Spinal Muscle Atrophy Disease Modelling as Bayesian Network

We investigate the molecular gene expressions studies and public databases for disease modelling using Probabilistic Graphical Models and Bayesian Inference. A case study on Spinal Muscle Atrophy Genome-Wide Association Study results is modelled and analyzed. The genes up and down-regulated in two stages of the disease development are linked to prior knowledge published in the public domain and co-expressions network is created and analyzed. The Molecular Pathways triggered by these genes are identified. The Bayesian inference posteriors distributions are estimated using a variational analytical algorithm and a Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling algorithm. Assumptions, limitations and possible future work are concluded

Biomechanical Assessment of Restored Mandibular Molar by Endocrown in Comparison to a Glass Fiber Post-Retained Conventional Crown: 3D Finite Element Analysis

Purpose: To compare equivalent and contact stresses in a mandibular molar restored by all-ceramic crowns through twomethods: ceramic endocrowns and ceramic crowns supported by fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) posts and core, by using 3D finite element analysis during normal masticatory load. Materials and Methods: Three 3D models of a mandibular first molar were made and labeled as such: intact molar with no restoration (A); ceramic endocrown-restored molar (B); ceramic crown supported by FRC posts and core restored molar (C). By using 3D FE analysis with contact components, normal masticatory load was simulated. The mvM stresses in all models were calculated. Maximal mvM stresses in the ceramic of restorations, dentin, and luting cement were contrasted among models and to values of materials’ strength. Contact shear and tensile stresses in the restoration/tooth interface around restorations were also calculated. Results: The highest mvM stress levels in the enamel and dentin for the tooth restored by ceramic endocrown were lower in the crown ceramic than in tooth restored with FRC posts and all-ceramic crowns; however, in the resin adhesive cement interface it was lower for ceramic crown supported by FRC posts than the in ceramic endocrown restoration. Themaximum contact shear and tensile stress values along the restoration/tooth interface of ceramic endocrowns were lower than those with ceramic crowns supported by FRC posts. Conclusions: Ceramic endocrown restorations presented a lower mvM stress level in dentin than the conventional ceramic crowns supported by FRC posts and core. Ceramic endocrown restorations in molars are less susceptible to damage than those with conventional ceramic crowns retained by FRC posts. Ceramic endocrowns properly cemented in molars must not be fractured or loosen during normal masticatory load. Therefore, ceramic endocrowns are advised as practicable, minimally invasive, and esthetic restorations for root canal treated mandibular molars.The authors of this study thank Professor Chen Zhong Zhong and Mr. Zhang Jian Fei from the School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhengzhou University for their technical support rendered for the 3D FEA

Hepatic and gastrointestinal complications after adult cardiac surgery

Background: Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) complications are associated with increased morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery. Therefore, The goal of this research was to estimate the frequency of GIT and hepatic complications after cardiac surgery and to determine the risk factors for these complications. Additionally, we studied the effect of these complications on the outcomes of surgery. Methods: This longitudinal study included 139 consecutive patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery. Patients were grouped according to the GIT and hepatic complications into two groups. Postoperative outcomes were compared between the two groups.   Results The mean age was 59.43 years, and 106 patients were males (76%). The GIT and hepatic complications rate was 15.8% (n= 22). Hepatic dysfunction occurred in 8.6% of cases, GIT bleeding in 2.9%, paralytic ileus in 2.2%, fulminant hepatic failure in 2.2%, and GIT bleeding combined with paralytic ileus in 0.7%. The overall mortality was 7.2 % (n= 10). The mortality rate in patients who developed GIT and hepatic complications was 45.5% (n= 10 out of 22 patients). There was statistically significantly higher mortality (10 (45.5%) vs. 0; P= 0.001), cardiac arrest (10 (45.5%) vs. 3 (2.6%); P= 0.001), and reoperation rate (5 (22.7%) vs. 6 (5.1%); P= 0.005) among patients with GIT or hepatic complications. Conclusion: Patients with hepatic and GIT complications could have higher mortality, morbidity, and longer hospital stay than the non-complicated group

P2r – A Pairwise Testing Strategy Supporting Execution Resumption

Achieving an accepted level of software product quality assurance requires exhaustive and time consuming testing process, especially when testing software with large number of parameters and large number of possible input values for its parameters. Pairwise software testing have been commonly employed since it proved its usefulness to sample lists of test cases for such software while achieving an accepted level of code line and function coverage. However this process might require hours even days, since reducing the size of the produced list require time consuming computations. In case interruption occurred while generating test suite (e.g. due to power failure, hardware or software malfunctions), the process must be restarted from the beginning, much time and effort will be wasted if process have been interrupted when it’s near completion. In order to address the aforementioned issue, a number checkpointing schemes have been studied to refer the most suitable scheme to match pairwise test suite strategy. The project focuses on the development of a new pairwise strategy P2R, which can generate sufficiently competitive pairwise test suites in terms of test suite size and execution time. In order to achieve this target, P2R employed a new checkpointing scheme that is based on an amalgam of periodic and dynamic checkpointing schemes. Experiments have proven that P2R provides the ability to resume existing test while generating competitive results

Gains from Contracting for US Hog Growers

Vertical coordination through contracts between farmers and other stages of the agro food chain have been of growing importance in US agriculture. Production contract arrangements between contractors and individual growers have been one of the major vehicles of this emerging system of vertical coordination. Despite the unprecedented success of production contracts as claimed by many through risk reduction, income stabilization, use of improved managerial inputs, and know-how transfer from contractors to growers, contract growers dissatisfied with existing contract payments complain that contractors are extracting too much of contract benefits while growers gain only small, or even negative, returns from contract production. Thus, measuring growers' gains from contracting, and understanding what determines the returns to contracting, is important for evaluating the policy issues associated with contracting in agriculture. This study examines hog growers' gains from contracting and explores the distribution of the gains from contracting among contract hog growers. The purpose of this dissertation is threefold. The first purpose is to review the major issues that have been examined in the literature on principal-agent theory, with special attention to the issues that are important in the agricultural sector in general and hog production in particular. Some further extensions of the basic theories are developed to enable solving the empirical puzzles. Some implications for agents' gains from contracting in both static and dynamic settings are derived. Related discussion shows how hog contracts relate to standard principal-agent theories. The main finding is that for the most plausible information structure, that is, when growers have partial but better knowledge of their ability than contractors, some low ability growers with below average productivity receive negative gains from contracting on average. This conclusion holds even when renegotiation-proof long-term contracts are in place for each ability distribution. In contrast, none of the growers receives negative gains from contracting when they have complete knowledge of their ability before signing the contract. The second purpose is an explicit theoretical modeling of hog contracts to theoretically analyze optimal incentive structures for hog contracts. A principal-agent model allowing reservation profit to vary with ability is developed to explore whether some contract growers receive negative gains from contracting on average. The results of this theoretical development suggest a rich set of alternative conditions where negative average gains from contracting are possible for growers with below average productivity of any particular ability level discernible by the contractor. These losses are likely to be repeated under long-term contracting when ability is a permanent random draw for the grower that is different than expected. Even low-ability growers with above average productivity can experience an ex post loss from contracting. The third purpose of this dissertation is to test the main theoretical findings on contract growers' gains from contracting using revealed preference data from the well-known Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) for 2004. In order to do this, contract growers' gains from contracting are measured using standard impact evaluation methods. By going beyond typical estimation of how contracting affects average growers' profits, estimates are developed to show how high-profit growers are affected differently from low-profit growers, and whether some growers are worse off with contracting. The results are especially relevant for policy analysis regarding hog contracting because it shows what share of contract growers lose from contracting and identifies their characteristics. The impact distribution of contract growers' gains is also explored using quantile regression. The estimated growers' gains from contracting are then used to evaluate theoretical predictions of the hog model. The main empirical findings of this research can be summarized as follows. First, both risk reduction and limited credit are important motivations for hog contracting. Second, the sorting effect is positive, implying that contract growers tend (because of the effect of unobservables) to choose contracting because of a comparative advantage in doing so. A positive selection bias is estimated, which tends to give contract growers a comparative disadvantage from independent operation. Third, high ability growers earn higher profits on average than low ability growers as predicted by the hog contracting model. Fourth, the mean effect of contracting for contract growers (ATET) is positive for all contract growers. However, when contract growers are divided into quartiles by size, the ATET is positive only for the lower three quartiles whereas it is negative for the highest. Fifth, the ATET decrease over quantiles of the profit distribution for contract growers and the ATNT decreases over quantiles of the profit distribution for independent growers. Sixth, one third of the contract growers receive negative gains from contracting. Below average productivity growers lose from contracting as predicted by the hog contracting model. Seventh, the mean effect of contracting for independent growers (ATNT) is negative. Eighth, the ATET exceeds the ATNT, meaning that independent growers would gain less than contract growers had they contracted. Ninth, contract and independent growers are different with respect to the productivity of the variable factors of production but unilateral technological superiority of one group to the other is not found. Finally, the results suggest that small growers will be forced either to exit the hog business or expand operations regardless of their contracting status

