Siti Hidayah Muhad Saleh --- Norihan Md Arifin --- Roslinda Mohd Nazar --- Ioan Pop (2016). MHD Flow of a Nanofluid at the Forward Stagnation Point of an Infinite Permeable Wall with a Convective Boundary Condition. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 12. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
The steady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of a nanofluid at the forward stagnation point of an infinite permeable wall is investigated in this study. A mathematical model has been constructed and the governing partial differential equations are converted into ordinary differential equations by similarity transformation. The similarity equations are solved numerically by a shooting technique. Results for the surface shear stresses, surface heat transfer, and velocity, nanoparticle fraction and temperature profiles are presented in tables and graphs. Effects of the magnetic parameter , constant mass flux Biot number , Brownion motion parameter thermophoresis parameter and Lewis number are examined. The present results are compared with previously available numerical results obtained using other methods of solution, and they are found to be in good agreement.
Evaluation of Heavy Metal Pollution in the Skeleton and Edible Muscle of Mollusks (Cephalopods and Bivalves) from Red Sea- Saudi Arabia
Hala Ali Abdel-Salam --- El Benasy, Kamal Shaker (2016). Evaluation of Heavy Metal Pollution in the Skeleton and Edible Muscle of Mollusks (Cephalopods and Bivalves) from Red Sea- Saudi Arabia. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 11. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
This study was conducted to estimate and compare the bioaccumulative capacity of the skeleton and edible muscles of two important commercially mollusks species (Sepia spp and Cardium edule) for essential heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, and Co) and non- essential heavy metals ( Hg, Pb and Cd). It was carried out also to evaluate the bioaccumulation process of the elements based on the Metal Pollution Index (MPI) as an attempt to use these mollusk organisms as bioindicators of pollution of Red Sea and to ensure the safety of these organisms for human consumption. The present study show that the skeleton of Sepia spp and C. edule accumulated higher percentages of the determined metals than their edible muscles. This result suggests that the skeleton of cephalopod and bivalve mollusks can be used as indicator of water pollution and this suggest their tendency to detoxification mechanism of heavy metals as a mean of protection. The present data also, show that MPI factor of essential metals were higher than that of non-essential heavy metals in all studied organisms. Moreover, MPI values suggested that bivalve mollusks have a greater capacity for metal bioaccumulation than cephalopod mollusks. So, therefore, bivalve mollusks are more vulnerable to metal pollution and it is suggested that C. edule can be used as bioindicator of metal pollution
The Prevalence of Cytomegalovirus among Eligible Blood Donors in Keffi, Nigeria
Pennap, G.R.I --- Joseph, M.E. --- Oti, V.B. --- Ajegena, S.A (2016). The Prevalence of Cytomegalovirus among Eligible Blood Donors in Keffi, Nigeria. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 10. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
Cytomegalovirus also called human herpesvirus type 5 (HHV 5) is known to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality following blood transfusion. In immunocompetent individuals primary CMV infection is usually asymptomatic, the immunosuppressed population for which CMV seronegative blood products are required is increasing due to advances in medical care especially to premature infants, AIDS patients, increasing use of transplantation procedures and immunosuppressed cancer therapies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cytomegalovirus infection among eligible blood donors in Keffi, Nigeria. Blood samples were collected from 208 consenting participants in the Heamatology Unit of Federal Medical Centre, Keffi. The sera were evaluated for CMV IgG antibody using an ELISA kit (Cortez Diagnostic, Inc. USA). The overall prevalence for CMV IgG was 74%. The prevalence of CMV IgG antibody based on sex was 73.9% in the male and 74.2% in the female population. There was no statistically significant association between gender and CMV IgG prevalence (p> 0.05). Seroprevalence was found to increase with age from 52.5% among those aged < 20 years to 81.8% among those aged 30-39 years. Neither occupation nor history of blood transfusion was significantly associated with CMV IgG prevalence among the participants. Of those that have had a blood transfusion 70.6% were positive to the virus while among those that have never had a transfusion the prevalence of the virus was 74.3%. This study reported a high CMV infection prevalence in this study area. This therefore underscores the need to include CMV screening before blood transfusion and the importance of using strategies such as leukoreduction before any transfusion in this area. Also the medical records of seronegative eligible donors should be kept for emergency contact when patients who are at high risk of developing severe CMV infection are in dire need of transfusion. Proactive strategies of educating people on prevention and control measures should be put in place.
Seroprevalence of Cytomegalovirus Infection among Pregnant Women Accessing Antenatal Care in Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nigeria
Pennap, G.R.I --- Mu’azu, F.B. --- Oti, V.B. --- Ajegena, S.A. (2016). Seroprevalence of Cytomegalovirus Infection among Pregnant Women Accessing Antenatal Care in Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nigeria. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 9. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
Cytomegalovirus infection in an immunocompromised state like pregnancy is of public health significance. It is the leading cause of congenital infections leading to disabilities in children that include severe sequel like hearing loss, blindness, mental retardation and even fetal death. This study was therefore aimed at determining the seroprevalence of CMV infection among pregnant women accessing antenatal care in Federal Medical Centre, Keffi. The sera from consenting participants were screened for anti-CMV IgG antibodies using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) (Cortez Diagnosis, Inc. USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Their socio-demographic information was obtained. Pearson’s Chi-Square test was used for assessing the association of risk factors with the infection. Of the 200 participants 56.6% were anti-CMV IgG positive. Among those with a history of blood transfusion, 66.6% were positive while it was 55.7% among those that had never been transfused. The prevalence of infection when stratified by participants’ level of education was highest among those with primary education (65.0%) and lowest among those that had secondary education (51.5%). There was higher prevalence among married women (58.1%) than divorced women (40.0%). In relation to age, the highest prevalence was recorded among those aged less than 20 years (63.1%) while the least was among those aged more than 41 years. Women in their first trimester had the highest prevalence of infection (66.7%) while the lowest was (54.9%) among those in their third trimester. Prevalence with respect to parity was higher among nulliparous women (78.9%) than women that had more than 5 children (35.0%). Also urban women had a lower prevalence (55.3%) than rural women (85.0%). There was no statistically significant association between CMV infection and socio-demographic factors studied. This study reported a very high burden of CMV infection among pregnant women. This implies the virus is highly endemic in the study area. There is therefore an urgent need for intervention that can reduce the substantial burden of this often over looked infection. It is advocated that all women should be screened at the point of registration for antenatal care. And women of child bearing age should be educated on transmission prevention and control strategies of CMV infection.
Kinetics and Equilibrium Studies of Biosorption of Lead from Aqueous Solution by Avocado Pear (Pearsea Americana) Fruit Exocarp
Ademola Festus Aiyesanmi --- Yemisi Arowojobe (2016). Kinetics and Equilibrium Studies of Biosorption of Lead from Aqueous Solution by Avocado Pear (Pearsea Americana) Fruit Exocarp. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 8. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
The need for safe, efficient and economical methods for the elimination of heavy metals from contaminated water has elicited research interest towards sourcing for low cost and effective biomaterials as alternatives to commercial activated carbon. The effectiveness of avocado pear (Pearsea americana) fruit exocarp for the removal of lead ions from aqueous solution was investigated using batch process under various experimental conditions. Effects of solution pH, contact time, biosorbent particle sizes, biosorbent dose and temperature were investigated. Results obtained show that Pearsea americana exocarp was 98% effective in removing lead from aqueous solution at an optimum pH of 4 in 30 mins contact time. The sorption of lead followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This was further supported by intra-particle diffusion and Elovich models. Two isotherms viz: Langmuir, Freundlich were used to analyze the equilibrium data and the equilibrium sorption data fitted into the isotherms with Langmuir having the highest R2 value. The results also show that the sorption capacity increased with decrease in particle size and increase with increase in biosorbent dose, while it decreased with increase in solution temperature. The values of estimated thermodynamic parameters including G, H and S showed that the sorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. The study therefore showed that Pearsea americana fruit exocarp could be used as a biosorbent for the treatment of water and wastewater contaminated with lead ions.
Facile One-Step Electrochemical Deposition of Polypyrrole-Copper Nanoparticles for Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide
Pooria Moozarm Nia --- Woi Pei Meng --- Yatimah Alias (2016). Facile One-Step Electrochemical Deposition of Polypyrrole-Copper Nanoparticles for Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 7. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
A straightforward and novel one-step technique for electrochemical synthesis of polypyrrole micro trunk-like shape decorated with copper nanoparticle is presented. The technique is based on electropolymerization and copper electrodeposition in the one-pot aqueous solution. The electrodeposited copper nanoparticles with 30 nm in diameter have embedded on the polypyrrole micro trunk-like. The synthesized electrode was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. The chemical structures, morphology, catalytic and electrochemical properties of the synthesized sensor towards hydrogen peroxide were examined. The prepared sensor increased electrocatalytic activity toward reduction of hydrogen peroxide and can be employed as an inexpensive and novel sensor for determination of hydrogen peroxide.
Assessment of Ecp 203-07 Seismic Response Modification Factor of Reinforced Concrete Framed Structures
Ramadan. M --- Salem. H (2016). Assessment of Ecp 203-07 Seismic Response Modification Factor of Reinforced Concrete Framed Structures. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 6. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
The inelastic design seismic forces are generally calculated equal to corresponding elastic ones divided by response reduction factor (R), that depends on structural Ductility, Over-Strength, and Redundancy. Many studies have attempt to quantify the potential of structural systems to delimit the level of force imposed by virtue of their ductility and energy absorption capacity. Most of practice design codes give values of (R) factor for a building as function of its structural system only excluding the effect of important factors such as: the geometrical configuration, reinforcement ratio, concrete strength, yielding stress of reinforcement, and earthquake magnitude. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of those parameters on RC Ductile Frames Structures using Applied Element Method, where a nonlinear dynamic analysis was carried out in the time domain for multistory reinforced concrete framed structures. Results showed that (R) factor is greatly affected by earthquake magnitude, moderate effect by geometrical configuration, and material properties. The results also showed the (R) factors recommended in current design codes are unconservative and over estimated for the majority of studied cases.
Assessment of Seismic Response Reduction Factor of Reinforced Concrete Building With Shear Walls Resisting System
Abdelnabi.M --- Salem.H (2016). Assessment of Seismic Response Reduction Factor of Reinforced Concrete Building With Shear Walls Resisting System. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 5. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
Many studies have endeavored to quantify the potential of the structural system to delimit the seismic force level imposed by virtue of their ductility and energy absorption capacity. The response modification factor (R) is defined as the ratio of the absolute maximum linear elastic base shear to the absolute maximum nonlinear base shear of structure subjected to the same earthquake acceleration. The response modification factor (R) depends on over-strength (Rs),_ductility_(Rµ)- ,_and redundancy_(Rr). In the current study, the R factor is investigated for multistory reinforced concrete flat slab structures. A non-linear time-history analysis based on the _applied element method was carried out on ten stories RC flat slab structure with shear wall resisting system for lateral loads. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of different parameters on the R factor such as earthquake acceleration magnitude, structural natural period, height of the building, reinforcement ratio, geometric configuration, and material strength properties. The results showed that the value of (R) depends not only on structure dynamic properties but also on its nonlinearity and on earthquake magnitude which is not only considered in the current world wide design codes.
The Characterisations of Airborne Particulates Soiling Defect Towards Museum Artefacts: Insight from a Literature Review
Nur Baiti Mat Husin --- Shamzani Affendy Mohd Din --- Rashidi Othman (2016). The Characterisations of Airborne Particulates Soiling Defect Towards Museum Artefacts: Insight from a Literature Review. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 03-04. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
The conservation of artefacts and its protection against possible damage from air pollution is of increasing concern. Soiling is considered harmful for the artefact as it happened when the airborne particulates deposited onto the surface of artefacts. The conservation literature suggests that deposited airborne material can attack collections chemically. Therefore high particle concentrations should be avoided in museum. Moreover, air filtration devices can characteristically remove coarse particles quite efficient, but often leave the fine soot-containing fraction uncollected. Hence, it is indicated that soiling particles were not effectively removed by the filters in the air-conditioning systems studied. Based on Department of Museum Malaysia (DMM) Annual Report 2013, there is a huge amount of money allocated for acquiring assets of the museums. This shows that value of each artefact in the museums are expensive and should be conserved properly to prevent any damages that will lead to degradation of its own value. This paper reviewed literature published in journals and conference proceedings in the atmospheric environment and conservation field. The aim of the paper is to review the physical and chemical characterisations of airborne particulates which affect the soiling of artefact in National Museum and Textiles Museum Kuala Lumpur. The objectives are to measure and quantify the airborne particulate matters found in indoor atmosphere of museum that cause soiling of artefact, to identify the physical mechanism that governs the transfer of airborne particles to the surface of artefact, to measure the rates of soiling for a range of artefacts and to propose the approaches to reduce the soiling defect of artefacts. The literature review examines the types of air pollution and its effect towards human, environment and artefacts. An introduction to these topics is followed by an investigation on the relationship between outdoor and indoor pollutant, the meteorological factor of airborne particulates as well as the physical and chemical characteristics of airborne particulates in which become the grounds for soiling defect of inorganic artefact. A look at the basis of indoor air quality in the museum field is also undertaken. The method used to achieve the aim and objectives of the research involves 4 key activities which are data collection through museum typology study, scientific data collections using Cyclone sampler, Cascade Impactor and 7 Holes sampler. Then, the data analysis and analytical analysis will be conducted using SEM, TEM, ICPMS and FTIR as to determine the quantity and elements of within an airborne particulates sample. After analysing, the data will be systematically distilled and integrated to draw conclusions using AnalySIS Software. Moreover, the significant finding of the research is the soiling rates of airborne particulates in National Museum and Textile Museum, Kuala Lumpur. The findings will assist future research to come up with variety of solution and techniques to control the rate of particle depositing to surfaces of artefact as many of the techniques have low associated cost, and some even yield savings. Hence, this will save up the National budget in terms of preservation cost.
Museums’ Showcase vs Indoor vs Outdoor Metal Found in Respirable and Inhalable Dust
Nik Nurul-Hidayah Nik Yahya --- Shamzani Affendy Mohd Din --- Rashidi Othman (2016). Museums’ Showcase vs Indoor vs Outdoor Metal Found in Respirable and Inhalable Dust. Abstract of Applied Sciences and Engineering, 8: 01-02. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1001/2016.8/1001.8
Museums with multi-artefacts, multi-stationaries and multi-combustions sources of airborne particles are of major concern in today’s global discussions. The depositions of Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn at eleven sampling points at two museums in the urban area of Kuala Lumpur are presented in this research. The respirable and inhalable dusts were denoted by cyclone and seven hole sampler head data, respectively. The metal content test by using the ICP-MS was done to determine the amount of metal concentration. The result shows that the different types of dusts collected from the different sampling head had no effect to the concentration of the heavy metals. It can be seen that the different types of sampling head was significant for outdoor heavy metals concentrations but the indoor results indicate that no significant between these two. From the ANOVA analysis, it can be seen that both results indicate that iron, zinc and the other elements are significant. Both museums shows that the metal content in showcase were found higher than inside the Gallery ambient. The contrast value of respirable exceeding inhalable dusts between showcase in NTM than both showcase in NM are 33.10 per cent higher. In addition, results also suggested that both indoor ambient of museums are dominated by Fe , Zn and Ni. Metal content indoor were found higher than outdoor of the museum except for the case of inhalable dust. The mean ranges of respirable dust found in museums are between 0.039 and 62.325 mg m-3. Higher ranges are found average in inhalable dust at 0.044 and 66.729 mg m-3. Thus, sum up to an overall average for all metal concentrations at 31.182 and 33.386 mg m-3, for respirable and inhalable dust, accordingly. The dominant metals for all sampling locations in museums are Fe>Zn. The highest is iron for both inhalable dust and respirable dust at 103.647 and 110.897 mg m-3, correspondingly. The amount of respirable to inhalable dust are exceed at 3.41 per cent. Hence, it can be concluded that the atmospheric environment of Malaysian museum are safe for both visitors and workers. Major discovery of this study is that opening in a built environment provides better air circulation and let the respirable dust pass through the natural and air-conditioning process that being fixed above the entrance of museums. Thus, suggesting that the metals concentration in respirable dust found in the museums are mostly originated from the artefacts and indoor old building materials itself, and minimal outdoor airborne particles enters into the buildings. Hence, suggesting outdoor particles disseminated higher risk than the indoor particles.
