Search results for: spa treatment

Authors: Fahd Sabry Esmail, M. Badr Senousy, Mohamed Ragaie

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In recent years, there has been an explosion in the rate of using technology that help discovering the diseases. For example, DNA microarrays allow us for the first time to obtain a "global" view of the cell. It has great potential to provide accurate medical diagnosis, to help in finding the right treatment and cure for many diseases. Various classification algorithms can be applied on such micro-array datasets to devise methods that can predict the occurrence of Leukemia disease. In this study, we compared the classification accuracy and response time among eleven decision tree methods and six rule classifier methods using five performance criteria. The experiment results show that the performance of Random Tree is producing better result. Also it takes lowest time to build model in tree classifier. The classification rules algorithms such as nearest- neighbor-like algorithm (NNge) is the best algorithm due to the high accuracy and it takes lowest time to build model in classification.

Keywords: data mining, classification techniques, decision tree, classification rule, leukemia diseases, microarray data

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Authors: Mohamed Eldessouki, Ebraheem Shady, Yasser Gowayed

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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are known for having high elastic properties with high surface area that promote them as good candidates for reinforcing polymeric matrices. In composite materials, CNTs lack chemical bonding with the surrounding matrix which decreases the possibility of better stress transfer between the components. In this work, a chemical treatment for activating the surface of the multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) was applied and the effect of this functionalization on the elastic properties of the epoxy nanocomposites was studied. Functional amino-groups were added to the surface of the CNTs and it was evaluated to be about 34% of the total weight of the CNTs. Elastic modulus was found to increase by about 40% of the neat epoxy resin at CNTs’ weight fraction of 0.5%. The elastic modulus was found to decrease after reaching a certain concentration of CNTs which was found to be 1% wt. The scanning electron microscopic pictures showed the effect of the CNTs on the crack propagation through the sample by forming stress concentrated spots at the nanocomposite samples.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes functionalization, crack propagation, elastic modulus, epoxy nanocomposites

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Authors: Radhika S. Oke, Rebecca S. Thombre

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Medicinal plants and herbs have a great history of their utility as remedy for treatment of variety of ailments. Secondary metabolites present in these plants are responsible for their medicinal activity. In the present investigation, phytochemical screening of aqueous and alcoholic leaf extract of Anethum graveolens L. was performed. Total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity of the extracts was quantitatively estimated by Folin-Ciocalteau method and DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) method respectively. Qualitative tests suggested that Alkaloids, tannins and phenolic compounds were present in all the extracts of the plant. Aqueous extracts was found to have more phytochemicals as compared to alcoholic extracts. Extract of Anethum graveolens L. was found to contain good amount phenolics and exhibited antioxidant activity. The extracts also demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against selected gram positive and negative bacteria. The study revealed the potential application of Anethum graveolens L. (Dill) in medicine and health.

Keywords: Anethum graveolens L., antioxidant, antimicrobial activity, medicine and health

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Authors: Uma Kanth, Amy Cook

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Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) proposes that metaphor is fundamental to human thought. CMT utilizes embodied cognition, in that emotions are conceptualized as effects on the body because of a coupling of one’s bodily experiences and one’s somatosensory system. Time perception is a function of embodied cognition and conceptual metaphor in that one’s experience of time is inextricably dependent on one’s perception of the world around them. A hallmark of depressive disorders is the distortion in one’s perception of time, such as neurological dysfunction and psychomotor retardation, and yet, to the author’s best knowledge, previous studies have not before linked CMT, embodied cognition, and depressive disorders. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the investigation of how the applications of CMT and embodied cognition (especially regarding time perception) have promise in improving current techniques to treat depressive disorders. This paper aimed to extend, through a thorough review of literature, the theoretical basis required to further research into CMT and embodied cognition’s application in treating time distortion related symptoms of depressive disorders. Future research could include the development of brain training technologies that capitalize on the principles of CMT, with the aim of promoting cognitive remediation and cognitive activation to mitigate symptoms of depressive disorder.

