bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ROOT LENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF PERENNIAL RYEGRASS IN DIFFERENT WATER AND NITROGEN SUPPLIES
Authors: Akmal M. , Asim M. , Khan G. D.
Published: January 2025

Nitrogen, major mineral nutrient for plant growth, often limits the vegetative development and quality of ryegrass Lolium perenne (L). Nitrogen uptake is usually subjected to seasonal moisture availability. The objective of the study was to know response of plant root length to weight ratio (LWR) and water use efficiency (WUE) during early growth, when subjected to varying levels of moisture and N supply. Plants were subjected to low to high water and N levels. Nitrogen was applied @ 9 and 18 g m-2 (N1 and N2) along with 1.5 g P and 4.8 g K m-2. Pots were irrigated uniformly from sowing till 35th day after sowing (440 growing degree days GDD). Thereafter, water supply was restricted to 50 ml day-1 in half of the pots once a week (W1) while the other half received 50 ml pot-1 on daily basis (W2). Destructive samplings were done periodically at weekly interval from 530 growing degree days (GDD) onwards. Leaf weight ratio (LWR) showed a reduction with plants growth until 700 GDD and thereafter, either remained constant or increased slightly after 800 GDD. The decrease in LWR was observed almost at a constant rate for the treatments W1 and W2. Effect of the N treatments on LWR was not prominent (P<0.05) as observed for the water treatments (P<0.01). W1 showed a greater (P<0.01) LWR than W2 in all samplings. A polynomial regression fit best for the LWR when plotted against GDD for all the treatment interactions. Average WUE was higher for N2 than N1 (P<0.05). Water supply levels also showed a significant (P<0.01) response for WUE. The WUE of drought stress plants was observed greater than well irrigated plants. A decrease (P<0.01) in WUE, with plant growth, was observed common for all treatment interactions. The study suggests that limiting N and water supply decreased plant LWR and WUE. Compared to well-watered treatments, drought treatments showed relatively higher LWR as well as WUE of a ryegrass plant.
CHEMISTRY OF TORRENT WATER IN AZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR, PAKISTAN
Authors: Mirza M. A. , Arain G. M. , Khuhawar M. Y. , Arain R.
Published: January 2025

A field study was conducted to estimate the seasonal and regional variations in physicochemical characteristics of water of the hill torrents located in Azad Jammu & Kashmir where torrent water is used for drinking purposes. Ten torrents within the populated areas were selected and analyzed for about 30 parameters, including four major and seven minor metal contents. The monitoring was carried out for summer, autumn and winter during 2004 â€“ 2005. Total dissolved solids (TDS) were observed within 145 â€“ 561 Î¼g/ml and 50 % of the torrent water crossed the limit of 500 Î¼g/ml for TDS. For lead 80 %, for cadmium 90 % and for Kjeldahl nitrogen 40 % of studied torrents indicated higher values than the permissible limits of WHO for drinking water. No significant changes were observed in torrent water quality during different seasons.
QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF LOCALLY PREPARED 99mTc-LABELED METHYLENE DIPHOSPHONATE AND 99mTc-LABELED PYROPHOSPHATE
Authors: Mehmood R. , Sajid K. M. , Sabih Durr- e- , Iqbal A.
Published: January 2025

Different parameters affecting labeling of 99mTc with two compounds were studied in order to standardize the procedure for the preparation of 99mTc -MDP and 99mTc -PYP. Briefly radiochemical purity, stability, pyrogenicity were studied. Radiochemical purity was checked by paper chromatography. Stability was checked by incubating the labeled products for several hours at room temperature. Pyrogenicity was checked by noting the rectal temperatures after injection of the preparation into the rabbit. The optimized preparations were then injected to the rabbits to compare imaging quality and biodistribution of the agents in the body. Finally the preparations were injected into patients to see the image quality and diagnostic efficacy of the technique. The results show superior image quality and biodistribution with locally prepared 99mTc-MDP as compared to 99mTc-PYP although both the preparations were having good radiochemical purity and stability. It is concluded that the locally developed techniques for preparation of 99mTc-MDP and 99mTc-PYP are simple, safe and of acceptable quality. The data on biodistribution in these bone agents suggests relatively good target to non-target contrast with 99mTc-MDP. The image quality with patient scans is also superior with 99mTc-MDP. This confirms that the homemade 99mTc-MDP is superior in quality than 99mTc-PYP. This is in agreement with the previous findings.
VALIDATION OF AAS ANALYSIS PROTOCOLS FOR TUNA FISH HOMOGENATE: IAEA-436
Authors: Khalid N. , Rahman S. , Zaidi J. H.
Published: January 2025

Tuna fish flesh homogenate, IAEA-436, a certified reference material received from IAEA under the Analytical QualityControl Services intercomparison programme for trace metal determination, was analyzed for Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn and Znby using atomic absorption spectrophotometric (AAS) technique employing the optimized instrumental parameters. Thereliability of the methodology adopted was checked by analyzing IAEA-CRM (Copepod Homogenate MA-A-1) underidentical conditions and comparing the results obtained with the certified values which are in quite good agreement witheach other. High precision was observed for Fe, K, Mg and Zn, whereas Cu and Mn showed relatively poor precision intheir determination.
CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF CHAETOMIUM THERMOPHILUM XYLANASE 11-A GENE IN PICHIA PASTORIS
Authors: Andleeb S. , Latif F. , Afzal S. , Mukhtar Z. , Mansoor S. , Rajoka I.
Published: January 2025

The various thermophilic fungi like Chaetomium thermophile has potential to secrete xylanase and cellulase enzymes. Inthe present study eukaryotic expression system of Pichia pastoris (yeast) was used to express xylanase gene. Thexylanase (Xyn 11-A) gene was isolated from C. thermophile strain NIBGE-1. Primers were designed to amplify the gene,ligated into P. pastoris pPIC3.5K vector, the resultant recombinant clone pSSZ810 was transformed into the genome ofP. pastoris GS115 strain through electroporation. Transformants were selected on yeast peptone dextrose medium(YPD) plates containing antibiotic geneticin (100 mg/mL) upto final concentration of 0.75 mg/mL. The maximum activityof xylanase 2.04 U/mL after incubation of 2 hrs at 50ÂºC was observed in the presence of 100% methanol inducer uptofinal concentration of 30Î¼L (0.5%) as compared to control. HPLC analysis represented high peak of xylose as comparedto control. SDS-PAGE indicated approx. 28 kDa protein of expressed xylanase gene.
STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF SmCoCu PERMANENT MAGNETS
Authors: Awan M. S. , Manzoor U. , Bhatti A. S.
Published: January 2025

The effect of composition and heat treatment on the intermetallic alloy SmCo5 has been carried out to improve themagnetic properties. The base composition (SmCo5) was modified by substitution of cobalt (Co) with copper (Cu) andannealing the samples under argon atmosphere. Annealed and cast samples revealed mixed-phase microstructureresponsible for improved magnetic properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the hexagonal crystal structure of thebase alloys. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the formation and effect of annealingon the different phases and was related to the magnetic properties. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) was carried out todetermine the composition of different phases. Precipitation of copper-rich phase acts as the pinning centers for thedomain wall motion. This restriction on domain wall motion improves the magnetic hardening of the base alloy. It wasfound that Cu diffusion plays a major role in determining the magnetic properties of these magnetic alloys.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ROLES PLAYED BY ALUMINUM TRIBROMIDE AND ALUMINUM ACETYLACETONATE ON THE THERMAL DEGRADATION OF PMMA BY SIMULTANEOUS THERMOANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES
Authors: Arshad M. , Masud K. , Arif M. , Rahman S. , Chohan Z. H. , Arif M. , Qureshi A. H. , Saeed A. , Salma U. , Awan M. S.
Published: January 2025

Blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were prepared with aluminum tribromide (AlBr3) and aluminumacetylacetonate (Al(acac)3)in definite ratios. Thermal studies (TG-DTG-DTA) of polymer and blends with both additiveswere carried out in inert atmosphere to investigate the mode of degradation and the effects of stability/destability oneither component. The addition of compounds in polymer resulted early decompositions. The intermediates formedduring decomposition were also identified. The possible explanation of the thermal degradation reactions is advancedon the basis of results gathered. The apparent activation energy (Eo) and order of reaction (n) of the pyrolitic reactionswere determined by Horowitz and Metzger method from the corresponding TG curves.
PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANANLYSIS OF AIR PARTICULATE DATA FROM THE INDUSTRIAL AREA OF ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
Authors: Waheed S. , Siddique N. , Daud M.
Published: January 2025

A Gent air sampler was used to collect 72 pairs of size fractionated coarse and fine (PM10 and PM2.5) particulate mass samples from the industrial zone (sector 1-9) of Islamabad. These samples were analyzed for their elemental composition using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Principal component analysis (PCA), which can be used for source apportionment of quantified elemental data, was used to interpret the data. Graphical representations of loadings were used to explain the data through grouping of the elements from same source. The present work shows well defined elemental fingerprints of suspended soil and road dust, industry, motor vehicle exhaust and tyres, and coal and refuses combustions for the studied locality of Islamabad.
IMPROVEMENT OF POROUS GRAPHITE PLATE FOR PEM FUEL CELL BY ORGANO-IMPREGNANTS
Authors: Akhtar M. N. , Qureshi A. H. , Qureshi A. H.
Published: January 2025

Porous graphite plates with improved properties for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells were fabricated from organo-impregnant materials such as styrene, epoxy resin and cyanoacrylate. The results revealed that porosity of porous graphite plate has been completely removed. However, the graphite plate impregnated with styrene was not thermally stable around the temperatures 80-100oC. The impregnated plates were also characterized to determine the properties such as density, mechanical properties, thermal stability and electrical conductivity. Study revealed that the graphite plates impregnated with cyanoacrylate was more suitable for PEM fuel cell applications.
EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON KINETICS AND SORPTION BEHAVIOUR OF TERBIUM (III) IONS ONTO 1-(2-PYRIDYLAZO)-2-NAPHTHOL LOADED POLYURETHANE FOAM
Authors: Saeed M. M. , Ahmed M.
Published: January 2025

The sorption behaviour of 9.8 Ã— 10âˆ’6 mol lâˆ’1 solution of Tb(III) metal ions onto 7.25 g lâˆ’1 of 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) loaded polyurethane foam (PUF) at different temperatures has been investigated. The maximum equilibration time of sorption was found to be 30 minutes from pH 7.5 buffer solution at all temperatures. Different kinetic parameters of adsorption process have been determined. The diffusional activation energy (Î”Eads) and activation entropy (Î”S*) of the sorption of Tb(III) ions were found to be 32.2 Â± 4.2 kJ molâˆ’1 and 86.2 Â± 10.3 J molâˆ’1 Kâˆ’1, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy (Î”H), entropy (Î”S) and Gibbs free energy (Î”G) were calculated and interpreted. The positive values of Î”H and Î”S indicate that sorption is endothermic and entropy driven. The adsorption isotherms such as Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin â€“ Radushkevich were tested experimentally at different temperatures. The changes in adsorption isotherms constants at different temperatures have been discussed. The differential enthalpy of adsorption (Î”Hdiff), entropy of adsorption (Î”Sdiff) and free energy of adsorption (Î”Gdiff) were determined and found to be 54 Â± 3 kJ mol-1, 303 Â± 4 J mol-1 K-1 and -40.9 Â± 1.7 k J mol-1, respectively. The stability of sorbed complex and possible mechanism involved in adsorption process has been discussed using different thermodynamic parameters and adsorption isotherms.
DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS CONCENTRATIONS IN DUST ON ISLAMABAD HIGHWAY
Authors: Faiz Y. , Javed M. T. , Farooq A. , Chaudhary M. M. , Waheed K. , Siddique N.
Published: January 2025

Street dust is generally composed of automobile exhaust gas originated particles and wind-transported particles. Heavy metals, such as Pb, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd, Co and Ni are noteworthy for environmental pollution and are found in street dust. Fifteen street dust and two soil samples were collected from six different localities on Islamabad highway, which is a 25 km long road connecting Rawalpindi, a major city of Pakistan to the federal capital, Islamabad. Samples were prepared by the Leeds Public Analyst method. The samples were analyzed for Cu and Zn using AAS. Analysis was also carried out by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis using the sample in solid form. The initial results for a sample at Zero Point are presented in this paper. From these initial results it was found that Cu is above permissible limits.
IMPACT OF THE DESIGN OF DISCHARGE ELECTRODE ON THE CURRENT/VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE RATE OF MIGRATION IN ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION (ESP)
Authors: Tahir M. S. , Gruber C. , Siebenhofer M. , Saleem M.
Published: January 2025

Efficient removal of submicronic particles is a major challenge in off-gas purification. Due to the diverse nature of chemicals produced and the chemical nature of several air born particulates (aerosols), removal by filtration and/or dry electrostatic precipitation may cause efficiency and liability problems. Problems may arise in off-gas purification of high temperature processes like off-gases from steel mills, manufacturing of multi component composite materials, thermomechanical treatment of materials and incineration processes. Rapid changes of thermodynamic states may also cause a high rate of particle formation with limited or negligible growth in size. Wet electrostatic precipitation has found specific application in this field of off-gas purification. In principle three different types of wet electrostatic precipitators are offered on the market. The tube-type electrostatic precipitator is either operated with intermittent or continuous flushing of the collecting electrodes or it is operated with rinsing by condensation. The effect of discharge electrode design on the current/voltage characteristics with specific consideration of the effect on the corona onset field intensity is being investigated in this research project.
A RAPID AND CONTINUOUS SYSTEM FOR IMMOBILIZATION OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL WASTE BY VITRIFICATION
Authors: Shareef M. U. , Tufail M. , Hussain S. H. , Rashid F.
Published: January 2025

The nuclear technology has prime importance and backbone for rapid development of medical sciences, industries and in power generation as an alternate source of energy. Despite all these facts there is a major problem which is always associated with nuclear technology, that is, the generation of undesirable radioactive wastes. The radioactive wastes are quite problematic and need major attention for its treatment, conditioning and properly disposal to keep the environmental activities and human ecosystem healthy and safe. There are different large scale methods and processes to treat and dispose off the radioactive wastes. These processes are evaluated and designed by the various world competent and pronounced scientists in the light of rules and safety limits set by IAEA and other regulatory authorities to protect the environment and eventually protect our ecosystem. The research and development work on radioactive waste has been proceeding for the last fifty years but still it is a core issue and a big challenge for the nuclear scientists and radiation workers. In this study a rapid and continuous system for immobilization of nuclear waste into glass matrix by vitrification has been designed. In general treatment methods, Borosilicate glass is preferred because it is efficient, cost effective and rapid to that of other radioactive waste form. In this process the simulated waste is mixed with glass forming material and process for melting to form a glassy substrate in continuous manner. The waste is being converted into vitreous form and encapsulate into a glass matrix
Technetium-99m Radiopharmaceuticals: A Review on Basic and Applied Aspects
Authors: Khan M. , Mehmood Q.
Published: January 2025

