Enhanced cervical precancerous lesions detection and classification using Archimedes Optimization Algorithm with transfer learning.

Cervical cancer (CC) ranks as the fourth most common form of cancer affecting women, manifesting in the cervix. CC is caused by the Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and is eradicated by vaccinating women from an early age. However, limited medical facilities present a significant challenge in mid- or low-income countries. It can improve the survivability rate and be successfully treated if the CC is detected at earlier stages. Current technological improvements allow for cost-effective, more sensitive, and rapid screening and treatment measures for CC. DL techniques are widely adopted for the automated detection of CC. DL techniques and architectures are used to detect CC and provide higher detection performance. This study offers the design of Enhanced Cervical Precancerous Lesions Detection and Classification using the Archimedes Optimization Algorithm with Transfer Learning (CPLDC-AOATL) algorithm. The CPLDC-AOATL algorithm aims to diagnose cervical cancer using medical images. At the preliminary stage, the CPLDC-AOATL technique involves a bilateral filtering (BF) technique to eliminate the noise in the input images. Besides, the CPLDC-AOATL technique applies the Inception-ResNetv2 model for the feature extraction process, and the use of AOA chose the hyperparameters. The CPLDC-AOATL technique involves a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) model for the cancer detection process. The experimental outcome of the CPLDC-AOATL technique emphasized the superior accuracy outcome of 99.53% over other existing approaches under a benchmark dataset.

Green, Eco-Friendly, Highly Biocompatible and Bioactive Nanocomposite-Based Biopolymers Loaded with ZnO@Fe3O4 Nanoparticles.

Biocompatibility is a major concern for promising multifunctional bioactive materials. Unfortunately, bioactive materials lack biocompatibility in some respects, so active ingredient formulations are urgently needed. Bimetallic nanoparticles have demonstrated drawbacks in stabilized biocompatible formulations. This study examined the preparation of biomaterial-based multifunctional biopolymers via an eco-friendly formulation method using ultrasound. Bimetallic zinc oxide/iron oxide (magnetic form) nanoparticles (ZnO@Fe3O4NPs) were formulated using casein and starch as capping agents and stabilizers. The formulated nanocomposite was characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Herein, the formulated nanocomposite was shown to have a thermally stable nanostructure, and the bimetallic ZnO@Fe3O4 NPs were measured as 85 nm length and 13 nm width. Additionally, the biocompatibility test showed its excellent cytocompatibility with Wi 38 and Vero normal cell lines, with IC50 550 and 650 mg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity was noted against six pathogens that are represent to the most common pathogenic microbes, with the time required for killing of bacteria and unicellular fungi being 19 h and 61 h for filamentous fungi with remarket an excellent antioxidant activity.

Neurological alterations induced by formulated imidacloprid toxicity in Japanese quails.

Agrochemical risk assessment that takes into account only pesticide active ingredients without the spray adjuvants will miss important toxicity outcomes detrimental to non-target species including birds. In the present study toxicity of imidacloprid (IMI) pesticide was evaluated individually and in a mixture with polyethylene glycol (PEG-600) as adjuvant against Japanese quails. Oral intubation was used to obtain concentration-mortality data. Oral intubation was used to obtain concentration-mortality data. Treatments of quails for 24 h with different doses leading to the calculation of LC50 values. PEG enhances the pesticide efficacy and the LD50 value of IMI was 17.02 mg/Kg1, and in combination with PEG it was 15.98 mg/kg-1. In the second phase of the study, the effects of a single acute dose of IMI (1/4 LD50) individually or in a mixture with PEG has a potent effect on the activity of plasma AChE and brain monoamines transmitters. However, the addition of PEG-adjuvant to the selected insecticide has shown more toxic potential, more highly significant decreases in AChE activity and different changes in cortical monoamines concentration. In the present study the maximum significant inhibition of AChE activity, was recorded post 72 h exposure to IMI individually and 96 h in a mixture with PEG and exhibited -37.56% and -32.65% decreases, respectively. Moreover, the oral intubation of IMI individually or in a mixture with PEG caused a significant elevation in the quail cortical NE and 5-HT. The result also showed while the mixture of IMI + PEG induced the more potent effect in DA alterations, IMI individually was more effective in 5-HT changes. Our findings also indicated that PEG exposure induced remarkable changes in the studied monoamines level and the values were significant throughout the tested periods in DA. Moreover, the studied dose level was vigorously affected quail brain cerebral cortex histological structure. When administered individually or in a mixture with PEG, IMI disclosed neural congestion, neuronal degeneration, pyknosis and perivascular cuffing with glial cells.

Insights on the thermal impacts of wing colorization of migrating birds on their skin friction drag and the choice of their flight route.

The thermal effects of wing color in flight is investigated in four species of birds with respect to their flight routes, migration time, and geometric and behavioral characteristics. Considering the marine and atmospheric characteristics of these flight routes, a thermal analysis of the birds' wings is performed during their migration. The surrounding fluxes including the ocean flux and the solar irradiance are considered in an energy balance in order to determine the skin temperature of both sides of the wing. Applying the Blasius solution for heated boundary layers, it is shown that the color configuration of these migrating birds, namely black on the top side of the wings and white on the bottom side of the wings ("countershading"), results in a skin drag reduction, if compared to some other configurations, when both day and night are taken into consideration. This drag reduction can be considered as one of the effective factors for long endurance of these migrating birds. This research can provide the evolutionary perspective behind the colorization of these migrating birds.

Role of wing color and seasonal changes in ambient temperature and solar irradiation on predicted flight efficiency of the Albatross.

Drag reduction of the wings of migrating birds is crucial to their flight efficiency. Wing color impacts absorption of solar irradiation which may affect drag but there is little known in this area. To this end, the drag reduction induced by the thermal effect of the wing color of migrating birds with unpowered flight modes is presented in this study. Considering this natural phenomenon in the albatross as an example of migrating birds, and applying an energy balance for this biological system, a thermal analysis is performed on the wings during the summer and winter to obtain different ranges of air density, viscosity, and wing surface temperature brought about from a range of ambient temperatures and climatic conditions seen in different seasons and to study their effects. The exact shape of the albatross wing is used and nine different wing colors are considered in order to gain a better understanding of the effect different colors' absorptivities make on the change in aerodynamic performances. The thermal effect is found to be more important during the summer than during the winter due to the higher values of solar irradiation and a maximum drag reduction of 7.8% is found in summer changing the wing color from light white to dark black. The obtained results show that albatrosses with darker colored wings are more efficient (constant lift to drag ratio and drag reduction) and have better endurance due to this drag reduction.

The prevalence of healthcare-associated infection in medical intensive care units in Tunisia. Results of the multi-centre nosorea1 study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) in medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU), risk factors for these infections and identify the predominant infecting organisms. METHODS: A 1-day point-prevalence study within all medical ICUs in Tunisia, all patients occupying an ICU bed over a 48-hour period were included. Rates of HAI, resistance patterns of microbiological isolates and potential risk factors for HAI were recorded. RESULTS: One hundred and three patients were collected from 15 Tunisian medical ICUs. HAI prevalence was 25.2% CI 95% [15-35].The most frequent HAIs were hospital acquired pneumonia in 19 cases (59%) and catheter related infection in 5 cases (15%). Independent factors associated with HAI occurrence were SAPSII score ≥ 33 with OR 1.047; CI 95% [1.015-1.077], p=0.003 and recent hospitalization with OR 4.14 CI 95% [1.235-13.889], p=0.021. Non-fermenting pathogens were the most frequent microorganisms reported in ICUs ecology, prior colonization and HAIs of the screened patients. CONCLUSION: HAIs are frequent in medical ICUs in Tunisia, which emphasize the importance of specific measures for surveillance and infection control in critically ill patients. Implementing a national monitoring system of HAI should be a major priority of public health in Tunisia.

[Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy]. / Microangiopathie thrombotique tumorale pulmonaire.

Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy syndrome is a rare clinicopathological entity in which tumor cell micro-emboli in the pulmonary microcirculation induced thrombotic microangiopathy. This can cause respiratory failure, and acute or sub-acute right heart failure. Histological features include micro tumor emboli in the small arteries and arterioles of the lung associated with thrombus formation and fibro-cellular and fibro-muscular intimal proliferation. The diagnosis is however extremely difficult to make before death. Thus, most of the observations reported are based on autopsy data. Very rare diagnostic observations made before death suggest the potential effectiveness of chemotherapy. Many details remain to be elucidated, interdisciplinary research is a priority with close collaboration between pathologists and clinicians to better understand this, often fatal, syndrome. It may be that the use of targeted therapies will improve the very poor prognosis allowing survival of several weeks or months after diagnosis.

Thermal impact of migrating birds' wing color on their flight performance: Possibility of new generation of biologically inspired drones.

The thermal impact of the birds' color on their flight performance are investigated. In most of the large migrating birds, the top of their wings is black. Considering this natural phenomenon in the migrating birds, such as albatross, a thermal analysis of the boundary layer of their wings is performed during the year depending on the solar insulation. It is shown that the temperature difference between the bright and dark colored top wing surface is around 10°C. The dark color on the top of the wing increases the temperature of the boundary layer over the wing which consequently reduces the skin drag force over the wing. This reduction in the drag force can be considered as one of the effective factors for long endurance of these migrating birds. This research should lead to improved designs of the drones by applying the inspired colors which can help drones increase their endurance.

[Analysis of the 2015 British guidelines on the prevention and management of tumor lysis syndrome]. / Analyse des recommandations britanniques 2015 sur la prévention et la prise en charge du syndrome de lyse tumorale.

Whether it appears spontaneously or is induced by therapy, the tumor lysis syndrome is responsible for a massive release of ions and puric bases degradation of products in the circulation exceeding the renal excretion capacity. Some, such as uric acid, xanthine, and calcium phosphate, can precipitate in the renal tubules or parenchyma. It must be known to any practitioner supporting patients with hematologic malignancies, mainly high-grade but also some solid tumors. The 2015 publication of the British recommendations pertaining to patients suffering from hematological diseases should be broadcast. The main goal of treatment is to prevent the occurrence of renal dysfunction associated with heavy morbidity and mortality, either for his own conduct or consequences on obtaining a good tumor response. Some items proposed for the care, whether curative or preventive, should be discussed or detailed, which is the subject of this paper.

Microbial production of four biodegradable siderophores under submerged fermentation.

Four siderophore analogues were isolated and purified from Escherichia coli, Bacillus spp. ST13, and Streptomyces pilosus microorganisms under some specific submerged fermentation conditions. In order to evaluate the highest production of this siderophore analogues through the growth, a rapid spectrophotometric screening semi-quantitative method was used, in which interestingly the analogues were isolated in its own form not its iron chelate. After chromatographic separation, the chemical structures of the isolated and purified siderophores were illustrated using detailed spectroscopic techniques. The biodegradation studies were done on that four novel isolated and purified siderophores following OECD protocols. In addition, the bioactivities of these siderophores and their iron complexes were examined and evaluated.

[Severe community-acquired pneumonia admitted at the intensive care unit: main clinical and bacteriological features and prognostic factors: a Tunisian experience]. / Pneumopathies communautaires sévères en réanimation : caractéristiques cliniques, bactériologiques et facteurs pronostiques: une expérience tunisienne.

INTRODUCTION: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) remains a major cause of death. The aim of this study was to describe the main clinical and bacteriological features and to determine predictive factors for death in patients with SCAP who were admitted in intensive care unit (ICU) in a Tunisian setting. METHOD: It is a retrospective study conducted between March 2005 and December 2010 at the intensive care unit of the University Hospital of Mahdia (Tunisia). All patients hospitalized at the ICU with a SCAP diagnosis according to the American Thoracic Society criteria were included. RESULTS: Two hundred and nine patients (mean age: 64±16 years, and mean SAPS II: 42±17) were included. Overall, 24% had a bacteriological diagnosis. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most frequently detected. Use of mechanical ventilation was required in 57% of patients and 45% experimented septic shock upon admission. The mortality rate at ICU was 29% (n=60). In multivariate analysis, a septic shock at admission and the use of mechanical ventilation were both associated with death. CONCLUSION: SCAP were associated with high mortality in the ICU.

Toll-like receptor 4 and CD14 gene polymorphisms in Tunisian kidney transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Acute and chronic rejections remain an important cause of graft loss after renal transplantation. Currently, activation of innate immune responses through Toll-like receptors (TLRs) is suspected to be implied in the loss of the transplant tolerance. OBJECTIVES: We investigated functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of TLR4 and its coreceptor CD14 in kidney transplantation and looked for any potential role in acute rejection (AR) and chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) and impact on graft survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: TLR4 (Asp299Gly) and CD14 (C/T -159) SNPs were detected using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 209 kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) including 132 treated with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF+). AR occurred in 59 patients and 24 were identified as having CAN by biopsy and scored according to the Banff criteria. RESULTS: There were no significant associations between TLR4 and CD14 genotypes and alleles and the occurrence of both AR episodes and CAN. Moreover, TLR4 and CD14 SNPs did not seem to influence kidney graft survival. Analysis according to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) compatibility status, positivity of anti-HLA antibodies, and immunosuppression by MMF confirmed the absence of correlation of the investigated SNPs with the graft outcome. In addition, incidence of post-transplantation infections, including cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections, was not influenced by both TLR4 and CD14 SNPs. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that TLR4 (Asp299Gly) and CD14 (C/T -159) functional SNPs do not play a major role in AR, CAN, and kidney graft survival. Therefore, intragraft monitoring of TLR4/CD14 genes expression by messenger RNA (mRNA) would provide clarity on the exact role of these receptors in graft injuries.

Cytokine gene polymorphisms in kidney transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Acute and chronic rejections remain an important cause of graft loss after renal transplantation. It has been suggested that cytokine genotyping may have a predictive role to identify patients at greater risk of rejection regardless of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) compatibility and/or the presence of anti-HLA antibodies before the renal allograft. OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate polymorphisms of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, and interferon (IFN)-γ as indices of differential cytokine production in kidney transplantation and to examine their predictive roles for acute or chronic rejection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: TNF-α (G/A -308), TGF -ß1 (haplotype codon 10/codon 25), IL-10 (haplotype-1082, -819, -592), IL-6 (C/G -174), and IFN-γ (T/A +874) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-specific sequence primers (SSP) in 231 kidney transplant recipients (KTR) including 106 treated with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF+). RESULTS: We observed no significant associations of any of investigated polymorphism taken alone with acute rejection episodes (ARE) or chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD). Nevertheless, TGF-ß1 Low (L) production was correlated with greater graft survival at 20 years (81.8%) compared with intermediate (L) or high (H) levels (56.1%), affect that the difference was not significant (P = .2). Cytokine haplotype analysis in KTR (MMF-) without HLA-mismatches or presynthesized anti-HLA antibodies (n = 32) showed ARE to be significantly more prevalent among the TNF-α*H/TGF- ß1*H/IL-10*H production haplotype (75%) compared with the other haplotypes (16%; P = .03). CONCLUSION: The presence of TGF-ß1-H secretion profile may protect the kidney graft. TNF-α*H/TGF-ß1*H/IL-10*H haplotype was associated with a higher risk of ARE and with poorer graft survival.

Y402H polymorphism in complement factor H and age-related macular degeneration in the Tunisian population.

To evaluate a possible association between the complement factor H (CFH) Y402H polymorphism and susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the Tunisian population, as well as the impact of the genotype distribution among different phenotypes and the response to treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab, exon 9 of CFH was analyzed for the Y402H polymorphism by direct sequencing in 135 healthy controls and 127 sporadic unrelated AMD patients classified into the following groups: 12 atrophic AMD (group G1), 115 exudative AMD (G2) and 10 AMD patients who had fibrovascular scarring (G3) that did not allow a precise grading of the phenotype. Seventy patients in G2 were treated with 1.25 mg intravitreal bevacizumab at 6-week intervals until choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was no longer active. The frequency of the CFH 402H allele was significantly higher in AMD patients than in controls (p = 2.62 × 10(-16)). However, subgroup analysis does not reveal any association between the variant allele H and phenotypes of AMD or CNV. Also, there was no significant difference in response to bevacizumab treatment according to Y402H CFH genotype (p = 0.59). A strong association of the 402H allele with susceptibility to AMD in the Tunisian population was confirmed; however, this variant does not appear to be involved in the clinical progression of this disease or in the postintravitreal bevacizumab response.

[Conjunctival limbal autograft versus simple excision with intra-operative mitomycin C in pterygium surgery: a comparative study]. / L'autogreffe conjonctivo-limbique versus l'exérèse simple avec mitomycine C dans la chirurgie du ptérygion : étude comparative.

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study is to evaluate the long-term anatomical and functional results of conjunctival-limbal autograft (AGCL) compared to simple excision with intraoperative mitomycin C. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective comparative study of 60 eyes of 60 patients presenting with primary pterygium. These patients were divided into two groups, matched according to the age and the stage of the pterygium. Thirty eyes of 30 patients were treated with conjunctival limbal autograft (AGCL group), and 30 eyes of the other 30 patients were treated with simple excision with intraoperative mitomycin C (MMC group). Minimum follow-up was 24 months. RESULTS: The mean age of our patients was 50.6 and 51.3 years in the AGCL and MMC groups, respectively. A male predominance with male to female ratio of 1.5 was noted in both groups. We found more pterygium recurrences in the MMC group. Indeed, seven patients (23.3%) in the MMC group experienced a recurrence. In comparison, we found only a single recurrence (3.33%) in the AGCL group with a statistically significant difference (P=0.026). With regard to postoperative complications, we noted three inflammatory granulomas in the AGCL group (10%). In the MMC group, we observed two cases (6.66%) of delayed corneal healing with superficial punctate keratitis and epithelial defect and one case (3.33%) of symblepharon. There was no statistically significant difference in mean visual acuity gain between the two groups (AGCL: 1.76 lines; MMC: 2.82 lines; P=0.133). CONCLUSION: Pterygium surgery by excision with conjunctival limbal autograft is an effective technique offering a low rate of long-term recurrences and few complications.

[Massive bilateral subconjunctival hemorrhage revealing acute lymphoblastic leukemia]. / Hémorragie sous-conjonctivale bilatérale massive révélatrice d'une leucémie aiguë lymphoblastique.

We report the case of 20-year-old patient who presented in emergency with bilateral massive, spontaneous subconjunctival hemorrhage. Clinical findings suggested a blood dyscrasia, which was confirmed by blood cell count. The patient was urgently referred to hematology where the diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia was made. This case highlights the importance of working up any unusual subconjunctival hemorrhage, as it may reveal, in certain cases, a severe life-threatening disease.