BackgroundAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), the estimated number of healthcare professionals from the Eastern Mediterranean region exposed to needlestick (NSI) and sharps injuries (SI) contaminated with HBV, HCV, and HIV are 43,000, 18,000, and 170; respectively. Accordingly, there is a crucial need to evaluate infection control procedures and education among nurses and their associated factors. DesignA cross sectional design was utilized to conduct the current study.MethodsThe study was conducted in 16 hospitals located in the five regions of Riyadh (north, east, west, central, and south). Convenience sampling was applied in this study. Results Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that having work-related stress (OR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.31?? 3.26), working 10 hours or more per shift compared to less than 10 hours (OR=3.74; 95% CI: 2.39-5.86), and experiencing family crisis within the last 12 months (OR=1.67; 95% CI: 1.06??2.63) were all factors independently associated with experiencing an NSI/SI.Conclusion Injuries caused by needlesticks and sharps can be prevented by implementing precautions and providing support services to mitigate stress and provide necessary counseling when needed. providing training programs and reinforcing the practical skills of nurses in infection control and facilitating the reporting of injuries is recommended.

The target of the present work was exploring the incidence of listeria species in different fish products and to evaluate the inhibitory impact of chitosan coating on Listeria monocytogenes and sensory attributes of basa fillets (Pangasius bocourti). Total number of 319 samples (frozen, smoked and canned) fish products obtained from local fish (Giza markets- Egypt) over 2 years. The incidence of Listeria monocytogenes in the first year was 13.7% while other listeria species was 6.8% with total incidence 20.6% , while in the second year the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes was 0% while other listeria species was 9.09 % with total incidence 9.09 %. Morovere inhibitory effcts of chitosan coating was evaluated experimentally to control the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in basa fillets (Pangasius bocourti). Four groups of fish basa fillets were prepared with experimental inoculation of Listeria monocytogenes then three groups were coated with chitosan (1, 1.5 and 2%) beside control group. Incorporation of the highest concentration of chitosan 2% revealed significant inhibitory effect on experimentally inoculated basa fillets (Pangasius bocourti) with Listeria monocytogenes. Moreover, sensory panel scores of chitosan coated basa fillets show no significant difference between treated and control group expect for raw samples treated with 2% chitosan which show slimmy textute to some extent. \nIn a conclusion chitosan could achieve benefits for the industry and for the safety of consumer. Therefore, Industry of food may use chitosan concentrations as a natural source of antioxidants, antibacterial and extending shelf life in fish processing.

Background: Previously it has been explored that the condition of carotid arteries plays an important role in determining the performance of brain cells. Diabetic patients are at high risk of being atherosclerotic in their arteries. So this led the foundation of current research study with the purpose to observe the Carotid Arteries in adult diabetic patients of Bahawalpur city in order to diagnose the condition of these arteries because diabetes carries one of risk factors that can cause carotid arteries atherosclerosis which occurs when lipoprotein accumulates in the intima of the artery and as atherosclerosis progresses it may completely occlude the artery lumen or plaque may rupture sending thrombus more distal site. \nResults: 100 such patients were enrolled in the study and were examined by using Siemens Sonoline G 60S ultrasound machine with linear probe of 7-10 MHz in B-mode. Both type-1 and type-2 diabetic patients were included in this study. The study was carried in Bahawal Victoria Hospital from 11/2018 to 11/2019. All the patients were examined to scan the carotid arteries in the supine position with knee support. Intima-Media-Thickness was observed for each case. It was noticed that its maximum value in carotid arteries increased with age and duration and more specifically in plaques conditions it also show positive correlation with Doppler parameters. \nConclusion: The findings of this research study conclude that diabetic patients are at high risk of being atherosclerotic in carotid arteries that may lead to ischemic attack or brain stroke which can be said to have affected the activity performance of certain brain cells.

The main plant polymers subject to microbial degradation in soil habitats include cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose has been widely investigated in recent years, due to its specificity, therefore, highly cell-producing organisms are required to intervene in said catalytic process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the enzymatic activity of exoglucanases produced by strains of cellulolytic fungi obtained from litter provided by plant species in two fragments of two tropical dry forests of the Cesar Valley. This research was carried out in two phases, the first corresponded to the analyzes, samples and other procedures that were carried out in situ in each ecosystem, the second, corresponded to the laboratory procedures such as taxonomic identification, quantification of the Exoglucanase Activity of the strains on filter paper and the determination of the enzymatic activity in different culture media. 24 strains of cellulolytic fungi were identified and grouped into 6 genera (Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Penicillium, Fusarium, Crysosporium and Nigrospora) in the ecosystem of the reed beds, and 13 strains grouped in the genera (Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusariumrospora and Cladosporium). The strains selected according to the enzymatic activity in the media with different substrates were Aspergillus sp. MC09, Aspergillus sp. MC14, Penicillium sp. EB04 and Fusarium sp. EB21. The strain that expressed the best yields in the production of exoglucanases was Penicillium sp. EB04, which produced the highest AE value (0.174 IU / ml) at the shortest time (day 16) in nutrient medium, as well as expressed the highest AE value in Mandels medium at day 20 (0.172 IU / ml).

Journal bearings are definitely among the most important elements in ship shafting ?propulsion ??systems and other marine fields. To get good propeller characteristics (e.g. high ?efficiency), marine shafts usually work at slow speed. Such situation may have a negative ?effect on the behaviour of journal bearing. Hence, much care must be given to the design ?requirements ?as ?most of boundary lubrication problems under slow speeds may be avoided ?via proper ?design?. ?Additionally, a very urgent need has arisen to construct a valid test rig to ?embrace the potential experimental tests. Further, there emerged the need to create a ?certified CFD model to conduct the required numerical studies. The aspired goal of ?enhancing the journal bearing performance has necessitated conducting a survey of previous ?efforts in this respect. Such ?survey has evidently ascertained the need? to carry out even? ?more researches to reach that crucial ?goal. Additionally, in light of the scanned efforts, there ?appeared the need to consider the possibility of enhancing journal bearing performance via ?tracing the promising potentials of grooved journal bearings regarding marine applications. ?It was basically such target that has driven forward the research at hand, in an attempt to ?obtain a deeper insight concerning operations under the above mentioned speed limits. This ?paper will be the first one of future series of papers representing the results of a proposed ?research program for marine applications with the title of “theoretical and experimental ?analysis of the performance of journal bearing”. The program will deal with different design ?aspects of journal bearing, with special reference to marine applications. ?

Prickly pear is an exotic fruit perfectly adapted to the Brazilian semi-arid region, with soft-tasting pulp, suitable for juice production. Acerola is a fruit noted for its high ascorbic acid content, with low Brix/acidity ratio and very convenient for the production of blends with other fruits due to its ability to improve the nutritional profile of the combinations. For the industrial utilization of fruit pulps, it is necessary to firstly subject them to conservation processes, given their high perishability. One of the main strategies for this is reducing their free moisture content by drying, a process capable of originating good quality products in a simple way and with relatively low costs. The objective of this work was to study the foam-mat drying of prickly pear and acerola mixed pulps formulated with albumin combined with three additives: xanthan gum, guar gum and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). The formulations were dehydrated in a forced air circulation oven at temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 °C and layer thickness of 1.0 cm. The drying kinetics were fitted by ten models and the effective diffusivity and thermodynamic properties enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy were calculated at the three drying temperatures. Drying times and final moisture contents did not show differences attributable to the type of formulation; the drying kinetics were well described by all models, with better performance of Page and Approximation of diffusion models; the effective diffusivity showed magnitudes on the order of 10-9 m2/s and its dependence on temperature was well represented by an Arrhenius-type equation; the thermodynamic properties reached higher values in the formulation with xanthan gum.

