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The title coordination polymer, [Co(N3)2(C9H8N2)]n, was synthesized solvothermally. The CoII atom exhibits a distorted octahedral [CoN6] coordination geometry with a bidentate 8-aminoquinoline ligand and four azide ligands. Bridging azide ligands result in chains extending along [100]. N—H...N hydrogen bonds join the chains to give an extended structure with sheets parallel to (002).

The title compound, [Fe(C2N3)2(C8H7N5)2]·2H2O, has been synthesized solvothermally and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The octahedral iron coordination polyhedron contains two di(pyrimidin-2-yl)amine ligands coordinated in a bidentate fashion, and two monodentate dicyanimido ligands, each coordinated via a terminal N atom, with the latter in a cis orientation. The ligand configuration about the iron atom is chiral, although the compound crystallizes as a racemic mixture: the Fe—N distances (> 2.07 Å) are characteristic of high-spin iron(II). In the crystal, an extensive series of N—H...N, O—H...N and O—H...O hydrogen bonds links the independent molecular components into a three-dimensional framework. The H atoms of both water molecules are disordered. The structure also features some π–π and anion–π interactions. The intermolecular interactions were investigated by Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots. Comparisons are made with some related compounds.

Introduction: Serum vitamin D levels are related to a wide spectrum of factors including low sunlight exposure, high oxidative stress, low physical activity and sleep disorders. In this paper we are going to investigate the most crucial parameters associated with serum vitamin D levels in survey of ultraviolet intake by nutritional approach (SUVINA) study with a data mining approach.Material and Methods: Data including demographic, anthropometric, clinical and laboratory information were extracted from the SUVINA dataset comprising 289 subjects who were enrolled into our study. The XGBoost algorithm was used to define the most important features related to vitamin D level in our population.Results: Applying XGBoost modeling for vitamin D level showed that the presented scheme can determine the most important determinants of serum vitamin D level with an accuracy of 91%. Pro-oxidant anti-oxidant balance (PAB), body fat percentage, physical activity level (PAL), age, restless leg syndrome (RLS), and dietary inflammatory index (DII) density were the most important variables correlated with vitamin D deficiency.Conclusion: Using XGBoost and with an accuracy of more than 90%, we showed that the six most important risk factors for vitamin D deficiency are PAB, PAL, age, body fat percentage, RLS and DII density, respectively.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibody's presence in the circulation and involvement of many systems. The current study aims to study the role of some immunological and non-immunological parameters in SLE development and to illustrate the correlations between these parameters. The current study included 50 blood samples collected from SLE patients and apparently healthy control. The methods of work included Complete Blood Count (CBC) analysis to assess blood components, you mean to analyse Hb, WBC, ESR, ELISA technique to measure serum levels of TLR-7, IL-17, and TNF-γ, antinuclear antibody test (ANA) and double-strand DNA antibody (anti ds DNA). The study results showed a significant increase in serum levels of each WBC (p< 0.005), ESR (p< 0.001), IL17(p< 0.004), TLR7(p< 0.005), IFN-γ (p< 0.001), ANA (p< 0.001), and anti dsDNA (p< 0.001) in SLE patients compared to apparently healthy control but the Hb is decreasing level was low in the SLE patients compared with control. In conclusion, the low hemoglobin, WBC, and ESR are non-specific parameters associated with SLE pathogenesis. ANA, Anti-ds-DNA as excellent biomarkers for the diagnosis of SLE and serum level of TLR-7, TNF-γ, and IL-17 were evaluated in SLE patients compared to healthy people and they may be suggested as a prognostic tool in SLE patients.

Silent or subclinical inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is a relatively new term that has been used to describe individuals with asymptomatic active mucosal bowel inflammation, often unaware of their disease due to either the lack of or mild inflammatory symptoms. These patients are at risk for gastrointestinal and extra-gastrointestinal manifestations, with more advanced complications. In this article we intend to describe a case report of a patient with chronic history of many organ involvements including ocular, skin, and musculoskeletal, which was later placed under the umbrella of silent ulcerative colitis.

Key Clinical Message Azathioprine, used for vasculitis and connective tissue diseases, carries long‐term cancer risks. This case report raises awareness among healthcare providers about such risks and emphasizes the need for taking necessary precautions to avoid them while treating such diseases. Abstract We present an Azathioprine‐induced lymphoma case in a 51‐year‐old male patient with Takayasu arteritis who presented with painless cervical swelling, itching, weight loss, and decreased appetite. This case report aims to increase awareness of the potential long‐term cancer risks associated with azathioprine use in the treatment of chronic diseases.

