Search results for: yellow fever

Authors: Shalluf Milad

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Tomatoes are widely produced and consumed due to their nutritional content and versatility. However, the tomato is a soft fruit liable to damage and flavour deterioration. Hence, the main challenge for the tomato producing industry is to prevent the high loss incurred during harvest, handling and transportation of the crops. The objective of this study was to investigate the overall nutritional implication of controlled storage of tomatoes using ozone on the basic nutritional components of tomatoes. This investigation was also designed to focus on the effect of different ozone doses on the basic components (antioxidant activity). Green, yellow and red stages of ripeness (elegance tomatoes), were harvested at different dates for each experiment. The tomatoes were cleaned and placed inside the glass reactors and ozonated at 0.25, 0.50 and 1 mg O3/g tomatoes and clean air respectively for 5 days at 15°C ± 2 and 90-95 % relative humidity respectively. The fruits were analysed for total antioxidant activity. Analysis of the fruits clearly showed that antioxidant activity in the pericarp tissue was the lowest (P<0.001) compared with the pulp tissue of tomatoes during storage in the red stage of maturity, after being treated with ozone in the atmosphere of storage in a dose of 1.00 mgO3/g tomatoes. It can be concluded from this study that the use of ozone in the atmospheres of storage and handling of fresh products maintains the important compounds of these products while maintaining the nutritional value and health quality.

Keywords: post-harvest treatment, controlled atmosphere storage, ozone, tomatoes, antioxidant activity

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Authors: Sangamesh G. Sakri, Akash N. Patil, Sadashivappa M. Kotli

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Agro based industries in India are considered as the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). In India, MSMEs contribute approximately 8 percent of the country’s GDP, 42 percent of the manufacturing output and 40 percent of exports. The toor dal (scientific name Cajanus cajan, commonly known as yellow gram, pigeon pea) is the second largest pulse crop in India accounting for about 20% of total pulse production. The toor dal milling industry in India is one of the major agro-processing industries in the country. Most of the dal mills are concentrated in pulse producing areas, which are spread all over the country. In Karnataka state, Gulbarga is a district, where toor dal is the main crop and is grown extensively. There are more than 500 dal mills in and around the Gulbarga district to process dal. However, the majority of these dal milling units use traditional methods of processing which are energy and capital intensive. There exists a huge energy saving potential in these mills. An energy audit is conducted on a dal mill in Gulbarga to understand the energy consumption pattern to assess the energy saving potential, and an economic analysis is conducted to identify energy conservation opportunities.

Keywords: conservation, demand side management, load curve, toor dal

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Authors: Koon Weng Lau, Chee Dhang Chen, Abdul Aziz Azidah, Mohd Sofian-Azirun

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Recently, Sarawak state of Malaysia encounter an outbreak of dengue fever. Aedes albopictus has incriminated as one of the important vectors of dengue transmission. Without an effective vaccine, approaches to control or prevent dengue will be a focus on the vectors. The control of Aedes mosquitoes is still dependent on the use of chemical insecticides and insecticide resistance represents a threat to the effectiveness of vector control. This study was conducted to determine the resistance status of 11 active ingredients representing four major insecticide classes: DDT, dieldrin, malathion, fenitrothion, bendiocarb, propoxur, etofenprox, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, cyfluthrin, and permethrin. Standard WHO test procedures were conducted to determine the insecticide susceptibility. Aedes albopictus collected from Kapit (resistance ratio, RR = 1.04–3.02), Kuching (RR = 1.17–4.61), and Sibu (RR = 1.06–3.59) exhibited low resistance toward all insecticides except dieldrin. This study reveled that dieldrin is still effective against Ae. albopictus, followed by fenitrothion, cyfluthrin, and deltamethrin. In conclusion, Ae. albopictus in Sarawak exhibited different resistance levels toward various insecticides and alternative solutions should be implemented to prevent further deterioration of the condition.

Keywords: Aedes albopictus, dengue, insecticide resistance, Malaysia

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Authors: Fatima M. Kabbashi, Abdalla M. Abdalla, Hussam K. Hamad, Elias S. Hassan

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This study investigates the production of renewable energy (biogas) from biomedical hazard waste (blood) and eco-friendly disposal. Biogas is produced by the bacterial anaerobic digestion of biomaterial (blood). During digestion process bacterial feeding result in breaking down chemical bonds of the biomaterial and changing its features, by the end of the digestion (biogas production) the remains become manure as known. That has led to the economic and eco-friendly disposal of hazard biomedical waste (blood). The samples (Whole blood, Red blood cells 'RBCs', Blood platelet and Fresh Frozen Plasma ‘FFP’) are collected and measured in terms of carbon to nitrogen C/N ratio and total solid, then filled in connected flasks (three flasks) using water displacement method. The results of trails showed that the platelet and FFP failed to produce flammable gas, but via a gas analyzer, it showed the presence of the following gases: CO, HC, CO₂, and NOX. Otherwise, the blood and RBCs produced flammable gases: Methane-nitrous CH₃NO (99.45%), which has a blue color flame and carbon dioxide CO₂ (0.55%), which has red/yellow color flame. Methane-nitrous is sometimes used as fuel for rockets, some aircraft and racing cars.

Keywords: renewable energy, biogas, biomedical waste, blood, anaerobic digestion, eco-friendly disposal

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Authors: Betina Luiza Koop, Lenilton Santos Soares, Karina Cesca, Germán Ayala Valencia, Alcilene Rodrigues Monteiro

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Active and smart food packaging has been studied to control and extend the food shelf-life. However, active compounds such as anthocyanins (ACNs) are unstable to high temperature, light, and pH changes. Several alternatives to stabilize and protect the anthocyanins have been researched, such as adsorption on nanoclays. Thus, this work aimed to stabilize anthocyanin extracted from jambolan fruit (Syzygium cumini), a noncommercial fruit, to development of food package sensors. The anthocyanin extract from jambolan pulp was concentrated by ultrafiltration and adsorbed on montmorillonite. The final biohybrid material was characterized by pH and color. Anthocyanins were adsorbed on nanoclay at pH 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 and temperatures of 10 and 20 °C. The highest adsorption values were obtained at low pH at high temperatures. The color and antioxidant activity of the biohybrid was maintained for 60 days. A test of the color stability at pH from 1 to 13, simulating spoiled food using ammonia vapor, was performed. At pH from 1 to 5, the ACNs pink color was maintained, indicating that the flavylium cation form was preserved. At pH 13, the biohybrid presented yellow color due to the ACN oxidation. These results showed that the biohybrid material developed has potential application as a sensor to indicate the freshness of meat products.

Keywords: anthocyanin, biohybrid, food, smart packaging

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Authors: Raquel P. F. Guiné, Marlene I. C. Tenreiro, Ana C. Correia, Paulo Barracosa, Paula M. R. Correia

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical characteristics of Serra da Estrela cheese and compare these results with those of the sensory analysis. For the study were taken six samples of Serra da Estrela cheese produced with 6 different ecotypes of thistle in a dairy situated in Penalva do Castelo. The chemical properties evaluated were moisture content, protein, fat, ash, chloride and pH; the physical properties studied were color and texture; and finally a sensory evaluation was undertaken. The results showed moisture varying in the range 40-48%, protein in the range 15-20%, fat between 41-45%, ash between 3.9-5.0% and chlorides varying from 1.2 to 3.0%. The pH varied from 4.8 to 5.4. The textural properties revealed that the crust hardness is relatively low (maximum 7.3 N), although greater than flesh firmness (maximum 1.7 N), and also that these cheeses are in fact soft paste type, with measurable stickiness and intense adhesiveness. The color analysis showed that the crust is relatively light (L* over 50), and with a predominant yellow coloration (b* around 20 or over) although with a slight greenish tone (a* negative). The results of the sensory analysis did not show great variability for most of the attributes measured, although some differences were found in attributes such as crust thickness, crust uniformity, and creamy flesh.

Keywords: chemical composition, color, sensorial analysis, Serra da Estrela cheese, texture

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Authors: Juan Santos Garcia

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Introduction: Tuberculosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by a microorganism called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it has the capacity to spread from the lungs to other parts of the body. Globally, the rate per 100 thousand inhabitants has varied from 136 in 2007 to 122 in 2012; while in the region of the Americas has been much lower: 32 cases per 100,000 in 2007, to 29 in 2012. In El Salvador have also varied incidence rates from 2007 to 2012, from 27.4 cases per 100 000 population to 32 in the period indicated. Methods: Screening was performed with smear and chest X-ray at 80 military personnel from Military Brigade # 5 of El Salvador. Besides HIV tests were taken at the positive cases, which are also made interview, investigating demographic, clinical, laboratory and risk factors data. Frequencies, percentages and rates were calculated using Excel page. The rates were calculated for each of the 5 military bedrooms (called A, B, C, D, and E). Results: Attack rate was 18.75% in the bedroom C. the index case was identified and two secondary cases, with an exposure period of 59 days. Only the index case presented symptoms: cough, fever and weight loss. The other two cases had no symptoms. Discussion: We found a rate of tuberculosis 526 times higher than the national rate. He was also 12.5 times higher than that found in other studies in closed populations such as school facilities. It was not possible to make association analysis.

Keywords: tuberculosis, outbreak, military brigade, chronic granulomatous disease

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Authors: Ehsan Arabian, Thomas Sattelmayer

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The formation of nitrogen dioxide NO2 in the exhaust duct of a MAN dual fuel test engine has been investigated numerically. The dual fuel engine concept with premixed lean methane combustion ignited through diesel pilot flames reveals high potential for the abatement of the NOx formation. The drawback of this combustion method, however, is the high NO2 formation due to the increasing concentration of unburned hydrocarbons. This promotes the conversion of NO to NO2, which is toxic and characterized through its yellow color. The results presented in this paper cover a wide range of engine operation points from full load to part load for different air to fuel ratios. The effects of temperature, pressure and concentrations of unburned methane and nitric oxide on NO2 formation in the exhaust duct has been investigated on the basis of a zero-dimensional well stirred reactor model implemented in Cantera, which calculates the steady state of a uniform composition for a certain residence time. It can be shown that the simulated conversion of NO to NO2 match the experimental results fairly well. The partial oxidation of methane followed by CO production can be predicted as well. It can also be concluded that the lower temperature limit for which no conversion takes place, depends mainly on the concentration of the unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust.

