Revitalising the Planning Commission

This paper considers the key problems confronting the Pakistan Planning Commission, briefly examines the essentials of planning for a mixed economy, draws lessons from the experience of countries, both developed and developing, that have formulated and implemented successful plans, and suggests measures to revitalize the Planning Commission. Some suggestions are put forward for continuous upgrading of the institution’s skills in the longer run. The paper also describes ways in which policymakers can learn from their counterparts in successful countries in the region

Stability Analysis of Einstein Universe in f(G,T)f(\mathcal{G},T) Gravity

This paper explores stability of the Einstein universe against linear homogeneous perturbations in the background of $f(\mathcal{G},T)$ gravity. We construct static as well as perturbed field equations and investigate stability regions for the specific forms of generic function $f(\mathcal{G},T)$ corresponding to conserved as well as non-conserved energy-momentum tensor. We use the equation of state parameter to parameterize the stability regions. The graphical analysis shows that the suitable choice of parameters lead to stable regions of the Einstein universe.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, to appear in IJMP

Kinetics of invertase synthesis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in synthetic medium

Present investigation deals with optimization of appropriate substrate concentration and incubation temperature both for growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and invertase production. Submerged fermentation technique was employed in the present study. The maximal production of invertase during the course of study was achieved after 48 h of incubation using initial sucrose concentration, 15.0 g l-1. The sugar consumption and dry cell mass were also examined. Data was subjected to kinetic analysis and on the basis of kinetic parameters such as Yp/x (amount of enzyme produced mg-1 cell mass), Yp/s (amount of enzyme produced mg-1 sugar consumed), Yx/s (mg cells mg-1 substrate consumed), Ys/x (mg sugar consumed mg-1 cell mass produced), qp (Amount of enzyme produced mg-1 sugar consumed h-1), qs (mg mg-1 cells h-1), qx (mg cells mg-1 sugar consumed h-1), µ (mg cells produced h-1), it was found that temperature had a direct influence both on substrate consumption and synthesis of enzyme. Similarly, higher concentrations of sucrose in fermentation medium induced catabolite repression of yeast invertase

An Analysis of Exports and Growth in Pakistan

The paper examines the export-led growth (ELG) paradigm for Pakistan, using data of the period from 1970-71 to 2003-04. The paper uses a number of analytical tools, including Unit Root Test, Phillips- Perron Tests, Co-integration Johansen Test, and the Granger Tests. The paper sets three hypotheses for testing the ELG paradigm for Pakistan; (a) whether GDP and exports are cointegrated, (b) whether exports Granger cause growth, and (c) whether exports Granger cause investment. The time series data on GDP growth, export growth and investment GDP ratio (proxy for capital formation), and the labour employed were used. The data were tested for stationarity using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and Phillips-Perron test (1988), and then the relationship between GDP growth rate and the growth rate of other variables was determined using OLS with AR (1). The major finding of the present study is that growth rate of export, total investment, and labour employed have positively affected the GDP growth rate

ANALISIS PENENTUAN FAKTOR PREDIKTOR TINGKAT SKALA STIGMA EMIC (EXPLANATORY MODEL INTERVIEW CATALOGUE) TERMODIFIKASI TERHADAP KUSTA PADA MASYARAKAT GAMPONG MEUNASAH KEUDEE KECAMATAN MASJID RAYA ACEH BESAR

Penyakit kusta merupakan salah satu jenis penyakit menular yang masih menjadi masalah kesehatan di Indonesia. Selain itu, kusta juga dapat menimbulkan masalah sosial yang menyebabkan diskriminasi pada penderita kusta oleh stigma masyarakat terhadap kusta. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui tinggi rendahya stigma terhadap kusta pada masyarakat menggunakan Skala EMIC yang berstandar Internasional. Desain penelitian ini adalah analitik dengan metode cross sectional dan jumlah responden sebanyak 85 orang Penelitian ini dilakukan di bulan November 2013 pada masyarakat Gampong Meunasah Keudee Aceh Besar. Analisis data diuji menggunakan chi-square dan analisis regresi logistik. Hasil penelitian didapatkan faktor yang mempengaruhi tingkat stigma pada masyarakat Gampong Meunasah Keudee adalah ketakutan, pendidikan, dan pengetahuan dengan p value < 0,05, dimana ketakutan adalah hal yang paling mempengaruhi tinggi rendahnya stigma terhadap kusta pada masyarakat Gampong Meunasah Keudee Aceh Besar dan tingkat rata-rata stigma pada masyarakat Gampong Meunasah Keudee adalah tinggi dengan nilai EMIC > 21 , sedangkan faktor jenis kelamin, status perkawinan, pendapatan dan umur tidak mempengaruhi tingkat skala stigma EMIC dengan p value > 0,05. Kesimpulan: Faktor yang mempengaruhi stigma terhadap kusta pada masyarakat adalah ketakutan, pengetahuan, dan pendidikan. Kata Kunci: EMIC, stigma, kust