Keywords: depression, conceptual metaphor theory, embodied cognition, time

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Authors: David Tresner-Kirsch

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Reconciling patient medication lists from multiple sources is a critical task supporting the safe delivery of patient care. Manual reconciliation is a time-consuming and error-prone process, and recently attempts have been made to develop efficiency- and safety-oriented automated support for professionals performing the task. An important capability of any such support system is automated alignment – finding which medications from a list correspond to which medications from a different source, regardless of misspellings, naming differences (e.g. brand name vs. generic), or changes in treatment (e.g. switching a patient from one antidepressant class to another). This work describes a new algorithmic solution to this alignment task, using a greedy matching approach based on string similarity, edit distances, concept extraction and normalization, and synonym search derived from the RxNorm nomenclature. The accuracy of this algorithm was evaluated against a gold-standard corpus of 681 medication records; this evaluation found that the algorithm predicted alignments with 99% precision and 91% recall. This performance is sufficient to support decision support applications for medication reconciliation.

Keywords: clinical decision support, medication reconciliation, natural language processing, RxNorm

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Authors: I-Han Hsiao, Chun-Ping Huang, Ching-Liang Hsieh, Yi-Wen Lin

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Epilepsy is chronic brain disorder that results in the sporadic occurrence of spontaneous seizures in the temporal lobe, cerebral cortex, and hippocampus. Clinical antiepileptic medicines are often ineffective or little benefits in the small amount of patients and usually initiate severe side effects. This inflammation contributes to enhanced neuronal excitability and the onset of epilepsy. Auricular electric-stimulation (AES) can increase parasympathetic activity and stimulate the solitary tract nucleus to induce the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Furthermore, it may be a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of epilepsy. In the present study, we want to investigate the effects of AES on inflammatory mediators in kainic acid (KA)-induced epileptic seizure rats. Experimental KA injection increased expression of TLR-2 pathway associated inflammatory mediators, were further reduced by either 2Hz or 15 Hz AES in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and somatosensory cortex. We suggest that AES can successfully control the epileptic seizure by down-regulation of inflammation signaling pathway.

Keywords: auricular electric-stimulation, epileptic seizures, anti-inflammation

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Authors: Jhen-Ting Huang, Chia-Chia Chang, Hu-Cheng Weng, An-Ya Lo

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In this study, Co3O4-CNT-Graphene composite electrode was deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method, where micro polystyrene spheres (PSs) were added for co-deposition. Applied with heat treatment, a hierarchical porosity is left in the electrode which is beneficial for supercapacitor application. In terms of charge and discharge performance, we discussed the optimal CNT/Graphene ratio, macroporous ratio, and the effect of Co3O4 addition on electrode capacitance. For materials characterization, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and BET were applied, while cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronopotentiometry (CP) measurements, and Ragone plot were applied as in-situ analyses. Based on this, the effects of PS amount on the structure, porosity and their effect on capacitance of the electrodes were investigated. Finally, the full device performance was examined with charge-discharge and electron impedance spectrum (EIS) methods. The results show that the EPD coating with hierarchical porosity was successfully demonstrated in this study. As a result, the capacitance was greatly enhanced by 2.6 times with the hierarchical structure.

Keywords: supercapacitor, nanocarbon tub, graphene, metal oxide

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Authors: Ina Filkobski, Eran Shor

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This article explores how newspapers cover murder of women by family members and intimate partners. Three major Israeli newspapers were compared in order to analyse the coverage of Jewish and Arab victims and culprits and to examine whether and in what ways the media contribute to the construction of symbolic boundaries between minority and dominant social groups. A sample of some 459 articles that were published between 2013 and 2015 was studied using a systematic qualitative content analysis. Our findings suggest that the treatment of murder cases by the media varies according to the ethnicity of both victims and culprits. The murder of Jews by family members or intimate partners was framed as a shocking and unusual event, a result of the individual personality or pathology of the culprit. Conversely, when Arabs were the killers, murders were often explained by focusing on the culture of the ethnic group, described as traditional, violent, and patriarchal. In two-thirds of the cases in which Arabs were involved, so-called ‘honor killing’ or other cultural explanations were proposed as the motive for the murder. This was often the case even before a suspect was detected, while police investigation was at its very early stages, and often despite forceful denials from victims’ families. In case of Jewish culprits, more than half of the articles in our sample suggested mental disorder to explain the acts and cultural explanations were almost entirely absent. Beyond the emphasis on psychological vs. cultural explanations, newspaper articles also tend to provide much more detail about Jewish culprits than about Arabs. Such detailed examinations convey a desire to make sense of the event by understanding the supposedly unique and unorthodox nature of the killer. The detailed accounts were usually absent from the reports on Arab killers. Thus, even if reports do not explicitly offer cultural motivations for the murder, the fact that reports often remain laconic leaves people to draw their own conclusions, which would then be likely based on existing cognitive scripts and previous reports on family murders among Arabs. Such treatment contributes to the notion that Arab and Muslim cultures, religions, and nationalities are essentially misogynistic and adhere to norms of honor and shame that are radically different from those of modern societies, such as the Jewish-Israeli one. Murder within the family is one of the most dramatic occurrences in the social world, and in societies that see themselves as modern it is a taboo; an ultimate signifier of danger. We suggest that representations of murder provide a valuable prism for examining the construction of group boundaries. Our analysis, therefore, contributes to the scholarly effort to understand the creation and reinforcement of symbolic boundaries between ‘society’ and its ‘others’ by systematically tracing the media constructions of ‘otherness’. While our analysis focuses on Israel, studies on the United States, Canada, and various European countries with ethnically and racially heterogeneous populations, make it clear that the stigmatisation and exclusion of visible, religious, and language minorities are not unique to the Israeli case.

Keywords: comparative study of media coverege of minority and majority groups, construction of symbolic group boundaries, murder of women by family members and intimate partners, Israel, Jews, Arabs

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Authors: El Amane Salma, Rahou Abdelilah

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Viral respiratory infections (common cold, flu, sinusitis, bronchiolitis, etc.) are among the most common infections in the world with severe symptoms. In Morocco, as everywhere in the world, especially in developing countries, the therapeutic indications of medicinal plants are very present to treat several diseases, including the respiratory system. The objective of our study is to identify and document medicinal plants used in traditional medicine to treat viral respiratory infections and alleviate their symptoms in order to generate interest for future studies in verifying the efficacy of these traditional medicines and their conservation. The information acquired from 81 questionnaires and the floristic identification allowed us to identify 19 spontaneous species belonging to 11 families, used as traditional therapies for viral respiratory diseases in the Prerif. The herbs are the most used life form. The results also showed that leaves were the most commonly used plant parts and most of the herbal medicines were prepared in the form of infusions and administered orally. Documented data was evaluated using use value (UV), family importance value (FIV) and relative frequency citation (RCF).

Keywords: medicinal plants, ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological, viral respiratory diseases, Morocco

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Authors: Gayathri Vijayakumar, Preethi Baskaran

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The effluents that are let down by the industries mix with the water bodies and drastically affect the aquatic life, which leads to pollution and bio magnifications. Effluents mostly contain chemicals, heavy metals etc., and cause toxicity to the environment. The pharmaceutical industries too contribute. The by-products and other unwanted waste are discharged without any treatment; these causes DNA damage and affect behavior of aquatic life. The study was conducted on koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) the ornamental variety of common carp. A two week long study was conducted on them using common anti-depressant drug (Diazepam) in various concentrations. These drugs are known to cause behavioral damage and organ malfunctions (muscle twitch). The histopathological study conducted showed permanent muscle twitching and lesions in the fish samples studied. The sociability was also affected in the span of 14 days. Higher concentrations of this drug showed severe damage in the muscle structures. Thus, this drug can cause adverse effects on marine ecosystem and eventually cause bio magnification of drug by running through the food chain.

Keywords: pollution, toxicity, bio-magnifications, koi carp, muscle twitch, diazepam, histopathology

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Authors: I-En Lin, Feng-Jung Yang

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In addition to kidney transplant, renal replacement therapy involves hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD). PD possesses advantages such as maintaining stable physiological blood status and blood pressure, alleviating anemia, and improving mobility, which make it an ideal method for at-home dialysis treatment. However, potential danger still exists despite the numerous advantages of PD, particularly when patients require dialysis exchange four to five times a day, during which improper operation can easily lead to peritonitis. The process of draining and filling is called an exchange and takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Connecting the transfer set requires sterile technique. Transfer set may require a new cap each time that it disconnects from the bag after an exchange. There are many chances to get infection due to unsafe behavior (ex: hand tremor, poor eyesight and weakness, cap fall-down). The proposed semi-automatic connection mechanism used in the PD can greatly reduce infection chances. This light-weight connection device is portable. The device also does not require using throughout the entire process. It is capable of significantly improving quality of life. Therefore, it is very promising to adopt in home care application.

Keywords: automatic connection, catheter, glomerulonephritis, peritoneal dialysis

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Authors: Marija Vicic

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The purpose of commercial credit regulation in an unified way under Law on Foreign Exchange Operations in Republic of Serbia allows an easier state monitoring of credit operations performed by non-professionals on foreign exchange market. By broadly defining the term “commercial credits“, the state (i.e. National Bank of Serbia) is given the authority to monitor the performance of all obligations under commercial contracts in which the obligations are not performed simultaneously. In the first part of the paper, the author analyses the economic gist of commercial credits with the purpose of giving an insight into their special treatment. The author examines the term „commercial credits“ given in Law on foreign exchange operations and the difference between financial credits and irregular commercial credits (exports and imports of goods and services deemed to be commercial credits) is particularly highlighted. In the second part, the author emphasizes the specifics of commercial credit contracts, especially the effects of special requests for the parties to these contracts to notify National Bank of Serbia and specific regulations regarding maturity of obligations under these commercial credits and the assignment and compensation of the said contracts.

Keywords: commercial credit, foreign exchange operations, commercial transactions, deferred payment, advance payment, (non) resident

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Authors: Gianne Bianca P. Manalo, Ernesto A. Martin, Vanessa V. Velasco

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The laying performance, egg quality, egg classification, and income over feed cost of Improved Philippine Mallard duck (Itik Pinas) were examined as influenced by garlic powder in drinking water. A total of 48 ducks (42 females and 6 males) were used in the study. The ducks were allocated into two treatments - with garlic powder (GP) and without garlic powder (control) in drinking water. Each treatment had three replicates with eight ducks (7 females and 1 male) per replication. The results showed that there was a significant (P = 0.03) difference in average egg weight where higher values were attained by ducks with GP (77.67 g ± 0.64) than the control (75.64 g ± 0.43). The supplementation of garlic powder in drinking water, however, did not affect the egg production, feed intake, FCR, egg mass, livability, egg quality and egg classification. The Itik Pinas with GP in drinking water had numerically higher income over feed cost than those without. GP in drinking water can be considered in raising Itik Pinas. Further studies on increasing level of GP and long feeding duration also merit consideration to substantiate the findings.

Keywords: phytogenic, garlic powder, Itik-Pinas, egg weight, egg production

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Authors: Wissame Gouigah, Amina Medellel, Mahmoud Trachi, Djedjiga Benamara, Salem Benamara

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The purpose of this work is to investigate, by UV/VIS spectrophotometry, the distribution of L-dopa, known as precursor of dopamine which is used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, in broad beans (Vicia faba) (Vf) and chickpea (Cicer aritinum L.) (CA). In the case of Vf, the different organs were analyzed separately: 1) First, in the fresh state: pod (GF), cotyledons (CF), green shell (EF) and placenta (PF) which is the organ through which the seed is attached to the pod, 2) in the dry state (S): peel of the dry seed (ES) and cotyledons (CS), and 3) in the germinated state: peel (EGe), cotyledons (CGe) and germ (GeVf). Results showed that the content of L-dopa is unevenly distributed between different parts of fresh Vf. But the most important result concerns the predominance of L-dopa in placenta with an L-dopa content (~ 60 mg/g of wet weight, ww) sometimes 7-fold higher (p≤0.05) than those of other considered parts of fresh Vf. In the case of CA, the L-dopa concentration in germinated gains was higher than those found in all analyzed Vf organs, excepted PF.

Keywords: broad bean (Vicia faba L.), chickpea (Cicer aritinum L.), L-dopa, Parkinson disease, placenta

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Authors: D. I. Yani, S. Isaramalai, C. Kritpracha

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Adherence to health behaviors is essential to achieve successful TB treatment. This study aimed to examine the effect of a family-based DOTS support program on adherence to health behaviors in patients with pulmonary TB. Sixty TB patients and their families were selected using cluster randomization of community health centers. The subjects were assigned into a control group, who received the routine care, and an experimental group, who received both routine care and care from the family-based DOTS support program. Paired t-test and the independent t-test were applied. The total score of adherence to health behaviors in the experimental group was significantly higher after receiving care from the family-based DOTS support program than the pretest score (t = -10.34, p < .001). Suggestions were made to expand the application of this program in various contexts and to extend knowledge for nursing practices and research.

Keywords: self-care deficit nursing theory, family-based DOTS program, pulmonary tuberculosis, adherence, health behaviors

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Authors: Xiaodong Xu, Dan Zhao, Xiujuan Chang, Chunming Li, Huiyun Zhou, Xin Li, Qiang Shi, Shifang Luan, Jinghua Yin

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Polypropylene (PP) is one of the most commonly used plastics because of its low density, outstanding mechanical properties, and low cost. However, its drawbacks such as low surface energy, poor dyeability, lack of chemical functionalities, and poor compatibility with polar polymers and inorganic materials, have restricted the application of PP. To expand its application in biomedical materials, functionalization is considered to be the most effective way. In this study, PP was functionalized with a chiral monomer, (S)-1-acryloylpyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid ((S)-APCA), by free-radical grafting in the solid phase. The grafting degree of PP-g-APCA was determined by chemical titration method, and the chemical structure of functionalized PP was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, which confirmed that the chiral monomer (S)-APCA was successfully grafted onto PP. Static water contact angle results suggested that the surface hydrophilicity of PP was significantly improved by solid phase grafting and assistance of surface water treatment. Protein adsorption and platelet adhesion results showed that hemocompatibility of PP was greatly improved by grafting the chiral monomer.

Keywords: functionalization, polypropylene, chiral monomer, hemocompatibility

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Authors: V. Endo, A. G. Silva Sobrinho, F. A. Almeida, N. L. L. Lima, G. M. Manzi, L. G. A. Cirne, N. M. B. L. Zeola

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We used 24 Ile de France lambs, weighing between 15 and 32 kg (BW). Treatments were supplemented with concentrate: “in nature” sugarcane (IN), sugarcane hydrolyzed using 0.6% calcium oxide (CaO) under aerobic condition (AER), and sugarcane hydrolyzed using 0.6% CaO under anaerobic condition (ANA), constituting a completely randomized design with eight repetitions per treatment. Lambs were housed in individual stalls and fed into the through, allowing 10% of leftovers. Lambs were slaughtered when body weight reached 32 kg. The following parameters were determined on Longissimus lumborum muscle of hot and cold carcasses: pH and color, 45 minutes and 24 hours after slaughtering. Qualitative analysis of the meat were performed in the loins, water-holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), and shear force (SF). We used a completely randomized design with three treatments and eight repetitions. Means were compared by Tukey test at 5% significance. A higher value for redness (a*) 45 minutes after slaughter (10.48) was found for lambs fed sugarcane hydrolyzed under anaerobic conditions. The other qualitative characteristics of meat were not affected by treatments (P >0.05). The comparison of meat quality resulting from the treatments shows that it is possible to feed in nature sugarcane to lambs, thus waiving hydrolyses process and the spending with alkalizing agent.

Keywords: oxide, hydrolysis, meat quality, pH

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Authors: Marzieh Yassin, Masoud Rashed, Soheil Mansour Sohani, Reza Salehi

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Background: Hip arthroplasty is one of the surgical methods to improve symptoms in patients with hip osteoarthritis. The use of electroacupuncture and TENS reduces pain, increases range of motion and improves performance. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 30 patients after hip arthroplasty were randomly divided into two groups: electroacupuncture (n=16) with exercise therapy and TENS with exercise therapy (n=14). Severity of pain, quality of life, range of motion, edema and function were evaluated in two groups before and after the interventions. Interventions of 10 sessions (three sessions per week) were conducted for two groups. The significance level in all tests was below 0.05. Results: The results showed that both groups improved all of the symptoms after the intervention (p≤0.05), although there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of effectiveness (p≥0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that both methods improve symptoms in patients after surgery. According to this study, electroacupuncture is suggested as a new method effective for the treatment of people with post-Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Keywords: electroacupuncture, physical performance, total hip arthroplasty, TENS

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Authors: B. Navidshad

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The main objective of this study was to examine the effects of enzymatic treatment and shell content of palm kernel expeller (PKE) on the ileal Lactobacilli and Escherichia coli populations in broiler chickens. At the finisher phase, one hundred male broiler chickens (Cobb-500) were fed a control diet or the diets containing 200 g/kg of normal PKE (70 g/kg shell), low shell PKE (30 g/kg shell), enzymatic treated PKE or low shell-enzymatic treated PKE. The quantitative real-time PCR were used to determine the ileal bacteria populations. The lowest ileal Lactobacilli population was found in the chickens fed the low shell PKE diet. Dietary normal PKE or low shell-enzymatic treated PKE decreased the Escherichia coli population compared to the control diet. The results suggested that PKE could be included up to 200 g/kg in the finisher diet, however, any screening practice to reduce the shell content of PKE without enzymatic degradation of β-mannan, decrease ileal Lactobacilli population.

