Experimental investigation on the use of recycled aggregates in producing concrete

Shah, Attaullah,Jan, Irfan U.,Khan, Raza U.,Qazi, Ehsan U. Techno-Press 2013 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.47 No.4

Disposal of construction wastes poses major challenge to the municipal administration in the developing countries. At the same time new developments in these countries are unscrupulously exploiting the natural resources. The sustainable development requires judicious and careful utilization of natural resources. In this context, reuse of construction and demolition waste can save the global natural resources to greater extent. In this work the bricks and concrete waste from construction sites were crushed to the desired sizes and mixed in various proportions to study its properties in the concrete both in fresh and hardened states. Six mixes of natural and recycled aggregates were used to make the coarse aggregates for the concrete. From each mix nine cylinders were cast, which were tested at 7,14 and 28 days. The properties of concrete with recycled aggregates were compared with the control mix having natural aggregates. The nominal ratio of cement sand and coarse aggregates were kept at 1:2:4 by weight for all mixes. The tests have shown that concrete with recycled aggregates made from old concrete and brick bats provide greater opportunities for reuse of construction wastes in concrete.

Genome-wide identification and comparative analysis of MATE gene family in Cucurbitaceae species and their regulatory role in melon (Cucumis melo) under salt stress

Shah Iftikhar Hussain,Manzoor Muhammad Aamir,Sabir Irfan Ali,Ashraf Muhammad,Haq Fazal,Arif Samiah,Abdullah Muhammad,Niu Qingliang,Zhang Yidong 한국원예학회 2022 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.63 No.4

The multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) protein family includes a primeval gene family of secondary transporters that export toxins, extrude metabolites, and participate in plant defense mechanisms. However, lack of information regarding the MATE gene family in Cucurbitaceae, a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of the MATE family was carried out in four Cucurbitaceae species (Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita pepo, and Lagenaria siceraria), and 174 MATE genes were identified. Phylogenetic and structural analysis revealed that the Cucurbitaceae MATE transporters family could be further classified into seven subgroups (A–G). GO annotation-based subcellular localization analysis predicted that most of the MATE gene family members localized on the plasma membrane. Moreover, conserved motifs and gene structure (intron/exon) analysis revealed the functional divergence between clades. Transposed duplication events have played a key role in the expansion and evolution of the MATE gene family in Cucumis melo. Cis-acting elements analysis of MATE family genes revealed that these could be targeted by a diverse set of trans-acting factors involving the MATE gene family to manage diverse stress conditions. The Chromosomal localization and molecular characteristics (weight, length, and pI) were performed using numerous bioinformatics tools. Intraspecies microsynteny analysis demonstrated that maximum orthologous genes were found between A. thaliana, C. pepo, C. lanatus, and L. siceraria. Further, functional analysis of microRNAs demonstrated miRNAs are involved in the growth and regulation of MATE genes. Finally, eleven candidates MATE genes were selected randomly, and their expression analysis was carried out via qRT-PCR at 0 h and after 24 h of salt stress. Furthermore, transient CmMATE expression in Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts showed that protein localized on the plasma membrane. This study provides insights into the functional analysis of the MATE gene family in Cucurbitaceae species and laid down the basic knowledge to explore the role and mechanism of the MATE gene family to cope with severe salt stress conditions.

Component Alignment in Simultaneous Bilateral versus Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty

Irfan Qadir,Bahar Shah,Muhammad Waqas,Umair Ahmad,Shahzad Javed,Amer Aziz 대한슬관절학회 2019 대한슬관절학회지 Vol.31 No.1

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in component alignment between first and second knees in simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (SBTKA) and unilateral TKA (UTKA).Materials and Methods: 274 SBTKAs and 198 UTKAs were included in study. Patients were divided into three groups as SBTKA on the right knee (group A), SBTKA on the left knee (group B) and UTKA (group C). Femoral and tibial component alignment was checked in both coronal plane (alpha [α] and beta [β] angles) and sagittal plane (gamma [γ] and delta [δ] angles) radiographs.Results: There were no statistically significant differences among groups in the preoperative anatomical varus angle and Kellgren–Lawrence gonarthrosis classification grade (p=0.139 and p=0.329, respectively). In the coronal plane, the alignment of femoral component (α angle) and tibial component (β angle) was similar in all three groups (α angle, 95.01 vs. 95.14 vs. 94.9, p=0.945; β angle, 90.03 vs. 89.67 vs. 89.98, p=0.483). The sagittal plane alignment of femoral component (γ angle) and tibial component (δ angle) did not show significant differences (γ angle, 7.04 vs. 6.98 vs. 7.00, p=0.132; δ angle, 86.56 vs. 87.41 vs. 86.73, p=0.610).Conclusions: The angular alignment of components was similar between SBTKA and UTKA.

