Heavy Metals Removal Using Natural Jordanian Volcanic Tuff

The removal performance and the selectivity sequence of separate metal ions (Fe2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+) in aqueous solution were studied by adsorption process on untreated and natural volcanic tuff. A series of experiments were conducted in batch-wise and fixed-bed columns to investigate the removal efficiency of natural Jordanian volcanic tuff as low cost and an effective adsorbent for heavy metal ions and to examine its economical application in water purification and treatment practices.Water and wastewater samples containing metal ions with concentrations ranging from 1 to 15 mg/L were used. The plexi glas columns were filled with natural occurring volcanic tuff particles ranging between (0.350 – 3.000) mm. Photometric methods were used for laboratory analysis of samples.The experiments were carried out under changing conditions as a function of different pH-values (2,4,6 and 7), initial solute concentrations (1, 5, 10, 15) mg/L, and different room temperatures (20, 25 and 30 Cº ), and varying tuff particle sizes (0.35 -3.0) mm. The breakthrough curves were derived by plotting the normalized effluent metal concentrations (C/C0) versus bed volume.Obtained results showed that natural Jordanian volcanic tuff has an adsorption capacity of 0.417 mg/g for Fe 2+ and 0.151mg/g for C 2+. Factors in the reaction medium such as pH and ionic strength influenced the adsorption process. The quantity of particular ionic species (Cu2+, Pb2+, Cr2+ ,Fe2+, Zn2+) bound in dependence on the initial concentrations, indicates that the removal efficiency from the liquid phase follows the sequence Fe2+>Cu2+>Pb2+> Cr2+>Zn2+ when keeping the pH at 4 and follows the sequence Cu2+>Zi2+>Fe2+>Cr2+>Pb2+ when keeping the pH at 6. Equilibrium modeling of the removal showed that the adsorption of the metal cations Cr2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ , Cu2+ and Fe2+ were fitted to one of the adsorption isotherms

Transient Mixed Convection Flow of A Second-Grade Visco-Elastic Fluid over a Vertical Surface

The viscoelastic boundary layer flow and mixed convection heat transfer near a vertical isothermal surface have been examined in this paper. The governing equations are formulated and solved numerically using an explicit finite difference technique. The velocity and temperature profiles, boundary layer thicknesses, Nusselt numbers and the local skin friction coefficients are shown graphically for different values of the viscoelsatic parameter. In general, it is found that the velocity decreases inside the boundary layer as the viscoelsatic parameter is increased and consequently, the local Nusselt number decreases. This is due to higher tensile stresses between viscoelsatic fluid layers which has a retardation effects on the motion of these layers and consequently, on the heat transfer rates for the mixed convection heat transfer problem under investigation. A Comparison with available published results on special cases of the problem shows excellent agreement

Aqueous Extracts of Some Medicinal Plants are as Toxic as Lmidacloprid to the Sweet Potato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci

Aqueous extracts of nine plants, known to have medicinal activity, were tested for their toxicity against the sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Genn. (Homoptera: Aleurodidae) compared to the toxicity of the insecticide, Imidacloprid. Extracts of Lepidiuim sativum L. (Brassicales: Brassicaceae) killed 71 % of early stage nymphs, which was not significantly different from mortality caused by Imidacloprid. Treatment of pupae with three plant extracts, L. sativum, Achillea biebersteinii L. (Asterales: Asteraceae), or Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb and Berthel (Fabales: Fabaceae) prevented adult development, and treatment with R. raetam extract killed adults, at levels that were not significantly different from Imidacloprid. None of the other plants showed significant toxicity. However extracts of four plants, Pimpinella anisum L. (Apiales: Apiaceae), Galium longifolium (Sibth. and SM.) (Gentianales: Rubiaceae), R. raetam and Ballota undulata Bentham (Lamiales: Lamiaceae) had a repellent effect

Some fixed point results based on contractions of new types for extended b-metric spaces

The construction of contraction conditions plays an important role in science for formulating new findings in fixed point theories of mappings under a set of specific conditions. The aim of this work is to take advantage of the idea of extended b-metric spaces in the sense introduced by Kamran et al. [A generalization of b-metric space and some fixed point theorems, Mathematics, 5 (2017), 1–7] to construct new contraction conditions to obtain new results related to fixed points. Our results enrich and extend some known results from b-metric spaces to extended b-metric spaces. We construct some examples to show the usefulness of our results. Also, we provide some applications to support our results

