The purpose of this study was to verify the effectiveness of the proposed program of computer games on reducing Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder in certain categories of people with special needs .The sample of the study consisted of(10) children with learning disabilities, (10) deaf children and (10) children with mild mental disabilities able to learn in primary school from the first grade to sixth grade in Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia.The students were selected by applying Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders scale, fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR®) for attention deficit and hyperactivity.The researcher used electronic attention disorder scale (Alert test). The results indicated significant differences between the ranks scores of the experimental group of students with special needs in the certain categories before, and after the application of the program in favor of post test measurement.

Abstract\n\nBackground : In this study, symptomatic gallstones with ultrasound and computed tomography radiologic characteristics by examining the comparative findings in, symptomatic gallstones, forward medical or surgical was conducted with the aim of helping the treatment plan.\nMaterial and Methods: From January 2011 to September 2014, admitted to our policlinic gallstone of 100 symptomatic, between 23-88 years of age, 77 female, 23 male patients, stones in the gallbladder, the same time, ultrasound and computed tomography radiological findings were examined.\n\nResults: Characteristics of symptomatic gallstones; stones 47% radio-opaque, 10% radio-mix, 43% radiolucent found. Gallbladder stones size and number; 53% smaller than 5 mm, 42% 5-20 mm, 5% greater than 20 mm, 86% of single or multiple viewed. During the examination, ultrasound, and computed tomography; 25 % of hydrops of the gall bladder, and 9 % in the gallbladder the same time accompanied by sludge. Men and women between the stones of the size, number and radio-opacity in the characteristics of the difference wasn\'t detected.\n\nConclusion: Society gallstones rate of 10-15%, 25 % symptomatic, therefore, symptomatic gallstones known clinical and radiological characteristics of follow-up and treatment plan, importance. In our study, Symptomatic gallbladder stones, multiple stones, 20 mm smaller or millimeter stones, high rate, also radio-opaque stone despite the low incidence of symptomatic high rate of being identified.

Valence-Arousal is a reflection of KANSEI adjectives in the human brain, which is the core concept in the theory of emotional dimensions for brain recognition. This paper presents a method for determining the characteristics of Valence-Arousal-based timing signals using the Power Spectrum Density (PSD) of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) images. fMRI image reprocessing included Gaussian filtering, segmenting, and a Gaussian-shaped Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and the timing characteristics of the fMRI image signal were extracted with short-term emotional picture stimuli (within 6 s). To reduce the computational complexity, a cubic curve fitting method was used to smooth the Valence-Arousal timing curve, the coefficients of the fitted curve, the mean, and the standard deviation, which were derived from the Gaussian-shaped Affective Norm English Words (ANEW) system, and they were selected to create 4-INPUTand 2-OUTPUT in the Takagi-Sugeno type Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). In the experimental study, an fMRI dataset was acquired for KANSEI-“kindness” picture stimuli and the FIS prediction was 0.05 less than the root mean square error (RMSE) after 24iteration epochs for Valence and 18 for Arousal. These experiments showed that the proposed method effectively simplified high complexity when calculating fMRI images. The cubic curve fitting method also extracted the characteristics of the Valence-Arousal time series-based curve more effectively and established the KANSEI adjective content more accurately compared with the ANEW system of Valence-Arousal values. The proposed curve generation methods for the Valence-Arousal response of KANSEI adjectives may be a potential application for attention-oriented product design fields.

The objective of this research was to study the efficiency of chromate removal from aqueous solution using red clay. The effects of shanking, contact time, particle size, red clay loading, temperature, and pH on the efficiency of chromate removal from aqueous solution were studied. The adsorption isotherm was also evaluated. The results revealed that the optimum of effective adsorption is 93.3−97.3% chromate ion from a 50 mL aqueous chromate solution (100 mg/L) at pH 2 using 2.0 to 3.0 g of Doisaket red clay. In addition, the adsorption equilibrium was achieved in 16 hour. The maximum adsorption capacity of chromate on red clay, at equilibrium, is 20.0 mmol/kg. When the pH value was increased from 2 to 10, adsorption efficiency of chromate ion in aqueous solution decreased. The chromate adsorption by red clay is an endothermic and spontaneous adsorption process in the temperature range 25 °C to 45 °C. The adsorption data obtained was well described by both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The calculated adsorption capacity and the energy of the adsorption from Langmuir isotherm were found to be 17.64 mmol/kg and 311.05 L/mmol, respectively.

Purpose: Motherhood is one of the biggest events of life. During this period, the difficulties lived by women addicted to psychoactive substances are largely amplified. Here we examine the experiences lived by women undergoing substance abuse treatment, when transiting to the maternal role. \nMethods: Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument was used to assess the quality of the 12 articles selected. \nFindings/Conclusions: The contexts where these women live are important and influence their performance and identity as mothers. Even if pregnancy seems to appear unexpectedly, it brings perspectives for the future, although with some feelings of guilt. \nImplications for nursing practice: Nurses should develop specific projects and interventions to facilitate the transition to motherhood, in these contexts of life.

The aim of this paper is to establish the new escape criterions for Julia and\nMandelbrot sets under the Jungck Mann and Jungck Ishikawa orbits. We Also\npresents some images of Julia and Mandelbrot sets in Jungck Mann and Jungck Ishikawa orbits.

Objective: To evaluate uterine artery blood flow during the mid-luteal phase in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), and compare to normal fertile controls.\nMaterial and Methods: Sixty-two non-pregnant patients with a history of two or more consecutive spontaneous abortions, and 30 women with a history of at least one pregnancy without any complications were evaluated as the study group, and the control group, respectively. Among the 62 patients with RPL, 32 were classified as “primary aborters” due to the absence of previous live births, whereas 30 were considered as “secondary aborters,” due to having had at least one previous live birth followed by two or more consecutive pregnancy losses. Transvaginal 3D power Doppler ultrasonography was performed to all patients in the second phase of non-pregnant unstimulated cycle to detect uterine arterial pulsatility index (PI). The indices between the two groups were compared.\nResults: The left and right uterine arterial PI values found in the study subgroups were statistically significantly higher than those in the control group (Primary RPL; right PI: 2.81 ± 0.69, left PI: 2.72 ± 0.61, p< 0.001; secondary RPL; right PI: 2.63 ± 0.59, left PI: 2.6 ± 0.57, p<0.001). When all patients with RPL in the study group were evaluated according to their etiologic factors, 3 groups were sufficient for statistical analysis; patients with hereditary thrombophilia, anatomical abnormalities, and unexplained etiology. All these groups had uterine PI values higher than the control group in both left and right uterine arteries. Endometrial thickness was found significantly lower in both primary and secondary aborters than that in the control group (11.2±2.5, 9.7±2.9 and 9.5±3.1, respectively). No significant correlation was found between the mid-luteal progesterone and estradiol levels, and endometrial thickness, and PI and resistance index (RI) values (p>0.05).\nConclusions: The presence of good uterine blood flow is an important prerequisite for successful pregnancy, as higher uterine artery blood flow resistance was shown in RPL. Increased resistance to uterine blood flow may be an important contributing factor to some causes of RPL and may represent an independent factor for the risk of pregnancy loss.

Presented by the author’s clipping method is a modify method for unpromising variants at solving the problem of the integer linear programming with Boolean variables. This method can help to improve, i.e. to decrease a calculated complexity of an algorithm of a solution for the problem of the integer linear programming with Boolean variables based on the proposed set of some clipping strategies. In addition, this proposed clipping method can be used for solving of some different tasks, which can be interpreted as the problems of the integer linear programming with Boolean variables. One of principal advantages of the proposed method are the reduced time for solution and decreased algorithmic complexity.

