From Central Asia to Kashmir: A Holistic View of Mysticism

Persian spirituality exerted a profound influence on the religious culture of Kashmir. The local Hindu Shaivite monism that went back to the ninth century was propagated by the Rishi ascetics. This paper aims to examine the influence of Sufism on the popular Islamic culture in Kashmir, in particular the role of the fourteenth-century figure of Nund Rishi or Shaykh Nūruddīn. The findings will be based on the qualitative analysis of the historical sources pertaining to the period concerned, with a focus on the Sanskrit epic of Rajatarangini and the poetry of Nund Rishi which explicitly refers to famous Persian mystics. This study has valid implications for the research on the causes of the socio-cultural transformation of Kashmir that were not only initiated but also taken to its completion and fruition by the local Rishi order.  

Yb+ ion trapping and optimum planar trap geometries for scalable quantum technology

Trapped ions in linear Paul traps are largely isolated from interaction with the environment. This property of trapped ions make them a primary choice for quantum technology. Over the last decade, trapped atomic ions in linear radio frequency Paul traps have shown to be an important tool to implement quantum algorithms. The scalability of linear ion traps is required to handle large numbers of qubits, in order to implement useful quantum computation. Advance micro-fabrication technology allows the realisation of scalable ion traps. Further developments of micro-trap designs, for the purpose of scalable quantum technology, requires inter-disciplinary investigations of ion traps. Micro-scale ion trap designs typically require a versatile experimental setup. The first part of this thesis describes such an experimental setup including a chip bracket that can host macroscopic ion traps as well as advanced symmetric and asymmetric ion trap chips with up to 90 control electrodes. The system provides versatile optical access for both type of traps and the vacuum chamber is designed in a way so the ion traps can be replaced within a short amount of time. To test the working of the setup, a macroscopic ion trap with an ion-electrode distance of 310±10 μm is used to trap ytterbium ions (Yb+). The trap is characterised by measuring the heating rate, (n•), and spectral noise density SE(ω). A photoionisation technique is used to ionise the different isotopes of Yb in our trap. Isotope selective photoionisation requires exact measurements of 1So↔1P1 transition for the different Yb isotopes. A technique to measure these resonant frequencies is described. This technique works by observing and aligning fluorescence spots and by using this technique, the 1So↔1P1 transition frequencies for stable isotopes of Yb were measured with an accuracy of 60 MHz. These new measured transition frequencies for stable Yb isotopes differ from previously published work by 660 MHz. Furthermore, this technique can also be used to obtain the transition frequencies at different laser-atomic beam angles, typical for non-perpendicular laser-atomic beam angles. The second part of this thesis discusses the optimisation of surface trap geometries as they are being used to implement scalable ion trap designs which consist of a large number of trapping zones. The trap depth in surface traps is low compared to symmetric traps of similar dimensions. How to optimise the trap geometry to achieve maximum trap depth for a given ion height above the trap electrodes, is discussed. Fast and adiabatic ion shuttling operations in one dimension as well as ion separation and recombination processes are important for many quantum information implementations. The maximum speed of separation of trapped ions for adiabatic shuttling operations depends on the secular frequencies, the trapped ion experiences in the process. It will be shown how such ion trap structures have to be designed for fast ion separation process and linear shuttling. Numerical results of adiabatic shuttling operations for trapped ions in such trap structures are also presented

The Approach of Data Mining

The concept of data mining is to classify and analyze the given data and to examine it clearly understandable and discoverable for the learners and researchers. The different types of classifiers are there exist to classify a data accordingly for the best and accurate results. Taking a primary data, and then classifying it into different portions of parts, then to analyze and remove any ambiguities from it and finally make it possible for understanding. With this process, that data will become secondary from primary and will called information. So, the classifiers are doing the same strategy for the solution and accuracy of the data. In this paper, different data mining approaches have been used by applying different classifiers on the taken data set. The data-set consists of 500 candidates' segregated data for the analysis and evaluation to perfectly classify and to show the accurate results by using the proposed Algorithms. The data mining approaches have been used in which HUGO (Highly Undetectable steGO) Algorithm, Naïve Bayes Classification, k-nearest neighbors and Logistic Regression are used with the extension of the other classification methods that are Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) as classifiers. These classifiers are given names for further analysis that are Classifier-1 and Classifier-2 respectively. Along with these, a tool is used named WEKA (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) for the analysis of the classifier-1 and 2. For performance evaluation and analysis the parameters are used for best classification that which classifier has given best performance and why. These parameters are RRSE (Root Relative Square Error), RAE (Relative Absolute Error), MAE (Mean Absolute Error), and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error). For the best and outstanding accuracy of the proposed work, these parameters have been tested under the simulation environment along with the incorrect, correct classifying and the %age has been witnessed and calculated. From simulation results based on RRSE, RAE, MAE and RMSE, it has been shown that classifier-1 has given outstanding performance among the others and has been placed in highest priority

Damages under Malaysian tort law : cases and commentary

Claims in tort are often taken in court with the aim of seeking damages in compensation of the hurt or damage suffered by the claimant. This book analyses and discusses the kinds of damages awarded in various types of tortious claims. Leading cases on damages in the various areas of tort law are commented on to provide critical understanding of the Malaysian jurisprudence on the award of damages under the law of tort. The book is user-friendly. It presents succinct propositions of legal principles under a systematic structure headings. Within each heading, the leading cases are set out together with brief facts and holdings and a concise extract of the judgment of the court. The notes following each case provide commentary, analysis and cross-reference to related materials

Impact evaluation of structural adjustment program: a case of Pakistan

We analyzed the effect of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) on macroeconomic variables of Pakistan using annual time series data for the years 1981-2001. The impact of four policy instruments of SAP, i.e. reduction in budget deficit, increase in indirect taxes,adjusting the exchange rate and sliding down of subsidies, on employment, income distribution, per-capita income and inflation has been analyzed. It is found that the first policy instrument, i.e. decrease in budget deficit has affected employment, income distribution and inflation adversely. The second policy instrument of imposition of indirect tax negatively affected the employment, income distribution, per capita income and positively affected the inflation. The third policy instrument of SAP was adjustment of exchange rate. It is estimated that adjusting exchange rate has resulted into increased unemployment and inflation. The fourth policy instrument of shrink in subsidies augmented the unemployment, unequal distribution of income and inflation and dwindled the percapita income. It appears that SAP has adversely affected the major socioeconomic variables of the economy. Currently the government is considering for loan from IMF, so it is proposed to avoid such type of policy directives from IMF.Structural Adjustment Program, Budget deficit, Indirect taxes, Exchange rate, Subsidies, Employment, Income distribution, Per-capita income, Inflation,Pakistan

Comparative study of hypoglycemic activity of Morus alba with oral glibenclamide in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats

Background: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that continues to present a major worldwide health problem, characterized by absolute or relative deficiencies in insulin secretion and/or insulin action associated with chronic hyperglycaemia and disturbances of carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. It is fast growing disease, gains the status of a potential epidemic in India with prevalence of more than 62 million diabetic individuals currently diagnosed with the diabetes.Methods: The study was conducted at Department of Pharmacology, Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool for a period of 1 year from January 2017 to December 2018. Animals used were albino rats, of Wistar strain, weighing between 150-200gm of either sex. The animals were divided into six groups as: control group (I); pathogenic control group (II) injected intravenously (i.v.) with single dose of STZ (60mg/kg); Morus alba stem bark extract (group-III; 200mg/kg), and group-IV (400mg/kg); group-V animals treated with glibenclamide (5mg/kg, p.o.) following STZ treatment; group-VI, animals treated with bark extract per se (400 mg/kg).Results: The results of this study showed a significant decrease blood glucose level, glycosylated heamoglobin level, and reduction in glutathione and insulin level after STZ administration. These parameters were significantly (p<0.05) reversed by extracts dose dependently.Conclusions: Thus, authors conclude that M. alba stem bark extracts produced significant antidiabetic and antioxidant effect which might be due to the presence of bioactive components such as phenolic and flavonoid content in the extract. The study warrants the need for further evaluated in certain other models of diabetes

Pathogenicity of two seed-borne fungi commonly involved in maize seeds of eight districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

This study was aimed to evaluate the pathogenicity of two mostly prevailing fungal species on maize (Zea maize L.) from different localities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan. Pathogenic fungi deteriorate food grains by producing mycotoxins and aflotoxins during storage consequently shedding menace on its nutritive quality. There were 12 species of mycoflora associated with maize seeds in the analyzed samples. Fusaium and Aspergillus species were the largest group of seed-borne fungal species present in all localities (87.25% and 82.50%, respectively). Fusarium moniliforme causes ear rot, kernel rot, stalk rot, seedling blight, seed rot, wilt and stunt and Aspergillus niger is responsible for rot of stored grain. These species were tested to determine their pathogenicity to maize seed germination and seedlings. Pathogenicity findings depicted that maize variety under cultivation in the area was highly susceptible to these fungal pathogens as Bhimber (61.5%) and Mirpur (60.25%) zones had more prevalence than other areas of AJK (23.5%). Results show that Fusarium moniliforme had 50.2% pathogenicity on seeds and 6.55% on seedlings, whilst Aspergillus niger had 62.87% on seeds and 11.24% on seedlings. These depicts that mycoflora had significant detrimental impacts on seeds and seedling’s life of maize.Keywords: Pathogenicity, seed-borne, mycoflora, maize, germination, Azad KashmirAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(12), pp. 1363-137

Urdu News Clustering Using K-Mean Algorithm On The Basis Of Jaccard Coefficient And Dice Coefficient Similarity

Clustering is the unsupervised machine learning process that group data objects into clusters such that objects within the same cluster are highly similar to one another. Every day the quantity of Urdu text is increasing at a high speed on the internet. Grouping Urdu news manually is almost impossible, and there is an utmost need to device a mechanism which cluster Urdu news documents based on their similarity. Clustering Urdu news documents with accuracy is a research issue and it can be solved by using similarity techniques i.e., Jaccard and Dice coefficient, and clustering k-mean algorithm. In this research, the Jaccard and Dice coefficient has been used to find the similarity score of Urdu News documents in python programming language. For the purpose of clustering, the similarity results have been loaded to Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA), by using k-mean algorithm the Urdu news documents have been clustered into five clusters. The obtained cluster's results were evaluated in terms of Accuracy and Mean Square Error (MSE). The Accuracy and MSE of Jaccard was 85% and 44.4%, while the Accuracy and MSE of Dice coefficient was 87% and 35.76%. The experimental result shows that Dice coefficient is better as compared to Jaccard similarity on the basis of Accuracy and MSE

Inverkan av doftdiversitet på fortplantningsbeteendet hos nattflyet Egyptiskt bomullsfly, Spodoptera littoralis

Spodoptera littoralis is a major pest of cotton in Egypt, causing serious economic losses. Egyptian farmers highly appreciate biological control of the pest as synthetic pesticides are very unsustainable. Phytophagous insects rely on plant volatiles to locate oviposition, feeding and, mating sites. We tested newly emerged S. littoralis moths by putting them in jars in indirect contact with leaves of the host plant, Gossypium hirsutum (Gh) and of non-host plants, Adhatoda vasica (Av) and Picea abies (Pa). Combinations of host and non-host plant leaves were also observed. Females kept with Gh leaves started calling earlier than the females in all non-host and the control treatments. Moths exhibited delayed mating when Pa and Gh leaves were offered in combination. Fecundity was reduced with strong to medium effect when Gh and Pa and, Gh and Av leaves were offered in combinations, respectively. Pair longevity was decreased in the absence of Gh leaves or the presence of Av and Pa leaves. Gas chromatogram electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) study on the antennae of female S. littoralis moths revealed three bio-active peaks in headspace collections from Av and five in Pa, which were subsequently identified through gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) by a combination of MS library searches, Kovats indices calculating, and matching the retention times with synthetic standards if available. The biological activity of synthetic standards of the identified compounds was further confirmed through electro-antennogram dose-response tests (EAG). A comprehensive knowledge about these inhibitory effects of Av and Pa leaves or their combinations, or compounds derived from them, could lead to sustainable pest management policies

Resistance of Zn-accumulating plants against the disease caused by Pythium ultimum (Trow)

Some species of plant growing on calamine soils hyperaccumulate heavy metals from those soils in their tissues. This study tests the hypothesis that such metal accumulation confers a benefit to the plant by providing defense against fungal pathogens, using the Zn-hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens (J. &amp; C. Presl.) and the pathogen Pythium ultimum (Trow). Infection of plants by P. ultimum was assessed by observing symptoms of damping-off in seedlings and by microscopic observation of fungal hyphae and spores in seedling roots. Using P. ultimum as a test pathogen, comparison was made between the susceptibility of Zn accumulating seedlings of T. caerulescens with those of non-accumulating species of T. arvense and between seedlings of T. caerulescens grown from three seed collections of different zinc status. The seeds of the Zn-hyperaccumulating species germinated well up to the level of 30mg Zn mL-1. The germination/damping-off rate increases/decreases with the increasing of Zn concentrations in the seeds of Zn-hyperaccumulating plants. Whereas, in non-accumulator the germination rate was decreased with increasing of Zn concentrations and not a single seed was germinated in presence of P. ultimum. In the three populations of T. caerulescens damping-off was manifested according to the concentration present in the seeds. In all of these experiments infection by P. ultimum was greatly reduced in the roots containing high concentration of Zn. The results confirm the hypothesis that heavy metal hyperaccumulation in these plants confers protection against attack by fungal root-pathogens