Search results for: chloramine residual index

Authors: Omar Dib, Rita Yaacoub, Luc Eveleigh, Nathalie Locquet, Hussein Dib, Ali Bassal, Christophe B. Y. Cordella

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The potential of front-face fluorescence coupled with chemometric techniques, namely parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and multiple linear regression (MLR) as a rapid analysis tool to characterize Lebanese virgin olive oils was investigated. Fluorescence fingerprints were acquired directly on 102 Lebanese virgin olive oil samples in the range of 280-540 nm in excitation and 280-700 nm in emission. A PARAFAC model with seven components was considered optimal with a residual of 99.64% and core consistency value of 78.65. The model revealed seven main fluorescence profiles in olive oil and was mainly associated with tocopherols, polyphenols, chlorophyllic compounds and oxidation/hydrolysis products. 23 MLR regression models based on PARAFAC scores were generated, the majority of which showed a good correlation coefficient (R > 0.7 for 12 predicted variables), thus satisfactory prediction performances. Acid values, peroxide values, and Delta K had the models with the highest predictions, with R values of 0.89, 0.84 and 0.81 respectively. Among fatty acids, linoleic and oleic acids were also highly predicted with R values of 0.8 and 0.76, respectively. Factors contributing to the model's construction were related to common fluorophores found in olive oil, mainly chlorophyll, polyphenols, and oxidation products. This study demonstrates the interest of front-face fluorescence as a promising tool for quality control of Lebanese virgin olive oils.

Keywords: front-face fluorescence, Lebanese virgin olive oils, multiple Linear regressions, PARAFAC analysis

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Authors: Wipakon Sonsnam, Kanya Napapongsa

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The quantitative aim of the study; 1) health conditions, to examine the state of health of the aging, 2) perceived of self-efficacy, self-care of aging ,3) perceived of social support of the aging, 4) to examine factors associated with self-efficacy in enhancing the health and self-care when illness. 100 samples selected from communities in Dusit, Bangkok, 2014 by random sampling. The questionnaires were used to collect data have 5-point rating scale, consisting of strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree; approved content valid by 3 experts, reliability coefficients alpha was .784 for perceived of self-efficacy, self-care of aging and .827 for perceived of social support of the aging. ST-5, 2Q used for collect mental health. The ability to engage in a daily routine was collected by Barthel ADL index. Founding, the sample group were female (68%). (33%) of them were in the age of 60-65. Most of them were married and still live with their spouse (55%) and do not work (38%). The average annual income was less than 10,000 baht supported by child. Most people think that income was adequate (49.0%) and Satisfaction (61.0%). Most of aging caring them-self, followed by them spouse (26%). Welfare of the public had supported, living for the aging (100%), followed by Join and health volunteers in communities (23%). In terms of health, (53%) of the sample group feels health was fair, hypertension was the most common health condition among sample group (68%), following by diabetes (55%). About eyesight, (42%) have visual acuity. (59.0%) do not need hearing aids. 84% have more than 20 teeth remaining, and have no problem with chewing (61%). In terms of Ability to engage in a daily routine, most of people (84%) in sample group are in type 1. (91%) of the participants don’t have bladder incontinence. For mental condition, (82%) do not have insomnia. (87%) do not have anxiety. (96%) do not have depression. However, (77%) of the sample group is facing stress. In terms of environment in home, bathroom in the home (90.0%) and floor of bathroom was slippery (91.0%). (48%) of the sample group has the skills of how to look after themselves while being sick, and how to keep up healthy lifestyle. Besides, some other factors, such as gender, age and educational background are related to the health perception. The statistical significance was <0.05. Suggestion: The instruments available to national standards such as ST-5, 2Q and Barthel ADL index. Reliability coefficients alpha was .784 for perceived of self-efficacy, self-care of aging and .827 for perceived of social support of the aging. The instrument used to collect perceived of social support must be further developed to study level of influence of social support that affect the health of elderly.

Keywords: ้health status, perception of aging, self-efficacy, social support

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Authors: Donatien Niragira

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The progress of technology creates new expectations for patients. The world of deafness is no exception. In recent years, there have been considerable advances in the field of technologies aimed at assisting failing hearing. According to the usual medical vocabulary, hearing aids are actually orthotics. They do not replace an organ but compensate for a functional impairment. The Amplifier Hearing amplification is useful for a large number of people with hearing loss. Hearing aids restore speech audibility. However, their benefits vary depending on the quality of residual hearing. The hearing aid is not a "cure" for deafness. It cannot correct all affected hearing abilities. It should be considered as an aid to communication. The urge to judge from the audiogram alone should be resisted here, as audiometry only indicates the ability to detect non-verbal sounds. To prevent hearing aids from ending up in the drawer, it is important to ensure that the patient's disability situations justify the use of this type of orthosis. If the problems of receptive Pre-fitting counseling are crucial: the person with hearing loss must be informed of the advantages and disadvantages of amplification in his or her case. Their expectations must be realistic. They also need to be aware that the adaptation process requires a good deal of patience and perseverance. They should be informed about the various models and types of hearing aids, including all the aesthetic, functional and financial considerations. If the person's motivation "survives" pre-fitting counseling, we are in the presence of a good candidate for amplification. In addition to its relevance, it shows that the results found in this study significantly improve the quality of audibility in the patient, from where this technology must be made accessible everywhere in the world.

Keywords: auditives protheses, hearing, aids, no medicaly treatable deafnes

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Authors: Min-Chih Yang, Shih-Jen Feng, Bo-Tsang Li

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The concept of “Brownfield” has been developed for nearly 35 years since it was put forward in 《Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, CERCLA》of USA in 1980 for solving the problem of soil contamination of those old industrial lands, and later, many countries have put forward relevant policies and researches continuously. But the related concept in Taiwan, a country has developed its industry for 60 years, is still in its infancy. This leads to the slow development of Brownfield related research and policy in Taiwan. When it comes to build the foundation of Brownfield development, we have to depend on the related experience and research of other countries. They are four aspects about Brownfield: 1. Contaminated Land; 2. Derelict Land; 3. Vacant Land; 4. Previously Development Land. This study will focus on and deeply investigate the Vacant land and contaminated land. The subject of this study is Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Changhua branch in Taiwan. It has been operating for nearly 50 years and contributing a lot to the local economy. But under the influence of the toxic waste and sewage which was drained regularly or occasionally out from the factory, the environment has been destroyed seriously. There are three factors of pollution: 1. environmental toxicants, carbon disulfide, released from producing processes and volatile gases which is hard to monitor; 2. Waste and exhaust gas leakage caused by outdated equipment; 3. the wastewater discharge has seriously damage the ecological environment of the Dadu river estuary. Because of all these bad influences, the factory has been closed nowadays and moved to other places to spare the opportunities for the contaminated lands to re-develop. So we collect information about related Brownfield management experience and policies in different countries as background information to investigate the current Taiwanese Brownfield redevelopment issues and built the environmental assessment framework for it. We hope that we can set the environmental assessment indexes for Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Changhua branch according to the framework. By investigating the theory and environmental pollution factors, we will carry out deep analysis and expert questionnaire to set those indexes and prove a sample in Taiwan for Brownfield redevelopment and remediation in the future.

Keywords: brownfield, industrial land, redevelopment, assessment index

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Authors: Josué Alfredo Tomas Machaca Fajardo, Jhon Elvis Chahua Janampa, Pedro Rau Lavado

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A flood vulnerability index was developed for the Piura River watershed in northern Peru using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to assess flood risk. The official methodology to assess risk from natural hazards in Peru was introduced in 1980 and proved effective for aiding complex decision-making. This method relies in part on decision-makers defining subjective correlations between variables to identify high-risk areas. While risk identification and ensuing response activities benefit from a qualitative understanding of influences, this method does not take advantage of the advent of national and international data collection efforts, which can supplement our understanding of risk. Furthermore, this method does not take advantage of broadly applied statistical methods such as PCA, which highlight central indicators of vulnerability. Nowadays, information processing is much faster and allows for more objective decision-making tools, such as PCA. The approach presented here develops a tool to improve the current flood risk assessment in the Peruvian basin. Hence, the spatial analysis of the census and other datasets provides a better understanding of the current land occupation and a basin-wide distribution of services and human populations, a necessary step toward ultimately reducing flood risk in Peru. PCA allows the simplification of a large number of variables into a few factors regarding social, economic, physical and environmental dimensions of vulnerability. There is a correlation between the location of people and the water availability mainly found in rivers. For this reason, a comprehensive vision of the population location around the river basin is necessary to establish flood prevention policies. The grouping of 5x5 km gridded areas allows the spatial analysis of flood risk rather than assessing political divisions of the territory. The index was applied to the Peruvian region of Piura, where several flood events occurred in recent past years, being one of the most affected regions during the ENSO events in Peru. The analysis evidenced inequalities for the access to basic services, such as water, electricity, internet and sewage, between rural and urban areas.

Keywords: assess risk, flood risk, indicators of vulnerability, principal component analysis

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

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Predicting the risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Indian type 2 diabetes patients is immensely necessary. India, being the second largest country after China in terms of a number of diabetic patients, to the best of our knowledge not a single risk score for complications has ever been investigated. Diabetic retinopathy is a serious complication and is the topmost reason for visual impairment across countries. Any type or form of DR has been taken as the event of interest, be it mild, back, grade I, II, III, and IV DR. A sample 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 DR. Cox proportional hazard regression is used to design risk scores for the prediction of retinopathy. Model calibration and discrimination are assessed from Hosmer Lemeshow and area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Overfitting and underfitting of the model are checked by applying regularization techniques and best method is selected between ridge, lasso and elastic net regression. Optimal cut off point is chosen by Youden’s index. Five-year probability of DR is predicted by both survival function, and Markov chain two state model and the better technique is concluded. The risk scores developed can be applied by doctors and patients themselves for self evaluation. Furthermore, the five-year probabilities can be applied as well to forecast and maintain the condition of patients. This provides immense benefit in real application of DR prediction in T2DM.

Keywords: Cox proportional hazard regression, diabetic retinopathy, ROC curve, type 2 diabetes mellitus

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Authors: Ki-Ho Nam, Haksoo Han

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Tetrapod zinc oxide whiskers (TZnO-Ws) were successfully synthesized by a thermal oxidation method. A series of transparent polyimide (PI)/TZnO-W composites were successfully synthesized via a solution-blending method. The structural and morphological features of TZnO-Ws and PI/TZnO-W composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), wide-angle X-Ray diffraction (WAXD), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Dynamic stress behaviors were investigated in-situ during thermal imidization of the soft-baked PI/TZnO-W composite precursor and thermally cured composite films using a thin film stress analyzer (TFSA) by wafer bending technique. The PI/TZnO-W composite films exhibited an optical transparency greater than 80% at 550 nm (≤ 0.5 wt% TZnO-W content), a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), and enhanced glass transition temperature. However, the thermal decomposition temperature decreased as the TZnO-W content increased. The water diffusion coefficient and water uptake of the PI/TZNO-W composite films were obtained by best fits to a Fickian diffusion model. The water resistance capacity of PI was greatly enhanced and moisture diffusion in the pure PI was retarded by incorporating the TZnO-W. The PI composite films based on TZNO-W resultantly may have potential applications in optoelectronic manufacturing processes as a flexible transparent substrate.

Keywords: polyimide (PI), tetrapod ZnO whisker (TZnO-W), transparent, dynamic stress behavior, water resistance

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Authors: Meetty Tomy, Arxhana G Thosar

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This paper provides the implementation of optimal control for an armature-controlled DC motor. The selection of error weighted Matrix and control weighted matrix in order to implement optimal control theory for improving the dynamic behavior of DC motor is presented. The closed loop performance of Armature controlled DC motor with derived linear optimal controller is then evaluated for the transient operating condition (starting). The result obtained from MATLAB is compared with that of PID controller and simple closed loop response of the motor.

