Corrections and Remarks

This document contains corrections to errors discovered to-date in, and also some remarks upon, both Samin Ishtiaq's thesis, A Relevant Analysis of Natural Deduction [Ish99] and also the JLC [IP98] and CSL [IP99] papers, by Ishtiaq and Pym, that follow from it

Robust Modeling and Predictions of Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from Forest and Wetland Ecosystems

The land-atmospheric exchanges of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are major drivers of global warming and climatic changes. The greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes indicate the dynamics and potential storage of carbon in terrestrial and wetland ecosystems. Appropriate modeling and prediction tools can provide a quantitative understanding and valuable insights into the ecosystem carbon dynamics, while aiding the development of engineering and management strategies to limit emissions of GHGs and enhance carbon sequestration. This dissertation focuses on the development of data-analytics tools and engineering models by employing a range of empirical and semi-mechanistic approaches to robustly predict ecosystem GHG fluxes at variable scales. Scaling-based empirical models were developed by using an extended stochastic harmonic analysis algorithm to achieve spatiotemporally robust predictions of the diurnal cycles of net ecosystem exchange (NEE). A single set of model parameters representing different days/sites successfully estimated the diurnal NEE cycles for various ecosystems. A systematic data-analytics framework was then developed to determine the mechanistic, relative linkages of various climatic and environmental drivers with the GHG fluxes. The analytics, involving big data for diverse ecosystems of the AmeriFLUX network, revealed robust latent patterns: a strong control of radiation-energy variables, a moderate control of temperature-hydrology variables, and a relatively weak control of aerodynamic variables on the terrestrial CO2 fluxes. The data-analytics framework was then employed to determine the relative controls of different climatic, biogeochemical and ecological drivers on CO2 and CH4 fluxes from coastal wetlands. The knowledge was leveraged to develop nonlinear, predictive models of GHG fluxes using a small set of environmental variables. The models were presented in an Excel spreadsheet as an ecological engineering tool to estimate and predict the net ecosystem carbon balance of the wetland ecosystems. The research also investigated the emergent biogeochemical-ecological similitude and scaling laws of wetland GHG fluxes by employing dimensional analysis from fluid mechanics. Two environmental regimes were found to govern the wetland GHG fluxes. The discovered similitude and scaling laws can guide the development of data-based mechanistic models to robustly predict wetland GHG fluxes under a changing climate and environment

Contemporary Issues in Current Account Operations in Pakistani IBs - Sharia Compliant Solution

Contemporary Sharia scholars have three stances about the Current Account Operations in Pakistani Islamic Banks (IBs) i.e., (i) Ijarah based contract (ii) Wadi'ah based contract, and (iii) Qard based contract. This paper is an attempt to delve into the root causes of the differences of scholars and to find the Sharia-compliant solution acceptable for all. Descriptive as well as applied approaches are used in this paper. Clearing of ambiguity on this issue may result in twofold benefits: from the public point of view, it would satisfy practising Muslims which may result in form of huge deposits in this account (ii) from IBs viewpoint the Current Account is a bonus deposit

Reproducibility in Research: Systems, Infrastructure, Culture

The reproduction and replication of research results has become a major issue for a number of scientific disciplines. In computer science and related computational disciplines such as systems biology, the challenges closely revolve around the ability to implement (and exploit) novel algorithms and models. Taking a new approach from the literature and applying it to a new codebase frequently requires local knowledge missing from the published manuscripts and transient project websites. Alongside this issue, benchmarking, and the lack of open, transparent and fair benchmark sets present another barrier to the verification and validation of claimed results. In this paper, we outline several recommendations to address these issues, driven by specific examples from a range of scientific domains. Based on these recommendations, we propose a high-level prototype open automated platform for scientific software development which effectively abstracts specific dependencies from the individual researcher and their workstation, allowing easy sharing and reproduction of results. This new e-infrastructure for reproducible computational science offers the potential to incentivise a culture change and drive the adoption of new techniques to improve the quality and efficiency – and thus reproducibility – of scientific exploration.Royal Society UR

