AIMTo evaluate the reversibility of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) following liver transplantation (LT) in Egyptian cirrhotic patients. METHODSThis prospective study included twenty patients with biopsy-proven l...AIMTo evaluate the reversibility of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) following liver transplantation (LT) in Egyptian cirrhotic patients. METHODSThis prospective study included twenty patients with biopsy-proven liver cirrhosis listed for LT and twenty age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. All underwent neuro-psychiatric examination, laboratory investigations, radiological studies and psychometric tests including trail making test A (TMT A), TMT B, digit symbol test and serial dotting test. The psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES) was calculated for patients to diagnose MHE. Psychometric tests were repeated six months following LT in the cirrhotic patient group. RESULTSBefore LT, psychometric tests showed highly significant deficits in cirrhotic patients in comparison to controls (P P P P = 0.005). More patients in whom reversal of MHE was observed had a pre-transplant MELD score CONCLUSIONReversal of MHE in cirrhotic patients could be achieved by LT, especially in those with a MELD score展开更多
Hydrogen production via water electrolysis defines the novel energy vector for achieving a sustainable society.However,the true progress of the given technology is hindered by the sluggish and complex hydrogen evoluti...Hydrogen production via water electrolysis defines the novel energy vector for achieving a sustainable society.However,the true progress of the given technology is hindered by the sluggish and complex hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)occurring at the cathodic side of the system where overpriced and scarce Pt-based electrocatalysts are usually employed.Therefore,efficient platinum group metals(PGMs)-free electrocatalysts to carry out HER with accelerated kinetics are urgently demanded.In this scenario,molybdenum disulfide(MoS_(2))owing to efficacious structural attributes and optimum hydrogen-binding free energy(ΔG_(H*))is emerging as a reliable alternative to PGMs.However,the performance of MoS_(2)-based electrocatalysts is still far away from the benchmark performance.The HER activity of MoS_(2)can be improved by engineering the structural parameters i.e.,doping,defects inducement,modulating the electronic structure,stabilizing the 1 T phase,creating nanocomposites,and altering the morphologies using appropriate fabrication pathways.Here,we have comprehensively reviewed the majority of the scientific endeavors published in recent years to uplift the HER activity of MoS_(2)-based electrocatalysts using different methods.Advancements in the major fabrication strategies including hydrothermal synthesis methods,chemical vapor deposition,exfoliation techniques,plasma treatments,chemical methodologies,etc.to tune the structural parameters and hence their ultimate influence on the electrocatalytic activity in acidic and/or alkaline media have been thoroughly discussed.This study can provide encyclopedic insights about the fabrication routes that have been pursued to improve the HER performance of MoS_(2)-based electrocatalysts.展开更多
Oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is considered the bottleneck reaction in fuel cells.Its sluggish kinetics requires the use of scarce and expensive platinum group metal(PGM)catalysts.Significant efforts have been investe...Oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is considered the bottleneck reaction in fuel cells.Its sluggish kinetics requires the use of scarce and expensive platinum group metal(PGM)catalysts.Significant efforts have been invested in trying to find a PGM-free catalyst to replace Pt for this reaction or reduce its loadings.One interesting family of materials that has shown great promise in doing so is aerogels,which are based on covalent frameworks.The aerogels’high surface area and porosity enable good mass transport and high catalyst utilization that is expected to lower PGM loadings or replacing them completely.This review summarizes recent research in this field,introducing methods of using aerogels as cathodes for ORR,from carbon to metal aerogels.The catalytic sites vary from nanoparticles to atomically dispersed metal ions embedded in carbon aerogels that form all-in-one platform which can serve as both the support and the catalyst.展开更多
Medical image segmentation is a crucial process for computer-aided diagnosis and surgery.Medical image segmentation refers to portioning the images into small,disjointed parts for simplifying the processes of analysis...Medical image segmentation is a crucial process for computer-aided diagnosis and surgery.Medical image segmentation refers to portioning the images into small,disjointed parts for simplifying the processes of analysis and examination.Rician and speckle noise are different types of noise in magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)that affect the accuracy of the segmentation process negatively.Therefore,image enhancement has a significant role in MRI segmentation.This paper proposes a novel framework that uses 3D MRI images from Kaggle and applies different diverse models to remove Rician and speckle noise using the best possible noise-free image.The proposed techniques consider the values of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR)and the level of noise as inputs to the attention-U-Net model for segmentation of the tumor.The framework has been divided into three stages:removing speckle and Rician noise,the segmentation stage,and the feature extraction stage.The framework presents solutions for each problem at a different stage of the segmentation.In the first stage,the framework uses Vibrational Mode Decomposition(VMD)along with Block-matching and 3D filtering(Bm3D)algorithms to remove the Rician.Afterwards,the most significant Rician noise-free images are passed to the three different methods:Deep Residual Network(DeRNet),Dilated Convolution Auto-encoder Denoising Network(Di-Conv-AE-Net),andDenoising Generative Adversarial Network(DGAN-Net)for removing the speckle noise.VMDand Bm3D have achieved PSNR values for levels of noise(0,0.25,0.5,0.75)for reducing the Rician noise by(35.243,32.135,28.214,24.124)and(36.11,31.212,26.215,24.123)respectively.The framework also achieved PSNR values for removing the speckle noise process for each level as follows:(34.146,30.313,28.125,24.001),(33.112,29.103,27.110,24.194),and(32.113,28.017,26.193,23.121)forDeRNet,Di-Conv-AE-Net,and DGAN-Net,respectively.The experiments that have been conducted have proved the efficiency of the proposed framework against classical filters such as Bilateral,Frost展开更多
The electrocatalytic CO_(2) reduction in aqueous solution mainly involves bond cleavage and formation between C,H and O,and it is highly desirable to expand the bond formation reaction of C with other atoms to obtain ...The electrocatalytic CO_(2) reduction in aqueous solution mainly involves bond cleavage and formation between C,H and O,and it is highly desirable to expand the bond formation reaction of C with other atoms to obtain novel and valuable chemicals.The electrochemical synthesis of N-containing organic chemicals in electrocatalytic CO_(2) reduction via introducing N sources is an effective strategy to expand the product scope,since chemicals con-taining C–N bonds(e.g.amides and amines)are important reactants/products for medicine,agriculture and in-dustry.This article focuses on the research progress of C–N coupling from CO_(2) and inorganic nitrogenous species in aqueous solution.Firstly,the reaction pathways related to the reaction intermediates for urea,formamide,acetamide,methylamine and ethylamine are highlighted.Then,the electrocatalytic performance of different catalysts for these several N-containing products are summarized and classified.Finally,the challenges and op-portunities are analyzed,aiming to provide general insights into future research directions for electrocatalytic C–N coupling.展开更多
The goal of computational science is to develop models that predict phenomena observed in nature. However, these models are often based on parameters that are uncertain. In recent decades, main numerical methods for s...The goal of computational science is to develop models that predict phenomena observed in nature. However, these models are often based on parameters that are uncertain. In recent decades, main numerical methods for solving SPDEs have been used such as, finite difference and finite element schemes [1]-[5]. Also, some practical techniques like the method of lines for boundary value problems have been applied to the linear stochastic partial differential equations, and the outcomes of these approaches have been experimented numerically [7]. In [8]-[10], the author discussed mean square convergent finite difference method for solving some random partial differential equations. Random numerical techniques for both ordinary and partial random differential equations are treated in [4] [10]. As regards applications using explicit analytic solutions or numerical methods, a few results may be found in [5] [6] [11]. This article focuses on solving random heat equation by using Crank-Nicol- son technique under mean square sense and it is organized as follows. In Section 2, the mean square calculus preliminaries that will be required throughout the paper are presented. In Section 3, the Crank-Nicolson scheme for solving the random heat equation is presented. In Section 4, some case studies are showed. Short conclusions are cleared in the end section.展开更多
A new type of cerium borate glass-ceramic is prepared and studied. The microstructure and crystallization behaviors of the glass samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction (ED), and <...A new type of cerium borate glass-ceramic is prepared and studied. The microstructure and crystallization behaviors of the glass samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction (ED), and <sup><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">31</span></sup><span style="font-family:Verdana;">P NMR spectroscopy. The microstructures of samples contain <1 mol% CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">are amorphous in nature. More addition of CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> transforms the glass to glass-ceramics without thermal annealing. The morphological change of the microstructure of these materials was followed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The obtained results have revealed that the addition of more than 0.8 mol% CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> can promote nucleation and crystallization routes that </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">are </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">combined with the establishment of diverse crystalline phases. Glasses with lower contents of CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;">showed no tendency to crystallization. The crystals of CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> containing glasses were spheroid like morphology that </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">was </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">assigned to the three-dimensional fast growth of the well-formed structural species in the boro-apatite phase. In addition, the cerium free glass is characterized by particle-like morphology. Then the growth of spheroid species展开更多
BACKGROUND Pancreatic cystic lesions(PCLs) are common in clinical practice. The accurate classification and diagnosis of these lesions are crucial to avoid unnecessary treatment of benign lesions and missed opportunit...BACKGROUND Pancreatic cystic lesions(PCLs) are common in clinical practice. The accurate classification and diagnosis of these lesions are crucial to avoid unnecessary treatment of benign lesions and missed opportunities for early treatment of potentially malignant lesions.AIM To evaluate the role of cyst fluid analysis of different tumor markers such as cancer antigens [e.g., cancer antigen(CA)19-9, CA72-4], carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), serine protease inhibitor Kazal-type 1(SPINK1), interleukin 1 beta(IL1-β), vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGF-A), and prostaglandin E2(PGE2)], amylase, and mucin stain in diagnosing pancreatic cysts and differentiating malignant from benign lesions.METHODS This study included 76 patients diagnosed with PCLs using different imaging modalities. All patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound(EUS) and EUS-fine needle aspiration(EUS-FNA) for characterization and sampling of different PCLs.RESULTS The mean age of studied patients was 47.4 ± 11.4 years, with a slight female predominance(59.2%). Mucin stain showed high statistical significance in predicting malignancy with a sensitivity of 87.1% and specificity of 95.56%. It also showed a positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 93.1% and 91.49%, respectively(P < 0.001). We found that positive mucin stain, cyst fluid glucose, SPINK1, amylase, and CEA levels had high statistical significance(P < 0.0001). In contrast, IL-1β, CA 72-4, VEGF-A, VEGFR2, and PGE2 did not show any statistical significance. Univariate regression analysis for prediction of malignancy in PCLs showed a statistically significant positive correlation with mural nodules, lymph nodes, cyst diameter, mucin stain, and cyst fluid CEA. Meanwhile, logistic multivariable regression analysis proved that mural nodules, mucin stain, and SPINK1 were independent predictors of malignancy in cystic pancreatic lesions.CONCLUSION EUS examination of cyst morphology with cytopathological analysis and cyst fluid analysis could improve the differentiation betwe展开更多
BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the fifth most common cancer.Differential expression of microRNAs(miRNAs)-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 has been associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC in different...BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the fifth most common cancer.Differential expression of microRNAs(miRNAs)-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 has been associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC in different populations.However,limited information is available regarding their expression in Egyptian HCC patients.AIM To assess the role of circulating miRNAs-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 in Egyptian HCC patients.METHODS This prospective observational study included 70 HCC patients and 25 healthy controls.The circulating levels of these three miRNAs were evaluated by real-time PCR.Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to test the diagnostic accuracy of micro RNA expression levels.RESULTS All miRNAs were differentially expressed in HCC patients;miRNAs326 and miRNA-424 were upregulated,while miRNA-511 was downregulated.Both miRNA-326 and miRNA-424 showed sensitivity and specificity of 97%,71.4%,and 52%,60%,respectively,to differentiate HCC from controls.Moreover,miRNA-326 was associated with survival and could differentiate between Child grades(A vs B);miRNA-424 significantly differentiated early vs intermediate stages of HCC;while miRNA-511 was significantly correlated with response to modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors(m RECIST).CONCLUSION We conclude that miRNA-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 have diagnostic and prognostic roles in Egyptian patients with hepatitis C virus-related HCC and should be considered for better disease management.展开更多
The standard model of particle physics forms a consistent system for universe description. After following quantum mechanics, it derives particles from relativistic quantum fields. Since it does not include gravitatio...The standard model of particle physics forms a consistent system for universe description. After following quantum mechanics, it derives particles from relativistic quantum fields. Since it does not include gravitation, it describes only one aspect of the universe. In extension of general relativity, Einstein had proposed a symmetrical and complementary approach of physics. In his program, he privileged a relativist field based on representations for physical phenomena, before a precise mathematical description. It allows completing and unifying the universe description, like both eyes for relief vision, and both ears for stereophonic audition. We propose to show it with many simple examples.展开更多
Background:Proximal ureteral stones(PUS)have relatively low rates of spontaneous expulsion.However,some patients do on expectant management.Our aim was to compare risk factors for surgical intervention in patients wit...Background:Proximal ureteral stones(PUS)have relatively low rates of spontaneous expulsion.However,some patients do on expectant management.Our aim was to compare risk factors for surgical intervention in patients with PUS who underwent primary intervention to those subjected to expectant management.Materials and methods:We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of patients presented to the emergency room with symptoms of renal colic and underwent computerized tomography between August 2016 and August 2017.A total of 97 consecutive patients were identified with up to 10 mm PUS.We collected patient demographics,clinical,and imaging data,and performed binary regression analysis for risk of intervention.Results:The average age was 49years(range 17-97)and average stone size was 7.1 mm(range 3-10).Forty-one patients underwent immediate intervention while the remaining 56 patients were treated conservatively.Of the 56 patients treated conservatively,26 underwent delayed intervention while 30 reported spontaneous stone expulsion.On univariate analysis of all 97 patients,statistically significant risk factors for intervention were found based on stone size,age,serum lymphocyte,platelet counts,and stone density.Of these risk factors,stone size≥7mm(p=0.012,odds ratio=5.4)and platelet count?230K/mL(p=0.027,odds ratio=4.9)remained statistically significant on multivariate analysis.Conclusion:Stone size and platelet count were found to be risk factors for surgical intervention in patients with up to 10 mm PUS.These findings may assist in identifying patients who are more suitable for conservative approach.展开更多
Natural anisotropic nanostructures occurring in several organisms have gained more and more attention because of their obvious advantages in sensitivity, stability, security, miniaturization, portability, online use, ...Natural anisotropic nanostructures occurring in several organisms have gained more and more attention because of their obvious advantages in sensitivity, stability, security, miniaturization, portability, online use, and remote monitoring. Due to the development of research on nature-inspired bionic structures and the demand for highly efficient, low-cost microfabrication techniques, an understanding of and the ability to replicate the mechanism of structural coloration have become increasingly significant. These sophisticated structures have many unique functions and are used in many applications. Many sensors have been proposed based on their novel structures and unique optical properties. Several of these bio-inspired sensors have been used for infrared radiation/thermal, pH, and vapor techniques, among others, and have been discussed in detail, with an intense focus on several biomedical applications. However, many applications have yet to be discovered. In this review, we will describe these nanostructured materials based on their sources in nature and various structures, such as layered, hierarchical, and helical structures. In addition, we discuss the functions endowed by these structures, such as superhydrophobicity, adhesion, and high strength, enabling them to be employed in a number of applications in biomedical fields, including cell cultivation, biosensors, and tissue engineering.展开更多
BACKGROUND Cardiac lipomas are rare benign tumors commonly found in the right atrium or left ventricle.Patients are usually asymptomatic,and clinical presentation depends on location and adjacent structures impairment...BACKGROUND Cardiac lipomas are rare benign tumors commonly found in the right atrium or left ventricle.Patients are usually asymptomatic,and clinical presentation depends on location and adjacent structures impairment.Right ventricle lipomas are scarce in the literature.Moreover,the previous published cases were reported in over 18-year-old patients.CASE SUMMARY We report a giant right ventricle lipoma discovered incidentally in a 17-year-old female while performing preoperative work-up.The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological examination,and a conservative approach was performed.CONCLUSION Multimodal cardiac imaging and histopathological examination are required for a definitive diagnosis.The therapeutic approach depends on clinical presentation.展开更多
Urban transportation,especially bus transportation,is an important sign of development in every city in the world.The average waiting time for passengers at correspondence stations of buses is one of the most importan...Urban transportation,especially bus transportation,is an important sign of development in every city in the world.The average waiting time for passengers at correspondence stations of buses is one of the most important measures of effectiveness of bus transportation.To the best of our knowledge,the studies in the literature are about maximizing the number of synchronizations in those correspondence stations whose objective is to minimize the waiting time in the network.The classical definition of synchronization used in the literature related to a time window.In this work,we introduce a new definition of synchronization of two buses in network zones.Within this context,we present a mathematical formulation of the synchronization bus timetabling problem as a multi-objective program,where we use the new meaning for synchronization of two buses in the network zones.Since the problem is NP-hard,we adapt a multi-agent approach to solve it.Numerical experiments show that after adapting the multi-agent approach using our proposed definition,we obtain high-quality solutions compared to the classical definition.展开更多
