A Process for Hydrogen Production from the Catalytic Decomposition of Formic Acid over Iridium—Palladium Nanoparticles

The present study investigates a process for the selective production of hydrogen from the catalytic decomposition of formic acid in the presence of iridium and iridium–palladium nanoparticles under various conditions. It was found that a loading of 1 wt.% of 2% palladium in the presence of 1% iridium over activated charcoal led to a 43% conversion of formic acid to hydrogen at room temperature after 4 h. Increasing the temperature to 60 °C led to further decomposition and an improvement in conversion yield to 63%. Dilution of formic acid from 0.5 to 0.2 M improved the decomposition, reaching conversion to 81%. The reported process could potentially be used in commercial applications.     

An Optimistic Solver for the Mathematical Model of the Flow of Johnson Segalman Fluid on the Surface of an Infinitely Long Vertical Cylinder

In this paper, a novel soft computing technique is designed to analyze the mathematical model of the steady thin film flow of Johnson–Segalman fluid on the surface of an infinitely long vertical cylinder used in the drainage system by using artificial neural networks (ANNs). The approximate series solutions are constructed by Legendre polynomials and a Legendre polynomial-based artificial neural networks architecture (LNN) to approximate solutions for drainage problems. The training of designed neurons in an LNN structure is carried out by a hybridizing generalized normal distribution optimization (GNDO) algorithm and sequential quadratic programming (SQP). To investigate the capabilities of the proposed LNN-GNDO-SQP algorithm, the effect of variations in various non-Newtonian parameters like Stokes number (St), Weissenberg number (We), slip parameters (a), and the ratio of viscosities (ϕ) on velocity profiles of the of steady thin film flow of non-Newtonian Johnson–Segalman fluid are investigated. The results establish that the velocity profile is directly affected by increasing Stokes and Weissenberg numbers while the ratio of viscosities and slip parameter inversely affects the fluid’s velocity profile. To validate the proposed technique’s efficiency, solutions and absolute errors are compared with reference solutions calculated by RK-4 (ode45) and the Genetic algorithm-Active set algorithm (GA-ASA). To study the stability, efficiency and accuracy of the LNN-GNDO-SQP algorithm, extensive graphical and statistical analyses are conducted based on absolute errors, mean, median, standard deviation, mean absolute deviation, Theil’s inequality coefficient (TIC), and error in Nash Sutcliffe efficiency (ENSE). Statistics of the performance indicators are approaching zero, which dictates the proposed algorithm’s worth and reliability.     

Correction: Effects of aluminum chloride and coenzyme Q10 on the molecular structure of lipids and the morphology of the brain hippocampus cells

Correction for ‘Effects of aluminum chloride and coenzyme Q10 on the molecular structure of lipids and the morphology of the brain hippocampus cells’ by Abdu Saeed et al., RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 29925–29933, DOI: 10.1039/D1RA03786B.

The authors regret that the name of one of the authors (Naeem F. Qusty) was shown incorrectly in the original article. In addition, the author contributions were incorrectly given. The corrected author list and contributions are as shown here.     

Ellagic acid protects against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in streptozotocin-diabetic rats by activating AMPK

ContextEllagic acid (EA) is used in traditional medicine to treated hyperlipidaemia.ObjectiveThis study examined if AMPK mediates the anti-steatotic effect of ellagic acid (EA) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes mellitus in rats.Materials and methodsAdult male Wistar rats (130 ± 10 g) were divided into 6 groups (n = 8 rats/group) as control, control + EA, control + EA + CC an AMPK inhibitor), T1DM, T1DM + EA, and T1DM + EA + CC. The treatments with EA (50 mg/kg/orally) and CC (200 ng/rat/i.p.) were given the desired groups for 12 weeks, daily.ResultsIn T1DM-rats, EA reduced fasting glucose levels (44.8%), increased fasting insulin levels (92.8%), prevented hepatic lipid accumulation, and decreased hepatic and serum levels of total triglycerides (54% & 61%), cholesterol (57% & 48%), and free fatty acids (40% & 37%). It also reduced hepatic levels of ROS (62%), MDA (52%), TNF-α (62%), and IL-6 (57.2%) and the nuclear activity of NF-κB p65 (54%) but increased the nuclear activity of Nrf-2 (4-fold) and levels of GSH (107%) and SOD (87%). Besides, EA reduced downregulated SREBP1 (35%), SREBP2 (34%), ACC-1 (36%), FAS (38%), and HMG-CoAR (49%) but stimulated mRNA levels of PPARα (1.7-fold) and CPT1a (1.8-fold), CPT1b (2.9-fold), and p-AMPK (4-fold). All these events were prevented by the co-administration of CC.Discussion and conclusionsThese findings encourage the use of EA to treat hepatic disorders, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Further in vivo and in vitro studies are needed to validate its potential in clinical medicine.     

Public awareness,beliefs and attitude towards depressive disorders in Saudi Arabia

Objectives:To investigate the degree of public awareness, beliefs, and attitudes regarding major depression and available treatment options in the Saudi population.Methods:A community-based cross-sectional study of 1,188 participants was carried out from March to April 2021 in Ha’il, Saudi Arabia using an online self-administered questionnaire. Using a snowball sampling technique, the authors targeted the Saudi population living in Ha’il region.Results:Overall, 65.6% of the participants had good awareness regarding depression disorder in total. Of the participants, 72.9% had good awareness regarding general awareness, 85.4% regarding depression symptoms, 12.3% regarding risk factors, and 15.7% regarding treatments. Of the participants, 67.3% believed that depression was caused by lack of faith and 45.5% believed that depression was caused by “the evil eye” or black magic. Of the participants, 56% believed in faith healers as a legitimate treatment approach. Of the participants, 63.9% were willing to work with individuals with depression, 62.7% were willing to establish friendships with them, and 27.9% believed that individuals with depression had weak personalities.Conclusion:The general population exhibited good general awareness regarding depression and its symptoms, but knowledge of risk factors and treatments was poor. Our findings underscore the need for public educational programs to increase public awareness about the risk factors and treatment options for depression.     

Cytochrome 4Z1 Expression Is Correlated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Cervical Cancer

Background: cervical cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women worldwide and its management remains challenging and complex. As Cytochrome4Z1 (CYP4Z1) is overexpressed in many tumours, its expression in cervical cancer is unknown. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate CYP4Z1 expression in cervical cancers. Methods: CYP4Z1 expression was immunohistochemically assessed in 100 cases of cervical cancers along with ten normal cervix tissues, and the enzyme’s relationship to several clinicopathological features and survival was explored. Results: CYP4Z1 was strongly expressed in 55% of cervical cancer patients. Normal cervix samples were negative for CYP4Z1 expression. Importantly, this expression was significantly found in patients with the late stage of the disease, lymph node metastasis, and high tumour invasion (p < 0.05). Interestingly, CYP4Z1 expression was significantly correlated with shorter survival times of cervical cancer patients. Univariate analysis showed that CYP4Z1 expression, tumour stage, lymph node metastasis, and tumour invasion were significantly correlated with patient survival (p < 0.05). The multivariate analysis revealed that only CYP4Z1 expression and tumour stage were significantly correlated with patient survival (p < 0.05). Conclusions: CYP4Z1 expression is associated with cervical cancer patients’ survival and may serve as an independent predictor of poor prognosis in cervical cancer patients.     

Assessment of the stroke-specific quality-of-life scale in KFHU,Khobar: A prospective cross-sectional study

Objectives:To assess the overall and domain-specific quality of life (QOL) in post-stroke patients using the stroke-specific quality of life (SS-QOL) scale and to identify variables that may affect the QOL after stroke.Methods:A prospective cross-sectional study, included 80 stroke patients, was conducted in the Neurology department at King Fahad Hospital of the University (KFHU), Khobar, Saudi Arabia, from December 2019 to February 2020. Stroke patients were interviewed using the Arabic version of the SS-QOL questionnaire and modified Rankin scale (mRS).Results:The overall quality of life in the surveyed participants was at the level of 3.72 points, which is above the average recognized in the middle of the scale that ranges from 1 to 5. The overall quality of life was not significantly correlated with sex, age, type of stroke, recurrence of stroke, and time since stroke (p>0.05). Hypertension and atrial fibrillation were the only comorbidities that were determined to be significantly associated with the overall quality of life at the level of (3.53), and (2.97) respectively (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant correlation between the mRS score and the overall quality of life (p<0.05).Conclusion:Performing a comprehensive assessment of the overall QOL in post-stroke patients will result in better health outcomes, particularly in terms of quality of functioning in psycho-social aspects.

Stroke is a disease that is known by its focal neurologic deficit.¹ It occurs when there is a disruption of the blood flow to the brain either by a clot, causing ischemic stroke or by a rupture of the blood vessels, causing hemorrhagic stroke.² It is experienced by approximately 15 million people worldwide and it is considered to be the second cause of mortality. Among these people, 5 million die and another 5 million live with lifelong disability, which creates a major economic and social burden. The number of cases of stroke in Saudi Arabia is increasing and becoming a debilitating reason for death and disability. Research on the incidence and prevalence of stroke in Saudi Arabia is still lacking. There is only one study conducted in Saudi Arabia in the last 10 years, which states that stroke’s prevalence is 29 per 100,000 each year.^2,3Stroke affects the quality of life (QOL) of patients owing to its related cognitive, physical and functional consequences, such as restrictions in mobility, language impairment and depression.^4,5 Although stroke causes extensive functional impairment, the objective methods of evaluation usually fail to assess the subjective impact of these impairments.⁶ The Health-related QOL (HR-QOL) is a term used to evaluate a person’s wellbeing including physical, psychological, functional, and social aspects.⁷ There are various instruments to assess HR-QOL, most of which are based on subjective self-administered questionnaires. Among these instruments is the stroke-specific QOL (SS-QOL) scale, which was established as a multi-dimensional tool for various effects in post-stroke patients.⁸Up to date, there have been 4 studies conducted in Saudi Arabia on the assessment of QOL in post-stroke patients.^9-12 Two of them were conducted in Jeddah; in these studies, the researchers studied QOL among stroke patients using the HR-QOL scale.^9,10 The other 2 studies were conducted in Al Khobar; the first study studied the psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the fatigue severity scale (FSS),¹¹ while the second study measured QOL using SS-QOL and compared its variables such as socio-demographic factors, type of stroke, time passed since the stroke, affected body side, and the living status of stroke patients.¹² However, QOL in post-stroke patients evaluated using SS-QOL has not been studied yet in terms of other variables such as recurrence of stroke, degree of physical disability, comorbidities, and risk factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the overall and domain-specific QOL in post-stroke patients using the SS-QOL scale and to identify variables that may affect the quality of life after stroke. The quality of life in post-stroke patients has a statistically significant relationship with the type of stroke, duration since the last event, patient demographics, comorbidities, and degree of physical disability.