bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF CHAETOMIUM THERMOPHILUM XYLANASE 11-A GENE IN PROKARYOTE
Authors: Wajid S. , Latif F. , Afzal S. , Mukhtar Z. , Ghaffar A. , Mansoor S. , Rajoka I.
Published: January 2025

The xylanase gene was cloned into pET32a(+) and expressed in E. coli BL21 under T7 promotor alongwith fusion protein. The SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis showed a protein of ~42 kDa. The best expression of xylanase enzyme was found by using xylose as carbon source and lactose as an inducer. The maximum activity of xylanase expressed in E. coli was 6.02 U/mL in the presence of 2 % xylose in DS medium. The activity of recombinant xylanase was observed on 1 % xylan LB agar plates, showed halos of xylan clearance when lactose was used as an inducer.
GENERAL PREVALENCE OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION IN DYSPEPTIC POPULATION OF ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
Authors: Qureshi T. Z. , Saleem K. , Bilal R. , Zafar S.
Published: January 2025

Helicobacter pylori was known as campylobacter pyloridis in the beginning of the twentieth century. Doenges was the first to find this bacterium in the autopsy specimens of stomach using haematoxylin and eosin stains. In 1940 Freedburg and Baron carried out a study on 35 partial gastrectomy specimens and found spirochetes in 37% after a long search. A major breakthrough occurred with the advent of fibroptic biopsy technique permitting the biopsy of stomach. Then in 1975 Steer and Colin Jones observed gram negative bacilli in 80% of patients with gastric ulcer. The bacterium was closely associated with the surface epithelium, both within and between pits. These microorganisms were poorly stained by haematoxylin and eosin stains but could be seen easily with Warthin Starry silver stain. Later on, a heavy growth of campylobacter like organism was found on non-selective culture media and so the first culture of helicobacter pylori was achieved in April 1982. Since then eight other helicobacter species have been found, one in man and the remainder in other animals including birds. The organism may remain silent for years or produce serious gastric disorders in the beginning. Many studies have been conducted on asymptomatic healthy individuals but its presence in dyspeptic patients has always been ignored and dyspepsia has been treated as a result of over acid production This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of helicobacter pylori [hp] infection in dyspeptic population of Islamabad using 13C urea breath test, and to find the possible role of water in bug transmission. We have also tried to assess the type of gastric pathology resulted by bacterial colonization in stomach. A total of 278 individuals were studied. Out of these 115 who had serious complaints/symptoms were sent for endoscopy to get the antral biopsy sample. Breath samples of dyspeptic individuals were sent to Isotope Application Division, PINSTECH for 13C/12C isotope ratio analysis using Mass Spectrometer. Water drinking habits of patients were recorded to assess the possible role of drinking water in bacterial transmission to human stomachs. Analysis of data obtained by mass spectrometry showed an overall prevalence of 66.5%. Majority of our subjects used unboiled water. Therefore, use of unboiled drinking water could be the most possible cause of this infection. Chronic antral gastritis was the predominant endoscopic pathology seen in infective patients. We, therefore, conclude that prevalence of H.pylori infection is high in Islamabad region mainly due to the use of contaminated drinking water.
HYDROTHERMALLY GROWN ZEOLITE CRYSTALS
Authors: Durrani S. K. , Qureshi A. H. , Hussain M. A. , Ahmed N. , Qazi N. K. , Ahmad M.
Published: January 2025

The aluminium-deficient and ferrosilicate zeolite-type materials were synthesized by hydrothermal process at 150-170oC for various periods of time from the mixtures containing colloidal reactive silica, sodium aluminate, sodium hydroxide, iron nitrate and organic templates. Organic polycation templates were used as zeolite crystal shape modifiers to enhance relative growth rates. The template was almost completely removed from the zeolite specimens by calcination at 550 oC for 8h in air. Simultaneous thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) was performed to study the removal of water molecules and the amount of organic template cations occluded inside the crystal pore of zeolite framework. The ~12-13% weight loss in the range of (140-560oC) was associated with removal of the (C3H7)4N+ cation and water molecules. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques were employed to study the structure, morphology and surface features of hydrothermally grown aluminium-deficient and ferrosilicate zeolite-type crystals. In order to elucidate the mode of zeolite crystallization the crystallinity and unit cell parameters of the materials were determined by XRD, which are the function of Al and Fe contents of zeolites.
SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Zn1-x-yCdxLiyOÎ´ SOLID SOLUTION
Authors: Kamruzzaman M. , S. Karal M. A. , R. Khan M. K. , Rahman M. M. , Shahjahan M. , M. Chowdhury M. G.
Published: January 2025

