Search results for: Abbas Hadj Abbas

Authors: Atitallah Sofien, Bouyahia Olfa, Hadj Salah Ibrahim, Ben Saleh Foued, Missaoui Nada, Ben Rabeh Rania, Yahyaoui Salem, Mazigh Sonia, Boukthir Samir

Abstract:

Introduction: Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a common pathology responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiological profile of CO poisoning as well as its clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic, and evolutionary aspects. Methods: Our study included observations of CO poisoning in children hospitalized in the pediatric department C of the Children's Hospital in Tunis over a period of 3 years. Results: We have collected 199 cases of CO poisoning in children. The average age was 5.43 years, with a sex ratio of 0.98. The source of CO was inside the home in 73.2% of cases, and it was the gas bath heater in 68.8% of cases. The intoxication was collective in 93.5% of the cases, and it occurred during the month of January in 35.8% of the cases. The clinical manifestations were headaches in 69.5% of cases. The rate of carboxyhemoglobin was pathological in 73.9% of cases. All patients received normobaric oxygen therapy, and only 3.6% of patients had a hyperbaric oxygen therapy session. We did not deplore any case of death in our study. Conclusion: CO poisoning remains a public health problem in Tunisia with high morbidity. The risk of secondary complications, particularly neuropsychiatric, requires clinical and possibly neuroradiological monitoring of these victims.

Keywords: poisoning, carbon monoxide, children, hyperbaric oxygenation

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Authors: Smail Hadj Mahammed

Abstract:

Translation is not merely a process of conveying the meaning from one particular language into another to overcome language barriers and ensure a good understanding; it is also a work of civilization and progress. Without the translation of Greek, Indian and Persian works, Arabic and Islamic Civilization would not have taken off, and without the translations of Arabic works into Latin, and then into European languages, the scientific and technological revolution of the modern world would not have taken place. In this context, the present paper seeks to investigate how the translation movement contributed to the Arabic and Islamic Civilizations during the Golden Age. The research paper consists of three major parts: the first part provides a brief historical overview of the translation movement during the golden age, which witnessed two important eras: the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. The second part shows the main reasons why translation was a prominent cultural activity during the Golden Age and why it gained great interest from the Arabs. The last part highlights the constructive contribution of translation to the Arabic and Islamic Civilization during the period (661–1258). The results demonstrate that Arabic translation movement was unprecedented in the transmission of knowledge in the whole history of humankind and that translation during the Golden Age had significantly assisted in enriching the Arabic and Islamic civilizations, which had absorbed major and important scientific works of old Greek, Indian and Persian civilizations.

Keywords: Arabic and Islamic civilization, contribution, golden age, translation

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: M. Bouhoun Ali, A. Y. Badjah Hadj Ahmed, M. Attou, A. Elias, M. A. Didi

Abstract:

The extraction of uranium(VI) from aqueous solutions has been investigated using 1-hydroxyhexadecylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HHDPA) and 1-hydroxydodecylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HDDPA), which were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 31P NMR spectroscopy. In this paper, we propose a tentative assignment for the shifts of those two ligands and their specific complexes with uranium(VI). We carried out the extraction of uranium(VI) by HHDPA and HDDPA from [carbon tetrachloride + 2-octanol (v/v: 90%/10%)] solutions. Various factors such as contact time, pH, organic/aqueous phase ratio and extractant concentration were considered. The optimum conditions obtained were: contact time= 20 min, organic/aqueous phase ratio = 1, pH value = 3.0 and extractant concentration = 0.3M. The extraction yields are more significant in the case of the HHDPA which is equipped with a hydrocarbon chain, longer than that of the HDDPA. Logarithmic plots of the uranium(VI) distribution ratio vs. pHeq and the extractant concentration showed that the ratio of extractant to extracted uranium(VI) (ligand/metal) is 2:1. The formula of the complex of uranium(VI) with the HHDPA and the DHDPA is UO2(H3L)2 (HHDPA and DHDPA are denoted as H4L). A spectroscopic analysis has showed that coordination of uranium(VI) takes place via oxygen atoms.

Keywords: liquid-liquid extraction, uranium(vi), 1-hydroxyalkylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acids, hhdpa, hddpa, aqueous solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: S. Nishat Fatima Rizvi, Tulika Chandra, Abbas Ali Mahdi, Devisha Agarwal

Abstract:

Introduction: Blood components are an unexplored area prone to numerous discoveries which influence patient’s care. Experiments at different levels will further change the present concept of blood banking. Hyperlipidemia is a condition of elevated plasma level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) as well as decreased plasma level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Studies show that platelets play a vital role in the progression of atherosclerosis and thrombosis, a major cause of death worldwide. They are activated by many triggers like elevated LDL in the blood resulting in aggregation and formation of plaques. Hyperlipidemic platelets are frequently transfused to patients with various disorders. Screening the random donor platelets for hyperlipidemia and correlating the condition with other donor criteria such as lipid rich diet, oral contraceptive pills intake, weight, alcohol intake, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, family history of heart diseases will lead to further deciding the exclusion criteria for donor selection. This will help in making the patients safe as well as the donor deferral criteria more stringent to improve the quality of blood supply. Technical evaluation and assessment will enable blood bankers to supply safe blood and improve the guidelines for blood safety. Thus, we try to study the correlation between hyperlipidemic platelets with platelets parameters, weight, and specific history of the donors. Methodology: This case control study included 100 blood samples of Blood donors, out of 100 only 30 samples were found to be hyperlipidemic and were included as cases, while rest were taken as controls. Lipid Profile were measured by fully automated analyzer (TRIGL:triglycerides),(LDL-C:LDL –Cholesterol plus 2nd generation),CHOL 2: Cholesterol Gen 2), HDL C 3: HDL-Cholesterol plus 3rdgeneration)-(Cobas C311-Roche Diagnostic).And Platelets parameters were analyzed by the Sysmex KX21 automated hematology analyzer. Results: A significant correlation was found amongst hyperlipidemic level in single time donor. In which 80% donors have history of heart disease, 66.66% donors have sedentary life style, 83.3% donors were smokers, 50% donors were alcoholic, and 63.33% donors had taken lipid rich diet. Active physical activity was found amongst 40% donors. We divided donors sample in two groups based on their body weight. In group 1, hyperlipidemic samples: Platelet Parameters were 75% in normal 25% abnormal in >70Kg weight while in 50-70Kg weight 90% were normal 10% were abnormal. In-group 2, Non Hyperlipidemic samples: platelet Parameters were 95% normal and 5% abnormal in >70Kg weight, while in 50-70Kg Weight, 66.66% normal and 33.33% abnormal. Conclusion: The findings indicate that Hyperlipidemic status of donors may affect the platelet parameters and can be distinguished on history by their weight, Smoking, Alcoholic intake, Sedentary lifestyle, Active physical activity, Lipid rich diet, Oral contraceptive pills intake, and Family history of heart disease. However further studies on a large sample size will affirm this finding.

Keywords: blood donors, hyperlipidemia, platelet, weight

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Authors: Akram Salah Eddine Belaidi, Said Kenai, El-Hadj Kadri, Benchaâ Benabed, Hamza Soualhi

Abstract:

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) was developed in the middle of the 1980’s in Japan. SCC flows alone under its dead weight and consolidates itself without any entry of additional compaction energy and without segregation. As an integral part of a SCC, self-compacting mortars (SCM) may serve as a basis for the mix design of concrete since the measurement of the rheological properties of SCCs. This paper discusses the effect of using natural pozzolana (PZ) and marble powder (MP) in two alternative systems ratios PZ/MP = 1 and 1/3 of the performance of the SCC. A total of 11 SCC’s were prepared having a constant water-binder (w/b) ratio of 0.40 and total cementitious materials content of 475 kg/m3. Then, the fresh properties of the mortars were tested for mini-slump flow diameter and mini-V-funnel flow time for SCMs and Slumps flow test, L-Box height ratio, V-Funnel flow time and sieve stability for SCC. Moreover, the development in the compressive strength was determined at 3, 7, 28, 56, and 90 days. Test results have shown that using of ternary blends improved the fresh properties of the mixtures. The compressive strength of SCC at 90 days with 30% of PZ and MP was similar to those of ordinary concrete use in situ.

Keywords: self-compacting mortar, self-compacting concrete, natural pozzolana, marble powder, rheology, compressive strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Moumen Souad, Melizi Mohamed

Abstract:

In order to characterize rabbits does of an Aures local population raised in Algeria, a study of their milk yield was realized in the experimental rabbitry of El Hadj Lakhdhar University. Milk production of does was measured every day during the days following 215 parturitions. It was estimated by weighing the female before and after the single daily suckling (10–15 min between the two weighing operations). The various calculated parameters were the quantity of milk produced per day, per week and the total quantity produced in 21 days, as well as the intake of milk by young rabbits. The analysis concerned the effects of the number of successive litters (3 classes: 1 to 3 and more) and of the average number of the number of young rabbits suckled per litter (6 classes: from 1-2 kits to more than 6). During the 21 days of controlled lactation, the average litter size was 6±3. The rabbits of the Aures area produced on average 2544.34±747 g in 21 days that is 121 g of milk/day or 21 g of milk/kit/day. The milk yield increased from 526, 1035, 1240 and 2801 g to 760, 1365, 1715 and 3840 for week 1, 2, 3 and the total period of lactation, respectively. Nevertheless, milk production available per kit and per day decreased linearly with kits number in the litter for each of the 3 weeks considered. On the other hand the milk yield was not affected by the weight at birth of kits.

Keywords: milk production, litter size, rabbit, Aures area, Algeria

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Authors: Niveen Hassan-Abbas, Tammie Ronen-Rosenbaum

Abstract:

Background and purpose: 'Flourishing in marriage' is a concept refers to married individuals’ high positivity ratio regarding their marriage, namely greater reported positive than negative emotions. The study proposes a different approach to marriage which emphasizes the place of the individual himself as largely responsible for his personal flourishing within marriage. Accordingly, the individual's desire to preserve and strengthen his marriage largely determines the marital behavior in a way that will contribute to his marriage success (Actor Effect), regardless the contribution of his or her partner to his marriage success (Partner Effect). Another assumption was that flourishing in marriage could be achieved by two separate processes, where capitalization support increases the positive marriage's evaluations and accommodation decreases the negative one. A theoretical model was constructed, whereby individuals who were committed to their marriage were hypothesized as employing self-control skills by way of two dynamic processes. First, individual’s higher degree of 'capitalization supportive responses' - supportive responses to the partner's sharing of positive personal experiences - was hypothesized as increasing one’s positive evaluations of marriage and thereby one’s positivity ratio. Second, individual’s higher degree of 'accommodation' responses - the ability during conflict situations to control the impulse to respond destructively and instead to respond constructively - was hypothesized as decreasing one’s negative evaluations of marriage and thereby increasing one’s positivity ratio. Methods: Participants were 156 heterosexual Arab couples from different regions of Israel. The mean period of marriage was 10.19 (SD=7.83), ages were 31.53 years for women (SD=8.12) and 36.80 years for men (SD=8.07). Years of education were 13.87 for women (SD=2.84) and 13.23 years for men (SD=3.45). Each participant completed seven questionnaires: socio-demographic, self-control skills, commitment, capitalization support, accommodation, marital quality, positive and negative affect. Using statistical analyses adapted to dyadic research design, firstly descriptive statistics were calculated and preliminary tests were performed. Next, dyadic model based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The assumption according to which flourishing in marriage can be achieved by two processes was confirmed. All of the Actor Effect hypotheses were confirmed. Participants with higher self-control used more capitalization support and accommodation responses. Among husbands, unlike wives, these correlations were stronger when the individual's commitment level was higher. More capitalization supportive responses were found to increase positive evaluations of marriage, and greater spousal accommodation was found to decrease negative evaluations of marriage. High positive evaluations and low negative evaluations were found to increase positivity ratio. Not according to expectation, four partner effect paths were found significant. Conclusions and Implications: The present findings coincide with the positive psychology approach that emphasizes human strengths. The uniqueness of this study is its proposal that individuals are largely responsible for their personal flourishing in marriage. This study demonstrated that marital flourishing can be achieved by two processes, where capitalization increases the positive and accommodation decreases the negative. Practical implications include the need to construct interventions that enhance self-control skills for employment of capitalizing responsiveness and accommodation processes.

Keywords: accommodation, capitalization support, commitment, flourishing in marriage, positivity ratio, self-control skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: S. Moumen, M. Melizi

Abstract:

In order to characterize rabbits does of an Aures local population raised in Algeria; a study of their milk yield was realized in the experimental rabbitry of El Hadj Lakhdhar University. Milk production of does was measured every day during the days following 215 parturitions. It was estimated by weighing the female before and after the single daily suckling (10-15 min between the 2 weighing operations). The various calculated parameters were the quantity of milk produced per day, per week and the total quantity produced in 21 days, as well as the intake of milk by young rabbits. The analysis concerned the effects of the number of successive litters (3 classes: 1 to 3 and more) and of the average number of the number of young rabbits suckled per litter (6 classes: from 1-2 kits to more than 6). During the 21 days of controlled lactation, the average litter size was 6±3. The rabbits of the Aures area produced on average 2544.34±747 g in 21 days that is 121 g of milk/day or 21g of milk/kit/day. The milk yield increased from 526, 1035, 1240, and 2801g to 760, 1365, 1715 and 3840 for week 1, 2, 3 and the total period of lactation respectively. Nevertheless, milk production available per kit and per day decreased linearly with kits number in the litter for each of the 3 weeks considered. On the other hand the milk yield was not affected by the weight at birth of kits.

Keywords: milk production, litter size, rabbit, Aures area, Algeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 489

Authors: Mustapha Bouhoun Ali, Ahmed Yacine Badjah Hadj Ahmed, Mouloud Attou, Abdel Hamid Elias, Mohamed Amine Didi

Abstract:

The extraction of uranium(VI) from aqueous solutions has been investigated using 1-hydroxyhexadecylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HHDPA) and 1-hydroxydodecylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HDDPA), which were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 31P NMR spectroscopy. In this paper, we propose a tentative assignment for the shifts of those two ligands and their specific complexes with uranium(VI). We carried out the extraction of uranium(VI) by HHDPA and HDDPA from [carbon tetrachloride + 2-octanol (v/v: 90%/10%)] solutions. Various factors such as contact time, pH, organic/aqueous phase ratio and extractant concentration were considered. The optimum conditions obtained were: contact time = 20 min, organic/aqueous phase ratio = 1, pH value = 3.0 and extractant concentration = 0.3M. The extraction yields are more significant in the case of the HHDPA which is equipped with a hydrocarbon chain, longer than that of the HDDPA. Logarithmic plots of the uranium(VI) distribution ratio vs. pHeq and the extractant concentration showed that the ratio of extractant to extracted uranium(VI) (ligand/metal) is 2:1. The formula of the complex of uranium(VI) with the HHDPA and the DHDPA is UO2(H3L)2 (HHDPA and DHDPA are denoted as H4L). A spectroscopic analysis has showed that coordination of uranium(VI) takes place via oxygen atoms.

Keywords: liquid-liquid extraction, uranium(VI), 1-hydroxyalkylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acids, HHDPA, HDDPA, aqueous solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: Anzal Abbas Jaffari, Wajiha Javed, Naseem Salahuddin

Abstract:

Rationale: Rabies, a vaccine preventable disease, continues to be a critical public health issue as it kills around 2000-5000 people annually in Pakistan. Along with the disease spread among animals, the dog population remains a victim of brutal culling practices by the local authorities, which adversely affects ecosystem (sinking of poison in the soil – affecting vegetation & contaminating water) and the disease spread. The dog population has been exponentially rising primarily because a lack of a consolidated nationwide Animal Birth Control program and awareness among the local communities in general and children in particular. This is reflected in Pakistan’s low SARE score - 1.5, which makes the country trails behind other developing countries like Bangladesh (2.5) and Philippines (3.5).According to an estimate, the province of Sindh alone is home to almost 2.5 million dogs. The clustering of dogs in Peri-Urban areas and inner cities localities leads to an increase of reported dog bite cases in these areas specifically. Objective: Rabies Free Pakistan (RFP), which is a joint venture of Getz Pharma Private Limited and Indus Hospital & Health Network (IHHN); it was established in 2018 to eliminate Rabies from Pakistan by 2030 using the One Health Approach. Methodology: The RFP team is actively working on advocacy and policy front with both the Federal & Provincial government to ensure that all stakeholders currently involved in dog culling in Pakistan have a paradigm shift towards humane methods of vaccination and ABC. Along with the federal government, RFP aims to declare Rabies as a notifiable disease. Whereas RFP closely works with the provincial government of Sindh to initiate a province wide Rabies Control Program.RFP program follows international standards and WHO approved protocols for this program in Pakistan.RFP team has achieved various milestones in the fight against Rabies after successfully scaling up project operations and has vaccinated more than 30,000 dogs and neutered around 7,000 dogs since 2018. Recommendations: Effective implementation of Rabies program (MDV and ABC) requires a concentrated effort to address a variety of structural and policy challenges. This essentially demands a massive shift in the attitude of individuals towards rabies. The two most significant challenges in implementing a standard policy at the structural level are lack of institutional capacity, shortage of vaccine, and absence of inter-departmental coordination among major stakeholders: federal government, provincial ministry of health, livestock, and local bodies (including local councils). The lack of capacity in health care workers to treat dog bite cases emerges as a critical challenge at the clinical level. Conclusion: Pakistan can learn from the successful international models of Sri Lanka and Mexico as they adopted the One Health Approach to eliminate rabies like RFP. The WHO advised One Health approach provides the policymakers with an interactive and cross-sectoral guide, which involves all the essential elements of the eco system (including animals, humans, and other components).

Keywords: animal birth control, dog population, mass dog vaccination, one health, rabies elimination

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Marrone Silverio Melo Dantas Pedro Henrique Dreyer, Gabriel Fonseca Reis de Souza, Daniel Bezerra, Ricardo Souza, Silvia Lins, Judith Kelner, Djamel Fawzi Hadj Sadok

Abstract:

The creation of a dataset is time-consuming and often discourages researchers from pursuing their goals. To overcome this problem, we present and discuss two solutions adopted for the automation of this process. Both optimize valuable user time and resources and support video object segmentation with object tracking and 3D projection. In our scenario, we acquire images from a moving robotic arm and, for each approach, generate distinct annotated datasets. We evaluated the precision of the annotations by comparing these with a manually annotated dataset, as well as the efficiency in the context of detection and classification problems. For detection support, we used YOLO and obtained for the projection dataset an F1-Score, accuracy, and mAP values of 0.846, 0.924, and 0.875, respectively. Concerning the tracking dataset, we achieved an F1-Score of 0.861, an accuracy of 0.932, whereas mAP reached 0.894. In order to evaluate the quality of the annotated images used for classification problems, we employed deep learning architectures. We adopted metrics accuracy and F1-Score, for VGG, DenseNet, MobileNet, Inception, and ResNet. The VGG architecture outperformed the others for both projection and tracking datasets. It reached an accuracy and F1-score of 0.997 and 0.993, respectively. Similarly, for the tracking dataset, it achieved an accuracy of 0.991 and an F1-Score of 0.981.

Keywords: RJ45, automatic annotation, object tracking, 3D projection

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Authors: Hajer Chaker Ben Hadj Kacem, Thouraya Slama, Néjiba El Yetim Zribi

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the effects of gender, affiliation, prior work experience, social work, and vicarious learning through family role models on entrepreneurial skills development by students when they have learned through the entrepreneurship method in Tunisia. Authors suggest that these variables enhance the development of students’ entrepreneurial skills when combined with teaching through entrepreneurship. The article assesses the impact of these combinations by comparing their effects on the development of thirteen students’ entrepreneurial competencies, namely entrepreneurial mindset, core self-evaluation, entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurial knowledge, creativity, financial literacy, managing ambiguity, marshaling of resources, planning, teaching methods, entrepreneurial teachers, innovative employee, and Entrepreneurial intention. Authors use a two-sample independent t-test to make the comparison, and the results indicate that, when combined with teaching through the entrepreneurship method, students with prior work experience developed better six entrepreneurial skills; students with social work developed better three entrepreneurial skills, men developed better four entrepreneurial skills than women. However, all students developed their entrepreneurial skills through this practical method regardless of their affiliation and their vicarious learning through family role models.

Keywords: affiliation, entrepreneurial skills, gender, role models, social work, teaching through entrepreneurship, vicarious learning, work experience

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Authors: T. Hadj Sadok, R. Hattab Bey, K. Rebiha

Abstract:

The valuation of juice from prickly pear of Opuntia ficus indica inermis as cocktails appears an attractive alternative because of their nutritional intake and functional compound has anti-radical activity (polyphenols, vitamin C, carotenoids, Betalaines, fiber and minerals). The juice from the fruit pulp is characterized by a high pH 5.85 which makes it difficult for its conservation and preservation requires a thermal treatment at high temperatures (over 100 °C) harmful for bioactive constituents compared to juice orange more acidic and processed at temperatures < 100 °C. The valuation as fig cocktails-orange is particularly interesting thanks to the contribution of polyph2nols, fiber, vitamin C, reducing sugar (sweetener) and betalaine, minerals while allowing lower temperature processing to decrease pH. The heat treatment of these juices: orange alone or in cocktails showed that the antioxidant power decreases by 12% in presence of 30% of juice treated by the heat and of 28 and 32% in the presence of 10 and 20% juice which shows the effect prickly pear juice of Opuntia. During storage for 4 weeks the loss of vitamin C is 40 and 38% in the presence of 10 and 20% juice and 33% in the presence of 30% pear juice parallel, a treatment of stabilization by heat affects relatively the polyphenols rate which decreases from 10.5% to 30% in the cocktail, and 6.11-6.71pour cocktails at 10% and 20%. Vitamin C decreases to 12 to 24 % after a heat treatment at 85°C for 30 minutes respectively for the orange juice and pear juice; this reduction is higher when the juice is in the form of cocktails composed of 10 to 30 % pear juice.

Keywords: prickly pear juice, orange cocktail, polyphenol, Opuntia ficus indica, vitamin

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Authors: Ahmad Saad, Shuja Abbas, Breanna Marine

Abstract:

Introduction: This study explores the potential applications of autologous pedal fat pad grafting as a minimally invasive therapeutic strategy for addressing pedal fat pad loss. Without adequate shock absorbing tissue, a patient can experience functional deficits, ulcerations, loss of quality of life, and significant limitations with ambulation. This study details a novel technique involving autologous adipose grafting from the abdomen to enhance plantar fat pad thickness in a patient involved in a severe motor vehicle accident which resulted in total fat pad loss of the heel. Autologous adipose grafting (AAG) was used following adipose allografting in an effort to recreate a normal shock absorbing surface to allow return to activities of daily living and painless ambulation. Methods: A 46-year-old male sustained multiple open pedal fractures and necrosis to the heel fat pad after a motorcycle accident, which resulted in complete loss of the calcaneal fat pad. The patient underwent serial debridement’s, utilization of wound vac therapy and split thickness skin grafting to accomplish complete closure, despite complete loss of adipose to area. Patient presented with complaints of pain on ambulation, inability to bear weight on the heel, recurrent ulcerations, admitted had not been ambulating for two years. Clinical exam demonstrated complete loss of the plantar fat pad with a thin layer of epithelial tissue overlying the calcaneal bone, allowing visibility of the osseous contour of the calcaneus. Scar tissue had formed in place of the fat pad, with thickened epithelial tissue extending from the midfoot to the calcaneus. After conservative measures were exhausted, the patient opted for initial management by adipose allograft matrix (AAM) injections. Post operative X-ray imaging revealed noticeable improvement in calcaneal fat pad thickness. At 1 year follow up, the patient was able to ambulate without assistive devices. The fat pad at this point was significantly thicker than it was pre-operatively, but the thickness did not restore to pre-accident thickness. In order to compare the take of allograft versus autografting of adipose tissue, the decision to use adipose autograft through abdominal liposuction harvesting was deemed suitable. A general surgeon completed harvesting of adipose cells from the patient’s abdomen via liposuction, and a podiatric surgeon performed the AAG injection into the heel. Total of 15 cc’s of autologous adipose tissue injected to the calcaneus. Results: There was a visual increase in the calcaneal fat pad thickness both clinically and radiographically. At the 6-week follow up, imaging revealed retention of the calcaneal fat pad thickness. Three months postop, patient returned to activities of daily living and increased quality of life due to their increased ability to ambulate. Discussion: AAG is a novel treatment for pedal fat pad loss. These treatments may be viable and reproducible therapeutic choices for patients suffering from fat pad atrophy, fat pad loss, and/or plantar ulcerations. Both treatments of AAM and AAG exhibited similar therapeutic results by providing pain relief for ambulation and allowing for patients to return to their quality of life.

Keywords: podiatry, wound, adipose, allograft, autograft, wound care, limb reconstruction, injection, limb salvage

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Authors: Elham Abbas Aljaaly, Nahlaa Abdulwahab Khalifa

Abstract:

The active method of disease prevention is seen as the most affordable and sustainable action to deal with risks of non-communicable diseases such as obesity. This eight-week project aimed to pilot the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based programme, which is proposed to prevent and modify overweight status and possible related risk factors among student girls 'at the intermediate level' in Jeddah city. The programme was conducted through comprehensible approach targeting physical environment and school policies (nutritional/exercise/behavioural approach). The programme was designed to cultivate the personal and environmental awareness in schools for girls. This was applied by promoting healthy eating and physical activity through policies, physical education, healthier options for school canteens, and the creation of school health teams. The prevention programme was applied on 68 students (who agreed to participate) from grades 7th, 8th and 9th. A pre and post assessment questionnaire was employed on 66 students. The questionnaires were designed to obtain information on students' knowledge about health, nutrition and physical activity. Survey questions included information about nutrients, food consumption patterns, food intake and lifestyle. Physical education included training sessions for new opportunities for physical activities to be performed during school or after school hours. A running competition 'to enhance students’ performance for physical activities' was also conducted during the school visit. A visit to the school canteen was conducted to check, observe, record and assess all available food/beverage items and meals. The assessment method was a subjective method for the type of food/beverages if high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) or non-HFSS. The school canteen administrators were encouraged to provide healthy food/beverage items and a sample healthy canteen was provided for implementation. Two healthy options were introduced to the school canteen. A follow up for students’ preferences for the introduced options and the purchasing power were assessed. Thirty-eight percent of young girls (n=26) were not participating in any form of physical activities inside or outside school. Skipping breakfast was stated by 42% (n=28) of students with no daily consumption (19%, n=13) for fruit/vegetables. Significant changes were noticed in students’ (n=66) overall responses to the pre and post questions (P value=.001). All students had participated in the conducted running competition sessions and reported satisfaction and enjoyment about the sessions. No absence was reported by the research team for attending physical education and activity sessions throughout the delivered programme. The purchasing power of the introduced healthy options of 'Salad and oatmeal' was increased to 18% in 8 weeks at the school canteen, and slightly affected the purchase for other less healthy options. The piloted programme indorsed better health and nutrition knowledge, healthy eating and lifestyle attitude, which could help young girls to obtain sustainable changes. It is expected that the outcomes of the programme will be a cornerstone for the futuristic national study that will assist policy makers and participants to build a knowledgeable health promotion scenario and make sure that school students have access to healthy foods, physical exercise and healthy lifestyle.

Keywords: adolescents, diet, exercise, behaviours, overweight/obesity, prevention-intervention programme, Saudi Arabia, schoolgirls

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Authors: Abbas Ahmadi, Nasser Aliasgharzad, Ali Asghar Jafarzadeh

Abstract:

Nowadays, drying of the Urmia Lake as a largest saline lake in the world and emerging its saline bed from water has caused the risk of salty dune storms, which threats the health of human society and also plants and animal communities living in the region. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) as a dust stabilizer attracted the attention of Soil conservation experts in recent years. Although the presence of water by the impenetrable lake bed and endorheic basin can be an advantage to create BSCs, but the extraordinary of the lake bed salinity is a factor for prevention of its establishment in the region. Therefore, the present research work has been carried out to investigate the effects of inoculating the Cyanobacteria, algae and their combination to create BSCs for dust control. In this study, an algae attributed to Chlamydomonas sp and a cyanobacteria attributed to Anabaena sp isolated from the soils of Urmia Lake margin were used to create BSC in four soil samples which collected from 0-10 cm of the current margin (A), the previous bed (B), affected lands by lake (C) and Quomtappe sand dune (D). The main characteristics of the A, B and C soil samples are their highly salinity (their ECe are 108, 140 and 118 dS/m, respectively) and sodicity. Also, texture class of the soil A was loamy sand, and other two soils had clay textures. Soil D was Non-saline, but it was sodic with a sandy texture class. This study was conducted separately in each soil in a completely randomized design under four inoculation treatments of non-inoculated (T0), Algae (T1), cyanobacteria (T2) and equal mixture of algae and cyanobacteria (T3) with three replications. In the experiment, the soil was placed into wind tunnel trays, and a suspension containing microorganisms mixed with the trays surface soil. During the experiment, water was sprayed to the trays at the morning and evening of every day. After passing the incubation period (30 days), some characteristics of samples such as pH, EC, cold water extractable carbohydrate (CWEC), hot water extractable carbohydrate (HWEC), sulfuric acid extractable carbohydrate (SAEC), organic matter, crust thickness, penetration resistance, wind erosion threshold velocity and soil loss in the wind tunnel were measured, and Correlation between the measured characteristics was obtained through the SPSS software. Analysis of variance and so comparison between the means of treatments were analyzed with MSTATC software. In this research, Chlorophyll, an amount, was used as an indicator of the microorganism's population in the samples. Based on obtained results, the amount of Chlorophyll a in the T2 treatment of soil A and all treatments of soil D was significantly increased in comparison to the control and crust thickness showed increase in all treatments by microorganism’s inoculation. But effect of the treatments was significant in soils A and D. At all treatment’s inoculation of microorganisms in soil A caused to increase %46, %34 and %55 of the wind erosion threshold velocity in T1, T2 and T3 treatments in comparison to the control, respectively, and in soil D all treatments caused wind erosion threshold velocity became two times more than control. However, soil loss in the wind tunnel experiments was significant in T2 and T3 treatments of these soils and T1 treatment had no effect in reducing soil loss. Correlation between Chlorophyll a and salinity shows the important role of salinity in microbial growth prevention and formation of BSCs in the studied samples. In general, according to the obtained results, it can be concluded that salinity reduces the growth of microorganisms in saline soils of the region, and in soils with fine textures, salinity role in prevention of the microbial growth is clear. Also, using the mix of algae and cyanobacteria together caused the synergistic growth of them and consequently, better protection of the soil against wind erosion was provided.

