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Knowledge graph embedding models have gained significant attention in AI research. The aim of knowledge graph embedding is to embed the graphs into a vector space in which the structure of the graph is preserved. Recent works have shown that the inclusion of background knowledge, such as logical rules, can improve the performance of embeddings in downstream machine learning tasks. However, so far, most existing models do not allow the inclusion of rules. We address the challenge of including rules and present a new neural based embedding model (LogicENN). We prove that LogicENN can learn every ground truth of encoded rules in a knowledge graph. To the best of our knowledge, this has not been proved so far for the neural based family of embedding models. Moreover, we derive formulae for the inclusion of various rules, including (anti-)symmetric, inverse, irreflexive and transitive, implication, composition, equivalence, and negation. Our formulation allows avoiding grounding for implication and equivalence relations. Our experiments show that LogicENN outperforms the existing models in link prediction.

Mahmoud M Habibullah,1,2 Syam Mohan,3,4 Nabeel Kashan Syed,5 Hafiz A Makeen,5 Qazi Mohammad Sajid Jamal,6 Hani Alothaid,7 Farkad Bantun,8 Alaa Alhazmi,1,2 Ali Hakamy,2,9 Yahia A Kaabi,1 Ghalia Samlan,10 Mohtashim Lohani,11 Neelaveni Thangavel,12 Mohamed Ahmed Al-Kasim5 1Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 2SMIRES for Consultation in Specialized Medical Laboratories, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 3Substance Abuse and Toxicology Research Center, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 4School of Health Science, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India; 5Pharmacy Practice Research Unit, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Health Informatics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Qassim University, Al Bukayriyah, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Al-Baha University, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia; 8Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 9Respiratory Therapy Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 10Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 11Emergency Medical Services Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 12Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Mahmoud M Habibullah, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Al Maarefah Road, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966 556644205, Email mhabibullah@jazanu.edu.saIntroduction: Numerous drugs with potent toxicity against cancer cells are available for treating malignancies, but therapeutic efficacies are limited due to their inefficient tumor targeting and deleterious effects on non-cancerous tissue. Therefore, two improvements are mandatory for improved chemotherapy 1) novel delivery techniques that can target cancer cells to deliver anticancer drugs and 2) methods to specifically enhance drug efficacy within tumors. The loading of inert drug carriers with anticancer agents and peptides which are able to bind (target) tumor-related proteins to enhance tumor drug accumulation and local cytotoxicity is a most promising approach.Objective: To evaluate the anticancer efficacy of Chitosan nanoparticles loaded with human growth hormone hGH fragment 176– 191 peptide plus the clinical chemotherapeutic doxorubicin in comparison with Chitosan loaded with doxorubicin alone.Methods: Two sets of in silico experiments were performed using molecular docking simulations to determine the influence of hGH fragment 176– 191 peptide on the anticancer efficacy of doxorubicin 1) the binding affinities of hGH fragment 176– 191 peptide to the breast cancer receptors, 2) the effects of hGH fragment 176– 191 peptide binding on doxorubicin binding to these same receptors. Further, the influence of hGH fragment 176– 191 peptide on the anticancer efficacy of doxorubicin was validated using viability assay in Human MCF-7 breast cancer cells.Results: In silico analysis suggested that addition of the hGH fragment to doxorubicin-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles can enhance doxorubicin binding to multiple breast cancer protein targets, while photon correlation spectroscopy revealed that the synthesized dual-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles possess clinically favorable particle size, polydispersity index, as well as zeta potential.Conclusion: These dual-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles demonstrated greater anti-proliferative activity against a breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) than doxorubicin-loaded Chitosan. This dual-loading strategy may enhance the anticancer potency of doxorubicin and reduce the clinical side effects associated with non-target tissue exposure.Keywords: anticancer potency, nanoparticles, cytotoxicity, docking analysis

A longitudinal flight dynamic study of a low mass moment of inertia vehicle is presented. Aerodynamic and stability derivatives of a flying-wing microaerial vehicle (FWMAV) were obtained through detailed subsonic wind tunnel tests at a Reynolds Number of 1.87 × 105. Rate and acceleration derivatives were obtained using the potential flow solver, Tornado®. A novel methodology for the estimation of dimensional derivatives is proposed, and results are compared with the conventional linear time-invariant systems (LTI) approach. Free response for natural frequency, damping coefficient, and time constant as well as forced response upon a unit step and a unit impulse elevon input has been calculated and analyzed. The proposed methodology predicted two pairs of complex conjugates for the longitudinal flight up to a pitch angle of 89° whereas the conventional methodology predicted the same up to 57°. Longitudinal modes sensitivity in terms of stability with the variation of mass, velocity, and pitch angle has also been analyzed. The flying-wing microaerial vehicle was able to sustain straight and level flight during flight trials; however, higher frequencies of phugoid and short period modes were observed. These high frequencies were the consequence of large magnitude of [Formula: see text] (ratio of Z-force derivative with the angle of attack and cruise velocity) and [Formula: see text] (ratio of Z-force derivative with the axial velocity and cruise velocity). It is concluded that the proposed methodology presented a more realistic representation of longitudinal flight modes since classical flight modes are captured till 89° which conventional LTI methodology failed to do so.