Technetium-99m (99mTc) usage is increasing worldwide at a rate of 32% per annum. Enriched Uranium-235 is irradiated at nuclear reactor and subsequent process produces Molybdenum-99 (99Mo) whichdecays to 99mTc, and 99mTc converts to 99gTc. Organic molecules are used as 99mTc carriers, e.g., 99mTcmercaptoactyltriglycine.99mTc is excreted from body with feces and urine. It is estimated that 0.22%â€“38.41% of 99mTc remains in needles and rest is injected to the patient. Forty generators per week aresupplied to medical centers in Pakistan and 1.72 x105 Bq/y 99gTc is returned as radioactive waste. Everyused 99Mo/99mTc generator contains 99gTc ~ 83.3 Bq. 99gTc radioactive waste is increasing world-wide, asits global use is ~4.5Ã—1014 Bq/week. No satisfactory method exists for 99gTc immobilization althoughincorporation of 99gTc into Fe(III) or Sn(IV) oxide matrix before glass immobilization is suggested. Thepresent review covers all aspect of 99mTc radiopharmaceutical life-cycle and suggests options for 99gTcradioactive waste management.
Performance Analysis of Hybrid Spectrum Sharing in Cognitive Radio Based Wireless Regional Area Network
Authors: Afzal H. , Mufti M. R. , Ahmed K. T. , Ajmal S. , Yousaf M.
Published: January 2025

Cognitive radio (CR) network is the footstep and essential need of the new wireless emergingtechnologies like the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Internet of Things (IoT), Bluetooth, and VehicularAd Hoc Network (VANET). Due to tremendous progress in the number of wireless devices and theirtraffic, large scale usage of these technologies may soon cause a shortage of spectrum as all thesetechnologies use unlicensed bands. So, CR is a vital choice for their survival. In this paper, we addressthe Quality of Service (QoS) parameters related to spectrum sharing among multiple Customer PremisesEquipments (CPEs) in the context of CR based Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) using trunkingtheory. For this purpose, an analytical framework is developed to obtain QoS parameters such as trafficintensity, the total number of users in the network, and time to associate with the base station (BS). Fora progressive environment, particularly the increase in the population of WRAN, we also analyzedchannel access time and received signal strength (RSS) for CPEs. Two types of centralized trunked CRsystems: 1) queued and 2) non-queued systems are investigated and this model can be helpful for the BSin scheduling the required number of channels depending upon Grade of Service (GoS) and the totalnumber of users. The numerical results validate our model.
Prospect Generation Studies of Cretaceous Sands, Khipro Area by Integrating Seismic and Well Data
Authors: Shakir U. , Hussain M. , Mahmood M. F. , Amjad M. R. , Zafar W. A. , Mehmood S. , Abideen Z. U. , Tahir A. R. , Haroon M.
Published: January 2025

Khipro block is located in southern Indus Basin, Pakistan. Khipro area possesses good hydrocarbonpotential, which is confirmed by several oil and gas discoveries in this area. This research paper isfocused to delineate the subsurface structures favorable for hydrocarbon accumulation and remainingreservoir potential through integrated seismic structural analysis and petrophysical interpretation ofNaimat Basal-01 and Siraj South-01 wells. Seismic structural interpretation confirms the normalfaulting, in which elevated horst blocks are providing suitable trap for hydrocarbon accumulation.Mapping at Basal and Massive Sands level revealed that the existence of two compartments at reservoirlevel. The southwestern compartment is relatively shallower and has a great potential for futurehydrocarbon explorations, as compared to northeastern compartment. Low shale volumes, good porosityvalues and high hydrocarbon saturation prove Massive Sands as a good reservoir in both wells.
Techno-Economic Assessment of Syngas Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Pakistan: A Simulated Study
Authors: Nawaz H. A. , Abbas Q. , Ramzan N. , Naveed S.
Published: January 2025

The key objective of this work is to analyze the techno-economic feasibility of municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification plant in a small village named Nano Dogar near Lahore, Pakistan. Sampling of MSW was performed in the village indicating feed rate as 83.4kg/hr equivalent to 2 tons/day. The technical assessment was achieved by using process simulator; ASPEN PLUS version 8.1, in terms of material and energy balance. The results attained were associated with equations finding process efficiency, power generation potential, capital and operating costs. For economic appraisal, various cost parameters were taken into account like interest rate, plant life, operating hours, costs of labor, maintenance, supervision and purchase equipment costs (PEC) to estimate the project feasibility indicators like return on investment (ROI), discounted payback period (DPBP), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and profitability index (PI). This hypothetic gasification plant has power generation potential of 0.175 MW/ton when operated at 800Â°C and 1 atm, with flowrates of MSW, air and steam as 80 kg/hr, 115 kg/hr and 52 kg/hr at 1 atm, respectively. However, the temperature for MSW and air was 25Â°C and for steam, it was 200Â°C. ROI and DPBP were found to be 4.6% and 3 years, respectively. NPV was positive followed by 17% IRR and PI was greater than one. This assessment can be useful to study the technical and economic aspects of gasification plant irrespective of feedstock type such as coal, oil and biomass, and plant capacity.
Prediction Capability of Bivariate Statistical Model for the Evaluation of Landslide Probability in Sub-humid and Seismic Active Region of Azad Kashmir, Lesser Himalayas
Authors: Khan S.M. , Rehman A. , Ali M.
Published: January 2025

Planning and management are necessary tools throughout the world, especially in a mountainous regions where various natural hazards affect the area socially and economically. Landslides are one of the most common natural hazards in mountainous regions throughout the world. For this purpose, qualitative and quantitative methods and landslide susceptibility mapping were used to reduce the probability of landslide occurrence in an affected area and landslide mitigation. The study was focused on landslide susceptibility mapping in Neelum valley using a relative effect model integrated with 17 causative factors of landslides. These factors such as elevation, slope gradient, slope aspect, general curvature, geology, plan curvature, profile curvature, drainage density, stream power index, distance from stream, distance from road, topographic roughness index, Normalized difference wetness index, distance from fault, rainfall, landuse landcover, and Normalized difference vegetative index were used for analysis. Neelum valley is the part of the Himalayan region that is often experiencing landslide hazards frequently. Among other methods, it is a statistical method prepared within the Geographical information system environment to develop landslide hazard zones in Neelum valley. The landslide inventory map was shown the presence of past landslides in the study area by using Google Earth and remote sensing imageries. Total landslides were 368 in number, 30% (110) for testing purposes and 70% (258) for training purposes.  The validation of Relative effect model was calculated with the Area under the curve such as the success rate curve and the prediction rate curve. This was adopted to check the validation and optimum landslide susceptibility zone categorization. The success rate curve of the model was 82.15% calculated whereas 82.73% was the predictive rate curve. According to the study, landslide susceptibility mapping was classified into four classes with 18.14% of the area being very high zone, 34.04% of the area being high zone, 30.26% area being moderately susceptible zone and 17.56% of the area being low susceptible to landslide occurrence zone. Hence, the results of this study highlight the spatial information of the area that may face landslide hazards and may be very helpful to planners, engineers, government agencies, stakeholders and other participants for the prevention, mitigation, management, and monitoring of landslide hazards and this model may also be applicable in other landslide areas.
Value Addition in Gemstones by Nuclear Techniques
Authors: Ahmad Waqar , Mohiuddin Fawad
Published: January 2025

Northern areas of Pakistan are rich in minerals and different types of precious/ semi-precious gemstones. One of these gemstones called topaz is quite abundant in Gilgit-Baltistan, Skardu and Kashmir regions. Although, topaz is a semi-precious stone but pink topaz from Mardan district in KPK province has a high worth in its natural form because it is rare in the world. In general, topaz is a colorless transparent stone, which is not very expensive. These semi-precious stones can be made precious by adding colors using different treatments like thermal heating, electron beam exposure, gamma rays or neutron irradiations. Except for electrons and neutrons, all other treatments give brown, golden or light blue colors, which are of low worth. The colors are usually not stable and fade away with the passage of time. About 30-40 times value can be added if the color is persistent dark blue. This deep blue color in topaz can be produced by neutron irradiation from a nuclear reactor. At present, for semi-precious stones, the world market is in the hands of blue topaz; typically named as Sky blue, Swiss blue and London blue. Countries like Indonesia, Thailand and US are already in this business and making significant profit. Pakistan Research Reactor (PARR-1) at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & technology (PINSTECH) has the capability to produce these desirable colors. Therefore, handsome revenue can be generated by utilizing this methodology. Apart from this, the other benefits are the development of a useful technology, collaboration between public and private sectors and application of nuclear techniques for peaceful purposes, which is one of the objectives of Pakistan Nuclear Society (PNS).
Mechanical Design Verification of CHASNUPP Bottom Nozzle
Authors: Khan Waseem , Anwer Muhammad Arslan , Siddiqui Ashfaq Ahmad
Published: January 2025

The bottom nozzle is a critical component of the fuel assembly of 340 MWe PWR Nuclear Power Plant at Chashma site (CHASNUPP). It bears axial loads during fabrication, handling, transportation, and reactor operation. The perforated plate, containing flow-holes of complex orientation, is the main critical load bearing and supporting component of the bottom nozzle. Therefore, mechanical strength and stresses of the bottom nozzle need to be analyzed and tested under limiting load conditions, i.e., transportation load 6g. The present study is an attempt to develop the finite element (FE) methodology in order to assess the structural integrity and determine the maximum stress concentration area of the bottom nozzle at applied limiting load of 6g, at standard temperature and pressure (STP). The FE model of the bottom nozzle was produced by solid element (C3D8R) and solved by the static linear analysis using computer code ABAQUS/CAE 6.10-1. Final results acquired from the FE analysis are compared with the mechanical compression test results for mechanical design verification. The values of maximum stress calculated through FE analysis are much comparable with the stress values obtained from each strain gauge at similar locations, which confirmed the accuracy of the FE methodology. The value of the max. von-mises stress (Seqv.), obtained by the FE analysis, and max. value of the stress obtained through test, under applied load of 6g, are less than the design stress limit (yield strength) of bottom nozzle material, SS-321, thereby verifying its structural integrity as well as satisfying its mechanical design criteria under limiting load of 6 g.
Organophosphate Pesticides Use and Contamination in Groundwater of Pakistan: A Review
Authors: Sadia Mamoona , Mohsin Muhammad , Rehman Muhammad Sami ur , Iqbal Zafar , Rehman Abdur , Naheed Nargis
Published: January 2025

