Diagnosis of COVID-19 from X-rays Using Recurrent Neural Network

Nearly two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused drastic changes in many aspects of life at many levels in the world, and this has affected peoples lifestyles. This impact was particularly significant and impactful on the health sectors, among many others. The COVID-19 virus has essentially increased the demand for treatment, diagnosis and testing. The definitive test for diagnosing COVID-19 is reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); nevertheless, chest x-ray is a quick, effective and inexpensive diagnosis to detect possible pneumonia associated with COVID-19. In this study, the feasibility of using a deep learning-based Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) classifier to detect COVID-19 from CXR images is investigated. The proposed classifier consists of an RNN, trained by a deep learning model. The RNN identifies abnormal images that contain signs of COVID-19. The experiment used in the study employed 286 COVID-19 samples from the Kaggle Repository. The proposed technique is compared with the decision tree algorithm in order to prove the efficiency of the proposed one. The results revealed that the accuracy of the RNN was 97.90%, with a low data loss rate of 2.10%, while the decision tree accuracy was 75.8741%, and a relatively high data loss rate of 24.1259%. These results support the usefulness of the proposed deep learning-based RNN classifier in pre-screening patients for triage and decision-making before RT-PCR data are available

Physical, structural, and gamma ray shielding studies on novel (35+x) PbO-5TeO2-20Bi2O3-(20-x) MgO-20B2O3 glasses

The primary aim of this investigation is to synthesize a novel glass system with a composition (35+x) PbO-5TeO2-20Bi2O3-(20-x) MgO-20B2O3 (where x=0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mol%) by melt quenching method. The confirmation of the amorphous behavior and the presence of the various vibration modes and stretching modes have been analyzed using the XRD and FTIR techniques, respectively. The radiation shielding parameters of these glasses were reported using MCNP5 simulation. The effects of PbO on the MCNP5 parameters were investigated in detail. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) was simulated via MCNP5 code, and it was found that the MAC values from MCNP5 all follow the same trend as the XCOM data. The similarity means that the two simulations strongly agree with each other. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) was calculated for all the glasses. The glass sample with 55 mol% of the PbO has the greatest LAC at any energy, such as 0.317 at 10 MeV, the lowest investigated energy. From the LAC values, other parameters such as transmission factor (TF), lead equivalent thickness (dlead), and half-value layer (HVL) were reported. The results for the TF of the glasses revealed that the glass systems become more effective as their thickness increases. Glass sample with 35 mol % of the PbO recorded the highest TF at all energies due to its lack of PbO content, such as 15.533% for a thickness of 1 cm and 6.122% for 1.5-cm thickness at 0.3 MeV. The radiation protection efficiency (RPE) was also determined, and we found that the glasses with the greater PbO content and least MgO content have the highest RPE. Therefore, based on the RPE values, glasses with the greater PbO are the most effective radiation shield from the investigated glasses. © 2021, Australian Ceramic Society.This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-Track Research Funding Program

The Role of La2O3 in Enhancement the Radiation Shielding Efficiency of the Tellurite Glasses: Monte‐Carlo Simulation and Theoretical Study

The radiation shielding competence was examined for a binary glass system xLa2O3 + (1 − x) TeO2 where x = 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 mol% using MCNP‐5 code. The linear attenuation coefficients (LACs) of the glasses were evaluated, and it was found that LT20 glass has the greatest LAC, while LT5 had the least LAC. The transmission factor (TF) of the glasses was evaluated against thicknesses at various selected energies and was observed to greatly decrease with increasing thickness; for example, at 1.332 MeV, the TF of the LT5 glass decreased from 0.76 to 0.25 as the thickness increased from 1 to 5 cm. The equivalent atomic number (Zeq) of the glasses gradually increased with increasing photon energy above 0.1 MeV, with the maximum values observed at around 1 MeV. The buildup factors were determined to evaluate the accumulation of photon flux, and it was found that the maximum values for both can be seen at around 0.8 MeV. This research concluded that LT20 has the greatest potential in radiation shielding applications out of the investigated glasses due to the glass having the most desirable parameters. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast‐track Research Funding Program to support publication in the top journal (Grant No. 42‐FTTJ‐77)

Structural and Magnetic Phase Transitions in BiFe1−x_{1−x}Mnx_xO3_3 Solid Solution Driven by Temperature

