Kinetics of the electropolymerization of aminoanthraquinone from aqueous solutions and analytical applications of the polymer film

AbstractPoly 1-amino-9, 10-anthraquinone (PAAQ) films were prepared by the electropolymerization of 1-amino-9,10-anthraquinone (AAQ) on platinum substrate from aqueous media, where 5.0×10−3molL−1 AAQ and 6.0molL−1 H2SO4 were used. The kinetics of the electropolymerization process was investigated by determining the change of the charge consumed during the polymerization process with time at different concentrations of both monomer and electrolyte. The results have shown that the process follows first order kinetics with respect to the monomer concentration. The order of the reaction with respect to the aqueous solvent i.e. H2SO4 was found to be negative. The polymer films were successfully used as sensors for the electroanalytical determination of many hazardous compounds, e.g. phenols, and biologically important materials like dopamine. The electroanalytical determination was based on the measurements of the oxidation current peak of the material in the cyclic voltammetric measurements. The cyclic voltammograms were recorded at a scan rate of 100mVs−1 and different analyte concentrations. A calibration curve was constructed for each analyte, from which the determination of low concentrations of catechol and hydroquinone (HQ) as examples of hazardous compounds present in waste water and also for ascorbic acid and dopamine as examples of valuable biological materials can be achieved

Multimodality imaging of Abernethy malformation

Abernethy malformation, or congenital extrahepatic portosystemic venous shunt, is a rare anomaly involving the portal venous system. Despite its rarity, it is increasingly being reported, and therefore, it is important to diagnose given the potential adverse clinical consequences if left untreated. It has a spectrum of presentations, ranging from complete lack of symptoms, to causing hepatic carcinoma, hepatic encephalopathy, severe pulmonary hypertension, and diffuse pulmonary arteriovenous malformation. We herein describe the case and echocardiographic, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging findings of a transgender individual, with this anomaly detected incidentally during adulthood

Feasibility of some adaptation measures of on-farm irrigation in Egypt under water scarcity conditions

-------------------------------------------------- To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article Abstract. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate some proposed adaptation measures in order to overcome the projected impacts of climate change over on-farm irrigation system in Egypt. Improve irrigation systems efficiencies, change irrigation systems, and deficient irrigation were evaluated by using multi-criteria approach of evaluation. Adaptation measures were studied under current climate conditions and climate change projections of IPCC SRES scenarios for years 2025s, 2050s and 2100s, and evaluated regarding to the change in crop-water demands, change in crop-yield, change in water use efficiency, irrigation-energy requirements and the abetment cost. Improving surface irrigation efficiency was likely had a higher potentiality to overcome the negative impacts of climate change in old land. Deficit irrigation had negative effects on overcoming the impacts of climate change, but it could be acceptable for the conditions that the water saving is more important than crops reduction. Keywords. Improved surface irrigation -Climate change -Irrigation efficiency -Deficit irrigation -Irrigation energy. Faisabilité de certaines mesures d'adaptation d'irrigation à la ferme e

Modeling Method of Finite Element Modeler and Electromagnetic Solvers for Education and Research in RF MEMS

Field of electronics engineering is the most captivating among students, researchers and academicians now-adays. With the passage of time the requirement of advance tools for engineering is increasing. Many institutions and universities around the globe provide quality education to various engineering domain. Students although study theory courses but they also need exposure that how theory can be related to actual devices. Simulations play an important role for relating theoretical components to the virtual practical environment. Students of Radio Frequency (RF) domain and especially students that are studying Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) as courses, due to the extreme complexity of these devices, students need multiple tools to simulate the performance parameters. This paper highlights the most prominent tools that are used in the industry to design and implement RF MEMS structures. The role of Electromagnetic (EM) solvers and Finite Element Modeller (FEM) and its impact on electronics engineering education is demonstrated. Modeling approach of these tools are also explained. These tools and due to there huge advantages, electronics graduates should study these tools in their course curriculum to know how to tackle various types of RF problems and through case studies, it is demonstrated that how these tools can aid shift from just theoretical study to virtual practical environment

BZKP: Blockchain-based zero-knowledge proof model for enhancing healthcare security in Bahrain IoT smart cities and COVID-19 risk mitigation

Smart cities achieved digital transformation of patients’ health records through the use of new technology in IoT healthcare industry. Such technologies of using IoT and remote patient monitoring systems have become dramatically fundamental to reduce the movement of patients, and hence reducing the risk of spreading Covid-19 infection. The Ministry of Health in the Kingdom of Bahrain strives to achieve digital transformation in the healthcare industry, where the National Health Information System (I-SEHA) was launched to provide higher-quality health services. The system interconnects the public healthcare institutes, allowing access to patient’s data from any location without the hassle of moving the files physically. Digitization of medical data of patients and sharing some of the data with other institutions outside the protected networks may lead to major privacy and integrity concerns. This paper introduces Blockchain-based Zero-Knowledge Proof (BZKP) model, which is an IoT-based patient-centric model that fuses a zero-knowledge proof solution to be developed for protecting patient’s privacy, and ensures patients prior consent on any access to their data including their health status and account balance. The proposed model is developed to provide a robust and scalable architecture for data sharing, which protects the privacy of sensitive data while maintaining high availability. It also provides strong trust and integrity of data by using the immutability features of the blockchain. BZKP is based on pre-approved blockchain access tokens to address challenges of accountability and privacy in Bahrain smart cities. As a result, the model provides a secure and trusted access model between different stakeholders to share patient data while maintaining privacy, trust, and high availability. The zero-knowledge proof can be used with the smart contracts, which provides programmable actions that can be used for automating the prescriptions dispensation process for private pharmacies in a decentralized manner with high confidence. Finally, it recommends enhanced electronic key (eKey) procedures used by eGovernment of the Kingdom of Bahrain to update the smart card which stores the personal keys for protecting patient’s privacy and provide better consent

The role of FDG PET in the diagnosis of occult primary with cervical lymph node metastases: A meta-analysis study

Background: Detection of the primary tumor has a key role in the management of patients with unknown primary tumors (UPT). Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of 18F-FDG PET in locating occult primary lesions in patients with metastatic cervical lymphadenopathy. Methods: A systematic search was performed by the PubMed/MEDLINE to identify and select the relevant studies published within the last 20 years (up to 25/08/2011). Reported detection rates, sensitivities and specificities were metaanalyzed. Subgroup analyses were performed if results of individual studies were heterogeneous. Results: Thirty studies met the inclusion criteria. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy rates of FDG-PET in detecting unknown primary tumors were 80.6%, 82.1% and 81.5% respectively. Furthermore, FDG-PET detected 33.5% of tumors that were not apparent after conventional workup. Whereas PET/CT scans’ overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 82.5%, 80.2% and 81.4% respectively. Furthermore, PET/CT detected 30.7% of tumors that were not apparent after conventional workup. There were no significant differences between the diagnostic accuracies of FDGPET and PET/CT scans. Conclusions: 18F-FDG PET could be useful in patients with UPT for the detection of the primary tumor. 18F-FDG PET has high sensitivity, indicating the existence of few false-negative results, an important feature in the management of oncologic patients that could suggest its utility in the initial stages of the management process