The Effect of Step Load Moving on the Surface of a Cylindrical Cavity Using Neural Networks

Potential functions and Fourier series method in the cylindrical coordinate system are employed to solve the problem of moving loads on the surface of a cylindrical bore in an infinite elastic and isotropic medium. The steady state dynamic equations of medium are uncoupled by applying potential functions. The medium responses are obtained by using an appropriate numerical method of Laplace transform inversion. The solution has an integral form; therefore, a feedforward backpropagation neural network is designed and trained using the response evaluated numerically in a finite set of random points to approximate stress and displacement components in the medium. It is shown that because of the super seismic nature of the problem, two mach cones are formed and opened toward the rear of the front in the medium

Geochemical Records Linking Plate Tectonics with Mantle Dynamics: Neoproterozoic and Beyond

This Ph.D. thesis investigates Earth’s dynamic evolution through geological time by addressing possible linkages between the evolution of the Earth’s mantle and crustal growth, plate tectonics, and superplume-supercontinental cycles. This is achieved through deciphering the geochemical records of mantle-derived/related rocks that characterised the Earth’s mantle evolution and processes at global-, regional- and micro- to nano-scales

Treatment of oily produced water with low-cost adsorbents and ceramic membrane microfiltration

Huge quantities of water produced during oil and gas exploration. There is a need for the application of new technologies to come up with better treatment methods for oily produced water to comply with the environmental regulations and to achieve better quality for beneficial uses. In this study the application of date seeds and attapulgite were used as an effective alternative low-cost adsorbents along with the application of ceramic membrane for treating oily produced water

Accuracy of Unenhanced Breast MRI Compared to Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI in Detection and Characterization of Breast Masses

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among females worldwide. Obtaining an accurate diagnosis is of considerable importance as it informs the choice of treatment and the prognostic outcomes of the disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has a higher sensitivity for the diagnosis of breast cancer than mammography and ultrasound. Objective: We aimed to assess the diagnostic efficacy and efficiency of unenhanced MRI sequences for detection and characterization of breast lesions. Accordingly, we evaluated the breast unenhanced- MRI (UE-MRI) protocol as a reliable alternative for dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). Patients and Methods: 90 female patients underwent MR examination with a diagnostic protocol including UE-MRI sequences (T1WI, T2WI, short TI inversion recovery (STIR) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)) and CE-MRI. UE-MRI results were compared with DCE-MRI and the gold standard results having the latter as the reference standard. Results: UE-MRI results obtained sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of 90%, 80%,  90%, 80%, and 86.7% respectively. On the other hand, those for the DCE-MRI were 95%, 90%, 95%, 90%, and 93.3% respectively. It was revealed that  there was no significant difference between the two methods. Conclusion: UE-MRI could be considered as a reliable diagnostic tool and an effective substitute for DCEMRI when contrast administration is not feasible or contraindicated

Why do farmers over-extract groundwater resources? Assessing (un)sustainable behaviors using an Integrated Agent-Centered framework

This study uses an Integrated Agent-Centered (IAC) framework to investigate the socio-psychological drivers of Iranian farmers’ unsustainable groundwater management practices. Empirical land use change analysis of US Geological Survey Landsat satellite images of the Jaz-Murian wetland region for 1990, 2010, and 2022, is combined with community surveys conducted with randomly selected farmers in five townships within the region (n=356). Visual analysis reveals dramatic increases in agricultural land coverage, diminished water bodies and increased salt lands over the 32-year sampled period. We use survey data to explain the socio-psychological drivers of unsustainable groundwater use that lead to these adverse environmental changes. In the IAC survey analysis, we find that variables for “expectation” and “subjective culture” have a negative influence on pro-environmental “intention”. “Intention” and “habit” have a positive influence, and “contextual factors” have a negative influence on the drivers of “unsustainable water use behavior”. We conclude that situational influences, habitual process, intentional process, and normative processes must be considered together to alleviate pressure on wetland ecosystems. Policy makers must provide effective agricultural extension training, deliberative dialogue amongst farmer networks, well governed local water markets and financial support to shift farmer short-termist economic gain-thinking towards socially-supported pro-environmental habits over the longer term

Perspectives of an Enterprise Integration Plug-in System Architecture for Networked Manufacturing Systems

This paper is a part of a research project funded by the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF), to create a product serving the digital transformation of Egyptian manufacturing companies. It allows a manufacturing company to be a member of a distributed manufacturing network. The resulting system can be plugged into any ERP system. In this work, the limitation of a centralized integration entity to satisfy loosely coupling of distributed systems is overcome. The SOA framework and the remote method invocation (RMI) are applied using SOAP-XML technology. Enterprise integration patterns (EIP) were used in the architecture design

Therapeutic effects of co-inhaled roflumilast or formoterol and fluticasone on asthma-induced ultrastructural changes in murine airways

