Epilepsy Surgery in Children

ObjectiveIn the majority of patients with intractable epilepsy, seizures can be well controlled with appropriate medication. However, current estimates indicate that some of patients with epilepsy are refractory to all forms of medical therapy. The surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy in children has  evolved with advances in technical innovations. These medically intractable patients are candidates for surgical treatment in an attempt to achieve better seizure control. The definitive successful outcome of epilepsy surgery is a seizure-free state without significant neurological impairments.In this article, we will outline the essential elements of presurgical evaluation and describe a variety of therapeutic surgical options, and the related indications, techniques, results and complications of each procedure.

Theoretical investigation of a novel xylene-based light-driven unidirectional molecular motor

In this study, the working mechanism of the first light-driven rotary molecular motors used to control an eight-base-pair DNA hairpin has been investigated. In particular, this linker was reported to have promising photophysical properties under physiological conditions, which motivated our work at the quantum mechanical level. Cis-trans isomerization is triggered by photon absorption at wavelengths ranging 300 nm-400 nm, promoting the rotor to the first excited state, and it is mediated by an energy-accessible conical intersection from which the ground state is reached back. The interconversion between the resulting unstable isomer and its stable form occurs at physiological conditions in the ground state and is thermally activated. Here, we compare three theoretical frameworks, generally used in the quantum description of medium-size chemical systems: Linear-Response Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (LR-TDDFT), Spin-Flip TDDFT (SF-TDDFT), and multistate complete active space second-order perturbation theory on state-averaged complete active space self consistent field wavefunctions (MS-CASPT2//SA-CASSCF). In particular, we show the importance of resorting to a multireference approach to study the rotational cycle of light-driven molecular motors due to the occurrence of geometries described by several configurations. We also assess the accuracy and computational cost of the SF-TDDFT method when compared to MS-CASPT2 and LR-TDDFT

Inhibition of fatty acids profile changes of cobia (Rachycentron canadum) fillets during frozen storage by packaging under vacuum system

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of vacuum packing (VP) on the fatty acids profiles in cobia (Rachycentron canadum) fillets during an extended frozen storage period. Cobia fillets were treated under vacuum system then stored at -18°C for up to 6 months and compared to control conditions. As a result of a frozen storage period of 6 months, a marked content decrease was found in the fatty acid groups such as MUFA, PUFA and ω-3 PUFA, as well as in the ω-3/ ω-6 ratio. However, a preserving effect on such fatty acid parameters could be observed due to the VP treatment. Assessment of the polyene index (PI) indicated an increased lipid oxidation development as a result of the frozen storage time; however, this increase was partially inhibited by the vacuum packaging. Results indicate that vacuum packaging was a proper way to reduce lipid oxidation in Cobia fillets and extend their shelf life by omitting available oxygen. Thus the employment of VP alone or in combination with other protective strategies is recommended

Effect of daily consumption of dried ginger in the level of some hormones, cholesterol, and total fat in women's sample

This study was carried out at the General Al-Mohmmodia Hospital/ Al-Mohmmodia district/ Baghdad/Iraq. Ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale) has become a subject of interest due to its bioactive contents such as an antioxidant and androgenic affect in diseases treatment in more countries world-wide. As an antioxidants ginger has an effective role on spermatogenesis and blood biochemical parameters. Thirty women almost of them suffering from high blood lipid profile and cholesterol, some of them had kidney dysfunction were taken. All women were conducted to explore the consumption of about 1gm daily for complete month on the physiological performance, lipid profile, kidney function and testosterone and progesterone hormones. The result of BMI showed significant difference of all ages groups and for all the kind of overweight and obesity. However Hb level showed a significant differences (p<0.05) between different ages, Hb showed no significant differences within the same age before and after consumption the ginger powder (p˃0.05). Blood glucose was not differ significantly between the group ages, but it was significantly (p<0.05) difference before and after the ginger powder consumption. Serum cholesterol, total glyceride. LDL, HDL, and VLDL levels revealed significant (p<0.05) differences between group ages, but within group age 31-40 years were no significant (p˃0.05) differences. On the other hand, result of this study showed a significant (p<0.05) differences in kidney functions (urea, creatinine, and salts) when compared its with normal ranges. However serum testosterone showed a significant (p<0.05) differences with all ages of women, the progesterone showed no significant (p˃0.05) differences. Results revealed that consumption of 1gm daily of ginger powder significantly increased blood Hb, cholesterol, lipid profile, testosterone hormone, and improved kidney functions. So that we can suggest that ginger may be a promising in kidney and fertility function. In addition, its improve the biochemical parameters Keywords: ginger-biochemical parameter-lipid profile- kidney function- hormone

Surface reconstructions and premelting of the (100) CaF2 surface

In this work, surface reconstructions on the (100) surface of CaF2 are comprehensively investigated. The configurations were explored by employing the Minima Hopping Method (MHM) coupled to a machine-learning interatomic potential, that is based on a charge equilibration scheme steered by a neural network (CENT). The combination of these powerful methods revealed about 80 different morphologies for the (100) surface with very similar surface formation energies differing by not more than 0.3 J m−2. To take into account the effect of temperature on the dynamics of this surface as well as to study the solid–liquid transformation, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out in the canonical (NVT) ensemble. By analyzing the atomic mean-square displacements (MSD) of the surface layer in the temperature range of 300–1200 K, it was found that in the surface region the F sublattice is less stable and more diffusive than the Ca sublattice. Based on these results we demonstrate that not only a bulk system, but also a surface can exhibit a sublattice premelting that leads to superionicity. Both the surface sublattice premelting and surface premelting occur at temperatures considerably lower than the bulk values. The complex behaviour of the (100) surface is contrasted with the simpler behavior of other low index crystallographic surfaces

PySurf:A Framework for Database Accelerated Direct Dynamics

The greatest restriction to the theoretical study of the dynamics of photoinduced processes is computationally expensive electronic structure calculations. Machine learning algorithms have the potential to reduce the number of these computations significantly. Here, PySurf is introduced as an innovative code framework, which is specifically designed for rapid prototyping and development tasks for data science applications in computational chemistry. It comes with powerful Plugin and Workflow engines, which allows intuitive customization for individual tasks. Data is automatically stored through the database framework, which enables additional interpolation of properties in previously evaluated regions of the conformational space. To illustrate the potential of the framework, a code for nonadiabatic surface hopping simulations based on the Landau-Zener algorithm is presented here. Deriving gradients from the interpolated potential energy surfaces allows for full-dimensional nonadiabatic surface hopping simulations using only adiabatic energies (energy only). Simulations of a pyrazine model and ab initio-based calculations of the SO2 molecule show that energy-only calculations with PySurf are able to correctly predict the nonadiabatic dynamics of these prototype systems. The results reveal the degree of sophistication, which can be achieved by the database accelerated energy-only surface hopping simulations being competitive to commonly used semiclassical approaches

Influence of the Environment on Shaping the Absorption of Monomeric Infrared Fluorescent Proteins

Infrared fluorescent proteins (iRFPs) are potential candidates for deep-tissue in vivo imaging. Here, we provide molecular-level insights into the role of the protein environment in the structural stability of the chromophore within the protein binding pocket through the flexible hydrogen-bonding network using molecular dynamics simulation. Furthermore, we present systematic excited-state analysis to characterize the nature of the first two excited states and the role of the environment in shaping the nature of the chromophore's excited states within the hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics framework. Our results reveal that the environment red-shifts the absorption of the chromophore by about 0.32 eV compared to the isolated counterpart, and besides the structural stability, the protein environment does not alter the nature of the excited state of the chromophore significantly. Our study contributes to the fundamental understanding of the excited-state processes of iRFPs in a complex environment and provides a design principle for developing iRFPs with desired spectral properties