The title compound, [Cu(C9H5N4O)2(C10H9N3)2], was synthesized solvothermally. The complex exhibits a distorted octahedral coordination geometry. The CuII atom is located on an inversion centre. The distorted octahedral CuN6 coordination sphere is composed of bidentate 2,2′-dipyridylamine in the equatorial sites while the axial sites are occupied by 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-ethoxypropenide ligands. In the crystal, N—H...N hydrogen bonding results in chains parallel to [010].

Objective The primary goals of this research were to analyze the relationship between ABO blood types and the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and investigate the effect of vaccination in Iraq. Methods Data and outcomes were gathered from the medical records of 200 patients. Patients were categorized by blood group and vaccination status in the analysis. Results In total, 200 hospitalized patients (125 men and 75 women) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and blood group (ABO) and clinical data were enrolled. Of the 200 patients, 155 (77.5%) were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The results illustrated that 25 patients died, which might have been attributable to a lack of vaccination or older age. Our analysis revealed that blood group O individuals were much less likely to be infected by SARS-CoV-2 than non-O subjects, whereas blood group A individuals carried a higher risk of infection. Conclusions Our findings illustrated that immunization significantly reduces COVID-19 risk across all age groups, but there has been an increase in the number of cases because of decreased vaccine efficacy in older patients and persons with comorbidities. However, 45% vaccination coverage lowered the outbreak’s peak.

Protection of environmental and conservation of natural resources is a fundamental issue in today’s world. In this research, the shear behavior of reinforced concrete box girders with recycled aggregate (RA), steel fiber, and internal diaphragms were investigated. Eleven reinforced concrete box girders with typical longitudinal and transverse reinforcement were tested under two point loading until failure. The RA was prepared by crushing the collected waste of concrete from the laboratory test cylinders and cubes. The experimental variables considered include; RA percent of 50%, 75%, and 100%(replacing from NA), steel fiber with volumetric ratios (Vf) of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2%, diaphragm numbers (two and three).The test results revealed that the shear strength of the box girders affected by the RA content, the ultimate load was decreased by (32, 25, and 19) % for the (100, 75, and 50) %RA concrete, respectively in compared with the control specimen. In contrast the steel fiber was more effective in strengthening of the RA concrete specimen, for the (Vf) of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% with non-fibrous 100% RA concrete, the strengthening were (25, 40, and 77) % respectively. Moreover, when 1.0% steel fibers added to the 100%, 75%, and 50%RA concrete respectively, the strengthening were (40 ,45 ,and48 )% compared each with its reference specimen. On the other hand, when two and three diaphragms used, the strengthening for the non-fibrous 100% RA concrete was (6% and 9%) respectively. cracking load, ultimate load, load- deflection, and concrete surface strain has been taken into consideration in this research.

In the title molecular salt, (C10H10N3)2[Ni(CN)4], the dihedral angle between the pyridine rings in the cation is 1.92 (13)° and the complete anion is generated by a crystallographic centre of symmetry. An intramolecular N—H...N hydrogen bond occurs in the cation, which closes an S(6) ring. In the crystal, the components are linked by N—H...N and weak C—H...N hydrogen bonds, which generate chains propagating in the [101] direction. Weak aromatic π–π stacking interactions are also observed. A Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots indicate that the most important contact types in the crystal packing are N...H/H...N, C...H/H...C and H...H with contributions of 37.2, 28.3 and 21.9%, respectively.

The high number of vehicle–pedestrian crashes in the United State has gained increased attention among transportation safety analysts in recent years. Being directly exposed to the collision force makes pedestrians more prone to becoming severely injured when in crash than other road users. Considering the fact that pedestrian-involved crashes is a serious public health problem, the current study’s aim is to investigate the contributing factors associated with injury severity of pedestrian crashes by time-of-week. Separate injury severity models for weekday and weekend crashes were developed, and the overall stability of the model estimates was examined through likelihood ratio tests. For this purpose, random parameter ordered-response models were employed to specify the ordinal nature of injury severity levels and capture the potential unobserved heterogeneity. In addition, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to explore the nonlinear relationship between explanatory variables and severity outcomes. Comparison of the prediction performance demonstrated that optimized ANN provides superior results compared to conventional statistical approaches. A variable impact analysis was then conducted on the optimized ANN to investigate the effects of the explanatory variables on injury severity. The results revealed the factors that are significantly associated with pedestrian fatalities. These findings further provide insights for a better understanding of pedestrian injury severity in weekday vs. weekend crashes through the impact analysis of various explanatory variables.