Keywords: wind erosion, algae, cyanobacteria, carbohydrate

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Authors: Djamel Fawzi Hadj Sadok, Marrone Silvério Melo Dantas Pedro Henrique Dreyer, Gabriel Fonseca Reis de Souza, Daniel Bezerra, Ricardo Souza, Silvia Lins, Judith Kelner

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A radio base station (RBS), part of the radio access network, is a particular type of equipment that supports the connection between a wide range of cellular user devices and an operator network access infrastructure. Nowadays, most of the RBS maintenance is carried out manually, resulting in a time consuming and costly task. A suitable candidate for RBS maintenance automation is repairing faulty links between devices caused by missing or unplugged connectors. A suitable candidate for RBS maintenance automation is repairing faulty links between devices caused by missing or unplugged connectors. This paper proposes and compares two deep learning solutions to identify attached RJ45 connectors on network ports. We named connector detection, the solution based on object detection, and connector classification, the one based on object classification. With the connector detection, we get an accuracy of 0:934, mean average precision 0:903. Connector classification, get a maximum accuracy of 0:981 and an AUC of 0:989. Although connector detection was outperformed in this study, this should not be viewed as an overall result as connector detection is more flexible for scenarios where there is no precise information about the environment and the possible devices. At the same time, the connector classification requires that information to be well-defined.

Keywords: radio base station, maintenance, classification, detection, deep learning, automation

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Authors: Zakaria Boual, Abdellah Kemassi, Toufik Chouana, Philippe Michaud, Mohammed Didi Ould El Hadj

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In order to investigate the prebiotic potential of oligosaccharides prepared by chemical hydrolysis of water-soluble polysaccharides (WSP) from Zizyphus lotus leaves, the effect of oligosaccharides on bacterial growth was studied. The chemical composition of WSP was evaluated by colorimetric assays revealed the average values: 7.05±0.73% proteins and 86.21±0.74% carbohydrates, among them 64.81±0.42% are neutral sugar and the rest 16.25±1.62% are uronic acids. The characterization of monosaccharides was determined by high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) was found to be composed of galactose (23.95%), glucose (21.30%), rhamnose (20.28%), arabinose (9.55%), and glucuronic acid (22.95%). The effects of oligosaccharides on the growth of lactic acid bacteria were compared with those of fructo-oligosaccharide (RP95). The oligosaccharides concentration was 1g/L of man rogosa sharpe broth. Bacterial growth was assessed during 2, 4.5, 6.5, 9, 12, 16 and 24 h by measuring the optical density of the cultures at 600 nm (OD600) and pH values. During fermentation, pH in broth cultures decreased from 6.7 to 5.87±0.15. The enumeration of lactic acid bacteria indicated that oligosaccharides led to a significant increase in bacteria (P≤0.05) compared to the control. The fermentative metabolism appeared to be faster on RP95 than on oligosaccharides from Zizyphus lotus leaves. Both RP95 and oligosaccharides showed clear prebiotic effects, but had differences in fermentation kinetics because of to the different degree of polymerization. This study shows the prebiotic effectiveness of oligosaccharides, and provides proof for the selection of leaves of Zizyphus lotus for use as functional food ingredients.

Keywords: Zizyphus lotus, polysaccharides, characterization, prebiotic effects

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Authors: Hela Gargouri, Nizar Moalla, Hassen Hadj Kacem

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Meat adulteration affecting the safety and quality of food is becoming one of the main concerns of public interest across the world. The drastic consequences on the meat industry highlighted the urgent necessity to control the products' quality and to point out the complexity of both supply and processing circuits. Due to the expansion of this problem, the authentic testing of foods, particularly meat and its products, is deemed crucial to avoid unfair market competition and to protect consumers from fraudulent practices of meat adulteration. The adoption of authentication methods by the food quality-control laboratories is becoming a priority issue. However, in some developing countries, the number of food tests is still insignificant, although a variety of processed and traditional meat products are widely consumed. Little attention has been paid to provide an easy, fast, reproducible, and low-cost molecular test, which could be conducted in a basic laboratory. In the current study, the 359 bp fragment of the cytochrome-b gene was mapped by PCR-RFLP using firstly fresh biological supports (DNA and meat) and then turkey salami as an example of commercial processed meat. This technique has been established through several optimizations, namely: the selection of restriction enzymes. The digestion with BsmAI, SspI, and TaaI succeed to identify the seven included animal species when meat is formed by individual species and when the meat is a mixture of different origin. In this study, the PCR-RFLP technique using universal primer succeed to meet our needs by providing an indirect sequencing method identifying by restriction enzymes the specificities characterizing different species on the same amplicon reducing the number of potential tests.

Keywords: adulteration, animal species, authentication, meat, mtDNA, PCR-RFLP

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Authors: M. Belhadj Lachachi, Tayeb Benabdallah, M. Hadj Youcef, Jason M. Lynama

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The application of inorganic chemistry to catalysis and environmental chemistry is a rapidly developing field, and novel catalytic metal complexes are now having an impact on the industrial development practice. Advances in organometallic chemistry are crucial for improving the design of compounds to reduce toxic side effects and understand their mechanisms of action. The reaction of platinum(II) organometallic complexes with bidentate Schiff bases derived from 2-Hydroxynaphtalydeneaniline have been carried out. It concerns N,N’-naphtalidene para-nitroaniline (1-a), the, the N,N’-naphtalidene para-ethoxyaniline (1-b), the N,N’-naphtalideneaniline (1-c), the N,N’-naphtalidene para-chloroaniline (1-d) and the N,N’-naphtalidene para-methoxyaniline (1-e). The ligands were fully characterized by I.R., elemental analysis, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, ESI Mass Spectrometry and X-Ray Diffraction. The resulting metal complexes were obtained as a cationic species, through a simple substitution reaction, leading to two geometric isomers [1, 2], and characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, LIFDI Mass Spectrometry and supported by Elemental Analysis and X-Ray diffraction. Furthermore, a bimetallic platinum complex was prepared from the same ligands and dichloro(1,5-cyclooctadiene)platinum and characterized by X-Ray diffraction [3]The catalytic properties of the prepared platinum complexes in the hydrogenative and dehydrogenative silylation of styrene were investigated, and reaction kinetics conversion to products was determined by 1H-NMR and confirmed by GC-MS. This presentation will detail a comparison of the catalytic activity of five platinum organometallic complexes bearing different Schiff base ligands in the hydrosilylation of styrene, varying the experimental conditions of temperature, nature of the complex and the loading of the catalyst.

Keywords: catalysis, hydrosilylation, organometallic, schiff base

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Authors: Hadjer Didouh, Izzaddine Sameut Bouhaik, Mohammed Hadj Meliani

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This research delves into the intricate dynamics of biofilm adhesion on surfaces, particularly focusing on the widely employed X52 surface in oil and gas industry pipelines. Biofilms, characterized by microorganisms within a self-produced matrix, pose significant challenges due to their detrimental impact on surfaces. Our study integrates advanced molecular techniques and cutting-edge microscopy, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to identify microbial communities and visually assess biofilm adhesion. Simultaneously, we concentrate on the X52 surface, utilizing impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization to gather electrochemical responses under various conditions. In conjunction with the broader investigation, we propose a novel approach to mitigate biofilm-induced corrosion challenges. This involves environmentally friendly inhibitors derived from plants, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical treatments. Our inquiry screens and selects inhibitors based on their efficacy in hindering biofilm formation and reducing corrosion rates on the X52 surface. This study contributes valuable insights into the interplay between electrochemical processes and biofilm attachment on the X52 surface. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research have broader implications for the oil and gas industry, where biofilm-related corrosion is a persistent concern. The exploration of eco-friendly inhibitors not only holds promise for corrosion control but also aligns with environmental considerations and sustainability goals. The comprehensive nature of this research aims to enhance our understanding of biofilm dynamics, provide effective strategies for corrosion mitigation, and contribute to sustainable practices in pipeline management within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: bio-corrosion, biofilm, attachment, X52, metal/bacteria interface

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Authors: Ben Hadj Hassen Sameh, Gaillard Corentin, Andrew Parker, Kristine Krug

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Perceptual decisions about sequences of sensory stimuli often show serial dependence. The behavioural choice on one trial is often affected by the choice on previous trials. We investigated whether the neuronal signals in extrastriate visual area V5/MT on preceding trials might influence choice on the current trial and thereby reveal the neuronal mechanisms of sequential choice effects. We analysed data from 30 single neurons recorded from V5/MT in three Rhesus monkeys making sequential choices about the direction of rotation of a three-dimensional cylinder. We focused exclusively on the responses of neurons that showed significant choice-related firing (mean choice probability =0.73) while the monkey viewed perceptually ambiguous stimuli. Application of a wavelet transform to the choice-related firing revealed differences in the frequency band of neuronal activity that depended on whether the previous trial resulted in a correct choice for an unambiguous stimulus that was in the neuron’s preferred direction (low alpha and high beta and gamma) or non-preferred direction (high alpha and low beta and gamma). To probe this in further detail, we applied a regularized linear decoder to predict the choice for an ambiguous trial by referencing the neuronal activity of the preceding unambiguous trial. Neuronal activity on a previous trial provided a significant prediction of the current choice (61% correc, 95%Cl~52%t), even when limiting analysis to preceding trials that were correct and rewarded. These findings provide a potential neuronal signature of sequential choice effects in the primate visual cortex.

Keywords: perception, decision making, attention, decoding, visual system

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Authors: Hamza Hadj Abdallah, Brahim Belabdi

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Respiratory disease is a dominant pathology in cattle. It causes mortality and especially morbidity and irreversible damage. Although the dairy herd is affected, it is essentially the lactating herd and especially young cattle either nursing or fattening that undergo the greatest economic impact. The objective of this study is to establish a microbiological diagnosis of bovine respiratory inffections from lung presented with gross lesions at the slaughter of Batna. A total of 124 samples (pharyngeal and nasal swabs and lung fragments) from 31 seven months old calves, with lung lesions was collected to determine possible correlations between etiologic agents and lesion types. The hépatisation injury (or consolidation) was the major lesion (45.17%) preferentially localized in the right apical lobe. A diverse microbial flora (15 genera and 291 strains was isolated. The bacteria most frequently isolated are the Enterobacteriaceae (49.45%), Staphylococci (25.1%) followed by non Enterobacteriaceae bacilli represented by Pseudomonas (5.83%) and finally, Streptococcus (13.38 %). The pneumotropic bacteria (Pasteurellaaerogenes and Pasteurellapneumotropica) were isolated at a rate of 0.68%. The study of the sensitivity of some germs to antibiotics showed a sensitivity of 100% for ceftazidime. A very high sensitivity was also observed for kanamycin, Ciprofloxacin, Imepinem, Cefepime, Tobramycin and Gentamycin (between 90% and 97%). Strains of E. coli showed a sensitivity of 100% for Imepinem, while only 55.9% of the strains were sensitive to Ampicillin. The isolated Pasteurella exhibited excellent sensitivity (100%) for the antimicrobials used with the exception of Colistin and Ticarcillin-Clavulanic acid association which showed a sensitivity of 50%.This survey has demonstrated the strong spread of atypical pneumonia in cattle population (bulls) at the slaughterhouse of Batna justifying stunting and losses in cattle farms in the region.Thus, it was considered urgent to establish a profile of sensitivity of different germs to antibiotics isolated to limit this increasingly dreadful infection.

Keywords: Pasteurella, enterobacteria, bacteriology, pneumonia

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Authors: Hadjer Didouh, Mohammed Hadj Melliani, Izzeddine Sameut Bouhaik

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Corrosion is a serious problem in industrial installations or metallic transport pipes. Corrosion is an interfacial process controlled by several parameters. The presence of microorganisms affects the kinetics of corrosion. This type of corrosion is often referred to as bio-corrosion or corrosion influenced by microorganisms (MIC). The action of a microorganism or a bacterium is carried out by the formation of biofilm following its attachment to the metal surface. The formation of biofilm isolates the metal surface from its environment and allows the bacteria to control the parameters of the metal/bacteria interface. Biofilm formation by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) X52 steel poses substantial challenges in the oil and gas industry SONATRACH of Algeria. This research delves into the complex attachment mechanisms employed by SRB biofilm on X52 carbon steel and investigates innovative strategies for effective mitigation using biocides. The exploration commences by elucidating the underlying mechanisms facilitating SRB biofilm adhesion to X52 carbon steel, considering factors such as surface morphology, electrostatic interactions, and microbial extracellular substances. Advanced microscopy and spectroscopic techniques provide support to the attachment processes, laying the foundation for targeted mitigation strategies. The use of 100 ppm of Moringa Oleifera extract biocide as a promising approach to control and prevent SRB biofilm formation on X52 carbon steel surfaces. Green extracts undergo evaluation for their effectiveness in disrupting biofilm development while ensuring the integrity of the steel substrate. Systematic analysis is conducted on the biocide's impact on the biofilm's structural integrity, microbial viability, and overall attachment strength. This two-pronged investigation aims to deepen our comprehension of SRB biofilm dynamics and contribute to the development of effective strategies for mitigating its impact on X52 carbon steel.

Keywords: attachment, bio-corrosion, biofilm, metal/bacteria interface

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Authors: Khelladi Hadj Mostefa, Krouf Djamil, Taleb-Dida Nawel

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Background: Obesity results from a prolonged imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure, as depending on basal metabolic rate. Oils and proteins from sea have important therapeutic (such as obesity and hypercholesterolemia) and antioxidant effects. Sardine are a widely consumed fish in the Mediterranean region. Its consumption provides humans with various nutrients such as oils (rich in omega 3 plyunsaturated fatty acids)) and proteins. Methods: Sardine oil (SO) and sardine proteins (SP) were extracted and purified. Mixture of vegetable oils (olive-walnut-sunflower) were prepared from oils produced in Algeria. Eighteen wistar rats are fed a high fat diet enriched with 1% cholesterol for 30 days to induce obesity and hypercholesterolemia. The rats are divided into 3 groups. The first group consumes 20% sardine protein combined with 5% sardine oil (38% SFA (saturated fatty acids), 31% MIFA (monounsaturated fatty acids) and 31% PIFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids)) (SPso). The second group consumes 20% sardine protein combined with 5% of a mixture of vegetable oils (VO) containing 13% SFA, 58% MIFA and 29% PIFA (PSvo), and the third group consuming 20% casein combined with 5% of the mixture of vegetable oils and serves as a semi-synthetic reference (CASvo). Body weights and glycaemia are measured weekly After 28 days of experimentation, the rats are sacrificed, the blood and the liver removed. Serum assays of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were performed by enzymatic colorimetric methods. Evaluation of lipid peroxidation was performed by assaying thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and hydroperoxides values. The protein oxidation was performed by assaying carbonyl derivatives values. Finally, evaluation of antioxidant defense is made by measuring the activity of antioxidant enzymes, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the catalase (CAT).Results: After 28 days, the body weight (BW) of the rats increased significantly in SPso and SPvo groups compared to CAS group, by +11% and 7%, respectively. Cholesterolemia (TC) increased significantly in the SPso and SPvo groups compared to the CAS group (P<0.01), while triglyceridemia (TG) decreased significantly in the SPso group compared to SPvo and CAS groups (P<0.01). Albumin (marker of inflammation) increased in the PSs group compared to SPvo and CAS groups by +35% and +13%, respectively. The serum TBARS levels are -40% lower in SPso group compared to SPvo group, and they are -80% and -76% lower in SPso compared to SPvo and CAS groups, respectively. The level of carbonyls derivatives in the serum and liver are significantly reduced in the SPso group compared to the SPvo and CAS groups. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity decreased in liver of SPso group compared to SPvo group (P<0.01). While that of CAT is increased in liver tissue of SPso group compared to SPvo group (P<0.01). Conclusion: Sardine oil combined with sardine protein has a hypotriglyceridemic effect, reduces body weight, attenuates inflammation and seems to protect against lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation and increases antioxidant defense in hypercholesterolemic and obese rats. This could be in favor of a protective effect against obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: rat, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, sardine protein, sardine oil, vegetable oils mixture, lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, antioxidant defense

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