This paper investigated the effect of strategic marketing practices (SMP) on profitability of\nselected Insurance companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted cross-sectional\nsurvey research design. The total population of the study was 1,980 management staffs of the\nselected Insurance companies operating in Lagos State, Nigeria. Sample size determination\ntable developed by Krejcie and Morgan was used to determine the sample size of 731.\nStratified random sampling and proportionate sampling techniques were used to group the\nsample to definite categories of top, middle, and frontline managers for adequate\nrepresentation. A validated questionnaire was administered and a total of 598 retrieved for\nanalysis. The data collected were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Findings\nrevealed that strategic marketing practice (strategic market orientation, service delivery,\nrelationship marketing, marketing ethics and social media marketing) had significant effect\non profitability of selected Insurance companies in Lagos State, Nigeria (R2=0.34, p<0.05).\nThe study recommends that Insurance companies should key on to the enormous benefits\nassociated with implementation of strategic marketing practices as it w

A few years back, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) issued a statement to lower the eye dose occupational annual dose limit. Therefore, efforts have increased globally in this regard using dose simulation to calculate the eye-lens dose coefficients. The aims of this work include evaluating the capability of the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code to describe electron dose coefficients at 3 mm depth in the ICRU tissue cylindrical phantoms and comparing the results with Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) and MCNPXTM data retrieved from the literature. Three scattering models provided by GEANT4 (Urban, Wentzel-VI and Goudsmit-Saunderson) were used in this work to calculate the electron eye-lens dose coefficients. It became clear from this study that choosing of the scattering model has a strong influence for electron energies at 1 MeV and below. The use of the Urban scattering model with GEANT4 may be preferred as it was earlier reported to best represent experimental measurements. However, the description of electron dose coefficients at 3 mm depth deserves further consideration at these energies levels.

Various robot game competitions have become testing grounds to promote robotic learning of human intelligence. This paper thus combines deep learning object detection, vision feedback control, robotic on-line alignment, and billiard strategy to develop a fully autonomous billiard robot system. The system starts with Mask R-CNN ball detection to predict the locations of all billiard balls and then performs a fine alignment only on those balls that need to be considered in a strategy play. The system realizes an accurate billiard hitting point by using an image feedback control to achieve online correction, so that the connection between the cue stick and the center of the cue ball is at an ideal billiard angle. The advantages of this paper are as follows: (1) the performance of Mask R-CNN at identifying and localizing all the balls in a pool image is satisfied; and (2) the precise positioning in the billiard robot system can be obtained without prior correction of the geometric parameters of the camera and the cue stick on the end-effector.

Introduction: Preprosthetic periodontal preparation aims at achieving optimal gingival health prior to prosthetic procedures.\nAim: To compare conventional periodontal preprosthetic preparation with 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate and photodynamic therapy with indocyanine green. \nMaterials and methods: Two control groups of patients subjected to the methods were compared.\nResults: Chlorhexidine solutions were an easy and affordable method for maintaining gingival tissues health. Photodynamic therapy ensured faster bacteriolysis, without the need for maintaining high concentrations of the photosensitizer in the infected area. \nDiscussion: PDT did not damage or change the adjacent structures like periodontal or periapical tissues, even when a high concentration of the laser energy and the photosensitizer were applied.\nConclusion: The advantage of PDT chlorhexidine solutions is reduced exposure time, constant monitoring by the dentist, and lack of staining of the teeth and mucosa or changes in taste.

The study aims to investigate the impact of the correlation between gender and learning style on interactive e-training in developing leadership skills and attitude towards behavior as a leader. The sample of the study includes 172 males and females classified into 4 groups according to Kolb\'s Learning Style Inventory (Diverger, Assimilator, Converger, and Accommodator). Those trainees are enrolled into a leadership skills training program via Interactive e-Training on Hail Virtual Training Platform. The results of this study reveal that there is a close correlation between the gender of the trainees and (Diverger, Assimilator, Converger, Accommodator) based on the Interactive e-Training environments in developing leadership skills. The study also reveals that there is a close correlation between gender of the trainees and (Diverger, Assimilator, Converger, and Accommodator) based on the Interactive e-Training environments in developing attitude towards behavior as a leader.

