Journal of Informatics and Mathematical Sciences, 2010
In this paper, an improved Item Count Technique (ICT) has been proposed. The major advantage of t... more In this paper, an improved Item Count Technique (ICT) has been proposed. The major advantage of this technique is that it does not require two subsamples (as is the case in usual ICT) and there is no need of finding optimum subsample sizes. The proposed ICT has been observed performing well, as compared to the usual ICT, in terms of relative efficiency. The novel method of Randomized Response (RR) technique proposed by Warner (1965) has also been compared with the proposed ICT and it is found that the proposed technique uniformly performs better when the number of innocuous items is greater than 3.
summary The present study introduces an unbiased estimator of population mean of a sensitive quan... more summary The present study introduces an unbiased estimator of population mean of a sensitive quantitative variable based on multiple selections of numbers from a scrambling distribution to confound the actual response on sensitive variable with some unrelated variable. The proposed method may be viewed as more protective against the reprisal or stigma. A simulation study is done to observe the performance of the proposed method relative to Ryu et al. (2005) Randomized Response (RR) method. The relative efficiency of proposed estimator with respect to Ryu et al. (2005) RR method is calculated and found appreciable.
We propose an efficient estimator for population median under two-phase sampling when using two a... more We propose an efficient estimator for population median under two-phase sampling when using two auxiliary variables on the lines of Diana [Diana, G. “A class of estimators of the population mean in stratified random sampling”, Statistica, 1, pp. 59-66 (1993)] and Jhajj and Walia [Jhajj, H. S. and Walia, G. S. “A generalized difference-cum-ratio type estimator for the population variance in double sampling”, Communications in Statistics-Simulations and Computation, 41, 58-64. (2012)]. The expressions for mean squared errors are presented, correct to first order of approximation. Both theoretical and numerical comparisons reveal that the proposed estimator performs better than the unbiased sample median estimator, ratio estimator, and estimators by Srivastava et al. [Srivastava, S. K., Rani, S., Khare, B. B., and Srivastava, S. R. “A generalized chain ratio estimator for mean of finite population”, Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, 42(1), pp. 108-117 (1990)] an...
Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, 2016
ABSTRACT In this article, we propose a new class of estimators to estimate the finite population ... more ABSTRACT In this article, we propose a new class of estimators to estimate the finite population mean by using two auxiliary variables under two different sampling schemes such as simple random sampling and stratified random sampling. The proposed class of estimators gives minimum mean squared error as compared to all other considered estimators. Some real data sets are used to observe the performances of the estimators. We show numerically that the proposed class of estimators performs better as compared to all other competitor estimators.
Hacettepe Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, 2016
We have proposed two mixed randomized response models for surveying sensitive issues. The propert... more We have proposed two mixed randomized response models for surveying sensitive issues. The properties of proposed estimators are derived under the simple and stratified random sampling schemes while considering completely and less than completely truthful reporting cases. We proved that the proposed models are unconditionally efficient than [13, 15, 16, 20]. In order to get the idea of gain in efficiency and model stability numerical and graphical efficiency comparisons are done for the two models under two mentioned cases.
In this article, we propose a new randomized response model to estimate the population total of a... more In this article, we propose a new randomized response model to estimate the population total of a sensitive variable of quantitative nature. The objective is achieved by introducing additive scramb...
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) RAS gene mutations Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS)... more Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) RAS gene mutations Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) Neuroblastoma rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (NRAS) a b s t r a c t Rat sarcoma gene (RAS) holds great importance in pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The activated mutations in Neuroblastoma rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (NRAS) and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) confers proliferative and survival signals, deliberating numerous effects on overall survival and progression free survival in AML patients. In this study thirty one (31) blood samples of adult newly diagnosed AML patients were collected to identify possible incidence of mutations through amplification of KRAS (exon 1 and 2) and NRAS gene (exon 1 and 2) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Amplicons were then subjected to sequencing and were analyzed through Geneious Prime 2019. Five of thirty one (16.12%) patients had altered sites in either NRAS or KRAS. The NRAS mutations were observed in three AML patients (N = 3, 9.67%). A novel missense mutation NRAS-I36R (239 T > G) representing a substitution of single nucleotide basepair found in NRAS exon 1 while exon 2 was detected with heterozygous mutation NRAS-E63X (318G > T) and insertion (A), resulting in frameshift of the amino acid sequence and insertion of two nucleotide basepairs (TA) in two of the patients. KRAS mutations (N = 2, 6.45%) were found in exon 1 whereas no mutations in KRAS exon 2 were detected in our patient cohort. Mutation in KRAS Exon 1, KRAS-D30N (280G > A) was observed in two patients and one of them also had a novel heterozygous mutation KRAS-L16N (240G > C). In addition there was no statistically significant association of mutRAS gene of AML patients with several prognostic markers including age, gender, karyotyping, CD34 positivity, cytogenetic abnormalities, total leukocyte count, white blood cell count and French-American-British (FAB) classification. However, the presence of mutRAS gene were strongly associated (p = 0.001) with increased percentage of bone marrow blasts. The prevalence of mutations in correlation with clinical and hematological parameter is useful for risk stratification in AML patients.
Pomegranate peels (PPW) as municipal waste is inexpensive biomass that could be a renewable sourc... more Pomegranate peels (PPW) as municipal waste is inexpensive biomass that could be a renewable source of sugars particularly rich in hemicellulosic contents. The subsequent conversion of available sugars in PPW can provide prospective strategy for cost-effective bioenergy production. In this study, an experimental setup based on CCD was implemented with the aim of bioconversion of biomass into bioethanol. The factors considered were Hydrochloric acid concentration (X1), the hydrolysis temperature (X2) and time (X3) for optimization with dilute Hydrochloric acid (HCl) saccharification. The present study investigates the optimised level of bioethanol synthesis from acid pre-treated PPW explained by RSM. Subsequently, three yeasts viz. Saccharomyces cerevisiae K7, Metschnikowia sp. Y31 and M. cibodasensis Y34 were utilized for fermentation of acid hydrolysed and detoxified feed stocks. Optimum values of reducing sugars 48.02 ± 0.02 (gL−1) and total carbohydrates 205.88 ± 0.13 (gL−1) were found when PPW was hydrolyzed with 1% HCl concentration at 100˚C of temperature for 30 min. Later on, fermentation of PPWH after detoxification with 2.5% activated charcoal. The significant ethanol (g ethanol/g of reducing sugars) yields after fermentation with Metschnikowia sp. Y31 and M. cibodasensis Y34 found to be 0.40 ± 0.03 on day 5 and 0.41 ± 0.02 on last day of experiment correspondingly. Saccharomyces cerevisiae K7 also produce maximum ethanol 0.40 ± 0.00 on last day of incubation utilizing the PPWH. The bioconversion of commonly available PPW into bioethanol as emphasize in this study could be a hopeful expectation and also cost-effective to meet today energy crisis.
As a tool for reducing evasive answer bias and the bias due to respondents ’ refusal to cooperate... more As a tool for reducing evasive answer bias and the bias due to respondents ’ refusal to cooperate, randomized response technique (RRT) is extensively applied in many areas of sociological, medical, biological and psychological research involving a study about the sensitive items. Kim and Warde (2005) proposed a mixed RRT assuming equal probability selection of population units and this was subsequently extended to complex survey situations by Amitava (2005). Here we propose an improvement of Kim and Warde’s (2005) RRT in complex survey situations and illustrate the superiority of proposed model over the Kim and Warde’s (2005) procedure under an easy condition. Key words: randomized response technique, sensitive character, and dichotomous population. 1
In this article we present two mixed Randomized Response Models (RRM) which may be considered imp... more In this article we present two mixed Randomized Response Models (RRM) which may be considered improvements over Kim and Warde (2005) mixed RRM. Relative efficiencies of proposed Models relative to Kim and Warde (2005) mixed RRM is studied in simple random sampling with replacement (SRSWR) as well as in stratified random sampling. The proposed models are seen to perform well in terms of variance at equal level of protection against privacy in the SRSWR and stratified random sampling.
