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Understanding human perception and requirements on food for cancer prevention and condition management is important so that food applications can be catered to cancer patients. In this paper, web scraping was conducted to understand the public's perception, attitude, and requirements related to a plant-based diet as a recommended diet for cancer prevention and condition management. Text and sentiment analyses were carried out on results gathered from 82 social sites to determine whether noncancer and cancer patients use plant-based diets, how they have been consumed, their benefits in the prevention and condition management of cancers, the existing myths/fake news about cancer, and what do cancer patients need in a food app. The results of the text analysis highlighted gaps in existing apps, including a lack of credibility as there were a lot of fake news and myths about cancer and endorsement by professionals. Future food apps should provide personalized diets to include both plant-based diets as well as meat, symptom management, good user experience, credibility, and emotional and mental health support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Amoxicillin is a pharmaceutical pollutant that has severe impacts on aquatic life. Traditional treatment methods of Amoxicillin contaminated wastewater are expensive and inefficient. This paper uses soft computing to identify the best operating parameters of the solar photocatalysis process. The target is to maximize the degradation of Amoxicillin from wastewater. The proposed methodology integrates ANFIS modelling and grey wolf optimization (GWO). Three operating parameters are considered: TiO2 (g/L) dosage, initial antibiotic concentration (mg/L), and initial pH to maximize the AMX degradation (%). Based on experimental datasets, ANFIS model is designed to simulate the output solar photocatalysis process in terms of the mentioned operating parameters. The constructed ANFIS model is accurate; the R‐squared values are 0.9982 and 0.9979 for training and testing. Then, using GWO, the best values of TiO2 (g/L), Amoxicillin (mg/L), and pH are determined. The results were compared with an optimized performance by response surface methodology and experimental data to demonstrate the superiority of the suggested methodology. The suggested methodology maximized the Amoxicillin (AMX) degradation by 3% while using higher initial AMX concertation by 60% and 90%, compared with the experimental and RSM methodologies. The results demonstrated the superiority of the proposed method in determining the adequate operating conditions while keeping the same operating conditions of the applied pH and TiO2 concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Lithium‐ion batteries play an essential role in sustainable power systems as energy storage systems. They are employed for electrical power storage and balancing power in multisources power systems. However, due to the degradation phenomena, these systems are more exposed to parametric variation. For this reason, the identification of the battery parameters remains crucial to enhance the power system performance and extend the battery lifespan. A robust parameter identification strategy based on the bald eagle search algorithm (BES) is proposed in this research work. This article proposed a robust estimation approach that accurately estimates the battery parameters based on the BES optimizer. The proposed approach has been evaluated for two distinct batteries to confirm its superiority. A comparison with recent optimization methods has been performed to validate the performance of the proposed strategy. These algorithms include marine predator algorithm, COOT algorithm, artificial eco‐system optimizer, and other previous algorithms. The obtained results affirmed the reliability of the proposed BES‐based strategy to estimate the battery equivalent circuit variables with superior accuracy compared with other methods. It provided the smallest fitness function value for the first battery with 7.06 × 10−4 and an excellent SD value of 1.877 × 10−8. The proposed strategy achieved 100% efficiency in terms of optimization efficiency. The second battery has been tested with ArtUban and New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) profiles to confirm the performance of BES. The results confirm the superior performance for the two cases. The BES provides the smallest fitness values (0.0860 for ArtUrban and 0.1222 for NEDC) and lower identification total error (2.294 for ArtUrban and 2.6737 for NEDC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidrug resistance poses a global threat to the poultry industry and public health, so the direction towards eliminating the use of antibiotics and finding alternatives is a vital step to solve this problem. Thyme microemulsion (10% oil/water) had nanodrop size 28.65 ± 0.89 nm, with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.28 with greater homogeneity. It showed IC50 > 100 ug/ml on cytotoxicity assay and 14 active components by GC-Mass. The study was carried out using 210 Cobb chicks divided into fourteen groups. The infected groups were challenged using two Salmonella Enteritidis multidrug resistance (MDR) and Salmonella Enteritidis sensitive strains to the sulpha-trimethoprim antibiotic. The challenged inoculum was 1 × 109 CFU of Salmonella Enteritidis by oral route. The MIC treatments doses were 1 ml/liter water for thyme oil and thyme microemulsion and 33.34 mg/kg b.wt sulfadiazine for 5 days. The results showed that both thymol oil (0.1%) and microemulsion (0.01%) are able to decrease the count of Salmonella Enteritidis in cecal content and fecal dropping and the mortality rates after five days of treatment. In addition, thyme oil and microemulsion had no pathological alteration on chickens' tissues that were collected two weeks after giving the treatment. By the robust HPLC method, the SDZ and TMP residues in tissues of infected groups treated with Cotrimazine® + thyme oil microemulsion had a slight significant economic impact (P < 0.05) compared to Cotrimazine® alone. In conclusion, thymol oil and microemulsion could be an alternative economic choice for multidrug resistance Salmonella Enteritidis treatment in poultry farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The process of constructing a reliable mathematical model of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a challenge due to its complex nature. This paper proposes a new methodology incorporated a recent meta‐heuristic algorithm named parasitism‐predation algorithm (PPA) to estimate the optimal parameters of SOFC equivalent circuit. Two experiments are conducted in this work; the first one comprises four measured datasets for a commercial enhanced cylindrical SOFC manufactured by Siemen Energy. While the second series consists of five measured datasets for a theoretical 5KW dynamic SOFC stack with 96 connected cells. The collected datasets are measured at different operating conditions. An excessive comparative study is presented with other optimizers of comprehensive learning particle swarm optimization (CLPSO), improved PSO with difference mean with perturbation (DMP_PSO), heterogeneous CLPSO (HCLPSO), locally informed PSO (LIPS), modified CSO with tri‐competitive mechanism (MCSO), opposition‐based learning competitive PSO (OBLCPSO), ranking‐based biased learning swarm optimizer (RBLSO), competitive swarm optimizer (CSO), hybrid Jaya with DE (JayaDE), and social learning PSO (SLPSO). Furthermore, statistical analyses of the ranking tests, multiple sign tests, Friedman tests, and ANOVA are performed. The obtained results confirmed the proposed PPA's competence in constructing a reliable model of SOFC as it provides the least mean square error (MSE) between the measured and estimated characteristics of 2.164e−6 in the first series of experiments at 