Sress and strain concentration factors for plate with small notch subjected to biaxial loading – Three dimensional finite element analysis

AbstractThe through-thickness variations of stress and strain concentration factors for plate with small central notch, circular notch or double U-notch, subjected to uniaxial and biaxial loading have been systematically analyzed by using three dimensional finite element method (3D FEM). It is found that the maximum stress and strain concentration factors occur on the mid plane of plate only in the case of thin plate. However, in the case of thick plates, the sites of these maximum values are found near the plate surface. Furthermore, this site is more close to the plate surface in the case of small notch radius and/or large plate thickness. The stress and strain concentration factors increase with decreasing the biaxial ratio at the plate interior, while, the opposite trend is found at the plate surface

Fetal adrenal biometry, cervical assessment and inflammatory cytokine for prediction of preterm labor: Comparative study

Background: Preterm birth is a multifactorial problem with a confounding management. Latent interval (Time to delivery) always shows wide variation and presence of a valid, reliable and applicable predictor is a controversial issue.Objectives: to evaluate the role of fetal adrenal biometry (corrected-total gland volume c-TGV and fetal zone enlargement FZE), cervical length and IL17 serum level (maternal inflammatory biomarker) in prediction of preterm that could help in proper management and decreased morbidities.Patient and Methods: Observational comparative study for 100 case (28 to 36 weeks gestation) showing clinical signs of threatened preterm labor. Corrected fetal adrenal gland volume, fetal zone enlargement, cervical length and IL17 serum level were measured then all candidates were followed up till delivery to classify the results into two groups according to the (latent interval). Diagnostic performance for all variables was done to detect the best cutoff value that can predict impending preterm delivery within 7 days using univariate analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: The studied predictors were showing best cutoff, sensitivity%, specificity% and accuracy% as follow: c-TGV (≥400 mm3/kg, 80, 75, 85), FZE(≥ 50%, 90, 80, 92), cervical length (≤16 mm, 70, 67, 65), IL17 serum level (8 pg/ml, 80, 95, 83) respectively.Conclusion Utility of corrected fetal adrenal gland volume, fetal zone enlargement in addition to the IL17 (inflammatory marker) as a non-invasive predictors for impending preterm birth can guide a proper decision

Activity Recognition and Prediction in Real Homes

In this paper, we present work in progress on activity recognition and prediction in real homes using either binary sensor data or depth video data. We present our field trial and set-up for collecting and storing the data, our methods, and our current results. We compare the accuracy of predicting the next binary sensor event using probabilistic methods and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, include the time information to improve prediction accuracy, as well as predict both the next sensor event and its mean time of occurrence using one LSTM model. We investigate transfer learning between apartments and show that it is possible to pre-train the model with data from other apartments and achieve good accuracy in a new apartment straight away. In addition, we present preliminary results from activity recognition using low-resolution depth video data from seven apartments, and classify four activities - no movement, standing up, sitting down, and TV interaction - by using a relatively simple processing method where we apply an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter to extract movements from the frames prior to feeding them to a convolutional LSTM network for the classification.Comment: 12 pages, Symposium of the Norwegian AI Society NAIS 201

PARTICULATE FOULING GROWTH RATE AS INFLUENCED BY THE CHANGE IN THE FOULING LAYER STRUCTURE

Particulate fouling in biomass gasifiers is a majorproblem, which may lead to inefficient operation. As the fouling layer grows, its thermal resistance increases resulting in an increase in the surface temperature of the fouling layer. The increase in the fouling layer surface temperature can lead to sintering of the layer, which changes the layer structure from a fragile powder to a robust coherent structure. The influence of the change in the fouling layer structure on the growth rate of particulate fouling is studied experimentally. Impaction experiments were carried out to determine the velocities at which an incident particle sticks, bounces off or removes particles outof the fouling layer as a function of fouling layer structure. The sticking velocity of a particle hitting a clean tube is determined theoretically. The sticking velocity of a bronze particle hitting a bronze plate is 0.006 m/s, for a powdery layer is 0.3 m/s and for a sintered layer is 0.04 m/s. The change in the heat exchanger surface from solid to powdery increases the sticking velocity, which consequently speeds up the fouling process. The further change in the heat exchanger surface from powdery to sintered decreases the sticking velocity, which reduces back the fouling process. The change in the fouling layer structures affects the sticking velocity as well as the removal velocity of incident particles, which consequently affect the fouling process

