Al-Azhar University

About: Al-Azhar University is a education organization based out in Cairo, Egypt. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Outpatient clinic. The organization has 16043 authors who have published 18752 publications receiving 176542 citations.

Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome: a new name for the vegetative state or apallic syndrome

Abstract: Some patients awaken from coma (that is, open the eyes) but remain unresponsive (that is, only showing reflex movements without response to command). This syndrome has been coined vegetative state. We here present a new name for this challenging neurological condition: unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (abbreviated UWS). Many clinicians feel uncomfortable when referring to patients as vegetative. Indeed, to most of the lay public and media vegetative state has a pejorative connotation and seems inappropriately to refer to these patients as being vegetable-like. Some political and religious groups have hence felt the need to emphasize these vulnerable patients' rights as human beings. Moreover, since its first description over 35 years ago, an increasing number of functional neuroimaging and cognitive evoked potential studies have shown that physicians should be cautious to make strong claims about awareness in some patients without behavioral responses to command. Given these concerns regarding the negative associations intrinsic to the term vegetative state as well as the diagnostic errors and their potential effect on the treatment and care for these patients (who sometimes never recover behavioral signs of consciousness but often recover to what was recently coined a minimally conscious state) we here propose to replace the name. Since after 35 years the medical community has been unsuccessful in changing the pejorative image associated with the words vegetative state, we think it would be better to change the term itself. We here offer physicians the possibility to refer to this condition as unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or UWS. As this neutral descriptive term indicates, it refers to patients showing a number of clinical signs (hence syndrome) of unresponsiveness (that is, without response to commands) in the presence of wakefulness (that is, eye opening).

Modelling the smart city performance

Abstract: This paper aims to offer a profound analysis of the interrelations between smart city components connecting the cornerstones of the triple helix. The triple helix model has emerged as a reference framework for the analysis of knowledge-based innovation systems, and relates the multiple and reciprocal relationships between the three main agencies in the process of knowledge creation and capitalization: university, industry and government. This analysis of the triple helix will be augmented using the Analytic Network Process to model, cluster and begin measuring the performance of smart cities. The model obtained allows interactions and feedbacks within and between clusters, providing a process to derive ratio scales priorities from elements. This offers a more truthful and realistic representation for supporting policy-making. The application of this model is still to be developed, but a full list of indicators, available at urban level, has been identified and selected from literature review.