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Abstract Tobacco smoking, a significant public health concern globally, is associated with a rise in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and preventable deaths, with pronounced impacts in conflict zones like Gaza. A cross-sectional study, conducted in 2020, in Gaza focused on individuals over 40 years of age, aiming to identify predictors of tobacco use and its links to diseases like coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic lung disease (CLD), and stroke using regression analysis. The research, based on the Gaza NCD study data with 4576 participants and a 96.6% response rate, found an overall tobacco smoking prevalence of 19.4%, with higher rates among men. After adjusting for various factors, the study identified significant associations between cigarette smoking in men and adverse health outcomes, such as CAD and CLD, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) of 1.67, 95% CI (1.22–2.29) and 1.68, 95% CI (1.21–2.33) respectively. However, after adjusting for independent variables, shisha smoking in men showed no association with these health outcomes. The findings of this study could assist other researchers in designing interventions aimed at reducing smoking prevalence by utilizing the associated factors identified in our analysis, such as age, education level, physical activity, and body mass index among men in Gaza.

Abstract The use of various kinds of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for examining brain tissue has increased significantly in recent years, and manual investigation of each of the resulting images can be a time-consuming task. This paper presents an automatic brain-tumor diagnosis system that uses a CNN for detection, classification, and segmentation of glioblastomas; the latter stage seeks to segment tumors inside glioma MRI images. The structure of the developed multi-unit system consists of two stages. The first stage is responsible for tumor detection and classification by categorizing brain MRI images into normal, high-grade glioma (glioblastoma), and low-grade glioma. The uniqueness of the proposed network lies in its use of different levels of features, including local and global paths. The second stage is responsible for tumor segmentation, and skip connections and residual units are used during this step. Using 1800 images extracted from the BraTS 2017 dataset, the detection and classification stage was found to achieve a maximum accuracy of 99%. The segmentation stage was then evaluated using the Dice score, specificity, and sensitivity. The results showed that the suggested deep-learning-based system ranks highest among a variety of different strategies reported in the literature.

Abstract Background Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) commonly leads to heart failure (HF) and represents the most common indication for cardiac transplantation in the pediatric population. Clinical manifestations of DCM are mainly the symptoms of heart failure; it is diagnosed by EKG, chest x-ray and echocardiography. For the idiopathic and familial diseases cases of DCM, there are no definite guidelines for treatment in children as they are treated for prognostic improvement. Case presentation We report the case of a 2-year-old girl diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy associated with homozygous mutation in the Myosin Light Chain 3 gene admitted for edema in lower extremities, muscle weakness, lethargy and vomiting, and she was found to be in cardiogenic shock. Chest x-ray showed cardiomegaly and EKG showed first degree atrioventricular block. Echocardiogram showed severe biventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction. After 70 days of hospitalization, the patient went into cardiac arrest with cessation of electrical and mechanical activity of the heart, despite cardiopulmonary resuscitative efforts. Conclusion Although rare, pediatric DCM carries a high risk of morbidity and mortality and a lack of curative therapy.

Abstract The prevalence of depression is high worldwide, and somatic symptoms are known to be one of the most debilitating aspects of depression. However, clinicians often face challenges in accurately assessing this comorbidity. To address this issue, the Depression and Somatic Symptoms Scale (DSSS) was developed as a self-administered scale that can diagnose both depression and somatic symptoms. The objective of this study is to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Arabic-translated version of the DSSS (A-DSSS) in a sample of Lebanese adults, as well as to explore its associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of one month, from February to March 2023, and involved a sample of 422 participants who were aged 18 years or older. Participants completed a questionnaire that included various measures, including demographic characteristics, alcohol and smoking habits, physical activity history, as well as two scales: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9) scale and the A-DSSS scale. The A-DSSS showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.936), strong test–retest reliability (ICC of 0.988 with CI 0.976–0.994; p

While Saudi coffee (SC) holds deep cultural and historical significance within the Kingdom, rising global exposure and modern coffee shops are driving domestic consumers toward other coffee (OC) varieties. In this context, this study has two objectives: First, to segment the coffee market and analyze how consumer characteristics vary among its components, and second, to estimate the coffee expenditure function. The study data were collected through our custom online survey. We employed a multinomial probit model to estimate choices within the identified market segments of individuals consuming: (1) SC, (2) OC varieties, such as American or Turkish coffee and (3) Both Saudi and OC types. Additionally, we applied an ordered probit model to estimate coffee-related expenditure. The results offer valuable insights for marketing and policy considerations relevant to the concurrent government’s efforts as consumers are increasing their consumption of OC types.

Penelitian ini membahas dampak dari model yang dipilih oleh guru terhadap pemahaman siswa selama proses pembelajaran. Keefektifan model yang digunakan juga menentukan keberhasilan proses pembelajaran. Berdasarkan observasi di kelas IV SD Sukasari pada bulan Juni 2023, peneliti menemukan permasalahan dalam mekanisme pembelajaran yang berefek negatif terhadap hasil pemahaman siswa. Permasalahan tersebut diakibatkan karena kurang efektifnya pembelajaran model konvensional yang berpusat pada guru, kurang bervariasi, dan tidak menarik. Oleh karena itu, peneliti merekomendasikan Game Based Learning sebagai alternatif dari pengajaran tradisional untuk meningkatkan pemahaman siswa terhadap materi. Sasaran penelitian ini yakni untuk menganalisis keefektifan Game Based Learning dalam meningkatkan pemahaman siswa pada konsep materi tata surya di kelas VI SDN Sukasari. Penelitian ini memakai metode quasi experimental design dengan desain two group pre-test-post-test design. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan Game Based Learning di sekolah efektif dalam meningkatkan pemahaman siswa pada konsep materi tata surya pengaruhnya tergolong sedang dengan hasil nilai N-gain di kelas eksperimen yang menggunakan Game Based Learning di SDN Sukasari sebesar 0,6357 dan persen n-gain sebesar 63,5659%. Efektivitas skor n-gain tergolong sedang karena lebih tinggi dari 0,30 dan lebih rendah dari 0,70. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini membuktikan bahwa penerapan Game Based Learning di sekolah efektif untuk meningkatkan pemahaman siswa pada konsep materi tata surya.

Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu untuk mengetahui sejauh mana model PjBL memengaruhi keterampilan kolaborasi siswa. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode penelitian kuasi eksperimen desain posttest only control design. Angket dan lembar observasi adalah instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Teknik pengambilan sampel pada penelitian ini yaitu dengan sampel jenuh sebab seluruh populasi dijadikan sampel penelitian. Sampel pada penelitian ini yaitu seluruh siswa kelas 5 SDN 2 Tawangbanteng untuk kelas eksperimen dan seluruh siswa kelas 5 SDN 1 Sukaratu untuk kelas kontrol. Analisis data dilakukan dimulai dari uji statistik deskriptif dan uji statistik inferensial. Uji statistik inferensial terdiri dari uji uji normalitas, uji homogenitas dan uji independent sample test. Kemudian, untuk mengukur seberapa besar pengaruh menggunakan effect size dengan rumus Cohen. Berdasarkan hasil uji statistik deskriptif memperoleh 15 siswa dengan kriteria sangat kolaboratif pada kelas eksperimen sedangkan pada kelas kontrol memperoleh 9 siswa dengan kriteria kolaboratif. Hasil uji statistik inferensial menunjukan nilai sig 0,003

تحقق البحث من دور المكونات اللينة لإدارة التغيير (الدافعية، وسياسات الموارد البشرية، والابتكار) في الكفاءة التشغيلية للمنظمات باستخدام متغير المواطنة التنظيمية كمتغير معدّل. وتم استقصاء آراء 143 عاملاً في قطاع التطوير التنظيمي ضمن شركات الاتصالات السورية الخاصة خلال عام 2023، باستخدام استبانة مصممة خصيصاً لهذا الغرض، كما تام اختبار العلاقة بالبناء على نموذج نظري مستقى من أدبيات المنظور القائم على الموارد في المنظمات. توصّل البحث إلى قبول الأثر الجوهري لإدارة التغيير في الكفاءة التشغيلية من خلال المتغيرات المدروسة، كما تبين أن متغير المواطنة التنظيمية المعدّل يُبقي على جوهرية أثر الدافعية فقط في العلاقة بين إدارة التغيير والكفاءة التشغيلية. وهو ما يتفق مع الدراسات السابقة التي أكدت على تعزيز أنماط القيادة والتواصل مع العملاء الداخليين كمحدد رئيسي في نجاح التغيير التنظيمي، مع عدم إغفال أدوار السياسات المناسبة لأقسام الموارد البشرية والابتكار كمتغيرات أساسية في تحقيق الأهداف الاستراتيجية للمنظمات.

In an ideal world, how individuals learn should align with the methods they are taught. However, this is not always the case, and it is necessary to reconsider the approach to teaching in academic institutions, such as universities, to help students learn at their own pace. Innovative technology plays a vital role in achieving this objective. This study proposes using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to teach in academic institutions. Specifically, an AI-powered conversational bot called Conversational AI Bot for Efficient Learning (COFFEE) is designed, implemented, and will be used as an adaptive learning technology. COFFEE will analyze students’ learning habits and adjust the teaching style based on their strengths and weaknesses. Teaching and learning are closely linked to the disciplinary areas of education, behavior, and technology. Combining these areas into a conversational bot equipped with AI algorithms and access to big data makes it possible to disrupt traditional teaching methods. This will benefit students who require special attention, such as those with severe learning disabilities who cannot receive adequate support from instructors due to time constraints or lack of experience. COFFEE is a valuable tool that can be used in academic institutions at all levels, including primary and secondary education. It will be based on the latest advancements in AI and data science and is designed to be feasible, reliable, and customizable.

In a context-aware Internet of Things (IoT) environment, the functional contexts of devices and users will change over time depending on their service consumption. Each iteration of an IoT middleware algorithm will also encounter changes occurring in the contexts due to the joining/leaving of new/old members; this is the inherent nature of ad hoc IoT scenarios. Individual users will have notable preferences in their service consumption patterns; by leveraging these patterns, the approach presented in this article focuses on how these changes impact performance due to functional-context switching over time. This is based on the idea that consumption patterns will exhibit certain time-variant correlations. The maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is used in the proposed approach to capture the impact of these correlations and study them in depth. The results of this study reveal how the correlation probabilities and the system performance change over time; this also aids with the construction of the boundaries of certain time-variant correlations in users’ consumption patterns. In the proposed approach, the information gleaned from the MLE is used in arranging the service information within a distributed service registry based on users’ service usage preferences. Practical simulations were conducted over small (100 nodes), medium (1000 nodes), and relatively larger (10,000 nodes) networks. It was found that the approach described helps to reduce service discovery time and can improve the performance in service-oriented IoT scenarios.

Abstract Large amounts of astaxanthin (about 4% DW) can be produced under nitrogen starvation of Haematococcus pluvialis in photobioreactors (PBRs) exposed to high light conditions to induce a light stress. However, in PBR, the large biomass concentration usually achieved leads to strong light attenuation conditions, which makes complex the analysis of this “light stress”. This study aims to elucidate the role of light transfer in astaxanthin cell content and productivity from the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis during nitrogen starvation. Haematococcus pluvialis was cultivated in a flat-panel PBR in a batch mode with sudden nitrogen starvation conditions and an incident photon flux density (PFD) of 250 µmolhν m−2 s−1. Different initial biomass concentrations ( $${C}_{{x}_{0}}$$ C x 0 ) were evaluated, 0.21, 0.52, 1.39 and 2.21 kg m−3. As a result, spectral mass absorption cross-sections of Haematococcus pluvialis were measured at different times during nitrogen starvation, and were used to relate the mean rate of photon absorption (MRPA) to the astaxanthin productivity. A minimum initial MRPA of 7000 ± 500 µmolhν kgx −1 s−1 was found necessary to trigger large accumulation of astaxanthin in Haematococcus pluvialis cells (up to 3.21% DW) during nitrogen starvation conditions. The results also demonstrated the link between the MRPA and the daily astaxanthin productivity of Haematococcus pluvialis cultures, introducing then the MRPA as a physical quantity of interest for a rational optimization of the light culture conditions in PBRs. Graphical Abstract

Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu untuk menghasilkan produk buku digital wujud benda yang berorientasi keterampilan berpikir kreatif. Karena Kurangnya ketersediaan buku digital yang berorientasi keterampilan berpikir kreatif serta rendahnya pemahaman siswa terkait materi wujud benda menjadi dasar dilakukannya penelitian pengembangan ini. Selain itu, buku digital wujud benda yang dikembangkan juga mampu menampilkan representasi submikroskopis agar siswa dapat memahami materi secara utuh. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian R&D (Research and Development). Prosedur pengembangan yang digunakan yaitu model ADDIE yang terdiri dari 5 tahap (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation). Buku digital wujud benda diuji kelayakan oleh ahli materi, ahli media, dan ahli bahasa serta diimplementasikan kepada guru dan siswa untuk mengetahui respon pengguna. Hasil validasi materi memperoleh persentase rata-rata 94% yang termasuk dalam kategori “Sangat layak”. Hasil validasi media memperoleh persentase 98% yang dikategorikan “sangat layak”. Kemudian hasil validasi bahasa memperoleh persentase 89% yang termasuk dalam kategori “sangat layak”. Hasil respon pengguna mendapatkan persentase rata-rata 98%. Berdasarkan hasil validasi ahli dan respon pengguna, dapat disimpulkan bahwa buku digital wujud benda sangat layak untuk digunakan dalam pembelajaran sehingga siswa dapat belajar materi wujud benda dengan lebih mudah dan mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir kreatifnya.

Model pembelajaran yang kurang bervariasi pada saat pembelajaran akan menyebabkan rendahnya keaktifan siswa di dalam kelas serta kurangnya berpikir kritis hal tersebut juga akan berpengaruh pada kreativitas siswa, sehingga diperlukan sesuatu yang mampu mencegah hal tersebut. Yaitu model pembelajaran RADEC yang dapat membuat iklim kolaboratif ketika pembelajaran berlangsung. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji pengaruh model pembelajaran RADEC terhadap pemahaman konsep dan kreativitas siswa kelas IV SD Negeri 3 Batujajar. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain quasi eksperimen dengan tipe Non-Equivalent Control Group Design. Populasi penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas IV dari 32 sekolah dasar di Kecamatan Batujajar. Untuk teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan nonprobability sampling sehingga dipilih SD Negeri 3 Batujajar dengan kelas IV B sebagai kelas eksperimen dan kelas IV A sebagai kelas kontrol. Instrumen yang digunakan berupa tes untuk mengukur kemampuan pemahaman konsep dan kreativitas siswa. Uji paired sample t test, uji N-Gain, dan uji effect size digunakan untuk menilai hipotesis dalam penelitian ini. hasil menunjukan bahwa, (1) Model RADEC memberikan pengaruh pada kemampuan pemahaman konsep siswa, (2) Ditemukan perbedaan kemampuan pemahaman konsep pada siswa yang menggunakan pembelajaran model RADEC dengan siswa yang menggunakan model pembelajaran konvensional, (3) Model pembelajaran RADEC memberikan pengaruh yang sangat kuat terhadap kreativitas siswa.

Kesehatan anak usia sekolah adalah salah satu masalah besar yang dihadapi Indonesia. Usaha Kesehatan Sekolah (UKS) bertujuan meningkatkan kesehatan siswa, tetapi UKS belum berjalan semaksimal mungkin. Maka diperlukan inovasi baru yang dapat mengoptimalkan pelaksanaan dan pecapaian kesehatan sekolah, terutama dalam meningkatkan kesehatan siswa. Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu mengembangkan media Kampanye Sekolah Sehat untuk siswa kelas tinggi di SDN Gudang Kopi II. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode Research and Development (RnD) dengan alur model pengembangan ADDIE. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di SD Negeri Gudang Kopi II Kabupaten Sumedang. Jenis data yang dikumpulkan berupa data kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Penelitian dan pengembangan ini menghasilkan media Kampanye Sekolah Sehat berupa e-flipbook dengan spesifikasi produk diantaranya: 1) Materi dan informasi kesehatan dengan 3 fokus utama yaitu sehat bergizi, sehat fisik dan sehat imunisasi, 2) Video edukasi kantin sehat, 3) Video gerak dan lagu sekolah sehat, 4) Aplikasi scan info nutrisi dari barcode kemasan produk makanan atau minuman, 5) Games teka-teki silang. Berdasarkan hasil validasi oleh para ahli dan angket respon siswa, e-flipbook ini masuk dalam kategori sangat baik digunakan sebagai Media Kampanye Sekolah Sehat.

Penelitian ini mendeskripsikan proses pengembangkan media pembelajaran VG-Plant berbasis articulate storyline 3 pada materi perkembangbiakan tumbuhan di kelas IV sekolah dasar. Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk mengetahui kelayakan media VG-Plant melalui proses validasi para ahli, mengukur persepsi kebergunaan media, dan mengetahui kompatibilitas media di beberapa perangkat versi android yang berbeda. Penelitian tersebut dilakukan dengan metode Research and Development (R&D) dan model ADDIE yang melalui lima tahap yakni tahap analisis, desain, pengembangan, implementasi, dan evaluasi. Subjek penelitian ini adalah pada 32 peserta didik kelas IV serta kelayakan materi dan media di ambil dari validasi para ahli. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah media pembelajaran VG-Plant relevan dengan kebutuhan proses pembelajaran IPA di kelas IV pada materi perkembangbiakan tumbuhan. Desain media VG-Plant dibuat dalam bentuk file.apk. Media VG-Plant dihitung menggunakanan Content Validity Index (CVI) dan memiliki kelayakan isi dan kualitas media dengan skala 1 dan dalam kategori “relevan dan layak digunakan”. Kemudian, kebergunaan media VG-Plant dikategorikan “Excellent” dengan nilai 88 yang dihitung menggunakan kuesioner System Usability Scale (SUS). Serta media VG-Plant telah memenuhi standar kompatibilitas pada aspek adaptability dan installability dengan persentase pengujian sebesar 100% pada beberapa versi android. Dengan demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa media VG-Plant layak digunakan dan dapat dioperasikan di semua perangkat dengan spesifikasi android versi 6 hingga android versi 13.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kelayakan penggunaan media bomb-bomb car pada materi ASEAN kelas VI SD. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode Research and Development (RnD). Model penelitian yang digunakan adalah ADDIE yang terdiri dari lima tahapan yaitu Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation dan Evaluatuion. Adapun hasil dari penelitian ini yaitu setelah melewati proses validasi oleh 4 ahli media dan 5 ahli materi, media ini mendapatkan nilai i-CVI dan s-CVI sebesar 1 baik dari segi media ataupun materi sehingga media bomb-bomb car dapat dinyatakan valid atau layak untuk digunakan. Kemudian, setelah dilakuan proses validasi, media bomb-bomb car juga diimplementasikan kepada 27 peserta didik kelas VI SD di Kabupaten Sumedang dan mendapatkan rata-rata nilai SUS sebesar 94 dengan kategori best imaginable atau memiliki tingkat kegunaan yang sangat tinggi. Dengan demikian, data tersebut dapat membuktikan bahwa media bomb-bomb car sudah valid atau layak untuk digunakan pada materi ASEAN kelas VI SD.

Perundungan adalah masalah yang dapat terjadi di lingkungan pendidikan. Adanya tindakan perundungan di pendidikan dasar bisa menjadi benih bentuk kekerasan lainnya. Peran pendidik di sekolah diperlukan dalam upaya menekan angka perundungan melalui berbagai strategi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh penggunaan video animasi berbasis pendidikan karakter terhadap pemahaman siswa berdasarkan dua aspek yaitu pengetahuan dan kesadaran tentang perundungan. Subjek penelitian merupakan siswa kelas tinggi sekolah dasar di Kabupaten Sumedang. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekan kuantitatif dengan desain prates-pascates yang dilaksanakan pada satu kelompok (one group pretest-posttest design). Instrumen pengumpulan data berupa tes yang diadministrasikan kepada 96 siswa untuk mengukur tingkat pengetahuan dan kesadaran tentang perundungan. Hasil uji-t berpasangan (paired) menunjukkan bahwa aspek pengetahuan memperoleh nilai p

Currently, the issue of Environmental Management is still a hot topic of discussion, especially regarding Environmental Management at the regional level. This research was conducted with the aim of understanding whether the local government has committed to environmental control. The method used in this research is descriptive research. By explaining what has been researched. The type of research in this writing includes the type of doctrinal/normative legal research. The data was collected by using a literature study technique, then processed in a qualitative way. There are several laws and regulations related to environmental control and management in Indonesia, namely Law no. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management and several other laws. Given the condition of local governments that may still be far from the attention of the central government, local governments are now committed to realizing Environmental Management at their respective regional levels by using environmental-based budgets. However, there are still few local governments that use environmental-based budgets in managing environmental conditions in their areas.

