Kinetics of invertase synthesis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in synthetic medium

Present investigation deals with optimization of appropriate substrate concentration and incubation temperature both for growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and invertase production. Submerged fermentation technique was employed in the present study. The maximal production of invertase during the course of study was achieved after 48 h of incubation using initial sucrose concentration, 15.0 g l-1. The sugar consumption and dry cell mass were also examined. Data was subjected to kinetic analysis and on the basis of kinetic parameters such as Yp/x (amount of enzyme produced mg-1 cell mass), Yp/s (amount of enzyme produced mg-1 sugar consumed), Yx/s (mg cells mg-1 substrate consumed), Ys/x (mg sugar consumed mg-1 cell mass produced), qp (Amount of enzyme produced mg-1 sugar consumed h-1), qs (mg mg-1 cells h-1), qx (mg cells mg-1 sugar consumed h-1), µ (mg cells produced h-1), it was found that temperature had a direct influence both on substrate consumption and synthesis of enzyme. Similarly, higher concentrations of sucrose in fermentation medium induced catabolite repression of yeast invertase

The impact of a needs-based educational programme on General Practitioners' confidence and skill in managing common musculoskeletal problems

Disorders of the musculoskeletal (MSK) system are prevalent in the UK. They are a significant cause of pain, disability and health and social care resource utilisation. Most patients with MSK disorders are seen and treated by General Practitioners (GPs). MSK disorders form up to 20% of GP consultations and the majority are formed of a small number of conditions such as back, neck, and knee pain. Despite the prevalence of these conditions, there is evidence that management of affected patients is suboptimal. This thesis investigated the possibility and feasibility of improving GP delivery of care to patients with MSK problems using an evidence-based educational intervention. The study population was a cohort of GPs from Camden and Islington Primary Care Trusts. The first phase of the project was a needs assessment case study of prior training and CME experience in MSK disorders using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. The second phase used these results to develop, deliver and evaluate an MSK training course. The principal findings from the needs assessment were that formal postgraduate training in MSK disorders was rare. CME events were mainly in the form of lectures. GPs rated the need for knowledge of MSK disorders in primary care as high. The MSK training course was based on the needs assessment, taking place in small groups, using trained patients (Patient Partners) and clinical cases. GPs evaluated the course as highly relevant to their needs, leading to increased confidence and skills. However, GPs estimated that confidence would reduce after 6 months without further training. It is feasible to deliver a research informed training course for GPs on MSK disorders. Further work needs to be done to find effective strategies to produce prolonged changes in behaviour and practice that deliver effective patient care

Trends in Inequality and Welfare in Consumption Expenditure: The Case of Pakistan

Economic growth is important, but at the same time it loses its importance if nothing trickles down to the poor. One of the frequent heard arguments against growth strategies is that it benefits only the comparatively well off segment of the society. This means that the concomitant of economic growth is more skewed income distribution. Growth and equity should be solved subsequently or in some cases simultaneously, otherwise these countries are exposed to disaster [Hirschman (1973)]. The surge for income distribution studies both in developed and developing countries has, however, been caused by different reasons. In a developed nation, a high economic growth, in terms of GNP per capita and the introduction of the concept of a welfare state necessitated a widespread debate on income inequality and relative poverty issues. In the developing countries, failure to achieve sustainable high growth rates and disappointment from the pursuit of growth-led macro-economic policies in the past decade has surfaced a need to conduct income distribution studies and policies. Much of the recent literature on inequality and economic well-being in Pakistan has focused on the apparent increased inequality that occurred during the last two decades.

Occupational Profile of Poverty in Pakistan

The issue of poverty in Pakistan has its significance for sustainable development. Long run development is not possible without protecting the rights of the vulnerable groups and the participation of the entire population in the development process. A notable development in the last decade in Pakistan’s economic scene has been the sharp pick up in the incidence of poverty. It can be attributed to several factor. The real GDP growth fell from 6 percent in the 1980s to 5 percent in the first half of the 1990s and declined further to just over 4 percent in the second half of the decade. The rate of inflation remained in single digits throughout the 1980s but had a rapid increase of 12 percent during the first half of the 1990s. It is significant to note that food prices generally rose more sharply than overall consumer price index. The unemployment rate increased by 2 percent in the 1990s as compared to in the 1980s reflecting the deceleration of labour absorption in the economy in response to the significant decrease in the economic growth during the nineties.

An Analysis of Poverty at the Local Level

Using primary data from a union council of Punjab (Dhamyal), this article analyses the poverty and inequality at the lower administrative level. The analysis shows that 35 percent of the households are poor while there is wide variation of incidence of poverty among the seven villages of the union council. The highest magnitude of poverty in terms of incidence, intensity, and severity is found in the villages of Hayal and Mohra Bariyan. Location index also demonstrates that these two villages have high concentration of poverty as compared to its population share in the community. Income distribution by quintile shows that the bottom 20 percent households receive 6.7 percent of per capita income share while the upper 20 percent households receive 43 percent of per capita income share. Socio-economic dimensions of poverty reveal that a large number of earners, with large household size, a high dependency ratio, and a high percentage of illiterate head of the household, are marked in poor households. The housing and sanitation conditions of the community show that both poor and non-poor households are deprived of most civic amenities

Transition of Poverty in Pakistan: Evidence from the Longitudinal Data

This paper quantitatively investigates transition of poverty in Pakistan using two-period panel data set of Pakistan Socio-economic Survey. Empirical results show that the incidence, intensity, and severity of poverty have increased over time. This analysis also identifies ‘the absolute poor’, ‘the transitory poor’, and ‘the non-poor’, and suggests that ‘the absolute poor’ households have increased significantly over time. The poverty transition portrays that about onequarter of the households remain poor, while approximately fifty percent households remain nonpoor. Analysis of poverty entries and exits over these two periods show that many households enter poverty while fewer households exit from poverty. The analyses also suggest that transition of poverty is closely related to socio-economic dimensions of the households such as school enrolment, child labour, employment status of the head of the household, and indebtedness of the households. The main message that emerges from this study is that poverty reduction should focus on the extremely vulnerable households, and should try to reduce entry into poverty while increasing exit from poverty.Poverty, Pakistan

Growth and openness: empirical evidence from Bangladesh

The study seeks to investigate empirically the direction and shape of causality among trade openness, investment and economic growth using data for Bangladesh during the period 1980-2006. Although in most cases, statistically reliable evidence of cointegration is sufficient to testify the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables of a particular model, Granger causality test provides a more dependable tool for determining the direction of the causality in particular. In order to achieve the objective of the study, modern econometric methodologies such as unit root tests; cointegration tests; and the Granger causality tests have been applied across all the variables of our model using a trivariate framework of regression equations. The test results indicate that there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between trade openness, national income growth and total investment. Furthermore, empirical results of Granger causality confirm that there exists unidirectional causality between economic growth and investment; between trade openness and economic growth; and between trade openness and investment. The results, however, support the conventional presumption about the relationships between economic growth and investment; and between trade openness and economic growth while contradicts with that between trade openness and investment.openness, trade liberalisation, GDP, national income, economic growth, investment, trivariate causality tests, unit root test, cointegration, long-run equilibrium relationship, Granger causality