Time, Space and Social Change in Rural Pakistan: An Ethnographic Study of Jhokwala Village, Lodhran District

This thesis is a study of the social organisation of time and space in a Pakistani village. The fieldwork was carried out in Jhokwala Village, Lodhran District through 2010. A rapid population growth in the second half of the last century resulted in an inadequate supply of agricultural land, leading to a gradual shift from an agricultural to the market economy. Many farmers are abandoning agriculture and entering wage labour. This combined with urbanisation, more pervasive telecommunication services, the media, and technological changes has affected shifts in the ways of perceiving and managing time and space. In this thesis, I examine generational changes in the village. There have been generational shifts in the types of calendars and the contexts for which they are used. Household organisation and composition have also undergone dramatic change as a consequence of economic transformations. Fundamental economic changes have included a number of shifts in how people engage with information technologies, the media, and urbanisation. These have resulted in a transformation of the physical layout of the village along with changes in the design and structure of places such as the mosque and the house. Such changes in the physical environment have also triggered a shift in the sociospatial relationships, which has resulted in negotiation of some social boundaries between different gender and social classes. I examine the ways in which changes in the social organisation of time and space are indicative of the pace, direction and mechanism of social change

Lead-free Dielectric and Piezoelectric Ceramics

A goal in the search for lead-free piezoelectrics is to discover solid solutions with temperature insensitive morphotropic phase boundaries, as this is likely to enhance piezoelectric properties and promote temperature-stability. Furthermore, there is a high drive for developments of temperature stable dielectric ceramics which can operate at temperatures > 200 ºC, well above the limit of existing high volumetric efficiency capacitor materials. A new family of novel lead-free piezoelectric perovskite solid solutions in the binary systems (1-x)K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xBi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3, (1-x)KBT-xBMT and (1-x)K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xBa(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3, (1-x)KBT-xBZT were fabricated. In the examination of (1-x)KBT-xBMT ceramic system, a phase boundary (MPB) between tetragonal and mixed phase tetragonal+cubic (pseudocubic) was identified at 0.025 < x < 0.03. Compositions 0.03 ≤ x < 0.08 were mixed, tetragonal and cubic phase. Compositions close to MPB exhibited favourable piezoelectric properties, for example, the piezoelectric charge coefficient, d33, was 150 pC/N for composition x = 0.03, and 133 pC/N for x = 0.04. A high bipolar electric field-strain was exhibited by MPB compositions with strains of 0.25%-0.35%. Values of temperature dependent unipolar strain for the (1-x)KBT-xBMT (x = 0.03 and 0.04) were retained ~ 0.18% at a temperature ≥ 185 ºC. Thermally stimulated charge decay and kp-T measurements revealed full depolarisation at Td ~ 220 ºC. The overall properties are very promising for electromechanical actuator applications. In the binary (1-x)KBT-xBZT system, the mixed phase (tetragonal+cubic) composition x = 0.1, demonstrated a piezoelectric charge coefficient, d33 = 130 pC/N, bipolar strain ~ 0.13% (60 kV/cm) and high depolarisation-temperature ~ 220 ºC. Temperature stable dielectric systems; (1-x)Ba0.8Ca0.2TiO3-xBi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3, (1-x)BCT-xBMT), 0.45Ba0.8Ca0.2TiO3-(0.55-x)Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3-xNaNbO3, 0.45BCT-(0.55-x)BMT-xNN, and (1-x)[0.5K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3]-xBi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O3, (1-x)[0.5KBT-0.5BZT]-xBZN were synthesised with near plateau in relative permittivity-temperature response (εr-T), giving a ±15%, or better, consistency in εr across a wide temperature range, coupled with optimum dc resistivities. The composition: 0.5BCT-0.5BMT indicated a temperature stability, ɛr = 800±15% from 40-550 ºC, with tanδ ≤ 0.02 over the temperature range 100-400 ºC. For a slightly higher BMT content, the dielectric properties were superior to 0.5BMT, with ɛr = 950±15% from 70 to 600 ºC and tanδ ≤ 0.02 from 160-550 ºC. Achieving temperature-stability down to -55 ºC and below was accomplished in the 0.45BCT-0.55BMT ceramic materials by the incorporation of NaNbO3 at a level x ≥ 0.2. Modification with x = 0.3, led to the temperature stability in relative permittivity, with ɛr = 550±15% across the temperature range -70 ºC-300 ºC and tanδ ≤ 0.02 from -60 ºC to 300 ºC, thus achieving the goal of producing a temperature-stable relaxor dielectric to operate in a range of harsh environments down to < -55 ºC. Similarly, a near flat dielectric response was exhibited by the ceramic system (1-x)[0.5KBT-0.5BZT]-xBZN ceramic system (x = 0.2BZN) with εr = 805±15% across a wide temperature range, from -20 ºC to 600 ºC; with tanδ ≤ 0.02 across from 50 ºC to 450 ºC. These temperature stable dielectric materials were comparable to the best temperature stable dielectric materials for example; 50BaTiO3-25Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-25BiScO3, εr = 1100±15% (80-500 ºC), 0.85[0.6Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-0.4K0.5Bi0.5TiO3]-0.15K0.5Na0.5NbO3, εr = 2167±10% (54-400 ºC) and highly attractive for the high temperature capacitor applications

