Earthquake 2005: Some Implications for Environment and Human Capital

Loss of human capital in the form of skills and experiences is one of the outcomes of any natural hazard such as earthquake, drought, famine, and floods. Generally such losses have many implications for further growth of individuals, communities and nations. Disaster management and risk assessment has established a new need to constitute a paradigm of planning frameworks to develop modules for dealing with interactive rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. However, such management still lacks due attention in perspective of the remedy of human capital loss particularly in environmental management. This paper discusses the post-disaster situations with respect to human capital flow and stock losses and some of their implications and suggests some measures to apply in the earthquake-affected areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP.

Earthquake 2005: Some Implications for Environment and Human Capital

Loss of human capital in the form of skills and experiences is one of the outcomes of any natural hazard such as earthquake, drought, famine, and floods. Generally such losses have many implications for further growth of individuals, communities and nations. Disaster management and risk assessment has established a new need to constitute a paradigm of planning frameworks to develop modules for dealing with interactive rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. However, such management still lacks due attention in perspective of the remedy of human capital loss particularly in environmental management. This paper discusses the post-disaster situations with respect to human capital flow and stock losses and some of their implications and suggests some measures to apply in the earthquake-affected areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP

Earthquake 2005: Some Implications for Environment and Human Capital

Loss of human capital in the form of skills and experiences is one of the outcomes of any natural hazard such as earthquake, drought, famine, and floods. Generally such losses have many implications for further growth of individuals, communities and nations. Disaster management and risk assessment has established a new need to constitute a paradigm of planning frameworks to develop modules for dealing with interactive rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. However, such management still lacks due attention in perspective of the remedy of human capital loss particularly in environmental management. This paper discusses the post-disaster situations with respect to human capital flow and stock losses and some of their implications and suggests some measures to apply in the earthquake-affected areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP

Technical and Quality Standards and Practices in Healthcare Facilities

This paper presents the highlights of many technical standards, as established by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) through International Classification for Standards (ICS) and British Standards (BS), and quality standards and practices as governed by some international, regional or national institutes in promoting patients rights and safety control in medical sciences and healthcare facilities. The paper draws attention to adopt these standards in Pakistan

Excelência Empresarial Sustentável: Coesão do Modelo TQM/BE, padrões ISO e Sustentabilidade

There is increased attention in sustainability and sustainable development practices in business industry since last decade. Organizations are under immense pressure to do business that substantially imparts value not only in economical dimension but also satisfy two other important dimensions of sustainability; social and environmental dimensions. In pursuance to excellence organizations have been adopting various strategies and models among which Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Excellence (BE) models stand up most. However these TQM/ BE models are focused to Excellence more in economical terms and less in social and environmental terms. This study attempts to examine the coherence of TQM/BE models with sustainability practices and evaluates the extent to which these models match sustainability criteria. The study proposes to develop a Sustainable Enterprise Excellence (SEE) framework based on TQM/BE models with desired cohesion of ISO standards, guidelines and sustainability reporting indices.  Há uma maior atenção nas práticas de sustentabilidade e desenvolvimento sustentável no setor empresarial desde a última década. As organizações estão sujeitas a uma imensa pressão para fazer negócios que impelem substancialmente não apenas a dimensão econômica, mas também satisfazem outras duas dimensões importantes da sustentabilidade; dimensões sociais e ambientais. Em busca de organizações de excelência, adotaram várias estratégias e modelos entre os quais os modelos de Gerenciamento de Qualidade Total (TQM) e de Excelência Empresarial (BE) se levantam mais. No entanto, esses modelos TQM / BE estão focados em excelência em termos econômicos e menos em termos sociais e ambientais. Este estudo procura examinar a coerência dos modelos TQM / BE com práticas de sustentabilidade e avalia até que ponto esses modelos combinam critérios de sustentabilidade. O estudo propõe desenvolver um quadro de Excelência Empresarial Sustentável (SEE) baseado em modelos TQM / BE com a coesão desejada de padrões ISO, diretrizes e índices de relatório de sustentabilidade

Seis passos na Implementação de um framework para uma Gestão Corporativa Sustentável

