Search results for: M. Saied Fallah Niasar

Authors: Zohreh Fallah, Edward P. L. Roberts

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One of the big challenges for produced water treatment is removing oil from water in the form of emulsified droplets which are not easily separated. An attractive approach is adsorption, as it is a simple and effective process. However, adsorbents must be regenerated in order to make the process cost effective. Several sorbents have been tested for treating oily wastewater. However, some issues such as high energy consumption for activated carbon thermal regeneration have been reported. Due to their significant electrical conductivity, Graphite Intercalation Compounds (GIC) were found to be suitable to be regenerated electrochemically. They are non-porous materials with low surface area and fast adsorptive capacity which are useful for removal of low concentration of organics. An innovative adsorption/regeneration process has been developed at the University of Manchester in which adsorption of organics are done by using a patented GIC adsorbent coupled with subsequent electrochemical regeneration. The oxidation of adsorbed organics enables 100% regeneration so that the adsorbent can be reused over multiple adsorption cycles. GIC adsorbents are capable of removing a wide range of organics and pollutants; however, no comparable report is available for removal of emulsified oil in produced water using abovementioned process. In this study the performance of this technology for the removal of emulsified oil in wastewater was evaluated. Batch experiments were carried out to determine the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherm for both real produced water and model emulsions. The amount of oil in wastewater was measured by using the toluene extraction/fluorescence analysis before and after adsorption and electrochemical regeneration cycles. It was found that oil in water emulsion could be successfully treated by the treatment process and More than 70% of oil was removed.

Keywords: adsorption, electrochemical regeneration, emulsified oil, produced water

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Authors: Ali Fallah Yeznabad, Mohammad H. Baziar, Alireza Saedi Azizkandi

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Rafts may be used when a low bearing capacity exists underneath the foundation and may be combined by piles in some special circumstances; such as to reduce settlements or high groundwater to control buoyancy. From structural point of view, these piles could be both connected or disconnected from the raft and are to be classified as Piled Rafts (PR) or Disconnected Piled Rafts (DPR). Although the researches about the behavior of piled rafts subjected to vertical loading is really extensive, in the context of dynamic load and earthquake loading, the studies are very limited. In this study, to clarify these foundations’ performance under dynamic loading, series of Shaking Table tests have been performed. The square raft and four piles in connected and disconnected configurations were used in dry silica sand and the model was experimented using a shaking table under 1-g conditions. Moreover, numerical investigation using finite element software have been conducted to better understand the differences and advantages. Our observations demonstrates that in connected Piled Rafts piles have to bear greater amount of moment in their upper parts, however this moments are approximately 40% lower in disconnected piled rafts in the same conditions and loading. Considering the Rafts’ lateral movement which be of crucial importance in foundations performance evaluation, connected piled rafts show much better performance with about 30% less lateral movement. Further, it was observed on confirmed both through laboratory tests and numerical analysis, that adding the superstructure over the piled raft foundation the raft separates from the soil and it significantly increases rocking of the raft which was observed to be the main reason of increase in piles’ moments under superstructure interaction with the foundation.

Keywords: Piled Rafts (PR), Disconnected Piled Rafts (DPR), dynamic loading, shaking table, seismic performance

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Authors: Mariem Saied, Jens Gustedt, Gilles Muller

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We present Dido, a source-to-source auto-generation and optimization framework for multi-dimensional stencil computations. It enables a large programmer community to easily and safely implement stencil codes on distributed-memory parallel architectures with Ordered Read-Write Locks (ORWL) as an execution and communication back-end. ORWL provides inter-task synchronization for data-oriented parallel and distributed computations. It has been proven to guarantee equity, liveness, and efficiency for a wide range of applications, particularly for iterative computations. Dido consists mainly of an implicitly parallel domain-specific language (DSL) implemented as a source-level transformer. It captures domain semantics at a high level of abstraction and generates parallel stencil code that leverages all ORWL features. The generated code is well-structured and lends itself to different possible optimizations. In this paper, we enhance Dido to handle both Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel grid traversals. We integrate temporal blocking to the Dido code generator in order to reduce the communication overhead and minimize data transfers. To increase data locality and improve intra-node data reuse, we coupled the code generation technique with the polyhedral parallelizer Pluto. The accuracy and portability of the generated code are guaranteed thanks to a parametrized solution. The combination of ORWL features, the code generation pattern and the suggested optimizations, make of Dido a powerful code generation framework for stencil computations in general, and for distributed-memory architectures in particular. We present a wide range of experiments over a number of stencil benchmarks.

