Human Capital Spillovers, Productivity and Growth in the Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Manufacturing is an important sector of Pakistan’s economy. The main focus of this paper is to analyse the major factors of value-added growth and productivity in the manufacturing sector by using Translog Production Technology over the period 1971-72 to 2004-05. The empirical findings show that the contribution of productivity and human capital is around one- third of the total value-added growth in manufacturing sector which is less than the contribution attributed to these factors in developed and many other developing countries. Conventional factors like capital and labour are still the mainstay in the value-added growth of Pakistan’s manufacturing sector.Human Capital Spillovers, Total Factor Productivity, Absolute and Relative Shares

Gibbons aren’t singing in the rain: presence and amount of rainfall influences ape calling behavior in Sabah, Malaysia

Early morning calling occurs across diverse taxa, which may be related to optimal conditions for sound transmission. There exists substantial inter- and intra-specific variation in calling time which is influenced by intrinsic, social and/or environmental factors. Here, we investigate environmental predictors of calling in gibbons. We hypothesized that male solos— which occur earlier and tend to be longer than duets—would be more influenced by environmental variables, if earlier, longer calling bouts are energetically costly, and therefore limited by overnight energy expenditure. Our top model for male solo events included amount of rain in the previous 24 hours, and explained 30% of the variance, whereas the top model for duet events (which included presence and amount of rainfall) explained only 5% of the variance. Rain the previous night led to a later start time of male solos (~30 minutes), but our top model for duet start time did not include any reliable predictors. Male solo events appear to be more influenced by environmental factors, and duets may be influenced more by social factors. Our results are in line with previous studies that show that changes in overnight conditions —which may alter energy expenditure —can influence early morning calling behavior

Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: Evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations

Evidence for compression, or minimization of code length, has been found across biological systems from genomes to human language and music. Two linguistic laws—Menzerath's Law (which states that longer sequences consist of shorter constituents) and Zipf's Law of abbreviation (a negative relationship between signal length and frequency of use)—are predictions of compression. It has been proposed that compression is a universal in animal communication, but there have been mixed results, particularly in reference to Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Like songbirds, male gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) engage in long solo bouts with unique combinations of notes which combine into phrases. We found strong support for Menzerath's Law as the longer a phrase, the shorter the notes. To identify phrase types, we used state-of-the-art affinity propagation clustering, and were able to predict phrase types using support vector machines with a mean accuracy of 74%. Based on unsupervised phrase type classification, we did not find support for Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Our results indicate that adherence to linguistic laws in male gibbon solos depends on the unit of analysis. We conclude that principles of compression are applicable outside of human language, but may act differently across levels of organization in biological systems

Cyclopentyl Trisilanol Silsesquioxanes – Modified Natural Rubber (CpSSQ(OH)3 – ENR-50) Nanocomposite In The Presence Of Tin (II) Chloride Dihydrate

A nanocomposite comprising cyclopentyl trisilanol silsesquioxanes (CpSSQ(OH)3) and 50% epoxidized natural rubber (ENR-50) was prepared at reflux temperature with Tin (II) chloride dihydrate (SnCl2.2H2O) as catalyst. SnCl2.2H2O was found to be an affective catalyst to promote ring opening in ENR-50 and tailored it to CpSSQ(OH)3 via chemical reaction. The generation of carbonyl functional groups arising from epoxide ring opening can be clearly seen in FTIR spectra. 1H and 29Si NMR analyses further proved that the incorporation of CpSSQ(OH)3 in ENR-50 occured. TGA studies showed a degradation temperature with 10% weight decreased and DSC thermogram indicates a single Tg. Single peak in XRD diffractogram at 2-Theta angle further confirmed the surface modification

Low Noise, High Gain RF Front End Receiver at 5.8GHz for WiMAX Application

This paper presents the design of a high gain, low noise direct conversion Radio frequency(RF) front-end receiver system. The Front end receiver is designed to operate at 5.8 GHz in compliant with IEEE 802.16 WiMAX standard. The system consists of a low noise amplifier (LNA), a radio frequency amplifier (RFA), a power divider and two band pass filters. The design process involved the use of software such as ADS 2000A, Ansoft Designer and MathCad. FET FHX76 LP is used in the design of the LNA due to its low noise figure and high impedance input. As for the RFA design,FET EPA018A was used. The LNA and the RFA used T lumped reactive element network and microstrip line matching network. Two 3 dBπ -attenuators were inserted at the input and output of the RFA to isolate the system from the reflected load power. A Wilkinson power divider is developed for two equal power structures using impedance microstrip line technique. Microstrip technology was used for designing the Chebyshev filter. The result of each module for the front end is presented

