Search results for: soil physical properties

Authors: Riina I. Bray, Yifan Wang, Nikolas Argiropoulos, Stephanie Robins, John Molot, Kelly Tragash, Lynn M. Marshall, Margaret E. Sears, Marie-Andrée Pigeon, Michel Gaudet, Pierre Auger, Emily Bélanger, Rohini Peris

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Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic medical condition characterized by intolerances to chemical substances. Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated health measures, people experiencing MCS (PEMCS) are at a heightened risk of environmental exposures associated with cleaners, disinfectants, and sanitizers. Little attention has been paid to the well-being of PEMCS in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: This study assesses the lived experiences of Canadian adults with MCS in relation to their living environment, access to healthcare, and levels of perceived social support before and during the pandemic. Methods: A total of 119 PEMCS completed an online questionnaire. McNemar Chi-Squared and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to evaluate if there were statistically significant changes in participants’ perception of their living environment, access to healthcare, and levels of social support before and after March 11, 2020. Results: Both positive and negative outcomes were noted. Participants reported an increase in exposure to disinfectants/sanitizers that entered their living environment (p<.001). There was a reported decrease in access to a family doctor during the pandemic (p<0.001). Although PEMCS experienced increased social isolation (p<0.001), they also reported an increase in understanding from family (p<0.029) and a decrease in stigma for wearing personal protective equipment (p<0.001). Conclusion: PEMCS reported experiencing: increased exposure to disinfectants or sanitizers, a loss of social support, and barriers in accessing healthcare during the pandemic. However, COVID-19 provided an opportunity to normalize the living conditions of PEMCS, such as wearing masks and social isolation. These findings can guide decision-makers on the importance of implementing nontoxic alternatives for cleaning and disinfection, as well as improving accommodation measures for PEMCS.

Keywords: covid-19, multiple chemical sensitivity, MCS, quality of life, social isolation, physical environment, healthcare

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Authors: Moksha Singh

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The proponents of deinstitutionalization, including Goffman and others, in their works, have regarded institutions (orphanages to be specific) as regulated social arrangements that negatively impinge upon a resident’s development. They, therefore, propose alternative forms of care. However, even after five decades of this critique institutionalization remains the only hope for children with social, physical and mental disabilities in larger parts of the developing world such as the conflict affected state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. This paper is based on the experiences of children who lost their parents to insurgency and counter-insurgency operations and the rehabilitation process. This study is qualitative in nature and adopts descriptive-cum-exploratory research design. Using theoretical sampling, six orphanages and thirty one child residents who lost their parent(s) in the course of the armed conflict in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India were studied in the year 2009-2010. It included interviews, observation, life histories and introspective accounts of the orphans and the management. The results were drawn through the qualitative examination, understanding, and interpretation of the primary and secondary data. The findings suggested that rehabilitation of these conflict-affected children is taking place mainly through residential child care facilities run by non-governmental bodies. Alternative forms of rehabilitation are not functional in the state because of various geopolitical and socio-cultural complexities. Even after five years of arriving at these conclusions and more, the state of Jammu and Kashmir still lacks a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for these children. This has further encouraged a mushroomed growth of legal and illegal institutions. Some of these institutions compromise the standard norms of functioning and yet remain the only hope for thousands rendered orphan. These institutions, therefore, are there to stay as other alternative forms of care are not available in the state. A comprehensive intervention policy is needed based on the cultural specifics of the state and incorporation of views of institutions offering aid, the state and the children. The paper introduces Small Group Residential Care Model through which it is expected that the restoration process can be made smooth and effective.

Keywords: armed conflict, children's rights, institutionalization, orphanages, rehabilitation

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Authors: Menna Brown, Tania Domun

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Digital health interventions are effective across a wide array of health conditions spanning physical health, lifestyle behaviour change, and mental health and wellbeing; furthermore, they are rapidly increasing in volume within both the academic literature and society as commercial apps continue to proliferate the digital health market. However, adherence and engagement to digital health interventions remains problematic. Technology-based personalised and tailored reminder strategies can support engagement to digital health interventions. Interventions which support individuals’ mental health and wellbeing are of critical importance in the wake if the COVID-19 pandemic. Student and young person’s mental health has been negatively affected and digital resources continue to offer cost effective means to address wellbeing at a population level. Develop a databank of digital co-produced tailored messages to support engagement to a range of digital health interventions including those focused on mental health and wellbeing, and lifestyle behaviour change. Qualitative research design. Participants discussed their views of health and wellbeing, engagement and adherence to digital health interventions focused around a 12-week wellbeing intervention via a series of focus group discussions. They worked together to co-create content following a participatory design approach. Three focus group discussions were facilitated with (n=15) undergraduate students at one Welsh university to provide an empirically derived, co-produced, databank of (n=145) tailored messages. Messages were explored and categorised thematically, and the following ten themes emerged: Autonomy, Recognition, Guidance, Community, Acceptance, Responsibility, Encouragement, Compassion, Impact and Ease. The findings provide empirically derived, co-produced tailored messages. These have been made available for use, via ‘ACTivate your wellbeing’ a digital, automated, 12-week health and wellbeing intervention programme, based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The purpose of which is to support future research to evaluate the impact of thematically categorised tailored messages on engagement and adherence to digital health interventions.

Keywords: digital health, engagement, wellbeing, participatory design, positive psychology, co-production

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Authors: Julian Jaegers, Siegmar Wirtz, Viktor Scherer

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Wood pellets belong to the most established trade formats of wood-based fuels. Especially, because of the transportability and the storage properties, but also due to low moisture content, high energy density, and the homogeneous particle size and shape, wood pellets are well suited for power generation in power plants and for the use in automated domestic firing systems. Before they are thermally converted, wood pellets pass various transport and storage procedures. There they undergo different mechanical impacts, which leads to pellet breakage and abrasion and to an increase in fines. The fines lead to operational problems during storage, charging, and discharging of pellets, they can increase the risk of dust explosions and can lead to pollutant emissions during combustion. In the current work, the dependence of the formation of fines caused by breakage during pneumatic transport is analyzed experimentally and numerically. The focus lies on the influence of conveying velocity, pellet loading, pipe diameter, and the shape of pipe components like bends or couplings. A test rig has been built, which allows the experimental evaluation of the pneumatic transport varying the above-mentioned parameters. Two high-speed cameras are installed for the quantitative optical access to the particle-particle and particle-wall contacts. The particle size distribution of the bulk before and after a transport process is measured as well as the amount of fines produced. The experiments will be compared with results of corresponding DEM/CFD simulations to provide information on contact frequencies and forces. The contribution proposed will present experimental results and report on the status of the DEM/CFD simulations. The final goal of the project is to provide a better insight into pellet breakage during pneumatic transport and to develop guidelines ensuring a more gentle transport.

Keywords: DEM/CFD-simulation of pneumatic conveying, mechanical impact on wood pellets during transportation, pellet breakage, pneumatic transport of wood pellets

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Authors: Houda Mnif Sellami, Toshi Umehara, Yuriko Yamazaki, Reie Matoba, Anna Sakashita, Yoshimi Abe, Hiroyuki Otake, Satoko Morita, Yoshitaka Akiyama, Chieko Morisawa, Eiji Omura, Masako Yazawa, Yoshie Koike, Mitsugu Tokunaga, Seiki Wada, Shinya Minagawa, Masafumi Matsuda

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Childhood obesity has been, for decades, a very serious public health problem worldwide. Some Asian countries have already reached alarming rates, as lifestyle changed dramatically in this part of the world. In many concerned countries, strategies including educational, promotional and awareness-raising activities have been established to combat obesity within kids. Objective: To estimate the obesity and also the underweight trends of Japanese kids from 5 to 17 years, by single year of age and by gender, over the last decade. Methods We used the data from the cross-sectional annual Nationwide surveys (National Nutrition Survey, Japan, Ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology) conducted from 2007 to 2016. We compared trajectories of obesity prevalence, with the data on sex and age groups. We also analyzed energy and macronutrients intakes of Japanese kids using Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare-Japan annual data, from 2007 to 2014. Results: From 2007 to 2016, Boys obesity was higher than Girls obesity for the over 6 YO participants. Both Boys and Girls obesity trends had 2 peaks of prevalence at (11-13 YO) and then at (15-16 YO). From 2007 to 2012, Kids obesity decreased considerably in both sex and all year of age; then obesity decline was more modest till 2016.On the other side, Kids underweight prevalence increased in both sexes. The macronutrients analyze couldn’t show an evident association between obesity trends and foods intake. Conclusion: Japanese kids’ obesity has been decreased since 2007, in opposition to some other countries reports. We didn’t find an observed association with food intake using Health Ministry data; we need further investigation to estimate energy intake, lifestyle and physical activity by year of age to know whether there is any possible relation.

Keywords: childhood, Japan, obesity, underweight

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Authors: Magy Atef Awad Attia

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The objective of this study was to study the effect of social stories on social interaction of students with autism. The sample was at level 5 student with autism, Another University Demonstration School student, who was diagnosed by the Physician as High Functioning Autism since he was able to read, write, calculate and was studying in inclusive classroom. However, he still had disability in social interaction to participate in social activity group and communication. He could not learn how to develop friendship or create relationship. He had inappropriate behavior in social context. He did not understand complex social situations. In addition, he did seemed to not know time and place. He was not able to understand feeling of oneself as well as the others. Consequently, he could not express his emotion appropriately. He did not understand or express his non-verbal language for communicating with friends. He lacked of common interest or emotion with nearby persons. He greeted inappropriately or was not interested in greeting. In addition, he did not have eye contact. He used inadequate language etc. He was elected by Purposive Sampling. His parents were willing to allow them to participate in this study. The research instruments were the lesson plan of social stories, and the picture book of social stories. The instruments used for data collection, were the social interaction evaluation of autistic students. This research was Experimental Research as One Group Pre-test, Post-test Design. For the Pre-test, the experiment was conducted by social stories. Then, the Post-test was implemented. The statistic used for data analysis. The research results were shown by scale. The results revealed that the autistic students taught by social stories indicated better social reaction after being taught by social stories.

Keywords: autism, autistic behavior, stability, harsh environments, techniques, thermal, properties, materials, applications, brittleness, fragility, disadvantages, bank, branches, profitability, setting prediction, effective target, measurement, evaluation, performance, commercial, business, sustainability, financial, system.

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Authors: Faiz N. K. Yusufi, Aquil Ahmed, Jamal Ahmad

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Diabetes in India is growing at an alarming rate and the complications caused by it need to be controlled. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the complications that will be discussed for prediction in this study. India has the second most number of diabetes patients in the world. To the best of our knowledge, there is no CHD risk score for Indian type 2 diabetes patients. Any form of CHD has been taken as the event of interest. A sample of 750 was determined and randomly collected from the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, J.N.M.C., A.M.U., Aligarh, India. Collected variables include patients data such as sex, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood sugar fasting (BSF), post prandial sugar (PP), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), smoking, alcohol habits, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), physical activity, duration of diabetes, diet control, history of antihypertensive drug treatment, family history of diabetes, waist circumference, hip circumference, medications, central obesity and history of CHD. Predictive risk scores of CHD events are designed by cox proportional hazard regression. Model calibration and discrimination is assessed from Hosmer Lemeshow and area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Overfitting and underfitting of the model is checked by applying regularization techniques and best method is selected between ridge, lasso and elastic net regression. Youden’s index is used to choose the optimal cut off point from the scores. Five year probability of CHD is predicted by both survival function and Markov chain two state model and the better technique is concluded. The risk scores for CHD developed can be calculated by doctors and patients for self-control of diabetes. Furthermore, the five-year probabilities can be implemented as well to forecast and maintain the condition of patients.

Keywords: coronary heart disease, cox proportional hazard regression, ROC curve, type 2 diabetes Mellitus

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Authors: Tania Ali Soomro

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In 1839, the British, after the annexation of the port city of Karachi, established a new urban centre consisting of various quarters and introduced new settlements there. These quarters were out of the boundaries of fortified native old area and now contain much of the oldest parts of the city and signify the colonial history of Karachi, in particular the Saddar Bazaar and the neighboring areas of Kharadar and Mithadar. These quarters bestow a mix of functional typology built in a hybrid form of construction - an adaptation of the western architectural attributes to regional requirements and characteristics. This approach is referred to as the Anglo Vernacular, Colonial or the Domestic Gothic architectural form. This research paper investigates the historical and architectural value of one such property: the Empress Market designed by then Municipal Architect, Ar. James Strachan in 1889 as a commemorative monument for the jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen Victoria; Empress of British India, at that time. This paper presents information on the present conservation status of the market building and highlights its role as a catalyst to the community interconnection. This building has survived to present day and functioned well, despite undergoing numerous transformations. A detailed analysis of the bio-degradation (Natural-Chemical dissolution of material) and the bio-deterioration (Manmade-Negative state change of the material) of the building, based on the examination of the prevailing causes of these bio-alterations is carried out, and is presented in form of a damage atlas containing both the categories of bio-alteration/ changes occurred to the building over the time. The research methodology followed in this paper starts with the available archival analysis, physical observation, photographic documentation, the statistics review and the interviews with the direct and indirect stakeholders. The results and findings of this research portray that these bio-alterations and changes are the essential part of the life cycle of Empress Market building which illustrate the historic development of the premise and therefore ought to be given due importance (depending upon their condition) while developing the conservation plan for the building.