The main objective of hereby study is to unearth the big picture, reaching studies about influence of using history of mathematics on attitude of mathematics among students. 6 studies with a total effect size of 14 that comply with coding protocol and comprise statistical values necessary for meta-analysis are combined via meta-analysis method among 53 studies on history of mathematics since 2000. The validity of the study is determined by means of funnel plot, Orwin’s FSN and Egger’s regression tests, while the reliability of coding protocol is identified through calculation of adaptation value between Cohen Kappa coders. The model to be used in the analysis is decided by help of homogeneity test, Q and I square statistic. In analyses, the Cohen d effect size of each comparative study is calculated. At the end of the study, it is found that no publication bias exists since Orwin’s FSN is calculated as 119 and the Funnel plot, pursuant to Egger’s regression test, has a symmetric structure. The reliability between coders is detected as 1,00. As the value I square displays low level heterogeneity with 16,622%, fixed effect model are used for analysis. Average effect size is found d = 0.095 (lower limit and upper limit of confidence interval at 95% are −0,693 and 0,951, respectively) in favor of experimental group, as positive and at negligible level.

This paper examines the response strategies for small manufacturers under an environment with strong public opposition on pollution and increasingly stringent environmental laws. On the basis of real options analysis theory and a dynamic programming approach, business relocation strategies are specified according to the level of risk, involved labor cost, and extent of green innovation for clean production. We further postulate that the diffusion of the green innovation will not be sustainable if necessary factors are in disagreement (i.e., clean production technology and timing have to be aligned well). Thus solutions for firms considering offshoring opportunities under uncertain cost reduction contexts and green innovation diffusion are provided in this research. Four potential investment decisions are identified: (1) a decision to abandon the investment; (2) a deferral decision; (3) an offshoring decision (actual investments are made in shifting factories to an offshore country to realize an apparent cost advantage); (4) a nearshoring decision (migrating production facilities to a close-to-home country to be responsive to changes in the demand of the home market with less cost advantage trade-offs). These four potential decisions are cast as a portfolio of real options and it can be regarded as a viable decision support model for small manufacturers’ offshoring strategies.

This study has been conducted with an aim to identify the relationship between the organizational culture and the employees work outcomes and financial performance. The population of the study was composed of major and active manufacturing companies in Khuzestan province. The minimum sample size is composed of 108 companies and the stratified random sampling method was used to select the sample. Research data was collected using a questionnaire, and to analyze the data, SPSS and PLS were used. The results show that organizational culture has a significant relationship with employees work outcomes (job satisfaction, innovation and Total Quality Management and financial performance, and that all employees work outcomes (job satisfaction, innovation and total quality management) has a significant relationship with financial performance.

Abstract\nBackground: There is increasing evidence that inflammation and hypercoagulability play an important role in the pathophysiology of acute ischaemic stroke. We evaluate in this prospective study the significance of C reactive protein(CRP) and plasma fibrinogen measured within 24 hours of stroke onset as a predictors of in hospital mortality in 1st ever ischaemic stroke patients and their correlations with stroke severity.\nMethods: a total of 70 patients with 1st ever ischaemic stroke were included in the study. CRP and plasma fibrinogen was measured within 24 hours of stroke onset. Stroke severity was assessed by modified national institute of health stroke scale (mNIHSS) on admission and brain Computerized tomography (CT) scan was done for all patients within 48 hours of hospitalization. The patients were followed daily during the period of hospitalization. The end point was all causes of in hospital death or discharge from hospital.\nResults: CRP and plasma fibrinogen were positively correlated with stroke severity (spearman correlation coefficient = 0.688 and 0.582 respectively). CRP and plasma fibrinogen were significantly associated with in hospital mortality after adjustment of sex, smoking, hypertension and diabetes. \nConclusion: CRP and plasma fibrinogen levels can predict independently the risk of in hospital death in 1st ever ischaemic stroke patients emphasizing the role of inflammation and coagulation in the evolution of ischaemic stroke. CRP and plasma fibrinogen correlate with stroke severity.

