Technology Usage for Education： Comparative Analysis Between Open and Distance Learning and Regular Students

Education is the backbone for the development of society. With the advent of technology, it is becoming necessary and being used for the advancement of society. Technology is being used for education as being used in other important fields of life. Usage of technology for education can play a big part in bringing improvement in education For this purpose, this research aims to explore the usage and effects of technology for education. While using the survey method, a questionnaire was constructed for data collection. The sample of the study consists of graduate and postgraduate students from both ODL and regular universities and the sample size would be of 300 respondents （150 from each type of university） who were selected by using simple random sampling. The present study concluded that technology is widely used by both regular and ODL students. This study further concluded that ODL students are more dependent on technology as compared to regular students.     

An investigation of the Gregorian chronology of early Islamic history : A Pilot Study

This pilot study presents a lunar and Gregorian chronology of the Sira, that is the biography of the prophet Muhammad. The paper discusses the problems surrounding the chronology of very early Islamic history, namely, the pre‐Hijra era. This history is not covered by the Hijra calendar, and therefore, historians dated its events using other primitive dating systems, resulting in considerable difficulties and inaccuracies when comparing Gregorian dates of this early Islamic history. In order to overcome this problem and establish an accurate chronology of the early Islamic history, the introduction of a new lunar calendar (the Muhammadi calendar) which starts with the birth month and year of the prophet Muhammad, and covers all Islamic history including the pre‐Hijra era, is suggested. The Muhammadi calendar was used to study the earliest three versions of the Sira. All dated events of the Sira were compiled from these sources and presented, for the first time, according to their historical order. The Muhammadi dates of these events were then calculated. For the first time, a computer program was designed to convert the Muliammadi dates to their Christian equivalent. The program was then used to compute the Gregorian dates of the events of the Sira.     

Robust stabilization of uncertain 2-D discrete-time delayed systems using sliding mode control

This paper aims to solve the problem of sliding mode control for an uncertain two-dimensional (2-D) systems with states having time-varying delays. The uncertainties in the system dynamics are constituted of mismatched uncertain parameters and the unknown nonlinear bounded function. The proposed problem utilizes the model transformation approach. By segregating the proper Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional in concert with the improved version of Wirtinger-based summation inequality, sufficient solvability conditions for the existence of linear switching surfaces have been put forward, which ensure the asymptotical stability of the reduced-order equivalent sliding mode dynamics. Then, we solve the controller synthesis problem by extending the recently proposed reaching law to 2-D systems, whose proportional part is appropriately scaled by the factor that does not depend on some constant terms but rather on current switching surface’s value, which in turn ensures the faster convergence and better robustness against uncertainties. Finally, the proposed results have been validated through an implementation to a suitable physical system.     

Observer based leader-following consensus of second-order multi-agent systems with nonuniform sampled position data

This paper deals with the leader-following consensus problem of multi-agent systems with the consideration that each agent can only transmit its position state to the neighbors at irregular discrete sampling times. In the proposed algorithm, a continuous-discrete time observer is designed for the continuous estimation of both position and velocity from the discrete position information of the neighbors. These estimated states are then used for designing a continuous control law which solves the leader-following consensus problem. Moreover, the dynamics of the leader is not fixed and can be controlled through an external input. The stability analysis has been carried out by employing the Lyapunov approach which provides sufficient conditions to tune the parameters according to the maximum allowable sampling period. The developed algorithm has been simulated and then tested on an actual multi-robot system consisting of three differential drive wheeled robots. Both simulation and hardware results validate the effectiveness of the control algorithm.     

Terrorism in the Backyard: Coverage of London Attacks, 2005 by the British TV News Channels

The media-terrorism nexus needs further exploration. This article is a qualitative analysis of the coverage of London Attacks, 2005 by the British TV news channels. It aims to investigate and to empirically ascertain the veracity of the media-terrorism-symbiotic-relationship notion. The research draws a comparison with a similar study of the coverage of Mumbai attacks, 2008 and maintains that when the terrorist event happens on British soil, the symbiotic relationship theory is not verified completely. It concludes that British TV news channels, while reporting the home event of terrorism, do not overly focus on the theme of awe and terror. Instead, they are more responsible, careful, and nationalistic while covering the events of terrorism.     

香草醛缩色氨酸与稀土镧、钕、钐、铈配合物的合成及表征

合成了香草醛缩色氨酸席夫碱(简写为L)及其稀土La(III)、Nd(III)、Sm(III)、Ce(III)配合物,通过元素分析、摩尔电导、差热-热重分析、红外光谱、紫外光谱等手段.确定配合物为KRe(H2O)(NO3)·2H2O(Re=La,Nd,Sm,Ce).     

A conceptual model of taste receptors

Of all the senses, that of taste is perhaps the hardest to define and quantify and elucidation of the underlying mechanisms is unrespondingly difficult. This article describes a conceptual model — at the molecular level — for the four basic taste modalities, using apparent specific volume as a fundamental parameter. It also considers possible practical applications.     

桑螵蛸脂类提取物对铜绿假单胞菌的抗菌活性和抗生物膜作用（英文）

目的:探究桑螵蛸脂类提取物的成分及对铜绿假单胞菌的抗菌和抗生物膜作用。创新点:中国传统中药桑螵蛸一直广泛应用于肾病的治疗,在抗菌领域未见报道,本实验首次证明桑螵蛸脂类提取物对铜绿假单胞菌有明显的抗菌和抗生物膜作用。方法:采用气相色谱-质谱联用技术,测定桑螵蛸脂质提取物的化学成分及其相对比例。采用纸片扩散法和琼脂平板稀释法观察桑螵蛸脂类提取物对铜绿假单胞菌的抑菌效应并测定最小抑制浓度(MIC)。采用结晶紫染色法和扫描电镜(SEM)进行抑制生物被膜的试验。结论:桑螵蛸脂类提取物中含有16种化合物,最丰富的成分分别是倍半萜类化合物、单萜和微量芳香族化合物。桑螵蛸脂类提取物对铜绿假单胞菌的MIC为4 mg/ml,对铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜的抑制作用明显。     

Physicochemical characteristics of various milk samples available in Pakistan

We report physicochemical characteristics of various kinds of liquid milk commercially available in Pakistan in comparison with those of fresh natural milk from animals. Milk samples were collected from local markets at Peshawar, Pakistan,and analyzed for their physical features, including moisture, total solids, specific gravity, conductivity, viscosity and titratable acidity (lactic acid equivalent), and chemical components and macro-minerals, including total protein, casein, lactose, ash and minerals (Na, K and Mg). These items were compared with the physicochemical characteristics of the fresh natural milk samples from buffalo, cow and goat. The results were also compared with reported nutritional quality of milk from various countries and World Health Organization (WHO) standards. We found that all the physical features and chemical components of commercially available milk in Pakistan markets meet WHO's requirements, except for Na, K, Ca and Mg, which are below the standards.     

Impact of light intensity on flowering time and plant quality of Antirrhinum majus L.cultivar Chimes White

Shades of different light intensities (29%, 43%, 54%, 60% or 68%) along with control (no shade) were studied to observe their effects on the flowering time and plant quality. A hyperbolic relationship was observed between different light intensities under shade, and time to flowering. The total number of flower buds showed a curvilinear relationship with light intensities. Growth parameters related to the plant characteristics such as plant height, leaf area and plant fresh weight were improved under shading treatments at the expense of flowering time and number of flower buds. However, both linear and polynomial models applied assumed that cultivar Chimes White was equally sensitive to light intensity throughout development.