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This paper uses the resolvent operator technique to investigate second-order non-autonomous neutral integrodifferential equations with impulsive conditions in a Banach space. We study the existence of a mild solution and the system's approximate controllability. The semigroup and resolvent operator theory, graph norm, and Krasnoselskii's fixed point theorem are used to demonstrate the results. Finally, we present our findings with an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with a non-autonomous differential equation of fractional order with delay in control. Our aim is to discuss sufficient conditions for controllability and optimal controllability of the differential equation with delay. We used the semigroup theory of bounded linear operators. the two parameter evolution operator. Monch's fixed point theorem. and measure of non-compactness to examine these results. An example is included to demonstrate the effectuality of the obtained result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, β-cyclodextrin modified magnetic graphene oxide/cellulose (CN/IGO/Cel) was fabricated for removal of Cd(II) ions. The material was characterized through various analytical techniques like FTIR, XRD, TGA/DTA, SEM, TEM, and XPS. The point of zero charge of the material was obtained as 5.38. The controllable factors were optimized by Taguchi design and optimum values were: adsorbent dose-16 mg, equilibrium time-40 min, and initial concentration of Cd(II) ions-40 mg/L. The material shows high adsorption capacity (303.98 mg/g). The good fitting of Langmuir model to adsorption data (R2 = 0.9918–0.9936) revealed the monolayer coverage on adsorbent surface. Statistical physics model M 2 showed best fitting to adsorption data (R2 > 0.997), suggesting the binding of Cd(II) ions occurred on two different receptor sites (n). Stereographically n > 1 confirming vertical multi-molecular mechanisms of Cd(II) ions adsorption on CN/IGO/Cel surface. The adsorption energies (E 1 = 23.71–28.95 kJ/mol; E 2 = 22.69–29.38 kJ/mol) concluded the involvement of physical forces for Cd(II) ions adsorption. Kinetic data fitted well to fractal-like pseudo first-order model (R2 > 0.9952), concluding the adsorption of Cd(II) ions occurred on energetically heterogeneous surface. The kinetic analysis shows that both the film-diffusion and pore-diffusion were responsible for Cd(II) ions uptake. XPS analysis was utilized to explain the adsorption mechanism of Cd(II) ions onto CN/IGO/Cel. [Display omitted] • CN/IGO/Cel exhibited high adsorption capacity for Cd(II) ions. • Taguchi design of experiment was applied to optimize the adsorption process. • Statistical physics model shows two different receptor sites for Cd(II) ions adsorption. • Fractal-like kinetic model indicated the energetically heterogeneous surface of adsorbent. • Intra-particle diffusion model shows the involvement of both film-diffusion and pore-diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the survival rate and main reasons of failure of tunneled central venous catheters (Groshong). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional analysis. PLACE OF STUDY: Department of Interventional Radiology, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad. DURATION OF STUDY: Two years (January 2010 to December 2011) MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was carried out on 72 patients in whom Groshong catheters were placed and then followed from January 2010 to December 2011. The data was collected from hospital information system (HIS) and patients medical record, and was analysed for different indicators such as catheter survival and main reasons of its failure. RESULTS: Of 72 patients, half of patients were lost to follow. Among the remaining half, 19 (52.7%) catheters achieved their desired function. Among remaining 17 catheters, 5 were removed due to blockage and 12 due to infection with infection rate of 0.46 per 1000 catheter days. The catheter survival rates according to Kaplan Meier analysis at 1, 3 and 6 month were 82%, 47% and 42% respectively. CONCLUSION: Groshong catheters can be used as vascular access for longer duration especially in oncology patients. Infection is commonest reason of their premature removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide/polypyrrole (GO/PPy) composite material was prepared to explore its utility in the removal of diclofenac from aqueous system. The characterization was achieved using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analyses, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis and transmission electron microscopy analysis. Response surface methodology was exploited to optimize the process variables for the sorption of diclofenac onto GO/PPy. Three variables such as contact time, adsorbent dose and initial concentration of diclofenac were selected for optimization to achieve maximum removal of diclofenac. All experiments were conducted at pH 5. The contact time, adsorbent dose and initial concentration of diclofenac were examined in the ranges of 03–37 min, 13–147 mg/25 mL and 10–110 mg/L, respectively. The optimum values obtained were: contact time: 20 min; GO/PPy dose: 80 mg/25 mL and initial diclofenac concentration: 60 mg/L. The maximum sorption capacity and percent removal of diclofenac