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Long-term antibiotic treatment results in the increasing resistance of bacteria to antimicrobials drugs, so it is necessary to search for effective alternatives to prevent and treat pathogens that cause diseases. This study is aimed for biological synthesis of silver Carthamus nanoparticles (Ag-Carth-NPs) to combat microbial biofilm formation and Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence genes. Ag-Carth-NPs are synthesized using Carthamus tenuis aqueous extract as environmentally friendly method has no harmful effect on environment. General factorial design is used to optimize Ag-Carth-NPs synthesis using three variables in three levels are Carthamus extract concentration, silver nitrate concentration and gamma radiation doses. Analysis of response data indicates gamma radiation has a significant effect on Ag-Carth-NPs production. Ag-Carth-NPs have sharp peak at λ max 425 nm, small and spherical particles with size 20.0 ± 1.22 nm, high stability up to 240 day with zeta potential around − 43 ± 0.12 mV, face centered cubic crystalline structure and FT-IR spectroscopy shows peak around 620 cm−1 that corresponding to AgNPs that stabilized by C. tenuis extract functional moiety. The antibacterial activity of Ag-Carth-NPs against pathogenic bacteria and fungi was determined using well diffusion method. The MIC values of Ag-Carth-NPs were (6.25, 6.25, 3.126, 25, 12.5, 12.5, 25 and 12.5 µg/ml), MBC values were (12.5, 12.5, 6.25, 50, 25, 25, 50 and 25 µg/ml) and biofilm inhibition% were (62.12, 68.25, 90.12, 69.51, 70.61, 71.12, 75.51 and 77.71%) against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Candida tropicalis and Candida albicans respectively. Ag-Carth-NPs has bactericidal efficacy and significantly reduced the swarming, swimming motility, pyocyanin and protease production of P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, P. aeruginosa ToxA gene expression was significantly down regulated by 81.5%, while exoU reduced by 78.1%, where lasR gene expression reduction was 68%, while the reduction in exoU was 66% and 60.1% decrease in lasB gene expression after treatment with Ag-Carth-NPs. This activity is attributed to effect of Ag-Carth-NPs on cell membrane integrity, down regulation of virulence gene expression, and induction of general and oxidative stress in P. aeruginosa. Ag-Carth-NPs have no significant cytotoxic effects on normal human cell (Hfb4) but have IC50 at 5.6µg/mL against of HepG-2 cells. Limitations of the study include studies with low risks of silver nanoparticles for in vitro antimicrobial effects and its toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two novel crossover models for breast cancer that incorporate Ψ -Caputo fractal variable-order fractional derivatives, fractal fractional-order derivatives, and variable-order fractional stochastic derivatives driven by variable-order fractional Brownian motion and the crossover model for breast cancer that incorporates Atangana–Baleanu Caputo fractal variable-order fractional derivatives, fractal fractional-order derivatives, and variable-order fractional stochastic derivatives driven by variable-order fractional Brownian motion are presented here, where we used a simple nonstandard kernel function Ψ (t) in the first model and a non-singular kernel in the second model. Moreover, we evaluated our models using actual statistics from Saudi Arabia. To ensure consistency with the physical model problem, the symmetry parameter ζ is introduced. We can obtain the fractal variable-order fractional Caputo and Caputo–Katugampola derivatives as special cases from the proposed Ψ -Caputo derivative. The crossover dynamics models define three alternative models: fractal variable-order fractional model, fractal fractional-order model, and variable-order fractional stochastic model over three-time intervals. The stability of the proposed model is analyzed. The Ψ -nonstandard finite-difference method is designed to solve fractal variable-order fractional and fractal fractional models, and the Toufik–Atangana method is used to solve the second crossover model with the non-singular kernel. Also, the nonstandard modified Euler–Maruyama method is used to study the variable-order fractional stochastic model. Numerous numerical tests and comparisons with real data were conducted to validate the methods' efficacy and support the theoretical conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative, renewable and carbon-neutral fuels are an urgent requirement. Pyrolysis has received the most attention in the conversion of biomass into fuel. The main disadvantages of chemical and physical properties of pyrolysis crude bio-oil include its high oxygen content and acidity. Catalytic fast pyrolysis can overcome this problem. Rice straw is an abundant biomass residual that can be of environmental negative impact and is not of proper use. Therefore, this research work introduces the use of this residual in the production of fuel sources by one-step catalytic pyrolysis with the reusability of the employed catalyst. A waste extraction catalyst modified with acidic and nickel sites has been prepared and was utilised for the proposed target in this study. The removal of silica, lignin and minerals by treatment of the rice straw with KOH and then HNO3 in a green terminated process improved the catalytic biomass conversion from 83% to 96% at a catalyst dose of 5%, at 250°C. The pre-treatment of the rice straw enables the reusability of the catalyst in direct catalytic pyrolysis where the employed catalyst exhibits good stability in four consecutive runs. The used KOH and HNO3 were neutralised by mixing to produce KNO3 as a valuable fertiliser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we improved a mathematical model of monkeypox disease with a time delay to a crossover model by incorporating variable-order and fractional differential equations, along with stochastic fractional derivatives, in three different time intervals. The stability and positivity of the solutions for the proposed model are discussed. Two numerical methods are constructed to study the behavior of the proposed models. These methods are the nonstandard modified Euler Maruyama technique and the nonstandard Caputo proportional constant Adams-Bashfourth fifth step method. Many numerical experiments were conducted to verify the efficiency of the methods and support the theoretical results. This study's originality is the use of fresh data simulation techniques and different solution methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we generalize the multi‐vaccination for COVID‐19 mathematical model to the variable‐order fractional derivative case by replacing the first‐order derivative with the variable‐order fractional Atangana‐Baleanu‐Caputo operator. Moreover, the parameters of the proposed model are dependent on the variable‐order fractional derivative. We use an amended numerical technique to build an asymptotically stable difference scheme. The proposed scheme accurately simulates the behavior of the solution of the presented model. Some properties, boundedness, and positivity of the studied system are proved analytically. The introduced scheme preserves these properties of the analytic solutions. Numerical treatment is run out for testing the reliability, applicability, and simplicity of this scheme. Comparitive study bettween the obtained results using the discretization of Atangana‐Baleanu‐Caputo derivative and nonstandard finite differeance method with the results which obtained using the discretization of the operator Yang‐Abdel‐Cattani is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mesoporous catalytic composite material was prepared from both stover ash (as a source of mixed oxides) and treated rice straw with very low residue on ignition (as a pore-capping agent). X-ray diffraction and BET surface analyses of the as-prepared mesoporous mixed oxides (MMO) exhibited a partially crystalline structure with an average pore diameter of 16.4 nm. To modify the optical properties, Ni nanoparticles were loaded onto the MMO surface via the reduction with hydrazine. Both MMO and the modified material, namely Ni-MMO, were investigated by HR-TEM, IR, X-ray diffraction, BET surface analyses, XPS, PL spectra, and UV-Visible reflectance measurements. In a good agreement, all tests confirmed that Ni nanoparticles interacted with oxides on the surface with restructuring and a new potential crystal system. XPS revealed that Ni generates surface oxygen vacancies (SOV) which induced sub-band levels to stabilise e-/h* pairs. Ni-MMO with low PL intensity showed a high photocatalytic activity in degradation of Rhodamine B dye with a maximum of 99.1% after 180 min under visible irradiation and catalyst dose of 1 g L−1. The reusability test for Ni-MMO exhibits the catalyst stability in four consecutive cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In photocatalysis, the optical properties and surface parameters significantly affect the catalytic performance. To engineer the optical properties and textural structure, Cr and p-phenylene diamine (PDA) were utilized as dopant and textural structure regulator, respectively. A series of Cr-doped Co3O4 with dopant percentages of 0, 1, 3, and 5, templated PDA at a fixed ratio of 5%, and another un-templated sample with a dopant ratio of 5% were prepared. The co-precipitation method was applied in swift and innovative procedures, where a calculated amount of NaOH was used as a precipitant. The optical properties, dopant concentration quenching, and surface parameters are strongly affected by the order–disorder in the lattice and dopant concentration. The lattice regularity affects the optical properties and the surface parameters along with the dopant concentration. The photocatalysts were evaluated in the disposal of organic pollutants in a representative sample of wastewater collected from different industrial activities. The function of another function was applied to monitor the pollutants' disposal, taking the total organic carbon (TOC) as a function of the pollutants' concentration and the photometric absorbance as a function of the TOC. The kinetic investigation exhibited the significant role of the pore system on the reaction rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present article, an approach to find the exact solution of the fractional Fokker–Planck equation (FFPE) is presented. It is based on transforming it to a system of first‐order partial differential equation via Hopf transformation, together with implementing the extended unified method. On the other hand, a theorem provides the reduction of the fractional derivatives to non‐autonomous ordinary derivative is given. Thus, the FFPE is reduced to non‐autonomous classical ones. Some explicit solutions of the classical, fractional time‐derivative Fokker–Planck equation are obtained. It is shown that the solution of the Fokker–Planck equation is bi‐Gaussian's, which was not found up to date. It is found that high friction coefficient plays a significant role in lowering the standard deviation. Further, it is found that the effect of the presence of the fractional derivative prevails that of the fractal derivative. Here, the most interesting result found is that mixed‐Gaussian solution is obtained. It is worthy to mention that the mixture of Gaussian's is a powerful tool in machine learning and also in the distribution of loads in networks. Further, varying the order of the fractional time derivatives results to slight effects in the probability distribution function. Also, it is shown that the mean and mean square of the velocity vary slowly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study applies the eco-friendly principle of "wastes treat wastes". By swift methods, a composite photocatalyst was prepared from waste-extracted oxides, namely V2O5, Ag, and ZnO. The metal–lixiviant complexes were used as metal precursors, where the lixiviants act as auto-templates and increase the compatibility between the mixed metallic species, and their controlled thermal removal generates pores. The tri-constitute composite catalyst was doped with nitrogen. The constitution, surface composition, and optical properties of the doped catalysts were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET surface analysis, XPS, diffuse reflectance, and PL spectra. The as-prepared catalysts were employed in the photodegradation of Congo red dye (CR) under visible irradiation at ambient temperature. The degree of Ag dispersion had a significant effect on the bandgap, as did metal and metal-nonmetal co-doping. The efficiency of dye removal changes dramatically with time up to 120 min, after which it begins to decrease. According to the pH effect, the normal pH of Congo red dye (6.12) is optimal. At a catalyst dose of 1 g L−1 and an irradiation period of 120 min, photodegradation efficiency reached 89.9% and 83.4% over [Ag0.05 ZnO0.05 V2O5(0.90)] and [Ag0.05 ZnO0.05 V2O5(0.90)]N, respectively. The kinetic study depicted the significant role of mass transfer in the reaction rate. The obtained rate constants were 0.995 mole L−1 S−1 and 0.998 mole L−1 S−1 for [Ag0.05 ZnO0.05 V2O5(0.90)] and [Ag0.05 ZnO0.05 V2O5(0.90)]N, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new mathematical model of Coronavirus (2019-nCov) using piecewise hybrid fractional order derivatives is given in this paper. Moreover, in order to be consistent with the physical model problem, a new parameter μ is presented. The boundedness, existence, and positivity of the solutions for the proposed model are discussed. Two improved numerical methods are presented in this paper. The Caputo proportional constant nonstandard modified Euler–Maruyama method is introduced to study the fractional stochastic model, and the Grünwald–Letnikov nonstandard finite difference method is