A spreadsheet program for simulation of bioequivalence and bioavailability studies

This paper presents a spreadsheet for Excel for Windows, which simulates bioequivalence (BE) trials. The program incorporates intersubject and intrasubject variability in drug absorption and disposition as well as assay precision and the uniformity of the administered dose. The output provides confidence intervals and a pass/fail code for each study. This program is useful for simulating BE trials using widely available and simple-to-use spreadsheet programs. An example of the application of the program in assessing the influence of intrasubject variability on the outcome of BE testing of two identical formulations is also presented.     

Preservation of the Egyptian Lime

Trials for processing the Egyptian lime juice for preservation were not successful. Bitterness, terpeney off-flavour, separation to a clear layer and a precipitate, the rapid deterioration and the loss of the original fresh taste and flavour are some problems that face the processing plant. In the present work, lime fruits were tried instead of the extraction of lime juice. They were preserved with sugar, salt solutions or a mixture of them both in glass jars at room temperature with a view of keeping the fruit cells intact. Chemical analysis, measuring the enzymatic activities, bacteriological analysis and organoleptic test of the preserved lime and the control proved statistically the validity of this new treatment. After III days, limes preserved in 15% sugar solution showed decrease of acidity, ascorbic acid, peroxidase/oxidase and pectinesterase. Bacteriological analysis showed an initial increase of bacterial count followed by a steady decrease till the end of the storage period. No mould (fungi) growth, nor E. coli were found. The predominant microorganisms were lactic acid bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus plantarum. Organoleptic test proved the absence of bitterness, terpeney off-flavour, separation and precipitation. A good taste and flavour were found. The natural inhibition and inactivation of enzymes was suggested for the stability of the lime fruits stored in solutions at room temperature.     

A review of streamline coordinate approach for inviscid flows

A simplified approach to the streamline based coordinates for the solution of inviscid flows is considered. The fundamental shortcomings of some of the existing methods usually employed in the computations of turbomachinery flows are removed and correct general forms of the equations are derived. Several new formulations are also presented which for incompressible flows simplifies the solution of flow problem to simple algebraic equations. Some preliminary results for two and three-dimensional flows are also considered.     

Breast cancer diagnosis system based on wavelet analysis and fuzzy-neural

The high incidence of breast cancer in women has increased significantly in the recent years. The most familiar breast tumors types are mass and microcalcification. Mammograms—breast X-ray—are considered the most reliable method in early detection of breast cancer. Computer-aided diagnosis system can be very helpful for radiologist in detection and diagnosing abnormalities earlier and faster than traditional screening programs. Several techniques can be used to accomplish this task. In this paper, two techniques are proposed based on wavelet analysis and fuzzy-neural approaches. These techniques are mammography classifier based on globally processed image and mammography classifier based on locally processed image (region of interest). The system is classified normal from abnormal, mass for microcalcification and abnormal severity (benign or malignant). The evaluation of the system is carried out on Mammography Image Analysis Society (MIAS) dataset. The accuracy achieved is satisfied.     

Spotlight on Exosomal Non-Coding RNAs in Breast Cancer: An In Silico Analysis to Identify Potential lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-Target Axis

Breast cancer (BC) has recently become the most common cancer type worldwide, with metastatic disease being the main reason for disease mortality. This has brought about strategies for early detection, especially the utilization of minimally invasive biomarkers found in various bodily fluids. Exosomes have been proposed as novel extracellular vesicles, readily detectable in bodily fluids, secreted from BC-cells or BC-tumor microenvironment cells, and capable of conferring cellular signals over long distances via various cargo molecules. This cargo is composed of different biomolecules, among which are the novel non-coding genome products, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and the recently discovered circular RNA (circRNA), all of which were found to be implicated in BC pathology. In this review, the diverse roles of the ncRNA cargo of BC-derived exosomes will be discussed, shedding light on their primarily oncogenic and additionally tumor suppressor roles at different levels of BC tumor progression, and drug sensitivity/resistance, along with presenting their diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarker potential. Finally, benefiting from the miRNA sponging mechanism of action of lncRNAs and circRNAs, we established an experimentally validated breast cancer exosomal non-coding RNAs-regulated target gene axis from already published exosomal ncRNAs in BC. The resulting genes, pathways, gene ontology (GO) terms, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis could be a starting point to better understand BC and may pave the way for the development of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and therapeutics.     

MiHOS: an approach to support handling the mismatches between system requirements and COTS products

In the process of selecting Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products, it is inevitable to encounter mismatches between system requirements and COTS products. These mismatches occur as a result of an excess or shortage of the COTS attributes. This paper proposes a decision support approach, called MiHOS (Mismatch Handling for COTS Selection), that aims at addressing COTS mismatches during and after the selection process. MiHOS can be integrated with existing COTS selection methods at two points: (1) For evaluating COTS candidates: MiHOS estimates the anticipated fitness of the candidates if their mismatches are resolved. This helps to base our COTS selection decisions on the fitness that the candidates will eventually have if selected. (2) Mismatch resolution after selecting a COTS product: MiHOS suggests alternative plans for resolving the most appropriate mismatches using suitable actions, such that the most important risk, technical, and resource constraints are met. A case-study is used to illustrate MiHOS and to discuss its added value.