were found to be 29.50 mg/g and 98.50 %, respectively. The measured data (at equilibrium) were investigated using different isotherm models and best described by Freundlich model (R2 = 0.9943–0.9952, χ2 = 0.0062–0.0077, APE = 1.45–1.61). The experimental kinetic data were analyzed with the help of fractal-like kinetic models. The kinetic data are best fitted by fractal-like mixed 1,2 order (R2 = 0.9830–0.9886, χ2 = 0.0014–0.0036, APE = 0.6780–1.1059). Adsorption mechanism has been discussed based on kinetic, FTIR and molecular docking studies which indicated the participation of π-π interactions and hydrogen bonding on energetically heterogeneous surface. The adsorption/desorption test demonstrated that GO/PPy had excellent reusability performance up to 15 cycles. [Display omitted] • GO/PPy was prepared for highly efficient removal of diclofenac from water. • The maximum sorption capacity and removal efficiency were obtained as 29.50 mg/g and 98.50 %, respectively. • The adsorption mechanism has been discussed based on fractal-like kinetic models, FTIR analysis and molecular docking. • The material can be used successfully up to 15 sorption/desorption cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of Pakistan is increasing rapidly and hence the energy demand. Since ninety׳s, people of Pakistan has been experiencing load shedding because of the intense shortfall throughout the country. Pakistan, being an agricultural country, has a lot of potential of renewable energy sources especially biomass. The thing is to utilize the potential in a right direction. This paper presents the policy direction to get rid of the current energy crisis in the country through utilization of different types of biomass. The animal manure, municipal solid wastes and the crop residues are the main biomass sources in the country. This study also focuses the potential of main biomass sources present in the country and its technical routes for the production of bioenergy. The design parameters for standard bioreactor of gasifier and anaerobic digestion and their economic comparison are highlighted with respect to Pakistan environmental conditions. The development of anaerobic digestion technology is reviewed critically. This paper also discusses the different scenarios for the use of biomass sources in urban and rural environment. This verifies the use of biogas energy as the cheapest and the safest way to remove the crisis from the country. The stand-alone biogas plants should be constructed throughout the country where there is not electrification infrastructure exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel nano-adsorbent zinc oxide impregnated graphene oxide/inulin (ZGI) was prepared for the investigation of the removal efficiency of enrofloxacin. Characterization of the nano-adsorbent was accomplished through Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with EDS, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The average crystallite size of nanomaterial (ZGI) calculated from XRD data was 14.82 nm. The adsorption of enrofloxacin onto ZGI was performed in batch mode. The variables of adsorption process such as adsorbent dose, pH, contact time and initial concentration of enrofloxacin were optimized by Taguchi method to achieve the maximum removal efficiency. The optimum values of variables were: adsorbent dose = 25 mg, pH = 7, contact time = 60 min and initial concentration = 50 mg/L. The maximum adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of the material for enrofloxacin were 317.83 mg/g and 98.60%, respectively at 303 K. Redlich-Peterson isotherm model was the best fitted among the various isotherm models based on highest R2 values (0.9978–0.9981) and lowest χ2 (3.43 × 10 − 4 − 2.00 × 10 − 3 ). Kinetic data followed pseudo-second order model (R2 ≥ 0.9974) more accurately as compared to pseudo-first order model (R2 ≤ 0.9772). The adsorption mechanism was illustrated on the basis of XPS and Raman studies. Reusability investigation showed that the nano-adsorbent ZGI could be used up to 5 adsorption-desorption cycles with greater than 90% removal efficiency. [Display omitted] • Impregnation of ZnO into graphene oxide/inulin (ZGI) increased the adsorption capacity for enrofloxacin. • Taguchi method was used to optimize the controllable factors of adsorption process. • Maximum enrofloxacin sorption capacity (317.83 mg/g) reached in 6° min. • ZGI had good reusable performance up to 5 adsorption-desorption cycles with >90% removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• GMZA exhibited high adsorption capacity. • Taguchi model was used to optimize the adsorption process. • Adsorption of doxycycline occurred through electrostatic, hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions. • Adsorption/desorption studies suggested the reusability of GMZA. Graphene oxide/Mg-Zn-Al layered double hydroxide (GMZA) was synthesized and applied for the adsorptive removal of doxycycline. The material was characterized by FTIR, Raman, XRD, XPS, SEM with EDX, TEM and TGA-DTA. The variables of the adsorption process (contact time, pH, adsorbent dose and initial concentration) were optimized by Taguchi method. The optimum levels of variables were: contact time = 90 min; pH = 8; adsorbent dose = 15 mg and initial concentration of doxycycline = 100 mg/L. The material showed