82 research outputs found

    Flow Stress and Microstructure Evolution During Hot Forging of AA6099

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    Hot forgoing processes are used for plastic deformation of metals at temperatures above the material recrystallization temperature. In this process metal ingots are converted into complex shapes by applying stresses above the yield stress of the deformed material on pre-heated metals in a short period of time. Hot forging process provides products with high strength due to grains refinement and absence of porosity. In the recent years, the demand of aluminum forged products has increased comparing with the cast products, largely in the automotive industry. Many materials characteristics such as: good mechanical properties, low weight, good corrosion resistance, low forging pressure and an ability to be forged into complex shapes make forged aluminum alloys favorable in automotive industry. [1] Because of that, a good understanding of the hot deformation behavior and microstructural evolution are important in a design of the optimized hot forging processes.The objective of this research is to determine the flow stress behavior and microstructure evolution of newly developed aluminum alloy AA 6099 used in the closed die forging process for truck automotive wheels. As a part of physical process simulation Gleeble hot compression tests were performed at strain rates of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 s-1 and temperatures of 350, 400, 450 and 500 ˚C up to a strain of 0.8. The flow stress value is dependent on the deformation temperature, strain, and strain rate and the test parameters were selected in such a way to simulate industrial conditions. The flow stress decreases with increasing deformation temperature and/or decreasing the strain rate. Light Optical Microscopy (LOM), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and microhardness investigations were performed on the hot deformed samples. They revealed that material softening is a result of dynamic recovery and/or partial dynamic recrystallization at temperature of 350 ºC. Also, after solution heat treatment of the hot deformed samples, there was some evidence of static recrystallization and grain growth

    Sexual Dimorphism in Third Molar Agenesis in Humans with and without Agenesis of Other Teeth.

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    Sexual dimorphism in the human dentition is of interest from a developmental, evolutionary, and clinical point of view. Here, we investigated sexual dimorphism in third molar agenesis patterns and severity in non-syndromic white European individuals with (group A: 303 individuals) and without agenesis (group B: 303 individuals) of teeth other than the third molars. There was no sexual dimorphism in the patterns or the severity of third molar agenesis within groups. Both sexes showed a higher number of third molar agenesis per individual in group A than in group B. The most common third molar agenesis pattern was that of no third molars. For both females and males, bilateral third molar agenesis was approximately three times more frequent in group A than in group B (p < 0.001), whereas no difference was detected for unilateral agenesis. These findings indicate a strong genetic control of the developmental process of tooth formation, with any disruptions affecting both sexes in a similar manner. Overall, the higher vulnerability of third molar formation could be associated with the evolutionary trend in humans towards a reduced number of molar teeth, which seems to show no sex-related differences

    Central nervous system: overall considerations based on hardware realization of digital spiking silicon neurons (dssns) and synaptic coupling

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    The Central Nervous System (CNS) is the part of the nervous system including the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and influences the activity of different sections of the bodies. The basic elements of this important organ are: neurons, synapses, and glias. Neuronal modeling approach and hardware realization design for the nervous system of the brain is an important issue in the case of reproducing the same biological neuronal behaviors. This work applies a quadratic-based modeling called Digital Spiking Silicon Neuron (DSSN) to propose a modified version of the neuronal model which is capable of imitating the basic behaviors of the original model. The proposed neuron is modeled based on the primary hyperbolic functions, which can be realized in high correlation state with the main model (original one). Really, if the high-cost terms of the original model, and its functions were removed, a low-error and high-performance (in case of frequency and speed-up) new model will be extracted compared to the original model. For testing and validating the new model in hardware state, Xilinx Spartan-3 FPGA board has been considered and used. Hardware results show the high-degree of similarity between the original and proposed models (in terms of neuronal behaviors) and also higher frequency and low-cost condition have been achieved. The implementation results show that the overall saving is more than other papers and also the original model. Moreover, frequency of the proposed neuronal model is about 168 MHz, which is significantly higher than the original model frequency, 63 MHz

    Knowledge about anesthesia and the role of anesthesiologists among Jeddah citizens

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    Background: The anesthesiologist has a vital role in the operating theatres. Awareness of the role of the anesthesiologist and the types of anesthesia is essential for every person. This study was made to estimate how much information the general population have about the anesthesiologist and the different types of anesthesia.Methods: This research was a cross sectional non-interventional study. The research team conducted a questionnaire in which each participant in the study was interviewed by the research team. The sample size was 159 participants.Results: From the participants,99 (62.2%) recognized the anesthesiologist as a specialized doctor who administers the anesthetics,62 (38.9%) know that the anesthesiologist has a role in resuscitating the patient with the team if crises occurred. However, 85 (53.4%) believe that the surgeon has the responsibility of postoperative pain management. Physicians were the source of knowledge for most participant’s information.Conclusions: A reasonable percentage of people appreciated the role of the anesthesiologist in administrating the anesthesia, however there is a lack of information about the role of the anesthesiologist intra and postoperatively. The need for more education for people about anesthesia is essential as the amount of information about anesthesia in general is rather low

    A retrospective study of Malaria and its effect on Hematological indices in a hospital in Jizan, Saudi Arabia

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    Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality with a major public health importance. Nearly half of the world population is at risk of malaria. In Saudi Arabia, a series of malaria outbreaks occurred in Jizan area and vigorous action was taken by the Saudi Ministry of Health to control malaria in this area. This study aimed at investigating the incidence of malaria Jizan area in 2014 and the effect of malarial infection on several hematological indices. Data were retrospectively collected for the year 2014 from Samtah General Hospital for all malaria positive cases. A total of 44 patients results were obtained for those who were diagnosed as positive for malaria together with their hematological indices and demographic data. A total of 3674 cases were suspected of malaria and only 44 cases were positive. The highest peaks of malaria cases were seen during the months of March and December. A statistically significant reduction in the WBC and Platelet count was observed in malaria positive cases. This study suggests that the malaria control in Jizan area be continued. Providing highly qualified lab personnel and microscopist in the area is very beneficial in order to achieve the malaria eradication goal

    MACHINE LEARNING APPLICATION FOR OPTIMIZING ASYMMETRICAL REDUCTION OF ACETOPHENONE EMPLOYING COMPLETE CELL OF LACTOBACILLUS SENMAIZUKE AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY APPROACH

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    Recently, optimization of the bioreduction reactions by optimization methodologies has gained special interest as these reactions are affected by several extrinsic factors that should be optimized for higher yields. An important example for these kinds of reactions is the complete cell implications for the bioreduction of prochiral ketones in which the culture parameters play crucial roles. Such biocatalysts provide environmentally friendly and clean methodology to perform reactions under mild conditions with high conversion rates. In the present work, at the first step the Lactobacillus senmaizuke was isolated from sourdough and the complete cell application of Lactobacillus senmaizuke for the bioreduction of acetophenone was optimized by an Artificial Neural networks (ANNs) to achieve the highest enantiomeric excess (EE, %). The culture parameters, pH, temperature, incubation period and agitation speed were the experimental factors that were optimized to maximize EE (%) by machine learning algorithm of Artificial Intelligence modeling and the best conditions to maximize EE (95.5 %) were calculated to be pH of 5.7, temperature of 35 ºC, incubation period of 76 h and agitation speed of 240 rpm with very low sum of squared error value (0.611236 %) to bioreduce acetophenone using complete cell of Lactobacillus senmaizuke as a sourdough isolate GRAS microbial species. Accordingly, The ANN was employed to correctly establish the enantiomeric excess values of the specimen with an average absolute error 0.080739 %.This work was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under grant No. (135 -197 - D1439)

    A multi-country study on the impact of sex and age on oral features of COVID-19 infection in adolescents and young adults

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    Background: Oral diseases are features of COVID-19 infection. There is, however, little known about oral diseases associated with COVID-19 in adolescents and young adults (AYA). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess oral lesions’ association with COVID-19 infection in AYA; and to identify if sex and age will modify these associations. Methodology: Data was collected for this cross-sectional study between August 2020 and January 2021 from 11-to-23 years old participants in 43-countries using an electronic validated questionnaire developed in five languages. Data collected included information on the dependent variables (the presence of oral conditions- gingival inflammation, dry mouth, change in taste and oral ulcers), independent variable (COVID-19 infection) and confounders (age, sex, history of medical problems and parents’ educational level). Multilevel binary logistic regression was used for analysis. Results: Complete data were available for 7164 AYA, with 7.5% reporting a history of COVID-19 infection. A significantly higher percentage of participants with a history of COVID-19 infection than those without COVID-19 infection reported having dry mouth (10.6% vs 7.3%, AOR = 1.31) and taste changes (11.1% vs 2.7%, AOR = 4.11). There was a significant effect modification in the association between COVID-19 infection and the presence of dry mouth and change in taste by age and sex (P = 0.02 and < 0.001). Conclusion: COVID-19 infection was associated with dry mouth and change in taste among AYA and the strength of this association differed by age and sex. These oral conditions may help serve as an index for suspicion of COVID-19 infection in AYA

    Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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    BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

    Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

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    Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication
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