Green synthesis,characterization,acaricidal,larvacidal,and repellent activities of copper nanoparticles of Astragalus sinicus against Hyalomma anatolicum

Objective:To green synthesize and characterize copper nanoparticles(Cu NPs)using Astragalus sinicus,as well as evaluate the acaricidal,larvacidal,and repellent activities of Cu NPs against Hyalomma anatolicum(H.anatolicum),one of the most prevalent ticks infesting cattle in Saudi Arabia.Methods:Cu NPs were green synthesized by adding the Astragalus sinicus extract to a copper sulfate solution.The acaricidal,larvicidal,and repellent activities of Cu NPs against H.anatolicum were assessed via the adult immersion test,the larval packet test,and the vertical movement behavior of tick larvae,respectively.The effects of Cu NPs on acetylcholinesterase as well as oxidative enzyme activities were examined.Results:The green synthesized Cu NPs displayed a spherical form with a size range of 15-75 nm.After exposure of adult H.anatolicum to different concentrations of Cu NPs,the viability rate of adult H.anatolicum and the mean number,weight,and hatchability of eggs were noticeably reduced,in comparison to the control group(P<0.001).In addition,the viability rate of larvae considerably declined(P<0.001)with the LC_(50)and LC_(90)values of 11.30 and 20.34μg/m L,respectively.The maximum repellent activity of Cu NPs was observed at 50,100,and 200μg/m L with complete repellent activity after 60,120,and 180 min of exposure,respectively.Cu NPs,mainly at 1/2 LC_(50)and LC_(50)concentrations,markedly suppressed the acetylcholinesterase activity of the larval stage of H.anatolicum(P<0.001).Moreover,Cu NPs,mainly at LC_(50)dose,significantly elevated malondialdehyde level while declining glutathione-S-transferase level in H.anatolicum larvae(P<0.001).Conclusions:Cu NPs show potent acaricidal,larvicidal,and repellent activities against adults and larvae of H.anatolicum.However,further studies must be performed to clarify the precise mechanisms and the efficacy of Cu NPs in practical use.

An Alternative Way to Mapping Cone: The Algebraic Topology of the Pinched Tensor

In this research, we explore the properties and applications of the mapping cone and its variant, the pinched mapping cone. The mapping cone is a construction that arises naturally in algebraic topology and is used to study the homotopy type of spaces. It has several key properties, including its homotopy equivalence to the cofiber of a continuous map, and its ability to compute homotopy groups using the long exact sequence associated with the cofiber. We also provide an overview of the properties and applications of the mapping cone and the pinched mapping cone in algebraic topology. This work highlights the importance of these constructions in the study of homotopy theory and the calculation of homotopy groups. The study also points to the potential for further research in this area which includes the study of higher homotopy groups and the applications of these constructions to other areas of mathematics.

(ρ, τ, σ)-Derivations of Dendriform Algebras

We introduce and investigate the properties of a generalization of the derivation of dendriform algebras. We specify all possible parameter values for the generalized derivations, which depend on parameters. We provide all generalized derivations for complex low-dimensional dendriform algebras.

Threshold effects of tourism agglomeration on the green innovation efficiency of China's tourism industry

Industrial agglomeration is an essential and effective way to integrate resources and elements. Its impact on the green innovation efficiency of the tourism industry is a process of continuous development and dynamic change. This paper, based on the provincial panel data from 2006 to 2015, uses super SBM model to measure the green innovation efficiency of China's tourism industry.The threshold regression model is employed to conduct empirical tests of the nonlinear threshold effect of agglomeration on the green innovation efficiency of tourism industry. The inter-provincial differences of various threshold effects and their possible causes are analyzed. Results indicate that the green innovation efficiency of China's tourism industry is generally growing, while regional disparity is significant with a gradient decrease along the eastern-central-western regions. There is an obvious positive nonlinear relationship between tourism agglomeration and green innovation efficiency. It is also found that with the increase of agglomeration, its influence is at a high level. As the level of agglomeration crosses the first threshold, its impact is at a low level, and when it crosses the second threshold, the impact of tourism agglomeration is at an intermediate level. Finally, this paper proposes the basic path and some policy recommendations to promote the green innovation efficiency of the tourism industry in China.