enhanced adsorption capacity (429.33 mg/g) for doxycycline. The equilibrium adsorption data fitted well to Freundlich isotherm model with R 2 > 0.99 and χ2 ≤ 0.40. The pseudo-second order kinetic model was the best fit model with R 2 > 0.998 and χ2 ≤ 0.20. The thermodynamic parameters suggested the endothermic and spontaneous nature of adsorption process. The adsorption mechanism was explained on the basis of kinetic data, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The results suggested the involvement of electrostatic interaction, π-π interaction and H-bonding in the adsorption of doxycycline on the adsorbent. Adsorption/desorption test demonstrated that the material can be used upto 5 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we apply the Rothe’s method to a fractional integral diffusion equation and establish the existence and uniqueness of a strong solution. As an application, we include an example to illustrate the main result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

B Introduction: b Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at increased risk of sepsis-associated hospitalizations compared to the general population. However, the short-term mortality among sepsis hospitalizations with MS changed insignificantly over time, contrasting the trends in those without MS. The annualized change of short-term mortality among sepsis hospitalizations with MS was not significant (aOR 0.99 [95% CI 0.88-1.12]), but decreased among those without MS (aOR 0.96 [95% CI 0.95-0.97]). [Extracted from the article]

In this article we prove the existence and uniqueness of a strong solution of a delay differential equation with homogenous integral conditions using the method of semidiscretization in time. As an application, we include an example that illustrates the main result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we study the existence and uniqueness of strong solution of a delayed cooperation diffusion system with Dirichlet boundary conditions using the method of semidiscretization in time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing day by day due to their environmentally friendly operation and high milage as compared to conventional fossil fuel vehicles. Almost all leading manufacturers are working on the development of EVs. The main problem associated with EVs is that charging many of these vehicles from the grid supply system imposes an extra burden on them, especially during peak hours, which results in high per-unit costs. As a solution, EV charging stations integrated with hybrid renewable energy resources (HREs) are being preferred, which utilize multi-energy systems to produce electricity. These charging stations can either be grid-tied or isolated. Isolated EV charging stations are operated without any interconnection to the main grid. These stations are also termed standalone or remote EV charging stations, and due to the absence of a grid supply, storage becomes compulsory for these systems. To attain maximum benefits from a storage system, it must be configured properly with the EV charging station. In this paper, different types of the latest energy storage systems (ESS) are discussed with a comprehensive review of configurations of these systems for multi-energy standalone EV charging stations. ESS in these charging stations is applied mainly in three different configurations, named single storage systems, multi-storage systems, and swappable storage systems. These configurations are discussed in detail with their pros and cons. Some important expectations from future energy storage systems are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional means of electrical energy generation are costly, create environmental pollution, and demand a high level of maintenance and also going to end one day. This has made it crucial to exploit the untapped prospective of the environmentally friendly renewable energy resources. To address this problem, present research proposed an efficient, everlasting, and environment-friendly grid-connected PV system at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan (latitude: 29° 22 ′ 34 ″ N, longitude: 71° 44 ′ 57 E). Bahawalpur is one of those sites where the potential of solar energy is immense. The global daily horizontal solar irradiance at the site is 1745.85 kWh/m2, having average solar irradiation of 5.9 kWh/m2 per day, and the ambient average temperature is about 25.7°C. In this research, the performance ratio and different power losses just like soiling, PV module losses, inverter, and losses due to temperature are taken into account and calculated by using PVSyst. The coal saving per day is 15369.3 kg which is equal to planting 147600 teak trees over a lifetime. The cost of the energy produced is 0.11 US $/kWh whereas in Pakistan the conventional energy tariff is 0.18 $/kWh. From the simulation results, the value of PR comes out 83.8%, and the CUF value is 16% with a total energy generation of 4908 MWh/year. The performance analysis of this grid-connected system would help in the designing, analysis, operation, and maintenance of the new grid-connected systems for different locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents an energy management scheme (EMS) based on a rule-based grasshopper optimization algorithm (RB-GOA) for a solar-powered battery-ultracapacitor