Keywords: British colonial architecture, bio-alteration, bio-degradation, bio-deterioration, domestic gothic architectural form

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Authors: Obadiah Nwabueze

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Bodija market is classified as Central Business District (CBD) of Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State (Nigeria) because of socio economic activities, so Crime is a peculiar social issue that causes insecurity. The law enforcement agencies tasked with crime prevention and control such as the Nigerian Police have insufficient manpower, and a resultant effect is the emergence of Vigilante groups as citizen’s response to crime control and prevention (self-help). The research design adopted for this study is a case study design exploring Vigilante activities in Bodija Market. The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative approach, sources of data includes primary and secondary sources. A sample of 127 respondents randomly picked from the 4 sections of Bodija Market through questionnaire, comprising of 50 male and 77 females which alienates issues of gender bias in addition to the 4 in-depth interview, making a total of 131 respondents. Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. The descriptive statistics of simple frequency, percentage, charts and graphs were computed for the analysis. Finding in the study shows that the market vigilante is able to deter and disrupt criminal activities through strategic spiritual intelligence (SSI), use of charm and juju, physical presence in strategic locations vulnerable to crime occurrence. Findings in the study also show that vigilantes collaborate with the police by assisting them in surveillance, tracking down criminals, identifying black spots, acting as informants to the police, arrest and handover criminal to police. Their challenges include poor equipment, motivation, unhealthy rivalry between the vigilante and the police. The study recommends that the government should support vigilantes with logistics and training, including patrol vehicle and radio communication. The study also recommends the integration of the informal mechanism (juju and charm) of crime detection and prevention into the formal policing strategy, an office should be created in the force commands for use of SSI.

Keywords: central business district, CBD, charm, Juju, strategic spiritual intelligence, SSI

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Authors: Andriy Fedorenko

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Background Early closure of the open abdomen is a priority after damage control laparotomy to prevent retraction of fascial layers and prevent hernia formation that requires definitive repair at a later stage. This substantially reduces the complications associated with ventral hernia formation for up to a year after initial surgery. TopClosure® is an innovative method that employs stress-relaxation and mechanical creep for skin stretching. Its use enables the primary closure of large abdominal wall defects and mitigates large ventral hernia formation. Materials and Methods A 7-year-old girl presented with severe blast injury. She underwent initial laparotomy in a facility within the conflict zone and was transferred in a state of septic shock to our facility for further care. Her abdominal injuries included liver lacerations, multiple perforations of the transverse colon and ileum, and a 8x16cm oblique abdominal wall defect. Further damage control laparotomy was performed with primary suture of the colon and ileum and temporary closure of the abdomen using a Bagota bag. Twelve hours later, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) was applied to the abdominal wound after relook laparotomy. Five days later, TopClosure® was applied to the lower part of the wound incorporating NPWT to the upper wound. Results The patient suffered leak from the colonic suture line and required relaparotomy. TopClosure® abdominal closure was achieved after every laparotomy. Conclusion TopClosure® utilizes the viscoelastic properties of the skin achieving full closure of the abdominal wall (including the fascia and skin),eliminating the need for prolonged NPWT, skin graft, and delayed ventral hernia repair surgery.

Keywords: topclosure, abdominal wall defect, hernia, damage control

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: Raymond Puijk, Rachid Rassir, Inger N. Sierevelt, Anneke Spekenbrink-Sporen, Bart G. C. W. Pijls, Rob G. H. H. Nelissen, Peter A. Nolte

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Background: Among uncemented total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a wide variety of metal surface structures (MSS) and coatings exist to enhance implants' biological properties (i.e., bone ingrowth). This study explores the variety of MSS-coating combinations and compares their mid-long-term survivorships with cemented TKAs, by using data from the Dutch Arthroplasty Register. Methods: A total of 235,500 cemented and 11,132 uncemented primary TKAs with a median follow-up of 5.1 years were included. MSS-coating combinations were (1) Porous-uncoated (n=8986), (2) Beaded-hydroxyapatite (HA)(n=1093), (3) Matte-uncoated (n=846), (4) Matte-Titanium-nitride (TiN) (n=207). Five- and 10-year revision-free survival for all-cause revisions, and aseptic loosening of the tibial component, were calculated and compared by using Kaplan-Meier, Log-rank tests, and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. Results: Ten-year survival rates with all-cause revisions as an endpoint, were 94.2% for cement, and 94.7%, 96.3%, 92.1%, and 79.0% for porous-uncoated, beaded-HA, matte-uncoated, and Matte-TiN, respectively (p<0.01). Rates for aseptic loosening were 98.8% for cemented, and 98.7%, 99.8%, 97.2%, and 94.9% for the uncemented, respectively (p<0.01).The beaded-HA implants were half the risk for an all-cause revision compared to cemented implants (p<0.01). Matte-uncoated and matte-TiN implants were at more risk of an all-cause revision than cemented implants (p=0.01, p<0.01). Proportions of revisions for aseptic loosening were comparable among most groups. Conclusion: Based on Dutch registry data, four main MSS-coating combinations among uncemented TKAs were found. survivorships for all-cause revisions and aseptic release differed widely between groups. Beaded-HA and porous-uncoated implants had the best survival rates among the uncemented TKAs and were non-inferior to the cemented TKAs.

