Strategies for Co-Creation and Co-Governance in Urban Contexts: Building Trust in Local Communities with Limited Social Structures

Over the last few years, community empowerment has become a central focus when discussing the sustainability of large-scale urban regeneration processes, especially those related to the implementation of nature-based solutions. In this article, the authors describe the experience of the CLEVER Cities project in the city of London, by looking at the dynamics of the early stages of co-creation and the implications on co-governance, motivation and policy. Particular attention is given to the importance of carefully evaluating the project context to guide where emphasis is given on the use of specific co-creation strategies such as building trust, raising awareness or networking. In this case, a set of strategies emerge that are a response to several factors but are strongly influenced by the backdrop of limited social structuring encountered in South Thamesmead, South London. The methods are derived based on a qualitative and looped observation approach over three phases applied to three urban living labs in the project area. Finally, to structure the results, an iterative co-production of knowledge approach is used to cluster the strategies into ten more synthetic recommendations based on collaborative governance, communication and capacity building, as well as incentives and motivation. Further, guidance is given by highlighting priorities to inform policy and place-based planning actions

Time-frequency analysis of normal and abnormal biological signals

Due to the non-stationary, multicomponent nature of biomedical signals, the use of time-frequency analysis can be inevitable for these signals. The choice of the proper time-frequency distribution (TFD) that can reveal the exact multicomponent structure of biological signals is vital in many applications, including the diagnosis of medical abnormalities. In this paper, the instantaneous frequency (IF) estimation using four well-known TFDs is applied for analyzing biological signals. These TFDs are: the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD), the Choi-Williams distribution (CWD), the Exponential T-distribution (ETD) and the Hyperbolic T-distribution (HTD). Their performance over normal and abnormal biological signals as well as over multicomponent frequency modulation (FM) signals in additive Gaussian noise was compared. Moreover, the feasibility of utilizing the wavelet transform (WT) in IF estimation is also studied. The biological signals considered in this work are the surface electromyogram (SEMG) with the presence of ECG noise and abnormal cardiac signals. The abnormal cardiac signals were taken from a patient with malignant ventricular arrhythmia, and a patient with supraventricular arrhythmia. Simulation results showed that the HTD has a superior performance, in terms of resolution and cross-terms reduction, as compared to other time-frequency distributions

Role of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

AbstractObjectivesAcute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is a major public health problem. Recognition of comorbid heart dysfunction in such patients is often difficult. The aim of this work is to evaluate the role of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (Nt-pro BNP) in AECOPD with respiratory failure.Patients and methodsThis study was conducted on 20 patients with AECOPD and respiratory failure. All patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, routine laboratory investigations, arterial blood gases analysis, echocardiography and estimation of plasma level of NT-pro BNP.ResultsPatients were classified into 3 groups: Group I: those without heart dysfunction (40%), Group II: those with diastolic heart failure (40%), and Group III: those with systolic heart failure (20%). NT-pro BNP mean±SD in group I was 673.38±416.02, in group II 1962±847.88, and in group III 6776.75±1433.59pg/ml. There was a statistically significant difference between the three groups (p=0.001). NT-pro BNP showed a statistically significant inverse correlation with pH (p=0.005), ejection fraction (p=0.007) and a direct one with both left ventricular systolic (p=0.008) and diastolic (p=0.016) dimensions and E/A (p=0.016). The NT-pro BNP significantly decreased after recovery from AECOPD (p=0.030). The receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated a ruling out of LV dysfunction in AECOPD of a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 60%; and a ruling in of a sensitivity of 48% and a specificity of 67%.ConclusionPlasma BNP is usually elevated in AECOPD and is related to right or left ventricular systolic or diastolic dysfunction

The role of chamomile oil against ochratoxin A in quail breeders: productive and reproductive performances, egg quality and blood metabolites

