Metal Ion Effect on the Absorbance Response of Chlorpheniramine Maleate in Pharmaceutical Dosage Form: A Study on Correlation between Spectroscopic and Potentiometric Measurements

The interference between metal ions in human body and drug molecules is highly serious. A widely used drug by children and adults to treat throat pain and tonsillitis has been studied. The absorbance intensity of Chlorpheniramine Maleate drug in the presence of Fe3+, Co+2, Ca+2 and Mg+2 metal ions has been studied. The addition of Fe3+, Co+2, Ca+2 and Mg+2 metal ions to an aqueous solution of chlorpheniramine maleate increases the absorbance signal significantly and rapidly. These metals are chosen because they have high concentration in human body. Increasing the pH value of the aqueous solution of chlorpheniramine maleate has a contrary effect on the absorbance signal. Potentiometric measurements have been performed to correlate the spectrophotometric results and found to be consistent. Potentiometric and spectrophotometric measurements prove that there is a change in drug concentration at different pH value and to think carefully when using such drugs.   Keywords: Chlorpheniramine Maleate, spectrophotometric and Potentiometric measurements

UTJEČE LI KVALITETA REVIZIJE NA USPJEŠNOST PODUZEĆA? DOKAZI S TRŽIŠTA U RAZVOJU

The purpose of this research is to look into the impact of audit quality on company performance. It offers empirical evidence from the Jordanian market, which is considered an emerging market. In this study, audit quality is proxied by auditor tenure, auditor industry specialization, and auditor firm size, while company performance is proxied by ROA, ROE, and EPS. A panel data analysis of all Jordanian industrial public shareholding companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange during the timeframe (2012 to 2017) is used in this study. The primary findings are that auditor tenure has a negative influence on ROA, but auditor industry specialization and auditor firm size have no influence on ROA. Auditor firm size has a positive influence on both ROE and EPS, but auditor tenure and auditor industry specialization have a non-significant negative influence on both ROE and EPS. According to these results, companies in emerging markets should be encouraged to overcome the barriers that limit the link between audit quality and company performance. The study also suggests more research on the impact of audit quality on information asymmetry and earnings management. Future study might potentially identify characteristics that influence audit quality, particularly in emerging countries (such as MENA countries), where there has been little effort to explore the level of audit quality and its relationship with other factors.Svrha ovog istraživanja je istražiti utjecaj kvalitete revizije na uspješnost poduzeća. Ono nudi empirijske dokaze s jordanskog tržišta, koje se smatra tržištem u razvoju. U ovom istraživanju, kvaliteta revizije je aproksimirana pomoću duljina revizorskog mandata, specijalizacije revizorske industrije i veličine revizorskog poduzeća, dok je uspješnost poduzeća aproksimirana pomoću ROA, ROE i EPS. U ovom istraživanju korištena je analiza panel podataka svih jordanskih industrijskih javnih dioničarskih društava koja su kotirala na Ammanskoj burzi tijekom vremenskog okvira (2012. do 2017.). Primarni nalazi su da duljina revizorskog mandata ima negativni utjecaj na ROA, dok specijalizacija revizorske industrije i veličina revizorskog poduzeća nemaju utjecaj na ROA. Veličina revizorskog poduzeća ima pozitivan utjecaj i na ROE i na EPS, dok duljina revizorskog mandata i specijalizacija revizorske industrije nemaju značajan negativan utjecaj ni na ROE ni na EPS. Prema ovim rezultatima, poduzeća na tržištima u razvoju treba poticati da prevladaju prepreke koje ograničavaju vezu između kvalitete revizije i uspješnosti poduzeća. Istraživanje također predlaže dodatna istraživanja o utjecaju kvalitete revizije na asimetriju informacija i upravljanje zaradom. Buduća bi istraživanja mogla potencijalno identificirati karakteristike koje utječu na kvalitetu revizije, posebno u zemljama u razvoju (kao što su zemlje MENA), gdje je postojalo malo napora da se istraži razina kvalitete revizije i njezin odnos s drugim čimbenicima

Psychosocial support for adolescent girls in post-conflict settings: beyond a health systems approach

Adaptive and adequately resourced health systems are necessary to achieve good health outcomes in post-conflict settings, however domains beyond the health system are also critical to ensure broader wellbeing. This paper focuses on the importance of psychosocial support services for adolescent girls in fragile contexts. Its starting point is that adolescence is a pivotal time in the life course but given the physical, cognitive and emotional changes triggered by the onset of puberty, it can also be a period of heightened sensitivity and vulnerability to trauma, social isolation, bullying by peers, a lack of supportive adults and gender-based and sexual violence. Our findings highlight why humanitarian and biomedical approaches in their current form are inadequate to address these complexities. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork (consisting of in-depth and key informant interviews as well as group discussions in Gaza, Liberia and Sri Lanka involving a total of 386 respondents across the three countries), we argue that going beyond biomedical approaches and considering the social determinants of health, including approaches to tackle discriminatory gendered norms and barriers to service access, are critical for achieving broader health and wellbeing. While all three case study countries are classified as post-conflict, the political economy dynamics vary with associated implications for experiences of psychosocial vulnerabilities and the service environment. The study concludes by reflecting on actions to address psychosocial vulnerabilities facing adolescent girls. These include: tailoring services to ensure gender and age-sensitivity; investing in capacity building of service providers to promote service uptake; and enhancing strategies to regulate and coordinate actors providing mental health and psychosocial support services.Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the support of a number of people. In Liberia, The Liberia Center for Outcomes Research led this work supported by Janice Cooper, with Abayomi Cole and Elton Gbollie as research coordinators. In Sri Lanka the work was led by the Good Practice Group and in particular Kusala Wettesinghe, Sarala Emmanuel and Ananda Galappatti. In Gaza the study was led by Bassam Abu Hamad and Nadja Al Bayoumi from Al Quds University. We would also like to thank all the data collectors in the three countries. We also want to acknowledge support from Maria Stavropoulou for her work on the background literature review and Ingrid Gercama for support on data analysis. The Research in Gender and Ethics (RinGs): Building Stronger Health Systems Partnership (funded by DFID) provided invaluable inputs during the development and revision of this paper. Finally, we would like to thank all respondents for giving us their time and sharing their stories with us. Funding This study was funded by the ReBUILD consortium, a multi-year multi-country UK Department for International Development (DFID) funded research programme, and we would like to thank them for their ongoing support and contribution to this research. The views expressed within this paper are not necessarily those of DFID

Determinants of job satisfaction and motivation among Gaza nurses.

Job satisfaction and motivation continues to be of great significance in the recruitment, commitment, retention, productivity and mental health of nurses, particularly, in collectivist communities like the Palestinian one. Therefore, the overall aims of this study are to ascertain the degree of job satisfaction and motivation among Gaza nurses, to identify main factors affecting these and how these relate to other research in this area, most of which has been carried out in rather different western cultures. The study is quantitative/qualitative, cross-sectional, methodologically triangulated, and was conducted between 1997-2000. A sum of 420 nurses chosen through a Probability Systematic Random Sample were requested to complete self-administered questionnaires and 44 purposively selected nurses were interviewed in 4 focus group sessions with a response rate of 89%.The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data extracted seven domains that reflected Gaza nurses' expectations by reference to their job satisfaction. These are management culture, interaction and communication, professional development, professional status and self-esteem, working life, work benefits and conditions and professional autonomy. Thus, Gaza nurses perceived motivators support the Process Theories of motivation and question the Content and Scientific Theories. The study revealed that Gaza nurses were moderately satisfied (50-60%) in general, but their satisfaction could be further improved. Management dominates the general picture of Gaza nurses' motivation and most of the factors related to it. The study clarified the general picture of Gaza nurses by demonstrating their personal and organisational characteristics and provided some insights into the relationships between these variables and motivation.The identified seven factors could be seen as constituting a model-frame for subjects' motivation. The study's findings contribute in enabling those concerned with this issue, particularly nurse managers in Palestine, to understand what motivates their nurses and to develop more effective motivational strategies

Effect of nitrogen and zinc plus copper on sugarcane (Saccharum spp) plant crop in Guneid and Assalaya Sugar Estates, in central Sudan

 أجريت التجارب الحالية في موسم 2005/06 في مزرعتي مصنعي سكر عسلاية والجنيد التابعتين لشركة السكر السودانية، في السهل الطيني الأوسط. كانت أهداف هذه الدراسة بحث استجابة محصول قصب السكر(محصول غرس) لجرعات مختلفة من النيتروجين فى شكل سماد اليوريا مصحوبة بعنصري الزنك زائدا النحاس. كانت جرعات اليوريا 150 و200 و250 كجم للفدان. أضيفت هذه الجرعات بعد 45 إلى 60 يوما من الزراعة حسب ما هو متبع في الحقول التجارية لقصب السكر. و كانت الجرعة المستخدمة من الزنك والنحاس هي صفر و 500 جم لكل (خليط) في شكل ملح كبريتات وقسمت هذه الجرعة إلى نصفين: أضيف النصف الأول عندما كان عمر المحصول خمسة شهور, كما أضيف النصف الثاني عند عمر  سبعة شهور في شكل سماد ورقى. وضع هذا الترتيب العاملين في تصميم القطاعات العشوائية الكاملة. أوضحت النتائج عدم وجود فروقات معنوية في مكونات الإنتاجية والإنتاجية ومكونات جودة السكر وإنتاجية السكر لمحصول القصب الغرس بين جرعات النيتروجين المستخدمة، إلا أن جودة السكر قد انخفضت قليلا بزيادة جرعة النيتروجين انخفاضا غير معنوي. كما أبانت الدراسة أيضا عدم وجود فروقات معنوية في الإنتاجية ومكونات جودة السكر وإنتاجية السكر لمحصول القصب الغرس بين إضافة عنصري الزنك زائدا النحاس مقارنة مع عدم إضافتهما في كل من موقعي الدراسة. كما أوضحت الدراسة عدم وجود تفاعل بين النيتروجين والزنك زائدا النحاس. كان تركيز عناصر النيتروجين والزنك والنحاس في أوراق نبات قصب السكر في المدى من 1,9 إلى 2,5 %  و 40,37 إلى 49,16 و 16,58 إلى 22,42 مجم لكل كجم مادة جافة على التوالي لكل الوحدات التجريبية في التجربتين. وتعتبر هذه التركيزات في الحدود الكافية لنبات قصب السكر. أبانت الدراسة أن الجرعة 150 كجم يوريا للفدان(164 كجم نيتروجين للهكتار) هي الجرعة المناسبة لكل من إنتاجية القصب والسكر في محصول الغرس مقارنة بالجرعة العادية 200 كجم للفدان (219 كجم نيتروجين للهكتار) في حقول قصب السكر التجارية. كذلك إن إضافة عنصري الزنك والنحاس لمحصول الغرس لم تثبت أنها ذات فائدة لفلاحة قصب السكر في هذه المرحلة. &nbsp

Determinants of Market Stock Price: New Evidence from an Emerging Market

The current studys goal is to investigate the financial determinants of the market stock price in Jordan, which is an emerging market. It gives empirical evidence from the industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. This research was carried out over nine years (2010-2018), with a panel data analysis of 57 industrial companies used during the period. The study sample consists of all of the companies in the population, for a total of 513 observations. In conclusion, the findings of the study reveal that the ratio of assets turnover, long-term debt-to-total assets ratio, earnings per share, return on assets, inventory-to-total current assets ratio, total current assets-to-total assets ratio, and total assets significantly affect the market stock price of Jordanian industrial companies; while the equity-to-total assets ratio and working capital ratio have no significant effect. These results are compatible with the pecking order theory and signalling theory. Besides, the shift in the market stock prices of Jordanian industrial companies is governed by financial indicators at a relatively high level. As a final point, these results can be used by financial analysts, investors, and other strategic decision-makers to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of the Jordanian financial market

How Do Drivers Behave at Roundabouts in a Mixed Traffic? A Case Study Using Machine Learning

Driving behavior is considered a unique driving habit of each driver and has a significant impact on road safety. Classifying driving behavior and introducing policies based on the results can reduce the severity of crashes on the road. Roundabouts are particularly interesting because of the interconnected interaction between different road users at the area of roundabouts, which different driving behavior is hypothesized. This study investigates driving behavior at roundabouts in a mixed traffic environment using a data-driven unsupervised machine learning to classify driving behavior at three roundabouts in Germany. We used a dataset of vehicle kinematics to a group of different vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs) at roundabouts and classified them into three categories (i.e., conservative, normal, and aggressive). Results showed that most of the drivers proceeding through a roundabout can be mostly classified into two driving styles: conservative and normal because traffic speeds in roundabouts are relatively lower than in other signalized and unsignalized intersections. Results also showed that about 77% of drivers who interacted with pedestrians or cyclists were classified as conservative drivers compared to about 42% of conservative drivers that did not interact or about 51% from all drivers. It seems that drivers tend to behave abnormally as they interact with VRUs at roundabouts, which increases the risk of crashes when an intersection is multimodal. Results of this study could be helpful in improving the safety of roads by allowing policymakers to determine the effective and suitable safety countermeasures. Results will also be beneficial for the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) as the technology is being deployed in a mixed traffic environment

Key regions of VDAC1 functioning in apoptosis induction and regulation by hexokinase

AbstractThe voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), located in the mitochondrial outer membrane, functions as gatekeeper for the entry and exit of mitochondrial metabolites, and thus controls cross-talk between mitochondria and the cytosol. VDAC also serves as a site for the docking of cytosolic proteins, such as hexokinase, and is recognized as a key protein in mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. The role of VDAC in apoptosis has emerged from various studies showing its involvement in cytochrome c release and apoptotic cell death as well as its interaction with proteins regulating apoptosis, including the mitochondria-bound isoforms of hexokinase (HK-I, HK-II). Recently, the functional HK–VDAC association has shifted from being considered in a predominantly metabolic light to the recognition of its major impact on the regulation of apoptotic responsiveness of the cell. Here, we demonstrate that the HK–VDAC1 interaction can be disrupted by mutating VDAC1 and by VDAC1-based peptides, consequently leading to diminished HK anti-apoptotic activity, suggesting that disruption of HK binding to VDAC1 can decrease tumor cell survival. Indeed, understanding structure–function relationships of VDAC is critical for deciphering how this channel can perform such a variety of differing functions, all important for cell life and death. By expressing VDAC1 mutants and VDAC1-based peptides, we have identified VDAC1 amino acid residues and domains important for interaction with HK and protection against apoptosis. These include negatively- and positively-charged residues, some of which are located within β-strands of the protein. The N-terminal region of VDAC1 binds HK-I and prevents HK-mediated protection against apoptosis induced by STS, while expression of a VDAC N-terminal peptide detaches HK-I-GFP from mitochondria. These findings indicate that the interaction of HK with VDAC1 involves charged residues in several β-strands and in the N-terminal domain. Displacing HK, serving as the ‘guardian of the mitochondrion’, from its binding site on VDAC1 may thus be exploited as an approach to cancer therapy

Chemical Bath Deposition Of Ti-Doped Zno Nanorods For Uv-Photodetector Applications

This work studied the effects of titanium (Ti) on the properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) grown on Si substrates using chemical bath deposition method with TiO2 as a Ti source. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed an increase in the crystallite size from 44.4 nm in the undoped sample to 51.2 nm in the doped sample. Photoluminescence results revealed an increment in the energy band gap from 3.241 eV for the undoped sample to 3.293 eV for the doped sample. Hall effect measurements also showed an enhancement in the electrical properties of doped samples, the carrier concentration increased from 8.7×1016 cm-3 for the undoped sample to 2.1×1018 cm-3 for the doped sample