On the effects of exothermicity and endothermicity upon the temperature fields in a partially-filled porous channel

Forced convection of heat in a two-dimensional channel, partially filled by a porous insert is considered. This system is assumed under fully developed conditions and constant wall heat flux. Further, the fluid and solid phases can feature internal heat generation (exothermicity) and consumption (endothermicity). Analytical solutions are developed for the solid and fluid temperature fields by applying local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) conditions and the Darcy-Brinkman model of momentum transport. Two existing interface models (Models A and B) are employed to describe the thermal boundary conditions at the porous-fluid interface. The developed solutions for the temperature fields are compared to those found by applying the local thermal equilibrium (LTE) assumption and, therefore, the validity of the LTE is examined. This is done for a wide range of pertinent parameters including Biot number, conductivity ratio, Darcy number and thickness of the porous insert. It is found that the thermal behaviour of the investigated partially filled system is influenced by the heat sources in both solid and fluid phase. It is further shown that the LTE approach remains an acceptable assumption only for some specific regions of the parametric space. Furthermore, the occurrence of temperature gradient bifurcation on the surface of the porous-fluid interface is examined. It is demonstrated that this effect is highly sensitive to the intensity of the energy sources

Landlessness and Rural Poverty in Pakistan

Poverty imposes a repressive weight on Pakistan particularly in rural areas where almost one third of population and majority of the poor live. Although poverty has declined during the 1970s and 1980s, the absolute number of poor has increased substantially since the 1960s. Despite a number of policy initiatives and programmes undertaken for poverty alleviation by various governments, absolute poverty particularly in rural areas continued to rise in Pakistan during the 1990s. Much has been written about poverty in Pakistan so far. A number of attempts have been made by various authors/institutions to estimate the rural poverty in Pakistan in the 1990s. Discussions have remained limited to estimating the regional and provincial trends for rural poverty in Pakistan. Although landlessness and rural poverty in Pakistan received significant attention in the 1970 and 1980, discussions on this issue remained limited in the 1990s. Landlessness and rural poverty are closely linked since land is a principal asset in a rural economy like Pakistan. Landlessness to agricultural land is considered to be the most important contributor to rural poverty. A high concentration of landownership is a major constraint to agricultural growth and alleviation of poverty. There is a general perception that highly skewed distribution of land in Pakistan is one of the important causes of widespread poverty particularly in rural areas

Fixed point results for generalized chatterjea type contractive conditions in partially ordered G-metric spaces

In the framework of ordered G -metric spaces, fixed points of maps that satisfy the generalized Chatterjea type contractive conditions are obtained. The results presented in the paper generalize and extend several well known comparable results in the literature.Scopu

Mortality in Sepsis and its relationship with Gender.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Sepsis remains a leading cause of death across the world, carrying a mortality rate of 20-50%. Women have been reported to be less likely to suffer from sepsis and to have a lower risk of mortality from sepsis compared to men. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between gender and mortality in sepsis, and compare cytokine profiles of male and female patients. METHODS: This was a prospective case series on 97 patients admitted with sepsis. Clinical and microbiological data was gathered, blood samples were collected for cytokine (IL-10, IL-6 and TNFα) levels and patients were followed up for clinical outcome. RESULTS: There were 54% males and 46% females, with no significant difference of age or comorbids between genders. Respiratory tract infection was the commonest source of sepsis, and was more common in females (60%) compared to males (39%) (p=0.034). Males had a higher mortality (p=0.048, RR 1.73) and plasma IL-6 level(p=0.040) compared to females. Mean IL-6 plasma level was significantly (p\u3c0.01) higher in patients who died vs. who recovered. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that males with sepsis have a 70% greater mortality rate, and mortality is associated with a higher IL-6 plasma level

KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND CREATIVITY: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

ABSTRACT   Purpose: This paper reviews how knowledge sharing and creativity have been studied together in research literature. To this end, studies published over the last decade (from 2011 to 2021) related to knowledge sharing and creativity were systematically reviewed

Workplace Spirituality in South Asian Context: The Role of Learning Culture, Organizational Support and Knowledge Sharing

This paper investigates the relationship among organizational learning culture (OLC), perceived organizational support (POS), knowledge sharing behavior (KSB) and workplace spirituality (WS). The study was conducted on banking sector of Pakistan and data was collected through questionnaire-based survey. A sample of 300 respondents was selected using item response theory from which 248 respondents replied, however only 226 responses were used in the final analysis because of outliers. The study used statistical package for social sciences to analyze data. The study found that both organizational learning culture and perceived organizational support positively associated to workplace spirituality. Further, the hierarchical regression has confirmed the mediating role of knowledge sharing behaviors between the same associations. The study has used cross-sectional survey technique and there is a probability that respondents have given biased responses. Identification of the antecedents of workplace spirituality will help the HR managers to increase the commitment of employees towards their organization

In Vitro Hepatic Differentiation of Adult, Embryonic, Induced Pluripotent and Perinatal Stem-Cells

Globally regenerative medicine is considered as one of the rapidly growing biomedical industry have objective to substitute damaged cells. Cell transplantation is less intrusive than whole-organ transplantation, and has been used to provide an alternative for patients to whole-organ transplantation. The End-stage liver disease comprises a subgroup of patients with cirrhosis who have signs of decompensation that is irreversible with medical treatment. The only restorative therapy for severe end-stage liver disease is orthotropic liver transplantation. However, liver transplantation has several limitations such as scarcity of organ donors, immunosuppressive drugs, and several postoperative complications. Thus, cell transplantation can be used for the treatment of end stage liver disorders to decrease the mortality in acute liver failure. Therefore, stem cells can be used for cellular therapy, development of liver disease models, and tissue-engineering applications. This review involved the studies conducted on the stem cells potential of hepatic differentiation, isolated from different sources. The PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for scientific studies reported the sources of stem cells based on their origin and their potential of hepatic differentiation in-vitro by using different tools of differentiation. All the research articles were selected in which solely hepatic differentiation in combination with different tools is reported. Keywords: Adult Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, In-vitro, Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Prevalence of work related musculoskeletal disorders among physiotherapists of Multan

Background: Work related musculoskeletal disorders are increasing day by day in hospitals and clinics due to high demand activities. These disorders decline the efficiency of therapists and result in social as well as economic losses. These injuries mostly occur due to abnormal postures and poor ergonomics. Aim and objectives: The purpose of this study was to rule out pain which disturbs the daily living of physiotherapists due to work related musculoskeletal disorder. This study also helps physiotherapists to improve their skills, technique, posture, ergonomics and all the other factors that are related to these disorders. Method: Survey was performed among physiotherapists that are performing duties in government hospitals, private clinics and all the other settings in Multan. This study included 100 physiotherapists of Multan. Self-design questionnaire as well as a Nordic questionnaire was used to collect data about WRMSK disorders. Data was gathered and was observed statistically. Results: 89% of physiotherapist were having had work related musculoskeletal disorder & 11% had no complaint, 75% female and 25% male & 23 to 50 years age population data was taken & the study observed that novice practitioner are at the increased risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorder & 45% were non specialized and 55% were specialized. The most commonly affected regions were upper back, low back and hip joint respectively. Conclusion: Upper back pain, lower back pain and hip pain were the most common complications among physiotherapists. Manual therapy shows association with the prevalence of MSK disorder

Fixed points of multivalued contractive mappings in partial metric spaces

The aim of this paper is to present fixed point results of multivalued mappings in the framework of partial metric spaces. Some examples are presented to support the results proved herein. Our results generalize and extend various results in the existing literature. As an application of our main result, the existence and uniqueness of bounded solution of functional equations arising in dynamic programming are established.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/am201