Prediction and Staging of Hepatic Fibrosis in Children with Hepatitis C Virus: A Machine Learning Approach

Nahla H. Barakat,Sana H. Barakat,Nadia Ahmed 대한의료정보학회 2019 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.25 No.3

Objectives: The aim of this study is to develop an intelligent diagnostic system utilizing machine learning for data cleansing, then build an intelligent model and obtain new cutoff values for APRI (aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio) and FIB- 4 (fibrosis score) for the prediction and staging of fibrosis in children with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Methods: Random forest (RF) was utilized in this study for data cleansing; then, prediction and staging of fibrosis, APRI and FIB-4 scores and their areas under the ROC curve (AUC) have been obtained on the cleaned dataset. A cohort of 166 Egyptian children with CHC was studied. Results: RF, APRI, and FIB-4 achieved high AUCs; where APRI had AUCs of 0.78, 0.816, and 0.77; FIB- 4 had AUCs of 0.74, 0.828, and 0.78; and RF had AUCs of 0.903, 0.894, and 0.822, for the prediction of any type of fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and differentiating between mild and advanced fibrosis, respectively. Conclusions: Machine learning is a valuable addition to non-invasive methods of liver fibrosis prediction and staging in pediatrics. Furthermore, the obtained cutoff values for APRI and FIB-4 showed good performance and are consistent with some previously obtained cutoff values. There was some agreement between the predictions of RF, APRI and FIB-4 for the prediction and staging of fibrosis.

Preparation of MnO nanofibers by novel hydrothermal treatment of manganese acetate/PVA electrospun nanofiber mats

Barakat, N.A.M.,Park, S.J.,Khil, M.S.,Kim, H.Y. Elsevier 2009 Materials science and engineering B. Advanced Func Vol.162 No.3

In the present study, manganese monoxide (MnO) which is hard to prepare because of the chemical activity of the manganese metal has been synthesized in nanofibrous form. An electrospun manganese acetate/poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofiber mats have been hydrothermally treated by novel strategy. The treatment process was based on producing of water gas (Co and H<SUB>2</SUB>) to eliminate the polymer and reduced the manganese acetate to manganese monoxide. The process was carried out by heating the dried nanofiber mates at 400<SUP>o</SUP>C for 3h in an especial designed reactor in which a stream of water vapor was passing through a bed of an activated carbon. The obtained physiochemical characterization results indicated that the proposed hydrothermal treatment process does have the ability to produce pure MnO nanofibers with good crystallinity.

Silver Nanofibres by a Novel Electrospinning Process: Nanofibres with Plasmon Resonance in the IR Region and Thermal Hysteresis Electrical Conductivity Features

Barakat, Nasser A. M.,Farrag, Taha E.,Kanjwal, Muzafar A.,Park, Soo-Jin,Sheikh, Faheem A.,Yong Kim, Hak WILEY-VCH Verlag 2010 European journal of inorganic chemistry Vol.2010 No.10

<P>In this study, we have introduced electrospinning of a colloidal solution rather than the conventional sol–gel process as a novel strategy to produce silver nanofibres. Typically, a silver acetate/polyvinyl alcohol colloidal solution was successfully electrospun. Electrophoretic light scattering (ELS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses have affirmed that the electrospun solution is a colloid with a ζ-potential of –2 mV and average particle diameter of 373 ± 1 nm. Moreover, FTIR analysis affirmed that neither the polymer nor silver acetate nanoparticles were affected during the electrospinning process. Calcination of the electrospun mats at 700 °C in an argon atmosphere produced smooth and unbroken pure silver nanofibres. Surface plasmon resonance of the resultant silver nanofibres was detected at 962 nm which is biologically beneficial. Furthermore, the synthesised silver nanofibres revealed thermal hysteresis in the electrical conductivity properties. These advantageous physical features strongly suggest utilising the prepared nanofibres in various fields.</P> <B>Graphic Abstract</B> <P>Electrospinning of a colloidal silver acetate solution rather than the conventional sol–gel process was introduced as a novel strategy to produce silver nanofibres. Electrophoretic light scattering and dynamic light scattering analyses have affirmed that theelectrospun solution is a colloid. Calcination of the electrospun mats produced smooth and unbroken pure silver nanofibres. The advantageous physical features of the fibres suggest utilising the prepared nanofibres in various fields. <img src='wiley_img_2010/14341948-2010-2010-10-EJIC200900453-fig000.gif' alt='wiley_img_2010/14341948-2010-2010-10-EJIC200900453-fig000'> </P>

Ammonium phosphate as promised hydrogen storage material

Barakat, N.A.M.,Ahmed, E.,Abdelkareem, M.A.,Farrag, T.E.,Al-Meer, S.,Al-Deyab, S.,Elsaid, K.,Nassar, M.M. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2015 International journal of hydrogen energy Vol.40 No.32

Most of the reported hydrogen storage materials are either expensive or based on synthetically complicated compounds. Ammonium phosphates are cheap and available product; it is being used as fertilizer. These compounds could be utilized as hydrogen storage materials. Stoichiometrically, mono-, di- and tri-ammonium phosphate can lead to evolve 3.875, 7.867 and 11.903 hydrogen equivalent, respectively. Using Pt/C (20 wt %) leads to produce 17.28, 11.35 and 10.15% from the equivalent hydrogen in the mono-, di- and tri-ammonium phosphate, respectively. Analyzing the obtained gases by GC confirms evolution of pure hydrogen. Moreover, ion chromatography detects and ions in the liquid which indicates hydrolysis of the ammonium phosphate. Ni/C and Co/C NPs can be exploited as catalysts; Ni/C containing 20 wt% metal reveals comparable results to Pt/C. Overall, this study opens promising avenue to develop new catalysts to enhance the hydrolysis of ammonium phosphate to produce hydrogen. Comparing to the reported hydrogen storage materials, ammonium phosphates possess comparable hydrogen content 97.28, 118.3 and 115.72 kg/m<SUP>3</SUP> for mono-, di- and tri-ammonium phosphate, respectively which is very close to the MgH<SUB>2</SUB> (115.5 kg/m<SUP>3</SUP>) and not so far from ammonia borane (148.2 kg/m<SUP>3</SUP>). However, in contrast to these compounds, hydrogen can be released from the introduced storage materials by hydrolysis only using the proper catalyst. Furthermore, the hydrolysis process results in producing different acids; nitrous, nitric and phosphoric acid which should be considered in the reactor construction precautions.

β-Catenin Alterations in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lip

Barakat, Charif Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.13

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between ${\beta}$-catenin immunoexpression and histopathological grades of lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). $\beta$-Catenin abnormal expression was found in 29% of the squamous cells of well differentiated LSCC, 63% of moderately differentiated and 86% of poorly differentiated, and therefor was significantly associated with histological grade (p=0.000). Nuclear $\beta$-catenin expression appeared in 5% of the cells and was also correlated with the histological grades (p=0.000). In 14.7% of the cells it was localized in the cytoplasm, again correlating with histology (p=0.002). According to this study the expression of $\beta$-catenin is an independent prognostic factor for histological grade and to the tumor differentiation. This appears to reflect a structural association and the role of $\beta$-catenin in tumor progression.

Novel Cd-doped Co/C nanoparticles for electrochemical supercapacitors

Barakat, N.A.M.,El-Deen, A.G.,Shin, G.,Park, M.,Kim, H.Y. North-Holland 2013 Materials letters Vol.99 No.-

Novel cadmium-doped cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated in graphite shell are introduced to be utilized in the electrochemical supercapcitors. Electrochemical characterization for the introduced NPs indicated that the corresponding specific capacitance is 255F/g with good stability. The introduced NPs were synthesized using a simple sol-gel technique. Typically, a sol-gel composed of cadmium acetate, cobalt acetate and poly(vinyl alcohol) was prepared based on the polycondensation property of the acetate anions. The utilized physiochemical characterizations affirmed that drying, grinding and calcination in Ar atmosphere of the prepared gel leads to produce Cd-doped Co nanoparticles encapsulated in a thin graphite layer. Overall, the present study opens a new avenue for the encapsulated bimetallic nanostructures to be used as effective materials in the electrochemical supercapacitors.

