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Modeling the Rice Land Suitability Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Approach in Sindh, Pakistan
Get PDFThe objective of this research was to evaluate rice land suitability in Sindh, Pakistan, by designing GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) spatial model to aggregate interdisciplinary aspects including factors of soil physical and chemical properties, ground water quality, soil pH, agro-ecological zones, canal command area and temperature. A constraint map of water bodies was also utilized in this model. On the basis of these parameters,standardized raster maps were created, and then Pair-Wise Comparison Matrix (PWCM) of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was developed to calculate significant weights by means of Principal Eigen vector by Saaty’s method, with accepted Consistency Ratio (CR) of 0.10. Furthermore, Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) employing Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) aggregated all the suitability maps to yield rice land suitability map. Final output map of this work demonstrated 30.2% increase in area suitable for rice cultivation with an increased production of 14,716,592.17 tonnes as compared to existing rice practices in Sindh. This increase in the area and production of the potential land shows the capability of our novel model and offers an opportunity to improve cultivation by providing the much required information at local level that could benefit farmers, vision scientists and decision makers to select appropriate cropping site and agricultural planning making the best use of available data
Influence of Metal ions, Surfactants and Organic Solvents on the Catalytic Performance of Levansucrase from Zymomonas mobilis KIBGE-IB14
Get PDFA significant progress has been made in discovering and developing new bacterial polysaccharides producing enzymes possessing extremely functional properties. Levan is a natural polymer of fructose linked by β (2→6) glycosidic bond which is produced by transfructosylation reaction in the presence of levansucrase. Among wide range of microorganisms, Zymomonas mobilis is considered as the most promising candidate for the production of extracellular levansucrase. It has potential applications in multiple industries from pharmaceutics, cosmetics to food industries. Determination of levansucrase characteristics is necessary to increase its industrial applications. This concept has directed much interest towards enzyme characterization by observing its effects against different chemicals. The present investigation focused on the characterization of levansucrase by observing its behavior with reference to different metal ions, surfactants and organic solvents. The results showed that these chemicals acted as activators, inhibitors or stabilizers. In metal ions, different activators (K+, Na+, Cs+, Ba+2, Ca+2, Cu+2, Mg+2 and Mn+2 ) and inhibitors (Co+2, Hg+2 , Fe+3and Al+3) were investigated. Among them, Hg+2 found to be strong inhibitor as it inhibits enzyme activity by 92% at 1 mM. Non-ionic surfactants i.e. triton X-100, tween-20 and tween-80 considered as stabilizers while anionic surfactant such as sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) inhibited the enzyme activity by 11%. Moreover, ethanol and methanol stabilized the enzyme activity while other solvents observed as inhibitors or stimulators
Integration of Telecom Databases with Geodatabase Model for The Effective Telecom Network Management Through Geo-Informatics
Get PDFA significant technological advancement and enhanced telecom networks, immensely evolving telecom industry around the globe. Very tough competition, financial and inventory controls have necessitated telecom companies to maximum utilization of installed telecom network and provide high quality of uninterrupted service to the customers. In this paper we describe the integrated geodatabase model offering solution to the problem of telecom operations, network infrastructure management, optimized network planning, and business operation in telecom sector. It is based on integration of telecom operations, business, parcel base data and base map of Misri Shahtelephone exchange service area. Telecom data usually maintained by different | department in scattered form consequently many operational and business related activities especially network planning and management requires optimized platform to handle all telecom issues systematically.GIS is widely recommended to meet the requirements of telecom industry. A well designed rigorous GIS data models not only supports standard GIS functions but also supports to model telecom network up to port level competently. These models instantiated on the map provide a geographical representation of the physical telecom network and those supports several operational and business functions right from customer contact, service order, network planning, engineering and many other functional areas.This paper will examine various techniques and methodologies for model telecommunication network and integration of databases for the effective management of telecom network infrastructure with spatial context of operational and business perspectives
Exploring the Properties of Recycled Tyre Rubber for Flexible Asphalt Pavement
Get PDFIn consideration of the issue related to the poor performance of asphalt pavements against climatic stresses and the need to contribute to the solution of the ever-increasing environmental hazards, the study paved the way for the recognition of using waste tyre as an asphalt binder modifier for pavement construction to settle the rising issue on waste disposal, while also improving the pavement properties.A series of experiments were conducted using different levels of recycled tyre rubber (RTR) substituted in asphalt binder. Marshall Stability and Marshall Immersion test were selected as basis to evaluate the properties. The results of experiments conducted on Marshall Mix samples demonstrated that stability of the pavements increased in a quadratic fashion with increasing fraction of RTR, and were found to be maximum at 10% rubber in asphalt mix, contributing an average enhancement of approximately 35% as compared to the conventional pavements. Furthermore, retained stability of samples was found to increase with increasing ratio of rubber substituted, making it a suitable candidate for modification in highly humid and rainy areas
Emergence of Karachi as the Largest Industrial Region of Pakistan
Get PDFThe analysis based on the data published by the CMI (2005-06) remarkably brings out the outstanding position of Karachi as the largest industrial center of the country. Though the industrial development is spreading fast in other districts, Karachi continues to expand as the largest manufacturing region with unabated prospects and potential for further growth in the near future, since new areas in Karachi Division are being developed for export-oriented industry and hi-tech manufacturing. The high value addition in Karachi is a distinctive trend. McCarty’s measure of excess value added has been employed to ascertain the rank of Karachi as an apex industrial district in Pakistan