In the present investigation the problem of estimating the mean of quantitative sensitive variabl... more In the present investigation the problem of estimating the mean of quantitative sensitive variable has been considered. Two different alternative estimators have been suggested when data are obtained through Bar-Lev et al. (2004) randomized response model. The comparison study of the proposed estimators with respect to the Bar-Lev et al. (2004) estimator is carried out. The relative dominance picture is also presented.
2 Abstract: Procuring reliable data on sensitive/stigmatizing variables is a tricky issue in many... more 2 Abstract: Procuring reliable data on sensitive/stigmatizing variables is a tricky issue in many social surveys. When questioned through direct questioning respondents may report evasive answers on such sensitive variables. Consequently, a bias creeps into the estimates based on evasive answers. Different indirect questioning methods such as Item Count Technique, Three Cards Method and Randomized Response Technique (or Scrambled Response Technique) are available. The present article considers unbiased estimation of mean and sensitivity level of a sensitive variable via scrambled response modeling. The idea of dividing the sample into two subsamples has been explored further by using a separate randomization device in each subsample. Additionally, the probability of reporting the true response is distributed into two randomization stages. Relative efficiency comparisons are also made, numerically, in order to highlight the performance of proposed scrambling technique. The proposed t...
This article focuses on providing the correct expression for the variance of a recent estimator a... more This article focuses on providing the correct expression for the variance of a recent estimator and suggesting its further improvement. An estimator of the population mean of a sensitive variable is suggested by extending a recently proposed additive scrambling technique. The proposed estimator is developed using simple random sampling with replacement and requires obtaining two responses from each respondent. It is actually a generalized additive model and provides privacy protection. The proposed estimator is relatively more efficient than some of the recent scrambling techniques.
Coal power plants are the major contributor of electricity but these power plants are also produc... more Coal power plants are the major contributor of electricity but these power plants are also producing waste in the form of coal fly ash (CFA). However, it can cause high risk of environmental pollution and pulmonary diseases in humans. Plastic waste is also a problematic waste for many countries in terms of its reuse and recycling. Therefore, this study aims to reuse the waste product (CFA) of coal power plants in rubber conveyer belt instead of calcium carbonate or talcum powder and in recycling of plastic propylene as bonding filler material instead of barium sulfate to increase the durability of plastic products and reduce cost, CFA waste and plastic waste. For this purpose, CFA was treated by different pulverization techniques for the production of conveyor belt. The study found that the most favorable technique was shear based pulverization technique. Application of CFA with rubber was compared with two different chemicals (calcium carbonate and talcum powder) and found that the...
Heterosis refers to the increase in biomass, stature, fertility, and other characters that impart... more Heterosis refers to the increase in biomass, stature, fertility, and other characters that impart superior performance to the F1 progeny over genetically diverged parents. The manifestation of heterosis brought an economic revolution to the agricultural production and seed sector in the last few decades. Initially, the idea was exploited in cross-pollinated plants, but eventually acquired serious attention in self-pollinated crops as well. Regardless of harvesting the benefits of heterosis, a century-long discussion is continued to understand the underlying basis of this phenomenon. The massive increase in knowledge of various fields of science such as genetics, epigenetics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics persistently provide new insights to understand the reasons for the expression of hybrid vigor. In this review, we have gathered information ranging from classical genetic studies, field experiments to various high-throughput omics and computational modelling studies in ord...
Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a bone marrow malignancy having multiple molecular pat... more Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a bone marrow malignancy having multiple molecular pathways driving its progress. In recent years, the main causes of AML considered all over the world are genetic variations in cancerous cells. The RUNX1 and FLT3 genes are necessary for the normal hematopoiesis and differentiation process of hematopoietic stem cells into mature blood cells, therefore they are the most common targets for point mutations resulting in AML. Methods We screened 32 CN-AML patients for FLT3-ITD (by Allele-specific PCR) and RUNX1 mutations (by Sanger sequencing). The FLT3 mRNA expression was assessed in all AML patients and its subgroups. Results Eight patients (25%) carried RUNX1 mutation (K83E) while three patients (9.37%) were found to have internal tandem duplications in FLT3 gene. The RUNX1 mutation data were correlated with clinical parameters and FLT3 gene expression profile. The RUNX1 mutations were observed to be significantly prevalent in older males. Moreover, RUNX1 and FLT3-mutated patients had lower complete remission rate, event-free survival rate, and lower overall survival rate than patients with wild-type RUNX1 and FLT3 gene. The RUNX1 and FLT3 mutant patients with up-regulated FLT3 gene expression showed even worse prognosis. Bradford Assay showed that protein concentration was down-regulated in RUNX1 and FLT3 mutants in comparison to RUNX1 and FLT3 wild-type groups. Conclusion This study constitutes the first report from Pakistan reporting significant molecular mutation analysis of RUNX1 and FLT3 genes including FLT3 expression evaluation with follow-up. This provides an insight that aforementioned mutations are markers of poor prognosis but the study with a large AML cohort will be useful to further investigate their role in disease biology of AML.
