The Strathclyde Brain Computer Interface (S-BCI) : the road to clinical translation

In this paper, we summarise the state of development of the Strathclyde Brain Computer Interface (S-BCI) and what has been so far achieved. We also briefly discuss our next steps for translation to spinal cord injured patients and the challenges we envisage in this process and how we plan to address some of them. Projections of the S-BCI project for the coming few years are also presented

Conflicting Objectives in the Egyptian-American Aid Relationship

Egypt has been and continues to be one of the major recipients of development assistance in the third world, yet very little effort has been made to assess the overall impact of this aid on Egypt A symposium was held on December 10th and 11th, 1983 in Oriental Hall at the American University in Cairo, organized by Cairo Papers in Social Science with financial support from the Cairo Office of the Ford Foundation. Egyptian government ministers, officials from representative donors and scholars experienced in development were invited to make formal presentations to the symposium. The essays presented in this issue were all presented at the symposiumhttps://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_book_chapters/1900/thumbnail.jp

Effect of fly ash and silica fume on compressive strength of self-compacting concrete under different curing conditions

AbstractThis study presents an experimental study on self-compacting concrete (SCC) with two cement content. The work involves three types of mixes, the first consisted of different percentages of fly ash (FA), the second uses different percentages of silica fume (SF), and the third uses a mixture of FA and SF. After each mix preparation, nine cylinder specimens are cast and cured. Three specimens are cured in water for 28days, three specimens are cured in water for 7days, and three specimens are left in air for 28days. The slump and V-funnel test are carried out on the fresh SCC and concrete compressive strength values are determined. The results show that SCC with 15% of SF gives higher values of compressive strength than those with 30% of FA and water cured specimens for 28days give the highest values of compressive strength

Women\u27s Long-Term Life Experience After Pregnancy Termination for Fetal Abnormality: Interpretive Phenomenological Study

Advances in prenatal screening and its availability for every woman have resulted in increasing the number of identified fetal abnormalities. The discovery of fetal abnormalities in the second trimester of pregnancy can force pregnant women into the dilemma of deciding the fate of their wanted pregnancies. A woman\u27s decision to terminate her pregnancy for a fetal abnormality in the second trimester is a very difficult and complicated decision. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used to gain an in-depth understanding of the long-term experiences of women who terminated their pregnancy for fetal abnormalities and reveal the meanings embedded in their experiences. Conversational in-depth interviews were conducted with ten women who had terminated their pregnancy more than five years previously. Thematic analysis guided by van Manen\u27s approach was used to uncover the meaning of the women\u27s experiences. Six themes were identified as characteristics of the women\u27s experiences over time: encountering the unexpected, making sense of the unexpected, facing the inevitable decision, living with the decision, feeling supported, and changing perspectives. The findings inform health care professionals about the complexities of these women\u27s\u27 experiences, perinatal grief and bereavement. It is hoped that health care professionals will evaluate their prenatal screening and counseling practices, and review their present models of care in light of these findings. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed

Impact of Textiled-Poly Bags as Economic and Environmentally Friendly Recycled Fibers on Mechanical Features of Soil

Newly, the utilization of polypropene for packaging consumer products was populated significantly, which might make ecological problems. So, it is substantial to detect environmentally friendly techniques to recycle these waste substances without causing any environmental risks. One such technique could be the utilize poly wastes as stabilizer agents for soils. In the current investigation, textiled-poly bags (TPB) have been recycled and fabricated to be economy and environmentally-friendly fibers. The impact of utilizing different proportions and lengths of these fibers on the mechanical features of clayey soil has been evaluated. The investigation depended on four different fiber-proportions (1, 2, 3, &4)% of soil weight in two different lengths (1&2) cm. Geotechnical experimental test consequences demonstrated that the recycled fiber pieces minimize the optimum dry density (ODD) and the corresponding optimum water content (OWC) of the treated soil samples. Additionally, there was a notable increment in the uniaxial compression test results of the treated soil samples. Moreover, the consequences of California Bearing Ratio tests showed that the utilization of recycled TPB fibers in clayey soil samples enhances the resistance and deformation performance of the soils specially when utilizing 4% of recycled TPB fibers for both lengths (1 & 2) cm

Energetic Cost and Physiological Trade-offs

Understanding how organisms allocate limited resources across physiological systems is a major challenge in biology. This study revealed that high energetic demand of electric signals of male electric fish (Brachyhypopomus gauderio) is matched by a metabolic trade-off with other cellular functions. We used thyroxine (T4) to modulate the fish’s signal metabolism, partitioned the energy budget pharmacologically, and measured energy consumption using oxygen respirometry. In males, total energy consumption was unchanged pre- and post-T4 treatment, while signal metabolism rose and the standard metabolic rate fell in an even trade-off. Total metabolism in females did the opposite. Under T4, the non-signal resting metabolism rose while the signal metabolismfell. These results reveal sex differences in metabolic trade-offs between signaling and cellular metabolism in electric fish and suggest that thyroid hormones regulate the allocation of energy between electric signals and somatic maintenance in favor of reproduction. To determine whether electric fish trade-off reproduction against innate immunity, as is common in vertebrates, we assessed changes in the bactericidal activity of plasma in B. gauderio challenged with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), before and after T4 treatment. Females did not modulate innate immunity with any of the treatments, while males elevated bactericidal activity of plasma by about a third following LPS injections, T4 implants, or both together, relative to sham treatment. This outcome was unexpected given that T4 increases the energy consumed by the male’s reproductive electric signals while lowering the rest of his metabolism. T4 also increased expression of Na+K+ATPase pump mRNA in the electrogenic cells of males but not females, consistent with previous findings that T4 differentially regulates signal metabolism in the two sexes. This sex difference in gene regulation suggests Na+K+ATPase underlies sexual dimorphism in electric signal energetics. The results provide further evidence that thyroid hormones play an essential role in the differential allocation of energy among metabolic functions. This body of work is the first to quantify an energetic trade-off between reproductive behavior and other metabolic functions. and implicates ion pumps, but not innate immunity, as molecular mechanisms underlying sex differences found in these energetic trade-offs

Modification and performance of activated carbon for CO2 sequestration in pervious concrete

Concrete is one of the most commonly used material in the construction industry, with a global production of ∼10 billion m3/year. The production of Portland cement, the principal binder in most types of concrete, accounts for ∼ 5–7% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Carbon capture and sequestration has been developed as one of several initiatives to help mitigate CO2 emissions associated with cement and concrete production. Pervious concrete, a class of porous concretes, has been developed as a sustainable form of concrete that can be used for a wide range of applications. Its use is considered a ‘Best Management Practice’, recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce storm water runoff, improve storm water quality and contribute to recharge of groundwater supplies. Activated carbon is a well-known adsorbent with a strong affinity for CO2, and its surface chemistry can be further modified to enhance its adsorption capacity. Therefore, this research investigates optimal methods for modifying activated carbon to incorporate within Portland cement-based pervious concrete, in order to enhance its CO2 sequestration capacity and improve its overall sustainability. Two forms of activated carbon (granular and powder) were purchased from Fisher Scientific (UK) and chemically modified using different concentrations of the impregnation agents (NaOH, HCl, CuSO4·5H2O, NH4OH). The CO2 adsorption capacity of the raw and the modified samples was measured using three techniques, which demonstrated that NaOH-modified samples had the highest capacity. A second round of modification was conducted to investigate whether further improvements were possible. A two-step process of modification, first with HCl, followed by NaOH was determined to produce the highest adsorption capacity in this process. Activated carbon modified with this technique was used in three cementitious systems, which were tested in order to determine whether addition of such carbon adversely impacted important properties of the resultant materials. Modified powder activated carbon was used as a partial substitution for cement in cement pastes and pervious concrete, while modified granular activated carbon was used as a partial substitution to fine aggregate in cement mortars and pervious concrete. The investigation revealed that incorporation of small percentages of either form of modified activated carbon did not significantly alter the properties of the tested systems. Therefore, both substitutions were applied in pervious concrete to investigate the performance of modified activated carbon-pervious concrete in terms of CO2 sequestration. The combined presence of the two forms of modified activated carbon had a minor effect on the compressive strength, porosity and permeability of the tested pervious concrete. Importantly, pervious concrete containing modified activated carbon had a higher CO2 sequestration capacity than the control concrete. Furthermore, microstructural analysis showed that modified activated carbon- pervious concrete contained a higher content of calcite than the control concrete. Overall, the addition of modified activated carbon to pervious concrete yielded promising results in terms of CO2 sequestration. Further investigation of the long-term performance of modified activated carbon within pervious concrete systems is essential to realise the potential of this system to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels and improve the sustainability of this essential construction material.Islamic Development Ban