Keywords: cantera, dual fuel engines, exhaust tract, numerical modeling of NO2 formation, well stirred reactor

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Authors: Ahmed Jibrin Uttu, Maimuna Waziri

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The root bark of Glossonema boveanum (Decne), a member of Apocynaceae family, is used by traditional medicine practitioner to treat urinary and respiratory tract infections, bacteremia, typhoid fever, bacillary dysentery, diarrhea and stomach pain. This present study aims to validate the medicinal claims ascribed to the root bark of the plant. Preliminary phytochemical study of the root bark extracts (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanol extracts) showed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, steroids, triterpenes, cardiac glycosides, saponins, tannins and flavonoids. Antimicrobial study of the extracts showed activities against Staphylococus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhii, Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Streptococcus agalactiae and Candida albicans while Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella Pneumoniae showed resistance to all the extracts. The inhibitory effect was compared with the standard drug ciprofloxacin and fluconazole. MIC and MBC for both extracts were also determined using the tube dilution method. This study concluded that the root bark of G. boveanum, used traditionally as a medicinal plant, has antimicrobial activities against some causative organisms.

Keywords: Glossonema boveanum (Decne.), phytochemical, antimicrobial, minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bactericidal concentration

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Authors: Songul Cinaroglu

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Background: Random Forest is an efficient, multi-class machine learning method using for classification, regression and other tasks. This method is operating by constructing each tree using different bootstrap sample of the data. Determining the number of trees in random forests is an open question in the literature for studies about improving classification performance of random forests. Aim: The aim of this study is to analyze whether there is an optimal number of trees in Random Forests and how performance of Random Forests differ according to increase in number of trees using sample health data sets in R programme. Method: In this study we analyzed the performance of Random Forests as the number of trees grows and doubling the number of trees at every iteration using “random forest” package in R programme. For determining minimum and optimal number of trees we performed Mc Nemar test and Area Under ROC Curve respectively. Results: At the end of the analysis it was found that as the number of trees grows, it does not always means that the performance of the forest is better than forests which have fever trees. In other words larger number of trees only increases computational costs but not increases performance results. Conclusion: Despite general practice in using random forests is to generate large number of trees for having high performance results, this study shows that increasing number of trees doesn’t always improves performance. Future studies can compare different kinds of data sets and different performance measures to test whether Random Forest performance results change as number of trees increase or not.

Keywords: classification methods, decision trees, number of trees, random forest

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Authors: Makoto Hasegawa, Seika Tokumitsu

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Spectra of light beams emitted from white-color LED torches are different from those of conventional electric torches. In order to confirm if white-color LED torches can be used as light sources for popular sunset color demonstrations in spite of such differences, spectra of travelled light beams and scattered light beams with each of a white-color LED torch (composed of a blue LED and yellow-color fluorescent material) and a conventional electric torch as a light source were measured and compared with each other in a 50 cm-long water tank for sunset color demonstration experiments. Suspension liquid was prepared from acryl-emulsion and tap-water in the water tank, and light beams from the white-color LED torch or the conventional electric torch were allowed to travel in this suspension liquid. Sunset-like color was actually observed when the white-color LED torch was used as the light source in sunset color demonstrations. However, the observed colors when viewed with naked eye look slightly different from those obtainable with the conventional electric torch. At the same time, with the white-color LED, changes in colors in short to middle wavelength regions were recognized with careful observations. From those results, white-color LED torches are confirmed to be applicable as light sources in sunset color demonstrations, although certain attentions have to be paid. Further advanced classes will be successfully performed with white-color LED torches as light sources.

Keywords: blue sky demonstration, sunset color demonstration, white LED torch, physics education

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Authors: Zengmin Tian, Bin Lv, Rui Hui, Yupeng Liu, Chuan Wang, Qing Liu, Hongyu Li, Yan Qi, Li Song

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Objective Robot was used for replacement of the frame in recent years. The paper is to investigate the safety and effectiveness of frameless stereotactic surgery in the treatment of children with cerebral palsy. Methods Clinical data of 425 children with spastic cerebral palsy were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were treated with robot-assistant frameless stereotactic surgery of nuclear mass destruction. The motor function was evaluated by gross motor function measure-88 (GMFM-88) before the operation, 1 week and 3 months after the operation respectively. The statistical analysis was performed. Results The postoperative CT showed that the destruction area covered the predetermined target in all the patients. Minimal bleeding of puncture channel occurred in 2 patient, and mild fever in 3 cases. Otherwise, there was no severe surgical complication occurred. The GMFM-88 scores were 49.1±22.5 before the operation, 52.8±24.2 and 64.2±21.4 at the time of 1 week and 3 months after the operation, respectively. There was statistical difference between before and after the operation (P<0.01). After 3 months, the total effective rate was 98.1%, and the average improvement rate of motor function was 24.3% . Conclusion Replaced the traditional frame, the robot-assistant frameless stereotactic surgery is safe and reliable for children with spastic cerebral palsy, which has positive significance in improving patients’ motor function.

Keywords: cerebral palsy, robotics, stereotactic techniques, frameless operation

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Authors: Glenda Marie D. Balitaan

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The branch of business management that deals with inventory planning and control is known as inventory management. It comprises keeping track of supply levels and forecasting demand, as well as scheduling when and how to plan. Keeping excess inventory results in a loss of money, takes up physical space, and raises the risk of damage, spoilage, and loss. On the other hand, too little inventory frequently causes operations to be disrupted and raises the possibility of low customer satisfaction, both of which can be detrimental to a company's reputation. The United Victorious Feed mill Corporation's present inventory management practices were assessed in terms of inventory level, warehouse allocation, ordering frequency, shelf life, and production requirement. To help the company achieve their optimal level of inventory, a mathematical model was created using Integer Linear Programming. Due to the season, the goal function was to reduce the cost of purchasing US Soya and Yellow Corn. Warehouse space, annual production requirements, and shelf life were all considered. To ensure that the user only uses one application to record all relevant information, like production output and delivery, the researcher built a Visual Basic system. Additionally, the technology allows management to change the model's parameters.

Keywords: inventory management, integer linear programming, inventory management system, feed mill

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Authors: Daniel O. Wasonga, Jouko Kleemola, Laura Alakukku, Pirjo Makela

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Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major food crop for millions of people in the tropics. Growth and yield of cassava in the arid-tropics are seriously constrained by intermittent water deficit and low soil K content. Therefore, experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of interaction between water deficit and K fertigation on growth and yield response of biofortified cassava at early growth phase. Yellow cassava cultivar was grown under controlled glasshouse conditions in 5-L pots containing 1.7 kg of pre-fertilized potting mix. Plants were watered daily for 30 days after planting. Treatments were three watering levels (30%, severe water deficit; 60%, mild water deficit; 100%, well-watered), on which K (0.01, 1, 4, 16 and 32 mM) was split. Plants were harvested at 90 days after planting. Leaf area was smallest in plants grown with 30% watering and 0.01 mM K, and largest in plants grown with 100% watering and 32 mM K. Leaf, root, and total dry mass decreased in water-stressed plants. However, dry mass was markedly higher when plants were grown with 16 mM K under all watering levels in comparison to other K concentrations. The highest leaf, root and total dry mass were in plants with 100% watering and 16 mM K. In conclusion, K improved the growth of plants under water deficit and thus, K application on soils with low moisture and low K may improve the productivity of cassava.

Keywords: dry mass, interaction, leaf area, Manihot esculenta

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Authors: Tengku Muhammad Rafi Nazmi Bin Tengku Razali, Habsah Alwi

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This article based on effect of temperature towards extraction of Aquilaria Subintegra. Aquilaria Subintegra which its main habitat is in Asia-tropical and particularly often found in its native which is Thailand. There is claim which is Aquilaria Subintegra contains antipyretic properties that helps fight fever. Research nowadays also shown that paracetamol consumed bring bad effect towards consumers. This sample will first dry using Vacuum Far Infrared which provides better drying than conventional oven. Soxhlet extractor used to extract oil from sample. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometer used to analyze sample to determine its compound. Objective from this research was to determine the active ingredients that exist in the Aquilaria Subintegra leaves and to determine whether compound of Acetaminophen exist or not inside the leaves. Moisture content from 400C was 80%, 500C was 620% and 600C was 36%. The greater temperature resulting lower moisture content inside sample leaves. 7 components were identified in sample T=400C while only 5 components were identified in sample at T=50C and T=60C. Four components were commonly identified in three sample which is 1n-Hexadecanoic acid, 9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid, methyl ester (z,z,z), Vitamin E and Squalene. Further studies are needed with new series of temperature to refine the best results.

Keywords: aquilaria subintegra, vacuum far infrared, SOXHLET extractor, gas chromatography mass spectrometer, paracetamol

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Authors: Qingqing Zhao, Junhong Bai

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To investigate the effects of salinity on dynamics of soil carbon and nitrogen contents and stocks, soil samples were collected at a depth of 30 cm at four sampling sites (Sites B, T, S and P) along a salinity gradient in a drained coastal wetland, the Yellow River Delta, China. The salinity of these four sites ranked in the order: B (8.68±4.25 ms/cm) > T (5.89±3.17 ms/cm) > S (3.19±1.01 ms/cm) > P (2.26±0.39 ms/cm). Soil total carbon (TC), soil organic carbon (SOC), soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), soil total nitrogen (TC) and soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were measured. Based on these data, soil organic carbon density (SOCD), soil microbial biomass carbon density (MBCD), soil nitrogen density (TCD) and soil microbial biomass nitrogen density (MBND) were calculated at four sites. The results showed that the mean concentrations of TC, SOC, MBC, TN and MBN showed a general deceasing tendency with increasing salinities in the top 30 cm of soils. The values of SOCD, MBCD, TND and MBND exhibited similar tendency along the salinity gradient. As for profile distribution pattern, The C/N ratios ranged from 8.28 to 56. 51. Higher C/N ratios were found in samples with high salinity. Correlation analysis showed that the concentrations of TC, SOC and MBC at four sampling sites were significantly negatively correlated with salinity (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05), indicating that salinity could inhibit soil carbon accumulation. However, no significant relationship was observed between TN, MBN and salinity (P > 0.05).

Keywords: carbon content and stock, nitrogen content and stock, salinity, coastal wetland

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Authors: Chinmay Shah

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The project is all about development of a close loop traffic light control system using PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). This project is divided into two parts which are hardware and software. The hardware part for this project is a model of four way junction of a traffic light. Three indicator lamps (Red, Yellow and Green) are installed at each lane for represents as traffic light signal. This traffic control model is a replica of actuated traffic control. Actuated traffic control system is a close loop traffic control system which controls the timing of the indicator lamps depending on the fluidity of traffic for a particular lane. To make it autonomous, in each lane three IR sensors are placed which helps to sense the percentage of traffic present on any particular lane. The IR Sensors and Indicator lamps are connected to LG PLC XGB series. The PLC controls every signal which is coming from the inputs (IR Sensors) to software and display to the outputs (Indicator lamps). Default timing for the indicator lamps is 30 seconds for each lane. But depending on the percentage of traffic present, if the traffic is nearly 30-35%, green lamp will be on for 10 seconds, for 65-70% traffic it will be 20 seconds, for full 100% traffic it will be on for full 30 seconds. The software part that operates with LG PLC is “XG 5000” Programmer. Using this software, the ladder logic diagram is programmed to control the traffic light base on the flow chart. At the end of this project, the traffic light system is actuated successfully by PLC.

Keywords: close loop, IR sensor, PLC, light control system

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Authors: Dalia. G. Aseel

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Begomoviruses are economically important plant viruses that infect dicotyledonous plants and exclusively transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Here, replicative form was isolated from Okra, Cotton, Tomato plants and whitefly infected with Begomoviruses. Using coat protein specific primers (AV1), the viral infection was verified with amplicon at 450 bp. The sequence of OLCuV-AV1 gene was recorded and received an accession number (FJ441605) from Genebank. The phylogenetic tree of OLCuV was closely related to Okra leaf curl virus previously isolated from Cameroon and USA with nucleotide sequence identity of 92%. The protein purification was carried out using His-Tag methodology by using Affinity Chromatography. The purified protein was separated on SDS-PAGE analysis and an enriched expected size of band at 30 kDa was observed. Furthermore, RAPD and SDS-PAGE were used to detect genetic variability between different hosts of okra leaf curl virus (OLCuV), cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV), tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCuV) and the whitefly vector. Finally, the present study would help to understand the relationship between the whitefly and different economical crops in Egypt.

Keywords: okra leaf curl virus, AV1 gene, sequencing, phylogenetic, cloning, purified protein, genetic diversity and viral proteins

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Authors: V. Baweja, K. K. Gupta, V. Dubey, C. Keshavam

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Antimicrobial activity of six indigenous plants such as Tulsi Ocimum sanctum, Neem Azadirachta indica, Aloe vera, Turmeric Curcuma longa, Lantana Lantana camara, and Clove Syzygium aromaticum was assessed against the gut microbiota of the dengue fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, keeping in view that the presence of midgut bacteria may affect the ability of the vector to transmit pathogens. Eleven different types of bacterial clones were isolated from the midgut of lab-reared fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and were grown on LB agar medium at an optimum temperature of 25 ºC. Identification of these bacteria was done on the basis of their colony characteristic such as colony size, shape, opacity, elevation, consistency, and growth. Light microscopic studies of the gut microbiota revealed dominance of Gram-negative cocci over gram positive cocci and bacilli and Gram-negative bacilli. Identification of species was done by chemical characterization of the colonies. Crude extracts of all test plants were screened for their antimicrobial activities against gut microbiota by disc diffusion assay. The zone of exclusion seen after 24 hr of incubation in different assays revealed the most potent antibacterial activities in neem followed by clove and turmeric. Lantana and Aloe vera were least effective.

Keywords: plant extract, aedes, dengue, antimicrobial activity

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Authors: Muhammad Munir, Riffat Mehboob, Samina Naeem, Muhammad Salman, Shehryar Ahmed, Irshad Hussain Qureshi, Tahira Murtaza Cheema, Ashraf Sultan, Akmal Laeeq, Nakhshab Choudhry, Asad Aslam Khan, Fridoon Jawad Ahmad

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A dengue outbreak in Lahore, Pakistan during 2011 was unprecedented in terms of severity and magnitude. This research aims to determine the serotype distribution of dengue virus during this outbreak and classify the patients demographically. 5ml of venous blood was drawn aseptically from 166 patients with dengue-like signs to test for the virus between the months of August to November 2011. The samples were sent to the CDC, Atlanta, Georgia for the purpose of molecular assays to determine their serotype. RT-PCR protocol was performed targeting at the 4 dengue serotypes. Out of 166 cases, dengue infection was detected with RT-PCR in 95 cases, all infected with same serotype DEN-2. 75% of positive cases were males while 25% were females. Most positive patients were in the age range of 16-30 years. 33% positive cases had accompanying bleeding. This is first study during the 2011 dengue epidemic in Lahore that reports DEN-2 as the only prevalent serotype. It also indicates that more infected patients were males, adults, within age range of 16-30 years, peaked in the month of November, Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is manifested more in females, Ravi town was heavily hit by dengue virus infection.

