Enhancing Initial Teacher Education in Kuwait: ‘Cooking on a Low Heat’

This paper reports on a review of initial teacher education (ITE) in Kuwait between 2009 & 2013 sponsored initially by the British Council and latterly by the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). Progress on recommended changes has been described within the local Arabic idiom as “cooking on a low heat”, which means that progress was being made only slowly. Conclusions as to how to make ITE more effective in the country were agreed at an early stage, but development has limited through a process aligned to the principle of non-decision-making. Although one consequence of inaction has been substantial financial cost, the greater cost is the significant proportion of teachers who are performing at below expected levels. The paper concludes that intervention at the higher levels of government is required in order to overcome the stagnation of this reform initiative

Experimental Investigation of Bio-Enhancer Drilling Fluid Additive: Can Palm Tree Leaves Be Utilized as a Supportive Eco-Friendly Additive in Water-Based Drilling Fluid System?

Serious problems will be presented due to using conventional chemical additives to regulate the drilling mud properties, as they have health, safety, and environmental side effects. Thus, there is a considerable necessity for alternative multifunctional bio-enhancer drilling mud additives, which can assist in optimizing the drilling fluid specifications and enhance its effectiveness with the least effects on the environment and the drilling personnel safety. The effects of adding two concentrations of palm tree leaves powder (PTLP) to water-based mud were conducted under fresh and aged conditions using standard API drilling fluids testing methods such as rheometer/viscometer, pH meter and temperature, and filter press. All tests results were minutely recorded to understand the influence of PTLP additives on the drilling mud properties. The results indicated that PTLP as an effective material to be used as pH reducer, viscosity reducer, and as an excellent filtration loss control agent under the surface and sub-surface conditions. Thus, PTLP has excellent feasibility to be utilized as biodegradable drilling mud additive replacing or at least supporting other conventional chemical additives, which have usually been used for the same purposes such as lignosulphonate, chrome-lignite, and Resinex. Finally, this work can serve as a practical guide for minimizing the cost of the drilling fluid and reducing the amount of non-biodegradable waste disposed to the environment

Atorvastatin reduces lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in human pulmonary epithelial cells

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of atorvastatin on expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549). METHODS: A549 cells were incubated in DMEM medium containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the presence or absence of atorvastatin. After incubation, the medium was collected and the amount of prostaglandin E(2 )(PGE(2)) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The cells were harvested, and COX-2 mRNA and protein were analyzed by RT-PCR and western-blot respectively. RESULTS: LPS increased the expression of COX-2 mRNA and production of PGE(2 )in a dose- and time-dependent manner in A549. Induction of COX-2 mRNA and protein by LPS were inhibited by atorvastatin in a dose-dependent manner. Atorvastatin also significantly decreased LPS-induced production of PGE(2). There was a positive correlation between reduced of COX-2 mRNA and decreased of PGE(2 )(r = 0.947, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Atorvastatin down-regulates LPS-induced expression of the COX-2 and consequently inhibits production of PGE(2 )in cultured A549 cells

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Environmental Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives: Can Food Waste Products Be Used as Thinners and Fluid Loss Control Agents for Drilling Fluid?

Conventional chemical additives used in controlling drilling fluid properties have a severe drawback on the environment and personnel safety. The commercially available additives are non-biodegradable materials and have negative impacts when released to the environment. Thus, there is a great need for new environmental friendly biodegradable drilling fluid additives that can help to control the drilling fluid properties with the least effects on the environment and the workers\u27 health. This study investigates the introduction of biodegradable food waste product, which is Potato Peels Powder (PPP) to be used as environmental friendly drilling fluid additive. The effects of adding various concentrations of PPP on the chemical and the physical properties of the drilling mud (e.g. mud weight (MW), plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), the filtration characteristics, and pH) were evaluated. The evaluation included conducting lab experiments with full-set measurements following the specifications of the American Petroleum Institute (API), such as filtration loss and corrosion control rate The effects of adding different concentrations of the bio-enhancer additive (PPP) were measured and recorded using mud balance, a standard API viscometer, a standard low-pressure and temperature (LPLT) filter press, chemical titration, and other drilling lab equipment. Then, all results of PPP were compared with the properties of the reference water-based mud (spud mud) in order to assess and validate the effects of biodegradable additives and their effectiveness in optimizing the performance of water-based mud. The results showed that PPP had a negligible effect on mud weight and solid content. However, PPP tangibly influenced the rheological properties in terms of maximizing plastic viscosity and minimizing yield point and gel strength. Also, PPP significantly improved the filtration characteristics by reducing the fluid loss and mud cake thickness, suggesting their applicability to be used as an excellent fluid loss control agent. Moreover, PPP additives resulted in increasing sodium chloride (NaCl); consequently, resistivity was reduced. Finally, PPP additives resulted in a reduction in alkalinity and calcium ions content (Ca++). These experimental results show that Potato Peels Powder (PPP) has the potential to be used as an alternative to some of the conventional chemical additives, and hence reducing the amount of non-biodegradable waste disposed to the environment, avoiding the personnel safety, and minimizing the drilling cost