Knowledge Management and Sustainable Firms Growth: An Evidence from SMEs Sector of Pakistan

The main drive for this research was to investigate the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and sustainable firms’ growth in SMEs sector of Pakistan. Moreover, the research examined the mediating role of product and process innovations on the association of knowledge management and sustainable firms’ growth. A self-administered survey was structured and employed to gather the data from 218 garments related SMEs. The study employed SEM to measure direct and indirect effects. Findings of the study indicates that knowledge management has a positive and significant influence over sustainable firms’ growth while both product and process innovations significantly mediated the knowledge management and sustainable firms growth relationship. Current research findings offer valuable implications concerning the importance of KM in enhancing and facilitating process and product innovations for sustainable firms’ growth. This is a pioneer study for employing a unified model that illustrates the relationships among multiple variables pertaining to KM

Analysis of Energy Crisis, Energy Security and Potential of Renewable Energy: Evidence from Pakistan

Over the last thirty years, Asian countries have become a chief player in the worldwide scene. Pakistan is facing an acute energy disaster since last decade that impacts on social and economic development. Sustainable energy supply is an essential feature for the economic growth of any society. From the last five years, Pakistan is facing a shortfall between 4,000-5,000 megawatt. This study inspects the association between energy security, energy crisis, energy demand, energy supply, and renewable potential in Pakistan. It also evaluates the final energy demand-supply gap, provincial renewable energy distribution, sectorial distribution, and policy recommendation for future energy. For this study, we applied renewable and non-renewable energy scenarios during 2014-2035 and Market-Allocation method to prove the energy situation in Pakistan. The outcomes show that renewable resources are the best option in reducing energy risk, import cost, and enhance environmental and economic sustainability. With the objectives of our key findings, targeted suggestions and policies are given

Characterization of Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus infecting cucurbits: Evidence for sap transmission in a host specific manner

Sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) is an economically important vegetable crop cultivated throughout India and this crop is severely affected by yellow mosaic disease caused by begomovirus. In this study, an attempt was made to transmit the begomovirus by sap. The causal agent was easily transmitted by sap to ridge gourd, sponge gourd and Nicotiana  benthamiana. Several factors affecting the efficient sap transmission of causal virus was identified. Use of two antioxidant (sodium sulphite and β-mercaptoethanol) and two abrasive (celite and corborundum) and application of inoculum on first true leaves and cotyledons by rubbing with cotton swab, dipped in inoculum resulted in significant higher rate of transmission. The sap inoculation protocol resulted in variable percentage of infected plants from different factors like buffer combinations, source of inoculum, age of inoculum, genotypes of test plants, and species of plants, temperature, seasons and organic materials. The most susceptible growth stage of ridge gourd plant to sap inoculation was seven days old seedlings that produced 100% infection. The sap transmission was confirmed by coat protein gene polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, cloning and sequencing from infected plants. Sap transmission of begomovirus infecting luffa has not been reported previously in India.Keywords: Sap transmission, begomovirus, Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), cucurbitsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(32), pp. 5000-500

Detection of FLT3 Oncogene Mutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Using Conformation Sensitive Gel Electrophoresis

FLT3 (fms-related tyrosine kinase 3) is a receptor tyrosine kinase class III that is expressed on by early hematopoietic progenitor cells and plays an important role in hematopoietic stem cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. FLT3 is also expressed on leukemia blasts in most cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In order to determine the frequency of FLT3 oncogene mutations, we analyzed genomic DNA of adult de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE) were used for FLT3 exons 11, 14, and 15, followed by direct DNA sequencing. Two different types of functionally important FLT 3 mutations have been identified. Those mutations were unique to patients with inv(16), t(15:17) or t(8;21) and comprised fifteen cases with internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutation in the juxtamembrane domain and eleven cases with point mutation (exon 20, Asp835Tyr). The high frequency of the flt3 proto-oncogene mutations in acute myeloid leukemia AML suggests a key role for the receptor function. The association of FLT3 mutations with chromosomal abnormalities invites speculation as to the link between these two changes in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemiaAML. Furthermore, CSGE method has shown to be a rapid and sensitive screening method for detection of nucleotide alteration in FLT3 gene. Finally, this study reports, for the first time in Saudi Arabia, mutations in the human FLT3 gene in acute myeloid leukemia AML patients

