Intranasal administration is a non-invasive method of drug delivery which may bypass the BBB to allow therapeutic substances direct access to the central nervous system. Recently direct delivery of drugs from nasal cavity to the CNS via the olfactory pathway is attracting increasing attention in order target the drugs directly to the CNS for the treatment of diseases like Schizophrenia, Meningitis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease as well as depression also. This alternative approach can also lead to reduction in systemic side effects. The study investigated the plasma pharmacokinetics and brain uptake of DOV 21947 (Triple Reuptake Inhibitor) and venlafaxine a serotoninnorepinephrine reuptake inhibitor in Swiss albino mice after oral and intranasal administration. Enhanced pharmacological effect was observed which was evaluated by means of forced swimming test, suggesting that intranasal administration of drug produced higher direct delivery to CNS as well as to systemic circulation. Thus, offering a promising route of administration and an alternative to per-oral administration.

Fractionation effects associated with heavy metal isotopes leached from a doped polypropylene matrix was studied. The matrix itself was doped with oxides of Mg, Ti and Zn at levels of 3% and 10%. Acid leaching was investigated at pH3 and pH10. The leachates were analyzed by high performance ICP-MS and the results showed that normal natural abundances were recorded for Mg and Zn. However, depletion of Ti-48 and enrichment of Ti-46 were observed at statistically significant levels. At pH3, Ti-46 and Ti-48 displayed cycles of decay and growth with leaching over time for both the 3% and 10% doped polymeric materials. Such growth and decay were less pronounced for pH10, but the existence of enriched and depleted levels persisted. These data are interpreted in terms of the extraordinary crystal structure of TiO2, and mechanisms relating to the crystal lattice arrangement of TiO2. The mechanistic aspects were corroborated by TEM imaging. The fundamental application of our work lies in the discovery of a facile process for preparation of enriched Ti-46 solutions and depleted Ti-46 polymers.

Globally researchers are agreed that diet is the single greatest contributor to human cancer, and maybe associated with 35-70% of the incidence of the disease. Although various carcinogens are present in foods, their effects are minor compared with dietary components that inhibit the cancer process. The crude extract (80% ethanol extract) of leaves of Ehretia wallichiana Hook. f. & Thomson ex Gamble family Borginaceae was examined for their cytotoxic activity against different cell lines. It showed higher activity against breast cancer (IC50=10 ?g/mL). Petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts (successive to each other), showed high activity against breast cell line. Four phenolic compounds were isolated from Ehretia wallichiana. Two of them are flavonoids: quercetin 3-O-?-(6\\\'\\\'-galloyl glucopyranoside) and quercetin-3-O-?-glucopyranoside. The third is a precursor of coumarin 5-hydroxy-6- methoxybenzofuran-3-carbaldehyde and the fourth is p- methoxybenzoic acid (p-anisic acid). They were identified by their spectroscopic data.

GaN continues to be an important material for thin films and can be deposited by CVD or ALD using single source precursors that preferentially avoid Ga–C bonds. In this report, the complex bis(5-diisopropylamino-1,2,3,4- tetrazolato)tris(dimethylamido)digallium (1) was synthesized to potentially serve as a precursor to GaN. 1 is the first example of a Ga-tetrazolate complex, and was prepared by protonolysis of tris(dimethylamido)gallium using an equimolar amount of 5-diisopropylamino-1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazole. The complex was characterized spectroscopically and structurally. It exhibits a Ga2N2 4-membered ring, with a very close Ga–Ga distance of 2.8917(5) Å. The coordination to the tetrazolate ligand occurs at N2, which is unusual due to N1 being more basic. This unusual coordination is due to the steric hindrance provided by the very bulky substituent, the diisopropylamino group.

Heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu and Pb) concentrations were determined in surface and deep water samples along with their accumulation in tissues of the fish Oreochromis mossambicus from Malir River. Water and fish samples were collected from four locations (Murad Memon Goth, Malir City, Shah Faisal Colony and Qayumabad) of Malir River. Heavy metals concentrations in water and the fish were analyzed by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Heavy metal concentration in surface and deep water samples were found in order Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd and in the fish these were in the order Pb>Cu>Cr>Cd. In fish, Cd and Pb concentrations were found higher in gill samples while Cr and Cu concentrations were higher in liver samples, whereas gonads appeared to be the least preferred site for the bioaccumulation of metals. The concentrations of water samples were found to be above the values recommended by FAO/WHO (1993), NEQS (1993) and JECFA (2000) and in fish samples the concentrations of Cr, Cu and Pb were found to be higher than those recommended by WHO (1985), FEPA (2003) and FAO (1983) in fish food.

Toxic metals are widely spread in aquatic ecosystems and aquatic invertebrates are continuously subjected to it. In this study, adult brine shrimp, Artemia salina was collected from El Hamra Lake, Wadi El Natrun and acclimated in lake water. They were exposed to sublethal concentrations of CdCl2 (5 mg/l), FeCl3 (30 mg/l) and Cd + Fe (5+30 mg/l) for 7 days. A control group was exposed to lake water only. Antioxidant enzymes activity (Superoxide Dismutase; SOD, Catalase; CAT and Glutathione Peroxidase; GPx), metallothioniens (MTs) and total protein patterns using SDS-PAGE were estimated after exposure to the previous heavy metals for 1, 3 and 7 days. Cd increased the activity of the antioxidants CAT, GPX and SOD significantly (ANOVA/Kruskal Wallis, P ? 0.02) than Fe and Cd + Fe, which increased but insignificantly. Results indicated that concentration of metallothioneins was the significantly higher after Cd exposure (23.9 ± 0.9 ng/100 mg, ANOVA, P ? 0.001) followed by Cd + Fe (14.9 ± 2.4 ng/100 mg) and the lowest was after the Fe exposure (10.8 ± 0.3 ng/100 mg). The total proteins profile of A. salina tissue was analyzed after the treatment with Cd and Fe. The total proteins intensity increased in all treatments at the beginning of the experiment then decreased gradually than the control by the end of exposure. In conclusion, Cd exposure alone influenced A. salina biological responses than Fe alone or Cd + Fe. A. salina is an excellent biomonitor for metals pollution; antioxidant enzymes, metallothioniens and total proteins electrophoresis are good biomarkers to measure A. salina biological responses to specific metal exposure

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, occurring primarily in older persons, characterized by erosion of the articular cartilage, hypertrophy of bone at the margins (i.e., osteophytes), subchondral sclerosis, and a range of biochemical and morphological alterations of the synovial membrane and joint capsule. In osteoarthritis free radicals may act as triggering factor for degenerative changes seen in cartilage. Oxidative stress leads to increased risk for osteoarthritis but the precise mechanism remains unclear. Sialic acid concentration varies physiologically with age, but its level may also be influenced by such condition as inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the serum sialic acid levels (TSA and LSA), ?-Carotene and super oxide dismutase (SOD) in patients with knee osteoarthritis. In this study 96 subjects divided into four groups, 33 patients with obese Knee OA and 25 patients non obese Knee OA, their age range (32-78). The other 38 subjects age and sex matched healthy subjects were studied as controls include 23 obese and 15 non obese. This study was conducted in AL-Kadhemiya Teaching Hospital during the period from October 2011 to April 2012. Serum total sialic acid level, lipid sialic acid, serum ?-Carotene and serum SOD were determined. A significant increase in serum sialic acid (TSA & LSA) levels were observed, while there were a significant decrease in serum ?-Carotene and SOD levels in patients with knee osteoarthritis when compared to healthy controls. The results of our study suggest higher oxygen free radical production, evidenced by decreased SOD and ?- Carotene levels support to the oxidative stress in knee osteoarthritis. The increase of serum TSA and LSA levels is associated positively with the presence of inflammation and could be suggested as one of the many markers for Knee osteoarthritis.

The objective of this study was to investigate the induced effects of three selected heavy metals lead, chromium, and cadmium on poultry bird Gallus domesticus which are widely consumed in Karachi. Lead caused decrease in level of blood parameters whereas chromium and cadmium increased level of blood parameters. Red Blood Corpuscles (RBCs) decreased due to cadmium and lead whereas White Blood Corpuscles (WBCs) decreased with exposure to lead and chromium. Lead also decreased the life span of RBCs. After administration of high dose (20?g /body weight) of lead Hemoglobin (Hb) was 13.42 g/dL, R.B.C 3.33 (x10E12/L), Mean Corpuscular Volume (M.C.V) 160.30 (fL), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (M.C.H) 40.74 (pg), Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (M.C.H.C) 29.18 g/dl and W.B.C 189 (x10E9/L), respectively whereas for low dose (10 ?g /body weight) Hb was 12.52 g/dL, R.B.C 3.18 (x10E12/L), M.C.V 155.72 (fL), M.C.H 39.44pg, M.C.H.C 27.99 g/dl and W.B.C 207.50 (x10E9/L), respectively. At high dose of cadmium (20 ?g /body weight) concentration of Hb was 14.87g/dL, R.B.C 3.19 (x10E12/L), M.C.V 129.69 (fL), M.C.H 48.38 (pg), M.C.H.C 37.56 g/dl, W.B.C 135.24 (x10E9/L) whereas at low dose (10 ?g/body weight) concentration of Hb was 14.21g/dL, R.B.C 3.11 (x10E12/L), M.C.V 127.51 (fL), M.C.H 47.54 (pg), M.C.H.C 36.70 g/dl and W.B.C 145.75 (x10E9/L), respectively. At high dose of chromium (20 ?g /body weight) Hb as 9.35g/dL, R.B.C 2.03 (x10E12/L), M.C.V 142.40 (fL), M.C.H 37.20 (pg), M.C.H.C 23.95 g/dl and W.B.C 235.02 (x10E9/L) whereas at low dose (10 ?g/body weight) Hb as 10.40 g/dL, R.B.C 2.37 (x10E12/L), M.C.V 148.02 (fL), M.C.H 39.42 (pg), M.C.H.C 25.60 g/dl and W.B.C 207.31 (x10E9/L), respectively. In histo-pathological study, induction of a high dose of heavy metals (Pb, Cr and Cd) showed abnormalities of cells size and function, damage to cells and tissue of liver, kidney, intestine and brain.

In any health care system, the patient medical history is crucial to help the doctors for further patient diagnosis. History of the patient is collected mainly through face-to-face interaction when the patient visits the hospital. If the medical staff is not well experienced, it results in failure of collecting the patient history. So in most of the cases, effective patient risk analysis cannot be done. This paper proposes an ontology based system to collect the patient history and to assess the patient risk factorsdue to smoking history, alcohol history, erectile dysfunction history, and cardiovascular history. According to the patient history, a total score is calculated for each of the above factors. According to the score, the ontology performs the risk assessment on a patient profile and predicts the potential risks and complications of the patient.Ontology is among the most powerful tools to encode medical knowledge semantically.

Globally some of the largest mangrove forests are found in Asia. The shoreline of Pakistan is approximately 990 km long and 40-50 km wide. It is dominated by the Mangroves Avicennia marina. In Pakistan, eight species of mangroves was reported in the coastal areas, out of which, now only 4 species survive in the Indus Delta. Total area covered by mangroves in 32,000 ha, of which 129,000 ha lies in Indus Delta and approximately 3,000 ha on the coast of Balochistan including the areas of Miani Hor, Kalmat Khor and Gwatar Bay. In Sindh Province, major mangrove plantations and associated ecosystems have been found in Indus Delta, Karachi Coast and Keti Bunder areas. In this paper, we reviewed status and distribution of the mangrove forests and their important wildlife.

Severe burn causes a catabolic response with profound effects on glucose and muscle protein metabolism. Our aim is to determine whether a changes of metabolism and inflammatory protein like serum albumin and CRP and if their level can predict mortality in burn patients.Twenty seven burn patients were included in this study and compared with twenty seven healthy donors. A significant differences (p<0.001) between burn patients and control group were observed in total protein, albumin, globulin, high sensitive C reactive protein, urea, and uric acid. While a non significant increase (p>0.05) in glucose level was observed in burn patients. On the other hand a non significant difference (p>0.05) between burn degrees in same parameters were observed. We conclude from the present study that the metabolic changes occur in patients with varying degrees of burns and its values didn’t depended on burn degree, although its values can be use to predict the mortality of burn patients.

