Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0122
D. AL-Khater, Menatallah Rayan, Myriam Eljaam, Mohammed Issam Diab, D. Stewart, A. El-Awaisi
Objective: Leadership is an essential part of student’s learning experience in the college. The main aim of this study is to determine and explore QU health student’s perspectives and experiences toward leadership. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the academic year 2021. A web-based questionnaire was circulated to 1352 QU health students. Participants were asked to complete a 5-point Likert scale developed using theoretical domains framework (TDF) to identify their perception and behavioral determinants about leadership. They were also asked to rank the importance of personal, interpersonal capabilities, and markers of success of leadership. Participants were asked to answer open- ended questions to determine the training and support needed for leadership. Results: In total, 179 complete responses were collected. About (43.6%) of students strongly agreed that it is crucial for healthcare students to be involved in leadership. Most students agreed that they are capable of carrying leadership responsibilities. Around 71.4% of leaders in QU health perceived that teaching quality improvement as very important to extremely important marker of leader’s success. Students identified that negotiation and communication are important skills for leadership. Conclusion: Our study suggests that QU health students perceive leadership as positive and important experience of college life and show high interest for training programs and workshops for student leaders.
{"title":"Exploring QU health students’ behavioral determinants, perspectives, and experiences toward student leadership: A quantitative study","authors":"D. AL-Khater, Menatallah Rayan, Myriam Eljaam, Mohammed Issam Diab, D. Stewart, A. El-Awaisi","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0122","url":null,"abstract":"Objective: Leadership is an essential part of student’s learning experience in the college. The main aim of this study is to determine and explore QU health student’s perspectives and experiences toward leadership. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the academic year 2021. A web-based questionnaire was circulated to 1352 QU health students. Participants were asked to complete a 5-point Likert scale developed using theoretical domains framework (TDF) to identify their perception and behavioral determinants about leadership. They were also asked to rank the importance of personal, interpersonal capabilities, and markers of success of leadership. Participants were asked to answer open- ended questions to determine the training and support needed for leadership. Results: In total, 179 complete responses were collected. About (43.6%) of students strongly agreed that it is crucial for healthcare students to be involved in leadership. Most students agreed that they are capable of carrying leadership responsibilities. Around 71.4% of leaders in QU health perceived that teaching quality improvement as very important to extremely important marker of leader’s success. Students identified that negotiation and communication are important skills for leadership. Conclusion: Our study suggests that QU health students perceive leadership as positive and important experience of college life and show high interest for training programs and workshops for student leaders.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76682083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0069
U. Hafsa, Sifani Zavahir, Tasneem Elmakki, Zubair Ahmad, D. Han
Concentration of Li in seawater is too low at 0.17 ppm despite its high content altogether with a reported 230 billion tons. Hence, seawater is not a practical source to recover Li from; Li is largely extracted by solar drying of salt-lake brines (100-200 ppm of Li). Salt-lake brines are confined to a certain region and not available for most parts of the world. However, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine is rather a widely available resource due to large adoption of the technique for water desalination. Hence, this study focuses on extraction of Li from concentrated SWRO brine. Li content in the feed can be increased up to 0.85 ppm, which is seemingly a favorable input stream. Electrically switched ion exchange (ESIX) on the other hand is energy efficient and economical in isolating Li, compared to other contemporary techniques such as capacitive deionization and electrodialysis. These approaches are meant to significantly shorten the time consumed in conventional solar drying process. Density functional theory studies have shown novel LiAlO2 type working electrode can be a better electrode to capture Li in ESIX system over widely known LMO and LiFePO4 working electrodes. Thus, this study intends to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively the suitability of ESIX approach working in two electrodes configuration with LiAlO2 working electrode and activated carbon counter electrode to recover Li from concentrated SWRO brine. The operating system affirmed the recovery of Li with a specific energy consumption of 100Wh/mol and 97% purity, along with recyclability of the working electrode over minimum of 5 cycles without any apparent activity loss.
{"title":"Facile and Novel LiAlO2 Film Electrodes for Energy Efficient Li recovery from Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Brine","authors":"U. Hafsa, Sifani Zavahir, Tasneem Elmakki, Zubair Ahmad, D. Han","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0069","url":null,"abstract":"Concentration of Li in seawater is too low at 0.17 ppm despite its high content altogether with a reported 230 billion tons. Hence, seawater is not a practical source to recover Li from; Li is largely extracted by solar drying of salt-lake brines (100-200 ppm of Li). Salt-lake brines are confined to a certain region and not available for most parts of the world. However, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine is rather a widely available resource due to large adoption of the technique for water desalination. Hence, this study focuses on extraction of Li from concentrated SWRO brine. Li content in the feed can be increased up to 0.85 ppm, which is seemingly a favorable input stream. Electrically switched ion exchange (ESIX) on the other hand is energy efficient and economical in isolating Li, compared to other contemporary techniques such as capacitive deionization and electrodialysis. These approaches are meant to significantly shorten the time consumed in conventional solar drying process. Density functional theory studies have shown novel LiAlO2 type working electrode can be a better electrode to capture Li in ESIX system over widely known LMO and LiFePO4 working electrodes. Thus, this study intends to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively the suitability of ESIX approach working in two electrodes configuration with LiAlO2 working electrode and activated carbon counter electrode to recover Li from concentrated SWRO brine. The operating system affirmed the recovery of Li with a specific energy consumption of 100Wh/mol and 97% purity, along with recyclability of the working electrode over minimum of 5 cycles without any apparent activity loss.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77144307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0010
Mona Gulied, Sifani Zavahir, Tasneem Elmakki, H. Qiblawey, B. Hameed, D. Han
Qatar fertilizer company (QAFCO) is one of the world’s largest single site producer of ammonia and urea with production capacity of 12,900 metric tons per day. Currently, QAFCO faces major challenges in terms of water streams management that is generated from many processes such as wastewater from Harbor-Bosch process and brine solution from multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination process. To protect the environment; QAFCO has been making an effort to minimize the disposal of all types of water disposed into the sea. Here, this project proposes to develop a viable and economically effective process that can reach zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) of all processed water or wastewater from QAFCO facilities. The best method for ZLD is membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) hybrid process that concentrates and minimizes the volume of wastewater/brine streams to form solid through crystallizer. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven membrane process. It applies low-grade energy to create a thermal gradient across a microporous hydrophobic to vaporize water in the feed stream and condense the permeated vapor in the cold side. This research work aims to evaluate the performance of MDC for ZLD using commercial/fabricated electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) PVDF –base membranes at different type water streams. A general observation, higher water vapor flux and water recovery were exhibited at higher feed conductivity at 70°C. Moreover, the fabricated hydrophobic PVDF ENMs results confirmed the formation of nanofiber at the membrane surface using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the water contact angle values of PVDF ENMs were greater than 100° and have stable mechanical and chemical properties. The ongoing research work will conduct a comparison between the optimum PVDF ENMs and the commercial MD membranes in terms of water recovery, salt rejection%, fouling/scaling, amount of collected solid and energy consumption at optimum operating conditions in MDC. In addition, it will perform a techno- economic feasibility assessment of the MDC hybrid process.
{"title":"Membrane Distillation Crystallization Hybrid Process for Zero Liquid Discharge in QAFCO Plant","authors":"Mona Gulied, Sifani Zavahir, Tasneem Elmakki, H. Qiblawey, B. Hameed, D. Han","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0010","url":null,"abstract":"Qatar fertilizer company (QAFCO) is one of the world’s largest single site producer of ammonia and urea with production capacity of 12,900 metric tons per day. Currently, QAFCO faces major challenges in terms of water streams management that is generated from many processes such as wastewater from Harbor-Bosch process and brine solution from multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination process. To protect the environment; QAFCO has been making an effort to minimize the disposal of all types of water disposed into the sea. Here, this project proposes to develop a viable and economically effective process that can reach zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) of all processed water or wastewater from QAFCO facilities. The best method for ZLD is membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) hybrid process that concentrates and minimizes the volume of wastewater/brine streams to form solid through crystallizer. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven membrane process. It applies low-grade energy to create a thermal gradient across a microporous hydrophobic to vaporize water in the feed stream and condense the permeated vapor in the cold side. This research work aims to evaluate the performance of MDC for ZLD using commercial/fabricated electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) PVDF –base membranes at different type water streams. A general observation, higher water vapor flux and water recovery were exhibited at higher feed conductivity at 70°C. Moreover, the fabricated hydrophobic PVDF ENMs results confirmed the formation of nanofiber at the membrane surface using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the water contact angle values of PVDF ENMs were greater than 100° and have stable mechanical and chemical properties. The ongoing research work will conduct a comparison between the optimum PVDF ENMs and the commercial MD membranes in terms of water recovery, salt rejection%, fouling/scaling, amount of collected solid and energy consumption at optimum operating conditions in MDC. In addition, it will perform a techno- economic feasibility assessment of the MDC hybrid process.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"109 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79392528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0073
D. I. Alagha, J. Hahladakis
As the population continues to grow, the generation of waste and specifically plastic waste, has also increased significantly in the past decades both globally and regionally. However, little attention has been directed to this problem in the region. This study aims to delineate and map the status of the plastic waste problem in Qatar with a focus on the plastic inflow to the marine environment. A generic material flow diagram was built using a material flow analysis software named STAN, to depict the flow of the plastic waste. The study focuses on the plastic waste in the marine environment, depicting the different types, sizes and shapes of plastic particles, and the recovery and recycling efforts that have been made, in order to reduce plastic waste and minimize its risk on the environment.
