INFLUENCE OF FABRIC CONSTRUCTION CHARACTERISTICS ON PERFORMANCE OF SOME SELECTED PAKISTANI WOOLEN BLENDED FABRICS

The study on the fabric construction characteristics was carried out in 2011 in College of Home economics, University of Peshawar. The wool blended fabrics were divided into two groups according to the source of the fabric; Group 1 comprised of Bannu Woolen Mills Limited while Group 2 contains the fabrics of Lawrencepur Woolen and Textiles Mills. The study describes the fabric construction characteristics such as Threads per Inch (T.P.I) and Weight per Unit Area and its influence on the performance of the woolen blended fabrics. It was found that fabrics which have high thread per inch and weight per unit area have the closely constructed weave and suitable for winter wear. The values for both groups varied in the reading and the performance characteristics were observed to be influenced according to the values of the fabric construction characteristics. The average highest thread per inch belongs to Group 2 i.e. 42 to 78 in warp and 36 to 70 in weft direction. The weight per unit area of Group 1 was found to be from 139.25 to 289.5 g/m2 and in Group 2, it was 188 to 269 g/m2. The higher the thread count and weight per unit area, closer weave pattern and strength was obtained.Keywords: Threads per inch, weight per unit area, weave pattern, wool blended fabric

Phytochemical screening and evaluation of anti-microbial and anti-oxidant activity of Elettaria cardamom (Cardamom)

The present study deals with the phytochemical screening and evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activities from the crude methanol extract of the seeds of cardamom, Elettaria cardamom. Crude methanol extract was investigated for their antibacterial activity against Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Listeria monocytogenes,Bacillus pumilus and Escherichia coli. The extract showed maximum zone of inhibition (20.3 mm) against EPEC, however, the antibacterial potential of the extract was slightly lesser against normal E. coli (19 mm). It showed moderate anti-bacterial activity against L. monocytogenes and B. pumilus. Dose-dependent increase in antioxidant activity was also noticed in crude extract as measured by DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Thus, our study reports various phytochemicals in the seeds of cardamom with antioxidant and antibacterial potential

INFLUENCE OF FABRIC CONSTRUCTION CHARACTERISTICS ON PERFORMANCE OF SOME SELECTED PAKISTANI WOOLEN BLENDED FABRICS

The study on the fabric construction characteristics was carried out in 2011 in College of Home economics, University of Peshawar. The wool blended fabrics were divided into two groups according to the source of the fabric; Group 1 comprised of Bannu Woolen Mills Limited while Group 2 contains the fabrics of Lawrencepur Woolen and Textiles Mills. The study describes the fabric construction characteristics such as Threads per Inch (T.P.I) and Weight per Unit Area and its influence on the performance of the woolen blended fabrics. It was found that fabrics which have high thread per inch and weight per unit area have the closely constructed weave and suitable for winter wear. The values for both groups varied in the reading and the performance characteristics were observed to be influenced according to the values of the fabric construction characteristics. The average highest thread per inch belongs to Group 2 i.e. 42 to 78 in warp and 36 to 70 in weft direction. The weight per unit area of Group 1 was found to be from 139.25 to 289.5 g/m2 and in Group 2, it was 188 to 269 g/m2. The higher the thread count and weight per unit area, closer weave pattern and strength was obtained.Keywords: Threads per inch, weight per unit area, weave pattern, wool blended fabric

Impact of Personal Remittances on Economic Growth of Pakistan: A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis

The study targets the impact of personal remittances on economic growth in case of Pakistan for the time period 1980-2014. For this purpose, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Human Capital are used as control variables. Using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Philips-Peron (PP) unit root tests, all the variables came stationary at order one or I (1). Johansen Cointegration showed a long run relationship between personal remittances, FDI, human capital and economic growth. The results showed a positive long run impact of personal remittances, FDI and human capital on economic growth of Pakistan. Similarly, ECT (-1) term was -0.04 and also significant. Granger causality also showed a unidirectional causality running from personal remittances to economic growth. Moreover, the diagnostic tests showed normality of residuals, no autocorrelation and stationarity of residuals at level. Government should formulate such policies that encourage remittances in Pakistan by formulating reliable and efficient transfer mechanism to cheap transfer cost. Keywords: Personal Remittances, FDI, Economics Growt

Investigation of CeO2 nanoparticles on the performance enhancement of InsulatingOils

Integrating nanotechnology in dielectric fluid significantly inhibits losses and boosts overall dielectric fluid performance. There has been research done on the effects of introducing various nanoparticles, such as titania, alumina, silica nanodiamonds, etc. In this paper, a novel nanoparticle, Ceria (CeO2), has been used, and its properties were examined using the FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrum, the XRD (X-ray Diffrac-tion) spectrum, the SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), and the TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy). This paper illustrates an efficient dielectric fluid prepared by the successful dispersion of Cerium Oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles in various concentrations into four commercial oils, namely mineral oil, rapeseed oil, synthetic ester oil, and soybean oil, to enhance and improve their dielectric characteristics. The performance investigation emphasises breakdown strength enhancement and other dielectric properties of the colloidal solution comprising different nanoparticle (NP) concentrations. Various commercial oils are used as a base in nano-oil to diversify their applicability as dielectric fluids by measuring the correlation in dielectric parame-ters and statistically assessing their applicability with normal and Weibull distributions. The obtained ex-perimental data sets were analysed using the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox in MATLAB. The aging measurement has been done only on mineral oil, and results were matched using a predictive model of statistics and the Machine Learning Toolbox in MATLAB. Well-dispersed CeO2 NPs in the insulating oils lead to a significant increase in AC breakdown strength. The effect of ageing on the dielectric properties of nano oils yields better results than conventionally aged oil. It has been observed that the breakdown voltage is enhanced by up to 30 % for mineral oil at an optimal concentration of 0.01 g/L, 9% for synthetic ester oil at 0.03 g/L, 18% for rapeseed oil at 0.02 g/L, and 19% for soybean oil at 0.03 g/L nanoparticle concentration. Following the dispersion of CeO2 nanoparticles, the dielectric constant of all insulating oils has also signifi-cantly improved. The overall experimental results are promising and show the potential of the CeO2 NPs-based nano oil as an efficient and highly performing dielectric oil for different power applications.publishedVersio

The Effect of Market and Leasing Conditions on the Techno-economic Performance of Complex CO2 transport and storage value chains

AbstractThe complex interplay of capital and operating costs that results from different CO2 transport and storage network configurations, and the market conditions in which they develop is investigated using the life cycle CO2 storage cost model and the multi-period CCS network optimisation model developed by Imperial College. These tools integrate seamlessly the geological characteristics, engineering aspects and the economics of complex CCS chains. The paper demonstrates that these models capture effectively and accurately the effects of market and leasing conditions on the techno-economic performance of complex CCS value chains. The results reveal that saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas fields may differ significantly in terms of cost performance. It is also shown that it is important to evaluate the technical and economic performance of the CCS value chain as a whole, rather than in individual components in order to ensure the financial viability of CCS projects

A Review on Anticancer Potential of Nitric Oxide

Nitrous oxide (NO) is a free radical gas which performs various physiological and pathological processes in body. NO is produced by different enzymatic pathways and plays role in homeostasis. Over past years, NO has emerged as a molecule of interest in many ailments including cancer. But its role in cancer is still controversy. It can display dose-dependant anticancer therapy on one hand and induce procancer properties on the other hand. But as compared to conventional treatments, NO proved better tumor cell resistance. This review mentions dichotomous nature of NO that may encourage future research assessing the role of NO in cancer prevention and treatment either as a single agent or in combination with other antineoplastic compounds

Phosphorus release kinetics of applied phosphate is influenced by time and organic sources in clay loam and sandy clay loam soils

Adsorption and precipitation are major mechanisms that play an imperative role in immobilization of phosphorus (P) in various texture soils thus limiting the crop yields. Soil organic matter (SOM) can improve P bioavailability by decreasing its sorption in soils. The aim of current experiment was to investigate best organic source to reduce P sorption in different texture soils. Press mud (PM), farmyard manure (FYM), processed city waste (CW) and poultry litter (PL) were used to examine P availability in clay loam and sandy clay loam soils. Organic sources were added at the rate of 10 t ha-1 according to organic matter content in clay pots having 10 kg soil capacity. Phosphorus was added at the rate of 200 mg P kg-1 soil by using KH2PO4 and moisture was maintained at 60% water holding capacity. Results showed higher adsorption of P (122 mg kg-1) in clay loam soil as compared to the sandy clay loam (132 mg kg-1) soil. The Olsen P influenced by organic amendments was in the order of CW > PL > FYM > PM > control. There was a significant correlation between P released by organic sources with time and soil texture. It is concluded that application of CW is best regarding P release in different texture soils

Emerging Selenium Nanoparticles for CNS Intervention

Central nervous system (CNS) diseases have seriously impacted human wellness for the past few decades, specifically in developing countries, due to the unavailability of successful treatment. Due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier transport of drug and treatment of CNS disorders has become difficult. Nanoscale materials like Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) offer a possible therapeutic strategy for treating brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, Frontotemporal dementia, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. After being functionalized with active targeting ligands, SeNPs are versatile and competent in conveying combinations of cargoes to certain targets. We shall pay close attention to the primarily targeted therapies for SeNPs in CNS diseases. The objective of this paper was to highlight new developments in the exploration of SeNP formation and their potential applications in the management of CNS diseases. Furthermore, we also discussed the mechanisms underlying management of CNS disease, several therapeutic potentials for SeNPs, and the results of their preclinical research using diverse animal models. These methods might lead to better clinical and diagnostic results