Determining Competitiveness of Pakistan Sports Goods Industry Using Revealed Comparative Analysis

  This study calculates and explains the comparative advantage of Pakistan\u27s sports goods industries in the international market. Static and dynamic comparative advantage analysis differentiates this work from the previous ones for the sports goods industry. The top ten Pakistani sports items have been chosen for this purpose. The product positioning of these products in the international market has also been determined. The results of this study indicate that China and India have a strong revealed comparative advantage in festivals, carnivals, or other forms of entertainment goods and Balls, respectively. In contrast, the United States, Thailand, and Indonesia have a significant revealed comparative advantage in Golf balls. China acquires a competitive position in the global market in 9 of Pakistan\u27s top 10 sports items for 2019. According to dynamic revealed comparative advantage, Pakistan has the most significant revealed comparative advantage for inflatable balls from 2005 to 2019 in the international market, implying that Pakistan has a competitive edge in exporting this product. The Government of Pakistan needs to prioritize and facilitate the sports goods industry for increasing exports of this industry

An International Multicenter Performance Analysis of Cytomegalovirus Load Tests

A new quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay, COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan CMV Test, was developed using the first World Health Organization cytomegalovirus standard. It demonstrated a high level of interlaboratory agreement and precision compared to quantitative results obtained with tests used by 5 different laboratorie

Effect of different explants on in vitro propagation of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii)

This research work involves shoot induction, multiplication of induced shoot and their rooting in Gerbera jamesonii (Gerbera). For shoot induction, apical meristems and vegetative buds were used. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) alone or in combination with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was tested. Best shoot induction response was obtained after 8 days of inoculation from apical meristem and after 12 days of inoculation from vegetative buds on MS medium supplemented with 10 mg/L BAP and 8.8 μM BAP + 2.87 μM IAA respectively. Apical meristems showed more pronounced effect for shoot formation than vegetative buds. Maximum number of multiple shootswas obtained on MS medium containing 10 mg/L BAP. These multiple shoots increased in their number when were given subsequent incubation period. Addition of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and kinetin to BAP showed good shoot multiplication response. Shoots after attaining the size of 5.0 cm were shifted for rooting. Best rooting response was obtained on MS medium containing 10 mg/L NAA. Hardening response was the best in autoclaved sand. This study provided the rapid way ofmultiplication of this important ornamental plant.Keywords: Gerbera, micropropagation, multiple shoot formation, growth mediu

Prevalence and pattern of dermatological manifestations among substance users across Kashmir Valley in North India

Background: Substance use has turned out to be one of the growing social problems of the present society cutting across all sorts of boundaries of the world with Kashmir Valley being no exception to this growing pathological phenomenon. Aims and Objectives: To find the prevalence and pattern of dermatological manifestations among substance users across Kashmir Valley. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study where patients of all age-groups, irrespective of gender, were enrolled in the three largest districts of Kashmir Valley over a span of 18 months. Results: Sample size was 710 with a male/female ratio of 12.4:1. The mean age of the cases was 25.2 ± 7.05 years. Heroin, one of the opioids, was the most common substance used (n = 515), followed by cannabis (n = 334). Pruritus was found to be the most common dermatological manifestation overall and statistically significant among heroin users. Stigmata of injection drug use (IDU) with the presence of track marks and sooting tattoos (93.1%), atrophic scars secondary to skin popping (30.7%), active skin ulcers (18.8%), and puffy hand syndrome (8.7%) were specifically seen among injection drug users. Oral involvement was seen in 48.5%, including periodontal disease, oral thrush, and stomatitis nicotinica. Hyperhidrosis was present in 30%, and hesitation cuts over arms in 16.3% of all substance users. Conclusion: Dermatological manifestations are quite prevalent among substance users in the population of Kashmir. Pruritus with temporal relation to substance use, stigmata of injectable drug use including track marks and sooting tattoos, atrophic scars at injection sites, active skin ulcers, and skin and soft tissue infections, and hyperhidrosis are among important dermatological clues for detecting substance use. Recognition of such cutaneous signs is important in these cases for more effective diagnosis and treatment

Mass cultivation of various algal species and their evaluation as a potential candidate for lipid production

