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In this paper, we develop the extended Weibull family of distributions to a bivariate class using the Farlie–Gumbel–Morgenstern copula. This is called the bivariate Farlie–Gumbel–Morgenstern extended Weibull family, and some of its properties are investigated. Some special cases of this family and their correlation coefficient are found. Also, the maximum correlation coefficient of most special cases is investigated. We study the concomitants of generalized order statistics from this new class of Morgenstern bivariate distribution and obtain some relevant relations for single and product moments of concomitants. Some well-known information measures such as the Shannon entropy and extropy for concomitants are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranked set sampling is considered as an alternative to simple random sampling and maximum ranked set sampling is a very useful modification of ranked set sampling. In this paper we focused on information content of ranked set sampling and maximum ranked set sampling with unequal samples in terms of past extropy measure and also considered the information content of negative cumulative extropy and its dynamic version based on maximum ranked set sampling and simple random sampling designs. We also compare ranked set sampling data, maximum ranked set sampling data with simple random sampling and with each other. Also here we obtained a new discrimination information measure among simple random sampling data, ranked set sampling data and maximum ranked set sampling data for past extropy measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a new generalization of cumulative residual extropy (CRJ) introduced by Jahanshahi et al. [On cumulative residual extropy. Probab Eng Inf Sci. 2019. DOI:10.1017/S0269964819000196], called weighted cumulative residual extropy (WCRJ). This paper studies some properties of WCRJ of continuous lifetime distributions. Several results including various bounds, inequalities, and effects of linear transformations are obtained. Conditional WCRJ and some of its properties are discussed. Related studies of survival analysis are covered. Also, we propose an empirical version of the WCRJ to estimate this measure of uncertainty. Based on the asymptotic distribution of empirical WCRJ, a new test statistic is given for testing the equality of two cumulative distribution functions. The power of the proposed test statistic is compared to other traditional and new competing approaches. Some simulations are carried out to show how this newly proposed method is more powerful than the others for moderate to large sample sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, our aim was to evaluate the role of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in the prognosis of patients with early stage breast cancer. The medical records of more than 7000 patients who suffered from invasive breast cancer and had undergone surgical treatment since December 1994 till December 2019, retrospectively. Patient's history, physical examination and the clinicopathological features, histopathology characteristics, immunohistochemical findings, adjuvant systemic therapy, recurrence rate, metastasis-free survival (MFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were reviewed. A total of 5425 eligible patients were categorized into two groups based on the presence of LVI; 3031 (55.9%) patients had no LVI (group 1) and LVI was present in 2394 (44.1%) patients (group 2), then divided into LN-positive and -negative groups. Presence of LVI was significantly associated with patient age ≤ 40 years (p = 0.048), high histological grade (grades II and III, p < 0.001), tumor size between 2–5 cm and > 5 cm (p < 0.001), number of involved LN ≥ 4 (p < 0.001), and negative ER (p = 0.042) tumors. Five-year OS, MFS, and DFS were 93%, 88.9%, and 76.1% and 85.2%, 84.7%, and 73.6 in groups 1 and 2, respectively (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, LVI was an independent prognostic factor for DFS in all patients. Furthermore, histological grade II, histological grade III, and a higher number of involved LNs (≥ 4) were independent predictors in all patients. Thus, the presence of LVI can be considered as an independent prognostic factor for patients with operable breast cancer, irrespective of the LN status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CAR-T cell therapy, as a novel immunotherapy approach, has indicated successful results in the treatment of hematological malignancies; however, distinct results have been achieved regarding solid tumors. Tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment has been identified as the most critical barrier in CAR-T cell therapy of solid tumors. Developing novel strategies to augment the safety and efficacy of CAR-T cells could be useful to overcome the solid tumor hurdles. Similar to other cancer treatments, CAR-T cell therapy can cause some side effects, which can disturb the healthy tissues. In the current review, we will discuss the practical breakthroughs in CAR-T cell therapy using the multi-targeted and programmable CARs instead of conventional