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This study displays the preparation and characterization of cross-linked rubbery hydrogel by applying gamma radiation as a fast and clean tool for industrial application. Rubbery Gel polymer was synthesized through radiation copolymerization between hydrophilic acrylamide (AAM) copolymerized with natural rubber latex at different monomer concentrations (80, 70, and 50% v/v) by using gamma radiation in order to prepare a cross-linked network between PAM and NRL (PAAM/NRL) with controllable hydrophilicity and good mechanical properties. The effect of AAM/NRL compositions and irradiation dose on the gel fraction, swelling isotherm and diffusional characteristics fully studied. The formed rubbery hydrogel with suitable swelling properties examined for the ability of adsorption of heavy metals from their aqueous solutions. Different parameters such as initial metal concentration, pH, temperature and adsorbent dosage are applied for the evaluation of the adsorption ability of the rubbery hydrogel for various toxic metals (Cu 2+ , Co 2+ , and Ni 2+ ). The results of metal uptake showed that increasing temperature has an effective impact on the metal uptake for various types of metals tested as increasing temperature increases the rubber chains flexibility within the PAAM/NRL rubbery hydrogel. The desorption of adsorbed metal ions from the PAAM/NRL hydrogel was completed in a desorption mediums of HCL (2 and 0.5 M) and at temperature of 70 °C after 90 min.

Background The aim was to study urinary angiostatin, CXC chemokine ligand 4 (CXCL4) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) as biomarkers of renal disease in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Method Patients who fulfilled ≥ 4 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for SLE with active renal, active non-renal or inactive disease, and a group of healthy controls were studied. Urine samples were assayed for angiostatin, CXCL4 and VCAM-1 by ELISA, and normalized by creatinine. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to obtain the best cutoff values to calculate the performance of these markers in differentiating the different groups of patients as compared to anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) and complement C3. Correlation between these urinary biomarkers and various renal parameters was also tested. Results Patients with SLE (n = 227; 80 with inactive SLE, 67 with active non-renal disease and 80 with active renal disease; 94% women; age 39.2 ± 13.8 years) and 53 controls (96% women) were studied. All were ethnic Chinese. Urinary angiostatin, CXCL4 and VCAM-1 (normalized for creatinine) were significantly higher in patients with active renal disease than in patients with active non-renal disease, patients with inactive SLE and controls. These markers correlated significantly with total SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and renal SLEDAI scores, and with the urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio. Urine angiostatin exhibited higher specificity and sensitivity in differentiating active renal from active non-renal SLE (area under the curve (AUC) 0.87) than serum anti-dsDNA/C3. Urine CXCL4 (AUC 0.64) and VCAM-1 (AUC 0.73), on the other hand, performed similarly to anti-dsDNA/C3. All three markers performed comparably to anti-dsDNA/C3 in distinguishing active from inactive SLE. In a subgroup of 68 patients with paired renal biopsy, the urinary levels of these proteins did not differ significantly between the proliferative and non-proliferative types of lupus nephritis. Urinary CXCL4 and VCAM-1 correlated significantly with the histologic activity score, and urinary angiostatin correlated significantly with proteinuria in this subgroup. Conclusions Urinary angiostatin, CXCL4 and VCAM-1 are potential biomarkers for SLE, in particular lupus nephritis. Further longitudinal studies are necessary to delineate the performance of these markers in predicting renal flares and prognosis in SLE patients.

Recently, the application of metal oxides such as Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles have wide interest for environmental remediation and treatment of wastewater especially contaminated with azo dyes owing to its high degradation efficacy and low toxicity. The recovery of magnetic catalysts without losing their efficiency is an essential feature in the catalytic applications. The aim of this article is to investigate and synthesis of magnetically retrievable Fe 3 O 4 /polyvinylpyrrolidone/polystyrene (Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS) nanocomposite for the catalytic degradation of azo dye acid red 18 (AR18). Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS nanocomposite was prepared in two steps. Firstly, PVP/PS microsphere was synthesized by γ-irradiation polymerization of styrene in presence of PVP solution. Secondly, deposition of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles on PVP/PS microsphere was achieved by the alkaline co-precipitation of Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ ions. The chemical structural and morphological properties of PVP/PS microsphere and Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS nanocomposite were examined by XRD, TEM, DLS, FTIR, EDX and VSM techniques. TEM results showed homogeneous morphology, spherical shaped and well-dispersed Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with average particle size of 26 nm around PVP/PS microspheres. The VSM measurements of Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS nanocomposite exhibit excellent magnetic response of saturation magnetization 26.38 emu/g which is suitable in magnetic separation. The effect of the synthesized Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS nanocomposite on the catalytic degradation of AR18 in presence of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst was examined. The catalyst Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS/H 2 O 2 played basic role in promoting the oxidation degradation efficiency of AR18 of initial concentration 50 mg/L to 94.4% in 45 min with excellent recyclability till the sixth cycles under the best conditions of pH 3, 2% v/v H 2 O 2 and 0.3 g catalyst amount. Furthermore, the Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS/H 2 O 2 hybrid catalyst system supports high capability for oxidation degradation of mixture of different dyes. The Fe 3 O 4 /PVP/PS nanocomposite catalyst had high magnetic and recyclability characters which are acceptable for the treatment of wastewater contaminated by various dyes pollutants.

Silver nanoparticles coated with chitosan (AgNPs) and AAm/HEMA/Ag nanocomposites synthesized by using 60 Co gamma radiation cell at a dose rate of 2.8 kGy/h and used for uptake of mercury from wastewater. To study the various properties of the nanocomposites different characterization techniques such as XRD, TEM, FTIR, and SEM were applied. Water uptake for all AAm/HEMA hydrogels studied under the effect of many factors was studied in detailed. Based on the water uptake results the AAm/HEMA (1:0.5 v/v) composition was used as a precursor for preparation AAm/HEMA/Ag nanocomposite hydrogel. By examining, the possibility of using the prepared hydrogels and nanocomposite hydrogel for adsorption of Hg 2+ the results showed that the adsorption processes depend on time, initial concentration, dose of adsorbent and pH value. The adsorption capacity increase as pH increased up to pH 5. Then started decreasing at pH values higher than pH 5. The pseudo-first order and pseudo second order used to evaluate the kinetic models and the mechanism of the adsorption. Results showed that the adsorption kinetics best fit the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic data revealed spontaneous exothermic processes and was a physisorption reaction. In addition, results show that the AAm/HEMA/Ag nanocomposite has high efficiency for removing Hg (II) ions from wastewater containing.

The current study is about the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) of cobalt oxide (CO) and cobalt sulfide (CS) followed by their nanocomposites as CO/CS and CO/CS/CNT by ultrasonication approach. The addition of carbon-based materials in the oxides and sulfides enhances their performance by developing physico-chemical interactions. Prepared NPs were utilized for the photodegradation of organic contaminants. The characteristics, as well as the efficiency of the prepared samples, have been systematically examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-vis spectroscopy. Photocatalytic activities of bare samples and synthesized nanocomposites were tested for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) using a xenon lamp. The percentage degradation of dye was 24.14%, 57.94%, 71.66%, and 85.04% in the presence of CO, CS, CO/CS, and CO/CS/CNT, respectively. Crystal violet (CV), Rhodamine B (rho-B), and industrial wastewater were also degraded by the ternary composite. The comparative studies showed the best performance of CO/CS/CNT, which enhanced the generation of electron-hole pairs by absorption of photons of incoming radiations, increased charge separation, and maximum surface area for adsorption.

ObjectivesThe goal of this exploratory study is to determine if urine:serum fractional excretion ratios can outperform the corresponding urinary biomarker proteins in identifying active renal disease in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).MethodsThirty-six adult SLE patients and twelve healthy controls were examined for serum and urine levels of 8 protein markers, namely ALCAM, calpastatin, hemopexin, peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6), platelet factor 4 (PF4), properdin, TFPI and VCAM-1, by ELISA. Fractional excretion of analyzed biomarkers was calculated after normalizing both the urine and serum biomarker levels against creatinine. A further validation cohort of fifty SLE patients was included to validate the initial findings.ResultsThe FE ratios of all 8 proteins interrogated outperformed conventional disease activity markers such as anti-dsDNA, C3 and C4 in identifying renal disease activity. All but VCAM-1FE were superior to the corresponding urine biomarkers levels in differentiating LN activity, exhibiting positive correlation with renal SLEDAI. ALCAMFE, PF4FE and properdinFE ratios exhibited the highest accuracy (AUC>0.9) in distinguishing active LN from inactive SLE. Four of the FE ratios exhibited perfect sensitivity (calpastatin, PRDX6, PF4 and properdin), while ALCAMFE, PF4FE and properdinFE exhibited the highest specificity values for active LN. In addition, several of these novel biomarkers were associated with higher renal pathology activity indices. In the validation cohort ALCAMFE, PF4FE and properdinFE once again exhibited higher accuracy metrics, surpassing corresponding urine and serum biomarkers levels, with ALCAMFE exhibiting 95% accuracy in distinguishing active LN from inactive SLE.ConclusionsWith most of the tested proteins, urine:serum fractional excretion ratios outperformed corresponding urine and serum protein measurements in identifying active renal involvement in SLE. Hence, this novel class of biomarkers in SLE ought to be systemically evaluated in larger independent cohorts for their diagnostic utility in LN assessment.

In this article, a novel design of a quad-band parasitic hat microstrip antenna is proposed for multiband applications. The proposed antenna consists of a rectangular patch of dimensions 30 mm×11 mm cut with four L-shaped slots connected with a rectangular slot in the middle of the front side of the antenna to form a parasitic hat based upon defected microstrip structure. On the other side of the antenna, a defected ground structure is integrated as five rectangular slots embedded in the ground plane with the same width but with various lengths. The suggested antenna is designed and fabricated on a substrate material with an area of 45 × 40 mm2 with a thickness of 1.52 mm to generate four frequency bands. The proposed antenna is fed by a microstrip transmission line. The simulated radiation patterns, return losses, maximum gains, and efficiencies of the antenna are carried out by using electromagnetic simulation software based on the finite element method. The measured return loss results validate that the suggested antenna can be designed to cover the frequency ranges from (3.8464 to 4.1456) GHz for sub-7GHz 5G applications, (6.7 to 7.162) GHz for ultra-wideband applications, (9.1616 to 9.5187) GHz for maritime radio-navigation positioning systems, and (11.5421 to 16.4085) GHz for radio-navigation satellite standards. The suggested antenna is based upon defected ground structure and defected microstrip structure techniques to improve the antennaperformance.

The objective of study is preparing multi-responsive, nontoxic, and highly stable nanocomposite hydrogels for effective reduction and decolonization of broad spectrum of toxic dyes. The nanocomposite hydrogels are composed of N-isopropy acrylamide, acrylic acid, and silver/chitosan nano-dispersion and prepared by the effect of Gamma radiation at a dose rate of 2.6 kGy/h. The physical and chemical properties of the various prepared nanocomposites hydrogels were studied by various techniques as SEM, TEM, XRD, and FTIR. The swelling properties of the nanocomposites hydrogels were studied under various conditions as pH and temperature. Given the physical properties of multifunctional thermo-responsive N-isopropy acrylamide, acrylic acid hydrogel, and its Ag nanocomposite, they hold the strong potential for toxic dyes degradation as Erioglaucine as a model dye. In this paper, we review various silver and thermo-responsive poly (N- isopropylacrylamide/Acrylicacid /silver), (PNIPAM/AA/Ag) nanocomposites and highlight their high activity as a catalyst for degradation of various types of dyes.

Serial kidney biopsy for repeat evaluation and monitoring of lupus nephritis (LN) in childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (cSLE) remains challenging, thus non-invasive biomarkers are needed. Here, we evaluate the performance of ten urine protein markers of diverse nature including cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules in distinguishing disease activity in cSLE. Eighty-four pediatric patients meeting ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE were prospectively enrolled for urine assay of 10 protein markers normalized to urine creatinine, namely ALCAM, cystatin-C, hemopexin, KIM-1, MCP-1, NGAL, PF-4, Timp-1, TWEAK, and VCAM-1 by ELISA. Samples from active renal (LN) and active non-renal SLE patients were obtained prior to onset/escalation of immunosuppression. SLE disease activity was evaluated using SLEDAI-2000. 59 patients had clinically-active SLE (SLEDAI score ≥4 or having a flare), of whom 29 patients (34.5%) were classified as active renal, and 30 patients (35.7%) were active non-renal. Twenty-five healthy subjects were recruited as controls. Urine concentrations of ALCAM, KIM-1, PF4 and VCAM-1 were significantly increased in active LN patients versus active non-renal SLE, inactive SLE and healthy controls. Five urine proteins differed significantly between 2 (hemopexin, NGAL, MCP1) or 3 (Cystatin-C, TWEAK) groups only, with the highest levels detected in active LN patients. Urine ALCAM, VCAM-1, PF4 and hemopexin correlated best with total SLEDAI as well as renal-SLEDAI scores (p < 0.05). Urine ALCAM, VCAM-1 and hemopexin outperformed conventional laboratory measures (anti-dsDNA, complement C3 and C4) in identifying concurrent SLE disease activity among patients (AUCs 0.75, 0.81, 0.81 respectively), while urine ALCAM, VCAM-1 and PF4 were the best discriminators of renal disease activity in cSLE (AUCs 0.83, 0.88, 0.78 respectively), surpassing conventional biomarkers, including proteinuria. Unsupervised Bayesian network analysis based on conditional probabilities re-affirmed urine ALCAM as being most predictive of active LN in cSLE patients. Urinary ALCAM, PF4, and VCAM-1 are potential biomarkers for predicting kidney disease activity in cSLE and hold potential as surrogate markers of nephritis flares in these patients.

The aim of this study was to describe the array and disease characteristics of spondyloarthritis (SpA) across Egypt. This work included 1401 SpA patients recruited from 15 specialized Egyptian rheumatology centers representing 20 major cities. The demographic and clinical features, as well as the therapeutic data, were recorded. The mean age of the patients was 37.6 ± 11.4 years, disease duration 8.01 ± 6.7 years, and age at onset 29.9 ± 11 years; 148 (10.6%) were juvenile-onset. There were 813 males and 588 females (M: F 1.4:1). 5.7% were diabetic, 6.1% hypertensive, and 19.3% were smokers. The mean BASDAI was 3.98 ± 1.78, and the BASFI was 4.02 ± 1.77. The human leukocytic antigen (HLA-B27) was positive in 19.8%. Biologic therapy was received by 55.5%, followed by methotrexate (36%) ,steroids (10.8%), and sulfasalazine in 10.7%. In males, the age at onset was significantly lower (p = 0.02), while radiographic axSpA, neuropsychiatric and pulmonary manifestations, HLA-B27 positivity, and receiving biologic therapy were significantly higher (p = 0.02, p < 0.0001, p = 0.03, p < 0.0001, and p < 0.0001). In females, cutaneous manifestations and arthritis were significantly more frequent (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.0001). Those with positive HLA-B27 had a significantly higher frequency of AS (73%) (p = 0.003), male gender (66.2%) (p < 0.0001), longer disease duration (p = 0.001), and were receiving a higher frequency of biologic therapy (89%, p < 0.0001). Radiographic axial SpA was most reported from Assuit (15.9%), nr-axSpA from Cairo (24.5%), peripheral arthritis only from Giza (30.7%), and unclassified from Kafr ElSheikh (33.9%) (p = 0.002). The spectrum of SpA in Egypt is inconsistent across the country. Gender, disease subtype, and HLA-B27 seem to play a key role in the phenotypic presentation.