The crystal structure and magnetic state of the (1 − x)BiFeO$_3$-(x)BiMnO$_3$ solid solution has been analyzed by X-ray diffraction using lab-based and synchrotron radiation facilities, magnetization measurements, differential thermal analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. Dopant concentration increases lead to the room-temperature structural transitions from the polar-active rhombohedral phase to the antipolar orthorhombic phase, and then to the monoclinic phase accompanied by the formation of two-phase regions consisting of the adjacent structural phases in the concentration ranges 0.25 < x$_1$ < 0.30 and 0.50 ≤ x$_2$ < 0.65, respectively. The accompanied changes in the magnetic structure refer to the magnetic transitions from the modulated antiferromagnetic structure to the non-colinear antiferromagnetic structure, and then to the orbitally ordered ferromagnetic structure. The compounds with a two-phase structural state at room temperature are characterized by irreversible temperature-driven structural transitions, which favor the stabilization of high-temperature structural phases. The magnetic structure of the compounds also exhibits an irreversible temperature-induced transition, resulting in an increase of the contribution from the magnetic phase associated with the high-temperature structural phase. The relationship between the structural parameters and the magnetic state of the compounds with a metastable structure is studied and discussed depending on the chemical composition and heating prehistory

Influence of Li2O Incrementation on Mechanical and Gamma-Ray Shielding Characteristics of a TeO2-As2O3-B2O3 Glass System

According to the Makishema–Mackenzie model assumption, the dissociation energy and packing density for a quaternary TeO2-As2O3-B2O3-Li2O glass system were evaluated. The dissociation energy rose from 67.07 to 71.85 kJ/cm3, whereas the packing factor decreased from 16.55 to 15.21 cm3/mol associated with the replacement of TeO2 by LiO2 compounds. Thus, as a result, the elastic moduli (longitudinal, shear, Young, and bulk) were enhanced by increasing the LiO2 insertion. Based on the estimated elastic moduli, mechanical properties such as the Poisson ratio, microhard-ness, longitudinal velocity, shear velocity, and softening temperature were evaluated for the investigated glass samples. In order to evaluate the studied glasses’ gamma-ray shield capacity, the MCNP-5 code, as well as a theoretical Phy-X/PSD program, were applied. The best shielding capacity was achieved for the glass system containing 25 mol% of TeO2, while the lowest ability was obtained for the glass sample with a TeO2 concentration of 5 mol%. Furthermore, a correlation between the studied glasses’ microhardness and linear attenuation coefficient was performed versus the LiO2 concentration to select the glass sample which possesses a suitable mechanical and shielding capacity. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding Program to support publication in a top journal (Grant no. 42-FTTJ-67)

A novel barium oxide-based Iraqi sand glass to attenuate the low gamma-ray energies: Fabrication, mechanical, and radiation protection capacity evaluation

In the present work, untreated Iraqi sand with grain sizes varied between 100 and 200 μm was used to produce a colored glass sample that has shielding features against the low gamma-ray energy. Therefore, a weight of 70–60 wt % sand was mixed with 9–14 wt% B2O3, 8–10 wt% Na2O, 4–6 wt% of CaO, 3–6 wt% Al2O3, in addition to 0.3% of Co2O3. After melting and annealing the glass sample, the X-ray diffraction spectrometry was applied to affirm the amorphous phase of the fabricated glass samples. Moreover, the X-ray dispersive energy spectrometry was used to measure the chemical composition, and the MH-300A densimeter was applied to measure the fabricated sample's density. The Makishima-Makinzie model was applied to predict the mechanical properties of the fabricated glass. Besides, the Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the fabricated glass sample's radiation shielding capacity in the low-energy region between 22.1 and 160.6 keV. Therefore, the simulated linear attenuation coefficient changed between 10.725 and 0.484 cm−1, raising the gamma-ray energy between 22.1 and 160.6 keV. Also, other shielding parameters such as a half-value layer, pure lead equivalent thickness, and buildup factors were calculated. © 2022 Korean Nuclear SocietyPrincess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, PNU: PNURSP2022R28The authors express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R28), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Influence of heavy metal oxides to the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of borate and silica glass system

Six borate and silica glasses with varying compositions were investigated for their mechanical and radiation shielding viability. Makishima-Mackenzie elastic model was utilized to study the elastic properties of the investigated glasses. The obtained results illustrated that PbO and Bi2O3 oxides reduced the glass samples' mechanical properties. For instance, the bulks' model decreased between 68.15 and 44.10 GPa, the shear model also followed the same trend and decreased from 31.95 to 23.33 GPa, reducing the PbO and Bi2O3 ratios in the studied glass samples. Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP-5) was utilized to evaluate the investigated glasses' shielding capacity. The obtained results depict that the highest linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) occurred at 0.356 MeV; it takes values 0.618, 1.024, 1.161, 1.271, 1.963, and 2.071 cm-1 for G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, and G6. Based on the simulated values of LAC, other shielding properties such as transmission rate (TR), radiation protection efficiency (RPE), half-value layer (HVL) were evaluated. The calculated results illustrated that the shielding properties enhanced with Bi2O3 and PbO insertion ratios. © 2021 The Author(s)

Natural Radionuclide Levels and Radiological Hazards of Khour Abalea Mineralized Pegmatites, Southeastern Desert, Egypt

Arranged from oldest to youngest, the main granitic rock units exposed in Khour Abalea are metagabbros, cataclastic rocks, ophiolitic melange, granitic rocks, pegmatite and lamprophyre dykes. The presence of radioactivity associated with the heavy bearing minerals in construction materials—like granite—increased interest in the extraction process. As it turns out, granitic rocks play an important economic part in the examination of an area’s surroundings. The radionuclide content is measured by using an NaI (Tl)-detector. In the mineralized pegmatites, U (326 to 2667 ppm), Th (562 to 4010 ppm), RaeU (495 to 1544 ppm) and K (1.38 to 9.12%) ranged considerably with an average of 1700 ppm, 2881.86 ppm, 1171.82 ppm and 5.04%, respectively. Relationships among radioelements clarify that radioactive mineralization in the studied pegmatites is magmatic and hydrothermal. A positive equilibrium condition confirms uranium addition to the studied rocks. This study determined226Ra,232Th and40K activity concentrations in pegmatites samples and assessed the radiological risks associated with these rocks. The activity concentrations of226Ra (13,176 ± 4394 Bq kg−1 ),232Th (11,883 ± 5644 Bq kg−1 ) and40K (1573 ± 607 Bq kg−1 ) in pegmatites samples (P) are greater than the global average. The high activity of the mineralized pegmatite is mainly attributed to the presence of uranium mineral (autunite), uranophane, kasolite and carnotite, thorium minerals (thorite, thorianite and uranothorite) as well as accessories minerals—such as zircon and monazite. To assess the dangerous effects of pegmatites in the studied area, various radiological hazard factors (external, internal hazard indices, radium equivalent activity and annual effective dose) are estimated. The investigated samples almost surpassed the recommended allowable thresholds for all of the environmental factors. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).The authors express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R111), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cetylpyridinium Bromide/Polyvinyl Chloride for Substantially Efficient Capture of Rare Earth Elements from Chloride Solution

A new sorbent cetylpyridinium bromide/polyvinylchloride (CPB/PVC) was prepared and tested to extract rare earth elements (REEs) from their chloride solutions. It was identified by FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX, and XRD. The impact of various factors such as pH, RE ion initial concentration, contacting time, and dose amount via sorption process was inspected. The optimum pH was 6.0, and the equilibrium contact time was reached at 60 min at 25 °C. The prepared adsorbent (CPB/PVC) uptake capacity was 182.6 mg/g. The adsorption of RE ions onto the CPB/PVC sorbent was found to fit the Langmuir isotherm as well as pseudo-second-order models well. In addition, the thermodynamic parameters of RE ion sorption were found to be exothermic and spontaneous. The desorption of RE ions from the loaded CPB/PVC sorbent was investigated. It was observed that the optimum desorption was achieved at 1.0 M HCl for 60 min contact time at ambient room temperature and a 1:60 solid: liquid phase ratio (S:L). As a result, the prepared CPB/PVC sorbent was recognized as a competitor sorbent for REEs. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.The authors express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R13), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Chitosan Functionalized with Carboxyl Groups as a Recyclable Biomaterial for the Adsorption of Cu (II) and Zn (II) Ions in Aqueous Media

The modification of chitosan represents a challenging task in obtaining biopolymeric materials with enhanced removal capacity for heavy metals. In the present work, the adsorption characteristics of chitosan modified with carboxyl groups (CTS-CAA) towards copper (II) and zinc (II) ions have been tested. The efficacy of the synthesis of CTS-CAA has been evaluated by studying various properties of the modified chitosan. Specifically, the functionalized chitosan has been characterized by using several techniques, including thermal analyses (differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry), spectroscopies (FT-IR, XRD), elemental analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The kinetics and the adsorption isotherms of CTS-CAA towards both Cu (II) and Zn (II) have been determined in the aqueous solvent under variable pH. The obtained results have been analyzed by using different adsorption models. In addition, the experiments have been conducted at variable temperatures to explore the thermodynamics of the adsorption process. The regeneration of CTS-CAA has been investigated by studying the desorption process using different eluents. This paper reports an efficient protocol to synthesize chitosan-based material perspective as regenerative adsorbents for heavy metals. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.The authors express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R13), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) grant 18-29-12129mk. The researcher A.M. Abu El-Soad is funded by a scholarship under the Joint Executive program between the Arab Republic of Egypt and Russian Federation