Colon-specific delivery of 5-fluorouracil from zinc pectinate spheroids through in situ intra-capsular ethylcellulose- pectin plug formation / Assad Ali Faraj Elyagoby

Conventional fluid-bed and immersion film coating of hydrophilic zinc pectinate spheroids using ethylcellulose-pectin mixture is met with fast drug release due to hydrophobic ethylcellulose coat detachment. This study explored in situ intra-capsular spheroid coating for colon-specific delivery of 5-fluorouracil. The solid coating powder was constituted of ethylcellulose and pectin in weight ratios of 11:0 to 2:9. Its weight ratio to spheroids was varied between 2:3 and 3:2. Delayed 5-fluorouracil release was obtained when the weight ratio of ethylcellulose and pectin in coating powder was kept at 8:3, and weight ratio of solid coating powder to spheroids was kept at 3:2 with particle size of ethylcellulose reduced to 22 μm

Short Spinous Process of Cervical Vertebrae in a Sudanese Subject: A Case Report

Introduction: The spinous process is part of the vertebrae and provides muscle attachment for some muscles and ligaments. They are important landmarks and play a role in screw placement during surgical intervention. This report describes a case of a Sudanese with a short cervical spinous process and draws attention to the possibility of anatomical variations in general and the shortage of cervical spinous processes specifically. Case Report: A 70-year-old Sudanese male presented to the emergency department following a road traffic accident. After standard management and patient stabilization, the X-ray showed that the spinous processes of C 3, 4, and 5 cervical vertebrae were short, and those of C 6 and 7 have abnormal anatomy. The inter-spinous distances were well-maintained. The joints and articulations processes of cervical vertebrae were normal without cortication. The patient was stable and admitted for 24 hr for observation and then discharged on analgesics. Conclusion: This is the first case report of the short spinous process among Sudanese. Some of the cervical spinous processes were short, and others had abnormal anatomy. No obvious manifestations were linked to the case. Discussion of anatomical variations should be carried out and implemented with care and in line with the normal and latest developments in biological, anthropology, forensic, and related sciences. Such anatomical abnormality should be considered during radiographing, preparation, and surgical intervention planning. The normal adaption resulting from congenital abnormality or variation can be used as a method for reconstruction surgeries and provides alternatives to clinical management

Structure métaphorique des affects en français et en arabe dialectal syrien : projet d'un dictionnaire conceptuel français-syrien

Cet article qui s'inscrit dans une approche cognitive se propose d'effectuer une étude comparative des métaphores conceptuelles  exprimant la joie, le bonheur, l'amour, la peur et, plus particulièrement, la colère en français et en arabe syrien. L'analyse de ces affects décèle la manière dont les Français organisent, par les réseaux conceptuels métaphoriques et métonymiques,  leur saisie symbolique du monde. La justification de cette recherche est dictée par le fait que les dictionnaires bilingues français-arabe, adoptant l'arabe littéraire,  escamotent les concepts qui structurent beaucoup d'expressions figurées. Cependant, le recours à l'arabe syrien est susceptible de jeter la lumière sur ces concepts et de dévoiler non seulement ce qui est propre à la langue française, à savoir l'idiomacité de cette langue, mais aussi ce que cette langue peut partager avec le dialecte syrien. Par conséquent, cette recherche est le  noyau qui constitue le fondement d'un dictionnaire conceptuel français-syrien qui révélerait  la structure profonde des  concepts figurés  en français.

Study the Influence of Gas Pressure on the Tensile Behavior of TIG Stainless Steel Sheets

يمثل عمل هذا البحث دراسة تأثير استخدام ضغوط مختلفة لغاز الاركون على سلوك الشد لصفائح الفولاذ المقاوم للصدأ نوع (304) الملحومة بغاز التنجستن الخامل. استخدمت مديات مختلفة من ضغوط الغاز (13-15)كغم قوة/سم2وتيارات لحام (80-100) أمبيرلأيجاد تاثيراتها على خواص الشد الميكانيكية (0.2% اجهاد الخضوع، اجهاد الشد الاقصى والاستطالة) لوصلاتاللحام التناكبية.تم استخدام برنامج تصميم التجارب(DOE) (نسخة 10) لعمل مصفوفة التجارب. تم تطبيق منهجية الاستجابة السطحية (RSM) لأيجاد النماذج الرقمية للخواص الثلاثة والتي تم تحليلها بأستخدام تحليل التباين (ANOVA) للتحقق احصائيا" من ملائمة النماذج الناتجة. اظهرت النماذج التربيعية المستحصلة بمستوى ثقة (95%) بأن الزيادة في كل من ضغط الغاز والتيار بشكل منفصل ادت الى زيادة عالية في اجهاد الخضوع والاستطالة وكلاهما تناسب عكسيا"، بينما اعطى التأثير المشترك لهما القيم الادنى. كان لضغط الغاز تأثيرا كبيرا" على اجهاد الشد الاقصى من التيار.This research work represents the study of the effect of using different gas pressures of argon on the tensile behavior of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welded stainless steel sheets type (304). Different ranges of gas pressures (13-15 Kgf/cm2)and welding currents (80-100 Apm) were used to determine their influenceon the tensile mechanical properties (0.2% yield stress, ultimate tensile stress and elongation) of butt welded joints.Design of experiment (DOE) ‘version 10’ was used to establish the design matrix of experiments. Response surface methodology (RSM) technique was employed to obtain mathematical models for the three properties, which were analyzed by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to verify statistically the adequacy of the resulted models. The resultant quadratic models with a confidence level of 95% revealed thatthe increase in both gas pressure and currentindividually results in a higher increase in the yield stress and elongation,and both were proportionated inversely,while their combined effect gave the lowest values.The gas pressure had a greater impact on the ultimate tensile stress than current. After numerical optimization, the maximum values of the mechanical properties were obtained with a maximum desirability value at the optimum values of gas pressure and current. Finally, confirmation tests were conducted at the optimum values of gas pressure and current to verify the validation of the maximum values of properties, and the error wasfound less than (4%) between the experimental and predicted results

Item Analysis: Concept and Application

In the field of medical education, Item analysis is a statistical analysis of student’s responses on exam items and the relationship between them. It provides constructive feedback about items quality, increases the effectiveness of the exam, and supports exam validity and reliability. The decision of adding or removing an item should depends mainly on the result of the item analysis. The feedback of item analysis can support modification of instruction methods. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of item analysis (psychometric analysis) and also can be used as methodological guidance to perform an informative analysis. The chapter discusses item analysis under the following headings, importance of item analysis, factors affecting item analysis, parameters of item analysis and application. The parameters of item analysis includes the indices of the internal consistency, difficulty, discrimination, and distractor analysis

Requirement Validation for Embedded Systems in Automotive Industry Through Modeling

Requirement validation contributes significantly toward the success of software projects. Validating requirements is also essential to ensure the correctness of embedded systems in the auto industry. The auto industry emphasizes a lot on the verification of car designs and shapes. Invalid or erroneous requirements lead to inappropriate designs and degraded product quality. Considering the required expertise and time for requirement validation, significant attention is not devoted to verification and validation of requirements in the industry. Currently, the failure ratio of software projects is significantly higher and the key reason for that appears to be the inappropriate and invalidated requirements at the early stages in the projects. To that end, we propose a model-based approach that uses the existing V&V model. Through virtual prototyping, the proposed approach eliminates the need to validate the requirements after each stage of the project. Consequently, the model is validated after the design phase and the errors in requirements are detected at the earliest stage. In this research, we performed two different case studies for requirement validation in the auto industry by using a modeling-based approach and formal technique using Petri nets. A benefit of the proposed modeling-based approach is that the projects in the auto industry domain can be completed in less time due to effective requirements validation. Moreover, the modeling-based approach minimizes the development time, cost and increases productivity because the majority of the code is automatically generated using the approach

A case of orbital apex syndrome in a patient with malignant otitis externa

Abstract A rare case of skull base infection with a rapid clinical course leading to visual loss and eventually death in a poorly-controlled diabetic patient is presented. A 37-year-old woman presented with a history of visual loss and painful protrusion of the right eye for the preceding 3 days.This was accompanied by vertigo and right-side facial weakness. The patient had perception of light in her right eye and 20/25 (presenting visual acuity) in the fellow eye, accompanied by right-side proptosis, total ophthalmoplegia, optic disc pallor and central retinal artery occlusion. Magnetic resonance imaging showed the presence of oedema with soft-tissue thickening in the right external auditory canal along with evidence of fluid within the middle ear cavity and mastoid air cells on the right side. A diagnosis of Orbital Apex Syndrome was made and treatment initiated

Ocular manifestation, complications and aetiological factors in Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To describe the ocular manifestations of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrosis among inpatients at a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: The retrospective observational descriptive study was carried out at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised data on age, gender, aetiology and ocular findings related to patients diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/ToxicEpidermal Necrosis between January 2000 and December 2011. SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 87 patients; 48(55.2%) of them being males.The overall mean age was 33.2±22.2 years, ranging from 1 month to 84 years. The most common aetiology was idiopathic 20(23%) followed by non-steroidal inflammatory drugs and anti-epileptics 11(12.6%) each. Besides, 84(96.6%) patients had oral mucosal involvement whereas 45(51.7%) had ocular and 27(31.0%) had genital-mucosal involvement. Glassroding was performed in 16(18.4%) patients due to minor conjunctival adhesions. CONCLUSION: Ocular manifestations of varying severity were frequent, with drugs being the most common aetiolog

Design of a CSK-CDMA Based Indoor Visible Light Communication Transceiver using Raspberry Pi and LabVIEW

Visible Light Communication (VLC) has drastically drawn the attention of both academia and industry as it can offer simultaneous lighting and data communication in an indoor environment. Additionally, VLC also tender a viable means to assuage the radio spectrum crunch. However, the data rate of the VLC system is choked because of the limited modulation bandwidth of Light Emitting Diode (LED), baseband modules, and intersymbol interference (ISI). In this article, an indoor VLC based software-defined radio (SDR) is designed and implemented that make use of Color Shift Keying (CSK) modulation, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technique, and Raspberry Pi (RPi) to enabled the ISI free high data rate communication. The SDR is designed in LabVIEW software interfaced with the MATLAB and tested for text transmission. Numerous experiments were conducted on SDR at different alignments of transmitter and receiver. Our findings through experimentation showed that the SDR delivers an improved data rate of 2.645Mbps. Over and above, MATLAB based simulation packages are also conceived that validate the effectiveness of the proposed CSK-CDMA based VLC system. The bit-error-rate (BER) results of the proposed system are compared with the traditional CSK-OOK based VLC system. The results are quite impressive and show remarkable coding gain