Fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete containing of cement kiln dust

There are many wastes form the cement industry among them cement kiln dust (CKD). This residue is obtained after the process of burning the raw materials of cement in the rotary kiln where it is suctioned by fans during the clinker exit of the rotary kiln. Cement dust is a major environmental and economic problem in terms of high quality air pollution ranging from (20-100) microns and the proportions of chlorides, sulphates, alkali and lime living in a way that threatens the general health of human, as well as water pollution if the waste is discharged by rivers and waterways. This investigation’s main objective is to present the potential of using CKD as a cement replacement in self-compacting concrete (SCC). Eight mixes incorporating CKD with partial cement replacement of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 75% in addition to control mix were investigated. The properties of all mixture were determined. Based on the experimental program results, it was found that SCC mixture incorporating 5% to 10% of CKD was almost similar to that of control mixture. The workability of SCC concrete decreased as CKD replacement increased. This established benefits of substituting cement by CKD to make SCC

The Role of Organisational Culture on Cognitive Learning Styles in Libyan Universities

The main aim of the study is to explore the potential role of organisational culture on learning styles in Libyan Universities. In so doing the research has embarked on a search for a suitable literature relating to both the learning styles and organisational culture. The study has learnt that cognitive learning styles should be treated as the process of mental activities, learning and problem solving and being independent of subject content; and are perceptual, intellectual, personality and social domains; and tend to remain unchanged over a long period of time. Nevertheless, as reported, recently, in the area of neuropsychology the assumption of fixed personality has been relaxed, so that individual’s personality would be changed over time and under different environments or situations. This has led the research to focus, inter alia, more profoundly on two main constructs: personal learning environment (PLE) and personal learning styles pedagogy (PLSP). The relevant methodology has been found to be a mixed approach based on a survey, consisting of a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. In order to satisfy the statistical properties, the sample size for each and every university was set at 300 students, for which the response rates varied between 66% and 70%. On the whole, as argued earlier, the final sample for each university turned out to be sufficient for consistency and reliability of the inferred statistics. Interviews of teaching staff in each and every university were conducted in support of the findings from the student questionnaire. On the whole, the results appeared to be conclusive in terms of satisfying our initial aims and questions of the study. Following a series of statistical testing and analysis, primarily using Structural Equations Models, the findings suggest that the verbaliser-imager tends to be a more common style of learning amongst students in these universities. The findings from teaching staff interviews revealed universities lack of support through provision of resources and funds for any new and innovative teaching developments. It has appeared that the universities, on the whole, have miserably failed to promote any innovative teaching and have denied their students of quality teaching and learning styles. In short, the findings from the interviews suggest that the entire Higher Education system in Libya has under-performed for many years in the two most important aspects of education quality: innovative teaching and promotion of cognitive learning styles

Preemptive Dose Adjustment Effect on the Quality of Anticoagulation Management in Warfarin Patients With Drug Interactions: A Retrospective Cohort Study

One strategy to manage patients on warfarin starting an interacting drug is to increase the frequency of monitoring. Another strategy is to adjust warfarin dose around the time patient is started on an interacting medication, which is known as preemptive warfarin dose adjustment. The main objective of this study is to compare preemptive to nonpreemptive strategy and their impact on the quality of anticoagulation management. This is a retrospective cohort study performed at the pharmacist-managed anticoagulation clinic in a tertiary hospital in the State of Qatar. Over a 4-year period, 340 patients were evaluated, and 58 warfarin drug interaction encounters were identified. Mean age of the patients was (57.7 n 13.7), and 50% of them were females. Preemptive dose adjustment was used in 17 (29.3%) cases. Incidence of out-of-target international normalized ratio (INR) was statistically lower in the preemptive arm compared to the control group (41.2% [7/17] vs 69.2% [27/39], P =.048). Incidence of extreme out-of-target INR was numerically lower in the preemptive arm compared to the control but did not reach statistical significance (11.8% [2/17] vs 29.3% [12/41], P =.139). Change in frequency of INR monitoring was not different between the 2 groups. However, overall frequency of INR monitoring after onset/discontinuation of interacting medication increased compared to baseline (7 [9] vs 21 [16] days, P <.001). Preemptive strategy was shown in our study to decrease incidence of the out-of-target INR visits, although patients remained in need for close monitoring.This work is supported by Medical Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation. RP#17226/17. ORCID iD Hazem Elewa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1594-1199Scopu

La aceptación de la oferta en español y árabe: análisis empírico

Our goal is to analyse the role of social distance and power in the formulation of the speech act of acceptance of offers in Peninsular Spanish and Egyptian Arabic. For the collection of data, we rely on the instrument of role-playing. Our participants are young Egyptians and Spaniards, men and women, with a medium-high socio-cultural level. The most significant results indicate that there is a phase of rejection-insistence in the intervention of the Egyptians, regardless of the degree of relationship between the speakers. In Spanish, this phase only appears in cases of close relationship. Although the configuration of acceptance is more similar in the two languages in the latter case, there are still other divergences that separate Egyptians and Spaniards when it comes to formulating this act. The data obtained might be useful for the teaching of Spanish and Arabic as foreign languages.Nuestro objetivo es analizar el papel de la distancia social y el poder en la formulación del acto de habla de la aceptación de ofertas en español peninsular y árabe dialectal egipcio. Para la recogida de datos nos basamos en el instrumento del juego de rol. Nuestros informantes son jóvenes egipcios y españoles con un nivel sociocultural medio alto. Los resultados más destacados indican que suele haber una fase de rechazo-insistencia en la intervención de los egipcios, independientemente del grado de relación entre los hablantes. En español, esta fase solo aparece en los casos de relación cercana. Pese a que la configuración de la aceptación es similar en las dos lenguas en este último caso, aún existen otras divergencias que separan a egipcios y españoles a la hora de formular este acto. Los datos obtenidos pueden ser útiles de cara a la enseñanza del español y árabe como lenguas extranjeras

Investigation of the Suitability of the Vibration Acceptance Criteria for Process Pipework in Assessing the Vibration Levels of the Flow-Induced Fatigue Failure

Process pipework is essential to the oil and gas industries. Usually, pipework is designed to satisfy static requirements. Often, vibration problems in process pipework are treated on an Adhoc basis. Pipework vibration can lead to the development of fatigue cracks/failures which lead to hydrocarbon leaks. The loss of containment of hydrocarbons could lead to environmental, human, or business disasters at best. A survey of all hydrocarbon leaks in the UK North Sea showed that the second reason (contributing around 25%) for all hydrocarbon leaks is fatigue failures. Fatigue usually happens on the branches welded to the main pipelines. It is impossible to avoid vibration-induced fatigue (VIF) in process pipework, but it can be minimized and monitored to avoid catastrophic failures and unplanned shutdowns which may negatively affect production and profits. The Vibration Acceptance Criteria, which were developed by the Energy Institute, have not been scientifically examined. It is therefore not possible to specifically determine appropriate vibration levels for all pipe geometries, configurations, and fittings by the Energy Institute criteria. In this thesis,the suitability of the Vibration Acceptance Criteria (VAC) in judging the vibration levels in process pipework is Investigated. This investigation was done using a random vibration Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This analysis was conducted on different models with different geometric configurations to find the effect of geometrical changes on the suitability of the VAC. The output of this thesis shows that the length and the diameter of the run-pipe have a significant effect on the suitability is the VAC

Efficacy and safety of insulin glargine 300 units/mL vs insulin degludec in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundUltra-long-acting insulin analogs [insulin degludec (IDeg) and insulin glargine 300 units/mL (IGla-300)] offer a longer duration of action with less risk of hypoglycemia compared to other long-acting insulins. However, data about the comparative efficacy and safety are inconsistent.MethodsWe searched CENTRAL, PubMed, Embase, ICTRP Search Portal, and ClinicalTrials.gov on 7 October 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the safety and efficacy of IDeg (100 or 200 units/mL) and IGla-300 in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were included. Three review authors independently selected trials, assessed the risk of bias, extracted data, and evaluated the overall certainty of the evidence using GRADE. The primary outcomes were the change in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and any hypoglycemia; the secondary outcomes were the change in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and severe and nocturnal hypoglycemia.ResultsFour open-label RCTs were included (2727 participants), 3 parallel and 1 cross-over. Overall, the risk of bias assessment yielded some concern or high risk. There was a comparable change in HbA1c from baseline to the end of treatment, a mean difference of 0.07% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06 – 0.19; p = 0.29; 3 trials; 2652 patients; very low-certainty evidence), and a comparable rate of any hypoglycemia, rate ratio 1.02 (95% CI 0.8 – 1.3; p = 0.87; 3 trials; 2881 patients; very low-certainty evidence). IDeg resulted in more reduction in FPG compared to IGla-300, mean difference of 10.27 mg/dL (95% CI 7.25 – 13.29; p &lt; 0.001; 3 trials; 2668 patients; low-certainty evidence). Similar rates of nocturnal and severe hypoglycemia were observed, rate ratio of 1.13 (95% CI 0.72 – 1.78; p = 0.54; 3 trials; 2668 patients; very low-certainty evidence) and 1.4 (95% CI 0.41 – 4.73; p = 0.59; 2 trials; 1952 patients; very low-certainty evidence), respectively.ConclusionThere is no evidence of a difference between IDeg and IGla-300 in the mean change in HbA1c and the risk of anytime, nocturnal, and severe hypoglycemia. IDeg appeared to cause a higher reduction in FPG compared to IGla-300. However, this finding should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of trials included and their high risk of bias.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022364891, identifier CRD42022364891

Towards adopting Zero Interest Loan (ZIL) and Profit and Loss Sharing (PLS) principle in Islamic microfinance: the case of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia

Microfinance institutions evolved to alleviate poverty by providing micro-credit to the poor. There have been few poverty alleviation success stories from institutions such as Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). For the majority however, there is no solid evidence to support the positive impacts of microfinance institutions on the poor (Kono and Takahashi, 2010; as cited by Aliyu, 2012). One factor that hinders the positive impact of microfinance institutions on the poor is the inherent nature of the microcredit scheme which charges fixed and high interest rate due to high administrative cost (IRTI, 2007, as cited by Aliyu, 2012). Islamic microfinance evolved to provide alternative to the interest based conventional microfinance. However, the financing modes being used by the Islamic micro-finance institutions (IMFIs) are mostly debt based, which have resemblance to the interest based conventional modes. IMFs shun away from using the PLS scheme, which they consider risky. Theoretically, it is argued that PLS mobilizes factors of production, encourages risk sharing and ensures distributive equity in income and wealth. There is hardly any literature that has shown that PLS is workable in a pristine environment of zero interest. Furthermore, there is hardly any studies that have discussed on the feasibility of financing the poor using a combination of PLS and zero interest financing (ZIF). This study will experiment on the feasibility of providing small financing using a combination of PLS and ZIF to empower the working poor. The research incorporates literature survey, field study and business model applications in its methodology to achieve the desired objectives. The results of this pioneering project are expected to promote the local socio-economic welfare of the poor and provide opportunities in applied areas for future research. © 2013 The IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance. Keywords: Poverty; Islamic microfinance; Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia; Equity-based financing; Interest-free financing

Predictive-TOPSIS-based MPPT for PEMFC Featuring Switching Frequency Reduction

A maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) using a combination of conventional finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is proposed in this paper. The key idea is to maximize the power generation from a PEMFC while minimizing the switching frequency of the power converter. The FCS-MPC technique is formulated to track the maximum power of PEMFC highly affected by ever-changing internal parameters. Meanwhile, the TOPSIS algorithm is applied to overcome the potential weaknesses of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), which can only withstand a lower switching frequency. In this project, all simulations were run using MATLAB software to display the output power of the PEMFC system. As a result, the proposed predictive-TOPSIS-based MPPT algorithm can track the MPP for various PEMFC parameters within 0.019 s with an excellent accuracy up to 99.11%. The proposed MPPT technique has fast-tracking of the MPP locus, excellent accuracy, and robustness to environmental changes