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2021
Abstract There are real life phenomena in which the underlying process forces the majority of the... more Abstract There are real life phenomena in which the underlying process forces the majority of the objects to be small and very few to be large, e.g., wealth, city sizes, firm sizes and many alike. Such behaviors are said to follow heavy tailed distribution. To give a statistical understanding of the wealth disparity, this study investigates the tail behavior of world billionaires’ data 2010–20 taken from Forbes magazine. For this purpose, initially, the tails of underlying data sets are identified by estimating the minimum thresholds using KS test. Then three well known models namely, Power Law, Lognormal and Exponential are tested to model the tail behavior through different model adequacy criteria e.g., KS, AIC, BIC, LRT and Bayes factor. Based on numerical results using KS test, AIC, BIC and Bayes factor, we observed that upper tail of wealth data for each year follows a well-known PL distribution with exponent ranging from 1.306 to 1.571 while LRT results depict that both PL and Lognormal distribution are equally adequate for the upper tail of wealth data. Moreover, the estimate of PL exponent is significantly higher than unity which implies that the distribution of wealth among billionaires is more evenly distributed than as suggested by Zipf’s Law. Results obtained using rolling sampling indicate that the PL exponent is inversely related to the sample size. However, no such pattern is witnessed in the bootstrap simulation results while estimating the PL exponent.
Journal of Informatics and Mathematical Sciences, 2010
In this paper, an improved Item Count Technique (ICT) has been proposed. The major advantage of t... more In this paper, an improved Item Count Technique (ICT) has been proposed. The major advantage of this technique is that it does not require two subsamples (as is the case in usual ICT) and there is no need of finding optimum subsample sizes. The proposed ICT has been observed performing well, as compared to the usual ICT, in terms of relative efficiency. The novel method of Randomized Response (RR) technique proposed by Warner (1965) has also been compared with the proposed ICT and it is found that the proposed technique uniformly performs better when the number of innocuous items is greater than 3.
summary The present study introduces an unbiased estimator of population mean of a sensitive quan... more summary The present study introduces an unbiased estimator of population mean of a sensitive quantitative variable based on multiple selections of numbers from a scrambling distribution to confound the actual response on sensitive variable with some unrelated variable. The proposed method may be viewed as more protective against the reprisal or stigma. A simulation study is done to observe the performance of the proposed method relative to Ryu et al. (2005) Randomized Response (RR) method. The relative efficiency of proposed estimator with respect to Ryu et al. (2005) RR method is calculated and found appreciable.
We propose an efficient estimator for population median under two-phase sampling when using two a... more We propose an efficient estimator for population median under two-phase sampling when using two auxiliary variables on the lines of Diana [Diana, G. “A class of estimators of the population mean in stratified random sampling”, Statistica, 1, pp. 59-66 (1993)] and Jhajj and Walia [Jhajj, H. S. and Walia, G. S. “A generalized difference-cum-ratio type estimator for the population variance in double sampling”, Communications in Statistics-Simulations and Computation, 41, 58-64. (2012)]. The expressions for mean squared errors are presented, correct to first order of approximation. Both theoretical and numerical comparisons reveal that the proposed estimator performs better than the unbiased sample median estimator, ratio estimator, and estimators by Srivastava et al. [Srivastava, S. K., Rani, S., Khare, B. B., and Srivastava, S. R. “A generalized chain ratio estimator for mean of finite population”, Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, 42(1), pp. 108-117 (1990)] an...
Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, 2016
ABSTRACT In this article, we propose a new class of estimators to estimate the finite population ... more ABSTRACT In this article, we propose a new class of estimators to estimate the finite population mean by using two auxiliary variables under two different sampling schemes such as simple random sampling and stratified random sampling. The proposed class of estimators gives minimum mean squared error as compared to all other considered estimators. Some real data sets are used to observe the performances of the estimators. We show numerically that the proposed class of estimators performs better as compared to all other competitor estimators.
Hacettepe Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, 2016
We have proposed two mixed randomized response models for surveying sensitive issues. The propert... more We have proposed two mixed randomized response models for surveying sensitive issues. The properties of proposed estimators are derived under the simple and stratified random sampling schemes while considering completely and less than completely truthful reporting cases. We proved that the proposed models are unconditionally efficient than [13, 15, 16, 20]. In order to get the idea of gain in efficiency and model stability numerical and graphical efficiency comparisons are done for the two models under two mentioned cases.
In this article, we propose a new randomized response model to estimate the population total of a... more In this article, we propose a new randomized response model to estimate the population total of a sensitive variable of quantitative nature. The objective is achieved by introducing additive scramb...
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) RAS gene mutations Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS)... more Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) RAS gene mutations Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) Neuroblastoma rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (NRAS) a b s t r a c t Rat sarcoma gene (RAS) holds great importance in pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The activated mutations in Neuroblastoma rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (NRAS) and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) confers proliferative and survival signals, deliberating numerous effects on overall survival and progression free survival in AML patients. In this study thirty one (31) blood samples of adult newly diagnosed AML patients were collected to identify possible incidence of mutations through amplification of KRAS (exon 1 and 2) and NRAS gene (exon 1 and 2) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Amplicons were then subjected to sequencing and were analyzed through Geneious Prime 2019. Five of thirty one (16.12%) patients had altered sites in either NRAS or KRAS. The NRAS mutations were observed in three AML patients (N = 3, 9.67%). A novel missense mutation NRAS-I36R (239 T > G) representing a substitution of single nucleotide basepair found in NRAS exon 1 while exon 2 was detected with heterozygous mutation NRAS-E63X (318G > T) and insertion (A), resulting in frameshift of the amino acid sequence and insertion of two nucleotide basepairs (TA) in two of the patients. KRAS mutations (N = 2, 6.45%) were found in exon 1 whereas no mutations in KRAS exon 2 were detected in our patient cohort. Mutation in KRAS Exon 1, KRAS-D30N (280G > A) was observed in two patients and one of them also had a novel heterozygous mutation KRAS-L16N (240G > C). In addition there was no statistically significant association of mutRAS gene of AML patients with several prognostic markers including age, gender, karyotyping, CD34 positivity, cytogenetic abnormalities, total leukocyte count, white blood cell count and French-American-British (FAB) classification. However, the presence of mutRAS gene were strongly associated (p = 0.001) with increased percentage of bone marrow blasts. The prevalence of mutations in correlation with clinical and hematological parameter is useful for risk stratification in AML patients.
Pomegranate peels (PPW) as municipal waste is inexpensive biomass that could be a renewable sourc... more Pomegranate peels (PPW) as municipal waste is inexpensive biomass that could be a renewable source of sugars particularly rich in hemicellulosic contents. The subsequent conversion of available sugars in PPW can provide prospective strategy for cost-effective bioenergy production. In this study, an experimental setup based on CCD was implemented with the aim of bioconversion of biomass into bioethanol. The factors considered were Hydrochloric acid concentration (X1), the hydrolysis temperature (X2) and time (X3) for optimization with dilute Hydrochloric acid (HCl) saccharification. The present study investigates the optimised level of bioethanol synthesis from acid pre-treated PPW explained by RSM. Subsequently, three yeasts viz. Saccharomyces cerevisiae K7, Metschnikowia sp. Y31 and M. cibodasensis Y34 were utilized for fermentation of acid hydrolysed and detoxified feed stocks. Optimum values of reducing sugars 48.02 ± 0.02 (gL−1) and total carbohydrates 205.88 ± 0.13 (gL−1) were found when PPW was hydrolyzed with 1% HCl concentration at 100˚C of temperature for 30 min. Later on, fermentation of PPWH after detoxification with 2.5% activated charcoal. The significant ethanol (g ethanol/g of reducing sugars) yields after fermentation with Metschnikowia sp. Y31 and M. cibodasensis Y34 found to be 0.40 ± 0.03 on day 5 and 0.41 ± 0.02 on last day of experiment correspondingly. Saccharomyces cerevisiae K7 also produce maximum ethanol 0.40 ± 0.00 on last day of incubation utilizing the PPWH. The bioconversion of commonly available PPW into bioethanol as emphasize in this study could be a hopeful expectation and also cost-effective to meet today energy crisis.
