Search results for: middle cerebral artery

Authors: Awad Mohamed Elkhadir, Rajab M. Ben Yousef

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Background/Aim: Radiological technologists are medical professionals who perform diagnostic imaging tests such as X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and computer tomography (CT) scans. Despite the recognition of image interpretation by British radiologists, it is still considered a problem in the Arab world. This study evaluates the perceptions of radiologists in the Middle East concerning the plain image interpretation of adults by radiologic technologist specialists. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that follows a quantitative approach. A close-ended questionnaire was distributed among 103 participants who were radiologists by profession from various hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The gathered data was then analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: The results showed that 29% recognized the Radiologic Technologist Specialist (RTS) role of writing image reports, while 61% did not. A total of 38% of participants believed that RTS image interpretation would help diagnose unreported radiographs. 47% of the sample responded that the workload and stress on radiologists would reduce by allowing reporting for RTS, while 37% did not. Lastly, 43% believe that image interpretation by RTS can be introduced into the Middle East in the future. Conclusion: The study's findings reveal that the combination of image reporting and radiography improves the care of the patients. The study's outcomes also show that the burden of the medical practitioners reduces due to image reporting of the radiographers. Further researches need to be conducted in the Arab World to obtain and measure the associated factors of the desired criteria.

Keywords: Arab world, image interpretation, radiographer, radiologist, Saudi Arabia, Sudan

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Authors: Merve Colak, Gizem Donmez Yalcin

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Glutamate has many neurological functions in the central nervous system and is found at high concentrations in the brain. Increased levels of glutamate in the neuronal space are toxic, causing neuron damage and death. This is called glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. Excitotoxicity is among the causes of many neurological diseases such as trauma, cerebral ischemia, epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease. Since neuroblastoma cells are known to be excitotoxic, we propose that excitotoxicity can be studied in neuroblastoma cells. Excitotoxicity can be induced using kainic acid in neuroblastoma cells. Measuring the secretion of glutamate, excitotoxicity can be analyzed in neuroblastoma cells.

Keywords: glutamate, excitotoxicity, kainic acid, Sirt4

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Authors: Farhin Delawala

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In the context of Palestine and the broader Middle East, this study delves into the Apartheid regime in Palestine, the country under occupation, and the intricate ties between the United States of America (USA) and the settler colony of ‘Israel’. The paper provides an explanation of the colonisation of Palestine as well as the forms of Apartheid. Moreover, it explains the provisions of United Nations (UN) international laws and how they have been broken by the settler colony of ‘Israel’. The paper contends that the US, motivated by its security interests in the region, has strategically influenced the political instability in the Middle East and the illegal occupation of Palestine. Furthermore, this paper proposes an alternative path of a one-state solution to foster a more peaceful and stable society and advocates for the integration of the Palestinian population into the region, from Gaza and the West Bank, under equal citizen rights. Thereby, the ethno-theocratic nature of the settler colony as an ethno-theocratic state is dismantled.

Keywords: apartheid, one-state solution, Palestine, political instability, settler colony

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: Sung Hyun Kim

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Introduction: Sleep disturbance is common in children with developmental disorders (D.D.). Sleep disturbance has a variety of negative effects, such as behavior problems, medical problems, and even developmental problems in children with D.D. However, to our best knowledge, there has been no proper treatment for sleep disorders in children with D.D. Therefore, we conduct this study to know the positive effects of intensive rehabilitation therapy in children with D.D. on the degree of sleep disturbance. Method: We prospectively recruited 22 patients with a diagnosis of D.D. during the period of January 2022 through May 2022. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) a patient who would participate in the intensive rehabilitation therapy of our institution; 2) the age participant under 18 years at the time of assessment; 3) a child who has consented to participate in the study by signing the consent form by the legal guardian. We investigated the clinical characteristics of participants by the medical record, including sex, age, underlying diagnosis of D.D., and Gross Motor Function Measures (GMFM). Before starting the intensive rehabilitation therapy, we conducted a Sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC). It contains 26 questions about children’s sleep, and those questions are grouped into six subscales, such as Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS), Sleep Breathing Disorders(SBD), Disorders of arousal(DOA), Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders(SWTD), Disorders of excessive somnolence(DOES) and Sleep Hyperhydrosis(SHY). We used the t-score, which was calculated by comparing the scores of normal children. Twenty two patients received 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation, including daily physical and occupational therapy. After that, we did follow up with SDSC. The comparison between SDSC before and after intensive rehabilitation was calculated using the paired t-test, and P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Demographic data and clinical characteristics of 22 patients are enrolled. Patients were 4.03 ± 2.91 years old, and of the total 22 patients, 14 (64%) were male, and 8 (36%) were female. Twelve patients(45%) were diagnosed with Cerebral palsy(C.P.), and the mean value of participants’ GMFM was 47.82 ± 20.60. Each mean value of SDSC’s subscales was also calculated. DIMS was 62.36 ± 13.72, SBD was 54.18 ± 8.39, DOA was 49.59 ± 7.01, SWTD was 58.95 ± 9.20, DOES was 53.09 ± 15.15, SHY was 52.14 ± 8.82, and the total was 59.86 ± 13.18. These values suggest that children with D.D. have sleep disorders. After 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation treatment, the score of DIMS showed improvement(p=0.016), but not the other subscale and total score of SDSC. Conclusion: This result showed that intensive rehabilitation could be helpful to patients of D.D. with sleep disorders. Especially intensive rehabilitation therapy itself can be a meaningful treatment in inducing and maintaining sleep.

Keywords: sleep disorder, developmental delay, intensive rehabilitation therapy, cerebral palsy

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Authors: Bruno RamaëL, GwenaëL Page, Catherine Knopf-Lenoir, Olivier Baledent, Anne-Virginie Salsac

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No routine technique currently exists for clinicians to measure the mechanical properties of vascular walls non-invasively. Most of the data available in the literature come from traction or dilatation tests conducted ex vivo on native blood vessels. The objective of the study is to develop a non-invasive characterization technique based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measurements of the deformation of vascular walls under pulsating blood flow conditions. The goal is to determine the mechanical properties of the vessels by inverse analysis, coupling imaging measurements and numerical simulations of the fluid-structure interactions. The hyperelastic properties are identified using Solidworks and Ansys workbench (ANSYS Inc.) solving an optimization technique. The vessel of interest targeted in the study is the common carotid artery. In vivo MRI measurements of the vessel anatomy and inlet velocity profiles was acquired along the facial vascular network on a cohort of 30 healthy volunteers: - The time-evolution of the blood vessel contours and, thus, of the cross-section surface area was measured by 3D imaging angiography sequences of phase-contrast MRI. - The blood flow velocity was measured using a 2D CINE MRI phase contrast (PC-MRI) method. Reference arterial pressure waveforms were simultaneously measured in the brachial artery using a sphygmomanometer. The three-dimensional (3D) geometry of the arterial network was reconstructed by first creating an STL file from the raw MRI data using the open source imaging software ITK-SNAP. The resulting geometry was then transformed with Solidworks into volumes that are compatible with Ansys softwares. Tetrahedral meshes of the wall and fluid domains were built using the ANSYS Meshing software, with a near-wall mesh refinement method in the case of the fluid domain to improve the accuracy of the fluid flow calculations. Ansys Structural was used for the numerical simulation of the vessel deformation and Ansys CFX for the simulation of the blood flow. The fluid structure interaction simulations showed that the systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the common carotid artery could be taken as reference pressures to identify the mechanical properties of the different arteries of the network. The coefficients of the hyperelastic law were identified using Ansys Design model for the common carotid. Under large deformations, a stiffness of 800 kPa is measured, which is of the same order of magnitude as the Young modulus of collagen fibers. Areas of maximum deformations were highlighted near bifurcations. This study is a first step towards patient-specific characterization of the mechanical properties of the facial vessels. The method is currently applied on patients suffering from facial vascular malformations and on patients scheduled for facial reconstruction. Information on the blood flow velocity as well as on the vessel anatomy and deformability will be key to improve surgical planning in the case of such vascular pathologies.

Keywords: identification, mechanical properties, arterial walls, MRI measurements, numerical simulations

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Authors: Mohammad Rahman, Guy Burton, Megan Mathias

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Strategic management as an organizational practice was adopted by the public sector in the New Public Management (NPM) era that began in most parts of the world in the 1980s. Strategy as a new public management concept was subscribed by governments in both developed and developing world, as they were persuaded that clearly defined vision, mission and goals, as well as programs and projects - aligned with the goals - could potentially help achieve government vision at the national level and organizational goals at the service-delivery level. The advocates for strategic management in the public sector saw an inherent link between strategy and performance, claiming that the implementation of organizational strategy has an effect on the overall performance of an organization. Arguably, many government entities that have failed in enhancing team and individual performance had poorly-designed strategy or weak strategy implementation. Another key argument about low-level performance is linked with lack of strategic sense-making and orientation by middle managers in particular. Scholars maintain that employees at all levels need to understand strategic management plan in order to facilitate its implementation. Therefore, involving employees (particularly the middle managers) from the beginning potentially helps an organization avoid the drop in performance, and on the contrary would increase their commitment. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is well known for adopting public sector reform strategies and tools since the 1990s. This observation is contextually pertinent in the case of the Government of Dubai, which has provided a Strategy Execution Guide to all of its entities to achieve high level strategic success in service delivery. The Dubai public sector also adopts road maps for e-Government, Smart Dubai, Expo 2020, investment, environment, education, health and other sectors. Evidently, some of these strategies are bringing tangible (e.g. Smart Dubai transformation) results in a transformational manner. However, the amount of academic research and literature on the strategy process vis-à-vis staff performance in the Government of Dubai is limited. In this backdrop, this study examines how individual performance of public sector employees in Dubai is linked with their sense-making, engagement and orientation with strategy development and implementation processes. Based on a theoretical framework, this study will undertake a sample-based questionnaire survey amongst middle managers in Dubai public sector to (a) measure the level of engagement of middle managers in strategy development and implementation processes as perceived by them; (b) observe the organizational landscape in which role expectations are placed on middle managers; and (c) examine the impact of employee engagement in strategy development process and the conditions for role expectations on individual performance. The paper is expected to provide new insights on the interface between strategic sense-making and performance in order to contribute a better understanding of the current culture/practices of staff engagement in strategic management in the public sector of Dubai.

Keywords: employee performance, government of Dubai, middle managers, strategic sense-making

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Authors: Yusef Karimi, Masoomeh Esmaeily, Razgar Mohammadi

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Following the events of September 11th, one of the most important concerns of governments, politicians and, researchers has been to answer the question that why does an ordinary person become fundamentalism? One of the major controversies in past researches was about as to whether a fundamentalist person is normal or abnormal. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to investigate whether a Salafi-jihadi individual is normal or abnormal. The participants included 6 Jihadi Salafism individuals who were living in the Middle East and had been purposefully selected. This research is a qualitative study which examines these people′s retrospective experience of their lives. The data were collected through collaborative observation and interview. This continued till data saturation. Unlike the introduced concepts of fundamentalist personality in the previous studies such as self-fascination, aggression, paranoid personality and psychopathic, participants in this study had no abnormal symptoms of mental disorders. Hence, in the context of recognizing the fundamentalist personality, we must seek other personality and positional variables.

Keywords: abnormal, fundamentalism, normal, personality, Salafi

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Authors: Zhibin Lei, Minghui Yang

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Ningwu-Jingle basin is a structural syncline which has undergone a complex tectono-thermal history since Cretaceous. It stretches along the strike of the northern Lvliang Mountains which are the most important mountains in the middle and west of North China Craton. The Mesozoic units make up of the core of Ningwu-Jingle Basin, with pre-Mesozoic units making up of its flanks. The available low-temperature thermochronology implies that Ningwu-Jingle Basin has experienced two stages of uplifting: 94±7Ma to 111±8Ma (Albian to Cenomanian) and 62±4 to 75±5Ma (Danian to Maastrichtian). In order to constrain its tectono-thermal history in the Cenozoic, both apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He and fission track dating analysis are applied on 3 Middle Jurassic and 3 Upper Triassic sandstone samples. The central fission track ages range from 74.4±8.8Ma to 66.0±8.0Ma (Campanian to Maastrichtian) which matches well with previous data. The central He ages range from 20.1±1.2Ma to 49.1±3.0Ma (Ypresian to Burdigalian). Inverse thermal modeling is established based on both apatite fission track data and (U-Th-Sm)/He data. The thermal history obtained reveals that all 6 sandstone samples cross the high-temperature limit of fission track partial annealing zone by the uppermost Cretaceous and that of He partial retention zone by the uppermost Eocene to the early Oligocene. The result indicates that the middle and west of North China Craton is not stable in the Cenozoic.

Keywords: apatite fission track thermochronology, apatite (u–th)/he thermochronology, Ningwu-Jingle basin, North China craton, tectono-thermal history

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Authors: Jamel Boukhatem, Semia Rachid, Marmar Nasr

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Considering the differences between oil- and non-oil-producing countries, this paper aims to evaluate the impact of financial development (FD) and institutional quality (IQ) on CO2 emissions in 15 MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries over the period 1996-2018 using the Panel ARDL approach. We found evidence to support an unconditional long run effect of FD on environmental conditions (EC), with quite significant differences between the two groups of countries. While FD leads to environmental degradation (ED) in non-oil-producing countries, it helps protect the environment in oil-producing ones. Regarding the effects of IQ on EC, they are not significant in both short- and long run for non-oil-producing countries, but they are significant for oil-producing ones only in the long run. In the short run, IQ indicators haven’t significant effects on EC for the two groups of countries.

Keywords: financial development, institutional quality, environmental conditions, Panel ARDL

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Authors: Chansheng He, Lanhui Zhang, Baoqing Zhang

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Spatial heterogeneity of landscape significantly affects watershed hydrological processes, particularly in high elevation and cold mountainous watersheds such as the inland river (terminal lake) basins in Northwest China, where the upper reach mountainous areas are the main source of streamflow for the downstream agricultural oases and desert ecosystems. Thus, it is essential to take into account spatial variations of hydrological processes in streamflow allocation at the watershed scale. This paper adapts the Distributed Large Basin Runoff Model (DLBRM) to the Heihe River Watershed, the second largest inland river with a drainage area of about 128,000 km2 in Northwest China, for understanding the transfer and partitioning mechanism among the glacier and snowmelt, surface runoff, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge among the upper, middle, and lower reaches in the study area. Results indicate that the upper reach Qilian Mountain area is the main source of streamflow for the middle reach agricultural oasis and downstream desert areas. Large withdrawals for agricultural irrigation in the middle reach had significantly depleted river flow for the lower reach desert ecosystems. Innovative conservation and enforcement programs need to be undertaken to ensure the successful implementation of water allocation plan of delivering 0.95 x 109 m3 of water downstream annually by the State Council in the Heihe River Watershed.

Keywords: DLBRM, Northwestern China, spatial variation, water allocation

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Authors: Abdou Elhendy

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Numerous study have shown the efficacy of the percutaneous intervention (PCI) and coronary stenting in improving left ventricular function and relieving exertional angina. Furthermore, PCI remains the main line of therapy in acute myocardial infarction. Improvement of procedural techniques and new devices have resulted in an increased number of PCI in those with difficult and extensive lesions, multivessel disease as well as total occlusion. Immediate and late outcome may be compromised by acute thrombosis or the development of fibro-intimal hyperplasia. In addition, progression of coronary artery disease proximal or distal to the stent as well as in non-stented arteries is not uncommon. As a result, complications can occur, such as acute myocardial infarction, worsened heart failure or recurrence of angina. In a stent, restenosis can occur without symptoms or with atypical complaints rendering the clinical diagnosis difficult. Routine invasive angiography is not appropriate as a follow up tool due to associated risk and cost and the limited functional assessment. Exercise and pharmacologic stress testing are increasingly used to evaluate the myocardial function, perfusion and adequacy of revascularization. Information obtained by these techniques provide important clues regarding presence and severity of compromise in myocardial blood flow. Stress echocardiography can be performed in conjunction with exercise or dobutamine infusion. The diagnostic accuracy has been moderate, but the results provide excellent prognostic stratification. Adding myocardial contrast agents can improve imaging quality and allows assessment of both function and perfusion. Stress radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging is an alternative to evaluate these patients. The extent and severity of wall motion and perfusion abnormalities observed during exercise or pharmacologic stress are predictors of survival and risk of cardiac events. According to current guidelines, stress echocardiography and radionuclide imaging are considered to have appropriate indication among patients after PCI who have cardiac symptoms and those who underwent incomplete revascularization. Stress testing is not recommended in asymptomatic patients, particularly early after revascularization, Coronary CT angiography is increasingly used and provides high sensitive for the diagnosis of coronary artery stenosis. Average sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of in stent stenosis in pooled data are 79% and 81%, respectively. Limitations include blooming artifacts and low feasibility in patients with small stents or thick struts. Anatomical and functional cardiac imaging modalities are corner stone for the assessment of patients after PCI and provide salient diagnostic and prognostic information. Current imaging techniques cans serve as gate keeper for coronary angiography, thus limiting the risk of invasive procedures to those who are likely to benefit from subsequent revascularization. The determination of which modality to apply requires careful identification of merits and limitation of each technique as well as the unique characteristic of each individual patient.

Keywords: coronary artery disease, stress testing, cardiac imaging, restenosis

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Authors: Swati Swati, Yuhang Chen, Robert Reuben

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Coronary stents are devices resembling the shape of a tube which are placed in coronary arteries, to keep the arteries open in the treatment of coronary arterial diseases. Coronary stents are routinely deployed to clear atheromatous plaque. The stent essentially applies an internal pressure to the artery because its structure is cylindrically symmetrical and this may introduce some abnormalities in final arterial shape. The goal of the project is to develop segmented circumferential arterial compliance measuring devices which can be deployed (eventually) in vivo. The segmentation of the device will allow the mechanical asymmetry of any stenosis to be assessed. The purpose will be to assess the quality of arterial tissue for applications in tailored stents and in the assessment of aortic aneurism. Arterial distensibility measurement is of utmost importance to diagnose cardiovascular diseases and for prediction of future cardiac events or coronary artery diseases. In order to arrive at some generic outcomes, a preliminary experimental set-up has been devised to establish the measurement principles for the device at macro-scale. The measurement methodology consists of a strain gauge system monitored by LABVIEW software in a real-time fashion. This virtual instrument employs a balloon within a gelatine model contained in a split cylinder with strain gauges fixed on it. The instrument allows automated measurement of the effect of air-pressure on gelatine and measurement of strain with respect to time and pressure during inflation. Compliance simple creep model has been applied to the results for the purpose of extracting some measures of arterial compliance. The results obtained from the experiments have been used to study the effect of air pressure on strain at varying time intervals. The results clearly demonstrate that with decrease in arterial volume and increase in arterial pressure, arterial strain increases thereby decreasing the arterial compliance. The measurement system could lead to development of portable, inexpensive and small equipment and could prove to be an efficient automated compliance measurement device.

Keywords: arterial compliance, atheromatous plaque, mechanical symmetry, strain measurement

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Joanne DiFrancisco-Donoghue, Seth E. Jenny, Peter C. Douris, Sophia Ahmad, Kyle Yuen, Hillary Gan, Kenney Abraham, Amber Sousa

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Background: Guidelines for the maintenance of health of esports players and the cognitive changes that accompany competitive gaming are understudied. Executive functioning is an important cognitive skill for an esports player. The relationship between executive functions and physical exercise has been well established. However, the effects of prolonged sitting regardless of physical activity level have not been established. Prolonged uninterrupted sitting reduces cerebral blood flow. Reduced cerebral blood flow is associated with lower cognitive function and fatigue. This decrease in cerebral blood flow has been shown to be offset by frequent and short walking breaks. These short breaks can be as little as 2 minutes at the 30-minute mark and 6 minutes following 60 minutes of prolonged sitting. The rationale is the increase in blood flow and the positive effects this has on metabolic responses. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate executive function changes following 6-minute bouts of walking and complete rest mid-session, compared to no break, during prolonged gameplay in competitive first-person shooter (FPS) esports players. Methods: This study was conducted virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was approved by the New York Institute of Technology IRB. Twelve competitive FPS participants signed written consent to participate in this randomized pilot study. All participants held a gold ranking or higher. Participants were asked to play for 2 hours on three separate days. Outcome measures to test executive function included the Color Stroop and the Tower of London tests which were administered online each day prior to gaming and at the completion of gaming. All participants completed the tests prior to testing for familiarization. One day of testing consisted of a 6-minute walk break after 60-75 minutes of play. The Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) was recorded. The participant continued to play for another 60-75 minutes and completed the tests again. Another day the participants repeated the same methods replacing the 6-minute walk with lying down and resting for 6 minutes. On the last day, the participant played continuously with no break for 2 hours and repeated the outcome tests pre and post-play. A Latin square was used to randomize the treatment order. Results: Using descriptive statistics, the largest change in mean reaction time incorrect congruent pre to post play was seen following the 6-minute walk (662.0 (609.6) ms pre to 602.8 (539.2) ms post), followed by the 6-minute rest group (681.7(618.1) ms pre to 666.3 (607.9) ms post), and with minimal change in the continuous group (594.0(534.1) ms pre to 589.6(552.9) ms post). The mean solution time was fastest in the resting condition (7774.6(6302.8)ms), followed by the walk condition (7929.4 (5992.8)ms), with the continuous condition being slowest (9337.3(7228.7)ms). the continuous group 9337.3(7228.7) ms; 7929.4 (5992.8 ) ms 774.6(6302.8) ms. Conclusion: Short walking breaks improve blood flow and reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism during prolonged sitting. This pilot study demonstrated that a low intensity 6 -minute walk break, following 60 minutes of play, may also improve executive function in FPS gamers.

Keywords: executive function, FPS, physical activity, prolonged sitting

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Authors: Jiří F. Urbánek, David Král

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Small and Middle Enterprises (SME) have a specific mission, characteristics, and behavior in global business competitive environments. They must respect policy, rules, requirements and standards in all their inherent and outer processes of supply - customer chains and networks. Paper aims and purposes are to introduce computational assistance, which enables us the using of prevailing operation system MS Office (SmartArt...) for mathematical models, using DYVELOP (Dynamic Vector Logistics of Processes) method. It is providing for SMS´s global environment the capability and profit to achieve its commitment regarding the effectiveness of the quality management system in customer requirements meeting and also the continual improvement of the organization’s and SME´s processes overall performance and efficiency, as well as its societal security via continual planning improvement. DYVELOP model´s maps - the Blazons are able mathematically - graphically express the relationships among entities, actors, and processes, including the discovering and modeling of the cycling cases and their phases. The blazons need live PowerPoint presentation for better comprehension of this paper mission – added value analysis. The crisis management of SMEs is obliged to use the cycles for successful coping of crisis situations.  Several times cycling of these cases is a necessary condition for the encompassment of the both the emergency event and the mitigation of organization´s damages. Uninterrupted and continuous cycling process is a good indicator and controlling actor of SME continuity and its sustainable development advanced possibilities.

Keywords: blazons, computational assistance, DYVELOP method, small and middle enterprises

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Authors: Monia Hejaiej

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The fable has lent itself to memorable imitations and reinventions. The writing of fables, in prose and verse, was widely cultivated not only in pre-Islamic Arabia but also in the middle ages, reaching its culmination with the Egyptian poet and man of letters Ahmad Shawqī (1989-1932), who revived the ancient tradition, a relatively minor and unexploited genre in the modern era, and re-wrote rimed fables with an Arab Islamic flavor, articulating a set of modern ethico-political concepts and sensibilities such as a belief in good judgment in governance, individual liberty, democracy, a sense of the brotherhood of man and justice. This essay aims to restore the 20th Century poet to his rightful place in the international pantheon of literary achievement, and offers an examination of the Arabian fabulist tradition as it appears in Arabic literature, and a treatment of this genre re-visiting a few representative samples of Ahmad Shawqī collection of fables and their implications for contemporary politics in the Middle East.

Keywords: fable, politcs, governace, democracy, ethics of care

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Authors: Oleg Sokolov

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Despite the fact that the epoch of the Crusades ended more than 700 years ago, its legacy still remains relevant both in the Middle East and in the West. There was made a comparison of the positions of the most prominent Western and Arab medievalists of XX-XXI centuries, using the example of their interpretations of the success of the First Crusade. The analyzed corpus consists of 70 works. In the modern Arab Historiography, it is often pointed out that the Seljuks' struggle against the crusaders of the First Crusade was seriously hampered by the raids of the Arab Bedouin tribes of Jazira. At the same time, it is emphasized that the Arab rulers of Northern Syria were ‘pleased’ with the defeats of the Turks and made peace with the Crusaders, refusing to fight them. At the same time it is usually underlined that the Fatimid aggression against the Turks led both the first and the second to defeat from the Crusaders and became one of the main reasons for the success of the First Crusade and the Muslims' loss of Jerusalem in 1099. The position of Western historians about the reasons for the success of the First Crusade differs significantly. First of all, in the Western Historiography, it is noted that the deaths of the Fatimid and Abbasid Caliphs and the Seljuk Sultan between 1092 and 1094 years created political vacuum just before the crusaders appeared in the Middle East political arena. In 1097-1099, when the Crusaders advanced through Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine to Jerusalem, there was an active internecine struggle between the parts of the Seljuq state that had broken up by that time, and the crusaders were not perceived as a general threat of all Muslims of this region at that time. It is also pointed out that the main goals of the Crusaders - Antioch, Edessa, and Jerusalem - were at that time periphery since the main struggle for power in the Middle East was at this time in Iran. Thus, Arab historians see the lack of support from Arabs of Syria and Jazira and the aggression from Egypt as a crucial factors preventing the Seljuks from defeating the Crusaders, while their Western counterparts consider the internal power struggle between the Seljuks as a more important reason for the success of the First Crusade. The reason for this divergence in the treatment of the events of the First Crusade is probably the prevailing in much of Arab historiography, the idea of the Franks as an enemy of all peoples and religions of the Middle East. At the same time, in contemporary Western Historiography, the crusaders are described only as one of the many military and political forces that operated in this region at the end of the eleventh century.

Keywords: Arabs, Crusades, historiography, Turks

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Authors: Suehyun Cho, Darrell Harrington, Florent Cros, Olin Palmer, John Caputo, Michael Kardosh, Eran Oren, William Loudon, Alex Kiselyov, Michael Shpigelmacher

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The Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM) represents a clinical syndrome manifesting as a combination of posterior fossa cyst, hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis, and obstructive hydrocephalus. Anatomic hallmarks include hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis, enlargement of the posterior fossa, and cystic dilatation of the fourth ventricle. Current treatments of DWM, including shunting of the cerebral spinal fluid ventricular system and endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), are frequently clinically insufficient, require additional surgical interventions, and carry risks of infections and neurological deficits. Bionaut Labs develops an alternative way to treat Dandy-Walker Malformation (DWM) associated with non-communicating hydrocephalus. We utilize our discreet microsurgical Bionaut™ particles that are controlled externally and remotely to perform safe, accurate, effective fenestration of the Dandy-Walker cyst, specifically in the posterior fossa of the brain, to directly normalize intracranial pressure. Bionaut™ allows for complex non-linear trajectories not feasible by any conventional surgical techniques. The microsurgical particle safely reaches targets in the lower occipital section of the brain. Bionaut™ offers a minimally invasive surgical alternative to highly involved posterior craniotomy or shunts via direct fenestration of the fourth ventricular cyst at the locus defined by the individual anatomy. Our approach offers significant advantages over the current standards of care in patients exhibiting anatomical challenge(s) as a manifestation of DWM, and therefore, is intended to replace conventional therapeutic strategies. Current progress, including platform optimization, Bionaut™ control, and real-time imaging and in vivo safety studies of the Bionauts™ in large animals, specifically the spine and the brain of ovine models, will be discussed.

Keywords: Bionaut™, cerebral spinal fluid, CSF, cyst, Dandy-Walker, fenestration, hydrocephalus, micro-robot

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Authors: Yuying Zhu

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Left-behind children in rural areas are vulnerable groups with the course of our country’s urbanization. Left-behind young children in rural area separate from their parents in their early childhood, vicegerent guardian’s care are less sensitive and careful than children’s parents; they give less concern to children’s verbal development, this makes the verbal problem of the left-behind children to be ubiquitous problem. This study chooses four kindergartens from the east the middle and the west of the Henan Province, explore the verbal development differences between the left-behind young children and the non-left-behind young rural children through the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) and self-made questionnaires. The study shows that there is no significant difference between the left-behind young children and the non-left-behind young rural children in the verbal development, though the marks in primary class and middle class the non-left-behind young rural children is higher, but, the top class in the kindergarten is not. What’s more, the emergent reading and the economy have significant influence on young children’s verbal ability.

Keywords: left-behind children, non-left-behind children, regional difference, verbal development

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Authors: Emil Sakharov, Alex Zotov, Ilkin Osmanov, Oleg Shelest, Aleksander Troitskiy, Robert Khabazov

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Objective: Since 2015, our center has been actively implementing methods of surgical correction of atrial fibrillation, in particular, in patients with coronary heart disease. The study presents a comparative analysis of the late postoperative period in patients with coronary artery bypass grafting and atrial fibrillation. Methods: The study included 150 patients with ischemic heart disease and atrial fibrillation for the period from 2015 to 2021. Patients were divided into 2 groups. The first group is represented by patients with ischemic heart disease and atrial fibrillation who underwent coronary bypass surgery and surgical correction of atrial fibrillation (N=50). The second group is represented by patients with ischemic heart disease and atrial fibrillation who underwent only myocardial revascularization (N=100). Patients were comparable in age, gender, and initial severity of the condition. Among the patients in group 1 there were 82% were men, while in the second group, their number was 75%. Among the patients of the first group, there were 36% with persistent atrial fibrillation, 20% with long-term persistent atrial fibrillation. In the second group, 10% with persistent atrial fibrillation and 17% with long-term persistent atrial fibrillation. Results: Average follow-up for groups 1 and 2 amounted to 47 months. There were no complications in group 1, such as bleeding and stroke. There was only 1 patient in group 1, who had died from cardiovascular disease. Freedom of atrial fibrillation was in 82% without AADs therapy. In group 2 there were 8 patients who had died from cardiovascular diseases and total freedom of atrial fibrillation was in 35% of patients, among which 42.8% had additional AADs therapy. Follow-up data are presented in Table 2. Progression of heart failure was observed in 3% in group 1 and 7% in group 2. Combined endpoints (recurrence of AF, stroke, progression of heart failure, myocardial infarction) were achieved in 16% in group 1 and 34% in group 2, respectively. Freedom from atrial fibrillation without antiarrhythmic therapy was 82% for group 1 and 35% for group 2. In the first group, there is a more pronounced decrease in heart failure rates. Deaths from cardiovascular causes were recorded in 2% for group 1 and 7% for group 2. Conclusion: Surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation helps to reduce adverse complications in the late postoperative period and contributes to the regression of heart failure.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation, coronary artery bypass grafting, ischaemic heart disease, heart failure

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Authors: Mohammadreza Kolaei, Vahid Ghasemi, Ebrahim Ansari

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This research was carried out with the aim of investigating the relationship between social capital and aggressive behavior of students (Case study: male students of middle school in Isfahan). In terms of methodology, this research is an applied research which is done by descriptive-analytical method and survey method. The instrument for collecting the data was a questionnaire consisting of: questionnaire for measuring aggressive behavior and social capital questionnaire, which was used after the validity and reliability of this questionnaire. On the other hand, the statistical population of the study consisted of all students in the guidance school of Isfahan in the academic year of 2016. For determining the sample size, the Kerjesy and Morgan tables were used and the sampling method of this multi-stage random sampling was used. After collecting the data, they were analyzed by SPSS software. The findings of the research showed that at 95% confidence level, the student's social capital increases, reducing his aggressiveness. Also, the amount of student aggression is estimated at 4% according to its social capital. Also, with increasing social capital of the school, the student's student aggression is reduced, with the student's student aggression's exposure to her social capital being estimated at 3%. On the other hand, increasing the amount of mother's presence in the home decreases the amount of student aggression. Also, the amount of student aggression is estimated at 1% according to the amount of mother's presence in her home. Ultimately, the amount of student aggression decreases with increasing presence of father at home. Also, the amount of student aggression is estimated at 2% according to the variable of father's presence in his home.

Keywords: investigating, social capital, aggressive behavior, students, middle school, Isfahan

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Authors: Satoshi Nishimura

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Although much information has been garnered from the genomes of humans and mice, it remains difficult to extend that information to explain physiological and pathological phenomena. This is because the processes underlying life are by nature stochastic and fluctuate with time. Thus, we developed novel "in vivo molecular imaging" method based on single and two-photon microscopy. We visualized and analyzed many life phenomena, including common adult diseases. We integrated the knowledge obtained, and established new models that will serve as the basis for new minimally invasive therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: two photon microscope, intravital visualization, thrombus, artery

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Authors: Hala S. Mekawy

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Affordable housing delivery for low and lower middle income families is a prominent problem in many developing countries; governments alone are unable to address this challenge due to diverse financial and regulatory constraints, and the private sector's contribution is rare and assists only middle-income households even when institutional and legal reforms are conducted to persuade it to go down market. Also, the market-enabling policy measures advocated by the World Bank since the early nineties have been strongly criticized and proven to be inappropriate to developing country contexts, where it is highly unlikely that the formal private sector can reach low income population. In addition to governments and private developers, affordable housing delivery systems involve an intricate network of relationships between diverse ranges of actors. Collaboration between them was proven to be vital, and hence, an approach towards partnership schemes for affordable housing delivery has emerged. The basic premise of this paper is that addressing housing affordability challenges in Egypt demands direct public support, as markets and market actors alone would never succeed in delivering decent affordable housing to low and lower middle income groups. It argues that this support would ideally be through local level partnership schemes, with a leading decentralized local government role, and partners being identified according to specific local conditions. It attempts to identify major attributes that would ensure the fulfilment of the goals of such schemes in the Egyptian context. This is based upon evidence from diversified worldwide experiences, in addition to the main outcomes of a questionnaire that was conducted to specialists and chief actors in the field.

Keywords: affordable housing, partnership schemes, housing, urban environments

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Authors: Muhammad Luqman, Mujahid Karim

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Agricultural journalism considered an effective tool in the diffusion of agricultural technologies among the members of farming communities. Various agricultural journalism forms are used by the different organization in order to address the community problems and provide solutions to them. The present study was conducted for analyzing the role of agricultural journalism in the dissemination of agricultural information. The universe of the study was district Sargodha from which a sample of 100 was collected through a validating and pre-tested questionnaire. Statistical analysis of collected data was done with the help of SPSS. It was concluded that majority (64.6%) of the respondent were middle-aged (31-50) years, also indicates a high (73.23%) literacy rate above middle-level education, most (78.3%) of the respondents were connected with the occupation of farming. In various forms of agricultural journalism “Radio/T.V./F.M) is used by 99.4% of the respondent, Mobile phones (96%), Magazine/ Newspaper/ periodical (66.4%) and social media (60.9%). Regarding majors areas focused on agriculture journalism “Help farmers to enhance their productivity is on the highest level with a mean of ( =3.98/5.00). The regression model of farmer's education and various forms of agricultural journalism facilities used was found to be significant.

Keywords: agricultural information, journalism, farming community, technology diffusion and adoption

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Authors: Paul Idoko Ukanu, Sunday Abba, Balogun Sadiya

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The study of the finger prints patterns among the Igala ethnic groups was done in order to see their association gender. A cross sectional study was conducted and a total of 602 subjects participated in this study, 322 females and 280 males, which were mainly secondary school students between the age ranges of 13-19 years. The subjects fingerprint pattern was obtained by allowing them place the tip of each finger on the stamp pad, which is then imprinted on the questionnaire, this was done for both the left and right hand. Female had higher arch, whorl and loop finger print pattern in most of the right fingers than the males, the differences were statistically significant for the right index, right ring finger and right little finger, but were statistically insignificant for right thumb and right middle finger as p = 0.207 and 0.726, respectively. The result also revealed that males had higher arch finger print pattern in the right index and right little finger than the females, which was statistically significant (p = 0.001), and also a high whorl finger print pattern than the females in the right middle and ring finger.

Keywords: arch, loop, whorl, fingers

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Authors: Eli Avraham

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The Arab Spring was widely covered in the global media and the number of Western tourists traveling to the area began to fall. The goal of this study was to analyze which media strategies marketers in Middle Eastern countries chose to employ in their attempts to repair the negative image of the area in the wake of the Arab Spring. Several studies were published concerning image-restoration strategies of destinations during crises around the globe; however, these strategies were not part of an overarching theory, conceptual framework or model from the fields of crisis communication and image repair. The conceptual framework used in the current study was the ‘multi-step model for altering place image’, which offers three types of strategies: source, message and audience. Three research questions were used: 1.What public relations crisis techniques and advertising campaign components were used? 2. What media policies and relationships with the international media were adopted by Arab officials? 3. Which marketing initiatives (such as cultural and sports events) were promoted? This study is based on qualitative content analysis of four types of data: 1) advertising components (slogans, visuals and text); (2) press interviews with Middle Eastern officials and marketers; (3) official media policy adopted by government decision-maker (e.g. boycotting or arresting newspeople); and (4) marketing initiatives (e.g. organizing heritage festivals and cultural events). The data was located in three channels from December 2010, when the events started, to September 31, 2013: (1) Internet and video-sharing websites: YouTube and Middle Eastern countries' national tourism board websites; (2) News reports from two international media outlets, The New York Times and Ha’aretz; these are considered quality newspapers that focus on foreign news and tend to criticize institutions; (3) Global tourism news websites: eTurbo news and ‘Cities and countries branding’. Using the ‘multi-step model for altering place image,’ the analysis reveals that Middle Eastern marketers and officials used three kinds of strategies to repair their countries' negative image: 1. Source (cooperation and media relations; complying, threatening and blocking the media; and finding alternatives to the traditional media) 2. Message (ignoring, limiting, narrowing or reducing the scale of the crisis; acknowledging the negative effect of an event’s coverage and assuring a better future; promotion of multiple facets, exhibitions and softening the ‘hard’ image; hosting spotlight sporting and cultural events; spinning liabilities into assets; geographic dissociation from the Middle East region; ridicule the existing stereotype) and 3. Audience (changing the target audience by addressing others; emphasizing similarities and relevance to specific target audience). It appears that dealing with their image problems will continue to be a challenge for officials and marketers of Middle Eastern countries until the region stabilizes and its regional conflicts are resolved.

Keywords: Arab spring, cultural events, image repair, Middle East, tourism marketing

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Authors: Chinedu Bevis Dibia, Hom Nath Dhakal

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Effective waste management in sub-Saharan Africa has been identified as a means of resolving the wicked problems posed by climate change. Municipal solid waste management in Nigeria could be argued to be ineffective and unsustainable, despite the tag of sustainable ascribed to most municipalities’ waste management. Relatively, few studies have enquired on the evolution of Sustainable Municipal Waste Management (SMWM) in Nigeria. The main objective of this research is to examine the evolution of SMWM in Nigeria using Lagos state as a case study. A qualitative method was used as methodology, soft systems analysis is the main tool of evaluation. Results indicated that effective policy implementation and management is the main challenge to the proper evolution of SMWM. These findings highlight the relevance of effective stakeholder’s engagement and management, policy consistency as major determinants in SMWM.

Keywords: high income localities, low middle income localities, SMWM, upper middle income localities, waste collection, waste disposal

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Authors: Sharadha G., Suresh Kanakkanavar

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Background: Placenta previa is a condition characterized by partial or complete implantation of the placenta in the lower uterine segment. It is one of the main causes of vaginal bleeding in the third trimester and a significant cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Materials and Methods: This is an observational study involving 130 patients diagnosed with placenta previa and satisfying inclusion criteria. The demographic data, clinical, surgical, and treatment, along with maternal and neonatal outcome parameters, were noted in proforma. Results: The incidence of placenta previa among scarred uterus was 1.32%, and in unscarred uterus was 0.67%. The mean age of the study population was 27.12±4.426years. High parity, high abortion rate, multigravida status, and less gestational age at delivery were commonly seen in scarred uterus compared to unscarred uterus. Complete placenta previa, anterior placental position, and adherent placenta were significantly associated with a scarred uterus compared to an unscarred uterus. The rate of caesarean hysterectomy was higher in the scarred uterus, along with statistical association to previous lower-segment caesarean sections. Intraoperative procedures like uterine artery ligation, bakri balloon insertion, and iliac artery ligation were higher in the scarred group. The maternal intensive care unit admission rate was higher in the scarred group and also showed its statistical association with previous lower segment caesarean section. Neonatal outcomes in terms of pre-term birth, still birth, neonatal intensive care unit admission, and neonatal death, though higher in the scarred group, did not differ statistically among the groups. Conclusion: Advancing maternal age, multiparity, prior uterine surgeries, and abortions are independent risk factors for placenta previa. Maternal morbidity is higher in the scarred uterus group compared to the unscarred group. Neonatal outcomes did not differ statistically among the groups. This knowledge would help the obstetricians to take measures to reduce the incidence of placenta previa and scarred uterus which would improve the fetomaternal outcome of placenta previa.

Keywords: placenta previa, scarred uterus, unscarred uterus, adherent placenta

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Authors: Miramar Damanhouri

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This study examines the relationship between language use in computer-mediated communication and the social identity of the user. The data were collected by surveying 298 Saudi bilingual speakers who are familiar with Arabizi, a blend of Latin characters and Arabic numerals to transliterate Arabic sounds, and then analyzed quantitatively by running tests for statistical confidence in order to determine differences in perceptions between young adults (ages 15-25 years) and middle-aged adults (ages 26-50 years). According to the findings of this study, English is the dominant language among most of the young adults surveyed, and when they do use Arabic, they use Arabizi because of its flexibility, compatibility with modern technology, and its acceptance among people of their age and sociocultural backgrounds. On the other hand, most middle-aged adults surveyed here tend to use Arabic, as they believe that they should show their loyalty to their origin. The results of the study demonstrate a mutual relationship between language use in computer-mediated communication and the user’s social identity, as language is used both to reflect and construct that identity.

Keywords: Arabizi, computer mediated communication, digital communication, language use

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Gichun Cha, Dongwan Lee, Junkyeong Kim, Aoqi Zhang, Seunghee Park

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All the world are studying the construction technology of double deck tunnel in order to respond to the increasing urban traffic demands and environmental changes. Advanced countries have the construction technology of the double deck tunnel structure. but the domestic country began research on it. Construction technologies are important. But Safety evaluation of structure is necessary to prevent possible accidents during construction. Thus, the double deck tunnel was required the shape management of middle slabs. The domestic country is preparing the construction of double deck tunnel for an alternate route and a pleasant urban environment. Shape management of double deck tunnel has been no research because it is a new attempted technology. The present, a similar study is bridge structure for the shape management. Bridge is implemented shape model using terrestrial laser scanning(TLS). Therefore, we proceed research on the bridge slabs because there is a similar structure of double deck tunnel. In the study, we develop shape management method of bridge slabs using TLS. We select the Test-bed for measurement site. This site is bridge located on Sungkyunkwan University Natural Sciences Campus. This bridge has a total length of 34m, the vertical height of 8.7m from the ground. It connects Engineering Building #1 and Engineering Building #2. Point cloud data for shape management is acquired the TLS and We utilized the Leica ScanStation C10/C5 model. We will confirm the Maximum displacement area of middle slabs using Least-Squares Fitting. We expect to raise stability for double deck tunnel through shape management for middle slabs.

Keywords: bridge slabs, least squares, safety evaluation, shape management method, terrestrial laser scanning

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Authors: David Tran, Sina Gallo, Jenny Lin

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The present study investigated two adolescent populations between the ages of 10-14 years of age from two different studies: a dietary assessment validation study conducted at the Georgia 4-H Rock Eagle summer camp (Eatonton, Georgia) and a middle-school diet study at an Alabama middle school (Birmingham, Alabama). Energy intake and meal consumption were recorded via either direct observation of camp lunch or weighing and photography of school lunch trays. Child weight and height were measured to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI) and compared to CDC growth charts to assess percentile or Z-score. Results showed that those participants categorized with higher BMI had a statistically significant and positive correlation with energy intake (kcal). Future research should increase the sample size and include a broader subject size which includes those of a younger childhood population, to assess the effect of age.

Keywords: BMI, adolescent, direct observation, dietary intake

Procedia PDF Downloads 58