Duality and the approach to scaling in inclusive reactions

For two-body processes, duality constraints supplemented by the absence of exotic resonances successfully predicted several features of hadronic dynamics. One of these predictions is the early scaling of the total-cross-section for exotic processes, Muller's analysis of inclusive reactions, relating the inclusive cross-section via the generalized optical theorem to the absorptive part of the n-particle forward elastic amplitude, encouraged many people to extend duality arguments, in an attempt to predict when the secondary contributions (or non- scaling part of the amplitude.) would be negligible. It seems that this extension is not straightforward, and several criteria have been proposed. In this thesis we try to test these criteria by comparing them with the available data on inclusive reactions at high energies. A major part of the thesis is devoted to a review material concerning the concept of duality and its development. We begin our review by proving FESR in the classical manner and briefly discuss their application. We show why the Pomeron has an exceptional nature and this, together with the believe that all resonances should be fitted into SU(3) multiplets, leads to the Harari-Freund conjecture. We also show how it can be represented by two-particle dual diagrams. We then extend this discussion to multiparticle reactions with emphasis on inclusive reactions. We discuss the dual diagrams, the different criteria for scaling and finally some experimental tests

Health Care System Based on Semantic Web and XML Technologies

The purpose and the goal of the paper is using a semantic web and XML (the Extensible Markup Language) technologies for managing medical information during a diagnostic process is studied. Following a steady international move towards optimization of health care delivery, the latest development in information technology has drawn the health care industry decision makers’ attention. The introduction of proper information technology innovations within the health care processes should provide the necessary optimization. In this manner can be proposed an approach to manage medical data during the whole diagnostic process using the semantic Web and XML technologies. The purpose of the Semantic Web is to bring structure to the content of Web pages allowing software agents to carry out intelligent tasks for the user. This opens a new set of opportunities that can be utilized to improve health care management on a personal and health care provider level. The aim of this paper in progress is to identify the needs and match them to the services possible with the Semantic Web. In this paper, presented an ontology-based framework that successfully combines both Semantic Web and XML technologies to enable the integrated access to biological data sources. The main goal is the seamless integration and application of these technologies in such a way that their deficiencies are over come and their utility maximized. Keywords: Health Care, Semantic Web, Ontology, XM

Optimizing Emulsion Liquid Membrane Process for Extraction of Nickel from Wastewater Using Taguchi Method

Abstract--The main objectives of this research were focused on extracting nickel ions from waste water using emulsion liquid membrane as well as determining the optimal conditions for the extraction process. Taguchi experimental design method was applied to determine the optimum extraction conditions. The controllable factors of the emulsion liquid membrane process were carrier; surfactant; and internal phase concentration, treating ratio, stirring time, and feed phase acidity were optimized. The contribution of each controllable factor was also explored. The results indicated the greatest effect of the carrier concentration in comparison to other parameters. The five other parameters slightly affected the extraction percentage of nickel. The optimum conditions for the extraction was found to be carrier concentration (M) of 0.25, surfactant concentration (v %) of 10, internal phase concentration (M) of 0.1, external / emulsion ratio (v/v) of 5, stirring time (min.) of 1, and feed phase pH of 0.5

Determination of theobromine and caffeine in some Malaysian beverages by liquid chromatography-time-offlight mass spectrometry

Purpose: To determine the concentration of theobromine (TB) and caffeine (CF) in tea and other beverages using liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS).Methods: The extract of caffeine and theobromine from tea and other beverages was filtered by 0.45 μm nylon micro-syringe and then injected into a LC-ToF-MS system. Theobromine and caffeine were separated using Thermo Scientific C18-column (length 250 mm, width 2.1 mm and diameter 5 μm). Acetonitrile-methanol (ACN – MeOH, 3:1 v/v) was used as mobile phase B, while mobile phase A was 0.1 % FA in DIW. The volume injected was 30 μL at a rate of 0.3 mL/min.Results: Good linearity was obtained in the range of 0.3 – 400 and 0.2 – 200 mg/L for theobromine and caffeine, respectively (regression coefficient (R2) > 0.970). The limits of detection were 0.15 and 0.05 μg/mL for theobromine and caffeine,  respectively. The highest concentrations of caffeine and theobromine determined in tea samples were 159.1 and 255.8 mg/L, respectively.Conclusion: Theobromine and caffeine have been successfully analysed in tea, coffee and soft drinks. LC-TOF-MS is an accurate and promising instrument for the  determination of the studied compounds in beverages.Keywords: Theobromine, Caffeine, Tea, Coffee, LC-TOF/M

