A Methodology for Assessing The Impact of Landuse Changes on Watershed Runoff

With rapid land development and limited water resources, good quality water becomes an important commodity that every economic sector is competing for. Landuse changes in a watershed can affect the watershed hydrology in various ways. Some types of land development can be associated with increased impervious area causing increase in surface runoff and decrease in ground water recharge. Both of these processes can have large-scale ramifications through time. Increased runoff results in higher flows during rainfall events, which in turn increases the number of times that a river floods the adjacent land areas. Likewise, this increase in runoff and channel flows can drastically increase the erosion of river channel beds and banks, potentially destabilizing bridges or local structures. On the other hand the groundwater recharge decreased due to the increase in the impervious surfaces and decrease in the soil infiltration rate. This may leads to rescission in the river base flow especially during the dry season. Since rainfed agriculture in Malaysia may not have reservoirs for irrigation water supply, it is very important to maintain high base flows so that enough water is available for irrigation during the dry season. Understanding how the landuse change influences the river basin hydrology may enable planners to formulate policies to minimize the undesirable effects of land development. The main objective of this study was to develop a methodology to assess the impacts of landuse changes on the watershed runoff. The need for spatial and temporal land-cover change detection over a larger scale makes satellite imagery the most cost effective, efficient and reliable source of data. The applicability of GIs makes it an important and efficient tool for spatial hydrologic modeling. In this study Satellite images and GIs were integrated with a developed spatial hydrological model to evaluate the impacts of land development in the Upper Bernam River Basin of Malaysia. The Bernam River is the main source of irrigation water for a rice granary area. A methodology to assess the hydrological impacts due to landuse modifications was developed using a physically based hydrological model and a mathematical model. While conceptual or physically based models are important in understanding hydrological processes, there are many practical situations where the main concern is with making accurate predictions at specific locations. The wellestablished HEC-1 model was calibrated and used to simulate the runoff process. Runoff hydrographs were generated for wet and dry seasons using lumped and distributed modeling concepts. In the distributed modeling approach, hydrographs fiom each sub basin was routed to the outlet point using the Muskingum routing method. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed because it has the ability to extract the non-linear relation between the inputs and outputs of a process, without the physics being explicitly provided to them, this makes the simulation process more applicable. The models were tested and validated using data collected fiom the study area. The models performances were checked using both graphical and statistical analysis. Mean absolute errors (MAE), mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), Theil's coefficient, coefficient of determination (R~),coefficient of efficiency (E), T-test and regression analysis were -use9 as e va uation criteria for model performance. The models show good performance in simulating the runoff process. Results from the hydrological model gave 0.79, I .35, 0.22, 0.91 and 0.67 for MAE, MSE, U, R~ and E, respectively. The weighted curve number (CN) was found to have increased by 2% in year 2001 compared to 1989, and had caused an increase in peak flow by 7%. The effect of change in CN is more on the rising limb of the hydrograph and peak runoff than on the falling limb. As CN increases the rising limb shifted backwards. For the ANN model, it was found that correlation coefficients between simulated and observed flow are 0.94 and 0.89 for the training and testing phases, respectively. The model outputs were within the confidence level of 95 %, and most of the scatter output values were within 15 % deviation bands. The statistical evaluation during the training phase gave the values of 0.001,4.77,0.06 and 0.87 for MAE, MSE, U and E, respectively, and these values were found to be 17.6, 5.6, 0.1 1, and 0.58 for the testing phase, respectively. For both models applications, it was found that the percentage change in runoff due to landuse change is constant for different landuse, irrespective of the rainfall pattern and time of occurrence. The models were then applied to simulate the runoff from future land development for the year 2020 and from different landuse scenarios. Predictions from the hydrological model show that an increase in weighted CN by 7 % and 13 % for the wet and dry seasons, respectively, will cause an increase in flow volume by 53 % and 62 % and increase in peak flow by 80 % and 76 % for the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This methodology can be applied for any future development plans to predict the hydrological impacts to mitigate the risk of floods occurrence and avoid the shortage of irrigation water. The methodology can be used as a decision making tool when formulating landuse policies. It can be a practical tool for hydrologists, engineers and town and country planners. The irrigation engineers can use this tool during the planning for irrigation water supply and determination of future cultivable areas based on the availability of the irrigation water due to the land development