Keywords: total knee arthroplasty, cement, uncemented, cementless;, metal surface structure, coating

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Authors: Shalinawati Ramli, Khairani Omar, Nurul Azmawati Mohamed, Zarini Ismail, Nur Syahrina Rahim, Nurul Hayati Chamhuri

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Medical doctors’ work to prevent, diagnose, treat diseases, disorders, and injuries as well as prescribing medication. Many people are attracted to this profession because it gives them the opportunity to help others. Doctors’ improve quality of life by providing advice, healing physical ailments and performing complex surgeries. Medicine is a profession in which dedication to the wellbeing of others is of paramount importance. Balancing the requirements of work and personal life can be a struggle as the demand of work as a doctors’ is great. Perception and expectation of medical students regarding the lifestyle of doctors’ is important to ensure that they had made the right career choice. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the perception of pre-clinical students regarding doctors’ lifestyle. This study is a cross-sectional study involving all third-year pre-clinical medical students at University Sains Islam Malaysia. A total of 81 students participated in this study. Participants were given a set of questionnaire consisting of demographic data, open-ended questions on their perception on doctors’ lifestyle of working environment, salary expectation and family life. Thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. The participants comprised 69% female and their age range was between 20-21 years old. Majority of them were from middle-income families. Majority of the students perceived that the doctors’ lifestyle would be busy (72%). Approximately 30% of them expected that the time schedule will be unpredictable, 21% mentioned that sacrifice is required and 16% perceived it as a tiring job. Other themes emerged were ‘requiring high commitment’ (6%), challenging (7%) and risky (4%). With regards to salary expectation, 48% expected reasonable salary, 33% high salary and 12% described it as 'not worth compared to the workload'. Majority of them perceived that their family life will be restricted (62%) and time management is important (33%). Only 15% mentioned that family members have to sacrifice and spousal understanding is important (7%). About 10% of them perceived that their family will not be affected by their profession. Majority of the medical students perceived a busy doctors’ lifestyle, reasonable salary and restricted family life. However, there was a significant proportion of them who required counselling for better preparation of their future lifestyle.

Keywords: doctors lifestyle, pre-clinical students, perception, understanding

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Authors: Soumita Mitra, Santosh Kumar Sarkar

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Hooghly river estuary (HRE), situated at the north eastern part of Bay of Bengal has global significance due to its holiness. It is of immense importance to the local population as it gives perpetual water supply for various activities such as transportation, fishing, boating, bathing etc. to the local people who settled on both the banks of this estuary. This study was done to assess the dissolved and particulate trace metal in the estuary covering a stretch of about 175 Km. The water samples were collected from the surface (0-5 cm) along the salinity gradient and metal concentration were studied both in dissolved and particulate phase using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (GF-AAS) along some physical characteristics such as water temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity and total dissolved solids. Although much significant spatial variation was noticed but little enrichment was found along the downstream of the estuary. The mean concentration of the metals in the dissolved and particulate phase followed the same trend and as follows: Fe>Mn>Cr>Zn>Cu>Ni>Pb. The concentration of the metals in the particulate phase were much greater than that in dissolved phase which was also depicted from the values of the partition coefficient (Kd)(ml mg-1). The Kdvalues ranged from 1.5x105 (in case of Pb) to 4.29x106 (in case of Cr). The high value of Kd for Cr denoted that the metal Cr is mostly bounded with the suspended particulate matter while the least value for Pb signified it presence more in dissolved phase. Moreover, the concentrations of all the studied metals in the dissolved phase were many folds higher than their respective permissible limits assested by WHO 2008, 2009 and 2011. On the other hand, according to Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), Zn, Cu and Ni in the particulate phase lied between ERL and ERM values but Cr exceeded ERM values at all the stations confirming that the estuary is mostly contaminated with the particulate Cr and it might cause frequent adverse effects on the aquatic life. Multivariate statistics Cluster analysis was also performed which separated the stations according to the level of contamination from several point and nonpoint sources. Thus, it is found that the estuarine system is much polluted by the toxic metals and further investigation, toxicological studies should be implemented for full risk assessment of this system, better management and restoration of the water quality of this globally significant aquatic system.

Keywords: dissolved and particulate phase, Hooghly river estuary, partition coefficient, surface water, toxic metals

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Authors: Soumya S., Manju Nidagodu Jayakumar, Vellore Kannan Gopinath

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Dental pulp inflammation resulting from dental caries often leads to a pathologic condition known as irreversible pulpitis and the currently managed by root canal treatment. Extirpation of the entire pulp tissue is done during this procedure, and the canal space is filled with synthetic materials. Recent studies in the stem cell biology state that some portion of the irreversibly inflamed pulp tissue could be viable with progenitor cells, having the properties similar to that of Mesenchymal stem cells. Hence, we aim to isolate Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) from patients diagnosed with severe irreversible pulpitis and characterize the cells for the MSC specific markers. The pulp tissue was collected from the dental clinic and subjected to collagenase/dispase digestion. The isolated cells were expanded in culture, and the phenotypic characterization was done using flow cytometry. MSC specific markers such as CD-90, CD-73, and CD-105 were analysed along with negative markers such as CD-14 and CD-45. The isolated cells expressed positive expression for CD markers with CD90 and CD105 ( > 95%) and CD73 (19%). The cells did not express the negative markers CD-14 and CD-45. The commercially available DPSCs from vital extracted teeth, preferably molar/wisdom teeth with large pulp cavity or incomplete root growth in young patients (aged 15-30 years) showed more than 90% expression for all the CD markers such as CD-90, 73 and 105, whereas negative for CD-14 and CD-45. The DPSCs isolated from inflamed pulp tissue showed a less expression for CD-73 compared to the commercially available DPSCs whereas, as the other two markers were found to show similar percentage of positive expression. This could be attributed to the fact that the pulp population is very heterogeneous and we used the pooled tissue from different patients. Hence the phenotypic characterization and comparison with the commercially available DPSCs proved that the inflamed pulp tissue is a good source of MSC like cells which can be utilized further for regenerative application.

Keywords: collagenase/dispase, dental pulp stem cells, flow cytometry, irreversible pulpitis

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Authors: Temenuzhka Spasova, Nadya Yanakieva

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Snow modulates the hydrological cycle and influences the functioning of ecosystems and is a significant resource for many populations whose water is harvested from cold regions. Snow observations are important for validating climate models. The accumulation and rapid melt of snow are two of the most dynamical seasonal environmental changes on the Earth’s surface. The actuality of this research is related to the modern tendencies of the remote sensing application in the solution of problems of different nature in the ecological monitoring of the environment. The subject of the study is the dynamic during the different seasons on Livingstone Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica and on Svalbard in Arctic. The objects were analyzed and mapped according to the Еuropean Space Agency data (ESA), acquired by sensors Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Sentinel 2 MSI and GIS. Results have been obtained for changes in snow coverage during the summer-winter transition and its dynamics in the two hemispheres. The data used is of high time-spatial resolution, which is an advantage when looking at the snow cover. The MSI images are with different spatial resolution at the Earth surface range. The changes of the environmental objects are shown with the SAR images and different processing approaches. The results clearly show that snow and snow melting can be best registered by using SAR data via hh- horizontal polarization. The effect of the researcher on aerospace data and technology enables us to obtain different digital models, structuring and analyzing results excluding the subjective factor. Because of the large extent of terrestrial snow coverage and the difficulties in obtaining ground measurements over cold regions, remote sensing and GIS represent an important tool for studying snow areas and properties from regional to global scales.

Keywords: climate changes, GIS, remote sensing, SAR images, snow coverage

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Authors: Kobus-Cisowska Joanna, Flaczyk Ewa, Gramza-Michalowska Anna, Kmiecik Dominik, Przeor Monika, Marcinkowska Agata, Korczak Józef

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Cereal products, including mainly bread is a staple food known from the beginning of history throughout the world. It is now believed that there is no replacement of the basic food. Bread, due to the high content of starch is the energy source for the proper functioning of our body. It also contains proteins, fats, vitamins, especially of the B group and vitamin E, a number of minerals, and fiber. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of new developed bread premixes with mulberry fruits for people with anemia, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. From the finished product-bread, aqueous and methanol extracts was prepared, which in next step were analyzed to assess the activity of the radical DPPH test, ABTS, chelating activity, the ability to reduce metals. Extracts were prepared from bread were acquired with premixes directly after production and stored for three months. The resulting trial breads effect by different mechanisms of antioxidant. They showed the ability to scavenge radicals ABTS and DPPH and chelating activity. Methanol extracts showed significantly greater antioxidant activity in comparison with aqueous extracts, and the largest effect was estimated for sample of bread for anemia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The greatest ability to scavenging ABTS radicals showed breads for anemia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, while smaller for anemia and control sample. It was shown that the methanol extracts of the breads samples showed no ability to chelate iron (II). These properties are observed only in the aqueous extracts. The greatest ability attempt had anemia while the lowest control sample. Financial supported by the UE Project no POIG 01.01.02-00-061/09.

Keywords: morus alba, antioxidant activity, free radicals, polyphenols

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Authors: Raed KOUTA, José-Alcebiades-Ernesto HLUNGUANE, Eric Châtele

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The search for and exploitation of new fossil energy resources is taking place in the context of the gradual depletion of existing deposits. Despite the adoption of international targets to combat global warming, the demand for fuels continues to grow, contradicting the movement towards an energy-efficient society. The increase in the share of offshore in global hydrocarbon production tends to compensate for the depletion of terrestrial reserves, thus constituting a major challenge for the players in the sector. Through the economic potential it represents, and the energy independence it provides, offshore exploitation is also a challenge for States such as Mozambique, which have large maritime areas and whose environmental wealth must be considered. The exploitation of new reserves on economically viable terms depends on available technologies. The development of deep and ultra-deep offshore requires significant research and development efforts. Progress has also been made in managing the multiple risks inherent in this activity. Our study proposes a reliability approach to develop products and processes designed to live at sea. Indeed, the context of an offshore platform requires highly reliable solutions to overcome the difficulties of access to the system for regular maintenance and quick repairs and which must resist deterioration and degradation processes. One of the characteristics of failures that we consider is the actual conditions of use that are considered 'extreme.' These conditions depend on time and the interactions between the different causes. These are the two factors that give the degradation process its dynamic character, hence the need to develop dynamic reliability models. Our work highlights mathematical models that can explicitly manage interactions between components and process variables. These models are accompanied by numerical resolution methods that help to structure a dynamic reliability approach in a physical and probabilistic context. The application developed makes it possible to evaluate the reliability, availability, and maintainability of a floating storage and unloading platform for liquefied natural gas production.

Keywords: dynamic reliability, offshore plateform, stochastic process, uncertainties

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Authors: Inkeri Jääskeläinen

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The purpose of this study is to shed light on what is it like to study in apprenticeship training using Finnish as second language. This study examines the stories and experiences of apprenticeship students learning and studying Finnish as part of their vocational studies. Also, this pilot study examines the effects of learning to pronounce Finnish through body motions and gestures. Many foreign students choose apprenticeships and start vocational training too early, while their language skills in Finnish are still very weak. Both duties at work and school assignments require reasonably good general language skills (B1.1) and, especially at work, language skills are also a safety issue. At work students should be able to simultaneously learn Finnish and do vocational studies in a noisy, demanding, and stressing environment. Learning and understanding new things is very challenging under these circumstances and sometimes students get exhausted and experience a lot of stress - which makes learning even more difficult. Students are different from each other and so are their ways to learn. Thereafter, one of the most important features of apprenticeship training and second language learning is good understanding of adult learners and their needs. Kinaesthetic methods are an effective way to support adult students’ cognitive skills and make learning more relaxing and fun. Empirical findings show that language learning can indeed be supported physical ways, by body motions and gestures. The method used here, named TFFL (Touch and Feel Foreign Languages), was designed to support adult language learning, to correct or prevent language fossilization and to help the student to manage emotions. Finnish is considered as a difficult language to learn, mostly because it is so different from nearly all other languages. Many learners complain that they are lost or confused and there is a need to find a way to simultaneously learn the language and to handle negative emotion which come from Finnish language and the learning process itself. Due to the nature of Finnish language good pronunciation skills are needed just to understand the way the language work. Movements (body movements etc.) are a natural part of many cultures but not Finnish – In Finland students have traditionally been expected to stay still and that is not a natural way for many foreign students. However, kinaesthetic TFFL method proved out to be a useful way to help some L2 students to feel phonemes, rhythm and intonation, to improve their Finnish and, thereby, also to successfully complete their vocational studies.

