Globally rising soil microbial respiration (Rm) is a key process controlling the soil-to-atmosphere CO2 flux, yet its spatial variation and underlying mechanism at different scales is still poorly understood. A novel experiment based on the annual mean temperature of soil origin sites along a 4,200 km north–south transect of China forests revealed a hump-shaped relationship between Rm and latitude with a latitudinal threshold of 32.5°N. Microbial variables were more important in shaping Rm’ spatial variation at the continental scale than at the regional scales, but soil physicochemical property had comparably unique importance at different scales. Labile organic C was the most important factor in regulating the Rm’s variation at the continent and in the latitude > 32.5°N region, but fungi biomass was the most important factor in the latitude < 32.5°N region. Overall, our findings suggest different controlling factors of Rm’s variations on either side of the latitudinal threshold.

As the effects of cancer and its treatment have long-lasting negative impacts on the health and quality of life of survivors, there is a need to explore new avenues to optimize long-term patient outcomes in pediatric oncology. Therefore, this scoping review aims to report on the state of the evidence on the use and effects of behavioural interventions targeting physical activity and diet behaviours in pediatric oncology. Fourteen quantitative studies were included. Studies evaluated a combination of two or three different modalities, including education (n=11), physical activity (n=6), psychosocial support or training (n=6), reward system (n=2) and adventure-based activities (n=1).  Overall, behavioural interventions in pediatric oncology appear beneficial; however, no conclusive evidence favouring specific interventions were identified.

As of March, 2020, Corona Virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has catapulted to the status of a pandemic. Its rapid spread has initiated a worldwide search for appropriate therapeutics targeting the causative SARS-CoV-2 virus. Till now, the management of critical COVID-19 patients mainly revolves around the supportive therapies of supplemental oxygen and ventilatory support. However, pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy specifically intended to halt SARS-CoV-2 from exerting its effects are increasingly being incorporated into treatment regimens. COVID-19 patient care continues to evolve as the available drugs are being thoroughly investigated for their potential antiviral effects and new therapies, such as vaccines, are being developed. The list of pre-existing therapeutics that show promise against SARS-CoV-2 includes anti-virals like Remdesivir, plasma therapy, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), anticoagulants, antibiotics, corticosteroids and several other investigational agents such as vitamin supplements and thymosin alpha one. In this comprehensive, updated review we will highlight the major prospective therapies that are currently in the arsenal against COVID-19 and where they stand in the treatment recommendations as well as a brief look at the challenges faced in Pakistan. With this review we not only hope to disseminate the accurate, recent information regarding these therapies, but also discuss the reliability of the clinical trials that have designated them to be useful against COVID-19.

Background A venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a blood clot that occurs secondary to vessel wall injury often from a central line insertion. Enoxaparin is often considered a first line treatment in pediatrics for VTE due to its favorable kinetic profile. Enoxaparin monitoring for pediatric patients is accomplished through anti-Xa monitoring although a correlation of efficacy and safety as yet to be established. The objective of this study is to evaluate covariates in pediatric patients to determine which variables are most likely to be associated with enoxaparin dose changes. Methods A single center, retrospective chart review was conducted in pediatric patients treated with enoxaparin for VTE over a 10-year period were assessed to determine covariates that lead to dose changes based off anti-Xa levels. Secondary outcomes described monitoring patterns at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital. Results Sixty eight patients met inclusion criteria in which results showed that patients aged 2-5.9 months (p=0.026), critical care status (p=0.009), and of Native American ethnicity (p = 0.016) were likely to have an enoxaparin dose change at least once during their treatment regimen. The mean number of levels drawn were 7.5 per patient and doses were not frequently changed based off a confirmatory lab draw. However, many doses were adjusted based off the week 1 post therapeutic level. Conclusion In conclusion, we found that patients of Native American ethnicity, younger than 6 months, and those admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit were likely to have dose changes based on anti-Xa levels.

Background: Acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) is a rare subtype of acute myeloid leukemia but is ~500 times more likely to develop in children with Down syndrome (DS) thro

The capacity to make reasoned decisions about one’s health care is central to optimal person-centered care. Termed ‘decision-making capacity’, it requires comprehension of the information presented about one’s health, an understanding of one’s circumstances and the reasoning skills to navigate health care options. Impaired decision-making capacity is prevalent in hospital settings whilst also being under-recognized leading to sub-optimal care and raising ethical concerns. This assesses decision-making capacity all the more important in this setting. This scoping review aimed to explore and summarise the literature on current practice in the assessment of decision-making capacity in hospital settings. A total of four databases (Psychinfo, CINAHL, Scopus and Medline) were searched from 2009 to June 2019, using search terms related to ‘assessment’, ‘decision-making capacity’ and ‘patient’. Thirteen studies were included. They investigated a variety of methods for assessing decision-making capacity in hospital settings. No gold standard test emerged. Commonly, it was doctors that assessed decision-making capacity with an informal interview with the patient; however, the error rate for this assessment was up to 58%. The literature suggests that training in this method and/or the use of more structured assessment tools may be required to improve the accuracy of decision-making capacity assessment. Another finding was that decision-making capacity assessments rely heavily on patient communication abilities. Therefore, all efforts should be made to provide communication assistance, for support with patients who have complex communication needs (including engagement with Speech and Language Pathology services). Finally, healthcare services must ensure health professionals performing capacity assessments receive appropriate training and that robust policy are in place to support improved assessment practices.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the educational needs in patients undergone breast surgery. Material and Methods: The data of this descriptive study were collected from 67 patients who underwent breast surgery between June 15, 2018 and August 15, 2018 in two private hospitals on the European side. After obtaining institutional permission and ethics committee approval, data were collected using the “Patient Learning Needs Scale” and “Patient Information Form” prepared by the researcher and analyzed statistically. Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 45.04±8.039, and 79.1% was married, 32.8% was college or university graduate, and 82.1% had a balanced income. It was found that 35.8% of the patients had a history of breast disease in their family, 97% had surgical treatment, and 98.5% had been informed before the surgery. It was observed that 82.1% of the patients considered the information given adequate. It was determined that patients were in need of learning more about medications and quality of life (4.76±0.430). No statistically significant relationship was found between the learning needs and the age, marital status, and educational status of the patients. Conclusion: It may be suggested that the trainings for patients who undergone breast surgery should be planned in line with the needs.

Single amino acid variation (SAV) is an amino acid substitution of the protein sequence and might influence the whole protein structure, binding affinity, or functional domain and related to disease, even cancer. However, to clarify the relationship between SAV and cancer using traditional experiments is time and resource consuming. Though there are some SAVs predicted methods using the computational approach, most of them predict the protein stability changed caused by SAV. In this work, all of the SAV characteristics generated from protein sequences, structures, and micro-environment would be converted into feature vectors and fed into an integrated predicting system by using Support Vector Machine and genetic algorithm. The critical features were used to estimate the relationship between their properties and cancer caused by SAVs. In the results, we have developed a prediction system based on protein sequence and structure, which could distinguish the SAV is related to cancer or not, and the accuracy, the Matthews correlation coefficient, and the F1-score yield to 90.88%, 0.77 and 0.83, respectively. Moreover, an online prediction server called CanSavPre was built (http://bioinfo.cmu.edu.tw/CanSavPre/), which will be a useful, practical tool for cancer research and precision medicine.

Introduction: Although the association between necrotizing otitis externa (NOE) and diabetes mellitus (DM) is well known, there is little knowledge in regards to the effects of DM and glycemic control (preadmission and during hospitalization) on the outcome of NOE. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of DM duration and preadmission glycemic control, and in-hospital glycemic control on NOE severity. Methods: A retrospective case series analysis, including all patients between the years 1990-2018 hospitalized due to NOE were included in the study. Data collected included NOE disease characteristics, duration of DM, DM associated comorbidities, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), urine micro-albumin and in-hospital blood glucose measurements. Disease severity was defined based on duration of hospitalization (above or below 20 days) and need for surgery. Results: Eighty nine patients were included in the study. Eighty three patients (94.3%) had DM. Preadmission HbA1c was 8.13% (5.8%-12.6%). Forty nine patients (65.5%) had mean blood glucose of ≥140mg\dL and 26 patients (34.5%) had ≤ 140mg/dL. DM duration was 157.88 months among NOE patients who required surgery, and 127.6 months among patients who were treated conservatively (p-value 0.25). HbA1c in patients hospitalized < 20 days was 7.6%, and 8.7% among NOE hospitalized ≥ 20 days (p-value 0.027). Seven patients with mean blood glucose of ≤140mg\dL had Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (PA-NOE) (26.7%), in comparison to 25 patients (51.0%) with mean blood glucose measurement of ≥140mg\dL (p=0.045). Conclusions: HbA1c levels at admission are associated with longer hospitalization duration among NOE patients. High mean blood glucose during hospitalization was associated with a higher likelihood for a PA infection, however it had no effect on disease outcome.

High-latitude tundra ecosystems are increasingly affected by climate warming. As an important fraction of soil microorganisms, fungi play essential roles in carbon (C) degradation, especially the old, chemically recalcitrant C. However, it remains obscure how fungi respond to climate warming and whether fungi, in turn, affect C stability of tundra. In a two-year winter soil warming experiment of 2 °C by snow fences, we investigated responses of fungal communities to warming in the active layer of the Alaskan tundra. Although fungal community composition, revealed by 28S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, remained unchanged (P > 0.05), fungal functional gene composition, revealed by a microarray named GeoChip, was altered (P < 0.05). Changes in functional gene composition were linked to winter soil temperature, thaw depth, soil moisture, and gross primary productivity (Canonical Correlation Analysis, P < 0.05). Specifically, relative abundances of fungal genes encoding invertase, xylose reductase, and vanillin dehydrogenase significantly increased (P < 0.05), indicating higher C degradation capacities of fungal communities under warming. Accordingly, we detected changes of fungal gene networks under warming, including higher average path distance, lower average clustering coefficient, and lower percentage of negative links, indicating that warming potentially changed fungal interactions. Together, our study revealed higher C degradation capacities of fungal communities under short-term warming and highlights the potential impacts of fungal communities on mediating tundra ecosystem respiration, and consequently future C stability of high-latitude tundra.

Background Respiratory disease is a major and increasingly global epidemic that has a great impact on humans, especially children. The purpose of this study was to identify environmental risk factors for respiratory diseases and changes in pulmonary function in the different living environments. Methods A population-based, cross-sectional survey of respiratory diseases and related environmental risk factors was conducted in Jilin Province of Northeast China. The study population included students from grade third to fifth enrolled in the four schools in October 2016. Complete questionnaire information was available for 2419 children. We assess the impact of environmental factors on respiratory health in children. Results The results of multivariate logistic regression showed that a garbage station, noise or heating company around the home, purchase furniture, passive smoking and utilization of anophelifuge and disinfectant are risk factors of respiratory diseases. There is a significant difference in the measurement of lung function between the different classifications of the garbage station, noise, window opening in winter, passive smoking and the main fuel for cooking in winter et al. Conclusions We found that the environment in Changchun and Yanji cities, China, reported a garbage station, purchase furniture within a year, passive smoking, and utilization of anophelifuge and disinfectant et al may be the risk factors for respiratory diseases among school-aged children. A garbage station or noise around the home, close to the main traffic road, low frequency of opening windows in winter, passive smoking and using liquid gas may be also associated with decreased lung function.

This analysis report is an attempt to differentiate various mitigation techniques for soil liquefaction that are currently in practice around the world. Through the different data- obtained from separate researches, this report strives to determine the most efficient and economical mitigation measure for low-story (3,4 floors) residential buildings in the Kathmandu valley. The disastrous earthquake of April 2015 left many residents of Kathmandu valley awestruck. The houses in the Imadol, Manamaiju, Manahara, Ramkot, and Changu Narayan were hugely damaged. This report is an effort to raise awareness, among engineers and other people, that geotechnical failures such as liquefaction are significant aspects of structural stability, despite being overshadowed by the superstructure.

Epicardial fat is the true visceral fat located around the heart, particularly around sub epicardial coronary arteries . Epicardial and intra-abdominal fat derive from brown adipose tissue within embryogenesis . Because of the close anatomical relationship to the heart, and the absence of fascial boundaries, epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) may locally interact and modulate the coronary arteries and myocardium through paracrine or vasocrine secretion of anti-inflammatory and proatherogenic cytokines . Therefore, it is meaningful to explore its connection with CAD.

The paper presents innovative approaches for the simulation of fatigue crack growth (FCG) in metallic compact tension (CT) specimens using finite element (FE) analysis and analytical solution. FE analysis is performed in ABAQUS using the extended finite element method (XFEM) coupled with the direct cyclic low-cycle fatigue (LCF) approach. Novel methods are developed for the computation of the numerical crack growth by processing the analysis outputs. The numerical modeling is validated by considering past experimental data. The analytical solution for the fatigue life evaluation is formally reviewed, and novel fatigue damage descriptors are defined. The influence of the main sample/testing features on numerical and analytical fatigue life is extensively assessed by a parametric study. The discrepancy between the numerical and analytical estimations of the fatigue life of the components is investigated and correlated to the features of the testing/modeling. A statistical-based correction factor is finally proposed in order to enhance the analytical solution.

Objective: To compare multiple-procedure catheter ablation outcomes of a stepwise approach versus left atrial posterior wall isolation (LA PWI) in patients undergoing non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (NPAF) ablation. Background: Unfavorable outcomes for stepwise ablation of NPAF in large clinical trials may be attributable to pro-arrhythmic effects of incomplete ablation lines. It is unknown if a more extensive initial ablation strategy results in improved outcomes following multiple ablation procedures. Methods: 222 consecutive patients with NPAF underwent first-time ablation using a contact-force sensing ablation catheter utilizing either a stepwise (Group 1, n=111) or LA PWI (Group 2, n=111) approach. The duration of follow-up was 36 months. The primary endpoint was freedom from atrial arrhythmia >30s. Secondary endpoints were freedom from persistent arrhythmia, repeat ablation, and recurrent arrhythmia after repeat ablation. Results: There was similar freedom from atrial arrhythmias after index ablation for both stepwise and LA PWI groups at 36 months (60% vs. 69%, p=0.1). The stepwise group was more likely to present with persistent recurrent arrhythmia (29% vs 14%, p=0.005) and more likely to undergo second catheter ablation (32% vs. 12%, p<0.001) compared to LA PWI patients. Recurrent arrhythmia after repeat ablation was more likely in the stepwise group compared to the LA PWI group (15% vs 4%, p=0.003). Conclusions: Compared to a stepwise approach, LA PWI for patients with NPAF resulted in a similar incidence of any atrial arrhythmia, lower incidence of persistent arrhythmia, and fewer repeat ablations. Results for repeat ablation were not improved with a more extensive initial approach.

Introduction: Some patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) require atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, and the superior vena cava (SVC) has been identified as one of the most common non-pulmonary vein foci of AF. This study aimed to investigate the interaction between SVC isolation (SVCI) and CIED leads implanted through the SVC. Methods and Results: We studied 34 patients with CIEDs who had undergone SVCI as part of AF ablation (CIED group), involving a total of 71 CIED leads. A similar number of age-, sex-, and AF type-matched patients without CIEDs formed a control group (non-CIED group). Patients’ background and procedural characteristics were compared between the groups. In the CIED group, lead parameters before and after AF ablation were compared, and lead failure after AF ablation was also examined in detail. Procedural characteristics other than fluoroscopic time were similar in both groups. The success rate of SVCI after the final ablation procedure was 91.2% in the CIED group and 100% in the non-CIED group; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Lead parameters before and after the AF ablation did not significantly differ between the 2 groups. Lead failure was observed in 3 patients, with a sensing noise in 1 patient and an impedance increase in 2 patients after SVCI. Conclusions: SVCI was achievable without lead failure and significant change in lead parameters in most patients with CIEDs; however, the 8.8% incidence of lead failure observed after SVCI should be noted.

Biventricular pacing (BVP) has been demonstrated to improve functional outcomes and mortality of patients with symptomatic heart failure, reduced LVEF and wide QRS. Unfortunately, difficult coronary sinus anatomy can limit left ventricular lead placement. In such clinical situation, His Bundle Pacing (HBP) and Left Bundle Branch Area Pacing (LBBAP) have recently appeared as attractive alternatives to BVP. We describe the case of a patient with an indication for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) and AV node ablation, where left ventricular lead implantation and corrective HBP failed. LBBAP allowed for electrical and echocardiographic resynchronization with significant functional improvement.

Background: Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) are an effective therapy method for the prevention of sudden cardiac deaths but, it may cause certain psychosocial problems in patients. Although the patients are especially under the risk of death anxiety and sleep disorders, there are no studies that discuss these phenomena together. This research was a descriptive study that aimed to examine the levels of death anxiety and sleep quality as well as their relationship in patients with ICD. Methods: The research was conducted between September 2018-February 2019 with 88 patients. The data were obtained by using the Patient Information Form, Pittsburgh-Sleep-Quality-Index and Templer Death-Anxiety-Scale. The data were analyzed with Shapiro-Wilk test, t-test, chi-squared test, Mann-Whitney-U test and variation analysis. Results: Death anxiety levels were higher in females under 50 years of age (p<0.001), and sleep quality levels were lower in patients with low economic status (p<0.001). Also, ICD shocks increased anxiety levels and significantly decreased sleep quality levels (p<0.05). The anxiety and problems related to ICD increased death anxiety significantly (p<0.05), and sleep quality decreased due to the increase in death anxiety levels, but this wasn’t statistically significant. Conclusion: ICD is associated with high levels of death anxiety and poor sleep quality in patients in Turkey. This study results are expected to promote biopsychosocial support for patients by planning proper interventions. In order to distinguish the effects of comorbid conditions and cultural traits on ICD experiences, it’s recommended that the results of the study are examined with future studies and different populations.

Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is characterized by prolongation of the QT interval on the electrocardiogram (ECG). Clinically, LQTS is associated with the development of Torsades de Pointes (TdP), a well-defined polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and the development of sudden cardiac death (1). The most common type is the acquired form caused mainly by drugs, it is also known as the drug induced LQTS (diLQTS) (2-5). The diLQTS is caused by certain families of drugs which can markedly prolong the QT interval on the ECG most notably antiarrhythmic drugs (class IA, class III), anti-histamines, antipsychotics, antidepressants, antibiotics, antimalarial, and antifungals (2-5). Some of these agents including the antimalarial drug hydroxycholoquine and the antibiotic azithromycin which are being used in some countries as therapies for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)(6,7). However, these drugs have been implicated in causing prolongation of the QT interval on the ECG (2-5).There is a solution for monitoring this large number of patients which consists of using mobile ECG devices instead of using the standard 12-lead ECG owing to the difficulty of using the 12-lead ECG due to its medical cost and increased risk of transmitting infection. These mobile ECG devices have been shown to be effective in interpreting the QT interval in patients who are using QT interval prolonging drugs (8, 9). However, the ECG mobile devices have been associated with decreased accuracy to interpret the QT interval at high heart rates (9). On the other hand, some of them have been linked with no accuracy to interpret the QT interval (10). This can put some patients at risk of TdP and sudden cardiac death.In this current issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular electrophysiology, Krisai P et al. reported that the limb leads underestimated the occurrence of diLQTS and subsequent TdP compared to the chest leads in the ECG device, this occurred in particular with the usage of mobile standard ECG devices which use limb leads only. To illuminate these findings, the authors have studied the ECGs of 84 patients who have met the requirements for this study, which are diLQTS and subsequent TdP. Furthermore, the patients in this study were also taking a QT interval prolonging drug. Krisai P et al. additionally reported the morphology of the T-wave in every ECG and classified them into flat, broad, notched, late peaked, biphasic and inverted. The authors showed that in 11.9% of these patients the ECG was non reliable in diagnosing diLQTS and subsequent Tdp using only limb leads due to T-wave flattening in these leads, in contrast to chest leads where the non- interpretability of the QT interval was never attributable to the T-wave morphology but to other causes. The authors further examined the QT interval duration in limb leads and chest leads and found that the QT interval in limb leads was shorter compared to that of the chest leads, but reported a high variability in these differences. Therefore, it should be taken into account when screening patients with diLQTS using only mobile ECG devices and these patients should be screened using both limb leads and chest leads. Moreover, the authors have highlighted the limitations of using ECG mobile devices as limb leads to interpret the QT interval especially in high heart rates (when Bazett’s equation overcorrects the QTc and overestimates the prevalence of the QT interval) and have advocated the usage of ECG mobile devices as chest leads instead of limb leads due to their superior ability to interpret the QT interval.The authors should be praised for their efforts in illustrating the difference in the QT interval interpretability between the chest leads and the limb leads in patients with diLQTS. The authors also pointed out the limitation of using mobile ECG devices as limb leads for the diagnosis of diLQTS and recommended their usage as chest leads by applying their leads onto the chest due to their better diagnostic accuracy for detecting the diLQTS. The study results are very relevant, it further expanded the contemporary knowledge about the limitation of the QT interval interpretability using ECG mobile device only (11). Future investigation is needed to elucidate the difference in chest and limb leads interpretability of the QT interval and to assess the ability of the mobile ECG devices to interpret the QT interval.ReferencesRefaat MM, Hotait M, Tseng ZH: Utility of the Exercise Electrocardiogram Testing in Sudden Cardiac Death Risk Stratification. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol 2014; 19(4): 311-318.Kannankeril P, Roden D, Darbar D. Drug-Induced Long QT Syndrome. Pharmacological Reviews. 2010;62(4):760-781.Nachimuthu S, Assar M, Schussler J. Drug-induced QT interval prolongation: mechanisms and clinical management. Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety. 2012;3(5):241-253.Jankelson L, Karam G, Becker M, Chinitz L, Tsai M. QT prolongation, torsades de pointes, and sudden death with short courses of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine as used in COVID-19: A systematic review. Heart Rhythm. 2020 ; S1547-5271(20)30431-8.Li M, Ramos LG. Drug-Induced QT Prolongation And Torsades de Pointes. P T . 2017;42(7):473-477.Singh A, Singh A, Shaikh A, Singh R, Misra A. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 with or without diabetes: A systematic search and a narrative review with a special reference to India and other developing countries. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. 2020;14(3):241-246.Hashem A, Alghamdi B, Algaissi A, Alshehri F, Bukhari A, Alfaleh M et al. Therapeutic use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 and other viral infections: A narrative review. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2020; 35:101735.Chung E, Guise K. QTC intervals can be assessed with the AliveCor heart monitor in patients on dofetilide for atrial fibrillation. J Electrocardiol. 2015;48(1):8-9.Garabelli P, Stavrakis S, Albert M et al. Comparison of QT Interval Readings in Normal Sinus Rhythm Between a Smartphone Heart Monitor and a 12-Lead ECG for Healthy Volunteers and Inpatients Receiving Sotalol or Dofetilide. Journal Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2016;27(7):827-832.Bekker C, Noordergraaf F, Teerenstra S, Pop G, Bemt B. Diagnostic accuracy of a single‐lead portable ECG device for measuring QTc prolongation. Annals Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2019;25(1): e12683.Malone D, Gallo T, Beck J, Clark D. Feasibility of measuring QT intervals with a portable device. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. 2017;74(22):1850-1851.

A software architecture based on Machine Learning (ML) and Finite Element Method (FEM) and aimed at improving the detection of damages in aircraft structure subjected to complex variable loadings is presented here. Firstly, the software relies on statistical tools used among others in fraud detection (One-Class Support Vector Machine, Local Outlier Factors, Isolation Forest, DBSCAN) to identify anomalies in a vast amount of data recorded over time by multiple strain gauges located on the structure of the aircraft. Once an anomaly is detected at a given time and for a specific set of strain gauges, it can be classified as insignificant or critical by the user. If the anomaly is critical, the data of the associated strain gauges can be used as input data for a FEM optimization. This static optimization allows to visually assess the position and geometry of possible cracks in the structure.

Melon seed was dried, oil was extracted, its parameters had been determined. The produced oil was then hydrolyzed into glycerol and mixture of free fatty acids. Fatty acids mixture was separated. Then, by means of supercritical CO2 extractor linoleic acid was extracted individually. linoleic acid was then confirmed according to its melting point, GC-MS after esterfication , elemental analysis, H1NMR and mass spectrometry (ms) of the corresponding methyl ester in order to detect the corresponding molecular ion peak. The pure individual linoleic acid went through several chemical reactions into derivatives of deferent heterocyclic compounds. The structure elucidation of all synthesized compounds was established according to elemental analysis and spectral data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS). Then the prepared compounds were tasted for their antimicrobial activities. While, the leftover melon seed cake was used for ash production, thus, it was carbonized, and its elemental content was detected, then it was used as a natural adsorbent for improving the quality of used fried oil. Where a frying process was achieved for 24 h.. Some of the used oil was treated with ash of melon seed cake at 105 ̵̊C for 15 min. and compared to other portion that was treated with Magnesol XL at the same conditions. All Physical and chemical parameters of fresh oil, used oil, used oil treated with ash of melon seed cake and used oil treated with Magnesol XL were determined individually.

Resumo: Normalmente nos cursos de Engenharia Mecânica são usados mais de um referencial teórico para o cálculo e seleção de algum elemento mecânico, visto que um autor complementa o outro.  Em alguns casos esta alternância de material acadêmico, se deve a existir nesses materiais pequenas inconsistências que podem ter ocorrido durante a publicação, pela editora, de uma nova versão, ou pela falta de  tópicos atualizado que acompanhem o panorama atual. Sabe-se que a Engenharia Mecânica é uma área clássica que pouco muda nos seus conceitos de base, mas os mesmos devem ser atualizados conforme o surgimento de novas tendencias, seja pelo surgimento de novos materiais, seja pelas novas formas de solucionar o modo como é feito o cálculo para a seleção correta de um elemento mecânico. Nesta publicação objetiva-se passar um protocolo detalhado e fácil da sequência correta e simples para a escolha de um mancal de deslizamento circular que possibilite a transmissão de energia mecânica confiável a uma máquina industrial.

Beta-thalassaemia is one of the most significant haemoglobinopathies worldwide resulting in the synthesis of little or no β-globin chains. Without treatment, β-thalassaemia major is lethal within the first decade of life due to the complex pathophysiology which leads to wide clinical manifestations. Current clinical management for these patients solely relies on repeated transfusions followed by iron chelating therapy which can eventually results into multi-organ damage. A number of novel approaches to correct the resulting α/β globin chain imbalance are currently being developed. These include reactivation of foetal haemoglobin by pharmacological compounds, allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and gene therapy. Up to now, the only curative treatment for beta-thalassemia is HSCT, but this is a risky and costly procedure. Gene therapy either by gene addition or gene editing is emerging as a powerful approach to treat this disease. Gene addition is currently based on transplantation of autologous hematopoietic stem cells genetically modified with an integrating lentiviral vector expression the globin gene while gene editing involves the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to correct the causative mutation. Although the early outcomes of the clinical trials in gene therapy are showing promising results, they have also highlighted a number of limitations. In this review we will discuss about the current management strategies used to treat beta-thalassaemia and also focus on novel therapies.

Fatty acid metabolism has been widely studied in various organisms. However, fatty acid transport has received less attention even though it plays vital roles for the cells, such as export of toxic free fatty acids or uptake of exogenous fatty acids. Hence, there are important knowledge gaps in how fatty acids cross biological membranes and many mechanisms and proteins involved in these processes still need to be determined. The lack of information is more predominant in microorganisms, even though the identification of fatty acids transporters in these cells could lead to new drug targets or improvements in microbial cell factories. This review provides a thorough analysis of the current information on fatty acid transporters in microorganisms, including bacteria, yeasts and microalgae species. Most information available relates to the model organisms Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but transport systems of other species are also discussed. Intracellular trafficking of fatty acids and their transport through organelle membranes in eukaryotic organisms is described as well. Finally, applied studies and engineering efforts using fatty acids transporters are presented to show the applied potential of these transporters and to stress the need for further identification of new transporters and their engineering.