1,278 research outputs found
Investigation of semi-solid metal processing route
Two main objectives were complete during this work. One was the design and construction of a high temperature capillary viscometer and the second was the modelling of semi-solid metal flow with a view to aiding the design and providing data for comparison purposes. The high temperature capilla ry viscometer has been constructed and has been used for preliminary testing. This device will be used to measure the viscosity of semi-solid metals under high temperature and shear rate conditions, similar to those found in industry. The capillary viscometer is a single point system that can be used to calculate the v isco s ity b y measuring the flow rate and pressure difference between the two end o f the capillary tube as the v isco s ity directly proportional to the pressure drop and inversely proportional to the flow rate. Design criteria included a requirement for a highly controllable temperature up to 800 °C, injection shear rates above 10 ,0 0 0 s '1, and controllable injection profiles. A 2D , two phase theoretical unsteady state model using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software F LU E N T was developed. This was used to evaluate the v isco s ity o f semi-solid metals passing through the designed capillary viscometer at injection speeds o f 0.075, 0.5, and 1 m/s. The effects o f fractions solid (fs) o f the metal from 0 .25 to 0.50 were also investigated. Strong correlations between these parameters and the resulting v iscosity were noted for the power law viscosity equations which were used to develop the Fluent models
ANALYSIS OF INVISIBLE CHILD LABOUR IN HAYATABAD, PESHAWAR
This study was undertaken in Hayatabad Town, Peshawar. The study investigates socio-economic factors affecting invisible child labour. The study was based on a sample of 95 households and the data were collected in July 2006. The study found that although the wages of working children were small but they contributed significantly to their householdsâ income. More than half of the working children were not satisfied with their present job and their employers and more than half of working children reported that their employers were harsh with them. The regression results showed that household income, landholdings and parentsâ education were significant determinants of invisible child labour in the study area.Invisible child labour, poverty, Hayatabad, Pakistan
AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH OF FOUR-STEP METHOD FOR OPTIMAL SOLUTION OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
Transportation problem (TP) in operation research is one of the most in use optimization technique to deal the problems that are related with transportation of goods from sources to destinations. Initial Basic Feasible Solution (IBFS) plays a vital role in TP which offers a way to obtain the optimal solution. The objective is to prevail the total transportation cost equivalent or nearer to optimal solution. In this paper, an effective approach of Four Step Method (FSM) for optimal solution of TP has been brought up in order to get optimal solution of TPs. In this method we construct the Maximum Column Table (MCT) and Maximum Row Table (MRT). Several problems has been solved using this method to get the optimal solution. The outcomes of proposed method are contrasted with results of North West Corner Method (NWCM), Least Cost Method (LCM) and Vogalâs Approximation Method (VAM). It is observed that the proposed method is not only achieving better results but also overcoming the limitation of VAM. Key Words: Transportation problem, Initial Basic Feasible Solution, Optimal solution, Linear programming proble
Magnetic field dependent viscous fluid-flow between squeezing plates with homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions
The impacts of magnetic field dependent viscous fluid is explored between
squeezing plates in the presence of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions.
