Abstract Backgrond: The population is generally susceptible to influenza A, while neonatal cases are relatively rare.The study aims to explore the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of neonates with influenza A. Methods: The clinical data from neonates with influenza A who were treated in the neonatal department of Beijing Ditan Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University from November 2017 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Results:A total of 9 neonates with influenza A were admitted and treated, with a distribution of 7 males and 2 females. The onset was 1.44 ± 1.46 days (mean ± SD), and age at diagnosis was 21.44 ±6. 53 days. All cases had a history of exposure to febrile patients, The main symptoms are fever, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, other respiratory symptoms and digestive symptoms such as vomiting milk, choking milk, less milk, diarrhea. Laboratory tests showed 7 cases of decreased white blood cell counts, 3 cases of increased plasma C-reactive protein concentrations. All cases were administered antiviral therapy on the day of admission. Eight neonates reverted to a normal temperature within 48 hours after hospitalization, one neonate’s temperature returned to normal after 48 hours of hospitalization, and all cases’ symptoms gradually improved. Conclusion: The symptoms of influenza A in neonates are atypical, once a diagnosis is confirmed, the prognosis is likely to be favorable as long as antiviral treatment with antiviral is initiated as soon as possible.

Background: Since the beginning of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it has been widely recognized that children and adolescents seem to have milder clinical courses as compared to adult counterparts. However, there is concern that vulnerable collectives including pediatric patients treated for cancer or under immunosuppression may be at higher risk. Methods: We retrospectively collected Spanish COVID-19 cases in children and adolescents with solid and hematological malignancies, non-malignant chronic hematologic conditions, and post allogeneic-stem cell transplantation, from the beginning of the pandemic on January 31 to April 24, 2020. Results: We included 47 cases with RT-PCR positive COVID-19 from 41 centers in Spain, where 97.6% of pediatric patients are treated for cancer. In most cases (76.6%), infection was asymptomatic, or symptoms were mild. Severe illness was observed in 14.9% of cases with respiratory distress and/or hypoxemia, and 8.5% required admission to the PICU. Symptomatic patients received supportive care associated with antiviral and immunomodulatory agents depending upon severity. Anticancer therapy was withhold in the majority of cases during the infection course. Most patients recovered from COVID-19. Two deaths were reported. Conclusion: In our cohort, most children receiving anticancer chemotherapy presented a mild clinical course and had a good outcome. Highly immunosuppressed patients with major comorbidities were at higher risk of severe infections. Among this fragile collective, individualized expert discussion is critical for anti-infectious therapy and appropriate anticancer treatment.

Based on the physical phenomenon that the fatigue cracks initiate along specific slip plane, a slip plane damage based low cycle fatigue (LCF) lifetime model for the nickel- based single crystal superalloy is established. The predicted results indicate that the lifetime model can reflect the orientation effect. In addition, in order to characterize the dwell time dependence of the LCF lifetime, creep damage and compression-creep damage are introduced to the lifetime model. Finally, the lifetime predictions under LCF loading with tensile dwell time, compressive dwell time and LCF with tensile-compressive dwell time are conducted by employing the lifetime mode, respectively. The predicted lifetimes show a good agreement with the experimental data, which verifies the accuracy of the developed lifetime model in this paper.

A numerical and experimental study was conducted on fatigue crack growth (FCG) of metallic components to investigate the effect of redistribution of mechanical residual stresses induced by single overloading during FCG on the fatigue life of notched specimens. For this purpose, the compact tension specimens of an aluminium alloy were used. In addition, mechanical residual stresses were introduced near the crack tip by applying tensile overload (OL), followed by fatigue loading of the specimens. In the numerical simulation, the modified cyclic J-integral was used as the crack growth fracture parameter and a good agreement was observed between the numerical and experimental results. The results of the finite element method demonstrated a clear redistribution of mechanical residual stresses and so the variation of the overload plastic zone size during FCG. After a few cycles, the residual stress field around the crack tip reached a lower magnitude value confined in a smaller zone, although this zone was stable during the remaining fatigue process. Finally, the present study evaluated the effects of stress ratio, load amplitude, and overload ratio on the redistribution of residual stresses and the size of the plastic zone around the crack tip. It was observed that the residual stresses are mainly released during the first steps of fatigue loading.

Pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a hematologic malignancy that arises from overproduction of immature lymphoid cells. ALL has a propensity for recurring in the bone marrow and/or extramedullary sites following complete remission. We present the case of a young male with a history of pre-B cell ALL who presented with leukemic recurrence isolated to the optic nerve. Transvitreal fine needle aspiration biopsy followed by transconjunctival optic nerve biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of ALL relapse and should be considered helpful diagnostic tools in the setting of suspected optic nerve malignancy with otherwise negative workup.

Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to their environment (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high-latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local vs. regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements, and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N and P weathering estimated from the literature. Hence, despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N-content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lacking consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies.

Hypertensive crisis in pregnancy with 2019-nCoV infection; confirmed with rt-PCR for nasopharyngeal swab: A Case Report

Aim: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancer among men in the world. Prostate specific antigen is the most used biomarker for PCa diagnosis. In this study we aimed to measure the procalcitonin(PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with PCa. Methods: The patients who underwent transrectal prostate biopsy and transurethral prostate surgery in the last 4 years were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups according to the pathology reports, group1; benign prostate hyperplasia and group2; prostate cancer. MedCalc Statistical Software version 17.6 was used for statistical analyses. Results: The current study includes 149 patients. There were 118 patients in group1 and 31 patients in group 2. The mean age of the patients was 66.85 and 69.41 years in groups respectively. Serum CRP and PCT levels was 3.33 and 0.01 in group 4.07 and 0.04 in group 2. Serum PCT levels was significantly higher in patients with PCa. Conclusion: We found that elevated procalcitonin levels was associated with prostate cancer. Further studies are needed to define the relationship between procalcitonin and prostate cancer. What’s Known: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among elderly men. Prostate specific antigen testisng is usually used in screening and diagnosis. Unfortunately PSA is not cancer specific and new biomarkers are needed for prostate cancer management. What’s New: Procalcitonin is a precursor of calcitonin which is produced by thyroid C-cells and some neuroendocrine cells. The elevated level of procalcitonin is associated with bacteremia and sepsis. In this study e investigated the procalcitonin levels in prostate cancer.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a new infectious agent causing the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since December 2019. The most severe disease and mortality due to COVID-19 occur in patients with comorbidities. Sickle cell disease (SCD) patients are considered immunocompromised due to the loss of splenic function. Here we report three cases of COVID-19 in one family affected by SCD. A mother and two siblings were diagnosed with COVID-19. The two siblings, 14 and 12 years, presented with vaso-occlusive crisis and one subsequently developed acute chest syndrome (ACS). All family members had favorable outcomes.

ABSTRACT: Background: Valve-in-valve (ViV) transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become a valuable option in patients with bioprosthetic failure. However, potential issues with ViV TAVR may occur in patients with high risk anatomy for coronary obstruction and patients with baseline smaller bioprosthetic valves at risk for patient prosthesis mismatch. The purpose of this study was therefore to use preoperative electrocardiography (ECG)-gated, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in patients undergoing isolated surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) to 1) identify which would be high risk for coronary occlusion with ViV TAVR, and 2) predict intraoperative SAVR sizing. Methods: Among 223 patients from our institutions’ database that underwent SAVR for aortic insufficiency (AI) or aortic stenosis (AS) between January 2012 and January 2020, 48 patients had MDCT imaging prior to surgery (AI; n=31, AS; n=17). Of all patients, 67% (n=32) were bicuspid morphology. Results: With the use of virtual valve implantation, all patients with AI and bicuspid AS had feasible anatomy for ViV TAVR, while 38% of patients with tricuspid AS were high risk for coronary obstruction. There was a strong correlation between actual valve size implanted and preoperative MDCT measurements using annulus average diameter, area and/or perimeter. Conclusion: Preoperative MDCT in patients undergoing SAVR is a useful tool for lifetime management, particularly in patients with tricuspid AS. Decisions for surgical management may change based on MDCT’s ability to predict intraoperative SAVR size and determine which patients may be high risk candidates for future ViV TAVR due to coronary artery obstruction.