Keywords: optimal control, DC motor, performance index, MATLAB

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Authors: Om Kalthoum Sallem, Saidakilani, Kamiliya Ounaissa, Abdelmajid Abid

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Introduction and purposes: Olive oil is the main oil used in the Mediterranean diet. Virgin olive oil is valued for its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics and is resistant to oxidation due to its high monounsaturated fatty acid content (MUFAs), and low polyunsaturates (PUFAs) and the presence of natural antioxidants such as phenols, tocopherols and carotenoids. The fatty acid composition, especially the MUFA content, and the natural antioxidants provide advantages for health. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of method of extraction on the chemical profiles of ‘Chemchali’ olive oil variety, which is cultivated in the city of Gafsa, and to compare it with chetoui and chemchali varieties. Methods: Our study is a qualitative prospective study that deals with ‘Chemchali’ olive oil variety. Analyses were conducted during three months (from December to February) in different oil mills in the city of Gafsa. We have compared ‘Chemchali’ olive oil obtained by continuous method to this obtained by superpress method. Then we have analyzed quality index parameters, including free fatty acid content (FFA), acidity, and UV spectrophotometric characteristics and other physico-chemical data [oxidative stability, ß-carotene, and chlorophyll pigment composition]. Results: Olive oil resulting from super press method compared with continuous method is less acid(0,6120 vs. 0,9760), less oxydazible(K232:2,478 vs. 2,592)(k270:0,216 vs. 0,228), more rich in oleic acid(61,61% vs. 66.99%), less rich in linoleic acid(13,38% vs. 13,98 %), more rich in total chlorophylls pigments (6,22 ppm vs. 3,18 ppm ) and ß-carotene (3,128 mg/kg vs. 1,73 mg/kg). ‘Chemchali’ olive oil showed more equilibrated total content in fatty acids compared with the varieties ’Chemleli’ and ‘Chetoui’. Gafsa’s variety ’Chemlali’ have significantly less saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Whereas it has a higher content in monounsaturated fatty acid C18:2, compared with the two other varieties. Conclusion: The use of super press method had benefic effects on general chemical characteristics of ‘Chemchali’ olive oil, maintaining the highest quality according to the ecocert legal standards. In light of the results obtained in this study, a more detailed study is required to establish whether the differences in the chemical properties of oils are mainly due to agronomic and climate variables or, to the processing employed in oil mills.

Keywords: olive oil, extraction method, fatty acids, chemchali olive oil

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Authors: Levent Taylan Ozgur Yildirim, Qihao Qian, John Yilin Wang

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A critical review of assessments of geological carbon dioxide (CO2) storage resources in Pennsylvania and the surrounding region was completed with a focus on the studies of Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP), United States Department of Energy (US-DOE), and United States Geological Survey (USGS). Pennsylvania Geological Survey participated in the MRCSP Phase I research to characterize potential storage formations in Pennsylvania. The MRCSP’s volumetric method estimated ~89 gigatonnes (Gt) of total CO2 storage resources in deep saline formations, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, coals, and shales in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the US-DOE calculated storage efficiency factors using log-odds normal distribution and Monte Carlo sampling, revealing contingent storage resources of ~18 Gt to ~20 Gt in deep saline formations, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and coals in Pennsylvania. Additionally, the USGS employed Beta-PERT distribution and Monte Carlo sampling to determine buoyant and residual storage efficiency factors, resulting in 20 Gt of contingent storage resources across four storage assessment units in Appalachian Basin. However, few studies have explored CO2 storage resources in shales in the region, yielding inconclusive findings. This article provides a critical and most up to date review and analysis of geological CO2 storage resources in Pennsylvania and the region.

Keywords: carbon capture and storage, geological CO2 storage, pennsylvania, appalachian basin

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Authors: Christian Ogubuchi Ede, Moses Oghenenyoreme Eyankware

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This study assessed the concentration of heavy metals (HMs) in soil, rock, mine dump pile, and water from Oshiri and Ishiagu areas of Ebonyi State. Investigations on mobile fraction equally evaluated the geochemical condition of different HM using UV spectrophotometer for Mineralized and unmineralized rocks, dumps, and soil, while AAS was used in determining the geochemical nature of the water system. Analysis revealed very high pollution of Cd mostly in Ishiagu (Ihetutu and Amaonye) active mine zones and with subordinates enrichments of Pb, Cu, As, and Zn in Amagu and Umungbala. Oshiri recorded sparingly moderate to high contamination of Cd and Mn but out rightly high anthropogenic input. Observation showed that most of the contamination conditions were unbearable while at the control but decrease with increasing distance from the mine vicinity. The potential heavy metal risk of the environments was evaluated using the risk factors such as enrichment factor, index of Geoacumulation, Contamination Factor, and Effect Range Median. Cadmium and Zn showed moderate to extreme contamination using Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) while Pb, Cd, and As indicated moderate to strong pollution using the Effect Range Median. Results, when compared with the allowable limits and standards, showed the concentration of the metals in the following order Cd>Zn>Pb>As>Cu>Ni (rocks), Cd>As>Pb>Zn>Cu>Ni (soil) while Cd>Zn>As>Pb> Cu (for mine dump pile. High concentrations of Zn and As were recorded more in mine pond and salt line/drain channels along active mine zones, it heightened its threat during the rainy period as it settles into river course, living behind full-scale contaminations to inhabitants depending on it for domestic uses. Pb and Cu with moderate pollution were recorded in surface/stream water source as its mobility were relatively low. Results from Ishiagu Crush rock sites and Fedeco metallurgical and auto workshop where groundwater contamination was seen infiltrating some of the wells points gave rise to values that were 4 times high than the allowable limits. Some of these metal concentrations according to WHO (2015) if left unmitigated pose adverse effects to the soil and human community.

Keywords: water, geo-accumulation, heavy metals, mine and Nigeria.

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Authors: Meysam Lak, Mohammad Fatehi Marji, Alireza Yarahamdi Bafghi, Abolfazl Abdollahipour

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A wellbore is a hole that is drilled to aid in the exploration and recovery of natural resources including oil and gas. Occasionally, in order to increase productivity index and porosity of the wellbore and reservoir, the well stimulation methods have been used. Hydraulic fracturing is one of these methods. Moreover, several explosions at the end of the well can stimulate the reservoir and create fractures around it. In this study, crack initiation in rock around the wellbore has been numerically modeled due to explosion. One, two, three, and four pairs of explosion have been set at the end of the wellbore on its wall. After each stage of the explosion, results have been presented and discussed. Results show that this method can initiate and probably propagate several fractures around the wellbore.

