Investigating Adenosine’s Role in Controlling the Cerebral Metabolic Rate of Oxygen following Hypoxia-Ischemia

The cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) has been shown to be an early indicator of hypoxia-ischemia (HI); however, the mechanisms controlling post-HI CMRO2 are not clear. One potential mechanism is the activation of the adenosine A1 receptor due to increased adenosine concentrations during the insult. The present study investigated if the specific adenosine A1 antagonist, DPCPX, would reduce the typical reduction in CMRO2 and electrical cortical activity following HI. Measurements of CMRO2 and electrical cortical activity were obtained on piglets by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG), respectively. The post-HI measurements of CMRO2 and mean aEEG background voltage were significantly less depressed in piglets treated with DPCPX than controls (

Pemilihan Jenis Reaktor pada Proses Mixed Acid Route di Pabrik Pupuk NPK

Seiring bertambahnya populasi negara, demikian pula jumlah kebutuhan pangan di dalam maupun luar negeri. Pertanian menjadi sektor yang sangat penting bagi negara agraris dalam menyediakan bahan pangan. Pertanian sangat erat hubungannya dengan media tanam. Media tanam yang optimal akan membantu tanaman dalam menghasilkan produk yang berkualitas dan mampu menghasilkan jumlah banyak. Beberapa hal yang dibutuhkan oleh media tanam agar optimal adalah perairan yang lancar, penyiangan, dan pemupukan. Pupuk mengambil peran penting sebagai penyedia unsur karbon, hidrogen, oksigen, nitrogen, kalium, kalsium, magnesium, dan unsur-unsur lain yang dibutuhkan tanaman agar tumbuh subur. Unsur N, P, dan K dapat didapatkan dari pupuk NPK. Pupuk NPK berbahan dasar NH3, H2SO4, dan H3PO4 serta bahan padat lain seperti KCl, Urea, ZA, MAP, dan DAP. Senyawa NH3, H2SO4, dan H3PO4 berbahan cair akan diolah terlebih dahulu dengan cara merekasikan ketiga senyawa tersebut dalam sebuah alat bernama reaktor pre-neutralizer. Suhu ammonia masuk sebesar 5°C, asam sulfat dan asam fosfat sebesar 30°C, sedangkan suhu slurry ZA dan MAP sebesar 120°C. Reaksi netralisasi Asam Sulfat menghasilkan slurry ZA dengan mole ratio N/S 1,8. Reaksi netralisasi selanjutnya yaitu asam fosfat menghasilkan slurry MAP dengan mole ratio N/P 0,9 dengan tujuan agar slurry tidak membubur karena semakin tinggi N/P maka slurry akan mengental/membubur sehingga menghambat pemompaan slurry ke granulator. Serta pH di jaga 2-3,5 agar tidak mudah kering. Kedua reaksi netralisasi tersebut berlangsung secara simultan. Maka dari itu diperlukan reaktor dalam keadaan steady state. Berdasarkan tinjauan kinetika didapatkan reaktor CSTR yang lebih sesuai untuk digunakan dalam proses reaksi netralisasi bila dibandingkan dengan reaktor plug flow

Ghrelin and Leptin and Their Relations with Insulin Resistance in Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Patients

