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Introduction: Previous studies estimating the reliability of the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) for scoring flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES®) have not considered prior experience in the procedure as an influencing factor. The current study aimed to compare the PAS scores assigned to a set of random, blinded endoscopic swallow studies across entirely novel and experienced FEES® clinicians. Methods: Expert clinicians independently rated a set of FEES® swallows, and novel clinicians did the same after a quick orientation and demonstration on components of PAS. The scores agreed upon by the expert clinicians were considered as a target score for each swallow against which the scores assigned by novel clinicians were compared. Results: Results revealed a significant difference in PAS scores across the two groups for all swallows except the first, postorientation (P < 0.05) probably indicating an immediate training effect that was not maintained. Analysis on learning pattern among the novel clinicians revealed no specific trend but suggested that the clinicians could identify normal and abnormal airway protection in majority of the trials, but had difficulty assigning the correct PAS scores. The penetration to the level of the glottis was most often incorrectly scored. Conclusion: The current study warns the clinicians about reliability of PAS scores communicated as a factor of clinical experience of the examiner who conducted the study. These results imply the need for task-specific training when it comes to implementation of tools in clinical science. Such training may help improve uniform practice and professional communication of patient-related data more reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sulcus vocalis is a condition of true vocal folds presenting as a linear furrow on the mucosal lining, lengthening toward the entire vibratory surface. Differential diagnosis between physiologic and pathologic sulcus vocalis has traditionally been based upon videostroboscopy that does not conclusively differentiate between the two. Hence, the present study was intended to utilize the electroglottograph (EGG), a routinely utilized voice evaluation tool to track morphological vibratory patterns in these conditions aiding in differential diagnosis. Method: A total of 40 individuals diagnosed as physiologic (17) and pathologic sulcus (23) based on stroboscopic examinations and history details were recruited as the participants for the study and were made to undergo the EGG procedure. Results: The majority of the participants with physiologic sulcus, obtained normal wave morphology barring four participants who demonstrated deviant patterns. In cases of pathologic sulcus, varied wave patterns obtained were prolonged open phase, pit such as undulation in closed phase, abrupt closing phase, and reduced amplitude waveform. Conclusions: The current study enhances the utility of EGG in cases of sulcus and its types (physiologic and pathologic sulcus) by revealing distinct waveform patterns in each and thereby aiding differential diagnosis too. These results from EGG are much relevant to voice clinicians especially in conditions where other evaluation tools are restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was intended to examine the stroboscopic parameters with regard to the extent and type of deviancies or variations from normalcy in perceptually phononormic individuals. Fifty perceptually phononormic individuals who served as the participants for the study were made to undergo Videostroboscopic examinations by an experienced Otolaryngologist. Later, all the recordings were examined, and under glottal activity majority of the parameters inclined towards normalcy but for certain deviations noticed for glottis closure and amplitude. Under supraglottal activity variations were noticed mainly under the structure and functioning of epiglottis, ventricular folds and arytenoids. These findings of the current study advocate that the presence of slight anatomically deviant parameters (probable normal variations) alone without any related presenting complaints do not serve as diagnostic hallmarks, mainly in cases of Functional or Non organic dysphonia and serves to caution in exercising just the theoretical framework in diagnosis of primarily functional dysphonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is known for its potential in biofuel production and as a platform chemical for many commercially important molecules. The cost-effective large-scale production of HMF from glucose is hampered by its poor yield in aqueous media due to the formation of polymeric side products known as humins. Thus, reducing humins formation is a strategy for the efficient conversion of glucose to HMF. However, the origin of humins formation and their structures are elusive. In this regard, we investigated the polymerization mechanism and the structure of humins formed during the Brønsted-acid-catalyzed dehydration of glucose to HMF in an aqueous medium by employing density functional theory-based calculations and microkinetic analyses. Notably, the results of this work indicate that humins formation occurs only after the formation of HMF in the reaction mixture and the major part of the humins structure (about 60%) is composed of furanic rings. Furthermore, based on the knowledge gained from in-depth mechanistic and microkinetic studies, potential strategies to reduce humins formation and thereby enhance HMF selectivity are proposed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifocal presentation of a laryngeal disorder is very rare. We report a case of a 48-year-old man, who presented to our hospital with hoarse voice for two years. Stroboscopic evaluation followed by surgery was done and the specimens were sent for histopathological examination from three different anatomical sites of larynx which were diagnosed as one-benign lesion, second-benign lesion but ability of malignant transformation and the third-a malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, thermal spray coating of (AISI 416) alloy was performed by the precipitation of CoCrAlSi and different weight fractions of Ni2O3 + Al2O3 . The oxidation resistance of uncoated and coated alloy was evaluated by cyclic oxidation testing in air at 900o C for 204 h. The kinetics of corrosion was assessed by measuring the mass changes due to the oxidation process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques was performed to investigate the surface structure of the thermal coating and alloy products. The experimental results of SEM showed that some of the coated sample surfaces had irregular structures, roughness, and heterogeneity. It also revealed the presence of both un-melted and melted particles and cracks. Additionally, agglomerated particles or clusters, partially dissolved particles, pores, voids, and oxide inclusions were observed in certain areas. The microstructure composition by (XRD) revealed the presence of primary precipitates of Al2 O3, as well as many phases like CrNiO4 and Cr2 O3, which appeared in the form of secondary precipitation. The corrosion experimental results show that the uncoated and the thermal barrier coating (A2) alloys suffered from spallation and sputtering of the oxide scale after (132–150 h) of oxidation exposure and led to an increase in the weight loss of these alloys, which reached (–0.3519 mg/cm²) and (–0.0742 mg/cm²), respectively after the end of the exposure period. The presence of (75% Al2 O3) (A5) coating layers could significantly improve the hot oxidation resistance as indicated by a lower weight gain than the uncoated and other coated alloy, which reach (0.0005 mg/cm²) after 204 h of cyclic oxidation processes. The other thermal barrier coating layers (A1), (A3), (A4), and (A6) alloys show better protection performance with no weight loss detected during thermal exposure in comparison with the base alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Effortful swallow with progressive resistance has a potential clinical implication in improving the oro-muscular strength, swallow safety, and efficiency in elderly individuals. But to date, no studies have explored its benefits in training individuals with post-stroke dysphagia. Aim: The present study investigated the long- term effect of effortful swallow with progressive resistance on swallow safety, efficiency and quality of life in persons with dysphagia following stroke. Method: The study consisted of 5 males (mean age: 41.80yrs ± 9.6yrs) diagnosed with dysphagia post-stroke. The participants underwent 20 sessions (5 days/week) of intensive effortful swallow with progressive training spread across four weeks. In the first two weeks, the participants performed 10 × 3 sets of effortful swallows with a 50% of resistance load, which was further increased to 15 × 3 sets with a 70% resistance load. Results: DIGEST-FEES safety and overall swallow quality of life significantly improved post-therapy, whereas DIGEST-FEES efficiency and overall swallow grades showed no significant changes. Inter-rater reliability of DIGEST-FEES revealed substantial agreement between judges. Conclusion: The results are promising as the technique improved swallow safety, and swallow quality of life in persons with dysphagia following stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coarse-grained (CG) models of polymers involve grouping many atoms in an all-atom (AA) representation into single sites to reduce computational effort yet retain the hierarchy of length and time scales inherent to macromolecules. Parameterization of such models is often via "bottom-up" methods, which preserve chemical specificity but suffer from artificially accelerated dynamics with respect to the AA model from which they were derived. Here, we study the combination of a bottom-up CG model with a dissipative potential as a means to obtain a chemically specific and dynamically