Development of flat sheet ultrafiltration membrane for heavy metals removal from automobile industrial wastewater / Taha Ali A. Ben Mussa

This thesis is concerned with the production of new flat sheet ultrafiltration (FSUF) membrane. This process includes formulation, fabrication, and characterization of the developed FSUF. Spiral wound module was used in the membrane system for automobile wastewater treatment. About 6,700 lit/vehicle is the average rate of wastewater generation of the automobile industry. In Malaysia, the current treatment process of the automobile industry is activated sludge process (ASP) which shows poor efficiency for heavy metal, COD and BOD5 removal and also, ASP requires high electricity consumption that increases the treatment cost. The objectives of this study are to create a new formula for FSUF membrane to minimize the concentration of heavy metals, COD and BOD5 to the allowable limits. The research work was divided into five phases which include wastewater sampling, membrane development, membrane characterization, module fabrication and wastewater treatment system fabrication. The first phase deals with the characterization of the automobile effluent such as Iron, Chromium, Zinc, Copper and Lead as well as pH, COD, and BOD5. The initial Proton effluent showed that pH and Zn comply with EQA 2009 standards A and B. In addition, COD, BOD5, Fe, Cr and SS do not comply with EQA 2009 standards A and B. Pb and Cu comply with EQA 2009 standard B but not with standard A.The second phase deals with the development, design and fabrication of flat sheet ultrafiltration membrane, 18 membranes formulas were created in stages I & II using titration and % composition processes. From stages I and II, 4 membrane formulas (M1- M4) and 14 membranes (M5- M18) were obtained respectively. In stage II, polymer (PSF) and additive (PVP) concentration are varied in 14 membranes (M5 - M18) and the concentration of the solvent (DMAc) is constant. The third phase is membrane characterization of 18 membranes to get the best performance from stages I and II. Based on flux rate, salt rejection, Spectrophotometer Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and molecular weight cut off (MWCO), one of the developed FSUF membranes was selected to be incorporated into the membrane treatment system. It shows increasing the polymer concentration in the solution causes increasing the thickness of skin and decrease the porosity of the membrane surface. The characterization showed that membranes M2 and M8 are the best membrane performance in stages I and II respectively. The flux rate of for membranes M2 and M8 are 52235 l/m2.hr and 66957 l/m2.hr respectively and that is why membrane M8 was selected to be run in the membrane system. In the fourth phase, there are four types of samples which are raw sample, raw sample after aeration process, raw sample after coagulation process and raw sample after aeration and coagulation processes in series. The last phase is to assess the efficiency of the developed FSUF membrane system. The best system performance in term of heavy metals removal is a system (C) which contains screening, the coagulation process and the developed FSUF membrane. The results of pH, BOD5, COD, (Fe), (Cr), (Zn), (Pb), (Cu), SS and Turbidity after using the membrane system (C) are 6.28, 14.3 mg/l, 24 mg/l, 0.037 mg/l, 0.036 mg/l, 0.08 mg/l, 0.071 mg/l, 0.065 mg/l, 49 mg/l and 16.6 NTU respectively. In conclusion, after using membrane system (C) in the treatment unit in Proton factory, the effluent can be discharged based on EQA 2009 standards A and B

Reassessment of Widal test in the diagnosis of Typhoid Fever

This study was done on 3 group of population. Group 1 comprised 80 normal, healthy, non febrile individuals with a negative history for typhoid fever and no history of immunization against typhoid fever . Group 2 comprised 50 patient with a febrile illness rather than typhoid fever with also no history of typhoid fever and no history of immunization against typhoid fever. Group 3 comprised 18 patient with bacteriologically confirmed typhoid fever and by using a new statistical approach for the calculation of the cut off value for categorizing positive and negative Widal test, the cut off value for O titer was 1/104 and for H titer was 1/120 The result of this study in group 1 showed that the Widal test was positive in 38,7% for O titer and 40% for H titer, and the number of cases with a titer 1/320 was 7 cases for O titer and 11 cases for H titer . the result in group 2 showed that the Widal test was positive in 20 cases for O titer and from these cases . 7 cases with a titer of 1/320. While positive test for H titer was 23 cases and from these, 11 cases with a titer 1/320 . In group 3 the Widal test was positive in all cases for both O & H titers and the number of cases with a titer 1/320 was 15 cases for O and 12 cases for H. The sensitivity of Widal test for a titer 1/320 was 83.3% for O titer and 66.7% for H titer while the specificity was 61.7% for both O & H titer. We concluded from these study that there are high false positive rates of Widal test in normal population and in non typhoid fever , and Widal reaction in a titer 1/320 was found in many cases, and for these reasons the Widal test in the area endemic for typhoid fever provides minimal if any , diagnostic assistance, and a titer above 1/320 is suggested as a diagnostic value for salmonellae typhi infection .                                

Kuchunguza Sifa za Kifani za Utendi wa Kiswahili: Mfano Utendi wa Fumo Liyongo

Utafiti huu unahusu kuchunguza sifa za kifani za Utendi au Utenzi wa Kiswahili. Utafiti huu ulichunguza vipengele vya fani kama vile; muundo, mtindo, wahusika, mandhari na matumizi ya lugha katika Utendi wa Kiswahili. Mfano, Utendi wa Fumo Liyongo, ili, kuona ni jinsi gani sifa za kifani zinavyojidhihirisha katika tenzi za Kiswahili. Utafiti huu ulitumia mbinu ya Maktaba. Wateuliwa wa utafiti huu walipatikana kwa kutumia mbinu ya madhumuni maalumu. Aidha, data za utafiti huu zilichambuliwa kwa kutumia mbinu ya kimaelezo. Utafiti huu umegundua kuwa tenzi za Kiswahili, zina sifa za kifani mahususi. Utafiti huu umegundua kuwa, neno na dhana tenzi ni sawa na tendi miongoni mwa jamii za Waswahili. Aidha, utafiti umegundua kuwa, tenzi za Kiswahili, zina sifa za kifani zinazofanana. Kwa mfano, zote zina mianzo na miishio inayofanana, ya kuanza kwa duwa na kumaliziya kwa duwa. Huwa na muundo na mtindo wa baharu ya Utendi. Utenzi, huweza kuwapo au kutakuwapo mhusika shujaa. Aidha, utafiti umegundua kuwa, tenzi za Kiswahili, hazia urefu mahususi au idadi maalumu ya beti. Sifa nyengine ni uunganifu na mapisi ya kweli. Pia, huwa una maudhui makubwa ya Dini ya Kiislamu. Utafiti huu uliongozwa na Nadharia ya Umuundo na Nadharia ya Ujumi wa Kiafrika katika kufikisha lengo lake

Heuristic Evaluation and Usability Testing of G-MoMo Applications

Financial technology (FinTech) has swiftly revolutionized mobile money as one of the ways of accessing financial services in developing countries. Numerous mobile money applications were developed to access mobile money services but are hindered by severe authentication security challenges, thus, forcing the researchers to design a secure multi-factor authentication (MFA) algorithm for mobile money applications. Three prototypes of native mobile money applications (G-MoMo applications) were developed to confirm that the algorithm provides high security and is feasible. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the usability of the G-MoMo applications using heuristic evaluation and usability testing to identify potential usability issues and provide recommendations for improvement. Heuristic evaluation and usability testing methods were used to evaluate the G-MoMo applications. The heuristic evaluation was carried out by five experts that used the 10 principles proposed by Jakob Nielsen with a five-point severity rating scale to identify the usability problems. While the usability testing was conducted with forty participants selected using a purposive sampling method to validate the usability of the G-MoMo applications by performing tasks and filling out the post-test questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed in RStudio software. Sixty-three usability issues were identified during heuristic evaluation, where 33 were minor and 30 were major. The most violated heuristic items were “help and documentation”, and “user control and freedom”, while the least violated heuristic items were “aesthetic and minimalist design” and “visibility of system status”. The usability testing findings revealed that the G-MoMo applications’ performance proved good in learnability, effectiveness, efficiency, memorability, and errors. It also provided user satisfaction, ease of use, aesthetics, usefulness, integration, and understandability. Therefore, it was highly recommended that the developers of G-MoMo applications fix the identified usability problems to make the applications more reliable and increase overall user satisfaction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kuchunguza Dhamira za Nyimbo za Uganga Katika Jamii za Waswahili Wilaya ya Mkoani Kusini Pemba