Water inflow forecasting for tunnel considering nonlinear variation of permeability coefficient

To assess the water inflow which is more suitable to the actual conditions of tunnel,an empirical correlation about the permeability coefficient changing with depth is introduced.Supposing that the surrounding rock is heterogeneous isotropy,the formula for calculating water inflow of tunnel with the nonlinear variation of permeability coefficient is deduced.By the contrast analysis with the existing formulas,the presented method has the similar value to them;moreover,the presented method has more simple form and easy to use.Due to parameter analysis,the water inflow decreases after considering the nonlinear variation of permeability coefficient.When the attenuation coefficient a>0,the water inflow increases first till reaches the maximum at a certain depth,then decreases and is close to 0 finally if deep enough.Thus,it is better to keep away from the certain depth where it is with the maximum water inflow for safe operation and economical construction,and reduce the water damage.Based on the analysis,the radius of tunnel has less impact on the amount of water inflow,and the water inflow just increases by 6.7% when the radius of tunnel increases by 1 m.

Effects of geomorphology and soil conditions on vegetation structure in conserved desert wadis: A case study of Jal AlZor escarpment, Kuwait

Variations in phytogeography of Jal Al-Zor wadi system in Sabah Al Ahmad Nature Reserve, an arid national park in Kuwait, in relation to physiographic and edaphic conditions were investigated using alpha diversity and multivariate analyses. A total of 66 plant species were recorded at low-relief and high-relief wadis. Altitude and slope gradients, grain size distribution and soil texture properties had a significant relationship with plant cover and plant diversity. There was a high diversity of life-forms along the wadi system with a dominant of therophytes(annuals) particularly in spring after winter rainfalls. Chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes were the dominant perennial life-forms. A chorological analysis documents the strong effect of Saharo-Arabian chorotype on the vegetation of the study area. Cluster analysis clarified eight vegetation assemblages along altitude and slope gradients within the wadi system. Alpha diversity of plant species was greater in plant assemblages at low-relief wadis than at high-relief wadis. Vegetation structure in this study showed that phytogeographically, wadis of Jal Al-Zor were closely related to the wadis in the Arabian deserts. The slope gradient pattern and edaphic conditions of plant assemblages and plant diversity in the conserved wadis of Jal Al-Zor may be suggested as a reference model for restoration strategy of disturbed low elevated wadis in the surrounding desert regions.Restoration would include propagation of suitable plants such as Stipagrostis plumosa-Haloxylon salicornicum-Rhanterium epapposum.

Practical Use of Stairs to Assess Fitness, Prescribe and Perform Physical Activity Training

Aim: Evaluating climbing stairs for prescription and implementation of physical activity regimes. Methods: Healthy females (F, n = 14), and males (M, n = 15) participated. By climbing 100 steps of stairs with 0.173 m height, Heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake were measured throughout the floors;Blood pressure (BP) was measured at ground and the 5th floors only. Results: Energy increased from 2 to 7.6 was metabolic equivalents (METs = 3.5 ml O2/min.kg) at 17.3 m elevation in 2 min. at the 5th floor, and percent Heart Rate Reserve (%HRR) was 66.17% in F and 48.7% in M, proportional to their aerobic efforts. Average climbing efficiency was 15.8 ± 2.3% (n = 29). Aerobic capacity estimated dividing the highest work rate (17.3 Kg.m/2min.Kg × 0.00239 = 0.0207 Kcal/min.Kg), by fractional effort (F = 0.6617, M = 0.487) and fractional efficiency (0.158), at 5 Kcal/L O2 was 0.040 in F and 0.054 L O2/Kg.min in M. Minimum training intensity reached at the 3rd floor by F. In M the highest %HRR reached was 48.7% at the 5th floor, insufficient for training. Conclusions: Stairs used for submaximal evaluation of aerobic capacity and for target intensity prescription. Training, levels climbed, repetitions per day (if 5, 100 Kcal per day, ascending) and number of days/week are adjusted. Full regime requires up to 7.6 METs, a total of 532 and 140 MET.min/week ascending and descending, respectively. Intensities >7.6 MET, climbing rate should be >8.65 m/min. Limiting ascent to 1 (3.5 METs) or 2 (5.5 METs) floors or only descents (2 - 3 METs) may be used for unfit subjects. This method is useful for those with no access to sophisticated facilities.

