Search results for: lower hopper knuckle

Authors: Samuel Fekadu A., Esayas Alemayehu B., Bultum Oljira D., Seid Tiku D., Dessalegn Dadi D., Bart Van Der Bruggen A.

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The peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation process was evaluated for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color from healthcare wastewater. A 2-level full factorial design with center points was created to investigate the effect of the process parameters, i.e., initial COD, H₂O₂, pH, reaction time and current density. Furthermore, the total energy consumption and average current efficiency in the system were evaluated. Predictive models for % COD, % color removal and energy consumption were obtained. The initial COD and pH were found to be the most significant variables in the reduction of COD and color in peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation process. Hydrogen peroxide only has a significant effect on the treated wastewater when combined with other input variables in the process like pH, reaction time and current density. In the peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation process, current density appears not as a single effect but rather as an interaction effect with H₂O₂ in reducing COD and color. Lower energy expenditure was observed at higher initial COD, shorter reaction time and lower current density. The average current efficiency was found as low as 13 % and as high as 777 %. Overall, the study showed that hybrid electrochemical oxidation can be applied effectively and efficiently for the removal of pollutants from healthcare wastewater.

Keywords: electrochemical oxidation, UV, healthcare pollutants removals, factorial design

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Authors: Theresa K., Shanmugasundaram R., Kennedy J. S.

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Nutrient supplements are indispensable for raising crops and to reap determining productivity. The nutrient imbalance between replenishment and crop uptake is attempted through the input of inorganic fertilizers. Excessive dumping of inorganic nutrients in soil cause stagnant and decline in yield. Imbalanced N-P-K ratio in the soil exacerbates and agitates the soil ecosystems. The study evaluated the fertilization practices of conventional (CFs), organic and Integrated Nutrient Management system (INM) on soil quality using key indicators and soil quality indices. Twelve rice farming fields of which, ten fields were having conventional cultivation practices, one field each was organic farming based and INM based cultivated under monocropping sequence in the Thondamuthur block of Coimbatore district were fixed and properties viz., physical, chemical and biological were studied for four cropping seasons to determine soil quality index (SQI). SQI was computed for conventional, organic and INM fields. Comparing conventional farming (CF) with organic and INM, CF was recorded with a lower soil quality index. While in organic and INM fields, the higher SQI value of 0.99 and 0.88 respectively were registered. CF₄ received with a super-optimal dose of N (250%) showed a lesser SQI value (0.573) as well as the yield (3.20 t ha⁻¹) and the CF6 which received 125 % N recorded the highest SQI (0.715) and yield (6.20 t ha⁻¹). Likewise, most of the CFs received higher N beyond the level of 125 % except CF₃ and CF₉, which recorded lower yields. CFs which received super-optimal P in the order of CF₆&CF₇>CF₁&CF₁₀ recorded lesser yields except for CF₆. Super-optimal K application also recorded lesser yield in CF₄, CF₇ and CF₉.

Keywords: rice cropping system, soil quality indicators, imbalanced fertilization, yield

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Authors: Anahita Izadyar, My Ni Van, Kayleigh Amber Rodriguez, Ilwoo Seok, Elizabeth E. Hood

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Using a recombinant enzyme derived from corn and a simple modification, we fabricated a facile, fast, and cost-beneficial biosensor to measure glucose. The Nafion/ Plant Produced Mn Peroxidase (PPMP)– glucose oxidase (GOx)- Bovine serum albumin (BSA) /Au electrode showed an excellent amperometric response to detect glucose. This biosensor is capable of responding to a wide range of glucose—20.0 µM−15.0 mM and has a lower detection limit (LOD) of 2.90µM. The reproducibility response using six electrodes is also very substantial and indicates the high capability of this biosensor to detect a wide range of 3.10±0.19µM to 13.2±1.8 mM glucose concentration. Selectivity of this electrode was investigated in an optimized experimental solution contains 10% diet green tea with citrus containing ascorbic acid (AA), and citric acid (CA) in a wide concentration of glucose at 0.02 to 14.0mM with an LOD of 3.10µM. Reproducibility was also investigated using 4 electrodes in this sample and shows notable results in the wide concentration range of 3.35±0.45µM to of 13.0 ± 0.81 mM. We also used other voltammetry methods to evaluate this biosensor. We applied linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and this technique shows a wide range of 0.10−15.0 mM to detect glucose with a lower detection limit of 19.5µM. The performance and strength of this enzyme biosensor were the simplicity, wide linear ranges, sensitivities, selectivity, and low limits of detection. We expect that the modified biosensor has the potential for monitoring various biofluids.

Keywords: plant-produced manganese peroxidase, enzyme-based biosensors, glucose, modified gold electrode, glucose oxidase

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Authors: Rajan Goyal, S. Lamba, S. Annapoorni

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The indirect exchange coupled system consists of two ferromagnetic layers separated by non-magnetic spacer layer. The type of exchange coupling may be either ferro or anti-ferro depending on the thickness of the spacer layer. In the present work, the strength of exchange coupling in FePt/Al₂O₃/Fe₃Pt has been investigated by varying the thickness of the spacer layer Al₂O₃. The FePt/Al₂O₃/Fe₃Pt trilayer structure is fabricated on Si <100> single crystal substrate using sputtering technique. The thickness of FePt and Fe₃Pt is fixed at 60 nm and 2 nm respectively. The thickness of spacer layer Al₂O₃ was varied from 0 to 16 nm. The normalized hysteresis loops recorded at room temperature both in the in-plane and out of plane configuration reveals that the orientation of easy axis lies along the plane of the film. It is observed that the hysteresis loop for ts=0 nm does not exhibit any knee around H=0 indicating that the hard FePt layer and soft Fe₃Pt layer are strongly exchange coupled. However, the insertion of Al₂O₃ spacer layer of thickness ts = 0.7 nm results in appearance of a minor knee around H=0 suggesting the weakening of exchange coupling between FePt and Fe₃Pt. The disappearance of knee in hysteresis loop with further increase in thickness of the spacer layer up to 8 nm predicts the co-existence of ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange interaction between FePt and Fe₃Pt. In addition to this, the out of plane hysteresis loop also shows an asymmetry around H=0. The exchange field Hex = (Hc↑-HC↓)/2, where Hc↑ and Hc↓ are the coercivity estimated from lower and upper branch of hysteresis loop, increases from ~ 150 Oe to ~ 700 Oe respectively. This behavior may be attributed to the uncompensated moments in the hard FePt layer and soft Fe₃Pt layer at the interface. A better insight into the variation in indirect exchange coupling has been investigated using recoil curves. It is observed that the almost closed recoil curves are obtained for ts= 0 nm up to a reverse field of ~ 5 kOe. On the other hand, the appearance of appreciable open recoil curves at lower reverse field ~ 4 kOe for ts = 0.7 nm indicates that uncoupled soft phase undergoes irreversible magnetization reversal at lower reverse field suggesting the weakening of exchange coupling. The openness of recoil curves decreases with increase in thickness of the spacer layer up to 8 nm. This behavior may be attributed to the competition between FM and AFM exchange interactions. The FM exchange coupling between FePt and Fe₃Pt due to porous nature of Al₂O₃ decreases much slower than the weak AFM coupling due to interaction between Fe ions of FePt and Fe₃Pt via O ions of Al₂O₃. The hysteresis loop has been simulated using Monte Carlo based on Metropolis algorithm to investigate the variation in strength of exchange coupling in FePt/Al₂O₃/Fe₃Pt trilayer system.

