A Contribution to the Previous Study for Genus Agaricus in and around Ayubia National Park, Pakistan

Agaricus is among the most valuable and familiar genera belonging to Basidiomycota. These are known to have a partial veil on their stipe, which helps to protect the gills when they are immature. Escalating human activity and distribution pattern of the species has introduced some new one in the territory while pushing the previously reported one to extinction. Ayubia Nationa Park always remains a suitable place for mushroom hunters and number of species of plants and fungi has already been reported. The present survey was aimed at improving the previous collection and also to check the certain characters of the genus Agaricus. Keywords: Genus Agaricus, Ayubia National Par

Do Workers’ Remittances Boost Human Capital Development?

This study examines the influence of workers’ remittances along with the economic governance system on human capital development in 17 countries having low income, lower middle, upper middle and high income levels by using the annual panel between 1996 and 2013. Overall, results of fixed-effects model reveal that workers’ remittances have significantly positive impact on the human capital development. Results also reveal the positive and significant impact of all selected variables of economic governance system on human capital. It is concluded that the strong economic governance system strengthens the association between workers’ remittances and human capital during the aforementioned time period. JEL Classification: F24, J23 Keywords: Remittances, Economic Governance System, Human Capital Developmen

Influence of single and multiple dry bands on critical flashover voltage of silicone rubber outdoor insulators: simulation and experimental study

Dry band formation on the surface of outdoor insulators is one of the main reasons leading to flashover and power outages. In this paper, a dynamic arc model is proposed for single and multiple dry bands configuration to predict the critical flashover voltage for silicone rubber outdoor insulators. An arc is modelled as a time dependent impedance consisting of a Resistor Inductor Capacitor (RLC) circuit. The effect of dry band location and existence of multiple dry bands on critical flashover voltage is investigated. To validate the proposed model, experiments were conducted in a climate chamber under controlled environmental conditions on rectangular silicone rubber sheets polluted using improved solid layer method based on IEC 60,507. Tests were conducted at different dry band configurations and pollution severity levels. A good correlation was found between experimental results and simulation results. This model can provide a good foundation for the development of mathematical models for station post insulators having multiple dry and clean bands and can be used in the design and selection of outdoor insulators for polluted conditions

Prevalence of Poor Sleep and Relationship of Physical Exercise with Sleep among Male Adult Exercisers

Physical exercise has been suggested to show beneficial effects for various diseases and also for sleep. This study aims to assess the prevalence of sleep problems, and the relationship of physical exercise with sleep health among adult male exercisers. A total of 199 randomly selected athletes (all males) took part in this study. All participants responded to a questionnaire consisted of items related to demographic information that also included sports participation level, and playing experience. Self-reported sleep quality and physical exercise were using PQSI and three items concerning exercise frequency, intensity, and duration. The analysis revealed following main findings: 1) a significant negative correlation between physical exercise and sleep medication, 2) a significantly negative relationship between sports/ exercise participation level and sleep disturbance, 3) an 3.7 average global score of PSQI in total sample, 4) Exercise frequency was negatively correlated with daytime dysfunction whereas exercise intensity was negatively correlated with sleep disturbance and sleep efficiency but positively correlated with daytime dysfunction, 5) and prevalence of poor sleep in 22 % participants. There is some possibility to suggest that exercise may improve sleep health among adult male exercisers. The increased exercise frequency more positive impact to improve sleep but the relationship between exercise intensity and sleep remains inconclusive. existence of sleep problems in athletic population essentially require further attention for reducing the prevalence of poor sleep using other approaches along with continue doing exercise for good sleep

Is "Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes” Always Benign?

How to Cite This Article: Saeed M, Azam M, Shabbir N, Qamar ShA. Is "Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes" Always Benign? Iran J Child Neurol. 2014 Summer;8(3): 39-45.AbstractObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of associated behavioral problems and prognosis with Benign Childhood Epilepsy with CentroTemporal Spikes (BCECTS).Descriptive, Cross Sectional study that was conducted from October 2009 to April 2013 in the Department of Pediatric Neurology, the Children’s Hospital Taif, KSA.Material & MethodsThis study was conducted after approval from the Ethics Committee of the Children’s Hospital Taif, Saudi Arabia. Thirty-two patients from the age of 3 to 10 years old were recruited from the pediatric neurology clinic over a period of 4 years. All the patients were selected based on history, EEGs, and neuropsychological and neurological examinations.EEGs were performed for all the patients while in awake and sleep states. Those who had centrotemporal discharges were included in the study. All the patients also underwent a brain MRI. Only two patients had mild cortical atrophy but developmentally they were normal.ResultsIn our study, prevalence of BRE is 32/430 (7.44%). Among the 32 cases, 24 were male and eight were female. Six cases out of 32 indicated a family history of BRE. Twenty-eight cases had unilateral right sided centrotemporal discharges and four had bilateral discharges.ConclusionIt is possible that for BECTS, a high number of seizures might play an important role in the development of mild cognitive impairment and/or behavior disturbances.ReferencesBradley WG, Daroff RB, Fenichel JM, Jahrovic J. Neurology of clinical practice. 5th Ed. 2009: pp. 1953-1990.Berg AT, Berkovic SF, Brodie MJ, Buchhalter J, Cross H, Van Emde Boas M, et al: Revised terminology and concepts for organization of seizures and epilepsies: Report of the ILAE Commission on Classification and Terminology, 2005–2009. 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Impact of Industrial Production and FDI on CO2 Emissions in Pakistan

The impact of industrial growth and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission is not an ignorable issue. The environmental issues have always affected the developing countries. In this study, an effort is made to identify the impact of industrial growth and FDI on CO2 emission in Pakistan covering the time period 1980 to 2020. To do the analyses, econometric technique of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) is used. Results show that the energy depletion, industrial value added, and FDI have negative impact on CO2 emission. Therefore, the suggestion is to frame worry less policy in entertaining these sources of economic growth since are altogether efficient in having no traces of negative effects on environment

Aquatic Exercise to Treat Pregnancy Related Issues in Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review

Background: Wide ranges of physiological changes occur as a result of pregnancy in women that, in certain cases, may cause variety of psychological and physical problems in pregnant women.  Aquatic exercises believed to be safe for pregnant women and believed to foster positive effect on psychophysical health. Current health care setting and nursing emphasizes on evidence based approaches when developing and implementing interventions to address health related issues of pregnant women. Purpose: This review sought to synthesize qualitatively the existing research evidences concerning association between aquatic exercises and psychophysical problems in pregnant women. Methods: A 1989 records were yielded as result of conducting a systematic search in nine research data bases. After undergoing rigorous screening and assessment procedure of eligibility, and quality appraisal, a total of seventeen research articles were ultimately selected to include in this review. Result: Out of seventeen admissible studies, ten studies found that aquatic exercises exerts positive impact to decreases variety of physical discomforts such as fatigue, pelvic pain, labor pain, and edema. The remaining seven studies presented beneficial effects of aquatic exercises for psychological factors such as body image, stress, depression, feelings, mood, distress, and anxiety in pregnant women. Moreover, among the seventeen studies, only two studies showed effectiveness of aquatic exercises to manage body weight and two studies found improvement in sleep during pregnancy.    Conclusion: This review found some evidence in support of the efficacy of aquatic exercises to reduce physical discomfort and improve psychological factors in pregnant women. More studies essential to reach stronger conclusion. The existing evidence concerning effectiveness of this intervention for weight management and sleep health during pregnancy is insufficient

The Dynamic Linkage between Technological Innovation and CO2 emissions in Malaysia: An ARDL Bound Approach

Environmental degradation and climate change are the main challenges encountered to achieve the predominant objective of sustainable development. There has been voluminous work done in this area, but the policies adopted and the empirical relationship between the determinants of CO2 emissions are not clear to handle the problem.  There exists a theoretical and empirical contradiction in the literature on the relationship between the variables under the study. Thus, the current study investigates the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and its determinants namely economic growth, energy consumption, financial development, and technological innovations for Malaysia between 1985 and 2012. To achieve the objective of long-run relationship the autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) model is used for parameter estimation. The empirical results reveal that technological innovation is having a negative but insignificant relationship with environmental pollution in Malaysia during the period under study. The study also indicates that higher economic growth improves the environmental quality in the long-run and is in line with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. In a similar vein, the results indicate that financial sector development will lessen the CO2 emissions, thus, improving the quality of the environment in Malaysia. The short-run results reveal no evidence of the validation EKC hypothesis. Furthermore, the study applied Granger causality approach for causal relationship and found bidirectional causality running between economic growth and CO2 emissions and between technological innovation and CO2 emissions in the long-run. The study also found that the impact of energy consumption in the short-run is environmentally friendly. Moreover, the results indicate a short-run bidirectional causality running between energy consumption and economic growth and also between economic growth and technological innovation. Keywords: CO2 emissions, EKC, technological innovation, ARDL, Malaysia JEL Classifications: C32, O52, Q43, Q5

Impact of Prestigious Indicators on Sustainable Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Pakistan

This study aims to examine the prestigious indicators influencing the sustainable growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) in Pakistan. This research is comprised of primary data. The evidence for this analysis was collected through a standardized questionnaire. The study population structure is extracted from Pakistan's Punjab province. Sample selection is performed employing a random sample technique. The set of questionnaires were 200 circulated but 25 inadequate questionnaires were excluded. The research employed descriptive statistics and the process of regression to evaluate significant indicators concerning Pakistan's SMEs. The study findings demonstrate that the most imperative indicators associated with the sustainable growth of Pakistan's SME’s are government funding, access to credit, and technology awareness turn out to have been vital indicators. Furthermore, results revealed that Pakistan SME’s are not risk-focused. The research findings may enable business owners to identify essential indicators that compete with a considerable function in their enterprise’s growth. The study indicates authorities should consider the results when implementing regulation that can give a sense which would be practicable for the sustainable growth of Pakistan's SMEs