Physicochemical, Nutrient, and Heavy Metal Characterization of Wastewater Released from Wachemo University, SNNPR, Ethiopia

Waste management in higher educational institutions is an existing environmental challenge in Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to determine the physicochemical, nutrient, and heavy metals concentration of wastewater generated from Wachemo University, SNNPR, Ethiopia. Three wastewater samples were collected and placed in a refrigerator until sample preparation and analysis. Physicochemical parameters, nutrients, and heavy metals were measured using the Standard Methods of the American Public Health Association. The results of the study were ranged as Temperature (19.00–19.02 oC), TDS (89.9–201 mg/L), E.C (179.9–284 µS/cm), DO (1.5–4.5 mg/L), Turbidity (93.2–513.8 NTU), pH (4.82–7.48), TSS (458.4–143 mg/L), TS (339.7–3889.6 mg/L), BOD (44.9–287.1 mg/L), COD (144.9–869.7 mg/L), phosphate (5.2–13.0 mg/L), sulfate (0.02–280.3 mg/L), nitrate (47.9–54.0 mg/L), NH3–N (0.03–7.39 mg/L). The values of most of the physicochemical parameters, nutrients, and heavy metals are within the permissible limit of FAO and EEPA. However, the concentration of Pb was found to be above the maximum permissible limit set by WHO. Similarly, the values of physicochemical parameters such as BOD, COD, TSS, and E.C were above the acceptable range for wastewater discharged limit set by FAO and EEPA. Thus, the result showed that the wastewater released from Wachamo University pose a risk to the surrounding environment and human health unless a proper waste management system is implemented

Skilled Birth Attendant Competence and Facility Readiness For Managing Obstetric Emergencies in Eritrea

Introduction: Skilled Care Attendance during pregnancy and child birth is crucial for the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality. Various studies have demonstrated the correlation between increase in skilled care attendance and reduction of maternal mortality globally. Objective: The objective of the study was to asses the impact of life saving skills training in the improvement of knowledge and skills of health workers and the quality of health services provided to mothers and newborns. Methodology: The study was a cross sectional study on 137 Life Saving Skills trained health workers randomly selected out of the total trained staff. The competence study measured knowledge with a 50-question knowledge test that covered the topics of (1) aseptic technique, (2) uncomplicated labor and delivery, (3) immediate newborn care, (4) postpartum hemorrhage, (5) sepsis and (6) pre-eclampsia, and eclampsia. Observation of competency of health workers was used to assess the competency of health workers. Results: The competency test scores appear that nurses and associate nurses are retaining their level of knowledge fairly well. Aseptic technique had the highest average score of any of competency tests. The assessment results showed that most nurses and associate nurses can perform the active management of labor skill relatively well, with an average score of 73% among those assessed. Five zones had average scores above 75%, which indicates the performance is consistently high in most areas. The average score for Manual Removal of placenta was quite high in most zones, with an average score of 66%. Four of the six zones received scores above 70%. The average score for bimanual uterine compression (58%) was slightly lower than the other skills tests related to the prevention and/or treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. After completing LSS training, the providers are expected to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of an infant who is having difficulty breathing and they should be able to complete the five basic steps of immediate newborn care: DRY, WARM, POSITION, SUCTION (if necessary), and STIMULATE. The scores for the skills of nurses and associate nurses in the five steps identified is an average score of 65%. The study was designed to assess the impact of life saving skills training in the improvement of knowledge and skills of health workers and quality of health services provided to mothers and newborns and represents the first comprehensive assessment of the knowledge and skills of nurses and associate nurses in emergency obstetric care

Pressure-induced amorphization, crystal-crystal transformations and the memory glass effect in interacting particles in two dimensions

We study a model of interacting particles in two dimensions to address the relation between crystal-crystal transformations and pressure-induced amorphization. On increasing pressure at very low temperature, our model undergoes a martensitic crystal-crystal transformation. The characteristics of the resulting polycrystalline structure depend on defect density, compression rate, and nucleation and growth barriers. We find two different limiting cases. In one of them the martensite crystals, once nucleated, grow easily perpendicularly to the invariant interface, and the final structure contains large crystals of the different martensite variants. Upon decompression almost every atom returns to its original position, and the original crystal is fully recovered. In the second limiting case, after nucleation the growth of martensite crystals is inhibited by energetic barriers. The final morphology in this case is that of a polycrystal with a very small crystal size. This may be taken to be amorphous if we have only access (as experimentally may be the case) to the angularly averaged structure factor. However, this `X-ray amorphous' material is anisotropic, and this shows up upon decompression, when it recovers the original crystalline structure with an orientation correlated with the one it had prior to compression. The memory effect of this X-ray amorphous material is a natural consequence of the memory effect associated to the underlying martensitic transformation. We suggest that this kind of mechanism is present in many of the experimental observations of the memory glass effect, in which a crystal with the original orientation is recovered from an apparently amorphous sample when pressure is released.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Magnitude and Causes of Maternal Deaths at Health Facilities in Eritrea in 2007.