Possibilities and limitations of feeding rapesseed meal to broiler chicks

Wegen der mengenmäßig unzureichenden Produktion von Sojabohnenextraktionsschrot (SEM) in Pakistan sind die Futterhersteller gezwungen, . andere Eiweißkonzentrate tierischer- und pflanzlicher Herkunft zu nutzen. Hieraus ergeben sich nicht nur technische Probleme, sondern sie erhöhen auch, durch ihren hohen Preis, die Kosten der Futter- und damit der Geflügelproduktion. Es ist deshalb notwendig, billigere Proteinquellen zur Herstellung von Geflügelfutter zu erschließen. In Pakistan steht bei der Ölpflanzenproduktion der Raps an erster Stelle. Rapsextraktionsschrot (RSM) enthält bis zu 48% Protein guter Qualität. Es hat ein vergleichbares Aminosäurenmuster zum Sojaprotein, mit der Ausnahme, daß Raps etwas höhere Gehalte an schwefelhaltigen Aminosäuren und niedrigere Gehalte an Lysin enthält. Es ist daher zu prüfen, inwieweit SBM im Geflügelfutter ganz bzw. teilweise durch andere Proteinquellen bzw. durch die Kombination von andereIl Proteinträgern, wie RSM, ersetzt werden kann. Rapsschrot enthält antinutritive Faktoren wie Glukosinolate, Phytin und Phenole, die den Gebrauch von RSM in der Geflügelfütterung begrenzen können. Es ist möglich, den Glucosinolatgehalt in Raps und RSM durch Züchtung zu vermindern. Die 00- Rapssorten, die in Canada als Canola bezeichnet werden, enthalten weniger als 30~mol Glucosinolate je g. Auf dem pakistanischen Markt stammt der größte Anteil an RSM aus glucosinolatreichen (HG) Sorten. Deshalb ist es notwendig, zu prüfen, ob RSM durch geeignete Behandlungsverfahren bearbeitet werden kann, um diese vorhandene Proteinquelle für Geflügelfutter zu nutzen. Die HG-Rapssorte "Pakcheen" wurde unterschiedlichen Behandlungmethoden unterworfen und der Einfluß dieser Behandlungsmethoden auf verschiedene Inhaltsstoffe untersucht. Der Phytingehalt wurde durch trockenes Erhitzen, Autoklavieren (Dampferhitzung unter Druck) und Gamma-Bestrahlung nicht beeinflußt. Der Sinapingehalt wurde durch trockene Hitze (250°C für 30 Minuten) um 60% vermindert. Die Behandlung im Autoklaven für 30 Minuten hatte den gleichen Effekt. Der Gesamtphenolgehalt konnte durch trockene Hitze ( 100°C für 30 Minuten) um 30% vermindert werden. Durch 30 minütiges Autoklavieren wurde der Gesamtphenolgehalt um mehr als 40% vermindert. Eine längere Behandlungsdauer zeigte keinen weiteren Effekt. Der Glucosinolatgehalt wurden am stärksten (bis 60%) bei der Behandlung im Autoklaven vermindert. Die Gamma-Bestrahlung ( 1 OkGy) verminderte den Glucosinolatgehalt um 35%, die Anwendung von trockener Hitze war ohne Einfluß. Die in-vitra Verdaulichkeit der Proteine im RSM wurde durch 15 minütiges Autoklavieren bzw. 60 minütige trockene Hitze erhöht. Die Aminosäurengehalte wurden durch die angewendeten Behandlungsverfahren unterschiedlich beeinf1ußt. Trockene Hitze und Gamma-Bestrahlung ftihrten zu einer Verminderung der Lysin- und Methioningehalte. Das Autoklavieren verursachte eine Verminderung des Lysingehaltes, wobei der Methioningehalt etwas erhöht wurde. Es wurden sieben Fütterungsversuche mit Broilern durchgefuhrt, in denen unterschiedlich behandeltes RSM in verschiedenen Konzentrationen verfüttert wurde. Rapsschrot der Sorte Pakcheen (Glucosinolatgehalt = 60,8~mol/g RSM) konnte ohne Probleme bis 15% in Broilerfutter eingemischt werden. Höhere Konzentrationen führten zu einer signifikant erniedrigten Mastleistung. Die Beziehung zwischen dem Glucosinolatgehalt im Futter und de! Gewichtszunahme der Broiler verläuft nicht linear sondern curvilinear. Die Bestrahlung von RSM, das zu 10% in der Ration eingesetzt wurde, ergab keine Leistungsverbesserung. In einem Versuch mit hitzebehandeltem und geschältem (dehulled) RSM (25% der Gesamtproteinzufuhr kamen aus diesem RSM) wurde ermittelt, daß die Erhitzung (80°C) der Rapskörner vor der Extraktion zu einer Erhöhung der Qualität von Rapsprotein bei Broilern fuhrt. In einem weiteren Versuch wurde gefunden, daß die Behandlung im Autoklaven (30 Minuten) vor der Extraktion zu einer besseren Mastleistung fuhrt. Höhere Konzentrationen an erhitztem ( 105°C) bzw. bestrahltem (5kGy) RSM ergaben keine Leistungsverbesserungen. Danach läßt sich aus diesen Versuchen schließen, daß RSM (mit bis zu 60,8~mol Glucosinolat) bis zu 15% im Geflügelfütter eingesetzt werden kann. Obwohl die RSM-Fütterung (bis 15%) bei den Broilern die Konzentration an Schilddrüsehormon beeinflußt, tritt keine Verminderung der Mastleistung auf. Dies ist wahrscheinlich durch die kurze Lebensdauer der Broiler bedingt. Auch die Beimischung von RSM (mit 60,8~mol Glucosinolatgehalt je g) bis zu einem Gesamtglucosinolatgehalt von 9,12~mol/g Futter, liegt innerhalb der in der Literatur beschriebenen Grenzen (threshold). Aus diesen Untersuchungen läßt sich eine Klassifizierung von RSM in LG- und HG- Sorten durchführen. Das bereits geltende System wird wahrscheinlich für die Pflanzenzüchtung ausreichend sein, für die Geflügelernährung müßte eine weitere Klasse als "Medium Glucosinolathaltiges RSM" definiert werden. RSM dieser neuen Klassifizierung sollte definitionsgemäß ca. 30 bis 65 ~mol an Glucosinolaten nicht überschreiten. NAESI und SILJANDER-RASI (1991) geben für "Medium Glucosino1athaltiges RSM" als Höchstgrenze einen Glucosinolatgehalt von 55~moJ/g an. RSM mit einem Glucosinolatgehalt in dieser Größenordnung kann bis zu 15% im Broilerfutter eingemischet werden, ohne Leistungseinbußen zu befürchten

