Right mini-thoracotomy versus median sternotomy for mitral valve replacement

Background: The advantages of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery over the conventional approach is still debated. This study aimed to evaluate early outcomes after mitral valve replacement (MVR) using the right mini-thoracotomy (RMT) versus median sternotomy (MS). Methods: We prospectively included 60 patients who had MVR from May 2015 to June 2017. We classified patients into two groups; Group A (n= 30) had RMT, and Group B (n= 30) had MS. Postoperative pain score, wound satisfaction, and clinical and echocardiographic outcomes were compared between both groups. Results: The mean age was 39.90 ± 12.34 years in Group A and 45.75 ± 13.10 years in Group B (p= 0.08). Preoperative and echocardiographic data showed no statistical significance difference between the groups. Group A had longer aortic cross-clamp (118.85 ± 40.56 vs. 70.75 ± 24.81 minutes, p<0.001) and cardiopulmonary bypass times (186.70 ± 67.44 vs. 104.65 ± 42.60 minutes, p<0.001).  Group B had more blood loss (565 ± 344.3 vs. 241.5 ±89.16 ml/24 hours, p<0.001). The median pain score was 1 (range: 1- 3) in Group A and 4 (2- 8) in Group B (p<0.001), and the median wound satisfaction was 1.5 (1- 4) in Group A and 4 (1- 7) in Group B (p<0.001).  Wound infection occurred in 1 (3.3%) patient in Group A and 6 (20%) patients in Group B (p=0.04). Conclusion: Mitral valve replacement through the right mini-thoracotomy could be a safe alternative to median sternotomy. The right mini-thoracotomy was associated with longer operative times but better pain and wound satisfaction scores and lower wound infection

From ESP to CLIL using the Schema Theory

This paper explains the use of the Schema Theory in planning and preparing a Physiology lesson in a CLIL tertiary context in a Spanish university. The adopted combination of methods used in applying the theory is transferable to any context and subject. Scaffolding for content and language learning was undertaken using schema-building through activities involving: (1) sequencing; (2) using an exercise with causality language for purposeful reading (3) outlining; and (4) commentating on a video. Since CLIL practices have often lead CLIL theory, the study is organized into two parts. The first part is described in this article, and the second part, involving feedback from the students in this study, is work in progress. The required Physiology lesson lent itself to outlining a reading, and applying top-down structuring of information and schema building, as well as to the use of causality. The video commentary activity, on the other hand, catered for a more bottom-up approach. The paper focuses on the design of materials and activities as part of the ongoing CLIL collaboration between the language and the content professors. Other than the Schema theory and top-down bottom-up information processing, the designed activities were based on the principles of social constructivism through language scaffolding and peer collaboration.

Synthesis and Molluscicidal Activity of Some Newly Substituted Chromene and Pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole Derivatives

The arylidene derivatives 3a-f react with 1,3-cyclohexanedioneand dimedone 4a,b to afford the 4-(2- or 3-pyridyl) or 4-pipronyl-chromene derivatives 6a-l. The arylidene derivatives 3a-c react with the pyrazolone derivatives 7a,b to afford the pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole derivatives 9af.The molluscicidal activity of the synthesized compounds towards Biomphalaria alexandrina snails, the intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni, was investigated and most of them showed weak to moderate activity.

Context-aware recommender system for multi-user smart home

Smart home is one of the most important applications of the internet of things (IoT). Smart home makes life simpler, easier to control, saves energy based on user’s behavior and interaction with the home appliances. Many existing approaches have designed a smart home system using data mining algorithms. However, these approaches do not consider multiusers that exist in the same location and time (which needs a complex control). They also use centralized mining algorithm, then the system’s efficiency is reduced when datasets increase. Therefore, in this paper, we firstly build a context-aware recommender system that considers multi-user’s preferences and solves their conflicts by using unsupervised algorithms to deliver useful recommendation services. Secondly, we improve smart home’s responsive using parallel computing. The results reveal that the proposed method is better than existing approaches

Proportional Hazard Bivariate Kumaraswamy Model Applied on Fish Mercury Concentration

International advisory bodies have developed guidelines for testing mercury and aquatic items to protect human health and international trade. The mercury absorption in fish has a great effect on human health. For modeling this problem, a new bivariate distribution using the proportional hazard rate (PHR) model with Kumaraswamy marginal called BKPH is derived and studied via statistical properties and reliability measures. Moreover, several methods of parameter estimation are discussed, including maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), method of moments estimation (MME), and inference function for margins estimation (IFM). In the simulation study, the performance of estimators depending on their estimation methodologies is compared. Finally, a comparative study of the proposed BKPH with several bivariate Kumaraswamy distributions via goodness of fit criteria was introduced. The results of the study proved the potentiality of the BKPH model and has a best fitting on mercury fish absorption data

Parent-offspring transmission of adipocytokine levels and their associations with metabolic traits

Adipose tissue secreted cytokines (adipocytokines) have significant effects on the physiology and pathology of human metabolism relevant to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We determined the relationship of the pattern of these circulating hormones with obesity-related phenotypes and whether such pattern is transmitted from parent to offspring. A combined total of 403 individuals from 156 consenting Saudi families divided into initial (119 families with 123 adults and 131 children) and replication (37 families with 58 adults and 91 children) cohorts were randomly selected from the RIYADH Cohort study. Anthropometrics were evaluated and metabolic measures such as fasting serum glucose, lipid profiles, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa), activated plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (aPAI1), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and angiotensin II were also assessed. Parent-offspring regressions revealed that with the exception of hsCRP, all hormones measured showed evidence for significant inheritance. Principal component (PC) analysis of standardized hormone levels demonstrated surprising heritability of the three most common axes of variation. PC1, which explained 21% of the variation, was most strongly loaded on levels of leptin, TNFa, insulin, and aPAI1, and inversely with adiponectin. It was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) and phenotypically stronger in children, and showed a heritability of ,50%, after adjustment for age, gender and generational effects. We conclude that adipocytokines are highly heritable and their pattern of co-variation significantly influences BMI as early as the pre-teen years. Investigation at the genomic scale is required to determine the variants affecting the regulation of the hormones studied

Ancient Egypt 1923 Part 1

Part 1 of the 1923 Ancient Egypt books. Contents include a portrait of Menkaura, the magic skin, and customs at childbirth.https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/kweeks_coll/1022/thumbnail.jp

Development of new organic-inorganic, hybrid bionanocomposite from cellulose and clay for enhanced removal of Drimarine Yellow HF-3GL dye

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Cellulose/clay composites were prepared and applied for the adsorption of Drimarine Yellow HF-3GL direct dye. The prepared composites were characterized by FTIR, TGA, EDX, SEM and XRD techniques. Bagasse was used as a cellulose source, while clay was obtained from local source, which was modified chemically before composite preparation. Adsorption efficiencies were compared of composite I and II as a function of contact time, temperature, pH, initial dye concentration and composite dose. Non-linear kinetic and equilibrium isotherm employed and dye adsorption data fitted well to pseudo-second order kinetics model. Among isotherms, the Redlich-Peterson isotherm well defined the sorption process of dye on to composites. Thermodynamic factors (ΔS°, ΔH° and ΔG°) revealed that the sorption process was spontaneous, exothermic and feasible. Cellulose/clay composite I and II removed 88.64% and 89.95% dye with 60 min at pH 2 and 30 °C, respectively. For reusability, desorption was performed using different eluting agents and NaOH showed higher desorption efficiency. For the treatment of wastewater, the developed composites were applied to textile effluents and color removal of (90–96.07%) and (97–98.23%) was achieved using cellulose/clay composite I and II, respectively. The results showed that cellulose/clay composite are efficient for the removal dyes and could possibly be used for the treatment of textile effluents

FOXP3 Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Pediatric Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL): A Preliminary Data

FOXP3 (forkhead box P3) polymorphism is associated with many inflammatory diseases and cancers. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of pediatric malignancies.This study was designed to investigate the impact of FOXP3 (-3279C/A and -2383C/T) gene polymorphism on the susceptibility of Egyptian children to ALL. A total of 128 subjects with ALL and 124 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Genotyping of FOXP3 (-3279C/A and -2383C/T) were performed by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). There was a significant increase (P<0.01) in FOXP3 (-3279CC) genotype, while FOXP3 -3279CA genotype was significantly decreased in ALL patients compared to controls. Insignificant change in FOXP3 (-2383C/T) genotypes was demonstrated between both groups. FOXP3 (-2383CC) genotype was significantly decreased (p<0.05) in treatment responders compared to non-responders and a significant increased (p<0.05) in relapsed patients comparing to the non-relapsed group. Taken together, our pilot study pointed to the potential role of FOXP3 (-3279C/A) gene polymorphisms in Egyptian children ALL susceptibility. An additional prospective large scale study should be carried out to support our findings