Search results for: qualitative research study

Authors: Siti Nur Muhamad, Mohamad Abu Ubaidah Amir, Adenen Shuhada Abdul Aziz, Siti Sarah Mohd Isnan, Ainul Husna Abdul Rahman, Nur Afiqah Rosly, Roshamida Abd Jamil

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The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) will commencing on 8 September 2017 after ratified by 51 States in September 2016. However, there is no value recovered for the treated ballast water as it simply discharged during de-ballasting. In order to evaluate value creation of treated ballast water, three seawater applications which are seawater toilet flushing, cooling tower and desalination was studied and compared with treated ballast seawater. An exploratory study was conducted in Singapore as a case study as this country is facing water scarcity issues and a busy port in the world which received more than 28 billion m3 of ballast water in 2015. Surprisingly the treatment technology between seawater toilet flushing and ballast water management has similarity as both applications use screening and disinfection process and quality standard and analysis between treated ballast water with seawater applications found that seawater toilet flushing have the same quality parameter with treated ballast water. Thus, the treated ballast water can replace the raw seawater for seawater desalination. As such, with reduction of cost for screen unit, desalination water can exceed water production by NEWater in Singapore as the cost can recover the energy needed for desalination. It can conclude that treated ballast water has high recovery value and can be reused in seawater application.

Keywords: ballast water treatment, desalination, BWM convention, ballast water management

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Authors: Hanan Bishara

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This study deals with the subject of Popular Arabic Proverbs and the stereotypical roles and images that they create about the woman in general and Arab woman in particular. Popular proverbs in general are considered to be essence of experiences of society and the extract of its collective thought establish wisdom in a distinguished concise tight mold or style that affects the majority of people and keep them alive by virtue of constant use and oral currency through which they are transmitted from one generation to another. Proverbs deal with different aspects and types of people, different social relations, including the society's attitude about the woman. Proverbs about women in the human heritage in general and the Arab heritage in particular are considered of a special characteristics and remarkable in their being dynamic ones that move in all directions of life. Most of them carry the essence of the social issues and are distributed in such a way that they have become part of the private life of the general public. This distribution covers all periods and fields of the woman's life, the social, the economic and psychological ones. The woman occupies a major space in the Popular Proverbs because she is the center of social life inside and outside the house. The woman's statuses and images in the provers are numerous and she is often described in parallel images but each one differs from the other. These images intertwine due to their varieties and multiplicity and ultimately, they constitute a general stereotypical image of the woman, which degrades her status as a woman, a mother and a wife. The study shows how Popular Proverbs in Arabic reflect the Arab woman's position and status in her society.

Keywords: Arab, proverb, popular, society, woman

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Diea Gamal Abo El-Hassan, Salwa Ahmed Aly, Abdelrahman Mahmoud Abdelgwad

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The major conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers have anticancer effect, especially breast cancer cells, inhibits cell growth and induces cell death. Also, CLA has several health benefits in vivo, including antiatherogenesis, antiobesity, and modulation of immune function. The present study aimed to assess the safety and anticancer effects of milk fat CLA against in vivo Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in female Swiss albino mice. This was based on acute toxicity study, detection of the tumor growth, life span of EAC bearing hosts, and simultaneous alterations in the hematological, biochemical, and histopathological profiles. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty adult female mice were equally divided into five groups. Groups (1-2) were normal controls, and Groups (3-5) were tumor transplanted mice (TTM) inoculated intraperitoneally with EAC cells (2×106 /0.2 mL). Group (3) was (TTM positive control). Group (4) TTM fed orally on balanced diet supplemented with milk fat CLA (40 mg CLA/kg body weight). Group (5) TTM fed orally on balanced diet supplemented with the same level of CLA 28 days before tumor cells inoculation. Blood samples and specimens from liver and kidney were collected from each group. The effect of milk fat CLA on the growth of tumor, life span of TTM, and simultaneous alterations in the hematological, biochemical, and histopathological profiles were examined. Results: For CLA treated TTM, significant decrease in tumor weight, ascetic volume, viable Ehrlich cells accompanied with increase in life span were observed. Hematological and biochemical profiles reverted to more or less normal levels and histopathology showed minimal effects. Conclusion: The present study proved the safety and anticancer efficiency of milk fat CLA and provides a scientific basis for its medicinal use as anticancer attributable to the additive or synergistic effects of its isomers.

Keywords: anticancer activity, conjugated linoleic acid, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, % increase in life span, mean survival time, tumor transplanted mice.

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Marlene Rosa, Susana Lopes

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Board games have been used for different purposes in geriatric care, demonstrating good results for health in general. However, there is not a conceptual framework that can help professionals and researchers in this area to design intervention programs or to think about future studies in this area. The aim of this study was to provide a pilot collection of board games’ serious purposes in geriatric care, using a WHO framework for health and disability. Study cases were developed in seven geriatric residential institutions from the center region in Portugal that are included in AGILAB program. The AGILAB program is a serious game-based method to train and spread out the implementation of board games in geriatric care. Each institution provides 2-hours/week of experiences using TATI Hand Game for serious purposes and then fulfill questions about a study-case (player characteristics; explain changes in players health according to this game experience). Two independent researchers read the information and classified it according to the International Classification for Functioning and Disability (ICF) categories. Any discrepancy was solved in a consensus meeting. Results indicate an important variability in body functions and structures: specific mental functions (e.g., b140 Attention functions, b144 Memory functions), b156 Perceptual functions, b2 sensory functions and pain (e.g., b230 Hearing functions; b265 Touch function; b280 Sensation of pain), b7 neuromusculoskeletal and movement-related functions (e.g., b730 Muscle power functions; b760 Control of voluntary movement functions; b710 Mobility of joint functions). Less variability was found in activities and participation domains, such as purposeful sensory experiences (d110-d129) (e.g., d115 Listening), communication (d3), d710 basic interpersonal interactions, d920 recreation and leisure (d9200 Play; d9205 Socializing). Concluding, this framework designed from a brief gamed-based experience includes mental, perceptual, sensory, neuromusculoskeletal, and movement-related functions and participation in sensory, communication, and leisure domains. More studies, including different experiences and a high number of users, should be developed to provide a more comprehensive ICF framework for game-based experiences in geriatric care.

