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Canine babesiosis is increasing in incidence and prevalence and is now a major problem in dogs. During this study, a total of 6204 dogs were examined for babesiosis over a 12 month period from January to December, 2006 in Lahore and 2.62% were found positive. The dogs were grouped on the basis of their age, sex and breed and season of the year. The male dogs were more prone to disease than female dogs (3.39 vs. 1.32%), whereas the incidence of disease was higher in younger dogs (6.9%) than older age groups. Crossbreds were more prone to the infection (10.9%) than purebreds. However, none of them were completely resistant. Warm and humid season played a key role in the spread of disease. Predominant vector of the disease was found to be Rhipicephalus species.

The research examined the impact of social media; social networking theory, word of mouth feedback loop, and creditability content on the consumer buying behavior in Pakistan. The structured questionnaire shared using the convenience sampling between 650-700 participants. However, received 392 complete responses. The estimations revealed that there is a significant and positive impact of social media, social networking theory, word of mouth, feedback loop, and creditability content on the buying behavior in Pakistan. Social media plays an important role in consumer buying behavior, which means that people are more likely to search, buy and share products using social media channels. Due to Covid-19, the number of responses received was less than expected. Furthermore, the salary of the respondents was not included in the questionnaire, which could have given information that is more detailed. The study examined the in-depth impact of social media on the people of Pakistan considering their detailed demographic and socioeconomic factors as it lacked the evidence with in historical literature. The owners/managers to attract or retain the customers must build their online presence using the most used social channels like Instagram and Facebook. Future researchers need to create a precise yet comprehensive survey. The salary of the respondent can be used to determine the behavior of respondents having different salary levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research study was conducted to determine the effect of sub-lethal (1/3rd of LC50) concentrations of heavy metals mixture (Cd+Cr+Co+Cu+Ni) on the growth performance of two carnivorous fish species viz. Channa marulius and Mystus seenghala, under laboratory conditions. The statistical differences among various growth parameters of the treated and control fish were analyzed by employing the Factorial experiments under RCBD and Tukey's/Student Newman-Keul tests. The three length groups (50, 100 and 150 mm) of each fish species were divided into two groups i.e., treated and control. For a period of 120 days, each group of fish species was exposed to Cd+Cr+Co+Cu+Ni mixture, separately and growth of the treated fish was compared with that of the control fish group. The fish growth trials were conducted, by selecting a group (n=10) of each length group and fish species. The experiments were conducted with three replications for each exposure concentration, separately. The growth performance of three length groups (50, 100 and 150 mm) of metals mixture treated and control fish groups was monitored in terms of increase/decrease in average wet weights (g) and total lengths (mm), feed intake (g), condition factor and feed conversion ratio. The data on all the growth variables of fish were collected, on weekly basis and analyzed statistically. The Results showed that all the three (50, 100 and 150 mm) length groups of Cd+Cr+Co+Cu+Ni mixture treated fish revealed significantly reduced growth, in terms of increase in average wet weights, total lengths and feed intake as compared to the three length groups of control fish. However, the treated fish showed significantly higher values of condition factor (K) as compared to the control fish. Regarding overall means, the 150 mm fish showed significantly better average wet weight and total length increments, and feed intake while lower FCR as compared to 100- and 50-mm length groups. The 50 mm fish exhibited significantly better K value than that of 100- and 150-mm length groups of fish. During chronic Cd+Cr+Co+Cu+Ni mixture exposure, Channa marulius exhibited significantly (p<0.01) higher average wet weight and total length increments, feed intake and condition factor while lower FCR as compared to Mystus seenghala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was an endeavor to investigate the growth strategies of Oxalis corniculata L., O. corymbosa DC. and O. pes-caprae L. The distribution and seasonal pattern of growth of Oxalis spp. was followed by regularly harvesting the species and measuring growth parameters on monthly basis at selected sites. It seemed that the growth pattern of the species allows them to select particular niches in the garden. The comparative analysis of life cycle showed that O. corniculata has the longest growing season and reproduce by seeds and vegetative propagules, whereas O. corymbosa and O. pes-caprae have short growing seasons and reproduce by vegetative propagules only. It appeared that O. corniculata is Competitive Ruderal (C-R) garden weed with occurrence on less disturbed areas and its growth strategies allow it to compete with other grasses in the same habitat. Oxalis corymbosa and O. pes-caprae are Stress-Tolerant Ruderals (S-R) as they are found at disturbed sites. Mode of vegetative reproduction of O. corymbosa is more efficient as compared to O. pes-caprae. O. pes-caprae have more specialized niches and spot bound mode of vegetative propagules that make it the most vulnerable in the gardens as compared to the other two species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control of crystallization is important at all processing stages of the PET battle industry, from the manufacture of bottle resins to the fabrication of preforms and bottles. In this [...]

B Introduction: b Relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (r/r-DLBCL) are a therapeutic challenge, especially in patients not suitable for high dose chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation or patients who fail CAR-T-cell therapy. r/rDLBCLs exhibit considerable heterogeneity. In xenograft models using the DLBCL line SU-DHL-10, BTM-3566 once-daily oral treatment resulted in complete regression in all tumor-bearing animals. Most importantly, no subsequent tumor growth occurred for 2 weeks after cessation of therapy, indicating that treatment with BTM-3566 resulted in a durable complete remission in this model of double-hit DLBCL. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract. The research examined the impact of social media; social networking theory, word of mouth feedback loop, and creditability content on the consumer buying behavior in Pak-istan. The structured questionnaire shared using the convenience sampling between 650-700 participants. However, received 392 complete responses. The estimations revealed that there is a significant and positive impact of social media, social networking theory, word of mouth, feedback loop, and creditability content on the buying behavior in Pakistan. Social media plays an important role in consumer buying behavior, which means that people are more likely to search, buy and share products using social media channels. Due to Covid-19, the number of responses received was less than expected. Furthermore, the salary of the respondents was not included in the questionnaire, which could have given information that is more detailed. The study examined the in-depth impact of social media on the people of Pakistan considering their detailed demographic and socioeconomic factors as it lacked the evidence with in histor-ical literature. The owners/managers to attract or retain the customers must build their online presence using the most used social channels like Instagram and Facebook. Future researchers need to create a precise yet comprehensive survey. The salary of the respondent can be used to determine the behavior of respondents having different salary levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the problem of predicting hourly load demand using adaptive artificial neural networks (ANNs). A particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to adjust the network's weights in the training phase of the ANNs. The advantage of using a PSO algorithm over other conventional training algorithms such as the back-propagation (BP) is that potential solutions will be flown through the problem hyperspace with accelerated movement towards the best solution. Thus the training phase should result in obtaining the weights configuration associated with the minimum output error. Data are wavelet transformed during the preprocessing stage and then inserted into the neural network to extract redundant information from the load curve. This results in better load characterization which creates a more reliable forecasting model. The transformed data of historical load and weather information were trained and tested over various periods of time. The generalized error estimation is done by using the reverse part of the data as a "test" set. The results were compared with traditional BP algorithm and offered a high forecasting precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oriented fibers of atactic Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) show a diffraction pattern consisting of just two equatorial peaks. The plot of d-spacing vs. temperature shows a linear increase up to about 85-100° C, followed by another linear region with augmented slope. This increase in slope occurs at a temperature that coincides with a glass transition (denoted TgII). It could not he explained previously, as with the classical two-phase model of polymers (amorphous + crystalline domains), there should he no change at a glass-transition because the amorphous phase with which a Tg is normally associated gives no X-ray peaks. In this work. we are able to explain why there can be a change in slope in the d-spacings of the ordered phase at a glass transition. This is because the ordered phase in PAN is not crystalline, but is a mesophase glass, and the transition is from a mesophase glass to a mesophase melt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State and local collaboration is critical to effective preparedness and response planning. Through various assessments, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is tracking the way in which local and state public health agencies are coordinating their planning efforts to ensure adequate bioterrorism and emergency response capacities. NACCHO's analysis of planning provides a case study of effective and ineffective collaboration. NACCHO intends to share these lessons to provide local and state public health agencies with strategies for enhancing collaboration in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acetaldehyde (AA) is a degradation byproduct formed when PET is melted. For the storage of beverages in PET bottles, minimization of the AA in the bottle wall is necessary as it can leach into the drink and alter its taste. Today's PET resins can easily meet the requirement for packaging strongly-flavored drinks such as colas (<8 ppm of AA in the preforms). However, the most stringent application is the packaging of potable water for which preforms with less than 3 ppm of AA are required. Major differences in the performance of commercial water-grade PET resins were observed. It is commonly believed that the key to reduced AA in preforms is a low I.V. resin (<0.75 dL/g), as it allows injection molding of preforms at low temperatures. However, this work shows that low I.V. is not a sufficient or even dominant factor for the AA obtained in preforms. It is possible to have a low I.V. resin that yields high AA in the preforms and conversely a high I.V. polymer that gives low AA. The intrinsic AA generation potential of the resin controls the AA in the preforms. This is not controlled by the resin I.V. but by the polymerization conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When unoriented polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is heated from room temperature, two glass transitions are observed at ∼100°C and ∼150°C. Further heating at moderate heating rates, such as 10°C/min, a degradation exotherm is seen at ∼340°C. But if a very fast heating rate (100°C/min) is used, a melting endotherm can be seen at ∼320°C before the degradation exotherm. When highly oriented PAN is heated, only a single glass transition is seen at ∼100°C, whereas the melting/degradation still occurs at ∼340°C. The X-ray fiber pattern of oriented PAN at room temperature shows just two equatorial peaks (d1 = 0.525 nm and d2 = 0.304 nm); any meridional or off-axis scattering is very weak and diffuse. This diffraction pattern remains essentially unchanged until more than 250°C, in the sense that different peaks do not appear or existing peaks disappear. Another surprising and important feature is the existence of a thermoplastic state well below the melting point, which allows the material to be molded into a transparent sheet. Here, a new phase scheme is proposed to interpret the experimental observations on the thermal behaviour of PAN. There are two key ideas: first, there is a thermodynamically stable hexagonal mesophase in PAN; second, unoriented PAN has a two-phase morphology, whereas oriented PAN tends toward a single-phase material. In unoriented samples, there are mesophase and amorphous domains that are both in a glassy state at room temperature. At ∼100°C, the mesophase glass transforms to the mesophase melt, whereas the amorphous domains become rubbery at about ∼150°C. In PAN with a single-phase morphology (highly oriented and/or thermally annealed polymer), the amorphous phase is a minor component and hence only a single glass transition at ∼100°C is observed from the mesophase glass to mesophase melt transformation. The differential scanning... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a form of long-term depression (LTD) in the perirhinal cortex that relies on interaction between different glutamate receptors. Group II metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors facilitated group I mGlu receptor-mediated increases in intracellular calcium. This facilitation plus NMDA receptor activation may be necessary for induction of LTD at resting membrane potentials. However, depolarization enhanced NMDA receptor function and removed the requirement of synergy between group I and group II mGlu receptors: under these conditions, activation of only NMDA and group I mGlu receptors was required for LTD. Such glutamate receptor interactions potentially provide new rules for synaptic plasticity. These forms of LTD occur in the perirhinal cortex, where long-term decreases in neuronal responsiveness may mediate recognition memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines if the non-invasive technique of near infrared spectroscopy could detect differences in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygen utilization between hydrocephalic and normal rats from the HTx rat model. According to the authors, a significant difference in change of hemoglobin oxygenation index concentration was observed between the normal and hydrocephalic rats.