Keywords: indirect exchange coupling, MH loop, Monte Carlo simulation, recoil curve

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Authors: Khizar Samiullah Samiullah, Riffat Yasin, Khurrum Feroz, Omer Draz, Memmona Nazish

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New fossil remains of artiodactyl have been recovered from three Late Miocene localities, Lava, Dhok Bun Ameer Khatoon and Hasnoot. These localities belong to lower and middle Siwalik Hills of Pakistan, the Chinji and Dhok Pathan Formation respectively and are remarkably rich in fossils of artiodactyl. The fauna mainly comprises various families of order Artiodactyla; Cervidae, Equidea, Proboscidea, Giraffidea, Rhinocerotidae, Tragulidea, Suidae and Primates. In Chinji Formation Lava and Dhok Bun Ameer Khatoon are located in district Chakwal while in Upper Dhok Pathan Formation the best fossils exposure site is Hasnoot which is located in District Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan. Specimens described and discussed here include right and left maxilla, isolated upper premolars and molars which have been collected during extensive fieldwork. After morphological and comparative analysis the collection is attributed to Giraffokeryx, Giraffa, Listriodon, Dorcatherium, Selenoportax and Pachyportax. In this study evolutionary status, taxonomy and biogeographical distribution as well as the relationship of different Artiodactyls have been discussed comprehensively. The Palaeoenvironmental studies reveal the persistence of mosaics of diverse habitats ranging from tropical evergreen forest to subtropical ones, closed seasonal woodlands to wooded savannas during the deposition of these outcrops.

Keywords: Artiodactyla, fossil dentition, late Miocene, lower and middle Siwaliks

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Authors: Christopher Giehl, Anja Allabar, Daniela Ehgartner

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Rotational rheometry is standard practice for the viscosity measurement of molten glass, neglecting the viscoelastic properties of this material, especially at temperatures approaching the glass transition. Oscillatory rheometry serves as a powerful toolbox for glass melt characterization beyond viscosity measurements. Heating and cooling rates and the time-dependent visco-elastic behavior influence the temperature where materials undergo the glass transition. This study presents quantitative thermo-mechanical visco-elasticity measurements on three samples in the Na-K-Al-Si-O system. The measurements were performed with a Furnace Rheometer System combined with an air-bearing DSR 502 measuring head (Anton Paar) and a Pt90Rh10 measuring geometry. Temperature ramps were conducted in rotation and oscillation, and the (complex) viscosity values were compared to calculated viscosity values based on sample composition. Furthermore, temperature ramps with different frequencies were conducted, also revealing the frequency-dependence of the shear loss modulus G’’ and the shear storage modulus G’. Here, lower oscillatory frequency results in lower glass transition temperature, as defined by the G’-G’’ crossover point. This contribution demonstrates that oscillatory rheometry serves as a powerful toolbox beyond viscosity measurements, as it considers the visco-elasticity of glass melts quantifying viscous and elastic moduli. Further, it offers a strong definition of Tg beyond the 10^12 Pas concept, which cannot be utilized with rotational viscometry data.

Keywords: frequency dependent glass transition, Na-K-Al-Si-O glass melts, oscillatory rheometry, visco-elasticity

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Authors: Elhamalsadat Ghaffari, Moghan Amirhosseinian, Amir Khaleghipour

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Multifunctional bioactive glasses (BGs) are designed with a focus on the provision of bactericidal and biological properties desired for angiogenesis, osteogenesis, and ultimately potential applications in bone tissue engineering. To achieve these, six sol-gel copper/magnesium substituted derivatives of 58S-BG, i.e. a mol% series of 60SiO₂-4P₂O₅-5CuO-(31-x) CaO/xMgO (where x=0, 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10), were synthesized. Afterwards, the effect of MgO/CaO substitution on the in vitro formation of nano-hydroxyapatite (HA), osteoblast-like cell responses and BGs antibacterial performance were studied. During the BGs synthesis, the elimination of nitrates was achieved at 700 °C that prevented the BGs crystallization and stabilized the obtained dried gels. The structural and morphological evaluations were performed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These characterizations revealed that Cu-substituted 58S-BG consisting of 5 mol% MgO (BG-5/5) slightly had retarded the formation of HA. In addition, Cu-substituted 58S-BGs consisting 8 mol% and 10 mol% MgO (BG-5/8 and BG-5/10) displayed lower bioactivity probably due to the lower ion release rate of Ca–Si into the simulated body fluid (SBF). The determination of 3-(4, 5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and alkaline phosphate (ALP) activities proved that the highest values of both differentiation and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells can be obtained from a 5 mol% MgO substituted BG, while the over addition of MgO (8 mol% and 10 mol%) decreased the bioactivity. Furthermore, these novel Cu/Mg-substituted 58S-BGs displayed antibacterial effect against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Taken together, the results suggest the equally-substituted BG-5/5 (i.e. the one consists of 5 mol% of both CuO and MgO) as a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering, among all newly designed BGs in this work, owing to its desirable cell proliferation, ALP activity and antibacterial properties.

Keywords: apatite, bioactivity, biomedical applications, sol-gel processes

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Authors: Hala Hzam Al Otaibi

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Background: Obesity is more common among Saudi women compared to men, with 75–88% of adult women suffering from overweight or obesity and most of them married. Weight status and body appreciation are an important factor in maintaining or loss weight behaviors and for husbands satisfaction. Aims: To assess weight status, body appreciation and related factors, including age, level of education, occupation status husbands satisfaction in adult women. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted among 326 married women, aged 18 to 60 years old in Eastern of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by face to face interview, height and weight were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). Body Appreciation Scale (BAS) and husbands satisfied were evaluated through questioning. Results: The majority of women has a university education, not employed and less than 40 years old (66.5%, 69.9%, 67.5%; respectively). Fifty-four percent of women overweight/obese and the rest were normal weight, BAS mean score was lower in younger women (>40 years) 7.39+2.20 and obese women (6.83+2.16) which is reflected lower body appreciation. Husbands' satisfaction regarding the weight status shows 47.6% of normal weight believed their husbands were dissatisfied with their weight and consider them as overweight/obese, 28.3% of overweight/obese thought their husbands satisfied with their weight and consider them as normal weight. Body appreciation correlated with age (r.139,p<0.05) and no correlation found for level of education and employed status. Husbands satisfaction strongly correlated with body appreciation (r.189,p<0.01) and weight status (r .570,p <0.01). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that women had a low body appreciation related to age, weight status and husbands' dissatisfaction. Future interventions aimed to weight reduction, it is important to consider husband satisfaction, as well as we need more assessment of weight satisfaction in younger women.

Keywords: body appreciation, husbands satisfaction, weight status, women

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Authors: Sujay Bisht

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The purpose of the study was to assess and examines the pattern of injury among the field hockey players at different field position during practice & game. It was hypothesized that the backfield might have the height rate of injury, followed by midfield. Methods: university level and national level male field hockey (N=60) are selected as a subject and requested to respond an anon questionnaire. Personal characteristics of each and individual players were also collected like (age, height, weight); field hockey professional information (level of play, year of experience, playing surface); players injury history (site, types, cause etc). The rates of injury per athlete per year were also calculated. Result: Around half of the injury occurred were to the lower limbs (49%) followed by head and face (30%), upper limbs (19%) and torso region (2%). Injuries included concussion, wounds, broken nose, ligament sprain, dislocation, fracture, and muscles strain and knee injury. The ligament sprain is the highest rate (40%) among the other types of injuries. After investigation and evaluation backfield players had the highest rate of risk of injury (1.10 injury/athletes-year) followed by midfield players (0.70 injury/athlete-year), forward players (0.45 injury/athlete-year) & goalkeeper was (0.37 injury/athlete-year). Conclusion: Due to the different field position the pattern & rate of injury were different. After evaluation, lower limbs had the highest rate of injury followed by head and face, upper limbs and torso respectively. It also revealed that not only there is a difference in the rate of injury between playing the position, but also in the types of injury sustain at a different position.

Keywords: trauma, sprain, strain, astroturf, acute injury

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Authors: In Hee Shim, Dong Sik Bae

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Introduction: Obesity and unfavorable lipid profile may be linked to depressive disorders. This study compared the levels of obesity, lipid profiles and depression severity of patients with depressive disorders. Methods: This study included 156 patients diagnosed with a depressive disorder who were hospitalized between March 2012 and February 2016. The patients were categorized into mild to moderate and severe depressive groups, based on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores (Mild to moderate depression 8-23 vs. severe depression ≥ 24). The charts of the patients were reviewed to evaluate body mass index and lipid profiles, including total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG), confounding factors, such as other general medical disorders (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia), except smoking status (insufficient data). Demographic and clinical characteristics, such as age, sex, comorbidities, family history of mood disorders, psychotic features, and prescription patterns were also assessed. Results: Compared to the mild to the moderate depressive group, patients with severe depression had significantly lower rate of male and comorbidity. The patients with severe depression had a significantly lower TG than patients in the mild to moderate depressive group. After adjustment for the sex and comorbidity, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the obesity and lipid profiles, including TG. Conclusion: These results did not show a significant difference in the association between obesity, lipid profiles and the depression severity. The role of obesity and lipid profiles in the pathophysiology of depression remains to be clarified.

Keywords: depression, HAM-D, lipid profiles, obesity

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Gregory Chown, Benjamin Infantolino, Christopher Wise, Rachel Holmes, Samantha O'Donnell, Katelyn Pfeiffer, Victoria Ward

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Background: There is a lack of understanding of how Kinesio Tape® physiologically works. Furthermore, few studies compare Kinesio Tape® to other forms of taping. The research question is: Does Kinesio Tape® cause a difference in muscle facilitation, inhibition, and pain, between Kinesio Tape® and no tape for collegiate athletes with self-reported shoulder pain? Method: This quantitative non-randomized design used a convenience sampling method. There were eleven participants with self-reported shoulder pain who were athletes on the men’s and women’s lacrosse and tennis teams. Participants attended one 30-45 minute session for data collection. Each participant received all three taping conditions and performed four repetitions of 120 degrees of active shoulder flexion for the three separate trials (no tape, Kinesio Tape® inhibition, and Kinesio Tape® facilitation). Surface electromyography (sEMG) electrodes were placed on the anterior deltoid, supraspinatus, and lower trapezius to measure muscle facilitation and inhibition. Each participant completed the visual analogue scale (VAS) before and after each trial to measure pain. Results: No statistical significance was found for pain scores on the VAS between the taping methods of facilitation, inhibition, and no tape (p = .118). No statistical significance was found for the percentage of change in muscle function for each taping method; Anterior deltoid (p = .993), supraspinatus (p = .997) and lower trapezius (p = .922). Conclusion: Based on the results, Kinesio Tape® appears to not have an effect on muscle function or pain when utilizing the facilitation or inhibition taping method when compared to no tape.

Keywords: Kinesio tape, muscle facilitation, muscle inhibition, pain

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Dhruv J. Limaye, Hanga Galfalvy, Cheick A. Sissoko, Yung-yu Huang, Chunanning Tang, Ying Liu, Shu-Chi Hsiung, Andrew J. Dwork, Gorazd B. Rosoklija, Victoria Arango, Lewis Brown, J. John Mann, Maura Boldrini

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Memory and emotion require hippocampal cell viability and connectivity and are disrupted in major depressive disorder (MDD). Applying shotgun proteomics and stereological quantification of neural progenitor cells (NPCs), intermediate neural progenitors (INPs), and mature granule neurons (GNs), to postmortem human hippocampus, identified differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), and fewer NPCs, INPs and GNs, in untreated MDD (uMDD) compared with non-psychiatric controls (CTRL) and antidepressant-treated MDD (MDDT). DEPs lower in uMDD vs. CTRL promote mitosis, differentiation, and prevent apoptosis. DEPs higher in uMDD vs. CTRL inhibit the cell cycle, and regulate cell adhesion, neurite outgrowth, and DNA repair. DEPs lower in MDDT vs. uMDD block cell proliferation. We observe group-specific correlations between numbers of NPCs, INPs, and GNs and an abundance of proteins regulating mitosis, differentiation, and apoptosis. Altered protein expression underlies hippocampus cellular and volume loss in uMDD, supports a trophic effect of antidepressants, and offers new treatment targets.

Keywords: proteomics, hippocampus, depression, mitosis, migration, differentiation, mitochondria, apoptosis, antidepressants, human brain

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Authors: Jessie Justice

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This is a case report of a vestibular schwannoma presenting with numbness to the left lower lip and tongue and altered taste. The aim of this case is to raise awareness of differential diagnoses for trigeminal nerve paraesthesia and, hence, prompt thorough investigation. A 65-year-old male was referred to the Oral and Maxillofacial department regarding sudden-onset of numbness to his left lower lip and left tongue, with altered taste sensation subsequently developing. The patient was simultaneously being investigated for severe hearing loss in his left ear. On examination, there was altered sensation in the distribution of the left inferior alveolar nerve and left lingual nerve. There was no palpable cervical lymphadenopathy and no intra-oral lesions or dental cause for the symptoms. Due to his hearing loss in the left ear, the patient was sent for magnetic resonance imaging of the internal auditory meatus by the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department, revealing a 2.5cm mass within the left cerebellopontine angle presumed to be a vestibular schwannoma. This led to the diagnosis of trigeminal nerve compression by a medium vestibular schwannoma. Consequently, the patient was followed up by an ENT, who referred him for stereotactic radiosurgery. A literature review regarding vestibular schwannomas presenting with orofacial paraesthesia was then carried out. A review of the literature has shown the incidence of vestibular schwannoma to be 3-5 cases per 100,000. It has been reported that approximately 5% of vestibular schwannoma cases display orofacial dysaesthesia, and about 1-3% of cases exhibit trigeminal neuralgia symptoms. This is a rare case of vestibular schwannoma causing trigeminal nerve paraesthesia. The aim of this study is to raise awareness of alternative causes of trigeminal nerve paraesthesia and the available literature surrounding this.

Keywords: acoustic neuroma, orofacial dysaesthesia, trigeminal nerve paraesthesia, vestibular schwannoma

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Authors: Jannika Dombrowski, Sabine Ambros, Ulrich Kulozik

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Several drying techniques are used to preserve sensitive substances such as probiotic lactic acid bacteria. With the aim to better understand differences between these processes, this work gives new insights into structural variations resulting from different preservation methods and their impact on product quality and storage stability. Industrially established methods (freeze drying, spray drying) were compared to upcoming vacuum, microwave-freeze, and microwave-vacuum drying. For freeze and microwave-freeze dried samples, survival and activity maintained 100%, whereas vacuum and microwave-vacuum dried cultures achieved 30-40% survival. Spray drying yielded in lowest viability. The results are directly related to temperature and oxygen content during drying. Interestingly, most storage stable products resulted from vacuum and microwave-vacuum drying due to denser product structures as determined by helium pycnometry and SEM images. Further, lower water adsorption velocities were responsible for lower inactivation rates. Concluding, resulting product structures as well as survival rates and storage stability mainly depend on the type of water removal instead of energy input. Microwave energy compared to conductive heating did not lead to significant differences regarding the examined factors. Correlations could be proven for three investigated microbial strains. The presentation will be completed by an overview on the energy efficiency of the presented methods.

Keywords: drying techniques, energy efficiency, lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, survival rates, structure characterization

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Authors: Shahram Naghizadeh Raeisi, Ali Alghooneh

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The loss of curd cohesiveness and syneresis are two common problems in the ultrafiltered cheese industry. In this study, by using membrane technology and protein modification, a modified cheese was developed and its properties were compared with a control sample. In order to decrease the lactose content and adjust the protein, acidity, dry matter and milk minerals, a combination of ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis technologies was employed. For protein modification, a two-stage chemical and enzymatic reaction was employed before and after ultrafiltration. The physicochemical and microstructural properties of the modified ultrafiltered cheese were compared with the control one. Results showed that the modified protein enhanced the functional properties of the final cheese significantly (pvalue< 0.05), even if the protein content was 50% lower than the control one. The modified cheese showed 21 ± 0.70, 18 ± 1.10 & 25±1.65% higher hardness, cohesiveness and water-holding capacity values, respectively, than the control sample. This behavior could be explained by the developed microstructure of the gel network. Furthermore, chemical-enzymatic modification of milk protein induced a significant change in the network parameter of the final cheese. In this way, the indices of network linkage strength, network linkage density, and time scale of junctions were 10.34 ± 0.52, 68.50 ± 2.10 & 82.21 ± 3.85% higher than the control sample, whereas the distance between adjacent linkages was 16.77 ± 1.10% lower than the control sample. These results were supported by the results of the textural analysis. A non-linear viscoelastic study showed a triangle waveform stress of the modified protein contained cheese, while the control sample showed rectangular waveform stress, which suggested a better sliceability of the modified cheese. Moreover, to study the shelf life of the products, the acidity, as well as molds and yeast population, were determined in 120 days. It’s worth mentioning that the lactose content of modified cheese was adjusted at 2.5% before fermentation, while the lactose of the control one was at 4.5%. The control sample showed 8 weeks shelf life, while the shelf life of the modified cheese was 18 weeks in the refrigerator. During 18 weeks, the acidity of modified and control samples increased from 82 ± 1.50 to 94 ± 2.20 °D and 88 ± 1.64 to 194 ± 5.10 °D, respectively. The mold and yeast populations, with time, followed the semicircular shape model (R2 = 0.92, R2adj = 0.89, RMSE = 1.25). Furthermore, the mold and yeast counts and their growth rate in the modified cheese were lower than those for control one; Aforementioned result could be explained by the shortage of the source of energy for the microorganism in the modified cheese. The lactose content of the modified sample was less than 0.2 ± 0.05% at the end of fermentation, while this was 3.7 ± 0.68% in the control sample.

Keywords: non-linear viscoelastic, protein modification, semicircular shape model, ultrafiltered cheese

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Authors: E. A. Babiker, S. A. Makawi

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The influence of the season (autumn, winter, and summer) on semen production in Nubian and Saanen bucks was studied. Seven mature bucks (4 Nubian and 3 Saanen) were used in this study to prepare semen samples which were collected with an artificial vagina. The samples were extended in Tris-egg yolk-glycerol-glucose extender, frozen, and stored in liquid nitrogen at –196 0C for 48 hours. Straws were thawed in water at –37 0C for 15 seconds before sperm evaluation (post-thaw sperm motility). There was a significant seasonal variation in both semen quantity (volume, concentration, and the total number of spermatozoa per ejaculate) and quality (percentage of sperm motility, percentage of post-thaw sperm motility, and dead spermatozoa). Greater ejaculate volumes were observed during summer and autumn in comparison to winter. Higher values of sperms concentration were observed during autumn, while the lowest sperm concentration values were observed during summer. Higher values of sperm motility were observed during autumn in comparison to summer. Lower values of dead spermatozoa were recorded during autumn, while the highest percentages of dead spermatozoa were observed during summer for the two breeds of bucks. The influence of season on post-thaw sperm motility was significant. Semen frozen during autumn and winter had the highest values, while during summer, lower mean values were observed. The best semen was produced during autumn and winter, while during summer, poor semen quality was recorded.

Keywords: season, Nubian, Saanen, semen production, Sudan

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Authors: Jiayan Gou, Kexin He, Xin Zhang, Fei Wang, Liuni Zou

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Background: Homocysteine is a high-risk factor for cognitive decline, and folic acid supplementation can lower homocysteine levels. However, current clinical research results are inconsistent, and the effects of folic acid on homocysteine levels and cognitive function in older people are inconsistent. Objective: The objective of this study is to systematically evaluate the effects of folic acid alone or in combination with other nutrients on homocysteine levels and cognitive function in older adults. Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in five databases, including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL, from inception to June 1, 2023. Randomized controlled trials were included investigating the effects of folic acid alone or in combination with other nutrients on cognitive function in older people. Results: 17 articles were included, with six focusing on the effects of folic acid alone and 11 examining folic acid in combination with other nutrients. The study included 3,100 individuals aged 60 to 83.2 years, with a relatively equal gender distribution (approximately 51.82% male). Conclusion: Folic acid alone or combined with other nutrients can effectively lower homocysteine level and improve cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment. But for patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, the intervention only can reduce the homocysteine level, but the improvement in cognitive function is not significant. In healthy older people, high baseline homocysteine levels (>11.3 μmol/L) and good ω-3 fatty acid status (>590 μmol/L) can enhance the improvement effect of folic acid on cognitive function. This trial has been registered on PROSPERO as CRD42023433096.

Keywords: B-complex vitamins, cognitive function, folic acid, homocysteine

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Authors: Prima Luna, Afroditi Chatzifragkou, Dimitris Charalampopoulos

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Sorghum byproducts, namely bran, stalk, and panicle are examples of lignocellulosic biomass. These raw materials contain large amounts of polysaccharides, in particular hemicelluloses, celluloses, and lignins, which if efficiently extracted, can be utilised for the development of a range of added value products with potential applications in agriculture and food packaging sectors. The aim of this study was to characterise fractions extracted from sorghum bran and stalk with regards to their physicochemical properties that could determine their applicability as food-packaging materials. A sequential alkaline extraction was applied for the isolation of cellulosic, hemicellulosic and lignin fractions from sorghum stalk and bran. Lignin content, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were also investigated in the case of the lignin fraction. Thermal analysis using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) revealed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of cellulose fraction of the stalk was ~78.33 ^oC at amorphous state (~65%) and water content of ~5%. In terms of hemicellulose, the T_g value of stalk was slightly lower compared to bran at amorphous state (~54%) and had less water content (~2%). It is evident that hemicelluloses generally showed a lower thermal stability compared to cellulose, probably due to their lack of crystallinity. Additionally, bran had higher arabinose-to-xylose ratio (0.82) than the stalk, a fact that indicated its low crystallinity. Furthermore, lignin fraction had T_g value of ~93 ^oC at amorphous state (~11%). Stalk-derived lignin fraction contained more phenolic compounds (mainly consisting of p-coumaric and ferulic acid) and had higher lignin content and antioxidant capacity compared to bran-derived lignin fraction.

Keywords: alkaline extraction, bran, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, stalk

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Authors: Wenfen Bi, Zeng Lin

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As a developing country, China is badly in need of capital and talents to develop the socialist country with Chinese characteristics. However, a large proportion of high income people with know-how technique, wealth and management experience have immigrated or plan to immigrate to other countries. Of course, this phenomenon has attracted the attention from both the government and researchers. One explanation might be that these high-income people lack confidence in China’s social development. Based on the data on W city’s comprehensive social situation surveyed by center for the social survey research of Wuhan university (CSSR) in 2014, this paper employed the structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate whether personal income affects social confidence, via the mediating effect of the sense of social equity (sense of right equity and sense of distributive equity). Bootstrap mediation analysis revealed that after controlling Demographic variables, personal income had a significant negative influence on sense of right equity and in turn, sense of rights equity can significantly positively predict social confidence. While personal income had no significant effect on sense of distributive equity, and sense of distributive equity did not significantly affect macro social confidence. Also, the direct effects of personal income on social confidence became not significant. These findings revealed the inner mechanism of the relationship between the personal income and social confidence in contemporary China, which was caused by mediating effect of sense of rights equity. That is, the higher the personal income, the lower the sense of rights equity, the lower the social confidence. Thus, the boost of the social confidence, especially for the rich, does not only depend on the equitable distribution of material wealth, but also on the right equity and making people feel rights equally in common life.