Keywords: board game, aging, framework, experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Benyan Jiang, Dawei Xia, Yong Li

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Compact city construction is considered as an effective measure to reduce carbon emission in city lives. Toyama City started its compact city strategy in 2000 and was selected as a Japanese Environmental Model City in 2008 for its achievement. This paper takes Toyama as a study case, aiming to find how city polices affected people’s life styles and reduced carbon emission. The main materials used in this study are first-hand documents, like urban planning materials, government annual report and statistic data from transportation association. It is found that the main measures taken by Toyama City include the construction of light rail transit, increasing the frequency of buses, building park and ride parking lots. In addition to hardware facilities, it also offers flexible policies like passengers' coupons for the senior citizens and free use of parking lots by buying shopping vouchers. Besides, Toyama City encourages citizens to live within 500 meters of public transportation. People who buy an apartment near public transportation will receive 500,000 Japanese Yen. These measures have proven to their effects. Compared with 2005, in 2014, the transportation sector reduced emissions of 2.35 million tons of CO₂, 13.6%. This aspect is related to the increase in the number of cars in public transport and also related to fuel improvement.

Keywords: Toyama, compact city, public transportation, CO₂ reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Erfan Izadpanah

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The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of the Trans-Cranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive flexibility and social decision-making in skilled, semi-skilled and novice football players. The present quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study was conducted on 60 randomly-selected subjects divided into trial and placebo groups (n=30 per group). The trial group received three 20-minute sessions of anodic stimulation at the intensity of 2 mA. The placebo group also received three sessions of sham anodic stimulation. Data were collected using the Wisconsin, Grant and Berg Card-Sorting Test (1948) and the ultimatum game and were then analyzed using the ANCOVA. The results showed significant differences between the skilled, semi-skilled and novice football players in the trial and placebo groups in terms of cognitive flexibility and social decision-making (P<0.01). TDCS appears to be able to improve cognitive flexibility and consequently social decision-making in football players and is recommended to sport psychologists and coaches as a useful intervention to increase cognitive flexibility and improve social decision-making in players.

Keywords: TDCS, cognitive flexibility, social decision-making, skilled, semi-skilled and novice football players

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Anmol Patel

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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is medical intervention which should be considered for all inpatients; with a patient centred approach, open communication and accurate documentation of clinical decisions. National enquiries have shown that in a significant number of cases CPR was attempted when it was considered inappropriate. In these circumstances attempting to prevent a natural death and subjecting a patient to trauma at the end of life would deprive them of a dignified death. Anticipatory “do not attempt CPR (DNACPR)” decisions aim to prevent this for those considered appropriate. As a legal document, these forms are required to be completed accurately and thoroughly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the difference in quality of DNACPR forms completed using electronic versus paper formats. A retrospective review of DNACPR forms and related documentation was completed in two District General Hospitals in South-East England, one of which uses electronic forms, while the other uses paper red forms. 50 completed forms from each hospital were analysed to assess for legibility, and quality of completion of all subsections of the form, including communications with family, relatives and the Multidisciplinary team. The hospital using paper forms showed a 40-44% rate of completion of sections relating to communication with patients and family, compared to 70% with the hospital using electronic forms. Similar trends were observed with other sections of the form. Conclusion: This study suggests that the implementation of electronic DNACPR forms significantly improves clinical practice and promotes better open communication with patients, family and the MDT.

Keywords: DNACPR, resuscitation, DNAR, patient communication

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Authors: Idil Kanter Otcu

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Nowadays, due to the growing problems of energy supply and the drastic reduction of natural non-renewable resources, the development of new applications in the energy sector and steps towards greater efficiency in energy consumption are required. Since buildings account for a large share of energy consumption, increasing the structural density of buildings causes an increase in energy consumption. This increase in energy consumption means that energy efficiency approaches to building design and the integration of new systems using emerging technologies become necessary in order to curb this consumption. As new systems for productive usage of generated energy are developed, buildings that require less energy to operate, with rational use of resources, need to be developed. One solution for reducing the energy requirements of buildings is through landscape planning, design and application. Requirements such as heating, cooling and lighting can be met with lower energy consumption through planting design, which can help to achieve more efficient and rational use of resources. Within this context, rather than a planting design which considers only the ecological and aesthetic features of plants, these considerations should also extend to spatial organization whereby the relationship between the site and open spaces in the context of climatic elements and planting designs are taken into account. In this way, the planting design can serve an additional purpose. In this study, a landscape design which takes into consideration location, local climate morphology and solar angle will be illustrated on a sample building project.

Keywords: energy efficiency, landscape design, plant design, xeriscape landscape

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Authors: Evren C. Eroglu, Ridvan Arslan

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Over the course of herbal production, various pretreatments are performed and some of which have serious effect on the bioactive properties. Especially in the production of herbal tea from fresh herbals, it is considered that elapsed time from blending to last product may affect the bioactive properties and antioxidant contents. Herbal infusion is basically prepared by mixing herbs with hot water for 10-20 min. During the brewing of these herbs, it is supposed to be significant decrease in the antioxidant and phenolics content. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of vitamin C (VitC), total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant contents (AO) of two brassica varieties (brussel sprouts and white head cabbage) with different holding time after blending. Second aim of this study was to understand the effect of herbal infusion on VitC, TPC and AO contents. In this study, fresh samples were subjected to 0-30 min holding time after blending. Then, samples was immediately taken to -80 °C and freeze drying process was performed. Herbal infusion was performed for 20 minutes. According to results, VitC contents in brussel sprouts was not changed significantly (p=0.12). However, there was a significant decreasing of VitC content in cabbage sample (p=0.034). 20 min of brewing caused a significant decrement in VitC of brussel sprouts by approximately 76% (1071 ppm dw), while decline in cabbage VitC content was 87% (531 ppm dw). AO and TPC values of unprocessed cabbage control sample (13791.87 ppm FeSO4·7H2O eq. dw and 5301.85 ppm gallic acid eq. dw) were higher than brussel sprouts control samples (11571.75 ppm FeSO4·7H2O dw and 5202.76 ppm, respectively). The change in AO and TPC of both brussel sprouts and cabbage samples were not statistically significant at the end of 30 minutes holding time (p=0.24 and p=0.38). After 20 minutes of brewing, AO content in brussel sprouts significantly decreased by 44% (p ˂0.05). Although, the decreasing of AO in white head cabbage was statistically important (p=0.034), decreasing was just 8%. TPC values were found to decrease by 54% in cabbage, while it was 35% in brussel sprouts after herbal infusion. It was observed that 30 min holding time had no statistically important effect on TPC values of both cabbage and brussel sprouts. As a conclusion, herbal infusion has more or less effect on VitC, TPC and AO contents of samples. Therefore, it is important to decrease brewing time. Another result was that there were no significant differences in TPC and AO content of both samples when holding samples 30 min outside after blending. However, this process had significant effect on VitC content of white head cabbage.

Keywords: Antioxidant content, brussel sprouts, herbal infusion, total phenolic content, white head cabbage, vitamin c

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Authors: Hari Krishna Ayyappa, Reenu Singh

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Rising population and restricted land for development has led towards the growth of vertical buildings and small complexes. It provides many possibilities to change the shape and size of internal space in addition to the social impacts on the commercial spaces. With the increased volatility of necessities of people, the need for mental and physical comfort has continuously increased. . Living in a small space musts minimalist and space- saving cabinetwork results to sustain mortal good. This paper attempts to explore the Influence of Using Minimalist Furniture on the Efficiency of the commercial Space interiors by means of the variable resulting from preceding studies based on literature. A literature review was conducted on research articles to understand the contributing variables in a well designed small commercial spaces. A questionnaire survey was conducted to understand the layout of small commercial spaces with respect to Environmental impact, material, Design elements, Modern approach, Layered lightings, and colours. The problem of small spaces can be resolved by some ways; it's still needed for cabinetwork to develop to be more innovative to accommodate small living spaces. Since cabinetwork is a necessity and not luxury, everybody is in need of it. The spatial factors affecting overall satisfaction at a detailed position were bandied. The variable helped in proposing design ideation and mock ups to explore improved interiors. This paper concludes that most of the principles of the minimalist approach have been overlooked at, which had an impact on the space efficiency in commercial spaces like storage rooms, office area, retail stores, restaurants, and other spaces where business is conducted.

Keywords: materials, modern approach, space efficiency, tall commercial buildings

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Gabriel A. Juma, Adiel M. Magana, Githaiga N. Michael, James G. Kairo

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Seagrass meadows are important carbon sinks, thus understanding this role and their conservation provides opportunities for their applications in climate change mitigation and adaptation. This study aimed at understanding seagrass contribution to ecosystem carbon at Gazi Bay; by comparing carbon stocks in seagrass beds of two mangroves fringed creeks of the bay. Specifically, the objectives included assessing the distribution and abundance of seagrass in the fringed creeks, and estimating above and below-ground biomass. Results obtained would be added to the mangrove and open bay carbon in estimating total ecosystem carbon of Gazi bay. The stratified random sampling strategy was applied in this study. Transects were laid perpendicular to the waterline at intervals of 50 meters from the upper region near the mangroves to the deeper end of the creek across seagrass meadows. Along these transects, 0.25m2 square quadrats were laid at 10 m to assess distribution and composition of seagrasses in the creeks. A total of 80 plots were sampled. Above-ground biomass was sampled by harvesting all the seagrass materials within the quadrat while four sediment cores were obtained from each quarter of the quadrat and then sorted into necromass, rhizomes and roots to determine below ground biomass. Samples were cleaned and dried in the oven for 72 hours at 60˚C in the laboratory. Total biomass was determined by multiplying biomass with carbon conversion factor of 0.34. In all the statistical tests, a significant level was set at α = 0.05. Eight species of seagrass were encountered in Western creek (WC) while seven in the Eastern creek (EC). Based on importance value, the dominant species in WC were Cymodocea rotundata and Halodule uninervis while Thalassodendron ciliatum and Enhalus acoroides dominated the eastern creek. The cover of seagrass in EC was 67.97% compared to 56.45% in WC. There was a significance difference in abundance of seagrass species between the two creeks (t = 1.97, D.F = 35, p < 0.05). Similarly, there was significance differences between total seagrass biomass (t= -8.44, D.F. = 53, p < 0.05) and species composition (F(7,79) = 14.6, p < 0.05) in the two creeks. Mean seagrass in the creeks was 7.25 ± 4.2 Mg C ha-1, (range: 4.1 - 12.9 Mg C ha-1). The findings of the current study reveal variations in biomass stocks of the two creeks of Gazi bay that have varying biophysical features. It is established that habitat heterogeneity between the creeks contributes to the variation in seagrass abundance and biomass stocking. This enhances understanding of these ecosystems hence the establishment of carbon offset project in seagrass for livelihood improvement and increased conservation.

Keywords: seagrass, above-ground, below-ground, creeks, Gazi bay

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: L. Alejandro Cárdenas, Fernando Herrera, David Nova, Juan Ballesteros

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This paper presents a methodology to optimize the maintenance of grid-connected photovoltaic systems, considering the cleaning and module replacement periods based on an asset management strategy. The methodology is based on the analysis of the energy production of the PV plant, the energy feed-in tariff, and the cost of cleaning and replacement of the PV modules, with the overall revenue received being the optimization variable. The methodology is evaluated as a case study of a 5.6 kWp solar PV plant located on the Bogotá campus of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. The asset management strategy implemented consists of assessing the PV modules through visual inspection, energy performance analysis, pollution, and degradation. Within the visual inspection of the plant, the general condition of the modules and the structure is assessed, identifying dust deposition, visible fractures, and water accumulation on the bottom. The energy performance analysis is performed with the energy production reported by the monitoring systems and compared with the values estimated in the simulation. The pollution analysis is performed using the soiling rate due to dust accumulation, which can be modelled by a black box with an exponential function dependent on historical pollution values. The pollution rate is calculated with data collected from the energy generated during two years in a photovoltaic plant on the campus of the National University of Colombia. Additionally, the alternative of assessing the temperature degradation of the PV modules is evaluated by estimating the cell temperature with parameters such as ambient temperature and wind speed. The medium-term energy decrease of the PV modules is assessed with the asset management strategy by calculating the health index to determine the replacement period of the modules due to degradation. This study proposes a tool for decision making related to the maintenance of photovoltaic systems. The above, projecting the increase in the installation of solar photovoltaic systems in power systems associated with the commitments made in the Paris Agreement for the reduction of CO2 emissions. In the Colombian context, it is estimated that by 2030, 12% of the installed power capacity will be solar PV.

Keywords: asset management, PV module, optimization, maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 35

Authors: A. V. Ayanwale, S. M. Tsadu, S. L. Lamai, R. J. Kolo, Y. I. Auta, A. Z. Mohammed

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A twelve weeks experiment was carried out on Heteroclarias freshwater hybrid fish fingerlings under laboratory conditions to study the effects of different temperature levels, 26.91 (control), 28.00, 30.00, 32.00°C respectively and their physiological responses to oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion and opercular respiratory beats were evaluated. The oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion and opercular respiratory beats were determined weekly based on standard procedures. The findings revealed that the oxygen consumption of Heteroclarias hybrid fingerlings significantly (p<0.05) increased with increase in temperature. The ammonia excretion were not significantly different (p>0.05) in all the temperature levels. The opercular respiratory beats per minutes showed similar trend in weeks 1,2,4 and 8 but indicated significantly higher (p<0.05) opercular respiratory beats (range= 117.10±2.26 at 30oC to 142.75±3.04 opercular beat at 32oC in week 8) at highest tested temperature levels. However, there was a decreasing trend in the opercular respiratory beats per minute of the controlled fingerlings. Generally, the opercular respiratory beats per minute decreased with increase in fish size. The findings of this study confirmed that increase in water temperature affects the physiology of Heteroclarias hybrid and hence for effective rearing and for profit making, it is essential for the hybrid to be cultured in the temperature range between 26.91°C (control) and 28.00°C.

Keywords: heteroclarias, hybrid, physiological responses, temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 472

Authors: Kuan-Jen Lai, Fang-Yi Lin, Shang-Rong Huang, Yun-Zheng Zeng, Po-Chieh Hsu, Jay Wu

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The normalized glandular dose (DgN) estimates the energy deposition of mammography in clinical practice. The Monte Carlo simulations frequently use uniformly mixed phantom for calculating the conversion factor. However, breast tissues are not uniformly distributed, leading to errors of conversion factor estimation. This study constructed a three-layer phantom to estimated more accurate of normalized glandular dose. In this study, MCNP code (Monte Carlo N-Particles code) was used to create the geometric structure. We simulated three types of target/filter combinations (Mo/Mo, Mo/Rh, Rh/Rh), six voltages (25 ~ 35 kVp), six HVL parameters and nine breast phantom thicknesses (2 ~ 10 cm) for the three-layer mammographic phantom. The conversion factor for 25%, 50% and 75% glandularity was calculated. The error of conversion factors compared with the results of the American College of Radiology (ACR) was within 6%. For Rh/Rh, the difference was within 9%. The difference between the 50% average glandularity and the uniform phantom was 7.1% ~ -6.7% for the Mo/Mo combination, voltage of 27 kVp, half value layer of 0.34 mmAl, and breast thickness of 4 cm. According to the simulation results, the regression analysis found that the three-layer mammographic phantom at 0% ~ 100% glandularity can be used to accurately calculate the conversion factors. The difference in glandular tissue distribution leads to errors of conversion factor calculation. The three-layer mammographic phantom can provide accurate estimates of glandular dose in clinical practice.

Keywords: Monte Carlo simulation, mammography, normalized glandular dose, glandularity

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Raghad Alhusari, Farag Omar, Moustafa Fadel

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A traditional greenhouse is a metal frame agricultural building used for cultivation plants in a controlled environment isolated from external climatic changes. Using greenhouses in agriculture is an efficient way to reduce the water consumption, where agriculture field is considered the biggest water consumer world widely. Controlling greenhouse environment yields better productivity of plants but demands an increase of electric power. Although various control approaches have been used towards greenhouse automation, most of them are applied to traditional greenhouses with ventilation fans and/or evaporation cooling system. Such approaches are still demanding high energy and water consumption. The aim of this research is to develop a fuzzy control system that minimizes water and energy consumption by utilizing outside weather conditions and underground heat exchanger to maintain the optimum climate of the greenhouse. The proposed control system is implemented on an experimental model of thermally isolated greenhouse structure with dimensions of 6x5x2.8 meters. It uses fans for extracting heat from the ground heat exchanger system, motors for automatic open/close of the greenhouse windows and LED as lighting system. The controller is integrated also with environmental condition sensors. It was found that using the air-to-air horizontal ground heat exchanger with 90 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness placed 2.5 m below the ground surface results in decreasing the greenhouse temperature of 3.28 ˚C which saves around 3 kW of consumed energy. It also eliminated the water consumption needed in evaporation cooling systems which are traditionally used for cooling the greenhouse environment.

Keywords: automation, earth-to-air heat exchangers, fuzzy control, greenhouse, sustainable buildings

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Mohammed G. Alotaibi, Sameer Albahkaly, Salwa M. Bahkali, Abdullah M. Alghamdi, Raseel S. Alswidan, Maha Bin Shafi, Sarah Almaiman

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Introduction: Rhinitis is common in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, our study was designed to evaluate the prevalence, triggering factors, severity and progression of rhinitis during pregnancy. Methods: Prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in eight governmental and private medical centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during June and July 2014. Validated Arabic language self-administered questionnaire was used. Sample size of 260 Saudi pregnant women was calculated by Raosoft sample size calculator. Random sampling was achieved by choosing one and skipping every five patients in the clinic list. Data were coded and entered manually into spreadsheets then transferred to SPSS statistical package version 16.0 for Windows. Consent, Privacy and confidentiality of information were assured. Results: Pregnancy rhinitis was reported 31.2% (CI 25.6 - 37.2%). Symptoms arising in first trimester appeared in 79.2% of PR cases and mostly worsen. The most prevalent symptoms were nasal pruritis (67.5%), followed by sneezing (57.1%), congestion (50.6%), and post nasal drip (46.7%). The major triggering factor was dust (71.4%), followed by Tobacco/Shisha smoke (57.6%) and perfume(47%). Preexisting allergic diseases were markedly associated with developing pregnancy rhinitis. Conclusion: Rhinitis during pregnancy manifested in one third of Saudi pregnant ladies. Nasal pruritus was the most common symptom and dust was the widespread triggering factor.

Keywords: allergy, pregnancy, Rhinitis, sneezing

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: A. S. Haruna, M. L. Mayanchi

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Pre Nigeria Certificate in Education otherwise called Pre-NCE is an intensive two semester course designed to assist candidates who could not meet the requirements for admission into NCE programme. The task of coping with the stressors in the course can interfere with the students’ ability to regulate attention skills and stay organized. The main objectives of the study were to find out the prevalence of stress; determine the association between stress and ADD and reveal gender difference in the prevalence of ADD among stressed pre-NCE students. Cross–Sectional Correlation Design was employed in which 333 (Male=65%; Female=35%) students were proportionately sampled and administered Stress Assessment Scale [SAS r=0.74) and those identified with stress were thereafter rated with Cognitive Processing Inventory [CPI]. Data collected was used to analyze the three null hypotheses through One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) Z-score, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients (PPMCC) and t-test statistics respectively at 0.05 confidence level. Results revealed significant prevalence of stress [Z-calculated =2.24; Z-critical = ±1.96], and a positive relationship between Stress and ADD among Pre-NCE students [r-calculated =0.450; r-critical =0.138]. However, there was no gender difference in the prevalence of ADD among stressed Pre-NCE students in the college [t-calculated =1.49; t-critical =1.645]. The study concludes that while stress and ADD prevail among pre-NCE students, there was no gender difference in the prevalence of ADD. Recommendations offered suggest the use of Learners Assistance Programs (LAP) for stress management, and Teacher-Students ratio of 1:25 be adopted in order to cater for stressed pre-NCE students with ADD.

Keywords: attention deficit disorder, pre-NCE students, stress, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients (PPMCC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Mohamed Amine Adaour, Mohamed Sadek Bachene, Mosaab Fortassi, Wafaa Siouda

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Foot infections are responsible for a significant number of hospitalizations and amputations in diabetic patients. The objective of our study is to analyze and evaluate the management of diabetic foot in a surgical setting. A retrospective study was conducted based on a selected case of suspected diabetic foot infections of osteitis treated at the Mohamed Boudiaf hospital in Medea. The case was reiterated as a therapeutic charge, consisting of treating first the infection of the soft tissues, then the osteitis: biopsy after at least 15 days of cessation of antibiotic therapy. Successful treatment of osteitis was defined at the end of a follow-up period of complete wound healing, lack of bone resection/amputation surgery at the initial bone site during follow-up , Instead, biopsies are prescribed in the treatment of soft tissue infection. The mean duration of treatment for soft tissue infection was 2-3 weeks, the duration of the antibiotic-free window of therapy prior to bone biopsy was 2-4 weeks. This patient received medical management without surgical resection. The success rate for treating osteitis at one year was 73%, and healing at one year was 88%.It is often limited to a sausage of the foot at the cost of repeated amputations. The best management remains prevention, which necessarily involves setting up a specialized and adapted centre.

Keywords: osteitis, antibiotic therapy, bone biopsy, diabetic foot

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Authors: M. Wisnu Pamungkas, Patrianef Darwis

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Introduction: Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a vascular disease that has a significant amputation and mortality risk with diabetes mellitus, the most significant risk factor in CLI, is very common among Indonesian. Endovascular intervention (EVI) is preferred in treating CLI because it is noninvasive and effective. Balloon angioplasty and stent angioplasty are the most common method of EVI in Indonesia. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of balloon angioplasty and stent angioplasty on wound healing in CLI. Method: A cross-sectional study enrolled 90 subjects of CLI who underwent endovascular intervention using balloon angioplasty and stent angioplasty from January 2013 to July 2017 in dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Jakarta. The wound healing period between balloon angioplasty dan stent angioplasty was analyzed using unpaired T-test with p<0,05 considered as statistically significant. Data of intervention method wound healing period, and subjects characteristic data (age, amputation, BMI, smoking habit, DM, occlusion site, and blood profile) were obtained. Result: The wound healing period in balloon angioplasty and stent angioplasty distributed normally. Mean value of wound healing period in balloon angioplasty and stent angioplasty are 84,8+/-2,423 and 59,93 +/- 2,423 days with a mean difference of 25 days. The difference in wound healing period in both groups is statically significant (p<0,05). The amputation event in balloon angioplasty and stent angioplasty is 22 and 16 event with no difference statistically. Conclusion: Stent angioplasty is a better method than balloon angioplasty for wound healing in patients with CLI.