correct model. We generate the conservative part of the force-field using the iterative Boltzmann inversion (IBI) method, which seeks to recover the AA structure. This is augmented with the dissipative Langevin thermostat, which introduces a single parameterizable friction factor to correct the unphysically fast dynamics of the IBI-generated force-field. We study this approach for linear polystyrene oligomer melts for three separate systems with 11, 21, and 41 monomers per chain and a mapping of one monomer per CG site. To parameterize the friction factor, target values are extracted from the AA dynamics using translational monomer diffusion, translational chain diffusion, and rotational chain motion to test the consistency of the parameterization across different modes of motion. We find that the value of the friction parameter needed to bring the CG dynamics in line with AA target values varies based on the mode of parameterization with short-time monomer translational dynamics requiring the highest values, long-time chain translational dynamics requiring the lowest values, and rotational dynamics falling in between. The friction ranges most widely for the shortest chains, and the span narrows with increasing chain length. For longer chains, a practical working value of the friction parameter may be derived from the rotational dynamics, owing to the contribution of multiple relaxation modes to chain rotation and a lack of sensitivity of the translational dynamics at these intermediate levels of friction. A study of equilibrium chain structure reveals that all chains studied are non-Gaussian. However, longer chains better approximate ideal chain dimensions than more rod-like shorter chains and thus are most closely described by a single friction parameter. We also find that the separability of the conservative and dissipative potentials is preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most of practical situation multiple slips (velocity, temperature and concentration) has importance in manufacturing, medicinal, imaging processes and design of materials. In view of this, the present work considered the multiple slips on Magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) dissipative non-Newtonian fluid (Casson fluid) above a curved type of a stretching surface are studied. Multiple slips with Casson fluid have significance in controlling the blood flow distribution in human and animal bodies. The R–K fourth-order via shooting technique is used to convert the nonlinear governing equations. The impact of governing parameters is shown and explored graphically. The present investigation explores the multiple slip effects in governing equations under the influence of the magnetic field; the fluid's temperature and velocity have reverse characteristics. In a few unique situations, the current findings have been in reasonable agreement with the current results. As opposed to when viscous dissipation is absent, the temperature distribution is higher when viscous dissipation is present. It helps us to decide depending on the industrial and manufacturing processes, whether dissipation has to be applied or not. The stretching parameter enhances the Skin friction coefficient and rate of heat transfer, while decreases the rate of mass transfer. Also, the fluid's temperature decreases because an increase in Casson fluid parameter enhances the plastic dynamic viscosity, which creates resistance in the fluid motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acetylene‐terminated polyisoimide oligomers introducing 2,2′‐bis (trifluoromethyl)benzidine (TFMB) or 3,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (3,4′‐ODA) as the diamine were synthesized, and short quartz fiber reinforced polyisoimide composites were prepared. The structure, processability, and thermal properties of polyisoimide oligomers were characterized. The mechanical properties and ablation protection performances of the composites were tested. The effects of TFMB on the processability and thermal properties of polyisoimides were studied. The application properties of short quartz fiber reinforced polyisoimide composites as thermal protection materials were evaluated by coal gas/oxygen ablation test system. These results showed that the introduction of TFMB into the polyisoimide structure can improve its solubility and heat resistance, as well as the ablation protection performances of the composites. The above results showed its potential application in the field of thermal protection materials. This makes it possible for polyisoimide composites to be used in the field of ablation protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), fact from different sensor nodes is collected at assembling node, which is typically complete via modest procedures such as averaging as inadequate computational power and energy resources. Though such collections is identified to be extremely susceptible to node compromising attacks. These approaches are extremely prone to attacks as WSN are typically lacking interfere resilient hardware. Thus, purpose of veracity of facts and prestige of sensor nodes is critical for wireless sensor networks. Therefore, imminent gatherer nodes will be proficient of accomplishment additional cultivated data aggregation algorithms, so creating WSN little unresisting, as the performance of actual low power processors affectedly increases. Iterative filtering algorithms embrace inordinate capacity for such a resolution. The way of allocated the matching mass elements to information delivered by each source, such iterative algorithms concurrently assemble facts from several roots and deliver entrust valuation of these roots. Though suggestively extra substantial against collusion attacks beside the modest averaging techniques, are quiet vulnerable to a different cultivated attack familiarize. The existing literature is surveyed in this paper to have a study of iterative filtering techniques and a detailed comparison is provided. At the end of this paper new technique of improved iterative filtering is proposed with the help of literature survey and drawbacks found in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of phase delay property of complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR)-loaded transmission line in the miniaturisation of Butler matrix beam forming network is proposed. The design of left-handed transmission line and the influence of the capacitive stubs in the phase delay properties of the CSRR-loaded transmission line with a gap are presented. The CSRR-loaded transmission line with a 7 mm capacitive stub provides 93' more phase delay than the CSRR-loaded transmission line without the stubs. CSRR-loaded transmission line with capacitive stubs is applied to the phase compensating lines of 4×4 Butler matrix configurations, without disturbing the 90' hybrids and crossovers. The CSRR-loaded configuration exhibits a size reduction of 48% of the footprint of the conventional Butler matrix. The output of the miniaturised Butler matrix is connected to a linear microstrip antenna array of four radiating elements and its radiation parameters (beam pointing direction, beamwidth and sidelobe levels) are compared with that of an unloaded conventional 4×4 Butler matrix. The miniaturised switched beam-steering antenna exhibits similar radiation characteristics as that of a conventional switched beam antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop novel parallel algorithms that allow molecular dynamics simulations in which byproduct molecules are created and removed because of the chemical reactions during the molecular dynamics simulation. To prevent large increases in the potential energy, we introduce the byproduct molecules smoothly by changing the non‐bonded interactions gradually. To simulate complete equilibrium reactions, we allow the byproduct molecules attack and destroy created bonds. Modeling of such reactions are, for instance, important to study the pore formation due to the presence of e.g. water molecules or development of polymer morphology during the process of splitting off byproduct molecules. Another concept that could be studied is the degradation of polymeric materials, a very important topic in a recycling of polymer waste. We illustrate the method by simulating the polymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at the coarse‐grained level as an example of a polycondensation reaction with water as a byproduct. The algorithms are implemented in a publicly available software package and are easily accessible using a domain‐specific language that describes chemical reactions in an input configuration file. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: The dynamic and mechanical properties of the three thermoplastic polyimides—crystallizable polyimide BPDA‐P3 and amorphous polyimides ODPA‐P3 and aBPDA‐P3—have been simulated using the atomistic molecular dynamics technique. The three simulated polyimides differ in the chemical structure of their corresponding dianhydride fragments. Analyzing the local orientational mobility of different phenylene rings, it has been established that the increase of the glass‐transition temperature (Tg) in the ordered set T g aBPDA − P 3 > T g BPDA − P 3 > T g ODPA − P 3 is caused by the slowing down of the phthalimide rings relaxation in the corresponding dianhydride fragments. It has been observed that rather poor mechanical characteristics upon aBPDA‐P3 stretching in the strain‐hardening regime are also due to the low orientational mobility of the phthalimide rings. The correlation between the dynamic fragility and the polyimides strain‐hardening moduli has been observed; the increase of the dynamic fragility leads to the increase of the strain‐hardening modulus. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018, 56, 375–382 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Two new bio-based diacylhydrazide monomers, namely, 4,4′-(propane-1,3-diylbis(oxy))bis(3-methoxybenzohydrazide) and 4,4′-(propane-1,3-diylbis(oxy))bis(3,5-dimethoxybenzohydrazide) were synthesized starting from lignin-derived phenolic acids, namely, vanillic acid and syringic acid. A series of poly(amide imide)s was synthesized by polycondensation of these diacylhydrazide monomers with commercially available aromatic dianhydrides. Poly(amide imide)s showed inherent viscosity in the range 0.44-0.56 dL g−1 and exhibited good solubility in organic solvents. Poly(amide imide)s could be cast into transparent, flexible, and tough films from their N, N-dimethylacetamide solutions. Poly(amide imide)s showed 10% weight loss in the temperature range 340-364 °C indicating their good thermal stability. Glass transition temperature ( Tg) of poly(amide imides)s were measured by DSC and DMA which were in the range 201-223 °C and 214-248 °C, respectively. The Tg values of poly(amide imide)s were dependent on the number methoxy substituents on aromatic rings of diacylhydrazide monomers. Molecular dynamics simulation studies revealed that chain rigidity is the dominant factor for observed trends in Tg. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3636-3645 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phenylethynyl-terminated reactive diluent [Card-4-phenylethynylphthalic anhydride (PEPA)], which contained fluorenyl cardo structures, was successfully synthesized and used as a modifier for flexible phenylethynyl-terminated imide oligomer (PEI-PEPA). The chemical structure, crosslink characterization, molecular weights, and thermal properties of the products were characterized. The imide systems with addition of 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt% Card-PEPA to PEI-PEPA (PEI-PEPA-Card) and their cured resin systems were prepared. The thermal curing behaviors of imide systems at different heating rates were analyzed by using differential scanning calorimetry. Thermal properties such as glass transition temperature ( Tg) and char yield at 800°C of the resultant resin systems were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. The rheological properties were also investigated using a dynamic rheometry. These properties were found to be outstanding compared with pure PEI-PEPA. The uncured imide systems exhibited lower Tg and lower isothermal viscosity with addition of Card-PEPA. Furthermore, the Tg and char yield of the cured resin systems increased with addition of Card-PEPA. The cured resin systems containing 40 wt% Card-PEPA exhibited the highest Tg of 359°C and char yield at 800°C of 66.5%. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using systematic coarse-grained (CG) techniques such as iterative Boltzmann inversion (IBI) is an efficient means to simulate high molecular weight polymer melts within reasonable computational time. One drawback of such an approach is however the need to carry out extensive atomistic simulations in order to extrapolate the necessary distributions to derive the inter and intrabead force field parameters. Here it is shown that it is possible to use atomistic simulations of relative short oligomers to develop the CG model for high molecular weight polymers. In particular for the specific case of polycarbonates, it is found that the structural properties (end-to-end distance, radius of gyration and their distributions) are similar irrespective of whether the CG potentials are derived from 5-mer or 10-mer melt systems. Dynamical properties of the CG systems are smoother and faster than the atomistic ones. Scaling factor, derived by overlapping the CG mean square displacement curves (obtained from different CG IBI potentials) over the atomistic ones, also scales the autocorrelation functions. A prediction of the dynamical scaling factor in the case of the unavailability of atomistic simulations is also discussed. The dynamical properties of the CG melts are modeled reasonably well by all the CG potentials derived from atomistic simulations of short oligomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial insulation breaks are needed in ITER superconducting magnet system, which are used for separation of high voltage area from grounded cooling pipes system. To determine the maximum safe temperature that the insulating break can withstand without damage, such as preventing damage by overheating during welding of the insulating breaks to the helium cooling pipes for the superconducting magnets and high temperature baking to remove moisture, the glass transition temperature was tested by using the dynamic mechanical analysis with the standard sample made from epoxy resin. Furthermore, the high temperature baking test of axial insulation break was performed, further helium tight test and high voltage tests indicate the baked insulation break is in good condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to minimize environmental problems related to raw poultry manure application by stabilizing its nutrient and organic matter (OM) content. This can be achieved by prior digestion before its application to agricultural