Influence of Some Agricultural Extension Television Elements on Diffusion of Agricultural Information, Rural Knowledge and New Technologies to Tenants in the Gezira Province

Agricultural extension and rural information services provide rural people with information and rural knowledge which they need in order to increase their production, incomes and consequently improve their standard of living. Therefore, rural information systems must involve rural communities and local needs must also be of prime importance. Field surveys were used to collect data from 120 tenants in the Gezira Province in 2003/2004 growing season selected from a total population of 120000 tenants distributed in eight extension areas in the province by using the simple random sampling technique. The collected data were statistically analyzed using percentage and frequency distributions. The results showed unsuitability of some elements of extension television with tenants conditions and preferences in the Gezira Province. It could be concluded that the inconvenient time of broadcasting of extension television programs and their improper presentation negatively influenced diffusion of agricultural information, rural knowledge and new technologies to tenants in the Gezira Province. Thus, more attention should be given to planning, producing and time of transmitting of extension message through effective use of extension television elements

Pilot Experimental Tests on Punching Shear Strength of Flat Plates Reinforced with Stirrups Punching Shear Reinforcement

Flat plates are favor structure systems usually used in parking garages and high-rise buildings due to its simplicity for construction. However, flat plates have some inherent structural problems, due to high shear stress surrounding the supporting columns which cause a catastrophic brittle type of failure called "Punching Shear Failure". Several solutions are used to avoid punching shear failure, including the use of drop panels or punching shear reinforcement. The latter is being a more sophisticated solution from the structural ductility, the architectural and the economical point of view. This study aims at investigating the effect of stirrups as shear reinforcement in enhancing the punching strength of interior slab-column connections. A total of four full-scale interior slab-column connections were tested up to failure. All slabs had a side length of 1700 mm and 160 mm thickness with 200 mm x 200 mm square column. The test parameters were the presence of shear reinforcement and stirrups concentration around the supporting column. The test results showed that the distribution of stirrups over the critical punching shear zone was an efficient solution to enhance not only the punching shear capacity but also the ductility of the connection. Furthermore, the concentrating of stirrups shear reinforcement in the vicinity of the column for the tested slabs increases the punching shear capacity by 13 % compared to the uniform distribution at same amount of shear reinforcement

Pilot Experimental Tests on Punching Shear Strength of Flat Plates Reinforced with Stirrups Punching Shear Reinforcement

Flat plates are favor structure systems usually used in parking garages and high-rise buildings due to its simplicity for construction. However, flat plates have some inherent structural problems, due to high shear stress surrounding the supporting columns which cause a catastrophic brittle type of failure called "Punching Shear Failure". Several solutions are used to avoid punching shear failure, including the use of drop panels or punching shear reinforcement. The latter is being a more sophisticated solution from the structural ductility, the architectural and the economical point of view. This study aims at investigating the effect of stirrups as shear reinforcement in enhancing the punching strength of interior slab-column connections. A total of four full-scale interior slab-column connections were tested up to failure. All slabs had a side length of 1700 mm and 160 mm thickness with 200 mm x 200 mm square column. The test parameters were the presence of shear reinforcement and stirrups concentration around the supporting column. The test results showed that the distribution of stirrups over the critical punching shear zone was an efficient solution to enhance not only the punching shear capacity but also the ductility of the connection. Furthermore, the concentrating of stirrups shear reinforcement in the vicinity of the column for the tested slabs increases the punching shear capacity by 13 % compared to the uniform distribution at same amount of shear reinforcement

Whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging with background body signal suppression and quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient in the detection, staging, and grading of non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Purpose: Assess reproducibility of detection, staging, and grading of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) using wholebody diffusion-weighted imaging with background body signal suppression (WB-DWIBS). Material and methods: Thirty NHL patients underwent WB-DWIBS, divided into 2 groups according to staging and grading. Image analysis and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement of the largest lymph node in each group were performed by 2 observers. Inter-observer agreement was performed. Results: Overall inter-observer agreement for detection of NHL was excellent (k = 0.843; 92.05%) with excellent inter-observer agreement of nodal disease (cervical, thoracic and abdominal) (k = 0.783, 0.769, and 0.856; 96.67%, 90.0%, and 93.3% respectively), extra-nodal disease (k = 1; 100%), and splenic involvement (k = 0.67; 83.3%). The overall inter-observer agreement of DWIBS in staging of NHL was excellent (k = 0.90; 94.9%) with excellent inter-observer agreement for stage I (k = 0.93; 96.4%), stage II (k = 0.90; 94.8%), stage III (k = 0.89; 94.6%), and stage IV (k = 0.88; 94.0%). There was significant difference between ADC in stage I, II (0.77 ± 0.13, 0.85 ± 0.09 × 10-3 mm2/s), and stage III, IV (0.63 ± 0.08, 0.64 ± 0.11 × 10-3 mm2 /s, p < 0.002, < 0.001). Interclass correlation showed almost perfect agreement for ADC measurement in staging and grading groups (r = 0.96 and r = 0.85, respectively, p < 0.001). There was significant difference between ADC in aggressive lymphoma (0.65 ± 0.1, 0.67 ± 0.13 × 10-3 mm2/s) and indolent lymphoma (0.76 ± 0.14, 0.84 ± 0.09 × 10-3 mm2/s, p < 0.028, < 0.001). Conclusion: DWIBS is reproducible for detection and staging of nodal and extra-nodal involvement in patients with NHL. ADC can quantitatively participate in the staging and grading of NHL

Radiological evaluation of postoperative complications after non-sleeve gastrectomy bariatric procedures

Background: Obesity is a medical condition, which may lead to serious related diseases, ultimately, resulting in many morbidities and early mortality. Its management involves many approaches of which bariatric surgery is considered nowadays as one of the most effective treatment for it. However, follow up of postoperative complications of this surgery by effective radiological method as computed tomography (CT) is important for assessment of its success.Objective: The aim of this study was to illuminate the radiological signs and features of postoperative complications after non sleeve bariatric procedures and stressing the importance of using multi-slice CT (MSCT), and fluoroscopic study for detection of these complications. Patients and methods: An observational cohort study for 275 patients with suspected complications after non sleeve gastrectomy bariatric procedures, including 195 patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), 76 patients after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) and 4 patients after intragastric balloon placement was done. These patients were subjected to either multi-slice CT and or fluoroscopy. Results: We detected complications in 21 patients out of the 195 patients who underwent RYGB: leakage, abscess, intestinal obstruction, internal hernia, port site ventral hernia, intussusception, fistula between the gastric pouch and the excluded stomach and hiatus hernia. On the other hand, 8 out of 76 patients operated by LAGB developed complications: band slippage, band erosion, pouch dilatation and tubal disconnection. Lastly two out of the 4 patients who placed intra-gastric balloon encountered other complications: gastric outlet obstruction, spontaneous balloon deflation and distal migration with intestinal obstruction.Conclusion: It could be concluded that bariatric procedures may be followed by many complications and accurate diagnosis of these problems by proper radiological procedures as MSCT is imperative

Influence of Some Innovation Attributes on the Adoption of Growing Sunflower in Rahad Scheme

The vital economic importance of sunflower as one of the oil crops encouraged its introduction to the Sudan in the last twenty years. The production of sunflower crop began in Rahad scheme, as in other irrigated areas in the country, in 1992/93 growing season. Field survey was used to collect data from 100 sunflower growers (adopters) in Rahad Scheme (block 10) in 2002/2003 growing season selected from a total population of 1000-1100 farmers by using the simple random sample technique. An equal number of non-adopters was selected for comparison. The total number of interviewed farmers was 200. The collected data was statistically analyzed using the chi-square test. The results showed significant association (dependency) between adoption of growing sunflower (the innovation) and some of its attributes: Relative advantage on perceived production cost and income, compatibility with farmers need as cash crop and animal feed, complexity associated with use of technical package for sunflower. From the findings of this study, we can conclude that the adoption of this crop was dependent on some innovation attributes and the results were expected to reveal factors influencing adoption of the crop. The authors recommend that more attention should be given by agronomists to this crop in order to improve the yield of the crop and extension services should design special programs for the crop to promote its rate of adoption

Cost Estimation for Modernization of Metro Terminal Stations using ANN Technique

The current situation of Cairo metro stations, especially terminal stations and its surrounding areas, has bad financial revenue and bad effect on environment. It is a major factor in increasing of noise, traffic jam and air pollution, in addition to, spreading of street vendors, collecting of random parking around these terminal stations. Thus, this paper proposed a methodology helping to apply multilateral investments in metro terminal stations for getting extra profits and decreasing the bad environmental effect of terminal stations and its surrounding areas. Hence, Helwan-Metro station on line 1 has been considered as a case study. Number of passengers at peak time, their ages, and their destinations, have been considered by making a field survey and a questionnaire. After collecting data and finalizing the surveying questionnaire, primary studies were done to modify and introduce a new proposal for Helwan-Metro station. The initial cost of the proposed project is predicted by using Artificial Neural Network technique using Just NN software. The investment feasibility achieved by consideration of Life Cycle Cost analysis and calculation of Net Present Value (NPV) of the proposed project

Permeable Concrete Barriers to Control Water Pollution: A Review

Permeable concrete is a class of materials that has long been tested and implemented to control water pollution. Its application in low-impact development practices has proved its efficiency in mitigating some of the impacts of urbanization on the environment, including urban heat islands, attenuation of flashfloods, and reduction of transportation-related noise. Additionally, several research efforts have been directed at the dissemination of these materials for controlling pollution via their use as permeable reactive barriers, as well as their use in the treatment of waste water and water purification. This work is focused on the potential use of these materials as permeable reactive barriers to remediate ground water and treat acid mine drainage. In this respect, advances in material selection and their proportions in the mix design of conventional and innovative permeable concrete are presented. An overview of the available characterization techniques to evaluate the rheology of the paste, hydraulic, mechanical, durability, and pollutant removal performances of the hardened material are presented and their features are summarized. An overview of permeable reactive barrier technology is provided, recent research on the application of permeable concrete technology is analyzed, and gaps and recommendations for future research directions in this field are identified. The optimization of the mix design of permeable reactive concrete barriers is recommended to be directed in a way that balances the performance measures and the durability of the barrier over its service life. As these materials are proposed to control water pollution, there is a need to ensure that this practice has minimal environmental impacts on the affected environment. This can be achieved by considering the analysis of the alkaline plume attenuation in the downstream environment

Applications of nano-zeolite in wastewater treatment: An overview

Nano-zeolite is an innovative class of materials that received recognition for its potential use in water and tertiary wastewater treatment. These applications include ion-exchange/sorption, photo-degradation, and membrane separation. The aim of this work is to summarize and analyze the current knowledge about the utilization of nano-zeolite in these applications, identify the gaps in this field, and highlight the challenges that face the wide scale applications of these materials. Within this context, an introduction to water quality, water and wastewater treatment, utilization of zeolite in contaminant removal from water was addressed and linked to its structure and the advances in zeolite preparation techniques were overviewed. To have insights into the trends of the scientific interest in this field, an in-depth analysis of the variation in annual research distribution over the last decade was performed for each application. This analysis covered the research that addressed the potential use of both zeolites and nano-zeolites. For each application, the characterization, experimental testing schemes, and theoretical analysis methodologies were overviewed. The results of the most advanced research were collected, summarized, and analyzed to allow an easy visualization and comparison of these research results. Finally, the gaps and challenges that face these applications are concluded

Evaluation of IR Spectral Analysis and Dyeing Parameters for Plasma and /or Nano-Silver Treatments of Polyester and Nylon Fabrics

In our work of this paper, we study the effect of surface modification of polyester and nylon fabrics induced by DC plasma discharge and/ or nano-siliver treatments .DC plasma discharge was employed at first, as a function of plasma device parameters including different time, different current and different hydrostatic pressure using chemically inert working gas: argon or nitrogen. Optimization of the performance of the applied DC plasma discharge with various applied conditions were performed using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy spectral analysis, by following up the changes in the peak intensity values of the characteristic functional groups that characterize polyester fabric. Then the dyeing properties of different pretreated fabrics with plasma by the best conditions are subjected to nano-silver treatment by concentration 50 ppm under the effect of different dye concentrations, different dyeing temperature and different dyeing time. Finally, the fastness properties to light and washing for the treated samples were studied. The results obtained showed that both of the dyeing parameters and fastness properties were highly improved by the treatment of fabrics by either individual plasma treatment or combined DC cold plasma and nano-silver treatments