Bond strength of a new Kevlar fiber-reinforced composite post with semi-interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) matrix

This study aimed to evaluate the bond strength and the penetration depth of two adhesive systems to a new experimental semi-IPN fiber post versus a commercial post. Experimental Kevlar fiber (KF) and control everStick®POST (ES) posts (n=20/ group) with a diameter of 1.5 mm were used, 10 posts coated with StickResin (SR) and the other 10 posts coated with Scotch bond multipurpose (SBMP) adhesives. Composite resin buildup was performed over each post, using a cylindrical plastic mold (10 mm × 6 mm). Four discs of 2 mm thickness were prepared from each post/composite buildup and underwent pushout bond strength test at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min accompanied by failure mode analysis. A further three specimens from each subgroup were bonded with adhesives labeled with 0.1 wt% Rhodamine B and embedded in acrylic resin, sectioned and examined under a confocal Laser-scanning microscope (CLSM) to measure the depth of resin penetration. Statistical analysis included ANOVA and Tukey test, the significance level was assumed at a p-value less than 0.05. The push-out bond strength of KF was comparable to that of ES with both SBMP and SR adhesives (P >0.05). Bond strength value for SBMP was higher than SR adhesive in either ES and KF posts with no significant difference (P > 0.05). ES exhibited higher adhesive penetration depth compared with KF (p<0.05). The bond strength of Kevlar post was comparable with the everStick post and the semi-interpenetrating structure of Kevlar post displayed some adhesive monomers diffusion indicating its usefulness as a new intracanal post

Pink1 type of Early Onset Parkinson’s disease(EOPD)in Sudanese patients, 2018

Background: Parkinson’sDisease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor system. It is a chronic progressive disorder which leads to long standing disability. Objective: To study the Presentations and pink1 gene in young Sudanese patients with Parkinson’s disease . Material and Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 31 PD patients at the National center for Neurological Science (NCNS) at Khartoum state. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Consisted of personal data, clinical presentations and investigations. RT-PCR technique using G-spin™ kit.&nbsp; PINK1 gene was detected in most of the samples it was strongly positive. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results:. The majority of them 19 (61%) were located in age group 41 – 50 years; the mean age of onset was 33.4+_12 yrs. &nbsp;19 (61%) of the subjects were males and 12 (39%) were female with ratio 1.6:1 (M: F),&nbsp; 20 (64.5%) were married. , 8 (40%) were endogamous married.&nbsp; 5 (62.5%) were second degree and 3 (37.5%) were third degree.&nbsp; 17 (85%) had children, 2 (10%) of the patient had children with Parkinson’s disease. 22 (71%) had duration more than 12 months, 12 (39%) age more than 40 years.&nbsp; 29 (93.5%) had tremor, 27 (87.1%) had rigidity and 23 (74.2%) had bradykinesia. 14 (45%) had positive family history of Parkinson’s disease. PINK1 gene expression was detected in 28 (90.3%) of the patients. no significant associations were found between PINK1 expression with age, gender, age at onset and family history (P&gt; 0.05). Conclusion: This study concludes that early onset PD was common among male than female. The most affected age group was found to be 41 – 50 years and the mean age of onset 33.4yrs. Also, the patterns of the clinical features were generally similar to literature. PINK1 expression was predominant with no significant associations were found between PINK1 expression with age, gender, age at onset and family history. &nbsp; Key words: , Early onset,, Parkinson’s disease, Pink1 gene, Sudan

Green Human Resource Management Practices Among Palestinian Manufacturing Firms- An Exploratory Study

Organizations are increasingly finding it challenging to balance economic and environmental performance particularly those that face competitive, regulatory and community pressure. With the increasing pressures for environmental sustainability, this calls for the new formulation of strategies by the manufacturers in order to minimize their products and services negative impact on the environment. Hence, Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) continues to be an important research agenda among the researchers. In Palestine, green issues are new and still developing. Constant study is needed to fully understand and update information regarding this area. Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the views and level of acceptance of GHRM practices among manufacturing firms in Palestine. Results: Through the use of e-mail survey, 121 responses were obtained to generate the results of the study. The result showed GHRM practices have been practiced to somewhat to a greater extent a firms in Palestine. Findings can be extended to study on the issues in further. Academicians and practitioners can apply this result to their research and business strategies on how to improve sustainable performance and to effectively implement GHRM practices