Managing sustainability practices holistically within firms is challenging and requires a sound and effective management framework that integrates all associated practices and performance dimensions to act for excellence. Corporate management is keen to adopt roadmap or a framework that can be useful in the identification, management and measurement of the drivers and can lead to desired outcomes relating to sustainable performance. This paper develops and presents a six-steps implementation framework for corporate sustainability performance and related practices keeping in account multifaceted managerial dimensions. These six steps include; identifying stakeholder’s requirements, establishing enterprise vision and sustainability goals, adopting strategies, systems and standardization, aligning technologies, core capabilities and culture, excelling sustainability performance, and progressing sustainable improvement with review and feedback. It also projects the perspective, theme and action items with regard to its effective.Gerenciar práticas de sustentabilidade de forma holística dentro das empresas é um desafio que requer uma estrutura de gerenciamento sólida e eficaz que integre todas as práticas associadas e as dimensões de desempenho para alcançar excelência. O gerenciamento corporativo precisa estar aberto para adotar o roteiro o framework que pode ser útil na identificação, gerenciamento e medição dos drivers que podem levar a resultados desejados relacionados ao desempenho sustentável. Este artigo desenvolve e apresenta um quadro de implementação de seis etapas para o desempenho de sustentabilidade corporativa e práticas relacionadas mantendo em conta dimensões gerenciais multifacetadas. Estes seis passos incluem; identificar os requisitos das partes interessadas, estabelecer a visão corporativa e os objetivos de sustentabilidade, adotar estratégias, sistemas e padronização, alinhar tecnologias, recursos essenciais e cultura, alcançar excelência no desempenho de sustentabilidade e avançar progressivamente na melhoria sustentável com revisão e feedback. Ele também projeta a perspectiva, tema e os itens de ação para se tornar efetivo o processo

The evaluation of coated granules to mask the bitter taste of dihydroartemisinin

The purpose of this study was to mask the bitter taste imparted by dihydroartemisinin (DHA) by the use of different coating materials. Trial-1 and trial-2 were conducted to prepare the DHA granules. The granules produced from trial-1 were irregular in shape and smaller in size while the trial-2 granules were more regular and larger in size. The granules obtained from both trials were then coated with two different coating methods, namely A and B, depending upon coating material. The trial-2 granules showed better flow properties than trial-1 granules. In vitro dissolution studies in phosphate buffer at pH 6.8 revealed that granules of trial-2B released only 34% ± 3 DHA in two minutes compared with trial-1A (57% ± 2), trial-1B (48% ± 2) and trial-2A (53% ± 7). The pleasant taste perception (PTP) test also confirmed the taste masking efficacy of trial-2B (P < 0.05). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the more regular and smooth surface of trial-2B granules. In addition, the differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA) confirmed no interaction between the materials and pure DHA. DHA has shown its characteristic peaks in the x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns which were also prominent in all the granules. In conclusion, the granules obtained from trial-2B displayed considerable decrease in the bitter taste of DHA thereby fulfilling the purpose of this study.O objetivo deste estudo foi o de mascarar o gosto amargo característico da diidroartemisinina (DHA) pelo uso de diferentes materiais de revestimento. Experimento-1 e experimento-2 foram realizados para preparar grânulos de DHA. Os grânulos produzidos pelo experimento-1 mostraram-se irregulares e menores se comparados aos obtidos pelo experimento-2, que foram mais regulares e maiores. Os grânulos obtidos em ambos os experimentos foram, então, revestidos por dois métodos distintos de revestimento, designados como A e B, dependendo do material de revestimento empregado. Os grânulos do experimento-2 mostraram melhor propriedade de fluxo que os obtidos no experimento-1. Estudos de dissolução in vitro em tampão fosfato pH 6,8 revelaram que grânulos do experimento-2B liberaram apenas 34% ± 3 da DHA em dois minutos se comparado com experimento-1A (57% ± 2), experimento-1B (48% ± 2) e experimento-2A (53% ± 7). A Análise Sensorial quanto ao sabor (Pleasant Taste Perception - PTP) também confirmou a eficácia do experimento-2B (

Experimental and in silico evaluation of Carthamus tinctorius L. oil emulgel: a promising treatment for bacterial skin infections

