Vol. 25 Issue 1/2
Nawal Hassan Al Bahtiti
The condensation of acetophenone (I) with arylaldehyde (II) was investigated, and
the resulting chalcones 2-Arylidene 1-Acetophenone (III) were reacted with phenyl hydrazine
and acetic acid to produce substituted 5-aryl-1, 3-diphenyl-4. 5-dihydro-1H-pyrazoles (IV). The
structures of all products were studied by 'H-NMR, IR, thermal and elemental analysis. Thermo
gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) was applied to investigate the thermal
behavior and structure of the synthesized compounds 2-Pyrazolines (IV) exhibited moderate
activity against Streptococcus faecalis ATCC 19433, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883, Proteus
vulgaris ATCC 25922. Shigella sonnei ATCC 25931, and Peseudom oaeruginosa ATCC 27853
Maisaa Mohamed Al-Rawi
The present study deals with the effect of melatonin (MT), a very potent and efficient endogenous free radical scavenger, against the toxic effect induced by thioacetamide (TAA) on structure of small intestine in rats. Melatonin acts as a primary nonenzymatic antioxidant and protects the tissue from oxidative damage. Thioacetamide, which was originally used as a fungicide, is proposed hepatotoxin commonly used to induce liver cirrhosis in rats and other species. However, very little attention has been dealt with the effects of TAA on the intestinal cells and there functions. It was therefore of interest to study the aging variation in the sequenced responses of injury caused by TAA and regeneration capacity of recovery after using melatonin For this purpose male Wistar rats aging 1, 3 and 12 months were arranged in three main groups (15 rats for each group). Each main group then divided into: (1) control group, (2) intoxicated group (a singe high dose 300 mg/kg/body weight of TAA) and (3) treated group, administered the same dose of thioacetamide with melatonin (5 mg/kg/body weight) daily injected orally for four weeks Histological investigation of TAA intoxication revealed a highest grade of pathological alterations manifested by changes of width and length of most villi in ileum of all intoxicated groups. The epithelial cells lining the top of the villi were denuded in ileum sections of newly weaned and young intoxicated animals, while they appeared degenerated with exposed lamina propria in ileum sections of adult group. There was also an increase in the number of goblet cells in most villi and in crypts of Lieberkuhn of intestinal cells. Mitotic figures were observed obviously in the crypts of onset ileum cells of intoxicated animals. Lymphocytic infiltration in lamina propria and submucosa were more obvious in the intestinal cells of young intoxicated groups. However, congestion and dilatation of blood vessels were more pronounced in ileum sections of adult intestinal groups. The combined treatment with TAA and MT inhibited intestinal tissue damage. The recovery towards normal is more noticeable in ileum sections in newly weaned rats, delayed in those of young and low in the adult rats. The results for the present work indicated that melatonin could prevent cell death and intestinal dysfunction after TAA intoxication
Majed Hussain Al-Gelawi and Oday Adnan Al-Makadci
Six bacterial isolates (isolated previously) were identified and/or ensured their identification Results showed that these isolates belong to P aeruginosa, and all isolates were capable of producing rhamnolipid, and the best one was P Aeruginosa RB67. In order to get rhamnolipid hyper producer mutants, mutagenesis of P aeruginosa RB67 using UV light and MNNG were performed. Fifty colonies from each treatment (UV and MNNG) were selected and screened for their ability to produce rhamnolipid semi-quantitatively by replica plated on blood agar and CTAB-methylene blue agar Based on the last method, twelve colonies from each treatment (UV and MNNG) were selected and used for measuring rhamnose concentration The results showed that these mutants varied in their ability to produce rhamnolipid, and some of them showed an increase in rhamnolipid production. The highest rhamnose concentration (94 ug/mL) was achieved by the mutant (MOM12). Furthermore, FTIR spectroscopy results indicated that there were no apparent qualitative differences in rhamnolipid produced from mutants.
Saeed Mounser Alghalibi, Ahmed Al-Jaufy and Ebtesam Al-Moayad
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is considered to be the most common bacterial infection during pregnancy. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of UTI among pregnant women, to identify the risk factors associated with UTI, to isolate and identify bacteria that are responsible for UTI and to determine the activity of some antibiotics against isolated bacteria. A total of 400 midstream urine specimens were collected from pregnant women (PW) and non-pregnant women (NPW). Identification and antibiotic sensitivity tests were made for the isolated bacteria. The prevalence rates of UTI in PW and NPW were 24.3% and 18 0%, respectively. The association between pregnancy and UTI was not statistically significant (P=0.19). The higher prevalence rate of UTI was found in the age group 21-25 years old However, there was no statistical significant association between age and UTI The second trimester and the third trimester were associated with highest prevalence of UTI (38.3%) and (37.0%), respectively but it was not statistically significant High frequency of urination and lower abdominal pain were the most common symptoms. There was no statistical association between UTI and contraceptive use. The most common isolates were S. aureus and E coli, while the most effective antibiotics for most bacterial isolates were ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and norfloxacin.
Abdulhamid Ahmad Alsaygh
Synthesis and investigations of Nickel-based olefin oligomerization and polymerization catalysts, fluorinated a-Iminocarboxamide 3-Penzyl(II) Ni Complexes is reported. The synthesis of the above mentioned catalysts by the direct reaction of the potassium salt of the ligand, Ni(COD),(bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)-nickel, and Benzyl halide in THF and starting temperature of -35°C led to the formation of the two isomers: The [N-O) and the [N-N). Moreover, the complexes di a- fluorinated Iminocarboxyamide Zr-dimmer has been synthesized, investigated and tested for ethylene polymerization
Abdulaziz Al-Shaibani, John W. Lloyd, Abdulwahab A. Abokhodair and Abdulwahab Al-Ahmari
The Northern Harrat Rahat consists of 300m of basalt lavas covering some 2,000 km to the south-east of Al-Madinah in western Saudi Arabia Like many basalt sequences, the Rahat basalts form an important aquifer and groundwater resource The aquifer has a saturated thickness of up to 60m and is made up of the weathered upper part of underlying basement, pre-basalt sands and gravels. and the fractured basalts. Since 1992, groundwater has been abstracted from the aquifer as part of the Al-Madinah water supply To assess the potential of the aquifer, an assessment has been made based on pumping tests of about wells. The hydraulic parameters have been shown to be highly variable. typical of the fractured domain. The aquifer contains good-quality water in storage, but receives limited recharge Groundwater temperature anomalies indicate remnant volcanic activity locally A numerical groundwater model has been constructed, which has been calibrated using limited groundwater head measurements, but with good abstraction records, Predictions of groundwater heads and the examination of several abstraction scenarios indicate that the aquifer can continue to support part of the Al-Madinah demand for the next several years, if certain well distributions are adopted. The predictions also show that the aquifer can only support the total demand of the city for a few days as a contingency resource.
Abdulla Abdulqader Noman and Jawid Al-Jailani
The Republic of Yemen is located in an arid to semi-arid region. Rainfall rates range from none at certain parts of the country to about 400 mm/yr in its mountainous parts. Rainfall has been harvested and collected in cisterns existed in the mountainous region for generations. In the dry season (October - February), and after the stored water is consumed, people, mainly women and children, have to travel long distances down wadis to fetch water from the nearest water source, which is often not suitable for human consumption. This is the case in the western mountainous region, namely Hajjah Governorate, which heavily depends on rainwater for drinking, animal watering, domestic uses and irrigation However, during the dry season this region experiences foggy conditions. This has prompted conducting a fog collection field study in this region to investigate the potential of providing an alternative source for water supply during the dry season. The study consisted of installing 26 standard fog collectors (SFC) of one mof polypropylene mesh at 19 sites in Hajja, and measuring the daily fogwater amounts collected during the period from 1 January to 31 March, 2003. The results indicated that fog collectors located closest to the red sea with an elevation ranged between 2,000-2,200 meters above sea level and winds from the west direction have produced the highest water output, reaching a maximum of about 4.5 liters per square meter of mesh per day over the three winter months period. The conclusion drawn is that though this technique is cheap, simple and promising, more investigations are still needed on the various parameters contributing to fog collection, such as, relative humidity, temperature, and SFCs technologies.