Zn1-x-yCdxLiyOÎ´ (x=0.30; y=0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and Î´= 0.975, 0.95, 0.925, 0.90) samples have been prepared by conventional solid state reaction method and studied their electrical, magnetic and structural properties. The dc electrical resistivity measurement shows that all samples are highly resistive (~106 ohm-cm) upto a transition temperature (Tt), above which resistivity falls drastically that reveals the samples are semiconducting in nature and Tt decreases with increase of Li. The activation energies vary from (0.74-0.51) eV depending on doping concentrations, i.e. the activation energy is lower for higher concentration of Li in the solution. Magnetic mass susceptibility measurement shows negative sign that indicate the samples are diamagnetic. From XRD analysis, there exist two phases one is hexagonal ZnO and another is cubic CdO which suggests the formation of superlattice structure of the system. Crystallite size at planes (100), (002), (101), (102), (110), (103), (200), (112) and (111), (200), (220) for ZnO and CdO ranges from 20 to 50 nm and for Li ranges from 27 to 40 nm.
TG CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL AND COTTON FIBERS IMPREGNATED WITH AZO-DYES
Authors: Pirzada T. , Saleem M. , Qadeer R. , Khurshid S. J.
Published: January 2025

The impregnation of AV17, AB90, AR1 and DR80 dyes on wool and on cotton AV17 and DR80 was carried out at optimized conditions of shaking time and pH for the maximum uptake of the dyes by the fibers. The effects of the dyes impregnation on thermal oxidation of wool and cotton fibers were studied by employing thermogravimetric analysis. The results show that the weight loss of wool fiber was in a single step and the impregnation of AR1 on wool fiber results in a significant decrease in the decomposition temperature. The impregnation of AV17 and DR80 on wool fiber changes the nature of the thermogravimetric pattern and two steps weight losses were observed as compared to the single step weight loss observed in virgin wool fiber. The impregnation of AV17 and DR80 dyes on cotton fiber does not change the nature of the thermogravimetric behavior of the fiber and two stage weight loss were observed for both virgin and impregnated cotton fiber. It has been found out that impregnation only affects the weight loss in both the steps. These results are important in relation to the dyeing of wool and cotton fibers.
CFD-BASED ESTIMATION OF COLLISION PROBABILITIES BETWEEN FINE PARTICLES AND BUBBLES HAVING INTERMEDIATE REYNOLDS NUMBER
Authors: Nadeem M. , Ahmed J. , Chughtai I. R. , Ullah Atta
Published: January 2025

Recent literature comprises numerous investigations on the determination of bubble-particle collision probabilities inflotation systems based upon hydrodynamic models. This work aims to use CFD to simulate collision probabilities inquiescent flotation conditions as encountered in Flotation Columns. Euler-Lagrange approach is used for the calculationof collision probabilities of fine (10Î¼m to 80Î¼m) solid particles with bubbles having intermediate Reynolds number (i.e.2<Re<500; 0.1mm<db<1.5mm). In this work only two bubble sizes, 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm, are simulated. The simulationsare performed using both unstructured and structured meshes. The values of collision probabilities are compared withthose produced using the hydrodynamic models of Yoon & Luttrell and Weber & Paddock. The results of collisionprobabilities and their variations with bubble and particle sizes, obtained using structured mesh are in close agreementwith the published data.
THE CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION: TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
Authors: S. Pirzada M. D. , Pirzada F. N.
Published: January 2025

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies remove carbon dioxide from flue gases. It is then stored instead of being released into the atmosphere. CCS has the potential to mitigate global warming by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) at its major production centres such as fossil fuel power plants. Large scale capture of CO2has already been achieved commercially. The CCS is technically feasible and fairly well developed but to date no large-scale power plant is being operated with a full carbon capture and storage system. Compared to a plant without CCS, one with CCS can cut CO2 emissions to the atmosphere by approximately 80-90%. However, the energy required to accomplish CCS increases the fuel needs of a coal-fired plant by about 25%. This, combined with the total system costs significantly increases the cost of energy. This makes CSS currently a relatively expensive mitigation option. Still if fossil fuels remain a major part of the energy mix, the global exigency to reduce carbon dioxide emissions laid under Kyoto protocol can make CCS an attractive option. This article discusses the possibilities and limitations of CCS. The technical and economic uncertainties and obstacles in the implementation of CCS have been illustrated. The status of industrial-scale storage projects in operation and those in the pipeline has also been reviewed.
ARSENIC POLLUTION FROM PHOSPHOGYPSUM PRODUCED AT MULTAN, PAKISTAN
Authors: Javied S. , Chaudhary M. M. , Irfan N. , Tufail M. , Siddique N. , Waheed S.
Published: January 2025

Phosphogypsum (PG) is a byâ€“product of the phosphate fertilizer industry, which contains various toxic elements. The concentration of one of the toxic elements, arsenic, has been measured in 10 samples of PG waste collected from the stack of the Pak-Arab Fertilizer factory at Multan in Pakistan. The technique of instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was employed for the characterization of this element. The quality assurance was controlled by analyzing the reference materials, IAEA-SL1, IAEA-SDM-2 and GSJ-JB-2 along with the PG samples. The concentration of arsenic was found to vary from 1.55 to 11.39 Âµg/g with an average value of 6.26 Âµg/g. The level of arsenic in the PG samples was compared with the permissible value of this element in soil and water. The potential hazard of this element to human health and the environment has been discussed and method to control this pollution has been proposed in this paper.
HIGH CONCENTRATION PREFERENTIAL ADSORPTION OF ZINC ACETATE ONTO ACID TREATED ACTIVATED CARBON FOR IMPREGNATION PURPOSES
Authors: Farooq A. , Mehboob S. , Chaudhary M. M. , Irfan N.
Published: January 2025

