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Recently, the use of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in joint sensing and communication applications has received a lot of attention. However, integrating UAVs in current cellular systems presents major challenges related to trajectory optimization and interference management among others. This paper considers a multi-cell network including a UAV, which senses and forwards the sensory data from different events to the central base station. Particularly, the current manuscript covers how to design the UAV's ({i} ) 3D trajectory, (ii) power allocation, and (iii) sensing scheduling such that (a) a set of events are sensed, (b) interference to neighboring cells is kept at bay, and (c) the amount of energy required by the UAV is minimized. The resulting nonconvex optimization problem is tackled through a combination of ({i} ) low-complexity binary optimization, (ii) successive convex approximation, and (iii) the Lagrangian method. Simulation results over a range of various key parameters have shown the merits of our approach, which consumes 33%-200% less energy compared to different benchmarks.

Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide a compelling solution for data collection in Internet of Things (IoT) networks due to their mobility and adaptability. However, the line-of-sight dominance in their channels may result in severe interference to ground users during UAV operations. To address this, we present an optimization framework that concurrently optimizes UAV trajectories and transmit powers. Our approach efficiently results in the collection of data from a variety of IoT sensors while (a) minimizing the UAVs flying time and (b) mitigating interference with terrestrial networks. Given the complex nature of such an optimization problem, this paper leverages reinforcement learning, specifically the twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm, where a distributed learning algorithm is presented. Experimental results validate the efficacy of our proposed approach, demonstrating its capability to significantly enhance data collection in IoT networks while minimizing UAV flight time and interference with ground user links.

This paper investigates the maximization of data harvested by an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) that supports Internet of Things (IoT) deployment scenarios. The novelty of the paper is that we study the feasibility of battery-free UAV and IoT device deployment where the UAV is powered by a ground laser source, and the IoT devices are powered by a power beacon via bistatic backscattering. We aim to optimize the UAV trajectory while minimizing the laser energy consumption throughout the entire flight by tuning the laser power and the power beacon radiated temporal power profiles. Upon considering an unspecified flying time, we adopt path discretization and resort to the single-block successive convex approximation (SCA) to solve the data collection maximization problem. In addition to considering the UAV dynamics and power budget, two novel SCA-compatible bounds are introduced for the product of positive mixed convex/concave functions. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed algorithm increases the data collected under different operation conditions by approximately 90%.

Abstract Background The vitamin D binding protein (DBP) plays a critical role in both innate and adaptive immune systems, participating in several clinical conditions, including coronavirus disease 2019 infection severity, and mortality rate. The study aimed to investigate the correlation between rs7041 and rs4588 polymorphisms in the DBP gene and Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) severity and mortality, in patients of Suez Canal University Hospitals in Ismailia, Egypt. Methods A case-control study enrolled 220 individuals; 140 COVID-19 patients and 80 healthy controls. Serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and rs7041 and rs4588 polymorphisms of the DBP gene were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results The study found that both groups had vitamin D deficiency, which was considerably lower in the COVID-19 patients group compared to controls. Among COVID-19 patients, there was a significant difference in vitamin D levels according to the disease severity indicating that vitamin D levels can be used as predictors of COVID-19 severity. Negative significant correlations between genetic variants rs4588 CA genotype and genetic variants rs7041 TT genotype and COVID-19 prevalence (p = 0.006 and 0.009 respectively) were proved. No significant correlations between all the genetic variants of both rs4588 and rs7041 and COVID-19 severity (p > 0.05). Positive significant correlations between both genetic variants rs4588 CA genotype and genetic variants rs7041 TG genotype and COVID-19 mortality (p = 0.029 and 0.031 respectively). Conclusion vitamin D deficiency increased the severity of COVID-19. The DBP polymorphism correlated with vitamin COVID-19 prevalence and mortality.

Objective: Hemophilia A (HA) is a hereditary X-linked bleeding disorder secondary to deficiency of the clotting factor VIII (FVIII). Emicizumab is a monoclonal antibody that replaces the function of the activated FVIII and prevents bleeding in HA patients. Emicizumab is expected to ameliorate bleeding risk in those patients together with subsequent complications. However, there is a scarcity of data about its safety and efficacy in patients with HA. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of emicizumab prophylaxis in Egyptian pediatric patients with HA. Materials and Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out with 88 HA patients who received emicizumab prophylaxis. Breakthrough bleeding episodes and the annualized bleeding rate (ABR) were reported for all patients before and after emicizumab prophylaxis. Also, all adverse events during prophylaxis were documented to evaluate the safety of emicizumab. Results: Joint bleeds occurred in 94% of the patients. Among those patients, 58% had one target joint, 36.4% had more than one target joint, and 5.6% had no target joints. Furthermore, 17% of patients were positive for FVIII inhibitors. The median annualized joint bleeding rate was reduced remarkably after emicizumab prophylaxis (36 before versus 0 after emicizumab). The median ABR was 48 before emicizumab versus 0 after emicizumab. Eight patients experienced mild breakthrough bleeding episodes. The most common adverse events were local reactions at injection sites, headache, arthralgia, fever, and diarrhea. Conclusion: Prophylaxis using emicizumab was associated with a significantly lower bleeding rate in HA patients with and without inhibitors. The majority of patients had zero bleeds with emicizumab prophylaxis.

Objective To determine the effects of Dextrose 5% for maintenance and creep fluids on cumulative fluid balance (CFB) for septic shock concerning adult people.Design An open-label randomized clinical trial with a single center and parallel groups.Setting ICUs of a tertiary care academic medical center.Patients Adult individuals who have developed septic shock as described by the Sepsis 3 criteria.Interventions Dextrose 5% (n = 50) versus Saline 0.9% (n = 50) for maintenance and creep fluid for 72 hours.Main variables of interest The primary outcome measured was the CFB at 72 hours. Secondary outcomes assessed included mortality within 28 days, the number of days patients were free from (coma and delirium, ICU, mechanical ventilation, vasopressors), the occurrence of acute kidney injury, and disturbances in electrolyte levels.Results The CFB was significantly lower in Dextrose group vs Saline group (4.46 versus 6.75 L, median difference; −2.06 L; 95% CI, −2.63 to −1.35; p = P

Abstract Emotion prediction is a subset of sentiment analysis that aims to extract emotions from text, speech, or images. The researchers posit that emotions determine human behavior, making the development of a method to recognize emotions automatically crucial for use during global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, a real-time system is developed that identifies and predicts emotions conveyed by users in Arabic tweets regarding COVID-19 into standard six emotions based on the big data platform, Apache Spark. The system consists of two main stages: (1) Developing an offline model and (2) Online emotion prediction pipeline. For the first stage, two different approaches: The deep Learning (DL) approach and the Transfer Learning-based (TL) approach to find the optimal classifier for identifying and predicting emotion. For DL, three classifiers are applied: Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and Bidirectional GRU (BiGRU). For TL, five models are applied: AraBERT, ArabicBERT, ARBERT, MARBERT, and QARiB. For the second stage, create a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) socket between Twitter’s API and Spark used to receive streaming tweets and Apache Spark to predict the label of tweets in real-time. The experimental results show that the QARiB model achieved the highest Jaccard accuracy (65.73%), multi-accuracy (78.71%), precision-micro (78.71%), recall-micro (78.71%), f-micro (78.71%), and f-macro (78.55%). The system is available as a web-based application that aims to provide a real-time visualization of people’s emotions during a crisis.

Distal forearm fractures are one of the commonest injuries in children due to falling on an outstretched hand. Plain X-ray is the gold standard test for diagnosing fractures of long bones but it exposes patients to radiation with its associated health hazards. The use of ultrasonography has been proposed as a safer diagnostic test. This review aimed to summarize the evidence regarding the diagnostic accuracy of bedside ultrasonography for identifying distal forearm fractures in pediatric patients.

Abstract Introduction The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) plays a pivotal role in regulating blood pressure (BP), with dysregulation of RAAS resulting in hypertension and potentially heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI), cardio-renal syndrome, and stroke. RAAS inhibitors, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEis) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), have advantages beyond BP control. However, differences between these two drug classes need to be considered when choosing a therapy for preventing cardiovascular events. Methods A panel of 36 Egyptian cardiologists developed consensus statements on RAAS inhibitors for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular outcomes and stroke, using a modified three-step Delphi process. Results The consensus statements highlight the importance of effective BP control and the role of RAAS blockade for prevention and management of various cardiovascular diseases. ACEis and ARBs differ in their mode of action and, thus, clinical effects. On the basis of available evidence, the consensus group recommended the following: ACEis should be considered as first choice (in preference to ARBs) to reduce the risk of MI, for primary prevention of HF, and for secondary prevention of stroke. ACEis and ARBs show equivalent efficacy for the primary prevention of stroke. Evidence also favors the preferential use of ACEis in patients with type 2 diabetes, for BP control, for the primary prevention of diabetic kidney disease, and to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular and renal outcomes. Treatment with an ACEi should be started within 24 h of ST segment elevation MI (and continued long term) in patients with HF, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, and/or diabetes. Angiotensin receptor/neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs) are the first choice for patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction, with ACEis being the second choice in this group. ARBs are indicated as alternatives in patients who cannot tolerate ACEis. ACEis may be associated with cough development, but the incidence tends to be overestimated, and the risk can be reduced by use of a lipophilic ACEi or combining the ACEi with a calcium channel blocker. Conclusion RAAS blockade is an essential component of hypertension therapy; however, the protective effects provided by ACEis are superior to those of ARBs. Therefore, an ACEi is indicated in almost all cases, unless not tolerated.

Abstract This study investigates the role of dietary Bacillus subtilis and oregano essential oil in mitigating the effects of high stocking density on growth performance, carcass traits, physiological stress indicators, gene expression, and intestinal integrity in broiler chickens. A total of, 1250 one-day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five experimental groups, where each group had five replicates of 50 chicks. Group 1 (control, LSD): 15 chicks/m2 fed a basal diet without feed additive, group 2 (HSD): 20 chicks/m2 fed a basal diet without feed additive, group 3 (BHSD): 20 chicks/m2 fed a basal diet supplemented with B. subtilis (500 mg/kg diet), group 4 (OHSD): 20 chicks/m2 fed a basal diet supplemented with oregano essential oil (300 mg/kg diet), group 5 (CHSD): 20 chicks/m2 fed a basal diet supplemented with oregano essential oil and B. subtilis. At 35 days of age, there was a noticeable improvement in the growth performance of broilers fed CHSD under high stocking density through the increase in body weight gain, dressing percentage, and crude protein digestibility with a decrease in feed conversion rate compared to other groups. Adding CHSD enhanced the state of oxidation and immunity through increasing superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and the relative weight of bursa of Fabricius, while decreasing malondialdehyde, in addition to increasing plasma triiodothyronine levels. The microbial structure and morphometric parameters improved in the group that received the CHSD compared to the other groups, where villus height and Lactobacillus population increased, whereas Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens population decreased. Glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), fatty acid transporter 1 (FABP1), and amino acid transferase 1 (CAT1) gene expression levels significantly increased when feeding on oregano essential oil with B. subtilis. In conclusion, combining oregano essential oil and B. subtilis supplements mitigated the effects of high stocking density by enhancing growth performance, antioxidative status, and intestinal integrity, in addition to modifying the genetic expression of genes related to nutrient absorption.

Abstract Background To assess marginal bone loss and soft tissue health around two-implant mandibular overdenture retained with milled versus selective laser-melted cobalt chromium (Co-Cr) bars. Method This research was set to be a parallel, triple-blinded, randomised controlled trial. Twenty completely edentulous patients received new conventional complete dentures according to conventional techniques. Two implants were placed at mandibular canine areas bilaterally, and patients were randomly allocated into two equal groups: the milled Co-Cr bar group and the selective laser melted (SLM) Co-Cr bar group. Marginal bone loss (MBL), modified plaque index (mPI), modified gingival index (mGI), and probing depth (PD) were evaluated at 0-month (baseline), 6-month, and 12-month follow-up visits. Repeated measures ANOVA test and Bonferroni’s post-hoc test were used for parametric data as PD, while for non-parametric data as MBL, mGI, and mPI, Mann-Whitney U test and Friedman’s test were used. A P-value ≤ 0.05 was set as the statistical level of significance. The study protocol was approved by the Faculty Research Ethics Committee at Minia University (636 4/10/2022). Registration for the clinical trial was made retrospectively on clinicaltrials.gov with ID NCT06401200 at 04/30/2024. Results The follow-up period (one year) was completed without a dropout. Regarding MBL, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups throughout the study. However, the milled group showed significantly increased MBL from 0- to 6-month follow up period. In both groups, mPI increased significantly from 0- to 6-months post-loading. On the other hand, no statistically significant difference between the two groups was found regarding mPI and mGI throughout the study follow-up periods. The PD was significantly lower in the milled compared to the SLM group at the 6- and 12-month follow up period. Conclusion Two-implant mandibular overdenture retained with milled or SLM Co-Cr bar can provide an acceptable treatment option for completely edentulous patients regarding marginal bone loss and soft tissue outcomes.

Abstract Background To evaluate the ability of the estimated plasma expression levels of genes of microRNA (MiR-) 146a and 155 to differentiate between samples of pregnant women suspected to be infected by T. gondii. 50 newly pregnant women who had at least one of the criteria of high risk for toxoplasma infection and 50 newly primigravida women free of these criteria gave blood samples for qualitative determination of serum toxoplasma antibodies and estimation of plasma expression levels of MiR-146a and 155 using the qRT-PCR. During the pregnancy course, the incidence of pregnancy complications was recorded. Results Twenty-six women were IgM−/IgG−, 17 women were IgM+/IgG− and 7 women were IgM+/IgG+. Thirty-two women had pregnancy complications with significantly lower incidence in IgM−/IgG− women. Plasma expression levels of MiR-146a and 155 were significantly higher in total patients compared to control levels and were significantly higher in samples of IgM+/IgG+ patients than in other samples. Statistical analyses defined a high plasma level of MiR-155 as the highly significant predictor for oncoming pregnancy complications and high levels of both microRNAs as predictors for the presence of toxoplasmosis despite seronegativity. Kaplan-Meier regression analysis defined increasing cumulative risk of having toxoplasmosis despite seronegativity with plasma levels of MiR-146a and MiR-155 of 1.2 and 3, respectively. Conclusion The incidence of pregnancy complications is high, irrespective of the seronegativity of women at high risk of toxoplasmosis. Estimated plasma levels of MiR-155 might identify women liable to develop complications and differentiate seronegative women vulnerable to having T. gondii infection. Trial registration The study protocol was approved preliminarily by the Local Ethical Committee at Benha Faculty of Medicine. Before enrollment, the study protocol was discussed in detail with the study participants, and those accepted to participate in the study signed written fully informed consents. The final approval of the study protocol was obtained after the end of case collection and registered by RC: 5-11-2022.