Diagnostic performance of alpha-fetoprotein, YKL40 and GP73 in hepatocellular carcinoma Egyptian patients

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver. It is responsible for a large proportion of cancer deaths worldwide. Diagnosis of HCC often requires more sophisticated modalities and represents a challenge for physician.  Methods: This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of AFP, YKL40 and GP73 in patients' serum with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk population in an attempt to justify the new, sensitive, specific and rapid measure for the diagnosis and detection of HCC. Serum YKL40, GP73 and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were compared in a total of 60 human subjects in this study, including 20 healthy adults, and 40 patients with HCC, The main outcome measures were the specificity and sensitivity of YKL40 and GP73 in patients at risk for the development of HCC.Results: Using 4.4 relative units as a cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity of serum GP73 for HCC were 85% and 90% compared with 77% and 60% for YKL40 using 21.06 ng/ml as a cut-off value. On the same context, the sensitivity and specificity of serum AFP at 8.5ng/ml cut-off were 82% and 95%. While that for the AFP and GP73 combined detection was up to 92% and 96%, justifying that the combined detection could prevent the false negative diagnosis by any marker alone and significantly improve the detection rate of HCC.Conclusions: The current evidence indicates that serum GP73 has HCC diagnostic efficacy inferior to that of AFP and YKL40 and the clinical implementation of serum GP73 measurement as a standard test for HCC is recommended alone or in combination with AFP.

Removal of Particles from a Powdery Fouled Surface due to Impaction

Particulate fouling is defined as the unwanted deposition of particles on heat exchange surfaces. The fouling layer reduces the heat transfer rate and leads to inefficient operation. The net fouling rate is the result of the difference between the deposition rate and the removal rate of particles. One of the mechanisms that contribute to the removal of particles from powdery fouled surfaces is the collision of an incident particle with the fouled surface. In the present study, removal of particles from powdery fouled surfaces due to an incident particle impact is studied numerically and experimentally. A numerical model is developed to study the interaction of an incident particle with a bed of particles. The numerical model is based on the molecular dynamic theory of granular matter. The numerical model is tested for an incident copper particle hitting a bed of particles at different impact speeds. The numerical results are verified experimentally. An experimental setup has been built to study the removal of particles from powdery fouling layers due to an incident particle impact. It is shown that depending on the impact speed, zero, one, two or three particles are ejected from the powdery layer. By comparing the numerical results with the experimental measurements it is shown that the numerical results fit in the measured range of impact mentioned above. The numerical model will be used further to characterize the removal of particles from powdery fouling layers as function of particle size, material, incident particle impact speed and the bed of particles porosity

Isolation and biochemical characterization of a novel antimicrobial agent produced by Streptomyces violaceusniger isolated from Yemeni soil

Background: Infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria present daily challenges to infectious disease physicians in hospitals throughout the world and these pathogens are spreading into the community. The development of new antibacterial agents to combat worsening antibiotic resistance is still a priority area in anti-infective research.Methods: The experiments were carried out to search for new natural antibiotics through isolation of various Streptomyces strains from different soil samples from Yemen and studying the antimicrobial effects of metabolites that produced. In the same time, the toxicological and biochemical effects of the extracted antibiotic on animals were studied.Results: Streptomyces violaceusniger, was isolated from Yemeni soil sample produced active metabolite that was designated faqihmycin has substantial antimicrobial potential against different microbial species. Investigations into the possible mode of action of faqihmycin revealed that it affects cell wall synthesis and intracellular macromolecule contents of the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis. Toxicity studies of faqihmycin confirmed the hepatotoxicity of faqihmycin, there is no strong evidence to suggest that it is nephrotoxic.Conclusions: Further studies with Faqihmycin are needed in order to elucidate its detailed mechanism of action on bacterial cells, as well as studies with Faqihmycin with different doses in order to determine its potential therapeutic use.

Effect of Protocol of Care on Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Chest Tube Post Cardiothoracic Surgery

Cardiothoracic surgery is a surgical specialty, which deals with the diagnosis and management of surgical conditions of the heart, lungs and esophagus (1) .Chest tube (CT) is an invasive procedure which inserted post cardiothoracic surgery to facilitate lung expansion and allowing  the drainage of fluids from the chest cavity. Aim: this study aimed to evaluate the effect of protocol of care on clinical outcomes of patients with chest tube post cardiothoracic surgery. Materials and method a quasi-experimental research design was conducted at Cardiothoracic Surgery Department at Tanta University hospital. A purposive sample of 80 adult patients with chest tube based on statistical power analysis were selected and divided into two equal group 40 patients in each group as follows: Group 1: (Study group): consist of 40 adult patients were received protocol of care implemented by the researcher. Group 2: (Control group): consists of 40 adult patients who were received routine nursing care by hospital nursing staff. Three Tools were used to collect the data .Tool (I) Biosocio-demographic characteristics. Tool (II) Chest tube assessment, Tool (III) Pain assessment. Results:- The mean duration of ICU stay in control group (6.77) was higher than in the study group (4.97) days, more than half (52.6%)of the patients in the control group at the 7th day of the study had elevated body temperature comparing to none  in the study group, nearly two third (62.5%) of patients has  a positive culture swab in the control group at the  7th day of the study group ,compared to about  third(35%) of patients in the study group. More than half of patients (52.5%) in the control group had a severe pain during removal of chest tube compared to small percentage (5.0%) in the study group. Conclusions and recommendations:-Protocol of nursing care which was composed of deep breathing and coughing   exercises, sterile technique during chest tube dressing, and cold application, are recommended for all cardiothoracic surgical patients with chest tube. Keywords: Protocol of Care, Clinical Outcomes, Cardiothorathic Surger

Relation between Lymphopenia and Internal Organ Involvement in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, characterized by autoantibody production and immunocomplex formation, leading to widespread inflammatory damage involving multi-organ systems. Lymphopenia is a common laboratory involvement seen in patients with SLE and the mechanism of it is still unclear. Objectives: The aim of the current study was to investigate the relation between lymphopenia and clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Patients and Methods: It was a cross sectional study; with a total of 60 patients with SLE recruited from the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic at Sohag University Hospital. Demographic data, personal history, detailed history of general health condition and chronic or current diseases were reported. All the participants were subjected to detection of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, liver function tests, renal function tests, complete blood count (CBC), renal biopsy, protein/creatinine ratio and/or 24hr protein in urine, urine analysis, ANA profile, and Complement 3 and 4. Results: Two thirds of the study population had normal lymphocytic count, and one third had lymphopenia. Lymphopenia group showed significantly more hypochromic anemia with significant lower hemoglobin level and lower MCV. The mean creatinine level was significantly higher among lymphopenic cases. Lymphopenic cases had higher proteinuria. Conclusions: It could be concluded that lymphopenia in patients with SLE may be used as indicator of renal involvement in these patients

PRODUCING PROMISING PEA LINES THROUGH RE-SELECTION FOR YIELD AND QUALITY FROM MASTER B CULTIVAR

This investigation was conducted at Barrage Station (BHRS), Horticultural Research, Kalubia Governorate, Egypt, to get some new and promising pea lines (Pisum sativum L.) using pure line selection method on the basis of genetic variability. Selection was performed between or within four pea populations of Master Bcultivar. The populations were collected from four different regions in Egypt and subjected to selection procedure during 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 growing seasons. The investigation intended to study different traits of growth and yield and its components viz., No. of days to flowering, No. of first flowering node, plant length, No. of branches per plant, pod length, pod width, pod thickness, pod weight, No. of seeds per pod, weight of seeds per pod, No. of pods per plant, weight of 100 seeds, shelling percentage, pod yield per plant and seed yield per plant. The target of this study was to improve pea yield and its components as well as earliness of yielding. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among genotypes for most of the studied characteristics, indicating ample scope of selection. Most characteristics showed a higher heritability coupled with higher genetic advance through two cycles of selection indicating that these characteristics are stable and can be improved through selection based on phenotypic observations. Twenty lines were obtained from selection program and were compared against the baseline populations in addition to check cultivar (Entsar1).Results showed significant differences among lines for most studied traits. Selection program resulted in genotypes or lines given symbols of H3, G7, N1, N3, G2, G1 and K2 that considered promising lines.  These lines have good pods traits, higher productivity and earliness of flowering. Simple correlation coefficient analysis revealed that greater emphasis should be given to the traits of No. of branches and No. of pods per plant along with pod length, pod width, No. of seeds and weight of seeds per pod for yield improvement