Bioremoval of chromium from wastewater of tannery factory in Iraq

Bioremoval of chromium from wastewater of tannery factory in Iraq was studied. The bacteria Proteus vulgaris 7E showed an enhanced capability in biosorping chromium when its concentration increased in the solution, reaching a maximum of 476,7 mg/ ml out of 492 mg/ ml under optimum conditions at pH 6 and 50°C at one hour contact time and biomass of 1 mg/ml. The present results showed that dead cells of P. vulgaris 7E biosorbed 87.41 mg/ml of chromium in comparison with91.18 mg/ml of chromium biosorbed by living cells, this indicates the insignificant effect of physiological state of cells. It was found that the above biosorption is physico-chemical process depends upon electrostatic attraction forces. The results has illustrated that the most efficient eluting solution was 0.1M HCL which recovered 85% of biosorbed chromium. P. vulgaris 7E was able to remove completely all chromium from the waste water taken from tannery factory

Seasonal biodiversity and ecological studies on the epiphytic microalgae communities in polluted and unpolluted aquatic ecosystem at Assiut, Egypt

A qualitative and quantitative study on epiphytic microalgae was carried out seasonally from November 2015 to August 2016 to follow up their community structures on aquatic macrophytes related to some physico-chemical properties of two polluted and unpolluted water bodies at Assiut, Egypt. A total of 169 species related to 64 genera of epiphytic microalgae were recorded. The most dominant algal group was Bacillariophyceae (43.2%), followed by Chlorophyceae (34.91%), Cyanophyceae (20.71%) and Euglenophyceae (1.18%). The total number of epiphytic algae fluctuated between 11.1 × 104 ind.g-1 plant dry wt. on Phragmites australis in summer at Nazlet Abdellah (polluted site) and 10.02 × 107 ind.g-1 plant dry wt. on Myriophyllum spicatum in winter at El-Wasta (unpolluted site). Some epiphytic microalgae were dominant as Pseudanabaena limnetica, Calothrix braunii, Scenedesmus acutus, and Ulnaria ulna. Others were specific on certain macrophytes as Aphanocapsa thermalis and Ulothrix sp., which grow on Phragmites australis, while Synechocystis minuscula attached itself on Myriophyllum spicatum. Analysis of PERMANOVA showed that the most important factors that induced the variation in epiphytic microalgae were the temporal variation and host plant. Water temperature, pH, nitrate, chloride, phosphate and total dissolved salts were the highest abiotic factors correlated with the variation in composition of epiphytic microalgae

Math and Science Post-basic Education School Teachers’ Use of As-sessment for Learning and Assessment of Learning Practices in Oman

The present study aimed at investigating math and science post-basic education school teachers’ use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) and Assessment of Learning (AoL) Practices in Oman from teachers’ points of view and as perceived by their educational supervisors. To achieve the objectives of this study, a 31-item of Likert type questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was divided into two subscales. The first subscale contains 12 AoL practices while the second one contains 19 AfL practices. The questionnaire was distributed to 288 math, biology, physics, and chemistry teachers and to 78 math and science educational supervisors. The results show that math and science teachers use AoL practices more than their use of AfL practices from their points of view and based on their educational supervisors perceptions. The study recommends math and science teachers balance between the use of AoL and AfL practices

A Case Study on Academic Services Application Using Agile Methodology for Mobile Cloud Computing

Recently, Mobile Cloud Computing reveals many modern development areas in the Information Technology industry. Several software engineering frameworks and methodologies have been developed to provide solutions for deploying cloud computing resources on mobile application development. Agile methodology is one of the most commonly used methodologies in the field. This paper presents the MCCAS a Web and Mobile application that provide feature for the Palestinian higher education/academic institutions. An Agile methodology was used in the development of the MCCAS but in parallel with emphasis on Cloud computing resources deployment. Also many related issues is discussed such as how software engineering modern methodologies (advances) influenced the development process

Selective allocation of patients with vaginal apical prolapse to either mesh augmented open abdominal repair or vaginal sacrospinous colpopexy improve functional and anatomical outcomes

Background: To evaluate the functional and anatomical outcomes after allocation of patients with apical vaginal prolapse to either mesh augmented abdominal repair or vaginal sacrospinous-colpopexy based on proposed selection criteria.Methods: A non-randomized trial was conducted at Ain-Shams university maternity hospital on patients with apical vaginal prolapse stage ≥2 based on pelvic organ prolapse quantification system. Certain criteria were proposed for patient selection to either mesh augmented abdominal repair or vaginal sacrospinous-colpopexy. Seventy-eight patients were assigned for sacrospinous-colpopexy and 47-patients for abdominal repair. Primary outcomes were the functional outcome using urogenital distress inventory questionnaire and patient global impression of improvement (PGI-I). Both were measured at 1-year’s follow-up. Secondary outcomes involved the anatomical success (defined as no apical prolapse ≥POP-Q stage 2), perioperative data and long-term complications.Results: There was improvement in all UDI domains for sacrospinous-colpopexy and abdominal repair groups with genital prolapse domain of median (interquartile range) 0 (0-10), 0 (0-0) respectively. Eighty-nine percent of abdominal repair group and 85% of sacrospinous-colpopexy group reported scale of 1 or 2 on PGI-I scale at 1-year follow-up. PGI-I score and improvements in UDI domains were maintained till 5-year follow-up. The anatomic success rate at 1-year follow-up was 97.9% in abdominal repair group and 78.2% in the sacrospinous-colpopexy group. No long-term mesh complications were detected in mesh augmented abdominal repair over the whole follow-up periods.Conclusion: The resulting meritorious functional and anatomical outcomes favor adoption of our proposed selection criteria in the initiation of guidelines and recommendations for managing vaginal apical prolapse