The present study investigates pregnancy outcome in women with IBD and examines the effect of pregnancy on the severity of IBD. Method: A case-control study comparing deliveries by mothers with IBD between January 198...The present study investigates pregnancy outcome in women with IBD and examines the effect of pregnancy on the severity of IBD. Method: A case-control study comparing deliveries by mothers with IBD between January 1988 and January 2005 was performed. For every birth by a mother with IBD, four births by non- IBD mothers were randomly selected and adjusted for ethnicity and year of delivery. Result: During the study period there were 48 deliveries to patients with Crohn’ s disease and 79 deliveries to patients with ulcerative colitis. Higher rates of preterm delivery ( < 37 weeks) were found among patients with IBD as compared to the controls (odds ratios (OR) = 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3- 3.8). This association remained significant after adjustment for labor induction and multiple gestations, using the Mantel-Haenszel technique (weighted OR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.3- 3.5 and weighted OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.2- 3.5; P = 0.012; respectively). In addition, these patients had higher rates of fertility treatments (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1- 4.4). Using a multivariate analysis, controlling for maternal age and fertility treatments, preterm delivery was seen to be significantly associated with IBD (adjusted OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.2- 3.5). Perinatal outcomes, such as perinatal mortality, low Apgar scores, and congenital malformations, were comparable to the outcomes in the control group. Conclusion: Maternal IBD is an independent risk factor for preterm delivery. IBD is not associated with adverse perinatal outcome.展开更多
Context:Identification and replication of susceptibility genes for Parkinson disease at the population level have been hampered by small studies with potential biases.α-Synuclein(SNCA)has been one of the most promisi...Context:Identification and replication of susceptibility genes for Parkinson disease at the population level have been hampered by small studies with potential biases.α-Synuclein(SNCA)has been one of the most promising susceptibility genes,but large-scale studies have been lacking.Objective:To determine whether allele-length variability in the dinucleotide repeat sequence(REP1)of the SNCA gene promoter is associated with Parkinson disease susceptibility,whether SNCA promoter haplotypes areassociated with Parkinson disease,and whether REP1 variability modifies age at onset.Design,Setting,and Participants:We performed a collaborative analysis of individual-level data on SNCA REP1 and flanking markers in patients with Parkinson disease and controls.Study site recruitment,data collection,and analyses were performed between April 5,2004,and December 31,2005.Eighteen participating sites of a global genetics consortium provided clinical data.Genotyping was performed for SNCA REP1,-770,and-116 markers at individual sites;however,each site also provided 20 DNA samples for regenotyping centrally.Main Outcome Measures:Measures included estimations of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in controls;a test of heterogeneity;analyses for association of single variants or haplotypes;and survival analyses for age at onset.Results:Of the 18 sites,11 met stringent criteria for concordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and low genotyping error rate.These 11 sites provided complete data for 2692 cases and 2652 controls.There was no heterogeneity across studies(P >.60).The SNCA REP1 alleles differed in frequency for cases and controls(P >.001).Genotypes defined by the 263 base-pair allele were associated with Parkinson disease(odds ratio,1.43;95%confidence interval,1.22-1.69;P <.001 for trend).Multilocus haplotypes differed in frequency for cases and controls(global score statistic,P <.001).Two-loci haplotypes were associated with Parkinson disease only when they included REP1 as one of the loci.However,genotypes defined by REP1 alleles did展开更多
Objective: To investigate the association of Parkinson disease (PD) with education and occupations using a case-control study design. Methods: The authors used the medical records-linkage system of the Rochester Epide...Objective: To investigate the association of Parkinson disease (PD) with education and occupations using a case-control study design. Methods: The authors used the medical records-linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project to identify all subjects who developed PD in Olmsted County, MN, from 1976 through 1995. Each incident case was matched by age (±1 year) and sex to a general population control. The authors collected information about education and occupations using two independent sources of data: a review of the complete medical records in the system and a telephone interview. Occupations were coded using the 1980 Standard Occupational Classification. Results: Subjects with 9 or more years of education were at increased risk of PD (OR = 2.0; 95%CI = 1.1 to 3.6; p = 0.02), and there was a trend of increasing risk with increasin g education (test for linear trend, p = 0.02; medical records data). Physicians were at significantly increased risk of PD using both sources of occupational data. By contrast, four occupational groups showed a significantly decreased risk of PD using one source of data: construction and extractive workers (e.g., miner s, oil well drillers), production workers (e.g., machine operators, fabricators), metal workers, and engineers. These associations with increased or decreased risk did not change noticeably after adjustment for education. Conclusion: Subjects with higher education and physicians have an increased risk of Parkinson disease (PD), while subjects with some occupations presumed to involve high physical activity have a decreased risk of PD.展开更多
BACKGROUND Bowel ultrasound and magnetic resonance enterography(MRE)are decisive medical imaging modalities for diagnosing and locating bowel lesions with its extramural extent and complications.They assess the degree...BACKGROUND Bowel ultrasound and magnetic resonance enterography(MRE)are decisive medical imaging modalities for diagnosing and locating bowel lesions with its extramural extent and complications.They assess the degree of activity,help clinicians to identify patients in need of surgery,and can be used for patient follow-up.AIM To compare the role of MRE and bowel ultrasound in diagnosis and follow-up of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)patients in Egypt.METHODS The study was conducted on 40 patients with IBD.All patients were subjected to clinical assessment,laboratory investigations,bowel ultrasound,MRE,and colonoscopy up to the terminal ileum with biopsies for histopathological examination.RESULTS This study was conducted on 14 patients(35%)with ulcerative colitis and 26 patients(65%)with Crohn's disease;34(85%)of these patients had active disease.Bowel ultrasound detected different bowel lesions with the following accuracies:ileum(85%),large bowel(70%),fistula(95%),stricture and proximal dilatation(95%)and abscesses(100%).Also,it showed that statistically significance of bowel ultrasound in differentiation between remission and activity of IBD in comparison to MRE and colonoscopy.CONCLUSION In comparison to MRE,bowel ultrasound is a useful,non-invasive,and feasible bedside imaging tool for the detection of inflammation,detection of complications,and follow-up of IBD patients when performed by the attending physician.展开更多
In this paper, we apply the method of directly defining the inverse mapping introduced by Liao and Zhao [On the method of directly defining inverse mapping for nonlinear differential equations, Numer. Algorithms 72（4...In this paper, we apply the method of directly defining the inverse mapping introduced by Liao and Zhao [On the method of directly defining inverse mapping for nonlinear differential equations, Numer. Algorithms 72（4） （2016） 989-1020] to the problem of prostate cancer immunotherapy. We extend this method in two directions： first, we apply the method to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equation, and second, we propose a new technique for finding the base functions in the considered algorithm.展开更多
文摘AIMTo evaluate the reversibility of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) following liver transplantation (LT) in Egyptian cirrhotic patients. METHODSThis prospective study included twenty patients with biopsy-proven liver cirrhosis listed for LT and twenty age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. All underwent neuro-psychiatric examination, laboratory investigations, radiological studies and psychometric tests including trail making test A (TMT A), TMT B, digit symbol test and serial dotting test. The psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES) was calculated for patients to diagnose MHE. Psychometric tests were repeated six months following LT in the cirrhotic patient group. RESULTSBefore LT, psychometric tests showed highly significant deficits in cirrhotic patients in comparison to controls (P P P P = 0.005). More patients in whom reversal of MHE was observed had a pre-transplant MELD score CONCLUSIONReversal of MHE in cirrhotic patients could be achieved by LT, especially in those with a MELD score
基金the Italian Ministry of University and Research(MUR)through the“Rita Levi Montalcini 2018”Fellowship(Grant number PGR18MAZLI)ENEA–UNIMIB PNRR agreement(Attività1.1.3 del PNRR POR H2)+1 种基金the Ministry of Science and Technology(State of Israel)and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation–Directorate General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation(Italian Republic),respectively,within the bilateral project Italy-Israel(WE-CAT)the Italian ministry MUR for funding through the FISR 2019 project AMPERE(FISR2019_01294)。
文摘Hydrogen production via water electrolysis defines the novel energy vector for achieving a sustainable society.However,the true progress of the given technology is hindered by the sluggish and complex hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)occurring at the cathodic side of the system where overpriced and scarce Pt-based electrocatalysts are usually employed.Therefore,efficient platinum group metals(PGMs)-free electrocatalysts to carry out HER with accelerated kinetics are urgently demanded.In this scenario,molybdenum disulfide(MoS_(2))owing to efficacious structural attributes and optimum hydrogen-binding free energy(ΔG_(H*))is emerging as a reliable alternative to PGMs.However,the performance of MoS_(2)-based electrocatalysts is still far away from the benchmark performance.The HER activity of MoS_(2)can be improved by engineering the structural parameters i.e.,doping,defects inducement,modulating the electronic structure,stabilizing the 1 T phase,creating nanocomposites,and altering the morphologies using appropriate fabrication pathways.Here,we have comprehensively reviewed the majority of the scientific endeavors published in recent years to uplift the HER activity of MoS_(2)-based electrocatalysts using different methods.Advancements in the major fabrication strategies including hydrothermal synthesis methods,chemical vapor deposition,exfoliation techniques,plasma treatments,chemical methodologies,etc.to tune the structural parameters and hence their ultimate influence on the electrocatalytic activity in acidic and/or alkaline media have been thoroughly discussed.This study can provide encyclopedic insights about the fabrication routes that have been pursued to improve the HER performance of MoS_(2)-based electrocatalysts.
基金Israeli Ministry of Energy,Grant/Award Numbers:221-11-058,219-11-132Israeli Science Foundation,Grant/Award Number:238/21The Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology,Grant/Award Number:3-16020。
文摘Oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is considered the bottleneck reaction in fuel cells.Its sluggish kinetics requires the use of scarce and expensive platinum group metal(PGM)catalysts.Significant efforts have been invested in trying to find a PGM-free catalyst to replace Pt for this reaction or reduce its loadings.One interesting family of materials that has shown great promise in doing so is aerogels,which are based on covalent frameworks.The aerogels’high surface area and porosity enable good mass transport and high catalyst utilization that is expected to lower PGM loadings or replacing them completely.This review summarizes recent research in this field,introducing methods of using aerogels as cathodes for ORR,from carbon to metal aerogels.The catalytic sites vary from nanoparticles to atomically dispersed metal ions embedded in carbon aerogels that form all-in-one platform which can serve as both the support and the catalyst.
文摘Medical image segmentation is a crucial process for computer-aided diagnosis and surgery.Medical image segmentation refers to portioning the images into small,disjointed parts for simplifying the processes of analysis and examination.Rician and speckle noise are different types of noise in magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)that affect the accuracy of the segmentation process negatively.Therefore,image enhancement has a significant role in MRI segmentation.This paper proposes a novel framework that uses 3D MRI images from Kaggle and applies different diverse models to remove Rician and speckle noise using the best possible noise-free image.The proposed techniques consider the values of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR)and the level of noise as inputs to the attention-U-Net model for segmentation of the tumor.The framework has been divided into three stages:removing speckle and Rician noise,the segmentation stage,and the feature extraction stage.The framework presents solutions for each problem at a different stage of the segmentation.In the first stage,the framework uses Vibrational Mode Decomposition(VMD)along with Block-matching and 3D filtering(Bm3D)algorithms to remove the Rician.Afterwards,the most significant Rician noise-free images are passed to the three different methods:Deep Residual Network(DeRNet),Dilated Convolution Auto-encoder Denoising Network(Di-Conv-AE-Net),andDenoising Generative Adversarial Network(DGAN-Net)for removing the speckle noise.VMDand Bm3D have achieved PSNR values for levels of noise(0,0.25,0.5,0.75)for reducing the Rician noise by(35.243,32.135,28.214,24.124)and(36.11,31.212,26.215,24.123)respectively.The framework also achieved PSNR values for removing the speckle noise process for each level as follows:(34.146,30.313,28.125,24.001),(33.112,29.103,27.110,24.194),and(32.113,28.017,26.193,23.121)forDeRNet,Di-Conv-AE-Net,and DGAN-Net,respectively.The experiments that have been conducted have proved the efficiency of the proposed framework against classical filters such as Bilateral,Frost
基金financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(22072051,22122202,21972051).
