THE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF IL-22 VERSUS PRAZIQUANTEL TREATMENT AGAINST S.MANSONI –INDUCED LIVER FIBROSIS IN MICE

Background/Aim:Praziquantel (PZQ), the primary medication for schistosomiasis treatment, exhibits a potential resistance by the parasite. Therefore, the development of a new effective treatment is obligated. Interleukin-22 (IL-22) has been reported to have a hepatoprotective effect. The current study aimed to compare the effectiveness of IL-22 treatment versus PZQ against S. mansoni - induced liver fibrosis in mice. Materials and Methods: Forty male albino mice were divided into control, infected, IL-22 (0.36 µg/kg),  and PZQ (a single dose of 600 mg/kg) groups. PZQ was administered alone or in combination with IL-22. Inflammatory indicators [tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-17 (IL-17), IL-22, and immunoglobulin E (IgE)], hepatic expressions of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), β-catenin, and miR let-7a gene expressions, and liver granuloma index (GI) were estimated. Results:The present result revealed a significant (P <0.05) reduction in liver GI and the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-α, after the treatment with IL-22. Moreover, the treatment enhanced significantly (P <0.05) let-7a miRNA and STAT3 gene expressions as well as downregulated (P <0.05) β-catenin mRNA, which in turn could reduce fibrosis resulting from S. mansoni infection. On the other hand, PZQ treatment alone or in combination with IL-22 reduced significantly (P <0.05) proinflammatory cytokines and IgE but failed to decrease GI or β-catenin gene expression, which might cause a negative impact on liver fibrosis.  Conclusion:IL-22 could be a potential immunotherapeutic agent for S.mansoni-induced liver fibrosis, compared to PZQ, through activating STAT3 and let-7a downstream signalling pathways and inhibiting β-catenin pathway

Waste Foundry Sand in Concrete Production Instead of Natural River Sand: A Review

[EN] The by-product of the foundry industry is waste foundry sand (WFS). The use of WFS in building materials will safeguard the ecosystem and environmental assets while also durable construction. The use of industrial waste in concrete offsets a shortage of environmental sources, solves the waste dumping trouble and provides another method of protecting the environment. Several researchers have investigated the suitability of WFS in concrete production instead of natural river sand in the last few decades to discover a way out of the trouble of WFS in the foundry region and accomplish its recycling in concrete production. However, a lack of knowledge about the progress of WFS in concrete production is observed and compressive review is required. The current paper examines several properties, such as the physical and chemical composition of WFS, fresh properties, mechanical and durability performance of concrete with partially substituting WFS. The findings from various studies show that replacing WFS up to 30% enhanced the durability and mechanical strength of concrete to some extent, but at the same time reduced the workability of fresh concrete as the replacement level of WFS increased. In addition, this review recommended pozzolanic material or fibre reinforcement in combination with WFS for future research.SIThe research is partially funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation under the strategic academic leadership program ‘Priority 2030′ (Agreement 075-15-2021-1333 dated 30 September 2021)

Concrete with Partial Substitution of Waste Glass and Recycled Concrete Aggregate

[EN] The current practice of concrete is thought to be unsuitable because it consumes large amounts of cement, sand, and aggregate, which causes depletion of natural resources. In this study, a step towards sustainable concrete was made by utilizing recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) as a coarse aggregate. However, researchers show that RCA causes a decrease in the performance of concrete due to porous nature. In this study, waste glass (WG) was used as a filler material that filled the voids between RCA to offset its negative impact on concrete performance. The substitution ratio of WG was 10, 20, or 30% by weight of cement, and RCA was 20, 40, and 60% by weight of coarse aggregate. The slump cone test was used to assess the fresh property, while compressive, split tensile, and punching strength were used to assess the mechanical performance. Test results indicated that the workability of concrete decreased with substitution of WG and RCA while mechanical performance improved up to a certain limit and then decreased due to lack of workability. Furthermore, a statical tool response surface methodology was used to predict various strength properties and optimization of RCA and WG.SIThis research is partially funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation under the strategic academic leadership program “Priority 2030” (Agreement 075-15-2021-1333 dated 30 September 2021)

Developing a dynamic approach to water budgeting for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi: final report

Water demand in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has increased significantly over the last decades. The largest demand sectors are agriculture, forests and parks followed by the residential and government sectors. According to previous studies, the main driving forces are population growth, economic development and changes in lifestyle that have increased the water demand for irrigation, human consumption and industrial processes. Several public policies intensified this water demand. Some of these are the expansion of agriculture with a view to protecting the rural heritage and making Abu Dhabi less dependent on imported food; desert greening policies with a view to providing a habitat for wild animals and stabilizing the sand around roads; development of public parks to enhance the aesthetic value of outdoor spaces; residential and commercial megaprojects with a view to catering for the local population and a growing tourism industry; and industrialization driven by the government’s diversification effort into non-oil industries. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the current state of water sources and demands in Emirate of Abu Dhabi prepared through a rigorous analysis of the data gained from a literature review of published research articles, reports and through discussions during stakeholders’ workshops. Brief description of the developed model and its sensitivity to different inputs and calibration of demands drivers are then presented. The ultimate aim of the developed model is to help inform better management of the scarce water resources by identifying potential reductions in demands from various interventions assuming constant supply for a series of scenarios for the Emirate until 2050. The work reported here involves three stages. First stage involves development of the static baseline for supply and demand of the Abu Dhabi water budget. The second stage involves development of the dynamic water budget including the identification and engagement of data sources and dissemination of the model. The third stage considers the development of scenarios framework and assessment of future needs as per the projected conditions of demands and supply

