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Background Maxillary defects predispose patients to different undesirable effects. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients with maxillary defects (acquired/congenital) wearing obturators. Methods The study comprised 30 patients aged between 16 and 78 years. Interviews were conducted to collect information pertaining to patients; sociodemographic, self-reported function of obturator using Obturator Functioning Scale (OFS), self-evaluation of general health using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), radiotherapy treatment, salivary gland removal, reconstructive surgery, neck dissection and length of time obturators were worn. Clinical examination included type of maxillectomy, Aramany classification of the defect, and evaluation of obturator function using the Kapur retention and stability scoring system. Result Quality of life was affected significantly by marital status ( P  = 0.026). Married patients had better quality of life 61.3%, followed by divorced patients 38.8%, widowed 37.3% and the least QoL was detected in single patients 36.5%. Significant association between the type of maxillectomy and QoL was detected ( P  = 0.002). Retention of obturator prosthesis had a highly significant association with QoL ( P  < 0.001). Type of maxillectomy had a significant relation with obturator retention ( P  = 0.005). Stability had a significant correlation with QoL ( P  = 0.022). Obturator wearers who were treated with radiotherapy had lower QoL than those who were not treated with radiotherapy. Conclusion Rehabilitation of patients with maxillary defects using obturator prosthesis is an appropriate and not invasive treatment modality. Results support that good obturators contribute to a better life quality.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the non-linear relationship between economic growth and carbon emissions. To examine the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period 1970-2022 based on a bound test for cointegration using Nonlinear Auto Regressive Distributed Lag model NARDL to examine the existence of asymmetric effect between carbon emission as a proxy for environmental degradation and gross domestic product per capita as a proxy for economic growth. Our empirical results confirm the presence of cointegration among the variables. Furthermore, the EKC hypothesis is invalid for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the long run. While positive shocks in economic growth cause a reduction in CO2 emission, adverse shocks in economic growth cause a decrease in CO2 emission. This does not imply an inverted U-shaped link between economic growth and CO2 emissions. Energy consumption, inflation, and trade openness significantly increase CO2 emissions. Our results also revealed that foreign direct investment substantially decreases carbon emissions. It is clear from the results that Saudi Arabia is actively embracing green technologies as part of Vision 2030. This vision involves decreasing energy-intensive industries, turning to renewable energy sources, and expanding the services sector.

BACKGROUND: Both benign and harmful head and neck disorders have been associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Many studies have connected EBV to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Oral squamous cell carcinoma is the most prevalent type of cancer. Fresh tissue samples from patients with OSCC were tested for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus. OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of EBV and IL10 expression in OSCC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty individuals with OSCC and 25 with clinically healthy oral mucosa were studied. In situ hybridization was used for the detection of EBV. Serum IL-10 levels were also evaluated in patients and controls using a human IL-10 ELISA Kit. RESULTS: EBV was detected in 4 healthy patients, 6 with moderately differentiated OSCC, 10 with poorly differentiated OSCC, and 19 with undifferentiated OSCC. These differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). IL-10 expression was more common in OSCC diagnostic groups than healthy controls, and the difference in blood IL-10 levels between patients and controls was statistically significant (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of EBV in OSCC suggests its possible role in oral cavity malignancy. On the other hand, IL-10 is expressed at higher levels in OSCC biopsies; such elevated concentrations may promote viral spread.

The retinoblastoma (RB) gene encodes the retinoblastoma pocket protein, which controls the cell cycle by binding to unphosphorylated E2F transcription factors and inhibiting their activation. The function of BRCA1 and the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in lung cancer, however, is still debated. Objective:The purpose of this research is to look at the relationship between the cell-cycle proteins BRCA1, BCL2, and RB and lung cancer etiology and progression. Experimental Design: Cases from major hospitals and many private histopathological laboratories between 2018 and 2021 were reviewed for immunohistochemical expression of BRCA1, BCL2, and RB. A total of 60 people (20 healthy people as a control group and 40 patients with lung carcinoma) were reviewed and analyzed for immunohistochemical expression of these genes. Results: In (90.0%) of cases, RB-IHC was overexpressed, according to the data. The BRCA1 overexpression was seen in (95.0 %). Though BCL2 was overexpressed in (92.5%) of the cases. When comparing the healthy and lung cancer groups, there is a highly significant difference at (P<0.01). Conclusion: Overexpression of RB, BRCA1, and BCL2 in lung cancers with little or no regulatory role may suggest mutational events, which act in collaboration with numerous other genetic mutations in these tissues. The study findings indicate that disruption of cell cycle proteins may perform a unique function in lung cancer disease onset and development and suggest that all patients have abnormalities in the BRCA1, BCL2, and RB proteins. have a role in lung carcinomas.

