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Abstract Background Hepatosteatosis is considered a universal problematic health due to bad lifestyle. Thereby, the current study evaluates the influence of the Cicer arietinum polyunsaturated fatty acids (CAP) and newly synthesized C. arietinum polyunsaturated fatty acids phytosome (CAPP) against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) persuaded through a high-fat diet (HFD) in addition to tamoxifen (TAM) in male albino rats. Forty-eight rats were separated into eight groups (6 rats/group). Rats of the control group were administered distilled water for 45 consecutive days, while phosphatidyl choline (PC), CAP, and CAPP groups administered distilled water (15 days), afterward administered PC, CAP, and CAPP, respectively (500 mg/kg b.wt), orally for 30 days. All the previous groups fed normal diet for the 45 days, while NAFLD rats feed HFD for 45 days and receive TAM (200 mg/kg b.wt, i.p) daily for 15 days, followed by administration of vehicle, PC, CAP, and CAPP orally for another 30 days. Results Hepatosteatosis was appraised biochemically by significant increase in the concentrations of serum AST, ALT, γGT, LDH, ALP, total bilirubin, total lipid, triglycerides, fatty acid synthase (FAS), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD-1), and LDL-cholesterol, as well as hepatic total lipids and triglycerides. In addition, a significant decline in serum total protein, albumin, and HDL-cholesterol concentrations was observed in comparison with the control group. NAFLD induces oxidative stress by noteworthy increase in hepatic MDA, H2O2, and meaningful reduction in hepatic GSH, SOD, GST, GRD, and CAT levels as compared with the corresponding control group. Liver histological changes were noted in the NAFLD group as compared to the control. Interestingly, CAP and CAPP treatments modulate the abnormal effects of NAFLD in all the previous parameters. For the histological changes caused by NAFLD, the liver tissue appeared nearly normal after the treatment with CAP and CAPP. Conclusion CAP and CAPP administration may have a potential role in alleviating hepatosteatosis. This may relate to its downregulation against FAS, SCD-1, and oxidative stress.

Abstract Background Natural pigments are becoming more significant because of the rising cost of raw materials, pollution, and the complexity of synthetic pigments. Compared to synthetic pigments, natural pigments exhibit antimicrobial properties and is less allergic. Pigments from microbial sources could easily be obtained in an inexpensive culture media, produced in high yields, and microbes are capable of producing different colored pigments. Searching for new sources for natural pigments to replace synthetic ones in food applications has become an urgent necessity, but the instability of these compounds is sometimes considered one of the obstacles that reduce their application. Encapsulation provides an ideal solution for natural dye protection through a controlled release strategy. Thus, this study aims at isolation of several soil fungi and subsequent screening their pigment production ability. The chosen pigment-producing fungal strain underwent full identification. The produced pigment was extracted with ethyl acetate and estimated spectrophotometrically. As there is a necessity to obtain a high pigment yield for efficient industrial application, the best production medium was tested, optimum conditions for maximum dye production were also investigated through the response surface methodology, and gamma irradiation was also employed to enhance the fungal productivity. Encapsulation of the produced pigment into chitosan microsphere was tested. The pigment release under different pH conditions was also investigated. Results A new strain, Fusarium verticillioides AUMC 15934 was chosen and identified for a violet pigment production process. Out of four different media studied, the tested strain grew well on potato dextrose broth medium. Optimum conditions are initial medium pH 8, 25 °C-incubation temperature, and for 15-day incubation period under shaking state. Moreover, a 400 Gy irradiation dose enhanced the pigment production. Chitosan microsphere loaded by the pigment was successfully prepared and characterized by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Conclusion This irradiated Fusarium strain provides a more economically favorable source for production of a natural violet dye with an optimum productivity, enhanced yield, and improved properties (such as, enhanced stability, controlled release, and bioaccessibility) by encapsulation with chitosan for efficient application in food industry.

Abstract Background Influenza is a common cause of hospital admissions globally with regional variations in epidemiology and clinical profile. We evaluated the characteristics and outcomes of patients with influenza admitted to a tertiary-care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a retrospective cohort of adult patients admitted with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed influenza to King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2022. We compared patients who required intensive care unit (ICU) admission to those who did not and performed multivariable logistic regression to assess the predictors of ICU admission and hospital mortality. Results During the study period, 675 adult patients were hospitalized with influenza (median age 68.0 years, females 53.8%, hypertension 59.9%, diabetes 55.1%, and chronic respiratory disease 31.1%). Most admissions (83.0%) were in the colder months (October to March) in Riyadh with inter-seasonal cases even in the summertime (June to August). Influenza A was responsible for 79.0% of cases, with H3N2 and H1N1 subtypes commonly circulating in the study period. Respiratory viral coinfection occurred in 12 patients (1.8%) and bacterial coinfection in 42 patients (17.4%). 151 patients (22.4%) required ICU admission, of which 62.3% received vasopressors and 48.0% mechanical ventilation. Risk factors for ICU admission were younger age, hypertension, bilateral lung infiltrates on chest X-ray, and Pneumonia Severity Index. The overall hospital mortality was 7.4% (22.5% for ICU patients, p 20%. Female sex, high Pneumonia Severity Index, ischemic heart disease, and immunosuppressed state were associated with increased mortality.

الملخص: أهداف البحث: داساتينيب هو مثبط تيروزين كيناز من الجيل الثاني. إنه يعمل كدواء جزيء صغير متعدد الأهداف من خلال استهداف كينازات التيروزين المختلفة التي تشارك في نمو الخلايا الورمية. وقد وجدت التحقيقات الأخيرة أنه يمنع تكاثر الخلايا السرطانية، والهجرة، ويحفز موت الخلايا المبرمج في مجموعة متنوعة من الأورام الصلبة. ومع ذلك، فهو ضعيف الذوبان في الماء تحت ظروف الرقم الهيدروجيني المختلفة، بالإضافة إلى نصف عمره القصير. لذلك، فإن تطوير نظام توصيل الدواء المحتوي على داساتينيب، ذاتي الاستحلاب يمكن أن يساعد في التغلب على هذه المشكلات في علاج الخلايا السرطانية. طريقة البحث: تم تطوير تركيبات مختلفة لنظام توصيل الدواء ذاتي الاستحلاب ومحملة بداساتينيب باستخدام آيزوبروبيل ميريستات (مرحلة الزيت)، ولابرافيل (الخافض للتوتر السطحي)، والبولي إيثيلين جلايكول (الخافض للتوتر السطحي المشترك). تم تقييم الخواص الفيزيائية والكيميائية للتركيبات من حيث حجم القطرات، وكفاءة التغليف، وإطلاق الدواء في المختبر. تم أيضا تقييم السمية الخلوية للتركيبات على ثلاثة خطوط من الخلايا السرطانية، وسرطان القولون والمستقيم البشري وسرطان الثدي الغدي البشري، بالإضافة إلى خلايا الليفية الرئوية الجنينية البشرية الطبيعية من أجل الانتقائية. النتائج: داساتينيب-تركيبة نظام توصيل الدواء ذاتي الاستحلاب، تتميز بحجم جسيم جيد، وكفاءة تغليف، وإطلاق دواء في المختبر. في فهمنا، أظهرت هذه الدراسة أن فعالية داساتينيب المضادة للسرطان - نظام الاستحلاب الذاتي، ونظام توصيل الدواء كان لها تأثيرات أفضل على السمية الخلوية على خطوط الخلايا السرطانية الثلاثة، وسرطان الثدي الغدي البشري، وسرطان القولون والمستقيم البشري، مقارنة مع داساتينيب النقي. الاستنتاجات: من المحتمل أن تكون تركيبات نظام توصيل الدواء داساتينيب-الاستحلاب الذاتي، فعالة كطريقة مستدامة لتوصيل الدواء لعلاج السرطان. Abstract: Background/Aim: Dasatinib (DS), a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, functions as a multi-target small-molecule drug via targeting various tyrosine kinases involved in neoplastic cell growth. DS inhibits cancer cell replication and migration, and induces tumor cell apoptosis in a variety of solid tumors. However, it is poorly soluble in water under some pH values. Therefore, the development of a DS-containing, self-emulsifying, drug delivery system (SeDDs) could help overcome these problems in treating cancer cells. Methods: Various SeDD formulations loaded with DS were developed with isopropyl myristate (oil phase), Labrafil (surfactant), and polyethylene glycol (co-surfactant). The physicochemical properties of the formulations were assessed according to droplet size, encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro drug release. The cytotoxicity of the formulations on the cancer cell lines HT29 and SW420 (human colorectal carcinoma), and MCF7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), in addition to MRC5 normal human fetal lung fibroblasts, was evaluated to assess selectivity. Results: The DS-SeDD formulation showed favorable particle size, encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro drug release. The anti-cancer potency of DS-SeDDs had greater cytotoxicity effects than pure DA on the three cancer cell lines, MCF7, HT29, and SW420l. Conclusion: The developed DS-SeDD formulations may potentially be an effective sustained drug delivery method for cancer therapy.

