THE RED PALM WEEVIL IN THE UAE: MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND RNAI-MEDIATED GENE SILENCING OF TWO CUTICLE-RELATED GENES

Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), threatens palm trees worldwide. A better understanding of this insect can help with designing an adequate management strategy. This study aimed to a better understand the morphological diversity of RPW and examined RNAi-mediated gene silencing of two cuticle-related genes, vestigial (vg) gene, and Laccase (Lac2) gene by injecting the last larval stage with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). For the morphological diversity study, adults of RPW were collected and classified by their prothoracic spots. Additional morphological characters were measured such as Pronotum Length (PL), Pronotum Width (PW), Elytra Length (EL), Elytra Width (EW), and total Length (L), as well as observing the density of the hair-like structure on the male rostrum. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, scatterplots to present data distribution within the typologies, box-and-whisker plots to show the distribution of the body length, Student t-test conducted to compare the body length (TL) between typologies, and percentage to reflect hair-like structure density. For RNAi experiments, total RNA was extracted and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was prepared to inject the RPW larva. For vg gene, two doses were used (1,800 ng and 5,600 ng), and 5,600 ng for Lac2 gene. To measure the expression level, quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed. The morphological study showed the presence of seven prothoracic spot typologies and addressed the morphological differences and the three levels of rostral setae on the male\u27s rostrum. Besides that, dsRNA had successfully silenced the vg and lac2 genes in R. ferrugineus, resulting in adults emerging with developmental abnormalities that can affect the insect\u27s survival and reproduction

Effect of Sn Addition on Phase Transformation Behavior of Equiatomic Ni-Ti Shape Memory Alloy

تمت دراسة تأثير Sn على سلوك التحول الطوري والبنية المجهرية والصلادة  الدقيقة لسبائك NiTi المتذكرة الشكل. تم إنتاج سبيكة نيكل تيتانيوم وسبيكة نيكل تيتانيوم قصدير بطريقة الصهر الحثي في الفراغ بتركيب  (Ni 50 % ،  50% Ti) و ( 48% Ni ، 50%Ti ، 2 % Sn). تم فحص خصائص كلتا السبيكتين باستخدام الماسح الحراري التفاضلي وتحليل حيود الأشعة السينية المجهر الالكتروني الماسح والمجهر الضوئي واختبار صلادة فيكر الدقيقة . أظهرت النتائج أن إضافة عنصر Sn تؤدي إلى انخفاض درجات حرارة التحول الطوري بشكل واضح. تحتوي كلتا عينات سبيكة على طور الاساس (NiTi) وطور Ti2Ni)) الثانوي ، ولكن محتوى طور Ti2Ni انخفض مع إضافة Sn وهذا احد الأسباب التي تؤدي إلى تقليل الصلادة الدقيقة للسبائك مع أضافة عنصر Sn بطريقة ملحوظة ، انخفضت الصلادة الدقيقة من 238.74 لسبيكة NiTi المتساوية التركيب إلى 202 لسبيكة NiTiSn بعد المعاملة الحرارية.Sn effect on the phase transformation behavior, microstructure, and micro hardness of equiatomic Ni-Ti shape memory alloy was studied. NiTi and NiTiSn alloys were produced using vacuum induction melting process with alloys composition (50% at. Ni, 50% at.Ti) and (Ni 48% at., Ti 50% at., Sn 2% at.). The characteristics of both alloys were investigated by utilizing Differential Scanning Calorimetry, X- ray Diffraction Analysis, Scanning Electron Microscope, optical microscope and vicker's micro hardness test. The results showed that adding Sn element leads to decrease the phase transformation temperatures evidently. Both alloy samples contain NiTi matrix phase and Ti2Ni secondary phase, but the Ti2Ni phase content decreases with Sn addition and this is one of the reasons that leads to decrease the micro hardness of alloy with adding Sn element in a noticeable manner. The micro hardness decreases from 238.74 for NiTi equiatomic alloy to 202 for NiTiSn alloy after heat treatment

La prevalencia del desgaste dental entre un grupo de adultos Yemeníes.

This study aimed at investigating tooth wear prevalence and determining the associated factors among a group of Yemeni adults. It is a preliminary cross-sectional and analytical investigation conducted on 600 participants aged 20–50 years. The participants were purposively selected from two main cities (Sana’a and Aden) with an equal sample size and divided equally by gender. For administering a questionnaire, interviews were conducted with all participants before clinically examining them. Using the Tooth Wear Index (TWI), tooth wear was assessed. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test to identify the relationship between tooth wear and associated factors., Tooth wear was prevalent among 78.67% of the participants; of which 64.83% were in anterior teeth, 63.83% in posterior teeth, 74% in maxillary teeth, and approximately 74.5% in mandibular teeth. It also was 100% prevalent in the 31-40 and 41-50 age groups, while it was 67.2% in the 20-30 age group. This showed that tooth wear prevalence was significantly higher in the two oldest groups than in the youngest group (p<0.001). Moreover, khat chewing, location, highly frequent consumption of foods and high frequency of acidic drinks consumption were critical indicators of tooth wear. Besides, a low education level, smoking and a low socio-economic status were associated with tooth wear. Finally, the study revealed that tooth wear is highly prevalent among adults in two Yemeni cities, and socio-behavioral risk indicators such as khat chewing and cigarette smoking have a significantly association with tooth wear.Este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar la prevalencia del desgaste dental y determinar los factores asociados en un grupo de adultos yemeníes. Es una investigación preliminar analítica y transversal que se lleva a cabo en 600 participantes de entre 20 y 50 años. Los participantes fueron seleccionados a propósito de dos ciudades principales (Sana’a y Aden) con un tamaño de muestra igual y divididos por igual por género. Para administrar un cuestionario, se realizaron entrevistas con todos los participantes antes de examinarlos clínicamente. Usando el Índice de Desgaste Dental, se evaluó el desgaste dental. Los datos se analizaron utilizando la prueba de chi-cuadrado para identificar la relación entre el desgaste dental y los factores asociados. El degaste dental tuvo una prevalencia del 78,67% de los participantes; de los cuales 64.83% en dientes anteriores, 63.83% en dientes posteriores, 74% en dientes maxilares y aproximadamente 74.5% en dientes mandibulares. Fue 100% prevalente en los grupos de edad 31-40 y 41-50, mientras que la prevalencia fue 67.2% en el grupo de edad 20-30. Esto demostró que la prevalencia del desgaste dental fue significativamente mayor en los dos grupos de personas mayores que en el grupo más joven (p<0.001). Además, mascar khat, la ubicación, el consumo muy frecuente de alimentos y la alta frecuencia de bebidas ácidas fueron indicadores críticos del desgaste dental. Además, el bajo nivel educativo, el tabaquismo y el bajo nivel socioeconómico se asociaron con el degaste dental. Finalmente, el estudio reveló que el desgaste dental es altamente prevalente entre los adultos en dos ciudades yemeníes, y los indicadores de riesgo socioconductual como la masticación de khat y el tabaquismo tienen una asociación significativa con el desgaste dental

Biotreatment of AL-KARAMA Teaching Hospital Wastewater Using Aerobic Packed Bed

This study is aimed to use the aerobic packed bed in biotreatment of the wastewater which is discharge from AL-KARAMA teaching hospital in Baghdad. The performance of packed-bed treatment method was examined for elimination of the organic compounds from wastewater under aerobic conditions. In this research different parameters were studied. They were: inoculums concentration, circulation rate of wastewater through the bed, packing type and the temperature. Results showed that the system efficiently removed about 82% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 80% of the Biological oxygen demand (BOD). Percent reduction in turbidity was about 92% and reduction in nitrate concentration was about 87%. It was found that best performance of the packed bed method was obtained at temperature of 37 oC, circulation rate of 10 L/min and inoculums concentration of 3%

Extraction and screening of various hydrolases from Malaysian channel catfish (ictalurus punctatus) viscera

Malaysia is a large producer of fish industry estimated to be 1.5million tonnes every year. 35-50% of the fish weight is its viscera, which is usually disposed into the landfills or sea leading to massive environmental problems. However, various hydrolases can be extracted from this highly potential by-product source. In this study, protease, lipase, α-amylase and cellulase activities were studied. Protein concentration of the whole viscera of Ictalurus punctatuswas 0.798596 mg/mL, protease gives the highest specific activity among the hydrolases (13.57 U/mg), cellulase was (1.43 U/mg), lipase (1.425 U/mg) and the α-amylase was (0.689 U/mg)

Study the Effect of Hydrolysis Variables on the Production of Soya Proteins Hydrolysis

