Effect of Oil Production and Drilling Operations on the Ecology of Phytoplankton in the OEI Study Area

Paper by Kenneth W. Fucik and Sayed Z. El-Saye

The Imaginary Context in Nahj al-Balāghah: Theory and Practice

Poetic language can make an epistemological contribution. It is the purpose of this thesis to argue that the poetic language employed by Nahj al-Balāghah makes such a contribution, through its uses of the “imaginary context”. While poetic imagery is described by some schools of thought as mere ornamentation within a text, it has been recognised by philosophers of language, such as Al-Fārābī (d.339/950) and his followers, as having an effect on the soul. This idea is part of Al-Fārābī’s logical system in which demonstration – intended to bring about assent – is the highest practice for the tools of logical thought, such as syllogism. Yet, takhyīl [the imaginary] which affects the soul is a result of the poetic syllogism; a syllogism appearing at the lowest level of logic. Al-Sharīf al-Raḍī (d.406/1016) was a well-known poet and Shīʿī exegete in tenth-century Baghdad. He compiled Nahj al-Balāghah, which consists of sermons, letters and aphorisms of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d.40/661), the first imam and fourth caliph. The time of Al-Sharīf al-Raḍī was one in which intellectual contributions in different fields reached their peak. Social gatherings, disputation and the emergence and development of different sects contributed to the enrichment of cultural and intellectual life in the Islamic world. The Muʿtazilite school was known for its rational approach, rather than reliance on the interpretation of revelation transmitted through generations; as such, the Muʿtazilī approach has had a profound and long-lasting impact on some major schools of Islamic thought. Al-Sharīf al-Raḍī was a scholar who followed this approach and utilised his own forms of interpretation based upon his linguistic and poetic knowledge. Through understanding Al-Sharīf al-Raḍī’s poetic approach, and via a reading of Al-Fārābī’s linguistic philosophy and thoughts on logic, I argue that Nahj al-Balāghah utilises the rational tools that were considered valid, not only to influence the soul by the power of language, but also to educate people through poetic language. This can only be proved through a recognition of the “imaginary context” present within the texts I discuss, a term I develop from Al-Fārābī’s takhyīl. This context, as this thesis attempts to show, has its own logic, constructed by building images upon each other, and by establishing poetic relationships between elements, which depend on predicative propositions that are also, in their essence, poetic

Evaluation of an automatic technique for counting unicellular organisms

The Coulter counter, originally designed for high-speed counting of blood cells, was used in this study for quantitative estimation of several species of unicellular algae. Tests of the instrument\u27s reliability and the reproducibility of its counts have given satisfactory results. The instrument is also well suited for use in the study of growth curves of unicellular algae. The instrument\u27s limitations and sources of error are discussed

Electron dynamics in gold and gold–silver alloy nanoparticles: The influence of a nonequilibrium electron distribution and the size dependence of the electron–phonon relaxation

©1999 American Institute of Physics. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://link.aip.org/link/?JCPSA6/111/1255/1DOI: 10.1063/1.479310Electron dynamics in gold nanoparticles with an average diameter between 9 and 48 nm have been studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Following the plasmon bleach recovery after low power excitation indicates that a non-Fermi electron distribution thermalizes by electron–electron relaxation on a time scale of 500 fs to a Fermi distribution. This effect is only observed at low excitation power and when the electron distribution is perturbed by mixing with the intraband transitions within the conduction band (i.e., when the excitation wavelength is 630 or 800 nm). However, exciting the interband transitions at 400 nm does not allow following the early electron thermalization process. Electron thermalization with the lattice of the nanoparticle by electron–phonon interactions occurs within 1.7 ps under these conditions, independent of the excitation wavelength. In agreement with the experiments, simulations of the optical response arising from thermalized and nonthermalized electron distributions show that a non-Fermi electron distribution leads to a less intense bleach of the plasmon absorption. Furthermore, the difference between the response from the two electron distributions is greater for small temperature changes of the electron gas (low excitation powers). No size dependence of the electron thermalization dynamics is observed for gold nanoparticles with diameters between 9 and 48 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals that these gold nanoparticles possess defect structures. The effect of this on the electron–phonon relaxation processes is discussed. 18 nm gold–silver alloy nanoparticles with a gold mole fraction of 0.8 are compared to 15 nm gold nanoparticles. While mixing silver leads to a blue-shift of the plasmon absorption in the ground-state absorption spectrum, no difference is observed in the femtosecond dynamics of the system

Leukotrienes and leukotriene modifiers in pediatric allergic diseases

Leukotrienes are potent pro-inflammatory lipid mediators derived from arachidonic acid through several enzymatic pathways. They have an essential role in allergic inflammation, where they induce bronchoconstriction, airway edema, and chemotaxis of the inflammatory cells in the airways, nasal and conjunctival tissues. Leukotriene modifiers include leukotriene receptor antagonists (montelukast, zafirlukast and pranlukast) and leukotriene synthesis inhibitors (zileuton). These medications have been extensively used in childhood allergic diseases. This review will highlight the leukotriene pathway and its role in allergy as well as the effects of leukotriene modifiers in different allergic disorders

