FORMING A CLUSTER STRATEGY FOR TEXTILE INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT IN UZBEKISTAN

The article confers urgency of establishing clusters in textile industry. Particular focus is given to resource interaction among compound elements of national textile cluster. Policy recommendations targeted to development of cluster in the textile sector of Uzbekistan are provided.Cluster, textile industry, competitiveness, cotton fiber, innovations., Industrial Organization, Marketing, Production Economics, L67, O25,

MEASURING COMPETITION FOR TEXTILES: DOES THE U.S. MAKE THE GRADE?

U.S. textile manufacturing is coming under increasing pressure from foreign competition. This paper evaluates the U.S. competitive position in the yarn segment using established quantifiable measures and provides an overall competitive assessment. The study found the industry in a relatively weak competitive position but that U.S. competitive position is improving.competitiveness, cotton yarn, revealed comparative advantage, tariff equivalent, International Relations/Trade, F29, L67, O57,

XMM-Newton observations of GB B1428+4217: confirmation of intrinsic soft X-ray absorption

We report the results of XMM-Newton observations of the X-ray bright, radio-loud blazar GB B1428+4217 at a redshift of z=4.72. We confirm the presence of soft X-ray spectral flattening at energies <0.7 keV as reported in previous ROSAT and BeppoSAX observations. At hard X-ray energies the spectrum is consistent with a power-law although we find the spectral slope varied between both XMM-Newton observations and is also significantly different from that reported previously. Whilst we cannot rule-out intrinsic cold absorption to explain the spectral depression, we favour a dust-free warm absorber. Cold absorption requires a column density ~1.4-1.6 x 10^22 cm^-2 whilst a warm absorber could have up to ~10^23 cm^-2 and an ionization parameter ~10^2. The spectrum of GB B1428+4217 shows remarkable parallels with that of the z=4.4 blazar PMN J0525-3343, in which the available evidence is also most consistent with a warm absorber model.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS accepted. Minor changes to sections 3.1 and

Docking-based virtual screening of known drugs against murE of Mycobacterium tuberculosis towards repurposing for TB.

Repurposing has gained momentum globally and become an alternative avenue for drug discovery because of its better success rate, and reduced cost, time and issues related to safety than the conventional drug discovery process. Several drugs have already been successfully repurposed for other clinical conditions including drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). Though TB can be cured completely with the use of currently available anti-tubercular drugs, emergence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the huge death toll globally, together necessitate urgently newer and effective drugs for TB. Therefore, we performed virtual screening of 1554 FDA approved drugs against murE, which is essential for peptidoglycan biosynthesis of M. tuberculosis. We used Glide and AutoDock Vina for virtual screening and applied rigid docking algorithm followed by induced fit docking algorithm in order to enhance the quality of the docking prediction and to prioritize drugs for repurposing. We found 17 drugs binding strongly with murE and three of them, namely, lymecycline, acarbose and desmopressin were consistently present within top 10 ranks by both Glide and AutoDock Vina in the induced fit docking algorithm, which strongly indicates that these three drugs are potential candidates for further studies towards repurposing for TB

A spectroscopic examination of accretion diagnostics for near solar mass stars in IC 348

