Life cycle assessment of some possible future marine fuels

Since the turn of the 21st century, several commitments and pledges were made on world level to curb greenhouse gases emissions in every sector including power production, industries, agriculture, and transportation to limit global mean temperature below 2 ℃. Therefore, Maritimes organizations are also setting some strict environmental rules and regulations for the marine industry. Strict regulations regarding GHG emissions as well as uncertainty in fossil fuel supply in the future are compelling factors to use new renewable alternative fuels as well as new abetment technologies in marine transportation. H2, NH3,and MEOH are considered renewable fuels because of low carbon emissions during combustion. However, these fuels are produced by different pathways, so life cycle assessment analysis provides information that which pathway is most environmentally friendly. In this attributional life cycle assessment study, the carbon footprints in terms of Global Warming Potential environmental impact expressed in kg of CO2 emissions are calculated for conventional and non-conventional production pathways of H2, NH3, and MEOH fuels. The conventional pathways have natural gas as feedstock and non-conventional are considered as P2X pathways in which electrolyzers, carbon capturing systems, and cryogenic air separation units are involved. Electricity from Finnish grid mix 2018 is used but a comparison is built by using electricity from hypothetical renewable Finnish grid mix to investigate the effect of different energy sources. The total energy used and energy efficiencies for all 15 scenarios are also calculated. The system boundary in this LCA study is taken as cradle to gate with functional unit of 1MWh energy in term of LHV and GaBi with Ecoinvent 3.8 database is used. In this study, by using electricity from Finnish grid mix 2018, the carbon footprints of conventional H2 and MEOH production pathways are fewer than the non-conventional P2X pathways because Finnish grid mix 2018 carbon footprints and minimum GWP100 impact is for conventional MEOH pathway and maximum is for conventional ammonia pathway. By using hypothetical renewable Finnish grid that carbon footprint of nonconventional P2X fuels production pathways reduced to minimum and even negative carbon footprints for P2X methanol production pathways. The conventional pathways have relative higher efficiencies and lower total used energy with respect to non-conventional P2X pathways. Moreover, in the comparisons of different fuel types, the H2 fuel production pathways have higher energy efficiencies, and non-conventional MEOH production pathways has lowest energy efficiencies

THE INFLUENCE OF PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT OF EMPLOYEES: A MEDIATING ROLE OF EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT IN PAKISTAN

Organizational commitment is an important factor because the extent to which employees feel attached and committed to their organizations, will lead to higher productivity and lower turnover. Committed employees are also more focused on their respective tasks. The study is based on the service sector and private NGOs were surveyed, from where 280 responses were collected as part of the survey. The dimensions through which participative management was measured were employee priorities, managerial attitude and training consistency. The study found that there was a moderate positive relationship between all the dimensions of participative management and organizational commitment. The study also found that employee involvement mediated the relationship of participative management with organizational commitment. The mediating effect of Employee Involvement was proven with the help of step wise regression analysis and Sobel test. This study can contribute to managerial sector as it clearly shows that employee involvement is  necessary for organizational commitment to fully perpetuate in organization. If organizations involve employees at different levels, it will lead to a more concerned approach towards organization and will ultimately generate organizational commitmen

An Epidemiological Study of Dengue Outbreak in Pakistan

In 2016, Hazara Division reported his major outbreak of Dengue fever. In this context, current epidemiological and serological survey conducted to highlight the actual burden of Dengue fever in cities of Hazara Division. Blood samples were taken from the total of 1462 suspected people for detection of Dengue antibodies. Among these patients, 1359 (93%) were found to be positive for Dengue, including 965 (71%) males and 394 (29%) females. Distribution in keeping the presence of antibodies shows 897 (66%) IgM positive people. Second most frequently seen antibodies were both IgG and IgM in 435 (32%) people. Presence of IgG antibodies was detected in 27 (2%) individuals. 1142 (84%) of Dengue positive people were not found to be symptomatic while rest of 217 (16%) observed with various symptoms. In this outbreak peak incidence of Dengue fever was observed in Manshera city. Although minimum was seen in Abbottabad city. To conclude, this might be the largest outbreak in the history of Hazara Division and second in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We recommend that policymakers and the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa desperately need to make efforts to prevent this mounting ratio of Dengue fever and implement the vector management policies by environmental measures and promote awareness in this area

The Impact of Perceived Leadership Behavior and Organizational Commitment of Employees in the Education Sector of Pakistan

This paper aims to study the effect of perceived leadership behavior on organizational commitment of employees and the industry that this paper conducts the study in is the education sector of Pakistan. After a thorough review of the literature, research gap was identified and data was collected with the help of questionnaires. Out of 200 questionnaires that were handed out, 170 complete responses were received with a response rate of 85% as part of this self-administered questionnaire filling activity. These responses were obtained from the faculty members of different colleges and universities in Lahore, Pakistan. Random sampling was carried out for selection of the sample for this study. For analyzing the data Pearson’s product moment correlation and regression were used. This study found that there was a positive effect of participative and supportive leadership behavior and the organizational commitment of employees whereas there was a negative relationship between directive leadership and organizational commitment of employees. These findings are useful for managers to understand how they can increase organizational commitment amongst employees for greater organizational productivity. Limitations and future research possibilities have also been indicated

Effect of Empagliflozin On Liver Enzymes of Patients In Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

