Impact of New Method for Laying Separate Sewer System on Pavement Layers

The method of installing underground infrastructure has a significant influence on road resistance and performance under live loads such as traffic. This research presents a new method for laying separate sewer systems by using one trench to sit both sanitary pipe and storm pipe and considers the effects of this approach on the pavement strength. Experimental tests have been conducted in the laboratory using a trench 2.5x0.45x1 metre to install two pipes one over the other (sanitary pipe in the bottom and storm pipe on top). Two cases have tested, the first case using 5 cm surface layer of cold mix asphalt while the second is using soil. A series of loads were applied to test the behaviour of this new system and its effects on the pavement surface layer and the buried pipe. The comparison between the rut print of the live load on the soil layer and the pavement layer was conducted. Results demonstrated that using the cold mix asphalt is still insufficient to provide enough safety to protect buried pipe as a reason of needing to relatively long time to acquire high stiffness. Therefore, minimum cover depth to protect pipelines still required

Knowledge and experience of physicians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A global cross-sectional study

Physicians are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic with responsibility to manage the disease. The aim of this study is to investigate physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and experiences, as well as preventative practices regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccinations. Further, we explore physicians’ recommendations for future pandemics. A mixed-methods online survey was disseminated to physicians globally. The survey was distributed via social media from August 9–30, 2021. Data collected included sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19, concerns regarding vaccinations, and perspectives on policies implemented. Descriptive statistics were reported, and qualitative data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. A total of 399 physicians from 62 countries completed the survey, with similar participation from High Income Countries and Low- or Middle-Income Countries. Most physicians (87%) revealed a good level of knowledge while only half (54%) reported adhering to adequate preventative measures. More than half of participants (56%) indicated that the policies implemented to handle COVID-19 by their public health agencies were insufficient or disorganised. While most physicians reported increased mental stress (61%) and described their experience with COVID-19 using negative terminology (63%), most physicians (87%) indicated they are willing to continue working in healthcare. Physicians globally possessed good knowledge of COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccinations; yet improvements in ensuring compliance with preventative measures is warranted. Findings from this study have important implications. As recommended by physicians, efforts to manage pandemics should involve (1) strengthening health systems, (2) minimising adverse effects of infodemics, (3) delegating decision-making roles appropriately, and (4) acknowledging global responsibility

Fixed points for cyclic R-contractions and solution of nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations

In this paper, we introduce the notion of cyclic R-contraction mapping and then study the existence of fixed points for such mappings in the framework of metric spaces. Examples and application are presented to support the main result. Our result unify, complement, and generalize various comparable results in the existing literature.http://link.springer.com/journal/11784am2016Mathematics and Applied Mathematic

Intrinsic Doping in Electrodeposited ZnS Thin Films for Application in Large-Area Optoelectronic Devices

Zinc sulphide (ZnS) thin films with both n- and p-type electrical conductivity were grown on glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide-conducting substrates from acidic and aqueous solution containing ZnSO4 and (NH4)2S2O3 by simply changing the deposition potential in a two-electrode cell configuration. After deposition, the films were characterised using various analytical techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the materials are amorphous even after heat treatment. Optical properties (transmittance, absorbance and optical bandgap) of the films were studied. The bandgaps of the films were found to be in the range (3.68–3.86) eV depending on the growth voltage. Photoelectrochemical cell measurements show both n- and p-type electrical conductivity for the films depending on the growth voltage. Scanning electron microscopy shows material clusters on the surface with no significant change after heat treatment at different temperatures. Atomic force microscopy shows that the surface roughness of these materials remain fairly constant reducing only from 18 nm to 17 nm after heat treatment. Thickness estimation of the films was also carried out using theoretical and experimental methods. Direct current conductivity measurements on both as-deposited and annealed films show that resistivity increased after heat treatment

Fixed points of Suzuki type generalized multivalued mappings in fuzzy metric spaces with applications

The aim of this paper is to introduce a class of multivalued mappings satisfying a Suzuki type generalized contractive condition in the framework of fuzzy metric spaces and to present fixed point results for such mappings. Some examples are presented to support the results proved herein. As an application, a common fixed point result for a hybrid pair of single and multivalued mappings is obtained. We show the existence and uniqueness of a common bounded solution of functional equations arising in dynamic programming. Our results generalize and extend various results in the existing literature.http://link.springer.com/journal/11784hb201

A portable prototype magnetometer to differentiate ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease in patients with chest pain

Background: Magnetocardiography (MCG) is a non-invasive technique used to measure and map cardiac magnetic fields. We describe the predictive performance of a portable prototype magnetometer designed for use in acute and routine clinical settings. We assessed the predictive ability of the measurements derived from the magnetometer for the ruling-out of healthy subjects and patients whose chest pain has a non-ischemic origin from those with ischemic heart disease (IHD). Methods: MCG data were analyzed from a technical performance study, a pilot clinical study, and a young healthy reference group. Participants were grouped to enable differentiation of those with IHD versus non-IHD versus controls: Group A (70 IHD patients); Group B (69 controls); Group C (37 young healthy volunteers). Scans were recorded in an unshielded room. Between-group differences were explored using analysis of variance. The ability of 10 candidate MCG predictors to predict normal/abnormal cases was analyzed using logistic regression. Predictive performance was internally validated using repeated five-fold cross-validation. Results: Three MCG predictors showed a significant difference between patients and age-matched controls (P<0.001); eight predictors showed a significant difference between patients and young healthy volunteers (P<0.001). Logistic regression comparing patients with controls yielded a specificity of 35.0%, sensitivity of 95.4%, and negative predictive value for the ruling-out of IHD of 97.8% (area under the curve 0.78). Conclusion: This analysis represents a preliminary indication that the portable magnetometer can help rule-out healthy subjects and patients whose chest pain has a non-ischemic origin from those with IHD