Co-administration of Vitamins E and C protects against stress-induced hepatorenal oxidative damage and effectively improves lipid profile at both low and high altitude

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of co- administration of vitamins E and C on exhaustive exercise induced-stress in regards to hepatorenal function in rats native to low altitude (LA) and high altitude (HA). In both LA and HA areas, native wistar rats of each area were divided into three groups of 6 rats each, which include stress-free control, forced swimming-induced experimental stress and experimental stress plus vitamins E and C treatment. Lipid profile and Liver and kidney functions were assessed in both groups. HA and LA rats exhibit similar baseline levels of liver and kidney function as well as lipid metabolism profiles. However, HA rats showed decreased levels of antioxidant markers with an increased level of lipid peroxidation. Exhaustive swimming exercise induced a significant increase in the liver and kidney function of rats at both altitudes accompanied with a decrease in antioxidants levels. However, the magnitude of change observed in HA rats was more profound. Also at LA, forced swimming exercise resulted in a significant increase in serum total cholesterol (TChol), triacylglycerides (TAG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). However, in HA rats, forced swimming exercise caused a significant decrease in serum TChol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), except for HDL levels which were significantly elevated. Pre- and co-administration of vitamins E and C counteracted the induction of liver and/or kidney function by exhaustive exercise, and lowered TChol and LDL levels in rats at either altitude. In conclusion, at native high altitude: kidney and liver function essentially remained stable; response to stress included more profound oxidative damage to liver and kidney tissues as well as augmented deterioration in lipid metabolism compared to low altitude; and combined administration of vitamins E and C protected against observed oxidative stress damage to liver and kidney tissues and preserved lipid metabolism. At low altitude, combined administration of vitamin E and C protected against stress-induced oxidative damage to the liver and kidney and did preserve normal lipid metabolism, except for HDL. These novel findings reveal the pathophysiological changes in the liver function, kidney function and lipid metabolism occurring at high altitude specifically under stress, and demonstrate the efficacy of combined supplementation of vitamins E and C to normalize these changes.Key words: Exercise, oxidative stress, vitamin E, vitamin C, altitude, rats

Vulvovaginal Candidiasis In Pregnant Women

This study aims to analyzing demographic data of patients,isolate and identify Candida species, which causes vaginal infections, and a study of its prevalence among pregnant women in Sorman city, Libya.210 specimens collected from patients admitted to the Maternity Care Center in the combined clinic. carried immediately to the Microbiology Laboratory in the National Cancer Institute, Subrata, Libya for direct microscopy, culturing, and characterization. Each participant was given an interview questionnaire and asked about their age, educational level, employment position, and history of recurrent vaginal yeast infection. Chronic diseases were also listed on the data collecting form.Identification of Candida species using Chrome agar: A total of 100 isolates have been recovered in this study, of which 72 isolates were obtained as pure cultures on Chrome agar medium. According to their color on Chrome agar, these 72 colonies were categorized to 5 main species namely Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, and C. tropicalis. Genotypic identification of Candida species in this investigation was validated by the ITS tree. Eight strains from this investigation were found in the Candida albicans clade, which had a high bootstrap value of 99 percent ML/99 percent MP. These were therefore identified as Candida albicans., Within the Candida glabrata clade, three isolates were grouped together, demonstrating a strong support value of 99% ML/99%MP. These strains were recognized as belonging to the C. glabrata species, while one isolate was recognized as belonging to the C. tropicalis species, with a high support value of 99% ML/99%MP

Attitudes Toward and Images of Children with Special Needs

The media and literature play significant roles in shaping children’s attitudes toward children with special needs. Indeed, several research studies indicate that people with special needs were often portrayed negatively and inaccurately in children’s literature books. To date, no study has been found that investigated the available Arabic and/or English children’s literature books in the UAE to see how people with special needs are portrayed. The aim of this study, therefore, was twofold: a) to analyse children’s literature which feature books with special needs characters, and b) to examine the differences between Arabic and English children’s literature portrayal of people with special needs. One hundred and nine children’s literature books were reviewed. Findings of this study indicate that people with special needs were portrayed negatively in English and Arabic children’s literature books

Anticancer Activity, Antioxidant Activity, and Phenolic and Flavonoids Content of Wild Tragopogon porrifolius Plant Extracts

Tragopogon porrifolius, commonly referred to as white salsify, is an edible herb used in folk medicine to treat cancer. Samples of Tragopogon porrifolius plant grown wild in Palestine were extracted with different solvents: water, 80% ethanol, and 100% ethanol. The extracts were analyzed for their total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity (AA). Four different antioxidant assays were used to evaluate AA of the extracts: two measures the reducing power of the extracts (ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and cupric reducing antioxidant power (CUPRAC)), while two other assays measure the scavenging ability of the extracts (2,2-azino-di-(3-ethylbenzothialozine-sulphonic acid (ABTS)) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)). Anticancer activity of the plant extracts were also tested on HOS and KHOS osteosarcoma cell lines. The results revealed that the polarity of the extraction solvent affects the TPC, TFC, and AA. It was found that both TPC and AA are highest for plant extracted with 80% ethanol, followed by water, and finally with 100% ethanol. TFC however was the highest in the following order: 80% ethanol > 100% ethanol > water.The plant extracts showed anticancer activities against KHOS cancer cell lines; they reduced total cell count and induced cell death in a drastic manner