Gut microbiota has been demonstrated to have a vast influence on human health in recent decades and its role in initiating, aggravating, or ameliorating diseases is emerging. Therapeutic strategies have therefore increasingly developed by targeting gut microbial modulation. Recently, its contribution to heterogeneous toxicological responses is also gaining attention, especially in drug-induced toxicity. Oral drugs interact directly with gut microbiota within the gastrointestinal tract and a number of them elicit toxicity mediated by intestinal microbiota. Present studies focus more on the unidirectional influence of how xenobiotics disturb intestinal microbial composition and function and consequently induce altered homeostasis. However, interactions between gut microbiota and xenobiotics are bidirectional and the impact of gut microbiota on xenobiotics especially on drugs should not be neglected. Thus, in this review, we intend to focus on how gut microbiota modulates drug toxicity by highlighting gut microbiota, microbial enzyme, and metabolites to proffer references for seeking common countermeasures in coping with drug toxicity by targeting gut microbiota. Moreover, we give a hypothesis that drugs capable of inducing gut dysbiosis tend to more or less impact the gut-connected organs as evidenced by the drug-induced hepatic encephalopathy, indicating an underlying link among the gut, liver, brain, and other possible organs in drug-induced toxicity.

Background and purpose Exosomes, nanosized extracellular vesicles, emerged as players in the cell-to-cell communication in the central nervous system (CNS), having a role in the modulation of the synaptic activity. This study aimed at evaluating whether exosomes can be actively released from presynaptic nerve terminals. Experimental Approach Mouse cortical synaptosomes were exposed to a depolarizing stimulus (25 mM KCl medium) and exosomes were isolated from the synaptosomal supernatants. Exosomes were characterized by dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, western blot and flow cytometry analyses. We also evaluated whether and how removing external Ca2+ ions or activating presynaptic GABAB receptors by exposing synaptosomes to (±)-baclofen (10 µM) affects the 25 mM KCl-evoked release of exosomes. Key Results The structural and biochemical analysis unveiled that synaptosomal supernatants contained vesicles having the size and the shape of exosomes, immunopositive for the exosomal markers TSG101, flotillin-1, CD63 and CD9. The content of these proteins in the exosomal fraction isolated from synaptosomal supernatants increased upon the exposure of nerve terminals to a depolarizing stimulus and occurred in a Ca2+-dependent fashion, mimicking the release of glutamate. (±)-Baclofen significantly reduced glutamate exocytosis but failed to affect the release of exosomes from cortical synaptosomes. Finally, presynaptic exosomes were shown to carry selected NMDA and AMPA receptors subunits. Conclusion and implications Our study unveils the Ca2+-dependent, depolarization-evoked release of exosomes from mouse cortical nerve terminals, which is insensitive to presynaptic release-regulating GABAB receptors. These findings add new insights into the mechanisms of exosomes-mediated communication in CNS.

Background & Purpose: We have earlier shown that vitamin D deficiency induces heart failure, in part, through insulin resistance. Whether activation of vitamin D receptor can attenuate heart failure, associated with metabolic syndrome, requires investigation. We aimed to assess cardioprotective potential of paricalcitol, a vitamin D receptor-activator, in high fat high fructose-fed rats. Experimental approach: Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed with control (Con) or high fat high fructose (HFHFrD) diet for 20 weeks. After 12 weeks, rats from HFHFrD group were divided into: HFHFrD, HFHFrD+P (paricalcitol i.p. 0.08 ug/kg/day) and HFHFrD+E (enalapril maleate i.p. 10 mg/kg/day). Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, blood pressure measurement and 2D echocardiography were performed. Cardiac fibrosis was assessed in Masson trichrome-stained paraffin-embedded heart sections. Mitochondrial DNA and proteins, and citrate synthase activity were measured in rat hearts. VDR was silenced in H9c2 cardiomyoblasts and immunoblotting was performed. Key Results: Paricalcitol improved glucose tolerance, serum lipid profile and blood pressure in high fat high fructose-fed rats. Paricalcitol reduced cardiac wall thickness, and increased ejection fraction in high fat high fructose-fed rats, with no effect on perivascular fibrosis. PGC1-α was uprgulated in HFHFrD+P group compared to HFHFrD group, without significant difference in mitochondrial content. Citrate synthase activity was significantly higher in HFHFrD+P group compared to HFHFrD group. Rat hearts of HFHFrD+P group had significantly higher expression of mitofusins. H9c2 cells with VDR knockdown showed significantly lower expression of Mfn2. Conclusion & Implications: Paricalcitol is cardioprotective in rats with metabolic syndrome, through improved mitochondrial dynamics, indicating repurposing potential.

