ARCHITECT\u27S ROLE IN ENHANCING SOCIALLY SUSTAINABILE COMMUNITIES AND ITSREFLECTION ON ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION

As the world these days is moving steadily towards sustainability and creating a better global community and this vision is what exactly the new communities need to become distinct and attract residents, so to achieve this vision, there are a set of sustainable design principles, which must be dealt with to reach the desired goal creating a Sustainable Society depends on environmental, economic, social and urban principles in which this research discusses the role of the architects in creating a successful society by enhancing the social sustainability within the built environment. The Professional role of architects is a process of preservation and creation of a required quality of the built environment according to the community ,in which his responsibility is not limited on the health and safety of the community users but it extends to the effects of the architectural products on the environment and for enhancing the social sustainability, architects must integrate in the community development as citizens as well, for achieving a successful social sustainable community. The architectural education is the base that builds the architect’s abilities and capabilities to perform his role, in which the education should be reset to enforce the notions of architecture beyond the building, and architect as a cooperative interdisciplinary player rather than a singular actor

Design and implementation of a near maximum likelihood decoder for Cortex codes

International audienceThe Cortex codes form an emerging family among the rate-1/2 self-dual systematic linear block codes with good distance properties. This paper investigates the challenging issue of designing an efficient Maximum Likelihood (ML) decoder for Cortex codes. It first reviews a dedicated architecture that takes advantage of the particular structure of this code to simplify the decoding. Then, we propose a technique to improve the architecture by the generation of an optimal list of binary vectors. An optimal stopping criterion is also proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed architecture achieves an excellent performance/complexity trade-off for short Cortex codes. The proposed decoder architecture has been implemented on an FPGA device for the (24,12,8) Cortex code. This implementation supports an information throughput of 225 Mb/s. At a signal-tonoise ratio Eb/No=8 dB, the Bit Error Rate equals 2 × 10^−10, which is close to the performance of the Maximum Likelihood decoder

Timing of Pars Plana Vitrectomy in Management of Gunshot Perforating Eye Injury: Observational Study

The aim of this study is to report the difference in either anatomical or functional outcome of vitreoretinal intervention in cases of gunshot perforating eye injury if done 2–4 weeks or after the 4th week after the original trauma. Patients were treated with pars plana vitrectomy and silicon oil. Surgeries were performed in the period from February 2011 until the end of December 2014. 253 eyes of 237 patients were reviewed. 46 eyes were excluded. 207 eyes of 197 patients were analyzed. The included eyes were classified based on the timing of vitrectomy in relation to the initial trauma into two groups: 149 eyes (the first group) operated on between the 3rd and the 4th week and 58 eyes (the second group) operated on after the 4th week after the trauma. Following one surgical intervention, in the first group, attached retina was achieved in 93.28% of patients. In the second group, attached retina was achieved in 96.55% of patients. All RD cases could be attached by a second surgery. Visual acuity improved in 81.21% of patients, did not change in 15.43% of patients, and declined in 3.35% of patients. In the second group, visual acuity improved in 81.03% of patients, did not change in 12.06% of patients, and worsened in 6.89% of patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in either anatomical or functional results. We recommend interfering before the 5th week after the trauma as retinal detachment is encountered more in cases operated on after the 4th week. The visual outcome depends on the site of entry and exit (the route of gunshot)

Résection laparoscopique d’une duplication gastrique chez l’adulte: traitement avec succès pour une pathologie rare

Les duplications de l'appareil digestif sont les malformations congénitales rares qui peuvent toucher tout  l'appareil digestive depuis la bouche jusqu' à l'anus. Certaines duplications sont asymptomatiques et sont diagnostiqués dans la plupart des cas pendant l'enfance. La prise en charge de la duplication gastrique est essentiellement chirurgicale. Le traitement de choix est l'exérèse complète de la duplication gastrique. Les auteurs rapportent un cas inhabituel de duplication gastrique complètement reséquée par laparoscopie. A notre connaissance, ceci est le premier cas d'une duplication gastrique traitée avec succès par laparoscopie dans la littérature Tunisienne. La Résection laparoscopique peut être ajoutée à l'arsenal thérapeutique dans le traitement chirurgical de duplications du tube digestif.Key words: Duplication, estomac, diagnostic, endoscopi

Thyroid Hormone Indices in Computer Workers with Emphasis on the Role of Zinc Supplementation

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of computer monitor-emitted radiation on thyroid hormones and the possible protective role of zinc supplementation.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included three groups. The first group (group B) consisted of 42 computer workers. This group was given Zinc supplementation in the form of one tablet daily for eight weeks. The second group (group A) comprised the same 42 computer workers after zinc supplementation. A group of 63 subjects whose job does not entail computer use was recruited as a control Group (Group C). All participants filled a questionnaire including detailed medical and occupational histories. They were subjected to full clinical examination. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and zinc levels were measured in all participants. RESULTS: TSH, FT3, FT4 and zinc concentrations were decreased significantly in group B relative to group C. In group A, all tested parameters were improved when compared with group B. The obtained results revealed that radiation emitted from computers led to changes in TSH and thyroid hormones (FT3 and FT4) in the workers. CONCLUSION: Improvement after supplementation suggests that zinc can ameliorate hazards of such radiation on thyroid hormone indices

Effects of pomegranate juice supplementation on oxidative stress biomarkers following weightlifting exercise

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that pomegranate juice supplementation would blunt acute and delayed oxidative stress responses after a weightlifting training session. Nine elite weightlifters (21.0 ±1 years) performed two Olympic-Weightlifting sessions after ingesting either the placebo or pomegranate juice supplements. Venous blood samples were collected at rest and 3 min and 48 h after each session. Compared to the placebo condition, pomegranate juice supplementation attenuated the increase in malondialdehyde (-12.5%; p < 0.01) and enhanced the enzymatic (+8.6% for catalase and +6.8% for glutathione peroxidase; p < 0.05) and non-enzymatic (+12.6% for uric acid and +5.7% for total bilirubin; p < 0.01) antioxidant responses shortly (3 min) after completion of the training session. Additionally, during the 48 h recovery period, pomegranate juice supplementation accelerated (p < 0.05) the recovery kinetics of the malondialdehyde (5.6%) and the enzymatic antioxidant defenses compared to the placebo condition (9 to 10%). In conclusion, supplementation with pomegranate juice has the potential to attenuate oxidative stress by enhancing antioxidant responses assessed acutely and up to 48 h following an intensive weightlifting training session. Therefore, elite weightlifters might benefit from blunted oxidative stress responses following intensive weightlifting sessions, which could have implications for recovery between training sessions