Effect of carbofuran on the diversity and mean abundance of ground spiders

The effect of carbofuran on the diversity, richness, evenness and abundance of ground spiders is documented in the present study. Two fields (control and treated) were selected in district Kasur during 2008 and 2009. Pitfall traps were used to collect ground spiders. A total of 1629 specimens of spiders, belonging to 8 families, 16 genera and 24 species were recoded from control field while 1173 specimens belonging to 8 families, 14 genera and 20 species were recorded from the treated field. The most dominant family and species in both the fields were Lycosidae and Lycosa terrestris, respectively. Family Lycosidae accounted more than 90% of the total spider sample. Diversity, richness and evenness of ground spiders in the treated and untreated field did not differ. However, the abundance of dominat spiders declined significantly in the carbofuran treated field. It is concluded that the use of carbofuran is a serious threat to the ground spiders, the important group of biological control agents. So, the use of carbofuran should be minimized in the fields.Key words: Ground spiders, carbofuran, natural predators, pest reduction

Do mutual funds have consistency in their performance?

Using a comprehensive data set of 714 Chinese mutual funds from 2004 to 2015, the study investigates these funds’ performance persistence by using the Capital Asset Pricing model, the Fama-French three-factor model and the Carhart Four-factor model. For persistence analysis, we categorize mutual funds into eight octiles based on their one year lagged performance and then observe their performance for the subsequent 12 months. We also apply Cross-Product Ratio technique to assess the performance persistence in these Chinese funds. The study finds no significant evidence of persis- tence in the performance of the mutual funds. Winner (loser) funds do not continue to be winner (loser) funds in the subsequent time period. These findings suggest that future performance of funds cannot be predicted based on their past performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Photonic Crystal Fiber Based Biosensor for Pseudomonas Bacteria Detection: A Simulation Study

The detection of microorganisms like Pseudomonas are very important as they trigger an infection in human blood, lungs, and different parts of the body causing various ailments. In this paper, a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) has been proposed to detect the presence of Pseudomonas bacteria with attractive performance characteristics. The sensor is designed using a simple circular lattice of PCF, coated with a thin chemically stable gold layer. The performance investigation of the sensor is numerically carried out by using a finite element (FE) based simulation tool where the highest wavelength and amplitude sensitivity are found as 20,000 nm/RIU and 1380 RIU −1 , respectively. The sensor shows an excellent spectral resolution of the highest value of 5.26×10−6 RIU, ensuring the capability of identifying a very small change in analyte refractive index (RI) within the range of 1.33 to 1.42. The performance investigation is also carried out altering the diameter of air holes, pitch, and gold layer thickness to explore the variation in phase matching conditions due to the change in structural parameters. As the sensor is adept at detecting the sample with high sensitivity and sensing resolution, the proposed sensor can be highly efficient in detecting Pseudomonas bacteria as well as other organic compounds, and biological analytes

The role of pharmacists in developing countries: the current scenario in Pakistan

During the past few years, the pharmacy profession has expanded significantly in terms of professional services delivery and now has been recognized as an important profession in the multidisciplinary provision of health care. In contrast to the situation in developed countries, pharmacists in developing countries are still underutilized and their role as health care professionals is not deemed important by either the community or other health care providers. The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of pharmacists in developing countries, particularly in Pakistan. The paper draws on the literature related to the socioeconomic and health status of Pakistan's population, along with background on the pharmacy profession in the country in the context of the current directions of health care

Diagnosis of chronic conditions with modifiable lifestyle risk factors in selected urban and rural areas of Bangladesh and sociodemographic variability therein

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bangladesh suffers from a lack of healthcare providers. The growing chronic disease epidemic's demand for healthcare resources will further strain Bangladesh's limited healthcare workforce. Little is known about how Bangladeshis with chronic disease seek care. This study describes chronic disease patients' care seeking behavior by analyzing which providers diagnose these diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>During 2 month periods in 2009, a cross-sectional survey collected descriptive data on chronic disease diagnoses among 3 surveillance populations within the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) network. The maximum number of respondents (over age 25) who reported having ever been diagnosed with a chronic disease determined the sample size. Using SAS software (version 8.0) multivariate regression analyses were preformed on related sociodemographic factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 32,665 survey respondents, 8,591 self reported having a chronic disease. Chronically ill respondents were 63.4% rural residents. Hypertension was the most prevalent disease in rural (12.4%) and urban (16.1%) areas. In rural areas chronic disease diagnoses were made by MBBS doctors (59.7%) and Informal Allopathic Providers (IAPs) (34.9%). In urban areas chronic disease diagnoses were made by MBBS doctors (88.0%) and IAP (7.9%). Our analysis identified several groups that depended heavily on IAP for coverage, particularly rural, poor and women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IAPs play important roles in chronic disease care, particularly in rural areas. Input and cooperation from IAPs are needed to minimize rural health disparities. More research on IAP knowledge and practices regarding chronic disease is needed to properly utilize this potential healthcare resource.</p

A preliminary assessment of low level arsenic exposure and diabetes mellitus in Cyprus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A preliminary study was undertaken in a community of Cyprus where low-level arsenic (As) concentrations were recently detected in the groundwater that was chronically used to satisfy potable needs of the community. The main objective of the study was to assess the degree of association between orally-ingested As and self-reported type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in 317 adult (≥18 years old) volunteers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cumulative lifetime As exposure (CLAEX) (mg As) was calculated using the median As concentrations in water, individual reported daily water consumption rates, and lifetime exposure duration. Logistic regression models were used to model the probability of self-reported DM and calculate odds ratios (OR) in univariate and multivariate models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significantly higher (p <it><</it> 0.02) CLAEX values were reported for the diabetics (median = 999 mg As) versus non-diabetics (median = 573 mg As), suggesting that As exposure could perhaps be related to the prevalence of DM in the study area, which was 6.6%. The OR for DM, comparing participants in the 80^th versus the 20^th percentiles of low-level As CLAEX index values, was 5.0 (1.03, 24.17), but after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, education, and fish consumption, the As exposure effect on DM was not significant.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Further research is needed to improve As exposure assessment for the entire Cypriot population while assessing the exact relationship between low-level As exposure and DM.</p

Neural Circuitry of Emotional and Cognitive Conflict Revealed through Facial Expressions

Neural systems underlying conflict processing have been well studied in the cognitive realm, but the extent to which these overlap with those underlying emotional conflict processing remains unclear. A novel adaptation of the AX Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT), a stimulus-response incompatibility paradigm, was examined that permits close comparison of emotional and cognitive conflict conditions, through the use of affectively-valenced facial expressions as the response modality.Brain activity was monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance of the emotional AX-CPT. Emotional conflict was manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis, by requiring contextually pre-cued facial expressions to emotional probe stimuli (IAPS images) that were either affectively compatible (low-conflict) or incompatible (high-conflict). The emotion condition was contrasted against a matched cognitive condition that was identical in all respects, except that probe stimuli were emotionally neutral. Components of the brain cognitive control network, including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), showed conflict-related activation increases in both conditions, but with higher activity during emotion conditions. In contrast, emotion conflict effects were not found in regions associated with affective processing, such as rostral ACC.These activation patterns provide evidence for a domain-general neural system that is active for both emotional and cognitive conflict processing. In line with previous behavioural evidence, greatest activity in these brain regions occurred when both emotional and cognitive influences additively combined to produce increased interference

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration