Petrography and Mineralogy of Amphibolite Rocks in Penjween Complex, Northeastern Iraq

Penjween igneous complex is situated in the northeastern part of the Iraqi Zagros Thrust Zone (IZTZ) which is considered as integral part of the Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt of Cretaceous age. The amphibolite rocks exist in Penjween as pods of lensoid-shape of variable sizes (2-3m). These amphibolite pods are surrounded by sheared tectonized serpentinite and peridotite and one is in contact with amphibole-bearing gabbro dike. In addition, there is an albitite dyke in contact with the amphibolite. These amphibolites exhibit deformation and alteration which is evident by the existence of chlorite veins cutting through or as patches within these rocks. Petrographic observations reveal that the main mineral constituents are amphibole; both primary and secondary, plagioclase with accessory clinopyroxene, quartz, titanite, apatite, zircon and iron oxides. Secondary minerals include chlorite, epidote, secondary amphibole and iron oxides as a consequence of alteration. Dominated textures are porphyroblastic, poikiloblastic, nematoblastic , blasto-ophitic and blasto-subophitic which are inherited from the original rocks. Accordingly, two mineral assemblages are identified: 1- Hb. + plag. + cpx.± qtz. ± titanite ± zircon ± apatite ± iron oxides, 2- Hb. + plag. ± qtz. ± titanite ± apatite ± zircon ± iron oxides ± chl. ± sericite ± ep. The secondary assemblage is more altered. On the basis of Mg/(Mg+Fe)-Si per formula of the analyzed amphibole, two types of amphibole are observed; Mg-hornblende and tschermakite. Chemical analyses of the plagioclase grains give two types; oligoclase (An23.9 Ab75.9 ) and albite (An1.7 Ab97.9)

A Non-Parametric Estimate of the Mass of the Central Black Hole in the Galaxy

We estimate the mass of the central black hole in our Galaxy from stellar kinematical data published by Ghez et al. (1998) and Genzel et al. (2000). For this we develop a method, related to Merritt (1993), for non-parametrically reconstructing the mass profile and the stellar distribution function in the central region of the Galaxy from discrete kinematic data, including velocity errors. Models are searched using the Metropolis algorithm. We assume that the mass distribution is spherical and the stellar velocity distribution is isotropic, and devise a test of this assumption. From proper motions we obtain an enclosed mass of $2.0\pm{0.7}\times10^6{\rm M}_{\odot}$ within the inner $0.0044\rm pc$, from radial velocities we obtain a mass of $2.2^{+1.6}_{-1.0}\times10^6{\rm M}_{\odot}$ within 0.046pc and from three-dimensional velocities we obtain $1.8^{+0.4}_{-0.3}\times10^6{\rm M}_{\odot}$ within 0.046pc.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the July issue of A

Checklist and Spatial Distribution of Molluscan Fauna in Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, India

Among the various animal groups represented in the macrobenthic fauna of Minicoy lagoon studied, mollusks were the dominant group. Molluscan fauna were investigated from six selected stations in the sea grass beds and mangroves of the Minicoy lagoon, Lakshadweep during 1999-2001. A total of 70 species of mollusk (52 gastropods, 12 bivalves) and an additionally 7 soft mollusks are reported in the present study. The total density of molluscan fauna varied from 137-604 (no. 0.25m2), while the highest biomass was obtained during postmonsoon season at southern seagrass bed and the least was observed during premonsoon season at northern seagrass bed. Among these Gafrarium divarticatum, Terebralia palustris are found the most dominant species of Minicoy Island, India

Quinolones modulate ghrelin receptor signaling: potential for a novel small molecule scaffold in the treatment of cachexia

Cachexia is a metabolic wasting disorder characterized by progressive weight loss, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and appetite loss. Cachexia is associated with almost all major chronic illnesses including cancer, heart failure, obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease and significantly impedes treatment outcome and therapy tolerance, reducing physical function and increasing mortality. Current cachexia treatments are limited and new pharmacological strategies are needed. Agonists for the growth hormone secretagogue (GHS-R1a), or ghrelin receptor, prospectively regulate the central regulation of appetite and growth hormone secretion, and therefore have tremendous potential as cachexia therapeutics. Non-peptide GHS-R1a agonists are of particular interest, especially given the high gastrointestinal degradation of peptide-based structures, including that of the endogenous ligand, ghrelin, which has a half-life of only 30 min. However, few compounds have been reported in the literature as non-peptide GHS-R1a agonists. In this paper, we investigate the in vitro potential of quinolone compounds to modulate the GHS-R1a in both transfected human cells and mouse hypothalamic cells. These chemically synthesized compounds demonstrate a promising potential as GHS-R1a agonists, shown by an increased intracellular calcium influx. Further studies are now warranted to substantiate and exploit the potential of these novel quinolone-based compounds as orexigenic therapeutics in conditions of cachexia and other metabolic and eating disorders.Irish Research Council for Science and Technology (IRCSET)Science Foundation Ireland (SFI/12/IP/1315)Science Foundation Ireland (SFI/12/RC/2275)Science Foundation Ireland (SFI/12/RC/2273)Universidad de Sevill