Shabbir Ahmed Shahid and Bassam Hasbini
Supplemental irrigation water is a must to offset the water requirement to produce profitable crops in most arid and semiarid zones, where fresh water resources are insufficient to meet the pressure of irrigated agriculture. This necessitates the use of poor quality water resources These waters if not properly managed and used can cause serious soil related problems (salinity, sodicity, destruction of soil structure), in addition to decline in crop yields. Biosaline agriculture (using saline water on saline soils to grow salt-tolerant crops) becomes the only option for the farmer when both soil and water resources are saline and the water resource is scarce. In this regards key design considerations must be taken into account when irrigating with salty waters to optimize water uses and to reduce subsequent soil salinity development Sprinkler irrigation systems are commonly used in irrigation of large-scale agricultural production systems. However, they tend to concentrate salts on the leaves of plants. For this reason discharge and degree of overlap between consecutive sprinkler heads, are key design parameters when applying salty waters. Trickle irrigation is the most efficient system and is gaining importance in the GCC countries in agriculture and landscape irrigation. The objective of this study was to optimize modem irrigation systems through development of design standards for drip (emitters spacing) and sprinkler irrigation systems (single head jet and overlapping) by applying saline water The effect of emitter spacing (drip) and overlapping (sprinkler) were tested for the formation of salt contours in soil. The leaching ratio (LR) is the overall soil salinity within the rhizosphere divided by the average irrigation water salinity. In this study LR is used to evaluate the effectiveness of irrigation systems in developing soil salinity. From the present investigations it is concluded that when using saline water for irrigation, the soil salinity development can be significantly reduced by decreasing emitter spacing i.e. an ECe of 26. 90 and 126 dS/m was developed with 25, 50 and 75 cm emitter spacing respectively. Micro sprinklers are more effective in terms of leaching capability as compared to impact sprinklers. Overlapping in sprinkler irrigation reduced the evaporation compared with single jet where no overlapping was made. This has a direct effect on soil salinity development. Wind has a significant effect on the water distribution (sprinkler experiment) and subsequent salinity development and can cause long-term salinity problems. Windbreak can offer solutions to this effect.
Mohammad Makkawi and Abdullatif Al-Shuhail
This paper presents an integrated GPR-OK procedure to detect the depth to a water table below the ground surface. The study evaluates the applicability of this approach to locate a water table using an inexpensive and efficient procedure. The proposed methodology may be utilized to map the surface of a shallow groundwater resource or detect the spatial extent of groundwater contamination. A pilot study was conducted in a small area of an inter-dune terrain in the Jaforah Desert system of Eastern Saudi Arabia to test the approach. The hydrogeologic data was acquired by a 300 MHz antenna of a SIR-2 GPR system. A velocity of 0.15 m/ns was used for time-to-depth conversion. Preliminary analysis indicates that the depth to water table lies in the range of 65 cm to 68 cm. The result indicates that this method may be employed in larger scale projects to assess new groundwater resources or monitor and manage the extent of groundwater pollution
Michael J. Starbuck and Juanito Tamayo
In the fall of 2001. a study was initiated to investigate vegetation changes in the Abu Dhabi Emirate The vast majority of vegetation present in the region is irrigated, and an analysis of vegetation change will support groundwater investigations in the region by indicating areas of increased groundwater use Satellite-based imaging systems provide a good source of data for such an analysis. The recent analysis was completed between February and November 2002 using Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery acquired in 1996 and Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery acquired in 2000 These assessments were augmented in 2004 with the study of Landsat 7 imagery acquired in early 2004. The total area of vegetation for each of seven study areas was calculated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) technique. Multi-band classification was used to differentiate general vegetation types. Change analysis consisted of simple NDVI image differencing and post-classification change matrices. Measurements of total vegetation area for the Abu Dhabi Emirate indicate an increase from 77,200 hectares in 1996 to 162,700 hectares in 2000 (110% increase). Based on comparison with manual interpretation of satellite imagery, the amount of under-reporting of irrigated land is estimated at about 15 percent of the actual area. From the assessment of the 2004 Landsat imagery, it was found that the growth of irrigated vegetation in most areas of the Emirate had stabilized and had actually slightly decreased in some cases. The decreases are probably due to variability in the measurement technique and not due to actual decreases in area of vegetation