A Novel CNN-FRTAM Model for Enhanced Detection of Epileptic Seizures in EEG Signals Utilizing Deep Learning and Continuous Wavelet Transform

This study presents a novel approach to enhancing electroencephalography (EEG) signal classification for improved epileptic seizure detection. Traditional techniques for seizure detection often rely on manual analysis and suffer from high computational burdens and bias. Integrating deep learning with the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is proposed to address these limitations for effective feature extraction. The CNN-FRTAM model, which integrates a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a frequency-region temporal attention mechanism (FRTAM), employs rigorous pre-processing of EEG signals to optimize performance. Extensive evaluation on a diverse dataset revealed an accuracy of 99.80% in multi-class classification and 99.90% in binary classification between Normal and Abnormal states. The CNN-FRTAM model significantly outperformed traditional architectures such as InceptionV3, VGG19, and ResNet50, demonstrating its potential for effective real-time applications in clinical epileptic seizure management. By opening up new avenues for accurate seizure detection, this work contributes to improving patient outcomes in epilepsy care

Bearing Capacity of Driven Open-Ended Pipe Piles in Weak Soil Formations

Steel pipe piles have been increasingly used as deep foundations for offshore or onshore structures in weak soil formations. These piles are usually open-ended and installed to their final level using suitable hammers or vibrators relying on the subsurface conditions. Simultaneously, the soil plug (SP) forms inside the employed pipe pile during driving or installation. Moreover, it affects bearing behavior and total pile resistance. The experimental tests have been performed on a single tube pile. All tube piles were tested using the well-graded sand collected from the Egyptian desert, and the sand was prepared at medium density using a raining technique. The outcomes of the model pile tests showed that the value of plug resistance in open-ended pipe pile (OEPP) is typically on the order of 50% to 70% of the total pile load of OEPP, and it is influenced by pile thickness, pile diameter, pile length, and submerged state. Simultaneously, the plugging influence of OEPP increased with increasing pile thickness and embedded pile length. However, the plugging influence decreased with increasing pile diameter. The total pile load of OEPP increased with increasing the embedded pile length. It must be noted that the influence of pile length on the total pile load is greater than the influence of pile diameter; this refers to the pile length having a significant effect on the total pile load. This is due to an increase in the influence of SP

Prevalence of Ventricular Septal Defect among Congenital Heart Defects in Children attending Ibn Al-Nafees Hospital, BAGHDAD-IRAQ, 2015

Background: Congenital malformation according to Iraqi Ministry of Health annual report 2013 was 0.4 of live births, relatively 502,982 babies suffered from at least one type of congenital malformation. Therefore latitude of congenital heart defect (CHD) reflects dystrophic challenge for Iraq in general and in practically the health system. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of VSD, its association with certain factors, and assesses the anthropometrical measures among Mother and children with CHD. Patients & methods: Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted on 349 under five children with CHD attending Ibn Al-Nafees Teaching Hospital. The nutritional status of under five children was assessed, meanwhile 296 Mother’s Body Mass Index (BMI) was assessed to point out an association over CHD and VSD. Results: The prevalence of VSD was 54.7%, followed by ASD 29.2%, the combination of VSD and ASD was on the top of congenital heart malformation 61.4%. Nutritional status assessment showed that wasted children as almost three doubles over normal distribution which exhibit acuteness with no evidence on disease chronicity. Conclusion: There were no statistically significant association between VSD and other CHD regarding residency, Mother’s age, child’s age, Father’s and Mother’s education, consanguinity, family history, febrile illness, passive smoking, certain medication received, anemia and DM. Keywords: Congenital heart defect (CHD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), and congenital anomalies

Modified geometry three-layered tablet as a platform for class II drugs zero-order release system

Purpose: To optimize a geometrical design of three-layered tablets for controlling the release of indomethacin (Ind) as a BCS class II model.Methods: The core formulation was optimized to ensure non-disintegrating tablet with a slow release behavior. Three-layered tablets were prepared by a single-step direct compression method by manual feeding of a hydrophobic layer in the bottom followed by Ind core layer and another hydrophobic layer at the top using 6 and 12 mm round compression sets. Four batches were prepared, differing only in either thickness of the drug layer or tablet diameter. A number of factors were studied, including tablet thickness to diameter ratio and drug layer surface area. The rate of Ind released was determined using USP dissolution apparatus I.Results: The optimum drug layer formulation contained Ind (40%), polyvinylpyrolidone K30 (40 %), and ethyl cellulose (20 %). The t50% (time taken for 50 % drug release) for the four three-layered tablet batches with varying diameter to thickness ratios were in the range of 1.5 to 3.7 h. The diameter to thickness ratios were in good correlation with % Ind release after 4 h (R2 = 0.94). It was found that all batches complied with zero order kinetic model.Conclusion: The new one-compression phase applied in this study is successful in producing threelayered tablets in a single-step with very good mechanical attributes. The approach of designing a controlled release tablet via control of the surface area of drug release is feasible for non-swelling matrices.Keywords: Controlled release, Indomethacin, BCS class II drugs, Ethyl cellulose, Release kinetics, Direct compressio

Enhancement of ciprofloxacin activity by incorporating it in solid lipid nanoparticles

Purpose: To incorporate ciprofloxacin (CIP) into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) in order to enhance its biopharmaceutical properties and antibacterial activity.Methods: A sonication melt-emulsification method was employed for the preparation of CIP-loaded SLN. The composition of the SLN was varied in order to investigate factors such as lipid type and combination ratio, drug to lipid ratio, and surfactant ratio. The produced SLN formulations wereevaluated for their particle size and shape, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency. In addition, the effect of SLN formulation composition on its drug release profile and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus Aureus was also investigated.Results: The generated nanoparticles had particle size in the range of 165 to 320 nm. The zetapotential values were generally low within ± 5. All formulations exhibited entrapment efficiency between 50 and 90 %. CIP release exhibited a biphasic release profile with a low burst phase, followed by uniform controlled-release behavior of various rates. SLN-loaded CIP exhibited one-fold reduction in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and caused significant inhibition of all the three bacterial strains tested, when compared with pure CIP.Conclusion: Loading of CIP into SLN significantly enhances its antimicrobial activity in vitro which can translate to significant enhancement of therapeutic outcomes by minimizing the dose-dependent adverse and side effects and/or enhancing the antimicrobial spectrum of activity. Keywords: Solid lipid nanoparticles, Sonication melt-emulsification, Ciprofloxacin, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginos

Physical pegylation enhances the cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil-loaded PLGA And PCL nanoparticles.

Purpose : The main goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of physical incorporation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) into 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-loaded polymeric nanoparticles (NPs). METHODS: The 5-FU-loaded NPs were prepared utilizing a simple double emulsion method using polycaprolactone (PCL) and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) with or without PEG 6000. The surface charge, particle size, and shape of NPs were evaluated by standard procedures. Both Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction spectra of the 5-FU loaded NPs were compared against the pure 5-FU. The in vitro release profile of 5-FU from the NPs was monitored by the dialysis tubing method. Cell death and apoptosis induction in response to 5-FU NP exposure were measured by MTT and Annexin-V/7-amino-actinomycin D (7-AAD) assays, respectively, in Daoy, HepG2, and HT-29 cancer cell lines. RESULTS: The 5-FU loaded NPs were found to be spherical in shape with size ranging between 176±6.7 and 253.9±8.6 nm. The zeta potential varied between -7.13± 0.13 and -27.06±3.18 mV, and the entrapment efficiency was between 31.96% and 74.09%. The in vitro release of the drug followed a two-phase mode characterized by rapid release in the first 8 hrs followed by a period of slow release up to 72 hrs with composition-based variable extents. Cells exposed to NPs demonstrated a significant cell death which correlated with the ratio of PEG in the formulations in Daoy and HepG2 cells but not in HT-29 cells. Formulations (F1-F3) significantly induced early apoptosis in HT-29 cell lines. CONCLUSION: The physical PEGylation significantly enhanced the entrapment and loading efficiencies of 5-FU into NPs formulated with PLGA and PCL. It also fostered the in vitro cytotoxicity of 5-FU-loaded NPs in both Daoy and HepG2 cells. Induction of early apoptosis was confirmed for some of the formulations

Optimization of amino acid-stabilized erythropoietin parenteral formula: In vitro and in vivo assessment

