Meeting the information needs of the ulama in the digital world: challenges for the Muslim information professional

The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its momentous growth especially in the 21st century, is perhaps the most amazing phenomenon in human history. It has impacted virtually on all aspects of human endeavor, most especially on how information is generated, processed, and disseminated. Individuals have become highly sophisticated, professionalized, and demanding on both the system and the information professionals to satisfy their ever increasing information requirements. While a lot of progress can be seen in efforts being made to meet the needs of various professional groups such as engineers, lawyers, medical practitioners, scientists, administrators etc through the development of specialized databases and tailor-made information retrieval systems (IRS), the Ulama the most influential professional group in the Muslim world, vested with the responsibility of preaching, counseling, administration, and providing religious leadership to the Muslims is neglected. This paper looks at the problems being faced by the Ulama using ICT to search for information to enable them perform their roles effectively. Among several factors identified, lack of a comprehensive Islamic Database and a suitable Information Retrieval System (IRS) is among the factors militating against the use of ICT by the Ulama. The paper challenged Muslim information professionals to come up with suitable data-bases and tailor-made IRS specifically designed to meet Islamic search pattern

Effect of general montmorillonite and Cloisite 15A on structural parameters and performance of mixed matrix membranes contactor for CO2 absorption

Polyvinylideneflouride (PVDF) hollow fiber mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were fabricated through wet phase inversion method using general MMT and Cloisite 15A as inorganic fillers. The effect of clay filler loadings (1, 3 and 5wt% of polymer), their particle size and hydrophobicity on the membrane morphology, structure and performance in gas-liquid contacting process were investigated. The fabricated MMMs were characterized by scanning electron microscopic (SEM), gas permeation test, hydrophobicity, wetting resistance and CO2 absorption test. As expected, MMMs showed asymmetrical structure, differing in finger-like portion, porosity and pore size. The fabricated MMMs with higher finger-like area and surface porosity showed higher permeance than plain membrane. Furthermore, the wetting resistance in terms of surface hydrophobicity and liquid entry pressure of water increased with loading. From the point of view of physical CO2 absorption, the membranes incorporated with small particle size filler (general MMT-filled PVDF membranes) exhibited higher absorption fluxes than those embedded with large particle size fillers. The highest absorption flux for membrane containing 1wt% general MMT is 1.0×10-3molm-2s-1 at the flow rate of 3.1ms-1. That flux was approximately 54% and 82% higher than the flux of MMMs with embedded Cloisite 15A of the same loading and plain PVDF membrane, respectively. The obtained flux of synthesized membrane was superior compared to several in-house made and commercial membranes

An investigation of temperature effects on the properties and CO2 absorption performance of porous PVDF/montmorillonite mixed matrix membranes

Although alterations of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane performance and properties in contactor applications are more severe at high temperature, to date, detailed information on the relationship between performance and properties with temperature is available. Hence, this study was undertaken to improve thermal stability of PVDF membranes by montmorillonite (MMT) incorporation. The fabricated membranes were operated in a closed contactor loop with water temperature of either 27 °C or 80 °C, followed by measuring CO2 absorption flux before and after 2 days exposure. Higher partial pore wetting at elevated temperature resulted in performance reduction of 31% and 13% for plain PVDF and 5 wt% MMT-filled PVDF membrane (MMM hollow fiber), respectively. To determine the reasons, the membranes were immersed in water of 80 °C for 7 days and analyzed by analytical characterization methods after drying. It was revealed from FESEM images that large pores on the membrane surfaces became larger while the small pores became smaller, leading porous membrane surfaces to deform to semi-dense layers with small number of large pores. Furthermore, strong reductions in membrane gas permeance, porosity, contact angle and wetting resistance were detected after 7-day immersion. Therefore, changes in the absorbent-induced membrane properties were found to be the reasons of the flux reduction at high operation temperatures. The alterations were, however, less pronounced for PVDF-filled MMT membrane than the original PVDF indicating thermal stability enhancement effect of the embedded clay particles. The results suggest that the impregnation of polymeric membranes by hydrophobic inorganic particles can be an effective method to stabilize the performance and properties of PVDF hollow fibers at harsh contactor operating conditions

Loss of lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 1 leads to photoreceptor degeneration in rd11 mice

Retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis, are a leading cause of untreatable blindness with substantive impact on the quality of life of affected individuals and their families. Mouse mutants with retinal dystrophies have provided a valuable resource to discover human disease genes and helped uncover pathways critical for photoreceptor function. Here we show that the rd11 mouse mutant and its allelic strain, B6-JR2845, exhibit rapid photoreceptor dysfunction, followed by degeneration of both rods and cones. Using linkage analysis, we mapped the rd11 locus to mouse chromosome 13. We then identified a one-nucleotide insertion (c.420–421insG) in exon 3 of the Lpcat1 gene. Subsequent screening of this gene in the B6-JR2845 strain revealed a seven-nucleotide deletion (c.14–20delGCCGCGG) in exon 1. Both sequence changes are predicted to result in a frame-shift, leading to premature truncation of the lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase-1 (LPCAT1) protein. LPCAT1 (also called AYTL2) is a phospholipid biosynthesis/remodeling enzyme that facilitates the conversion of palmitoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine to dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC). The analysis of retinal lipids from rd11 and B6-JR2845 mice showed substantially reduced DPPC levels compared with C57BL/6J control mice, suggesting a causal link to photoreceptor dysfunction. A follow-up screening of LPCAT1 in retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis patients did not reveal any obvious disease-causing mutations. Previously, LPCAT1 has been suggested to be critical for the production of lung surfactant phospholipids and biosynthesis of platelet-activating factor in noninflammatory remodeling pathway. Our studies add another dimension to an essential role for LPCAT1 in retinal photoreceptor homeostasis