A sustainable method is investigated for the accurate, selective, and highly sensitive identification of minimal nickel ion concentrations across various environments. A unique optical sensing membrane is proposed for detecting Ni2+ ions, utilizing the entrapment of 5-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-8-hydroxy-quinoline (BTAHQ) within a matrix of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) combined with dioctyl adipate (DOA). The sensor exhibits a broad linear span ranging from 2.5 to 110 ng mL−1 under pH 4.0 conditions, featuring quantification and detection limits of 2.47 and 0.75 ng mL−1, respectively. The sensor’s maximum wavelength is recorded at 659 nm. Remarkably, the sensor membrane exhibits complete reversibility in its operation, showcasing superior specificity for Ni2+ ions even in the presence of a wide range of competing cations and anions within the solution. The membrane exhibited excellent durability for 3.0 min, featured a swift response time (5.0 min), and demonstrated no detectable signs of reagent leaching. The sensor response exhibited a low coefficient of variation (CV) of 1.47 % for 60 ng mL−1 of Ni2+ ions, and the CV among seven sensor membranes was 1.63 %. Regenerating the sensor is a straightforward process accomplished with 0.5 mL of 0.1 M HNO3 solution for 3.0 min. Its full reversibility and excellent selectivity for Ni2+ ions in thiel buffer contribute to its efficacy. The suggested optical sensor was effectively employed for nickel determination in food and water samples.

In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, customer requirements and expectations are continually increasing. Many service-oriented companies, including airlines, are struggling to accurately understand and meet the true needs and desires of their passengers. Often, they rely on outdated views of airline services. This study investigated how various dimensions of service quality impact customer satisfaction at Iraqi Airways. Using a convenience sampling technique, data were collected through questionnaires distributed at Baghdad International Airport and Erbil International Airport in Iraq. A total of 381 valid responses were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results indicate that five service quality dimensions—airline tangibles, terminal tangibles, security and safety, personnel services, and airline image—have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. However, empathy does not significantly influence customer satisfaction. The findings suggest that Iraqi Airways should focus on differentiating its services to enhance customer satisfaction. Managers are encouraged to concentrate on factors that elevate service quality, thereby improving customer satisfaction. This study can assist Baghdad International Airport and Erbil International Airport in understanding the importance of service quality, which could lead to higher passenger satisfaction and foster long-term relationships with their customers.

The antioxidant extracts considered a very important food additive which promoting the protection of lipid and prolong the shelf life of food products. The aim of this investigation was decrease the time of extraction of hibiscus leaves extract (HLE) and olive leaves extract (OLE) from 48 h to only 6 h without reducing efficiency of these extracts. HPLC assay, scavenging radical activity by DPPH˙ (IC50), inhibition lipid peroxidation by both β-Carotene/Linoleic Acid Bleaching (βCB) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARs) assays, antibacterial and antifungal activities measured for different concentrations of ethanolic extracts by conventional extraction (CE) and difference in pressure extraction (DPE) methods, and the results shown a considerable in mean difference (P

Background: Boundary optimal control problems governed by nonlinear elliptic systems are complex, involving equality and inequality constraints. Objective: This paper examines a quaternary boundary optimal control vector problem (QBOCVP) regulated by a quaternary nonlinear elliptic system (QNES) and subject to equality and inequality constraints (EINC). Methods: A weak formulation of the QBOCVP is developed, along with a mathematical representation of the quaternary adjoint equations (QAEs) associated with the QNES. Results: An existence theorem for a QBOCV addressing the constrained problem is established and rigorously proven under appropriate assumptions. The QAEs corresponding to the QNES are mathematically formulated. The Fréchet derivative (FD) of the cost function (CF) and the EINC is also derived. Furthermore, the necessary condition theorem (NCTH) and the sufficient condition theorem (SCTH) for optimality are presented and proved. Conclusions: This work provides a rigorous analysis of the QBOCVP with EINC controlled by QNES. It establishes the existence theorem and optimality conditions, providing a theoretical framework for addressing such constrained problems.

A field experiment was carried out within the Shanafiyah - Nasiriyah project / Iraq during the autumn season 2022-2023 to evaluate the performance of the different tillage systems in some soil physical and hydraulic properties when irrigated with salt water and 25% Leaching factor throughout the growing season. In addition to evaluating its performance in mechanical technical properties before sowing. The experiment included three systems: A. minimum tillage with a disc harrow b. Tillage with Chisel Plow and Spring Tooth Harrows c. Tillage with Mold Plow and Spring Tooth Harrows. The study results showed that the Mini Tillage with (Disk Harrow) treatment was superior in giving the best values ​​for the mechanical and technical properties and the soil’s physical and hydraulic properties compared to other systems.

A novel membrane optical sensor with high selectivity and sensitivity was developed for detecting ultra-low concentrations of gallium (Ga3+) ions. This sensor utilized a newly synthesized compound, 4,4′-1,3-pHenylene bis(azanylyli-dene) bis(methanylylidene))bis(N,N-dimethylaniline) (PBABMBD), as its ionophore, combined with 9-(diethylamino)-5-(octadecanoylimino)-5H-benzo[a] phenoxazine (ETH-5294) as a chromoionophore within a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane matrix. The impact of various parameters on the fabrication of the optical sensor and its ability to detect Ga3+ ions was thoroughly examined and fine-tuned for optimization. Demonstrating a broad linear dynamic range from 6.25 × 10−9 to 3.75 × 10−6 M, the sensor boasts impressive detection and quantification limits of 1.75 and 6.00 × 10−9 M Ga3+ ions, respectively. Furthermore, the sensor demonstrates a swift response time of just 3.0 min and can undergo multiple rejuvenations with 0.25 M HNO3 solutions. The study examined the impact of potential interfering ions on the detection of Ga3+ions. Fortunately, the results showed that the created optical sensor was very selective for Ga3+ ions and barely reacts with other anions and cations, especially indium (III). Furthermore, the sensor proved effective in accurately detecting Ga3+ ions across a range of samples, including food, alloys, water, and biological specimens.

ABSTRACT: The widespread use of antibiotics causes the development of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, which have a severe impact on poultry productivity and human health. As a result, research is continuing to develop safe natural antibiotic alternatives. In the current study, Bacillus pumilus SA388 was isolated from the chicken feces and confirmed to be a probiotic. The selected strain was tested for its antimutagenic and antioxidant capabilities before being employed as a probiotic food supplement and antibiotic alternative. The effect of B. pumilus SA388 impact on broiler chickens' growth performance, gut microbiome, blood biochemical markers, immunological response, and meat quality was also studied. B. pumilus SA388 showed significant bactericidal activity against Streptococcus pyogenes, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Klebsiella pneumonia. A total of 200 chickens were used in the present study, divided equally among four experimental groups (ten birds per group with 5 replicates): group 1 (control, G1) received a basal diet without B. pumilus SA388, group 2 (G2) received a basal diet supplemented with 0.4 mg/kg of B. pumilus SA388, group 3 (G3) received a basal diet supplemented with 0.8 mg/kg of B. pumilus SA388, and group 4 (G4) received a basal diet supplemented with 1.6 mg/kg of B. pumilus SA388. Over 35 d, the B. pumilus SA388-supplemented groups outperformed the G1 in terms of body weight gain, performance index, and feed conversion ratio, with a preference for the G4 treatment. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and total cholesterol decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing B. pumilus SA388 dosages compared to the control G1 group. Dietary supplementation of B. pumilus SA388 at 1.6 mg/kg (G4) significantly (P < 0.05) resulted in improved lipid profile, immunological response, thyroid function, and gut microbiota compared to the control group (G1). Compared to the broilers in the control treatment (G1), the addition of B. pumilus SA388 to broilers in G4 significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced juiciness, tenderness, aroma, and taste. Adding B. pumilus SA388 to chicken feed at different doses significantly (P < 0.05) decreased average feed intake while increasing economic and relative efficiency measures. In conclusion, B. pumilus SA388 has been proven to be an effective antibiotic and nutritional supplement.