PurposeThe current study aimed to develop a topical herbal emulgel containing Carthamus tinctorius L. (CT) oil extract, which has been scientifically proven for its antibacterial and antioxidant activities for the ailment of bacterial skin infections.MethodThe CT emulgel was formulated by response surface methodology (RSM) and was evaluated by various parameters like extrudability, spreadability, pH, viscosity, and antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Molecular docking was also performed using AutoDock.ResultsAmong all formulated CT emulgels, F9 and F8 were optimized. Optimized formulations had shown good spreadability and extrudability characteristics. Sample F8 had % inhibition of 42.131 ± 0.335, 56.720 ± 0.222, and 72.440 ± 0.335 at different concentrations. Sample F9 had % inhibition of 26.312 ± 0.280, 32.461 ± 0.328, and 42.762 ± 0.398 at concentrations of 250 µg/ml, 500 µg/ml, and 1,000 µg/ml, respectively, which shows that both samples F8 and F9 have significant antioxidant potential. Optimized CT emulgels F8 and F9 had significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at p-value = 0.00, the Emulgel-F8 shows zone of inhibition of 24 mm for E-coli and 19 mm for S-aureus. Emulgel-F9 shows zone of inhibition of 22 mm for E-coli and 15 mm for S-aureus while pure CT- Oil extract shows zone of inhibition of 25 mm for E-coli and 20 mm for S-aureus and ciprofloxacin used as standard shows 36mm zone of inhibition against both E-coli and S-aureus. The comparative investigation through molecular docking binding affinities and interactions of ligands with various target proteins provides insights into the molecular processes behind ligand binding and may have significance for drug discovery and design for the current study.ConclusionThe current study suggests that C. tinctorius L.-based emulgel has good antioxidant and antibacterial activities against E. coli for the treatment of bacterial skin infections

Toxicity and Repellency of Plant Extract and Termiticide against Fungus Growing Subterranean Termites (Blattodea: Termitidae)

Different methods such as physical, biological and chemical are used to manage soil fungus increasing termites. Synthetic insecticide plays a vital part in the management of termites. The pesticide used in big quantities causes phytotoxicity, mammalian toxicity and resistance to pesticides in target pests and insect outbreaks. Intensive pesticides exert chronic effects on living organisms with annoyance for beneficial insects. It also accompanied with environmental hazards and developed resistance. Plant leaves extracts provide a distinct variety of biochemical compounds with diverse prospective uses. Resistance development requires the discovery of fresh biological compounds with a wide spectrum of action. Plant leaves extract and Chlorfenapyr solution in methanol and water with various concentrations (15 %, 10 %, 5 % and 0 %) were applied to the soil against termites to determine mortality and repellency. Posttreatment data was obtained and evaluated through statistical analysis. The result revealed that the extract of Conocarpus lancifolius with the solution of methanol and solution of water exhibited higher mortality of subterranean termites, whereas the solution of methanol had higher repellency and mortality than water solution of botanical extract. Water and methanol solution of insecticide chlorfenapyr used against the subterranean termites, both are found to be efficacious against termites, while insecticide with the solution of methanol revealed 100% mortality. Nonetheless, plant extract of C. lancifolius with water and methanol solution and chlorfenapyr with methanol solution can be applied as new biological control tools against subterranean termites

Porous and highly responsive polymeric fabricated nanometrices for solubility enhancement of acyclovir; characterization and toxicological evaluation

Solubility is one of the major factors which affects several therapeutic mioeties in terms of their therapeutic efficacy. In the current study, we presented a porous and amorphous nanometrices system for the enhancement of the solubility of acyclovir. The polymeric network was fabricated by crosslinking polyethylene glycol-6000, polycaprolactone, and β-cyclodextrin with methacrylic acid by optimizing free radical polymerization technique using methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinking agent. The formulated nanometrices were then characterized by zetasizer, FTIR, PXRD, Scanning electron microscopy, Thermogravimetric analysis, swelling, sol-gel fraction, drug loading, stability, solubility, and in-vitro dissolution analysis. Since the formulated system has to be administered orally, therefore to determine the in-vivo biocompatibility, nanometrices were administered orally to experimental animals. SEM images provided a rough and porous structure while PXRD showed an amorphous diffractogram of the unloaded and loaded nanometrices. Moreover, the particle size of the optimum loaded formulation was 25 nm higher than unloaded nanometrices due to the repulsion of the loaded drug. A significant loading of the drug with enhanced solubility and dissolution profiles was observed for the poorly soluble drug. The dissolution profile was quite satisfactory as compared to the marketed brand of drug which depicted that the solubility of the drug has been enhanced. Toxicity study conducted on rabbits confirmed the biocompatibility of the nanometrices. The systematic method of preparation, enhanced solubility and high dissolution profile of the formulated nanometrices may be proved as a promising technique to enhance the solubility of poorly aqueous soluble therapeutic agents