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Abstract Suspensions containing microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs) play a crucial role in thermal energy storage (TES) systems and have applications in building materials, textiles, and cooling systems. This study focuses on accurately predicting the dynamic viscosity, a critical thermophysical property, of suspensions containing MPCMs and MXene particles using Gaussian process regression (GPR). Twelve hyperparameters (HPs) of GPR are analyzed separately and classified into three groups based on their importance. Three metaheuristic algorithms, namely genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and marine predators algorithm (MPA), are employed to optimize HPs. Optimizing the four most significant hyperparameters (covariance function, basis function, standardization, and sigma) within the first group using any of the three metaheuristic algorithms resulted in excellent outcomes. All algorithms achieved a reasonable R-value (0.9983), demonstrating their effectiveness in this context. The second group explored the impact of including additional, moderate-significant HPs, such as the fit method, predict method and optimizer. While the resulting models showed some improvement over the first group, the PSO-based model within this group exhibited the most noteworthy enhancement, achieving a higher R-value (0.99834). Finally, the third group was analyzed to examine the potential interactions between all twelve HPs. This comprehensive approach, employing the GA, yielded an optimized GPR model with the highest level of target compliance, reflected by an impressive R-value of 0.999224. The developed models are a cost-effective and efficient solution to reduce laboratory costs for various systems, from TES to thermal management.

With the progress of human civilization, the development of technology and the increasing population, the world is currently facing an important problem called pollution, which threatens the lives of the inhabitants of the planet, so that in every country, environmental protection is a serious concern of the statesmen. Pollution caused by the accumulation of soil and water from persistent toxic compounds such as chemicals, salts, heavy metals and radioactive substances are the causes of diseases that have inconsistent effects on the growth and health of animals and humans. The release of heavy metals in the environment due to industrialization and the expansion of urbanization has brought great problems all over the world, and the increase in environmental pollution by heavy metals has caused serious concerns due to their carcinogenic properties, indestructibility and biological accumulation. Adsorption of heavy metals from industrial effluents is one of the important environmental issues. So far, various methods have been considered for the adsorption of these metals, and the use of biological adsorption is one of these methods. There are various natural and synthetic adsorption, each of which has specific advantages, recently chitosan adsorption and also chitosan composites have been used. Being economical in terms of economy, easy access and compliance with environmental standards are among the advantages of adsorption method. In this study, the basis of performance, advantages and disadvantages of different adsorption methods finally chitosan adsorbent and chitosan nanofibers and composites have been discussed.

Abstract The importance of the fuel injection configuration on the propulsion efficiency of high-speed vehicles is apparent. In this article, the use of an annular extruded 4-lobe nozzle for the injection of fuel jet in a supersonic combustor of a scramjet engine in the existence of a shock generator is examined. The main aim of this study is to obtain the efficient jet arrangement for efficient fuel mixing inside the engine of hypersonic vehicles. A numerical approach is used to model the supersonic air stream and cross-jet flow with the SST turbulence model. The role of nozzle altitude and internal air jet on the fuel mixing of the hydrogen within the high-speed domain are disclosed. The importance of the horseshoe vortex and counter-rotating vortex on the fuel distribution is also presented. Our results show that the usage of a coaxial jet instead of an annular jet would increase fuel mixing by more than 40% in the combustion chamber.

