Search results for: Ammar Khaled Abdelaziz Abdelsamia

Authors: Khaled Darwish, Islam El Madahh, Hoda Mohamed, Hadia El Hennawy

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Cloud computing has been one of the fastest growing parts in IT industry mainly in the context of the future of the web where computing, communication, and storage services are main services provided for Internet users. Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) is gaining stream which can be used to extend cloud computing functions, services and results to the world of future mobile applications and enables delivery of a large variety of cloud application to billions of smartphones and wearable devices. This paper describes reliability for MCC by determining the ability of a system or component to function correctly under stated conditions for a specified period of time to be able to deal with the estimation and management of high levels of lifetime engineering uncertainty and risks of failure. The assessment procedures consists of determine Mean Time between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Failure (MTTF), and availability percentages for main components in both cloud computing and MCC structures applied on single node OpenStack installation to analyze its performance with different settings governing the behavior of participants. Additionally, we presented several factors have a significant impact on rates of change overall cloud system reliability should be taken into account in order to deliver highly available cloud computing services for mobile consumers.

Keywords: cloud computing, mobile cloud computing, reliability, availability, OpenStack

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Authors: Kariman Abdelaziz Ahmed Ali Hamzawy

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Amidst the growing global challenges facing communities, from climate change to educational gaps, sustainable community education has emerged as a vital tool for ensuring comprehensive and enduring development. This research aims to explore effective strategies for sustainable community education that can lead to long-term impacts on local communities. The study begins by defining the concept of sustainable education within a community context and reviews the current literature on the topic. It then presents case studies from various communities around the world where sustainable educational strategies have been successfully implemented. These case studies illustrate how sustainable education can enhance community engagement, build local capacities, and improve quality of life in sustainable ways. The findings from these studies are analyzed to identify the key factors contributing to the success of sustainable educational programs. These factors include partnerships between different sectors (governmental, private, and community), the innovative use of technology, and the adaptation of educational curricula to meet the unique needs of the community. The research also offers practical recommendations on designing and implementing sustainable educational programs, emphasizing the integration of formal and informal education, promoting lifelong learning, and developing local resources. It addresses potential challenges and ways to overcome them to ensure the long-term sustainability of these programs. In conclusion, the research provides a future vision of the role of sustainable education in building resilient and prosperous communities and highlights the importance of investing in education as a key driver of sustainable development. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on achieving lasting impact through sustainable community education and offers a practical framework for stakeholders to adopt and implement these strategies.

Keywords: sustainable education, community education, Community engagement, local capacity building, educational technology

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Authors: Talal Alhajri, Mahmood M. Tahir, Khaled Alenezi, Mohamad Ragaee

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This work presents the experimental tests carried out to evaluate the behaviour of different types of shear connectors proposed for cold formed steel (CFS) section integrated with ferrocement slab as potential used for composite beam. Ten push-out test specimens of cold-formed steel lipped channel sections connected with ferrocement slab were tested. Three types of shear connectors were studied comprised of bolts, self-drilling-screw and bar angle. The connection behavior is analysed in terms of its load-slip relationship and the failure mode. The parametric studies were performed to investigate the effect on the shear connector’s capacity by varying the number of layers of wire mesh used in ferrocement slab and types of shear connector used. An analytical analysis using ANSYS program and theoretical analysis (Eurocode 4) were carried out to verify the experiment results. The results show that the experimental, theoretical, and numerical values proved to have good agreement with each other.

Keywords: cold-formed steel, composite beam, ferrocement, finite element method, push-out test, shear connector

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Authors: M. S. Gadala, Khaled Ahmed, Elasadig Mahdi

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In this paper, we introduced a gradient-based inverse solver to obtain the missing boundary conditions based on the readings of internal thermocouples. The results show that the method is very sensitive to measurement errors, and becomes unstable when small time steps are used. The artificial neural networks are shown to be capable of capturing the whole thermal history on the run-out table, but are not very effective in restoring the detailed behavior of the boundary conditions. Also, they behave poorly in nonlinear cases and where the boundary condition profile is different. GA and PSO are more effective in finding a detailed representation of the time-varying boundary conditions, as well as in nonlinear cases. However, their convergence takes longer. A variation of the basic PSO, called CRPSO, showed the best performance among the three versions. Also, PSO proved to be effective in handling noisy data, especially when its performance parameters were tuned. An increase in the self-confidence parameter was also found to be effective, as it increased the global search capabilities of the algorithm. RPSO was the most effective variation in dealing with noise, closely followed by CRPSO. The latter variation is recommended for inverse heat conduction problems, as it combines the efficiency and effectiveness required by these problems.

Keywords: inverse analysis, function specification, neural net works, particle swarm, run-out table

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Authors: Khaled M. Alqahtani

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Copy number alterations (CNA) are variations in the structure of the genome, where certain regions deviate from the typical two chromosomal copies. These alterations are pivotal in understanding tumor progression and are indicative of patients' survival outcomes. However, effectively modeling patients' survival based on their genomic CNA profiles while identifying relevant genomic regions remains a statistical challenge. Various methods, such as the Cox proportional hazard (PH) model with ridge, lasso, or elastic net penalties, have been proposed but often overlook the inherent dependencies between genomic regions, leading to results that are hard to interpret. In this study, we enhance the elastic net penalty by incorporating an additional penalty that accounts for these dependencies. This approach yields smooth parameter estimates and facilitates variable selection, resulting in a sparse solution. Our findings demonstrate that this method outperforms other models in predicting survival outcomes, as evidenced by our simulation study. Moreover, it allows for a more meaningful interpretation of genomic regions associated with patients' survival. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach using both real data from a lung cancer cohort and simulated datasets.

Keywords: copy number alterations, cox proportional hazard, lung cancer, regression, sparse solution

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Authors: Ahlem Nefzi, Rania Aydi Ben Abdallah, Hayfa Jabnoun-Khiareddine, Nawaim Ammar, Sined Medimagh-Saidana, Mejda Daami-Remadi

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In the present study, leaf, stem, and fruit aqueous extracts of native wild Solanum linnaeanum L. were screened for their ability to suppress Fusarium Crown and Root Rot disease and to enhance tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) growth under greenhouse conditions. Leaf extract used at 30% w/v was the most effective in reducing leaf and root damage index by 92.3% and the extent of vascular discoloration by 97.56% compared to Fusarium oxyxporum f. sp radicis lycopersici -inoculated and untreated control. A significant promotion of growth parameters (root length, shoot height, root and shoot biomass and stem diameter) was recorded on tomato cv. Rio Grande seedlings by 40.3-94.1% as compared to FORL inoculated control and by 9.6-88.8% over pathogen-free control. All S. linnaeanum aqueous extracts tested significantly stimulated the germination by 10.2 to 80.1% relative to the untreated control. FORL mycelial growth, assessed using the poisoned food technique, varied depending on plant organs, extracts, and concentrations used. Butanolic extracts were the most active, leading to 60.81% decrease in FORL mycelial growth. HPLC analysis of butanolic extract revealed the presence of thirteen phenolic compounds. Thus, S. linnaeanum can be explored as a potential natural source of antifungal and biofertilizing compounds.

Keywords: antifungal activity, HPLC-MS analysis, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, tomato growth

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Authors: Khaled S. Al Salhen

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Aldehyde oxidase (AO) and xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) catalyze the oxidation of many different N-heterocyclic compounds as well as aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes to their corresponding lactam and carboxylic acids respectively. The present study examines the oxidation of dimethylamino-cinnamaldehyde (DMAC), vanillin and phenanthridine by AO and xanthine by XOR from Drosophila cytosol. Therefore, the results obtained in the present study showed the DMAC, vanillin and phenanthridine substrates used were found to be good substrates of Drosophila AO and xanthine is the preferred substrate for Drosophila XOR. Km values of AO substrates were observed with DMAC (50±5.4 µM), phenanthridine (80±9.1 µM) and vanillin (303±11.7 µM) respectively for Drosophila cytosol. The Km values for DMAC and phenanthridine were ~6 and ~4 fold lower than that for vanillin as a substrate. The Km for XOR with xanthine using NAD+ as an electron acceptor was 27±4.1 µM. Relatively low Vmax values were obtained with phenanthridine (1.78±0.38 nmol/min/mg protein) and DMAC (1.80±0.35 nmol/min/mg protein). The highest Vmax was obtained from Drosophila cytosol with vanillin (7.58±2.11 nmol/min/mg protein). It is concluded these results that AO and XOR in Drosophila were able to catalyse the biotransformation of numerous substrates of the well-characterised mammalian AO and XOR. The kinetic parameters have indicated that the activity of AO of Drosophila may be a significant factor the oxidation of aromatic aldehyde compounds.

Keywords: aldehyde oxidase, xanthine oxidoreductase, dimethylamino-cinnamaldehyde, vanillin, phenanthridine, Drosophila melanogaster

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Authors: Zaouche Mohammed, Amini Mohammed, Foughali Khaled, Hamissi Aicha, Aktouf Mohand Arezki, Boureghda Ilyes

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In this paper, we present a piloting law based on the adaptive differentiators via high order sliding mode controller, by using an aircraft in virtual simulated environment. To deal with the design of an autopilot controller, we propose a framework based on Software in the Loop (SIL) methodology and we use Microsoft^TM Flight Simulator (FS-2004) as the environment for plane simulation. The aircraft dynamic model is nonlinear, Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) and tightly coupled. The nonlinearity resides in the dynamic equations and also in the aerodynamic coefficients' variability. In our case, two (02) aircrafts are used in the flight tests, the Zlin-142 and MQ-1 Predator. For both aircrafts and in a very low altitude flight, we send the piloting control inputs to the aircraft which has stalled due to a command disconnection. Then, we present the aircraft’s dynamic behavior analysis while reestablishing the command transmission. Finally, a comparative study between the two aircraft’s dynamic behaviors is presented.

Keywords: adaptive differentiators, second order sliding modes, dynamic adaptation of the gains, microsoft flight simulator, Zlin-142, MQ-1 predator

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Authors: Nahla S. Abdel-Azim, Khaled A. Shams, Elsayed A. Omer, Mahmoud M. Sakr

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Medicinal plants play a significant role in the health care system in Egypt. Knowledge developed over the years by people is mostly unrecorded and orally passes on from one generation to the next. This knowledge is facing the danger of becoming extinct. Therefore there is an urgent need to document the medicinal and aromatic plants associated with traditional knowledge. The Egyptian Encyclopedia of wild medicinal plants (EEWMP) is the first attempt to collect most of the basic elements of the medicinal plant resources of Egypt and their traditional uses. It includes scientific data on about 500 medicinal plants in the form of monographs. Each monograph contains all available information and scientific data on the selected species including the following: names, description, distribution, parts used, habitat, conservational status, active or major chemical constituents, folk medicinal uses and heritage resources, pharmacological and biological activities, authentication, pharmaceutical products, and cultivation. The DNA bar-coding is also included (when available). A brief Arabic summary is given for every monograph. This work revealed the diversity in plant parts used in the treatment of different ailments. In addition, the traditional knowledge gathered can be considered a good starting point for effective in situ and ex-situ conservation of endangered plant species.

Keywords: encyclopedia, medicinal plant, traditional medicine, wild flora

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Authors: Ammar Alobaidy, Lamees Alsawafi, Malak Almawali, Balqees Alabri, Hajer Alhamrashdi

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Background: There is scarce data in the literature concerning the use of Arabic version neuron psychological cognitive tests in the geriatric age group of the Omani population. Objectives: Our aim is to obtain norms for normal elderly Omanis assessed by The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) neuro psychological battery and to compare these norms with other studies in the literature. Methods: 84 attendants and visitors of in-patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, elder than 55 years, were interviewed. All participants were assessed by Dementia Rating Scale & Geriatric Depression Scale to ensure the integrity of their activities of daily living and the absence of depression, respectively. The performance of all participants in the CERAD battery was rated by a single rater to optimize the inter-rater reliability. Results: The cut-point for average performance in CERAD battery is dependent on the age, sex, and level of education and cannot be set as a single cut-point for all elderly Omanis. Conclusion: This study has shown the effect of age, sex, and level of education on the cognitive performance of normal elderly Omanis. The normative data obtained from this study can be utilized to differentiate between the cognitive decline of normal aging and the cognitive impairment due to various neuro cognitive disorders in the elderly Omanis, and probably culturally similar Arabic speaking communities.

Keywords: CERAD, neuropsychological battery, normal aging, elderly Omanis

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Authors: Khaled M. Alhawiti

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This research study aims to present a retrospective study about speech recognition systems and artificial intelligence. Speech recognition has become one of the widely used technologies, as it offers great opportunity to interact and communicate with automated machines. Precisely, it can be affirmed that speech recognition facilitates its users and helps them to perform their daily routine tasks, in a more convenient and effective manner. This research intends to present the illustration of recent technological advancements, which are associated with artificial intelligence. Recent researches have revealed the fact that speech recognition is found to be the utmost issue, which affects the decoding of speech. In order to overcome these issues, different statistical models were developed by the researchers. Some of the most prominent statistical models include acoustic model (AM), language model (LM), lexicon model, and hidden Markov models (HMM). The research will help in understanding all of these statistical models of speech recognition. Researchers have also formulated different decoding methods, which are being utilized for realistic decoding tasks and constrained artificial languages. These decoding methods include pattern recognition, acoustic phonetic, and artificial intelligence. It has been recognized that artificial intelligence is the most efficient and reliable methods, which are being used in speech recognition.

Keywords: speech recognition, acoustic phonetic, artificial intelligence, hidden markov models (HMM), statistical models of speech recognition, human machine performance

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Authors: Ben Yahia Nouha, Sebei Abdelaziz, Boussen Slim, Chaabani Fredj

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The present work aims to determine mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of siliceous rock levels and to clarify the origin through geochemical arguments. This study was performed on the deposit of Tabarka-Babouch, which belongs to the northwestern of Tunisia; they spread out the later Miocene. Investigations were carried out to study mineralogical structure by XRD and chemical analysis by ICP-AES. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the powdered natural rocks show that the Babouchite is composed mainly of quartz and clay minerals (smectite, illite, and kaolinite). Siliceous rocks contain quartz as a major silica mineral, which is characterized by two broad reflections at the vicinity of 4.26Å and 3.34 Å, respectively, with a total lack of opal-CT. That confirms that these siliceous rocks are quartz-rich (can reach 90%). Indeed, the amounts of all clay minerals (ACM), constituted essentially by smectite marked by a close association with illite and kaolinite, are relatively high, where their percentages vary from 7 to 46%. Chemical analyses show that the major oxide contents are consistent with mineralogical observations. It reveals that the siliceous rocks of the Babouchite formation are rich in SiO₂. The data of whole-rock chemical analyses indicate that the SiO₂ content is generally in the range 73-91 wt.%; (average: 80.43 wt.%). The concentration of Al₂O₃, which represent the detrital fractions in the studied samples, varies from 3.99 to 10.55 wt. % and Fe₂O₃ from 0.73 to 4.41wt. %. The low levels recorded in CaO (%) show that the carbonate is considered impurities. However, these rocks contain a low amount of some others oxides, such as the following: Na₂O, MgO, K₂O, and TiO₂. The trace elemental distributions also vary with high Sr (up to 84.55 ppm), Cu (5–127 ppm), and Zn (up to 124 ppm), with a relatively lower concentration of Co (2.43-25.54 ppm), Cr (10–61 ppm) and Pb (8-22ppm). The Babouchite siliceous rocks of northwestern of Tunisia have generally high Al/ (Al+Fe+Mn) values (0.63-0.83). The majority of Al/ (Al+Fe+Mn) values are nearly of 0.6, which is the biogenic end-member. Thus, Al/ (Al+Fe+Mn) values revealed the biogenic origin of silica.

Keywords: siliceous rocks, Babouchite formation, XRD, chemical analysis, biogenic silica, Northwestern of Tunisia

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Authors: Khaled Nagaty, Heba Nagaty, Gerard McKee

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A signature is a behavioral biometric that is used for authenticating users in most financial and legal transactions. Signatures can be easily forged by skilled forgers. Therefore, it is essential to verify whether a signature is genuine or forged. The aim of any signature verification algorithm is to accommodate the differences between signatures of the same person and increase the ability to discriminate between signatures of different persons. This work presented in this paper proposes an automatic signature verification system to indicate whether a signature is genuine or not. The system comprises four phases: (1) The pre-processing phase in which image scaling, binarization, image rotation, dilation, thinning, and connecting ridge breaks are applied. (2) The feature extraction phase in which global and local features are extracted. The local features are minutiae points, curvature orientation, and curve plateau. The global features are signature area, signature aspect ratio, and Hu moments. (3) The post-processing phase, in which false minutiae are removed. (4) The classification phase in which features are enhanced before feeding it into the classifier. k-nearest neighbors and support vector machines are used. The classifier was trained on a benchmark dataset to compare the performance of the proposed offline signature verification system against the state-of-the-art. The accuracy of the proposed system is 92.3%.

Keywords: signature, ridge breaks, minutiae, orientation

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Authors: Ammar Said Ahmed, M. Reissmann, R. Bortfeldt, G. A. Brockmann

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Milk protein genetic variants are of interest for characterizing domesticated mammalian species and breeds, and for studying associations with economic traits. The aim of this work was to analyze milk protein genetic variation in the Sudanese native cattle breeds, which have been gradually declining in numbers over the last years due to the breed substitution, and indiscriminate crossbreeding. The genetic variation at three milk protein genes αS1-casein (CSN1S1), αS2-casein (CSN1S2) and ƙ-casein (CSN3) was investigated in 250 animals belonging to five Bos indicus cattle breeds of Sudan (Butana, Kenana, White-nile, Erashy and Elgash). Allele specific primers were designed for five SNPs determine the CSN1S1 variants B and C, the CSN1S2 variants A and B, the CSN3 variants A, B and H. Allele, haplotype frequencies and genetic distances (D) were calculated and the phylogenetic tree was constructed. All breeds were found to be polymorphic for the studied genes. The CSN1S1*C variant was found very frequently (>0.63) in all analyzed breeds with highest frequency (0.82) in White-nile cattle. The CSN1S2*A variant (0.77) and CSN3*A variant (0.79) had highest frequency in Kenana cattle. Eleven haplotypes in casein gene cluster were inferred. Six of all haplotypes occurred in all breeds with remarkably deferent frequencies. The estimated D ranged from 0.004 to 0.049. The most distant breeds were White-nile and Kenana (D 0.0479). The results presented contribute to the genetic knowledge of indigenous cattle and can be used for proper definition and classification of the Sudanese cattle breeds as well as breeding, utilization, and potential development of conservation strategies for local breeds.

Keywords: milk protein, genetic variation, casein haplotype, Bos indicus

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Authors: Khaled Sandjak, Boualem Tiliouine

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Structural analysis of flexible pavements has been and still is currently performed using multi-layer elastic theory. However, for thinly surfaced pavements subjected to low to medium volumes of traffics, the importance of non-linear stress-strain behaviour of unbound granular materials (UGM) requires the use of more sophisticated numerical models for structural design and performance of such pavements. In the present work, nonlinear unbound aggregates constitutive model is implemented within an axisymmetric finite element code developed to simulate the nonlinear behaviour of pavement structures including two local aggregates of different mineralogical nature, typically used in Algerian pavements. The performance of the mechanical model is examined about its capability of representing adequately, under various conditions, the granular material non-linearity in pavement analysis. In addition, deflection data collected by falling weight deflectometer (FWD) are incorporated into the analysis in order to assess the sensitivity of critical pavement design criteria and pavement design life to the constitutive model. Finally, conclusions of engineering significance are formulated.

Keywords: FWD backcalculations, finite element simulations, Nonlinear resilient behaviour, pavement response and performance, RLT test results, unbound granular materials

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Authors: Lazhar Belkhiri, Ammar Tiri, Lotfi Mouni

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In this research, we analyzed the groundwater quality index in the El Milia plain, Kebir Rhumel Basin, Algeria. Thirty-three groundwater samples were collected from wells in the El Milia plain during April 2015. In this study, pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were conducted at each sampling well. Eight hydrochemical parameters such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), chlorid (Cl), sulfate (SO4), bicarbonate (HCO3), and Nnitrate (NO3) were analysed. The entropy water quality index (EWQI) method was employed to evaluate the groundwater quality in the study area. Moran’s I and the ordinary kriging (OK) interpolation technique were used to examine the spatial distribution pattern of the hydrochemical parameters in the groundwater. It was found that the hydrochemical parameters Ca, Cl, and HCO3 showed strong spatial autocorrelation in the El Milia plain, indicating a spatial dependence and clustering of these parameters in the groundwater. The groundwater quality was evaluated using the entropy water quality index (EWQI). The results showed that approximately 86% of the total groundwater samples in the study area fall within the moderate groundwater quality category. The spatial map of the EWQI values indicated an increasing trend from the south-west to the northeast, following the direction of groundwater flow. The highest EWQI values were observed near El Milia city in the center of the plain. This spatial pattern suggests variations in groundwater quality across the study area, with potentially higher risks near the city center. Therefore, the results obtained in this research provide very useful information to decision-makers.

Keywords: entropy water quality index (EWQI), moran’s i, ordinary kriging interpolation, el milia plain

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Authors: Khaled Soliman, Abdullah Alrushoud, Abdulrahman Alkhalifah, Raed Albathi, Salman Altymiat

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Radiation dose received by patients undergoing Computed Tomography (CT) examination of the cervical spine was evaluated using Gafchromic XR-QA2 films and CT-EXPO software (ver. 2.3), in order to document our clinical dose values and to compare our results with other benchmarks reported in the current literature. Radiochromic films were recently used as practical dosimetry tool that provides dose profile information not available using the standard ionisation chamber routinely used in CT dosimetry. We have developed an in-house program to use the films in order to calculate the Entrance Dose Length Product (EDLP) in (mGy.cm) and to relate the EDLP to various organ doses calculated using the CT-EXPO software. We also calculated conversion factor in (mSv/mGy.cm) relating the EDLP to the effective dose (ED) from the examination using CT-EXPO software. Variability among different types of CT scanners and dose modulation methods are reported from at least three major CT brands available at our medical institution. Our work describes the dosimetry method and results are reported. The method can be used as in-vivo dosimetry method. But this work only reports results obtained from adult female anthropomorphic Phantom studies.

Keywords: CT dosimetry, gafchromic films, XR-QA2, CT-Expo software

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Authors: Zahraa Al Ali, Ammar Abulibdeh, Talal Al-Awadhi, Midhun Mohan, Mohammed Al-Barwani, Mohammed Al-Barwani, Sara Al Nabbi, Meshal Abdullah

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This study aims to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of six spectral water indices - derived from Multispectral sentinel-2 data - to detect soil moisture and inundated area in arid regions to be used as an indicator of mudflow phenomena to predict high-risk areas. Herein, the validation of the performance of spectral indices was conducted using threshold method, spectral curve performance, and soil-line method. These indirect validation techniques play a key role in saving time, effort, and cost, particularly for large-scale and inaccessible areas. It was observed that the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (mNDWI), and RSWIR indices have the potential to detect soil moisture and inundated areas in arid regions. According to the temporal spectral curve performance, the spectral characteristics of water and soil moisture were distinct in the Near infrared (NIR), Short-wave Infrared (SWIR1,2) bands. However, the rate and degree differed between these bands, depending on the amount of water in the soil. Furthermore, the soil line method supported the appropriate selection of threshold values to detect soil moisture. However, the threshold values varied with location, time, season, and between indices. We concluded that considering the factors influencing the behavior of water and soil reflectivity could support decision-makers in identifying high-risk mudflow locations.

Keywords: spectral reflectance curve, soil-line method, spectral indices, Shaheen cyclone

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Authors: Sellidj Abdelaziz, Lebaili Soltane

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A cobalt-based alloy type Co-Cr-Ni-WC was deposited by plasma transferred arc projection (PTA) on a stainless steel valve. The alloy is characterized at the equilibrium by a solid solution Co (γ) mainly dendritic, and eutectic carbides M₇C₃ and ηM₆C. At the deposit/substrate interface, this microstructure is modified by the fast cooling mode of the alloy when applied in the liquid state on the relatively cold steel substrate. The structure formed in this case is heterogeneous and metastable phases can occur and evolve over temperature service. Coating properties and reliability are directly related to microstructures formed during deposition. We were interested more particularly in this microstructure formed during the solidification of the deposit in the region of the interface joining the soldered couple and its evolution during cyclic heat treatments at temperatures similar to those of the thermal environment of the valve. The characterization was carried out by SEM-EDS microprobe CAMECA, XRD, and micro hardness profiles. The deposit obtained has a linear and regular appearance that is free of cracks and with little porosity. The morphology of the microstructure represents solidification stages that are relatively fast with a temperature gradient high at the beginning of the interface by forming a plane front solid solution Co (γ). It gradually changes with the decreasing temperature gradient by getting farther from the junction towards the outer limit of the deposit. The matrix takes the forms: cellular, mixed (cells and dendrites) and dendritic. Dendritic growth is done according to primary ramifications in the direction of the heat removal which takes place in the direction perpendicular to the interface, towards the external surface of the deposit, following secondary and tertiary undeveloped arms. The eutectic carbides M₇C₃ and ηM₆C formed are very thin and are located in the intercellular and interdendritic spaces of the solid solution Co (γ).

Keywords: Co-Ni-Cr-W-C alloy, solid deposit, microstructure, carbides, cyclic heat treatment

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Authors: Ammar Ayad Issa Al-Rifaie, Zuhreya Muazu, Maysam Ali Abdulwahid, Dermot Gleeson

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The aim of this audit was to examine the efficiency of alcohol history documentation and screening for hazardous drinkers at the Medical Admission Unit (MAU) of Northern General Hospital (NGH), Sheffield, to identify any potential for enhancing clinical practice. Data were collected from medical clerking sheets, ICE system and directly from 82 patients by three junior medical doctors using both CAGE questionnaire and AUDIT-C tool for newly admitted patients to MAU in NGH, in the period between January and March 2015. Alcohol consumption was documented in around two-third of the patient sample and this was documented fairly accurately by health care professionals. Some used subjective words such as 'social drinking' in the alcohol units’ section of the history. CAGE questionnaire was applied to only four patients and none of the patients had documented advice, education or referral to an alcohol liaison team. AUDIT-C tool had identified 30.4%, while CAGE 10.9%, of patients admitted to the NGH MAU as hazardous drinkers. The amount of alcohol the patient consumes positively correlated with the score of AUDIT-C (Pearson correlation 0.83). Re-audit is planned to be carried out after integrating AUDIT-C tool as labels in the notes and presenting a brief teaching session to junior doctors. Alcohol misuse screening is not adequately undertaken and no appropriate action is being offered to hazardous drinkers. CAGE questionnaire is poorly applied to patients and when satisfactory and adequately used has low sensitivity to detect hazardous drinkers in comparison with AUDIT-C tool. Re-audit of alcohol screening practice after introducing AUDIT-C tool in clerking sheets (as labels) is required to compare the findings and conclude the audit cycle.

Keywords: alcohol screening, AUDIT-C, CAGE, hazardous drinking

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Authors: Sanaa K. Bardaweel, Mohammad M. Hudaib, Khaled A. Tawaha, Rasha M. Bashatwah

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Eucalyptus species are well reputed for their traditional use in Asia as well as in other parts of the world; therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities associated with essential oils from different Eucalyptus species. Essential oils from the leaves of six Eucalyptus species, including: Eucalyptus woodwardi, Eucalyptus stricklandii, Eucalyptus salubris, Eucalyptus sargentii, Eucalyptus torquata and Eucalyptus wandoo were separated by hydrodistillation and dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate. DPPH, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity assays were carried out to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the oils. The results indicate that examined oils exhibit substantial antioxidant activities relative to ascorbic acid. Previously, these oils were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities, against wide range of bacterial and fungal strains, and they were shown to possess significant antimicrobial activities. In this study, further investigation into the growth kinetics of oil-treated microbial cultures was conducted. The results clearly demonstrate that the microbial growth was markedly inhibited when treated with sub-MIC concentrations of the oils. Taken together, the results obtained indicate a high potential of the examined essential oils as bioactive oils, for nutraceutical and medical applications, possessing significant antioxidant and anti microbial activities.

Keywords: antimicrobial, antioxidants, essential (volatile) oil, Eucalyptus

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Authors: Khaled Alkadamani

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Using the simultaneous equations model, this paper examines the impact of capital requirements on bank risk-taking during the recent financial crisis. It also explores the relationship between capital and risk decisions and the impact of economic instability on this relationship. By analyzing the data of 20 Islamic commercial banks between 2004 and 2014 from four Middle East countries, the study concludes a positive effect of regulatory pressure on bank capital in Saudi Arabia and UAE and a negative effect in Jordan and Kuwait. Moreover, the results show a negative impact of regulatory pressure on bank risk taking in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and UAE. The findings reveal also that banks close to the minimum regulatory capital requirements improve their capital adequacy by increasing their capital and decreasing their risk taking. Furthermore, the results show that economic crisis negatively affects bank risk changes, suggesting that banks react to the impact of uncertainty by reducing their risk taking. Finally, the estimations show a negative correlation between banks profitability and capital adequacy ratio (CAR), implying that as more capital is set aside as a buffer for banks safety; it affects the performance of Islamic banks.

Keywords: bank capital, bank regulation, crisis, Islamic banks, risk taking

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Authors: Sameh Ahmed, Khaled Galal

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Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sandwich panels are increasingly making their way into structural engineering applications. One of these applications is the blast mitigation. This is attributed to FRP ability of absorbing considerable amount of energy relative to their low density. In this study, FRP sandwich panels are numerically studied using an explicit finite element code ANSYS AUTODYN. The numerical model is then validated with the experimental field tests in the literature. The inner core configurations that have been studied in the experimental field tests were formed from different orientations of the honeycomb shape. On the other hand, the conducted numerical study has proposed a new core configuration. The new core configuration is formulated from a combination of woven and honeycomb shapes. Throughout this study, two performance parameters are considered; the amount of the energy absorbed by the panels and the peak deformation of the panels. Following, a parametric study has been conducted with more variations of the studied parameters to examine the enhancement of the panels' performance. It is found that the numerical results have shown a good agreement with the experimental measurements. Furthermore, the analyses have revealed that using the proposed core configuration obviously enhances the FRP panels’ behavior when subjected to blast loads.

Keywords: blast load, fiber reinforced polymers, finite element modeling, sandwich panels

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Authors: Mahmoud Roushdy, Mohamed El Naggar, Ahmed Yehia Abdelaziz

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Anchored sheet pile has been used worldwide as front quay walls for decades. With the increase in vessel drafts and weights, those sheet pile walls need to be upgraded by increasing the depth of the dredging line in front of the wall. A system has recently been used to increase the depth in front of the wall by installing a separated platform supported on a deep foundation (so called Relieving Platform) behind the sheet pile wall. The platform is structurally separated from the front wall. This paper presents a numerical investigation utilizing finite element analysis on the behavior of separated relieve platforms installed within existing anchored sheet pile quay walls. The investigation was done in two steps: a verification step followed by a parametric study. In the verification step, the numerical model was verified based on field measurements performed by others. The validated model was extended within the parametric study to a series of models with different backfill soils, separation gap width, and number of pile rows supporting the platform. The results of the numerical investigation show that using stiff clay as backfill soil (neglecting consolidation) gives better performance for the front wall and the first pile row adjacent to sandy backfills. The degree of compaction of the sandy backfill slightly increases lateral deformations but reduces bending moment acting on pile rows, while the effect is minor on the front wall. In addition, the increase in the separation gap width gradually increases bending moments on the front wall regardless of the backfill soil type, while this effect is reversed on pile rows (gradually decrease). Finally, the paper studies the possibility of reducing the number of pile rows along with the separation to take advantage of the positive separation effect on piles.

Keywords: anchored sheet pile, relieving platform, separation gap, upgrade quay wall

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Authors: Hamed A. El-Serehy, Khaled A. Al-Rasheid, Fahad A. Al-Misned

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The composition and distribution of the benthic meiofauna assemblages of the Egyptian coasts along the Red Sea are described in relation to abiotic variables. Sediment samples were collected seasonally from twelve stations chosen along the northern part of the Red Sea to observe the meiofaunal community structure, its temporal distribution and horizontal fluctuation in relation to environmental conditions of the Red Sea marine ecosystem. The meiofaunal assemblage in the area of study was well diversified including 140 taxa. The temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and redox potential were measured at the time of collection. The water content of the sediments, total organic matters and chlorophyll a values were determined, and sediment samples were subjected to granulometric analysis. A total of 10 meiofauna taxa were identified, with the meiofauna being primarily represented by nematodes (on annual average from 42% to 84%), harpacticoids, polycheates and ostracodes; and the meiofauna abundances ranging from 41- to 167 ind. / 10 cm2. The meiofaunal population density fluctuated seasonally with a peak of 192.52 ind. / 10 cm2 during summer at station II. The vertical zonation in the distribution of meiofaunal community was significantly correlated with interstitial water, chlorophyll a and total organic matter values. The present study indicates that the existing of well diversified meiofaunal group which can serve as food for higher trophic levels in the Red Sea interstitial environment.

Keywords: benthos, diversity, meiofauna, Red Sea

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Authors: Houda Khaled, Fredj Chaabani, Frederic Boulvain

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The Aptian series in north-central Tunisia was studied in detail regarding to lithology, microfacies, and magnetic susceptibility to provide new insights into the paleoenvironmental evolution and sea level changes in the carbonate platform. The study series is about 350 meters thick, and it consists of fives sequences of limestones, separated by four levels of marlstones and marly limestones. Petrographic study leads to the definition of 11 microfacies which are successively recorded along the Serdj section into the outer ramp, mid-ramp, inner ramp and coastal facies associations. The magnetic susceptibility of all samples was measured and compared with the facies and microfacies. There is a clear link between facies and magnetic susceptibility; the distal facies show high values while the proximal areas show lower values. The magnetic susceptibility profile reflects stratigraphic variations in response to relative changes in sea level and input of detrital materials. During the Aptian, kaolinite/illite intensity ratios show high values possibly indicating a warming trend followed then by decreasing values that may indicate a cooling trend. During the Albian, this cooling trend is reverted into humid/warming.

Keywords: Aptian, mineralogy, petrology, Serdj massif

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Khaled S. Al Salhen

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Aldehyde oxidase is molybdo-flavoenzyme involved in the oxidation of hundreds of endogenous and exogenous and N-heterocyclic compounds and environmental pollutants. Uncharged N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds such phenanthridine are commonly distributed pollutants in soil, air, sediments, surface water and groundwater, and in animal and plant tissues. Phenanthridine as uncharged N-heterocyclic aromatic compound was incubated with partially purified aldehyde oxidase from rainbow trout fish liver. Reversed-phase HLPC method was used to separate the oxidation products from phenanthridine and the metabolite was identified. The 6(5H)-phenanthridinone was identified the major metabolite by partially purified aldehyde oxidase from fish liver. Kinetic constant for the oxidation reactions were determined spectrophotometrically and showed that this substrate has a good affinity (Km = 78 ± 7.6 µM) for hepatic aldehyde oxidase, coupled with a relatively high oxidation rate (0.77± 0.03 nmol/min/mg protein). In addition, the kinetic parameters of hepatic fish aldehyde oxidase towards the phenanthridine substrate indicate that in vitro biotransformation by hepatic fish aldehyde oxidase will be a significant pathway. This study confirms that partially purified aldehyde oxidase from fish liver is indeed the enzyme responsible for the in vitro production 6(5H)-phenanthridinone metabolite as it is a major metabolite by mammalian aldehyde oxidase.

Keywords: aldehyde oxidase, fish, phenanthridine, specificity

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Michael Aupetit, Mahmoud Al-ismail, Khaled Mohamed

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Cancer is a major public health problem all over the world. Breast cancer has the highest incidence rate over all cancers for women in Qatar making its study a top priority of the country. Human cancer is a dynamic disease that develops over an extended period through the accumulation of a series of genetic alterations. A Darwinian process drives the tumor cells toward higher malignancy growing the branches of a progression tree in the space of genes expression. Although it is not possible to track these genetic alterations dynamically for one patient, it is possible to reconstruct the progression tree from the aggregation of thousands of tumor cells’ genetic profiles from thousands of different patients at different stages of the disease. Analyzing the progression tree is a way to detect pivotal molecular events that drive the malignant evolution and to provide a guide for the development of cancer diagnostics, prognostics and targeted therapeutics. In this work we present the development of a Visual Analytic web platform CanVis enabling users to upload gene-expression data and analyze their progression tree. The server computes the progression tree based on state-of-the-art techniques and allows an interactive visual exploration of this tree and the gene-expression data along its branching structure helping to discover potential driver genes.

Keywords: breast cancer, progression tree, visual analytics, web platform

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Authors: Ammar S. M. Moohialdin, Bambang T. Suhariadi, Mohsin Siddiqui

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This paper addresses the application of physiological status monitoring (PSM) for assessing the impact of harsh weather conditions on sports activities in universities in Saudi Arabia. Real sports measurement was conducted during sports activities such that the physiological status (HR and BR) of five students were continuously monitored by using Zephyr BioHarness^TM 3.0 sensors in order to identify the physiological bonds and zones. These bonds and zones were employed as indicators of the associated physiological risks of the performed sports activities. Furthermore, a short yes/no questionnaire was applied to collect information on participants’ health conditions and opinions of the applied PSM sensors. The results show the absence of a warning system as a protective aid for the hazardous levels of extremely hot and humid weather conditions that may cause dangerous and fatal circumstances. The applied formulas for estimating maximum HR provides accurate estimations for Maximum Heart Rate (HR_max). The physiological results reveal that the performed activities by the participants are considered the highest category (90–100%) in terms of activity intensity. This category is associated with higher HR, BR and physiological risks including losing the ability to control human body behaviors. Therefore, there is a need for immediate intervention actions to reduce the intensity of the performed activities to safer zones. The outcomes of this study assist the safety improvement of sports activities inside universities and athletes performing their sports activities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to represent a special case of the application of PSM technology for assessing sports activities in universities considering the impacts of harsh weather conditions on students’ health and safety.

Keywords: physiological status monitoring (PSM), heart rate (HR), breathing rate (BR), Arabian Gulf

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Ahlem Nefzi, Rania Aydi Ben Abdallah, Hayfa Jabnoun-Khiareddine, Ammar Nawaim, Rabiaa Haouala, Mejda Daami-Remadi

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Seven endophytic fungi were isolated from the wild Solanaceous species Lycium arabicum growing in the Tunisian Centre-East and were assessed for their ability to suppress Fusarium Crown and Root Rot disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici (FORL) and to enhance plant growth. Fungal isolates were shown able to colonize tomato cv. Rio Grande roots, crowns, and stems. A significant promotion in all studied growth parameters (root length, shoot height, and roots and shoots fresh weight) was recorded in tomato plants treated with fungal conidial suspensions or their cell-free culture filtrates compared to FORL-inoculated or pathogen-free controls. I15 and I18 isolates were shown to be the most effective leading to 85.7-87.5 and 93.6-98.4% decrease in leaf and root damage index and the vascular discoloration extent, respectively, over FORL-inoculated and untreated control. These two bioactive and growth-promoting isolates (I15 and I18) were morphologically characterized and identified using rDNA sequencing gene as being Alternaria alternata (MF693801) and Fusarium fujikuroi (MF693802). These fungi significantly suppressed FORL mycelial growth and showed chitinolytic, proteolytic and amylase activities whereas only F. fujikuroi displayed a lipolytic activity. This study clearly demonstrated the potential use of fungi naturally associated with L. arabicum as biocontrol and bio-fertilizing agents.

Keywords: biocontrol, endophytic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, tomato promotion, Lycium arabicum

Procedia PDF Downloads 173