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The incorporation of l-ascorbic acid into food products is challenging for food industries due to its chemical instability. This study was conducted to develop a nanoemulsion-based effective colloidal system for the incorporation of l-ascorbic acid (LAA) in functional food products. l-ascorbic acid was encapsulated in nanoemulsions prepared through high-pressure homogenization. The physicochemical characteristics of mixed-surfactant-based LAA nanoemulsions were investigated during storage at different temperatures. The droplet size of LAA nanoemulsions after one month of storage varied in the range of 121.36-150.15 and 121.36-138.25 nm at 25 and 4 °C, respectively. These nanoemulsions remained stable against processing conditions such as heat treatments (10-70 °C), different salt concentrations (40-320 mM), change in pH (3-9), and four freeze-thaw cycles. The temperature and storage intervals have a significant (

The enormous loss of life, as well as economic loss, incurred by road traffic crashes means that rigorous research efforts, especially in developing countries, are needed to investigate risk factors that significantly influence crash severity. The objective of this study is to explore empirically the impact of driver and vehicle characteristics, environmental conditions and collision pattern on motorway (freeway) crash severity. The past 7 years’ worth of data (2009–2015) on motorway crashes, collected by the National Highway and Motorway Police Pakistan, are used in the study. An ordered probit model is estimated using four levels of injury severity: property damage only, minor injury, major injury and fatal injury. Ten explanatory variables show a significant association with crash severity on motorways. Major risk factors that are found to increase the propensity for severe injury are speeding, drowsiness, head-on collision due to driving the wrong way, illegal pedestrian crossing and increasing age of drivers. The model's predictive performance is also discussed. The study findings emphasise the need for enhanced road safety enforcement measures for reducing crash severity on high-speed limited-access facilities.

Objective: Aim of this study was to find out correlation between arm span length and height. The regression equation obtained will be used to estimate height from arm span length. Method: Study design: cross sectional study. Study sample: 108 male students of Sialkot medical college. Sampling Technique: Non probability purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. Selection criteria: Male students of Sialkot medical college having no deformity of limbs and vertebral column were selected. Collection of data: Standing height was measured in inches. Arm span length was measured by extending arms. Statistical analysis: SPSS version 25 was used to perform statistical analysis. Correlation coefficient and regression equation was obtained. Tables and graphs were made. Results: The value of Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.846. A statistically positive very strong and significant correlation was found between height and arm span length. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that arm span length can be used to estimate standing height. The regression equation can be used to predict standing height in a person who can not stand up. Keywords: Arm span length, height, Pearson correlation coefficient. How to cite: Maria G, Asif M, Farid N, Khattak A, Masood R, Ahmed A. Correlation Between Arm Span Length and Height. Esculapio - JSIMS 2022;18(01):52-55.

With the intent to frame policy recommendations for enhancing the state of road safety, this study employed a binary logit regression approach to examine the factors associated with the compliance/defiance of seatbelt use among drivers of different vehicle types in Islamabad. To this end, a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data on the respondents’ seatbelt use, demographic characteristics, driving behavior, past penalization history, and perceived effectiveness of enforcement of seatbelt laws. The study results revealed that there is a lower likelihood of wearing seatbelt among male drivers, taxi drivers, drivers with a low level of education, drivers with no crash or injury history, drivers that violate speed limits and are never penalized on seatbelt violation, and drivers with no seatbelt reminder installed in their vehicles. Respondents who believed that there is low effectiveness of the enforcement of seatbelt laws had the highest impact on seatbelt use whereas, the presence of seatbelt reminders in the vehicle had the least impact on seatbelt use. The findings of this study suggest the need for awareness campaigns for taxi drivers with the intent to educate them about the potential benefits of using a seatbelt in the case of a crash event; improved awareness and strict vigilance of male drivers; strict enforcement of posted speed limits and seatbelt laws; legislation for the mandatory installation of a seatbelt in all the new vehicles, and organizing mass outreach campaigns to improve the overall safety environment. Most importantly and widely applicable to the developing world, this study necessitates a depiction of strong resolve on the part of government agencies regarding the strict enforcement of seatbelt laws. Given a substantial difference in the social, cultural, and legislative outfit of the developed and developing worlds, factors influencing the compliance/defiance of seatbelt use among drivers differ significantly. It is, therefore, important to explore the local contributory factors as the results are not necessarily transferable across the regions.

