Life after death in the magazine industry

The magazine industry has succumbed to severe cutbacks in recent months but nevertheless is still a vibrant industry. In order to become a successful part of this industry, magazines must go through certain stages of life in which they meet with certain challenges. Surviving these stages is the mark of a truly auspicious publication, but surviving also means being able to adapt to market and readership changes.     

Characteristics of the Literature Used by Arab Authors in Library and Information Science

Abstract

This paper attempts to shed some light on the scientific communication behavior of Arab authors in library and information science by studying the characteristics of the literature used by these authors. A bibliometric study by way of citation analysis was conducted on the articles published from 1978 to 1988 in Maktabat Al-Idarah, an elite Arab scholarly journal in the field. It was concluded from this study that English literature is the main source of information for Arab authors in library and information science. They rely on English literature that is between 5 and 15 years of age more than on their own literature and use books more than any other form of publication. They cover almost all areas of the field with special emphasis on technical services as represented by cataloging, classification and aquisition, library administration and library education. Local materials published in their own country were also important.     

Antidiabetic and antioxidant effects of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Picrorhiza kurrooa</Emphasis> rhizome extracts in diabetic rats

Picrorhiza kurrooa is mentioned in Ayurveda for the treatment of many disorders, but it has not been subjected to systematic scientific investigations to assess its antidiabetic effect. The oral administration of aqueous and methanol extracts of P. kurrooa rhizomes (250 and 500 mg / kg body weight / day) for 15 days significantly reduced blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and increased total hemoglobin, plasma insulin in alloxan-induced diabetes in albino rats. The treatment also showed significant correction in the level of nitric oxide radicals, superoxide radicals, peroxynitrite radical, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase in the pancreas of alloxan diabetic rats.     

In-vitro effect of a diabetic serum factor on the generation of superoxide free radical,it’s quenching ability and lysosomal degranulation in normal polymorpho nuclear leucocytes

Normal polymorpho nuclear leucocytes (PMNL) when assaulted with diabetic serum factorin-vitro, recorded enhanced generation of oxygen free radical, and lysosomal degranulation. It also caused a decrease in the cytosolic superoxide dismutase activity. Time-plot studies revealed PMNL susceptibility to diabetic serum factor for oxidative injury and concomitant decrease in SOD, consequential for lysosomal degranulation.     

Membrane potentials of hypertensive,diabetic and arthritic polymorphonuclear leukocytes

We studied the membrane potentials of normal, essential hypertensive, diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritic polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL). It was found that diabetic PMNL were grossly hyperpolarized as compared to normal. On the other hand hypertensive and arthritic PMNL elicited a significant depolarization. The PMNL obtained from treated hypertensive patients showed considerable recovery where as partial recovery was evidenced in membrane potentials in diabetic and arthritic PMNL. The implications are discussed.     

Non-linear dynamic response of circular plates subjected to transient loads

The Chebyshev polynomials have been applied to the large amplitude motions of circular plates under transient loads, with and without damping. The non- linear differential equations are linearized by using Taylor series expansions for one of the terms. It is shown that there is good agreement between the results obtained by the present technique and the available results. The advantage of this technique is essentially due to the fact that the Chebyshev polynomials are rapidly converging polynomials. It is shown that very accurate results can be obtained with only four terms of the Chebyshev series which may not be possible with conventional methods.     

A comparative study of reactive oxygen species (ROS) related parameters in rat tissues

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are believed to be responsible for pathogenesis of various diseases affecting tissues and systems. ROS generated by mitochondrial electron transport chain as well as extra-mitochondrially are eliminated by the respective defense mechanisms. We checked the activity of ROS generating system such as xanthine oxidase and also the parameter of ROS defense mechanism e.g. superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPox), reduced glutathione content (GSH) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) in mitochondrial and post-mitochondrial fractions from various tissues (liver, kidney, brain and heart) of normal rats. Extent of lipid peroxidation (LPO) which is immediate consequence of ROS generation was also examined. Our results shows that significant tissue-specific differences exist in mitochondrial and cytosolic ROS generating systems and ROS defense mechanisms.