A comprehensive survey of the current trends and extensions for the proxy mobile IPv6 protocol

Network based mobility management has attracted significant research interest due to its salient feature of relieving mobile nodes from participating in the mobility process. This feature of relying the mobility functions on the network entities would indeed eases the deployment of mobility solutions. Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) is considered as a promising network-based mobility management protocol in the next-generation mobile network. However, since the emergence of basic specification of the PMIPv6 protocol, it is still being developed in different directions to enhance its performance in order to ensure the best service for mobile users. This paper presents the PMIPv6 basic specifications and surveys the different extensions that have been considered by both the standardization bodies and researchers to enhance the basic PMIPv6 protocol with interesting features needed to offer a richer mobility experience, namely, clustering, fast handoff, route optimization, network mobility support, and load sharing. The research works conducted for these extensions are analyzed to specify the main issues that should be considered during the design of such extensions. Also, an integrated solution is proposed to show the possibility of combining more than one enhancement feature into a single integrated scheme

Importance of fundamental movement skills to predict technical skills in youth grassroots soccer:a machine learning approach

This study determined the contributors to soccer technical skill in grassroots youth soccer players using a machine learning approach. One hundred and sixty two boys aged 7-14 (Mean ± SD = 10.5 ± 2.1) years, who were regularly engaged in grassroots soccer undertook assessments of anthropometry and maturity offset (the time from age at peak height velocity (APHV)), Fundamental Movement skills (FMS), perceived physical competence, and physical fitness and technical soccer skill using the university of Ghent (UGent) dribbling test. Coaches rated player’s overall soccer skill for their age. Statistical analysis was undertaken, using machine learning models to predict technical skill from the other variables. A stepwise recursive feature elimination with a 5-fold cross-validation (RFECV) method was used to eliminate the worst performing features and both L1 and L2 regularisation were evaluated during the process. Five models (linear, ridge, lasso, random forest, boosted trees) were then used in a heuristic approach using a small subset of suitable algorithms to achieve a reasonable level of accuracy within a reasonable time frame) to make predictions and compare them to a test set to understand the predictive capabilities of the models. Results from the machine learning analysis indicated that total FMS score (0-50) was the most important feature in predicting technical soccer skill followed by coach rating of child skill for their age, years playing experience and APHV. Using a random forest, technical skill could be predicted with 99% accuracy in boys who play grassroots soccer, with FMS being the most important contributor

An Overview of the Rising Challenges in Implementing Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution that was first introduced in Germany which then becomes a trend of future manufacturing industries. The Industry 4.0 also referred as the umbrella concept for new industrial paradigm which consists of a number of future industry characteristics, were related to cyber-physical systems (CPS), internet of things (IoT), internet of services (IoS), robotics, big data, cloud manufacturing and augmented reality. By adopting these technologies as the key development in more intelligent manufacturing processes including devices, machines, modules, and products, the process of information exchange, action and control will stimulate each other, subsequently to an intelligent manufacturing environment. However, in order to fully utilize the advantages of industry 4.0, there are some challenges that need to be overcome. This paper reviews the challenges in implementing Industry 4.0. The literatures found in this paper mainly from Google Scholar, Science Direct and Emerald. In short, the challenges can be imparted into seven major categories. There are data management and Integration, knowledge-driven, process, security, capital, workforce, and education

Relationship between antioxidant capacity and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory activity of papain-generated protein hydrolysates and peptides from palm kernel cake proteins

Palm kernel cake (PKC) proteins were hydrolysed in the presence of seven proteolytic enzymes. The antioxidant and antihypertensive activities of each protein hydrolysate were evaluated. Papain-generated protein hydrolysate showed the highest antioxidant effects measured by radical scavenging activity (65%), iron (Fe)(II)-chelating activity (65%), and antihypertensive activity (71%). The results revealed a strong correlation between the antioxidant activity of the protein hydrolysates with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity (R2 = 0.69 - 0.98), except for trypsin-generated hydrolysate (R2= 0.22). The most potent protein hydrolysate was fractionated and profiled using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and isoelectric focusing; peptides were subsequently isolated and identified by tandem mass spectrometry. The individual peptides were evaluated for antihypertension potential. A positive correlation was identified between radical scavenging activity and Fe(II)-chelating activity together and ACE inhibitory activity with R2 = 0.69 - 0.98. The findings indicate that there was a positive relationship between the antioxidant and antihypertensive activities of protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides from PKC proteins