Keywords: crack initiation, explosion, finite difference modelling, well productivity

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Authors: Mohamed Bendoukha, Mustapha Mosbah

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The Radiographic apparent assumed that the asymptomatic adjacent segment disease ASD is common after lumbar fusion, but this does not correlate with the functional outcomes while compensatory increased motion and stresses at the adjacent level of fusion is well-known to be associated to ASD. Newly developed, the hybrid stabilization are allocated to substituted for mostly the superior level of the fusion in an attempt to reduce the number of fusion levels and likelihood of degeneration process at the adjacent levels during the fusion with pedicle screws. Nevertheless, its biomechanical efficiencies still remain unknown and complications associated with failure of constructs such screw loosening and toggling should be elucidated In the current study, a finite element (FE) study was performed using a validated L2/S1 model subjected to a moment of 7.5 Nm and follower load of 400 N to assess the biomedical behavior of hybrid constructs based on dynamic topping off, semi rigid fusion. The residual range of motion (ROM), stress distribution at the fused and adjacent levels, stress distribution at the disc and the cage-endplate interface with respect to changes of bone quality were investigated. The hybrid instrumentation was associated with a reduction in compressive stresses compared to the fusion construct in the adjacent-level disc and showed high substantial axial force in the implant while fusion instrumentation increased the motion for both flexion and extension.

Keywords: intervertebral disc, lumbar spine, degenerative nuclesion, L4-L5, range of motion finite element model, hyperelasticy

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Authors: Sunil Kayesth, Kamal Kumar Gupta

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Influence of hexane extract of Catharanthus roseus leaves on reproductive fitness of Dysdercus koenigii was investigated by evaluating mating behaviour, oviposition behaviour and fertility of the treated insects. The volatiles of the plants were extracted in hexane by ‘cold extraction method’. The insects were treated with the extracts by ‘dry film residual method’. Our studies indicated that the treated male showed altered courtship behaviour, less number of mounting attempts, took more time to mate, less percent successful mating, and more disrupted mating. Similarly, the treated female exhibited either mating refusal or neutral behaviour towards courting males. The maximum disruption in the mating was observed in a cross T♂ X T♀, where males and females were treated with Catharanthus extract. The Dysdercus treated with Catharanthus extracts also showed marked reduction in their reproductive success. The treated females laid lesser number of egg batches and eggs in their life span. Catharanthus extract was effective in alteration of the oviposition behaviour. The eggs laid by the mated females were fertile indicating insemination of the mated females. However, the percent hatchability of the eggs laid by the treated females was less than control. The GC-MS analysis of the extract revealed the presence of juvenile hormone mimics, and the intermediates of juvenile hormone biosynthesis. Therefore, some of these compounds individually or synergistically alter reproductive behaviour of Dysdercus.

Keywords: Catharanthus roseus, Dysdercus koenigii, GC-MS analysis, reproductive performance

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Authors: Hussein Hakim, Zainab Al-Ramadhan, Ahmed Hashim

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Polymer nano composites of polyvinylpyrrolidone and poly-ethylene glycol with different concentrations of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nano particles have been prepared by solution cast method. The optical characterizations have been done by analyzing the absorption (A) spectra in the 300–800 nm spectral region. It was found that the optical energy gap decreases with the increasing of Al2O3 nano particles content. The optical constants (refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant) are changing with increasing aluminum oxide nano particle concentrations.

Keywords: nanocomposites, polyvinylpyrrolidone, optical constants, polymers, blend

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Authors: Chao Xu

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Selecting ground motion intensity measures reasonably is one of the very important issues to affect the input ground motions selecting and the reliability of vulnerability analysis results. In this paper, inelastic spectral displacement is used as an alternative intensity measure to characterize the ground motion damage potential. The inelastic spectral displacement is calculated based modal pushover analysis and inelastic spectral displacement based incremental dynamic analysis is developed. Probability seismic demand analysis of a six story and an eleven story RC frame are carried out through cloud analysis and advanced incremental dynamic analysis. The sufficiency and efficiency of inelastic spectral displacement are investigated by means of regression and residual analysis, and compared with elastic spectral displacement. Vulnerability curves are developed based on inelastic spectral displacement. The study shows that inelastic spectral displacement reflects the impact of different frequency components with periods larger than fundamental period on inelastic structural response. The damage potential of ground motion on structures with fundamental period prolonging caused by structural soften can be caught by inelastic spectral displacement. To be compared with elastic spectral displacement, inelastic spectral displacement is a more sufficient and efficient intensity measure, which reduces the uncertainty of vulnerability analysis and the impact of input ground motion selection on vulnerability analysis result.

Keywords: vulnerability, probability seismic demand analysis, ground motion intensity measure, sufficiency, efficiency, inelastic time history analysis

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Authors: Folajimi Oladimeji Shorunke

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Background: As of October 9, 2023, diphtheria has been noted to be re-emerging in four African countries: Algeria, Guinea, Niger, and Nigeria. 14,587 cases with a case fatality rate of 4.1% have been reported across these regions, with Nigeria alone responsible for over 90% of the cases. In Taraba State Nigeria, the index case of Diphtheria was reported on epidemic week 34, August 24, 2023 with 75 confirmed cases found 3 months after the index case and a case fatality of 1.3%. it described the distribution, trend and common symptoms found during the Outbreak. Methods: The Taraba State Diphtheria Outbreak line list on the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management & Analysis System (SORMAS) for all its 16 local government areas (LGAs) was analyzed using descriptive statistics (graphs, chats and maps) for the period between 24th August to 25th November 2023. Primary data was collected through the use of case investigation forms and variables like Age, gender, date of disease onset, LGA of residence, and symptoms exhibited were collected. Naso-pharyngeal and oro-pharyngeal samples were also collected for Laboratory confirmation. The most common diphtheria symptoms during the outbreak were also highlighted. Results: A total of 75 Diphtheria cases were diagnosed in 10 of the 16 LGAs in Taraba State between 24th August to 25th November 2023, 72% of the cases were female, with the age range 0-9 years having the highest proportion of 34 (45.3%), the number of positive diagnosis reduces with age among cases. The Northern part of the State had the highest proportion of cases, 68 (90.7%), with Ardo-Kola LGA having the highest 28 (29%). The remaining 9.2% of cases is shared among the middle belt and southern part of the State. The Epi-curve took the characteristic shape of a propagated infection with peaks at the 37th, 39th and 45th epidemic weeks. The most common symptoms found in cases were fever 71 (94.7%), pharyngitis 65( 86.7%), tonsillitis 60 (80%), and laryngitis 53 (71%). Conclusions: The number of confirmed cases of Diphtheria in Taraba State, Nigeria between 24th August to 25th November 2023 is 75. The condition is higher among females than male and mostly affected children between ages 0-9 with the northern part of the state most affected. The most common symptoms exhibited by cases include fever, pharyngitis, tonsillitis and laryngitis.