After the Islamic conquests, everyday Arabic has changed considerably from Classical Arabic (CA) in which the Holy Qur'an was revealed. As a result of such variation, Arab Muslims are required to learn CA in order to recite the Qur'an in a correct way. Consequently, a set of phonological rules, i.e. tajweed rules, have been formed to facilitate reading the Qur'an. This study aims to present a constraint-based analysis of some the Qur'anic phonotactics, i.e. Al- 'Idghaam, Al-TZ,haar, and Al-'Ikhfaa'. The framework which is followed in this paper is that of the Optimality Theory (OT) in phonology, a theory proposed by Prince and Smolensky (1993) in their book Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. The current study seeks to explore the CA constraints upon which the chosen tajweed rules are built. Furthermore, the study attempts to introduce a ranking of these constraints, i.e. 'a constraint dominance hierarchy', according to their importance in CA contexts. Some of the results that the study uncovers are that the different types of 'Idghaam and 'Ikhfaa' in the presented examples are built upon a ranking in which OCP principle; either OCP-total or OCP-feature (place or manner), occupies the highest rank, while Ident-IO (F) is in the lowest rank. Conversely, Ident-IO (F) comes at the highest rank in TZ,haar in the chosen examples.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the Egyptian university student's perception toward entrepreneurship and their intention to start-up their own business after graduation, and to identify the different factors (either endogenous or exogenous ones) that help in performing their perception toward entrepreneurship and therefore affect their intention to start-up a business. The instrument of collecting data for this study was a questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed among the university students who studying commerce in both public and private universities located in Egypt, through an online link that contains the questionnaire items translated into Arabic among the sample units between the period from May 2021 to October 2021. The results didn't support the relationship between (gender, and business opportunity) as factors that perform the students' perception toward entrepreneurship and their intention to start-up a business after graduation. On the other hand, the results supported the relationship between (perception of self-efficiency, barriers, and motives) as factors that perform the students' perception toward entrepreneurship and their intention to start-up a business after graduation. Based on these results, the researcher proposed a number of recommendations in order to direct the performance of public and private educational institutions in Egypt towards entrepreneurship, the most important of which is the introduction of new courses on entrepreneurship in Egyptian universities, in order to enhance students' perceptions towards entrepreneurship and thus encourage them to move towards entrepreneurship, providing training courses on entrepreneurship skills for university students, and inviting entrepreneur guest speakers by the universities' training centers to engage in question-and-answer sessions, explain their success stories, and share their experiences. Guest speakers can give real-life examples of how small firms are established and operated, providing students a greater understanding of the \"real world\" of entrepreneurship obstacles and possibilities that entrepreneurs may face.

Background Osteoporosis (OP) is a common finding in diabetic patients especially high-risk populations such as postmenopausal women. Sclerostin is a glycoprotein chiefly secreted by mature osteocytes and is considered a main regulator of bone formation. The C1q/TNF-Related Protein 3 (CTRP3) was found to be significantly associated with OP in postmenopausal women. The effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on sclerostin and CTRP3 levels in postmenopausal women is rarely investigated. The present study aimed to assess the impact of T2DM on sclerostin and CTRP3 levels and their relation to OP in postmenopausal women. Methods The study included 60 postmenopausal women with T2DM and 60 age-matched postmenopausal non-diabetic women. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Serum levels of sclerostin and CTRP3 were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results Diabetic group expressed significantly higher serum levels of sclerostin when compared with non-diabetic group (110.0 ± 29.0 versus 51.5 ± 23.2 ng; p  < 0.001). Oppositely, CTRP3 were significantly lower in the diabetic group (3.5 ± 3.5 versus 9.9 ± 3.7 ng/ml, p  < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified HbA1c levels [OR (95% CI): 0.49 (0.26–0.93), p  = 0.028], sclerotin levels [OR (95% CI): 1.06 (1.0-1.012), p  = 0.041] and CTRP3 levels [OR (95%) CI: 1.64 (1.0-2.68), p  = 0.047] as significant predictors of OP in diabetic patients. Conclusions Sclerostin and CTRP3 levels are involved in OP in postmenopausal diabetic patients.

Today's electrical power system is a complicated network that is expanding rapidly. The power transmission lines are more heavily loaded than ever before, which causes a host of problems like increased power losses, unstable voltage, and line overloads. Real and reactive power can be optimized by placing energy resources at appropriate locations. Congested networks benefit from this to reduce losses and enhance voltage profiles. Hence, the optimal power flow problem (OPF) is crucial for power system planning. As a result, electricity system operators can meet electricity demands efficiently and ensure the reliability of the power systems. The classical OPF problem ignores network emissions when dealing with thermal generators with limited fuel. Renewable energy sources are becoming more popular due to their sustainability, abundance, and environmental benefits. This paper examines modified IEEE-30 bus and IEEE-118 bus systems as case studies. Integrating renewable energy sources into the grid can negatively affect its performance without adequate planning. In this study, control variables were optimized to minimize fuel cost, real power losses, emission cost, and voltage deviation. It also met operating constraints, with and without renewable energy. This solution can be further enhanced by the placement of distributed generators (DGs). A modified Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (mAHA) is presented here as an innovative and improved optimizer. In mAHA, local escape operator (LEO) and opposition-based learning (OBL) are integrated into the basic Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (AHA). An improved version of AHA, mAHA, seeks to improve search efficiency and overcome limitations. With the CEC'2020 test suite, the mAHA has been compared to several other meta-heuristics for addressing global optimization challenges. To test the algorithm's feasibility, standard and modified test systems were used to solve the OPF problem. To assess the effectiveness of mAHA, the results were compared to those of seven other global optimization algorithms. According to simulation results, the proposed algorithm minimized the cost function and provided convergent solutions.

Drainage water in developing countries has a high abundance of pathogenic bacteria and high levels of toxic and mutagenic pollutants. Remediation of drainage water is important in water-poor counties, especially with the growing need to secure sustainability of safe water resources to fulfill increasing demands for agriculture. Here, we assess the efficiency of macrophyte Pistia stratiotes to remediate a polluted drain in Egypt, rich in macronutrients, heavy metals, and different types of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Drainage water was sampled monthly, for a year, to assess seasonal changes in bacterial abundance, water physicochemical properties (transparency, temperature, dissolved oxygen, EC, pH, N, P, and K), and heavy metals contents (Pb, Zn, and Co) in a polluted drain dominated with P. stratiotes . The ability of P. stratiotes to rhizofiltrate the three heavy metals was calculated. The results showed seasonal variations in the plant rhizofiltration potential of Co and Salmonella abundance. The highest values of dissolved oxygen (12.36 mg/L) and macronutrient elements (N and P) were attained in the winter. The counts of total coliform, fecal coliform, fecal streptococci, and in Salmonella spp. were the highest in the summer. P. stratiotes accumulated Pb more than Zn and Co. The highest levels of rhizofiltration were in summer for Pb and Co and in the autumn for Zn. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the variation in the bacterial abundance and plant rhizofiltration potential was strongly and significantly affected by water-dissolved oxygen. Moreover, the rhizofiltration potential of Pb and Co showed a positive correlation with water N. Overall, P. stratiotes could be proposed as a potential biomonitor for heavy metals in polluted water.

BackgroundSickle cell disease is an inherited hemoglobinopathy resulting in chronic hemolysis and painful vaso-occlusive crises. Sickle vasculopathy caused by impaired nitric oxide bioavailability and arterial stiffness and associated with multiple complications.ResultsMean age of patients was 13.85 ± 2.53 SD, 50% were males, 77.5% were homozygous sickle cell disease (SS). Brachial artery parameters showed that baseline diameter was significantly higher (p < 0.001) and flow mediated dilatation (FMD) was significantly lower in patients than control (p < 0.001). Carotid artery parameters showed that carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and cross-sectional distensability were significantly higher in sickle group than control (p 0.001, p 0.007). Diastolic shear stress and elastic modulus showed no significant difference between sickle and control group (p 0.071, p 0.083). Regarding sickle subgroups, carotid intima-media thickness was higher and cross-sectional compliance and distensability were lower in subgroup II than subgroup I (p < 0.001, p < 0.018, p < 0.035), respectively.ConclusionDoppler assessment of brachial and carotid elastic properties may be helpful for early detection of sickle cell vasculopathy and sickle-related complications.