Background and Purpose: Androgen receptor (AR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, is a master regulator in the development and progress of prostate cancer (PCa). A major challenge for the clinically used AR antagonists is the rapid emergence of resistance induced by some point mutations in the AR ligand binding domain (LBD), and therefore discovery of novel anti-AR therapeutics that can combat mutation-induced resistance is quite demanding. Therein, blocking the interaction between AR and DNA represents an innovative strategy to overcome resistance of traditional antagonists towards the AR LBD. Experimental Approach: In this study, an integrated docking-based virtual screening (VS) strategy based on the crystal structure of the DNA binding domain (DBD) of AR was conducted to search for novel AR antagonists, and then a series of bioassays including bio-layer interferometry (BLI) and RNA-seq were used to evaluate the biological activities of these compounds. Key Results: Among the tested compounds, 2-(2-butyl-1,3-dioxoisoindoline-5-carbox-amido)-4,5-dimeth-oxybenzoicacid (Cpd39) was identified as a potential hit, which was competent to block the binding of the AR DBD to androgen receptor response (ARE) and showed decent potency against AR transcriptional activity. Furthermore, Cpd39 was capable of effectively inhibiting the proliferation of PCa cell lines (i.e., LNCaP, PC3, DU145, and 22RV1) and reducing the expression of not only the full-length AR but also the splice variant AR-V7. Conclusion and Implications: The novel AR DBD-ARE blocker Cpd39 could serve as a starting point for the development of new therapeutics for castration-resistant PCa.

Lifestyle and early diagnosis can bring a drastic change in  Cervical cancer patient Infections when diagnosed early enough that makes it easy to prevent. By the time symptoms appear, cancer might have manifested itself and begun to spread. Due to poor access to preventive and treatment services, a vast number of unfortunate deaths occur needlessly. Enhancing the prevalent method of treatment and diagnosis, deep learning models have been proved to be more precise and accurate than mere Visual Inspection by specialists. AI-assisted colposcopy reduces time and effort it takes for a gynecologist to gain an expertise and thus spares more time to improve other skills, training and activities.Here, we use Supervised(unsupervised) algorithms in order to classify the colposcopy images. To attain our target, we collect a large number of image datasets requested to ABC hospital and are categorized by our system to different stages of cancer, results of which can be further analyzed by specialists to imply appropriate clinical procedures of cure. The successful deployment promotes low-cost mobile technology to facilitate millions of women across the country who earlier had limited access to life-saving cancer tests. As the morbidity and mortality rates of cervix cancer are pretty high, early detection and treatment of the abnormal tissues or pre-cancerous cells is the ultimate solution to it. This study is useful to diagnose an early metamorphosis of cancerous cells more accurately and hence helps to drop down the death rate even in any low-middle resources areas of the country.Keywords: Cervical Cancer, Deep learning, Colposcopy, Pap smear and HPV

Je vais vous parler d’un inconnu. Du moins d’une personne difficile à trouver. C’est même chose inouïe d’approcher son oeuvre tant elle paraît peu couverte.Je n’ai pas trouvé beaucoup d’informations sur Jean Motell. Difficile de dire d’ailleurs s’il s’agit d’un musicien, d’un artiste contemporain n’ayant pas percé, d’un vidéaste minimal ou tout simplement d’une bizarrerie comme internet peut en produire.Toujours est-il que je l’ai remarqué par son écriture. Par son écriture seule, car sa musique ne m’a pas touchée, du moins le peu que j’ai écoutée. Via une connaissance, j’ai mis la main sur l’un de ses livres : “Journal d’un vieux con” (ISBN 978-1087369426). Je m’attendais à des recyclages bukowskien : rien de tout ça.Par contre j’ai relevé ce qu’on pourrait presque appeler des apophtegmes (d’ailleurs titre d’une vidéo expérimentale de Jean Motell, obscur vidéaste - Notice BNF n° : FRBNF46537678 - par ailleurs) que je ne résiste pas à l’envie de partager avec vous.J’exploiterai au cours des pages suivantes diverses citations de l’artiste, extraite de son “Journal d’un vieux con” mais aussi des nombreuses publications qu’il dissémine sur internet, au travers du site medium.com sur son blog personnel Jean Motell Diary.

Author Information:   Amit Jain M.D.,  D. John Doyle, M.D., Ph.D.    

