Counselor Education Admissions: A Selection Process that Highlights Candidate Self-Awareness and Personal Characteristics

This article describes an experiential model for applicant selection in a master‟s level counselor education graduate program. While nonintellectual aspects are emphasized in the model, some traditional measures are also considered. The program‟s emphasis on counselor self-awareness and personal characteristics is articulated. A discussion of the model\u27s rationale, the interpersonal aspects of candidate selection and a discussion of the group- oriented interviewing process is provided. Contemporary and future challenges for application selection models in Counselor Education programs are articulated

Screening for hen’s egg and chicken meat specific IgE antibodies in Saudi patients with allergic disorders

Background: Allergy to hen’s egg and meat contributes significantly to the manifestations of food allergy all over the world.Objectives: This study was performed to assess the presence of hen’s egg and meat specific IgE antibodies among patients investigated for various allergic disorders.Methods. This is a retrospective study performed at King Khalid University Hosptial, Riyadh. Data from 421 patients with allergic disorders screened for food specific IgE antibodies between January 2009 and March 2011 were analyzed. Sixty (14.25%) patients including 42 males and 18 females with the mean age (sd) of 7.5 (7.4) years were found to have specific IgE antibodies against hen’s egg and chicken meat. There were 56 (93.3%) children and 4 (6.7%) adult patients. Specific IgE antibodies were measured by radioallergosorbent test (RAST) using Pharmacia ImmunoCAP 250 analyzer.Results: Atopic dermatitis was the most common (55%) clinical condition. Out of the total 60 patients harboring hen’s egg and chicken meat specific IgE antibodies high levels of egg white, yolk and chicken meat specific IgEs were detected in 58 (96.6%), 37 (61.6%) and 6 (10%) patients respectively. Both the egg white and yolk antibodies coexisted in 35 (58.3%) patients.Conclusion: Sensitization against hen’s egg was higher compared to the chicken meat. Egg white sensitization higher than the egg yolk particularly in Saudi children with food related allergic disorders.Key words: Allergy, atopic dermatitis, chicken meat, hen’s egg, IgE antibodie

Ni incorporation in MgFe2O4 for improved CO splitting activity during solar fuel production

Efficacy of the sol–gel derived Ni-doped Mg-ferrites for an enhanced CO2 splitting activity is investigated. The results allied with the characterization indicate the formation of nominally phase pure Ni-doped Mg-ferrites with a coarser particle morphology. Ni-doped Mg-ferrites are further tested for multiple thermal reduction as well as CO2 splitting steps by using a thermogravimetric analyzer. The results associated with the thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that most of the Ni-doped Mg-ferrites attained a steady TR aptitude after crossing the 5th or 6th cycle. Likewise, the CS capability of all the Ni-doped Mg-ferrites accomplished consistency after 4th cycle (except for Ni0.11Mg0.88Fe2.01O4.005). The Ni0.90Mg0.11Fe2.04O4.070 showed the highest amount of O2 release (117.1 μmol/g cycle) and CO production (210.3 μmol/g cycle) in ten consecutive thermochemical cycles. Besides, Ni0.29Mg0.72Fe1.98O3.980 indicated better re-oxidation aptitude (nCO/nO2 ratio = 1.89) when compared with other Ni-doped Mg-ferrites

Hydrogen induced optically-active defects in silicon photonic nanocavities

This work was supported by Era-NET NanoSci LECSIN project coordinated by F. Priolo, by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, FIRB contract No. RBAP06L4S5 and by the EPSRC UKSp project. Partial financial support by the Norwegian Research Council is also acknowledged.We demonstrate intense room temperature photoluminescence (PL) from optically active hydrogen- related defects incorporated into crystalline silicon. Hydrogen was incorporated into the device layer of a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer by two methods: hydrogen plasma treatment and ion implantation. The room temperature PL spectra show two broad PL bands centered at 1300 and 1500 nm wavelengths: the first one relates to implanted defects while the other band mainly relates to the plasma treatment. Structural characterization reveals the presence of nanometric platelets and bubbles and we attribute different features of the emission spectrum to the presence of these different kind of defects. The emission is further enhanced by introducing defects into photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavities. Transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that the isotropicity of plasma treatment causes the formation of a higher defects density around the whole cavity compared to the ion implantation technique, while ion implantation creates a lower density of defects embedded in the Si layer, resulting in a higher PL enhancement. These results further increase the understanding of the nature of optically active hydrogen defects and their relation with the observed photoluminescence, which will ultimately lead to the development of intense and tunable crystalline silicon light sources at room temperature.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

EXPERIMENTAL TRIALS OF LIVE ATTENUATED AND INACTIVATED STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS VACCINES IN RABBITS

This study was conducted as a preliminary step on the rabbits for comparative efficacy of different vaccines of Staphylococcus aureus. Typical alpha-beta Staph. aureus species from a clinically affected mastitic buffalo was isolated. After proper identification based on cultural and morphological characteristics and API-Staph Trac system, a selected Staph. aureus isolate was used to prepare four different mastitis vaccines (Bacterin, oil-adjuvanted, dextran sulphate adjuvanted and live attenuated) after confirmation for pathogenicity and antigenicity, followed by its safety and sterility evaluation. Vaccines were tried in 25 rabbits divided into 5 equal groups. A separate vaccine was administered s/c @ 0.2 ml per animal and boosted at 15 days later. It was found that IHA antibody titers were higher (GMT 32-128) in live attenuated, dextran sulphate adjuvanted (GMT 32-128) and oil-adjuvanted (GMT 16-64) than the bacterin treated (GMT 16-32) group. All the vaccines showed an apparent immune response than the unvaccinated control group

Self-healing performance of multifunctional polymeric smart coatings

Multifunctional nanocomposite coatings were synthesized by reinforcing a polymeric matrix with halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) loaded with corrosion inhibitor (NaNO3) and urea formaldehyde microcapsules (UFMCs) encapsulated with a self-healing agent (linseed oil (LO)). The developed polymeric nanocomposite coatings were applied on the polished mild steel substrate using the doctor's blade technique. The structural (FTIR, XPS) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses reveal the loading of HNTs with NaNO3and encapsulation of UFMCs with linseed oil. It was observed that self-release of the inhibitor from HNTs in response to pH change was a time dependent process. Nanocomposite coatings demonstrate decent self-healing effects in response to the external controlled mechanical damage. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic analysis (EIS) indicates promising anticorrosive performance of novel nanocomposite coatings. Observed corrosion resistance of the developed smart coatings may be attributed to the efficient release of inhibitor and self-healing agent in response to the external stimuli. Polymeric nanocomposite coatings modified with multifunctional species may offer suitable corrosion protection of steel in the oil and gas industry. - 2019 by the authors.Acknowledgments: This publication was made possible by NPRP Grant 9-080-2-039 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation). Statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. This research work was also partially supported by QU internal grant-QUCG-CAM-2018/2019-3

Screening of systemic fungicides and biochemicals against seed borne mycoflora associated with Momordica charantia

Study of seed borne fungi associated with bitter gourd seeds were conducted under in vitro condition in Department of Plant Pathology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan. Two hundred (200) seed samples of Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) were collected from southern regions of Punjab province (Multan, Khanewal and Bahawalpur). Six fungal species were isolated out of which Aspergillus flavus showed highest percentage that is, 27.3% followed by Rhizopus stolonifer 17.98%, Alternaria alternata 13.34%, Aspergillus niger 5.23%, Myrothecium roridum 7.37% and Fusarium solani 6.69%. More number of fungi was observed by using blotter paper technique when compared with agar plate method. Of the three systemic fungicides used include ridomil gold MZ, bavistin, and score; and two low cost chemicals such as salicylic acid and boric acid. Ridomil gold MZ gave good results at all concentrations (20, 30 and 40 mg/10 ml) against all the isolated fungi compared with other fungicides. Salicyclic acid gave the best results against isolated fungi compared to boric acid.Key words: Myrothecium roridum, bitter gourd, salicyclic acid, southern Punjab, bavistin, Pakistan

Instability in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells due to elemental migration and chemical composition changes

Organic-inorganic halide perovskites have rapidly grown as favorable materials for photovoltaic applications, but accomplishing long-term stability is still a major research problem. This work demonstrates a new insight on instability and degradation factors in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells aging with time in open air. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to investigate the compositional changes caused by device degradation over the period of 1000 hrs. XPS spectra confirm the migration of metallic ions from the bottom electrode (ITO) as a key factor causing the chemical composition change in the perovskite layer besides the diffusion of oxygen. XPS results are in good agreement with the crystallographic marks. Glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GD-OES) has also been performed on the samples to correlate the XPS results. Based on the experimental results, fundamental features that account for the instability in the perovskite solar cell is discussed. - 2017 The Author(s).The authors are thankful to the Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), Qatar University for the laboratory support during the experimental work. The authors are also grateful to the Gas Processing Center (GPC), Qatar University for providing the XPS analysis facility. Thanks to HORIBA Scientific – Jocelyne Marciano, Sofia Gaiaschi and Patrick Chapon for the GD measurements and interpretation. This publication was also made possible by NPRP grant # 6-175-2-070 from Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Surrogate-based optimization of tidal turbine arrays: a case study for the Faro-Olhão inlet

This paper presents a study for estimating the size of a tidal turbine array for the Faro-Olhão Inlet (Potugal) using a surrogate optimization approach. The method compromises problem formulation, hydro-morphodynamic modelling, surrogate construction and validation, and constraint optimization. A total of 26 surrogates were built using linear RBFs as a function of two design variables: number of rows in the array and Tidal Energy Converters (TECs) per row. Surrogates describe array performance and environmental effects associated with hydrodynamic and morphological aspects of the multi inlet lagoon. After validation, surrogate models were used to formulate a constraint optimization model. Results evidence that the largest array size that satisfies performance and environmental constraints is made of 3 rows and 10 TECs per row.Eduardo González-Gorbeña has received funding for the OpTiCA project (http://msca-optica.eu/) from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of the European Union's H2020-MSCA-IF-EF-RI-2016 / GA#: 748747. The paper is a contribution to the SCORE pro-ject, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT–PTDC/AAG-TEC/1710/2014). André Pacheco was supported by the Portuguese Foun-dation for Science and Technology under the Portuguese Researchers’ Programme 2014 entitled “Exploring new concepts for extracting energy from tides” (IF/00286/2014/CP1234).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio