bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Controlling The Breast Cancer In Woman Of The World: Reducing Aggressive Surgeries, Radiation Exposure And Chemo Treatments
Authors: Jevremovic Tatjana
Published: November 2013

The most occurring cancer among women in the world is the breast cancer. It is still unknown what are the reasons one woman develops the breast cancer and another does not develop it. Advances in diagnostics and treatment options, increased understanding of breast cancer types, and, most recently, exploration in the role of genetic mutations in cancer development all have contributed to the reduction of fatalities. However, there remains much to be discovered and improved upon, all with the ultimate goal of making the treatment process as smooth and effective as possible for the patient. Breast cancer is a prevalent problem in our modern world; in the United States alone, over 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, with a staggering one in eight women developing some sort of breast cancer in her lifetime. For example, HER2+ breast cancer accounts for 25-30% of these cases in the USA only. HER2+ treatment requires a combination of various drugs, producing a number of both physically and psychologically damaging side effects. In addition, not every country in the world has equally well-established screening, diagnostics and treatment protocols for prevention and life savings. Our team has established a world-wide driven initiative to develop NEW approaches for breast cancer treatments in trying to assure much less radical and aggressive surgeries (mastectomies and even eliminating lumpectomies, therefore reducing many risks associated with surgeries), less radiation exposures thus preserving more health tissue against radiation but increasing the effectiveness of the one-time treatment, and in many cases potentially reduce the chemo therapy as a systemic treatment of the whole body (being the most challenging of all of the three components of the breast cancer treatment). We are developing a comprehensive patient-specific-matrix that will provide a patient-defined-pathway for the best breast cancer treatment option based on the boron neutron capture therapy with newly developed pharmaceuticals and neutron sources. We will present at the Conference our newest findings pertaining to the patient-driven breast cancer treatment matrix. The matrix is designed for the women of the world in order to help increase the survival rates, reduce psychological impacts of the disease and treatment side effects, provide new ways in helping the treatment be shortened, less aggressive while more successful. Knowing that breast cancer is the disease of women and men of the world we would like to establish connections among all countries working together to find the reason for breast cancer occurrence and the best treatment approach(es).
Diabetes And Colorectal Cancer: Could Ampk Signaling Pathway Explains The Link?
Authors: Eid Assaad
Published: November 2013

Both diabetes and cancer are prevalent diseases whose incidence is increasing worldwide and especially in countries that are undergoing rapid industrialization (i.e. Golf Countries). Lifestyle risk factors including diet, physical activity and obesity play a pivotal role in the etiology of both diseases. Epidemiological studies provide strong evidence that subjects with diabetes are at significantly higher risk of developing many forms of cancer and especially solid tumors. In addition to pancreatic and breast cancer, the incidence of colorectal cancer is increased in diabetes. A person with diabetes has a 38% higher risk of developing colon cancer compared to other people. Male diabetes patients were found to have a 20% higher risk of developing rectal cancer. While diabetes and especially type 2 diabetes and cancer share many risk factors, the biological links between the two diseases are poorly characterized. We have evidence that in human epithelial colorectal cancerous cells, either high glucose, insulin or their combination inactivates adenine monophosphate kinase (AMPK), induces the loss of function of the tumor suppressor gene, tuberous sclerosis complex 2, encoding tuberin, activates the mTOR/S6Kinase pathway and enhances the generation of mutagnic DNA, 8-oxodG. We also show that AMPK inactivation upregulates Nox1, which in turn inactivate tuberin and mTOR. These observations were associated with increased cellular proliferation, migration and fibronectin accumulation. Treatment of the cells with metformin, a potent AMPK activator or with rapamycin, an mTORC1 inhibitor, decreases the rate of cellular proliferation and migration and reverse the biochemical changes seen in cancerous cells treated with high glucose, insulin or their combination. In rodent models of diabetes, we find that loss of function of tuberin is associated with loss of function and mutations of OGG1 gene and accumulation of significant amounts of 8-oxodG and activation of the mTOR/S6Kinase pathway. These observations are paralleled by an increase in the levels of ROS production through an NADPH dependent mechanism. These observations indicate a critical role for AMPK, tuberin and mTOR in diabetes progression. These same observations were found in animal models that develop spontaneous colorectal cancer, APC mice. Activation of AMPK or blockage of mTORC1 pathways in the APC mice decreases ROS production, reverse OGG1 mutation and 8-oxo-dG accumulation in the colon and decrease tumor development. Our Findings may suggest that activation of AMPK, blockage of mTORC1 or inhibition of the NADPH oxidases pathways represent potential targets to reduce or to inhibit the onset and the progression of colorectal cancer in diabetes.
Protective role of 4-phenylbutyrate against palmitate-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and renal cell injury
Authors: Munusamy Shankar
Published: November 2013

Background and Objectives: Obesity is recognized as a significant risk factor for the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Emerging studies indicate that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress play a major role in obesity-induced renal damage and the development of CKD in obese patients. Therapeutic interventions to ameliorate ER stress using 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA), a chemical chaperone, have been shown to prevent obesity-induced organ damage in the liver and pancreas. Thus, the goal of this study was to investigate the protective role of 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA) against palmitic acid (PA)-induced ER stress and renal cell injury using normal rat kidney (NRK-52E) cells. Methods: NRK-52E cells were divided into four groups: Control, PA-treated, 4-PBA-treated, and 4-PBA+PA co-treated. Cells were exposed to 250 µM PA with or without 5 mM 4-PBA for 24 hours, and compared against the control. Western blotting was performed to determine the expression of ER stress markers - glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) in NRK-52E cells. The cytoprotective effect of 4-PBA on PA-induced NRK-52E cell injury was assessed by cell viability measurements and caspase-3/7 activity assay. Results: PA treatment in NRK-52E cells significantly reduced the cell viability (85% to that of the control; P-value < 0.05), increased caspase-3/7 activity (2-fold increase to that of control; P-value < 0.05), and caused profound ER stress - evidenced by induction of GRP78 and CHOP (1.6 and 2 folds of control respectively; P-value < 0.05). Treatment with 4-PBA significantly protected the cells from PA-induced cell death (93.4% vs. 81.3% cell viability in PA treated group; P-value < 0.05), and normalized the activity of caspase-3/7 and the expression of ER stress markers - GRP78 and CHOP. Conclusion: 4-PBA inhibits ER stress and protects renal cells against PA-induced apoptotic cell injury. Further studies are required to ascertain the clinical utility of 4-PBA to prevent renal injury and the development of CKD in obese patients.
Monotherapy Versus Combination Gram Negative Empiric Antibiotic Therapy For Febrile Neutropenia In Children With Cancer
Authors: Pawluk Shane
Published: November 2013

Background: Children with cancer who are treated with intensive myelosuppressive chemotherapy or radiation therapy and develop neutropenia are at risk of developing life-threatening infections. In adult cancer patients with febrile neutropenia, some evidence suggests that there is no difference in efficacy between monotherapy and combination gram negative empiric antibiotic regimens. Outcomes of these different antibiotic regimens have not been compared in the pediatric population in North America. The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness and safety of a combination gram negative antibiotic regimen versus monotherapy in pediatric cancer patients with cancer and febrile neutropenia, and to describe the use of additional antimicrobial agents for those patients who did not respond to initial empiric therapy. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of cancer patients who received empiric treatment for febrile neutropenia with piperacillin-tazobactam and gentamicin, and those who received monotherapy for febrile neutropenia with pipercillin-tazobactam was performed. Demographic information, drug therapy for febrile neutropenia, measures of renal function, daily peak temperature, other medications received (including antibiotics and antipyretics), and bacterial and fungal cultures were obtained from the patient's medical records using a standardized data collection form. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study patient's demographic information. Difference in duration of fever and change in serum creatinine were assessed using the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test. Results: A total of 60 patients were included in this study. Mean duration of fever was 3.5 days in the combination treatment group and 3.1 days in the monotherapy group (p = 0.5). Both the combination and monotherapy groups had similar rates of adding vancomycin (17% vs. 13%). The monotherapy group received additional gram-negative coverage antibiotics more often (10%) than the combination group (0%). Antibiotics added included: gentamicin (0 combination group, 7% combination group), and ciprofloxacin (0 combination group, 3% monotherapy group). Piperacillin-tazobactam was changed to meropenem in 3% of the patients in the combination group and 7% of the monotherapy group, while 3% of the combination group patients were switched from piperacillin-tazobactam to ceftriaxone. Mean percent increase in serum creatinine was 25% in the combination group and 10% in the monotherapy group (p = 0.03). Conclusion: Empiric treatment of febrile neutropenia in children with cancer using a monotherapy regimen with piperacillin-tazobactam is as effective as the combination of piperacillin-tazobactam and gentamicin for reducing duration of fever. This therapeutic option however must be evaluated against local microbial resistance patterns and patient risk factors. Although statistically significant, the difference in change in serum creatinine between the two groups was not clinically significant.
Standardization Of An In Vitro Model Of Diabetic Nephropathy Using Madin-Darby Canine Kidney Cells
Authors: El Gamal Heba
Published: November 2013

Standardization of an in vitro model of diabetic nephropathy using Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cells
Towards development of world-class standards for designing surface water infrastructure in Qatar: Derivation of design rainfalls
Authors: Al-Mamoon Abdullah , Joergensen Niels E , Rahman Ataur , Qasem Hassan
Published: November 2013

