Search results for: Medical treatment.

Authors: B. Bina, M.H. Mehdinejad, Gunnel Dalhammer, Guna RajaraoM. Nikaeen, H. Movahedian Attar

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Coagulation of water involves the use of coagulating agents to bring the suspended matter in the raw water together for settling and the filtration stage. Present study is aimed to examine the effects of aluminum sulfate as coagulant in conjunction with Moringa Oleifera Coagulant Protein as coagulant aid on turbidity, hardness, and bacteria in turbid water. A conventional jar test apparatus was employed for the tests. The best removal was observed at a pH of 7 to 7.5 for all turbidities. Turbidity removal efficiency was resulted between % 80 to % 99 by Moringa Oleifera Coagulant Protein as coagulant aid. Dosage of coagulant and coagulant aid decreased with increasing turbidity. In addition, Moringa Oleifera Coagulant Protein significantly has reduced the required dosage of primary coagulant. Residual Al+3 in treated water were less than 0.2 mg/l and meets the environmental protection agency guidelines. The results showed that turbidity reduction of % 85.9- % 98 paralleled by a primary Escherichia coli reduction of 1-3 log units (99.2 – 99.97%) was obtained within the first 1 to 2 h of treatment. In conclusions, Moringa Oleifera Coagulant Protein as coagulant aid can be used for drinking water treatment without the risk of organic or nutrient release. We demonstrated that optimal design method is an efficient approach for optimization of coagulation-flocculation process and appropriate for raw water treatment.

Keywords: MOCP, Coagulant aid, turbidity removal, E.coliremoval, water, treatment

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Authors: Zeynep Sener, Mehtap Dursun

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Supplier evaluation and selection is one of the most important components of an effective supply chain management system. Due to the expanding competition in healthcare, selecting the right medical device suppliers offers great potential for increasing quality while decreasing costs. This paper proposes a fuzzy decision making approach for medical supplier selection. A real-world medical device supplier selection problem is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed decision methodology.

Keywords: Fuzzy decision making, fuzzy multiple objective programming, medical supply chain, supplier selection.

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Authors: Abdel-Badeeh M. Salem

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Case based reasoning (CBR) methodology presents a foundation for a new technology of building intelligent computeraided diagnoses systems. This Technology directly addresses the problems found in the traditional Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, e.g. the problems of knowledge acquisition, remembering, robust and maintenance. This paper discusses the CBR methodology, the research issues and technical aspects of implementing intelligent medical diagnoses systems. Successful applications in cancer and heart diseases developed by Medical Informatics Research Group at Ain Shams University are also discussed.

Keywords: Medical Informatics, Computer-Aided MedicalDiagnoses, AI in Medicine, Case-Based Reasoning.

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Authors: Norlin Pauzi, Ahmad R.M. Yahya, Zairossani Nor, Amirul A. Abdullah

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Strain M was isolated from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis that grow in the rubber farm area of Malaysia Rubber Board. Strain M was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp. Strain M demonstrated high protease production at pH 9, and this was suitable to be applied in rubber processing that was in alkaline conditions. The right and suitable proportion to be used in applying supernatant into the latex was two parts of latex and one part of enzyme. In this proportion, the latex was stable throughout the 72 hours of treatment. The potential of strain M to degrade protein in the natural rubber latex was proven with the reduction of 79.3% nitrogen in 24 hours treatment. Centrifugation process of the latex before undergoing the treatment had increased the protein degradation in latex. Although the centrifugation process did not achieve zero nitrogen content, it had improved the performance of protein denaturing in the natural rubber.

Keywords: Hevea brasiliensis, Bacillus sp., protease, latex.

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Authors: Pradip Deb

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Quantitative radiobiological models can be used to assess the optimum clinical outcome from sophisticated therapeutic modalities by calculating tumor control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). In this study two 3D-CRT and an IMRT treatment plans were developed with an initial prescription dose of 60 Gy in 2 Gy/fraction to prostate. Sensitivity of TCP and Complication free tumor control probability (P+) to the different values of α/β ratio was investigated for various prescription doses planned to be delivered in either a fixed number of fractions (I) or in a fixed dose per fraction (II) in each of the three different treatment plans. High dose/fraction and high α/β value result in comparatively smaller P+ and IMRT plans resulted in the highest P+, mainly due to the decrease in NTCP. If α/β is lower than expected, better tumor control can be achieved by increasing dose/fraction but decreasing the number of fractions.

Keywords: Linear Quadratic Model, TCP, NTCP, α/β ratio.

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Authors: Siham Jemal Kedir

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Information communication technology is dramatically transforming the health sector, especially in developing countries with few resources and burgeoning access to an internet connection. As a result, processes such as record keeping, administration, and human resources have been vastly simplified, allowing hospitals to focus on delivering urgent medical care. This paper will explore the impact of IT through a study of the electronic medical record system in the Mekelle City Health Center in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. This paper has four specific objectives: 1. developing artifacts in the Electronic Medical Record system, 2. preparing a diagram for step-by-step development of Electronic Medical Records, 3. creating a draft website with the proposed Electronic Medical Record system, and 4. Testing and evaluating the performance and user acceptance of the system. The research will be done in a qualitative manner employing interviews and in-person observation. The research has found the following major results: firstly, the medical record system has been difficult to implement. Second, the Mekelle Health Center is using a manual recording system which is time-consuming and inefficient. The old recording system in the Center leads to the dissatisfaction of patients as well as the service provider staff. As a result, to transform the manual recording system into a digital system, an electronic medical recording system has been developed. The developed system has been tested for implementation and has been successful. Consequently, the administrator of the health center is ready to implement and use the developed software to introduce a medical recording system in Mekelle Health Center.

Keywords: Electronic Health Record Implementation, EMR System Development, Medical Record.

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Authors: Mayssa Bensalah, Atef Boujelben, Mouna Baklouti, Mohamed Abid

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Image segmentation has a fundamental role in analysis and interpretation for many applications. The automated segmentation of organs and tissues throughout the body using computed imaging has been rapidly increasing. Indeed, it represents one of the most important parts of clinical diagnostic tools. In this paper, we discuss a thorough literature review of recent methods of tumour segmentation from medical images which are briefly explained with the recent contribution of various researchers. This study was followed by comparing these methods in order to define new directions to develop and improve the performance of the segmentation of the tumour area from medical images.

Keywords: Features extraction, image segmentation, medical images, tumour detection.

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Authors: Wanda Luen-Wun Siu, Xiaowen Zhang

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The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has caused great difficulties for South-South cooperation, but there are also opportunities. China’s health diplomacy has changed from dispatching medical teams, assisting in the construction of hospitals, and to encouraging medical investment in the Africa health sector. This paper adopted a retrospective review of China’s health statecraft in Africa from 1963 to 2020. Findings suggested that China has a preference for aiding Africa health infrastructure and sending medical teams to African countries and it is both socially and financially sustainable. China’s health diplomacy in Africa is a success and has established secure diplomatic relations with African countries, thanks to the medical and health assistance to Africa over 60 years. This research contributes to the literature of health diplomacy and indicates that China’s health aid has fostered cooperation at the medical and diplomatic levels.

Keywords: Africa, bilateral relations, China’s Health Diplomacy, COVID-19.

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Authors: Manal A. Mohsen, Ahmed Tawfik

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Hydrogen production from cake wastewater by anaerobic dark fermentation via upflow anaerobic staged reactor (UASR) was investigated in this study. The reactor was continuously operated for four months at constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 21.57 hr, PH value of 6 ± 0.6, temperature of 21.1°C, and organic loading rate of 2.43 gCOD/l.d. The hydrogen production was 5.7 l H₂/d and the hydrogen yield was 134.8 ml H₂ /g COD_removed. The system showed an overall removal efficiency of TCOD, TBOD, TSS, TKN, and Carbohydrates of 40 ± 13%, 59 ± 18%, 84 ± 17%, 28 ± 27%, and 85 ± 15% respectively during the long term operation period. Based on the available results, the system is not sufficient for the effective treatment of cake wastewater, and the effluent quality of UASR is not complying for discharge into sewerage network, therefore a post treatment is needed (not covered in this study).

Keywords: Cake wastewater industry, chemical oxygen demand (COD), hydrogen production (HP), up-flow anaerobic staged reactor (UASR).

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Authors: Mahmoud M. Tash

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The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of aging parameters (time and temperature) on the mechanical properties of Be-and/or Zr- treated Al-Mg-Zn (7075) alloys. Ultimate tensile strength, 0.5% offset yield strength and % elongation measurements were carried out on specimens prepared from cast and heat treated 7075 alloys containing Be and/or Zr. Different aging treatment were carried out for the as solution treated (SHT) specimens (after quenching in warm water). The specimens were aged at different conditions; Natural and artificial aging was carried out at room temperature, 120C, 150C, 180C and 220C for different periods of time. Duplex aging was performed for SHT conditions (pre-aged at different time and temperature followed by high temperature aging). Ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and % elongation data results as a function of different aging parameters are analysed. A statistical design of experiments (DOE) approach using fractional factorial design is applied to acquire an understanding of the effects of these variables and their interactions on the mechanical properties of Be- and/or Zr- treated 7075 alloys. Mathematical models are developed to relate the alloy mechanical properties with the different aging parameters.

Keywords: Casting, Aging Treatment, Mechanical Properties, Al-Mg-Zn (7075) alloys, Be- and/or Zr-Treatment, Experimental Correlation.

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Authors: Mohammad D. H. Beg, John O. Akindoyo, Suriati Ghazali, Abdullah A. Mamun

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In this study, composites were fabricated from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber and poly(lactic) acid by extrusion followed by injection moulding. Surface of the fiber was pre-treated by ultrasound in an alkali medium and treatment efficiency was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and Fourier transforms infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Effect of fiber treatment on composite was characterized by tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus (TM) and impact strength (IS). Furthermore, biostrong impact modifier was incorporated into the treated fiber composite to improve its impact properties. Mechanical testing showed an improvement of up to 23.5% and 33.6% respectively for TS and TM of treated fiber composite above untreated fiber composite. On the other hand incorporation of impact modifier led to enhancement of about 20% above the initial IS of the treated fiber composite.

Keywords: Fiber treatment, impact modifier, natural fibers, ultrasound.

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Authors: M. Sadeghi, A.H. Jafari, S.M.P. Firoozabadi

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Deep Brain Stimulation or DBS is the second solution for Parkinson's Disease. Its three parameters are: frequency, pulse width and voltage. They must be optimized to achieve successful treatment. Nowadays it is done clinically by neurologists and there is not certain numerical method to detect them. The aim of this research is to introduce simulation and modeling of Parkinson's Disease treatment as a computational procedure to select optimum voltage. We recorded finger tremor signals of some Parkinsonian patients under DBS treatment at constant frequency and pulse width but variable voltages; then, we adapted a new model to fit these data. The optimum voltages obtained by data fitting results were the same as neurologists- commented voltages, which means modeling can be used as an engineering method to select optimum stimulation voltages.

Keywords: modeling, Deep Brain Stimulation, Parkinson'sdisease, tremor.

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Authors: Sung Ho Ha, Seong Hyeon Joo

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Data mining techniques have been used in medical research for many years and have been known to be effective. In order to solve such problems as long-waiting time, congestion, and delayed patient care, faced by emergency departments, this study concentrates on building a hybrid methodology, combining data mining techniques such as association rules and classification trees. The methodology is applied to real-world emergency data collected from a hospital and is evaluated by comparing with other techniques. The methodology is expected to help physicians to make a faster and more accurate classification of chest pain diseases.