Hepatoprotective Effects of Silybum marianum

Oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and transaminase reactions are some of the mechanisms that can lead to liver dysfunction. A time-dependent study was designed to evaluate the ability of silymarin (SLN) and glycyrrhizin (GLN) in different dosage regimens to lessen oxidative stress in the rats with hepatic injury caused by the hepatotoxin carbon tetrachloride. Wistar male albino rats (n = 60) were randomly assigned to six groups. Group A served as a positive control while groups B, C, D, E, and F received a dose of CCl4 (50% solution of CCl4 in liquid paraffin, 2 mL/kg, intraperitoneally) twice a week to induce hepatic injury. Additionally, the animals received SLN and GLN in different doses for a period of six weeks. CCl4 was found to induce hepatic injury by significantly increasing serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances while decreasing total protein and the activities of reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. Treatment with various doses of SLN and GLN significantly reduced ALT, AST, ALP, and TBARS levels and increased GSH, SOD, and CAT levels. Our findings indicated that SLN and GLN have hepatoprotective effects against oxidative stress of the liver

Blockchain adoption for sustainable supply chain management : economic, environmental, and social perspectives

Due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, the focus of researchers is shifted from economic to socio-environmental problems. Blockchain is a disruptive technology that has the potential to restructure the entire supply chain for sustainable practices. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that provides a digital database for recording all the transactions of the supply chain. The main purpose of this research is to explore the literature relevant to blockchain for sustainable supply chain management. The focus of this review is on the sustainability of the blockchain-based supply chain concerning environmental conservation, social equality, and governance effectiveness. Using a systematic literature review, a total of 136 articles were evaluated and categorized according to the triple bottom-line aspects of sustainability. Challenges and barriers during blockchain adoption in different industrial sectors such as aviation, shipping, agriculture and food, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical, and textile industries were critically examined. This study has not only explored the economic, environmental, and social impacts of blockchain but also highlighted the emerging trends in a circular supply chain with current developments of advanced technologies along with their critical success factors. Furthermore, research areas and gaps in the existing research are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. The findings of this study show that blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the entire supply chain from a sustainability perspective. Blockchain will not only improve the economic sustainability of the supply chain through effective traceability, enhanced visibility through information sharing, transparency in processes, and decentralization of the entire structure but also will help in achieving environmental and social sustainability through resource efficiency, accountability, smart contracts, trust development, and fraud prevention. The study will be helpful for managers and practitioners to understand the procedure of blockchain adoption and to increase the probability of its successful implementation to develop a sustainable supply chain network

The anterior gradient homologue 2 (AGR2) co‑localises with the glucose‑regulated protein 78 (GRP78) in cancer stem cells, and is critical for the survival and drug resistance of recurrent glioblastoma: in situ and in vitro analyses

open access articleBackground: Glioblastomas (GBs) are characterised as one of the most aggressive primary central nervous system tumours (CNSTs). Single-cell sequencing analysis identified the presence of a highly heterogeneous population of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The proteins anterior gradient homologue 2 (AGR2) and glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) are known to play critical roles in regulating unfolded protein response (UPR) machinery. The UPR machinery influences cell survival, migration, invasion and drug resistance. Hence, we investigated the role of AGR2 in drug-resistant recurrent glioblastoma cells. Methods: Immunofluorescence, biological assessments and whole exome sequencing analyses were completed under in situ and in vitro conditions. Cells were treated with CNSTs clinical/preclinical drugs taxol, cisplatin, irinotecan, MCK8866, etoposide, and temozolomide, then resistant cells were analysed for the expression of AGR2. AGR2 was repressed using single and double siRNA transfections and combined with either temozolomide or irinotecan. Results: Genomic and biological characterisations of the AGR2-expressed Jed66_GB and Jed41_GB recurrent glioblastoma tissues and cell lines showed features consistent with glioblastoma. Immunofluorescence data indicated that AGR2 co-localised with the UPR marker GRP78 in both the tissue and their corresponding primary cell lines. AGR2 and GRP78 were highly expressed in glioblastoma CSCs. Following treatment with the aforementioned drugs, all drug-surviving cells showed high expression of AGR2. Prolonged siRNA repression of a particular region in AGR2 exon 2 reduced AGR2 protein expression and led to lower cell densities in both cell lines. Co-treatments using AGR2 exon 2B siRNA in conjunction with temozolomide or irinotecan had partially synergistic effects. The slight reduction of AGR2 expression increased nuclear Caspase-3 activation in both cell lines and caused multinucleation in the Jed66_GB cell line. Conclusions: AGR2 is highly expressed in UPR-active CSCs and drug-resistant GB cells, and its repression leads to apoptosis, via multiple pathways