Background and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate how dental personnel in the Dental Hospital of King Abdulaziz University (KAUDH) practise the guidelines of the Infection Control and the faculty Policy to ensure safe practice at (KAUDH). Methods: The study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey. Sample size of 140 dental personnel (69 male and 71 females), consisted of senior dentists, postgraduate students, undergraduate dental students, dental nurses and dental lab technician i.e. the broad group known as dental health care workers (DHCW`s). The study was conducted by use of a self-administered questionnaire. Results: The response rate was 100%. It was found that there is a difference in compliance across different educational level. 20% of the dental personnel did not attend training courses on infection control and 43% did not attend training on risk management. 29% of those who had attended a course/ update for CPR skills and training were not confident to operate basic life support equipment. 30% of the dental personnel had suffered injuries in the previous six months. 88% were vaccinated against Hepatitis B Virus and of those 53.6 did not return to check for antibodies titre. 57% disinfect occlusion rims, master casts, and/or trial prostheses before sending them back to the laboratory. 67% and 48% disinfect wax knife and rubber bowel between patients or at the end of each session respectively. Only 32.9% of the dental personnel had read all of the Health & Safety Policy & Clinical Code of Practice. There was a significant difference (P=<0.001) between study groups regarding practising of infection control and compliance across educational level. Conclusion: The study shows that the instructions and guidelines in the Health & Safety Policy & Clinical Code of Practice were less than ideally followed by the dental personnel; this may place the dental team and the patients at risk.

In this study, the force convection boundary layer flow along a stretching cylinder with variable wall temperature on nanofluids is investigated. Interfacial layers on single and multi wall carbon nanotubes in salt-water solutions for based nanofluid are taken in to account. The nonlinear coupled equations are solved by means of a Mathematica package BVPh 2.0 based on the homotopic technique. The physical interpretations of obtained results are illustrated through graphs and tables. In addition, correlation between Nusselt number and Skin friction corresponding to sundry parameters is also analyzed

Changes in the photosynthetic characteristic and fruit yield of tomato plants were investigated after plants were treated to an elevated-temperature stress for different days. Plants were treated at 35℃ for 5 d, 10 d, 15 d, then transferred to 25℃. These treatment groups were identified as Tr1, Tr2, and Tr3 respectively. Plants grown continuously at 25℃ served as the controls. Compared to the controls, both the chlorophyll content and the net rate of photosynthetic (Pn) decreased in plants exposed to 35℃ for ≥ 5 d. The longer the plants were treated by 35℃, the lower the Pn and chlorophyll content were. And the difference was significant between Tr3 and controls. At the same time, carboxylation efficiency (CE) decreased but photorespiration rate (RP) increased in stressed plants of Tr1, Tr2 and Tr3 compared with the controls. At harvest time, the fruit yield decreased in stressed plants significantly because of the low fruit setting ratio, low single fruit weight and high cavity fruit ratio. Significant differences were found among treatment preferences. These observations indicate that tomato plants were injured under elevated-temperature and could not recover completely even if the plants were exposed to 35℃ for only 5 d.

The main goal of this study is to analyze the effects of different plug materials on the strength of metal matrix composite laminate with hole . The metal matrix composite panels under compression loadings have been investigated. In order to verify the experimental results the finite element analysis was carried out in MATLAB R-2012 software programme Composite plates have been selected as titanium matrix and ceramic fibers. A rectangular element was simply supported in-plane loading conditions. Two types of reinforcement boundary conditions were investigated; adhesive bonded and snug-fit unbounded plug. For each case, five different sizes of hole diameter were used. And also three different plug materials (Al2O3, SiC and Graphite) were employed. The largest improvement was obtained with the reinforcing material(plug material) having same stiffness as that of laminate.

Background: This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in comparison to ultrasound (US) in the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears.\nMaterial and Methods: MRI and US findings of 28 cases who came to our clinic with shoulder pain and dysfunction were analyzed. MRI findings were accepted as standard. \nResults: From among 15 cases where complete tear was determined in MRI, 11 cases were confirmed in US and in the remaining 4 of them, thinning in tendon which is a non-specific finding was seen. In 9 cases where there was thinning in tendon, the classifications in MRI was made as follows: 5 of them were classified as Stage 2 (Partial tear) and 4 of them were classified as Stage 3 (complete tear). In 4 cases tear and retraction were determined in supraspinatus tendon in MRI; however, supraspinatus tendon could not be visualized in US. In our study, in rotator cuff tears, the sensitivity and specificity of the shoulder US were found as 73% and 93%, respectively. \nConclusion: In the evaluation of rotator cuff, it was found that US should be the first imaging method considering the factors of low cost and easy access. Moreover US could display a similar performance with MRI if it was performed by experienced people.

Introduction/Objectives: Surgical treatment of low rectal cancer represents a challenge: to do a radical resection by respecting the oncological principles of rectal surgery and to preserve, in the same time, the sphincter’s function. The aim of this paper is to present a modified surgical technique of intersphincterian resection without ligatures, which can change the approach of low rectal neoplasia.\n\nMaterial and methods: The key points of the modified intersphincteric resection technique (without ligatures procedure) are presented, highlighting its advantages, while rigorous oncological principles are respected. \n\nResults: The modified intersphincteric resection for low rectal cancer combines the benefit of an oncological procedure with very good functional results, as described in recent literature, with the advantages of a resection without ligatures. Reduced operating time, accessibility in “difficult” anatomic spaces and an efficient intra and postoperative hemostasis are the main arguments for this technique.\n\nConclusions: Intersphincteric rectal resection for low rectal neoplasms represents an efficient surgical treatment, both from the oncological and functional point of view, being favored by the patient because it spears him from the physical and psychical trauma of a permanent colostomy. The modified technique, using a resection without ligatures increases the comfort for both patient and surgeon.

The natural convection boundary layer flow along a vertical cone for ethylene glycol based nanofluids is investigated theoretically. Two illustrative models namely (i) variable wall temperature and (ii) surface heat flux are considered to examine the effects of nanolayer on Gold and Nimonic 80a nanoparticles. The nonlinear coupled resulting equations are solved analytically by means of a Mathematica package BVPh 2.0 based on the homotopy analysis method. Flow behavior under altering involving physical parameters such as: power law index, skin friction, Nusselt number, diameter of particles and nanoparticle volume fraction on velocity and temperature profiles are discussed and explained in detail through graphical aid and tables.

In this study, nutrient contents and concentrations of phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N); carbon (C) and sulfur (S), changes of specific leaf area (SLA), leaf mass per area (LMA), N and P resorption were researched in Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (tea) which has an economical importance for the country and is cultivated in a large part of the Eastern Black Sea region. The study was conducted within the boundaries of Rize province and Camellia sinensis var. sinensis was selected as a research material. According to the obtained data, important differences were determined in N and C concentrations of young leaves. The altitude was found statistically significant in terms of N and C elements in old leaves. The concentrations of these elements also increased with increasing altitude. N (g/dm2) and P (g/dm2) contents were showed significant differences among localities (for N, p<0,01 and for P, p<0,05). Also, content amounts of N (g/dm2) and P (g/dm2) were determined significant differences at p<0,01 level in respect to months. N and P resorption efficiency was below of stated range (26,5 %- 75,1 %) only at 806 m and 933 m, respectively. While N resorption proficiency was increased, P resorption proficiency was decreased depending on altitude. N resorption proficiency was determined significant differences among localities. The highest SLA and LMA values were observed in May and April, respectively.

This study examines relationship between religiosity and value orientations of teachers and choices for whistle-blowing with particular modes. Three hypotheses were developed concerning the relationships between religiosity, Utilitarianism and Machiavellianism and intentions to different modes of whistle-blowing. Descriptive statistics, Correlation matrix, and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The sample includes 271 teachers in Turkey. Results revealed that, teachers prefer both internal and identified reporting. Religiosity positively affects teachers’ choices for internal whistle-blowing, while utilitarianism and Machiavellianism do not. There is no relationship between the values and intentions of the teachers for whistle-blowing modes. This paper aimed to contribute to the extant literature by choosing Turkey and education as context as most studies have been conducted in the Western cultures, and in accounting or marketing service. Studying Islamic perspective, this study contributes extend literature as studies examined whistle-blowing and religiosity especially related to Judaism and Christianity context.

Pay-for-performance (P4P) and public reporting (PR) of hospital quality data have become two strategies to improve the quality of health care. This study applies bibliometrics to find out hot topics for quality in health care. The citation data are 132,968 citations of 2000 articles published in SSCI and SCI journals on the quality in health care from 2004 to 2013. First, we adopted the bibliometric analysis to find out the quantity of hot papers and important authors. Second, we adopted social network analysis to identify important issues. Finally, qualitative literature review was performed and we found the solution for problems of P4P. There were some debates about P4P. The advantage of P4P is to provide incentives for healthcare workers. The disadvantage of P4P is \"gaming the system\". The solution for P4P problems is that the ethic issues must be addressed in the implementation of P4P. We combine quantitative bibliometrics and qualitative literature reviews to find out the important articles about quality of health care, and realize the relationship with other hot topics in this field.

Health is a topic of general interest par excellence. Both the interest of public opinion, as reflected in the media as well as the GDP percentage of this sector in developed countries result in health issues being a potential target for communication researchers. Approaching health communication research has been carried out from multiple facets. The most covered facets are linked to the concepts of health care and health promotion, however public relationships have much to contribute. The aim of the study is to identify the advancement of the public relations discipline in health communication research, identifying articles that combine the subjects of public relations and health as of 2001 as well as the thematic influence expressed by Wise (2001). Applying bibliometric parameters, we have analysed the contents of 53 articles in 4 journals, 2 on public relations and 2 on health communication. We can observe that there is no correlation between the relevance of the health sector in terms of GDP and the number of headings focuses on this issue as well as the articles published in public relations journals. The categories proposed by Wise (2001) can be seen in public relations journals, such as the establishment of relationships and the analysis of models, with functions and tasks being the most prevalent; however two new thematic categories have emerged related to the press and contents. These categories that are present in public relations journals are the most prevalent, with 90% in health communication journals and unique subjects with which the discipline of public relations is identified.

Since then, “Cyberculture & Cyberspace” has been a prologue of sociability in a network communication in the virtual world, such as the knowledge socialization phenomenon that occurs at a global level in an environment of sharing experiences, information, entertainment, business and collaborative learning. The lack of an explicit meaning in literature leads us to the roots of the word “cyberculture”, in an incessant search for the causes and conditions of its formation process (already discussed in previous topics). Thus, in a strict sense, there is the prefix “cyber” (from “cybernetics”) + “culture” (system of ideas, knowledge, techniques and artefacts, of behaviour standards and ways of acting that characterize a given society).However, this ambiguous concept suffers variations within the etymological referential, as each author expresses an own ideological and descriptive connotation which is not always shared by their peers. Consequently, we selected those which are dedicated to the study of techno-social practices of contemporaneous society and its new sociability habits, transferred from the real world to the virtual one. In this sense, our work is literature review about cyberculture.

This paper deals with the regularity for solutions of second-order semilinear impulsive differential equations contained the nonlinear convolution with cosine families,\nand obtain a variation of constant formula for solutions of the\ngiven equations.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a glycoprotein with 52KD molecular weight. It synthesized and secreted mainly from the liver and to a lesser extent from intestine. It functions as a major plasma serine protease inhibitor. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, specially, PiZ found to be associated with many diseases such as liver, kidney and lung diseases as well as tumors. Increased incidence of certain alleles like Z and S in certain tumor types such as liver carcinoma, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and bile duct carcinoma was demonstrated in a number of studies. In this study, we tested for the presence of S and Z alleles of alpha-1 antitrypsin in colon cancer tissues. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in combination with Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was used to test for Z and S alleles in paraffin embedded tumor tissues. Results showed that all tested samples were of normal (MM) genotype, no Z or S mutations were detected. These results demonstrated that there is no relationship between alpha-1 antitrypsin S and Z genotypes and the occurrence of colon cancer.

In the behavioral prospect of investment decision, individual investors’ external factors such as socio-demographics may be associated with their attitude toward risk and behavioral bias. This study attempts to re-examine the relationship among these facets in Taiwan stock market. Using a survey methodology, the total of 792 voluntary individual investors with different investment experience in stock market participated in a questionnaire survey. A hypothesized structural model is constructed based on previous related studies and further used to reveal the effects of investors’ socio-demographics on risk attitude and overconfidence through the analysis of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results showed that investors’ attitude toward risk is significantly and positively associated with overconfidence. Male investors have higher risk-taking tendency than that of female. More elderly investors have a lower level of risk tolerance. Working experience would directly and negatively influence on overconfidence. Additionally, the investors with more investment experience and highly-educated would be prone to risk-taking and further form an indirect effect on overconfidence.

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is a medicinal plant grows wild in Jordan and its seeds contains several metabolites the most important silymarin which used for the treatment of many diseases as the liver and biliary complaints. This research aims to determine the tolerance of this wild plant for soil and water salinity. Seeds from five wild populations know with high silymarin contents were cultivated in saline soil (15.7 dS m-1) using saline water (5.6 dS m-1) for irrigation during the winter season of 2012/2013. Number of days to germination, flowering, maturity and number of florets per plan, dry biological yield, seed yield and the harvest index were recorded from each plot. \nThe highest seed yield (0.21 t ha-1) and harvest index (0.19) produced by the the Baqa` population, while the highest straw yield (2.12 t ha-1) produced by the Wahadneh population. On the other hand the wild population Kufranjah recorded the highest number of florets per plant (25.7) and ranked thirds in seed yield (0.15 t ha-1). Results of this research are a base for tolerance evaluation for the saline conditions which indicated that Milk thistle wild populations were able to tolerate salinity in varied potentials. Baqa` population that contained the highest silymarin content produced the highest seed yield under salinity and was the earliest among population in germination, flowering and maturity. There is a need for further evaluation for the sowing date, seeding rate and silymarin content under salinity.

ABSTRACT\nPurpose: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple marker for the assessment of inflammatory status. The aim of this study was to investigate NLR levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and determine if there is any correlation between NLR and severity of OSA.\nMaterials and Methods: The study included 117 patients with suspected OSA, evaluated by polysomnography. According to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), patients were divided into four group as control (n = 29, AHI< 5), mild OSA (AHI = 5–15, n = 34), moderate OSA (AHI = 15–30, n = 21) and severe OSA (AHI > 30, n = 33). Leukocyte, neutrophil, and lymphocyte levels were measured, and the NLR was calculated from these parameters. \nResults: The NLR values were higher in patients with severe and moderate OSA than in the control group (respectively, 2.6 ± 1.0 and 1.36 ± 0.45, p < 0.001; 2.09 ± 1.6 and 1.36 ± 0.45, p < 0.001). There were no significant difference in the NLR between controls and patients with mild OSA (1.36 ± 0.45 and 1.4 ± 0.3, respectively; p = 0.20). Significant correlations were seen between NLR and AHI (r = 0.538, p < 0.001) and oxygen desaturation (r = 0.094, p =0.382).\nConclusion: Serum NLR of patients with OSA were significantly higher than the control group, and correlated with AHI. Our results suggest that NLR could be considered a new inflammatory marker for inflammation in OSA patients as a quick, easily measurable property on routine CBC analysis.\nKey words: Obstructive sleep apnea, Apnoe-hypopnoe-index, Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio

The level of arsenic (As) contamination at coastal areas of Sindh in Pakistan were elucidated. The adverse impact of groundwater contaminated with arsenic (As) on humans has been reported worldwide, particularly in Asian countries. In present study, we study on the contamination of the As in Sea, Surface and Ground Water in the coastal areas of Sindh, Pakistan. Arsenic contamination in the study area is not uniform in all over the province. Sampling of the study area was carried out in 2011-2012 during the pre-monsoon (February–May), monsoon (June–September) and post-monsoon (October–January) periods Arsenic was most commonly analyzed using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer with hydride generation. Data reveals that industrial activities have a good correlation with the distribution. It is found that As concentration in the present study in most of coastal aquifer samples is crossing the maximum permissible limit for drinking water standards particularly in sea and surface water samples. The spatial and temporal variations of arsenic for the coastal aquifers systems reflect that comparatively high concentration is found during the pre-monsoon season. It is concluded that, the positive association of As with salinity point an anthropogenic input into estuarine and coastal water during the present study.