A new six-armed compounds consist of benzene ring as a central core substituted with aromatic ring and three rod-like armed of 2-chloro-4,6-bis(dodecyloxy)-1,3,5-triazine as the peripheral arms unit which obtained by sequential nucleophilic substitution of chlorine atoms in cyanuric chloride. The substitution took place at the acetylenic periphery on the central benzene ring by Sonogashira coupling. Equimolar mixtures of the six-armed compounds based on the benzene core with the complementary 4-dodecyloxybenzoic acid, which already possessed liquid crystal property, resulted in an organic salt. The organic salts and structures were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and confirmed by spectroscopic methods (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and Mass spectroscopy)

Abstract Background The neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have the potential to be inflammatory markers that reflect the activity of many inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the NLR and PLR as potential markers of disease activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Methods The study involved 132 patients with ankylosing spondylitis and 81 healthy controls matched in terms of age and gender. Their sociodemographic data, disease activity scores using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts were recorded. The patients with ankylosing spondylitis were further divided according to their BASDAI scores into patients with inactive disease (BASDAI 0.05). In addition, the PLR was significantly higher in both the active and inactive groups compared to those in the healthy control group (142.04 ± 70.98 vs. 99.32 ± 33.97, p = 0.014), (119.24 ± 32.49 vs. 99.32 ± 33.97, p = 0.019). The BASDAI scores were positively correlated with the PLR (r = 0.219, p = 0.012) and the NLR, but they were not statistically significant with the later (r = 0.170, p = 0.051). Based on the ROC curve, the best NLR cut-off value for predicting severe disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis patients was 1.66, with a sensitivity of 61.8% and a specificity of 50.6%, whereas the best PLR cut-off value was 95.9, with a sensitivity of 70.9% and a specificity of 55.5%. Conclusion The PLR may be used as a useful marker in the assessment and monitoring of disease activity in AS together with acute phase reactants such as the ESR.

Nanocoatings thin films are layers deposited to improve required properties and corrosion resistance as a major objective for materials that are used for various biomedical applications such as biosensors. In this study, Gold (Au) thin films with 50 nm and 100 nm have been synthesized on Ni-Cr-Mo alloys by magnetron sputtering deposition technique. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy /Scanning Electron Microscopy (EDS/SEM ) have been used to distinguish the surfaces morphology. The results showed that there is no defects or micro-cracks with a uniform and homogenous film. It has spherical nanoparticles diameter morphology with 200-400 nm shaped to fine aggregation. The roughness average (Ra) decreased from 3.91 nm for 50 nm films to 3.70 nm for 100nm films with FCC crystal structure (111) for gold thin films. In vivo, after 50 nm and 100 nm nanocoated thin film by gold, a significant improvement in the localized corrosion resistance has been obtained in artificial saliva corrosive media at 37 °C compared with the uncoated surface.

Flavonoids contain pharmacological effects that help to protect cells from damage. However, the anticancer activity of flavonoids is related to their modulation of signal transduction pathways within cancer cells. Natural substances such as flavonoids have immune-stimulating anti-tumor effect that could lower breast cancer risk. However, various diseases included Alzheimer’s and cancer disease are associated with flavonoids intake due to their ability as antioxidant agent to alter essential cellular enzyme’s function. Therefore, through interaction between flavonoids and Cytochrome P450 (CYP) family enzymes led to make them chemopreventive agents for breast cancer. In this analysis, the chemo-informatics properties of 5 selective flavonoid derivatives and their efficiency as anti-breast cancer drugs were evaluated. Flavonoid ligands were docked with the predicted protein, which is human placental aromatase complexes with exemestane, a breast cancer drug (3S7S). Based on various docking energies, the molecular characteristics and bioactivity score of the following components, C 15 H 12 O 6 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-5,7-dihydroxy-2,3-dihydro-4H-chromen-4-one and C 15 H 12 O 5 5,8-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-4H-chromen-4-one showed greatest molecular properties and bioactivity docking scores of −8.633117 and −8.633117 kcal/mol respectively. Therefore, both compounds could be considered antitumor agent.

Background: The Dearth of the self-rejuvenation capability of cartilage tissue is one of the frequent problems encountered by the dentist and orthopedic surgeons. Acacia nilotica commonly known as (babul, thorny acacia, Egyptian acacia or thorn mimosa) has wide range of medicinal uses. The current study was carried out to investigate the herbal-based chondrogenesis inducing ability of leaves extract of A. nilotica in Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Purpose: To investigate the ability of Acacia nilotica leaves extract in chondrogenesis induction from Mesenchymal stem cells Study design: The experimental were designed according to the completely randomized design (CRD). Methods: Different concentration of water and ethanol extract of plant leaves were tested for its inhibitory activity on HDP-SC. The HDP-SCs were stimulated to differentiate into chondrocytes in the presence of water extract of A. nilotica leaves. The study was accomplished by assessing the glycosaminoglycan (GAG), aggrecan, collagen 2α1 (Col2α1), and sox9 in the cellular matrix required for cartilage tissue formation. The MSCs revealed surface markers like CD45, CD90, CD105, and CD166 cultured on specialized chondrogenic differentiation medium in presence of leaves extract of A. nilotica. Results: The aqueous leaves extract showed a time-dependent increase in the concentration of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) deposition on 7th, 14th, and 21st day of incubation. The chondrogenic specific markers like aggrecan and col2α1were up-regulated from 7th to 21st days of incubation showing the highest protein expression on the 21st day. The sox9 protein was substantially enhanced on the 7th to 21thday of incubation of HDP-SC with leaves extract of A. nilotica compared to standard TGF-β inducer. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that aqueous leaves extract of A. nilotica promotes chondrogenesis of Mesenchymal stem cells. The study suggests that water leaves extract of “Babool''can be used as an alternative strategy for treatment of dental pulp through chondrogenic differentiation. A. nilotica as a source of many active secondary metabolites which may serve as potential candidates for development of novel lead compounds. This research confirmed the usefulness of this plant A. nilotica as a characteristic feature of medical plant and pharmaceutical. Further studies in the future are required to identify the role of the rest of the active compounds.

Construction project delay is a global phenomenon. The delay risk being regarded as a main challenge that is tackled via the firms of construction. It possessed an inverse effect upon the performance of the project resulting in cost overruns and productivity reduction. In Iraq, most construction projects surpassed their prearranged time and were delayed, resulting in a loss of productivity and income. The objective of this paper was to predict the cost and delay of construction projects to illustrate their risks effects by using of artificial neural networks with the particle swarm optimization method (ANN-PSO). Thereby, risk factors were identified and analysed using Probability and Impact Analysis which were embraced as the model inputs. In comparison, the outputs for the models were represented by the ratio of the contractor's profit to project costs and the delay in construction projects. An ANN model was additionally evolved with a backpropagation (BP) optimization method to assess the exhibition of the ANN-PSO model. To evaluate the accuracy of the results of the ANN-PSO model, coefficient of correlation (R), determination coefficient (R2), and root mean squared error (RMSE) was utilized as performance evaluation of the models. The ANN-PSO model showed a significant performance in the delay prediction. The performance evaluation for the cost and delay prediction were (R=0.929, R2=0.863, RMSE=0.044), and (R=0.998, R2=0.996, RMSE=0.094), respectively. The model of ANN-PSO has a virtuous performance in the delay prediction better than the cost. However, the ANN-BP model showed better performance than ANN-PSO in term of cost prediction.

In this work, we have introduced a modified method for solving second-order fuzzy differential equations. This method based on the fully fuzzy neural network to find the numerical solution of the two-point fuzzy boundary value problems for the ordinary differential equations. The fuzzy trial solution of the two-point fuzzy boundary value problems is written based on the concepts of the fully fuzzy feed-forward neural networks which containing fuzzy adjustable parameters. In comparison with other numerical methods, the proposed method provides numerical solutions with high accuracy.

Simulation modeling can play a major role in supporting the pre-deployment and post-deployment assessment of connected vehicle (CV) applications, particularly given the limited implementations of these applications and the low market penetrations of CV that can be expected in the near future. This study demonstrates the use of simulation modeling to assess the safety and mobility benefits of the Signalized Left Turn Assist (SLTA), a CV-based application at signalized intersections. The benefits of SLTA were analyzed in this study using a calibrated microscopic traffic simulation package. Real-world gap acceptance distribution was used in the calibration of the simulation model to better assess the impact of SLTA considering the real-world driver's behaviors at permissive left-turn signals. A method was developed to calibrate the utilized microscopic simulation model to reflect the real-world gap acceptance distributions.The study results show that SLTA can increase the left-turn capacity depending on the SLTA gap time parameter setting, reaching approximately 64.8%, 51.1%, and 35.9% when utilizing a gap time of 3 s, 4 s, and 5 s, respectively. In addition, the results show that with 100% utilization, the average delay for all vehicles can be reduced by approximately 58.4%. The safety benefits of the SLTA were determined utilizing surrogate measures based on vehicle trajectories generated by the microscopic traffic simulation model. The results show that by utilizing a 5-second predefined time gap in the SLTA application, the total number of observed crossing conflicts decreased from 6 conflicts per hour to zero conflicts per hour when the SLTA utilization rate increases from 0% to 100%.

