Search results for: biochemical failure
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3141

Search results for: biochemical failure

741 Artificial Intelligence Based Online Monitoring System for Cardiac Patient

Authors: Syed Qasim Gilani, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Noman, Syed Bilawal Shah, Aqib Abbasi, Muhammad Waheed

Abstract:

Cardiovascular Diseases(CVD's) are the major cause of death in the world. The main reason for these deaths is the unavailability of first aid for heart failure. In many cases, patients die before reaching the hospital. We in this paper are presenting innovative online health service for Cardiac Patients. The proposed online health system has two ends. Users through device developed by us can communicate with their doctor through a mobile application. This interface provides them with first aid.Also by using this service, they have an easy interface with their doctors for attaining medical advice. According to the proposed system, we developed a device called Cardiac Care. Cardiac Care is a portable device which a patient can use at their home for monitoring heart condition. When a patient checks his/her heart condition, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Blood Pressure(BP), Temperature are sent to the central database. The severity of patients condition is checked using Artificial Intelligence Algorithm at the database. If the patient is suffering from the minor problem, our algorithm will suggest a prescription for patients. But if patient's condition is severe, patients record is sent to doctor through the mobile Android application. Doctor after reviewing patients condition suggests next step. If a doctor identifies the patient condition as critical, then the message is sent to the central database for sending an ambulance for the patient. Ambulance starts moving towards patient for bringing him/her to hospital. We have implemented this model at prototype level. This model will be life-saving for millions of people around the globe. According to this proposed model patients will be in contact with their doctors all the time.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, classification, electrocardiogram, blood pressure

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740 Design of a Fuzzy Expert System for the Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on Cardiac and Renal Impediments

Authors: E. Rama Devi Jothilingam

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus is now one of the most common non communicable diseases globally. India leads the world with largest number of diabetic subjects earning the title "diabetes capital of the world". In order to reduce the mortality rate, a fuzzy expert system is designed to predict the severity of cardiac and renal problems of diabetic patients using fuzzy logic. Since uncertainty is inherent in medicine, fuzzy logic is used in this research work to remove the inherent fuzziness of linguistic concepts and uncertain status in diabetes mellitus which is the prime cause for the cardiac arrest and renal failure. In this work, the controllable risk factors "blood sugar, insulin, ketones, lipids, obesity, blood pressure and protein/creatinine ratio" are considered as input parameters and the "the stages of cardiac" (SOC)" and the stages of renal" (SORD) are considered as the output parameters. The triangular membership functions are used to model the input and output parameters. The rule base is constructed for the proposed expert system based on the knowledge from the medical experts. Mamdani inference engine is used to infer the information based on the rule base to take major decision in diagnosis. Mean of maximum is used to get a non fuzzy control action that best represent possibility distribution of an inferred fuzzy control action. The proposed system also classifies the patients with high risk and low risk using fuzzy c means clustering techniques so that the patients with high risk are treated immediately. The system is validated with Matlab and is used as a tracking system with accuracy and robustness.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, fuzzy expert system, Mamdani, MATLAB

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739 Affect of Reservoir Fluctuations on an Active Landslide in the Xiangjiaba Reservoir Area, Southwest China

Authors: Javed Iqbal

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Filling of Xiangjiaba Reservoir Lake in Southwest China triggered and re-activated numerous landslides due to water fluctuation. In order to understand the relationship between reservoirs and slope instability, a typical reservoir landslide (Dasha landslide) at right bank of Jinsha River was selected as a case study for in-depth investigations. The detailed field investigations were carried out in order to identify the landslide with respect to its surroundings and to find out the slip-surface. Boreholes were drilled in order to find out the subsurface lithology and the depth of failure of Dasha landslide. The in-situ geotechnical tests were performed, and the soil samples from exposed slip surface were retrieved for geotechnical laboratory analysis. Finally, stability analysis was done using 3D strength reduction method under different conditions of reservoir water level fluctuations and rainfall conditions. The in-depth investigations show that the Dasha landslide is a bedding rockslide which was once activated in 1986. The topography of Dasha landslide is relatively flat, while the back scarp and local terrain are relatively steep. The landslide area is about 29 × 104 m², and the maximum thickness of the landslide deposits revealed by drilling is about 40 m with the average thickness being about 20 m, and the volume is thus estimated being about 580 × 10⁴ m³. Bedrock in the landslide area is composed of Suining Formation of Jurassic age. The main rock type is silty mudstone with sandstone, and bedding orientation is 300~310° ∠ 7~22°. The factor of safety (FOS) of Dasha landslide obtained by 3D strength reduction cannot meet the minimum safety requirement under the working condition of reservoir level fluctuation as designed, with effect of rainfall and rapid drawdown.

Keywords: Dasha landslide, Xiangjiaba reservoir, strength reduction method, bedding rockslide

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738 Effect of Austenitizing Temperature, Soaking Time and Grain Size on Charpy Impact Toughness of Quenched and Tempered Steel

Authors: S. Gupta, R. Sarkar, S. Pathak, D. H. Kela, A. Pramanick, P. Talukdar

Abstract:

Low alloy quenched and tempered steels are typically used in cast railway components such as knuckles, yokes, and couplers. Since these components experience extensive impact loading during their service life, adequate impact toughness of these grades need to be ensured to avoid catastrophic failure of parts in service. Because of the general availability of Charpy V Test equipment, Charpy test is the most common and economical means to evaluate the impact toughness of materials and is generally used in quality control applications. With this backdrop, an experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of austenitizing temperature, soaking time and resultant grain size on the Charpy impact toughness and the related fracture mechanisms in a quenched and tempered low alloy steel, with the aim of optimizing the heat treatment parameters (i.e. austenitizing temperature and soaking time) with respect to impact toughness. In the first phase, samples were austenitized at different temperatures viz. 760, 800, 840, 880, 920 and 960°C, followed by quenching and tempering at 600°C for 4 hours. In the next phase, samples were subjected to different soaking times (0, 2, 4 and 6 hours) at a fixed austenitizing temperature (980°C), followed by quenching and tempering at 600°C for 4 hours. The samples corresponding to different test conditions were then subjected to instrumented Charpy tests at -40°C and energy absorbed were recorded. Subsequently, microstructure and fracture surface of samples corresponding to different test conditions were observed under scanning electron microscope, and the corresponding grain sizes were measured. In the final stage, austenitizing temperature, soaking time and measured grain sizes were correlated with impact toughness and the fracture morphology and mechanism.

Keywords: heat treatment, grain size, microstructure, retained austenite and impact toughness

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737 Gearbox Defect Detection in the Semi Autogenous Mills Using the Vibration Analysis Technique

Authors: Mostafa Firoozabadi, Alireza Foroughi Nematollahi

Abstract:

Semi autogenous mills are designed for grinding or primary crushed ore, and are the most widely used in concentrators globally. Any defect occurrence in semi autogenous mills can stop the production line. A Gearbox is a significant part of a rotating machine or a mill, so, the gearbox monitoring is a necessary process to prevent the unwanted defects. When a defect happens in a gearbox bearing, this defect can be transferred to the other parts of the equipment like inner ring, outer ring, balls, and the bearing cage. Vibration analysis is one of the most effective and common ways to detect the bearing defects in the mills. Vibration signal in a mill can be made by different parts of the mill including electromotor, pinion girth gear, different rolling bearings, and tire. When a vibration signal, made by the aforementioned parts, is added to the gearbox vibration spectrum, an accurate and on time defect detection in the gearbox will be difficult. In this paper, a new method is proposed to detect the gearbox bearing defects in the semi autogenous mill on time and accurately, using the vibration signal analysis method. In this method, if the vibration values are increased in the vibration curve, the probability of defect occurrence is investigated by comparing the equipment vibration values and the standard ones. Then, all vibration frequencies are extracted from the vibration signal and the equipment defect is detected using the vibration spectrum curve. This method is implemented on the semi autogenous mills in the Golgohar mining and industrial company in Iran. The results show that the proposed method can detect the bearing looseness on time and accurately. After defect detection, the bearing is opened before the equipment failure and the predictive maintenance actions are implemented on it.

Keywords: condition monitoring, gearbox defects, predictive maintenance, vibration analysis

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736 Discussion on the Impact Issues in Urban by Earthquake Disaster Cases

Authors: M. C. Teng, M. C. Ke, C. Y. Yang, S. S. Ke

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There are more than one thousand times a year of felt earthquakes in Taiwan. Because earthquakes are disaster threats to urban infrastructure, they often disrupt infrastructure services. For example, the highway system is very important to transportation infrastructure; however, it is vulnerable to earthquakes and typhoons in Taiwan. When a highway system is damaged by disaster, it will create a major impact on post-disaster communications and emergency relief and affect disaster relief works. In a study case on September 18th, 2022, the Taitung Chihshang earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale with a depth of 7 km, caused one death; 171 people were injured and had a significant urban infrastructure impact. Hualien and Taitung areas have a large number of surface ruptures, road disruptions due to the collapses, over ten cases of bridges failure or closed, partial railroad section service shutdown, building collapses, and casualties. Taitung Chihshang earthquake, the peak ground acceleration is 585 gal (cm/s²), and the seismic intensity is Level 6 Upper(6+)in Chishang, Taitung County. After the earthquakes, we conducted on-site disaster investigation works in the disaster area; the disaster investigation works included a public and private building survey, a transportation facility survey, a total of ten damaged bridges, and one railroad station damaged were investigated in this investigation. The results showed that the affected locations were mainly concentrated along the Chihshang fault and the Yuli fault in the Huatung Longitudinal Valley. We recorded and described the impact and assessed its influence region in terms of its susceptibility to and the consequences of earthquake attacks. In addition, a lesson is learned from this study regarding the key issues after the Taitung Chihshang earthquake.

Keywords: earthquake, infrastructure, disaster investigation, lesson learned

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735 Vibration Control of a Horizontally Supported Rotor System by Using a Radial Active Magnetic Bearing

Authors: Vishnu A., Ashesh Saha

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The operation of high-speed rotating machinery in industries is accompanied by rotor vibrations due to many factors. One of the primary instability mechanisms in a rotor system is the centrifugal force induced due to the eccentricity of the center of mass away from the center of rotation. These unwanted vibrations may lead to catastrophic fatigue failure. So, there is a need to control these rotor vibrations. In this work, control of rotor vibrations by using a 4-pole Radial Active Magnetic Bearing (RAMB) as an actuator is analysed. A continuous rotor system model is considered for the analysis. Several important factors, like the gyroscopic effect and rotary inertia of the shaft and disc, are incorporated into this model. The large deflection of the shaft and the restriction to axial motion of the shaft at the bearings result in nonlinearities in the system governing equation. The rotor system is modeled in such a way that the system dynamics can be related to the geometric and material properties of the shaft and disc. The mathematical model of the rotor system is developed by incorporating the control forces generated by the RAMB. A simple PD controller is used for the attenuation of system vibrations. An analytical expression for the amplitude and phase equations is derived using the Method of Multiple Scales (MMS). Analytical results are verified with the numerical results obtained using an ‘ode’ solver in-built into MATLAB Software. The control force is found to be effective in attenuating the system vibrations. The multi-valued solutions leading to the jump phenomenon are also eliminated with a proper choice of control gains. Most interestingly, the shape of the backbone curves can also be altered for certain values of control parameters.

Keywords: rotor dynamics, continuous rotor system model, active magnetic bearing, PD controller, method of multiple scales, backbone curve

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734 Intelligent Scaffolding Diagnostic Tutoring Systems to Enhance Students’ Academic Reading Skills

Authors: A.Chayaporn Kaoropthai, B. Onjaree Natakuatoong, C. Nagul Cooharojananone

Abstract:

The first year is usually the most critical year for university students. Generally, a considerable number of first-year students worldwide drop out of university every year. One of the major reasons for dropping out is failing. Although they are supposed to have mastered sufficient English proficiency upon completing their high school education, most first-year students are still novices in academic reading. Due to their lack of experience in academic reading, first-year students need significant support from teachers to help develop their academic reading skills. Reading strategies training is thus a necessity and plays a crucial role in classroom instruction. However, individual differences in both students, as well as teachers, are the main factors contributing to the failure in not responding to each individual student’s needs. For this reason, reading strategies training inevitably needs a diagnosis of students’ academic reading skills levels before, during, and after learning, in order to respond to their different needs. To further support reading strategies training, scaffolding is proposed to facilitate students in understanding and practicing using reading strategies under the teachers’ guidance. The use of the Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) as a tool for diagnosing students’ reading problems will be very beneficial to both students and their teachers. The ITSs consist of four major modules: the Expert module, the Student module, the Diagnostic module, and the User Interface module. The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enables the systems to perform diagnosis consistently and appropriately for each individual student. Thus, it is essential to develop the Intelligent Scaffolding Diagnostic Reading Strategies Tutoring Systems to enhance first-year students’ academic reading skills. The systems proposed will contribute to resolving classroom reading strategies training problems, developing students’ academic reading skills, and facilitating teachers.

Keywords: academic reading, intelligent tutoring systems, scaffolding, university students

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733 Analysis of the Behavior of the Structure Under Internal Anfo Explosion

Authors: Seung-Min Ko, Seung-Jai Choi, Gun Jung, Jang-Ho Jay Kim

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Although extensive explosion-related research has been performed in the past several decades, almost no research has focused on internal blasts. However, internal blast research is needed to understand about the behavior of a containment structure or building under internal blast loading, as in the case of the Chornobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents. Therefore, the internal blast study concentrated on RC and PSC structures is performed. The test data obtained from reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PSC) tubular structures applied with an internal explosion using ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) charge are used to assess their deformation resistance and ultimate failure load based on the structural stiffness change under various charge weight. For the internal blast charge weight, ANFO explosive charge weights of 15.88, 20.41, 22.68 and 24.95 kg were selected for the RC tubular structures, and 22.68, 24.95, 27.22, 29.48, and 31.75 kg were selected for PSC tubular structures, which were detonated at the center of cross section at the mid-span with a standoff distance of 1,000mm to the inner wall surface. Then, the test data were used to predict the internal charge weight required to fail a real scale reinforced concrete containment vessels (RCCV) and prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV). Then, the analytical results based on the experimental data were derived using the simple assumptions of the models, and another approach using the stiffness, deformation and explosion weight relationship was used to formulate a general method for analyzing internal blasted tubular structures. A model of the internal explosion of a steel tube was used as an example for validation. The proposed method can be used generically, using factors according to the material characteristics of the target structures. The results of the study are discussed in detail in the paper.

Keywords: internal blast, reinforced concrete, RCCV, PCCV, stiffness, blast safety

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732 A Knowledge-Based Development of Risk Management Approaches for Construction Projects

Authors: Masoud Ghahvechi Pour

Abstract:

Risk management is a systematic and regular process of identifying, analyzing and responding to risks throughout the project's life cycle in order to achieve the optimal level of elimination, reduction or control of risk. The purpose of project risk management is to increase the probability and effect of positive events and reduce the probability and effect of unpleasant events on the project. Risk management is one of the most fundamental parts of project management, so that unmanaged or untransmitted risks can be one of the primary factors of failure in a project. Effective risk management does not apply to risk regression, which is apparently the cheapest option of the activity. However, the main problem with this option is the economic sensitivity, because what is potentially profitable is by definition risky, and what does not pose a risk is economically interesting and does not bring tangible benefits. Therefore, in relation to the implemented project, effective risk management is finding a "middle ground" in its management, which includes, on the one hand, protection against risk from a negative direction by means of accurate identification and classification of risk, which leads to analysis And it becomes a comprehensive analysis. On the other hand, management using all mathematical and analytical tools should be based on checking the maximum benefits of these decisions. Detailed analysis, taking into account all aspects of the company, including stakeholder analysis, will allow us to add what will become tangible benefits for our project in the future to effective risk management. Identifying the risk of the project is based on the theory that which type of risk may affect the project, and also refers to specific parameters and estimating the probability of their occurrence in the project. These conditions can be divided into three groups: certainty, uncertainty, and risk, which in turn support three types of investment: risk preference, risk neutrality, specific risk deviation, and its measurement. The result of risk identification and project analysis is a list of events that indicate the cause and probability of an event, and a final assessment of its impact on the environment.

Keywords: risk, management, knowledge, risk management

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731 Damage Identification in Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Modal Parameters and Their Formulation

Authors: Ali Al-Ghalib, Fouad Mohammad

Abstract:

The identification of damage in reinforced concrete structures subjected to incremental cracking performance exploiting vibration data is recognized as a challenging topic in the published and heavily cited literature. Therefore, this paper attempts to shine light on the extent of dynamic methods when applied to reinforced concrete beams simulated with various scenarios of defects. For this purpose, three different reinforced concrete beams are tested through the course of the study. The three beams are loaded statically to failure in incremental successive load cycles and later rehabilitated. After each static load stage, the beams are tested under free-free support condition using experimental modal analysis. The beams were all of the same length and cross-sectional area (2.0x0.14x0.09)m, but they were different in concrete compressive strength and the type of damage presented. The experimental modal parameters as damage identification parameters were showed computationally expensive, time consuming and require substantial inputs and considerable expertise. Nonetheless, they were proved plausible for the condition monitoring of the current case study as well as structural changes in the course of progressive loads. It was accentuated that a satisfactory localization and quantification for structural changes (Level 2 and Level 3 of damage identification problem) can only be achieved reasonably through considering frequencies and mode shapes of a system in a proper analytical model. A convenient post analysis process for various datasets of vibration measurements for the three beams is conducted in order to extract, check and correlate the basic modal parameters; namely, natural frequency, modal damping and mode shapes. The results of the extracted modal parameters and their combination are utilized and discussed in this research as quantification parameters.

Keywords: experimental modal analysis, damage identification, structural health monitoring, reinforced concrete beam

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730 Rural Development as a Strategy to Deter Migration in India - Re-Examining the Ideology of Cluster Development

Authors: Nandini Mohan, Thiruvengadam R. B.

Abstract:

Mahatma Gandhi advocated that the true indicator of modern India lay in the development of its villages. This has been proven with the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and the surfacing predicament of our urban centers. Developed on the Industrialization model, the current state of the metropolis is of rampant overcrowding, high rates of unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, and resources to cater to the growing population. A majority of each city’s strength composes of the migrant population, demonstrated through the migrant crisis, a direct repercussion of COVID-19. This paper explores the ideology of how rural development can act as a tactic to counter the high rates of rural-urban migration. It establishes the need for a rural push, as India is predominantly an agrarian economy, with a vast disparity between the urban and rural centers due to its urban bias. It seeks to define development in holistic terms. It studies the models of ‘cluster’ as conceptualized by V.K.R.V. Rao, and detailed by Architect Charles Correa in his book, The New Landscape. The paper reexamines the theory of cluster development through existing models proposed by the government of India. Namely, PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas), DRI (Deendayal Research Institute), and Rurban under Shyama Prasad Mukharjee Rurban Mission. It analyses the models, their strengths, weaknesses, and reasons for their failure and success to derive parameters for the ideation of an archetype model. A model of rural development that talks of the simultaneous development of existing adjacent villages, by the introduction of set unique functions, that may turn into self-sustaining clusters or agglomerations in the future, which could serve as the next step for Indian village development based on the cluster ideology.

Keywords: counter migration, models of rural development, cluster development theory, India

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729 Analysis of a Damage-Control Target Displacement of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Pier for Seismic Design

Authors: Mohd Ritzman Abdul Karim, Zhaohui Huang

Abstract:

A current focus in seismic engineering practice is the development of seismic design approach that focuses on the performance-based design. Performance-based design aims to design the structures to achieve specified performance based on the damage limit states. This damage limit is more restrictive limit than life safety and needs to be carefully estimated to avoid damage in piers due to failure in transverse reinforcement. In this paper, a different perspective of damage limit states has been explored by integrating two damage control material limit state, concrete and reinforcement by introduced parameters such as expected yield stress of transverse reinforcement where peak tension strain prior to bar buckling is introduced in a recent study. The different perspective of damage limit states with modified yield displacement and the modified plastic-hinge length is used in order to predict damage-control target displacement for reinforced concreate (RC) bridge pier. Three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model has been developed for estimating damage target displacement to validate proposed damage limit states. The result from 3D FE analysis was validated with experimental study found in the literature. The validated model then was applied to predict the damage target displacement for RC bridge pier and to validate the proposed study. The tensile strain on reinforcement and compression on concrete were used to determine the predicted damage target displacement and compared with the proposed study. The result shows that the proposed damage limit states were efficient in predicting damage-control target displacement consistent with FE simulations.

Keywords: damage-control target displacement, damage limit states, reinforced concrete bridge pier, yield displacement

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728 Radiation Induced DNA Damage and Its Modification by Herbal Preparation of Hippophae rhamnoides L. (SBL-1): An in vitro and in vivo Study in Mice

Authors: Anuranjani Kumar, Madhu Bala

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Ionising radiation exposure induces generation of free radicals and the oxidative DNA damage. SBL-1, a radioprotective leaf extract prepared from leaves Hippophae rhamnoides L. (Common name; Seabuckthorn), showed > 90% survival in mice population that was treated with lethal dose (10 Gy) of ⁶⁰Co gamma irradiation. In this study, early effects of pre-treatment with or without SBL-1 in blood peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBMCs) were investigated by cell viability assays (trypan blue and MTT). The quantitative in vitro study of Hoescht/PI staining was performed to check the apoptosis/necrosis in PBMCs irradiated at 2 Gy with or without pretreatment of SBL-1 (at different concentrations) up to 24 and 48h. Comet assay was performed in vivo, to detect the DNA strands breaks and its repair mechanism on peripheral blood lymphocytes at lethal dose (10 Gy). For this study, male mice (wt. 28 ± 2g) were administered radioprotective dose (30mg/kg body weight) of SBL-1, 30 min prior to irradiation. Animals were sacrificed at 24h and 48h. Blood was drawn through cardiac puncture, and blood lymphocytes were separated using histopaque column. Both neutral and alkaline comet assay were performed using standardized technique. In irradiated animals, alkaline comet assay revealed single strand breaks (SSBs) that showed significant (p < 0.05) increase in percent DNA in tail and Olive tail moment (OTM) at 24 h while at 48h the percent DNA in tail further increased significantly (p < 0.02). The double strands breaks (DSBs) increased significantly (p < 0.01) at 48 h in neutral assay, in comparison to untreated control. The animals pre-treated with SBL-1 before irradiation showed significantly (p < 0.05) less DSBs at 48 h treatment in comparison to irradiated group of animals. The SBL-1 alone treated group itself showed no toxicity. The antioxidant potential of SBL-1 were also investigated by in vitro biochemical assays such as DPPH (p < 0.05), ABTS, reducing ability (p < 0.09), hydroxyl radical scavenging (p < 0.05), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), superoxide radical scavenging activity (p < 0.05), hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity (p < 0.05) etc. SBL-1 showed strong free radical scavenging power that plays important role in the studies of radiation-induced injuries. The SBL-1 treated PBMCs showed significant (p < 0.02) viability in trypan blue assay at 24-hour incubation.

Keywords: radiation, SBL-1, SSBs, DSBs, FRAP, PBMCs

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727 High Phosphate-Containing Foods and Beverages: Perceptions of the Future Healthcare Providers on Their Harmful Effect in Excessive Consumption

Authors: ATM Emdadul Haque

Abstract:

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient which is regularly consumed with food and exists in the body as phosphate. Phosphate is an important component of cellular structures and needed for bone mineralization. Excessive accumulation of phosphate is an important driving factor of mortality in chronic renal failure patients; of relevance, these patients are usually provided health care by doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. Hence, this study was planned to determine the level of awareness of the future healthcare providers about the phosphate-containing foods and beverages and to access their knowledge on the harmful effects of excess phosphate consumption. A questionnaire was developed and distributed among the year-1 medical, nursing and pharmacy students. 432 medical, nursing and pharmacy students responded with age ranging from 18-24 years. About 70% of the respondents were female with a majority (90.7%) from Malay ethnicity. Among the respondents, 29.9% were medical, 35.4% were the pharmacy and 34.7% were nursing students. 79.2% students knew that phosphate was an important component of the body, but only 61.8% knew that consuming too much phosphate could be harmful to the body. Despite 97% of the students knew that carbonated soda contained high sugar, surprisingly 77% of them did not know the presence of high phosphate in the same soda drinks; in the similar line of observation, 67% did not know the presence of it in the fast food. However, it was encouraging that 94% of the students wanted to know more about the effects of phosphate consumption, 74.3% were willing to give up drinking soda and eating fast food, and 52% considered taking green coconut water instead of soda drinks. It is, therefore, central to take an educational initiative to increase the awareness of the future healthcare providers about phosphate-containing food and its harmful effects in excessive consumptions.

Keywords: high phosphate containing foods and beverages, excessive consumption, future health care providers, phosphorus

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726 Biological Institute Actions for Bovine Mastitis Monitoring in Low Income Dairy Farms, Brazil: Preliminary Data

Authors: Vanessa Castro, Liria H. Okuda, Daniela P. Chiebao, Adriana H. C. N. Romaldini, Harumi Hojo, Marina Grandi, Joao Paulo A. Silva, Alessandra F. C. Nassar

Abstract:

The Biological Institute of Sao Paulo, in partnership with a private company, develops an Animal Health Family Farming Program (Prosaf) to enable communication among smallholder farmers and scientists, on-farm consulting and lectures, solving health questions that will benefit agricultural productivity. In Vale do Paraiba region, a dairy region of Sao Paulo State, southern Brazil, many of these types of farms are found with several milk quality problems. Most of these farms are profit-based business; however, with non-technified cattle rearing systems and uncertain veterinary assistance. Feedback from Prosaf showed that the biggest complaints from farmers were low milk production, sick animals and, mainly, loss of selling price due to a high somatic cell count (SCC) and a total bacterial count (TBC). The aims of this study were to improve milk quality, animal hygiene and herd health status by adjustments into general management practices and introducing techniques of sanitary control and milk monitoring in five dairy farms from Sao Jose do Barreiro municipality, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, to increase their profits. A total of 119 milk samples from 56 animals positive for California Mastitis Test (CMT) were collected. The positive CMT indicates subclinical mastitis, therefore laboratorial exams were performed in the milk (microbiological, biochemical and antibiogram test) detect the presence of Staphylococcus aureus (41.8%), Bacillus sp. (11.8%), Streptococcus sp. (2.1%), nonfermenting, motile and oxidase-negative Gram-negative Bacilli (2.1%) and Enterobacter (2.1%). Antibiograms revealed high resistance to gentamicin and streptomycin, probably due to indiscriminate use of antibiotics without veterinarian prescription. We suggested the improvement of hygiene management in the complete milking and cooling tanks system. Using the results of the laboratory tests, animals were properly treated, and the effects observed were better CMT outcomes, lower SCCs, and TBCs leading to an increase in milk pricing. This study will have a positive impact on the family farmers from Sao Paulo State dairy region by improving their market milk competitiveness.

Keywords: milk, family farming, food quality, antibiogram, profitability

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725 Health Information Technology in Developing Countries: A Structured Literature Review with Reference to the Case of Libya

Authors: Haythem A. Nakkas, Philip J. Scott, Jim S. Briggs

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This paper reports a structured literature review of the application of Health Information Technology in developing countries, defined as the World Bank categories Low-income countries, Lower-middle-income, and Upper-middle-income countries. The aim was to identify and classify the various applications of health information technology to assess its current state in developing countries and explore potential areas of research. We offer specific analysis and application of HIT in Libya as one of the developing countries. Method: A structured literature review was conducted using the following online databases: IEEE, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Publication dates were set for 2000-2013. For the PubMed search, publications in English, French, and Arabic were specified. Using a content analysis approach, 159 papers were analyzed and a total number of 26 factors were identified that affect the adoption of health information technology. Results: Of the 2681 retrieved articles, 159 met the inclusion criteria which were carefully analyzed and classified. Conclusion: The implementation of health information technology across developing countries is varied. Whilst it was initially expected financial constraints would have severely limited health information technology implementation, some developing countries like India have nevertheless dominated the literature and taken the lead in conducting scientific research. Comparing the number of studies to the number of countries in each category, we found that Low-income countries and Lower-middle-income had more studies carried out than Upper-middle-income countries. However, whilst IT has been used in various sectors of the economy, the healthcare sector in developing countries is still failing to benefit fully from the potential advantages that IT can offer.

Keywords: developing countries, developed countries, factors, failure, health information technology, implementation, libya, success

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724 Seismic Performance of Steel Shear Wall Using Experimental and Numerical Analysis

Authors: Wahab Abdul Ghafar, Tao Zhong, Baba Kalan Enamullah

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Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are a robust lateral load resistance structure because of their high flexibility and efficient energy dissipation when subjected to seismic loads. This research investigates the seismic Performance of an innovative infill web strip (IWS-SPSW) and a typical unstiffened steel plate shear wall (USPSW). As a result, two 1:3 scale specimens of an IWS-SPSW and USPSW with a single story and a single bay were built and subjected to a cyclic lateral loading methodology. In the prototype, the beam-to-column connections were accomplished with the assistance of semi-rigid end-plate connectors. IWS-SPSW demonstrated exceptional ductility and shear load-bearing capacity during the testing process, with no cracks or other damage occurring. In addition, the IWS-SPSW could effectively dissipate energy without causing a significant amount of beam-column connection distortion. The shear load-bearing capacity of the USPSW was exceptional. However, it exhibited low ductility, severe infill plate corner ripping, and huge infill web plate cracks. The FE models were created and then confirmed using the experimental data. It has been demonstrated that the infill web strips of an SPSW system can affect the system's high Performance and total energy dissipation. In addition, a parametric analysis was carried out to evaluate the material qualities of the IWS, which can considerably improve the system's seismic performances. These properties include the steel's strength as well as its thickness.

Keywords: steel shear walls, seismic performance, failure mode, hysteresis response, nonlinear finite element analysis, parametric study.

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723 The Evaluation for Interfacial Adhesion between SOFC and Metal Adhesive in the High Temperature Environment

Authors: Sang Koo Jeon, Seung Hoon Nahm, Oh Heon Kwon

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The unit cell of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) must be stacked as several layers type to obtain the high power. The most of researcher have concerned about the performance of stacked SOFC rather than the structural stability of stacked SOFC and especially interested how to design for reducing the electrical loss and improving the high efficiency. Consequently, the stacked SOFC able to produce the electrical high power and related parts like as manifold, gas seal, bipolar plate were developed to optimize the stack design. However, the unit cell of SOFC was just layered on the interconnector without the adhesion and the hydrogen and oxygen were injected to the interfacial layer in the high temperature. On the operating condition, the interfacial layer can be the one of the weak point in the stacked SOFC. Therefore the evaluation of the structural safety for the failure is essentially needed. In this study, interfacial adhesion between SOFC and metal adhesive was estimated in the high temperature environment. The metal adhesive was used to strongly connect the unit cell of SOFC with interconnector and provide the electrical conductivity between them. The four point bending test was performed to measure the interfacial adhesion. The unit cell of SOFC and SiO2 wafer were diced and then attached by metal adhesive. The SiO2 wafer had the center notch to initiate a crack from the tip of the notch. The modified stereomicroscope combined with the CCD camera and system for measuring the length was used to observe the fracture behavior. Additionally, the interfacial adhesion was evaluated in the high temperature condition because the metal adhesive was affected by high temperature. Also the specimen was exposed in the furnace during several hours and then the interfacial adhesion was evaluated. Finally, the interfacial adhesion energy was quantitatively determined and compared in the each condition.

Keywords: solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), metal adhesive, adhesion, high temperature

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722 Acute Respiratory Infections in a Rural Area of the Southwestern Region of Bangladesh: Perceptions, Practices and the Role of First-Time Mothers

Authors: Sonia Mannan

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A qualitative study was conducted in a rural area of the southwestern region of Bangladesh to identify perceptions, practices, and the role of first-time mothers surrounding acute respiratory infections (ARI) in infants and children aged under four years. The study reveals that all mothers had knowledge of ARI and were able to identify a number of signs and symptoms. They also recognized pneumonia and thought it to be caused by exposure to cold or weather change, supernatural causes, evil influences, mothers’ negligence, and failure to observe ‘purdah’. They were able to identify chest retractions, difficult breathing, and inability to feed as signs of severe disease needing treatment outside the home. In these cases, spiritual healers were sought, and allopathic treatment was delayed or avoided. Home care practices involved massaging the child with oil and avoiding 'cooling' foods, including water. With the presence of fever and breathing difficulty, mothers tended to increase the number and diversity of medicines, although more concern was expressed about fever than about breathing difficulty. Effective medical care was more likely to be delayed for infants than for older children (they often waited 2-5 days after signs of illness appeared); infants were also more likely to be taken to a spiritual healer as the first-choice provider. The reasons for these perceptions and practices and their implications on the ARI of infants and young children are discussed. Community intervention is identified as viable, effective, and practical to address the body of local socio-cultural knowledge about family practices and the role of the mother regarding the mitigation of ARI in infants and young children.

Keywords: acute respiratory infections , public health, pneumonia, Bangladesh

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721 Shear Strength of Reinforced Web Openings in Steel Beams

Authors: K. S. Sivakumaran, Bo Chen

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The floor beams of steel buildings, cold-formed steel floor joists, in particular, often require large web openings, which may affect their shear capacities. A cost effective way to mitigate the detrimental effects of such openings is to weld/fasten reinforcements. A difficulty associated with an experimental investigation to establish suitable reinforcement schemes for openings in shear zone is that moment always coexists with the shear, and thus, it is impossible to create pure shear state in experiments, resulting in moment influenced results. However, finite element analysis can be conveniently used to investigate the pure shear behaviour of webs including webs with reinforced opening. This paper presents that the details associated with the finite element analysis of thick/thin-plates (representing the web of hot-rolled steel beam, and the web of a cold-formed steel member) having a large reinforced openings. The study considered thin simply supported rectangular plates subjected to inplane shear loadings until failure (including post-buckling behaviour). The plate was modelled using geometrically non-linear quadrilateral shell elements, and non-linear stress-strain relationship based on experiments. Total Lagrangian (TL) with large displacement/small strain formulation was used for such analysis. The model also considered the initial geometric imperfections. This study considered three reinforcement schemes, namely, flat, lip, and angle reinforcements. This paper discusses the modelling considerations and presents the results associated with the various reinforcement schemes under consideration. The paper briefly compares the analysis results with the experimental results.

Keywords: cold-formed steel, finite element analysis, opening, reinforcement, shear resistance

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720 Isolation and Screening of Antagonistic Bacteria against Wheat Pathogenic Fungus Tilletia indica

Authors: Sugandha Asthana, Geetika Vajpayee, Pratibha Kumari, Shanthy Sundaram

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An economically important disease of wheat in North Western region of India is Karnal Bunt caused by smut fungus Tilletia indica. This fungal pathogen spreads by air, soil and seed borne sporodia at the time of flowering, which ultimately leads to partial bunting of wheat kernels with fishy odor and taste to wheat flour. It has very serious effects due to quarantine measures which have to be applied for grain exports. Chemical fungicides such as mercurial compounds and Propiconazole applied to the control of Karnal bunt have been only partially successful. Considering the harmful effects of chemical fungicides on man as well as environment, many countries are developing biological control as the superior substitute to chemical control. Repeated use of fungicides can be responsible for the development of resistance in fungal pathogens against certain chemical compounds. The present investigation is based on the isolation and evaluation of antifungal properties of some isolated (from natural manure) and commercial bacterial strains against Tilletia indica. Total 23 bacterial isolates were obtained and antagonistic activity of all isolates and commercial bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis MTCC8601, Bacillus pumilus MTCC 8743, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were tested against T. indica by dual culture plate assay (pour plate and streak plate). Test for the production of antifungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by antagonistic bacteria was done by sealed plate method. Amongst all s1, s3, s5, and B. subtilis showed more than 80% inhibition. Production of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes such as protease, beta 1, 4 glucanase, HCN and ammonia was studied for confirmation of antifungal activity. s1, s3, s5 and B. subtilis were found to be the best for protease activity and s5 and B. subtilis for beta 1, 4 glucanase activity. Bacillus subtilis was significantly effective for HCN whereas s3, s5 and Bacillus subtilis for ammonia production. Isolates were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (s1) and B. licheniformis (s3, s5) by various biochemical assays and confirmed by16s rRNA sequencing. Use of microorganisms or their secretions as biocontrol agents to avoid plant diseases is ecologically safe and may offer long term of protection to crop. The above study reports the promising effects of these strains in better pathogen free crop production and quality maintenance as well as prevention of the excessive use of synthetic fungicides.

Keywords: antagonistic, antifungal, biocontrol, Karnal bunt

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719 Combined Effect of Zinc Supplementation and Ascaridia galli Infection on Oxidative Status in Broiler Chicks

Authors: Veselin Nanev, Margarita Gabrashanska, Neli Tsocheva-Gaytandzieva

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Ascaridiasis in chicks is one of the major causes for the reduction in body weights, higher mortality, and reduction in egg production, worse meat quantity, pathological lesions, blood losses, and secondary infections. It is responsible for economic losses to the poultry. Despite being economically important parasite, little work has been carried out on the role of antioxidants in the pathogenesis of ascaridiasis. Zinc is a trace elements with multiple functions and one of them is its antioxidant ability. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of organic zinc compound (2Gly.ZnCl22H20) and Ascaridia galli infection on the antioxidant status of broiler chicks. The activity of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, the level of lipid peroxidation, expressed by malonyl dialdexyde and plasma zinc in chicks experimentally infected with Ascaridia galli was investigated. Parasite burden was studied as well. The study was performed on 80 broiler chicks, Cobb 500 hybrids. They were divided into four groups – 1st group – control (non-treated and non-infected, 2nd group – infected with embryonated eggs of A. galli and without treatment, 3rd group- only treated with 2Gly.ZnCl22H20 compound and gr. 4 - infected and supplemented with Zn-compound. The chicks in gr. 2 and 4 were infected orally with 450 embryonated eggs of A.galli on day 14 post infection. The chicks from gr. 3 and 4 received 40 mg Zn compound /kg of feed after the 1st week of age during 10 days. All chicks were similarly fed, managed and killed at 60 day p.i. Helminthological, biochemical and statistical methods were applied. Reduced plasma Zn content was observed in the infected chicks compared to controls. Zinc supplementation did not restored the lower Zn content. Cu, Zn-SOD was decreased significantly in the infected chicks compared to controls. The GPx – activity was significantly increased in the infected chicks than the controls. Increased GPx activity together with decreased Cu/ZnSOD activity revealed unbalanced antioxidant defense capacity. The increased MDA level in chicks and changes in the activity of the enzymes showed a development of oxidative stress during the infection with A.galli. Zn compound supplementation has been shown to influence the activity of both antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GPx) and reduced MDA in the infected chicks. Organic zinc supplementation improved the antioxidant defense and protect hosts from oxidant destruction, but without any effect on the parasite burden. The number of helminths was similar in both groups. Zn supplementation did not changed the number of parasites. Administration of oral 2Gly.ZnCl22H20 compound has been shown to be useful in chicks infected with A. galli by its improvement of their antioxidant potential.

Keywords: Ascaridia galli, antioxidants, broiler chicks, zinc supplementation

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718 The Potential Role of Industrialized Building Systems in Malaysian Sustainable Construction: Awareness and Barriers

Authors: Aawag Mohsen Al-Awag, Wesam Salah Alaloul, M. S. Liew

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Industrialized building system (IBS) is a method of construction with concentrated practices consisting of techniques, products, and a set of linked elements which operate collectively to accomplish objectives. The Industrialised Building System (IBS) has been recognised as a viable method for improving overall construction performance in terms of quality, cost, safety and health, waste reduction, and productivity. The Malaysian construction industry is considered one of the contributors to the development of the country. The acceptance level of IBS is still below government expectations. Thus, the Malaysian government has been continuously encouraging the industry to use and implement IBS. Conventional systems have several drawbacks, including project delays, low economic efficiency, excess inventory, and poor product quality. When it comes to implementing IBS, construction companies still face several obstacles and problems, notably in terms of contractual and procurement concerns, which leads to the low adoption of IBS in Malaysia. There are barriers to the acceptance of IBS technology, focused on awareness of historical failure and risks connected to IBS practices to provide enhanced performance. Therefore, the transformation from the existing conventional building systems to the industrialized building systems (IBS) is needed more than ever. The flexibility of IBS in Malaysia’s construction industry is very low due to numerous shortcomings and obstacles. Due to its environmental, economic, and social benefits, IBS could play a significant role in the Malaysian construction industry in the future. This paper concentrates on the potential role of IBS in sustainable construction practices in Malaysia. It also highlights the awareness, barriers, advantages, and disadvantages of IBS in the construction sector. The study concludes with recommendations for Malaysian construction stakeholders to encourage and increase the utilization of industrialised building systems.

Keywords: construction industry, industrialized building system, barriers, advantages and disadvantages, construction, sustainability, Malaysia

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717 A Case Report on Neonatal Conjunctivitis in Pugs

Authors: Maria L. G. Lourenco, Viviane Y. Hibaru, Keylla H. N. P. Pereira, Fabiana F. Souza, Joao C. P. Ferreira, Simone B. Chiacchio, Luiz H. A. Machado

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Neonatal conjunctivitis, or ophthalmia, is an infection of the conjunctiva or cornea before opening the eyelids. It is believed that immunodeficiency contributes to the development of the condition. This study aims at reporting a case of ophthalmia neonatorum in a dog, in addition to its diagnosis and treatment. A litter of five pug neonates was admitted to the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) Veterinary Hospital, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, with complaints of ocular secretion. The neonates were five days old. The clinical examination revealed that three newborns presented swelling in the ocular region and a purulent secretion in the medial corner of the eye that was exerting pressure on the ocular globes, which are compatible with the description of this disease. The diagnosis was made based on the clinical signs and bacterial culture of the secretion, which revealed the presence of bacteria belonging to the genus Staphylococcus sp. The laboratory assays did not reveal any alterations. The treatment was instituted gently, opening the eyelids early and cleaning the purulent ocular secretion with saline solution. An ophthalmic ointment with retinol, amino acids, methionine, and chloramphenicol (Epitezan®) was prescribed four times a day for seven days. Blood plasma (2 mL/100 g) was administered subcutaneously because bacterial infections in neonates may represent a failure in the transference of passive immunity. A more thorough cleaning of the environment was also recommended. Neonatal conjunctivitis has a simple diagnosis and treatment. If not treated early, it can evolve to adherence of the eyelids to the cornea, ulceration, and perforation of the cornea. Therefore, the prognosis is favorable as long as the condition is diagnosed early, and the treatment is instituted quickly.

Keywords: ophthalmia neonatorum, neonatal infection, puppy, newborn

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716 Microbiological Profile of UTI along with Their Antibiotic Sensitivity Pattern with Special Reference to Nitrofurantoin

Authors: Rupinder Bakshi, Geeta Walia, Anita Gupta

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Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are considered to be one of the most common bacterial infections with an estimated annual global incidence of 150 million. Antimicrobial drug resistance is one of the major threats due to widespread usage of uncontrolled antibiotics. Materials and Methods: A total number of 9149 urine samples were collected from R.H Patiala and processed in the Department of Microbiology G.M.C Patiala. Urine samples were inoculated on MacConkey’s and blood agar plates by using calibrated loop delivering 0.001 ml of sample and incubated at 37 °C for 24 hrs. The organisms were identified by colony characters, gram’s staining and biochemical reactions. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was determined against various antimicrobial agents (Hi – Media Mumbai India) by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar plates. Results: Maximum patients were in the age group of 21-30 yrs followed by 31-40 yrs. Males (34%) are less prone to urinary tract infections than females (66%). Out of 9149 urine sample, the culture was positive in 25% (2290) samples. Esch. coli was the most common isolate 60.3% (n = 1378) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 13.5% (n = 310), Proteus spp. 9% (n = 209), Staphylococcus aureus 7.6 % (n = 173), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3.7% (n = 84), Citrobacter spp. 3.1 % (70), Staphylococcus saprophyticus 1.8 % (n = 142), Enterococcus faecalis 0.8%(n=19) and Acinetobacter spp. 0.2%(n=5). Gram negative isolates showed higher sensitivity towards, Piperacillin +Tazobactum (67%), Amikacin (80%), Nitrofurantoin (82%), Aztreonam (100%), Imipenem (100%) and Meropenam (100%) while gram positive showed good response towards Netilmicin (69%), Nitrofurantoin (79%), Linezolid (98%), Vancomycin (100%) and Teicoplanin (100%). 465 (23%) isolates were resistant to Penicillins, 1st generation and 2nd generation Cehalosporins which were further tested by double disk approximation test and combined disk method for ESBL production. Out of 465 isolates, 375 were ESBLs consisting of n 264 (70.6%) Esch.coli and 111 (29.4%) Klebsiella pneumoniae. Susceptibility of ESBL producers to Imipenem, Nitrofurantoin and Amikacin were found to be 100%, 76%, and 75% respectively. Conclusion: Uropathogens are increasingly showing resistance to many antibiotics making empiric management of outpatients UTIs challenging. Ampicillin, Cotrimoxazole, and Ciprofloxacin should not be used in empiric treatment. Nitrofurantoin could be used in lower urinary tract infection. Knowledge of uropathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in a geographical region will help inappropriate and judicious antibiotic usage in a health care setup.

Keywords: Urinary Tract Infection, UTI, antibiotic susceptibility pattern, ESBL

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715 Analyzing the Efficiency of Initiatives Taken against Disinformation during Election Campaigns: Case Study of Young Voters

Authors: Fatima-Zohra Ghedir

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Social media platforms have been actively working on solutions and combined their efforts with media, policy makers, educators and researchers to protect citizens and prevent interferences in information, political discourses and elections. Facebook, for instance, deleted fake accounts, implemented fake accounts and fake content detection algorithms, partnered with news agencies to manually fact check content and changed its newsfeeds display. Twitter and Instagram regularly communicate on their efforts and notify their users of improvements and safety guidelines. More funds have been allocated to media literacy programs to empower citizens in prevision of the coming elections. This paper investigates the efficiency of these initiatives and analyzes the metrics to measure their success or failure. The objective is also to determine the segments of population more prone to fall in disinformation traps during the elections despite the measures taken over the last four years. This study will also examine the groups who were positively impacted by these measures. This paper relies on both desk and field methodologies. For this study, a survey was administered to French students aged between 17 and 29 years old. Semi-guided interviews were conducted on a similar audience. The analysis of the survey and of the interviews show that respondents were exposed to the initiatives described above and are aware of the existence of disinformation issues. However, they do not understand what disinformation really entails or means. For instance, for most of them, disinformation is synonymous of the opposite point of view without taking into account the truthfulness of the content. Besides, they still consume and believe the information shared by their friends and family, with little questioning about the ways their closed ones get informed.

Keywords: democratic elections, disinformation, foreign interference, social media, success metrics

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714 Testing of Complicated Bus Bar Protection Using Smart Testing Methodology

Authors: K. N. Dinesh Babu

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In this paper, the protection of a complicated bus arrangement with a dual bus coupler and bus sectionalizer using low impedance differential protection applicable for very high voltages like 220kV and 400kV is discussed. In many power generation stations, several operational procedures are implemented to utilize the transfer bus as the main bus and to facilitate the maintenance of circuit breakers and current transformers (in each section) without shutting down the bay(s). Owing to this fact, the complications in operational philosophy have thrown challenges for the bus bar protection implementation. Many bus topologies allow any one of the main buses available in the station to be used as an auxiliary bus. In such a system, pre-defined precautions and procedures are made as guidelines, which are followed before assigning any bus as an auxiliary bus. The procedure involves shifting of links, changing rotary switches, insertion of test block, and so on, thereby causing unreliable operation. This kind of unreliable operation or inadvertent procedural lapse may result in the isolation of the bus bar from the grid due to the unpredictable operation of the bus bar protection relay, which is a commonly occurring phenomenon due to manual mistakes. With the sophisticated configuration and implementation of logic in modern intelligent electronic devices, the operator is free to select the transfer arrangement without sacrificing the protection required by a bus differential system for a reliable operation, and labor-intensive processes are completely eliminated. This paper deals with the procedure to test the security logic for such special scenarios using Megger make SMRT, bus bar protection relay to assure system stability and get rid of all the specific operational precautions/procedure.

Keywords: bus bar protection, by-pass isolator, blind spot, breaker failure, intelligent electronic device, end fault, bus unification, directional principle, zones of protection, breaker re-trip, under voltage security, smart megger relay tester

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713 Development and Evaluation of Virtual Basketball Game Using Motion Capture Technology

Authors: Shunsuke Aoki, Taku Ri, Tatsuya Yamazaki

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These days, along with the development of e-sports, video games as a competitive sport is attracting attention. But, in many cases, action in the screen does not match the real motion of operation. Inclusiveness of player motion is needed to increase reality and excitement for sports games. Therefore, in this study, the authors propose a method to recognize player motion by using the motion capture technology and develop a virtual basketball game. The virtual basketball game consists of a screen with nine targets, players, depth sensors, and no ball. The players pretend a two-handed basketball shot without a ball aiming at one of the nine targets on the screen. Time-series data of three-dimensional coordinates of player joints are captured by the depth sensor. 20 joints data are measured for each player to estimate the shooting motion in real-time. The trajectory of the thrown virtual ball is calculated based on the time-series data and hitting on the target is judged as success or failure. The virtual basketball game can be played by 2 to 4 players as a competitive game among the players. The developed game was exhibited to the public for evaluation on the authors' university open campus days. 339 visitors participated in the exhibition and enjoyed the virtual basketball game over the two days. A questionnaire survey on the developed game was conducted for the visitors who experienced the game. As a result of the survey, about 97.3% of the players found the game interesting regardless of whether they had experienced actual basketball before or not. In addition, it is found that women are easy to comfort for shooting motion. The virtual game with motion capture technology has the potential to become a universal entertainment between e-sports and actual sports.

Keywords: basketball, motion capture, questionnaire survey, video ga

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712 Right Ventricular Dynamics During Breast Cancer Chemotherapy in Low Cardiovascular Risk Patients

Authors: Nana Gorgiladze, Tamar Gaprindashvili, Mikheil Shavdia, Zurab Pagava

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Introduction/Purpose Chemotherapy is a common treatment for breast cancer, but it can also cause damage to the heart and blood vessels. This damage, known as cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity (CTR-CVT), can increase the risk of heart failure and death in breast cancer patients. The left ventricle is often affected by CTR-CVT, but the right ventricle (RV) may also be vulnerable to CTR-CVT and may show signs of dysfunction before the left ventricle. The study aims to investigate how the RV function changes during chemotherapy for breast cancer by using conventional echocardiographic and global longitudinal strain (GLS) techniques. By measuring the GLS strain of the RV, researchers tend to detect early signs of CTR-CVT and improve the management of breast cancer patients. Methods The study was conducted on 28 women with low cardiovascular risk who received anthracycline chemotherapy for breast cancer. Conventional 2D echocardiography (LVEF, RVS’, TAPSE) and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) measurements of the left and right ventricles (LVGLS, RVGLS) were used to assess cardiac function before and after chemotherapy. All patients had normal LVEF at the beginning of the study. Cardiotoxicity was defined as a new LVEF reduction of 10 percentage points to an LVEF of 40-49% and/or a new decline in GLS of 15% from baseline, as proposed by the most recent cardio-oncology guideline. ResultsThe research found that the LVGLS decreased from -21.2%2.1% to -18.6%2.6% (t-test = -4.116; df = 54, p=0.001). The change in value LV-GLS was 2.6%3.0%. The mean percentage change of the LVGLS was 11,6%13,3%; p=0.001. Similarly, the right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS) decreased from -25.2%2.9% to -21.4%4.4% (t-test = -3.82; df = 54, p=0.001). The RV-GLS value of change was 3.8%3.6%. Likewise, the percentage decrease of the RVGLS was 15,0%14,3%, p=0.001.However, the measurements of the right ventricular systolic function (RVS) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) were insignificant, and the left ventricular ejection fraction ( LVEF) remained unchanged.

Keywords: cardiotoxicity, chemotherapy, GLS, right ventricle

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