Keywords: Data mining, medical decisions, medical domainknowledge, chest pain.

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Authors: Jelena Zagorska, Inga Ciprovica

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The freezing point of milk is in important indicator of the milk quality. The freezing point of milk is determined primarily to prove milk adulteration with water and to determine the amount of water in it. Chemical composition and properties of milk, thermal treatment and presence of any substance can influence freezing point of product. There are different substances, which can be added to milk with main purpose to prolong shelf-life of raw milk. There are detergent, preservatives, formaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, antibiotics, sodium carbonate, and hydrogen peroxide. Therefore the aim of the present study was to determine freezing point of milk, skimmed milk, pasteurized milk and milk with different substances (formaldehyde, antibiotics, sodium carbonate, hydrogen peroxide, disinfectant, and detergent) in different concentrations. The thermal treatment and different undesirable substances presence in milk have significant influence on freezing point of it.

Keywords: Antibiotics, freezing point, milk, pH, thermal treatment.

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Authors: P. S. Gomathi, B. Kalaavathi

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The process in which the complementary information from multiple images is integrated to provide composite image that contains more information than the original input images is called image fusion. Medical image fusion provides useful information from multimodality medical images that provides additional information to the doctor for diagnosis of diseases in a better way. This paper represents the wavelet based medical image fusion algorithm on different multimodality medical images. In order to fuse the medical images, images are decomposed using Redundant Wavelet Transform (RWT). The high frequency coefficients are convolved with morphological operator followed by the maximum-selection (MS) rule. The low frequency coefficients are processed by MS rule. The reconstructed image is obtained by inverse RWT. The quantitative measures which includes Mean, Standard Deviation, Average Gradient, Spatial frequency, Edge based Similarity Measures are considered for evaluating the fused images. The performance of this proposed method is compared with Pixel averaging, PCA, and DWT fusion methods. When compared with conventional methods, the proposed framework provides better performance for analysis of multimodality medical images.

Keywords: Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Image Fusion, Morphological Processing, Redundant Wavelet Transform (RWT).

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Authors: K. Ighilahriz, M. Taleb Ahmed, R. Maachi

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Oil industries are responsible for most cases of contamination of our ecosystem by oil and heavy metals. They are toxic and considered carcinogenic and dangerous even when they exist in trace amounts. At Algiers refinery, production, transportation, and refining of crude oil generate considerable waste in storage tanks; these residues result from the gravitational settling. The composition of these residues is essentially a mixture of hydrocarbon and lead. We propose in this work the application of electrooxidation treatment for the leachate of the leaden sludge. The effect of pH, current density and the electrolysis time were studied, the effectiveness of the processes is evaluated by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD). The dissolution is the best way to mobilize pollutants from leaden mud, so we conducted leaching before starting the electrochemical treatment. The process was carried out in batch mode using graphite anode and a stainless steel cathode. The results clearly demonstrate the compatibility of the technique used with the type of pollution studied. In fact, it allowed COD removal about 80%.

Keywords: Electrooxidation, leaching, leaden sludge, the oil industry.

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Authors: Aryana Collins Jackson, Elisabetta Bevacqua, Pierre De Loor, Ronan Querrec

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This paper presents a taxonomy of non-technical skills, communicative intentions, and behavior for an individual acting as a medical coordinator. In medical emergency situations, a leader among the group is imperative to both patient health and team emotional and mental health. Situational Leadership is used to make clear and easy-to-follow guidelines for behavior depending on circumstantial factors. Low-level leadership behaviors belonging to two different styles, directive and supporting, are identified from literature and are included in the proposed taxonomy. The high-level information in the taxonomy consists of the necessary non-technical skills belonging to a medical coordinator: situation awareness, decision making, task management, and teamwork. Finally, communicative intentions, dimensions, and functions are included. Thus this work brings high-level and low-level information - medical non-technical skills, communication capabilities, and leadership behavior - into a single versatile taxonomy of behavior.

Keywords: Medical, leadership styles, taxonomy, human behavior.

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Authors: A. Korchunov, M. Chukin, N. Koptseva, M. Polyakova, A. Gulin

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A way of achieving nanodimentional structural elements in high carbon steel by special kind of heat treatment and cold plastic deformation is being explored. This leads to increasing interlamellar spacing of ferrite-carbide mixture. Decreasing the interlamellar spacing with cooling temperature increasing is determined. Experiments confirm such interlamellar spacing with which high carbon steel demonstrates the highest treatment and hardening capability. Total deformation degree effect on interlamellar spacing value in a ferrite-carbide mixture is obtained. Mechanical experiments results show that high carbon steel after heat treatment and repetitive cold plastic deformation possesses high tensile strength and yield strength keeping good percentage elongation.

Keywords: High-carbon steel, nanodimensional structural element, interlamellar spacing.

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Authors: F. Arıkan, Z. Karakus

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Cancer is a widespread disease in the world and is the third reason of deaths among the chronic diseases. Educating patients and caregivers has a vital role for empowering them in managing disease and treatment's symptoms. Informing of the patients about their disease and treatment process decreases patient's distress and decisional conflicts, improves wellbeing of them, increase success of the treatment and survival. In this era, technological education methods are used for patients that have different chronic disease. Many studies indicated that especially web based patient education such as chronic obstructive lung disease; heart failure is more effective than printed materials. Web based education provide easiness to patients while they are reaching health services. It also has more advantages because of it decreases health cost and requirement of staff. It is thought that web based education may be beneficial method for cancer patient's empowerment in coping with the disease's symptoms. The aim of the study is evaluate the effectiveness of web based education for cancer patients' clinical outcomes.

Keywords: Cancer Patients, E-Learning, Nursing, Web Based Education.

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Authors: Paschal A. Ubi, Salawu Abdul Rahman Asipita

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Sustainability and eco-friendly requirement of engineering materials are sort for in recent times, thus giving rise to the development of bio-composites. However, the natural fibres to matrix interface interactions remain a key issue in getting the desired mechanical properties from such composites. Treatment of natural fibres is essential in improving matrix to filler adhesion, hence improving its mechanical properties. In this study, investigations were carried out to determine the effect of sodium hydroxide treatment on the tensile, flexural, impact and hardness properties of crushed and uncrushed Luffa cylindrica fibre reinforced recycled low density polyethylene composites. The LC (Luffa cylindrica) fibres were treated with 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% wt. sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations for a period of 24 hours under room temperature conditions. A formulation ratio of 80/20 g (matrix to reinforcement) was maintained for all developed samples. Analysis of the results showed that the uncrushed luffa fibre samples gave better mechanical properties compared with the crushed luffa fibre samples. The uncrushed luffa fibre composites had a maximum tensile and flexural strength of 7.65 MPa and 17.08 Mpa respectively corresponding to a young modulus and flexural modulus of 21.08 MPa and 232.22 MPa for the 8% and 4% wt. NaOH concentration respectively. Results obtained in the research showed that NaOH treatment with the 8% NaOH concentration improved the mechanical properties of the LC fibre reinforced composites when compared with other NaOH treatment concentration values.

Keywords: Flexural strength, LC fibres, LC/rLDPE composite, Tensile strength.

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Authors: Ş. Çiftcioğlu, E. Efe

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In recent years, cancer has been at the top of diseases that cause death in children. Adequate and balanced nutrition plays an important role in the treatment of cancer. Cancer and cancer treatment is affecting food intake, absorption and metabolism, causing nutritional disorders. Appropriate nutrition is very important for the cancerous child to feel well before, during and after the treatment. There are various difficulties in feeding children with cancer. These are the cancer-related factors. Other factors are environmental and behavioral. As health professionals who spend more time with children in the hospital, nurses should be able to support the children on nutrition and help them to have balanced nutrition. This study aimed to evaluate the importance of nursing approaches in the nutrition of children with cancer. This article is planned as a review article by searching the literature on this field. Anorexia may develop due to psychogenic causes or chemotherapeutic agents or accompanying infections and nutrient uptake may be reduced.  In addition, stomatitis, mucositis, taste and odor changes in the mouth, the feeling of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea can also reduce oral intake and result in significant losses in the energy deficit. In assessing the nutritional status of children with cancer, determining weight loss and good nutrition is essential anamnesis of a child.  Some anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests should be used to evaluate the nutrition of the child. The nutritional status of pediatric cancer patients has been studied for a long time and malnutrition, in particular under nutrition, in this population has long been recognized. Yet, its management remains variable with many malnourished children going unrecognized and consequently untreated. Nutritional support is important to pediatric cancer patients and should be integrated into the overall treatment of these children.

Keywords: Cancer treatment, children, complication, nutrition, nursing approaches.

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Authors: O. Sotolongo-Grau, D. Rodriguez-Perez, J. A. Santos-Miranda, M. M. Desco, O. Sotolongo-Costa, J. C. Antoranz

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The use of the oncologic index ISTER allows for a more effective planning of the radiotherapic facilities in the hospitals. Any change in the radiotherapy treatment, due to unexpected stops, may be adapted by recalculating the doses to the new treatment duration while keeping the optimal prognosis. The results obtained in a simulation model on millions of patients allow the definition of optimal success probability algorithms.

Keywords: Mathematical model, radiation oncology, dynamical systems applications.

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Authors: N. Bakradze, N. Gagelidze, T. Dumbadze, L. Amiranashvili, A. D. L. Batako

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Cereals are considered as a strategic product in human life and their demand is increasing with the growth of world population. Increasing wheat production is important for the country. One of the ways to solve the problem is to develop and implement new, environmentally and economically acceptable technologies. Such technologies include pre-sowing treatment of seed with a laser and associative nitrogen-fixing bacteria - Azospirillum brasilense. In the region there are the wheat varieties - Dika and Lomtagora, which are among the most common in Georgia. Dika is a frost-resistant wheat, with a high ability to adapt to the environment, resistant to falling and it is sown in highlands. Lomtagora 126 differs with its winter and drought resistance, and it has a great ability to germinate. Lomtagora is characterized by a strong root system and a high budding capacity. It is an early variety, fall-resistant, easy to thresh and suitable for mechanized harvesting with large and red grains. This paper presents some preliminary experimental results where a continuous CO2 laser with a power of 25-40 W was used to radiate grains at a flow rate of 10 and 15 cm/sec. The treatment was carried out on grains of the Triticum aestivum L. var. Lutescens (local variety name - Lomtagora 126), and Triticum carthlicum Nevski (local variety name - Dika). Here the grains were treated with A. brasilense isolate (108-109 CFU/ml), which was isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat. It was observed that the germination of the wheat was not significantly influenced by either laser or bacteria treatment. The results of our research show that combined treatment with laser and A. brasilense significantly influenced the germination of wheat. In the case of the Lomtagora 126 variety, grains were exposed to the beam on a speed of 10 cm/sec, only slightly improved the growth for 38-day seedlings, in case of exposition of grains with a speed of 15 cm/sec - by 23%. Treatment of seeds with A. brasilense in both exposed and non-exposed variants led to an improvement in the growth of seedlings, with A. brasilense alone - by 22%, and with combined treatment of grains - by 29%. In the case of the Dika variety, only exposure led to growth by 8-9%, and the combined treatment - by 10-15%, in comparison with the control variant. Superior effect on growth of seedlings of different varieties was achieved with the combinations of laser treatment on grains in a beam of 15 cm/sec (radiation power 30-40 W) and in addition of A. brasilense - nitrogen fixing bacteria. Therefore, this is a promising application of A. brasilense as active agents of bacterial fertilizers due to their ability of molecular nitrogen fixation in cereals in combination with laser irradiation: choosing a proper strain gives a good ability to colonize roots of agricultural crops, providing a high nitrogen-fixing ability and the ability to mobilize soil phosphorus, and laser treatment stimulates natural processes occurring in plant cells, will increase the yield.

