Vol. 24 Issue 1
Enan M.R, S. A. Bashandy
Plastic wastes are considered to be severe environmental contaminants causing waste disposal problems. Widespread use of biodegradable plastics is one of the solutions, but it is limited by high production cost. A polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) protocol was developed for the specific detection and isolation of full-length gene coding for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). (PCR) strategy using (PHB) primers resulted in the amplification of (DNA) fragments with the expected size from all isolated bacteria. (PHB) synthase gene was cloned directly from Aeromonas hydrophila genome for the first time. The cloned fragment was named (phbCah). The nucleotide sequence of (phbCAh) gene exhibits similarity to (PHB) synthase genes of Alcaligenes latus and Pseudomonas oleovorans (97%). Alcaligenes sp. (81%), and Comamonas acidovorans (84%).
S. A. Al-Khateeb, R. Okawara, A. A. Al-Khateeb and I. A. Al-Abdoulhady
The effects of spraying 5-ALA on date palms in relation to chlorophyll biosynthesis and fruits yield and quality during the 1998/1999 seasons has been investigated. Fruits of Khalas cv. were sprayed with 5-ALA aqueous solutions of 0, 50, and 100 ppm two weeks after fruit setting. Spraying was applied biweekly for six weeks. The Fruit's chlorophyll content in the Khalal (green) stage was significantly increased with 5- ALA treatments. Fruit weight, fruit volume and fruit flesh percentage of the rutab (yellow) stage were significantly increased with 100 ppm 5-ALA. During tamer the stage, fruit volume was significantly increased with S-ALA treatment, while fruit weight was not. Total and reducing sugars were significantly increased with S-ALA treatment in the rutab stage, but not in the tamer stage.
Nail Suleiman Khabeey
Mathematical modeling of the process of flooding of an oil-bearing bed by a micellar-polymer mixture is developed. A model of the process is developed in the framework of isothermal flow of a multiphase, multicomponent incompressible fluid. The model takes into account nonequilibrium effects in the multiphase flow associated with the presence of the relaxation times needed for rearrangement of the flow structure, when the hydrodynamic forces change and the adsorption of the components, it also takes into account the inaccessibility of part of the pore space for flow of multicomponent systems, the freeing of the trapped part of the oil and the decrease in the mobility of the water under the influence of the active components. In this solution represented in this paper, the breakup of the micellar solution slug was simulated only by retention, nevertheless, the numerical solution agrees satisfactorily with the experimental data which confirms the conclusion that the retention of the micellar solution in the porous medium plays the predominant part in the breakup of the micellar slug
S.S. Al-Ghamdi, G. A. Khougeer, M. R. Baig
: This residential site consisting of three buildings was chosen because it is highly populated and in the center of the city of Riyadh. The dosimeters were kept in the buildings for a period of nine months from January to October, 2001. The radon average concentration found as (32 +-2) Bqm-3, (40 +- 3) Bqm-3 and (59+-6) Bqm-3 Foom in buildings one, two and three are respectively. In this study a consistent trend of high radon concentration in small rooms than large ones may indicate poor ventilation in small rooms. The statistical analysis shows that 75% of the values are equal or less than 50 Bqm-3. It is also seen that 98% of the measured values are less than the safe limit of 148 Bqm-3 set by the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S.A. It can therefore be concluded that these buildings may have no potential health hazard of Radon.
NA Nasir
This study was carried out over period of one year to investigate some aspects of the biology of Barbus luteus (Pisces: Cyprinidae) in the Al-Hammar marsh area of Iraq. The fish are most abundant between Feburary and June, followed by a steady decrease towards the end of the year. A mean monthly mortality rate of 35% per month was recorded. Total length and weight of 1002 fish collected ranged between 120-320mm (mean: 174mm) and 21-275gm (Mean: 79gm) respectively. Numerically, the samples were dominated by females. They accounted for about 52.7% of the total catch. The population of B. luteus was dominated by 2+ year-olds for both sexes and they matured at this age. The mathematical relationship between the weight and length of the fish was determined. The values of the exponent (b) showed that females are generally heavier at a given length than males. The food taken by the fish was studied and it was found that the fish is principally a surface phytoplankton feeder.
N.S. Al-Khalifah and P.R. Khan
The present investigation deals with the plant-water relation and its effect on chlorophyll content and productivity in six date palm cultivars. Growth and yield of date palm cultivars differed at the expense of same level of relative water content. Maktoomi showed a significantly higher leaflet area coupled with a higher amount of chlorophyll pigments that led to higher yield per tree. Kowerah recorded a poor yield by having significantly lower chlorophyll content and leaflet area Relative Water Content (RWC) had no effect on the fruit quality. Correlation among the relative water content, chlorophyll content, leaf specific mass and yield was also analyzed. Most of the pairs of parameters exhibited a highly significant correlation for the six cultivars. Apart from physiological parameters, the effect of male pollinator with suitable combination of female variety had a great effect on the fruit set and yield of date palm
Edward C. Steelel, AbdulAziz MA. Mohamed , and David B. Hogg
Microctonus aethiopoides is an important parasitoid in the biological control program of the alfalfa weevil. Hypera postica, a pest of alfalfa Basic biological information about female M aethiopou orientation toward its host habitat was assessed in Y-tube olfactometer choice arena. The response of the parasitoid to volatiles from the microhabitat complex, adult weevil, host frass, healthy plants, naturally damaged plants, artificially damaged plants and control odors were tested The parasitoid was attracted to the host-plant complex of cues representing the microhabitat in most trials, while the response to other odor sources as a means of locating the host were discussed