Lengo kuu la utafiti huu lilikuwa ni kuchunguza dhamira za nyimbo za Uganga katika jammi za waswahili Wilaya ya Mkoani Kusini Pemba. Ili kutimiza lengo hili kuu tulikuwa na madhumuni mahususi matatu ambayo ni kubainisha dhamira zinazopatikana katika nyimbo za uganga, kufafanua undani wa dhamira za nyimbo za uganga zilimo katika jamii ya watu wa Kusini Pemba na kufafanua vipengele vya kifani vinavyosaidia kuibua dhamira zinazojitokeza katika nyimbo za uganga. Data za utafiti zimekusanywa kwa kutumia njia ya usaili na njia shirikishi katika maskanini. Data hizo zilikusanywa na kuchambuliwa kwa kutumia mkabala wa kimaelezo. Vile vile njia za kimaktaba zilitumika kwa mtafiti kwa ajili ya kujisomea kazi tangulizi na maandiko tafauti kwa lengo la kujiongezea maarifa na kufanikisha utafiti wake. Pia uchambuzi wa data ulifanywa kwa kutumia mkabala wa kinadharia. Nadharia zilizotumika ni Simiotiki na Mwitiko wa Msomaji. Ama kuhusu matokeo ya utafiti yanaonesha kuwa kwenye nyimbo za uganga kuna siri ambazo zimejificha na zilihitajika kuwekwa bayana na mtafiti. Kwa upande wa dhamira zilizojitokeza katika nyimbo za uganga zilitoa dhamira kama vile suala la Mmongonyoko wa Maadili, umoja na mshikamano, malezi, matabaka na kadhalika. Mwisho matfiti alitoa hitimisho, mapendekezo ya tafiti nyingine zifanyika katika muktadha wa uganga kwa kuangalia misamiati na njungu katika tiba ya uganga na kuiomba jamii yake iziendeleze tiba za asili katika fani ya uganga

Determination of theobromine and caffeine in some Malaysian beverages by liquid chromatography-time-offlight mass spectrometry

Purpose: To determine the concentration of theobromine (TB) and caffeine (CF) in tea and other beverages using liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS).Methods: The extract of caffeine and theobromine from tea and other beverages was filtered by 0.45 μm nylon micro-syringe and then injected into a LC-ToF-MS system. Theobromine and caffeine were separated using Thermo Scientific C18-column (length 250 mm, width 2.1 mm and diameter 5 μm). Acetonitrile-methanol (ACN – MeOH, 3:1 v/v) was used as mobile phase B, while mobile phase A was 0.1 % FA in DIW. The volume injected was 30 μL at a rate of 0.3 mL/min.Results: Good linearity was obtained in the range of 0.3 – 400 and 0.2 – 200 mg/L for theobromine and caffeine, respectively (regression coefficient (R2) > 0.970). The limits of detection were 0.15 and 0.05 μg/mL for theobromine and caffeine,  respectively. The highest concentrations of caffeine and theobromine determined in tea samples were 159.1 and 255.8 mg/L, respectively.Conclusion: Theobromine and caffeine have been successfully analysed in tea, coffee and soft drinks. LC-TOF-MS is an accurate and promising instrument for the  determination of the studied compounds in beverages.Keywords: Theobromine, Caffeine, Tea, Coffee, LC-TOF/M

Difficulties of Nursing Students During Clinical Training

Background: Nursing practice in the 21st century faces a number of challenges including increased nursing teaching schools and institutes, in adequate nursing staff, increasing healthcare costs, limited facilities, need for preceptor (link teacher), in adequate quality and numbers of hospitals. Clinical practice is crucial in nursing to integrate theory and practice to acquire skills and capability of critical thinking, solve problems and decision making. Aim of the Study: identify the difficulties which encountered the students of nursing college in the hospitals of Kirkuk city during study year 2011-2012, also to assess the extent of benefit from clinical training in the hospitals.   Methodology: A descriptive study, using the assessment approach was conducted on students of college of nursing /Kirkuk University from 2/5/2012 to 24/4/2013. A purposive, non-probability sample composed of (200) students (male & female) from the (2nd, 3rd &4th) classes were selected for the study. A questionnaire was developed for purposive of study & included 3 parts were demographic data, difficulties which encountered student & benefit of student from clinical training. The analysis of data was done by application of descriptive statistical data analysis approach (frequency, percentage, and the mean of scores).   Results: The age group (22-24) years was represent (51%) of the sample, the female represent (80%) from the sample, 2nd class were (42%) from the sample, & (68, 5%) were living in urban.   Conclusions: Most of the students were young, female, live in urban, and from the 2nd class. The findings were moderate for the teacher related factors, Health staff & patients related factors, student & tasks performance related factors, place and time related factors, And most of the students were moderately benefited from clinical training in the hospitals

Optimization of coral aquaculture (Scleractinia) Montipora digitata

Os recifes de coral representam um dos ecossistemas mais diversos do mundo, com importância crítica para diversos organismos. As pessoas também dependem fortemente deste ecossistema marinho em termos ecológicos, económicos e culturais. No entanto, os recifes de coral estão em declínio devido a vários fatores naturais e antropogénicos como o aquecimento global, a poluição ou a pesca ilegal, com métodos destrutivos. Adicionalmente, a captura de corais selvagens, é uma atividade praticada em várias regiões tropicais e subtropicais, principalmente para indústria de aquariofilia. A aquacultura de corais (in situ ou ex situ) é, portanto, uma possível solução para minimizar a captura de organismos selvagens, possibilitando a produção destes organismos para diversos fins, tais como o repovoamento, construção de recifes artificias, extração de compostos bioativos e comercialização para fins educativos e ornamentais. No entanto, persiste a necessidade de otimizar os procedimentos zootécnicos de forma a maximizar a taxa de sobrevivência e de crescimento. Este trabalho teve como principais objetivos estudar o efeito da luz (intensidade e espetro) na sobrevivência, crescimento, fotobiologia, consumo de energia e reservas energéticas de fragmentos do coral duro Montipora digitata, provenientes de colónias mãe aclimatadas a diferentes cenários de luz (mimetizando diferentes profundidades). Oito colónias (com a mesma origem genética) foram aclimatadas por dois meses em sistemas experimentais com iluminação artificial (espetro total) com duas intensidades de radiação fotossintética ativa (PAR, 70±10 e 130±20 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1, 4 colónias em cada condição). Posteriormente as colónias foram fragmentadas e os fragmentos cultivados durante quatro meses em quatro tratamentos (n=7), utilizando dois espectros de luz (vermelha e azul) com duas intensidades PAR: 130±20 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1 (luz alta) e 70±10 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1 (luz baixa). Durante a experiência não ocorreu mortalidade, mas verificou-se um efeito da origem da colónia e do espetro de luz nos parâmetros analisados. Observou-se que os fragmentos cultivados com espetro de luz vermelha e um PAR 70±10 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1 apresentaram um crescimento mais elevado, quando comparados com os fragmentos cultivados com luz azul. Relativamente aos restantes parâmetros analisados, os resultados sugerem que os fragmentos cultivados em luz vermelha apresentaram de uma forma geral melhores resultados.Coral reefs represent one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, with critical importance for various organisms. People also depend heavily on this marine ecosystem in ecological, economic and cultural terms. However, coral reefs are declining due to various natural and anthropogenic factors such as global warming, pollution or illegal fishing with destructive gears. In addition, the capture of wild corals is an activity practiced in several tropical and subtropical regions, mainly for the aquarium industry. Coral aquaculture (in situ or ex situ) is, therefore, a possible solution to minimize the capture of wild organisms, allowing the production of these organisms for various purposes, such as transplantation and restocking to accelerate the recovery of coral reefs, artificial reef building, extraction of bioactive compounds and commercialization for educational and ornamental purposes. However, the need to optimize zootechnical procedures persists in order to maximize survival and growth rates. The main objective of this work was to study the effect of light (intensity and spectra) on survival, growth, photobiology, energy consumption and energy reserves of scleractinian coral Montipora digitata fragments, obtained from mother colonies acclimated to different light scenarios (mimicking different sea depths). Eight colonies (with the same genetic origin) were acclimated for two months in experimental systems with artificial light (total spectrum) with two intensities of active photosynthetic radiation (PAR, 70±10 and 130±20 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1, 4 colonies in each condition). Afterward, colonies were fragmented and the fragments were cultured for four months in four treatments (n = 7), using two light spectra (red and blue) with two PAR intensities: 130±20 μmol quanta.m-2 .s-1 (high light) and 70±10 μmol quanta.m-2.s-1 (low light). No mortality occurred during the experiment, but an effect of the colony origin and the light spectrum was verified on the analyzed parameters. It was observed that fragments reared with the red light spectrum and a PAR 70±10 μmol quanta.m- 2.s-1 showed higher growth, when compared with the fragments cultured with blue light. Besides growth, results suggest that fragments reared in red light showed better results in the remaining evaluated parameters.Mestrado em Biologia Marinh

Protective effects of Vitamin E on CCl₄-induced testicular toxicity in male rats

The increased generation of free radicals plays an important role in testicular damage. The present study aimed to investigate the adverse effects of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) on the reproductive system of male rats as well as to examine whether Vitamin E (VE) is able to ameliorate these effects. The rats were equally divided into three groups: control, CCl4-treated, and CCl4 + VE-treated groups. After 4 weeks of treatment, the decrease in body and testes weights, sperm parameters, and the decrease in serum levels of testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone of CCl4-treated rats were ameliorated by VE treatment. The co-administration of VE with CCl4 significantly decreased the level of lipid peroxidation production (malondialdehyde) and increased the activity of anti-oxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) when compared with the CCl4 group. Moreover, VE prevented CCl4-induced severe testicular histopathological lesions and deformities in spermatogenesis. The results demonstrate that VE augments the anti-oxidants’ defense mechanism against CCl4-induced reproductive toxicity suggesting a therapeutic role in free radical-mediated infertility