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Resumen Objetivo La precision diagnostica de la imagen de perfusion miocardica (IPM) no es optima para predecir el resultado de la angiografia. El objetivo del presente estudio es investigar la aplicacion de la red neuronal artificial (RNA) para integrar los datos clinicos con el resultado y la cuantificacion de la IPM. Metodos De 923 pacientes con IPM, se reclutaron 93 que se sometieron a angiografia. Se recogieron los datos clinicos, incluidos los factores de riesgo cardiaco, y se registraron los resultados de la IPM y la angiografia coronaria. Se calculo la cuantificacion de las graficas polares IPM (es decir, los recuentos de 20 segmentos de cada una de las graficas polares de esfuerzo y de reposo) y la puntuacion de Gensini de las angiografias. La RNA fue disenada integrando datos clinicos y de cuantificacion para predecir el resultado de la angiografia (normal vs. anormal), la enfermedad coronaria no obstructiva u obstructiva (EAC) y la puntuacion de Gensini (≥ 10 y Resultados La precision de la IPM para predecir el resultado de la angiografia, la EAC obstructiva y la puntuacion de Gensini aumento del 81,7 al 92,9%, del 65,0 al 85,7% y del 50,5 al 92,9%, respectivamente, mediante la RNA con cuantificacion y factores de riesgo clinicos. Conclusion La precision diagnostica de la IPM podria mejorarse mediante la RNA, utilizando datos clinicos y de cuantificacion.

We introduce a simple and facile strategy for dispersing of nanoparticles within a p-type conducting polymer matrix by in situ electropolymerization using oxalic acid as the supporting electrolyte. Coatings prepared from polypyrrole–nano-metal oxide particles synthesized by in situ polymerization were found to exhibit excellent corrosion resistance much superior to polypyrrole (PPy) in an aggressive environment. The anti-corrosion behavior of polypyrrole films in different states and the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by electropolymerization on copper electrodes have been investigated in a corrosive solution using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical response of the coated electrodes in polymer and nanocomposite state was compared with bare electrodes. The use of TiO2 nanoparticles has proved to be a great improvement in the performances of polypyrrole films for corrosion protection of copper samples. The polypyrrole synthesized in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles coated electrodes offered a noticeable enhancement of protection against corrosion processes. The exceptional improvement of performance of these coatings has been associated with the increase in barrier to diffusion, prevention of charge transport by the nanosize TiO2, redox properties of polypyrrole as well as very large surface area available for the liberation of dopant due to nano-size additive.

By lowering the pressure beneath the dew point as the result of production in gas condensate (GC) reservoirs, liquid droplets are formed in the borehole zone. Accurate calculation of pressure decline and optimization operations in these reservoirs need to know and predict the specific properties such as liquid viscosity. Empirical models have already been developed to predict this parameter. Due to the peculiar behavior of fluids beneath the dew point pressure (DPP), the prediction of liquid viscosity associates with an error. With the development of machine learning (ML) approaches, studies on fluid properties like other sciences have entered a new phase. In this study, extreme learning machine (ELM) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system with particle swarm optimization (ANFIS-PSO) methods applied to this end. Therefore, a large data bank of reservoir and fluid properties including reservoir temperature and pressure, specific gravity (SG) of gas, API gravity, and gas to oil ratio (Rs) were used. The results showed that R-squared and RMSE for ANFIS-PSO are 0.762 and 0.15, respectively, while these values are 0.941 and 0.06 for ELM which shows that the last model has a better performance in estimating output values. Also, the range of reliable data is determined, and further, a sensitivity analysis was done, which showed that the greatest impact on the viscosity was from SG, and API gravity has the least effect on it. This model can be used as a reference for calculating condensate viscosity and also by expanding the range of datasets, it can be applied in the commercial software.

Objectives Clinical difficulty to discriminate between the Alzheimer disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) has led researchers to focus on highly sensitive functional imaging modalities. The aim of the present study was to assess 131I-MIBG cardiac imaging to distinguish between AD and DLB. Patients and methods Seventeen patients who were known cases of dementia underwent 131I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy to differentiate AD from DLB. Planar and 131I-MIBG SPECT were obtained 2 h after the injection of 1 mCi 131I-MIBG on a dual head gamma camera. The visual assessment of the heart uptake compared with lungs and the quantification based on the heart to mediastinal ratio (HMR) were done. The cardiac receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was designed for the optimal HMR cut-off values to predict the diagnoses of the patients. The diagnoses were clinically confirmed during the follow up of 14 ± 8.2 months. Results Out of 17 patients (13 males; 76.5%), 10 patients had AD (7 males; 70%) and 7 patients had DLB (6 males; 85%). The pooled HMR was 1.74 ± 0.33 in the study population; with 1.95 ± 0.22 in the AD group and 1.43 ± 0.20 in the DLB group to demonstrate significantly different HMR scores between patients with AD and DLB (p value = 0.001). The visual interpretation was positive in 10 patients (accuracy of 88.2%). The shortest distance on the ROC curve to the optimal value corresponding to HMR = 1.57 identified 10 patients with a high HMR (positive cardiac uptake) and 7 patients with a low HMR (negative cardiac uptake), the accuracy calculated at 88.2%. Conclusion 131I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy is a potential alternative diagnostic modality for discrimination between AD and DLB when 123I is not available.

Technetium thyroid uptake (TTU) is not inhibited by antithyroid drugs (ATD) and reflects the degree of thyroid stimulation. We intended to predict the relapse rate from hyperthyroidism based on TTU measurement.Out of 44 initially enrolled subjects, 38 patients aged 41.6 ± 14.6 with Graves disease (duration: 84 ± 78 months) completed the study. TTU was performed with 40-second imaging of the neck and mediastinum 20 minutes after injection of 1 mCi technetium-99m pertechnetate. TTU was measured as the percentage of the count of activity accumulated in the thyroidal region minus the mediastinal background uptake to the count of 1 mCi technetium-99m under the same acquisition conditions. Then methimazole was stopped and patients were followed. The optimal TTU cutoff value for Graves relapse prediction was calculated using Youden's J statistic.Hyperthyroidism relapsed in 11 (28.9%) patients 122 ± 96 (range: 15-290) days post-ATD withdrawal. The subjects in remission were followed for 209 ± 81 days (range: 88-390). TTU was significantly higher in patients with forthcoming relapse (12.0 ± 8.0 vs. 3.9 ± 2.0, P = .007). The difference was significant after adjustment for age, sex, history of previous relapse, disease duration, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels before withdrawal. The area under the receiver operative characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.87. The optimal TTU cutoff value for classification of subjects with relapse and remission was 8.7 with sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value of 73%, 100%, 100%, and 90%, respectively (odds ratio [OR] = 10.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.4-29.3).TTU evaluation in hyperthyroid patients receiving antithyroid medication is an accurate and practical method for predicting relapse after ATD withdrawal.ATD = antithyroid drugs RIU = radio-iodine uptake TSH = thyroid-stimulating hormone TSI = thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin TTU = technetium thyroid uptake.

Wastewater management is a significant challenge, especially for arid and semiarid countries due to the water scarcity crisis. Considering human health, environmental regulations, wastewater treatment plant expenses, and water reusability, this study aims to assist in designing an efficient and economical WWTP. Technical and economic simulation and modeling are important for designing, constructing, and predicting the requirements of wastewater treatment plant designs. Simulation of a project before its implementation, in the first place, reduces additional costs, and from another point of view, a project is examined and researched from different aspects. In this study, three wastewater treatment plants based on conventional activated sludge, contact stabilization, and step aeration were simulated and evaluated technically and economically using the Zargandeh treatment plant data in Tehran. In three scenarios, GPS-X software investigated the effect of raw wastewater variations between their minimum and maximum intervals on effluent quality, and because the range of inlet effluent was different, more precise results were obtained. Then, the economic costs of the project, including implementation, maintenance, and also energy use, were calculated by Capdetwork software, and contact stabilization was found to be more cost-effective.

In this work, we presented facile route for fabrication of poly ortho aminophenol (POAP) POAP and POAP/ZnO nanocomposite on the surface of the working electrode. The fractal dimension of nanocomposite films in the presence of counter ions was investigated. Surface morphology of the composite film was studied by surface microscopy techniques (SEM). The presence of ZnO in the films was confirmed by EDS analysis. The results indicate that a strong interaction exist at the interface of POAP and nano-ZnO. Different electrochemical methods including galvanostatic charge discharge experiments and cyclic voltammetry have been applied to study the system performance. This work introduces new nanocomposite materials for electrochemical redox capacitors with such advantages as the ease of synthesis, high active surface area and stability in an aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, comparison with a Ni-POAP the Ni-POAP/ZnO electrode shows a better catalytic performance for the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol in alkaline solution. It is observed that the in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles current density of electro-oxidation of methanol is almost constant in 400 cycles due to the stability of electrocatalyst in this cycle number and indicating that methanol reacted with the surface and no poisoning effect on the surface was observed.

Cancer cells underlie the dysregulated metabolism of carbohydrate, lipid and protein and thereby, employ interconnected cross-linked signaling pathways to supply adequate energy for growth and related biosynthetic procedures. In the present study, a comprehensive review of cancer metabolism and anthocyanin's effect was conducted using the existing electronic databases, including Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, as well as related articles in the field. Such keywords as "cancer", and "cancer metabolism" in the title/abstract/keyword and all the "anthocyanins" in the whole text were used. Data were collected without time restriction until February 2020. The results indicated the involvement of several signaling pathways, including inflammatory PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, Bax/Bcl-2/caspases as apoptosis modulators, and NF-κB/Nrf2 as oxidative stress mediators in the cancer dysregulated metabolism. Compelling studies have shown that targeting these pathways, as critical hallmarks of cancer, plays a critical role in combating cancer dysregulated metabolism. The complexity of cancer metabolism signaling pathways, along with toxicity, high costs, and resistance to conventional drugs urge the need to investigate novel multi-target agents. Increasing evidence has introduced plant-derived secondary metabolites as hopeful anticancer candidates which target multiple dysregulated cross-linked pathways of cancer metabolism. Amongst these metabolites, anthocyanins have demonstrated positive anticancer effects by targeting inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptotic signaling pathways. The current study revealed the cross-linked signaling pathways of cancer metabolism, as well as the promising pharmacological mechanisms of anthocyanins in targeting the aforementioned signaling mediators. To overcome the pharmacokinetic limitations of anthocyanins in cancer treatment, their interactions with gut microbiota and the need to develop related nano-formulations were also considered.

Nickel–alumina nano-composite coatings were obtained from nickel sulphamate solution containing nano-α-alumina particles by direct current (DC) plating. Nano-alumina particles were dispersed in the solution with the aid of different concentrations (50–300 mg l −1 ) of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) by ultrasonic method. The microhardness variation of the coatings in different concentrations of SDS was investigated. Furthermore, the corrosion behavior of composite coatings was studied by polarization measurements in 3.5% w/v NaCl solution. The results revealed that increasing the surfactant concentration, up to an optimum value (125 mg l −1 ), led to more uniform distribution of nano-particles in the coatings, improved corrosion potential ( E corr ) to the most positive value (−0.209 V) and corrosion current density ( i corr ) to the lowest value (1.141 × −7 A cm −2 ), and enhanced the microhardness of composite coatings to 492 HV. However, beyond this optimum level, these properties were attenuated.