistently at four-time points during the day. The pathomorphological study of the liver was carried out, the daily dynamics of the nucleus and cell (by area and nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio (NCR)), ploidy of mononuclear hepatocytes, and the proportion of binuclear hepatocytes were measured. The reliability of circadian rhythm (CR) was determined by cosinor analysis. The study indicates complex changes in the organization of rhythmostasis in the experiment. The chrono-destructive effect of experimental alcohol intoxication on the CR of the cell and NCR, as well as the chronomodulating effect to the CR of the nucleus are established. The effect of ethanol on the CR of ploidy and the number of binuclear hepatocytes, as well as on the nature of their variation at the studied time points is established. An increase in the ploidy of hepatocytes and an in the number of binuclear cells is revealed, which indicates the beginning of the deployment of adaptive-compensatory reactions in the organ
Dosimetry Characterization of Unknown Dye Polyvinyl Alcohol Films
Get PDFIn the present study chemical dosimeters having aqueous solutions of crystal violet commercial dye were irradiated by Co60 γ source in the range (0-120)KGy. The standard aqueous solutions were scanned by UV/VIS spectrophotometer for the determination of maximum wave length (λmax) which was found to be 591nm at this value maximum absorbance was found to be 3.5; it was also observed that with increase in dose, absorbance decreases correspondingly. At this value, the absorbance (A) of irradiated samples was measured in UV region. The plot between concentration C and A gave approximate linear relationship and hence verified Beer’s Law which proved that these dye solutions can satisfactorily be used as the dye dosimeters in 0-120kGy gamma dose range
Frequency of Vitamin B12 and Red Cell Folate Deficiency in Macrocytic Anaemia
Get PDFBackground: Macrocytosis refers to a condition in which red blood cells are larger than normal, with or without anemia. Macrocytic anemia occur due to variety of illnesses and requires further clinical and laboratory assessment. Both folate and vitamin B12 have been known to cause macrocytic anemia since the deficiencies of these two vitamins are very common in Pakistan, it would be imperative to investigate their role in causing megaloblastic anemia.Objective: To determine the frequency of vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies in cases of macrocytic anemia.Material and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the | department of medicine of Abbasi Shaheed hospital from January 2012 to June 2012. A total of 95 patients (65 males and 30 females) with an age of above 13 years, who admitted with macrocytic anemia (MCV>96) with hemoglobin < 12 mg/dl in females and < 13 mg/dl in males were enrolled and data pertaining to complete blood count, serum level of vitamin B12 and RBC folate were analyzed. Result: A total of 95 patients (65 males and 30 females) with hemoglobin < 12 mg/dl in females and < 13 mg/dl in males were taken. Mostly were non vegetarian and majority of the patients belongs to age group of 34-54 years. It was found that 69 patients (48 males and 21 females) from total of 95 had vitamin B12 deficiency which is 72.6% and 43 patients (20 males and 23 females) from total of 95 had folate deficiency which is 45.26%.Conclusion: Our study concludes that vitamin B12 is a major contributing factor of macrocytic anemia in our population. Dietary insufficiency, poor absorption and increase demand might be contributing to high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in our population. Therefore our medical community should seriously consider the merit of early screening for vitamin B12 deficiency and take precautions against the clinical consequences of vitamin B12 deficiency
Proteomic Analysis of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) by Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis and Mass Spectrometry
Get PDFThe modern cultivated common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) has evolved from wild common beans distributed in Central America, Mexico and the Andean region of South America. It has been reported that wild common bean accessions have higher levels of protein content than the domesticated dry bean cultivars. However, there is limited proteomic analysis of wild or domesticated common beans. In this investigation, we reported a proteomic analysis of a wild bean from Mexico. We utilized the TCA/Acetone method for protein extraction, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) for protein separation, and subsequent mass spectrometry (MS) for protein identification. Proteins were separated in the first dimension using pH range from 4-7. A total of 237 protein spots from the second dimension were isolated, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by MALDI/TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. We identified 141 protein spots by searching NCBI non redundant databases using the Mascot search engine and found a total of 43 unique proteins. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was employed to understand the molecular processes in which the identified common bean proteins are involved. The majority of proteins are involved in binding (41.5%) and catalytic activity (35.8%), followed by nutrient reservoir activity (7.5%), antioxidant activity (1.9%), transporter activity (3.8%), enzyme regulator activity (3.8%), structural molecule activity (1.9%), and electron carrier activity (3.8%). The results indicate that TCA/Acetone extraction and 2D-PAGE is efficient in separating common bean proteins. Further identification of these proteins by MS demonstrates the quality of this protein extraction method. These results will be useful for the development of value added common beans by alteration of protein components
A Review on the Mechanical Behavior of Size-Dependent Beams and Plates using the Nonlocal Strain-Gradient Model
Get PDFNowadays, the mechanical characteristics of micro-/nano-structures in the various types of engineering disciplines are considered as remarkable criteria which may restrict the performance of small-scale structures in the reality for a certain application. This paper deals with a comprehensive review pertinent to using the nonlocal strain-gradient continuum mechanics model of size-dependent micro-/nano-beams/-plates. According to the non-classical features of materials, using size-dependent continuum mechanics theories is mandatory to investigate accurately the mechanical characteristics of the micro-/nano-structures. Recently, the number of researches related to the analysis of micro-/nano-structures with various geometry including beams as well as plates is considerable. In this regard, the mechanical behavior of these structures induced by different loadings such as vibration, wave propagation, and buckling behavior associated with the nonlocal strain-gradient continuum mechanics model is presented in this review work. Proposing the most valuable literature pertinent to the nonlocal strain-gradient continuum mechanics theory of micro-/nano-beams/plates is the main objective of this detailed survey