At present, there are various techniques that have been designed to improve production processes, through recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification and use of genetic material, which involve molecular biology as a tool to increase or decrease the production of metabolites or substances by living organisms. Therefore, the objective of this review was to analyze the literature of the last 10 years available in databases on the improvements and limitations of molecular techniques for the detection of pathogens in food. For this, indexed databases such as Scielo, Publindex, Science Direct and Redalyc were consulted. A total of 26 articles were obtained, of which 12 refer to the advantages of molecular techniques, 2 to the disadvantages and 12 to the novelty of the techniques, which represents greater benefits in terms of time and sensitivity of the tests. It is concluded that the advantages of molecular techniques represent greater benefits for laboratory workers in terms of time, sensitivity and space, however, the most marked limitation is related to the costs of equipment, reagents and training of the person who performs the procedure.

In recent decades, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have played a vital role in developing the learning process in higher education. It is argued that ICTs give teachers and students an opportunity to learn according to their chosen learning style. However, their knowledge of using this technology and their attitudes toward it might affect its efficiency. This small-scale study investigated students’ knowledge of using the e-learning environment (ELE) and their attitude toward it as part of the postgraduate course process at the UK University. In the present study, quantitative research is adopted in order to test the hypotheses. Thus, the data was collected from 31 participants through a closed-ended questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation, independent samples t-test, and multiple regression are used to test the hypotheses and to investigate the relationship between the postgraduate students’ knowledge of using ELE and their attitude toward it, as well as the relationship between students’ status (campus or distance), their first language (English or other), and their knowledge/attitudes toward using ELE. The main finding was that distance learners had a higher knowledge of using ELE than campus learners and that students with English as a first language had a higher knowledge of using ELE than students with other first languages. At the same time, there was no difference in attitudes among them. It was found that knowledge score could be predicted by a combination of attitude score, campus status, and first language, but only status had a significant independent effect on knowledge score.

The growing demand in the supply of water for human consumption has generated the need to increase quality processes that allow solving public health problems. For this reason, the importance of establishing comprehensive quality evaluation and management models that guarantee its potability and that at the same time provide food safety to consumers is highlighted. Currently, there are a large number of methodologies that allow the detection of contamination generated by microorganisms in bodies of water and in stored water, however, the high costs of these techniques, the time involved in the analysis, isolation, cultivation and detection of microorganisms, they are variables that become obstacles to establishing the microbial quality of water for human consumption. That is why microorganisms have been used as bioindicators of water quality. This review involved searching for articles and literature from the last 10 years in indexed databases in order to consult information on the use of microorganisms as indicators.

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on economic growth and to determine the state of the economy and health in North Kalimantan Province, as well as to find out which sectors are most affected. The method used in this research is quantitative descriptive method using 2 (two) indicators to measure the economic health condition in North Kalimantan Province, namely the Effective reproduction rate (Rt) and the economic growth rate which are grouped into 4 quadrants, and using Fuzzy C-Means to measure the affected sectors. The results show that the economic growth of North Kalimantan Province in the second quarter experiences a contraction of up to -3.14% but it gets better in the third quarter even though it still grows minus at -1.46%. Based on calculations with the indicator of the effective reproduction rate (Rt) and the economic growth rate of North Kalimantan Province, the state of the economy of North Kalimantan Province in the second quarter of 2020 is in the fourth quadrant which means that the number of positive cases of Covid-19 is still low but the economy is also low due to the spread of Covid-19 prevention policies, namely PSBB. Whereas in the third quarter of 2020, North Kalimantan Province is in the first quadrant, which means that economic growth is still below the average economic growth in Kalimantan, but the effective reproduction rate (Rt) has increased, due to the relaxation from the government. From the results of the study it is also known that there are 3 (three) business sectors / fields which are categorized as highly impacted sectors, namely mining and excavation, transportation and warehousing as well as providers of accommodation, food and drink.

