Evaluation of an offshore wind farm computational fluid dynamics model against operational site data

Modelling wind turbine wake effects at a range of wind speeds and directions with actuator disk (AD) models can provide insight but also be challenging. With any model it is important to quantify the level of error, but this can also present a challenge when comparing a steady-state model to measurement data with scatter. This paper models wind flow in a wind farm at a range of wind speeds and directions using an AD implementation. The results from these models are compared to data collected from the actual farm being modelled. An extensive comparison is conducted, constituted from 35 cases where two turbulence models, the standard k-ε and k-ω SST are evaluated. The steps taken in building the models as well as processes for comparing the AD computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results to real-world data using the regression models of ensemble bagging and Gaussian process are outlined. Turbine performance data and boundary conditions are determined using the site data. Modifications to an existing opensource AD code are shown so that the predetermined turbine performance can be implemented into the CFD model. Steady state solutions are obtained with the OpenFOAM CFD solver. Results are compared in terms of velocity deficit at the measurement locations. Using the standard k-ε model, a mean absolute error for all cases together of roughly 8% can be achieved, but this error changes for different directions and methods of evaluating it

Differential Dynamic Changes of Reduced Trait Model for Analyzing the Plastic Response to Drought Phases: A Case Study in Spring Wheat

Current limited water availability due to climate changes results in severe drought stress and desiccation in plants. Phenotyping drought tolerance remains challenging. In particular, our knowledge about the discriminating power of traits for capturing a plastic phenotype in high-throughput settings is scant. The study is designed to investigate the differential performance and broad-sense heritability of a battery set of morphological, physiological, and cellular traits to understand the adaptive phenotypic response to drought in spring wheat during the tillering stage. The potential of peroxisome abundance to predict the adaptive response under severe drought was assessed using a high-throughput technique for peroxisome quantification in plants. The research dissected the dynamic changes of some phenological traits during three successive phases of drought using two contrasting genotypes of adaptability to drought. The research demonstrates 5 main findings: (1) a reduction of the overall dimension of the phenological traits for robust phenotyping of the adaptive performance under drought; (2) the abundance of peroxisomes in response to drought correlate negatively with grain yield; (3) the efficiency of ROS homeostasis through peroxisome proliferation which seems to be genetically programmed; and (4) the dynamics of ROS homeostasis seems to be timing dependent mechanism, the tolerant genotype response is earlier than the susceptible genotype. This work will contribute to the identification of robust plastic phenotypic tools and the understanding of the mechanisms for adaptive behavior under drought conditions.Summary statementThis study presents the estimated broad-sense heritability of 24 phenological traits under drought compared with non-stressed conditions. The results demonstrated a reduced model of the overall dimension of the phenological traits for phenotyping drought tolerant response including a novel trait (peroxisome abundance). Also, it displays that the adaptive mechanism through peroxisomes proliferation that is a genetic-dependent manner and related to the stress phase, since tolerant plants can sense the stress and maintain the cellular balance earlier than the sensitive plants

A Method of Predicting the Breaking Load of Egyptian Extra Long Staple Cotton by Using Neural Networks

Abstract: This paper presents the prediction of yarn breaking load properties by using artificial neural network. A single hidden layer neural network trained by using the back propagation algorithm performance a functional between HVI fiber properties, yarn count from several Egyptian cotton fiber qualities and yarn breaking load. The neural network was trained and used to predict the yarns breaking load properties, to compare with experimental yarns breaking load results. In each case, the prediction error was less than the standard deviation of experimental results. The back-propagation network model is not constrained by any assumptions about statistical properties of the data

Challenges of Autism Spectrum Disorders Families Towards Oral Health Care in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding oral health care among parents of autistic children and also the challenges faced by them in providing dental care for their Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) children’s in four regions of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods:  In total, 263 parents of autistic children participated in this cross-sectional study who were enrolled from 4 major regions of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire formulated in simple Arabic was distributed to parents of children diagnosed with autism or any form of ASD. The questionnaires consisted of demographic questions and also to assess their knowledge on oral health, child’s oral hygiene practices and visits to their dentist, oral hygiene, experience and challenges in waiting room area before the dental treatment, acceptance of treatment or rejection, accessibility to find non-dental centers either government or private for treatment and their recommendations. Results: All the parents brushed their child’s teeth using a toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste. A total of 29.7% of the parents informed that their child never brushes teeth. A total of 41.4% of the parents visit the dental clinic when the child complains about dental problems and 54% find difficulty in locating appropriate dental clinic to deal with their ASD children. Most parents reported taking their child to a private office (38.8%). Only 3.8% of parents reported that their children had seizures during dental procedures. Conclusion:  The knowledge toward oral health was found to be inadequate among the majority of the parents. Parents of ASD children need to be educated about the consequences of oral health neglect and the importance of regular check-ups

FORMULATION AND ASSESSMENT OF A HERBAL HAIR CREAM AGAINST CERTAIN DERMATOPHYTES

Objective: Developing an herbal antifungal formulation containing eruca and garlic oils against highly resistant dermatophytes (Malassezia fufur AUMC No. 5173, Microsporum canis bodin AUMC No. 5490 and Trichophyton mentagrophytes AUMC No. 5501. 5501) and assessment of garlic oil thiosulfonates during the ex vivo percutaneous permeation through albino rat skin.Methods: Assay of antifungal activity was performed by filter paper disc method and agar well diffusion method. The components of volatile constituents and fixed oil of eruca seeds were studied using GC/MS. Thiosulfinates in garlic oil were analyzed by HPLC/UV. Both oils were incorporated into hair cream using span 60 and brij 58 at three different concentrations (2, 4 and 6% w/w) and alliin, was ex vivo evaluated using albino rat skin mounted on Franz diffusion cells.Results: The two oils have a synergistic effect on the first and additive effect on the second and the third fungi. The main constituents in eruca are 4-(methyl thio) butyl isothiocyanate (82%) for volatile constituents and erucic acid (40%) for the fixed one. The highest flux for alliin (0.337±0.0015 mg/cm2/hr) was obtained at a 4% surfactant concentration.Conclusion: Combination of oils has a high activity on the selected dermatophytes. Formulation of an herbal hair cream using span 60 and Brij 58 with a concentration 4% gives the highest permeation rate for alliin in garlic oil.Keywords: Eruca, Garlic, Dermatophytes, Quantitative determination and Ex-vivo permeatio

Biopiracy <i>versus </i>one-world medicine – from colonial relicts to global collaborative concepts

Background: Practices of biopiracy to use genetic resources and indigenous knowledge by Western companies without benefit-sharing of those, who generated the traditional knowledge, can be understood as form of neocolonialism.Hypothesis: : The One-World Medicine concept attempts to merge the best of traditional medicine from developing countries and conventional Western medicine for the sake of patients around the globe.Study design: Based on literature searches in several databases, a concept paper has been written. Legislative initiatives of the United Nations culminated in the Nagoya protocol aim to protect traditional knowledge and regulate benefit-sharing with indigenous communities. The European community adopted the Nagoya protocol, and the corresponding regulations will be implemented into national legislation among the member states. Despite pleasing progress, infrastructural problems of the health care systems in developing countries still remain. Current approaches to secure primary health care offer only fragmentary solutions at best. Conventional medicine from industrialized countries cannot be afforded by the impoverished population in the Third World. Confronted with exploding costs, even health systems in Western countries are endangered to burst. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among the general public in industrialized countries, although the efficacy is not sufficiently proven according to the standards of evidence-based medicine. CAM is often available without prescription as over-the-counter products with non-calculated risks concerning erroneous self-medication and safety/toxicity issues. The concept of integrative medicine attempts to combine holistic CAM approaches with evidence-based principles of conventional medicine.Conclusion: To realize the concept of One-World Medicine, a number of standards have to be set to assure safety, efficacy and applicability of traditional medicine, e.g. sustainable production and quality control of herbal products, performance of placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trials, phytovigilance, as well as education of health professionals and patients