Keywords: personal income, sense of right equity, sense of social equity, social confidence

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Authors: I. Hilia, C. Hange, F. Hakala, M. Matheus, C. Jansen, J. Hidinwa, O. Awofolu

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The article reports on the occurrences, level, and mobility of selected trace metals in environmental samples. The conceptual basis was to examine the possible influence of anthropogenic activities and the impact on human and environmental health. Environmental samples (soil, plant and lower animal) were randomly collected from stratified study/sampling areas, preserved and pre-treated before analysis. Mineral acid digestion procedure was employed for the isolation of metallic contents in samples, and elemental qualitative and quantitative analysis was by ICP-OES. Analytical protocol was validated through the quality assurance process and was found acceptable with quantitative metallic recoveries in the range of 85-90%; hence considered applicable for the analyses of environmental samples. The mean concentration of analysed metals in soil samples ranged from 53.2- 2532.8 mg/kg (Cu); 59.5- 2020.1 mg/kg (Zn); 1.80 – 21.26 mg/kg (Cd) and 19.6- 140.9 mg/kg (Pb). The mean level in grass samples ranged from 9.33 – 38.63 mg/kg (Cu); 64.20-105.18 mg/kg (Zn); 0.28–0.73 mg/kg (Cd) and 0.53 -16.26 mg/kg (Pb) while the mean level in lower animal sample (beetle) varied from 9.6 - 105.3 mg/kg (Cu); 134.1-297.2 mg/kg (Zn); 0.63 – 3.78 (Cd) and 8.0 – 29.1 mg/kg (Pb) across sample collection points (SCPs) 1-4 respectively. Metallic transfer factors (TFs) were in the order Zn >Cd > Cu > Pb with metal Pollution Indices (MPIs) in the order SCP1 > SCP2 > SCP3 > SCP4. About 60-70 % of analysed metals were above the maximum allowable limits (MALs) in soil and plant samples. Results obtained revealed the general prevalence of analysed metals at all sampled sites with indication of metallic mobility across the food chain which portrayed dire consequences for environmental and human health. Systematic environmental remediation and pollution abatement strategies are recommended.

Keywords: trace metals, pollution, human health, Incidences, ICP-OES

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Authors: Kuei-Yu Chien, Hsiu-Yu Chiu, Chia-Nan Chen, Shu-Chen Chen

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Background: Frailty is associated with decreased physical performances that affect mobility of the elderly. Time up and go test (TUG) was the common method to evaluate mobility in the community. The purpose of this study was to compare the parameters in different stages of Time up and go test (TUG) and physical performance between pre-frail elderly (PFE) and non-frail elderly (NFE). We also investigated the relationship between TUG parameters and physical performance. Methods: Ninety-two community-dwelling older adults were as participants in this study. Based on Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale, 22 older adults were classified as PFE (71.77 ± 6.05 yrs.) and 70 were classified as NFE (71.2 ± 5.02 yrs.). We performed body composition and physical performance, including balance, muscular strength/endurance, mobility, cardiorespiratory endurance, and flexibility. Results: Pre-frail elderly took significantly longer time than NFE in TUG test (p=.004). Pre-frail elderly had lower turning average angular velocity (p = .017), turning peak angular velocity (p = .041) and turning-stand to sit peak angular velocity (p = .037) than NFE. The turning related parameters related to open-eye stand on right foot, 30-second chair stand test, back scratch, and 2-min step tests. Conclusions: Turning average angular velocity, turning peak angular velocity and turning-stand to sit peak angular velocity mainly affected the TUG performance. We suggested that static/dynamic balance, agility, flexibility, and muscle strengthening of lower limbs exercise were important to PFE.

Keywords: mobility, aglity, active ageing, functional fitness

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Authors: L. Masilionyte, S. Maiksteniene

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Alternative farming systems are used to cultivate high quality food products and retain the viability and fertility of soil. The field experiments of different farming systems were conducted at Joniškėlis Experimental Station of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2006–2013. The soil of the experimental site was Endocalcari-Endohypogleyic Cambisol (CMg-n-w-can). In different farming systems, farmyard manure, straw and green manure catch crops used for fertilization both in the soil low in humus and in the soil moderate in humus. In the 0–20 cm depth layer, it had a more significant effect on soil moisture than on other physical soil properties. In the agricultural systems, in which catch crops had been grown, soil physical characteristics did not differ significantly before their biomass incorporation, except for the moisture content, which was lower in rainy periods and higher in drier periods than in the soil without catch crops. Soil bulk density and porosity in the topsoil layer were more dependent on soil humus content than on agricultural measures used: in the soil moderate in humus content, compared with the soil low in humus, bulk density was by 1.4 % lower, and porosity by 1.8 % higher. The research findings create a possibility to make improvements in alternative cropping systems by choosing organic fertilizers and catch crops’ combinations that have the sustainable effect on soil and that maintain the sustainability of soil productivity parameters. Rational fertilization systems, securing the stability of soil productivity parameters and crop rotation productivity will promote a development of organic agriculture.

Keywords: agro-measures, soil physical parameters, organic farming, sustainable farming

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Authors: M. Munirul Islam, Makhduma Khatun M., Janet M. Peerson, Tahmeed Ahmed, M. Abid Hossain Mollah, Kathryn G. Dewey, Kenneth H. Brown

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Information is required on the effects of dietary energy density (ED) and feeding frequency (FF) of complementary foods (CF) on food consumption during individual meals and time expended in child feeding. We evaluated the effects of varied ED and FF of CFs on food intake and time required for child feeding during individual meals. During 9 separate, randomly ordered dietary periods lasting 3-6 days each, we measured self-determined intakes of porridges by 18 healthy, breastfed children 8-11 mo old who were fed coded porridges with energy densities of 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 kcal/g, during 3, 4, or 5 meals/d. CF intake was measured by weighing the feeding bowl before and after every meal. Children consumed greater amounts of CFs per meal when they received diets with lower ED (p = 0.044) and fewer meals per day (p < 0.001). Food intake was less during the first meal of the day than the other meals. Greater time was expended per meal when fewer meals were offered. Time expended per meal did not vary by ED, but the children ate the lower ED diets faster (p = 0.019). Food intake velocity was also greater when more meals were offered per day (p = 0.005). These results provide further evidence of young children’s ability to regulate their energy intakes, even during infancy; and they convey information on factors that affect the amount of time that caregivers must devote to child feeding.

Keywords: complementary foods, energy density, feeding frequency, young children

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Authors: Marjan Mahdavi-Roshan, Arsalan Salari, Mahbobeh Gholipour

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Hypertension is one of the important reasons of morbidity and mortality in countries, including Iran. It has been shown that hypertension is a consequence of the interaction of genetics and environment. Nutrients have important roles in the controlling of blood pressure. We assessed dietary habit and anthropometric status in patients with hypertension in the north of Iran, and that have special dietary habit and according to their culture. This study was conducted on 127 patients with newly recognized hypertension and the 120 normotensive participants. Anthropometric status was measured and demographic characteristics, and medical condition were collected by valid questionnaires and dietary habit assessment was assessed with 3-day food recall (two weekdays and one weekend). The mean age of participants was 58 ± 6.7 years. The mean level of energy intake, saturated fat, vitamin D, potassium, zinc, dietary fiber, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, copper and magnesium was significantly lower in the hypertensive group compared to the control (p < 0.05). After adjusting for energy intake, positive association was observe between hypertension and some dietary nutrients including; Cholesterol [OR: 1.1, P: 0.001, B: 0.06], fiber [OR: 1.6, P: 0.001, B: 1.8], vitamin D [OR: 2.6, P: 0.006, B: 0.9] and zinc [OR: 1.4, P: 0.006, B: 0.3] intake. Logistic regression analysis showed that there was not significant association between hypertension, weight and waist circumference. In our study, the mean intake of some nutrients was lower in the hypertensive individuals compared to the normotensive individual. Health training about suitable dietary habits and easier access to vitamin D supplementation in patients with hypertension are cost-effective tools to improve outcomes in Iran.

Keywords: hypertension, north of Iran, dietary intake, weight

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Authors: Ronita Singh, Yaman Pattanaik, Soham Lalwala

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In today’s highly competitive business environment, every organization is striving towards lean manufacturing systems to achieve lower Production Lead Times, lower costs, less inventory and overall improvement in supply chains efficiency. Based on the similar idea, this paper presents the practical application of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) tool and ECRS (Eliminate, Combine, Reduce, and Simplify) technique in the receipt section of the material management center of an oil refinery. A value stream is an assortment of all actions (value added as well as non-value added) that are required to bring a product through the essential flows, starting with raw material and ending with the customer. For drawing current state value stream mapping, all relevant data of the receipt cycle has been collected and analyzed. Then analysis of current state map has been done for determining the type and quantum of waste at every stage which helped in ascertaining as to how far the warehouse is from the concept of lean manufacturing. From the results achieved by current VSM, it was observed that the two processes- Preparation of GRN (Goods Receipt Number) and Preparation of UD (Usage Decision) are both bottle neck operations and have higher cycle time. This root cause analysis of various types of waste helped in designing a strategy for step-wise implementation of lean tools. The future state thus created a lean flow of materials at the warehouse center, reducing the lead time of the receipt cycle from 11 days to 7 days and increasing overall efficiency by 27.27%.

Keywords: current VSM, ECRS, future VSM, receipt cycle, supply chain, VSM

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Authors: Shu Jiuan Chen, Shu Fen Wu, I. Ling Tsai, Chia Yu Chen, Yen Lin Liu, Chen-Fuh Lam

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Background: Increased emotional stress in workplace and depressed job satisfaction may significantly affect the turnover intention and career life of personnel. However, very limited studies have reported the factors influencing the turnover intention of the surgical team members in the operating rooms, where extraordinary stress is normally exit in this isolated medical care unit. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the environmental and personal characteristic factors that might be associated with job satisfaction and turnover intention in the non-physician staff who work in the operating rooms. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study performed in a metropolitan teaching hospital in southern Taiwan between May 2017 to July 2017. A structured self-administered questionnaire, modified from the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI), Occupational Stress Indicator-2 (OSI-2) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) manual was collected from the operating room nurses, nurse anesthetists, surgeon assistants, orderly and other non-physician staff. Numerical and categorical data were analyzed using unpaired t-test and Chi-square test, as appropriate (SPSS, version 20.0). Results: A total of 167 effective questionnaires were collected from 200 eligible, non-physician personnel who worked in the operating room (response rate 83.5%). The overall satisfaction of all responders was 45.64 ± 7.17. In comparison to those who had more than 4-year working experience in the operating rooms, the junior staff ( ≤ 4-year experience) reported to have significantly higher satisfaction in workplace environment and job contentment, as well as lower intention to quit (t = 6.325, P =0.000). Among the different specialties of surgical team members, nurse anesthetists were associated with significantly lower levels of job satisfaction (P=0.043) and intention to stay (x² = 8.127, P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis demonstrates job title, seniority, working shifts and job satisfaction are the significant independent predicting factors for quit jobs. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight that increased work seniorities ( > 4-year working experience) are associated with significantly lower job satisfaction, and they are also more likely to leave their current job. Increased workload in supervising the juniors without appropriate job compensation (such as promotions in job title and work shifts) may precipitate their intention to quit. Since the senior staffs are usually the leaders and core members in the operating rooms, the retention of this fundamental manpower is essential to ensure the safety and efficacy of surgical interventions in the operating rooms.

Keywords: surgical team, job satisfaction, resignation intention, operating room

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Authors: Ahmed El-Sabbagh, Heba Mansour, Magdy El-Hedeny

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This study provided a taphonomic alteration and paleoecology of Cenomanian oysters from the Musabaa Salama area, south western Sinai, Egypt. Three oyster zones can be recognized in the studied area, a lower one of Amphidonte (Ceratostreon) flabellatum (lower-middle Cenomanian), a middle zone of Ilymatogyra (Afrogyra) africana (upper Cenomanian) and an upper one of Exogyra (Costagyra) olisiponensis (upper Cenomanian). Taphonomic features including disarticulation, fragmentation, encrustation and bioerosion were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses. The analyses showed that the distributions of the identified ichnospecies were greatly similar within the identified oyster zones in the Musabaa Salama section. With rare exceptions, Entobia cretacea, Gastrochaenolites torpedo and Maeandropolydora decipiens are considered as common to abundant ichnospecies within the three recorded oyster zones. In contrast, and with some exceptions, E. ovula, E. retiformis and Rogerella pattei are considered as frequent to common ichnospecies within the identified oyster zones. Other ichnospecies, including Caulostrepsis cretacea, G. orbicularis, Trypanites solitarius, E. geometrica and C. taeniola, are mostly recorded in rare to frequent occurrences. Careful investigation of these host shells and the preserved encrusters and/or bioerosion sculptures provided data concerning: 1) the substrate characteristics, 2) time of encrustation and bioerosion, 3) rate of sedimentation, 4) the planktonic productivity level, and 5) the general bathymetry and the rate of transgression across the substrate.

