Blind image separation based on exponentiated transmuted Weibull distribution

In recent years the processing of blind image separation has been investigated. As a result, a number of feature extraction algorithms for direct application of such image structures have been developed. For example, separation of mixed fingerprints found in any crime scene, in which a mixture of two or more fingerprints may be obtained, for identification, we have to separate them. In this paper, we have proposed a new technique for separating a multiple mixed images based on exponentiated transmuted Weibull distribution. To adaptively estimate the parameters of such score functions, an efficient method based on maximum likelihood and genetic algorithm will be used. We also calculate the accuracy of this proposed distribution and compare the algorithmic performance using the efficient approach with other previous generalized distributions. We find from the numerical results that the proposed distribution has flexibility and an efficient resultComment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security (IJCSIS),Vol. 14, No. 3, March 2016 (pp. 423-433

Nephropathy and Neuropathy in Diabetic Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Introduction: Several reports described an association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Chronic HCV infection is prevalent in Egypt. The present work aimed to evaluate the prevalence of proteinuria and neuropathy among diabetic patients with and without chronic HCV infection Methods: A total of 70 diabetic patients were recruited from patients that attended the outpatient clinic of Mansoura Specialized Medical University Hospital. They were evaluated for diabetic retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, high blood pressure, urinary albumin excretion (UAE), serum creatinine, lipid profile and assay of HCV-RNA. Results: The prevalence of HCV infection among this group of diabetic patients was 35.7% compared to 10% in a matched control group (P< 0.05). Diabetic patients with chronic HCV infection (n=45) and diabetic patients without HCV infection (n=25) had no significant differences in diabetes type, diabetes duration, prevalence of hypertension, level of glycosylated hemoglobin or prevalence of diabetic retinopathy. The prevalence of macroalbuminuria, peripheral neuropathy and autonomic neuropahty was higher among diabetic patients with chronic HCV infection (P < 0.05). Also, diabetic patients with chronic HCV infection had higher mean arterial pressure, higher serum creatinine, higher triglyceride and cholesterol levels, and higher UAE (P < 0.05). Conclusion: A high prevalence of HCV infection is observed among this group of Egyptian diabetic patients, and it was associated with higher rates of nephropathy and peripheral neuropathy compared to diabetic patients without HCV infection. Key words: Diabetes mellitus; Egypt; HCV infection; Nephropathy; Neuropahty; Retinopath

An ultrafast 1 x M all-optical WDM packet-switched router based on the PPM header address

This paper presents an all-optical 1 x M WDM router architecture for packet routing at multiple wavelengths simultaneously, with no wavelength conversion modules. The packet header address adopted is based on the pulse position modulation (PPM) format, thus enabling the use of only a singlebitwise optical AND gate for fast header address correlation. It offers multicast as well as broadcast capabilities. It is shown that a high speed packet routing at 160 Gb/s can be achieved with a low channel crosstalk (CXT) of ~ -27 dB at a channel spacing of greater than 0.4 THz and a demultiplexer bandwidth of 500 GHz

CXCL16 and oxLDL are induced in the onset of diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of end-stage renal failure worldwide. Oxidative stress has been reported to be a major culprit of the disease and increased oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) immune complexes were found in patients with DN. In this study we present evidence, that CXCL16 is the main receptor in human podocytes mediating the uptake of oxLDL. In contrast, in primary tubular cells CD36 was mainly involved in the uptake of oxLDL. We further demonstrate that oxLDL down-regulated α3-integrin expression and increased the production of fibronectin in human podocytes. In addition, oxLDL uptake induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human podocytes. Inhibition of oxLDL uptake by CXCL16 blocking antibodies abrogated the fibronectin and ROS production and restored α3 integrin expression in human podocytes. Furthermore we present evidence that hyperglycaemic conditions increased CXCL16 and reduced ADAM10 expression in podocytes. Importantly, in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice an early induction of CXCL16 was accompanied by higher levels of oxLDL. Finally immunofluorescence analysis in biopsies of patients with DN revealed increased glomerular CXCL16 expression, which was paralleled by high levels of oxLDL. In summary, regulation of CXCL16, ADAM10 and oxLDL expression may be an early event in the onset of DN and therefore all three proteins may represent potential new targets for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in DN

