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Recent advances in molecular genetics, particularly in identifying and characterizing genetic abnormalities within mesenchymal neoplasms, have led to a more comprehensive and evolving classification system. Modern technological developments in cytogenetics and next-generation sequencing have enabled the analysis of small clinical samples, expanded our understanding of tumor biology, and improved the diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive precision by identifying targeted genetic alterations, confirming the presence of fusion transcripts, and/or revealing the overexpression of specific genes and their targets. In this review, we focus specifically on the GLI1-rearranged enteric tumor, a recent clinicopathological entity that has emerged within the expanding classification of mesenchymal tumors. Herein, we aim to explore the histopathological features, molecular genetic characteristics, and clinical outcomes in these tumors. Due to their rarity and the extensive overlapping in their histopathological and molecular features with other neoplasms, continued research and systematic documentation of GLI1-rearranged enteric tumors is necessary to better understand their biological behavior, develop more accurate prognostic indicators, and establish optimal treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, sol gel method was used to prepare titania coated manganese ferrite nanocomposite (TMFN) for wastewater treatment. The prepared TMFN nanocomposite was characterised using FTIR, SEM XRD, VSM, EDX, and BET techniques. The characterisation studies confirmed the formation of the nanocomposite and gave good information about its morphology. Batch adsorption method was applied to determine the optimal adsorption conditions towards Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions. The studied parameters were pH of the solution, contact time, adsorbent amount, initial concentration of ions and temperature. After finding out and applying the optimal adsorption conditions, maximum adsorption capacities of 550 and 460 mg/g were achieved for Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions, respectively. Isotherm and kinetic studies revealed that the current adsorption process is fitted well by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order model. Thermodynamic investigations showed that the adsorption process is energetically favourable and takes place spontaneous with positive enthalpy change. Furthermore, the ability to regenerate and reuse the adsorbent confirmed its sustainability. The prepared nanocomposite could be reused many times with no significant loss in adsorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portable document formats (PDFs) are widely used for document exchange due to their widespread usage and versatility. However, PDFs are highly vulnerable to malware attacks, which pose significant security risks. Existing defense mechanisms often struggle to effectively detect and mitigate these threats, highlighting the need for more robust solutions. This paper introduces a robust framework that uses advanced tree-based ensemble models to detect malicious PDFs using the Evasive-PDFMal2022 dataset. The proposed model achieves a recall rate of 100%, an accuracy rate of 99.95%, and a fast inference time of 0.1723 s. Furthermore, the framework exhibits minimal false positive and false negative rates, ensuring a high level of precision in distinguishing between malicious and benign PDFs. Shapley additive explanations are used to improve the interpretability and reliability of the model's predictions. The results highlight the effectiveness of the proposed model in improving PDF document security and addressing the challenges posed by malware attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speaker identification has significant advantages for the field of human–computer interaction. Recently, many scholars have made contributions in this field and successfully created deep learning models for automatic speaker identification systems. However, most of the speech signal processing work is limited to English-only applications, despite numerous challenges with Arabic speech, particularly with the recitation of the Holy Quran, which is the Islamic holy book. In the light of these considerations, this study proposes a model for identifying the reciter of the Holy Quran using a dataset of 11,000 audio samples extracted from 20 Quran reciters. To enable feeding the audio samples' visual representation to the pre-trained models, the audio samples are converted from their original audio representation to visual representation using the Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients. Six pre-trained deep learning models are evaluated separately in the proposed model. The results from the test dataset reveal that the NASNetLarge model achieved the highest accuracy rate of 98.50% among the pre-trained models used in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work discusses the adsorption of U(VI) ions from aqueous solutions using amino-functionalised cross-linked polyacrylamide adsorbent. Functional groups identification and surface morphology of the prepared polymeric adsorbent were explored by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), elemental analysis and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) techniques. The adsorption of U(VI) ions from aqueous solutions using the prepared polymeric adsorbent was studied and the optimum adsorption conditions were addressed. The results showed that a maximum adsorption capacity of 68.6 mg/g could be achieved at room temperature under the following conditions; solution pH 4.0, contact time 240 min and adsorbent dose 0.7 g/ L. The adsorption process was found to follow Langmuir isotherm model with pseudo-second order kinetic mechanism. Moreover, the thermodynamic studies suggested that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. Experiments on the adsorbent regeneration and reusability were carried out and the results were promising. As a final point, the prepared polymeric adsorbent was applied for the removal of U(VI) ions from real contaminated sample and about 96% of U(VI) ions were removed in a single run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to assess overweight and obese pregnant women's beliefs related to weight control behaviors. Material: A descriptive study design was conducted from July 2nd 2022 to November 7th 2022. A random sample of (532) pregnant women was chosen. The study was conducted at randomly selected Primary Health Care Centers on right & left side of Mosul city. Results: The study finding showed the mean age of the participants was 27.2 ± 2.75 years, (84.02%) of them live in the city, (68.80%) are housewives, results also indicated that the mean score of participants’ beliefs related to weight control behaviors was low (25.5) for all subscales of health beliefs. Conclusions: The study showed that most of the overweight and obese pregnant women's beliefs related to weight control in general were low for all subscales of the Health Belief Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to assess overweight and obese pregnant women's beliefs related to weight control behaviors. Material: A descriptive study design was conducted from July 2nd 2022 to November 7th 2022. A random sample of (532) pregnant women was chosen. The study was conducted at randomly selected Primary Health Care Centers on right & left side of Mosul city. Results: The study finding showed the mean age of the participants was 27.2 ± 2.75 years, (84.02%) of them live in the city, (68.80%) are housewives, results also indicated that the mean score of participants' beliefs related to weight control behaviors was low (25.5) for all subscales of health beliefs. Conclusions: The study showed that most of the overweight and obese pregnant women's beliefs related to weight control in general were low for all subscales of the Health Belief Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of pattern classification in quantum data has been of great importance over the past few years. This study investigates the effect of deploying Grover's, the partial diffusion, and the fixed-phase algorithms separately to amplify the amplitudes of a desired pattern in an unstructured dataset. These quantum search operators were applied to symmetric and antisymmetric input superpositions on a three-qubit system for 20 iterations each. After each iteration, different probabilities of classification were calculated in order to determine the accuracy of classification for each of the three quantum search operators. The results indicated that, in the case of applying the three quantum search operators to incomplete superposition input states, the partial diffusion operator outperformed the other operators with a probability of correct classification that reached 100% in certain iterations. It also showed that the classification accuracy of the fixed-phase operator exceeded the accuracy of the other two operators by 40% in most cases when the input state was a uniform superposition, and some of the basis states were phase-inverted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-cost corn cobs-based magnetic nanocomposite was prepared, characterised and investigated for the adsorption of Cu(II) ions from aqueous media. Several characterisation studies were executed to confirm the formation of the adsorbent. Furthermore, the magnetic property of the prepared adsorbent was confirmed by saturation magnetisation measurements. An adsorption scenario was proposed and executed to address the optimal adsorption conditions for the removal of Cu(II) ions by the prepared adsorbent. The optimal adsorption conditions were found to be pH 6.0, 10.0 min contact time and 0.5 g/L adsorbent dose. The adsorption process was rapid with a reasonable adsorption capacity. The adsorption process was found to follow the Langmuir isotherm model with pseudo-second-order kinetic. Moreover, the process is spontaneous and exothermic. Taking into account the pros of low cost, easy separation, environmental friendliness and appropriate adsorption capacity, the prepared corn cobs-based magnetic nanocomposite is an outstanding adsorbent for the removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitors (SGLT2i) are emerging as a new treatment for heart failure (HF) after demonstrating favorable clinical outcomes in several randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In this meta-analysis, we assessed the safety of SGLT2i in the trials that prespecified heart failure in their inclusion criteria. We searched the databases for RCTs comparing SGLT2i to placebo in heart failure patients. The primary outcome was the incidence of serious adverse events (SAEs). A sensitivity analysis according to the class of HF was also performed. The incidence of SAEs was significantly lower in the SGLT2i group (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.77–0.92; P, 0.0002) and SAEs remained significantly lower after performing the sensitivity analysis (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.75–0.89; P, <0.00001). Genital infections, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and hypotension were significantly higher in the SGLT2i group. SGLT2i remain a safe option for patients with HF with a lower incidence of SAEs. However, since they increase the risk of genital infection, UTIs and hypotension, the risks vs benefits in each patient should be weighed when making a prescribing decision. • SGLT2i are associated with lower SAEs and higher