Lupine Publishers| Future Prospect for Sustainable Luxury Textiles from Pineapple Leaf Fibre - An Agro Waste

 Lupine Publishers| Journal of Textile and Fashion Designing

Abstract

The treasure of Major natural fibres belongs to cotton, jute, wool, silk, flax, sisal and Manila hemp which are extensively used across the globe. Besides, a large number of fibres grown in lesser quantities throughout the world have local economic importance and are consumed locally. Utilization of underexploited, unexplored natural fibres from crop waste are not only critical issues in the international scenario but are also the need of the hour in developing countries like India to search out a suitable avenue for which separate spinning system is not widely available or established. Pine apple leaf fibre successfully tested as a base material for conveyor belts in the early eighties, could well have been the magic yarn of the day. Pineapple leaf fibre extracted from the green pineapple leaf, an agro waste reveals its immense potentiality in the field of textiles particularly due to the disposal problem after harvesting for cleaner and green environment.

PALF is well known for its silky lustre which possesses some advantageous physical and chemical properties like high tensile strength, dimensional stability, considerable resistance to heat and fire, and good dyeability while the demerits are coarseness, inextensibility. Besides, it is a low cost renewable resource and eco-friendly material. If the apparent demerits can be masked, a diverse range of products can be developed by exploiting the intrinsic properties of PALF. One of the ways of masking is blending of PALF with natural and synthetic fibres. It is felt that such binary blending will help development of textiles with better functional properties by combining positive features of the constituent fibres. Therefore, binary blending will give a wider application for production of value added diversified products which are the need of the hour.

The paper also delineates suitable processing technique for blending of PALF with different natural and synthetic fibres for conversion into textiles using existing fibre processing system since there is no specialized spinning system available for pineapple and their possible commercial utilization. The PALF blended yarn has a bright future prospect for sustainable luxury textiles like fancy apparel products (Figure 1).

Introduction

Wealth from waste is no more a slogan in 21st century but achieved successfully turning pineapple leaves into wealth which not only creates green environmental sense but also turns waste into wealth. Resource depletion and global warming have driven each industry to move toward a greener and sustainable industry. Lignocelluloses, the most abundant renewable biomass is composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, as well as other minor components. Pine apple leaf fibre successfully tested as a base material for textiles in the early eighties, could well have been the magic yarn of the day. Research work on pineapple leaf fibre, an agro waste reveals its immense potentiality in the field textiles particularly technical textiles. Sufficient fibre will be available to arouse interest if the fibre is extracted commercially. Due to non-availability of specialized spinning system for PALF in India, it will be much easier to promote PALF in any of the existing spinning systems provided an appropriate processing technology is developed.

Major natural fibres belongs to cotton, jute, wool, silk, flax, sisal and Manila hemp which are extensively used across the globe possess suitable processing technology and developed machinery. Besides, a large number of fibres grown in lesser quantities throughout the world have local economic importance and are consumed locally The pineapple plant AnanasComosus (L) is a member of the family Bromaliaceae of the monocotyledonous, containing 1,300 species; most of which are native to tropical America. Although over nearly 90 varieties of the plants cultivated in various parts of the world, only 3 varieties, namely, Kew, Queen and Mauritius are cultivated commercially. The form of pineapple leaves varies and depends on the position of the stem and age.

According to the data available, Pineapple fibre can be profitably produced in Tripura as well as Siliguri in West Bengal, where extensive pineapple farming takes place. In India, Pineapple leaves are never cut off, and are cleared when the plants naturally shed them. As a result, fewer pineapple plants are grown in India, as the leaves cover a lot of space. In countries like Brazil where extensive pineapple farming is done the leaves are cut away to make space for more plants. "We have gone through the science of it- Interestingly, cutting away of the leaves does not harm the plant and in fact helps it grow bigger fruit, as the leaves normally draw away a lot of the nourishment” says Dr. S. K. Dey, Senior Scientist of ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai. Indian farmers mostly throw away the leaves. Research on plantation has established that the leaves can be cut three times a year, without harming the harvest and suitably designed industry for pineapple leaf fibre, can run the year-round on these supplies.

The philosophy of blending between two fibres depends on two basic principles which apparently appear to be a bit contradictory.

a) PALF may be blended with cheaper fibres so that a cheaper product mix becomes feasible. In this category, blending of ramie with jute, ramies, Mesta, banana, Roselle hemp appear to be worth pursuing.

b) PALF is often blended with synthetic fibres to produce diversified blended fabrics which are expected to fetch higher prices per unit weight of ramie and consequently higher profitability.

PALF is well known for its silky lustre which possesses some advantageous physical and chemical properties like high tensile strength, dimensional stability, considerable resistance to heat and fire, and good dyeability while the demerits are coarseness, inextensibility. Besides, it is a low cost renewable resource and eco- friendly material.

Normally, the fibre is as fine as the finer quality jute, although about ten times as coarse as cotton. Unlike jute, its structure is without mesh, filaments are well separated and it is two and a half times more extensible with superior bundle strength and L/B ratio. Both the flexural and torsional rigidity of pineapple leaf fibres are comparable with jute fibres of less rigid quality. An interesting characteristic was observed in the case of pineapple leaf fibre and yarn when their tensile properties were studied in wet condition. The bundle strength of pineapple leaf fibre decreases by 50% when in a wet condition but the yarn strength increases by about 13%. A detailed research reveals that the frictional property of pineapple leaf fibre is very high in the wet condition and it predominates over the fall in tensile strength of the fibre so as to increase the wet strength of the yarn.

Different Stages of Blending Process

The development of blended yarn from PALF with natural and synthetic fibres can be achieved in the three stages of processing as given below.

a) Blending at carding or drawing.

b) Blending at spinning

c) Union blending i.e. at fabric stage.

Blending at Carding or Drawing

I. Jute Spinning System: The processing technology of pineapple leaf fibre in jute, cotton, semi-worsted and flax systems as well as to compare performance, research work was undertaken at Jute Technological Research laboratories which later on renamed as National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata.

II. Performance of jute/Pineapple Leaf Fibre on Jute Spinning System: When the golden fibre blends with pineapple, a magic yarn is born. The fibre is best used as decorative material. Firstly, the natural colour is creamy white-hence unlike jute it does not need bleaching. We have tried various combinations of the fibre at our pilot plant and blended it with jute and synthetic material. When blended with synthetic material, the product is an extra fine material. It can work wonders with jute. If pineapple fibre is blended with jute up to 20-25% fine yarn of linear density of 69 tex or less can be created. This is very difficult to achieve with Indian jute alone.

III. PALF-Ramie Blended Yarn: PALF and ramie yarns spun in dry and wet spinning systems are comparable but wet spun yarns reveal better performance than dry spun yarns due to better inter fibre friction in the wet spinning system. By gradual increase in the percentage of PALF in the blend, a gradual decrease in tenacity of the blended yarn has been observed. And this may be due to the difference of fineness of the two fibres.

IV. PALF-Viscose Blended Yarn: 100% viscose yarn spun in jute spinning system shows higher tenacity for wet spinning and lower extension compared to dry spinning. Gradual increase of PALF in the blend brings about gradual improvement in the tenacity of the blended yarns due to higher strength of PALF. The wet spun blended yarn from PALF-viscose show better performance than corresponding blended yarns spun on the dry spinning system.

V. PALF-Polypropylene Blended Yarn: Binary blending of PALF -Polypropylene for its use in sophisticated area of textiles, Polypropylene fibre of 15 denier and 120 mm length was used. Both PALF and Polypropylene fibres were processed separately in Flax Finisher card with the developed technology of processing the above fibres and a linear density of 138 tex was spun with 5.5 T.P.I in both dry and wet spinning system. Binary blending of the carded material was achieved at Mackie's First Screw Gill Drawing frame with a blend proportion of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75. No difficulty was encountered during spinning of blended yarn and control yarn.