Wheat is consumed as staple food by majority of population in Pakistan. This study was aimed to assess the effects of recently introduced five cultivars of wheat (Ojala 2016, Borlaug 2016, Johar 2016, Gold 2016 and Fatehjang 2016) for chapatti quality. Results for different physical, chemical, rheological and sensory parameters revealed significant (p < 0.05) differences between the cultivars studied. The flours obtained from wheat cultivars Fatehjang 2016, Borlaug 2016 and Gold 2016 demonstrated increasing tendency in protein content and dry and wet gluten. Wet gluten was significantly higher in Fatehjang 2016 (30.08%) and significantly lower (26.21%) in wheat variety named Gold 201. Fatehjang 2016 and Borlaug 2016 showed the most appealing physical properties among all cultivars. On the basis of rheological and sensory parameters, Fatehjang 2016 was found to be the most suitable variety for production of chapatti followed by Borlaug 2016.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a genetic and endocrine system disease that creates injurious health effects not in Pakistan but throughout the world. Several functional compounds are present in buckwheat which has distinct biological properties of cholesterollowering, anti-hypertension, improving constipation and obesity. The recent research was directed to study the nutritional and hypoglycemic effect of buckwheat in Type 2 diabetic rats induced by alloxan. Methods: Two varieties of buckwheat were examined for their nutritional composition and mineral content according to the methods of AACC (2000) while antioxidant activity was measured by using DPPH and a spectrophotometer. Alloxan induced diabetic mice were applied to investigate the blood-glucose-lowering effect of common buckwheat extract (CBE) and Tartary buckwheat extract (TBE). After type 2 diabetic induced rats were separated randomly into three groups. Results: The results revealed that Common buckwheat flour (CBF) contains12. 93% crude protein, 2.39% crude fat, 9.42% crude fiber and 2.90% ash content, while Tartary buckwheat flour (TBF) contains14.88% crude protein, 3.47% crude fat, 12.03% crude fiber, and 2.86% ash content. TBF contains significantly higher minerals as compared to CBF and also exhibited higher antioxidant activity. The results for diabetes-induced mice showed a significant difference for fasting blood glucose level, glucose tolerance test and body weight among control diabetic mice (group I) and diabetic mice given the CBE (group II) and TBE (group III). The fasting blood glucose level of group I increased while it decreased in group II and group III over time. Group II and group III had more glucose tolerance as compared to group I. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that TBF contains higher nutritional contact as compared to CBF. Furthermore, it was indicated that the oral administration of CBE and TBE could lower the blood glucose level and can increase glucose tolerance effectively.

Buckwheat is a precious source of various bioactive compounds like phenolics, flavonoids, rutin, and quercetin, etc. This research work was performed to harvest the nutraceutical potential of indigenous buckwheat varieties and their milling fractions (fine flour, coarse flour, bran flour, and husk). Common buckwheat (CBW) and Tartary buckwheat (TBW) were analyzed in terms of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and DPPH scavenging activity. When compared to common buckwheat, Tartary buckwheat had a higher total phenolic content (2101.421 mg GAE/100 g), total flavonoid content (1233.990 mg QEQ/100 g), and DPPH scavenging activity (44.51%).In the same context, throughout comparisons among milling fractions, the highest TPC and TFC were observed in the husk part of Tartary buckwheat while the lowest was found in common buckwheat. During the comparison of different solvents and their concentrations, it was observed that Ethanol 70% extracted a greater quantity of phytochemicals as compared to the rest of the other solvents and concentrations. This study recognized variability among buckwheat varieties and milling fractions for nutraceutical potential and nutritional qualities that can be used in the treatment of different maladies and food products.`

Vitamin D nanoemulsions were fabricated using ultrasonic homogenization approach. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the preparation conditions for mixed surfactants (Soya lecithin and Tween 80; 2:3) based nanoemulsions. The effects of homogenization time (3.5–6.5 min), surfactant to oil ratio (0.43–0.78) and disperse phase volume (7–9%) on response variables were studied. Response Surface Methodology analysis results depicted that the polynomial model (second-order) can be used to predict response values. The coefficients of determinations were more than 0.90 for each response. The optimum emulsifying conditions for vitamin D nanoemulsions were 4.35 min homogenization time, 0.62 surfactant to oil ratio (S/O) and 7% disperse phase volume (DPV). Whereas, the experimental values for droplet size, droplet growth ratio (DGR) and vitamin D retention were 112.36 ± 3.6 nm, 0.141 ± 0.07 and 76.65 ± 1.7% respectively. This research will be useful for the food and pharmaceutical industry to develop soya lecithin and Tween 80 based vitamin D delivery system for food additives and nutraceutical components.

Motorcycles constitute 61% of the total registered vehicles in Pakistan and there has been a 371% growth in motorcycles in the country from year 2005-2015. Motorcycle is an essential and popular mode of transportation in Pakistan, therefore, the present study estimated a random parameters logit model to investigate the factors influencing the motorcycle injury severity using motorcycle crash data of Rawalpindi city collected by the Provincial Emergency Response Service. No injury, minor injury, severe injury and fatal injury are used as four categories of motorcyclist injury severity levels to calibrate the model. Mainly the effects of speed limits, crash-specific factors, rider attributes, roadway characteristics, weather and socio-demographics factors are considered for motorcycle-injury severity analysis. It was revealed that probability of fatal/severe injury increases for crashes: involving middle-aged riders (25–50 years) and riders with no education, occurring on roads with posted speed limit of 70 kms per hour or higher, crashes involving a motorcycle and a heavy vehicle, involving collision of a motorcycle with a fixed object and occurring during dry weather conditions. Also, the probability of minor injury increases for crashes: occurring on divided streets and road segments with a posted speed limit of less than 50 kms per hour, involving Chinese brand motorcycles, involving registered motorcycles, and where at least one motorcycle and auto rickshaw is involved. The research findings suggest that besides measures to control/ reduce the risky motorcyclists behavior there is a need to lower speed limits on roads with a higher motorcycle proportion, separate motorcycles from heavy vehicles and removal of fixed objects from the roadside. Besides data limitations, results are expected to generate more discussion and interest in motorcycle safety in the country and can be used by the enforcement agencies to improve/ enhance the current state of motorcycle safety in the country.

Utilization of β-carotene in functional food products is limited due to chemical instability, lower water-solubility, and higher melting point. The present research was designed to formulate a nanoemulsion system for the effective delivery of β-carotene. β-Carotene was successfully incorporated into nanoemulsions using the ultrasonication method. During 60 days of storage, the droplet size of β-carotene-containing nanoemulsions varied from 112.36 to 133.9 nm at 4 °C and from 112.36 to 147.1 nm at 25 °C. The oxidation stability of olive oil was remarkably increased when incorporated into nanoemulsions. β-Carotene nanoemulsions remained stable under varying ionic strengths (50-400 mM), pH values (2-8), and freeze-thaw cycles (four). The values of turbidity and total color difference increased over time and at a higher temperature. Degradation of β-carotene was substantially slower in nanoemulsions, and the addition of antioxidants significantly increased the retention of β-carotene in nanoemulsions. These findings suggest that the ultrasonic homogenization method has potential for the preparation of β-carotene nanoemulsions with desirable properties. These nanoemulsions can be effectively used for the incorporation of β-carotene in the food and beverage industry.

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a broad-spectrum chlorinated organophosphate (OP) pesticide used for the control of a variety of insects and pathogens in crops, fruits, vegetables, as well as households, and various other locations. The toxicity of CPF has been associated with neurological dysfunctions, endocrine disruption, and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). It can also induce developmental and behavioral anomalies, hematological malignancies, genotoxicity, histopathological aberrations, immunotoxicity, and oxidative stress as evidenced by animal modeling. Moreover, eye irritation and dermatological defects are also reported due to CPF toxicity. The mechanism of action of CPF involves blocking the active sites of the enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), thereby producing adverse nervous system effects. Although CPF has low persistence in the body, its active metabolites, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), and chlorpyrifos-oxon (CPO) are comparatively more persistent, albeit equally toxic, and thus produce serious health complications. The present review has been compiled taking into account the work related to CPF toxicity and provides a brief compilation of CPF-induced defects in animals and humans, emphasizing the abnormalities leading to endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, reproductive carcinogenesis, and disruptive mammary gland functionality. Moreover, the clinical signs and symptoms associated with the CPF exposure along with the possible pharmacological treatment are reported in this treatise. Additionally, the effect of food processing methods in reducing CPF residues from different agricultural commodities and dietary interventions to curtail the toxicity of CPF has also been discussed.