incidence of genital infections, UTIs, and hypotension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Rare disease. Background: The co-occurrence of renal oncocytoma and angiomyolipoma is exceedingly rare. To date, 17 such cases have been reported in the literature. This report describes a unique case of that association that presented as a single renal mass on imaging. Case Report: A 75-year-old woman presented with epigastric discomfort. A CT scan of the abdomen revealed a 6.6×5.7×4.7 cm enhancing right renal mass. Gross examination revealed a nodular, well-circumscribed, tan-brown mass located in the lower pole of the kidney that was abutting the renal capsule. Interestingly, superior to this mass, there was an adjacent, pale tan-white, firm, well-circumscribed nodule in the mid-pole, which was not detected on the CT scan and grossly extended to 1.1 cm of the overlying renal capsule. Histologically, the larger tumor showed characteristic features of oncocytoma. The smaller tumor had an admixture of mature adipose tissue, smooth muscle, and vessels, consistent with a renal angiomyolipoma. Conclusions: We present a new case of synchronous renal angiomyolipoma and oncocytoma, which were uniquely adjacent and coexisted with minimal intermingling renal parenchyma. Other "eosinophilic renal tumors" are significant differential diagnosis considerations. Due to the close proximity of these lesions, this association can present clinically and radiologically as a single renal mass. Careful examination of the nephrectomy specimen is essential for the proper detection of small-sized tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum signature is the use of the principles of quantum computing to establish a trusted communication between two parties. In this paper, a quantum signature scheme using amplitude amplification techniques will be proposed. To secure the signature, the proposed scheme uses a partial diffusion operator and a diffusion operator to hide/unhide certain quantum states during communication. The proposed scheme consists of three phases, preparation phase, signature phase and verification phase. To confuse the eavesdropper, the quantum states representing the signature might be hidden, not hidden or encoded in Bell states. It will be shown that the proposed scheme is more secure against eavesdropping when compared with relevant quantum signature schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum state discrimination problem is to distinguish between non-orthogonal quantum states. This problem has many applications in quantum information theory, quantum communication and quantum cryptography. In this paper, a quantum algorithm using weak measurement and partial negation will be proposed to solve the quantum state discrimination problem using a single copy of an unknown qubit. The usage of weak measurement makes it possible to reconstruct the qubit after measurement since the superposition will not be destroyed due to measurement. The proposed algorithm will be able to determine, with high probability of success, the state of the unknown qubit and whether it is encoded in the Hadamard or the computational basis by counting the outcome of the successive measurements on an auxiliary qubit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although rare, breast CLL/SLL should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a breast mass. A high index of suspicion is needed to differentiate this neoplasm from more common breast carcinomas like solid variant of invasive lobular carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research article discusses the preparation and characterization of a new magnetic nanocomposite based on corn cobs and nano-zero valent iron (corn cobs-nZVI). The structure of the prepared adsorbent was confirmed by several characterization techniques, such as FT-IR, SEM and XRD. Magnetic measurements approved the magnetic property of the prepared adsorbent. Involvement of the prepared magnetic nanocomposite in the removal of Cd(II) ions from wastewater was investigated. Several parameters, e.g. solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, etc., were evaluated and the optimum adsorption conditions were addressed. It was found that a total adsorption capacity of 145 mg/g was achieved at pH 6.0 after 10.0 min of shaking at 25°C. The experimental data were subjected to different isotherm and kinetic models. Moreover, thermodynamic studies were also explored to identify the nature of the adsorption process. The results revealed that the adsorption process follows Langmuir isotherm model with pseudo-second-order kinetic. In addition, it is a spontaneous, exothermic, and irreversible process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test-suite minimization problem is an essential problem in software engineering as its application helps to improve the software quality. This paper proposes a quantum algorithm to solve the test-suite minimization problem with high probability in O 2 n , where n is the number of test cases. It generates an incomplete superposition to find the best solution. It also handles the non-uniform amplitudes' distribution case for the system with multisolutions. The proposed algorithm uses amplitude amplification techniques to search for the minimum number of test cases required to test all the requirements. The proposed algorithm employs two quantum search algorithms, Younes et al. algorithm for quantum searching via entanglement and partial diffusion to prepare incomplete superpositions that represent different search spaces such that the number of test cases is incremented in each search space, and updated Arima's algorithm to handle the multisolutions case. The updated Arima's algorithm searches for a quantum state that satisfies an oracle that represent the