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic effects of "inhaled" roflumilast and formoterol separately or combined with fluticasone on the ultrastructural airway changes in ovalbumin-induced asthmatic mice.Methods: The asthmatic mice were divided randomly into seven groups (n = 8): positive control, vehicle, and five treated groups. The following treatments were given by inhalation (15 min once/day) for seven days: roflumilast (500 μg/kg), formoterol (50 μg/kg), fluticasone (1000 μg/kg), roflumilast + fluticasone (500 + 1000 μg/kg), and formoterol + fluticasone (50 + 1000 μg/kg). Ultrathin lung sections (50 - 70 nm thick) were examined by transmission electron microscopy.Results: The asthmatic mice showed marked degenerative changes in bronchiolar epithelial cells. The alveolar septal walls were thickened with cellular changes and capillary congestion. The basement membranes showed marked thickening and the airway lumens contained abundant mucinous secretions. These ovalbumin-induced ultrastructural airway changes were markedly-reversed in the roflumilast + fluticasone group, moderately-reversed in the roflumilast, fluticasone, and formoterol + fluticasone groups, but were not affected in the formoterol group.Conclusion: Co-inhalation of roflumilast + fluticasone significantly improved the ultrastructural airway changes than co-inhalation of formoterol + fluticasone in ovalbumin-asthmatic mice due to its antiinflammatory and antifibrotic effects.Keywords: Asthma, Fluticasone Propionate, Formoterol, Roflumilast, Ovalbumin, Remodeling, Bronchiolar epitheliu

Procjena učinkovitosti i djelotvornosti ekstrahiranih biokemikalija kao fungicida za drvo

The present study investigates in-vitro the antifungal activity of two extracts (ethyl ether extracts of Schinus terebinthifolius ripened fruits and Pinus rigida heartwood) and two essential oils (Thymus vulgaris and Origanum majorana leaves) against two species of fungi; Trichoderma harzianum and Aspergillus niger. The results clearly show that O. majorana oil and P. rigida wood extract had the highest activity against both fungi and were chosen for the application on four wood species; Weeping-Wreath Wattle (Acacia saligna), Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) and Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida). Additionally, their impact on the wood structure was examined by FTIR, SEM and colorimetry. The study suggests that O. majorana oil appears to show the best results and could be used as friendly bio-fungicides to protect wood objects without changing their structures.U studiji je opisano istraživanje in vitro protugljivičnog djelovanja dvaju ekstrakata (etil eterskih ekstrakata iz zrelog ploda drva Schinus terebinthifolius i iz srži drva Pinus rigida) i dvaju esencijalnih ulja (iz lišća drva Thymus vulgaris i iz drva Origanum majorana) na dvije vrste gljiva, Trichoderma harzianum i Aspergillus niger. Rezultati jasno pokazuju da su ulje O. majorana i ekstrakt drva P. rigida imali najjače protugljivično djelovanje na obje vrste gljiva te su zato odabrani za primjenu na četiri vrste drva: drvu akacije (Acacia saligna), drvu bukve (Fagus sylvatica), drvu crnog oraha (Juglans nigra) i drvu bora (Pinus rigida). Ujedno je uz pomoć FTIR-a, SEM-a i kolorimetrije ispitan utjecaj tih ekstrakata i ulja na strukturu drva. Istraživanje pokazuje da su najbolji rezultati postignuti uljem iz lišća drva O. majorane i da se ono može upotrijebiti kao ekološki biofungicid za zaštitu drvenih predmeta, bez promjene strukture drva

Application of MOS gas sensors coupled with chemometrics methods to predict the amount of sugar and carbohydrates in potatoes

Five potato varieties were studied using an electronic nose with nine MOS sensors. Parameters measured included carbohydrate content, sugar level, and the toughness of the potatoes. Routine tests were carried out while the signals for each potato were measured, simultaneously, using an electronic nose. The signals obtained indicated the concentration of various chemical components. In addition to support vector machines (SVMs that were used for the classification of the samples, chemometric methods, such as the partial least squares regression (PLSR) method, the principal component regression (PCR) method, and the multiple linear regression (MLR) method, were used to create separate regression models for sugar and carbohydrates. The predictive power of the regression models was characterized by a coefficient of determination (R2), a root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP), and offsets. PLSR was able to accurately model the relationship between the smells of different types of potatoes, sugar, and carbohydrates. The highest and lowest accuracy of models for predicting sugar and carbohydrates was related to Marfona potatoes and Sprite cultivar potatoes. In general, in all cultivars, the accuracy in predicting the amount of carbohydrates was somewhat better than the accuracy in predicting the amount of sugar. Moreover, the linear function had 100% accuracy for training and validation in the C-SVM method for classification of five potato groups. The electronic nose could be used as a fast and non-destructive method for detecting different potato varieties. Researchers in the food industry will find this method extremely useful in selecting the desired product and samples

Postoperative administration of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil, interferes with bone healing and implant osseointegration in a rat model

Donepezil is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor commonly used to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Its use has been associated with increased bone mass in humans and animals. However, the effect of postoperative administration of donepezil on bone healing remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of postoperative injection of donepezil on bone healing, titanium-implant osseointegration, and soft tissue healing. Twenty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive a daily dose of either donepezil (0.6 mg/kg) or saline as a control. In each rat, a uni-cortical defect was created in the right tibia metaphysis and a custom-made titanium implant was placed in the left tibiae. After two weeks, rats were euthanized, and their bones were analysed by Micro-CT and histology. The healing of bone defect and implant osseointegration in the rats treated with donepezil were significantly reduced compared to the saline-treated rats. Histomorphometric analysis showed lower immune cell infiltration in bone defects treated with donepezil compared to the saline-treated defects. On the other hand, the healing time of soft tissue wounds was significantly shorter in donepezil-treated rats compared to the controls. In conclusion, short-term administration of donepezil hinders bone healing whereas enhancing soft tissue healing