Abstract Background Most patients starting chronic in-center hemodialysis (HD) receive conventional hemodialysis (CHD) with three sessions per week targeting specific biochemical clearance. Observational studies suggest that patients with residual kidney function can safely be treated with incremental prescriptions of HD, starting with less frequent sessions and later adjusting to thrice-weekly HD. This trial aims to show objectively that clinically matched incremental HD (CMIHD) is non-inferior to CHD in eligible patients. Methods An unblinded, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial will be conducted across diverse healthcare systems and dialysis organizations in the USA. Adult patients initiating chronic hemodialysis (HD) at participating centers will be screened. Eligibility criteria include receipt of fewer than 18 treatments of HD and residual kidney function defined as kidney urea clearance ≥3.5 mL/min/1.73 m2 and urine output ≥500 mL/24 h. The 1:1 randomization, stratified by site and dialysis vascular access type, assigns patients to either CMIHD (intervention group) or CHD (control group). The CMIHD group will be treated with twice-weekly HD and adjuvant pharmacologic therapy (i.e., oral loop diuretics, sodium bicarbonate, and potassium binders). The CHD group will receive thrice-weekly HD according to usual care. Throughout the study, patients undergo timed urine collection and fill out questionnaires. CMIHD will progress to thrice-weekly HD based on clinical manifestations or changes in residual kidney function. Caregivers of enrolled patients are invited to complete semi-annual questionnaires. The primary outcome is a composite of patients’ all-cause death, hospitalizations, or emergency department visits at 2 years. Secondary outcomes include patient- and caregiver-reported outcomes. We aim to enroll 350 patients, which provides ≥85% power to detect an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 0.9 between CMIHD and CHD with an IRR non-inferiority of 1.20 (α = 0.025, one-tailed test, 20% dropout rate, average of 2.06 years of HD per patient participant), and 150 caregiver participants (of enrolled patients). Discussion Our proposal challenges the status quo of HD care delivery. Our overarching hypothesis posits that CMIHD is non-inferior to CHD. If successful, the results will positively impact one of the highest-burdened patient populations and their caregivers. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05828823. Registered on 25 April 2023.

BackgroundSchistosomiasis affects approximately 250 million people worldwide, with 200,000 deaths annually. It has been documented that the granulomatous response to Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) oviposition is the root cause of progressive liver fibrosis in chronic infection, in 20% of the patients, and can lead to liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. The influence of helminths coinfection on schistosomiasis-induced liver pathological alterations remains poorly understood. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis) infection on S. mansoni-induced hepatic fibrosis.Materials and methodsThirty adult male Balb-c mice were divided into three groups. Group 1 was left uninfected; group 2 was infected with S. mansoni cercariae and group 3 was orally infected with T. spiralis larvae, then 28 days later, this group was infected with S. mansoni cercariae. All groups were sacrificed at the end of the 8th week post infection with S. mansoni to evaluate the effect of pre-infection with T. spiralis on S. mansoni induced liver fibrosis was evaluated parasitologically (worm burden and egg count in tissues), biochemically (levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase), histopathologically (H&E and MT staining, and immunohistochemical staining for the expression of α-SMA, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-α, and TGF-β).ResultsThe results in the present study demonstrated marked protective effect of T. spiralis against S. mansoni induced liver pathology. We demonstrated that pre-infection with T. spirais caused marked reduction in the number of S. mansoni adult worms (3.17 ± 0.98 vs. 18 ± 2.16, P = 0.114) and egg count in both the intestine (207.2 ± 64.3 vs. 8,619.43 ± 727.52, P = 0.009) and liver tissues (279 ± 87.2 vs. 7,916.86 ± 771.34; P = 0.014). Consistently, we found significant reductions in both number (3.4 ± 1.1 vs. 11.8.3 ± 1.22; P = 0.007) and size (84 ± 11 vs. 294.3 ± 16.22; P = 0.001) of the hepatic granulomas in mice pre-infected with T. spiralis larvae compared to those infected with only S. mansoni. Furthermore, pre- infection with T. spiralis markedly reduced S. mansoni- induced hepatic fibrosis, as evidenced by decreased collagen deposition, low expression of α-SMA, and significantly reduced levels of IL-17, IL-1B, IL-6, TGF-B, IL-23, and TNF-α compared to mice infected with S. mansoni only.ConclusionsOur data show that pre-infection with T. spiralis effectively protected mice from severe schistosomiasis and liver fibrosis. We believe that our findings support the potential utility of helminths for the preventing and ameliorating severe pathological alterations induced by schistosomiasis.

An innovative and exceptionally responsive optical sensing device engineered to selectively identify Bi(III) ions in water-based solutions. The sensing component, 5-(2′,4′-dimethylphenylazo)-6-hydroxypyrimidine-2,4-dione (DMPAHPD), is incorporated into a plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane. The sensor demonstrates an exceptional selectivity for Bi(III) within a broad dynamic range spanning from 7.5 × 10−10 to 4.2 × 10−5 M at pH 2.25. Notably, it achieves lower quantification and detection limits of 7.25 × 10−10 and 2.15 × 10−10 M, respectively. The optode membrane’s response to Bi(III) proves to be entirely reversible, demonstrating remarkable selectivity for Bi(III) ions over a diverse range of other cations and anions. The sensor exhibits favorable performance characteristics, including good reversibility, a wide dynamic range, a prolonged lifespan, sustained response stability over the long term, and high reproducibility. This visual chemical sensor exhibits potential for real-world usage, offering consistent outcomes when assessing Bi(III) levels in matrices such as water, soil, plants, biological and synthetic mixtures. Importantly, the sensor’s performance is comparable to corresponding data achieved from inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES).

The study area, which consists of carbonate, is located in the unstable Mesopotamian basin on the Arabian plate, which makes it a field with high heterogeneity. It has a discrepancy in its bubble point pressure, which raises concerns about the faults or reefs that caused it. The study's main objective is to determine how faults and reefs impact production performance and pressure behavior under a future development strategy. This goal will be achieved by completing the necessary seismic, static, and dynamic models. After re-evaluating the seismic survey data, the seismic analysis detected many irregular amplitudes of reflected events and abrupt discontinuities, indicating either a reef or a fault. The static model was built based on seismic possible results and to make them as inputs for building the reservoir model. Based on the history-matching results, faults were detected, while reefs were ruled out. The development plan was implemented for the next 20 years in four cases, and case four had the most favorable results among all the cases, with production plateauing at 140 MSTB/D and a cumulative volume equal to 1.09 MMMSTB. The reservoir pressure behavior shows a hierarchical drop in all cases, with some differences, including a sharp decline in the area of the proposed wells and the fault, which has become a compartment that prevents reservoir compensation from adjacent regions.

A novel selective membrane optode was prepared to determine of ultra-trace amounts of lead. This state-of-the-art optode amalgamates a bespoke ionophore, 4-(thiazol-2-yldiazenyl)benzene-1,3-diol (TDBD), with ETH-5294, assuming the role of a chromoionophore. This potent composition converges with sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP), harmoniously enclosed within a matrix of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). The influence of various parameters on the preparation of the optode and the determination of Pb2+ was investigated and optimized. Evidently, the optode unfurls an expansive linear dynamic expanse, spanning an astonishing range from 6.0 × 10−9 to 8 × 10−5 M. Remarkably, it retains an astonishingly low degree of detection and quantification, registering at 1.75 and 5.85 × 10−9 M, respectively. The response time of the optode was 4.0 min. The optodes versatility extends its embrace towards rejuvenation, permitting multiple rounds of service via 0.2 M HNO3 solutions. The effect of potential interference ions on the Pb2+ determination was illustrated. The results showed that the prepared optode was very selective to lead ions so that it had no significant response to common ions such as Mg2+, Mn2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Hg2+, Cu2+, and Co2+. The optode was applied successfully to determine of Pb2+ indifferent food, biological and environmental samples and result obtained is comparable to atomic absorption spectrometry method.

A novel optical probe has been successfully developed for the selective detection of Os(VIII) ions. This osmium-sensing platform was intricately designed by incorporating 4-(thiazol-2-yldiazenyl)benzene-1,3-diol (TDBD) as the ionophore within a plasticized PVC membrane, and tributylphosphate (TBP) serving as the plasticizer. Upon exposure to Os(VIII) ions in a 0.5 M HClO4 acid milieu, the sensing membrane undergoes a distinctive chromatic transition, shifting from a yellow to a pink hue. The preparation of the sensor and the methodology for Os(VIII) determination were meticulously refined to achieve optimal performance. Under these carefully optimized experimental conditions, the proposed optode demonstrated an impressive linear detection range spanning from 2.5 × 10−9 to 2.5 × 10−5 M for Os(VIII), alongside remarkable detection and quantification limits of 7.24 × 10−10 and 2.4 × 10−9 M, respectively. The sensor consistently delivered highly reproducible results, as evidenced by relative standard deviation (RSD) values of 1.45% and 1.30% for Os(VIII) concentrations at 7.5 × 10−7 and 2.5 × 10−6 M, respectively, underscoring its precision and reliability. Furthermore, the sensor exhibited a swift response time of 3.0 min, further emphasizing its efficiency. The incorporation of PIMs into the sensor architecture led to a remarkable eight-fold enhancement in its response compared to counterparts lacking PIMs, signifying a significant performance improvement. In assessing potential interference, an investigation into the influence of other ions on Os(III) determination revealed that the prepared sensor displayed exceptional selectivity for Os(VIII) ions, with negligible responses observed in the presence of common ions. Collectively, these experimental findings underscore the sensor's efficacy as an invaluable tool for the precise analysis of osmium content in water samples, aligning it with the rigorous standards of international scientific research.

