Search results for: neurological movement disorder

Authors: Ramada R. Khasawneh, Mohammed Z. Allouh, Ejlal Abu-El Rub

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The quadriceps angle (Q angle), formed between the quadriceps muscles and the patella tendon, is considered clinically as a very important parameter which displays the biomechanical effect of the quadriceps muscle on the knee, and it is also regarded as a crucial factor for the proper posture and movement of the knee patella. This study had been conducted to measure the normal Q angle values range in the Arab nationalities and determine the correlation between Q angle values and several body parameters, including gender, height, weight, dominant side, and the condylar distance of the femur. The study includes 500 healthy Arab students from Yarmouk University and Jordan University of Science and Technology. The Q angle of those volunteers was measured using a universal manual Goniometer with the subjects in the upright weight-bearing position. It was found that the Q angle was greater in women than in men. The analysis of the data revealed an insignificant increase in the dominant side of the Q angle. In addition, the Q was significantly higher in the taller people of both sexes. However, the Q angle did not present any considerable correlation with weight in the study population; conversely, it was observed that there was a link with the condylar distance of the femur in both sexes. It was also noticed that the Q angle increased remarkably when there was an increase in the condylar distance. Consequently, it turned out that the gender, height, and the condylar distance were momentous factors that had an impact on the Q angle in our study samples. However, weight and dominance factors did not show to have any influence on the values in our study.

Keywords: Q angle, Jordanian, anatomy, condylar distance

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Authors: Ran Etgar, Yuval Cohen, Erel Avineri

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One of the major challenges of transportation in medium sized inner-cities (such as Tel-Aviv) is the last-mile solution. Personal rapid transit (PRT) seems like an applicable candidate for this, as it combines the benefits of personal (car) travel with the operational benefits of transit. However, the investment required for large area PRT grid is significant and there is a need to economically justify such investment by correctly evaluating the grid capacity. PRT main elements are small automated vehicles (sometimes referred to as podcars) operating on a network of specially built guideways. The research is looking at a specific concept of elevated PRT system. Literature review has revealed the drawbacks PRT modelling and simulation approaches, mainly due to the lack of consideration of technical and operational features of the system (such as headways, acceleration, safety issues); the detailed design of infrastructure (guideways, stations, and docks); the stochastic and sessional characteristics of demand; and safety regulations – all of them have a strong effect on the system performance. A highly detailed model of the system, developed in this research, is applying a discrete event simulation combined with an agent-based approach, to represent the system elements and the podecars movement logic. Applying a case study approach, the simulation model is used to study the capacity of the system, the expected throughput of the system, the utilization, and the level of service (journey time, waiting time, etc.).

Keywords: capacity, productivity measurement, PRT, simulation, transportation

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Authors: Maryam Ghavam Sadri, Kimia Moiniafshari

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Objectives: Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that has negative effects on verbal, mental and behavioral development. Studies have shown the role of a maternal dietary pattern before and during pregnancy. The relation of exerting of nutritional management programs in prevention of Autism has been approved. This review article has been made to investigate the role of nutritional management strategies before and during pregnancy in the prevention of Autism. Methods: This review study was accomplished by using the keywords related to the topic, 67 articles were found (2000-2015) and finally 20 article with criteria such as including maternal lifestyle, nutritional deficiencies and Autism prevention were selected. Results: Maternal dietary pattern and health before and during pregnancy have important roles in the incidence of Autism. Studies have suggested that high dietary fat intake and obesity can increase the risk of Autism in offspring. Maternal metabolic condition specially gestational diabetes (GDM) (p-value < 0.04) and folate deficiency (p-value = 0.04) is associated with risk of Autism. Studies have shown that folate intake in mothers with autistic children is less than mothers who have typically developing children (TYP) (p-value<0.01). As folate is an essential micronutrient for fetus mental development, consumption of average 600 mcg/day especially in P1 phase of pregnancy results in significant reduction in incidence of Autism (OR:1.53, 95%CI=0.42-0.92, p-value = 0.02). furthermore, essential fatty acid deficiency especially omega-3 fatty acid increases the rate of Autism and consumption of supplements and food sources of omega-3 can decrease the risk of Autism up to 34% (RR=1.53, 95%CI=1-2.32). Conclusion: regards to nutritional deficiency and maternal metabolic condition before and during pregnancy in prevalence of Autism, carrying out the appropriate nutritional strategies such as well-timed folate supplementation before pregnancy and healthy lifestyle adherence for prevention of metabolic syndrome (GDM) seems to help Autism prevention.

Keywords: autism, autism prevention, dietary inadequacy, maternal lifestyle

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Authors: Jocelyn Lachance, Francis Jauréguiberry

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In a few years, the exceptionality of the situation of an individual who could be reached at any time and at any time was replaced by the normality of instantly hearing the voice or immediately seeing the face of the person. This participates in the transformation of our representations of time and space, which gives rise to new expectations. Expectations that parents formulate more or less clearly to their children. The obligation to remain reachable seems to be asserting itself as a general norm which, having imposed itself on adults, now extends to the youngest. In the case of parents and their children, the rationale for this ongoing connection is not always based on actual and imminent dangers. It is the potential for dangerous events that underpins the indisputable argument for the importance of remaining reachable. It is the contingent nature of the risks that imposes itself on these young people as an argument of authority. By entering this connected world, the younger generations also end up adhering in many cases to this reassuring standard of connection. Many teenagers in ours researches nonetheless firmly believe that their freedom of movement is subject to the obligation to carry their smartphone with them. In this way, a connection "pact" is generally established, concluded under pressure, which implies first and foremost that contact be possible at any time, hence the importance of keeping it within reach, and often of '' be attentive to calls and texts sent by parents, at the risk of losing a recently acquired freedom. In this context, if adolescents are growing up in a connected world today, it is also because of the connection the parents are expecting from them. In our conference, by evoking situations reported by teenagers and parents of teenagers during our surveys, we propose to think about the role of the parents in making their child connected and about the desire of the disconnection of the teens.

Keywords: connection, disconnection, smartphone, parents, ritual

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Authors: Abubakar Muhammad Umar, Nur Adeela Yasid, Hassan Mohd Daud, Mohd Yunus Abd Shukor

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Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] is among the most broadly and generally recognized broad-spectrum herbicides used in agriculture due to its low cost and effectiveness in weed management. The pollution of glyphosate in the aquatic environment can be via water run-off from agricultural lands, or by spray drift, aerial spraying or due to industrial discharge, which may be seen as a threat to aquatic biota. Fish is one of the best organisms to study the toxicological aspects of glyphosate. A 49 days experiment was conducted under laboratory condition to ascertain the effects of technical grade glyphosate on behaviour and histopathological conditions in the gills of red hybrid tilapia using light inverted microscope. Air gasping, erratic swimming, fin movement, mucus secretion, hemorrhages and loss of scales were observed as behavioural changes in the exposed fish. There was no any histopathological complication observed in the gill of the control fish, but various level of alterations were seen in the gills of the fish exposed to glyphosate herbicide. These include lifting of primary lamella, congestion of secondary lamella as well as hyperplasia in both primary and secondary gill lamella and hypertrophy of secondary gill lamella. Based on the findings of this study, glyphosate herbicide exerts behavioural and histopathological changes in the gill of red hybrid tilapia, and therefore the fish is considered as good bioindicator in aquatic environment monitoring. Excessive usage of glyphosate herbicide near aquatic habitats should be discouraged.

Keywords: glyphosate, behavioral, histopathological, tilapia

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Authors: P. O. Fatoki, R. S. Olaleye, B. O. Adeniji

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The study investigated farmers’ perception of the effects of climate change on rice production in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting a total of 248 rice farmers from the study area. Data for the study were collected through the use of interview schedule. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that majority (71.8%) of the respondents were married and the mean age of the respondents was 44.54 years. The results also showed that most adapted strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change on rice production were change of planting and harvesting date (67.7%), movement to another site (63.7%) and increased or reduced land size (58.5%). Relationship between the roles of extension agents in mitigating climate change effects on rice production and farmers’ perception were significant as revealed Chi-Square analysis from the study ; Dissemination of information ( = 2.16, P < 0.05) and use of demonstration methods ( = 2.15, P < 0.05). Poisson regression analysis revealed that educational status, farm size, experience and yield had significant relationship with the perception of the effects of climate change at 0.01 significance level while household size was as well significant at 0.05. It is recommended that some of the adaptive strategies and practices for mitigating the effects of climate change in rice production should be improved, while the extension outfits should be strengthened to ensure adequate dissemination of relevant information on climate change with a view to mitigate its effects on rice production.

Keywords: perception, rice farmers, climate change, mitigation, adaptive strategies

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Authors: Amira, A. Goma, U. E. Mahrous

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Welfare may be considered to be a subjective experience; it has a biological function that is related to the fitness and survival of the animal accordingly, researches have suggested that welfare is compromised when the animal's evolutionary fitness is reduced. This study was carried out to explain the effect of some managerial stressors as handling and restraint on behavioral patterns and biochemical parameters of rats. A total of 24 (12 males and 12 females) Sprague-Dawley rats (12 months and 150-180g) were allotted into 3 groups, handled group (4 male and 4 female), restrained group (4 male and 4 female) and control group (4 males and 4 females). The obtained results revealed that time spent feeding, drinking frequency, movement and cage exploration increased significantly in handled rats than other groups, while lying time and licking increased significantly in restrained rats than handled and controls. Moreover, social behavior decreased in both stressed groups than control. Triglycerides were significantly increased in handled rats than other groups, while total lipid, total protein and globulin significantly increased in both treated groups than control. Corticosterone increased in restrained and handled rats than control ones. Moreover, there was an increment in packed cell volume significantly in restrained rats than others. These deducted that if we want to study the effect of stress on animal welfare it is necessary to study the effect of such stressors on animal’s behavior and physiological responses.

Keywords: handling, restraint, welfare, rat, behavior, physiology

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Authors: Kai Pei Huang, Ting Chung Hung, Li Ching Wu

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Amyloidosis refers to a variety of conditions wherein amyloid proteins are abnormally deposited in organ or tissues and cause harm. Among the several forms of amyloidosis, the principal types of that in inpatient medical services are the AL amyloidosis (primary) and AA amyloidois (secondary). AL Amyloidois is due to deposition of protein derived from overproduction of immunoglobulin light chain in plasma cell myeloma. Furthermore, it is a systemic disorder that can present with a variety of symptoms, including heavy proteinemia and edema, heptosplenomegaly, otherwise unexplained heart failure. We reported a 78-year-old female presenting dysuria, oliguria and leg edema for several months. Laboratory data showed proteinuria (UPCR:1679.8), leukocytosis (WBC:16.2 x 10^3/uL), results of serum urea nitrogen (39mg/dL), creatinine (0.76 mg/dL), IgG (748 mg/dL.), IgA (635 mg/dL), IgM (63 mg/dL), kappa light chain(18.8 mg/dL), lambda light chain (110.0 mg/dL) and kappa/lambda ratio (0.17). Renal biopsy found amyloid fibrils in glomerular mesangial area, and Congo red stain highlights amyloid deposition in glomeruli. Additional lab studies included serum protein electrophoresis, which shows a major monoclonal peak in β region and minor small peak in gamma region, and the immunotyping studies for serum showed two IgA/λ type. We treated sample with beta-mercaptoethanol which reducing the polymerized immunoglobulin to clarify two IgA/λ are secreted from the same plasma cell clone in bone marrow. Later examination confirmed it existed plasma cell infiltration in bone marrow, and the immunohistochemical staining showed monotypic for λ light chain and are positive for IgA. All findings mentioned above reveal it is a case of plasma cell myeloma with λ Light Chain Amyloidosis.

Keywords: amyloidosis, immunoglobulin light chain, plasma cell myeloma, serum protein electrophoresis

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Authors: Heru Al Amin

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Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous inflammatory disorder of unclear etiology that can affect multiple different organ systems. Isolated cardiac sarcoidosis is a very rare condition that causes lethal arrhythmia and heart failure. A definite diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis remains challenging. The use of multimodality imaging plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis of this entity. Case summary: In this report, we discuss a case of a 50-year-old woman who presented with recurrent palpitation, dizziness, vertigo and presyncope. Electrocardiogram revealed variable heart blocks, including first-degree AV block, second-degree AV block, high-degree AV block, complete AV block, trifascicular block and sometimes supraventricular arrhythmia. Twenty-four hours of Holter monitoring show atrial bigeminy, first-degree AV block and trifascicular block. Transthoracic echocardiography showed Thinning of basal anteroseptal and inferred septum with LV dilatation with reduction of Global Longitudinal Strain. A dual-chamber pacemaker was implanted. CT Coronary angiogram showed no coronary artery disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance revealed basal anteroseptal and inferior septum thinning with focal edema with LGE suggestive of sarcoidosis. Computed tomography of the chest showed no lymphadenopathy or pulmonary infiltration. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) of the whole body showed. We started steroids and followed up with the patient. Conclusion: This case serves to highlight the challenges in identifying and managing isolated CS in a young patient with recurrent syncope with variable heart block. Early, even late initiation of steroids can improve arrhythmia as well as left ventricular function.

Keywords: cardiac sarcoidosis, conduction abnormality, syncope, cardiac MRI

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Authors: E. A. Alaswad, H. M. Choudhry, F. Z. Filimban

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Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) is one type of blood diseases related to autosomal disorder. The sickle shaped red blood cells are the main cause of many problems in the blood vessels and capillaries. Aerva Javanica (J) and Ficus Palmata (P) are medicinal plants that have many popular uses and have been proved their efficacy. The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidants activity and the antisickling effect of J and P extractions. The period of this study, air-dried leaves of J, and P plants were ground and the active components were extracted by maceration in water (W) and methanol (M) as solvents. The antioxidants activity of JW, PW, JM, and PM were assessed by way of the radical scavenging method using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). To determine the antisickling effect of J and P extracts. 20 samples were collected from sickle cell anemia patients. Different concentrations of J and P extracts (200 and 110 μg/mL) were added on the sample and incubated. A drop of each sample was examined with light microscope. Normal and sickled RBCs were calculated and expressed as the percent of sickling. The stabilization effect of the extracts was measured by the osmotic fragility test for erythrocytes. The finding suggests as estimated by DPPH method, all the extracts showed an antioxidant activity with a significant inhibition of the DPPH radicals. PM has the least IC50% with 71.49 μg/ml while JM was the most with 408.49 μg/ml. Sickle cells treated with extracts at different concentrations significantly reduced the percentage of sickling compering to control samples. However, JM 200 μg/mL give the highest anti-sickling affect with 17.4% of sickling compared to control 67.5 of sickling while PM at 200 μg/mL showed the highest membrane cell stability. In a conclusion, the results showed that J and P extracts have antisickling effects. Therefore, the Aerva javanica and Ficus palmata may have a role in SCA management and a good impact on the patient's lives.

Keywords: Aerva javanica, antioxidant, antisickling, Ficus palmata, sickle cell anemia

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Authors: Shivani Verma, Amit Agrawal, Pankaj Kumar Meena, Ashish B. Deoghare

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Over the decade robotics has been a major area of interest among the researchers and scientists in reducing human efforts. The need for robots to replace human work in different dangerous fields such as underground mining, nuclear power station and war against terrorist attack has gained huge attention. Most of the robot design is based on human structure popularly known as humanoid robots. However, the problems encountered in humanoid robots includes low speed of movement, misbalancing in structure, poor load carrying capacity, etc. The simplification and adaptation of the fundamental design principles seen in animals have led to the creation of bio-inspired robots. But the major challenges observed in naturally inspired robot include complexity in structure, several degrees of freedom and energy storage problem. The present work focuses on design and fabrication of a bionic quadruped walking robot which is based on different joint of quadruped mammals like a dog, cheetah, etc. The design focuses on the structure of the robot body which consists of four legs having three degrees of freedom per leg and the electronics system involved in it. The robot is built using readily available plastics and metals. The proposed robot is simple in construction and is able to move through uneven terrain, detect and locate obstacles and take images while carrying additional loads which may include hardware and sensors. The robot will find possible application in the artificial intelligence sector.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, bionic, quadruped robot, degree of freedom

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Authors: I. Wardana Ketut, I. Suparwa Nyoman

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This study investigated the form and characteristic of speech sound produced by three Balinese subjects who have recovered from aphasia as well as intervened their language impairment on side of linguistic and neuronal aspects of views. The failure of judging the speech sound was caused by impairment of motor cortex that indicated there were lesions in left hemispheric language zone. Sound articulation phenomena were in the forms of phonemes deletion, replacement or assimilation in individual words and meaning building for anomic aphasia. Therefore, the Balinese sound patterns were stimulated by showing pictures to the subjects and recorded to recognize what individual consonants or vowels they unclearly produced and to find out how the sound disorder occurred. The physiology of sound production by subject’s speech organs could not only show the accuracy of articulation but also any level of severity the lesion they suffered from. The subjects’ speech sounds were investigated, classified and analyzed to know how poor the lingual units were and observed to clarify weaknesses of sound characters occurred either for place or manner of articulation. Many fricative and stopped consonants were replaced by glottal or palatal sounds because the cranial nerve, such as facial, trigeminal, and hypoglossal underwent impairment after the stroke. The phonological intervention was applied through a technique called phonemic articulation drill and the examination was conducted to know any change has been obtained. The finding informed that some weak articulation turned into clearer sound and simple meaning of language has been conveyed. The hierarchy of functional parts of brain played important role of language formulation and processing. From this finding, it can be clearly emphasized that this study supports the role of right hemisphere in recovery from aphasia is associated with functional brain reorganization.

Keywords: aphasia, intervention, phonology, stroke

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Authors: Sabyasachi Biswas, Indrajit Ghosh

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The random and heterogeneous behavior of vehicles in India puts up a greater challenge for researchers. Stop-and-go modeling at signalized intersections under heterogeneous traffic conditions has remained one of the most sought-after fields. Vehicles are often caught up in the dilemma zone and are unable to take quick decisions whether to stop or cross the intersection. This hampers the traffic movement and may lead to accidents. The purpose of this work is to develop a stop and go prediction model that depicts the drivers’ decision during the yellow time at signalised intersections. To accomplish this, certain traffic parameters were taken into account to develop surrogate model. This research investigated the Stop and Go behavior of the drivers by collecting data from 4-signalized intersections located in two major Indian cities. Model was developed to predict the drivers’ decision making during the yellow phase of the traffic signal. The parameters used for modeling included distance to stop line, time to stop line, speed, and length of the vehicle. A Kriging base surrogate model has been developed to investigate the drivers’ decision-making behavior in amber phase. It is observed that the proposed approach yields a highly accurate result (97.4 percent) by Gaussian function. It was observed that the accuracy for the crossing probability was 95.45, 90.9 and 86.36.11 percent respectively as predicted by the Kriging models with Gaussian, Exponential and Linear functions.

Keywords: decision-making decision, dilemma zone, surrogate model, Kriging

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Authors: Nitin Lahkar, Rishiraj Goswami

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“Oil Well Logging” or the practice of making a detailed record (a well log) of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole is an important practice in the Oil and Gas industry. Although a lot of research has been undertaken in this field, some basic limitations still exist. One of the main arenas or venues where plethora of problems arises is in logistically challenged areas. Accessibility and availability of efficient manpower, resources and technology is very time consuming, restricted and often costly in these areas. So, in this regard, the main challenge is to decrease the Non Productive Time (NPT) involved in the conventional logging process. The thought for the solution to this problem has given rise to a revolutionary concept called the “Robotic Logging Technology”. Robotic logging technology promises the advent of successful logging in all kinds of wells and trajectories. It consists of a wireless logging tool controlled from the surface. This eliminates the need for the logging truck to be summoned which in turn saves precious rig time. The robotic logging tool here, is designed such that it can move inside the well by different proposed mechanisms and models listed in the full paper as TYPE A, TYPE B and TYPE C. These types are classified on the basis of their operational technology, movement and conditions/wells in which the tool is to be used. Thus, depending on subsurface conditions, energy sources available and convenience the TYPE of Robotic model will be selected. Advantages over Conventional Logging Techniques: Reduction in Non-Productive time, lesser energy requirements, very fast action as compared to all other forms of logging, can perform well in all kinds of well trajectories (vertical/horizontal/inclined).

Keywords: robotic logging technology, innovation, geology, geophysics

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Authors: Esra Yuksel, Dilek Duman, Levent Yeniay, Sezgin Ulukaya

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Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a minimal invasive technique with lower morbidity in axillary staging of breast cancer. Isosulfan blue stain is frequently used in SLNB and regarded as safe. The present case report aimed to report severe decrement in SpO2 following isosulfan blue administration, as well as skin and urine signs and inconsistency with clinical picture in a 67-year-old ,77 kg, ASA II female case that underwent SLNB under general anesthesia. Ten minutes after subcutaneous administration of 10 ml 1% isosulfan blue by the surgeons into the patient, who were hemodynamically stable, SpO2 first reduced to 87% from 99%, and then to 75% in minutes despite 100% oxygen support. Meanwhile, blood pressure and EtCO2 monitoring was unremarkable. After specifying that anesthesia device worked normally, airway pressure did not increase and the endotracheal tube has been placed accurately, the blood sample was taken from the patient for arterial gas analysis. A severe increase was thought in MetHb concentration since SpO2 persisted to be 75% although the concentration of inspired oxygen was 100%, and solution of 2500 mg ascorbic acid in 500 ml 5% Dextrose was given to the patient via intravenous route until the results of arterial blood gas were obtained. However, arterial blood gas results were as follows: pH: 7.54, PaCO2: 23.3 mmHg, PaO2: 281 mmHg, SaO2: %99, and MetHb: %2.7. Biochemical analysis revealed a blood MetHb concentration of 2%.However, since arterial blood gas parameters were good, hemodynamics of the patient was stable and methemoglobin concentration was not so high, the patient was extubated after surgery when she was relaxed, cooperated and had adequate respiration. Despite the absence of respiratory or neurological distress, SpO2 value was increased only up to 85% within 2 hours with 5 L/min oxygen support via face mask in the surgery room as the patient was extubated. At that time, the skin of particularly the upper part of her body has turned into blue, more remarkable on the face. The color of plasma of the blood taken from the patient for biochemical analysis was blue. The color of urine coming throughout the urinary catheter placed in intensive care unit was also blue. Twelve hours after 5 L/min. oxygen inhalation via a mask, the SpO2 reached to 90%. During monitoring in intensive care unit on the postoperative 1st day, facial color and urine color of the patient was still blue, SpO2 was 92%, and arterial blood gas levels were as follows: pH: 7.44, PaO2: 76.1 mmHg, PaCO2: 38.2 mmHg, SaO2: 99%, and MetHb 1%. During monitoring in clinic on the postoperative 2nd day, SpO2 was 95% without oxygen support and her facial and urine color turned into normal. The patient was discharged on the 3rd day without any problem.In conclusion, SLNB is a less invasive alternative to axillary dissection. However, false pulse oximeter reading due to pigment interference is a rare complication of this procedure. Arterial blood gas analysis should be used to confirm any fall in SpO2 reading during monitoring.