Abstract: Objectives: Sudden deafness, also known as sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), has numbers hypotheses about its etiology. One of them believes that changes in sex hormone levels may increase the risk of thrombosis and block the cochlear microcirculation, leading to the occurrence of SSNHL. Design: Women in different periods of physiological cycles, the levels of sex hormones in their body will change significantly, which had correlated to SSNHL. Participants: This study collected 435 female subjects who were admitted to the otolaryngology clinic of our hospital from July 2017 to November 2019. Setting: The participants were grouped by the menstrual cycle. Main outcome measures: The pure tone audiometry test results of the subjects were recorded and the differences among the groups were be analyzed. Results: 1. There was a significant difference in the average hearing threshold of subjects in different periods (F(3, 774)=8.773, P<0.001), and the average hearing threshold in follicular period (35.44 dBHL) was significantly lower than that in menstrual period (51.09 dBHL, P<0.001), luteal period (42.69 dBHL, P=0.036) and menopause (47.39 dBHL, P<0.001); 2. There was a correlation between the subjects at different periods and the severity of SSNHL (2 = 38.587, P <0.001), and the SSNHL severity was the slightest in the follicular period according to the mean rank value. 3. The analysis of SSNHL typing of subjects at different periods were variously (2 = 38.568, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study can explain the effect of sex hormone on SSNHL to a certain extent, and we will further explore the relationship between sex hormone levels and SSNHL, in order to provide more support for the diagnosis and treatment of SSNHL.

A document by Hayati Eren. Click on the document to view its contents.

Efficient and Secure Data Transmission Approachin Cloud-MANET-IoT Integrated FrameworkTanweer AlamFaculty of Computer and Information Systems, Islamic University of Madinah, Madinah, Saudi Arabiatanweer03@iu.edu.saHow to cite?Tanweer Alam. Efficient and Secure Data Transmission Approach in Cloud-MANET-IoT Integrated Framework. Journal of Telecommunication, Electronic and Computer Engineering. Vol 12(1). 2020.Abstract — The Internet of Things (IoT) devices have capabilities to interact and communicate in 5G heterogeneous networks. The IoT devices also have capabilities to form a network with neighborhood devices without a centralized approach. This network is called the mobile ad hoc network (MANET). Through an infrastructure-less system of the Internet of Things environment, the MANET enables IoT nodes to interact with one another. Those IoT nodes could interactively connect, communicate as well as share knowledge between several nodes. The role of cloud throughout this structure would be to store as well as interpret information through IoT nodes. The communication security has also been introduced to be one of the techniques in which trying to solve the data transmission security issue that could result in the performance increase in cloud consumption and ubiquity. Our purpose in this research would be to establish a communication system among IoT nodes in such an embedded Cloud and MANET structure. The main goal of this research is to create an efficient and secure approach for communication in Cloud-MANET-IoT integrated framework. This approach is implemented and tested.Index Terms —Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET); Cloud Computing; Wireless Communication; Internet of Things; Smart Devices.

Convergence of MANET in Communication among Smart Devices in IoTTanweer Alama, Baha Rababahb

Fuzzy Control Based Mobility Framework for Evaluating Mobility Models in MANET of Smart DevicesTanweer AlamDepartment of Computer ScienceFaculty of Computer and Information SystemsIslamic University in Medina, Saudi ArabiaEmail: tanweer03@iu.edu.sa

How to cite this article?Tanweer Alam. " A Reliable Framework for Communication in Internet of Smart Devices using IEEE 802.15.4.", ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Vol 13(10). 2018.

Please cite this article. Tanweer Alam. "IoT-Fog: A Communication Framework using Blockchain in the Internet of Things.", International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE). Vol. 7(6), 2019. AbstractThe fog computing is the emerging technology to compute, store, control and connecting smart devices with each other using cloud computing. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an architecture of uniquely identified interrelated physical things, these physical things are able to communicate with each other and can transmit and receive information. This research presents a framework of the combination of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Fog computing. The blockchain is also the emerging technology that provides a hyper, distributed, public, authentic ledger to record the transactions. Blockchains technology is a secured technology that can be a boon for the next generation computing. The combination of fog, blockchains, and IoT creates a new opportunity in this area. In this research, the author presents a middleware framework based on the blockchain, fog, and IoT. The framework is implemented and tested. The results are found positive. Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT), Fog Computing, Cloud Computing, Blockchains, Communication Security.