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Vanadium oxide V2O5 thin films with variation doping ratios of Sm2O5 (2, 4, 6, and 8 % wt.) on corn glass and p- type silicon substrates were prepared by pulsed laser method. The X-ray diffraction peaks for V2O5 decreases with doping ratio of Sm2O3. FESEM images for V2O5 and doped thin films illustrates clusters with a homogeneous distribution in nano scale. The energy gap varied upon the increment of doping concentration, starting from 2.610 eV to 2.7 eV. Gas sensor measurement of pure and doped V2O5 demonstrated a sensitivity to NO2 gas, and the sensitivity expanded upon the increment of operation temperature. The greatest sensitivity was found to be about 99%, while best response time of 10s and recovery time of 18s were recorded using the 4% Sm2O3 sample at 50 °C.

The pathophysiological link between adiposity and blood pressure is not completely understood, and evidence suggests an influence of sex and genetic determinants. We aimed to identify the relationship between adiposity and blood pressure, independent of a robust set of lifestyle and metabolic factors, and to examine the modulating role of sex and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphisms. In the Relationship Between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease (RISC) study cohort, 1211 normotensive individuals, aged 30 to 60 years and followed-up after 3.3 years, were characterized for lifestyle and metabolic factors, body composition, and ACE genotype. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were independently associated with mean arterial pressure, with a stronger relationship in women than men (BMI: r =0.40 versus 0.30; WC: r =0.40 versus 0.30, both P ID and II ACE genotypes in both sexes ( P ACE genotype only in women ( P =0.03). A 5 cm larger WC at baseline increased the risk of developing hypertension at follow-up only in women (odds ratio, 1.56 [95% CI, 1.15–2.10], P =0.004) and in II genotype carriers (odds ratio, 1.87 [95% CI, 1.09–3.20], P =0.023). The hypertensive effect of adiposity is more pronounced in women and in people carrying the II variant of the ACE genotype, a marker of salt sensitivity.

Mycotoxins are the secondary metabolites of fungi. They are specifically connected to issues in animals and humans. Mycotoxin contamination is an overall problem influencing staple harvests such as corn (maize) and wheat as well as tree nuts, peanuts, sorghum, and numerous others. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that about 25% of worldwide agricultural commodities were infected by mycotoxigenic fungi. Many analytical methods such as liquid chromatography and gas chromatography are available to analyze mycotoxins, but these techniques require extensive sample preparation and treatment, boring procedures, and expensive equipment. Rapid, portable, and less expensive techniques are needed for on-site ultrasensitive and quantitative analyses of mycotoxins, especially in developing countries. Lateral flow immunoassays meet that need by providing users with a relatively easy, rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive method for analyzing mycotoxins in agro-foods and ensuring human health.

In this new study, the effect of gamma irradiation on the waste tire rubber for its using as modified asphalt binder was elaborated. The study was initiated to investigate the anti-aging performance and rheological properties of asphalt modified crumb rubber impregnated. In this context, three samples of crumb rubber (CR) obtained from waste tire were irradiated by gamma at 100, 200 and 300 kGy and used with two different percentages 5% and 10%, by mass of total asphalt binder. The modified asphalt binders (CRM) were evaluated from the perspective rolling thin film oven method (RTFO) and Brook field viscosity. The results showed that using 10% of CR subjected to gamma rays at 300 kGy with asphalt had high temperature stability, low temperature ductility and anti-aging performance. Also the rheological studies illustrated that the modified asphalt binder contains CR irradiated at 300 kGy have the largest adsorption of the asphalt molecules.

Poor bonding between two layers of hot mix asphalt (HMA) is the cause of many highway pavement problems. Normally, hot asphalt cements, emulsified asphalts or cutback asphalts are used as tack coat. The objective of this study was to evaluate the practice of using tack coat through controlled laboratory simple shear tests and determine the optimum application rate. The influences of tack coat types, application rates, viscosity and temperatures on the interface shear strength were examined. Test results indicated that latex modified asphalt emulsion has the highest interface bond strength. It was also found that applying low viscosity tack coat asphalt emulsion at two layers is more effective than a tack coat asphalt emulsion high viscosity one layer coat.

Parotid duct sialolithiasis was diagnosed in four adult mixed-breed mares. Successful surgical removal of the calculi was performed using a percutaneous approach. The salivary calculi were found to contain barley grains in the center, surrounded with mineral layers composed mainly of calcium carbonate and calcium oxalate.

The reduction of “Werner's hexol” cobalt(III) ion, [Co((OH)2Co(en)2)3]6+, by chromium(II) in aqueous acidic solution proceeds in discrete steps by way of the intermediate [Co(en)2(OH2)2]3+. The method of detection consists of enhancing the rate of the first step by chloride catalysis, and observing the kinetics at a wavelength at which the tetramer and the monomer have the same extinction coefficient per atom of cobalt.

Different buyer-seller watermarking protocols have been proposed to address preserving the digital rights of both the buyer and the seller. The previously published protocols have faced one or more of the following major common problems which are customer's rights, copy deterrence, unbinding, conspiracy, buyer's participation in the dispute resolution, protocol's practice applicability and man in the middle attack problems. In this paper an effective and secure buyer-seller watermarking protocol is proposed that encapsulates flexible and yet convenient solution to all of the previously mentioned problems. The security of the proposed protocol is based on the security of the public key infrastructure (PKI). The proposed protocol exploits the existence of the trusted certification authority (CA) to solve the conspiracy problem. Furthermore, the proposed protocol solves the unbinding problem based on a novel idea of generating buyer's dual signature of both the purchase order and the buyer's associated unique watermark.

The analysis of rectangular sandwich plates constructed of an orthotropic core and unbalanced cross-ply face plates is presented. A double Fourier series approach is used for simply supported sandwich plates under lateral loads. Results are compared to the corresponding sandwich plate results with orthotropic faces. The results indicate that the effect of bending-membrane coupling depends mainly upon the relative thicknesses of the core and faces; other factors include the shear stiffnesses of the core, the degree of anisotropy of the individual plies, the total number and lay-up of plies in the faces and the aspect ratio of the plate.

An approximate formulation is presented for the analysis of sandwich plates consisting of an orthotropic core and two unequal thickness anisotropic face plates. The method uncouples the membrane and bending actions, thereby significantly reducing the effort involved in accurately predicting displacements and stresses. Defining modified stiffnesses, the formulation is valid for relatively thick anisotropic laminated face plates and can be combined with a variety of analysis techniques. Using a series solution, results are generated herein for simply supported sandwich plates with unbalanced cross-ply and angle-ply faces.