193 research outputs found
Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf
No full textThis article explores the struggle for judicial power in Pakistan under Pervez Musharraf focusing on two questions. First, how did pro‐Musharraf regime judges expand judicial power, leading to a confrontation with the regime? Second, how did the bar and the bench mobilize in the struggle for judicial power? The author shows how, instead of blindly supporting economic liberalization in a period of economic growth, the Supreme Court expanded power by scrutinizing questionable urban development, privatization, and deregulation measures in a virtuous cycle of public interest litigation. The author also describes how a politics of reciprocity explains the social mobilization of lawyers as the bench protected the bar from regime penetration, and the bar protected the bench from regime backlash. The Pakistani case questions some of our assumptions about economic liberalization and courts in authoritarian regimes, and the study invites scholars to explore the role of courts in developing judicial support structures and the role of lawyers in social movements.</jats:p
Musharraf on Trial: A Preliminary Critique of the Law of High Treason
No full textThe normative relationship between a coup d’état and high treason has hardly ever been thoroughly debated in Pakistan. Now that Musharraf’s trial of high treason is underway, it seems to be an opportune time for such a debate. The Supreme Court is expected to take the lead role in the unfolding of the debate.Already in the Sindh Bar Association (2009) the court has played part of the role by making some preliminary comments. One of the major comments was that Musharraf’s purported coup of 2007 had resulted in violation the independence of judiciary—a principle that the court declared was part of the basic structure of the constitution and (hence) inviolable. The court further observed that a coup that violated an inviolable constitutional principle justified invocation of the law of high treason. Apparently it was a more narrowed-down approach to interpreting the high treason article in the constitution. However, did it reflect the historical and theoretical context of the law of high treason was the question that the court did not address? Accordingly, the aim of this essay is to place the law of high treason in its historical and theoretical backdrop and to note the subtle transformation that the normative relationship between a coup d’etat and high treason has recently undergone
Synthesis of N-(6-Arylbenzo[d]thiazole-2-acetamide derivatives and their biological activities: An experimental and computational approach
No full textA new series of N-(6-arylbenzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)acetamides were synthesized by C-C coupling methodology in the presence of Pd(0) using various aryl boronic pinacol ester/acids. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for various biological activities like antioxidant, haemolytic, antibacterial and urease inhibition. In bioassays these compounds were found to have moderate to good activities. Among the tested biological activities screened these compounds displayed the most significant activity for urease inhibition. In urease inhibition, all compounds were found more active than the standard used. The compound N-(6-(p-tolyl)benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)acetamide was found to be the most active. To understand this urease inhibition, molecular docking studies were performed. The in silico studies showed that these acetamide derivatives bind to the non-metallic active site of the urease enzyme. Structure-activity studies revealed that H-bonding of compounds with the enzyme is important for its inhibition
Laboratory study of durability of recycled concrete aggregate including drainage for use in pavement base course
No full textRecycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) have been used as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly material in pavement base construction for quite some time. However, there is a lack of information on the durability, strength, and hydraulic properties of RCA in Oklahoma. The purpose of this study was to generate data on these properties of commonly used RCAs in Oklahoma through laboratory testing and to determine the changes in properties caused by field placement and compaction. Additionally, the performance and costs were evaluated using AASHTOWare Pavement ME simulations. The service life (performance-based) and life cycle cost analyses (LCAs) of aggregate bases of two selected pavements, a flexible pavement (SH-48) and a rigid pavement (SH-33), were studied using the AASHTOWare Pavement ME software. Laboratory testing in this study included particle size distribution, shape indices (angularity and texture), wash loss, optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD), Los Angeles (LA) abrasion, durability indices (Dc and Df), hydraulic conductivity (k), and resilient modulus (Mr). The upper and lower limits of Type A gradation, as specified by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), were used for laboratory testing to reduce variability in test results.