Keywords: isosulfan blue, pulse oximetry, SLNB, methemoglobinemia

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Authors: Shirin Jalili, Ramin Ghasemi

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Lumbar microdiscectomy is the most commonly performed spinal surgery strategy; it is regularly performed to lighten the indications and signs of sciatica within the lower back and leg caused by a lumbar disc herniation. This surgery aims to progress leg pain, reestablish function, and enable a return to ordinary day-by-day exercises. Rates of lumbar disc surgery show critical geographic varieties recommending changing treatment criteria among working specialists. Few population-based considers have investigated the hazard of reoperation after disc surgery, and regional or inter specialty varieties within the reoperations are obscure. The conventional approach to recouping from lumbar microdiscectomy has been to restrain bending, lifting, or turning for a least 6 weeks in arrange to anticipate the disc from herniating once more. Traditionally, patients were exhorted to limit post-operative action, which was accepted to decrease the hazard of disc herniation and progressive insecurity. In modern hone, numerous specialists don't limit understanding of postoperative action due to the discernment this practice is pointless. There's a need of thinks about highlighting the result by distinctive scores or parameters after surgery for repetitive circle herniations of the lumbar spine at the starting herniation location. This study will evaluate the quality of life after surgical treatment of recurrent herniations with distinctive standardized approved result instruments.

Keywords: post-operative activity, disc, quality of life, treatment, movements

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Authors: Irfan Khairi

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It is arguable that today's social media has dramatically redefined human contact, and chiefly because the platforms enable communication opportunities unprecedented. Without question, billions of individuals globally engage in the media, a reality by no means lost on businesses and social entrepreneurs desirous of generating interest in a cause, movement, or other social effort. If, however, the opportunities are immense, so too is the competition. Private persons and entrepreneurial concerns alike virtually saturate the popular sites of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and most are intent on capturing as much external interest as possible. At the same time, however, the social entrepreneur possesses an advantage over the individual concerned only the social aspects of the sites, as they express interests in, and measures applicable to, important causes of which the public at large may be unaware. There is, unfortunately, no single means of assuring success in using the media outlets to generate interest. Nonetheless, a general awareness of how social media sites function, as well as the psychological elements relevant to the functioning, is necessary. It is as important to comprehend basic realities of the platforms and approaches that fail as it is to develop strategy, for the latter relies on knowledge of the former. This awareness in place, the social entrepreneur is then better enabled to determine strategy, in terms of which sites to focus upon and how to most effectively convey their message. What is required is familiarity with the online communities, with attention to the specific advantages each provides. Ultimately, today's social entrepreneur may establish a highly effective platform of promotion and engagement, provided they fully comprehend the social investment necessary for success.

Keywords: social media, marketing, e-commerce, internet business

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Authors: Jing Fang, Yao Cui, Mingming Wang, Shengli She, Jianping Yuan

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Wearable robotics is a potential solution in aiding gait rehabilitation of lower limbs dyskinesia patients, such as knee osteoarthritis or stroke afflicted patients. Many wearable robots have been developed in the form of rigid exoskeletons, but their bulk devices, high cost and control complexity hinder their popularity in the field of gait rehabilitation. Thus, the development of a portable, compliant and low-cost wearable robot for gait rehabilitation is necessary. Inspired by Chinese traditional folding fans and balloon inflators, the authors present an inflatable, foldable and variable stiffness knee exosuit (IFVSKE) in this paper. The pneumatic actuator of IFVSKE was fabricated in the shape of folding fans by using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fabric materials. The geometric and mechanical properties of IFVSKE were characterized with experimental methods. To assist the knee joint smartly, an intelligent control profile for IFVSKE was proposed based on the concept of full-cycle energy management of the biomechanical energy during human movement. The biomechanical energy of knee joints in a walking gait cycle of patients could be collected and released to assist the joint motion just by adjusting the inner pressure of IFVSKE. Finally, a healthy subject was involved to walk with and without the IFVSKE to evaluate the assisting effects.

Keywords: biomechanical energy management, knee exosuit, gait rehabilitation, wearable robotics

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Authors: Ofosuhene O. Apenteng, Noor Azina Ismail

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The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains a global cause of morbidity and mortality. It has caused panic since its emergence. Relationships between migration and HIV/AIDS have become complex. In the absence of prospectively designed studies, dynamic mathematical models that take into account the migration movement which will give very useful information. We have explored the utility of mathematical models in understanding transmission dynamics of HIV and AIDS and in assessing the magnitude of how migration has impact on the disease. The model was calibrated to HIV and AIDS incidence data from Malaysia Ministry of Health from the period of 1986 to 2011 using Bayesian analysis with combination of Markov chain Monte Carlo method (MCMC) approach to estimate the model parameters. From the estimated parameters, the estimated basic reproduction number was 22.5812. The rate at which the susceptible individual moved to HIV compartment has the highest sensitivity value which is more significant as compared to the remaining parameters. Thus, the disease becomes unstable. This is a big concern and not good indicator from the public health point of view since the aim is to stabilize the epidemic at the disease-free equilibrium. However, these results suggest that the government as a policy maker should make further efforts to curb illegal activities performed by migrants. It is shown that our models reflect considerably the dynamic behavior of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Malaysia and eventually could be used strategically for other countries.