Environmental Distribution of Clay Minerals in North West Subiyah Area, Kuwait: Compositional Variation and Application

The main objective of this paper is to study the mineralogical composition and the environmental conditions of the Subiyah clay to be used for crafting pottery and technological behaviour that allows the evaluation of the applicability of the clay deposits in manufacturing new ceramic products at Kuwait. This research could help artists, crafters of potters, and ceramic manufactures in Kuwait to depend on inland clay and this makes it easier for more production in ceramic and pottery in the future. All this could enhance the cultural of ceramic in teaching or producing it in Kuwaitfor the first time. For that purpose, six stations were selected at North-eastern part (Subiyah area) of Kuwait for clay investigation. X-ray Diffraction method (XRD) was led to identify mineralogical composition of samples;S1, S2, S3, S4A, S4B, and S6 were quartz, Calcite (Caco3), Dolomite, Illite and Clinochlore. Whereas;Quartz, Calcite Dolomite, Palygorskite, Nontronite and Clinochlore were recorded at S5 and S7. Clay mineralogical and environmental studies at our study area proved that, crafter can depend on Subiyah clay better than importing it from abroad.

The Environmental Impacts of Kabd Landfill on the Soil and Groundwater in Kuwait: A Case Study

The environmental impacts of the Kabd Landfill on the soil and groundwater in Kuwait were evaluated. Physical and chemical analyses were carried out on thirty pairs of surface, subsurface soil and five groundwater samples. The groundwater samples are collected from boreholes nearby and downstream of the landfill while the soil samples collected along six profiles. The groundwater samples were geochemically analyzed to determine the total dissolved solids, cations, anions and heavy metals, particularly Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr) and Aluminum (Al), Lithium (Li), Boron (B), Fluoride (F) and Vanadium (V). The soil samples were geochemically analyzed to determine concentration of Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni), Iron (Fe), Aluminum (Al) and organics. The results show that the soil and groundwater are contaminated with high TDS, Na, Ca, Mg, Cl, SO4 and heavy metals, especially Ni, Cd, Cu, Al, V and F. The heavy metal concentrations in both the soil and groundwater samples are compared to the World Health Organization (WHO) standard permissible limits. The results revealed that the Zn, Li, B and Fe metals are below the WHO limits for consumption. The soil lithology, natures of dumping, the depth of quarry and the depth to the groundwater level play roles in leachate generation and groundwater contaminations. Such leachate may be originated from the capillary fringe water, moisture content and rising water table, due to its close level at the bottom of the waste disposal site. The organic strength of the soil was reduced due to waste decomposition and continuous gas flaring. Re-designing of sanitary landfills to prevent leachate from getting to the groundwater and adoption of clean technology for a sustainable land management program for reclamation is recommended.

The Use of Some of the Information Criterion in Determining the Best Model for Forecasting of Thalassemia Cases Depending on Iraqi Patient Data Using ARIMA Model

Thalassemia is a major health problem in Iraq, and despites a prevention programme. There has been no decrease in the prevalence of the disease, due to a lack of awareness, implying that genetic counseling was a failure. This failure has been attributed to a lack of recognition of problems related to Thalassemia, unorganised teamwork and services, lack of knowledge and insufficient numbers of extension workers, lack of Thalassemia support groups, and inadequate research in Thalassemia prevention and control. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model and forecasting has become a major tool in different applications. The ARIMA model introduced by Box and Jenkins (1971) is among the most effective approaches for analysing time-series data. In this study, we used Box and Jenkins methodology to build an ARIMA model to forecast the number of people with Thalassemia, for the period from 2016-2018, from the data base from Maysan Health Center specific for Thalassemia the Maysan Provence, Iraq. After the model selection, the best model for forecasting was ARIMA (0, 1, 1) and of models were used for forecasting Thalassemia.

