purpose:  the paper aims to focus on south africa’s poor economic performance and the regular downgrades of the country’s economic and financial rating by international rating agencies. it attempts to show that these continuous downgrades are a recipe for economic and financial disaster in the long – run; that the continuance of this phenomenon will stymie the implementation of the national dev...

Xylem sap flux density (Fd) was measured, on a 43-year-old (mature) and three 4-year-old (young) mango (Mangifera indica L.) trees, using Granier-type probes. The relative influences of environmental variables were examined under well-watered condition. Circumferential variation in Fd was also investigated by placing sensors on the north, south-west and south-east sides of the mature tree. Sap ...

Background: The consumption of low quality foods is common in low socioeconomic areas; and according to epidemiological studies, the density of nutrients often proves the quality of diet. This study aimed to compare the density of macronutrients and micronutrients in various parts of Tehran.   Methods: This was a cross-sectional study performed from September to December 2007 in all the...

The origins of flora and fauna that are only found in Ireland and Iberia, but which are absent from intervening countries, is one of the enduring questions of biogeography. As Southern French, Iberian and Irish populations of the land snail Cepaea nemoralis sometimes have a similar shell character, we used mitochondrial phylogenies to begin to understand if there is a shared "Lusitanian" histor...

The surface core-level shifts (SCLS) on the (0001) surface of beryllium were used to study the phase diagram of the hydrogen-induced reconstructions on this surface. Two different top-layer reconstruction phases are formed upon atomic hydrogen adsorption below and above room temperature, respectively. We are able to assign a characteristic core-level spectrum to an individual reconstruction pha...

introduction identification and analysis of time-series behavior of the climatic elements and processes upon them are the basic factors of climatology science and has an important role in management and environmental planning. in general, the behavior of climatic elements are observed in 3 form: trend, oscillation and fluctuation. these behaviors will help us to identify more the climate change...

The TAROT telescopes (Télescopes à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires) are two robotic observatories designed to observe the prompt optical emission counterpart and the early afterglow of gamma ray bursts (GRBs). We present data acquired between 2001 and 2008 and discuss the properties of the optical emission of GRBs, noting various interesting results. The optical emission observed dur...

In this letter we discuss the flux and the behavior of the bright optical flare emission detected by the 25 cm TAROT robotic telescope during the prompt high-energy emission and the early afterglow. We combine our data with simultaneous observations performed in X-rays and we analyze the broad-band spectrum. These observations lead us to emphasize the similarity of GRB 050904 with GRB 990123, a...

Ligia isopods are conspicuous inhabitants of rocky intertidal habitats exhibiting several biological traits that severely limit their dispersal potential. Their presence in patchy habitats and low vagility may lead to long term isolation, allopatric isolation and possible cryptic speciation. Indeed, various species of Ligia have been suggested to represent instead cryptic species complexes. Pas...