Metamaterial-Based Sensor Design Using Split Ring Resonator and Hilbert Fractal for Biomedical Application

In this research, a simple and efficient approach is presented to design a metamaterial-based sensitive sensor for biomedical applications. The metamaterial based sensor is designed to differentiate between different types of cancer cell lines based on their electrical properties. The sensor is designed by incorporating a single circular split ring resonator (SRR) and a Hilbert fractal curve. The SRR is used considering its capacitive and inductive resonance properties, thereby making the SRR a favorable candidate for sensing applications. Moreover, the Hilbert fractal curve was used as a defected ground structure to increase sensor sensitivity and selectivity. The Hilbert fractal ground will increase the capacitance and inductance of the sensor, thus increasing the sensor sensitivity. Different Hilbert curve orders were investigated. The fourth-order Hilbert curve was used in the final design because it showed the optimal performance among the orders. To verify the sensor functionality and selectivity, the proposed sensor was tested through three breast cancer cell lines. Measurement results were compared to simulated results obtained using high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS). In addition, support vector machine, which is an artificial neural network (ANN), was developed to classify the type of each cancerous cell based on resonance frequency

Towards Enhanced Diagnosis of Diseases using Statistical Analysis of Genomic Copy Number Data

Genomic copy number data are a rich source of information about the biological systems they are collected from. They can be used for the diagnoses of various diseases by identifying the locations and extent of aberrations in DNA sequences. However, copy number data are often contaminated with measurement noise which drastically affects the quality and usefulness of the data. The objective of this project is to apply some of the statistical filtering and fault detection techniques to improve the accuracy of diagnosis of diseases by enhancing the accuracy of determining the locations of such aberrations. Some of these techniques include multiscale wavelet-based filtering and hypothesis testing based fault detection. The filtering techniques include Mean Filtering (MF), Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA), Standard Multiscale Filtering (SMF) and Boundary Corrected Translation Invariant filtering (BCTI). The fault detection techniques include the Shewhart chart, EWMA and Generalized Likelihood Ratio (GLR). The performance of these techniques is illustrated using Monte Carlo simulations and through their application on real copy number data. Based on the Monte Carlo simulations, the non-linear filtering techniques performed better than the linear techniques, with BCTI performing with the least error . At an SNR of 1, BCTI technique had an average mean squared error of 2.34% whereas mean filtering technique had the highest error of 5.24%. As for the fault detection techniques, GLR had the lowest missed detection rate of 1.88% at a fixed false alarm rate of around 4%. At around the same false alarm rate, the Shewhart chart had the highest missed detection of 67.4%. Furthermore, these techniques were applied on real genomic copy number data sets. These included data from breast cancer cell lines (MPE600) and colorectal cancer cell lines (SW837)

Impaired Liver Size and Compromised Neurobehavioral Activity are Elicited by Chitosan Nanoparticles in the Zebrafish Embryo Model

The use of chitosan nanoparticles (ChNPs) in various biological and environmental applications is attracting great interest. However, potential side effects related to ChNP toxicity remain the major limitation hampering their wide application. For the first time, we investigate the potential organ-specific (cardiac, hepatic, and neuromuscular) toxicity of ChNPs (size 100–150 nm) using the zebrafish embryo model. Our data highlight the absence of both acute and teratogenic toxic effects of ChNPs (~100% survival rate) even at the higher concentration employed (200 mg/L). Although no single sign of cardiotoxicity was observed upon exposure to 200 mg/L of ChNPs, as judged by heartbeat rate, the corrected QT interval (QTc, which measures the time between the start of the Q wave and the end of the T wave in the heart's electrical cycle), maximum cardiac arrest, and ejection fraction assays, the same dosage elicited the impairment of both liver size (decreased liver size, but without steatosis and lipid yolk retention) and neurobehavioral activity (increased movement under different light conditions). Although the observed toxic effect failed to affect embryo survival, whether a prolonged ChNP treatment may induce other potentially harmful effects remains to be elucidated. By reporting new insights on their organ-specific toxicity, our results add novel and useful information into the available data concerning the in vivo effect of ChNPs.This work was supported by the NPRP grant [#9-254-2-120] from the Qatar National Research Fund, a Member of Qatar Foundation. The study was also partially supported by the grants [GCC-2017-001] given to G.K.N. and [QUCG-CHS-2018n2019-1] given to G.P

Recruitment and retention of participants in randomised controlled trials: a review of trials funded and published by the United Kingdom Health Technology Assessment Programme

Background Substantial amounts of public funds are invested in health research worldwide. Publicly funded randomised controlled trials (RCTs) often recruit participants at a slower than anticipated rate. Many trials fail to reach their planned sample size within the envisaged trial timescale and trial funding envelope. Objectives To review the consent, recruitment and retention rates for single and multicentre randomised control trials funded and published by the UK's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme. Data sources and study selection HTA reports of individually randomised single or multicentre RCTs published from the start of 2004 to the end of April 2016 were reviewed. Data extraction Information was extracted, relating to the trial characteristics, sample size, recruitment and retention by two independent reviewers. Main outcome measures Target sample size and whether it was achieved; recruitment rates (number of participants recruited per centre per month) and retention rates (randomised participants retained and assessed with valid primary outcome data). Results This review identified 151 individually RCTs from 787 NIHR HTA reports. The final recruitment target sample size was achieved in 56% (85/151) of the RCTs and more than 80% of the final target sample size was achieved for 79% of the RCTs (119/151). The median recruitment rate (participants per centre per month) was found to be 0.92 (IQR 0.43–2.79) and the median retention rate (proportion of participants with valid primary outcome data at follow-up) was estimated at 89% (IQR 79–97%). Conclusions There is considerable variation in the consent, recruitment and retention rates in publicly funded RCTs. Investigators should bear this in mind at the planning stage of their study and not be overly optimistic about their recruitment projections

Recruitment and retention of participants in randomised controlled trials: a review of trials funded by the United Kingdom health technology assessment programme

Background Substantial amounts of public funds are invested in health research worldwide. Publicly funded randomised controlled trials (RCTs) often recruit participants at a slower than anticipated rate. Many trials fail to reach their planned sample size within the envisaged trial timescale and trial funding envelope. Objectives To review the consent, recruitment and retention rates for single and multicentre randomised control trials funded and published by the UK's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme. Data sources and study selection HTA reports of individually randomised single or multicentre RCTs published from the start of 2004 to the end of April 2016 were reviewed. Data extraction Information was extracted, relating to the trial characteristics, sample size, recruitment and retention by two independent reviewers. Main outcome measures Target sample size and whether it was achieved; recruitment rates (number of participants recruited per centre per month) and retention rates (randomised participants retained and assessed with valid primary outcome data). Results This review identified 151 individually RCTs from 787 NIHR HTA reports. The final recruitment target sample size was achieved in 56% (85/151) of the RCTs and more than 80% of the final target sample size was achieved for 79% of the RCTs (119/151). The median recruitment rate (participants per centre per month) was found to be 0.92 (IQR 0.43–2.79) and the median retention rate (proportion of participants with valid primary outcome data at follow-up) was estimated at 89% (IQR 79–97%). Conclusions There is considerable variation in the consent, recruitment and retention rates in publicly funded RCTs. Investigators should bear this in mind at the planning stage of their study and not be overly optimistic about their recruitment projections

Using Zebrafish for Investigating the Molecular Mechanisms of Drug-Induced Cardiotoxicity

Over the last decade, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as amodel organismfor cardiovascular research.Zebrafish have several advantages over mammalian models. For instance, the experimental cost of using zebrafish is comparatively low; the embryos are transparent, develop externally, and have high fecundity making them suitable for large-scale genetic screening. More recently, zebrafish embryos have been used for the screening of a variety of toxic agents, particularly for cardiotoxicity testing. Zebrafish has been shown to exhibit physiological responses that are similar to mammals after exposure to medicinal drugs including xenobiotics, hormones, cancer drugs, and also environmental pollutants, including pesticides and heavy metals. In this review, we provided a summary for recent studies that have used zebrafish to investigate themolecularmechanisms of drug-induced cardiotoxicity. More specifically, we focused on the techniques that were exploited by us and others for cardiovascular toxicity assessment and described several microscopic imaging and analysis protocols that are being used for the estimation of a variety of cardiac hemodynamic parameters.Huseyin C. Yalcin is supported by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), National Priority Research Program NPRP 10-0123-170222,and Qatar University internal funds,QUUGBRC-2017-3 and QUST-BRC-SPR\2017-1. The publication of this article was partially funded by the Qatar National Library

Maximal and minimal spreading speeds for reaction diffusion equations in nonperiodic slowly varying media

This paper investigates the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of the Fisher-KPP equation in a heterogeneous medium, $$\partial_t u = \partial_{xx} u + f(x,u),$$ associated with a compactly supported initial datum. A typical nonlinearity we consider is $f(x,u) = \mu_0 (\phi (x)) u(1-u)$, where $\mu_0$ is a 1-periodic function and $\phi$ is a $\mathcal{C}^1$ increasing function that satisfies $\lim_{x\to +\infty} \phi (x) = +\infty$ and $\lim_{x\to +\infty} \phi' (x) = 0$. Although quite specific, the choice of such a reaction term is motivated by its highly heterogeneous nature. We exhibit two different behaviors for $u$ for large times, depending on the speed of the convergence of $\phi$ at infinity. If $\phi$ grows sufficiently slowly, then we prove that the spreading speed of $u$ oscillates between two distinct values. If $\phi$ grows rapidly, then we compute explicitly a unique and well determined speed of propagation $w_\infty$, arising from the limiting problem of an infinite period. We give a heuristic interpretation for these two behaviors

Analysis of factors influencing the ultrasonic fetal weight estimation

Objective: The aim of our study was the evaluation of sonographic fetal weight estimation taking into consideration 9 of the most important factors of influence on the precision of the estimation. Methods: We analyzed 820 singleton pregnancies from 22 to 42 weeks of gestational age. We evaluated 9 different factors that potentially influence the precision of sonographic weight estimation ( time interval between estimation and delivery, experts vs. less experienced investigator, fetal gender, gestational age, fetal weight, maternal BMI, amniotic fluid index, presentation of the fetus, location of the placenta). Finally, we compared the results of the fetal weight estimation of the fetuses with poor scanning conditions to those presenting good scanning conditions. Results: Of the 9 evaluated factors that may influence accuracy of fetal weight estimation, only a short interval between sonographic weight estimation and delivery (0-7 vs. 8-14 days) had a statistically significant impact. Conclusion: Of all known factors of influence, only a time interval of more than 7 days between estimation and delivery had a negative impact on the estimation