Natural occurrence of Alternaria toxins in pomegranate fruit and the influence of some technological processing on their levels in juice

Alternaria species produce several mycotoxins that are of particular health concern. The natural occurrence of three Alternaria toxins; alternariol (AOH), alternariol methyl ether (AME), and tenuazonic acid (TA) in pomegranate fruit was considered. A. alternata and A. tenuissima were identified by analysis of partial sequence of ITS-region. All studied strains produced high quantities of AOH in vitro on rice. A. tenuissima produces high quantities of AME and TA compared with A. alternata. In rotten tissues AME was the highest determined toxin with frequency percentage of 95.6%, followed by AOH and TA. All toxins were detected in the healthy tissues surrounding the infected tissues but at low levels. No visible changes were noted in Alternaria toxins after pasteurization of pomegranate juice, but they appeared after clarification. In conclusion, pasteurization and/or clarification are not sufficient to reduce Alternaria toxins in juice. The removal of the rotten parts does not ensure excluding Alternaria toxins

Distributed control for cooperative Parabolic systems with conjugation conditions

In this paper, we consider cooperative Parabolic systems defined on bounded, continuous and strictly Lipschitz domain of n R with conjugation conditions. We study the optimal control for these systems with Dirichlet conditions. Also, we establish the problem with Neumann conditions .The control in our problems is of distributed type

A Predictive Model for Student Performance in Classrooms using Student Interactions with an eTextbook

With the rise of online eTextbooks and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a huge amount of data has been collected related to students’ learning. With the careful analysis of this data, educators can gain useful insights into their students’ performance and their behavior in learning a particular topic. This paper proposes a new model for predicting student performance based on an analysis of how students interact with an interactive online eTextbook. By being able to predict students’ performance early in the course, educators can easily identify students at risk and provide a suitable intervention. We considered two main issues: the prediction of good/bad performance and the prediction of the final exam grade. To build the proposed model, we evaluated the most popular classification and regression algorithms. Random Forest Regression and Multiple Linear Regression have been applied in Regression. While Logistic Regression, decision tree, Random Forest Classifier, K Nearest Neighbors, and Support Vector Machine have been applied in classification. Based on the findings of the experiments, the algorithm with the best result overall in classification was Random Forest Classifier with an accuracy equal to 91.7%, while in the regression it was Random Forest Regression with an R2 equal to 0.977

Editorial: Methods and application in cardiovascular and smooth muscle pharmacology: 2021

Despite significant advances in basic, translational, and clinical research tackling heart disease, cardiovascular pathologies remain among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide, being responsible for one-third of global deaths as estimated by the WHO (Organization, 2021). The complexity of risk factors and pathways underlying the development of cardiovascular disorders (CVDs) limits the efficacy of a given therapeutic intervention and necessitates combined pharmacological approaches, as well as lifestyle modification to provide a reasonable health impact (Arnett et al., 2019). Be that as it may, there remains a considerable room for scientific inquiry in pursuit of novel and more refined avenues to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, and reverse different forms of cardiovascular ailment, as well as optimize patient management. Indeed, such a need for research in this field was even further emphasized as the world faced heightened health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic with cardiovascular complications being among the most serious consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Wehbe et al., 2020)

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Greenhouse Gas Emission from Cauliflower Grown under Different Nitrogen Rates and Mulches

A field experiment was conducted during the two successive seasons of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 at El-Bosaily farm, El-Behira governorate, Egypt, to study the effect of different nitrogen rates and mulch treatments on plant growth and yield of cauliflower (Brassica oleracia&nbsp;var. botrytis). The study includes three mulch treatments (transparent and black polyethylene sheets, and bare soil as a control) and four N rates 30, 45, 60 and 75 kg/feddan (1 feddan = 4200 m2&nbsp;and hectare = 2.4 feddan) designed in a split plots with three replicates. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of N2O and CO2&nbsp;from N fertilization were calculated for different treatments. Regarding the polyethylene (PE) mulch, data revealed that transparent PE recorded the highest significant values of cauliflower growth characters during the two studied seasons. Increasing N rate up to 60 kg/feddan enhanced cauliflower growth using different polyethylene mulch treatments; yield was not increased significantly with increasing N rate up to 75 kg/feddan. The highest significant cauliflower yield was obtained by using 60 kg N/feddan combined with transparent mulch, while the lowest yield was obtained in case of 30 kg N/feddan combined with bare soil treatment. Chemical analysis of cauliflower leaves at harvest revealed that the percentage of N, P and K increased significantly with increasing N rate up to 75 kg/feddan. Polyethylene mulch treatments increased N, P and K percentages significantly in comparison with bare soil treatment. Moreover, the greenhouse gas emissions (N2O and CO2) from fertilization increased but the emission rates (kg CO2/kg yield) were decreased by increasing N rate due to the highest cauliflower production. The highest yield with low emission was obtained by 60 kg N/feddan. &nbsp

Accuracy and safety of CO2 digital subtraction angiography during endovascular treatment of symptomatic peripheral artery occlusive disease. A prospective study on Egyptian patients

Purpose: To study the efficacy, safety and clinical outcome of carbon dioxide DSA during angioplasty procedures for patients with predominant femoropopliteal segment occlusive lesions, aiming to reduce possible allergic reactions and potential nephrotoxicity. Materials and methods: The study included eighteen Egyptian patients in a prospective manner, with evidence of predominant femoropopliteal arterial occlusive disease by Duplex study. All the selected patients had borderline renal functions with serum creatinine levels between 1.5 mg/dL and 2 mg/dL. Every patient was scheduled for a percutaneous endovascular therapy during which CO2 DSA and small volume injections of ICM DSA of the diseased segment and distal arterial tree were done. We analyzed our results emphasizing the technical success, CO2 DSA related complications, allergic reactions and intolerance. We also correlated the amount of contrast injected with the serum creatinine levels as well as the degree of opacification of the diseased segment. Results: We were able to achieve technical success in 88% of our cases except in two patients who had TASC D lesions. The average fluoroscopy time in our study was about 100 min. There were no CO2 related complications or allergic reactions. Five patients were intolerant to CO2 injection related pains and repeated injections were performed with smaller volumes. The injected mean volume of CO2 was 76.1 mL while the mean volume of ICM used per patient was 24 mL. Most patients showed non-significant rise of serum creatinine levels at both samples. Moreover, the results of the “Good” score & the “Fair” score for the CO2 DSA image quality plotted by the interobserver agreement was about 40% & 33% respectively from the total number of patients included in the study. Conclusion: CO2 DSA is a non-nephrotoxic alternative to traditional ICM DSA that could be safely used and well tolerated during endovascular management of lower extremity symptomatic arterial disease. When selectively delivered to the femoropopliteal segment, CO2 provides superior quality images that would cancel or markedly reduce the ICM volume required for prompt visualization and decision making during the revascularization procedure. Keywords: Carbon dioxide, Digital subtraction angiography, Iodinated contrast material, Nephrotoxicity, Peripheral vascular occlusive diseas

Accuracy Assessment of Low-Cost Lidar Scanners: An Analysis of the Velodyne HDL&ndash;32E and Livox Mid&ndash;40&rsquo;s Temporal Stability

Identifying and mitigating sources of measurement error is a critical task in geomatics research and the geospatial industry as a whole. In pursuit of such error, accuracy assessments of lidar data have revealed a range bias in low-cost scanners. This phenomenon is a temporally correlated instability in the lidar scanner where the measured distance between target and sensor changes over time while both are held stationary. This research presents an assessment of two low-cost lidar scanners, the Velodyne&reg; HDL&ndash;32E and Livox&reg; Mid&ndash;40, in which their temporal stability is analyzed and methods to mitigate systematic error are implemented. By immobilizing each scanner as it observes a stationary target surface over the course of multiple hours, trends in scanner precision are identified. Scanner accuracy is then determined using a terrestrial lidar scanner, the Riegl&reg; VZ-400, to observe both subject scanner and target, and extracting the distances between scanner origin and observed surface. Patterns identified in each scanner&rsquo;s distance measurements indicate temporal autocorrelation, and, by exploiting the high linear correlation between scanner internal temperature and measured distance in the HDL&ndash;32E, it is possible to mitigate the resulting error. Application of the proposed solution lowers the Velodyne&reg; scanner&rsquo;s measurement RMSE by over 60%, providing levels of measurement accuracy comparable to more expensive lidar systems