Optimization methodology for high COD nutrient-limited wastewaters treatment using BAS process

Optimization of biofilm activated sludge (BAS) process via mathematical modelling is an entangle activity since economic, environmental objective and technical decision must be considered. This paper presents a methodology to optimize the operational conditions of BAS process in four steps by combining dynamic simulation techniques with non-linear optimization methods and with operative decision-making criteria. Two set of variables are separately prioritized in the methodology: essential variables related to physical operation to enforce established process performance, and refinement variables related to biological processes that can generate risks of bulking, pin-point floc and rising sludge. The proposed optimization strategy is applied for the treatment of high COD wastewater under nutrient limitation using an integrated mathematical model for COD removal that include predation, hydrolysis and a simplified approach to the limiting solids flux theory in the secondary clarifier in order to facilitate the convergence of the optimization solver. The methodology is implemented in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant for a cellulose and viscose fibre mill obtaining (i) improvement of the effluent quality index (Kg pollution/m3) up to 62% and, (ii) decrease the operating cost index (€/m3) of the process up to 30% respect the regular working operational conditions of the plant. The proposed procedure can be also applied to other biological treatments treating high COD nutrient-limited industrial wastewater such as from textile and winery production among others

Studying the Effect of Introducing Chaotic Search on Improving the Performance of the Sine Cosine Algorithm to Solve Optimization Problems and Nonlinear System of Equations

The development of many engineering and scientific models depends on the solution of nonlinear systems of equations (NSEs), and the progress of these fields depends on their efficient resolution. Due to the disadvantages in solving them with classical methods, NSEs are amenable to modeling as an optimization issue. The purpose of this work is to propose the chaotic search sine cosine algorithm (CSSCA), a new optimization approach for solving NSEs. CSSCA will be set up so that it employs a chaotic search to get over the limitations of optimization techniques like a lack of diversity in solutions, exploitation’s unfair advantage over exploration, and the gradual convergence of the optimal solution. A chaotic logistic map has been employed by many studies and has demonstrated its effectiveness in raising the quality of solutions and offering the greatest performance. So, it is used as a local search strategy. Three kinds of test functions—unimodal, multimodal, and composite test functions—as well as numerous NSEs—combustion problems, neurophysiology problems, arithmetic application, and nonlinear algebraic equations—were employed to assess CSSCA. To demonstrate the significance of the changes made in CSSCA, the results of the recommended algorithm are contrasted with those of the original SCA, where CSSCA’s average improvement rate was roughly 12.71, demonstrating that it is very successful at resolving NSEs. Finally, outcomes demonstrated that adding a chaotic search to the SCA improves results by modifying the chaotic search’s parameters, enabling better outcomes to be attained

Constrained Multiobjective Equilibrium Optimizer Algorithm for Solving Combined Economic Emission Dispatch Problem

This research implements a recent evolutionary-based algorithm of equilibrium optimizer to resolve the constrained combined economic emission dispatch problem. This problem has two objective functions that represent the minimizing of generation costs and minimizing the emission of environmental pollution caused by generators. The proposed algorithm integrates the dominant criteria for multiobjective functions that allow the decision-maker to detect all the Pareto boundaries of constrained combined economic emission dispatch problem. In order to save the effort for the decision-maker to select the best compromise alternative, a cluster study was carried out to minimize the size of the Pareto boundary to an acceptable size, representing all the characteristics of the main Pareto frontier. On the other hand, in order to deal with the infringement of constraints, a repair algorithm was used to preserve the viability of the particles. The proposed algorithm is applied to solve the standard 30-bus IEEE system with 6 generators to validate its robustness and efficiency to produce a well-distributed Pareto frontier for constrained combined economic emission dispatch problem. Compared with other studies, good results in solving constrained combined economic emission dispatch problem are obtained and a reasonable reduced Pareto set is found

Evaluation of accuracy of EuroSCORE II in prediction of in-hospital mortality in patients underwent mitral valve replacement in Egypt

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the updated version of European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE II) for prediction of in-hospital mortality after mitral valve replacement. Patients and methods: Medical records of 580 Egyptian patients underwent mitral valve replacement in Nasser institute, Suez Canal University, and Minia University hospitals were evaluated in six-year period. Data on demographics, comorbidities, risk factors, operative outcome and postoperative complications were collected with in-hospital mortality as primary end-point. Statistical analysis assessed discriminative power and calibration of EuroSCORE II. Results: The study population had younger age, more prevalence of female gender and higher body mass index (BMI) than EuroSCORE II population. The observed in-hospital mortality rate was 2.6% and average of the predicted mortality by EuroSCORE II was 1.60%. EuroSCORE II had low discriminative power (area under the curve 0.52, 95% CI: 0.38–0.66), and poor calibration as determined by Hosmer–Lemeshow (HL) test (P-value = 0.02). On multivariate analysis, other factors not involved in EuroSCORE II were significant predictors for in-hospital mortality including redo-operation, previous valvuloplasty, hypercholesterolemia and chronic liver disease. Conclusion: Differences in clinical profile and presence of other local risk factors may explain the reduced discriminative and predictive power of EuroSCORE II in Egyptian patients underwent mitral valve replacement. Other larger prospective studies in this concern are recommended