Keywords: epidemic model, reproduction number, HIV, MCMC, parameter estimation

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Authors: Antar Bouhank, Youcef Beellal, Samir Adjel, Abdelmadjid Ababsa

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This paper investigates the impact of 3D printing parameters using the cold metal transfer (CMT) technique on the morphological, mechanical, and tribological properties of walls and massive parts made from aluminum alloy. The parameters studied include current intensity, torch movement speed, printing increment, and the flow rate of shielding gas. The manufactured parts, using the technique mentioned above, are walls and massive parts with different filling strategies, using grid and zigzag patterns and at different current intensities. The main goal of the article is to find out the welding parameters suitable for having parts with low defects and improved properties from the previously mentioned properties point of view. It has been observed from the results thus obtained that the high current intensity causes rapid solidification, resulting in high porosity and low hardness values. However, the high current intensity can cause very rapid solidification, which increases the melting point, and the part remains in the most stable shape. Furthermore, the results show that there is an evident relationship between hardness, coefficient of friction and wear test where the high intensity is, the low hardness is. The same note is for the coefficient of friction. The micrography of the walls shows a random granular structure with fine grain boundaries with a different grain size. Some interesting results are presented in this paper.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, porosity, microstructures, hardness

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Authors: Yana Xiao

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The invention of Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs) provides an effective approach to the sustainable power of energy. Liquid-solid interfaces-based TENGs have been researched in virtue of less friction for harvesting energy from raindrops, rivers, and oceans in the form of water flows. However, TENGs based on droplets have rarely been investigated. In this study, we have proposed a new kind of droplet tube-based TENG (DT-TENG) with free-standing and reformative grating electrodes. Both straight and curved DT-TENGs were designed, fabricated, and evaluated, including straight tubes TENG with 27 electrodes and curved tubes TENG of 25cm radius curvature- at the inclination of 30°, 45° and 60° respectively. Different materials and hydrophobicity treatments for the tubes have also been studied, together with a discussion on the mechanism and applications of DT-TENGs. As different types of liquid discrepant energy performance, this kind of DT-TENG can be potentially used in laboratories to identify liquid or solvent. In addition, a smart fishing float is contrived, which can recognize different levels of movement speeds brought about by different weights and generate corresponding electric signals to remind the angler. The electric generation performance when using a PVC helix tube around a cylinder is similar in straight situations under the inclination of 45° in this experiment. This new structure changes the direction of a water drop or flows without losing kinetic energy, which makes utilizing Helix-Tube-TENG to harvest energy from different building morphologies possible.

Keywords: triboelectric nanogenerator, energy harvest, liquid tribomaterial, structure innovation

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Authors: Anna Słupik, Krzysztof Jaworski, Anna Mosiołek, Dariusz Białoszewski

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Background: Maintaining the correct body balance is essential in the prevention of falls in the elderly, which is especially important for women because of postmenopausal osteoporosis and the serious consequences of falls. One of the exercise methods which is very popular among adults, and which may affect body balance in a positive way is the pilates method. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of regular pilates exercises on the ability to maintain body balance in static conditions in adult healthy women. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 20 healthy women attending pilates twice a week for at least 1 year. The control group consisted of 20 healthy women physically inactive. Women in the age range from 35 to 50 years old without pain in musculoskeletal system or other pain were only qualified to the groups. Body balance was assessed using MatScan VersaTek platform with Sway Analysis Module based on Matscan Clinical 6.7 software. The balance was evaluated under the following conditions: standing on both feet with eyes open, standing on both feet with eyes closed, one-leg standing (separately on the right and left foot) with eyes open. Each test lasted 30 seconds. The following parameters were calculated: estimated size of the ellipse of 95% confidence, the distance covered by the Center of Gravity (COG), the size of the maximum shift in the sagittal and frontal planes and load distribution between the left and right foot, as well as between rear- and forefoot. Results: It was found that there is significant difference between the groups in favor of the study group in the size of the confidence ellipse and maximum shifts of COG in the sagittal plane during standing on both feet, both with the eyes open and closed (p < 0.05). While standing on one leg both on the right and left leg, with eyes opened there was a significant difference in favor of the study group, in terms of the size of confidence ellipse, the size of the maximum shifts in the sagittal and in the frontal plane (p < 0.05). There were no differences between the distribution of load between the right and left foot (standing with both feet), nor between fore- and rear foot (in standing with both feet or one-leg). Conclusions: 1. Static balance in women exercising regularly by pilates method is better than in inactive women, which may in the future prevent falls and their consequences. 2. The observed differences in maintaining balance in frontal plane in one-leg standing may indicate a positive impact of pilates exercises on the ability to maintain global balance in terms of the reduced support surface. 3. Pilates method can be used as a form preventive therapy for all people who are expected to have problems with body balance in the future, for example in chronic neurological disorders or vestibular problems. 4. The results have shown that further prospective randomized research on a larger and more representative group is needed.

Keywords: balance exercises, body balance, pilates, pressure distribution, women

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Authors: Lai Gwen Chan, Yining Ong, Audrey Yoke Poh Wong

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Background. The efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a form of treatment to a range of mental disorders is well-established. However, ECT is often associated with either temporary or persistent cognitive side-effects, resulting in the failure of wider prescription. Of which, retrograde amnesia is the most commonly reported cognitive side-effect. Most studies found a recalling deficit in autobiographical memories to be short-term, although a few have reported more persistent amnesic effects. Little is known about ECT-related amnesic effects in Asian population. Hence, this study aims to resolve conflicting findings, as well as to better elucidate the effects of ECT on cognitive functioning in a local sample. Method: 12 patients underwent bilateral ECT under the care of Psychological Medicine Department, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. Participants’ cognition and level of functioning were assessed at four time-points: before ECT, between the third and fourth induced seizure, at the end of the whole course of ECT, and two months after the index course of ECT. Results: It was found that Global Assessment of Functioning scores increased significantly at the completion of ECT. Case-by-case analyses also revealed an overall improvement in Personal Semantic and Autobiographical memory two months after the index course of ECT. A transient dip in both personal semantic and autobiographical memory scores was observed in one participant between the third and fourth induced seizure, but subsequently resolved and showed better performance than at baseline. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that ECT is an effective form of treatment to alleviate the severity of symptoms of the diagnosis. ECT does not affect attention, language, executive functioning, personal semantic and autobiographical memory adversely. The findings suggest that Asian patients may respond to bilateral ECT differently from Western samples.

Keywords: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), autobiographical memory, cognitive impairment, psychiatric disorder

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Authors: J. DeBoard, R. Dietrich, J. Hughes, K. Yurko, G. Harms

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a predominant type of dementia and is likely a major cause of neural network impairment. The pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disorder has yet to be fully elucidated. There are currently no known cures for the disease, and the best hope is to be able to detect it early enough to impede its progress. Beyond age and genetics, another prevalent risk factor for AD might be traumatic brain injury (TBI), which has similar neurodegenerative hallmarks. Our research focuses on obtaining information and methods to be able to predict when neurodegenerative effects might occur at a clinical level by observation of events at a cellular and molecular level in model mice. First, we wish to introduce our evidence that brain damage can be observed via brain imaging prior to the noticeable loss of neuromuscular control in model mice of AD. We then show our evidence that some blood biomarkers might be able to be early predictors of AD in the same model mice. Thus, we were interested to see if we might be able to predict which mice might show long-term neurodegenerative effects due to differing degrees of TBI and what level of TBI causes further damage and earlier death to the AD model mice. Upon application of TBIs via an apparatus to effectively induce extremely mild to mild TBIs, wild-type (WT) mice and AD mouse models were tested for cognition, neuromuscular control, olfactory ability, blood biomarkers, and brain imaging. Experiments are currently still in process, and more results are therefore forthcoming. Preliminary data suggest that neuromotor control diminishes as well as olfactory function for both AD and WT mice after the administration of five consecutive mild TBIs. Also, seizure activity increases significantly for both AD and WT after the administration of the five TBI treatment. If future data supports these findings, important implications about the effect of TBI on those at risk for AD might be possible.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, blood biomarker, neurodegeneration, neuromuscular control, olfaction, traumatic brain injury

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Authors: Adeleye Johnson Adelagunayeja

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The concept of making cities, communities, and neighborhoods smart, intelligent, and responsive is relatively new to Africa and its urban renewal agencies. Efforts must be made by relevant agencies to begin a holistic review of the implementation of infrastructural facilities and urban renewal methodologies that will revolve around the appreciation and application of artificial intelligence. The propagation of the ideals and benefits of the smart city concept are key factors that can encourage governments of African nations, the African Union, and other regional organizations in Africa to embrace the ideology. The ability of this smart city concept to curb insecurities – armed robbery, assassination, terrorism, and civil disorder – is one major reason, amongst others, why African governments must speedily embrace this contemporary developmental concept whose time has come! The seamlessness to access information and virtually cross-pollinate ideas with people living in already established smart cities, when combined with the great efficiency that the emergence of smart cities brings with it, are other reasons why Africa must come up with action plans that can enable the existing cities to metamorphose into smart cities. Innovations will be required to enable Africa to develop a smart city concept that will be compatible with the basic patterns of livelihood because the essence of the smart city evolution is to make life better for people to co-exist, to be productive and to enjoy standard infrastructural facilities. This research paper enumerates the multifaceted adaptive factors that have the potentials of making the adoption of smartcity concept in Africa seamless. It also proffers solutions to potential bottlenecks capable of undermining the execution of the smart city concept in Africa.

Keywords: smartcity compactibility innovation Africa government evolution, Africa as global village member, evolution in Africa, ways to make Africa adopt smartcity, localizing smartcity concept in Africa, bottleneck to smartcity developmet in Africa

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Authors: Thomas Yeboah

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In contemporary times, the incessant movement of northern children especially girls to southern Ghana at the detriment of their education is worrisome. Due to the misplaced mindset of the migrants concerning southern Ghana, majority of them move without an idea of where to stay and what to do exposing them to hash conditions of living. Majority find menial work in cocoa farms, illegal mining and head porterage business. This study was conducted in the Kumasi Metropolis to ascertain the major causes of child migration from the northern part of Ghana to the south and their living conditions. Both qualitative and quantitative tools of data collection and analysis were employed. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 90 migrants below 18 years. Specifically, interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires were used to elicit responses from the units of analysis. The study revealed that the major cause of child migration from northern Ghana to the south is poverty. It was evident that respondents were vulnerable to the new environment in which they lived. They are exposed to harsh environmental conditions; sexual, verbal and physical assault; and harassment from arm robbers. The paper recommends that policy decisions should be able to create an enabling environment for the labour force in the north to ameliorate the compelling effects poverty has on child migration. Efforts should also be made to create a proper psychological climate in the minds of the children regarding their destination areas through sensitization and education.

Keywords: child migration, vulnerability, social exclusion, child labour, Ghana

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Authors: Ruanzhenghao Shi

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Student movements have persisted in mainland China, especially in elite universities since the Tiananmen Prodemocracy Movement, contrary to the lack of studies on them. However, the participants' repertoire, mobilization and mode of interaction with authorities are vastly different from their predecessors in the 1980s as well as their western counterparts. In most of the cases, agents, cognizant of the high cost of action and their vulnerability to the authorities, consciously curtailed certain repertoire and themes of resistance. Thus these movements, without appreciable organized force, were self-interested, fragmentally mobilized, lowly integrated and limited within the campus. This study documents the 2014 protest against Yanching Academy program at Peking University, a top-tier Chinese university that played the leading role in the 1989 protest. The 2014 case is different from abovementioned trend of submissive resistance in the last twenty years, insofar as it is a value-oriented and emotion-driven collective action with the resurgence of some repertoire. The participants perceived the university's contemporary ineffectiveness and clumsiness in control and administration, higher Party authorities' indifference to less-political themes, and an increasing number of potential advocates, including students, intellectuals and social media. It shows that resisters' perception of their relative strength to their opponents - in this case, the university and its system for controlling students - under specific circumstances, not merely political opportunities or institutional changes, stimulates the participants and thus contributes to the mobilization and organization of a collective action, even under severe social control.

Keywords: collective action, China, university students, resistance

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Authors: Hana Maresova, Daniel Ecler

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The paper focuses on the use of 3D multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) in language teaching and presents the results of four years of research at the Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc (Czech Republic). In the form of an experiment, mother tongue language teaching in the 3D virtual worlds Second Life and Kitely (experimental group) and parallel traditional teaching on identical topics representing teacher's interpretation using a textbook (control group) were implemented. The didactic test, which was presented to the experimental and control groups in an identical form before and after the instruction, verified the effect of the instruction in the experimental group by comparing the results obtained by both groups. Within the three components of mother-tongue teaching (vocabulary, literature, style and communication education), the students in the literature group achieved partially better results (statistically significant in the case of items devoted to the area of visualization of the learning topic), while in the case of grammar and style education the respondents of the control group achieved better results. On the basis of the results obtained, we can conclude that the most appropriate use of MUVE can be seen in the teaching of those topics that provide the possibility of dramatization, experiential learning and group involvement and cooperation, on the contrary, with regard to the need to divide students attention between the topic taught and the control of avatar and movement in virtual reality as less suitable for teaching in the area of memorization of the topic or concepts.

Keywords: distance learning, 3D virtual environments, online teaching, language teaching

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Authors: Reda A. H. Mahmoud

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This paper investigates the pragmatic meaning of prosodic focus through four accentuation moods of blaming utterances in Egyptian Arabic. Prosodic focus results in various pragmatic meanings when the speaker utters the same blaming expression in different emotional moods: the angry, the mocking, the frustrated, and the informative moods. The main objective of this study is to interpret the meanings of these four accentuation moods in relation to their illocutionary forces and pre-locutionary effects, the integrated features of prosodic focus (e.g., tone movement distributions, pitch accents, lengthening of vowels, deaccentuation of certain syllables/words, and tempo), and the consonance between the former prosodic features and certain lexico-grammatical components to communicate the intentions of the speaker. The data on blaming utterances has been collected via elicitation and pre-recorded material, and the selection of blaming utterances is based on the criteria of lexical and prosodic regularity to be processed and verified by three computer programs, Praat, Speech Analyzer, and Spectrogram Freeware. A dual pragmatic approach is established to interpret expressive blaming utterance and their lexico-grammatical distributions into intonational focus structure units. The pragmatic component of this approach explains the variable psychological attitudes through the expressions of blaming and their effects whereas the analysis of prosodic focus structure is used to describe the intonational contours of blaming utterances and other prosodic features. The study concludes that every accentuation mood has its different prosodic configuration which influences the listener’s interpretation of the pragmatic meanings of blaming utterances.

Keywords: pragmatics, pragmatic interpretation, prosody, prosodic focus

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Authors: Roni Ramon-Gonen, Amir Dori, Shahar Shelly

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Background and objectives: Healthcare professionals produce abundant textual information in their daily clinical practice. The extraction of insights from all the gathered information, mainly unstructured and lacking in normalization, is one of the major challenges in computational medicine. In this respect, text mining assembles different techniques to derive valuable insights from unstructured textual data, so it has led to being especially relevant in Medicine. Neurological patient’s history allows the clinician to define the patient’s symptoms and along with the result of the nerve conduction study (NCS) and electromyography (EMG) test, assists in formulating a differential diagnosis. Past medical history (PMH) helps to direct the latter. In this study, we aimed to identify relevant PMH, understand which PMHs are common among patients in the referral cohort and documented by the medical staff, and examine the differences by sex and age in a large cohort based on textual format notes. Methods: We retrospectively identified all patients with abnormal NCS between May 2016 to February 2022. Age, gender, and all NCS attributes reports were recorded, including the summary text. All patients’ histories were extracted from the text report by a query. Basic text cleansing and data preparation were performed, as well as lemmatization. Very popular words (like ‘left’ and ‘right’) were deleted. Several words were replaced with their abbreviations. A bag of words approach was used to perform the analyses. Different visualizations which are common in text analysis, were created to easily grasp the results. Results: We identified 5282 unique patients. Three thousand and five (57%) patients had documented PMH. Of which 60.4% (n=1817) were males. The total median age was 62 years (range 0.12 – 97.2 years), and the majority of patients (83%) presented after the age of forty years. The top two documented medical histories were diabetes mellitus (DM) and surgery. DM was observed in 16.3% of the patients, and surgery at 15.4%. Other frequent patient histories (among the top 20) were fracture, cancer (ca), motor vehicle accident (MVA), leg, lumbar, discopathy, back and carpal tunnel release (CTR). When separating the data by sex, we can see that DM and MVA are more frequent among males, while cancer and CTR are less frequent. On the other hand, the top medical history in females was surgery and, after that, DM. Other frequent histories among females are breast cancer, fractures, and CTR. In the younger population (ages 18 to 26), the frequent PMH were surgery, fractures, trauma, and MVA. Discussion: By applying text mining approaches to unstructured data, we were able to better understand which medical histories are more relevant in these circumstances and, in addition, gain additional insights regarding sex and age differences. These insights might help to collect epidemiological demographical data as well as raise new hypotheses. One limitation of this work is that each clinician might use different words or abbreviations to describe the same condition, and therefore using a coding system can be beneficial.

Keywords: abnormal studies, healthcare analytics, medical history, nerve conduction studies, text mining, textual analysis

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