background cigarettes smoking is a risk factor for tuberculosis (tb). associations between smoking and tb disease have been reported, but there are few reports on the influence of smoking on the sputum smear and culture conversion time. this study surveyed the possible association between smoking and sputum smear conversion time among new smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients. patients...

Mitochondrial complex I is a large, membrane-bound enzyme central to energy metabolism, and its dysfunction is implicated in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. An interesting feature of mammalian complex I is the so-called A/D transition, when the idle enzyme spontaneously converts from the active (A) to the de-active, dormant (D) form. The A/D transition plays an important role in ...

The best management choice in colorectal cancer patients with unresectable liver-only metastases should be represented by conversion chemotherapy aiming to reduce liver cancer deposits, thereby permitting curative surgery. Forty-eight consecutive stage IV colorectal cancer patients were treated with different chemotherapeutic regimens including biological drugs. Objective responses to chemother...

This article reviews the safety and efficacy of ibutilide for use in patients with atrial fibrillation and flutter. Ibutilide, a class III antiarrhythmic agent, is primarily used for conversion of atrial flutter and fibrillation and is a good alternative to electrical cardioversion. Ibutilide has a conversion rate of up to 75% to 80% in recent-onset atrial fibrillation and flutter; the conversi...

Risers are considered vital parts on fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) conversion units. It is inside the riser that the heavy hydrocarbon molecules are cracked into petroleum fractions such as gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). A simplified kinetic flow model in combination with the Tank-In-Series model was used to predict the conversion response of an FCC riser to changes in feed te...

The role of nickel as catalyst on the conversion of methane and ethylene in a gas phase flow reactor in the absence of oxygen is studied. In this study, nickel in its different forms is used as catalyst. The role of pressure, flow rate, and temperature on the conversion of feed gases is investigated. The experiments have been carried out in the presence and absence of the catalysts to measure t...