Impregnation of activated carbon has long been the subject of researchers working in the area of protection against air pollutants, especially those interested in making personal protective equipments. People who are involved in research of heavy metal removal using activated carbon have worked at very low concentrations. Moreover, the literature available in the open domain does not reveal the secrets of working at high concentration i.e., greater than 1 mM. Working at higher salt concentrations is necessary for the purpose of impregnating the activated carbon to a certain level with metals like copper, zinc, silver, chromium, tungsten, molybdenum etc. Activated carbon impregnated with these metals can be very effective in the removal of certain toxic gases. A locally available microporous activated carbon GAC89 was pretreated with nitric acid. B.E.T. surface areas and Boehm titrations were done. A large range of concentrations of aqueous solution of zinc acetate which is a preferentially adsorbing salt was made and stirred with the raw AC and the pretreated AC. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was employed to determine the amount of zinc acetate actually adsorbed onto the carbon sample. The results were fitted to a sum of two distinct adsorption isotherms, one for low concentrations i.e., less than 1 mM, and the other for high concentrations. The lower concentration adsorption is largely influenced by the solution pH. It is observed that at higher concentrations, the adsorption is weaker and the underlying mechanism is under study.
BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM CORN OIL BY TRANSESTERIFICATION PROCESS
Authors: Khan N. A. , Dessouky H.
Published: January 2025

There is much political demand and economic pressure to convert agricultural surpluses into material, such as motor fuel, in which the world is deficient. Transport industry is primary consumer of crude oil. Due to scarcity of known petroleum reserves, the possible alternative fuel for use in present engine technology is biofuels. Europe, USA and Brazil are successfully using biofuels. Biofuels causes less environmental pollution as compared to normal petro fuels. As a fuel, ethanol (gasohol) is used in internal combustion engine while methyester (Biodiesel) is used in diesel engines with same or better performance as compared to petro fuels. Corn is very valuable crop with numerous industrial applications, and is used in more than 300 modern industries, including the manufacture of textiles, paper, adhesives, insecticides, paints, soaps, explosives and many more. Presently the biggest source of ethanol production is from corn (produced by USA). Edible oil can also be extracted from corn which is normally used for cooking and it can be used for biodiesel production. Many countries are experimenting on fats and oil to get feasible data for production of biodiesel. Presently USA prefer to use soybean oil as raw material for commercial production of biodiesel while in Europe rapeseed oil is preferred, so therefore, it depends upon the availability of raw material in particular area and may change from location to location. In Pakistan we started with corn oil to produce biodiesel by transesterification method. In present study different design parameters such as effect of temperature, catalyst concentration, molar ratio, and Stirrer speed were founded for better conversion of neat and used corn oil into biodiesel. The optimum parameters proposed for neat corn oil are 0.5% of catalyst based on weight of corn oil, temperature between 50o o C to 60 C, reaction time 15 minutes, molar ratio of 6:1 and speed of stirrer 155 rpm. In case of used corn oil high catalyst amount was used which was 0.7% based on the weight of oil. Fuel testing results of corn biodiesel was comparable with normal petro diesel fuel.
HUMAN BEHAVIORAL COROLLARY ON INDUSTRIAL WORKPLACE
Authors: Fazil I. , Kirmani Z. U. , Hanif M. , Saeed A. , Khurshid A.
Published: January 2025

This paper highlights a number of initiatives taken for the introduction of behavior-based safety concepts and customized process control solutions to encourage and instill safe behavior in employees at Attock Refinery Limited (ARL), Morgah Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A Safety culture is entirely dependent on the attitude of employees towards safety. After all, those who actually perform the work are responsible for their safety as well as that of those around them, and also for any accident that occurs whilst they work. In 2005, ARL established a Health Safety Environment (HSE) Department reporting directly to the CEO and it now stands transformed into the HSEQ Department with Quality having been added to its portfolio, with the logic that it is the Quality of our systems and processes that also determines the possibility or otherwise of safe/unsafe behavior. The need was felt to measure, analyze and then control unsafe behavior at the workplace. In spite of providing safety systems and necessary hardware, incident data shows that the majority of misfortunes are triggered by employeesâ€™ unsafe attitude, proclivity to take shortcuts and intuitive-based decisions, bypassing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Human behavior is a very complex subject as it is linked not only to the workplace environment but has origins from home and upbringing as well. An attempt was, nevertheless, necessary to develop a tool of customized behavioral assessment tool in order to gauge the employeesâ€™ behavior. On a scale of 1-100, marks were allocated to areas including safety attitude within the department(s), working conditions, supervisorâ€™s behavior towards worker safety, job loyalty, personal attitude towards job safety, seriousness towards safety, training and the employeesâ€™ view about the HSEQ department. This study, based on one-on-one interviews with employees, yielded what we will term employeesâ€™ potential towards unsafe behaviors, which would facilitate subsequent planning and customized training to overcome weak behavioral aspects of personality.
IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF HUMAN ACTIONS IN CASE OF SGTR INITIATING EVENT
Authors: Rahman K. U. , Arshad N. , Z. Arif H. M. , Habib U. , Kanwal S.
Published: January 2025

