Search results for: soft wheat

Authors: S. Al-Khalasi, O. Mahgoub, H. Yaakub

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This study evaluated the use of raw or processed Prosopis juliflora (Meskit) pods as a major ingredient in a formulated ration to provide an alternative non-conventional concentrate for livestock feeding in Oman. Dry Meskit pods were reduced to lengths of 0.5- 1.0 cm to ensure thorough mixing into three diets. Meskit pods were subjected to two types of treatments; roasting and soaking. They were roasted at 150оC for 30 minutes using a locally-made roasting device (40 kg barrel container rotated by electric motor and heated by flame gas cooker). Chopped pods were soaked in tap water for 24 hours and dried for 2 days under the sun with frequent turning. The Meskit-pod-based diets (MPBD) were formulated and pelleted from 500 g/kg ground Meskit pods, 240 g/kg wheat bran, 200 g/kg barley grain, 50 g/kg local dried sardines and 10 g/kg of salt. Twenty four 10 months-old intact Omani male lambs with average body weight of 27.3 kg (± 0.5 kg) were used in a feeding trial for 84 days. They were divided (on body weight basis) and allocated to four diet combination groups. These were: Rhodes grass hay (RGH) plus a general ruminant concentrate (GRC); RGH plus raw Meskit pods (RMP) based concentrate; RGH plus roasted Meskit pods (ROMP) based concentrate; RGH plus soaked Meskit pods (SMP) based concentrate Daily feed intakes and bi-weekly body weights were recorded. MPBD had higher contents of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) than the GRC. Animals fed various types of MPBD did not show signs of ill health. There was a significant effect of feeding ROMP on the performance of Omani sheep compared to RMP and SMP. The ROMP fed animals had similar performance to those fed the GRC in terms of feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR).This study indicated that roasted Meskit pods based diet may be used instead of the commercial concentrate for feeding Omani sheep without adverse effects on performance. It offers a cheap alternative source of protein and energy for feeding Omani sheep. Also, it might help in solving the spread impact of Meskit trees, maintain the ecosystem and helping in preserving the local tree species.

Keywords: growth, Meskit, Omani sheep, Prosopis juliflora

Procedia PDF Downloads 476

Authors: Rizgar Abdullah Sabir Jaf, Bayan Sedeeq Azeez Hussin, Dler Moosa Ahmed Karim

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Presently, economic and technological developments are growing faster in an unparalleled way. The result of that is innovative changing a great deal of a great deal of assumption, concepts, transactions, and high of competition between companies all over the world. The title of the thesis is one of the subjects that get large concerns in the financial and business world in the present time. That is because many competitive firms have appeared in the regional and global markets and the rapid changes that covered all fields of life. The subjects of the dissertation have a special importance in making the firm's businesses succeed in general and the industrial firms especially. Thus, the basic purpose of this study is to determine whether target costing is used in the costing application process in their customer expectation, profit margin, cost and price determination, cost reduction and management operations. In today’s intensely competitive and highly volatile business environment, consistent development of low cost and high quality products meeting the functional requirements is a key to a company's survival. Companies continuously strive to reduce the costs while still producing quality products to stay ahead in the competition. Many companies have turned to target costing to achieve this objective. The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship (at the significance level less than 0.05) between the factors competitive advantage and management accounting techniques in the firm's sample study.

Keywords: strategic information, target cost, competitive advantage, Iraqi soft drink firms

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Samira K. Al-Nasser, Siamak Noroozi, Roya Haratian, Adrian Harvey

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A total knee replacement (TKR) is a surgical procedure necessary when there is severe pain and/or loss of function in the knee. Surgeons balance the load in the knee and the surrounding soft tissue by feeling the tension at different ranges of motion. This method can be unreliable and lead to early failure of the joint. The ideal kinematics and load distribution have been debated significantly based on previous biomechanical studies surrounding both TKRs and normal knees. Intraoperative sensors like VERASENSE and eLibra have provided a method for the quantification of the load indicating a balanced knee. A review of the literature written about intraoperative sensors and tension/stability of the knee was done. Studies currently debate the quantification of the load in medial and lateral compartments specifically. However, most research reported that following a TKR the medial compartment was loaded more heavily than the lateral compartment. In several cases, these results were shown to increase the success of the surgery because they mimic the normal kinematics of the knee. In conclusion, most research agrees that an intercompartmental load differential of between 10 and 20 pounds, where the medial load was higher than the lateral, and an absolute load of less than 70 pounds was ideal. However, further intraoperative sensor development could help improve the accuracy and understanding of the load distribution on the surgical outcomes in a TKR. A reduction in early revision surgeries for TKRs would provide an improved quality of life for patients and reduce the economic burden placed on both the National Health Service (NHS) and the patient.

Keywords: intraoperative sensors, joint load forces, kinematics, load balancing, and total knee replacement

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Min Jindong, Wang Mingxia

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With the widespread use of artificial intelligence in life, computer vision, especially deep convolutional neural network models, has developed rapidly. With the increase of the complexity of the real visual target detection task and the improvement of the recognition accuracy, the target detection network model is also very large. The huge deep neural network model is not conducive to deployment on edge devices with limited resources, and the timeliness of network model inference is poor. In this paper, knowledge distillation is used to compress the huge and complex deep neural network model, and the knowledge contained in the complex network model is comprehensively transferred to another lightweight network model. Different from traditional knowledge distillation methods, we propose a novel knowledge distillation that incorporates multi-faceted features, called M-KD. In this paper, when training and optimizing the deep neural network model for target detection, the knowledge of the soft target output of the teacher network in knowledge distillation, the relationship between the layers of the teacher network and the feature attention map of the hidden layer of the teacher network are transferred to the student network as all knowledge. in the model. At the same time, we also introduce an intermediate transition layer, that is, an intermediate guidance layer, between the teacher network and the student network to make up for the huge difference between the teacher network and the student network. Finally, this paper adds an exploration module to the traditional knowledge distillation teacher-student network model. The student network model not only inherits the knowledge of the teacher network but also explores some new knowledge and characteristics. Comprehensive experiments in this paper using different distillation parameter configurations across multiple datasets and convolutional neural network models demonstrate that our proposed new network model achieves substantial improvements in speed and accuracy performance.