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease that raises the odds of developing stroke. Candesartan has been used to prevent stroke due to its inhibitory effects on blood pressure, angiogenesis, oxidative damage, and apoptosis. However, oral candesartan has very limited bioavailability and efficacy due to its weak solubility and slow release. The study aimed to develop a nasal formulation of candesartan-loaded liposomes containing ethanol and propylene glycol (CLEP) to improve candesartan's delivery, release, permeation, and efficacy as a potential diabetes-associated stroke treatment. Using design expert software, different CLEP formulations were prepared and evaluated in vitro to identify the optimum formulation, which.The selected optimum formulation composed of 3.3% phospholipid, 10% ethanol, and 15% propylene glycol significantly increased the release and permeation of candesartan relative to free candesartan by a factor of 1.52 and 1.47, respectively. The optimum formulation significantly reduced the infarction after stroke in rats; decreased flexion, spontaneous motor activity, and time spent in the target quadrant by 70%, 64.71%, and 92.31%, respectively, and enhanced grip strength by a ratio of 2.3. Therefore, nasal administration of the CLEP formulation could be a potential diabetes-associated stroke treatment.

Abstract Telocytes establish connections and communicate with various types of cells and structures. Few experimental studies have been performed on telocytes. In this study, we investigated the effect of salinity stress on telocytes in relation to osmoregulatory, immune, and stem cells. After exposing the common carp to 0.2 (control), 6, 10, or 14 ppt salinity, we extracted and fixed gill samples in glutaraldehyde, processed and embedded the samples in resin, and prepared semi-thin and ultrathin sections. Two types of telocytes were identified: intraepithelial and stromal telocytes. Intraepithelial telocytes were found to form part of the cellular lining of the lymphatic space and shed secretory vesicles into this space. Stromal telocytes were observed to shed their secretory vesicles into the secondary circulatory vessels. Both intraepithelial and stromal telocytes were enlarged and exhibited increased secretory activities as salinity increased. They exerted their effects via direct contact and paracrine signaling. The following changes were observed in samples from fish exposed to high salinity levels: chloride cells underwent hypertrophy, and their mitochondria became cigar-shaped; pavement cells were enlarged, and their micro-ridges became thin and elongated; stromal telocytes established contact with stem cells and skeletal myoblasts; skeletal muscle cells underwent hypertrophy; and macrophages and rodlet cells increased in number. In conclusion, our findings indicate that intraepithelial and stromal telocytes respond to salinity stress by activating cellular signaling and that they play major roles in osmoregulation, immunity, and regeneration.

Background/Objectives: Nintedanib (NTD), a triple tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitor, is the recommended first-line tackling option for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Nevertheless, the adequacy of NTD is curtailed by issues associated with its low solubility, first-pass effect, poor bioavailability, and liver toxicity. The objective of our work was to develop a non-invasive intratracheal (i.t.) nanoparadigm based on NTD-loaded polymeric mixed micelles (NTD-PMMs) that can effectively treat IPF by sustaining the release of NTD, and snowballing its bioavailability, solubility, and efficacy. Methods: Design-Expert® software was used to optimize various NTD-PMMs formulations via Box–Behnken design adopting the thin-film hydration technique. The optimum formulation was chosen and in vivo tested in a rat model to explore its comparative bioavailability and toxicity. Results: The formulation composition with 309.217 mg of Soluplus, 150 mg of Tween 80, and 40 mg of sodium deoxycholate was found to fulfill the requisites of an optimum NTD-PMMs formulation. The optimum NTD-PMMs formulation divulged 90.26% entrapment efficiency with a surface charge of −14.72 mV and a nanoscale diameter of 61.36 nm. Also, it substantially sustained the release of NTD by 66.84% after 24 h and manifested a pronounced stability. In vivo histopathology investigations verified the safety of NTD-PMMs delivered intratracheally. Moreover, pharmacokinetic analyses disclosed accentuated relative bioavailability of the optimized NTD-PMMs by 2.4- and 3.82-fold as compared with both the i.t. and oral crude NTD suspensions, respectively. Conclusions: Overall, the current results elicited the potential of PMMs to serve as a promising pulmonary nanovector for the targeted delivery of NTD.

This comprehensive review delves into the forefront of biosensor technologies and their critical roles in disease biomarker detection and therapeutic drug monitoring. It provides an in-depth analysis of various biosensor types and applications, including enzymatic sensors, immunosensors, and DNA sensors, elucidating their mechanisms and specific healthcare applications. The review highlights recent innovations such as integrating nanotechnology, developing wearable devices, and trends in miniaturisation, showcasing their transformative potential in healthcare. In addition, it addresses significant sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and data security challenges, proposing strategic solutions to overcome these obstacles. It is envisaged that it will inform strategic decision-making, drive technological innovation, and enhance global healthcare outcomes by synthesising multidisciplinary insights.

المخلص: أهداف البحث: يعد سرطان الرئة أحد الأسباب الرئيسية للوفيات في جميع أنحاء العالم. وجد لعلاج فعال علىسرطان الرئة ، قد تكون الجسيمات النانوية الدهنية الصلبة تعتبر الطريقة الفعالة لإيصال الدواء لأن الدواء يمكن أن يصل إلى موقع التأثير ويحسن كفاءة الاستنشاق والترسيب الرئوي. هذه الورقة البحثية تركز على تقييم الجسيمات النانوية الدهنية الصلبة من علاج الفافيبيرافير من حيث قياس مدى فعاليتة على سرطان الرئة من خلال مساعدة الدواء في الوصول إلى موقع التأثير. طرق البحث: تم استخدام طريقة التبخير الساخن لتطويرالتركيبة النانوية الدوائية من علاج الفافيبيرافير. تم تقييم قابلية بقاء الخلايا المختبرية، ومضادات السرطان ونشاط الامتصاص الخلوي لتركيبة فافيبيرافير على خلايا سرطانية الغدة الرئوية البشرية أ-549. النتائج: تمت تطوير التركيبة الدوائية من علاج الفافيبيرافير بنجاح. الأهم من ذلك، لوحظ أن تركيبة الفافيبيرافير آمنة وغير سامة في المختبر على خلايا أ-549 بتركيز 322.6 ميكروغرام / مل. كان للتركيبة تأثير مذهل فيما يتعلق بالخصائص المضادة للتكاثر من خلال زيادة طور ج2 / م و ج0 / ج1 من مجموعة الخلايا بمقدار 1.20 و 1.13 مرة، على التوالي ، مقارنة با الخلايا غير المعالجة. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، ساعد العلاج باستخدام فافيبيرافير بشكل كبير في حدوث مرحلة النخر في خلايا أ-549. علاوة على ذلك، فإن استخدام تركيبة فافيبيرافير عزز امتصاص الدواء في الضامة بنسبة 1.23 مرة ، مقارنة بالتركيبة الخالية من المادة الفعالة. الاستنتاجات: أكدت نتائج البحث أن للتركيبة النانونية من علاج الفافيبيرافير تأثير فعال على خلايا السرطان الرئوية- أ-549. و يشير هذا إلى أنه يمكن استخدام تركيبة الفافيبيرافير كعلاج لسرطان الرئة اللوصول إلى موقع التأثير في الرئتين. Abstract: Objectives: Lung cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. In lung cancer treatment, nebulized solid lipid nanoparticles may be a viable drug delivery method, helping the drug reach sites of action, and improving its inhalation efficiency and pulmonary deposition. This research focused on evaluating the effectiveness of solid lipid nanoparticles of favipiravir (Fav-SLNps) in facilitating drug delivery to sites of action in lung cancer treatment. Methods: The hot-evaporation method was used to formulate Fav-SLNps. The in vitro cell viability, anti-cancer effects, and cellular uptake activity were evaluated in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells treated with the Fav-SLNp formulation. Results: The Fav-SLNps were formulated successfully. Importantly, Fav-SLNps at a concentration of 322.6 μg/ml were found to be safe and non-toxic toward A549 cells in vitro. The formulation had potential anti-proliferative properties via increasing the proportions of cells in G2/M and G0/G1 phases to 1.20 and 1.13 times those in untreated cells. Additionally, Fav-SLNp treatment significantly induced necrosis in A549 cells. Furthermore, the use of SLNps in the Fav formulation resulted in a macrophage drug uptake 1.23 times that of the free drug. Conclusion: Our results confirmed the internalization and anti-cancer activity of the Fav-SLNp formulation in the A549 lung cancer cell line. Our findings suggest that Fav-SLNps could potentially be used as lung cancer treatment to facilitate drug delivery to sites of action in the lungs.

