Search results for: audit quality control

Authors: Erin V. Kelly, Nicola C. Newton, Lexine A. Stapinski, Maree Teesson

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Introduction: There is a lack of targeted prevention programs for reducing bullying and distress among adolescents involved in bullying. The current study aimed to examine the impact of a personality-targeted intervention (Preventure) on bullying (victimization and perpetration) and distress among adolescent victims/bullies with high-risk personality types. Method: A cluster randomized trial (RCT) was conducted in 26 secondary schools (2190 students) in NSW and Victoria, Australia, as part of the Climate Schools and Preventure trial. The schools were randomly allocated to Preventure (13 schools received Preventure, 13 did not). Students were followed up at 4 time points (6, 12, 24 and 36 months post-baseline). Preventure involves two group sessions, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, and tailored to four personality types shown to increase risk of substance misuse and other emotional and behavioural problems, including impulsivity, sensation-seeking, anxiety sensitivity and hopelessness. Students were allocated to the personality-targeted groups based on their scores on the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale. Bullying was measured using an amended version of the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Scale. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Results: Among high-risk students classified as victims at baseline, those in Preventure schools reported significantly less victimization and distress over time than those in control schools. Among high-risk students classified as bullies at baseline, those in Preventure schools reported significantly less distress over time than those in control schools (no difference for perpetration). Conclusion: Preventure is a promising intervention for reducing bullying victimization and psychological distress among adolescents involved in bullying.

Keywords: adolescents, bullying, personality, prevention

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Authors: Abdul-Rahman Al-Ali

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As the number of mobile devices is growing exponentially, it is estimated to connect about 50 million devices to the Internet by the year 2020. At the end of this decade, it is expected that an average of eight connected devices per person worldwide. The 50 billion devices are not mobile phones and data browsing gadgets only, but machine-to-machine and man-to-machine devices. With such growing numbers of devices the Internet of Things (I.o.T) concept is one of the emerging technologies as of recently. Within the smart grid technologies, smart home appliances, Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED) and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) are major I.o.T objects that can be addressable using the IPV6. These objects are called the smart grid internet of things (SG-I.o.T). The SG-I.o.T generates big data that requires high-speed computing infrastructure, widespread computer networks, big data storage, software, and platforms services. A company’s utility control and data centers cannot handle such a large number of devices, high-speed processing, and massive data storage. Building large data center’s infrastructure takes a long time, it also requires widespread communication networks and huge capital investment. To maintain and upgrade control and data centers’ infrastructure and communication networks as well as updating and renewing software licenses which collectively, requires additional cost. This can be overcome by utilizing the emerging computing paradigms such as cloud computing. This can be used as a smart grid enabler to replace the legacy of utilities data centers. The talk will highlight the role of I.o.T, cloud computing services and their development models within the smart grid technologies.

Keywords: intelligent electronic devices (IED), distributed energy resources (DER), internet, smart home appliances

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Authors: Shahinaz El-Shourbagy El-Shourbagy, Ahmed M. E Ossman Ossman, Ashraf El-Mohamady El-Mohamady

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Objective: To investigate if there is a role of sildenafil citrate (Viagra) in the treatment of infertile couples for idiopathic cause. Design: An observational study. Setting: Infertility outpatient clinic of Tanta University Hospital Egypt. Patient(s): 50 unexplained infertility women {endometrial thickness (EM) and the mean resistance index (RI)} compared to 50 fertile control group attended for check-up in the same period and receiving no treatment. Intervention(s): unexplained infertility women were given 25 mg of sildenafil citrate suppositories four times per day for seven days starting from the 5th day of the menstrual cycle for three cycles. Main Outcome Measures: EM and RI of endometrial spiral artery were assessed by transvaginal color-pulsed Doppler ultrasound in unexplained infertility women before and after sildenafil citrate treatment and compared with control. The conception rate and pregnancy outcome were recorded in the two groups. Result(s): Women with unexplained infertility had significantly thinner endometrium and a higher spiral artery resistance index, meaning lower peri-implantation blood flow than the fertile controls. Sildenafil citrate treated women showed a statistically significant increase in endometrial thickness (p < 0.001) and a significant decrease in the mean spiral artery resistance index (p < 0.001) giving a better conception rate. Conclusion: Sildenafil citrate suppositories treatment enhance the endometrial blood flow through decreasing spiral artery resistance index 'RI' and consequently improve endometrial growth and receptivity in cases of unexplained infertility thus giving a better conception rate.

Keywords: Unexplained infertility, endometrial blood flow, endome¬trial receptivity, color-pulsed Doppler ultrasound; RI (resis¬tance index, Sildenafil citrate (Viagra)

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Authors: Jhovana Silvia Escobar Ortega, Ines Eugenia Garcia De Salamone

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Cover crops are an agri-technological alternative to improve all properties of soils. Cover crops such as oats and rye could be used to reduce erosion and favor system sustainability when they are grown in the same agricultural cycle of the soybean crop. This crop is very profitable but its low contribution of easily decomposable residues, due to its low C/N ratio, leaves the soil exposed to erosive action and raises the need to reduce its monoculture. Furthermore, inoculation with the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria contributes to the implementation, development and production of several cereal crops. However, there is little information on its effects on forage crops which are often used as cover crops to improve soil quality. In order to evaluate the effect of combined inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense and Pseudomonas fluorescens on rhizosphere microbial communities, field experiments were conducted in the west of Buenos Aires province, Argentina, with a split-split plot randomized complete block factorial design with three replicates. The factors were: type of cover crop, inoculation and fertilization. In the main plot two levels of fertilization 0 and 7 40-0-5 (NPKS) were established at sowing. Rye (Secale cereale cultivar Quehué) and oats (Avena sativa var Aurora.) were sown in the subplots. In the sub-subplots two inoculation treatments are applied without and with application of a combined inoculant with A. brasilense and P. fluorescens. Due to the growth of cover crops has to be stopped usually with the herbicide glyphosate, rhizosphere soil of 0-20 and 20-40 cm layers was sampled at three sampling times which were: before glyphosate application (BG), a month after glyphosate application (AG) and at soybean harvest (SH). Community level of physiological profiles (CLPP) and Shannon index of microbial diversity (H) were obtained by multivariate analysis of Principal Components. Also, the most probable number (MPN) of nitrifiers and cellulolytics were determined using selective liquid media for each functional group. The CLPP of rhizosphere microbial communities showed significant differences between sampling times. There was not interaction between sampling times and both, types of cover crops and inoculation. Rhizosphere microbial communities of samples obtained BG had different CLPP with respect to the samples obtained in the sampling times AG and SH. Fertilizer and depth of sampling also caused changes in the CLPP. The H diversity index of rhizosphere microbial communities of rye in the sampling time BG were higher than those associated with oats. The MPN of both microbial functional types was lower in the deeper layer since these microorganisms are mostly aerobic. The MPN of nitrifiers decreased in rhizosphere of both cover crops only AG. At the sampling time BG, the NMP of both microbial types were larger than those obtained for AG and SH. This may mean that the glyphosate application could cause fairly permanent changes in these microbial communities which can be considered bio-indicators of soil quality. Inoculation and fertilizer inputs could be included to improve management of these cover crops because they can have a significant positive effect on the sustainability of the agro-ecosystem.