The unsteady constitutive equations of heat and mass transfers, modified
Navier-Stokes, magnetic field and homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions
are coupled as an system of ODE. The appropriate solutions are established
for the vertical and axial induced magnetic field equations for the
transformed and momentum as well as for the MHD pressure and torque exerted
on the upper plate, and are in details. In the case of a smooth plate, the
self-similar equation with acceptable starting assumptions and auxiliary
parameters is solved by utilising a homotopy analytics method, to generate
an algorithm with fast and guaranteed convergence. By comparing homotopy
analytics method solutions with BVP4c numerical solver packaging, the
validity and correctness of the homotopy analytics method findings are
demonstrated. Magnetic Reynolds number have been shown to cause to decrease
the distribution of magnetic field, fluid temperature, axial and tangential
velocity. The magnetic field also has vertical and axial components with
increasing viscosity. The applications of the investigation include car
magneto-rheological shock absorbers, modern aircraft landing gear systems,
procedures for heating or cooling, biological sensor systems, and
bio-prothesis, etc
Molecular Profiling of Pakistani Selected Advance Lines of Rice for Amylose Content
Background: Pakistani rice is well-known for its quality. Its consumption increases with the increase in population. The gel consistency (GC) amylose content (AC) and gelatinization temperature (GT) are the most important rice characters, which are associated directly to eating and cooking attributes. But for its good taste and eating quality depends on its endosperm starch quality and quantity. Amylose, a chief determinant of rice attribute, is principally synthesized and controlled by a major gene (Waxy gene) encoding an enzyme called granule bound starch synthase (GBBS).Methods: Current investigation was carried out to characterize advance lines of rice by both conventional and molecular approaches. In present study Waxy gene was identified in advance lines of rice.Results: Show that out of 17 advanced lines, 9 lines were waxy or low amylose, and 1 line was non waxy or high amylose rice because of the presence of 425 bp fragment and 225 bp fragment of Wx gene respectively. For morphological data 14 morphological quantitative traits were studied.Conclusion: Advance lines of rice analyzed during the present investigation showed better grain quality. A number of advance lines contain extra-long and medium slender grains which have intermediate to high gelatinization temperatures. Thus these advance lines are appropriate for the improvement of saline rice. Except one advance line 19 that showed Hard gel consistency and the majority of advance lines fall in the category of soft gel consistency and thus are of excellent quality.Keywords: Rice; Amylose;  Gelatinization; Wx genes     Â
Microsatellite marker based genetic diversity among four varieties of Pakistani Aseel chicken
Indian Aseel chicken (Gallus gallus) is traditionally used as a favorite game bird all over the world. Bird fighting communities of Pakistan are the major source of its conservation and there are at least four distinctively recognized varieties of Aseel chicken based upon selective breeding, geographical location and color patterns. A pioneering study on genetic diversity of these varieties namely Lakha (n=17), Mushki (n=19), Mianwali (n=19) and Peshawari (n=13) was undertaken using FAO recommended 10 microsatellite loci. A total of 91 alleles were observed in 4 varieties of Aseel chicken with an average of 9.1 alleles per locus. Number of alleles varied between 4 to 8 in Lakha, 4 to 9 in Mushki, 3 to 10 in Mianwali and 3 to 7 in Pashawari. Mean polymorphic information content values were 0.67, 0.69, 0.71 and 0.65 in individual varieties, respectively. Mean observed and expected heterozygosity index values of 0.3941 and 0.7376 were recorded in Lakha, 0.4105 and 0.7468 for Mushki, 0.4105 and 0.7718 Mianwali and 0.3692 and 0.7191 for Peshawari. Mean Fixation index (Fst) value was calculated as 0.1264. Highest Nei's standard genetic distance (Ds) value of 1.0735 was observed between Mushki and Peshawari, whereas its value was minimum (0.3533) between Lakha and Mushki. This report describes genetic diversity of Aseel chicken in Pakistan and provides foundation data to initiate extensive and more comprehensive studies on indigenous chicken genetic resource conservation and its future utilization in commercial breeding programs. (C) 2011 PVJ. All rights reserve
Monitoring the dynamic changes in vegetation cover using spatio-temporal remote sensing data from 1984 to 2020