Traffic grooming, which is the combination of traffic demands into a single wavelength channel is a well-known issue in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. Grooming allows wavelength channels with high transmission capacity to serve many low-rate traffic demands simultaneously. In this paper, we address the traffic grooming, routing and wavelength assignment (GRWA) problem for WDM optical networks by considering multiple design objectives: maximizing the number of demands (commodities) served, minimizing the number of wavelength channels assigned, and minimizing number of transmission ports required. We use a hybrid multi-objective evolutionary computation approach consisting of Genetic Algorithm for routing allocation, Extended Traffic Grouping for traffic grooming and Maximum Degree First for wavelength assignment (GA-ETG-MaxDF). Then we apply the Fast Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) to search for the set of non-dominated candidate solutions in multiobjective space. We compare the simulation results obtained from our approach (GA-ETG-MaxDF) with the alternative approaches (MST and MRU) published in the literature. We also examine standard performance metrics for multiobjective optimization solutions such as Hyper-volume, Spread, and Inverted Generational Distance. Based on our results, we conclude that the proposed technique is effective for solving the multi-objective GRWA problem in WDM optical networks.

Approximations are very important because it is sometimes not possible to obtain an exact representation of the probability distribution function (PDF) and the cumulative distribution function (CDF). Even when true (exact) representations are possible, approximations, in some cases, simplify the analytical treatments. In this paper, we extend the known saddlepoint tail probability approximations to univariate cases, including univariate conditional cases. Our first approximation (the weighted random sum applies to unknown and very difficult statistics (we discuss the approximations within the random sum Poisson-Exponential random variables).We evaluate the performance of the saddlepoint approximation using simulations. Our second approximation (convolutions of Gamma random variables, ), are difficult to obtain. These computations are also compared with the exact and normal approximations. We find that the saddlepoint methods provide very accurate approximations for the CDFs probabilities that surpass other methods of approximation, such as normal approximation.The third approximation, including conditional saddlepoint approximations, uses the double saddlepoint. To demonstrate the methods of conditioning in statistical inference, we find a mid p-value using a conditionalsaddlepoint approximation for percentile modified linear rank tests. We show that in the double saddlepoint case, the saddlepoint approximations demonstrate better accuracy than the normal approximation while sharing the same accuracy.

Corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 0.5M hydrochloric acid solutions by 2- amino- 5 ethyl- 1, 3, 4-thiadiazole(TTD) was studied using weight loss, open circuit potential measurement and potentiodynamic polarization technique. The compoundshowedmaximum inhibition efficiency of 93.7 and 97% at highest TTD concentration from weight-loss and potentiodynamic polarization test. Results from corrosion potential monitoring showed the inhibiting compound well within passivation values throughout the exposure period.Inhibition efficiency varied with inhibitor concentration and the mechanism of inhibition is attributed to chemical interaction and adsorption form thermodynamic calculations.

Electricity production in small hydropower (SHP) plants can be increased without the need for the construction of new SHP scheme, but by upgrading and optimizing different aspects of existing plant\\\'s operations. An assessment of the electromechanical equipment that suites the existing heads, discharge or flow rates and other electromechanical parameters at the Oyan SHP plant, using Retscreen Clean Energy Project Analysis Software and hydraulic turbine specific speed equation ( ) to evaluate plant performances was carried out in this work. Two cases involving upgrading of the electromechanical equipment to yield 10 and 12 MW of installed capacities respectively were considered, while at the same time maintaining the existing structures such as the weir, powerhouse and penstocks. The two cases were analysed and compared with a reference case (the existing installed capacity generation of 9 MW). Findings in terms of the financial and economic analysis for optimum installation and operation, favoured the 10 MW installation. Energy gain by installing the 10 MW is 33.37% relative to the reference case while the 12 MW is 5% compared with the reference. The simple payback for the 10 and 12 MW capacities is 11 and 13 months respectively. Hence, upgrade and optimization to 10 MW is found to be a more profitable option than the 12 MW capacity

New parametric models concerning measures of information including entropy, joint entropy, conditional entropy, directed divergence and inaccuracy have been introduced and their detailed properties have been studied. A new concept to be called alpha logarithm has been introduced and the chain rule for entropy, alpha mutual entropy and directed divergence has been studied. More desirable properties known as subadditivity and strong subadditivity of the entropy function have been studied and certain new inequalities useful in the literature of information theory has been derived.

