This study analyses the impact of Community Savings and Investment Program (COMSIP) activities on household income and credit of member households of COMSIP groups in Kasungu District in Central Malawi. COMSIP groups are a form of village-based microcredit and community-based savings institutions with a number of socio-economic functions. The functions include mobilization of communities to save and/or invest their resources into income generating initiatives and provide credit. Using data from COMSIP Cooperative Union limited for Kasungu District in Malawi on income per capita and access to credit, this study tests the hypothesis that these variables were positively impacted on by membership to these COMSIP groups. The study uses Instrumental Variables (IV) methodology organized to reduce selection bias as well as endogeneity problems in the sample. The primary data on socio-economic and demographic variables was collected using household questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews and literature review as tools from a sample of 150 households. The study found that the variables such as sex of household head, age of household head, credit per capita, land per capita and distance of location of household to the COMSIP office, determine household decision to join COMSIP groups. Instrumental Variables analysis results show that the effect of COMSIP groups on household income and credit is very strong. The IV estimates indicate an increase of 88% income per capita and 96% increase in credit per capita of relatively poor participating households was significant at 5% and 1% levels of significance respectively. The findings also indicate that the simple targeting mechanism of COMSIP program based on household vii land ownership is effective. Thus, the efficiency of the COMSIP program can be enhanced by allocating credit to households with marginal landholding, for which the impact is the greatest. Although microfinance programs, especially among the rural poor people living below the standard poverty line of one US dollar per day have elicited different reactions from different stakeholders, there seems to be a general agreement that the program is useful amongst the strategies for ensuring improved household income and credit of rural Malawians, hence reduced poverty in the long-run.


This PhD thesis is related to the evolution of phenolic composition of olive fruit to demonstrate the relationship between the raw material sources and the compounds responsible for the healthy and sensory properties of virgin olive oil, and to investigate the mechanisms involved in the synthesis and/or in the degradation of the phenolic fraction. On the basis of phenolic compositions of twelve Italian olive cultivars (Bianchella, Canino, Coratina, Dolce di Andria, Dritta, Frantoio, Leccino, Moraiolo, Nocellara del Belice, Nocellara Etnea, Rosciola and Tendellone) analysed, some significative qualitative and quantitative differences were observed.
The main results were utilized, during the following analysis of the genetic expressions of olive cultivars, to determine the genes directly involved in the synthesis and the degradation of the phenolic fraction during the different fruit ripening stages. On the basis of the results about the evolution of phenolic compounds of olive drupes a research program aimed to identify the genes involved in the biosynthesis pathways of fruit secoiridoids, was developed by the CNR-Institute of Plant Genetics, Perugia.


To quantify the amount of transverse carpal ligament (TCL) elongation in response to osteopathic manipulation or sustained load bearing (or both), a study involving seven cadaver limbs was conducted. Distances from the trapezium to the hamate (distance A) and from the scaphoid to the pisiform (distance B) were measured in five mounted cadaver limbs during and after the limbs bore the weight (2 newtons [N] to 4 N) for 2 several-hour periods. A several-hour period occurred between the weight bearing to assess recoil. Distances A and B were measured before and after the limbs were manipulated, according to previously described techniques, as well as with a new maneuver, termed the "guywire" technique. Two dissected limbs also were subjected to further weight bearing, this time increased to 8 N. Greater weight loads produced greater lengthening of the TCL, and recoil after removal of weight loads was slower than recoil after manipulation. Manipulation was more effective than weight loading for increasing distance A (distal canal), but weight loading generally was more effective than manipulation for increasing distance B (proximal canal). The guywire manipulation combined with direct transverse extension appeared to have the greatest impact on lengthening the TCL distally. These results show promise for the effective use of manipulation and load bearing for TCL elongation and nonsurgical relief of pressure on the median nerve in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.


The author established three variant cell lines which were proliferative in the serum-free medium. These three cell lines were derived from MCF-7, a human breast cancer cell line. These 3 variants (MCF-S1, MCF-S2 and MCF-S3) proliferate estrogen (E2)-dependently, but the amounts of E2 receptor and progesterone receptor in the cells are different from each other among the variants. The author compared the effects of hormonal therapeutic agents, tamoxifen (TAM), 3-hydroxytamoxifen (3-OH-TAM), toremifene (TORE), and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on MCF-7 and the established variant cells. Although TAM showed little effect on the growth of any cell lines in the absence of E2, it considerably inhibited the growth of MCF-S2 cells and MCF-7 cells in the presence of 10(-10)M E2. TORE also provided no inhibitory effect at less than 10(-7)M concentration on any cells in the absence of E2, but it dose-dependently inhibited DNA synthesis of MCF-S2 cells in the presence of E2. On the other hand, although 3-OH-TAM markedly inhibited the growth of any cell lines at a concentration of less than 10(-6)M in the presence of E2, it dose-dependently inhibited the DNA synthesis of any cell lines in the absence of E2, and the effect was remarkable in the case of MCF-S2 or MCF-S3. MPA showed a tendency to increase the proliferation of any cells in the absence of E2, conversely in the presence of E2, and it slightly inhibited DNA synthesis at concentrations of over 10(-8)M. These results suggest that the effect of hormonal agents on breast cancer cells may depend on either hormonal levels or the characteristics of the cancer cells. The effect of the hormonal agents are diverse, and a hormonal agent which does not work well on one cancer cell population may work well on another population.


The aetiology of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in an athlete is often difficult to identify. We describe a 29-year-old fitness instructor who was referred for investigation of syncope. He gave a history of intensive weight lifting and anabolic steroid use at supra-therapeutic doses for the preceding 6 years. Electrocardiography showed inferolateral repolarisation abnormalities and a transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrated asymmetrical LVH with reduced left ventricular cavity dimensions. There was no left ventricular outflow tract obstruction or systolic motion of the anterior mitral valve leaflet. These findings were confirmed on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). The differential diagnosis included athlete's heart, steroid-induced cardiomyopathy and non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The patient was advised to discontinue both steroid use and intensive training. After 3 years of steroid abstinence but continued training, the syncopal episodes and the ECG abnormalities completely resolved, associated with regression of LVH on echocardiography and CMR.


In this paper, we propose and study exp-kumaraswamy distribution. Some of its properties  are derived, including the density function, hazard rate function, quantile function, moments,  skewness  and kurtosis.   Adata set isused to illustrate an application of the proposed distribution. Also, we obtain a new distribution by transformation onexp-kumaraswamy distribution.   New distribution is an alternative to skew-normal distribution. Basic properties ofthis new distribution, such as moment generating function, moments, skewness, kurtosis and maximum likelihood estimation are studied. Its applicability is illustrated by means of two real data sets.


Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive method of recording magnetic fields that result from brain electrical activity. The information it provides is thus closely related to the information in the electroencephalogram (EEG). There are a number of important basic and clinical research questions that must be asked of MEG, a relatively new technology, before its capacities and applicability to neuropsychiatric problems will be understood. We will briefly review the substrate that is thought to be measured, the instrument and its applications, and one of the auditory evoked responses that has been successfully recorded by MEG. See also p 565. Brain electrical activity has traditionally been studied with EEG. It is believed that the EEG signal comes from fluctuations in the resting membrane potential of the dendrites and cell bodies of cortical neurons, primarily pyramidal cells located in layer V, rather than from the action potentials of axons. Movements of ions along


There are powerful non-rational forces in patients and therapists alike, and in the therapeutic context. These forces often determine whether individual or family therapy is chosen. Historical, cultural, and economic forces, patient and family motivations, and therapist preferences are all powerful determinants of modality choice. This is partly due to the newness of the field of family therapy, and will probably continue until we have a better conceptual grasp of family theory and nosology, the interrelation of individual and family pathology, and a clearer delineation of the criteria for these modalities.


An adverse relationship between inattention and literacy has been documented in the research literature. This relationship appears to be pervasive and detrimental, leading many inattentive children to fall significantly behind their peers in reading achievement. However, research on interventions for children with early attention and early reading problems is sparse. A few studies, though, have highlighted the potential of Computer-Assisted Intervention (CAI) for this population, likely because its format is interactive and engaging. The current study tested the effectiveness of a literacy-based CAI, Earobics® Step 1 interactive software, with three first grade children who were rated by their teachers as having attention and reading problems. It was hypothesized that the Earobics® intervention would improve the participants' oral reading fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, and attention to task. The intervention was implemented in the school setting with each participant for 20 minutes 4 days a week for 4 weeks. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to determine intervention effectiveness. Reading progress was monitored using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) oral reading fluency and phoneme segmentation fluency probes twice a week, and attention to task was monitored twice a week using systematic direct observation. Results indicate that all participants increased their oral reading fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, and attention to task after the Earobics® intervention was implemented compared to baseline functioning. Given the multiple baseline across participants design, it can be conclusively determined that the Earobics® intervention was effective in improving the participants' oral reading fluency while it cannot be confirmed that the Earobics® intervention was responsible for the increases in phoneme segmentation fluency and attention to task. A graphical depiction of the results across subjects is presented, and the implications of the findings are discussed.