hybrid system. The main objective is to efficiently meet pulsed load (PL) demands and extract maximum energy from the photovoltaic (PV) array. The proposed approach establishes a simple IF-THEN set of rules to define the search space, including PV, battery bank (BB), and ultracapacitor (UC) constraints. GOA then dynamically allocates power shares among PV, BB, and UC to meet PL demand based on these rules and search space. A comprehensive study is conducted to evaluate and compare the performance of the proposed technique with other well-known swarm intelligence techniques (SITs) such as the cuckoo search algorithm (CSA), gray wolf optimization (GWO), and salp swarm algorithm (SSA). Evaluation is carried out for various cases, including PV alone without any energy storage device, variable PV with a constant load, variable PV with PL cases, and PV with maximum power point tracking (MPPT). Comparative analysis shows that the proposed technique outperforms the other SITs in terms of reducing power surges caused by PV power or load transition, oscillation mitigation, and MPP tracking. Specifically, for the variable PV with constant load case, it reduces the power surge by 26%, 22%, and 8% compared to CSA, GWO, and SSA, respectively. It also mitigates oscillations twice as fast as CSA and GWO and more than three times as fast as SSA. Moreover, it reduces the power surge by 9 times compared to CSA and GWO and by 6 times compared to SSA in variable PV with the PL case. Furthermore, its MPP tracking speed is approximately 29% to 61% faster than its counterparts, regardless of weather conditions. The results demonstrate that the proposed EMS is superior to other SITs in keeping a stable output across PL demand, reducing power surges, and minimizing oscillations while maximizing the usage of PV energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The layout scheme of wind farms is a challenging job having many design objectives and constraints due to the multiple wake phenomenon. Wake effect calculation is one of the significant problems in the wind farms and needs to be modeled to decrease the power loss due to near and far wake effect. This paper reviews the wake models in general and far wake models in particular. The comparison of different far wake models shows that the Jensen׳s far wake model is a good choice to solve the wind farm layout problem due to its simplicity and relatively high degree of accuracy. This research also focuses on the studies carried out on wind farm layout optimization problem and the current state of the art of fitness functions used for the optimization of wind farms using Jensen׳s wake model. It is found that there is a need of more optimization techniques to be applied to solve the layout problem. In addition, future advancements have been identified for better positioning of wind turbines in larger wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind turbines are the biggest rotating machines on earth, operating in the lowest part of the earth boundary layer. Designing the layout scheme of wind farms is a challenging job to researchers, as there are many design objectives and constraints due to the multiple wake phenomena. This paper proposes an area rotation method to find the optimum dimensions of the wind farm shape, where maximum area could face the free stream velocity. Afterwards, a novel method called Definite Point Selection (DPS) is developed to place the turbines in order to operate at maximum, while providing obligatory space between adjacent turbines for operation safety. This method can be used to identify the zero wake effect points at wind farm. The result from this study shows that the proposed method is more effective to increase the overall power of a wind farm than the previous methods. Also, the power output of the wind farm by using combined area rotation and DPS methods was increased even when using the same number of wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Introduction: b Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with 5-times higher mortality rate due to infection, compared to the general population, and sepsis is the most common cause of death in SLE patients aged <=50 years in the United States. The annualized trend of short-term mortality among sepsis hospitalizations with SLE was not significant (aOR 1.07 [95% CI 0.97-1.18]), while decreasing among those without SLE (aOR 0.96 [95% CI 0.95-0.97]). We sought to estimate the association of SLE with short-term mortality in sepsis and to examine the temporal trends of mortality among septic patients with vs without SLE. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: To determine the frequency of pneumothorax following ultrasound guided thoracentesis in our department and its association with gauge of needle in causation of pneumothorax. Methadology: This is descriptive cross sectional study conducted at the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Shifa International Hospital (SIH), Islamabad from January 2010 to April, 2012. A total of 359 ultrasound guided thoracentesis were performed followed by a chest radiograph between January 2010 and April, 2012 fulfilling the inclusion criteria. All procedures were performed by radiology consultants and residents. Generally 18 and 16 G cannulas were used. A few were done with 16 and 18 G spinal needle and 21G syringe needle. Relevant data was collected from hospital data base system on the performa and was analyzed for demographic variables, frequency of pneumothorax, and its association with operator's experience (residents or consultants) and gauge of needle by applying chi square test. P value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: 309 patients had thoracocentesis while performed by residents and 50 by consultants. Pneumothorax occurred in 22 of these 359 cases with an overall frequency of 6 %. In 219 patients 18 G cannula was used and 8 of these developed pneumothorax (3.6%). In 94 patients 16 G cannula was used. Pneumothorax occurred in 11 (11.6%). Statistical analysis confirmed that the frequency of pneumothorax was significantly increased following use of 16G as compared to 18G (p=0.02). Conclusion: The frequency of pneumothorax following ultrasound guided thoracentesis increases significantly with use of 16G as compared to 18G (p=0.02). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Chaos in chemotherapeutic cancer model. • No separate equation for drugs. • Attainment of healthy state of cancer patient. The effect of chemotherapy in cancer models is mostly handled by using a separate equation for chemotherapeutic agent. In this study, we do not consider a separate equation for drug but rather introduce its effect in terms of a parameter m representing the fraction of tumor cells killed by chemotherapeutic drug module. The main objective of this study is to provide conditions on model parameters which when fulfilled the grave consequences of cancer can be avoided. This study also shows that chemotherapy at times can produce unexpected results. Linearization method to study the stability of model equilibria. The results obtained in this study are governed by the trichotomy law on the number 1 − a 12 − d 1 , where a 12 represents the negative effect on the growth of cancer cells due to their competition with host cells for resources and d 1 is rate of annihilation of cancer cells due to chemotherapy. It is seen that in case of under-dose drug module when d 1 < 1 − a 12 , the complete eradication of cancer is not possible. When d 1 = 1 − a 12 , the model suggests occurrence of chaotic dynamics. When the drug dose is properly adjusted so that d 1 > 1 − a 12 , the complete eradication of cancer is guaranteed. The results of the model of this paper given for the post vascular stages of tumor suggest criteria to select a particular drug module (a single drug or a combination of drugs) that the chemotherapy procedure should adapt to eradicate cancer. This study injects a note of caution for oncologists that chemotherapy as cancer treatment can also cause chaotic dynamics in certain situations. This study also presents a plausible explanation to the question why sometimes a tumor grows in the body and then gets cured without any medical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical infrastructure around the globe is expanding at a rapid rate for the sake of fulfilling power demands in the domestic, commercial and entertainment industries aiming to boost the living standards. In this regard, renewable energy sources (RES) are globally accepted potential candidates for maintaining inexhaustible, clean, and reliable electricity with a supplementary feature of economic prospect. The efficiency of power distribution at reduced cost to the consumers can be further enhanced by introducing a two-way billing system so-called net-metering which has the potential to overcome issues such as voltage regulation, power blackouts, overstressed grid and need for expensive storage systems thereby making it beneficial for the grid and the end user. This envisioning has encouraged the Government of Pakistan to install net-metering infrastructure at places which accommodate surplus renewable energy reserves. According to the Electric Power Act 1997, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) issued the net-metering rules and regulations in September 2015 by the endorsement of Federal Government which allowed the distribution companies in Pakistan to buy surplus electricity units generated by the consumers in order to partly reimburse the units imported from the utility grid. The aim behind this research work is to promote renewable energy utilization through net-metering mechanism in order to achieve maximum power. The export of units from consumer side to utility grid and vice versa can be made through bidirectional energy meter. In this paper, a solar net-metering analysis has been carried out on ETAP software to determine its benefits in a distribution network. Different scenarios have been investigated, and it is concluded that solar net-metering technique has multiple influential benefits, e.g., improvement in voltage regulation, reduction in transmission and distribution losses, increase in power availability, less billing to consumers, and reduction of loading on utility grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Introduction: b The risk of sepsis hospitalizations is over 40-fold higher in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to the general population. Similar approach was used to examine the temporal trends of short-term mortality among sepsis hospitalizations with and without ESRD and for sensitivity analyses restricted to ICU admissions and those with septic shock. Short-term mortality among sepsis hospitalizations decreased over time among those with ESRD (aOR 0.95/year [95% CI 0.92-0.97]) and those without ESRD (aOR 0.97/year [95% CI 0.95-0.97]). [Extracted from the article]

B Introduction: b Recent death certificate-based data demonstrated decreasing sepsis-related mortality rates among Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, but rising mortality rates among Native Americans and Whites in the United States. The state-level, sepsis-related mortality trend directions (number of states [%]) were: Blacks: unchanged in 22 [55%], increased in 6 [15%], decreased in 12 [30%]; Hispanics: unchanged in 20 [71.4%], increased in 5 [17.9%], decreased in 3 [10.7%]; Asians: unchanged in 14 [66.7%], increased in 1 [4.8%], decreased in 6 [28.6%]; Native Americans: unchanged in 7 [63.6%], increased in 3 [27.3%], decreased in 1 [9.1%]; Whites: unchanged in 11 [21.6%], increased in 34 [66.7%], decreased in 6 [11.8%]. There was substantial state-level variation in the direction of sepsis-related mortality trends across all examined race and ethnicity groups. [Extracted from the article]

IHCA occurred in 12.7% (95% CI 12.4-12.9) of terminal sepsis hospitalizations, with the rate rising between 2014 and 2017 from 10.6% to 15.0%, respectively (odds ratio 1.12 [95% CI 1.09-1.14]). B Introduction: b Sepsis is an underlying condition in up to 27% of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) patients, with worse short-term outcomes in this subgroup than among non-septic patients. However, data on the epidemiology and outcomes of IHCA in sepsis are limited due to lack of population-level studies focusing specifically on sepsis and use of non-standardized sepsis definitions. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the validity of color doppler sonography in the evaluation of malignant portal vein thrombosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (findings on biphasic spiral computed tomography were used as the gold standard). Methodology: This study was conducted in the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad from March 2009 to November 2009. A total of 100 patients those who were already diagnosed cases of HCC or those having high suspicion of HCC based on clinical criteria (e.g., chronic hepatitis B or C, liver cirrhosis, increased alpha fetoprotein level [>400ng/dl]) and / or Imaging findings (e.g., sonography, MRI, CT) were included in this study. Results: Color doppler sonography had 80.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the detection of arterial flow in the portal vein thrombus (i.e., malignant thrombus) in comparison with biphasic CT (taken as gold standard). Conclusion: Color doppler sonography is an effective, noninvasive method for evaluating the presence of malignant portal vein thrombosis associated with HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The model we considered refers to a situation of immune-cancer-normal cell interactions after the vascularization process is complete. Further, the model is valid for non-cycle specific mixed therapy treatment procedures. It has been formulated under the simplified assumption with chemotherapy regimen such that the anti-cancer drug or the combination of drugs kills only the cancer cells. This assumption can be relaxed and the effect of the drug on all cell types can be considered. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that it provides specific thresholds on the two parameters: parameter s related to immunotherapy and parameter m with chemotherapy. These thresholds can help regulate immunotherapy modules and select a specific anti-cancer drug or a combination of drugs either for eradication of the cancer or survival of the patient with cancer. In most of the cancer therapeutic models separate equations for consumption of drugs are used, we however use parameters m and s to see the effect of chemotherapy and immunotherapy respectively. The main objective of this theoretical study is to develop strategies for eradication or minimization of cancer. Linearization method to study the local stability of model equilibria. The results obtained in this study provide thresholds on m -fraction of cancer cells killed by chemotherapy and s -fraction of immune cells stimulated by immunotherapy. The model considered relates to immune-cancer-normal cell interactions in post vascularization process. The study aims to develop strategies for complete eradication or minimization of cancer in terms of model parameters. This paper presents a minimal immuno-chemotherapeutic cancer model by describing interacting dynamics of cancer, immune and normal cells in a system of three ordinary differential equations. The source of the immune cells is considered outside the sytem given by a constant influx rate, s. The minimality of the model lies in not considering a separate equation for the dynamics of the drug but its overall killing effect on the cancer cells represented by a parameter, m. Thus the parameter m relates to chemotherapy and s to immunotherapy. The analysis of the model yields thresholds on these parameters for therapeutic strategies which guarantee either eradication or minimization of cancer from a patient's body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]