Open Science Journal (OSJ)
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Teff could contribute to the Sustainable Goals of United Nation’s Goals in low-income areas of Middle East and North Africa
No full textSeveral Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation are directly or indirectly related to nutrition, including SDG1 (no poverty) and SDG2 (zero hunger). Many parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are experiencing poverty or suffering from micronutrient (Calcium, Iron, and Vitamin D) deficiencies, which has contributed to a high mortality rate among children and pregnant women. Teff, an old and well-known grain in MENA and a “Super Grain” in developed countries, has a strong potential to be utilized in food product development activities in MENA. These new products can be produced by local scientists and be sold domestically or internationally. The aim of this short communication is to review the limitations and opportunities that exist in the process of food product development with Teff. Several Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation are directly or indirectly related to nutrition, including SDG1 (no poverty) and SDG2 (zero hunger). Many parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are experiencing poverty or suffering from micronutrient (Calcium, Iron, and Vitamin D) deficiencies, which has contributed to a high mortality rate among children and pregnant women. Teff, an old and well-known grain in MENA and a “Super Grain” in developed countries, has a strong potential to be utilized in food product development activities in MENA. These new products can be produced by local scientists and be sold domestically or internationally. The aim of this short communication is to review the limitations and opportunities that exist in the process of food product development with Teff
Health care for people with sickle cell disease in a medium-sized Brazilian city
Get PDFThe objective of the study was to evaluate the access, assistance and satisfaction of people with sickle cell disease in relation to the health care provided by the Unified Health System in the Uberlândia city, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Thirty-four people with sickle cell disease were recruited using the snowball sampling method and submitted to semi-structured interview, with collection of demographic, clinical and relationship data and satisfaction with health care. Forty-four percent were not included in the Primary Health Care network, which did not provide several procedures/actions recommended by the Ministry of Health. Ninety-four percent were unsatisfied/partially satisfied with the emergency care provided in the Integrated Care Units. The main reasons for this unsatisfied were ignorance of sickle cell disease by the health team (87.5%), delay in care (81.3%) and inadequate conduct by the health team (59.5%). In conclusion, the access and quality of care provided to people with sickle cell disease by the Primary Health Care network and the Urgency and Emergency Network need to be improved and this improvement is directly related to the training of health teams
Soil radioactivity and elemental characterization of area proposed for the first nuclear power plant at Red Sea state, eastern Sudan
Get PDFAbstract This work was carried out with the aim to establish baseline data of soil radioactivity prior commissioning the first nuclear power plant for electricity production in the Sudan. A total of 105 soil samples from the proposed area were collected and analyzed using Gamma-ray spectrometer, X-ray Fluorescence and Atomic Absorption. Ambient dose rates were measured during sampling using radiation survey meters. Based on radionuclides in soil; some radiological hazard indices (such as absorbed dose rates, Radium-Equivalent Activity, External Hazard, and Gamma index) were computed. The results exhibit that226Ra, 232Th,40Kand 137Cs concentration ranged from0.55-88.9, 1.63-76.6, 24-1100 and 0.001-1.03 Bq/kg with an average value of10.43, 11.12, 361.2and 0.045Bq/kg respectively. The average value of absorbed dose rate(29.92nGy/h), Radium equivalent (70.55 Bq/Kg), external hazard (0.19), Gamma index. (0.25) and those parameters are lower than the corresponding global average. The results of the study revealed that the average values of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs fall within the global average value. GIS Predictive exhibited the spatial distribution of radioactivity trends with low levels at eastern part towards the Red Sea while high values observed at the desert (western part). This trend in addition to low levels has a very good impact to decision makers for consideration in site selection of NPP. Pearson correlation coefficient shows a correlation between the variables 226Ra and 232Th (0.69); Cr and Au (0.82); Br and Nb (0.84),Hf and Sb (+0.75) with no significant correlations between radioactive and radioactive elements. Keywords: Road map, GIS, Gamma-ray Spectrometer, Effective dose.
Artificial insemination and cryopreservation of boar semen: current state and problematics
Get PDF Commercial artificial insemination with boar semen still prefers the usage of refrigerated semen up to 5 days over frozen-thawed, to date. This is because of the uneconomical properties of frozen-thawed boar semen, such as low motility, viability, fertility rates and the need for higher semen doses, because of the decreased quality after cryopreservation. Since boar semen is highly susceptive to cold shock damage, the invention of a successful cryopreservation method would be greatly beneficial for the swine industry. This review briefly focuses on the many factors that influence the quality of frozen-thawed boar semen, including the different compositions of extenders, comparison of commercial extenders, freezing and thawing methods (temperature and duration). It could be concluded from the present review that optimum freezing/thawing protocol for swine is not standardized, so far being the current status still considered poor-to-fair.