Keywords: palm kernel expeller, exogenous enzyme, shell content, ileum bacteria, broiler chickens

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Authors: A. Kasmi, N. E. Abriak, M. Benzerzour, I. Shahrour

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Large volumes of river sediments are dredged each year in Europe in order to maintain harbour activities and prevent floods. The management of this sediment has become increasingly complex. Several European projects were implemented to find environmentally sound solutions for these materials. The main objective of this study is to show the ability of river sediment to be used in road. Since sediments contain a high amount of water, then a dehydrating treatment by addition of the flocculation aid has been used. Firstly, a lot of physical characteristics are measured and discussed for a better identification of the raw sediment and this dehydrated sediment by addition the flocculation aid. The identified parameters are, for example, the initial water content, the density, the organic matter content, the grain size distribution, the liquid limit and plastic limit and geotechnical parameters. The environmental impacts of the used material were evaluated. The results obtained show that there is a slight change on the physical-chemical and geotechnical characteristics of sediment after dehydration by the addition of polymer. However, these sediments cannot be used in road construction.

Keywords: rive sediment, dehydration, flocculation aid or polymer, characteristics, treatments, valorisation, road construction

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Authors: Felipe Magalhaes Lemos

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Functional behavior analysis is a procedure that has been studied for several decades by behavior analysts. In Brazil, we still have few studies in the area, so it was decided to carry out a systematic review of the articles published in the area by Brazilians. A search was done on the following scientific article registration sites: PsycINFO, ERIC, ISI Web of Science, Virtual Health Library. The research includes (a) peer-reviewed studies that (b) have been carried out in Brazil containing (c) functional assessment as a pre-treatment through (d) experimental procedures, direct or indirect observation and measurement of behavior problems (e) demonstrating a relationship between environmental events and behavior. During the review, 234 papers were found; however, only 9 were included in the final analysis. Of the 9 articles extracted, only 2 presented functional analysis procedures with manipulation of environmental variables, while the other 7 presented different procedures for a descriptive behavior assessment. Only the two studies using "functional analysis" used graphs to demonstrate the prevalent function of the behavior. Other studies described procedures and did not make clear the causal relationship between environment and behavior. There is still confusion in Brazil regarding the terms "functional analysis", "descriptive assessment" and "contingency analysis," which are generally treated in the same way. This study shows that few articles are published with a focus on functional analysis in Brazil.

Keywords: behavior, contingency, descriptive assessment, functional analysis

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Authors: E.A. Kuchma

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Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is considered an alternative and minimally invasive cancer treatment modality compared to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. PDT includes three main components: a photosensitizer (PS), oxygen, and a light source. PS is injected into the patient's body and then selectively accumulates in the tumor. However, the light used in PDT (spectral range 400–700 nm) is limited to superficial lesions, and the light penetration depth does not exceed a few cm. The problem of PDT (poor visible light transmission) can be solved by using X-rays. The penetration depth of X-rays is ten times greater than that of visible light. Therefore, X-ray radiation easily penetrates through the tissues of the body. The aim of this work is to develop universal nanocomposites for X-ray photodynamic therapy of deep and superficial tumors using scintillation nanoparticles of gadolinium fluoride (GdF3), doped with Tb3+, coated with a biocompatible coating (PEG) and photosensitizer RB (Rose Bengal). PEG@GdF3:Tb3+(15%) – RB could be used as an effective X-ray, UV, and photoluminescent mediator to excite a photosensitizer for generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill tumor cells via photodynamic therapy. GdF3 nanoparticles can also be used as contrast agents for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Keywords: X-ray induced photodynamic therapy, scintillating nanoparticle, radiosensitizer, photosensitizer

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Authors: Edreese H. Alsharaeh, Feven Mattews Michael, Ayman Almohsin

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Self-healing hydrogels have many advantages since they can resist various types of stresses, including tension, compression, and shear, making them attractive for various applications. In this study, thermo-elastic and self-healing polymer composite hydrogels were prepared from polyacrylamide (PAM) and 2D fillers using in-situ method. In addition, the PAM and fillers were prepared in presence of organic crosslinkers, i.e., hydroquinone (HQ) and hexamethylenediamine (HMT). The swelling behavior of the prepared hydrogels was studied by hydrating the dried hydrogels. The thermal and rheological properties of the prepared hydrogels were evaluated before and after swelling study using thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetric technique and dynamic mechanical analysis. From the results obtained, incorporating fillers into the PAM matrix enhanced the swelling degree of the hydrogels with satisfactory mechanical properties, attaining up to 77% self-healing efficiency compared to the neat-PAM (i.e., 29%). This, in turn, indicates addition of 2D fillers improved self-healing properties of the polymer hydrogel, thus, making the prepared hydrogels applicable for water shutoff treatments under high temperature.

Keywords: polymer hydrogels, 2D fillers, elastic self-healing hydrogels, water shutoff, swelling properties

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Authors: Amina Bayazid, Habiba Fetati, Houari Toumi

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Introduction: The clinical value of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) has been widely demonstrated in numerous indications. Unfortunately, VKA are not devoid of drawbacks and risk of serious bleeding. The iatrogenic induced by these drugs is a major public health problem. Patients & Methods: We conducted a retrospective study period extending from February 2012 to August 2013 in the pharmacovigilance service of EHUO (clinical pharmacology unit). The prescription of painkillers was analyzed in patients on VKA followed at our level. The influence of these analgesics on the evolution of the INR is an important component in our work. Results: We counted a total of 195 patients, of whom 32 (or 16.41% of the total population) had received analgesic treatment. The frequencies of different categories of analgesics administered were: • Analgesics opioids: 0% • Analgesics weak opioids: Tramadol: 21.87% • The non-opioid analgesics: -AINS: 71.87% (indomethacin: 68.75% ibuprofen: 3.12%) - Paracetamol: 6.25% -Salicyles (Acetylsalicylic acid): 0%. Conclusion: The management of pain in patients under vitamin K antagonists has special features, given their many drug interactions with analgesics and their influence on the evolution of the INR which can have dramatic consequences. As such, special attention must be paid to the use of analgesics in this type of patient.

Keywords: vitamin K antagonists, pain killers, interactions, INR

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Authors: Hong Su, Qiuju Yan, Wei Du, En Hu, Zhaoyu Yang, Wei Zhang, Yusheng Li, Tao Tang, Wang yang, Shushan Zhao

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a severe chronic inflammatory disease. As the main active component of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, a classic traditional ethnic herb, calycosin exhibits anti-inflammatory action and its mechanism of exact targets for OA have yet to be determined. In this study, we established an anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) mouse model. Mice were randomized to sham, OA, and calycosin groups. Cartilage synthesis markers type II collagen (Col-2) and SRY-Box Transcription Factor 9 (Sox-9) increased significantly after calycosin gavage. While cartilage matrix degradation index cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), phosphor-epidermal growth factor receptor (p-EGFR), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) expression were decreased. With the help of network pharmacology and molecular docking, these results were confirmed in chondrocyte ATDC5 cells. Our results indicated that the calycosin treatment significantly improved cartilage damage, this was probably attributed to reversing the imbalance between chondrocyte synthesis and catabolism.

Keywords: calycosin, osteoarthritis, network pharmacology, molecular docking, inflammatory, cyclooxygenase 2

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Authors: Abdelkarim Mahdhi, Fdhila Kais, Faouzi Lamari, Zeineb Hmila, Fathi Kamoun, Maria Ángeles Esteban, Amina Bakhrouf

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Pathogenic bacteria are considered to be responsible for several infectious diseases in aquaculture. To overcome diseases in fish culture, the use of antimicrobial drugs as strategy, have been adopted. The use of probiotic was a promising approach to avoid the risk associated to pathogenic bacteria. To find a biological control treatment against pathogens, we undertook this investigation to study the maintain of the probiotic properties of Bacillus sp., such as viability, adhesive ability to abiotic surface, antibacterial activity and pathogenicity/toxicity, under marine starvation conditions. Our data revealed that the tested strains maintained their capacity to inhibit pathogens in vivo and in vitro conditions. These strains maintain their adhesive capacity to polystyrene and do not demonstrate the pathogenic or toxic effect to the host. The obtained results give insight about the effect of starvation conditions on the physiological responses of these Bacillus strains that can be considered as a potential candidate’s probiotic.