This study was conducted to determine the effects of concentration of hydrochloric acids, temperature, and time on the hydrolysis of soya proteins (defatted soya flour) by determining the value of total protein nitrogen concentration, and amino nitrogen concentration of protein, peptides, and amino acids, and then calculated the hydrolysis rate of proteins.<br />The variables of the conditions of hydrolysis process was achieved in this study with the following range value of tests parameter: <br />Concentration of HCl solution ranged between 1-7 N, <br />Hydrolysis temperature ranged between 35-95 &#61616;C, and<br />The time of hydrolysis period ranged between 0.5-24 hr.<br />Experiments were designed according to the central composite rotatable design.<br />The practical study has shown the possibility of decreasing the negative effect of the acid on the biological characteristics of the protein; then affecting the possibility of using the product for biological purposes (for medical and microbiological laboratories) by:<br />Decreasing the acid concentration used in the process of hydrolysis, firstly, and <br />Decreasing the temperature of the hydrolysis process, secondly, and then <br />Increasing the period of the time of hydrolysis process, thirdly.<br /

Optical diagnostics of soot formation in low pressure laminar premixed flames

Soot particles generated during combustion processes enhance heat transfer by thermal radiation. These particles are harmful to human health; therefore, control of soot emissions from combustion systems and mitigation of their negative effects is highly desirable. Soot particle formation is a complex process involving many processes. These are nucleation, surface growth, coagulation, aggregation, and finally oxidation. These processes are not completely understood. The aim of this research was to apply optical diagnostics as a tool to better understand the inception phase and surface growth of soot particles in low pressure premixed laminar flames. The work described in this thesis is based on quasi-one-dimensional, premixed C2H4–air (plus other additives) laminar flames, stabilised on a McKenna burner. Three different flame settings were used to study the dependence of soot particle formation on pressure variation in the range of 48–27 kPa. Two flames were at stoichiometric ratios, at phi (Φ) of 2.1 and 2.3. The third flame, at Φ of 2.1 and pressure of 40 kPa, was chosen to evaluate the effect of gas additives on the soot formation process. Three gas additives to ethylene base flame (C2H4-air) were used. These gas additives are argon (Ar), nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Laser-induced incandescence (LII) was used to carefully measure the spatial profile of the soot volume fraction (fv). Spatially resolved emission spectroscopy was then utilised to measure two key radicals (CH* and C2*) and to verify the location of the flame front (yff) and soot particle temperature (Ts). Probe thermocouple was employed to measure gas temperature (Tg), while Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) was used to record the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) with 2 – 3 rings (2-3R), 3 – 4 rings (3-4 R) and >5 rings (>5 R). The gas velocity (v) was modelling by using the Ansys-Fluent software package. The time (t), at each axial location was calculated in a stepwise fashion, based on the modelled velocity profile. This helps to compute the soot surface growth rate and the phenomenological removing rates of PAH (2-3R) and PAH (3-4R). From Φ of 2.1 and 2.3 flames at different pressure settings, it was found that the thickness zone for CH*, used as an indicator of the flame front, was larger than for C2*. Furthermore, it was observed that the distance between the maximum recorded intensity of CH* and C2* decreased linearly with increasing pressure - with a slope of 25 × 10–9 ± 0.062 × 10–9 (mPa–1) and 28 × 10–9 ± 0.048 × 10–9 (mPa–1) for Φ of 2.1 and 2.3, respectively. It was found that the lowest value of fv was 0.0003 ppm, observed at a spatial location of 6 mm away from the burner surface. It was also observed that fv scales with pressure following a simple power function of the form fv = kPrn, where k is a scaling factor and n was measured at a value of 2.15 ± 0.7 and 1.5 ± 0.4 for Φ = 2.1 and Φ = 2.3, respectively. The analysis of soot particle surface growth pointed to a soot growth rate constant, kSG, of 20 s-1 for Φ of 2.1, whereas at Φ 2.3 the values of kSG was found to be 32 s-1, 25.13 s-1 and 12.11 s-1 for pressures of 27 kPa, 32 kPa and 35 kPa, respectively. This indicates that kSG has a weak dependence on the pressure and equivalence ratio. The measured values of Tg and Ts aligned well, with less than70 degrees difference between the two. The values for Tg that were measured from the first recorded soot particles were ~1465 ± 66 K. This was termed the ‘soot inception temperature’. The spatially phenomenological removing rate of PAHs with 2 – 3 rings (ℎ2−3) and 3 – 4 rings (ℎ3−4) were measured as 24.61 s–1 and 21.64 s–1, respectively, at Φ of 2.1 and pressure of 40 kPa. At a pressure of 27 kPa, the spatially phenomenological removing rate constants were measured as 15.29 s–1 and 18.26 s–1 for PAHs with 2 – 3 rings and 3 – 4 rings, respectively. This indicates that at a pressure of 40 kPa, (ℎ2−3) is faster than (ℎ3−4)by a factor of 1.14, whereas at a pressure of 27 kPa, (ℎ2−3) is faster than (ℎ2−3)by a factor of 1.19. At Φ = 2.3 and pressures of 40 kPa, (ℎ2−3) and (ℎ3−4)were found to be 23.33 s–1 and 16.9 s–1, respectively. This indicates that (ℎ2−3) is faster than (ℎ3−4)by a factor of 1.13 under these flame conditions. At Φ of 2.1 and pressure of 40 kPa and with respect to C2H4-air, it was found that fv decreased after addition of N2, CO2 and Ar. Ar was found to be the most effective additive for reducing fv, and increasing the soot surface growth rate constant. The soot surface growth rate constant (kSG) was calculated to be 8.3 s–1, 15.35 s–1, 35.65 s–1 and 60.35 s–1 for C2H4-air, C2H4-air:N2, C2H4-air:CO2 and C2H4-air:Ar, respectively. However, it was found that fv was reduced significantly in the presence of additives. The values of (ℎ2−3)were measured as 14.1 s–1, 20.58 s–1, 7.8 s–1 and 11.2 s–1 for C2H4-air, C2H4-air:N2, C2H4-air:CO2 and C2H4-air:Ar, respectively; whereas the values of (ℎ3−4) were measured as 10.3 s–1, 14.53 s–1, 4.7 s–1 and 3.9 s–1 for C2H4-air, C2H4-air:N2, C2H4-air:CO2 and C2H4-air:Ar, respectively. It was also observed that in these flames, the initial detection of the soot particles took place at a temperature of 1458.52 K, 1414.51 K, 1406.21 K, and 1377.16 K for C2H4-air, C2H4-air:N2, C2H4-air:CO2 and C2H4-air:Ar, respectively.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials, 201