1073 K, in contrast, the most peer (CLPSO) provides 5.57e−6. Similarly, in the second series of experiments, PPA achieves lease MSE of 7.17e−2 at 973 K; meanwhile, the most peer (CLPSO) attains 5.44e−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current situation of antibiotic resistance of most bacterial pathogens was a threat to the poultry and public health with increasing economic losses. Regarding this problem, monitoring of the circulating microorganisms occurred with the antibiotic resistance profile. A total of 657 different samples from internal organs (liver, heart, lung, and yolk) and paper-lining chick boxes were collected from native chicken farms which were submitted to the Reference Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production in the period from 2014 to 2018 for the detection of Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Staphylococcus. The bacterial isolates were tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion technique. Salmonella was isolated from 128 out of 657 (19.5%), E. coli was isolated from 496 out of 657 (75.5%), and Staphylococcus species was isolated from 497 out of 657 (75.6%). All Salmonella positive samples were examined for antibiotic resistance against 10 different antibiotics, and the highest percentage all over the five years was against penicillin, ampicillin, and tetracycline. All E. coli positive samples were examined for antibiotic resistance against 14 different antibiotics, and the highest percentage all over the five years was with ampicillin, tetracycline, norfloxacin, streptomycin, and danofloxacin. All Staphylococcus positive sample species were examined for antibiotic resistance against 14 different antibiotics, and the highest percentage of resistance all over the five years was shown with tetracycline, streptomycin, ampicillin, and nalidixic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress-strength models have been frequently studied in recent years. An applicable extension of these models is conditional stress-strength models. The maximum likelihood estimator of conditional stress-strength models, asymptotic distribution of this estimator, and its confidence intervals are obtained for Kumaraswamy distribution. In addition, Bayesian estimation and bootstrap method are applied to the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Among the various fuel cell types, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have prominent characteristics that make them unique in applications. However, the preciseness of results of a PEMFC model depends on the availability of the parameters, which are missing in the datasheets provided by the manufacturers and vendors, and this explains why it becomes convenient to estimate such parameters for a complete and precise PEMFC model that closely matches the experimental measures under different operation conditions. In this work, a novel solution methodology based on applying an ensemble sinusoidal parameter adaptation incorporated with L‐SHADE, called LSHADE‐EpSin optimization algorithm, is proposed to solve the PEMFC parameter extraction problem. The proposed methodology is applied to four commercial PEMFCs: 250 W PEMFC; NedStack PS6, 6 kW; BCS 500 W; and SR‐12500 W, and the results obtained are compared with the results obtained by using other recent optimization algorithms. Furthermore, several statistical tests were performed to validate the proposed model's performance and compare between the investigated algorithms. The results show the effectiveness of the approach proposed using the LSHADE‐EpSin algorithm in estimating the optimal PEMFC parameters under different operating conditions compared to the other optimizers for the four studied stacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resolvin D1 (RvD1) is an endogenous lipid mediator that originated from docosahexaenoic acid that stimulates a bimodal mechanism in the anti‐inflammatory activity in addition to regulation of the inflammatory reaction. The study aimed at assessing the tissue level of RvD1 in psoriasis to study its role in the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis, studying the action of NB‐UVB on the level of resolvin D1 in psoriasis, and raising the possibility of using resolvin D1 as a new therapy for psoriasis in the future. This case‐control study included 20 psoriasis patients and 20 healthy controls. Patients took narrowband ultraviolet B (NB‐UVB) for 36 sessions. Skin biopsies were taken before and after treatment from patients and from controls to assess the expression of RvD1 by a quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Our findings revealed a statistically significant difference (P <.001) between psoriasis patients (either before or after treatment) and controls with lower levels of RvD1 in psoriasis patients. On comparing the RvD1 levels in psoriasis patients before and after treatment, a statistically significant increase was detected after treatment (P <.001). Tissue RvD1 levels in psoriasis patients were lower than healthy controls and increased after NB‐UVB treatment in psoriasis patients. Thus, it is suggested that RvD1 might have a role in the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis. Moreover, the significantly up‐regulated tissue levels of RvD1 in patients after treatment with NB‐UVB highlighted a novel mechanism of phototherapy‐mediated response in psoriasis by up‐regulating RvD1 level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic spreads quickly all over the world. There are no sufficient data in the literature about COVID‐19 infection and cutaneous lymphomas. This review sheds the light on what is known so far about COVID‐19 with a cutaneous lymphoma perspective. Cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL) diagnosis does not represent a predisposing factor to viral infections and most of CTCL patients have indolent disease. However, physicians should be cautious with patients with aggressive primary cutaneous lymphomas and advanced CTCL. Different treatment strategies for cutaneous lymphomas should be taken into consideration during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Thus, it is highly needed to estimate the benefit‐to‐risk ratio on a case‐by‐case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrene is one of the major polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons formed during heat treatment of meat and in car exhausts; however, few studies have investigated pyrene-induced adverse effects on human cell lines. This study aimed at the investigation of pyrene-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative damage in human liver HepG2 cells at environmentally relevant concentrations. Pyrene-induced changes in mRNA expression of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XMEs), xenobiotic transporters, antioxidant enzymes, and inflammatory markers were investigated using real-time PCR. As a protection trial, the ameliorative effects of lycopene, a carotenoid abundantly found in tomato, were investigated. The possible mechanisms behind such effects were examined via studying the co exposure effects of pyrene and lycopene on regulatory elements including the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Air) and elytroid 2-related factor 2 (RF). The achieved results indicated that pyrene caused significant cytotoxicity at 50 n, with a clear production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a dose-dependent manner. Pyrene upregulated mRNA expression of phase I enzymes including CYP1A1, 1A2, and CYP1B1 and inflammatory markers including TNFα and Cox2. However, pyrene significantly downregulated phase II enzymes, xenobiotic transporters, and antioxidant enzymes. Interestingly, lycopene significantly reduced pyrene-induced cytotoxicity and ROS production. Moreover, lycopene upregulated detoxification and antioxidant enzymes, probably via its regulatory effects on Air- and RF-dependent pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effect of carbon steel slag (CS) and stainless steel slag (SS) on the hydration of cement (OPC). Two slags were used to replace cement at a replacement ratio of 15% (CS15 and SS15) and 30% (CS30 and SS30), respectively, by binder weight. Test results demonstrated that the hydration rate of OPC-CS binder is similar to that of OPC-SS binder at 3 days but higher than the latter at later ages. The negative effect of steel slag (CS) on the strength of cement mortar can be neglected when its replacement ratio does not exceed 15%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetry (TG) show that the incorporation of SS tends to decrease calcium hydroxide (CH) content more than the incorporation of CS in the cement matrix. BSE (backscattered electron)/EDX (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) analyses estimate the average Si/Ca ratio of CS30 and SS30 at 90 days to be 0.41(Ca/Si = 2.44) and 0.45(Ca/Si = 2.22), respectively, compared to 0.43 (Ca/Si = 2.33) for pure cement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a fractional-order model of the interaction within two-prey and one-predator system. We prove the existence and the uniqueness of the solutions of this model. We investigate in detail the local asymptotic stability of the equilibrium solutions of this model. Also, we illustrate the analytical results by some numerical simulations. Finally, we give an example of an equilibrium solution that is centre for the integer order system, while it is locally asymptotically stable for its fractional-order counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is the leading cause of illness and death in Sudan. The entire population is at risk of malaria epidemics with a very high burden on government and population. The usefulness of forecasting methods in predicting the number of future incidences is needed to motivate the development of a system that can predict future incidences. The objective of this paper is to develop applicable and understood time series models and to find out what method can provide better performance to predict future incidences level. We used monthly incidence data collected from five states in Sudan with unstable malaria transmission. We test four methods of the forecast: (1) autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA); (2) exponential smoothing; (3) transformation model; and (4) moving average. The result showed that transformation method performed significantly better than the other methods for Gadaref, Gazira, North Kordofan, and Northern, while the moving average model performed significantly better for Khartoum. Future research should combine a number of different and dissimilar methods of time series to improve forecast accuracy with the ultimate aim of developing a simple and useful model for producing reasonably reliable forecasts of the malaria incidence in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi are unusual causes of pedal osteomyelitis in children and adolescents. Eumycetoma is a chronic cutaneous and subcutaneous infection caused by various genera of fungi. A provisional diagnosis of foot mycetoma is made after clinical assessment. Radiologic-pathologic correlation is an essential supplement for the accurate diagnosis of osteoarticular infections. This paper aims to sensitize orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists to the importance of correlative imaging findings in relation to surgical and microscopic pathology in osteoarticular infections, specifically eumycetoma osteomyelitis of the foot. From our review of the published data, the present case is the first report of radiologic-pathologic correlation in eumycetoma osteomyelitis of the calcaneus. This paper describes a case of eumycetoma osteomyelitis of the calcaneus in a child in which diagnostic X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were correlated with the surgical and microscopic pathologic features, for establishing an appropriate diagnosis and treatment. We conclude that there is a significant agreement between radiologic and pathologic evaluation for assessment of eumycetoma osteomyelitis of the calcaneus. Radiologic-pathologic correlation amplified our interpretation of imaging information available on plain radiographs and MRI and augmented diagnostic confidence. Similarly, anatomic-histopathological correlations consolidated diagnostic accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The etiology of foot intertrigo is varied. Several pathogens and skin conditions might play a role in toe web space lesions. Objective. To identify the possible etiological causes of toe web space lesions. Methods. 100 Egyptian patients were enrolled in this study (72 females and 28 males). Their ages ranged from 18 to 79 years. For every patient, detailed history taking, general and skin examinations, and investigations including Wood’s light examination, skin scraping for potassium hydroxide test, skin swabs for bacterial isolation, and skin biopsy all were done. Results. Among the 100 patients, positive Wood’s light fluorescence was observed in 24 and positive bacterial growth was observed in 85. With skin biopsy, 52 patients showed features characteristic for eczema, 25 showed features characteristic for fungus, 19 showed features characteristic for callosity, and 3 showed features characteristic for wart while in only 1 patient the features were characteristic for lichen planus. Conclusion. Toe web space lesions are caused by different etiological factors. The most common was interdigital eczema (52%) followed by fungal infection (25%). We suggest that patients who do not respond to antifungals should be reexamined for another primary or secondary dermatologic condition that may resemble interdigital fungal infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the long-run causal link between remittances and output in Egypt for the period 1977-2012. The long-run causal link is examined using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test for cointegration, along with a vector errorcorrection model to estimate the short- and long-run parameters of equilibrium dynamics. Results showthat remittances and GDP are cointegrated, with a statistically significant, positive causality running from remittances to output, while output is found not to be a long-run forcing factor of remittances in Egypt. The findings of this paper shed light on the importance of remittances for promoting economic growth in Egypt. Governmental policies that attract more remittance inflows, along with their efficient use, could promote economic growth in Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermally activated, acid-activated, and acid-leached of thermally activated kaolinites were prepared from the Egyptian ore. The physical and chemical properties were studied using N2 sorption at -196°C, FTIR, SEM, and the total surface acidity. The sorption of NH4+ ions on the investigated sorbents was controlled with the solution pH, sorbent dosage, and initial concentration of NH4+ solution. Kinetic and equilibrium NH4+ sorption at 30°Cwere employed. Four kinetic models were applied to the kinetic sorption data; pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusionmodels fittedwell the kinetic datawhereas pseudo-first-ordermodel was less applicable. Elovich parameters refer to physical sorption type of NH4+ on nonuniform sites and the intraparticle diffusion controls the sorption of NH4+ by kaolinites to a small extent. The equilibrium sorption data followed Langmuir and D-R models; the negative value of △G indicates a spontaneous sorption and the mean sorption energy obtained shows also physical sorption. The sorption capacities of nonactivated and activated Egyptian kaolinites towards NH4+ sorption (10.87-45.45 mg·g-1) were good sorbents as compared with those uptaken by other clays reported in the literature and proved to be more active besides being less expensive and highly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel adaptive bias LInear amplification with Nonlinear Components (LINC) transmitter is introduced and analyzed. Predistortion is applied to the baseband signal and the bias of the high-efficiency power amplifier is adaptively changed according to the envelope distribution of the baseband signal and the power amplifier itself. This novel transmitter can simultaneously achieve high average efficiency and linearity even with a high peak to average ratio signal. A comprehensive simulation framework has been developed using EDA software to validate this adaptive bias scheme with 16, 32, and 64 quadrature amplitude modulation signals. The simulation results show that this novel scheme can help in improving the average overall efficiency of the LINC transmitter by 15% while sustaining expected linearity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driver face monitoring system is a real-time system that can detect driver fatigue and distraction using machine vision approaches. In this paper, a new approach is introduced for driver hypovigilance (fatigue and distraction) detection based on the symptoms related to face and eye regions. In this method, face template matching and horizontal projection of top-half segment of face image are used to extract hypovigilance symptoms from face and eye, respectively. Head rotation is a symptom to detect distraction that is extracted from face region. The extracted symptoms from eye region are (1) percentage of eye closure, (2) eyelid distance changes with respect to the normal eyelid distance, and (3) eye closure rate. The first and second symptoms related to eye region are used for fatigue detection; the last one is used for distraction detection. In the proposed system, a fuzzy expert system combines the symptoms to estimate level of driver hypo-vigilance. There are three main contributions in the introduced method: (1) simple and efficient head rotation detection based on face template matching, (2) adaptive symptom extraction from eye region without explicit eye detection, and (3) normalizing and personalizing the extracted symptoms using a short training phase. These three contributions lead to develop an adaptive driver eye/face monitoring. Experiments show that the proposed system is relatively efficient for estimating the driver fatigue and distraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. To assess the ability of mid-trimester sFlt-1/PlGF ratio for prediction of preeclampsia in two different Arabic populations. Methods. This study measured levels of sFlt-1, P1GF, and sFlt-1/PlGF ratio at midtrimester in 83 patients who developed preeclampsia with contemporary 250 matched controls. Results. Women subsequently developed preeclampsia had significantly lower P1GF levels and higher sFlt-1 and sFlt-1/PlGF ratio levels than women with normal pregnancies (P < 0.0001 for all). Women who with preterm preeclampsia had significantly higher sFlt-1 and sFlt-1/PlGF ratio than term preeclamptic women (P = 0.01, 0.003, resp.). A cutoff value of 3198pg/mL for sFlt-1 was able to predict preeclampsia with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 88%, 83.6%, and 84.7%, respectively, with odds ratio (OR) 37.2 [95% confidence interval (CI) 177-78.1]. PIGF at cutoff value of 138 pg/mL was able to predict preeclampsia with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 85.5%, 77.2%, and 79.3%, respectively, with OR 20 [95% CI, 10.2-39.5]. The sFlt-1/PIGF ratio at cutoff value of 24.5 was able to predict preeclampsia with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 91.6%, 86.4%, and 87.7%, respectively with OR 67 [95% CI, 29.3-162.1]. Conclusion. Midtrimester sFlt-1/PlGF ratio displayed the highest sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and OR for prediction of preeclampsia, demonstrating that it may stipulate more effective prediction of preeclampsia development than individual factor assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of alkali-acid modification in enhancement the adsorption capacity of rice straw (RS) for removing a basic dye was studied. The obtained adsorbents were characterized by slurry pH, pHPZC, iodine number, methylene blue number, FTIR, and SEM analyses. Adsorption of methylene blue (MB) was described by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models. Effects of contact time, initial concentration of MB dye, pH of solution, adsorbent dose, salt concentration of NaCl, and desorbing agents on the removal of MB were reported. Kinetic studies were analyzed using the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and the intraparticle diffusion models and were found to follow closely the pseudo-second-order model. Equilibrium data were best represented by the Langmuir and Redlich-Peterson isotherms. The adsorption capacities were varied between 32.6 and 131.5 mg/g for untreated and treated RS samples with NaOH-1M citric acid (ARS-1C), respectively. Adsorption behavior of the ARS-1C sample was experimented in a binary mixture containing methylene blue (basic) and reactive blue 19 (acidic) dyes which showed its ability to remove MB higher than RB19. Overall, the results indicate that the alkali-acid treatment proved to be potential modification for producing effective low-cost adsorbents for the removal of the basic dyes from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waste of palm branches (PB) was tested for its ability to remove chromium (VI) from aqueous solution by batch and column experiments. Palm branches chemically modified with an oxidizing agent (sulphuric acid) then coated with chitosan and surfactant (hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide surfactant, HDTMA), respectively, were carried out to improve the removal performance of PB. The results of their Cr (VI) removal performances are pH dependent. The adsorption data could be well interpreted by the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Flory-Huggins isotherm models. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model for the chitosan coated oxidized palm branches is 55 mg/mg. The adsorption process could be described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The intraparticle diffusion study revealed that film diffusion might be involved. The biosorbents were successfully regenerated using 1M HCL solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide range of particulate metal matrix composites (PMMCs) of alumina and aluminum powders was formed using powder metallurgy techniques followed by extrusions at various extrusion ratios. The machining characteristics of the extruded PMMC were investigated. Results showed significant effects of weight fractions of reinforcement and extrusion ratios on tool wear and surface integrity of machined surface. The wear rate of cutting tool decreased rapidly with increasing the cutting parameters: cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut, however cutting speed is shown to bemore effective. Sudden breakage of tool inserts occurred when the experiment started at high cutting speed. Wear rate has also decreased by decreasing volume fraction of reinforcement particles. Coating carbide tools have significantly improved the tool life. Coated tools showed 5% decrease in flank wear size compared to uncoated tools. This was valid within tested range of weight fractions and extrusion ratios. The surface finish of machined surfaces deteriorated when coated carbide tools were used. However, surface finish did not change significantly when volume fractions or extrusion ratios were altered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compositions having the general formula BaTiO3-CuO + x wt% Ag, where x = 0, 1, 1.5, and 2 have been prepared by solid state ceramic processing and sintered at 500 and 700°C for 5 h. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), infrared absorption spectra (IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the obtained sensor pellets. It was found that no solid state reaction took place between BaTiO3 and CuO during sintering process. The sensitivity of the prepared sensors to CO2 gas increases with increasing sintering temperature and Ag content. The correlation between Ag content at different sintering temperature and structure characterization is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ceramic target of Indium tinoxide (ITO) (90% In2O3-10%SnO2) has been used to prepare transparent semiconductive thin films on glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The properties of the thin films are affected by controlling the deposition parameters, namely, RF power values and deposition times. The structure, morphology, optical and electrical properties of the thin films are investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and four-point probe measurement. Nanoparticles of 10- 20 nm are measured and confirmed using both FESEM and AFM. The main preferred orientations of the prepared thin films are (222) and (400) of the cubic ITO structure. The transparent semiconductive films have high transmittance within the visible range of values 80-90% and resistivity of about 1.62 x 10-4 Ω⋅cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design of wideband high power VHF/UHF combiners requires developing accurate equivalent circuit models. These high power combining structures generally use nonplanar lines and ferrite cores to enhance their power handling capabilities. For optimum and accurate design, part of these equivalent models should be based on full wave EM analysis. In this article, we present such detailed analysis and give examples for wideband isolating and nonisolating power combiners, along with a novel flux canceling circuitry that has been developed to potentially improve the intermodulation distortion performance of these power combiners. Good agreement between measured and simulated results has been successfully demonstrated for both designs with over 30–450 MHz bandwidth and less than half decibel insertion loss. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design equations have been developed for the design of an H-plane rectangular waveguide T-junction with an arbitrary power split. These design equations were derived using curve fitting of data produced from a large number of EM simulation runs. A design procedure has been successfully developed and resulted in scalable, practically manufacturable structures. Various types of discontinuities were judiciously placed in the junction to provide adequate degrees of freedom and concurrently achieve diverse design goals. Added discontinuities included wedges and diaphragms which have been implemented as an integral part of the prescribed structures. For demonstration, T-junction designs at Ku-band have been fabricated and tested, which have adequate bandwidth performance covering the US-DBS 12.2–2.7 GHz frequency range. Both excellent match at the input port and in-phase flat power-split ratio over a relatively wide band at the output ports were successfully achieved—an essential requirement for high-performance antenna feeds. The dimensional tolerance of the developed design was also thoroughly investigated using extensive sensitivity analysis, and the developed structures proved to be appropriate for low-cost high-volume fabrication methods such as casting. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Search and Rescue optimization algorithm (SAR) is a recent metaheuristic inspired by the explorations behavior of humans during search and rescue operations. Similar to many of the metaheuristic algorithms (MAs), SAR may suffer from drawbacks, such as being trapped in minimum local regions and improper balance between exploitation and exploration phases. To overcome these weaknesses, this study proposes an alternative algorithm of Search And Rescue optimization algorithm (SAR) called (mSAR) to improve its diversity and provide a soft balance between the exploration and exploitation stages of the original SAR algorithm. The mSAR introduces an adaptive strategy to boost the algorithm performance. To assess its reliability, the proposed approach is validated through IEEE CEC'2020 test suite against six state‐of‐the‐art algorithms namely the Adaptive guided differential evolution algorithm (AGDE), Evolution strategy with covariance matrix adaptation (CMA‐ES), the Whale optimization algorithm (WOA), Harris hawks optimization (HHO), Archimedes optimization algorithm (AOA), Cuckoo search algorithm (CS) besides the original SAR algorithm. A robust strategy based on a mSAR to create an equivalent circuit for a high‐efficiency triple‐junction solar cell/module (TJS/M) has been proposed. The suggested strategy is used to determine the best parameters of the TJS/M model based on the measurement datasets. During the optimization process, the aim is to minimize the integral time absolute error (ITAE) between the measured and estimated currents. The suggested mSAR is compared with other optimizers considering statistical tests of Wilcoxon sign rank, Friedman, and ANOVA. For the case of TJSC based PV module, the best (minimum) objective function is achieved at a value of 0.00178 by the proposed mSAR, whereas the worst value at 0.02476 is obtained by the CS. Furthermore, for the single TJSC, the minimum objective function is achieved at value of 0.04277 by the proposed mSAR whereas the worst value at 0.19987 is obtained by the CS. The best average cost value at 0.00663 is achieved by the proposed mSAR, whereas the worst value at 0.0402 is obtained by the HHO. The best SD value at 0.0061 is achieved by the proposed mSAR, whereas the worst value at 0.03845 is obtained by the AOA. The obtained results proved the superiority of the proposed mSAR in determining the best parameters of the TJS model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intralesional immunotherapy is one of the therapeutic tools of warts. Intralesional Candida antigen was reported as successful treatment of warts. Topical and intralesional vitamin D have been used recently for wart treatment. We aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intralesional injection of vitamin D3 in treatment of multiple recalcitrant plantar warts in comparison with intralesional Candida antigen. Sixty patients were divided into three groups: Group I received intralesional vitamin D3, Group II intralesional Candida antigen, and Group III intralesional saline (control group). Injection was done every 3 weeks until clearance of warts or a maximum of three treatments. There was a statistically significant more reduction of warts numbers after treatment in Group I than in the other groups (p < .05). Group I showed better clinical response than Group II (p =.021). In both Groups I and II, clinical response was less favorable in patients with longer disease duration (p =.026). There was also limitation as it is a small study population. Intralesional vitamin D3 injection in multiple recalcitrant plantar warts is a simple, safe, cost effective treatment modality with minimal side effects, and superior results compared with intralesional injection of Candida antigen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a design procedure for a linearly polarized ultra‐wide band (UWB) single layer reflectarray antenna (RA) is presented. The RA is comprised of novel unit cells of annular ring patches; each ring is connected to two phase delay lines to achieve a linear and smooth phase response over a wide frequency range. In the proposed RA, the designed true phase delay provides more than three cycles of 360°. By adjusting the length of these phase delay lines, a wide range of 1300° linear phase variation has been obtained over a wide frequency band. A wide bandwidth and low cross‐polarization (XP) levels were predicted using the utilized novel unit cell element and the elegant mirrored arrangement. To validate the simulated results, a prototype of circular aperture with 22.86 cm diameter was fabricated and its radiation patterns were measured. The measured 3‐dB gain bandwidth of the RA is 40%, and its maximum gain, aperture efficiency and XP levels are 19.3 dB, 69% and − 35 dB, respectively, which are in good agreement with simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Identifying accurate and precise photovoltaic models' parameters is the primary gate in providing a proper PV system design simulate its real behavior. Therefore, this article proposed a new approach based on a recent meta‐heuristic algorithm of artificial ecosystem‐based optimization (AEO) to identify the optimal parameters of PV cell and module models. Various PV models are considered in this work as single diode (SD), double diode (DD), and triple diode (TD)‐based circuits. The analysis is performed on which are R.T.C. France silicon solar cell, FSM‐25 PV module, and Canadian‐Solar‐(CS6P‐240P) multi‐crystalline solar panel with the aid of experimental data under different operating conditions. Moreover, Lambert form is employed to validate the constructed model. Furthermore, comparative analysis with Harris hawks optimizer (HHO), gray wolf optimizer (GWO), and salp swarm algorithm (SSA) is performed. Additionally, statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon signed rank test is implemented across the three series of experiments for all employed optimizers. The obtained results confirmed the competence of the proposed approach in identifying the PV cell and modules equivalent circuits' parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Identifying accurate and precise photovoltaic models' parameters is the primary gate in providing a proper PV system design simulate its real behavior. Therefore, this article proposed a new approach based on a recent meta‐heuristic algorithm of artificial ecosystem‐based optimization (AEO) to identify the optimal parameters of PV cell and module models. Various PV models are considered in this work as single diode (SD), double diode (DD), and triple diode (TD)‐based circuits. The analysis is performed on which are R.T.C. France silicon solar cell, FSM‐25 PV module, and Canadian‐Solar‐(CS6P‐240P) multi‐crystalline solar panel with the aid of experimental data under different operating conditions. Moreover, Lambert form is employed to validate the constructed model. Furthermore, comparative analysis with Harris hawks optimizer (HHO), gray wolf optimizer (GWO), and salp swarm algorithm (SSA) is performed. Additionally, statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon signed rank test is implemented across the three series of experiments for all employed optimizers. The obtained results confirmed the competence of the proposed approach in identifying the PV cell and modules equivalent circuits' parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simplified miniaturized wideband balun design covering (0.38‐3.5 GHz) is presented. The broadband balun structure occupies a small area of 20.7 mm × 20.8 mm. The balun is designed using low loss double‐sided parallel strip lines and is comprised of a two‐stage Wilkinson divider followed by loading, symmetrically, the two output ports. One port with a phase inverter circuit; while a very similar but non‐inverting circuit is placed in the other port for loading‐balance compensation. To realize the balun's function, different smooth transitions have been employed and were accounted for. The fabricated balun circuit demonstrated phase and amplitude imbalance of less than ±5° and ± 0.4 dB, respectively, over the band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is well known to include an inflammatory component that has been considered to be related to diabetic complications. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the significant complications as it constitutes the most frequent cause of end-stage renal disease. Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) is known as a multifunctional proinflammatory cytokine which is associated with some pathological processes such as immunoregulation, proliferation, inflammation, and apoptosis. The aim was to explore the association between the TNF-α promoter -1031T/C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the serum TNF-α level in addition to nephropathy among type 2 diabetic patients. The study included 38 T2DM subjects without nephropathy (DM group), 40 subjects with DN, and 20 controls. Identification of TNF-α promoter gene polymorphism -1031T/C was done by PCR-RFLP, and genotyping was confirmed by direct sequencing. The serum TNF-α level was assessed by ELISA. Correlations were tested by Pearson's correlation analysis. Logistic regression was used to detect the most independent factor for development of DN. The serum level of TNF-α in the DM group was significantly higher than controls (p < 0.001); also, the DN group was considerably higher than controls and DM without nephropathy (p < 0.001). Also, there was a significant positive correlation between serum levels of TNF-α with FBG (fasting blood glucose), creatinine, total cholesterol, LDL-C, HbA1c, and microalbumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) among the DN group (p = 0.042 , <0.001, <0.001, <0.001, 0.027, and 0.043, respectively). Mutant homozygous CC and heterozygous TC genotypes were higher in DN than in DM and controls. C allele was more represented in DN than in DM and controls (p = 0.003) while T allele was higher in controls than in DM and DN patients. The levels of TNF-α were higher in subjects who had mutant CC than the wild TT genotype among DN (p < 0.001). C allele was more risky for DN than T allele between DN and controls by 5.4-fold (CI: 1.75-16.68) as well as between DN and DM by 2.25-fold (CI: 1.1-4.59). Conclusion. Serum levels of TNF-α were higher in individuals with mutant CC genotype of -1031T/C TNF-α gene, and C allele could be associated with increased risk for nephropathy among patients with T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its clinical value, cisplatin (CISP) is complicated by marked hepatotoxicity via inducing oxidative stress, inflammatory, and apoptotic pathways. This study aims to explore the protective impact of azilsartan (AZIL), an antihypertensive drug, in addition to adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) on CISP-induced hepatotoxicity. After characterization and labeling of AD-MSCs by PKH26 dye, 54 Wistar male albino rats were randomly divided into nine groups: I (CONT), II (AZIL.H), III (CISP), IV (CISP + AZIL.L), V (CISP + AZIL.H), VI (CISP + AD-MSCs), VII (CISP + AZIL.L + AD-MSCs), VIII (CISP + AZIL.H + AD-MSCs), and IX (CISP + VITA C). Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alanine aminotransferase (AST), and albumin levels were determined. Assessment of reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and glutathione contents, and superoxide dismutase activity and histopathological evaluations were done on hepatic tissue. Quantitative real-time PCR was utilized to estimate the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 genes. Cell homing of labeled AD-MSCs to the liver tissues was investigated. Hepatic expression of JNK1/2, ERK1/2, p38, Bax, Bcl-2, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins was investigated by western blot analysis. CISP elevated serum ALT and AST activities, reduced albumin level, and remarkably changed the hepatic architecture. It increased the expression TNF-α and IL-6 genes, raised the expression of JNK1/2, ERK1/2, p38, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins, and diminished the Bcl-2 protein. By contrast, treatment of animals with either AZIL or AD-MSCs dramatically reduced the effects of CISP injection. Moreover, treatment with combination therapy (AZIL.L or H + AD-MSCs) considerably mitigated all previously mentioned alterations superior to AZIL or AD-MSCs alone, which might be attributed to the AZIL-enhanced homing ability of AD-MSCs into the injured liver tissue. In conclusion, the present findings demonstrated that AZIL improves the hepatoprotective potential of AD-MSCs against CISP-induced hepatotoxicity by modulating oxidative stress, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and apoptotic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activated carbon (AC) prepared from activation of ground peach stones with phosphoric acid under flowing air was used as a support for CeO2 and ZnO nanoparticles through hydrothermal method at 200°C for 120 min and followed by the calcination at 400°C for 180 min. The produced samples were named as AC, CeO2-AC, and ZnO-AC, respectively. The characterization of samples was made by means of scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area. A remarkable impact on the surface, structural, and textural properties of AC support was obtained as a result of loading for CeO2 or ZnO. Results of X-ray diffraction showed that nanocrystallines CeO2 and ZnO phases on the AC support were formed. Removal efficiency of the prepared samples was investigated through adsorption, photodegradation, and wet peroxide oxidation processes using Maxilon Red basic dye (MR). Accordingly, the prepared samples exhibited different removal behaviors towards MR dye depending on the total surface area and type of catalyst; for example, the maximum removal of MR dye was found in the following orders: AC>ZnO-AC>CeO2-AC, CeO2-AC>ZnO-AC>AC, and AC>CeO2- AC>ZnO-AC via adsorption, photodegradation, and catalytic oxidation with H2O2, respectively. It was found that photodegradation process was the best when compared with the other methods. The photocatalytic activity of CeO2-AC catalyst was the highest. The reusability tests showed that CeO2-AC exhibited superior photocatalytic performance and stability till the fourth run as compared to photocatalytic activity of ZnO-AC which decreased from 90% to 78% in the fourth run. Therefore, the prepared CeO2-AC catalyst is more effective than ZnO-AC as confirmed by reusability tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Klebsiella pneumoniae is considered an important opportunistic multidrug-resistant pathogen. Extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and expression of a multitude of virulence factors may work in a harmony resulting in treatment failure. This study was undertaken to compare the virulence characteristics and genetic relatedness between ESBL and non-ESBL producing K. pneumoniae. Methods. Antibiotic sensitivity test of all isolates was determined by disc diffusion assay. Phenotypic and genotypic detection of ESBL were done. Various virulence factors and some virulence factor-associated genes were screened. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was employed to investigate the genetic fingerprints of ESBL from non-ESBL producing K. pneumoniae. Results. 50% of isolates were ESBL producers. A significant association was observed between ESBL production and biofilm (strong and moderate), serum resistance, and iss gene. Moreover, significant association between non-ESBL producers and hypermucoviscosity was identified. Dendogram analysis of RAPD profile classified K. pneumoniae isolates into four clusters (a, b, c, and d). Seventy-six percent of ESBL producers belonged to cluster a. In conclusion, this study suggests a correlation between ESBL production and some virulence factors. Therefore, success of treatment depends mainly on increased clinicians awareness and enhanced testing by laboratories to reduce the spread of these isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponentiated generalized Gull alpha power exponential distribution is an extension of the exponential distribution that can model data characterized by various shapes of the hazard function. However, change point problem has not been studied for this distribution. In this study, the change point detection of the parameters of the exponentiated generalized Gull alpha power exponential distribution is studied using the modified information criterion. In addition, the binary segmentation procedure is used to identify multiple change point locations. The assumption is that all the parameters of the EGGAPE distributions are considered changeable. Simulation study is conducted to illustrate the power of the modified information criterion in detecting change point in the parameters with different sample sizes. Three applications related to COVID-19 data are used to demonstrate the applicability of the MIC in detecting change point in real life scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials and Methods: We carried out a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent top-down HoLEP for the management of recurrent BPH at our institution. Patients who had previously undergone TURP were assigned to group I, while those with no history of prostate surgery were allocated to group II. Preoperative clinical characteristics, enucleation time, resected tissue weight, morcellation time, energy used, and intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded and statistically analyzed. Patients were followed up postoperatively at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. The evaluation included the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life assessment (QoL), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), postvoid residual urine test (PVR), and continence status.Results: Two hundred and sixty-nine patients were included in this study. Group I consisted of 68 patients with recurrent BPH, while group II included 201 patients. There were no statistically significant differences in preoperative characteristics between both groups. The median enucleation time for group I (67.5 min (25-200)) was not significantly longer than that for group II (60 min (19-165) (p=0.25)). Operative outcomes, including morcellation time, resected weight, catheter duration, and hospital stay, were comparable between both groups. At 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, all urinary functional outcomes showed significant improvement, and there were no significant differences between the two groups. At 3 months' follow-up, two patients in group I and three patients in group II experienced stress urinary incontinence (SUI). At the last follow-up visit, one patient from group I presented with persistent SUI.Conclusions: For managing recurrent and nonrecurrent cases of BPH, top-down HoLEP is safe with comparable urinary functional outcomes. Patients with a history of previous prostate surgery can be counselled that their prior transurethral procedure does not reduce the benefits of HoLEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we studied the mixture of normal and half-normal distributions and introduced some properties for this mixture. In particular, we derived the mean, median, and mode of the mixture of normal and half-normal distributions. We also focused on exploring the Bayesian estimation of parameters of the mixture of normal and half-normal distributions by using different methods and then, using type-I censored sample units, presented a simulation study on the mixture of normal and half-normal distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to conduct a full study on the failure times of items when subjected to a progressive-stress accelerated life test. These failure times follow the Modified Kies exponential distribution. We performed the experiments under a type-II censoring scheme with binomial removal. The stress design has two ways to be applied either the simple ramp-stress test or the multiple ramp-stress level design of acceleration. We made a comparison between these two designs to decide which design is better. When the lifetime of test units follows the Modified Kies distributions, the cumulative exposure model has been used to apply the acceleration on the failure times to produce early failures. The simulation study was done to compare two types of progressive-stress designs. Different estimation techniques such as maximum likelihood estimation and Bayes estimation are employed to estimate the model parameters. The Metropolis Hasting method is used to derive the Bayesian estimates under symmetric and asymmetric loss functions. We also developed interval estimation as well as point estimation, and we estimated the asymptotic confidence intervals, bootstrap, and credible for the distribution parameters. We made a comparison between different estimation methods. We used real data from a practical experiment as a real data set example to assess the performance of the estimations methods. These data are analyzed to demonstrate the adequacy and superiority of the distribution to fit accelerated failure times. Also, we studied the existence and uniqueness of the roots and we used graphs to assure that the estimates used are unique and global maximum. Finally, some noteworthy conclusions are reached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneous pure acute bilateral subdural haematoma (ASDH) without intraparenchymal or subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by a ruptured cerebral aneurysm is extremely rare. It can follow rupture of different aneurysms specially located in anterior incisural space; the most frequently encountered location is the PcoA aneurysms as demonstrated in the present case. We present a case report of a PcoA aneurysm presenting as pure bilateral ASDH. A high level of suspicion for bleeding of arterial origin should be maintained in all cases of acute subdural haematoma without history of trauma. The neurological status on admission dictates the appropriate timing and methodology of the neuroradiological investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays the removal of heavy metals from wastewater is essential due to their high toxicity and impact on human health. In the present study, branches of palm trees were converted into activated carbon by chemical and physical activation. The prepared samples were used for the removal of Cr(VI) from their aqueous solution. Chemical activation was carried out using (20 and 50%) H3PO4 and K2CO3, and physical activation was performed using steam. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to examine the removal process under factors such as pH and pHpzc. The metal ion removal was pH dependent and reached maximum removal at pH 2. Experimental data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Flory-Huggins isotherms. The adsorption studies revealed that the removal of Cr(VI) ions was well fitted with Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption kinetics well fitted using a pseudo second-order kinetic model. Column studies revealed that the highest bed volume (60 BV) was observed for the sample activated with 50% H3PO4. The adsorption efficiency was enhanced with acid treatment (50% H3PO4) and reduced by steam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a biologically separate entity of breast cancer that cannot get benefits from targeted or endocrine therapy. Objective. To assess the expression of MALAT1 and BACH1, as well as monocyte-myeloid-derived suppressor cell (Mo-MDSC) levels and circulating tumor cell (CTC) count in TNBC to correlate these markers with the clinic-pathological criteria of TNCB patients and to evaluate their roles as predictive markers for selection of the patients that can be operated by oncoplastic conserving breast surgery. Methods. Eighty-eight TNBC were managed by modified doughnut breast oncoplastic surgery in early stages and by modified radical mastectomy for patients with late stages unsuitable for breast-conserving. All were examined for MALAT1 and BACH1 expression by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR as well as Mo-MDSC levels and CTCs. Results. MALAT1 and BACH1 expressions are correlated with the larger size, lymph node, distance metastasis, and TNM staging (p < 0.05). CTCs ≥ 5 and high MO-MDSCs were significantly more in TNBC with MALAT1 and BACH1 overexpression. The survival study proved that DFS for patients with both positive expression of MALAT1 and BACH1 was shorter than that of one positive expression, and both negative expression p ≤ 0.001 , CTCs ≥ 5 , and high Mo-MDSCs are associated with poor outcomes. No significant difference between modified round block and modified radical mastectomy techniques as regards recurrence. However, all postoperative management outcomes were significantly better in patients operated by oncoplastic conserving breast surgery. Conclusion. BACH1 and MALAT1 expressions are significantly upregulated in TNBC. They are correlated with CTCs and Mo-MDCs, and all are associated with poor outcomes. Not all TNBC patients have a bad prognosis, patients negative for one of MALAT1 and BACH1 or both, have a slightly good prognosis, and so can be managed by breast oncoplastic conserving surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post‐acne hyperpigmentation is a common undesirable sequela of acne vulgaris that causes distress for many patients. This study's objective was to compare the efficacy of both low‐power/low‐density fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) laser and tranexamic acid (TXA) microinjection on post‐acne hyperpigmentation. Twenty‐five post‐acne hyperpigmentation patients (resistant to regular treatment for more than 6 months) were enrolled in this randomized split‐face study. One side of the face was randomly assigned to low‐power fractional CO2 laser every 4 weeks, and the other side was assigned to TXA intradermal‐microinjection every 2 weeks for 3 months. Efficacy was evaluated using digital photography, dermoscopy, post‐acne hyperpigmentation index (PAHPI), melanin index (MI), and erythema index (EI) at baseline and 4 weeks after the last session. Both fractional CO2 laser and TXA microinjection treatment sides showed a significant reduction in the PAHPI and MI (p < 0.001). There was statistically significant difference with better percentage of improvement regarding total dermoscopic score on the fractional CO2 laser side than the TXA microinjections side (p < 0.009). Both fractional CO2 laser and TXA microinjection are effective and safe treatment options for post‐acne hyperpigmentation with potential superiority of fractional CO2 laser. We also believe that dermoscopy could be helpful tool for assessment of pigmentation depth in patients on treatment by analyzing the color pattern. ClinicalTrials.govID: NCT03765021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the solar energy has become one of the most important alternative sources of electric energy, so it is important to operate photovoltaic (PV) panel at the optimal point to obtain the possible maximumefficiency. This paper presents a newoptimization approach to maximize the electrical power of a PV panel. The technique which is based on objective function represents the output power of thePVpanel and constraints, equality and inequality. First the dummy variables that have effect on the output power are classified into two categories: dependent and independent. The proposed approach is a multistage one as the genetic algorithm, GA, is used to obtain the best initial population at optimal solution and this initial population is fed to Lagrangemultiplier algorithm (LM), then a comparison between the two algorithms, GA and LM, is performed. The proposed technique is applied to solar radiation measured at Helwan city at latitude 29.87°, Egypt. The results showed that the proposed technique is applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]