Background: Although iron chelation therapies have been available for many years for thalassemia intermedia patients, iron accumulation remains the major cause of death. Therefore, the need for additional chelation options is in demand. This randomized controlled study aimed to understand the effects of green tea on iron balance in thalassemia intermedia patients.

Methods: Using a random selection method, 141 thalassemia intermedia patients were initially screened for inclusion in this trial; only 68 patients included after applying exclusion criteria. Two equal groups were generated (n=34/group): green tea (three cups/day after meals) + usual treatment (deferasirox iron chelat

Background: Opportunistic viral infections make an important threat to renal transplantation recipients (RTRs), and with the use of more intense newly-developed immunosuppressive drugs; the risk of renal allograft loss due to reactivation of these viruses has increased considerably. At the top priority of these viruses lie BK polyomavirus (BKV) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV). Reactivation of these viruses in these chronically immunosuppressed RTRs can lead to renal impairment and subsequently allograft loss, unless early detected and properly treated. Objectives: The study aimed to detect and quantify plasma viral load of BKV and CMV in RTRs using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), in order to study the prevalence of these two viruses i

Rutting has a significant impact on the pavements' performance. Rutting depth is often used as a parameter to assess the quality of pavements. The Asphalt Institute (AI) design method prescribes a maximum allowable rutting depth of 13mm, whereas the AASHTO design method stipulates a critical serviceability index of 2.5 which is equivalent to an average rutting depth of 15mm. In this research, static and repeated compression tests were performed to evaluate the permanent strain based on (1) the relationship between mix properties (asphalt content and type), and (2) testing temperature. The results indicated that the accumulated plastic strain was higher during the repeated load test than that during the static load tests. Notably, temperatur

This paper proposes a new encryption method. It combines two cipher algorithms, i.e., DES and AES, to generate hybrid keys. This combination strengthens the proposed W-method by generating high randomized keys. Two points can represent the reliability of any encryption technique. Firstly, is the key generation; therefore, our approach merges 64 bits of DES with 64 bits of AES to produce 128 bits as a root key for all remaining keys that are 15. This complexity increases the level of the ciphering process. Moreover, it shifts the operation one bit only to the right. Secondly is the nature of the encryption process. It includes two keys and mixes one round of DES with one round of AES to reduce the performance time. The W-method deals with

A modification to cascaded single-stage distributed amplifier (CSSDA) design by using active inductor is proposed. This modification is shown to render the amplifier suitable for high gain operation in small on-chip area. Microwave office program simulation of the Novel design approach shows that it has performance compatible with the conventional distributed amplifiers but with smaller area. The CSSDA is suitable for optical and satellite communication systems.

Introduction:  Cerebral hydatid disease (CHD) is rare and the multiple-cystic variety is even rarer. In this paper, we report a case of multiple CHD and explore a possible link with a preceding spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH).   Case presentation: A 27-year old gentleman with a history of surgically-evacuated, spontaneous ICH presented with severe headache, left-sided weakness - Medical Research Council (MRC) grade II - and recurrent tonic-clonic seizures, while on a full dose of anti-epileptic medication. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans showed multiple intra-axial cystic lesions in the right hemisphere. The cysts were removed intact using Dowling’s technique through a large temporoparietal crani

Video steganography has become a popular option for protecting secret data from hacking attempts and common attacks on the internet. However, when the whole video frame(s) are used to embed secret data, this may lead to visual distortion. This work is an attempt to hide sensitive secret image inside the moving objects in a video based on separating the object from the background of the frame, selecting and arranging them according to object's size for embedding secret image. The XOR technique is used with reverse bits between the secret image bits and the detected moving object bits for embedding. The proposed method provides more security and imperceptibility as the moving objects are used for embedding, so it is difficult to notice the

 Abstract 

The vegetative filter strips (VFS) are a useful tool used for reducing the movement of sediment and pesticide in therivers. The filter strip’s soil can help in reducing the runoff volume by infiltration. However, the characteristics of VFS (i.e., length) are not recently identified depending on the estimation of VFS modeling performance. The aim of this research is to study these characteristics and determine acorrelation between filter strip length and percent reduction (trapping efficiency) for sediment, water, and pesticide. Two proposed pesticides(one has organic carbon sorption coefficient, K_oc, of 147 L/kg which is more moveable than XXXX, and another one