Archives-September 2019

Bioindicatora are living organisms which can be used to screen the health of the natural ecosystem. Plankton assesses the ecological changes taking place in freshwater environment. The assessment of water quality using plankton promotes water quality and yield. The quality of aquatic ecosystem reflects the quality and species of organisms that colonize it. In Nigeria, the freshwater ecosystem represent over 50% of the natural resources that sustain over 45% of the over 220 million population. Water bodies of the world represent over 75% of global natural resources that sustain over 60% of world population of over 6 billion, projected to reach over 9 billion by 2055. Hence, the place of water bodies cannot be underestimated in sustainable livelihood and standard of living. Their pollution due to massive anthropogenic activities are worrisome. Hence, the constant monitoring of their quality has been called by marine and other scientists. This review details the role of plankton in water quality and yield assessment.

The 2014 precipitous fall in oil and gas prices by 50% or more set in motion cuts in the healthcare budget by some governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by more than 30%. The aim of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies of international pharmaceutical companies in the MENA region after the 2014 decreases in the healthcare budgets, following the decline in oil and gas prices. The research involved interviews of 6 middle and executive managers working in 2 international pharmaceutical companies located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The cultural intelligence theory constituted the conceptual framework for this study and aided in gaining insight into the challenges associated with implementing marketing and organizational strategies by international pharmaceutical companies in the MENA region. Study participants were required to have 5 years of experience in planning and implementing marketing strategies in the MENA region. The findings from this study may reflect important internal organizational adaptation enacted by successful international pharmaceutical companies. in marketing to culturally diverse customers of the MENA region in the reduced healthcare budgetary environment. The important themes emerging from this study included: (a) recognition of culture and diversity, and (b) the importance of training and learning agility. The results of the study may advance the agenda of improving healthcare of the residents of this region as pharmaceutical and healthcare knowledge benefits the delivery of human health services.

In this paper, study on the electrodeposition of ZnNi/nanosilica alloy coating on carbon steel and in?uence of 5g/L nanosilica in the plating bath on some properties such as morphology, structure characteristics and corrosion resistance of the ZnNi/nanosilica coating were conducted. The results revealed that ZnNi/nanosilica composite coating contained 16.37 % Ni and 0.32 % Si. Only the phase ?Ni5Zn21 were observed in the ZnNi/nanosilica alloy coatings. The thickness of the ZnNi/nanosilica coating was 16.56 µm. The corrosion resistance on the ZnNi/nanosilica coating was evaluated by time for red rust appearing in salt fog test as 900 hours.

The corrosion resistance of trivalent chrome conversion coatings on electroplated zinc is studied and compared with that of hexavalent chrome conversion coatings in salt spray testing conditions. The trivalent chrome conversion coatings and hexavalent chrome conversion coatings were unstable at pH 3. All samples had more than 5 % of the surface area covered with white rust after 24 hours of salt fog exposure. The corrosion resistance of the samples is as follows: TM 3108 ~ SP 25 > 747 at pH 6.5. The highest resistance obtained on the TM 3108 with white rust appeared after 400 hours of salt fog exposure. All of the hexavalent chrome conversion coatings and trivalent chrome conversion coatings had corrosion current densities (1.26×10-7 ÷ 1.82×10-7 A/cm2) much smaller than corrosion current density of the zinc electrodeposited sample (7.7×10-6 A/cm2). The compositions of corrosion products of sample surfaces after exposure were investigated. The results of analysis by means of X-ray diffraction showed that the corrosion products formed on zinc coatings, trivalent and hexavalent CCCs in atmospheric conditions of Hanoi had the distinctions specialty of the humid tropical climates. Zinc sulfate hydroxide hydrate Zn4SO4(OH)6.H2O; Zinc carbonate hydroxide hydrate Zn4CO3(OH)6.H2O; Simonkolleite Zn5(OH)8Cl2.H2O; Chromium Sulfate Cr2(SO4)3; Zinc chloride sulfate hydroxide hydrat Zn12(OH)15(SO4)3Cl3.H2O; Eskolaite Cr2O3 had been identified. The presence of SO2 resulted in the formation of Zinc sulfate hydroxide hydrate Zn4SO4(OH)6.H2O. After 5 years of exposure in atmospheric conditions, the hexavalent CCCs on zinc coatings had show the best corrosion resistance and the least corrosion products. The corrosion resistance of the samples decreased in the order: 747 > SP25 ~ TM 3108 > Zn.

The application of 20t/ha OF in each treatment supplemented with FE, in different frequencies of application resulted to higher yield as compared with control. Also, continued application of solid organic fertilizer in the soil, markedly improved all the soil properties after each cropping. Labor cost in land preparation and weeding were also reduced in different treatments with 20 t/ha + FE frequency. FE supplementation to organic solid fertilizer relatively reduced insect pest population and incidence of diseases

The present paper deals with the problem of estimating the finite population variance using two-phase sampling scheme in the presence of random non-response. In this paper, we have suggested some families of factor-type estimators of population variance utilizing the information on an auxiliary variable with unknown population variance. The properties of the suggested families of estimators have been discussed in detail. The optimum estimators of the suggested families have also been pioneered out. The theoretical results have been demonstrated through some real data sets. A simulation study has also been carried out to support the theoretical results.

Blends of cassava flour and partially defatted soybean meal were processed in a single-screw extruder. Experimental design with feed moisture (16, 20, 24 g water/100g flour), amount of soybean (10–30 g soybean/100g flour) and barrel temperature (120, 145, 170 oC) as independent variables leading to 17 combinations that were studied using Box-Behnken Design of response surface methodology to investigate the effect of these input variables on extruder system parameters, namely: product temperature, residence time, machine throughput and specific mechanical energy. The recorded values for all responses varied from 121 to 175 oC, 42.34 to 65.11 seconds, 3.65 to 4.56 kg/hr and 159.01 to 213.63kJ/kg, respectively. Second-order polynomials were used to model the extruder responses as a function of process variables. All three variables affected responses significantly especially their linear terms (p<0.05) and all the fitted models were significant (p<0.05) and correlated well with experimental data (R2 ? 0.934).

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is an uncommon condition that is rarely encountered in the urinary tract. It is considered as an intermediate neoplasm according to the WHO classification. It can occur in different organs: lung, pancreas, mesentery and uterus. The localization in the bladder is unusual. We report a case of IMT of the urinary bladder in a 32 years old male who presented with hematuria, treated by partial cystectomy and diagnosed by histopathological analysis of the operative piece.

Awareness of the correct form of the money-demand function of a country is necessary to adopt monetary policies in each country's economy. Also, recognition of the stability of money demand plays a key role in economic decision making. This study has addressed the factors affecting money-demand in Iran during 1978-2016 using ARDL method and investigated its stability using CUSUM method. Most studies conducted in our country have used the variables of interest rate, national production, exchange rate and inflation rate as factors affecting money demand. The present study has used the variables of foreign assets of the central bank and government debts in addition to four variables mentioned in order to create a distinction with other similar studies, according to the results of the study carried out by Jindal (2016) and Opuka (2017). According to the results of the ARDL method, the variables of the government debts, national production, inflation, foreign reserves of the central bank and the exchange rate (which is based on the Opoku’s scientific theory (2017) and known as the wealth effect ) have a positive and significant effect on the money demand in Iran, and the interest rate has a negative and significant effect on money demand in Iran. According to the results of the CUSUM method, the money demand function in Iran is stable.

Health, in addition to being introduced as a right to the constitution, is regarded as a form of investment or as a means of maintaining the ability and productivity of labor. Health will have increasing productivity and economic growth directly by enhancing the health saving of individuals and indirectly by increasing the motivation for continuing the study and learning better skills. Therefore, the development of the health sector in the country is able to increase the economic growth. In this study, the effect of health expenditures on economic growth in Iran for the period of 1979-2016 is reviewed annually. Todayamamoto causality method for investigating the causality relation, and the ARDL method for evaluating long-run coefficients have been used. The results of the Todayamamoto causality method showed that there is a mutual and causality relation between health expenditure and economic growth in Iran. Also the results of ARDL method exhibited that health expenditure has a significant and positive effect on Iran's economic growth.