A comparison of RF and DC glow discharges treated CR-39 polymer films gives insight into the mechanism of these surface processes. The surface properties of the plasma-treated samples are examined using contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), infra red (IR) spectroscopy and refractive index measurements.\nIt is found that the plasma treatment modify the polymer surface in both morphology and composition. Results show that the surface wettability is significantly enhanced after plasma treatment.\nIt is found that, RF plasma is more effective in CR-39 surface modification than DC plasma as it can modify the surface more uniformly, implant more oxygen atoms into the surface and make the contact angle decline to a lower level.
This research investigates the relationship between public and private investment in Pakistan. The analysis is conducted by using the VAR and Granger causality test on 35 years annual data of Pakistan. The empirical results of the crowding-in verses crowding-out hypothesis explained that in both long-run and short-run public and private investments are positively related. Private investment and GDP were also positively and significantly related with each other. Moreover, public investment positively crowded-in private investment in Pakistan. It shows that both types of investment are complementary to each other. The causality test reveals that there does exit a bi-directional causality between private and public investment, it proves that both public and private sectors move side by side in the economy and facilitates each other. Therefore, appropriate measures should be under taken to stimulate the private investment. It means that government should provide infrastructural facilities to enhance private investment. In the current scenario of economic uncertainty, the pump-priming approach by the government can encourage the private sector.
En el Golfo de California, México, las poblaciones del bivalvo Spondylus limbatus empezaron a explotarse desde 2009. A pesar de esto solo se ha publicado un estudio sobre su abundancia, por esta razón, en este trabajo se estimó la densidad de S. limbatus en seis bancos de pesca representativas de esta zona. Se evaluaron los efectos de la profundidad, la rocosidad y el tamaño de los individuos respecto a la densidad en cada banco de pesca. Se encontraron diferencias significativas de las densidades entre bancos. Se observó una disminución continua de la densidad de norte a sur la cual se ajustó a un modelo potencial. Los resultados muestran que a bajas densidades la variabilidad de S. limbatus en número y tamaños es menor. Asimismo, hay evidencias que indican que las condiciones más favorables para la especie se dan hacia la región norte, en los bancos de Agua Verde, donde se registró el sustrato más rocoso, las densidades de individuos fueron más altas y predominaron los organismos de mayor tamaño. Debido a que las densidades de S. limbatus son adecuadas para su aprovechamiento comercial, su extracción puede realizarse de manera sustentable y con un enfoque de recuperación poblacional. Este estudio se propone como línea base para la evaluación y el monitoreo de las poblaciones de la especie a través del tiempo y contribuye al planteamiento de los lineamientos generales para fijar la factibilidad y los términos de su aprovechamiento.
Water and sediment samples were collected from five different stations, located along the Djendjen River between February and June 2016. Concentrations of Cd, Ni, Zn, and Cu were determined. The extent of the sediment pollution was assessed, using the multiple pollution indices, namely contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo).\nThe results showed that the concentrations of trace elements were lower in water than in the sediment. The distribution of trace elements in water and sediment follows: Ni>Zn>Cd>Cu and Zn>Ni>Cu>Cd, respectively. The water sample analysis from the Djendjen River shown that the total concentrations of Cu, Ni, Cd, and Zn were lower according to the references. In comparison, sediment mean metal concentrations with several environmental contamination parameters, such as: probable effect level (PEC) and background levels, indicates that the concentrations of all investigated elements are less than PEC except Ni, but high than the background levels. The Igeo values revealed that Cd (1.28) had accumulated significantly in the Djendjen River. Contamination factor (CF) confirmed that the sedimentary samples were moderate in terms of all studied metals contamination. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) values were above one (>1), indicating an advanced decline of the sediment quality.
The purpose of this research is to achieve maximum ergodic capacity of wireless relay assisted network by designing relay linear processing. A novel linear beamforming is proposed for amplify-and-forward dual-hop multi-relay networks, where a signal to interference and noise ratio and signal to leakage and noise ratio maximization based linear beamforming is designed. This new design is applied to multiple relay nodes by using perfect CSI of channels between source to relays and relays to destination. The beamforming optimization problem is solved by using Fukunaga Koontz Transform. The scheme can achieve intra node array and distributed gains by using multiple antennas and multiple relays. It is revealed through Monte Carlo simulations that the proposed scheme out performs the existing conventional relay beamforming scheme in terms of ergodic capacity for case of multi-relay dual-hop multiple input multiple output(MIMO) network.
ABSTRACT\nBACKGROUND: Periodontitis is an oral disease associated with inflammation and pain with swollen and bleeding gums. In the present study, dental pastes containing NSAIDs, namely, diclofenac sodium and nimesulide (1 % w/w) were prepared to treat periodontitis.\nMETHODS: Dental pastes of diclofenac sodium and nimesulide (1 % w/w) were prepared with/without using various mucoadhesive hydrocolloid polymers such as sodium carboxy methyl cellulose (NaCMC), hydroxyl ethyl cellulose (HEC) and methyl cellulose (MC) by conventional trituration method. The pH, drug content, viscosity, tube spreadability and tube extrudability of these prepared dental pastes were measured. These dental pastes of diclofenac sodium and nimesulide (1 % w/w) were characterized by FTIR analyses for drug-excipient compatibility. \nRESULTS: The in vitro drug releases from these dental pastes in 6.4 pH phosphate buffer solution displayed sustained release over longer period and the drug release rate was found decreased when the concentration of mucoadhesive polymer was increased. These dental pastes displayed good adhesion to the oral mucosa revealing more retention time in mouth when tested for ex vivo mucoadhesion using bovine check pouch. The stability study results reveal that the DC3 and NC3 dental pasteformulations were found stable enough over a longer period in different storage conditions. \nCONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that the prepared mucoadhesive dental pastes of diclofenac sodium and nimesulide (1 % w/w) with good adhesion to the oral mucosa to maintain consistent release of drugs over prolonged time.
ZnO nanoparticles have been successfully prepared by chemical precipitation method at 200oC, 400oC, 600oC and 800oC. The micro-structure and optical properties of the resulting ZnO nano-particles were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Visible spectroscopy, Photoluminescence and TEM. ZnO nanoparticles became more crystalline and the average size increases with increasing temperature. The quantum size effect decreases with increase in temperature, since the particle size increases. Quantum confinement increases the band gap energy of ZnO. As temperature increases, the peak absorbance wavelength becomes red shifted due to decreasing quantum confinement with increasing particle size. After high temperature annealing, the usual band edge emission in the UV band (355nm) and the deep level emission in the green band (499 nm) can be seen. TEM data also supports the XRD and optical spectroscopy data.