Performance analyses of Cu–Cl hydrogen production integrated solar parabolic trough collector system under Algerian climate

The potential of hydrogen production by thermochemical cycle in Algeria using solar radiation as heat sources is estimated under the climate conditions of the country. The study analyzes an integrated copper–chlorine (Cu–Cl) thermochemical cycle with solar parabolic trough system for hydrogen production. In order to determine the most promising solar sites available for deploying the integrated system, the direct normal solar irradiance (DNI) for horizontal tracking system oriented in North-South has been estimated and compared for different locations. Heat gain from parabolic trough collector model is evaluated under Algerian conditions. To describe the different steps of the Cu–Cl cycle for hydrogen production, we perform a thermodynamic analysis accounting for relevant chemical reactions and including the determination of the energy necessary to the cycle. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of heat gain from the parabolic trough collector (PTC) on the hydrogen production rate. Furthermore, the rate production of hydrogen by the Cu–Cl cycle is analyzed and compared for performance improvement of the system for different climatic regions in Algeria. Simulation results reveal great opportunities of hydrogen production using Cu–Cl cycle combined with solar PTC in the south of Algeria with annual hydrogen production exceeds 84 Tons H₂/year (around 0,30 kg/m²/day).     

Rhodanine azosulpha drugs as corrosion inhibitors for corrosion of 304 stainless steel in hydrochloric acid solution

The effect of rhodanine azosulpha drugs on the corrosion behaviour of 304 stainless steel in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution as corrosive medium has been investigated using weight loss and potentiostatic polarization techniques. Some corrosion parameters such as anodic and cathodic Tafel slope, corrosion potential, corrosion current, exchange current densities, surface coverage and inhibition efficiency were calculated. The polarization measurements indicated that the inhibitors are of mixed type and inhibit corrosion by parallel adsorption on the surface of steel due to the presence of more than one active centre in the inhibitor molecule. The adsorption is obeyed Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The activation energy and thermodynamic parameters were calculated at different temperature.     

Novel Unilateral Dental Expander Appliance (UDEX): A Compound Innovative Materials

True unilateral posterior crossbite in adults is a challenging malocclusion to treat, especially when we need to correct cross-arch segments with unwanted effects on non-cross segments. Conventional expansion methods are expected to have some shortcomings; the Unilateral dental expander appliance used to restore unilateral cross bite dental arch is an uncommon appliance; for this, a designed new device is needed. This paper aimed to invite a new unilateral dental expander appliance (UDEX) to treat unilateral dental posterior crossbite in adults using available dental material, easy to use and handle, well tolerated by the patient, and biocompatible with oral structure. It could find that in all dental markets and dental clinics—an eighteen-year-old female with bilateral crossbite and upper and lower dental arch crowding. During active orthodontic treatment, a quad-helix expander had broken from one side at soldering between band and wire attachment. The patient did not show up to the clinic for a while due to COVID 19 pandemic lockdown, leading to a true unilateral crossbite at the dental arch’s upper left side, especially at the molar premolars area. This unilateral cross bite was treated using a new specially designed expanded appliance as a unilateral posterior cross bite dental maxillary expander. As a result of this study, orthodontic treatment was finished within (15) months, much less than expected. We obtained Class I molar and canine relationships with uncrossed dental arches in both upper arch sides, proper overbite and overjet with well-leveled and aligned teeth as it confirmed by clinical examination and radiographic images (OPG (Orthopantomogram) and cephalometric radiograph (WebCeph analysis digitalized computer program). Conclude from that, the newly designed unilateral dental expander (UDEX) is proven to be useful for treating real unilateral posterior crossbites as single molar or premolar tooth and multiple joint unilateral crossed posterior teeth. Also, it could easily modify it for future unilateral crossed purposes. This appliance was fabricated using readily available dental material, well tolerated by patients, and reduced the need for excessive patient compliance. An orthodontist could fabricate devices, or cautious laboratory work is required; it can rapidly achieve favorable results.     

Dynamic Analog/RF Alternate Test Strategies Based on On-chip Learning

Analog/RF alternate test schemes have been extensively studied in the past decade with the goal of replacing time-consuming and expensive specification tests with low-cost alternate measurements. A common approach in analog/RF alternate test is to build non-linear regression models to map the specification tests to alternate measurements, or to learn a pass/fail separation boundary directly in the space of alternate measurements. Among various challenges that have been discussed in alternate test, the model stationarity is a major bottle-neck that prevents test engineers from deploying it in long-term applications. In this work, we show that alternate test strategies can be implemented on-chip using analog/RF Built-In Self-Test (BIST) circuitry. Moreover, model refinement and dynamic adaptation can be achieved based on an automatic on-chip learning structure. Effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated using experimental results from an RF Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) and its BIST implementation.