Flood menace in Kaduna Metropolis: impacts, remedial and management strategies

This study assesses how Kaduna Metropolis have been affected by flood menace incidences as it takes a look at the devastating impacts, remedial and management strategies at curbing flooding in Kaduna Metropolis which has almost become a yearly occurrence. Data for this study were obtained from questionnaires, interviews, personal observation, archival records of ministries and newspaper reports. A total of 196 respondents, drawn from residents in flood prone areas, were sampled for this study. Descriptive statistics and Likert Rating System were used in the analyses of the data. The results of analyses show that floods in Kaduna Metropolis occur mostly at the event of rainfall intensity, especially at the peak of rainy season (September, 2015). And it takes 3 - 5days for the flood water to recede depending on the magnitude of event and receding factors in different areas. Factors other than rainfall identified to substantially influenced flooding in the study area are: Lack of and poor drainage networks, dumping of wastes/refuse in drainage and water channels, topographic characteristics, overflowing of river banks, low infiltration due to high water table and degree of built or up areas leading to increased runoffs, and climate change. Despite the flood hazards, occupants in flood prone have remained on the basis of having no alternative, cultural ethnic affinity, family home place where parent were buried, used to flooding as the whole area suffers from flooding, nature of occupation, and cheaper houses to rent. Personal properties and public infrastructures suffer all forms of flood damages. Flood remedial and management strategies include river re-channelization, raising house foundations, land use planning and management and public enlightenment are recommended measure to checkmate activities aiding flooding in Kaduna metropolis.Keywords: Flood, Menace, Infrastructure, Impacts, Remedial and Management Strategies

Analysis of development of tafsir studies in the magazine ‘Pengasuh’ year 1955-2015

The development of tafsir studies in the magazine has yet to be discovered clearly that there is not one specific writing done to explain about the figures and the development of tafsir contained in the magazine. This paper explains about the aspect when the writing of tafsir in Pengasuh starts, who is their prominent figures and to what extent has the writing become prominent throughout the publication years of Pengasuh which is entering its 97 year in 2015. The study adopts the qualitative method in the form of text analysis and interview to get a clearer picture about the writing. The study outcome discovers that the writing of tafsir studies in the magazine Pengasuh started since 1955 at the 272 editions and expanded until today undertaken by seven columnists-cum-tafsir writers  who differ whether in terms of their backgrounds or ways of writing.Keywords: development; magazine; Pengasuh; tafsir studies; Malaysi

Low Noise Figure of Cascaded LNA at 5.8GHz Using T-Matching Network for WiMAX Applications

This project presents the low Noise Figure (NF) cascaded Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) at 5.8GHz using T-matching network applicable for WiMAX application. The amplifier used FHX76LP Low Noise SuperHEMT FET. The LNA designed used T-matching network consisting of lump reactive element at the input and the output terminal. The cascaded LNA produced noise figure of 1.3 dB and forward gain of 36.8 dB. The input reflection (S11) and output return loss (S22) are -12.4 dB and -12.3 dB respectively. The bandwidth of the amplifier is more than 1.24 GHz. The input sensitivity is compliant with the IEEE 802.16 standards

Distribution of culturable endophytic bacteria in lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus)

Endophytic bacteria are currently being harnessed as potential sources of bioactive compounds, potential biofertilizers, and as tools for bioremediation. This therefore stresses the importance of searching for these noble bacteria in various plants. In the present study, fresh and apparently healthy leaves and roots of lemon grass were collected and surfacesterilized using 70% (v/v) Ethanol, 3% sodium hypochlorite solution and sterile distilled water. Isolation of endophytic bacteria was achieved using culture technique, while identification was done based on morphological, biochemical and microscopic characteristics. A total of 16 endophytic bacteria were isolated and identified as Bacillus spp. (3 isolates), Escherichia coli (1 isolate), Klebsiella pnuemoniae (3 isolates), Micrococcus spp. (3 isolates), Pseudomonas spp. (1 isolate), Rhizobium (2 isolates) and Staphylococcus aureus (3 isolates). The root portions of the plant harbour 10 (62.5%) of the entire endophytic bacteria isolated, while the leaves harbour the remaining 6 (37.5%). Gram negative rod- shaped bacteria are the dominant of all the bacteria in the roots (50%), whereas, in the leaves, Gram positive cocci are the dominant (50% of all). No Gram negative cocci were isolated from the plant. In conclusion, Lemon grass harbours diverse genera of endophytic bacteria present both in the roots and leaves of the plant, but the roots harbour higher populations of the bacteria.Keywords: Endophytic bacteria, Lemon grass, Root, Leaf, Isolatio

Mechanical Properties of Unsaturated Polyester Filled With Silica Fume, Glass Powder and Carbon Black

In this study a polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have been prepared with the aid of ultrasonic wave dispersion method for mixing , using of unsaturated polyester resin with Silica Fume(SF), Glass Powder (GP)and Carbon Black (CB). Moulds were prepared by hand-made from silicon rubber according to the ASTM standard table (4). The fillers added separately with different ratios as (0%,0.5%, 1%, 1.5 %, 2%,2.5% and 3%).The results show increase the hardness and impact strength when added GP, SF, and CB to polymer matrix. Flexural strength and maximum shear stress decrease when added silica fume , but when added glass powder and carbon black led to increase flexural strength and maximum shear stress to certain percent at ( 2%, 1.5% for GP and CB respectively) then dropped when increase weight fraction of GP, CB . Compressive strength decrease when added glass powder and carbon black, while it is increase when added silica fume to polymer matrix. Wear rate decrease when increase weight fraction of carbon black but it increases when added GP and SF

Weak Isospin Violations in Charged and Neutral Higgs Couplings from SUSY Loop Corrections

Supersymmetric QCD and supersymmetric electroweak loop corrections to the violations of weak isospin to Yukawa couplings are investigated. Specifically it involves an analysis of the supersymmetric loop corrections to the Higgs couplings to the third generation quarks and leptons. Here we analyze the SUSY loop corrections to the charged Higgs couplings which are then compared with the supersymmetric loop corrections to the neutral Higgs couplings previously computed. It is found that the weak isospin violations can be quite significant, i.e, as much as 40-50% or more of the total loop correction to the Yukawa coupling. The effects of CP phases are also studied and it is found that these effects can either enhance or suppress the weak isospin violations. We also investigate the weak isospin violation effects on the branching ratio $BR(H^-\to\bar t b)/ BR(H^-\to \bar\nu_{\tau}\tau^-)$ and show that the effects are sensitive to CP phases. Thus an accurate measurement of this branching ratio along with the branching ratio of the neutral Higgs boson decays can provide a measure of weak isospin violation along with providing a clue to the presence of supersymmetry.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

A basic probability assignment methodology for unsupervised wireless intrusion detection

YesThe broadcast nature of wireless local area networks has made them prone to several types of wireless injection attacks, such as Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) at the physical layer, deauthentication, and rogue access point attacks. The implementation of novel intrusion detection systems (IDSs) is fundamental to provide stronger protection against these wireless injection attacks. Since most attacks manifest themselves through different metrics, current IDSs should leverage a cross-layer approach to help toward improving the detection accuracy. The data fusion technique based on the Dempster–Shafer (D-S) theory has been proven to be an efficient technique to implement the cross-layer metric approach. However, the dynamic generation of the basic probability assignment (BPA) values used by D-S is still an open research problem. In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised methodology to dynamically generate the BPA values, based on both the Gaussian and exponential probability density functions, the categorical probability mass function, and the local reachability density. Then, D-S is used to fuse the BPA values to classify whether the Wi-Fi frame is normal (i.e., non-malicious) or malicious. The proposed methodology provides 100% true positive rate (TPR) and 4.23% false positive rate (FPR) for the MitM attack and 100% TPR and 2.44% FPR for the deauthentication attack, which confirm the efficiency of the dynamic BPA generation methodology.Gulf Science, Innovation and Knowledge Economy Programme of the U.K. Government under UK-Gulf Institutional Link Grant IL 279339985 and in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), U.K., under Grant EP/R006385/1

Effects of short term feeding of some marine microalgae on the microbial profile associated with Dicentrarchus labrax post larvae

AbstractThis study investigates the microbial profile and antimicrobial activity of four marine microalgae species, Tetraselmis chuii, Nannochloropsis salina, Isochrysis galbana and Chlorella salina used in aquaculture of Dicentrarchus labrax in the post larval stage to estimate which was the best algal species that could be used as a green water technique and achieving the maximum rate of growth and survival of D. labrax post larvae. The results represented a significant increase in the length and width of D. labrax at p<0.05 recorded in the case of enrichment with I. galbana followed by N. salina, and the most weight was recorded in the case of N. salina as compared with the control. Significant increase in percentage of survival of D. labrax was recorded in the case of C. salina and T. chuii (70% and 60.1%, respectively) as compared with the control (22%). The antibacterial activity (AU) of the different microalgal ethanolic extracts against fish indicator pathogens was determined. The results indicated that the ethanolic extracts of C. salina and T. chuii have the most positive records against the fish indicator pathogens (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio damsela, Vibrio fluvialis and Aeromonas hydrophila). The current study was extended to determine the GC–MS of ethanolic extract of C. salina and T. chuii. The main constituents detected in the ethanolic extract were organic acids like hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, and an acyclic diterpene alcohol like phytol

Production, Characterization and Valuable Applications of Exopolysaccharides from Marine Bacillus subtilis SH1

Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) are high molecular weight polymers consisting of different sugar residues they are preferable for replacing synthetic polymers as they are degradable and nontoxic. Many microorganisms possess the ability to synthesize and excrete exopolysac&shy;charides with novel chemical compositions, properties and structures to have potential applications in different fields. The present study attempt to optimize the production of EPS by marine Bacillus subtilis SH1 in addition to characterization and investigation of different valuable applications. Effect of medium type, incubation period and pH were studied using the one factor at a time experiments. It was shown that the highest productivity (24 gl&ndash;1) of exopolysaccharides was recorded by using yeast malt glucose medium with pH 9 at the fourth day of incubation. Experimental design using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize various nutrients at different concentrations. The finalized optimized medium contained (gl&ndash;1) glucose (5), peptone (2.5), yeast extract (4.5) and malt extract (4.5) increased the production of EPS to 33.8 gl&ndash;1 with1.4 fold increase compared to the basal medium. Chemical characterization of the extracted EPS showed that, FTIR spectra exhibited bands at various regions. Moreover, HPLC chromatogram indicated that the EPS was a heteropolysaccharide consisting of maltose and rhamnose. The study was extended to evaluate the potentiality of the extracted poly&shy;saccharides in different medical applications. Results concluded that, EPS exhibited antibacterial activity against Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus faecalis and the highest antibacterial activity (7.8, 9 and 10.4 AU/ml) was against S. faecalis at 50, 100 and 200 mg/ml respectively. The EPS exhibited various degree of antitumor effect toward the tested cell lines (MCF-7, HCT-116 and HepG2). In addition, EPS exhibited antiviral activity at 500 &mu;g/ml. The antioxidant capacity increased with increasing the concentrationof the sample. Scanning electron microscopic analysis showed that EPS had compact film-like structure, which could make it a useful in the future applications as in preparing plasticized film