297 research outputs found

    Effect of carbofuran on the diversity and mean abundance of ground spiders

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    The effect of carbofuran on the diversity, richness, evenness and abundance of ground spiders is documented in the present study. Two fields (control and treated) were selected in district Kasur during 2008 and 2009. Pitfall traps were used to collect ground spiders. A total of 1629 specimens of spiders, belonging to 8 families, 16 genera and 24 species were recoded from control field while 1173 specimens belonging to 8 families, 14 genera and 20 species were recorded from the treated field. The most dominant family and species in both the fields were Lycosidae and Lycosa terrestris, respectively. Family Lycosidae accounted more than 90% of the total spider sample. Diversity, richness and evenness of ground spiders in the treated and untreated field did not differ. However, the abundance of dominat spiders declined significantly in the carbofuran treated field. It is concluded that the use of carbofuran is a serious threat to the ground spiders, the important group of biological control agents. So, the use of carbofuran should be minimized in the fields.Key words: Ground spiders, carbofuran, natural predators, pest reduction

    Performance optimization of inorganic Cs2TiBr6 based perovskite solar cell via numerical simulation

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    Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered highly efficient and hold great potential for next-generation photovoltaic devices due to their excellent properties. However, there are some challenges that hinder their mass production, such as toxicity in lead-based PSCs, nonstability, and high manufacturing costs. This study aims to address these challenges by proposing a device modeling approach to optimize the design of highly efficient lead-free cesium titanium bromide (Cs2TiBr6) perovskite solar cells. Cs2TiBr6-based perovskite solar cells have low performance due to the lack of suitable electron and hole transport layers. Therefore, this study utilizes numerical simulations in SCAPS-1D to investigate the effect of different parameters, including the doping density of optimized hole and electron transport layers, the thickness of the absorber layer, the NA/ND of the absorption layer, and the defect concentration. The study models six different device structures with different hole transport layerss. However, an optimized novel structure device Se/CuSbS2/Cs2TiBr6/IZGO/FTO/Glass has been proposed, with a theoretical power conversion efficiency of 29.19%. This device has a VOC of 1.33 V, JSC of 24.28 mA cm−2, and FF of 90.46%. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of Cs2TiBr6 as a promising material for perovskite solar cells, providing a nontoxic, green renewable energy solution for the future

    Wacana dan pemikiran rekabentuk masjid

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    Tulisan ini membentangkan pengenalan dan membincangkan beberapa persoalan tentang pemikiran rekabentuk masjid. Tujuan utama penulisan ini adalah untuk memberi maklumat latar bagi memahami dengan lebih jelas berkenaan kedudukan kajian ke atas masjid warisan Melayu. Tulisan ini mempunyai empat bahagian utama. Bahagian pertama menyingkap makna atau pengertian masjid dalam budaya Islam. Bahagian kedua membentangkan sebab-sebab yang mempengaruhi rekabentuk senibina sesebuah bangunan supaya mereka yang tidak mendapat pendidikan secara langsung tentang senibina dapat mengetahui punca sebenar kebanyakan rupabentuk senibina sesuatu bangunan yang seringkali difikirkan sebagai buah fikiran atau karya arkitek semata-mata. Bahagian ketiga membentangkan wacana senibina masjid dari sudut pendekatan rekabentuk dan bahagian keempat dan terakhir membentangkan wacana khusus mengenai masjid warisan di Alam Melayu

    Green Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles as Potent Antifungal Agent against Aspergillus terreus Thom

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    Medicinal plants are composed of a rich pool of biomolecules and have been increasingly recognized for their antimicrobial properties; however, increasing concerns have been put on the bioavailability features. Thus, this study is aimed at exploring the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized by Chenopodium album L. leaf extract and assessing the antifungal activity against Aspergillus terreus Thom. Plant extract was prepared in methanol to synthetize silver nanoparticles, which were then characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy, and particle size analysis. UV-Visible analysis indicated maximum absorption at 378 nm, and an average particle size was observed as 25.6 nm. Oval to hexagonal shape was observed by SEM. Antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5%) was addressed against A. terreus biomass. At 3.5%, silver nanoparticles revealed to be highly effective, leading to 92% retardation in fungus growth. In next phase, various organic fractions, viz., chloroform, n-butanol, n-hexane, and ethyl acetate, were obtained from plant methanol extract, and the corresponding silver nanoparticles were prepared. These fractions were also assessed for antifungal activity, and n-hexane fraction led to 64% inhibition in A. terreus biomass. Following gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 18 compounds were identified, namely, 1,3-cyclopentadiene-5-(1 methylethylidene and o-xylene), ethyl benzene, octadecane, nonane, decane, 2-methylheptane, n-hexadecane, 2-methylheptane, and eicosane, along with carbonyl compounds (4,4-dimethyl-3-hexanone) and phenols, like stearic acid, propionic acid hydrazide, and 2,4-di-T-butylphenol. These findings proved that C. album silver nanoparticles are highly effective against A. terreus.N.C.-M. acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Horizon 2020 Program (PTDC/PSI-GER/28076/2017)

    Penggunaan perisian grafik berkomputer dikalangan pelajar senibina di UKM

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    Hari ini, penggunaan perisian grafik digital telah menjadi satu keperluan asas bagi bidang kreatif, termasuk seni bina. Teknologi digital yang dahulunya digunakan sebagai alatan elektronik untuk tujuan lakaran yang menggantikan pen dan pensel di masa lalu telah berkembang dengan pesat menjadi teknologi yang lebih holistik yang menawarkan keupayaan baru termasuk pengeditan imej berdefinisi tinggi, pemodelan dan simulasi tenaga dan sistem kerjasama secara langsung. Sehubungan dengan perkembangan teknologi digital dalam industri, Institusi Pengajian Tinggi (IPT) telah selama bertahun-tahun membekalkan industri dengan tenaga kerja yang mahir dan mampu menerapkan teknologi tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, IPT perlu memastikan bahawa mereka tidak ketinggalan dari arus terkini industri dan memastikan graduan mereka dilengkapi dengan kemahiran terbaru, khususnya dalam aplikasi teknologi digital. Makalah ini bertujuan untuk meneroka persepsi pelajar mengenai pengajaran perisian grafik digital dalam program Sarjana Muda Seni Bina di Universiti Kebangsaaan Malaysia (UKM). Instrumen utama yang digunakan oleh pasukan penyelidik untuk mengumpul data primer adalah dengan kaedah tinjauan, yang dijalankan pada 31 pelajar tahun akhir

    Proportion of resected seizure onset zone contacts in pediatric stereo-EEG-guided resective surgery does not correlate with outcome

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    Objective: We aimed to determine whether the proportion of putative seizure onset zone (SOZ) contacts resected associates with seizure outcome in a cohort of children undergoing stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG)-guided resective epilepsy surgery. / Methods: Patients who underwent SEEG-guided resective surgery over a six-year period were included. The proportion of SOZ contacts resected was determined by co-registration of pre- and post-operative imaging. Outcome was classified as seizure free (SF, Engel class I) or not seizure-free (NSF, Engel class II-IV) at last clinical follow-up. / Results: Twenty-nine patients underwent resection of whom 22 had sufficient imaging data for analysis (median age at surgery of 10 years, range 5–18). Fifteen (68.2%) were SF at median follow-up of 19.5 months (range 12–46). On univariate analysis, histopathology, was the only significant factor associated with SF (p < 0.05). The percentage of defined SOZ contacts resected ranged from 25-100% and was not associated with SF (p = 0.89). In a binary logistic regression model, it was highly likely that histology was the only independent predictor of outcome. / Conclusions: The percentage of SOZ contacts resected was not associated with SF in children undergoing SEEG-guided resective epilepsy surgery. / Significance: Factors such as spatial organisation of the epileptogenic zone, neurophysiological biomarkers and the prospective identification of pathological tissue may therefore play an important role

    Seroprevalence of IgG anti- T. Gondii antibody among HIV-infected patients in Maiduguri, north eastern Nigeria.

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    Background: Toxoplasma gondii infection is one of the commonest opportunistic infections in HIV-infected patients, with the fatal consequences of toxoplasmic encephalitis particularly in advanced disease. However, data regarding T.gondii infection in the setting of HIV/AIDS are scant in Nigeria. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of T.gondii amongst HIV-infected patients as well as to determine the correlation between anti-T.gondii IgG titre and the CD4+ cell count/HIV-1 RNA viral load. Method: A cross sectional study in which a total of 190 subjects were involved i.e. 110 newly diagnosed HAART naïve HIV-positive patients and 80 apparently healthy HIV-negative age- and-sex matched controls that were selected by simple random sampling method. Results: The age range of the study population was 20-64 years. The mean ages of male subjects for both HIV-positives and controls were 37.52 ±8.20 years and 35.79 ±12.31years, respectively, (p= 0.462). On the other hand, the mean ages of female subjects for both HIV-positives and controls were 29.90 ±6.98 years and 32.30 ±10.29 years, respectively, (p=0.149). Twenty one subjects (19.1%) among HIV-positives and 1 (1.25%) HIV-negative tested positive for anti-T.gondii IgG, respectively, (p= 0.000). The prevalence rate ration of anti-T. gondii IgG of HIV positives compared to HIVnegatives was 15.28. Significant proportion of anti-T.gondii positive subjects presented with AIDS defining illnesses compared with their anti-T.gondii negative counterparts. Conclusion:The study has shown that anti-T.gondii IgG is about 15 times more prevalent among HIV positive patients compared to controls. Routine screening for T.gondii IgG anti-body is therefore recommended for all HIV-infected subjects at the facility as well as commencement of chemoprophylaxis against Toxoplasmic encephalitis in HIV-infected patients with CD4+ cell count of &lt;100 cells/ml

    Deep convolutional neural network with 2D spectral energy maps for fault diagnosis of gearboxes under variable speed.

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    For industrial safety, correct classification of gearbox fault conditions is necessary. One of the most crucial tasks in data-driven fault diagnosis is determining the best set of features by analyzing the statistical parameters of the signals. However, under variable speed conditions, these statistical parameters are incapable of uncovering the dynamic characteristics of different fault conditions of gearboxes. Later, several deep learning algorithms are used to improve the performance of the feature selection process, but domain knowledge expertise is still necessary. In this paper, a combination domain knowledge analysis and a deep neural network is proposed. By using the input acoustic emission (AE) signal, a two-dimensional spectrum energy map (2D AE-SEM) is created to form an identical fault pattern for various speed conditions of gearboxes. Then, a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) is proposed to investigate the detailed structure of the 2D input for final fault classification. This 2D AE-SEM offers a graphical depiction of acoustic emission spectral characteristics. Our proposed system offers vigorous and dynamic classification performance through the proposed DCNN with a high diagnostic fault classification accuracy of 96.37% in all considered scenarios

    Seizure and cognitive outcomes after resection of glioneuronal tumors in children

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    Objective: Glioneuronal tumors (GNTs) are well‐recognized causes of chronic drug‐resistant focal epilepsy in children. Our practice involves an initial period of radiological surveillance and antiepileptic medications, with surgery being reserved for those with radiological progression or refractory seizures. We planned to analyze the group of patients with low‐grade GNTs, aiming to identify factors affecting seizure and cognitive outcomes. / Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 150 children presenting to Great Ormond Street Hospital with seizures secondary to GNTs. Analysis of clinical, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and surgical factors was performed to determine predictors of outcome. Seizure outcome at final follow‐up was classified as either seizure‐free (group A) or not seizure‐free (group B) for patients with at least 12‐months follow‐up postsurgery. Full‐scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) was used as a measure of cognitive outcome. / Results: Eighty‐six males and 64 females were identified. Median presurgical FSIQ was 81. One hundred twenty‐one patients (80.5%) underwent surgery. Median follow‐up after surgery was 2 years, with 92 patients (76%) having at least 12 months of follow‐up after surgery. Seventy‐four patients (80%) were seizure‐free, and 18 (20%) continued to have seizures. Radiologically demonstrated complete tumor resection was associated with higher rates of seizure freedom (P = .026). Higher presurgical FSIQ was related to shorter epilepsy duration until surgery (P = .012) and to older age at seizure onset (P = .043). / Significance: A high proportion of children who present with epilepsy and GNTs go on to have surgical tumor resection with excellent postoperative seizure control. Complete resection is associated with a higher chance of seizure freedom. Higher presurgical cognitive functioning is associated with shorter duration of epilepsy prior to surgery and with older age at seizure onset. Given the high rate of eventual surgery, early surgical intervention should be considered in children with continuing seizures associated with GNTs

    Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing Detection of Mercury and Lead Ions Based on Conducting Polymer Composite

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    A new sensing area for a sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was fabricated to detect trace amounts of mercury and lead ions. The gold surface used for SPR measurements were modified with polypyrrole-chitosan (PPy-CHI) conducting polymer composite. The polymer layer was deposited on the gold surface by electrodeposition. This optical sensor was used for monitoring toxic metal ions with and without sensitivity enhancement by chitosan in water samples. The higher amounts of resonance angle unit (ΔRU) were obtained for PPy-CHI film due to a specific binding of chitosan with Pb2+ and Hg2+ ions. The Pb2+ ion bind to the polymer films most strongly, and the sensor was more sensitive to Pb2+ compared to Hg2+. The concentrations of ions in the parts per million range produced the changes in the SPR angle minimum in the region of 0.03 to 0.07. Data analysis was done by Matlab software using Fresnel formula for multilayer system
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