A robust uniform B-spline collocation method for solving the generalized PHI-four equation

In this paper, we develop a numerical solution based on cubic B-spline collocation method. By applying Von-Neumann stability analysis, the proposed technique is shown to be unconditionally stable. The accuracy of the presented method is demonstrated by a test problem. The numerical results are found to be in good agreement with the exact solution

Evaluation of low-intensity laser radiation on stimulating the cholesterol degrading activity: Part I. Microorganisms isolated from cholesterol-rich materials

AbstractA survey was performed to isolate bacteria and fungi from cholesterol-rich sources including chicken liver, turkey giblets, salmon, lamb, egg yolk, beef brain and shrimps. A total of 34 bacterial and 22 fungal isolates were recovered from the tested sources. The highest count of isolates was recovered from the soil (12 isolates/g), followed by turkey giblets and egg yolk (8 isolates/g, for each). Out of 34 bacterial isolates, five induced the highest level in cholesterol degradation. The most potent bacterial isolate was recovered from turkey giblets and was identified as Streptomyces fradiae. In a trial to increase the cholesterol decomposing potentiality of S. fradiae, low intensity Nd-YAG laser irradiation was evaluated. The exposure of the chlorophyllin – photosensitized bacterium to 210mW Nd-YAG laser for 8min induced significant increase in cholesterol degrading activity reaching 73.8% as compared with 54.2% in the case of non-irradiated, non-photosensitized culture. Under the same conditions but using the reaction mixture containing cholesterol as a substrate and extracellular crude enzyme, the percent decomposition reached 53.7% for the irradiated culture as compared to 28.3% in the case of the control. Our data indicate the importance of the photosensitizer in enhancement of laser radiation to stimulate cholesterol decomposition of S. fradiae

True density of soot particles: A comparison of results highlighting the influence of the organic contents

International audienc

Mesenchymal and stemness transdifferentiation via in-vitro infection of T24 cell line with Klebsiella pneumoniae

أثبتت الدراسات الحديثة أن وجود البكتيريا داخل أنسجة الورم له أثرعلى بيئة الورم وبالتالي يؤثرفى سلوك السرطان وتطوره واستجابة الخلايا  للعلاج. فى هذا البحث تم دراسة التحول التمايزى لخلايا سرطان المثانة الظاهرية الى خلايا ميزنكيمية و خلايا جذعية نتيجة لاحداث العدوى البكتيرية. وذلك من خلال إحداث عدوى لسلالة خلايا سرطان المثانة البولية (T24) ببكتيريا الكلبسيلا الرئوية لمدة يومين وأربعة أيام. تم قياس التعبير الجينى باستخدام جهاز البلمرة المتسلسل.وأظهرت النتائج زيادة في صفات الخلايا الميزنكيمية ؛ فزاد التعبير الجينى لجين الفيمنتين ، ونقص التعبيرالجينى للسيتوكيراتين، وعزز تحليل كيمياء الهيستولوجية المناعية هذه النتيجة. علاوة على ذلك، زاد التعبيرالجينى للجينات الدالة على الخلايا الجذعية. العدوى البكتيرية للخلايا السرطانية قد تسبب التمايز الخلوى، مما قد يؤدى الى تحسن قدرة الخلايا السرطانية على الانتشار والتجدد الذاتي. وبالتالي، قد تساهم البكتيريا في تطور سرطان المثانة وإنتشاره.Klebsiella pneumoniae has been found in the urinary tract of some bladder cancer patients. Bacterial presence within tumor tissue may affect the tumor-microenvironment and consequently influence cancer behavior, development, and treatment response. This study investigated mesenchymal and stemness transdifferentiation of bladder cancer cell line due to environmental stress of K. pneumoniae. Cultures of urothelial bladder cancer cell line (T24) were infected with K. pneumoniae with different multiplicity of infection (MOI) for two and four days. Transdifferentiation-associated features were morphologically assessed. Moreover, transdifferentiation markers were estimated using Q-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Q-PCR data showed an increase in mesenchymal transdifferentiation traits; vimentin expression was upregulated, and cytokeratin19 expression downregulated significantly (P<0.001) compared with controls, which were emphasized by immunohistochemistry results. Moreover, stemness transdifferentiation markers expression increased significantly (P<0.001). The heterogeneous tumor cell population may be altered by bacterial infection, which improves cancer cells' migration and self-renewal ability. Thus, bacteria may be engaged in cancer progression and metastases.

High Serine-arginine Protein Kinase 1 Expression with PTEN Loss Defines Aggressive Phenotype of Prostate Cancer Associated with Lethal Outcome and Decreased Overall Survival

Background: Serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) has been implicated in prostate cancer (PCa) progression. However, its prognostic value and association with ERG and PTEN expression, two of the most common genetic alterations, have not been explored fully. Objective: We assessed the prognostic value of SRPK1 in association with ERG and PTEN in a cohort of patients managed nonsurgically by androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for advanced disease. Design, setting, and participants: The study cohort consisted of men diagnosed with PCa by transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP; n = 480). The patients were divided into three main groups: incidental (patients with Gleason score [GS] ≤7 with no prior ADT), advanced (patients with GS ≥8 with no prior ADT), and castrate-resistant PCa (patients with prior ADT). Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: A total of 480 TURP samples were assessed by immunohistochemistry for SRPK1, ERG, and PTEN, and results were correlated with Gleason grade group (GG), overall survival (OS), and PCa-specific mortality (PCSM). Results and limitations: High SRPK1 expression was noted in 105/455 (23%) available patient cores. Expression of SRPK1 was associated with Gleason grade grouping (p \u3c 0.0001) with high expression detected in 22/74 (33%) with GG 5. High SRPK1 was not associated with ERG positivity (p = 0.18) but was significantly associated with PTEN intensity (p = 0.001). High SRPK1 was associated with OS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.99; confidence interval [CI]: 1.57–2.54, p \u3c 0.0001) and PCSM (HR 1.64; CI: 1.19–2.26, p \u3c 0.002). Adjusting for Gleason score, patients with high SRPK1 and negative PTEN had the worst clinical outcome for both OS and PCSM compared with other patients (p \u3c 0.0001, HR: 3.02; CI: 1.87–4.88 and HR: 6.40, CI: 3.19–12.85, respectively). Conclusions: High SRPK1 is associated with worse OS and PCSM. Moreover, patients with high SRPK1 expression and loss of PTEN had the worst clinical outcome for OS and cancer-specific mortality. Combined status of SRPK1 and PTEN may provide added value in stratifying patients into various prognostic groups. Patient summary: The expression of serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) combined with PTEN has a significant prognostic role in prostate cancer patients. Patients with high SRPK1 expression and negative PTEN had the worst clinical outcome for overall survival and cancer-specific mortality

Low-Loss Super-Wide Band Antenna over Customized Substrate

In this work, a super wide band antenna is proposed to operate in the frequency band 2.3-23 GHz. The antenna has two planar arms with a modified diamond shape printed on the opposite faces of three-layer dielectric substrate. Each arm of the antenna is capacitively coupled to circular sector near its end to increase the impedance matching bandwidth. The dielectric substrate is customized to fit the shape of the antenna arms and the parasitic elements to reduce the dielectric loss. The substrate material is composed of three layers. The upper and lower layers are Rogers RO3003TM of 0.13 mm thickness and the middle layer is made of paper of 2.3 dielectric constant and 2.7 mm thickness. The antenna is fed through a wide band impedance matching balun. The antenna design stages are performed through electromagnetic simulations concerned with the parametric study to get the optimum antenna dimensions to numerically investigate the role of the parasitic element to enhance the antenna performance. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated to validate the simulation results. The experimental measurements come in good agreement with the simulation results and both of them show that the antenna operates efficiently over the frequency band 2.3-23 GHz with minimum radiation efficiency of 97% and maximum gain of 5.2 dBi. The antenna has bandwidth to dimension ratio (BDR) of 1360

Advanced simulation methods for occupant-centric building design

Performance quantification through simulation has been particularly advantageous to building design, as it can be applied to non-existent buildings in the design process, allows for testing design variants under identical conditions, and demands much less resources as compared to physical measurements. Consequently, use of building simulation in the design process has evolved to – for example – establish and verify design performance, screen and optimize design parameters, and study robustness and adaptability in adverse conditions. In this context, the present chapter investigates how the state-of-the-art simulation-aided design procedures can contribute to realize occupant-centric design objectives. To this end, the chapter, first, discusses the ways in which simulation-aided design methods can represent occupants and capture their interactions with buildings’ environmental control systems. Subsequently, a number of key simulation-aided design methods and objectives are explored with a focus on the role of occupants. Finally, a carefully described prototypical building model serves to demonstrate and test the introduced occupant-centric simulation-aided design procedures

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Grilled Meats from Restaurants

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a group of lipophilic compounds that can be generated during the preparation of food items at elevated temperatures. They are regarded as potentially genotoxic and carcinogenic to human beings, related to increased incidence of breast and colorectal cancers, oxidative DNA injury, and bad effects on children neuro-differentiation. Thus, they are considered a public health concerns. A total of thirty samples of grilled beef steak, beef kofta and chicken (ten each) were collected from different restaurants. The samples were extracted by magnesium sulfate and sodium acetate in acetonitrile then purified in magnesium sulfate, primary, secondary amine and silica gel, and finally measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Benzo[a]pyrene was recorded with the highest average level (3.63µg/kg) in grilled kofta samples, but it was not detected in chicken samples. On the other hand, PAH4, PAH8 and ƩPAHs content were more abundant in grilled beef steak (5.32, 9.97 and 56.91µg/kg). Meanwhile, they recorded the least concentrations of grilled chicken from different restaurants. Furthermore, benzo[a]pyrene exceeded the permissible limits of the European Commission and Egyptian National Food Safety Authority in grilled kofta samples; further studies are needed to investigate the limits of exposure to these harmful compounds from meats and other food items

Core Microbial Functional Activities in Ocean Environments Revealed by Global Metagenomic Profiling Analyses

Metagenomics-based functional profiling analysis is an effective means of gaining deeper insight into the composition of marine microbial populations and developing a better understanding of the interplay between the functional genome content of microbial communities and abiotic factors. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of 24 datasets covering surface and depth-related environments at 11 sites around the world's oceans. The complete datasets comprises approximately 12 million sequences, totaling 5,358 Mb. Based on profiling patterns of Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs) of proteins, a core set of reference photic and aphotic depth-related COGs, and a collection of COGs that are associated with extreme oxygen limitation were defined. Their inferred functions were utilized as indicators to characterize the distribution of light- and oxygen-related biological activities in marine environments. The results reveal that, while light level in the water column is a major determinant of phenotypic adaptation in marine microorganisms, oxygen concentration in the aphotic zone has a significant impact only in extremely hypoxic waters. Phylogenetic profiling of the reference photic/aphotic gene sets revealed a greater variety of source organisms in the aphotic zone, although the majority of individual photic and aphotic depth-related COGs are assigned to the same taxa across the different sites. This increase in phylogenetic and functional diversity of the core aphotic related COGs most probably reflects selection for the utilization of a broad range of alternate energy sources in the absence of light.This work was supported by King Abdullah University for Science and Technology Global Collaborative Partners (GCR) program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Laser excitation of the 1s-hyperfine transition in muonic hydrogen

The CREMA collaboration is pursuing a measurement of the ground-state hyperfine splitting (HFS) in muonic hydrogen ($\mu$p) with 1 ppm accuracy by means of pulsed laser spectroscopy to determine the two-photon-exchange contribution with $2\times10^{-4}$ relative accuracy. In the proposed experiment, the $\mu$p atom undergoes a laser excitation from the singlet hyperfine state to the triplet hyperfine state, {then} is quenched back to the singlet state by an inelastic collision with a H$_2$ molecule. The resulting increase of kinetic energy after the collisional deexcitation is used as a signature of a successful laser transition between hyperfine states. In this paper, we calculate the combined probability that a $\mu$p atom initially in the singlet hyperfine state undergoes a laser excitation to the triplet state followed by a collisional-induced deexcitation back to the singlet state. This combined probability has been computed using the optical Bloch equations including the inelastic and elastic collisions. Omitting the decoherence effects caused by {the laser bandwidth and }collisions would overestimate the transition probability by more than a factor of two in the experimental conditions. Moreover, we also account for Doppler effects and provide the matrix element, the saturation fluence, the elastic and inelastic collision rates for the singlet and triplet states, and the resonance linewidth. This calculation thus quantifies one of the key unknowns of the HFS experiment, leading to a precise definition of the requirements for the laser system and to an optimization of the hydrogen gas target where $\mu$p is formed and the laser spectroscopy will occur.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure