Search results for: boundary values

Authors: Syeda Salina Aziz, Tanvir Ahmed Mozumder

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Citizenship is an important concept of democracy which broadly defines the relationship between the state and its citizens; at the same time, it analyzes the rights and duties of a citizen. The universal citizenship principle demands that citizens should be aware of the political system, possess democratic attitudes, and join the political activity. Bangladesh presents an interesting case for democracy; the democratic practices in the country have been long introduced, have been interrupted several times, and the democratic values and practices have yet to be established in the country. These transitions have influenced citizens’ ideologies and participation in decision-making and also shaped their expectations differently. In this backdrop, this paper aims to understand and explain the citizenship behavior of Bangladeshi nationals. Based on nationally representative household survey data of 4000 respondents, this paper creates a composite citizenship index which is a combination of three separate indices, including participation index, knowledge and awareness index, and ideology index. The paper then tries to explain the factors that affect the citizenship index. Using fixed effect regression analysis, the paper intends to explore the association between citizenship and socio-demographic variables, including education, location, gender, and exposure to the media of respondents. Additionally, using national election polls, the paper creates a variable to measure long-term support towards the current ruling party and tests whether and how this affects the citizenship variables.

Keywords: citizenship, political participation, Bangladesh, stronghold

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Authors: Ibraheem Husain, Abul Kalam Najmi, Karishma Chester

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First-in-human (FIH) studies are a critical step in clinical development of any molecule that has shown therapeutic promise in preclinical evaluations, since preclinical research and safety studies into clinical development is a crucial step for successful development of monoclonal antibodies for guidance in pharmaceutical industry for the treatment of human diseases. Therefore, comparison between USFDA and nine pharmacologically guided approaches (PGA) (simple allometry, maximum life span potential, brain weight, rule of exponent (ROE), two species methods and one species methods) were made to determine maximum recommended starting dose (MRSD) for first in human clinical trials using four drugs namely Denosumab, Bevacizumab, Anakinra and Omalizumab. In our study, the predicted pharmacokinetic (pk) parameters and the estimated first-in-human dose of antibodies were compared with the observed human values. The study indicated that the clearance and volume of distribution of antibodies can be predicted with reasonable accuracy in human and a good estimate of first human dose can be obtained from the predicted human clearance and volume of distribution. A pictorial method evaluation chart was also developed based on fold errors for simultaneous evaluation of various methods.

Keywords: clinical pharmacology (CPH), clinical research (CRE), clinical trials (CTR), maximum recommended starting dose (MRSD), clearance and volume of distribution

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Authors: B. Cheknane, F. Zermane

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The main objective of the present study is the valorization of natural raw materials of plant origin for the treatment of textile industry wastewater. Selected bark was: maritime (MP), pinyon (PP) and Aleppo pine (AP) bark. The efficiency of these barks were tested for the removal of three dye; rhodamine B (RhB), Green Malachite (GM) and X Methyl Orange (MO). At the first time we focus to study the different parameters which can influence the adsorption processes such as: nature of the adsorbents, nature of the pollutants (dyes) and the effect of pH. Obtained results reveals that the speed adsorption is strongly influencing by the pH medium and the comparative study show that adsorption is favorable in the acidic medium with amount adsorbed of (Q=40mg/g) for rhodamine B and (Q=46mg/g) for orange methyl. Results of adsorption kinetics reveals that the molecules of GM are adsorbed better (Q=48mg/g) than the molecules of RhB (Q=46mg/g) and methyl orange (Q=18mg/g), with equilibrium time of 6 hours. The results of adsorption isotherms show clearly that the maritime pine bark is the most effective adsorbents with adsorbed amount of (QRhB=200mg/g) and (QMO=88mg/g) followed by pinyon pine (PP) with (QRhB=184mg/g) and (QMO=56mg/g) and finally Aleppo pine (AP) bark with (QRhB=131mg/g) and (QMO= 46mg/g). The different obtained isotherms were modeled using the Langmuir and Freundlich models and according to the adjustment coefficient values R2, the obtained isotherms are well represented by Freundlich model.

Keywords: maritime pine bark (MP), pinyon pine bark (PP), Aleppo pine (AP) bark, adsorption, dyes

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Authors: Swati Bhomia, C. M. Kishtawal, Neeru Jaiswal

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Traditionally, monsoon forecasts have encountered many difficulties that stem from numerous issues such as lack of adequate upper air observations, mesoscale nature of convection, proper resolution, radiative interactions, planetary boundary layer physics, mesoscale air-sea fluxes, representation of orography, etc. Uncertainties in any of these areas lead to large systematic errors. Global circulation models (GCMs), which are developed independently at different institutes, each of which carries somewhat different representation of the above processes, can be combined to reduce the collective local biases in space, time, and for different variables from different models. This is the basic concept behind the multi-model superensemble and comprises of a training and a forecast phase. The training phase learns from the recent past performances of models and is used to determine statistical weights from a least square minimization via a simple multiple regression. These weights are then used in the forecast phase. The superensemble forecasts carry the highest skill compared to simple ensemble mean, bias corrected ensemble mean and the best model out of the participating member models. This approach is a powerful post-processing method for the estimation of weather forecast parameters reducing the direct model output errors. Although it can be applied successfully to the continuous parameters like temperature, humidity, wind speed, mean sea level pressure etc., in this paper, this approach is applied to rainfall, a parameter quite difficult to handle with standard post-processing methods, due to its high temporal and spatial variability. The present study aims at the development of advanced superensemble schemes comprising of 1-5 day daily precipitation forecasts from five state-of-the-art global circulation models (GCMs), i.e., European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (Europe), National Center for Environmental Prediction (USA), China Meteorological Administration (China), Canadian Meteorological Centre (Canada) and U.K. Meteorological Office (U.K.) obtained from THORPEX Interactive Grand Global Ensemble (TIGGE), which is one of the most complete data set available. The novel approaches include the dynamical model selection approach in which the selection of the superior models from the participating member models at each grid and for each forecast step in the training period is carried out. Multi-model superensemble based on the training using similar conditions is also discussed in the present study, which is based on the assumption that training with the similar type of conditions may provide the better forecasts in spite of the sequential training which is being used in the conventional multi-model ensemble (MME) approaches. Further, a variety of methods that incorporate a 'neighborhood' around each grid point which is available in literature to allow for spatial error or uncertainty, have also been experimented with the above mentioned approaches. The comparison of these schemes with respect to the observations verifies that the newly developed approaches provide more unified and skillful prediction of the summer monsoon (viz. June to September) rainfall compared to the conventional multi-model approach and the member models.

