Leishmaniasis Increase and Causes in Kabul City

Parasites of the genus Leishmania are pathogenic for humans and animals and cause leishmaniosis. This disease can be seen in three forms: cutaneous, cutaneous-mucous, and visceral. Identification of Leishmania species in clinical infections is very important for advancing awareness, control, and prevention of the disease. Kabul province in Afghanistan is one of the important places infected with Leishmania parasites. In this study, the prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniosis and its treatment methods in traditional medicine were studied in areas of Kabul province, Afghanistan. The population investigated in this study was primarily patients with cutaneous leishmaniosis who were referred to health centers (Leishmaniosis Hospitals) in endemic areas of the disease in the capital Kabul province. In addition to the capital of Kabul province, information on patients was also collected from different districts like Kart e now, Arzanqimat, Darlman, Desabz, Sarobi. Data collection of leishmaniasis patients was done using a questionnaire. After the statistical analysis of the obtained data, it was observed that women are significantly more affected by cutaneous leishmaniosis than men. It was also observed that gender, income, health facilities, travel, level of education, etc are effective in people suffering from this disease. Based on the collected information, the people of Kabul province use medicinal plants such as milk thistle, Asterberg, alkaloid plant, and Bolag oti to control leishmaniosis or Salak

Concentration-dependent toxicity of iron oxide nanoparticles mediated by increased oxidative stress

Iron oxide nanoparticles with unique magnetic properties have a high potential for use in several biomedical, bioengineering and in vivo applications, including tissue repair, magnetic resonance imaging, immunoassay, drug delivery, detoxification of biologic fluids, cell sorting, and hyperthermia. Although various surface modifications are being done for making these nonbiodegradable nanoparticles more biocompatible, their toxic potential is still a major concern. The current in vitro study of the interaction of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles of mean diameter 30 nm coated with Tween 80 and murine macrophage (J774) cells was undertaken to evaluate the dose- and time-dependent toxic potential, as well as investigate the role of oxidative stress in the toxicity. A 15–30 nm size range of spherical nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and zeta sizer. MTT assay showed >95% viability of cells in lower concentrations (25–200 μg/mL) and up to three hours of exposure, whereas at higher concentrations (300–500 μg/mL) and prolonged (six hours) exposure viability reduced to 55%–65%. Necrosis-apoptosis assay by propidium iodide and Hoechst-33342 staining revealed loss of the majority of the cells by apoptosis. H2DCFDDA assay to quantify generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) indicated that exposure to a higher concentration of nanoparticles resulted in enhanced ROS generation, leading to cell injury and death. The cell membrane injury induced by nanoparticles studied using the lactate dehydrogenase assay, showed both concentration- and time-dependent damage. Thus, this study concluded that use of a low optimum concentration of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles is important for avoidance of oxidative stress-induced cell injury and death

Robust approach to DEA technique for supplier selection problem: A case study at Supplying Automotive Parts Company (SAPCO)

Abstract In many industries such as automotive industry, there are a lot of suppliers dealing with the final products manufacturer. With growing numbers of suppliers, the suppliers' efficiency measurement often becomes the most significant concern for manufacturers. Therefore, various performance measurement models such as DEA, AHP, TOPSIS, are developed to support supplier selection decisions. After an exhaustive review of the supplier selection methods, we employ data envelopment analysis (DEA) for computing the relative efficiency of the suppliers and introducing the most efficient supplier as a benchmark. In reality, there are large amounts of uncertainty regarding the suppliers' measurements; therefore, we propose the robust optimization approach to the real application of DEA (RDEA). In this approach, uncertainties about incomes and outcomes of decision making units (DMUs) are involved in the relative suppliers' efficiencies. The proposed RDEA approach is utilized for the selection of suppliers which manufacture the automotive safety components in Supplying Automotive Parts Company (SAPCO), an Iranian leading automotive enterprise. Numerical example will illustrate how our proposed approach can be used in the real supplier selection problem when considerable uncertainty exists regarding the suppliers' input and output dat

X-Ray, IR, NMR, UV-visible spectra and DFT analysis of 5-aryloxy-(1H)-tetrazoles, structure, conformation and tautomerism

The predominant tautomeric forms of N1–H, N2–H of 5-(2,6-dimethyl- and 5-(2,6-diisopropylphenoxy)-(1H)-tetrazoles were analyzed at B3LYP method using 6-311G(d,p) basis set in the gas phase. The N1–H form of tetrazoles was found to be more stable than N2–H form in both solid and gas phases. Crystal structures of both tetrazoles show an intermolecular H-bond between N1-H and N4 atom of other tetrazole space. The hydrogen bonds between each tautomer of tetrazoles were evaluated at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. The geometrical parameters and spectral data of tetrazoles and their variation were studied in both solid and gas phases

Evolution of Industry 4.0 and Its Implications for International Business

Industry 4.0 is the natural consequence of the techno-industrial development of the last decades. It has the huge potentiality to change the way globalization of manufacturing and consumption of goods and services that take place in the global markets. This chapter will focus on the evolution of Industry 4.0 and how this new technological framework will create values for firms and consumers, and how we can use it for a firm’s competitiveness and save them from the fallout of its development. An extensive literature review shows that the multi-faceted technology will hugely impact the global value chain, global supply chain, and new global division of labor (NGDL). It will reconfigure and re-distribute the business activities in the developing, emerging, and developed country markets and small and medium sizes firms and MNCs. The rapid development of technological and human capabilities can allow firms to reap benefits from this technology. At the same time, there are many challenges related to skill shortages, technological issues, business ethics, and values that need to be overcome to reap a profit from this new technological advancement

Quality of care in prevention, detection and management of postpartum hemorrhage in hospitals in Afghanistan:an observational assessment

Background: Hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide and accounts for 56% of maternal deaths in Afghanistan. Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is commonly caused by uterine atony, genital tract trauma, retained placenta, and coagulation disorders. The purpose of this study is to examine the quality of prevention, detection and management of PPH in both public and private hospitals in Afghanistan in 2016, and compare the quality of care in district hospitals with care in provincial, regional, and specialty hospitals. Methods: This study uses a subset of data from the 2016 Afghanistan National Maternal and Newborn Health Quality of Care Assessment. It covers a census of all accessible public hospitals, including 40 district hospitals, 27 provincial hospitals, five regional hospitals, and five specialty hospitals, as well as 10 purposively selected private hospitals. Results: All public and private hospitals reported 24 h/7 days a week service provision. Oxytocin was available in 90.0% of district hospitals, 89.2% of provincial, regional and specialty hospitals and all 10 private hospitals; misoprostol was available in 52.5% of district hospitals, 56.8% of provincial, regional and specialty hospitals and in all 10 private hospitals. For prevention of PPH, 73.3% women in district hospitals, 71.2% women at provincial, regional and specialty hospitals and 72.7% women at private hospital received uterotonics. Placenta and membranes were checked for completeness in almost half of women in all hospitals. Manual removal of placenta was performed in 97.8% women with retained placenta. Monitoring blood loss during the immediate postpartum period was performed in 48.4% of women in district hospitals, 36.9% of women in provincial, regional and specialty hospitals, and 43.3% in private hospitals. The most commonly observed cause of PPH was retained placenta followed by genital tract trauma and uterine atony. Conclusion: Gaps in performance of skilled birth attendants are substantial across public and private hospitals. Improving and retaining skills of health workers through on-site, continuous capacity development approaches and encouraging a culture of audit, learning and quality improvement may address clinical gaps and improve quality of PPH prevention, detection and management

Quality of essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation at health facilities in Afghanistan:a cross-sectional assessment

Objective To assess readiness and quality of essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices in public health facilities in Afghanistan.Design Cross-sectional assessment.Setting 226 public health facilities in Afghanistan, including 77 public health facilities with at least five births per day (high-volume facilities) and 149 of 1736 public health facilities with fewer than five births per day (low-volume facilities).Participants Managers of 226 public health facilities, 734 skilled birth attendants (SBAs) working at these facilities, and 643 women and their newborns observed during childbirth at 77 high-volume health facilities.Outcome measures Availability of knowledgeable SBAs, availability of supplies and compliance with global guidelines for essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices.Results At high-volume facilities, 569/636 (87.9%) of babies were dried immediately after birth, 313/636 (49.2%) were placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mother and 581/636 (89.7%) had their umbilical cord cut with a sterile blade or scissors. A total of 87 newborn resuscitation attempts were observed. Twenty-four of the 87 (27.5%) began to breath or cry after simply clearing the airway or on stimulation. In the remaining 63 (72.5%) cases, a healthcare worker began resuscitation with a bag and mask; however, only 54 (62%) used a correct size of mask and three babies died as their resuscitation with bag and mask was unsuccessful.Conclusions The study indicates room for improvement of the quality of neonatal resuscitation practices at public health facilities in Afghanistan, requiring only strengthening of the current best practices in newborn care. Certain basic and effective aspects of essential newborn care that can be improved on with little additional resources were also missing, such as skin-to-skin contact of the babies with their mother. Improvement of compliance with the standard newborn care practices must be ensured to reduce preventable newborn mortality and morbidity in Afghanistan

Measurement of the t(t)over-bar production cross section, the top quark mass, and the strong coupling constant using dilepton events in pp collisions at root s=13TeV

A measurement of the top quark-antiquark pair production cross section sigma(t (t) over bar) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016. Dilepton events (e(+/-) mu(-/+), mu(+) mu(-), e(+) e(-)) are selected and the cross section is measured from a likelihood fit. For a top quark mass parameter in the simulation of m(t)(MC) = 172.5 GeV the fit yields a measured cross section sigma(t (t) over bar) = 803 +/- 2 (stat) +/- 25 (syst) +/- 20 (lumi) pb, in agreement with the expectation from the standard model calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order. A simultaneous fit of the cross section and the top quark mass parameter in the POWHEG simulation is performed. The measured value of m(t)(MC) = 172.33 +/- 0.14 (stat)(-0.72)(+0.66) (syst) GeV is in good agreement with previous measurements. The resulting cross section is used, together with the theoretical prediction, to determine the top quark mass and to extract a value of the strong coupling constant with different sets of parton distribution functions.Peer reviewe

Recherche et étude d'une solution innovante pour l'optimisation de la conversion en bioGNV des effluents gazeux de l'installation de stockage de déchets non dangereux

Use of fossil fuel energy has many associated problems such as decreasing reserves, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and dependency on importation. In this perspective, the decomposition of biodegradable waste in anaerobic conditions such as in landfills is a well-established process for the biogas production and consequent biomethane generation. In this context, this thesis focused on research and study of an innovative solution for the transformation of landfill biogas into biomethane. For the case study landfill site, a landfill gas (LFG) mathematical modeling was carried out to predict the production of gas for the next 30 years. A state of the art study has been carried out to identify the different biogas upgrading technologies able to upgrade landfill biogas into biomethane. A life cycle cost analysis has been carried out for five different upgrading technologies to identify the most influencing parameters. Specific cost of biomethane production from landfill site was estimated in two scenarios: Membrane+PSA and cryogenic distillation. To overcome the low biogas flow rate, the valorization of carbon dioxide content of the raw biogas was studied via power-to-gas process. In the two-step power-to-gas process, source of the carbon in the methanation unit has been considered from the carbon dioxide captured and separated in the outlet of an upgrading technology. Hydrogen production in the process was studied using intermittent surplus renewable electricity via electrolysis technology. Two operating strategies were studied for the power-to-gas process with and without intermediate hydrogen storage facility: continuous and flexible. Specific cost of synthetic natural gas (SNG) production was estimated in €/MWh in two operating strategies. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to present the effect of electricity purchase price as well as full load operating hours on the production cost of SNG.L'utilisation d'énergies fossiles a de nombreux problèmes associés tels que la diminution des réserves, les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) et la dépendance à l'égard des importations. Dans cette perspective, la décomposition des déchets biodégradables dans des conditions anaérobies telles que dans les ISDND est un processus bien établi pour la production de biogaz et la génération conséquente de biométhane. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse a porté sur la recherche et l'étude d'une solution innovante pour la transformation du biogaz de (ISDND) en biométhane. Pour le site d'ISDND de l'étude de cas, une modélisation mathématique des gaz d'ISDND (LFG) a été réalisée pour prédire la production de gaz pour les 30 prochaines années. Une étude de pointe a été réalisée pour identifier les différentes technologies de traitement du biogaz capables de traiter le biogaz de l’ISDND en biométhane. Une analyse des coûts du cycle de vie a été réalisée pour cinq technologies afin d'identifier les paramètres les plus influents. Le coût spécifique de la production de biométhane à partir du site d’ISDND a été estimé dans deux scénarios: Membrane+PSA et distillation cryogénique. Pour remédier le faible débit de biogaz, la valorisation de la teneur en dioxyde de carbone du biogaz brut a été étudiée via le procédé Power-to-Gas. Dans le processus Power-to-Gas en deux étapes, la source du carbone dans l'unité de méthanisation a été considérée à partir de la capture du dioxyde de carbone et séparée à la sortie d'une technologie de traitement. La production d'hydrogène dans le processus a été étudiée en utilisant l'électricité renouvelable excédentaire intermittente via la technologie d'électrolyse. Deux modes opératoires ont été étudiés pour le procédé Power-to-Gas avec et sans stockage intermédiaire d'hydrogène : continu et flexible. Le coût spécifique de la production de gaz naturel de synthèse (GNS) a été estimé en €/MWh dans deux stratégies d'opératoires. Une analyse de sensibilité a été réalisée pour présenter l'effet du prix d'achat de l'électricité ainsi que des heures de fonctionnement à pleine charge sur le coût de production de GNS