School principals apply total quality management in the al-Batinah north governorate in the Sultanate of Oman and its impact on teacher performance = تطبيق مديري المدارس لإدارة الجودة الشاملة في محافظة شمال الباطنة بسلطنة عمان وأثرها على أداء المعلمين

This study aimed to find out the application of school principals for total quality management in the North Al Batinah Governorate and its impact on the performance of teachers. The study population )consisted of 10390 teachers, and the study sample was chosen( )from 450 teachers from the schools in the North Al Batinah( Governorate, in a randomized probabilistic way, The study adopted the quantitative approach, using the Smart PLS program, through confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis, and used a developed tool for measurement, according to the study goals and reached the following results, that the application of school management to total quality management, a positive impact on the performance of teachers, has been presented a number of Recommendations based on the results of the study. ******************************************************************************* هدفت هذه الدراسة لمعرفة تطبيق مديري المدارس لإدارة الجودة الشاملة في محافظة شمال الباطنة واثرها في على أداء المعلمين، وتكون مجتمع الدراسة من (10390) معلمًا ومعلمة، واختيرت عينة الدراسة من (450) معلم ومعلمة، من مدارس محافظة شمال الباطنة، بالطريقة الاحتمالية العشوائية، واعتمدت الدراسة المنهج الكمي، باستخدام برنامج، من خلال التحليل العاملي التوكيدي، وتحليل المسار، واستخدمت أداة مطورة للقياس، وفقا لأهداف الدراسة وتوصلت للنتائج الآتية، أن لتطبيق الإدارة المدرسية لإدارة الجودة الشاملة، تأثير إجابي على أداء المعلمين، وقد تم تقديم عدد من التوصيات بناء على نتائج الدراسة

Performance of Food Waste Feeding Pilot Plant Biodigester Operated with Identified Potential Substrate Properties

Anaerobic digestion has been proven as sustainable process technology for organic waste conversion into renewable bio-energy. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of mono-digestion process for different types of food waste substrates using pilot scale anaerobic bio-digester (1200 L) in terms of biogas production and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) test of rice waste (R), vegetable waste (VW) and coconut meat residue (CMR) were tested at initial volatile solid (VS) loading of 0.1631, 1.1690, 1.0059 g VS/L, respectively at fixed inoculum/substrate (I/S) ratio of 0.5. Further study conducted by using rice waste (R) in pilot plant anaerobic bio-digester (1200L) for 43 days to investigate the reactor performance in term of COD removal efficiency. Interestingly, inoculum used for this study performs very well and able to digest food waste. Results demonstrate that the maximum specific biogas yield (SBY) was observed from rice waste (R) at 0.0587 L/kg VS compared to other substrates. Specific biogas yield (SBY) of rice waste (R) was 16.01% and 11.92% higher than substrate vegetable waste (VW) and coconut meat residue (CMR) respectively. High COD removal efficiency of pilot plant bio-digester (up to 93 %) using rice waste (R) as sole substrate indicates a good performance of reactor in treating food waste. Conversion of food waste to biogas in pilot plant bio-digester is highly potential as one of the sustainable waste treatment technolog

An Investigation on I-V Characteristic for CMOS PIN Photodiode: Variable I-Layer

In this paper presented an investigation on I-V characteristic for CMOS PIN Photodiode. PIN diodes are widely used in optics and microwave circuits as it acts as a current controlled resistor at these frequencies. PIN diode performance is greatly influenced by the geometrical size of the device, especially in the intrinsic region. Two different I-layer thickness of PIN diode structure has been designed using Sentaurus Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) tools. The I-layer thickness (or width) is varied from 4 µm to 8 µm in order to investigate its effects on the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. These structures were design based on CMOS process. Keyword - PIN Photodiode, Silvaco TCAD, IV Characteristic, Reverse Bias

Bilinear pairings computation using the extended double-base chains algorithm

Elliptic curve (EC) pairings have been the focus of attention of researchers and cryptographers, especially after identity-based cryptosystems(IBC) were proposed in 2001. The Weil and Tate pairing is considered as the most important pairings used in cryptographical protocols and their applications. The computation efficiency of the Weil and Tate pairings mainly depends on the efficiency of the EC scalar multplications algorithms used. In this paper, we compute the Tate pairing using multi-base number representation(MBNR) system in scalar multiplication instead of using binary representation as used in Miller’s algorithm and in the double-base (DB) chain used by Changan Zhao et al. We show that using doubling, tripling and quintupling in scalar multiplication, computation of the Tate pairing and its applications can be significantly enhanced

Assessment of aflatoxin B1 content and aflatoxigenic molds in imported food commodities in Muscat, Oman