We present a PNA microprobe sensing platform to detect trinucleotide repeat mutation by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The microprobe platform discriminated Huntington's disease-associated CAG repeats in cell-derived total RNA with S/N 1 : 3. This sensitive, label-free, and PCR-free detection strategy may be employed in the future to develop biosensing platforms for the detection of a plethora of repeat expansion disorders.

Mohamed Moukhyer,1,2 Mohamed Salih Mahfouz,3 Mahmoud M Habibullah,4 Nouf Hussain Abuhadi,5 Nizar A Khamjan,4 Aymen M Madkhali,4 Ali O Hakamy,6 Hassan A Hamali,4 Mazharul Hoque,1 Mohtashim Lohani,1 Aziza Mukhayer7,8 1Emergency Medical Services, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 2Public Health Programs, School of Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; 3Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 4Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 5Diagnostic Radiology Technology Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Respiratory Therapy, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 7Faculty of Medicine, Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Sudan; 8Department of Health Promotion, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The NetherlandCorrespondence: Mohamed Moukhyer, Tel +966-568878291, Email mmoukhyer@jazanu.edu.saBackground: The emergence of COVID-19 posed a threat to millions of lives worldwide. The pandemic impacts extended to affect people’s psychological well-being, resulting in significant behavioural change. This study was designed to assess the knowledge regarding COVID-19 precautions among the College of Applied Medical Science students at Jazan University and to evaluate the general, psychosocial, and behavioral changes due to COVID-19.Methods: This is an observational study targeting 630 undergraduate students randomly selected during January 2020, using stratified random sampling. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the predictors of three outcome measures: knowledge, attitudes, and practice scores.Results: Knowledge of COVID-19 revealed that the students with correct answers ranged from 48.9 to 95%. Furthermore, significant gender differences are found regarding shortness of breath, fatigue, persistent chest discomfort, headache, and malaise (p < 0.05). Knowledge scores differed significantly across gender and academic level (p < 0.05) and so does attitude scores (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between practice scores according to socio-demographic background (p > 0.05). The linear regression model showed that females had significantly higher knowledge, attitudes, and practice scores (p < 0.05) as well as those within the 21– 23 age group and above (p < 0.05). Students residing in urban and semi-urban places had significantly higher scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practice (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The results demonstrated moderate knowledge about COVID-19 among study participants, with significant differences between the responses of males and females and among the urban and rural populations. Outcomes suggest the need for interventions to bridge students’ knowledge about COVID-19 and practice gaps. Students were concerned about basic life amenities and the inability to provide for their dear ones regarding behavioral changes.Keywords: COVID-19, health and safety, public health

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis presents with generalized symptomatology and in a country like Pakistan it is commonly misdiagnosed by the medical practitioners as any endemic disease. We aim to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding Brucellosis among the medical practitioners of Karachi and differences in knowledge scores across gender and working sectors. The study was conducted from January 2017 to April 2017 in Karachi. METHODS: Our study was a cross-sectional KAP survey, conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire among 217 medical practitioners by convenient sampling. They were divided into two groups with respect to workplace: Group 1 and Group 2. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Chi-square test was used to establish associations. RESULTS: The study showed that although 89.9% of the medical practitioners have heard about brucellosis, yet only 27.6% were able to identify Brucellosis as the second most emerging zoonotic disease. Across gender, more female than male medical practitioners achieved good knowledge score. In group 1, private sector whereas in group 2, teaching hospital medical practitioners had higher percentage of good score. In the attitude section, 47.5% of the practitioners strongly agreed that Continuing Medical Education (CME) seminars help in creating awareness about diseases. In practice, poor response was recorded for inquiry of questions about Brucellosis in medical history despite of good knowledge about their importance CONCLUSION: The study recognized a gap in knowledge and practices of the medical practitioners hence, there is a need to conduct CME Sessions about the neglected disease. KEYWORDS: Brucellosis, Neuro-brucellosis, Zoonosis, Neglected Disease, Awareness, Health Belief Model, KAP Study, CME

In this investigation, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic technique has been used to examine the surface chemistry of C.I. Leuco Sulphur Black 1 dyed cotton fabric, which has been after-treated with a tannin-based commercial product, Bayprotect CL, and laundered in accordance with ISO 105 C06 and C09 washing protocols. The dyeings were evaluated for colour strength, wash fastness and colour loss. Surface chemical compositions of the dyeings were analysed to relate visual changes with surface chemical changes. Alterations in percentage atomic concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur were compared for untreated, after-treated, unlaundered and laundered dyed samples. After-treated and laundered dyed samples exhibited higher content of surface sulphur and lower surface oxidation, as compared to the untreated counterparts. The S (2p) spectra of after-treated and laundered samples demonstrated reduced over-oxidised (S6+) species at 168 eV. There was 5% and 4% less surface oxidation for ISO 105 C06 and C09 washing systems, respectively.

