There are many challenges in accurately measuring cigarette tar constituents. These include the need for standardized smoke generation methods related to unstable mixtures. In this research were developed algorithms using fusion of artificial intelligence methods to predict tar concentration. Outputs of development are three fuzzy structures optimized with genetic algorithms resulting in genetic algorithm (GA)-FUZZY, GA-adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), GA-GA-FUZZY algorithms. Proposed algorithms are used for the tar prediction in the cigarette production process. The results of prediction are compared with gas chromatograph (high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)) readings.

Abstract The aim of the paper is to prove the completeness theorem for probability models with finitely many valued measure.

This work describes preparation and application of “homemade” chloride ISE enriched with iron oxides or zinc oxide nanoparticles. The prepared chloride ISE membrane was made of AgCl:Ag2S:PTFE = 1:1:2 and AgCl:Ag2S:PTFE = 2:1:2 enriched with mentioned nanoparticles in ratio 0.5-1.2 wt.%. Prepared membranes were used for chloride determination in perchloric acid (pH = 0-2) and acetic buffer (pH = 4 – 4.75). Due to the low method price, simplicity and a reasonably fast way of usage, it was considered as a possibility for chloride determination in high acid media. Two of prepared membranes (M1 and M4) have shown best characteristics. M1 showed linear response range for chloride between 2.0×10−6 and 1×10−1 mol L−1, with a detection limit of 2.24×10−6 mol L−1 and potential change of 44.39 mV per decade. M4 showed linear response range for chloride between 4.2×10–6 to 1×10–1 mol L−1, limit of detection of 1.39×10–6 mol L−1 with potential change of 24.79 mV per decade at pH = 0.

Background Oil and gas industry workers appear to suffer from anxiety and depression more frequently than the general population. Aims To establish the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among offshore workers working for an oil and gas company and to identify the main stressors that lead to symptoms of these disorders. Methods One thousand seven hundred and forty-seven workers employed in an offshore oil and gas company in the Middle East completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Patient Health (PHQ-9) questionnaires. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were estimated from these surveys. Results Anxiety and depression symptoms were reported by nearly 15% of workers surveyed. Ordered logistic regression analyses showed that age, rotation length, years of service and local origin (versus expatriate) were significant predictors for symptoms of anxiety. With adjustment for age, older local workers had a lower risk of anxiety symptoms than expatriates. Conclusions Younger workers, workers with longer rotations and those with fewer years of service were more likely to report anxiety symptoms. In addition, older local workers and expatriates had a lower prevalence of anxiety symptoms than younger local workers. Future recommendations should address improvements in psychological health of offshore workers in the gas and oil industries.

Abstract Background Clinically relevant potential drug-drug interactions are considered preventable adverse drug reactions. Objective The aim of this study was to ascertain the frequency of potential drug-drug interactions in acute ischemic stroke patients and to explore factors associated with occurrence of potentially contraindicated drug-drug interactions. Methods This observational retrospective cohort and nested case-control study was carried out among patients treated for acute ischemic stroke at the Neurological Intensive Care Unit in the Clinical Centre Kragujevac, Serbia. The potentially drug-drug interactions for each day of hospitalization were identifi ed using Micromedex® soft ware. Based on the existence or absence of potentially contraindicated drug-drug interactions, the participants were divided into a group of cases (n=111) and the control group (n=444). Results A total of 696 patients were analysed. All patients had a minimum of one potential drug-drug interaction during hospitalization. The most common drugs involved in potential drug-drug interactions were aspirin (8.02%), diclofenac (7.49%) and warfarin (7.14%). The number of medications prescribed for simultaneous use during hospitalisation and the use of antipsychotics in therapy signifi cantly increased the likelihood of potentially contraindicated drug-drug interactions aft er adjustment by means of logistic regression for 1.2 and 3 times, respectively. Conclusions This study suggests that patients with acute ischemic stroke are frequently exposed to potential drug-drug interactions. It is essential to identify potentially drug-drug interactions in these patients as early as possible in order to prevent adverse drug reactions and ensure safe recovery. Besides, full attention should be paid when adding each new medication in therapy, particularly when a neurologist decides to prescribe antipsychotics, such as risperidone.

Abstract Background: Laparoscopic surgery causes less pain than traditional surgery; however, to relieve postoperative pain, surgeons frequently apply local anesthetic preemptively. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different local anesthetics on pain intensity in patients who had undergone a laparoscopic appendectomy (LA), who received the anesthetic preemptively at incision sites and postemptively, intraperitoneally and trocar sites. Patients and Methods: A total of 120 LA patients (men and women) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 groups (N = 30/group): Group 1: no peritoneal or local administration of local anesthetics during LA; Group 2: 5 mL of 1% lidocaine was applied at incision sites and 10 mL 1% lidocaine was injected under direct vision in the right iliac fossa area and around the stump of the appendix and trocar sites at the end of the procedure; Group 3: 5 mL of 0.5% levobupivacaine applied at incision sites +10 mL 0.5% levobupivacaine injected in the same place intraperitoneally and trocar sites at the end of the procedure; Group 4: 5 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine at incision sites +10 mL 0.5% ropivacaine injected in the same place intraperitoneally and trocar sites at the end of the procedure. Postoperative pain was assessed after 2, 6, 24, and 48 hours using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results: By comparing the average values of pain intensity using VAS, we observed significantly different average values of pain intensity in the levobupivacaine and ropivacaine (3 and 4) groups in comparison with the control Group 1 (P < .05) throughout the follow-up period. Conclusion: We observed a reduction in postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting in patients with LA who received intraoperative local anesthetic preemptively at the incision sites and postemptively, intraperitoneally. After the application of levobupivacaine the intensity of pain was significantly lower than in any other tested group.

PURPOSE Co-administration of creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) has been recently put forward as an advanced dietary strategy to optimize tissue bioenergetics. We hypothesized that creatine-GAA mixture would result in a more powerful rise in brain and skeletal muscle creatine, as compared to creatine supplementation alone. METHODS A randomized, double-blinded, crossover superiority trial has been performed at the University of Novi Sad from December 2016 to November 2017. A total of 14 healthy young men were randomized to receive GAA-creatine mixture (1 grams of GAA and 3 grams of creatine per day) or equimolar creatine (4 grams per day) by oral administration for 4 weeks. RESULTS Creatine-GAA mixture was superior to creatine alone to increase mean creatine levels in skeletal muscle (16.9 ± 20.2 vs. 2.0 ± 6.0%; P = 0.02) and grey matter (5.8 ± 5.3% vs. 1.5 ± 3.2%; P = 0.02), also for bench press performance (6.0% vs. 5.1%; P < 0.01). Compared with creatine administration alone, combined GAA and creatine resulted in less weight gain (1.6 ± 0.2 kg vs. 0.7 ± 0.2 kg; P < 0.01). No inter-group differences were observed in terms of cardiorespiratory endurance, serum biomarkers, or adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Creatine-GAA mixture appeared to be superior to creatine alone for up-swinging tissue creatine content and upper body strength, and tended toward a lower risk of weight gain in healthy active men. The formulation might be considered as a novel energy-boosting alternative to creatine alone in weight-sensitive setups. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.govNCT03350282.

Brain bioenergetics could be affected by many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, yet no link has been established between markers of bioenergetics in specific brain regions and educational level. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated N-acetylaspartate-to-creatine ratio (NAA/Cr), a biomarker of brain functionality, using multivoxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in twelve brain locations among healthy volunteers (n = 51; 30 females; age 47.8 ± 16.3 years) who earned either a high school diploma (36 out of 51) or a college degree (15 out of 51). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that our model as a whole (including level of education as a predictor variable, and age and gender as control variables) explained significant percentage of the variance in the NAA/Cr levels at 8 out of 12 specific brain locations (P< 0.05). This was highlighted in left anterior mesial cortex where the model explained 63.1% of the variance in brain NAA/Cr, with education and age make significant contributions (72.6% and 48.5%, respectively) to our model (P< 0.05). Having superior brain N-acetylaspartate-to-creatine ratio appears to be related with higher education in healthy men and women.

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) caused by Leishmania infantum, is a zoonotic vector-borne disease endemic in the Mediterranean region. Here, we report a molecularly confirmed case of fatal CanL caused by L. infantum in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina where epidemiology data are scarce. A 2.5-year-old, male golden retriever presented with a history of lethargy, prostration, and anorexia. Clinical examination revealed pale mucosae membranes, reduced capillary refill time, anuria, and ulcerated oral mucosae and skin of the legs. Complete blood count discovered severe non-regenerative, normocytic and normochromic anemia. Biochemistry profile showed hyperglycemia, hypoalbuminemia, hypercholesterolemia, increased potassium, and considerably elevated creatinine, urea, and phosphorus. Rapid Leishmania SNAP test was negative, as well as the serum neutralization test for leptospirosis. At necropsy, mildly enlarged and firm yellow to tan kidneys were the most prominent lesions. Macrophages laden with amastigotes in bone marrow, liver, spleen, kidneys, lymph nodes and the skin were seen in histopathology. Molecular testing by PCR and sequencing (cpb gene) confirmed and identified the pathogen as L. infantum. This study highlights the lack of key measures necessary to undertake the proper control of this important zoonosis in the country. Nationwide epidemiologic study on CanL and its vector(s), along with adoption and establishment of proper diagnostic approach with quantitative serologic and molecular methods in place are warranted.

&NA; Spherical deconvolution methods are widely used to estimate the brain's white‐matter fiber orientations from diffusion MRI data. In this study, eight spherical deconvolution algorithms were implemented and evaluated. These included two model selection techniques based on the extended Bayesian information criterion (i.e., best subset selection and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator), iteratively reweighted l2‐ and l1‐norm approaches to approximate the l0‐norm, sparse Bayesian learning, Cauchy deconvolution, and two accelerated Richardson‐Lucy algorithms. Results from our exhaustive evaluation show that there is no single optimal method for all different fiber configurations, suggesting that further studies should be conducted to find the optimal way of combining solutions from different methods. We found l0‐norm regularization algorithms to resolve more accurately fiber crossings with small inter‐fiber angles. However, in voxels with very dominant fibers, algorithms promoting more sparsity are less accurate in detecting smaller fibers. In most cases, the best algorithm to reconstruct fiber crossings with two fibers did not perform optimally in voxels with one or three fibers. Therefore, simplified validation systems as employed in a number of previous studies, where only two fibers with similar volume fractions were tested, should be avoided as they provide incomplete information. Future studies proposing new reconstruction methods based on high angular resolution diffusion imaging data should validate their results by considering, at least, voxels with one, two, and three fibers, as well as voxels with dominant fibers and different diffusion anisotropies. HighlightsThere is no single optimal SD method for all the different fiber configurations.Sparse algorithms to resolve fiber crossings with small inter‐fiber angles were found.Algorithms promoting more sparsity are less accurate in detecting smaller fibers.Future studies should validate their results by considering many fiber configurations.

Abstract The effect of Satureja montana L. extract (SM) and phenolic fraction of Satureja montana L. (PF) on the corrosion behaviour of iron in 0.1 mol L-1 sodium chloride solution was studied by electrochemical techniques, UV/Vis spectrophotometry and atomic absorption spectrometry. The results of all techniques showed that SM and PF contributed to iron corrosion inhibition. The calculated inhibition efficiency values were about 45% for SM and 55% for PF. Results indicate that the inhibitive action occurs via a precipitation of the Fe-complex onto the iron surface which resulting in a decrease of the passive current density. The atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) method was applied to the quantitative determination of iron in solution. The obtained results demonstrated good agreement with results obtained by electrochemical techniques.