The amount of water being consumed by Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) at Aqaba city/Jordan country, which is about 10,000 m3/day. Tarek Dehays Aqua Treat Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination station is being operated next to JPMC with a fresh-water capacity of 12,000 m3/day. Thus, the present study is conducted to utilize the renewable energy system to operate this SWRO desalination station. Twelfth power system configures investigated and analyzed based on economic and environmental bases: Diesel generator, Diesel Generator-Battery, Wind-Diesel generator, Wind-Diesel Generator-Battery, Photovoltaic (PV)-Diesel generator, PV-Diesel Generator-Battery-Wind-Diesel generator, PV-Wind-Diesel Generator-Battery, Wind-Fuel Cell-Diesel generator, Wind-Fuel Cell-Diesel Generator-Battery, PV-Fuel cell, PV-Fuel Cell-Diesel generator, PV-Wind-Fuel cell. The comparisons result of hybrid configuration systems based on economic wise as Cost of Energy (COE) shows the optimal hybrid power system configuration is PV-Wind-Diesel Generator-Battery, which has the lowest COE of 0.063 $/kWh, Renewable Fraction (RF) as 98.2% and CO2 emissions as 417,752 kg/year. The second option is the hybrid power system; Wind-Diesel Generator-Battery is advised, which has a COE of 0.063 $/kWh, RF 98.1%, and CO2 emissions of 445,221 kg/year since the Net Present Cost (NPC) of hybrid PV-Wind-Diesel Generator-Batteries system is slightly lower than that of hybrid Wind-Diesel Generator-Batteries system by 0.65%, which saved 72,574 $, more RF, and less CO2 emissions. Still, it needs more land spacing to employ the PV arrays, which require only about 9–10 km 2 for PV modules. The cycle dispatch strategy is used for hybrid power cases since it has less NPC and COE than the load following strategy, but it provides less RF and more Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs) emissions. Since it is evaluated as the best cost-effective hybrid system case, the PV-Wind-Diesel generator-Batteries system, thereby for cycle charging strategy, has NPC $11,086,499, COE 0.063 $/kWh, RF 98.2%, and CO2 417,752 kg/year. Whereas, for the load following strategy, it has NPC as $11,966,178, COE 0.068 $/kWh, RF 99.2%, and CO2 272,335 kg/year.

Abstract Background Liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer deem a substantial global health burden and are the end result of a variety of chronic liver diseases. Guidelines have been introduced to secure standardized approaches in the diagnosis and management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Established guidelines agree upon the distinctive dynamic enhancement findings of HCC, characterized by arterial phase wash-in and venous or delayed phase washout. The indeterminate focal hepatic lesions constitute a diagnostic dilemma. The aim of the study was quantification of hepatic vascular parameters using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI to study liver hemodynamic disturbances that can differentiate between focal hepatic lesions during hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Results The study was conducted on 95 patients with comparing perfusion abnormalities across different liver cirrhosis pathologies, and the comparison revealed the correlation of hemodynamics with hepatocarcinogenesis and grades of cirrhosis. Relative enhancement curves were graphed to illustrate the different enhancement patterns across the spectrum of hepatonodular lesions of cirrhosis and among types of de novo and recurrent HCC. Statistical significance was highest between dysplastic nodules (DNs) and HCCs (maximal relative enhancement (MRE) 0.88, wash-in ratio (WIR) 0.84, washout ratio (WOR) 0.78, time to peak (TTP) 0.74, area under curve (AUC 0.73, T0 0.70), compared to those between cirrhotic liver and DNs (MRE 0.74, To 0.62). Least significances were between de novo and recurrent HCCs (TTP 0.66, r AUC 0.66, MRE 0.63). Performances between non-cirrhotic and cirrhotic liver [WOR 0.81, time to peak (TTP) 0.80, r AUC 0.63] surpassed those among different grades of cirrhosis (the highest was between non-tumoral and tumoral cirrhosis: TTP 0.74, MRE 0.68, WIR 0.65, WOR 0.65). Conclusions Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging hemodynamic metrics promise potential usefulness as non-invasive biomarkers in assessment of liver cirrhosis, characterization of cirrhotic nodules, and evaluation of multistep hepatocarcinogenesis.

