Analysis of Above-Ground Steel Storage Tanks Resting Over Piles or Stone Columns

Static and dynamic behavior of above-ground steel storage oil tanks resting on end bearing piles or stone columns are studied and analyzed using ADINA (2019) program. The studied soil profile is an upper soft clay soil layer, followed by an extended dense sand layer. The main purpose of this research is to explore to what extent stone columns can be used as an effective alternative to concrete piles under steel storage tanks. Therefore, many three-dimensional numerical models are conducted to analyze and study the performance of such tanks in both static and dynamic cases. Ten of the studied cases are steel tanks resting over stone columns with different numbers and properties. On other hand, one model studied the behavior of steel tank resting on large diameter concrete piles. Results indicate that stone columns can be used instead of end bearing piles as long as the computed settlements are safe. In addition, stone columns are behaving better than concrete piles in decreasing of hoop stress in tank shell. It is also noticed that stone columns with high elastic modulus are effective in reducing the sloshing height of the oil surface during earthquakes

Influence of Trichoderma reesei or Saccharomyces cerevisiae on performance, ruminal fermentation, carcass characteristics and blood biochemistry of lambs fed Atriplex nummularia and Acacia saligna mixture

The mixtureof A.nummularia and A.saligna (1:1 DM)was autoclaved(TuttnauerUSACo.Ltd.,NY,USA)at121 °C and1.5psi for 15mintodestroyanymicrobes.Thecontentwasallowedto cool andlaterinoculatedwiththesporesof T.reesei at arateof 40 mLofthesporesuspensioncontaining107 spores permL/kg DM ofautoclaved A.nummularia and A.saligna mixture. Thein- oculatedsubstrateswerethenincubatedatambienttemperature for 10days.Bytheendoftheincubationperiod,theforageswere fullycoveredwiththefungus.Theywerethenovendriedat70 °C in aforcedairdryingoven(CascadeTEK’s ModelTFO-10,OR,USA) for 24hsoastostopfungalgrowthandpreventfurtherdena- turationofproteins.The aim of this study was to evaluate whole substitution of Egyptian berseem hay (Trifolium alexandrinum) with a mixture of Atriplex nummularia and Acacia saligna (1:1 DM) in the diet of Barki lambs for 70 days. Thirty six lambs (27.0±0.89 kg initial BW) were divided into four treatment groups of nine lambs each and fed: (1) the Control group with no substitution (70% concentrate mixture and 30% berseem hay, DM basis), (2) A. nummularia and A. saligna mixture without fungal treatment (treatment group AU), or (3) Trichoderma reesei treated A. nummularia and A. saligna mixture (treatment group AF), or (4) A. nummularia and A. saligna mixture supplemented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 0.5 g/kg DM of feed (treatment group AS) replaced 100% of berseem hay in the diet. Live-weight change, rumen fermentation parameters, blood chemistry, carcass characteristics and intestinal histology were investigated. Significant (P0.05). Lambs fed AF and AU diets had lower (P<0.05) feed conversion efficiency than lambs fed the AS and Control diets. Lambs fed AF and AS had increased (P<0.05) volatile fatty acid production compared to Controls. Blood albumin and urea concentrations increased (P<0.05) with lambs in AS treatment compared to lambs in the other treatments, while lambs fed AF had lower (P<0.05) cholesterol and glucose concentrations compared to the Controls. The AS lambs had the highest (P<0.05) dressing percentage. Decreased intramuscular fat weights were obtained with lambs fed halophytes compared to Control lambs. Histology of the ileum, sub mucosa and Peyer's patches were normal in all lambs. In conclusion, untreated halophyte mixtures of A. nummularia and A. saligna (at 1:1 DM) can be substituted for berseem hay without negative effects on performance while treatment with S. cerevisiae may improve performance and, like T. reesei, change certain biochemical responses

THE IMPACT OF RELIGIOUS TOURISTS’ SATISFACTION WITH HAJJ SERVICES ON THEIR EXPERIENCE AT THE SACRED PLACES IN SAUDI ARABIA

To identify the impact of satisfaction with the provided services (food quality, transportation, accommodation, medical services and the religious guidance) on the spiritual experience of religious tourists, as well as the potential moderating role of pilgrims’ demographic characteristics on the relationship between service satisfaction and experience. A structured survey was distributed among the domestic pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia who performed Hajj under the control of three licensed agencies. Results showed that the satisfaction with transportation services and religious guidance were independent antecedent predictors of the spiritual experience. Furthermore, pilgrims’ age had significantly moderated the relationship between satisfaction with medical services and experience. National authorities can effectively improve the spiritual experience by providing comfortable means of transportation and reliable religious scholars to guide the pilgrims at different sacred destinations

Digestion, growth performance and caecal fermentation in growing rabbits fed diets containing foliage of browse trees

Feeding foliage from browse trees and shrubs may be of importance in animal production because these resources do not compete with human food and can provide significant amounts of nutrients. Rabbit is increasingly becoming an important meat source and its production is recommended in countries that are experiencing meat shortages, as it presents the best productive advantages to bridge the protein deficiency gap (Abdel-Aziz et al., 2015).This study aimed to evaluate the effect of feeding dried foliage (leaves and petioles) of Acacia saligna, Leucaena leucocephala or Moringa oleifera on the performance, digestibility, N utilisation, caecal fermentation and microbial profiles in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. One hundred weaned male NZW rabbits weighing 819.2±16.6 g and aged 35±1 d were randomly allocated into 4 groups of 25 rabbits each. Rabbits were fed on pelleted diets containing 70% concentrate mixture and 30% Egyptian berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) hay (Control diet) or one of the other 3 experimental diets, where 50% of berseem hay was replaced with A. saligna (AS), L. leucocephala (LL) or M. oleifera (MO). Compared to Control diet, decreases in dry matter (DM; P=0.004), organic matter (P=0.028), crude protein (CP; P=0.001), neutral detergent fibre (P=0.033) and acid detergent fibre (P=0.011) digestibility were observed with the AS diet. However, DM and CP digestibility were increased by 3% with the MO diet, and N utilisation was decreased (P<0.05) with AS. Rabbits fed AS and LL diets showed decreased (P=0.001) average daily gain by 39 and 7%, respectively vs. Control. Feed conversion was similar in Control and MO rabbits, whereas rabbits fed AS diet ate up to 45% more feed (P=0.002) than Control rabbits to gain one kg of body weight. Caecal ammonia-N was increased (P=0.002) with LL, while acetic acid was decreased (P=0.001) with AS diet vs. other treatments. Caecal E. coli and Lactobacillus spp. bacteria counts were decreased with MO by about 44 and 51%, respectively, vs. Control. In conclusion, under the study conditions, tree foliage from M. oleifera and L. leucocephala are suitable fibrous ingredients to be included up to 150 g/kg in the diets of growing rabbits, and can safely replace 50% of berseem hay in diets of NZW rabbits without any adverse effect on their growth performance. Foliage from M. oleifera had a better potential as a feed for rabbits than that from L. leucocephala. Although foliage from A. saliga may be also used at 150 g/kg in the diets of growing rabbits, this level of inclusion may result in reduced feed digestibility and growth performance

The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility evaluation of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants

The current study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls, and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants. The fresh green almond hulls (GAH) and leaves (GAL) were harvested and spread under a shade to dry. Dry almond leaves (DAL) were collected from under the trees where as dry almond hulls (DAH) were collected 4 weeks after harvesting the fresh samples. The chemical composition of substrates was determined using standard approaches and the metabolisable energy (ME), in vitro dry matter (DMD) and in vitro organic matter (OMD) digestibility were measured using the in vitro gas production (GP) technique. The GAL contained 81 g crude protein (CP) kg-1 DM while DAH contained 103 g CP kg-1 DM. The CP was higher (P = 0.0003) in dry (leaves and hulls) than in green (leaves and hulls) samples. The ash content ranged from 99.2 to 181.5 g kg-1 DM in DAH and DAL, respectively, (P = 0.0041). The ether extract content ranged from 27 for DAH to 65 g kg-1 for DAL (P = 0.0018). The acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre content ranged from 185 to 304 and 444 to 620 g kg-1 DM (P = 0.04), for GAL and DAH, respectively. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) GP24 and GP96. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) potential GP (i.e., b), while the GP rate was highest for GAL and GAH (P = 0.034), ME was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001), and in vitro OMD was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001). The highest DMD (P = 0.0001) values were obtained with DAH followed by GAL, DAL and GAH, respectively. It can be concluded that almond hulls and leaves have a good nutritional potential to cover the maintenance nutrient requirements of small ruminants. Almond hulls and leaves can also be used as supplement to low quality mature pasture and/or crop residues. However, more studies are warranted to better characterize these feeds in in vivo animal feeding trials

The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility evaluation of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants

Almond, (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus) is a species belonging to the Rosaceae family (Sfahlan et al. 2009). The state of California in the USA is the major producer of almond; however, its production is widely distributed (Wijerante et al. 2006) and there is increasing interest to produce almond and its by-products worldwide. Approximately 2,112,815 metric ton of almonds with shell is produced globally with Iran contributing about 110,000 metric ton (FAO 2007). Almond is a midsize tree with fruit that can grow up to ten meters tall (Chen et al. 2010). The fruit is made of hulls, shell and kernel. Drying almond hulls results in approximately (kg-1 DM) 250 g nut, 500 g hulls and 250 g shell (Aguilar et al. 1984; Fadel 1999).The current study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls, and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants. The fresh green almond hulls (GAH) and leaves (GAL) were harvested and spread under a shade to dry. Dry almond leaves (DAL) were collected from under the trees where as dry almond hulls (DAH) were collected 4 weeks after harvesting the fresh samples. The chemical composition of substrates was determined using standard approaches and the metabolisable energy (ME), in vitro dry matter (DMD) and in vitro organic matter (OMD) digestibility were measured using the in vitro gas production (GP) technique. The GAL contained 81 g crude protein (CP) kg-1 DM while DAH contained 103 g CP kg-1 DM. The CP was higher (P = 0.0003) in dry (leaves and hulls) than in green (leaves and hulls) samples. The ash content ranged from 99.2 to 181.5 g kg-1 DM in DAH and DAL, respectively, (P = 0.0041). The ether extract content ranged from 27 for DAH to 65 g kg-1 for DAL (P = 0.0018). The acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre content ranged from 185 to 304 and 444 to 620 g kg-1 DM (P = 0.04), for GAL and DAH, respectively. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) GP24 and GP96. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) potential GP (i.e., b), while the GP rate was highest for GAL and GAH (P = 0.034), ME was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001), and in vitro OMD was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001). The highest DMD (P = 0.0001) values were obtained with DAH followed by GAL, DAL and GAH, respectively. It can be concluded that almond hulls and leaves have a good nutritional potential to cover the maintenance nutrient requirements of small ruminants. Almond hulls and leaves can also be used as supplement to low quality mature pasture and/or crop residues. However, more studies are warranted to better characterize these feeds in in vivo animal feeding trials

Effect of inorganic ions on pyrite catalyzed Fenton reaction

© 2018, Avestia Publishing. Industrial wastewaters contain not only organic pollutants but also considerable amounts of inorganic ions that may affect the efficiency of wastewater remediation processes. Thus, it is important to study the influence of such ions in the respective chemical reactions. Here we performed Fenton reactions for the decolourization of Rhodamine B dye using the naturally occurring mineral pyrite (FeS2) as heterogeneous catalyst in presence of different inorganic ions that are typically present in wastewater. Additionally, the effect of milling time of the pyrite powder on the performance of the heterogeneous Fenton reaction has also been investigated