The impact of increased body mass index on the outcomes after valve replacement

Background: The association between obesity and the outcomes of surgery is controversial. This study aimed to assess the effect of body mass index (BMI) on early and late morbidity and mortality after valve replacement surgery. Methods: The study was conducted on 100 valve replacement patients from 2020 to 2022. The patients were divided according to BMI into two groups: patients with morbid obesity (BMI ≥ 35) (Group A: n = 50) and patients who had BMI< 35 (Group B.; n = 50). Results: Hospital (9.43 ± 5.93 vs. 7.25 ± 4.05 days, P= 0.034), ICU length of stay (7.32 ± 5.67 vs. 4.52 ± 3.24 days, P= 0.003), and duration of mechanical ventilation (3.58 ± 2.54 vs. 2.342 ± 2.05 days, P= 0.008) were significantly higher in Group A. There was no significant difference in postoperative mortality between both groups (P= 0.678). There was no significant difference in morbidity and mortality after a 3-month follow-up. Hemoglobin was significantly lower in Group A (P =0.034), with no difference in postoperative laboratory investigations. Conclusions: Morbid obesity was not associated with increased mortality after valve replacement surgery; however, it could increase the duration of ventilation, ICU, and hospital stay

Digital Twins Approaches and Methods Review

© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. This is the accepted manuscript version of a conference paper which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1109/ITC-Egypt58155.2023.10206196This paper investigates the recent advances in Digital Twin technologies. The aim is to compare the approaches, available open source and proprietary technologies and methods, their features, and their integration capabilities. The motivation is to enable better design decisions based on the available literature and case studies. Various tools for 3D reconstruction and visualisation, IoT and sensor integration, Physical simulations and other complete platforms provide complete solutions. A conclusion of current challenges and future work identified that the lack of standardisation and interoperability makes the lifetime of a digital twin short, with a high cost and time to build and rebuild if required