soils. Design/methodology/approach – In the present study, changes in physicochemical and microbial properties of poultry litter were studied in order to evaluate the suitability of using the digested (stabilized) product for soil amendment. The poultry litter was digested in autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestor (ATAD) where organic solids were degraded and the heat released during the microbial degradation was used to maintain the thermophilic temperatures ( < 50ºC) at a hydraulic retention time of about 3 d. Findings – Results of this study showed that the poultry litter undergoes physicochemical and microbial changes similar to other digestion systems; these changes include self-heating, relative increase in Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, P, K and NO3-N and decrease in microbial population numbers, C, OM and NH4-N contents. Originality/value – ATAD is an effective method for the conversion of poultry litter into organic fertilizer, which can be readily applied to the agriculture land. ATAD is an eco-friendly, cost effective method which also reduces the length of stabilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug resistance tuberculosis is one of the challenging tasks that dictates the desperate need for the development of new antitubercular agents which operate via novel modes of action. Here, we are reporting on 4-aminoquinazolines as M. tuberculosis N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GlmU MTB ) inhibitors to overcome the problem of the MDR-TB. Amongst the synthesized compounds, two of them were observed to be the effective compounds of the series (IC 50 =6.4 μM (H37Rv), MIC=25 μM (MDR-TB) and IC 50 =2.9 μM (H37Rv), MIC=6.25 μM (MDR-TB), respectively)., (© 2020 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

An important high-temperature polyimide, namely HFPE-30, has been coarse grained to three different levels of detail. It has been shown that while it is possible to successfully calibrate bonded and non-bonded forcefields and attain realistic densities with all levels of coarse graining, reproducing chain structures and dynamic properties requires an adequate level of atomistic detail to be retained. A model that coarse grains the HFPE-30 molecule into eight beads, approximates both chain structure and dynamic properties well. Alternately, the unrealistically fast dynamics in coarse-grained models can be slowed down by increasing the thermal coupling constant by a scaling factor that is estimated by comparing mean square displacements in detailed atomistic and coarse-grained simulations. In general, stress-strain responses of coarse-grained systems do not match those of the detailed atomic systems except when the coarse graining involves eight beads. In cases where lesser number of beads are used, slowing the dynamics down by the estimated scaling factor takes the stress-strain response of the coarse-grained system close to that of the detailed atomistic one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormalities of transmembrane and cytoplasmic proteins of tight junctions (TJ) have been implicated in pathogenesis of both celiac (CeD) and Crohn's diseases (CD). Since disease pathogenesis in CeD and CD are different, we planned to study if there is any differential expression pattern of TJ marker proteins and ultrastructural changes, respectively, in duodenal villi vs crypts. Endoscopic duodenal biopsies from treatment naïve patients with CeD ( n = 24), active CD ( n = 28), and functional dyspepsia (as controls, n = 15), both at baseline and 6 months after treatment, were subjected to light microscopic analysis (modified Marsh grading); immune-histochemical staining and Western blot analysis to see the expression of key TJ proteins [trans-membrane proteins (claudin-2, claudin-3, claudin-4, occludin, and JAM) and cytoplasmic protein (ZO-1)]. Transmission electron microscopy and image analysis of the TJs were also performed. There was significant overexpression of claudin-2 (pore-forming) and occludin (protein maintaining cell polarity) with under-expression of claudin-3 and claudin-4 (pore-sealing proteins) in treatment naïve CeD and active CD with simultaneous alteration in ultrastructure of TJs such as loss of penta-laminar structure and TJ dilatation. Normalization of some of these TJ proteins was noted 6 months after treatment. These changes were not disease specific and were not different in duodenal villi and crypts. Overexpression of pore-forming and under-expression of pore-sealing TJ proteins lead to dilatation of TJ. These changes are neither disease specific nor site specific and the end result of mucosal inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to increase productivity in Egypt, we must be cultivate oil crops outside the Nile Valley to conduct the strategic goal to minimizing the gab be-tween oil production and its consumption. The field experiments were conducted in a sandy loam soil at Experimental Farm of the Agricultural