Optimization of Steam Distillation of Essential Oil of Eucalyptus tereticornis by Response Surface Methodology

This paper deals with optimization of yield of Eucalyptus tereticornis oil in steam distillation using response surface methodology (RSM). The factors considered were mass of solute/solvent ratio (A), extraction time (B) and steam rate (C). These parameters were varied at two levels. Conditions of optimum oil yield predicted were 105 min of extraction time and 0.032 kg/h steam rate. These factors gave an optimum oil yield of 2.05 %. Significant model terms were time, steam rate, and the interactions between them. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates that the model was significant as evidenced from R2 of 0.9844 and the model F-value of 49.13. The oil yield predicted by the model was closed to the experimentally determined values (1.85 % and 1.87 % respectively); hence the model can be used for prediction of oil yield in essential oil extraction from E. tereticornis leaf via steam distillation method.Keywords: RSM, Eucalyptus tereticornis, steam distillation, Box-Bohnke

Review of commonly used remote sensing and ground-based technologies to measure plant water stress

This review provides an overview of the use of remote sensing data, the development of spectral reflectance indices for detecting plant water stress, and the usefulness of field measurements for ground-truthing purposes. Reliable measurements of plant water stress over large areas are often required for management applications in the fields of agriculture, forestry,conservation and land rehabilitation. The use of remote sensing  technologies and spectral reflectance data for determining spatial patterns of plant water stress is widely described in the scientific literature. Airborne, space-borne and hand-held remote sensing technologies are commonly used to investigate the spectral responses of vegetation to plant stress. Earlier studies utilised multispectral sensors which commonly collect four to seven spectral bands in the visible and near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Advances in sensor and image processor technology over the past 3 decades now allow for the simultaneous collection of several hundred narrow spectral bands resulting in more detailed hyperspectral data. The availability of hyperspectral data has led to the identification of several spectral indices that have been shown to be useful in identifying plant stress. Such studies have revealed strong  linear relationships between plant pigment concentration and the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) reflectance, while plant water content has been linked to specific bands in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) region of the spectrum. Ground-truthing is essential to identifying useful reflectance information for detecting plant water stress, and four commonly used ground-based methods viz. predawn leaf water potential, leaf chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf pigment concentrations and leaf water content are reviewed for their, usefulness and practical application.Keywords: leaf chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf-water content, plant pigment concentrations, plant water stress, predawn leaf water potential, remote sensin

Antibacterial activity of whole plant extract of Marrubium vulgare

The antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of Marrubium vulgare whole plant was tested by disc diffusion method. Zones of Inhibition produced by methanolic extract in a dose of 50, 100, 200, 400 and600 mg/ml against selected strains was measured and compared with those of standard discs of antibiotic ciprofloxacin (10 ìg/ml)

LA SHARÍA EN EL ESTADO SECULAR: UNA PARADOJA DE SEPARACIÓN Y FUSIÓN

The author examines the nature of Shari`a and its relationship to modern legal systems in order to consider how it might continue to operate in the context of the modern secular state under which all Muslims live today. Shari`a is very influential among Muslims, regardless of its formal legal status in the country. However, the notion of an Islamic state is conceptually incoherent and historically false, and any Shari`a principle that is enforced through the coercive authority of the state ceases to be part of the normative system of Islam and becomes an expression of the political will of the state.The author proposes that the rationale of all public policy and legislation must always be based on what might be called ‘public reason’, whereby Muslims and other believers should be able to propose policy and legislative initiatives emanating from their religious beliefs, provided they can support them in public, free and open debate by reasons that are accessible and convincing to the generality of citizens, regardless of their religion or other beliefs. But since such decisions will in practice be made by majority vote in accordance with democratic principles, all state action must also conform to basic constitutional and human rights safeguards against the tyranny of the majority.El autor examina la naturaleza de la Sharía y su relación con los sistemas jurídicos modernos para considerar cómo podría seguir operando en el contexto del estado secular moderno en el que todos los musulmanes viven hoy día. La Sharía es muy influyente entre los musulmanes, con independencia de su estatuto jurídico formal en el país. Sin embargo, la noción de un estado islámico es conceptualmente incoherente e históricamente falsa, y cualquier principio de la Sharía que se haga cumplir mediante la autoridad coactiva del estado deja de formar parte del sistema normativo del Islam y se convierte en expresión de la voluntad política del estado. El autor propone que el fundamento de toda política y legislación públicas debe siempre basarse en lo que podría llamarse “la razón pública”, en virtud de la cual los musulmanes y otros creyentes estarían capacitados para proponer iniciativas políticas y legislativas que emanen de sus creencias religiosas, siempre que puedan sostenerlas en un debate público, libre y abierto mediante razones que sean accesibles y convincentes para la generalidad de los ciudadanos, con independencia de su religión u otras creencias. Pero, dado que tales decisiones serán adoptadas en la práctica por el voto mayoritario, según principios democráticos, toda acción estatal habrá también de conformarse a salvaguardias básicas constitucionales y de derechos humanos contra la tiranía de la mayoría

Morphology engineering of self-assembled nanostructured CuCo2O4 anodes for lithium-ion batteries

The electrochemical kinetics and output capacity of active electrode materials are significantly influenced by their surface structure. Herein, the template‐free morphological evolution of CuCo2O4 is reported, which is achieved by controlling the nucleation and growth rate during the hydrothermal process and evaluating its anode performance. The charge‐transfer resistance and specific surface area of the fabricated CuCo2O4 anode films are influenced by the viscosity of the solvent used. The optimized mesoporous nanosheet anode exhibits a high specific discharge capacity (1547 mAh g–1) at 0.1 A g–1 and an excellent restoring capability (≈91%); it retains 88% of the initial capacity with a coulombic efficiency of ≈99% even after 250 discharge–charge cycles. The superior lithium‐ion energy storage performance of this anode is due to its electrochemically favorable porous 2D morphology with large Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and pore volume, resulting in enhanced Li+ storage and intercalation property

Push-Out Tests for a Novel Prefabricated Steel-Concrete Composite Shallow Flooring System

This paper introduces a novel prefabricated and shallow steel-concrete composite flooring system which is consisted of two main structural components: two C-channel steel beams and a partially encased concrete floor. The concrete floor, which is in the form of T ribbed slab sections, was constructed using two types of concrete (reinforced normal concrete and reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete). The steel edge beams partially encase the floor slab and provide clear and straight finish edges. The floor slab spans to a maximum of 2.0m inclusive of the width of the steel edges with a finished depth of only 230mm. The unique features of the proposed system are reducing the weight and the number of erection lifts (during installation) by using lighter elements (lightweight concrete and shallow steel beams) while the wider possible units have been proposed to fit on transportation tracks; further reducing the extent of site works by pre-off site fabrication, examining the material cost against the fabrication and site erection costs. For the composite slab in bending, the longitudinal shear force is transferred by a unique shear mechanism which results from the special shear connectors. This paper includes the work of a total 2 full-scale push-out tests aimed at investigating the longitudinal shear behaviour of these novel flooring systems and the effects of additional shear connectors. An analytical work is also carried out to investigate the failure mechanism of the system

Stabilization of halide perovskites with silicon compounds for optoelectronic, catalytic, and bioimaging applications

Silicon belongs to group 14 elements along with carbon, germanium, tin, and lead in the periodic table. Similar to carbon, silicon is capable of forming a wide range of stable compounds, including silicon hydrides, organosilicons, silicic acids, silicon oxides, and silicone polymers. These materials have been used extensively in optoelectronic devices, sensing, catalysis, and biomedical applications. In recent years, silicon compounds have also been shown to be suitable for stabilizing delicate halide perovskite structures. These composite materials are now receiving a lot of interest for their potential use in various real‐world applications. Despite exhibiting outstanding performance in various optoelectronic devices, halide perovskites are susceptible to breakdown in the presence of moisture, oxygen, heat, and UV light. Silicon compounds are thought to be excellent materials for improving both halide perovskite stability and the performance of perovskite‐based optoelectronic devices. In this work, a wide range of silicon compounds that have been used in halide perovskite research and their applications in various fields are discussed. The interfacial stability, structure–property correlations, and various application aspects of perovskite and silicon compounds are also analyzed at the molecular level. This study also explores the developments, difficulties, and potential future directions associated with the synthesis and application of perovskite‐silicon compounds. imag

Bacteriological investigation of ground water sources in selected urban areas of district Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Microbial contamination of ground water sources is a common problem in all the big cities, which endangers health and impairs quality of living . To assess this, 39 water samples were collected from highly populated 13 union councils from the urban area of district Mardan. Faecal coliform and Escherichia coli were investigated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative study showed that faecal coliform was found in 90% samples and E. coli in 56% samples. Quantitatively, faecal coliform most probable number (MPN) was ranging from 1601 to 2400 for about 28% samples, followed by 551 to 1600 and 201 to 550 for 20% samples each, 40 to 200 for 18% samples and less than 40 for about 13% samples. The major cause of the bacteriological contamination was found to be the extent of susceptibility of the water sources to intrusions from the nearest contamination source.Keywords: Mardan, urban area, microbial contamination, faecal coliform, ground water, Escherichia col

Determinants of adults' intention to vaccinate against pandemic swine flu

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Vaccination is one of the cornerstones of controlling an influenza pandemic. To optimise vaccination rates in the general population, ways of identifying determinants that influence decisions to have or not to have a vaccination need to be understood. Therefore, this study aimed to predict intention to have a swine influenza vaccination in an adult population in the UK. An extension of the Theory of Planned Behaviour provided the theoretical framework for the study. Methods: Three hundred and sixty two adults from the UK, who were not in vaccination priority groups, completed either an online (n = 306) or pen and paper (n = 56) questionnaire. Data were collected from 30th October 2009, just after swine flu vaccination became available in the UK, and concluded on 31st December 2009. The main outcome of interest was future swine flu vaccination intentions. Results: The extended Theory of Planned Behaviour predicted 60% of adults’ intention to have a swine flu vaccination with attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, anticipating feelings of regret (the impact of missing a vaccination opportunity), intention to have a seasonal vaccine this year, one perceived barrier: “I cannot be bothered to get a swine flu vaccination” and two perceived benefits: “vaccination decreases my chance of getting swine flu or its complications” and “if I get vaccinated for swine flu, I will decrease the frequency of having to consult my doctor,” being significant predictors of intention. Black British were less likely to intend to have a vaccination compared to Asian or White respondents. Conclusions: Theoretical frameworks which identify determinants that influence decisions to have a pandemic influenza vaccination are useful. The implications of this research are discussed with a view to maximising any future pandemic influenza vaccination uptake using theoretically-driven applications.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund