Time-Modulated Array Co-Simulation with the Aid of Commercial Software

This thesis report exhibits an integrated Electromagnetic/Circuit level technique to analyze the time modulated arrays. I restate this work in commercial software which was already developed in CAD domain i.e. combining the exact harmonic balanced based analysis of non-linear switches with the electromagnetic characterization of the radiating elements. In this commercial software I try to perform a full-wave co-simulation to compute the radiated far-field envelope to show the array behavior. Simulation in this new software allows a precise evaluation of several non-linear performance aspects of the radiating system, such as power usage capabilities and the switch modulation frequency boundary. Secondly I also discuss a TMA wireless power transfer technique which is based on two step procedure. In this case I carry out the full wave co-simulation in this new commercial software to analyze the antenna array with modulated non-linear feeding network. Schottky-diode based network provide proper modulated RF excitations of the array elements. Therefore, the array architecture is extremely simple, if compared to phased arrays, only simple control circuit board

Physician migration at its roots: a study on the factors contributing towards a career choice abroad among students at a medical school in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Physician migration, also known as “brain drain,” results from a combination of a gap in the supply and demand in developed countries and a lack of job satisfaction in developing countries. Many push and pull factors are responsible for this effect, with media and internet playing their parts. Large-scale physician migration can pose problems for both the donor and the recipient countries, with a resulting reinforcement in the economic divide between developed and developing countries. The main objectives of our study were to determine the prevalence of migration intentions in medical undergraduates, to elucidate the factors responsible and to analyze the attitudes and practices related to these intentions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, observational, questionnaire-based study, conducted at Dow Medical College of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, between January, 2012 and May, 2012. A total of 323 students responded completely. The questionnaire consisted of 3 sections, and was aimed at collecting demographic details, determining students’ migratory intentions, evaluating reasons for and against migration and assessing attitudes and practices of students related to these intentions. RESULTS: Out of 323 respondents, 195 wanted to pursue their careers abroad, giving a prevalence rate of 60.4% in our sample. United States was the most frequently reported recipient country. The most common reasons given by students who wished to migrate, in descending order, were: lucrative salary abroad followed by quality of training, job satisfaction, better way of life, relatives, more opportunities, better working environment, terrorism in Pakistan, harassment of doctors in Pakistan, desire to settle abroad, more competition in Pakistan, better management, peer pressure, longer working hours in Pakistan, religious reasons, parent pressure, political reasons and favoritism in Pakistan. A considerable number of respondents had already started studying for licensing examinations, and were also planning of gaining clinical experience in their desired country of interest. CONCLUSION: Physician migration is a serious condition that requires timely intervention from the concerned authorities. If considerable measures are not taken, serious consequences may follow, which may pose a threat to the healthcare system of the country

Does Islamic insurance development promote economic growth? a panel data analysis

This paper examines the impact of Islamic insurance development on economic growth. The Islamic insurance market has been experiencing tremendous growth in its activities since inception, particularly in the ASEAN and GCC markets. Using the difference GMM estimation technique for dynamic panel data model for a set of 22 countries for the period 2004 to 2012, we find a strong evidence of a positive and significant effect from the Islamic insurance activities on economic growth. We further find a robust positive and significant link between trade and economic growth, a positive but insignificant relationship between CPI and economic growth while government consumption show a negative relation. Our result provides further support for the supply-leading hypothesis in the finance growth literature

Sickness in Small-Scale Industries in South Punjab: Hurdles & Remedies: A Study of Bahawalpur Estate Area, Pakistan

This study was based on in-depth exploratory investigation of Bahawalpur (Pakistan) industrial estate area to find out the internal and external root causes of sickness in small industries and their solutions. Ashraf et al.(2012) noticed reasons of meager performance of small firms as lack of managerial knowledge, high rate of interest on loans, heavy taxation,  poor government policies, owner’s education level and use of outdated technology, that’s why the most of small units have poor success and growth.  Shukla (1993) and Reddy et al. (1988) found the causes of sickness in Small Scale industry which  were generally related to production, finance, environmental,  management and  marketing  factors.  Collection of data was executed through both primary and secondary sources. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods had been used for the study. Data was primarily collected through structured questionnaires as well as interviews of owners/managers of small industrial units at Bahawalpur industrial estate area. SPSS software was used to analyze the data.  In this study we found that 76.9% units were facing energy crisis and almost all the units were also facing high Mark-up problem and Inflation problem. Other obstructions that units were facing comprising the high level of taxation, lack of education, difficulty in accessing credit, lack of market information, lack of management skills etc. which leads to low level of production and unemployment etc. Keywords: Industrial obstructions, Remedies, low productio

Debt and economic growth in an oil rich economy: evidence from Saudi Arabia

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of debt on economic growth in Saudi Arabia based on autoregressive distributed lags approach for the period of 1969-2013. The result indicates that variables are cointegrated and null hypothesis was rejected at the 5% significance level. The coefficients of long-run result reveal that public debt affects economic growth in a positive and statistically significant manner. Furthermore, inflation was found to also enhance economic growth in the oil rich kingdom. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the literature suggesting debt stifles growth, our study recommend that policymakers maintain the current level of debt-to- gross domestic product in the country

Inhibition of full length Hepatitis C Virus particles of 1a genotype through small interference RNA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a member of the <it>Flaviviridae </it>family of viruses, is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, the only treatment available consists of a combination of Pegylated interferon alpha (INF-α) and ribavirin, but only half of the patients treated show a sufficient antiviral response. Thus there is a great need for the development of new treatments for HCV infections. RNA interference (RNAi) represents a new promising approach to develop effective antiviral drugs and has been extremely effective against HCV infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This study was design to assess or explore the silencing effect of small interference RNAs (siRNAs) against full length HCV particles of genotype 1a. In the present study six 21-bp siRNAs were designed against different regions of HCV structural genes (Core, E1 and E2). Selected siRNAs were labeled as Csi 301, Csi 29, E1si 52, E1si 192, E2si 86 and E2si 493. Our results demonstrated that siRNAs directed against HCV core gene showed 70% reduction in viral titer in HCV infected liver cells. Moreover, siRNAs against E1 and E2 envelop genes showed a dramatic reduction in HCV viral RNA, E2si 86 exhibited 93% inhibition, while E1si 192, E2si 493 and E1si 52 showed 87%, 80%, and 66% inhibition respectively. No significant inhibition was detected in cells transfected with the negative control siRNA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggested that siRNAs targeted against HCV structural genes efficiently silence full length HCV particles and provide an effective therapeutic option against HCV infection.</p

Head and Neck Cancer: Epidemiology and Role of MicroRNAs

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is referred to the cancers of aerodigestive tract covering number of structures viz, oral and nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, lips, salivary glands, oropharynx, hypopharynx, pharynx, larynx, and local lymph nodes. It is the sixth most common cancer in the world. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small single‐stranded noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) of about 19–25 nucleotides. These miRNAs have been reported to influence number of biological activities, i.e., gene regulation, differentiation, organ formation, cell death, cell proliferation, and stress responses. The first ever study involving miRNAs in HNC was published in 2005. Since then, association between dysregulation of miRNAs and head and neck tumorigenesis has been documented by a number of researchers. This chapter has covered a comprehensive state of the art literature review of the recent studies about the role of miRNAs in HNC including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and human nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Despite significant improvement in multimodal treatment, the prognosis of advanced HNC is quite poor. Recent studies are promising regarding the potential role of miRNAs as prognostic indicators. Recently, some miRNAs have been discovered as important diagnostic biomarkers. In fact, miRNAs are found circulated stably in different body fluids, i.e., urine, blood, saliva, as well as in breath. Hence, these miRNAs can be assessed easily with noninvasive methods. miRNAs are the key therapeutic targets in addition to their prognostic and diagnostic value. Use of synthetically designed “miRNAs sponges,” miR mimics (agomiRs), miR antagonists (“antagomiRs”), and miR inhibitors (antimiRNAs oligonucleotides) is an innovative strategy to modulate oncogenic and tumor‐suppressive pathways. Our understanding of miRNAs involvement in HNC is in its infancy. The discovery of miRNAs heralds a complete new paradigm in the understanding of exact molecular pathways involved in HNC development. More detailed studies are required for better understanding and therapeutic targets to treat HNC

Debt and Economic Growth in an Oil Rich Economy: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of debt on economic growth in Saudi Arabia based on autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) approach for the period of 1969–2013. The result indicates that variables are cointegrated and null hypothesis was rejected at the 5% significance level. The coefficients of long-run result reveal that public debt affects economic growth in a positive and statistically significant manner. Furthermore, inflation was found to also enhance economic growth in the oil rich kingdom. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the literature suggesting debt stifles growth, our study recommend that policymakers maintain the current level of debt-to-GDP in the country. Keywords: Public debt, Economic Growth, Inflation, ARDL JEL Classifications: H61, H62, H6

Huh-7 cell line as an alternative cultural model for the production of human like erythropoietin (EPO)

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone which is required to regulate the production of red blood cells. Deficiency of EPO is known to cause anemia in chronically infected renal patients and they require regular blood transfusion. Availability of recombinant EPO has eliminated the need for blood transfusion and now it is extensively used for the treatment of anemia. Glycosylation of erythropoietin is essential for its secretion, stability, protein conformation and biological activity. However, maintenance of human like glycosylation pattern during manufacturing of EPO is a major challenge in biotechnology. Currently, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line is used for the commercial production of erythropoietin but this cell line does not maintain glycosylation resembling human system. With the trend to eliminate non-human constituent from biopharmaceutical products, as a preliminary approach, we have investigated the potential of human hepatoma cell line (Huh-7) to produce recombinant EPO.Initially, the secretory signal and Kozak sequences was added before the EPO mature protein sequence using overlap extension PCR technique. PCR-amplified cDNA fragments of EPO was inserted into mammalian expression vector under the control of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter and transiently expressed in CHO and Huh-7 cell lines. After RT-PCR analysis, ELISA and Western blotting was performed to verify the immunochemical properties of secreted EPO.Addition of secretory signal and Kozak sequence facilitated the extra-cellular secretion and enhanced the expression of EPO protein. Significant expression (P < 0.05) of EPO was observed in the medium from Huh-7 cell line.Huh-7 cell line has a great potential to produce glycosylated EPO, suggesting the use of this cell line to produce glycoproteins of the therapeutic importance resembling to the natural human system

Functional Role of MicroRNAs in Embryogenesis

This book chapter will provide an overview of the functional role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in embryogenesis. A brief introduction to embryogenesis and emphasis on the importance of miRNAs in gene regulation will be provided. The biogenesis and mechanism of action of miRNAs will be discussed in detail with a focus on the importance of miRNA-mRNA interaction in gene regulation. The chapter will then delve into the role of miRNAs in early embryonic development, including their importance in the establishment of the three germ layers, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis during embryogenesis. The role of miRNAs in organogenesis and tissue differentiation, specifically the formation of specific organs such as the heart, lung, liver, and brain, will also be discussed. The chapter will conclude by examining the dysregulation of miRNAs in embryonic development and disease, including teratogenicity, developmental disorders, and developmental cancer. The chapter will summarize the functional roles of miRNAs in embryogenesis and will offer future perspectives and potential therapeutic applications of miRNAs in embryonic development and disease