This study aimed to evaluate the beneficial role of chamomile essential oil in improving productive and reproductive performances, egg quality, and blood metabolites and reducing the toxic effect of Ochratoxin A (OTA) in quail breeder's diets. A total of 144 mature quails, 8 wk old, were divided into 6 groups. The treatments were: G1 (the control), G2 (supplemented with OTA 1 mg/kg diet), G3 (supplemented with chamomile oil 0.5 g/kg diet), G4 (supplemented with chamomile oil 1 G/kg diet), G5 (supplemented with OTA 1 mg/kg diet + chamomile oil 0.5 g/kg diet), and G6 (supplemented with OTA 1 mg/kg diet + chamomile oil 1 g/kg diet). The OTA administration alone significantly decreased egg production and mass in quail breeders (P < 0.0001). Moreover, poor feed conversion ratio (FCR), fertility percentage (P < 0.0001), and hatchability percentage (P < 0.0009) were recorded. A significant decline (P < 0.05) in the levels of serum protein (total protein and globulin) was also recorded in OTA-contaminated groups, along with elevated serum levels of liver enzymes such as alanine transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate transaminase (AST) and kidney function test as urea and creatinine levels (P < 0.05). Ochratoxin A-contaminated feed resulted in a significant elevation (P < 0.05) in total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), along with a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in antioxidant status and immunological response. The supplementation of chamomile essential oil, either 0.5 g/kg or 1g/kg, to the basal diet or OTA-supplemented feed, revealed a significant increase in hatchability %, fertility, egg mass, and egg production and better FCR, egg quality, and immunological status when compared to OTA only. Moreover, chamomile essential oil supplementation improves liver and kidney function markers, decreases LDL, VLDL), TG, and TC. Along with a significant increase (P < 0.05) in terms of antioxidant status as glutathione peroxidase enzyme (GPX), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and significantly (P < 0.05) improves immunological response as IgM, IgG, lysozyme and complement 3. In summary, chamomile oil supplementation, either separate or combined with OTA, reduced the adverse effects of OTA and led to improved productive and reproductive performance, egg quality, and blood metabolites in Japanese quail breeders

Inertial amplification of continuous structures: Large band gaps from small masses

Wave motion in a continuous elastic rod with a periodically attached inertial-amplification mechanism is investigated. The mechanism has properties similar to an "inerter" typically used in vehicle suspensions, however here it is constructed and utilized in a manner that alters the intrinsic properties of a continuous structure. The elastodynamic band structure of the hybrid rod-mechanism structure yields band gaps that are exceedingly wide and deep when compared to what can be obtained using standard local resonators, while still being low in frequency. With this concept, a large band gap may be realized with as much as twenty times less added mass compared to what is needed in a standard local resonator configuration. The emerging inertially enhanced continuous structure also exhibits unique qualitative features in its dispersion curves. These include the existence of a characteristic double-peak in the attenuation constant profile within gaps and the possibility of coalescence of two neighbouring gaps creating a large contiguous gap.Comment: Manuscript is under review for journal publicatio

Clay minerals damage quantification in sandstone rocks using core flooding and NMR

Sandstone oil reservoirs consist of different clay minerals such as kaolinite, illite, and chlorite. These clay minerals highly affect the formation damage during enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and well stimulation operations in these reservoirs. No attention was paid to investigate the effect of these clay minerals on the formation damage during different reservoir processes. In addition, no solution was introduced to mitigate the effect of clay minerals on the formation damage in sandstone reservoirs. In this study, the effect of clay mineral contents and type on the formation damage was studied in detail by injecting water and HCl as damaging fluids. Bandera grey, Berea, and Bandera brown sandstone rocks with various clay mineral contents were studied. XRD was used to characterize the sandstone rocks to determine the clay type and content in each rock. Two core plugs from each rock were selected for HCl and water injection. Core flooding experiments were performed to measure the initial and final permeability. In the core flooding experiments, fluids were injected into the cores at 25 °C and at a backpressure of 1000 psi. SEM was carried out before and after flooding for the tested rocks to locate the change in the clay distribution inside the rocks. The NMR analysis of core samples was done before and after flooding with the damaging fluid to quantify the formation damage and to find the possible damaging mechanism. NMR was used to locate the damage inside the rock due to the migration of clay minerals. Based on the core flooding, SEM, and NMR analysis, the maximum damage by the fresh water took place in Berea sandstone core due to fine migration and clay swelling. The illite clay mineral and chlorite can cause the formation damage on HCl injection. Illite can break down and migrates in the cores during the acid injection. In sandstone acidizing, chlorite clay mineral caused iron hydroxide precipitation inside the cores during treatment with mud acid. NMR showed that clay minerals plugged the pore throats of the rocks and reduced the rock permeability during the injection of fresh water

INTEGRATION OF ICT IN EFL/ESL TEACHERS' TRAINING AND SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS AS PERCEIVED BY THE TRAINERS

Purpose of Study: The current study aimed at revealing the integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in EFL/ESL teachers' training and self-efficacy beliefs as perceived by trainers. A group of (64) trainers from different countries (Palestine, UK, USA, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq) completed the two instruments of the study. Methodology: The first instrument was a survey of the actuality of ICT integration in the training; it comprises (47) items distributed into nine domains, i.e.  PowerPoint, Facebook, Wiki, YouTube, Blogs, Email, Google, Mobile, and Platform\E-course. The second instrument was a self-efficacy scale which consists of (14) items. The results of trainers' responses revealed that Emails, Mobile, and Google are often used with relative weights (%78.59, %68.13, and %68.02) respectively, whereas Wikis were never used i.e. relative weight (%28.96). The differences in integrating ICTs between male and female trainers were statistically insignificant. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences due to the respondents' period of experience. Results: The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the respondents' integration of ICT due to country of origin. The trainers' self-efficacy wobbles between 66.88 and 58.13 with a total of 61.70, which is moderate. Based on the study findings, the researchers recommend arousing trainers and trainees' awareness regarding integrating more ICTs in their training courses and encouraging them to try the different ICTs which make it easier for trainees to grasp the training material

Semillas de altramuces bajan la concentración de lípidos plasmáticos y normaliza los parámetros antioxidantes en ratas

This study was designed to test bitter and sweet lupin seeds for lipid-lowering and for their antioxidative activities in hypercholesterolemic rats. The levels of plasma lipid, malondialdehyde (MDA) and whole blood reduced glutathione (GSH), as well as the activities of transaminases (ALT and AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in plasma, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in erythrocytes and plasma glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) were examined. A hypercholesterolemia-induced diet manifested in the elevation of total lipids (TL), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL-C and MDA levels, ALT, AST, LDH activities and the depletion of GSH and enzymic antioxidants. The supplementation of a hypercholesterolemia-induced diet with bitter and sweet lupin seeds significantly lowered the plasma levels of TL, TC, TG and LDL-C. ALT, AST and LDH activities slightly decreased in treated groups compared with the hypercholesterolemic group (HC). Furthermore, the content of GSH significantly increased while MDA significantly decreased in treated groups compared with the HC group. In addition, the bitter lupin seed group improved enzymic antioxidants compared with the HC group. In general, the results indicated that the bitter lupin seed supplements are better than those containing sweet lupin seeds. These results suggested that the hypocholesterolemic effect of bitter and sweet lupin seed supplements might be due to their abilities to lower the plasma cholesterol level as well as to slow down the lipid peroxidation process and to enhance the antioxidant enzyme activity.Este estudio fue diseñado para evaluar semillas de altramuces dulces y amargas como agentes que bajan los lípidos y estudiar su efecto en la actividad antioxidante en ratas hipercolesterolémicas. El nivel de lípidos en plasma, malondialdehido (MDA) y glutatión reducido (GSH), así como la actividad transaminasa (ALT y AST), lactato deshidrogenasa (LHD) en plama, superóxido dismutasa (SOD) y glutatión peroxidasa (GPx) en eritrocitos, glutatión reductasa (GR) en plasma, glutatión-S- trnasferasa (GST) y catalasa (CAT) fueron examinadas. La dieta inductora de hipercolesterolemia se manisfesto mediante la elevación de los lípidos totales (TL), del colesterol total (TC), de los triglicéridos, de la LDL-C y de los niveles de MDA, de las actividades ALT, AST, LDH y del descenso de GSH y enzimas antioxidantes. La suplementación de dietas inductoras de hipercolesterolemia con semillas de altramuces dulces y amargas bajo significativamente los niveles en plasma de TL, TC, TG y LDL-C. Las actividades ALT, AST y LDH decrecieron ligeramente en grupos tratados comparados con el grupo hipercolesterolémico (HC). Por otra parte, el contenido de GSH aumento significativamente mientras que el MDA decreció significativamente en los grupos tratados comparados con el grupo HC. Además, las semillas de altramuces amargas mejoraron las enzimas antioxidantes comparadas con el grupo HC. En general, los resultados indican que, el suplemento con semillas amargas es mejor que con semillas de altramuces dulces. Estos resultados sugieren que el efecto hipercolesterolémico del suplemento con semillas de altramuces dulces y amargas podrían ser debiadas a su capacidad para bajar los nivleles en plasma de colesterol, así como una ralentización del proceso de peroxidación lipídica y un aumento de la actividad enzimática antioxidante