The Qatar National Vision (QNV 2030) defined long-term vision of developing a world class and sustainable infrastructure network in Qatar. In order to achieve goals of QNV, Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) of Qatar has carried out a comprehensive rainfall study for estimation of design rainfall for Qatar. This study is aimed at development of guidelines and standards for the design of storm and surface water infrastructure in Qatar. For design and operation of water infrastructure, erosion control and many other environmental and stormwater management tasks, design rainfall is a fundamental input. The developed countries have spent millions of dollars to derive national standards of design rainfalls, generally known as intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves. For Qatar, the old IDF data was developed in 1991 based on a limited data set and basic statistical approaches. Since then there have been significant developments in statistical techniques to derive IDF data and moreover at many locations in Qatar, the length of the observed rainfall data has increased notably. These have given the opportunity to derive new sets of IDF data for Qatar. This paper presents an overview of the derivation of new set of IDF data for Qatar. The adopted approach uses method of L-moments, which reduces the impacts of sampling variability on the analysis. This also adopts index regional frequency approach with the mean rainfall as the scaling factor. The daily rainfall data from 32 stations located in Qatar and nearby Gulf countries has been used to form a homogeneous region based on the criteria of Hosking and Wallis. The application of goodness-of-fit criteria resulted in the selection of the Pearson Type 3 distribution as the best-fit distribution for the 24-hour duration annual maximum rainfall data in the Qatar region. To apply the developed regional method for any arbitrary un-gauged location, a prediction equation is developed where mean annual maximum rainfall is expressed as a function of physiographic characteristics. From a leave-one-out validation approach, it has been found the developed prediction equation can be used to estimate mean annual maximum rainfall with a median relative error of 5.5%. Finally, an empirical approach is used to obtain design rainfalls for other durations due to the limitations of continuous pluviograph data. The newly derived set of IDF curves are based on a larger dataset and more advance statistical techniques than the existing 1991 IDF curves, thus these new IDF data presents a solid scientific basis for stor mwater system design, flood and environmental studies.
Enhanced assessment of naturally occurring tarmat in hydrocarbon reservoirs using a new laser-induced pyrolysis system
Authors: Dessort Daniel
Published: November 2013

Stakes: Tarmat is a dark brown to black, thick, semisolid to viscous mixture of heavy hydrocarbons (bitumen) enriched in asphaltenes, that occurs naturally in hydrocarbon reservoirs. Tarmat has impact on reservoir connectivity, on petrophysical properties, on electrical logs, on hydrocarbon reserves calculation and on water flooding. Estimating the amount and the distribution of tarmat in reservoirs is key to a proper assessment of the viability of and oil and/or gas field development. Objective: Acquire quantitative and high resolution (centimetric or sub-centimetric)measurements of the organic carbon present in a core, at the laboratory or at the coring site, using a new pyrolysis instrument developed by Total (LIPS: "Laser Induced Pyrolysis System". Principle: The LIPS consists in 4 main parts: 1/ A bench for core examination and for acquiring the X,Y,Z coordinates of the laser impact on the core surface, 2/ A core Box Storage Unit (CBSU), allowing to store up to 30 core boxes, 3/ A core Box Sampler, used to carry the core boxes from CBSU to Acquisition Unit and vice-versa, 4/ An cquisition Unit, including a laser gun, several detector(s), a mechanism for moving the laser head and a device for extracting organic vapors. Results: on the contrary to conventional methods, not always satisfactory in tarmat detection, the LIPS provide the following: o A high resolution log of the % of bitumen in the porosity, o The precise location of permeability barriers in reservoirs. o The detection of huge variations and heterogeneities of the bitumen content within the rock porosity. o A better representativeness of the vertical and lateral tarmat distribution in the geological formation. In addition, the high resolution provides a better correlation between tarmat occurrence and lithology, rock type and petrophysics, allowing better models for tarmat occurrence in Oil and Gas reservoirs. Initially developed for petroleum applications, the LIPS could be used for other applications (e.g. mapping of trace amounts of organic material on solid objects).
Marine environmental legislation in Qatar: Current mechanism and future challenges
Authors: Mohammed Faraj Omar
Published: November 2013