As a tool for reducing evasive answer bias and the bias due to respondents ’ refusal to cooperate... more As a tool for reducing evasive answer bias and the bias due to respondents ’ refusal to cooperate, randomized response technique (RRT) is extensively applied in many areas of sociological, medical, biological and psychological research involving a study about the sensitive items. Kim and Warde (2005) proposed a mixed RRT assuming equal probability selection of population units and this was subsequently extended to complex survey situations by Amitava (2005). Here we propose an improvement of Kim and Warde’s (2005) RRT in complex survey situations and illustrate the superiority of proposed model over the Kim and Warde’s (2005) procedure under an easy condition. Key words: randomized response technique, sensitive character, and dichotomous population. 1
In this article we present two mixed Randomized Response Models (RRM) which may be considered imp... more In this article we present two mixed Randomized Response Models (RRM) which may be considered improvements over Kim and Warde (2005) mixed RRM. Relative efficiencies of proposed Models relative to Kim and Warde (2005) mixed RRM is studied in simple random sampling with replacement (SRSWR) as well as in stratified random sampling. The proposed models are seen to perform well in terms of variance at equal level of protection against privacy in the SRSWR and stratified random sampling.
In the present investigation the problem of estimating the mean of quantitative sensitive variabl... more In the present investigation the problem of estimating the mean of quantitative sensitive variable has been considered. Two different alternative estimators have been suggested when data are obtained through Bar-Lev et al. (2004) randomized response model. The comparison study of the proposed estimators with respect to the Bar-Lev et al. (2004) estimator is carried out. The relative dominance picture is also presented.
2 Abstract: Procuring reliable data on sensitive/stigmatizing variables is a tricky issue in many... more 2 Abstract: Procuring reliable data on sensitive/stigmatizing variables is a tricky issue in many social surveys. When questioned through direct questioning respondents may report evasive answers on such sensitive variables. Consequently, a bias creeps into the estimates based on evasive answers. Different indirect questioning methods such as Item Count Technique, Three Cards Method and Randomized Response Technique (or Scrambled Response Technique) are available. The present article considers unbiased estimation of mean and sensitivity level of a sensitive variable via scrambled response modeling. The idea of dividing the sample into two subsamples has been explored further by using a separate randomization device in each subsample. Additionally, the probability of reporting the true response is distributed into two randomization stages. Relative efficiency comparisons are also made, numerically, in order to highlight the performance of proposed scrambling technique. The proposed t...
This article focuses on providing the correct expression for the variance of a recent estimator a... more This article focuses on providing the correct expression for the variance of a recent estimator and suggesting its further improvement. An estimator of the population mean of a sensitive variable is suggested by extending a recently proposed additive scrambling technique. The proposed estimator is developed using simple random sampling with replacement and requires obtaining two responses from each respondent. It is actually a generalized additive model and provides privacy protection. The proposed estimator is relatively more efficient than some of the recent scrambling techniques.
Coal power plants are the major contributor of electricity but these power plants are also produc... more Coal power plants are the major contributor of electricity but these power plants are also producing waste in the form of coal fly ash (CFA). However, it can cause high risk of environmental pollution and pulmonary diseases in humans. Plastic waste is also a problematic waste for many countries in terms of its reuse and recycling. Therefore, this study aims to reuse the waste product (CFA) of coal power plants in rubber conveyer belt instead of calcium carbonate or talcum powder and in recycling of plastic propylene as bonding filler material instead of barium sulfate to increase the durability of plastic products and reduce cost, CFA waste and plastic waste. For this purpose, CFA was treated by different pulverization techniques for the production of conveyor belt. The study found that the most favorable technique was shear based pulverization technique. Application of CFA with rubber was compared with two different chemicals (calcium carbonate and talcum powder) and found that the...
