This research, titled "The Impact of Godds on Political Power in Ancient Iraq," delves into the connection between religion and political authority in ancient Iraq. It explores how religion ...influenced kings and the political systems across different historical periods in ancient Iraq. The study highlights how rulers utilized religion to justify their authority, claiming divine endorsement to legitimize their political control over the civilization. The research is structured with an introduction, three sections, and a list of sources. The first section explores the role of religion, the second part delves into the significant gods in ancient Iraq, and the third section investigates how gods played a crucial role in shaping political power in this ancient civilization. The study concludes by presenting key findings.
Alkali‐metal ions, particularly sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+), are the messengers of living cells, governing a cascade of physiological processes through the action of ion channels. Devices that ...can monitor, in real time, the concentrations of these cations in aqueous media are in demand not only for the study of cellular machinery, but also to detect conditions in the human body that lead to electrolyte imbalance. In this work, conducting polymers are developed that respond rapidly and selectively to varying concentrations of Na+ and K+ in aqueous media. These polymer films, bearing crown‐ether‐functionalized thiophene units specific to either Na+ or K+, generate an electrical output proportional to the cation type and concentration. Using electropolymerization, the ion‐selective polymers are integrated as the gate electrode of an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT). The OECT current changes with respect to the concentration of the ion to which the polymer electrode is selective. Designed as a single, miniaturized chip, the OECT enables the selective detection of the cations within a physiologically relevant range. These electrochemical ion sensors require neither ion‐selective membranes nor a reference electrode to operate and have the potential to surpass existing technologies for the detection of alkali‐metal ions in aqueous media.
This work demonstrates, for the first time, a membrane‐free, solid‐state electrochemical sensor for metal cations based on functionalized conducting polymers. Ion‐selective conducting polymers are fabricated via a single‐step electropolymerization and employed at the micrometer‐scale gate electrode of an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT). Designed as a single, miniaturized chip, the OECT enables the selective detection of Na+ and K+ within a physiologically relevant range.
Magnesium deficiency is a frequently occurring limiting factor for crop production due to low levels of exchangeable Mg (ex-Mg) in acidic soil, which negatively affects sustainability of agriculture ...development. How Mg fertilization affects crop yield and subsequent physiological outcomes in different crop species, as well as agronomic efficiencies of Mg fertilizers, under varying soil conditions remain particular interesting questions to be addressed. A meta-analysis was performed with 570 paired observations retrieved from 99 field research articles to compare effects of Mg fertilization on crop production and corresponding agronomic efficiencies in different production systems under varying soil conditions. The mean value of yield increase and agronomic efficiency derived from Mg application was 8.5% and 34.4 kg kg
respectively, when combining all yield measurements together, regardless of the crop type, soil condition, and other factors. Under severe Mg deficiency (ex-Mg < 60 mg kg
), yield increased up to 9.4%, nearly two folds of yield gain (4.9%) in the soil containing more than 120 mg kg
ex-Mg. The effects of Mg fertilization on yield was 11.3% when soil pH was lower than 6.5. The agronomic efficiency of Mg fertilizers was negatively correlated with application levels of Mg, with 38.3 kg kg
at lower MgO levels (0-50 kg ha
) and 32.6 kg kg
at higher MgO levels (50-100 kg ha
). Clear interactions existed between soil ex-Mg, pH, and types and amount of Mg fertilizers in terms of crop yield increase. With Mg supplementation, Mg accumulation in the leaf tissues increased by 34.3% on average; and concentrations of sugar in edible organs were 5.5% higher compared to non-Mg supplemented treatments. Our analysis corroborated that Mg fertilization enhances crop performance by improving yield or resulting in favorable physiological outcomes, providing great potentials for integrated Mg management for higher crop yield and quality.
Owing to large specific surface area and high electrical conductivity, nanostructured electrodes exhibit improved electrochemical activity for supercapacitor applications. In the present study, ...structure and morphology of hydrothermally synthesized strontium sulfide and graphene oxide based Strontium sulfide nanorods have been investigated by using XRD and SEM, respectively. Introduction of graphene oxide thin film improves specific surface area and result in the excellent electrical conductivity of Strontium sulfide nanorods. Due to this, graphene oxide based strontium sulfide nanorods illustrate excellent specific capacitance and energy density of 1831.14 F g−1 and 91.56 WhKg−1, respectively, at the current density of 3 mAcm−2, as measured by employing three electrode galvanostatic charge discharge system. Moreover, electrode of graphene oxide based strontium sulfide nanorods also shows good electrochemical performance, according to the measurements by symmetric two electrode system. Energy and power density is measured as 10.55 WhKg−1 and 294.35 W kg−1, respectively. The excellent electrochemical performance of graphene oxide based strontium sulfide nanorods reveals its significance as nanostructured materials for supercapacitor applications.
Display omitted
•A low cost hydrothermal synthesis is applied for GO based strontium sulfide nanorods.•High-specific capacitance and energy density is observed from charge-discharge curves.•Efficient electrode performance is also illustrated by two electrode symmetric system.•The GO thin film optimizes electrochemical performance of strontium sulfide nanorods.•The GO based strontium sulfide is suggested efficient as electrode for supercapacitors.
Abstract
Background
Pakistan has a high hepatitis burden for both hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). To achieve World Health Organization (WHO) 2030 targets for hepatitis ...elimination, there is a need to constitute progress in the country, find the barriers and strategies for HCV elimination, and take actions to address the gaps.
Methods
We collected data from (1) WHO estimates in 2020, (2) midterm review questionnaire of the WHO regional action plan, and (3) WHO estimates on immunization. We analyzed these data to inform (1) the burden defined as prevalence and mortality and (2) response in 3 thematic areas: governance, policy, and finance; strategic information; and service delivery.
Results
The prevalence of hepatitis B in the general population is 1.6% with 12 000 deaths/year. The prevalence of hepatitis C in the general population is 7.5% with 19 000 deaths and 545 000 new cases (incidence)/year. The selected indicators to monitor progress on viral hepatitis in Pakistan were governance and financing, policies and guidelines, and strategic information. The overall governance indicators are good with a focal point, a national hepatitis strategy, an operational plan, strategy for price reduction, and involvement of civil society but the costed action plan and the advocacy strategy are missing. The indicators on policies and guidelines are also adequately addressed. The hepatitis B and C testing and treatment guidelines are available, there is a policy to screen all blood donations, and there is an injection safety policy, but the policy for timely hepatitis B vaccine birth dose and hepatitis B vaccination for the vulnerable is missing. Both indicators regarding strategic information, that is measures of key hepatitis indicators and regular data review, are missing. The status of 5 key interventions in Pakistan show that the hepatitis B vaccination coverage is 74% and only 3% of newborn children are given the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose. Only 22% of HCV cases have been diagnosed and 2% have received treatment. Treatment response is 96%. Same-day testing and treatment of hepatitis C reduced the overall dropout rate and improved the cascade of care. Decentralization and task shifting are important tools to improve service delivery and reach communities. Finances to implement hepatitis elimination is a major barrier.
Conclusions
Pakistan has the highest hepatitis disease burden. With the current pace, hepatitis elimination appears impossible. Introduction of the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and improving access and affordability of testing can improve the testing and treatment numbers. Finances need to be mobilized from within the country and outside to support disease elimination.
Display omitted
•Successful synthesis of SnS nanowires grown on Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition.•X-ray diffraction and Raman analyses confirmed crystalline orthorhombic phase (Pbnm space ...group) formation.•Field emission electron microscopy showed almost uniform morphology of nanowires with average diameter of 28–98 nm.•Diffused reflectance spectroscopy revealed an increasing bandgap with increasing growth temperature.•Excellent agreement between experimentally and theoretically calculated bandgap values using DFT was found.
We report on synthesis of SnS nanowires grown on Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition method at various growth temperatures between 800 and 950 °C, using gold catalyst. X-ray diffraction and Raman analyses confirmed crystalline orthorhombic phase (Pbnm space group) formation. Field emission electron microscopy showed almost uniform morphology of nanowires with average diameter of 28–98 nm with variable length sizes. Diffused reflectance spectroscopy revealed an increasing bandgap with increasing growth temperature. Bandgap and optical properties of SnS were also studied using density functional theory, showing excellent agreement between experimentally and theoretically calculated bandgap values, suitable for potential optical applications.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has proved to be the integral part and parcel of any multimedia based application or IP-based telephony service that requires signaling. SIP supports HTTP digest ...based authentication, and is responsible for creating, maintaining and terminating sessions. To guarantee secure SIP based communication, a number of authentication schemes are proposed, typically most of these are based on smart card due to its temper resistance property. Recently Zhang et al. presented an authenticated key agreement scheme for SIP based on elliptic curve cryptography. However Tu et al. (Peer to Peer Netw. Appl 1–8,
2014
) finds their scheme to be insecure against user impersonation attack, furthermore they presented an improved scheme and claimed it to be secure against all known attacks. Very recently Farash (Peer to Peer Netw. Appl 1–10,
2014
) points out that Tu et al.’s scheme is vulnerable to server impersonation attack, Farash also proposed an improvement on Tu et al.’s scheme. However, our analysis in this paper shows that Tu et al.’s scheme is insecure against server impersonation attack. Further both Tu et al.’s scheme and Farash’s improvement do not protect user’s privacy and are vulnerable to replay and denial of services attacks. In order to cope with these limitations, we have proposed a privacy preserving improved authentication scheme based on ECC. The proposed scheme provides mutual authentication as well as resists all known attacks as mentioned by Tu et al. and Farash.
Global efforts are in rapid progress to tackle the emerging conundrum of climate change-induced heat stress in grassland ecosystems. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (n-ZnO) are known to play a crucial role ...in plants’ abiotic stress regulation, but its response in alfalfa against heat stress has not been explored. This study aimed at assessing the effects of n-ZnO on alfalfa under heat stress by various morpho-physiological and cellular approaches. Five-week-old alfalfa seedlings were subjected to foliar application of n-ZnO as a pretreatment before the onset of heat stress (BHS) to evaluate its effect on heat tolerance, and as a post-treatment after heat stress (AHS) to evaluate recovery efficiency. In vitro studies on Zn release from n-ZnO by Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICPMS) disclosed that the particle uptake and Zn release were concentration dependent. The uptake and translocation of n-ZnO examined by transmission electron microscope (TEM) reveling showed that n-ZnO was primarily localized in the vacuoles and chloroplasts. TEM images showed that ultrastructural modifications to chloroplast, mitochondria, and cell wall were reversible by highest dose of n-ZnO applied before heat stress, and damages to these organelles were not recoverable when n-ZnO was applied after heat stress. The results further enlightened that 90 mg L−1 n-ZnO better prevented the heat stress-mediated membrane damage, lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress by stimulating antioxidant systems and enhancing osmolyte contents in both BHS and AHS. Although, application of 90 mg L−1 n-ZnO in BHS was more effective in averting heat-induced damages and maintaining better plant growth and morpho-physiological attributes compared to AHS. Conclusively, foliar application of n-ZnO can be encouraged as an effective strategy to protect alfalfa from heat stress damages while minimizing the risk of nanoparticle transmission to environmental compartments, which could happen with soil application.
Display omitted
•The n-ZnO stimulated morpho-physiological responses in alfalfa under heat stress.•Release of Zn from n-ZnO confirmed by ICPMS, and presence in leaves by TEM.•The n-ZnO triggered antioxidant system sheltered alfalfa from oxidative damage.•Gas exchange traits and osmolyte agents improved cell microstructure by n-ZnO.•Results applicable for sustainable nanoparticle approaches to mitigate heat stress.
The bile salt export pump (ABCB11/BSEP) is a hepatocyte plasma membrane‐resident protein translocating bile salts into bile canaliculi. The sequence alignment of the four full‐length transporters of ...the ABCB subfamily (ABCB1, ABCB4, ABCB5 and ABCB11) indicates that the NBD‐NBD contact interface of ABCB11 differs from that of other members in only four residues. Notably, these are all located in the noncanonical nucleotide binding site 1 (NBS1). Substitution of all four deviant residues with canonical ones (quadruple mutant) significantly decreased the transport activity of the protein. In this study, we mutated two deviant residues in the signature sequence to generate a double mutant (R1221G/E1223Q). Furthermore, a triple mutant (E502S/R1221G/E1223Q) was generated, in which the deviant residues of the signature sequence and Q‐loop were mutated concurrently to canonical residues. The double and triple mutants showed 80% and 60%, respectively, of the activity of wild‐type BSEP. As expected, an increasing number of mutations gradually impair transport as an intricate network of interactions within the ABC proteins ensures proper functioning.
Multidimensional achievement tests are recently gaining more importance in educational and psychological measurements. For example, multidimensional diagnostic tests can help students to determine ...which particular domain of knowledge they need to improve for better performance. To estimate the characteristics of candidate items (calibration) for future multidimensional achievement tests, we use optimal design theory. We generalize a previously developed exchange algorithm for optimal design computation to the multidimensional setting. We also develop an asymptotic theorem saying which item should be calibrated by examinees with extreme abilities. For several examples, we compute the optimal design numerically with the exchange algorithm. We see clear structures in these results and explain them using the asymptotic theorem. Moreover, we investigate the performance of the optimal design in a simulation study.
PDF