Long-term effects of changes in vegetation condition, precipitation and watershed parameters on summer low-flows in the semi-arid Pacific Northwest

Summer low-flow behavior in the semi-arid areas of the Pacific Northwest was studied. Long-term data from thirty-eight streams/rivers and thirty-six precipitation stations was exploited. The study area was divided into five zones based on annual average precipitation. Trends and patterns in summer low-flows and precipitation were identified. Different zones showed different trends and patterns in precipitation over the period of record but significant similarities within each zone. Most of the summer low-flow and precipitation records showed that the 1930's and the late 1980's to early 1990's experienced major droughts. A possible return interval of 50-60 years appeared reasonable for similar major droughts in the study area. Spring, summer and fall precipitation, on average, were found insignificantly related to the summer low-flows, except for northern Idaho and southeastern Oregon where summer precipitation was significant in explaining the summer low-flow trends. Winter and annual precipitation were found significantly related to summer low-flows. But the zonal equations constructed to predict summer low-flows using precipitation alone were considered unsuitable for practical use. Zonal and regional recession models to forecast summer stream flows with significant accuracies were constructed successfully. Extreme summer low-flows were not significantly related to different watershed cover types in eastern Oregon. However, percentage of rangelands appeared to be more related to the extreme summer low-flow than other cover types. An extreme summer low-flow prediction model was constructed using several watershed and precipitation variables. Many of these variables were found to be significantly related to extreme summer low-flow. Watershed average width and annual minimum precipitation explained 71% of the variations in the extreme summer low-flow. The model finally selected, with the inclusion of watershed end point elevation, was able to explain 79% of the variability in the extreme summer low-flow. Stream and precipitation gauges need to be carefully maintained during dry periods. Also, generalization of climatic trends based on a few observations in a large region can be misleading