Aflatoxins, mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus are considered as serious food safety and human health issues due to their hepatotoxic effects. In the present study, the occurrence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), the most potent human liver carcinogen, and prevalence of toxigenic isolates of Aspergillus spp. were assessed in 140 food commodities in Muscat markets, Oman, and the 95 quarantined imported food commodities. These samples consisted of rice, corn, peanut, red chilli powder, soybean, dried dates and tree nuts. AFB1 was analyzed using competitive ELISA/LC-MS and the aflatoxigenic fungi were detected using plating technique followed by molecular identification. No AFB1 was detected in 89 (63.6%) samples collected from local markets, while 44 (31.4%) samples contained 1-5 ppb and the remaining 7 (5%) samples (red chili powder) contained 6-10 ppb. None of the samples exceeded the maximum permissible limit of 10 ppb set for foods by Oman legislation. Of the 95 quarantined samples, only 17 (17.9%) samples were positive and contained AFB1 at concentrations ranging from 1-3.4 ppb. Four isolates of Aspergillus pp. were isolated from the collected samples and were identified as Aspergillus flavus (A14, A16 and A23) and A. chevalieri (A46) on the basis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of ribosomal DNA. Among them, A. flavus strain A14 alone produced AFB1 (7.6 ppb), while A16, A23, and A46 were non-toxigenic. This is the first detailed report on the occurrence of AFB1 in food commodities imported into Oman

Comparison between the BACTEC MGIT 960 system and the agar proportion method for susceptibility testing of multidrug resistant tuberculosis strains in a high burden setting of South Africa

BACKGROUND: The increasing problem of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) [ie resistant to at least isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF)] is becoming a global problem. Successful treatment outcome for MDR-TB depends on reliable and accurate drug susceptibility testing of first-line and second-line anti-TB drugs. METHOD: Consecutive M. tuberculosis isolates identified as MDR-TB during August 2007 to January 2008 using the BACTEC MGIT 960 systems and the agar proportion method were included in this study. Susceptibility testing of MDR-TB isolates against ethambutol (EMB) and streptomycin (STR) as well as two second-line anti-TB drugs, kanamycin (KAN) and ofloxacin (OFX) was performed using the BACTEC MGIT 960 systems at a routine diagnostic laboratory. The results were compared to those obtained by the agar proportion method. RESULT: The agreement between the BACTEC MGIT 960 system and the agar proportion method was 44% for EMB, 61% for STR and 89% for both KAN and OFX. The sensitivity and specificity of the BACTEC MGIT 960 system using the agar proportion method as a gold standard was 92% and 37% for EMB, 95% and 37% for STR, 27% and 97% for KAN and 84% and 90% for OFX, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The BACTEC MGIT 960 system showed acceptable sensitivity for EMB, STR, and OFX; however, the BACTEC MGIT 960 system was less specific for EMB and STR and demonstrated a low sensitivity for KAN. The lower agreement found between the two methods suggests the unreliability of the BACTEC MGIT 960 system for the drugs tested. The reasons for the lower agreement between the two methods need to be investigated and further studies are needed in this setting to confirm the study finding.The project was supported by a grant from the NHLS.http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/12/369am2013ay201

Analytical performance of the Roche Lightcycler® Mycobacterium Detection Kit for the diagnosis of clinically important mycobacterial species

BACKGROUND: The LightCyclerH Mycobacterium Detection Kit based on real-time PCR technology for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium kansasii was recently developed. This study evaluated its analytical sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Plasmid standards were prepared and used to determine the limit of detection. The assay was also performed against organisms other than mycobacteria, other mycobacterial strains and interfering substances to exclude cross-reactivity and interference. Reference standards were prepared and tested to assess the assay’s reproducibility. All PCR assays were performed using the LightCyclerH 2.0 Instrument. The detection limit for M. tuberculosis was 28 copies per microlitre. Neither cross-reactivity nor interference occurred with non-mycobacterial organisms and substances tested. Overall reproducibility for consecutive measurements, run-to-run, lot-to-lot, day-to-day and laboratory-to-laboratory achieved a coefficient of variance of less than two percent. SIGNIFICANCE: The LightCyclerH Mycobacterium Detection kit has shown to be a robust and accurate assay with the potential to be used as a rapid TB diagnostic test.http://www.plosone.or

Molecular characterization and second-line antituberculosis drug resistance patterns of multidrug-resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from the Northern Region of South Africa

Despite South Africa being one of the high-burden multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) countries, information regarding the population structure of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains is limited from many regions of South Africa. This study investigated the population structure and transmission patterns of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates in a highburden setting of South Africa as well as the possible association of genotypes with drug resistance and demographic characteristics. A total of 336 consecutive MDR-TB isolates from four provinces of South Africa were genotyped using spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit–variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing. Drug susceptibility testing for ofloxacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin was performed using the agar proportion method. The results showed that 4.8% of MDR-TB isolates were resistant to ofloxacin, 2.7% were resistant to kanamycin, and 4.5% were resistant to capreomycin, while 7.1% were extensively drug resistant (XDR), and the remaining 83.6% were susceptible to all of the second-line drugs tested. Spoligotyping grouped 90.8% of the isolates into 25 clusters, while 9.2% isolates were unclustered. Ninety-one percent of the 336 isolates were assigned to 21 previously described shared types, with the Beijing family being the predominant genotype in the North-West and Limpopo Provinces, while the EAI1_SOM family was the predominant genotype in the Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces. No association was found between genotypes and specific drug resistance patterns or demographic information. The high level of diversity and the geographical distribution of the drug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates in this study suggest that the transmission of TB in the study settings is not caused by the clonal spread of a specific M. tuberculosis strain.http://jcm.asm.org/am2013ay201