Performance comparison of selection nanoparticles for insulation of three core belted power cables

This paper presents an investigation on the enhancement of electrical insulations of power cables materials using a new multi-nanoparticles technique. It has been studied the effect of adding specified types and concentrations of nanoparticles to polymeric materials such as PVC for controlling on electric and dielectric performance. Prediction of effective dielectric constant has been done for the new nanocomposites based on Interphase Power Law (IPL) model. The multi-nanoparticles technique has been succeeded for enhancing electric and dielectric performance of power cables insulation compared with adding individual nanoparticles. Finally, it has been investigated on electric field distribution in the new proposed modern insulations for three-phase core belted power cables. This research has focused on studying development of PVC nanocomposite materials performance with electric field distribution superior to the unfilled matrix, and has stressed particularly the effect of filler volume fraction on the electric field distribution

Tackling Fluid Overload in a High-transporter Diabetic Patient on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Introduction: Diabetic patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) are more prone to fluid overload than non-diabetic patients, but the use of hypertonic glucose solutions to improve their ultrafiltration (UF) may hamper their glycemic control. Maintaining euvolemia in such patients may be tricky and needs special care. Case report: A 72 year old diabetic and hypertensive patient presented with severe fluid overload shortly after initiation of CAPD despite producing more than one liter of urine per day. He only achieved modest ultrafiltration (UF) during the day, and had a negative UF during the long hypertonic night dwell. Peritoneal equilibration tests (PET) confirmed that he was a high transporter, and his weekly Kt/V was found to be 1.36. Since automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is not yet available in Sudan, the PD prescription was modified to comprise five short cycles during the day, including two short hypertonic daytime dwells, and a dry abdomen at night. This approach succeeded in improving his fluid status, but required the addition of intra-peritoneal soluble insulin to his regular subcutaneous insulin in order to achieve acceptable blood sugar control. After 8 months his residual renal function (RRF) had declined remarkably and he began to suffer from intermittent fluid overload of variable degrees. Nevertheless, we managed to maintain him satisfactorily on CAPD for 14 months. Conclusion: Simple measures such as omitting the night dwell and using five short cycles during the day, including two short hypertonic dwells, can be effective in controlling fluid overload in diabetic patients who have a high transporter status. Key words: CAPD, diabetes mellitus, fluid overload, residual renal Functio

Evaluating Delay Causes for Constructing Road Projects in Saudi Arabia

In this paper, we evaluate the causes of delays in road construction projects in Saudi Arabia. The research identifies four main groups of delay causes: external factors, contractor-related factors, project management factors, and environmental factors. External factors include changes in regulations and delays in obtaining permits and approvals. Contractor-related factors include inadequate resources and poor project planning. Project management factors encompass ineffective communication and poor coordination among stakeholders. Environmental factors include adverse weather conditions and unforeseen site conditions. The study recommends measures such as improved coordination, enhanced contract management, and advanced project management techniques to mitigate these delay causes. The findings provide valuable insights for stakeholders involved in road infrastructure development in Saudi Arabia, enabling them to implement strategies for timely project delivery and improved project performance

A Computer-Aided Screening Solution for the Identification of Diabetic Neuropathy from Standing Balance by Leveraging Multi-Domain Features

The early diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy (DN) is fundamental in order to enact timely therapeutic strategies for limiting disease progression. In this work, we explored the suitability of standing balance task for identifying the presence of DN. Further, we proposed two diagnosis pathways in order to succeed in distinguishing between different stages of the disease. We considered a cohort of non-neuropathic (NN), asymptomatic neuropathic (AN), and symptomatic neuropathic (SN) diabetic patients. From the center of pressure (COP), a series of features belonging to different description domains were extracted. In order to exploit the whole information retrievable from COP, a majority voting ensemble was applied to the output of classifiers trained separately on different COP components. The ensemble of kNN classifiers provided over 86% accuracy for the first diagnosis pathway, made by a 3-class classification task for distinguishing between NN, AN, and SN patients. The second pathway offered higher performances, with over 97% accuracy in identifying patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic neuropathy. Notably, in the last case, no asymptomatic patient went undetected. This work showed that properly leveraging all the information that can be mined from COP trajectory recorded during standing balance is effective for achieving reliable DN identification. This work is a step toward a clinical tool for neuropathy diagnosis, also in the early stages of the disease

Comparative Effects of Different Feeds on Production and Reproduction of Crossbred Heifers in Gangachara Upazila, Rangpur, Bangladesh

The present study was conducted from January to June 2014, in Gangachara Upazila of Rangpur District, Bangladesh. A sample of 60 cross-bred dairy cows: Local × Holstein Friesian (L×HF) = 30 and Local × Sahiwal (L×Sh) = 30 were selected for in depth study. The average age at first heat, services per conception, age at first calving, post-partum heat period, the average milk production, the average lactation period were observed after feeding three types of feed: type-I (Sweet jamboo grass), type-II (Jomjom Dairy feed) and type-III (Advance Chemical Industry) feeding system. Local × Holstein Friesian (L×HF) cross and Local × Sahiwal (L×Sh) cross cows showed significantly (

Intelligent Human–Computer Interaction: Combined Wrist and Forearm Myoelectric Signals for Handwriting Recognition

Recent studies have highlighted the possibility of using surface electromyographic (EMG) signals to develop human–computer interfaces that are also able to recognize complex motor tasks involving the hand as the handwriting of digits. However, the automatic recognition of words from EMG information has not yet been studied. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using combined forearm and wrist EMG probes for solving the handwriting recognition problem of 30 words with consolidated machine-learning techniques and aggregating state-of-the-art features extracted in the time and frequency domains. Six healthy subjects, three females and three males aged between 25 and 40 years, were recruited for the study. Two tests in pattern recognition were conducted to assess the possibility of classifying fine hand movements through EMG signals. The first test was designed to assess the feasibility of using consolidated myoelectric control technology with shallow machine-learning methods in the field of handwriting detection. The second test was implemented to assess if specific feature extraction schemes can guarantee high performances with limited complexity of the processing pipeline. Among support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, and K-nearest neighbours (KNN), the last one showed the best classification performances in the 30-word classification problem, with a mean accuracy of 95% and 85% when using all the features and a specific feature set known as TDAR, respectively. The obtained results confirmed the validity of using combined wrist and forearm EMG data for intelligent handwriting recognition through pattern recognition approaches in real scenarios

Six Cases of Fungal Peritonitis Complicating Peritoneal Dialysis in a Single Center in Sudan

Introduction: A national program of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) has only recently been established in Sudan. In the head center of this national program, six of the 67 peritonitis episodes that were diagnosed during its 30 months of function were fungal in origin (9% of all episodes, 0.12 episode per year at risk). Here we describe the clinical features, predisposing factors, and outcomes of these six cases. Case series: Clinical presentation of fungal peritonitis did not differ from other cases of peritonitis. Among the six cases that were diagnosed in our center, five cases were due to Candida species and only one was due to Aspergillus. All patients had received antibiotic therapy within one month of diagnosing fungal peritonitis; five of them had received intraperitoneal (IP) antibiotics for a previous episode of bacterial peritonitis and one patient had received a course of oral antibiotics for exit site infection. Two of the patients were diabetic. All patients were treated with oral fluconazole, 200 mg daily, for three weeks, and all had their dialysis catheter removed. One patient died, and the others were transferred permanently to hemodialysis (HD). Two patients developed encysted intra-abdominal fluid collections 15 and 48 days after catheter removal. Conclusion: Fugal peritonitis complicating CAPD is not uncommon in our center, which serves a major portion of the CAPD population in the Sudan. Most patients responded to oral fluconazole treatment and catheter removal, but two of them suffered from late complications. Keywords: fungal peritonitis, peritoneal dialysis, Suda

Scorpion Venom Antimicrobial Peptides Induce Caspase-1 Dependant Pyroptotic Cell Death

Within the last decade, several peptides have been identified according to their ability to inhibit the growth of microbial pathogens. These antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a part of the innate immune system of all living organisms. Many studies on their effects on prokaryotic microorganisms have been reported; some of these peptides have cytotoxic properties although the molecular mechanisms underlying their activity on eukaryotic cells remain poorly understood. Smp24 and Smp43 are novel cationic AMPs which were identified from the venom of the Egyptian scorpion Scorpio maurus palmatus. Smp24 and Smp43 showed potent activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as fungi. Here we describe cytotoxicity of these peptides towards two acute leukaemia cell lines (myeloid (KG1-a) and lymphoid (CCRF-CEM) leukaemia cell lines) and three non-tumour cell lines CD34+ (hematopoietic stem progenitor from cord blood), HRECs (human renal epithelial cells) and HaCaT (human skin keratinocytes). Smp24 and Smp43 (4–256 µg/ml) decreased the viability of all cell lines, although HaCaT cells were markedly less sensitive. With the exception HaCaT cells, the caspase-1 gene was uniquely up-regulated in all cell lines studied. However, all cell lines showed an increase in downstream interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression. Transmission electron microscope studies revealed the formation of cell membrane blebs and the appearance of autolysosomes and lipid droplets in all cell lines; KG1-a leukemia cells also showed the unique appearance of glycogen deposits. Our results reveal a novel mechanism of action for scorpion venom AMPs, activating a cascade of events leading to cell death through a programmed pyroptotic mechanism

Path analysis of the relationship between optimism, humor, affectivity, and marital satisfaction among infertile couples

Marital satisfaction is an important factor for establishing a family relationship, feeling satisfied, and living happily together. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between optimism, humor, positive and negative affect, and marital satisfaction among infertile couples. The sample comprised 80 infertile Iranian couples (n = 160) who visited infertility clinics. Participants completed a series of Persian versions of psychometric scales related to optimism (Attributional Style Questionnaire), humor (Humor Styles Questionnaire), marital satisfaction (Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire), positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). The obtained result of Smart PLS statistical analysis confirmed the significant positive correlation between optimism and humor with marital satisfaction and high PA and low NA. Moreover, the findings also provided an adequate fit of the model. The findings demonstrated that infertile couples high in optimism and humor have higher levels of marital satisfaction and high PA and low PA. Based on the study’s findings, interventions for facilitating optimism and humor among infertile couples are discussed