Information Systems (IS) organizations are experiencing a mounting pressure to contribute organizational success and to secure information asset, therefore, protection of information assets has become a paramount concern in IS organizations. IS organizations are more active in implementing technology and know the significance of IS audit and security controls in order to eliminate the risks for their IS asset and infrastructure. The aim of this paper is to analyze and demonstrate the effectiveness of network security controls in IS organizations that are implemented to ensure security and integrity of information assets. Also, the study evaluates the level of implementation of the detective and preventative security controls in organizations. In the present study we have collected data through survey from different organizations in Saudi Arabia. The purpose is to compare between the approaches for IS audit being used by these organizations and the industry standards of IS audit and controls set by organizations

Logarithms of imaginary numbers are defined by Euler’s equation in polar form with real X-axis and imaginary Y-axis. In the present paper, a new concept of logarithms is developed from the basic principles to derive the logarithms of imaginary numbers in rectangular form with both X and Y axes being imaginary. Logarithms of imaginary numbers to a real base with an imaginary multiplicative coefficient are real numbers. This concept generalizes the multiplication and division of real and imaginary numbers using logarithms in rectangular form.

This report copes with the examination of dispersive shear-horizontal (SH) wave propagation in the piezoelectromagnetic (PEM) thin film. The studied plate must represent an anisotropic solid with bulk properties. Its symmetry must be hexagonal pertaining to 6 mm point group of crystal symmetries. The changes in the velocities of the inspected dispersive waves versus the dimensionless plate thickness kd are graphically examined for some values of the coefficient of the magnetoelectromechanical coupling (CMEMC). The obtained results have clarified that the inspected waves are slightly dispersive when the CMEMC < 0.2. The dispersion must be significant for larger values. It was found that the zero-order mode of one inspected dispersive wave can commence only at some kd > 0. The same mode of the second inspected dispersive wave can begin at kd = 0. For a very large value of kd, the wave velocities approach the speed of the nondispersive surface Bleustein-Gulyaev-Melkumyan wave. Also, these academic results can be useful for design of dispersive wave technical devices: chemi-bio-sensors, labs on tiny chips, filters, dispersive delay lines, etc., and their further prospective miniaturization.

In this paper, we propose a comparative study between metaheuristic and a new heuristic for solving scheduling problems of n tasks on m identical parallel machines with unavailability periods. This problem is NP-complete in the strong sense of the expression and finding an optimal solution appears unlikely. In this frame, we suggested a new heuristic in which availability periods of each machine are filled with the highest weighted tasks. To improve the performance of this heuristic, we used three diversification strategies (T1, T2 and T3) with the aim of exploring unvisited regions of the solution space and two well-known neighborhoods (neighborhood by swapping and neighborhood by insertion). The computational experiment was carried out on three identical parallel machines with different availability periods. It must be noted that tasks movement can be within one machine or between different machines. Note that all data in this problem are integer and deterministic. The weighted sum of the end dates of tasks constitutes the optimization performance criterion in the problem treated in this paper.

A study based on the stress-strain behaviour of soils in four areas within Port Harcourt has been carried out. In this study, deformation trends on stress and strain, derivative of stress and strain, and ratio of deviator stress to undrained cohesion to strain were established. Higher stability and lower deformation of soils response to loading were in descending order of Rukpoku, Ada George, Borikiri and Abuloma areas. At low strains, soil modulus E, generally reduced with increase in strain converging towards 3.5% strain and subsequently, exhibited slight increase in value on Rukpoku and Ada George Road soils. Predicted soil moduli for the areas are generally within the range of E, identified as soft to medium clay soils, except for Rukpoku soils that are within the range of hard clay. Predicted values of the ratio of deviator stress to undrained cohesion and strain, at strain level of 1% are generally lower than reported field values frequently used for intact blue London clay, but are within the value used for routine work in London clay. Shallow foundation settlement input parameter of soil modulus can easily be obtained from the predictive models or values, for preliminary analysis and design.

In this paper, an important theorem of fuzzy derivative for fuzzy complex functions which map a regular complex numbers into bounded closed complex complement normalized fuzzy numbers is proved. This is a modification and generalization of the fuzzy derivative in Sabir et al. (2012)