Effectiveness and safety of subthreshold vibration over suprathreshold vibration in treatment of muscle fatigue in elderly people

Muscle fatigue is common in many populations,particularly elderlies.Aging increases the incidence of muscle fatigue and delays its recovery.There is a huge debate about the current treatments for muscle fatigue,particularly in elderlies.Recently,it has been discovered that mechanoreceptors have an important role as a sensory system in sensing muscle fatigue which could enhance the body's response to muscle fatigue.The function of mechanoreceptors could be enhanced by applying either suprathreshold or subthreshold vibration.Although suprathreshold vibration improves muscle fatigue,it can cause desensitization of cutaneous receptors,discomfort,and paresthesia,which are barriers to clinical use.Subthreshold vibration has been approved as a safe and effective method of training for mechanoreceptors;however,its use and effectiveness in muscle fatigue have never been tested or explained.Possible physiological effects of subthreshold vibration in the treatment of muscle fatigue include:(1)Enhancing the function of mechanoreceptors themselves;(2)Increasing the firing rate and function of alpha motor neurons;(3)Increasing blood flow to fatigued muscles;(4)Decreasing the rate of muscle cell death in elderlies(sarcopenia);and(5)Driving motor commands and allow better performance of muscles to decrease fatigue incidence.In conclusion,the use of subthreshold vibration could be a safe and effective treatment for muscle fatigue in elderlies.It could enhance recovery from muscle fatigue.Finally,Subthreshold Vibration is safe and effective in treating muscle fatigue in comparison to suprathreshold vibration.

Hybrid Feature Selection Method for Predicting Alzheimer’s Disease Using Gene Expression Data

Gene expression(GE)classification is a research trend as it has been used to diagnose and prognosis many diseases.Employing machine learning(ML)in the prediction of many diseases based on GE data has been a flourishing research area.However,some diseases,like Alzheimer’s disease(AD),have not received considerable attention,probably owing to data scarcity obstacles.In this work,we shed light on the prediction of AD from GE data accurately using ML.Our approach consists of four phases:preprocessing,gene selection(GS),classification,and performance validation.In the preprocessing phase,gene columns are preprocessed identically.In the GS phase,a hybrid filtering method and embedded method are used.In the classification phase,three ML models are implemented using the bare minimum of the chosen genes obtained from the previous phase.The final phase is to validate the performance of these classifiers using different metrics.The crux of this article is to select the most informative genes from the hybrid method,and the best ML technique to predict AD using this minimal set of genes.Five different datasets are used to achieve our goal.We predict AD with impressive values forMultiLayer Perceptron(MLP)classifier which has the best performance metrics in four datasets,and the Support Vector Machine(SVM)achieves the highest performance values in only one dataset.We assessed the classifiers using sevenmetrics;and received impressive results,allowing for a credible performance rating.The metrics values we obtain in our study lie in the range[.97,.99]for the accuracy(Acc),[.97,.99]for F1-score,[.94,.98]for kappa index,[.97,.99]for area under curve(AUC),[.95,1]for precision,[.98,.99]for sensitivity(recall),and[.98,1]for specificity.With these results,the proposed approach outperforms recent interesting results.With these results,the proposed approach outperforms recent interesting results.

Edge Detection with a Preprocessing Approach

Edge detection is the process of determining where boundaries of objects fall within an image. So far, several standard operators-based methods have been widely used for edge detection. However, due to inherent quality of images, these methods prove ineffective if they are applied without any preprocessing. In this paper, an image preprocessing approach has been adopted in order to get certain parameters that are useful to perform better edge detection with the standard operators-based edge detection methods. The proposed preprocessing approach involves computation of the histogram, finding out the total number of peaks and suppressing irrelevant peaks. From the intensity values corresponding to relevant peaks, threshold values are obtained. From these threshold values, optimal multilevel thresholds are calculated using the Otsu method, then multilevel image segmentation is carried out. Finally, a standard edge detection method can be applied to the resultant segmented image. Simulation results are presented to show that our preprocessed approach when used with a standard edge detection method enhances its performance. It has been also shown that applying wavelet edge detection method to the segmented images, generated through our preprocessing approach, yields the superior performance among other standard edge detection methods.

Influence of enhancing dynamic scapular recognition on shoulder disability,and pain in diabetics with frozen shoulder:A case report

BACKGROUND Frozen shoulder(FS)is a familiar disorder.Diabetics with FS have more severe symptoms and a worse prognosis.Thus,this study investigated the influence of enhancing dynamic scapular recognition on shoulder disability and pain in diabetics with FS.CASE SUMMARY A Forty-five years-old male person with diabetes mellitus and a unilateral FS(stage II)for at least 3 mo with shoulder pain and limitation in both passive and active ranges of motion(ROMs)of the glenohumeral joint of≥25%in 2 directions participated in this study.This person received dynamic scapular recognition exercise was applied to a diabetic person with a unilateral FS(stage II).The main outcome measures were upward rotation of the scapula,shoulder pain and disability index,and shoulder range of motion of flexion,abduction,and external rotation.The dynamic scapular exercise was performed for 15 min/session and 3 sessions/wk lasted for 4 wk.After 4 wk of intervention,there were improvements between pre-treatment and post-treatment in shoulder pain,shoulder pain and disability index,shoulder ROM,and upward rotation of the scapula.CONCLUSION This case report suggested that enhancing dynamic scapular recognition may improve shoulder pain and disability;upward rotation of the scapula;and shoulder ROM of shoulder abduction,flexion,and external rotation after 4 wk.

Radiolabeling, docking studies, in silico ADME and biological evaluation of serotonin with 125I for 5-HTRs imaging

Serotonin is one of the significant signaling molecules used by several neural systems in the gut and brain. This study aimed to develop a novel and potent tracer for targeting, detecting, and imaging serotonin receptors(5-HTRs), which is a promising tool in the determination of the receptor’s function and relationship with the diseases related to serotonin and its receptor dysfunction. Serotonin was effectively labeled via a direct electrophilic substitutional reaction using an oxidizing agent such as iodogen with 125I in a neutral medium, and 125I-serotonin was achieved with a maximum labeling yield of 91 ± 0.63% with in vitro stability up to 24 h. Molecular modeling was conducted to signify 125I-serotonin structure and confirm that the radiolabeling process did not affect serotonin binding ability to its receptors. Biodistribution studies show that the maximum gastro intestinal tract uptake of 125I-serotonin was 17.8 ± 0.93% ID/organ after 30 min postinjection and the tracer’s ability to pass the blood–brain barrier. Thus, 125I-serotonin is a promising single photon emission computed tomography tracer in the detection of 5 HTRs.

COVID19 Outbreak:A Hierarchical Framework for User Sentiment Analysis

Social networking sites in the most modernized world are flooded with large data volumes.Extracting the sentiment polarity of important aspects is necessary;as it helps to determine people’s opinions through what they write.The Coronavirus pandemic has invaded the world and been given a mention in the social media on a large scale.In a very short period of time,tweets indicate unpredicted increase of coronavirus.They reflect people’s opinions and thoughts with regard to coronavirus and its impact on society.The research community has been interested in discovering the hidden relationships from short texts such as Twitter and Weiboa;due to their shortness and sparsity.In this paper,a hierarchical twitter sentiment model(HTSM)is proposed to show people’s opinions in short texts.The proposed HTSM has two main features as follows:constructing a hierarchical tree of important aspects from short texts without a predefined hierarchy depth and width,as well as analyzing the extracted opinions to discover the sentiment polarity on those important aspects by applying a valence aware dictionary for sentiment reasoner(VADER)sentiment analysis.The tweets for each extracted important aspect can be categorized as follows:strongly positive,positive,neutral,strongly negative,or negative.The quality of the proposed model is validated by applying it to a popular product and a widespread topic.The results show that the proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods used in analyzing people’s opinions in short text effectively.

Synthesis, Reactions and Characterization of 1,1’-(1,4-Phenylenebis(3-amino-6-methyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-4,5-diyl))bis(ethan-1-one)

Reaction of 4,4’-(1,4-phenylene)bis(5-acetyl-6-methyl-2-thioxo-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile) (1) with methyl iodide afforded the 4,4’-(1,4-phenylene)bis(5-acetyl-6-methyl-2-(methylthio)nicotinonitrile) (2). The reaction of 2 with hydrazine hydrate followed by diazotization reaction af-forded the 1,1’-(1,4-phenylenebis(3-amino-6-methyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-4,5-diyl))bis(e-than-1-one) (3) and 1,1’-(1,4-phenylenebis(3-(chlorodiazenyl)-6-methyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]-pyridine-4,5-diyl))bis(ethan-1-one) (4) respectively. On the other hand, reaction of 4 with malononitrile, 2-cyanoethanethioamide, ethyl acetoacetate, acetyl acetone, ethyl benzoylacetate, diethylmalonate, ethyl cyanoacetate and phenacylbromide aiming to build up pyrazolotriazine or pyrazole ring on the ring system of 4. Structures of all newly synthesized heterocyclic compounds in the present study were confirmed by considering the data of IR, 1H NMR, mass spectra as well as that of elemental analyses.

Timing and Classication of Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis Patients Using Fast Large Margin Classifier

:Surface electromyogram(sEMG)processing and classication can assist neurophysiological standardization and evaluation and provide habitational detection.The timing of muscle activation is critical in determining various medical conditions when looking at sEMG signals.Understanding muscle activation timing allows identication of muscle locations and feature validation for precise modeling.This work aims to develop a predictive model to investigate and interpret Patellofemoral(PF)osteoarthritis based on features extracted from the sEMG signal using pattern classication.To this end,sEMG signals were acquired from ve core muscles over about 200 reads from healthy adult patients while they were going upstairs.Onset,offset,and time duration for the Transversus Abdominus(TrA),Vastus Medialis Obliquus(VMO),Gluteus Medius(GM),Vastus Lateralis(VL),and Multidus Muscles(ML)were acquired to construct a classication model.The proposed classication model investigates function mapping from real-time space to a PF osteoarthritis discriminative feature space.The activation feature space of muscle timing is used to train several large margin classiers to modulate muscle activations and account for such activation measurements.The fast large margin classier achieved higher performance and faster convergence than support vector machines(SVMs)and other state-of-the-art classiers.The proposed sEMG classication framework achieved an average accuracy of 98.8%after 7 s training time,improving other classication techniques in previous literature.

PI Multi-Objective Genetic for LFC Based Different Wind Penetration

Future energy descent systems will be expected to be controlled by the using of renewable power sources of which wind energy is one of the favorable sources. This paper treats with the implantation of genetic algorithms for making the parameters needed for PID applied to interconnected thermal and hydraulic power systems at best use and most effective. Two-areas of hydraulic and thermal power systems with wind connected parallel to each one are considered to exemplify the effective parameter investigation. First hydraulic and thermal are connected with tie line with the wind connected parallel to hydraulic or thermal, and then disturbance was made at thermal power plant, then to hydraulic power plant. Simulations are performed aided by the integrated Simulink/Matlab environment taking into consideration the genetic optimization process. Multiple integral representations variables with different cost functions were considered in the search for the effective AGC parameters. The outcomes established by this paper shows the impact of the genetic algorithms for LFC about multiple areas connected power systems based on different wind power using in the tuning of such a process.

The Impact of Lean Manufacturing Practices on Sustainability Performance:A Natural Resource-Based View

Drawing upon a Natural Resource-Based View(NRBV),this paper aims to propose a quantitative model that could be used to investigate whether Lean Manufacturing(LM)practices/tools can improve the three aspects of corporate sustainability performance(economic,environmental,and social).This paper is based on a theoretical study to develop a new model by reviewing the literature and proposing new ideas according to the Natural Resource-Based View(NRBV).Reviewing the literature showed that there is a significant association between LM practices/tools implementation and the improvement on three aspects of corporate sustainability performance(economic,environmental,and social).This paper provides insights to manufacturing managers about the ability of LM practices to reduce cost of operations and maximize the value provided to customers.Further,it highlighted the importance of LM practices implementation to manage organizations’activities responsibly in terms of their environmental,social,and economic effects.By proposing such a quantitative model according to a NRBV,this study contributes to a broader understanding of how LM practices affect three pillars of sustainability.

Spectral, Thermal and Antibacterial Studies for Bivalent Metal Complexes of Oxalyl, Malonyl and Succinyl-bis-4-phenylthiosemicarbazide Ligands

The thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) have been used to study the thermal decomposition of some oxalyl (H4OxTSC), malonyl (H4MaTSC) and succinyl-bis-4-phenyl- thiosemicarbazide (H4SuTSC) ligands and their metal complexes using Horowitz-Metzger (HM) and Coats-Redfern methods. The kinetic thermodynamic parameters such as: E*, ΔH*, ΔS*and ΔG* are calculated from the DTG curves. The isolated complexes have the general composition [M2(L) (H2O)6], where M=Cu(II), Zn(II), L=MaTSC and M=Co(II), Cu(II) or Sn(II) and L=Su TSC and [M2(L) (H2O)n]·nH2O where M=Cu(II), Co(II) or Sn(II), L=OxTS or Ma TSC. The tested compounds show a good activity against four strains of bacteria Gram negative Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa species and gram-positive Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus.

Addition of Inhalation Training Devices and Smartphone Application to Verbal Counseling for Asthmatic Patients

Background:One of the main issues with pressurized metered dose inhalers(pMDI)is that some patients find it difficult to use it properly.Methods:This study was carried out to compare the effect of traditional verbal counseling and that of adding an inhalation training device,such as Flo-Tone or Clip-Tone,along with a smartphone application on the incidence of inhalation technique mistakes and the pulmonary function of asthmatic adults and children.Results:The lung function of those in the advanced counseling group significantly improved on the second visit(p<0.001),whereas for those in the verbal counseling group,their lung function only improved on the third visit(p<0.001).For both the groups,the mean number of mistakes in regard to the steps in inhalation technique decreased significantly(p<0.001),with an overall higher percentage in the advanced counseling group.Conclusion:The use of training devices and smartphone applications in addition to traditional verbal counseling for teaching asthmatic adults and children the correct inhalation technique steps using pMDI resulted in a significant improvement in pulmonary function and a significant reduction in the number of inhalation technique mistakes,compared to traditional verbal counseling alone.

COVID-19 Patients with Hepatic Complications During the Third Wave of Pandemic in Egypt

COVID-19 is a respiratory infection that has lately begun to affect other vital organs,including the heart,kidney,and liver.The purpose of this study was to investigate the hepatic complications in COVID-19 patients and the risk of being admitted to ICU or facing death.Methodology:Comorbidities(hypertension and diabetes),COVID-19 symptoms,laboratory findings(ALT level,AST level,and albumin),complications during hospitalization,treatment protocol used,and survival outcomes were all studied in 200 COVID-19 infected Egyptian patients who had virological symptoms and were followed up until they recovered or died.It was found that older people and those with higher blood glucose levels have a higher risk of developing liver-associated COVID-19 disorders.Also,the majority of patients who developed liver complications in the course of the infection had high mortality rates.Patients with diabetes,hypertension,or hepatic disease are at higher risk of ICU admission or death.Hence,it is important to pay attention to these problems in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 to develop a suitable individualized treatment protocol.There was also a correlation between the mortality in COVID-19 patients and both,high blood glucose and liver enzyme levels.It can be attributed to the correlation between diabetes and liver disease as every disease may be a complication to the other;moreover,COVID-19 may lead to increased blood sugar levels in addition to ALT and AST levels.Another theory is that COVID-19 may afiect the liver and hence people with chronic liver disease.

An Observational Study on the Management of COVID-19 Patients in Limited-Resource Hospitals

Background:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of limited-resource hospitals in managing mild and moderate hospitalized cases of COVID-19 with comorbidities and in preventing their progression to severe illness.Methods:Data were obtained from 88 moderate COVID-19 patients with comorbidities who were admitted to limitedresource hospitals.The data were classified into several parts:comorbidities,chronic medication before hospital admission,symptoms of COVID-19 before and during hospitalization,clinical features,laboratory findings on hospital admission,complications during hospitalization,as well as worst laboratory values during hospitalization,hospital stay,and outcomes.The clinical features,laboratory results,type of oxygen therapy used,and the final treatment outcome were all evaluated to assess for any potential relationship.Results:All patients were alive upon discharge.Before admission,the majority of patients(60.2%)received COVID-19 treatment,and the average hospital stay was 12 days.The most common symptoms were fever(88.7%),cough(95.5%),shortness of breath(90.9%),myalgia(84.1%),confusion(63.6%),headache(62.5%),sore throat(88.7%),rhinorrhea(17%),chest pain(58%),diarrhea(19.3%),nausea and vomiting(38.6%),anosmia(62.5%),as well as dysgeusia(64.8%).Based on chest radiograph or computed tomography(CT)scan,9.1%of the patients had unilateral pneumonia,90.9% had bilateral pneumonia,and 96.6% had multiple mottling and ground-glass opacity.Age was found associated with a significant increase in headache(p=0.005),rhinorrhea(p=0.013),chest pain(p=0.007),and the need for positive airway pressure(p=0.008).Between pre-and post-hospital admissions,there was a significant increase in lactate dehydrogenase and ferritin but a decrease in platelet,D-dimer,hemoglobin,lymphocytes,neutrophils,and total leucocyte count(p<0.001).There was a significant association between hospital stay and D-dimer level(p=0.05).Conclusion:Limited-resource hospitals in Egypt were efficient in managing mild and moderate hospitalized cases of COVID-19 with comorbidities.Many of these cases did not escalate to severe illness and were all alive upon discharge.Early management of COVID-19 tends to delay the disease progression to severe illness and improves patients5 chances of survival.Treating COVID-19 or using oxygen therapy at home can also delay the need for hospitalization in mild or moderate cases.

Novel chaos game optimization tuned-fractional-order PID fractional-order PI controller for load-frequency control of interconnected power systems

In this work,chaos game optimization(CGO),a robust optimization approach,is employed for efficient design of a novel cascade controller for four test systems with interconnected power systems(IPSs)to tackle load-frequency con-trol(LFC)difficulties.The CGO method is based on chaos theory principles,in which the structure of fractals is seen via the chaotic game principle and the fractals’self-similarity characteristics are considered.CGO is applied in LFC studies as a novel application,which reveals further research gaps to be filled.For practical implementation,it is also highly desirable to keep the controller structure simple.Accordingly,in this paper,a CGO-based controller of fractional-order(FO)proportional-integral-derivative-FO proportional-integral(FOPID-FOPI)controller is proposed,and the integral time multiplied absolute error performance function is used.Initially,the proposed CGO-based FOPID-FOPI controller is tested with and without the nonlinearity of the governor dead band for a two-area two-source model of a non-reheat unit.This is a common test system in the literature.A two-area multi-unit system with reheater-hydro-gas in both areas is implemented.To further generalize the advantages of the proposed scheme,a model of a three-area hydrothermal IPS including generation rate constraint nonlinearity is employed.For each test system,comparisons with relevant existing studies are performed.These demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme in reducing settling time,and frequency and tie-line power deviations.

Anti-proliferative and apoptotic efficacy of diallyl disulfide onEhrlich ascites carcinoma

Aim:This study was conducted to assess the in vivo and in vitro anti-tumor effects of diallyl disulfi de(DADS)against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma(EAC)and to suggest its probable mechanism of action.Methods:EAC was induced in female mice by intraperitoneal injection of EAC-cells from stock mice.EAC-bearing mice were orally treated with 100 mg/kg body weight for 2 weeks beginning from the 1st day of EAC intraperitoneal transplantation.Cytotoxicity effects of DADS against EAC-cells in vitro were investigated at different concentrations(0,6.25,12.5,25,50,and 100μg/mL)of DADS using trypan blue exclusion assay.Results:Data from this study exhibited a signifi cant decrease in EAC-aliquot volume as well as total and alive EAC-cell number and a marked increase in dead EAC-cell number and percent in EAC-bearing mice treated with DADS as compared with EAC-bearing control.These changes were consistent with increased number of cells which exhibited phenotypic apoptotic signs marked by a decrease in the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2,an increase of pro-apoptotic and cell cycle arrest mediator p53 and an elevation of DNA fragmenting indicator terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase in EAC-bearing mice treated with DADS.In addition,the tumor marker sialic acid level was markedly decreased in plasma and Ehrlich ascites in EAC-bearing mice treated with DADS.In vitro,DADS also produced anti-proliferative and anti-tumor cytotoxic potentials against EAC.Conclusion:DADS may have anti-cancer effects which may be mediated via modulation of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.