Keywords: oysters, Cenomanian, taphonomy, palaeoecology, Sinai, Egypt

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Authors: Ruwandika Perera

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Even though the Sri Lankan government provides a reasonable level of support for students at all levels of the school system, for example, free education, textbooks, school uniforms, subsidized public transportation, and school meals, low participation in learning among secondary students is an issue warranting investigation, particularly in low socio-economic districts. This study attempted to determine the levels of motivation and engagement amongst students in a number of schools in two low socio-economic districts of Sri Lanka. This study employed quantitative research design in an attempt to determine levels of motivation and engagement amongst Sri Lankan secondary school students. Motivation and Engagement Scale-Junior School (MES-JS) was administered among 100 Sinhala-medium and 100 Tamil-medium eighth-grade students (50 students from each gender). The mean age of the students was 12.8 years. Schools were represented by type 2 government schools located in Monaragala and Nuwara Eliya districts in Sri Lanka. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to measure the construct validity of the scale. Since this did not provide a robust solution, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted. Four factors were identified; Failure Avoidance and Anxiety (FAA), Positive Motivation (PM), Uncertain Control (UC), and Positive Engagement (PE). An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare PM, PE, FAA, and UC in gender and ethnic groups. There was no significant difference identified for PE, FAA, and UC scales based upon gender. These results indicate that for the participants in this study, there were no significant differences based on gender in the levels of failure avoidance and anxiety, uncertain control, and positive engagement in the school experience. But, the result for the PM scale was close to significant, indicating there may be differences based on gender for positive motivation. A significant difference exists for all scales based on ethnicity, with the mean result for the Tamil students being significantly higher than that for the Sinhala students. These results indicate those Sinhala-medium students’ levels of positive motivation and positive engagement in learning was lower than Tamil-medium students. Also, these results indicate those Tamil-medium students’ levels of failure avoidance, anxiety, and uncertain control was higher than Sinhala-medium students. It could be concluded that male students levels of PM were significantly lower than female students. Also, Sinhala-medium students’ levels of PM and PE was lower than Tamil-medium students, and Tamil-medium students levels of FAA and UC was significantly higher than Sinhala-medium students. Thus, there might be particular school-related conditions affecting this situation, which are related to early adolescents’ motivation and engagement in learning.

Keywords: early adolescents, engagement, low socio-economic districts, motivation

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Authors: Ran An, Dang Wang

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Background: Mechanical ventilation has been confirmed to increase the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), and several studies have shown that low tidal volumes combined with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment manoeuvres (RM) reduce the incidence of PPCs. However, the optimal lung-protective ventilatory strategy remains unclear. Methods: Multiple databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published prior to October 2023. The association between individual PEEP (iPEEP) or other forms of lung-protective ventilation and the incidence of PPCs was evaluated by Bayesian network meta-analysis. Results: We included 58 studies (11610 patients) in this meta-analysis. The network meta-analysis showed that low ventilation (LVt) combined with iPEEP and RM was associated with significantly lower incidences of PPCs [HVt: OR=0.38 95CrI (0.19, 0.75), LVt: OR=0.33, 95% CrI (0.12, 0.82)], postoperative atelectasis, and pneumonia than was HVt or LVt. In abdominal surgery, LVT combined with iPEEP or medium-to-high PEEP and RM were associated with significantly lower incidences of PPCs, postoperative atelectasis, and pneumonia. LVt combined with iPEEP and RM was ranked the highest, which was based on SUCRA scores. Conclusion: LVt combined with iPEEP and RM decreased the incidences of PPCs, postoperative atelectasis, and pneumonia in noncardiac surgery patients. iPEEP-guided ventilation was the optimal lung protection ventilation strategy. The quality of evidence was moderate.

Keywords: protection ventilation strategies, postoperative pulmonary complications, network meta-analysis, noncardiac surgery

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Authors: Iyanujesu Adereti, Tajudeen Basiru, Ayodamola Olanipekun

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Background: Substance abuse among adolescents is of public health concern globally. Despite being the most abused by adolescents, there are limited studies on the prevalence of alcohol use and cigarette smoking among adolescents in Mauritius. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking, alcohol use and associated correlates among school-going adolescents in Mauritius. Methodology: Data obtained from 2017 WHO Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) survey of 3,012 school-going adolescents in Mauritius was analyzed using STATA. Descriptive statistics were used to obtain prevalence. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate predictors of cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Results: Prevalence of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking were 26.0% and 17.1%, respectively. Smoking and alcohol use was more prevalent among males, younger adolescents, and those in higher school grades (p-value <.000). In multivariable logistic regression, male gender was associated with a higher risk of cigarette smoking (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) [95%Confidence Interval (CI)]= 1.51[1.06-2.14]) but lower risk of alcohol use (aOR[95%CI]= 0.69[0.53-0.90]) while older age (mid and late adolescence) and parental smoking were found to be associated with increased risk of alcohol use (aOR[95%CI]= 1.94[1.34-2.99] and 1.36[1.05-1.78] respectively). Marijuana use, truancy, being in a fight and suicide ideation were associated with increased odds of alcohol use (aOR[95%CI]= 3.82[3.39-6.09]; 2.15[1.62-2.87]; 1.83[1.34-2.49] and 1.93[1.38-2.69] respectively) and cigarette smoking (aOR[95%CI]= 17.28[10.4 - 28.51]; 1.73[1.21-2. 49]; 1.67[1.14-2.45] and 2.17[1.43-3.28] respectively) while involvement in sexual activity was associated with reduced risk of alcohol use (aOR[95%CI]= 0.50[0.37-0.68]) and cigarette smoking (aOR[95%CI]= 0.47[0.33-0.69]). Parental support and parental monitoring were uniquely associated with lower risk of cigarette smoking (aOR[95%CI]= 0.69[0.47-0.99] and 0.62[0.43-0.91] respectively). Conclusion: The high prevalence of alcohol use and cigarette smoking in this study shows the need for the government of Mauritius to enhance policies that will help address this issue putting into accounts the various risk and protective factors.

Keywords: adolescent health, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, global school-based student health survey

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