Keywords: bacillus, probiotic, cell viability, starvation conditions

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Authors: Jaime Carpio-García, Elena Blanco-Fernández, Javier González-Fernández, Daniel Castro-Fresno

Abstract:

Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) are more often used in order to prevent floods, water treatment, fight against pollution, urban heat island effect, and global warming in applications like green roofs, permeable pavements, and others. Furthermore, geosynthetics are also worldwide used as a part of drainage systems in road construction. Geotextiles are an essential part of both, and one of the main geotextile properties in those applications is permeability, whose behavior is not well established along its service life. In this paper, clogging reduction design factors for an estimated service life of 25 years are experimentally obtained for five different geotextiles used in SUDS and roads combined with two different soils and with two pollutants, motor oil, and lime, in order to evaluate chemical clogging, too. The effect of characteristic opening size and other characteristics of the geosynthetics are also discussed in order to give civil engineers, together with the clogging reduction factors, a better long-time design of geotextiles used in their SUDS and roads.

Keywords: geotextiles, drainage, clogging, reduction factor

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Authors: Elham Vojoudi, Marzieh Mehrafza, Ahmad Hosseini, Azadeh Raofi, Maryam Najafi

Abstract:

Premature ovarian failure (POF) has become one of the main causes of infertility in women of childbearing age and the incidence of this disorder is increasing year by year. In these patients, poor ovarian response (POR) to gonadotropins reflects a diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) that gives place to few follicles despite aggressive stimulation. Up to now, egg donation is the only way to resolve infertility problems in POF patients. Therefore, some novel aspects such as activating (Akt signaling pathway) and inhibiting (Hippo-signaling) elements have been identified as IVA procedure that promotes primordial follicle activation. In this study, we used the newly developed technique (combination of in vitro activation of dormant follicles (IVA) and stem cell therapy) to promote ovarian follicle growth much more efficiently than the natural, in vivo process for women with POF. Transplantation of Warton Jelly-MSCs to the ovaries of POF patients rescued overall ovarian function. Participants (10 patients) were followed up monthly for a period of six months by hormonal (AMH, FSH, LH and E2), clinical (resuming menstruation), and US (folliculometry) outcomes after a laparoscopic operation. In summary, IVA/WJ-MSC transplantation may provide an effective treatment for POF.

Keywords: POF, in vitro activation, stem cell therapy, infertility

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Ahmed M. Noureldin, Khaled M. Naguib

Abstract:

This experimental investigation tries to identify the root cause of the black sand issue in one of the man-made lakes in a well-known Hurghada resort. The lake is nourished by the underground wells' source, which continuously empties into the Red Sea. Chemical testing was done by looking at spots of stinky black sand beneath the sandy lake surface. The findings on samples taken from several locations (wells, lake bottom sand samples, and clean sand with exact specifications as bottom sand) indicated the existence of organic sulfur bacteria that are responsible for the phenomena of black sand. Approximately 39.139 mg/kg of sulfide in the form of hydrogen sulfide was present in the lake bottom sand, while 1.145 mg/kg, before usage, was in the bare sand. The study also involved modeling with the GPS-X program for cleaning bottom sand that uses hydro cyclones as a physical-mechanical treatment method. The modeling findings indicated a Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal effectiveness of 0.65%. The research recommended using hydro cyclones to routinely mechanically clear the sand from lake bottoms.

Keywords: man-made lakes, organic sulfur bacteria, total organic carbon, hydro cyclone

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Yulia Hastuti, Ratna Dewi, Muhammad Sandi

Abstract:

Many methods of soil stabilization that can be done such as by mixing chemicals. In this research, stabilization by mixing the soil using two types of chemical admixture, those are gypsum with a variation of 5%, 10%, and 15% and Soil binder with a concentration of 20 gr / lot of water, 25 gr / lot of water, and 30 gr / lot of water aimed to determine the effect on the soil plasticity index values and comparing the value of shear strength parameters of the mixture with the original soil conditions using a Triaxial UU test. Based on research done shows that with increasing variations in the mix, then the value of plasticity index decreased, which was originally 42% (very high degree of swelling) becomes worth 11.24% (lower Swelling degree) when a mixture of gypsum 15% and 30 gr / Lt water soil binder. As for the value shear, strength parameters increased in all variations of mixture. Admixture with the highest shear strength parameter's value is at 15% the mixture of gypsum and 20 gr / litre of water of soil binder with the 14 day treatment period, which has enhanced the cohesion value of 559.01%, the friction angle by 1157.14%. And a shear strength value of 568.49%. It can be concluded that the admixture of gypsum and soil binder correctly, can increase the value of shear strength parameters significantly and decrease the value of plasticity index of the soil.

Keywords: expansive soil, gypsum, soil binder, shear strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 475