<div><p>Microalgae have been proposed as a promising source for biodiesel production. Focusing on algal strains for biodiesel production, efforts should be made to search new strains. Experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of growth parameters (nutrients, pH, light, aeration and temperature) and the oil percentage of eight algal strains (<i>Chlorella</i> sp., <i>Cladophora</i> sp., <i>Hydrodictylium</i> sp., <i>Oedogonium</i> sp., <i>Oscillatoria</i> sp., <i>Spirogyra</i> sp., <i>Stigeocolonium</i> sp., <i>Ulothrix</i> sp.). Results show that 6.5–7.5 is the optimum pH for the growth of all algal species. Temperature showed a greater variation (25°40°C). <i>Ulothrix</i> sp. gave more biomass productivity and is the most suitable strain for biodiesel production due to higher oil percentage (62%). Least biomass production was observed for <i>Stigeocolonium</i> sp. and least oil content was obtained from <i>Hydrodictylium</i> sp. It was observed that among these eight algal strains for biodiesel production, <i>Ulothrix and Chlorella</i> are the most promising algae species.</p></div

Analysis and Evaluation of Growth Parameters for Optimum Production of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by Bacillus thuringiensis strain CMBL-BT-6

Abstract.-Synthetic polymers obtained from petrol causes air pollution only because they are not degraded in soil for a long time. For this reason, a microbial plastic poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) has gained importance since it can be easily degraded in nature. PHB is a widely distributed intracellular reserve substance typical of prokaryotes. PHB exists in the cytoplasmic fluid in the form of crystalline granules about 0.5 µm in diameter and can be isolated as native granules or by solvent extraction. The study aimed at screening of PHB producing strain and optimizing media parameters for increased PHB production by a Bacillus thuringiensis strain CMBL-BT-6, which was identified as PHB producing strain by staining with Sudan Black B dye. Conditions for best PHB production were optimized. Maltose was found to be best carbon source and ammonium nitrate the best nitrogen source producing 0.867g/L and 0.953g/L of PHB, respectively. Glucose was used as a substrate and 4% glucose concentration (0.953g/L) was found to be best for PHB production. The data further indicated that CMBL-BT-6 produced 2.75g/L PHB at pH 7.0, when incubated at 37 o C for 24 h

Enhanced production of xylanase from locally isolated fungal strain using agro-industrial residues under solid-state fermentation

<div><p>This study is related to the isolation of fungal strain for xylanase production using agro-industrial residues. Forty fungal strains with xylanolytic potential were isolated by using xylan agar plates and quantitatively screened in solid-state fermentation. Of all the tested isolates, the strain showing highest ability to produce xylanase was assigned the code <i>Aspergillus niger</i> LCBT-14. For the enhanced production of the enzyme, five different fermentation media were evaluated. Out of all media, M4 containing wheat bran gave maximum enzyme production. Effect of different variables including incubation time, temperature, pH, carbon and nitrogen sources has been investigated. The optimum enzyme production was obtained after 72 h at 30°C and pH 4. Glucose as a carbon source while ammonium sulphate and yeast extract as nitrogen sources gave maximum xylanase production (946 U/mL/min). This study was successful in producing xylanase by <i>A. niger</i> LCBT-14 economically by utilising cheap indigenous substrate.</p></div

First-Principles Insights into Structural, Optoelectronic, and Elastic Properties of Fluoro-Perovskites KXF3 (X = Ru, Os)

The need for new and better semiconductor materials for use in renewable energy devices motivates us to study KRuF3 and KOsF3 fluoride materials. In the present work, we computationally studied these materials and elaborate their varied properties comprehensively with the assistance of density functional theory-based techniques. To find the structural stability of these under-consideration materials, we employed the Birch-Murnaghan fit, while their electronic characteristics were determined with the usage of modified potential of Becke-Johnson. During the study, it became evident from the band-structure results of the KRuF3 and KOsF3 materials that both present an indirect semiconductor nature having the band gap values of 2.1 and 1.7 eV, respectively. For both the studied materials, the three essential elastic constants were determined first, which were further used to evaluate all the mechanical parameters of the studied materials. From the calculated values of Pugh’s ratio and Poisson’s ratio for the KRuF3 and KOsF3 materials, both were verified to procure the nature of ductility. During the study, we concluded from the results of absorption coefficient and optical conduction in the UV energy range that both the studied materials proved their ability for utilization in the numerous future optoelectronic devices. © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical SocietyPNURSP2023R24; Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, PNU; Deanship of Scientific Research, King Khalid University: 61421, RGP.2/498/44The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University Abha 61421, Asir, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for funding this work through the Large Groups Project under grant number RGP.2/498/44. Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2023R24), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia