We report a new theranostic device based on lead sulfide quantum dots (PbS QDs) with optical emission in the near infrared wavelength range decorated with affibodies (small 6.5 kDa protein-based antibody replacements) specific to the cancer biomarker human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and zinc(II) protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP) to combine imaging, targeting and therapy within one nanostructure. Colloidal PbS QDs were synthesized in aqueous solution with a nanocrystal diameter of ∼5 nm and photoluminescence emission in the near infrared wavelength range. The ZHER2:432 affibody, mutated through the introduction of two cysteine residues at the C-terminus (Afb2C), was used as capping ligand to form Afb2C-PbS QDs that have a high binding affinity for HER2, which is overexpressed in several types of cancer including breast cancer. Afb2C-PbS QDs were further modified by conjugation with ZnPP, which acts as an anticancer agent. The biological activity of these QDs was tested against SKBR3 (HER2-positive) and MDA-MB-231 (HER2-normal) breast cancer cells, with results showing that ZnPP-Afb2C-functionalized PbS QDs were successfully targeted to the HER2-overexpressing cancer cells and induced cell apoptosis thanks to the conjugation with ZnPP. These results expand the use of the QD nanoplatform with the formulation of novel nanomaterials for targeted delivery and combined imaging and therapy via direct surface-protein interaction.
Wildfire risk has globally increased during the past few years due to several factors. An efficient and fast response to wildfires is extremely important to reduce the damaging effect on humans and wildlife. This work introduces a methodology for designing an efficient machine learning system to detect wildfires using satellite imagery. A convolutional neural network (CNN) model is optimized to reduce the required computational resources. Due to the limitations of images containing fire and seasonal variations, an image augmentation process is used to develop adequate training samples for the change in the forest’s visual features and the seasonal wind direction at the study area during the fire season. The selected CNN model (Mob
... Show MoreComputer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has proved to be an effective and accurate method for diagnostic prediction over the years. This article focuses on the development of an automated CAD system with the intent to perform diagnosis as accurately as possible. Deep learning methods have been able to produce impressive results on medical image datasets. This study employs deep learning methods in conjunction with meta-heuristic algorithms and supervised machine-learning algorithms to perform an accurate diagnosis. Pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) or auto-encoder are used for feature extraction, whereas feature selection is performed using an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. Ant colony optimization helps to search for the bes
... Show MoreLong-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) mostly associated with renal and hepatic adverse effects, and the adjunct use of compounds with potent protective effects, like silymarin, may be one of the choices to avoid these effects. This project was designed to evaluate the protective effect of silymarin against the suspected renal and hepatic injury induced with long term use of NSAIDs; 220 patients with osteoarthritis were randomized into 5 groups and treated with either silymarin 300mg/day alone, piroxicam 20mg/day alone, meloxicam 15mg/day alone or the combination of each of them with silymarin for 8 weeks. The renal and hepatic functions were evaluated before starting treatment and after 8 weeks including assessm
... Show MoreThe place in which the person lives and his geographical and social environment have a great impact on building his personality, belief and culture, Islam has alerted the importance of the Muslim to make sure to choose the appropriate place in which he resides and dwells in that it is compatible with his religion and belief in order to ensure communication with Islamic knowledge in a way that enhances his belief Arabization occurs when a person makes himself an Arab by living the life of the Bedouins, and creates the morals of the Bedouins from the inhabitants of the Badia with its harshness, cruelty, ignorance and lack of understanding in religion and far from the sources of knowledge of Islamic knowledge. Blasphemy and polytheism, and
... Show MoreNanoparticles of Pb1-xCdxS within the composition of 0≤x≤1 were prepared from the reaction of aqueous solution of cadmium acetate, lead acetate, thiourea, and NaOH by chemical co-precipitation. The prepared samples were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy(in the range 300-1100nm) to study the optical properties, AFM and SEM to check the surface morphology(Roughness average and shape) and the particle size. XRD technique was used to determine the crystalline structure, XRD technique was used to determine the purity of the phase and the crystalline structure, The crystalline size average of the nanoparticles have been found to be 20.7, 15.48, 11.9, 11.8, and 13.65 nm for PbS, Pb0.75Cd0.25S,
... Show More"1998 onwards, a span reporting 1000s of studies depicts the ever-increasing Schiff bases and their complexes applicability; this study genetically tests the research of the last 20 years. The variety of these molecules structural has made them obtainable for a so broad ambit for implementations of biological. They are eminent and because of this unique feature they find their position in the quantitative and qualitative calculation of metals in the aqueous medium. It demonstrated to be prominent catalysts and showed an enjoyable effect of fluorescence. Definitively, Schiff base fissures gotten situation of a unique during bio-experiments and in vitro to develop drugs with a large number of biological structures containing parasites
... Show MoreCorrect grading of apple slices can help ensure quality and improve the marketability of the final product, which can impact the overall development of the apple slice industry post-harvest. The study intends to employ the convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures of ResNet-18 and DenseNet-201 and classical machine learning (ML) classifiers such as Wide Neural Networks (WNN), Naïve Bayes (NB), and two kernels of support vector machines (SVM) to classify apple slices into different hardness classes based on their RGB values. Our research data showed that the DenseNet-201 features classified by the SVM-Cubic kernel had the highest accuracy and lowest standard deviation (SD) among all the methods we tested, at 89.51 % 1.66 %. This
... Show MoreExamining and comparing the image quality of degenerative cervical spine diseases through the application of three MRI sequences; the Two-Dimension T2 Weighed Turbo Spin Echo (2D T2W TSE), the Three-Dimension T2 Weighted Turbo Spin Echo (3D T2W TSE), and the T2 Turbo Field Echo (T2_TFE). Thirty-three patients who were diagnosed as having degenerative cervical spine diseases were involved in this study. Their age range was 40-60 years old. The images were produced via a 1.5 Tesla MRI device using (2D T2W TSE, 3D T2W TSE, and T2_TFE) sequences in the sagittal plane. The image quality was examined by objective and subjective assessments. The MRI image characteristics of the cervical spines (C4-C5, C5-C6, C6-C7) showed significant difference
... Show MoreTwo- dimensional numerical simulations are carried out to study the elements of observing a Dirac point source and a Dirac binary system. The essential features of this simulation are demonstrated in terms of the point spread function and the modulation transfer function. Two mathematical equations have been extracted to present, firstly the relationship between the radius of optical telescope and the distance between the central frequency and cut-off frequency of the optical telescope, secondly the relationship between the radius of the optical telescope and the average frequency components of the modulation transfer function.