instance of the test-suite minimization problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the synthesis, characterization and lead ions sorption capability of a novel recyclable Schiff-base anchored cross-linked polyacrylamide. The synthesized polymeric adsorbent was characterized by FT-IR technique, XRD and SEM analysis. Sorption parameters, such as solution's pH, contact time, polymer dose, lead ions initial concentration, etc., were studied and optimized. Experimentally, the optimum sorption pH was around 5.0 and the sorption equilibrium was attained after 30 min. Under the optimal conditions, the maximum sorption capacity was found to be 355 mg/g, which is considered high when compared with different adsorbents. Effect of interfering ions on the sorption capacity was explored. Sorption isotherms, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were considered to identify the sorption behavior of the new polymeric adsorbent. Sorption isotherm studies showed that the maximum sorption capacity was attended as a result of homogeneous monolayer sorption of lead ions on the surface of the synthesized polymeric adsorbent. The mechanism of lead ions sorption by the synthesized polymeric adsorbent was found to be chemisorption complexation mechanism. Moreover, kinetic studies revealed that the sorption process followed a pseudo second order kinetic model. Thermodynamic data depicted that the sorption process is spontaneous, reversible and exothermic in nature. Experiments on elution and reusability of the synthesized polymeric adsorbent were executed and the results showed its validity for reuse for at least four cycles with 11% loss in its original capacity. Finally, the applicability of the synthesized Schiff-base anchored solid phase adsorbent for the removal of lead ions from industrial wastewater was explored and the results indicated its good removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reversible logic has been considered as an important solution to the power dissipation problem in the existing electronic devices. Many universal reversible libraries that include more than one type of gates have been proposed in the literature. This paper proposes a novel reversible n-bit gate that is proved to be universal for synthesizing reversible circuits. Reducing the reversible circuit synthesis problem to permutation group allows Schreier-Sims Algorithm for the strong generating set-finding problem to be used in the synthesize of reversible circuits using the proposed gate. A novel optimization rules will be proposed to further optimize the synthesized circuits in terms of the number of gates, the quantum cost and the utilization of library to achieve better results than that shown in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary melanoma of the antrum is a rare and aggressive disease. Diagnosis requires a correlation between the patient's history, tumor histopathology, and immunohistochemistry. Surgery and mutation-targeted treatments may improve overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum computers require quantum processors. An important part of the processor of any computer is the arithmetic unit, which performs binary addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, however multiplication can be performed using repeated addition, while division can be performed using repeated subtraction. In this paper we present two designs using the reversible R3 gate to perform the quantum half adder/subtractor and the quantum full adder/subtractor. The proposed half adder/subtractor design can be used to perform different logical operations, such as AND, XOR, NAND, XNOR, NOT and copy of basis. The proposed design is compared with the other previous designs in terms of the number of gates used, the number of constant bits, the garbage bits, the quantum cost and the delay. The proposed designs are implemented and tested using GAP software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces an investigation on the sorption power of two polyacrylamide-based chelating sorbents for uranium ion removal from aqueous solutions. The studied sorption parameters involved pH, contact time, initial uranium concentration, and polymer dosage. The results revealed that a maximum uptake percentage of 65.3 mg/g and 20.1 mg/g for polymers I and II, respectively, could be obtained at pH 4 with 120 min shaking time. Based on isotherm, kinetic, and thermodynamic studies, the sorption process of uranium on the chelating polymers is said to follow Langmuir isotherm model with pseudo second-order mechanism and exothermic nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The layout planning of tower cranes is a processes which defines the types, the quantities and the positions of tower cranes, has a significant impact on the overall productivity and cost effectiveness of construction projects. Previous research utilized either mathematical methods or visualization tools to find an optimal tower crane layout plan. However, such methods and tools are not adequate to evaluate the effect of conflict among tower cranes, in terms of time and cost calculations. Moreover, they do not assure the maximum efficiency of tower crane layout to fulfill the needs of crane-based executed activities. This paper presents an Agent Based Simulation (ABS) model to overcome the limitations of previous research. The proposed ABS model has the superiority of quantitatively assessing the effect of conflict on the overall time and costs of tower crane operations. It is capable of simulating tower cranes operations and interactions between different agents of the model. Furthermore, it calculates the time and the cost of tower crane's operation cycles, taking into account the potential conflicts among the working tower cranes. In addition, the proposed model