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journal-basic-applied-scien

Combining Ability Estimates from Line x Tester Mating Design in Upland Cotton
Pages 378-382Creative Commons License

 

Mir Yar Mohammad Talpur, Shabana Memon, Sadaf Memon, Shah Nawaz Mari, Sawan Laghari, Zahoor Ahmed Soomro, Samia Arain, Washu Dev, Aamir Ali Abro and Saifullah Abro

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2016.12.58
Published: 23 September 2016

Abstract: Combining abilities of cotton varieties were evaluated using a line x tester mating design, twelve hybrids which developed from 3 testers (male) and 4 lines (females). The experiment was conducted on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications during 2014. The data were recorded for plant height, sympodial plant-1, bollsplant-1, boll weight and seed cotton yieldplant-1. Chandi-95, NIA-Ufaq and Sadori displayed the highest mean performance and GCA for more or less all the traits, indicating their superiority for inclusion in future breeding programme. The crosses Chandi-95 x BT 802, Sadori x BT A-1, Sohni x BT A-1 and NIA-Ufaq x BT-802 manifested meaning full SCA effects for economic traits, which could be used either for hybrid seed programme or developing superior varieties by applying selection in late segregating generations.

Keywords: Cotton, Combining Ability Estimates, Line x tester analysis.

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journal-basic-applied-scien

Cyclic Voltammetry of Trazodone as [piperazin-1-yl] Antidepressant Drug and Bovine Serum Albumin Binding
Pages 351-357Creative Commons License

 

Iffat Azeem, Shaikh Mohiuddin and Arooj Fatima

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2016.12.54
Published: 26 August 2016

Abstract: The electrochemical behavior of trazodone (TRZ), 2-{3-[4-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl] propyl}-2H,3H-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyridin-3-one has been investigated bycyclic voltammerty measurements at glassy carbon working electrode. The voltammetric method includes selection of supporting electrolyte, pH, scan rate and temperature optimization; and measurements of some other basic voltammetric parameters. The TRZ oxidation peaks are decreased as a result of TRZ-BSA binding. TRZ-BSA binding mechanism is also established.

Keywords: Piperazine -1-yl class, drug-protein binding, electrochemical method development, voltammetric parameter optimization, serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor.

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journal-basic-applied-scien

Software Project Management as Team Building Intervention
Pages 365-373Creative Commons License

 

Mohammad Khalid Shaikh, Akhtar Raza and Kamran Ahsan

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2016.12.56
Published: 26 August 2016

Abstract: The courses of software project management (SPM) and Software engineering (SE) are regularly taught at undergraduate degree program in computer science. Students of these programs also have to undertake projects as part of various courses during their degree program. The purpose of this research is to assess whether the software engineering or the software project management course had enhanced the cohesion among team members while undertaking a six month or a year-long project. The teaching of these two courses is considered as a team building intervention in this research. A total of 167 students returned a modified version of Group Environment Questionnaire distributed to 200 students. Off these, 81 were those who had taken the SE course and subsequently did a project before they had taken SPM course. The rest of the students (85) consisted of those who had taken SPM and had undertaken final project. The results of this paper indicates that the SPM as compared to SE as a team building intervention had a better effect on team cohesion. The paper has successfully identified a single course that can enhance the performance of students as a team in contrast to proposing all the courses taught at the undergraduate computer science degree program as intervention for better team building and team work as proposed by Hogan & Thomas, 2005.

Keywords: Software project management, software engineering, final project, group environment questionnaire, team building intervention.

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journal-basic-applied-scien

Effect of Annealing on Morphological and Functional Properties of Pakistani White Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) Starch
Pages 358-364Creative Commons License

 

Tahira Mohsin Ali and Abid Hasnain

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2016.12.55
Published: 26 August 2016

Abstract: The present study reports the effect of annealing on the morphological and functional properties of starch isolated from white sorghum grains. Scanning electron micrographs of native white sorghum starch (NWSS) revealed the presence of spherical and polygonal shaped granules with random distribution of surface pores. The diameter of surface pores ranged between 213-275 nm in NWSS. The size of small and large granules in NWSS ranged between 5-7 µm and 11-21 µm, respectively. There was no significant difference in the size and shape of NWSS and annealed white sorghum starch (AWSS) granules. However, the diameter of surface pores doubled after annealing. The AWSS showed reduced swelling power, solubility and water binding capacity. Pasting temperature increased from 73.4°C in NWSS to 75.8°C in AWSS. The pasting profile of annealed starches showed reduction in peak viscosity, breakdown viscosity, cold paste viscosity and set back viscosity. Paste clarity improved on annealing while, the extent of reduction in percent transmittance after 72 hours of storage was higher for NWSS suggesting use of annealed starch in high clarity products.

Keywords: White sorghum, morphological properties, surface pores, functional properties.

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journal-basic-applied-scien

Synthesis and Characterization of Low-Cost Epoxy-Based Erosion Resistant Nanocomposite Coating
Pages 339-343Creative Commons License

 

S. Imran Ali, S. Rizwan Ali, M. Naeem, Shadrukh Abdul Haq, Muhammad Mashhood, Ammad Ali and S. Adnan Hasan

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2016.12.52
Published: 22 August 2016

Abstract: We report a simple route to synthesized erosion resistant epoxy-based nanocomposite coatings. The silica nanoparticles were surfaced modified using stearic acid and then incorporated into the epoxy coating. The resulting nanocomposite coating films were characterized for erosion resistance, mechanical and thermal stability. For the application on turbine blades, conventional techniques were used. It was found that for the incorporation of nano silica into the epoxy matrix, surface modification was essential. Besides, incorporation of silica resulted in considerable improvement in the resistance to erosive wear and a life span improvement of around 36 percent was achieved. Similar trend was observed for the Shore D hardness which increases from 60 for the virgin coating to 70 for the nanocomposite coating.

Keywords: Polymeric nanocomposite, epoxy coatings, silica nanoparticles, erosion resistance.
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