59 research outputs found
Study of Influencing Factors on The Site Productivity of Construction Projects in Khartoum State
Our current era is an age of competition and development in various fields, the most important of which is the field of industries, which is one of the important criteria for measuring the development of any society, there are many types of industries including the construction industry. The construction process is a creative process that uses six main sources and creates a unique origin. These elements are materials, machinery, labor, engineering technology, finance, and, construction management, despite the important role of construction projects in our country, they are exposed during various stages to several problems in order to achievetheirs objectives, the most important of which is low on the site productivity in construction projects There are certainly reasons for the decline, and it also has risks and negative effects on the feasibility of the project. This research aims to study the factors affecting on the site productivity of construction projects in Khartoum State by focusing on the concept of productivity and its importance and methods of measurement, as well as the most important factors affecting them, in order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to adopt a special approach, where was designed questionnaire and interviews to examine these factors plaguing the construction sites, the results of the questionnaire showed that the percentage of establishments operating in the construction industry that train workers represents 30%, and that establishments operating in the construction industry that do not have a specific methodology for training workers are estimated at 60%, and the results of the analysis showed that the most important factors affecting on-site productivity related with workers in construction sites, such as the physical and moral incentives, the use of Modern technology, lack of training institutions for employees and the application of quality system. Based on these results, the proposed solutions were developed to improve the current situation, the need to develop human resources and create an appropriate work environment and review wage formats and methods of motivation and the use of modern technologies
Synthesis of analogues of (E)-1-hydroxy-2-methylbut-2-enyl 4-diphosphate, an isoprenoid precursor and human γδ T cell activator
(E)-1-Hydroxy-2-methyl-but-2-enyl 4-diphosphate (HMBPP) is an intermediate in the non-mevalonate pathway for the biosynthesis of isoprenoids and also serves as a very strong activator of human gamma delta T cells expressing V gamma 9V delta 2 receptors. This paper describes the synthesis of analogues of HMBPP, in which the diphosphate group is replaced by potential isosteric moieties, i.e., carbamate, N-acyl-N'-oxy sulfamate, or aminosulfonyl carbamate functionalities. The potential of the synthesized analogues to stimulate V gamma 9/V delta 2 T cell response or to inhibit GcpE and LytB, the last enzymes in the non-mevalonate pathway, was assessed
Divergent strategy for the synthesis of α-aryl-substituted fosmidomycin analogues
Fosmidomycin is the first representative of a new class of antimalarial drugs acting through inhibition of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate ( DOXP) reductoisomerase (DXR), an essential enzyme in the non-mevalonate pathway for the synthesis of isoprenoids. This work describes a divergent strategy for the synthesis of a series of alpha-aryl-substituted fosmidomycin analogues, featuring a palladium-catalyzed Stille coupling as the key step. An alpha-(4-cyanophenyl)fosmidomycin analogue emerged as the most potent analogue in the present series. Its antimalarial activity clearly surpasses that of the reference compound fosmidomycin
Synthesis and biological evaluation of cyclopropyl analogues of fosmidomycin as potent Plasmodium falciparum growth inhibitors
A series of fosmidomycin analogues featuring restricted conformational mobility has been synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DOXP) reductoisomerase and as growth inhibitors of P. falciparum. The enantiomerically pure trans-cyclopropyl N-acetyl analogue 3b showed comparable inhibitory activity as fosmidomycin toward E. coli DOXP reductoisomerase and proved equally active when tested in vitro for P. falciparum growth inhibition. Conversely, the alpha-phenyl cis-cyclopropyl analogue 4 showed virtually no inhibition of the enzyme
Assessing the nutritional content and adequacy of food parcels among vulnerable Lebanese during a double crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown
Abstract
Objectives:
This study aimed to explore the nutritional content and quality of food parcels distributed in Lebanon and assess their adherence to dietary guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis.
Design:
Cross-sectional study (June–July 2020); phone survey (thirty items).
Setting:
Lebanon.
Participants:
Food parcel providers (FPP; n 72) involved in food parcel distribution (FPD), mainly to Lebanese households.
Results:
FPP included international non-governmental organizations (INGO) (n 3), local non-governmental organizations (n 45) and personal initiatives (n 24). Overall, low adherence to the World Food Programme (WFP) food parcel guidelines were observed among FPP for specific food items, including vegetables, fish, legumes and cereals, whereas salt content significantly surpassed the guidelines (all P-values <0·001). On average, a food parcel provided 608·4 ± 55 kcal/d/person. The greatest contributors to total energy intake (TE) in the food parcel were carbohydrates (46·4 %) and fats (46·8 %), while protein contributed to 7 %TE. In addition, %TE from fats and sugars significantly surpassed the dietary reference intakes (DRI) for a single person per d (134–234 % and 185 % of DRI, respectively, P-values <0·001). Only 10–15 % of daily needs for key micronutrients, including Fe, Zn, thiamin, riboflavin and dietary folate, were met through the food parcels. Adequate food safety and hygiene practices were reported among FPP, yet dramatic changes in food costs due to overlapping crises affected the quality and quantity of food in parcels.
Conclusions:
Findings highlight the need to improve the nutritional content of food parcels and adherence to dietary guidelines to alleviate food and nutrition insecurity while preventing diet-related diseases among vulnerable beneficiaries in Lebanon
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