Marine Environmental Legislation in Qatar: Current Mechanism and Future Challenges Max-Planck Foundation, Heidelberg,Germany Omar Mohammed-Faraj, LL.M. Research Fellow The state of Qatar witnessed rapid developments in the last decade, booming economy and solid steps towards the building of a prosper state. These changes in economy and the market demands for Qatari gas and oil put the country's marine environment under serious threats. It is so hard to assess the magnitude of the threats to the marine environment in Qatar and to Qatar's coastal waters; however potential threats can be identified. Over exploitation of fish stocks, (catch of fish in Qatar increased from 4271.3 tons in 1995 to 7139.6 tons in 2000 according to State's report in 2000) for an increase of approximately 67% since 1995. Many marine species like turtles are under serious danger. This constitutes a threat to the marine ecosystem in this country. Critical effects for onshore, offshore discharges including oil spills, ship ballast and pipeline releases damages severely the marine environment. This paper is to examine the marine environment legislation in power at the State of Qatar. Environment Law No.30 of 2002 and Law No.4 of 1983 together with many other decrees, regulations will be examined. The focus will be on pipelines releases and the liability according to the Qatari marine environmental legislation. The existing law did not provide a clearly identifiable responsible party, matters like the compensation for damages to the marine environment must clearly clarified. The paper will include a comparative study of the liability for any pipelines releases in other maritime jurisdictions with an overview to the legal status of marine cables and pipelines in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) which Qatar is a member since December 2002. Qatar needs a unified marine environmental legislation to replace the existing marine environment protection regulations which can be modified or referred to in the new legislation. The methods used to conduct this study are comparative legal analysis, various updated surveys, and existing laws. The aim of this study is to put a focus on the legal mechanism for countering marine pollution in the State of Qatar and identify the needs for improvements in the existing marine environmental legislation. Extending the protection given by law to the marine protected areas (only 0.25% of marine areas in Qatar are protected according to a report by the State of Qatar in 2010) and encouraging legal research in the field of marine pollution is important tool to fill any gaps in the current mechanism. The role of the international conventions ratified by the State of Qatar will be substantial in modulating the current statutory mechanism. The study paper will develop recommendations regarding the identified points of discussion taking into consideration the Qatari context.
Towards green / white mosque certification
Authors: Ouahrani Djamel
Published: November 2013

In Qatar, more than 1000 mosques can be concerned by the results of this study to improve their energy performance, save energy and consequently reduce their environmental footprint Five mosques have been investigated and indoor environment have been monitored. There are compound mosques and large neighbourhood mosque. The measurements and interviews results indicate that thetemperature setting are adequate but can be slightly increased to save energy in cooling. The simulation study indicates that an energy saving of 30% can be achieved by optimizing the cooling setting time and an optimized insulation level.
Food Ecologies in Qatar. Interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable systems: Food prints, food chains & food urbanisms
Authors: Grichting Solder Anna
Published: November 2013

The desert climate of Qatar presents numerous challenges to the sustainable and secure provision of food for its increasing number of residents. This research looks at how the producing of food can be implemented in a resource efficient and sustainable way, using systems thinking to maximize the quality and quantity of food produced and to minimize the energy and resources consumed. Approached from a spatial and urban design and planning perspective, this research looks at the different ways that Food Production can be integrated into the cities and landscapes of Qatar, both in new projects and in regeneration or retrofitting projects. The Method of research looks at international trends and case studies to see how they can be applied to the context of Doha and Qatar. The importance of systems thinking implies that the food product is evaluated and measured in its total chain, as well as the energy and resources consumed and recycled. Another important aspect, which complements the quantitative measures, is the quality of the food produced, and the quality of the urban landscapes that result from the implementation of edible plants and trees. Increasingly, we are becoming aware of the importance of pesticide and additive free nutrition and these new ways of producing food must also provide more harmonious environments and balanced diets. Results. A number of case studies developed with students in the Masters in Urban Planning Design at Qatar University developed scenarios to implement different food systems into the urban and architectural landscapes of Qatar, from individual gardens in compounds and villas to vertical farming in high rise buildings, and from University Campuses to reclaimed waste water ponds. Conclusions. New Food Ecologies for Qatar imply that we not only design our buildings and landscapes in new ways to integrate the production of healthy food and medicinal herbs, but that these new visible ways of nourishing the populations includes an embellished environment and a more aware and discerning approach to the consumption of food, in short, a more holistic relationship to what our bodies consume.
Molecular and cellular responses of date palm roots to salinity stress
Authors: Radwan Osman
Published: November 2013

The ability of date palm (Phoenix dactylifers L.) to grow in hot and dry regions of the world makes it an important subsistence crop in most arid areas. Nevertheless, salinity and drought are the main abiotic stresses causing loss of date palm yield. Here we employed the next generation sequencing technology for high-throughput sequencing of date palm transcripts in response to salinity. cDNA libraries, from roots treated with 100 mM Sodium Chloride and mock treated roots, were sequenced via Illumina HiSeq2000 system. Data analysis identified 1940 genes that are differentially expressed between treated and mock treated roots. MYB transcription factors, protein kinase, E3 ubiquitin ligase, calmodulin, polyamine oxidase and acetyltransferase transcripts are regulated in response to salinity stress suggesting potential roles of these genes in tolerance to salinity stress. Additionally, we examined the cellular responses of date palm tissue to salinity stress using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results from TEM show that stressed roots exhibited plasmolysis in cortical cells while epidermal cells did not appear to plasmolyze. Columnar cells in the distal root region might form a barrier to salt intrusion, which would make the older regions of the root less susceptible to salt plasmolysis. Output from this project will help in enhancing our understanding of date palm signaling mechanisms and developing new strategies to control salinity stress.
Enhanced oil recovery through wettability alteration of heterogeneous carbonate rocks
Authors: Matenoglou Grigorios
Published: November 2013