Identification and modeling of human actions, from safety point of view is an important part of human reliability analysis of Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). In case of SGTR, human actions have significant effect on the safety and radioactive releases. The human actions, isolation of defective steam generator (IFSG), pressure balance between primary and secondary side (OAPB) and reactor cool down and depressurization (OACD) were modeled and analyzed in this study. Probabilities associated with these human actions were estimated using Standardized Plant Analysis Risk associated with Human (SPAR-H) with generic data. HEPs are 0.0564, 0.0952 and 0.1059 for IFSG, OAPB and OACD respectively. Human error probabilities were the major contributors to core damage frequency of SGTR.
Problems and Progressive Cryptanalysis of Prominent Block Ciphers
Authors: Shoukat I.A. , Iqbal U. , Malik M.S.A. , Sahar F.
Published: January 2025

Practical cracking of Data Encryption Standard (DES) and mathematical cracking of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is seriously questionable despite the fact that AES retains good length of the encryption key, but still all encryption rounds have been cracked mathematically. Therefore, there is a need to revisit the cracking excursion of these well-known cryptosystems to inquire into potential discrepancies associated with them and to evolve the design of future block ciphers. Thus, this study aims to enlighten the cryptanalysis journey of AES and DES, including all DES variants (TDES, DESX and DEX+) to discuss latent weaknesses, issues and problems associated with these block ciphers. To accomplish this review task, quality of related studies was collected from several well-known research repositories and each study was critically analyzed. Earlier review-efforts were found relatively marginal in scope, capacity and are not up-to-date with the latest issues, and cryptanalysis results thereby differ with this work. The resultant discussion shows that known parameters like static substitution, static permutation, fixed block size and repeated encryption rounds with a similar set of encryption operations support the crackers in executing effective cryptanalysis in symmetric block ciphers. Therefore, encrypting the secret data with too many repeated encryption rounds with identical encryption operations is not as effective in enhancing the security of symmetric block cipher as it is usually believed.
Investigating the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Academic Performance of Engineering Students: An Exploratory Study in Pakistan
Authors: Fakhar A. , Jahanzaib M. , Sarfraz M.H. , Shafiq M. , Rizwan A.
Published: January 2025

Emotional intelligence (EI) has become one of the leading predictors of human success in professional, personal and academic life. This study investigates the influence of emotional intelligence and its four domains (self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and social-management) on academic performance (AP) of engineering students. The data for this research have been collected through a structured questionnaire from 350 students of public and private sector engineering universities of northern Punjab Pakistan. The results from analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation statistics support the developed hypotheses by indicating positive influence of emotional intelligence on academic performance. Furthermore, senior students are found to be more emotionally intelligent than junior students. Also, the public sector engineering universities provide better environment for the promotion of emotional intelligence as compared to private universities. However, the level of emotional intelligence both at public and private universities needs to be improved. This study also provides a framework for improving emotional intelligence of the students.
Elemental Composition of Local Pakistani Building Materials Using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA)
Authors: Yaqub A. , Kashif M. , Siddique N.
Published: January 2025

In the present study, elemental composition of local Pakistani building materials (marble, granite, stones and pottery) were determined using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) technique. On the average, maximum numbers of elements were quantified in marble samples followed by stone and pottery samples. The elemental data was subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) which showed that all marble samples have similar composition. Similarly stones also share the same chemical content and the pottery samples resemble each other. Therefore PCA can be successfully used to differentiate different types of building material samples from their elemental data.
A Comparative Study of Anti-rectangular AG-groupoids and Commutative Semigroups
Authors: Ahmad I. , Rauf A. , Khan M.
Published: January 2025

In this paper, anti-rectangular AG-groupoids are studied. Some properties of anti-rectangular AGgroupoidare investigated via a concise study of its super classes. Furthermore, various conditions areexplored under which an anti-rectangular AG-groupoid becomes commutative and hence a commutativesemigroup. Alternatively, the paper is a pleasant contribution to the theory of commutative semigroups.Moreover, using the latest computational techniques of Prove-9 and Mace-4 a variety of examples andcounterexamples are provided to depict various produced results.
Selection Criteria for Radionuclide of Interest in Neutron Activation Analysis
Authors: Wasim M.
Published: January 2025

This paper describes general selection criteria for suitable activation products to get maximum signalto noise ratio in minimum time. The detection sensitivities for 71 elements which exist in nature, withrespect to neutron activation analysis, have been calculated and presented. The paper defines thesensitivity as log (peak area/weight) produced for different radionuclides suitable for activation analysisusing five sets of experimental conditions. Although, the current sensitivity factors have been calculatedfor miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) having thermal neutron flux of 1012 cm-2 s-1; however, thegeneral pattern of elemental sensitivities will not be affected drastically by changing reactor type.Normalized peak areas have also been presented for the identification of suitable activation products.These normalized areas are independent of experimental conditions used and are therefore general innature. Finally, real data have been presented from our previous studies, which confirm present findingsand provide actual irradiation times along with useful gamma-rays used in the analysis.
A Discrete Formulation of a Unified Data Mining Model
Authors: Khan D. M. , Rehman A. U. , Rehman M. U. , Shahzad F. , Saher N.
Published: January 2025