The Development Of Technical Education In Pakistan

The main objectives of this study were to highlight the present profile of technical education in NWFP, Pakistan, to pinpoint the physical facilities problems of technical education, to highlight the academic problems in technical education, and to recommend strategies for the improvement of technical education in Pakistan

Generation of mice carrying a knockout-first and conditional-ready allele of transforming growth factor beta2 gene

Transforming growth factor beta2 (TGFβ2) is a multifunctional protein which is expressed in several embryonic and adult organs. TGFB2 mutations can cause Loeys Dietz syndrome, and its dysregulation is involved in cardiovascular, skeletal, ocular, and neuromuscular diseases, osteoarthritis, tissue fibrosis, and various forms of cancer. TGFβ2 is involved in cell growth, apoptosis, cell migration, cell differentiation, cell-matrix remodeling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and wound healing in a highly context-dependent and tissue-specific manner. Tgfb2(-/-) mice die perinatally from congenital heart disease, precluding functional studies in adults. Here, we have generated mice harboring Tgfb2(βgeo) (knockout-first lacZ-tagged insertion) gene-trap allele and Tgfb2(flox) conditional allele. Tgfb2(βgeo/βgeo) or Tgfb2(βgeo/-) mice died at perinatal stage from the same congenital heart defects as Tgfb2(-/-) mice. β-galactosidase staining successfully detected Tgfb2 expression in the heterozygous Tgfb2(βgeo) fetal tissue sections. Tgfb2(flox) mice were produced by crossing the Tgfb2(+/βgeo) mice with the FLPeR mice. Tgfb2(flox/-) mice were viable. Tgfb2 conditional knockout (Tgfb2(cko/-) ) fetuses were generated by crossing of Tgfb2(flox/-) mice with Tgfb2(+/-) ; EIIaCre mice. Systemic Tgfb2(cko/-) embryos developed cardiac defects which resembled the Tgfb2(βgeo/βgeo) , Tgfb2(βgeo/-) , and Tgfb2(-/-) fetuses. In conclusion, Tgfb2(βgeo) and Tgfb2(flox) mice are novel mouse strains which will be useful for investigating the tissue specific expression and function of TGFβ2 in embryonic development, adult organs, and disease pathogenesis and cancer. genesi

A novel index-based decision support toolkit for safe reopening following a generalized lockdown in low and middle-income countries

While the effectiveness of lockdowns to reduce Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) transmission is well established, uncertainties remain on the lifting principles of these restrictive interventions. World Health Organization recommends case positive rate of 5% or lower as a threshold for safe reopening. However, inadequate testing capacity limits the applicability of this recommendation, especially in the low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). To develop a practical reopening strategy for LMICs, in this study, we first identify the optimal timing of safe reopening by exploring accessible epidemiological data of 24 countries during the initial COVID-19 surge. We find that a safe opening can occur two weeks after the crossover of daily infection and recovery rates while maintaining a negative trend in daily new cases. Epidemiologic SIRM model-based example simulation supports our findings. Finally, we develop an easily interpretable large-scale reopening (LSR) index, which is an evidence-based toolkit—to guide/inform reopening decision for LMICs

A novel index-based decision support toolkit for safe reopening following a generalized lockdown in low and middle-income countries

While the effectiveness of lockdowns to reduce Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) transmission is well established, uncertainties remain on the lifting principles of these restrictive interventions. World Health Organization recommends case positive rate of 5% or lower as a threshold for safe reopening. However, inadequate testing capacity limits the applicability of this recommendation, especially in the low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). To develop a practical reopening strategy for LMICs, in this study, we first identify the optimal timing of safe reopening by exploring accessible epidemiological data of 24 countries during the initial COVID-19 surge. We find that a safe opening can occur two weeks after the crossover of daily infection and recovery rates while maintaining a negative trend in daily new cases. Epidemiologic SIRM model-based example simulation supports our findings. Finally, we develop an easily interpretable large-scale reopening (LSR) index, which is an evidence-based toolkit-to guide/inform reopening decision for LMICs