This paper describes the developmental process of PETA (Penjelajahan Matematika) learning media based on the Android application on speed learning materials at a fifth-grade elementary school, determines the feasibility of the application through the validation process of experts, and finds out the compatibility of applications in several devices with different Android versions. The research uses a research and Development (RnD) method with the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation). The results of the research are (1) the development of the PETA application is relevant to the needs of the mathematics learning process on speed learning material at class V SD, (2) the design of the PETA application is adopted from the concept of exploring games with various forms of presentation, (3) the PETA application design that has been made is developed into file.apk., (4) the PETA application has the feasibility of the content in the very feasible category with a percentage of 97%, the feasibility of the media in the very feasible category with a percentage of 92.75%, and already fulfilled the standard of portability on adaptability and installability aspects with a testing percentage of 100%, and (5) the final product of the PETA application is developed based on the evaluation results at the testing stage of functional suitability and portability by making minor improvements to the instruction aspects of the use and the additional menu of an "additional information" to make it easier for users to get information about latest updates of the PETA application.

Dapagliflozin is a novel sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitor. This work aims to develop a new validated sensitive RP-HPLC coupled with a mass detector method for the determination of dapagliflozin, its alpha isomer, and starting material in the presence of dapagliflozin major degradation products and an internal standard (empagliflozin). The separation was achieved on BDS Hypersil column (length of 250mm, internal diameter of 4.6 mm and 5-μm particle size) at a temperature of 35℃. Water and acetonitrile were used as mobile phase A and B by gradient mode at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. A wavelength of 224nm was selected to perform detection using a photo diode array detector. The method met the requirement of the International Conference on Harmonisation for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) for validation. The molecular weight of impurities and degradation products was estimated using positive ESI-MS. Fifteen impurities were detected during the analysis of dapagliflozin APIs and the brand Farxiga ® and some generic products. Three of fifteen detected impurities (H, J and K) exceeded the impurities acceptable limits 0.1%. Those impurities were isolated using new preparative chromatography then characterized using elemental analysis, FTIR and NMR.

Background: “Corona virus disease 2019 or COVID-19” causes significant respiratory, internal, physical, and psychological problems affecting quality of life [QoL]. Pedometer-based walking and laser acupuncture may improve the health of patients with COVID-19 but more research is needed.Aim of the Work: This study aimed to investigate the effect of pedometer-based walking alone or combined with laser acupuncture on QoL in post-COVID patients.Patients and Methods: Sixty post-COVID-19 patients of both genders with ages ranging from 35-48 years old were recruited from the Chest-disease outpatient clinic of El Khankah Central Hospital and divided equally to Group A & B. Group A underwent laser acupuncture 3 session per week, with pedometer-based walking [3000 steps] for 4 weeks. Patients of Group B received daily pedometer-based walking [3000 steps] for 4 weeks. They were evaluated regarding C-reactive protein, white blood cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, six-minute walk test, fatigue assessment, and short form 36.Results: There were significant improvements in all outcomes [P-value < 0.05] after both treatments that were significantly higher in group A.Conclusion: Combining laser acupuncture and pedometer-based walking is better than pedometer-based walking alone in improving QoL in post COVID-19 patients. However, both treatments were effective. Program of management of patients with post COVID-19 syndrome should include pedometer-based walking and laser acupuncture.

Configuration errors are some of the main reasons for software failures. Some configuration options may even negatively impact the software’s security, so that if a user sets the options inappropriately, there may be a huge security risk for the software. Recent studies have proposed mapping option read points to configuration options as the first step in alleviating the occurrence of configuration errors. Sadly, most available techniques use humans, and the rest require additional input, like an operation manual. Unfortunately, not all software is standardized and friendly. We propose a technique based on program and static analysis that can automatically map all the configuration options of a program just by reading the source code. Our evaluation shows that this technique achieves 88.6%, 97.7%, 94.6%, 94.8%, and 92.6% success rates with the Hadoop modules Common, Hadoop distributed file system, MapReduce, and YARN, and also PX4, when extracting configuration options. We found 53 configuration options in PX4 that were not documented and submitted these to the developers. Compared with published work, our technique is more effective in mapping options, and it may lay the foundation for subsequent research on software configuration security.

المقدمة: يُعتَبر تثبيتُ الطُّعمِ الجلديِّ أمرًا حاسمًا لِنجاحهِ، ونظرًا لِكَونِ التَّثبيتِ بِالضَّمادِ التَّقليديِّ قد يؤدِّي إِلى تطبيقِ ضغطٍ غَيرِ مُناسِبٍ الأمرُ الَّذي يزيدُ مِن نسبةِ الاختلاطاتِ، فإنَّهُ يُمكِنُ استخدامُ ضمادِ الضَّغطِ السَّلبيِّ كَبديلٍ لتثبيتِ الطُّعمِ وتَقليلِ زَمنِ الشِّفاءِ. الهدف: مُقارَنة الفعاليَّة والمُضاعَفات بَينَ ضماد الضَّغط السَّلبيّ والتَّثبيتِ الميكانيكي التَّقليديّ في تَطعيمِ الجلدِ. الطرائق والمواد: دِراسة استباقيَّة مُقارِنة أُجرِيَت في الفترة مِن شباط 2021 - شباط 2022 في مُستَشفى تشرين الجامعي في اللَّاذقيَّة – سوريا. تمَّ في هذه الدِّراسة مُقارنةُ مَجموعَتين مِن المَرضى: الأولى ضمَّت 17 مريضًا (46٪) خَضعوا لِعمليَّة تَثبيتِ الطُّعم الجلديّ بِضماد ضغطٍ سلبيٍّ، بَينَما اشتملت الثَّانية عَلى 20 مريضًا (54٪) خَضعوا لِعمليَّة تَثبيتِ الطُّعم الجلديِّ بِضمادٍ تقليديٍّ. النتائج: كانَ وقتُ الشِّفاءِ أقصرَ بشكلٍ مَلحوظٍ في المَجموعة الأُولى (9.41 ± 1.8 مقابل 12.68 ± 3.9 في المَجموعة الثَّانية، P-value:0.001). كانَ أخذُ الطُّعم أَكبرَ في المَجموعةِ الأولى (88.2٪) مِن المَجموعة الثَّانيةِ (80٪) ولكن دونَ أهميَّةٍ إحصائيَّة (P-value:0.8). وكانَ مُعدَّلُ المُضاعَفات في المَجموعة الأولى 17.7٪ مُقابِلَ 30٪ في المَجموعة الثَّانية بدونِ فرقٍ معنويٍّ (P-value:0.7). العَواملُ المُرتَبطة بِمُدَّةِ التَّعافي الأطول في المَجموعة الأولى كانَت: التَّدخين (P-value:0.001) والعُيوب الماديَّة المَوجودة في الرَّأس والرَّقبة (P-value:0.01). بَينَما كانَت في المَجموعة الثَّانية: التَّدخين (P-value:0.04)، والعيوب الماديَّة المَوجودة عَلى الجِذع (P-value:0.05). الخلاصة: أظهرت الدِّراسة الحاليَّة نتائج إيجابيَّة في كفاءةِ تَثبيتِ تطعيم الجلد بِالتِّقَنيَّتينِ، مَع فترةِ تعافي أقصرَ بشكلٍ مَلحوظٍ في المَرضى الَّذين خَضعوا لتثبيت الطُّعم الجلديّ بضماد الضَّغط السَّلبيّ.

En contraste con la narrativa dominante de las economías petroleras, desarrollo inmobiliario y territorios de extracción en el Golfo Arábigo, este proyecto ilustra bellamente la tradición de formas y líneas de paisaje aplicadas para apoyar una infraestructura de vida colectiva. El proyecto reconoce las relaciones anteriores con su territorio, como el sistema de agua qanat, y argumenta que las ciudades del Golfo se remontan a prácticas sensatas para sostener la vida más allá del auge de apenas décadas de las economías petroleras, caracterizado por el imperativo occidental del crecimiento económico.

In contrast to the mainstream narrative of oil economies, real estate development, and territories of extraction in the Arabian Gulf, this project beautifully illustrates the tradition of landscape forms and lines implemented to support a collective living infrastructure. The project acknowledges previous relationships to its territory, like the qanat water system, and argues that the Gulf’s cities can be traced back to sensible practices for sustaining life beyond the recent decades’ boom of oil economies, characterized by the Western imperative of economic growth.

Source rock potentiality and reservoir characteristics of the Baluti Formation (Late Triassic), Northern Iraq were examined in order to determine the hydrocarbon generation potential and reservoir properties. A combination of geochemical analyses, stable carbon isotope, 1D-basin modeling and digital log data were used to evaluate the formation. The Total Organic Carbon ratios range from 0.39 to 0.61 wt%, while the quantity of free hydrocarbon and residual hydrocarbon are low (0.05-0.11, 0.40-0.90 mg/g respectively). The average of oxygen index is 318 mg CO2/g TOC, while the hydrogen index is less than 200 mg HC/g TOC, which indicates type III kerogen. The outcomes of the pristane/phytane and Pr/n-C17 with Ph/n-C18 ratios suggest that the formation was deposited under oxic environment. This conclusion is also supported by trace elemental data. According to the average of Ro% of 0.58 and Tmax of 430.1oC, the formation is in immature to early mature stage. From a plot of 1D-modeled Ro% versus time, it is inferred that the organic matter of the formation had reached early maturation in the Early Paleocene (63Ma). The Baluti is waxier formation and the degree of waxiness ranges from 1.99-2.55. Regarding to, Triterpanes (Tm/Ts) and regular sterane C27-C29 the studied formation has deposited in terrestrial environment with high terrigenous input with hot and arid to semiarid climates. This result is supported by stable carbon isotopic data and clay mineralogy. Porosity of the dolomite beds is 10-15%. Based on the cutoff results, the Baluti Formation has only 1.13m net pay of 72m thickness, which means that the formation has poor porosity and permeability in the reservoir beds.

With approximately 2 billion active devices, the Android operating system tops all other operating systems in terms of the number of devices using it. Android has gained wide popularity not only as a smartphone operating system, but also as an operating system for vehicles, tablets, smart appliances, and Internet of Things devices. Consequently, security challenges have arisen with the rapid adoption of the Android operating system. Thousands of malicious applications have been created and are being downloaded by unsuspecting users. This paper presents a lightweight Android malware detection system based on explainable machine learning. The proposed system uses the features extracted from applications to identify malicious and benign malware. The proposed system is tested, showing an accuracy exceeding 98% while maintaining its small footprint on the device. In addition, the classifier model is explained using Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP) values.

BackgroundAflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A are mycotoxins produced by filamentous fungi that attack crops on field and storage. Both mycotoxins present a risk on public health since aflatoxin B1 is a hepatotoxic and hepatocarcinogenic agent while ochratoxin A can be nephrotoxic. Those mycotoxins can be found in several food items including spices, herbs, and nuts.ObjectivesIn Lebanon, few studies address aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A contamination in spices, herbs, and nuts. So, the aim of this study is to investigate the concentrations of those two mycotoxins particularly in spices and herbs and the concentration of aflatoxin B1 in nuts, and to determine the dietary exposure of the Lebanese population and their possible attribution to liver cancer and renal damage.MethodsIn this work, a total of 198 samples of spices, herbs, and nuts were collected from different sites. Aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A were quantified using immune-affinity columns. A food frequency questionnaire was used to quantify the consumption of spices, herbs, and nuts in Lebanon. Exposure to aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A was calculated accordingly and liver and kidney cancer risks were evaluated.ResultsAflatoxin B1 was respectively found in 100, 20.4, and 98.6% of the spices, herbs, and nuts samples, while ochratoxin A was found in 100 and 44.4% of spices and herbs, respectively. Aflatoxin B1 was found at mean concentration of 0.97, 0.27, and 0.40 μg/kg in spices, herbs, and nuts, respectively while ochratoxin A was found at mean concentrations of 38.8 and 1.81 μg/kg in spices and herbs, respectively. Aflatoxin B1 occurrence was shown to be associated in this study with 0.017 additional cancer cases per 100,000 persons per year, and ochratoxin A weekly exposure was shown to be 5.04 ng/kg bw less than the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake of 100 ng/kg bw which indicates low risk of renal damage from spices and herbs consumption.ConclusionThe consumption of spices, herbs, and nuts in Lebanon could lead to an increase in health risks associated with aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A, specifically spices. The reported occurrence may be directly related to poor storage conditions.

Microbial contaminations are responsible for many chronic, healthcare, persistent microbial infections and illnesses in the food sector, therefore their control is an important public health challenge. Over the past few years, essential oils (EOs) have emerged as interesting alternatives to synthetic antimicrobials as they are biodegradable, extracted from natural sources and potent antimicrobials. Through their multiple mechanisms of actions and target sites, no microbial resistance has been developed against them till present. Although extensive documentation has been reported on the antimicrobial activity of EOs, comparisons between the use of whole EOs or their active components alone for an antimicrobial treatment are less abundant. It is also essential to have a good knowledge about EOs to be used as alternatives to the conventional antimicrobial products such as chemical disinfectants. Moreover, it is important to focus not only on planktonic vegetative microorganisms, but to study also the effect on more resistant forms like spores and biofilms. The present article reviews the current knowledge on the mechanisms of antimicrobial activities of EOs and their active components on microorganisms in different forms. Additionally, in this review, the ultimate advantages of encapsulating EOs or combining them with other hurdles for enhanced antimicrobial treatments are discussed.

In food industries, microbial contaminations are difficult to control due to the recurrent formation of biofilms that hinders antimicrobials penetration and efficiency. An understanding of Salmonella Enteritidis biofilms behavior under flow conditions is a key to develop efficient preventive and control strategies. S. Enteritidis biofilms displayed 5.96, 6.28 and 6.80 log CFU cm−2 under 0.006 cm s−1, 0.045 cm s−1, and 0.087 cm s−1 flow velocities, respectively. Biofilms exposed to higher nutrient conditions under greater flow rates, induced significantly more biofilm biomass. To control biofilms, the disinfection efficiency of thymol (THY) was assessed under dynamic conditions by encapsulation it into two types of nanocapsules: monolayer (ML) nanocapsules prepared with a single carrier material (maltodextrin), and layer-by-layer (LBL) nanocapsules prepared by combining two carrier materials (maltodextrin and pectin). A combined mixture of ML and LBL nanocapsules at ½ their minimal inhibitory concentrations induced 99.99% eradication of biofilms developed under the highest flow conditions, after 5 h. ML nanocapsules decreased significantly bacterial counts during the first 0.5 h, while LBL nanocapsules eliminated the remaining bacterial cells and ensured a protection from bacterial contamination for up to 5 h by releasing THY in a sustained manner over time due to the thicker shell wall structure.

Endometrial cancers are the sixth most common cancer diagnosis in women and the second most common female genital organ cancer diagnosis [1]. Endometrial adenocarcinoma with signet ring cell morphology is a rare finding. The most common differential diagnosis for this histologic pattern is metastasis from distant organs like the breast and the stomach. Seven cases with this morphology have been published in the literature. Identification of this morphology in the endometrium creates a diagnostic conundrum, especially in patients with no known prior history of malignancy. The diagnosis of endometrial adenocarcinoma with signet ring cells requires an extensive panel of immunohistochemical stains to rule out metastatic disease. We present a case of a 72-year-old female who presented with intermittent and worsening post-menopausal bleeding. An endometrial biopsy was performed for a thickened endometrial stripe which showed FIGO grade III endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. Upon histologic examination of the hysterectomy specimen, tumor cells with signet ring cell morphology were identified. The patient underwent total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection and received post-surgical chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She tolerated the treatment well and no recurrences were reported. Most patients with this disease have presented in an advanced stage with varying degrees of myometrial invasion. Surgical excision was the preferred mode of therapy. Signet ring cell histology is rarely identified in endometrial carcinoma and both primary and metastatic signet ring cell carcinomas should be kept in mind.

We describe a case of EBV-positive lymphoma with characterization of histological, immunophenotypic, and molecular features and a brief literature review of similar entities. Atypical large lymphoid cells with pleomorphic nuclei, moderate eosinophilic cytoplasm, and high mitotic activity were noted along with positivity for CD20, OCT2, CD79a, CD19, CD2, perforin, CD30, MUM1, c-MYC, BCL-2, and CD45. Dim positivity with PAX5 and weak cytoplasmic staining with CD3 was noted. These cells were negative for CD4, CD5, CD7, CD8, CD10, BCL-6, CD15, EMA, HHV-8, TdT, Cyclin-D1 and Granzyme B. EBV encoded RNA in situ hybridization was diffusely positive in atypical cells. Both T and B cell gene rearrangements were detected which demonstrates lineage overlap in EBV-positive large cell lymphomas, supported by B and T-cell receptor gamma gene rearrangement proven on molecular studies. The presence of similar entities may lead to potential misclassification of neoplasms. No prognostic significance of this finding was identified.

تم تطوير وتحقق من مصدوقية طريقة كروماتوغرافيا سائلة عالية الأداء ذات طور عكوس RP-HPLC جديدة وبسيطة وحساسة وأقل استهلاكاً للوقت لتعيين مرتسم شوائب داباغليفلوزين بروبانديول مونوهيدرات كمادة أولية. وتم التحقق من مصدوقيتها وفق توصيات المؤتمر الدولي للمواءمة ICH. استخدمت الطريقة عمود BDS Hypersil C18 (طول 150 ملم وقطر داخلي 4.5 ملم وأبعاد الأجزاء 5 ميكروميتر) استخدم طور متحرك عبارة عن مزيج من A (وقاء فوسفاتي مضبوط درجة الحموضة حتى 3.2 باستعمال أورثوفوسفوريك) و B (أسيتونتريل) وطبق نظام الشطف المتدرج بمعدل حقن 1 مل/د وجرى الكشف باستخدام PDA عند طول موجة 240 نانومتر. أظهرت نتائج الطريقة وجود شائبة في إحدى العينات التجارية للمادة المذكورة تتجاوز نسبتها 0.1%، وتم عزلها بتقنية الكروماتوغرافيا التحضيرية وتحديد بنيتها باستخدام مطيافية الأشعة تحت الحمراء FTIR ومطيافية الرنين النووي المغناطيسي H1-NMR وC13-NMR ومطيافية الكتلة MS. تم استعراف الشائبة على أنها Dapagliflozin tetraacetate أحد المنتجات الوسيطة في تحضير هذه المادة الفعالة صيدلانياً.

تسعى هذه الدراســـة لمعرفة كيفية وطبيعة المعالجة الاعلامية وطبيعتها والتي تقدمها البرامج الحوارية التلفزيونية للموضوعات والقضايا المرتبطة بمظاهر التطرف. وتنتمي الدراسة الى البحوث الوصفية، وقد اســـتخدم الباحث المنهج المسحي- التحليلي، اذ قام بتحليل مضمون حلقات برنامجي اوكار الظلام في قناة العراقية الاخبارية وبرنامج اسلام حر في قناة الحرة لعام 2019 بمعدل 25 حلقه من كل برنامج، وتم اختيار مجتمع البحث والعينة بشكل قصدي لأنها تغطي مشكلة البحث واهدافه. وقد خلصت الدراسة الى مجموعة من الاستنتاجات نورد اهمها: الحوارات المتعددة في حلقات البرنامجين بينت مفهوم التطرف وانواعه ومظاهره وتفكيك منظومته الفكرية وبيان انحرافها عن نهج الاسلام المحمدي وبيان اسباب هذه الظاهرة. وظف البرنامجان أطرا عدة لمعالجة موضوعات التطرف الديني وكانت اطر الصراع واسناد المسؤولية هي الاكثر استخداما ثم اطر الاهتمامات الانسانية والجوانب الاخلاقية. استخدام أليات البروز والانتقاء بشكل كبير وكذلك استخدام اليات الاغفال والاستبعاد، وغالبا ما تكون هذه الاليات متلازمة في عملية التأطير، فإبراز عناصر معينة يستلزم اغفال اخرى. أكد البرنامجان على استضافة المفكرين والباحثين المختصين في هكذا مجالات وذوي الخبرة. عالج البرنامجان الموضوعات المرتبطة بالتطرف عن طريق بيان مفاسد ظاهرة التطرف ومخاطرها بتفاصيلها كلها وملابساتها ومحاولة خلق رأي عام مناهض للتطرف، لكن هذه المعالجة بالرغم من ايجابياتها لم تصل الى مرحلة التكامل المطلوب فهي لم تخلُ من تأثيرات القناعات الايدولوجية وتوجهات القائمين على هذه البرامج وسياسة القنوات الراعية والباثة. اتفق البرنامجان في اغلب الموضوعات التي طرحاها للحوار وكانت الاختلافات قليلة نسبيا.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi in food and feed due to several conditions that affect fungal growth and mycotoxin production in different ways. This review aims to explore the different factors that affect mycotoxin production and their control methods. Environmental conditions such as high temperature and humidity increase the risk of fungal growth and mycotoxin production. Other factors that affect contamination include pH, fungal strain, and substrate. To control mycotoxin contamination an integrated approach that starts in the field prior to planting and continues throughout the whole food chain is required, so good practices help minimize contamination at every step to deliver safe products. Good practices include proper practices on the field before and after planting, good harvest practices, appropriate drying measures, and good storage practices. Mycotoxin contamination is inevitable in food and once present they tend to remain as they are very stable compounds, although several physical, chemical and biological techniques could be applied to help minimize contamination. Food processing may also play a minimal role in controlling mycotoxins. Finally, regulations serve to keep food markets free from highly contaminated products, while proper sampling procedures and analytical methods ensure regulations endorsement.

Tujuan: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji dan menganalisis perlindungan hukum terhadap keputusan bisnis Direksi BUMN yang dikriminalisasi akibat keputusan bisnis tersebut merugikan keuangan negara. Metodologi: Penelitian yang bersifat deskriptif ini menggunakan metode penelitian hukum normatif yang mengedepankan pada data sekunder. Pendekatan yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah pendekatan perundang-undangan dan pendekatan konseptual. Temuan: Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan perlindungan hukum yang diberikan kepada Direksi BUMN dalam mengambil keputusan bisnisnya dapat berupa hak imunitas, yang mana dengan hak ini seorang Direksi BUMN dapat terlepas dari pertanggungjawaban pidana apabila Direksi tersebut dapat membuktikan bahwa keputusan bisnis yang telah diambil dan dijalankan telah sesuai dengan prinsip-prinsip bisnis yang layak (business judgement rule) sesuai ketentuan yang termuat dalam Undang-Undang Perseroan Terbatas. Kegunaan: Hasil penelitian ini dimaksudkan agar dapat berkontribusi dalam literatur mengenai perlindungan hukum bagi keputusan bisnis Direksi BUMN yang telah dikriminalisasi. Kebaruan/Orisinalitas: Berbeda dengan penelitian terdahulu, pada penelitian ini menunjukkan business judgment rule doctrine dapat dipergunakan untuk menlindungi keputusan bisnis Direksi BUMN yang merugikan negara dan penelitian ini berfokus pada perlindungan hukum keputusan bisnis Direksi BUMN setelah adanya Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor No. 48/PUU-XI/2013 dan 62/PUU-XI/2013.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a recent pandemic infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The entry point of SARS-CoV-2 is via angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is highly expressed in the alveolar pulmonary cells. Besides, different peptides and co-mediators such as bradykinin (BK), plasmin, and trans-membrane serine protease may modulate the affinity and binding of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE2. Therefore, this study was planned to review the potential link between the pathogenesis, incidence, and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection regarding the modulation of ACE2 by these mediators. Electronic database searches of Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PubMed was made using MeSH terms, keywords, and title words. Renin–angiotensin system inhibitors might be of value in the reduction of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure, and acute pneumonia that are induced by SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to noteworthy lung injury via downregulation of ACE2, which is attenuated by the administration of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). In SARS-CoV-2 infection, BK and its metabolites are augmented due to the downregulation of ACE2 by SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is also associated with hyperfibrinolysis as evident with high circulating fibrin degradation products, high plasmin, and presence of hemorrhagic spots in multiple organs. ACEIs improve fibrinolysis via inhibition of PAI-1, while ARBs have a neutral effect on both fibrinolysis and PAI-1. Therefore, these findings show ACEIs but not ARBs as a potential risk for the development of SARS-CoV-2 infection as both plasmin and BK facilitate the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and augment the development of ARDS in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Retinol binding protein-4 (RBP4) is a new adipokine synthesized by the liver and adipose tissue, and its secretion depends on retinol concentrations and reflects visceral fat mass. RBP4 serum levels are regarded as a new biomarker in follow-up and diagnosis of overweight and obesity and other cardiometabolic disorders, such as hypertension, ischemic stroke, and dyslipidemia. Different drugs such as statins, fibrates, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPPIV) inhibitors, and thiazolidinediones (TZDs) have been reported to reduce RBP4 levels. The objectives of the present study were to illustrate the role of RBP4 in different cardiometabolic disorders and to explore the conflicting about the effect of different drug groups on the circulating RBP4 levels. A multiplicity of search strategies took on and assumed which included electronic database searches of Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PubMed using MeSH terms, keywords, and title words during the search. RBP4 plasma levels are mainly correlated with visceral adiposity and less to the subcutaneous adipose tissue. Statins may reduce or increase RBP4 plasma levels. Fibrate drugs, TZDs, DPPIV inhibitors, and GLP-1 agonists reduce RBP4 plasma levels through suppression of adipose tissue RBP4 mRNA and elevation of adiponectin levels. Metformin reduces circulating RBP4 levels through the improvement of insulin sensitivity, upregulation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), and activation of adipocytes PPARα.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the potential effects of metformin and/or sitagliptin on the oxidative stress (OS) and antioxidant capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 64 patients with T2DM compared with 32 healthy controls, they divided into three groups: Group A: 32 healthy controls, Group B: 33 patients with T2DM on metformin therapy, and Group C: 31 patients with T2DM on metformin plus sitagliptin therapy. Fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, fasting serum insulin, insulin resistance, lipid profile, cardiac indices, and anthropometric measurements were determined. As well, OS parameters which include total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), and OS index (OSI) were measured in patients with T2DM and healthy controls. Data analysis was done using SPSS; for significance testing, unpaired Student's t-test and analysis of variance were used. Pearson correlation was also used to detect the level of correlations. Results: Patients with T2DM have a high risk of diverse cardiometabolic changes compared with the controls (P = 0.0001). TOS was high in diabetic patients (36.89 ± 4.71 μmole/L) compared with the controls (12.74 ± 3.81 μmole/L) (P = 0.0001), TAS was low in diabetic patients (1145.89 ± 293.51 μmole/L) compared with the controls (1237.61 ± 383.74 μmole/L) (P = 0.0001), and OSI was high in diabetic patients (3.21 ± 1.99) compared with the controls (1.02 ± 0.92) (P = 0.0001). Patients with T2DM on metformin plus sitagliptin illustrated low OSI compared with T2DM on metformin monotherapy (P = 0.04). Conclusion: Metformin and/or sitagliptin attenuate T2DM-induced OS through potentiation of TAC and reduction of TOC and OSI. Therefore, a combination of metformin and sitagliptin is recommended to reduce glucolipotoxicity and related OS injury.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has shown rapid growth and wide adoption in recent years. However, IoT devices are not designed to address modern security challenges. The weak security of these devices has been exploited by malicious actors and has led to several serious cyber-attacks. In this context, anomaly detection approaches are considered very effective owing to their ability to detect existing and novel attacks while requiring data only from normal execution. Because of the limited resources of IoT devices, conventional security solutions are not feasible. This emphasizes the need to develop new approaches that are specifically tailored to IoT devices. In this study, we propose a host-based anomaly detection approach that uses system call data and a Markov chain to represent normal behavior. This approach addresses the challenges that existing approaches face in this area, mainly the segmentation of the syscall trace into suitable smaller units and the use of a fixed threshold to differentiate between normal and malicious syscall sequences. Our proposed approach provides a mechanism for segmenting syscall traces into the program’s execution paths and dynamically determines the threshold for anomaly detection. The proposed approach was evaluated against various attacks using two well-known public datasets provided by the University of New South Mexico (UNM) and one custom dataset (PiData) developed in the laboratory. We also compared the performance and characteristics of our proposed approach with those of recently published related work. The proposed approach has a very low false positive rate (0.86%), high accuracy (100%), and a high F1 score (100%) that is, a combined performance measure of precision and recall.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a causative virus in the development of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Respiratory manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection such as acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) leads to hypoxia, oxidative stress, and sympatho-activation and in severe cases leads to sympathetic storm (SS). On the other hand, an exaggerated immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 invasion may lead to uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokine development of cytokine storm (CS). In Covid-19, there are interactive interactions between CS and SS in the development of multi-organ failure (MOF). Interestingly, cutting the bridge between CS and SS by anti-inflammatory and anti-adrenergic agents may mitigate complications that are induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection in severely affected Covid-19 patients. The potential mechanisms of SS in Covid-19 are through different pathways such as hypoxia, which activate the central sympathetic center through carotid bodies chemosensory input and induced pro-inflammatory cytokines, which cross the blood-brain barrier and activation of the sympathetic center. β2-receptors signaling pathway play a crucial role in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, macrophage activation, and B-cells for the production of antibodies with inflammation exacerbation. β-blockers have anti-inflammatory effects through reduction release of pro-inflammatory cytokines with inhibition of NF-κB. In conclusion, β-blockers interrupt this interaction through inhibition of several mediators of CS and SS with prevention development of neural-cytokine loop in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Evidence from this study triggers an idea for future prospective studies to confirm the potential role of β-blockers in the management of Covid-19.

In today’s world, phishing attacks are gradually increasing, resulting in individuals losing valuables, assets, personal information, etc., to unauthorized parties. In phishing, attackers craft malicious websites disguised as well-known, legitimate sites and send them to individuals to steal personal information and other related private details. Therefore, an efficient and accurate method is required to determine whether a website is malicious. Numerous methods have been proposed for detecting malicious uniform resource locators (URLs) using deep learning, machine learning, and other approaches. In this study, we have used malicious and benign URLs datasets and have proposed a detection mechanism for detecting malicious URLs using recurrent neural network models such as long short-term memory (LSTM), bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM), and the gated recurrent unit (GRU). Experimental results have shown that the proposed mechanism achieved an accuracy of 97.0% for LSTM, 99.0% for Bi-LSTM, and 97.5% for GRU, respectively.

Different experimental and approved drugs were tested for coronavirus infection disease (COVID-19) to detect effective one that attenuates or prevents the pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Repurposing of old approved drugs with the potential arrhythmogenic effect such as chloroquine in COVID-19 may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death due to torsadogenic potential. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drugs, such as ivermectin, which can kill SARS-CoV-2 within 48 h. Azithromycin augments the antiviral activity of chloroquine in COVID-19 with a high risk of morbidity and mortality through torsadogenic potential. There were no obvious interactions between ivermectin and azithromycin and without risk of torsadogenic effect despite the prolongation of QT by azithromycin. Therefore, azithromycin–ivermectin is regarded as an effectual combo for COVID-19 in elderly patients with underlying cardiac abnormalities.

Pixel value differencing (PVD) and least significant bit substitution (LSB) are two widely used schemes in image steganography. These two methods do not consider different content in a cover image for hiding the secret data. The content of most digital images has different edge directions in each pixel, and the local object shape or appearance is mostly characterized by the distribution of its intensity gradients or edge directions. Exploiting these characteristics for embedding various secret information in different edge directions will eliminate sequential embedding and improve robustness. Thus, a histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) algorithm is proposed to find the dominant edge direction for each 2x2 block of cover images. Blocks of interest (BOIs) are determined adaptively based on the gradient magnitude and angle of the cover image. Then, the PVD algorithm is used to hide secret data in the dominant edge direction, while the LSB substitution is utilized in the other two remaining pixels. Extensive experiments using various standard images reveal that the proposed scheme provides high embedding capacity and better visual quality compared with several other PVD- and LSB-based methods. Moreover, it resists various steganalysis techniques, such as pixel difference histogram and RS analysis.

Recently, the Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as an important way to connect diverse physical devices to the internet. The IoT paves the way for a slew of new cutting-edge applications. Despite the prospective benefits and many security solutions offered in the literature, the security of IoT networks remains a critical concern, considering the massive amount of data generated and transmitted. The resource-constrained, mobile, and heterogeneous nature of the IoT makes it increasingly challenging to preserve security in routing protocols, such as the routing protocol for low-power and lossy networks (RPL). RPL does not offer good protection against routing attacks, such as rank, Sybil, and sinkhole attacks. Therefore, to augment the security of RPL, this article proposes the energy-efficient multi-mobile agent-based trust framework for RPL (MMTM-RPL). The goal of MMTM-RPL is to mitigate internal attacks in IoT-based wireless sensor networks using fog layer capabilities. MMTM-RPL mitigates rank, Sybil, and sinkhole attacks while minimizing energy and message overheads by 25–30% due to the use of mobile agents and dynamic itineraries. MMTM-RPL enhances the security of RPL and improves network lifetime (by 25–30% or more) and the detection rate (by 10% or more) compared to state-of-the-art approaches, namely, DCTM-RPL, RBAM-IoT, RPL-MRC, and DSH-RPL.