Towards The Rehabilitation of Al-Qastal Palace

This study aims to rehabilitate al-Qastal Palace, an important historical and archeological site, located in the southern of Amman (capital of Jordan), and built in the first half of the eighth-century during the Umayyad period. The importance of this study stems from the fact that all studies conducted so far were limited to the description of the monument ignoring the intrinsic value of its rehabilitation. In this research, the authors visited the al-Qastal palace to investigate the materials used in the building. The study team explored the procedures to restore the palace and present it to visitors. Samples of the original materials used in the construction of the palace were taken from different locations of the site in order to study some of their more important properties. Results indicate that the mortar joints between the soft stone blocks are the weakest point of the load-bearing walls of the palace. The analyses used in this study provide guidelines for the conservation of this neglected monument. Keywords: Umayyad monument, rehabilitation, Qastal, palace, limestone, mortar, construction materials.

Mitigating wind induced effects on tall buildings through aerodynamic modifications

Nowadays buildings are getting taller, where tall buildings and super tall buildings are becoming common in cities especially in downtown areas due to limited available land space. With high demand in these areas and space limitation, the price of land increased domically which led to having more vertical expansions. In addition, construction techniques are changing leaning to be lighter with the increase of innovative technologies, so tall buildings are becoming more flexible. As tall buildings increase in height, they become more vulnerable to wind loads. Thus, a major problem facing many tall buildings is the effects of wind. Vibrations caused by wind conditions can severely damage both structural and non-structural components of the buildings and cause occupant discomfort. These adverse impacts can have significant economic consequences. Therefore, this study aims to mitigate wind induced loads and effects on tall buildings through using aerodynamic modifications, which helps with decreasing the loads exerted to the building and decreases the wind-induced vibrations. The objectives of this research is: i) create a database of exciting tall buildings in eight major cities in the United States and assess the distribution of the building shapes along the height as an input to the following analysis, ii) analyze different façade aerodynamic modifications on common building base shapes based on the developed building database along with CAARC standard building through using ANSYS Fluent, a computational fluid dynamic finite volume modeling software, to determine the best performing aerodynamic modifications that result in reducing wind loads and pressures on tall buildings. iii) find some aerodynamic modifications that can work not only for new tall buildings, but for existing tall buildings based on building inventory database as well. This will show how to best optimize the shape and the façade systems of tall buildings to mitigate the consequences of wind

Internet and Mobile Technologies for Development: Game-changing Opportunities for Latin America

Recent surveys show that Latin America is home to approximately 10% of the world population and possesses nearly 10% of its wealth. This data alone should be enough to justify the importance of this region. However, nearly 50% of the inhabitants of Latin America live in dire poverty, without access to clean water, adequate housing and education. In other words, they are unable to satisfy their basic human needs and, worse still, they don’t even have the opportunity and freedom to make choices in their own lives. On the other hand, the rules of competition of the digital economy are largely based on knowledge, digital connectivity, and ubiquitous capabilities. Businesses in developed countries find opportunities based on their ability to use the Internet and mobile technologies to reach customers and to achieve transactional efficiency. However, there is an increasing body of evidence that shows that such an understanding of development is too simplistic and does not take into account the specificity of local geographies, cultures and social structures

Diagnosticul modificărilor morfologice ale parenchimului renal în hidronefroză la copii prin puncţie-biopsie

Summary The authors present the results of the morphologic study of kidney parenchyma’s pathologic modifications in 16 children with hydronephrosis through puncture-biopsy (Bard Magnum Biopsy System). In conclusion the puncture-biopsy method can be used to determine the disease clinical phase, as well as to reveal some pathogenetic mechanisms that allows by the aim of organ preservation the surgical tactics optimization and postoperative treatment adjustment. Introducere. Diagnosticul modificărilor morfologice în parenchimul renal, în cadrul hidronefrozei la copii, se bazează pe evaluarea leziunilor structurale care în mare măsură depind de diversitatea factorilor etiologici. Material şi metode. Studiul morfologic întreprins a avut ca scop elucidarea modificărilor morfologice ale parenchimului renal prin puncţie-biopsie efectuate cu Bard Magnum Biopsy System. Au fost studiate bioptate ale parenchimului renal la 16 copii cu hidronefroză. Bioptatele au fost fixate în sol. Formol neutru 4 şi 10%, incluse ulterior în parafină. Au fost utilizate coloraţiile hematoxilină-eozină, van Ghieson, Congo red. Rezultate şi concluzii. Examenul efectuat la microsocpia optică a evidenţiat modificări variate în toate componentele nefronului şi ale structurilor interstiţial-vasculare de intensitate şi de origine diversă: dilatativ-compresive - ectazie generalizată, leziuni ischemico-sclerotice şi atrofico-deformative; obstructive - de tip „hidronefroză intrarenală", transformare tubulară pseudochistică, displazice - imaturitate şi mostruozităţi glomerulare, polimorfism structural, oligoglomerulonefronie, multiglomerularitate; inflamatorii - tubulo-interstiţiale, peri- şi intraglomerulare exudativalterative, polimorfocelulare şi infiltrativ sclerotice; stenoze vasculare, hipertrofice şi sclerozante, depozite calcinoase postischemice etc. Caracterul, gradul lezional şi complexitatea morfologică a modificărilor în parenchimul renal pun în evidenţă două variante histopatologice: varaianta complicată şi pe cea necomplicată. Referitor la evoluţia modificărilor morfopatologice în parenchimul renal, acesta suportă 2 faze succesive: faza de ectazie şi faza de atrofie. De menţionat că prezenţa elementului inflamator este determinantă în morfogeneza dereglărilor funcţionale renale în cadrul variantei complicate. Aşadar, diagnosticul prin puncţie-biopsie în hidronefroză poate fi utilizat în aprecierea variantelor patologice şi a fazelor clinico-evolutive, a studiului unor verigi etiopatogenetice ale maladiei, ceea ce ar permite soluţionarea problemei în vederea păstrării organului, precum şi determinarea conduitei în perioada postoperatorie

Pieloectazia la copii

Summary The algorithm of diagnostics was produced on the basis of inspection 1241 children which allows to determine the reason and level of obstruction of the urinary system. Introducere . Pieloectazia provocată de dereglări urodinamice ale tractului urinar, în prezent se întâlneşte frecvent şi necesită un diagnostic diferenţial pentru aprecierea cauzei şi a nivelului de obstrucţie. Material şi metodă. Studiul a fost efectuat în baza evaluării a 1241 copii cu pieloectazie pe parcursul anilor 2000-2005. Sau analizat datele examinării clinico-paraclinice: examen clinic, ecografie, sonografie diuretică, urografie excretorie, cistouretrografie micţională, scintigrafie, inclusiv diuretică, raport calice-parenchim, cistometrie, cistografie, etc. Rezulate şi discuţii. De obicei, copiii se internează cu diagnosticul „Pieloectazie. Hidronefroză”, depistate ecografic, iar în faţa urologului apar mai multe întrebări: - este o dilatarea a cavităţilor renale sau diverse chisturi renale; - ce a provocat pieloectazia: obstrucţia tractului urinar, refluxul vezico-renal (RVR), diabetul insipid, etc.; - dacă este obstrucţie - la ce nivel (joncţiunea pielo-ureterală, vezico-uretrală, uretră sau vezica neurogenă); - în caz de obstrucţia joncţiunii pielo-ureterale - e funcţională sau organică, e necesar şi când trebuie aplicat tratamentul chirurgical. Am elaborat un algoritm de diagnostic diferenţial al pieloectaziei, în rezultatul implementării căruia, în lotul de 1241 copii - hidronefoza s-a depistat la 189, megaureterohidronefroza obstructivă - la 143, RVR - la 464, vezica neurogenă - la 174 copii. În caz de obstrucţiajoncţiunii pielo-ureterale (OJPU), pentru a diferenţia obstrucţia funcţională, am recurs la ecografie şi scintigrafie diuretică pe vezica goală (sonda vezicală) exlusă gravitaţia de cea organică. Din 189 copii cu OJPU, la 23 s-a depistat obstrucţia funcţională cauzată de inmaturitatea JPU. Pieloectazia la aceşti copii se menţine ani la rând, fără a progresa şi fără a afecta funcţia renală. La 156 copii s-a depistat obstrucţia organică care a necesitat intervenţie chirurgicală. La 22 pacienţi cu hidronefroză avansată s-a efectuat nefrectomia. În perioada pre- şi postoperatorie s-a apreciat raportul calice-parenchim. Concluzii: 1. Pentru un diagnostic precoce al pieloectaziei este necesar a efectua ecografia intrauterină, precum şi în primele 3 luni de viaţă ale copilului. 2. Copiii cu pieloectazie necesită un examen riguros, cu utilizarea mai multor metode diagnostice, ca: ecografia şi scintigrafia diuretică, urografia, cistouretrografia, raportul caliceparenchim, etc. 3. În perioada pre- şi postoperatorie în OJPU, aprecierea raportului calice-parenchim e un indice mai adecvat decât raportul bazinet-parenchim, deoarece mărimea bazinetului depinde de particularităţile anatomice şi de metodele de tratament chirurgical aplicate

Clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in patients turned down for surgical revascularization

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137727/1/ccd26781_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137727/2/ccd26781.pd

A Common Left Occipito-Temporal Dysfunction in Developmental Dyslexia and Acquired Letter-By-Letter Reading?

We used fMRI to examine functional brain abnormalities of German-speaking dyslexics who suffer from slow effortful reading but not from a reading accuracy problem. Similar to acquired cases of letter-by-letter reading, the developmental cases exhibited an abnormal strong effect of length (i.e., number of letters) on response time for words and pseudowords.Corresponding to lesions of left occipito-temporal (OT) regions in acquired cases, we found a dysfunction of this region in our developmental cases who failed to exhibit responsiveness of left OT regions to the length of words and pseudowords. This abnormality in the left OT cortex was accompanied by absent responsiveness to increased sublexical reading demands in phonological inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) regions. Interestingly, there was no abnormality in the left superior temporal cortex which--corresponding to the onological deficit explanation--is considered to be the prime locus of the reading difficulties of developmental dyslexia cases.The present functional imaging results suggest that developmental dyslexia similar to acquired letter-by-letter reading is due to a primary dysfunction of left OT regions

Forced Hepatic Overexpression of CEACAM1 Curtails Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) regulates insulin sensitivity by promoting hepatic insulin clearance. Liver-specific inactivation or global null-mutation of Ceacam1 impairs hepatic insulin extraction to cause chronic hyperinsulinemia, resulting in insulin resistance and visceral obesity. In this study we investigated whether diet-induced insulin resistance implicates changes in hepatic CEACAM1. We report that feeding C57/BL6J mice a high-fat diet reduced hepatic CEACAM1 levels by >50% beginning at 21 days, causing hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and elevation in hepatic triacylglycerol content. Conversely, liver-specific inducible CEACAM1 expression prevented hyperinsulinemia and markedly limited insulin resistance and hepatic lipid accumulation that were induced by prolonged high-fat intake. This was partly mediated by increased hepatic β-fatty acid oxidation and energy expenditure. The data demonstrate that the high-fat diet reduced hepatic CEACAM1 expression and that overexpressing CEACAM1 in liver curtailed diet-induced metabolic abnormalities by protecting hepatic insulin clearance

Dual Triumphalist Heritage Narrative And The Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement

Unlike other heritage movements in Malaysia, which are largely ethnicbased and culture obsessed (Cartier 1996; Worden 2001), the preservation movement of the Sungai Bulah Leprosy Settlement (SBLS thereafter), also widely referred to as the "Valley of Hope", 1 is concerned with the conservation of a site that is associated with a socially stigmatised disease. Built at a jungle fringe in Selangor in 1930, SBLS was constructed as a place for the treatment, and forced isolation from wider society, of people suffering from leprosy. Although leprosy knows no racial boundaries as people of any background can be afflicted with the disease, nearly eighty per cent of the patients admitted to SBLS have been ethnic Chinese. Of the rest, about fifteen per cent were ethnic Malays with ethnic Indians making up five per cent. Former patients who were cured but left with differing degrees of disfigurement and disability are also residents of the SBLS today.2 SBLS's population reached its peal<. with 2400 people in 1958, but today their number is just slightly over one hundred (JoshuaRaghavar 1983; Wong and Phang 2006)