Geotechnical Aspects of Recent Pakistan Earthquakes

Geologically, Kashmir and northwestern areas of Pakistan are located in most active seismic zones of sub-continent. In Kashmir area, earthquakes had been triggered by a continuous subduction phenomenon of Indian plate under Eurasian plate; a collision zone that created Himalaya Mountain range and still giving it a rise of 1 cm each year. The Quetta earthquake occurred on part of the left-lateral Chaman Fault System and was measured 8.1 on Richter scale with focal depth of 17 km. The earthquake completely devastated the city of Quetta, leaving 35000-60000 dead and injuring thousands of people in affected areas. The Kashmir earthquake was caused by the active Murree/ Muzaffarabad fault in Indo-Kohistan collision zone. The human loss was estimated to 80,000 dead and 600,000 injured. Almost all villages in and around cities of Muzaffarabad and Balakot were razed to the ground. Extensive slope failures and landslides severely damaged road and bridges. The landslides even temporarily blocked River Jhelum near Muzaffarabad City; due to blockade of two tributaries of the river, lakes were created and they are still intact. The slope failures also wiped off villages built on slopes and in foot hills. The aim of this research paper is to share information on geotechnical aspects of recent earthquakes in Pakistan. The paper enhanced the understanding of seismotectonics of seismically active areas of Pakistan

Ethnomedicinal Study of Vegetables Mentioned in the Holy Qura’n and Ahadith

The present research work is based on nine herbaceous plant species: Agaricus campestris L., Allium cepa L., Allium sativum L., Beta vulgaris L., Citrulus lennatus, Cucumis sativus L., Lagenaria siceraria, Trigonella foenum- graceum L. and Zingiber officinale Rroscoe. mentioned in Holy Quran and Ahadith. These plants were collected from Dera Ismail Khan District, NWFP, Pakistan, during 2007. This is a part of check list of medicinal flora and their uses enlisted in Holy Quran, Ahadith and Islamic literature. The main aim of this study is to document the knowledge of ethnobotanical importance of vegetables in the light of Islam. In view of the importance of this study related comprehensive and detailed data was collected. Complete macro & microscopic detailed morphological features of these species were discussed. Results were systematically arranged by alphabetic order of botanical names, family followed by Quranic name, Arabic name, English name, Local / vernicular name, habit and distribution, parts used, medicinal uses and references cited from Holy Quran, Ahadith. It is concluded that herbal medicines are being widely used in the world because of better cultural acceptability, least injurious with none or much reduced side effects

Studies on wound healing activity of some Euphorbia species on experimental rats

Background: Plants of Euphorbiaceae are used in folkloric medicines in variety of ailments and well known for chemical diversity of their isoprenoid constituents. This study was carried out to explore the preliminary wound healing potential of four Euphorbia species (E. consorbina 1, E. consorbina 2, E. inarticulata, E. balsamifera and E. schimperi).Materials and Methods: Excision wound surface of the animals were topically treated with ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of plants at a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight for twenty days. Povidone-iodine ointment was used as a reference drug. Wound contraction measurement and period of epithelialization were used to assess the effect of plants extracts on wound repairing.Results: The groups treated with methanol extracts of E. balsamifera and E. schimperi showed profound effects, high rate of wound contraction (100%) and decrease in epithelization period 19.00±0.40 and 18.50±0.64 respectively, followed by methanol extracts of E. consorbina 2, ethyl acetate extract of E. inarticulata and ethyl acetate extracts of E. consorbina 2 which showed significant (P <0.001) wound contraction and decrease in epithelization period. Conversely ethyl acetate extract of E. consorbina 1, E. balsamifera and E. schimperi and methanol extract of E. Consorbina 1 and E. Inarticulata treated groups was not showing significant wound healing. Methanol extracts of E. balsamifera and E. schimperi were also tested for their safety margin and found safe up to dose of 2000mg/kg body weight.Conclusion: Topical application of methanol extracts of E. balsamifera and E. schimperi have potential wound healing activity which is identical with standard drug Povidone-iodine.Keywords: Wound healing, excision wounds, Euphorbia, extract

Aquatic Plants of District Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

In this taxonomic account 18 aquatic plants, which are reported for the first time from Dera Ismail Khan District are presented. The species were Alternanthera sessilis (Linn.) DC., Azolla pinnata R. Br., Bacopa moneiri (Linn.) Pennell., Ceratophyllum demersum Linn., Eleocharis palustris (Linn.) R. Brown., Hydrilla verticillata Royle., Marselia quadrifolia Linn., Nelumbium nelumbo (Linn.) Druce., Nymphoide cristata Roxb.) O.Ketze., Phragmites karka (Retz.) Trin., Pistia stratiotes Linn., Polygonum barbatum Linn; Polygonum flaccidum Meissn., Potammogeton crispus Linn., Potamogeton nodosus Poiret, Spirodela polyrrhiza (Linn.) Schield, Typha domenginsis Pers., Typha elephantia Roxb

The Clinical Presentation and Management of Brain Abscess

Introduction: It has been reported to account for 1 – 2% and up to 8% of all intracranial space-occupying lesions in patients in developed and developing countries respectively. Bacteria can invade the brain by direct spread or through hematogenous seedling. Delayed surgical drainage has high morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of a brain abscess is made with clinical features and investigations.Objective: To determine the frequency of clinical presentations, causative pathogens and their antibiotic sensitivity in patients with brain abscess. Results: The mean SD for age was 22.90 ± 14.0 years, the age range from 3 – 45 years. Male to female ratio was 3:1. The most common signs and symptoms of brain abscess were headache 32 (80%). The common predisposing factor for the formation of brain abscess was ear discharge which is 8 (20%) patients. Conclusion: It is concluded that the awareness of predisposing factors, early recognition of clinical features and understanding of the prevalent microbial profile is imperative for better management of children and adults with brain abscess

Exploring the Policy Reforms and Productivity Nexus: Evidence from Indian Banking Sector

The study investigates the effect of deregulation of the Indian financial system in 1991 followed by various financial sector reforms on productivity growth of Indian scheduled commercial banks, with exclusion of Regional Rural Banks, over the period of time, from 2002 to 2010.The results of our study show that the performance of the Indian banking industry remained satisfactory for the said period despite of the financial turmoil that literally hampered the financial institutions all over the world. This was because Indian financial system remained sheltered from such external shocks as a result of having flexible exchange rate regime, the foreign reserves were high, the capital account is not yet fully convertible, and banks and their customers have limited foreign exchange exposure. Therefore, we recommend that the policy makers should carry on with their current economic policy as it has been successful in sheltering them from external shocks. Furthermore, the study found that the deposits and credits are negatively related with financial system reforms of deregulation, which is surprising. As increase in deposits results in increase in credits. So, we would recommend the policy makers to emphasize on increasing the deposit base of the banks by increasing the interest rates on deposits. Keywords: Financial Sector Reforms, Indian Banking industry, Productivity, Financial turmoil, Deregulatio

R&D Investment, Terrorism and Firm Market Performance

Pakistan is facing a menace in the form of terrorism which has an adverse impact on both the social and corporate environment. This paper examines the impact of R&D investment on fi rm market performance in the non-fi nancial sector of Pakistan from the year 2006 to 2012. We also consider the moderating role of terrorism on the relationship between R&D investment and fi rm market performance. After controlling for fi rm size, leverage and age, we found that R&D investment has a positive and statistically signifi cant impact on fi rm market performance. Contrary to Ehie & Olibe (2010), we found a negative moderating impact of terrorism on the relationship between R&D investment and fi rm market performance.Keywords: R&D, Firm Market Performance, Terrorism, Partial Moderation, Pakistan

2,3-Dimethyl-N-[(E)-4-nitro­benzyl­idene]aniline

In the title compound, C15H14N2O2, the aromatic rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 24.52 (5)°. The dihedral angle between the nitro group and its parent benzene ring is 9.22 (16)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules inter­act through aromatic π—π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid separations = 3.8158 (14) and 3.9139 (14) Å]