Keywords: community level of physiological profiles, microbial diversity, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, rhizosphere microbial communities, soil quality, system sustainability

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Authors: Arezoo Fallahi

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Background and purpose: Non-alcoholic fatty liver is one of the most common liver disorders, which, as the most important cause of death from liver disease, has unpleasant consequences and complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an educational intervention based on a health belief model to prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver among women. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was performed among 110 women referring to comprehensive health service centers in Malayer City, west of Iran, in 2023. Using the available sampling method, 110 Participants were divided into experimental and control groups. The data collection tool included demographic characteristics and a questionnaire based on the health belief model. In The experimental group, three one-hour training sessions were conducted in the form of pamphlets, lectures and group discussions. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21, by correlation tests, paired t-tests independent t-tests. Results: The mean age of participants was 38.07±6.28 years, and Most of the participants were middle-aged, married, housewives with academic education, middle-income and overweight. After the educational intervention, the mean scores of the constructs include perceived sensitivity (p=0.01), perceived severity (p=0.01), perceived benefits (p=0.01), guidance for internal (p=0.01) and external action (p=0.01), and perceived self-efficacy (p=0.01) in the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group. The score of perceived barriers in the experimental group decreased after training. The perceived obstacles score in the test group decreased after the training (15.2 ± 3.9 v.s 11.2 ± 3.3, (p<0.01). Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that the design and implementation of educational programs based on the constructs of the health belief model can be effective in preventing women from developing higher levels of non-alcoholic fatty liver.

Keywords: health, education, believe, behaviour

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Authors: J. Vinay , Kusumbati Besra, Niharika Pattnaik, Shivaram Prasad Singh, Manjusha Dixit

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Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is rare but highly malignant cancer; its prevalence is more in certain geographical regions and ethnic groups, which include the Northern and Eastern states of India. Previous studies in India have reported genetic predisposition as one of the risk factors in GBC pathogenesis. Although the matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP14) is a well-known modulator of the tumor microenvironment and tumorigenesis and TCGA data also suggests its upregulation yet, its role in the genetic predisposition for GBC is completely unknown. We elucidated the role of MMP14 promoter variants as genetic risk factors and their implications in expression modulation. We screened MMP14 promoter variants association with GBC using Sanger’s sequencing in approximately 300 GBC and 300 control subjects and 26 GBC tissue samples of Indian ethnicity. The immunohistochemistry was used to check the MMP14 protein expression in GBC tissue samples. The role of promoter variants on expression levels was elucidated using a luciferase reporter assay. The variants rs1004030 (p-value = 0.0001) and rs1003349 (p-value = 0.0008) were significantly associated with gallbladder cancer. The luciferase assay in two different cell lines, HEK-293 (p = 0.0006) and TGBC1TKB (p = 0.0036) showed a significant increase in relative luciferase activity in the presence of risk alleles for both the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Similarly, genotype-phenotype correlation in patients samples confirmed that the presence of risk alleles at rs1004030 and rs1003349 increased MMP14 expression. Overall, this study unravels the genetic association of MMP14 promoter variants with gallbladder cancer, which may contribute to pathogenesis by increasing its expression.

Keywords: gallbladder cancer, matrix metalloproteinase-14, single nucleotide polymorphism, case control study, genetic association study

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Authors: Tahira Hussain, Ilhom Rahamkulov, Muhammad Aasim, Ugur Pirlak, Emre Aksoy, Mehmet Emin Caliskan, Allah Bakhsh

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RNA interference (RNAi) has proved its usefulness in functional genomic research on insects recently and is considered potential strategy in crop improvement for the control of insect pests. The different insect pests incur significant losses to potato yield worldwide, Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) being most notorious one. The present study focuses to knock down highly specific 20-hydroxyecdysone hormone-receptor complex interaction by using RNAi approach to silence Ecdysone receptor (EcR) gene of CPB in transgenic potato plants expressing dsRNA of EcR gene. The partial cDNA of Ecdysone receptor gene of CPB was amplified using specific primers in sense and anti-sense orientation and cloned in pRNAi-GG vector flanked by an intronic sequence (pdk). Leaf and internodal explants of Lady Olympia, Agria and Granola cultivars of potato were infected with Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 harboring plasmid pRNAi-CPB, pRNAi-GFP (used as control). Neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) gene was used as a plant selectable marker at a concentration of 100 mg L⁻¹. The primary transformants obtained have shown proper integration of T-DNA in plant genome by standard molecular analysis like polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, Sothern blot. The transgenic plants developed out of these cultivars are being evaluated for their efficacy against larvae as well adults of CPB. The transgenic lines are expected to inhibit expression of EcR protein gene, hindering their molting process, hence leading to increased potato yield.

Keywords: plant mediated RNAi, molecular strategy, ecdysone receptor, insect metamorphosis

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Authors: Yu-Yu Wang, Shih-Hua Hsieh, Ru-Shian Hsieh

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Wishes and choices being respected, and the right to be supported rather than coerced, have been internationally recognized as the human rights of persons with mental illness. In Taiwan, ‘coerced hospitalization’ has become difficult since the revision of the mental health legislation in 2007. Despite trend towards human rights, the real problem families face when their family members are in mental health crisis is the lack of alternative services. This study aims to explore: 1) When is hospitalization seen as the only solution by family members? 2) What are the barriers for arranging hospitalization, and how are they managed? 3) What have family carers learned, in their experiences of caring for their family members with mental illness? To answer these questions, qualitative approach was adopted, and focus group interviews were taken to collect data. This study includes 24 family carers. The main findings of this research include: First, hospital is the last resort for carers in helplessness. Family carers tend to do everything they could to provide care at home for their family members with mental illness. Carers seek hospitalization only when a patient’s behavior is too violent, weird, and/or abnormal, and beyond their ability to manage. Hospitalization, nevertheless, is never an easy choice. Obstacles emanate from the attitudes of the medical doctors, the restricted areas of ambulance service, and insufficient information from the carers’ part. On the other hand, with some professionals’ proactive assistance, access to medical care while in crisis becomes possible. Some family carers obtained help from the medical doctor, nurse, therapist and social workers. Some experienced good help from policemen, taxi drivers, and security guards at the hospital. The difficulty in accessing medical care prompts carers to work harder on assisting their family members with mental illness to stay in stable states. Carers found different ways of helping the ‘person’ to get along with the ‘illness’ and have better quality of life. Taking back ‘the right to control’ in utilizing medication, from passiveness to negotiating with medical doctors and seeking alternative therapies, are seen in many carers’ efforts. Besides, trying to maintain regular activities in daily life and play normal family roles are also experienced as important. Furthermore, talking with the patient as a person is also important. The authors conclude that in order to protect the human rights of persons with mental illness, it is crucial to make the medical care system more flexible and to make the services more humane: sufficient information should be provided and communicated, and efforts should be made to maintain the person’s social roles and to support the family.

Keywords: family carers, independent living, mental health crisis, persons with mental illness

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Authors: Tudor Deaconescu, Andrea Deaconescu

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The utilization of pneumatic muscles in the actuation of industrial systems is still in its early stages, hence studies on the constructive solutions which include an assessment of their functional performance with a focus on one of the most important characteristics-energy efficiency are required. A quality indicator that adequately reflects the energy efficiency of an actuator is the energy-to-mass ratio. This ratio is computed in the paper for various types and sizes of pneumatic muscles manufactured by Festo, and is subsequently compared to the similar ratios determined for two categories of pneumatic cylinders.

Keywords: pneumatic cylinders, pneumatic muscles, energy-to-mass ratio, muscle stroke

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Authors: Natalie A. Sterk, Bernard van Vuuren, Petrie Marais, Bongani Mthombeni

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Injuries to the internal structures of the thorax and abdomen remain a leading cause of death among soldiers. Body armour is a standard issue piece of military equipment designed to protect the vital organs against ballistic and stab threats. When configured for maximum protection, the excessive weight and size of the armour may limit soldier mobility and increase physical fatigue and discomfort. Providing soldiers with more armour than necessary may, therefore, hinder their ability to react rapidly in life-threatening situations. The capability to determine the optimal trade-off between the amount of essential anatomical coverage and hindrance on soldier performance may significantly enhance the design of armour systems. The current study aimed to develop and pilot a methodology for relating internal anatomical structures with actual armour plate coverage in real-time using low-dose diagnostic X-ray scanning. Several pilot scanning sessions were held at Lodox Systems (Pty) Ltd head-office in South Africa. Testing involved using the Lodox eXero-dr to scan dummy trunk rigs at various degrees and heights of measurement; as well as human participants, wearing correctly fitted body armour while positioned in supine, prone shooting, seated and kneeling shooting postures. The verification of sizing and metrics obtained from the Lodox eXero-dr were then confirmed through a verification board with known dimensions. Results indicated that the low-dose diagnostic X-ray has the capability to clearly identify the vital internal structures of the aortic arch, heart, and lungs in relation to the position of the external armour plates. Further testing is still required in order to fully and accurately identify the inferior liver boundary, inferior vena cava, and spleen. The scans produced in the supine, prone, and seated postures provided superior image quality over the kneeling posture. The X-ray-source and-detector distance from the object must be standardised to control for possible magnification changes and for comparison purposes. To account for this, specific scanning heights and angles were identified to allow for parallel scanning of relevant areas. The low-dose diagnostic X-ray provides a non-invasive, safe, and rapid technique for relating vital internal structures with external structures. This capability can be used for the re-evaluation of anatomical coverage required for essential protection while optimising armour design and fit for soldier performance.

Keywords: body armour, low-dose diagnostic X-ray, scanning, vital organ coverage

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Authors: Hsiao-Lin Fang

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Every life is precious, and comprehensive care should be provided to individuals who are in the final stages of their lives. Hospice-shared care aims to provide optimal symptom control and palliative care to terminal (cancer) patients through the implementation of shared care, and to support patients and their families in making various physical and psychological adjustments in the face of death. This report examines a 10-year-boy diagnosed with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). The individual fainted when swimming at school and underwent 31 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). While receiving treatment at the hospital, the individual received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) due to unstable hemodynamics. Urgent cardiac catheterization found: Suspect acute fulminant myocarditis or underlying cardiomyopathy with acute decompensation, After the active rescue by the medical team, hemodynamics still showed only mean pressure value. With respect to the patient, interdepartmental hospice-shared care was implemented and a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order was signed after family discussions were conducted. Assistance and instructions were provided as part of the comfort care process. A farewell gathering attended by the patient’s relatives, friends, teachers, and classmates was organized in an intensive care unit (ICU) in order to look back on the patient’s life and the beautiful memories that were created, as well as to alleviate the sorrow felt by family members, including the patient’s father and sister. For example, the patient was presented with drawings and accompanied to a garden to pick flowers. In this manner, the patient was able to say goodbye before death. Finally, the patient’s grandmother and father participated in the clinical hospice care and post-mortem care processes. A hospice-shared care clinician conducted regular follow-ups and provided care to the family of the deceased, supporting family members through the sorrowful period. Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the natural phases of human life. In recent years, growing attention has been paid to human-centered hospice care. Hospice care is individual holistic care provided by a professional team and it involves the provision of comprehensive care to a terminal patient. Hospice care aims to satisfy the physical, psychological, mental, and social needs of patients and their families. It does not involve the cessation of treatment but rather avoids the exacerbation or extension of the suffering endured by patients, thereby preserving the dignity and quality of life during the end-of-life period. Patients enjoy the company of others as they complete the last phase of their lives, and their families also receive guidance on how they can move on with their own lives after the patient’s death.

Keywords: hospice-shared care, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), hospice-shared care, child patient

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Authors: M. Naimi, M. B. Khaled

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The present study consisted of an applied test in meat system to assess the effectiveness of three bio agents bacteriocinproducing strains: Lm24: Lactobacillus sakei, Lm14and Lm25: Pediococcus spp. Two tests were carried out: The ex-situ test was intended for three batches added with crude bacteriocin solutions at 12.48 AU/ml for Lm25 and 8.4 AU/ml for Lm14 and Lm24. However, the in situ one consisted of four batches; three of them inoculated with one bacteriocinogenic Lm25, Lm14, Lm24, respectively. The fourth one was used in mixture: Lm14+m24 at approximately of 107 CFU/ml. The two used tests were done in the presence of the pathogen St. aureus ATCC 6538, as a test strain at 103 CFU/ml. Another batch served as a positive or a negative control was used too. The incubation was performed at 7°C. Total viable counts, staphylococci and lactic acid bacteria, at the beginning and at selected times with interval of three days were enumerated. Physicochemical determinations (except for in situ test): pH, dry mater, sugars, fat and total protein, at the beginning and at end of the experiment, were done, according to the international norms. Our results confirmed the ex situ effectiveness. Furthermore, the batches affected negatively the total microbial load over the incubation days, and showed a significant regression in staphylococcal load at day seven, for Lm14, Lm24, and Lm25 of 0.73, 2.11, and 2.4 log units. It should be noticed that, at the last day of culture, staphylococcal load was nil for the three batches. In the in situ test, the cultures displayed less inhibitory attitude and recorded a decrease in staphylococcal load, for Lm14, Lm24, Lm25, Lm14+m24 of 0.73, 0.20, 0.86, 0.032 log units. Therefore, physicochemical analysis for Lm14, Lm24, Lm25, Lm14+m24 showed an increase in pH from 5.50 to 5.77, 6.18, 5.96, 7.22, a decrease in dry mater from 7.30% to 7.05%, 6.87%, 6.32%, 6.00%.This result reflects the decrease in fat ranging from 1.53% to 1.49%, 1.07%, 0.99%, 0.87%; and total protein from 6.18% to 5.25%, 5.56%, 5.37%, 5.5%. This study suggests that the use of selected strains as Lm25 could lead to the best results and would help in preserving and extending the shelf life of lamb meat.

Keywords: biocontrol, in situ, ex situ, meat system, St. aureus, Lactobacillus sakei, Pediococcus spp.

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Authors: M. Derraz, M.Farhaoui

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In the water treatment processes, the determination of the optimal dose of the coagulant is an issue of particular concern. Coagulant dosing is correlated to raw water quality which depends on some parameters (turbidity, ph, temperature, conductivity…). The objective of this study is to provide water treatment operators with a tool that enables to predict and replace, sometimes, the manual method (jar testing) used in this plant to predict the optimum coagulant dose. The model is constructed using actual process data for a water treatment plant located in the middle of Morocco (Meknes).

Keywords: coagulation process, aluminum sulfate, model, coagulant dose

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Authors: Rachel Koshy, Nazrila Hairizan Bt. Nasir, Samsiah Bt. Awang, Kamaliah Bt. Mohamad Noh

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Malaysia collaborated as a ‘trailblazer’ country with PHCPI (Primary Health Care Performance Initiative) to populate the Primary Health Care (PHC) Vital Signs Profile (VSP) for the country. The PHC VSP provides an innovative snapshot of the primary health care system's performance. Four domains were assessed: system financing, system capacity, system performance, and system equity, and completed in 2019. There were two phases using a mixed method study design. The first phase involved a quantitative study, utilising existing secondary data from national and international sources. In the case of unavailability of data for any indicators, comparable alternative indicators were used. The second phase was a mixed quantitative-qualitative approach to measure the functional capacity based on governance and leadership, population health needs, inputs, population health management, and facility organisation and management. PHC spending constituted 35% of overall health spending in Malaysia, with a per capita PHC spending of $152. The capacity domain was strong in the three subdomains of governance and leadership, information system, and funds management. The two subdomains of drugs & supplies and facility organisation & management had low scores, but the lowest score was in empanelment of the population under the population health management. The PHC system performed with an access index of 98%, quality index of 84%, and service coverage of 62%. In the equity domain, there was little fluctuation in the coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services by mother’s level of education and under-five child mortality between urban and rural areas. The public sector was stronger in the capacity domain as compared to the private sector. This is due to the different financing, organisational structures, and service delivery mechanism. The VSP has identified areas for improvement in the effort to provide high-quality PHC for the population. The gaps in PHC can be addressed through the system approach and the positioning of public and private primary health care delivery systems.

Keywords: primary health care, health system, system domains, vital signs profile

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Authors: S. Hammoudeh, S. Ghuloum, A. Abdelhakam, A. AlMujalli, M. Opler, Y. Hani, A. Yehya, S. Mari, R. Elsherbiny, Z. Mahfoud, H. Al-Amin

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Introduction: Suicidal ideation and attempts are very common in patients with schizophrenia and still contributes to the high mortality in this population. The InterSePT Scale for Suicidal Thinking (ISST) is a validated tool used to assess suicidal ideation in patients with schizophrenia. This research aims to validate the Arabic version of the ISST among the Arabs residing in Qatar. Methods: Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited from the department of Psychiatry, Rumailah Hospital, Doha, Qatar. Healthy controls were recruited from the primary health care centers in Doha, Qatar. The validation procedures including professional and expert translation, pilot survey and back translation of the ISST were implemented. Diagnosis of schizophrenia was confirmed using the validated Arabic version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI 6, module K) for schizophrenia. The gold standard was the module B on suicidality from MINI 6 also. This module was administered by a rater who was blinded to the results of ISST. Results: Our sample (n=199) was composed of 98 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (age 36.03 ± 9.88 years; M/F is 2/1) and 101 healthy participants (age 35.01 ± 8.23 years; M/F is 1/2). Among patients with schizophrenia: 26.5% were married, 17.3% had a college degree, 28.6% were employed, 9% had committed suicide once, and 4.4% had more than 4 suicide attempts. Among the control group: 77.2% were married, 57.4% had a college degree, and 99% were employed. The mean score on the ISST was 2.36 ± 3.97 vs. 0.47 ± 1.44 for the schizophrenia and control groups, respectively. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.91. Conclusions: This is the first study in the Arab world to validate the ISST in an Arabic-based population. The psychometric properties indicate that the Arabic version of the ISST is a valid tool to assess the severity of suicidal ideation in Arabic speaking patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Keywords: mental health, Qatar, schizophrenia, suicide

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Authors: A. A. Saki, Y. Karimi, H. J. Najafabadi, P. Zamani, Z. Mostafaie

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The restaurant residuals reasons such as competition between human and animal consumption of cereals, increasing environmental pollution and the high cost of production of livestock products is important. Therefore, in this restaurant residuals have a high nutritional value (protein and high energy) that it is possible can replace some of the poultry diets are especially Japanese quail. Today, the challenges of processing and consumption of these lesions occurring in modern industry would be confronting. Increasing costs, pressures, and problems associated with waste excretion, the need for re-evaluation and utilization of waste to livestock and poultry feed fortifies. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of restaurant residuals on performance of 300 layer Japanese quails. This experiment included 5 treatments, 4 replicates, and 15 quails in each from 10 to 18 weeks age in a completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments consist of basal diet including corn and soybean meal (without residual restaurants), and treatments 2, 3, 4 and 5, includes a basal diet containing 5, 10, 15 and 20% of restaurant residuals, respectively. There were no significant effect of restaurant residuals levels on body weight (BW), feed conversion ratio (FCR), percentage of egg production (EP), egg mass (EM) between treatments (P > 0/05). However, feed intake (FI) of 5% restaurant residual was significantly higher than 20% treatment (P < 0/05). Egg weight (EW) was also higher by receiving 20% restaurant residuals compared with 10% in this respect (P < 0/05). Yolk weight (YW) of treatments containing 10 and 20% of the residual restaurant were significantly higher than control (P < 0/05). Eggs white weight (EWW) of 20 and 5% restaurants residual treatments were significantly increased compared by 10% (P < 0/05). Furthermore, EW, egg weight to shell surface area and egg surface area in 20% treatment were significantly higher than control and 10% treatment (P < 0/05). The overall results of this study have shown that restaurant residuals for laying quail diets in levels of 10 and 15 percent could be replaced with a part of the quail ration without any adverse effect.

Keywords: by-product, laying quail, performance, restaurant residuals

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Authors: Aneri Mehta, Krunal Mehta

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Financial administration is part of government which deals with collection, preservation and distribution of public funds, with the coordination of public revenue and expenditure, with the management of credit operation on behalf of the state and with the general control of the financial affairs of public households. The researcher has taken the prime body of the local self government viz. Municipal Corporation. However, the number of municipal corporations in India has rapidly increased in recent years. Countries 27% of the total population are living in urban area & in recent it increasing very fast. People are moving very fast from rural area to urban area. Their demand, awareness is increasing day by day. The Municipal Corporations render many services for the development of the urban area. Thus, researcher has taken a step to know the accounting practices of the municipal corporations of Gujarat state (AMC & BMC ). The research will try to show you the status of finance of municipal corporations. Article 243(w) of the constitution of India envisaged that the state government maybe, by law , endow the municipalities with such powers and authorities as may be necessary to enable them to function as institution of self government and such law may contain provision for devolution of powers and responsibilities upon municipalities subjects to such condition as may be specified there in with respect to (i) the peroration of plans for economic development and social justice and (ii) the performance of the function and the implementation of schemes as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to the matters listed in the twelfth schedule. The three tier structure of the Indian Government i.e. Union, State & Local Self Government is the scenario of the Indian constitution. Local Self Government performs or renders many services under the direct control of state government. They (local bodies) possess autonomy within its limited sphere, raise revenue through local taxation and spend its income on local services.

Keywords: financial administration, urban local bodies, local self government, constitution

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Authors: Scholastic Nangila Adeli, Francisca Mbutitia Ngithi

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Stigma is commonly associated with mental health patients and may act as a barrier to individuals who may seek or engage in treatment services. Stigmatization among university students is common whether they know someone with a mental health problem, or have a good knowledge and experience of mental health issues. The objective of this study was to establish the various barriers that prevent university students who have mental health challenges from seeking treatment and care. The study was a descriptive in nature where 320 respondents helped to establish the barriers to treatment or participation in mental health care among university students. A questionnaire was used to help establish the barriers and attitude towards mental illness among the respondents. Results from this study revealed that mental illnesses are common among university students and they are manifested in different forms like; anxiety and panic attacks, mood and eating disorders, Impulse control leading to gambling, alcohol and drug addictions, anger and depression leading to loneliness. Mental stigma (both social and self) was the major barrier with 62% of the respondents stating that social stigma was worse than self-stigma. This is because of the social discrimination towards the victim of mental challenges. On issues of attitude, 71% of the respondents said that they can never admit that they have a mental issue and would rather secretly seek clinical or psychological help for fear of being discriminated or excluded by peers. This view is informed by the societal belief that people with mental health challenges were dangerous (associating them with criminal behavior) and hard to socialize with or help. From the findings of this study, it is concluded that mental health problems are real among university students in Kenya and it is important for the university environment to minimize or eradicate stigma within the social circles. Stigma can be minimized or eradicated by creating awareness among university students and fostering social inclusion so that the students who have mental health challenges can experience a sense of belonging and acceptance hence build their self-esteem.

Keywords: disorders, impulse control, mental health problems, stigma

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Authors: Samira Kalantary, Zohre Saatzade

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Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are low-cost access networks built on cooperative routing over a backbone composed of stationary wireless routers. WMNs must deal with the highly unstable wireless medium. Thus, routing metrics and protocols are evolving by designing algorithms that consider link quality to choose the best routes. In this work, we analyse the state of the art in WMN metrics and propose taxonomy for WMN routing protocols. Performance measurements of a wireless mesh network deployed using various routing metrics are presented and corroborate our analysis.

Keywords: wireless mesh networks, routing protocols, routing metrics, bioinformatics

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Authors: Aleksandra Dragojlov

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Since the election of Aleksandar Vučić and the Progressives, Serbia has witnessed a slow decline in media freedom, which has been worse than in the 1990s. Although the government adopted a package of three laws in August 2014 to bring the media landscape up to European standards, the implementation of the laws has been limited and marginal, with the progressives engaging in fake compliance. The adoption of the new media strategy for 2020-2025 in 2020 has not led to genuine domestic reform and compliance with EU conditionality. In fact, the EU Commission and journalists’ associations in Serbia have criticised the decline in Serbia’s media freedom citing continued attacks on journalists and indirect political and economic control through advertising and project co-financing, which continue to be features of the Serbian media landscape. In the absence of clear and credible EU conditionality, the decline of media freedom is in the eye of the beholder, where the gap between public engagements with Serbian politicians and the critical stance of progress reports regarding the degradation of the media have enabled Serbian elites to exploit this ambiguity to continue their strategy of fake compliance vis-a-vis rule of law. This study used a mixed methods approach combining both primary and secondary sources with those semi-structured interviews via Zoom, email, and in person with EU and Serbian officials and journalists. Our findings add to the studies where the lack of clear and credible conditionality has allowed Serbia politicians to exploit them in a manner that would suit their own interests, finding new means to retain their control over the media. We argued and concluded that it is this discrepancy between public engagements with Serbia and the progress reports in the area of freedom of expression that has not led to genuine domestic media reforms in Serbia and instead allowed Serbian elites to engage in a strategy of fake and even non-compliance towards media freedom conditionality.

Keywords: media freedom, EU conditionality, Serbia, fake compliance, EU integration, Chapter 23, justice and fundamental rights

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Authors: Vivek Rangarajan, Kim G. Klarke

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With overpopulation threatening the world’s ability to feed itself, food production and protection has become a major issue, especially in developing countries. Almost one-third of the food produced for human consumption, around 1.3 billion tonnes, is either wasted or lost annually. Postharvest decay in particular constitutes a major cause of crop loss with about 20% of fruits and vegetables produced lost during postharvest storage, mainly due to fungal disease. Some of the major phytopathogenic fungi affecting postharvest fruit crops in South Africa include Aspergillus, Botrytis, Penicillium, Alternaria and Sclerotinia spp. To date control of fungal phytopathogens has primarily been dependent on synthetic chemical fungicides, but these chemicals pose a significant threat to the environment, mainly due to their xenobiotic properties and tendency to generate resistance in the phytopathogens. Here, an environmentally benign alternative approach to control postharvest fungal phytopathogens in perishable fruit crops has been presented, namely the application of a bio-fungicide in the form of lipopeptide molecules. Lipopeptides are biosurfactants produced by Bacillus spp. which have been established as green, nontoxic and biodegradable molecules with antimicrobial properties. However, since the Bacillus are capable of producing a large number of lipopeptide homologues with differing efficacies against distinct target organisms, the lipopeptide production conditions and strategy are critical to produce the maximum lipopeptide concentration with homologue ratios to specification for optimum bio-fungicide efficacy. Process conditions, and their impact on Bacillus lipopeptide production, were evaluated in fully instrumented laboratory scale bioreactors under well-regulated controlled and defined environments. Factors such as the oxygen availability and trace element and nitrate concentrations had profound influences on lipopeptide yield, productivity and selectivity. Lipopeptide yield and homologue selectivity were enhanced in cultures where the oxygen in the sparge gas was increased from 21 to 30 mole%. The addition of trace elements, particularly Fe2+, increased the total concentration of lipopeptides and a nitrate concentration equivalent to 8 g/L ammonium nitrate resulted in optimum lipopeptide yield and homologue selectivity. Efficacy studies of the culture supernatant containing the crude lipopeptide mixture were conducted using phytopathogens isolated from fruit in the field, identified using genetic sequencing. The supernatant exhibited antifungal activity against all the test-isolates, namely Lewia, Botrytis, Penicillium, Alternaria and Sclerotinia spp., even in this crude form. Thus the lipopeptide product efficacy has been confirmed to control the main diseases, even in the basic crude form. Future studies will be directed towards purification of the lipopeptide product and enhancement of efficacy.

Keywords: antifungal efficacy, biocontrol, lipopeptide production, perishable crops

Procedia PDF Downloads 390

Authors: Danny Alexander R. Moreno, Gustavo L. Sartorello, Yuli Andrea P. Bermudez, Richard R. Lobo, Ives Claudio S. Bueno, Augusto H. Gameiro

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Meat production is a significant sector for Brazil's economy; however, the agricultural segment has suffered censure regarding the negative impacts on the environment, which consequently results in climate change. Therefore, it is essential the implementation of nutritional strategies that can improve the environmental performance of livestock. This research aimed to estimate the environmental impact and profitability of the use of yerba mate extract (Ilex paraguariensis) as an additive in the feeding of feedlot lamb. Thirty-six castrated male lambs (average weight of 23.90 ± 3.67 kg and average age of 75 days) were randomly assigned to four experimental diets with different levels of inclusion of yerba mate extract (0, 1, 2, and 4 %) based on dry matter. The animals were confined for fifty-three days and fed with 60:40 corn silage to concentrate ratio. As an indicator of environmental impact, the carbon footprint (CF) was measured as kg of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂-eq) per kg of body weight produced (BWP). The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as methane (CH₄) generated from enteric fermentation, were calculated using the sulfur hexafluoride gas tracer (SF₆) technique; while the CH₄, nitrous oxide (N₂O - emissions generated by feces and urine), and carbon dioxide (CO₂ - emissions generated by concentrate and silage processing) were estimated using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology. To estimate profitability, the gross margin was used, which is the total revenue minus the total cost; the latter is composed of the purchase of animals and food. The boundaries of this study considered only the lamb fattening system. The enteric CH₄ emission from the lamb was the largest source of on-farm GHG emissions (47%-50%), followed by CH₄ and N₂O emissions from manure (10%-20%) and CO₂ emission from the concentrate, silage, and fossil energy (17%-5%). The treatment that generated the least environmental impact was the group with 4% of yerba mate extract (YME), which showed a 3% reduction in total GHG emissions in relation to the control (1462.5 and 1505.5 kg CO₂-eq, respectively). However, the scenario with 1% YME showed an increase in emissions of 7% compared to the control group. In relation to CF, the treatment with 4% YME had the lowest value (4.1 kg CO₂-eq/kg LW) compared with the other groups. Nevertheless, although the 4% YME inclusion scenario showed the lowest CF, the gross margin decreased by 36% compared to the control group (0% YME), due to the cost of YME as a food additive. The results showed that the extract has the potential for use in reducing GHG. However, the cost of implementing this input as a mitigation strategy increased the production cost. Therefore, it is important to develop political strategies that help reduce the acquisition costs of input that contribute to the search for the environmental and economic benefit of the livestock sector.