Sputum epithelial cell-derived neutrophil-activating peptide-78 (ENA-78/CXCL5) in asthmatic children: relation to eosinophil activation

Background: Epithelial cell-derived neutrophil-activating peptide-78 (ENA-78) is a chemokine that recruits and activates neutrophils, possesses angiogenic properties and promotes connective tissue remodeling. Thus, it could play a pathogenic role in allergic airway inflammation. Eosinophils are the major source for this chemokine in inflamed airways. Objective: To evaluate sputum ENA-78 expression and its relation to acute asthma exacerbations of varying severity, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) as a marker of eosinophil activation, as well as eosinophil counts in blood and sputum. Methods: Sputum ENA-78 and serum ECP were measured by ELISA in 21 children during and after acute asthma exacerbation and 21 healthy matched controls. Patients were subdivided according to exacerbation severity into three equal subgroups; mild, moderate and severe. Results: Sputum ENA-78 was significantly higher in asthmatic children during acute exacerbation than controls (310.1±156.9 pg/ml vs 65.9±11.6 pg/ml, p &lt; 0.0001). It was significantly higher in severe than moderate and in moderate than mild exacerbations, and was negatively correlated to the peak expiratory flow rate. Sputum ENA-78 showed significant positive correlations with serum ECP and eosinophil counts in blood and sputum. By follow up of patients with acute asthma exacerbation till remission of symptoms and signs, sputum ENA-78, serum ECP and eosinophil counts in blood and sputum decreased significantly, but their levels remained significantly higher than the control values. Conclusion: Sputum ENA-78 is increased during acute asthma exacerbation and it positively correlates with exacerbation severity and eosinophil activation. Thus, it may play a role in the evolution of acute asthma exacerbation and may be a future target for new asthma therapeutic modalities.Keywords: Bronchial asthma; chemokines; children; epithelial cell-derived neutrophil-activating peptide-78; eosinophils; eosinophil cationic protein; sputum markersEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2007; 5(2): 55-6

Electrical performance study of a large area multicrystalline silicon solar cell using a current shunt and a micropotentiometer

In this paper, a new technique using a Current Shunt and a Micropotentiometer has been used to study the electrical performance of a large area multicrystalline silicon solar cell at outdoor conditions. The electrical performance is mainly described by measuring both cell short circuit current and open circuit voltage. The measurements of this cell by using multimeters suffer from some problems because the cell has high current intensity with low output voltage. So, the solar cell short circuit current values are obtained by measuring the voltage developed across a known resistance Current Shunt. Samples of the obtained current values are accurately calibrated by using a Micropotentiometer (μpot) thermal element (TE) to validate this new measuring technique. Moreover, the solar cell open circuit voltage has been measured. Besides, the cell output power has been calculated and can be correlated with the measured incident radiation

Determination of insecticides malathion and lambda-cyhalothrin residues in zucchini by gas chromatography

AbstractA sensitive gas chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of malathion and lambda-cyhalothrin (λ-cyhalothrin) insecticide residues in zucchini. The developed method consists of extraction with acetone, purification and partitioning with methylene chloride, column chromatographic clean-up, and finally capillary gas chromatographic determination of the insecticides. The recoveries of method were greater than 90% and limit of determination was 0.001ppm for both insecticides. The method was applied to determine residues and the rate of disappearance of malathion and λ-cyhalothrin from fruits of zucchini (open field treatment, 50cc of Malason/Cormandel 57% EC (emulsifiable concentrate) for 100L of water, 20cc of LAMBDA SUPER FOG 5% liquid for 100L of water). The insecticide incorporated into the plants decreased rapidly with a half-life time around 0.77day (18.5h) for malathion and 4days for λ-cyhalothrin. It is not recommended to use zucchini before 12h of malathion application. For λ-cyhalothrin, the preharvest interval is 5days. Four market samples were chosen from different regions from A.R.E. and all of them showed no residues of malathion or λ-cyhalothrin