The aim was to process beverages based on water-soluble extract of Brazil nuts, passion fruit pulp and sucrose and evaluate their stability during refrigerated storage. Water-soluble extract of Brazil nuts was obtained by disintegration of the kernels with water, filtration, addition of different concentrations of passion fruit pulp and sugar, and incorporation xanthan gum. The beverage with best correlation between titratable acidity and pH was stored at 4 °C for 28 days. The water-soluble extract of Brazil nuts showed high fat content and pH and low contents of ascorbic acid and titratable acidity. The physical and chemical characteristics of the beverages were altered by the different levels of passion fruit pulp and sugar. The storage significantly modified most of the parameters evaluated, mainly ascorbic acid, which was the least stable.

This paper presents a study on the status quo of ethnic youth with disabilities\' needs, policies and supporting services in vocational training and job seeking. The study employed a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative with the participation of 151 ethnic youth with disabilities from two districts in a northern mountainous province of Vietnam. It captures the situation and multiple challenges that ethnic youth with disabilities are facing. The findings show their disadvantages in accessing to vocational training and job placement via identifying various influential social determinants, including information, health, social status, family support, available services and network, etc. These factors have strong impacts on the community integration and social inclusion of ethnic youth with disabilities. Importantly, the findings advocate for a comprehensive and inclusive model of support ethnic youth with disabilities in vocational training and job seeking that contributes to reduce the vulnerability and ensure their well-being and inclusion.

The paper attempts to design a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller with a view to\nimprove the power quality indices of the output voltage of a micro grid inverter. The philosophy\norients to use the principle of state space averaging technique to arrive at the equilibrium state at the\nchosen quiescent point through the theory of linearized perturbation technique. It enforces the\ninfluence of the control law for intriguing with the carrier wave in the process of generation of the\nPWM pulses for the inverter switches. The MATLAB based simulation results project a regulated\noutput voltage, capability to reject load and line disturbances, increase the fundamental component\nof the output voltage, lower both its total harmonic distortion (THD) and the harmonic spread factor\n(HSF) over a range of operating loads. The experimental validation obtained using the Atmel Mega 8\n(AT Mega 8) processor based prototype allows claiming a place for the use of the technique in utility\nbased systems. It further engages the same control mechanism to illustrate its capability to ensure the\nsteady state stability of the system.

Tomato production in Oman depends on imported hybrids which do not follow any officially regulated import mechanism leading to the exploitation of tomato growers. This study evaluated the adaptability and nutritional quality of 54 tomato genotypes acquired from AVRDC, Taiwan tested at two locations viz. Agricultural Experimental Station, Sultan Qaboos University and at Agricultural Research Center Rumais, Barka, Oman during two successive growing seasons. Tomato genotypes were classified into different categories like fresh market tomato, cherry tomato, high-lycopene tomato and heat tolerant accessions. Significant variations were observed for yield, yield related traits and fruit quality not only within the accessions but also when grown at different locations. For fresh market category, CLN2545A, CLN2498E, CLN2498D, PT4664B, CLN2001A and CL5915 indicated dominance over other accessions in relation to yield and fruit number over years and locations. Most of these accessions exhibited the TSS contents from 4 to 6.5%. In high-lycopene category, CLN2071C, CLN2366B and CLN2366A produced higher yields respectively. In cherry tomato category, the CHT1050SC, CHT1050SB, CHT1050SG and CHT1050SA were high yielder and their TSS contents ranged from 6.9 to 7.7%. The lycopene and vitamin C contents in these 54 tomato accessions varied significantly (P . 0.05) and ranged from 6.64 to 90.37 mg kg-1 and 25.7 to 329.9 mg kg-1 respectively. The highest lycopene (90.37 mg kg-1) and vitamin C (329.9 mg kg-1) values were observed for the fresh market accession BL1173 and CLN2498D respectively. Overall the results revealed that some of the accessions have promising adaptability to local conditions and could be further exploited in breeding programs for crop improvement and nutritional quality.

