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In data-scarce regions, prudent planning and precise decision-making for sustainable development, especially in agriculture, remain challenging due to the lack of correct information. Remotely sensed satellite images provide a powerful source for assessing land use and land cover (LULC) classes and crop identification. Applying remote sensing (RS) in conjunction with the Geographical Information System (GIS) and modern tools/algorithms of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning has been proven effective for strategic planning and integrated resource management. The study was conducted in the canal command area of the Lower Chenab Canal system in Punjab, Pakistan. Crop features/classes were assessed using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) algorithm. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250 m and Landsat 5 TM (thematic mapper) images were deployed for NDVI time-series analysis with an unsupervised classification technique to obtain LULC classes that helped to discern cropping pattern, crop rotation, and the area of specific crops, which were then used as key inputs for agricultural mechanization planning and resource management. The accuracy of the LULC map was 78%, as assessed by the error matrix approach. Limitations of high-resolution RS data availability and the accuracy of the results are the concerns observed in this study that could be managed by the availability of good quality local sources and advanced processing techniques, that would make it more useful and applicable for regional agriculture and environmental management.

Despite the fact that zinc is recognized to be less hazardous than other heavy metals, e.g. cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic, it may cause acute and chronic toxicities in case of exposure to high doses. Aims of the study : To investigate biochemical and histopathological toxic effects of zinc acetate on rats kidney. Material and Methods: Twenty five healthy male albino rats were divided into five equal groups : Normal saline solution was given to the control group, groups 2,3,4, and 5 received zinc acetate (4,8,12, and 24mg/kg) respectively, all the treatment were given intraperitoneally once every other day for 3 consecutive weeks, for serum biochemical evaluation and renal histopathological assessment. Results : There was a significant increment in serum urea concentration in group 5 in comparison with other groups, but there was no significant difference in creatinine concentration between all of the groups (P ≤ 0.01), histopathological examination of kidney sections of rats of different groups revealed different lesions which were more severe at 4th and 5th groups. In conclusion: Subacute zinc acetate toxicity produce a dose-dependent significant effects on serum urea concentration in all the treated groups without any significant effects on creatinine concentration, this effect was reflected on renal histo-architecture which was more severe at 4th and 5th groups.

Agricultural Remote Sensing has the potential to enhance agricultural monitoring in smallholder economies to mitigate losses. However, its widespread adoption faces challenges, such as diminishing farm sizes, lack of reliable data-sets and high cost related to commercial satellite imagery. This research focuses on opportunities, practices and novel approaches for effective utilization of remote sensing in agriculture applications for smallholder economies. The work entails insights from experiments using datasets representative of major crops during different growing seasons. We propose an optimized solution for addressing challenges associated with remote sensing-based crop mapping in smallholder agriculture farms. Open source tools and data are used for inter and intra-sensor image registration, with a root mean square error of 0.3 or less. We also propose and emphasize on the use of delineated vegetation parcels through Segment Anything Model for Geospatial (SAM-GEOs). Furthermore a Bidirectional-Long Short-Term Memory-based (Bi-LSTM) deep learning model is developed and trained for crop classification, achieving results with accuracy of more than 94% and 96% for validation sets of two data sets collected in the field, during 2 growing seasons.

تعد الحيوانات المجترة لاسيما الاغنام والماعز من مصادر الغذاء المهمة للإنسان وتمثل جزء من منظومة الدخل القومي في العراق ومحافظة كربلاء على وجه الخصوص ، وقد شغلت دراسة الحيوانات المجترة باهتمام الباحثين في مختلف العلوم ومنها علم الجغرافية. ولقد اتخذت الدراسة من عناصر المناخ المتمثلة بأشعة الشمس و درجات الحرارة و الامطار و الرطوبة و الرياح , وأثرها في تربية الحيوانات المجترة مدار البحث, لغرض إيجاد بيئة ملائمة فضلا عن تقليل الأثر السلبي للمناخ من أجل النهوض بواقع تربيتها وزيادة اعدادها نتيجة الطلب المتزايد على منتجاتها من اللحوم والحليب. وتوصل البحث الى ان لموقع منطقة الدراسة دور في تحديد الخصائص المناخية ، اذ جعلها تتصف بالتطرف الشديد في درجات الحرارة ويمتاز أيضا بقلة الأمطار وتذبذبها نتيجة لموقعها القاري ولارتفاع كمية الإشعاع الشمسي في المنطقة مما يؤدي الى إصابة الحيوانات المجترة بضربة الشمس أو الإجهاد الحراري ومن ثم قلة شهيتها للغذاء الأمر الذي ينعكس على إنتاجها. وتؤثر عناصر المناخ بشكل غير مباشر على نوع وكمية الأعلاف المتوافرة للحيوانات واحتياجاتها من الأعلاف , الا ان طول مدة الاشعاع الشمسي وشدته لاسيما في الاشهر الحارة له انعكاساته السلبية على الحيوان والنبات في المنطقة. كما تتصف أمطار المنطقة بتذبذبها وعدم انتظام سقوطها وقلة كميتها لذلك لا يعتمد عليها بصورة مباشرة في الزراعة مما يجعل الاعتماد على الري أمراً حتمياُ، مع ذلك وبالرغم من قلتها فأنها تعمل على تقليل عدد الريات

In this article, an element w of an associative ring R is called m-regular nil clean or m-rnc if expressed as w = am + b where am is m-regular element and b is a nilpotent element. R is named m-regular nil clean ring or m-rnc ring. If all the elements of a ring R are m-rnc, some characteristics and basic properties of m-rnc rings are presented in this work.

Background: Despite the effectiveness of several biological agents in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), some patients respond better than others. Such discrepancies are often evident early in the treatment course. The aim of this study is to identify the risks and assess the rate of early biological discontinuation (BD) among IBD patients. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study conducted in Bahrain all IBD patients who were administered biological agents between June 2009 and June 2019 were included. Medical records were reviewed to collect study data and confirm IBD diagnoses. Early discontinuation of biological agents was defined by discontinuation of a biological agent (within 6 months from administration). Montreal classification was used to classify Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) according to location and extension, respectively. Results: Ineffectiveness was the most common reason for early BD. Early BD was not related to the type of IBD, biological agent used, or to most patient-related factors (such as gender and family history). Patient age at index biological initiation was the only independent significant predictor of early BD (P = 0.045, adjusted odds ratios (95% CI): 1.06 (1.001–1.116)] even after correction of two significant factors: comorbid diabetes and marked weight loss at diagnosis. Conclusion: The older the IBD patient at the time of biological therapy initiation, the higher the incidence of early BD. Therefore, caution and close follow-up are required for biological therapy among elderly patients to assess effectiveness and adverse drug reactions.

Abstract Background Combination drug therapy for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) is beneficial to selected patients and recommended by guidelines. Patterns of real-world LUTS drug use, especially combination drug therapy, have not been studied extensively. Moreover, further understanding of the recent landscape is required following the introduction of the beta-3-adrenoceptor agonist mirabegron in the UK in 2013 for overactive bladder (OAB). The objective was to describe mono- and combination drug therapy use for LUTS in patients in UK clinical practice. Methods This was a retrospective, descriptive, observational database study using UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and linked databases. Men and women ≥ 18 years with a first prescription for any LUTS drug from 2014 to 2016 with ≥ 12 months continuous enrollment pre- and post-index date were included. Primary endpoints were mono- or combination drug therapy use for LUTS in male and female cohorts. Secondary endpoints were description of treatment prescribed, treatment persistence and patient demographics. Data were analyzed descriptively. Sub-cohorts were defined by drugs prescribed at index date. Results 79,472 patients (61.3% male) were included, based on index treatments. Of all men, 82.5% received any benign prostatic obstruction (BPO) drug, 25.4% any OAB drug, and 7.9% any BPO drug plus any OAB drug. As either mono- or combination drug therapy, 77.1% received an alpha-blocker, 18.9% a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, 23.9% an antimuscarinic agent, and 2.1% mirabegron. Of all women, 94.5% received any OAB drug, 6.0% duloxetine, and 0.5% any OAB drug plus duloxetine. As either mono- or combination drug therapy, 87.7% received an antimuscarinic, and 9.7% mirabegron. In men or women receiving OAB treatment, approximately 2.5% received combination drug therapy with an antimuscarinic agent and mirabegron. For OAB drug monotherapies, mirabegron had the highest persistence in both male and female cohorts. Conclusions This study provides a better understanding of the recent landscape of LUTS drug use in UK clinical practice. It highlights potential undertreatment of storage symptoms in men with LUTS and the low use of combination OAB treatments.

Objectives: To evaluate the inhibitory effects of different concentrations of α-methyl-DL-tyrosine on latanoprost-induced iridal hyperpigmentation in rabbits. Methods: We investigated 4 groups of rabbits. Both eyes of the pink, red, and blue groups were treated with latanoprost followed by 0.5%, 1%, and 2% α-methyl-DL-tyrosine (inhibitor) in the right eyes respectively and the green group received only inhibitor. We prospectively investigated the irides, estimated quantitatively total melanin contents, and studied any histopathological changes that occurred. Results: The observers favored hyperpigmentation in the left eyes while in the right eyes they noted a decrease in pigmentation as compared to the baseline. An increase in pigmentation was noted by 93.33% of observers in the left eye of the blue group. A significant difference in the mean melanin contents was noted in the blue group (Right eye = 09.560 μg/g (±0.750), Left eye = 3.730 μg/g (±1.062). There was no evidence of stromal malignant changes, Hemorrhage, mitosis, inflammation, and atypical melanocytes in all specimens. A moderate degree of pigmentation in the left eye of the red group was noted. Mild stromal-free melanin pigment was present in all samples of pink, red and blue groups. Conclusions: The α-methyl-DL-tyrosine significantly inhibited latanoprost-induced iridal pigmentation without causing any histopathological changes at a 2% dose.

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, a challenging process that took place. Brexit was finalized on 31st January 2020, and after the transition period, the United Kingdom is not part of the European Union. The purpose of this research is to fill the gaps concerning how Brexit has and will affect the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union. The researcher conducts a study investigating the disruptive effects of Brexit and some of the organizational responses undertaken by companies in Britain. However, to conduct this study, the research focuses specifically on the Fortnum and Mason company as representing the retail industry. The chosen research method for this study is mixed-method research. This method will allow the researcher to acquire a broader picture of the topic under study. A pragmatic approach was used due to the study's nature as it is mainly grounded in the reality of many companies in the United Kingdom. This research paper will be valuable to retail firms and decision-makers who experience the uncertainties discussed in the study.

This research examines how a Constrained Nonlinear programming model for ERP implementation (CNL_ERP) can facilitate Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to deploy resources to address the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in the pre-implementation phase, and to invest in them during implementation to increase the probability that the implementation will be successful. Applications of CNL_ERP in three case studies demonstrate that the average ERP implementation outcomes outperform the observed results. Using the Generalised Reduced Gradient Method, we developed an ERP implementation strategy realising resource allocation to CSFs. The strategy provides a rich picture of where to concentrate effort in the initial, intermediate and final phases, and is very helpful in enabling an SME to understand the progress of an ERP project and the resources needed. In case there are changes in resources (such as budget, team performance), the model enables SMEs to rank CSFs, and to adjust resources allocations accordingly to achieve the best ERP implementation performance.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the utility of teleconsultation in the provision of eye care services during the COVID-19 lockdown. Disparities in the consultation burden of sub-specialities and socio-demographic differences in teleconsultation utilization were also assessed.MethodsAl-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi began audio and video teleconsultation using broadband telecommunication services during the lockdown. Patients' and consultations' data gathered during the first three weeks after the commencement of this programme were compared with data from the four weeks prior to lockdown. The weekly consultation ratio and overall consultation burden of sub-specialities were measured. Chi-Square tests of association determined the relationship between different variables (socioeconomic status and consultation characteristics) and consultation modality (on-site vs online).ResultsIn total, 17507 on-site consultations (4377/week) were conducted compared to 1431 teleconsultations (477/week), which maintained 10.89% of the weekly pre-lockdown eye care services. The post-lockdown teleconsultation programme saw a relatively higher percentage of service utility among female (47.09% vs 44.71%), younger-age (31.33±19.45 vs 41.25±23.32 years) and higher-socioeconomic-status (32.21% vs 0.30%) patients compared to pre-lockdown on-site consultations. The most common indication for teleconsultation was red-eye (16.70%). While cornea and glaucoma clinics maintained most of the pre-lockdown services (30.42% and 29% respectively), the highest dropout was seen in optometric and vitreoretinal services supporting only 5.54% and 8.28% of pre-lockdown services, respectively.ConclusionDigital initiatives could partially maintain eye care services during the lockdown. Focused strategies to improve teleconsultation utilization are required during the pandemic and beyond.

Study Design Retrospective review. Purpose To detect the effect of cannulated (poly-axial head) and solid (mono-axial head) screws on the local kyphotic angle, vertebral body height, and superior and inferior angles between the screw and the rod in the surgical management of thoracolumbar fractures. Overview of Literature Biomechanics studies showed that the ultimate load, yield strength, and cycles to failure were significantly lower with cannulated (poly-axial head) pedicle comparing to solid core (mono-axial head). Methods The medical charts of patients with thoracolumbar fractures who underwent pedicle screw fixation with cannulated or solid pedicle screws were retrospectively reviewed; the subjects were followed up from January 2011 to December 2015. Results Total 178 patients (average age, 36.1±12.4 years; men, 142 [84.3%]; women, 28 [15.7%]) with thoracolumbar fractures who underwent surgery and were followed up at Hamad Medical Corporation were classified, based on the screw type as those with cannulated screws and those with solid screws. The most commonly affected level was L1, followed by L2 and D12. Surgical correction of the local kyphotic angle was significantly different in the groups; however, there was no significant difference in the loss of correction of the local kyphotic angle of the groups. Surgical correction of the reduction in the vertebral body height showed statistical significance, while the average loss of correction in the reduction of the vertebral body height was not significantly different. The measurement of the angles made by the screws on the rods was not significantly different between the cannulated (poly-axial head) and solid (mono-axial head) screw groups. Conclusions Solid screws were superior in terms of providing increased correction of the kyphotic angle and height of the fractured vertebra than the cannulated screws; however, no difference was noted between the screws in the maintenance of the superior and inferior angles of the screw with the rod.

Abstract Objective: Adiponectin and vaspin are adipocyte-derived proteins and involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism and obesity related disorders. The mechanisms that adipokines might be linked to disturbance of glucose are unclear. Thus, this study investigated the levels of serum adiponectin and vaspin, blood lipid profiles, and abdominal obesity in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients and controls. Materials and Methods: Frothy T2DM patients and 40 healthy volunteers matched by age and body mass index (BMI) were enrolled in the study. The levels of serum adiponectin, vaspin, fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-hr post prandial (2hr-PP), and lipid profile were measured in both groups. Anthropometric parameters including BMI, waist circumference (WC) and waist to height ratio (WHR) were measured. Results: Higher levels of vaspin and lower levels of circulating adiponectin were observed in T2DM patients than in the controls (P-value:0.0001). In multivariate regression analyses adjusted for age and BMI, serum adiponectin levels showed a significant negative correlation with WC, WHR, FBG and duration of diabetes, and a positive correlation with HDL. While, the vaspin levels were positively correlated with WC, WHR and duration of diabetes in T2DM patients. In addition, vaspin and adiponectin levels had negative correlation with each other. Conclusion: The findings suggested that the abdominal obesity had the highest relationship with adiponectin and vaspin in diabetic patients.

Electric power transformers are a very important part of modern electric power and transmission line network systems and they consider as a high level source of electromagnetic fields which can affect the health of workers in station. In this research, electric and magnetic fields caused due to the operation of power distribution substation of 132/33 kV are investigated in order to avoid the overexposure of these fields to workers. Research has been conducted on both the mathematical calculations and practical measurements. The intensities of electric and magnetic fields have been measured at substation by EMF tester device. Safe zones from some equipment have been determined. Comparison the obtained results with the standard safety guideline limits shows that they are within the acceptable limits. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25130/tjes.24.2017.26

Banks plays vital role in capitalist economy. During the period of financial turmoil, it has been viewed that banks lost a huge capital due to non-recovery of loans from customers. Since there are two type of banks working in Pakistan therefore this thesis analyse which banks performance was better during the financial crunch between 2008 - 2012. The objective of this thesis is to determine the factor affecting the profitability of Islamic and Conventional banks in Pakistan during the period 2008 – 2012. Data was collected through financial books of seventeen conventional and five Islamic banks. Two dependent variables i.e. Return on Asset and Return on Equity were used to determine the profitability of Islamic and conventional banks in Pakistan. Whereas Liquidity, Credit Risk, Capitalization, Efficiency, Bank Size, Economic Performance, Inflation and a dummy variable were used as Independent variables. Panel Data analysis is used to find out the result of secondary data. Initially the analysis was conducted on whole industry, which then applied on Islamic and Conventional banks separately.

Background: Water scarcity and increasing demand for various applications has led to more attention to the treatment and using potential resources. Surface water is one of water resources in the societies. In the present study, the performance of two coagulants, Alum and Ferric chloride, was considered to determine turbidity, color, COD, and microbial reduction in the surface waters in Tehran. Methods: Sampling was carried out from two surface waters named Sorkhehesar and Salehabad, during summer, fall, and winter. After optimization of coagulant dosage and pH, jar test experiments were conducted, and turbidity, COD, color, and microbial changes were considered. Results: Turbidity range in Sorkhehesar and Salehabad was between 91 and 500 NTU, and 35 to 400 NTU, respectively. Optimized dose of alum for summer, fall, and winter was 45, 100, and 35 mg/L, respectively, while in case of ferric chloride the optimized dose for three studied seasons was 5, 70, and 10 mg/L. Optimized dose of alum and ferric chloride in Salehabad, was determined as 28, 115, 2 and 30, 65, and 5 mg/L. Turbidity removal efficiency using both coagulants was higher than 95 percent, and color was totally removed in all experimented conditions. Conclusion: From the stand point of turbidity, color, and COD removal both alum and ferric chloride showed the same results, however, ferric chloride dose was lower than alum. In case of turbidity removal alum showed higher removal efficiency, while for COD reduction upon the conditions, e.g. seasonal variation, alum and ferric chloride performance was not the same and was varied accordingly.

Antennas are an extremely vital element of communication systems and radar technologies. The antenna will produce radiation dispersed in space in a definite way when a signal is feed into an antenna, which called a "radiation pattern". Most pervious literatures concentrates on studying the effect of an EM filed on communication systems that have high frequency and its radiation pattern on far filed. The main aim of this paper is in order to investigate the effect of the electromagnetic EM-field in communication systems that have low frequency, and using the MATLAB software simulation in order to show this effect to describe the radiation pattern for an antenna on far field for different low frequencies due to the lack literatures that focus on this field. A dipole antenna is analyzed using the radiation pattern on far field for different low frequencies model within the frequency band of 1-5 KHz, to make the final design realizable.

The blow of winds and the movement of sands in sistan region is dependent on direction, speed and continuance of 120 days winds. Principally the first premise is that in sistan region the physical structure of human settlement (rural and urban) should harmonies with adapting condition of 120 days winds. This article focuses on investigation of adaptation of physical development of sandstorms in Tambaka village. The research method in this article is description – analytical, based on observation and field survey. Therefore, Tambaka village and its surrounding has been consider as case study in this regard. Required data and information are obtained directly from the region during the monthly and annual periods. Some of the previous data and information are analyzed based on the field experiences of the authors in the region and then are adapted to current condition. The result of studies shows that in sistan region many of the villages are located in the of sandstorms direction. One of these villages is Tambaka village. Our initial studies show that the local pattern of this village is harmonic with sand flow and also in the first six months of 2010 new texture of the village had 69 m3 sand accumulation. Thus, local pattern of the village is in harmony with the dominant climate of the region, especially movement of arranged and Aeolian sand shape. This pattern reflects the experience and knowledge of inhabitants of the village. Thus the valuable local experiences in comparison with the movement of the flow sand can suggest new fields of study to the organizer and heads of rural and urban affairs.

The construction of stilling basin with adverse slope change the characteristics of hydraulic jump such as sequent depth ratio, length of jump ratio, length of roller and energy dissipation ratio, consequently the dimensions of stilling basin are changed, also using baffle blocks with different configurations develop these characteristics. In this study different shapes of baffle block (models (A), (B), (C) and (D)) installed in the stilling basins at adverse slopes (- 0.03, - 0.045, - 0.06) in addition to horizontal bed, all these models are tested in the stilling basin to show their effects on the characteristics of hydraulic jump, the experiments applied for the range of Froude number (Fr1) between 3.99 and 7.48. The baffle block model (D) showed good results when compared with models (B) and (C), therefore it used with arrangement of (single and double row) and compared with baffle block model (A) at slopes (0, - 0.03, - 0.045, - 0.06) to study the effects of baffle blocks on hydraulic jump when bed slopes are changed. In general using baffle block caused a reduction in sequent depth ratio, length of jump ratio and the length of the roller, but the energy dissipation ratio increased.

This study is an attempt to partially replace Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete with palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and eggshell powder (ESP). The mix proportions of POFA and ESP were varied at 10% of cement replacement and compared with OPC concrete as control specimen. The fineness of POFA is characterized by passing through 300 μm sieve and ESP by passing through 75 μm sieve. Compressive strength testing was conducted on concrete specimens to determine the optimum mix proportion of POFA and ESP. Generally the compressive strength of OPC concrete is higher compared to POFA-ESP concrete. Based on the results of POFA-ESP concrete overall, it shows that the optimum mix proportion of concrete is 6%POFA:4% ESP achieved compressive strength of 38.60 N/mm2 at 28 days. The compressive strength of OPC concrete for the same period was 42.37 N/mm2. Higher water demand in concrete is needed due to low fineness of POFA that contributing to low compressive strength of POFA-ESP concrete. However, the compressive strength and workability of the POFA-ESP concrete were within the ranges typically encountered in regular concrete mixtures indicating the viability of this replacement procedure for structural and non-structural applications.

Recently an association was observed between alleles in genes of the unfolded protein response pathway and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). The goal of the current study is to investigate the role of these two genes, protein disulphide isomerase A member 5 (PDIA5) and baculoviral IAP repeat containing 6 (BIRC6), in different forms of glaucoma. 278 patients with POAG, 132 patients with primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) and 135 patients with pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PEXG) were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs11720822 in PDIA5 and 471 POAG, 184 PACG and 218 PEXG patients were genotyped for rs2754511 in BIRC6. Genotyping was done by allelic discrimination PCR, and genotype and allele frequencies were calculated. Logistic regression analyses were performed using R software to determine the association of these SNPs with glaucoma. The allele and genotype frequencies of rs11720822 in PDIA5 were not associated with POAG, PACG or PEXG. The TT genotype of rs2754511 in BIRC6 was found to be protective for PEXG (p = 0.05, OR 0.42 [0.22-0.81]) in the Pakistani population, but not for POAG or PACG. This study did not confirm a previously reported association of risk alleles in PDIA5 and BIRC6 with POAG, but did demonstrate a protective role of the T allele of rs2754511 in the BIRC6 gene in PEXG. This supports a role for the unfolded protein response pathway and regulation of apoptotic cell death in the pathogenesis of PEXG.

As part of a novel approach of sustainable development of mine tailings, experimental and numerical analysis is carried out on newly formulated tailings matrices. Several physical characteristic tests are carried out including the unconfined compression strength test to ascertain the integrity of these matrices when subjected to loading. The current paper attempts a multiple regression analysis of the unconfined compressive strength test results of these matrices to investigate the most pertinent factors affecting their strength. Results of this analysis showed that the suggested equation is reasonably applicable to the range of binder combinations used.

As part of a comprehensive research program, new tailings matrices are formulated of combinations of tailings and binder materials. The research program encompasses experimental and numerical analysis of the tailings matrices to investigate the feasibility of using them as construction materials in cold climates. This paper discusses a conceptual cost benefit analysis for the use of these new materials. It is shown here that the financial benefits of using the proposed new tailings matrices in terms of environmental sustainability are much higher when compared to normal sand matrices.

Construction of infrastructures on peat land is a very challenging task due to its properties of low shear strength, high compressibility and high water content. This paper summarizes various solutions which could be adopted for the construction of infrastructure on peat, as reviewed by the experts and panels during IConCEES International Workshop 2015. Engineers could (a) avoid peat, such as to transfer the load to the hard layers through end bearing piles or to replace the peat with the other soils, or (b) construct on peat with special precautions, such as by reducing the weight of the construction materials and dewatering the peat to improve the engineering properties. This paper serves to generate new ideas and give insights of the problems commonly encountered by the industry. Some of the proposed solutions might never be tested on peat. This would rely on the researchers to take up the challenge to further investigate and address the technical issues outlined in this paper.

Abstract Introduction Appendiceal duplication is a rare anomaly that can manifest as right lower quadrant pain. There are several variations described for this condition. We recommend aggressive operative management should this anatomical variation present in the presence of acute appendicitis. Case presentation We report the case of a 15-year-old African American girl who presented to our hospital with right lower quadrant pain and was subsequently found to have appendiceal duplication. Conclusion There are two categorical systems that have described and stratified appendiceal duplication. Both classification systems have been outlined and referenced in this case report. A computed tomography scan has been included to provide a visual aid to help identify true vermiform appendiceal duplication. The presence of this anatomical abnormality is not a reason for surgical intervention; however, should this be found in the setting of acute appendicitis, aggressive resection of both appendices is mandatory.

The blow of winds and the movement of sands in sistan region is dependent on direction, speed and continuance of 120 days winds. Principally the first premise is that in sistan region the physical structure of human settlement (rural and urban) should harmonies with adapting condition of 120 days winds. This article focuses on investigation of adaptation of physical development of sandstorms in Tambaka village. The research method in this article is description – analytical, based on observation and field survey. Therefore, Tambaka village and its surrounding has been consider as case study in this regard. Required data and information are obtained directly from the region during the monthly and annual periods. Some of the previous data and information are analyzed based on the field experiences of the authors in the region and then are adapted to current condition. The result of studies shows that in sistan region many of the villages are located in the of sandstorms direction. One of these villages is Tambaka village. Our initial studies show that the local pattern of this village is harmonic with sand flow and also in the first six months of 2010 new texture of the village had 69 m3 sand accumulation. Thus, local pattern of the village is in harmony with the dominant climate of the region, especially movement of arranged and Aeolian sand shape. This pattern reflects the experience and knowledge of inhabitants of the village. Thus the valuable local experiences in comparison with the movement of the flow sand can suggest new fields of study to the organizer and heads of rural and urban affairs.