Addressing the challenges of practicing breast cytology in a tertiary teaching hospital in Kenya

Objectives: To assess diagnostic accuracy of breast cytology through histological correlation and identify reasons for diagnostic pitfalls. Methods: A total of 2700 cases were reported in cytology during the study period of 14 months, of which 1100 (40%) were from breast lesions. Only 96 (9%) cases had histological follow up in the form of core biopsy, lumpectomy and/or mastectomy. The cases in which cytology diagnosis did not match with histology diagnosis were reviewed by two pathologists and reasons for the diagnostic pitfalls in cytology were recorded. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of cytology were calculated. Results: Seventy cases (73%) had no cytohistologic discrepancy, three cases were reported as unsatisfactory while 23(24%) showed discrepancy with histology. Interpretation errors occurred in 16 cases in 3 categories (benign C2, atypical C3 and suspicious C4). There were 2 false negatives (C2) and 14 false positives (C3 and C4). Majority (58%, 8 out of 14) of the errors in the false positive groups were due to the poor quality of smears received from our satellite centres. Misclassification of subtypes within benign and malignant categories occurred in 2 cases each due to overlapping features. Sampling errors occurred in three cases due to inherent nature of the lesion. Sensitivity of our FNA was 91%, Specificity was 79%, Positive predictive value (PPV) 59% and negative predictive value (NPV) was 96%. Conclusions: There was no major discrepancy to influence the management or prognosis significantly. Minor discrepancies resulted due to sampling and interpretation errors. Poor quality smear emerged as a major cause of interpretation errors. This calls for corrective measures to be applied for both sample providers and pathologists

Oncogenic osteomalacia: A case report and review of the literarture

Oncogenic osteomalacia is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome characterized by severe hypophosphoremia due to renal phosphate wasting and osteomalacia clinically near to hereditary hypophosphoremic rickets. This disorder is induced by a benign tumor which belongs to the group of « phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor mixed connective tissue variant » secreting phosphaturic factors. We report the case of a 54-year old man who presented with diffuse bone pain and bilateral hip pain evolving for 3 years. Physical examination revealed a subcutaneous tumor of the leftflank. A radiographic skeletal survey showed signs of osteomalacia with an overall « washed-out » appearance of the bone, cuneiform aspect of dorsolombar vertebral bodies and bilateral fracture of femoral necks. Serum Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 concentration was high. The patient had total bilateral hips arthroplasty and surgical removal of the tumor of the flank was performed. There was rapid improvement and the laboratory values returned to normal.Keywords: Oncogenic, Osteomalacia, Mesenchymal, Tumor, fibroblast growth factor

Geophysical investigations of a geothermal anomaly at Wadi Ghadir, eastern Egypt

During regional heat flow studies a geothermal anomaly was discovered approximately 2 km from the Red Sea coast at Wadi Ghadir, in the Red Sea Hills of Eastern Egypt. A temperature gradient of 55 C/km was measured in a 150 m drillhole at this location, indicating a heat flow of approximately 175 mw/sqm, approximately four times the regional background heat flow for Egypt. Gravity and magnetic data were collected along Wadi Ghadir, and combined with offshore gravity data, to investigate the source of the thermal anomaly. Magnetic anomalies in the profile do not coincide with the thermal anomaly, but were observed to correlate with outcrops of basic rocks. Other regional heat flow and gravity data indicate that the transition from continental to oceanic type lithosphere occurs close to the Red Sea margin, and that the regional thermal anomaly is possibly related to the formation of the Red Sea

Redox Processes of Manganese Oxide in Catalyzing Oxygen Evolution and Reduction: An

Manganese oxides with rich redox chemistry have been widely used in (electro)catalysis in applications of energy and environmental consequence. While they are ubiquitous in catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), redox processes occurring on the surface of manganese oxides are poorly understood. We report valence changes at OER- and ORR-relevant voltages of a layered manganese oxide film prepared by electrodeposition. X-ray absorption spectra were collected in situ in O[subscript 2]-saturated 0.1 M KOH using inverse partial fluorescence yield (IPFY) at the Mn L[subscript 3,2]-edges and partial fluorescence yield (PFY) at the O K-edge. Overall, we found reversible yet hysteretic Mn redox and qualitatively reproducible spectral changes by Mn L[subscript 3,2]IPFY XAS. Oxidation to a mixed Mn[superscript 3+/4+] valence preceded the oxygen evolution at 1.65 V vs RHE, while manganese reduced below Mn[superscript 3+] and contained tetrahedral Mn[superscript 2+] during oxygen reduction at 0.5 V vs RHE. Analysis of the pre-edge in O K-edge XAS provided the Mn-O hybridization, which was highest for Mn[superscript 3+](e[subscript g][superscript 1]). Our study demonstrates that combined in situ experiments at the metal L- and oxygen K-edges are indispensable to identify both the active valence during catalysis and the hybridization with oxygen adsorbates, critical to the rational design of active catalysts for oxygen electrocatalysis.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DGE-1122374