Keywords: dengue, serotypes, Pakistan, DEN 2, Lahore, demography, serotype distrbution, 2011 epidemic

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Authors: G. Dan Chépo, L. Ban-Koffi, N. Kouassi Kouakou, M. Dje Kouakou, J. Nemlin, A. Sahore Drogba, L. Kouame Patrice

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Solanum anguivi Lam, collectively called Gnagnan in Côte d'Ivoire is an eggplant with nutritional and therapeutic potentialities more or less known. The present study was undertaken to analyze the biochemical composition of berries at the different stages of maturity. Data showed that at the first stage of maturity (green berries), fruits are rich in ascorbic acid (34.48 ± 1.7 mg / 100 g dm), phenolic compounds (956.7 ± 71.14 mg / 100 g dm), iron (467.7 ± 1.84 mg / 100 g dm), magnesium (404.6 ± 16.25 mg / 100 g dm) and potassium (404.64 ± 16.25 mg/100 g dm). However, at the last stage of maturity (red berries), fruits are rich in proteins, cellulose, total sugars, fat and potassium with the values of 22.53 ± 2 g/100 g dm, 19.12 ± 0.35 g/100 g dm, 3.7 ± 0.2 g/100 g dm, 2.65 ± 0.19 g/100 g dm and 2290.84 ± 22.24 mg / 100 g dm, respectively. The chromatography on thin layer revealed the presence of glucose, ribose, xylose, arabinose and fructose at all the maturity stages. Except for alkaloids and gallic tannins, the phytochemical sorting revealed that Gnagnan contain many pharmacological components. According to the maturity stages, orange and red berries showed a higher content in sterols and polyterpens, flavonoids and saponins. The green berries contain most of polyphenols, catechintannins and quinons. As for the yellow berries, they are rich in polyphenols and catechintannins. These data contribute to enhance clinical researches on nutritional and pharmacological properties of S. anguivi Lam.

Keywords: Gnagnan, maturity stage, chemical composition, chromatography thin layer, phytochemical sorting

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Authors: Jihene Bettaieb, Ghassen kharroubi, Rym mallekh, Ines Cherif, Taoufik Atawa, Kaouther Harrabech

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Brucellosis is a major worldwide zoonosis. It is a reportable condition in Tunisia where the disease remains endemic, especially in rural areas. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and bacteriological profile of human brucellosis cases notified in the district of Tunis. It was a retrospective descriptive study of cases reported in the district of Tunis through the national surveillance system between the 1st January and 31th December 2017. During the study period, 133 brucellosis confirmed cases were notified. The mean age was 37.5 ± 18.0 years, and 54.9% of cases were males. More than four-fifths (82.7%) of cases were reported in spring and summer with a peak in the month of May (36 cases). Fever and sweats were the most common symptoms; they occurred in 95% and 72% of cases, respectively. Osteoarticular complications occurred in 10 cases, meningitis in one case and endocarditis in one other case. Wright agglutination test and Rose Bengale test were positive in 100% and 91% of cases, respectively. While blood culture was positive in 9 cases and PCR in 2 cases. Brucella melitensis was the only identified specie (9 cases). Almost all cases (99.2%) reported the habit of consuming raw dairy products. Only 5 cases had a suspect contact with animals; among them, 3 persons were livestock breeders. The transmission was essentially due to raw dairy product consumption. It is important to enhance preventive measures to control animal Brucellosis and to educate the population regarding the risk factors of the disease.

Keywords: brucellosis, risk factors, surveillance system, Tunisia

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Authors: Morten Stigaard Laursen, Rasmus Nyholm Jørgensen, Henrik Skov Midtiby, Anders Krogh Mortensen, Sanmohan Baby

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This work contributes a statistical model and simulation framework yielding the best estimate possible for the potential herbicide reduction when using the MoDiCoVi algorithm all the while requiring a efficacy comparable to conventional spraying. In June 2013 a maize field located in Denmark were seeded. The field was divided into parcels which was assigned to one of two main groups: 1) Control, consisting of subgroups of no spray and full dose spraty; 2) MoDiCoVi algorithm subdivided into five different leaf cover thresholds for spray activation. In addition approximately 25% of the parcels were seeded with additional weeds perpendicular to the maize rows. In total 299 parcels were randomly assigned with the 28 different treatment combinations. In the statistical analysis, bootstrapping was used for balancing the number of replicates. The achieved potential herbicide savings was found to be 70% to 95% depending on the initial weed coverage. However additional field trials covering more seasons and locations are needed to verify the generalisation of these results. There is a potential for further herbicide savings as the time interval between the first and second spraying session was not long enough for the weeds to turn yellow, instead they only stagnated in growth.

Keywords: herbicide reduction, macrosprayer, weed crop discrimination, site-specific, sprayer boom

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Authors: Basavaraj R. Endigeri, Shriharsh Desphande

Abstract:

Optimization and reduction of stress concentration around holes in a uniaxially loaded plate is one of the important design criteria in many of the engineering applications. These stress risers will lead to failure of the component at the region of high stress concentration which has to be avoided by means of providing auxiliary holes on either side of the parent hole. By literature survey it is known that till date, there is no analytical solution documented to reduce the stress concentration by providing auxiliary holes expect for fever geometries. In the present work, plate with a hole subjected to uniaxial load is analyzed with the numerical method to determine the optimum sizes and locations for the auxillary holes for different center hole diameter to plate width ratios. The introduction of auxiliary holes at a optimum location and radii with its effect on stress concentration is also represented graphically. The finite element analysis package ANSYS 8.0 is used to carry out analysis and optimization is performed to determine the location and radii for optimum values of auxiliary holes to reduce stress concentration. All the results for different diameter to plate width ratio are presented graphically. It is found from the work that introduction of auxiliary holes on either side of central circular hole will reduce stress concentration factor by a factor of 19 to 21 percentage.

Keywords: finite element method, optimization, stress concentration factor, auxiliary holes

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: M. Monisha, Sudha D. Kamath

Abstract:

We investigate the optical and photoluminescence properties from Dy³+ singly doped and Dy³+ co-doped with Ce³+alumino borosilicate glasses prepared using high temperature melt-quenching technique. The glass composition formula is 25SiO₂-(40-x-y)B2O₃-10Al₂O₃-15NaF-10ZnO-xDy₂O₃ yCe₂O₃ where, x = 0.5 mol% and y = 0, 0.1, and 0.5 mol%. The XRD study reveals the amorphous nature of both singly doped and co-doped glasses. Absorption study on Dy3+ singly doped glass shows nearly twelve absorption peaks arising from the ground level of Dy³+ ions (⁶H₁₅/₂) to various upper levels, and for Dy³+/Ce³+ co-doped glasses, few of the transitions in the visible region are suppressed. The absorption band edge is shifted towards the higher wavelength region on increasing Ce3+concentration. The decrease in indirect energy bandgap and increase in Urbach energy of the prepared glasses is observed due to codoping with Ce3+ ions. The photoluminescence studies on singly doped glass under 350 nm excitation showed three peaks at the blue (482 nm), yellow (575 nm), and red (663 nm) region. For codoped glasses, the emission peak at 403 nm is raised due to the 4d to 5f transition of Ce3+ ions. Lifetime values (ms) of co-doped glass is found to be higher than singly doped glass. Under 350 nm excitation, CIE coordinates of the co-doped glasses moved towards the bright white light region. The correlated color temperature (CCT) values were obtained in the range 4500 – 4700 K. Thus, the prepared glasses can be used for photonics device applications.

Keywords: absorption spectra, borosilicate glasses, Ce³+, Dy³+, photoluminescence

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Authors: Nurul Hidayah, Farida Rahmatika, Fathimah Azzahra, Nesty Herennadia

Abstract:

Aromatherapy candles are one of the insecticide media that have not been much researched. The active ingredient that is proven to have the effect of insecticide is a citrus extract from lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon). Aromatherapy candles are added by citrus compounds to be insecticidal for Ae. aegypti mosquito that was related to the infectious disease such as dengue fever. This research aims to find out if aromatherapy candles of citrus compounds have an insecticidal effect on Ae. aegypti mosquito. We used true experimental design including posttest only with control group design. The samples are 20 male and female Ae. aegypti mosquitos with aged 1-7 days belong to the inclusion criteria. The subjects were divided into 6 groups, consisting of 1 negative control group and 5 treatment groups with variation concentration are 1%; 2%; 3%; 4%; 5%. Each group will be treated for 2 hours and observed death after 24 hours. Replication in each group is done 4 times. The results were then tested statistically using Kruskal-Wallis and probit test. Mean of death in negative control group, and treatment group 1%; 2%; 3%; 4%; 5% respectively 0; 1; 0.25; 0; 1 and 1 mosquito. The Kruskal-Wallis test in the study group found no significant difference (p = 0.178). The probit analysis showed that LC50 and LC90 were 20.069% and 31.557%. The aromatherapy candle of a citrus compound has an insecticidal effect on the Ae aegypti mosquito.