Keywords: critical limb ischemia, endovascular intervention, wound healing, angioplasty

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: E. Obreque-Slier, P. Osorio-Umaña, G. Vidal-Acevedo, A. Peña-Neira, M. Medel-Marabolí

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Sensory and nutraceutical characteristics of a wine are determined by different chemical compounds, such as organic acids, sugars, alcohols, polysaccharides, aromas, and polyphenols. The polyphenols correspond to secondary metabolites that are associated with the prevention of several pathologies, and those are responsible for color, aroma, bitterness, and astringency in wines. These compounds come from grapes and wood during aging in barrels, which correspond to the format of wood most widely used in wine production. However, the barrels is a high-cost input with a limited useful life (3-4 years). For this reason, some oenological products have been developed in order to renew the barrels and increase their useful life in some years. These formats are being used slowly because limited information exists about the effect on the wine chemical characteristics. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of different laubarrel renewal systems (staves and zigzag) on the polyphenolic characteristics of a Carménère wine (Vitis vinifera), an emblematic cultivar of Chile. For this, a completely randomized experimental design with 5 treatments and three replicates per treatment was used. The treatments were: new barrels (T0), used barrels during 4 years (T1), scraped used barrels (T2), used barrels with staves (T3) and used barrels with zigzag (T4). The study was performed for 12 months, and different spectrophotometric parameters (phenols, anthocyanins, and total tannins) and HPLC-DAD (low molecular weight phenols) were evaluated. The wood inputs were donated by Toneleria Nacional and corresponded to products from the same production batch. The total phenols content increased significantly after 40 days, while the total tannin concentration decreased gradually during the study. The anthocyanin concentration increased after 120 days of the assay in all treatments. Comparatively, it was observed that the wine of T2 presented the lowest values of these polyphenols, while the T0 and T4 presented the highest total phenol contents. Also, T1 presented the highest values of total tannins in relation to the rest of the treatments in some samples. The low molecular weight phenolic compounds identified by HPLC-DAD were 7 flavonoids (epigallocatechin, catechin, procyanidin gallate, epicatechin, quercetin, rutin and myricetin) and 14 non-flavonoids (gallic, protocatechuic, hydroxybenzoic, trans-cutaric, vanillinic, caffeic, syringic, p-coumaric and ellagic acids; tyrosol, vanillin, syringaldehyde, trans-resveratrol and cis-resveratrol). Tyrosol was the most abundant compound, whereas ellagic acid was the lowest in the samples. Comparatively, it was observed that the wines of T2 showed the lowest concentrations of flavonoid and non-flavonoid phenols during the study. In contrast, wines of T1, T3, and T4 presented the highest contents of non-flavonoid polyphenols. In summary, the use of barrel renovators (zig zag and staves) is an interesting alternative which would emulate the contribution of polyphenols from the barrels to the wine.

Keywords: barrels, oak wood aging, polyphenols, red wine

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Authors: Sara Taghdisi, Mehrosadat Mirmohammadi, Mostafa Mokhtarian, Mohammad Hossein Pazandeh

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Leishmaniasis is one of the 10 most important diseases of the World Health Organization with health problems in more than 90 countries. Over one billion people are at risk of these diseases on almost every continent. The present human study was performed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of cotton plant on cutaneous leishmaniasis leision. firstly, the cotton seeds were cleaned and grinded to smaller particles. In the second step, the seeds were oiled by cold press method. In order to separate bioactive compound, after saponification of the oil, its gossypol was hydrolyzed and crystalized. finally, the therapeutic effect of Cottonseed Oil on cutaneous leishmaniasis was investigated. In the current project, Gossypol was extracted with a liquid-liquid extraction method in 120 minutes in the presence of Phosphoric acid from the cotton seed oil of Golestan beach varieties, then got crystallized in darkness using Acetic acid and isolated as Gossypol Acetic acid. The efficiency of the extracted crystal was obtained at 1.28±0.12. the cotton plant could be efficient in the treatment of Cutaneous leishmaniasis. This double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial was performed on 88 cases of leishmaniasis wounds. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 44 cases. two groups received conventional treatment. In addition to the usual treatment (glucantime), the first group received cottonseed oil and the control group received placebo. The results of the present study showed that the surface of lesion before the intervention and in the first to fourth weeks after the intervention was not significantly different between the two groups (P-value> 0.05). But the surface of lesion in the Intervention group in the eighth and twelfth weeks was lower than the control group (P-value <0.05). This study showed that the improvement of leishmaniasis lesion using topical cotton plant mark in the eighth and twelfth weeks after the intervention was significantly more than the control group. Considering the most common chemical drugs for Cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment are sodium stibogluconate, and meglumine antimonate, which not only have relatively many side effects, but also some species of the Leishmania genus have become resistant to them. Therefore, a plant base bioactive compound such as cottonseed oil can be useful whit fewer side effects.

Keywords: cottonseed oil, crystallization, gossypol, leishmaniasis

Procedia PDF Downloads 49

Authors: S. Potgieter-Vermaak, N. Bain, A. Brown, K. Shaw

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It is well-known from public news media that air pollution is a health hazard and is responsible for early deaths. The quantification of the relationship between air quality and health is a probing question not easily answered. It is known that airborne particulate matter (APM) <2.5µm deposits in the tracheal and alveoli zones and our research probes the possibility of quantifying pulmonary injury by linking reactive oxygen species (ROS) in these particles to DNA damage. Currently, APM mass concentration is linked to early deaths and limited studies probe the influence of other properties on human health. To predict the full extent and type of impact, particles need to be characterised for chemical composition and structure. APMs are routinely analysed for their bulk composition, but of late analysis on a micro level probing single particle character, using micro-analytical techniques, are considered. The latter, single particle analysis (SPA), permits one to obtain detailed information on chemical character from nano- to micron-sized particles. This paper aims to provide a snapshot of studies using data obtained from chemical characterisation and its link with in-vitro studies to inform on personal health risks. For this purpose, two studies will be compared, namely, the bioaccessibility of the inhalable fraction of urban road dust versus total suspended solids (TSP) collected in the same urban environment. The significant influence of metals such as Cu and Fe in TSP on DNA damage is illustrated. The speciation of Hg (determined by SPA) in different urban environments proved to dictate its bioaccessibility in artificial lung fluids rather than its concentration.

Keywords: air pollution, human health, in-vitro studies, particulate matter

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Authors: Richard Okyere Boadu, Judith Obiri-Yeboah, Kwame Adu Okyere Boadu, Nathan Kumasenu Mensah, Grace Amoh-Agyei

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Routine health information system (RHIS) quality assurance has become an important issue, not only because of its significance in promoting a high standard of patient care but also because of its impact on government budgets for the maintenance of health services. A routine health information system comprises healthcare data collection, compilation, storage, analysis, report generation, and dissemination on a routine basis in various healthcare settings. The data from RHIS give a representation of health status, health services, and health resources. The sources of RHIS data are normally individual health records, records of services delivered, and records of health resources. Using reliable information from routine health information systems is fundamental in the healthcare delivery system. Quality assurance practices are measures that are put in place to ensure the health data that are collected meet required quality standards. Routine health information system quality assurance practices ensure that data that are generated from the system are fit for use. This study considered quality assurance practices in the RHIS processes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight health facilities in Tarkwa Sub-Municipal Health Service in the western region of Ghana. The study involved routine quality assurance practices among the 90 health staff and management selected from facilities in Tarkwa Sub-Municipal who collected or used data routinely from 24th December 2019 to 20th January 2020. Results: Generally, Tarkwa Sub-Municipal health service appears to practice quality assurance during data collection, compilation, storage, analysis and dissemination. The results show some achievement in quality control performance in report dissemination (77.6%), data analysis (68.0%), data compilation (67.4%), report compilation (66.3%), data storage (66.3%) and collection (61.1%). Conclusions: Even though the Tarkwa Sub-Municipal Health Directorate engages in some control measures to ensure data quality, there is a need to strengthen the process to achieve the targeted percentage of performance (90.0%). There was a significant shortfall in quality assurance practices performance, especially during data collection, with respect to the expected performance.

Keywords: quality assurance practices, assessment of routine health information system quality, routine health information system, data quality

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Authors: K. Parandhama Gowd

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Space technologies have changed the way we live in the present day society and manage many aspects of our daily affairs through Remote sensing, Navigation & Communications. Further, defense and military usage of spacecraft has increased tremendously along with civilian purposes. The number of satellites deployed in space in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and the Geostationary Orbit (GEO) has gone up. The dependency on remote sensing and operational capabilities are most invariably to be exploited more and more in future. Every country is acquiring spacecraft in one way or other for their daily needs, and spacecraft numbers are likely to increase significantly and create spacecraft traffic problems. The aim of this research paper is to propose innovative design concepts for adaptive spacecraft. The main idea here is to improve existing design methods of spacecraft design and development to further improve upon design considerations for futuristic adaptive spacecraft with inbuilt features for automatic adaptability and self-protection. In other words, the innovative design considerations proposed here are to have future spacecraft with self-organizing capabilities for orbital control and protection from anti-satellite weapons (ASAT). Here, an attempt is made to propose design and develop futuristic spacecraft for 2030 and beyond due to tremendous advancements in VVLSI, miniaturization, and nano antenna array technologies, including nano technologies are expected.

Keywords: satellites, low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), geostationary earth orbit (GEO), self-organizing control system, anti-satellite weapons (ASAT), orbital control, radar warning receiver, missile warning receiver, laser warning receiver, attitude and orbit control systems (AOCS), command and data handling (CDH)

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Authors: Abdul Khaliq Amiri, Shigeyuki Date

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This study investigates the effect of using carbon-free fly ash (CfFA) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) on the compressive strength of mortar. The CfFA used in this investigation is high-quality fly ash and the carbon content is 1.0% or less. In this study, three types of blends with a 30% water-binder ratio (w/b) were prepared: control, binary and ternary blends. The Control blend contained only Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), in binary and ternary blends OPC was partially replaced with CfFA and GGBFS at different substitution rates. Mortar specimens were cured for 1 day, 7 days and 28 days under two curing conditions: steam curing and water curing. The steam cured specimens were exposed to two different pre-curing times (1.5 h and 2.5 h) and one steam curing duration (6 h) at 45 °C. The test results showed that water cured specimens revealed higher compressive strength than steam cured specimens at later ages. An increase in CfFA and GGBFS contents caused a decrease in the compressive strength of mortar. Ternary mixes exhibited better compressive strength than binary mixes containing CfFA with the same replacement ratio of mineral admixtures.

Keywords: carbon-free fly ash, compressive strength, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, steam curing, water curing

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Kerolis Samoul Zaghloul Noaman

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area law is the brand new access in the basket of worldwide law in the latter half of the 20 th Century. inside the last hundred and fifty years, courts and pupils advanced a consensus that, the custom is an vital supply of global law. Article 38(1) (b) of the statute of the international court of Justice identified global custom as a supply of global law. country practices and usages have a more role to play in formulating commonplace international regulation. This paper examines those country practices which may be certified to emerge as global standard law. due to the fact that, 1979 (after Moon Treaty) no hard law had been developed within the vicinity of space exploration. It attempts to link among country practices and custom in area exploration and development of standard global regulation in area activities. The paper makes use of doctrinal approach of felony research for inspecting the current questions of worldwide regulation. The paper explores exceptional worldwide prison files which include general meeting Resolutions, Treaty standards, working papers of UN, cases relating to commonplace global law and writing of jurists regarding area law and standard international law. it's far argued that, ideas such as common background of mankind, non-navy region, sovereign equality, nuclear weapon unfastened area and protection of outer area environment, etc. evolved nation practices a number of the worldwide community which can be certified to turn out to be international customary regulation.

