Project Scheduling: Survey and Research Potentials

Abstract: project scheduling is very critical topic in project management. Resource constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) consists of activities that must be scheduled based on dependencies relationships and priorities of activities. In the recent years there have been many survey papers around the area of project scheduling, as many researchers developed both exact and heuristic scheduling schemes. This paper give an over view around the resource constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP)

Assessment of Emissions from Cement Plants Using AERMOD Modeling

Coal combustion generates many gases and emissions which are harmful to public health and the environment. So, it is necessary to assess the health risks for the people living in the nearby cement plants that use coal as a fuel. In this article, a health risk assessment HRA was carried out concerning the air emissions from a cement plant in the heavy industry area located at Beni Suef governorate - Egypt. The article handles the assessment of the health risks for pollutants classified as non-carcinogenic i.e. sulfur dioxide - mercury and the health risks for pollutants classified as carcinogenic i.e. arsenic – chromium VI. An Air dispersion modeling program AERMOD is used to measure and evaluate long and short terms health impacts to expect the concentration of pollutants at the ground level within 30 km radius of the studied cement plant. The emissions measurements findings are used as input to the model in addition to some factors such as meteorology and surrounding terrain. Consequently, the program can implement simulations for the emissions concentration level of the mentioned pollutants and their effects on the population at Jazirat Abu Salih village, which is 10 km far from the studied cement plant. The results for mentioned pollutants concentrations levels matched with acceptance and safe levels of ambient air quality standards. In addition, the increment lifetime cancer risk ILCR by inhalation was calculated for arsenic and chromium and all results conformed with the safe and accepted limits

Clinical characteristics and precipitating factor(s) associated with diabetic ketoacidosis presentation in children with newly diagnosed diabetes

Background. To compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of children with newly clinically diagnosed type 1 diabetes (T1DM) who presented with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) versus non DKA presentation and to identify the precipitating factor(s) related to progression to DKA. Methods. Over a 3 month period, 99 patients newly diagnosed with T1DM were recruited from Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism Pediatric Unit (DEMPU), Cairo University, with 53 patients presented with DKA and 46 were non DKA. Results. Polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, polyphagia and nocturia were the most common symptoms preceding the diagnosis among the whole study group (93.8%, 92% and 80.8%, 76.8%, 46.5 % respectively) with no difference between DKA and non DKA groups. Delayed diagnosis occurred in 98.1% and 58.7% of DKA and non DKA groups respectively. In the DKA group the diagnosis of diabetes was missed in 69.8% and in 28.3% the initiation of insulin therapy was delayed despite diagnosis. Multivariate analysis performed to identify the most significant precipitating factor(s) associated with the development of DKA at diabetes diagnosis showed that delayed start of insulin therapy was the most significant factor (OR = 1.267, P value = 0.023). Conclusion. The prevalence of DKA is high among Egyptianchildren at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. It is not only caused by misdiagnosis and mismanagement of diabetes, but also delayed initiation of insulin therapy in those diagnosed. This highlights the importance of increasing awareness concerning clinical features of diabetes in children and the urgency of insulin therapy among primary health care professionals and the community

Phenotypic identification and antifungal susceptibility patterns of Candida species isolated from various clinical specimens in Suez Canal University Hospitals

Background:  Candida is the most common cause of fungal infections. Candida species are identified by different phenotypic methods. Accurate identification of Candida species enables appropriate selection of antifungal agents by clinicians. Azoles are the most frequently used antifungal drugs to treat Candida infections. However, resistance among previously susceptible Candida species has emerged which made antifungal susceptibility testing crucial. Aim: This study aimed to phenotypically identify the different Candida species isolated from various clinical specimens in Suez Canal University Hospitals (SCUHs), and to assess their antifungal susceptibility patterns. Method: One hundred and five clinical specimens were collected from different departments in SCUHs. Isolates were identified as Candida by colony morphology on Sabouraud dextrose agar and Gram staining. Candida species were phenotypically identified using germ tube test, hypertonic Sabouraud broth, corn meal agar, chromogenic Candida agar, KB006 HiCandida Identification Kit and Vitek 2 YST-ID system. Antifungal susceptibility to fluconazole, voriconazole and amphotericin B was done by disk diffusion method. Results: Prevalence of Candida was 54.3%. C. tropicalis was the most common species followed by C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and lastly C. kefyr. Only one strain was resistant to amphotericin B. Eight strains were susceptible dose dependent, and 2 were resistant to fluconazole. No resistance was detected to voriconazole. Conclusions: The prevalence of candidiasis is remarkable. Non-albicans Candida species (NACs) cause most of these infections. Fluconazole and amphotericin B showed low resistance rates. No resistance to voriconazole was reported in this study. Therefore, voriconazole could be more effective as empirical therapy than fluconazole and amphotericin B. Accurate identification of Candida species is essential for therapeutic and prognostic impact, appropriate selection of antifungal agents by clinicians and controlling the increase of resistant Candida strains

On the Matrix Method Algorithm of Doubly Heavy Meson to Calculate Masses Spectra

This work is devoted to propose a new solution to Schro ̈dinger equation into a representation of the kinetic energy operator on a discrete lattice. The matrix method is illustrated by studying stability of some heavy charm mass spectra. Theoretical calculations are in good agreements with newly published experimental data