In our globalizing world, audiovisual products are understandably considered tools that advertise their original language and culture. Most societies do not stand any interference from the outside, especially if it considerably opposes the socio-cultural norms. Translation is a practice of cross-cultural communication which most often complies with the socio-cultural guidelines and norms of the recipient society. However, translated products might face resistance as they can be regarded threatening and hostile by the ruling gatekeepers. Given the dramatic disparities between most languages and cultures, translators are not the only decision-makers and other agents have pivotal roles in the process of adapting the translated product to the dominant conventions and socio-cultural norms. This paper aims at shedding some light on the role which agents play in the process of dubbing, both for public access national television and for private home distribution. The study explores the effects of preliminary and operational norms, and cultural appropriation conducted at both textual and visual levels through a method including interview data and textual analysis. The results show that foreign movies dubbed into Persian in the religious context of the contemporary Iran are strictly controlled both before the process of dubbing and during and after the process of dubbing due to a number of socio-cultural, political, and ideological considerations.


Non-human primates are vulnerable to parasitic infections in the wild and especially to human diseases or animal origin (zoonoses), which form a sizeable proportion of the emerging and re-emerging diseases. These diseases are continuing to gain importance, especially in rural areas in developing countries, where majority of the people live with a variety of animals under poor hygiene conditions or in areas where animals share the environment with humans. The objective of this study was to investigate the gastro-intestinal (git) parasites commonly occurring in free-ranging Sykes monkeys (Cercopithe~us mitis albogularis) at the Gede Ruins National Monument Forest and their public health implications. One of the three troops at the Gede Ruins National Monument Forest was provisioned with food by tourists and locals. The study identified 11 adult females from this I troop for sampling using-their natural markings on their body. Multiple fresh faecal samples were collected from these animals in the months of September and November 2005. The assessment of git parasites was determined by Direct Smear, Formalin-ethyl Acetate Sedimentation, MacMaster and Harada Mori techniques. In this study, the parasitic fauna of 11 adult females were quantified from 191 faecal samples collected over a 2-month period with a minimum of four samples from each individual. Nine gastrointestinal parasites (six helminthes and three protozoans) were recovered from the samples. The protozoa were: Entamoeba coli, Entamoeba histolytica and Iodamoeba butschlii while the nematodes were: Strongyloides fuleborni, Trichostrongylus spp., Oesophagostomum spp., Trichuris spp., Streptopharagus spp.and Metastrongylus spp. The intensity of protozoans among the monkeys were higher in November than in September but not significant (STAT, t-test p 2: 0.05) probably due to the animals spending more time grooming in November, hence direct contact transmission. Higher intensities of nematodes were obtained in September than in November and showed significant difference between the months. In November, there was green vegetation unlike in September, and this resulted to natural deworming. MacMaster method had higher egg numbers and a definite trend in all parasites than formalinethylacetate method and proved to be a better technique for parasite quantification. The prevalence of protozoa was higher in November than in September most probably due to direct contact transmission as a result of grooming. There was lower prevalence of Oesophagostomum spp., Trichostrongylus spp., and Trichuris spp. in September due to the unfavorable environmental conditions for their lifecycles. The prevalence of Strongyloides fulleborni and Streptopharagus spp. were higher in September as compared to November though not significantly different. This was probably due to their complex life cycles. Strongyloides fulleborni life cycle has an extra step in warm and humid weather conditions as found in the month of November. It therefore took longer for the eggs to be detected in the faeces. Streptopharagus spp. has an indirect life cycle and requires an intermediate host (dung beetle) and most probably there were no dung beetles in November with mature infection. The study isolated and identified Metastrongylus spp. in these animals and this might be the first reported case of this parasite in non-human primates. The results suggest that to accurately diagnose the total intestinal infections and evaluate group prevalence both flotation and sedimentation methods should be used to ensure the recovery of all parasites.
All the parasites isolated and identified in the study could be potential zoonoses.


Derivatisation of upper-rim hydroxy groups of pyrogallarenes produced completely acylated and tosylated pyrogallarene derivatives. Mesitylation of pyrogallarene, however, resulted in a regioselective derivatisation of hydroxy groups, i.e. eight OH groups out of 12 were mesitylated. Crystal structures of the synthesised pyrogallarene derivatives indicate that completely substituted pyrogallarenes exist in a distorted crown conformation despite of the lack of stabilising intramolecular hydrogen bonds. In contrast, the partially substituted pyrogallarene adopts a boat conformation and has an open cavity for the inclusion of small guest molecules. © Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)


ABSTRACT "While the climate-migration nexus raises crucial questions of mobility and climate justice, it is commonly understood through simplistic narratives that reify a complex set of relations. The spectre of environmentally-induced exodus is recurrent in media, policy and activist circles, in spite of numerous studies that reveal the empirical flaws and noxious normative implications of such narratives. This article explores this insistence and the desire(s) for there to be a reified relation between climate and migration such insistence reveals. The article proceeds in three movements. First, it situates discourses on climate migration in relation to the crisis of humanism the Anthropocene signifies. Second, it operates a symptomatic reading of climate migration discourses, drawing on two understandings of symptom elaborated by Lacan – as 'return of the repressed' and as 'Sinthome'. Read as a symptom, the figure of the climate migrant/refugee appears as the return of fundamental contradictions that carve contemporary regimes of socioecological (re)production. Through the concept of 'Sinthome', discourses on climate migration can be read as (illusory) attempts to shore up for the waning consistence of modern forms of 'being human'. Finally, the article proposes a symptomatic reading of the Anthropocene itself, and elaborates on what the dissolution of this symptom/ Sinthome would entail."


Relationships between the androgenic organism status and the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity were studied. Changes in the hormonal organism status were induced by gonadectomy, followed by androgen- and testosterone propionate injections to the intact animals, using serial tests (10 and 1 mg/100 g body weight during 14 and 7 days). The results obtained indicate that hormonal control of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity is dependent on androgenic saturation of the organism, the dose used, duration of testosterone injection and the initial level of the enzyme activity.


Hierarchically hyperbolic spaces provide a common framework for studying mapping class groups of finite type surfaces, Teichmuller space, right-angled Artin groups, and many other cubical groups. Given such a space $\mathcal X$, we build a bordificationcompatible with the hierarchically hyperbolic structure. If $\mathcal X$ is proper, we get a compactification of $\mathcal X$; we also prove that our construction generalizes the Gromov boundary of a hyperbolic space. In our first main set of applications, we introduce a notion of geometrical finiteness for hierarchically hyperbolic subgroups of hierarchically hyperbolic groups in terms of boundary embeddings. As primary examples of geometrical finiteness, we prove that the natural inclusions of finitely generated Veech groups and the Leininger-Reid combination subgroups extend to continuous embeddings of their Gromov boundaries into the boundary of the mapping class group, both of which fail to happen with the Thurston compactification of Teichmuller space. Our second main set of applications are dynamical and structural, built upon our classification of automorphisms of hierarchically hyperbolic spaces and analysis of how the various types of automorphisms act on the boundary. We prove a generalization of the Handel-Mosher "omnibus subgroup theorem" for mapping class groups to all hierarchically hyperbolic groups, obtain a new proof of the Caprace-Sageev rank-rigidity theorem for many CAT(0) cube complexes, and identify the boundary of a hierarchically hyperbolic group as its Poisson boundary; these results rely on a theorem detecting \emph{irreducible axial} elements of a group acting on a hierarchically hyperbolic space (which generalize pseudo-Anosov elements of the mapping class group and rank-one isometries of a cube complex not virtually stabilizing a hyperplane).


The hydrogen-deficiency in extremely hot post-AGB stars of spectral class PG1159 is probably caused by a (very) late helium-shell flash or a AGB final thermal pulse that consumes the hydrogen envelope, exposing the usually-hidden intershell region. Thus, the photospheric elemental abundances of these stars allow to draw conclusions about details of nuclear burning and mixing processes in the precursor AGB stars. We compare predicted elemental abundances to those determined by quantitative spectral analyses performed with advanced non-LTE model atmospheres. A good qualitative and quantitative agreement is found for many species (He, C, N, O, Ne, F, Si, Ar) but discrepancies for others (P, S, Fe) point at shortcomings in stellar evolution models for AGB stars. PG1159 stars appear to be the direct progeny of [WC] stars.


A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) with a suspended horn antenna was used to obtain continual measurement of near-surface soil water content dynamics within a well-defined footprint. Water contents inferred from radar surface reflectivity (SR) were in agreement with gravimetric measurements from the top 1-cm soil layer. This sensitivity to top 1 cm was confirmed by comparison of SR with deeper measurements (1-5 cm) obtained by time-domain reflectometry. Measurements over sand and silt loam showed the role of soil type in controling near-surface dynamics of soil water due to evaporation and drainage processes. GPR with a horn antenna provided insights into physical processes that could affect larger scale radar platforms (air- or spaceborne) and enabled verification of radar measurements at well-defined spatial scales and detailed temporal resolutions not available by other radar remote sensing systems.


OF DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Earth and Planetary Sciences The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico


The critical Incident technique was deployed to study the detrimental effect of Cuscuta reflexa on dairy animals. In the present study, the critical incidences were farmers' fields where berseem was infested with Cuscuta reflexa and farmers were feeding that contaminated berseem to dairy animals. Thus, face-to-face interaction was done with 13 farmers of Malpur and Ganeshpur village of Bareilly district for the same incidences in the years 2021 and 2022. Based on farmers' response it was observed that due to gradual feeding of berseem contaminated with Cuscuta reflexa on an average there was a reduction in milk yield of 5.35 L/day in 2021 and 3.35 L/day in 2022 of dairy animals. The annual economic loss was calculated as Rs. 27322/- in 2021 and Rs. 20048.57/- in 2022. The reduction in milk yield (68.67%) shares the maximum percentage of economic loss followed by replacement cost (25.38%), and then treatment cost (5.95%).


A collaborative study was performed in 25 laboratories to validate an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) procedure utilizing 2 specific monoclonal antibodies for rapid detection of Salmonella in foods. The EIA was compared with the standard culture procedure for detection of Salmonella in 6 food types: ground black pepper, soy isolate, dried whole eggs, milk chocolate, nonfat dry milk, and raw deboned turkey. Uninoculated and inoculated samples were included in each food group analyzed, with the exception of poultry which was naturally contaminated. There was no significant difference in the productivity of the EIA and culture procedures at the 5% level for any of the 6 foods. The enzyme immunoassay screening method has been adopted official first action.


The effect of quenched (frozen) orientational disorder on the collective motion of active particles is analyzed. We find that, as with annealed disorder (Langevin noise), active polar systems are far more robust against quenched disorder than their equilibrium counterparts. In particular, long ranged order (i.e., the existence of a non-zero average velocity $\langle {\bf v} \rangle$) persists in the presence of quenched disorder even in spatial dimensions $d=3$, while it is destroyed even by arbitrarily weak disorder in $d \le 4$ in equilibrium systems. Furthermore, in $d=2$, quasi-long-ranged order (i.e., spatial velocity correlations that decay as a power law with distance) occurs when quenched disorder is present, in contrast to the short-ranged order that is all that can survive in equilibrium. These predictions are borne out by simulations in both two and three dimensions.


This article is based on a small piece of research, which was prompted by the National Association of Asian Probation Staff (NAAPS). They wanted to investigate the experience of Asian employees in the probation service in England and Wales and consider wider issues of attitudes toward Asians from staff. The research was conducted jointly with the University of Central England in Birmingham (now Birmingham City University), with a focus on recruitment, retention and progression within the probation service. Key findings include a lack of confidence amongst Asian staff with regard to how management addresses diversity issues; a perception of change in attitudes towards Asian staff directly related to the events of 9/11; a lack of understanding from other black and minority ethnic (BME) and white staff regarding Asian culture, and concern about promotion chances and job security. There has been little research on the culture of the probation service, specifically with regard to how management implements policy and how much attention is paid to diversity issues. This research highlights the need for further exploration of these issues, on a wider scale, especially in light of more recent events impacting on attitudes towards Asians, particularly from the south and east of Asia, namely, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China.


This paper investigates the application of a mixed-signal synchronous/asynchronous digital controller to DC-DC boost converters. The digital control synchronously generates current and voltage ramps by using two low-resolution digital-to-analog converters. The switch turn-on and turn-off are determined asynchronously by comparing the converter-state variables and the digitally generated current and voltage ramps. The control features high dynamic performance, frequency modulation during transients, small quantization effects, and low complexity. In order to evaluate the dynamic performance and compare the proposed solution with conventional analog peak-current-mode control, a small-signal model of the synchronous/asynchronous modulation is derived. Even if aimed to an integrated digital controller, experimental investigation has been performed by using discrete components, implementing the digital control in a field-programmable gate array by using a VHDL. The simulation and experimental results on 100-W DC-DC boost converter confirm the proposed analysis and show that the proposed solution enables a dynamic performance that is comparable with that of analog peak-current- mode control.


Paper abstractRecent research has shown that photographs dominate over text in newspapers, especially but not exclusively on page one. However, a widespread shift to tabloid-format newspapers, new design concepts, and a pre-planned template and shifting reading habits, contribute to placing new demands on front-page images. At the same time, the emergence of digital editions in the past two decades and the introduction of video and web-TV updated on a 24-7 basis have made newsroom practices more complex. Such recent and ongoing shifts raise questions that are the point of departure for this paper, specifically concerning decision-making processes about visual journalism and the characteristics of news photographs. Thus, through newsroom observations and interviews, and drawing from theories of news judgment, gatekeeping and commercialization, this study analyzes discursive practices and routines in two Swedish newsrooms. The specific focus is the process for page-one photographs and visual content in digital newspaper editions. A second aim is to examine what the increased visualization of the news means for photojournalism or, simply put, what constitutes photojournalism on page one. This is addressed through an aesthetic analysis of how images construe news value. The purpose is to learn how visual journalism is discussed, framed, understood and valued, how decisions about images are made and who makes them, and how the chosen images adhere to journalistic ideals. The study is currently underway with results forthcoming in the spring of 2015.


Increasingly, educational systems are appreciating the importance of middle leaders leading educational improvement in schools. Schools depend on middle leaders to lead site-based educational development in areas including curriculum development, teacher professional learning and student learning improvement. Middle leaders are in a unique but complex position where they influence both executive leadership and teachers within the school organisation. Adopting case study methodology to investigate the practices and influence of middle leaders leading a school-based educational development project, three semi-structured interviews and artefacts from two middle leaders were collected over eight months. The theory of practice architectures afforded an examination of data to explain the conditions and arrangements enabling and constraining the middle leaders' practices of influence. The findings showed middle leaders' influence was dependent on executive leadership support, time, formal role descriptions and trusting relationship. Furthermore, the results reveal middle leaders can influence educational development at the school level through advocating for, collaborating with, and empowering colleagues to support teacher ownership of site-based projects. Of interest, this study showed influence can be reciprocal, between middle leaders and colleagues, and between middle leaders and executive leadership.


Although implementation of universal social–emotional learning programs is becoming more common in schools, few studies have examined the cost-effectiveness of such programs. As such, the purpose of this article is two fold. First, we provide an overview of cost-effectiveness methods for school-based programs, and second, we share results of a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of a universal social–emotional learning (SEL) program, the Social Skills Improvement System—Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP; Elliott & Gresham, 2007). Specifically, we compared the cost-effectiveness of SSIS-CIP implementation across first- and second-grade classrooms, and results indicated that second grade is the more cost-effective option for implementing the SSIS-CIP. Several considerations are discussed regarding cost-effectiveness analysis of universal SEL programs as well as the importance of using CEA results to inform programming decisions.


The African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus has bimodal respiration, it has a suprabranchial air-breathing organ alongside substantial gills. We used automated bimodal respirometry to reveal that undisturbed juvenile catfish ( N =29) breathed air continuously in normoxia, with a marked diurnal cycle. Air breathing and routine metabolic rate (RMR) increased in darkness when, in the wild, this nocturnal predator forages. Aquatic hypoxia (20% air saturation) greatly increased overall reliance on air breathing. We investigated whether two measures of risk taking to breathe air, namely absolute rates of aerial O 2 uptake ( M ̇ O 2 ,air ) and the percentage of RMR obtained from air (% M ̇ O 2 ,air ), were influenced by individual standard metabolic rate (SMR) and boldness. In particular, whether any influence varied with resource availability (normoxia versus hypoxia) or relative fear of predation (day versus night). Individual SMR, derived from respirometry, had an overall positive influence on M ̇ O 2 ,air across all contexts but a positive influence on % M ̇ O 2 ,air only in hypoxia. Thus, a pervasive effect of SMR on air breathing became most acute in hypoxia, when individuals with higher O 2 demand took proportionally more risks. Boldness was estimated as time required to resume air breathing after a fearful stimulus in daylight normoxia ( T res ). Although T res had no overall influence on M ̇ O 2 ,air or % M ̇ O 2 ,air , there was a negative relationship between T res and % M ̇ O 2 ,air in daylight, in normoxia and hypoxia. There were two T res response groups, ' bold ' phenotypes with T res below 75 min ( N =13) which, in daylight, breathed proportionally more air than ' shy ' phenotypes with T res above 115 min ( N =16). Therefore, individual boldness influenced air breathing when fear of predation was high. Thus, individual energy demand and personality did not have parallel influences on the emergent tendency to take risks to obtain a resource; their influences varied in strength with context.


Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard operation for treatment of gallstone disease, which is difficult in obese patients, but narrow abdomen and thin patients are also a challenge, resulting in complications which mainly affect patients at the extreme ends of the weight spectrum. This represents a major source of morbidity and mortality from laparoscopic procedures; the majority (80%) of these complications is due to placement of the primary trocar, Searching for techniques to prevent involuntary injuries must be put as the priority, to ensure the optimal retraction , allows enough space available for manipulation of the active jaws of the laparoscopic graspers or scissors. Aim: T o define alternative sites for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, in thin and obese patients from the point of view of alteration in the abdominal dimensions, which may reduces laparoscopic, related injury. Methods: In Al Sulaimaniyah Teaching Hospital and Hatwan Private Hospitral , from (July 15 th 2004-July14th 2009) 1076 patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy by same team and 35% of them by the same surgeon. Standard 4 ports were used, with first entry port in the periumblical region. Sixty patients were selected, because of their extreme weight and the patients were classified accordingly in to two groups: Group A:had downward displacement of umbilicus (43-60 cm width & 30-45cm height of the abdomen). Group B; had narrow abdominal dimensions (28-38 cm width & 14-27cm height of the abdomen). Results: Different alternative sites for trocar insertion were selected in order to overcome abdominal thickness and discrepancy between length of the hand instruments and distance of the port to the gall bladder Conclusions: We recommend using this principle in the patients with extreme weight and narrow abdomen when XU is less than 15 cm or (more than 25cm), to decrease challenges of sequel of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in these groups of patients. Keywords: Abdominal dimensions, laparoscopy, cholecystectomy, port position


Due to the lack of time for planning contributionsin online discourse, especially textchat,language is often economised. The strategies used have been considered by many authors,suchas,Werry (1996), Murray (2000), Lee (2002), and Lotherington and Xu (2004), among others,with both grammatical processeslike ellipsis and orthographical/morphological oneslikeclipping being discussed. Our presentation looksin more detail at these, and arguesthat they areevidence that an online community of practice (Lave andWenger 1991,Wenger 1998) hasformed. Our data comesfrom text chatlogsinvolving non-native speakers of English fromseminars on an MAintroduction to linguistics. One student is a speaker ofBangla and the restare speakers of Vietnamese. The chatlogs comesfrom student-only pre-seminars as well astheseminars with the teachers on the course.We will argue that ellipsis exhibitsfeatures ofinteraction like Intersubjectivity (Darhower 2002) and Greetings and Self-initiatedCorrection(Peterson 2009), and thus demonstrates a social cohesion among the students.Regardingorthographical/morphological economisation processeslike clipping, which we referto asreduced forms, we see evidence thatstudents are standardising the reduced formsthey use(Žegarac 1998).AsWenger (1998) argues, communities of practice involve a "sharedrepertoire", and we argue thatreduced forms are part of thisrepertoire. Usersin onlinecommunities of practice use both ellipsis and reduced formsto create/maintain this community.As a result, they are also exhibiting social autonomy, a prerequisite for learner autonomy(Benson 2001).


The advancement in Image-to-Image translation techniques using generative Deep Learning-based approaches has shown promising results for the challenging task of inpainting-based 3D view synthesis. At the same time, even the current 3D view synthesis methods often create distorted structures or blurry textures inconsistent with surrounding areas. We analyzed the recently proposed algorithms for inpainting-based 3D view synthesis and observed that these algorithms no longer produce stretching and black holes. However, the existing databases such as IETR, IRCCyN, and IVY have 3D-generated views with these artifacts. This observation suggests that the existing 3D view synthesis quality assessment algorithms can not judge the quality of most recent 3D synthesized views. With this view, through this abstract, we analyze the need for a new large-scale database and a new perceptual quality metric oriented for 3D views using a test dataset.


The sugar cane was first grown produce exported from Brazil during the colonial period. Nowadays the cultivation of cane sugar became relevant for its final inclusion of ethanol in the Brazilian energy matrix. Among the effluents generated in the sugar industry vinasse has high content of organic matter, coupled with nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as minerals such as zinc, iron, manganese and others. These characteristics make it possible to use as a substrate in fermentation processes. The biosurfactants spite of its wide field of use in the environmental area when retrieving soil in the oil industry which is widely used in oil recovery wells and in the food industry and health, industrial production is restricted by the high cost of operations that involve your getting in that respect is very important to find alternatives to reduce these costs, using substrates that would be discarded in the environment or underutilized, leveraging content available carbon in these waste (solid or liquid) and minimizing the impact to the environment. The aim of this study was to use vinasse, biosurfactant production by Bacillus subtilis PC, in order to reduce production costs and minimize the environmental impacts generated by these effluents. In tests, the experimental design was the central planning central composite - DCCR, 2 n with the number of independent variables equal to 3 (pH, concentration of vinasse and amount of inoculum), with replicas at the midpoint and axial points, using agitation 120 rpm and temperature 30 °C. Measurements were made of the Surface Tension (ST) using KSV Sigma 700 tensiometer by the Wilhelmy method, measures Emulsifying index (E24), using castor oil. The use of vinasse in the fermentation process for the production of biosurfactant without supplementation of salts and nutrients were obtained values of surface tension reduction on the order of 32 mN.m -1 and the emulsifying index E24 to 51.10 %. The operating conditions where the response variable (surface tension) reached the lowest value was 55 % (v/v) concentration of vinasse, 20.40 % (v/v) inoculum concentration, pH value 6.5. The experiment showed that the inoculum concentration had the greatest effect with respect to the data of ST. The vinasse presented potential as substrate for the production of biosurfactants.


This report presents a review of two deposition techniques, solder jetting and relief printing, being considered to complement the traditional stencil printing or needle dispensing. The review of solder jetting highlighted a number of potential niche applications for technique. The majority of these are low volume applications which could avail themselves of the direct write capability of the technology, such as application of solder to substrates for selective deposition for DCA applications or via fill. Wafer bumping in low volume for specialist devices such as ASICs, as well as chip scale package bumping. could also benefit from the direct write capabilities of the process.
Relief printing (printing through thick plastic stencils with underside recesses) of adhesives has been successfully demonstrated with the manufacture of simultaneous double-sided reflow (SDRF) soldered assemblies, but some limits to the technology have emerged. To utilise this process, end users may find that solder paste and adhesives deposition will have to be limited to the larger components or coarser pitch components where large stencil apertures can be used. Adhesive printing proved easier than solder paste printing. However, the technique should be eminently suitable for printing of larger area deposits, such as for coarser pitch components, thermal adhesive under perimeter arrays (QFPs), or die-bond adhesives for chip on board assemblies. In these applications, relief printing may prove faster than needle dispensing.


Earth-abundant molecular complexes have been found to be excellent catalysts for the light-driven water oxidation reaction. Here, we demonstrate the photochemical water oxidation catalysed by three cobalt salophen complexes with different axial ligands in the presence of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ as a photosensitizer and Na2S2O8 as an electron acceptor in phosphate buffer of pH 9 and 7. The electrochemical investigation of the complexes in pH 9 including cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) verify the deposition of catalytic films on the surface of the working electrode. The deposited film characterization using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirms that the complexes decomposed to form nanoparticles. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) studies along with dynamic light-scattering (DLS) measurements of the catalyst solution during the course of photochemical water oxidation suggest the catalyst decomposition and the formation of nanoparticles. The XPS measurements of the produced nanoparticles suggest that the surface of the particles is composed of Co(II) and OH species. In contrast, multiple experiments argue that light-driven water oxidation using the same complexes in pH 7 is homogeneous. We thus conclude that cobalt salophen complexes act as precatalysts that decompose under basic conditions to form cobalt hydroxide nanoparticles which act as a real catalyst for the light-driven water oxidation reaction, whereas the same complexes act as a homogeneous catalyst in the photochemical water oxidation reaction under neutral conditions.


Americans who care about their past should stand up and cheer for Oliver Stone. Certainly no other filmmaker in Hollywood is able to get the public so involved in open debates about history -its facts, its meanings, its modes of representation, its value in our lives. With Salvador he confronted the generally buried issue of American interventions into Central America; with Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, he raised questions about the wisdom and morality of the Vietnam War; with JFK he suggested the possibility of conspiracy at the highest levels of the government of the United States.


Traditional lead brass is gradually prevented from application by many countries' governments because lead does harm to human health and pollutes the environment. New types of environment-friendly lead-free brass with favorable machinability are urgently demanded in the electrical, electronics and plumping fields. Lead-free Mg-Sb brass was fabricated in present. Experimental results showed that when the content of Mg is 1.0wt%, Sb is 0.8wt% and Cu is 58.0~59.0wt%, the alloy's mechanical properties and machinability are favorable for industry application. With the increase of the content of Sb, the machinability increased, while the mechanical properties decreased. Lots of Cu2Mg and Cu9Sb2 particles on the order of microns exist in the inner-grain and grain boundaries. These particles improve the machinability, however, lower the tensile strength and the elongation. A three-way pipe joint was successfully punched with the fabricated Mg-Sb brass bar, and this demonstrated that the fabricated Mg-Sb brass possesses favorable hot working property.


: In this work we prepared a porous Silicon (PS) layer by electrochemical etching (ECE) technique using different etching parameters including current density, anodization time and Hydrofluoric (HF) acid concentration. From the structural properties, we found that the full width half maximum of the observed spectrum from the XRD analysis has been increased and the peak position is slightly shifted to higher value. Also the etching parameters effect on the pore diameter and in turn on all chemical compositional and optical properties. As well as for electrical properties, the barrier height increases with pore diameter and the depletion width as well. From these result, it can tell that PS layer is better than c-Si for many applications


The technique of sagittal split osteotomy of the mandibular ramus is an established technique that has been evolving over the years, with significant improvements regarding stability, better bone contact between the segments, and possibilities of osteosynthesis. However, paresthesia is common in the postoperatory, sometimes permanent, and undesirable fractures in the subcondylar region can occur leading to longer operative time and extraoral scars. The short lingual split technique is an easy technique that simplifies the horizontal osteotomy of the ramus and decreases the risk of undesirable fractures with a neurosensitive recovery of patients in a much shorter time because of minor trauma and nerve manipulation during the execution.


During the recent times N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have gained importance and now they constitute a new group of ligands that have become a part of the organometallic chemistry and metal catalysts. Presently, the recent research is focused on two aspects; firstly, discovering the uses of NHCs based ligands for catalyst, and secondly on the developing a novel NHC ligands. In view of these developments, we were interested in developing and synthesizing the new "expanded ring" carbenes, i.e. NHCs possessing more than 5 atoms in their heterocyclic ring systems unlike the NHCs that are a part of a 5-membered imidazolium-based moiety. The NHCs having either 6 or 7 atoms in heterocyclic ring still remain dormant and unexplored comparatively and their properties and reactivity is also not known, primarily because of the difficulties faced previously in synthesising the expanded ring carbene compounds. The free carbenes have been synthesized several times during the recent times and they have been found to be astonishingly stable. The NHCs having more than five atoms in the ring tend to show basic properties and they possess unique structural properties too. For example, consider, the angle formed by the two nitrogen atoms at the carbon atom present at the centre of larger ring NHCs are comparatively larger when compared with the usual five membered NHC's, as a result of this large angle the substituents attached to the nitrogen atom are forced to come closer to the metal centre. Donor-functionalised NHCs have also found a significant part in metal complexes for catalysis and also in areas related to the organometallic chemistry. The aim of this thesis is to develop the novel 6-membered NHC based on perimidine. The perimidine based NHC that we developed is bi-dentate and it can use the oxygen atom which is in the close vicinity of the carbene, and can bind with the metal atom, thereby increasing the denticity of the ligand. The NHC's counter ion was changed by simple ion exchange reaction for varied solubility in different solvents.


Background: Host–microbe interactions at the intestinal mucosal–luminal interface (MLI) are critical factors in the biology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods: To address this issue, we performed a series of investigations integrating analysis of the bacteria and metaproteome at the MLI of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and healthy human subjects. After quantifying these variables in mucosal specimens from a first sample set, we searched for bacteria exhibiting strong correlations with host proteins. This assessment identified a small subset of bacterial phylotypes possessing this host interaction property. Using a second and independent sample set, we tested the association of disease state with levels of these 14 "host interaction" bacterial phylotypes. Results: A high frequency of these bacteria (35%) significantly differentiated human subjects by disease type. Analysis of the MLI metaproteomes also yielded disease classification with exceptional confidence levels. Examination of the relationships between the bacteria and proteins, using regularized canonical correlation analysis (RCCA), sorted most subjects by disease type, supporting the concept that host–microbe interactions are involved in the biology underlying IBD. Moreover, this correlation analysis identified bacteria and proteins that were undetected by standard means‐based methods such as analysis of variance, and identified associations of specific bacterial phylotypes with particular protein features of the innate immune response, some of which have been documented in model systems. Conclusions: These findings suggest that computational mining of mucosa‐associated bacteria for host interaction provides an unsupervised strategy to uncover networks of bacterial taxa and host processes relevant to normal and disease states. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2012;)


More than 80% of Uzbekistan's agriculture is irrigated and low water quality as well as insufficient water quantity is the main challenges for its development. Transition to a market economy requires reforms in agriculture and especially in water sector. The principal basis for transition to a market economy is introduction of paid water use. The main source of funding for water management in Uzbekistan is the state budget. Allocations from state funds in recent years have grown substantially. Considerable part in the total amount of funding for operational needs accounts for electricity, the cost of which is growing much faster than the increase in appropriations in water sector in general. Fundamental aspects of economic management system should be a mechanism for financing water management organizations, both at the expense of the state budget and at the expense of water users through setting water fees. Payment for water will be a major pre-requisite to save water resources. In Uzbekistan transition to paid water use will allow the more economical use of water resources, and will help to resolve many political, social, economic and environmental problems. Moreover it will solve technical problems which will improve the soil conditions.


A diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition (autism) provides limited information regarding an individual's level of functioning, information key in determining support and funding needs. Using the framework introduced by Arksey and O'Malley, this scoping review aimed to identify measures of functioning suitable for school-aged children on the autism spectrum and evaluate their overall utility, including content validity against the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the ICF Core Sets for Autism. The overall utility of the 13 included tools was determined using the Outcome Measures Rating Form (OMRF), with the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS-3) receiving the highest overall utility rating. Content validity of the tools in relation to the ICF and ICF Core Sets for Autism varied, with few assessment tools including any items linking to Environmental Factors of the ICF. The ABAS-3 had the greatest total number of codes linking to the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Autism while the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Vineland-3) had the greatest number of unique codes linking to both the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Autism and the Brief ICF Core Set for Autism (6–16 years). Measuring functioning of school-aged children on the spectrum can be challenging, however, it is important to accurately capture their abilities to ensure equitable and individualised access to funding and supports.


Background: A fast acting, clean nicotine delivery system might substantially displace cigarettes. Public health consequences would depend on the subsequent prevalence of nicotine use, hazards of delivery systems, and intrinsic hazards of nicotine. Methods: A spreadsheet program, DEMANDS, estimates differences in expected mortality, adjusted for nicotine delivery system features and prevalence of nicotine use, by extending the data and methods of the SAMMEC 3 software from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The user estimates disease risks attributable to nicotine, other smoke components, and risk factors that coexist with smoking. The public health consequences of a widely used clean nicotine inhaler replacing cigarettes were compared to historical observations and public health goals, using four different risk attribution scenarios and nicotine use prevalence from 0–100%. Main outcome measures: Changes in years of potential life before age 85 (YPL85). Results: If nicotine accounts for less than a third of smokers' excess risk of SAMMEC diseases, as it most likely does, then even with very widespread use of clean nicotine DEMANDS predicts public health gains, relative to current tobacco use. Public health benefits accruing from a widely used clean nicotine inhaler probably equal or exceed the benefits of achieving Healthy People 2010 goals. Conclusions: Clean nicotine inhalers might improve public health as much as any feasible tobacco control effort. Although the relevant risk estimates are somewhat uncertain, partial nicotine deregulation deserves consideration as part of a broad tobacco control policy.


The sum of random variables that are identical and independent from an exponential distribution creates the compound distribution. It is called compound negative binomial distribution as the sum of exponential distribution when the number of random variables added follows the negative binomial distribution. This compound distribution's characteristic function is established by using mathematical analysis methods, included its uniform continuity property. The characteristic function's parametric curves never disappear from the complex plane, which means it is a positively defined function. Another characteristic function's property shows that this compound distribution is one of infinitely divisible distribution.


Abstract. Generic land surface models are generally driven by large-scale data sets to describe the climate, the soil properties, the vegetation dynamic and the cropland management (irrigation). This paper investigates the uncertainties in these drivers and their impacts on the evapotranspiration (ET) simulated from the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA-A-gs) land surface model over a 12-year Mediterranean crop succession. We evaluate the forcing data sets used in the standard implementation of ISBA over France where the model is driven by the SAFRAN (Systeme d'Analyse Fournissant des Renseignements Adaptes a la Nivologie) high spatial resolution atmospheric reanalysis, the leaf area index (LAI) time courses derived from the ECOCLIMAP-II land surface parameter database and the soil texture derived from the French soil database. For climate, we focus on the radiations and rainfall variables and we test additional data sets which include the ERA-Interim (ERA-I) low spatial resolution reanalysis, the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre data set (GPCC) and the MeteoSat Second Generation (MSG) satellite estimate of downwelling shortwave radiations. The evaluation of the drivers indicates very low bias in daily downwelling shortwave radiation for ERA-I (2.5 W m−2) compared to the negative biases found for SAFRAN (−10 W m−2) and the MSG satellite (−12 W m−2). Both SAFRAN and ERA-I underestimate downwelling longwave radiations by −12 and −16 W m−2, respectively. The SAFRAN and ERA-I/GPCC rainfall are slightly biased at daily and longer timescales (1 and 0.5 % of the mean rainfall measurement). The SAFRAN rainfall is more precise than the ERA-I/GPCC estimate which shows larger inter-annual variability in yearly rainfall error (up to 100 mm). The ECOCLIMAP-II LAI climatology does not properly resolve Mediterranean crop phenology and underestimates the bare soil period which leads to an overall overestimation of LAI over the crop succession. The simulation of irrigation by the model provides an accurate irrigation amount over the crop cycle but the timing of irrigation occurrences is frequently unrealistic. Errors in the soil hydrodynamic parameters and the lack of irrigation in the simulation have the largest influence on ET compared to uncertainties in the large-scale climate reanalysis and the LAI climatology. Among climate variables, the errors in yearly ET are mainly related to the errors in yearly rainfall. The underestimation of the available water capacity and the soil hydraulic diffusivity induce a large underestimation of ET over 12 years. The underestimation of radiations by the reanalyses and the absence of irrigation in the simulation lead to the underestimation of ET while the overall overestimation of LAI by the ECOCLIMAP-II climatology induces an overestimation of ET over 12 years. This work shows that the key challenges to monitor the water balance of cropland at regional scale concern the representation of the spatial distribution of the soil hydrodynamic parameters, the variability of the irrigation practices, the seasonal and inter-annual dynamics of vegetation and the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of rainfall.


Spring cover crop kill date effects on N and water availability to subsequent no-till corn (Zea mays L.) have not been studied. This 2-yr study was conducted in 1990 and 1991 at Coastal Plain and Piedmont locations in Maryland to evaluate soil moisture and corn responses to three cover crop kill dates, three corn planting dates, and four fertilizer N (FN) rates following cover crops of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), cereal rye (Secale cereale L.), and vetch-rye mixture. No-cover checks were included for each corn planting date. Corn yield ranged from 0.8 to 13.3 Mg ha -1 in 1990, and from 3.9 to 12.6 Mg ha -1 in 1991. Corn grain yield without FN was greatest following vetch or vetch-rye mixture. Late April or early May kill dates consistently resulted in greater corn yield than earlier kill dates, probably due to differences in N availability and moisture conservation. Cover crops killed late did not deplete surface soil moisture. The economic FN rate reflected N contributions and moisture conservation by each cover crop. At the Coastal Plain location, economic FN rates were 30 to 76 kg ha -1 for corn following vetch, 65 to 193 kg ha -1 following vetch-rye mixture, 161 to 247 kg ha -1 following rye, and 201 kg ha -1 following no cover crop. Similar rankings were observed for the Piedmont location, but maximum yield was lower following rye, and lower FN rates were required to attain that yield. Summer soil water conservation by cover crop residues was more important than spring moisture depletion by growing cover crops in determining final corn yield.


The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in the United Kingdom. It is characterized not only by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities but also by differentiations in terms of migration histories, religions and educational and economic backgrounds, both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article attempts to describe how people negotiate social interactions in such a 'super-diverse' context. It develops the notion of 'commonplace diversity', referring to ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity being experienced as a normal part of social life by local residents. This commonplace diversity has resulted in people acting with 'civility towards diversity'. While in public space people do not change their behaviour according to other people's backgrounds, in semi-public spaces, such as associations and local institutions, here conceptualized as 'parochial space', people's different backgrounds are acknowledged and sometimes talked about. The article discusses how people negotiate their differences in these two different kinds of spaces. It shows how civility towards diversity is used as a strategy to both engage with difference as well as avoid deeper contact. Civility thus facilitates the negotiation of both positive relations and possible tensions.


An evidence-based systematic review including scientific evidence, expert opinion, folkloric precedent, history, pharmacology, kinetics/dynamics, interactions, adverse effects, toxicology, and dosing.


The Zataria multiflora Boiss is endemic plant of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several traditional purposes have been indicated for this medicinal plant including medical purposes, natural preservative of a wide variety of foods and as a food flavour. Currently, the correlation has been found between the essential oil of Z. multiflora Boiss and anti-carcinogenesis effects by regulation of two controller genes of mammalian cell cycle named ATM and MDM2. The aim of this study is to understand the molecular response of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (Rb1) and protein (pRb) to the essential oil of this plant. Rb1 gene is required for inhibiting of cell cycle entering to S-phase and its inactivation contributes to tumorigenesis. In present study, liver samples of eight normal male rats were examined for expression analysis of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene and its product by using Semiquantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting methods, respectively. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software through independent-sample T-test. The essential oil supplementation at concentration of 50 μl/kg body weight per day induced significantly upregulation in gene and protein expression of Rb1 tumor suppressor in rat liver after one week treatment (P = 0.001). Induction in level of retinoblastoma tumor suppressor by essential oil of Z. multiflora Boiss along with its property in regulation of ATM and MDM2 genes expression appear to play an important role in cell cycle control. This data implicated that the essential oil of Z. multiflora Boiss may offer new tools for therapeutic intervention in the retinoblastoma pathway for cancer prevention and treatment. This is the first report showing the potential role of essential oil of Z. multiflora Boiss as a new class of natural retinoblastoma tumor suppressor inducer and therefore, it could be used as a natural preservative ingredient in food and pharmaceutical industries.


AIM AND METHODS To investigate the mechanism of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) induced permeability injury of rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (RPMVEC) monolayer, the effect of TNF on permeability of RPMVEC monolayer was examined with microfilter and the effect of TNF on RPMVEC F-actin was observed with immunocytochemistry. The interfering action of formoterol, anisodamine and cholera toxin on permeability and F-actin changes induced by TNF was also observed. RESULTS (1) TNF induced significant increase in permeability of RPMVEC monolayer 30, 60 and 90 minutes after treatment with TNF. (2) F-actin in RPMVEC depolymerized 90 minutes after treatment with TNF. Permeability and F-actin did not change significantly when formoterol, anisodamine or cholera toxin was added separately. CONCLUSION TNF can induce permeability injury of RPMVEC monolayer, which is correlated with depolymerization of F-actin. Formoterol, anisodamine and cholera toxin can inhibit the permeability change induced by TNF which may due to their inhibition to the distribution change of F-actin.


: The chemotaxis of nodule bacteria cultures of pea Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. vicia RRL1, RRL3, RRL6 i RRL7 isolated from the plants of Ivano-Frankivsk district to different organic substances was investigated. Saccharose, pyruvate and tartaric acid were the most active attractants among carbohydrates and organic acids studied for all used nodule bacteria strains. Serine, alanine, glycine, tyrosine and cysteine were the most active attractants of amino acids. Dependence of pea nodule bacteria chemotaxic activity on time of growth and attractant concentrations was revealed. The isolate specificity towards organic substances for different strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. vicia was found.


The structures of two novel fungal antibiotics, isolated from a Pterula species, that interfere with the NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase and inhibit the respiration of eucaryotes, were determined by spectroscopic techniques. Both compounds, pterulinic acid (1a) and pterulone (2), contain a 1-benzoxepin ring system and are chlorinated. Pterulinic acid (1a), which was obtained as a 1:5 inseparable mixture of the two isomers (Z)-1a and (E)-1a, in addition contains a furan. Their structures were determined by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy, and 2D heteronuclear correlation experiments permitted the assignment of all NMR signals.


An improved mathematical model for transient simulations of commutator machines is presented in this paper. This model can simulate and predict the line current harmonics during healthy and faulty operation conditions. A lumped parameter model that considers every single coil in the stator and rotor as a separate electrical and magnetic circuit is proposed. Self and mutual inductances of the coils are estimated by means of the winding function approach (WFA), accounting for the most relevant space harmonics in the machine air gap. The commutation is modeled by using the real brush width and assuming that the brush-commutator contact resistance is a function uniquely of their contact area, which depends on the armature position. Short circuits between adjacent commutator bars are investigated. It is shown that the model achieves good accuracy, reproducing fairly well the armature current ripple for healthy and faulty operation of the machine.


This study combined microscratch test and fracture-mechanical analysis to assess the interfacial reliability of Nafion and Pt/Ru catalyst layers in micro fuel cells. Scratch test was used to determine the critical load for interfacial failure, while fracture-mechanical analysis was used to quantify the adhesion between Nafion (the electrolyte polymer substrate) and Pt/Ru alloy (catalyst coating). We also proposed a key of solving ambiguous problems in indentation cracking test by determining geometric information from crack propagation and critical points, as for a hard porous coating on a soft substrate. A comparative analysis of three coating methods, spray, decalcomania and their mixed process, was done to assess the validity of our new method.


The article examined issues pertinent to the education of Latina and Latino students in the United States. Key to this discussion is the issue of changing demographics and its relationship to the structure and practice of public schooling in Latino communities. The significant role of the economy and the changing nature of poverty in perpetuating the political dynamics of racialization and other forms of inequalities were considered here, particularly with respect to educational research and public policy concerns central to an emancipatory vision of Latino education. Anchored to this critical lens, the authors call for a critical vision of public policy— one that engages contextually with the cultural, historical, and political dimensions associated with the location of Latinos in the U.S. political economy.


We describe an application of a dynamic replanning technique in a highly dynamic and complex domain: the military aeromedical evacuation of patients to medical treatment facilities. U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is the DoD agency responsible for evacuating patients during wartime and peace. Doctrinally, patients requiring extended treatment must be evacuated by air to a suitable Medical Treatment Facility (MTF). The Persian Gulf war was the first significant armed contlict in which this concept has been put to a serious test. The results were far from satisfactory -- about 60% of the patients ended up at the wrong destinations. In early 1993, the Department of Defense tasked USTRANSCOM to consolidate the command and control of medical regulation and aeromedical evacuation operations. The ensuing analysis led to TRAC2ES (TRANSCOM Regulating and Command and Control Evacuation System), a decision support system for planning and scheduling medical evacuation operations. Probably the most challenging aspect of the problem has to do with the dynamics of a domain in which requirements and constraints continuously change over time. Continuous dynamic replanning is a key capability of TRAC2ES. This paper describes the application and the AI approach we took in providing this capability.


The trade-off between lifespan and reproduction is commonly explained by differential allocation of limited resources. Recent research has shown that the ratio of protein to carbohydrate (P : C) of a fly's diet mediates the lifespan–reproduction trade-off, with higher P : C diets increasing egg production but decreasing lifespan. To test whether this P : C effect is because of changing allocation strategies (Y-model hypothesis) or detrimental effects of protein ingestion on lifespan (lethal protein hypothesis), we measured lifespan and egg production in Queensland fruit flies varying in reproductive status (mated, virgin and sterilized females, virgin males) that were fed one of 18 diets varying in protein and carbohydrate amounts. The Y-model predicts that for sterilized females and for males, which require little protein for reproduction, there will be no effect of P : C ratio on lifespan; the lethal protein hypothesis predicts that the effect of P : C ratio should be similar in all groups. In support of the lethal protein hypothesis, and counter to the Y-model, the P : C ratio of the ingested diets had similar effects for all groups. We conclude that the trade-off between lifespan and reproduction is mediated by the detrimental side-effects of protein ingestion on lifespan.


Aphasia test psychometric studies are necessary, especially for brief instruments in Spanish. A test was designed to quickly detect the basic resources of verbal communication in aphasic patients. In a sample of healthy Spanish-speakers, it was studied: (a) their test performance according to demographic variables; (b) the inter-item-internal consistency; (c) the subtest-factor structure; (d) the test-retest reliability during an extended inter-test interval of 7 to 14 months; (e) the inter-rater reliability. Data were collected from 151 participants living in Cordoba or Buenos Aires, aged 6 to 80, 56% females, with an average 8-year education. Subsamples of 34 and 26 participants were evaluated for test-retest and inter-rater reliability studies. The total score was only affected by age. Age and education had a significant effect on the time required to perform the test. Satisfactory reliability coefficients were observed. An exploratory and unrestricted factor analysis indicated that 68% of the variance was explained by three factors. A one factor solution was also suitable. The test-score proved to be reliable, representative of a verbal homogeneous construct and sensitive to the effect of age. The administration of this test of free-distribution (with 72 items) required on average, between 11 and 17 min.

 Key words: Aphasia screening test, minimum verbal performance, reliability, validity, norms, comparative city studies, age, education, gender, free-distribution tests.