Extraintestinal Manifestations Of Ulcerative Colitis In Saudi Arabia: Systematic Review

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly ulcerative colitis (UC), exhibits varied clinical presentations and extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) that impact the overall well-being of affected individuals. This systematic review aims to consolidate recent studies conducted in Saudi Arabia to comprehensively analyze the sociodemographic characteristics and clinical features of UC patients, with a specific focus on bone-related complications. Objective: To systematically review Extraintestinal Manifestations of Ulcerative Colitis in Saudi Arabia Methodology: Using the PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive A systematic search was conducted to identify relevant studies published between 2014 and 2023 on PubMed in English that investigated UC in Saudi Arabia. resulting in the inclusion of seven studies with a collective participant count of 1580. Sociodemographic characteristics &amp; Clinical characteristics, particularly the prevalence of bone-related complications, were examined across these studies. Results: The sociodemographic analysis of 1580 participants from seven studies highlighted variations in extraintestinal manifestations in IBD. Due to the inflammatory nature of the UC disease, and increased glucocorticoids concentrations, bone-related complications, including osteoporosis and osteopenia, were prevalent in UC patients, with distinct patterns observed in different studies. Arthropathy emerged as one of the most common extraintestinal manifestation. Moreover, renal stones are another issue for these patients. Finally, all of these manifestations contribute to the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms that was identified among UC patients, that indicated that fifth of these cohort suffer from, psychological disease. Conclusion: This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of recent studies on UC in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the prevalence of bone-related complications as predominant extra intestinal manifestations. The findings underscore the importance of addressing these complications in the management of UC patients, necessitating regular testing of the bone density in these patients and provide supplements and other necessary treatments for these patients. Moreover, it is important to consider the psychological impact of such disease on the quality of life of patients. Comprehensive multi-disciplinary medical teams need to work together to address various clinical aspects regarding Ulcerative colitis. This does not only include gastroenterologist, nephrologists and general internists, but also include psychologists/therapists to ensure all patients needs are addressed. Finally, further research is needed to have comprehensive view of UC in Saudi Populations and improve the overall quality of care

Potential bioactivity of Phoenix dactylifera fruits, leaves, and seeds against prostate and pancreatic cancer cells

The use of functional foods’ phytochemicals in the chemoprevention of different cancer diseases has become one of the hot scientific areas in the clinical nutrition field. For instance, the Khalas palm cultivar (KPC; Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the natural sustainable resources that have high bioactivity and functionality. This study aimed to investigate the antiproliferative activity and mode of action of KPC’s different parts on prostate (Pc3) and pancreatic (panc1) cancer cells at a molecular level. In the methods, KPC’s leaves, seeds, and fruits’ chemical composition and phytochemical analysis were analyzed. Also, the cytotoxic effects of each extract were assessed against pc3 and panc1 cell lines. Besides, induction of apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, and gene expression of both Cap3 and Cap9 were studied. The obtained results indicated that KPC leaves extract exhibited the highest significant (P &lt; 0.01) anti-proliferation activity against the utilized cancer cell lines compared to fruits and seeds extracts. Also, there were significant (P &lt; 0.05) differences in the phenolic contents, flavonoid of compounds, and antioxidant power of the leaves when compared to the seeds and fruits. Additionally, the highest cytotoxic effect (lowest IC50) was recorded with leave extract than seeds and fruits. Meanwhile, the seeds extract induced (P &lt; 0.05) the apoptosis and arrested cells in the G2/M phase as well as up-regulated the gene expression of the apoptotic-related genes (Casp3 and Casp9) compared to the control group. In conclusion, this study showed that the presence of bioactive components in the KPC different parts extracts have the significant ability to induce the apoptotic pathway that could down-regulate the proliferation of prostate (pc3) and pancreatic (panc1) cancer cells. The pathway mechanism of action was induced by the phytol molecule presented in its leaves extract

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background: There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods: Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results: Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion: For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially