The basement and tectonism of the river Jama’are floodplain: deduction from DC resistivity data

The analysis of DC resistivity data of part of the River Jama’are Floodplain, Northeastern Nigeria was carried out with a view to mapping the basement and the subsurface structures. One hundred and six Schlumberger Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) stations located at the corners of a 225 x 225m square grid network were occupied. The interelectrode spacing (AB/2) was varied from 1-225m. Results identified four subsurface geologic layers; topsoil, alluvial sand, Chad Formation/weathered column and basement bedrock as undulating and basal unit at different depths. Four major parallel basement depressions suspected to be regional faults striking approximately NW-SE were delineated. This trend correlated with the general trend of the regional structures in the Chad Basin. The isopach maps of the topsoil and alluvial sand mirrored a more recent NE-SW trend that correlated with the Tibesti-Cameroon trough. However, this recent induced tectonics was adjudged significant to hydrogeology in the area.KEYWORDS: Resistivity, floodplain, basement, sounding, tectonics, hydrogeolog

The Use of Substitution Table in Teaching Writing Among Primary School Students

This action research was conducted with the aim to enhance the teaching of writing skills by using the substitution table as a teaching technique to improve teaching writing skills, consequently leading to an improvement in Second Language learners' writing skills in the English Language. The substitution table was used to teach pupils the rules about writing simple sentences correctly besides training and drilling them in wiring simple sentences. Participants of this action research were ten students of Year 3 from one of the schools in Pasir Gudang district, Johor. The data was collected via document analysis. Results showed that use of a substitution table facilitated in teaching about writing skills, which consequently led to the improvement in the pupils' simple sentence writing skills. The researcher discovered that pupils were interested and motivated when teachers used the substitution table to teach writing simple sentences. They also managed to write simple sentences without any errors

Pattern of functional diversity along the elevation gradient in the dry evergreen Afromontane forest of Hararghe Highland, Southeast Ethiopia

Understanding plant species distribution patterns along environmental gradients is fundamental to managing ecosystems, particularly when habitats are fragmented due to intensive human land use pressure. The variation pattern of functional diversity of plant communities along the elevation gradient in the Dindin dry evergreen Afromontane forest was tested. Fifty four plots of 20 x 20 m (400 m2) were established at 200 m intervals starting 2,300–2,900 m a. s. l. and woody species composition, and environmental variables were recorded. Nine functional diversity indices based on functional distances were employed to esimate functional diversity. The mixed effect model was used to determine the effect of elevation, aspect and slope on functional diversity indices. The results showed that functional diversity in communities varied greatly; functional diversity revealed a decrease with increasing elevation and a‘‘humped’’ pattern, with peak diversity appearing at middle elevation. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with elevation, slope, and aspect. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with species richness and evenness. Environmental filtering was important to the functional diversity pattern; the nine indices were all successful in the analysis of functional diversity in the plant community with different effectiveness, and modified functional attribute diversity, plot-based functional diversity, community based functional diversity, functional richness, and community weight mean of woody density performed better than the other four indices in this study

Development of Fuzzy Logic Control for Indoor Lighting Using LEDs Group

This paper presents the design and the development of an indoor lighting control based on fuzzy logic controller (FLC). The objective of this study is to demonstrate how the FLC can optimize the lighting based on indoor and outdoor lighting environments. The FLC system uses two inputs with Light Dependent Resistors (LDR) as a sensor at indoor and outdoor lighting environments. The output is Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to provide lighting at the room automatically. The Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is used to adjust the LEDs lighting in the room. FLC has successfully demonstrated performance to control the output of LEDs as needed. If the LDR 1 input as indoor sensor shows dim, it will automatically turn on brightly. The MSE values for simulation and experiment of LDR 1 and LDR 2 were 34.42 and 30.11 respectively. The results of FLC performance in the simulation work are further validated by an experimental work. Experimental results show similarities compared to the simulation results

Complete Sequences of Organelle Genomes from the Medicinal Plant Rhazya Stricta (Apocynaceae) and Contrasting Patterns of Mitochondrial Genome Evolution Across Asterids

Rhazya stricta is native to arid regions in South Asia and the Middle East and is used extensively in folk medicine to treat a wide range of diseases. In addition to generating genomic resources for this medicinally important plant, analyses of the complete plastid and mitochondrial genomes and a nuclear transcriptome from Rhazya provide insights into inter-compartmental transfers between genomes and the patterns of evolution among eight asterid mitochondrial genomes. Results: The 154,841 bp plastid genome is highly conserved with gene content and order identical to the ancestral organization of angiosperms. The 548,608 bp mitochondrial genome exhibits a number of phenomena including the presence of recombinogenic repeats that generate a multipartite organization, transferred DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes, and bidirectional DNA transfers between the mitochondrion and the nucleus. The mitochondrial genes sdh3 and rps14 have been transferred to the nucleus and have acquired targeting presequences. In the case of rps14, two copies are present in the nucleus; only one has a mitochondrial targeting presequence and may be functional. Phylogenetic analyses of both nuclear and mitochondrial copies of rps14 across angiosperms suggests Rhazya has experienced a single transfer of this gene to the nucleus, followed by a duplication event. Furthermore, the phylogenetic distribution of gene losses and the high level of sequence divergence in targeting presequences suggest multiple, independent transfers of both sdh3 and rps14 across asterids. Comparative analyses of mitochondrial genomes of eight sequenced asterids indicates a complicated evolutionary history in this large angiosperm clade with considerable diversity in genome organization and size, repeat, gene and intron content, and amount of foreign DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes. Conclusions: Organelle genomes of Rhazya stricta provide valuable information for improving the understanding of mitochondrial genome evolution among angiosperms. The genomic data have enabled a rigorous examination of the gene transfer events. Rhazya is unique among the eight sequenced asterids in the types of events that have shaped the evolution of its mitochondrial genome. Furthermore, the organelle genomes of R. stricta provide valuable genomic resources for utilizing this important medicinal plant in biotechnology applications.King Abdulaziz UniversityIntegrative Biolog

IMPLEMENTATION OF NEURAL - CRYPTOGRAPHIC SYSTEM USING FPGA

Modern cryptography techniques are virtually unbreakable. As the Internet and other forms of electronic communication become more prevalent, electronic security is becoming increasingly important. Cryptography is used to protect e-mail messages, credit card information, and corporate data. The design of the cryptography system is a conventional cryptography that uses one key for encryption and decryption process. The chosen cryptography algorithm is stream cipher algorithm that encrypt one bit at a time. The central problem in the stream-cipher cryptography is the difficulty of generating a long unpredictable sequence of binary signals from short and random key. Pseudo random number generators (PRNG) have been widely used to construct this key sequence. The pseudo random number generator was designed using the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) providing the required nonlinearity properties that increases the randomness statistical properties of the pseudo random generator. The learning algorithm of this neural network is backpropagation learning algorithm. The learning process was done by software program in Matlab (software implementation) to get the efficient weights. Then, the learned neural network was implemented using field programmable gate array (FPGA)

Wideband Smaller Unit-Cell Planar EBG Structures and Their Application

A new low-cost smaller unit-cell planar electromagnetic bandgap (ERG) structure operating at the lower GHz frequencies (below 6 GHz) is proposed. ERG structures based on this new geometry are designed on a number of commonly available substrates. Characteristics of such structures, such as bandgap and reflection phase profile are analyzed. a simple empirical model is proposed to predict the surface wave stopband frequency of the proposed ERG structure. Finally, a low-profile dipole antenna is designed and tested for operation on the ERG structure