إن مرض السكري من النوع الثاني هو ناتج عن خلل في إفراز هرمون الأنسولين، ومقاومة الأنسولين. الهدف من الدراسة هو قياس تركيزالجريلين واللبتين في الدم وتحديد طبيعة العلاقة الموجودة بين هذه الهرمونات كمتغيرات تابعة مع بعض القياسات البيوكيميائية والسريرية في مرضى السكري من النوع الثاني. شملت الدراسة واحد و أربعين مريضآ بداء السكري من النوع الثاني و ثلاثة و أربعين شخصآ أصحاء كمجموعة ضابطة ، تتراوح أعمارهم بين 40-60 سنة و ضمن الوزن الطبيعي. وتم قياس نسبة هرمون الغريلين و اللبتين باستخدام تقنية الفحص المناعي المرتبط بالإنزيم (إلاليزا). أظهرت النتائج إن نسبة الغريلين اعلى واللبتين أقل معنويآ في مصل مرضى السكري من النوع الثاني مقارنة بالجموعة الضابطة. وتبين ان غريلين ترتبط إيجابيا مع، نسبة السكر في الدم و مقاومة الأنسولين  ومن ناحية اخرى ترتبط عكسيآ بحساسية الأنسولين. أماعلاقة اللبتين مع سكر الدم، الهيموجلوبين الجلوكوزيلاتي، مقاومة الأنسولين والبروتين الدهني المنخفض الكثافة، أكسيد النيتريك وأنزيم الكبد (ألانين أماينوترانسفيريز) هي علاقة عكسية. و ترتبط اللبتين خطيآ بمعدل ضغط الدم، حساسية الأنسولين و نوع الجنس. وفقًا لاختبارات التشخيص بأستعمال منحنى الخاصية العملياتية للمستقبلية أعتبرت هرمون الغريلين واللبتين علامات حيوية لداء السكري من النوع  الثاني. استنتجت هذه الدراسة أن الغريلين واللبتين يمكن إستخدامهم كأدوات تنبؤية للأصابة بمرض السكري من النوع الثاني، نظرآ لعلاقتهما المعنوية بمقاومة وحساسية الأنسولين، الشوارد الحرة و مستوى الدهون.Ghrelin and leptin are hunger hormones related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the pathogenesis of T2DM is the abnormality in insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study is to evaluate ghrelin and leptin concentrations in blood and to specify the relationship of these hormones as dependent variables with some biochemical and clinical measurements in T2DM patients. In this study, forty one T2DM and forty three non-diabetes mellitus (non-DM) subjects, aged between 40-60 years and with normal weight, were enrolled. Fasting serum ghrelin and leptin were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In our results ghrelin was significantly increased, and leptin was significantly decreased, in T2DM patients compared with non-DM subjects. Ghrelin was positively correlated with the fasting blood glucose (FBG) and IR, but inversely related to the insulin sensitivity (IS). Leptin was negatively correlated with mean arterial pressure (MAP), FBG, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), IR, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, nitric oxide (NO), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), as well as showed a linear correlation with IS and a strong dependence on sex. The area under the curve (AUC) value shows ghrelin and leptin as biomarkers for T2DM. In conclusion ghrelin and leptin hormones have predictive ability to predict T2DM, as they are significantly associated with IR, IS, free radicals, and lipid profile

A Novel UAV-Aided Network Architecture Using Wi-Fi Direct

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in future wireless networks is gaining attention due to their quick deployment without requiring the existing infrastructure. Earlier studies on UAV-aided communication consider generic scenarios, and very few studies exist on the evaluation of UAV-aided communication in practical networks. The existing studies also have several limitations, and hence, an extensive evaluation of the benefits of UAV communication in practical networks is needed. In this paper, we proposed a UAV-aided Wi-Fi Direct network architecture. In the proposed architecture, a UAV equipped with a Wi-Fi Direct group owner (GO) device, the so-called Soft-AP, is deployed in the network to serve a set of Wi-Fi stations. We propose to use a simpler yet efficient algorithm for the optimal placement of the UAV. The proposed algorithm dynamically places the UAV in the network to reduce the distance between the GO and client devices. The expected benefits of the proposed scheme are to maintain the connectivity of client devices to increase the overall network throughput and to improve energy efficiency. As a proof of concept, realistic simulations are performed in the NS-3 network simulator to validate the claimed benefits of the proposed scheme. The simulation results report major improvements of 23% in client association, 54% in network throughput, and 33% in energy consumption using single UAV relative to the case of stationary or randomly moving GO. Further improvements are achieved by increasing the number of UAVs in the network. To the best of our knowledge, no prior work exists on the evaluation of the UAV-aided Wi-Fi Direct networks.This work was supported by the NPRP through the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) under Grant NPRP 8-627-2-260.Scopu

Performance Improvement of Photovoltaic Panels Using Dual Axis Sun Tracker

الطاقة المتجددة هي أكثر الطاقات المهمة في هذه الأيام. حيث انها نظيفة ومتوفرة بكثرة ويحصل عليها من الطبيعة بدون إعطاء أي تأثيرات سلبيه للبيئة. وهذا هو معاكس لما يعمله الوقود الاحفوري بانبعاث غاز ثنائي أوكسيد الكاربون الذي يسبب ضرر كبير للغلاف الجوي. الطاقة الشمسية هي واحده من الطاقات المتجددة ويمكن ان تصبح مصدر طاقة جيد وبديل لما موجود. الطاقة الشمسية يمكن الحصول عليها باستخدام الواح الطاقة الشمسية عن طريق تحويل الطاقة الشمسية الى طاقة كهربائية. منهجية هذه الورقة البحثية هو بناء متتبع ثنائي المحور ليتحكم باتجاه الالواح الشمسية للحصول على اعلى كفاءة خارجة. نظام التتبع الشمسي هذا يتكون من جزئين رئيسيين وهما جزء برمجي وأدوات ومعدات. المعدات متمثلة بمتحكم دقيق ومقاومات ضوئية لتحسس الضوء القادم من الشمس ومحرك تيار مستمر يعمل باتجاهين لتعديل اتجاه الخلية الشمسية. الجزء البرمجي متمثل بالبرنامج والشفرة البرمجية المستخدمة. نتائج البحث بينت ان المتتبع الثنائي المحور يتفوق على الخلايا الشمسية الثابتة وتم الحصول على طاقة اعلى التي سجلت باستخدام مسجل البيانات.Renewable energy is the most important type of energy sources nowadays. It’s clean, abundantly available and can be obtained from nature without giving any negative impact to the environment. This is the opposite of what fossil fuel does by giving the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and makes a huge damage to the atmosphere. Solar energy is one type of renewable energy and is considered a good effective alternative source of energy. The solar energy can be collected using solar panels from emitted radiation from the sun.  The aim of this paper is building a dual-axis solar tracker to control the direction of the panels and get the highest output efficiency compared to the fixed panels. The sun tracker system consists of two main parts, hardware, and software. Hardware represented by using a microcontroller, Light Dependent Resistors (LDRs) to detect the light of the sun, servomotors use to adjust the direction of the solar panel (PV). The software represented by the application used and the codes. The results show that the dual axis tracking is more powerful than the fixed position solar cells and achieves better output power. The power measured were obtained by the data logger method

Preservation of the metabolic rate of oxygen in preterm infants during indomethacin therapy for closure of the ductus arteriosus

Background:The aim of this study was to assess and quantify the effects of indomethacin on cerebral blood flow (CBF), oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO 2) in preterm infants undergoing treatment for a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).Methods:CBF and CMRO 2 were measured before and after the first dose of a 3-d course of indomethacin to close hemodynamically significant PDA in preterm neonates. Indocyanine-green (ICG) concentration curves were acquired before and after indomethacin injection to quantify CBF and CMRO 2.Results:Eight preterm neonates (gestational age, 27.6 ± 0.5 wk; birth weight, 992 ± 109 g; 6 males:2 females) were treated at a median age of 4.5 d (range, 4-21 d). Indomethacin resulted in an average CBF decrease of 18% (pre- and post-CBF = 12.9 ± 1.3 and 10.6 ± 0.8 ml/100 g/min, respectively) and an OEF increase of 11% (pre- and post-OEF = 0.38 ± 0.02 and 0.42 ± 0.02, respectively) but no significant change in CMRO 2 (pre- and post-CMRO 2 = 0.83 ± 0.07 and 0.76 ± 0.07 ml O 2 /100 g/min, respectively). Corresponding mean blood pressure (BP), arterial oxygen saturation (S a O 2), heart rate, and end-tidal carbon dioxide tension levels remained unchanged.Conclusion:Indomethacin resulted in significant reduction in CBF but did not alter CMRO 2 because of a compensatory increase in OEF. Copyright © 2013 International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc

Automatic landslide detection using Dempster–Shafer theory from LiDAR-derived data and orthophotos

A good landslide inventory map is a prerequisite for landslide hazard and risk analysis. In tropical countries, such as Malaysia, preparation of the landslide inventory is a challenging task because of the rapid growth of vegetation. Thus, it is crucial to use rapid and accurate technique and effective parameters. For this purpose, Dempster Shafer theory (DST) was applied in fusing high resolution LiDAR derived data products and Greenness index derived from orthophoto imagery. Two sites were selected, for the implementation and evaluation of the DST model; site “A” for DST implementation and site “B” for the comparison. For model implementation, vegetation index, slope and height were used as effective parameters for identifying automatic landslide detection. Two type of DST based fusions were evaluated; (greenness and height) and (greenness and slope). Furthermore, validation techniques were used to validate the accuracy are confusion matrix and area under the curve. The overall accuracy of the first and second evaluated fusions were (73.4% and 84.33%), and area under the curve were (0.76 and 0.81) respectively. Additionally, the result was compared with Random Forest (RF) based detection approach. The results showed that DST does not require a priori knowledge

Peripheral Arterial Disease in Patients Presenting with Acute Coronary Syndrome in Six Middle Eastern Countries

To describe prevalence and impact of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), data were collected over 5 months from 6 Middle Eastern countries. Patients were divided into 2 groups (with and without PAD). Out of 6705 consecutive ACS patients, PAD was reported in 177 patients. In comparison to non-PAD, PAD patients were older and more likely to have cardiovascular risk factors. They were more likely to have high Killip class, high GRACE risk score, and non-ST elevation ACS (NSTEACS) at presentation. Thrombolytics, antiplatelet use, and coronary intervention were comparable in both groups. When presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), patients with PAD had worse outcomes, while in NSTEACS; PAD was associated with higher rate of heart failure in comparison to non-PAD patients. In diabetics, PAD was associated with 2-fold increase in mortality when compared to non-PAD (P = 0.028). After adjustment, PAD was associated with high mortality in STEMI (adjusted OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.23–5.65, P = 0.01). Prevalence of PAD in ACS in the Gulf region is low. Patients with PAD and ACS constitute a high risk group and require more attention. PAD in patients with STEMI is an independent predictor of in-hospital death

Optimized hierarchical rule-based classification for differentiating shallow and deep-seated landslide using high-resolution LiDAR data

Landslide is one of the most devastating natural disasters across the world with serious negative impact on its inhabitants and the environs. Landslide is considered as a type of soil erosion which could be shallow, deep-seated, cut slope, bare soil, and so on. Distinguishing between these types of soil erosions in dense vegetation terrain like Cameron Highlands Malaysia is still a challenging issue. Thus, it is difficult to differentiate between these erosion types using traditional techniques in locations with dense vegetation. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) can detect variations in terrain and provide detailed topographic information on locations behind dense vegetation. This paper presents a hierarchical rule-based classification to obtain accurate map of landslide types. The performance of the hierarchical rule set classification using LiDAR data, orthophoto, texture, and geometric features for distinguishing between the classes would be evaluated. Fuzzy logic supervised approach (FbSP) was employed to optimize the segmentation parameters such as scale, shape, and compactness. Consequently, a correlation-based feature selection technique was used to select relevant features to develop the rule sets. In addition, in other to differentiate between deep-seated cover under shadow and normal shadow, the band ration was created by dividing the intensity over the green band. The overall accuracy and the kappa coefficient of the hierarchal rule set classification were found to be 90.41 and 0.86%, respectively, for site A. More so, the hierarchal rule sets were evaluated using another site named site B, and the overall accuracy and the kappa coefficient were found to be 87.33 and 0.81%, respectively. Based on these results, it is demonstrated that the proposed methodology is highly effective in improving the classification accuracy. The LiDAR DEM data, visible bands, texture, and geometric features considerably influence the accuracy of differentiating between landslide types such as shallow and deep-seated and soil erosion types like cut slope and bare soil. Therefore, this study revealed that the proposed method is efficient and well-organized for differentiating among landslide and other soil erosion types in tropical forested areas