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Wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells (WBG-PSCs), when partnered with Si bottom cells in tandem configuration, can provide efficiencies up to 44%; yet, the development of stable, efficient, and scalable WBG-PSCs is required. Here, the utility of the hybrid evaporation-solution method (HESM) is investigated to meet these demanding requirements via its unique advantages including ease of control and reproducibility. A PbI2/CsBr layer is co-evaporated followed by coating of organic-halide solutions in a green solvent. Bandgaps between 1.55-1.67 eV are systematically screened by varying CsBr and MABr content. Champion efficiencies of 21.06% and 20.35% in cells and 19.83% and 18.73% in mini-modules (16 cm(2)) for perovskites with 1.64 and 1.67 eV bandgaps are achieved, respectively. Additionally, 18.51%-efficient semi-transparent WBG-PSCs are implemented in 4T perovskite/bifacial silicon configuration, reaching a projected power output of 30.61 mW cm(-2) based on PD IEC TS 60904-1-2 (BiFi200) protocol. Despite similar bandgaps achieved by incorporating Br via MABr solution and/or CsBr evaporation, PSCs having a perovskite layer without MABr addition show significantly higher thermal and moisture stability. This study proves scalable, high-performance, and stable WBG-PSCs are enabled by HESM, hence their use in tandems and in emerging applications such as indoor photovoltaics are now within reach.

Background: Low back pain is highly prevalent and the main cause of years lived with disability (YLDs). We present the most up-to-date global, regional, and national data on prevalence and YLDs for low back pain from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021. Methods: Population-based studies from 1980 to 2019 identified in a systematic review, international surveys, US medical claims data, and dataset contributions by collaborators were used to estimate the prevalence and YLDs for low back pain from 1990 to 2020, for 204 countries and territories. Low back pain was defined as pain between the 12th ribs and the gluteal folds that lasted a day or more; input data using alternative definitions were adjusted in a network meta-regression analysis. Nested Bayesian meta-regression models were used to estimate prevalence and YLDs by age, sex, year, and location. Prevalence was projected to 2050 by running a regression on prevalence rates using Socio-demographic Index as a predictor, then multiplying them by projected population estimates. Findings: In 2020, low back pain affected 619 million (95% uncertainty interval 554–694) people globally, with a projection of 843 million (759–933) prevalent cases by 2050. In 2020, the global age-standardised rate of YLDs was 832 per 100 000 (578–1070). Between 1990 and 2020, age-standardised rates of prevalence and YLDs decreased by 10·4% (10·9–10·0) and 10·5% (11·1–10·0), respectively. A total of 38·8% (28·7–47·0) of YLDs were attributed to occupational factors, smoking, and high BMI. Interpretation: Low back pain remains the leading cause of YLDs globally, and in 2020, there were more than half a billion prevalent cases of low back pain worldwide. While age-standardised rates have decreased modestly over the past three decades, it is projected that globally in 2050, more than 800 million people will have low back pain. Challenges persist in obtaining primary country-level data on low back pain, and there is an urgent need for more high-quality, primary, country-level data on both prevalence and severity distributions to improve accuracy and monitor change. Funding: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cold thermal energy storage is an active method for reducing the peak electrical demand and electricity consumption of air conditioners. This paper investigates two different cases: partial operating mode–load levelling (POM–LL) and demand-limiting mode (DLM). 4E (energy, exergy, economic, environment) analyses along with a multi-objective optimization process based on a genetic algorithm is applied to determine optimal design values. Exergy efficiency, total annual cost and payback-period time are considered as objective functions in this study. The results have shown that POM and DLM decreased the electricity consumption by 10.36% and 11.29%, respectively, resulting in raising the annual costs by 11.08% and 11.42%. Also, their annual payback periods were 4.36 and 4.18 years each. In addition, using off-peak hours instead of on-peak hours for electricity consumption and reducing electricity consumption are the two main ways of decreasing CO2 emissions during electricity generation. Therefore, the CO2 emissions through POM and DLM are 13.31% and 13.72% less than those of conventional systems, respectively.