Keywords: Ae. aegypti insecticide, aromatherapy candle, citrus compound, lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon)

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: Ahmad Shahin, Walid Moudani, Ali Bekraki

Abstract:

This research aims at presenting a predictive data mining model to handle an accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis with patients for the purpose of maximizing the health service quality, minimizing morbidity/mortality, and reducing cost. However, acute appendicitis is the most common disease which requires timely accurate diagnosis and needs surgical intervention. Although the treatment of acute appendicitis is simple and straightforward, its diagnosis is still difficult because no single sign, symptom, laboratory or image examination accurately confirms the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in all cases. This contributes in increasing morbidity and negative appendectomy. In this study, the authors propose to generate an accurate model in prediction of patients with acute appendicitis which is based, firstly, on the segmentation technique associated to ABC algorithm to segment the patients; secondly, on applying fuzzy logic to process the massive volume of heterogeneous and noisy data (age, sex, fever, white blood cell, neutrophilia, CRP, urine, ultrasound, CT, appendectomy, etc.) in order to express knowledge and analyze the relationships among data in a comprehensive manner; and thirdly, on applying dynamic programming technique to reduce the number of data attributes. The proposed model is evaluated based on a set of benchmark techniques and even on a set of benchmark classification problems of osteoporosis, diabetes and heart obtained from the UCI data and other data sources.

Keywords: healthcare management, acute appendicitis, data mining, classification, decision tree

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Neda Valizadeh, Mani Mofidi, Sama Haghighi, Ali Hashemaghaee, Soudabeh Shafiee Ardestani

Abstract:

Background: There are many systems and parameters to evaluate trauma patients in the emergency department. Most of these evaluations are to distinguish patients with worse conditions so that the care systems have a better prediction of condition for a better care-giving. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between axillary body temperature and mortality in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) with multiple traumas and with other clinical and para-clinical factors. Methods: All patients between 16 and 75 years old with multiple traumas who were admitted into Emergency Department then hospitalized in the ICU were included in our study. An axillary temperature in the first and the second day of admission, Glasgow cola scale (GCS), systolic blood pressure, Serum glucose levels, and white blood cell counts of all patients at the admission day were recorded and their relationship with mortality were analyzed by SPSS software with suitable statistical tests. Results: Axillary body temperatures in the first and second day were statistically lower in expired traumatic patients (p=0.001 and p<0,001 respectively). Patients with lower GCS had a significantly lower first-day temperature and a significantly higher mortality. (p=0.006 and p=0.006 respectively). Furthermore, the first-day axillary temperature was significantly lower in patients with a lower first-day systolic blood pressure (p=0.014). Conclusion: Our results showed that lower axillary body temperature in the first day is associated with higher mortality, lower GCS, and lower systolic blood pressure. Thus, this could be used as a predictor of mortality in evaluation of traumatic patients in emergency settings.

Keywords: fever, trauma, mortality, emergency

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: S. A. Jumare, A. O. Tijani, M. F. Siraj, B. V. Babatunde

Abstract:

This research investigated the comparative analysis of oil extracted from cotton and watermelon seeds using solvent extraction process. Normal ethyl-ether was used as solvent in the extraction process. The AOAC method of Analysis was employed in the determination of the physiochemical properties of the oil. The chemical properties of the oil determined include the saponification value, free fatty acid, iodine value, peroxide value and acid value. The physical properties of the oil determined include specific gravity, refractive index, colour, odour, taste and pH. The value obtained for cottonseed oil are saponification value (187mgKOH/g), free fatty acid (5.64mgKOH/g), iodine value (95.2g/100), peroxide value (9.33meq/kg), acid value (11.22mg/KOH/g), pH value (4.62), refractive index (1.46), and specific gravity (0.9) respectively, it has a bland odour, a reddish brown colour and a mild taste. The values obtained for watermelon seed oil are saponification value (83.3mgKOH/g), free fatty acid (6.58mg/KOH/g), iodine value (122.6g/100), peroxide value (5.3meq/kg), acid value (3.74mgKOH/g), pH value (6.3), refractive index (1.47), and specific gravity (0.9) respectively, it has a nutty flavour, a golden yellow colour and a mild taste. From the result obtained, it shows that cottonseed oil has high acid value which shows the stability of the oil and its stability to rancidity. Consequently, watermelon seed oil is order wise.

Keywords: extraction, solvent, cotton seeds, watermelon seeds

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Muhammad Irfan Aziz, Thomas Owens, Uzair Khaleeq uz Zaman

Abstract:

The instantaneous and spatial localization for visually impaired people in dynamically changing environments with unexpected hazards and obstacles, is the most demanding and challenging issue faced by the navigation systems today. Since Bluetooth cannot utilize techniques like Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Time of Arrival (TOA), it uses received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to measure Receive Signal Strength (RSS). The measurements using RSSI can be improved significantly by improving the existing methodologies related to RSSI. Therefore, the current paper focuses on proposing an improved method using trilateration for localization of Bluetooth devices for visually impaired people. To validate the method, class 2 Bluetooth devices were used along with the development of a software. Experiments were then conducted to obtain surface plots that showed the signal interferences and other environmental effects. Finally, the results obtained show the surface plots for all Bluetooth modules used along with the strong and weak points depicted as per the color codes in red, yellow and blue. It was concluded that the suggested improved method of measuring RSS using trilateration helped to not only measure signal strength affectively but also highlighted how the signal strength can be influenced by atmospheric conditions such as noise, reflections, etc.

Keywords: Bluetooth, indoor/outdoor localization, received signal strength indicator, visually impaired

Procedia PDF Downloads 134