Detection of metallic and plastic landmines using the GPR and 2-D resistivity techniques

International audienceLow and non-metallic landmines are one of the most difficult subsurface targets to be detected using several geophysical techniques. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) performance at different field sites shows great success in detecting metallic landmines. However significant limitations are taking place in the case of low and non-metallic landmines. Electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) technique is tested to be an alternative or confirmation technique for detecting the metallic and non-metallic landmines in suspicious cleared areas. The electrical resistivity responses using forward modeling for metallic and non-metallic landmines buried in dry and wet environments utilizing the common electrode configurations have been achieved. Roughly all the utilized electrode arrays can establish the buried metallic and plastic mines correctly in dry and wet soil. The accuracy differs from one array to the other based on the relative resistivity contrast to the host soil and the subsurface distribution of current and potential lines as well as the amplitude of the noises in the data. The ERI technique proved to be fast and effective tool for detecting the non-metallic mines especially in the conductive environment whereas the performances of the other metal detector (MD) and GPR techniques show great limitation

A Simple Heliodon System for Horizontal Placed Models

Most probably, all our buildings are affected by sunlight. Hence, the ignorance of the sun's impact results in overheating, glare, and missed opportunities for the positive use of daylight, leading to wasted energy. Heliodon is considered to be a powerful tool that can aid students, professionals, building developers and users to better understand the relationship between the sun's path and its effects on the architectural model(s). Most of the heliodons are relatively expensive and complex in operation. Thus, the need to design and build a simple and relatively inexpensive one emerged. It was proposed to work on this heliodon as a team project in the environmental control class “fall-2016”. The authors put the design concept and introduced a mathematical calculations table to be used with the physical heliodon, while nine students participated in the manufacturing process. The design concept is based on determining the sun's position by converting the Altitude and Azimuth angels to their corresponding measurements on the (X, Y & Z) coordinates (in relation to the observer's location). One light source can be moved on a set of graded tubes assembled in the shape of a wire frame box (thus the X, Y & Z distances could be measured) to simulate the sun's position and its lighting conditions for any latitude, at any time for any chosen day

Monitoring and bioremediation of organochlorine pesticides in surface water with Enterobacter asburiae

Aim of study: One of the safest techniques regarding the remediation of contaminated water is biological remediation. This study aimed to: (i) monitoring of a collection of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in three agricultural drainages (Nashart, no. 9, and El-shoka), located in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt; and ii) investigate the biodegradation potential of different bacterial isolates regarding organochlorine pesticides.Material and methods: Analysis of OCPs was carried out by gas chromatography, Enrichment cultures were used for isolation of the bacterial strains capable of OCPs biodegradation and the most efficient isolate was identified based on morphological, biochemical ad molecular characteristics.Main results: The determination of OCPs in water samples by gas chromatography showed varying values of OCPs ranging from 0.0 mg/L (below detection limit) to 0.0385 mg/L. A total of four morphologically different bacterial isolates were obtained, which showed a remarkable capability of OCPs biodegradation detected in mineral salt medium containing 17 OCPs active ingredients by two approaches including the analysis of the OCP residues at the end of the incubation period and measuring the bacterial growth in terms of total viable count and optical density. The bacterial isolate N2 showed the highest degradation capability when the screening process was carried out to select the most efficient isolates, which was identified according to the morphological, biochemical and molecular characterization as Enterobacter asburiae.Research highlights: The biodegradation of OCPs using E. asburiae was proved to be a promising approach for the detoxification and removal of OCPs residues in aqueous systems

The use of single dose of oral misoprostol (600µg) at home in management of first trimester miscarriages in El-Mukala, Yemen

Background: In the management of first trimester miscarriage, the use of oral misoprostol is beneficial for patients as it offers a more discrete and less invasive route for those women who find vaginal administration unacceptable. In spite of high incidence of side-effects from use of oral misoprostol women still found oral route satisfactory.Methods: This study was a prospective cohort study done at El-Mukala maternal and child hospital and Hadhramout maternal and child university hospital in the period between 1st October 2014 and 30th September 2015. All pregnant women (less than 14 weeks) who were diagnosed as an embryonic pregnancy or missed miscarriage were included in the study. Every patient received single dose of oral misoprostol 600 µg in half full stomach at home. The primary outcome measure was complete miscarriage rate.Results: One-hundred women were included in the study. The mean age of study participants was 26.25±4.08 years, the mean BMI was 27.35±3.6 while the mean parity was 2.6±1.5.Ten cases needed emergency surgical evacuation within the period of first 48 hours. Complete miscarriage had occurred in 75 cases, 65 of them in the first 48 hours. Fifteen cases presented by incomplete miscarriage after waiting for one week. They needed surgical evacuation at the end of 7 days due to still considerable intrauterine contents.Conclusions: In our closed community in El-Mukala, Yemen, the use of oral misoprostol in single dose of 600 µg at home as a method for termination of first-trimester miscarriage was effective (75%, success rate), tolerable regarding side effects, has the advantage of high confidentiality and privacy resulting in good satisfaction

Machine Learning Algorithms and Auditor’s Assessments of the Risks Material Misstatement: Evidence from the Restatement of Listed London Companies

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between machine learning algorithms and auditors assessments of the risks of material misstatement and restatement. Additionally, a focus on the effect of machine learning algorithms (SVM, Naïve Bayes, and K-means) on misstatement and restatement in London companies. The final sample of the study is 304 firm year observations. Which covers the listed firms on the London Stock Exchange and the period from 2018 to 2020. Especially, the firms that restated their financial statements -even just once- during the study period. The results showed a positive significant effect of machine learning techniques (K-means, Naïve Bayes, and SVM) on the intentional misstatements, which means that using machine learning techniques helps in determining the intentional misstatements. The results also showed a negative significant effect of the same techniques (K-means, Naïve Bayes, and SVM) on the restatements, which means that using machine learning techniques helps in avoiding the restatements

Using negative velocity feedback controller to reduce the vibration of a suspended cable

The system of suspended cable with mixed excitation forces is controlled in this paper by using negative linear velocity feedback controller. The equations of motion of this system contain quadratic and cubic nonlinearities. The multiple scale perturbation technique is applied to determine the response of the nonlinear system near the simultaneous sub-harmonic and combined resonance case of this system. The stability of the obtained numerical solution is investigated using frequency response equations. The effect of different parameters on the vibrating system are investigated and reported

SUPPRESSION OF DAMPING-OFF DISEASE BY SOME MICROORGANISMS ON SWEET BASIL (OCIMUM BASILICUM L.) PLANTS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

This study was carried out at the Experimental Farm of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Department in El Kanater El Khairia, HRI, ARC, during the two successive seasons of 2016 and 2017 to study the effect of some microorganisms (Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma harzianum, Pseudomonas fluoroscens andStreptomyces griseus) on suppressing of  damping-off disease of basil seedling, vegetative growth, oil production and chemical constituents of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) plants. The plants treated with any of the bioagents, showed highest effect in controlling damping-off and increased basil productivity compared with control plans. The results showed that, all bioagents treatments significantly increased vegetative growth (plant height, number of branches, fresh and dry weights (g/plant), oil percentage, oil yield, chemical constituents (chlorophyll (a), (b) and carotenoids contents as well as total carbohydrates percentage) compared with control plants. Streptomyces griseus gave the best effect against damping-off disease and all plant characteristics compared with control plants in the  first season while, in the second season, Pseudomonas fluorescens increased plant protection and all plant characteristics. GC analysis of sweet basil essential oil of all treatments identified nine components. The major component of the essential oils was Linalool

Susceptibility of certain wheat varieties to the infestation by Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) and Tribolium confusum (du Val)

Eight Egyptian flour wheat varieties were assessed in order to determine their appropriate level of susceptibility to Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) and Tribolium confusum (du Val). Free choice test for attraction insect adults was used in the first experiment at time interval ranged from 0.125 to 5 days post infestation. At days, results showed that the lowest attracted numbers of R. dominica adults were 5.00 and the highest ones were 22.67 for SAKL8 and SIDS1 varieties, respectively. The varieties can be arranged descendently according to the attracted numbers of R. dominica as follow: SAKL8, SAKL1, BACANORA, DEBEIRA, , GIZA168, GIZA164, SIDS6 and SIDS1. The descending order results were obtained for T. confusum could be the similar. Statistical analysis demoed significant differences between the numbers of the eight varieties. In the second experiment, the numbers of F1 and the duration of offspring of each stage were determined. Based on the Dobie Index (D.I.) for R. dominica, SAKL8, DEBEIRA, BACANORA and SAKL1 were found to be resistant varieties. While the SIDS1 and SIDS6 varieties have a moderate resistant. In the case of T. confusum all varieties showed a degree of resistance, except SAKL8 and SIDS1showed a moderate resistant. The BACANORA cultivar showed the lowest D.I. value in the two tested insect species.  The obtained results can give a better understanding to the stored-grain managers regarding to the prospective differences in wheat susceptibility to R. dominica and T. confusum infestation

Relevance of Serum Levels of Interleukin-6 and Syndecan-1 in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Syndecan-1 is a trans-membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan that localizes in epithelial cells and has been shown to be present in normal hepatocytes. It is thought to be involved in processes such as cell growth, differentiation and adhesion. However, the clinical data regarding syndecan-1 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are scarce and controversial. Therefore, we need to evaluate the effects of HCC on the serum levels of syndecan-1. Thus, 40 patients with HCC and 31 patients with liver cirrhosis were physically examined. Blood samples were taken for measurements of routine markers (sGPT, sGOT, bilirubin, albumin, and α-fetoprotein), as well as serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and syndecan-1. Patients with liver cirrhosis showed significant increase in serum IL-6 as compared with HCC patients and the control subjects. Serum level of syndecan-1 was significantly increased in HCC patients as compared with the cirrhotic and control groups. In addition, significant positive correlations between syndecan-1 and serum levels of ALT, AST in HCC patients were found. Moreover, syndecan-1 increased significantly with increasing stage of Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer Group diagnostic and treatment strategy. In conclusion, the development of HCC is accompanied by a significant elevation in serum syndecan-1 levels. The increase in serum syndecan-1 may be linked with progression of HCC