The aim of this study was to optimize the formulation of erythropoietin (EPO) using amino acids instead of human serum albumin (HSA) and to evaluate its in vivo stability in order to avoid the risk of viral contamination and antigenicity. Different EPO formulas were developed in such a way was to allow studying the effects of amino acids and surfactants on the EPO stability profile. The main techniques applied for EPO analysis were ELISA, Bradford method, and SDS gel electrophoresis. The in vivo stability was evaluated in a Balb-c mouse animal model. The results showed that the presence of surfactant was very useful in preventing the initial adsorption of EPO on the walls of vials and in minimizing protein aggregation. Amino acid combinations, glycine with glutamic acid, provided maximum stability. Formulation F4 (containing glycine, glutamic acid and Tween 20) showed minimum aggregation and degradation and in vivo activity equivalent to commercially available HSA-stabilized EPO (Eprex®)

Novel docetaxel chitosan-coated PLGA/PCL nanoparticles with magnified cytotoxicity and bioavailability

In the present study, docetaxel (DTX)-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) nanoparticles were successfully prepared and coated with chitosan (CS). The prepared nanoparticles (NPs) were evaluated for their particle size, zeta potential, particle morphology, drug entrapment efficiency (EE%), and in vitro drug release profile. The anticancer activity of DTX-loaded NPs was assessed in human HT29 colon cancer cell line utilizing MTT assay. The pharmacokinetics of DTX-loaded NPs was monitored in Wistar rats in comparison to DTX solution. The prepared NPs exhibited particle sizes in the range 177.1 ± 8.2-287.6 ± 14.3 nm. CS decorated NPs exhibited a significant increase in particle size and a switch of zeta potential from negative to positive. In addition, high EE% values were obtained for CS coated PCL NPs and PLGA NPs as 67.1 and 76.2%, respectively. Moreover, lowering the rate of DTX in vitro release was achieved within 48 h by using CS coated NPs. Furthermore, a tremendous increase in DTX cytotoxicity was observed by CS-decorated PLGA NPs compared to all other NPs including DTX-free-NPs and pure DTX. The in vivo study revealed significant enhancement in DTX bioavailability from CS-decorated PLGA NPs with more than 4-fold increase in AUC compared to DTX solution. In conclusion, CS-decorated PLGA NPs are a considerable DTX-delivery carrier with magnificent antitumor efficacy

Loading celecoxib into solid lipid nanoparticles significantly enhanced the anticancer activity

Introduction: Celecoxib (CXB), COX-2 enzyme inhibitor, has been approved recently for the treatment of colorectal polyps. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) have turned out to be an attractive carrier alternative to liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles due to superior stability and biocompatibility. This work aimed to optimize CXB-loaded SLN for colon delivery with high potential toward enhancing the anticancer activity. Methods: An ultrasonic melt-emulsification method was employed in this work for the preparation of SLN. Briefly, an emulsion was formed after mixing melted lipid with heated aqueous surfactant solution heated to equal temperature by probe-sonication and dispersed in chilled distilled water for 10 minutes. The physical attributes were characterized for their particle sizes, charges, morphology, and entrapment efficiency (%EE), in addition to DSC and FTIR. The in vitro drug release profiles were evaluated and the anticancer activity was examined utilizing MTT assay in three cancer-cell-lines; HT29, Daoy, and HepG2. Results: All the prepared SLN formulations exhibited particle sizes in the nano scale ranging from 238nm to 757nm. There was dependence on the type and ratio of the surfactant used and the nature of lipid combination. The zeta-potential values (mv) were mostly in the -30s mv indicating higher stability potential of all SLN formulations. The minimum %EE was found equal to 86.76% (F9) which is advantageous of the method for large scale production. The disappearance of CXB characteristic melting peak from DSC thermograms of all formulations elucidates the amorphous nature of the SLN-entrapped CXB. The SEM images indicated the spherical nature of the SLN and CXB loading. The in vitro release profile showed a slow constant rate with no burst release which is uncommon with SLN. Both F9 and F14 showed a complete CXB release within 24-hour with only 25% within the first 5 hours. This makes them suitable for colonic targeting. F9 exhibited a significant % cell death in the three tested cancer cell lines after only 24 hours incubation and maintained the effect for 72 hours. In the case of F14, the significant % cell death was achieved with HT29 cell line after 24 hours and only after 72 hours for HepG cells, while non-significant effect was observed with Doay cells. Conclusion/Implications: The produced CXB-loaded SLN showed unique properties of slow release with no burst in addition to high %EE. The anticancer activity was extremely significant for one formulation in both HepG and HT29 cells which is highly promising