Keywords: diphtheria outbreak, taraba nigeria, descriptive epidemiology, trend

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Authors: J. Kazior, A. Szewczyk-Nykiel, T. Pieczonka, M. Laska

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Aluminium alloys are an important class of engineering materials for structural applications. This is due to the fact that these alloys have many interesting properties, namely, low density, high ratio of strength to density, good thermal and electrical conductivity, good corrosion resistance as well as extensive capabilities for shaping processes. In case of classical PM technology a particular attention should be paid to the selection of appropriate parameters of compacting and sintering processes and to keeping them. The latter need arises from the high sensitivity of aluminium based alloy powders on any fluctuation of technological parameters, in particular those related to the temperature-time profile and gas flow. Only then the desired sintered compacts with residual porosity may be produced. Except high mechanical properties, the other profitable properties of almost fully dense sintered components could be expected. Among them is corrosion resistance, rarely investigated on PM aluminium alloys. Thus, in the current study the Alumix 431/D commercial, press-ready grade powder was used for this purpose. Sintered compacts made of it in different conditions (isothermal sintering temperature, gas flow rate) were subjected to corrosion experiments in 0,1 M and 0,5 M NaCl solutions. The potentiodynamic curves were used to establish parameters characterising the corrosion resistance of sintered Alumix 431/D powder, namely, the corrosion potential, the corrosion current density, the polarization resistance, the breakdown potential. The highest value of polarization resistance, the lowest value of corrosion current density and the most positive corrosion potential was obtained for Alumix431/D powder sintered at 600°C and for highest protective gas flow rate.

Keywords: aluminium alloys, sintering, corrosion resistance, industry

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Authors: Umeora Chukwunonso Obiefuna

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The private sector in housing provision continually take steps towards addressing part of the problem of cushioning the effect of the housing shortage in Nigeria by establishing housing estates since the government alone cannot provide housing for everyone. This research examined and reported findings from research conducted on the state of repair of buildings in private housing estates in Enugu metropolis, Enugu state Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to examine the physical conditions of the building fabrics and appraise the performance of infrastructural services provided in the buildings. The questionnaire was used as a research instrument to elicit data from respondents. Stratified sampling of the estates based on building type was adopted as a sampling method for this study. Findings from the research show that the state of repair of most buildings require minor repairs to make them fit for habitation and sound to ensure the well-being of the residents. In addition, four independent variables from the nine independent variables investigated significantly explained residual variation in the dependent variable - state of repair of the buildings in the study area. These variables are: Average Monthly Income of Residents (AMIR), Length of Stay of the Residents in the estates (LSY), Type of Wall Finishes on the buildings (TWF), and Time Taken to Respond to Resident’s complaints by the estate managers (TTRC). With this, the linear model was established for predicting the state of repair of buildings in private housing estates in the study area. This would assist in identifying variables that are lucid in predicting the state of repair of the buildings.

Keywords: building, housing estate, private, repair

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Authors: Yungtai Lo

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Two-part random effects models have been used to fit semi-continuous longitudinal data where the response variable has a point mass at 0 and a continuous right-skewed distribution for positive values. We review methods proposed in the literature for analyzing data with excess zeros. A two-part logit-log-normal random effects model, a two-part logit-truncated normal random effects model, a two-part logit-gamma random effects model, and a two-part logit-skew normal random effects model were used to examine effects of a bottle-weaning intervention on reducing bottle use and daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers aged 11 to 13 months in a randomized controlled trial. We show in all four two-part models that the intervention promoted bottle-weaning and reduced daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers drinking from a bottle. We also show that there are no differences in model fit using either the logit link function or the probit link function for modeling the probability of bottle-weaning in all four models. Furthermore, prediction accuracy of the logit or probit link function is not sensitive to the distribution assumption on daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers not off bottles.

Keywords: two-part model, semi-continuous variable, truncated normal, gamma regression, skew normal, Pearson residual, receiver operating characteristic curve

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Authors: R. A. Shahmiri, O. Standard, J. Hart, C. C. Sorrell

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Yttrium stabilized tetragonal zirconium polycrystalline (Y-TZP) has been used as a dental biomaterial. The strength and toughness of zirconia can be accounted for by its toughening mechanisms, such as crack deflection, zone shielding, contact shielding, and crack bridging. Prevention of crack propagation is of critical importance in high-fatigue situations, such as those encountered in mastication and para-function. However, the poor translucency of Y-TZP means that it may not meet the aesthetic requirements due to its white/grey appearance in polycrystalline form. To improve optical property of the Zirconia, precise evaluation of its refractive index is of significance. Zirconia`s optical properties need to be studied more in depth. Number of studies assumed, scattered light is isotropically distributed over all angles from biological media when defining optical parameters. Nevertheless, optical behaviour of real biological material depends on angular scattering of light by anisotropy material. Therefore, the average cosine of the scattering angle (which represent recovery phase function in the scattering angular distribution) usually characterized by anisotropy material. It has been identified that yttrium anti-sites present in the space charge layer have no significant role in the absorption of light in the visible range. Addition of cation dopant to polycrystalline zirconia results in segregate to grain boundaries and grain growth. Intrinsic and extrinsic properties of ZrO2 and their effect on optical properties need to be investigated. Intrinsic properties such as chemical composition, defect structure (oxygen vacancy), phase configuration (porosity, second phase) and distribution of phase need to be studied to comprehend their effect on refraction index, absorption/reflection and scattering. Extrinsic properties such as surface structure, thickness, underlying tooth structure, cement layer (type, thickness), and light source (natural, curing, artificial) of ZrO2 need to be studied to understand their effect on colour and translucency of material. This research reviewed effect of stabilization of tetragonal zirconia on optical property of zirconia for dental application.

Keywords: optical properties, zirconia dental biomaterial, chemical composition, phase composition

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Authors: Rohit Gupta, Ravinder Agarwal

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Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal has the potential to identify the human activities and intention. This potential is further exploited to control the artificial limbs using the sEMG signal from residual limbs of amputees. The paper deals with the development of multichannel cost efficient sEMG signal interface for research application, along with evaluation of proposed class dependent statistical approach of the feature selection method. The sEMG signal acquisition interface was developed using ADS1298 of Texas Instruments, which is a front-end interface integrated circuit for ECG application. Further, the sEMG signal is recorded from two lower limb muscles for three locomotions namely: Plane Walk (PW), Stair Ascending (SA), Stair Descending (SD). A class dependent statistical approach is proposed for feature selection and also its performance is compared with 12 preexisting feature vectors. To make the study more extensive, performance of five different types of classifiers are compared. The outcome of the current piece of work proves the suitability of the proposed feature selection algorithm for locomotion recognition, as compared to other existing feature vectors. The SVM Classifier is found as the outperformed classifier among compared classifiers with an average recognition accuracy of 97.40%. Feature vector selection emerges as the most dominant factor affecting the classification performance as it holds 51.51% of the total variance in classification accuracy. The results demonstrate the potentials of the developed sEMG signal acquisition interface along with the proposed feature selection algorithm.

Keywords: classifiers, feature selection, locomotion, sEMG

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity and weight gain are associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and the progression of liver fibrosis. Aspartate transaminase–to-platelet count ratio index (AST-to-PLT, APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) were primarily considered as the formulas capable of differentiating hepatitis from cirrhosis. Recently, they have found clinical use as measures of liver fibrosis and cardiovascular risk. However, their status in children has not been evaluated in detail yet. The aim of this study is to determine APRI and FIB-4 status in obese (OB) children and compare them with values found in children with normal body mass index (N-BMI). A total of sixty-eight children examined in the outpatient clinics of the Pediatrics Department in Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Medical Faculty were included in the study. Two groups were constituted. In the first group, thirty-five children with N-BMI, whose age- and sex-dependent BMI indices vary between 15 and 85 percentiles, were evaluated. The second group comprised thirty-three OB children whose BMI percentile values were between 95 and 99. Anthropometric measurements and routine biochemical tests were performed. Using these parameters, values for the related indices, BMI, APRI, and FIB-4, were calculated. Appropriate statistical tests were used for the evaluation of the study data. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p<0.05. In the OB group, values found for APRI and FIB-4 were higher than those calculated for the N-BMI group. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the N-BMI and OB groups in terms of APRI and FIB-4. A similar pattern was detected for triglyceride (TRG) values. The correlation coefficient and degree of significance between APRI and FIB-4 were r=0.336 and p=0.065 in the N-BMI group. On the other hand, they were r=0.707 and p=0.001 in the OB group. Associations of these two indices with TRG have shown that this parameter was strongly correlated (p<0.001) both with APRI and FIB-4 in the OB group, whereas no correlation was calculated in children with N-BMI. Triglycerides are associated with an increased risk of fatty liver, which can progress to severe clinical problems such as steatohepatitis, which can lead to liver fibrosis. Triglycerides are also independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, the lack of correlation between TRG and APRI as well as FIB-4 in children with N-BMI, along with the detection of strong correlations of TRG with these indices in OB children, was the indicator of the possible onset of the tendency towards the development of fatty liver in OB children. This finding also pointed out the potential risk for cardiovascular pathologies in OB children. The nature of the difference between APRI vs FIB-4 correlations in N-BMI and OB groups (no correlation versus high correlation), respectively, may be the indicator of the importance of involving age and alanine transaminase parameters in addition to AST and PLT in the formula designed for FIB-4.

Keywords: APRI, children, FIB-4, obesity, triglycerides

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Authors: Amean A. Yasir, Zainab Kh. A. Al-Mahdi Al-Amean

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In both developed and developing countries, obesity among women is increasing, but in different patterns and at very different speeds. It may have a negative effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. This research studied the age distribution among obese women, the types of overweight and obesity, and the extent of the problem of overweight/obesity and the obesity etiological factors among women in Hillah city in central Iraq. A total of 322 overweight and obese women were included in the study, those women were randomly selected. The Body Mass Index was used as indicator for overweight/ obesity. The incidence of overweight/obesity among age groups were estimated, the etiology factors included genetic, environmental, genetic/environmental and endocrine disease. The overweight and obese women were screened for incidence of infection and/or diseases. The study found that the prevalence of 322 overweight and obese women in Hillah city in central Iraq was 19.25% and 80.78%, respectively. The obese women types were recorded based on BMI and WHO classification as class-1 obesity (29.81%), class-2 obesity (24.22%) and class-3 obesity (26.70%), the result was discrepancy non-significant, P value < 0.05. The incidence of overweight in women was high among those aged 20-29 years (90.32%), 6.45% aged 30-39 years old and 3.22% among ≥ 60 years old, while the incidence of obesity was 20.38% for those in the age group 20-29 years, 17.30% were 30-39 years, 23.84% were 40-49 years, 16.92% were 50-59 years group and 21.53% were ≥ 60 years age group. These results confirm that the age can be considered as a significant factor for obesity types (P value < 0.0001). The result also showed that the both genetic factors and environmental factors were responsible for incidents of overweight or obesity (84.78%) p value < 0.0001. The results also recorded cases of different repeated infections (skin infection, recurrent UTI and influenza), cancer, gallstones, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and infertility. Weight stigma and bias generally refers to negative attitudes; Obesity can affect quality of life, and the results of this study recorded depression among overweight or obese women. This can lead to sexual problems, shame and guilt, social isolation and reduced work performance. Overweight and Obesity are real problems among women of all age groups and is associated with the risk of diseases and infection and negatively affects quality of life. This result warrants further studies into the prevalence of obesity among women in Hillah City in central Iraq and the immune response of obese women.

Keywords: obesity, overweight, Iraq, body mass index

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Authors: Olubajo Olumide Olu

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This paper studies the effect of Metakaolin (MK) and Rice husk ash (RHA) on the compressive strength of ternary cement mortar at replacement level up to 30%. The compressive strength test of the blended cement mortars were conducted using Tonic Technic compression and machine. Nineteen ternary cement mortars were prepared comprising of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Rice husk ash (RHA) and Metakaolin (MK) at different proportion. Ternary mortar prisms in which Portland cement was replaced by up to 30% were tested at various age; 2, 7, 28 and 60 days. Result showed that the compressive strength of the cement mortars increased as the curing days were lengthened for both OPC and the blended cement samples. The ternary cement’s compressive strengths showed significant improvement compared with the control especially beyond 28 days. This can be attributed to the slow pozzolanic reaction resulting from the formation of additional CSH from the interaction of the residual CH content and the silica available in the Metakaolin and Rice husk ash, thus providing significant strength gain at later age. Results indicated that the addition of metakaolin with rice husk ash kept constant was found to lead to an increment in the compressive strength. This can either be attributed to the high silica/alumina contribution to the matrix or the C/S ratio in the cement matrix. Whereas, increment in the rice husk ash content while metakaolin was held constant led to an increment in the compressive strength, which could be attributed to the reactivity of the rice husk ash followed by decrement owing to the presence of unburnt carbon in the RHA matrix. The best compressive strength results were obtained at 10% cement replacement (5% RHA, 5% MK); 15% cement replacement (10% MK and 5% RHA); 20% cement replacement (15% MK and 5% RHA); 25% cement replacement (20% MK and 5% RHA); 30% cement replacement (10%/20% MK and 20%/10% RHA). With the optimal combination of either 15% and 20% MK with 5% RHA giving the best compressive strength of 40.5MPa.

Keywords: metakaolin, rice husk ash, compressive strength, ternary mortar, curing days

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Authors: A. Bendarma, T. Jankowiak, A. Rusinek, T. Lodygowski, M. Klósak, S. Bouslikhane

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The analysis of the mechanical characteristics and dynamic behavior of aluminum alloy sheet due to perforation tests based on the experimental tests coupled with the numerical simulation is presented. The impact problems (penetration and perforation) of the metallic plates have been of interest for a long time. Experimental, analytical as well as numerical studies have been carried out to analyze in details the perforation process. Based on these approaches, the ballistic properties of the material have been studied. The initial and residual velocities laser sensor is used during experiments to obtain the ballistic curve and the ballistic limit. The energy balance is also reported together with the energy absorbed by the aluminum including the ballistic curve and ballistic limit. The high speed camera helps to estimate the failure time and to calculate the impact force. A wide range of initial impact velocities from 40 up to 180 m/s has been covered during the tests. The mass of the conical nose shaped projectile is 28 g, its diameter is 12 mm, and the thickness of the aluminum sheet is equal to 1.0 mm. The ABAQUS/Explicit finite element code has been used to simulate the perforation processes. The comparison of the ballistic curve was obtained numerically and was verified experimentally, and the failure patterns are presented using the optimal mesh densities which provide the stability of the results. A good agreement of the numerical and experimental results is observed.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, ballistic behavior, failure criterion, numerical simulation

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Authors: Ana Elvira Ojanguren Lopez, Javier Martin Arista

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The aims of this paper are to present the automatisation procedure adopted in the implementation of a parallel corpus of Old English, as well as, to assess the progress of automatisation with respect to tagging, annotation, and lemmatisation. The corpus consists of an aligned parallel text with word-for-word comparison Old English-English that provides the Old English segment with inflectional form tagging (gloss, lemma, category, and inflection) and lemma annotation (spelling, meaning, inflectional class, paradigm, word-formation and secondary sources). This parallel corpus is intended to fill a gap in the field of Old English, in which no parallel and/or lemmatised corpora are available, while the average amount of corpus annotation is low. With this background, this presentation has two main parts. The first part, which focuses on tagging and annotation, selects the layouts and fields of lexical databases that are relevant for these tasks. Most information used for the annotation of the corpus can be retrieved from the lexical and morphological database Nerthus and the database of secondary sources Freya. These are the sources of linguistic and metalinguistic information that will be used for the annotation of the lemmas of the corpus, including morphological and semantic aspects as well as the references to the secondary sources that deal with the lemmas in question. Although substantially adapted and re-interpreted, the lemmatised part of these databases draws on the standard dictionaries of Old English, including The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, and A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. The second part of this paper deals with lemmatisation. It presents the lemmatiser Norna, which has been implemented on Filemaker software. It is based on a concordance and an index to the Dictionary of Old English Corpus, which comprises around three thousand texts and three million words. In its present state, the lemmatiser Norna can assign lemma to around 80% of textual forms on an automatic basis, by searching the index and the concordance for prefixes, stems and inflectional endings. The conclusions of this presentation insist on the limits of the automatisation of dictionary-based annotation in a parallel corpus. While the tagging and annotation are largely automatic even at the present stage, the automatisation of alignment is pending for future research. Lemmatisation and morphological tagging are expected to be fully automatic in the near future, once the database of secondary sources Freya and the lemmatiser Norna have been completed.

Keywords: corpus linguistics, historical linguistics, old English, parallel corpus

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Authors: Yasmin A. M. Ferreira, Ana C. K. Pelissari, Sofia De C. F. Vicente, Raquel M. Da S. Campos, Deborah C. L. Masquio, Lian Tock, Lila M. Oyama, Flavia C. Corgosinho, Valter T. Boldarine, Ana R. Dâmaso