Prediction of Hourly Cooling Energy Consumption of Educational Buildings Using Artificial Neural Network

Predicating the required building energy when it is in the design stage and before being constructed considers a crucial step for in charge people. Hence, the main aim of this research is to accurately forecast the needed building cooling energy per hour for educational buildings at University of Technology in Iraq. For this purpose, the feed forward artificial neural network (ANN) has been selected as an efficient technique to develop such a predication system.  Firstly, the main building parameters have been investigated and then only the most important ones were chosen to be used as inputs to the ANN model. However, due to the long time period that is required to collect actual consumed building energy in order to be employed for ANN model training, the hourly analysis program (HAP), which is a building simulation software, has been utilized to produce a database covering the summer months in Iraq. Different training algorithms and range of learning rate values have been investigated, and the Bayesian regularization backpropagation training algorithm and 0.05 learning rate were found very suitable for precise cooling energy prediction. To evaluate the performance of the optimized ANN model, mean square error (MSE) and correlation coefficient (R) have been adopted. The MSE and R indices for the predication results proved that the optimized ANN model is having a high predication accuracy with 5.99*10-6 and 0.9994, respectively

INTERLEUKIN-16 RS4778889 POLYMORPHISM AND ITS INTERACTION WITH INTERLEUKIN-10 RS1800896 POLYMORPHISM INCREASE THE RISK FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS IN THE LEBANESE POPULATION

To investigate the effect Interleukin-16 (IL-16) and Interleukin-10 (IL-10) polymorphisms, and their interaction, on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) risk in the Lebanese population. Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) genotyping assay was performed to determine IL-16 rs4778889, rs11556218, and rs4072111 and IL-10 rs1800896 polymorphisms in 118 patients diagnosed with KOA ( ≥ 2 points on Kellgren-Lawrence (K&L) radiological classification scale) and 70 controls matched for age and gender (K&L score ≤ 1). After adjusting for age, gender, presence of metabolic disorders, smoking and drinking status, our findings suggest that rs4778889 TT genotype increases the risk for KOA compared to the combined CC and TC genotypes (OR=2.131, 95% CI 1.037 – 4.379, p = 0.04) and that the T allele increases KOA risk compared to the C allele (OR=1.8, 95% CI 1.008 – 3.212, p = 0.047). No significant associations with the disease risk were found for the other studied polymorphisms (p \u3e 0.05). Our data suggest that there is an interaction between IL-16 rs4778889 and IL-10 rs1800896 (p = 0.010). IL-16 rs4778889 TT genotype increases the risk for KOA only among individuals carrying IL-10 rs1800896 GG or GA genotypes (OR=4.821, 95% CI 1.847 – 12.583). None of the IL-16 haplotypes was associated with KOA risk in our study population (p \u3e 0.05). Our findings suggest that IL-16 rs4778889 T allele is associated with KOA and that there is an interaction between this polymorphism and IL-10 rs1800896 with regard to KOA

Hypoxia Preconditioning Increases Survival and Decreases Expression of Toll-like Receptor 4 in Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells Exposed to Lipopolysaccharide

Pulmonary or systemic infections and hypoxemic respiratory failure are among the leading causes of admission to intensive care units, and these conditions frequently exist in sequence or in tandem. Inflammatory responses to infections are reproduced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) engaging Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Apoptosis is a hallmark of lung injury in sepsis. This study was conducted to determine whether preexposure to LPS or hypoxia modulated the survival of pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs). We also investigated the role TLR4 receptor expression plays in apoptosis due to these conditions. Bovine PAECs were cultured in hypoxic or normoxic environments and treated with LPS. TLR4 antagonist TAK-242 was used to probe the role played by TLR4 receptors in cell survival. Cell apoptosis and survival were measured by caspase 3 activity and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) incorporation. TLR4 expression and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) production were also determined. LPS increased caspase 3 activity in a TAK-242-sensitive manner and decreased MTT incorporation. Apoptosis was decreased in PAECs preconditioned with hypoxia prior to LPS exposure. LPS increased TNF-α production, and hypoxic preconditioning blunted it. Hypoxic preconditioning reduced LPS-induced TLR4 messenger RNA and TLR4 protein. TAK-242 decreased to baseline the LPS-stimulated expression of TLR4 messenger RNA regardless of environmental conditions. In contrast, LPS followed by hypoxia substantially increased apoptosis and cell death. In conclusion, protection from LPS-stimulated PAEC apoptosis by hypoxic preconditioning is attributable in part to reduction in TLR4 expression. If these signaling pathways apply to septic patients, they may account for differing sensitivities of individuals to acute lung injury depending on oxygen tensions in PAECs in vivo