Mutual information as an order parameter for quantum synchronization

Spontaneous synchronization is a fundamental phenomenon, important in many theoretical studies and applications. Recently this effect has been analyzed and observed in a number of physical systems close to the quantum mechanical regime. In this work we propose the mutual information as a useful order parameter which can capture the emergence of synchronization in very different contexts, ranging from semi-classical to intrinsically quantum mechanical systems. Specifically we first study the synchronization of two coupled Van der Pol oscillators in both classical and quantum regimes and later we consider the synchronization of two qubits inside two coupled optical cavities. In all these contexts, we find that mutual information can be used as an appropriate figure of merit for determining the synchronization phases, independently of the specific details of the system

An expert system to diagnose pneumonia using fuzzy logic

Introduction: Pneumonia is the most common and widespread killing disease of respiratory system which is difficult to diagnose due to identical clinical signs of respiratory system. Aim: In this research, to diagnose this, a structure of a fuzzy expert system has been offered. This is done in order to help general physicians and the patients make decision and also differentiate among chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, asthma, embolism, lung cancer. Methods: This system has been created using fuzzy expert system and it has been created in 4 stages: Definition of knowledge system, design of knowledge system, implementation of system, system testing using prototype life cycle methodology. Results: The system has 97 percent sensitivity, 85 percent specificity, 93 percent accuracy to diagnose the disease. Conclusion: Framework of the knowledge of specialist physicians using fuzzy model and its rules can help diagnose the disease correctly. © 2019 Leila Akramian Arani, Frahnaz Sadoughi, Mustafa Langarizadeh

CoNi alloy nanoparticles for cancer theranostics: synthesis, physical characterization, in vitro and in vivo studies

Nanomaterials are attracting increasing interest in many biomedical fields, including the fight against cancer. In this context, we successfully synthesized CoNi alloy nanoparticles (NPs) by a simple polyol process. The magnetic characteristics of the products were measured by vibration sample magnometry, which revealed that the samples have soft ferromagnetic behavior. The microstructure and morphology were inspected by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Human cancer cells derived from the breast (MCF7) and oral cavity (C152) and normal cells derived from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with increasing concentrations of CoNi NPs, and their cytotoxic effect was measured via MTT and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assays. We found that treatments by using 12.5 to 400 µg/mL of Co0.5Ni0.5, Co0.6Ni0.4, and Co0.4Ni0.6 NPs were associated with significant concentration-dependent toxicity toward such cell lines and profoundly enhanced LDH leakage following 48 h of exposure (P < 0.05 compared with untreated cells). Besides, a NP dose of 6.25 µg/mL did not affect the survival of HUVECs while leading to marked cell death in MCF7 and C152 cells. In vivo experiments in rats were done to investigate the biochemical and histopathological changes over three weeks, following intraperitoneal administration of Co0.5Ni0.5, Co0.6Ni0.4, and Co0.4Ni0.6 NPs (100 mg/kg). As compared with the controls, the exposure to NPs caused significant elevations in aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, serum catalase activity, serum superoxide dismutase, and liver malondialdehyde levels. Also, rats treated with Co0.6Ni0.4 NPs showed more severe histopathological changes of the liver and kidney. Our findings represent an essential step toward developing theranostic nanoplatforms for selective cancer treatment

A Pilot Study of the Tuning in to Kids Parenting Program in Iran for Reducing Preschool Children�s Anxiety

Objectives: Tuning in to Kids (TIK) is a group parenting program that targets parent emotion socialization (emotional awareness and regulation, meta-emotion and emotion coaching skills) to improve children�s functioning. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effectiveness of this program when used with parents of anxious preschool children. Methods: The study used a randomized controlled design. Fifty-six mothers of children who scored one standard deviation above the mean on the parent report of the Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) were selected from 358 families who expressed interest in participating in a parenting program. Selected participants were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 30) or control (n = 26) conditions. Participants in the intervention condition attended the 6 session TIK program followed by two booster sessions at monthly intervals thereafter. Post-intervention and 6- months later the PAS was re-administered to participants in both conditions. Results: Mixed Repeated Measure ANOVA analysis showed a significant difference between participants in the two conditions on parent-reported anxiety at post-test and 6-month follow-up. Clinical significance analyses showed 69 of the intervention group in comparison to 18 of the control group had parent-reported change into the normal range for anxiety scores. These changes remained stable at 6-month follow-up (60 compared to 23). Conclusion: The study suggests that the TIK program shows preliminary effectiveness when used in Iran with preschool children with anxiety. © 2019, The Author(s)

Nasopharyngeal B-cell lymphoma with pan-hypopituitarism and oculomotor nerve palsy: a case report and review of the literature

Background: Primary nasopharyngeal lymphoma (NPL) is a very rare tumor of Waldeyer ring (WR) lymphoid tissue. It is challenging to differentiate lymphoma infiltration of pituitary from a pituitary adenoma, meningioma infiltration, and other sellar lesions to plan a suitable treatment strategy. We presented for the first time a unique case of NPL with an unusual presentation of oculomotor nerve palsy associated with pan-pituitary involvement in a diabetic patient. Case presentation: A 64-year old diabetic woman with no previous history of malignancy presented with intermittent diplopia for about the last nine months. Severe headache, left eye ptosis and hypoglycemic episodes were added to her symptoms after a while. Further complaints include generalized weakness, loss of appetite, generalized musculoskeletal pain, and 6�7 kg weight loss within six months. Her family history was unremarkable. Physical examinations of eyes indicated left eye 3rd, 4th, and 6th nerve palsy. But, she was not anisocoric, and the pupillary reflexes were normal on both eyes. No lymphadenopathy, organomegaly and other abnormalities were found. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a heterogeneous enhancement in the seller and suprasellar regions, enlargement of the stalk, parasellar dural enhancement and thickening of the sphenoid sinus without bone erosion. Also, both cavernous sinuses were infiltrated and both internal carotid arteries were encased by the neoplastic lesion. It suggested an infiltrative neoplastic lesion which compressed the cranial nerves. Pituitary hormone levels assessment indicated a pan-hypopituitarism. Following nasopharyngeal mucosal biopsy, the immunohistochemistry (IHC) findings revealed a low-grade non-Hodgkin�s B-cell lymphoma. Systemic workup, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies, bone marrow aspiration, chest and abdominopelvic high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) indicated no other involvement by the lymphoma. After chemotherapy courses, central adrenal insufficiency, partial central diabetes incipidious (CDI) and central hypothyroidism have been resolved. To our best knowledge, we found 17 cases of NPL with cranial nerve palsy, 1 case of NPL with pan-hypopituitarism and no NPL case with both cranial nerve palsy and pituitary dysfunction. Conclusions: The incidence of cranial neuropathy in patients with diabetes should not merely be attributed to diabetic neuropathy without further evaluation. © 2020, The Author(s)

Preparation of Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2/CeVO4 Nanocomposites: Investigation of Photocatalytic Effects on Organic Pollutants, Bacterial Environments, and New Potential Therapeutic Candidate Against Cancer Cells

The new nanocomposite with various molar ratios along with magnetic properties was fabricated via precipitation (assisted by ultrasonic) procedure. The photocatalytic effects of methylene blue (�90 degradation for optimized sample in 100 min) for finding the optimized sample performed under visible light irradiation. Moreover, the photo-antibacterial impacts of bacteria culture environments were found with an optimized sample that had effective destruction of bacteria in comparison to control group. The cytotoxicity properties of panc1 cells and magnetic behaviors of the obtained nanomaterials were evaluated and its IC50 was about 500 mg/L. As an initial step, the structural, morphological and magnetic characteristics of the fabricated nanocomposites were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and MAP, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) approaches. Based on SEM results, the size of nanoparticles in fabricated nanocomposite was nearly 50�70 nm for Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 and 80�100 nm for Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2/CeVO4. XRD results showed that desired nanocomposites were truly synthesized without any impurities. © Copyright © 2020 Marsooli, Rahimi-Nasrabadi, Fasihi-Ramandi, Adib, Eghbali-Arani, Ahmadi, Sohouli, Sobhani nasab, Mirhosseini, Gangali, Ehrlich and Joseph

Optimization and detailed stability study on coupling of CdMoO4 into BaWO4 for enhanced photodegradation and removal of organic contaminant

