An Intelligent Monitoring System of Vehicles on Highway Traffic

Vehicle speed monitoring and management of highways is the critical problem of the road in this modern age of growing technology and population. A poor management results in frequent traffic jam, traffic rules violation and fatal road accidents. Using traditional techniques of RADAR, LIDAR and LASAR to address this problem is time-consuming, expensive and tedious. This paper presents an efficient framework to produce a simple, cost efficient and intelligent system for vehicle speed monitoring. The proposed method uses an HD (High Definition) camera mounted on the road side either on a pole or on a traffic signal for recording video frames. On the basis of these frames, a vehicle can be tracked by using radius growing method, and its speed can be calculated by calculating vehicle mask and its displacement in consecutive frames. The method uses pattern recognition, digital image processing and mathematical techniques for vehicle detection, tracking and speed calculation. The validity of the proposed model is proved by testing it on different highways.Comment: 5 page

Productivity Constraints of Cholistani Farmers

This paper examines the factors behind low crop yield in Cholistan. Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis show how the low levels of agricultural productivity in this area may be linked to material and climatic factors. The quantitative analysis is mainly focused on physical factors. The qualitative analysis, however, emphasises that relative inefficiency of agricultural activity in Cholistan reflects the influence of physical, economic, social and, most importantly, climatic factors. The quantitative findings provide valuable insight into various ‘sources of productivity’ in terms of acreage effect, capital input effect and irrigation water availability effect. The size of the positive and significant coefficients on these variables suggest the extent to which one or the other variable effect is prominent in improving the crop yield. The qualitative analysis examines multiple interrelated factors which can be blamed on for relative inefficiency of Cholistani farmers. The hot climate of the area turns out to be the most critical variable in this analysis. Many specific technological drought-mitigating measures are proposed. However, for consistent policy formulation, a thorough study and quantitative evaluation of the potential and practicality of these measures in Cholistan is suggested.

Growth Factors in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Many growth factors are implicated in the pathogenesis of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Alteration of growth factors and their receptors in diabetes has been shown in both experimental and clinical studies. Sustained hyperglycemia resulting from long-standing diabetes leads to several biochemical abnormalities that consequently result in retinal hypoxia. Retinal oxygenation state regulates various growth factors that promote angiogenesis in order to meet the oxygen demands of the tissue. However, unregulated expression of these growth factors and induction of complex cascades leading to augmentation of other proangiogenic factors, which may not be regulated by tissue oxygenation, leads to uncontrolled retinal neovascularization and blindness in diabetic patients

INTERNAL FACTORS, EXTERNAL FACTORS AND BANK PROFITABILITY

A developed banking sector provides the impetus for the economy to grow. However, in order to maintain financial stability and sustain negative shocks, it is important to understand the factors that influence the profitability of banks. The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of internal and external factors on the profitability of banks in Pakistan for the period 2007-2015. Fixed effects model was used to analyse the effect of internal and external factors on the profitability of banks in Pakistan. The findings of the study revealed that among internal factors only bank size and asset composition significantly influences the profitability of banks whereas in the external determinants only real interest rates and GDP growth rates has a significant effect on the profitability of banks

Productivity Constraints of Cholistani Farmers

This paper examines the factors behind low crop yield in Cholistan. Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis show how the low levels of agricultural productivity in this area may be linked to material and climatic factors. The quantitative analysis is mainly focused on physical factors. The qualitative analysis, however, emphasises that relative inefficiency of agricultural activity in Cholistan reflects the influence of physical, economic, social and, most importantly, climatic factors. The quantitative findings provide valuable insight into various ‘sources of productivity’ in terms of acreage effect, capital input effect and irrigation water availability effect. The size of the positive and significant coefficients on these variables suggest the extent to which one or the other variable effect is prominent in improving the crop yield. The qualitative analysis examines multiple interrelated factors which can be blamed on for relative inefficiency of Cholistani farmers. The hot climate of the area turns out to be the most critical variable in this analysis. Many specific technological drought-mitigating measures are proposed. However, for consistent policy formulation, a thorough study and quantitative evaluation of the potential and practicality of these measures in Cholistan is suggested

EFFECTS OF FUND ATTRIBUTES ON FUND RETURN: AN ANALYSIS OF CLOSE-END MUTUAL FUNDS OF PAKISTAN

Mutual funds have become an attractive investment option particularly for small investors to diversify their portfolio. The aim of this study is to explore the determinants of close ended mutual funds return in Pakistan. For this purpose secondary data is used from 2007-2013. Multiple regression analysis is carried out to measure the determinants (fund size, liquidity, expense ratio and fund turnover) of fund return. The findings of the study revealed that expense ratio and fund turnover significantly influences the return of the fund. Moreover, fund size is positively related to fund return whereas expense ratio, fund turnover and liquidity are inversely related to fund return

Comparative Expression Studies of Fiber Related Genes in Cotton Spp.

Cotton fibers are the seed trichomes that are developed around the seed and are used to make clothes and yarn for the textile industry. Expression profiling of cotton fiber genes is very important to estimate the differential gene expression level at different fiber developmental stages. Expression analysis of fiber developing genes are very important to enhance the fiber length of cotton. The expression profiling of three gene families in five stages (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 DPA) of cotton fiber tissues was carried out through real-time PCR. Expression analysis revealed that transcripts of GA-20 Oxidase, XTH, and PEPc were elevated from 5 to 20 days post-anthesis (DPA) fibers. Total RNA was extracted from various stages of cotton fiber development and was reverse transcribed to cDNA for PCR amplification. For data normalization, 18s rRNA was used as an internal control. The objective of this study was to explore the expression level of fiber developing genes at specific stages of fiber development. The results showed that most of the genes were expressed during the elongation phase in between 5 DPA to 15 DPA. Results obtained from this study may be helpful for the further identification of fiber genes and the improvement of fiber characteristics in cotton. PEPc and XTH genes that are expressed with a high rate during the fiber development may be used in breeding programmes for the improvement of fiber quality and quantity

DIVIDEND POLICY ATTRIBUTES AND ITS IMPACT ON FIRM PROFITABILITY

The objective of the study was to analyze the impact of dividend policy on firm profitability. Dividend paying firms from three industrial sectors namely cement, automobile and sugar were selected for the period 2010-2020. Out of the total 74 dividend paying firms in these three industrial sectors only 33 were selected for which data was available for the entire study period. Fixed effects model is used to measure the impact of dividend policy from firm profitability. Findings of the study revealed that both attributes of dividend policy namely DPR and DY has a significant positive impact on all three proxies of firm profitability (ROA, ROE, EPS) except for DPR impact on EPS in Model III where the impact is also positive but insignificant

New furocarbazole alkaloids from Lonicera quinquelocularis

Two new furocarbazole alkaloids, 3-formyl-6,7-dimethoxy-furo[1,2]carbazole (1) and methyl-6,7-dimethoxy-furo[1,2]carbazole-3-carboxylate (2), along with two known carbazole alkaloids, 3-formyl-2-hydroxy-7-methoxycarbazole (3) and methyl 2,7-dimethoxycarbazole-3-carboxylate (4) were isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of Lonicera quinquelocularis. Their structures were established on the basis of spectroscopic analysis

Investigation of the Molecular Profile of Granular Cell Tumours and Schwannomas of the Oral Cavity

Granular cell tumours (GCTs) are rare submucosal lesions, thought to develop from Schwann cells, characterised by large polygonal cells with abundant lysosomes. The objectives of this study are to investigate whether GCTs have an antigen-presenting cell (APC) phenotype or a neural crest phenotype using immunohistochemistry and to compare expression profiles with Schwannomas. Immunoreactivity to CD68, HLA-DR, CD163, CD40 and CD11c (APC phenotype) and markers of neural crest cell (NCC) origin S100, SOX10, NSE and GAP43 in 23 cases of GCTs and 10 cases of Schwannomas were evaluated. RT-qPCR was used to identify a possible NCC developmental phenotype in 6 cases of GCTs. GAP43 was identified as a new NCC marker for GCTs, and some evidence was found for an APC phenotype from CD68 and HLA-DR immunoreactivity. RT-qPCR failed to identify an NCC developmental phenotype of GCTs, likely due to technical issues