Sickle Cell Illness Awareness among the General Public

Background: Lifelong ickle cell disease (SCD), a group of inherited blood disorders, afflicts millions of individuals. Sickle cell disease (SCD), with a global prevalence of 112 cases per 100,000 individuals, frequently gives rise to this condition. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) exhibits a high prevalence in various regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, India, South and Central America, as well as the Mediterranean. We conducted a study in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia to assess the level of public knowledge and awareness of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Methods: The present study employed a cross-sectional observational design, encompassing a sample of 386 individuals residing in Tabuk, who were over the age of 18 and represented both genders and various nationalities. Demographic data and sickle cell disease awareness were obtained through the utilization of a structured questionnaire that was developed from previous research. Results: The present study included a total of 386 adults residing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, who satisfied the predetermined inclusion criteria. Among the participants, 47.4% fell between the age range of 18 to 25 years. The majority of participants had a satisfactory level of knowledge, with 24.1% of individuals aged 18-25, 10.1% of those aged 26-35, 7.3% and 6.55% of individuals aged 36-45, and a significant proportion of participants aged over 45. Conclusion: The survey participants demonstrated a satisfactory degree of understanding on the prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).&nbsp

Intestinal parasitic infections among expatriate workers in various occupations in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Intestinal parasitic infections are prevalent throughout many countries. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite carriers among 21,347 expatriate workers, including food handlers and housemaids attending the public health center laboratory in Sharjah, UAE. Stool sample collection was performed throughout the period between January and December 2013. All samples were examined microscopically. Demographic data were also obtained and analyzed. Intestinal parasites were found in 3.3% (708/21,347) of the studied samples (single and multiple infections). Among positive samples, six hundred and eighty-three samples (96.5%) were positive for a single parasite: Giardia lamblia (257; 36.3%) and Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar (220; 31.1%), respectively, whereas mono-infections with helminths accounted for 206 (29.1%) of the samples. Infection rates with single worms were: Ascaris lumbricoides (84; 11.9%), Hookworm (34; 4.8%), Trichuris trichiura (33; 4.7%), Taenia spp. (27; 3.81%), Strongyloides stercoralis (13; 1.8%), Hymenolepis nana (13; 1.8%), and Enterobius vermicularis (2; 0.28%), respectively. Infections were significantly associated with gender (x2 = 14.18; p = 0.002) with males as the most commonly infected with both groups of intestinal parasites (protozoa and helminths). A strong statistical association was noted correlating the parasite occurrence with certain nationalities (x2= 49.5,

Dapagliflozin effects on hospitalization for heart failure reduction, and major adverse cardiovascular events

BackgroundUntil recently, there are no available preventive measures for macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). Sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitors (SGLT-2i) are a relatively new class of medications with cardio-renal protection. However, it is unknown, whether this is a class effect. Also, the exact mechanisms of action are not fully understood.AimsThe current review aimed to assess dapagliflozin effects on the major cardiovascular adverse events (MACE) and heart failure hospitalization rate (HHF) and its mechanisms of action.Methods The Pub Med, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar databases were systematically searched for relevant articles. Articles published in the English language from the first available article up to November 2019 were approached. The terms dapagliflozin, SGLT-2i, MACE, HHF, and mechanisms of action were used with proteans AND or OR. Out of two hundred-ten articles retrieved, only twenty-nine fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria.Results Dapagliflozin reduced HHF, all-cause mortality, bumetanide induced hyperuricemia, and interstitial fluid volume with a lower rate of diuretic use. Possible mechanisms of action were: a reduction of oxidative stress, lowering of cardiac hexosamine biosynthetic pathway activation, reduced cytosolic sodium and calcium, and increased serum magnesium. Dapagliflozin effects on MACE are mixed. The above effects seem to be a class character across various population including normal people without diabetes with no differences across gender.ConclusionDapagliflozin reduced HHF (superior to empagliflozin) and all-cause mortality. The drug acts at cellular levels and not simple diuresis and haemoconcentration