Aim: In this study, we applied the classical technique and modified open pull-through procedure (OPtP) for hydrocele sac dissection in excisional Winkelmann hydrocelectomy procedure (WHP) to retrospectively compare the surgical and cosmetic satisfaction results of the two techniques. Material and Methods: Sixty-two patients underwent excisional WHP from 2017 to 2020. The modified OPtP and classical technique groups included 30 and 32 patients, respectively. The intraoperative and postoperative parameters of the patients in both groups were evaluated statistically until the postoperative second month. Cosmetic satisfaction was evaluated statistically at the postoperative sixth month. Results: Postoperative infection and recurrence were not observed in either group. The patients in both groups had large hydrocele sacs. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the hydrocele sac volume, operation time, length of hospitalization, postoperative scrotal edema, and postoperative scrotal pain scores (p>0.05). The postoperative hematoma rate was 15.6% in the classical technique group. The statistical difference in incision length and cosmetic satisfaction was significant in favor of the modified OPtP group (p

Tackling with Covid-19 dilemma of vaccine distribution needed a stack of analysis and examination. This paper develops a generalizable framework for designing a hub vaccination dispensing network to achieve expand the Covid-19 vaccination coverage for public. Designing a hub location routing network for vaccine distribution is the main concern for this research. The proposed model hinges on maximum coverage and patients’ safety by considering high-priority population alongside the cost reduction in an uncertain environment. The hub location model enhances the accessibility of the vaccines to various communities and helps to overcome the challenges. The results of this model were examined through both numerical and case studies in the north of Tehran to demonstrate its application. Furthermore, in order to reduce the costs of vaccine imports, vaccine entry routing can be developed from border and air points to the country in order to be able to perform vaccination in the fastest time and lowest cost in the future. The results concede that increasing the number of outreach dispensing locations per hub dispensing location will not necessarily result in increased coverage.

In this paper, the issues related to short-circuit calculations in hybrid AC/DC microgrids are discussed. The reference standard for short-current calculations in DC systems is the IEC 61660, which provides a mathematical formulation of the problem. The standard only includes radial DC grids and does not consider a more complex system, such as meshed DC systems or a hybrid AC/DC microgrid. This paper proposes a generalized approach that can be used independently of the characteristics of the hybrid system. The proposed approach is applied to four test microgrids with different distributed sources and number of nodes and the results are compared with those obtained simulating the same grids with Neplan 360®.

AimsThe Exeter V40 femoral stem is the most implanted stem in the National Joint Registry (NJR) for primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). In 2004, the 44/00/125 stem was released for use in ‘cement-in-cement’ revision cases. It has, however, been used ‘off-label’ as a primary stem when patient anatomy requires a smaller stem with a 44 mm offset. We aimed to investigate survival of this implant in comparison to others in the range when used in primary THAs recorded in the NJR.MethodsWe analyzed 328,737 primary THAs using the Exeter V40 stem, comprising 34.3% of the 958,869 from the start of the NJR to December 2018. Our exposure was the stem, and the outcome was all-cause construct revision. We stratified analyses into four groups: constructs using the 44/00/125 stem, those using the 44/0/150 stem, those including a 35.5/125 stem, and constructs using any other Exeter V40 stem.ResultsIn all 328,737 THAs using an Exeter V40 stem, the revision estimate was 2.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.7 to 2.8). The 44/00/125 stem was implanted in 2,158 primary THAs, and the ten-year revision estimate was 4.9% (95% CI 3.6 to 6.8). Controlling for age, sex, year of operation, indication, and American Society of Anesthesiologists grade demonstrated an increased overall hazard of revision for constructs using the 44/00/125 stem compared to constructs using other Exeter V40 femoral stems (hazard ratio 1.8 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.3)).ConclusionAlthough the revision estimate is within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ten-year benchmark, survivorship of constructs using the 44/00/125 stem appears to be lower than the rest of the range. Adjusted analyses will not take into account ‘confounding by indication’, e.g. patients with complex anatomy who may have a higher risk of revision. Surgeons and patients should be reassured but be aware of the observed increased revision estimate, and only use this stem when other implants are not suitable.Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2023;105-B(5):504–510.

Several clinical risk models have been proposed to predict the outcome of follicular lymphoma (FL). The development of next-generation sequencing technologies has allowed the integration of somatic gene mutations into clinical scores to build genotyped-based risk models, such as the m7–Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI). We explored 4 clinical or clinicogenetic-risk models in patients with symptomatic FL who received frontline immunochemotherapy. Of 191 patients with FL grades 1 to 3a, 109 were successfully genotyped. The treatment consisted of rituximab (R) plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CVP)/cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) (72.5%) or R-bendamustine (R-B) (27.5%). The proportion of cases classified as high risk for FLIPI, FLIPI-2, PRIMA–prognostic index, or m7-FLIPI were 39.3%, 14%, 30.3%, and 22%, respectively. No case with low-intermediate FLIPI was upgraded in the m7-FLIPI, but 18 of the 42 high-risk patients with FLIPI were downgraded to low-risk m7-FLIPI. The sensitivity and specificity for the prediction of POD24 were highest for FLIPI. The discrimination between progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was the best for FLIPI (c-index: 0.644 and 0.727, respectively). When analyzed only in patients treated with R-B, m7-FLIPI showed a higher discrimination between PFS and OS. Thus, the FLIPI remains the clinical risk score with higher discrimination in patients with advanced FL treated with immunochemotherapy; however, the performance of the m7-FLIPI should be further investigated in patients treated with R-B., Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, European Union (FIS-FEDER PI15/0459, FIS-FEDER PI19/00034, GILEAD GLD18/00117, 2017SGR205, and PT20/00023), Xarxa de Banc de Tumors de Catalunya, Pla Director d’Oncologia de Catalunya, The biobank of the Fundación

Background: Assess the efficacy of combining fiber and lactulose in the treatment of constipation in the pediatric age group. Objective: To assess the efficacy of combining fiber and lactulose in the treatment of constipation in the pediatric age group. Patients and Methods: One hundred forty-six patients with fuctionalconstipation were chosen in a non-randomized superiority trial manner as they were convenient to enroll due to their presentation to the outpatient clinic during the period from August 2019 to February 2022.Patient received either a solution of lactulose 3.3g/5ml in group A or a solution of 4.005g Inulin fiber and 4.005g lactulose per 20ml in group B. Results: Total of 146 children were included; all, 146 patients completed the study. In the lactulose group, 19 patients were on therapy for less than 6 months, and 48 were on therapy for more than 6 months. In the lactulose + fiber group, 59 patients were on therapy for less than 6 months, and 20 were on therapy for more than 6 months. No serious adverse effects were registered but 18 (27%) of children in the lactulose group encountered side effects, while 11 (14%) of children in the lactulose + fiber group encountered side effects. Conclusion: A solution of Lactulose + fiber is superior to a solution of Lactulose alone in terms of efficacy for the treatment of constipation in the pediatric age group. It also has a lower side effects profile.

Abstract: Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide and a major impediment to increasing life expectancy. However, survival rates with average standard cancer treatment strategies have not significantly improved in recent decades, with tumor metastasis, adverse drug reactions, and drug resistance still posing major challenges. Replacement therapies are essential for treating this terrible disease. Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of phytochemical-derived conjugated chemotherapeutic agents due to their biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, low resistance, and dynamic physiochemical properties that distinguish normal cells in treating various types of cancer. The use of plant-based carriers has many advantages, such as the availability of raw materials, lower cost, lower toxicity in most cases, and greater compatibility with the body's structure compared to chemical and mineral types of carriers. Unfortunately, several challenges complicate the efficient administration of herbal medicines, including physicochemical disadvantages such as poor solubility and instability, and pharmacokinetic challenges such as poor absorption and low bioavailability that can cause problems in clinical trials. Novel delivery systems such as liposomes, phytosomes, nanoparticles, and nanocapsules are more suitable as delivery systems for phytomedicinal components compared to conventional systems. The use of these delivery systems can improve bioavailability, pharmacological activity, prolonged delivery, and provide physical and chemical stability that increases half-life. This article discusses different types of phytocompounds used in cancer treatment.