文摘The electrocatalytic CO_(2) reduction in aqueous solution mainly involves bond cleavage and formation between C,H and O,and it is highly desirable to expand the bond formation reaction of C with other atoms to obtain novel and valuable chemicals.The electrochemical synthesis of N-containing organic chemicals in electrocatalytic CO_(2) reduction via introducing N sources is an effective strategy to expand the product scope,since chemicals con-taining C–N bonds(e.g.amides and amines)are important reactants/products for medicine,agriculture and in-dustry.This article focuses on the research progress of C–N coupling from CO_(2) and inorganic nitrogenous species in aqueous solution.Firstly,the reaction pathways related to the reaction intermediates for urea,formamide,acetamide,methylamine and ethylamine are highlighted.Then,the electrocatalytic performance of different catalysts for these several N-containing products are summarized and classified.Finally,the challenges and op-portunities are analyzed,aiming to provide general insights into future research directions for electrocatalytic C–N coupling.
文摘The goal of computational science is to develop models that predict phenomena observed in nature. However, these models are often based on parameters that are uncertain. In recent decades, main numerical methods for solving SPDEs have been used such as, finite difference and finite element schemes [1]-[5]. Also, some practical techniques like the method of lines for boundary value problems have been applied to the linear stochastic partial differential equations, and the outcomes of these approaches have been experimented numerically [7]. In [8]-[10], the author discussed mean square convergent finite difference method for solving some random partial differential equations. Random numerical techniques for both ordinary and partial random differential equations are treated in [4] [10]. As regards applications using explicit analytic solutions or numerical methods, a few results may be found in [5] [6] [11]. This article focuses on solving random heat equation by using Crank-Nicol- son technique under mean square sense and it is organized as follows. In Section 2, the mean square calculus preliminaries that will be required throughout the paper are presented. In Section 3, the Crank-Nicolson scheme for solving the random heat equation is presented. In Section 4, some case studies are showed. Short conclusions are cleared in the end section.
文摘A new type of cerium borate glass-ceramic is prepared and studied. The microstructure and crystallization behaviors of the glass samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction (ED), and <sup><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">31</span></sup><span style="font-family:Verdana;">P NMR spectroscopy. The microstructures of samples contain <1 mol% CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">are amorphous in nature. More addition of CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> transforms the glass to glass-ceramics without thermal annealing. The morphological change of the microstructure of these materials was followed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The obtained results have revealed that the addition of more than 0.8 mol% CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> can promote nucleation and crystallization routes that </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">are </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">combined with the establishment of diverse crystalline phases. Glasses with lower contents of CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;">showed no tendency to crystallization. The crystals of CeO</span><sub><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> containing glasses were spheroid like morphology that </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">was </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">assigned to the three-dimensional fast growth of the well-formed structural species in the boro-apatite phase. In addition, the cerium free glass is characterized by particle-like morphology. Then the growth of spheroid species
文摘BACKGROUND Pancreatic cystic lesions(PCLs) are common in clinical practice. The accurate classification and diagnosis of these lesions are crucial to avoid unnecessary treatment of benign lesions and missed opportunities for early treatment of potentially malignant lesions.AIM To evaluate the role of cyst fluid analysis of different tumor markers such as cancer antigens [e.g., cancer antigen(CA)19-9, CA72-4], carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), serine protease inhibitor Kazal-type 1(SPINK1), interleukin 1 beta(IL1-β), vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGF-A), and prostaglandin E2(PGE2)], amylase, and mucin stain in diagnosing pancreatic cysts and differentiating malignant from benign lesions.METHODS This study included 76 patients diagnosed with PCLs using different imaging modalities. All patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound(EUS) and EUS-fine needle aspiration(EUS-FNA) for characterization and sampling of different PCLs.RESULTS The mean age of studied patients was 47.4 ± 11.4 years, with a slight female predominance(59.2%). Mucin stain showed high statistical significance in predicting malignancy with a sensitivity of 87.1% and specificity of 95.56%. It also showed a positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 93.1% and 91.49%, respectively(P < 0.001). We found that positive mucin stain, cyst fluid glucose, SPINK1, amylase, and CEA levels had high statistical significance(P < 0.0001). In contrast, IL-1β, CA 72-4, VEGF-A, VEGFR2, and PGE2 did not show any statistical significance. Univariate regression analysis for prediction of malignancy in PCLs showed a statistically significant positive correlation with mural nodules, lymph nodes, cyst diameter, mucin stain, and cyst fluid CEA. Meanwhile, logistic multivariable regression analysis proved that mural nodules, mucin stain, and SPINK1 were independent predictors of malignancy in cystic pancreatic lesions.CONCLUSION EUS examination of cyst morphology with cytopathological analysis and cyst fluid analysis could improve the differentiation betwe
文摘BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the fifth most common cancer.Differential expression of microRNAs(miRNAs)-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 has been associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC in different populations.However,limited information is available regarding their expression in Egyptian HCC patients.AIM To assess the role of circulating miRNAs-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 in Egyptian HCC patients.METHODS This prospective observational study included 70 HCC patients and 25 healthy controls.The circulating levels of these three miRNAs were evaluated by real-time PCR.Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to test the diagnostic accuracy of micro RNA expression levels.RESULTS All miRNAs were differentially expressed in HCC patients;miRNAs326 and miRNA-424 were upregulated,while miRNA-511 was downregulated.Both miRNA-326 and miRNA-424 showed sensitivity and specificity of 97%,71.4%,and 52%,60%,respectively,to differentiate HCC from controls.Moreover,miRNA-326 was associated with survival and could differentiate between Child grades(A vs B);miRNA-424 significantly differentiated early vs intermediate stages of HCC;while miRNA-511 was significantly correlated with response to modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors(m RECIST).CONCLUSION We conclude that miRNA-326,miRNA-424,and miRNA-511 have diagnostic and prognostic roles in Egyptian patients with hepatitis C virus-related HCC and should be considered for better disease management.
文摘The standard model of particle physics forms a consistent system for universe description. After following quantum mechanics, it derives particles from relativistic quantum fields. Since it does not include gravitation, it describes only one aspect of the universe. In extension of general relativity, Einstein had proposed a symmetrical and complementary approach of physics. In his program, he privileged a relativist field based on representations for physical phenomena, before a precise mathematical description. It allows completing and unifying the universe description, like both eyes for relief vision, and both ears for stereophonic audition. We propose to show it with many simple examples.
文摘Background:Proximal ureteral stones(PUS)have relatively low rates of spontaneous expulsion.However,some patients do on expectant management.Our aim was to compare risk factors for surgical intervention in patients with PUS who underwent primary intervention to those subjected to expectant management.Materials and methods:We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of patients presented to the emergency room with symptoms of renal colic and underwent computerized tomography between August 2016 and August 2017.A total of 97 consecutive patients were identified with up to 10 mm PUS.We collected patient demographics,clinical,and imaging data,and performed binary regression analysis for risk of intervention.Results:The average age was 49years(range 17-97)and average stone size was 7.1 mm(range 3-10).Forty-one patients underwent immediate intervention while the remaining 56 patients were treated conservatively.Of the 56 patients treated conservatively,26 underwent delayed intervention while 30 reported spontaneous stone expulsion.On univariate analysis of all 97 patients,statistically significant risk factors for intervention were found based on stone size,age,serum lymphocyte,platelet counts,and stone density.Of these risk factors,stone size≥7mm(p=0.012,odds ratio=5.4)and platelet count?230K/mL(p=0.027,odds ratio=4.9)remained statistically significant on multivariate analysis.Conclusion:Stone size and platelet count were found to be risk factors for surgical intervention in patients with up to 10 mm PUS.These findings may assist in identifying patients who are more suitable for conservative approach.
基金Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Recruitment Program of Jiangsu Province, the National Natural Science Foundation of China （21405014, 21635001, 21627806 and 21501026）, Key Research and Development Plan of Jiangsu Province BE2016002, the Project of Special Funds of Jiangsu Province for the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements （BA2015067）, the 111 Project （B 17011, Ministry of Education of China）, and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province （B K20140626 and B K20140619）. China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded Project （2017M621597）. The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities （2242018R20011）.
文摘Natural anisotropic nanostructures occurring in several organisms have gained more and more attention because of their obvious advantages in sensitivity, stability, security, miniaturization, portability, online use, and remote monitoring. Due to the development of research on nature-inspired bionic structures and the demand for highly efficient, low-cost microfabrication techniques, an understanding of and the ability to replicate the mechanism of structural coloration have become increasingly significant. These sophisticated structures have many unique functions and are used in many applications. Many sensors have been proposed based on their novel structures and unique optical properties. Several of these bio-inspired sensors have been used for infrared radiation/thermal, pH, and vapor techniques, among others, and have been discussed in detail, with an intense focus on several biomedical applications. However, many applications have yet to be discovered. In this review, we will describe these nanostructured materials based on their sources in nature and various structures, such as layered, hierarchical, and helical structures. In addition, we discuss the functions endowed by these structures, such as superhydrophobicity, adhesion, and high strength, enabling them to be employed in a number of applications in biomedical fields, including cell cultivation, biosensors, and tissue engineering.
文摘BACKGROUND Cardiac lipomas are rare benign tumors commonly found in the right atrium or left ventricle.Patients are usually asymptomatic,and clinical presentation depends on location and adjacent structures impairment.Right ventricle lipomas are scarce in the literature.Moreover,the previous published cases were reported in over 18-year-old patients.CASE SUMMARY We report a giant right ventricle lipoma discovered incidentally in a 17-year-old female while performing preoperative work-up.The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological examination,and a conservative approach was performed.CONCLUSION Multimodal cardiac imaging and histopathological examination are required for a definitive diagnosis.The therapeutic approach depends on clinical presentation.
文摘Urban transportation,especially bus transportation,is an important sign of development in every city in the world.The average waiting time for passengers at correspondence stations of buses is one of the most important measures of effectiveness of bus transportation.To the best of our knowledge,the studies in the literature are about maximizing the number of synchronizations in those correspondence stations whose objective is to minimize the waiting time in the network.The classical definition of synchronization used in the literature related to a time window.In this work,we introduce a new definition of synchronization of two buses in network zones.Within this context,we present a mathematical formulation of the synchronization bus timetabling problem as a multi-objective program,where we use the new meaning for synchronization of two buses in the network zones.Since the problem is NP-hard,we adapt a multi-agent approach to solve it.Numerical experiments show that after adapting the multi-agent approach using our proposed definition,we obtain high-quality solutions compared to the classical definition.