BaWO4 nanoparticles and BaWO4/CdMoO4 nanocomposites were synthesized by eco-friendly method at low temperature. The effects of various capping agents such as glucose, fructose, lactose, and starch on the morphology and particle size of BaWO4/CdMoO4 nanocomposites were investigated. The nanocluster was obtained with glucose and Ba2+ to capping agent molar ratio of (1:2). BaWO4/CdMoO4 nanocomposites were analyzed through techniques including, XRD, FT-IR, VSM, TEM, PL, FESEM, UV�vis, and EDX. According to the BET results, in the presence of glucose as the capping agent, surface area increased from 13.781 m2/g to 122.22 m2/g. Furthermore, adding CdMoO4 nanoparticles to BaWO4 causes optical properties and photocatalytic activity of BaWO4 to improve. Moreover, the effects of several factors such as BaWO4/CdMoO4 nanocomposites concentration and its particle size and difference dyes on the photocatalytic performance of BaWO4/CdMoO4 nanocomposites were studied under visible light. © 2018 King Saud Universit

Eco-friendly synthesis of PbTiO3 nanoparticles and PbTiO3/carbon quantum dots binary nano-hybrids for enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light

PbTiO3 nanoparticles, carbon quantum dots CQDs and their composite (i.e. PbTiO3/CQDs) were prepared and studied using XRD, FT-IR, VSM, TEM, BET, PL, FESEM, UV�Vis, and EDX. Designing highly-effective PbTiO3/CQDs binary nano-hybrids include several fascinating properties of visible light, biocompatibility, eco-friendly response and good durability. Various composites containing different amounts of CQDs were prepared, and the effects of catalysts on enhancing the photocatalytic activity of PbTiO3 nanoparticles in the resulting binary nano-hybrid have been investigated. Test experiments indicated that PbTiO3 nanoparticles could remove only 53 of Rh B, while PbTiO3/5CQDs binary nano-hybrids reached a removal maximum of 100. Further the removal of different dyes using the PbTiO3/CQDs binary nano-hybrids has been evaluated and the removal mechanism has also been discussed. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

Eco-friendly preparation and characterization of CuMn2O4 nanoparticles with the green capping agent and their photocatalytic and photovoltaic applications

In this study, copper manganese oxide (CuMn2O4) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a simple sol-gel technique in the presence of lactose as the green capping agent. The lactose concentration effect on the crystalline size and magnetic properties of final products were systematically investigated. The structural, morphological, magnetic, and optical properties of as-obtained products were examined by techniques such as the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. SEM and VSM results show that lactose concentrations play an important role in the magnetic properties and morphology of CuMn2O4 nanoparticles. Degradation of type of dye (Rhodamine B = Rh B and Methyl orange = MO) under ultraviolet light was examined to assess the feasibility of using CuMn2O4 for photocatalytic activities. To demonstrate the possibility of developing an inexpensive solar cell, FTO/TiO2/CuMn2O4/Pt-FTO, the CuMn2O4 paste was put on the top of the TiO2 through the doctor blade technique. © 2020, Islamic Azad University

Early career retention of Malawian medical graduates: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: There have been longstanding concerns over Malawian doctors migrating to high-income countries. Early career is a particularly vulnerable period. After significant policy changes, we examined the retention of recent medical graduates within Malawi and the public sector. METHODS: We obtained data on graduates between 2006 and 2012 from the University of Malawi College of Medicine and Malawi Ministry of Health. We utilised the alumni network to triangulate official data and contacted graduates directly for missing or uncertain data. Odds ratios and chi-squared tests were employed to investigate relationships by graduation year and gender. RESULTS: We traced 256 graduates, with complete information for more than 90%. Nearly 80% of registered doctors were in Malawi (141/178, 79.2%), although the odds of emigration doubled with each year after graduation (odds ratio = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.54-2.56, P < 0.0001). Of the 37 graduates outside Malawi (14.5%), 23 (62.2%) were training in South Africa under a College of Medicine sandwich programme. More than 80% of graduates were working in the public sector (185/218, 82.6%), with the odds declining by 27% for each year after graduation (odds ratio = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.61-0.86, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: While most doctors remain in Malawi and the public sector during their early careers, the odds of leaving both increase with time. The majority of graduates outside Malawi are training in South Africa under visa restrictions, reflecting the positive impact of postgraduate training in Malawi. Concerns over attrition from the public sector are valid and require further exploratory work