The main objective of this paper is investigation of clayey soil setup effects on axial “resistance” and “stiffness” of small-scale piles with special attention on “overconsolidation ratio” (OCR) and “installation method”. A consolidation chamber is developed and an instrumented model pile is either driven or jacked-in through saturated consolidated Kaolinite clay at different OCRs of 1.2 (normally consolidated, NC) and 4.8 (over consolidated, OC). The pile was static load tested at different time intervals of 1 h through 90 days. Higher pore pressures are induced during pile installation in NC compared to OC clay. The frictional resistance of OC soil is higher than NC at end of drive as well as end of setup in both driven and jacked-in piles. The frictional resistance of jacked-in piles is greater than driven piles at end of drive, but due to higher rate of setup, the long-term frictional resistance of driven piles is shown to be greater, attributed to more disturbance of the soil during installation of driven piles. Attempts are made to differentiate between the contributions of dissipation of excess pore pressure and non-pore pressure components for each consolidation condition and pile installation method. A relation is proposed to quantify the pile stiffness variations over time due to soil setup.

The low-RPM Torque Converter (LRTC) is a rotating generator concept for use on the seabed with the driving force from sea waves motion on the sea surface. This concept is built up of two identical generators connected opposite each other via a spring drum with a built-in ball bearing clutch. The drum is connected to a buoy on the sea surface via a wire, the wire is rolled around the spring drum. With sea waves, the buoy moves either upwards or downwards and pulls the wire upwards or downwards. This movement causes the generators to spin. This article presents an upgrade of the LRTC generator concept and upgraded measurement system, both hardware and software. A flywheel system of the thin-disc type has been designed for direct connection to the generator's rotor shaft and an electronic measuring system has also been developed for more accurate measurements and minor disturbances. More detailed tests have been performed both for the purpose of comparing the systems and to explore the performance of the generator concept in more detail. Three different experiments have been done in this article. The first two experiments were performed to investigate the performance of the flywheel and to see the performance of the LRTC system with and without flywheel. The third experiment investigated the optimization of the flywheel mass by increasing the mass of the flywheel with the addition of more thin discs. All movements are simulated with a six-joint industrial robot. Several sinusoidal types of wave motions have been simulated with different time periods and also several real wave climate motions (data taken from fields) have been simulated with the robot. The experiments show that the addition of the flywheel in the LRTC system provides advantages in increasing both peak power, average output power and also softens the output power oscillation.

Recognizing facial expressions and emotions is a basic skill that is learned at an early age and it is important for human social interaction. Facial expressions are one of the most powerful natural and immediate means that humans use to express their feelings and intentions. Therefore, automatic emotion recognition based on facial expressions become an interesting area in research, which had been introduced and applied in many areas such as security, safety health, and human machine interface (HMI). Facial expression recognition transition from controlled environmental conditions and their improvement and succession of recent deep learning approaches from different areas made facial expression representation mostly based on using a deep neural network that is generally divided into two critical issues. These are a variation of expression and overfitting. Expression variations such as identity bias, head pose, illumination, and overfitting formed as a result of a lack of training data. This paper firstly discussed the general background and terminology utilized in facial expression recognition in field of computer vision and image processing. Secondly, we discussed general pipeline of deep learning. After that, for facial expression recognition to classify emotion there should be datasets in order to compare the image with the datasets for classifying the emotion. Besides that we summarized, discussed, and compared illustrated various recent approaches of researchers that have used deep techniques as a base for facial expression recognition, then we briefly presented and highlighted the classification of the deep feature. Finally, we summarized the most critical challenges and issues that are widely present for overcoming, improving, and designing an efficient deep facial expression recognition system.

Islamic minaret is considered one of the most important and prominent architectural structures in mosques, and it did not exist at the beginning of Islamic civilization during the era of the Prophet (peace be upon him) because of the preoccupation with spreading the Islamic call/Da’wa and the simplicity of Islamic architecture in the early first century H., after the extensive Islamic conquests in the reign of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab. When the Muslims met the Christian and Zoroastrian and other societies, they were getting acquainted with the great civilizations of this period, including the Christian Romans, the Zoroastrian Persians, the Buddhists, and the Hindus in India and the Far East. Each of these civilizations had an impact on Muslims, especially in the field of architecture. When the Muslims saw the churches of the Levant with high towers, where bells were hung, they used it as a means to call and gather their followers to pray and perform their worship or announce the death of a member of their community. Also, the Muslims built minarets inside or beside the mosques to call the Muslims and remind them of the time of prayers.

Background: In medicinal chemistry, searching for new therapeutic entities to treat diabetes mellitus is of great concern. The piperidinyl-substituted chalcone scaffold has piqued our interest as a potential antidiabetic agent. Methods: A variety of piperidinyl-substituted chalcones 2–28 were synthesized and tested for α-amylase inhibitory and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino- bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical-scavenging activities. Results: Compared with the standard acarbose, all compounds inhibited α-amylase, with IC50 values of 9.86–35.98 μM. Docking studies revealed an important binding interaction with the enzyme’s catalytic site. The compounds also demonstrated promising radical-scavenging potential against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino- bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals. Conclusion: This study has identified potential lead candidates for further advanced research searching for antidiabetic agents.

Natural killer (NK) cells are among the most important innate immunity members, which are the first cells that fight against infected cells. The function of these cells is impaired in patients with COVID-19 and they are not able to prevent the spread of the disease or destroy the infected cells. Few studies have evaluated the effects of COVID-19 vaccines on NK cells, though it has been demonstrated that DNA vaccines and BNT162b2 can affect NK cell response. In the present paper, the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the NK cells during infection, the effect of vaccination on NK cells, and the NK cell-based therapies were reviewed.

A Monteggia fracture is a proximal ulnar fracture with proximal radioulnar ligamentous instability. While there is no precise definition, Monteggia-equivalent fractures are generally considered Monteggia fractures accompanied by radial head fractures. These are rare. In this study, we report a rare variation of a Bado type IV Monteggia-equivalent lesion (fracture of proximal ulnar shaft, proximal radial shaft, and radial head) and its management.

The PES of the He⋯CO2 van der Waals complex was extracted from ab-initio method and used to calculate the transport and relaxation properties of the complex using quantum mechanical close-coupling, classical Chapman–Enskog, and classical molecular dynamics simulation methods.

In this paper, we study the landscape of an online nonconvex optimization problem, for which the input data vary over time and the solution is a trajectory rather than a single point. To understand the complexity of finding a global solution of this problem, we introduce the notion of \textit{spurious (i.e., non-global) local trajectory} as a generalization to the notion of spurious local solution in nonconvex (time-invariant) optimization. We develop an ordinary differential equation (ODE) associated with a time-varying nonlinear dynamical system which, at limit, characterizes the spurious local solutions of the time-varying optimization problem. We prove that the absence of spurious local trajectory is closely related to the transient behavior of the developed system. In particular, we show that if the problem is time-varying, the data variation may force all of the ODE trajectories initialized at arbitrary local minima at the initial time to gradually converge to the global solution trajectory. We study the Jacobian of the dynamical system along a local minimum trajectory and show how its eigenvalues are manipulated by the natural data variation in the problem, which may consequently trigger escaping poor local minima over time.

Aims: The synthesis of bioactive compounds has antioxidant potential. Background: All aerobic bodies including human beings, have antioxidant defense systems that protect them from oxidative damage, and many enzymes to remove or heal damaged molecules. However, this normal antioxidant mechanism can be incompetent, and hence dietary intakes of antioxidant compounds are important. Objective: Synthesis of isophthalate Schiff base derivatives 1-14 and screened for their antioxidant activities (DPPH, ferrous ion Fe2+ chelating and ferric Fe3+ reducing activities) Method: This study aimed to synthesize isophthalate Schiff base derivatives 1-14 and screen them for their antioxidant activities (DPPH, ferrous ion Fe2+ chelating, and ferric Fe3+ reducing activities). Result: Compounds were screened for their antioxidant activities (DPPH, ferrous ion Fe2+ chelating, and ferric Fe3+ reducing activities). Most of the compounds showed significant antioxidant activities. A structure- activity relationship has also been discussed. Conclusion: Most of the synthetic isophthalate Schiff bases were found to be moderately active when screened for their antioxidant activities by three assays such as DPPH radical scavenging, ferrous ionchelating, and ferric reducing activities. These moderately active compounds can serve as lead molecules to further modify the structure and identify more powerful antioxidant agents.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a serious global health concern, and this is expected to impact more than 300 million people by 2025. The current study focuses on identifying substituted indolin-2-one-based inhibitors for two indispensable drug targets, α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Methods: The structures of synthetic compounds were confirmed by spectroscopic techniques and evaluated for enzyme inhibition activities. Kinetic and in silico studies were also performed. Results: All compounds exhibited good-to-moderate inhibitory potential. Most importantly, compounds 1, 2, 6, 16 and 17 were identified as potent α-glucosidase inhibitors (IC50 = 9.15 ± 0.12–13.74 ± 0.12 μM). Conclusion: This study identified that these synthetic compounds might serve as potential lead molecules for antidiabetic agents.

Background: Identification of molecules having dual capabilities to reduce postprandial hyperglycemia and oxidative stress is one of the therapeutic approaches to treat diabetes mellitus. In this connection, a library of benzofuran-linked chalcone derivatives were evaluated for their dual action. Methods: A series of substituted benzofuran-linked chalcones (2–33) were synthesized and tested for α-amylase inhibitory as well as 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino- bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activities. Results: All compounds showed α-amylase inhibitory activity ranging from IC50 = 12.81 ± 0.03 to 87.17 ± 0.15 μM, compared with the standard acarbose (IC50 = 13.98 ± 0.03 μM). Compounds also demonstrated radical scavenging potential against DPPH and ABTS radicals. Conclusion: The identified compounds may serve as potential leads for further advanced research.

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Cisplatin plus 5-Fluorouracil in comparison with Gefitinib in advanced and recurrent head and neck cancer. Methods: A quasi experimental study was undertaken at the Department of Oncology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre between 2nd April 2022 and 2nd December 2022. All patients with histologically confirmed new or recurrent cases of head and neck cancer in the advanced clinical stage were recruited. Demographic data (age, gender, body mass index, comorbidity, etc.), medical history and clinical characteristics, routine biochemical analysis, urinalysis, and tumor assessments via CT scans and MRI, adverse effects and toxicity were recorded. Patients were divided randomly into two groups. Group A received Cisplatin plus 5-Fluorouracil while group B received Gefitinib monotherapy. The primary end point of the study was the overall response rate (ORR). Results: Complete response was demonstrated by seven (7.3%) and four (4.8%) individuals in Group A and B, respectively. Vomiting was significantly associated with Cisplatin plus 5-Fluorouracil with a frequency of 38 (39.58%) as compared to 10 (11.9%) in Group Gefitinib (p

UreA is an important virulence factor of Helicobacter pylori that, along with UreB and UreC, produces urease. Urease enzyme helps the bacterium to colonize the human stomach through metabolizing urea in order to neutralize the gastric environment. The current study aimed to detect the prevalence of the H. pylori’s ureA virulence factor gene, and to investigate the influence of this gene on the result of the rapid urease test (RUT). Eighty stomach biopsy samples were isolated from participants who were suspected to be infected with H. pylori in Erbil city. Participants were 36 males and 44 females, aged between 18 and 67 years. The results showed that 42 (52.5%) of the participants were positive for H. pylori when tested by RUT, while 59 (73.8%) of the patients showed positive H. pylori infection when tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the 16S rRNA gene. The results of the PCR test based on the ureA gene revealed that 42 (52.5%) of the samples were positive. The important finding of this research is the presence of 100% compatibility between positive samples of RUT and ureA genes. It can be concluded from this study that a person may be infected with H. pylori, but the RUT test fails to detect the infection if the bacteria lack the ureA gene, indicating a direct impact of this gene on the result of RUT, which is a defect of RUT.

