Estimating Long-run Trade Elasticities in Pakistan: A Cointegration Approach

Trade Elasticities, Pakistan

Short-Chain Fatty Acids Are Antineoplastic Agents

Human diet contains a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. These are either long, medium or short chain fatty acids. As commonly believed, all fatty acids are not detrimental to human health. In addition to energy reserves, long chain fatty acids are known as acylating agents for many biomolecules such as cholesterol, terpenoids as well as steroid hormones. They are also involved in acylation of polyphenols such as flavonoids making them palatable for better absorption and biological activities. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are known for their numerous beneficial health effects including cancer and inflammation. PUFA, particularly ω3 fatty acids, have attracted attention as anticancer agents and particularly for colorectal cancer. PUFAs exhibit immunomodulatory activities controlling inflammosome and are used as adjuvants together with standard anticancer drugs. A reciprocal interaction of short chain fatty acids with PUFAs has been suggested for their anticancer activities. Thus, in colon cancer cells, sodium butyrate (NaB) interacts with docosahexaenoic acid inducing cell differentiation or catalyze apoptosis. These results encouraged us to investigate NaB, a C4 acid, as an adjuvant to standard proteasome inhibitors. Our results show that NaB sensitizes colon cancer cell lines for treatment with proteasome inhibitors

The Impact of Globalisation on Economic Growth of Pakistan

Globalisation has diverse definitions and concepts.1 Globalisation has many facets and has a variety of social, political and economic implications. This term introduced in early 1980, which never precisely defined, is a frequently used word in the political economy. It simply means growing integration of the national economies, openness to trade, financial flows, foreign direct investment and the increasing interaction of people in all facets of their lives. Globalisation also implies internationalisation of production, distribution and marketing of goods and services. International integration implies the adoption of common policies by the individual countries. Between 1870 and 1914, the world was integrated into a single word economy dominated by one power: Great Britain. The government functions were limited and faced many constraints like gold standard and lack of freedom to pursue easy monetary policy. Later governments were burdened by performing many functions like achievement of macroeconomic goals—full employment, economic growth and price stability. Freedom of using macroeconomic policies resulted in greater integration of national economies but at the same time they led to international disintegration and interdependence. Streeten (1998) argues that today global market forces can lead to conflict between states, contributing to international disintegration and weakened governance. Before 1914, the world was more integrated than it is today but it did not prevent the First World War

Victor S. D'Souza. Economic Development, Social Structure and Populfltion Growth. New Delhi: SagePublications India Pvt. Ltd. 1985. 138 pp.

Analytical efforts to understand the factors which influence population growth and the variables which affect fertility behaviour have become the concern of most social scientists. Studies done to look at the interrelationship between population growth and economic development have mostly used the viewpoints of economics and demography. The economists belonging to different schools of thought have treated the population question differently: while some of them have treated population growth as an exogenous variable, others have considered it to be endogenous. The economist's decision-making model of fertility behaviour, which considered children as an economic good, was developed as an extension of the conceptual framework of the micro-economic model of a consumer's decision-making process in allocating a restricted budget to alternative uses. The validity of the application of an economic theoretical framework to household fertility behaviour has, however, been questioned by many social scientists

Diffusion and Viscosity Coefficients of Binary Non-Electrolyte Liquid Mixtures

The Taylor Dispersion Technique has been applied to the measurement of mutual diffusion coefficients for liquid mixtures at elevated pressures. The systems studied were toluene plus n-hexane and toluene plus acetonitrile over the temperature range from 273 to 348 K and up to 25 MPa. The density and viscosity for the same mixtures have been measured from 298 to 373 K and up to 500 MPa. A self-centering falling body viscometer was used for the viscosity measurements, and densities were measured with a bellows volumometer. High pressure densities are also reported for the ternary mixture of n-octane, i-octane and oct-1-ene. Measurements were also made of the mutual diffusion coefficient of benzene and eight fluorinated benzenes at trace concentration in n-hexane from 213 to 333 K, at atmospheric pressure. The results have been used to make a rigorous test of current theoretical and empirical relationships. The Tait equation fits the density data within 0.2%. The trace mutual diffusion coefficient data are satisfactorily accounted for on the basis of the rough hard-sphere model and the high pressure viscosity coefficient results are successfully correlated using a method based on consideration of hard-sphere theory. The Grunberg and Nissan equation satisfactorily reproduces the mixture viscosity data, with parameter G dependent on temperature, pressure and concentration. An important development in the correlation of dense fluid transport properties on the basis of hard-sphere model is described, whereby diffusion and viscosity coefficients are considered simultaneously. This should lead to more reliable prediction methods for transport coefficients of dense fluids and fluid mixtures

The Role of Religious Actors in Dialogues For Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention in Afghanistan: A Case Study in The Faculty of Shari’a (Islamic) Law And The Faculty of Public Policy, Kabul University

This study examines the role of religious actors (the Ulema) in dialogues for peacebuilding and conflict prevention in Afghanistan by surveying third and fourth year students in two faculties of the University of Kabul (Faculty of Shari’a (Islamic) Law and Faculty of Public Law. The results indicate an overall positive view of the role of religious actors, with consistent views about helpful results accruing from the involvement of the Ulema in dialogue within communities to cope with crises, conflict and disagreements