Keywords: multi-model superensemble, dynamical model selection, similarity criteria, neighborhood technique, rainfall prediction

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Authors: Ayad Salih Sabbar, Amin Chegenizadeh, Hamid Nikraz

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Utilizing waste materials in civil engineering applications has a positive influence on the environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and issues associated with waste disposal. Granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) is a by-product of the iron and steel industry, with millions of tons of slag being annually produced worldwide. Slag has been widely used in structural engineering and for stabilizing clay soils; however, studies on the effect of slag on sandy soils are scarce. This article investigates the effect of slag content on shear strength parameters through direct shear tests and unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests on mixtures of Perth sand and slag. For this purpose, sand-slag mixtures, with slag contents of 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of samples, were tested with direct shear tests under three normal stress values, namely 100 kPa, 150 kPa, and 200 kPa. Unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests were performed under a single confining pressure of 100 kPa and relative density of 80%. The internal friction angles and shear stresses of the mixtures were determined via the direct shear tests, demonstrating that shear stresses increased with increasing normal stress and the internal friction angles and cohesion increased with increasing slag. There were no significant differences in shear stresses parameters when slag content rose from 4% to 6%. The unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests demonstrated that shear strength increased with increasing slag content.

Keywords: direct shear, shear strength, slag, UU test

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Authors: Rodrigo Coelho

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We believe that in the majority of the “recent production of public space", the overvaluation of the "image", of the "ephemeral" and of the "objectual", has come to determine the configuration of banal and (more or less) arbitrary "public spaces", mostly linked to a problem of “outdoor decoration”, reflecting a clear sign of uncertainty and arbitrariness about the meaning, the role and shape of public space and public art.This "inconsistency" which is essentially linked to the loss of urban, but also social, cultural and political, vocation of the disciplines that “shape” the urban space (but is also linked to the lack of urban and technical culture of techinicians and policy makers) converted a significant set of the recently built "public space" and “urban art” into diffuse and multi-referenced pieces, which generally shares the inability of confering to the urban space, civic, aesthetic, social and symbolic meanings. In this sense we consider it is essential to undertake a theoretical reflection on the values, the meaning(s) and the shape(s) that open space, and urban art may (or must) take in the current urban and cultural context, in order to redeem for public space its status of significant physical reference, able to embody a spatial and urban identity, and simultaneously enable the collective accession and appropriation of public space. Taking as reference public space interventions built in the last decade on the European context, we will seek to explore and defend the need of considering public space as a true place of exception, an exceptional support where the emphasis is placed on the quality of the experience, especially by the relations public space/urban art can established with the city, with nature and geography in a broad sense, referring us back to a close and inseparable and timeless relationship between nature and culture.

Keywords: art, city, nature, public space

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Authors: Adel Ali Elshaibani

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Risk management indicators augment the reporting infrastructure, particularly for the board and senior management, to identify, monitor, and manage risks. This enhancement facilitates improved decision-making throughout the banking organization. Decision tree analysis is a tool that visually outlines potential outcomes, costs, and consequences of complex decisions. It is particularly beneficial for analyzing quantitative data and making decisions based on numerical values. By calculating the expected value of each outcome, decision tree analysis can help assess the best course of action. In the context of banking, decision tree analysis can assist lenders in evaluating a customer’s creditworthiness, thereby preventing losses. However, applying these tools in developing countries may face several limitations, such as data availability, lack of technological infrastructure and resources, lack of skilled professionals, cultural factors, and cost. Moreover, decision trees can create overly complex models that do not generalize well to new data, known as overfitting. They can also be sensitive to small changes in the data, which can result in different tree structures and can become computationally expensive when dealing with large datasets. In conclusion, while risk management indicators and decision tree analysis are beneficial for decision-making in banks, their effectiveness is contingent upon how they are implemented and utilized by the board of directors, especially in the context of developing countries. It’s important to consider these limitations when planning to implement these tools in developing countries.

Keywords: risk management indicators, decision tree analysis, developing countries, board of directors, bank performance, risk management strategy, banking institutions

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Authors: Antar Bouhank, Youcef Beellal, Samir Adjel, Abdelmadjid Ababsa

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This paper investigates the impact of 3D printing parameters using the cold metal transfer (CMT) technique on the morphological, mechanical, and tribological properties of walls and massive parts made from aluminum alloy. The parameters studied include current intensity, torch movement speed, printing increment, and the flow rate of shielding gas. The manufactured parts, using the technique mentioned above, are walls and massive parts with different filling strategies, using grid and zigzag patterns and at different current intensities. The main goal of the article is to find out the welding parameters suitable for having parts with low defects and improved properties from the previously mentioned properties point of view. It has been observed from the results thus obtained that the high current intensity causes rapid solidification, resulting in high porosity and low hardness values. However, the high current intensity can cause very rapid solidification, which increases the melting point, and the part remains in the most stable shape. Furthermore, the results show that there is an evident relationship between hardness, coefficient of friction and wear test where the high intensity is, the low hardness is. The same note is for the coefficient of friction. The micrography of the walls shows a random granular structure with fine grain boundaries with a different grain size. Some interesting results are presented in this paper.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, porosity, microstructures, hardness

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Authors: Abate Getnet Demisash, Beshatu Taye Hatew, Ababo Geleta Gudisa

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As consumption trends of fish are rising in Ethiopia, assessment of the environmental performance of Fisheries becomes vital. Hence, Cleaner Production Assessment was conducted on Lake Tana No.1 Fish Supply Association. This paper focuses on determining the characteristics, quantity and setting up cleaner production option for the site with experimental investigation. The survey analysis showed that illegal waste dumping in Lake Tana is common practice in the area and some of the main reasons raised were they have no option than doing this for discharging fish wastes. Quantifying a fish waste by examination of records at the point of generation resulted in generation rate of 72,822.61 kg per year which is a significant amount of waste and needs management system. The result of the proximate analysis showed high free fat content of about 12.33% and this was a good candidate for the production of biodiesel that has been set as an option for fish waste utilization. Among the different waste management options, waste reduction by product optimization which involves biodiesel production was chosen as a potential method. Laboratory scale experiments were performed to produce renewable energy source from the wastes. The resulting biodiesel was characterized and found to have a density of 0.756kg/L, viscosity 0.24p and 153°C flash points which shows the product has values in compliance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.

Keywords: biodiesel, cleaner production, renewable energy, clean energy, waste to energy

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Authors: Mohadeseh Shojaei Shahrokhabadi, Ding-Geng (Din) Chen

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Positive continuous outcomes with a substantial number of zero values and incomplete longitudinal follow-up are quite common in medical cost data. To jointly model semi-continuous longitudinal cost data and survival data and to provide marginalized covariate effect estimates, a marginalized two-part joint model (MTJM) has been developed for outcome variables with lognormal distributions. In this paper, we propose MTJM models for outcome variables from a generalized gamma (GG) family of distributions. The GG distribution constitutes a general family that includes approximately all of the most frequently used distributions like the Gamma, Exponential, Weibull, and Log Normal. In the proposed MTJM-GG model, the conditional mean from a conventional two-part model with a three-parameter GG distribution is parameterized to provide the marginal interpretation for regression coefficients. In addition, MTJM-gamma and MTJM-Weibull are developed as special cases of MTJM-GG. To illustrate the applicability of the MTJM-GG, we applied the model to a set of real electronic health record data recently collected in Iran, and we provided SAS code for application. The simulation results showed that when the outcome distribution is unknown or misspecified, which is usually the case in real data sets, the MTJM-GG consistently outperforms other models. The GG family of distribution facilitates estimating a model with improved fit over the MTJM-gamma, standard Weibull, or Log-Normal distributions.

Keywords: marginalized two-part model, zero-inflated, right-skewed, semi-continuous, generalized gamma

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Authors: Chansheng He, Zhongfu Wang, Xiao Bai, Jie Tian, Xin Jin

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Heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties directly affects hydrological processes at different scales. Understanding heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties such as soil moisture is therefore essential for modeling watershed ecohydrological processes, particularly in hard to access, topographically complex mountainous watersheds. This study maps spatial variations of soil moisture by in situ observation network that consists of sampling points, zones, and tributaries, and monitors corresponding hydrological variables of air and soil temperatures, evapotranspiration, infiltration, and runoff in the Upper Reach of the Heihe River Watershed, a second largest inland river (terminal lake) with a drainage area of over 128,000 km² in Northwest China. Subsequently, the study uses a hydrological model, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) to simulate the effects of heterogeneity of soil moisture on watershed hydrological processes. The spatial clustering method, Full-Order-CLK was employed to derive five soil heterogeneous zones (Configuration 97, 80, 65, 40, and 20) for soil input to SWAT. Results show the simulations by the SWAT model with the spatially clustered soil hydraulic information from the field sampling data had much better representation of the soil heterogeneity and more accurate performance than the model using the average soil property values for each soil type derived from the coarse soil datasets. Thus, incorporating detailed field sampling soil heterogeneity data greatly improves performance in hydrologic modeling.

Keywords: heterogeneity, soil moisture, SWAT, up-scaling

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Authors: Lida Moghaddam-Banaem, Mahmood Tavoosi, Soheila Khalili

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Objective: The main objective of this study was designing a breast cancer health literacy questionnaire and assess its psychometric properties. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was performed to develop a primary questionnaire consisting of five domains. Qualitative and quantitative content validity were assessed by relevant experts, and after some modifications, the content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR) were calculated. Qualitative and quantitative face validity were evaluated by a number of patients, and the impact score for each item was calculated. 225 women with breast cancer were asked to fill out the questionnaire and construct validity was determined by using exploratory factor analysis. The reliability was tested by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: A 36-item questionnaire with five domains of reading, having access, understanding, assessing/judgment, and decision making/behavior was designed. 2 items were omitted in the qualitative content validity process. All items achieved optimum values in CVI, CVR and impact scores. Content and face validity of the questionnaire were confirmed too. According to the exploratory factor analysis, the five-factor solution accounted for 64.98 percent of the observed variance. Conclusion: Due to the obtained satisfactory validity and reliability, this tool can be used to assess health literacy in women with breast cancer. Health policy makers can use these findings for improving health-related behaviors in breast cancer patients.

Keywords: health literacy, breast cancer, questionnaire, psychometric properties

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Authors: Fidan Z. Aliyeva

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In the presented article, the formation of the microbiological regime in the Takhtakorpu water complex, as well as spatial-temporal changes in the quantitative indicators of bacterioplankton, were studied. Taktakorpu water complex was built as a continuation of the reconstruction and expansion project of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system in Shabran on the northeastern slope of our republic. It should be noted that with the implementation of the project, the water supply of up to 150 thousand ha of useful land in the northern region has been improved, and the drinking, technical, and irrigation water needs of the population of Baku, Sumgayit and also the Absheron Peninsula, and industrial and agricultural areas, joining the agricultural circulation of new soil areas, Takhtakorpu reservoir with a volume of 238.4 million m³, connected with them -Valvalachay- Takhtakorpu and Takhtakorpu-Jeyranbatan canals have been created, conditions have been created to increase the resources of the Jeyranbatan reservoir. Special attention is paid to the study of saprophytic bacteria in order to determine the development dynamics and biochemical activity of the microbiological regime in the Takhtakorpu Water Complex, which is of great strategic importance for our republic, to evaluate changes under the influence of anthropogenic factors, as well as to evaluate the properties of self-cleaning, mineralization features of organic substances of allochthon and autochthonous origin. One of the main goals of our research is to determine the main structural indicators of bacterioplankton in the upper part of Takhtakorpu water complex in the first three stations and analyzing their quantitative values in a certain time aspect.

Keywords: water, irrigation, sewage, wastewater

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Authors: Georges F. Hatoum, Thomas H. Temple, Silvio Garcia, Xiaodong Wu

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Soft Tissue Sarcomas (STS) represent a diverse group of malignancies with heterogeneous clinical and pathological features. The treatment of extremity STS aims to achieve optimal local tumor control, improved survival, and preservation of limb function. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, based on the cumulated clinical data, recommend radiation therapy (RT) in conjunction with limb-sparing surgery for large, high-grade STS measuring greater than 5 cm in size. Such treatment strategy can offer a cure for patients. However, when recurrence occurs (in nearly half of patients), the prognosis is poor, with a median survival of 12 to 15 months and with only palliative treatment options available. The spatially-fractionated-radiotherapy (SFRT), with a long history of treating bulky tumors as a non-mainstream technique, has gained new attention in recent years due to its unconventional therapeutic effects, such as bystander/abscopal effects. Combining single fraction of GRID, the original form of SFRT, with conventional RT was shown to have marginally increased the rate of pathological necrosis, which has been recognized to have a positive correlation to overall survival. In an effort to consistently increase the pathological necrosis rate over 90%, multiple fractions of Lattice RT (LRT), a newer form of 3D SFRT, interdigitated with the standard RT as neoadjuvant therapy was conducted in a preliminary clinical setting. With favorable results of over 95% of necrosis rate in a small cohort of patients, a Phase I/II clinical study was proposed to exam the safety and feasibility of this new strategy. Herein the design of the clinical study is presented. In this single-arm, two-stage phase I/II clinical trial, the primary objectives are >80% of the patients achieving >90% tumor necrosis and to evaluation the toxicity; the secondary objectives are to evaluate the local control, disease free survival and overall survival (OS), as well as the correlation between clinical response and the relevant biomarkers. The study plans to accrue patients over a span of two years. All patient will be treated with the new neoadjuvant RT regimen, in which one of every five fractions of conventional RT is replaced by a LRT fraction with vertices receiving dose ≥10Gy while keeping the tumor periphery at or close to 2 Gy per fraction. Surgical removal of the tumor is planned to occur 6 to 8 weeks following the completion of radiation therapy. The study will employ a Pocock-style early stopping boundary to ensure patient safety. The patients will be followed and monitored for a period of five years. Despite much effort, the rarity of the disease has resulted in limited novel therapeutic breakthroughs. Although a higher rate of treatment-induced tumor necrosis has been associated with improved OS, with the current techniques, only 20% of patients with large, high-grade tumors achieve a tumor necrosis rate exceeding 50%. If this new neoadjuvant strategy is proven effective, an appreciable improvement in clinical outcome without added toxicity can be anticipated. Due to the rarity of the disease, it is hoped that such study could be orchestrated in a multi-institutional setting.

Keywords: lattice RT, necrosis, SFRT, soft tissue sarcoma

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Authors: Yousef Abdulaziz Almolhem

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Geographically, the most Arabic countries locate in areas confined to arid or semiarid regions. For this reason, most of our countries have adopted the seawater desalination as a strategy to overcome this problem. For example, the water supply of AUE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia is almost 100% from the seawater desalination plants. Many areas in Saudia Arabia and other countries in the world suffer from lack of fresh water which hinders the development of these areas, despite the availability of saline water and high solar radiation intensity. Furthermore, most developing countries do not have sufficient meteorological data to evaluate if the solar radiation is enough to meet the solar desalination. A mathematical model was developed to simulate and predict the thermal behavior of the solar still which used direct solar energy for distillation of seawater. Measurement data were measured in the Environment and Natural Resources Department, Faculty of Agricultural and Food sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, in order to evaluate the present model. The simulation results obtained from this model were compared with the measured data. The main results of this research showed that there are slight differences between the measured and predicted values of the elements studied, which is resultant from the change of some factors considered constants in the model such as the sky clearance, wind velocity and the salt concentration in the water in the basin of the solar still. It can be concluded that the present model can be used to estimate the average total solar radiation and the thermal behavior of the solar still in any area with consideration to the geographical location.

Keywords: mathematical model, sea water, distillation, solar radiation

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Authors: Yongsheng Guo, Shuchao Li

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This study explores Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe and the cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and European managers. The aim of this research is to shed light on the phenomenon of investments in developed countries from an emerging market and to gain insights into the cooperation process. A grounded theory approach is adopted, and 46 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 case companies in Germany and 13 case companies in the UK. Grounded theory models are developed from primary data and interview quotes are used to support the themes. The interviewees perceived differences between the two parties in cultural traits, management concepts, knowledge structure and resource endowment between the two parties. Chinese and European partners can take advantage of different resources and cooperate in innovative ways to improve corporate performance. Moreover, both parties appreciate different ethical and cultural characteristics and complement each other to develop a combined organizational culture. This study proposes an ethical and cultural diversity theory in international management arguing that a team with diversified values and behaviors may be more excited and motivated. This study suggests that “resource complement” and “cross-cultural cooperation” might be an advantage for international investment. Firms are encouraged to open their minds and cooperate with partners with different resources and cultures. The authorities may review the FDI policies to reduce social and political barriers.

Keywords: cross-culture, FDI, cooperation, innovation, China, Europe

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Authors: Madhavi S. Apte, Milind Bhitre

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In pharmaceutical research and new drug development, medicinal plants have important roles. Similarly, Indian dhak tree belonging to family Fabaceae has been widely used in the traditional Indian medical system of ‘Ayurveda’ for the treatment of a variety of ailments. Hence the cell viability study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the activity of extracts of various parts like flower, bark, leaf, seed by conducting MTT assay method along with other pharmacognostical studies. The methanolic extracts of bark, flowers, leaves, and seeds were used for the study. The cell viability MTT assay was performed using the standard operating procedures. The extracts were dissolved in DMSO and serially diluted with complete medium to get the concentrations range of test concentration. DMSO concentration was kept < 0.1% in all the samples. HUVEC cells maintained in appropriate conditions were seeded in 96 well plates and treated with different concentrations of the test samples and incubated at 37°C, 5% CO₂ for 96 hours. MTT reagent was added to the wells and incubated for 4 hours; the dark blue formazan product formed by the cells was dissolved in DMSO under a safety cabinet and read at 550nm. Percentage inhibitions were calculated and plotted with the concentrations used to calculate the IC50 values. The bark, flower, leaves and seed extracts have shown the cytotoxicity activity and can be further studied for antiangiogenesis activity.

Keywords: pharmacognosy, Cell viability, MTT assay, anti-angiogenesis

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Authors: Hayder H. Kareem

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Groundwater recharge is a crucial parameter for any groundwater management system. The variability of the recharge rates and the difficulty in estimating this factor in many processes by direct observation leads to the complexity of estimating the recharge value. Various methods are existing to estimate the groundwater recharge, with some limitations for each method to be able for application. This paper focuses particularly on a real study area, Al-Najaf City, Iraq. In this city, there are few groundwater aquifers, but the aquifer which is considered in this study is the closest one to the ground surface, the Dibdibba aquifer. According to the Aridity Index, which is estimated in the paper, Al-Najaf City is classified as a region located in an arid climate, and this identified that the most appropriate method to estimate the groundwater recharge is Thornthwaite's formula or Thornthwaite's method. From the calculations, the estimated average groundwater recharge over the period 1980-2014 for Al-Najaf City is 40.32 mm/year. Groundwater recharge is completely affected the groundwater table level (groundwater head). Therefore, to make sure that this value of recharge is true, the MODFLOW program has been used to apply this value through finding the relationship between the calculated and observed heads where a groundwater model for the Al-Najaf City study area has been built by MODFLOW to simulate this area for different purposes, one of these purposes is to simulate the groundwater recharge. MODFLOW results show that this value of groundwater recharge is extremely high and needs to be reduced. Therefore, a further sensitivity test has been carried out for the Al-Najaf City study area by the MODFLOW program through changing the recharge value and found that the best estimation of groundwater recharge value for this city is 16.5 mm/year where this value gives the best fitting between the calculated and observed heads with minimum values of RMSE % (13.175) and RSS m² (1454).

Keywords: Al-Najaf City, groundwater modelling, recharge estimation, visual MODFLOW

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Authors: Oladipo Oluwaseun Peter

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Daily consumption of crude oil is alarming as a result of increasing demand for energy. Waste generation tends to rise with the level of economic advancement of a nation. Hence, this project work researches how wastes which could pose toxic if left unattended to can be processed through biodigestion in order to generate biofuel which could serve as a good substitute for petroleum, a non renewable energy source, so as to reduce over-dependence on petroleum and to prevent environmental pollution. Anaerobic digestion was carried out on organic wastes comprising brewery spent grains, rice husks and poultry droppings in a plastic biodigester of 1000 liters volume using the poultry droppings as a natural inoculums source. The feed composition in ratio 5:3:2, spent grain, rice husks and poultry droppings were mixed with water in the ratio 1:6. Thus, 600 Kg of water was used to prepare the slurry with 100 Kg of feed materials. A plastic biodigester was successfully constructed, and the problem of corrosion and rusting were completely overcome as a result of the use of non-corroding materials of construction. A reasonable quantity of biogas, 33.63m3, was generated over a period of 60 days of biodigestion. The bioslurry was processed through two different process routes; evaporation and filteration. Evaporation process of analysis shows high values of 0.64%, 2.11% and 0.034% for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium respectively, while filteration process gives 00.61%, 1.93% and 0.026% for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium respectively.

Keywords: biodigestion, biofuel, digestion, slurry, biogas

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Authors: Javiera Poblete, Fernando Gajardo, Katherina Fernandez

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Graphene, and its derivatives such as graphene oxide (GO), are emerging nanoscopic materials, with interesting physical and chemical properties. From them, it is possible to develop three-dimensional macrostructures, such as aerogels, which are characterized by a low density, high porosity, and large surface area, having a promising structure for the development of materials. The use of GO as a precursor of these structures provides a wide variety of materials, which can be developed as a result of the functionalization of their oxygenated groups, with specific compounds such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). The synthesis of aerogels of GO-PEG for non-covalent interactions has not yet been widely reported, being of interest due to its feasible escalation and economic viability. Thus, this work aims to develop a non-covalently functionalized GO-PEG aerogels and characterize them physicochemically. In order to get this, the GO was synthesized from the modified hummers method and it was functionalized with the PEG by polymer-assisted GO gelation (crosslinker). The gelation was obtained for GO solutions (10 mg/mL) with the incorporation of PEG in different proportions by weight. The hydrogel resulting from the reaction was subsequently lyophilized, to obtain the respective aerogel. The material obtained was chemically characterized by analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and its morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images; as well as water absorption tests. The results obtained showed the formation of a non-covalent aerogel (FTIR), whose structure was highly porous (SEM) and with a water absorption values greater than 50% g/g. Thus, a methodology of synthesis for GO-PEG was developed and validated.

Keywords: aerogel, graphene oxide, polyethylene glycol, synthesis

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Authors: Majid Farsadrooh, Mehran Feizi-Dehnayebi

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Serum albumin is the most abundant protein that is present in the circulatory system of a wide variety of organisms. Although it is a significant macromolecule, it can contribute to osmotic blood pressure and also, plays a superior role in drug disposition and efficiency. Molecular docking simulation can improve in silico drug design and discovery procedures to propound a lead compound and develop it from the discovery step to the clinic. In this study, the molecular docking simulation was applied to select a lead molecule through an investigation of the interaction of the two anticancer drugs (Alitretinoin and Abemaciclib) with Human Serum Albumin (HSA). Then, a series of new compounds (a-e) were suggested using lead molecule modification. Density functional theory (DFT) including MEP map and HOMO-LUMO analysis were used for the newly proposed compounds to predict the reactivity zones on the molecules, stability, and chemical reactivity. DFT calculation illustrated that these new compounds were stable. The estimated binding free energy (ΔG) values for a-e compounds were obtained as -5.78, -5.81, -5.95, -5,98, and -6.11 kcal/mol, respectively. Finally, the pharmaceutical properties and toxicity of these new compounds were estimated through OSIRIS DataWarrior software. The results indicated no risk of tumorigenic, irritant, or reproductive effects and mutagenicity for compounds d and e. As a result, compounds d and e, could be selected for further study as potential therapeutic candidates. Moreover, employing molecular docking simulation with the prediction of pharmaceutical properties helps to discover new potential drug compounds.

Keywords: drug design, anticancer, computational studies, DFT analysis

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Authors: Shahab Mirzaean Mahabadi, Elham Ebrahimi

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The urban development process in the historical urban context has predominately witnessed two main approaches: the first is the Preservation and conservation of the urban fabric and its value, and the second approach is urban renewal and redevelopment. The latter is generally supported by political and economic aspirations. These two approaches conflict evidently. The authors go through the history of urban planning in order to review the historical development of the mentioned approaches. In this article, various values which are inherent in the historical fabric of a city are illustrated by emphasizing on cultural identity and activity. In the following, it is tried to find an optimized plan which maximizes economic development and minimizes change in historical-cultural sites simultaneously. In the proposed model, regarding the decision maker’s intention, and the variety of functions, the selected zone is divided into a number of components. For each component, different alternatives can be assigned, namely, renovation, refurbishment, destruction, and change in function. The decision Variable in this model is to choose an alternative for each component. A set of decisions made upon all components results in a plan. A plan developed in this way can be evaluated based on the decision maker’s point of view. That is, interactions between selected alternatives can make a foundation for the assessment of urban context to design a historical-cultural landscape. A genetic algorithm (GA) approach is used to search for optimal future land use within the historical-culture landscape for a sustainable high-growth city.

Keywords: urban sustainability, green city, regeneration, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Hazal Yılmaz, Hale Karakaş

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In the scope of the study, it is aimed to investigate and review the performance of denim fabrics that are foam washed. Foam washing was compared as an alternative to stone washing in terms of sustainability and performance parameters. For this purpose, seven different denim fabrics, which are both stone washed and foam washed separately in 3 different washing durations (30-60-90 mins), were compared. In the study, the same fabrics were processed with both foam and stone separately. The washing process steps were reviewed, and their water consumption values were compared. After washing, a total of 42 fabric samples were obtained, and tensile strength, tear strength, abrasion, weight loss after abrasion, rubbing fastness, color fastness tests were carried out on the fabric samples. The obtained test results were reviewed and evaluated. As a result of tests, it has been observed that the performance of foam washed fabrics in terms of tensile, tear strength and rubbing fastness test results are better than stone washed fabrics, and it has been seen that foam washed fabrics' color fastness test results are as stone washed. As a result of all these tests, it can be seen that foam washing is an alternative to stone washing due to its performance parameters and its sustainability performance with less water usage.

Keywords: denim fabrics, denim washing, foam washing, performance properties, stone washing, sustainability

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Authors: Giovanni Matheus Rech, Gilberto Zan, Filipe P. Aguiar

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The current pandemic scenario raises questions that many times would have previously gone unnoticed. One of these issues is the quality of the air we breathe in the most diverse environments in which we are inserted in an everyday. It is plausible to suppose that, at times like this, there is apprehension regarding the possibility of contamination by pathological agents such as viruses and bacterias through the airways. However, the renewal of indoor air, combined with a properly sanitized air conditioning system, are important tools for the prevention of viral diseases, as is the case with COVID-19. The bus is an example of an environment where renovation is applied to improve the quality of indoor air, helping to reduce the possibility of spreading pathological agents. Together with other care, such as an alcohol gel dispenser, curtains to separate the passengers, cleaning the environment more frequently, and mandatory use of masks, help to reduce the transmission of pathologies, such as COVID-19. Knowing the reality of a large part of the population regarding the need for public transport, there are standards and devices dedicated to promoting air quality, ensuring greater comfort and safety for users. This paper seeks to present such standards and recommendations to improve the quality of indoor air, as well as the equipment responsible for the renewal of the air in the body of a bus. Experimental measurement of the flow rates of the renewal devices present in the bus body allows quantifying the average volume of external air admitted in each type of body. This way, it was possible to compare, in terms of airflow per person, the values of a bus in relation to a series of other environments, using recommendations for air renewal are described through the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 16401.

Keywords: air quality, air renewal, buses, Covid-19

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Authors: Kalyan Koganti

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Background: In India, platelet transfusions are given to large no. of patients suffering from dengue due to the fear of bleeding especially when the platelet counts are low. Though many patients do not bleed when the platelet count falls to less than 20,000, certain patients bleed even if the platelet counts are more than 20,000 without any comorbid condition (like gastrointestinal ulcer) in the past. This fear has led to huge amounts of unnecessary platelet transfusions which cause significant economic burden to low and middle-income countries like India and also sometimes these transfusions end with transfusion-related adverse reactions. Objective: To identify the role of Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) in comparison with thrombocytoenia as an indicator to assess the real need of platelet transfusions. Method: A prospective study was conducted at a hospital in South India which included 176 admitted cases of dengue confirmed by immunochromatography. APTT was performed in all these patients along with platelet count. Cut off values of > 60 seconds for APTT and < 20,000 for platelet count were considered to assess the bleeding manifestations. Results: Among the total 176 patients, 56 patients had bleeding manifestations like malena, hematuria, bleeding gums etc. APTT > 60 seconds had a sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 90% respectively in identifying bleeding manifestations where as platelet count of < 20,000 had a sensitivity and specificity of 64% and 73% respectively. Conclusion: Elevated APTT levels can be considered as an indicator to assess the need of platelet transfusion in dengue. As there is a significant variation among patients who bleed with respect to platelet count, APTT can be considered to avoid unnecessary transfusions.

Keywords: activated partial thromboplastin time, dengue, platelet transfusion, thrombocytopenia

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Authors: Kishor C. Poria, Deepak Adroja, Arvind Bajaj

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During the last few decades, the growth of single crystals has attained enormous importance for both academic research and technology. Single crystals are pillars of modern technology. In recent emerging trends of photonics and optoelectronics technology, there has been increased need for organic and semi organic materials for Non-Linear Optical (NLO) applications. The paper dealt with the initiation of good single crystals of thiourea and metal doped thiourea. The authors have successfully grown thiourea (pure) and metal doped thiourea crystals using relatively simple and inexpensive slow evaporation of aqueous solution technique. Pure thiourea crystals were grown with different light intensities and frequencies as there growth conditions. Metals (Cu, Co, Ni, Fe) doped crystals were grown using a simple evaporation technique. The paper explains growth methods and associated grown parameters in detail. The average size of the crystal is varied in size from 40 mm x 1mm to 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm to 0.5 mm. Crystals obtained are hexagonal, tetragonal, and rectangular in shape with different optical qualities. All grown crystals are characterized using X-Ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD), Ultra Violet Visible analysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry. Their non-linear optical characteristics were determined by Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) and their Laser Dispersive analysis. The grown crystals are characterized using Nd:YAG laser and the highest conversion efficiency of the signal pass light are calculated. It shows 58 % of standard values for KDP crystals. All results are summarized in this work.

Keywords: crystal, metal-doped thiourea, non-linear optical, NLO, thiourea

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Authors: Dana Mohammed, Fatemah Abdullah, Hawraa Ali, Najat Al-Shaer, Rawan Al-Awadhi, , Magdy Helal

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We study the patient service performance at the emergency department of a major Kuwaiti public hospital, using discrete simulation and lean concepts. In addition to the common problems in such health care systems (over crowdedness, facilities planning and usage, scheduling and staffing, capacity planning) the emergency department suffered from several cultural and patient behavioural issues. Those contributed significantly to the system problems and constituted major obstacles in maintaining the performance in control. This led to overly long waiting times and the potential of delaying providing help to critical cases. We utilized the visual management tools to mitigate the impact of the patients’ behaviours and attitudes and improve the logistics inside the system. In addition a proposal is made to automate the date collection and communication within the department using RFID-based barcoding system. Discrete event simulation models were developed as decision support systems; to study the operational problems and assess achieved improvements. The simulation analysis resulted in cutting the patient delays to about 35% of their current values by reallocating and rescheduling the medical staff. Combined with the application of the visual management concepts, this provided the basis to improving patient service without any major investments.

