Prevalence of Campylobacter species in meat, milk and other food commodities in Pakistan

A surveillance study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in meat, milk and other food commodities in Pakistan. Over a period of 3 years (January 2002-December 2004), a total of 1636 food samples of meat, milk and other food commodities were procured from three big cities of Pakistan (Faisalabad, Lahore and Islamabad) and were analysed. Among meat samples, the highest prevalence (48%) of Campylobacter was recorded in raw chicken meat followed by raw beef (10.9%) and raw mutton (5.1%). Among other food commodities, the highest prevalence was observed in vegetable/fruit salad (40.9%), sandwiches (32%), cheese (11%) and raw bulk milk samples (10.2%). The overall prevalence of Campylobacter was found to be 21.5%, out of which 70.6% were identified as Campylobacter (C.) jejuni and 29.4% as C. coli. The study reported that the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was significantly higher in the food commodities, which included raw/undercooked ingredients.     

Plasma Internal Inductance in the Presence of External Resonant Fields in IR-T1 Tokamak

In this paper we presented experimental investigation of effects of local limiter biasing (V_biasing = +200 v, V_biasing = +320 v) on the plasma parameters as plasma current, loop voltage, poloidal beta, plasma pressure, plasma energy, plasma resistance, plasma temperature, plasma displacement, Shafranov parameter and plasma internal inductance in IR-T1 tokamak. For these purposes, array of magnetic probes and also a diamagnetic loop have been used. The results show that applied biased voltage V_biasing = +200 v causes to decrease of about 40 % in plasma internal inductance. The plasma resistance and the plasma displacement have been decreased by V_biasing = +200 v. The main result of the application of V_biasing = +200 v is flatting the plasma parameters profiles. In other words, the addition of biasing voltage V_biasing = +200 v to plasma could be effective for improving the quality of tokamak plasma discharge by creating the steady state plasma. The plasma current, plasma pressure, plasma energy, plasma temperature and shift parameter have increased after the application of limiter biasing with V_biasing = +320 v but they decrease rapidly.     

Disassembly and Mislocalization of AQP4 in Incipient Scar Formation after Experimental Stroke

There is an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms involved in scar formation in the brain. It is well known that astrocytes are critically engaged in this process. Here, we analyze incipient scar formation one week after a discrete ischemic insult to the cerebral cortex. We show that the infarct border zone is characterized by pronounced changes in the organization and subcellular localization of the major astrocytic protein AQP4. Specifically, there is a loss of AQP4 from astrocytic endfoot membranes that anchor astrocytes to pericapillary basal laminae and a disassembly of the supramolecular AQP4 complexes that normally abound in these membranes. This disassembly may be mechanistically coupled to a downregulation of the newly discovered AQP4 isoform AQP4ex. AQP4 has adhesive properties and is assumed to facilitate astrocyte mobility by permitting rapid volume changes at the leading edges of migrating astrocytes. Thus, the present findings provide new insight in the molecular basis of incipient scar formation.     

Use of gas-diffusion electrodes for high-rate electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. II. Reduction at metal phthalocyanine-impregnated electrodes

The use of polytetrafluoroethylene-bonded, carbon gas-diffusion electrodes, prepared with carbon impregnated with metal phthalocyanines, for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide in aqueous, acidic solution has been investigated. High rates of reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide were demonstrated at electrodes impregnated with cobalt (II) phthalocyanine. In contrast, formic acid, and not carbon monoxide, was produced at low rates at electrodes impregnated with either manganese, copper or zinc phthalocyanine. This marked variation in reaction product on changing the central metal ion of the organometallic complex is rationalized in terms of a reaction mechanism involving, as the first step, the electrochemical reduction of cobalt (II) to cobalt (I).     