The objective of this study was to find out the influence of curing age on microstructure in barium titanate – Portland cement composites. Barium titanate, BaTiO3 (BT) particles was mixed with Portland Cement (PC) and BT content of 50% by volume to produce the composites. All composites were cured in chamber of 60oC and 98% relative humidity for 1, 2, 3, and 7 days. Thereafter, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the interfacial zone between cement and BT ceramics. SEM observation indicated that the BT-PC composite cured for 7 days clearly showed calcium silicate hydrate gel (an essential hydration product of Portland cement) surrounding the BT particles and has lower porosity. In BT-PC composite cured for 1 day, the gel can be seen but of less quantity and has higher porosity which clearly affected the interfacial zone.


Willingness-to-pay (WTP) studies are increasingly being used in the evaluation of health care programmes and, although less frequently, for priority setting in health care. The usefulness of willingness-to-pay as a discriminatory tool for priority setting is considered in this paper for three different health care programmes in Ireland: cancer, cardiovascular and community care. While the resulting estimates are consistent with respondents' rankings of the programmes, there is no statistical difference among the three programmes in terms of WTP. In considering marginal changes to existing health care programmes people consider their rankings of the programmes and the existing capacity of each programme. People are also more concerned with the gains to themselves of expanding various health care programmes than with wider issues of access or fairness.


sonality depends upon the social organization and culture; and Part 9 discusses the needs and methods of social control. The organization on the whole, however, lacks incisiveness. Material is drawn from other cultures besides our own, which gives a sound basis for generalization. Professor Hiller's reading has been wide, and most of it factual. Over a thousand authors are cited in the text. The only aid to teachers is a selected bibliography at the end of each chapter. MAURICE R. DAVIE Yale University


The increasingly aging population and lack of donor tissue has pushed tissue regeneration to the forefront of modern biomedical research and biopolymers traditionally found in the food and pharmaceutical industry are increasingly being used in tissue engineering. The development of tissue engineering provides the opportunity to take a sample of cells from a patient which are then cultured in vitro to organise into functional tissue that can then be implanted back into the patient, ultimately, overcoming problems of tissue rejection and the need for donor tissue. To grow replacement tissue requires a suitable substrate or scaffold for cells to attach, proliferate and organise into viable tissue that can be safely implanted into the body. Biopolymers and hydrogel forming biopolymers in particular, have been shown to be a promising scaffold material due having properties that resemble the environment of the mammalian extracellular matrix (ECM). In addition properties such as mild gelation conditions, potential for good mass transport of nutrients and waste molecules, nontoxic nature and biological compatibility provide an advantage over synthetic polymers and ceramic and metallic materials which have also been used as tissue engineering scaffolds.


This paper presents an optimal energy control scheme for a grid independent photovoltaic (PV) solar system consisting of a PV array, battery energy storage, and time varying loads (a small critical load and a larger variable non-critical load). The optimal controller design is based on a class of adaptive critic designs (ACDs) called the action dependant heuristic dynamic programming (ADHDP). The ADHDP class of ACDs uses two neural networks, an "action" network (which actually dispenses the control signals) and a "critic" network (which critics the action network performance). An optimal control policy is evolved by the action network over a period of time using the feedback signals provided by the critic network. The objectives of the optimal controller in order of decreasing importance is to first fully dispatch the required energy to the critical loads at all times; secondly to dispatch energy to the battery whenever necessary so as to be able to dispatch energy to the critical loads in any absence of energy from the PV array; and lastly to dispatch energy to the non-critical loads while not interfering with the first two objectives. Results on three different US cities show that the ADHDP based optimal control scheme outperforms the conventional PV-priority control scheme in maintaining the stated objectives almost all the time.


Motivation and innovativeness are both included in the complex business processes that organizations need to use to ensure value to customers. There are circumstances where innovativeness is required, companies need the participation of their employees for a successful execution. Employee innovativeness is required to ensure successful service delivery. The employees may have the ability, knowledge, and skills but few may be willing to do more than what their tasks require them to do. The willingness of employees to be innovative highly depends on the factors that motivate them. In the current study, it is aimed to examine the ways motivation affects innovativeness in service industries. A review of literatures is performed to gain insights on the concepts of motivation and innovativeness and to examine the relationship that exist between the concepts. Results from the current study is significant since the existing literature is providing only a few number of articles referring to the relationship of motivation factors to quality services delivery and its effects on organizational progress. Even today, there is no significant progress on the literature with refers to innovativeness within the service industry. The current study will show there is a gap in this area which may lead to further studies related to the field.


Service learning is an undergraduate education strategy found across four program areas funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). This cross-foundation, retrospective evaluation examines 35 projects of $100,000 or more funded between 1985-95. Study information was based on qualitative data and approaches, with the majority of project activities and results self-reported by grantees. Written surveys and review of annual progress reports submitted by grantees were augmented by follow-up telephone inquiries and e-mails. Four international projects are included in the evaluations. Most projects used approaches involving classroom learning, community service, and reflection on service within the context of coursework. The report notes that overall about 90 percent of WKKF-funded service learning efforts continued beyond the life of the grant. Projects leveraged over $14 million in additional support and in-kind contributions. Service learning was implemented successfully in a wide range of higher education institutions nationwide, often becoming an integral part of, and sometimes the catalyst for, revision of curricula and development of new programs. Service learning projects were seen to meet students' needs for relevance and application, as well as a range of community needs. Findings support service learning as a powerful educational tool that can help develop students' leadership skills and sense of civic responsibility. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.


In this paper, we offer an accurate framework for analyzing the performance of wireless communication systems adopting the recently proposed Space Shift Keying (SSK) modulation scheme. More specifically, we study the performance of a Nt x 1 MISO (Multiple-Input-Single-Output) system setup with Maximum-Likelihood (ML) detection and full Channel State Information (CSI) at the receiver. The exact Average Bit Error Probability (ABEP) over generically correlated and non-identically distributed Nakagami-m fading channels is computed in closed-form when Nt=2, while very accurate and asymptotically tight upper bounds are proposed to compute the ABEP when Nt > 2. With respect to current literature, our contribution is threefold: i) the ABEP is computed in closed-form without resorting to Monte Carlo numerical simulations, which, besides being computationally intensive, only yield limited insights about the system performance and cannot be exploited for a systematic optimization of it, ii) the framework accounts for arbitrary fading conditions and is not restricted to identically distributed fading channels, thus offering a comprehensive understanding of the performance of SSK modulation over generalized fading channels, and iii) the analytical framework could be readily adapted to study the performance over generalized fading channels with arbitrary fading distributions, since the Nakagami-m distribution is a very flexible fading model, which either includes or can closely approximate several other fading models. Numerical results show that the performance of SSK modulation is significantly affected by the characteristics of fading channels, {e.g.}, channel correlation, fading severity, and power imbalance among the Nt transmit-receive wireless links. Analytical frameworks and theoretical findings are also substantiated via Monte Carlo simulations.


With the introduction of modern techniques in plastic surgery, severe injuries concerning the extremities and scalp are now amenable to surgical treatment. Successful reimplantation of the scalp either total or partial have been rarely reported in the literature. We treated a patient with avulsion affecting 2/3 of the scalp, the right ear and a cutaneous flap on right side of the face. We report here the initial care and operative procedure. The avulsed scalp was revascularized through microanastomoses of the temporal artery and vein. The reimplantation was well succeed and cosmetic results were satisfactory.


We show how stimulated parametric processes can be employed in experiments on beyond the diffraction limit to overcome the problem of low visibility obtained by using spontaneous down conversion operating in the high gain regime. We further show enhancement of the count rate by several orders when stimulated parametric processes are used. Both the two photon counts and the visibility can be controlled by the phase of the stimulating coherent beam.


Abstract. Continuing global warming will have a strong impact on the Greenland ice sheet in the coming centuries. During the last decade (2000–2010), both increased melt-water runoff and enhanced ice discharge from calving glaciers have contributed 0.6 ± 0.1 mm yr−1 to global sea-level rise, with a relative contribution of 60 and 40% respectively. Here we use a higher-order ice flow model, spun up to present day, to simulate future ice volume changes driven by both atmospheric and oceanic temperature changes. For these projections, the flow model accounts for runoff-induced basal lubrication and ocean warming-induced discharge increase at the marine margins. For a suite of 10 atmosphere and ocean general circulation models and four representative concentration pathway scenarios, the projected sea-level rise between 2000 and 2100 lies in the range of +1.4 to +16.6 cm. For two low emission scenarios, the projections are conducted up to 2300. Ice loss rates are found to abate for the most favourable scenario where the warming peaks in this century, allowing the ice sheet to maintain a geometry close to the present-day state. For the other moderate scenario, loss rates remain at a constant level over 300 years. In any scenario, volume loss is predominantly caused by increased surface melting as the contribution from enhanced ice discharge decreases over time and is self-limited by thinning and retreat of the marine margin, reducing the ice–ocean contact area. As confirmed by other studies, we find that the effect of enhanced basal lubrication on the volume evolution is negligible on centennial timescales. Our projections show that the observed rates of volume change over the last decades cannot simply be extrapolated over the 21st century on account of a different balance of processes causing ice loss over time. Our results also indicate that the largest source of uncertainty arises from the surface mass balance and the underlying climate change projections, not from ice dynamics.


Peripheral T-cell lymphomas-not otherwise specified (PTCL/NOS) are the most common T-cell neoplasms. This study sought to reshape the PTCL/NOS sub-classification (including its two main morphological variants, Lennert lymphoma, LL, and Follicular variant, F-PTCL) based on the correspondence between their molecular features and those of different functional T-cell subsets, also assessing the clinical impact of such an approach.
We found that PTCLs/NOS could be divided into groups corresponding to T-cell subsets differently reliant on transcription regulators including mTOR and FOXP3, and identified minimal gene sets discriminating among these groups. Notably, by grouping tumors according to their dependency on master regulators of T-lymphocyte fate, we identified three groups (T-cytotoxic, Treg/TFH, and other-T-helper) characterized by specific genetic patterns and significantly different clinical outcomes. Immunohistochemistry partially substituted for the molecular analysis by consistently recognizing only Treg and TFH cases. Finally, targeted inhibition of MTOR in T-helper cases (that were characterized by genetic lesions targeting the pathway) was proved to be effective ex vivo. We conclude that PTCL/NOS can be divided into subgroups corresponding to different cellular counterparts, characterized by different genetic patterns and possibly sensitivity to specific therapeutic approaches.
Furthermore, we identified different gene and microRNA signatures for LL capable of differentiating it from other PTCL/NOS and enriched in cytotoxic function. Moreover, PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway emerged as novel therapeutic targets for LL. Additionally, LL showed some differences with other PTCL/NOS in terms of clinical features, all supporting its recognition as a distinct entity. Besides, we found that F-PTCL has a distinct molecular signature more similar to PTCL/NOS rather than AITL, and therefore cannot be included among AITLs at least based on GEP, although this necessities more genetic studies.
Overall, these results may impact on PTCL classification as well as on future studies aimed to define the more appropriate therapeutic strategy for each identified subgroup/entity.


Within local socio-ecological context, the fertility determinants of a population are mediated through complex interrelated physiological and behavioural pathways. We aimed to find out the direct and indirect determinants of fertility of sedente and migrant Oraon populations using Structural Equation Model (SEM). Bivariate analysis showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) sedente-migrant differences in socio-demographic, reproductive, contraceptive, and reproductive and sexual decision-making variables. Results of SEM showed migration status, age at first conception, contraceptive preference and reproductive and sexual decision making have direct but negative association (p ≤ 0.05), and age of the participants, under-five mortality and preference for male child have direct but positive association with fertility (p ≤ 0.05). These variables are also associated with fertility through certain mediated pathways (p ≤ 0.05) like ages at first conception with contraceptive preferences, reproductive and sexual decision-making ability (positive), under-five mortality and desired family size (negative). Educational status of the spouses showed indirect association (p ≤ 0.05) with fertility through four pathways: (i) contraceptive preferences; (ii) reproductive and sexual decision-making ability; (iii) ages at first conception (positive); and (iv) desired family size (negative). Hence, sedente and migrant participants reflected a sharp difference in the determinants of fertility owing to differential local socio-ecological attributes.


The role of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma GT), phosphohexose isomerase (PHI), pseudouridine (PSD) and acute phase reactant proteins (C-reactive protein (C-RP], alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (alpha 1-AGP) and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (alpha 1-ACT) in distinguishing benign from malignant conditions of the digestive tract and their value in assessing the prognosis of gastrointestinal neoplasms was evaluated. For each marker it has been possible to produce a simple scoring index derived from the values found in the control population. This work suggests that pre-operative levels of certain cancer markers may be useful in tumor detection and may also give prognostic information additional to pathological staging.


The use of concentrated sulphuric acid to purify benzene, toluene and xylene produces acidic waste known as acid tar. The characterization of the acid tar to determine the composition and physical properties to device a way to use the waste was done. There were three acid tars two from benzene (B acid tar), toluene and xylene (TX acid tar) purification streams and one which was from the storage tank (HT acid tar). The viscosity and density varied greatly amoung the three acid tars with B acid tar having the lowest viscosity (28.3mPa.s) and HT acid tar having the highest viscosity (63.592Pa.s). For density HT had the lowest (1.43g/ml) and TX had the highest (1.549g/ml). The sulphuric acid % concentration was 15.4% for HT, 23.7% for TX and 24.2% for B acid tar. The solubility test also showed a difference in the three acid tars, B acid tar was more soluble in water than in methanol while the other two were more soluble in methanol than in water. GC MS and FT-IR results showed that TX and HT acid tars had weak organic acid such carboxylic acid, alcohols and aldehydes. The B acid tar had few organics as compared to TX and HT. The results show that the sulphuric acid is being lost in the holding tank and the physical and chemical properties of B and TX acid tar are different thus the need to treat differently if they are to be treated separately. The HT acid tar has properties that make it easier to work with; an example is the high viscosity and the high organic content. Keywords: Acid tar, benzol processing, sulphuric acid, organic acids, characterization and viscosity


An extracellular dextranase (EC 18.104.22.168) was purified approximately 75-fold from cell-free culture filtrates of Fusarium moniliforme. The purified dextranase was of the endo type, and isomaltose was identified as the primary end product of dextran hydrolysis. The molecular weight of the dextranase was determined to be 39,000 by gel permeation chromatography. The enzyme was most active at pH 5.5, and the temperature optimum was near 55 C. Activity was not inhibited by either ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or iodoacetate. The Km for dextran with an average molecular weight of 10,000 was estimated to be 1.1 � 10-4 M. The electrophoretic mobility of the dextranase was distinctly different from that of a Penicillium-derived commercial dextranase. The F. moniliforme dextranase was also found to differ from the commercial preparation by its greater relative activity against glucans isolated from Streptococcus mutans.


We present a proposal for a new type of quantum ratchets in application of weak-localization (WL) effect in mesoscopic chaotic dots. Coherent electrons transport through the dots under an applied ac voltage and a synchronized pulsating magnetic field. In the first half cycle of the voltage alternation with no magnetic field, the WL effect reduces the electron transmission on average, while the applied magnetic field breaks the time-reversal symmetry in the latter half cycle, suppressing the WL effect. As a result, nonvanishing amount of net electric current in one direction can be measured. We exactly calculate the net electric current which is found accessible in experiments. It is also suggested that the observation of this rectified current is a good quantitative measure of the WL effect in mesoscopic chaotic dots, in contrast with the WL lineshape measurement.


The present study was conducted to investigate the .. water
relations of individual plant cells and the biophysical
parameters controlling plant growth in the context of salt
stress. Growth and water relations were studied in growing as
well as in mature zones of the first emerged leaf of wheat
seedlings (cv. Flanders, a British variety) in the context of
NaCl stress. Various levels of NaCl (0,25,50,75,100,125 and
150 mol m) -3 were used to salinize the media.
I
In the case of leaf elongation rate a two phase response was
found i. e. an immediate decrease and then, a recovery in the
elongation rate.
Leaf elongation rate decreased within 1-2 minutes of the onset of
stress and, later, a recovery started 1-2 h after the salt
addition. The time taken for the recovery was proportional to the
levels of external salinity. After 24 h the elongation rate was
almost fully recovered for all the NaCl concentrations. A similar
response was observed when equi-osmolar concentrations (with
NaCl) of mannitol were added to the media.
In control plants turgor pressure of the expanding cells was
about 0.45 MPa while tissue osmotic pressure was equal to 1.1 MPa
showing that the cell had a low water potential (-0.6 MPa). The
transpiration tension was equivalent to 0.1 MPa. Turgor pressure
in th e growing cells did not change after the salt addition (0-
150 mol m-3 NaCl), however, the tissue osmotic pressure
continuously increased with time. Turgor pressure dropped when
more -3 than 150 mol m NaCl were applied to the media i. e. 200 and
250 mol m. -3 This is presented as evidence that growing leaf
cells - maintained their turgor pressure In response. to .
the salt
stress by taking up osmotically -active solutes present in the
cell wall. The salt stress had not any effect on Instron
tensiometric measurements of elastic and plastic extension of the
cell wall.
A different turgor pressure response was found in the mature
cells. Turgor pressure was about 1.0 MPa, almost twice that in
the growing cells, while tissue osmotic pressure was similar to
that found in the growing cells i. e. 1.1 MPa. After the
application of the stress the turgor pressure dropped within 15-
20 min of the application of all the concentrations of NaCl. The
osmotic pressure of osmotically active solutes present in the
cell wall, nwr was almost negligible i. e. 4 0.1 MPa, in mature
cells and so could not contribute to turgor maiýtenance. The
extent of decrease was proportional to the external stress of 25,
50 and 75 mol m-3 NaCl only. Turgor pressure recovery, due to
osmotic adjustment, started after about 10-12 h of the stress
initiation. Complete turgor recovery was achieved after 24-48 h
of the onset of stress depending on the applied NaCl
concentration. Tissue osmotic pressure increased continuously
with time. An increase in the nw was inferred during the whole
experimental period and after 6d of the stress application that
appeared to correspond to the magnitude of external stress.
The concentrations of major ions and sugars were determined to
measure their contribution towards the osmotic adjustment. Under
control conditions Na +, ci-, PO 4
3-
' so 4
2-
,
glucose, fructose and
sucrose were present in small amounts, while, K+ and No 3- were
the-major osmotica. Their concentrations. were about.. 200. mol _m-3.
After the stress a large increase in the concentrations of Na +
and Cl was observed, the sucrose concentration increased to a
small extent. However, other osmotica remained Uniform for whole
of the experimental time. A small decrease was observed in k+
concentration in response to higher salt levels.
volumetric elastic modulus, -c, of mature cells was remained
unchanged by the salt stress. However, the apparent resistance of
the root cortex to osmotically driven water flow increased with
the increase in stress level. No conclusion could be drawn about
the contribution of these parameters to the control of growth and
to leaf water relations in the context of salt stress.
The possible use of turgor pressure recovery in the mature cells
was investigated for assessing the extent of salt tolerance of
various Pakistani wheat varieties. These varieties were
previously rated according to their performance in absolute grain
yield in response to NaCl stress. No simple correlation was
found.