Ultraviolet Radiation Effects On Rotifers

The purpose of this investigation was to study ultraviolet radiation effects on rotifers. The rotifer studied was Philodina acuticornis odiosa Milne. Isolation cultures were used to grow the rotifers individually in separate U-plate depressions. The source of ultraviolet radiation consisted of four mercury germicidal lamps used in combination to deliver a uniform flux of 315 uW/cm2 over the sample. Five groups of rotifers, one control and four experimental groups of 96 each, were used. The rotifers used were 2-10 hours of age at the beginning of the experiment. The experimental groups were exposed to uv radiation for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 9 minutes. The mean lifetime of each of the control, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 9 minutes irradiated groups was 20.4 days, 19.1 days, 17.1 days, 11.5 days, and 6.3 days respectively. No specific theory, nor the mechanism involved is given to explain these uv radiation effects on rotifers. From the data, it is concluded that some radiation shortens the mean lifetimes of rotifers and that there is a threshold exposure after which the survival of the rotifer changes drastically

Initial Assessment of Environmental Microbial Hazards in Doha Restaurants

This study was carried out to assess hygiene conditions, food handling practices, food safety knowledge of food service providers (FSPs), and the microbial quality of food served in different food service establishments in Doha. Fifty-three FSPs were randomly selected among 200 FSPs. Face-to-face interviews with the food safety managers at each participating FSP were conducted using a survey consisting of 40-questions (demographic data on workers, HACCP training, knowledge on personal hygiene, and safe-food handling practices) in October-December 2015. In addition to survey questionnaire, a checklist was used to determine the implementation of international food safety standards by observing actual practices applied at each FSP. The microbial quality of food samples (n=105) served and swabs collected from food preparation surfaces (n=58) were also assessed using select media (APC, MCA, XLT4, and LSA). The identification of positive samples was carried out using VITEK-2 system. The survey results indicated that average service years of FSPs was 11, the average age of food safety managers interviewed was 33, most managers (66%) had college degree, and 68% of them were trained on HACCP. It was demonstrated that casual-sit-in and fine-dine-in restaurants are the only FSP types which consistently kept records (100%), followed by fast-food (36%), and catering (14%) FSPs. The microbial analysis indicated that the average APC in food samples collected from all FSPs met the international standards, while the APC counts of swab samples were considered unsatisfactory since the levels were above 106 Log10 CFU/cm2. The highest bacterial count was reported in swab samples (7.26 Log10 CFU/cm2) collected from preparation area in takeaway restaurants. Concerning the target organisms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes), among 105 food samples and 58 swab samples collected, 13 samples (8%) exhibited positive results for possible target pathogens. Positive samples were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Pantoea spp. Results obtained in this study might help food safety managers in these select FSPs to better understand the need for implementing effective control measures in order to prevent contamination and eventually protect the public health

Three Essays on the Gender Differentials in Mortality and Undernutrition in Pakistan

Kindersterblichkeit und Unterernährung sind die zwei Hauptprobleme der öffentlichen Gesundheitsversorgung in Entwicklungsländern. Ein damit verbundenes Phänomen ist die geschlechtsspezifische Diskriminierung von Mädchen. Besonders in Südasien leiden Mädchen unter schlimmsten Formen der geschlechtsspezifischen Diskriminierung bezüglich des Zugangs zu medizinischer Versorgung und Ernährung. Diese Dissertation untersucht diese beiden Probleme in Pakistan und erforscht empirisch die Determinanten geschlechtsspezifischer Unterschiede von Sterblichkeit und Unterernährung. Die erst kürzlich entwickelten Bayesianischen Verfahren zur Schätzung strukturierter additiver Modelle werden anhand zweier Mikrodatensätze aus Pakistan verwendet

Prospects & Challenges of Implementing Knowledge Management System in IT Industry

Recent past has seen an epidemic growth in the adoption of strategic information systems. In order to be successful, enterprises are putting in huge investments into implementation of information technology (IT) and knowledge management systems (KMS). KMS implementation in an IT industry has been discussed in this paper. Several challenges including multiple information sources, access control, and employee’s mistrust among others are being identified along with their possible solutions. Later foreseen benefits of KMS implementation including quicker problem identification, faster response time, and cost saving among others are being highlighted. The paper concludes with revealing future research possibilities

IAA production and maize crop growth promoting potential of endophyte Aspergillus niger (AO11) under salt stress

Maize is cultivated under a broad range of soil conditions and environments. Maize is slightly vulnerable to salt stress and therefore it is seriously affected by soil salinity all over the world. Recognizing the responses of maize to salt stress and making a good strategy to overcome this problem could aid to develop solutions in saline areas to improve maize productivity. We investigated in this research the impacts, tolerance and salt stress management in corn. Many endophytic fungi can produce the Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is known for their role in plant growth and development both with and without salt stress conditions. The current study was focused on the production of IAA by endophytic fungi (Aspergillus niger) and maize seeds germination and promotion of seedling growth and vigor. In order to evaluate the defense response of maize plant, in relation to A. niger, an experiment was designed with three replications of treatments (control, salt stressed, salt stressed inoculated with A. niger, and only A. niger inoculated plants. It was determined that A. niger has the ability to produce the IAA in NaCl and KCl stress peaking 53 μg/ml and was not significantly by alternating the nitrogen and carbon sources in the nutrient broth but increasing the tryptophan concentration raised its production level. High concentration stress of sodium chloride and potassium chloride decrease maize plant seeds germination percentage, shoot and root length also affected the fresh and dry weight of maize. A. niger improves salt resistance in maize and also increased the germination percentage up to 30%, also improved the chlorophyll level and it was proved an effective approach for improving maize germination and growth under salt stress

Content-aware power saving multimedia adaptation for mobile learning

Due to the tremendous enhancements in the capabilities of mobile devices in recent years and accessibility to higher bandwidth mobile internet, the use of online multimedia learning resources on mobile devices is increasingly becoming popular. Improvements in battery capacity have not matched the same advancements compared to other features of mobile devices. Limited Battery power is introducing a significant challenge in making better use of online educational multimedia resources. Online Multimedia Resources drains more battery power as a result of higher amount of wireless data transfer and therefore limiting learning opportunities on the move. Many power saving multimedia adaptation techniques have been suggested. Majority of these techniques achieve battery efficiency while reducing multimedia quality. So far, however, to the best of our knowledge no previous effort has considered the factor of learning efficacy in multimedia adaptation process. Existing adaptation techniques are susceptible to information loss as a result of quality of reduction. Such loss affects the learning content efficacy and jeopardizes the learning process. In this paper, we recommend a novel power save educational multimedia adaptation approach that considers the learning aspect of multimedia in the adaptation process. Our technique enables learning for extended duration by battery power saving without putting the learning process at risk. Efficacy of entire learning resources is managed by not allowing any part of the learning multimedia to be delivered in a quality that will negatively affect the learning outcome. We also present a framework that guides the implementation of our approach followed by description of our prototype application that uses educational multimedia metadata implemented in semantic web technologies

Role of the Dual-State Model of Creative Cognition for Evaluating Creativity in English Language Classrooms at the Primary Level

This study is an attempt to measure creativity in English-language classrooms through the dual-state model of creative cognition. Creativity may be assessed in Pakistani English-language classrooms because it is usually hindered in schools at the primary level. The model used was the dual-state model of creative cognition, i.e., generative and non-generative stages. The outline of the model proposes that individuals may benefit from both stages, but at individual stages, they benefit from one stage rather than both stages. Two abilities were tested. There is the ability to think logically and analytically, as well as make associations. The tests used were the Remote Associate Test (RAT) and the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT verbal part). The RAT test consisted of 30 items. A few items were selected from an online source, and a few were made manually. The TTCT test consists of nine statements to get feedback about teaching and learning practices. The tests were processed through statistical measures. The students were enrolled in a private school in Faisalabad. The sample of the study was class 7th and 8th of Al-Faisal Grammar High School, Faisalabad. The results proved the hypothesis correct: the model suggests that students would get more benefit from one stage than from two

The Effect of a Leading Sound on the Local-Field Potentials Elicited by a Trailing Sound in the Rat’s Inferior Colliculus

The perception of one sound can be influenced by another sound in the environment, with the effect dependent on the spectrotemporal and spatial relationship between the sounds. Mechanisms responsible for this perceptual phenomenon is dependent on the integration of neural signals driven by the two ears in brain centers responsible for hearing. The inferior colliculus (IC) as a midbrain structure is important for the processing of acoustic information. To understand why/how the perception of one sound is influenced by another sound, it is important to study how the two sounds interact with each other in generating responses in the IC. In this study, I examined the effect of a leading sound on the responses elicited by a trailing sound in an ensemble of neurons in the IC. Local-field potentials (LFPs) were recorded to reflect responses of neural ensembles. The two sounds were first colocalized at the ear that was contralateral to the recording site. Then the two sounds were then spatially separated. I evaluated whether the influence generated by a leading sound was dependent on the spatial relationship as well as the time gap between the leading and trailing sounds. Results indicated that the LFPs elicited by a trailing sound were suppressed by a leading sound no matter whether the leading sound was at the contralateral or ipsilateral ear. The suppressive effect was larger when a leading sound was presented at the contralateral than the ipsilateral ear. Furthermore, the effect was larger when the two sounds were separated by a short time gap. Inhibitory neurotransmitter antagonists, gabazine and strychnine significantly decreased the suppression produced by the leading sound but did not eliminate it. These results suggest that local inhibitory interaction in the inferior colliculus may not be the only factor that is responsible for the suppressive effect produced by the leading sound. Results from this study are important for understanding neural mechanisms responsible for hearing in a real-world situation

Energy-Aware Streaming Multimedia Adaptation: An Educational Perspective

As mobile devices are getting more powerful and more affordable the use of online educational multimedia is also getting very prevalent. Limited battery power is nevertheless, a major restricting factor as streaming multimedia drains battery power quickly. Many battery efficient multimedia adaptation techniques have been proposed that achieve battery efficiency by lowering presentation quality of entire multimedia. Adaptation is usually done without considering any impact on the information contents of multimedia. In this paper, based on the results of an experimental study, we argue that without considering any negative impact on information contents of multimedia the adaptation may negatively impact the learning process. Some portions of the multimedia that require a higher visual quality for conveying learning information may lose their learning effectiveness in the adapted lowered quality. We report results of our experimental study that indicate that different parts of the same learning multimedia do not have same minimum acceptable quality. This strengthens the position that power-saving adaptation techniques for educational multimedia must be developed that lower the quality of multimedia based on the needs of its individual fragments for successfully conveying learning informatio