Knowledge Graph Embedding models have become an important area of machine learning. Those models provide a latent representation of entities and relations of a knowledge graph which can then be used in downstream machine learning tasks such as link prediction.The learning process of such models can be performed by contrasting positive and negative triples.While the triples of the underlying knowledge graph are considered positive, the generation of the negative samples has its own process. Therefore, the sampling procedures for obtaining the negative triples play a crucial role in the performance and effectiveness of Knowledge Graph Embedding models. Most of the existing techniques draw negative samples from a random distribution of entities of the underlying Knowledge Graph which often includes uninformative negative triples. Different works employ adversarial techniques or generative neural networks for negative sampling, which improve the performance of models with the cost of additional sophisticated mechanisms. In this paper, we propose an approach for generating informative negative samples by utilizing complementary knowledge about entities. Particularly, pre-trained language models are used to form neighborhood clusters by computing the distances between entities to obtain representations of symbolic entities via their complementary textual information. Our proposed approach achieved the biggest leaps in performance over the baseline models KBGAN, NSCaching, Uni-SANS with an absolute difference of +22.38, +6.45 and +7.16, respectively on WN18RR dataset.

Mathematical models of cancer growth have been subject of research for many years. At least six different mathematical models and their countless variations and combinations have been published till date in scientific literature that reasonably explains epidemiological prediction of multi-step carcinogenesis. Each one deals with a particular set of problems at a given organizational level ranging from populations to genes. None of the articles have incorporated all the types of cancers. Any of the models adopted in those articles so far does not account for both epidemiological and molecular levels of carcinogenesis. In other words, those models are used in ‘specialized’ ways to focus on specific attributes of cancer.Therefore, our work aims at the derivation of a mathematical model consisting of fewer than five equations that reasonably explains epidemiological prediction of multi-step carcinogenesis. We have come up with a mathematically rigorous system to derive those equations that satisfies the basic assumptions of both epidemiology and molecular biology without having to incorporate arbitrary numerical coefficients or constants devoid of any causal explanation just to fit the empirical data. After satisfactorily generalizing all the epidemiological and molecular data, we attempted to apply the model for non-neoplastic conditions satisfying the set of assumptions mathematically equivalent to multi-step carcinogenesis. The aim of this treatise is not only to provide some novel insight into mathematical modeling of malignant transformation, but also to revive the classical tools we already have at our disposal to pave the way towards novel insight into integrated approach in cancer research.

In this research work, a nondestructive technique of image analysis was explored to determine the fibre orientation and void content in Bagasse fibre reinforced composites. Fibre length, alkali treatment and fibre loading were studied as variables. The fibre orientation was irrespective of the fibre length, fibre loading and alkali treatment variables. The void content and size decreased with increases in fibre length and alkali treatment. The alkali treatment resulted in the removal of lignin, making the surface of the fibres rough. It also led to making the fibre count fine i.e. reducing the diameter of the fibres and thus presenting more fibres for interaction with resin. Both these phenomena resulted in a slower flow of resin. The void content of bagasse fibre composites decreased with higher fibre loading because a higher number of fibres slows the resin flow. However, the size i.e. area of the voids increased with the fibre loading from 20 to 30%, probably due to increased wetting difficulty.

Purpose Sulphur dyes provide an inexpensive medium to dye cellulosic fibres with heavy shade depths. They offer moderate to good fastness to light and wet treatments. However, owing to the environmental hazard produced by the use of sodium sulphide, the practical implication of these dyes is steadily decreasing. Moreover, these dyes are prone to oxidation causing pronounced fading on exposure to laundering. This paper aims to present the green processing of sulphur dyes by using a biodegradable reducing agent in place of sodium sulphide to dye cotton fabrics. The study also proposes after-treatments with tannin to improve the fastness properties of the dyeings. Design/methodology/approach In this study, dyeings were produced on cotton fabric with a range of C.I. Leuco Sulphur dyes, which were reduced with sodium sulphide and glucose. Sulphur dyeings were after-treated with an environment-friendly tannin-based product (Bayprotect CL (BP)); subsequently, the after-treated samples were evaluated for colour strength, wash, light and rubbing fastness. Findings A novel after-treatment method was developed, which substantially improved the wash fastness of C.I. Leuco Sulphur Black 1 dyeing to ISO 105 C06/C09 washing. However, the degree of this improvement varied for the other sulphur dyes used. The surface morphology and the possible mechanisms for the improved fastness properties were also discussed. Research limitations/implications The effect of after-treatment was significant for improving the wash fastness of sulphur black dyeings in particular, while the effect on other colours was minor. Significant improvements were observed for light and wet rub fastness for most of the dyeings, which signifies the importance of tannins as a finishing agent. Practical implications It is observed that the tannin-based product, BP, is found to provide the photoprotective effect by improving the lightfastness of the dyeings. Future research may involve the exploration of various tannins as a finishing agent to sulphur dyeings. Originality/value This novel finishing technique is found significant for improving the wash fastness of sulphur black 1 dyeings for both the reducing systems. Improvements were also observed for light and wet rub fastnesses for most of the dyeings.

