Search

This article establishes sufficient conditions for the existence of positive solutions to initial value problems associated with the discrete fractional oscillation equation using the well-known conical shell fixed point theorem. Two numerical examples illustrate the applicability of the established results.

Abstract: Introduction: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of residual common bile duct (CBD) stones after preoperative ERCP for choledocholithiasis and to evaluate the utility of routine intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in this patient population. Methods: All patients who underwent preoperative ERCP and interval LC with IOC from 5/96 to 12/05 were reviewed under an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved protocol. Data collected included all radiologic imaging, laboratory values, clinical and pathologic diagnoses, and results of preoperative ERCP and LC with IOC. Standard statistical analyses were used with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 227 patients (male:female 72:155, mean age 51.9 years) underwent preoperative ERCP for suspicion of choledocholithiasis. One hundred and eighteen patients were found to have CBD stones on preoperative ERCP, and of these, 22 had choledocholithiasis diagnosed on IOC during LC. However, two patients had residual stones on completion cholangiogram after ERCP and were considered to have retained stones. Therefore, 20 patients overall were diagnosed with either interval passage of stones into the CBD or a false-negative preoperative ERCP. In the 109 patients without CBD stones on preoperative ERCP, nine patients had CBD stones on IOC during LC, an 8.3% incidence of interval passage of stones or false-negative preoperative ERCP. In both groups, there was no correlation (p > 0.05) between an increased incidence of CBD stones on IOC and a longer time interval between ERCP and LC, performance of sphincterotomy, incidence of cystic duct stones, or pathologic diagnosis of cholelithiasis. Conclusions: The overall incidence of retained or newly passed CBD stones on IOC during LC after a preoperative ERCP is 12.9%. Although the natural history of residual CBD stones after preoperative ERCP is not known, the routine use of IOC should be considered in patients with CBD stones on preoperative ERCP undergoing an interval LC.

In this paper, we focus on two distinct types of nabla fractional relaxation equations with periodic boundary conditions. Our first step is to build the related Green’s functions and discover some of their characteristics. Next, using the appropriate fixed point theorems, we derive sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions to the problems under consideration. Further, to illustrate the applicability of our findings, we also offer two examples.

Proteins play an important role in biological systems and several proteins are used in diagnosis, therapy, food industry etc.Thus, knowledge about the physical properties of the proteins is of utmost importance, which will aid in understanding their function and subsequent applications. The melting temperature (Tm) of a protein is one of the essential parameters which gives information about the stability of a protein under different conditions. In the present study, we have demonstrated a method for determining the Tmof proteins using the supramolecular interaction between Quinaldine Red (QR) and proteins. Using this method, we have determined the Tmof 5 proteins and compared our results with established protocols. Our results showed good agreement with the other methods and published values. The method developed in this study is inexpensive, quick, and devoid of complex instruments and pre/post-treatment of the samples. In addition, this method can be adopted for high throughput in multi-plate mode. Thus, this study projects a new methodology for Tmdetermination of various proteins with user friendly operation.

Abstract: A novel and efficient ultrasonic-assisted one-pot tandem reaction has been developed for synthesis of triazole derivatives with excellent yield (94–98%) in short reaction time (&lt; 6 min) in the absence of catalyst under ethanol solvent condition. All synthesized molecules were well identified and characterized using various spectral techniques including 1H, 13C, and 15N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) analyses. This green protocol offers many benefits including environmental friendliness, clean and simple operation, cost-effectiveness, short reaction time, easy work-up, excellent yield, and reduced waste production, making the method “green” and “ecofriendly benign.” Graphic abstract:

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology is prominent in detecting and tracking objects using low-power wireless transmissions. By integrating sensing and identification functions into the RFID reader/interrogator, the system can be capable of monitoring vital parameters, such as temperature, blood pressure, heartbeat, glucose content, the information of individual patients, and so forth in real time. It is also critical for the younger generation besides the elderly to pay attention to vital signs monitoring for diseases, such as cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, sleep apnea, and tachypnea. Conventional vital signs monitoring methods like sophisticated anesthesia machines, in which different systems are integrated to monitor a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and temperature, are intrusive in nature and cause inconvenience to the users since more dedicated sensors need to be worn. For the enabling of continuous and comfortable monitoring of vital signs, chipless RFID is the best-suited technology because of its tremendous optimization in hardware, lower cost, ease of design, and installation. This article presents various noninvasive methods of monitoring vital signs, like sleep apnea, heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, and posturography with the help of chipless RFID technology. The article discusses literature related to vital signs monitoring with chipless RFID sensors, smart-sensing materials, and their classification and applications. Chipless RFID data coding techniques like frequency shift coding and hybrid coding are also discussed. Furthermore, some recently published review articles are compared with the proposed article, showing the multifarious features.

Abstract: Adsorption of Fe(III) ions and Fe(III) complexes on selected adsorbents in aqueous solutions is reported. Fe(III) complexes with ribose, lactic acid, glycine and valine were prepared, and FTIR spectra validated their formation. The structural data of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis also confirm the structure of the iron-ligand complexes and their adsorption on selected ligands (celite, cellulose, bentonite, activated carbon, carbon nanoparticles). Fe(III) adsorption from Fe−ligand complexes (FeLCs) on adsorbents in an aqueous solution was higher than the adsorption of metal ions alone. Compared with non-carbon adsorbents, carbon adsorbents carbon nano particles (CNP) and activated carbon (AC) showed higher adsorption of FeLCs. The atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) studies showed that the Fe−valine complex demonstrated the maximum adsorption (1719.18 ppm) compared to other samples. energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) studies confirmed a 2.16-fold increase in Fe(III)−Val complex adsorption compared with the pure metal ions. The current strategy provides an efficient proto-type to remediate Fe(III) contaminated water and to fortify Fe(III) through diet.

In this work, we build upon an implementation of a peer-to-peer image encryption algorithm: “Rubik’s cube algorithm”. The algorithm utilizes pixel-level scrambling and XOR-based diffusion, facilitated through the symmetric key. Empirical analysis has proven this algorithm to have the advantage of large key space, high-level security, high obscurity level, and high speed, aiding in secure image transmission over insecure channels. However, the base approach has drawbacks of key generation being handled client-side (at nodes) and the process is time-consuming due to dynamically generating keys. Our work solves these issues by introducing a Key Distribution Center (KDC) to distribute symmetric keys for transmission, increasing confidentiality, and reducing key-generation overhead on nodes. Three approaches utilizing the KDC are presented, communicating the dimensions with KDC to generate keys, standardizing any image to fixed dimensions to standardize key-generation, and lastly, using a single session key which is cyclically iterated over, emulating different dimensions.