Suliman Khan

: Endoscopic retrograde appendicitis therapy (ERAT) has emerged as a promising, non-invasive treatment for acute uncomplicated appendicitis (AUA). ERAT involves cannulation, appendicography, appendiceal stone extraction, appendiceal lumen irrigation, and stent deployment. Recent randomized trials comparing ERAT to laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) have provided promising results in terms of safety and efficacy of ERAT. If the current trajectory of research and development is maintained, ERAT will likely become a strong contender for the standard of care for AUA. Standardized training and credentialing for ERAT, akin to procedures established for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, will be pivotal to global adoption of this modality.

Abstract This paper presents a new implementation of the dual reciprocity method (DRM) in connection with the dual interpolation boundary face method (DiBFM) for the Poisson equation. In DiBFM, the nodes of an element are categorized into two groups: (i) source nodes (ii) virtual nodes. First layer interpolation is used to interpolate the physical variables, while boundary integrals are evaluated on the source nodes only. Moreover, moving least squares (MLS) interpolation is used and provides additional constraints equations to establish the relationship between source and virtual nodes. Additionally, augmented thin plate spline (ATPS) is used to better interpolate the non-homogeneous term. Finally, it is claimed that the proposed method is much superior to the DRM for Poisson type equation with different geometries, especially for complex geometry. Numerical examples are evaluated and compared with the DRM to ensure the superiority of the proposed method.

Objectives: This article aimed to analyze the relationship between obesity and the efficacy of acute ischaemic stroke patients treated with IVT.Background: Stroke causes morbidity and mortality in large numbers of individuals annually. Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT)with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) is currently the only approved by the FDA for treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. Researchers have focused on studying the mechanisms associated with ischaemic stroke. Obesity is an established vascular risk factor with increasing prevalence and a huge impact on public health worldwide. It is an independent predictor for ischaemic stroke with a 4% risk increase for each unit augmentation in body mass index (BMI). Therefore, obese patients will constitute an increasing subgroup of candidates for IVT. However, its impact on prognosis in acute ischaemic stroke patients with intravenous thrombolysis did not reach a consensus conclusion.Methods: Systematic literature search of PUBMED databases published before August 2020, was performed to identify studies addressing the role of obesity in acute ischaemic stroke patients treated with IVT. Studies included randomized clinical trials, observational studies, guideline statements, and review articles.Conclusions: Obesity may be related to long-term prognosis of large group of AIS patients treated with IVT. It depends on the scale of clinical study samples, follow-up time, and evaluation criteria.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a highly fatal disease with mortality rate of approximately 50%. Oxidative stress (OS) is a prominent cause of brain injury in ICH. Important sources of reactive oxygen species after hemorrhage are mitochondria dysfunction, degradated products of erythrocytes, excitotoxic glutamate, activated microglia and infiltrated neutrophils. OS harms the central nervous system after ICH mainly through impacting inflammation, killing brain cells and exacerbating damage of the blood brain barrier. This review discusses the sources and the possible molecular mechanisms of OS in producing brain injury in ICH, and anti-OS strategies to ameliorate the devastation of ICH.

One of the attractive and practical techniques to transform the domain integrals to equivalent boundary integrals is the dual reciprocity method (DRM). The success of DRM relies on the proper treatment of the non-homogeneous term in the governing differential equation. For this purpose, radial basis functions (RBFs) interpolations are performed to approximate the non-homogeneous term accurately. Moreover, when the interpolation points are large, the global RBFs produced dense and ill-conditioned interpolation matrix, which poses severe stability and computational issues. Fortunately, there exist interpolation functions with local support known as compactly supported radial basis functions (CSRBFs). These functions produce a sparse and well-conditioned interpolation matrix, especially for large-scale problems. Therefore, this paper aims to apply DRM based on multiquadrics (MQ) RBFs and CSRBFs for evaluation of the Poisson equation, especially for large-scale problems. Furthermore, th...

In this paper, we study the gravitational collapse of a spherical symmetric star constituted of matter interacting with vacuum energy density [Formula: see text] in the background of spacetime curvature. We consider the gravitational collapse for closed, flat, and hyperbolic spacetime geometry [Formula: see text]. We take the process of gravitational collapse for an anisotropic fluid interacting with a growing vacuum energy density by taking a complete physically general-relativistic approach in the background of spacetime curvature. Here, we achieved analytic solutions with some assumptions of physical significance. We executed and interpreted the solutions for several cases of the equation of state parameters, [Formula: see text]. In all physical cases, we investigate the formation of a black hole and the naked singularity.

Radio-over-fiber (RoF) links successfully provide high data rates and bandwidth capacity with a low complexity system architecture, as compared to its counterpart digital-RoF. In addition, the compound of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) modulation schemes further enhance the process of these achievements. However, high data rates and bandwidth-capacity-supported RoF links face nonlinearities (NLs), linear distortions (LDs), and phase noise challenges that degrade the reliability of communication networks (CNs). Therefore, in this paper, to suppress NLs, LDs, and phase noise, next generation cloud radio access networks (CRANs) are investigated using RoF links and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) methodology based on 16, 32, and 64 QAM-OFDM modulation schemes. The receiver of the proposed framework is designed, applying an improved digital signal processing (DSP) system that includes overlap frequency domain equalization...

Abstract The interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems can provide useful information about their therapeutic applications. The aluminum nanoparticles (Al2O3 NPs) were synthesized by laser ablation technique and well-characterized by different methods. Fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, and molecular docking studies were employed to evaluate the effect of Al2O3 NPs on the protein structure. Growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of the Al2O3 NPs against K562 cancer cells and lymphocyte cells were assessed using [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] (MTT), flow cytometry, and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. The antipathogenic activity of Al2O3 NPs against a diverse range of Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens was explored through a disk diffusion method. The characterization techniques determined that the Al2O3 NPs were successfully synthesized in the nanoscales. Intrinsic, 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) and acrylamide fluorescence spectroscopy studies disclosed that Al2O3 NPs can partially change the tertiary structure of human serum albumin (HSA), whereas CD spectroscopy investigation depicted that the secondary structure of HSA remained intact. Molecular docking investigation also manifest that the Al2O3 nano-clusters preferably bind to electrostatic residues. Al2O3 NPs exhibited promising and selective anticancer features through reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, apoptosis induction, and elevation of Bax/Bcl-2 mRNA ratio. Furthermore, the Al2O3 NP showed a remarkable antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens. In conclusion, it may be suggested that the synthesized Al2O3 NPs can be integrated in the development of anticancer and antipathogenic agents.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have recently gained much attention, due to the low-cost materials and their cheaper manufacturing techniques. However, these cells show a weak response to incident solar photons, resulting in poor power-conversion efficiency. In this paper, we described an improvement to the optical absorption efficiency of DSSCs in the wavelength range between 350 nm and 750 nm using the surface plasmon-resonance effect of plasmonic nanoparticles. Three different structures are studied, including unilayer, bilayer, and trilayer photoanodes based on various core–shell plasmonic spherical nanoparticles made of Ag@TiO2. In all structures, the nanoparticle size is optimized to obtain broadband optical absorption. The absorption efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cell is significantly improved, from 65.2% to 72.3%, by tuning the photoanode structure from unilayer to trilayer. The results show that a unilayer photoanode with smaller-sized nanoparticles leads to hig...

Anthropogenic activities can lead to several devastating effects on the environment. The pollutants, which include the discharge of effluents, runoffs in the form of different lethal and sub-lethal concentrations of pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants, can harm exposed fauna and flora. The aquatic environment is the ultimate destination for many pollutants which negatively affect aquatic biodiversity and even can cause a species to become extinct. A pollutant can directly affect the behavior of an animal, disrupt cellular systems, and impair the immune system. This harm can be reduced and even mitigated by adopting proper approaches for the conservation of the target biota. Among aquatic organisms, cetaceans, such as the Yangtze finless porpoise, Irrawaddy dolphin, Ganges River dolphin, Amazon River dolphin, and Indus River dolphin, are at a higher risk of extinction because of lack of knowledge and research, and thus insufficient information with respect to their conse...

For about 119 species of cetaceans and other aquatic animals, sound is the key source of learning about the environment, navigation, communication, foraging, and avoiding predators. However, in the recent era, the introduction of large quantities of anthropogenic noise into the ocean has significantly altered the ocean's acoustic environment. The anthropogenic noises travel very long distances, blanketing enormous areas. This can affect cetaceans, either by direct killing or compromising hearing, navigation, communication, predation, as well as normal behaviors. It has been suggested that acoustic pollution could possibly negatively affect cetacean reproduction, which is harmful for endangered and threatened species. However, it is still unknown how acoustic pollution can suppress cetacean reproduction. This is the first comprehensive review article, which focuses on the possible consequences affecting the reproduction of marine mammals resulting from acoustic pollution.

Indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria were isolated on modified selective 9KFe medium from Baiyin copper mine stope, China. Three distinct acidophilic bacteria were isolated and identified by analyzing the sequences of 16S rRNA gene. Based on published sequences of 16S rRNA gene in the GenBank, a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The sequence of isolate WG101 showed 99% homology with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain AS2. Isolate WG102 exhibited 98% similarity with Leptospirillum ferriphilum strain YSK. Similarly, isolate WG103 showed 98% similarity with Leptospirillum ferrooxidans strain L15. Furthermore, the biotechnological potential of these isolates in consortia form was evaluated to recover copper and zinc from their ore. Under optimized conditions, 77.68 ± 3.55% of copper and 70.58 ± 3.77% of zinc were dissolved. During the bioleaching process, analytical study of pH and oxidation-reduction potential fluctuations were monitored that reflected efficient activity of the bacte...

Two inherited unconjugated hyperbilirubinemias, Crigler-Najjar syndrome and Gilbert syndrome, arise due to deficiency of UGT1A1 enzyme activity. Crigler-Najjar syndrome type 1 (CN1) lies at the extreme severe end of the spectrum of UGT1A1 activity characterized by complete absence, followed by the less severe Crigler-Najjar syndrome type 2 (CN2). Gilbert syndrome is the mild form having only partial loss of UGT1A1 activity. The present study aimed to identify molecular genetic defects underlying unconjugated hyperbilirubinemias in children from six consanguineous Pakistani families. The patients were clinically diagnosed by exclusion of other unconjugated hyperbilirubinemias. Differential diagnosis of CN1 and CN2 was made on the basis of patient's response to phenobarbitone. The promoter region, coding exons, and adjacent splice sites of the UGT1A1 gene were PCR amplified from genomic DNA of all patients and their families, and were sequenced. DNA sequence analysis identified five different homozygous mutations: two novel missense mutations p.Y230C (proband A) and p.D36N (proband B), a 4-bp insertion c.622-625dupCAGC/p.Q208QfsX50 (probands C and E), a nonsense mutation p.R341X (proband D), and a TA insertion A(TA)7TAA in the promoter region (proband F). The present study extends the spectrum of UGT1A1 gene mutations and may be helpful in the diagnosis of Crigler-Najjar syndrome and Gilbert syndrome.