Past studies developed pavement performance models using data from all or multiple states across the United States. This study hypothesized that due to variation in agency practices and wor...

Fortification of food and beverages with vitamin D is demanding due to its poor water solubility and oxidation, due to exposure to light and high temperature. The purpose of this research work was to formulate an effective food-grade delivery system for the incorporation of vitamin D into food products and beverages. Food-grade vitamin D nanoemulsions were successfully prepared using mixed surfactant (Tween 80 and soya lecithin) and ultrasonic homogenization techniques. Significant effects (p < 0.05) of temperatures (4 and 25 °C) and storage intervals (1 month) were observed on the turbidity and vitamin D retention. At the end of a 2 month storage, the droplet sizes of the nanoemulsion were 140.15 nm at 4 °C and 155.5 nm at 25 °C. p-Anisidine value of canola oil significantly reduced (p < 0.05) after its incorporation into nanoemulsions. The turbidity values of nanoemulsions increased with the increase in storage duration and temperature. These nanoemulsions remain stable against a wide range of temperatures (30-90 °C), pH values (2-8), ionic strengths (50-400 mM), and freeze-thaw cycles (4 cycles). At the end of 30 days of storage, vitamin D retentions were 74.4 ± 1.2 and 55.3 ± 2.1% in nanoemulsions stored at 4 and 25 °C, respectively. These results suggest that mixed-surfactant-based nanoemulsions are an effective delivery system for the incorporation of vitamin D into food and beverages to overcome the worldwide deficiency of vitamin D.

In the present study, food grade mixed surfactant-based β-carotene nanoemulsions were prepared without using any co-surfactant. Response surface methodology (RSM) along with central composite design (CCD) was used to investigate the effect of independent variables (surfactant concentration, ultrasonic homogenization time and oil content) on response variables. RSM analysis results revealed that experimental results were best fitted into a quadratic polynomial model with regression coefficient values of more than 0.900 for all responses. Optimized preparation conditions for β-carotene nanoemulsions were 5.82% surfactant concentration, 4 min ultrasonic homogenization time and 6.50% oil content. The experimental values at optimized preparation conditions were 119.33 nm droplet size, 2.67p-Anisidine value and 85.63% β-carotene retention. This study will be helpful for the fortification of aqueous products with β-carotene.

The present study presents a comprehensive framework for optimal highway capacity expansion through lane(s) addition. The applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated using data from a multi-lane urban arterial. In the proposed methodology, annualized widening costs (agency lane addition cost and work zone user delay cost) and excess user costs for do-nothing scenario (excess travel delay cost, excess vehicle operating cost and excess crash cost) were estimated for each analysis year within highway life cycle to estimate a range of traffic volumes for highway capacity expansion. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of optimal time for highway capacity expansion to: (1) annual traffic growth rates (2) agency to user cost relative weights and (3) annual discount rate. Study results revealed that optimal highway capacity expansion time corresponds to an ADT ranging between approximately 34,430 and 37,600 vehicles per day for the case study traffic mix conditions. The sensitivity analysis results revealed that increase in agency to user cost relative weight and annual traffic growth rate would result in later and earlier optimal highway capacity expansion, respectively, while variations in annual discount rate have minimal impact on optimal highway capacity expansion timings. It is anticipated that the application of proposed framework can result in a sustainable decision by saving a huge amount of agency expenditures and excess user costs due to non-optimal decisions.

