2,241 research outputs found
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Regime and Growth of the Baloch Nationalism in 1970s
No full textZulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the first elected prime minister of Pakistan His initial strategy of accommodation and power sharing with the regionalists in Balochistan had a positive impact on the national politics The regionalists started to distance themselves from secessionist tendencies However the policy of pacification was short-lived The central government instead of addressing political conflicts with consensus resorted to undemocratic means The process of democratization in Balochistan was disrupted and the provincial government was dissolved The autonomists were sidelined and were dubbed as anti-state elements The extremists within the autonomists fold were infuriated and started the armed insurgency The central government launched an army operation to cope with insurgents Bhutto s regime marked a tendency towards executive despotism Despite provincial government s alleged defiance of federal authority the central government could have treated them with patience and tolerance visualizing the sensitivity of the Balochistan crisi
Tombstones of Fallen Heroes
No full textThis paper is based on fieldwork which I carried out in Sindh, Pakistan, from December 2007 to February 2008. The main objective of the study was to document and delineate two graveyards and their contents which are located in two different districts of Sindh, one in Thatta and the other in Tando Muhammad Khan. After discussing the origin of the term ‘chaukhandi’ as applied to a type of tombs present in the area I present the two graveyards, discussing the meanings of motifs that decorate the tombstones in both places. I also discuss the role of the tribes associated with these graveyards in the tribal history of Sindh and the battles in which they displayed their heroism.Chaukhandi, Sindh, tombstone decoration, tribal history
The construction of walkway slab for MRT Station at Kepong, Kuala Lumpur / Amreel Zulfiqar Muhammad Taslim
No full textWalkway slab is a walkway that has been formed by using concrete and generally contains steel reinforcement either by rebar or steel fiber and also can be formed in situ or prefabricated. Usually walkway slab is around 50mm-60mm minimum thick but they also can reach until 70mm thick depending on the surrounding and reinforcement. There are two ways of construct the walkway slab which is precast and in situ depending on suitability. However, this report will discuss the construction of walkway slab for MRT Station at Kepong, Kuala Lumpur. The objectives of this report are mainly focused on the method of construction of concrete walkway slab and machineries and tools that needed to construct the concrete walkway slab, and lastly identifying the advantages and disadvantages of concrete walkway slab. There are 5 stages of constructing in situ walkway slab that starts from backfilling and end up with finishing. Data and information was collected through observation on site, research from document contract and interview with the person that in-charge in that construction. Method that used during construction work was necessary as it defined the efficiency of the working progress of the construction
The Slow Path Needs an Accelerator Too!
No full textPacket-processing data planes have been continuously enhanced in performance over the last few years to the point that, nowadays, they are increasingly implemented in hardware (i.e., in SmartNICs and programmable switches). However, little attention is given to the slow path residing between the data plane and the control plane, as it is not typically considered performance-critical.
In this paper, we show that the slow path is set to become a new key bottleneck in Software-Defined Networks (SDNs). This is due to the growth in physical network bandwidth (200 Gbps is becoming common in data centers) and topological complexity (e.g., virtual switches now span hundreds of physical machines). We present our vision of a new Domain Specific Accelerator (DSA) for the slow path at the end host that sits between the hardware-offloaded data plane and the logically-centralized control plane. We discuss open problems in this domain and call on the networking community to creatively address this emerging issue
Melatonin induces proline, secondary metabolites, sugars and antioxidants activity to regulate oxidative stress and ROS scavenging in salt stressed sword lily
No full textSword lily is regarded as a useful and commercially demanding cut flower crop; hence, assessing its responses to abiotic stress, particularly salt stress, is vital. Melatonin (MT) exhibits stress tolerance in crop plants and is an emerging stress relieving alternative to chemicals. Nevertheless, the possible process underlying the effects of MT under salt stress has yet to be fully elucidated in plants. Herein, the salt stress (SS) mitigation potential of MT was assessed in a commercially important cut flower, sword lily. Melatonin, expressed as MT1, MT2, MT3, and MT4, was administered at concentrations of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 mM. The results revealed that SS (5 dS m−1) restricted the growth and physiological aspects of sword lily. Furthermore, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), membrane permeability, endogenous proline, and soluble protein contents were enhanced in SS. MT application improved morphological traits, photosynthetic pigments, and corm traits. The application of MT mitigated the effects of SS stress in Gladiolus grandiflorus plants by improving growth and photosynthetic pigments. MT application under SS improved the reducing and non-reducing sugar and NPK contents of the sword lily. Furthermore, MT improved the levels of secondary metabolites, such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, and ascorbic acid, in sword lily. Moreover, MT supplementation ameliorated salt-induced oxidative stress in the gladiolus, as depicted by a decrease in stress markers (EL, MDA, and H2O2) and an increase in defense-related enzymes (POD, CAT, and SOD) with highest increase in the MT3 treatment under salinity stress. The SOD and CAT enzyme activities were 3–3.6-fold higher in the MT3 under stress than the control. In conclusion, MT applications on cut flowers can be an effective strategy to reduce salt stress and can be used to regulate salinity stress in cut flower production. MT can be used as a safe alternative to other agrochemicals to maintain the growth and flower quality of sword lilies, with beneficial effects during vase life
Influence of interlayer functionalization of kaolinite on property profile of copolymer nanocomposites
No full textNanocomposites of co-poly (vinyl chloride-polyvinyl acetate-polyvinyl alcohol) (PVC-PVAc-PVA) and kaolinite were prepared via solution intercalation technique. To improve compatibility among the phases and to expand the interlayer basal spacing, kaolinite was modified using dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as a swelling agent. The influence of kaolinite dispersion and interaction between the disparate phases on the properties of nanocomposites were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), mechanical testing, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and water absorption measurements. IR data confirmed the hydrogen bonds formed between DMSO and the surface hydroxyl groups of kaolinite. XRD and microscopic results revealed that clay mineral was intercalated with uniform dispersion at nanoscale in the matrix. Tensile testing of these materials indicated significant improvements in the mechanical properties relative to the pure copolymer. Incorporation of kaolinite into the organic phase enhanced the thermal stability of the nanocomposites. Water absorption of the nanomaterials was reduced upon the addition of modified kaolinite rendering decreased permeability with increasing dispersibility of clay mineral in the copolymer matrix. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
The financial stress spillover: Evidence from selected Asian countries
No full textThe objective of the study is to analyze financial stress spillover among selected Asian countries, namely, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and India for the period from Jan 2001 to Dec 2009. The financial stress is measured by Financial Stress Index (FSI), a specially designed comprehensive measure of financial stress. The methodology of Yimlam 2012 is adopted for analyzing dynamics of variance decomposition among countries using FSI for the selected countries. The results of the study confirm that China and Pakistan are the largest transmitters of spillover towards other selected countries. Also the net spillover of China and Pakistan indicated to be positive whereas all other countries show up negative net spillovers. The economic and geographic linkages are suggested to be responsible for influencing magnitude of spillover among selected countries. Finally, the response of each country to shocks in other countries is found to be positive
Renewable Energy Maximization for Pelagic Islands Network of Microgrids Through Battery Swapping Using Deep Reinforcement Learning
No full textPolypyrrole Decorated Mechanically Robust Conductive Nanocomposites via Solution Blending and in Situ Polymerization Techniques
No full textPolypyrrole grafted polystyrene-b-poly (ethylene-ran-butylene)-b-polystyrene (SEBS-g-PPy)/multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) conductive nanocomposites were fabricated using two different approaches. The approach of system-I involved primarily the grafting of PPy on SEBS and its subsequent composites with nanotubes. In system-II in situ polymerization/grafting of PPy on SEBS was carried out along with MWCNTs yielding nanomaterials. Presynthesized SEBS-g-PPy and nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, NMR, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. The pi-pi stacking interactions between PPy of SEBS-g-PPy and MWCNTs rendered ample dispersion of the nanotubes in system-II relative to system-I. The electrical conductivity and tensile data showed improvement in these properties of nanocomposites and that system-II nanocomposites can sustain higher stresses, is stiffer, and can absorb more energy before breaking. Thermal stability of both the systems was improved relative to the matrices, and decomposition temperatures were found to increase from 437 to 568 degrees C. Relative improvement in electrical, thermal and tensile properties were observed for system-II nanocomposites rather than for system-I nanocomposites.
Amidoxime porous polymers for CO2 capture
No full textCO2 capture from fossil fuel based electricity generation remains costly since new power plants with monoethanol amine (MEA) as the scrubbing agent are under construction. Amidoximes are known to mimic MEA, and porous polymers with amidoximes could offer a sustainable solution to carbon capture. Here we report the first amidoxime porous polymers (APPs) where aromatic polyamides (aramids) having amidoxime pendant groups were synthesized through low temperature condensation of 4,4'-oxydianiline (ODA) and p-phenylene diamine (p-PDA) with a new type of nitrile-bearing aromatic diacid chloride. The nitrile pendant groups of the polyamides were converted to an amidoxime functionality by a rapid hydroxylamine addition (APP-1 and APP-2). The CO2 adsorption capacities of these polyamides were measured at low pressure (1 bar) and two different temperatures (273 and 298 K) and high pressure (up to 225 bar - the highest measuring pressure to date) at 318 K. The low pressure CO2 uptake of APP-1 was found to be 0.32 mmol g(-1) compared with APP-2 (0.07 mmol g(-1)) at 273 K, whereas at high pressure they showed a substantial increase in CO2 adsorption capacity exhibiting 24.69 and 11.67 mmol g(-1) for APP-1 and APP-2 respectively. Both aramids were found to be solution processable, enabling membrane applications
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