Keywords: Finnish, fossilization, interference, kinaesthetic method

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Authors: Soumya Mishra, Elena Neiterman

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Aligned with the growing interest in the impact of the pandemic on academic experiences of university students, this study aimed to examine the challenges Canadian undergraduate students experienced during the university closures due to COVID-19. Using qualitative methodological approach, the study utilized semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 undergraduate students enrolled in an Ontario university to explore their thoughts and experience regarding online learning during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, from January 2021 to March 2021. The interviews yielded four major themes with the following associated subthemes: Personal Challenges Associated with Adapting to the Pandemic (Change in the Type of Stress Experienced, Unique Impact on Certain Groups of Students, Decreased Motivation, Crucial Role of Resilience), Social Challenges Associated with Adapting to the Pandemic (Increased Loneliness, Challenges Faced while Communicating, Perception of Group work, Role of Living Conditions), Challenges associated with Accessing University Resources (Crucial Role of Professors, Perception of Virtual Events, Importance of Physical Spaces). Overall, the analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic fostered resilience and psychological flexibility amongst all students. However, the mental health and social wellbeing of students deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic and they reported experiencing chronic stress, anxiety and loneliness. International students, first year and final year students experienced a unique set of challenges. It was hard for participants in our study to make strong new connections with their classmates and maintain existing friendships with their peers. The importance of professors in facilitating learning was amplified in the online environment due to the lack of in-person interaction with other students. Despite these challenges, most participants reported that they received high grades during online learning. The findings from this study could be helpful for organizations and individuals working towards fostering the wellbeing of undergraduate students. They can also help in making post-secondary institutions more resilient to future emergencies by creating contingency plans regarding online instructions and risk management techniques.

Keywords: Canadian, COVID-19, university students, wellbeing

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Authors: David Ugalde, Arturo Castillo, Leopoldo Breschi

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The Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) are an effective system for mitigating vibrations in building structures. These dampers have traditionally focused on the protection of high-rise buildings against earthquakes and wind loads. The Camara Chilena de la Construction (CChC) building, built in 2018 in Santiago, Chile, is a 21-story RC wall building equipped with a 150-ton TMD and instrumented with six permanent accelerometers, offering an opportunity to monitor the dynamic response of this damped structure. This paper presents the system identification of the CChC building using power spectral density plots of ambient vibration and two seismic events (5.5 Mw and 6.7 Mw). Linear models of the building with and without the TMD are used to compute the theoretical natural periods through modal analysis and simulate the response of the building through response history analysis. Results show that natural periods obtained from both ambient vibrations and earthquake records are quite similar to the theoretical periods given by the modal analysis of the building model. Some of the experimental periods are noticeable by simple inspection of the earthquake records. The accelerometers in the first story better captured the modes related to the building podium while the upper accelerometers clearly captured the modes related to the tower. The earthquake simulation showed smaller accelerations in the model with TMD that are similar to that measured by the accelerometers. It is concluded that the system identification through power spectral density shows consistency with the expected dynamic properties. The structural health monitoring of the CChC building confirms the advantages of seismic protection technologies such as TMDs in seismic prone areas.

Keywords: system identification, tuned mass damper, wall buildings, seismic protection

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Authors: Yu Yoshihara, Chika Tada, Moe Takada, Nyam-Osor Purevdorj, Khorolmaa Chimedtseren, Yutaka Nakai

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Water pollution from animal waste and its influence on grazing animals is a current concern regarding Mongolian grazing lands. We allocated 32 free-grazing lambs to four groups and provided each with water from a different source (upper stream, lower stream, well, and pond) for 49 days. We recorded the amount of water consumed by the lambs, as well as their body weight, behavior, white blood cell count, acute phase (haptoglobin) protein level, and fecal condition. We measured the chemical and biological qualities of the four types of water, and we detected enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in fecal samples by using a genetic approach. Pond water contained high levels of nitrogen and minerals, and well water contained high levels of bacteria. The odor concentration index decreased in order from pond water to upper stream, lower stream, and well. On day 15 of the experiment, the following parameters were the highest in lambs drinking water from the following sources: water intake (pond or lower stream), body weight gain (pond), WBC count (lower stream), haptoglobin concentration (well), and enteropathogenic E. coli infection rate (lower stream). Lambs that drank well water spent more time lying down and less time grazing than the others, and lambs that drank pond water spent more time standing and less time lying down. Lambs given upper or lower stream water exhibited more severe diarrhea on day 15 of the experiment than before the experiment. Mongolian sheep seemed to adapt to chemically contaminated water: their productivity benefited the most from pond water, likely owing to its rich mineral content. Lambs that drank lower stream water showed increases in enteropathogenic E. coli infection, clinical diarrhea, and WBC count. Lambs that drank well water, which was bacteriologically contaminated, had increased serum acute phase protein levels and poor physical condition; they were thus at increased risk of negative health and production effects.

Keywords: DNA, Escherichia coli, fecal sample, lower stream, well water

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Authors: Ritvik Chauhan, Vijay Kumar Baraik

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Crime is a rare event on earth surface. It is not simple but a complex event occurring in a spatio- temporal environment. Crime is one of the most serious security threats to human environments as it may result in harm to the individuals through the loss of property, physical and psychological injuries. The conventional studies done on different nature crime was mostly related to laws, psychological, social and political themes. The geographical areas are heterogeneous in their environmental conditions, associations between structural conditions, social organization which contributing specific crimes. The crime pattern analysis is made through theories in which criminal events occurs in persistent, identifiable patterns in a particular space and time. It will be the combined analysis of spatial factors and rational factors to the crime. In this study, we are analyzing the combined factors for the origin of crime against children. Children have always been vulnerable to victimization more because they are silent victims both physically and mentally to crimes and they even not realize what is happening with them. Their trusting nature and innocence always misused by criminals to perform crimes. The nature of crime against children is changed in past years like child rape, kidnapping &abduction, selling & buying of girls, foeticide, infanticide, prostitution, child marriage etc turned to more cruel and inhuman. This study will focus on understanding the space-time pattern of crime against children during the period 2001-2012. It also makes an attempt to explore and ascertain the association of crimes categorised against children, its rates with various geographical and socio-demographic factors through causal analysis using selected indicators (child sex-ratio, education, literacy rate, employment, income, etc.) obtained from the Census of India and other government sources. The outcome of study will help identifying the high crime regions with specified nature of crimes. It will also review the existing efforts and exploring the new plausible measure for tracking, monitoring and minimization of crime rate to meet the end goal of protecting the children from crimes committed against them.