Keywords: stencil computations, ordered read-write locks, domain-specific language, polyhedral model, experiments

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Authors: Fatemeh Fallah, Ensieh Lotfali, Leila Azimi, Hannan Khodaei, Maryam Rajabnejad, Nafiseh Abdollahi, Hossein Tayebi, Saham Ansari, Saeedeh Yaghoubi, Abdollah Karimi

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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide issue due to its high prevalence and rapid transmission. Fungal infections have been detected in COVID-19 patients, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Objectives: This study aimed to isolate Aspergillus fumigatus and Mucor spp. on mini-bronchoalveolar lavage samples obtained from children with COVID-19 hospitalized in an Iranian children’s hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on mini-bronchoalveolar lavage samples from children confirmed positive for COVID-19 admitted to ICU with a ventilator from April 2021 to February 2022. Demographic characteristics were recorded, and fungal DNA was extracted from mini-BAL samples taken from children. Nested PCR was made with two primers for Aspergillus fumigatus and Mucor spp. Results: Out of 100 children with COVID-19, all samples were negative for Aspergillus fumigatus; however, 12 cases were positive for BAL PCR for Mucor spp. Among the 12 patients, fever, shortness of breath, cough, and decreased level of consciousness were reported in 8.3% (n: 1), 16.6% (n: 2), 25% (n: 3), and 25% (n: 3), respectively. Most cases (41.7%; n: 5) suffered from heart disease, followed by underlying malignancy (33.4%; n: 4). All positive BAL PCR for Mucor spp. cases had significantly higher chest CT scan scores and spent more time under a ventilator. Conclusions: The identification of COVID-19 with Mucor spp. was observed among 12% (n: 12) of children hospitalized in a COVID-19 ICU. When dealing with pediatric COVID-19 patients, clinicians should consider the differential diagnosis of fungal co-infections and have a low threshold to begin treatment. Moreover, it is highly advisable to take prophylactic measures, such as properly using corticosteroids and shortening the intubation time.

Keywords: aspergillosis, COVID-19 identification, mucormycosis, paediatrics

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Authors: Marwa Mamdouh Shaban, Nagat Saied Habib, Shireen Ezz El-Din Taha, Eman Mahmoud Seif El-Naser

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Background: Dental nurses and dentists were constantly exposed to a number of specific work related health risk factors which develop and intensify with years. Awareness regarding these work-related health risk factors and implementation of preventive health care measures could provide a safe work environment for all dental nurses and dentists. Aim of the study: to assess the work-related health risk factors among dental nurses and dentists and preventive health care measures applied among dental nurses and dentists. Research design: A descriptive design was utilized. Sample: Convenience sample of 50 dental nurses and 150 dentists were included in the current study. Setting: This study was conducted at the dental clinics at faculty of oral and dental medicine, Al-Kasr Al Ainy Hospital. Tools of data collection: Three tools were developed, tested for clarity, and feasibility: a-Socio-demographic data sheet, b-Work-related health risk factors questionnaire, and c-structured observational checklist. Results: The most common work risk factors prevailing among dental nurses were emotional exhaustion (82%), low back pain (76%) and latex allergy (62%) and the most common work risk factors prevailing among dentists were percutaneous exposure incident (100%), emotional exhaustion (100%) and low back pain (93.3%). Also, statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.274, at p = 0.045) between the incidence of chemical health risk factors and application of chemical preventive measures among dental nurses. A statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.177, at p = 0.030) between the incidences of mechanical health risk factors among dentists and application of mechanical preventive measures. Conclusion: The studied dental nurses and dentists exposed to many work related health risk factors as latex allergy, percutaneous exposure incidents, low back pain and emotional exhaustion related to inappropriate application of preventive health care measures. Recommendation: Raise awareness of dental nurses and dentists about work-related health risk factors, design and implement health education program for preventive health care measures.

