Biological studies ob algae in rice-field soil prom tee Iraqi marshes

The algae in one soil sample from a rice-field in the southern marshes of Iraq were studied in detail. 11 taxa were found by direct microscopic inspection, with Microcoleus chthonoplastes and Nostoc muscorum the dominants. A total of 49 taxa were noted after various enrichment culture techniques. The influence of temperature, light, salinity, reducing conditions, nitrogen sources and phosphorus (phosphate) were tested on mixed populations. Blue-green algae dominated all cultures incubated at temperatures between 25-45 C, while eukaryotic algae dominated cultures at lower temperatures (10-20 C). Six taxa showed good growth in a medium enriched with 0.5 M NaC1and three also grew at 1 M NaC1, though growth was very slow. Most of heterocystous blue-green algae were sensitive to reducing conditions (0.1 mM Na(_2)S). As a consequence, in mixed populations there was an increase in the relative abundance of non-heterocystous forms. Fifteen strains were brought into clonal culture, nine of them also being axenics Anabaena cylindrica, three Calothrix spp., Cylindrospermum muscicola, Gloeotrichia sp., Hapalosiphon welwitschii, Microcoleus chthonoplastes, Nostoc muscorum. Detailed morphological and physiological studies were made for 14 strains under different nitrogen and phosphorus conditions. All asenic cultures showed marked alkaline phosphatase activity under phosphorus-deficient conditions. They were capable of utilizing a wide range of organic phosphorus compounds as a sole source of phosphorus. Axenic cultures of heterocystous strains were capable of fixing nitrogen, judged by positive results obtained with acetylene reduction assays. Nitrogen fixation and heterocyst differentiation of these strains was almost completely suppressed when the strains were grown with high concentrations of combined nitrogen (initial = 140 mg 1(^-1)NO(_3)-N or 50 mg l (^-1) NH(_4)-N).A discussion is included of how field research on these algae might indicate ways of modifying cultivation practices to increase the phosphorus and nitrogen status of the soil and also how algal morphology might be used to help indicate the nutrient status of the soil

Development and initial validation of a postal survey evaluation of community pharmacists' opinion regarding falsified (counterfeit) medicines in Hampshire (UK)

Context: Falsified-medicines pose a worldwide problem to patients, healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical companies, and governments. Community pharmacists are usually the last points of contact with patients and can protect them by quarantining falsified medicines. Hence, their opinions are valuable in exploring how the profession can combat this. Aims: To explore the opinion of pharmacists with respect to falsified medicines. Methods: A postal survey was developed and distributed to 359 pharmacies via the local pharmaceutical committee in Hampshire, UK. Descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing was conducted. Hypothesis testing (95% CI, α = 0.05) will be conducted to identify any gender differences, differences based on years of experience and differences based on number of working hours per week. Results: A 14% response rate was achieved. Pharmacists surveyed believe that falsified-medicines pose a significant problem to the profession on a five-point Likert scale (4.02 ± 1.078). A pharmacist’s intervention can prevent or disrupt the supply to patients (4.12 ± 0.824) and training courses can improve pharmacist’s knowledge (4.06 ± 0.843). Pharmacists are not confident and capable in identifying falsified-medicines (2.62 ± 1.105). This is surprising and unexpected because pharmacists are medicines-expert. A 10-item scale is validated (72.2% Cronbach alpha). Conclusions: Falsified-medicines pose a small but significant and growing challenge to the profession. There is underutilization of the high street community pharmacist in identifying falsified-medicines. Healthcare professionals should report suspect counterfeits to the MHRA

Adsorption system for cooling and power generation using advanced adsorbent materials

This thesis investigates the feasibility of producing electricity and cooling simultaneously utilising low-grade heat sources by incorporating an expander within the adsorption cooling system or by integrating an Organic Rankine Cycle with water adsorption cooling system. Advanced physical adsorbent materials have been investigated for the first time to generate cooling and electricity simultaneously utilising CPO-27(Ni), MIL101(Cr), and AQSOA-Z02 and compared to commonly used Silica-gel. Two innovative configurations of water adsorption systems for cooling and electricity were investigated. In the first configuration, the two-bed basic adsorption cooling system (BACS) is improved by including an expander within the system. In the second configuration, the BACS and ORC cycle are integrated. Four different scenarios of systems integration based on the way of powering the ORC and the adsorption system were investigated. Also, detailed CFD simulations of small-scale radial inflow turbines are developed for both configurations. Also, a novel experimental facility is developed to integrate ORC with two-bed adsorption cooling system to validate the numerical models and proof the concept of producing power as well as cooling, where maximum specific cooling power of 252 W/kgads and specific power and of 162 W/kgads can be achieved with maximum deviation of less than 17%