文摘The present study investigates pregnancy outcome in women with IBD and examines the effect of pregnancy on the severity of IBD. Method: A case-control study comparing deliveries by mothers with IBD between January 1988 and January 2005 was performed. For every birth by a mother with IBD, four births by non- IBD mothers were randomly selected and adjusted for ethnicity and year of delivery. Result: During the study period there were 48 deliveries to patients with Crohn’ s disease and 79 deliveries to patients with ulcerative colitis. Higher rates of preterm delivery ( < 37 weeks) were found among patients with IBD as compared to the controls (odds ratios (OR) = 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3- 3.8). This association remained significant after adjustment for labor induction and multiple gestations, using the Mantel-Haenszel technique (weighted OR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.3- 3.5 and weighted OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.2- 3.5; P = 0.012; respectively). In addition, these patients had higher rates of fertility treatments (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1- 4.4). Using a multivariate analysis, controlling for maternal age and fertility treatments, preterm delivery was seen to be significantly associated with IBD (adjusted OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.2- 3.5). Perinatal outcomes, such as perinatal mortality, low Apgar scores, and congenital malformations, were comparable to the outcomes in the control group. Conclusion: Maternal IBD is an independent risk factor for preterm delivery. IBD is not associated with adverse perinatal outcome.
文摘Context:Identification and replication of susceptibility genes for Parkinson disease at the population level have been hampered by small studies with potential biases.α-Synuclein(SNCA)has been one of the most promising susceptibility genes,but large-scale studies have been lacking.Objective:To determine whether allele-length variability in the dinucleotide repeat sequence(REP1)of the SNCA gene promoter is associated with Parkinson disease susceptibility,whether SNCA promoter haplotypes areassociated with Parkinson disease,and whether REP1 variability modifies age at onset.Design,Setting,and Participants:We performed a collaborative analysis of individual-level data on SNCA REP1 and flanking markers in patients with Parkinson disease and controls.Study site recruitment,data collection,and analyses were performed between April 5,2004,and December 31,2005.Eighteen participating sites of a global genetics consortium provided clinical data.Genotyping was performed for SNCA REP1,-770,and-116 markers at individual sites;however,each site also provided 20 DNA samples for regenotyping centrally.Main Outcome Measures:Measures included estimations of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in controls;a test of heterogeneity;analyses for association of single variants or haplotypes;and survival analyses for age at onset.Results:Of the 18 sites,11 met stringent criteria for concordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and low genotyping error rate.These 11 sites provided complete data for 2692 cases and 2652 controls.There was no heterogeneity across studies(P >.60).The SNCA REP1 alleles differed in frequency for cases and controls(P >.001).Genotypes defined by the 263 base-pair allele were associated with Parkinson disease(odds ratio,1.43;95%confidence interval,1.22-1.69;P <.001 for trend).Multilocus haplotypes differed in frequency for cases and controls(global score statistic,P <.001).Two-loci haplotypes were associated with Parkinson disease only when they included REP1 as one of the loci.However,genotypes defined by REP1 alleles did
文摘Objective: To investigate the association of Parkinson disease (PD) with education and occupations using a case-control study design. Methods: The authors used the medical records-linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project to identify all subjects who developed PD in Olmsted County, MN, from 1976 through 1995. Each incident case was matched by age (±1 year) and sex to a general population control. The authors collected information about education and occupations using two independent sources of data: a review of the complete medical records in the system and a telephone interview. Occupations were coded using the 1980 Standard Occupational Classification. Results: Subjects with 9 or more years of education were at increased risk of PD (OR = 2.0; 95%CI = 1.1 to 3.6; p = 0.02), and there was a trend of increasing risk with increasin g education (test for linear trend, p = 0.02; medical records data). Physicians were at significantly increased risk of PD using both sources of occupational data. By contrast, four occupational groups showed a significantly decreased risk of PD using one source of data: construction and extractive workers (e.g., miner s, oil well drillers), production workers (e.g., machine operators, fabricators), metal workers, and engineers. These associations with increased or decreased risk did not change noticeably after adjustment for education. Conclusion: Subjects with higher education and physicians have an increased risk of Parkinson disease (PD), while subjects with some occupations presumed to involve high physical activity have a decreased risk of PD.
文摘BACKGROUND Bowel ultrasound and magnetic resonance enterography(MRE)are decisive medical imaging modalities for diagnosing and locating bowel lesions with its extramural extent and complications.They assess the degree of activity,help clinicians to identify patients in need of surgery,and can be used for patient follow-up.AIM To compare the role of MRE and bowel ultrasound in diagnosis and follow-up of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)patients in Egypt.METHODS The study was conducted on 40 patients with IBD.All patients were subjected to clinical assessment,laboratory investigations,bowel ultrasound,MRE,and colonoscopy up to the terminal ileum with biopsies for histopathological examination.RESULTS This study was conducted on 14 patients(35%)with ulcerative colitis and 26 patients(65%)with Crohn's disease;34(85%)of these patients had active disease.Bowel ultrasound detected different bowel lesions with the following accuracies:ileum(85%),large bowel(70%),fistula(95%),stricture and proximal dilatation(95%)and abscesses(100%).Also,it showed that statistically significance of bowel ultrasound in differentiation between remission and activity of IBD in comparison to MRE and colonoscopy.CONCLUSION In comparison to MRE,bowel ultrasound is a useful,non-invasive,and feasible bedside imaging tool for the detection of inflammation,detection of complications,and follow-up of IBD patients when performed by the attending physician.
文摘In this paper, we apply the method of directly defining the inverse mapping introduced by Liao and Zhao [On the method of directly defining inverse mapping for nonlinear differential equations, Numer. Algorithms 72（4） （2016） 989-1020] to the problem of prostate cancer immunotherapy. We extend this method in two directions： first, we apply the method to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equation, and second, we propose a new technique for finding the base functions in the considered algorithm.