Kesinai (Streblus Asper) Protease as a Potential Milk Coagulating Enzyme

Leaf extract of plant kesinai (Streblus asper) contains a milk coagulating protease, which could be a potential rennet substitute. However, its potential has not been investigated and the protease has not been purified and characterised. Preparation of the crude leaf extract results in an undesirable, very dark brown colour and inhibition of this browning may enhance the use of the leaf extract. The browning inhibitors, citric acid, ascorbic acid, L-cysteine and sodium metabisulphite were used for prevention of browning and to obtain a crude extract with an acceptable colour. Metabisulphite was found to be an effective inhibitor of the enzymatic browning of the leaf extract. At 2 mM concentration it has inhibited browning and the extract obtained resulted in a white milk coagulum compared to the brown coloured coagulum of the brown extract. It is thermostable up to 85°C, with an optimum temperature at 70°C and its optimum pH is 7.2. Six mM added calcium chloride was optimum for its milk coagulation activity.Microstructure, texture and syneresis of the milk coagulum of the crude extract were assessed by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the Texture Analyser, and measurement of whey volume, respectively and were compared with that of calf rennet and Fromase. Kesinai coagulum appeared as a sponge-like when examined under SEM, while calf rennet and Fromase coagulum appeared as a fibrous network. Quantification results showed that porosity of kesinai coagulum is low, and significantly different from both of calf rennet and Fromase coagulum (P<0.05) and (P<0.01), respectively. Kesinai coagulum was soft, and its strength is significantly lower than that of calf rennet and Fromase coagulum (P< 0.01). Syneresis of its coagulum was low, and the whey volume as per cent of milk volume was 34.75% compared to 46.75% and 48.79%, for calf rennet and Fromase, respectively. The ratio of milk coagulation activity to proteolytic activity of the extract was very low (0.02) and the protein profile of the milk coagulum and whey on sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that the protease was more proteolytic than calf rennet, and Fromase.The protease was purified by ultrafiltration (UF), Fast protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) gel filtration with Superose 6, FPLC ion exchange using MonoQ HR 5/5 and lsoelectric Focusing (IEF) using the Rotofor system, with a puritification fold of 25, and 18% recovery. The purified protease appeared as a single band on SDS-P AGE with a molecular weight of 31.3 kDa. Characterisation of the purified protease showed that it could be a serine protease with optimum pH of 7.2, stable in the pH range 5.0 -9.5, and its pI is 5.2. It is thermostable up to 85°C, with optimum temperature at 70°C. Zymogram analysis showed that protease activity is associated with milk coagulation activity. It is concluded that kesinai protease could be used in the production of short ripened cheese varieties

Application of non-linear optimisation to multipurpose reservoir systems

The aim of this research is to investigate the application of nonlinear programming techniques to multipurpose reservoir systems. A multipurpose multiple reservoir operation problem is a typical nonlinear large scale optimization problem. The currently applied techniques overcome the nonlinearity and dimensionality problems through simplification. To model the problem more closely, a successful trial is made in this study to apply the most efficient and suitable nonlinear programming techniques. Although research in large scale nonlinear optimization has been in recent'years a major subject of interest within the mathematical programming community, its application to reservoir systems is very limited. As a result of these activities software packages, as Lancelot, have been developed. Lancelot is a general purpose software package designed for solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. It uses Augmented Lagrangian and Conjugate Gradient methods. This software is used here successfully to solve an optimization problem formulated for a major river system, the Blue Nile in Sudan. The system has two in series reservoirs used for hydropower generation, maintaining minimum downstream flows and irrigation. For optimization, some features of the system have been modelled. These are sedimentation, evaporation, demand and flow. To represent the effect of sedimentation a model is fitted and verified. To include the effect of evaporation a model that estimates the total evaporation losses is fitted using Penman approach and verified using water balance. To cope with flow uncertainty the Blue Nile flow has been modelled. ARMA(1,1) has given the best fitting. Irrigation requirements have been estimated using Penman- Monteith approach. Efficiency of water use has been investigated and other possible demand scenarios resulting from efficient water use are obtained. The results of flow and demand modelling are used as direct input to the optimization model while sedimentation and evaporation models are incorporated in the model. The objective of this model is to maximise power benefits on condition that certain irrigation and downstream requirements be met. To solve this problem a double precision version of Lancelot was installed in a hp-UNIX system. For the problem a specification and a standard input format, SEF, files were written and put under the same directory with Lancelot to run the program. The problem was solved successfully in few minutes. The solution includes values for the objective function, decision variables (releases and storage volumes), penalty parameter, Lagrange multipliers and slack variables. The optimization output is affected by reservoir sedimentation. Therefore the developed optimization and sedimentation models have been linked to investigate sedimentation effect on optimization on output along the course of reservoir operation. Results have shown that this approach can be used to investigate the effect of sedimentation on reservoir optimum output. In, a multipurpose reservoir system, the optimization output for one purpose is affected by the efficiency of water use for other purposes. Therefore the effect of efficient water use in irrigation on power benefits is investigated. Results have shown an increment in benefits due to using irrigation water efficiently. This approach can be applied to systems where priority is given for one purpose over the others

Recent Guidelines in Bronchial Asthma Management in Children: Review Article

Background: A common childhood and adolescent illness, asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition marked by episodes of wheezing, dyspnea, tightness in the chest, and coughing. A mix of genetic and environmental factors is likely to be responsible for its occurrence. A short-acting beta-2 agonist (such as salbutamol) breathed into the lungs is mainly used to treat acute symptoms. Inhaling corticosteroids and avoiding triggers like allergens and irritants can help prevent symptoms. Objective: to determine the recent treatment modalities in bronchial asthma management in children. Conclusion: many scientific advances have improved our understanding of asthma and ability to manage and control it effectively. However, recommendations for asthma care need to be adapted to local conditions, resources and services

UAV-CLOUD: A PLATFORM FOR UAV RESOURCES AND SERVICES ON THE CLOUD

UAVs - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – have gained significant attention recently, due to the increasingly growing range of applications. However, developing collaborative UAV applications using traditional technologies in a tightly coupled design requires a great deal of development effort, time, and budget especially for heterogeneous UAVs. Moreover, monitoring and accessing UAV resources using traditional communication media suffer from several restrictions and limitations. This research aims to simplify the efforts, reduce the time, and lower the costs of developing collaborative applications for distributed heterogeneous UAVs. In addition, the research aims to provide ubiquitous UAV resources access. A platform is proposed for developing distributed UAVs. This platform provides services to simplify application development. In this approach, UAVs are integrated with the Cloud Computing paradigm to provide ubiquitous access to their resources and services. Due to the limited capabilities of UAVs, a lightweight architecture is adopted. UAV resources and services are modeled in a Resource Oriented Architecture which is a new flexible web service design pattern with loosely coupled interaction between services. Hence, they are accessed as Representational State Transfer RESTful services using HTTP. Moreover, the research proposes using a broker architecture to increase efficiency by separating responsibilities. Therefore, it separates the requester’s logic and functionalities from the provider’s. It also takes the responsibility for allocating the issued request to the available and suitable UAV(s). To test the proposed platform, I first developed the UAV resources as a payload subsystem then provided them with Internet connectivity. Then, resource identifiers and uniform interfaces were developed using the RESTful Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). I also developed the broker service along with a database containing the information of the registered UAVs and their resources. The platform system components were tested using a requester interface in a browser by issuing a request for a resource to the broker to find and request the service from a suitable UAV. The test was done for retrieving data from UAVs as well as requesting actions from them. The main contributions of this research are proposing the UAV-Cloud platform for simplifying the development of ubiquitous UAV applications and its vii perspectives, as well as a lightweight loosely coupled design for UAV resources. Another contribution is developing the broker architecture for separating responsibilities in this platform

Synthesis, Characterization and Applications of some Conducting Polymers

Conducting polymers emerged as a new class of materials by the end of the sixties. Since then many efforts have been made to put these materials to industrial use. Among the achievements are their applications in the semiconductor industry, medical field, chemical and biological sensors, etc. A different track that alleviated the prospects of the application of conducting polymers is the modification of the polymer film, namely through the inclusion of metallic moieties for specific target usage. In this thesis the candidate aimed to synthesis well established and extensively studied class of electrically conductive polymer, 3-methylthiophene. The polymer was then subjected to a modification by an inorganic component. The work was intended to examine the evolution of several properties upon the inorganic component inclusion within the polymer film matrix. Basically, one of the achieved goals is the hybridisation of the two phases in a semi-quantitative protocol. Conducting polymer films were electro-synthesized and the film thickness was varied depending on the amount of charge used. The modification of the polymer films was achieved by the application of an inorganic layer by dip-coating the film-covered substrate in an electrolyte prepared via sol- gel process. The electrical properties of the prepared films were examined by running electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiments. The experimental data, thus obtained were then fitted using numerical/graphical methods of some equivalent circuits. The films were tested in contact with organic and aqueous medium. The data were compared and analysed using the suggested equivalent circuit models. The inorganic film material, the polymer films, and the modified organic-inorganic film hybrids were further investigated using thermo-gravimetric, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopic, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction analyses. The hybrid films possessed improved electrical properties, namely increased capacitance. The film hydrophilic property affected the electronic/ionic conduction when examining the film in water vs. acetonitrile. A proposed model in which the inorganic layer provides a surplus of charge storage at the film/electrolyte boundaries to high capacitance inner organic layer is suggested. This model is more accepted especially in the case where the polymer film is less conductive and when the ionic diffusion is restricted. Unique hybrid film morphologies were found to depend on the thickness of the polymer film and the time needed to deposit the inorganic layer. Phase separation between the organic polymer film and the inorganic layer was realized when inorganic deposition time was minimum. Inorganic particle size ranged between 20 nm and few mm. Thermal gravimetric analysis proved that the inclusion of the inorganic layer stabilized the thermal degradation of the film. The presence of the iron-doped silica based inorganic moieties was confirmed from the EDXA and XRD measurements. On the molecular level, infrared spectroscopy data showed silicon and iron oxide vibrations and confirming the inclusion of the inorganic layer within the polymer

Inspiration from the Experiences of African Countries on the Silk Road to the Process of Development in Sudan: Will the Economic Belt and Silk Road Initiative Save Sudan from the World Bank Prescriptions Trap?