An Operational Excellence Model for U.A.E Future Energy

Most people have a cynical view on investments made on renewable energy by countries in the Middle East region and regard them as merely a public relations exercise as the Gulf States produce a large proportion of the world's oil and gas reserves (Ford, 2007). Hence, there is a widespread belief that Arabian nations wish the global economy to continue to be dependent upon hydrocarbon fuels rather than cleaner form of energy. However, the setting up of the Masdar project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and growing interest in alternative technologies indicates more substance than mere publicity stunts (Ford, 2007). Set up by the government of Abu Dhabi, the Masdar project aims to promote renewable technologies in the Gulf region. The project comprises a research institute, an industrial development zone, an alternative energy centre of excellence and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC), a renewable energy development company. ADFEC has been set up to coordinate the various Masdar schemes (Ford, 2007). The operations management of ADFEC was the focus of this study.The overall aim of this research was to investigate and develop an operational excellence model for U.A.E. Future energy to convert from using oil as a major energy source to alternative energy sources as a way to diversify energy sources and increase the national income. The research question was addressed through a combination of secondary and primary research. Secondary research consisted of the acquisition of relevant information from various sources including academic books, journals, magazines, newspapers and relevant online sources. The primary research aspect of the study involved the design and distribution via email of structured questionnaires to operations managers at the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company in order to find out how they are managing their departments, the strengths and weaknesses of the group and other relevant information. The questionnaire consisted of ten closed ended questions and the survey was emailed to fifteen managers at ADFEC. Ten out of the fifteen managers returned and completed the questionnaire. Overall, the primary and secondary sources in the study served to provide a clearer picture of how operations management was conducted at ADFEC.Conclusions were drawn from the findings of the primary and secondary research. These included firstly, that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were making genuine efforts in setting up as well as promoting renewable energy sources within the Gulf region. Operations management encompasses all the main activities of an organization and therefore the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company should focus on fully utilizing their operational activities in order to improve their financial performance. ADFEC must also deploy relevant operations management activities and develop human resources in their manufacturing segment so that they can enjoy the success experienced by Japanese companies in terms of the ability to develop higher quality products and gain competitive advantage. Furthermore, in the context of increased globalization and greater concerns for the environment, ADFEC should develop a sound safety management system, set up procedures for environmental auditing to successfully perform environmental management (Ortiz, 2001), adopt waste management to reduce waste, improve efficiency in the production process and improve quality. The company should also follow the example of the United States in enhancing its competitive position through transforming waste into useful products (Nersesian, 2000).Secondly, the study demonstrated that despite the comfortable hydrocarbon cushion the United Arab Emirates enjoys, the region is eager to switch to renewable sources of energy in order to protect the environment throughout the Middle East. The Masdar project in this case is supported by reputable research partners such as BP and GE in order to develop new energy solutions (Ford, 2007). Furthermore, the findings showed that the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company uses its funds intelligently and is under able leadership and therefore on the verge of achieving technological breakthroughs. Assistance from industry partners ensure that the solutions created have practical applications and therefore broad market appeal. Nonetheless,in spite of the eagerness of the UAE to develop alternative sources of energy, certain barriers exist in the region including an expensive infrastructure and the existence of cheap electricity.In addition, the study indicated efforts are being made by the UAE to develop wind and solar power for producing electricity. In fact the region expects that 50% of its energy requirements to come from renewable sources (Williams, 2005). Since the study found that people are already using wind and solar power for their energy needs, this goal would appear to be achievable. Thirdly, the findings of the survey on operations managers at ADFEC revealed that they were convinced that converting from using oil as a major energy source to alternative sources of energy was an effective way to diversify energy sources and increase the national income. Although the vast majority of managers demonstrated awareness of both local and global trends in renewable energy sources, very few of them could explain in detail how the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company could reshape their production activities into a more global orientation over the next ten years thus indicating a need for operations managers to take a more globally orientated approach to their strategies. Furthermore, a small percentage of managers still felt that the operations field should be better represented at senior management level. Other problems found by the survey included the failure of functional managers to meet each other regularly or get to hear about each other's problems, and the failure of U.A.E. Future Energy to include all stakeholders in all relevant phases and aspects of the strategy process. The results also indicated that not all managers interacted positively with their employees to get the best results out of them. Based on these conclusions, a series of recommendations were made. These included: the need for ADFEC to organize global promotional strategies in order to positions itself as an environmentally sensitive organization to overcome cynicism; a well planned recruitment campaign to attract the best talent to the operations department; a clear idea of how to globally orientate their production activities through studying the trends among other multinational competitors and new climate legislation; ensure that operations managers get co-operation from managers and employees from non-operations areas such as marketing and finance; place a representative from the operations group at senior management level who can articulate clearly suggestions and problems during the strategy development process; deploy job rotation in the company so that employees can gain an insight into problems faced by workers in each department and have respect for each others work; product managers to take time out to explain their function clearly and effectively to other employees to develop a common understanding of the language and process of manufacturing strategy; involvement of all stakeholders in all phases of the strategy process to foster consensus and commitment; a flexible management style to manage a diverse workforce and finally, an openness to new technology and frequent adoption of new technologies and innovations into their business models and operations so that ADFEC can keep pace with a dynamic and competitive environment, and maintain business continuity and increase organizational efficiency

