Effect of salt concentrations on the growth of heat-stressed and unstressed escherichia coli

The effect sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) concentration on the growth of Escherichia coli cells cultivated at 37 and 44°C was studied in an effort to understand the importance of the salts and glucose in medium to the growth of E. coli. A turbidimetric method was used to measure the growth of E. coli after a 24 hours incubation period. The turbidimetric method used gave a high correlation (R2 = 0.9606) with the traditional surface colony count method. Four sets of salt concentrations, 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% (w/v), were employed throughout this study. Absence of NaCl in the medium was found to slightly decrease the growth of E. coli at 37°C. E. coli grew optimally at 0.5% (w/v) NaCl concentration. Addition of 0.5% KCl was found to have less beneficial effect on the growth of E. coli at 37°C compared to cells grown in medium with 0.5% NaCl. Increase in the concentrations of both salts above 0.5% decreased growth at 37°C. The extent to which growth was suppressed was directly proportional to the concentration of salts. At zero concentration of both salts, growth of E. coli was very low at 44°C. Increase in the concentrations of both NaCl and KCl from 0.5% to 1.5% resulted in growth enhancement. Glucose affected significantly the growth of E. coli at 37°C. Addition of 140 mM (w/ v) of glucose to the medium increased the growth of E. coli at 37°C to a greater extent than was obtained by salt addition. However, the addition of the same concentration of glucose was found to have only a very slight effect on growth at 44°C

Incidence of Diabetes mellitus at the Federal Medical Centre Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria: A Retrospective Study

A six-year (2002 – 2007) retrospective study of hospital records (in-patients) was carried out to investigate the incidence of Diabetes Mellitus in Katsina. The records showed that a total of 754 cases were attended within the study period. The study showed yearly increase in the incidence of the disease with the highest incidence of 288 (38.20%) in the year 2007 and the least 65 (8.62%) in the year 2002. More males suffered from the disease 456 (60.48%) than females 298 (39.52%). The incidence was also found to be high 289 (38.33%) in the age range 65 and above, while age range 25 – 34 was least affected 28 (3.71%). Ways on how to live free of Diabetes Mellitus were also recommended.Keywords: Age Range, Diabetes Mellitus, Incidence, Hospita

Characterization of Doum Palm Seed Kernel as Natural Sorbent for Metal Ions Removal from Gombe Ternary Wastewater

Water pollution is one of the major challenges in cities and industrialized areas of the world. The effluent from Gombe ternary wastewater pollutes the surrounding waters thereby constituting health threat to the populace within its vicinity. In view of the above, a bio-sorption study of zinc and lead ions from Gombe ternary wastewater using doum palm seed kernel was carried out. The wastewater was characterized and was found to contain 0.03 mg/l lead metal ion and 0.81 mg/l zinc ion. The doum palm kernel bio-sorbent was obtained after oil extraction from the seed and processed as contained in the method mentioned in this paper. The kernel residue was characterized for functional groups using FTIR, surface morphology using SEM, surface area using BET, and elemental composition using XRF. The results indicated that the doum palm kernel is harmless, and possesses functional groups on its surface, which may be substituted with the metallic ions present in the wastewater. This gives the kernel the ability to adsorb positively charged ions on its surface by simple chemisorption. This mechanism is supported by the rough surface observed in the scanning electron microscopy. Adsorption and desorption of nitrogen was made at STP and the curve indicated very high correlation of close to unity. The surface area measured by multi BET method was recorded as 13.464 m2/g. This value is not high enough to adsorb metals by physical adsorption

Teachers’ Knowledge and Use of Evidence-Based Teaching Practices for Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders in Saudi Arabia

During the last decade, scholars and policymakers have emphasized the importance of using evidence-based practices in teaching students with disabilities. One barrier to using these practices might be teachers’ lack of knowledge about them. This study investigated teachers’ knowledge and use of evidence-based teaching practices (EBTPs) for students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBDs) in Saudi Arabia. The study survey was completed by 333 general and special education teachers. Generally, participants reported medium knowledge and use of EBTPs for students with EBDs. However, participants reported low use of peer-mediated and self-mediated interventions. Female participants were more knowledgeable than male participants. Major, educational level, and years of teaching experience were not significantly related to their knowledge of EBTPs. The results indicated a strong positive relationship between knowledge and use of EBTPs. The findings of this research are discussed. Keywords: evidence-based practices, research-based interventions, teaching methods, effective practices, behavioral problems, emotional and behavior disorder

Comparison of proposals for the future aeronautical communication system LDACS

Um zukünftigen Kapazitätsbedarf in aeronautischer Navigation abzudecken, werden neue Bord und Boden Kommunikationsdienste gebraucht. Die europäische Organisation für Sicherheit und Luftnavigation, Eurocontrol, unterstützte die Entwicklung zweier Vorschläge für ein solches System. Der erste Vorschlag, genannt LDACS1, ist ein digitales Breitband OFDM basiertes System, welches vom Institut für Kommunikation und Navigation, DLR entwickelt wurde. Der zweite Vorschlag, LDACS2 wird von einem Projektteam bestehend aus EGIS ASVIA, Helios SWEDAVIA und anderen entwickelt. LDACS2 folgt einem single carrier Steuerung mit einer GMSK Modulation. Beide Systeme sind für das Bedienen des aeronautischen Teils des L-Band (960-1164 MHz) gedacht. Diese Frequenz wird jedoch bereits von verschiedenen aeronautischen alte Systemen wie z.B. zivile Luftfahrtnavigation DME oder militärische Kommunikationssystemen (vereinigtes taktisches Informationsverteilungssystem JTIDS) eingesetzt. Darüber hinaus, LDACS ist offen für in der Luft befindlich Empfangsstörungen. Ein entscheidender Punkt im Auswahlprozess für eine der LDACS Systeme ist die Gewährleistung für das Nebeneinander von LDACS und des legacy Systems. Einerseits muss bewiesen werden, dass LDACS nur einen geringen Einfluss auf das legacy System hat. Andererseits muss eine verlässliche Funktion trotz Empfangsstörung (Beeinträchtigung) gewährleistet werden. In dieser Masterarbeit ist die Leistung von LDACS2 analysiert. Die Aufgabe umfasst einige theoretische Überlegungen für Ermittlungen von Kapazität, spektrale Leistungsfähigkeit, Skalierbarkeit und die mögliche Zahl gleichzeitiger Nutzer. Das Ergebnis zeigt die Beschränkung der angebotenen bit rates pro Nutzer gemäß der limitierten Bandbreite. Jedoch für gering bis mittelmäßigen Inanspruchnahme von Anwendern, die angebotenen bit rates sind innerhalb einer akzeptablen Reichweite. Der Hauptteil dieser Arbeit befasst sich mit der Anwendung des LDACS2 Systems gemäß der Simulations-Software. Das umfasst die gesamte physikalische Schichtung und die grundlegenden Teile der höheren Schichtung. Besonderer Schwerpunkt ist auf die Anwendung und Beurteilung von wirksamen Kanal Entzerrung Algorithms, Analyse und Auswertung. Neben AWGN Kanälen wurden auch praxisbezogenen Luftfahrtfrequenzen angewandt. Es stellte sich heraus, dass das Kanalkodierung in dieser Ausführung nicht genügend.Ilmenau, Techn. Univ., Masterarbeit, 201

Using Social Media in the Bahraini 2014 Elections “A Study on a Sample of Young People”

Social media is considered one of the important instruments professionally employed in the elections in various countries around the world; as social media represents an important space for social communication, cultural exchange, and political debate among young people. The young believe that this default space provides a great deal of information, and perhaps this is the most important reason which leads them to love it. This use of space developed from being a mere tool for entertainment and building friendships to rather include various walks of life. The political issue, however, was not the exception on which the young depended on social media as an important source for their information.The fourth social media report issued by the Government Administration College  in Dubai in 2014  indicated that the percentage of users of the most important social media networks in Bahrain reached as high as (410. 000 ) users of Twitter and  (360. 000 )users of  Facebook in a small country of not more than  one million people.This study attempts to shed light on some facts associated with the Bahraini youth use of social media in the parliamentary and municipal elections which were held on November 25, 2014 in Bahrain. This study also aimed to identify the degree of young people reliance on social media as a source of information about the candidates and their election programs. Keywords: Bahraini youth, Social media, Diffusion of Innovations theory, Elections, public sphere theory

Correlates of Hausa Language Reading Ability among Adult Learners in Borno State, Nigeria

Hausa language is one of the widely spoken and a major language in Northern Nigeria. It is a language that is a used as a medium of instruction in adult literacy classes in some states in Northern Nigeria. There are newspapers, magazines and literary books written in Hausa language to be read for the purposes of information, education and entertainment. This study is therefore an attempt to evaluate the correlates of Hausa Language reading ability among Adult Learners in Borno State, Nigeria. Consequently, three objectives and hypotheses were formulated and tested respectively by the researcher.  Of the 238 adult literacy centres in the State, 24 (12 male literacy centres and 12 female adult literacy centres) were randomly selected by lot with four centres representing each group selected. The sample consisted of 298 adult learners made up of 196 male learners and 102 female adult learners in the 24 literacy centres. Four research instruments were used to collect data for this study. These are: i) Learners Social Learning Environment Questionnaire ii) Mental Ability Test iii) Instructors Teaching and Centre’s Quality Questionnaire and iv) Reading Ability Scale. The findings in this study revealed there are significant positive relationship between reading ability and mental ability, centre quality instructors teaching quality, the relationship between Hausa language reading ability and each of the predictor variables were found to be statistically significant. There were no significant differences between male and adult literacy learners in Hausa language reading ability indices. Based on the findings, appropriate recommendations were made. Keywords: Correlates, Hausa Language, Adult Learner, Borno Stat

Examination of correlates of English Language Learning among Adult Learners in Borno State, Nigeria

Language is an inevitable part of an individual’s life. It is the medium through which successful communication is carried out. Language leaning could therefore take either formal, informal or non-formal means. Learners undertaking learning programmes put efforts to learn the language because it is the medium of instruction. However, several factors determine language learning which consequently affect the language skills of the speaker. This study is therefore an attempt to evaluate the factors associated with English Language Learning among Adult Learners in Borno State, Nigeria. Consequently, three objectives and hypotheses were formulated and tested respectively by the researcher.  Of the 238 adult literacy centres in the State, 24 (12 male literacy centres and 12 female adult literacy centres) were randomly selected by lot with four centres representing each group selected. The sample consisted of 298 adult learners made up of 196 male learners and 102 female adult learners in the 24 literacy centres. Four research instruments were used to collect data for this study. These are: i) Learners Social Learning Environment Questionnaire ii) Mental Ability Test iii) Instructors Teaching and Centre’s Quality Questionnaire and iv) Reading Ability Scale. The findings in this study revealed there was significant relationship between reading ability and each of the variables i.e. mental ability, center quality, social learning environment and instructors’ teaching quality in the state. There was a significant relationship between English reading ability index and predictor variables. And there was no significant relationship between male and female English language literacy learners reading ability in the state. Based on the findings, appropriate recommendations were made. Keywords: Correlates, Examination, English Language, Adult learners, Language, Gende