Despite recent advances during the last few years, microbiological diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections remains a challenge. Molecular biology techniques have been developed to try to overcome this problem, and recently, many of them have become available for many laboratories. Some of them, especially commercial multiplex PCR-based assays and universal 16S rDNA homemade PCR assays, are now available in many laboratories. Moreover, new technologies have appeared, especially metagenomics and next-generation sequencing. These techniques have demonstrated their potential in many studies but appear to be experimental at present. A few studies have evaluated the possible use of these methods in the clinical routine, and a review of the critical aspects for the selection of a molecular method (accuracy, complexity, cost) was performed. Finally, a proposal for a protocol that includes molecular biology techniques was made according to the literature published in this field. In conclusion, molecular biology techniques are ready to be used in the clinical routine of a microbiology laboratory, but their use must be carried out in accordance with the many special characteristics of each laboratory. In all cases, the interpretation of the results must be conducted by a multidisciplinary team with experience in the management of these patients.

Background and objective: Retractile testis is relatively common in pediatric population. This study followed up boys with retractile testis to investigate the natural course and the need for hormonal therapy and surgical treatments. Methods: A total of 110 boys aged 1.5-10.1 years (mean: 3.2 years) diagnosed as retractile testes, 67 (60.9%) unilateral and 43 (39.09%) bilateral. The mean follow-up period was 4.9±1.3 years. The diagnosis is confirmed on history and examination and ultrasound was made for measuring the size of the testis. Results: A total of 47 (42.72%) cases received human chorionic gonadotropin (17 bilateral and 30 unilateral). Response occurred in 32 boys (68.1%),12 bilateral and 20 unilateral. Failure of response occurred in 15 boys (31.9%). Fourteen of 110 boys (12.72 %) were referred for orchiopexy, including 1 of 12 (8.3%) of bilateral cases and 2 of 20 (10%) of unilateral cases who responded to human chorionic gonadotropin injection, 2 of 5 bilateral cases (40%) and 1 in 10 unilateral cases (10%) in those did not respond to treatment. In those who did not receive treatment, orchiopexy was performed in 6 of 26 bilateral cases (23.1) and in 2 of 37 unilateral cases (5.4%). Conclusion: Although testicular descent was achieved by short-term hormone therapy, the study revealed that there is no significant statistical difference for the need for orchiopexy between those received and those did not receive human chorionic gonadotropin.

Ti(III) and (IV) hydrazide complexes were synthesized, characterized, and screened for their tyrosinase and lipoxygenase inhibitory and cytotoxic activities. The geometry of Ti(III) hydrazide complexes is tentatively assigned as octahedral. Magnetic moments were found around 1.7 B.M. and electronic spectral transition in the range of 495-518 nm. Evaluation of Ti(IV) and Ti(III) hydrazide complexes for tyrosinase and lipoxygenase inhibitory activities revealed varying inhibition potential. Hydrazide ligands were inactive against tyrosinase, while significant activity was observed against lipoxygenase (LOX). Good to moderate inhibition activity was observed by Ti(IV) and Ti(III) hydrazide complexes against both enzymes. At the same time, promising results were obtained for Ti(IV) hydrazide complexes against tyrosinase enzymes suggesting their broad application as tyrosinase inhibitors. Complex 4d possess negative inhibition, thus behaving as a tyrosinase activator. The docking results showed a good correlation between complex experimental activities and binding energies. Cytotoxic investigation revealed the non-toxicity of complexes against normal cells. KEY WORDS: Titanium(III) and titanium(IV) hydrazide complex, Tyrosinase, Lipoxygenase, Inhibition, Molecular docking, Cytotoxicity Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2023, 37(2), 315-333. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v37i2.6