Soil nutritional status and their availability to plant is an important abiotic factor influencing the vegetables productivity. Integration of farm yard manure (FYM), leaf manures (LF), poultry manure (PM) and chemical fertilizers have pronounced effect on carrot growth and yield. In this study, 14 treatment combinations of FYM, LF, PM and urea based on the total nitrogen requirement was tested for two carrot cultivars (T-29 and Oranza). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with factorial arrangements and replicated thrice. Results indicated that T-29 was significantly better for all the growth and yield attributes as well as nutrient uptake in leaves except root firmness and root to shoot ratio where Oranza showed its superiority. Among different fertilizer treatment combinations of FYM, LM, PM and urea, both carrot cultivars performed better when half PM + half FYM was applied. Overall results revealed that combination of organic sources to meet nutritional requirements of carrot would be beneficial not only to improve carrot productivity but also reducing the rising input costs of inorganic fertilizers.

Problem statement: The HTTP protocol is given that without\nsecurity services. But HTTPs is providing excellent security but flexible for\nexample not allowing caches. HTTPi is a integrity and not providing much more\nsecurity. So to providing both security and integrity to propose new model. In\nthis proposed model, combined the HTTPs’s security and HTTPi’s flexibility to\nprovide the best web service (transport level). Moreover the user affords the self\nencrypted data (privacy preserving) in to requester agent, the requester agent\nagain encrypt that in a particular data, so it can be created two protections, one\nis self protection and additional one is agent protection(application level).\nSuppose any hackers are slashes moreover very complicated since the user is\ndoing self encrypting this will give more privacy. Approach: The\nprogrammatic interfaces made accessible are referred to as web services (WS).\nThe goal of the Web Services Activity is to build up a set of technologies in\norder to direct web services to their complete prospective. Web services are\nplaying excellent role, without web services is not possible to run the www or\ninternet. Day by day the web technologies are improving and it is extended to\nall the minor or major fields like research, educational, business, etc. Using\nweb services the system is communicating each other. There are many\ntechnologies to improving web services for example HTTP, XML, SOAP,\nWSDL, and UDDI. Result: Each and every technology supporting to contact\nothers systems. Due to mounting threats in the web services numerous\ndevelopers and researchers enhancement to give additional safekeeping in\nservice level. For communicating one system to another system many protocols\nhas been developed like HTTP, HTTPs, and HTTPi etc. When web services\nusages are increasing, it is necessary to give much more security as well as\nflexibility for web services. The requester agent sends the data to next level i.e.\nmessage level, in this message level (SOAP), the header information can be self\nverified using SAML to avoid TPA. Conclusion: The results of this proposal\nhave compared with existing levels and got better throughput and response time.

This paper deals with the problem of batch scheduling in a cloud computing environment. Whenever more processors are required by any job the more difficult it is to find an idle slot to run it on. As a consequence, the resources are often inefficiently used as some of them remain unallocated in the final schedule. To address this issue a technique has been proposed called jobfolding based batch scheduling in lease resource manager. Jobfolding uses virtualization to reduce the makespan in batch scheduling, by avoiding idling of resources. It also reduces inter-node communication and optimally uses the available resources so that the proposed algorithm is scalable for any number of leases. The proposed approach has been compared with classical on-line scheduling FCFS algorithm. The proposed algorithm is scalable even when more number of leases is submitted to the lease manager.

The problem of antimicrobial drug resistance has necessitated a search for new antimicrobial substances from other sources including natural sources. Marine organisms are known to produce metabolites to protect themselves against pathogens and therefore can be considered as a potential source of antimicrobial substances. This study designed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of three hard coral species namely Favites sp Link (Faviidae), Galaxea fascicularis Linnaeus (Oculinidae), and Galaxea astreata Lamarck (Oculinidae) against six pathogenic microbes. The coral species were extracted with water and a combination of dichloromethane and methanol. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was evaluated using disc diffusion method and microdilution method. From the disc diffusion method, the organic extracts showed antimicrobial activity while the aqueous extracts showed no activity. The organic extract from G. fascicularis was the most effective against Staphylococcus aureus (11 mm) and Bacillus cereus (10.5 mm). From the microdilution method, the organic extracts of G. fascicularis and G. astreata showed inhibitory effect against S. aureus and B. cereus at low concentrations (0.003 - 0.1 mg/mL). However, complete growth inhibitions of S. aureus and B. cereus were observed for the organic extract of G. fascicularis at concentrations of 0.34 and 1.1 mg/mL, respectively. Further studies must be conducted to isolate the antimicrobial compounds from the G. fascicularis, which may contribute towards finding compounds for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Known for their ability to modify their physical environment, cushion plants act as ecosystem engineers in alpine regions. Studies of their ability to modify soil nutrients have produced varied results. We studied three factors, cushion diameter, cushion type and altitude, which influence the ecosystem engineering effect of cushions. Previous studies of cushions had not analyzed these factors with respect to their ecosystem engineering effects. Experiments were carried out in China’s Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve at the Tibetan Plateau’s northern margin. Sample areas included plant communities dominated by the compact type cushion, Thylacospermum caespitosum Camb. (Caryophyllaceae) at an elevation of 4137 m, and plant communities dominated by both compact type cushions of Thylacospermum caespitosum and loose type cushion plants, Krascheninnikovia compacta (Losina- Losinskaja) Grubov (Chenopodiaceae) at an elevation of 3762 m. Nutrient analyses of soil beneath the cushions and under bare ground showed that both cushion species are ecosystem engineers and have the ability to modify soil nutrients. The ecosystem engineer effects, however, were evidenced when plant diameters exceeded 20 cm, and improved as diameters increased. The compactness of cushion canopy was also an important influencing factor on ecosystem engineering effects: the compact type was more efficient at improving soil nutrient levels than the loose type. In our study area, alpine environmental harshness increased with elevation and the ecosystem engineering effect of cushions increased with environmental harshness.

Sector-wise analyses are made to capture the reaction of stock prices due to index revision\nof firms in Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). The firms are divided into two main sectors; financial and\nnon-financial sectors. In this study 155 firms fall under the umbrella of non-financial sector, while 55\nfirms fall under the financial sector. The overall sample covers span of 10 years period from year-2001 to\nyear-2010. Three different models; Market adjusted model (model-A), market model (model-B) and\nCAPM (model-C) are applied to calculate the abnormal returns and cumulative abnormal returns. The\nnon-financial firm’s analysis envisage the significant positive abnormal returns of 1.47% by model-A,\n1.53% by model-B and 1.51% by model-C for the added firms in KSE-100 index on the event date.\nThese abnormal returns are smaller in price reaction as compared to US and UK market but validate price\npressure hypothesis. On the other hand, by applying all the three models, positive but insignificant\nabnormal returns are observed for financial sector for the included firms on the event day. In the same\nway, no significant abnormal returns are observed neither for financial sector and nor for non-financial\nsector for the deleted firms from the index on the particular event date. Further, generally, no significant\nabnormal returns and cumulative abnormal returns are observed in various event days by applying all the\nthree these models for on / before and after the event day for the added and deleted of firms in the KSE\nafter revision of index. Generally investors of non-financial sector earn nominal positive abnormal returns\nfor the added firms in the revision of index on the particular event day. The study will also help the\nmutual funds manager to minimize tracking error to constitute new portfolio as a result of revision of\nindex.