Impact of cigarette smoking on response to interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C Egyptian patients

AIM:Smoking may affect adversely the response rate to interferon-α.Our objective was to verify this issue among chronic hepatitis C patients. METHODS:Over the year 1998,138 chronic hepatitis C male Egyptian patients presenting to Cairo Liver Center, were divided on the basis of smoking habit into:group I which comprised 38 smoker patients(>30 cigarettes/d) and group Ⅱ which included 84 non-smoker patients. Irregular and mild smokers(16 patients)were excluded. Non eligible patients for interferon-α therapy were excluded from the study and comprised 3/38(normal ALT)in group I and 22/84 in group Ⅱ(normal ALT,advanced cirrhosis and thrombocytopenia).Group I was randomly allocated into 2 sub-groups:group Ia comprised 18 patients who were subjected to therapeutic phlebotomy while sub-group Ib consisted of 17 patients who had no phlebotomy.In sub-group la,3 patients with normal ALT after repeated phlebotomies were excluded from the study.Interferon-α 2b 3 MU/TIW was given for 6 mo to 15 patients in group Ia,17 patients in group Ib and 62 patients in group Ⅱ. Biochemical,virological end-of-treatment and sustained responses were evaluated. RESULTS:At the end of interferon-α treatment,ALT was normalized in 3/15 patients(20%)in group Ia and 2/17 patients(11.8%)in group Ib compared to17/62 patients (27.4%)in group Ⅱ(P=0.1).Whereas 2/15 patients(13.3%) in group Ia.and 2/17 patients(11.8%)in group Ib lost viraemia compared to 13/62 patients(26%)in group Ⅱ (P=0.3).Six months later,ALT was persistently normal in 2/15 patients(13.3%)in group 1a and 1/17 patients (5.9%)in group Ib compared to 9/62 patients(14.5%)in group Ⅱ(P=0.47).Viraemia was eliminated in 1/15 patients (6.7%)in group Ia and 1/17 patients(5.9%)in group Ib compared to 7/62 patients(11.3%) in group Ⅱ,but the results did not mount to statistical significance(P=0.4). CONCLUSION:Smokers suffering from chronic hepatitis C tend to have a lower response rate to interferon-α compared to non-smokers.Therapeutic phlebotomy improves the response rate to interferon-α therapy among this group.

Optimization Study of Pulsed DC Nitrogen-Hydrogen Plasma in the Presence of an Active Screen Cage

A glow discharge plasma nitriding reactor in the presence of an active screen cage is optimized in terms of current density,filling pressure and hydrogen concentrations using optical emission spectroscopy（OES）.The samples of AISI 304 are nitrided for different treatment times under optimum conditions.The treated samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction（XRD） to explore the changes induced in the crystallographic structure.The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of iron and chromium nitrides arising from incorporation of nitrogen as an interstitial solid solution in the iron lattice.A Vickers microhardness tester was used to evaluate the surface hardness as a function of treatment time（h）.The results showed clear evidence of improved surface hardness and a substantial amount of decrease in the treatment time compared with the previous work.

Investigation of 50 Hz Pulsed DC Nitrogen Plasma with Active Screen Cage by Trace Rare Gas Optical Emission Spectroscopy

Optical emission spectroscopy is used to investigate the nitrogen-hydrogen with trace rare gas （4% Ar） plasma generated by 50 Hz pulsed DC discharges. The filling pressure varies from 1 mbar to 5 mbar and the current density ranges from 1 mA-cm-2 to 4 mA.cm-2. The hydrogen concentration in the mixture plasma varies from 0% to 80%, with the objective of identifying the optimum pressure, current density and hydrogen concentration for active species （[N] and IN2]） generation. It is observed that in an N2-H2 gas mixture, the concentration of N atom density decreases with filling pressure and increases with current density, with other parameters of the discharge kept unchanged. The maximum concentrations of active species were found for 40% H2 in the mixture at 3 mbar pressure and current density of 4 mA.cm-2.

Comparative Study of Plasma Parameters in Magnetic Pole Enhanced Inductively Coupled Argon Plasmas

Langmuir probe measurements of radio frequency （RF） magnetic pole enhanced inductively coupled （MaPE-ICP） argon plasma were accomplished to obtain the electron number densities and electron temperatures. The measurements were carried out with a fixed RF frequency of 13.56 MHz in a pressure range of 7.5 mTorr to 75 mTorr at an applied RF power of 10 W and 100 W. These results are compared with a global （volume average） model. The results show good agreement between theoretical and experimental measurements. The electron number density shows an increasing trend with both RF power and pressure while the electron temperature shows decreasing trend as the pressure increases. The difference in the plasma potentiM and floating potential as a function of electron temperature measured from the electrical probe and that obtained theoretically shows a linear relation with a small difference in the coefficient of proportionality. The intensity of the emission line at 750.4 nm due to 2pl → 1s2 （Paschen＇s notation） transition closely follows the variation of ne with RF power and filling gas pressure. Measured electron energy probability function （EEPF） shows that electron occupation changes mostly in the high-energy tail, which highlights close similarity of 750.4 nm argon line to he.

Exploring the impact of stratification on the dynamics of bioconvective thixotropic fluid conveying tiny particles and Cattaneo-Christov model:Thermal storage system application

Stratified thermal storage promotes energy sustainability by storing excess energy during times of low demand for later use making it possible to integrate renewable energy sources like solar and wind.This communication discusses the significance of triple stratifica-tion using the Cattaneo-Christov model in the bioconvectiveflow of thixotropicfluid coexisting with nanoparticles and gyrotactic microorganisms.The Cattaneo-Christov heat and massflux is incorporated into thefluid model allowing more accurate prediction of heat and mass phenomena in thefluid system.The governing partial differential equations that describefluidflow are parametrized to yield an ordinary differential equation system by adopting suitable transformations.The series solutions are obtained by applying the homotopy analysis method(HAM).The effects of relevant parameters on the various profiles are revealed and accurately reported.It is observed that amplified thermal stratification lowers the temperature of thefluid.Also,Brownian motion is used to illustrate the random movement of small particles suspended in liquids,and it is envisioned that the concentration distribution is significantly influenced by the Brownian motion of nanoparticles.