SEARCHING FOR A RAINFALL CYCLE IN THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Attitudes of Qatari citizens towards marriage and family counselling

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN054356 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

A Review of Sustainable Growth challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises

The idea that businesses with a focus on increasing shareholder value were successful is a thing of the past. The last few years have seen a big shift in the trend; now, firms are required to consider social and environmental factors when making choices in order to provide value for all stakeholders in addition to shareholders. The results of earlier studies have confirmed the crucial role that organisations play in shifting the emphasis from rapid development to sustainable development. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been recognized for their socio-economic contribution. Thus, the concept of sustainable growth is extremely relevant to SMEs. In this paper the researcher conducted review of extant literature to trace the conceptual development of sustainable development and growth. The researcher provides a conceptual overview of the challenges of sustainable growth of the SMEs. The study is significant as it extends the knowledge and paves the way for further research

Application of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and polyphenol oxidases (PPO) genes for distinguishing between the diploid (glaucum) and the tetraploid (leporinum) accessions in Hordeum murinum complex

The genome of 12 wild barley accessions belonging to Hordeum murinum complex (eight out of them belong to H. m. glaucum and four belong to H. m. leporinum) was characterized using RAPD-PCR markers and polyphenol oxidases genes (PPO). A total of 123 RAPD markers with 22 arbitrary decamer primers were used. 56 out of the RAPD markers were common to all accessions, and the other 67 markers were polymorphic. 35 out of the polymorphic markers are distinguishable between the two taxa but not among all accessions, 15 RAPD markers are specific to H. m. glaucum and 17 are specific to H. m. leporinum. The PCR amplification of PPO genes revealed that amplified fragments from these genes are randomly distributed among the studied accessions regardless of their taxonomy. All data were analyzed using NT-SYS-pc (numerical taxonomy and multivariate analysis system) program to address the phylogenetic relationships between the studied taxa. The examined accessions were clustered into two main groups; the first one consists of 4 accessions representing the H. m. leporinum (diploid) and the other one consists of eight accessions representing the H. m. leporinum (tetraploid).Key words: Hordeum, glaucum, murinum, leporinum, random amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chainreaction (RAPD-PCR), polyphenol oxidases (PPO), numerical taxonomy and multivariate analysis system(NTSYS-pc)

Una lectura semántica de la casida La Ceguera de Abu l-Majsi l-Andalusi

This paper is concerned with the semantic connotations of lexis in “Blindness” a poem written by Abu l-Makhshi al-Andalusi who died in the period ranging from (796 A.D and 180 A.H ) to( 822 A.D – 206 A.H). The paper is divided into an introduction about the semantic connotations of lexis and the most outstanding trends in this field and the body which is divided into three sections: the first section gives background information about the poet, the second section sheds light on the different aspects of al-Makhshi’s poetical career and the third section is devoted to reading the semantic connotations of the lexis in the poem in question. This last section is divided into three parts: the semantic connotations of the verb, the semantic connotations of the noun and the semantic connotations of the particles. The paper ends with a synopsis.El objeto de este estudio es realizar una lectura semántica de la casida La ceguera de Abu l-Majsi al- Andalusi, m. entre los años 180/796-206/822. Hemos dividido el artículo de la manera siguiente: Comenzamos con una introducción en que hablamos de los estudios de semántica y las principales tendencias que hay en este campo. A continuación, tres apartados: en el primer apartado se hace una presentación del poeta; en el segundo, se pretende arrojar luz sobre las diferentes dimensiones de la experiencia poética en Abu l-Majsi, mientras que el tercero está dedicado a la lectura semántica del poema La ceguera, apartado que está dividido, a su vez, en otros tres: los significados del verbo, los significados del nombre y los significados de las partículas. Terminamos el artículo con una breve conclusión

Oat Attenuation of Hyperglycemia-Induced Retinal Oxidative Stress and NF-B Activation in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of endothelial damage in diabetes. To assess the effect of oat on experimental diabetic retinopathy, five groups of Albino rats were studied: nondiabetic control, untreated diabetic, and diabetic rats treated with 5%, 10%, and 20% (W/W) oat of the diet for 12 weeks. Novel data were obtained in this study indicating a protective role of oat against oxidative stress and diabetic retinopathy. The effects of oat on parameters of oxidative stress, AGE, and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) were assessed by ELISA and NF-B activation by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were also determined. After 12 weeks of diabetes, oat treatment reduced blood glucose levels, HbA1c, all oxidative stress markers, CML, normalized NF-B activation and TNF expression. Furthermore it reduced VEGF in the diabetic retina by 43% (). In conclusion, oat modulates microvascular damage through normalized pathways downstream of ROS overproduction and reduction of NF-B and its controlled genes activation, which may provide additional endothelial protection

Inhibition of α

Postprandial hyperglycemia is a predisposing factor for vascular dysfunction and organ damage. α-glucosidase is a hydrolytic enzyme that increases the glucose absorption rate and subsequently elevates blood glucose levels. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is a rich source of several phytonutrients, including thiosulfinate (THIO). The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of THIO, a potent inhibitor of intestinal α-glucosidase, to reduce postprandial blood glucose. Male albino rats were randomly assigned to five different groups (n=10/group). Group 1 served as the control group. Groups 2–5 were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) to induce diabetes. Group 2 comprised untreated diabetic rats. Groups 3 and 4 contained diabetic rats that were given THIO orally (20 mg/kg body weight/day and 40 mg/kg body weight/day, resp.). Group 5 was the positive control having diabetic rats treated orally with acarbose (10 mg/kg body weight/day; positive control). Diabetic rats treated with THIO displayed a significant blood glucose reduction (p<0.001 and < 0.01 by analysis of variance, resp.) and a significant elevation in insulin compared with that of untreated rats. THIO is an effective noncompetitive intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitor that promotes hypoglycemic action (p<0.001) in STZ-injected rats. THIO is a promising agent for the management of postprandial hyperglycemia