The Impact of Hydrocarbon Pollution on Soil Degradation Using GIS Techniques and Soil Characterization in Burgan Oil field, South Kuwait

Understanding the complex spatio-temporal relationships between environmental pollution and disease and identifying exposures to environmental hazards in high-risk populations are essential elements of an effective environmental and public health management program. Modern computer technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS), provide cost-effective tools for evaluating interventions and policies potentially affecting health outcomes. Military activities during the occupation and subsequent liberation war at 1991 caused direct and indirect damage to Kuwait’s environment and ecosystems. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide a powerful tool in managing and analyzing spatial data. It has been applied successfully to large variety of fields, one field of particular interest is the field of disaster identification and mitigation represent in the impact of hydrocarbon pollution on soil degradation in Burgan oil field, South Kuwait. It is well understood that hazard identification and land management play a major part in the reducing the impact of natural disasters. This is a role GIS is well suited to especially when combined with field investigation work .This study highlights the high level achievements of the environmental assessment for the oil contaminated status in GC32 pipe line dry oil lake and wet oil lake, Burgan oil field, state of Kuwait by using GIS application and field investigation including soil sampling, logging in order to determine the magnitude of damage, mapping present day contamination boundaries, extent of contamination and volume of contaminated soil in the area of study. In fact, the study clearly indicates that the problems persist even after 25 years although the lakes and lagoons that contained oil have been drained and many of them have dried out, their hazard potential has actually increased.

Adaptive Control for a Class of Systems with Output Deadzone Nonlinearity

This paper presents a continuous-time adaptive control scheme for systems with uncertain non-symmetrical deadzone nonlinearity located at the output of a plant. An adaptive inverse function is developed and used in conjunction with a robust adaptive controller to reduce the effect of deadzone nonlinearity. The deadzone inverse function is also implemented in continuous time, and an adaptive update law is designed to estimate the deadzone parameters. The adaptive output deadzone inverse controller is smoothly differentiable and is combined with a robust adaptive nonlinear controller to ensure robustness and boundedness of all the states of the system as well as the output signal. The mismatch between the ideal deadzone inverse function and our proposed implantation is treated as a disturbance that can be upper bounded by a polynomial in the system states. The overall stability of the closed-loop system is proven by using Lyapunov method, and simulations confirm the efficacy of the control methodology.

军校合训学员心理资本现状及影响因素

目的了解军校合训学员心理资本状况,探索提升其心理资本的有效途径。方法依据分层抽样原则,采用自编《军校合训学员积极心理资本问卷(PPQ-28)》对某军校746名在校合训学员进行调查。结果合训学员心理资本总分与各维度均分均在一般水平(3.5分)以上,其中希望得分最高(5.33±0.94),韧性得分最低(4.43±1.11)。女学员韧性维度得分显著高于男学员(P<0.05);非独生子女希望、自我效能维度得分显著高于独生子女(P<0.05);除乐观维度,不同年级学员其余各项维度得分比较均有统计学差异(P<0.05);不同政治面貌学员希望、自我效能、韧性维度得分比较均有统计学差异(P<0.05);不同兴趣爱好、不同同学之间关系学员各维度得分比较均有统计学差异(P<0.05);除韧性维度外,不同选择军校目的的学员在其余各组之间比较均有统计学差异(P<0.05);不同家庭所在地学员在希望、情绪智力维度得分比较均有统计学差异(P<0.05);不同家庭月收入学员各维度得分比较均无统计学差异(P>0.05)。结论心理资本与学员心理健康密切相关,培养心理资本是促进军校合训学员心理健康和能力发展的有效途径。

The relationships among aerosol optical depth, ice, phytoplankton and dimethylsulfide and the implication for future climate in the Greenland Sea

The sea-to-air flux of dimethylsulphide（DMS） is one of the major sources of marine biogenic aerosol, and can have an important radiative impact on climate, especially in the Arctic Ocean. Satellite-derived aerosol optical depth（AOD） is used as a proxy for aerosol burden which is dominated by biogenic aerosol during summer and autumn. The spring sea ice melt period is a strong source of aerosol precursors in the Arctic. However, high aerosol levels in early spring are likely related to advection of continental pollution from the south（Arctic haze）.Higher AOD was generally registered in the southern part of the study region. Sea ice concentration（SIC） and AOD were positively correlated, while cloud cover（CLD） and AOD were negative correlation. The seasonal peaks of SIC and CLD were both one month ahead of the peak in AOD. There is a strong positive correlation between AOD and SIC. Melting ice is positively correlated with chlorophyll a（CHL） almost through March to September,but negatively correlated with AOD in spring and early summer. Elevated spring and early summer AOD most likely were influenced by combination of melting ice and higher spring wind in the region. The peak of DMS flux occurred in spring due to the elevated spring wind and more melting ice. DMS concentration and AOD were positively correlated with melting ice from March to May. Elevated AOD in early autumn was likely related to the emission of biogenic aerosols associated with phytoplankton synthesis of DMS. The DMS flux would increase more than triple by 2100 in the Greenland Sea. The significant increase of biogenic aerosols could offset the warming in the Greenland Sea.

