Dialectal intelligibility of Assamese tested functionally

This paper includes a detailed discussion on the intelligibility of the speakers of four regional dialects of the Indo-Aryan language of Assamese. Prior research on Assamese dialects mostly being confined to examining structural variation lends this study relevance and urgency. The dialects of Standard Assamese, Central Assamese, Kamrupi, and Goalparia, covering three varieties each, were considered for the study. Using a functional intelligibility testing approach, the rate of overall intelligibility as well as of inter- and intra-dialectal mutual intelligibility of the dialects were determined. 24 speakers (1 male and 1 female from each variety) were asked to record ‘texts’— words, sentences, and connected speech in their native varieties of Assamese. 11 listeners from each variety (132 in total) were then tested on their comprehension of texts from non-native varieties. Thereafter, their rates of comprehension were used to determine the rates of mutual intelligibility between speakers of the different dialects and varieties of Assamese. This paper establishes that the rates of mutual intelligibility are unequal and asymmetric among the dialects— the native speakers of the Standard and Central Assamese dialects were more intelligible to the speakers of Kamrupi and Goalparia than vice-versa. Finally, the paper finds that the rate of intelligibility is the lowest for words in isolation and reinforces the important role of context in intelligibility

Impact of Social and Human Capital on Entrepreneurship: A study in Pakistani Prospective

Whether entrepreneurial business high performance is already there in business or it can be created through the process of opportunity recognition in the society. Based on these points it seems that entrepreneur must have some kind of knowledge comes through education, past experience, social contact, special source of information. This study is based on primary source of data which was collected through survey of entrepreneurs from the areas of Mardan, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. The questionnaire approach was used for data collection and 70 respondents were selected for sample size. Result of this study revealed that the opportunities for their business success, so human capital (knowledge, skill, experience, education) and social capital (social contacts, social networks, social club) has positively affected the business rate of success.   Key words: Social Capital, Human Capital, Opportunities, Entrepreneurship, Pakistan

Determinants of Voluntary and Involuntary Underemployment in Pakistan

Having to work in a sub optimal capacity is a socio economic problem which is apparently veiled but it is equally detrimental as having no work to do. This study intends to compare the demographic factors of Pakistan which determine underemployment and two sub components such as voluntary underemployment non-voluntary underemployment which lacked focus in past studies conducted in Pakistan. The present study filled this gap by measuring the different dimensions and the determinants of underemployment using the micro data from Labor Force Survey (2010-11). The estimates indicate that females, people living in rural areas and the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) have higher tendency to be voluntarily underemployed, head of households are less likely to be underemployed. Employees are less likely to be voluntary underemployed. Out of underemployed persons, only a small percentage of people have involuntary reasons for working less than 35 hours otherwise a high percentage of employed people have voluntary reasons. This shows the presence of voluntary underemployment at a very large extent in Pakistan

Kualitas Air Tanah untuk Air Minum di Desa Ujung Lero Kecamatan Suppa Kabupaten Pinrang

This study aims to: Know the quality of ground water, whether ground water is suitable to use as a source of drinking water and how to determine groundwater quality using the Storet Method. This type of research was a quantitative descriptive research. The population in this study was shallow ground water or dug wells used by the community as a source of drinking water. The sample of this research took based on land use which point I was in a settlement, point II was in a field, point III was in a shrub and point IV was in a pond. The data of this research were analyzed by using the Storet Method. The results showed that the water quality exceeded the maximum level that allowed for drinking water so that the water cannot be used for drinking water needs, the parameter that exceeds the maximum level was at point IV that had salty taste, the color parameter at point III was 20.0 with the maximum limit 15, the turbidity parameter at point IV was 5.480 with a maximum limit of 5, the TDS parameter at points I - IV is 692, 1178, 6403 and 799 with a maximum limit of 500, the iron parameter at points I and IV were 0.31 and 0.43 with a maximum limit of 0.3 and also a detergent parameter at point IV of 0.110 with a maximum limit of 0.05 and E.Coli parameters at points I, II and IV of 680, 2200 and 200 with a maximum limit of 0 amount of 100 / ml. Based on the results measurement and analysis of well water samples,it can be concluded that well water was not suitable to use as drinking water because the water had been polluted. Using the storet method showed that the level of well water pollution can be classified as class D (Severely Polluted) category with poor water conditions for drinking water quality

A Comparative Study on Simulated Chairside Grinding and Polishing of Monolithic Zirconia.

This study evaluated the effects of different simulated chairside grinding and polishing protocols on the physical and mechanical properties of surface roughness, hardness, and flexural strength of monolithic zirconia. Sintered monolithic zirconia specimens (15 mm × 3 mm × 3 mm) were abraded using three different burs: diamond bur, modified diamond bur (zirconia specified), and tungsten carbide bur, along with a group of unprepared specimens that served as a control group. The study was divided into two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. Surface roughness, surface hardness, and flexural strength were assessed before and after the grinding procedure to determine the 'best test group' in Phase 1. The best abrasive agent was selected for Phase 2 of the study. The specimens in Phase 2 underwent grinding with the best abrasive agent selected. Following the grinding, the specimens were then polished using commercially available diamond polishing paste, a porcelain polishing kit, and an indigenously developed low-temperature sintered zirconia slurry. The physical and mechanical properties were again assessed. Results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA test. Specimens were observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) for their microstructure and crystalline phases, respectively. Grinding with diamond burs did not weaken zirconia (p > 0.05) but produced rougher surfaces than the control group (p < 0.05). Tungsten carbide burs did not significantly roughen the zirconia surface. However, specimens ground by tungsten carbide burs had a significantly reduced mean flexural strength (p < 0.05) and SEM revealed fine surface cracks. Phase transformation was not detected by XRD. Polishing with commercially available polishing agents, however, restored the surface roughness levels to the control group. Dental monolithic zirconia ground with tungsten carbide burs had a significantly reduced flexural strength and a smooth but defective surface. However, grinding with diamond burs roughened the zirconia surface. These defects may be reduced by polishing with commercially available polishing agents. The use of tungsten carbide burs for grinding dental zirconia should not be advocated. Grinding with diamond abrasives does not weaken zirconia but requires further polishing with commercially available polishing agents

Crosstalk between Chemokine Receptor CXCR4 and Cannabinoid Receptor CB2 in Modulating Breast Cancer Growth and Invasion

Cannabinoids bind to cannabinoid receptors CB(1) and CB(2) and have been reported to possess anti-tumorigenic activity in various cancers. However, the mechanisms through which cannabinoids modulate tumor growth are not well known. In this study, we report that a synthetic non-psychoactive cannabinoid that specifically binds to cannabinoid receptor CB(2) may modulate breast tumor growth and metastasis by inhibiting signaling of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12. This signaling pathway has been shown to play an important role in regulating breast cancer progression and metastasis.We observed high expression of both CB(2) and CXCR4 receptors in breast cancer patient tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. We further found that CB(2)-specific agonist JWH-015 inhibits the CXCL12-induced chemotaxis and wound healing of MCF7 overexpressing CXCR4 (MCF7/CXCR4), highly metastatic clone of MDA-MB-231 (SCP2) and NT 2.5 cells (derived from MMTV-neu) by using chemotactic and wound healing assays. Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms using various biochemical techniques and confocal microscopy revealed that JWH-015 treatment inhibited CXCL12-induced P44/P42 ERK activation, cytoskeletal focal adhesion and stress fiber formation, which play a critical role in breast cancer invasion and metastasis. In addition, we have shown that JWH-015 significantly inhibits orthotopic tumor growth in syngenic mice in vivo using NT 2.5 cells. Furthermore, our studies have revealed that JWH-015 significantly inhibits phosphorylation of CXCR4 and its downstream signaling in vivo in orthotopic and spontaneous breast cancer MMTV-PyMT mouse model systems.This study provides novel insights into the crosstalk between CB(2) and CXCR4/CXCL12-signaling pathways in the modulation of breast tumor growth and metastasis. Furthermore, these studies indicate that CB(2) receptors could be used for developing innovative therapeutic strategies against breast cancer

Preclinical and Clinical Assessment of Cannabinoids as Anti-Cancer Agents

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States with 1.7 million new cases estimated to be diagnosed in 2016. This disease remains a formidable clinical challenge and represents a substantial financial burden to the US health care system. Therefore, research and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer is of high priority. Cannabinoids and their derivatives have been utilized for their medicinal and therapeutic properties throughout history. Cannabinoid activity is regulated by the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is comprised of cannabinoid receptors, transporters, and enzymes involved in cannabinoid synthesis and breakdown. More recently, cannabinoids have gained special attention for their role in cancer cell proliferation and death. However, many studies investigated these effects using in vitro models which may not adequately mimic tumor growth and metastasis. As such, this article aims to review study results which evaluated effects of cannabinoids from plant, synthetic and endogenous origins on cancer development in preclinical animal models and to examine the current standing of cannabinoids that are being tested in human cancer patients

Cannabinoid pharmacology in cancer research: A new hope for cancer patients?

Cannabinoids have been used for many centuries to ease pain and in the past decade, the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in a number of pathophysiological conditions, such as mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity, and osteoporosis. Several studies have demonstrated that cannabinoids also have anti-cancer activity and as cannabinoids are usually well tolerated and do not produce the typical toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies, there is considerable merit in the development of cannabinoids as potential anticancer therapies. Whilst the presence of psychoactive effects of cannabinoids could prevent any progress in this field, recent studies have shown the value of the non-psychoactive components of cannabinoids in activating apoptotic pathways, inducing anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects. The aforementioned effects are suggested to be through pathways such as ERK, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways and hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF1), all of which are important contributors to the hallmarks of cancer. Many important questions still remain unanswered or are poorly addressed thus necessitating further research at basic pre-clinical and clinical levels. In this review, we address these issues with a view to identifying the key challenges that future research needs to address