Design and Implementation of Wireless Electric Power Meter Based on XBee Model

Since the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq is still suffering from the crisis and irregular in the processing of electric power to customers.Damage to the network, the old measurement devices for measuring electrical energy consumption, and irregularities and corruption in theprocess of measuring and calculating fees of the consumption, all these reasons led to the deterioration of the performance of thedistribution network in Iraq. In this paper, Wireless Electric Power Meter Based on XBee Module has been designed and implementedwhich ZigBee wireless sensor network (WSN) will be used for wireless electric power meter communication supported by PICmicrocontroller which used for power unit measurements. Wireless metering system will be controlled by central computer which place inbase station; also database will be design to record and manage all data and information of consumers

RSA Cryptographic Key Generation Using Fingerprint Minutiae

Human users find difficult to remember long cryptographic keys. Therefore, researchers, for a long time period, have beeninvestigating ways to use biometric features of the user rather than memorable password or passphrase, in an attempt to produce tough andunrepeatable cryptographic keys and to construct the key unpredictable to a hacker who is deficient of important knowledge about theuser's biometrics. In this paper, generating the strong bio-crypt key based on fingerprint minutiae is presented. At first, the minutiae pointsare extracted from the fingerprint image based on image processing algorithms. Then, the extracted fingerprint minutiae are used forgenerating a 1024 bit prime numbers that used in RSA cypher algorithm to generate 2048 cryptographic key

In silico identification of potential biomass and cell wall degrading enzymes in the microbial community of the Red Sea Atlantis-II brine pool using metagenomic approach

Atlantis II is the largest brine pool in the Red Sea. It lies at 2,200m deep with an area of about 60km2. The lower convective layer of the Atlantis II brine pool (ATII-LCL) is characterized by extreme conditions, the temperature reaches 68.2°C, salinity of 270 psu, and there is high concentration of heavy metals. Microbial communities inhabiting this harsh environment are expected to have enzymes and proteins that are adapted to these conditions. Such proteins and enzymes would be very attractive candidates not just to understand the structural alteration that lead to their adaptation to these abiotic factors, but also for their potential use in industrial and biotechnological applications. In this work we established an ATII-LCL metagenomics dataset of potential biomass and cell wall degrading enzymes. Out of 1,337,597 pyrosequencing reads, a total of 28,547 contigs were assembled using Newbler GS assembler version 2.6. A total of 58,124 predicted open reading frames (ORFs) were identified using Metagene Annotator program. We searched the 58,124 ORFs for domains that matched to cell wall and biomass degrading enzymes using the Pfam database Version 26. The 53 matched sequences were confirmed by BLASTx search against NCBI nr database. Upstream regulatory elements, ribosome binding sequence, and secretory signal peptide sequences for secretion were checked for their presence. Additionally, halophilicity based on high prevalence of aspartic and glutamic acids was checked. Out of the 53 potential ORFs, only 14 presented a full-length coding sequence. We selected 4 ORFs with high similarities to cellulases, alpha galactosidase and cell wall lytic enzyme for further investigation. The four proteins have traditional signal peptide for secretion, and high occurrences of aspartic and glutamic amino acids when compared with non-halophilic orthologues. Moreover, the 3D structures of the four proteins were predicted and the relevant acidic amino acid residues were located on the surface of the molecules. Based on these features, we believe that the four proteins should have unique properties regarding stability in high saline solution, high temperature, and elevated concentration of heavy metals. Thus, this work established a dataset of the most abundant glycosyl hydrolases present in the microbial community of the ATII-LCL environment, and selected the most promising candidates for further molecular and catalytic characterization

The Evaluation of Mathematics Textbooks from the Perspective of Mathematics Teachers in Jordan

This paper aims at investigating mathematics teachers’ satisfaction with new math textbook for grades seven and ten in Jordan. A sample of (127) Jordanian mathematics teachers who teach the new textbooks replied to a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of (5) domains and (37) items. The results show teachers are moderately satisfied with the new textbooks, and there is a statistically significant difference (a=0.05) in teachers’ satisfaction according to gender (Male, Female) in favor of males. Also, the results show there is a statistically significant difference (a=0.05) in teachers’ satisfaction regarding teachers’ experience in favor of more and moderately experienced teachers

University Students’ Attitudes towards using the Nearpod Application in Distance Learning

Creating a stimulating learning environment is a challenge in distance learning settings. This study aimed to investigate university students' attitudes towards using Nearpod in distance learning. For purposes of the study, the researchers developed a questionnaire of 20 items for which the validity and reliability were verified. The study sample consisted of 190 students. The students were taught different courses remotely in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021 via Nearpod and Zoom. The results showed that the students had positive attitudes towards using Nearpod. In addition, the results showed that teacher support was the most important variable (x ̅=3.69), while student interaction and participation via Nearpod was predicated by students. Using appropriate applications to increase teacher support and student interaction is the most important variable in distance learning settings. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) attributed to the gender and academic stage variables

Assessment of left atrium mechanical function by deformation imaging in atrial fibrillation and its correlation with CHA2DS2-VASc risk score

