Liquefaction Potential Evaluation Along Active Faults at the Head of the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan

The city of Aqaba, Jordan lies within a major seismic region along the active plate boundary of the Dead Sea Transform. A NE-trending, strike-slip fault that originates in the Gulf of Aqaba apparently terminates under the city along four NW-trending normal- to oblique-slip faults. These normal faults accommodate active tectonic subsidence at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Paleoearthquake data from five trench excavations across these faults were collected to characterize the closest seismic source to the city. Ground rupture from an earthquake produced a fault scarp sometime before A.D. 1045-1278. A minimum estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is M 6, the minimum threshold for surface ground rupture. Several multiple event scarps suggests that a minimum of seven earthquakes have occurred since 5 to 6 ka. This yields a minimum recurrence of earthquakes on the Aqaba fault seismic source of approximately 700-850 years. Subsurface exploration of boreholes and trench exposures indicates that the stratigraphic sequence is composed of liquefaction susceptible sediments. Shallow subsurface deposits consist of aeolian and beach sand interbedded with alluvial silt, sand, and gravel in the upper parts of the Quaternary fan deposits. We evaluated the liquefaction potential using Seed’s cyclic stress ratio approach. This method is based on the corrected field blow count of the Standard Penetration Test to an energy of 60% and effective overburden pressure of 100 kPa with corresponding attenuated peak ground acceleration of 0.1,0.2g, and 0.3g. Preliminary results of the liquefaction mapping indicate that the coastal areas have a high potential to liquefy and could experience severe damage as a result of earthquake shaking. Our analyses suggest that the eastern parts of the city lie predominantly within a nonliquefaction susceptibility zone

Managing Chronic Diseases in Family Medicine: Best practices and Evidence-Based Approaches

The management of chronic diseases within the realm of family medicine presents a multifaceted challenge with profound implications for healthcare systems and patients alike. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular conditions, are prevalent and impose a significant burden on individuals, families, and society as a whole. This article explores best practices and evidence-based approaches for managing chronic diseases in family medicine. It delves into the epidemiological landscape of chronic illnesses, emphasizing the need for effective prevention and management strategies. Evidence-based Models, such as The Chronic Care Model (CCM), Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), and Self-assessment models are discussed in the context of family medicine. The importance of comprehensive, coordinated, and patient-centric approaches is underscored, highlighting the pivotal role of primary care physicians in the ongoing battle against chronic diseases. It is clear, that development in the field of family medicine underscores the importance of patient involvement in diseases management process through shared-decision making model. Although such model require physicans to spend more time educating patients so they can make informed decisions and implement self-management strategies, it has overall better health outcomes and eventually needs to requiring less intervention by physicians

Real-time smart-digital stethoscope system for heart diseases monitoring

One of the major causes of death all over the world is heart disease or cardiac dysfunction. These diseases could be identified easily with the variations in the sound produced due to the heart activity. These sophisticated auscultations need important clinical experience and concentrated listening skills. Therefore, there is an unmet need for a portable system for the early detection of cardiac illnesses. This paper proposes a prototype model of a smart digital-stethoscope system to monitor patient’s heart sounds and diagnose any abnormality in a real-time manner. This system consists of two subsystems that communicate wirelessly using Bluetooth low energy technology: A portable digital stethoscope subsystem, and a computer-based decision-making subsystem. The portable subsystem captures the heart sounds of the patient, filters and digitizes, and sends the captured heart sounds to a personal computer wirelessly to visualize the heart sounds and for further processing to make a decision if the heart sounds are normal or abnormal. Twenty-seven t-domain, f-domain, and Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) features were used to train a public database to identify the best-performing algorithm for classifying abnormal and normal heart sound (HS). The hyper parameter optimization, along with and without a feature reduction method, was tested to improve accuracy. The cost-adjusted optimized ensemble algorithm can produce 97% and 88% accuracy of classifying abnormal and normal HS, respectively.Funding: This research was partially funded by Qatar National Research Foundation (QNRF), grant number UREP19-069-2-031 and UREP23-027-2-012 and Research University Grant AP-2017-008/1. The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library.Scopu

A Multidisciplinary Approach in the Treatment of Tempromandibular Joint Pain Associated with Qat Chewing

Pain of the tempro-mandibular joint (TMJ) has a direct bearing to missing teeth and excessive physical activity. Consumption of qat requires chewing on the leaves to extract their juice for long hours. A 65-year-old male Yemeni patient, a Qat chewer, reported to the university dental hospital at King Khalid University complaining of pain in left temporomandibular joint with missing mandibular anterior teeth. A multidisciplinary approach for the overall treatment of the patient was decided. Initial treatment was the relief of patient’s pain with the help of a night guard. This was followed by a fabrication of anterior FPD. The case was under maintenance and follow-up protocol for a period of 8 months with no complaint of pain discomfort

Synthesis and Characterization of BaTiO₃/Polypyrrole Composites with Exceptional Dielectric Behaviour

Higher concentrations of ceramic fillers induce brittleness in the ceramic/polymer hybrids which restrict their applications to limited fields especially when such hybrids are prepared for their use as dielectrics. We have synthesized and characterized different BaTiO3-polypyrrole (PPy) composites by changing the concentration of BaTiO3 from 1% by weight of PPy taken to 5 wt % to explore its effect on the dielectric parameters of the final product and found that the BaTiO3-polypyrrole composite with weight ratio of 0.05:1 exhibited highest dielectric constant, lowest dielectric loss and thermally most stable. All the composites were prepared using in-situ polymerization of pyrrole in an aqueous dispersion of low content of BaTiO3 in the presence of small amount of Hydrochloric acid. These composites were characterized for their microstructure and crystallinity by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) while thermal stability by thermo gravimetric (TGA) analysis. An impedance analyser (LCR meter) was utilized to investigate the dielectric parameters. FT-IR data confirmed the presence of the two phases and their interaction, inferred from the shifting of normal PPy peaks. The data obtained from XRD confirmed the presence of crystallites of 2.8 to 5 nm with dominant crystallinity of the filler, TGA analysis (25 to 600 °C) confirmed the higher thermal stability induced on successive addition of the filler into the prepared composites as compared to that of pure PPy in a wide temperature range which is unusual for such a low % age addition of the filler. The SEM analysis together with XRD results reveal that the successive introduction of BaTiO3 particles produced crystallites of 2 to 5 nm size which bonded together and changed the hemispherical shaped larger grains of the matrix to regular shaped smaller grains. The dielectric constant of the composites was enhanced with filler contents from 178 to 522 at 1 MHz for 1 wt % and 5 wt % BaTiO3 respectively. It was concluded that the introduction of BaTiO3 into the polymer matrix with this new procedure has greatly affected the polymerization process, thermal stability, morphology and dielectric properties of the host matrix and has resulted in a novel series of the composites which may have broad applications

Effects of Khat on Surface Roughness and Color of Feldspathic and Zirconia Porcelain Materials under Simulated Oral Cavity Conditions

Background and Objectives: Khat chewing is considered as a daily habit that is practiced by more than five million people globally. The effect of khat chewing on the surface roughness and the color stability of natural teeth and the material used in the fabrication of dental prosthesis remains unknown. This study was conducted to explore and compare the effect of khat homogenate (KH) on the surface roughness (Ra) and the average color changes (ΔE*) amongst natural teeth and selected shades from different porcelain types, namely, feldspathic metal ceramic (MC) VM13, computer-aided design/computer assisted manufacture (CAD/CAM) feldspathic (Vitablocs Mark II), and multilayer zirconia (Ceramill Zolid PS) porcelains. Materials and Methods: Seventy samples were prepared from natural teeth, feldspathic MC, CAD/CAM Vitablocs Mark II, and zirconia porcelain. The Ra values were measured using a profilometer and expressed in micrometers, whereas the ΔE* values were measured using VITA Easyshade® V spectrophotometer for all samples before and after frequent immersion and thermocycling in KH for 30 days. The surface topography was used to assess the materials surfaces (glazed or polished) after KH immersion by using a white light interferometry machine. Results: Results revealed that the Ra and the ΔE* values of the different types of tested porcelain were influenced by KH. The order of surface roughness values was glazed or polished MC > polished Zircon > polished Vitablocs Mark II > natural teeth. The lowest ΔE* values were recorded for glazed Vitablocs Mark II and MC, and the values could be arranged as polished zircon > natural teeth > glazed zircon > polished MC > polished Vitablocs Mark II. P values were significantly varied (0.05) for both Ra and ΔE*. Conclusions: KH significantly affected both surface parameter and color of glazed or polished porcelain materials and natural teeth

Lower vitamin D levels in Saudi pregnant women are associated with higher risk of developing GDM

Abstract Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has serious consequences such as increased risks of preeclampsia, macrosomia and cesarean delivery. Even though the mechanistic basis of GDM has not been completely understood, several risk factors have been identified and one of these is vitamin D. However, the link between vitamin D deficiency and development of GDM is yet to be proven with certainty. Methods This study aimed to investigate the link between the incidence of GDM and serum vitamin D level in pregnant women of Saudi Arabia. 515 Saudi women (ages 18–46) in their 24-28th week of pregnancy, visiting various hospitals of Riyadh, participated in this study. Serum vitamin D and various biochemical and anthropometric parameters were determined in the first trimester and the recruits were screened for GDM by OGTT according to IADPSG criteria in their 2nd trimester. The association between vitamin D deficiency and development of GDM was calculated based on odds ratio of the incidence of GDM among vitamin D deficient and normal women. Results In this study cohort of 515 pregnant women, in the first trimester vitamin D deficiency (< 50 nmol/l) was detected in 425 (82.5%). On their 2nd visit (2nd trimester), 116 (27.7%) were diagnosed with GDM out of 419 with OGTT, according to IADPSG criteria. GDM risk was significantly higher among vitamin D deficient than non-deficient women (Odds Ratio: 2.87; Confidence Interval: 1.32–6.25; P = 0.008) even after adjusting for season, sun exposure and vitamin D intake (OR: 2.9; CI: 1.07–7.89). Of the various anthropometric and biochemical parameters, the GDM women differed significantly from non-GDM women with respect to serum levels of triglycerides (in mmol/l) (1.3 ± 0.6; 1.5 ± 0.6, p = 0.018) and fasting glucose (in mmol/l) [4.7 (4.3–5.2); 5.1 (4.6–5.6), p < 0.01]. Also, fasting glucose level in the 2nd trimester correlated inversely to serum vitamin D level determined during the 1st trimester (r = − 0.121; p = 0.014). Conclusions Results of our study reveal a significantly higher risk of development of GDM among pregnant women having deficient vitamin D status