Wettability of a carbonate reservoir is one of the key points concerning oil recovery. Most carbonate reservoirs tend to be oil-wet. An oil-wet wettability generates significant problems in oil recovery since the formation has a stronger ability to keep oil attached in its pores, and it also decreases the efficiency of water flooding leading to faster water breakthrough. Wettability alteration in oil wet carbonate reservoirs have demonstrated to be a successful method in enhancing oil recovery through chemical water flooding of such formations. Wettability, IFT (Interfacial tension), and temperature, are all parameters that have a significant effect on the recovery process. Different processes and chemicals have been tested to study the alteration of wettability through contact angle and its effect on oil recovery. It is essential to understand the correlation between the IFT value of the brine injected with the degree of wettability alteration, in order to assemble an optimized brine solution for enhancing oil recovery by finding an optimized contact angle and an IFT value. In this paper, carbonate outcrop samples from Jabal Fuwayrit in Qatar (considered to be a similar and representative to the North Field formation) were used to make a comparative study of wettability alteration effect followed by recovery. Spontaneous imbibition and flooding of brine with different chemical composition were employed. We also studied the effect of non-ionic and cationic surfactants in sea water from Qatar to further enhance oil recovery. Comparison of the results obtained leads to a better understanding of wettability alteration and the appropriate selection of injection brine for optimal recovery. The significance of such study can be easily demonstrated. Wettability understanding and alteration at will is of a great importance and can be expanded in all type of reservoirs, giving a cost-effective, fast and functional process.
Identification of bacteria from the marine environment surrounding Qatar
Authors: Fotedar Rashmi
Published: November 2013

The Arabian Gulf surrounding Qatar is distinct from other marine ecosystems due to its high salinity, and extreme temperature fluctuations and is underpinned by its massive oil and gas industry. To date, no microbial studies have been performed in Qatari waters to isolates and identify the microbial flora of the marine environment in Qatar. This study is thus planned to assess the microbial diversity of in marine environment surrounding Qatar using biochemical and molecular methods. In this study we isolated and cultured fifty bacteria that inhabited the marine environment in Qatar. The identification was done by morphological, biochemical and molecular methods. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rDNA sequences indicated that the majority ( 88 %) of the strains belonged to g-Proteobacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio nigripulchritudo, Vibrio nereis ,Vibrio harveyi, Pseudoalteromonas piscicida, Pseudoalteromonas agarivorans, Pseudoalteromonas rubra, Pseudoalteromonas prydzensis, Halobacillus profundi , Cobetia marina, Shewanella loihica ,Virgibacillus dokdonensis ,Ruegeria mobilis), followed by CFB group bacteria ( 10% ) ( Tenacibaculum mesophilum); and low GC, Firmicutes (2%) (Bacillus boroniphilus). This study provides the preliminary observation in deciphering the bacterial diversity in marine environment of Qatar.
Revealing The Date Palm Root Microbial Communities By Metagenomic Analyses
Authors: Elkharbotly Ali
Published: November 2013

Date palm roots, like roots of other plants, host many microorganisms including bacteria and fungi. These microbial communities can have both favorable and unfavorable effects on the date palm's health and production. For this reason, the effect of the nitrogen source in the fertilizer on microbial communities and metabolomics is being studied. In this project we will use state-of-the-art metagenomic approaches to analyze the microbial communities present in the rhizosphere under different fertilization regimes. Also the effect of the roots of different cultivars on the microbial diversity will be addressed. The metabolomic analysis will be carried out by another research team. An experiment is being carried out at the Roudat Alfars Research Farm of the Ministry of Environment. Four different fertilization regimes were applied in which the nitrogen sources were either mineral or organic in three replications (3 palms) on cultivar Khalas. Three more cultivars were used to examine the cultivar's effect on rhizosphere microbial communities. The evaluation of the effect of the nitrogen source on the microbial diversity in the rhizosphere will be carried out for one year. The first samples (roots and soil) were collected for metagenomic analysis. Sampling will be carried out every three months. Palms were also genotyped using 23 microsatellite primers for confirmation of their identity. Results showed no differences in genotyping between the 12 Khalas palms used. Four protocols for DNA extraction for metagenomic analysis are being tested. The most suitable protocol will be standardized to extract the DNA from all samples. Different primers for PCR reactions and high-throughput DNA sequencing will be used in the coming year for microbial identification. They will also be used to find microorganisms with potential for agricultural practice such as nitrogen and phosphorus fixation, and antimicrobial and pesticidal effects.
Application a statistical method for simulating PM10 concentrations distribution in urban receptors: Case study of Tehran
Authors: Rahimi Mohammad
Published: November 2013