The efficient design of heat sinks is a severe challenge in thermo-fluid engineering. A creative and innovative way is applying lateral perforations to parallel finned heat sinks. The significance of achieving an optimal design for perforated finned heat sinks (PFHSs) has inspired the present authors to introduce a novel hybrid designing approach that combines computational fluid dynamics (CFD), machine learning (ML), multi-objective optimization (MOO), and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). The design variables considered include the size (0.25

School meal has an important nutritional value, especially at the primary stage.It is cover a high percentage of the daily intake. This study aimed to study the affecting partial substitution of date paste by sesame seed cake in the school meal (biscuit-date) on sensory evaluation , physical and chemical characteristics and evaluating from the daily intake of school children.Siwi date paste and sesame seed cake were anlyizwd before before being used in the production of the school meal. Sesame seed cake was added as a partial substitute of the date paste at diffrent ratio 10,20,30,40 and 50%. Result showed that the ratio of date paste :sesame seed cake(80:20) was the highest sensory parameters .Results indicated that the substituation date paste of bascuit with sesame seed cake up 20% is higher in nutritional value than date paste in bascuit only especially of protein ,fat ,ash ,total phenols and anitioxant activity. The substituation date paste of bascuit with sesame seed cake up 20% were gavien the recommended dietary allowances higher than bascuit with date paste.

Abstract Purpose The increased number of nonperforming loans (NPLs) during COVID-19 pandemic has interrogated the robustness of banks and stability of the whole banking segment. We examine the impact of credit risk (CR) on financial performance (FP) by comparing Islamic banks (IBs) to conventional banks (CBs). We also investigate the influence of COVID-19 on this association. Design/methodology/approach Our sample includes the largest 200 banks across 15 countries from the Middle East and the Africa (MEA) region over a four-year period (2018–2021). Panel ordinary least squares (OLS) with fixed and random effects were used. Findings We find a negative association between NPLs and FP for IBs and CBs. We reveal that COVID-19 is partially mediated the association between NPLs and FP in case of the whole sample and separated sample of CBs while not in case of IBs. Originality The evidence of CR and FP on samples of financial sector across MEA region has not been studied in the era of COVID-19 as far as we know. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the knowledge of the risk and financial performance during the crisis nexus and provides information that is valued to bankers, academics, managers and regulators for policy formulation.

The actor has mechanisms that were applied in the performance، as it formed a style in the theatrical form (weird)، and the researcher deliberately studied these mechanisms and divided them into four chapters. The researcher divided it into two sections، the first is the actor's performance requirements، and the second is the boring performance methods in the directors' theater، and then the researcher concluded the second chapter with the most important indicators. As for the third chapter، the researcher determined the society of his research and the method of selecting the sample (strange) and analyzing the sample and concluded with the most important results of the sample analysis.

Background. Penetrating spine injuries can cause catastrophic complications to the patient, and it demands immense medical care to minimize the insult. Mainly, it occurs in the military field; however, it has become more prevalent among civilians due to gun availability. The thoracic spine is the most affected part, followed by the cervical and lumbar spine. Case report. A 15-year-old teenage boy had a penetrating injury to the thoracic (T10) vertebrae due to a missile bullet that resulted in bilateral lower limb weakness and required him to undergo decompressive laminectomy. During surgery, a missed hemothorax was discovered incidentally. Conclusion. To the best of the author's knowledge, this case of penetrating thoracic spine injury due to a missile bullet associated with missed hemothorax has not been previously reported. This paper discusses the importance of early detection and treatment of injuries associated with penetrating spine trauma to improve patient survival and disability.

Abstract Background The novel worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, first appearing in Wuhan, China, has allured immense global attention. To our comprehension, this research work accommodates the largest isolation hospital-conducted cohort of coronavirus patients in which neuro-radiological complications were retrospectively assessed. To the present day, our full understanding of COVID-19 and its spectrum of diverse complications still remains insufficient. Moreover, the number of reported neurological complications albeit the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic is also widely lacking due to the constrained implementation of MR neuro-imaging in COVID-19 patients. Results Forty-eight males and 26 females met the inclusion criteria, with a mean age 60.55 (ranged from 22 to 88 years old). The frequent clinical manifestation has impaired level of consciousness 55.4%. Most commonly recurring radiological findings were ischemic stroke 54.06% and parenchymal hematomas and hemorrhage 25.69%. Other less imaging brain findings were certain diagnostic entities, i.e., PRES, cerebral edema, leuko-encephalopathic WM abnormalities, microhemorrhages, vascular thrombosis and acute necrotizing encephalopathy. Soaring mortality rates correlated with serious neuro-radiological manifestations, being highest with infarction 57.5%, p = 0.908 and hemorrhage/hematomas 63.2%, p = 0.604. Conclusions Intra-cranial complications were significantly detectable in COVID-19 infection and correlated with severity of illness. Outstanding higher mortality rates were associated with worsening neuro-radiological complications.

Many aspects relating to thermal, economic, and reliability challenges are involved while designing a Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) system under high performance. When compared to standard PV systems, PV/T systems are more effective in locations with high irradiance. To eliminate the excess heat from a PVT system, an optimal cooling system is necessary, resulting in improved the temperature of PV module which directly effect on the overall performance. The current study is focused on a new economic and essay construction thin and thick (3 mm and 15 mm) cooling cross-fined channel box that have covered modeled. In terms of cell temperature and output cooling water temperature, the effects of various irradiation levels and cooling water flow rates are examined. Software that is based on finite elements, the problem was solved numerically in a three-dimensional model using ANSYS (19.2). It has been discovered that when the cooling fluid flow rate increases, the average surface temperature distribution of PV/T system and outlet cooling water temperature are reduced for thin and thick box heat exchanger and ideal with a cooling fluid flow rate of 3 L/min. The average surface temperature and water-cooling temperature are 30.7 °C and 38.9 °C for thin box heat exchanger, respectively, whereas for thick box heat exchanger are 30.8 °C and 32.4 °C, respectively, under solar irradiance 1000 W/m2 and optimal flow rate.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious challenge for infectious disease prevention and treatment, according to the World Health Organization. It is a worldwide problem caused primarily by inappropriate and insufficient therapy, misuse of antimicrobials without physician supervision, unnecessary hospital readmissions, and other factors. AMR has several consequences, including increased medical costs and mortality. The present study aimed to evaluate imipenem resistance in gram-negative bacteria in Central Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, and determine this bacteria resistance in different samples. Initially, a total of 100 different samples were collected from child patients from October 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021. Each isolate was identified using VITEK 2 automated microbiology system. The recorded data showed that the isolated organisms resistant to imipenem included Klebsiella pneumonia (n=21), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=19), and Acinetobacter baumannii (n=16). In the current study, Klebsiella pneumonia was the most common pathogen in males (n=57) compared to female (n=43), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii, particularly in the age range of 1 day- 3 years. Depending on the sample type, Klebsiella pneumonia, the most imipenem-resistant bacteria, was found more in the urine of patients with urinary tract infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was equally found in blood, urine, wound swab, and sputum samples. In comparison to other samples, Acinetobacter baumannii was found in greater numbers in the blood and in an equal number in urine and cerebrospinal.

Background and Objective: Acinetobacter has been considered an important nosocomial pathogen since 1970. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of Acinetobacter infection during 2017-2021, study the antibiogram of these bacteria, and study the impact of gender on infection. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study in which data of the clinical samples received in Al-Kafeel Hospital, Kerbala, Iraq, between April 2017 and February 2021 were searched for Acinetobacter infection and their antibiotic susceptibility testing. Results: The prevalence of Acinetobacter infection was 9.2% of cases. Male to Female ratio was 3:1, and there was a significant difference in Acinetobacter infection regarding gender. There were high resistance rates to major antibiotic classes. Maximum resistance was recorded for Amoxicillin (100%), followed by 3rd generation cephalosporins, including Cefotaxime (92.3%), Ceftriaxone (91.6%), Ceftazidime (91.3%), Cefixime (80%); in addition to growing resistance to carbapenems, Imipenem (42.8%) and Meropenem (62.2%). The lowest resistance rates were found to colistin sulfate (10%). There 80.7% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant MDR. Conclusion: Acinetobacter spp., is considered as fast emerging opportunistic agents with evolving drug resistance. Rationale use of antibiotics is important and necessary to prevent microbial resistance. Gender is considered a risk factor for Acinetobacter infection.

River temperature is a critical parameter influencing aquatic ecosystems and water quality. However, it can be changed by natural (e.g., flow and depth conditions) and human factors (e.g., waste and industrial water drainage). Satellite-based monitoring offers a valuable tool for assessing river temperature on a large scale, elucidating the impacts of various factors. This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of surface water temperature (SWT) in the medium-sized Tisza River in response to natural and anthropogenic influences, employing Landsat satellites and in situ water temperature data. The validity of the Landsat-based SWT estimates was assessed across different channel sections with varying sizes. The longitudinal thermal profile of the Tisza was analyzed by mosaicking, monthly, four Landsat 9 images, covering the entire 962 km length of the Tisza in 2023. The impact of climate change was evaluated by analyzing SWT trends at a specific site from 1984 to 2024, utilizing 483 Landsat 4–9 images. The findings indicated elevated accuracy for Landsat-based SWT estimation (R2 = 0.94; RMSE = 3.66 °C), particularly for channel sizes covering ≥ 3 pixels. Discharge, microclimatic conditions, and channel morphology significantly influence SWT, demonstrating a general increasing trend downstream with occasional decreases during the summer months. Dams were observed to lower the SWT downstream due to cooler bottom reservoir water discharge, with more pronounced differences during the summer months (1–3 °C). Tributaries predominantly (75%) elevated the SWT in the Tisza River, albeit with varying magnitudes across different months. Over the 40-year study period, an increasing trend in SWT was discerned, with an annual rise rate of 0.0684 °C. While the thermal band of Landsat satellites proved valuable for investigating the Tisza River's thermal profile at a broad scale, finer spatial resolution bands are necessary for detecting small-scale phenomena such as thermal plumes and localized temperature variations in rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies available in the literature have shown alterations in blood coagulation tests in severe cases of COVID-19 pneumonia, with a significant risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Since microvascular thrombosis is a well-known fact in COVID-19 disease, requiring therapeutic anticoagulation, low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in prophylactic dose is a part of the clinical management of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. In this scenario, we describe three cases of abdominal spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma (SRH) in hospitalized reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Abstract Background Since late 2019, COVID-19 infection has quickly spread substantially in all countries, forcing the appropriation of noteworthy lockdown and social separating measures. It has been considered as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Positive pressure ventilation is a non-physiological and invasive intervention that can be lifesaving in COVID-19 patients. Similar to any other interventions, it can cause its own danger and complications as it can prompt ventilator-induced lung injury and barotrauma. The aim of the work was to identify the incidence of invasive mechanical ventilation complication in COVID-19 pneumonias, and to describe patient characteristics and patterns of barotrauma in COVID-19 patients. Results This retrospective study included 103 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, 76 males and 27 females are on invasive mechanical ventilation. Their mean age was 56.6, ranged from 21 to 85 years old. Barotraumas event type in the studied patients, (NB: one or multiple barotrauma events occurring on the same day were considered as single event (95/103 patients-92.23%), while separate multiple events (8/103 patients-7.77%) were recorded when occurring separated by at least 24 h). Single barotrauma events were subdivided into: one event (67/95 patients—70.53%), & multiple events (28/95 patients—29.47%). The mean interval between invasive mechanical ventilation and developing barotraumas was 3–7 days included 41 patients (39.98%). We revealed a strong prevalence of COVID-19 IMV complication with worsening prognosis and subsequent higher death rates in elderly smoker or obese males, as well as those suffering from ARDS. Past medical history (hypertension, DM, chronic renal or cardiac disease) or surgical history of CABG was more liable for these types of complications. Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were more liable to the higher incidence of barotraumas with presence of predisposition and high risk factors. In general, an outstanding bad prognostic outcome and a significantly high mortality rate prevailed in COVID-19 patients associated with mechanically ventilated patients.

Walter Rayford, Alp Tuna Beksac et al. investigated gene expression alterations in African-American and European-American men who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. The observed differences include higher expression of inflammation genes and lower expression of mismatch repair genes in African-American men.

Abstract Background Better management of persistent pulmonary hypertension of neonates (PPHN) required new markers that can predict the response of patient to treatment and thus influence the medical decision to avoid short-term and long-term adverse effects. Hence, we aimed to evaluate B-natriuretic peptide (BNP) serum levels in neonates with PPHN and to correlate its levels with disease severity and response to treatment. Patients and methods The study included 60 neonates (30 PPHN patients and 30 healthy subjects). BNP was assessed, using the ELISA technique, at admission and after 4 days of treatment. Results Initial serum BNP levels were significantly higher in patients compared to controls (p < 0.001). Patients with mild severity showed lower BNP levels compared to patients with moderate severity, while patients with moderate severity showed decreased levels in comparison to severe cases (p < 0.001). The group of patients who showed remission after 4 days of treatment had lower pre-treatment and post-treatment BNP levels, compared to patients who showed incomplete remission. Initial levels of BNP showed strong positive correlations with pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and oxygenation index (OI) before treatment (r = 0.9, p < 0.001 and r = 0.85, p = 0.001), while BNP after treatment showed moderate positive correlations with PAP before treatment (r = 0.6, p = 0.001) and OI before treatment (r = 0.6, p = 0.001). Analysis of the ROC curve revealed an AUC of 0.83with CI = 0.7–0.98 and p = 0.003. Conclusions BNP may play a role in the pathogenesis of PPHN, and BNP serum level can be used as a marker to detect disease severity and predict response to treatment.

Venom of Conus inscriptus, a vermivorous cone snail found abundantly in the southern coastal waters was studied to yield conotoxins through proteomic analysis. A total of 37 conotoxins (4 with single disulfide bonds, 20 with two disulfide bonds and 11 three disulfide-bonded peptides) were identified using mass spectrometric analysis. Among them, amino acid sequences of 11 novel conopeptides with one, two and three disulfides belonging to different classes were derived through manual de novo sequencing. Based on the established primary sequence, they were pharmacologically classified into α conotoxins, µ conotoxins and contryphans. Except In1696 all other conopeptides have undergone C-terminal amidation. The natural venom exhibited 50% lethality at 304.82 µg/mL against zebrafish embryo and 130.31 µg/mL against brine shrimp nauplii. The anticonvulsant study of natural venom effectively reduced the locomotor activity against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) treated zebrafish. This concludes that the venom peptides from Conus inscriptus exhibit potential anticonvulsant function, which leads to the discovery of lead molecules against seizures.

Abstract Background Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic—as declared by the World Health Organization—is a major threatening public health problem. At the time of writing, more than 60,000,000 patients and more than 1,500,000 deaths were recorded worldwide. Besides the classical chest symptoms, gastrointestinal tract-related symptoms were noted, like diarrhea, abdominal distention, and hematochezia, adding more difficulties in the diagnosis of the disease. Although there are many publications evaluated, the thoracic imaging signs and complications of COVID-19, there are few articles—to the best of our knowledge—that evaluated the gastrointestinal tract imaging features and complications related to COVID-19. Results In this retrospective study, positive COVID-19 patients who underwent diagnostic computed tomography (CT) for abdominal complaints along a 3-month duration in a large isolation hospital were evaluated. Strict infection control measures were taken during the CT examinations. The data were reviewed on picture archiving and communications systems with clinical data and laboratory result correlation. Thirty patients (30%) showed gastrointestinal (GI) findings, and 70 patients showed unremarkable or non-related GI findings. The 30 patients were classified into four groups: the ischemic group including 10 patients (10/30: 33.33%), the bleeding group included six patients (6/30: 20%), the inflammatory group included nine patients (9/30: 30%), and fluid-filled bowel group included five patients (5/30: 16.6%). Conclusions COVID-19 should be evaluated as a systemic disease with extra pulmonary highlights. GI imaging should be considered for COVID-19 patients with related suspicious symptoms. Ischemic GI complications were the most common GI findings.