AbstractObjectivesEvaluation of left atrium (LA) mechanical function by speckle tracking based strain (SPTS) in patients with chronic non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and its correlation with CHA2DS2-VASc risk score.BackgroundAF is a progressive condition that begins with increased hemodynamic load or structural remodeling of the atria, understanding atrial function could lead to better ability to predict the risk of developing stroke and the response to treatment. SPTS is a recently emerged modality that accurately estimates myocardial function.MethodsSixty patients with chronic AF and 20 age and sex matched normal control individuals underwent conventional echo where LV dimensions, wall thickness, EF, LA diameter and volumes were measured. Peak left atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) was measured in apical four (AP4) and two chamber view (AP2) and its correlation with CHA2DS2-VASc risk score in the AF group was evaluated.ResultsLA diameter and volumes were greater in AF patients (P-value<0.001). PALS in each LA wall and in both AP4 and AP2 views were highly significantly lower in AF patients in comparison with control but did not reach a statistically significant correlation with CHA2DS2-VASc score. Also, there was no significant difference between PALS in patients with CHA2DS2-VASc score less than and more than two points.ConclusionAF leads to impairment of LA mechanical function as evidenced by low PALS but PALS was not significantly correlated with CHA2DS2-VASc score. Also, there was no significantly statistical difference between PALS in patients with low and high CHA2DS2-VASc scores

Assessment of Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Efficacy of Methanol Extract of Ziziphus Spina-Christi against Some Pathogenic Micro-Organisms

The antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts of Ziziphus spina-christi leaves were examined by using agar well diffusion method against five bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC653-8), Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC2453, Bacillus cereus (ATCC6633), Escherichia coli MTCC739, Staphylococcus epidermides(local isolate) in addition to Candida albicans (ATCC2019). The results indicated that the Ziziphus spina-christi leaves methanol extract is effective against tested gram positive bacteria in addition to Candida albicans at all concentration used(50 mg/ml to 300 mg/ml ) while don’t have any effect against tested gram negative bacteria. In general, all concentration used given an effect on the gram positive bacteria only. The highest inhibition zone given by the high concentration of Ziziphus spina-cristi acetone extract 300 mg/ml on Bacillus cereus. While the lower inhibition zone given by third concentration 100 mg/ml against B.cereus. The results of the DPPH scavenging activity of methanol extract possess high antioxidant activity at different concentrations with IC50 value equal to 166.4698 ug / ml compared to the IC50 value of control sample (L-Ascorbic acid) that equal to 145.8838 ug / ml

Examine the relationship between usage of IT devices and the quality of courier service- Field study on DHL Express and Logistics Syria customers

The aim of this research is to study the relationship between the use of IT equipment and the quality of service in DHL Company in Syria through its relationship with the dimensions of service quality (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, warranty, care). In the Syrian Arab Republic, it relied on the questionnaire as a tool for the study, where it collected its primary data through 57 questionnaires, and used the linear correlation method to study the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent. The study found that there is a direct and strong relationship between the independent variable (IT hardware) and the dimensions of the dependent variable (reliability, tangibility, responsiveness, warranty, and care) from the point of view of the research sample. هدف هذا البحث إلى دراسة العلاقة بين استخدام أجهزة تكنولوجيا المعلومات وجودة الخدمة في شركة DHL في سورية من خلال علاقتها مع أبعاد جود الخدمة (الملموسية، الاعتمادية، الاستجابة، الضمان، العناية)، وقد اعتمدت الباحثة على أسلوب العينة القصدية من خلال استهدافها لعملاء الشركة حصراً في الجمهورية العربية السورية، واعتمدت على الاستبانة كأداة للدراسة، حيث قامت بجمع بياناتها الأولية من خلال 57 استبانة، واستخدمت أسلوب الارتباط الخطي لدراسة العلاقة بين كل من المتغير المستقل والتابع. توصلت الدراسة إلى وجود علاقة طردية وقوية بين المتغير المستقل (أجهزة تكنولوجيا المعلومات) وأبعاد المتغير التابع (كل من الاعتمادية والملموسية، والاستجابة، والضمان، والعناية) من وجهة نظر عينة البحث

Formulation by design approach for effervescent granules of vitamin C using statistical optimization methodologies

Introduction: Ascorbic acid (vitamin C), is a potent antioxidant, and the human body cannot synthesis it, so ascorbic acid can be obtained from external sources as food and pharmaceutical products. Objective: This study was using formulation by design (FbD) concept to prepare effervescent granules of vitamin C with high quality and more patient compliance in less effort and cost. Methods: A 23 factorial design was used to study the physical and chemical characteristics of the granules (disintegration time (DT), taste of product (TP), carbon dioxide amount (CO2), and pH of the solution). Also the effects of and interaction between selected independent variables (citric acid, tartaric acid, and sodium bicarbonate) evaluated, while, their concentrations were optimized by application of optimization model methodology for factorial design. Formulations were prepared by non-aqueous wet granulation method. Results: From the results of designed batches, the disintegration time ranged from 33±2.7 to 153±3.3sec while the amount of carbon dioxide ranged from 0.360±0.004gm to 1,512±0.002gm also the pH range was from 2.9±0.09 to 6.42±0.07 but the taste of product was coded numerically in proportional with acceptability from 1 to 5.   According to the experimental design, both of studied independent variables have significant effect in determining the physicochemical characteristics of effervescent granules. Conclusion: FbD concept effectively was utilized for the development of vitamin C effervescent granules as per modern quality practices used in pharmaceutical industries

Motion control of a population of Artemias

In this work, the collective behavior of Artemia Salina is studied both experimentally and theoretically. Several experiments have been designed to investigate the Artemia motion under different environment conditions. From the results of such experiments, a strategy to control the direction of motion of an Artemia population, by exploiting their sensitivity to light, has been derived and then implemented