VI. PALF-Acrylic Blended Yarn: PALF: Acrylic: 50:50 blended yarns having linear density of 84 tex with a T.P.I of 7.5 were developed in jute spinning system in dry and wet spinning conditions. Four blended yarns were spun by blending PALF and acrylic at four different stages of Jute processing viz, carding and three drawing frames. The performance of the blended yarns was studied to evaluate the optimum stage of mechanical processing for binary blending of PALF and acrylic.

Wet Spinning Technology

Wet spinning brings about improvement in short-term weigh irregularity of the yarns resulting in better regularity of yarn diameter. This is chiefly due to better control of fibres in the drafting zone of the spinning frame during wet spinning. The diameter of wet spun PALF yarn of equivalent linear density is lower and its packing coefficient is also higher than that of the dry spun one. The tenacity of the wet spun yarn is higher than that of the dry spun one as the regularity of wet spun yarn is better and the higher packing coefficient is expected to generate transverse pressure during tensile loading. The strength C.V % of wet spun yarn was also lower compared to dry spun yarns. There was no significant difference in breaking elongation of dry and wet spun yarns.

Short staple Cotton Spinning System

Pineapple leaf fibre was first stapled to 32 mm, opened in a single opener machine, blended with Indian cotton in two proportions

A. 67% cotton: 33% Pineapple leaf fibre

B. 80% cotton: 20% pineapple leaf fibre and yarn of a coarse count 14s spun. The performance of the blended yarns showed that on increasing the proportion of pineapple leaf fibre in the blend, the count strength product and regularity deteriorated and a higher percentage of droppings of fibre was noticed in the blow room and carding machine. Spinnability of PALF improves after chemical treatment which was not achieved from cotton/raw PALF (67:33) blend composition. It is clear that the Spinnability increased from 14s to 22s with higher blend composition of PALF: Cotton:: 70:30. Yarn performance indicates that the C.S.P of the blended yarn is lower compared to cotton yarn. The cohesiveness of chemically treated PALF needed higher twist multiplier than normal cotton yarn of same count.

Semi-Worsted Spinning Systems

PALF were blended with Chokla variety of coarse Indian Wool at Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, a sister concern of Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Yarns of nominal linear density of 138 tex were spun on the semi-worsted spinning system by varying the blend proportion of PALFs. Blending of PALFs by 25% could bring about a sharp drop in breaking elongation of yarns and blending by 50% results a sharp increase in tenacity of blended yarns. Besides, by blending PALF with wool at 25:75,the bulk resilience of yarn decreased only by 10% as compared to all wool yarn. The blended materials of PALF-Wool, all PALF and all wool were processed separately on the semi worsted spinning systems.

Eri Silk Spinning Systems

Latest finding reveal that pineapple leaf fibre was successfully processed and blended with red eri available in north eastern region only using Chinese silk processing facilities available at Fabric Plus, Guwahati. Red eri and softened pineapple leaf fibre were processed through the sequence as follows:

Floss Cutter - First Circular Dressing - Second Circular Dressing - Third Circular Dressing - First Spreader - Second Spreader - Slivering - First Drawing-Second drawing - Third Drawing- Roving - Ring spinning - Winding - Twisting - Conditioning - Singeing - Package.

Finer linear density of PALF: Red Eri blended yarn reveals its immense potentiality to be used in the field of Luxury textiles. Finest blended yarn could not be spun except this spinning system. The mechanical properties of the blended yarn were up to textile quality.

Conclusion

Investigation on pineapple leaf fibre clearly indicates that the agro waste can be suitably processed into useful products. Development of appropriate processing technologies for generating yarn with improved properties can widen the application ofthis agro waste.The extractor can effectively be used to extract the fibre from the agro waste of pineapple leaves and the residual sludge obtained after scratching the leaves can be used for vermicomposting successfully. Investigation on pineapple leaf fibre clearly indicates that the agro waste can be suitably processed into useful products. Development of appropriate processing technologies for generating yarn with improved properties can widen the application of this agro waste. The integrated technology for the extraction of pineapple leaf fibre and the vermicomposting altogether becomes remunerative to pineapple cultivators which can be adopted by all pineapple growers not only for additional income but also proper utilization of wastes particularly agricultural wastes which is an important factor in planning the economic progress of a developing country like India.

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Lupine Publishers| Stabilization of Expansive Soil Using Wheat Husk Ash and Granulated Blast Furnace Slag

 Lupine Publishers| Journal of Civil Engineering and its Architecture

Abstract

The Expansive soil swells when it comes in contact with water and shrinks on drying. These soils are characterized by inherent swelling and shrinkage characteristics due to presence of Montmorillonite clay mineral, which exhibits volume change behavior under changes of moisture content. Granulated blast furnace slag(GBS) is the waste material which is generated from the steel plant after with the increase in waste disposal problems and their solutions has increased to a where the waste disposal by several methods has become a technology of its own. To minimize the impact of wastes on the environment, final disposal which offers environmentally sustainable methodology for disposing wastes on land is inevitable, after thorough analysis of behavior of soils. Hence, an attempt has been made in the investigation to overcome the disposal problems of GBS that are mixed with wheat husk ash to achieve the desired requirements. In the same way the Expansive soils are treated with different percentage of GBS and wheat husk ash to improve the engineering properties of soil.

Introduction

Expansive soils, well-known as Black Cotton Soils in India, occupy about one-fifth of land area of the country. Black Cotton Soils are residual deposits formed from basalt or trap rocks. Expansive soil contain significant amount of montmorillonite material. These soils are very hard in dry state but lose their load carrying capacity when once they are comes in contact with water. They have high shrinkage and swelling characteristics. In general, these expansive soils are very much keen to changes in environment. The environment includes the stress system, the chemistry of pore water in the system, the seasonal variations in ground water table with consequent changes in natural moisture content and temperature variations. These swelling and shrinkage properties have made the soil unsuitable for civil engineering purposes either as foundation or embankment material.

The compaction is a mechanical process in which the densification is achieved through the expulsion of air voids at almost constant water content of the soil mass. However, densification through consolidation is primarily attributed to the gradual expulsion of pore water from the voids of the soil mass undergoing consolidation and to the increase in the effective stress on the soil mass. Stabilizing agents such as fly ash, quarry dust and rice husk ash are used for the stabilization of expansive soils. In the same way GBS is one of the materials used as stabilizing agent [1-5].

Soil properties that influence shrink-swell potential: The influence of shrink-swell potential depends on the following factors:

a. Clay Mineralogy: Clay minerals which cause soil volume changes are montmorillonite, vermiculites and some mixed layer minerals. Illites and kaolinites are infrequently expansive, but can cause volume changes when particle sizes are extremely fine.

b. Dry Density: Higher densities indicate closer particle spacing, which may greater repulsive forces between particles and larger swelling potential.

c. Plasticity: In general, soils that exhibit plastic behavior wide ranges of moisture content and that have high liquid limits have greater potential for swelling and shrinking. Plasticity is an indicator of swell potential.

Soil water chemistry: swelling is depressed by increased cat ion concentration and increased cat ion valence.

Ground water: Shallow water tables provide a source of moisture and fluctuating water tables contribute to moisture.

Permeability: Soils with higher permeability, particularly due to fissures and cracks in the field soil mass, allow faster migration of water and promote faster rates of swell.

Temperature: increasing temperatures cause moisture to diffuse to cooler areas beneath pavements and buildings.

Laboratory tests used for identification of expansive soils

In Engineering practice, the common identification schemes are based on standard classification results, such as grain size analysis and Atterberg's limits. However, other tests such as microscopic examination, X-Ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis for identifying the type and amount of minerals used in identifying potentially swelling soils (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1: Laboratory tests used in identification of Expansive soils.

Physical properties of expansive soils

The typical characteristics of Expansive soil are shown in Table1.2

Table 1.2: Physical properties of expansive soils (Anand, KS 1989).

Methods of stabilization

The stabilization techniques may be grouped under the following two major heads

A. Stabilization without additives

B. Stabilization with additives

Stabilization without additive may be mechanical rearrangement of particles through compaction or addition or removal of soil particles [6,7]. Some of the stabilization process can be studied as follows:

Chemical stabilization

Besides the use of lime, other chemicals both organic and inorganic can be used to stabilize the expansive soils. But the cost of cement stabilization is considerably more than that of lime stabilization. GBS is added to the soil-lime mixture to increase pozzolanic reaction. Chemical like potassium, deactivation of sulphates with calcium chloride, water proofing with silicones or asphalts, cementation with silicates, carbonates all proved in reduction of plasticity index.

Wheat husk ash

India wheat husk ash for stabilization appears to be successful solution, wheat husk ash is readily available. Primarily being siliceous material act as pozzolona. Hence in this investigation the compressibility behaviour of black cotton soil treated with GBS and wheat husk ash has been studied. Wheat husk ash is obtained by burning locally available wheat husk in an open kiln for about twenty four hours. After complete burning, the burnt material was sieved through I.S.425 micron sieve and minus 425 -fraction was taken for the study.

Materials used

For the present study, Expansive soil, GBS and wheat husk ash have been used. Their physical properties have been determined.

Expansive soil

In India, 20% of surface deposits are covered with expansive soils. The Expansive soil swells when it comes in contact with water and shrinks on drying. These soils are characterized by inherent swelling and shrinkage characteristics due to presence of Montmorillonite clay mineral, which exhibits volume change behaviour under changes of moisture content. Due to characterized swelling and shrinkage behaviour of expansive soils leads to the severe damages to the Civil Engineering structures such as cracking in buildings or total distractions of the structure, foundations and pavements. For the present investigation the Expansive soil was obtained from Rudnoor village, Bhalki taluka, Bidar district, Karnataka state, India. It is collected from an open excavation at a depth of 0.5m below the natural ground surface. The soil was air dried and pulverized. This pulverized soil passed through 425 micron IS sieve has been used for this investigation.

Granulated blast furnace slag

Granulated blast furnace slag (GBS) was obtained from Kirloskar steel plant district Koppal, Karnataka, India. GBS is the waste material which is generated from the steel plant after with the increase in waste disposal problems and their solutions has increased to a where the waste disposal by several methods has become a technology of its own. To minimize the impact of wastes on the environment, final disposal which offers environmentally sustainable methodology for disposing wastes on land is inevitable, after thorough analysis of behaviour of soils [8-9].

Wheat husk ash

Wheat husk ash is obtained from Byalahalli village, Bhalki taluka, Bidar district in Karnataka state in India by burning locally available wheat husk in an open kiln for about twenty four hours. After complete burning, the burnt material was sieved through I.S.425 micron sieve and minus 425 -fraction was taken for the study.

Results and Discussion

The liquid limit, plastic limit, shrinkage limit and compaction tests were conducted based on the experimental programme. The effect of additives on index and compaction properties of expansive soil treated with various percentages of GBS and WHA have been studied. The results and discussions are presented in the following section (Table 1.3).

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Lupine Publishers | Towards a Corpus of The Inscriptions of Ottoman Buildings in Greece

 Lupine Publishers | Journal of Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences

Abstract

The amount of surviving inscriptions from the Ottoman Times in Greece is astonished. This paper is the first ever study announces these inscriptions throughout Greece in a quantitative approach. Through statistical methods, this research surveys the building inscriptions, proper to each region or in Greece as a whole. This article surveyed 684 inscriptions belong to 343 Ottoman buildings all-over Greece. Considering the language and the content of these 684 inscriptions, they comprise 1788 different texts. It shows with the help of two tables along with their charts with type, building function and region indexes the criteria of classification of these inscriptions considering the most common approaches comprising language, function, content, patron, stylistic features and region. It is also analyzing the surviving inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece considering these criteria with statistic evidences. The paper concludes with a suggested methodology in cataloguing the corpus of the inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece.

Keywords: Inscription; Ottoman; Balkan; Greece; Epigraphy; Corpus

Introduction

The Ottoman existence in the present-day Greece began in 1361 AD, when the Ottomans took possession of Didymoteichon. The Ottomans ruled the present-day Greek territories for periods almost ranging between three and five centuries as the case in Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly. During that period thousands of buildings were constructed under the Ottomans’ patronage throughout Greece. Though a large number of Ottoman architectural heritage in Greece has been demolished, due to different factors, still the extant Ottoman buildings in Greece represent, as a whole, one of the biggest well-preserved and varied collection of Ottoman architecture in the Balkans [1].

One of the most characteristics of Islamic art and architecture is the extensive use of lettering. The Ottoman art and architecture were no exception. Though, a large number of Ottoman inscriptions in Greece were lost, still the preserved ones represent, as a whole, one of the biggest well-preserved and varied collection of Ottoman inscriptions in the Balkans.

Inscriptions related to Ottoman presence in Greece could be classified into three main categories:

a) Building inscriptions.

b) Tombstones

c) Artifacts and numismatics inscriptions.

The latter group is very interesting and did not gain the deserved attention of the scholars yet. It basically presented via the objects including jewellery, swords, furniture, tools and coins that are found either exhibited or stored in the museums throughout Greece with special reference to the Numismatics and Benaki Museums at Athens, Museum at Arslan Pasha Mosque (Figure 1) of Ioannina, the Historical Museum (Figure 2) at Iraklion (Crete) and the Archaeological Museum (Figure 3) at Drama (Northern Greece).

Ottoman tombstones in Greece forming one of the most plenteous collections in the Balkans. Many historic cemeteries of hundreds tombstones are found in Greece especially in Komotini, Xanthi, Crete, Rhodes, Kos and Chios. Some collections are well documented as the case of Komotini [2], Rethymno (Crete) [3], but the others are still unknown. Some groups of tombstones are gathered in a dangerous way which may destroy them as in Iraklion (Figure 4).

Figure 1: A group of Ottoman swords exhibited in the museum inside the Arslan Pasha Mosque of Ioannina (@ Ahmed Ameen 2008).

Figure 2: Ottoman numismatics exhibited in the Historical Museum at Iraklion (@ Ahmed Ameen 2016).

Figure 3: Ottoman numismatics exhibited in the Historical Museum at Drama (@ Ahmed Ameen 2008).

Figure 4: A group of Ottoman tombstones in Iraklion (@ Ahmed Ameen 2016).

This research compiles only the inscriptions of the first category i.e. building inscriptions. This study counted 684 inscriptions related to 343 buildings throughout Greece. Considering the language and the content of these 684 inscriptions, they comprise 1788 different texts. For example, one inscription may include two or three different texts: a qur’anic quotation, and/or an invocation, and foundation text. Also, some inscriptions are bilingual or trilingual [4].

This paper provides a statistic inventory of the extant inscriptions of the ottoman buildings in Greece. Moreover, notes some considerations on this epigraphic material discussing their importance, numbers, categories and the different supposed ways of classification.

Classification of Inscriptions

Generally, Islamic inscriptions are classified according to multiple inputs, including language, historical period, calligraphy features, raw material where the inscription executed on, methods of execution, framework or general design of inscriptions, content, etc. The most common approaches of classification are language, function, content, patron, stylistic features and region.

Language

The language(s) of the inscriptions on Ottoman architecture in Greece came in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish (in Arabic alphabet), Modern Turkish (in Latin), Persian, and Greek.

Most of the inscriptions came, of course, in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. Three surviving inscriptions in Persian, as far as I know, one is preserved in the Historical Museum of Iraklion, Crete, one of the türbe of Sheikh Hortaci (St. George Church, Rotunda) at Thessaloniki, while the third is inside the Arslan Pasha Mosque at Ioannina (Figure 5). These Persian texts refer to the presence of Sufi orders within Ottoman communities in Greece in particular, and in the Balkans as a whole.

Figure 5: The Arabic-Persian inscription of the central medallion of the interior of the dome of Arslan Pasha Mosque in oannina (First publishing, @ Ahmed Ameen 2008).

Some inscriptions are also written in Greek, French and Italian, as well as in Modern Turkish; characterizing the last stage of Ottoman presence in Greece, and continued somewhat after the end of the ottoman rule of Greece, especially in Thrace.

Arabic was the main and official language of Ottoman foundation and historic inscriptions in Greece and the Balkans during the early ottoman period, which extended from the beginning until the early 16th century [5, 6]. The language of the inscriptions became significantly Ottoman Turkish, especially since the mid-16th century, by the end of this century it became the official language of the inscriptions as well as all aspects of culture and art in the Ottoman Empire. Numbers of the existing foundation inscriptions, classified in terms of language and date, clearly reflect this hypothesis.

Complete foundation, restoration or renovation inscription consists of five main elements [7]:

a) The basmala or qur’anic quotation or invocation to God.

b) A verb representing what was done.

c) The object of the work.

d) The patron’s name (and sometimes his titles).

e) The date of construction/restoration.

If an inscription bears the date of the foundation or restoration but missed one or more of these elements, I will name it as a short foundation inscription.

There are 367 foundation/restoration inscriptions, either full or short, of the Ottoman buildings in Greece comprising 54 in Arabic, 210 in Ottoman Turkish, 60 inscriptions in Greek, 4 inscriptions in Byzantine, 3 inscriptions in modern Turkish, two inscriptions in French, 9 inscriptions representing dates recorded in numbers only, and 25 inscriptions-some represent foundation inscriptions, others are informal personal inscriptions-written in more than one language, will be studied in detail in the second part of this research, bilingual and trilingual inscriptions.

This group of Arabic foundation inscriptions (54) composes a considerable number, especially if compared to any other country in the Balkans. The content of these inscriptions provides a wealth of data concerning their contemporaneous Ottoman community.

Worth mentioning, that 50 inscriptions from the 60 Greek ones belong to fountains ‘çeşme’ were found on the island of Lesbos ‘Mytilene’ [8]. The rest 10 Greek inscriptions belong to fountains and residential buildings distributed in the towns and villages of Komotini, Xanthi, Rhodes and Crete. Though, most of the patrons of the structures that bear Greek inscriptions were Greeks and not Ottomans, but these buildings were built during the Ottoman rule influenced by the Ottoman culture; characterizing late Ottoman period in Greece. The biggest bulk of the extant non-religious inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece is surely came in Ottoman Turkish language.

Function

Studying the building inscriptions in terms of function is a common approach. The inscriptions of each category of buildings are often alike in their content. Regarding the inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece, as far as concerned, are divided according to function (Table 1, Chart 1) as follows: 117 inscriptions belong to Mosques, 118 to water works (109 fountains ‘çeşme’ and ‘şâdırvân’, 2 water reservoir, 3 springs, 2 baths ‘hammams’, 1 aqueduct and 1 bridge ‘Köprü’), 20 belong to educational buildings (17 to mektep, medrese, idâdî and rüşdiye, and 3 to libraries ‘kütüphane’), 17 inscriptions belong to tekke, imaret, and zawiya, 15 inscriptions belong to fortifications, 14 inscriptions belong to mausoleums ‘türbes’, 17 inscriptions belong to houses, 7 inscriptions belong to clock-towers ‘saat kulesi’, 4 inscriptions belong to commercial building (2 khans and 2 shops), 2 inscriptions belong to courts, in addition to one inscription belongs to a prison, and one to a customs building ‘gümrük’.

Studying the inscriptions in this regard helps to detect the change in the building function and the different names of the building of almost same function over centuries. This approach is useful especially if the research covering a long period as our case study. The various names of the educational institutions on the ottoman inscriptions comprising: mektep, medrese, idâdî, rüşdiye, dârülfünun, etc. show a good example.

Generally, text follows function; thus the content of the inscriptions of the buildings belong to the same function is somewhat alike. As the case of the educational buildings, the texts usually concentrated on the highest value of learning and teaching in Islam, the prestigious position of the professors ‘müderris’ and the texts that encourage the students to learn.

Content

The epigraphic content is the most important data to study the history of any building, and its historic context. Analyzing the content of the inscriptions is a most popular approach in epigraphic studies. The content of the epigraphic material of the buildings could be studied in many ways. Considering the extant inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece, there are six different approaches available to present the content of those inscriptions as follows:

1) Foundation/restoration (or dedicatory) inscriptions

2) Religious inscriptions

a. Qur’anic inscriptions

b. Non-Qur’anic inscriptions

3) Endowment text

4) Funerary text

5) Signatures

6) Graffiti

The above groups are not exclusive but often overlap, as the case of a foundation inscription which may also contain a qur’anic quotation and/or the signature of a craftsman.

All previous studies almost tackled only the foundation/ restoration inscriptions, following the traditional western approach that focuses on historic inscriptions underscores the history of the building and its patron(s). This approach slights religious inscriptions, though the latter form the biggest group of inscriptions, 350, existed in Greece. These 350 religious inscriptions can shed light on the meaning and function of the building; even most religious inscriptions are repeated in stereotyped formulas.

There is only one example belong to each category of endowment and funerary inscriptions. The endowment inscription is placed on the wall of Mahmoud Ağa Mosque (Figure 6) which also known as ‘Yenice Mahalle Camii’, while the funerary one is found inside the mosque of Karaca Ahmed (Figure 7) which built in 1450 and renewed in 1950 in the village of Shaheen in Xanthi.

Figure 6: An endowment “Waqffiye” inscription of Mahmud Agha Mosque at Komotini (@ Ahmed Ameen 2008).

Signature inscriptions come in both cases:

a) as a single inscription as the case of the Yeni Mosque at Thessaloniki (Figure 8), of the Italian architect Vitaliano Poselli [4], and

b) included in a foundation inscription with two distinguished examples.

The first is the subordinate Arabic foundation inscription of Sultan Mehmed Çelebi Mosque at Didymoteicho, providing the name of the famous Turkish Architect Haci İwaz “ ʿawaḍ” (Figure 9) [5]. The second is the Greek inscription of the Sultan Abdülhamid II çeşme (1301/1884) in Kalami village at Chania, Crete. It provides the name of its Greek architect Georgaraki (Figure 10) [4].

Figure 7: A funerary inscription inside the mosque of Karaca Ahmed in the village of Shaheen in Xanthi (@ Ahmed Ameen 2008).

Figure 8: A signature inscriptions of the architect of the Yeni Mosque at Thessaloniki (@ Ahmed Ameen 2009).

Figure 9: the second Arabic foundation inscription of Sultan Mehmed Çelebi Mosque at Didymoteicho (@ Ahmed Ameen 2009).

Figure 10: Both Ottoman and Greek inscriptions of the Sultan Abdülhamid II çeşme of the Kalami village at Chania (@ Ahmed Ameen 2016).

Graffiti inscriptions are incised handwritings on stone or marble that adorned many Ottoman buildings throughout Greece. They are represent the travellers’ writings and express one’s impressions and thoughts. Graffiti inscriptions come usually on the frames of the doors and windows of the buildings as the case of Fethiye Mosque at Athens, and Ishak Paşa Mosque at Thessaloniki and Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Rhodes, and sometimes on the shafts of the colmuns of the portico as the case of Arslan Pasha Mosque at Ioannina and Sultan Süleyman Mosque in Rhodes.

Graffiti inscripions repesnet usually religious writings comprising qur’anic quotations, hadith or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, invocations, poems, and may also recorded the name and/or the nickname of the scriber and sometime scribed a date. Graffiti inscriptions sometime are very useful and in some cases it helps to date the structure on which they are found as the case of the Fethiye Mosque at Athens [9].

Patron(s) and Craftsman

One of the most specific approaches in studying inscriptions is the patron(s) either as a person, family, position or rank, sex; to whom such inscriptions are belong. Thus we found studies entitled the inscriptions of the Sultan(s), women, architect, calligrapher, etc.

The inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece, as far as concerned, represent various patrons including Ottoman sultans themselves (Bayezid I, Mehmed Çelebi, Murad II, Bayezid II, Süleyman the Magnificent, Mustafa III and Sultan Abdülhamid II), the high ranking class (Includes the Sultans’ relatives, the Grand Vezirs, Vezirs and commanders, such as Mehmed Bey Mosque at Serres, a foundation of son of Grand Vezir Ahmad Paşa and husband of Princess Selçuk Hatun, daughter of Sultan Bayazid II) [10]. Also there are some inscriptions provides the women as patrons of Ottoman architecture, and in some cases buildings were built by husbands dedicated to their wives as the case of many fountains.

The studied inscriptions present a shifting in the patronage of the construction of mosques and medreses replacing single funded patronage of the Sultans or grand commanders or officials or wealthy individuals with the Muslim community i.e. the Muslims of a district or a village as a patron of building mosques as in the Ierapetra Mosque [11] at Crete, and the Alankuyu Mosque and the Kir Mahalle Medrese at Komotini.

Noteworthy, that wealthy Christian Greeks has also participated in constructing secular welfare buildings in late ottoman period, as the case of the Clock-tower of Naousa ‘Ağustos’ which was built by industrialist George Anastasiou Kergi in 1895 as cited in its still extant bilingual inscription (Figure 11) [4].

Figure 11: The bilingual foundation inscription of the Clock-tower of Naousa (@ https://odosell.blogspot.com/2014/04/ blog-post_9961.html [Accessed on 25 June 2018]).

Stylistic Features

Figure 12: A Kufic inscription above the lateral niche eastern the main entrance of Sultan Mehmed Çelebi Mosque at Didymoteicho (@ Ahmed Ameen 2008).

Studying the inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece in terms of style tackles their visual characteristics. Thus, it deals with the placement, height, dimensions, material on which is executed, colors, the shape of inscription as a whole, the way that the inscription is divided in, the shape of the letters and methods of execution of the inscriptions. The inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece, as far as concerned, still in lack of such this study.

It is worth noting that each one of the aforementioned items of stylistic features may be used as a clue of dating other comparable undated inscriptions. The monumental inscriptions of Sultan Mehmed Çelebi Mosque at Didymoteicho represent a very interesting example of early Ottoman inscriptions. They are executed in thuluth and Kufic (Figure 12) scripts; characterizing the transitional stage of execution the monumental inscriptions in early Ottoman period. The majority of the inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece are executed in thuluth script (jali; Turkish celi).

Region

Studying Islamic inscriptions on a geographical basis, by country, region, island or city, is a typical approach. Since the geographically norm is the standard way of documenting of inscriptions; it is also adopted here in the suggested cataloguing method for the inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece.

Figure 13: A map shows the regional units of Greece (@ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_regions_of_Greece [Accessed on 16 June 2019]) [12].

Administratively, there are thirteen regional units (prefectures or peripheries) form the present-day Greece (Figure 13), comprising:

1) Attica.

2) Central Greece.

3) Central Macedonia.

4) Crete.

5) Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.

6) Epirus.

7) Ionian Islands.

8) North Aegean.

9) Peloponnese.

10) South Aegean.

11) Thessaly.

12) Western Greece.

13) Western Macedonia.

Considering the extant inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece, the focus of this research, we can divide the Greek territories geographically into five main groups (Table 1, 2; Charts 1, 2):

Table 1: Geographical proportion of inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece considering their content (@ Ahmed Ameen 2019).

Chart 1: Geographical proportion of inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece considering their content (@ Ahmed Ameen 2019).

Table 2: Geographical proportion of inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece considering their function (@ Ahmed Ameen 2019).

Chart 2: Geographical proportion of inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece considering their function (@ Ahmed Ameen 2019).

1) Thrace.

2) Macedonia.

3) Aegean Islands.

4) Crete.

5) Epirus, Thessaly, Central Greece, Attica and Peloponnese.

And there are no extant Ottoman inscriptions in Ionian Islands.

Analyzing the statistics of the inscriptions of Ottoman buildings in Greece geographically concludes that the numbers of the extant inscriptions correspond to those of the surviving ottoman architectural heritage in the same regions. The largest amount of surviving Ottoman inscriptions is found in the Aegean Islands (224 inscriptions), Thrace (211 inscriptions), Crete (101 inscriptions), Macedonia (70 inscriptions), and finally the last group (78 inscriptions) in Epirus, Thessaly, Central Greece, Attica and Peloponnese.

The highest number of surviving Ottoman inscriptions in the Aegean Islands and Crete is obviously thanks to the large number of well-maintained fountains ‘çeşme’. Thus the highest number of foundation and short foundation inscriptions is found in the Aegean Islands and Crete. But the largest amount of religious inscriptions, including both qur’anic and non- qur’anic, are found in Thrace; in which the largest amount of Mosques that still function, where the Greek Muslim minority live. Thus, the regions that still have Muslim minorities in Greece and those located near present-day Turkey have the highest numbers of existing Ottoman inscriptions. Neighbourly relationships and consequent economic relations played a role in preserving the Ottoman architectural heritage including inscriptions in these regions. The limited number of existing Ottoman inscriptions in Central Greece, Peloponnese and Thessaly is due to the liberation of these regions being earlier than those of other Greek regions, as well as their early revolutionary wars against the Ottomans. There is an inverse geographical relationship between the cultural aversion against ‘Turkish’ objects and the number of existing Ottoman inscriptions. This number is decreased from East to West.

The city of Ioannina ‘Yanya’ is an exception in Epirus, northwestern Greece, with a remarkable and well preserved surviving Ottoman epigraphic heritage. This obviously reflects Ioannina’s own historical contexts, which were different from other Greek regions either during the Ottoman rule or after the incorporation into the Greek State in 1913.

A Suggested Methodology in Cataloguing the Corpus of Inscriptions

Inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece, in our projected corpus, will be catalogued following the aforementioned regional approach, dealing with each structure separately. It provides, as possible, for each given inscription a recent photo(s), the deciphering, an English translation, and a commentary concluding with a list of its significant literature.

Since it is not possible to tackle with each one among the 684 surveyed inscriptions in a detailed study; thus it basically catalogues the raw material and makes it available for scholarly community. A group of inscriptions were erased, as many fountains in Lesvos and the Clock tower of Preveza, or covered with later inscriptions as the inscription above the door of left room of Ghazi Evrenos Imaret at Komotini, or damaged as the foundation inscription of the Ottoman Medrese at Athens, and some inscriptions of the Ierapetra Mosque. These inscriptions require using advanced technological tools and materials of cleaning and photographing to be readable. These tools are not available to me; thus such inscriptions will included without full or partially deciphering, or English translation.

This paper suggests a new codification for the inscriptions of the Ottoman buildings in Greece; facilitating the upcoming research and digitizing these inscriptions. Each inscription will acquire this new codification ID. This ID will refer to the analysing of the inscription as the following example “0001Did01Ar”; hence this ID is composed of four parts as shown in the next table: (Table 3)

Table 3.

So that, the first four-digits number refers to a serial number consequence in the whole corpus of Ottoman buildings inscriptions in Greece, then a three-letters abbreviation referring the main regional unit (city) where the inscription belongs, thereafter a twodigits number states the number of this inscription among those of the same regional unit, and finally the abbreviation of the main language of the inscription, whereas the A=Arabic, O=Ottoman, P=Persian, G=Greek, I=Italian, F=French, TR=Modern Turkish, B=Bilingual, and T=Trilingual. This code will be mentioned as a Corpus ID.

So, each given inscription in this estimated corpus will be catalogued, as possible, through eight main items comprising: 1) Corpus ID: Caption of the inscription, 2) Regional Unit Name, 3) Basic Data, 4) Photo(s), 5) Reading “Text,” 6) Translation(s), 7) Commentary and 8) Bibliography as shown in the following example: Inscription (X)

Corpus ID: Caption of the inscription

Is the codification ID of the inscription –as noted earlier in this paper-followed by a caption describes the inscription. e.g. 0001Did01A: Main foundation inscription of Sultan Mehmed Çelebi Mosque at Didymoteicho

I. Regional Unit Name

This item states the first-level administrative entity with the corresponded ottoman names, to which the inscription belongs, then the second-level unit, afterward the location/Site of the inscription and its current condition.

This summary table provides the basic data of the inscription including: column 1: the type of the building, column 2: indicates the type of the inscription, column 3: divided into three subcolumns, provides the date in the three calendars cited in ottoman inscriptions; the Rumi date characterizes late Ottoman inscriptions, and will be stated only if cited in the given inscription, then column 4: shows the material on which was the inscription executed, and column 5: shows its language as explained in the corpus ID.

Table 4.

III. Photo(s)

Recent photo(s) if available is provided, either a reproduction of an old photo. For those mentioned by Evliya Çelebi but disappeared now, and there is no preserved old photo, will give the related parts of his manuscript.

IV. Deciphering “Text”

The text of the inscription is reproduced as original in its own language. If it is previously published, I will only refer to the related reference.

V. Translation(s)

As possible, English translation of the inscription is provided, but if it is previously published in whichever language, we will just refer to the corresponded reference.

VI. Commentary

Commentary comprises remarks, if required, on the building to which the inscription belongs, the content of the inscription and the previous significant studies.

VII. Bibliography

In bibliography citing where the inscription was previously published, described and/or studied.

Conclusion

The immense amount of the surviving inscriptions of the ottoman buildings in Greece which are not known to most scholars in Islamic epigraphy is the main motive of writing this article. These inscriptions comprise a rich material to study the Ottoman heritage in Greece over almost five centuries. The 684 inscriptions surveyed in this paper and analysed in quantitative method show their exceptional value taking into account their language and content. These inscriptions belong to 343 Ottoman buildings allover Greece and compose 1788 different texts. This paper is a part of a postdoctoral research on the same topic will be published soon as a corpus of Islamic inscriptions in Greece.

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Lupine Publishers | Anesthetic Considerations in A Case of Arnold Chairi Malformation Type II

 Lupine Publishers | Journal of Anesthesia & Pain Medicine

Abstract

Arnold chiari malformation (ACM) Type II is a developmental abnormality of the brainstem and cerebellar tonsil, medulla and protrusion of 4^th ventricle into cervical spinal canal. To best of our knowledge, there is paucity of literature regarding anesthetic management of cases with ACM type II. The anesthetic concerns with general anesthesia are related to the risk of autonomic dysfunction, difficult airway management, damage to the spinal cord and sensitivity to neuromuscular blocking agents. There is risk of increasing intracranial pressure and brainstem compression or herniation leading to hemodynamic and respiratory compromise, due to presence of meningomyelocoele, syringohydromyelia and tethered spinal cord.

Case Report

Figure 1: Suggests CT image of spine.

A preterm case of 2 month old female, with diagnosed Arnold chiari malformation type II had gross hydrocephalus. She developed lower respiratory tract infection after one month of birth, and had breath holding spells while feeding. She had lethargy, decreased oral acceptance and was intubated in pediatric emergency in view of respiratory compromise. Ultrasound cranium suggested grossly dilated lateral and third ventricles with evidence of fine internal echoes predominantly in left lateral ventricle. Posterior fossa was shallow and cerebral parenchyma was grossly normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of brain suggested presence of communicating hydrocephalus, syringohydromyelia, pointed peg like cerebellar tonsils with ectopia through the forman magnum upto C1 vertebra, inferior displacement of brainstem, fourth ventricle and torcular herophilli. There was a low lying posteriorly tethered spinal cord with meningomyeolocele in lumbar region (L4, L5 &S1). (Figure 1) Child was referred to neurosurgery department in view of features suggestive of raised intracranial pressure, bulging anterior fontanelle, irritability, and intermittent posturing. External ventricular drainage (EVD) was placed under local anesthesia to aspirate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and lower intracranial pressure. Drainage of 25 ml of CSF was done every 12 hours but eventually child had episodes of labored rapid shallow breathing and feeble pulses and was intubated in view of the same. She was also started on inotropes (dopamine and adrenaline). Patient was re-intubated again during the hospital stay due to suspected aspiration with respiratory distress, but was extubated after 2 days, after the respiratory efforts became normal. On examination, knee and ankle reflex were absent, plantar were up going, tone was decreased in bilateral lower limbs. As EVD was getting blocked and child developed ventriculitis with deteriorating general condition, she was posted to us for placement of ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. After attaching standard monitors, child was induced with inj fentanyl, thiopentone and after checking mask ventilation, inj atracurium was given. Intubation was done by videolaryngoscope in neutral position by an experienced anesthesiologist to prevent neurological damage and to avoid hemodynamic instability associated with neck movement. Maintenance of anesthesia was done with oxygen, nitrous and sevoflurane. Child was extubated uneventfully at the end of surgery and was observed in post-operative anesthesia unit for 24 hours.

Discussion

Arnold chiari malformation includes group of disorders that are characterized by anatomical anomalies of cerebellum, brainstem, craniocervical junction with downward displacement of cerebellum either alone or together with lower medulla, into spinal canal. ACM is of 4 types-I- IV. ACM type I is the most common type found in children, in which lower part of cerebellum and not the brain stem extends through the base of skull. Type II is seen in children who are born with spina bifida and is also known as the classical type in which both cerebellum and brainstem extend into foramen magnum. Type III is the most serious type and involves the herniation of cerebellum and brainstem through foramen magnum, associated with serious neurological defects. Type IV is incomplete or underdeveloped cerebellum, associated with exposed parts of skull and spinal cord [1]. Other conditions associated with ACM include hydrocephalus, syringomyelia i.e. a cyst in the spinal cord central canal, tethered cord syndrome. ACM II is also associated with Goldenhar syndrome and Albright Hereditary osteodystrophy, connective tissue disorders, pseduohypoparathyroidsm etc. Symptoms of ACM II are because of gross hydrocephalus characterized by repeated episodes of vomiting, irritability seizure, delayed milestones, cranial nerve 9th and 10th dysfunction leading to dysphagia, weakness of vocal cords, swallowing difficulties, breathing irregularities, serious changes in the function of nerves of the throat and tongue (decreased gag reflex) and involuntary ,rapid downward eye movement and respiratory distress, brainstem compression leading to respiratory and hemodynamic compromise. Meningomyelcele is frequently associated with ACM II leading to lack of bladder and bowel control in such children. No two cases of ACM 2 are exactly alike and associated symptoms vary from asymptomatic to life threatening symptoms. Typically patient becomes symptomatic from 2 month to 2 years. Patients presents with symptomatic exacerbations and remissions. Specific symptoms can occur in different combinations generally reflecting dysfunction of cerebellum, brainstem, spinal cord & lower cranial nerves. Anesthetic considerations with respect to ACM type II include increased intracranial pressure, hydrocephalus, difficult airway, C1-2 instability, requiring neutral intubation, increased risk of hypovolemia because of fluid and blood loss from defects, infection, heat loss from meningomyelocele. There is increased risk of brainstem dysfunction leading to stridor, aspiration, apnea. There is increased risk of autonomic dysfunction leading to arrhythmia, bradycardia, labile blood pressure, sudden respiratory or cardiac arrest. Ventilation-perfusion abnormalities may also be seen in case respiratory muscles are involved. There may be damage to spinal cord because of raised intracranial pressure. These children may also have associated allergy to latex. Impaired thermal regulation is also a concern in such patients. Parents should always be advised that in this or any other neurosurgical case, there is always a chance that the child will remain intubated postoperatively, although the plan is to extubate in the operating room. One should be prepared about cranial nerve and brain stem dysfunction characterized by vocal cord paralysis, apnea, dysphagia and laryngeal stridor in the post-operative period. Goals of anesthesia pertain to avoiding increase in intracranial pressure and maintain cerebral perfusion pressure, latex-free environment and rapid emergence for postoperative neurological examination. Children with ACM type II have remissions of hemodynamic and respiratory compromise, central hypoventilation, shock, requiring meticulous planning and management.