Analytical solutions for finite cylindrical dynamic cavity expansion in compressible elastic-plastic materials

Analytical solutions for the dynamic cylindrical cavity expansion in a com-pressible elastic-plastic cylinder with a finite radius are developed by taking into account of the effect of lateral free boundary, which are different from the traditional cavity expan-sion models for targets with infinite dimensions. The finite cylindrical cavity expansion process begins with an elastic-plastic stage followed by a plastic stage. The elastic-plastic stage ends and the plastic stage starts when the plastic wave front reaches the lateral free boundary. Approximate solutions of radial stress on cavity wall are derived by using the Von-Mise yield criterion and Forrestal’s similarity transformation method. The effects of the lateral free boundary and finite radius on the radial stress on the cavity wall are discussed, and comparisons are also conducted with the finite cylindrical cavity expansion in incompressible elastic-plastic materials. Numerical results show that the lateral free boundary has significant influence on the cavity expansion process and the radial stress on the cavity wall of metal cylinder with a finite radius.

相关阴影衰落信道下复合分集系统的中断概率（英文）

The outage probability of a composite microscopic and macroscopic diversity system is evaluated over correlated shadowed fading channels.The correlations on both a microlevel and macrolevel are taken into account for the evaluations.The expression of the desired outage probability is explicitly presented,and two evaluation approaches,i.e.a compact Gaussian-Hermite quadrature method and an effective iterative algorithm,are proposed.The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approaches are analysed,and a guideline is provided for their application.By employing the proposed evaluation approaches,results and demonstrations are presented,which display the implied effects of the corresponding parameters on the system outage performance,and reveal the potential to facilitate the design and analysis of such composite diversity systems.

Implementing Lagrangean Decomposition Technique to Acquire an Adequate Lower Boundon the Facility Location Problem Solution

In this work, the Lagrangean Relaxation method has been discussed to solve different sizes of capacitated facility location problem (CFLP). A good lower bound has been achieved on the solution of the CFLP considered in this paper. This lower bound has been improved by using the Volume algorithm. The methods of setting two important parameters in heuristic have been given. The approaches used to gain the lower bound have been explained. The results of this work have been compared with the known results given by Beasley.

On Implicit Algorithms for Solving Variational Inequalities

This paper presents new implicit algorithms for solving the variational inequality and shows that the proposed methods converge under certain conditions. Some special cases are also discussed.

The Geothermal Regime in Sirt Basin, Libya: The Geological Role and Heat Flow Studies

Bottom hole temperatures (BHTs) and static formation temperatures (DSTs) of 70 deep exploratory wells are used to evaluate the geothermal regime in the northeastern part of Sirt Basin. A linear regression was derived between the BHT’s and the DST’s, for correcting the bottom hole temperatures from the drilling factors that lower them from the true formation temperatures. The geothermal gradients were calculated using the corrected BHT’s and the heat flow has been estimated. Interpretation of the geothermal data, utilizing subsurface maps and isothermal geologic cross section, revealed a shallow, local semi-thermal reservoir of Oligo-Miocene age (at depths 1000 m). The geothermal gradients and heat flow values of this reservoir are ranging from 40 - >60°C/Km and from 80 up to >130 mW/m2, respectively. At deeper depths (>1000 m until the maximum depth of investigation), the area has more or less moderate to low geothermal gradients that range from 40 to 2. The study indicates that the vertical and the lateral variations of the formation temperatures, geothermal gradients and the heat flow values are controlled by the structural, groundwater movements as well as lithological and thermal characteristics of the subsurface sequence.