Keywords: laser treatment, Azospirillum brasilense, seeds, wheat varieties, Lomtagora, Dika

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Authors: Mandana Kariminejad, Ali Ghaffari

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Today, the treatment of cancer, in a relatively short period, with minimum adverse effects is a great concern for oncologists. In this paper, based on a recently used mathematical model for cancer, a guideline has been proposed for the amount and duration of drug doses for cancer treatment by immunotherapy. Dynamically speaking, the mathematical ordinary differential equation (ODE) model of cancer has different equilibrium points; one of them is unstable, which is called the no tumor equilibrium point. In this paper, based on the number of tumor cells an intelligent soft computing controller (a combination of fuzzy logic controller and genetic algorithm), decides regarding the amount and duration of drug doses, to eliminate the tumor cells and stabilize the unstable point in a relatively short time. Two different immunotherapy approaches; active and adoptive, have been studied and presented. It is shown that the rate of decay of tumor cells is faster and the doses of drug are lower in comparison with the result of some other literatures. It is also shown that the period of treatment and the doses of drug in adoptive immunotherapy are significantly less than the active method. A recommendation to oncologists has also been presented.

Keywords: Tumor, immunotherapy, fuzzy controller, Genetic algorithm, mathematical model.

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Authors: Mohd Yussni Hashim, Mohd Nazrul Roslan, Shahruddin Mahzan @ Mohd Zin, Saparudin Ariffin

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Fiber cross sectional area value is a crucial factor in determining the strength properties of natural fiber. Furthermore, unlike synthetic fiber, a diameter and cross sectional area of natural fiber has a large variation along and between the fibers. This study aims to determine the main and interaction effects of alkali treatment conditions which influence kenaf bast fiber mean cross sectional area. Three alkali treatment conditions at two different levels were selected. The conditions setting were alkali concentrations at 2 and 10 w/v %; fiber immersed temperature at room temperature and 100⁰C; and fiber immersed duration for 30 and 480 minutes. Untreated kenaf fiber was used as a control unit. Kenaf bast fiber bundle mounting tab was prepared according to ASTM C1557-03. Cross sectional area was measured using a Leica video analyzer. The study result showed that kenaf fiber bundle mean cross sectional area was reduced 6.77% to 29.88% after alkali treatment. From analysis of variance, it shows that interaction of alkali concentration and immersed time has a higher magnitude at 0.1619 compared to alkali concentration and immersed temperature interaction which was 0.0896. For the main effect, alkali concentration factor contributes to the higher magnitude at 0.1372 which indicated are decrease pattern of variability when the level was change from lower to higher level. Then, it was followed by immersed temperature at 0.1261 and immersed time at 0.0696 magnitudes.

Keywords: Natural fiber, kenaf bast fiber bundles, alkali treatment, cross sectional area.

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Authors: Fahad Shahbaz Khan, Fahad Maqbool, Saad Razzaq, Kashif Irfan, Tehseen Zia

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Expert systems are used extensively in many domains. This paper discusses the use of medical expert systems in Pakistan. Countries all over the world pay special attention on health facilities. A country like Pakistan faces a lot of trouble in health sector. Several attempts have been made in Pakistan to improve the health conditions of the people but the situation is still not encouraging. There is a shortage of doctors and other trained personnel in Pakistan. Expert systems can play a vital role in such cases where the medical expert is not readily available. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role that such systems can play in improving the health conditions of the people in Pakistan.