Pd-doped Co nanofibers immobilized on a chemically stable metallic bipolar plate as novel strategy for direct formic acid fuel cells

Barakat, N.A.M.,Abdelkareem, M.A.,Shin, G.,Kim, H.Y. Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. 2013 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY - Vol.38 No.17

Cobalt nanofibers encapsulated in a graphite shell by an electrospinning process

Barakat, Nasser A. M.,Kim, Bongsoo,Park, S. J.,Jo, Younghun,Jung, Myung-Hwa,Kim, Hak Yong Royal Society of Chemistry 2009 Journal of materials chemistry Vol.19 No.39

<P>As cobalt is an important ferromagnetic material and the nanofibrous shape greatly improves the magnetic properties, we are introducing cobalt nanofibers encapsulated in graphite shell to gain the advantages of the nanofibrous shape as well as to produce protected materials. An electrospun nanofiber mat consisting of cobalt acetate and poly(vinyl alcohol) has been calcined in argon atmosphere at 850 °C. Calcination of cobalt acetate in an inert atmosphere leads to the production of pure cobalt which strongly enhanced graphitization of the utilized polymer to form a graphite shell. Physicochemical characterization analyses indicated that the final product was pure cobalt nanofibers enveloped in a 10 nm thick graphite shell. The graphite shell did not affect the magnetic properties of the synthesized graphite-encapsulated cobalt nanofibers compared with the bare ones which reveal preeminent magnetic characteristics; moreover the shell modifies some of these properties to be temperature independent.</P> <P>Graphic Abstract</P><P>Graphite-encapsulated cobalt nanofibers have been synthesized by an electrospinning technique. As well as the oxidation-resistant character provided by the graphite shell, it strongly modifies the magnetic properties of the cobalt nanofibers. <IMG SRC='http://pubs.rsc.org/services/images/RSCpubs.ePlatform.Service.FreeContent.ImageService.svc/ImageService/image/GA?id=b904669k'> </P>

Cadmium-doped cobalt/carbon nanoparticles as novel nonprecious electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation

Barakat, N.A.M.,Abdelkareem, M.A.,Yousef, A.,Al-Deyab, S.S.,El-Newehy, M.,Kim, H.Y. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2013 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY - Vol.38 No.8

Cd-doped Cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated in graphite shell have been synthesized using a simple sol-gel technique. Typically, a sol-gel composed of cadmium acetate, cobalt acetate and poly(vinyl alcohol) has been prepared based on the polycondensation property of the acetates. The utilized physiochemical characterizations affirmed that drying, grinding and calcination in Ar atmosphere of the prepared gel leads to produce Cd-doped Co nanoparticles encapsulated in a thin graphite layer. The prepared nanoparticles revealed good electroactivity towards methanol electrooxidation. High current density (70 mAcm<SUP>-2</SUP>) and considerably low onset potential (~600 mV vs. NHE) were obtained. Moreover, because of the graphite shell, good stability was observed. Considering that the introduced nanoparticles composed of nonprecious metals and the obtained electrochemical results are satisfactory, the introduced study might open new avenues for the cobalt-based nanostructures to be used as novel effective electrocatalysts in the fuel cells applications.

Cobalt/copper-decorated carbon nanofibers as novel non-precious electrocatalyst for methanol electrooxidation

Barakat, Nasser A M,El-Newehy, Mohamed,Al-Deyab, Salem S,Kim, Hak Yong Springer 2014 NANOSCALE RESEARCH LETTERS Vol.9 No.1

<P>In this study, Co/Cu-decorated carbon nanofibers are introduced as novel electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation. The introduced nanofibers have been prepared based on graphitization of poly(vinyl alcohol) which has high carbon content compared to many polymer precursors for carbon nanofiber synthesis. Typically, calcination in argon atmosphere of electrospun nanofibers composed of cobalt acetate tetrahydrate, copper acetate monohydrate, and poly(vinyl alcohol) leads to form carbon nanofibers decorated by CoCu nanoparticles. The graphitization of the poly(vinyl alcohol) has been enhanced due to presence of cobalt which acts as effective catalyst. The physicochemical characterization affirmed that the metallic nanoparticles are sheathed by thin crystalline graphite layer. Investigation of the electrocatalytic activity of the introduced nanofibers toward methanol oxidation indicates good performance, as the corresponding onset potential was small compared to many reported materials; 310 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl electrode) and a current density of 12 mA/cm<SUP>2</SUP> was obtained. Moreover, due to the graphite shield, good stability was observed. Overall, the introduced study opens new avenue for cheap and stable transition metals-based nanostructures as non-precious catalysts for fuel cell applications.</P>