High prevalence of current tobacco smoking among patients with tuberculosis and people living with HIV in Jordan: A cross-sectional survey

INTRODUCTION Continued smoking by patients with tuberculosis (TB) and people living with HIV (PLHIV) leads to adverse treatment outcomes. Estimates of tobacco use among the population are scarce in the Eastern Mediterranean region, where the burden of TB and HIV is also low but highly variable. This study determined the prevalence of current smoking and assessed factors associated with current smoking among patients with TB and PLHIV in Jordan. METHODS We analyzed data from the Jordan Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices survey in 2021. Information on current tobacco use, including products and frequency of smoking, was collected from 452 patients with TB and 152 PLHIV. We performed multivariable logistic regression to assess the sociodemographic characteristics independently associated with current smoking.RESULTS Prevalence of current smoking was 43.8% among TB patients and 67.8 % among PLHIV, and conventional cigarettes were the most used tobacco products. The prevalence of current smoking among patients with TB was higher among males (AOR=8.20; 95% CI: 5.05-13.32), Jordanians (AOR=5.37; 95% CI: 2.66- 10.86) and Syrians (AOR=4.13; 95% CI: 1.60-10.67), and those experiencing financial difficulties (AOR=2.83; 95% CI: 1.69-4.74). The prevalence of current smoking among PLHIV was higher in those with financial difficulties (AOR=3.13; 95% CI: 1.19-8.27). CONCLUSIONS Nearly half of the patients with TB and PLHIV were current tobacco smokers, higher than the general population. There is an urgent need to investigate the reasons for such a high smoking prevalence and introduce and strengthen smoking cessation services under the TB and HIV control programs

The Effectiveness of a Program Based on Psychosocial Support in Raising the Level of Family Empowerment among Refugees in Jordan

هدفت الدراسة إلى فحص مدى فاعلية برنامج مستند للدعم النفسي الاجتماعي في رفع مستوى التمكين الأسري لدى اللاجئين في الأردن. وتكونت عينة الدراسة من (32) لاجئًا في محافظة إربد تم تعيينهم بشكل عشوائي لمجوعتين متساويتين: المجوعة التجريبية (ن= 16) التي شاركت في برنامج الدعم النفسي الاجتماعي، والمجموعة الضابطة (ن= 16) التي لم تشارك في أي برنامج تدخل. ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة تم تطوير مقياس التمكين الأسري لجمع بيانات الدراسة في الاختبارات القبلية والبعدية لمجموعتي الدراسة، وفي الاختبار التتبعي مع أفراد المجموعة التجريبية فقط، وبرنامج الدعم النفسي الاجتماعي. أظهرت نتائج الدراسة وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين المجموعتين التجريبية والضابطة في متوسطات الدرجات على مقياس التمكين الأسري في الاختبار البعدي لصالح المجموعة التجريبية، وعدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين متوسطات القياسين البعدي والتتبعي في مقياس التمكين الأسري، مما يعكس ثبات تأثير البرنامج.The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a program based on psychosocial support in raising the level of family empowerment among refugees in Jordan. The study sample consisted of (32) refugees in Irbid governorate who were randomly assigned to two equal groups: the experimental group (n = 16), who participated in the psychosocial support program, and the control group (n = 16), who did not participate in any intervention program. To achieve the study's objectives, the Family Empowerment Scale was developed to collect study data in the pre and posttests for the two study groups and the follow-up test with members of the experimental group only and the psychosocial support program. The results of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the mean scores on the family empowerment scale in the posttest in favor of the experimental group, and there were no statistically significant differences between the means of the post and follow-up measures in the family empowerment scale, which reflects the reliability of the program’s impact

Linearly scaling direct method for accurately inverting sparse banded matrices

In many problems in Computational Physics and Chemistry, one finds a special kind of sparse matrices, termed "banded matrices". These matrices, which are defined as having non-zero entries only within a given distance from the main diagonal, need often to be inverted in order to solve the associated linear system of equations. In this work, we introduce a new O(n) algorithm for solving such a system, being n X n the size of the matrix. We produce the analytical recursive expressions that allow to directly obtain the solution, as well as the pseudocode for its computer implementation. Moreover, we review the different options for possibly parallelizing the method, we describe the extension to deal with matrices that are banded plus a small number of non-zero entries outside the band, and we use the same ideas to produce a method for obtaining the full inverse matrix. Finally, we show that the New Algorithm is competitive, both in accuracy and in numerical efficiency, when compared to a standard method based in Gaussian elimination. We do this using sets of large random banded matrices, as well as the ones that appear when one tries to solve the 1D Poisson equation by finite differences.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Comp. Phy

Moisture susceptibility of high and low compaction dry process crumb rubber modified asphalt mixtures

The field performance of dry process crumb rubber-modified (CRM) asphalt mixtures has been reported to be inconsistent with stripping and premature cracking on the surfacing. One of the concerns is that, because achieving field compaction of CRM material is difficult due to the inherent resilient nature of the rubber particle, nonuniform field compaction may lead to a deficient bond between rubber and bitumen. To assess the influence of compaction, a series of CRM and control mixtures was produced and compacted at two levels: 4% (low, optimum laboratory compaction) and 8% (high, field experience) air void content. The long-term durability, in regard to moisture susceptibility of the mixtures, was assessed by conducting repeated moisture conditioning cycles. Mechanical properties (stiffness, fatigue, and resistance to permanent deformation) were determined in the Nottingham Asphalt Tester. Results indicated that compared with conventional mixtures, the CRM mixtures, regardless of compaction effort, are more susceptible to moisture with the degree of susceptibility primarily depending on the amount of rubber in the mixture, rather than the difference in compaction. This behavior is different from that of conventional mixtures in which, as expected, poorly compacted mixtures were found to be more susceptible to moisture than were well-compacted mixtures

Personalisation in MOOCs: a critical literature review

The advent and rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have brought many issues to the area of educational technology. Researchers in the field have been addressing these issues such as pedagogical quality of MOOCs, high attrition rates, and sustainability of MOOCs. However, MOOCs personalisation has not been subject of the wide discussions around MOOCs. This paper presents a critical literature survey and analysis of the available literature on personalisation in MOOCs to identify the needs, the current states and efforts to personalise learning in MOOCs. The findings illustrate that there is a growing attention to personalisation to improve learners’ individual learning experiences in MOOCs. In order to implement personalised services, personalised learning path, personalised assessment and feedback, personalised forum thread and recommendation service for related learning materials or learning tasks are commonly applied

The Effectiveness of a Training Program Based on psychosocial support to Improve psychological empowerment Level among Refugees in Jordan

هدفت الدراسة إلى فحص مدى فاعلية برنامج مستند للدعم النفسي الاجتماعي في رفع مستوى التمكين النفسي لدى اللاجئين في الأردن. تكونت عينة الدراسة من (38) لاجئًا في محافظة إربد، تم تقسيمهم بشكل عشوائي لمجوعتين متساويتين: المجوعة التجريبية (ن= 19)، وشاركت في برنامج الدعم النفسي الاجتماعي، والمجموعة الضابطة (ن= 19)، التي لم تشارك في أي برنامج تدخل. لتحقيق أهداف الدراسة تم استخدام مقياس أوزير وشوتلاند (Ozer & Schotland) للتمكين النفسي؛ لجمع بيانات الدراسة في الاختبارات القبلية والبعدية لمجموعتي الدراسة، وفي الاختبار التتبعي مع أفراد المجموعة التجريبية فقط، بالإضافة إلى برنامج الدعم النفسي الاجتماعي. أظهرت نتائج الدراسة وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين المجموعتين التجريبية والضابطة في متوسطات الدرجات على مقياس التمكين النفسي في الاختبار البعدي لصالح المجموعة التجريبية، وأظهرت النتائج عدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين متوسطات القياسين البعدي والتتبعي، في مقياس التمكين النفسي، مما يعكس ثبات تأثير البرنامج.The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a training program based on psychosocial support to improve the level of psychological empowerment among refugees in Jordan. The study sample consisted of (38) refugees in Irbid governorate, and they were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (n = 19) refugees (the group which received the training program) and the control group (n = 19) refugees (without any training intervention). To achieve the study objectives, the psychological empowerment Scale was adapted and used to collect the study data in the pre- and post- tests for the two study groups and to carry out the follow-up tests for the members of the experimental group only as well as to a training program based on psychosocial support. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups and the differences are in favor of the experimental group. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the average performance of the experimental group on psychological empowerment Scale in the post-test, and their average scores on the same scale on the follow-up test, which reflects the stability of the program’s impact