The achievement of air quality standards (AQS) is the main concern of air quality managers. In the semi arid and arid areas such as Qatar, dust storms release large amounts of particulate into the atmosphere every year, which can cause serious health problems such as lung irritation, allergic reactions, eye infections, meningitis. The present research aims at simulating PM10 concentrations distribution in Tehran by lognormal statistical distribution method during a bit more than 2-year period (2011-19 January 2013). With respect to statistical properties of air pollutants, the number of exceeding daily average concentrations from assigned air quality standards (AQS) can be estimated, as well as the level of reduction in current emission sources of PM10 required in order to meet the AQS. The results show that the distribution of PM10 concentration could be in?uenced by local meteorological conditions in di?erent seasons .In addition, the emission sources reduction of PM10 concentration to meet the air quality standard (PM10> 50µg/m3) for Fath's station is successfully predicted.
Different Kinetic Degradation Of Methyl Orange By Nanostructured Titania: Titania Nanotube, Titania Nanofiber, And Titania Nanoparticle
Authors: Han Dong Suk
Published: November 2013

TiO2 is a semiconductor with photo-catalytic properties and is being thoroughly investigated for its use in the degradation of harmful environmental pollutants using photo-catalytic reactions. The effects of TiO2 nanoparticles and different structured TiO2 electrodes on methyl orange degradation using sunlight have been investigated. Titania Nanotube (TNT) and Titania Nanofiber (TNF) were obtained through anodic oxidation of pure titanium sheet and titania nanoparticle was commercially available. Nanostructured Titania was doped with palladium and Methyl Orange, a harmful environmental pollutant, was degraded using palladium doped nanostructured titania. The kinetic degradation was observed using UV-Vis spectroscopy. Titania Nanotube degraded the pollutant faster than titania nanofiber because of the larger surface area provided by tubes. Titania nanoparticle being in the powder form was the most effective in degrading methyl orange pollutant because of the very large surface area providing higher catalytic capability.
Critical Pitting Temperature Of Ti-6Al-4V Produced With Rapid Prototyping Technology: Electron Beam Melting Machine
Authors: Abdeen Dana
Published: November 2013

Critical Pitting Temperature of Ti-6Al-4V Produced with Rapid Prototyping Technology: Electron Beam Melting Machine Abstract Titanium and its alloys are valuable engineering materials due to their excellent mechanical and physical properties. Comparing to other metallic materials such as stainless steel and Co-Cr alloys; Ti and its alloys are of lighter weight, higher strength-density ratio, superior corrosion resistance in wide range of environments, and better biocompatibility in human body. The most widely used titanium alloy is Ti-6Al-4V. It contains a combination of α stabilizer (Aluminum) and β stabilizer (Vanadium) that gives better microstructure combination, resulting in a good balance of strength, ductility, fracture and fatigue properties. Rapid prototyping technology allows the manufacturing of 3D intricate objects through the layer-by-layer technique. Electron beam melting (EBM) machine utilizes this 3D printing technology to fabricate complex objects using Ti-6Al-4V alloy. EBM machine uses electrons as the energy source to melt layer-by-layer the metallic powder and build the required parts under vacuum pressure of 10-3 mbar and temperature of 690°C. Parts produced with this machine can be used in many applications such as; petrochemical industry, chemical processing, aerospace applications, medical applications, and automotive industry. Due to the unique manufacturing conditions of high temperature, vacuum pressure, and quenching of the molten metal to nearly room temperature in just a few hours; the corrosion behavior of produced part is likely very different from that of traditional wrought alloys. In addition, surface roughness and density of parts out of such machine is different than traditional commercial titanium. Notwithstanding this, EBM machine can work under different sets of processing parameters, which allows a control of part properties. This study measures the critical pitting temperature (CPT) of samples produced under different processing parameters of EBM machine. CPT test was performed to detect the temperature at which the part will start to pit in a 3.5% weight NaCl solution. CPT gives an indication of the ability of the metal to withstand pitting under specified tested condition and specifies the temperature at which pitting of the surface will start. Surface roughness and density were measured as well, and a Minitab software was used to relate these properties to the EBM machine manufacturing parameters in order to optimize the best working parameters that will enhance the quality and increase corrosion resistance of produced parts.
Five-Phase Sensorless Induction Motor Drives With Lc Filter For High Power Applications
Authors: Abduallah Ahmad
Published: November 2013

Multi-phase IM drive systems are nowadays seen as a possible alternative to the three-phase drives due to their features that are especially suited for high power applications such as Oil & Gas industries, electric vehicles, traction drive, ship propulsion, robotics and mining and huge number of application. The main advantages of the multi-phase machines are higher power density with reduced volume, lower torque pulsation at higher frequency, lower dc link current harmonics and lower noise and keep going. This fault tolerance capability of the multi-phase machines makes them highly attractive for safety critical applications listed above. The trend in the drive industry is to employ sensorless topology to make the system more reliable, robust, lower hardware count, reduced cabling, reduced cost and less maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to design and develop five-phase speed sensorless induction motor drive system with inverter output LC filter. The drive system are supplied using PWM voltage source inverter and the growing switching speed of IGBTs pose additional problem of high dv/dt. The high dv/dt of the inverter output leads to several problems in the drive systems such as doubling of motor applied voltage (especially for drive with long cable), high voltage stress on motor, leakage and bearing currents leading to the bearing failure and high electromagnetic interference (EMI) etc. To mitigate these issues particularly passive filters are used. This paper focuses on using an LC filter at the output of the five-phase inverter. This paper investigate the design issues of output LC in conjunction with five-phase drive system. The LC filter causes delay and phase shift in the output voltages that affect adversely the motor control especially in sensorless vector controlled drive system. The presence of LC filter is to be incorporated in the speed estimator system. Hence the modification is necessary in the control structure. The effect of inverter output LC filter on the behavior of a sensorless vector controlled five-phase induction motor drive system investigated in this paper. Modification in the control structure and algorithm is implemented and will be reported in the full paper. The whole approach based on theoretical study, simulation verification and experimental implementation.
Elemental Composition Of Traffic Related Particulate Matter (Pm10 And Pm2.5) Levels In Doha, Qatar
Authors: Al Mazrooey Hana , Goktepe Ipek
Published: November 2013

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of traffic-related particulate matters (PMs) and their elemental compositions in Doha, Qatar. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were measured using DPS monitors. The elemental composition of PM samples was determined by an ICP-MS. Electron beam microscope was also used to confirm the size of particles collected on filters from select sites. During the study period, it was determined that there is a direct relationship between the concentrations of elements detected in PM samples and the number of cars passed through sample collection sites. The environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and wind speed did not influence the concentrations of PMs. The levels of Pb, Ni, and Cr which are known carcinogenic metals were reported to be between 200 and 900 ppb, indicating a possible public health hazard. The presence of high concentrations of Al, Mg, Na, Fe, and Zn referred to the origin of PMs to be mainly crustal material, sea salt, and fossil fuel combustion. The results obtained in this study might be helpful in establishing new air quality standards to protect the public health and the environment in Qatar.
A New Device For Measuring The Two Soil Moisture Characteristic Curves: Application To Native Soils In The State Of Qatar
Authors: Braudeau Erik
Published: November 2013

This paper presents a new device [TypoSoilTM] for characterizing the hydrostructural properties of the soil medium organization. It intended to simultaneously and continuously measure both the shrinkage [V(W)] and the water potential [h(W)] characteristic curves for 8 cylindrical soil samples (~100 〖"cm" 〗^"3" ) at the same time during evaporation from the saturation to dry state. No other device makes similar measurements that are crucial to research the fundamental equations of the hydrostructural behavior of soils. This device makes part of a complete chain of measurements of the hydrostructural properties of the soil medium including also the soil swelling curve [V(t)] and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve [K(W)]. Twelve soil samples were prepared, and analyzed by TypoSoilTM. These samples included three replicates of reconstituted and undisturbed soil cores of two native soils in the state of Qatar, named locally "Rodah soil" and "Sabkha soil". The obtained results indicated a good procedure for the soil samples preparation, and consistent measurement of the TypoSoilTM. Minor variations were observed among SWCC and SSCC of the three replicates of each soil type showing the trustworthiness of measurement. The results will help us to make an accurate hydro-functional typology of these kinds of soils in arid countries. This information is also needed for understanding and simulating the soil hydraulic behavior under agronomical practices (irrigation), or for planning some remediation techniques of the Sabkha soils. The quality of results confirmed also the thermodynamic theory behind the exploitation of these curves to extract the hydrostructural characteristic parameters.
Hardware implementation of principal component analysis for gas identification systems on the Zynq SoC platform
Authors: Ait Si Ali Amine
Published: November 2013

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a commonly used technique for data reduction in general as well as for dimensionality reduction in gas identification systems when a sensor array is being used. A complete PCA IP core for gas application has been designed and implemented on the Zynq programmable system on chip (SoC). The new heterogeneous Zynq platform with its ARM processor and programmable logic (PL) was used because it is becoming an interesting alternative to conventional field programmable gate array (FPGA) platforms. All steps of the learning and testing phases of PCA starting from the mean computation to the projection of data onto the new space, passing by the normalization process, covariance matrix and the eigenvectors computation were developed in C and synthesized using the new Xilinx VIVADO high level synthesis (HLS) tool. The eigenvectors were found using the Jacobi method. The implemented hardware of the presented PCA algorithm for a 16×30 matrix was faster than the software counterpart with a speed up of 1.41 times when executed on a desktop running a 64-bit Intel i7-3770 processor at 3.40GHz. The implemented IP core consumed an average of 23% of all on chip resources. The PCA algorithm used in the learning phase is to be executed first for the system to be trained to a specific data set and then produce the related vectors of means along with the eigenvectors that will be used in the testing part. The PCA algorithm used in the testing phase will also be used in real time identification. For testing purpose, a data set that represents the output of a 16-array gas sensor when exposed to three types of gases (CO, Ethanol and H2) in ten different concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80, 120, 140, 160, 180 and 200ppm) was used. The aim was to reduce the 30 samples of 16 dimensions to 30 vectors of 2 or 3 dimensions data depending on the need. The combination between the Zynq platform and the HLS tool showed many benefits, using Vivado HLS resulted in a considerable gain in terms of time spent on prototyping and this is due to the fact that the design was specified in a high level language such C or C++ and not a hardware description language such as VHDL or Verilog. While using the Zynq platform highlighted some interesting advantages compared with conventional FPGA platforms such us the possibility to split the design, executing the simple part in a software manner on the ARM processor and leaving the complex one for hardware acceleration. It is planned to further optimize the IP core using the Vivado HLS directives, the developed core is to be used in a larger gas identification system for dimensionality reduction purpose. The larger gas identification system will be used to identify a given gas and estimate its concentration and will be part of a Low Power Reconfigurable self-calibrated Multi‐Sensing Platform.
A tyre safety study in Qatar and application of immersive simulators
Authors: Renault Max
Published: November 2013

In support of Qatar's National Road Safety Strategy and under the umbrella of the National Traffic Safety Committee, Qatar Petroleum's Research and Technology Department in cooperation with Williams Advanced Engineering has undertaken a study of the state of tyre safety in the country. This study has reviewed the regulatory and legislative frameworks governing tyre usage in the country, as well as collected data on how tyres are being used by the populace. To understand the state of tyre usage in Qatar a survey of 239 vehicles undergoing annual inspection was conducted and an electronic survey querying respondents' knowledge of tyres received 808 responses. The findings identified deficiencies in four key areas: accident data reporting, tyre certification for regional efficacy, usage of balloon tyres, and the public's knowledge of tyres and tyre care. Following completion of this study, Qatar Petroleum has commissioned Williams Advanced Engineering to produce an immersive driving simulator for the dual purposes of research and education. This simulator will provide a platform for research investigations of the effect of tyre performance and failure on vehicle stability; additionally this will allow road users, in a safe environment, to experience the effects of various tyre conditions such as a failure, and learn appropriate responses.
Speaker Recognition Using Multimodal Neural Networks And Wavelet Analysis
Authors: Almaadeed Noor
Published: November 2013

SPEAKER RECOGNITION USING MULTIMODAL NEURAL NETWORKS AND WAVELET ANALYSIS
Building on strengths of indigenous knowledge to promote sustainable development in crisis conditions from community level: The case of Palestine
Authors: Alayasa Jehad
Published: November 2013

Abstract This study began focused on the use of traditional knowledge in promoting sustainable development in crisis conditions. Presented the question: How have successful community- level sustainable development efforts undertaken under crisis conditions drawn upon indigenous knowledge to achieve positive outcomes? The study is a cross case analysis. The three cases addressed in this study have explained some of the ways that indigenous knowledge has played significant positive roles in promoting sustainable development for communities living under crisis conditions in Palestine. Indigenous knowledge community based patterns indicated significant focus on strengths of local culture, social cohesion, the integration process, and special advantages for policy implementation from the community level as key components of sustainable development in crisis conditions. This study especially focuses on efforts to implement sustainable development in crisis conditions. As the World Commission on Environment and Development, better known as the Brundtland Commission, explained in its seminal report (1987), the core problem for sustainable development is the need to integrate social development, economic development, and environmental protection to ensure “development that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987, p. 8). And as that report and subsequent studies indicate, too often the social development dimension of the living triangle has been ignored or dramatically undervalued as those involved in development have concentrated on economic development and to some extent environmental protection (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). In addition to the important ongoing problem of lack of focus on social aspects, sustainable development is particularly important and especially challenging in crisis conditions that include war, terrorism, and civil disorder and their aftermath. This research specifically considers the challenges of sustainable development in the Palestinian context with sensitivity to the need for the integration of all three elements of the living triangle and with concern for the special challenges presented by efforts to achieve sustainable development in crisis conditions. The study contributes to theory by analyzing common elements from the case studies and providing a set of testable propositions, grounded in those successful experiences that can be a starting point for building theory. Practically, the study has generated lessons that sustainable development policy implementers and decision makers can learn from when addressing sustainable development in different crisis conditions contexts such as the aftermath of what is called the “Arab Spring” contexts.