Search results for: period symptoms

Authors: Nora Arbaoui, Rachid Tadili

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The experiment adopted a natural technique of heating and cooling an agricultural greenhouse to reduce the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions based on the heating of a transfer fluid that circulates inside the greenhouse through a solar copper coil positioned at the roof of the greenhouse. This experimental study is devoted to the performance evaluation of a solar heating system to improve the microclimate of a greenhouse during the cold period, especially in the Mediterranean climate. This integrated solar system for heating has a positive impact on the quality and quantity of the products under the study greenhouse.

Keywords: solar system, agricultural greenhouse, heating, storage

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Authors: Abderahman Efhialelbum

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The period since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the collapse of the former Soviet Union in December 1985 has seen a major change in the economies and labour markets of Eastern Europe. The events also had reverberating effects across Asia and South America and parts of Africa, including Libya. This article examines the typologies and the models of transition economies. Also, it sheds light on the Libyan transition in particular and the impact of Qadhafi’s regime on the transition process. Finally, it illustrates how the Libyan transition process followed the trajectory of other countries using economic indicators such as free trade, property rights, and inflation.

Keywords: transition, economy, typology, model, Libya

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Authors: Angelis P. Barlampas

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PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the important role of taking an appropriate and detailed history, in order to reach the best possible diagnostic conclusion. MATERIAL: A patient presented to the emergency department due to the sudden onset of continuous abdominal pain, during the last hour and with the clinical symptoms of an acute abdomen. During the clinical examination, signs of peritoneal irritation and diffuse abdominal tenderness were found. The rest of the clinical and laboratory tests did not reveal anything important. From the reported medical history, nothing of note was found, except for the report of a large liver cyst, for which he was advised not to take any further action, except from regular ultrasound examination . METHOD: A computed tomography examination was performed after per os administration of gastrografin, which revealed a hyperdense ascitic effusion, similar in density to that of gastrografin within the intestinal tract. The presence of a large cyst of the left hepatic lobe was confirmed, contacting and pushing against the stomach. In the area of the contact between the liver cyst and the pylorus, there were extraluminal air bubbles and local opacity of the peritoneal fat, with a small hyperdense effusion. Result : The above, as well as the absence of a history of stomach ulcer or recent trauma, or other pathology, argue in favor of acute pyloric perforation, due to mural necrosis, in response to chronic external pressure from the pre-existing large liver cyst.

Keywords: perforation, stomach, large liver cyst, CT abdomen, acute abdominal pain, intraperitoneal leakage, constrast leakage

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Authors: Mariana Mangas, Yaroslava Martins, Ana Matos Pires

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Introduction: Stigmatization is a common problem to overcome for people suffering from chronic diseases. It usually follows mental disorders and complicates the course of illness and reduces quality of life for people with mental illness. Objective: unsystematic review concerning stigma and mental illness, its impact on psychiatric disease and strategies to eradicate stigma. Methods: A search was conducted on PubMed, using keywords 'stigma' and 'mental illness'. Results and Discussion: Stigma is a psychosocial process that identifies individuals by the negative label of their differences. Stigma often brings a loss of occupational success and social support, reduced functioning and lower quality of life. The sense of stigma is common in individuals with mental illness and has considerable negative repercussions: delays treatment achievement, promotes social isolation, stress and maladaptive coping behaviors and it is associated with higher symptom levels, placing these individuals at higher risk for a poorer outcome and prognoses. Conclusion: Given the interrelation between stigma, symptoms, treatment seeking and disease management, stigma is a key construct in mental illness upon which anti-stigma initiatives may have considerable therapeutic potential. It will take multidisciplinary interventions to overcome mental illness stigma, including changes in social policy, attitudes and practices among mental health professionals, liaison between general public and people with a mental illness under conditions of equity and parity, family support, and easy access to evidence-based treatments.

Keywords: discrimination, stigma, mental illness, quality of life

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Authors: Merve Kurt

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How women should behave in public spaces and how they should be dressed was a loaded issues in the Ottoman Empire. They pointed to what kind of state the Ottoman State was. One of such public space was Mesires, promenades. Women's visibility and invisibility, their morals were reflected and linked to the society as a whole. How the public space and private space is defined, what were the lines that separates them, how much blurred these lines were discussed in this paper. Moreover, all these points were strengthened by the primary sources from archives dating to the end of the 19th century.

Keywords: Mesire, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman women, public spaces

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Authors: M. Paraipan, V. M. Javadova, S. I. Tyutyunnikov

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The concept of energy amplifier or accelerator driven system (ADS) involves the use of a particle accelerator coupled with a nuclear reactor. The accelerated particle beam generates a supplementary source of neutrons, which allows the subcritical functioning of the reactor, and consequently a safe exploitation. The harder neutron spectrum realized ensures a better incineration of the actinides. The almost generalized opinion is that the optimal beam for ADS is represented by protons with energy around 1 GeV (gigaelectronvolt). In the present work, a systematic analysis of the energy gain for proton beams with energy from 0.5 to 3 GeV and ion beams from deuteron to neon with energies between 0.25 and 2 AGeV is performed. The target is an assembly of metallic U-Pu-Zr fuel rods in a bath of lead-bismuth eutectic coolant. The rods length is 150 cm. A beryllium converter with length 110 cm is used in order to maximize the energy released in the target. The case of a linear accelerator is considered, with a beam intensity of 1.25‧10¹⁶ p/s, and a total accelerator efficiency of 0.18 for proton beam. These values are planned to be achieved in the European Spallation Source project. The energy gain G is calculated as the ratio between the energy released in the target to the energy spent to accelerate the beam. The energy released is obtained through simulation with the code Geant4. The energy spent is calculating by scaling from the data about the accelerator efficiency for the reference particle (proton). The analysis concerns the G values, the net power produce, the accelerator length, and the period between refueling. The optimal energy for proton is 1.5 GeV. At this energy, G reaches a plateau around a value of 8 and a net power production of 120 MW (megawatt). Starting with alpha, ion beams have a higher G than 1.5 GeV protons. A beam of 0.25 AGeV(gigaelectronvolt per nucleon) ⁷Li realizes the same net power production as 1.5 GeV protons, has a G of 15, and needs an accelerator length 2.6 times lower than for protons, representing the best solution for ADS. Beams of ¹⁶O or ²⁰Ne with energy 0.75 AGeV, accelerated in an accelerator with the same length as 1.5 GeV protons produce approximately 900 MW net power, with a gain of 23-25. The study of the evolution of the isotopes composition during irradiation shows that the increase in power production diminishes the period between refueling. For a net power produced of 120 MW, the target can be irradiated approximately 5000 days without refueling, but only 600 days when the net power reaches 1 GW (gigawatt).

Keywords: accelerator driven system, ion beam, electrical power, energy gain

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Authors: Lukasz Kurowski, Paweł Smaga

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We explore the procyclicality of monetary policy decisions towards the financial cycle in the 1995−2015 period on a sample of six central banks. Using interest rate paths and the credit-to-GDP gap to construct a monetary policy procyclicality ratio, we provide evidence that monetary policy procyclicality was high in BoE and CNB and low in Riksbank and ECB. The results support the need for coordination between macroprudential and monetary policies, for example, by including financial stability considerations to the inflation targeting strategy.

Keywords: central bank, financial stability, macroprudential policy, monetary policy

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Authors: Eva Tolmeijer, Emmanuelle Peters, Veena Kumari, Liam Mason

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Cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is effective in many but not all patients, making it important to better understand the factors that determine treatment outcomes. To date, no studies have examined whether neuroimaging can make clinically useful predictions about who will respond to CBTp. To this end, we used machine learning methods that make predictions about symptom improvement at the individual patient level. Prior to receiving CBTp, 22 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia completed a social-affective processing task during functional MRI. Multivariate pattern analysis assessed whether treatment response could be predicted by brain activation responses to facial affect that was either socially threatening or prosocial. The resulting models did significantly predict symptom improvement, with distinct multivariate signatures predicting psychotic (r=0.54, p=0.01) and affective (r=0.32, p=0.05) symptoms. Psychotic symptom improvement was accurately predicted from relatively focal threat-related activation across hippocampal, occipital, and temporal regions; affective symptom improvement was predicted by a more dispersed profile of responses to prosocial affect. These findings enrich our understanding of the neurobiological underpinning of treatment response. This study provides a foundation that will hopefully lead to greater precision and tailoring of the interventions offered to patients.

Keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy, machine learning, psychosis, schizophrenia

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Authors: Eronini Iheanyi Umez-Eronini

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Most studies and existing implementations of compressed air energy storage (CAES) coupled with a wind farm to overcome intermittency and variability of wind power are based on bulk or centralized CAES plants. A dynamic model of a hybrid wind farm with wind turbines and distributed CAES, consisting of air storage tanks and compressor and expander trains at each wind turbine station, is developed and simulated in MATLAB. An ad hoc supervisory controller, in which the wind turbines are simply operated under classical power optimizing region control while scheduling power production by the expanders and air storage by the compressors, including modulation of the compressor power levels within a control range, is used to regulate overall farm power production to track minute-scale (3-minutes sampling period) TSO absolute power reference signal, over an eight-hour period. Simulation results for real wind data input with a simple wake field model applied to a hybrid plant composed of ten 5-MW wind turbines in a row and ten compatibly sized and configured Diabatic CAES stations show the plant controller is able to track the power demand signal within an error band size on the order of the electrical power rating of a single expander. This performance suggests that much improved results should be anticipated when the global D-CAES control is combined with power regulation for the individual wind turbines using available approaches for wind farm active power control. For standalone power plant fuel electrical efficiency estimate of up to 60%, the round trip electrical storage efficiency computed for the distributed CAES wherein heat generated by running compressors is utilized in the preheat stage of running high pressure expanders while fuel is introduced and combusted before the low pressure expanders, was comparable to reported round trip storage electrical efficiencies for bulk Adiabatic CAES.

Keywords: hybrid wind farm, distributed CAES, diabatic CAES, active power control, dynamic modeling and simulation

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Authors: Arvin Baes

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This study was conducted to assess the holistic needs of cancer patients in terms of physiological, psychological, social, and spiritual needs and to determine how they respond through coping. It was conducted from January-April 2018 from various hospitals in Laguna, with 20 respondents. It utilized a survey descriptive type of research, a checklist type of questionnaire, and purposive sampling in selecting the respondents. It was found out that in terms of physiological needs, fatigue is the most common symptoms they experienced. In terms of psychological, social, and spiritual needs, most of the patients experienced a significant concern. Meanwhile, in coping, religion dominates among the 14 strategies followed by Use of Emotional Support and Positive Reframing, and Substance Use obtained the lowest response. Most of the respondents were female, and its significant relationship in terms of Positive Reframing agrees significantly. In coping and civil status, Positive Reframing and Humor are significant among married respondents. In coping and stage of cancer, 'Positive Reframing' and 'Humor' are significant with the stage of cancer. In coping and treatment modalities, Active Coping, Use of Emotional Support, and Religion are significantly related to patients’ treatment modalities. There is also a significant relationship between Active Coping and Physiological Needs, Religion and Psychological Needs, and Self-blaming and Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Needs. Thus, it is concluded that holistic needs and coping are essential to each other to meet the wholeness of cancer patients. A formulated care intervention program would be beneficial among this group of patients.

Keywords: coping strategies, cancer, cancer patients, holistic needs

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Authors: Stelios A. Mitilineos, Nicolas-Alexander Tatlas, Georgia Korompili, Lampros Kokkalas, Stelios M. Potirakis

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Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) is a widespread chronic disease that mostly remains undetected, mainly due to the fact that it is diagnosed via polysomnography which is a time and resource-intensive procedure. Screening the disease’s symptoms at home could be used as an alternative approach in order to alert individuals that potentially suffer from OSAHS without compromising their everyday routine. Since snoring is usually linked to OSAHS, developing a snore detector is appealing as an enabling technology for screening OSAHS at home using ubiquitous equipment like commodity microphones (included in, e.g., smartphones). In this context, this study developed a snore detection tool and herein present the approach and selection of specific sound features that discriminate snoring vs. environmental sounds, as well as the performance of the proposed tool. Furthermore, a Real-Time Snore Detector (RTSD) is built upon the snore detection tool and employed in whole-night sleep sound recordings resulting to a large dataset of snoring sound excerpts that are made freely available to the public. The RTSD may be used either as a stand-alone tool that offers insight to an individual’s sleep quality or as an independent component of OSAHS screening applications in future developments.

Keywords: obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome, apnea screening, snoring detection, machine learning, neural networks

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Authors: Vinay C. Doranalu, Amba Shetty

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In recent days due to climate change, there is a large variation in spatial distribution of daily rainfall within a small region. Rainfall is one of the main end climatic variables which affect spatio-temporal patterns of water availability. The real task postured by the change in climate is identification, estimation and understanding the uncertainty of rainfall. This study intended to analyze the spatial variations and temporal trends of daily precipitation using high resolution (0.25º x 0.25º) gridded data of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). For the study, 38 grid points were selected in the study area and analyzed for daily precipitation time series (113 years) over the period 1901-2013. Grid points were divided into two zones based on the elevation and situated location of grid points: Low Land (exposed to sea and low elevated area/ coastal region) and High Land (Interior from sea and high elevated area/western Ghats). Time series were applied to examine the spatial analysis and temporal trends in each grid points by non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Theil-Sen estimator to perceive the nature of trend and magnitude of slope in trend of rainfall. Pettit-Mann-Whitney test is applied to detect the most probable change point in trends of the time period. Results have revealed remarkable monotonic trend in each grid for daily precipitation of the time series. In general, by the regional cluster analysis found that increasing precipitation trend in shoreline region and decreasing trend in Western Ghats from recent years. Spatial distribution of rainfall can be partly explained by heterogeneity in temporal trends of rainfall by change point analysis. The Mann-Kendall test shows significant variation as weaker rainfall towards the rainfall distribution over eastern parts of the Western Ghats region of Karnataka.

Keywords: change point analysis, coastal region India, gridded rainfall data, non-parametric

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Authors: Fateme Montazeri

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Literary approaches towards the text of the Quran predate the modern period. Suyuti (d.1505)’s encyclopedia of Quranic sciences, Al-Itqan, provides a notable example. In the modern era, the study of the Quranic rhetorics received particular attention in the second half of the twentieth century by Egyptian scholars. Amin Al-Khouli (d. 1966), who might be considered the first to argue for the necessity of applying a literary-rhetorical lens toward the tafseer, Islamic exegesis, and his students championed the literary analysis as the most effective approach to the comprehension of the holy text. Western scholars continued the literary criticism of the Islamic scripture by applying to the Quran similar methodologies used in biblical studies. In the history of the literary examination of the Quran, the scope of the critical methods applied to the Quranic text has been limited. For, the rhetorical approaches to the Quran, in the premodern as well as the modern period, concerned almost exclusively with the lexical layer of the text, leaving the narratological dimensions insufficiently examined. Recent contributions, by Leyla Ozgur Alhassen, for instance, attempt to fill this lacunae. This paper aims at advancing the studies of the Quranic narratives by investigating the application of a literary device whose role in the Quranic stories remains unstudied, that is, “foreshadowing.” This paper shall focus on Chapter 12, “Surah al-Yusuf,” as its case study. Chapter 12, the single chapter that includes the story of Joseph in one piece, contains several instances in which the events of the story are foreshadowed. As shall be discussed, foreshadowing occurs either through a monolog or dialogue whereby one or more of the characters allude to the future happenings or through the manner in which the setting is described. Through a close reading of the text, it will be demonstrated that the usage of the rhetorical tool of foreshadowing meets a dual purpose: on the one hand, foreshadowing prepares the reader/audience for the upcoming events in the plot, and on the other hand, it highlights the psychological dimensions of the characters, their thoughts, intentions, and disposition. In analyzing the story, this study shall draw on psychoanalytical criticism to explore the layers of meanings embedded in the Quranic narrative that are unfolded through foreshadowing.

