The Role of celiac disease antibodies in the follow up of Patient on Gluten free diet

Background: The detection of autoantibodies directedagainst tissue transglutaminase have a well-establishedrole in the diagnosis of celiac disease and in long termfollow up.Aim of study:1. To determine the role of celiac disease antibodies, infollow up the response of the patient with CD whilehe is on GFD.2. To study the difference in the response between patientswith GIT and non-GIT manifestations.Patient and method: across sectional study was conductedfrom 1st of Feb. 2015 to 1st of May 2016,123 patientswere involved in this study, and includes all patientsthat consult the outpatient clinic in maternity and ChildrenHospital in AL-Diwaniah Governorate, complainingof chronic diarrhea or failure to thrive, patients with picaor anemia without clear cause, patient with short staturewithout obvious pathology, and celiac patients who diagnosedpreviously, their age between 9 month to 12 years.From each patient, five ml of venous blood aspirated andsent to the lab where Enzyme Linking Immunosorbant assay(ELISA), measurement of auto antibodies specific forceliac disease (anti-endomysial IgA, IgG and anti-tissuetransglutaminase IgA, IgG) was done.Result: there was significant decrease in all enzymes levelafter several months of gluten free diet.Conclusion: Celiac disease can present with variablemanifestations, the follow up of celiac pt. may be importantto detect the adherence of the pt.to gluten free diet

Measurement schemes with reduced number of sensors for modular multilevel converter

PhD ThesisDuring the last four decades there has been considerable development in voltage source converters (VSCs), which are widely contributed in multilevel converter topologies. Since then, multilevel VSC topologies have been used for applications with different power rating owing to the improvement of the output waveforms quality and minimising filtering requirements. In comparison with the conventional multilevel converters, modular multilevel converter (MMC) is considered as the most attractive topology for high and medium-power applications mainly due to the series connection of a high number of submodules (SMs). The challenges associated with the implementation of a high number of SMs includes: voltage-balancing of the distributed SM, cost, reliability and the increased complexity in the circuit configuration. Furthermore, achieving efficient and fast closed-loop control of the MMC requires the accurate knowledge of the voltage and current measurements, which means a considerable number of sensors are usually required to operate the MMCs. The main objective of this research is to propose several novel strategies for the converter to achieve voltage-balancing with fewer number of sensors to produce comparable performance to the sensor-based method. Four different sensorless schemes have been investigated, where two are current sensorless-based techniques and two are voltage sensorless-based techniques. The proposed current sensorless schemes are based on developed sorting algorithm, and the proposed voltage sensorless schemes employ two novel different recursive algorithms with the standard sorting algorithm. In regards to the voltage sensorless schemes, the first proposed method uses an exponentially weighted recursive least square (ERLS) algorithm, while the second proposed method employs a Kalman filter (KF) to estimate the SM capacitor voltages. Capacitance uncertainty has been investigated for the proposed voltage sensorless schemes. The proposed methods have been implemented via simulation but also on a scaled-down laboratory prototype. II The thesis also deals with capacitor diagnosis where a new scheme has been proposed which may be used for health monitoring technique, a comparison with an existing technique has been evaluated. Detailed simulations and experimental tests are carried out to investigate the performance of the proposed sensorless schemes, and results are compared with the sensor-based approach. These various schemes have been implemented and tested in real-time using a commercial floating point microcontroller where a 4-level single-phase MMC was employed. The results achieved for these novel schemes show an important improvement in the performance of the MMC under different operation conditions while fewer sensors were used.Libyan Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for sponsoring this research and Zawia University

An embedded cohesive crack model for finite element analysis of brickwork masonry fracture

This paper presents a numerical procedure for fracture of brickwork masonry based on the strong discontinuity approach. The model is an extension of the cohesive model prepared by the authors for concrete, and takes into account the anisotropy of the material. A simple central-force model is used for the stress versus crack opening curve. The additional degrees of freedom defining the crack opening are determined at the crack level, thus avoiding the need of performing a static condensation at the element level. The need for a tracking algorithm is avoided by using a consistent procedure for the selection of the separated nodes. Such a model is then implemented into a commercial code by means of a user subroutine, consequently being contrasted with experimental results. Fracture properties of masonry are independently measured for two directions on the composed masonry, and then input in the numerical model. This numerical procedure accurately predicts the experimental mixed-mode fracture records for different orientations of the brick layers on masonry panels

A hybrid feature extraction technique for face recognition

The accuracy of any face recognition is important for many military and civilian real time applications. Based on current literature it has been proven that, the accuracy of a face recognition system can be extremely improved using a hybrid feature extraction technique. This paper presents a hybrid feature extraction technique to obtain high level of recognition accuracy. The facial topographical features are extracted using manual segmentation of facial regions of eyes, nose and mouth. The Gabor transform of the maximum of these regions are then extracted to calculate the local representations of these regions. In the classification stage, the Nearest Neighbour method (KNN) is exploited to calculate the distances between the three regions feature vectors and the corresponding stored vectors. The system results in excellent recognition accuracy using faces94, FEI and ORL databases. It is observed that, high recognition accuracy rate can be obtained when the facial images are taken carefully with front pose and with only slight expression changes. The future work will be on implementing this system in a FPGA device for a real time application such as a door access control system

The Role of celiac disease antibodies in the follow up of Patient on Gluten free diet

Background: The detection of autoantibodies directedagainst tissue transglutaminase have a well-establishedrole in the diagnosis of celiac disease and in long termfollow up.Aim of study:1. To determine the role of celiac disease antibodies, infollow up the response of the patient with CD whilehe is on GFD.2. To study the difference in the response between patientswith GIT and non-GIT manifestations.Patient and method: across sectional study was conductedfrom 1st of Feb. 2015 to 1st of May 2016,123 patientswere involved in this study, and includes all patientsthat consult the outpatient clinic in maternity and ChildrenHospital in AL-Diwaniah Governorate, complainingof chronic diarrhea or failure to thrive, patients with picaor anemia without clear cause, patient with short staturewithout obvious pathology, and celiac patients who diagnosedpreviously, their age between 9 month to 12 years.From each patient, five ml of venous blood aspirated andsent to the lab where Enzyme Linking Immunosorbant assay(ELISA), measurement of auto antibodies specific forceliac disease (anti-endomysial IgA, IgG and anti-tissuetransglutaminase IgA, IgG) was done.Result: there was significant decrease in all enzymes levelafter several months of gluten free diet.Conclusion: Celiac disease can present with variablemanifestations, the follow up of celiac pt. may be importantto detect the adherence of the pt.to gluten free diet

Wind Load Characteristics in Libya

Recent trends in building constructions in Libya are more toward tall (high-rise) building projects. As a consequence, a better estimation of the lateral loading in the design process is becoming the focal of a safe and cost effective building industry. Byin- large, Libya is not considered a potential earthquake prone zone, making wind is the dominant design lateral loads. Current design practice in the country estimates wind speeds on a mere random bases by considering certain factor of safety to the chosen wind speed. Therefore, a need for a more accurate estimation of wind speeds in Libya was the motivation behind this study. Records of wind speed data were collected from 22 metrological stations in Libya, and were statistically analysed. The analysis of more than four decades of wind speed records suggests that the country can be divided into four zones of distinct wind speeds. A computer "survey" program was manipulated to draw design wind speeds contour map for the state of Libya. The paper presents the statistical analysis of Libya-s recorded wind speed data and proposes design wind speed values for a 50-year return period that covers the entire country

Ground water quality in Wadi Shati (Libya): Physicochemical analysis and environmental implications

This study aimed at evaluating water quality of groundwater wells (GWWs) in Wadi Shati, Libya, and assessing its suitability for drinking. Water samples were collected from 17 GWWs and subjected to laboratory testing for 24 physical and chemical water quality parameters (WQPs). Analysis uncovered that the recorded values of 11 WQPs were consistent with the Libyan drinking water quality standard (DWQS). These parameters were pH, temperature (T), acidity, alkalinity, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and cadmium. However, values of colour and turbidity exceeded the maximum levels set by the Libyan DWQS at five out of the 17 study wells. Likewise, concentrations of chloride (Cl-), sulphate (SO4 2-), and ammonia (NH3) violated the local DWQS in three locations, each. Additionally, concentrations of phosphate (PO43-), iron, manganese, chromium, and nickel exceeded their maximum allowable concentrations according to the Libyan DWQS. The levels of these five parameters are alarming. Overall, the 17 studied GWWs suffer from varying levels of pollution that, mostly, arise from domestic and agricultural sources, e.g., septic tank seepage and agricultural drainage of agro-chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides. The results of this study emphasise that routine monitoring of groundwater resources plays a vital role in their sustainable management and stresses that water quality data are critical for characterisation of pollution, if any, and for protection of human health and ecosystem safety. Our results serve as guideline for sustainable management of water quality in the Wadi Shati District

Nanocomposite MFI – ceramic hollow fibres: prospects for CO2 separation

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