Keywords: object detection, knowledge distillation, convolutional network, model compression

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: E. Ghoneim, C. Narron, I. Iqbal, I. Hassan, E. Hammam

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The scarcity of water is becoming a more prominent threat, especially in areas that are already arid in nature. Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is an arid country, its southwestern region offers a high variety of botanical landscapes, many of which are wooded forests, while the eastern and northern regions offer large areas of groundwater irrigated farmlands. At present, some parts of KSA, including forests and farmlands, have witnessed protracted and severe drought due to change in rainfall pattern as a result of global climate change. Such prolonged drought that last for several consecutive years is expected to cause deterioration of forested and pastured lands as well as cause crop failure in the KSA (e.g., wheat yield). An analysis to determine vegetation drought vulnerability and severity during the growing season (September-April) over a fourteen year period (2000-2014) in KSA was conducted using MODIS Terra imagery. The Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the Temperature Condition Index (TCI), derived from the Land Surface Temperature (LST) data was extracted from MODIS Terra Images. The VCI and TCI were then combined to compute the Vegetation Health Index (VHI). The VHI revealed the overall vegetation health for the area under investigation. A preliminary outcome of the modeled VHI over KSA, using averaged monthly vegetation data over a 14-year period, revealed that the vegetation health condition is deteriorating over time in both naturally vegetated areas and irrigated farmlands. The derived drought map for KSA indicates that both extreme and severe drought occurrences have considerably increased over the same study period. Moreover, based on the cumulative average of drought frequency in each governorate of KSA it was determined that Makkah and Jizan governorates to the east and southwest, witness the most frequency of extreme drought, whereas Tabuk to the northwest, exhibits the less extreme drought frequency. Areas where drought is extreme or severe would most likely have negative influences on agriculture, ecosystems, tourism, and even human welfare. With the drought risk map the kingdom could make informed land management decisions including were to continue with agricultural endeavors and protect forested areas and even where to develop new settlements.

Keywords: drought, vegetation health condition, TCI, Saudi Arabia

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Emad A. Mohammed

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The concept of hydraulic flow units (HFU) has been used for decades in the petroleum industry to improve the prediction of permeability. This concept is strongly related to the flow zone indicator (FZI) which is a function of the reservoir rock quality index (RQI). Both indices are based on reservoir porosity and permeability of core samples. It is assumed that core samples with similar FZI values belong to the same HFU. Thus, after dividing the porosity-permeability data based on the HFU, transformations can be done in order to estimate the permeability from the porosity. The conventional practice is to use the power law transformation using conventional HFU where percentage of error is considerably high. In this paper, neural network technique is employed as a soft computing transformation method to predict permeability instead of power law method to avoid higher percentage of error. This technique is based on HFU identification where Amaefule et al. (1993) method is utilized. In this regard, Kozeny and Carman (K–C) model, and modified K–C model by Hasan and Hossain (2011) are employed. A comparison is made between the two transformation techniques for the two porosity-permeability models. Results show that the modified K-C model helps in getting better results with lower percentage of error in predicting permeability. The results also show that the use of artificial intelligence techniques give more accurate prediction than power law method. This study was conducted on a heterogeneous complex carbonate reservoir in Oman. Data were collected from seven wells to obtain the permeability correlations for the whole field. The findings of this study will help in getting better estimation of permeability of a complex reservoir.

Keywords: permeability, hydraulic flow units, artificial intelligence, correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Yasser F. Hassan

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Social networking involves use of an online platform or website that enables people to communicate, usually for a social purpose, through a variety of services, most of which are web-based and offer opportunities for people to interact over the internet, e.g. via e-mail and ‘instant messaging’, by analyzing the voting behavior and ratings of judges in a popular comments in social networks. While most of the party literature omits the electorate, this paper presents a model where elites and parties are emergent consequences of the behavior and preferences of voters. The research in artificial intelligence and psychology has provided powerful illustrations of the way in which the emergence of intelligent behavior depends on the development of representational structure. As opposed to the classical voting system (one person – one decision – one vote) a new voting system is designed where agents with opposed preferences are endowed with a given number of votes to freely distribute them among some issues. The paper uses ideas from machine learning, artificial intelligence and soft computing to provide a model of the development of voting system response in a simulated agent. The modeled development process involves (simulated) processes of evolution, learning and representation development. The main value of the model is that it provides an illustration of how simple learning processes may lead to the formation of structure. We employ agent-based computer simulation to demonstrate the formation and interaction of coalitions that arise from individual voter preferences. We are interested in coordinating the local behavior of individual agents to provide an appropriate system-level behavior.

Keywords: voting system, rough sets, multi-agent, social networks, emergence, power indices

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: Roman Medvedev, Andrey Yakshin, Konstantin Nikolaev, Sergey Yakunin, Fred Bijkerk

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Multilayer structures are used as spectroscopic elements in fluorescence analysis. These serve the purpose of analyzing soft x-ray emission spectra of materials upon excitation by x-rays or electrons. The analysis then allows quantitative determination of the x-ray emitting elements in the materials. Shorter wavelength range for this application, below 2.5nm, can be covered by using short period multilayers, with a period of 2.5 nm and lower. Thus the detrimental effect on the reflectivity of morphological roughness between materials of the multilayers becomes increasingly pronounced. Ion beam polishing was previously shown to be effective in reducing roughness in some multilayer systems with Si. In this work, we explored W/Si multilayers with the period of 2.5 nm. Si layers were polishing by Ar ions, employing low energy ions, 100 and 80 eV, with the etched Si thickness being in the range 0.1 to 0.5 nm. CuK X-ray diffuse scattering measurements revealed a significant reduction in the diffused scattering in the polished multilayers. However, Grazing Incidence CuK X-ray showed only a marginal reduction of the overall roughness of the systems. Still, measurements of the structures with Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray scattering indicated that the vertical correlation length of roughness was strongly reduced in the polished multilayers. These results together suggest that polishing results in the reduction of the vertical propagation of roughness from layer to layer, while only slightly affecting the overall roughness. This phenomenon can be explained by ion-induced surface roughening inherently present in the ion polishing methods. Alternatively, ion-induced densification of thin Si films should also be considered. Finally, the reflectivity of 40% at 0.84 nm at grazing incidence of 9 degrees has been obtained in this work for W/Si multilayers. Analysis of the obtained results is expected to lead to further progress in reflectance.

Keywords: interface roughness, ion polishing, multilayer structures, W/Si

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Authors: R. Vasireddi, J. Kruse, M. Vakili, M. Trebbin

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Here we present a gas dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN) based microfluidic jetting devices for spinning of nano/microfibers. The device is fabricated by soft lithography techniques and is based on the principle of a GDVN for precise three-dimensional gas focusing of the spinning solution. The nozzle device is used to produce micro/nanofibers of a perfluorinated terpolymer (THV), which were collected on an aluminum substrate for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The influences of air pressure, polymer concentration, flow rate and nozzle geometry on the fiber properties were investigated. It was revealed that surface properties are controlled by air pressure and polymer concentration while the diameter and shape of the fibers are influenced mostly by the concentration of the polymer solution and pressure. Alterations of the nozzle geometry had a negligible effect on the fiber properties, however, the jetting stability was affected. Round and flat fibers with differing surface properties from craters, grooves to smooth surfaces could be fabricated by controlling the above-mentioned parameters. Furthermore, the formation of surface roughness was attributed to the fast evaporation rate and velocity (mis)match between the polymer solution jet and the surrounding air stream. The diameter of the fibers could be tuned from ~250 nm to ~15 µm. Because of the simplicity of the setup, the precise control of the fiber properties, access to biocompatible nanofiber fabrication and the easy scale-up of parallel channels for high throughput, this method offers significant benefits compared to existing solution-based fiber production methods.

Keywords: gas dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN) principle, microfluidic device, spinning, uniform nanofibers

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Authors: Addisu Tadesse Sahile, Tennyson Mgutshini

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Background: Periodontal disease is a common, complex, inflammatory disease characterized by the destruction of tooth-supporting soft and hard tissues of the periodontium and a major public health problem across developed and developing countries. Objectives: The study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of periodontal disease and associated factors among diabetes patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2018. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 388 diabetes patients selected by systematic random sampling method from March to May 2018. The study was conducted at two conveniently selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa. Data were collected with pre-tested, structured and translated questionnaire then entered to SPSS version 23 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics as a summary, in line with chi-square and binary logistics regression to identify factors associated with periodontal disease, were applied. A 95% CI with a p-value less than 5% was used as a level of significance. Results: Ninety-one percent (n=353) of participants had periodontal disease while oral examination was done in six regions. While only 9% (n=35) of participants were free of periodontal disease. The number of tooth brushings per day, correct techniques of brushing, malocclusion, and fillings that are defective were associated with periodontal disease at p < 0.05. Conclusion and recommendation: A higher prevalence of periodontal disease among diabetes patient was observed. The frequency of tooth brushing, correct techniques of brushing, malocclusion and defective fillings were associated with periodontal disease. Emphasis has to be given to oral health of diabetes patients by every concerned body so as to control the current higher burden of periodontal disease in diabetes.

Keywords: periodontal disease, risk factors, diabetes mellitus, Addis Ababa

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Jing Li, Li Jin, Fulin Wang, Jie Dong, Wenjiang Ding

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Mg-Li dual-phase alloy exhibits better combination of yield strength and elongation than the Mg single-phase alloy. To exploit its deformation behavior, the deformation mechanisms of Mg-2Gd alloy with or without Li addition, i.e., Mg-6Li-2Gd and Mg-2Gd alloy, have been studied at both microscale and mesoscale. EBSD-assisted slip trace, twin trace, and texture evolution analysis show that the α-Mg phase of Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy exhibits different microscopic deformation mechanisms with the Mg-2Gd alloy, i.e., mainly prismatic slip in the former one, while basal slip, prismatic slip and extension twin in the latter one. Further Schmid factor analysis results attribute this different intra-phase deformation mechanisms to the higher critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) value of extension twin and lower ratio of CRSSprismatic /CRSSbasal in the α-Mg phase of Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy. Additionally, Li addition can induce dual-phase microstructure in the Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy, leading to the formation of hetero-deformation induced (HDI) stress at the mesoscale. This can be evidenced by the hysteresis loops appearing during the loading-unloading-reloading (LUR) tensile tests and the activation of multiple slip activity in the α-Mg phase neighboring β-Li phase. The Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy shows higher yield strength is due to the harder α-Mg phase arising from solid solution hardening of Li addition, as well asthe strengthening of soft β-Li phase by the HDI stress during yield stage. Since the strain hardening rate of Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy is lower than that of Mg-2Gd alloy after ~2% strain, which is partly due to the weak contribution of HDI stress, Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy shows no obvious increase of uniform elongation than the Mg-2Gd alloy.But since the β-Li phase is effective in blunting the crack tips, the Mg-6Li-2Gd alloy shows ununiform elongation, which, thus, leads to the higher total elongation than the Mg-2Gd alloy.

Keywords: Mg-Li-Gd dual-phase alloy, phase boundary, HDI stress, dislocation slip activity, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: MyungGu Yeo, JongHan Ha, Gi-Hoon Yang, JaeYoon Lee, SeungHyun Ahn, Hyeongjin Lee, HoJun Jeon, YongBok Kim, Minseong Kim, GeunHyung Kim

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Tissue engineering is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary research area that may provide options for treating damaged tissues and organs. As a promising technique for regenerating various tissues, this technology requires biomedical scaffolds, which serve as an artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) to support neotissue growth. Electrospun micro/nanofibers have been used widely in tissue engineering because of their high surface-area-to-volume ratio and structural similarity to extracellular matrix. However, low mechanical sustainability, low 3D shape-ability, and low cell infiltration have been major limitations to their use. In this work, we propose new hybrid scaffolds interlayered with cell-laden electrospun micro/nano fibers and poly(caprolactone) microstructures. Also, we applied various concentrations of alginate and electric field strengths to determine optimal conditions for the cell-electrospinning process. The combination of cell-laden bioink (2 ⅹ 10^5 osteoblast-like MG63 cells/mL, 2 wt% alginate, 2 wt% poly(ethylene oxide), and 0.7 wt% lecithin) and a 0.16 kV/mm electric field showed the highest cell viability and fiber formation in this process. Using these conditions and PCL microstructures, we achieved mechanically stable hybrid scaffolds. In addition, the cells embedded in the fibrous structure were viable and proliferated. We suggest that the cell-embedded hybrid scaffolds fabricated using the cell-electrospinning process may be useful for various soft- and hard-tissue regeneration applications.

Keywords: bioink, cell-laden scaffold, micro/nanofibers, poly(caprolactone)

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: Vivian A. Galindo, Maria C. Galvis, Jaime R. Obando, Alvaro Guarin

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In Colombia, most of the roads of the national tertiary road network are unpaved roads with granular rolling surface. These are very important ways of guaranteeing the mobility of people, products, and inputs from the agricultural sector from the most remote areas to urban centers; however, it has not paid much attention to the search for alternatives to avoid the occurrence of deteriorations that occur shortly after its commissioning. In recent years, geosynthetics have been used satisfactorily to reinforce unpaved roads on soft soils, with geotextiles and geogrids being the most widely used. The interaction of the geogrid and the aggregate minimizes the lateral movement of the aggregate particles and increases the load capacity of the material, which leads to a better distribution of the vertical stresses, consequently reducing the vertical deformations in the subgrade. Taking into account the above, the research aimed at the mechanical behavior of the granular material, used in unpaved roads with and without the presence of geogrids, from the development of laboratory tests through the loaded wheel tester (LWT). For comparison purposes, the reinforced conditions and traffic conditions to which this type of material can be accessed in practice were simulated. In total four types of geogrids, were tested with granular material; this means that five test sets, the reinforced material and the non-reinforced control sample were evaluated. The results of the numbers of load cycles and depth rutting supported by each test body showed the influence of the properties of the reinforcement on the mechanical behavior of the assembly and the significant increases in the number of load cycles of the reinforced specimens in relation to those without reinforcement.

Keywords: geosynthetics, load wheel tester LWT, tertiary roads, unpaved road, vertical deformation

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Authors: Khadija Rafi, Neha Jamil, Laiba Khalid, Meerub Nawaz, Mahwish Farooq

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Speech articulation is a complex process to produce intelligible sounds with the help of precise movements of various structures within the vocal tract. All these structures in the vocal tract are named as articulators, which comprise lips, teeth, tongue, and palate. These articulators work together to produce a range of distinct phonemes, which happen to be the basis of language. It starts with the airstream from the lungs passing through the trachea and into oral and nasal cavities. When the air passes through the mouth, the tongue and the muscles around it form such coordination it creates certain sounds. It can be seen when the tongue is placed in different positions- sometimes near the alveolar ridge, soft palate, roof of the mouth or the back of the teeth which end up creating unique qualities of each phoneme. We can articulate vowels with open vocal tracts, but the height and position of the tongue is different every time depending upon each vowel, while consonants can be pronounced when we create obstructions in the airflow. For instance, the alphabet ‘b’ is a plosive and can be produced only by briefly closing the lips. Articulation disorders can not only affect communication but can also be a hurdle in speech production. To improve articulation skills for such individuals, doctors often recommend speech therapy, which involves various kinds of exercises like jaw exercises and tongue twisters. However, this disorder is more common in children who are going through developmental articulation issues right after birth, but in adults, it can be caused by injury, neurological conditions, or other speech-related disorders. In short, speech articulation is an essential aspect of productive communication, which also includes coordination of the specific articulators to produce different intelligible sounds, which are a vital part of spoken language.

Keywords: linguistics, speech articulation, speech therapy, language learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Anshuman Srivastava, Shiv Singh, Sheelendra Pratap Singh

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A simple, sensitive and effective gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method was developed for simultaneous analysis of multi pesticide residues (organophosphate, organochlorines, synthetic pyrethroids and herbicides) in food commodities using phenolic resin based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) as reversed-dispersive solid phase extraction (r-DSPE) sorbent in modified QuEChERS (Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged Safe) method. The acetonitrile-based QuEChERS technique was used for the extraction of the analytes from food matrices followed by sample cleanup with ACFs instead of traditionally used primary secondary amine (PSA). Different physico-chemical characterization techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area analysis were employed to investigate the engineering and structural properties of ACFs. The recovery of pesticides and herbicides was tested at concentration levels of 0.02 and 0.2 mg/kg in different commodities such as cauliflower, cucumber, banana, apple, wheat and black gram. The recoveries of all twenty-six pesticides and herbicides were found in acceptable limit (70-120%) according to SANCO guideline with relative standard deviation value < 15%. The limit of detection and limit of quantification of the method was in the range of 0.38-3.69 ng/mL and 1.26 -12.19 ng/mL, respectively. In traditional QuEChERS method, PSA used as r-DSPE sorbent plays a vital role in sample clean-up process and demonstrates good recoveries for multiclass pesticides. This study reports that ACFs are better in terms of removal of co-extractives in comparison of PSA without compromising the recoveries of multi pesticides from food matrices. Further, ACF replaces the need of charcoal in addition to the PSA from traditional QuEChERS method which is used to remove pigments. The developed method will be cost effective because the ACFs are significantly cheaper than the PSA. So the proposed modified QuEChERS method is more robust, effective and has better sample cleanup efficiency for multiclass multi pesticide residues analysis in different food matrices such as vegetables, grains and fruits.

Keywords: QuEChERS, activated carbon fibers, primary secondary amine, pesticides, sample preparation, carbon nanomaterials

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Authors: Radovan Čobanović, Milica Rankov Šicar

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In the modern bakery various supplements are used to attract more customers. Analyzed sample decorative toppings are consisted of flax seeds, corn grits, oatmeal, wheat flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, soybean sprouts are used as decoration for the bread. Our goal was to extend the product shelf life based on the analysis. According to the plan of sustainability it was defined that sample which already had expired shelf life had to be stored for 5 months at 25°C and analyzed every month from the day of reception until spoilage occurs. Samples were subjected to sensory analysis (appearance, odor, taste, color, and consistency), microbiological analysis (Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Enterobacteriaceae and moulds) and chemistry analysis (free fatty acids (as oleic), peroxide number, water content and degree of acidity). All analyses were tested according: sensory analysis ISO 6658, Salmonella spp ISO 6579, Bacillus cereus ISO 7932, Enterobacteriaceae ISO 21528-2 and moulds ISO 21527-1, free fatty acids (as oleic) ISO 660, peroxide number ISO 3960, water content and degree of acidity Serbian ordinance on the methods of chemical analysis. After five months of storage, there had been the first changes concerning of sensory properties of the product. In the sample were visible worms and creations which look like spider nets linking seeds and cereal. The sample had smell on rancid and pungent. The results of microbiological analysis showed that Salmonella spp was not detected, Enterobacteriaceae were < 10 cfu/g during all 5 months but in fifth month Bacillus cereus and moulds occurred 700 cfu/g and 1500 cfu/g respectively. Chemical analyzes showed that the water content did not exceed a maximum of 14%. The content of free fatty acids ranged from 3.06 to 3.26%, degree of acidity from 3.69 to 4.9. With increasing degree of acidity the degradation of the sample and the activity of microorganisms was increased which led to the formation of acid reaction which is accompanied by the appearance of unpleasant odor and taste. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that this product can have longer shelf life for four months than shelf life which is already defined because there are no changes that could have influence on decision of customers when purchase of this product is concerned.

Keywords: bakery products, extension of shelf life, sensory and chemical and microbiological analyses, sustainability

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Authors: Indu Chauhan, Bhupendra S. Butola, Paritosh Mohanty

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It is very well known that properties of material changes as their size approach to nanoscale level due to the high surface area to volume ratio. However, in last few decades, a tenet ‘structure dictates function’ is quickly being adopted by researchers working with nanomaterials. The design and exploitation of nanoparticles with tailored shape and size has become one of the primary goals of materials science researchers to expose the properties of nanostructures. To date, various methods, including soft/hard template/surfactant assisted route hydrothermal reaction, seed mediated growth method, capping molecule-assisted synthesis, polyol process, etc. have been adopted to synthesize the nanostructures with controlled size and shape and monodispersity. However controlling the shape and size of nanoparticles is an ultimate challenge of modern material research. In particular, many efforts have been devoted to rational and skillful control of hierarchical and complex nanostructures. Thus in our research work, role of cellulose in manipulating the nanostructures has been discussed. Nanoparticles of α-Fe₂O₃ (diameter ca. 15 to 130 nm) were immobilized on the cellulose fiber surface by a single step in situ hydrothermal method. However, nanoflakes of α-FeOOH having thickness ca. ~25 nm and length ca. ~250 nm were obtained by the same method in absence of cellulose fibers. A possible nucleation and growth mechanism of the formation of nanostructures on cellulose fibers have been proposed. The covalent bond formation between the cellulose fibers and nanostructures has been discussed with supporting evidence from the spectroscopic and other analytical studies such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The role of cellulose in manipulating the nanostructures has been discussed.

Keywords: cellulose fibers, α-Fe₂O₃, α-FeOOH, hydrothermal, nanoflakes, nanoparticles

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Authors: Guncel Ozturk

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Background: Rhinoplasty is the most commonly performed cosmetic operations in plastic surgery. Maneuvers used in rhinoplasty lead to a firm and stiff nasal tip in the early postoperative months. This unnatural stability of the nose may easily cause distortion in the reshaped nose after severe trauma. Moreover, a firm nasal tip may cause difficulties in performing activities such as touching, hugging, or kissing. Decreasing the stability and increasing the mobility of the nasal tip would help rhinoplasty patients to avoid these small but relatively important problems. Methods: We use delivery approach with closed rhinoplasty and changed positions of intranasal incisions to reach a dynamic and mobile nose. A total of 203 patients who had undergone primary closed rhinoplasty in private practice were inspected retrospectively. Posterior strut flap that was connected with connective tissues in the caudal of septum and the medial crurals were formed. Cartilage of the posterior strut graft was left 2 mm thick in the distal part of septum, it was cut vertically, and the connective tissue in the distal part was preserved. Results: The median patient age was 24 (range 17-42) years. The median follow-up period was15.2 (range12-26) months. Patient satisfaction was assessed with the 'Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation' (ROE) questionnaire. Twelve months after surgeries, 87.5% of patients reported excellent outcomes, according to ROE. Conclusion: The soft tissue connections between that segment and surrounding structures should be preserved to save the support of the tip while having a mobile tip at the same time with this method. These modifications would access to a mobile, non-stiff, and dynamic nasal tip in the early postoperative months. Further and prospective studies should be performed for supporting this method.

Keywords: closed rhinoplasty, dynamic, mobile, tip

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Authors: L. Sun, O. Bloom, K. Anderson

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The medial and lateral sural artery perforator flaps (MSAP and LSAP, respectively) are two recently described flaps that are less commonly used in lower limb trauma reconstructive surgeries compared to flaps such as the anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap or the gastrocnemius flap. The LSAP flap has several theoretical benefits over the MSAP, including the ability to be sensate and being more easily manoeuvred into position as a local flap for coverage of lateral knee or leg defects. It is less commonly used in part due to a lack of documented studies of the anatomical reliability of the perforator, and an unquantified average length of the pedicle used for microsurgical anastomosis (if used as a free flap) or flap rotation (if used as a pedicled flap). It has been shown to have significantly lower donor site morbidity compared to other flaps such as the ALT, due to the decreased need for intramuscular dissection and resulting in less muscle loss at the donor site. 11 cadaveric lower limbs were dissected, with a mean of 1.6 perforators per leg, with an average pedicle length of 45mm to the sural artery and 70mm to the popliteal artery. While the majority of perforating arteries lay close to the midline (average of 19mm lateral to the midline), there were patients whose artery was significantly lateral and would have been likely injured by the initial incision during an operation. Adding to the literature base of documented LSAP dissections provides a greater understanding of the anatomical basis of these perforator flaps, and the authors hope this will establish them as a more commonly used and discussed option when managing complicated lower limb trauma requiring soft tissue reconstruction.

Keywords: cadaveric, dissection, lateral, perforator flap, sural artery, surface anatomy

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Tauhidur Rahman, Kasturi Bhuyan

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In the present paper, Ground Response Analysis at the Rukni irrigation project has been thoroughly investigated. Surface level seismic hazard is mainly used by the practical Engineers for designing the important structures. Surface level seismic hazard can be obtained accounting the soil factor. Structures on soft soil will show more ground shaking than the structure located on a hard soil. The Surface level ground motion depends on the type of soil. Density and shear wave velocity is different for different types of soil. The intensity of the soil amplification depends on the density and shear wave velocity of the soil. Rukni irrigation project is located in the North Eastern region of India, near the Dauki fault (550 Km length) which has already produced earthquakes of magnitude (Mw= 8.5) in the past. There is a probability of a similar type of earthquake occuring in the future. There are several faults also located around the project site. There are 765 recorded strong ground motion time histories available for the region. These data are used to determine the soil amplification factor by incorporation of the engineering properties of soil. With this in view, three of soil bore holes have been studied at the project site up to a depth of 30 m. It has been observed that in Soil bore hole 1, the shear wave velocity vary from 99.44 m/s to 239.28 m/s. For Soil Bore Hole No 2 and 3, shear wave velocity vary from 93.24 m/s to 241.39 m/s and 93.24m/s to 243.01 m/s. In the present work, surface level seismic hazard at the project site has been calculated based on the Probabilistic seismic hazard approach accounting the soil factor.

Keywords: Ground Response Analysis, shear wave velocity, soil amplification, surface level seismic hazard

Procedia PDF Downloads 549

Authors: Armin Eilaghi, Ahmad Sedaghat, Hayder Abdurazzak, Fadi Alkhatib, Shiva Sadeghi, Martin Jaeger

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A summary of experiences, recommendations, and lessons learnt in the application of PBL in the course of “Engineering Skills” in the School of Engineering at Australian College of Kuwait in Kuwait is presented. Four projects were introduced as part of the PBL course “Engineering Skills” to 24 students in School of Engineering. These students were grouped in 6 teams to develop their skills in 10 learning outcomes. The learning outcomes targeted skills such as drawing, design, modeling, manufacturing and analysis at a preliminary level; and also some life line learning and teamwork skills as these students were exposed for the first time to the PBL (project based learning). The students were assessed for 10 learning outcomes of the course and students’ feedback was collected using an anonymous survey at the end of the course. Analyzing the students’ feedbacks, it is observed that 67% of students preferred multiple smaller projects than a single big project because it provided them with more time and attention focus to improve their “soft skills” including project management, risk assessment, and failure analysis. Moreover, it is found that 63% of students preferred to work with different team members during the course to improve their professional communication skills. Among all, 62% of students believed that working with team members from other departments helped them to increase the innovative aspect of projects and improved their overall performance. However, 70% of students counted extra time needed to regenerate momentum with the new teams as the major challenge. Project based learning provided a suitable platform for introducing students to professional engineering practice and meeting the needs of students, employers and educators. It was found that students achieved their 10 learning outcomes and gained new skills developed in this PBL unit. This was reflected in their portfolios and assessment survey.

Keywords: project-based learning, engineering skills, undergraduate engineering, problem-based learning

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Authors: Tania Vazquez, Aida Huerta

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Way to get our food has changed over the time, and it is a daily necessity. Nowadays we found a lot of problems involved with the economy, environment, and society, which affect the agrifood system. Some problems as construction of big cities and growing population have been increasing demand food directly. Due to the countryside are far away from the city, another alternative systems have come from, such as Urban Agriculture (UA). UA system offers food production into the cities, products with characteristics as quality, healthy and good prices, close to the customers, recycling culture and the promote environmental education. Last years in Mexico City urban gardens have taken strongly in various politic delegations. There are establishment’s public and private initiatives. Moreover, these places have had different issues like low income, many activities, few workers, low production, lack of training and advice, devaluation of your work and low sales, all these shortcomings generate the devaluation of their work. The aim of this paper is to evaluate a business plan in Mexico City´s urban gardens that contribute to ensuring economic, environmental and social sustainability; to adjust business plan for this places so that they reach viability over time. As a part of soft systems methodology developed of Peter Checkland, we interviewed owners of urban gardens and we found that recurring problem was lack planning manager activities and a master plan about their business. We evaluate the business plan based on “Ten principles in sustainable food value chain development” proposed for Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). With this study was possible measure, understand and improve performance of business plan in the three pillars of the sustainability in addition to this it allowed us to fit in with the needs of urban gardens.

Keywords: business plan, Mexico City, urban agriculture, urban gardens

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Yumeho Obata, Mariko Era, Takayoshi Kawahara, Takahide Kanyama, Hiroshi Morita

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Dermatophagoides farinae is major mite allergens in indoors. D. farinae is often swarm over powder products (e.g. wheat flour), because it feeds on starch or protein that are included in them. Eating powder products which are mixed D.farinae causes various allergic symptoms. Therefore, the creation of food additive agents with high safety and control of mite effect is required. Fatty acid salts and spices are known that have pesticidal activities. This study describes the effects of fatty acid salts and spices against Dermatophagoides farinae. Materials and Methods: Potassium salts of 9 fatty acids (C4:0, C6:0, C8:0, C10:0, C12:0, C14:0, C18:1, C18:2, C18:3) were prepared by mixing the fatty acid with the appropriate amount of KOH solution to a concentration of 175 mM and pH 10.5. C12Cu and C12Zn were selected as other fatty acid salts. Cayenne pepper, habanero, Japanese pepper, mustard, jalapeno pepper, curry aroma and cinnamon were selected as spices. D. farina, have been cultured in laboratory. To rear the mites, double-soled dishes containing of sterilized food were put on the big plastic container (30.0 × 20.0 × 20.0cm) which had 100% ammonium nitrate solution in the bottom. Plastic container was placed on incubator at 25 °C and 64 % relative humidity (RH) under dark condition. Sterilized food composed of dried bonito flakes and dried yeast (Ebios), 1:1 by weight. The antiproliferative method, sample and medium culture were mixed in double-soled dish and kept at 25 °C and 64 % RH. Decrease rates were determined 1 week and 4 week after treatment under microscope. D. farina was considered to be dead if appendages did not move when prodded with a pin. Results and Conclusions: The results show that the fatty acids potassium showed no antiproliferative effects against D. farinae. On the other hand, Japanese pepper, mustard, curry aroma and cinnamon were effective to decrease propagative rate (over 80 %) after treatment for 1 week against D. farina. Japanese pepper, curry aroma and cinnamon were effective to decrease propagative rate (approximately 100 %) after treatment for 4 weeks against D. farina. Especially, Japanese pepper and cinnamon showed the fasted and the most consecutive antiproliferative effects. These results indicate that Japanese pepper and cinnamon have high antiproliferative effects against D. farina and suggest spices will be used as a food additive agent.

Keywords: fatty acid salts, spices, antiproliferative effects, dermatophagoides farinae

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Rishab Das, Arnab Banerjee, Bappaditya Manna

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Mono-pile foundations are often used in soft soils in order to support heavy mega-structures, whereby often these deep footings may undergo dynamic excitation due to many causes like earthquake, wind or wave loads acting on the superstructure, blasting, and unbalanced machines, etc. A comprehensive analytical study is performed to study the dynamics of the mono-pile system embedded in cohesion-less soil. The soil is considered homogeneous and visco-elastic in nature and is analytically modeled using complex springs. Considering the N number of the elements of the pile, the final global stiffness matrix is obtained by using the theories of the spectral element matrix method. Further, statically condensing the intermediate internal nodes of the global stiffness matrix results to a smaller sub matrix containing the nodes experiencing the external translation and rotation, and the stiffness and damping functions (impedance functions) of the embedded piles are determined. Proper plots showing the variation of the real and imaginary parts of these impedance functions with the dimensionless frequency parameter are obtained. The plots obtained from this study are validated by that provided by Novak,1974. Further, the dynamic analysis of the resonator impregnated pile is proposed within this study. Moreover, with the aid of Wood's 1g laboratory scaling law, a proper scaled-down resonator-pile model is 3D printed using PLA material. Dynamic analysis of the scaled model is carried out in the time domain, whereby the lateral loads are imposed on the pile head. The response obtained from the sensors through the LabView software is compared with the proposed theoretical data.

Keywords: mono-pile, visco-elastic, impedance, LabView

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Authors: Mohamed ElMasry, Ahmad Ragheb, Tareq AbdelAziz, Mohamed Ghazy

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Choosing the suitable infrastructure system is becoming more challenging with the increase in demand for heavier structures contemporarily. This is the case where piled raft foundations have been widely used around the world to support heavy structures without extensive settlement. In the latter system, piles are rigidly connected to the raft, and most of the load goes to the soil layer on which the piles are bearing. In spite of that, when soil profiles contain thicker soft clay layers near the surface, or at relatively shallow depths, it is unfavorable to use the rigid piled raft foundation system. Consequently, the disconnected piled raft system was introduced as an alternative approach for the rigidly connected system. In this system, piles are disconnected from the raft using a cushion of soil, mostly of a granular interlayer. The cushion is used to redistribute the stresses among the piles and the subsoil. Piles are also used to stiffen the subsoil, and by this way reduce the settlement without being rigidly connected to the raft. However, the seismic loading effect on such disconnected foundation systems remains a problem, since the soil profiles may include thick clay layers which raise risks of amplification of the dynamic earthquake loads. In this paper, the effects of seismic behavior on the connected and disconnected piled raft systems are studied through a numerical model using Midas GTS NX Software. The study concerns the soil-structure interaction and the expected behavior of the systems. Advantages and disadvantages of each foundation approach are studied, and a comparison between the results are presented to show the effects of using disconnected piled raft systems in highly seismic zones. This was done by showing the excitation amplification in each of the foundation systems.

Keywords: soil-structure interaction, disconnected piled-raft, risks, seismic zones

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Atiya Mahmood, Mubasharah Hanif, Ghazala Butt, Mehwish Zahoor Ahmed

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Acne vulgaris affects millions of adults.Despite extensive research, its food related etiology remains elusive. Objective:To assess the correlation between dietary intake and acne through a case-control survey of 300,15-25 year old respondents living in Pakistan. 50 acne patients and 150 age-and ethnicity-matched controls completed a questionnaire.Cases and controls were separated using SPSS-22 and univariate analysis was performed using the chi-square test. p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. We used adjusted odds ratios to assess the strength of associations with 95% confidence intervals. Most of the respondents were females(91.3%).Most(48.7%)acne patients were 20-25 yearsold.Acne severity was mild in 50%,moderate in 34%,severe in14%and very severe in 2%.Frequent low-fat foods(p<0.001)(OR=3.22),fat intake(p=0.03)(OR = 1.629),sweet snacks i.e. biscuits and candies etc. (p=0.013) (OR=1.9254), soft drinks(p= 0.045)(OR= 1.9091),butter(p<0.001) (OR= 1.8185),dairy products(p=0.043)(OR=0.624),salty foods(p= 0.011)(OR=1.961),chocolate (p=0.028)(OR=1.669), were associated with increased acne risk.No association was found with consumption of fried foods, desserts, fruit juices, raw fruit, fast food, vegetables, cheese, soy products, salt, and corn. Increased butter and chocolate consumption were linked to more severe forms of acne(p=0.049 and p=0.005 respectively).Most respondents (n=218) considered themselves to have healthy eating habits, indicating they were not educated about the nutritional aspects of acne treatment.Certain food item intake was significantly higher in acne patients to give an association between the two. Further studies must be conducted to develop a causative relationship. Nutrition aawareness is critical to reduce acne.

Keywords: correlation between dietary components and acne, dietary components, acne, nutrition

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Martina Čapková

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Today, it is essential to ensure effective protection of cultivated cereal crops against fungal pathogens, which are one of the main factors limiting the yield and quality of cereal crops worldwide. The economic impact of losses caused by the emergence of resistant pathogen populations to fungicides is significant and it is therefore essential to seek effective strategies to protect against the establishment and emergence of resistant populations. In this study, the susceptibility analysis of fungal pathogens to different fungicidal agents was carried out. The results showed variability in the efficacy of fungicidal agents against the pathogens and suggest the need to reconsider the use of certain agents in crop protection. The efficacy of a total of five fungicidal active ingredients (fluxapyroxad, azoxystrobin, fenpicoxamid, prothioconazole, mefentrifluconazole) was tested at different concentrations on a total of 236 isolates of the pathogens Monographella nivalis, Oculimacula yallundae, Zymoseptoria tritici and Ramularia collo-cygni. The hypothesis of this work, based on the assumption of the existence of variation in the susceptibility of pathogens to fungicides, was confirmed. The aim was to determine the level of susceptibility of the selected fungal pathogen isolates of cereal crops to commonly used fungicidal agents. The fungicide with the highest proportion of individuals showing lower susceptibility (EC50 > 0.5 µg/ml) was azoxystrobin. The EC50 value refers to the effective concentration of the fungicidal agent inhibiting mycelial growth by 50%. Most of the Monographella nivalis isolates (94.83%) showed resistance to azoxystrobin, while they did not show resistance to prothioconazole and only 6.78% of the isolates were resistant to fenpicoxamide. Isolates of the pathogen Oculimacula yallundae showed resistance neither to prothioconazole nor to fluxapyroxad. The pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici showed the highest level of variability in fungicide resistance, with isolates showing no resistance to fenpicoxamide, while 85.51% of the isolates showed resistance to azoxystrobin. The pathogen Ramularia collo-cygni showed the highest level of resistance to all the fungicidal active ingredients tested. Overall, the study provides important insights for optimising cereal crop protection strategies and reducing the risk of fungal pathogen resistance to fungicides. However, it is necessary to continuously monitor the occurrence of resistant isolates in pathogen populations and to investigate new control methods and adapt them to changing agricultural conditions.

Keywords: wheat, barley, diseases, protection, fungicides, fungicide resistance, monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 17

Authors: Bicky Agarwal, Ambika Behl, Rajiv Kumar, Ashish Dhamaniya

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India ranks second for having the largest road network in the world after the United States (U.S.). According to the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), the U.S. produced about 94.6 million tons of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in 2021. Despite the benefits of RAP usage, it is not widely adopted in many countries, including India. Rising asphalt binder costs and environmental concerns have spurred interest in using RAP material in asphalt mixtures. However, increasing RAP content may have adverse effects on certain characteristics of asphalt mixtures, such as cracking resistance. Cracking is a common pavement issue that affects the lifespan and durability of hot-mix asphalt pavements. Assessing cracking resistance is crucial in pavement design. Various laboratory tests and performance indicators are utilized to evaluate cracking resistance. This study aims to use the Texas Overlay Tester (TOT) to assess the impact of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) on the cracking resistance of Bituminous Concrete (BC-II) mixes. Following the Marshall Mix Design method, asphalt mixes with RAP contents of 0% (Control), 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% were prepared and tested at their Optimum Binder Content (OBC). The ITS results showed that the control mix had an ITS value of 1.2 MPa, with slight decreases observed in mixes containing up to 60% RAP, although these changes were not statistically significant (p=0.538>0.05). The TSR tests indicated that all mixes exceeded the minimum requirement of 80%. The Texas Overlay Test (TOT) was used to evaluate cracking performance and revealed that higher RAP contents had a negative impact on fatigue resistance. The 50% RAP mix exhibited the highest CFE, indicating that it has the best resistance to crack propagation despite having a lower number of cycles to failure. All mixes were categorized as falling into the Soft-crack-resistant quadrant, indicating their ability to resist crack propagation while being more susceptible to crack initiation.

Keywords: RAP, BC-II, HMA, TOT

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Authors: Gulnaz Erkomaishvili

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Introduction: The pandemic and the current economic crisis have created problems for entrepreneurship and, therefore for start-up entrepreneurs. The paper presents the challenges of start-up entrepreneurs in Georgia in the time of pandemic and the analysis of the state economic policy measures. Despite many problems, the study found that in 54.2% of start-ups surveyed under the pandemic, innovation opportunities were growing. It can be stated that the pandemic was a good opportunity to increase the innovative capacity of the enterprise. 52% of the surveyed start-up entrepreneurs managed to adapt to the current situation and increase the sale of their products/services through remote channels. As for the assessment of state support measures by start-up entrepreneurs, a large number of Georgian start-ups do not assess the measures implemented by the state positively. Methodology: The research process uses methods of analysis and synthesis, quantitative and qualitative, interview/survey, grouping, relative and average values, graphing, comparison, data analysis, and others. Main Findings: Studies have shown that for the start-up entrepreneurs, the main problem remains: inaccessible funding, workers' qualifications gap, inflation, taxes, regulation, political instability, inadequate provision of infrastructure, amount of taxes, and other factors. Conclusions: The state should take the following measures to support business start-ups: create an attractive environment for investment, availability of soft loans, creation of an insurance system, infrastructure development, increase the effectiveness of tax policy (simplicity of the tax system, clarity, optimal tax level ); promote export growth (develop strategy for opening up international markets, build up a broad marketing network, etc.).

Keywords: start-up entrepreneurs, startups, start-up entrepreneurs support programs, start-up entrepreneurs support economic policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Ibrahima Farikou, Kolontchang Gatchou Alberic Lionel, Tsiagadgui Jean Gustave, Ngo Yamben Marie-Ange, Handy Eone Daniel

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Introduction: It was in 1956 that Ilizarov pioneered the concept of osteogenesis in distraction by the device that bears his name to help produce bone and soft tissue regeneration and bone consolidation. This technique is not widely used in Africa where, however, its applications are numerous (loss of bone substances, congenital or acquired malformations). Our goal is to bring the indications of Ilizarov's device back to our practice conditions. Methods: Our study was conducted in 2 hospitals over a period of 20 years. For the retrospective phase, this study included all complete usable records of patients operated on in the Ilizarov external fixator department, and for the prospective phase, all patients operated on in the departments with complete usable records. Our sample was consecutive and not exhaustive. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 23.0. Results: A total of 52 patients were reviewed. The average age of our patients was 14.7 years. The sex ratio was 1.6 in favor of men. The lower limb was the most affected (49), with a predominance of the tibia (62.4%). The average elongation was 6.4 cm. Traumatic acquired pathologies (delayed union, malunion) represented 60.6%. The mean time to union was seven months. Correction of the limb length discrepancy or filling of loss of bone substance was obtained in 75% of cases. Functionally, 80.8% of the patients treated had regained autonomy at the end of treatment, but in 17.3% of the patients, pain and limping persisted. Conclusion: This technique should be popularized in Africa because the benefit that would accrue to patients is invaluable and would be an attractive alternative to many amputations sometimes carried out in Africa by despair.

Keywords: ilizarov, external fixator, limb lengthening, bone regeneration, africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 103