High-resolution optical and moderate-resolution near-infrared spectra were obtained for 40 near solar mass (~2.0-0.5 M⊙) members of the 2-3 Myr old cluster IC 348 in order to examine established accretion diagnostics and the coupling between inner disk gas and hot, micron-sized dust grains inferred from thermal and mid-infrared excesses. The stellar sample was drawn from the cluster census of Luhman in 2003 with membership being confirmed by radial velocity analysis and the presence of strong Li I λ6708 absorption. Of the stars included in this survey, 12 were classified by Lada in 2006 as hosting primordial, optically thick circumstellar disks, 5 as weak or transition disk systems, and 23 as non-excess stars using the measured slope of the stellar spectral energy distribution (SED) through the four Infrared Array Camera channels (3.6-8.0 μm) of Spitzer Space Telescope. Using the velocity width of Hα as an accretion indicator, we find that 11 primordial disk candidates are suspected accretors, suggesting a strong correlation between gaseous inner disks and optically thick dust emission. Of the five weak or transition disk systems observed, two (L21 and L67) exhibit spectroscopic features indicative of accretion. The presence of gas within the inner disk of these systems, which are free of infrared excess emission shortward of ~4.5 μm, may place constraints upon the physical mechanism responsible for inner disk clearing. Mass accretion rates (M) were determined for all suspected accretors using continuum excess measurements near λ6500 and established relationships between He I λ5876, Hα, Ca II λ8542, Paβ, and Brγ line fluxes and accretion luminosity. M values were found to range from log M to –7.2 M⊙ yr^–1, with a median value of –8.1 M⊙ yr^–1. Magnetospheric accretion models of Hα, Paβ, and Brγ emission by Muzerolle et al. and Kurosawa et al. are found to be in relative agreement with observed fluxes and derived M estimates. He I λ10830 with its metastable lower level is confirmed to be a critical indicator of magnetospheric accretion, although deep subcontinuum absorption profiles often associated with its emission are not fully understood. No statistically significant correlation is found between M and the slope of the SED from 3.6 to 8.0 μm or from 8.0 to 24.0 μm; however, the small number of suspected accretors examined does not allow broader conclusions to be drawn

The psychological impact of motor vehicle accidents : a New Zealand study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University

PLEASE NOTE Pages 72-73 are missing from the original copyThe present research attempted to identify those factors which predispose victims of severe motor vehicle accidents to develop PTSD, and explored the relationship between mental health and health care utilisation. A multistage probability sample of 167 New Zealand victims of motor vehicle accidents were included for analysis, the data being obtained as part of a larger nation-wide study looking at trauma and health care utilisation. Past research has identified factors which predispose the development of PTSD, such as prior psychological disorders, prior trauma, intensity, and extent of injury. The main statistical technique employed was multiple regression analysis, with the dependant variables being mental health and health care utilisation of the victims. Findings indicated that victims of MVAs are more likely to experience physical and mental health difficulties. The results showed a relationship between experience of trauma and the existence of PTSD, with victims of motor vehicle accidents suffering from more ill-health and PTSD-related symptoms than non-victims. Adverse life events, disclosure of feelings, extent of injury, and especially physical symptoms were all significant predictors of PTSD symptoms, however experience of previous trauma and intensity of the accident were not. A relationship between PTSD symptoms and health care utilisation also exists, with accident victims having more days confined to bed

Observations of Ammonia in External Galaxies. II. Maffei 2

The ammonia (J,K) = (1,1), (2,2), (3,3), and (4,4) transitions at 23.7 -- 24.1 GHz region were searched for in a nearby galaxy Maffei 2 to study relation between molecular abundances and physical conditions in galaxies. The (1,1), (2,2), and (3,3) emission lines were clearly detected. The rotational temperatures and ortho-to-para abundance ratios obtained are about 30 K and about 2.6, respectively. The abundance of NH3 relative to H2 in Maffei 2 was found to be the largest among galaxies where NH3 is already detected, and the abundance in Maffei 2 is more than an order of magnitude larger than the already reported upper limit in M82. Hence, we further confirmed the systematically peculiar molecular abundance in the aspect of formation mechanisms of molecules already reported in M82.Comment: 6 pages, 2 fugure

Optical appearance of the gravitational lens system B0218+35.7

We present high-resolution CCD images (FWHM=0.6"-0.7") of the compact gravitational lens system B0218+35.7 obtained at the Nordic Optical Telescope. Using aperture and PSF photometry we detect the two closely separated (335 mas) components A and B as well as the lensing galaxy. In the optical B seems to be very much brighter than A, opposite to the radio morphology. This suggests that most of the light from A is absorbed in the lensing galaxy, possibly by a giant molecular cloud located in the line-of-sight to component A. The lensing galaxy appears to be a late-type galaxy at a small inclination. For future variability studies we present calibrated photometry of the system and its immediate surroundings, even though the relative faintness of A will make it difficult to obtain an optical time delay even with the Hubble Space Telescope