Introduction: As the amyloid precursor protein performs a remarkable part in chronic periodontitis and the progression of Alzheimer's disease growth, discoveryof novelactive inhibitors of this protein can be of great standing in the treatment of periodontitis. Chronic periodontitis is one of the causative factors and metabolic stressor for diabetes control. In chronic periodontitis and Alzheimer's disease, some molecules have been proposed to inhibit proteins in past. Methods: This study was planned to find present potent inhibitors,A library of KDM compounds was obtained from Chem Div Database. Here, all complexes with goodglide score were short listed for analysis of protein-ligand interaction. Calculations were carried out to estimate the interaction of the ligands selected in complex with the beta amyloid protein. Results: Five top hits were found considering Curcuminas reference. Five small molecules have been proposed as possible inhibitors of this protein. Here in this study, we have focused on small molecule lead inhibitors for identification of Chronic Periodontitis and Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: SARS-CoV2, first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan as COVID-19 causing respiratory illness, rapidly evolved into a pandemic owing to its very high infectivity. There is insufficient evidence about if and how smoking affects the risk of COVID-19 infection, and the reports on whether smoking increases or reduces the risk of respiratory infections, are contradictory. Therefore, the current study was designed to determine the effects of nicotine consumption on the infectivity of COVID-19. Methods: We performed in silico computer simulation-based study. The structures of SARS-CoV2spike ectodomain, and its receptor ACE2, were obtained from PDB. The structure of nicotine and its metabolites NNK and NNAL were obtained from the PubChem chemical database. After optimization, they were interacted using AutoDock 4.2, to see the effect of nicotine, NNK, or NNAL presence on the docking of viral spike protein to its receptor ACE2. Results: ACE2 vs spike protein interaction results were used as a control (ZDOCK score 1498.484, with four hydrogen bonds). The NNK+ACE2 vs spike protein docking formed 10 hydrogen bonds with the highest ZDOCK score of 1515.564. NNAL+ ACE2 vs spike protein interaction formed eleven hydrogen bonds with the ZDOCK score of 1499.371. Nicotine+ACE2 vs spike protein docking showed the lowest ZDOCK score of 1496.302 and formed 8 hydrogen bonds. Whereas, NNK+spike vs ACE2 interaction had a ZDOCK score of 1498.490 and formed eight hydrogen bonds. NNAL+spike vs ACE2 docking formed eleven hydrogen bonds with a ZDOCK score of 1498.482. And Nicotine+spike vs ACE2 interaction showed a ZDOCK score of 1498.488 and formed 9 hydrogen bonds. Conclusions: The binding of nicotine to either spike of virus or its receptor ACE2 is not affecting the viral docking with the receptor. But binding of NNK, a metabolite of nicotine, is facilitating the viral docking with its receptor indicating that smoking may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection.

Purpose Porosity is one of the most important properties of the textile substrate. It can influence the comfort of a garment by affecting its breathability and thermal conductivity. During the process of dyeing, the dye liquor comes in contact with the substrate; the absorption of the dye liquor into the substrate will be dependent on its porosity. The concept of porosity between the yarns of fabric is a common phenomenon; however, the porosity between the fibres in the yarn can also influence the dyeing behaviour of the fabric. Design/methodology/approach In this research, ring and rotor yarns of 25/s and 30/s counts are considered as textile substrates. The porosity of yarns was determined theoretically and experimentally using the image analysis method. Findings It was found that theoretical porosity is independent of the yarn manufacturing method. In addition, 30/s yarn was more porous as compared with 25/s yarn having a higher pore area. Rotor yarns had higher porosity, dye fixation and K/S as compared with ring yarns. Dyeing behaviour was also dependent on the count of yarn. Specifically, 30/s yarns have higher dye fixation as compared with 25/s yarns. However, 25/s yarns were dyed with deeper shades showing higher K/S values. Also, 25/s yarns are coarser than 30/s yarns having higher diameters and cross-sectional area, thus resulting in deeper shades and higher K/S values. Originality/value This novel technique is based on the comparative study of the porosity of various types of yarns using the image analysis technique. This investigation shows that the porosity between the fibres in the yarn can also influence the dyeing behaviour of the yarn.

Purpose The application of synthetic dyestuffs in the dyeing and printing industries has been criticized because of the introduction of contaminants into the environment. With time, the increasing international awareness of environment and ecology preservation has led to the industry’s attention towards natural dyes and their efficient usage compared to synthetic counterparts. Because the need for “Green” goods and services are rising public awareness, this paper aims to use a banana bio-resource waste to dye cotton fabric. Design/methodology/approach Factorial design with three variables, including parts of a banana plant, combination of alkalis and application temperature at three different levels, was studied to identify a significant correlation between the effect of these variables on the colour strength and fastnesses of the dyed cotton fabrics. Findings Dyeing samples achieved with various parts of banana are found to offer significant colour strength and a good wash and rub fastness. Experimental design analysis helped to formulate a standard workable dyeing recipe with the minimum use of resources exhibiting reasonably good wash and rub fastness. Originality/value This dyeing technique is novel and can be found useful for partially replacing synthetic dyes with natural colourants possessing good washing and rubbing fastness.

Application of innovative technologies for the design and development of state-of-the-art weapons, enable precision aiming and maximum destruction, with minimal collateral damage. Modern warfare is based on accurate guidance and information superiority; hence next generation of weapons tends to be more reliable, intelligent, lightweight and compact. Fuze is one of the key components in the next generation of munitions. In the last two decades, MEMS-based Safety and Arming (S&A) devices were introduced to achieve fuze miniaturization and realize extended fuze functions. The use of MEMS technology for the design of fuzes based on advanced S&A devices provides the advantages like low cost, parallel processing, mass fabrication, efficient designs, and ease of system integration. With microsensors and actuators being fabricated on the single microchip, MEMS technology has revolutionized the fuze system design, yielding smart devices with microprocessors and data crosslinking ability. The efficient design of MEMS-based S&A devices for weapon fuze system is likely to shape the future of next-generation weapons. A consolidated study on MEMS-based S&A devices designed by various researchers in the past two decades is presented in this paper. MEMS S&A devices are reviewed, with special emphasis on the fabrication techniques and processes, device material and composition, sensing and actuation mechanisms and device integration with weapon fuze system. The reviewed designs of MEMS-based S&A devices are compared based on salient design features like driving principle, device composition, device size, maximum displacement etc. A comparison matrix is formulated, and logical conclusions are drawn from the work of various researchers, which can serve as a guide for future design of MEMS-based S&A devices for integration with weapons fuze systems.

IntroductionThe role of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) +874 A>T (rs2430561) gene polymorphism has been evaluated in different ethnicities with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) infection, and inconsistent results have been reported. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to determine the precise association between IFN-γ +874 A>T gene polymorphism and PTB susceptibility.Material and methodsA total of 21 studies comprising 4281 confirmed PTB cases and 5186 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis by searching the PubMed (Medline), EMBASE, and Google Scholar web-databases.ResultsWe observed reduced risk of PTB in allelic contrast (T vs. A: p = 0.001; OR = 0.818, 95% CI: 0.723–0.926), homozygous (TT vs. AA: p = 0.017; OR = 0.715, 95% CI: 0.543–0.941), heterozygous (AT vs. AA: p = 0.002; OR = 0.782, 95% CI: 0.667–0.917), dominant (TT+AT vs. AA: p = 0.002; OR = 0.768, 95% CI: 0.652–0.906), and recessive (TT vs. AA+AT: p = 0.042; OR = 0.802, 95% CI: 0.649–0.992) genetic models. In ethnicity-wise subgroup analysis, reduced risk of PTB was found in the Caucasian population. However, we did not find an association with any of the genetic models in the Asian population.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the IFN-γ +874 A>T gene polymorphism is significantly associated with reduced risk of PTB, showing a protective effect in the overall and in the Caucasian population. However, this polymorphism is not associated with PTB risk in the Asian population.

Objectives The association of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been debated vigorously but still remains controversial. Therefore, the current study was designed to determine the possible association between ACE I/D polymorphism and T2DM and hypertension (HTN) in a population of Saudi Arabian participants. Methods A total of 143 individuals were recruited for the study, consisting of 74 controls and 69 patients with T2DM. Genotyping was performed via polymerase chain reaction. Results The genotype frequencies for DD, ID and II in controls were 52.7%, 39.2% and 8.1%, whereas in T2D patients it was 52.2%, 40.6% and 7.2% respectively. The DD frequency was highest out of the three genotypes in both the controls and the T2DM patients. Conclusion There was no significant difference found in the genotype and allele frequencies between cases and controls, suggesting that insertion/deletion polymorphism in the ACE gene may not be associated with an increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in our study population.

Morphea en coup de sabre is a type of linear localized scleroderma, characterized by a sclerotic skin band in the forehaead and frontoparietal scalp area. It can cause cicatricial alopecia, when affecting the scalp. The disease is mostly unilateral and may be associated with neurological complications and eye defects. Herein, we present a case of bilateral morphea en coup de sabre in a young man, which developed following trauma to the head in childhood 10 years earlier. It produced linear bands of alopecia over the scalp and right eyebrow. The lesions progressed over 4 years, then remained quiescent for 6 years and then restarted progressing again. The patient also complained of repeated frontal headaches but the neurological and ocular examination was normal. Dermoscopy and histopathology were used to confirm the diagnosis. The case is unique because of the bilateral manifestation, preceding trauma and recurrence of disease activity.

Sulfur dyed cellulosic goods exhibit limited wash fastness against oxidative laundering; particularly to washing powder formulations containing activated bleaches. This study presents a novel two-bath exhaust finishing process to improve the wash fastness of Sulfur Black 1 dyed cotton fabrics reduced with two different reducing agents—sodium sulfide and a commercial glucose-based Diresul reducing agent D. The finishing process involves sequential aftertreatments with a cationic fixative and synthetic tanning agent (syntan). A Box-Behnken design with three variables: concentrations of cationic fixative and syntan, and application temperature of syntan (at three different levels) was studied to understand the effects of these variables on the color retention of the dyed cotton fabrics. Color retention of the sulfur dyeings was improved using the newly developed finishing process.

Flexible and ultrasensitive biosensing platforms capable of detecting a large number of trinucleotide repeats (TNRs) are crucial for future technology development needed to combat a variety of genetic disorders. For example, trinucleotide CGG repeat expansions in the FMR1 gene can cause Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). Current state-of-the-art technologies to detect repeat sequences are expensive, while relying on complicated procedures, and prone to false negatives. We reasoned that two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) surfaces may be useful for label-free electrochemical detection of CGG repeats due to its high affinity for guanine bases. Here, we developed a low-cost and sensitive wax-on-plastic electrochemical sensor using 2D MoS2 ink for the detection of CGG repeats. The ink containing few-layered MoS2 nanosheets was prepared and characterized using optical, electrical, electrochemical, and electron microscopic methods. The devices were characterized by electron microscopic and electrochemical methods. Repetitive CGG DNA was adsorbed on a MoS2 surface in a high cationic strength environment and the electrocatalytic current of the CGG/MoS2 interface was recorded using a soluble Fe(CN)6-3/-4 redox probe by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The dynamic range for the detection of prehybridized duplexes ranged from 1 aM to 100 nM with a 3.0 aM limit of detection. A detection range of 100 fM to 1 nM was recorded for surface hybridization events. Using this method, we were able to observe selectivity of MoS2 for CGG repeats and distinguish nonpathogenic from disease-associated repeat lengths. The detection of CGG repeat sequences on inkjet printable 2D MoS2 surfaces is a forward step toward developing chip-based rapid and label-free sensors for the detection of repeat expansion sequences.

Congruent arc Latarjet procedure involves rotating the coracoid process so that its inferior surface is flush with the glenoid face, owing to their matching radius of curvature (ROC). However, there has been no cadaveric study to actually measure and compare the ROC of coracoid with glenoid, especially in Indian population. 44 shoulders were dissected in 24 cadavers to measure usable length of coracoid process, width, height, ROC of coracoid and glenoid as well as ulnar length (as proxy of cadaver height). Critical coracoid height and length were estimated based on screw sizes of 2.7 mm, 3.5 mm, 4 mm and 4.5 mm, and pair concordance between height and length calculated. ROC of coracoid and glenoid were compared to measure extent of congruency. The mean usable length of coracoid process, width and height at mid-point were 21.8 mm, 13.7 mm and 8.6 mm, respectively. Out of the different screw sizes, 2.7 mm screws were found safe in 82% shoulders. 24 coracoid–glenoid pairs fulfilled the operational definition (≤ 5 mm) of congruency while rest 20 were seemingly incongruent chiefly due to coracoid variations, with mean ROC difference 4.13 mm (95% CI 1.51–6.74 mm). The ulnar length was significantly smaller in the incongruent ROC group (p = 0.0002). The available length as well as height of the transferred coracoid must be considered when deciding optimum diameter fixation screws in Latarjet procedure. Owing to smaller anatomic dimensions of coracoid in Indian population, 2.7-mm screws provide the safest fixation option. Also, the ROC of coracoid and glenoid does not match in substantial proportion of the cadavers. Pre-operative planning should include a CT-based assessment of glenoid and coracoid dimensions to decide the technique of Latarjet procedure and the optimum diameter fixation screws required.

PurposeSulphur dyes are the most highly consumed colourants for cellulosic substrates owing to their reasonable cost and acceptable fastness. However, the use of noxious conventional reducing agent, sodium sulphide and impaired wash fastness against oxidative bleaching is gradually decreasing the market of these dyes. As the need for “Green” goods and services is raising public awareness, this paper aims to use a glucose-based biodegradable reducing agent in place of sodium sulphide to dye cotton fabrics with a range of commercial sulphur dyes. The study also proposes an aftertreatment method to improve the fastness properties of the dyeing.Design/methodology/approachThe paper investigated the impact of a newly developed aftertreatment method on the fastness properties of dyeing. This involved the sequential application of a cationic fixing agent (Tinofix ECO) and tannin (Bayprotect CL) on the coloured fabrics and subsequent evaluation of colour strength, washing, light and rubbing fastness.FindingsThe effect of aftertreating the dyed cotton was found to significantly improve the light and wet rub fastness. The surface morphology of the dyeing remained unaffected as depicted by the absence of any finish residues.Research limitations/implicationsThe protective effect of the cation–tannin aftertreatments was examined with a view to providing the necessary commercial performance; however, it was established that the dry rub fastness was either reduced or remained unaffected and the wash fastness to International Organization for Standardization 105 C09 was also marginal.Originality/valueThis finishing technique is novel and can be found useful for manufacturing sulphur-dyed products with the improved light and wet rub fastness.

Sulphur‐dyed cellulosic textiles are susceptible to washing powders containing activated peracid formulations resulting in obvious fading during repeated laundering. This study presents a novel one‐bath/two‐stage exhaust finishing process to improve the oxidative wash fastness of CI Leuco Sulphur Black 1‐dyed cotton fabric. The effect of the combined Tinofix ECO and Bayprotect Cl after‐treatment was to impart better colour fastness to oxidative International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 105 CO9 washing of the dyed cotton compared with those dyed fabrics after‐treated with Tinofix ECO alone. In addition, while the dyed fabrics rub and light fastness performances were unchanged by the after‐treatments, some improvement in the tensile strength of the combined Tinofix ECO and Bayprotect Cl after‐treated fabrics was observed.

Preventing hospital-acquired pressure injuries (PI) in critically ill patients remains a significant clinical challenge because of its associated high risk for comorbid conditions. We assessed the preventive effectiveness of silicone dressings among patients admitted in intensive care units and non-intensive care units settings.A literature search was conducted across 3 electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central) from inception through December 2021. Studies assessing the effectiveness of silicone dressing on the incidence of PI on the sacral area were included. Evaluations were reported as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence interval, and analysis was performed using a random-effects model.Of the 1056 articles retrieved from the initial search, 11 studies were included in the final analysis. Silicone dressings significantly reduced the incidence of PI compared to usual care (RR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.19-0.45, P0.01). We found no significant difference between results of studies conducted in intensive care settings (RR=0.25, 95% CI: 0.15-0.43, P0.01) and non-intensive care settings (RR=0.38, 95% CI: 0.17-0.83, P=0.01) (P-interaction: 0.39). Silicone dressings reduced the risk of developing PI among patients using five-layer foam Border dressing (Mepilex® Sacrum) (RR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.20-0.48, P0.01), and dressing Allevyn Gentle Border® (RR: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.01-0.73, P=0.02) with no significant difference upon subgroup analysis (P-interaction: 0.27).The present meta-analysis suggests that silicone dressings consistently reduce the incidence of PI in intensive as well as in non-intensive care settings, regardless of the type of dressing used.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder, which has complex diagnostic steps. Electrochemical immunoassays may make the diagnosis simpler and faster. Here, we present the detection of ALS-associated neurofilament light chain (Nf-L) protein through an electrochemical impedance immunoassay on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) screen-printed electrodes. The immunoassay was developed in two different media, i.e., buffer and human serum, to compare the effect of the media on their figures of merit and calibration models. The label-free charge transfer resistance (RCT) of the immunoplatform was used as a signal response to develop the calibration models. We found that exposure of the biorecognition layer to human serum improved the impedance response of the biorecognition element with significantly lower relative error. Moreover, the calibration model obtained in the human serum environment has higher sensitivity and a better limit of detection (0.087 ng/mL) than the buffer medium (0.39 ng/mL). The analyses of the ALS patient samples show that concentrations obtained from the buffer-based regression model was higher than the serum-based model. However, a high Pearson correlation (r = 1.00) between the media suggests that concentration in one medium may be useful to predict the concentration in the other medium. Moreover, the Nf-L concentration appears to increase with age in both male and female groups, while overall higher Nf-L was found in the male group than the female group.

Society and the infrastructure are significantly dependent on energy and due to rise in the energy demands for the proper functioning of the building, there is a huge load on the available limited resources around. Therefore, the concept of sustainability is introduced to promote the use of natural renewable resources by applying the various techniques and practices. So, various solutions have come up to reduce the energy consumption of building in order to step towards sustainability approach. By using the double skin facade (DSF) in buildings external facade, the available energy resources can be used in more efficient way. The external facade of building has a major role to play in the energy consumption, performance and interior environment of the building. In buildings where exterior glazing is used on large scale the Double skin facade is the appropriate solution that can control solar heat gain, can reduce the cooling and heating demand by reducing the heat loss and also can minimize the wind and acoustic effects. Therefore, the aim of this paper would be to understand the basic functionality of double skin facade, its impact on interior environment of the building and the level of energy reduction achieved by double skin facade.

Knowledge Graphs, such as Wikidata, comprise structural and textual knowledge in order to represent knowledge. For each of the two modalities dedicated approaches for graph embedding and language models learn patterns that allow for predicting novel structural knowledge. Few approaches have integrated learning and inference with both modalities and these existing ones could only partially exploit the interaction of structural and textual knowledge. In our approach, we build on existing strong representations of single modalities and we use hypercomplex algebra to represent both, (i), single-modality embedding as well as, (ii), the interaction between different modalities and their complementary means of knowledge representation. More specifically, we suggest Dihedron and Quaternion representations of 4D hypercomplex numbers to integrate four modalities namely structural knowledge graph embedding, word-level representations (e.g.\ Word2vec, Fasttext), sentence-level representations (Sentence transformer), and document-level representations (sentence transformer, Doc2vec). Our unified vector representation scores the plausibility of labelled edges via Hamilton and Dihedron products, thus modeling pairwise interactions between different modalities. Extensive experimental evaluation on standard benchmark datasets shows the superiority of our two new models using abundant textual information besides sparse structural knowledge to enhance performance in link prediction tasks., Comment: add acknowledgement

A distributed system is a paradigm, which is indispensable to the current world due to countless requests with every passing second. Therefore, in distributed computing, high availability is very important. Since failures are often inevitable in a distributed paradigm, it greatly affects the availability of services. Replication plays a role in mitigating such failures by masking them to achieve a fault-tolerant distributed environment, thereby eliminating the hindrances in the availability of the data. In this regard, this research focuses on sophisticated modeling, analysis, and machine learning approaches, particularly, genetic programming to automatically identify and design new data replication strategies that are innovative. This dissertation proposes a genetic programming-based multi-objective optimization approach that offers competitive results w.r.t. the contemporary strategies as well as generating novel strategies even with a slight use of relevant genetic operators.

In this study, cotton fabric and nylon fabric were dyed with a range of commercial sulphur dyes and the light and wash fastness of the coloured fabrics was investigated. The effect of after‐treating the coloured cotton and nylon fabrics with a tannin‐based commercial product, Bayprotect Cl, in the presence or absence of sodium sulphate in the treatment bath, was found to significantly improve the light fastness of the sulphur‐dyed cotton, and the photoprotective effect was partially stable to ISO 105‐C06 washing. In addition, the tannin‐based after‐treatment also improved the colour stability of the dyed fabrics to the perborate‐based ISO 105‐C06 washing. The possible mechanisms for the improved fastness properties are also discussed. The application of sulphur dyes to nylon is potentially commercially useful but has been limited because of the reported poor light fastness of the dyeings. The photoprotective effect of the tannin‐based after‐treatment was investigated with a view to providing the necessary commercial performance. However, it was established that on this fibre, the light fastness improvement was marginal, and the associated wash fastness to oxidative bleach‐based ISO 105‐C06 washing was limited.

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disorder characterized by premature ageing involving the skin, bones, heart, and blood vessels. The incidence is 1 in several million births. It occurs sporadically and is probably an autosomal dominant syndrome. The diagnosis is essentially clinical and the manifestations become more evident from the first year of life. We report a case of a seven-month- old boy with clinical manifestations characteristic of this syndrome. He had a characteristic “plucked-bird” appearance, prominent eyes and scalp veins, senile look, loss of scalp hair, stunted growth and mottled pigmentation with sclerodermatous changes over the trunk and lower limbs. This interesting case is reported for its rarity.

Purpose Pressure, being one of the key variables investigated in scientific and engineering research, requires critical and accurate measurement techniques. With the advancements in materials and machining technologies, there is a large leap in the measurement techniques including the development of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors. These sensors are one to two orders smaller in magnitude than traditional sensors and combine electrical and mechanical components that are fabricated using integrated circuit batch-processing technologies. MEMS are finding enormous applications in many industrial fields ranging from medical to automotive, communication to electronics, chemical to aviation and many more with a potential market of billions of dollars. MEMS pressure sensors are now widely used devices owing to their intrinsic properties of small size, light weight, low cost, ease of batch fabrication and integration with an electronic circuit. This paper aims to identify and analyze the common pressure sensing techniques and discuss their uses and advantages. As per our understanding, usage of MEMS pressure sensors in the aerospace industry is quite limited due to cost constraints and indirect measurement approaches owing to the inability to locate sensors in harsh environments. The purpose of this study is to summarize the published literature for application of MEMS pressure sensors in the said field. Five broad application areas have been investigated including: propulsion/turbomachinery applications, turbulent flow diagnosis, experimentalaerodynamics, micro-flow control and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/micro aerial vehicle (MAV) applications. Design/methodology/approach The first part of the paper deals with an introduction to MEMS pressure sensors and mathematical relations for its fabrication. The second part covers pressure sensing principles followed by the application of MEMS pressure sensors in five major fields of aerospace industry. Findings In this paper, various pressure sensing principles in MEMS and applications of MEMS technology in the aerospace industry have been reviewed. Five application fields have been investigated including: Propulsion/Turbomachinery applications, turbulent flow diagnosis, experimental aerodynamics, micro-flow control and UAV/MAV applications. Applications of MEMS sensors in the aerospace industry are quite limited due to requirements of very high accuracy, high reliability and harsh environment survivability. However, the potential for growth of this technology is foreseen due to inherent features of MEMS sensors’ being light weight, low cost, ease of batch fabrication and capability of integration with electric circuits. All these advantages are very relevant to the aerospace industry. This work is an endeavor to present a comprehensive review of such MEMS pressure sensors, which are used in the aerospace industry and have been reported in recent literature. Originality/value As per the author’s understanding, usage of MEMS pressure sensors in the aerospace industry is quite limited due to cost constraints and indirect measurement approaches owing to the inability to locate sensors in harsh environments. Present work is a prime effort in summarizing the published literature for application of MEMS pressure sensors in the said field. Five broad application areas have been investigated including: propulsion/turbomachinery applications, turbulent flow diagnosis, experimental aerodynamics, micro-flow control and UAV/MAV applications.