Velar, Uvular and Pharyngeal Alternations in Hasawi Arabic: A Harmonic Serialism Optimality Theoretic Approach

This thesis investigates three phonological phenomena in Hasawi Arabic (HA), a dialect spoken in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. First, is the pharyngealisation, which is triggered by the pharyngealised coronal segments /tˤ, ðˤ, sˤ/. Second, is the uvularisation, which is triggered by the uvular segments /q, ɢ, χ, ʁ/. The acoustic cues of the emphasis spread are measured via PRAAT and are represented by the feature [RTR]. The third phenomenon is the uvular segment alternations /ʁ/ and /q/. All three phonological phenomena are accounted for within a Harmonic Serialism Optimality Theoretic analysis (HS-OT). With its harmonic and gradual derivational steps, HS-OT, as the framework of the phonological analysis throughout the thesis, examining all the attested phenomena, demonstrates its capa-bilities of gracefully capturing such complicated phonological phenomena. A fixed ranking of the con-straints is established and an interaction between the phonological processes is exhibited. These interacting phonological processes include: resyllabification, insertion, voice assimilation, Manner of articulation as-similation and emphasis spread. The results of the study reveal a distinctive characteristics and pattern of HA. Although both the pharyn-gealised and the uvular segments exhibit an emphasis spread on neighbouring segments in different do-mains and directions, the uvular segments, however, have a long-distance and a heavier emphasis effect on the adjacent vowels than the pharyngealised segments in HA. Based on the minimal pairs and local items that invariably surface with /q/ in the dialect, I also argue for the inclusion of the segments / and / in the consonantal inventory of HA. The alternation of the uvular segments /ʁ/ and /q/ is actually a conditioned phonological alternation not a free variation phenomenon as assumed by the previous research where a pat-tern is found and presented in HA

Rapid recovery of photosynthesis and water relations following soil drying and re-watering is related to the adaptation of desert shrub Ephedra alata subsp. alenda (Ephedraceae) to arid environments

Ephedra alata subsp. alenda is the most important pioneer plant of the moving and semi-stable sand dunes in the deserts and steppes of south Tunisia and occurs naturally in the Grand Erg Oriental, one of the most extreme habitats for plant growth on the planet. A new analysis of physiological performance of this medically important and internationally threatened xerophytic shrub was conducted to assess possible mechanisms of drought tolerance and how these relate to its ecological success. Five-month old plants, grown under controlled climatic conditions, were subjected to a well-watered control treatment or progressive drought by withholding water for 14d with subsequent recovery for 7d. Soil water depletion significantly reduced stem relative water content (RWC) water potential (Ψw) and osmotic potential (Ψπ). Ephedra displayed more negative Ψw and Ψπ values of ca. -3.5 and -4.1MPa, respectively, at the end of the drought treatment, and were associated with turgor loss. Low stem Ψw reduced stomatal conductance (gs), photosynthetic CO2 assimilation rates (ACO2), transpiration (E) and internal CO2 concentration (Ci). However, instantaneous (WUE; ACO2 E-1) and intrinsic (WUEi; ACO2 gs-1) water use efficiency (WUE) increased gradually as water deficit was intensified. Stomatal closure therefore only exerted limited control against dehydration and could not compensate for decreases in soil water status, typical of anisohydric behavior. Drought-stressed stems accumulated high levels of proline up to 480% of control values, highlighting a pivotal role in osmotic adjustment during intense water deficit. In contrast, the osmotic adaptation to soluble sugars was limited. Drought-stressed plants increased ACO2, E, gs and Ci and decreased WUE and WUEi during the first 48h after re-watering, such that they reached similar values to those of control plants by the end of the experiment. Stem proline levels of drought-stressed plants returned to near control values with re-watering. Overall, rapid recovery of photosynthesis following drought-breaking moisture appears to be a critical mechanism allowing E. alata to withstand and survive dry environments

Landscape planning for protected areas in Saudi Arabia With special reference to the use of the geographic information system

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN020723 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Synthesis, Characterization and Biological Studies of Some Novel Thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines

Several 2-unsubstituted thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines have been prepared from 2-aminothiophene-3-carboxylic acid esters and their carbonitrile analogs. Some triazolo-thienopyrimidine and 2-thioxothienopyrimidine representatives have also been synthesized using thermal and microwave (MW) irradiation techniques. Structures of the prepared compounds were elucidated on the basis of IR, NMR, 2D NMR and mass spectral data. The biological activity of some selected synthesized compounds was also examined

Cavity-Enhanced Laser-Induced Fluorescence for Real-time Breath Acetone Monitoring

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life threatening complication in children with type 1 diabetes. In DKA, the body breaks down fatty acids as an alternative energy source producing high concentrations of acidic blood ketones. Normally, DKA is treated by a ``guess'' dosage of intravenous insulin infusion following blood analysis. There is an unmet need for alternative, non-invasive methods to the inaccurate, untimely blood tests to monitor each patient's response to the treatment in real time. This will help in determining the optimum insulin dosage and adjusting the treatment protocol. Breath-acetone measurement is a promising non-invasive alternative as it is proportional to blood ketone concentrations. This thesis describes building a device based on the cavity-enhanced laser-induced fluorescence (CELIF) technique for real-time, online, non-invasive breath acetone measurements. CELIF combines the sensitivity of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and the absolute measurement capabilities of cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) into one cross-correlated technique. The device is capable of making an acetone CELIF measurement in 100 ms, with a concentration dynamic range of 1.6--2000 ppm, covering the range of breath acetone concentration a DKA patient might have. The response time of the device is fast enough to follow a real breath pattern, with a $10 \text{--}90\%$ rise time of the CELIF signal of 370 $\pm$ 15~ms, and a 90--10\% fall time of 850 $\pm$ 21~ms, which is enough for the signal to rise and find the maximum acetone concentration, then decay back to the background level before the next breath arrives. The performance of the acetone CELIF device was validated by using a selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometer (SIFT-MS). The results show that this device is useful for reliable online breath acetone analysis. Subsequently, the validated CELIF device was tested for breath acetone measurements in fasted healthy human subjects, using a home-built, online, buffered end-tidal breath sampler

Comparative morphological and anatomical characters of Cakile arabica from different habitat in eastern region of

Morphological, anatomical and physiological plasticity was examined for Cakile arabica from three different sites at the coastal part of the Arabian Gulf near Ad Dammam city in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Morphological investigation showed that the size and number of lobes of the leaves are increased in sites (I) which have high salt stress. Also anatomical investigation using a light microscope showed that the plant is adaptive for salt stress by increasing the thickening of the cuticle or epidermis layer and increase in the area of vascular bundles. Physiological studies showed that plant growing under high salt stress is characterized by increase content of electrical conductivity and increase in chlorophyll a, b, carotenoids and proline content in the plant tissues. This can be explained as an osmotic adjustment mechanism for the investigated species growing under high salinity stress

Structural, Electrical and Optical Properties of TM (Mn and Cr) Doped BiFeO₃ Nanoparticles

In this paper, the sol-gel technique has been employed to prepare the pure and TM (Mn, Cr) doped BiFeO3 nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction, UV-vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and dielectric measurements. Crystal structural analysis infers that pure and TM-doped BiFeO3 nanoparticles displayed a rhombohedral distorted perovskite structure with R3c space group, along with a minor phase of Bi2Fe4O9. Lattice parameters have been found to decrease with TM doping. The particle size, measured with the help of the XRD spectra, was found to decrease from 54.4 nm to 38.7 nm with TM doping. The bandgap, determined using the UV-vis spectra, was observed to be 1.92, 1.66, and 1.54 eV for undoped, 5% Mn, and 5% Cr-doped BiFeO3 nanoparticles, respectively. The dielectric constant shows a normal dispersion behavior at room temperature and its value increases with TM doping. The ac conductivity also increases with TM doping in BiFeO3 nanoparticles

Synthesis, Characterization and Biological Studies of Some Novel Thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines

molecule

The Effects of Some Soil Factors on the Phenotypic Plasticity of Senecio glaucus L. in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia

Abstract: The effects of some soil factors on the phenotypic plasticity of Senecio glaucus L. in three selected sites at the coastal part of the Arabian Gulf near Ad Dammam city in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia was investigated. The investigation was conducted by mechanical analysis of soil and chemical analyses of soil and plant samples. It was found that soil salinity stress represents the major factor affecting the morphological and physiological characteristics of the investigated species. The morphological traits of the investigated species mostly affected by salinity are: length of shoot, length of root, number of leaves per plants and the number of ray florets per capitulum. It was also found that the investigated plant growing under high salt stress is characterized by low water content, low content of chlorophyll a and high content of proline. The decrease of chlorophyll a content could be related to the decrease of water content of plant leaves under salt stress, whereas, the high content of proline in the plant tissues could be explained as an osmotic adjustment mechanism for the investigated species growing under high salinity stress