The present study was conducted to prepare co-surfactant free, olive-oil based alpha tocopherol nanoemulsions, using a food grade non-ionic surfactant. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the effects of independent variables (ultrasonic homogenization time, olive oil concentrations and surfactant contents) on different physico-chemical characteristics of O/W nanoemulsions. This study was carried out using a central composite design. The coefficients of determination were greater than 0.900 for all response variables and there were significant effects of independent variables on all responses. The optimum levels of independent variables for the preparation of nanoemulsions were 3min. ultrasonic homogenization time, 4% olive oil content and 2.08% surfactant concentration. The physico-chemical responses at these levels were 151.68nm particle size, 7.17% p-anisidine and 88.64% antioxidant activity. These results will help in design of nanoemulsions with optimum independent variables.

The contemporary traffic safety research comprises little information on quantifying the simultaneous association between drink driving and speeding among fatally injured drivers. Potential correlation between driver's drink driving and speeding behavior poses a substantial methodological concern which needs investigation. This study therefore focused on investigating the simultaneous impact of socioeconomic factors, fatalities, vehicle ownership, health services and highway agency road safety policies on enforcement levels of speed limit and drink driving laws. The effectiveness of enforcement levels of speed limit and drink driving laws has been investigated through development of bivariate ordered probit model using data extricated from WHO's global status report on road safety in 2013. The consistent and intuitive parameter estimates along with statistically significant correlation between response outcomes validates the statistical supremacy of bivariate ordered probit model. The results revealed that fatalities per thousand registered vehicles, hospital beds per hundred thousand population and road safety policies are associated with a likely medium or high effectiveness of enforcement levels of speed limit and drink driving laws, respectively. Also, the model encapsulates the effect of several other agency related variables and socio-economic status on the response outcomes. Marginal effects are reported for analyzing the impact of such factors on intermediate categories of response outcomes. The results of this study are expected to provide necessary insights to elemental enforcement programs. Also, marginal effects of explanatory variables may provide useful directions for formulating effective policy countermeasures for overcoming driver's speeding and drink driving behavior.

Newly-constructed and reconstructed highway pavements under the effect of traffic loading and climatic severity deteriorate progressively and need preservation intervention after a certain number of years following their construction. In the literature, the term ‘rest period’ has been used to refer to the number of years that elapse between the construction completion to the application of first major repair activity. The rest period is a critical piece of information that agencies use to not only plan and budget for the first major repair activity but also to develop more confidently, their life-cycle activity schedules for life cycle costing, work programming, and long-term plans. However, the literature lacks established procedures for predicting rest periods on the basis of pavement performance thresholds. In the absence of such resources, highway agencies rely mostly on expert opinion for establishing the rest periods for their pavement sections. In addressing this issue, this paper presents a statistical methodology for establishing the rest periods for newly-constructed or reconstructed pavements. The methodology was demonstrated using empirical data from in-service pavements in a Midwestern State in the US. The paper’s results show that the rest periods of newlyconstructed and reconstructed highway pavements are significantly influenced by their functional class, surface material type, traffic loading level, and climate severity.

This paper has been withdrawn by the authors due to errors in the results. A dissolved oxygen (DO) model is calibrated under low and medium flow conditions, while verification of the model is done under low flow condition, for a heavily polluted river. The Soan River is located in Pakistan, with large flow variations. The biokinetic rate coefficients for nitrogenous biochemical oxygen demand and carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) are determined through ammonia river profiles and measured CBOD. A close agreement between the DO model results and the field values shows that the verified model can be used to develop DO management strategies for the Soan River. The biokinetic coefficient is known to vary with the degree of treatment (DOT) and needs to be adjusted for a rational water quality management model. The effect of this variation on the level of treatment has been evaluated by using the verified model to attain a DO standard of 4 mg/l in the river using the biokinetic rate coefficient. The required DOT in this case is found to be 92%, while the DOT is 82% if the adjusted biokinetic rate coefficient is used to reflect the effect of wastewater treatment. This concludes the use of appropriate biokinetic coefficients to manage water quality in rivers as highly important.

Highway Work Zones (HWZs) present a major hazard for road users, construction workers and equipment, and significantly contribute to occurrence of road crashes worldwide. The present study focuses on analysing the current state of safety measures at HWZs in Pakistan. A more direct approach is adopted by comparing safety measures at randomly selected HWZs in Pakistan with well-established safety procedures in Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). HWZ safety measures such as traffic signs, markings, safety measures for pedestrians, workers and construction machinery, police enforcement, speed control measures, provision of advance warning area, buffer spaces, transition areas, and tapers for eight different HWZs were studied and compared with MUTCD standards. The results revealed that majority of the HWZs in Pakistan do not conform to any standard layout especially for safety and speed control measures. An enhanced need for special efforts towards improving safety at HWZs in Pakistan is highlighted.

Non-selective use of pesticide to increase productivity leaves residues on crops. These pesticides after consumption have a detrimental effect on human health and their intake can lead to various diseases such as kidney damage, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, circulatory and reproductive problems. The recent study was designed to assess the effects of household processing treatments such as acidic solutions (acidic acid and citric acid), alkaline solutions (sodium chloride and sodium carbonate) and biological solutions (radish, ginger, garlic, and lemon extracts) were evaluated for their efficiency for removal of pesticides in spinach by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results showed that pesticide residues were sharply reduced when spinach was exposed to washing treatments. The results showed that the greatest reduction of deltamethrin, cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos and endosulfan with 10% acetic acid was (79.68 ± 0.81%), (89.99 ± 0.12%), (94.21 ± 0.02%) and (70.32 ± 0.25%), respectively of tested washing solutions. The acidic solutions were more effective than alkaline and biological extracts in the removal of pesticide residues. The average reduction in various washing solutions ranged from 10.21 to 79.68%, 22.60 to 89.48%, 22.95 to 94-21% and 11.24–70.32% for the removal of deltamethrin, cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, and endosulfan, respectively.

Highway agencies seek to establish road user cost responsibilities, in the form of marginal costs associated with the maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) of their existing infrastructure, ...

This paper describes the application of HEC-RAS model to the development of floodplain maps for the part of Kabul river that lies in Pakistan. The intent is to assist policy makers and planners in the development of flood mitigation measures for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which experienced unprecedented floods in July/August 2010 exposing the vulnerability of the province to this natural catastrophe. Owing to its reasonable accuracy and free availability, shuttle radar topography mission digital elevation model was chosen for the extraction of geometrical data for the river. Conventional flood frequency analysis, involving log-normal, Gumbel’s, and log-Pearson type III (LP3) distributions, was used to calculate extreme flows with different return periods. Using Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test, LP3 was found to be the best distribution for the Kabul River. The peak floods from frequency analysis were input into HEC-RAS model to find the corresponding flood levels expected along river reaches extending through Warsak dam to Attock. Results obtained with HEC-RAS model were used in combination with ArcGIS to prepare floodplain maps for different return periods. Through floodplain maps, areas that are vulnerable to flooding hazards have been identified. Analysis of floodplain maps indicated that more than 400 % area is likely to be inundated as compared to the normal flow of the river. Most of the area found to be vulnerable to flooding is currently used for agriculture. Comparison of simulation of 2010 flood with the image of the flood taken by MODIS clearly shows a close agreement between the two.

In updating road-user fees, highway agencies are motivated by the twin objectives of equity and efficiency. The concepts of marginal pavement consumption cost (MPCC) and the fourth-power law have been used in past research in a bid to establish efficient and equitable user fees. Over the past few decades, the use of the fourth-power law has faced some criticism that the actual power of the relationship between loading and pavement deterioration deviates significantly from 4.0. In addressing this issue, this article presents a methodology that investigates the consequences of the power variations to the estimated MPCC and the distributional (equity) impacts of road-user fees for overweight (OW) trucks. The methodology incorporates practical schedules of highway maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. The analysis suggests that there are extremely small differences between the MPCC values that result from using different values of the exponent in the power law. However, different values of ...

In order to generate the funds needed for preserving highway infrastructure, highway agencies impose various types of fees on road users. For purposes of efficiency and equity, user fees must reflect appropriately the share of pavement damage occasioned by each vehicle class. This paper presents a review of the state of practice of pavement damage cost estimation, identifies the drawbacks in past approaches and makes suggestions for enhancement. The paper explains how past highway pavement damage cost estimation studies were plagued with a number of debilitating limitations, ranging from the lack of appropriate data or unrealistic or impractical assumptions, to inadequate consideration of criteria that influence such costs. The paper demonstrates that, for the equitable and efficient estimation of pavement damage cost, the methodology used should be comprehensive. In other words, it should clearly distinguish between strength-driven and capacity-driven expenditures; make use of relevant historical agency cost and traffic data spanning a sufficient length of time; incorporate realistic highway agency maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction practices; and recognise that pavements in any network are not uniform but rather have different ages, surface types and functional classes. Other desirable features of a pavement damage cost estimation study include the use of an appropriate road use measure, due consideration of all the relevant costs associated with pavement damage and incorporation of the effectiveness of maintenance and rehabilitation treatments.

The current research work was conducted to characterize wheat proteins through immunochemical techniques and to find out their relationship with wheat quality traits. The results revealed that wheat variety AARI-11 possessed higher protein content (11.96%), wet gluten (31.39%), dry gluten (9.66%), Pelshenke value (190.52 min), and SDS-Sedimentation value (28.27 ml) than other tested varieties. The chapattis prepared from the wheat variety AARI-11 got significantly higher sensory scores owing to its higher protein contents. The wheat variety AARI-11 also exhibited significantly the highest antibody response against all the assessed protein fractions. The results of the present study suggest that anti-glutenin and anti-high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) antibody response was found positively correlated to the quality characteristics of flours and chapattis. The present study suggests that the use of antibodies response against glutenin and HMW-GS offers good tool for predicting quality and sui...

Injuries and fatalities from road traffic crashes have emerged a major public health challenge in Pakistan. Reliable estimates of road crash fatalities (RCF) of a country, is a vital element needed for identification and control of key risk factors, road-safety improvement efforts and prioritizing national health. Reliability of current annual RCF estimates for Pakistan becomes highly questionable due to serious underreporting. This study aimed to predict annual RCF for Pakistan using data from World Health Organization and International Road Federation sources. An ordinary least square (OLS) regression model that relates fatality rate with different explanatory variables was developed. RCF were predicted for Pakistan for year 2012 and 2013, and results were compared with national police reported estimates. Study results indicated that there is serious underreporting of RCF in Pakistan and immediate measures are needed to improve the existing road crash recording and reporting system at the national and subnational levels.

Managers of highway bridge infrastructure constantly seek to improve their predictions of the physical performance of their facilities at any future time and also to identify the influentia...

There exist several classes of physical interventions to address congestion at arterials, including widening (construction of additional lanes) and upgrading to expressway standards where p...

Funding the maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction (MR&R) of highway infrastructure is becoming a challenging task for highway agencies around the globe. Highway agencies usually charge road use fees to the highway users that are either mileage based or proportional to the actual share of infrastructure damage occasioned. Current road user charges (highway toll) for commercial vehicles in Pakistan are based on expert opinion, thus completely disregarding equity impacts. Present study used a rational framework by incorporating the actual maintenance strategies used by national highway authority (NHA) of Pakistan for estimation of pavement damage cost. MR&R strategies (treatment type and timings) were formulated using twenty-five year life-cycle length and standard maintenance and rehabilitation treatments used by national highway agency. Marginal pavement damage cost (MPDC) for unit traffic loading was estimated by relating the highway agency pavement MR&R expenditure to the level of pavement loading. MPDC for national highway system was estimated to be Rs. 0.395 (2014 constant Rupees) per ESAL-km. Present study also compared the road use fee based on MPDC with existing road use fee for major truck classes and evaluated equity impacts.

Accurate assessment of effort, time and resources for estimation of project cost is a challenging task for project managers. Several methodologies are commonly practiced around the globe for project cost estimation based on the project’s scope, type, and availability of resources. In developing countries like Pakistan most of the construction projects face delay and cost overrun, and construction industry continues to use traditional methodologies for preparation of project cost estimates. Present study developed a probabilistic framework for project cost estimation using Monte Carlo Simulation. A probabilistic model is proposed for estimation of total project cost using data on key risk factors that included (1) labour efficiencies, (2) machine efficiencies, (3) construction material wastages, and (4) construction items’ prices. Using data from completed highway projects, model validation results revealed that developed model has the ability to predict reliable future project cost.