is able to compare between several combinations of tower crane layouts to achieve the optimum solution that fulfills the requirements, with respect to the time or the cost. A case study has been provided to demonstrate the capabilities and contributions of the developed ABS model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel solid-state phosphorus-containing polymer was synthesized, characterized and investigated as anti-scaling agent for the removal of alkaline earth metals ions from water. An optimization protocol for the sorption process of the metal ions on the polymer surface was proposed and executed. The protocol involved parameters such as pH, contact time, polymer dose, and the initial concentration of the metal ion. The optimum pH was found to be around seven for all of the tested metal ions. The maximum sorption capacities of the prepared polymer were 667, 794, 769 and 709 (mg/g) for Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba ions, respectively. Evaluation of the sorption process from the isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic points of view was also studied. The experimental evidence revealed that the sorption obeys Langmuir isotherm model and follows a pseudo-second order mechanism. Moreover, the sorption process is exothermic. Possibility of polymer reuse was also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information contents of an unknown qubit system is usually read using sharp measurement. Sharp measurement is an irreversible operation that will cause the superposition to collapse to one of the two possible states in a probabilistic way. This paper will propose a quantum algorithm to read the information contents of an unknown qubit without applying sharp measurement on that qubit. A quantum feedback control scheme will be introduced where sharp measurement will be applied iteratively on an auxiliary qubit weakly entangled with the unknown qubit. It will be shown that the information contents can be read by counting the outcomes from the sharp measurement on the auxiliary qubit which will make the amplitudes of the superposition move in a random walk manner. The effect of this operation on the unknown qubit can be reversed to decrease the disturbance introduced to the system. The strength of the weak measurement can then be defined and can be controlled using an arbitrary number of dummy qubits (virtual qubits) μ to be added to the system. This can slowdown the measurement process to an arbitrary scale to reach the effect of the sharp measurement after O ( μ 2 ) measurements on the auxiliary qubit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper was to propose a bounded-error quantum polynomial-time algorithm for the max-bisection and the min-bisection problems. The max-bisection and the min-bisection problems are fundamental NP-hard problems. Given a graph with even number of vertices, the aim of the max-bisection problem is to divide the vertices into two subsets of the same size to maximize the number of edges between the two subsets, while the aim of the min-bisection problem is to minimize the number of edges between the two subsets. The proposed algorithm runs in $$O(m^2)$$ for a graph with m edges and in the worst case runs in $$O(n^4)$$ for a dense graph with n vertices. The proposed algorithm targets a general graph by representing both problems as Boolean constraint satisfaction problems where the set of satisfied constraints are simultaneously maximized/minimized using a novel iterative partial negation and partial measurement technique. The algorithm is shown to achieve an arbitrary high probability of success of $$1-\epsilon $$ for small $$\epsilon >0$$ using a polynomial space resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a scalable protocol for optimizing the quantum cost of the 3-bit reversible circuits built using NCT library. This technique takes into account a group theory approach. The algorithm analyzes the equivalent quantum circuits obtained by decomposing the reversible circuit to its elementary quantum gates and then applies optimization rules to reduce the number of the used elementary quantum gates. We apply the obtained algorithm using different quantum cost metrics that compare favorably with the relevant methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a perfect superposition of states on a quantum system of qubits. We propose a fast quantum algorithm for collapsing the perfect superposition to a chosen quantum state without applying any measurements. The basic idea is to use a phase destruction mechanism. Two operators are used, the first operator applies a phase shift and a temporary entanglement to mark in the superposition, and the second operator applies selective phase shifts on the states in the superposition according to their Hamming distance with . The generated state can be used as an excellent input state for testing quantum memories and linear optics quantum computers. We make no assumptions about the used operators and applied quantum gates, but our result implies that for this purpose the number of qubits in the quantum register offers no advantage, in principle, over the obvious measurement-based feedback protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reversible circuit synthesis problem can be reduced to permutation group. This allows Schreier-Sims algorithm for the strong generating set-finding problem to be used to find tight bounds on the synthesis of 3-bit reversible circuits using the NFFr library. The tight bounds include the maximum and minimum length of 3-bit reversible circuits, the maximum and minimum cost of 3-bit reversible circuits. The analysis shows better results than that found in the literature for the lower bound of the cost. The analysis also shows that there are 2460 universal reversible sub-libraries from the main NFFr library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new formulation of quantum algorithm which allows to distribute amplitudes over two copies of small quantum subsystems. The new method gives a fixed number of copies and applied to the control of multi-qubit system. The analysis for the amount of error due to the distribution process has been presented for a system of 10 qubits with a small quantum subsystems to be copied. The present scheme provides a new way to distribute amplitudes over small quantum subsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nine polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) were used to define a separation strategy that combines normal-phase (NP), reversed-phase (RP) and polar organic solvent chromatography (POSC) modes. After limiting ourselves to two CSPs per mode, in total, five CSPs, Chiralpak AD (NP), Chiralcel OD (RP and POSC), Lux Cellulose-1 (NP), Lux Cellulose-2 (POSC) and Lux Cellulose-3 (RP), showed the broadest enantioselectivity and most complementarity. Six sequences of the three modes were considered to decide which sequence is the most successful for screening a set of 56 pharmaceutical compounds. Starting the strategy with the NP mode, followed by RP and finally POSC was found preferable from both the number of cumulative separations and of baseline separations. Two approaches were considered for strategy fine tuning using an additional set of eight racemic mixtures. In both approaches, seven of the eight compounds were baseline resolved, on one of the examined columns at either screening or optimization conditions of a mode. One approach was finally preferred because of its lower workload. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, preparation, characterization and application of a chelating amino-grafted solid-phase polymeric adsorbent for the removal of Hg2+ ions from contaminated aqueous solutions were discussed. Functional groups identification and surface morphology studies were carried out using FTIR, XRD, and SEM techniques. Batch adsorption methodology was used to explore the influence of solution's pH, shaking time, adsorbent dose, Hg2+ ions initial concentration, and temperature on the adsorption capacity of the prepared adsorbent. A maximum adsorption capacity of 120 mg Hg2+/g adsorbent was achieved at pH 7.0, shaking time 120 min and adsorbent dose of 0.4 g/L. Based on non-linear modeling and error functions analysis, the current adsorption process is well described by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order models; suggesting a chemisorption reaction between the Hg2+ ions and the amino groups on the adsorbent surface via complexation. Moreover, the adsorption process is carrying out spontaneously with a negative enthalpy change. Finally, the adsorbent regeneration and reusability were studied and an accumulative uptake capacity of 464 mg Hg2+/g adsorbent was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The enantioselectivity of polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases in polar organic solvents chromatography (POSC) is investigated using both chlorinated and non-chlorinated selectors. A test set of 58 drug compounds was analyzed at the screening conditions of a previously developed separation strategy. Eight stationary phases were screened with eight mobile phases, resulting in 64 chromatographic systems. After selection of the two most successful mobile phases, a preferred testing sequence for the polysaccharide selectors was determined, based on their success rate and complementarity. These stationary phases, screened in the sequence Lux Cellulose-2>Chiralcel OD-RH>Lux Cellulose 4>Sepapak-5, each with two mobile phases, showed 48/58 separations (83% of the test set). An attempt was also made to update the existing separation strategy. The existing screening conditions were found to be easily applicable on stationary phases with chlorinated selectors, but the optimization steps appeared to be less successful. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: By application of the reversed-phase generic screening conditions of a separation strategy defined in Matthijs et al. (2004) [18], the chiral discrimination abilities of six recently commercialized polysaccharide-based columns, Lux Cellulose-1, Lux Cellulose-2, Lux Cellulose-3, Lux Cellulose-4, Lux Amylose-2 and Sepapak-5, and of three classic ones, Chiralpak AD-RH, Chiralcel OD-RH and Chiralcel OJ-RH, were evaluated using a set of 58 compounds. Two mobile phases, an acidic and a basic, were sequentially applied on the columns. Using both mobile phases, a column set of Chiralcel OD-RH (or Lux Cellulose-1), Lux Cellulose-3 and Lux Amylose-2 gave the maximal number of cumulative separations, i.e. 51/58 (or 50), of which 35 (or 32) had baseline resolutions. Therefore, this set of systems was selected to update the screening step of the existing separation strategy. The selected columns were subsequently used to evaluate the applicability of the initial optimization steps, part of the existing RPLC strategy, using 66 different optimization cases. The existing optimization steps increased both the number of separations and of baseline separations by eight and by 18, respectively, relative to the screening results. Introduction of some modifications to the existing steps added eight more separations and three more baseline separations. In addition, a new optimization step for late eluting compounds was proposed and implemented. Based on these results, an updated chiral separation strategy in RPLC was defined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Earlier, a set of pharmaceuticals with different chemical structures has been used to evaluate the enantioselectivity of four recently commercialized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases, Lux® Cellulose-1/Sepapak® 1, Lux® Cellulose-2/Sepapak® 2, Lux® Amylose-2/Sepapak® 3 and Lux Cellulose-4/Sepapak® 4 and of three Daicel columns, Chiralpak® AD-H, Chiralcel® OD-H and Chiralcel® OJ-H, using the screening conditions of an existing generic separation strategy in normal-phase liquid chromatography (NPLC). In this study, the applicability of the optimization steps of the existing separation strategy was examined using 44 drugs (70 optimization cases) representing the three possible resolution situations that occur after screening. Optimizations are demonstrated by modifying parameters such as polar modifier percentages, temperatures, flow rates and additives concentration. Changing the percentage of polar modifier was found to have the largest influence on the resolution. The resolution, peak shape and the analysis time were nicely improved for 49/70 cases (70%) after the application of the original optimization steps. The introduction of some modifications to the original optimization increased this number from 49 to 62 cases, i.e. from 70% to 88.6%. Finally, an updated generic separation strategy in NPLC was proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Four recently commercialized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases, Sepapak® 1, Sepapak® 2, Sepapak® 3, and Sepapak® 4, now called Lux® Cellulose-1, Lux® Cellulose-2, Lux® Amylose-2 and Lux® Cellulose-4, respectively, were examined for their enantioselectivity on a set of 61 racemic compounds by applying the screening conditions of a previously developed chiral screening strategy in normal phase liquid chromatography (NPLC) [N. Matthijs et al., J. Chromatogr. A 1041 (2004) 119–133]. The enantioselectivity on these phases was compared to that on the initial set of polysaccharide-based phases, Chiralpak® AD-H, Chiralcel® OD-H, and Chiralcel® OJ-H, used in the earlier defined strategy. The results showed that 53 compounds out of 61 (86.9%) were resolved on the initial set of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) using two mobile phases per compound, either heptane–ethanol–diethylamine (DEA) or heptane–isopropanol–DEA for testing basic compounds and heptane–ethanol–trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) or heptane–isopropanol–TFA for acidic, bifunctional and neutral compounds. The recently commercialized set of columns gave 54 separations in total (88.5%). Our results indicated that ethanol (EtOH) as polar modifier provides a higher success rate and better resolutions than isopropanol (IPA) on both sets of stationary phases. However, the usefulness of the mobile phase with IPA as polar modifier cannot be neglected for complementarity reasons. It was found that the screening is improved by the introduction of the recently commercialized polysaccharides based CSPs since they provided enantioseparation for compounds that were not resolved by the traditional CSPs. The combination between the initial and the recently commercialized CSPs showed enantioresolution for 55 compounds out of 61 (90%), among which 47 were baseline resolved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Homogeneous Boolean functions have many applications in computing systems, e.g., cryptography. This paper presents a factorization algorithm for reducing the quantum cost of the reversible circuits for that class of Boolean functions. The algorithm reduces the multi-calculation of any common parts of the circuit. This allows Homogeneous Boolean related applications to be implemented efficiently on novel computing paradigms such as quantum computers and low power devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The computation of the reliability of a computer network is one of the important tasks of evaluating its performance. The idea of minimal paths can be used to determine the network reliability. This paper presents an algorithm for finding the minimal paths of a given network in terms of its links. Then, it presents an algorithm for calculating the reliability of the network in terms of the probabilities of success of the links of its minimal paths. The algorithm is based on a relation that uses the probabilities of the unions of the minimal paths of the network to obtain the network reliability. Also, the paper describes a tool that has been built for calculating the reliability of a given network. The tool has two main phases: the minimal paths generation phase, and the reliability computation phase. The first phase accepts the links of the network and their probabilities, then implements the first proposed algorithm to determine its minimal paths. The second phase implements the second proposed algorithm to calculate the network reliability. The results of using the tool to calculate the reliability of an example network are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show that there is a direct correspondence between Boolean quantum operations and certain forms of classical (non-quantum) logic known as Reed-Muller expansions. This allows us to readily convert Boolean circuits into their quantum equivalents. A direct result of this is that the problem of synthesis and optimization of Boolean quantum circuits can be tackled within the field of Reed-Muller logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There may be hesitancy in prescribing GLP-1RA in older adults. On pooling results from the CVOTs comparing GLP-1RA to placebo, there was a significantly lower incidence of MACE favoring GLP-1RA in both younger and older adults. GLP-1RA should be considered in high risk patients regardless of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA computers and quantum computers are gaining attention as alternatives to classical digital computers. DNA is a biological material that can be reprogrammed to perform computing functions. Quantum computing performs reversible computations by nature based on the laws of quantum mechanics. In this paper, DNA computing and reversible computing are combined to propose novel theoretical methods to implement reversible gates and circuits in DNA computers based on strand displacement reactions, since the advantages of reversible logic gates can be exploited to improve the capabilities and functionalities of DNA computers. This paper also proposes a novel universal reversible gate library (URGL) for synthesizing n-bit reversible circuits using DNA to reduce the average length and cost of the constructed circuits when compared with previous methods. Each n-bit URGL contains building blocks to generate all possible permutations of a symmetric group of degree n. Our proposed group (URGL) in the paper is a permutation group. The proposed implementation methods will improve the efficiency of DNA computer computations as the results of DNA implementations are better in terms of quantum cost, DNA cost, and circuit length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis and optimization of quantum circuits are essential for the construction of quantum computers. This paper proposes two methods to reduce the quantum cost of 3-bit reversible circuits. The first method utilizes basic building blocks of gate pairs using different Toffoli decompositions. These gate pairs are used to reconstruct the quantum circuits where further optimization rules will be applied to synthesize the optimized circuit. The second method suggests using a new universal library, which provides better quantum cost when compared with previous work in both cost015 and cost115 metrics; this proposed new universal library "Negative NCT" uses gates that operate on the target qubit only when the control qubit's state is zero. A combination of the proposed basic building blocks of pairs of gates and the proposed Negative NCT library is used in this work for synthesis and optimization, where the Negative NCT library showed better quantum cost after optimization compared with the NCT library despite having the same circuit size. The reversible circuits over three bits form a permutation group of size 40,320 (2 3 !) , which is a subset of the symmetric group, where the NCT library is considered as the generators of the permutation group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A distributed database model can be effectively optimized through using query optimization. In such a model, the optimizer attempts to identify the most efficient join order, which minimizes the overall cost of the query plan. Successful query processing largely relies on the methodology implemented by the query optimizer. Many researches are concerned with the fact that query processing is considered an NP-hard problem especially when the query becomes bigger. Regarding large queries, it has been found that heuristic methods cannot cover all search spaces and may lead to falling in a local minimum. This paper examines how quantum-inspired ant colony algorithm, a hybrid strategy of probabilistic algorithms, can be devised to improve the cost of query joins in distributed databases. Quantum computing has the ability to diversify and expand, and thus covering large query search spaces. This enables the selection of the best trails, which speeds up convergence and helps avoid falling into a local optimum. With such a strategy, the algorithm aims to identify an optimal join order to reduce the total execution time. Experimental results show that the proposed quantum-inspired ant colony offers a faster convergence with better outcome when compared with the classic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schematic diagram for the synthesis of (a) HAP and (b) MHAP nanocomposite. • Magnetically modified hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were prepared and characterized. • Sorption behavior towards U(VI) ions was investigated. • The optimum sorption conditions were determined. • Thermodynamic, kinetic and isotherm of the sorption process were evaluated. • Uranium(VI) recovery and adsorbent reusability were explored. Recently, magnetically modified nanomaterials have gained a great interest in the field of wastewater remediation. In this regard, the present work introduces a facile microwave-assisted pathway for the preparation of magnetically modified hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (MNHA) and evaluates its adsorption capability towards the removal of uranium (VI) ions from wastewaters. The prepared magnetic nanocomposite went through a full characterization procedure using different techniques, such as transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements and magnetization curve. Involvement of the prepared MNHA in the remediation of wastewater containing U(VI) ions was investigated and the factors that influence the adsorption capacity were considered and optimized. The adsorption's optimum pH was found to be 5.0 and equilibrium was attended after 120 min. A maximum adsorption capacity of 310 mg/g was achieved after 120 min at 25 °C. The experimental data were well explained by Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. Kinetically, the adsorption process follows the pseudo-second order model. Thermodynamically, it is endothermic, irreversible and spontaneous adsorption process. Removal of U(VI) ions was found to take place via complex formation between the phosphate groups on the adsorbent and uranyl ions. The recovery of U(VI) ions from MNHA beads and the reusability of the spent beads were also explored. It was concluded that the prepared MNHA nanocomposite is simple, fast, ecofriendly adsorbent for the removal of U(VI) ions from water with excellent adsorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]