Water pollution and contamination is a grave risk to the human as well as environment in Pakistan augmented by the disposal of industrial waste, fertilizers and pesticides into the water sources. The objective of this review paper is to sum-up the use and evaluating the studies of organophosphate pesticides contamination in groundwater of Pakistan. This review paper also pinpoints the detrimental effects of these pesticides on to the human health and environment. It also considers the present state of familiarity to fix the future action plan in research on pesticides in Pakistan. It is manifested that pesticides have a long history of use against insects and other pests. Pesticides are used to enhance agricultural productivity as well as for indoor applications, however, their side effects include damaging the useful insects, wildlife losses, ruins the crops and food chain and health danger to the human and animals etc. It is also evident that in Pakistan, the groundwater is being contaminated at higher levels with the excessive use of pesticides especially organophosphates. It is also noted that a little work has been done on residues analyses of these organophosphates in groundwater of Pakistan especially in Punjab province. Therefore, in order to make sustainable use of pesticides and decrease their harmful impacts, the strong implementation of legislation is required and the utilization of pesticides should be reduced. Furthermore, favoring the biological control and integrated pest management (IPM) should be the main focus of the quarters concerned.
Beneficiation of Light Rare Earth Elements from Dubeydib Heavy Mineral Sands Deposits, South Jordan
Authors: Twaiq Osama , Bhatti Tariq M. , Zaza Rami , Al-Awah Hazem
Published: January 2025

This study describes the beneficiation of monazite mineral from heavy mineral sands deposit of Dubaydib, South Jordan. The heavy mineral sand sample contained 1.80% monazite [(Ce,La,Nd,Th)PO4] based on chemical composition of light rare earth elements such as cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La) and neodymium (Nd). It contained low contents of 0.23% La (0.26% La2O3), 0.50% Ce (0.59% Ce2O3), 0.21% Nd (0.24% Nd2O3), 0.08% Y (0.1% Y2O3), 0.13% Th (0.15% ThO2), 0.015% U (0.018% U3O8) and 0.66% P2O5. The major elemental composition of 64.4% SiO2, 6.9% Al2O3, 6.0% Fe2O3, 6.5% TiO2 and 3.49% Zr (4.72% ZrO2) are present in the sample. The monazite sand sample contained quartz, plagioclase, mica, rutile, Ilmenite and zircon as major minerals with monazite as minor mineral. For beneficiation studies, the density separation (hydrocyclone and Wilfley shaking table) and froth flotation techniques were used to produce monazite concentrates from heavy mineral sand. The produced monazite concentrate-1 contained 5.5% La2O3, 10.6% Ce2O3, 4.8% Nd2O3, 0.54% Y2O3, 0.97% ThO2 and 0.11% U3O8; whereas the concentrate-2 contained 10.3% La2O3, 21.8% Ce2O3, 9.2% Nd2O3 and 1.33% Y2O3.
COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF IMMUNORADIOMETRIC ASSAY (IRMA) AND CHEMILUMINESCENCE IMMUNOMETRIC ASSAY (CHEIMA) FOR ESTIMATION OF THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE (TSH)
Authors: Sajid K. M.
Published: January 2025

Biological substances like hormones, vitamins and enzymes are found in minute quantities in blood. Their estimation requires very sensitive and specific methods. The most modern method for estimation of thyroid stimulating hormone in serum is non-isotopic enzyme enhanced chemiluminescence immunometric method. In our laboratory immunoradiometric assay is in routine for the last many years. Recently interest has grown to establish non-isotopic techniques in laboratories of PAEC. However, the main requirement to adopt the new procedures is to compare their results, cost and other benefits with the existing method. Immunoassay laboratory of MINAR, therefore, conducted a study to compare the two methods. A total of 173 (males: 34 females: 139 age: between 1 and 65 years) cases of clinically confirmed thyroid status were included in the study. Serum samples of these cases were analyzed by two methods and results were compared by plotting precision profiles, correlation plots and calculating sensitivities and specificities of the methods. As the results in all the samples were not normally distributed Wilcoxon rank sum test was applied to compare the analytical results of two methods. The comparison shows that the results obtained in two methods are not completely similar (p=0.0003293), although analysis of samples in groups shows that some similarity exists between the results of hypo and hyperthyroid patients (p<=0.156 and p<=0.6138). This shows that results obtained in these two methods could sometimes disagree in final diagnosis. Although TSH-CHEIMA is analytically more sensitive than TSH-IRMA the clinical sensitivities and specificities of two methods are not significantly different. TSHCHEIMA test completes in almost 2 hours whereas TSH-IRMA takes about 6 hours to complete. Comparison of costs shows that TSH-CHIEMA is almost 5 times more expensive than TSH-IRMA. We conclude that the two methods could sometimes disagree but the two techniques have almost same clinical efficacy (clinical usefulness). The clinical sensitivities and specificities are similar and TSH-IRMA is in no way inferior to the non-isotopic method. It is, therefore, not reasonable to abandon a good technique only for relatively speedy results.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GASIFICATION OF FOOD WASTE (FW), POULTRY WASTE (PW), MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) AND USED TIRES (UT)
Authors: Naveed S. , Ramzan N. , Malik A. , Akram M.
Published: January 2025

The rate and volume of generation of waste material in the developing societies has increased significantly. Correspondingly the demand of energy has increased many folds. One of the options in this situation is to recover the energy value of the waste material for production of power and heat through gasification. Gasification of materials is a proven concept and its environmental benefits are known. The characteristic behavior and scope of gasification of four waste materials namely steam treated Food Waste (FW), Poultry Waste (PW), steam treated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Used Tyres (UT) have been studied in a 10kg/hr hybrid gasification plant. This pilot plant consists of a fixed bed gasifier followed by a two in one cyclone scrubber for gas cleaning and a flare system. Various laboratory tests of these materials through proximate, ultimate analysis and stove test were conducted to establish their fuel characteristics. These materials were gasified to generate synthesis gas. It was observed that FW and UT offer sustainable potential for energy recovery. MSW on the other hand had considerable ash and had difficulties during gasification. PW could only be gasified when mixed with charcoal or high CV UT in order to balance against its high moisture. The gas analysis of the waste indicated significant quantities of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF UREA GRANULATION
Authors: Irshad U. , Sharif M. N. , Rabbani F. , Rauf A. , Saleem M.
Published: January 2025

Urea is a nitrogenous fertilizer available in two commercial forms, prills and granules, in Pakistan. Prills are more common in Pakistan, however, it has some problems associated with it. Those are moisture, biuret contents of urea prills, prill size, hardness of prills, caking of prills and urea dust emission. Due to these problems urea granulation is favoured over prilling. Urea granulation is studied on laboratory scale using pan granulator and effect of different parameters like binders (water and urea solution), quantity of binders, rpm of pan granulator, time of granulation and angle of inclination on granulation yield is studied. Water and urea solutions of different concentrations are used and results reveal that concentration of urea solution is proportional to rate of granulation. A threshold quantity of binder is required for optimum granulation yield. RPM of pan is inversely proportional to rate of granulation. Granulation yield is also proportional to time of granulation however it becomes critical at a certain point. Angle of inclination of pan has no significant effects on granulation yield.
FLOW PATTERNS AND PRESSURE DROP OF TWO-PHASE FLOW IN HORIZONTAL CAPILLARY
Authors: Mehdi M. S. , Chughtai I. R. , Inayat M. H.
Published: January 2025

Hydrodynamics behavior for two-phase flow was studied in horizontal capillary tube 3mm diameter for monolith reactor. Gas used was air while the liquid phase was water. Different flow patterns were observed for a range of gas and liquid flow rates. Pressure drop was measured across the whole length of tube. Effect of flow rates on bubble length was observed by photographic technique. It was found that pressure drop increases with increasing flow rate of liquid and it showed less dependency on gas flow rate. A correlation has been proposed for pressure drop using these results. It was also observed that Bubble length increases with increasing flow rate of gas.
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MICROCONTROLLER-BASED CONTROLLING OF POWER FACTOR USING CAPACITOR BANKS WITH LOAD MONITORING
Authors: Hanif A. , Rashid M. , Ali M.
Published: January 2025

In this research work, an automatic power factor correction (APFC) technique is presented to improve power factor of industrial loads to the desired value. Power factor is corrected to provide relief to utility by supplying required reactive power demand of load locally. The improvement of power factor of industrial customer will reduce customer monthly bill as well as will escape from financial penalty being imposed by utility owing to his low power factor. Different power factor correction (PFC) techniques exists, however we have proposed a new scheme of PFC using PIC microcontroller (18F452) chip. A microcontroller based algorithm is developed to measure power factor of load and examine the similarities or differences with the set referenced value of power factor to switch in required value of capacitors to correct the power factor of load to desired value. The developed scheme in perspective of controlling the power factor has a main advantage of choosing the direct value of capacitor that is needed to correct the necessitate amount of reactive power in order to cater the current utilization by the load. The prevailed results have affirmed that the developed scheme is able to yield a desirable power factor and can be furthermore pursued in practical applications.
SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF WESTERN DISTURBANCES OVER PAKISTAN
Authors: Ahmad I. , Sadiq N.
Published: January 2025

Considering the vital and unequivocal seasonal importance of western disturbance, it has been analyzed for the period 1973-2007. This study is appropriate to be based on annual, monthly, regional and seasonal investigation for the mentioned period. It is found that the total annual events and days (occurred during the events) are revaluing. The said intervals are also found apprising for the northern and northern plus central parts while considering the whole country, minifying trend is found. Maximum events & days occurred in summer whilst minimum during winter in the monthly analysis. However, the total monthly days and events for different regions show peculiar relations with each other. Seasonal study reveals increasing days and events for all seasons and the highest increase is found in Monsoon season. Further annual and monthly events and days are studied separately for each month through dot plots to observe the shifting pattern of western disturbances for every month. The study is represented through trend models, box plots, dot plots, time series and bar graphs.
SIMULATION OF AIR FLOW PATTERNS INSIDE AN EXPERIMENTAL STACK
Authors: Shahzad F. , Ahmad M. I. , Sardar S. , Irfan N.
Published: January 2025

To conduct dispersion studies, an experimental facility as a 100 feet high stack is intended to be installed in the premises of a research institute i.e. Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) in Islamabad. The purpose of this stack is to release an inert gas as a tracer and to collect its ground level concentration data around the source. This data would be helpful in order to validate the modeling results from air dispersion studies. In view of above, present study has two main objectives. First is to evaluate the discharge flow rate of a blower at the manhole of experimental stack which must be capable to produce a maximum velocity of 8m/sec for a tracer emission at the top of the stack. The second aim is to investigate the probability of reversal flow of the tracer entering into stack from an opening located at a proposed height of stack while adjusting the blower flow rate to acquire the desired exit velocity of tracer. To get aforesaid goals, a computer program named FLUENT 6.3 as a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling tool has been employed for the simulation of air flow patterns inside the experimental stack. The results reveal that the blower flow rate of 7650 cfm through manhole of the stack is needed to acquire the exit velocity of 8 m/sec at the top of the stack and there is no possibility of reversal flow of tracer entering from the inlet opening of the stack.
ESTIMATION OF RETURN LEVELS AGAINST DIFFERENT RETURN PERIODS OF EXTREME ANNUAL RAINFALL OVER BALUCHISTAN
Authors: Ali M. , Jan B. , Iqbal M. J.
Published: January 2025

Unprecedented heavy monsoon rainfall began in the last week of July 2010 in the Northern part of our country, causes floods in Baluchistan and Sindh. As the high frequency rainfall events are a significant cause of current severe flooding in Pakistan and any fluctuation in the level of such events may cause huge economic losses as well as social problem, urban structures (i.e. dams, urban drainage systems and flood). Statistical distributions are used to identify extremes of annual rainfall of different cities of Baluchistan (Quetta, Sibbi, Khuzdar, Lasbella, Dalbandin and Pasni) with their return periods. Analysis predicts that Gumbel Max.(GM) Distribution is the best fitted distribution for Sibbi and Lasbella while the GEV distribution is the best fitted for Quetta, Khuzdar, Dalbandin and Pasni. The analysis also suggests that different cities of Baluchistan have 30-years return period for getting more than 90 mm average daily rainfall while they have 100-years return period for receiving more than 118 mm daily rainfall. This suggests for suitable flood forecasting and improving the river structure in Baluchistan, Pakistan.
AREA EFFICIENT DECIMATION FILTER BASED ON MERGED DELAY TRANSFORMATION FOR WIRELESS APPLICATIONS
Authors: Rashid U. , Siddiq F. , Muhammad T. , Jamal H.
Published: January 2025

Expected by 2014 is the 4G standard for cellular wireless communications, which will improve bandwidth, connectivity and roaming for mobile and stationary devices.4G and other wireless systems are currently hot topics of research and development in the communication field. In wireless technologies like Global System for Mobile (GSM), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) and Wi-Fi, decimation filters are essential part of transceivers being used. This paper describes a decimation filter which is efficient in terms of both the power consumption and the area used. The architecture is based upon Merged Delay Transformation (MDT). The existing Merged Delay Transformed Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) architecture is power efficient but requires larger area. The proposed and existing filters were implemented on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The computational cost of the proposed filter is reduced to (3N/2 + 1) and M-1 times reduction in the number of multipliers in comparison to the existing FIR filter is achieved. The power consumption and speed remain nearly the same.
A REVIEW OF VISION-BASED PERCEPTIVE INTERFACES: MOUSE ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES
Authors: Tariq U. , A. Asif M. D. , Yousaf M. H. , Hussain F.
Published: January 2025

Graphical User Interfaces based on WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, Pointer) paradigm has been a popular choice of interfaces for many systems and has made Human-Computer interaction simpler and easier. In the past few decades great research efforts have been made to make user friendly Human-Computer Interfaces. The Perceptual User Interfaces aims to focus this new form of HCI (Human Computer Interaction). In this study we describe different Vision Based Perceptive Interfaces that make use of different computer vision techniques for tracking and gesture recognition that may serve as an alternative for outdated mouse. The major focus of the work presented here is on the critical evaluation of different vision-Based interfaces that will give the perceptual ability of vision to computers and will make human-Computer interaction more human friendly interaction. The comparative study and critical evaluation using Human Computer Interaction approaches highlights the strength and weakness of the existing vision-Based interfaces. The emphasis of our research is focused on summarizing the literature by highlighting its limitations and strengths.
EVALUATION OF SIMILARITY MEASURES FOR CATEGORICAL DATA
Authors: Hussain T. , Asghar S.
Published: January 2025

Similarity among the objects is a fundamental concept to almost all the technical field such as information retrieval; data mining; mathematics; and bioinformatics. A similarity measure symbolizes relation among the objects, which can be either, documents, queries or features of any database. Similarity measure helps to rank the objects in accordance to their importance in specific data mining application. A similarity measure is a function that computes the degree of similarity between a pair of objects. Similarity base applications are countless. Data mining is used to build the knowledge base of the large data repositories for human inferences and analysis. Data mining techniques are more frequent in all such technical fields where the similarity as' required. The proper selection of similarity or distance measure is a key to many data mining techniques such Clustering; Classification; and Outlier Detection. For categorical data, computation of similarity measure is a complex phenomenon. The measures used for continues data such as Euclidean Measures are generalized upto some extent and can be applied in any continues data domain. Euclidean measures are widely applied to categorical data without considering the domain knowledge and nature of categorical data. Due to the complex nature of categorical data, no standard measure like Euclidean is available in literature. In this paper, we are evaluating the different categorical measures in accordance with their usage in different data mining applications and techniques. We are also proposing the chi-fuzzy measure to address the categorical data issue.
ELECTROSTATIC SOLITARY WAVE STRUCTURES IN MAGNETIZED NEGATIVE ION PLASMA WITH STATIONARY DUST
Authors: Ahtar N. , Hussain S.
Published: January 2025

Non linear electrostatic solitary wave structures are studied in negative ion magnetized homogenous plasma in the presence of stationary dust. Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) equation is derived by using reductive perturbation method. Laboratory plasma parameters are used for the numerical analysis of ZK equation. It is seen that compressive and rarefactive solitary wave structures are observed for fast and slow modes. The effects of magnetic field, obliqueness, temperature variation of positive and negative ions in the presence of dust on non linear solitary wave structures are discussed.