Deep learning has become an effective detection method as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidences are increasing quickly. Nevertheless, finding the best accurate models for describing COVID-19 patients is difficult since comparing the outcomes of different data kinds and collecting procedures is difficult. X-ray scans from patients with verified COVID-19 illness and healthy people were combined to produce a dataset. The dataset's noisy, duplicated, and inappropriate characteristics harm the effectiveness of classification algorithms utilized in deep learning. As a result, the data should be pre-processed, and essential parts should be chosen to minimize the dimension of datasets by choosing the most crucial qualities while improving classification accuracy. Speed Up-Robust Feature (SURF) method is applied for the feature extraction from the dataset. The required features are selected after feature extraction based on Crow Search Optimization (CSO). The Bi-LSTM mechanism completes the classification procedure at the final stage. Quality metrics like accuracy, recall, precision, and F1-score are contrasted with some other cutting-edge classifiers. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the suggested paradigm for COVID-19 identification and classification, demonstrating high specificity, high sensitivity, and low computing complexity.

IntroductionGiardiosis remains one of the most prevalent enteric parasitic infections globally. Earlier molecular-based studies conducted in Egypt have primarily focused on paediatric clinical populations and most were based on single genotyping markers. As a result, there is limited information on the frequency and genetic diversity of G. duodenalis infections in individuals of all age groups.MethodsIndividual stool samples (n = 460) from outpatients seeking medical care were collected during January–December 2021 in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, northern Egypt. Initial screening for the presence of G. duodenalis was conducted by coprological examination. Microscopy-positive samples were further confirmed by real-time PCR. A multilocus sequence typing approach targeted amplification of the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), beta-giardin (bg), and triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) genes was used for genotyping purposes. A standardised epidemiological questionnaire was used to gather basic sociodemographic and clinical features of the recruited patients.ResultsGiardia duodenalis cysts were observed in 5.4% (25/460, 95% CI: 3.6–7.9) of the stool samples examined by conventional microscopy. The infection was more frequent in children under the age of 10 years and in individuals presenting with diarrhoea but without reaching statistical significance. Stool samples collected during the winter period were more likely to harbour G. duodenalis. All 25 microscopy-positive samples were confirmed by real-time PCR, but genotyping data was only available for 56.0% (14/25) of the isolates. Sequence analyses revealed the presence of assemblages A (78.6%, 11/14) and B (21.4%, 3/14). All assemblage A isolates were identified as sub-assemblage AII, whereas the three assemblage B sequences belonged to the sub-assemblage BIII. Patients with giardiosis presenting with diarrhoea were more frequently infected by the assemblage A of the parasite.ConclusionThis is one of the largest epidemiological studies evaluating G. duodenalis infection in individuals of all age groups in Egypt. Our molecular data suggest that G. duodenalis infections in the surveyed population are primarily of anthropic origin. However, because assemblages A and B are zoonotic, some of the infections identified can have an animal origin. Additional investigations targeting animal (domestic and free-living) and environmental (water) samples are warranted to better understand the epidemiology of giardiosis in Egypt.

Toxoplasmosis continues to be a prevalent parasitic zoonosis with a global distribution. This disease is caused by an intracellular parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii, and the development of effective novel drug targets to combat it is imperative. There is limited information available on the potential advantages of wheat germ oil (WGO) and propolis, both individually and in combination, against the acute phase of toxoplasmosis. In this study, acute toxoplasmosis was induced in Swiss albino mice, followed by the treatment of infected animals with WGO and propolis, either separately or in combination. After 10 days of experimental infection and treatment, mice from all groups were sacrificed, and their brains, uteri, and kidneys were excised for histopathological assessment. Additionally, the average parasite load in the brain was determined through parasitological assessment, and quantification of the parasite was performed using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction targeting gene amplification. Remarkably, the study found that treating infected animals with wheat germ oil and propolis significantly reduced the parasite load compared to the control group that was infected but not treated. Moreover, the group treated with a combination of wheat germ oil and propolis exhibited a markedly greater reduction in parasitic load compared to the other groups. Similarly, the combination treatment effectively restored the histopathological changes observed in the brain, uterus, and kidney, and the scoring of these reported lesions confirmed these findings. In summary, the present results reveal intriguing insights into the potential therapeutic benefits of wheat germ oil and propolis in the treatment of acute toxoplasmosis.

In Iraq, as well as many other developing countries the performance graded (PG) based System is not yet implemented to evaluate the currently used asphalt cernents for paving works. It appears that not only the unavailability of test equipments is resulting in this delay but also the lack of clear understanding of what steps could be taken to incorporate this system. This research is an attempt to highlight the important aspects of a (PG) system that can be readily implemented without the need for expensive equipments. It includes the development of a Performance based System employing the conventional test methods and available nomographs from literature. It also, shows how climatic data, traffic data, and asphalt binder properties can be combined to propose a possible major improvement for the specifications of asphalts in Iraq. To achieve the objective of this research, an extensive air temperature data for a period of 18 years was reviewed for five cities (Mosul. Kirkuk. Rutba, Baghdad, and Basrah) to establish the required PG asphalt binder for each city. Also, the currently used asphalt cements with penetration grades (40-50) and (60-70) were tested by both of conventional test methods and Superpave methods to determine the equivalent performance grade for each type of the penetration graded asphalt and to evaluate the capability for these two types of asphalt cement to satisfy the required performance of pavement for each city, The results indicate that both the new proposed method and Superpave method give the same final performance grade. The asphalt with penetration grade 40-50 is equivalent to PG70-16 while that with penetration grade 60-70 is equivalent to PG64-16

The key benefits connected with Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) technology are costs reduction of life-cycle, shrinkage decrease, opening to traffic at an earlier time, and a cooling of the city's core are. This technology received much consideration recently for applications in highway tenders. Several attempts worked on instill sustainable implementation in RCCP using alternate materials. This work presented a thorough review of the literature on alternative materials for RCCP published between 1997 and 2021. Recycled concrete and asphalt pavement aggregates are two examples of alternative materials to traditional quarry rock that have been studied. Critical evaluations of the mechanical properties of RCCP have been used to assess these alternative aggregates' potential. This article explains how the basic properties for the materials impact the RCCP's behavior. The results of a comprehensive study into utilizing the substitute aggregates in manufacturing RCCPs showed the best mix ratios for attaining long-term sustainability. Along with identifying potential future study topics. This research additionally indicates several knowledge gaps that can only be filled by further research and experimentation.

Multiple randomized controlled trials have extensively examined the therapeutic effectiveness of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, ushering in a transformative approach to treating individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Notably, emerging reports have drawn attention to the potential positive impacts of SGLT2 inhibitors in nondiabetic patients. In an effort to delve into this phenomenon, a comprehensive systematic literature review spanning PubMed (NLM), Medline (Ovid), and Cochrane Library, covering publications from 2000 to 2024 was undertaken. This systematic review encompassed twenty-six randomized control trials (RCTs) involving 35,317 participants. The findings unveiled a multifaceted role for SGLT2 inhibitors, showcasing their ability to enhance metabolic control and yield cardioprotective effects through a reduction in cardiovascular death (CVD) and hospitalization related to heart failure (HF). Additionally, a renalprotective effect was observed, evidenced by a slowdown in chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and a decrease in albuminuria. Importantly, these benefits were coupled with an acceptable safety profile. The literature also points to various biological plausibility and underlying mechanistic pathways, offering insights into the association between SGLT2 inhibitors and these positive outcomes in nondiabetic individuals. Current research trends indicate a continual exploration of additional role for SGLT2 inhibitors in. Nevertheless, further research is imperative to fully elucidate the mechanisms and long-term outcomes associated with the nondiabetic use of SGLT2 inhibitors.

COVID-19 is one of the most chronic and serious infections of recent years due to its worldwide spread. Determining who was genuinely affected when the disease spreads more widely is challenging. More than 60% of affected individuals report having a dry cough. In many recent studies, diagnostic models were developed using coughing and other breathing sounds. With the development of technology, body sounds are now collected using digital techniques for respiratory and cardiovascular tests. Early research on identifying COVID-19 utilizing speech and diagnosing signs yielded encouraging findings. The gathering of extensive, multi-group, airborne acoustical sound data is used in the developed framework to conduct an efficient assessment to test for COVID-19. An effective classification model is created to assess COVID-19 utilizing deep learning methods. The MIT-Covid-19 dataset is used as the input, and the Weiner filter is used for pre-processing. Following feature extraction done by Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, the classification is performed using the CNN-LSTM approach. The study compared the performance of the developed framework with other techniques such as CNN, GRU, and LSTM. Study results revealed that CNN-LSTM outperformed other existing approaches by 97.7%.

Abstract Human schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases worldwide. Various host factors can affect the host–parasite interactions. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to determine the parasitological, histopathological, biochemical, and immunological status of Schistosoma mansoni-infected hosts with metabolic disorders to identify the underlying possible mechanisms of these comorbidities. The study animals were divided into four groups. Group I represented the control groups, namely, the normal control group, the S. mansoni-infected control group, and the noninfected type 1 diabetes (T1DM), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and obesity groups. The mice of the other three groups underwent induction of T1DM (Group II), T2DM (Group III) and obesity (Group IV) before being infected with S. mansoni. All mice were subjected to body weight measurement, blood glucose and insulin assessment, parasitological evaluation of adult worm count, tissue egg count and intestinal oogram. Histopathological and immunohistochemical study using anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and image analysis of Masson’s trichrome-stained liver sections using ImageJ (Fiji) software were carried out. Additionally, immunological analysis of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) beta, interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-10, Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) and pentraxin 3 (PTX3) levels besides biochemical study of total lipid profile were evaluated. The present study revealed a significant increase in the adult worm count and tissue egg output in the obesity group compared to the infected control group. The oogram of counted eggs showed prevalence of immature eggs in T1DM group, while T2DM and obese groups showed prevalence of mature eggs. The fibrosis area percentage showed significant increase in T2DM and obese groups while it was decreased in T1DM group in comparison to infected control group. Our data also showed significant increase in the levels of TNF-β, IL-5, PTX3 in T1DM, T2DM and obesity groups in comparison to infected control group, whilst the levels of FOXP3 and IL-10 were increased in the infected groups in comparison to their noninfected controls. Moreover, infected T1DM, T2DM and obesity groups showed higher blood glucose and lipid profile in comparison to the infected control group. However, these parameters were improved in comparison to their noninfected controls. In sum, induction of T2DM and obesity increased tissue egg counts, mature egg percentage, and fibrosis density, while schistosome infection induced changes in the lipid profile and blood glucose levels in infected diabetic and obese groups and impacted favorably insulin levels in obese mice. By better understanding the complexities of host–parasite interactions, efforts to reduce the burden of these debilitating diseases can be improved.

Abstract Background Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic challenge spreading enormously within a few months. COVID-19 is characterized by the over-activation of the immune system causing cytokine storm. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) pathway can regulate the immune response via interaction with various implicated cytokines. Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) has been shown to promote inflammation. Given the fact that coronavirus infections induce cytokines secretion leading to inflammatory lung injury, it has been suggested that H-FABP levels are affected by COVID-19 severity. Moreover, endotrophin (ETP), the cleavage product of collagen VI, may be an indicator of an overactive repair process and fibrosis, considering that viral infection may predispose or exacerbate existing respiratory conditions, including pulmonary fibrosis. This study aims to assess the prognostic capacity of circulating IGF-1, HFABP, and ETP, levels for COVID-19 severity progression in Egyptian patients. Methods The study cohort included 107 viral RNA-positive patients and an equivalent number of control individuals with no clinical signs of infection. Clinical assessments included profiling of CBC; serum iron; liver and kidney functions; inflammatory markers. Circulating levels of IGF-1; H-FABP, and ETP were estimated using the corresponding ELISA kits. Results No statistical difference in the body mass index was detected between the healthy and control groups, while the mean age of infected patients was significantly higher (P = 0.0162) than the control. Patients generally showed elevated levels of inflammatory markers including CRP and ESR concomitant with elevated serum ferritin; D dimer and procalcitonin levels, besides the COVID-19 characteristic lymphopenia and hypoxemia were also frequent. Logistic regression analysis revealed that oxygen saturation; serum IGF-1, and H-FABP can significantly predict the infection progression (P

Probiotics and prebiotics offer a range of advantageous effects on human health. The knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of individuals can impact their inclination to consume probiotics and prebiotics. The main objective of this study was to examine the KAP of the people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about probiotics and prebiotics consumption. Additionally, the study aimed to assess the impact of KAP and sociodemographic factors on the use of probiotics and prebiotics. In order to accomplish this objective, a verified online questionnaire was used with a five-point Likert scale and distributed using an online platform (Google Forms). A cross-sectional research, non-probability sampling was implemented, and G*Power statistical power analysis was used to estimate a sample size of 385 participants. A total of 408 replies were gathered. The population under study consisted of residents in the UAE between the ages of 18 to 64 years old, excluding populations under the age of 18 and those living outside the UAE. A total of 392 participants met the criteria for inclusion in this study. The research ethics committees of UAE University granted the study approval (ERSC_2024_4359), and the validity of the findings was confirmed through face-to-face interviews with around 50 individuals and a Cronbach’s alpha test with result of 0.84. The statistical software SPSS version 29.0 for Mac OS was utilized to examine the relationships between KAP variables, including Chi-square tests and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The tests were selected based on their capacity to handle categorical and continuous data, respectively. The female population was 85.2% of the total, while the male population accounts for 14.8%. The age distribution of participants shows that the largest proportion, 68.4%, falls within the 18–24 age range. Out of the participants, 61.5% held a bachelor’s degree. Most of the participants, 56.4%, were students, while 29.1% were employees. The average results indicate a significant inclination towards probiotics and prebiotics, as demonstrated by the scores above the midpoint for the six knowledge questions (M = 2.70), six attitude questions (M = 3.10), and six practice questions (M = 3.04). Several studies have examined this phenomenon; however, additional research comparing individuals in the UAE is necessary to fully comprehend the influence of KAP on the consumption of probiotics and prebiotics in the UAE.

There is a growing interest in discovering natural sources of anti-cancer drugs. Sesamol (SES) is a phenolic compound with antitumor effects. The present study aimed to investigate the anticancer properties of SES and its nano-suspensions (SES-NS) combined with Epirubicin (EPI) in breast cancer (BC) using mice bearing a solid Ehrlich tumor. The study involved 35 female albino mice and investigated the effects of SES and EPI on tumor growth, proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, angiogenesis, and oxidative stress. Methods including ELISA, qRT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry were utilized. The findings revealed reductions in tumor growth and proliferation using SES either alone or combined and evidenced by decreased AKT (AKT Serine/Threonine kinase1) levels, angiogenesis indicated by lower levels of VEGFR (vascular endothelial growth factor), and apoptosis demonstrated by elevated caspase3 and BAX levels. Furthermore, autophagy increased and was indicated by increased levels of beclin1 and lc3, along with decreased oxidative stress as evidenced by elevated TAC (total antioxidant capacity) and reduced MDA (malondialdehyde) levels. Interestingly, SES-NS demonstrated more significant effects at lower doses. In summary, this study underscores the potential of SES as a promising agent for BC treatment. Moreover, SES-NS potentiated the beneficial effects of EPI while mitigating its adverse effects.

The chemical profiles of both Zygophyllum album (Z. album) aerial parts and roots extracts were evaluated with LC-ESI-TOF-MS/MS analysis. Twenty-four compounds were detected. Among them, some are detected in both the aerial parts and the roots extracts, and others were detected in the aerial parts only. The detected compounds were mainly flavonoids, phenolic compounds, triterpenes and other miscellaneous compounds. Such compounds contribute to the diverse pharmacological activities elicited by the Z. album species. This study aimed to elucidate the antiepileptic effect of Z. album aerial parts and roots crude extracts against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced kindling in mice. Male albino mice were divided into four groups, eight animals each. All groups, except the control group, were kindled with PTZ (35 mg/kg i.p.), once every alternate day for a total of 15 injections. One group was left untreated (PTZ group). The remaining two groups were treated prior to PTZ injection with either Z. album aerial parts or roots crude extract (400 mg/kg, orally). Pretreatment with either extract significantly reduced the seizure scores, partially reversed the histological changes in the cerebral cortex and exerted antioxidant/anti-inflammatory efficacy evinced by elevated hippocampal total antioxidant capacity and SOD and catalase activities, parallel to the decrement in MDA content, iNOS activity and the TXNIB/NLRP3 axis with a subsequent decrease in caspase 1 activation and a release of IL-1β and IL-18. Moreover, both Z. album extracts suppressed neuronal apoptosis via upregulating Bcl-2 expression and downregulating that of Bax, indicating their neuroprotective and antiepileptic potential. Importantly, the aerial parts extract elicited much more antiepileptic potential than the roots extract did.

A highly sensitive bulk optode membrane, specifically engineered for the identification of zirconyl (ZrO2+) ions, has been successfully created. The membrane is composed of plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC), dibenzodylmethane (DBM) acting as the chromoionophore, 2-amino-4-(3-chlorophenylazo)pyridine-3-ol (ACPAP) serving as the ionophore, and sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) included as an ionic additive. The sensing membrane undergoes a color change from orange to blue when exposed to ZrO2+ ions at pH 6.5. The preparation parameters of the sensor and the determination of ZrO2+ ions were meticulously optimized. In addition to showcasing reproducibility, extended stability, and a comparatively long lifespan, the suggested sensor membrane displays remarkable selectivity for ZrO2+ ions, effectively discerning them from a spectrum of alkaline earth, heavy and transition metal ions, and actinides. The sensor delivers a calibration response tailored for ZrO2+ ions across a concentration spectrum spanning 7.5–185 ng mL−1, establishing limits of quantification and detection at 7.3 and 2.2 ng mL−1, respectively. Demonstrating a rapid response within a timeframe of under 5.0 min. The sensor consistently delivered highly reproducible results, as evidenced by relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.67 % and 1.55 % for Zr4+ concentrations at 100 and 150 ng mL−1.This underscores the precision and reliability of the sensor. Regeneration of the optode can be easily accomplished by employing 0.05 M HCl. Effectively employed across a spectrum of samples, including water, soil, plant materials, and ore solutions, the proposed optical sensor proves to be a valuable instrument for determining ZrO2+ ions in diverse environmental and analytical scenarios.

This work aimed to develop and produce lacosamide-loaded niosomes coated with chitosan (LCA-CTS-NSM) using a thin-film hydration method and the Box-Behnken design. The effect of three independent factors (Span 60 amount, chitosan concentration, and cholesterol amount) on vesicle size, entrapment efficiency, zeta potential, and cumulative release (8 h) was studied. The optimal formulation of LCA-CTS-NSM was chosen from the design space and assessed for morphology, in vitro release, nasal diffusion, stability, tolerability, and in vivo biodistribution for brain targeting after intranasal delivery. The vesicle size, entrapment, surface charge, and in vitro release of the optimal formula were found to be 194.3 nm, 58.3%, +35.6 mV, and 81.3%, respectively. Besides, it exhibits sustained release behavior, enhanced nasal diffusion, and improved physical stability. Histopathological testing revealed no evidence of toxicity or structural damage to the nasal mucosa. It demonstrated significantly more brain distribution than the drug solution. Overall, the data is encouraging since it points to the potential for non-invasive intranasal administration of LCA as an alternative to oral or parenteral routes.

1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) is a metabolite of pyrene, which is a type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in tobacco smoke and preferred use as a biomarker to determine exposure to PAHs from smoking. This paper reports a new and simple microextraction technique for 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) determination in smokers' urines using hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent (HNDES) in developing solvent bar microextraction (SBME) and high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Terpenoids based-HNDES using various ratios of (thymol/menthol) were synthesized and investigated as extraction solvents. The variables affecting HNDE-SBME steps were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD). Under the optimum conditions, the calibration graph of spiked urine samples was linear in the range of 0.3–25.0 μg L−1 1-OHP with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. Additionally, the detection limit, quantitation limit, and extraction recovery were found to be 0.06 μg L−1, 0.22 μg L−1, and ≥100%, respectively. In comparison with referenced methods and based on the satisfactory results of applications, the proposed method can be considered as a potential method for the detection of urinary 1-OHP for health risk assessment of PAHs exposures.

IntroductionCanine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) is one of the most common infectious diseases in dogs characterized by severe gastroenteritis, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Little information is available about this topic in Egypt, particularly in the Delta region. This study reports the prevalence and molecular analysis of CPV-2 variants collected from El-Gharbia and Kafrelsheikh governorates in the Delta of Egypt.MethodsIn this study, 320 rectal swabs were collected from infected domestic dogs from two districts in delta Egypt. The samples were investigated by rapid immunochromatographic test and polymerase chain reaction for detection the prevalence of CPV-2 variants. The genetic characterization was performed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and partial VP2 gene sequence.Results and discussionThe viral antigen was detected in (264/320, 82.5%) of samples by IC test, while PCR was found more sensitive by detecting (272/320, 85%) positive samples. The RFLP technique using MboII restriction enzyme was successfully used for the differentiation of CPV-2c antigenic variants from CPV-2a/2b strains. Interestingly, the molecular and phylogenetic analysis revealed that both CPV-2a and CPV-2c are circulating in the study area. Deduced amino acid sequence analysis showed changes at residue (N426E) and residue (T440A).: Our results indicated that CPV-2 is prevalent among dogs in Egypt, and therefore further molecular and epidemiological studies of CPV-2 are warranted.

The entrapment of the sensitive reagent 5-(2′-bromophenylazo)-6‑hydroxy-pyrimidine-2,4‑dione (BPAHPD) in a silica sol-gel thin film coated on a glass substrate has been investigated for the development of a highly sensitive and selective optode for the determination of lead ions. The fabrication of thin films requires tetraethoxysilane as a precursor, a sol-gel pH of 2.75, a water: alkoxide ratio of 5:1, and a BPAHPD concentration of 4.0 × 10–4 M. The effect of sol-gel parameters on the optode's sensing performance was investigated. The fabricated optode is utilized for lead ion detection over a dynamic range of 4.00–144 ng mL–1 with detection and quantification limits of 1.20 and 3.95 ng mL–1, respectively. It gave repeatable results with relative standard deviation (RSD) values of 1.90% and 1.15% for lead concentrations of 40.0 and 80.0 ng mL–1, respectively, and a response time of two minutes. Through capturing BPAHPD in a sol-gel matrix and appropriately modifying the structure of doped sol-gel, interference studies have determined that lead exhibits a high degree of selectivity. To ascertain total lead, Pb4+ was reduced to Pb2+ using a few drops of 6.00 M hydrochloric acid and a freshly prepared sodium azide solution of 2.50 % (w/v). The optode can be easily regenerated with 0.15 M of nitric acid solution. The optode has complete reversibility. Optode detection of lead in diverse vegetable, food, biological, water, and soil samples yielded favorable results when compared to other techniques.

A field experiment was conducted at the University of Baghdad, Al-Jadriya in the spring season of 2021 for the potato crop under the influence of organic biofertilizers and water stress. Three levels of bio-organic fertilizers were used 0 (OM0), 1 (OM1) and 1.5 (OM2) ton ha-1 and three levels of irrigation 30 (I-30), 50 (I-50) and 75 (I-75) % water depletion were available to evaluate the role of bio-organic fertilizer and water stress in production functions and water use efficiency. I-30 treatment showed the highest water consumption ranging between 468 and 486 mm season-1 and decreased to 355-436 mm with water stress treatments I-75. The values of water consumption varied according to the levels of bio-organic fertilizer. The percentage of decrease in water consumption was 1.49 and 3.66% at low stress and reached 6.37% at high stress (I-75) compared to OM0. Both treatments I-30 and I-50 gave the same yield. Bio-organic fertilization led to an increase in the average yield of tubers 32.8 and 41.9% for both OM1 and OM2 compared to OM0. The production functions indicate that the yield increases by 0.057 ton ha-1 mm-1 of added water, and the water depth must be greater than 64.2 mm to obtain a yield that is 1.96 ton ha-1 more (significant limit) than the treatments in the experiment (1.96=0.057(Irr.). )-1.70). Fertilizer levels are higher than 1.9 ton ha-1 to obtain a higher yield of tubers by 26.29 tons/ha and the efficiency of water use is nil according to the water use function when the water consumption is higher than 692.7 mm. The response factor decreased when adding bio-organic fertilizer compared to OM0, which means that plants were not affected significantly under water stress conditions.

Diabetes mellitus is a complex metabolic syndrome that involves dysfunction of spleen and other lymphoid organs. Medicinal plants, including okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench), were used widely for diabetes treatment. Scarce data are available about the potential anti-diabetic effects of okra, the histopathological alterations in splenic tissues and the mechanistic pathways underlying this association. The current research investigated the effects of okra pod extract on the biochemical parameters and expression of CD8+ T cells and nuclear factor kappa (NF-k) B and releasing proinflammatory cytokines in spleen in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat models. A total of 50 mature male Wister albino rats were divided into five isolated groups; the first served as control (untreated) animals, the second (DM group) diabetes induced by STZ (at a dose of 45 mg/kg body weight, administered intraperitoneally), the third group (DM + Insulin): diabetic rats administered insulin subcutaneously (10 units/kg bw/day) daily for 4 weeks, the fourth group was administrated 400 mg/kg okra extract daily for 4 weeks, and diabetic induced rats in the fifth group were administrated 400 mg/kg okra extract daily for 4 weeks. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity in Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench was studied, and the content of phenolic compounds in okra pods was estimated using high-performance liquid chromatography. Diabetes induction led to decreased body weight, increased blood glucose levels. Capsular thickness was significantly increased, white pulp was widely dispersed, and mature lymphocytes in the periphery were also drastically decreased, with thick follicular arteries, necrosis, and depletion of lymphocytes in the germinal center. Red pulp revealed severe congestion and degenerative changes, deposition of hemosiderin granules and lymphocytic depletion. In addition, collagen fiber deposition was increased also in this group. The induction of diabetes exaggerated NF-kβ expression and mediated downregulation of the expression of CD8+ T cells in spleen tissue. Interestingly, oral administration of okra extracts post diabetes induction could mitigate and reverse such adverse effects. Altogether, our study points out the potential benefits of okra in improving blood glucose levels and restoring histopathological alterations in splenic tissues through CD8+ T cells and NF-kβ expression in a diabetic rat model.

The fog has different features and effects within every single environment. Detection whether there is fog in the image is considered a challenge and giving the type of fog has a substantial enlightening effect on image defogging. Foggy scenes have different types such as scenes based on fog density level and scenes based on fog type. Machine learning techniques have a significant contribution to the detection of foggy scenes. However, most of the existing detection models are based on traditional machine learning models, and only a few studies have adopted deep learning models. Furthermore, most of the existing machines learning detection models are based on fog density-level scenes. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no such detection model based on multi-fog type scenes have presented yet. Therefore, the main goal of our study is to propose an adaptive deep learning model for the detection of multi-fog types of images. Moreover, due to the lack of a publicly available dataset for inhomogeneous, homogenous, dark, and sky foggy scenes, a dataset for multi-fog scenes is presented in this study (https://github.com/Karrar-H-Abdulkareem/Multi-Fog-Dataset). Experiments were conducted in three stages. First, the data collection phase is based on eight resources to obtain the multi-fog scene dataset. Second, a classification experiment is conducted based on the ResNet-50 deep learning model to obtain detection results. Third, evaluation phase where the performance of the ResNet-50 detection model has been compared against three different models. Experimental results show that the proposed model has presented a stable classification performance for different foggy images with a 96% score for each of Classification Accuracy Rate (CAR), Recall, Precision, F1-Score which has specific theoretical and practical significance. Our proposed model is suitable as a pre-processing step and might be considered in different real-time applications.

Introduction: Latent iron deficiency (LID), in which iron stores in the body are depleted without incidental anemia, poses a key diagnostic challenge. Reticulocyte hemoglobin content (Ret-Hb) is directly correlated with the functionally available iron for heme synthesis in erythroblasts. Consequently, Ret-Hb has been proposed as an efficient iron status marker. Aim: To assess the importance of Ret-Hb in detecting latent iron deficiency as well as its use in screening for iron deficiency anemia. Materials and Methods: A study involving 108 individuals was conducted at Najran University Hospital, 64 of whom had iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and 44 of whom had normal hemoglobin levels. All patients were subjected to complete blood count (CBC), reticulocyte percentage, Ret-Hb, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), and serum ferritin measurements. Results: A significant decrease in Ret-Hb level was observed in IDA patients compared to non-anemic individuals, with a cut-off value of 21.2 pg (a value below which indicates IDA). Conclusion: The measurement of Ret-Hb, in addition to CBC parameters and indices, provides an accessible predictive marker for both iron deficiency (ID) and IDA. Lowering the Ret-Hb cut-off could better allow for its use as a screening parameter for IDA.

Advances in data collection, storage, and processing in e-Health systems have recently increased the importance and popularity of data mining in the health care field. However, the high sensitivity of the handled and shared data, brings a high risk of information disclosure and exposure. It is therefore important to hide sensitive relationships by modifying the shared data. This major information security threat has, therefore, mandated the requirement of hiding/securing sensitive relationships of shared data. As a large number of data mining activities that attempt to identify interesting patterns from databases depend on locating frequent item sets, further investigation of frequent item sets requires privacy-preserving techniques. To solve many difficult combinatorial problems, such as data distribution problem, exact and heuristic algorithms have been used. Exact algorithms are studied and considered optimal for such problems, however they suffer scalability bottleneck, as they are limited to medium-sized instances only. Heuristic algorithms, on the other hand, are scalable, however, they perform poor on security and privacy preservation. This paper proposes a novel heuristic approach based on Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) for enhancing security and privacy preservation of sensitive e-Health information using itemset hiding techniques. Our approach, named FACHS (FCA Hiding Sensitive-itemsets) uses constraints to minimise side effects and asymmetry between the original database and the clean database (minimal distortion on the database). Moreover, our approach does not require frequent itemset extraction before the masking process. This gives the proposed approach an advantage in terms of total availability. We tested our FCAHS heuristic on various reference datasets. Extensive experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed masking approach and the time efficiency of itemset extraction, making it very promising for e-Health sensitive data security and privacy.

Cutaneous fungal infection therapy confronts several issues concerning skin permeation in addition to drug resistance and adverse effects of conventional drugs. The repurposing strategy is supposed to overcome some of those therapeutic obstacles. Recently, atorvastatin (ATO) revealed antifungal activity. ATO is an antihyperlipidemic drug with pH-dependent solubility, which limits skin permeation. This study aims to improve ATO antifungal activity by encapsulation in an emulsomes (EMLs) system, which seeks to ameliorate skin penetration. Therefore, multiple factors were investigated according to the One-Factor-at-a-Time (OFAT) design to achieve the optimum formula with targeted characteristics. Minimizing particle-size and polydispersity-index, besides elevating zeta-potential (ZP) and entrapment-efficiency were the desirable responses during assessing 11 factors. The selected ATO-EMLs formula (E21) recorded 250.5 nm in particle size, polydispersity index of 0.4, ZP of –25.93 mV, and 83.12% of drug entrapped. Morphological study of E21 revealed spherical core–shell vesicles in nanosize. DSC, XRD, and FTIR were conducted to discover the physicochemical properties and confirm emulsomes formation. Optimized ATO-EMLs slowed drug release rate as only 75% of ATO was released after 72 h. Stability study recommended storage between 2 and 8 °C. The in vivo permeation study remarked a homogeneous penetration of EMLs in different skin layers. The in vivo skin irritation test revealed limited histopathological changes. The in vitro and in vivo microbiological studies demonstrated a good antifungal activity of ATO-EMLs. ATO-EMLs system improved antifungal activity as the MIC values reduced from 650 µg/mL for free ATO to 550 µg/mL for ATO-EMLs. These findings may shed light on ATO as an antifungal drug and nanosystems as a tool to support drug repurposing.

Coronavirus is a type of acute atypical respiratory disease representing the leading cause of death worldwide. Eucalyptol (EUC) known also as 1,8-cineole is a potential inhibitor candidate for COVID-19 (main protease-Mpro) with effective antiviral properties but undergoes physico-chemical instability and poor water solubility. Nano-emulsion (NE) is a promising drug delivery system to improve the stability and efficacy of drugs. This work focuses on studying the anti- COVID-19 activity of EUC by developing nebulized eucalyptol nano-emulsion (EUC-NE) as a potentially effective treatment for COVID-19. The EUC -NE formulation was prepared using Tween 80 as a surfactant. In vitro evaluation of the EUC-NE formulation displayed an entrapment efficiency of 77.49 %, a droplet size of 122.37 nm, and an EUC % release of 84.7 %. The aerodynamic characterization and cytotoxicity of EUC-NE formulation were assessed, and results showed high lung deposition and low inhibitory concentration. The antiviral mechanism of the EUC-NE formulation was performed, and it was found that it exerts its action by virucidal, viral replication, and viral adsorption. Our results confirmed the antiviral activity of the EUC-NE formulation against COVID-19 and the efficacy of nano-emulsion as a delivery system, which can improve the cytotoxicity and inhibitory activity of EUC.

A novel bulk optode was modified for ultra-trace detection of antimony. The optode was synthesized by incorporating fabricated ionophore, 6-{4-(2,4-di-hydroxyphenyl)diazenyl)phenyl}-2-oxo-4-phenyl-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbo-nitrile (DDPODC), 3-octadecanoylimino-7-(diethyl‑amino)-1,2-benzophenoxa-zine (ETH5294) as a chromoionophore, sodium tetraphenyl borate (NaTPB) as an anionic additive, and dioctyladipate (DOA) as a plasticizer in a poly vinyl chloride (PVC) membrane. In determining Sb3+, various parameters were implemented. Spectrophotometric procedure (λmax of 661 nm) was applied to define Sb3+ within optimal conditions. The optode has a wide range of 2.5 × 10−8 to 4.0 × 10−5 M Sb3+ with the detection and quantification limits as low as 7.0 × 10−9 and 2.4 × 10−8 M, respectively. The response time of optode was 3.0 min, with a RSD% of 1.75% (for 2.0 × 10−5 M, n=6). A 0.15 M HCl solution could be used to regenerate the optode. The interfering ions were studied. It was revealed that the optode was highly selective to Sb3+ ions and had no significant response to common cations and anions. It can be appealed that the optode can specifically detect Sb3+ ions. The optode was favorable applied to assess total antimony ions after reduction of Sb5+ to Sb3+ using potassium iodide and ascorbic acid as reducing agents in various water, food and biological samples.