Transient flexural wave propagation in beams with discontinuities of cross section

An investigation was carried out to determine the transient response of finite beams with discontinuities of cross section subiected to eccentric longitudinal impact. Experiments were performed on several stepped beams with increased and reduced cross section and with various end conditions. The analysis was based on the Timoshenko beam theory which takes into account the effects of shear deformation and rotatory inertia. The governing equations were solved as a system of two second order hyperbolic partial differential equations. The numerical solution was obtained by the method of characteristics and theoretical predictions were in excellent agreement with experimental observations at several monitoring positions along the various test beams. The agreement between theoretical and experimental results verified the adequacy of the Timoshenko theory and its numerical solution for describing the flexural wave propagation in beams with discontinuities of cross section. The effect of the discontinuity of beam cross section on the bending moment time distribution showed the importance of reflections in estimating the level of stresses and strains in structural elements when subjected to transient dynamic loading. The computer program developed in this work can be used to obtain numerical solutions for. a wide range of flexural wave propagation problems in beams with discontinuities of cross section with various end conditions and loading configurations

Immunoglobulins assessment (IgE,G,A,M) in some Iraqi patients with acute and chronic urticaria

60 patients diagnosed as having urticaria were included in the study ; 30 patients were effected with acute urticaria and 30 patients were affected with chronic urticaria. In addition, 30 healthy adult volunteers were selected as control group .The patients and control groups sera were examined with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) to detect total level IgE and radial immunodiffusion (RID) to detect levels of IgG , IgA and IgM . The total level of IgE in acute urticaria ( 1.45±0.13) IU/mL and chronic urticaria (2.12 ± 0.10) IU/mL patients were significantly higher than the control groups ( 0.85 ± 0.10)IU/mL (

Torsion of Testis in an Infant with Unilateral UDT

Torsion of an undescended testis is uncommon. Torsion of a cryptorchid testicle presents a nonspecific symptomatology. Clinical suspicion indicates emergent surgical exploration, irrespective of Doppler ultrasound with its inherent false negative results. Management of the contralateral testis is controversial. We emphasize the need of a complete physical examination of the child who goes to the emergency room with nonspecific symptoms of abdominal pain and ipsilateral empty hemiscrotum to rule out torsion of a cryptorchid testicle. Herein, we report a one-year-old infant with missed torsion of undescended left testis

On experimental studies of longitudinal and flexyral wawe propagations: An annotated bibliography

Experimental investigations in the field of longitudinal wave propagation in beams are plentiful; however, experimental studies of flexural wave propagation problems are scarce and are restricted mainly to uniform and infinite structures where the effects of reflected waves are not generally included. This review is mostly restricted to low velocity impact and does not cover the so-called high velocity impact such as those of bullets and explosives. In addition to a brief survey of classical work related to impact, this article covers publications related to experimental studies of longitudinal and flexural elastic waves due to impact. This includes the longitudinal, central as well as eccentric impact and transverse impact of two bars and the impact achieved by sphere impinging on a beam. Many workers used experimental findings to study the adequacy of various theoretical solutions of the wave propagation problem such as those by Pochhammer and Chree, Euler-Bernoulli, and the Timoshenko beam theory. The revival of interest in the recent years is due to, among other things, the advancement of experimental equipment and measurement techniques for data acquisition of stress waves and associated signals. An important application of transient waves is their use for the determination of material properties under various loading conditions and strain rates that can be studied by the split Hopkinson pressure bar techniques. The problem of longitudinal and flexural waves in bars with discontinuities of cross section are covered, and some publications on fracture of materials due to bending waves are also included. Experimental investigations demonstrate the effect of abrupt change of cross section and/or material properties on reflected and transmitted waves where reflections are to be taken into consideration when estimating the level of stresses and strains in finite beam with discontinuities. In the field of flexural wave propagation, comparison of theoretical predictions with experimental results verified and validated the adequacy of the Timoshenko theory for the determination of bending strain in finite structures, a one-dimensional theory that takes into account the effect of shear deformation and rotatory inertia