Development and Growth through Economic Diversification: Are there Solutions for Continued Challenges Faced by Brunei Darussalam?

Since its independence in 1984, the government of Brunei Darussalam has made economic diversification as its prime economic agenda to decrease its heavy dependence on oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry has significantly contributed in the present level of economic prosperity of this small nation of 0.4 million people. However, being a very capital intensive industry it offers few job opportunities. The majority of the local population relies on better paid government jobs in the non-oil sector. As the rate of growth of new employment opportunities created in the public sectors remains far lower than the rate of growth of local labor force, more and more people must be employed by the private sector. However, a small private sector largely consisting of small service enterprises paying lower wages fails to attract local labor force. The result is a continuous increase in the rate of unemployment among locals now standing at over 12%. This paper will review government’s efforts in diversifying its economy to reduce its vulnerability in revenue generation and create jobs for its increasing labor force. Based on a review the paper will suggest some possible solutions that could be considered by the government and the civil society of Brunei Darussalam

New Exploration Hotspots: Ranking of Attractiveness on Selected Countries

Exploration hotspot is defined as the next potential places for the exploration and production activities of oil and gas. The large discoveries being made in the hotspot regions in the past few years have attracting the interest of the investors especially oil and gas companies. These locations have emerged due to the need of meeting the oil and gas demand by the world, to counter the decline in production from mature fields, to move away from traditional/production resource centre, and to ensure energy security and boost the economy of a country especially in African region. Eight countries have been selected to be analysed for this study. This study will be focusing on finding the best exploration hotspot for the upstream investment. All selected countries are going to be assessed based on four main parameters which are resource potential, fiscal terms, accessibility and country risk. All the parameters will then be given a weightage based on their level of significance. Finally, these countries will be ranked in order to find the best exploration hotspot for the upstream investment to be made. This study has found that Mexico is the best hotspot for the upstream investment. It is followed by Myanmar, Gabon, Cote d‟Ivoire, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. Lack of infrastructures and tougher fiscal terms have hindered the development in the Africa region and country risk is still a major issue in all the assessed countries

Indo-Iranian Relations: Energy Prism

India and Iran are two great historical civilisations centuries of interactions has deeply affected their mode of thinking. Although Iran India relations is rich in terms of cultural, economical and political relations, there has been a tendency to view bilateral relations between the two countries through the energy prism. Although various efforts were put forward in this direction. Both countries are in need to cement their relations in order to achieve their respective national interests. Keywords: energy, needs, importance of Iran to India,  energy interests, conclusion

Green Intelligent Nanomaterials by Design (Using Nanoparticulate/2D-Materials Building Blocks) Current Developments and Future Trends

Feasibility of designing and synthesizing ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’ materials using nanostructured building blocks has been examined here based on the current status of the progress made in this context. The added advantages of using 2D layered/nonlayered materials along with phytosomal species derived from natural plants are highlighted with special reference to their better programmability along with minimum toxicity in biomedical applications. The current developments taking place in their upscaled productions are also included while assessing their upcoming industrial usages in diverse fields

The frequency of occurrence and nature of recombinant feline leukemia viruses in the induction of multicentric lymphoma by infection of the domestic cat with FeLV-945

AbstractDuring feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infection in the domestic cat, viruses with a novel envelope gene arise by recombination between endogenous FeLV-related elements and the exogenous infecting species. These recombinant viruses (FeLV-B) are of uncertain disease association, but have been linked to the induction of thymic lymphoma. To assess the role of FeLV-B in the induction of multicentric lymphoma and other non-T-cell disease, the frequency of occurrence and nature of FeLV-B were examined in diseased tissues from a large collection of FeLV-infected animals. Diseased tissues were examined by Southern blot and PCR amplification to detect the presence of FeLV-B. Further analysis was performed to establish the recombination junctions and infectivity of FeLV-B in diseased tissues. The results confirmed the frequent association of FeLV-B with thymic lymphoma but showed infrequent generation, low levels and lack of infectivity of FeLV-B in non-T-cell diseases including multicentric lymphoma

Article Review: Impact of Kissan Credit Cards on the Socio-Economic Life of People in Jammu and Kashmir (2017) byNasir Ahmad Ganaie and Ramdas Rupavath

Article Review of “Impact of Kissan Credit Cards on the Socio-Economic Life of People in Jammu and Kashmir”(2017) by Nasir Ahmad Ganaie & Ramdas Rupavath, International Journal of Modern Social Sciences, 6(1), pp. 1-21, ISSN: 2169-9917, Florida, USA

The copulatory behaviour of Cruznema lambdiense (Nematoda: Rhabditidae)

Studies on the copulatory behaviour of Cruznema lambdiense revealed that copulation involved three distinct steps : i) attachment of male to female and localization of the vulva, ii) penetration by the spicules and iii) insemination. The bursa aided in gripping the female while the spicules located the vulval opening, but did not take part in channelizing the sperms from the male to the female reproductive tracts. Females continued feeding during copulation. The mean number of copulations per day varied from 3 to 7.2 and the sperms transferred per day from 61 to 176. On an average, 20-33 sperms were transferred per copulation per day. In its life span, a male copulated 15-32 times and transferred a total of 517-754 sperms. When males were isolated for more than two days, both the number of copulations and the number of sperms transferred decreased. As the isolation period of the males increased, the time required for the first copulation also increased

Opisthodorylairnus N. gen., and some new and known species of Dorylaimoidea (Nematoda) from India

A new genus Opisthodorylaimus closely related to Thornenema Andrassy, 1959 and Mesodorylaimus Andrhssy, 1959 is proposed, along with the description of three new species, viz., O. maqsoodi n. sp. (type), O. caudatus n. sp., and O. chamoliensis n. sp. It differs from Thornenema in having an unsclerotized lip region and a broad odontostyle, while from Mesodorylaimus it differs in having an opisthomonodelphic reproductive system as well as a broad odontostyle. Jairajpuria oryzae n. sp. differs from J. shamimi Baqri & Jana, 1980 in the shape of lip region, posteriorly situated vulva, unsclerotized vagina and in the absence of a sphincter at the oviduct-uterus junction. Dorylaimus siddiqii n. sp. is close to D. thornei AndrBssy, 1969, but differs in having a shorter and narrower body, differently shaped lip region, smaller and narrower odontostyle and ina bthsen ce of vulval papillae. Calodorylaimus indicus n. sp. differs from C. octo Andrassy, 1969 in having a smaller body, shorter odontostyle, longer oesophagus, posterior vulva and smaller spicules and tail. The male of Thornenema cavalcantii is redescribed. Laimydorus pseudostagnalis and Afrodorylaimus geniculatusa re reportedf or the first time from India

Carotid intima-media thickness in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a study from eastern part of India

Background: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a reliable marker of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events. Association between CIMT with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is well known; however, such data are limited from India. This study aimed to assess CIMT in NAFLD patients compared to the healthy control, its relationship with other metabolic covariates, and predators of increased CIMT. Methods: In an observational study, involving 150 subjects (84 NAFLD and 66 healthy controls), B-mode ultrasound was used for the evaluation of CIMT. Results: The mean CIMT was significantly higher in NAFLD patients compared to the control group: 0.77±0.27 versus 0.57±0.11 mm on left side, p<0.001 and 0.79±0.22 versus 0.54±0.12 mm on right side, p<0.001. The difference was significant even after adjustment of metabolic confounders. Eight NAFLD patients had carotid plaques compared to none in the controls. The mean CIMT did not differ significantly between lean, overweight and obese subjects. A progressive increase in mean CIMT was noted with increasing grades of hepatic steatosis. High CIMT values (>95th percentile value in controls, 0.79 mm) were found in 52.3% of NAFLD. On multivariate regression analysis, age [odds ratio (OR) 1.42, p<0.001], serum HDL cholesterol [OR 0.92), p=0.02] and NAFLD [OR: 3.5, p<0.001] were found to be independently associated with high CIMT. Conclusions: NAFLD was significantly associated with CIMT which increased progressively with increasing grades of hepatic steatosis. Over half of NAFLD had increased CIMT, and NAFLD along with higher age and lower HDL- cholesterol independently predicted high CIMT values

Nematodes of high altitudes in India. VIII. Pungentus duvatus N. sp. with a key to species of the genus Putzgetztus (Nematoda: Dorylaimida)

Pungentus clauatus n. sp. from the Simla hills (India) is distinct from al1 other species of the genus in the possession of an oesophago-intestinal disc and a short, clavate tail. This new species is close to P. siluestris (De Man, 1912) Coomans & Geraert, 1962 but differs in having narrower amphidial apertures, smaller odontophore and different tail shape. Alr ey to the valid species and a lisotf species inquirendae of the genus Pungentus are provided. Two nomenclatorial rearrangements are proposed : P. siluestris Eroshenlro, 1976 becomes a junior synonym of P. granosus Eroshenlro, 1976, (notet hat the specific name siluestris was preoccupied by P. siluestris (De Man, 1912) Coomans & Geraert, 1962) ; P. medianus Eroshenko, 1976 is considered a junior synonym of P. purnilus Andrassy, 1963