In the context of work zone safety, worker presence and its impact on crash severity has been less explored. Moreover, there is a lack of research on contributing factors by time-of-day. To accomplish this, first a mixed logit model was used to determine statistically significant crash severity contributing factors and their effects. Significant factors in both models included work-zone-specific characteristics and crash-specific characteristics, where environmental characteristics were only significant in the daytime model. In addition, results from parameter transferability test provided evidence that daytime and nighttime crashes need to be modeled separately. Further, to explore the nonlinear relationship between crash severity levels and time-of-day, as well as compare the effects of variables to that of the logit model and assess prediction performance, a Support Vector Machines (SVM) model trained by Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm was utilized. Opening the SVM black-box, a variable impact analysis was also performed. In addition to the characteristics identified in the logit models, the SVM models also included the impacts of vehicle-level characteristics. The variable impact analysis illustrated that the termination area of the work zone is most critical for both daytime and nighttime crashes, as this location has the highest increase in severe injury likelihood. In summary, results of this study demonstrate that work zone crashes need to be modeled separately by time-of-day with a high level of confidence. Furthermore, results show that the CS-SVM models provide better prediction performance compared to the SVM and logit models.

In the title compound, [CdNi(C9H8N2)2(CN)4]n, the Cd and Ni atoms both lie on centres of inversion in space group P21/c. The Cd atom is coordinated by two bidentate quinolin-8-amine ligands and by the N atoms of two cyano ligands, while the square planar Ni atom is coordinated by the C atoms of four cyano ligands. These units form a one-dimensional coordination polymer containing an (–NC—Ni—CN—Cd–)n backbone, and the coordination polymer chains are linked into a three-dimensional array by a combination of N—H...N and C—H...N hydrogen bonds, augmented by a π–π stacking interaction.

Evacuations in major disasters such as hurricanes involve complex decision-making and depend on several interrelated factors. Mass evacuation created traffic gridlocks with hours of added travel time in previous hurricane evacuations. To leverage this, shared mobility as an alternative evacuation strategy can ensure compliance to evacuation orders. Besides, previous evacuation studies examined evacuation decision-making for a given hurricane, however the empirical literature is inconclusive of what governs evacuation decision consistency of previous (evacuated or not) and future (will evacuate or not) hurricanes. As such, the purpose of this study is to explore the influence of personal social networks and day-to-day sharing activity on hurricane evacuation decision consistency and shared evacuation capacity (number of people with whom one will evacuate). By adopting a Personal Network Research Design (PNRD) framework and conducting an online survey of south Florida residents, the evacuation decision consistency of people is modeled using multinomial logistic regression method. An ego-centric social network analysis is also conducted which focuses on the survey respondents (egos) and the people in their close contacts (alters). Shared evacuation capacity is modeled using zero inflated Poisson (ZIP) approach. Tobit regression techniques are used to estimate the influence of day-to-day joint activities on shared evacuation decisions. Results showed that these variables are influenced by similarity in race, religion, marital status, bike ownership, use of social media and day-to-day shared activity. The age and income of people also significantly affect these decisions. The results will help in developing decision support frameworks for evacuation management applications and encourage emergency planners to promote shared evacuations in vulnerable communities.

In the title compound, [Fe{(C5H4N)3N}2][C{C(CN)2}3], both ions lie across centres of inversion, with the anion being statistically disordered over two sets of atomic sites having equal occupancy. The cation and anion have approximate \overline{3} and 32 symmetry, respectively, and the Fe—N bond lengths indicate low-spin FeII. A combination of two-centre C—H...N and three-centre C—H...(N)2 hydrogen bonds link the ions into complex sheets. Several low-occupancy water molecules are present, whose H atoms could not be located: accordingly, the reflection data were subjected to the SQUEEZE procedure [Spek (2015). Acta Cryst. C71, 9–18].

This research, study the effect of the thickness on titanium dioxide (TiO2) , that prepared by the Sol-Gel Process method on the optical properties of (TiO2) thin film with different thickness (54, 64 and 89 nm), the thickness effect on optical properties (energy gap , absorbance spectrum, transmittance spectrum, reflectance, refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, real and imaginary dielectric constant) ,this study shows that thickness have an effect on all these parameters .

The present study aimed at identifying the role of supervisory and training practices in the field education program in achieving course objectives from the perspective of the student teachers in the Faculty of Science and Arts in sharourah, and its relationship to some variables (gender, specialization,estimation). To achieve this, the researcher used the descriptive-analytical method, and the study tool was designed, which consists of (24) items distributed on two axes: the objectives of field education and supervisory and training practices.Then, the study tool was applied to the research sample represented in the entire study community, which consists of (65) male and female students in the Faculty of Sciences and Arts in Sharurah Governorate in the academic year 1437-1438 AH. The results of the study indicated that the objectives of the Field Education have been achieved to a large extent , In addition, the field education program and the supervisory and training practices it included have helped in achieving these objectives, with a difference in the role from one practice to another,It was also found that there were no significant differences due to the difference in gender and estimation variables, while there were statistically significant differences due to the difference in the specialty variable in favor of the major of Islamic studies.The study recommended expanding the fields of practice in field education by updating the traditional methods.

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases including hypertension and renal failure. There is enhanced expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADPH oxidase) and therefore production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) during renal disease progression. This study investigated the effect of apocynin, an NADPH oxidase inhibitor and catalase, an H2O2 scavenger on Cyclosporine A (CsA) nephrotoxicity in Wistar-Kyoto rats. Rats received CsA (25mg/kg/day via gavage) and were assigned to vehicle, apocynin (2.5mmol/L p.o.), catalase (10,000U/kg/day i.p.) or apocynin plus catalase for 14 days. Renal functional and hemodynamic parameters were measured every week, and kidneys were harvested at the end of the study for histological and NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) assessment. Oxidative stress markers and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were measured. CsA rats had higher plasma malondialdehyde (by 340%) and BUN (by 125%), but lower superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity (by 40%, all P

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the behavior of normal strength reinforced concrete (RC) circular short columns strengthened by carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. Three series comprising total of (15) specimens were loaded to failure under axial concentric compression load. Strengthening was varied by changing CFRP strips number, spacing and wrapping methods. The finding of this research can be summarized as follows; for the columns without CFRP, the influence of the spiral pitch was significant: compared with 100 mm spiral pitch, dropping the spacing to 65 mm and 30 mm increased the load carrying capacity by 25% and 43% respectively. The columns with less internal confinement (lesser amount of spirals) were strengthened more significantly by the CFRP than the ones with greater amount of internal spirals. As an example of the varying effectiveness of the fully wrapped CFRP, the column with spiral pitch at 100 mm was strengthened by 74% with the CFRP. In contrast, the ones with 30 mm spiral pitch only increased in strength with CFRP by 51%. Compared with the control specimen (no CFRP), the same amount of CFRP when used as spiral strips led to more strengthening than using CFRP as hoop strip-the former led to nearly 8% more strengthening than the latter in the case of 100 mm internal spiral pitch. In the case of 65 mm the internal spiral pitch, the difference (between the hoops &spiral CFRP strengthening)is close to 10.5%. The difference between the two methods of strengthening in the heavily spiral columns (30 mm spiral pitch) is more significant.

In this paper, parameter analysis of the inductive coils is evaluated for low power Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) applications. Inductive coils are the major element used in the WPT systems, in which different shaped coils are employed. The selection of coils is very critical, depends purely on the fundamental characteristics (shape and geometry) of the coils. In order to design a better system, three different shapes of coils, namely, circular, square and rectangular are designed and analysed. The vital parameters such as self-inductance, mutual inductance, quality factor, magnetic field and efficiency are evaluated for all three coils. It is observed that these parameters are maximal for circular as compared to the other two shapes. The circular coils produce higher voltage efficiency of 29% as compared to rectangular (25%) and square (23%) shaped coils. Thus, this paves a way to other researchers to suitably select circular inductive coils for wireless electricity applications.

Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (infliximab) have changed the therapeutic approach to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Body mass index (BMI) and HLA-B27 status may affect the response to infliximab. Methods: One hundred and seventy AS patients with active disease were enrolled in the study. Age, sex, disease duration, HLA-B27 status, and other demographics were obtained. Patients were classified according to their BMI to three groups clinical response was monitored using Bath AS disease activity index, at the time of initiation of treatment and 6 months later. Clinical response was defined as BASDAI50. Results: At baseline, all the groups were comparable. The median BMI of the responders was 25.4 kg/m2 while for the nonresponders it was 27 kg/m2. The normal weight and overweight AS patients have achieved the BASDAI 50 response after 6 months of infliximab treatment (P < 0.001) while the obese AS patients fail to achieve this response by infliximab alone and they need another drug (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). The response was higher in HLA-B27 positive patients (42.5%) compared to the HLA-B27 negative patients (29%), the difference, however, was statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Obese AS patients are less likely to achieve a response to infliximab than normal weight AS patients.

There has been an increasing interest in recent years in using clustering analysis for the identification of traffic patterns that are representative of traffic conditions in support of transportation system operations and management (TSMO); integrated corridor management; and analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS). However, there has been limited information to support agencies in their selection of the most appropriate clustering technique(s), associated parameters, the optimal number of clusters, clustering result analysis, and selecting observations that are representative of each cluster. This paper investigates and compares the use of a number of existing clustering methods for traffic pattern identifications, considering the above. These methods include the K-means, K-prototypes, K-medoids, four variations of the Hierarchical method, and the combination of Principal Component Analysis for mixed data (PCAmix) with K-means. Among these methods, the K-prototypes and K-means with PCs produced the best results. The paper then provides recommendations regarding conducting and utilizing the results of clustering analysis.

In this work, the Al-Si/Mg2Si in-situ composites were fabricated using casting technique, followedby repetitive equal-channel angular pressing(ECAP) to refine the microstructure.(ECAP) as sever deformation was carried out through a die made of high chromium carbon steel at250ºC for four passes of deformation.Microstructures investigation was conducted using an optical microscope, electron back scattering, EDS, elemental mapping and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). After sever deformation , the results showed fragmentation of eutectic Mg2Si and eutectic Si , reduction of the primary Mg2Si particle size , and fragmentation of the dendrite of Mg2Si particles to smaller ones. On other hand, the columnar α-Al phase changed to nearly equiaxed grains after severe deformation. The results of (EBSD)revealed that the grain size of the in site composite matrix showed decrease to less than5µm after four passes ,and the grains after deformation have more orientation of homogenization, and there are fine grains less than1µmin size surrounded by high angled boundaries

In this research , the electrical , physical and structure properties of Zirconium oxide ZrO2 have been studied as basic , Calcium and Yttrium oxides as dopped materials , By using hydraulic pressing we made the uniform disks of samples . these samples sintered at 800ºCand socking time 2hr.The XRD potteries of samples showed that the change of intensity of sample that, dopped with (0.15)wt Y2O3 .The dielectric constant of samples found the improvement in the value of sample (0.15)wt of Y2O3 doped.

OBJECTIVES:To examine the effectiveness of a "systems" approach using Lean methodology to improve surgical care, as part of a programme of studies investigating possible synergy between improvement approaches. SETTING:A controlled before-after study using the orthopaedic trauma theatre of a UK Trust hospital as the active site and an elective orthopaedic theatre in the same Trust as control. PARTICIPANTS:All staff involved in surgical procedures in both theatres. INTERVENTIONS:A one-day "lean" training course delivered by an experienced specialist team was followed by support and assistance in developing a 6 month improvement project. Clinical staff selected the subjects for improvement and designed the improvements. OUTCOME MEASURES:We compared technical and non-technical team performance in theatre using WHO checklist compliance evaluation, "glitch count" and Oxford NOTECHS II in a sample of directly observed operations, and patient outcome (length of stay, complications and readmissions) for all patients. We collected observational data for 3 months and clinical data for 6 months before and after the intervention period. We compared changes in measures using 2-way analysis of variance. RESULTS:We studied 576 cases before and 465 after intervention, observing the operation in 38 and 41 cases respectively. We found no significant changes in team performance or patient outcome measures. The intervention theatre staff focused their efforts on improving first patient arrival time, which improved by 20 minutes after intervention. CONCLUSIONS:This version of "lean" system improvement did not improve measured safety processes or outcomes. The study highlighted an important tension between promoting staff ownership and providing direction, which needs to be managed in "lean" projects. Space and time for staff to conduct improvement activities are important for success.

The reaction of Benzyl o-vanillin 1 and o-phenylene diamine 2 in dichloromethane produced new benzimidazole, 3. The complete assignments of 3 were made using 1D and 2D NMR including COSY, HMQC and HMBC NMR in CDCl3 and acetone-d6. The coupling constants J are reported in Hertz, and the differences in the peak splittings using both solvents are discussed. Keywords: 1H NMR; 13C NMR; 2D NMR; Benzimidazole

The reaction of o-vanillin A with benzyl bromide B2 in acetone as the solvent and K2CO3 as a base in the presence of tetra-n-butylammonium iodide (TBAI) as catalyst formed benzyl o-vanillin, C. The complete assignments of C using PROTON, APT, DEPT-135, COSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC NMR in both CDCl3 and acetone-d6 are discussed, and the coupling constants J are reported in Hertz (Hz). Keywords: 1H NMR; 13C NMR; 2D NMR; Benzyl o-Vanillin

This paper presents a modeling of Solar Water Heating ( SWH ) used fordomestic or industrial application using Flat – Plate Collectors.The research uses a new trend of application for Solar Radiation variation duringthe day, The model is a ( Half – Sine ) Model for clear day with some assumptionsto predict the temperature fluctuation in the Storage tank and to calculate theheating energy demand to be added to the Solar energy supplied by Sun.An encouraging result has been found that will help the designer to have a goodidea and give useful indication about the system proposal to make a propereconomic analysis of any projects.

To investigate the effectiveness of combining teamwork training and lean process improvement, two distinct approaches to improving surgical safety. We conducted a controlled interrupted time series study in a specialist UK Orthopaedic hospital incorporating a plastic surgery team (which received the intervention) and an Orthopaedic theatre team acting as a control.We used a 3 month intervention with 3 months data collection period before and after it. A combined teamwork training and lean process improvement intervention was delivered by an experienced specialist team. Before and after the intervention we evaluated team non-technical skills using NOTECHS II, technical performance using the glitch rate and WHO checklist compliance using a simple 3 point scale. We recorded complication rate, readmission rate and length of hospital stay data for 6 months before and after the intervention.In the active group, but not the control group, full compliance with WHO Time Out (T/O) increased from 14 to 71% (p = 0.032), Sign Out attempt rate (S/O) increased from 0% to 50% (p

BackgroundWe previously developed and validated the Oxford NOTECHS rating system for evaluating the non-technical skills of an entire operating theatre team. Experience with the scale identified the need for greater discrimination between levels of performance within the normal range. We report here the development of a modified scale (Oxford NOTECHS II) to facilitate this. The new measure uses an eight-point instead of a four point scale to measure each dimension of non-technical skills, and begins with a default rating of 6 for each element. We evaluated this new scale in 297 operations at five NHS sites in four surgical specialities. Measures of theatre process reliability (glitch count) and compliance with the WHO surgical safety checklist were scored contemporaneously, and relationships with NOTECHS II scores explored.ResultsMean team Oxford NOTECHS II scores was 73.39 (range 37-92). The means for surgical, anaesthetic and nursing sub-teams were 24.61 (IQR 23, 27); 24.22 (IQR 23, 26) and 24.55 (IQR 23, 26). Oxford NOTECHS II showed good inter-rater reliability between human factors and clinical observers in each of the four domains. Teams with high WHO compliance had higher mean Oxford NOTECHS II scores (74.5) than those with low compliance (71.1) (p = 0.010). We observed only a weak correlation between Oxford NOTECHS II scores and glitch count; r = -0.26 (95% CI -0.36 to -0.15). Oxford NOTECHS II scores did not vary significantly between 5 different hospital sites, but a significant difference was seen between specialities (p = 0.001).ConclusionsOxford NOTECHS II provides good discrimination between teams while retaining reliability and correlation with other measures of teamwork performance, and is not confounded by technical performance. It is therefore suitable for combined use with a technical performance scale to provide a global description of operating theatre team performance.

This paper presents a modeling design for a solar heating system to be used as a driven - powered thermal energy to a single – stage absorption cooling system using Lithium Bromide solution, by using flat – plate collectors, storage tank, auxiliary heater and 3 – way valves. The study also goes into partial load control by flowrate variation through the generator section and to study the effects of series and parallel collector's arrangement arrays on the solar heating system performance. The study is focused to evaluate the performance of the solar heating system throughout the summer season. The effects on performance have been explored for various design variables and operation conditions. In this paper, it was reached to a general formula for a collector outlet temperature arranged in series and compared to a parallel arrangement. The performance calculations indicate that:  There is no significant difference in storage tank temperature for both parallel and series arrangements.  The collector's outlet temperature wasn't greatly affected by the storage tank capacity (size).  The storage tank temperature increases with partial load  Percent increases, i.e. as the thermal load decreases.

This paper presents a studying performance of Back – pass plate solar air heating un-glazed collector that is simply say the recent cladding of new building and industrial facade. The use of a solar energy as a source of air heating used for ventilation or air preheating will consequently reduce the energy consumption which is the aim of this paper. This paper describes the main characteristics of this type of air collector and the heat balance between all its components to reach to an equation that shows the air temperature variation across the collector and to study the effects of its main parameters on the temperature rise between the inlet initial air temperature and its outlet air temperature and made the possibility to design such type of air heating system collectors. The main parameter which plays the main role in temperature variation and rise in this type of collector is the solar radiation, it is calculated for the vertical walls facing south, and then it is changed to an equation to describe its variation through the daylight time for the clear and shiny day, the equation is a half – sine model.

The using of Outside Cold Air at early morning or at night to get rid or to remove the Stored Heat content inside the Building when the temperature of the Outside Air at night or early morning is less than the temperature of the Conditioned Space can be considered as Free Cooling way. This point was studied and analyzed theoretically in this papers, the target is to reach a General Equation that could be used directly with the required Data of the Building component (Furniture, Walls, Roof ……. etc) and the Air Conditioning Plant specification. The target was achieved to evolve the General Equation. In this way, the estimation of Removed Heat content from the Building for a certain time during a summer season can be calculated depending on the Meteorology Database of each area which is considered as Energy Conservation. The Free cooling way is widely and largely used now as a way to conserve the Energy consumption