Research Title: Behavior of heat damaged circular reinforced concrete columns repaired using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer rope

Author: Ala Taleb Obaidat, Published Year: 2020

Journal of Building Engineering, Journal of Building

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the behavior of repaired circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns exposed to temperature considering the effect of spacing between CFRP ropes, area of CFRP ropes and degree of temperature. Nine circular column specimens with diameter of 185 mm and length of 800 mm were constructed and tested. The experimental RC column specimens were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of three circular RC columns not exposed to temperature, the second group consisted of three circular RC columns exposed to 400 �C and the third group consisted of three circular RC columns exposed to 600 �C. In each group, the first column was not repaired and used as control specimen, while the second and third RC column specimens were repaired with one layer of CFRP ropes at spacing of 100 mm and two layers of CFRP ropes at spacing of 200 mm, respectively. Results showed that the repaired circular RC columns damaged by heat up to 400 �C for 3 h with one layer of 100 mm spacing and two layers of 200 mm spacing exhibited load capacity of about 40% and 23%, respectively, of the load capacity of the control specimen. On the other hand, the load capacity of rehabilitated short circular RC columns damaged by heat up to 600 �C for 3 h with one layer of 100 mm spacing and two layers of 200 mm spacing were 88% and 64%, respectively, compared to the control specimen. CFRP effectiveness increases when decreasing the spacing between the CFRP ropes, which leads to a better effective lateral confining pressure. Complementary to the experimental work, a validated numerical finite element model was employed to investigate the effect of different parameters used in the experimental investigation on the stress-strain behavior of RC circular columns. Results of the numerical model showed good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: Heat damaged Strengthening Repairing Carbon fiber reinforced polymers CFRP Short-term exposure Finite element ABAQUS Stress-strain Unrepaired column specimens

Research Title: Challenges in Conducting a Multiple Qualitative Case Study Approach of Communication Experiences in the Care of Children With Palliative Care Needs

Author: Maha Mohammed Wahbi Atout, Published Year: 2020

Sage Research Methods Cases, doi:10.4135/97815297

Faculty: Nursing

Abstract: The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate the challenges in conducting a multiple qualitative case study approach in a study that explored the communication experiences in the care of children with palliative care needs. This study employed a collective qualitative case study approach. It was conducted in three pediatric units in a Jordanian hospital. Each case comprised a child aged 1–12 years, their most involved family carer (mothers), physician(s), and nurse(s). Two data collection methods were employed, participant observation and semi-structured interviews, with three categories of participants: mothers, physicians, and the nurses who cared for the children that participated in this study (children were involved in the participant observation; however, they were not interviewed). I decided to avoid interviewing children in this study to avoid any potential harm to them. Within-case and cross-case analysis was undertaken in accordance with Stake’s recommendations. The within-case analysis focused on establishing the contextual background for every case. This was significant to protect the uniqueness of each case within its context and to be consistent with the case study approach. The within-case analysis was presented narratively for every case. Then, cross-case analysis was undertaken to systematically extract the themes and subthemes of each case to identify similarities, differences, and contradictions. The study was based on 15 cases, with a total of 197 observational hours and 60 interviews (conducted with 15 mothers, 12 physicians, and 21 nurses). This study is unique as it applies a qualitative collective case study approach that yields a rich and in-depth understanding of the experiences of communication from more than one perspective. It was underpinned by the interpretative constructivist approach that guided the analysis and accepts more than one interpretation of reality as viewed by the participants.

Keywords: Challenges, multiple case study, children, palliative care

Research Title: Using Advanced Technology in Nursing Education in Palestine

Author: Maha Mohammed Wahbi Atout, Published Year: 2020

The Revolutionary Power of Nursing Science: Health Equity, Policy, and Practice, the Eastern Nursing Research Society,, Massachusetts; USA

Faculty: Nursing

Abstract: Background: Technology has been shown to have a profound effect on education in the 21st century. Using technology in nursing education has become indispensable, due to the need to link theoretical courses with hospital-based practice. Therefore, nursing educators and students must possess high levels of competency in communication and information technology. There has been little research in the Middle East regarding the use of technology in education. Most research on this subject has been carried out in Western countries. Palestine is an example of a developing country with many political issues that can affect its educational environment. However, few studies have been conducted in Palestine that investigate this issue from robust perspectives. Consequently, the present study investigates the experiences of using advanced technology in nursing education from the perspectives of lecturers, students, administrators, and lab technicians at two Palestinian universities. Methodology: This study employed a mixed method of research design. It was conducted in two Palestinian universities and employed several data collection methods: participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and curriculum analysis. A purposeful sampling strategy was adopted to recruit the participants. Maximum variation sampling was employed in order to include participants with different characteristics, which will improve the transferability of the findings to a broader setting. Within-case and cross-case data analysis was undertaken in accordance with Stake’s (2006) recommendations. Findings: Six interviews have been collected to date: assistant professor (n=3) and lecturers (n=3). The initial findings revealed several facilitators and challenges regarding the use of advanced technology in nursing education in Palestine. Although using technology was perceived to be time-consuming initially, lecturers pointed out that technology facilitated their work after they mastered its usage. Technology saved time and effort, for example by providing an accurate grading system for exams. Additionally, some educators reported that they encouraged adopting different technological means by their students who demonstrated advanced technological capabilities. Using technology enabled educators to communicate with students, especially during difficult political circumstances. However, educators reported several challenges pertaining to the use and sustainability of technology in the classroom. The high cost, especially as a part of the university’s budget, was one of the most prominent obstacles to adopting technology. Lack of skills in using technology was another obstacle faced by Palestinian professors. The resistance of some faculty members to the change represented by the adoption of technology was a third obstacle. Finally, educators reported that while it was very important to adopt advanced technology in education, some students could use it negatively, such as to cheat on exams. Conclusion: The study findings reveal several facilitators and challenges faced by Palestinian nursing educators in the use of technology. Continuous training of educators is imperative for increasing the use of communication and technology in nursing education. There is a need for updated policies to avoid advanced technology’s perceived negative consequences and maximize its benefits.

Keywords: Advanced technology, Higher education, Nursing, Palestine

Research Title: Work stressors faced by health professionals working with children with palliative care needs: multiple case study approach from jordan

Author: Maha Mohammed Wahbi Atout, Published Year: 2020

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 10

Faculty: Nursing

Abstract: Background A broad overview of the existing literature reveals that nurses often feel inadequately trained or prepared in terms of the communication skills needed to deal with the difficult situations. The purpose of the current study was to explore the experience of communication in the care of children with palliative care needs, from the perspective of physicians, nurses, and mothers in Jordan. Methods This study employed a collective qualitative case study approach. It was conducted in three paediatric units in a Jordanian hospital. Each case comprised a child aged 1–12 years, their most involved family carer (mothers), physician(s) and nurse(s). Two data collection methods were employed: participant observation and semi-structured interviews with three categories of participants: mothers, physicians, and the nurses who cared for the children that participated in this study. Results The study was based on 15 cases, with a total of 197 observational hours and 60 interviews (conducted with 15 mothers, 12 physicians and 21 nurses). The findings indicate that the healthcare professionals struggled to communicate with families of children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. For instance, many found it difficult to communicate with parents when delivering an initial diagnosis, when the child’s health deteriorated, or if the child’s death was imminent. Doctors also reported feeling blamed for the ineffectiveness of treatment plans and cited this as their primary difficulty. Nurses also revealed that work pressure often limited their ability to provide optimum patient care and to communicate effectively with patients and their families. Other nurses reported difficulty in offering emotional support. Conclusions The continuous education and specialised training for professionals, which provides staff with specialised communication skills and emotional support for children and parents is imperative in improving the clinical practice in the healthcare settings with limited access to specialist palliative care.

Keywords: Work stressors, health professionals, children, palliative care, Jordan

Research Title: 96 Understanding the meaning attributed by jordanian parents of children with cancer to their illness: a phenomenological study

Author: Maha Mohammed Wahbi Atout, Published Year: 2020

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 10

Faculty: Nursing

Abstract: Background Jordanian culture is a variant of Arab-Islamic culture that comprises two intertwined strands: the interpretation of Islamic religion and vernacular Arab culture. Few studies have been conducted in the Middle East to explain the way culture shapes and reflects parents’ lived experiences and interactions with their children, particularly concerning the meaning and philosophy of disease. Methods The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of Jordanian parents of children with cancer. The study investigated the cultural meaning of illness and how it affected parents’ lived experiences of their children’s illness. The study adopted a hermeneutic phenomenological approach informed by the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and used semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted in one paediatric oncology unit in one Jordanian hospital. Results Twenty-five interviews were collected from 24 mothers and one father. During the interviews, the parents expressed that their spiritual beliefs helped them accept their child’s disease. Showing patience towards the suffering of their children was perceived as an important value the parents tried to stick to despite the deep suffering the children were experiencing. All the parents demonstrated a thankful approach as they perceived that everything that happens to their child is according to destiny. The beliefs the parents held about their child’s illness were perceived to positively affect the way they interacted with them. This was especially so in sensitive situations, such as their reactions to initial diagnoses and receiving bad news. Conclusion The findings of this study will inform the education of health professionals and increase their understanding of the beliefs and practices demonstrated by the study’s participants and their integration into supportive patient plans.

Keywords: Parents; children; cancer; phenomenology, Jordanian

Research Title: Nanomaterials in Nutraceuticals Applications.

Author: Balakumar Chandrasekarn, Published Year: 2020

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Diverse strategies are adopted to fight against various diseases and probable health risks. Besides the pharmaceutical approach, diet-based strategies are also deemed apt to avert various disorders. “Nutraceuticals” considered as bioactive components found in natural products. Bioactive components are additional nutritional ingredients that typically present in small quantities of foods that are used in dayto- day life and strongly believed to play a crucial role in the maintenance of our health. The food products used as nutraceuticals can be categorized as dietary fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and other different types of herbal/natural foods. These nutraceuticals facilitate in combating a number of the major health problems including microbial infections. In recent years, nanotechnology-based formulations like micro- and nanoencapsulation have been a rising interest for nutraceutical, food and pharmaceutical applications. To enhance nutritional quality and stability of the nutraceuticals, one option is to encapsulate the functional ingredients using food-grade or “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) materials that can exhibit controlled-release behavior. These diversity of building blocks and formulation methods led to nanocarriers like nanoemulsion, nanodispersion, nanoparticles, liposomes etc. with diverse physicochemical properties and functional characteristics. Based on the above-mentioned facts, this chapter provides an insight of some of the emerging nanomaterial-based applications being commercialized in nutraceuticals. A glimpse on various research work undertaken for the nanomaterials in the field of nutraceuticals is also discussed in this chapter.

Keywords: Nanomaterials · Nutraceuticals · Nanoformulations · Physicochemical parameters

Research Title: Nanomedicines in cancer management: diagnosis, therapy and nanodrug delivery.

Author: Balakumar Chandrasekarn, Published Year: 2020

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Cancer is one of the most controversial diseases known for humanity and emerged as a global health problem all the time. The drug discovery scientists and clinicians have attempted to cure cancer since centuries. Conventional cancer treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy have many limitations including low specificity, lack of stability, rapid drug clearance, biodegradation and limited targeting besides number of side effects associated with these treatments on the actual patients. Nanomedicine has evolved over the past few years and became a breakthrough technology for the diagnosis and the treatment of several cancer types. Specifically, the drug is being carried out through carriers called nanoparticles in which the properties of these carriers are very important for the successful treatment of deadly diseases like cancer. In this chapter, we describe the application of nanotechnology and nanomedicines in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Further,we discuss the targeted-nanodrug delivery to cancer cells in a broad context. Moreover, we provide a glimpse on marketed nanomedicines available for the management of cancer.

Keywords: Nanodrug delivery · Nanomedicine · Brain cancer · Breast cancer · Lung cancer · Nanoparticles

Research Title: The importance of nano-materials characterization techniques

Author: Balakumar Chandrasekarn, Published Year: 2020

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: The potential application of nanotechnology in the medical field ranges from nanomaterials and biological devices, to nanoelectronics biosensors, can be extended to molecular nanotechnology like biological machines. Nanomaterial characterization is a keystone for the development and adoption of nanomaterials for certain applications. The unique and novel physico-chemical properties of nanomaterial gave rise to a number of characterization techniques. Therefore, nanoparticles are characterized to study various physical and chemical features such as composition, structure size, morphology, surface area, optical properties, surface composition, oxidation state, and electrochemistry. The characterization of nanomaterials should not be limited to a single technique, because usually multiple measurements are needed to capture all pertinent nanomaterial characteristics. Hence, in this chapter, details of different characterization techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Xray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and zeta potential (ZP) are discussed.

Keywords: Nanomaterials · X-ray diffraction · Transmission electron microscopy · Dynamic light scattering · Zeta potential · Scanning electron microscopy

Research Title: Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel carbazole hybrids as promising antimicrobial agents

Author: Balakumar Chandrasekarn, Published Year: 2020

Chemistry and Biodiversity,

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Two series of carbazole analogs of 8‐methoxy‐ N ‐substituted‐9 H ‐carbazole‐3‐carboxamides (series‐1) and carbazolyl substituted rhodanines (series‐2) were synthesized through facile synthetic routes. All the final compounds from these two series were evaluated for their preliminary in vitro antifungal and antibacterial activity against four fungal ( Candida albicans , Cryptococcus neoformans , Cryptococcus tropicalis and Aspergillus niger ) and four bacterial ( Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ) strains, respectively. Among the tested compounds, 6d , 6e and 6f (series‐1) displayed promising antifungal and antibacterial activity, especially against C. neoformans and S. aureus. In addition, compound 6f displayed notable antimicrobial activity (MIC: 6.25 µg/mL) against clinical isolates of C. albicans and C. neoformans (MIC: 12.5 µg/mL). From the second series, 15f , 15g , 15i and 16f exhibited significant antifungal and antibacterial activity, especially against C. neoformans and S. aureus . The most active compound 15i displayed a prominent antimicrobial activity against C. neoformans (MIC: 3.125 µg/mL) and S. aureus (MIC: 1.56 µg/mL), respectively.

Keywords: Carbazole Antifungal Antibacterial Clinical isolate of S. aureus

Research Title: Green biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using Croton sparsiflorus leaves extract and evaluation of UV protection, antibacterial and anticancer applications

Author: Balakumar Chandrasekarn, Published Year: 2020

Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 34

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Our study reports greener synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) tethered to the extract of Croton sparsiflorus and in vitro evaluation of UV‐protection, antibacterial and anticancer activities. Sophisticated instrumental analytical techniques such as UV–vis spectrophotometer, FT‐IR, XRD, FE‐SEM, and TEM were employed for the existence and confirmation of the nanoparticles. FT‐IR and HPLC analysis were executed in the identification of the plausible functional groups implicated in the reduction of gold ions to AuNPs. UV protection property and antibacterial action of AuNPs‐coated cotton fabric were also presented. Moreover, in vitro anticancer evaluation against HepG2 cell line was conducted by MTT assay for Croton sparsiflorus extract derived AuNPs in different concentrations (50 to 150 μg/ml). Thus, the results of this work revealed that greener synthesized AuNPs exhibited good therapeutic applications as UV‐protection, antibacterial and anticancer agents.

Keywords: antibacterial anticancer Croton sparsiflorus gold nanoparticles UV‐protection