Modification and implementation of NCCN guidelines on prostate cancer in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Abstract A prostate cancer committee was established to modify the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) on Prostate Cancer for adaptation and implementation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The objective was to enhance the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of prostate cancer. The committee, comprising regional experts in the fields of urologic, medical, and radiation oncology, reviewed the 2009 version of the NCCN Guidelines on Prostate Cancer and suggested modifications based on the unique needs of the regions determined through published evidence and local expertise. The committee identified several areas in the NCCN Guidelines that they believed required modification, which are presented in this article. The treatment of prostate cancer in the MENA region has numerous challenges. The hope is that this effort to modify the NCCN Guidelines on Prostate Cancer for practical use in the MENA region will improve regional awareness and patient care

Effect of Size and Location of Square Web Openings on the Entire Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Deep Beams

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study which was carried out to examine the influence of the size and the layout of the web openings on the load carrying capacity and the serviceability of reinforced concrete deep beams. Five full-scale simply supported reinforced concrete deep beams with two large web openings created in shear regions were tested up to failure. The shear span to overall depth ratio was (1.1). Square openings were located symmetrically relative to the midspan section either at the midpoint or at the interior boundaries of the shear span. Two different side dimensions for the square openings were considered, mainly, (200) mm and (230) mm. The strength results proved that the shear capacity of the deep beam is governed by the size and location of web openings. The experimental results indicated that the reduction of the shear capacity may reach (66%). ABAQUS finite element software program was used for simulation and analysis. Numerical analyses provided un-conservative estimates for deep beam load carrying capacity in the range between (5-21%). However, the maximum scatter of the finite element method predictions for first diagonal and first flexural cracking loads was not exceeding (17%). Also, at service load the numerical of midspan deflection was greater than the experimental values by (9-18%)

A Statistical Model to Predict the Strength Development of Geopolymer Concrete Based on SiO2/Al2O3 Ratio Variation

Geopolymer Concrete (GPC) is a new class of concrete that presents a vital improvement in sustainability and the environment, particularly in recycling and alternative construction methods. Geopolymers offer a sustainable, low energy consumption, low carbon footprint, and a 100% substitute for the Portland cement binder for civil infrastructure applications. Furthermore, many aluminosilicate materials can be obtained as by-products of other processes, such as coal combustion or the thermal pulping of wood. In addition, slag and fly ash are necessary to source materials for geopolymer. Therefore, geopolymer is considered a solution for waste management that can minimize greenhouse gas emissions. In this statistical study, the present experimental work and found experimental data were collected from local and international literature and were used to build and validate the statistical models to predict the strength development of Geopolymer concrete with binary and ternary systems of source materials. The main independent variable was R, representing the ratio of SiO2/Al2O3by weight in the source material. The investigated range of R was 1.42–3.6. Nine concrete geopolymer mixes with R in the above range represent the experimental part carried out. The targeted properties were compressive, splitting, and flexural strengths. The experimental results showed that the R ratio significantly influences the mechanical performance of the final product. The compressive strength improved by 82, 86, 93, and 95%, when metakaolin content was partially replaced by fly ash and GGBS by percentages of 30, 70, 72, 90, and 95% for mixes 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8 respectively. Also, when GGBS partially replaced fly ash content by 36% and 100% for mixes 6 and 9, compressive strength improved by 10.6% and 41.8%, respectively, compared to mix4. Furthermore, the statistical study revealed that the R ratio might be utilized to determine geopolymer strength with reasonable accuracy. The built models were developed by linear and non-linear regression analysis using SPSS software, version 25. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-03-04 Full Text: PD

Effect of vibration after filling on mechanical reliability in thin wall investment casting with fillability filling regime—part 1

A vibration technique is used in this study to explore the effect of low frequency vibration on the mechanical reliability of Al-7Si-Mg castings. The quality of castings is related to the number and the size of porosity and oxide film in thin wall investment casting. The quality of each method of casting (casting with and without vibration) was assessed by the density of the defects within the thin strips. Weibull distribution function is used to analyze the tensile strength data. The Weibull modulus is applied as a criterion to assess the mechanical reliability to identify the optimized casting condition. The results show that the effect of the vibration on the mechanical reliability is markedly dependent on acceleration of vibration, and the Weibull modulus is in the range of 12 to 12.7 when the acceleration is in range of 0 to 1 g; however, in more than 1 g, the range is 30–35

Study of chemical and physical parameters affected on purification of water from inorganic contaminants

The ability to remove perchlorate anions was investigated by the adsorption technique in a laboratory scale and by a batch type unit from contaminated aqueous solutions prepared at specific concentrations. The adsorption process was carried out using banana peels, which were chosen as an available, cheap, and low-cost adsorption media. The studied operating conditions in the treatment process were the acidic function, shaking speed, contact time, temperature, in addition to the initial concentration of perchlorate, which ranging from 1-10, 100-400 rpm, 10-180 min, 20-50 ºC, 50-1000 ppb respectively, while the dose of adsorbent media ranged between 0.5-6 g and the particle size ranged from 0-Pan. The experimental results showed that the removal efficiency of perchlorate changes directly with the shaking speed, contact time, particle size and the dose of adsorbent, while it was inversely with the remaining variables for certain levels. Thus, two types of contaminants were disposed of simultaneously in a beneficial, and eco- friendly manner, reaching to Zero Residue Level (ZRL)

PUNCHING SHEAR BEHAVIOR OF THREE DIMENSION TEXTILES REINFORCED CEMENTITIOUS COMPOSITE PLATES

Self compacting mortars (SCMs) plate specimens with dimension of (500×500×40) mm were cast with three-dimension (3D) textile glass fiber having three diverse thicknesses 6, 10, and 15mm to measure their punching strength. Plates with one and two layers of chicken wires, as well as micro steel fiber of 0.75 % volume fraction were tested under punching for comparison. Punching shear tests have been carried out by applying concentrated load with steel cylinder of 50mm diameter and 10 mm height. The mechanical behavior of SCMs plate was discussed in terms of observed behavior, ultimate load, load - deflection curves, and crack pattern. The results indicated an enhancement in the ultimate load at (28 and 90) day ages by about (7.82% and 24%), respectively. The maximum ultimate load was increased by about (58.4 and 54.1) % for plates reinforced by micro steel fiber at 28 and 90 days, respectively as compared with reference. The maximum deflection at the center of the Self-compact mortars plates for all tested plates was improved

University of Babylon Performance in Setting and Infrastructure Indicator through UIGreenMetric 2017-2020. (A comparative study)

The category of setting and infrastructure indicator (SI) is chosen in this comparative study referring to the fact file scores obtained by the University of Babylon during the last four participations into the UI Green Metric Rankings. In general, the scores indicated an escalation in the university performance of the whole six sub-indicators of the setting and infrastructure criterion (SI) from 2017-2020. These results confirmed that the university; by its leadership, staff and students, focused on upgrading and developing its infrastructure for setting a green and safe educational environment for most employees and students. That is to achieve a green campus contributing in the global efforts for achieving the UN agenda of SDGs 2015-2030. Furthermore, all practices of university performance coped with its vision, mission, and objective goals of university strategic plan from 2018-2022, which contained the commitments to set up with most of SDGs, especially related to sustainable cities or campuses. The results also showed an ascending and remarkable progress from 2017 to 2020 with an unexpected regression in 2019, which required the development of an improvement plan to address weaknesses, maintain and enhance strengths, to get good results for university in the 2020 edition of UI GreenMetric Ranking. Keyword: Green university, practices, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SI, setting and infrastructure indicator, University of Babylon

Effect of Plastic Fibers on Properties of Foamed Concrete

The main objective of this work is to study the effect of adding plastic fibers on Lightweight Aggregate Foamed Concrete (LWAFC) using mix proportion of 1:2.6:0.4 by volume (cement: fine Porcelanite: coarse Porcelanite) with 2% foaming agent by weight of water, and using sand as a partial and total replacement of local Porcelanite aggregate in that mix. The properties of lightweight aggregate foamed concrete reinforced with different percentages of plastic fiber (0.5, 0.75, and 1% by volume) were studied. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, dry density, initial surface absorption, water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity, acoustic impedance, and impact resistance tests were conducted on mixes at ages of 7, 28, and 60 days. The results showed a significant increasing in impact resistance, splitting tensile strength, and water absorption 34.55%, 4.2%, 326%, and 27.3% respectively. While the results indicated that the compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, dry density and acoustic impedance of the composites were reduced when the crimped plastic fiber volume fraction increases. The percentage of reduction of these properties was 15%, 11.1%, 6.23%, and 12.55% respectively