The present study was aimed at investigating the dose dependent free radical scavenging activity of combination of Grape seed extract and Zincovit tablets (nutritional food supplement) using different in vitro models. In vitro antioxidant activity was measured by two methods, 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and [2,2-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)] (ABTS) radical scavenging assay. Various concentrations of combination of Grape seed extract and Zincovit tablets (nutritional food supplement) dissolved in methanol (1.56-250µg/ml) were used. Ascorbic acid was used as a standard drug. Methanol and water were served as blank. In DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays, the IC50 values were 74.70μg/ml and 23.66μg/ml respectively. In both the methods a significant correlation existed between concentrations of combination of Grape seed extract and Zincovit tablets (nutritional food supplement) and percentage inhibition of free radicals. The results obtained in this study indicate that the combination of Grape seed extract and Zincovit tablets (nutritional food supplement) is a potential source of natural antioxidant.

This study covered 7 different agrobased programmes for rural development in selected districts of five provinces (Kwazulu natal, North West, Gauteng, Western Cape, and Mpumalanga) in South Africa. This was based on the fact that programmes were introduced to alleviate rural problems and central to the success and sustainability of rural development programmes is the issue of beneficiaries’ participation. The programme covered include Comprehensive Rural Development, Masibuyele Emasimini, Comprehensive Agricultural Support programme and Ilima Letsema, Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development, MAFISA, AGRIBEE, Food Security, Land Care, Agricultural Disaster Management and Agro processing. While some agro-based programmes for rural development are peculiar in some provinces, others are national programmes with some forms of adaptation and modification. A simple random sampling technique was used to select farmers in different districts in each of the provinces and interview was conducted through a structured questionnaire on participation, attitude, and constraints towards participation. The results show varying degree of participation across the provinces and the programmmes. Participation was observed to be influencing the effectiveness of these programmes in overcoming rural problems that have been targeted. The paper recommends structural amendment in the delivery of services to rural dwellers through these programmes in their respective provinces.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global health problem and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Physical activity is a beneficial intervention for prevention and treatment of T2DM. Objectives: To investigate and compare lipid profile and blood pressure responses of circuit weight training (CWT) or aerobic exercise training (AET) in pre-hypertensive T2DM patients. Methods: Forty pre-hypertensive T2DM participants, aged 50-60 years, were randomly divided into two groups (CWT and AET). Exercise training was performed three times per week in both groups; for 12 weeks. Eight parameters were evaluated pre-training, after 3 months of training and 1 month post training cessation. Results: Compared with aerobic training; CWT for 12 weeks in T2DM patients seems to yield more statistically significant effect on lipid profile with favorable lowering effect on total cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) but with more favorable increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) either on short or long run basis (after 3 months exercise and 1 month follow up). On the other hand; aerobic exercise training for 12 weeks for pre-hypertensive T2DM patients seems to yield more benefit and statistically significant lowering effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure when compared with CWT either on short-or long-run basis. Conclusions: While CWT is the intervention of choice to improve lipid profile in pre-hypertensive T2DM patients, AET is still the best intervention to improve blood pressure in those patients, for a more extended period of time.

Heterogeneous multicore processor consists of large number of processors with different configuration packed together on a single chip. There is a tremendous computing power offered by this multicore processor. Even though enormous performance enhancement with this multicore platform, it brings lot of challenges to the efficient operating system scheduling. In this paper we propose a new agent based scheduling and thread assignment algorithm in such a way that none of the heterogeneous processor will be kept in the idle state and the cores are utilized efficiently. We actually classify processors as fast core, average core and slow core based on their computing power. Then based on the cpu and memory intensive instructions we assign the threads to the respective cores. The ultimate aim is the heterogeneous processors within the multicore are assigned with the appropriate threads. We actually modified and simulated the linux 2.6.21 kernel process scheduler to incorporate this scheduling concept. Our evaluation results show that this agent scheduling algorithm outperforms the existing scheduling algorithms for HMC(Heterogeneous MultiCore) processors interms of cpu utilization.

The entire human life, including sciences is based on the logic. But my question is How reliable is this logic? In this article I will analyze this issue from three aspects: philosophical aspect, psychiatric aspect and evolutionary aspect. Then I will draw a conclusion from them.

The introduction of robots into the manufacturing process is a sufficiently complex problem, taking into account that so far little is known, on the one hand, about the characteristic aspects that should be actually established concerning the technological preparation for implementation, and on the other hand, about the conditions and efficiency in the production process.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is an enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) that plays an important role in protecting cells from oxidative damage by producing NADPH and reduced glutathione. The G6PD c.202 G>A and c.376A>G deficient mutation is endemic among Aures (A-) populations but its clinical significance is not well delineated. We set up to estimate the proportion of G6PD deficient among the Saudi men. We then established the prevalence of c.202A A- mutation and its linkage to c.376 A>G polymorphism in this population. The development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based methods for the detection of known mutations has facilitated. We carried out a study on G6PD deficient in the Saudi subjects to evaluate the molecular characteristics of this enzyme deficiency and the frequency of Exon 4 & 5 in G6PD gene. A total of 1540 Samples were screened for G6PD deficiency. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency was 2.5% (n = 39). G6PD A‾ mutation was observed in 2 (5.2%) cases. None of the samples showed significance in G202A and A376G mutations. Our study suggest that G6PD (A376G) A‾ mutation was present in our study but we cannot show the significance in the cases and controls.

Image Retrieval is a field of study concerned with searching and retrieving images from a collection of database. Face image retrieval is still a challenging task since face images can vary considerably in terms of facial expressions, lighting conditions etc. In this paper we propose a new face image retrieval method using Orthogonal Moments. This method extracts the feature from images by orthogonal moments to retrieve images from a large database. This method has been extensively assessed with YALE face database and FERET Database. This method shows a noticeable performance compared to other methods.

Clay soils present problems to geotechnical engineers due to its complex nature. Excessive compression, dispersive behavior, collapsing behavior, low shear strength, high swell potential and frost susceptibility are some of the undesirable properties of soils in geotechnical engineering. Soil properties such as those mentioned would cause severe distress to structures build on them. In this regard, it is necessary to reinforce and or stabilize the soil. In this experimental work, clayey soil was stabilized by using marble dust investigated the effect of marble dust on the geotechnical properties of clayey soil. The natural and modified clayey soil samples were subjected to the unconfined compression, the shear box, the odometer and the falling-head permeability tests after compaction at optimum moisture content. The results of experimental research indicated that marble dust enhanced both the unconfined compression strength and strength parameters. Consequently, it is concluded that the silica fume-fiber mixture materials can be successfully used for the modifications of clayey soils in the geotechnical applications.

Content based image retrieval system searches the database to find the images that are similar to the query image. It compares the images in the database, using the features such as shape, color, texture etc. The common problems faced in Image Retrieval System are semantics and time consumption. This will overcome by developing a “CBMIR: content based medical Image Retrieval System” that allows the user to query using a single region of an image instead of whole image. Since we concentrate on medical domain, the features extracted are shape, intensity and texture are used in spatial domain. In this work the first step is to crop the query image as specified by the user. Second, extract the features from the cropped image. Similarly, crop and extract the features for the database images. Determine the image similarity and retrieve the images from the database using Euclidean Distance method. In this method, the images with shortest distance from the query image are retrieved