WAS IT A ONE-MAN SHOW?

It was 2nd March 1992, when I entered my office. Everything was the same but I felt a silence in the atmosphere and my colleagues were busy in discussion with each other in a manner that I have not seen before in my whole working experience of 8 years. I came to my cabin and looked at the table clock that was again saying to me: “Yes! You are right on time, 5 minutes before 9:00 am”. My mind was again struck with the fact that why am I feeling so different today? And what is the reason behind this deadly silence in the atmosphere? Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder I turned around and it was none other than my friend and my colleague, an intelligent engineer from our Research and Development department. He was a friend, one of the four in the office, who were of the same batch of NED University

Molecular evolution of interferon-epsilon (IFNϵ) pseudogene modulates innate and specific antiviral immunity in Manis javanica

Interferon-Epsilon (IFNε) is a type of interferon, a protein that plays a role in the immune response to viral infections. This study is aimed at examining the molecular evolution of the IFNε pseudogene in Manis javanica, and it has been found to modulate the innate and specific antiviral immunity in this species. In this study, we identified that IFNε gene has undergone rapid evolution in Manis javanica, with the human and primate IFNε genes showing evidence of positive selection. This suggests that IFNε has played an important role in the evolution of the immune system, possibly in response to coevolution with viral pathogens. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the IFNε pseudogene in pangolins originated from a gene duplication event approximately 48 million years ago. It subsequently lost its protein-coding function due to multiple deleterious mutations. However, the IFNε pseudogene exhibits a high degree of conservation in its promoter region, suggesting it may still play a regulatory role in antiviral immunity. This suggests that the pseudogene may have evolved to serve an important function in the pangolin’s immune system, potentially helping to protect it from viral infections. The molecular evolution of IFNε provides insights into the coevolutionary dynamics between host immune systems and viral pathogens and may have implications for developing new antiviral therapies.This work was funded by the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R165), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Peer reviewe

Comparison of CMS measurements with predictions at NLO applying the Parton Branching Method and PYTHIA

In August 2023, more than 30 students joined the Special Remote DESY summer-school to work on projects of importance for LHC experiments. In a dedicated initiative, analyses that had not been incorporated into the RIVET package were implemented and verified. Here, a brief description of the accomplished work is given, and a comparison of the measurements with predictions obtained from matched standard parton shower Monte Carlo event generators as well as with those obtained from Parton-Branching TMDs with corresponding parton showers are presented

WAS IT A ONE-MAN SHOW: THE STORY OF SALEEM-UR-REHMAN THE FOUNDER OF DIIGITAL COMMUNICATION

The case study describes the rise and fall of the company 'Digital Communication". The company was formed by Saleem ur Rehman, who had experience of working with companies like AT&T and Bell Labs.The company at one time had more than 3000 clients in various sectors. These included Textiles: towels, hosiery, garments, spinning, insurance, travel agencies, defence organizations, GHQ, Pakistan Rangers, NGOs, Hotels: Marriot Karachi, Pearl Continental Peshawar, Pearl Continental Bhurbam, Hotel Mehran and Hotel Paradise; guest houses; sugar companies; engineering concerns, large residencies; Engro Chemicals; PNSC; NICVD and other products.The company expanded rapidly, within two years Digital Communication's business grew to an extent that a new premises was needed just to maintain sales and marketing of the company. The company maintained its monopolistic control of the market till 1990 in the range of products that it offered.However, after the demise of Saleem ur Rehman in 1992, the company faced many problems. The stool of Digital Communications was a one man show and when the man died several people came to take his place but no one was capable of handling a big ship, hence the ship sank and the dreams of an enthusiastic Pakistani died with his death.Key Words: Entrepreneurship: Technology Service

Corporate Social Responsibility Moderates the Relationship of Corporate Governance and Investment Decisions: New Insight from Emerging Markets

Purpose: This paper examines the relationship between Corporate Governance, Corporate Investment, and Financial Performance of firms with moderating relationship of Corporate Social Responsibility in emerging markets of Asia (Pakistan, China, Malaysia, and India).   Design/Methodology/Approach: To examine the impact, the panel data of 214 non-financial listed firms from 2014–to 2019 was collected. Findings: We documented a new insight that CSR and CG are significantly associated with CI and FP. Results also show that the quality of CG and CSR enriches the CI decisions that improved FP. Findings also show that CSR moderates the relationship between CG and CI decisions, and between CG and firms’ FP. The board directors and ownership concentration have a positive relationship with CI decisions and FP. Overall CSR moderates the relationship between CI and CP.   Implications/Originality/Value: These findings are beneficial to the management of corporations working in emerging markets to improve CSR activities.  This research also contributes to existing literature, on how CSR moderates the relationship between CG and CI decisions in the given contexts. &nbsp

Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Studies of Various Extracts of Maranta arundinacea L rhizomes

Background: Due to widespread availability, low cost, safety, and little side effects, herbal medications are now more often used than ever before. Medicinal plants with various pharmacological effects may be found in a variety of places in nature. An herbaceous, perennial tropical plant known as Maranta arundinacea L. offers a number of built-in medical benefits, including efficacy as an antioxidant and an antibacterial. Objectives: This plant's rhizome extracts were tested for phytochemical analysis, antioxidant capacity and antibacterial efficacy against some Gram-negative bacteria. Methodology: In the current work, phytochemical analysis of M. arundinacea rhizome’s various extracts was done by standard methods and its free radicals scavenge activity was assessed by using the well-known (in-vitro) model of DPPH while antibacterial activity was estimated by the disc diffusion method. Results: Phenols, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, glycosides and steroids were found in the M. arundinacea rhizome extracts after a preliminary phytochemical screening, which may be the source of the plant's antioxidant and antibacterial action. The percentage inhibition (DPPH) of its water extract (80.11±3.2%) was higher than methanol extract (70.20±2.5%) followed by chloroform (37.50±1.8%) and petroleum ether extract (20.40±1.4%) at concentration 1mg/ml. The minimum inhibition zone developed against Enterobacter aerogene was (16±0.01mm), Salmonella typhimurium (19±0.03mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18±0.02mm) and Escherichia coli (24±0.04mm), in methanolic extract, while the inhibition zone developed against E. aerogene was (18.5±0.02mm), S. typhimurium (19.5±0.03mm), P. aeruginosa (20±0.03mm) and E. coli (29±0.05mm), in water extract and no inhibition zone was developed in petroleum ether and chloroform extract. Conclusion: It was concluded that M. arundinacea rhizome water and methanol extracts posses a strong antioxidant and antibacterial activity due to its phytochemicals which may offer an option for the treatment of illnesses linked to oxidative stress and for pathogens that are resistant to a number of drugs

Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Studies of Various Extracts of Maranta arundinacea L rhizomes

Background: Due to widespread availability, low cost, safety, and little side effects, herbal medications are now more often used than ever before. Medicinal plants with various pharmacological effects may be found in a variety of places in nature. An herbaceous, perennial tropical plant known as Maranta arundinacea L. offers a number of built-in medical benefits, including efficacy as an antioxidant and an antibacterial. Objectives: This plant's rhizome extracts were tested for phytochemical analysis, antioxidant capacity and antibacterial efficacy against some Gram-negative bacteria. Methodology: In the current work, phytochemical analysis of M. arundinacea rhizome’s various extracts was done by standard methods and its free radicals scavenge activity was assessed by using the well-known (in-vitro) model of DPPH while antibacterial activity was estimated by the disc diffusion method. Results: Phenols, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, glycosides and steroids were found in the M. arundinacea rhizome extracts after a preliminary phytochemical screening, which may be the source of the plant's antioxidant and antibacterial action. The percentage inhibition (DPPH) of its water extract (80.11±3.2%) was higher than methanol extract (70.20±2.5%) followed by chloroform (37.50±1.8%) and petroleum ether extract (20.40±1.4%) at concentration 1mg/ml. The minimum inhibition zone developed against Enterobacter aerogene was (16±0.01mm), Salmonella typhimurium (19±0.03mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18±0.02mm) and Escherichia coli (24±0.04mm), in methanolic extract, while the inhibition zone developed against E. aerogene was (18.5±0.02mm), S. typhimurium (19.5±0.03mm), P. aeruginosa (20±0.03mm) and E. coli (29±0.05mm), in water extract and no inhibition zone was developed in petroleum ether and chloroform extract. Conclusion: It was concluded that M. arundinacea rhizome water and methanol extracts posses a strong antioxidant and antibacterial activity due to its phytochemicals which may offer an option for the treatment of illnesses linked to oxidative stress and for pathogens that are resistant to a number of drugs

In Vitro Human Cancer Models for Biomedical Applications

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and its incidence is steadily increasing. Although years of research have been conducted on cancer treatment, clinical treatment options for cancers are still limited. Animal cancer models have been widely used for studies of cancer therapeutics, but these models have been associated with many concerns, including inaccuracy in the representation of human cancers, high cost and ethical issues. Therefore, in vitro human cancer models are being developed quickly to fulfill the increasing demand for more relevant models in order to get a better knowledge of human cancers and to find novel treatments. This review summarizes the development of in vitro human cancer models for biomedical applications. We first review the latest development in the field by detailing various types of in vitro human cancer models, including transwell-based models, tumor spheroids, microfluidic tumor-microvascular systems and scaffold-based models. The advantages and limitations of each model, as well as their biomedical applications, are summarized, including therapeutic development, assessment of tumor cell migration, metastasis and invasion and discovery of key cancer markers. Finally, the existing challenges and future perspectives are briefly discussed.Other UBCNon UBCReviewedFacultyResearche

Progress in the catalytic glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate

This paper briefly reviews the development history of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the recycling of PET. As one of the most promising way to degrade PET into oligomers and monomers that can be used for the production of high-quality PET, catalytic glycolysis is highlighted in this review. The developments on metal salt, metal oxide and ionic solvent catalysts for glycolysis of PET are systematically summarized, besides, the proposed catalytic mechanisms of ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are presented. The metallic catalysts show high catalytic performance but causing serious environmental pollution and high waste treatment costs, thereby it is proposed that metal-free catalysts, especially ILs and DESs can be the "greener" alternatives to address the PET waste problem. Additionally, the studies related to the glycolysis kinetics are discussed in this review, showing the results that PET glycolysis process consists of heterogeneous and homogeneous depolymerization, and different models should be used to investigate different depolymerization stages in order to obtain a more realistic picture