Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a common health problem that has a worldwide distribution. Apart from the direct effect of the virus on the liver, there are many extrahepatic manifestations among which the probable effect on bone turnover associated with low bone mineral density (BMD). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between treated and untreated chronic HBV infection with BMD. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included a total of 48 patients with chronic HBV (28 patients treated with tenofovir-disoproxil-fumarate [TDF] antiviral drug and 20 patients have not yet started treatment). Other age- and sex-matched 30 apparently healthy individuals were recruited to represent the hea

Due to the broad range uses of chromium for industrial purposes, besides its carcinogenic effect, an efficient, cost effective removal method should be obtained. In this study, cow bones as a cheap raw material were utilized to produce active carbon (CBAC) by physiochemical activation, which was characterized using: SEM to investigate surface morphology and BET to estimate the specific surface area. The best surface area of CBAC was 595.9 m²/gm which was prepared at 600 ^ᵒC activation temperature and impregnation ratio of 1:1.5. CBAC was used in aqueous chromium ions adsorption. The investigated factors and their ranges are: initial concentration (10-50 mg/L), adsorption time (30-300 min), temperature (20-50

In this paper, the behavior of structural concrete linear bar members was studied using numerical model implemented in a computer program written in MATLAB. The numerical model is based on the modified version of the procedure developed by Oukaili. The model is based on real stress-strain diagrams of concrete and steel and their secant modulus of elasticity at different loading stages. The behavior presented by normal force-axial strain and bending moment-curvature relationships is studied by calculating the secant sectional stiffness of the member. Based on secant methods, this methodology can be easily implemented using an iterative procedure to solve non-linear equations. A comparison between numerical and experimental data, illustrated

The presence of residual antibiotics in water results in the development of antibiotics resistant genes. The available wastewater treatment systems are not capable of removing such antibiotics from sewage. Thus, antibiotics need to be removed before the discharge of wastewater. Adsorption is among the promising techniques for the wastewater treatment to aid the removal of a wide range of organic and inorganic pollutants. The present work is a contribution to the search for an economical method for the removal of low concentrations of amoxicillin (AMX) from water by adsorption on water treatment residue, WTR, taken from a local drinking water facility. The chemical composition and the adsorptive characteristics of the material were first

Twitter is becoming an increasingly popular platform used by financial analysts to monitor and forecast financial markets. In this paper we investigate the impact of the sentiments expressed in Twitter on the subsequent market movement, specifically the bitcoin exchange rate. This study is divided into two phases, the first phase is sentiment analysis, and the second phase is correlation and regression. We analyzed tweets associated with the Bitcoin in order to determine if the user’s sentiment contained within those tweets reflects the exchange rate of the currency. The sentiment of users over a 2-month period is classified as having a positive or negative sentiment of the digital currency using the proposed CNN-LSTM

Suicidal ideation is one of the most severe mental health issues faced by people all over the world. There are various risk factors involved that can lead to suicide. The most common & critical risk factors among them are depression, anxiety, social isolation and hopelessness. Early detection of these risk factors can help in preventing or reducing the number of suicides. Online social networking platforms like Twitter, Redditt and Facebook are becoming a new way for the people to express themselves freely without worrying about social stigma. This paper presents a methodology and experimentation using social media as a tool to analyse the suicidal ideation in a better way, thus helping in preventing the chances of being the victim o

Background: Smoking is the major environmental risk factor that has been associated with the pathogenesis and progression of periodontal diseases. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), has been associated with the immunopathology of periodontitis. Objectives: To determine the influence of smoking on salivary Interleukin-8 level from smokers and non-smokers with periodontitis and periodontally healthy control subjects.

Materials and Methods: Un-stimulated saliva samples were collected of 90 participants: 30 smokers and 30 non-smokers with chronic periodontitis, as well as 30 periodontally healthy control subjects. The clinical parameters such as the pocket depth, clinical attachment loss, plaque index, and gingiv

P. aeruginosa is a famous bacterium that causes several diseases and has a high ability to be a multidrug resistant organism that is linked with the formation of biofilm. This study aimed to investigate tssC1 gene role in the resistance of different antibiotics in the presence of biofilm. We constructed biofilm for the isolates under the study and showed the effect of different antibiotics on biofilm formation and maturation. The presence of the gene was detected through achieving PCR reaction. Finally, tssC1 gene variation was determined through sequencing and aligning the sequencing products. The results showed that most of the isolates (80%) formed biofilm that played a role in the resistance of different antibiotics which could

Polymer electrolytes were prepared using the solution cast technology. Under some conditions, the electrolyte content of polymers was analyzed in constant percent of PVA/PVP (50:50), ethylene carbonate (EC), and propylene carbonate (PC) (1:1) with different proportions of potassium iodide (KI) (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 wt%) and iodine (I₂) = 10 wt% of salt. Fourier Transmission Infrared (FTIR) studies confirmed the complex formation of polymer blends. Electrical conductivity was calculated with an impedance analyzer in the frequency range 50 Hz–1MHz and in the temperature range 293–343 K. The highest electrical conductivity value of 5.3 × 10^-3 (S/cm) was observed for electrolytes with 50 wt% KI concentration at room

In this paper, a least squares group finite element method for solving coupled Burgers' problem in   2-D is presented. A fully discrete formulation of least squares finite element method is analyzed, the backward-Euler scheme for the time variable is considered, the discretization with respect to space variable is applied as biquadratic quadrangular elements with nine nodes for each element. The continuity, ellipticity, stability condition and error estimate of least squares group finite element method are proved.  The theoretical results  show that the error estimate of this method is . The numerical results are compared with the exact solution and other available literature when the convection-dominated case to illustrate the effic