Dynamic Hardy type inequalities via alpha-conformable derivatives on time scales

We prove new Hardy-type $\alpha$-conformable dynamic inequalities on time scales. Our results are proved by using Keller's chain rule, the integration by parts formula, and the dynamic H\"{o}lder inequality on time scales. When $\alpha=1$, then we obtain some well-known time-scale inequalities due to Hardy. As special cases, we obtain new continuous, discrete, and quantum inequalities.Comment: 27 page

SubmergeStyleGAN:Synthetic Underwater Data Generation with Style Transfer for Domain Adaptation

Underwater computer vision applications are challenged by limited access to annotated underwater datasets. Additionally, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on in-air datasets do not perform well underwater due to the high domain variance caused by the degradation impact of the water column. This paper proposes an air-to-water dataset generator to create visually plausible underwater scenes out of existing in-air datasets. SubmergeStyleGAN, a generative adversarial network (GAN) designed to model attenuation, backscattering, and absorption, utilizes depth maps to apply range-dependent attenuation style transfer. In this work, the generated attenuated images and their corresponding original pairs are used to train an underwater image enhancement CNN. Real underwater datasets were used to validate the proposed approach by assessing various image quality metrics, including UCIQE, UIQM and CCF, as well as disparity estimation accuracy before and after enhancement. SubmergeStyleGAN exhibits a faster and more robust training procedure compared to existing methods in the literature

Intensivist-based deep sedation using propofol for pediatric outpatient flexible bronchoscopy

AIM To evaluate the safety and efficacy of sedating pediatric patients for outpatient flexible bronchoscopy. METHODS A retrospective chart review was conducted for all children, age 17 years or under who underwent flexible bronchoscopy under deep sedation in an outpatient hospital-based setting. Two sedation regimens were used; propofol only or ketamine prior to propofol. Patients were divided into three age groups; infants (less than 12 mo), toddlers (1-3 years) and children (4-17 years). Demographics, indication for bronchoscopy, sedative dosing, sedation and recovery time and adverse events were reviewed. RESULTS Of the total 458 bronchoscopies performed, propofol only regimen was used in 337 (74%) while propofol and ketamine was used in 121 (26%). About 99% of the procedures were successfully completed. Children in the propofol + ketamine group tend to be younger and have lower weight compared to the propofol only group. Adverse events including transient hypoxemia and hypotension occurred in 8% and 24% respectively. Median procedure time was 10 min while the median discharge time was 35 min. There were no differences in the indication of the procedure, propofol dose, procedure or recovery time in either sedative regimen. When compared to other age groups, infants had a higher incidence of hypoxemia. CONCLUSION Children can be effectively sedated for outpatient flexible bronchoscopy with high rate of success. This procedure should be performed under vigilance of highly trained providers

Effects of liraglutide on weight control and blood pressure in type 2 diabetes mellitus Iraqi patients

Abstract  Background: Diabetes mellitus is the most common endocrine illness, affecting an increasing number of people all over the world. It is caused by a lack, or inadequate synthesis of insulin by the pancreas leading to an increase in blood glucose concentrations. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the most strongly linked disease to obesity of all disorders. The number of obesity-related diabetes is predicted to reach 300 million by 2025. The term 'diabesity' was coined as a result of this strong link, therefore, weight loss is seen as a key therapeutic goal in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Liraglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist that stimulates insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner. Also, it has weight-losing benefits which is assumed to be due to appetite suppression and delayed gastric emptying.    Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of Liraglutide on weight management, body mass index, renal function and blood pressure in type 2 diabetic mellitus obese patients in Iraq. Methods: An open-label therapeutic trial was conducted from November 2021 to June 2022 at Baquba Teaching Hospital/ Diyala. (23 males and 27 females) with Type 2 Diabetes mellitus for 2 - 4 years were included in the study. They were obese, hypertensive and dyslipidemic. They received metformin and liraglutide for 12 weeks as 0.6 mg/day during the first week, which was gradually increased to 1.2 mg and up to 1.8 mg/day according to patient tolerance and requirement for control at the beginning the study. The patients had their height as well as body weight measured, calculated, blood pressure measured and renal functions tested. The statistical analysis was performed using SAS (Statistical Analysis System - version 9.1). Two-way ANOVA and Least significant differences (LSD) post hoc test were performed as well as paired t-test. P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Treatment with liraglutide for 12 weeks has resulted in a significant decrease in body weight, BMI, and blood pressure (P<0.05). The changes in the results of renal function test of liraglutide-treated patients were not significant. Conclusion: In obese type 2 diabetic patients, liraglutide has the potential of reducing body weight, body mass index and blood pressure. It seemed safe in terms of its systemic effects        

MALAT1 Gene Expression in Diabetic Patients with or without Nephropathy

Background: One of the main causes of end-stage renal disease worldwide is diabetic nephropathy, a catastrophic microvascular sequel of diabetes. The pathophysiology of DN must thus be urgently investigated in order to develop appropriate remedies. MALAT1 (Metastasis Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1) is anticipated to be a novel target for the detection and therapy of diabetic nephropathy. Objectives: This research primarily sought to verify the expression of the circulating lncRNA MALAT1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of diabetic patients, diabetic nephropathy, and healthy controls and assess it's relation to disease related criteria Patients and methods: 50 diabetic volunteers in this trial sought medical attention at the Outpatient Clinic of Endocrinology & DM at Sohag University Hospital, between January2022 and June 2022 and compare them with 25 apparently healthy persons. The expression of the lncRNA Malat1 was measured using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in 25 people with diabetes, 25 people with DKD, and 25 healthy controls. The clinical relevance of the observations was then assessed. Results: As compared to control, LncRNA MALAT1 expression in peripheral blood was substantially higher in the diabetics and DKD groups. Spearman correlation showing significant correlation between RQ and duration of DM as P<0.05, also showing significant correlation between RQ and A/C ratio as P<0.05, there was positive moderate correlation between RQ and HBA1C and showing significant negative correlation between RQ and eGFR as P<0.05. Conclusion: The best technique to identify diabetic nephropathy may be to combine the detection of urine ACR, serum creatinine, and eGFR with diabetes mellitus. LncRNA Malat1 is substantially expressed in DKD patients compared to diabetics and an apparently healthy group

Past, Present, and Future Perspectives on the Systemic Therapy for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) — A Comprehensive Review

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality, and the first leading cause of death in patients with cirrhosis. Management of primary locally advanced, inoperable, recurrent or metastatic HCC is very challenging and continues to be a topic of controversy. Herein, we shed light on the past, present, and future perspectives on the systemic therapy (hormonal therapy, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and novel molecularly targeted therapy) for management of patients with advanced HCC

Deep CNN-LSTM With Self-Attention Model for Human Activity Recognition Using Wearable Sensor

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) systems are devised for continuously observing human behavior - primarily in the fields of environmental compatibility, sports injury detection, senior care, rehabilitation, entertainment, and the surveillance in intelligent home settings. Inertial sensors, e.g., accelerometers, linear acceleration, and gyroscopes are frequently employed for this purpose, which are now compacted into smart devices, e.g., smartphones. Since the use of smartphones is so widespread now-a-days, activity data acquisition for the HAR systems is a pressing need. In this article, we have conducted the smartphone sensor-based raw data collection, namely H-Activity , using an Android-OS-based application for accelerometer, gyroscope, and linear acceleration. Furthermore, a hybrid deep learning model is proposed, coupling convolutional neural network and long-short term memory network (CNN-LSTM), empowered by the self-attention algorithm to enhance the predictive capabilities of the system. In addition to our collected dataset ( H-Activity ), the model has been evaluated with some benchmark datasets, e.g., MHEALTH, and UCI-HAR to demonstrate the comparative performance of our model. When compared to other models, the proposed model has an accuracy of 99.93% using our collected H-Activity data, and 98.76% and 93.11% using data from MHEALTH and UCI-HAR databases respectively, indicating its efficacy in recognizing human activity recognition. We hope that our developed model could be applicable in the clinical settings and collected data could be useful for further research.publishedVersio