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Lupine Publishers| The Specific Role of Periodontal Disease in Lung Cancer Pathogenesis

 Lupine Publishers| Journal of Dentistry  and Oral Health Care

Editorial

It has been proposed that poor oral hygiene, especially in high risk patients could be a predatory factor for respiratory diseases. Oral cavity that coincides with trachea could be a natural gate for colonization by respiratory pathogens. Dental plaque can be colonized by those that have been inhaled from the oro pharynx cavity to the upper airways and then can approach the lower airway and adhere to the bronchial or alveolar epithelium [1,2]. Periodontal Disease (PD) has been associated with chronic lung diseases, such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) [3,4]. It has also been recorded that pulmonary function in COPD patient’s decreases with increasing Clinical Attachment Loss (CAL), and an association between poor oral hygiene and COPD was recorded after controlling for potential confounders, such as gender, age, smoking andsocio-economic level [5]. The mentioned findings were in accordance with those that carried out from previous casecontrol and prospective studies [6-10].

However, only one similar investigation has not confirmed such observations [11]. Epidemiological researches have investigated the association between COPD and lung cancer (LC) [12-14]. Cigarette smoking is the principle risk factor for developing COPD [15] and LC [12-16]. Smokers with COPD are at a higher risk of developing LC, suggesting that an association exists between the processes that causes both diseases [17,18]. However, the majority of smokers do not develop COPD or LC despite the fact that the accumulated smoking history increases the risk of developing PD and cancer [17-20]. The contribution of smoking to PD development requires poor oral hygiene whereas in cases of established PD, smoking accelerates its progression. Similarly, smoking consists an important risk factor for LC development, however does not cause the disease to all smokers [21].

It is possible that the link between both diseases is mediated by a pre-existing chronic pulmonary disease such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, and tuberculosis that are associated with an increased risk of LC development. A limited exploration exists regarding the association between COPD and LC risk, especially in non-smokers, as they develop COPD rarely [13]. In a prospective study in health professionals with a PD history a slightly higher cancer incidence compared to those who did not have PD at the time of the study initiation and after controlling for known risk factors, was observed. It was also found that PD was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk for LC. Specifically, regarding LC, a strong association was recorded in individuals with a small number of remaining teeth and it was remained strong among non-smokers although it was weaker and statistically insignificant. However, many limitations were existed especially the self-reported assessment of PD [22]. Hujoel et al. [23] observed an increased risk of death from all types of cancer when the assessment of PD was based on other indicators. Specifically, it was found a statistically increased risk of LC, however it was not confirmed in non-smokers. It was suggested that periodontitis could include an unlimited percentage of smoking history, and therefore its relationship with the LC was invalid. In the same study, gingivitis that reflects the presence of inflammatory load, in individuals with natural teeth showed increased risk levels of death from LC.

Periodontitis could be a substitute indicator for the effects of smoking and therefore provides a link to LC.

The follow-up of NHANES III patients was shown that periodontitis was associated with an increased mortality from respiratory cancers. There was an increased risk tendency in relation to periodontitis severity [24]. Chrysanthakopoulos [25] was recorded that probing pocketdepthasan index for PD severity was statistically significantly associated with the risk of developing LC after controlling for potential confounders. Ιn addition to the suspected effect of COPD and smoking on the interpretation of the association between PD and the risk for developing of LC, the mechanisms that could link the two diseases have not been elucidated. Therefore, future studies are required, and they could be based on the

overall association between chronic inflammation and the risk of cancer development.

The inflammatory response to periodontal inflammation extends beyond the oral cavity and leads to increased levels of circulating inflammatory biomarkers [26,27], a finding that is supported from the highest incidence of cancer cases in individuals with chronic inflammatory conditions [28] and the efficacy of antiinflammatory drugs in the prevention of certain types of cancer [29], how-ever that finding has not been confirmed in all studies [30,31], nor in LC. A possible mechanism can be supported on the basis of the PD pathogenesis and is characterized by a wide variety of microorganisms, bacteria and their products such as endotoxins, enzymes and metabolic products that are toxic to surrounding cells and can directly induce mutations in tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes or can alter signaling pathways that affect cell proliferation and/or epithelial cell survival [32,33].

Other mechanisms that have been proposed include the immune system deflection and the production of carcinogenic products by periodontal tissues pathogens [34].

In addition, under-lying genetic factors may increase the sensitivity in both situations or may alter the relationship of environmental risk factors such as smoking, with PD and cancer. The role of the common genetic risk factors between the two situations, however, remains unclear. The sensitivity to the disease could be influenced by predetermined factors such as genetic polymorphisms that also need to be investigated [35,36]. Another possible mechanism could be attributed to the large inflammatory load caused by the PD and could be associated with the risk of LC through the mechanisms that are involved and lead to oxidative stress that causes damage to the tissues. The oxidative stress induces mechanisms in the progression of PD and cancer. Various types of PD are characterized by significant inflammation load that could affect the evolution of systematic conditions, including carcinogenesis in the lung [23].

It should be noted that the research regarding the possible association of PD with cancer is limited by the problems of controlling of confounders such as smoking and the socio-economic level. Smoking seems to be the main confounding factor in studies that examine cancer, such as LC. Other possible confounders are gender, age, nationality, diabetes mellitus and genetic factors. The definition of periodontitis in a number of large epidemiological studies was based on substitute indicators [24]. However, despite several limitations, periodontitis has been identified as a potential risk factor for gastrointestinal, respiratory and pancreatic cancer and possibly for cancer in other organs. Therefore, it exists an obvious need for further investigation.

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Lupine Publishers| Mitigating Disaster using Secure Threshold-Cloud Architecture

 Lupine Publishers| Journal of Computer Sciences & Applications

Abstract

There are many risks in moving data into public cloud environments, along with an increasing threat around large-scale data leakage during cloud outages. This work aims to apply secret sharing methods as used in cryptography to create shares of cryptographic key, disperse and recover the key when needed in a multi-cloud environment. It also aims to prove that the combination of secret sharing scheme and multi-clouds can be used to provide a new direction in disaster management by using it to mitigate cloud outages rather than current designs of recovery after the outages. Experiments were performed using ten different cloud services providers at share policies of 2 from 5, 3 from 5, 4 from 5, 4 from 10, 6 from 10 and 8 from 10 for which at different times of cloud outages key recovery were still possible and even faster compared to normal situations. All the same, key recovery was impossible when the number of cloud outages exceeded secret sharing defined threshold. To ameliorate this scenario, we opined a resilient system using the concept of self-organization as proposed by Nojoumian et al in 2012 in improving resource availability but with some modifications to the original concept. The proposed architecture is as presented in our Poster: Improving Resilience in Multi-Cloud Architecture.

Keywords: Secret Shares; Disaster Mitigation; Thresholds Scheme; Cloud Service Providers

Introduction

With the introduction of cloud services for disaster management on a scalable rate, there appears to be the needed succour by small business owners to get a cheaper and more secure disaster recovery mechanism to provide business continuity and remain competitive with other large businesses. But that is not to be so, as cloud outages became a nightmare. Recent statistics by Ponemon Institute [1] on Cost of Data Centre Outages, shows an increasing rate of 38% from $505,502 in 2010 to $740,357 as at January 2016. Using activity-based costing they were able to capture direct and indirect cost to: Damage to mission-critical data; Impact of downtime on organizational productivity; Damages to equipment and other assets and so on. The statistics were derived from 63 data centres based in the United States of America. These events may have encouraged the adoption of multi-cloud services so as to divert customers traffic in the event of cloud outage. Some finegrained proposed solutions on these are focused on Redundancy and Backup such as: Local Backup by [2]; Geographical Redundancy and Backup [3]; The use of Inter-Private Cloud Storage [4]; Resource Management for data recovery in storage clouds [5], and so on. But in all these, cloud service providers see disaster recovery as a way of getting the system back online and making data available after a service disruption, and not on contending disaster by providing robustness that is capable of mitigating shocks and losses resulting from these disasters.

This work aims to apply secret sharing methods as used in cryptography [6,7] to create shares of cryptographic key, disperse and recover the key when needed in a multi-cloud environment. It also aims to prove that the combination of secret sharing scheme and multi-clouds can be used to provide a new direction in disaster management by using it to mitigate cloud outages rather than current deigns of recovery after the outages. Experiments were performed using ten different cloud services providers for storage services, which at different times of cloud outages, key recovery were still possible and even faster compared to normal situations. All the same, key recovery was impossible when the number of cloud outages exceeded secret sharing defined threshold. To ameliorate this scenario, we look forward to employ the concept of self-organisation as proposed by Nojoumian et al. [8] in improving resource availability but with some modifications as proposed. The rest of the work is organised into section II, Literature Review takes a closer look at current practices, use of secret sharing and cloudbased disaster recovery with much interest in the method used in design. III. Presents our approach, in section IV, present Results and Evaluations and Conclude in section V with future works and lessons learnt.

Literature Review

There are research solutions based on different variants of secret sharing schemes and multi-cloud architecture that give credence to its resilience in the face of failures, data security in keyless manner, such as: Ukwandu et al. [9] - RESCUE: Resilient Secret Sharing Cloud-based Architecture; Alsolami & Boult, [10], - CloudStash: Using Secret-Sharing Scheme to Secure Data, Not Keys, in Multi-Clouds. Others are: Fabian et al. [11] on Collaborative and secure sharing of healthcare data in multi-clouds and [12] on Secret Sharing for Health Data in Multi-Provider Clouds. While RESCUE provided an architecture for a resilient cloud-based storage with keyless data security capabilities using secret sharing scheme for data splitting, storage and recovery, Cloud Stash also relied on the above strengths to prove security of data using secret sharing schemes in a multi-cloud environment and Fabian et al proved resilience and robust sharing in the use of secret sharing scheme in a multi-cloud environment for data sharing. Because our approach is combining secret sharing and multi-clouds in developing a clouddisaster management the need therefore arise to review current method used in cloud-based disaster in a multi-cloud system and their shortcomings.

a) Remus: Cully et al. [13] described a system that provides software resilience in the face of hardware failure (VMs) in such a manner that an active system at such a time can continue execution on an alternative physical host while preserving the host configurations by using speculative execution. The strength lies on the preservation of system’s software independently during hardware failure.

b) Second Site: As proposed by Rajagopalan et al. [14] is built to extend the Remus high-availability system based on virtualization infrastructure by allowing very large VMs to be replicated across many data centres over the networks using internet. One main aim of this solution is to increase the availability of VMs across networks. Like every other DR systems discussed above, Second Site is not focused on contending downtime and security of data during cloud outages.

c) DR-Cloud: Yu et al. [15] relied on data backup and restore technology to build a system proposed to provide high data reliability, low backup cost and short recovery time using multiple optimisation scheduling as strategies. The system is built of multicloud architecture using Cumulus [16] as cloud storage interface. Thus providing the need for further studies on the elimination of system downtime during disaster, provide consistent data availability as there is no provision for such in this work.

Our Approach

Our approach is in combining secret sharing scheme with multi-clouds to achieve resilience with the aim of applying same in redefining cloud-based disaster management from recovery from cloud outages to mitigating cloud outages.

The Architecture

The architecture of as shown in Figure 1 shows key share creation, dispersal and storage, while that of Figures 2 & 3 is of shares retrieval and key recovery

Figure 1: Key Share Creation, Dispersal and Storage.

Figure 2: Share Retrievals and Key Recovery.

Figure 3: Cloud Service Providers at Different Scenarios.

Share creation and Secret recovery: The diagram above explains our design of key share creation, dispersal and storage using different cloud service providers (Figure 1). Share Creation: The dealer determines the number of hosts shares combination from which data recovery is possible known as threshold (t) and the degree of the polynomial, drived from subtracting 1 from the threshold. In this case, the threshold is 3 and the degree of polynomial is 2. He initiates a secret sharing scheme by generating the polynomial, the coefficients a and b are random values and c is the secret, the constant term of the polynomial as well as the intercept of the graph. He generates 5 shares for all the hosts H1… H5 and sends the shares to them for in an equal ratio and weights we, and thereafter leaves the scene [1].

Secret Recovery: Just as in Shamir [6] authorised participants following earlier stated rules are able to recover the secret using Lagrangian interpolation once the condition as stated earlier is met. The participants contribute their shares to recover the secret.

Results and Evaluations

Test: Cloud Outages against Normal situations. This test assumes that cloud outage prevents secret recovery.

Discussions

The results above show that cloud outage has no negative effect on key recovery, rather reduces the overhead in comparison with normal situations. It shows the relationship between cloud outage and normal operational conditions. From available results at twenty percent (20%) failure rate using 3 from 5 share policy, the system becomes faster by sixteen percent (16.41%), but at forty percent (40%) failure rate using same share policy, the download speed is faster by a little above fifty one percent (51.80%). Looking at a higher share policy of 6 from 10, at thirty percent (30%) failure rate, the system download speed is higher by a little above thirtyseven percent (37.90%), while at forty percent (40%) failure rate, the system performed better by about forty-three percent (42.99%). The implications therefore are that in as much as failure rate is not equivalent or above the threshold, system performance improves as there was no result obtained when the cloud outage exceeds or equal to threshold. These therefore do not support the assumption as above that cloud outage has negative effect in key recovery. There is no significant evidence to show that the size of the share has effect on the key recovery during cloud outages because at forty percent (40%) failure rate using share of 10KB in 3 from 5 shows performance rate of above fifty-one percent while in 6 from 10 share policy approximately forty-three (42.99%) percent performance rate.

Conclusions, Lessons Learnt and Future Work

Current cloud-based disaster recovery systems have focused on faster recovery after an outage and the underlying issue has been the method applied, which centered in data backup and replicating the backed-up data to several hosts. This method has proved some major delays in providing a strong failover protection as there has to be a switch from one end to another during disaster in order to bring systems back online, the need thus arises for research to focus on method capable of mitigating this interruption by providing strong failover protection as well as stability during adverse failures to keep systems running. This method we have provided here using this paper. Because, secret sharing schemes are keyless method of encryption, data at rest and in transit are safe as it exists in meaningless format.

The recovery of key is done using system memory and share verification is usually carried out using an inbuilt share checksum mechanism using SHA-512, which validates shares before recovery. Else, share recovery returns error and halts. We have learnt that cloud outage rather than prevent key recovery, using our method proved that it hastens key recovery from results available. Also, understand that when cloud outage exceeds threshold of the share policy, key recovery becomes impossible and to ameliorate this situation, we propose as future work to use the concept of Self- Organization as proposed by Nojoumian et al. [8] to manage cloud resources though with some modifications so as to maintain share availability from cloud service providers.

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