Agent-based modeling and simulation to assess flood preparedness and recovery of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises

Severe flooding has caused major damage and disruption to households, communities, businesses, and organizations in many parts of the world. In the United Kingdom (UK), flooding has been responsible for significant losses to the economy due to its impact on businesses, 99.9% of which are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This paper reports on how agent-based modeling and simulation has been developed and used to assess the effectiveness of a range of physical/structural and social preparedness adaptation measures that can be implemented by manufacturing SMEs to reduce the impact of and expedite recovery from a major flood event. Results indicate the effectiveness of combinations of these adaptation measures in relation to a one in 1000 year flood event that has been modeled and simulated in a key industrial area of the UK which, in addition to having experienced severe flooding, has a high concentration of SMEs

Vortex fluidic mediated synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticle/MXene composites

Oxidation of MXene in a vortex fluidic device (VFD) operating under continuous flow results in exfoliation and fragmentation into nanoparticles of surface oxidised 2D material with further oxidation of the nanoparticles into anatase (TiO 2 ). These MXene and anatase nanoparticles co‐assemble into stable micron sized spheres which are topologically smooth, decorating the surface of exfoliated MXene. The formation of this composite material in the dynamic thin film in the VFD was optimised by systematically exploring the operating parameters of the microfluidic platform, determined at 45 o tilt angle for the 20 mm diamater glass tube spinning at 5k rpm, with a flow rate of a colloidal dispersion of MXene in aqueous H 2 O 2 (30%) at 0.75 mL/min, concentration of MXene 0.5 mg/mL

RF Structures for Linac4

Linac4 is proposed to replace the existing proton linac at CERN (Linac2). Using an increased injection energy of 160 MeV instead of 50 MeV, Linac4 is expected to double the beam intensity in the PS Booster (PSB) and will thus be the first step towards higher brightness beams in the LHC. In this paper we re-assess the choice of RF structures for Linac4. Different accelerating structures for different energy ranges are compared in terms of RF efficiency, ease of construction and alignment, and necessary infrastructure. Eventually we present the final choice for Linac4

Research priorities for prehospital care of older patients with injuries: scoping review

Background and objective There is increasing recognition of the importance of prehospital trauma care for older patients, but little systematic research to guide practice. We aimed to review the published evidence on prehospital trauma care for older patients, determine the scope of existing research and identify research gaps in the literature. Methods We undertook a systematic scoping review guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework and reported in line with the PRISMA-ScR checklist. A systematic search was conducted of Scopus, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed and Cochrane library databases to identify articles published between 2001 and 2021. Study selection criteria were applied independently by two reviewers. Data were extracted, charted and summarised from eligible articles. A data-charting form was then developed to facilitate thematic analysis. Narrative synthesis then involved identifying major themes and subthemes from the data. Results We identified and reviewed 65 studies, and included 25. We identified five categories: ‘field triage’, ‘ageing impacts’, ‘decision-making’, ‘paramedic’ awareness’ and ‘paramedic’s behaviour’. Undertriage and overtriage (sensitivity and specificity) were commonly cited as poorly investigated field-triage subthemes. Ageing-related physiologic changes, comorbidities and polypharmacy were the most widely researched. Inaccurate decision-making and poor early identification of major injuries were identified as potentially influencing patient outcomes. Conclusion This is the first study reviewing the published evidence on prehospital trauma care for older patients and identifying research priorities for future research. Field-triage tools, paramedics’ knowledge about injuries in the older population, and understanding of paramedics’ negative behaviours towards older patients were identified as key research priorities

Perception and satisfaction of stakeholders regarding the patient care area pharmacist initiative in a military hospital in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To explore the perceptions and satisfaction of stakeholders (physicians, nurses, and pharmacists) regarding services provided by the patient care area pharmacist (PCAP) initiative. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC). The questionnaire was hand-delivered to a random sample of stakeholder groups (including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists) in three different areas of the hospital: the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), high dependency unit (HDU), and pediatric nephrology. The questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first section collected demographic information of the participants, and the other sections collected anonymous opinions regarding services provided by the PCAP. Results: Ninety-nine participants, comprising physicians (n = 27; 27.27 %), nurses (n = 55; 55.55%), inpatient pharmacists (n = 13; 13.13%), and PCAPs (n = 4; 4.04%), participated in the survey. A majority of the respondents (92.3 %) were satisfied with the PCAP services, and all respondents recommended expansion of the PCAP service to cover all wards. Conclusion: The findings show that all participants have a positive perception of the PCAP service; PCAPs were seen by the participants as drug experts, and their recommendations were perceived as clinically relevant. All stakeholders sought to continue working with the PCAP. Keywords: Patient care, PCAP, Attitude, Satisfaction, Pharmac

Mutual Relationships: Saudi Universities and The Private Sector for Economic Development

The purpose of this research is to determine the level of the mutual relationship between Saudi universities and the private sector to achieve Economic development in light of the Kingdoms 2030 vision. The researcher relied heavily on the questionnaire as the primary instrument for data collection for the study, employing a descriptive research design and a quantitative methodology in order to accomplish the goals of the study. The investigation was carried out with a sample size of 180 universities leaders in the southern region of Saudi Arabia, all of them were chosen at random. The findings of this study indicated that leaders had high expectations for a mutual relationship between Saudi universities and the private sector. In addition, the findings demonstrated that there are no statistically significant variations in the mutual relationship between Saudi universities and the private sector with regard to the variables of academic rank, and years of experience

NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance

Oral cancer is a major public health burden worldwide. The lack of biomarkers for early diagnosis has increased the difficulty in managing this disease. Recent studies have reported that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a secreted glycoprotein, is upregulated in various tumors. In our study, we found that NGAL was significantly downregulated in primary malignant and metastatic tissues of oral cancer in comparison to normal tissues. The downregulation of NGAL was strongly correlated with both degree of differentiation and stage (I–IV); it can also serve as a prognostic biomarker for oral cancer. Additionally, tobacco carcinogens were found to be involved in the downregulation of NGAL. Mechanistic studies revealed that knockdown of NGAL increased oral cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration; it also induced resistance against cisplatin. Silencing of NGAL activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)signaling and reduced autophagy by the liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-p53-Redd1 signaling axis. Moreover, cyclin-D1, Bcl-2, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were upregulated, and caspase-9 was downregulated, suggesting that silencing of NGAL increases oral cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Thus, from our study, it is evident that downregulation of NGAL activates the mTOR pathway and helps in the progression of oral cancer

Retinal image enhancement via a multiscale morphological approach with OCCO filter.

Retinal images are widely used for diagnosis and eye disease detection. However, due to the acquisition process, retinal images often have problems such as low contrast, blurry details or artifacts. These problems may severely affect the diagnosis. Therefore, it is very impor tant to enhance the visual quality of such images. Contrast enhancement is a pre-processing applied to images to improve their visual quality. This technique betters the identification of retinal structures in degraded reti nal images. In this work, a novel algorithm based on multi-scale mathe matical morphology is presented. First, the original image is blurred us ing the Open-Close Close-Open (OCCO) filter to reduce any artifacts in the image. Next, multiple bright and dark features are extracted from the filtered image by the Top-Hat transform. Finally, the maximum bright values are added to the original image and the maximum dark values are subtracted from the original image, previously adjusted by a weight. The algorithm was tested on 397 retinal images from the public STARE database. The proposed algorithm was compared with state of the art al gorithms and results show that the proposal is more efficient in improving contrast, maintaining similarity with the original image and introducing less distortion than the other algorithms. According to ophthalmologists, the algorithm, by improving retinal images, provides greater clarity in the blood vessels of the retina and would facilitate the identification of pathologies.CONACYT - Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y TecnologíaPROCIENCI

Bactericidal activity of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles against human pathogenic bacteria

Green synthesis is an attractive and eco-friendly approach to generate potent antibacterial silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). Such particles have long been used to fight bacteria and represent a promising tool to overcome the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this study, green synthesis of Ag-NPs was attempted using plant extracts of Aloe vera, Portulaca oleracea and Cynodon dactylon. The identity and size of Ag-NPs was characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscopy. Monodispersed Ag-NPs were produced with a range of different sizes based on the plant extract used. The bactericidal activity of Ag-NPs against a number of human pathogenic bacteria was determined using the disc diffusion method. The results showed that Gram positive bacteria were more susceptible than Gram negative ones to these antibacterial agents. The minimum inhibitory concentration was determined using the 96-well plate method. Finally, the mechanism by which Ag-NPs affect bacteria was investigated by SEM analysis. Bacteria treated with Ag-NPs were seen to undergo shrinkage and to lose their viability. This study provides evidence for a cheap and effective method for synthesizing potent bactericidal Ag-NPs and demonstrates their effectiveness against human pathogenic bacteria