This paper reviews the experience of African countries with the Economic Belt and New Silk Road initiative, which was launched by the Chinese President from Astana University during his visit to Kazakhstan in 2013, the paper reflected original experiences on the ground, and how it changed the face of life in some models from these countries. The paper provides insights into the history of the development of Sino-African relations, and the course of the initiative in African countries, and presented some opinions in the written literature about this experience. The paper also, presented an evaluation of some scholars, politicians and academicians about that, and then presented examples of projects implemented in some African countries and their impact on the development of life in economic, social and developmental terms, as cross-border projects and their impact on linking relations between peoples and facilitating life, then briefly reviewing the history and development of the Sudanese-Chinese relations with a focus on the period of Islamists' rule that was displaced by the 19 December 2018 revolution in Sudan, which was characterized with great momentum due to the period in which Sudan witnessed the successful extraction of oil in commercial quantities, But Sudan did not benefit from that period and the huge money obtained.The researcher cited the reasons that prevented Sudan from benefiting from these huge funds, detailed and discussed this, then presented his visions for the future of Sudanese-Chinese relations and how to benefit from the Chinese experience for the future of Sudan by drawing inspiration from the African experience with the Economic Belt Initiative and the New Silk Road as it is open to all peoples and countries of the world, with an understanding and visions that transcend the difficult conditions of the World Bank, monetary institutions and Western banks, and constitute an alternative and a savior for poor countries from exploitation, harsh conditions, loss of freedom of choice, scratching of national sovereignty and the pressures that always fall into them when they need loans and technology from Western countries.The author concluded that, the Economic Belt and New Silk Road initiative, constitutes a lifeline for Sudan, if it is properly dealt with the opportunities it offers that may not be repeated soon. Keywords:Africa, the New Silk Road, the Economic Belt Initiative, the Chinese experience, Sudan, the rule of Islamists, Win-Win base. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-8-04 Publication date: April 30th 202

Stakeholder Competencies Intelligence-Scale Development and Validation Some Evidence from KSA

Sustainable bank's continuing success and improvement depend heavily upon the competency of stakeholders’ relationships with the others environment chain ends. The purpose of the study is to develop operationally and theoretically measures to the construct stakeholder competency intelligence on banking industry. Depending on the literature review, a fifteen items scale was developed for testing. The academics and practitioners viewpoint was invited. The new scale development steps were conducted. The goodness of measure was used. The statistics analysis results are above the acceptable levels and no, systematic response bias was found. The study contribution is a new scale development and validatio

Аудит диагностики и лечения пневмоторакса в Учебной больнице АЛЬ-ШААБ.

Introduction. A pneumothorax is defined as the presence of air within the pleural cavity, it is classified as spontaneous primary or secondary and traumatic iatrogenic and non-iatrogenic. Despite having Sudan national protocol for the management of pneumothorax, there appears to be wide variation in clinical practice in diagnosis and management of pneumothorax Aims and objectives. The audit aims to study the initial management of primary and secondary pneumothorax at Al SHAAB teaching hospital. Method. Data collection was made from patients’ records with a diagnosis of pneumothorax Results. Fifty-five patients who were admitted to the chest department were enrolled. The majority of patients were between 25-45 years of age (40%), male with a female ratio of 3:1. The main presenting symptoms were cough 50 (94.4%) and shortness of breath 44(80%) followed by chest pain 20(36.4). Twenty patients (36.4) were a smoker and 35 (63,.6%) were a non-smoker. Pulmonary tuberculosis is the leading cause of pneumothorax 33(60,1%) and bronchial asthma 4(7.3%) while primary spontaneous were 9(16.4%). Clinically and radiologically the right side is more affected than the left side 34(61.8%) and 19(16.4%) respectively, pure pneumothorax in29 (52.7%) and hydropneumothorax in 26(37.3%). The size of pneumothorax is large in 25 (45.5%), medium18 (32.7), and small in 12(21.8%). Thirty-nine (70.9%) were managed with chest tube thoracostomy, 12 (21.8) by simple aspiration, and 4 (7.3%) responded to the observation of patients for two weeks. Conclusion. There is suboptimal compliance to the Sudan protocol in the management of pneumothorax. Recommendations. We recommended federal ministry of health to avail the protocol of diagnosis and management of pneumothorax in all emergency departments, also we recommended training of all registrars of chest medicine in the protocol of diagnosis and management of pneumothorax.Introducere. Un pneumotorax este definit ca prezența aerului în cavitatea pleurală, este clasificat ca spontan primar sau secundar și traumatic iatrogen și non-iatrogen. În ciuda faptului că există un protocol național Sudan pentru gestionarea pneumotoraxului, pare să existe o variație largă în practica clinică în diagnosticul și managementul pneumotoraxului. Scopuri si obiective. Auditul își propune să studieze managementul inițial al pneumotoraxului primar și secundar la spitalul didactic Al SHAAB. Metodă. Colectarea datelor s-a făcut din fișele pacienților cu diagnostic de pneumotorax Rezultate. Au fost înrolați cincizeci și cinci de pacienți care au fost internați în secția de piept. Majoritatea pacienților aveau vârste cuprinse între 25-45 de ani (40%), bărbați cu un raport feminin de 3:1. Principalele simptome de prezentare au fost tuse 50 (94,4%) și dificultăți de respirație 44 (80%) urmate de durere în piept 20 (36,4). Douăzeci de pacienți (36,4) au fost fumători și 35 (63,6%) au fost nefumători. Tuberculoza pulmonară este cauza principală a pneumotoraxului 33(60,1%) și a astmului bronșic 4(7,3%), în timp ce primar spontan au fost 9(16,4%). Clinic și radiologic partea dreaptă este mai afectată decât partea stângă 34(61,8%) și respectiv 19(16,4%), pneumotorax pur în 29 (52,7%) și hidropneumotorax în 26 (37,3%). Dimensiunea pneumotoraxului este mare la 25 (45,5%), medie18 (32,7) și mică la 12 (21,8%). Treizeci și nouă (70,9%) au fost tratați cu toracostomie cu tub toracic, 12 (21,8) prin aspirație simplă și 4 (7,3%) au răspuns la observarea pacienților timp de două săptămâni. Concluzie. Există o conformitate suboptimă la protocolul Sudan în gestionarea pneumotoraxului. Recomandări. Am recomandat Ministerului Federal al Sănătății să folosească protocolul de diagnostic și management al pneumotoraxului în toate departamentele de urgență, de asemenea, am recomandat instruirea tuturor registratorilor de medicină toracică în protocolul de diagnostic și management al pneumotoraxului.Введение. Пневмоторакс определяется как наличие воздуха в плевральной полости, он классифицируется как спонтанный первичный или вторичный, травматический ятрогенный и неятрогенный. Несмотря на наличие суданского национального протокола по лечению пневмоторакса, клиническая практика, повидимому, сильно различается в диагностике и лечении пневмоторакса. Цели и задачи. Аудит направлен на изучение начального лечения первичного и вторичного пневмоторакса в клинической больнице Альшааб. Метод. Сбор данных производился из историй болезни пациентов с диагнозом пневмоторакс. Полученные результаты. В исследование были включены 55 пациентов, госпитализированных в грудное отделение. Большинство пациентов были в возрасте от 25 до 45 лет (40%), мужчины с соотношением женщин 3:1. Основными симптомами были кашель 50 (94,4%) и одышка 44 (80%), сопровождаемая болью в груди 20 (36,4%). 20 пациентов (36,4) были курильщиками и 35 (63,6%) не курили. Туберкулез легких является ведущей причиной пневмоторакса 33 (60,1%) и бронхиальной астмы 4 (7,3%), тогда как первичный спонтанный - 9 (16,4%). Клинически и рентгенологически правая сторона больше поражена, чем левая 34 (61,8%) и 19 (16,4%) соответственно, чистый пневмоторакс у 29 (52,7%) и гидропневмоторакс у 26 (37,3%). Размер пневмоторакса большой у 25 (45,5%), средний у 18 (32,7) и малый у 12 (21,8%). Тридцать девять (70,9%) лечились с помощью плевральной торакостомии, 12 (21,8) — с помощью простой аспирации и 4 (7,3%) ответили на наблюдение за пациентами в течение двух недель.Вывод. Существует субоптимальное соблюдение суданского протокола при лечении пневмоторакса. Рекомендации. Мы рекомендовали федеральному министерству здравоохранения использовать протокол диагностики и лечения пневмоторакса во всех отделениях неотложной помощи, а также мы рекомендовали обучение всех регистраторов легочной медицины протоколу диагностики и лечения пневмоторакса