Heterosis refers to the increase in biomass, stature, fertility, and other characters that impart... more Heterosis refers to the increase in biomass, stature, fertility, and other characters that impart superior performance to the F1 progeny over genetically diverged parents. The manifestation of heterosis brought an economic revolution to the agricultural production and seed sector in the last few decades. Initially, the idea was exploited in cross-pollinated plants, but eventually acquired serious attention in self-pollinated crops as well. Regardless of harvesting the benefits of heterosis, a century-long discussion is continued to understand the underlying basis of this phenomenon. The massive increase in knowledge of various fields of science such as genetics, epigenetics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics persistently provide new insights to understand the reasons for the expression of hybrid vigor. In this review, we have gathered information ranging from classical genetic studies, field experiments to various high-throughput omics and computational modelling studies in ord...
Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a bone marrow malignancy having multiple molecular pat... more Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a bone marrow malignancy having multiple molecular pathways driving its progress. In recent years, the main causes of AML considered all over the world are genetic variations in cancerous cells. The RUNX1 and FLT3 genes are necessary for the normal hematopoiesis and differentiation process of hematopoietic stem cells into mature blood cells, therefore they are the most common targets for point mutations resulting in AML. Methods We screened 32 CN-AML patients for FLT3-ITD (by Allele-specific PCR) and RUNX1 mutations (by Sanger sequencing). The FLT3 mRNA expression was assessed in all AML patients and its subgroups. Results Eight patients (25%) carried RUNX1 mutation (K83E) while three patients (9.37%) were found to have internal tandem duplications in FLT3 gene. The RUNX1 mutation data were correlated with clinical parameters and FLT3 gene expression profile. The RUNX1 mutations were observed to be significantly prevalent in older males. Moreover, RUNX1 and FLT3-mutated patients had lower complete remission rate, event-free survival rate, and lower overall survival rate than patients with wild-type RUNX1 and FLT3 gene. The RUNX1 and FLT3 mutant patients with up-regulated FLT3 gene expression showed even worse prognosis. Bradford Assay showed that protein concentration was down-regulated in RUNX1 and FLT3 mutants in comparison to RUNX1 and FLT3 wild-type groups. Conclusion This study constitutes the first report from Pakistan reporting significant molecular mutation analysis of RUNX1 and FLT3 genes including FLT3 expression evaluation with follow-up. This provides an insight that aforementioned mutations are markers of poor prognosis but the study with a large AML cohort will be useful to further investigate their role in disease biology of AML.
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2021
Abstract There are real life phenomena in which the underlying process forces the majority of the... more Abstract There are real life phenomena in which the underlying process forces the majority of the objects to be small and very few to be large, e.g., wealth, city sizes, firm sizes and many alike. Such behaviors are said to follow heavy tailed distribution. To give a statistical understanding of the wealth disparity, this study investigates the tail behavior of world billionaires’ data 2010–20 taken from Forbes magazine. For this purpose, initially, the tails of underlying data sets are identified by estimating the minimum thresholds using KS test. Then three well known models namely, Power Law, Lognormal and Exponential are tested to model the tail behavior through different model adequacy criteria e.g., KS, AIC, BIC, LRT and Bayes factor. Based on numerical results using KS test, AIC, BIC and Bayes factor, we observed that upper tail of wealth data for each year follows a well-known PL distribution with exponent ranging from 1.306 to 1.571 while LRT results depict that both PL and Lognormal distribution are equally adequate for the upper tail of wealth data. Moreover, the estimate of PL exponent is significantly higher than unity which implies that the distribution of wealth among billionaires is more evenly distributed than as suggested by Zipf’s Law. Results obtained using rolling sampling indicate that the PL exponent is inversely related to the sample size. However, no such pattern is witnessed in the bootstrap simulation results while estimating the PL exponent.
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