The rapid increase in the number of older people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other forms of dementia represents one of the major challenges to the health and social care systems. Early detection of AD makes it possible for patients to access appropriate services and to benefit from new treatments and therapies, as and when they become available. The onset of AD starts many years before the clinical symptoms become clear. A biomarker that can measure the brain changes in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a valuable role in early detection of AD. Damage in the brain due to AD leads to changes in the information processing activity of the brain and the EEG which can be quantified as a biomarker. The objective of the study reported in this paper is to develop robust EEG-based biomarkers for detecting AD in its early stages. We present a new approach to quantify the slowing of the EEG, one of the most consistent features at different stages of dementia, based on changes in the EEG amplitudes (ΔEEG A ). The new approach has sensitivity and specificity values of 100% and 88.88%, respectively, and outperformed the Lempel-Ziv Complexity (LZC) approach in discriminating between AD and normal subjects.
The work demonstrates the effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on adult female rats suffering from osteoporosis, the used plasma was generated by a floating electrode-dielectric barrier discharge system with an electrode diameter of 3 cm. The output power was from (12-20) watts. The effect of non-thermal plasma was observed on rats with various exposure times of 20, 30, and 40 sec. It was noted that the blood calcium percentage of animals exposed to cold plasma increased, as well as an increase in the level of vitamin D3 at the same time, it is noted that there is no effect on parathyroid hormone level. For the thyroid gland, it is noticed an increase in the level of T3, and T4 hormones in the blood during the period of induction for
... Show MoreAntibiotic resistance increment is a major problem for the human society nowadays which encourages the efforts to look for new therapeutic alternatives from natural defenses. Synergistic antibacterial activity of epidermin and staphylolysin LasA A against Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Ps. aeruginosa) was evaluated. The antibacterial activities of epidermin from Staphylococcus epidermidis (Staph epidermidis) and Staphylolysin (LasA) from Ps. aeruginosa using the agar well diffusion assay were evaluated, and then using the micro dilution method to evaluate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The checkerboard method and fract
... Show MoreIn 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
... Show MoreCystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive multisystem disease that results from mutation(s) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (
Ethanol as a solvent, a precursor of titanium isopropoxide and a stabilizer of either hydrochloric acid or ammonium hydroxide was used to prepare a titanium dioxide aqueous solution. The aqueous solutions with different values of pH and the morphology of the resultant reaction of the nanoparticles of titanium dioxide were investigated. The X-ray diffraction showed that at low temperatures and with acidic solutions, rutile structures are more favorable to grow on titanium dioxide synthesized, while at low and average temperatures and with base solutions, anatase phase is more pronounced. The crystalline form and the re-confirmation of the crystallite size growth were observed by the scanning electron microscopy. The atomic force micr
... Show MoreEngineered geopolymer composite (EGC) is a high-performance material with enhanced mechanical and durability capabilities. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and silica fume (SF) are common binder materials in producing EGC. However, due to the scarcity and high cost of these materials in some countries, sustainable alternatives are needed. This research focused on producing eco-friendly EGC made of cheaper and more common pozzolanic waste materials that are rich in aluminum and silicon. Rice husk ash (RHA), granite waste powder (GWP), and volcanic pumice powder (VPP) were used as partial substitutions (10–50%) of GGBFS in EGC. The effects of these wastes on workability, unit weight, compressive strength, tensile strengt
... Show MoreIn this study, the mechanical properties of an epoxy and unidirectional woven carbon with fiberglass composite were experimentally investigated. When preparing the composite samples, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)standard was used. Tensile, impact and flexural test were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of the new produced epoxy Unidirectional Woven Carbon and Epoxy Fiberglass composites. The outcome showed that the strength of the produced samples increased with the increase in the number of unidirectional woven carbon layers added. Two methods were utilized: (1) woven carbon composite with glass fiber (2) woven carbon composite). The two methods of composite were compared with each other. The resul
... Show MoreThis study focused on treating wastewater to remove phosphorus by adsorption onto naturaland local materials. Burned kaolin, porcelinite, bauxite and limestone were selected to be testedas adsorption materials.The adsorption isotherms were evaluated by batch experiments, studyingthe effects of pH, temperature and initial phosphorus concentration. The results showed that at pH6, temperature 20°C and 300 mg/l initial phosphorus concentration; the sorption capacity was0.61, 9, 10 and 13 mg/g at 10 h contact time, for burned kaolin, porcelanite, limestone and bauxiterespectively. As the pH increased from 2 to 10 the removal efficiency for the materials differs inbehaviour. The removal efficiency increased from 40 to 90 % for limestone, and dec
... Show MoreIn this study miconazole nitrate was formulated as topically applied emulgel; different formulas were prepared using sodium carboxymethylcellulose (SCMC) and carboxypolymethylene (carbomer 941) as gelling agents. The influence of type of gelling agent and concentration of both oil phase and emulsifying agent on drug release was studied and compared with commercially available miconazole nitrate cream (Mecozalen®). The results of in vitro release showed that SCMC emulgel bases gave better release than carbomer 941 bases and the release of drug increase from both bases as a function of increasing the concentration of emulisifying agent. The oil phase had retardation effect when
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