Keywords: Medical Diagnostics, Expert Systems, Pakistan.

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Authors: Puteri Nemie Jahn Kassim, Khadijah Mohd Najid

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Medical negligence disputes in Malaysia are mainly resolved through litigation by using the tort system. The tort system, being adversarial in nature has subjected parties to litigation hazards such as delay, excessive costs and uncertainty of outcome. The dissatisfaction of the tort system in compensating medically injured victims has created various alternatives to litigation. Amongst them is the implementation of a no-fault compensation system which would allow compensation to be given without the need of proving fault on the medical personnel. Instead, the community now bears the burden of compensating and at the end, promotes collective responsibility. For Malaysia, introducing a no-fault system would provide a tempting solution and may ultimately, achieve justice for the medical injured victims. Nevertheless, such drastic change requires a great deal of consideration to determine the suitability of the system and whether or not it will eventually cater for the needs of the Malaysian population

Keywords: Medical Disputes, Litigation, Malaysia, No-Fault Compensation.

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Authors: Farid A., Ismail A., Rabee I., Zalat R. El Amir A.

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This study was designed for assessment of 3 types of Cysteine protease inhibitors (CPIs) fluromethylketone (FMK), vinyl sulfone (VS) and sodium nitro prussid (SNP), to define which of them is the best for curing S. mansoni infection in mice? In vitro, treated S. mansoni adult worms recorded a mortality rate after 1 hr of exposure to 500 ppm of FMK, VS and SNP as 75, 70 and 60%, respectively. FMK+PZQ treatment recorded the maximum reduction in worm burden (97.2% at 5 wk PI). VS treatment alone or combined with PZQ increases IgM, total IgG, IgG2 and IgG4 levels. In EM study, the completely implanted spines were reported in the degenerated tegument of adult worms in all groups treated with CPIs. VS+PZQ Treatment increased Igs levels but, its effect was different on worm reduction. So, it is not enough to eliminate the infection and FMK+PZQ considered the antischistosomicidal drug of choice.

Keywords: Praziquantel, fluromethylketone, vinyl sulfone, sodium nitro prussid.

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Authors: Esther T. Akinlabi, Stephen A. Akinlabi

Abstract:

This paper reports on the effects of heat treatment on 3CR12 and AISI 316 stainless steel grades. Heat treatment was conducted on the steel grades and cooled using two different media; air and water in order to study the effect of each medium on the evolving properties of the samples. The heat treated samples were characterized through the evolving microstructure and hardness. It was found that there was a significant grain size reduction in both the heat treated stainless steel specimens compared to the parent materials. The finer grain sizes were achieved as a result of impediment to growth of one phase by the other. The Vickers microhardness values of the heat treated samples were higher compared to the parent materials due to the fact that each of the steel grades had a proportion of martensitic structures in their microstructures thereby improving the integrity of the material.

Keywords: Austenite, Ferrite, Grain size, Hardness, Martensite, Microstructure and stainless steel.

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Authors: G.Durai, N.Rajamohan, C.Karthikeyan, M.Rajasimman

Abstract:

In this study, aerobic digestion of tannery industry wastewater was carried out using mixed culture obtained from common effluent treatment plant treating tannery wastewater. The effect of pH, temperature, inoculum concentration, agitation speed and initial substrate concentration on the reduction of organic matters were found. The optimum conditions for COD reduction was found to be pH - 7 (60%), temperature - 30ÔùªC (61%), inoculum concentration - 2% (61%), agitation speed - 150rpm (65%) and initial substrate concentration - 1560 mg COD/L (74%). Kinetics studies were carried by using Monod model, First order, Diffusional model and Singh model. From the results it was found that the Monod model suits well for the degradation of tannery wastewater using mixed microbial consortium.

Keywords: Tannery, Wastewater, Biological treatment, Aerobic, Mixed culture, Kinetics.

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