Smart internet of things kindergarten garbage observation system using Arduino uno

Increase the in population and kindergarten number, especially in urban areas made it difficult to properly manage waste. Thus, this paper proposed a system dedicated to kindergartens to manage to dispose of waste, the system can be called smart garbage based on internet of things (SGI). To ensure a healthy environment and an intelligent waste in the kindergarten management system in an integrated manner and supported by the internet of things (IoT), we presented it in detail identification, the SGI system includes details like a display system, an automatic lid system, and a communication system. This system supplied capabilities to monitor the status of waste continuously and on IoT website can show the percentage of waste placed inside the bin. And by using a Wi-Fi communication system, between the system unit and the monitoring body, to collect waste when the trash is full. The smart system proposed in this paper is the most efficient system of traditional waste management systems because it reduces the use of manpower and significantly limits the spread of waste and fully controls it. Additionally, it can be linked via the IoT to the mobile, thus forming an integrated monitoring system

Knowledge and Attitude of Population Towards Iodized Salt in Shendi Locality River Nile State in Sudan

Background: Iodine is observed as one of the most important trace elements in the human body, which is considered very essential during the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Iodine deficiency in humans can cause several diseases or problems, which include spontaneous abortion, increased infant mortality, cretinism, goiter, and mental defects. Methods: The study was conducted as a community based descriptive crosssectional study to determine the knowledge and attitude of the population towards iodized salt in Shendi locality, River Nile State, Sudan, during the period of 2013. In this study, 636 households were included. Questionnaire and observations were used as tools for data collection. The households were selected through a multistage cluster-sampling technique, 636 respondents were selected through systemic random sampling. Results: The study found that the knowledge of the respondents about iodized salt was poor. Out of 636 subjects, 356 (56%) were aware of iodine as a nutritional element. 279 (43.9%) identified that iodine is a chemical element. More than half of the respondents, 355(55.8%), were aware of sources of iodine in foods. The data showed that 299 (47%) of the respondents were aware of the main type of food which contains iodine. 356(56%) were aware of the fact that iodine deficiency had significant influence on the body. In addition, study revealed that 261(41%) of participant were aware of iodized salt. Only 48% of the population knew that iodized salt is necessary to alleviate iodine deficiency disorder. Conclusion: Based on our findings, we conclude that the household has poor knowledge, negative attitude, and poor practice about iodized salt. Hence, health authority should have to develop health education programs to increase the awareness of households about the significance of iodized salt. Also, it involves a proper handling of a continual and effective use of media for broadcasting health education programs