It was found that the source material used to produce the RCAs had a significant impact over the quality and properties in terms of stiffness, durability, and performance, with RCAs produced on-site from highways pavements having improved properties compared to those produced in recycling plants. The durability of fines (Df) was found helpful as a screening tool for RCAs since most of the RCAs did not meet the ODOT’s requirements. Also, based on laboratory test results, the permeability of the aggregate bases is expected to exhibit a significant reduction with field placement and compaction. This study also showed that recycled aggregate bases could be built at a lower cost compared to virgin aggregates. The findings suggest that recycled aggregates can be a sustainable and cost-effective alternative for pavement bases, provided that proper selection and quality control measures are implemented
Detection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) using advanced spectroscopic techniques: A review
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global concern in infectious disease management, leading to increased morbidity and mortality rates, and having a greater impact in low- and middle-income countries. In vitro, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is essential in identifying effective treatment for individual patients and predicting treatment outcomes. However, conventional AST methods are time-consuming, semiquantitative, and labor-intensive. Advanced spectroscopic techniques such as mass spectrometry (MS), infrared (IR), Raman spectroscopy (RS), fluorescence spectroscopy (FS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have shown promising results in the rapid and accurate detection of AMR and AST. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements achieved through advanced spectroscopy techniques for detecting AMR and conducting AST. MS, specifically MALDI-TOF, is the most widely used method among all the techniques.The potential of these techniques to improve patient outcomes and combat AMR makes them anattractive area for future research and development.Fil: Ramzan, Muhammad. University Of Karachi; PakistánFil: Raza, Ali. University Of Karachi; PakistánFil: Nisa, Zaib. University Of Karachi; PakistánFil: Abdel Massih, Roula M.. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Al Bakain, Ramia. The University of Jordan; JordaniaFil: Cabrerizo, Franco Martín. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto Tecnologico de Chascomus. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - la Plata. Instituto Tecnologico de Chascomus.; ArgentinaFil: Dela Cruz, Thomas Edison. Universidad Santo Tomás;Fil: Aziz, Ramy Karam. Cairo University; EgiptoFil: Musharraf, Syed Ghulam. University of Karachi; Pakistá
Local Government Under Army Rule: A Comparative Analysis of Zia ul Haq and Pervez Musharraf Local Government System
No full textMilitary of Pakistan dominates the country. In this ruling system in order to establish democracy from the beginning the government initiates local government institutions. As Pakistan is playing its instrumental role in employing the principles of democratic system, the local government is the third branch of the dominion and an essential part of the administration.The chief objective of this study is to determine and analyze the performance of Local Governments in Pakistan under the military reign of Zia ul Haq, and Pervez Musharraf Local Government system and recognizing the challenges faced by the system and to check the similarities and dissimilarities between the local government systems.Zia ul haq presented the local government system with some specific feature. Mainly, the provinces and the Federally managed areas were given the independency to make their own local government laws which led to the disclosure of eight different ordinances. The second one, for the rural and urban areas, same local government laws were made to avoid contradictions and to bring pleasing effect in the rural and urban sectors by making it convenient to comprehend an invalidation of the guideline of democratic self-management in perspective of the immanent, component of bureaucratic control which did not permit the delegate component to gain remarkable aptitude in the management of local issues. To close, the period going before the destruction of Ayub Khan ruling, turned out to be a feeble time in the historical background of local government of Pakistan. Keywords: Performance of Local Governments; Bureaucratic control; Rural and Urban sectors local government of Pakistan. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-6-15 Publication date:March 31st 201
RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYMER AND RAP MODIFIED ASPHALT BINDERS USING MULTIPLE STRESS CREEP AND RECOVERY METHOD
No full textIn recent years, asphalt modifications have become increasingly popular in asphalt pavement construction. Also, in view of technical, environmental and economic benefits, the pavement industry is in favor of using high amounts of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in asphalt mixes for pavement construction. Consequently, accurate rheological characterization of asphalt binders containing polymer modifiers and RAP binder is important because pavement performance is largely influenced by asphalt binder properties.
A number of test methods have evolved over the last three decades for evaluating the rutting susceptibility of asphalt binders. The objective of the current study was to use a simple Dynamic Shear Rheometer-based (DSR) test method as an alternative to the Superpave® Performance Grade (PG) tests or “PG plus” tests to accurately evaluate high-temperature performance of asphalt binders. To achieve this objective, the rheological characteristics of asphalt binders were evaluated using the Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery (MSCR) and Superpave® test methods. For this purpose, polymer-modified binders were collected from different sources located in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Also, binders were extracted from two RAPs and blended with a commonly used PG 64-22 binder at selected rates, namely 0%, 25%, 40% and 60% by the weight of the binder. Furthermore, four different asphalt mixes containing polymer-modified binders and different amounts of RAP were tested for rutting performance in the laboratory. The rutting parameter (|G*|/sinδ), fatigue parameter (|G*|.sinδ), viscosity, high- and low-temperature PG grades of all modified and unmodified binders were evaluated based on the Superpave® test methods. The MSCR tests were conducted to determine high-temperature MSCR grades and to evaluate the effects of the addition of polymer and RAP binder on non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr) and %Recovery values of the binders.
The polymer-modified binders were found to meet the Superpave® specifications and exhibited satisfactory rutting and fatigue resistance. The high- and low-temperature PG grades of the RAP binder blends were observed to increase with an increase in the RAP binder content. From the MSCR test results, the minimum %Recovery requirement based on the Jnr criteria suggested in AASHTO TP 70 was found to be appropriate for differentiating polymer-modified binders from non-polymer modified binders. Also, the addition of a higher stress level, such as 10 kPa to the MSCR test method, was found to help understand the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of the polymer-modified binders. Furthermore, the Jnr value decreased and MSCR grades increased with an increase in the amount of RAP binder, which indicated an improved resistance to rutting for the RAP binder blends. The rutting and moisture susceptibilities of the asphalt mixes with high RAP content were found to be satisfactory from Hamburg Wheel Tracking (HWT) tests. A comparison of the Superpave®, MSCR and HWT test results is also presented in the present study
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