An Iterative Method for Solving Quadratic Optimal Control Problem Using Scaling Boubaker Polynomials
Get PDF Abstract In this paper, an iteration method was used for solving a quadratic optimal control problem (QOCP) by the aid of state parameterization technique and scaling Boubaker polynomials. Some numerical examples were added to show the applicability of the method, also a comparison with other method was presented. The process steps were illustrated by some numerical examples with graphs done by Matlab
The Covid-19 Pandemic and its Effect on the Elderly: A Review
Get PDFIn 2019, the world experienced a global public health concern when the novel coronavirus originated from China and affected around fifty-seven thousand people around the world by March 2020. The quick rise in the number of cases and the death toll overwhelmed the scientific and medical community. While all the focus was driven towards finding the epidemiology, the treatment and the management, the mental health aspect of the quarantine was being overlooked. The purpose of this review is to create awareness about the long-term consequences of quarantine, with the focus on the elderly community in Pakistan.
Hypertension and its role in COVID-19-related cerebrovascular disease
No full textCerebrovascular disorders such as stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) occur in COVID-19 patients with pre-existing hypertension. Elevated blood pressure increases the risk of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. Although, the exact mechanisms of action are not well understood, pre-existing imbalance in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), and hypertension-induced cerebrovascular abnormalities can facilitate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infiltration into the central nervous system (CNS) leading to severe tissue damage and cerebrovascular insults. Alternatively, SARS-CoV-2 can independently affect blood flow regulation and induce cerebrovascular disease (CeVD) via binding to its receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and modulation of RAAS. The present review systemically discusses published clinical reports and provides an overview of the potential associations between pre-existing hypertension, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the occurrence of COVID-19-related CeVD. Early identification of high-risk patients is crucial for better point of care and prevention of COVID-19-related CeVD, morbidity and mortality
Publishing scientific articles in the digital era
Get PDFIn the digital era in which over 4 billion people regularly access the internet, the conventional process of publishing scientific articles in academic journals following peer review is undergoing profound changes. Following physics and mathematics scholars who started to publish their work on the freely accessible arXiv server in the early 1990s, researchers of all disciplines increasingly publish scientific articles in the form of freely accessible and fully citeable preprints before or in parallel to conventional submission to academic journals for peer review. The full transition to open science, I argue in this study, requires to expand the education of students and young researchers to include scholarly communication in the digital era
Controlling the cascade of corona
Get PDFThe pandemic of the 2019 novel Coronavirus has seen unprecedented exponential growth. Within three months, 192 countries have been affected, crossing more than 1 million confirmed cases and over 60 thousand deaths until the first week of April. Decision making in such a pandemic becomes difficult due to limited data on the nature of the disease and its propagation, course, prevention, and treatment. The pandemic response has varied from country to country and has resulted in a heterogeneous timeline for novel Coronavirus propagation. We compared the public health measures taken by various countries and the potential impact on the spread. We studied 6 countries including China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom(UK), United States(US), and the special administrative region of Hong Kong. All articles, press releases, and websites of government entities published over a five-month period were included. A comparison of the date of the first diagnosed case, the spread of disease, and time since the first case and major public health policy implemented for prevention and containment and current cases was done. An emphasis on early and aggressive border restriction and surveillance of travelers from infected areas, use of information technology, and social distancing is necessary for control of the novel pandemic. Moving forwards, improvement in infrastructure, and adequate preparedness for pandemics is required
The Past, Present, and Future of Parkinson's Disease Treatment
Get PDFParkinson’s Disease was first introduced by James Parkinson in 1817. Since then, major strides have been made in the development of its treatment. Early treatments were dominated by traditional and complementary therapies, which were largely serendipitous and observation-based. Especially, the use of anticholinergics by Jean-Martin Charcot and his student Ordenstein prevailed in the late 20th century. Current drug-based therapies manifest in the form of levodopa accompanied by dopamine agonist, COMT inhibitor, or MAO-B inhibitor, for the purpose of reducing the levodopa-induced symptom fluctuation. In terms of surgical treatment, while ablative surgeries in the brain have been abandoned due to high mortality rate in the late 1900s, Deep Brain Stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus or internal globus pallidus has mostly replaced ablative surgeries since its introduction in 1987. Current research topics include non-dopaminergic agents for motor fluctuation reduction, transplantation of dopaminergic neurons, gene therapies using viral vectors, reduction of alpha-synuclein neurotoxicity, and neuroprotective therapies. Especially, due to the fact that the etiology of the disease is yet to be elucidated, neuroprotective therapies aimed at slowing or stopping disease progression are of particular interest. It is suggested that future research should aim towards clarifying the cause of the disease, for the development of a treatment that can permanently halt or reverse Parkinson’s Disease-related neurodegeneration