New Exact Solutions of the Brusselator Reaction Diffusion Model Using the Exp-Function Method

Firstly, using a series of transformations, the Brusselator reaction diffusion model is reduced into a nonlinear reaction diffusion equation, and then through using Exp-function method, more new exact solutions are found which contain soliton solutions. The suggested algorithm is quite efficient and is practically well suited for use in these problems. The results show the reliability and efficiency of the proposed method

Security-aware selection of Web Services for Reliable Composition

Dependability is an important characteristic that a trustworthy computer system should have. It is a measure of Availability, Reliability, Maintainability, Safety and Security. The focus of our research is on security of web services. Web services enable the composition of independent services with complementary functionalities to produce value-added services, which allows organizations to implement their core business only and outsource other service components over the Internet, either pre-selected or on-the-fly. The selected third party web services may have security vulnerabilities. Vulnerable web services are of limited practical use. We propose to use an intrusion-tolerant composite web service for each functionality that should be fulfilled by a third party web service. The third party services employed in this approach should be selected based on their security vulnerabilities in addition to their performance. The security vulnerabilities of the third party services are assessed using a penetration testing tool. In this paper we present our preliminary research work

Change in bone mineral density in post menopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: Low bone mass is a serious complication of post menopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. We determined the Change in Bone Mineral Density in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was carried out on consecutive postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis who were referred to the Azar 5th teaching hospital affiliated to Golestan University of Medical Sciences, North of Iran in 2009. The required data were gathered from the patients' medical records. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and statistical tests. Results: We studied 98 postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Mean number of years since menopause and mean duration of disease were 9.39 and 5.13 respectively. T Score mean in femoral neck and lumbar spines was -1.45±1.26 and -2.45±1.44 respectively. The overall prevalence of osteoporosis at both the lumbar spine and femoral neck was 13.3. We have found a significant correlation between age, duration of disease, duration of menopause and bone mineral density (P-Value<0.01). Conlusion: Our results indicate a negative effect of age, number of years since menopause and duration of disease on bone mineral density. So, BMD should be measured in high risk women prior to the implementation of any treatment or prevention program

Self-reconfigurable, intrusion-tolerant, web-service composition framework

The Internet has provided an opportunity for businesses to offer their services as Web Services (WSs). WSs are used to implement Service Ori-ented Architecture (SOA). They enable composition of independent services with complementary functionalities to produce value-added services, which results in less development effort, time consumption and cost, enabling com-panies and organizations to implement their core business only and out-source other service components over the Internet, either pre-selected or on-the-fly. Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) based WSs are at risk of se-curity vulnerabilities related to their specific implementation technologies such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) as well as those of their under-lying platforms (e.g., operating systems and frameworks) and their applica-tions (e.g., vulnerability to SQL Injection attacks). Cyber-attacks on WSs may cause unavailability, loss of confidentiality and/or integrity as well as signifi-cant monetary penalties. Security issues become more challenging when Off-The-Shelf Web Services (OTSWSs) are used since they are beyond the con-trol of their clients. The central question underlying this work is: Can a self-reconfigurable Intrusion-Tolerant Web Ser-vice, implemented using N-version programming and diversity formed by composing Off-The-Shelf Web Services that are selected through penetration testing, Principal Component Analysis, and Cluster Analysis process-es mitigate XML-related security vulnerabilities? While aiming to answer the above question, this dissertation presents a novel framework to increase dependability by constructing an Intrusion-Tolerant Web Service (ITWS) in which N-version programming and diversity, formed by composing SOAP-OTSWSs, is used. It describes how penetration testing can be used as a measure of security vulnerabilities of available SOAP-OTSWSs (that offer the required functionality) and the resultant ITWS, how Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) and be utilized to group the SOAP-OTSWSs based on their security vulnerabilities diversity and how a further penetration testing on each group of diverse SOAP-OTSWSs can be used to select the optimal set (most secure among the groups) for construction of ITWS. This dissertation also demonstrates how the dynamic reconfiguration of ITWS, created in Business Process Engineering Language (BPEL), can be enabled using a combination of BPEL constructs and Java as BPEL exten-sion approach and using only Java as BPEL extension approach. The novelty of the work presented in this dissertation is twofold. On the one hand, it is security informed and on the other hand, it demonstrates the use of Java (as BPEL 2.0 extension) to implement self-reconfigurable composite WS. It has the advantage of, at the same time, facilitating a de-pendable service to users and exploiting existing standard technologies. This work also assesses the effectiveness of the proposed solutions through vari-ous case studies and discusses the implications of the proposed framework

Changing trends of types of skin cancer in Iran

Background: Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. It has an increasing trend. This study investigated the epidemiological trend and morphological changes in skin cancer in Iran. Materials and Methods: This study was done using existing data, extracted from the National Cancer Registry System and the Disease Management Center of Iranian Ministry of Health between 2003 and 2008. Data on epidemiologic trend was analyzed using Joinpoint software package. Results: The incidence of skin cancer is increasing in Iran, and more in men than women. There was a declining trend for basal cell carcinoma. Basal squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma had an increasing trend. The increase of skin cancer was related to squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions: Our findings indicated that the increase of skin cancer was attributed to squamous cell carcinoma. It is necessary to be planning for the control and prevention of this disease as a priority for health policy makers

Antimicrobial efficacy of nanosilver, sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine gluconate against Enterococcus faecalis

The purpose of this study was to compare the antibacterial efficacy of nanosilver (NS), chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) against Enterococcus faecalis. Two tests of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone of inhibition were carried out using NS, NaOCl and CHX. 70-fold concentration of NaOCl is required for the same antibacterial effect of NS. CHX precipitated in contact with the culture medium and was excluded from MIC test. The means and standard deviations of the zones of inhibition for 5.25% NaOCl, 0.33% NaOCl, 25 μg/ml NS, 50 μg/ml NS, 4000 μg/ml NS and 2% CHX were 12.16 ± 1.46, 6.91 ± 0.66, 10.00 ± 0.42, 12.00 ± 0.60, 13.33 ± 1.23 and 24.80 ± 1.11, respectively. Statistical analysis using ANOVA showed significant differences among groups (p &lt; 0.001). A post hoc Tukey test revealed no significant differences between 5.25% NaOCl and 4000 μg/ml NS (p = 0.057). However, the zones of inhibition for 2% CHX were significantly larger than those seen around the filter papers saturated with undiluted NaOCl and NS (p &lt; 0.001 for both). This study revealed that NS in a remarkably lower concentration would possess the same bactericidal effect as 5.25% NaOCl.Key words: Chlorhexidine gluconate, Enterococcus faecalis, nanosilver, sodium hypochlorite

Design and evaluation of oral nanoemulsion drug delivery system of mebudipine

A nanoemulsion drug delivery system was developed to increase the oral bioavailability of mebudipine as a calcium channel blocker with very low bioavailability profile. The impact of nano-formulation on the pharmacokinetic parameters of mebudipine in rats was investigated. Nanoemulsion formulations containing ethyl oleate, Tween 80, Span 80, polyethylene glycol 400, ethanol and deionized water were prepared using probe sonicator. The optimum formulation was evaluated for physicochemical properties, such as particle size, morphology and stability. The particle size of optimum formulation was 22.8 ± 4.0 nm. Based on the results of this study, the relative bioavailability of mebudipine nanoemulsion was enhanced by about 2.6-, 2.0- and 1.9-fold, respectively, compared with suspension, ethyl oleate solution and micellar solution. In conclusion, nanoemulsion is an interesting option for the delivery of poorly water soluble molecules, such as mebudipine. © 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

The patient safety practices of emergency medical teams in disaster zones: a systematic analysis

Introduction: Disaster zone medical relief has been criticised for poor quality care, lack of standardisation and accountability. Traditional patient safety practices of Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) in disaster zones were not well understood. Improving the quality of healthcare in disaster zones has gained importance within global health policy. Ascertaining patient safety practices of EMTs in disaster zones may identify areas of practice that can be improved. Methods: A systematic search of OvidSP, Embase and Medline databases, key journals of interest, key grey-literature texts, the databases of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Google Scholar were performed. Descriptive studies, case reports, case series, prospective trials and opinion pieces were included with no limitation on date or language of publication. Results: There were 9,685 records, evenly distributed between the peer-reviewed and grey literature. Of these, 30 studies and 9 grey literature texts met the inclusion criteria and underwent qualitative synthesis. From these articles, 302 patient safety statements were extracted. Thematic analysis categorised these statements into 84 themes (total frequency 632). The most frequent themes were limb injury (9%), medical records (5.4%), surgery decision making (4.6%), medicines safety (4.4%) and protocol (4.4%) Conclusion: Patient safety practices of EMTs in disaster zones are weighted towards acute clinical care, particularly surgery. The management of Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) is underrepresented. There is widespread recognition of the need to improve medical record keeping. High-quality data and institutional level patient safety practices are lacking. There is no consensus on disaster zone specific performance indicators. These deficiencies represent opportunities to improve patient safety in disaster zones

Cloning of taxadiene synthase gene into Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Columbia-0)

Paclitaxel (Taxol), a complex diterpenoid, produced by yew tree (Taxus sp.) is the most important chemotherapeutic agent that is widely used against a variety of malignancies such as ovarian and breast cancers. However, destructive methods for its production from natural resources together with currently used low-yielding industrial production systems via total synthesis or semi-synthesis have led researchers to invent a robust alternative biological production system using biotechnological approaches. The first committed step in taxol biosynthesis pathway is the&#160; production of taxadiene from geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) catalyzed by the plastid-localized enzyme taxadiene synthase (TXS). In this research, an attempt was made to evaluate the effects of the first critical enzyme in thetaxol biosynthesis pathway on Arabidopsis plant through the expression of taxadiene synthase gene under the control of a dexamethasone-inducible promoter. To achieve this goal, Arabidopsis plants (ecotype Columbia-0) were transformed with the construct pTA-TXS-His via floral dip method using Agrobacterium tumefaciens AGL1. The transformed plants were confirmed using the PCR reaction amplifying an 800 bp fragment of the cloned gene. Upon these findings, a proposal was made that biotechnological strategies could be utilized for the production of taxol components

Survival of COVID-19 patients requires precise immune regulation: The hypothetical immunoprotective role of nicotinic agonists

Summary recent studies have provided novel evidence regarding the effect of nicotine agonists on the prevention or modulation of cytokines storm and reduction of infection. In this study we tried to attempt to address these issues from a therapeutic perspective of nicotine agonists in this manner and we describe one of the most challenging theories of immunotherapy in coronavirus-19 (COVID-19). The analysis of the proposed mechanism goes beyond the physiological consequences of a way to design new strategies to provide anti-inflammatory drugs. © 2020 Elsevier Lt