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Fodder grasses like Sorghum bicolor play a vital role in livelihood generation in arid and semi-arid areas of Rajasthan in India. Cadmium pollution from industries can affect soils in farmlands thereby playing havoc with health of humans and livestock. The present study was undertaken to study the effect of Cadmium salts on seed germination percentage, seedling growth and fresh weight including various biochemical parameters of Sorghum bicolor. Seeds were treated with different concentrations (10, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm) of cadmium sulphate along with control for 10 days. On the 10th day results were noted for above parameters. Seed germination percentage was recorded maximum at 10 ppm followed by 100 ppm. Both shoot and root length showed progressive decline with cadmium treatment. Fresh weight of seedlings was observed better than control for 10 ppm dose level. Further maximum amount of proteins and total soluble sugars were observed at 500ppm dose level while starch and total phenols were found to be maximum at 100ppm dose level. However, in lipids there was constant decrease as compared to control with increase in treatment dose. Total chlorophyll was found to be maximum at 1000 ppm , carotenoids and MDA at in control. These results can be further developed as markers for field testing of cadmium polluted plants.

Inhibition of ?-amylase, enzyme that plays a role in digestion of starch and glycogen, is considered a strategy for the treatment of disorders in carbohydrate uptake, such as diabetes and obesity, etc. Plants are an important source of chemical constituents with potential for inhibition of ?-amylase and can be used as therapeutic or functional food sources. In this study methanolic extracts from Mimosa pudica plant source that have been tested for ?-amylase & acid phosphatase inhibitory activity has been done. Amongst the phyto-constituents that have been investigated, flavonoids are one of them that demonstrated the highest inhibitory activities with the potential of inhibition related to number of hydroxyl groups in the molecule of the compound.The inhibition of acid phosphatase could be due to the rupture of lysosomal membrane in the presence of Mimosa pudica. Methanol crude extracts of the (whole plant) of Mimosa pudica (Mimosaceae) were screened in vitro for cytotoxicity studies by brine shrimp lethality bioassay and antioxidant activity using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. The methanol crude extracts of the whole plant showed potential cytotoxic activities (IC50 82.50?g/ml). The methanol crude extract of the whole plant showed moderate antioxidant activity (IC50 48.54?g/ml) compared to Rutin (IC50 34.60?g/ml). The % of inhibition of alpha Amylase & Acid Phosphatase of Mimosa pudica was found to be 41% & 47.8% in the concentration of 5mg/ml respectively with membrane stability 61.5%. The overall experimental results suggested that biologically active constituents present in the methanolic extract of Mimosa pudica and justifies its use in folkloric remedies.

Nowadays, consumers expect manufacturers to provide excellent quality, reliable delivery and competitive pricing. This demands that the manufacturer’s machines and processes are highly reliable. In order to possess highly reliable machines to make sure smooth manufacturing process, many organizations have implemented Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) as the enabling tool to maximize the effectiveness of equipment by setting and maintaining the optimum relationship between people and their machines. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is used as a measure when evaluating the result of TPM. This paper intends to find out the relationship between TPM implementation and OEE result. Comparison between before and after the implementation of TPM is carried out to see the difference that TPM can bring to an organization. Elements that constitute the OEE equation will be analyzed in order to identify which one that affects OEE result. After identifying, improvement will be made on that element so that OEE result will be improved ultimately. The approach used in this paper is case study and the instruments used to collect data are observation and interview. Microsoft Excel is used to analyze data obtained and calculate OEE. Hence, TPM is a useful tool in helping firm to achieve optimal manufacturing process. By being able to achieve this level of maintenance, an organization will be able to reap competitive advantages brought by TPM, thus, producing quality products that manage to satisfy customers and subsequently generating greater profits.

In this paper we have tried to implement the idea to classify fingerprints through identifying the core of the fingerprint. The fingerprint is taken as an input via an image. The image is then transformed for necessary preprocessing. Then we make a graph with ridges’ ending and bifurcations all around the Centre, acting as vertices. Then we compare the graph constructed using the connection of vertices. The idea is to calculate distance between neighbouring vertices for each vertex. Our aim is to increase the efficiency of fingerprint identification in different orientation.

Sodium montmorillonite clay was successfully modified by double modification one organic modification and the other inorganic phosphate. The nanodispersion was proven by transmission electron microscope which showed mixed morphology (intercalated, exfoliated and immiscible structures) in polymer matrix. In general, the thermal stability and flammability properties were improved by loading high density polyethylene by double modified clay.

For green fodder yield and its contributing traits in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variability, heritability and genetic advance were estimated. Higher estimates of genetic variability were computed in internodal length followed by green fodder yield, plant height, number of leaves per plant and leaf area, whereas the least genetic coefficient of variability was observed in the days to 50% flowering. Higher amount of heritability was expressed by plant height followed by internodal length, number of leaves per plant, leaf area and green fodder yield. High estimates of genetic advance were computed for plant height followed by leaf area and internodal length. Correlation analysis at a genotypic level of the present breeding material indicated that plant height mainly increases with the increase in internodal length and with the increase in plant height, leaf area and number of leaves per plant, green fodder yield would increase. Path coefficients were computed to estimate the contribution of individual characters to green fodder yield in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.). Highest overall effect on green fodder yield was observed associated with plant height followed by internodal length, leaf area and number of leaves per plant.

For over a decade now attention is critically focused on the exploitation of environmentally sustainable and renewable energy sources, particularly due to the depletable, expensive and pollution characteristics of fossil fuels. In this regard, solar energy has strong potentials to play a great future role, especially in the global areas around the equator. Substantial effort has therefore been made to cover numerous issues associated with harnessing solar power. Hargreaves equation and its derivatives as assessment models, wide range of literature studies documented across the globe with emphasis to African countries and the key green areas were substantially covered. Necessary recommendations were also offered in line with international energy demand and strategies.

Alexander is one of the most important and permanent characters in history who has affected the world’s literature including the European, Turkish and Iranian ones. This character has been defined in many Persian poems, verses and different anecdotes. The versified story of Alexander (Eskandarnameh) is one of the works explaining that Eskandarnameh belongs to Nezami, the poet in 1300. Nezami is known as an Iranian famous story writer in Iran who has perfectly developed this literal type. He is one of the prominent poets raised from Azerbaijan school. Nezami is famous for one of his books called Khamseh or Panj Ganj. This book includes Leili and Majnun, Makhzanolasrar, Khosrow and Shirin, Haft Peykar and Eskandarnameh. Eskandarnameh is one his verses describing Alexander and it presents this historical character as a world conqueror and a sage. The secret of making this work into a permanent and eternal one is set at featuring Alexander as an idealistic character. This book introduces Alexander by characteristics like forgiveness, peace seeker, fairness and, etc. This essay scrutinizes Nezami’s concepts towards Alexander and his characteristics.

The purpose of this research study is to explore the characteristics of expatriates before they are posted on overseas assignments, and to assess the impacts of characteristics on the performance of expatriates. Multinational organizations need expatriates who can be representatives, ambassadors and have knowledge of coordination, integration of operations, knowledge transfer, and global managerial skills as they are investing in foreign markets to establish some subsidiaries in foreign countries. During this process, many of expatriates are not able to complete their overseas assignments. The rate of failure sometimes can reach to 85 percent. The main reasons of this high rate are culture shock, difficulties in adjustment, and so on. A questionnaire was developed based on the theoretical framework. The samples comprising 100 expatriates were taken from different organizations; education, construction, telecommunication, and press and media were focused in particular. The conclusion of the study has revealed that there are multi-faceted benefits of cross cultural training for expatriates working abroad. Cross cultural training can minimize culture shock, and premature return. Moreover, it can facilitate cultural adjustment, high productivity, and expatriates’ performance. The study has been delimited to the global companies operating in Pakistan. However, the majority of the organizations are established in Islamabad.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the corporate governance on firm performance. The variables, employed in this study to measure firm performance, return on assets. And Board Size, Board Composition, CEO/Chairman Duality as indicator of corporate governance. For this purpose sample data collected for listed banks in Pakistan from 2005 to 2010. The empirical results indicate that firm performance have a significant relation to board Size, board composition, On the other hand, firm performance has insignificant impact on CEO/Chairman Duality.