Characteristics of stream low flows in eastern Oregon : their relationship with precipitation and watershed parameters

Characteristics of low flows of nine streams in eastern Oregon were explored using long-term streamflow records. Year-to-year dependence of low flows is highly significant for streams in the Blue Mountain and the southeastern Oregon regions. Low streamflows increased over the period of record for seven of the selected streams. Flow duration curves, flow-date curves and low flow frequency curves were constructed for each stream. Flow per unit area is higher for streams in northeastern Oregon than streams in southeastern Oregon. Forecast equations for streamflow recessions were made for each stream. Forecasts are highly accurate for recession volume and August average flow except for Mill creek and Bridge Creek. Forecasts are poor for the later part of the water year. Even for the later part of the water year, highly accurate results are obtained when forecasts are made for shorter periods (about 40 days). Annual precipitation is fairly well-distributed over the whole year in eastern Oregon with July and August as the driest months. Streams in the Wallowa Mountain and southeastern Oregon regions showed higher trend similarities between summer low flows and precipitation than streams in the Blue Mountain region. Correlations between summer low flows and precipitation were highly significant for the Wallowa Mountain and the southeastern Oregon regions. Correlations between low flows and watershed parameters, as well as average annual precipitation, were found insignificant for all streams

Vitamin K2 Rich Food Products

Naturally, vitamin K exists in two bioactive forms mainly phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinones (vitamin K2). Phylloquinone is mostly found in green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, broccoli, and vegetable oils. However, menaquinones abundantly occurs in fermented vegetable products as menaquinones‐7 (MK‐7) and in animal‐based products as menaquinone‐4 (MK‐4). Diverse concentrations of menaquinones are present in various dietary sources such as fermented pulses and milk‐based products, cheese, meat, and animal organs. Presently, MK‐7 and MK‐4 contribute about 24 and 7%, respectively, of the total vitamin K dietary intake in the population consuming fermented products regularly. However, about 10% of menaquinones are pooled in the liver out of total intake of vitamin K. Conclusively, fermented soybean products and fermented milk‐based products such as cheese and soured milk contain ample amount of MK‐7, whereas animal organs, meat, fish, and egg contain appreciable amount of MK‐4

PERCEPTION OF UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS REGARDING RESEARCH

Introduction: Nursing-research is a crucial part of undergraduate nursing curricula that improves best possible care for patients through evidence-based-practice (EBP). It helps nursing students think critically and utilize the result of research finding in clinical settings to achieve positive patient outcomes. Nursing research on undergraduate level has been considered the neglected part in Pakistan. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out the perception of nursing- students regarding research. Material & Methods: A quantitative based, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among undergraduate nursing students (n= 131) at two colleges. The convenient sampling technique was adopted with a margin of 5% error and a 95% of confidence-interval. Data was collected by distributing a questionnaire in the participants with their own consent. Results: It was revealed from the findings of the study that majority of the nursing students responded that research is useful to their profession and they had an overall positive perception towards research. While the response of the participants towards research anxiety domain was that most of them (n=88, 67.2) expressed that research is a complex subject, stressful and difficulty to understand arithmetic research. Conclusion: The majority of the participants agreed that-research at this level is valuable and it may have a good impact on evidence-based-practice. It is recommended to the nursing administrator and educators to implement research-related workshops from the first year of undergraduate degree, as it is beneficial for future nursing students and it improves evidence-based practice

Reengineering of Information and Communication Technology Services (A need of Society)

This paper examines the issues and problems arising from the telecommunication and media industry services. It is crystal clear that technology and its out put must be for the welfare and benefit of peoples, yet there are some social and ethical issues, generated by the irresponsible and dishonest role of Telecommunication and Media services provider, and by the consumer misuse. The research focuses various variables regarding the issues of these services. The research was carried out through questionnaire survey technique and the date was analyzed through SPSS software. This study suggests that rigid and implementable regulation is needed for the proper and beneficial re-engineering of these services. Key Words: Re-Engineering (RE), Ethical Issues (EI), Social Issues (SI) and Regulations (R

2-(2-Methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl 2-bromo­benzoate

In the title compound, C13H12BrN3O4, the dihedral angle between the benzene and imidazole rings is 30.6 (2)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked into chains parallel to [001] by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The crystal packing is further consolidated by π–π inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.482 (2) Å]