Sustaining Economic Development by Reforming Basic Institutions through Community Participation

It is universally accepted and advocated that without community involvement and participation, development initiatives either in the economic or social sector, have little chances of success/sustainability, especially at the grassroots level, where the majority of the country’s population lives [AKRSP (1984, 1999); FAO (1989); Khan et al. (1984) and Mustafa (1998)]. In this connection the concept and approaches of community development have been tested in Northern Areas of Pakistan and the principles and experiences have been replicated in some other parts of the country by Non Government Organisations (NGOs), different national and international government projects and programmes [Mustafa and Grunewald (1996); NRMP (1993) and NRSP (1995)]. The need for conceptualising a realistic framework for collaboration between government/other development agencies and community organisations engaged in pursuit of both social and economic goals is imperative for an equitable and sustainable development because when it comes to community involvement, the two sectors cannot be divorced from each other [Khan (1999) and Reid and Khan (1996)]. The objectives of the paper are: to highlight the need and the importance of grassroots non-government institutions based on participatory community development approaches; to analyse the role of community participation models in the country and to recommend strategies for an effective linkage between grassroots non-government organisations and basic-services-driven government institutes for effective and sustainable development; also to review and recommend primitive structural changes in basic institutions as development partners.

Time Crystals from Minimum Time Uncertainty

Motivated by the Generalized Uncertainty Principle, covariance, and a minimum measurable time, we propose a deformation of the Heisenberg algebra and show that this leads to corrections to all quantum mechanical systems. We also demonstrate that such a deformation implies a discrete spectrum for time. In other words, time behaves like a crystal. As an application of our formalism, we analyze the effect of such a deformation on the rate of spontaneous emission in a hydrogen atom.Comment: 11 pages, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

A survey on the possibility of utilizing γH2AX as a biodosimeter in radiation workers

Introduction DNA damage is among the main consequences of radiation. Of many different classes of DNA damage, double-strand breaks are the most deleterious. Development of a sensitive biodosimetry method, which utilizes a detection material with a similar construction to the body, seems essential for monitoring radiation workers. In this study, histone H2AX protein was examined as a potential biodosimeter in radiation workers. Moreover, the presence of this protein after in vitro irradiation of blood samples was assessed simultaneously. Materials and Methods Blood samples from 46 radiation workers were analyzed in Golestan province, Iran. Meanwhile, two groups of blood samples (five blood samples in each group) were irradiated in vitro by doses of 1 to 0.2 Gy and 0.09 to 0.01 Gy from a 60Co source, respectively. γH2AX level in lymphocytes was measured, using Western blot technique. ANOVA and Tukey's tests were performed, using SPSS version 16. The significance level was considered to be 0.05. Results The results of Western blotting for the identification of γH2AX protein in radiation workers were negative. However, γH2AX level in lymphocytes of two in vitro irradiated groups showed a significant correlation with the radiation dose (P<0.0001). Conclusion The results showed that γH2AX was a good indicator for acute or local exposure to ionizing radiation, while in chronically exposed individuals, including radiation workers, this protein was useless at least in autoradiography detection method. Regarding the presence of γH2AX protein in blood samples, which were irradiated in vitro at low doses, it can be concluded that this protein has powerful repair mechanisms

Holographic Dark Energy from Fluid/Gravity Duality Constraint by Cosmological Observations

In this paper, we obtain a holographic model of dark energy using the fluid/gravity duality. This model will be dual to a higher dimensional Schwarzschild black hole, and we would use fluid/gravity duality to relate to the parameters of this black hole to such a cosmological model. We will also analyze the thermodynamics of such a solution, and discuss the stability model. Finally, we use cosmological data to constraint the parametric space of this dark energy model. Thus, we will use observational data to perform cosmography for this holographic model based on fluid/gravity duality.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. accepted in Phys. Dark Uni

Electropermeabilization of inner and outer cell membranes with microsecond pulsed electric field. Quantitative study with calcium ions

Microsecond pulsed electric fields (mu sPEF) permeabilize the plasma membrane (PM) and are widely used in research, medicine and biotechnology. For internal membranes permeabilization, nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) are applied but this technology is complex to use. Here we report that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane can also be electropermeabilized by one 100 mu s pulse without affecting the cell viability. Indeed, using Ca2+ as a permeabilization marker, we observed cytosolic Ca2+ peaks in two different cell types after one 100 mu s pulse in a medium without Ca2+. Thapsigargin abolished these Ca2+ peaks demonstrating that the calcium is released from the ER. Moreover, IP3R and RyR inhibitors did not modify these peaks showing that they are due to the electropermeabilization of the ER membrane and not to ER Ca2+ channels activation. Finally, the comparison of the two cell types suggests that the PM and the ER permeabilization thresholds are affected by the sizes of the cell and the ER. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that mu sPEF, which are easier to control than nsPEF, can permeabilize internal membranes. Besides, mu sPEF interaction with either the PM or ER, can be an efficient tool to modulate the cytosolic calcium concentration and study Ca2+ roles in cell physiology

The CAG trinucleotide repeat length in the androgen receptor does not predict the early onset of prostate cancer

Objective To relate the repeat length of the androgen-receptor CAG trinucleotide to the age of onset of prostate cancer, stage and grade of disease. Patients and methods After obtaining ethical approval, 265 patients with locally confined or locally advanced/metastatic prostate cancer were identified and evaluated for age at diagnosis (less than 65 years and greater than 75 years). DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes and 1 mug aliquots subjected to polymerase chain reaction using fluorescently labelled primers. Samples were then run on an ABI 377 gene scan analysis gel with an internal molecular weight marker. The length of the CAG repeat was determined by comparing the gene scan product size to samples where the CAG repeat length had been quantified using direct sequencing. The Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon two sample tests were used to analyse the data. Results The mean (range) length of the CAG repeat in the androgen receptor was 22.2 (10-31) in the younger and 22.5 (16-32) in the older group, and was not statistically different. There was no significant association between the CAG repeat length and the age of onset of prostate cancer (P = 0.568) or with stage (P = 0.577) and grade (P = 0.891) of prostate cancer. Conclusion These results suggest that there is no correlation between the androgen receptor CAG repeat length and the age of onset, stage and grade of prostate cancer, confirming recent doubts from other similar studies of a suggested correlation between shorter androgen receptor CAG repeat and early onset and aggressiveness of prostate cancer