types. These superior types of CAR-T cells have been developed to increase the function and safety of T cells in a controllable manner, which would diminish the incidence of relevant side effects. Moreover, we will describe the capability of these powerful CARs in targeting multiple tumor antigens, redirecting the CAR-T cells to specific target cells, incrementing the safety of CARs, and other advantages that lead to promising outcomes in cancer CAR-T cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The distinction of self from non‐self is crucial to prevent autoreactivity and ensure protection from infectious agents and tumors. Maintaining the balance between immunity and tolerance of immune cells is strongly controlled by several sophisticated regulatory mechanisms of the immune system. Among these, the E3 ligase ubiquitin Casitas B cell lymphoma‐b (Cbl‐b) is a newly identified component in the ubiquitin‐dependent protein degradation system, which is thought to be an important negative regulator of immune cells. An update on the current knowledge and new concepts of the relevant immune homeostasis program co‐ordinated by Cbl‐b in different cell populations could pave the way for future immunomodulatory therapies of various diseases, such as autoimmune and allergic diseases, infections, cancers and other immunopathological conditions. In the present review, the latest findings are comprehensively summarized on the molecular structural basis of Cbl‐b and the suppressive signaling mechanisms of Cbl‐b in physiological and pathological immune responses, as well as its emerging potential therapeutic implications for immunotherapy in animal models and human diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under homeostasis states, proliferation, differentiation and function of immune cells are efficiently regulated to not only support the protection against pathogens, but also to prevent the autoimmune attack against self-tissues. It is now authenticated that immune cell activation is engaged with intense alterations in cellular metabolism. Accumulating body of data indicated that alterations in the metabolism of immune cells have a tight association with the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Aerobic glycolysis is a major element in activation and differentiation of T cells. It has been established that aerobic glycolysis plays an essential role in the various pathophysiological aspects of several autoimmune diseases. A new emerging field of the specialty "Immunometabolism" has been developed and holds promise to explore new therapeutic targets. With consideration of common profile of metabolic perturbation in autoimmune diseases, targeting of these metabolic dysregulation heralds a beginning of a new chapter in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In this review, we set out to discuss how glycolysis pathway can affect autoreactive T-cell differentiation/functions and also describe the latest findings associated with glucose metabolism and autoimmune diseases. Finally, we introduce new therapeutic approaches that could potentially alter metabolic perturbation and correct the Th17/Treg imbalance in autoimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a measure of inaccuracy between distributions of the nth record value and parent random variable. We also propose the measure of residual inaccuracy of record values and study characterization results of dynamic cumulative residual inaccuracy measure. We discuss some properties of the proposed measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of generalized order statistics (gos) has been introduced as a unified models of ordered random variables. In this paper, we find some properties on concomitants of gos in Morgenstern type bivariate Rayleigh distribution (MTBRD). Recurrence relations between moments of concomitants are also obtained. Some properties of joint distributions for concomitants of gos are presented. Finally, we have derived the best linear unbiased estimator based on concomitants of record values for a parameter involved in MTBRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we introduce a new extension of the generalized linear failure rate (GLFR) distributions. It includes some well-known lifetime distributions such as extension of generalized exponential and GLFR distributions as special sub-models. In addition, it can have a constant, decreasing, increasing, upside-down bathtub (unimodal), and bathtub-shaped hazard rate function (hrf) depending on its parameters. We provide some of its statistical properties such as moments, quantiles, skewness, kurtosis, hrf, and reversible hrf. The maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters is also discussed. At the end, a real dataset is given to illustrate the usefulness of this new distribution in analyzing lifetime data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This trial was conducted to investigate the effect of arginine (Arg), threonine (Thr) and Arg + Thr administered in ovo on growth performance, digestive organs and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens. On day 14 of incubation, 400 fertile eggs were randomly allotted to five experimental treatments through injection in the amniotic fluid including: (i) control (none injected), (ii) sham (0.5 ml of 0.5% saline), (iii) Arg (35 mg/egg), (iv) Thr (25 mg/egg) and (v) Arg + Thr (35 + 25 mg/egg). After hatching, chicks were given a commercial corn-soya bean diet up to 42 days of age. Daily feed intake ( FI) and body weight ( BW) of chicks were measured during different periods of the trial. Digestive organs were measured for their relative weight and intestinal length on days 11 and 42 of age. Intestinal morphometric traits were evaluated on day 11 of the experiment. Supplementing amino acids affected the performance of broiler chicks as Thr significantly increased FI and BW across starter, grower and finisher periods compared with sham and control (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Arg + Thr injection increased jejunal weight compared with control on day 42 (p < 0.05). Moreover, Arg inclusion led to the greatest villus height and crypt depth among treatments in duodenum (p > 0.05); however, amino acid supplemented groups had lower villus height than control in jejunum (p < 0.05). Negative correlations found between digestive organs related to day 11 of age containing pancreas ( r = −0.484; p = 0.030), duodenal ( r = −0.577; p = 0.007) as well as ileal lengths ( r = −0.471; p = 0.035) and FI of entire period. Otherwise, positive relationships were observed between duodenum ( r = 0.580; p = 0.007) and ileum ( r = 0.582; p = 0.007) weights on day 42 and FI of chickens across the entire phase. In conclusion, Arg and particularly Thr injection into amnion can improve FI and post-hatch growth performance of chickens which may be mediated by the development of digestive organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we introduce the Gompertz power series (GPS) class of distributions which is obtained by compounding Gompertz and power series distributions. This distribution contains several lifetime models such as Gompertz-geometric (GG), Gompertz-Poisson (GP), Gompertz-binomial (GB), and Gompertz-logarithmic (GL) distributions as special cases. Sub-models of the GPS distribution are studied in details. The hazard rate function of the GPS distribution can be increasing, decreasing, and bathtub-shaped. We obtain several properties of the GPS distribution such as its probability density function, and failure rate function, Shannon entropy, mean residual life function, quantiles, and moments. The maximum likelihood estimation procedure via a EM-algorithm is presented, and simulation studies are performed for evaluation of this estimation for complete data, and the MLE of parameters for censored data. At the end, a real example is given. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we introduce the Morgenstern type bivariate-generalized exponential distribution. This distribution is an extension of Morgenstern type bivariate exponential distribution (MTBED), and the marginal distributions are generalized exponential distribution. We study some properties of this bivariate distribution. Also, some distributional properties of concomitants of order statistics as well as record values for the MTBED are studied. Recurrence relations between moments of concomitants are also obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We obtain unbiased estimators for a parameter of Morgenstern type bivariate gamma distribution (MTBGD) based on the observations made on the units of the ranked set sampling regarding the study variable Y which is correlated with the auxiliary variable X, when (X, Y) follows a MTBGD. Efficiency comparisons among these estimators are also made in this work. Finally, we illustrate the methods developed by using a real data set in marine biological science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a new class of distributions by compounding the exponentiated extended Weibull family and power series family. This distribution contains several lifetime models such as the complementary extended Weibull-power series, generalized exponential-power series, generalized linear failure rate-power series, exponentiated Weibull-power series, generalized modified Weibull-power series, generalized Gompertz-power series and exponentiated extended Weibull distributions as special cases. We obtain several properties of this new class of distributions such as Shannon entropy, mean residual life, hazard rate function, quantiles and moments. The maximum likelihood estimation procedure via a EM-algorithm is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, a Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) experiment was carried out and the produced BSA used to investigate the adsorption behavior of BSA from aqueous solutions by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs) through UV-Vis spectroscopy. The change of the parameter of contact time was tested in several adsorption experiments. The kinetic data indicate that the adsorption fits well with the pseudo first-order kinetic model for BSA adsorbed by GNPs and for SWCNTs was intraparticle diffusion model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper Shannon's entropy for concomitants of generalized order statistics in FGM family is obtained. Application of this result is given for order statistics, record values, k-record values, and progressive type II censored order statistics. Also, we show that the Kullback-Leibler distance among the concomitants of generalized order statistics is distribution- free. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let (X i , Y i ), i = 1, 2,…, n be independent and identically distributed random variables from some continuous bivariate distribution. If X (r) denotes the rth-order statistic, then the Y's associated with X (r) denoted by Y [r] is called the concomitant of the rth-order statistic. In this article, we derive an analytical expression of Shannon entropy for concomitants of order statistics in FGM family. Applying this expression for some well-known distributions of this family, we obtain the exact form of Shannon entropy, some of the information properties, and entropy bounds for concomitants of order statistics. Some comparisons are also made between the entropy of order statistics X (r) and the entropy of its concomitants Y [r]. In this family, we show that the mutual information between X (r) and Y [r], and Kullback–Leibler distance among the concomitants of order statistics are all distribution-free. Also, we compare the Pearson correlation coefficient between X (r) and Y [r] with the mutual information of (X (r), Y [r]) for the copula model of FGM family. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the most influential and thoughtful philosopher in the 19th century, in an attempt to reassess values, finds himself in confrontation with accepted ideas of the modern world. Therefore, in his critical review, in order to reform and revive the modern civilization and culture, he writes his first book, i.e. The Birth of Tragedy. His various intentions in this book are as following: a) cultural concerns and saving the culture of his age from nihilism and the danger of falling apart, b) reassessing values, c) showing the opposition of Christianity and conceptual philosophy of Socrates with the nature of life, Dionysus element as well as the desire to live, d) aesthetic interpretation of living and being and e) viewing life from the perspective of art. Nietzsche considers the last two cases as the special features of Greek's tragic art and praises Greek's tragic age for such perspective. He admires ancient Greeks as well as their culture and thought because they are the creators of tragic art and through such creation as well as by considering Dionysus element they accepted life with all of its good and bad aspects. Nietzsche discusses two fundamental concepts of birth and death of tragedy as well. However, he views the birth and death of tragedy in two different ways; a) in a particular age, Greek tragedy emerged from Greek culture and became an influential factor in the development of that nation's culture but died later on, b) Nietzsche's hope in the re-emergence of Greek tragic art in the modern world lies in Wagner's music which died, too. In his view, the factors behind the death of tragedy are as following: the Socrates' conceptual philosophy and Euripides' plays, Christianity and ethicality as well as modern dialectic and Wagner himself. This article, first, tries to study Nietzsche's important intentions in writing The Birth of Tragedy and explain such birth in the first sense emphasizing the interpretation of its origin and constituents. In addition, this research attempts to indicate, from the viewpoint of Nietzsche, why and how tragedy died. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer among women is a relatively common with a more favorable expected survival rates than other forms of cancers. This study aimed to determine the improved quality of life for post-mastectomy women through peer education.Methods: Using pre and post test follow up and control design approach, 99 women with stage I and II of breast cancer diagnosis were followed one year after modified radical mastectomy. To measure the quality of life an instrument designed by the European organization for research and treatment of cancer, known as the Quality of Life Question (QLQ-30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) at three points in time (before, immediately and two months after intervention) for both groups were used. The participant selection was a convenient sampling method and women were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group was randomly assigned to five groups and peer educators conducted weekly educational programs for one month. Tabulated data were analyzed using chi square, t test, and repeated measurement multivariate to compare the quality of life differences over time.Results: For the experimental group, the results showed statistically significant improvement in all performance aspects of life quality and symptom reduction (P < 0.001), while the control group had no significant differences in all aspects of life quality.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that peer led education is a useful intervention for post-mastectomy women to improve their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]