Objective: To measure the level of maternal mortality in health facilities as well as the magnitude and proportion of obstetric complications in health facilities in Eritrea. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey of all hospitals and health centers in Eritrea and a random sample of around a third of health stations. Medical records of all patients who encountered obstetric complications in 2007 were reviewed. Findings: The main causes of obstetric complications among hospital admissions in 2007 were abortion complications (45.6%), obstructed/prolonged labor (18.4%), abnormal fetal presentation (10.3%) and preeclampsia/ eclampsia (7.7%). The number of maternal deaths at facilities was relatively small. Out of the 6,315 patients who were admitted for obstetric complications in 2007, 41 were classified as maternal deaths. The leading causes of maternal deaths included pre-eclampsia/ eclampsia in 22.0 percent of the cases, abortion complications in 19.5 percent of the cases and postpartum sepsis in 17.1 percent of the cases and post-partum hemorrhage in 14.6 percent of cases. The case-fatality rate for obstetric complications was low at 0.75 percent. The majority of maternal deaths (65 percent) occurred in the post-partum period, while 32 percent occurred during the ante-partum period, and 3 percent during intra-partum or during labor or delivery Conclusion: Over all it can be concluded that the Eritrean health system is performing well with the current demand for services. The issue of abortion requires special attention because it is the leading obstetric complication, which accounts for 46 percent of maternal complications and is responsible for one fifth of maternal deaths. Although the case fatality rate of all obstetric complications combined is not high (0.75 percent), the cause specific case fatality rates for the leading causes of maternal mortality was high Keywords: Maternal mortality, obstetric complications, abortion, case fatality rat

Rna interference strategies for future management of plant pathogenic fungi: Prospects and challenges

Plant pathogenic fungi are the largest group of disease-causing agents on crop plants and represent a persistent and significant threat to agriculture worldwide. Conventional approaches based on the use of pesticides raise social concern for the impact on the environment and human health and alternative control methods are urgently needed. The rapid improvement and extensive implementation of RNA interference (RNAi) technology for various model and non-model organisms has provided the initial framework to adapt this post-transcriptional gene silencing technology for the management of fungal pathogens. Recent studies showed that the exogenous application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules on plants targeting fungal growth and virulence-related genes provided disease attenuation of pathogens like Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Fusarium graminearum in different hosts. Such results highlight that the exogenous RNAi holds great potential for RNAi-mediated plant pathogenic fungal disease control. Production of dsRNA can be possible by using either in-vitro or in-vivo synthesis. In this review, we describe exogenous RNAi involved in plant pathogenic fungi and discuss dsRNA production, formulation, and RNAi delivery methods. Potential challenges that are faced while developing a RNAi strategy for fungal pathogens, such as off-target and epigenetic effects, with their possible solutions are also discussed

Double-Stranded RNA Targeting Dicer-Like Genes Compromises the Pathogenicity of Plasmopara viticola on Grapevine

Downy mildew caused by Plasmopara viticola is one of the most devastating diseases of grapevine, attacking all green parts of the plant. The damage is severe when the infection at flowering stage is left uncontrolled. P. viticola management consumes a significant amount of classical pesticides applied in vineyards, requiring efficient and environmentally safe disease management options. Spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS), through the application of exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), has shown promising results for the management of diseases in crops. Here, we developed and tested the potential of dsRNA targeting P. viticola Dicer-like (DCL) genes for SIGS-based crop protection strategy. The exogenous application of PvDCL1/2 dsRNA, a chimera of PvDCL1 and PvDCL2, highly affected the virulence of P. viticola. The reduced expression level of PvDCL1 and PvDCL2 transcripts in infected leaves, treated with PvDCL1/2 dsRNA, was an indication of an active RNA interference mechanism inside the pathogen to compromise its virulence. Besides the protective property, the PvDCL1/2 dsRNA also exhibited a curative role by reducing the disease progress rate of already established infection. Our data provide a promising future for PvDCL1/2 dsRNA as a new generation of RNA-based resistant plants or RNA-based agrochemical for the management of downy mildew disease in grapevine

Drag on a Flat Plate in Low-Reynolds-Number Gas Flows

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76324/1/AIAA-4120-186.pd

Effect of hydrogen on ground state structures of small silicon clusters

We present results for ground state structures of small Si$_{n}$H (2 \leq \emph{n} \leq 10) clusters using the Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics. In particular, we focus on how the addition of a hydrogen atom affects the ground state geometry, total energy and the first excited electronic level gap of an Si$_{n}$ cluster. We discuss the nature of bonding of hydrogen in these clusters. We find that hydrogen bonds with two silicon atoms only in Si$_{2}$H, Si$_{3}$H and Si$_{5}$H clusters, while in other clusters (i.e. Si$_{4}$H, Si$_{6}$H, Si$_{7}$H, Si$_{8}$H, Si$_{9}$H and Si$_{10}$H) hydrogen is bonded to only one silicon atom. Also in the case of a compact and closed silicon cluster hydrogen bonds to the cluster from outside. We find that the first excited electronic level gap of Si$_{n}$ and Si$_{n}$H fluctuates as a function of size and this may provide a first principles basis for the short-range potential fluctuations in hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Our results show that the addition of a single hydrogen can cause large changes in the electronic structure of a silicon cluster, though the geometry is not much affected. Our calculation of the lowest energy fragmentation products of Si$_{n}$H clusters shows that hydrogen is easily removed from Si$_{n}$H clusters.Comment: one latex file named script.tex including table and figure caption. Six postscript figure files. figure_1a.ps and figure_1b.ps are files representing Fig. 1 in the main tex

The impact of point mutations in the human androgen receptor : classification of mutations on the basis of transcriptional activity

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Open Problems on Central Simple Algebras

We provide a survey of past research and a list of open problems regarding central simple algebras and the Brauer group over a field, intended both for experts and for beginners.Comment: v2 has some small revisions to the text. Some items are re-numbered, compared to v