OBJECTIVES To assess the effect of 10 mg and 25 mg once daily Empagliflozin on liver enzymes of patients of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODOLOGY The study design was Quasi Experimental. Thirty three adult patients of  Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who were already on 2000 mg of Metformin and 100 mg of Sitagliptin and were having suboptimal glycemic control (HBA1C > 7% <12%), had elevated Alanine Transaminase (ALT) levels and had ultrasonographic features consistent with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were divided into three groups, one group receiving 10 mg Empagliglozin as add-on treatment (Group A), the second group receiving 25 mg of Empagliflozin (Group B) as an additional treatment, and the third group continued with previous medications without any additional treatment (Group C). HbA1C levels and ALT levels of all the three groups were taken at baseline and at 12 weeks. RESULTS Total patients and their mean ages in group A, B and C were 10, 12 and 11 and 52.40 ±4.24 years, 52.42 ± 5.27 years and 52.34 ± 4.37 years, respectively. There was a statistically significant (p > 0.05) decrease mean ALT levels in Group A pre-treatment and 12 weeks post-treatment. Similarly, there was a statistically significant (p > 0.05) decrease mean ALT levels in Group B pre-treatment and 12 weeks post-treatment.CONCLUSION Empagliflozin in both 10mg and 25 mg once daily doses cause statistically significant reduction in ALT levels in patients with NASH associated with T2D

RESTRICTED ZONE OF SUPERPAVE MIX DESIGN AND ITS IMPACT ON RESILIENT MODULUS AND PERMANENT DEFORMATION

Back in 1993, Strategic Highway Research Program introduced new mix design method known as SUPERPAVE that is an acronym of Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement. Superpave caters filed performance of bituminous mixes and Superpave gradation chart includes 0.45 power line, restricted zone and control points. In Superpave, the gradation that compliance with the restricted zone was considered less rut resistant as compared to gradation passing outside the restricted zone. This study targets three types of gradations that passed above, below and through the restricted zone. The results show that the gradation passing through the restricted zone not only satisfy Superpave volumetric requirements but also performs better against rutting as compared to gradation passing outside the restricted zone. Resilient modulus (MR) measured through indirect tensile strength setup that defines the elastic properties of bituminous mix under repeated load test. Laboratory study was conducted to find factors that affect the gradation. Two-way factorial design was carried out by using Minitab-15 statistical software and the results reflected that the individual factor i.e. loads duration and temperature as well as interaction of factors has significant effect on the performance of HMA

Hybrid and Composite Crystalline Materials

A facile approach for developing an interfacial solar evaporator by heat localization of solar-thermal energy conversion at water-air liquid composed by in-situ polymerization of Fe2O3 nanoparticles (Fe2O3@PPy) deposited over a facial sponge is proposed. The demonstrated system consists of a floating solar receiver having a vertically cross-linked microchannel for wicking up saline water. The in situ polymerized Fe2O3@PPy interfacial layer promotes diffuse reflection and its rough black surface allows Omni-directional solar absorption (94%) and facilitates efficient thermal localization at the water/air interface and offers a defect-rich surface to promote heat localization (41.9 °C) and excellent thermal management due to cellulosic content. The self-floating composite foam reveals continuous vapors generation at a rate of 1.52 kg m−2 h−1 under one 1 kW m−2 and profound evaporating efficiency (95%) without heat losses that dissipates in its surroundings. Indeed, long-term evaporation experiments reveal the negligible disparity in continuous evaporation rate (33.84 kg m−2/8.3 h) receiving two sun solar intensity, and ensures the stability of the device under intense seawater conditions synchronized with excellent salt rejection potential. More importantly, Raman spectroscopy investigation validates the orange dye rejection via Fe2O3@PPy solar evaporator. The combined advantages of high efficiency, self-floating capability, multimedia rejection, low cost, and this configuration are promising for producing large-scale solar steam generating systems appropriate for commercial clean water yield due to their scalable fabrication

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and associated healthcare resource consumption in the Middle East and North Africa: The BREATHE study

SummaryData on COPD-related healthcare resources use are rarely documented in developing countries. This article presents data on COPD-related healthcare resource consumption in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan and addresses the association of this variable with illness severity. A large survey of COPD was conducted in eleven countries of the region, namely Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi-Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates, using a standardised methodology. A total of 62,086 subjects were screened. This identified 2,187 subjects fulfilling the “epidemiological” definition of COPD. A detailed questionnaire was administered to document data on COPD-related healthcare consumption. Symptom severity was assessed using the COPD Assessment Test (CAT). 1,392 subjects were analysable. Physician consultations were the most frequently used healthcare resource, ranging from 43,118 [95% CI: 755–85,548] consultations in UAE to 4,276,800 [95% CI: 2,320,164–6,230,763] in Pakistan, followed by emergency room visits, ranging from 15,917 [95% CI: 0–34,807] visits in UAE to 683,697 [95% CI: 496,993–869,737] in Turkey and hospitalisations, ranging from 15,563 [95% CI: 7,911–23,215] in UAE to 476,674 [95% CI: 301,258–652,090] in Turkey. The use of each resource increased proportionally with the GOLD 2011 severity groups and was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in subjects with more symptoms compared to those with lower symptoms and in subjects with exacerbations to those without exacerbations. The occurrence of exacerbations and the CAT score were independently associated with use of each healthcare resource. In conclusion, the BREATHE study revealed that physician consultation is the most frequently COPD-related healthcare resource used in the region. It showed that the deterioration of COPD symptoms and the frequency of exacerbations raised healthcare resource consumption