Keywords: crime against children, geographic profiling, spatio-temporal analysis, hotspot

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Authors: Michael Lekan-Kehinde, Abimbola Asojo, Bonnie Sanborn

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Good acoustic performance has been identified as one of the critical Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) factors for student learning and development by the National Research Council. Childhood presents the opportunity for children to develop lifelong skills that will support them throughout their adult lives. Acoustic performance of a space has been identified as a factor that can impact language acquisition, concentration, information retention, and general comfort within the environment. Increasingly, students learn by communication between both teachers and fellow students, making speaking and listening crucial. Neurodiversity - while initially coined to describe individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - widely describes anyone with a different brain process. As the understanding from cognitive and neurosciences increases, the number of people identified as neurodiversity is nearly 30% of the population. This research looks at guidelines and standard for spaces with good acoustical quality and relates it with the experiences of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their parents, teachers, and educators through a mixed methods approach, including selected case studies interviews, and mixed surveys. The information obtained from these sources is used to determine if selected materials, especially properties relating to sound absorption and reverberation reduction, are equally useful in small, medium sized, and large learning spaces and methodologically approaching. The results describe the potential impact of acoustics on Neurodiverse students, considering factors that determine the complexity of sound in relation to the auditory processing capabilities of ASD students. In conclusion, this research extends the knowledge of how materials selection influences the better development of acoustical environments for autism students.

Keywords: acoustics, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children, education, learning, learning spaces, materials, neurodiversity, sound

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Authors: Urrutia Fernando, López Jessica, Sánchez Carlos, San Antonio Thalía

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Ecuador, as a signatory country of the convention of the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) has, in the recent years, strengthened the structures and legal framework required to protect this minority comprised of 13.2% of its total population. However, the reality is that this group has disproportionately low earnings and low educational attainment in comparison with the general population. The main struggles, to promote job placement of wheelchairs users, are environmental discrimination caused by accessibility in structures and transportation, this mainly due to the cost, for private and public entities, of performing the reasonable accommodation they require. It is widely known that product development and production is needed to support effective implementation of the CRPD and that walking and standing are the major life activities, in this context the objective of this investigation is to promote job placement of wheelchair user in the province of Tungurahua by means of the design, production and marketing of a customized stand up wheelchair. Exploratory interviews and measurements were performed in a representative sample of working age wheelchairs users that develop their disability after achieving their physical maturity and that are capable of performing professional activities with their upper limbs, this in order to detect the user’s preference and determine the local economic and anthropometric parameters to be included in the wheelchair design. The findings reveal factors that uniquely impact quality of life and development for people with a mobility disability within the context of the province, first that transportation is a big issue since public buses does not have accessibility for wheelchair users and the absence of curb cuts and the presence of trash bins over the sidewalks among other hinders an economic independent mobility, second that the proposal based in the idea of modifying the wheelchairs to make it able to overcome certain obstacles helps people in wheelchair to improve their independent living and by reducing the costs of modification for the employer could improve their chances of finding work.

Keywords: anthropometrics, job placement, stand up wheelchair, user centered design

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Authors: Vongsathorn Ngampuak, Yutachai Chookaew, Wipawee Dejtisakdi

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Dunaliella salina has great potential as a system for generating commercially valuable products, including beta-carotene, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels. Our goal is to improve this potential by enhancing growth rate and other properties of D. salina under optimal growth conditions. We used ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) to generate random mutants in D. salina KU11, a strain classified in Thailand. In a preliminary experiment, we first treated D. salina cells with 0%, 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.2%, 1.44% and 1.66% EMS to generate a killing curve. After that, we randomly picked 30 candidates from approximately 300 isolated survivor colonies from the 1.44% EMS treatment (which permitted 30% survival) as an initial test of the mutant screen. Among the 30 survivor lines, we found that 2 strains (mutant #17 and #24) had significantly improved growth rates and cell number accumulation at stationary phase approximately up to 1.8 and 1.45 fold, respectively, 2 strains (mutant #6 and #23) had significantly decreased growth rates and cell number accumulation at stationary phase approximately down to 1.4 and 1.35 fold, respectively, while 26 of 30 lines had similar growth rates compared with the wild type control. We also analyzed cell size for each strain and found there was no significant difference comparing all mutants with the wild type. In addition, mutant #24 had shown an increase of biomass accumulation approximately 1.65 fold compared with the wild type strain on day 5 that was entering early stationary phase. From these preliminary results, it could be feasible to identify D. salina mutants with significant improved growth rate, cell accumulation and biomass production compared to the wild type for the further study; this makes it possible to improve this microorganism as a platform for biotechnology application.

Keywords: Dunaliella salina, ethyl methyl sulfonate, growth rate, biomass

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Authors: Karen Guerrero

Abstract:

Kindergarten-12th grade teachers engaged in teacher professional development (PD) on game-based learning techniques and strategies to support teaching STEMSS (STEM + Social Studies with an emphasis on geography across the curriculum) to language learners. Ten effective strategies have supported teaching content and language in tandem. To provide exiting teacher PD on summer and spring breaks, gamification has integrated these strategies to engage linguistically diverse student populations to provide informal language practice while students engage in the content. Teachers brought a STEMSS lesson to the PD, engaged in a wide variety of games (dice, cards, board, physical, digital, etc.), critiqued the games based on gaming elements, then developed, brainstormed, presented, piloted, and published their game-based STEMSS lessons to share with their colleagues. Pre and post-surveys and focus groups were conducted to demonstrate an increase in knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in using gamification to teach content in the classroom. Provide an engaging strategy (gamification) to support teaching content and language to linguistically diverse students in the K-12 classroom. Game-based learning supports informal language practice while developing academic vocabulary utilized in the game elements/content focus, building both content knowledge through play and language development through practice. The study also investigated teacher's increase in knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in using games to teach language learners. Mixed methods were used to investigate knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy prior to and after the gamification teacher training (pre/post) and to understand the content and application of developing and utilizing game-based learning to teach. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge in applying game-based learning theories to the K-12 classroom to support English learners in developing English skills and STEMSS content knowledge.

Keywords: gamification, teacher professional development, STEM, English learners, game-based learning

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Authors: Mavis Ofosuah Asante, Abena Abokoma Asemanyi, Belinda Osei-mensah, Stephen Osei Akyiaw

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The study examined mobile money service fraud experiences and perspectives on control practices at University of Education, Winneba. The objectives of the study included to examine the forms of MoMo fraud strategies experienced by customers of MoMo on UEW Campus, to examine and classify the main perpetrators of the MoMo fraud among UEW students as well as the framework for fraud detection put together by the Telco’s and consumers on UEW Campus. The study adopted the case study research design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the UEW Campus. Using the convenience sampling technique, five respondents were sampled for the study. The outcome of the in-depth interviews conducted revealed Mobile money fraud was committed in various forms, such as anonymous calls and text messages from scammers, fraudsters calling to deceive subscribers that they are to deliver goods from abroad or from a close relative under false pretexts. Finally, fraudsters sending false cash-out messages to merchants for authorization of which the physical cash is issued by the merchant to the fraudster without the equivalent e-cash. Mobile money fraud has been perpetuated in diverse forms such as mobile money network systems fraud, false promotion fraud, and reversal of erroneous transactions, fortuitous scams, and mobile money agents' fraud. Finally, the frameworks that have been used to detect mobile money fraud include the display of national identifies cards for the transaction, digital identification systems, the use of firewall to protect mobile money accounts, effective information technology architecture for mobile money services, reporting of mobile money fraud to telecoms and the sanctioning of mobile money fraudsters. The study suggested there should be public education and awareness creation on the activities of mobile money fraudsters in Ghana by telecommunication companies in conjunction with the National Communications Authority and the Bank of Ghana. The study, therefore, concluded that the menace of mobile money fraud threatens the integrity of the mobile money financial services.

Keywords: mobile money, fraud, telecommunication, merchant

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Authors: L.L. Costa, A. M. G. Brito, S. Khan, L. Schaeffer

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Microstructure resulting from the forging process is studied as a function of variables such as temperature, deformation, austenite grain size and cooling rate. The purpose of this work is to study the thermomechanical behavior of DIN 42CrMo4 (AISI 4140) steel maintained at the temperatures of 900°, 1000°, 1100° and 1200°C for the austenization times of 22, 66 and 200 minutes each and subsequently forged. These samples were quenched in water in order to study the austenite grain and to investigate the microstructure instead of quenching the annealed samples after forging they were cooled down naturally in the air. The morphologies and properties of the materials such as hardness; prepared by these two different routes have been compared. In addition to the forging experiments, the numerical simulation using the finite element model (FEM), microhardness profiles and metallography images have been presented. Forging force vs position curves has been compared with metallographic results for each annealing condition. The microstructural phenomena resulting from the hot conformation proved that longer austenization time and higher temperature decrease the forging force in the curves. The complete recrystallization phenomenon (static, dynamic and meta dynamic) was observed at the highest temperature and longest time i.e., the samples austenized for 200 minutes at 1200ºC. However, higher hardness of the quenched samples was obtained when the temperature was 900ºC for 66 minutes. The phases observed in naturally cooled samples were exclusively ferrite and perlite, but the continuous cooling diagram indicates the presence of austenite and bainite. The morphology of the phases of naturally cooled samples has shown that the phase arrangement and the previous austenitic grain size are the reasons to high hardness in obtained samples when temperature were 900ºC and 1100ºC austenization times of 22 and 66 minutes, respectively.

Keywords: austenization time, thermomechanical effects, forging process, steel AISI 4140

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Authors: Adel Khorramrouz, Monireh Ahmadi Bani, Ehsan Norouzi, Morvarid Lalenoor

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Background: Plantar pressure distribution measurement has been used for a long time to assess foot disorders. Plantar pressure is an important component affecting the foot and ankle function and Changes in plantar pressure distribution could indicate various foot and ankle disorders. Morphologic and mechanical properties of the foot may be important factors affecting the plantar pressure distribution. Accurate and early measurement may help to reduce the prevalence of pes planus. With recent developments in technology, new techniques such as machine learning have been used to assist clinicians in predicting patients with foot disorders. Significance of the study: This study proposes a neural network learning-based flat foot classification methodology using static foot pressure distribution. Methodologies: Data were collected from 895 patients who were referred to a foot clinic due to foot disorders. Patients with pes planus were labeled by an experienced physician based on clinical examination. Then all subjects (with and without pes planus) were evaluated for static plantar pressures distribution. Patients who were diagnosed with the flat foot in both feet were included in the study. In the next step, the leg length was normalized and the network was trained for plantar pressure mapping images. Findings: From a total of 895 image data, 581 were labeled as pes planus. A computational neural network (CNN) ran to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. The prediction accuracy of the basic CNN-based model was performed and the prediction model was derived through the proposed methodology. In the basic CNN model, the training accuracy was 79.14%, and the test accuracy was 72.09%. Conclusion: This model can be easily and simply used by patients with pes planus and doctors to predict the classification of pes planus and prescreen for possible musculoskeletal disorders related to this condition. However, more models need to be considered and compared for higher accuracy.

Keywords: foot disorder, machine learning, neural network, pes planus

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Authors: Hany M. Fayed, Rehab F. Abdel-Rahman, Alyaa F. Hessin, Hanan A. Ogaly, Gihan F. Asaad, Abeer A. A. Salama, Sahar Abdelrahman, Mahmoud S. Arbid, Marwan Abd Elbaset Mohamed

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Liver fibrosis is a serious global health problem that occurs as a result of a variety of chronic liver disorders. Apigenin, a flavonoid found in many plants, has several pharmacological properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifibrotic efficacy of apigenin (APG) against experimentally induced hepatic fibrosis in rats via using thioacetamide (TAA) and to explore the possible underlying mechanisms. TAA (100 mg/kg, i.p.) was given three times each week for two weeks to induce liver fibrosis. After TAA injections, APG was given orally (5 and 10 mg/kg) daily for two weeks. Biochemical, molecular, histological and immunohistochemical analyses were performed on blood and liver tissue samples. The functioning of the liver, oxidative stress, inflammation, and liver fibrosis indicators were all evaluated. The findings showed that TAA markedly increased the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), as well as the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), focal adhesion kinase (FAK), hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) with a reduction in albumin, total protein, A/G ratio, GSH content and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Moreover, TAA elevated the content of collagen I, α -smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and hydroxyproline in the liver. The treatment with APG in a dose-dependent manner has obviously prevented these alterations and amended the harmful effects induced by TAA. The histopathological and immunohistochemical observations supported this biochemical evidence. The higher dose of APG produced the most significant antifibrotic effect. As a result of these data, APG appears to be a promising antifibrotic drug and could be used as a new herbal medication or dietary supplement in the future for the treatment of liver fibrosis. This effect might be related to the inhibition of the HIF-1/FAK signaling pathway.

Keywords: apigenin, FAK, HIF-1, liver fibrosis, rat, thioacetamide

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