Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Shear Behavior of RC Beams Strengthened by Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Ashraf Awadh Bahraq,Mohammed Ali Al-Osta,Shamsad Ahmad,Mesfer Mohammad Al-Zahrani,Salah Othman Al-Dulaijan,Muhammad Kalimur Rahman 한국콘크리트학회 2019 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.13 No.1

This paper presents a study on the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened by jacketing the surfaces of the beams using ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPC). The surfaces of the RC beams were prepared by sandblasting and UHPC was cast in situ over the surfaces of RC beams. The beams were strengthened using two different strengthening configurations; (i) two longitudinal sides strengthening (ii) three sides strengthening. The bond between normal concrete and UHPC was examined by conducting splitting tensile strength and slant shear strength tests on composite cylindrical specimens cast using normal concrete and UHPC. The control and strengthened beam specimens were tested using four-point loading arrangement maintaining different shear span-to-depth ratios. The results of tested beams showed the beneficial effects of strengthening the RC beams using UHPC, as evident from enhancement of the shear capacity and shifting of the failure mode from brittle to ductile with more stiff behavior. In addition, a non-linear finite element model (FEM) was developed to examine the sufficiency of the experimental results used to study the shear behavior of control and strengthened beams. The failure loads and the crack patterns determined experimentally matched well with those predicted using the proposed model with a reasonably good degree of accuracy.

Survival and Prognostic Factors for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: an Egyptian Multidisciplinary Clinic Experience

Abdelaziz, Ashraf Omar,Elbaz, Tamer Mahmoud,Shousha, Hend Ibrahim,Ibrahim, Mostafa Mohamed,El-Shazli, Mostafa Abdel Rahman,Abdelmaksoud, Ahmed Hosni,Aziz, Omar Abdel,Zaki, Hisham Atef,Elattar, Inas An Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.9

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a dismal tumor with a high incidence, prevalence and poor prognosis and survival. Management of HCC necessitates multidisciplinary clinics due to the wide heterogeneity in its presentation, different therapeutic options, variable biologic behavior and background presence of chronic liver disease. We studied the different prognostic factors that affected survival of our patients to improve future HCC management and patient survival. Materials and Methods: This study is performed in a specialized multidisciplinary clinic for HCC in Kasr El Eini Hospital, Cairo University, Egypt. We retrospectively analyzed the different patient and tumor characteristics and the primary mode of management applied to our patients. Further analysis was performed using univariate and multivariate statistics. Results: During the period February 2009 till February 2013, 290 HCC patients presented to our multidisciplinary clinic. They were predominantly males and the mean age was $56.5{\pm}7.7years$. All cases developed HCC on top of cirrhosis that was mainly due to HCV (71%). Most of our patients were Child-Pugh A (50%) or B (36.9%) and commonly presented with small single lesions. Transarterial chemoembolization was the most common line of treatment used (32.4%). The overall survival was 79.9% at 6 months, 54.5% at 1 year and 22.4% at 2 years. Serum bilirubin, site of the tumor and type of treatment were the significant independent prognostic factors for survival. Conclusions: Our main prognostic variables are the bilirubin level, the bilobar hepatic affection and the application of specific treatment (either curative or palliative). Multidisciplinary clinics enhance better HCC management.

파키스탄에서의 폐기물관리 - 과제와 해결책

( Abdur Rahman ),( M. Ashraf Moten ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회 2002 APLAS Vol.2002 No.2

폐기물 관리의 개념은 삶의 질을 향상시키는 것이다. 그러나 이러한 개념은 개발도상국에 있어서는 존재하지 않는 개념이다. 폐기물의 관리는 사회구성원의 참여를 통해서 가장 잘 이루어질 수 있다. 파키스탄에서는 건강을 증진시키고, 환경의 질을 향상시키며, 경제적 여건을 향상시키기 위하여 사회구성원들은 자원을 관리하는 법을 배우기 위한 교육을 받을 필요가 있다. 사회구성원의 파키스탄의 도시지역에서는 매일 55,000톤, 연간 2,000만톤의 폐기물이 발생된다. 폐기물 관리 비용은 톤당 10.5 달러로 산정되며, 이는 폐기물관리비로서 연간 2억 1천만 달러가 소요된다. 각 지방자치체는 예산의 40%를 사용함에도 불구하고 폐기물관리의 기준을 달성하지 못하고 있다. 본 논문은 파키스탄의 8개 도시에서 행한 조사결과에 기초를 두고 있다. 부적절하고 비효율적인 시스템에 의해 폐기물의 절반가량이 수거되지 못하고 있는 것으로 추정되고 있다. 적절한 폐기물 관리는 지자체의 예산을 증가시키고, 생산율을 높이며, 공중위생기준을 향상시키며, 보건상태를 향상시킬 수 있다. 현재 파키스탄에서는 어떤 도시도 폐기물 관리를 위해 잘 계획되고 효율적인 시스템을 갖추고 있지 않다. 이러한 이유로 대도시의 많은 부분, 어떤 경우에는 도시 전체가 환경의 암흑지대로 변해버렸다. 개인 또는 비공식적인 개체를 개입시켜서 효율성을 도모함으로써 각 지자체는 적은 비용으로 폐기물관리 기준을 달성할 수 있다. 청소부와 수거원은 폐기물에서 나온 유가물을 모아서 판매함으로써 이익을 취하면서 폐기물을 사업활동의 매개체로 만들고 있다. 그러므로 이러한 비공식적인 개체는 폐기물 수거, 선별, 재활용품의 판매를 통하여 자원순환을 유도하고 있다. 이러한 활동은 지자체로 하여금 폐기물의 최종처분에 앞선 선별의 부담을 덜어준다. 그러므로 다음과 같은 목적을 갖고 폐기물을 적절히 관리하기 위하여 정책의 개선이 필요하다. ㆍ 폐기물 발생 저감 ㆍ 원료로서 폐기물의 재활용 및 재사용 ㆍ 환경적으로 적합한 방법을 통한 최종폐기물의 처분 The concept of waste management in the world is to improve life. However, this concept is missing in developing nations. Management of solid waste can best be achieved through community participation. In Pakistan, the communities need education to learn how to manage resources to improve their health, enhance the quality of environment and raise their economic situation. It is estimated that the urban areas of Pakistan generates about 55000 tons of solid waste everyday or about 20 million tons per annum. The cost of solid waste management has been estimated at US$ 10.5 per ton requiring an annual allocation of US$ 210 million for solid waste management (SWM). The respective municipalities, despite spending 40% of their budget, have not been able to achieve the desirable standards of SWM. This paper is based on the survey conducted in 8 cities of Pakistan. According to estimates, about half of waste is left uncollected owing to inadequacy and inefficiency of the system. Proper solid waste management can lead to increased revenues for the municipal bodies, higher productivity rate, improved sanitation standard and better health condition. Presently there is not a single city in Pakistan with properly planned and efficient system of SWM. For this reason many parts of large urban areas and in some cases entire cities have turned into environmental black spots. The involvement of private/informal sector enables the respective municipalities to achieve the adequate standards of SWM with reduced cost due to their efficiency and determination. The scavengers/collectors are involved with collection of valuables from solid waste to sell them for economic returns, making solid waste a business activity. Hence this informal sector is busy with resource mobilization through waste collection, sorting and sale of recyclable. This activity reduces the burden of municipalities for sorting of some of the components of solid waste before its final disposal. Thus a strategy needs to be evolved for proper management of solid waste with the objectives to: ㆍ avoid creation of waste ㆍ recycle and reuse waste as raw materials ㆍ dispose off the remaining MSW in an environmentally sound way.

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN PAKISTAN- CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

( Abdur Rahman ),( M. Ashraf Moten ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회 2002 APLAS Vol.2002 No.1

The concept of waste management in the world is to improve life. However, this concept is missing in developing nations. Management of solid waste can best be achieved through community participation. In Pakistan, the communities need education to learn how to manage resources to improve their health, enhance the quality of environment and raise their economic situation. It is estimated that the urban areas of Pakistan generates about 55000 tons of solid waste everyday or about 20 million tons per annum. The cost of solid waste management has been estimated at USS 10.5 per ton requiring an annual allocation of US$ 210 million for solid waste management (SWM). The respective municipalities, despite spending 40% of their budget, have not been able to achieve the desirable standards of SWM. This paper is based on the survey conducted in 8 cities of Pakistan. According to estimates, about half of waste is left uncollected owing to inadequacy and inefficiency of the system. Proper solid waste management can lead to increased revenues for the municipal bodies, higher productivity rate, improved sanitation standard and better health condition. Presently there is not a single city in Pakistan with properly planned and efficient system of SWM. For this reason many parts of large urban areas and in some cases entire cities have turned into environmental black spots. The involvement of private/informal sector enables the respective municipalities to achieve the adequate standards of SWM with reduced cost due to their efficiency and determination. The scavengers/collectors are involved with collection of valuables from solid waste to sell them for economic returns, making solid waste a business activity. Hence this informal sector is busy with resource mobilization through waste collection, sorting and sale of recyclable. This activity reduces the burden of municipalities for sorting of some of the components of solid waste before its filial disposal. Thus a strategy needs to be evolved for proper management of solid waste with the objectives to: ㆍ avoid creation of waste ㆍ recycle and reuse waste as raw materials ㆍ dispose off the remaining MSW in an environmentally sound way.

Malaysian Efforts in Combating IUU Fishing: A Legal and Policy Review

Farahdilah Ghazali,Wan Izatul Talaat,Ashraf Rahman,Hazmi Rusli 이준국제법연구원 2019 Journal of East Asia and International Law Vol.12 No.2

Application of Data Mining Techniques to Explore Predictors of HCC in Egyptian Patients with HCV-related Chronic Liver Disease

Omran, Dalia Abd El Hamid,Awad, AbuBakr Hussein,Mabrouk, Mahasen Abd El Rahman,Soliman, Ahmad Fouad,Aziz, Ashraf Omar Abdel Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.1

Background:Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common malignancy in Egypt. Data mining is a method of predictive analysis which can explore tremendous volumes of information to discover hidden patterns and relationships. Our aim here was to develop a non-invasive algorithm for prediction of HCC. Such an algorithm should be economical, reliable, easy to apply and acceptable by domain experts. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 315 patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) related chronic liver disease (CLD); 135 HCC, 116 cirrhotic patients without HCC and 64 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Using data mining analysis, we constructed a decision tree learning algorithm to predict HCC. Results: The decision tree algorithm was able to predict HCC with recall (sensitivity) of 83.5% and precession (specificity) of 83.3% using only routine data. The correctly classified instances were 259 (82.2%), and the incorrectly classified instances were 56 (17.8%). Out of 29 attributes, serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP), with an optimal cutoff value of ${\geq}50.3ng/ml$ was selected as the best predictor of HCC. To a lesser extent, male sex, presence of cirrhosis, AST>64U/L, and ascites were variables associated with HCC. Conclusion: Data mining analysis allows discovery of hidden patterns and enables the development of models to predict HCC, utilizing routine data as an alternative to CT and liver biopsy. This study has highlighted a new cutoff for AFP (${\geq}50.3ng/ml$). Presence of a score of >2 risk variables (out of 5) can successfully predict HCC with a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 82%.

AIMS: AI based Mental Healthcare System

Ibrahim Alrashide,Hussain Alkhalifah,Abdul-Aziz Al-Momen,Ibrahim Alali,Ghazy Alshaikh,Atta-ur Rahman,Ashraf Saadeldeen,Khalid Aloup International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2023 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.23 No.12

In this era of information and communication technology (ICT), tremendous improvements have been witnessed in our daily lives. The impact of these technologies is subjective and negative or positive. For instance, ICT has brought a lot of ease and versatility in our lifestyles, on the other hand, its excessive use brings around issues related to physical and mental health etc. In this study, we are bridging these both aspects by proposing the idea of AI based mental healthcare (AIMS). In this regard, we aim to provide a platform where the patient can register to the system and take consultancy by providing their assessment by means of a chatbot. The chatbot will send the gathered information to the machine learning block. The machine learning model is already trained and predicts whether the patient needs a treatment by classifying him/her based on the assessment. This information is provided to the mental health practitioner (doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist) as clinical decision support. Eventually, the practitioner will provide his/her suggestions to the patient via the proposed system. Additionally, the proposed system prioritizes care, support, privacy, and patient autonomy, all while using a friendly chatbot interface. By using technology like natural language processing and machine learning, the system can predict a patient's condition and recommend the right professional for further help, including in-person appointments if necessary. This not only raises awareness about mental health but also makes it easier for patients to start therapy.