Keywords: meat production, natural additives, profitability, sheep

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Authors: Panagiotis Platanitis

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Purpose: This research paper seeks to review the empirical studies in the field of expatriate adjustment in East Asia in order to produce a thematic understanding of the current adjustment challenges, thus enabling practitioners to enrich their knowledge. Background: Learning to live, work, and function in a country and culture vastly different from that of one’s upbringing can pose some unique challenges in terms of adaptation and adjustment. This has led to a growing body of research about the adjustment of expatriate workers. Adjustment itself has been posited as a three-dimensional construct; work adjustment, interaction adjustment and general or cultural adjustment. Methodology: This qualitative systematic review has been conducted on all identified peer-reviewed empirical studies related to expatriate adjustment in East Asia. Five electronic databases (PsychInfo, Emerald, Scopus, EBSCO and JSTOR) were searched to December 2015. Out of 625 identified records, thorough evaluation for eligibility resulted in 15 relevant studies being subjected to data analysis. The quality of the identified research was assessed according to the Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a Variety of Fields. The data were analysed by means of thematic synthesis for systematic reviews of qualitative research. Findings: Data analysis revealed five key themes. The themes developed were: (1) personality traits (2) types of adjustment, (3) language, (4) culture and (5) coping strategies. Types of adjustment included subthemes such as: Interaction, general, work, psychological, sociocultural and cross-cultural adjustment. Conclusion: The present review supported previous literature on the different themes of adjustment and it takes the focus from work and general adjustment to the psychological challenges and it introduces the psychological adjustment. It also gives a different perspective about the use of cross-cultural training and the coping strategies expatriates use when they are abroad. This review helps counselling psychologists to understand the importance of a multicultural approach when working with expatriates and also to be aware of what expatriates might face when working and living in East Asia.

Keywords: adjustment, counselling psychology, East Asia, expatriates

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Authors: Iyd Eqqab Maree, Habil Jurgen Bast

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Vibration control of machines and structures incorporating viscoelastic materials in suitable arrangement is an important aspect of investigation. The use of viscoelastic layers constrained between elastic layers is known to be effective for damping of flexural vibrations of structures over a wide range of frequencies. The energy dissipated in these arrangements is due to shear deformation in the viscoelastic layers, which occurs due to flexural vibration of the structures. Multilayered cantilever sandwich beam like structures can be used in aircrafts and other applications such as robot arms for effective vibration control. These members may experience parametric instability when subjected to time dependant forces. The theory of dynamic stability of elastic systems deals with the study of vibrations induced by pulsating loads that are parametric with respect to certain forms of deformation. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the dynamic stability of a three layered symmetric sandwich beam (Drone Aircraft wings ) subjected to an end periodic axial force . Equations of motion are derived using finite element method (MATLAB software). It is observed that with increase in core thickness parameter fundamental buckling load increases. The fundamental resonant frequency and second mode frequency parameter also increase with increase in core thickness parameter. Fundamental loss factor and second mode loss factor also increase with increase in core thickness parameter. Increase in core thickness parameter enhances the stability of the beam. With increase in core loss factor also the stability of the beam enhances. There is a very good agreement of the experimental results with the theoretical findings.

Keywords: steel cantilever beam, viscoelastic material core, loss factor, transition region, MATLAB R2011a

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Authors: Hannele Laaksonen, Seija Nyqvist, Kari Nurmes

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Objectives: In the year 2011 the City of Vaasa started to develop know-how in the technology and the introduction of services for aging people in cooperation with the Polytechnic Novia University of Applied Sciences and VAMK, University of Applied Sciences. The project´s targets included: to help elderly people to maintain their ability to function, to provide them social and physical activities, to prevent their social exclusion, to decrease their feelings of loneliness and insecurity and to develop their technical know-how. Methods: The project was built based on open source code, tailor-made service system and user interface for the elderly living at home and their families, based on the users´ expectations and experiences of services. Activation-TV®-project vas carried out 1.4.2011-31.3.2014. A pilot group of eight elderly persons, who were living at home, were selected to the project. All necessary technical means as well as guidance and teaching equipment were provided to the pilot group. The students of University of Applied Sciences (VAMK, Novia) and employees of Center of Ageing were made all programs to the Activation-TV®. The project group were interviewed after and before intervention. The data were evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results: The built service includes a video library, a group room for interactive programs and a personal room for bilateral meetings and direct shipment. The program is bilingual and produced in both national languages. The Activation TV® reduced elderly peoples´ (n=8) feelings of emptiness, added mental well-being and quality of life with social contacts. Relatives felt, that they were able to get in to older peoples´ everyday life with Activation TV®. Discussion: The built application was tailored to the model that has not been developed elsewhere in Finland. This model can be copied from one server to another and thus transferred to other municipalities but the program requires its own personnel system management and maintenance as well as program production cooperation between the different actors. This service can be used for the elderly who are living at home without dementia.

Keywords: mental well-being, quality of life, elderly people, Finland

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Ezman Fitriansyah, Lestari Diah Restu, Wawan

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Adaro coal mine in South Kalimantan-Indonesia maintains catchment area of approximately 15,000 Ha for its mine operation. As an open pit surface coal mine with high erosion rate, the mine water in Adaro coal mine contains high TSS that needs to be treated before being released to rivers. For the treatment process, Adaro operates 21 Settling Ponds equipped with combination of physical and chemical system to separate solids and water to ensure the discharged water complied with regional environmental quality standards. However, the sludge created from the sedimentation process reduces the settling ponds capacity gradually. Therefore regular maintenance activities are required to recover and maintain the ponds' capacity. Trucking system and direct dredging had been the most common method to handle sludge in Adaro. But the main problem in applying these two methods is excessive area required for drying pond construction. To solve this problem, Adaro implements an alternative method called Geotube®. The principle of Geotube® method is the sludge contained in the Settling Ponds is pumped into Geotube® containers which have been designed to release water and retain mud flocks. During the pumping process, an amount of flocculants chemicals are injected into the sludge to form bigger mud flocks. Due to the difference in particle size, the mud flocks are settled in the container whilst the water continues to flow out through the container’s pores. Compared to the trucking system and direct dredging method, this method provides three advantages: space required to operate, increasing of overburden waste dump volume, and increasing of water treatment process speed and quality. Based on the evaluation result, Geotube® method only needs 1:8 of space required by the other methods. From the geotechnical assessment result conducted by Adaro, the potential loss of waste dump volume capacity prior to implementation of the Geotube® method was 26.7%. The water treatment process of TSS in well maintained ponds is 16% more optimum.

Keywords: geotube, mine water, settling pond, sludge handling, wastewater treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: A. O. Oluwajobi, O. A. Falusi, N. A. Zubbair, T. Owoeye, F. Ladejobi, M. C. Dangana, A. Abubakar

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The technology of mobile telephony has positively enhanced human life and reports on the bio safety of the radiation from their antennae have been contradictory, leading to serious litigations and violent protests by residents in several parts of the world. The crave for more information, as requested by WHO in order to resolve this issue, formed the basis for this study on the effect of the radiation from 900 MHz GSM antenna on the DNA of Hibiscus sabdariffa. Seeds of H. sabdariffa were raised in pots placed in three replicates at 100, 200, 300 and 400 metres from the GSM antennae in three selected test locations and a control where there was no GSM signal. Temperature (˚C) and the relative humidity (%) of study sites were measured for the period of study (24 weeks). Fresh young leaves were harvested from each plant at two, eight and twenty-four weeks after sowing and the DNA extracts were subjected to RAPD-PCR analyses. There were no significant differences between the weather conditions (temperature and relative humidity) in all the study locations. However, significant differences were observed in the intensities of radiations between the control (less than 0.02 V/m) and the test (0.40-1.01 V/m) locations. Data obtained showed that DNA of samples exposed to rays from GSM antenna had various levels of distortions, estimated at 91.67%. Distortions occurred in 58.33% of the samples between 2-8 weeks of exposure while 33.33% of the samples were distorted between 8-24 weeks exposure. Approximately 8.33% of the samples did not show distortions in DNA while 33.33% of the samples had their DNA damaged twice, both at 8 and at 24 weeks of exposure. The study showed that radiation from the 900 MHz GSM antenna is potent enough to cause distortions to DNA of H. sabdariffa even within 2-8 weeks of exposure. DNA damage was also independent of the distance from the antenna. These observations would qualify emissions from GSM mast as environmental hazard to the existence of plant biodiversities and all life forms in general. These results will trigger efforts to prevent further erosion of plant genetic resources which have been threatening food security and also the risks posed to living organisms, thereby making our environment very safe for our existence while we still continue to enjoy the benefits of the GSM technology.

Keywords: damage, DNA, GSM antenna, radiation

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Authors: Shu-Lien Chou, Chung-Feng Liu

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Self-health management of chronic illnesses plays an important part in chronic illness treatments. However, various kinds of health information (health education materials) which government or healthcare institutions provide for patients may not achieve the expected outcome. One of the critical reasons affecting patients’ use intention could be patients’ perceived Information overload regarding the health information. This study proposed an extended model of Theory of Planned Behavior, which integrating perceived information overload as another construct to explore patients’ use intention of the health information for self-health management. The independent variables are attitude, subject norm, perceived behavior control and perceived information overload while the dependent variable is behavior intention to use the health information. The cross-sectional study used a structured questionnaire for data collection, focusing on the chronic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), who are the potential users of the health information, in a medical center in Taiwan. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of the basic information distribution of the questionnaire respondents, and the Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation model to study the reliability and construct validity for testing our hypotheses. A total of 110 patients were enrolled in this study and 106 valid questionnaires were collected. The PLS analysis result indicates that the patients’ perceived information overload of health information contributes the most critical factor influencing the behavioral intention. Subjective norm and perceived behavioral control of TPB constructs had significant effects on patients’ intentions to use health information also, whereas the attitude construct did not. This study demonstrated a comprehensive framework, which extending perceived information overload into TPB model to predict patients’ behavioral intention of using heath information. We expect that the results of this study will provide useful insights for studying health information from the perspectives of academia, governments, and healthcare providers.

Keywords: chronic patients, health information, information overload, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Hein Win Zaw

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Today, the advanced strategies for aircraft production technology potentially need the higher performance, and on the other hand, those strategies and engineering technologies should meet considerable process and reduce of production costs. Thus, professionals who are working in these scopes are attempting to develop new materials to improve the manufacturability of designs, the creation of new technological processes, tools and equipment. This paper discusses about the research on structural changes in plastic deformation during rotary expansion and crimp of pipes. Pipelines are experiencing high pressure and pulsating load. That is why, it is high demands on the mechanical properties of the material, the quality of the external and internal surfaces, preserve cross-sectional shape and the minimum thickness of the pipe wall are taking into counts. In the manufacture of pipes, various operations: distribution, crimping, bending, etc. are used. The most widely used at various semi-products, connecting elements found the process of rotary expansion and crimp of pipes. In connection with the use of high strength materials and less-plastic, these conventional techniques do not allow obtaining high-quality parts, and also have a low economic efficiency. Therefore, research in this field is relevantly considerable to develop in advanced. Rotary expansion and crimp of pipes are accompanied by inhomogeneous plastic deformation, which leads to structural changes in the material, causes its deformation hardening, by this result changes the operational reliability of the product. Parts of the tube obtained by rotary expansion and crimp differ by multiplicity of form and characterized by various diameter in the various section, which formed in the result of inhomogeneous plastic deformation. The reliability of the coupling, obtained by rotary expansion and crimp, is determined by the structural arrangement of material formed by the formation process; there is maximum value of deformation, the excess of which is unacceptable. The structural state of material in this condition is determined by technological mode of formation in the rotary expansion and crimp. Considering the above, objective of the present study is to investigate the structural changes at different levels of plastic deformation, accompanying rotary expansion and crimp, and the analysis of stress concentrators of different scale levels, responsible for the formation of the primary zone of destruction.

Keywords: plastic deformation, rolling of tubes, crimping of tubes, structural changes

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Athanasia Eirini Zarkadi, Despoina Balli, Olga Elpis Kolokitha

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Objective: Impacted maxillary canines are a frequent condition and a common reason for patients seeking orthodontic treatment. Their simultaneous presence with dental anomalies raises a question about their possible connection. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of maxillary impacted canines with dental anomalies. Materials and Methods: Files of 874 patients from an orthodontic private practice in Greece were evaluated for the presence of maxillary impacted canines. From this sample, a group of 97 patients (39 males and 58 females) with at least one impacted maxillary canine were selected and consisted of the study group (canine impaction group) of this study. This group was compared to a control group of 97 patients (42 males and 55 females) that was created by random selection from the initial sample without maxillary canine impaction. The impaction diagnosis was made from the panoramic radiographs and confirmed from the surgery. The association between maxillary canine impaction and dental anomalies was examined with the chi-square test. A classification tree was created to further investigate the relations between impaction and dental anomalies. The reproducibility of diagnoses was assessed by re-examining the records of 25 patients two weeks after the first examination. Results: The found associated anomalies were cone-shaped upper lateral incisors and infraocclusion of deciduous molars. There is a significant increase in the prevalence of 12,4% of distal displacement of the unerupted mandibular second premolar in the canine impaction group compared to the control group that was 7,2%. The classification tree showed that the presence of a cone-shaped maxillary lateral incisor gave rise to the probability of an impacted canine to 83,3%. Conclusions: The presence of cone-shaped maxillary lateral incisors and infraocclusion of deciduous molars can be considered valuable early risk indicators for maxillary canine impaction.

Keywords: cone-shaped maxillary lateral incisors, dental anomalies, impacted canines, infraoccluded deciduous molars

Procedia PDF Downloads 131