Keywords: foreshadowing, quranic narrative, literary criticism, surah yusuf

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Authors: M. Reni Sagayaraj, S. Anand Gnana Selvam, R. Reynald Susainathan

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We analyze stochastic integrals associated with a mutation process. To be specific, we describe the cell population process and derive the differential equations for the joint generating functions for the number of mutants and their integrals in generating functions and their applications. We obtain first-order moments of the processes of the two-way mutation process in first-order moment structure of X (t) and Y (t) and the second-order moments of a one-way mutation process. In this paper, we obtain the limiting behaviour of the integrals in limiting distributions of X (t) and Y (t).

Keywords: stochastic integrals, single–server queue model, catastrophes, busy period

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Authors: M. Saba, A. Iaaly, E. Carlier, N. Georges

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This research focuses on assessing the ground water quality of Northern Lebanon affected by saline water intrusion. The chemical, physical and microbiological parameters were collected in various seasons spanning over the period of two years. Results were assessed using Geographic Information System (GIS) due to its visual capabilities in presenting the pollution extent in the studied region. Future projections of the excessive pumping were also simulated using GIS in order to assess the extent of the problem of saline intrusion in the near future.

Keywords: GIS, saline water, quality control, drinkable water quality standards, pumping

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Vivek Saxena, Shreshtha Saxena

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Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as impaired glucose tolerance first recognized during pregnancy. Uncontrolled or untreated GDM is associated with various adverse outcomes to the maternal and fetal health. Overt diabetes mellitus may also develop in such patients. It is universally accepted fact that first and foremost management to treat GDM is dietary control and lifestyle modification even before starting any oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA) or insulin. So, proper dietary management and little changes in the patient’s lifestyle are very effective for reducing her plasma glucose level. Objectives: Proper counselling of the patients and flexibility in their lifestyle and diet can effectively control the plasma glucose level in GDM patients. Methods: Total 60 GDM patients of age > 18 years were taken. We had three counselling sessions with the patient and other members of the family like husband, parents, and in-laws at different intervals, discussed their lifestyle and diet pattern, helped them to eliminate the factors those had an adverse effect on plasma glucose level and promoted them to acquire a healthy lifestyle. We have counselled the patient and her family member separately and then together also. They have explained how increased plasma glucose level can be effectively controlled with the little modification in their diet and routine activities. They were also taught to remain stress-free during their rest of antenatal period. We have excluded the patients from our study who were diabetic before pregnancy and patients with other comorbid illnesses like hypothyroidism and valvular heart disease. Results and conclusions: Results were very rewarding as patients could acquire a lifestyle of their choice. They were happy because extra pill burden was not there. All the 60 patients were normoglycemic in remaining antenatal period, 48 patients were delivered normally and 12 patients underwent cesarean section due to various reasons.Regular counselling of the patients regarding their disease and little alterations in diet and lifestyle controlled the plasma glucose level much effectively. The things were more easier and effective when we included other family members during our counselling session because they play a major role in patient’s day to day activity and influence her life.

Keywords: dietary management, gestational diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose tolerance, oral hypoglycemic agent, pregnancy

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Authors: Beciri Mohamed Walid

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Some architectural conditions required some shapes often lead to an irregular distribution of masses, rigidities and resistances. The main object of the present study consists in estimating the influence of the irregularity both in plan and in elevation which presenting some structures on the dynamic characteristics and his influence on the behavior of this structures. To do this, it is necessary to make apply both dynamic methods proposed by the RPA99 (spectral modal method and method of analysis by accelerogram) on certain similar prototypes and to analyze the parameters measuring the answer of these structures and to proceed to a comparison of the results.

Keywords: structure, irregular, code, seismic, method, force, period

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Authors: Patricia L. Fontanilla, David Nordstokke

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Introduction: Today’s children and youth face increasing social and behavioural challenges, leading to delays in social development and greater mental health needs. Early adolescents (aged 9 to 14) are experiencing a rise in mental health symptoms and diagnoses. This study examines the impact of HEROES, a social-emotional learning (SEL) program, on resilience and academic outcomes in early adolescents. The HEROES program is designed to enhance resilience the ability to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity, equipping youth to navigate developmental transitions and challenges. This study’s objective was to evaluate the program’s long-term effectiveness by measuring changes in resilience and academic resilience across 10 months. Methodology: This study collected data from 21 middle school students (grades 7 to 9) in a rural Canadian school. Quantitative data were gathered at four intervals: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 2- and 4-month follow-ups. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models (LMM). Results: Findings showed statistically significant increases in academic resilience over time and significant increases in resilience from pre-intervention to 2 and 4 months later. Limitations included a small sample size, which may affect generalizability. Conclusion: The HEROES program demonstrates promise in increasing resilience and academic resilience among early adolescents through SEL skill development.

Keywords: academic resilience, early adolescence, resilience, SEL, social-emotional learning program

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Authors: Mario C. Nierras

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This study aimed to determine the extension services’ needs of small farmers in Biliran province, Philippines. It also sought to find out other issues/concerns of the small farmers. Extension services’ needs of small farmers were gathered through personal interviewing and observational analysis of randomly-selected small farmers in Biliran, Philippines. Biliran small farmers extension services’ needs include: raising fruits, raising legumes, raising vegetables, raising swine, raising cattle, and raising chicken (as priority broad skills). For the specific skills, diagnosing symptoms on fertilizer deficiencies, controlling plant pests and diseases, diagnosing signs on specific pest and disease damage, controlling animal pests and diseases, and doing artificial insemination were the priority skills. They considered an on-farm trial of new technology as most needed to be coupled with industry and quality-orientedness, as positive behaviors needed in farming success. The farmers still adhere to the so-called wait-and-see attitude, thus they are more convinced to follow a particular technology if they see a concrete result of the introduced changes. Technical needs prioritization of Biliran small farmers showed that they have a real need for crop and animal production skills to include the other issues/concerns. Extension service program planning for small farmers should be patterned after their technical needs giving due attention to some issues/concerns so that extension work could deliver the right skills for the right needs of the farmers.

Keywords: extension, extension service, extension service needs, extension service program, farmers, small farmers, marginal farmers

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Authors: Jenny Carpenter, Josh Chan, Persephone MacKinlay, Madeline Chiang, Devlyn Sun, Hiba Syed, Jana Lau, Mariam Arshad, Joy Xu

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Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that affects 1 million Canadians and over 8 million Americans. It is associated with psychosocial challenges exacerbated by the presence of visible lesions, which can lead to feelings of embarrassment and social discomfort. Children often experience bullying and lower self-esteem, while adults face workplace discrimination, impaired productivity, and higher rates of comorbid mental health conditions. Understanding these impacts across age groups is vital for tailored interventions. Objective: The main objective is to compare the longitudinal psychological impact of psoriasis between adults and children in Canada and the United States. Methods: This systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines and a PROSPERO-registered protocol. Studies were identified from PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, PsycINFO, Dermatology Online Journal, JMIR Dermatology, and Embase. The included studies were published between 2014 and 2024, measured standardized psychological outcomes, and had a longitudinal design with at least a one-year follow-up period. Methodological quality was assessed using the GRADE tool. Results: Fifteen studies encompassing 67,964 participants (mean age 49.1 years, 53.3% female) were included. Adults with moderate-to-severe psoriasis demonstrated significant impairments in Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores, with a mean baseline score of 9.0 to 10.2 for severe cases, reflecting moderate-to-severe quality of life (QoL) impairments. Treatment with biologic therapies significantly improved outcomes, with DLQI scores decreasing by an average of 7 points (from 9.6 to 2.6; p < 0.001). Key areas of improvement included social functioning, reduced physical symptoms, and increased work productivity. In severe cases, DLQI scores were 7.95 points higher compared to mild cases (p < 0.05), indicating a disproportionate burden of disease severity. Anxiety and depression were common in adults, affecting 16-23% and 18-22%, respectively. These conditions were linked to visible lesions, social stigma, and comorbidities such as hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Children with psoriasis also exhibited similar impairments in QoL, as assessed by the Children’s Life Quality Index (CLDQI). Visible lesions negatively affected school participation and peer interactions, with bullying and stigma consistently reported as major contributors to social isolation and emotional distress. Although biological therapies improved CDLQI scores, children faced persistent challenges in psychological well-being, including lower self-esteem and stigma, which often persisted in adolescence. Disease severity was quantified using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Among adults, severe cases had a mean baseline PASI score of 13.9, improving by 87.1% (to 1.8, p < 0001) following biologic therapy. Canadian cohorts showed greater PASI improvements, with biologic-naive adults achieving a 95.1% reduction (from 16.3 to 0.7, p < 0.0001). Canadian patients also had higher biologic continuation rates (89.9%). Conclusion: Psoriasis significantly impacts quality of life and psychological well-being across age groups, with notable differences in outcomes between adults and children. Regional differences further highlighted greater work-related impairments in U.S. adults and more pronounced psychological challenges in Canadian children, where bullying and stigma delayed recovery. These findings emphasize the need for age- and region-specific strategies to address both the physical and psychosocial dimensions of psoriasis and support long-term well-being.

Keywords: psoriasis, psychological impact, mental health, quality of life, self-esteem, autoimmune, chronic skin condition

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Authors: Georgitta Joseph Valiyamattam

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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a growing phenomenon in India with over 10 million cases being recorded. Children with various levels and forms of ASD can be a major challenge both within the context of regular or special schooling. According to statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in every 88 children today is born with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) against a ratio of one in 110 few years back. The growing number of children with autism spectrum disorders places greater demands on health services and necessitates the roping in of non-traditional modes of treatment to complement or even substitute traditional health care methods when possible. Research evidence, particularly from Western countries, as also some parts of Asia, suggests that animal-assisted therapy, or zootherapy, may be used as an effective individual or complementary therapeutic tool for increasing overall wellbeing and quality of life among children with Autism spectrum disorders. The paper through a case-study format seeks to evaluate the efficacy (initial stage) of animal assisted therapy (canine-therapy with visiting dog: breed-Golden retriever), as a non-conventional treatment modality for improving cognitive functioning and managing the behavioral and psychological symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders. As a pilot study forming the basis for subsequent larger application of AAT, it analyses areas of efficacy as also the challenges faced, both with regard to the mode of therapy, as also particular to the Indian setting.

Keywords: animal assisted therapy, autism, canine therapy, analyzing initial efficacy

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Authors: Yun-Tsuen Chen, Shih-Ting Huang, Pi-Fen Cheng, Yu-Ting Su, Joffrey Hsu, Hui-Zhu Chen

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Acute intestinal obstruction is one of the differentials of acute abdomen and requires timely alleviation of intestinal distention and abdominal pain to avoid perforation, intra-abdominal infection, and peritonitis. Investigation to identify the cause of obstruction will direct treatment planning and allow for more effective management. In this study, we present a 71-year-old female presenting with symptoms of acute intestinal obstruction for five days. After extensive history taking, physical exam, medical imaging, and pathology, the patient was diagnosed with colon cancer with lung metastasis and acute intestinal obstruction. The patient was placed on nil per os status with intravenous fluid support, intravenous antibiotics, and a decompression nasogastric tube was placed. The patient received decompression with colostomy creation surgery. After assessing the patient’s clinical condition and tumor staging, a multidisciplinary healthcare team created an individualized treatment plan, which included plans to prepare the patient for home self-care and maintain good mental health with regular monitoring in the clinic setting. This case demonstrates the importance of early diagnosis, effective treatment, and a multidisciplinary approach to the management of acute intestinal obstruction secondary to colon cancer.

Keywords: acute intestinal obstruction, colostomy surgery, metastatic colon cancer, multidisciplinary healthcare team

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Authors: Waleed Jarjoura

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In various cases of visual impairments, the individuals are referred to expert Ophthalmologists in order to establish a correct diagnosis. Children with visual-impairments confront various challenging experiences in life since early childhood throughout lifespan. In some cases, blind infants, especially due to congenital hydrocephalus, suffer from high intra-cranial pressure and, consequently, go through a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt surgery in order to limit the neurological symptoms or decrease the cognitive impairments. In this article, a detailed description of numerous crucial implications of the V/P shunt surgery, through the right posterior-inferior parieto-temporal cortex, on the observed preliminary capabilities that are pre-requisites for the acquisition of literacy skills in braille, basic Math competencies, braille printing which suggest Gerstmann syndrome in the blind. In addition, significant difficultiesorientation and mobility skills using the Cane, in general, organizational skills, and social interactions were observed. The primary conclusion of this report focuses on raising awareness among neuro-surgeons towards the need for alternative intracranial routes for V/P shunt implantation in blind infants that preserve the right posterior-inferior parieto-temporal cortex that is hypothesized to modulate the tactual-spatial cues in braille discrimination. A second conclusion targets educators and therapists that address the acquired dysfunctionsin blind individuals due to V/P shunt surgeries.

Keywords: congenital blindness, hydrocephalus, shunt surgery, spatial orientation

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Authors: Mario J. Meco-Gutierrez, Francisco Perez-Hidalgo, Juan R. Heredia-Larrubia, Antonio Ruiz-Gonzalez, Francisco Vargas-Merino

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More and more applications power inverters connected to transformers, for example, the connection facilities to the power grid renewable generation. It is well known that the quality of signal power inverters it is not a pure sine. The harmonic content produced negative effects, one of which is the heating of electrical machines and therefore, affects the life of the machines. The decrease of life of transformers can be calculated by Arrhenius or Montsinger equation. Analyzing this expression any (long-term) decrease of a transformer temperature for 6º C - 7º C means doubles its life-expectancy. Methodologies: This work presents the technique of pulse width modulation (PWM) with an injection of harmonic and triangular frequency carrier modulated in frequency. This technique is used to improve the quality of the output voltage signal of the power inverters controlled PWM. The proposed technique increases in the fundamental term and a significant reduction in low order harmonics with the same commutations per time that control sine PWM. To achieve this, the modulating wave is compared to a triangular carrier with variable frequency over the period of the modulator. Therefore, it is, advantageous for the modulating signal to have a large amount of sinusoidal “information” in the areas of greater sampling. A triangular signal with a frequency that varies over the modulator’s period is used as a carrier, for obtaining more samples in the area with the greatest slope. A power inverter controlled by PWM proposed technique is connected to a transformer. Results: In order to verify the derived thermal parameters under different operation conditions, another ambient and loading scenario is involved for a further verification, which was sampled from the same power transformer. Temperatures of different parts of the transformer will be exposed for each PWM control technique analyzed. An assessment of the temperature be done with different techniques PWM control and hence the life of the transformer is calculated for each technique. Conclusion: This paper analyzes such as transformer heating produced by this technique and compared with other forms of PWM control. In it can be seen as a reduction the harmonic content produces less heat transformer and therefore, an increase in the life of the transformer.

Keywords: heating, power-inverter, PWM, transformer

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Authors: Ishaq Kashif, Muhammad Younas, Muhammad Riaz, Mubarak Ali

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Poor feeding management during pre-weaning period is one of the factors resulting in compromised growth of Beetal kids fattened for meat purpose. The main reason for this anomaly may be less milk offered to kids and non-serious efforts for its management. This study was planned to find the most appropriate protein level suiting the age of the weaning while shifting animals to high input feeding system. Total of 42 Beetal male kids having 30 (±10), 60 (±10) and 90 (±10) days of age were selected with 16 in each age group. They were designated as G30, G60 and G90, respectively. The weights of animals were; 8±2 kg (G30), 12±2 kg (G60) and 16±2 kg (G90), respectively. All animals were weaned by introducing the total mix feed gradually and withdrawing the milk during the adjustment period of two weeks. The pelleted starter ration (total mix feed) with three various dietary protein levels designated as R1 (16% CP), R2 (20% CP) and R3 (26% CP) were introduced. The control group was reared on the fodder (Maize). The starter rations were iso-caloric and were offered for six-week duration. All animals were exposed to treatment using two-factor factorial (3×3) plus control treatment arrangement under completely randomized design. The data were collected on average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), gain to intake ratio, Klieber ratio (KR), body measurements and blood metabolites of kids. The data was analyzed using aov function of R-software. The statistical analysis showed that starter feed protein levels and age of weaning had significant interaction for ADG (P < 0.001), KR (P < 0.001), ADFI (P < 0.05) and blood urea nitrogen (P < 0.05) while serum creatinine and feed conversion had non-significant interaction. The trend analysis revealed that ADG had significant quadratic interaction (P < 0.05) within protein levels and age of weaning. It was found that animals weaned at 30 or 60 days, on R2 diet had better ADG (46.8 gm/day and 87.06 gm/day, respectively) weaned at 60 days of age. The animals weaned at 90 days had best ADG (127 gm/day) with R1. It is concluded that animal weaned at 30 or 40 days required 20% CP for better growth performance while animal at 90 days showed better performance with 16% CP.

Keywords: average daily gain, starter protein levels, weaning age, gain to intake ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Abdullah Abdulsalam, Adamu Balami, Olajide Olubanji Olowe, Maryam Abdu Abdulkadir

Abstract:

The development and persistence of low back pain may be influenced by several factors which include lifestyle factors, previous pain symptoms, psychological factors, workplace factors as well as socio-demographic variables. The focus of this study was to determine the socio-demographic and work related variables as a predictor of persistence of back pain and disability among civil servants receiving physiotherapy in tertiary health institutions in Kano, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty nine newly referred low back pain patients for physiotherapy participated in the study. This study was a cross sectional study involving patients that were newly diagnosed of back pain, referred and received physiotherapy. The convenience sampling technique was used to select the patients based on the inclusion criteria. The data obtained was analysed using simple percentage and multiple regression for stated hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings reveal that all the variables are not significant predictor of persistence of back pain and disability. The study recommended that determinants of low back pain recovery by clinician should include other clinical factors not only reduction in pain intensity.

Keywords: socio-demographic, work related variables, Kano state, back pain and disability

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Wen Cai Ng, Saman Ilankoon, Meng Nan Chong

Abstract:

The vast increase in global energy demand, coupled with the growing concerns on environmental issues, has triggered the search for cleaner alternative energy sources. In view of this, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting offers a sustainable hydrogen (H2) production route that only requires solar energy, water, and PEC system operating in an ambient environment. However, the current advancement of PEC water splitting technologies is still far from the commercialization benchmark indicated by the solar-to-H2 (STH) efficiency of at least 10 %. This is largely due to the shortcomings of photoelectrodes used in the PEC system, such as the rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers and limited photo-responsiveness in the visible-light spectrum. Silver orthophosphate (Ag3PO4) possesses many desirable intrinsic properties for the fabrication into photoanode used in PEC systems, such as narrow bandgap of 2.4 eV and low valence band (VB) position. Hence, in this study, a highly efficient Ag3PO4-based photoanode was synthesized and characterized. The surface of the Ag foil substrate was directly oxidized to fabricate a top layer composed of {111}-bound Ag3PO4 tetrahedrons layer with a porous structure, forming the dual-layer Ag/Ag3PO4 photoanode. Furthermore, the key synthesis parameters were systematically investigated by varying the concentration ratio of capping agent-to-precursor (R), the volume ratio of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-to-water, and reaction period. Results showed that the optimized dual-layer Ag/Ag3PO4 photoanode achieved a photocurrent density as high as 4.19 mA/cm2 at 1 V vs. Ag/AgCl for the R-value of 4, the volume ratio of H2O2-to-water of 3:5 and 20 h reaction period. The current work provides a solid foundation for further nanoarchitecture modification strategies on Ag3PO4-based photoanodes for more efficient PEC water splitting applications. This piece of information needs to be backed up by evidence; therefore, you need to provide a reference. As the abstract should be self-contained, all information requiring a reference should be removed. This is a fact known to the area of research, and not necessarily required a reference to support.

Keywords: solar-to-hydrogen fuel, photoelectrochemical water splitting, photoelectrode, silver orthophosphate

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Authors: H. Scholz, P. Kuehne, G. Heckenberger

Abstract:

Problems during the calving period (December until May) often are results in a high body condition score (BCS) at this time. At the end of the grazing period (frequently after early weaning), however, an increase of BCS can often be observed under German conditions. In the last eight weeks before calving, the body condition should be reduced or at least not increased. Rations with a higher amount of crude fiber can be used (rations with straw or late mowed grass silage). Fermentative digestion of fiber is slow and incomplete; that’s why the fermentative process in the rumen can be reduced over a long feeding time. Viewed in this context, feed intake of suckler cows (8 weeks before calving) in different rations and fermentation in the rumen should be checked by taking rumen fluid. Eight suckler cows (Charolais) were feeding a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) in the last eight weeks before calving and grass silage after calving. By the addition of straw (30 % [TMR1] vs. 60 % [TMR2] of dry matter) was varied the amount of crude fiber in the TMR (grass silage, straw, mineral) before calving. After calving of the cow's grass, silage [GS] was fed ad libitum, and the last measurement of rumen fluid took place on the pasture [PS]. Rumen fluid, plasma, body weight, and backfat thickness were collected. Rumen fluid pH was assessed using an electronic pH meter. Volatile fatty acids (VFA), sedimentation, methylene-blue, and amount of infusorians were measured. From these 4 parameters, an “index of rumen fermentation” [IRF] in the rumen was formed. Fixed effects of treatment (TMR1, TMR2, GS, and PS) and a number of lactations (3-7 lactations) were analyzed by ANOVA using SPSS Version 25.0 (significant by p ≤ 5 %). Rumen fluid pH was significantly influenced by variants (TMR 1 by 6.6; TMR 2 by 6.9; GS by 6.6 and PS by 6.9) but was not affected by other effects. The IRF showed disturbed fermentation in the rumen by feeding the TMR 1+2 with a high amount of crude fiber (Score: > 10.0 points) and a very good environment for fermentation during grazing the pasture (Score: 6.9 points). Furthermore, significant differences were found for VFA, methylene blue, and the number of infusorians. The use of rations with a high amount of crude fiber from weaning to calving may cause deviations from undisturbed fermentation in the rumen and adversely affect the utilization of the feed in the rumen.

Keywords: rumen fermentation, suckler cow, digestibility organic matter, crude fiber

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Aklilu Getahun Sulito

Abstract:

Land Use and Land Cover change dynamics is a result of complex interactions betweenseveral bio- physical and socio-economic conditions. The impacts of the landcoverchange on stream flow and sediment yield were analyzed statistically usingthehydrological model, SWAT. Genale Dawa Dam III watershed is highly af ectedbydeforestation, over grazing, and agricultural land expansion. This study was aimedusingSWAT model for the assessment of impacts of land use land cover change on sediment yield, evaluating stream flow on wet &dry seasons and spatial distribution sediment yieldfrom sub-basins of the Genale Dawa Dam III watershed. Land use land cover maps(LULC) of 2000, 2008 and 2016 were used with same corresponding climate data. During the study period most parts of the forest, dense forest evergreen and grass landchanged to cultivated land. The cultivated land increased by 26.2%but forest land, forest evergreen lands and grass lands decreased by 21.33%, 11.59 % and 7.28 %respectively, following that the mean annual sediment yield of watershed increased by 7.37ton/haover16 years period (2000 – 2016). The analysis of stream flow for wet and dry seasonsshowed that the steam flow increased by 25.5% during wet season, but decreasedby29.6% in the dry season. The result an average annual spatial distribution of sediment yield increased by 7.73ton/ha yr -1 from (2000_2016). The calibration results for bothstream flow and sediment yield showed good agreement between observed and simulateddata with the coef icient of determination of 0.87 and 0.84, Nash-Sutclif e ef iciencyequality to 0.83 and 0.78 and percentage bias of -7.39% and -10.90%respectively. Andthe result for validation for both stream flow and sediment showed good result withCoef icient of determination equality to 0.83 and 0.80, Nash-Sutclif e ef iciency of 0.78and 0.75 and percentage bias of 7.09% and 3.95%. The result obtained fromthe model based on the above method was the mean annual sediment load at Genale DawaDamIIIwatershed increase from 2000 to 2016 for the reason that of the land uses change. Sotouse the Genale Dawa Dam III the land use management practices are neededinthefuture to prevent further increase of sediment yield of the watershed.

Keywords: Genale Dawa Dam III watershed, land use land cover change, SWAT, spatial distribution, sediment yield, stream flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Mario Gómez, José Carlos Rodríguez

Abstract:

The causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth has been an important issue in the economic literature. This paper studies the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in Mexico for the period of 1971-2011. In so doing, unit root tests and causality test are applied. The results show that the series are stationary in levels and that there is causality running from economic growth to energy consumption. The energy conservation policies have little or no impact on economic growth in México.

Keywords: causality, economic growth, energy consumption, Mexico

Procedia PDF Downloads 859