Avicenna's concept of pain

Ibn Sina (Latin name – Avicenna, 980–1037) is a famous Muslim physician who wrote The Canon of Medicine. Pain-related writings within The Canon were identified and analysed and compared to Galen and Modern Pain Theory. We found evidence in The Canon that Avicenna challenged Galen's concept of pain. Galen insisted that injuries (breach of continuity) were the only cause of pain. In contrast, Avicenna suggested that the true cause of pain was a change of the physical condition (temperament change) of the organ whether there was an injury present or not. Avicenna extended Galen's descriptions of 4 to 15 types of pain and used a terminology that is remarkably similar to that used in the McGill Pain Questionnaire

Homotopy Analysis Method for Solving Delay Differential Equations of Fractional Order

In this paper, we implement the Homotopy Analysis method for solving numerically non-linear delay differential equations of fractional order. The fractional derivative will be in the Caputo sense. In this approach, the solutions are found in the form of a convergent power series with easily computed components. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the accuracy and ability of the proposed method. Keywords: Homotopy Analysis method, delay differential equations, fractional calculus, fractional delay differential equations

Multi-Attribute Utility Theory for Selecting an Appropriate Procurement Method in the Construction Projects

The selection of an appropriate procurement method is becoming an increasingly important issue due to complex decision making that clients are facing early in the lifecycle of construction projects. The aim of this paper is to improve the procurement system in the construction industry by developing a model using the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) as a decision support system for the selection of an appropriate procurement method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Factors that influence the selection of an appropriate method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip are identified and the results indicate that the most significant six factors influencing the selection of procurement methods in the Gaza Strip construction projects are price competition, degree of project complexity, time constraints of the project, project size, client financial capability and client experience in procurement methods. The study concludes that there is no variety of procurement methods used in the Gaza Strip construction industry, as a traditional procurement method is preferred. This is because most professionals in the Gaza Strip are not familiar or experienced with alternative procurement methods. A model was developed using the MAUT to select the most appropriate procurement method. The MAUT as a decision support system was successful in identifying the appropriate procurement method

Multi-Attribute Utility Model for Selection of Appropriate Procurement Method in the Construction Projects

The selection of an appropriate procurement method is becoming an increasingly important issue due to complex decision-making that has to be made by clients early in the project lifecycle. The aim at this paper is to improve and enhance procurement system in the construction industry through developing a model using the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) as a decision support system for the selection of appropriate procurement method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Factors that influence the selection of an appropriate method for construction projects in Gaza Strip were identified. The results indicated that the top significant six factors that have most influence on the selection of procurement methods in the Gaza Strip construction projects are: price competition, degree of project complexity, time constrains of project, project size, client's financial capability, and client's experience in procurement methods. The study concludes that there is no variety of procurement methods used in the Gaza Strip construction industry where a traditional procurement method is preferred. This is because most of professionals' in Gaza Strip are not familiar and not widely experienced with the other alternative procurement methods. A model was developed using Multi Atrribute Utility Theory to select the most appropriate procurement method. The multi-attribute utility-theory (MAUT) as a decision support system was able to identify the appropriate procurement method

The Impact of Corporate Governance Tools in the Reduction of Creative Accounting Practices in the Jordanian Commercial Banks

In the past two decades, the world has witnessed an economic crisis and the collapse of major global companies. As example of these companies, the collapse of the US telecommunications company Worldcom in 2002, and the collapse of the largest energy companies in the United States, Enron, in 2001. The collapse of the world-renowned auditing firm Arthur Anderson to prove its involvement in the collapse of Enron, where the reasons for the collapse of these companies were found to be the low ethics of professionals and their use by some of the accounting practices known as creative accounting practices in order to create imaginary improve in their financial statement. Therefore, it was necessary to use modern accounting systems for management and control to reduce the practices and methods of the creative accounting, and help to protect the capital and the interests of all parties through the activation of transparency and accountability, and one of these accounting systems known as corporate governance and its tools

Elaboration and Design of α7 nAChR Negative Allosteric Modulators

α7 Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are one of two major classes of receptors responsible for cholinergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system. The existence of α7 neuronal nAChRs in different regions of the nervous system suggests their involvement in certain essential physiological functions as well as in disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), drug dependence, and depression. This project was aimed toward the discovery and development of small–molecule arylguanidines that modulate α7 nAChR function with improved subtype-selectivity through an allosteric approach. Identifying the required structural features of these small molecules allowed optimization of their negative allosteric modulator (NAM) actions at α7 neuronal nAChRs. MD-354 (3-chlorophenylguanidine) was the first small–molecule NAM at α7 nAChRs; however, it also binds at 5-HT3 receptors. The N-methyl analog of MD-354 appeared to be more selective toward α7 nAChRs than 5-HT3 receptors. Comparative studies using two series of novel compounds based on MD-354 and its N-methyl analog explored the aryl 3-position and investigated whether or not the MD-354 series and the N-methyl series bind in the same manner. Biological potencies of the MD-354 series and the N-methyl series of compounds, obtained from electrophysiological assays with Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing human α7 nAChRs in two-electrode voltage-clamp assays, showed that N-(3-iodophenyl)-N- methylguanidine (28) is the most potent analog at α7 nAChRs. Our comparative study and Hansch analyses indicated different binding modes of the two series. In addition, we investigated: i) the length/size of the aliphatic side chain at the anilinic nitrogen, ii) the effect of alkylating the guanidine nitrogen atoms, and iii) the necessity of the presence of these nitrogen atoms for the inhibitory effects of arylguanidines at α7 nAChRs. In efforts to explain the varied functional activity of these arylguanidines, homology models of the extracellular domain and the transmembrane domain of human α7 nAChRs were developed, allosteric sites identified, and docking studies and hydropathic analysis conducted. The 3D quantitative structure-activity relationships for our compounds were also analyzed using CoMFA. A pharmacophore for arylguanidines as α7 nAChR NAMs was identified. Together, these data should be useful for the subsequent design of novel arylguanidine analogs for their potential treatment of neurological disorders

Effect of Tire Lug Height, Forward Speed and Cast Iron Ballast on Tractor Performance

The study was conducted at El Rahad Agricultural Scheme (Block 8( Sudan, during the period Feb.-May 1996 where the soil is a heavy cracking clay. The objective of the study was to improve the performance of the tractor when worn tires were used. The performance of the tractor, wheel slippage, fuel consumption and field capacity of the tractor were measured. Three levels of tire lug height were used, namely, 35 mm (new tire), 20 mm (medium worm tire) and zero mm (fully worn tire). Four levels of cast iron ballast were used, namely, zero, 63, 126 and 252 kg were distributed between rear tires. Moreover, three levels of tractor forward speed (5.6, 6.9 and 10.6 km/hr) were employed. The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in tractor performance when using worn tires through the use of cast iron ballast on the rear wheels. It was found that tires with zero mm lug height and 252 kg cast iron ballast decreased tractor wheel slippage and fuel consumption by34% and 18%, respectively, and increased tractor field capacity by 16.2 % Moreover, when tires with 20 mm lug height and 252 kg cast iron ballast were used, the slippage and fuel consumption were decreased by 41.7 % and 18.2%, respectively, and tractor field capacity was increased by 14.5%. The tractor with tires lug height of 35 mm and 252 kg cast iron ballast, decreased slippage and fuel consumption by 22% and 11.5%, respectively, and increased tractor field capacity by 13.5%

Inertial amplification of continuous structures: Large band gaps from small masses

Wave motion in a continuous elastic rod with a periodically attached inertial-amplification mechanism is investigated. The mechanism has properties similar to an "inerter" typically used in vehicle suspensions, however here it is constructed and utilized in a manner that alters the intrinsic properties of a continuous structure. The elastodynamic band structure of the hybrid rod-mechanism structure yields band gaps that are exceedingly wide and deep when compared to what can be obtained using standard local resonators, while still being low in frequency. With this concept, a large band gap may be realized with as much as twenty times less added mass compared to what is needed in a standard local resonator configuration. The emerging inertially enhanced continuous structure also exhibits unique qualitative features in its dispersion curves. These include the existence of a characteristic double-peak in the attenuation constant profile within gaps and the possibility of coalescence of two neighbouring gaps creating a large contiguous gap.Comment: Manuscript is under review for journal publicatio

Effects of Noise on Rabbit’s Blood

Experiments are described in which domestic rabbits were deliberately subjected to a daily 3-4 hours noise regime (65 dB) for 18, 28, 40 and 50 days, to determine its effects on the blood. Noise exposure to rabbits caused a general increase in its biochemical parameters such as urea, uric acid, creatinine, cholesterol, and triglycerides, while glucose level decreased significantly. Our results indicate a general decrease of total protein, albumin and globulin levels. The results indicated that noise exposure at split dose could be harmful. It found that recovery period were able to alleviate some of those harmful changes