A race is going on to process the complex and huge amount of data. To achieve this, data analytics are proposing different models and methods. Parallel to this, rich research work has been done to simplify different mathematical models for the validation and for the acceptance level of calculated knowledge. In this paper, we propose a discrete formulation of a unified data mining model. It envisages that knowledge extraction is a multi-step process where different data mining processes such as clustering, classification and visualization are unified in a cascade way; that is, an output of a process is the input to another process which helps to achieve scalability and flexibility on a larger scale. Simultaneously, to prove whether our proposed model is valid or invalid, it is evaluated by discrete structure. For this, different mathematical formulations are formed to support the cause and then these mathematical formulations are evaluated to achieve the required target. Each mathematical formulation is examined in detail by using a simple technique called Truth Table and its Truth Values. Truth Table shows that evaluated mathematical formulations are valid and correct.
Highly Efficient Multimedia Image Retrieval using Slim Descriptor
Authors: Ahmed K. T. , Afzal H. , Iqbal S. , Hussain M. G. , Mufti M. R. , Karim A.
Published: January 2025

Efficient multimedia image extraction with high precision compatible with diverse image datasets is an implicit requirement of current image retrieval systems. In this paper, a multimedia image descriptor is introduced to achieve high performance along with high accuracy. For this, Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) are extracted from a dense grid partitioned image by taking edge intensity based orientation histograms as primitive feature vectors. We depleted these massive redundant candidates to linearly uncorrelated variables by applying orthogonal transformation to achieve Principal Components (PC) where succeeding componentâ€™s constraint dependent orthogonal variance based local descriptors are compact and robust to deformation. A distinctness of our proposed approach is the selection of a single coefficient having largest variance as image descriptor out of returned dimensionally reduced vectors which results in higher performance and less space and time consumption. Supervised learning using Support Vector Machine (SVM) is then applied on non-probabilistic binary linear classification of images. The experimental results show higher precision, low memory consumption and sufficient performance gain.
Analysis of Temperature Distribution and Phase Change Time Inside Iron-Nickel Foam Infiltrated with Paraffin
Authors: Mehboob M. , Hussain A. , Ali I. , Ahmed W. , Ali M. , Shahid H.
Published: January 2025

Thermal performance of phase change materials (PCMs) have great importance in efficient thermal energy storage systems (TESS). Pure PCMs have high heat absorption capacity and latent heat. In this study temperature distribution inside the pure paraffin, pure iron-nickel foam, and Iron-nickel foam/paraffin PCM composite was experimentally investigated. Heat flux of 1000 W/m2 was supplied through a flexible heater (100 mm × 100 mm × 1.3 mm) at the bottom of the paraffin, pure iron-nickel foam, and iron-nickel foam/paraffin wax composite. Phase change time of paraffin and iron-nickel foam/paraffin wax composite was also investigated. Experimental results show that temperature difference was lowered by 50% in case of new Iron-Nickel foam/paraffin PCM composite due to high effective thermal conductivity [2.08 W/m.K]. During the thermal storage process of pure paraffin, maximum temperature difference along the z-axis was found to be more (14%) as compared to that along the x-axis. Temperature difference was found 4oC in case of paraffin while in pure iron-nickel foam it was 2oC during the heating process. Phase transition time of pure paraffin was increased by 16.67% as compared to the composite PCM during the thermal storage process.
Deployment of a Smart Trading System for Intelligent Stock Trading
Authors: Ali I. , Mahfooz S.Z. , Mehmood N.Q. , Mehmood M.N.
Published: January 2025

In this article we evaluate the deployment of a smart trading system that exploits the features of different technical indicators for intelligent stock trading. Depending on their behaviors, these indicators help in trading under various market conditions. Our smart trading system uses a unified trading strategy that selects five indicators from three well-known categories referred as leading, lagging, and volatility indicators. The trading system looks for common trend signals from at least three indicators within a certain period of time. Collectively generated signals from the technical indicators are used to train a neural network model. The trained neural network model is then used to produce buy and sell signals for trading in stocks. The system is efficient and convenient to use for both individual traders and fund managers. We tested the model on actual data collected from Saudi Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. The performance of the model was checked in terms of percentage returns. The results of the proposed trading model were compared with the benchmark trading strategy. The deployed smart trading system is efficient to produce significant returns over the longer and shorter timeframes.
Thorium Based Indian Nuclear Program
Authors: Hussain Waqar , AHMAD KHURRAM MAQSOOD , Azam Adeela , Rehman Sidra
Published: January 2025