Estimation of the Electric Properties of Al/Cv System

ان الخصائص الكهربائية لنظام نبيطة Al/Cv  درس وفقا لوصف وحساب معدل الانتقال الالكتروني بالاعتماد على الحسابات النظرية والانموذج النظري. استخدم انموذج كلاسيكي مع انموذج نظري لوصف معدل الالكترونات عند ملتقى معدن الالمنيوم وصبغة Cv. اثنان من المذيبات الداياثير و الاسيتونترايل استعمل مع نظام هجين ولمختلف الاطوال الموجية 600,625,650,675 و nm 700  الممتصة حيث ان النظام درس في درجة حرارة الغرفة. تأثير طاقة الانتقال والجهد والطاقة الممتصة على معدل الانتقال لنظام سطحي Al/Cv  درست. معدل الالكترونات لنظام Al/Cv  وجد بأنه يتزايد بتزايد طاقة الانتقال وتزايد الاطوال الموجية وتناقص الجهد لكلا وسطي المذيب. نتائجنا اظهرت انه عند الطاقات العالية للانتقال وتزايد الاطوال الموجية فأن النظام له خصائص كهربائية جيدة والعكس بالعكس. ان مذيب الاستون اكثر ملائم للانتقال الالكتروني لنظام Al/Cv.The electric properties of Al/Cv device system has been studied according to investigating and calculation the electron transport rate based on theoretical calculation and transition model. A classical model coupled with quantum model has been used to describe the rate of electrons at contact of Al metal with Crystal violet [Tris (4-(dimethylamino) phenyl methylium chloride] (Cv) dye has chemical formula C25H30CIN3. Two solvent Diethyl ether and Acetonitrile are used with non-homogeneous system for different absorption wave length 600,625,650,675 and 700 nm for Cv dye and the system is studied at room temperature. The effect of transition energy, potential and absorption energy on the transport rate in Al/Cv interface are studied and discussed. Rate of electrons in Al/Cv system is founded to be increasing with increasing the transition energy, increasing wave length and decreasing the potential for system in both solvents media.  Our result shows that, at large transition energy and increasing wave length, the system has good electric properties  and vice versa .Data show that Acetonitrile solvent is more suitable media for better electronic transfer rate  in Al/Cv dye system

Saudi SCD patients’ symptoms and quality of life relative to the number of ED visits

Background Individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD) have significantly increased emergency department (ED) use compared to the general population. In Saudi Arabia, health care is free for all individuals and therefore has no bearing on increased ED visits. However, little is known about the relationship between quality of life (QoL) and frequency of acute care utilization in this patient population. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 366 patients with SCD who attended the outpatient department at King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through self-administered surveys, which included: demographics, SCD-related ED visits, clinical issues, and QoL levels. We assessed the ED use by asking for the number of SCD-related ED visits within a 6-month period. Results The self-report survey of ED visits was completed by 308 SCD patients. The median number of SCD-related ED visits within a 6-month time period (IQR) was four (2-7 visits). According to the unadjusted negative binomial model, the rate of SCD-related ED visits increased by (46, 39.3, 40, and 53.5 %) for patients with fever, skin redness with itching, swelling, and blood transfusion, respectively. Poor QoL tends to increase the rate of SCD-related ED visits. Well education and poor general health positively influenced the rate of SCD-related ED visits. Well education tends to increase the rate of SCD-related ED visits by 50.2 %. The rate of SCD-related ED visits decreased by 1.4 % for every point increase in general health. Conclusion Saudi patients with sickle cell disease reported a wide range of SCD-related ED visits. It was estimated that six of 10 SCD patients had at least three ED visits within a 6-month period. Well education and poor general health resulted in an increase in the rate of SCD-related ED visits

Prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among low risk pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic in tertiary hospital: a cross sectional study

Background: The current study aims to identify the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among low-risk pregnant women attending the antenatal care clinic of tertiary University Hospital and to detect the most common causative organisms.Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary University Hospital in the period between 1st November 2017 and 31st June 2018. All eligible women attending the outpatient clinic for antenatal care were approached to participate in the study. The recruited women were assessed through detailed history and clinical examination. Urine samples were taken for culture and sensitivity within two hours, in order to avoid bacterial multiplication. Urine culture and antibiotic sensitivity test were done.Results: The study included 250 women. The mean age of included women was 25.89±5.49 (18-42 years). The urine analysis results showed that 32% of cases had pus cells >5 per high power field and 10.4% of cases have protein (+). Casts were present in 0.8% of cases. RBCs >5 per high power field were present in 4.8% of cases. ASB is defined as urine culture with more than 100,000 colony forming unit; this was present in 30 cases. This indicates that the prevalence of ASB among studied cases was 12%. Enterococcus was the most prevalent organism as it was present in 36.7% among positive cases. Antibiotic sensitivity test was performed to the growing organisms indicated that teicoplanin, imipenem, cefoxitin, cefotaxime + clavulanic acid, Entrapenem, and trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole are the most effective antibiotics against the most common organisms causing asymptomatic bacteriuria.Conclusions: The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among low-risk pregnant women is about 12%. Urine culture for asymptomatic bacteriuria should be the standard of care for evaluation of pregnant patient during antenatal care as regard presence or absence of UTI