New Polychaete Records from Seagrass Beds at Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, India

Species composition, distribution and taxonomic description of polychaete fauna in the seagrass beds of the Minicoy lagoon, Lakshadweep, India were studied during 1999 - 2001. In 4 stations, 27 species of polychaetes belonging to 14 genera were identified. Of these 27 species, 10 species of polychaetes, belonging to 8 genera under 6 families, comprise new distributional records from Minicoy Island, and the descriptions of these species are provided. Among these, Glycera lancadivae, G. tesselata, and Eurythoe matthaii are found to be the most dominant species

Is the Force Awakened? Publication Trends in Oncology Big Data as Phase II CancerLinQ is Launched

Background: The American Society of Clinical Oncology launched CancerLinQ project in 2010 to provide real-time data collection, mining and visualization, clinical decision support, and quality feedback. Creation of a big data software platform is currently underway to power the CancerLinQ in the phase II of the project. This would allow for evidence driven practice and rapid learning for cancer care providers. Additionally, adequate knowledge about the utility of Big Data to encourage provider utilization in high Impact Factor (IF) journals is needed. We aimed to assess trends and quality of Big Data published in Oncology. Methods: Peer-reviewed English papers published between 2011 and 2015 reporting on cancer and Big Data were identified using PubMed. Manual review was conducted. Cohort construction and statistical analyses were performed utilizing SPSS v 21.0 Results: We identified 325 publications, 135 met inclusion criteria in 105 journals, of which 36% (n=38) are considered specialized hematology and/or oncology journals. Specialized journals published 29.62% (40/135). Equal distribution of publications was found in clinical and basic science journals; 54 (37%) and 50 (40%) respectively. There was a trend of increased publications in clinical journals from 2012 to 2015 (16.7% to 42.9%, P = 0.39). Of the available Impact factors (IF) – the median is 3.234 (range 0.00-41.456) with 25/125 (20.0%) of available IF being \u3e 5.00 and 12/125 (9.6%) being \u3e 10.00 with no difference in the proportion of IF \u3e 5.00 in clinical versus basic science journals; 11/51 (21%) versus 11/47 (23) % p = 1.00, respectively. Conclusions: The need for further publication of studies addressing Big Data use in furthering oncology research is being met by the research community in response to the CancerLinQ as demonstrated by the rapid increase in publications. We hypothesize that this will increase the likelihood of cancer providers using CancerLinQ in the future, although an increase in publication in specialized journals and in those with high impact factors is still necessary. Currently, despite the increased trend of publications addressing Big Data in oncology, less than one-third of these publications are in specialized journals

Application of photon correlation spectroscopy to flowing Brownian motion systems

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 C49Master of Scienc

Power in the Multinational Corporation in Industry Equilibrium

Recent theories of the multinational corporation introduce the property rights model of the firm and examine whether to integrate our outsource firm activities locally or to a foreign country. This paper focus instead on the internal organization of the multinational corporation by examining the power allocation between headquarters and subsidiaries. We provide a framework to analyse the interaction between the decision to serve the local market by exporting or FDI, market acces and the optimal mode of organization of the multinational corporation. We find that subsidiary managers are given most autonomy in their decision how to run the firm at intermediate levels of local competition. We then provide comparative statics for changes in fixed FDI entry costs and trade costs, information technology, the number of local competitors, and in the size of the local market

Remnant vegetation in farmland - its significance in ethnobotany and local ecosystem

This paper evaluated the structure of remnant vegetation (RV) in and around the farmlands of Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu of Southern India, to understand its significance in the local ecosystem. Stratified quadrats along nine randomly selected transects were used for sampling vegetation. The study recorded 2495 specimens of 96 plant species under 43 families in 1848 quadrats (88 of 10 m × 10 m, 352 of 5 m × 5 m and 1408 of 1 m × 1 m dimensions) while there was a possibility of recording more species with better sampling efforts. To know the ethnobotanical uses of plants, interviews were conducted with local villagers and people belonging to the Irula tribe, and later the data were collated with published information. Sixty -six plant species were recorded with traditional uses in food, fodder, fuel, condiment and medicine. Prosopis juliflora, an alien invasive species, was a serious threat to the native flora since higher P. juliflora abundance was associated with declining diversity of other plants. The study found that the absence of monitoring and management protocols leading to uncontrolled propagation of invasive species could cause potential damage to the region’s dry evergreen forests, which were often located near the farmlands