12 research outputs found

    CHARACTERIZATION OF THERMAL TREATED CLAYOBTAINED FROM LEBANESE LOCAL RESOURCES ASSUPPLEMENTARY CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS

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    The purpose of this research was to evaluate a kaolin clay obtained from local Lebanese source after being subjected to thermal treatment. A sample of kaolin clay was collected from local resources and subjected to a treatment process for enhancing its pozzolanic properties. The treated sample was characterized through testing procedure as per ASTM C311. It was found that the physical and chemical properties were in compliance with the relevant ASTM C618 standard. This indicates that the proposed treatment succeeded in developing and exhibiting the pozzolanic activity of the end product. The activity index test of the treated samples was investigated to verify the quality and performance of the end product which was found to be satisfactory. Therefore, the treated product is accepted to be classified as natural Pozzolan as per ASTM C618. The potential of producing Metakolin in Lebanon is of high importance due to its availability in large quantities. Moreover, it might be used to replace part of the Portland cement to reduce the CO2 emi ssion and energy consumption resulting from the cement production

    Diabesity in the Arabian Gulf: Challenges and Opportunities

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    Diabesity (diabetes associated with obesity) is a major global and local public health concern, which has almost reached an epidemic order of magnitude in the countries of the Arabian Gulf and worldwide. We sought to review the lifestyle trends in this region and to highlight the challenges and opportunities that health care professionals face and attempt to address and correct them. In this regard, we aimed to review the regional data and widely held expert opinions in the Arabian Gulf and provide a thematic review of the size of the problem of diabesity and its risk factors, challenges, and opportunities. We also wished to delineate the barriers to health promotion, disease prevention, and identify social customs contributing to these challenges. Lastly, we wished to address specific problems with particular relevance to the region such as minimal exercise and unhealthy nutrition, concerns during pregnancy, the subject of childhood obesity, the impact of Ramadan fasting, and the expanding role of bariatric surgery. Finally, general recommendations for prevention, evidence-based, and culturally competent management strategies are presented to be considered at the levels of the individual, community, and policymakers

    Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

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    SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

    Tocilizumab in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

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    Background: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of tocilizumab in adult patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 with both hypoxia and systemic inflammation. Methods: This randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing several possible treatments in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. Those trial participants with hypoxia (oxygen saturation <92% on air or requiring oxygen therapy) and evidence of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein ≥75 mg/L) were eligible for random assignment in a 1:1 ratio to usual standard of care alone versus usual standard of care plus tocilizumab at a dose of 400 mg–800 mg (depending on weight) given intravenously. A second dose could be given 12–24 h later if the patient's condition had not improved. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered with ISRCTN (50189673) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04381936). Findings: Between April 23, 2020, and Jan 24, 2021, 4116 adults of 21 550 patients enrolled into the RECOVERY trial were included in the assessment of tocilizumab, including 3385 (82%) patients receiving systemic corticosteroids. Overall, 621 (31%) of the 2022 patients allocated tocilizumab and 729 (35%) of the 2094 patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 0·85; 95% CI 0·76–0·94; p=0·0028). Consistent results were seen in all prespecified subgroups of patients, including those receiving systemic corticosteroids. Patients allocated to tocilizumab were more likely to be discharged from hospital within 28 days (57% vs 50%; rate ratio 1·22; 1·12–1·33; p<0·0001). Among those not receiving invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, patients allocated tocilizumab were less likely to reach the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilation or death (35% vs 42%; risk ratio 0·84; 95% CI 0·77–0·92; p<0·0001). Interpretation: In hospitalised COVID-19 patients with hypoxia and systemic inflammation, tocilizumab improved survival and other clinical outcomes. These benefits were seen regardless of the amount of respiratory support and were additional to the benefits of systemic corticosteroids. Funding: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research

    Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

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    Background: Many patients with COVID-19 have been treated with plasma containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods: This randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]) is assessing several possible treatments in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 177 NHS hospitals from across the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either usual care alone (usual care group) or usual care plus high-titre convalescent plasma (convalescent plasma group). The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936. Findings: Between May 28, 2020, and Jan 15, 2021, 11558 (71%) of 16287 patients enrolled in RECOVERY were eligible to receive convalescent plasma and were assigned to either the convalescent plasma group or the usual care group. There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality between the two groups: 1399 (24%) of 5795 patients in the convalescent plasma group and 1408 (24%) of 5763 patients in the usual care group died within 28 days (rate ratio 1·00, 95% CI 0·93–1·07; p=0·95). The 28-day mortality rate ratio was similar in all prespecified subgroups of patients, including in those patients without detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at randomisation. Allocation to convalescent plasma had no significant effect on the proportion of patients discharged from hospital within 28 days (3832 [66%] patients in the convalescent plasma group vs 3822 [66%] patients in the usual care group; rate ratio 0·99, 95% CI 0·94–1·03; p=0·57). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at randomisation, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients meeting the composite endpoint of progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death (1568 [29%] of 5493 patients in the convalescent plasma group vs 1568 [29%] of 5448 patients in the usual care group; rate ratio 0·99, 95% CI 0·93–1·05; p=0·79). Interpretation: In patients hospitalised with COVID-19, high-titre convalescent plasma did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Funding: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research

    Study and Design of a Machine Learning-Enabled Laser-Based Sensor for Pure and Sea Water Determination Using COMSOL Multiphysics

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    Accurate detection of salt in water is crucial in many applications. Numerous techniques, using direct and indirect methods, have been employed to design seawater sensors. Among the indirect sensing methods, optical sensors are known to be the most accurate, easy to implement, and suitable for application where the chemical properties of the solution to be tested should stay unchanged. This research presents a novel method for real-time label-free biochemical detection of salty water combining various optics concepts with a machine learning system. COMSOL Multiphysics has been employed to design and simulate the proposed sensor. The designed device uses a laser light emitted from the top of a water container, with a sensing part located on the bottom surface. The laser light initially propagates in the air portion, then refracts when it comes into contact with the air-water interface. Different parameters, including the laser beam wavelength λ and its incident angles θi, the temperature, and the air-water levels are employed to generate a set of data and the multilayer perceptron classifier (MLP) to model prediction. The obtained results validated the concept of the proposed sensor using machine learning. The sensor’s prediction precision under various temperature conditions is R2 = 0.844, the equivalent of an MSE of 0.155

    A Novel Trust-Based Authentication Scheme for Low-Resource Devices in Smart Environments

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    In smart environments, pervasive computing contributes in improving daily life activities for dependent people by providing personalized services. Nevertheless, those environments do not guarantee a satisfactory level for protecting the user privacy and ensuring the trust between communicating entities. In this paper, we propose a trust evaluation model based on user past and present behavior. This model is associated to a lightweight authentication key agreement protocol (EC-SAKA). The aim is to enable the communicating entities to establish a level of trust and then succeed in a mutual authentication using a scheme suitable for low-resource devices in smart environments. Finally, we tested and implemented our scheme on Android mobile phones in a smart environment dedicated for handicapped people. Keywords: devices 1

    Piezoelectric-Based Sensor Concept and Design with Machine Learning-Enabled Using COMSOL Multiphysics

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    This paper presents the concept and design of a system that embeds piezoelectric sensors to measure the voltage of a mechanical load applied to it. COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element simulation tool, was used to design the system and analyze the data to find a possible fingerprint of voltage changes. The sensors’ voltage readings were affected by the load applied to the surface of the structure with different magnitudes and speeds. The analyzed data show the effect of position and mass on the voltage readings and indicates the possibility of speed prediction. The obtained dataset results validated the concept of the proposed system, where the collected data can serve as a digital data pipeline model for future research on different artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) modeling applications. From the obtained data, a reasonable view shows that voltage reading matrices can be utilized for the detection of vehicle speed, location, and mass if used as training data for machine learning modeling, which can benefit the Internet of Things (IoT) technology

    Piezoelectric-Based Sensor Concept and Design with Machine Learning-Enabled Using COMSOL Multiphysics

    No full text
    This paper presents the concept and design of a system that embeds piezoelectric sensors to measure the voltage of a mechanical load applied to it. COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element simulation tool, was used to design the system and analyze the data to find a possible fingerprint of voltage changes. The sensors’ voltage readings were affected by the load applied to the surface of the structure with different magnitudes and speeds. The analyzed data show the effect of position and mass on the voltage readings and indicates the possibility of speed prediction. The obtained dataset results validated the concept of the proposed system, where the collected data can serve as a digital data pipeline model for future research on different artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) modeling applications. From the obtained data, a reasonable view shows that voltage reading matrices can be utilized for the detection of vehicle speed, location, and mass if used as training data for machine learning modeling, which can benefit the Internet of Things (IoT) technology
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