Search

A new application of an indirect atomic absorption spectrometric (AAS) method was offered for the assay of low concentration of trifluoperazine hydrochloride (TFPH) in pure and pharmaceutical dosage form with good accuracy and precision. The method is depended on the formation of metal complex between the drug (TFPH) and palladium(II) to form orange-yellowish product extractable in organic solvent prior to its aspiration into an air-acetylene flame and indirectly determined by AAS. Using AA responses, all experimental parameters such as, pH, concentration of palladium, reaction time, extraction time and phase ratio which affect the complexation and extraction of TFPH-Pd(II), have been investigated. Under optimized conditions, linearity was observed in the range of 0.5-17 μg mL-1 with detection limit (S/N) of 0.038 μg mL-1, precision in range of 1.18-1.92%, accuracy as the %Erel of 2.4% and recoveries ranged from 101.7 to 104% with mean value of 102.4±0.135. The proposed method was applied for the determination of TFPH in the drug stelazine by both direct calibration and standard additions procedures and found to be 4.88 and 4.87 mg per unite, respectively compared with the stated value of 5 mg per unite. This method is also compared statistically with direct determination by using UV-Vis spectrophotometric technique which is preformed in our laboratory and found to be insignificant at 95% confidence level. All statistical calculations were implemented via the chemsoftware Minitab version 11.

Unlike disorders of primary cilium, primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) has a much narrower clinical spectrum consistent with the limited tissue distribution of motile cilia. Nonetheless, PCD diagnosis can be challenging due to the overlapping features with other disorders and the requirement for sophisticated tests that are only available in specialized centers. We performed exome sequencing on all patients with a clinical suspicion of PCD but for whom no nasal nitric oxide test or ciliary functional assessment could be ordered. Among 81 patients (56 families), in whom PCD was suspected, 68% had pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in established PCD-related genes that fully explain the phenotype (20 variants in 11 genes). The major clinical presentations were sinopulmonary infections (SPI) (n = 58), neonatal respiratory distress (NRD) (n = 2), laterality defect (LD) (n = 6), and combined LD/SPI (n = 15). Biallelic likely deleterious variants were also encountered in AKNA and GOLGA3, which we propose as novel candidates in a lung phenotype that overlaps clinically with PCD. We also encountered a PCD phenocopy caused by a pathogenic variant in ITCH, and a pathogenic variant in CEP164 causing Bardet-Biedl syndrome and PCD presentation as a very rare example of the dual presentation of these two disorders of the primary and motile cilia. Exome sequencing is a powerful tool that can help "democratize" the diagnosis of PCD, which is currently limited to highly specialized centers.

A real-time roundabout detection and navigation system for smart vehicles and cities using laser simulator-fuzzy logic algorithms and sensor fusion in a road environment is presented in this paper. A wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is supposed to navigate autonomously on the road in real-time and reach a predefined goal while discovering and detecting the road roundabout. A complete modeling and path planning of the road's roundabout intersection was derived to enable the WMR to navigate autonomously in indoor and outdoor terrains. A new algorithm, called Laser Simulator, has been introduced to detect various entities in a road roundabout setting, which is later integrated with fuzzy logic algorithm for making the right decision about the existence of the roundabout. The sensor fusion process involving the use of a Wi-Fi camera, laser range finder, and odometry was implemented to generate the robot's path planning and localization within the road environment. The local maps were built using the extracted data from the camera and laser range finder to estimate the road parameters such as road width, side curbs, and roundabout center, all in two-dimensional space. The path generation algorithm was fully derived within the local maps and tested with a WMR platform in real-time.