presented to study the hybrid fractional order deterministic model. Comparative studies with real data from Spain and Wuhan are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haloalkophilic bacteria have a potential advantage as a bioremediation organism of high oil-polluted and industrial wastewater. In the current study, Haloalkaliphilic isolates were obtained from Hamralake, Wadi EL-Natrun, Egypt. The phenotype script, biochemical characters, and sequence analysis of bacterial-16S rRNA were used to identify the bacterial isolates; Halomonas HA1 and Marinobacter HA2. These strains required high concentrations of NaCl to ensure bacterial growth, especially Halomonas HA1 strain. Notably, both isolates can degrade phenol at optimal pH values, between 8 and 9, with the ability to grow in pH levels up to 11, like what was seen in the Halomonas HA1 strain. Moreover, both isolates represent two different mechanistic pathways for phenol degradation. Halomonas HA1 exploits the 1,2 phenol meta-cleavage pathway, while Marinobacter HA2 uses the 2,3 ortho-cleavage pathway as indicated by universal primers for 1,2 and 2,3 CTD genes. Interestingly, Marinobacter HA2 isolate eliminated the added phenol within an incubation period of 72 h, while the Halomonas HA1 isolate invested 96 h in degrading 84% of the same amount of phenol. Phylogenetic analysis of these 1,2 CTD (catechol dioxygenase) sequences clearly showed an evolutionary relationship between 1,2 dioxygenases of both Halomonadaceae and Pseudomonadaceae. In comparison, 2,3 CTD of Marinobacter HA2 shared the main domains of the closely related species. Furthermore, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis proved the constitutive expression pattern of both dioxygenase genes. These findings provide new isolates of Halomonas sp. and Marinobacter sp. that can degrade phenol at high salt and pH conditions via two independent mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing growth of bacterial resistance makes the top challenge for the healthcare system especially in bone-infections treatment. Current estimates reveal that in 2050 the death ratio caused by bacterial infections can be higher than cancer. The aim of this study is to provide an alternative to currently available bone-infection treatments. Here we designed mesoporous hydroxyapatite nanocarriers functionalized with citrate (Ctr–mpHANCs). Amoxicillin (AMX) is used as a model drug to load in Ctr–mpHANCs, and the drug loading was more than 90% due to the porous nature of nanocarriers. Scanning electron microscopy shows the roughly spherical morphology of nanocarriers, and the DLS study showed the approximate size of 92 nm. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and pore diameter was found to be about 182.35 m2/g and 4.2 nm, respectively. We noticed that almost 100% of the drug is released from the AMX loaded Ctr–mpHANCs (AMX@Ctr–mpHANCs) in a pH-dependent manner within 3 d and 5 d at pH 2.0 and 4.5, respectively. The sustained drug release behaviour was observed for 15 d at pH 7.4 and no RBCs hemolysis by AMX@Ctr–mpHANCs. The broth dilution and colony forming unit (CFU) assays were used to determine the antimicrobial potential of AMX@Ctr–mpHANCs. It was observed in both studies that AMX@Ctr–mpHANCs showed a significant reduction in the bacterial growth of S. aureus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa as compared to Ctr–mpHANCs with no bacteria-killing. Thus, we proposed that Ctr–mpHANCs can be used as a drug carrier and a treatment option for bone infections caused by bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most prevalent cancers in children and adults, acute leukemia has the potential to lead to death if left untreated. Within a few weeks after diagnosis, childhood ALL has spread throughout the body, posing a serious health risk to the patient. Evaluation of acute leukemia contains uncertainty and incomplete information. Due to the subjective nature of the expectations, this rating procedure incorporates ambiguity and inaccuracy. To illustrate the ambiguity of our subjective judgments, we can use the triplet T, F, and I, truth, falsity, and indeterminacy (I). Therefore, a Single-Valued Neutrosophic Sets (SVNSs) approach based on AHP, TOPSIS, and VIKOR is designed and implemented in this article. Neutrosophic AHP is used to determine the weighting of criteria in this methodology. A neutrosophic TOPSIS and VIKOR model are used to rank alternatives. There is further validation and verification of the proposed methodology in the application. To demonstrate the adaptability of the offered decisions under various circumstances, sensitivity assessments and comparative analyses were carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)continue to be the primary cause of mortality, accounting for approximately one-third of all fatalities globally. This spawned the proposal of models in several studies. Accordingly, this study contributed to diagnosing heart disease through suggesting soft diagnosis paradigm. Various techniques have been volunteered for serving the suggested paradigm toward achieving its objective. Additionally, this study provided set of contributions. For instance, Tree Soft Technique (TrST) is applied for the first time for forming attributes and sub attributes of patients into nodes and sub-nodes of Tree to obtain relations between it. Even, the study support stakeholders to making accurate decision in mysterious circumstances and in problems with incomplete information through Collaborating the utilized techniques of entropy and Technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) in this study with Single Value Neutrosophic Sets (SVNSs) forked from neutrosophic uncertainty theory. As well, the relationship between sub-attributes which consider antecedent for obtaining consequent of detecting and diagnosing through collaborating TrST with association rules. Accordingly, we applied four transactions (cases) for obtaining findings of the relations in transactions as listed in Table 13 and Table14. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the deposition of misfolded and neurotoxic forms of tau protein in specific areas of the midbrain, basal ganglia, and cortex. It is one of the most representative forms of tauopathy. PSP presents in several different phenotypic variations and is often accompanied by the development of concurrent neurodegenerative disorders. PSP is universally fatal, and effective disease-modifying therapies for PSP have not yet been identified. Several tau-targeting treatment modalities, including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and microtubule-stabilizing agents, have been investigated and have had no efficacy. The need to treat PSP and other tauopathies is critical, and many clinical trials investigating tau-targeted treatments are underway. In this review, the PubMed database was queried to collect information about preclinical and clinical research on PSP treatment. Additionally, the US National Library of Medicine's ClinicalTrials.gov website was queried to identify past and ongoing clinical trials relevant to PSP treatment. This narrative review summarizes our findings regarding these reports, which include potential disease-modifying drug trials, modifiable risk factor management, and symptom treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is one of the most prevalent autosomal recessive illnesses with type I being the most severe type. Genomic alterations including survival motor neuron (SMN) copy number as well as deletions in SMN and Neuronal Apoptosis Inhibitory Protein (NAIP) are greatly implicated in the emergence of SMA. However, the association of such alterations with the severity of the disease is yet to be investigated. This study was directed to elucidate the molecular assessment of NAIP and SMN genomic alterations as a useful tool in predicting the severity of SMA among patients. This study included 65 SMA pediatric patients (30 type I and 35 type II) and 65 healthy controls. RFLP-PCR was employed to determine the genetic polymorphisms of the SMN1, SMN2, and NAIP genes. In addition, qRT-PCR was used to identify the expression of the SMN1 and SMN2 genes, and serum levels of creatine kinase were measured using a colorimetric method. DNA sequencing was performed on some samples to detect any single nucleotide polymorphisms in SMN1, SMN2, and NAIP genes. All SMA patients had a homozygous deficiency of SMN1 exon 7. The homozygous deficiency of SMN1 exons 7 and 8, with the deletion of NAIP exon 5 was found among the majority of Type I patients. In contrast, patients with the less severe condition (type II) had SMN1 exons 7 and 8 deleted but did not have any deletions in NAIP, additionally; 65.7% of patients had multiple copies of SMN2. Analysis of NAIP deletion alongside assessing SMN2 copy number might enhance the effectiveness of the diagnosis that can predict severity among Spinal Muscular Atrophy patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies the neutrosophic set theory to evaluate the service quality of airline. This research offers a novel approach for evaluating the service quality of airline under a group decision making (GDM) in a vague decision environment. The complexity of the selected decision criteria for the airline service quality is a significant feature of this analysis. To simulate these processes, a methodology that combines neutrosophic using bipolar numbers with Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) under GDM is suggested. Neutrosophic with TOPSIS approach is applied in the decision making process to deal with the vagueness, incomplete data and the uncertainty, considering the decisions criteria in the data collected by the decision makers (DMs). Service quality is a composite of various attributes, among them many intangible attributes are difficult to measure. This characteristic introduces the obstacles for respondent in replying to the survey. In order to overcome the issue, we invite neutrosophic set theory into the measurement of performance. We have introduced a real life example in the research of how to evaluate airline service according to opinion of experts. Through solution of a numerical example we present steps of how formulate problem in TOPSIS by neutrosophic. By applying TOPSIS in obtaining criteria weight and ranking, we found the most concerned aspects of service quality are tangible and the least is empathy. The most concerned attribute is courtesy, safety and comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of suitable machine tools for a manufacturing company is one of the significant points to achieving high competitiveness in the market. Besides, an appropriate choice of machine tools is very significant as it helps to realize full production quickly. Today's market offers many more choices for machine tool alternatives. There are also many factors one should consider as part of the appropriate machine tool selection process, including productivity, flexibility, compatibility, safety, cost, etc. Consequently, evaluation procedures involve several objectives, and it is often necessary to compromise among possibly conflicting tangible and intangible factors. For these reasons, multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is a useful approach to solve this kind of problem. Most of the MCDM models are mathematical and ignore qualitative and often subjective considerations. The use of neutrosophic set theory allows incorporating qualitative and partially known information into the decision model. This paper describes a neutrosophic Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) based methodology for evaluation and selection of vertical CNC machining centers for a manufacturing company in Tenth of Ramadan, Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a novel integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach to supplier selection problems in neutrosophic environment. The main objective is to study the Analytic network process (ANP) technique in environment of neutrosophic and present a new method for formulation problem of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) in network structure out of neutrosophic and present a way of checking and calculating consistency consensus degree of decision makers. We have used neutrosophic set theory in ANP to overcome the problem that the decision makers might be have restricted knowledge or differences opinions of individuals participating in group decision making to specify deterministic valuation values to comparison judgments. We have formulated that each pairwise comparison judgment as a trapezoidal neutrosophic number. The decision makers specify the weight criteria of each criteria in the problem and compare between each criteria and effect of each criteria on other criteria Whenever number of alternatives increasing it's difficult to make a consistent judgments because the workload of giving judgments by each expert. We have introduced a real life example in the research of how to select personnel mobile according to opinion of decision makers. Through solution of a numerical example we present steps of how formulate problem in ANP by Neutrosophic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel variable order fractional nonlinear Klein Gordon model is presented where the variable‐order fractional derivative is defined in the Caputo sense. The merit of nonstandard numerical techniques is extended here and we present the weighted average nonstandard finite difference method to study numerically the proposed model. Special attention is paid to study the convergence and to the stability analysis of the numerical technique. Moreover, the truncation error is analyzed. Three test examples are provided. Comparative studies are done between the used numerical technique and the weighted average finite difference method. It is found that the stability regions are larger by using the weighted average nonstandard finite difference method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are small (21–25 nucleotides) endogenous and noncoding RNAs involved in many cellular processes such as apoptosis, development, proliferation, and differentiation via binding to the 3′‐untranslated region of the target mRNA and inhibiting its translation. Angiogenesis is a hallmark of cancer, which provides oxygen and nutrition for tumor growth while removing deposits and wastes from the tumor microenvironment. There are many angiogenesis stimulators, among which vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the most well known. VEGF has three tyrosine kinase receptors, which, following VEGF binding, initiate proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of endothelial cells in the tumor environment. One of the tumor microenvironment conditions that induce angiogenesis through increasing VEGF and its receptors expression is hypoxia. Several miRNAs have been identified that affect different targets in the tumor angiogenesis pathway. Most of these miRNAs affect VEGF and its tyrosine kinase receptors expression downstream of the hypoxia‐inducible Factor 1 (HIF‐1). This review focuses on tumor angiogenesis regulation by miRNAs and the mechanism underlying this regulation. This review focuses on tumor angiogenesis regulation by microRNAs and the mechanism underlying this regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generation of hydrogen is very important, as it is one of the most desired alternatives to fossil fuels. Moreover, designing of cheap and stable electrocatalysts is the task for the efficient generation of hydrogen with reasonable activity. Materials hybridization can be considered a tool for engineering different material properties. Composites of modified silicon such as C–Si, Ni/(C–Si), Pt/(C–Si), and Pt–Ni/(C–Si) were prepared (in weight percent) and studied as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. The surface morphologies and chemical compositions of the composites were confirmed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), elemental mapping, and BET surface analysis. The electrochemical measurements of linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), Tafel plots, chronoamperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to study the behaviour of the prepared electrodes toward the hydrogen evolution process. Among the various prepared composites, [7%Pt–3%Ni]/[C–Si (1:1)] composite shows the best catalytic activity with the highest HER rate (940.95 µA cm−2 s−1), the lowest overpotential [0.358 V vs. (Ag/AgCl) ≈ 0.161 V vs. (RHE)] at 10 mA cm−2, and the lowest charge transfer resistance (2.657 Ω) compared to other prepared electrodes. In addition, it gives the highest values of 4.219 × 10−3 s−1 turn over frequency (TOF) and 642 mA g−1 mass activity. It shows good stability towards the hydrogen evolution reaction as the current density reaches about 34.28 mA cm−2 after 5 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu 3 In 5 S 9 single crystals were investigated by structural methods of x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy and optical techniques of ellipsometry and reflection carried out at room temperature. The spectral dependencies of optical constants; dielectric function, refractive index and extinction coefficient, were plotted in the range of 1.2–6.2 eV from ellipsometric data. The spectra of optical constants obtained from ellipsometry analyses and reflectance spectra presented a sharp change around 1.55 and 1.50 eV, respectively, which are associated with band gap energy of the crystal. The critical point (interband transition) energies were also found from the analyses of second-energy derivative of real and imaginary components of dielectric function. The analyses indicated the presence of four critical points at 2.73, 3.35, 4.04 and 4.98 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rather than looking at wastes as “unwanted materials,” this study considers their potential positive value and explores the production of waste-based catalysts. Herein, mesoporous SiO2–Al2O3 was prepared from both rice husk (source for silica) and waste aluminum foils using isophthalic acid as a textural modifier. X-ray diffraction and BET surface analyses of the as-prepared aluminosilicate demonstrated an amorphous structure with an average pore radius of 5.4 nm. The FTIR spectrum revealed the existence of SiO2–Al2O3 interaction. To produce an efficient photocatalyst, Ni nanoparticles were subsequently loaded onto the aluminosilicate surface by reduction of NiCl2 using hydrazine. Another catalyst, namely Ni–H3PW12O40/aluminosilicate, with strong Brønsted acid sites was also prepared by impregnating the support with an aqueous solution of H3PW12O40. TEM images of the as-prepared materials show that the aluminosilicate particles are slab-like, and the loading of Ni and H3O40PW12 has conserved the morphology of the mesoporous support due to metal–metal interaction. The prepared catalysts were then employed in the purification of water throughout the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye. The maximum MO adsorption on the surface of the prepared materials was first determined in the absence of UV radiation (dark). The photoactivity of the three materials under the effect of UV irradiation was then detected. The Ni/aluminosilicate catalyst exhibits highest rate of MO removal among the employed materials. A maximum removal of 86% was obtained after an irradiation time of 180 min using the catalyst at a dose of 3 g L−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acid sites concentration of silica sulfuric acid was optimized against pore dimensions depending on the intensity of silanol groups as a key for binding modifier molecules. The texturally modified rice husk silica, of determined intensity of silanol groups, was functionalized with different loadings of SO3H groups to produce solid acid catalysts with different concentrations of acid sites and different sizes of the pore systems. The catalysts were employed in trans-esterification of waste-cocking oil. The obtained optimum catalytic activity was attributed to the proper compensation between acid sites intensity and pore dimensions. The estimated TOF for methyl ester production was found to decrease with the increase of SO3H loading on the catalyst surface. The role of compatibility of the reactants phase with the catalyst nature could be validated by the observed much higher activity of sulfonated lignin in the studied esterification reaction than the modified RHS-acid catalysts under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, numerical study for both nonlinear space-fractional Schrödinger equation and the coupled nonlinear space-fractional Schrödinger system is presented. We offer here the weighted average nonstandard finite