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The prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing around the world and currently considered a global epidemic. Food and nutrition are essential requirements for promoting health and protecting non-communicable chronic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. Specific dietary components may modulate the inflammation and oxidative stress in obese individuals. Few studies have investigated the dietary Inflammation Factor Rating (IFR) in obese adolescents. The IFR was developed to characterize an individual´s diet on anti- to pro-inflammatory score. This evaluation contributes to investigate the effects of inflammatory diet in metabolic profile in several individual conditions. Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary weight loss therapy on inflammation factor rating and cardiometabolic risk in obese adolescents. Methods: A total of 26 volunteers (14-19 y.o) were recruited and submitted to 20 weeks interdisciplinary therapy allied to health education website- Ciclo do Emagrecimento®, including clinical, nutritional, psychological counseling and exercise training. The body weight was monitored weekly by self-report and photo. The adolescents answered a test to evaluate the knowledge of the topics covered in the videos. A 24h dietary record was applied at the baseline and after 20 weeks to assess the food intake and to calculate IFR. A negative IFR suggests that diet may have inflammatory effects and a positive IFR indicates an anti-inflammatory effect. Statistical analysis was performed using the program STATISTICA version 12.5 for Windows. The adopted significant value was α ≤ 5 %. Data normality was verified with the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Data were expressed as mean±SD values. To analyze the effects of intervention it was applied test t. Pearson´s correlations test was performed. Results: After 20 weeks of treatment, body mass index (BMI), body weight, body fat (kg and %), abdominal and waist circumferences decreased significantly. The mean of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) increased after the therapy. Moreover, it was found an improvement of inflammation factor rating from -427,27±322,47 to -297,15±240,01, suggesting beneficial effects of nutritional counselling. Considering the correlations analysis, it was found that pro-inflammatory diet is associated with increase in the BMI, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL), triglycerides, insulin and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR); while an anti-inflammatory diet is associated with improvement of HDL-c and insulin sensitivity Check index (QUICKI). Conclusion: The 20-week blended multidisciplinary therapy was effective to reduce body weight, anthropometric circumferences and improve inflammatory markers in obese adolescents. In addition, our results showed that an increase in inflammatory profile diet is associated with cardiometabolic parameters, suggesting the relevance to stimulate anti-inflammatory diet habits as an effective strategy to treat and control of obesity and related comorbidities. Financial Support: FAPESP (2017/07372-1) and CNPq (409943/2016-9)

Keywords: cardiometabolic risk, inflammatory diet, multidisciplinary therapy, obesity

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Authors: Hamada Ahmed, Mervat A. Abdel-Latif, Alaa. A. Ghoraba, Samah A. Ganna

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An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of microbial phytase (Quantum Blue®) supplementation on layer chickens fed diets with required or low phosphorous level in corn-soybean based diets. One hundred and sixteen 23-week-old Lohman brown laying hens were used in 8-week feeding trial. Hens were randomly allotted into four treatments where the group (1) (control group) was fed basal diet without phytase, group (2) fed basal diet supplemented with phytase, group (3) fed diet supplemented with phytase as a replacement of 25% of monocalcium phosphate and group (4) fed diet supplemented with phytase as a replacement of 50% of monocalcium phosphate. Records on daily egg production, egg mass, egg weight and body weight of hens at the end of experimental period were recorded. Results revealed no significant (p ≥ 0.05) differences were observed among the other dietary treatments in BW, egg production, egg mass, feed intake or feed conversion when these parameters were evaluated over the duration of the experiment while egg weight showed significant (p < 0.05) increase in all phytase supplemented groups. There was no significant (p ≥ 0.05) differences in egg quality including egg length, egg width, egg shape index, yolk height, yolk width, yolk index, yolk weight and yolk albumin ratio while egg albumin was significantly increased (p < 0.05) in group (2) and group (3). Egg shell weight increased significantly (p < 0.05) in all phytase supplemented groups when compared with the control group also shell thickness increased significantly (p < 0.05) in both group (2 &3). No significant (P ≥ 0.05) difference was observed in serum Ca, P level while alkaline phosphatase was significantly (P ˂ 0.05) increased in group (3). Egg shell analysis showed increase in egg shell ash% in all phytase supplemented groups when compared with the control group, egg shell calcium % was higher in group (3) and group (4) than the control group while group (2) showed lower egg shell calcium% than the other experimental groups, egg shell phosphorous% was higher in all phytase supplemented groups than the control group. Phosphorous digestability was significantly (P ˂ 0.05) increased in all phytase supplemented groups than the control group and the highest p digestability was in group (4). Calcium digestability showed significant (P ˂ 0.05) increase in all phytase supplemented groups when compared with the control group and the highest digetability was in group (4).

Keywords: layers, microbial phytase, Ca and P availability, egg production, egg characteristics

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Authors: Vu Hoang Thu Huong

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Background and Purpose: The effects of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) in the participants with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) were unclear on physical performance although its effects on pain had been investiagted. This study aims to explore the effects of ESWT on pain relief and physical performance on KOA. Methods: The studies with the randomized controlled design to investigate the effects of ESWT on KOA were systematically searched using inclusion and exclusion criteria through seven electronic databases including Pubmed etc. between 1990 and Dec 2022. To summarize those data, visual analog scale (VAS) or pain scores were determined for measure of pain intensity. Range of knee motion, or the scores of physical activities including Lequesne index (LI), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) were determined for measure of physical performances. The first evaluate after treatment period was define as the effect of post-treatment period or immediately effect; and the last evaluate was defined as the effect of following period or the end effect in our study. Data analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software. A significant level was set at p<0.05. Results: Eight studies (number of participant= 499) reporting the ESWT effects on mild-to-moderate severity (Grades I to III Kellgren–Lawrence) of KOA were qualified for meta-analysis. Compared with sham or placebo group, the ESWT group had a significant decrease of VAS rest score (0.90[0.12~1.67] as mean difference [95% confidence interval]) and pain score WOMAC (2.49[1.22~3.76]), and a significant improvement of physical performance with a decrease of the scores of WOMAC activities (8.18[3.97~12.39]), LI (3.47[1.68~5.26]), and KOOS (5.87[1.73~ 10.00]) in the post-treatment period. There were also a significant decrease of WOMAC pain score (2.83[2.12~3.53]) and a significant decrease of the scores of WOMAC activities (9.47[7.65~11.28]) and LI (4.12[2.34 to 5.89]) in the following period. Besides, compared with other treatment groups, ESWT also displayed the improvement in pain and physical performance, but it is not significant. Conclusions: The ESWT was effective and valuable method in pain relief as well as in improving physical activities in the participants with mild-to-moderate KOA. Clinical Relevance: There are the effects of ESWT on pain relief and the improvement of physical performance in the with KOA.

Keywords: knee osteoarthritis, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, pain relief, physical performance, shockwave

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