Keywords: work-related risk factors, preventive measures, nurses, dentists

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Authors: Younus Mohammad, Anita B. Fallah, Ben J. Boyd, Shakila B. Rizwan

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N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) are endogenous lipids, which have neuromodulatory properties. NAEs have shown neuroprotective properties in various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and ischemic stroke. However, NAEs are eliminated rapidly in vivo by enzymatic hydrolysis. We propose to encapsulate NAEs in liquid crystalline nanoparticles (cubosomes) to increase their biological half-life and explore their therapeutic potential. Recently, we have reported the co-formulation and nanostructural characterization of cubosomes containing the NAE, oleoylethanolamide and a synthetic cubosome forming lipid phytantriol. Here, we report on the formulation of cubosomes with the NAE, linoleoylethanolamide (LEA) as the core cubosome forming lipid. LEA-cubosomes were formulated in the presence of three different steric stabilisers: two brain targeting ligands, Tween 80 and Pluronic P188 and a control, Pluronic F127. Size, morphology and internal structure of formulations were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo–TEM) and small angle X–ray scattering (SAXS), respectively. Chemical stability of LEA in formulations was investigated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cytotoxicity of formulations towards human cerebral microvascular endothelial cell line (hCMEC/D3) was also investigated using an MTT (3-[4, 5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. All cubosome formulations had mean particle size of less than 250 nm and were uniformly distributed with polydispersity indices less than 0.2. Cubosomes produced had a bicontinuous cubic internal structure with an Im3m space group but different lattice parameters, indicating the different modes of interaction between the stabilisers and LEA. LEA in formulations was found to be chemically stable. At concentrations of up to 20 µg/mL LEA in the presence of all the stabilisers, greater than 80% cell viability was observed.

Keywords: blood-brain barrier, cubosomes, linoleoyl ethanolamide, N-acylethanolamines (NAEs)

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Authors: Roohallah Fallah-Moshkani, Mohammad Ali Mohsenpour, Reza Ghiasvand, Hossein Khosravi-Boroujeni, Seyed Mehdi Ahmadi, Paula Brauer, Amin Salehi-Abargouei

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Purpose: Several investigations have proposed the protective association between dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) style diet and risk of cancers; however, they have led to inconsistent results. The present study aimed to systematically review the prospective cohort studies conducted in this regard and, if possible, to quantify the overall effect of using meta-analysis. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched for cohort studies published up to December 2017. Relative risks (RRs) which were reported for fully adjusted models and their confidence intervals were extracted for meta-analysis. Random effects model was incorporated to combine the RRs. Results: Sixteen studies were eligible to be included in the systematic review from which 8 reports were conducted on the effect of DASH on the risk of mortality from all cancer types, four on the risk of colorectal cancer, and three on the risk of colon and rectal cancer. Four studies examined the association with other cancers (breast, hepatic, endometrial, and lung cancer). Meta-analysis showed that high concordance with DASH significantly decreases the risk of all cancer types (RR=0.83, 95% confidence interval (95%CI):0.80-0.85); furthermore participants who highly adhered to the DASH had lower risk of developing colorectal (RR=0.79, 95%CI: 0.75-0.83), colon (RR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.74-0.87) and rectal (RR=0.79, 95%CI: 0.63-0.98) cancer compared to those with the lowest adherence. Conclusions: DASH-style diet should be suggested as a healthy approach to protect from cancer in the community. Prospective studies exploring the effect on other cancer types and from regions other than the United States are highly recommended.

Keywords: cancer, DASH-style diet, dietary patterns, meta-analysis, systematic review

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Authors: Mojtaba Taheri, Saied Reza Ameli

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In this research, we have calculated the effect of membership in international climate change treaties for 20 developed countries based on the human development index (HDI) and compared this effect with the process of pollutant reduction in the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory. For this purpose, the data related to The real GDP per capita with 2010 constant prices is selected from the World Development Indicators (WDI) database. Ecological Footprint (ECOFP) is the amount of biologically productive land needed to meet human needs and absorb carbon dioxide emissions. It is measured in global hectares (gha), and the data retrieved from the Global Ecological Footprint (2021) database will be used, and we will proceed by examining step by step and performing several series of targeted statistical regressions. We will examine the effects of different control variables, including Energy Consumption Structure (ECS) will be counted as the share of fossil fuel consumption in total energy consumption and will be extracted from The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2021) database. Energy Production (EP) refers to the total production of primary energy by all energy-producing enterprises in one country at a specific time. It is a comprehensive indicator that shows the capacity of energy production in the country, and the data for its 2021 version, like the Energy Consumption Structure, is obtained from (EIA). Financial development (FND) is defined as the ratio of private credit to GDP, and to some extent based on the stock market value, also as a ratio to GDP, and is taken from the (WDI) 2021 version. Trade Openness (TRD) is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services measured as a share of GDP, and we use the (WDI) data (2021) version. Urbanization (URB) is defined as the share of the urban population in the total population, and for this data, we used the (WDI) data source (2021) version. The descriptive statistics of all the investigated variables are presented in the results section. Related to the theories of sustainable development, Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is more significant in the period of study. In this research, we use more than fourteen targeted statistical regressions to purify the net effects of each of the approaches and examine the results.

Keywords: climate change, globalization, environmental economics, sustainable development, international climate treaty

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Authors: Mohamed Dakki, Genevieve Robin, Marie Suet, Abdeljebbar Qninba, Mohamed A. El Agbani, Asmâa Ouassou, Rhimou El Hamoumi, Hichem Azafzaf, Sami Rebah, Claudia Feltrup-Azafzaf, Nafouel Hamouda, Wed a.L. Ibrahim, Hosni H. Asran, Amr A. Elhady, Haitham Ibrahim, Khaled Etayeb, Essam Bouras, Almokhtar Saied, Ashrof Glidan, Bakar M. Habib, Mohamed S. Sayoud, Nadjiba Bendjedda, Laura Dami, Clemence Deschamps, Elie Gaget, Jean-Yves Mondain-Monval, Pierre Defos Du Rau

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In biodiversity monitoring, large datasets are becoming more and more widely available and are increasingly used globally to estimate species trends and con- servation status. These large-scale datasets challenge existing statistical analysis methods, many of which are not adapted to their size, incompleteness and heterogeneity. The development of scalable methods to impute missing data in incomplete large-scale monitoring datasets is crucial to balance sampling in time or space and thus better inform conservation policies. We developed a new method based on penalized Poisson models to impute and analyse incomplete monitoring data in a large-scale framework. The method al- lows parameterization of (a) space and time factors, (b) the main effects of predic- tor covariates, as well as (c) space–time interactions. It also benefits from robust statistical and computational capability in large-scale settings. The method was tested extensively on both simulated and real-life waterbird data, with the findings revealing that it outperforms six existing methods in terms of missing data imputation errors. Applying the method to 16 waterbird species, we estimated their long-term trends for the first time at the entire North African scale, a region where monitoring data suffer from many gaps in space and time series. This new approach opens promising perspectives to increase the accuracy of species-abundance trend estimations. We made it freely available in the r package ‘lori’ (https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lori) and recommend its use for large- scale count data, particularly in citizen science monitoring programmes.

Keywords: biodiversity monitoring, high-dimensional statistics, incomplete count data, missing data imputation, waterbird trends in North-Africa

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Authors: Nada Abdelsadig Moahamed Saied

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Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other similar traditional cultural practices pose a significant problem for Sudanese society. Such actions are severe and seriously detrimental to people's health since they are based on false social perceptions. To address these problems, numerous institutions and organizations were compelled to act rapidly. Female circumcision, or FGM, is one of the riskiest practices. It is referred to as the excision of the genitalia. Any surgeries involving the total or partial removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons fall under this category. The results of FGM can vary depending on the kind and degree of the operation. These can be categorized as short-term, mid-term, or long-term issues. Infections, including the Human, blood, discomfort, and difficulty urinating are the immediate effects. FGM is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as practices that purposefully damage or modify female genital organs for non-medical purposes. It often takes place between the ages of one and fifteen. The girl's right to decide on important choices affecting her sexual and reproductive health is violated because the act is usually performed without her consent and frequently against her will. UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, aggressively combats the issue of FGM in Sudan. Numerous programs were started by NGOs to stop the practice. To our knowledge, no scientific study has been conducted to evaluate the effects of such social marketing techniques on simulating and comprehending society’s feelings surrounding FGM. This study proposes the development of a structural equation model aiming to determine the impact of awareness programs on people’s intentions to adopt the behavior of abandoning FGM based on theoretical models of behavior change. The model incorporates all the relevant factors that contribute to FGM and possible strategic actions to tackle this problem. The theoretical backdrop for FGM is presented in the next section, which also explains the practice's history, justifications, and potential treatments. The methodology section that follows describes the structural equation model. The proposed model, which compiles all the pertinent elements into a single image, is presented in the fourth part. Finally, conclusions are reached, and suggestions for further research are made.

Keywords: social marketing, policy-making, behavioral change, female genital mutilation, culture

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Authors: Hamid Fallah

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Undoubtedly, flood is known as a natural disaster, and in practice, flood is considered the most terrible natural disaster in the world both in terms of loss of life and financial losses. From 1988 to 1997, about 390,000 people were killed by natural disasters in the world, 58% of which were related to floods, 26% due to earthquakes, and 16% due to storms and other disasters. The total damages in these 10 years were about 700 billion dollars, which were 33, 29, 28% related to floods, storms and earthquakes, respectively. In this regard, the worrisome point has been the increasing trend of flood deaths and damages in the world in recent decades. The increase in population and assets in flood plains, changes in hydro systems and the destructive effects of human activities have been the main reasons for this increase. During rain and snow, some of the water is absorbed by the soil and plants. A percentage evaporates and the rest flows and is called runoff. Floods occur when the soil and plants cannot absorb the rainfall, and as a result, the natural river channel does not have the capacity to pass the generated runoff. On average, almost 30% of precipitation is converted into runoff, which increases with snow melting. Floods that occur differently create an area called flood plain around the river. River floods are often caused by heavy rains, which in some cases are accompanied by snow melt. A flood that flows in a river without warning or with little warning is called a flash flood. The casualties of these rapid floods that occur in small watersheds are generally more than the casualties of large river floods. Coastal areas are also subject to flooding caused by waves caused by strong storms on the surface of the oceans or waves caused by underground earthquakes. Floods not only cause damage to property and endanger the lives of humans and animals, but also leave other effects. Runoff caused by heavy rains causes soil erosion in the upstream and sedimentation problems in the downstream. The habitats of fish and other animals are often destroyed by floods. The high speed of the current increases the damage. Long-term floods stop traffic and prevent drainage and economic use of land. The supports of bridges, river banks, sewage outlets and other structures are damaged, and there is a disruption in shipping and hydropower generation. The economic losses of floods in the world are estimated at tens of billions of dollars annually.

Keywords: flood, hydrological engineering, gis, dam, small hydropower, suitablity

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