Improvement of dissolution properties of albendazole fromdifferent methods of solid dispersion

Poor aqueous solubility of drugs results in poor absorption and bioavailability. The objective of solid dispersion technology is to increase the dissolution properties of highly lipophilic drugs, by using different hydrophilic carriers thereby improving their bioavailability. This technology is useful for enhancing the dissolution, absorption and therapeutic efficacy of drugs in dosage forms. Albendazole is a broad-spectrum antihelmintic agent used for the treatment of a variety of parasitic worm infestations. It is practically insoluble in water but slightly soluble in solvents like chloroform, methanol, ethyl acetate, and acetonitrile. The aim of our study was to improve the dissolution profile of albendazole using HPMC K 100 LV, Kollidon VA64 and Mannitol as carriers by solid dispersion techniques. From the prepared solid dispersion, formulation code CSF5 showed better result where carrier was HMPC K 100 LV at 1:10 ratio in solvent evaporation method. The HPMC K 100 LV showed better result for both kneading and solvent evaporation methods. Moreover, among the method employed, solvent evaporation method showed better solubility of drug at 60 min also at 1:10 ratio which was 78.86%. Results indicated that current formulation of solid dispersion is a promising approach for enhancing drug solubility and dissolution

Glycerol: An unexpected major metabolite of energy metabolism by the human malaria parasite

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria is a global health emergency, and yet our understanding of the energy metabolism of the principle causative agent of this devastating disease, <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>, remains rather basic. Glucose was shown to be an essential nutritional requirement nearly 100 years ago and since this original observation, much of the current knowledge of <it>Plasmodium </it>energy metabolism is based on early biochemical work, performed using basic analytical techniques (e.g. paper chromatography), carried out almost exclusively on avian and rodent malaria. Data derived from malaria parasite genome and transcriptome studies suggest that the energy metabolism of the parasite may be more complex than hitherto anticipated. This study was undertaken in order to further characterize the fate of glucose catabolism in the human malaria parasite, <it>P. falciparum</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Products of glucose catabolism were determined by incubating erythrocyte-freed parasites with D-[1-¹³C] glucose under controlled conditions and metabolites were identified using ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Following a 2 h incubation of freed-<it>P. falciparum </it>parasites with 25 mM D-[1-¹³C] glucose (<it>n </it>= 4), the major metabolites identified included; [3-¹³C] lactate, [1,3-¹³C] glycerol, [3-¹³C] pyruvate, [3-¹³C] alanine and [3-¹³C] glycerol-3-phosphate. Control experiments performed with uninfected erythrocytes incubated under identical conditions did not show any metabolism of D-[1-¹³C] glucose to glycerol or glycerol-3-phosphate.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The identification of glycerol as a major glucose metabolite confirms the view that energy metabolism in this parasite is more complex than previously proposed. It is hypothesized here that glycerol production by the malaria parasite is the result of a metabolic adaptation to growth in O₂-limited (and CO₂elevated) conditions by the operation of a glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle for the re-oxidation of assimilatory NADH. Similar metabolic adaptations have been reported previously for other microaerobic/anaerobic organisms, such as yeast, rumen protozoa and human parasitic protozoa.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data highlight the need to re-evaluate the carbon and redox balance of this important human pathogen, ultimately leading to a better understanding of how the parasite is able to adapt to the variable environments encountered during parasite development and disease progression.</p