{"title":"Material Flow Analysis of Plastic Waste in Qatar: Focusing on the Marine Environment","authors":"D. I. Alagha, J. Hahladakis","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0073","url":null,"abstract":"As the population continues to grow, the generation of waste and specifically plastic waste, has also increased significantly in the past decades both globally and regionally. However, little attention has been directed to this problem in the region. This study aims to delineate and map the status of the plastic waste problem in Qatar with a focus on the plastic inflow to the marine environment. A generic material flow diagram was built using a material flow analysis software named STAN, to depict the flow of the plastic waste. The study focuses on the plastic waste in the marine environment, depicting the different types, sizes and shapes of plastic particles, and the recovery and recycling efforts that have been made, in order to reduce plastic waste and minimize its risk on the environment.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"164 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75212018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0114
O. Hussein, F. Alali, Ala‐Eddin Al Mustafa, Ashraf Khalil
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy, as well as a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men globally. Despite the initial response to hormonal targeted therapy, the majority of patients ultimately progress to a lethal form of the disease, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Therefore, the objective of this study was to discover and develop novel treatment modalities for CRPC. Chalcones are among the highly attractive scaffolds being investigated for their antitumor activities. A library of 26 chalcone analogs were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential therapies for CRPC. The design was guided by in-silico ADMET prediction in which analogs with favorable drug-likeness properties were prioritized. The new compounds were synthesized, purified and characterized by extensive structural elucidation studies. The compounds in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated against two androgen receptor (AR)-negative prostate cancer cell lines (PC3 and DU145). Among the tested compounds, pyridine containing analogs (13, 15 and 16) showed potent antiproliferative activities with IC50 values ranging between 4.32-6.47 µM against PC3 and DU145 cell lines. Detailed biological studies of the lead molecule 16 revealed that it can significantly induce apoptosis through upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2. In addition, compound 16 potently inhibited colony formation and reduced cell migration of AR-negative PCa cell lines (PC3 and DU145). The molecular pathway analysis showed that the anticancer activity of compound 16 is associated with blocking of ERK1/2 and Akt activities. Furthermore, compound 16 inhibited angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model as compared to control. Structure-activity relationship study revealed that the cytotoxicity could dramatically improve via changing the methoxylation pattern by more than 2-folds (IC50 << 2.5 μM). These results indicate that pyridine-based chalcones could serve as promising lead molecules for the treatment of CRPC; thus, further in vitro and in vivo studies are warranted.
{"title":"Development of Novel Chalcone Analogs as Potential Multi-Targeted Therapies for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer","authors":"O. Hussein, F. Alali, Ala‐Eddin Al Mustafa, Ashraf Khalil","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0114","url":null,"abstract":"Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy, as well as a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men globally. Despite the initial response to hormonal targeted therapy, the majority of patients ultimately progress to a lethal form of the disease, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Therefore, the objective of this study was to discover and develop novel treatment modalities for CRPC. Chalcones are among the highly attractive scaffolds being investigated for their antitumor activities. A library of 26 chalcone analogs were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential therapies for CRPC. The design was guided by in-silico ADMET prediction in which analogs with favorable drug-likeness properties were prioritized. The new compounds were synthesized, purified and characterized by extensive structural elucidation studies. The compounds in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated against two androgen receptor (AR)-negative prostate cancer cell lines (PC3 and DU145). Among the tested compounds, pyridine containing analogs (13, 15 and 16) showed potent antiproliferative activities with IC50 values ranging between 4.32-6.47 µM against PC3 and DU145 cell lines. Detailed biological studies of the lead molecule 16 revealed that it can significantly induce apoptosis through upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2. In addition, compound 16 potently inhibited colony formation and reduced cell migration of AR-negative PCa cell lines (PC3 and DU145). The molecular pathway analysis showed that the anticancer activity of compound 16 is associated with blocking of ERK1/2 and Akt activities. Furthermore, compound 16 inhibited angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model as compared to control. Structure-activity relationship study revealed that the cytotoxicity could dramatically improve via changing the methoxylation pattern by more than 2-folds (IC50 << 2.5 μM). These results indicate that pyridine-based chalcones could serve as promising lead molecules for the treatment of CRPC; thus, further in vitro and in vivo studies are warranted.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75823203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0185
فاطمة محمد الدوسري
التعاون بين المدرسة وأولياء الأمور يكون بأكثر من صورة وطريقة. وفي هذه الدراسة التي أجريت مع 11 من أولياء الأمور في مدرسة دمج حكومية، وأخصائي اجتماعي. ينظر الباحثون إلى نوع التعاون الذي ينشأ بين الطرفين المذكورين سابقًا. وعليه، فقد استعمل الباحثون أداتي المقابلة والاستبانة التي حددت استجابة إيجابية لنوع التعاون الذي يربط بين الأسر والأخصائي الاجتماعي. وقد تحددت نسبة الرضا من خلال هذه الدراسة بنحو 64,34%.
{"title":"دور التعاون بين أسر ذوي الاحتياجات الخاصة مع الأخصائي الاجتماعي في تعزيز القبول الاجتماعي","authors":"فاطمة محمد الدوسري","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0185","url":null,"abstract":"التعاون بين المدرسة وأولياء الأمور يكون بأكثر من صورة وطريقة. وفي هذه الدراسة التي أجريت مع 11 من أولياء الأمور في مدرسة دمج حكومية، وأخصائي اجتماعي. ينظر الباحثون إلى نوع التعاون الذي ينشأ بين الطرفين المذكورين سابقًا. وعليه، فقد استعمل الباحثون أداتي المقابلة والاستبانة التي حددت استجابة إيجابية لنوع التعاون الذي يربط بين الأسر والأخصائي الاجتماعي. وقد تحددت نسبة الرضا من خلال هذه الدراسة بنحو 64,34%.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83730233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0063
E. Elbashier, I. Hussein
The geometrical properties of the reservoir rocks are usually affected by natural thermodynamics or environmental changes that may affect the amount of gas in place in the reservoir. To address these properties, we conduct density functional theory calculations to study the effect of gas composition on the adsorption (Eads), considering surface strain and curvature effects. Additional analyses, like geometrical analysis, and surface energy, were conducted to explain the results. The results of the strain effect showed that regardless of the strain values or curvature levels, all considered gases are physisorbed, with CO2 having the largest Eads. In addition to their weak interaction with the surface, CH4 shows no particular changing trend of the Eads with strain. The effect of strain becomes more pronounced in the case of CO2 and C2H6. A new model of the nanopore, which is the cylindrical-shaped nanopore, is introduced. Cylindrical nanopores have greater adsorption affinity compared to the flat surface, which demonstrates their higher gas capacity. Additionally, a mathematical model of the Eads vs. the diameter is developed. The capacity test of CH4 and CO2 showed adsorption of >24 molecules. These findings can be useful for determining the estimated ultimate recovery in carbonaceous tight gas reservoirs.
{"title":"Qatari tight Gas Reservoirs: Molecular Simulation insights toward Estimation of Ultimate Recovery (EUR) from Carbonated Reservoirs","authors":"E. Elbashier, I. Hussein","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0063","url":null,"abstract":"The geometrical properties of the reservoir rocks are usually affected by natural thermodynamics or environmental changes that may affect the amount of gas in place in the reservoir. To address these properties, we conduct density functional theory calculations to study the effect of gas composition on the adsorption (Eads), considering surface strain and curvature effects. Additional analyses, like geometrical analysis, and surface energy, were conducted to explain the results. The results of the strain effect showed that regardless of the strain values or curvature levels, all considered gases are physisorbed, with CO2 having the largest Eads. In addition to their weak interaction with the surface, CH4 shows no particular changing trend of the Eads with strain. The effect of strain becomes more pronounced in the case of CO2 and C2H6. A new model of the nanopore, which is the cylindrical-shaped nanopore, is introduced. Cylindrical nanopores have greater adsorption affinity compared to the flat surface, which demonstrates their higher gas capacity. Additionally, a mathematical model of the Eads vs. the diameter is developed. The capacity test of CH4 and CO2 showed adsorption of >24 molecules. These findings can be useful for determining the estimated ultimate recovery in carbonaceous tight gas reservoirs.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"EM-34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84532181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0094
Introduction:Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a degenerative disease process of the abdominal aorta that leads to a focal dilation and irreversible remodeling of the arterial wall. In this condition, the aortic vessel diameter is dilated beyond 50% its its size.AAA might gradually expand until rupture If left untreated. Current surgical treatment options also are associated with high mortality rates. Therefore, for AAA, it is critically important to determine when the risk of rupture justifies repair. Current clinical practice is to surgically repair large AAAs with diameter > 5.5 cm. However, the incidence of rupture is independent of the diameter size. Currently there is no accepted technique to quantify the risk of rupture for individual AAAs. It is believed that, rupture locations are where peak wall stresses act. Hemodynamic forces by the flowing blood such as shear stress are also thought to contribute to the formation of aneurysm leading to rupture. Endothelial cells respond to disturbed flows in the aneurysm and initiate inflammation that are thought to be important in disease progression. However, little is known about the flow dynamics in AAA, and how it affects endothelial cell biology leading to AAA rupture. Methods: In this project, we will use different flow systems to induce shear stress over cell’s monolayer. After inducing shear stress, gene expression for shear responsive genes and inflammatory markers will be assessed. Basically, we used the peristaltic pump to induce pulsatile flow over cell’s monolayer, and laminar flow using our modified set up. We will compare gene expression data obtained from those two systems with data obtained from our Fluigent pressurized driven pump. Then, we will use another state-of-the-art system, namely a biological pulsed duplicator. Using the system, endothelial cells that are cultured within AAA shaped chambers will be exposed to physiological flows in order to reveal differential endothelial cell signals at potential rupture locations Results: In this project, pulsatile and steady flow were successfully induced and validated. Endothelial cells are mostly affected by mechanical signals, mostly shear stress. The cell’s cytoskeleton is responsible for cell shape and integrity. Those proteins are affected by fluid flow. We expect to have a differences in the gene expression of different flow conditions. After we obtain the gene expression data, those will be compared to more precise flow set up ( Fluigent pressurized driven pump)
{"title":"Experimental and Biological Investigation of Hemodynamics-induced Injuries for Cardiovascular Disorders","authors":"","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0094","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction:Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a degenerative disease process of the abdominal aorta that leads to a focal dilation and irreversible remodeling of the arterial wall. In this condition, the aortic vessel diameter is dilated beyond 50% its its size.AAA might gradually expand until rupture If left untreated. Current surgical treatment options also are associated with high mortality rates. Therefore, for AAA, it is critically important to determine when the risk of rupture justifies repair. Current clinical practice is to surgically repair large AAAs with diameter > 5.5 cm. However, the incidence of rupture is independent of the diameter size. Currently there is no accepted technique to quantify the risk of rupture for individual AAAs. It is believed that, rupture locations are where peak wall stresses act. Hemodynamic forces by the flowing blood such as shear stress are also thought to contribute to the formation of aneurysm leading to rupture. Endothelial cells respond to disturbed flows in the aneurysm and initiate inflammation that are thought to be important in disease progression. However, little is known about the flow dynamics in AAA, and how it affects endothelial cell biology leading to AAA rupture. Methods: In this project, we will use different flow systems to induce shear stress over cell’s monolayer. After inducing shear stress, gene expression for shear responsive genes and inflammatory markers will be assessed. Basically, we used the peristaltic pump to induce pulsatile flow over cell’s monolayer, and laminar flow using our modified set up. We will compare gene expression data obtained from those two systems with data obtained from our Fluigent pressurized driven pump. Then, we will use another state-of-the-art system, namely a biological pulsed duplicator. Using the system, endothelial cells that are cultured within AAA shaped chambers will be exposed to physiological flows in order to reveal differential endothelial cell signals at potential rupture locations Results: In this project, pulsatile and steady flow were successfully induced and validated. Endothelial cells are mostly affected by mechanical signals, mostly shear stress. The cell’s cytoskeleton is responsible for cell shape and integrity. Those proteins are affected by fluid flow. We expect to have a differences in the gene expression of different flow conditions. After we obtain the gene expression data, those will be compared to more precise flow set up ( Fluigent pressurized driven pump)","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83184400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This game aims to preserve and spread cultural practices. It introduces new gaming mechanics, which allows user interaction with virtual game objects using hand gestures. The user’s objective is to hunt prey in their natural habitat, which means that the player will physically change his location to hunt a specific prey using his falcon to mimic how the falcon hunts for its prey in the real world. This interaction with the real world, along with incorporation of realistic graphics and mixed reality features, enhances the user’s experience and helps in preserving cultural practices. Previous work tried to achieve the same goal by different approaches that led to different user segments and different usability cases. One major limitation in that work was the accessibility due to the use of specialized hardware. The hardware is accessible to a small segment of users; however, given the new limitations forced by the COVID-19 situation reusing the hardware is prohibited ; and as a result, not many will have access to the developed solution. The current implementation was designed to work on both Android and IOS to have a social interaction between the largest possible numbers of players. Other features that could also contribute to the goal of the project include building a virtual museum and displaying real falcons using the capabilities mixed reality has to offer.