Over the last few decades, weather and climate extremes have become a major focus of researchers, the media and general public due to their damaging effects on human society and infrastructure. Trends in indices of climate extremes are studied for the South Asian region using high-quality records of daily temperature and precipitation observations. Data records from 210 (265) temperature (precipitation) observation stations are analysed over the period 1971-2000 (1961-2000). Spatial maps of station trends, time series of regional averages and frequency distribution analysis form the basis of this study. Due to the highly diverse geography of the South Asian region, the results are also described for some specific regions, such as the island of Sri Lanka; the tropical region (excluding Sri Lanka); the Greater Himalayas above 35°N, the Eastern Himalayas (Nepal) and the Thar Desert. Generally, changes in the frequency of temperature extremes over South Asia are what one would expect in a warming world; warm extremes have become more common and cold extremes less common. The warming influence is greater in the Eastern Himalayas compared with that in the Greater Himalayas. The Thar Desert also shows enhanced warming, but increases are mostly less than in the Eastern Himalayas. Changes in the indices of extreme precipitation are more mixed than those of temperature, with spatially coherent changes evident only at relatively small scales. Nevertheless, most extreme precipitation indices show increases in the South Asia average, consistent with globally averaged results. The indices trends are further studied in the context of Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) over the region. Countries falling within the ABC hotspot namely Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) have shown a different behaviour on the trends of extreme indices compared with the parts outside this hotspot. IGP has increased temperature and decreased rainfall and tally closely with the actual trends.

Trade-off analysis, one of the key elements of transportation asset management (TAM), helps decision makers to not only quantify how different resource allocations affect system performance but also investigate the trade-off relationships between cost and performance measures and between different performance measures. In the fast-growing field of TAM, researchers are beginning to quantify the trade-offs among the performance measures. A successful quantification of these trade-offs is important for the practice because the highway agency decision makers responsible for project selection have long been stymied by a lack of knowledge of the extent to which different decisions lead to different performance trade-offs. In a follow-up to recent research efforts that have sought to address this issue, this article presents a further improved methodology to facilitate the analysis of trade-offs in TAM. First, a general multiobjective optimization framework for TAM is established. Next, the developed hybrid method is presented, which is then shown to quicken the generation of Pareto frontiers for the purpose of conducting trade-off analysis. Using a case study, the proposed hybrid method, which was implemented on a computer to generate Pareto frontiers, ultimately converged faster and generated better-distributed Pareto frontiers compared to the NSGA II method of Pareto frontier generation in the TAM context. Using the generated Pareto frontiers, trade-off analysis between cost and performance measures and between performance measures are demonstrated in this article.

Application of a treatment at appropriate time is indeed a critical issue in highway asset management. A treatment that is applied too early (hastened) or too late (deferred) has consequences in terms of the agency cost, facility performance and cost-effectiveness. This research uses basic concepts in costing and effectiveness analysis to develop a methodology for quantifying the consequences of mistimed highway preservation interventions. Through a case study on pavement preservation, demonstrating the practical application of the methodology, it is observed that the consequences of hastened or deferred interventions can differ across asset classes as well as across intervention types: the consequent life-cycle cost increases and performance losses are more severe for non-interstate highways compared with interstate highways, and are more severe for maintenance compared with light rehabilitation. Recognising that in the practical world, the timing of interventions need not be at the optimal levels, the paper goes on to show how an agency could use the developed methodology to establish acceptable ranges of intervention timing and introduce flexibility in its preservation schedules by establishing the earliest and the latest times for applying an intervention in order to avoid undue penalties in terms of cost and effectiveness.

Soybeans contain nutritional and medicinal properties. It is a rich source of quality proteins, phytosterols, fibers, and other biologically active compounds, notably daidzein and genistein. Soybeans provide health benefits due to their functional ingredients such as proteins, polysaccharides, and isoflavones. These functional ingredients play a vital role in the reduction of different types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, postmenopausal problems, diabetes, and some neurodegenerative disorders. This review primarily envisages the different mechanisms involved in the therapeutic effects of soybean components as well as their contribution toward the reduction of different diseases.