India has the largest thorium reserves in the world. Normally, it is deposited in the rocks and can be extracted through specific processing, however, in India, it is available in pure and refined form. India has included utilization of Thorium as a major goal in its nuclear energy program because it has the large amount of thorium as compared to meager uranium reserves. Indian ambitious three stage nuclear program is aimed to fulfill its objective to achieve energy security whereas nearly 300 million of the population in India is estimated to be out of the national electricity grid. India is expanding its nuclear energy production to achieve the target of 63 GW into the total power share by 2032 and plans to further increase this share to 25% by 2050. However, the technology to use thorium as a fuel is quite complicated and no country has yet achieved this capability owing to the involvement of reprocessed nuclear fuel, which is quite hard to handle. While India is struggling to achieve a breakthrough in the development of technology to use thorium as blanket fuel for use in advanced reactor. The overall implications of such developments would result in the exponential increase in Indian fissile materials consequently jeopardizing the deterrence stability in South Asia. Once India is able to tap the weapon grade U-233 from thorium, then its fissile material stocks would increase exponentially resulting in exacerbating the Pakistani security dilemma vis-à-vis India.
STUDY OF THE REACTION CROSS SECTION OF 14.0 MeV/u 238U IONS INCIDENT ON 51V TARGET
Authors: Sher G. , Shahzad M. I. , Ullah Mati
Published: January 2025

The reaction cross section of 238U-ions with energy 14.0 MeV /u and incident on a Vanadium target has been investigated using mica track detectors. In this regard, a thin layer (0.56 mg/cm2 ) of V was deposited on a clean and smooth sheet of mica in vacuum. This assembly was then irradiated with a fluence of 0.9Ã—105 ions/cm2 normally incident 238U ions at UNILAC accelerator of G.S.I. Darmstadt, Germany. After irradiation, the target layer was removed from the mica detectors which was then etched in HF acid at room temperature for 20 minutes. After counting the tracks under an optical microscope, the elastic track events were separated from two-prong track events using the angular correlation criterion. Using the number of two-prong inelastic and higher multiplicity track events, the total and partial reaction crosssections were calculated. The experimentally measured total cross section was compared with the cross section calculated using the sharp cut-off model as well as that determined with the quarter-point angle.
OBSERVATION OF TWO ENERGY REGIMES BY 90Â° ELECTROSTATIC ENERGY ANALYZER IN REGENERATIVE SOOTING DISCHARGES
Authors: Zeeshan S. , Javeed S. , Janjua S. A. , Akhtar F.
Published: January 2025

An electrostatic energy analyzer of 90Â°has been designed to measure the energy spread of argon and carbon ion beam from regenerative sooting discharges. Results of energy analyzed ion beam are presented that have been obtained from graphite hollow cathode duoplasmatron ion source and accelerated upto 27 keV. Two groups of low and high-energy ions are observed which are formed inside the ion source. Energy spread increases with increase in energy. Minimum energy spread is 20 eV whereas Maximum is 1.79 keV.
CORROSION BEHAVIOUR OF CLADDING MATERIALS OF RESEARCH REACTOR SPENT FUEL DURING WET STORAGE
Authors: Qureshi A. H. , Hussain N. , Arif M. , Ahmed E. , Akram M. , Qazi N. K.
Published: January 2025

The present investigations deal with the study of the effect of water chemistry of spent fuel storage bay on corrosion properties of cladding materials of research reactor. Coupons of four different alloys of stainless steel (SS 316) and aluminium alloys (Al 6063, Al 6061 and Al 1100) in form of discs were assembled on a rack forming galvanic couples and crevice sandwiches. The rack was immersed in the spent fuel storage bay for a period of one year exposure. The monthly inspection of specimens was conducted out based on visual observation and photography. The analyses of water were done on weekly basis. After exposure of one year the rack was withdrawn and disassembled in the laboratory. The surface of each individual coupon was observed visually and by means of optical microscope. Visual observation revealed relatively more deposits of scale on aluminium samples in the galvanic couples compared to stainless steel (SS) samples. In the crevice sandwiches (Al+Al) both upper and lower samples were found almost identical with respect to scale deposits. The microscopic observations showed no pitting on any sample except at selective areas only in contact with ceramic spacers.
STRUCTURAL ELUCIDATION OF TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES OF MODIFIED DIAMINE ALONGWITH BIOASSAY STUDIES
Authors: Rehman S. U. , Noreen S. , Rashida Miss. , Akram M. , Ali K. , Ahmad I. , Arshad M. , Bukhari I. H.
Published: January 2025

A number of complexes of modified diamine (3,7-dimethyl-1,5-dithia-3,7-diazacyclooctane), were prepared with first row divalent transition metals, i.e., Cu(II) and Zn(II). The structures of these complexes were elucidated on the basis of various physical techniques such as mass spectrometry, NMR, IR, UV-Visible spectroscopies, magnetic and conductance measurements. Bioassay of these complexes has also been carried out. The physical measurements confirm distorted tetrahedral structure for these complexes.
ACCURATE POWER ANALYSIS FOR CONVENTIONAL MOS TRANSISTORS USING 0.12Âµm TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Durrani Y. A.
Published: January 2025

Power dissipation of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) has emerged as a significant constraint on the semiconductor industry. For the dynamic power the voltage, capacitance and frequency are the major components of the power dissipation. In this paper, we propose a new power macromodeling technique for the power estimation of conventional metal-oxide- semiconductor (MOS) transistors. As the dynamic power is directly linked with the load capacitance (CL), it is also a lumped capacitance of all internal parasitic capacitances. In our proposed model, we take an account of the parasitic capacitances with their dependence on channel width and the length. Suitable values of other factors (i.e. threshold voltage VT, gate voltage VGS, drain voltage VDD etc.) are used for the power consumption of the MOS transistors. The Preliminary results are effective and our macromodel provides the accurate power estimation.
VISUAL GESTURE BASED AUGMENTED VIRTUAL KEYBOARD SYSTEM
Authors: Yousaf M. H. , Habib Hafiz A. , Hussain F. , Rizwan M.
Published: January 2025

This paper presents a novel enhancement in design of virtual keyboards for consumers of tablets and standard computing devices. Hand video is captured for virtual keyboard functionality. Hand video is augmented with a background keyboard and displayed on lower part of screen to provide feedback to user for seamless interaction with virtual keyboard. Hands are detected in video sequence. Finger joints trajectory based keystroke detection and recognition fused with augmented keys spatial information reveals the key pressed. Real time system is developed by integrating USB camera with tablet computer. Reliable results are experienced while a low cost system is achieved in comparison to existing virtual keyboard systems.
SUPER-TWISTING SLIDING MODE CONTROL STRATEGY FOR DYNAMIC VOLTAGE RESTORER TO IMPROVE POWER QUALITY IN POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Authors: Kanwal S. , Hanif A.
Published: January 2025

The paper deals with application of super-twisting sliding mode control in Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) to tackle various Power Quality (PQ) issues. The various features of super-twisting sliding mode, which include selection of sliding surface, stability of system, existence of sliding mode and reaching conditions to bring system states on sliding surface, are discussed for mitigation of voltage sag/swell and phase jumps applications. Pulse width modulation (PWM) based second order super-twisting sliding mode control is used to operate voltage source converter (VSC) in voltage control mode for mitigation of voltage sag, voltage swell and phase jumps to regulate power flow to load. The proposed controller design is simulated for single phase DVR. It exhibits robustness to system parameters and load variations. The load voltage Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is calculated to evaluate the voltage quality. MATLABÂ®/SimulinkÂ® SimPowerSystem tool box is used to check the performance of proposed control strategy. Simulation results show that response time and chattering effect can be minimized with use of super-twisting sliding mode control while keeping the main properties of standard sliding mode control (SMC). The proposed control scheme can compensate voltage sags, voltage swells and phase jumps within 2ms which is reasonably lower than ITIC curve and SEMI-F-47 standard for sensitive loads that suggest a tolerable time limit of 20ms.
FORMATION OF LOPSIDED AND BAR STRUCTURES IN NON-STATIONARY GRAVITATING SYSTEMS: II-ANISOTROPIC CASE
Authors: Sultana M. , Khalid M.
Published: January 2025

In the present study, growth rates of non-stationary model of radially gravitating disk with an anisotropic velocity diagram is constructed. We have focused on two oscillation modes i.e. lopsided and bar-like modes. Critical diagrams of the initial virial ratio and rotation parameter are obtained for these two perturbation oscillation modes. A comparative analysis shows that lopsided mode again dominate the bar-like mode, like its isotropic case, against all the values of rotation parameter for anisotropic non-stationary model.
TRACE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF SOME MEDICINAL HERBS BY PROTON INDUCED X-RAY EMISSION (PIXE)
Authors: Ahmad N. , Naseem A. , Saadat S. , Shahnawaz M. , Rafique M.
Published: January 2025

Proton induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) has been used to investigate the concentration of nineteen trace elements in eleven medicinal herbs commonly used for the treatment of different diseases in Pakistan. Mg, Si, K, Ca and Fe were detected in all the medicinal herbs studied. Germanium has been detected only in violet flower. Indian Lilac, field marigold and violet flower have the highest number of trace elements with maximum concentration. No toxic elements such as Pb, Hg etc. were detected in these medicinal herbs. The accuracy of our results was validated by analyzing standard reference material Citrus Leaf (NIST- SRM -1572). Results indicate that medicinal herbs are a rich source of trace elements which may be useful for the cure of certain ailments.
EFFECT OF MATERIAL FLAWS ON THE MODAL PARAMETERS OF ISOTROPIC MATERIAL USING GROUND VIBRATION TESTING
Authors: Munir A. , Khushnood S. , Ahmed N.
Published: January 2025