{"title":"Development of an Immersive Cultural Game using Mixed Reality","authors":"Yahia Boray, Hesham Zaky, Omar Osman, Noora Fetais","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0170","url":null,"abstract":"This game aims to preserve and spread cultural practices. It introduces new gaming mechanics, which allows user interaction with virtual game objects using hand gestures. The user’s objective is to hunt prey in their natural habitat, which means that the player will physically change his location to hunt a specific prey using his falcon to mimic how the falcon hunts for its prey in the real world. This interaction with the real world, along with incorporation of realistic graphics and mixed reality features, enhances the user’s experience and helps in preserving cultural practices. Previous work tried to achieve the same goal by different approaches that led to different user segments and different usability cases. One major limitation in that work was the accessibility due to the use of specialized hardware. The hardware is accessible to a small segment of users; however, given the new limitations forced by the COVID-19 situation reusing the hardware is prohibited ; and as a result, not many will have access to the developed solution. The current implementation was designed to work on both Android and IOS to have a social interaction between the largest possible numbers of players. Other features that could also contribute to the goal of the project include building a virtual museum and displaying real falcons using the capabilities mixed reality has to offer.","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87852746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.29117/quarfe.2021.0005
Ahmad K. Sleiti, Wahib A. Al‐Ammari, M. Al-Khawaja
The current electrical refrigeration and air condition systems are considered as one of the major sources for ozone depletion and global warming problems. Furthermore, they consume a large percentage of the worldwide gross production of electricity (around 17%). Therefore, developing new refrigeration systems that might be able to work using renewable sources (solar, geothermal, etc.) and waste heat sources is necessary to address these problems. In this paper, the experimental investigation of an innovative thermal-mechanical refrigeration (TMR) system is presented. The TMR system replaces the electric compressor of the conventional refrigeration systems with an innovative expander-compressor unit (two connected double-acting cylinders). The proposed ECU can be driven by ultra-low heat temperature sources, has simple configuration, and high flexibility for the operating conditions. A hybrid electric-compressor and ECU refrigeration setup was developed to investigate the performance of the ECU and compare it to that of an electric compressor. The experiment was conducted using R134a as a working fluid at different masses. The results show that a maximum COP of 0.57 is obtained at a refrigerant mass of 30g (in electric mode) and a maximum COP of 0.41 is obtained at a refrigerant mass of 60g (in ECU mode).
{"title":"Experimental Investigation of Innovative Thermal Mechanical Refrigeration System","authors":"Ahmad K. Sleiti, Wahib A. Al‐Ammari, M. Al-Khawaja","doi":"10.29117/quarfe.2021.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29117/quarfe.2021.0005","url":null,"abstract":"The current electrical refrigeration and air condition systems are considered as one of the major sources for ozone depletion and global warming problems. Furthermore, they consume a large percentage of the worldwide gross production of electricity (around 17%). Therefore, developing new refrigeration systems that might be able to work using renewable sources (solar, geothermal, etc.) and waste heat sources is necessary to address these problems. In this paper, the experimental investigation of an innovative thermal-mechanical refrigeration (TMR) system is presented. The TMR system replaces the electric compressor of the conventional refrigeration systems with an innovative expander-compressor unit (two connected double-acting cylinders). The proposed ECU can be driven by ultra-low heat temperature sources, has simple configuration, and high flexibility for the operating conditions. A hybrid electric-compressor and ECU refrigeration setup was developed to investigate the performance of the ECU and compare it to that of an electric compressor. The experiment was conducted using R134a as a working fluid at different masses. The results show that a maximum COP of 0.57 is obtained at a refrigerant mass of 30g (in electric mode) and a maximum COP of 0.41 is obtained at a refrigerant mass of 60g (in ECU mode).","PeriodicalId":9295,"journal":{"name":"Building Resilience at Universities: Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72899177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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