Keywords: social networks privacy issues, social networks security issues, social networks privacy precautions measures, social networks security precautions measures

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Authors: Bensaid A., Mostephaoui T., Nedjai R.

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Climatic factors are the subject of considerable research, both methodologically and instrumentally. Under the effect of climate change, the approach to climate parameters with precision remains one of the main objectives of the scientific community. This is from the perspective of assessing climate change and its repercussions on humans and the environment. However, many regions of the world suffer from a severe lack of reliable instruments that can make up for this deficit. Alternatively, the use of empirical methods becomes the only way to assess certain parameters that can act as climate indicators. Several scientific methods are used for the evaluation of evapotranspiration which leads to its evaluation either directly at the level of the climatic stations or by empirical methods. All these methods make a point approach and, in no case, allow the spatial variation of this parameter. We, therefore, propose in this paper the use of three sources of information (network of weather stations of Meteo France, World Databases, and Moodis satellite images) to evaluate spatial evapotranspiration (ETP) using the Turc method. This first step will reflect the degree of relevance of the indirect (satellite) methods and their generalization to sites without stations. The spatial variation representation of this parameter using the geographical information system (GIS) accounts for the heterogeneity of the behaviour of this parameter. This heterogeneity is due to the influence of site morphological factors and will make it possible to appreciate the role of certain topographic and hydrological parameters. A phase of predicting the evolution over the medium and long term of evapotranspiration under the effect of climate change by the application of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios gives a realistic overview as to the contribution of aquatic systems to the scale of the region.

Keywords: climate change, ETP, MODIS, GIEC scenarios

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Mohammad Bqoor, Mohammad Hamdan, Isam Janajreh, Sufian Abedrabbo

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This extensive theoretical study on a novel Ionized Gas Thermoelectric Generator (IG-TEG) system has shown the ability of continuous energy extracting from the thermal energy of ambient air around standard room temperature and even below. This system does not need a temperature gradient in order to work, unlike the other TEGs that use the Seebeck effect, and therefore this new system can be utilized in sustainable energy systems, as well as in green cooling solutions, by extracting energy instead of wasting energy in compressing the gas for cooling. This novel system was designed based on Static Ratchet Potential (SRP), which is known as a spatially asymmetric electric potential produced by an array of positive and negative electrodes. The ratchet potential produces an electrical current from the random Brownian Motion of charged particles that are driven by thermal energy. The key parameter of the system is particle transportation, and it was studied under the condition of flashing ratchet potentials utilizing several methods and examined experimentally, ensuring its functionality. In this study, a different approach is pursued to estimate particle transportation by evaluating the charged particle distribution and applying the other conditions of the SRP, and showing continued energy harvesting potency from the particles’ transportation. Ultimately, power levels of 10 Watt proved to be achievable from a 1 m long system tube of 10 cm radius.

Keywords: thermoelectric generator, ratchet potential, Brownian ratchet, energy harvesting, sustainable energy, green technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Ouahiba Taamallah, Tarek Litim

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The study deals with the burnishing effect of AISI 52100 steel and parameters influence (Py, i and f on surface integrity. The results show that the optimal effects are closely related to the treatment parameters. With a 92% improvement in roughness, SB can be defined as a finishing operation within the machining range. Due to 85% gain in consolidation rate, this treatment constitutes an efficient process for work-hardening of material. In addition, a statistical study based on regression and Taguchi's design has made it possible to develop mathematical models to predict output responses according to the studied burnishing parameters. Response Surface Methodology RSM showed a simultaneous influence of the burnishing parameters and to observe the optimal parameters of the treatment. ANOVA Analysis of results led to validate the prediction model with a determination coefficient R2=94.60% and R2=93.41% for surface roughness and micro-hardness, respectively. Furthermore, a multi-objective optimization allowed to identify a regime characterized by P=20 Kgf, i=5 passes and f=0.08 mm.rev-1, which favors minimum surface roughness and a maximum of micro-hardness. The result was validated by a composite desirability D_i=1 for both surface roughness and microhardness, respectively. Applying optimal parameters, burnishing showed its beneficial effects in fatigue resistance, especially for imposed loading in the low cycle fatigue of the material where the lifespan increased by 90%.

Keywords: AISI 52100 steel, burnishing, Taguchi, fatigue

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Asif Jamal, Samia Sakindar, Ramla Rehman

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Biosurfactants are amphiphilic surface active compounds obtained from natural resources such as plants and microorganisms. Because of their diverse physicochemical characteristics biosurfactant are replacing synthetic compounds in various commercial applications. In present study, a strain of P. aeruginosa was isolated from crude oil contaminated soil as efficient biosurfactant producers. The biosurfactant production was analyzed as a function of surface tension reduction, oil spreading capacity, emulsification index and hemolysis assay. This bacterial strain showed excellent emulsion activity of EI24 85%, surface tension reduction up to 28.6 mNm-1 and 7.0 mm oil displacement zone. Physicochemical and biological properties of extracted rhamnolipid were also investigated in current study. The chemical composition of product from strain PSS was analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. The results revealed that extracted biosurfactant was rhamnolipid type in nature having RL-1 and RL-2 homologues. The surface behavior of rhamnolipid in aqueous phase was investigated varying extreme pH, temperature, salt conditions and with various hydrocarbons. The results indicated that biosurfactant produced by strain PSS Which showed stability during high temperature up to 121 C, salt concentrations up to 20% and pH range between (4—14). The emulsification activity with different hydrocarbons was also remarkable. It was concluded that rhamnolipid biosurfactant produced by strain PSS has excellent potential as emulsifying/remediation agent for broad range of hydrophobic pollutants.

Keywords: P. aeruginosa, bioremediation, rhamnolipid, surfactants

Procedia PDF Downloads 272