Traditional tree management is laborious and costly, thus this work aimed to study the performance of two different types of frond cutting saws (reciprocating saw and vibrating saw) and examine the two saws on five date palm varieties. Four parameters were examined, including cutting time for a single frond, the power needed for cutting a single frond, frond cutting productivity expressed as tree/h, and vibration conveyed to the worker’s hand. A field experiment was designed according to the nested randomized complete block design, including five date palm varieties as the main plot and the type of saw as a sub-plot. Means were compared using the least significant differences (LSD 0.05). Results indicated that Bream variety required the least time for frond cutting. The reciprocating saw exhibited efficiency in saving the time required for frond cutting, while the vibrating saw took significantly longer time needed for cutting a single frond. The highest number of fronds cut in one hour was recorded in Bream variety, again significantly higher than the number of other studied varieties. Moreover, the reciprocating saw achieved significantly higher productivity than the vibrating one, indicating that the productivity of the reciprocating saw is almost three times more than the vibrating saw. Maximum productivity was recorded in Bream variety, while the least was recorded in Tebarzal using the vibrating saw. Moreover, results indicate that the variety and the type of saw have a vital role in productivity since as the thickness of a frond increases, the cutting takes more time and ultimately reduces the number of date palms to be pruned per hour. Results also exhibited that vibrating saw reduced the consumed energy during frond cutting. Additionally, results revealed that the minimum power consumed by a vibrating saw was in Bream variety, while Tebarzal consumed the upmost energy when a reciprocating saw was used. Maximum vibration on X-axis was reported in Bream variety when a vibrating saw was used. Additionally, the reciprocating saw exhibited the highest vibration compared with the vibrating saw. Moreover, the reciprocating saw caused the lowest vibration in Tebarzal variety. Results indicated that the vibration imposed by both saws reached the maximum value in Bream variety. The vibrating saw resulted in the higher vibration toward Z axis, while the Reciprocating saw resulted in higher vibration toward X axis, which was more than eight times that recorded by the vibrating saw. Results indicate that vibration toward the Y axis increased significantly in Bream variety compared with others. Again, as in the situation with X and Z axis, the reciprocating saw exhibited the highest vibration compared to that resulted from using a vibrating saw which was more than three times the vibration caused by the vibrating saw.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education and healthcare systems worldwide. The disease can cause life-threatening conditions and it presents challenges for medical education, as instructors must deliver lectures safely, while ensuring the integrity and continuity of the medical education process. It is therefore important to assess the usability of online learning methods, and to determine their feasibility and adequacy for medical students. We aimed to provide an overview of the situation experienced by medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical students regarding electronic medical education.
... Show MoreBackground: This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods: Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were exp
... Show MoreThe electronic characteristics, including the density of state and bond length, in addition to the spectroscopic properties such as IR spectrum and Raman scattering, as a function of the frequency of Sn10O16, C24O6, and hybrid junction (Sn10O16/C24O6) were studied. The methodology uses DFT for all electron levels with the hybrid function B3-LYP (Becke level, 3-parameters, Lee–Yang-Parr), with 6-311G (p,d) basis set, and Stuttgart/Dresden (SDD) basis set, using Gaussian 09 theoretical calculations. The geometrical structures were calculated by Gaussian view 05 as a supplementary program. The band gap was calculated and compared to the measured valu
... Show MoreIn this study, the first kind Bessel function was used to solve Kepler equation for an elliptical orbiting satellite. It is a classical method that gives a direct solution for calculation of the eccentric anomaly. It was solved for one period from (M=0-360)° with an eccentricity of (e=0-1) and the number of terms from (N=1-10). Also, the error in the representation of the first kind Bessel function was calculated. The results indicated that for eccentricity of (0.1-0.4) and (N = 1-10), the values of eccentric anomaly gave a good result as compared with the exact solution. Besides, the obtained eccentric anomaly values were unaffected by increasing the number of terms (N = 6-10) for eccentricities (0.8 and 0.9). The Bessel
... Show MoreBackground: This study evaluates transdermal delivery of tamoxifen (TXN) as an alternative to the oral route of administration in treating breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women globally. Oral TXN, a Class II drug, is associated with first-pass metabolism and serious side effects, including secondary cancers. Objectives: To enhance transdermal delivery, lipid-based transethosomes (TRS) were formulated using three different 24 factorial designs with various non-ionic surfactants, including Tween 20®, Span 20®, and Span 80®. Methods: Optimized TRS formulations were incorporated into HPMC-based gels and characterized for morphology, drug content, pH, viscosity, spreadability, ex vivo skin penetrat
... Show MoreSynthesis of a new class of Schiff-base ligand with a tetrazole moiety to form polymeric metal complexes with CoII, NiII, ZnII, and CdII ions has been demonstrated. The ligand was synthesised by a multi-steps by treating 5-amino-2-chlorobenzonitrile and cyclohexane -1,3-dione, the 5,5'-(((1E,3E)-cyclohexane-1,3-diylidene)bis(azanylylidene))bis(2-chlorobenzonitrile) was obtained. The precursor (M) was prepared from the reaction 5,5'-(((1E,3E)-cyclohexane-1,3-diylidene)bis(azanylylidene))bis(2-chlorobenzonitrile) with NaN3 to obtained (1E,3E)-N1,N3-bis(4-chloro-3-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)phenyl)cyclohexane-1,3-diimine (N). By reacting the precursor (M) with CS2
... Show MoreIn this study, the new azo dye,5,5-[1,2-phenylenebis(2,1-biazenediyl)] bis[8-quinolino], was used to synthesize complexes with Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Cd2+ ions. The compounds were characterized using 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), diffevential scanning calovimltry (DSC), CHN analysis. Further, conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, and metal and chlorine content analysis using FT-IR spectroscopy revealed that the ligand chelates as a bidentate (OH) phenol group and a bidentate (C=N) ring group. The ligand exhibited tetradentate behavior, forming tetrahedral complexe
... Show MoreThis work studies developing ultrafiltration (UF) membranes using organic and inorganic additives to remove organic dyes at UF conditions with high effectiveness. Flat sheet (18 wt%) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared via phase inversion and then developed by adding 6 wt% polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a pore former. Furthermore, the PVDF/PEG membranes were developed by embedding tin oxide nanoparticles (SnO2 NPs) with different contents of 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 wt%. The prepared membranes were examined for their performance in the dye removal before being characterized using the field emission scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscopy, contact angle, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, surface charge,
... Show MoreA series of imidazole [1,2-a] pyridine sulfonamide derivatives was designed and synthesized starting from 2-aminopyridine. In first step, 2-amino pyridine was reacted with 4-bromo phenacyl bromide in the presence of MgO leading to the afford the corresponding imidazole [1,2-a] pyridine scaffold (Panda et al., 2022 [1] ). This intermediate was subsequently subjected to chlorosulfonation using chlorosulfonic acid to afford imidazo [1,2-a] pyridine −3- sulfonyl chloride (Amer, 2009 [2] ). Thereafter, derivative (Amer, 2009 [2] ) was treated with a variety of drugs containing an amine group [4-amino-5-chloro-N-(2- (diethyl amino) ethyl) -2-methoxy benzamide, 4-amino -N-(pyridin-2-yl) benzene sulfonamide and 4-(amino methyl) cyclohexane −1-c
... Show MoreLyophilized bromelain enzyme was obtained from the Department of Food Sciences, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad. Some properties of the enzyme were determined, the optimum temperature and pH for activity and stability, as it used a range of graduated temperatures from 25 °C to 85 °C, as well as a range of pH degrees from 4 to 9. The results showed that the best pH for activity was 7, as it reached the enzymatic activity was 42.3 units/ml, and the best pH range for stability was 7-5. The best temperature for the activity was 45°C, as the enzymatic activity reached 59.3 units/ml, and the enzyme retained its full activity after being incubated at a temperature of 25 - 45 °C. The anti-browning en
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