Research Station, New valley Governorate during the winter seasons of 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. The objective of this investigates was aimed to study the productivity of two ca-nola genotypes under modern irrigation and fertigation systems which preferable as a new techniques in the newly reclaimed soils. The relationship among plant, soil and water are presented in the form of consumptive water (CU) and the wa-ter use efficiency (WUE) of two canola genotypes, fertigation levels and plant spacing under sprinkler and drip compared with surface irrigation systems. Re-sults revealed that tallest plants, No of primary racemes/plant, No of sili-quas/plant, seed index and consequently seed yield/plant (gm) were obtained un-der drip irrigation system compared with the other irrigation systems. Planting Serw 6 genotype under fertigation rate of 60, 30 and 36 kg/fed of N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively with 10 cm sowing space and one plant in hill must be recom-mended. The results indicated that highest water use efficiency (WUE) was ob-tained from sown Serow 6 genotype compared with the other genotypes. Drip irrigation system proved to be the best in decreasing consumptive use (CU) and consequently increased water use efficiency (WUE) compared to either sprinkler or surface irrigation systems. It could be recommended that soun of Canola Serow 6 genotype in hills 10 cm between in rows 20 cm abart one fertigation using 60, 30 and 36 g N,P2O5 and K2O, respectively during drip irrigation to maximize Canola productivity and increase water use efficiency under of soil condition of New Vally governorate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnAl2O4–TiO2 (ZAT)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites were prepared by powder processing method. The structure and microstructure of the composites were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic techniques. The effect of different volume fraction of ZAT (0–0.6) on the dielectric properties of the composites was investigated at 1 MHz and at the microwave frequency of 7 GHz. The dielectric properties (relative permittivity and dielectric loss) were found to increase with the ZAT content. The samples with 60 vol.% of ZAT filler showed a relative permittivity of 3.9 and dielectric loss of 0.009, respectively, at 7 GHz. The variation of relative permittivity and dielectric loss showed only a very small variation with temperature in the range 25°–70°C for various ZAT/PTFE composites. The relative permittivity obtained experimentally were compared with that of the theoretical values predicted using modified Lichtenecker, Jayasundere—Smith, and Series mixing formulae. They were found to agree well with the predicted values for low filler content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reaction of cyclic phosphites with 1,2-diketones and with diol/N-chlorodiisopropylamine has been studied. A large number of penta- and hexacoordinated phosphorus derivatives with varying ring sizes have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The reactivity of phosphites is compared with that of arsenites and pentacoordinated phosphoranes. Several phosphonates that are important as synthetic reagents have been prepared by reacting cyclic phosphites with aldehydes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents study results on the activation field and frequency dependence of the coercive voltage in the epitaxial ferroelectric thin film capacitors. Measurement of the frequency dependent hysteresis loops and pulse width dependent polarization; Relation of the activation field to the tetragonality ratio; Consequence of a larger tetragonality ratio.

Background The fields of metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics, among others collectively referred to as 'omics,' have made a tremendous impact on symbiosis research (see other articles in this special issue). [...], Single-cell genomics has advanced the field of microbiology from the analysis of microbial metagenomes where information is 'drowning in a sea of sequences,' to recognizing each microbial cell as a separate and unique entity. Single-cell genomics employs Phi29 polymerase-mediated whole-genome amplification to yield microgram-range genomic DNA from single microbial cells. This method has now been applied to a handful of symbiotic systems, including bacterial symbionts of marine sponges, insects (grasshoppers, termites), and vertebrates (mouse, human). In each case, novel insights were obtained into the functional genomic repertoire of the bacterial partner, which, in turn, led to an improved understanding of the corresponding host. Single-cell genomics is particularly valuable when dealing with uncultivated microorganisms, as is still the case for many bacterial symbionts. In this review, we explore the power of single-cell genomics for symbiosis research and highlight recent insights into the symbiotic systems that were obtained by this approach.