Spotlight on laparoscopy in the surgical resection of locally advanced rectal cancer: multicenter propensity score match study

Nasir Irfan Ul Islam,Shah Muhammad Fahd,Panteleimonitis Sofoklis,Figueiredo Nuno,Parvaiz Amjad 대한대장항문학회 2022 Annals of Coloproctolgy Vol.38 No.4

Purpose: This study was aimed to assess the feasibility of laparoscopic rectal surgery, comparing quality of surgical specimen, morbidity, and mortality. Methods: Prospectively acquired data from consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer, at 2 minimally invasive colorectal units, operated by the same team was included. Locally advanced rectal tumors were identified as T3B or T4 with preoperative magnetic resonance imaging scans. All the patients were operated on by the same team. The 1:1 propensity score matching was performed to create a perfect match in terms of tumor height. Results: Total of 418 laparoscopic resections were performed, out of which 109 patients had locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) and were propensity score matched with non-LARC (NLARC) patients. Median operation time was higher for the LARC group (270 minutes vs. 250 minutes, P=0.011). However, conversion to open surgery was done in 5 vs. 2 patients (P=0.445), reoperation in 8 vs. 7 (P=0.789), clinical anastomotic leak was found in 3 vs. 2 (P=0.670), and 30-day mortality rates was 2 vs. 1 (P>0.999) between LARC and NLARC, respectively. Readmission rate was higher in the NLARC group (33 patients vs. 19 patients, P=0.026), due to stoma-related issues. There was no statistically significant difference in the R0 resection between the 2 groups (99 patients in LARC vs. 104 patients in NLARC, P=0.284). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that standardized approach to laparoscopy is safe and feasible in LARC. Comparable postoperative short-term clinical and pathological outcomes were seen between LARC and NLARC groups.

Experimental investigation on the use of recycled aggregates in producing concrete

Attaullah Shah,Irfan U. Jan,Raza U. Khan,Ehsan U. Qazi 국제구조공학회 2013 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.47 No.4

Disposal of construction wastes poses major challenge to the municipal administration in the developing countries. At the same time new developments in these countries are unscrupulously exploiting the natural resources. The sustainable development requires judicious and careful utilization of natural resources. In this context, reuse of construction and demolition waste can save the global natural resources to greater extent. In this work the bricks and concrete waste from construction sites were crushed to the desired sizes and mixed in various proportions to study its properties in the concrete both in fresh and hardened states. Six mixes of natural and recycled aggregates were used to make the coarse aggregates for the concrete. From each mix nine cylinders were cast, which were tested at 7,14 and 28 days. The properties of concrete with recycled aggregates were compared with the control mix having natural aggregates. The nominal ratio of cement sand and coarse aggregates were kept at 1:2:4 by weight for all mixes. The tests have shown that concrete with recycled aggregates made from old concrete and brick bats provide greater opportunities for reuse of construction wastes in concrete.

Distributed Incremental Approximate Frequent Itemset Mining Using MapReduce

Mohsin Shaikh,Irfan Ali Tunio,Syed Muhammad Shehram Shah,Fareesa Khan Sohu,Abdul Aziz,Ahmad Ali International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2023 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.23 No.5

Traditional methods for datamining typically assume that the data is small, centralized, memory resident and static. But this assumption is no longer acceptable, because datasets are growing very fast hence becoming huge from time to time. There is fast growing need to manage data with efficient mining algorithms. In such a scenario it is inevitable to carry out data mining in a distributed environment and Frequent Itemset Mining (FIM) is no exception. Thus, the need of an efficient incremental mining algorithm arises. We propose the Distributed Incremental Approximate Frequent Itemset Mining (DIAFIM) which is an incremental FIM algorithm and works on the distributed parallel MapReduce environment. The key contribution of this research is devising an incremental mining algorithm that works on the distributed parallel MapReduce environment.

Impact of the extent of resection of neuroendocrine tumor liver metastases on survival: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Rugved Kulkarni,Irfan Kabir,James Hodson,Syed Raza,Tahir Shah,Sanjay Pandanaboyana,Bobby V. M. Dasari 한국간담췌외과학회 2022 Annals of hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery Vol.26 No.1

In patients with neuroendocrine tumors with liver metastases (NETLMs), complete resection of both the primary and liver metastases is a potentially curative option. When complete resection is not possible, debulking of the tumour burden has been proposed to prolong survival. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the effect of curative surgery (R0-R1) and debulking surgery (R2) on overall survival (OS) in NETLMs. For the subgroup of R2 resections, outcomes were compared by the degree of hepatic debulking (≥ 90% or ≥ 70%). A systematic review of the literature was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines using PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Embase databases. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated for each study and pooled using a random-effects inverse-variance meta-analysis model. Of 538 articles retrieved, 11 studies (1,729 patients) reported comparisons between curative and debulking surgeries. After pooling these studies, OS was found to be significantly shorter in debulking resections, with an HR of 3.49 (95% confidence interval, 2.70–4.51; p < 0.001). Five studies (654 patients) compared outcomes between ≥ 90% and ≥ 70% hepatic debulking approaches. Whilst these studies reported a tendency for OS and progression-free survival to be shorter in those with a lower degree of debulking, they did not report sufficient data for this to be assessed in a formal meta-analysis. In patients with NETLM, OS following surgical resection is the best to achieve R0-R1 resection. There is also evidence for a progressive reduction in survival benefit with lesser debulking of tumour load.

Investigation of electronic and optical properties of the ternary chalcogenides for optoelectronic applications: A TB-mBJ DFT study

Goumri-Said Souraya,Shah Mazhar Ali,Azam Sikander,Irfan Muhammad,Kanoun Mohammed Benali 한국물리학회 2023 Current Applied Physics Vol.49 No.-

Ternary selenide chalcogenide Tl3AsSe3 compound was identified as one of the most promising novel materials and potentially appropriate for multifunction applications. Current computational study is focused on computation of optical properties of Tl3AsX3 (X = S and Se) system where Modified Becke Johnson (mBJ) approximation is employed. The calculations of band structure revealed that both materials were indirect bandgap semiconducting materials with bandgap 1.5 eV and 1.9 eV respectively. The valence band maxima are mainly created because of Tl/As/S/Se(s/p/p/p) orbitals and conduction band is formed thanks to hybridizations of Tl/ As/S/Se(p) orbitals. The optical properties including complex dielectric function, reflectivity, energy loss function, refractive index, and real optical conductivity also calculated by using first-principles calculations. Our investigations explained that the two materials sustain their positive value of the refractive index and thus is the non-negative index of refractions, so these materials are active candidates for optoelectronic applications.

Do Firm Characteristics Determine Capital Structure of Pakistan Listed Firms? A Quantile Regression Approach

KHAN, Karamat,QU, Jing,SHAH, Muhammad Haroon,BAH, Kebba,KHAN, Irfan Ullah Korea Distribution Science Association 2020 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.7 No.5

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of the capital structure of firms operating in a developing economy, Pakistan. The quantile regression method is applied on a sample of 183 non-financial companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange during the period of 2008-2017. Specifically, the empirical analysis focuses on changes in the coefficients of the determinants according to the leverage ratio quantiles of the examined listed firms. The findings show that the capital structure of Pakistan listed firms differs between firms in different quantiles of leverage. These differences are significant with the sign of explanatory variables changes with the level of leverage. The research result found tangibility, profitability and age to be positively related to leverage among listed firms in Pakistan. However, size, liquidity and non-debt tax shield (NDTS) are negatively related to leverage. A firm's growth and risk are found to be insignificant predictors of capital structure in Pakistan listed firms. Moreover, the study also found a significant impact of industry characteristic on leverage. The findings of this study indicate that an individual firm's finance policy needs to be responsive to the firm's characteristics and should match with the different borrowing requirements of listed firms.

Molecular and in silico analyses validates pathogenicity of homozygous mutations in the <i>NPR2</i> gene underlying variable phenotypes of <i>Acromesomelic dysplasia</i>, type Maroteaux

Irfanullah,Zeb, Amir,Shinwari, Naila,Shah, Khadim,Gilani, Syed Zohaib Tayyab,Khan, Saadullah,Lee, Keun Woo,Raza, Syed Irfan,Hussain, Shabir,Liaqat, Khurram,Ahmad, Wasim Pergamon 2018 The international journal of biochemistry & cell b Vol.102 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Homozygous and/or heterozygous loss of function mutations in the natriuretic peptide receptor B (<I>NPR2</I>) have been reported in causing acromesomelic dysplasia, type Maroteaux with variable clinical features and idiopathic short stature with nonspecific skeletal deformities. On the other hand, gain of function mutations in the same gene result in overgrowth disorder suggesting that NPR2 and its ligand, natriuretic peptide precursor C (CNP), are the key players of endochondral bone growth. However, the precise mechanism behind phenotypic variability of the <I>NPR2</I> mutations is not fully understood so far.</P> <P>In the present study, three consanguineous families of Pakistani origin (A, B, C) with variable phenotypes of acromesomelic dysplasia, type Maroteaux were evaluated at clinical and molecular levels. Linkage analysis followed by Sanger sequencing of the <I>NPR2</I> gene revealed three homozygous mutations including p.(Leu314 Arg), p.(Arg371*), and p.(Arg1032*) in family A, B and C, respectively. In silico structural and functional analyses substantiated that a novel missense mutation [p.(Leu314 Arg)] in family A allosterically affects binding of NPR2 homodimer to its ligand (CNP) which ultimately results in defective guanylate cyclase activity. A nonsense mutation [p.(Arg371*)] in family B entirely removed the transmembrane domain, protein kinase domain and guanylate cyclase domains of the NPR2 resulting in abolishing its guanylate cyclase activity. Another novel mutation [p.(Arg1032*)], found in family C, deteriorated the guanylate cyclase domain of the protein and probably plundered its guanylate cyclase activity. These results suggest that guanylate cyclase activity is the most critical function of the NPR2 and phenotypic severity of the NPR2 mutations is proportional to the reduction in its guanylate cyclase activity.</P>