Characterization of Elite Upland Cotton Genotypes for Earliness and Yield Traits
Get PDFShort duration cotton genotypes increased the chances to harvest crop before cold and rainy weather conditions. However, earliness in cotton is a difficult character, which is assessed by determining many plant traits. The current experimental was conducted at Cotton Section, A.R.I. Tando Jam, during kharif season 2013. The eight cotton genotypes including CRIS-342, Sindh-I, Haridost, Malmal, Bt-121, Bt-3701, TS-501 and Shahbaz were sown i n randomized complete block design with four replications. In a total, seven quantitative traits were measured such as days to first flowering, node number to set first sympodial branch, node number to set first flowering, sympodial branch length (cm), sympodial branches plant-1, number of bolls plant-1, seed cotton yield plant-1(g). The mean squares from analysis of variances showed that genotypes differed significant (P 0.01) for all the studied traits, demonstrating a vast genetic variability in tested genotypes. The genotypes, Sindh-1, CRIS-342, Bt-121 and Bt-3701 were characterized as early maturing or short duration cotton varieties. However, the correlation between yield and earliness traits were best criteria for developing the short duration cotton yield varieties
Analysis of Correlation and Regression among M2 Wheat Mutant Population for Yield and its Associated Traits
Get PDFCrop yield is the resultant product of components character which is not under the control of any single gene, therefore it is necessary for plant breeder to know the relationship between two traits. The present research was conducted to calculate the correlation and regression for yield and yield contributing traits in mutant population of bread wheat. The experiment was conducted at Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA), Tandojam, during rabi season 2015-2016, in split plot design with three replications. Material under study was two wheat varieties (T.D-1 and ESW-9525). These two wheat varieties were evaluated along with control for yield and yield associated traits under normal field conditions. Mean square showed that there were significant differences between wheat varieties for days to 75% heading, days to 75% maturity, plant height (cm), spikelets spike-1, grains spike-1, 1000 grain weight (g), biological yield plant-1 (g), harvest index (%), spike length (cm) and grain yield plant-1 (g). Number of grains spike-1 showed positive and highly significant correlation with spike length, spikelets spike-1, 1000 grain weight and biological yield of plant-1. Significant and positive with days to 75% maturity and harvest index. However, negative correlation was found with height of plant and non-significant but negative with the trait of days to 75% heading. Grain yield plant-1 showed highly positive highly significant association with grains spike-1, number of spikelets spike-1, length of spike, harvest index and biological yield plant-1 and negative with plant height. Approximately 85.9%, 65.2%, 59% and 24.3% variation in grain yield plant-1 is due to grains spike-1, biological yield plant-1, harvest seed index and height of plant, respectively. This shows that taller plants produce lesser grain yield
Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Three Districts of Sindh in Pakistan
Get PDFThis study was conducted to record cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in human beings from three districts i.e., Dadu, Hyderabad and Jamshoro in Sindh, Pakistan. A total number of 102 subjects of different age and sex groups were put under investigation. Ninety four (92.157%) were found positive for cutaneous leishmaniasis. The highest leishmaniasis infection (41%) was recorded in 21-30 years’ age group. The prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis was higher in males, (56%) than in females, (44%). The active lesion was more frequent on face (35%), on legs (26%) and on hands (25%) than other exposed parts of the body. Forty five percent of cutaneous leishmaniasis case were recorded in Dadu, 35 percent in Hyderabad, and 20 percent in Jamshoro
Effect of Natural Enemy (Chrysoperla carnea Stephens) against Sucking Insect Pests of Okra
No full textAn experiment effect of natural enemy (Chrysoperla carnea Stephens.) against sucking insect pests of Okra was carried out at Latif Farm, Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam during 2014.The results showed that overall maximum mean population of jassids (1009.5 ± 78.12/plant) was recorded in pre-treatment treated plot followed by thrips (706.17 ± 34.26/plant), mites (572.5± 33.00/plant) and whiteflies (209.83 ± 19.76/plant) respectively. Whereas, the overall maximum mean population of jassids (1322.44 ± 8.6/plant6) was recorded in pre-treatment control plot, followed by thrips (828.05 ± 6.77/plant), mites (640.55 ± 5.95/plant) and whiteflies (267.38 ± 4.74/plant) respectively. However, the overall maximum mean of jassids (434.27 ± 4.91/plant) were recorded in post-treatment control plot, followed by thrips (278.11 ± 3.93/plant), mites (134.11 ± 2.63/plant) and whiteflies (18.83 ± 0.99/plant), respectively. The results further revealed that the statistical analysis of data through paired T-test between treated and control plot of jassids, whiteflies, thrips and mites showed significantly different at (P<0.05) level. Whereas, the statistical analysis of data through paired T-test between pre-treatment and post-treatment of jassids, whiteflies, thrips and mites also showed significantly different at (P <0.05) level
Histological Assessment of Pioglitazone Preventive Effect in Glycerol Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Rats
Get PDFContrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) remains as a problem of radiographic procedures with high incidence and mortality rates. This study aims to histologically assess the ability of Iohexol to induce nephropathy in rats injected with Glycerol; then investigate the Pioglitazone renoprotective effect on this CIN model in rats. 35 male Albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=7/group): healthy (A), Glycerol (B), Glycerol+ Iohexol (C), Glycerol + Iohexol + Pioglitazone (D), Pioglitazone alone (E). Groups (B), (C), and (D) were intramuscularly injected with Glycerol 25% (10 ml/kg). Iohexol (350 mg I/ml, 8,6 ml/kg) was injected through a caudal vein in groups (C) and (D). Pioglitazone (10 mg/kg) was orally administered for 4 days, to groups (D) and (E). Rats were sacrificed on the fifth day. Kidney samples were collected for histological assessment. The results show that the histopathological scores and kidney weight / body weight ratio in group (C), were significantly increased compared with group (B) and (A). These changes were significantly reversed in rats treated with Pioglitazone (group D).In conclusion, Iohexol could cause renal injury in rat kidneys previously damaged by Glycerol. Pioglitazone was able to protect the kidneys from histological alterations