Modes are inherent properties of a structure, and are determined by the material properties (mass, damping, and stiffness), and boundary conditions of the structure. Experimental and numerical Ground vibration testing of the low carbon steel plate has been performed to study the changes in modal parameters (modal frequencies, mode shapes, mass, stiffness and damping) either by the load distribution or by material flaws like voids, cracks and porosity etc. Delicacies in experimental Ground vibration testing based on experimental experience are explained to define a methodology for precise experimental testing in order to avoid experimental uncertainties. The difference in numerical and experimental results is also discussed along with reasoning in order to estimate the accuracy of numerical and experimental results. The changes in natural frequencies and mode shapes have been studied for different cases. The cracks, holes and different masses have been induced in the plate and the shift of modal parameters was observed due to single flaw and the combination of flaws in order to estimate the effect of uncertainties in ground Vibration testing. After this research, it is concluded that due to material flaws the stiffness of the material changes, which ultimately affect the modal parameters. Due to change in modal parameters, Aeroelastic Analysis (Flutter speed) also changes, which might result as catastrophic failure of the structure.
FATIGUE LIFE ESTIMATION OF DIFFERENT WELDING ZONES OF OXY ACETYLENE WELDED ALUMINUM ALLOY (AA 5052-H32)
Authors: Mudaserullah M. , Pasha R. A. , Rahman R. A. , Asghar W.
Published: January 2025

Fatigue life of aluminum alloys are reviewed mainly on the basis of experimental results. Fatigue strength and failure history of the representative AA5052-H32 are summarized with respect to surface temperature effects during the welding process. In oxy acetylene welding three different zones named as welded zone (WZ), heat affected zone (HAZ) and base metal (BM) are formed having totally varying properties depending on their specific grain structure. Fatigue life and hardness of these different zones are determined in three successive phases of experiments. It is viewed that the grains are shifted from large rough round to elongated oval shaped from WZ to HAZ and relatively small and fine in BM respectively. Depending on grain configuration the fatigue strength increases from WZ to BM due to concentration of grain boundaries, a hindrance in fatigue crack propagation.
ESTIMATION OF TRACE METAL CONTENTS IN LOCALLY-BAKED BREADS
Authors: Khalid N. , Rehman S.
Published: January 2025

In order to establish base line levels, estimation of some essential trace metals (Cu, Fe, Mn & Zn) has been conducted in four brands of fifteen locally baked breads of Rawalpindi /Islamabad area employing Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The samples were digested in a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid and the analysis was done with air-acetylene flame. The reliability of the procedure employed was verify by analyzing Standard Reference Material, i.e., wheat flour (NBS-SRM-1567) for its Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn contents which were in good agreement with the certified values. The results revealed that brown breads contained higher amount of Fe 177.3 g g 1 and Zn 19.27 g g 1 while levels of Cu 21.90 g g 1 was found higher in the samples of plain bread. The determined metal concentrations in the bread samples were compared with the reported values for other countries. The effect of kneading/baking/slicing processes on the concentration levels of these metals was also studied. The daily intake of these metals through this source was calculated and compared with the recommended dietary allowance.
TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF HEAT TREATMENT ON FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF WELDED JOINTS
Authors: Hameed A. , Pasha R. A. , Khan A. R. , Khan M. Z. , Shah M.
Published: January 2025

Annealing as a post weld heat treatment (PWHT), increases toughness in the welding joints of medium carbon steel in the same way as it increases toughness of the non-welded medium carbon steel. Measurement of increase in toughness through PWHT is focus of the present research work. Welded samples of commercially available steel AISI1035 have been used for the proposed evaluation. The samples welded by two different techniques namely oxyacetylene gas welding and manual metal arc welding, passed through annealing process along with non-welded samples for comparison of increase in toughness. Toughness measured by impact tests revealed the improvement, which in the order of increasing effects is in gas welded, electric welded and non-welded samples. The aim of the present research was to measure the improvement in fracture toughness through post weld heat treatment (annealing). It has been shown that toughness increases as the structural flaws decrease.
DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF RADIAL FLUX PERMANENT MAGNET GENERATOR FOR WIND TURBINE APPLICATIONS
Authors: Ashraf M. M. , Malik T. N. , Zafar S. , Raja U. N.
Published: January 2025

Presently alternate energy resources are replacing conventional energy sources to produce electrical power to minimize the usage of fossil fuels. Wind power is one of the potential alternate energy resources and is being exploited and deployed actively. The wind energy system is basically composed of two core components: wind turbine and electrical generator. This paper presents the design and fabrication of permanent magnet generator for direct drive wind turbine applications. Radial flux permanent magnet generator (RFPMG) producing three phase alternating current voltage has been designed subject to satisfying the features of low operating shaft speed, higher power density, higher current density, cost effectiveness and compact structure. RFPMG design focuses on usage of neodymium permanent magnets for excitation instead of electromagnets to minimize the excitation arrangement challenges and losses. A 300 W prototype RFPMG has been fabricated. The performance of the generator has been evaluated on specially designed wind tunnel. The generator is directly coupled with wind turbine shaft to eliminate the gearbox losses. No load and load tests show that the performance of the machine is up to the mark. The improved design parameters of power density and current density are 73.2 W/kg and 5.9 A/mm2 respectively. The same machine output has been rectified using bridge rectifier for battery charging application. The desired output voltages are obtained at minimum shaft speed of the generator. Thus the design of generator confirms its application with small scale domestic wind turbines producing direct current supply.