Performance of a local electron density trigger to select extensive air showers at sea level

Time coincident voltage pulses in the two closely space (1.6m) plastic scintillators were recorded. Most of the recorded events are expeted to be due to electrons in cosmic ray showers whose core fall at some distance from the detectors. This result is confirmed from a measurement of the frequency distribution of the recorded density ratios of the two scintillators

Education Program Evaluation on Accountability Report on the Government Institutions Performance

The research on the accountability report onthe government institutions performance (LAKIP) was intended as valuable and appropriate document for the decision makers in all government institution. The result of report was taken from the qualitative research. The study used the evaluation model of CIPO referring to Context, Input, Process, and Output. The study was conducted at the Non Formal and Informal Directorate General, Ministry of National Education and Culture, the Education Office at the West Java and Banten Province in 2011. The study found that based on context evaluation, LAKIP was assumed having very strategic and important role as the fundamental evaluation instrument which could be applied in all institutions. The study also found that there were two problems in the implementation of the LAKIP\u27s role. The problems were: (1) some government employees still had low knowledge on the LAKIP\u27s role and function, and (2) LAKIP\u27s format used to measure the institution performance was still incomplete. Meanwhile, based on the components of input, process, and output evaluations, LAKIP were found proper as a formal report; yet, the content of the report was not optimally used as the standard or criteria in designing and revising any policies and decisions made by the decision makers. The study suggested that the staff\u27s role and capacities in the Directorate of Planning and Evaluation of PAUD in the Education Office at the West Java and Banten were upgraded based on well-planned and continuing program

Conjugation of quantum dots on carbon nanotubes for medical diagnosis and treatment

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and early detection provides the best possible prognosis for cancer patients. Nanotechnology is the branch of engineering that deals with the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules. This area of science has the potential to help identify cancerous cells and to destroy them by various methods such as drug delivery or thermal treatment of cancer. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and quantum dots (QDs) are the two nanoparticles, which have received considerable interest in view of their application for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Fluorescent nanoparticles known as QDs are gaining momentum as imaging molecules with life science and clinical applications. Clinically they can be used for localization of cancer cells due to their nano size and ability to penetrate individual cancer cells and high-resolution imaging derived from their narrow emission bands compared with organic dyes. CNTs are of interest to the medical community due to their unique properties such as the ability to deliver drugs to a site of action or convert optical energy into thermal energy. By attaching antibodies that bind specifically to tumor cells, CNTs can navigate to malignant tumors. Once at the tumor site, the CNTs enter into the cancer cells by penetration or endocytosis, allowing drug release, and resulting in specific cancer cell death. Alternatively, CNTs can be exposed to near-infrared light in order to thermally destroy the cancer cells. The amphiphilic nature of CNTs allows them to penetrate the cell membrane and their large surface area (in the order of 2600 m2/g) allows drugs to be loaded into the tube and released once inside the cancer cell. Many research laboratories, including our own, are investigating the conjugation of QDs to CNTs to allow localization of the cancer cells in the patient, by imaging with QDs, and subsequent cell killing, via drug release or thermal treatment. This is an area of huge interest and future research and therapy will focus on the multimodality of nanoparticles. In this review, we seek to explore the biomedical applications of QDs conjugated to CNTs, with a particular emphasis on their use as therapeutic platforms in oncology

Towards optimisation of model queries : A parallel execution approach

The growing size of software models poses significant scalability challenges. Amongst these challenges is the execution time of queries and transformations. In many cases, model management programs are (or can be) expressed as chains and combinations of core fundamental operations. Most of these operations are pure functions, making them amenable to parallelisation, lazy evaluation and short-circuiting. In this paper we show how all three of these optimisations can be combined in the context of Epsilon: an OCL-inspired family of model management languages. We compare our solutions with both interpreted and compiled OCL as well as hand-written Java code. Our experiments show a significant improvement in the performance of queries, especially on large models

Assessment of digestive enzymes activity during the fry development of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss: from hatching to primary stages after yolk sac absorption

The aim of this study was to determine the activity of digestive enzymes during the fry development of Rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ), which has a remarkable role in food digestion and absorption in the first feeding. The assessment of digestive enzymes activity of gastric (pepsin), pancreatic (trypsin, chymotrypsin, α-amylase and lipase) and intestinal (alkaline phosphatase) revealed that enzymes were available on the first day after hatching (DAH) but their activity showed no significant difference from hatching to day 12 (P > 0.05). An increased activity was seen between 12 and 18 DAH and this activity was significantly higher than the first 12 days (P 0.05). These results could be used as a basis for formulating a suitable feeding and also selecting the best time for starting the feeding so that optimum nutritional values and cost-effectiveness are achieved

Investigation of heavy metals accumulation in the sediment and body of carp fish in Aras River

Heavy metals are considered as the most dangerous water contaminants because of their possibility of bioaccumulation and toxic effects. This study tried to investigate the bio-availability of heavy metals in terms of Ni, Zn, Cu, Fe, Hg, Cd, and Pb in the sediment during dry seasons in Aras River basin located in Ardabil Province, north-west of Iran. Also the metal concentration in the skin and flesh carp was measured during all four seasons in 2010 in Aras River. Sediments were collected from five stations during summer but fish sampling was carried out seasonally in five fixed stations. The results of this study indicated that there was a meaningful and positive correlation between the existence of high levels of bioavailable metals and their concentration in fish body. Among the measured metals, Fe is highly bioavailable and the highest level of Fe in the sediment was in the ST4 (93.4mg/l). This could be due to high accumulation of this element in fish body. Also, maximum concentration of Fe in fish body was in summer (1.87mg/l) as well

Seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection (HTLV1) in different patients in the north of Iran

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV1) is a lymphotropic virus which can contribute to carcinogenesis in adult T-cell leukemia, myleopathy and other disorders. 20 million people are affected by this virus in the world. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of human T-cell lymph tropic virus type 1 infection in patients referred to Emam’s hospital laboratory in Sari. A cross-sectional study was done in 2009 to 2010 based on the different patients that were referred to Emam`s hospital laboratory in Sari. Our samples were selected by simple random selection, after venous blood sample was centrifuged and reserved in -70°C. All the samples were tested by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA). An ELISA positive result was checked by Western blot (WB) assays. Out of 1200 cases, 776 were female (65%) with ages between 1 and 76 years old. Most of the cases were Mazandaranian (99%); although only one person was recorded as HTLV1 positive (0.08%). He was a 41 years old man, living in Sari, with high school education. He was married (one wife) without any risk factor in past medical history, such as surgery, transfusion and abuse of injection, but he had HBV infection. Most of the females were housewives and most of the males were non-governmental employees; moreover, diabetes was more common among them. The results of the samples show that 122 women were pregnant, 92 cases had transfusion and 642 cases had different surgery. It was observed that the incidence of HTLV1 infection was very rare in the north of Iran (Sari); therefore, the routine HTLV1 screening was not recommended.Key words: Seroprevalence, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV1), patients, Iran

Developmental trends in voice onset time: some evidence for sex differences

This study reports on an investigation into the voice onset time (VOT) patterns of the plosives /p b t d/ in a group of 30 children aged 7 (n = 10), 9 (n = 10) and 11 (n = 10) years. Equal numbers of girls and boys participated in the study. Each child named a series of letter objects to elicit /p b t d/ in a syllable onset position with a fixed vowel context. VOT data were examined for age, sex and plosive differences with the following hypotheses: Firstly, that there would be sex differences in the VOT patterns of preadolescent children. Secondly, that the sex differences in VOT patterns would be linked to age and development, and that these would eventually become marked by the age of 11 years, by which time adult-like VOT values should have been achieved. Finally, that the extent of sex and age differences would be dependent upon the plosive being investigated. Results indicated patterns of decrease with age in the VOT values of /p b/ for the boys, with some evidence of increases in the VOT values of /t/ for the girls. In addition, 'voiced' and 'voiceless' cognates showed a more marked bimodal distribution in the girls' VOT patterns. This bimodal distribution was investigated by examining the degree of difference between the VOT values of voiced and voiceless cognate pairs /p b/ and /t d/, and examining the effects of age, sex and cognate pair. These results indicated that more marked sex differences in the 'voiced'/'voiceless' contrast emerged between the data of the 9- and 11-year-olds, a pattern, which was more marked for the alveolar plosives. These preliminary results confirmed all three hypotheses. The findings are presented and discussed both within a developmental and sociophonetic framework

Determination of isoquinoline alkaloids contents in two Algerian species of Fumaria (Fumaria capreolata and Fumaria bastardi)

This paper describes a fast and efficient procedure to separate and identify isoquinoline alkaloids from methalonic extract of two Algerian Fumaria (Fumariacea) species (Fumaria capreolata L. and Fumariabastardi L.) used in traditional medicine in cases of hepatobiliary disfunction and diarrhoea. Total quinolizidine alkaloid contents were 426 mg/100 g (F. capreolata) and 521 mg/100 g (F. bastardi). Theisoquinoline alkaloids, stylopine, protopine, fumaritine, fumaricine, fumarophycine, fumariline and fumarofine were determined by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in aerial parts ofboth Fumaria capreolata and Fumaria bastardi. In the first species, an ester of phtalic acid was identified, and in the second species a peak seems to be a benzophenanthridine, probably a dehydro derivative and three other peaks which were identified as phtalidisoquinoline, one of them seems to bedihydrofumariline. The chemotaxonomic significance of the results is discussed

Numerical Modelling and Validation of Mixed-Mode Fracture Tests to Adhesive Joints Using J-Integral Concepts

The interest in the design and numerical modelling of adhesively-bonded components and structures for industrial application is increasing as a research topic. Although research on joint failure under pure mode is widespread, applied bonded joints are often subjected to a mixed mode loading at the crack tip, which is more complex than the pure mode and affects joint strength. Failure of these joints under loading is the objective of predictions through mathematical and numerical models, the latter based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), using Cohesive Zone Modelling (CZM). The Single leg bending (bending) testing is among those employed to study mixed mode loading. This work aims to validate the application of FEM-CZM to SLB joints. Thus, the geometries used for experimental testing were reproduced numerically and experimentally obtained properties were employed in these models. Upon the validation of the numerical technique, a parametric study involving the cohesive laws’ parameters is performed, identifying the parameters with the most influence on the joint behaviour. As a result, it was possible to numerically model SLB tests of adhesive joints and estimate the mixed-mode behaviour of different adhesives, which enables mixed-mode modelling and design of adhesive structures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio