ALBERT

Description: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), as most of cancers results from a complex interaction between genetic or non genetic factors. Exposures to xenobiotics endogenous or exogenous associated with a reduced individual ability in detoxifying activity, constitutes a risk of developing cancer. It is known that polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) genes affects the detoxification of xenobiotics. Thus, we conducted a case-control study in which 92 patients (Mean age ± SD, 40.62 ± 12.7 years) with CML and 93 healthy unrelated controls (Mean age ± SD, 41.38 ± 13.4 years) have participated. GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Logistic regression was used to assess the possible link between GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes and CML as well as between combined genotypes and CML. GSTM1 null genotype frequency was slightly higher in patients than control (48.9% vs. 40.9%) but, it was not associated with CML (OR 95% CI, 1.4, 0.78-2.48; p = 0.271). Moreover, GSTT1 null genotype frequency showed a similar trend between patients and control (17.4% vs. 9.7%; OR 95% CI, 1.97, 0.82-4.71; p = 0.13). Surprisingly, GSTT1 null genotype was significantly associated with the risk of CML in males (OR 95% CI, 5, 1.25-20.1; p = 0.023). The combined GSTM1 present/GSTT1 null genotype was found to have a limited effect against the risk of CML (OR 95% CI, 0.3, 0.08-0.99; p = 0.049). Our findings have shown that GSTT1 null genotype might be a risk factor of CML in males. While, GSTT1 present genotype might be considered as protective against CML. However, further studies with a large sample size are needed to confirm our findings.

Description: The purpose of this article is to obtain the exact and approximate numerical solutions of linear and nonlinear singular conformable pseudohyperbolic equations and conformable coupled pseudohyperbolic equations through the conformable double Laplace decomposition method. Further, the numerical examples were provided in order to demonstrate the efficiency, high accuracy, and the simplicity of present method.

Description: Background: The respiratory function is affected by obesity due to an increased deposition of fat on the chest wall. The objective of this study was to investigate the strength of the inspiratory respiratory muscles of obese individuals and the possible influence of bariatric surgery on it by measuring the maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP). Methods: Patients referred to a bariatric centre between the 3rd of October 2011 and the 3rd of May 2012 were screened preoperatively by a multidisciplinary team. Their MIP was measured at screening and 3, 6 and 9 months postoperative. In case of a preoperative MIP lower than 70% of predicted pressure training was provided supervised by a physiotherapist. Results: The mean age of 124 included patients was 42.9 ± 11.0 years and mean BMI was 43.1 ± 5.2 kg/m 2 . The mean predicted MIP preoperatively was 127 ± 31 in cm H 2 O and the mean measured MIP was 102 ± 24 in cm H 2 O. Three patients (2.4%) received training. Three months after surgery the MIP was 76 ± 26 cm H 2 O, after 6 months 82 ± 28 cm H 2 O and after 9 months 86 ± 28 cm H 2 O. All postoperative measurements were significant lower than preoperatively (P 

Description: This article deals with some existence and uniqueness result of random solutions for some coupled systems of Hilfer and Hilfer–Hadamard fractional differential equations with random effects. Some applications are made of generalizations of classical random fixed point theorems on generalized Banach spaces.

Description: Among all the malaria controlling measures, biological control of mosquito larvae may be the cheapest and easiest to implement. This study investigated baseline predation of immature mosquitoes by macroinvertebrate predators along the Mara River, determined the diversity of predators and mosquito larvae habitats and the range of their adaptive capacity to water physico-chemical parameters. Between July and August 2011, sampling sites (n=39) along the Mara River were selected and investigated for the presence of macroinvertebrate predators and mosquito larvae. The selected sampling sites were geocoded and each dipped 20 times using standard mosquito larvae dipper to sample mosquito larvae, while a D-frame dip net was used to capture the macroinvertebrate predators. Water physico-chemical parameters (dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, conductivity, salinity and turbidity) were taken in situ at access points, while hardness and alkalinity were measured titrimetically. The influence of macroinvertebrate predator occurrence was correlated with mosquito larvae and water quality parameters using Generalized Linear Model (GLM). Predators (n=297) belonging to 3 orders of Hemiptera (54.2%), Odonata (22.9%) and Coleoptera (22.9%), and mosquito larvae (n=4001) belonging to 10 species, which included An.gambiae s.l (44.9%), Culex spp. (34.8%) and An. coustani complex (13.8%), An. maculipalpis (3.6%), An. phaorensis (1.2%), An. funestus group (0.5%), An. azaniae (0.4%), An. hamoni (0.3%), An. christyi (0.3%), An. ardensis (0.08%), An. faini (0.07%), An. sergentii (0.05%) and 0.05% of Aedes mosquito larvae which were not identified to species level, due to lack of an appropriate key, were captured from different habitats along the Mara river. It was established that invasion of habitats by the macroinvertebrate predators were partially driven by the presence of mosquito larvae (p 〈 0.001), and the prevailing water physico-chemical parameters (DO, temperature, and turbidity, p

Description: The concept of neutrosophic set from philosophical point of view was first considered by Smarandache. A single-valued neutrosophic set is a subclass of the neutrosophic set from a scientific and engineering point of view and an extension of intuitionistic fuzzy sets. In this research article, we apply the notion of single-valued neutrosophic sets to K-algebras. We introduce the notion of single-valued neutrosophic topological K-algebras and investigate some of their properties. Further, we study certain properties, including C 5 -connected, super connected, compact and Hausdorff, of single-valued neutrosophic topological K-algebras. We also investigate the image and pre-image of single-valued neutrosophic topological K-algebras under homomorphism.

Description: Diaphragmatic injuries include wounds and diaphragm ruptures, due to a thoracoabdominal blunt or penetrating traumas. Their incidence ranges between 0.8 and 15 %. The diagnosis is often delayed, despite severa...

Description: IntroductionBreast cancer is the most frequent cancer and the second reason of cancer deaths among woman worldwide, including Malaysia. The objective of this paper is to assess the practice of breast self-examination (BSE) and identify the barriers of BSE practice among undergraduate female students in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted among 810 female undergraduate students in Klang Valley, Malaysia between April–Jun 2012. Data was collected via self-administered questionnaire which was developed and pre-tested for this study. Results: The majority of respondents were Malay 709 (95.6 %) and single 719 (96.9 %) with a mean age of 21.7 (1.1). Only hundred eleven (15 %) of the participants had a family history of breast cancer. 70.5 % of the respondents do not practice breast self-examination, 70.5 % do not know how to do it, 64.7 and 61.5 % reported no symptoms of breast cancer and worries to detect breast cancer, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that age, marital status and personal history of breast disease were statistically associated with the practice of breast self-examination. Conclusion: In this study, a high percentage of respondents were aware of breast cancer but do not perform breast self-examination. Knowledge, socio-cultural and environmental factors were identified as barriers; so it is recommended that knowledge among the public about breast cancer and promotion of public breast health awareness campaigns through the media should be carried out.

Description: In this paper, we introduce an extension of the inverse Lindley distribution, which offers more flexibility in modeling upside-down bathtub lifetime data. Some statistical properties of the proposed distribution are explicitly derived. These include density and hazard rate functions with their behavior, moments, moment generating function, skewness, kurtosis measures, and quantile function. Maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters and their estimated asymptotic distribution and confidence intervals are derived. Rényi entropy as a measure of the uncertainty in the model is derived. The application of the model to a real data set i.e., the flood levels for the Susquehanna river at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, over 20 four-year periods from 1890 to 1969 is compared to the fit attained by some other well-known existing distributions.

Description: Fuzzy graphs (FGs) and their generalizations have played an essential role in dealing with real-life problems involving uncertainties. The goal of this article is to show some serious flaws in the existing definitions of several root-level generalized FG structures with the help of some counterexamples. To achieve this, first, we aim to improve the existing definition for interval-valued FG, interval-valued intuitionistic FG and their complements, as these existing definitions are not well-defined; i.e., one can obtain some senseless intervals using the existing definitions. The limitations of the existing definitions and the validity of the new definitions are supported with some examples. It is also observed that the notion of a single-valued neutrosophic graph (SVNG) is not well-defined either. The consequences of the existing definition of SVNG are discussed with the help of examples. A new definition of SVNG is developed, and its improvement is demonstrated with some examples. The definition of an interval-valued neutrosophic graph is also modified due to the shortcomings in the current definition, and the validity of the new definition is proved. An application of proposed work is illustrated through a decision-making problem under the framework of SVNG, and its performance is compared with existing work.