Keywords: simulation, visual management, health care system, patient

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Authors: Mustafa Abu Ghalia, Mohammed Seddik

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The design and development of a new class of biomaterial has gained particular interest in producing polymer scaffold for biomedical applications. Improving mechanical properties, biological and controlling pores scaffold are important factors to provide appropriate biomaterial for implement in soft tissue repair and regeneration. In this study, poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) /polyethylene glycol (PEG) copolymer (80/20) incorporated with CNF scaffolds were made employing solvent casting and particulate leaching methods. Four mass percentages of CNF (1, 2.5, 5, and 10 wt.%) were integrated into the copolymer through a silane coupling agent. Mechanical properties were determined using Tensile Tester data acquisition to investigate the effect of porosity, pore size, and CNF contents. Tensile strength obtained for PCL/PEG- 5 wt.% CNF was 16 MPa, which drastically decreased after creating a porous structure to 7.1 MPa. The optimum parameters of the results were found to be 5 wt.% for CNF, 240 μm for pore size, and 83% for porosity. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrograph reveals that consistent pore size and regular pore shape were accomplished after the addition of CNF-5 wt. % into PCL/PEG. The results of mass loss of PCL/PEG reinforced-CNF 1% have clearly enhanced to double values compared with PCL/PEG copolymer and three times with PCL/PEG scaffold-CNF 1%. In addition, all PCL/PEG reinforced and scaffold- CNF were partially disintegrated under composting conditions confirming their biodegradable behavior. This also provides a possible solution for the end life of these biomaterials.

Keywords: PCL/PEG, cellulose nanofibers, tissue engineering, biodegradation, compost polymers

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Authors: Agajie Likie Bogale, Tilahun Teklehaymanot, Getnet Mitike Kassie, Girmay Medhin, Jemal Haidar Ali, Nega Berhe Belay

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Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of visual inspection using acetic acid compared with HPV DNA testing among women living with HIV in Ethiopia. Methods: Acomparative cross-sectional study was conducted to address the aforementioned objective. Data were collected from January to October 2021 to compare the performance of these two screening modalities. Trained clinicians collected cervical specimens and immediately applied acetic acid for visual inspection. The HPV DNA testing was done using Abbott m2000rt/SP by trained laboratory professionals in accredited laboratories. A total of 578 HIV positive women with age 25-49 years were included. Results: Test positivity was 8.9% using VIA and 23.3% using HPV DNA test. The sensitivity and specificity of the VIA test were 19.2% and 95.1%, respectively, while the positive and negative predictive values of the VIA test were 54.4% and 79.4%, respectively. The strength of agreement between the two screening methods was poor (k=0.184), and the area under the curve was 0.572. The burden of genetic distribution of high risk HPV16 was 3.8%, and mixed HPV16& other HR HPV was 1.9%. Other high risk HPV types were predominant in this study (15.7%). Conclusion: The high positivity result using HPV DNA testing compared with VIA, and low sensitivity of VIA are indicating that the implementation of HPV DNA testing as the primary screening strategy is likely to reduce cervical cancer cases and deaths of women in the country.

Keywords: cervical cancer screening, HPV DNA, VIA, Ethiopia

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Authors: Maisarah Jaafar, Neil I. Ward

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Volcanic and geothermal activity can result in the release of arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), iron, selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U) into natural waters. Several studies have reported high levels of these elements in surface and groundwater in Argentina. The main focus has been on As associated with volcanic ash deposits. This study reports the trace element levels of groundwater from an agricultural region of south-eastern La Pampa and southern Buenos Aires provinces, Argentina which have reported high levels of human health problems (bone/teeth disorders, depression, arthritis, etc). Fifty-eight groundwater samples were collected from wells adjacent to Ruta 35 and an Agilent 7700x inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) were used for total elemental analysis. Physicochemical analysis confirmed pH range of 7.05-8.84 and variable conductivity (988-3880 µS/cm) with total dissolved solid content of 502-1989 mg/l. The majority water samples are in an oxidizing environment (Eh= 45-146 mV). Total As levels ranged from (µg/l): 13.08 – 319.4 for La Pampa (LP) and 39.6 – 189.4 for Buenos Aires (BA); all above the WHO Guideline for Drinking Water, 10 µg/l As. Interestingly, Mo (LP: 1.85 – 85.39 µg/l; BA: 4.61– 55.55 µg/l;), Se (LP: 1.2 – 16.59 µg/l; BA: 0.3– 6.94 µg/l;) and U (LP: 1.85 – 85.39 µg/l; BA: 4.61– 55.55 µg/l;) levels are lower than reported values for northern La Pampa. Inter-elemental correlation displayed positive statistically significant between As-Mo, A-Se, As-U while negative statistically significant between As-Mn and As-Fe. This confirms that the source of the trace element is similar to that reported for other region of Argentina, namely volcanic ash deposition.

Keywords: Argentina, groundwater, trace element, volcanic activity

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