Anthropogenic activities and natural climate changes are the central driving forces of global ecosystems and agriculture changes. Climate changes, such as rainfall and temperature changes, have had the greatest impact on different types of plant production around the world. In the present study, we investigated the spatiotemporal variation of major crops (cotton, rice, wheat, and sugarcane) in the District Vehari, Pakistan, from 1984 to 2020 using remote sensing (RS) technology. The crop identification was pre-processed in ArcGIS software based on Landsat images. After pre-processing, supervised classification was used, which explains the maximum likelihood classification (MLC) to identify the vegetation changes. Our results showed that in the study area cultivated areas under wheat and cotton decreased by almost 5.4% and 9.1% from 1984 to 2020, respectively. Vegetated areas have maximum values of NDVI (>0.4), and built-up areas showed fewer NDVI values (0 to 0.2) in the District Vehari. During the Rabi season, the temperature was increased from 19.93 °C to 21.17 °C. The average temperature was calculated at 34.28 °C to 35.54 °C during the Kharif season in the District Vehari. Our results showed that temperature negatively affects sugarcane, rice, and cotton crops during the Rabi season, and precipitation positively affects sugarcane, rice, and cotton crops during the Kharif season in the study area. Accurate and timely assessment of crop estimation and relation to climate change can give very useful information for decision-makers, governments, and planners in formulating policies regarding crop management and improving agriculture yields
Response Surface Methodology for Optimization of Operational Parameters to Remove Ciprofloxacin from Contaminated Water in the Presence of a Bacterial Consortium
Ciprofloxacin (CFX) is a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic that is widely used to treat bacterial infections in humans and other animals. However, its unwanted occurrence in any (eco)system can affect nontarget bacterial communities, which may also impair the performance of the natural or artificially established bioremediation system. The problem could be minimized by optimization of operational parameters via modeling of multifactorial tests. To this end, we used a BoxâBehnken design in response surface methodology (RSM) to generate the experimental layout for testing the effect of the CFX biodegradation for four important parameters, that is, temperature (°C), pH, inoculum size (v/v %), and CFX concentration (mg Lâ1). For inoculation, a consortium of three bacterial strains, namely, Acenitobacter lwofii ACRH76, Bacillus pumilus C2A1, and Mesorihizobium sp. HN3 was used to degrade 26 mg Lâ1 of CFX. We found maximum degradation of CFX (98.97%; initial concentration of 25 mg Lâ1) at 2% inoculum size, 7 pH, and 35 °C of temperature in 16 days. However, minimum degradation of CFX (48%; initial concentration of 50 mg Lâ1) was found at pH 6, temperature 30 °C, and inoculum size 1%. Among different tested parameters, pH appears to be the main limiting factor for CFX degradation. Independent factors attributed 89.37% of variation toward CFX degradation as revealed by the value of the determination coefficient, that is, R2 = 0.8937. These results were used to formulate a mathematical model in which the computational data strongly correlated with the experimental results. This study showcases the importance of parameter optimization via RSM for any bioremediation studies particularly for antibiotics in an economical, harmless, and eco-friendly manner.The authors are thankful to Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the grant No TTSF-77.Scopu
Traditional healers working with primary care and mental health for early intervention in psychosis in young persons: protocol for the feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial
Objectives In low/middle-income countries (LMICs), more than half of patients with first-episode psychosis initially seek treatment from traditional and religious healers as their first care. This contributes to an excessively long duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). There is a need for culturally appropriate interventions to involve traditional and spiritual healers to work collaboratively with primary care practitioners and psychiatrists through task-shifting for early detection, referral and treatment of first episode of psychosis.
Methods To prevent the consequences of long DUP in adolescents in LMICs, we aim to develop and pilot test a culturally appropriate and context-bespoke intervention. Traditional HEalers working with primary care and mental Health for early interventiOn in Psychosis in young pErsons (THE HOPE) will be developed using ethnographic and qualitative methods with traditional healers and caregivers. We will conduct a randomised controlled cluster feasibility trial with a nested qualitative study to assess study recruitment and acceptability of the intervention. Ninety-three union councils in district Peshawar, Pakistan will be randomised and allocated using a 1:1 ratio to either intervention arm (THE HOPE) or enhanced treatment as usual and stratified by urban/rural setting. Data on feasibility outcomes will be collected at baseline and follow-up. Patients, carers, clinicians and policymakers will be interviewed to ascertain their views about the intervention. The decision to proceed to the phase III trial will be based on prespecified stopâgo criteria.
Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval has been obtained from Keele University Ethical Review Panel (ref: MH210177), Khyber Medical University Ethical Review Board (ref: DIR/KMU-EB/IG/001005) and National Bioethics Committee Pakistan (ref no. 4-87/NBC-840/22/621). The results of THE HOPE feasibility trial will be reported in peer-reviewed journals and academic conferences and disseminated to local stakeholders and policymakers.
Trial registration number ISRCTN75347421
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