difference method (WANSFDM) as a novel numerical technique to study such kinds of partial differential equations. The space fractional derivative is described in the sense of the quantum Riesz-Feller definition. Stability analysis of the proposed method is studied. To show that this method is reliable and computationally efficient different numerical examples are provided. We expect that the proposed schemes can be applicable to different systems of fractional partial differential equations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 1399-1419, 2017 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives LUME-Lung 2 investigated the efficacy/safety of nintedanib plus pemetrexed in patients with pretreated non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and methods Patients with stage IIIB/IV or recurrent non-squamous NSCLC who had received one prior chemotherapy regimen were randomized (1:1 stratified by histology [adenocarcinoma/non-adenocarcinoma], prior bevacizumab, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and presence of brain metastases) to receive intravenous pemetrexed 500 mg/m 2 on Day 1 plus nintedanib 200 mg orally twice daily or matching placebo on Days 2–21, every 3 weeks until progression/unacceptable toxicity. Progression-free survival (PFS) by independent central review was the primary endpoint. Overall survival (OS) was the key secondary endpoint. Results Based on the pre-planned futility analysis of investigator-assessed PFS, conducted by an independent data monitoring committee, recruitment was halted on 18 June 2011 after 713 ( n = 353 nintedanib/pemetrexed; n = 360 placebo/pemetrexed)/1300 planned patients had enrolled. There were no safety concerns. Subsequent analysis demonstrated a significant improvement in PFS favoring nintedanib/pemetrexed over placebo/pemetrexed (median 4.4 months vs 3.6 months; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70–0.99, p = 0.0435). There was no significant difference in OS (median 12.0 months vs 12.7 months; HR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.85–1.21, p = 0.8940) after 514 deaths. Nintedanib/pemetrexed resulted in a higher incidence of grade ≥3 elevated alanine aminotransferase (23.3% vs 7.3%), elevated aspartate aminotransferase (12.1% vs 1.7%) and diarrhea (3.5% vs 1.1%) compared with placebo/pemetrexed, but no difference in hypertension, bleeding or thrombosis. Conclusion Although recruitment stopped prematurely, combining nintedanib with pemetrexed significantly prolonged PFS in patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC after first-line chemotherapy, with a manageable safety profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In daily life, decision makers around the world are seeking for the appropriate decisions while facing many challenges due to conflicting criteria and the presence of many alternatives. In the way of pursuit a powerful decision making process, many researches are made in multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) field and many methods were developed. This paper sheds some lights on the applicability of fuzzy set theory and neutrosophic logic in solving multi-criteria decision making problems, also it presents the possible applications of each method in MCDM different fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we presented a novel multi-strain TB model of variable-order fractional derivatives, which incorporates three strains: drug-sensitive, emerging multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR), as an extension for multi-strain TB model of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which developed in 2014 by Arino and Soliman [1] . Numerical simulations for this variable-order fractional model are the main aim of this work, where the variable-order fractional derivative is defined in the sense of Grünwald–Letnikov definition. Two numerical methods are presented for this model, the standard finite difference method (SFDM) and nonstandard finite difference method (NSFDM). Numerical comparison between SFDM and NSFDM is presented. It is concluded that, NSFDM preserves the positivity of the solutions and numerically stable in large regions than SFDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preclinical evidence supports the clinical investigation of inhibitors to the insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) either alone or in combination as treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods: Patients with chemotherapy-naïve, advanced NSCLC who had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 were eligible. Patients were randomized to receive carboplatin intravenously at an area under the plasma drug concentration-time curve of 6.0 plus paclitaxel 200 mg/m(2) intravenously on day 1 every 3 weeks combined with either intravenous cetuximab weekly (arm A), intravenous cixutumumab every 2 weeks (arm B), or both (arm C). Patients who had nonprogessing disease after 12 weeks of therapy were permitted to continue on maintenance antibody therapy until they developed progressive disease. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). The study design required 180 eligible patients and had 88% power to detect a 60% increase in median PFS for either comparison (arm A vs arm C or arm B vs arm C) using the log-rank test.Results: From September 2009 to December 2010, 140 patients were accrued. The study was closed to accrual early because of an excessive number of grade 5 events reported on arms A and C. Thirteen patients died during treatment (6 patients on arm A, 2 patients on arm B, and 5 patients on arm C), including 9 within approximately 1 month of starting therapy. The estimated median PFS for arms A, B, and C were similar at 3.4 months, 4.2 months, and 4 months, respectively.Conclusions: On the basis of the apparent lack of efficacy and excessive premature deaths, the current results do not support the continued investigation of carboplatin, paclitaxel, and cixutumumab either alone or in combination with cetuximab for patients with advanced NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the Legendre spectral-collocation method was applied to obtain approximate solutions for some types of fractional optimal control problems (FOCPs). The fractional derivative was described in the Caputo sense. Two different approaches were presented, in the first approach, necessary optimality conditions in terms of the associated Hamiltonian were approximated. In the second approach, the state equation was discretized first using the trapezoidal rule for the numerical integration followed by the Rayleigh–Ritz method to evaluate both the state and control variables. Illustrative examples were included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the proposed techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infantile Nystagmus Syndrome (INS) is one of the leading causes of significant vision loss in children and affects about 1 in 1000 to 6000 births. In the present study, we are the first to investigate the structural pathways of patients and controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Specifically, three female INS patients from the same family were scanned, two sisters and a mother. Six regions of interest (ROIs) were created manually to analyze the number of tracks. Additionally, three ROI masks were analyzed using TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics). The number of fiber tracks was reduced in INS subjects, compared to normal subjects, by 15.9%, 13.9%, 9.2%, 18.6%, 5.3%, and 2.5% for the pons, cerebellum (right and left), brainstem, cerebrum, and thalamus. Furthermore, TBSS results indicated that the fractional anisotropy (FA) values for the patients were lower in the superior ventral aspects of the pons of the brainstem than in those of the controls. We have identified some brain regions that may be actively involved in INS. These novel findings would be beneficial to the neuroimaging clinical and research community as they will give them new direction in further pursuing neurological studies related to oculomotor function and provide a rational approach to studying INS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on advances in testicular cancer (TC) treatment as of 2014. Topics discussed include the malignant transformation of normal gonocytes into germ-cell tumors, the identification of several genetic loci that predispose to TC, and the potential pathogenesis of germ-cell tumors. The article states that most TC patients can expect cure, with cytotoxic chemotherapy being the mainstay for advanced cases, but with early disappointing results for molecularly targeted therapies.

Highlights: [•] Developmental exposure to the lead (Pb) early in life affects the expression of the tau gene later in life. [•] Pb increases the kinase activity of cdk5 and its p25 activator thus promoting the phosphorylation of tau and its pathogenicity. [•] Early development is an important period of vulnerability, which could increase future susceptibility to taupathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia in the elderly. It is characterized by the deposition of two forms of aggregates within the brain, the amyloid β plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles. Currently, no disease-modifying agent is approved for the treatment of AD. Approved pharmacotherapies target the peripheral symptoms but they do not prevent or slow down the progression of the disease. Although several disease-modifying immunotherapeutic agents are in clinical development, many have failed due to the lack of efficacy or serious adverse events. Epigenetic changes including DNA methylation and histone modifications are involved in learning and memory and have been recently highlighted for holding promise as potential targets for AD therapeutics. Dynamic and latent epigenetic alterations are incorporated in AD pathological pathways and present valuable reversible targets for AD and other neurological disorders. The approval of epigenetic drugs for cancer treatment has opened the door for the development of epigenetic drugs for other disorders including neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, methyl donors and histone deacetylase inhibitors are being investigated for possible therapeutic effects to rescue memory and cognitive decline found in such disorders. This review explores the area of epigenetics for potential AD interventions and presents the most recent findings in this field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Interpolation has become a default operation in image processing and medical imaging and is one of the important factors in the success of an intensity-based registration method. Interpolation is needed if the fractional unit of motion is not matched and located on the high resolution (HR) grid. The purpose of this work is to present a systematic evaluation of eight standard interpolation techniques (trilinear, nearest neighbor, cubic Lagrangian, quintic Lagrangian, hepatic Lagrangian, windowed Sinc, B-spline 3rd order, and B-spline 4th order) and to compare the effect of cost functions (least squares (LS), normalized mutual information (NMI), normalized cross correlation (NCC), and correlation ratio (CR)) for optimized automatic image registration (OAIR) on 3D spoiled gradient recalled (SPGR) magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain acquired using a 3T GE MR scanner. Subsampling was performed in the axial, sagittal, and coronal directions to emulate three low resolution datasets. Afterwards, the low resolution datasets were upsampled using different interpolation methods, and they were then compared to the high resolution data.The mean squared error, peak signal to noise, joint entropy, and cost functions were computed for quantitative assessment of the method. Magnetic resonance image scans and joint histogram were used for qualitative assessment of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Photo-chemical reactions and surface modifications of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics with the monomer dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide (DMAPMA) and benzophenone (BP) as photo-initiator using a broad-band UV lamp source were investigated. The tertiary amino groups of the grafted poly(DMAPMA) chains were subsequently quaternized with alkyl bromides of different chain lengths to establish antibacterial activity. The surface composition, structure and morphology of modified PET fabrics were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR/ATR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To evaluate the amount of quaternary and tertiary ammonium groups on the modified surface, PET was dyed with an acid dye which binds to the ammonium groups. Therefore, the color depth is a direct indicator of the amount of ammonium groups. The resulting antibacterial activity of the modified PET fabrics was tested with Escherichia coli. The results of all experiments show that a photochemical modification of PET is possible using DMAPMA, benzophenone and UV light. Also, the quaternization of tertiary amino groups as well as the increase in antibacterial activity of the modified PET by the established quaternary ammonium groups were successful. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Macro fiber composites, or MFCs, consist of PZT fibers with rectangular cross sections embedded into an epoxy matrix. MFCs usually possess orthotropic electromechanical properties and are used as thin and conformable actuators/sensors. This article focuses on the development of a homogenized model for the behavior of MFCs. The effective properties of MFCs with interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) are determined analytically, using the uniform field method, and numerically in terms of the electromechanical properties of the fibers and the epoxy matrix. Results are given for different material properties of the matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel and real-time system for interaction with an application or videogame via hand gestures. Our system includes detecting and tracking bare hand in cluttered background using skin detection and hand posture contour comparison algorithm after face subtraction, recognizing hand gestures via bag-of-features and multiclass support vector machine (SVM) and building a grammar that generates gesture commands to control an application. In the training stage, after extracting the keypoints for every training image using the scale invariance feature transform (SIFT), a vector quantization technique will map keypoints from every training image into a unified dimensional histogram vector (bag-of-words) after K-means clustering. This histogram is treated as an input vector for a multiclass SVM to build the training classifier. In the testing stage, for every frame captured from a webcam, the hand is detected using our algorithm, then, the keypoints are extracted for every small image that contains the detected hand gesture only and fed into the cluster model to map them into a bag-of-words vector, which is finally fed into the multiclass SVM training classifier to recognize the hand gesture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In a conventional traffic signals controller, the lights change at constant cycle time. In many cities, automatic traffic signals are often based on a constant green-to-red cycle. The time period for green light (or red light) to be on is determined based on a stochastic model. The traditional vehicle-actuated control of isolated intersections attempts continuously to adjust green times. The decision to change green light duration involves fuzzy factors that cannot be precisely determined. The main objective of this paper is to develop a fuzzy logic traffic system that considers the two two-way intersections and is able to adjust changes in time intervals of a traffic signal based on traffic situation level. The proposed system has been applied and tested using real data collected from signalized intersection in Hawalli governorate in the State of Kuwait. Twenty-seven iterations have been done; the results show that the proposed fuzzy logic traffic system provides better performance in terms of total waiting time, total moving time, and vehicle queue. Finally, it can be observed from the results that the proposed system can be used to accelerate the cycle time and to give other phases the chance to gain more benefit from the green time lost. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Modifying experimental conditions of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) result in different outcomes and may not optimally translate into clinical testing. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of subject instruction on the anatomical correlates of OKN. The instructions were to voluntarily look or stare at the same moving grating with fixed contrast and spatial and temporal frequencies. Look and stare OKN were generated under identical stimulus “ON” conditions (vertical sine wave grating of 1.14c/deg drifting right to left at 11.4c/s with binocular viewing). FMRI was undertaken utilizing a 3.0T GE system and the BOLD technique. Subjects included 6 normal adults ranging in age from 18 to 54years with normal visual acuity (20/20 or better) and normal stereoacuity (40s of arc or better). The results reveal that look OKN generated significantly more cortical FMRI activation than stare OKN. Look OKN areas included the culmen, parahippocampal, lingual, middle temporal gyri, inferior and superior parietal lobules and precuneus, all of which were unilaterally activated in the left hemisphere. The middle occipital gyrus was unilaterally activated in the right hemisphere while the cuneus was bilaterally activated. These results show that the activation sites for OKN studies are dependent on subject instruction which influence the type of OKN generated. Specifically, voluntary look OKN involved more brain sites than stare OKN. In so doing, we illustrate the importance of subject instruction and recommend that FMRI investigators of OKN be cognizant of these effects. The anatomical correlates of the look versus stare are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have carried out thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements on as-grown Tl2Ga2S3Se layered single crystals in the temperature range 10–60 K with different heating rates of 0.6–1.5 K s1. The data were analyzed by curve fitting, initial rise, and peak shape methods. The results were in good agreement with each other. Experimental evidence was obtained for trapping center in Tl2Ga2S3Se crystal with activation energy of 11 meV. The capture cross section and concentration of the traps were found to be 1.5 × 10-23cm2 and 1.44 × 1010cm-3, respectively. Analysis of the TSC data at different light excitation temperatures leads to a value of 18meV/decade for the traps distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted during season to find evaluate efficiency of five insecticides they are Albarq (Triazophos 40% EC Deltamethrin 2.5% EC), Baythroid (Cyfluthrin 5% EC), Falcon (Triazophos 40% EC), Lord (Chlofenapyr 24% SC) and Final (Alphacypermethrin 10% EC); and sticker color traps they are White, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Red To protected Date Palm fruits infested by spider dust mite Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor) and lesser date moth Batrachedra amydraula (Merck). The laboratory results showed that the Albarq insecticide gave the highest mortality percentage of adults dust mite was 95.83% and Falcon insecticide gave the highest mortality percentage of eggs dust mite was 82.87%, while the Final insecticide gave the lowest mortality percentage of eggs and adults dust mite was (59.41, 42.60)% respectively. Either field results showed that exceed Albarq insecticide recorded lowest percent and severity of infestation by spider dust mite on date palm fruits was 3.33% and 0.56 mite/date respectively, and excellence Albarq insecticide effected lowest infestation and absence to dates percentage by lesser date moth was (00, 00)% respectively The White trap sticker recorded lowest infestation percentage for spider dust mite was 56.11%, While the Yellow trap sticker recorded lowest infestation severity for spider dust mite was 9.17 mite/date, and the White trap sticker showed lowest infestation and absence to dates percentage by lesser date moth was 20.67% and 6.12% respectively, comporting with control treatment it recorded highest percent and severity of infestation by spider dust mite on date palm fruits was 82.33% and 16.83 mite/date respectively and highest infestation and absence to dates percentage by lesser date moth was 76.67% and 23.87% respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]