Heterocyclic syntheses with malonyl chloride. 15. 7-Chloro-3,4-dihydro-4,5-dioxo-3-aryl(or-alkyl)-2-thio-2H,5H-pyrano[3,4-2-e]-1,3-oxazine from aryl or alkyl isothio-cyanates and their degradation with morpholine and ethanol

Substituted aromatic isothiocyanates with malonyl chloride yield 7-chloro-3-substituted-3,4-dihydro-4,5-dioxo-2-thio-2H,5H-pyrano [3,4-e]-1,3-oxazine ( 1 ). Alkyl isothiocyanates with malonyl chloride yield a mixture of 7-chloro-3-alkyl-2-thio pyranooxazine ( 2 ) and the 2-oxo-analogue ( 3 ). The pyrano oxazine 1 react stepwise with morpholine undergoing replacement of the 7-chloro substituent yielding the 7-morpholino analogue ( 4 ), then the pyrone ring was opened producing 5-morpholino carbonyl-4-oxo-3-substituted phenyl-2-thio-1,3-oxazine-6-ylacetomorpholid ( 5 ). Finally the oxazine ring was opened yielding 2-substituted phenyl carbomyl-3-morpholino-N,N-glutaconoyldimorpholine ( 6 ). Ethanol react with compound 1 at any molar ration causing the opening of the pyrone ring and retain the oxazine ring. Mass spectra. ¹H-n.m.r., u.v. and i.r. spectroscopic data provided information about the fine structures of the products.     

A music symbols recognition method using pattern matching along with integrated projection and morphological operation techniques

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Optical Music Recognition (OMR) can be divided into three main phases: (i) staff line detection and removal. The goal of this phase is to detect and to remove...     

Design,Construction, and Installation of Movable Electrode Biasing System on Tokamak

The first results of the movable electrode biasing experiments performed on the IR-T1 tokamak are presented. For this purpose, a movable electrode biasing system was designed, constructed, and installed on the IR-T1 tokamak, and then the positive voltage applied to an electrode inserted inside the tokamak limiter and the plasma current, poloidal and radial components of the magnetic fields, loop voltage, and diamagnetic flux in the absence and presence of the biased electrode were measured. Results compared and discussed.     

Effects of Cyclic Loading,Freeze-Thaw and Temperature Changes on Shear Bond Strengths of Different Concrete Repair Systems

An experimental study was performed to evaluate the residual shear bond strengths between different cementitious and resinous repair materials and substrate concrete after being subjected to cyclic loading, freeze-thaw, and temperature changes. In this paper, techniques and results of test methods that induce shear along the repair/concrete interface are discussed. In addition to the effect of surface preparation on the strength of the old concrete surface, which proved the saw cut surface as the most suitable substrate concrete for shear bond strength assessment, by means of cylindrical shear and friction-transfer methods, the effects of cyclic loading, freeze-thaw, and temperature changes on the shear bond strengths of six different repair systems are illustrated. Analysis of the results indicated that: in order to avoid fatigue failure, the maximum safe stress level to be applied should be between 20 to 40% of the original shear bond strength of the repair system, and the critical stress level differs for different repair materials; 300 freeze-thaw cycles can reduce the shear bond strength of a resin mortar by up to about 80%; and 200 cycles, of temperature changes can reduce the original shear bond strength of a cementitious mortar by up to about 90%.     

Electrochemical effects of silane pretreatments containing cerium nitrate on cathodic disbonding properties of epoxy coated steel

In the recent years, silane materials, because of their environmental friendly nature and ease of application have been attended as an alternative for chromate conversion coatings. Different materials were searched for improvement of the efficiency of silane formulation. In this research, pretreatment of carbon steel substrates was carried out using γ-glycidoxypropyl-trimethoxysilane (γ-GPS) as functionalized silane. Cerium nitrate as a corrosion inhibitor material was introduced into the silane material and epoxy resin was applied on the pretreated steel substrates. Effects of the pretreatment on electrochemical properties, cathodic disbondment, dry and wet adhesion strength, and surface morphology of resultant epoxy coating were investigated. Results showed that pretreatment of steel substrate with γ-glycidoxypropyl-trimethoxysilane (γ-GPS) doped with cerium nitrate leads to improvement of cathodic disbondment and also dry and wet adhesion of epoxy coating. Furthermore, this type of pretreatment reduced the disruption of interfacial bonds at the binder/substrate interface. Addition of 2?wt% cerium nitrate into the silane formulation led to the maximum efficiency of resultant coating.