Showing 5881–5894 of 6,136 results for "Awashra Ameer"

Journals 2019 EN

Identifying hydrocarbon and shaly zones of Mishrif Formation in Nasiriya Oil Field by using well logs

Ameer T. Hameed · AbdulAali A. Aldabaj · Ahmad A. Ramadhan

Well logging is the process of recording physical, chemical, electrical and other properties of rock/fluid mixture penetrated by drilling a borehole into the earth crust. Many of these logs are electrical in measurements. Hydrocarbon may exist in a porous and clean formation. That is, gamma ray and spontaneous potential can identify shaly/clean zones while neutron, density, sonic logs or even NMR logs may be used for porosity estimation. Resistivity logging is used to differentiate between formation filled with salty water (low resistivity) and with those filled with hydrocarbons (high resistivity). Mishrif Formation in Nasiriya Oil Field was chosen as a case study. The Nasiriya oil field structure is an anticline with NW- SE trend. Mishrif Formation is the Majer middle cretaceous carbonate in the stratigraphic column of southern Iraq. The result of well logs interpretation for the first five wells showed that a shaly unit separate upper Mishrif (MA) from the lower one (MB). Also, both units MB1 and MB21 are considered the movable hydrocarbon zones. The CPI data reflect that in which good values of porosity of about 0.18 in unit MB1 and 0.2 in unit MB21, besides low values of water saturation 0.28, 0.45 in units MB1& Mb21, respectively.

IOP Publishing
Journals 2019 EN

Evaluation of vertical drain with different materials

Ali Akhtarpour · Mohammed Shakir Mahmood · Ameer Alali

Accelerate the drainage process and consolidate saturated clay soils is important to achieve stability of the construction. Vertical drains, with a suitable grid and depth, the result of shortening the path of water flow inside the soil and soil consolidation rate increases from several years to several months. Sombar earth dam, a case study, in Gholaman village in North Khorasan province, Iran, is used to provide agricultural and drinking water in the area. The recent paper shows a comparison between the results of Sombar dam stability with vertical drains of two different materials using the Mohr-Coulomb model with the aid of GeoStudio 2012 computer software. The drains materials are sand and geotextile and the investigated parameters are permeability ratio (ky/kx), drains geometry and time of the dam construction. The results are presented as ratios, settlement ratio (SSAND/SGEOTEX) and safety factor ratio (FSSAND/FSGEOTEXT). The results revealed that there are clear increases in the consolidation settlement ratio, but, slightly increase in safety factors ratio using sand drains comparing to the geotextile. The ky/kx has a clear effect on settlement and factor of safety in sand drains.

IOP Publishing
Journals 2019 EN

Prediction of buildings’ cooling energy demand: A comparison of simulation-based and prescriptive approaches

Mahmoud Alhayek · Ameer Wadi · Ulrich Pont +1 more

Detailed simulation of buildings’ thermal performance can provide useful information for building designers and engineers. However, deployment of detailed simulation involves a number of challenges, including time and effort expenditures not accounted for in many typical building delivery processes. In this context, careful application of simplified methods may provide – at least for a specific class of applications – a reasonable alternative. The present contribution explores this possibility via a specific case study involving a large sample of residential buildings in Gaza, Palestine. This sample includes some fifty multi-unit apartment buildings representing the bulk of residential building stock in Gaza. These buildings were subjected to computational cooling energy demand assessment, whereby both numeric simulation and derivative simplified methods were applied. Numeric simulations were performed using EnergyPlus. For simplified calculations, a regression-based procedure was derived. Toward this end, a number of candidate independent variables (e.g., compactness, effective window-to-wall ration, LEK value, mean effective U-value) were considered and the level of their association with the computed values of the designated building performance indicators was observed. The comparison of the results of the simplified and simulation-based methods revealed a reasonable level of agreement. In other words, the application of the simplified method provides in the majority of the cases performance indicator values that are close enough to the corresponding results of the simulation-based method. This implies that simplified methods and associated prescriptive procedures may provide an attractive alternative to highly detailed simulation studies in cases were the paucity of information and/or computational resources may represent a challenge (e.g., early design stages, insufficient preparedness of the professional community, contextual constraints).

IOP Publishing
Journals 2019 EN

Analysis on LoRa RSSI in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Area for Handover Signal Strength-Based Algorithm.

Zairul Ameer Tan · M T A Rahman · Abdur Rahman +4 more

This paper focus on analysis on Long Range (LoRa) handover session was conducted in urban, suburban, and rural area in Perlis state, Malaysia. The experiment will consists of observation and analyzed on three area using LoRa communication modules. These three areas were collected on its Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) to know the signal strength over the distance from base station and the differences physical object appear in Line of Sight (LoS) during the transmitting and receiving its signal from LoRa Transmitter to LoRa Receiver. The result at three area of different location have shown various pattern in term of RSSI where the each of the location give the distance that signal of LoRa could reach whilst the motion of vehicle is constant. From this experiment, certain level of RSSI value will be chosen to set as minimum boundary switcher for handover process state indicator and be used handover process algorithm in network switcher.

IOP Publishing
Journals 2019 EN

LOW GLUCOSE ENHANCES THE CYTOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF METFORMIN AGAINST DOXORUBICIN-INDUCED CYTOTOXICITY

Fathima S. Ameer · Xiaomin Zhang · Gohar Azhar +2 more

Metformin, an oral anti-diabetic drug, is currently being investigated for its anti-aging properties and has also been used as adjunct therapy in cancer. Cancer is a disease of aging. Type 2 diabetes is also prevalent in older adults. We wanted to test the hypothesis that metformin could protect normal cells during chemotherapy treatment under different glucose conditions. We used C2C12 myoblast cells to study cellular bioenergetics, variations in gene expressions, and biochemical alterations induced by metformin and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (L-Doxo) under low glucose (2.7 mM or 50 mg/dL) and normal physiologic glucose (5.5 mM, or 100 mg/dL) conditions. Using confocal microscopy, we noted that treatment of C2C12 cells with 30 µg/mL L-Doxo under low glucose and normal physiologic glucose conditions induced cellular defects. Furthermore, L-Doxo treatment dysregulated the expression of mitochondrial fission and fusion genes, which may influence transformation of the network’s connectivity. L-Doxo treatment significantly reduced mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). However, pre-treatment with 100 nM metformin provided protection against L-Doxo-induced damage and increased cell viability and ATP levels in cells even under low glucose conditions. Our data provide further evidence by which low dose metformin exerts protective effects against L-Doxo, a chemotherapeutic drug, under low glucose conditions. Metformin appears to act via AMPKα, Raptor, and SRF, and has significant cellular protective effects that may be useful in cancer and/or aging.

University of Oxford
Journals 2019 EN

King tuna: Indian Ocean trade, offshore fishing, and coral reef resilience in the Maldives archipelago

Shreya Yadav · Ameer Abdulla · Ned Bertz +1 more

The traditional offshore pole-and-line tuna fishery of the Maldives has historically promoted low levels of reef fishing in this archipelago. While the tuna fishery is old and extensive—some evidence suggests it has been in place for over a thousand years—the reasons for its development have not been closely examined. Why did an offshore fishery develop in such small and isolated islands with abundant and easily accessible nearshore reefs? Why is tuna considered the “king of fish” in the Maldives, in contrast to many other islands across the globe where reef fish are prized for a wide variety of cultural and social reasons, often deeply rooted in community histories? In this article, we use a historical approach to uncover some of the drivers of this fishery, and the long-term consequences it has had for the resilience of this island chain. We trace the written accounts of travellers, voyagers, and traders, in addition to more recent research to gain an understanding of how early Indian Ocean trade networks may have shaped the development of this fishery over time. We propose that the early growth of the tuna fishery was likely tied to the trade in money cowries (Monetaria moneta), of which the Maldives was a major global supplier. A regional demand and market for dried tuna from the fourteenth century onwards contributed to the income of Maldivians and promoted and supported reef health by encouraging relatively low levels of reef fishing. However, the emergence and substantial growth of the Maldivian tourist industry in the past few decades are resulting in a shift in local consumption preferences and increased exploitation of reef fisheries. Exploring this history is important, not only to help contextualize the modern governance of the offshore tuna fishery, but also for a more nuanced understanding of the social, cultural, and ecological dynamics that have shaped Maldivian coral reefs in the past with implications for those that will do so in the future.

Oxford University Press
Journals 2019 EN

Asymptomatic congenital intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia in a woman becoming symptomatic after childbirth

Ameer Kakaje · Mohammad Mahfouz · Hussain Chaban

This paper describes a rare case presentation of congenital asymptomatic intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia. In this case, the female patient survived without symptoms for over 30 years until becoming symptomatic at childbirth. Diaphragmatic hernia occurs when abdominal viscera protrude into the thoracic cavity, with pericardial hernias being the rarest type. Diaphragmatic hernia can be caused by trauma that raises the intra-abdominal pressure, whereas congenital hernias are often symptomatic at birth. It is rare to have a congenital asymptomatic intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia, where the patient survives until adulthood and subsequently becomes symptomatic after delivering a child; hence, that is the uniqueness of this case.

Oxford University Press
Journals 2019 EN

Familial sliding hiatus hernia in four siblings with uncommon features: a case series report

Ameer Kakaje · F Khoury · Ammar Alfarroukh +1 more

This case report shows a very rare case series of one family with four children who had severe congenital sliding hiatus hernia (HH) with uncommon presentations, and they had one parent with sliding hernia and the other with reflux symptoms. It is rarely described in the literature a direct link to a familial type that might refer to a common genetic factor. Hiatus hernia is protrusion of abdominal viscera through the oesophagus opening in the diaphragm into the thoracic cavity with sliding hernia being the most common. It can be either asymptomatic or accompanied by a variety of symptoms. We present a case series of one family in which four siblings had congenital sliding diaphragmatic hernia with atypical symptoms and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). It is a rare case that suggests a common factor that can cause such a common disease. All four had uncommon presentations which all required surgical repair. Few cases reported on the medical literature, and they were discussed and compared with our case. However, we need further studies in families that might have this phenomenon.

Oxford University Press
Journals 2019 EN

298. Collocation of Hepatitis C Care Continuum with MAT for High-Prevalence, High-Risk Population

Shivakumar Narayanan · Ameer Abutaleb · Jennifer Hoffmann +5 more

Background The hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic in the United States disproportionately impacts people who inject drugs (PWID) who account for 80% of new infections and have a high prevalence of chronic infection. Baltimore City has the highest case rate of HCV in the state of Maryland with over 25% of new cases statewide occurring in the city. Only 10% of PWID have access to directly acting antiviral (DAA) therapy and are cured of HCV. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is currently offered in isolated facilities with limited access to other specialty care. In this study, we collocated HCV care continuum in a MAT facility offering opioid agonist therapy and psychosocial interventions Methods Collocation of HCV care was initiated in an MAT (methadone and buprenorphine) clinic, the University of Maryland Drug Treatment Center (UMDTC) serving over 700 patients, for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in Baltimore City (Figure 1). Screening for HCV was expanded through health education of patients and staff and expanded testing. HCV antibody-positive patients were linked to care with an experienced HCV provider or referred to hepatologists (decompensated cirrhosis). Results Most of the attendees were African-American with an average age of 52 years. 354 out of 701 clients attending clinic for methadone/suboxone (50.5%) were screened for HCV. Of the 251 patients who were hepatitis C antibody positive (70% of tested), 54 had undetectable HCV RNA. 46 had no HCV RNA labs available. 151 of the remaining HCV Ab positive patients who had a detectable HCV RNA result were evaluated for treatment (Figure 2). At initial assessment, 45 (48%) with liver fibrosis staged greater than F3, including 25 (27%) with cirrhosis. Sixty-four patients initiated DAA therapy. Fifty-four patients completed treatment (84%). Forty patients achieved sustained virologic response (100%) and 14 patients who completed treatment await SVR labs. Conclusion Collocation of HCV care continuum in MAT setting is an effective way to achieve micro elimination of HCV. The follow-up of this marginalized population still remains challenging given the high rates of homelessness and incarceration. In this regard, coordinated care between MAT settings and prisons are likely to demonstrate successful elimination of hepatitis C. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Oxford University Press