Batched Bayesian Optimization for Drug Design in Noisy Environments.

The early stages of the drug design process involve identifying compounds with suitable bioactivities via noisy assays. As databases of possible drugs are often very large, assays can only be performed on a subset of the candidates. Selecting which assays to perform is best done within an active learning process, such as batched Bayesian optimization, and aims to reduce the number of assays that must be performed.

A simple spatial extension to the extended connectivity interaction features for binding affinity prediction.

The representation of the protein-ligand complexes used in building machine learning models play an important role in the accuracy of binding affinity prediction. The Extended Connectivity Interaction Features (ECIF) is one such representation. We report that (i) including the discretized distances between protein-ligand atom pairs in the ECIF scheme improves predictive accuracy, and (ii) in an evaluation using gradient boosted trees, we found that the resampling method used in selecting the best hyperparameters has a strong effect on predictive performance, especially for benchmarking purposes.

Artificial neural network to predict the effect of obesity on the risk of tuberculosis infection.

Background: Body weight has been implicated as a risk factor for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and the active disease.

Design And Methods: This study aimed to develop artificial neural network (ANN) models for predicting LTBI from body weight and other host-related disease risk factors. We used datasets from participants of the US-National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 2012; n=5,156; 514 with LTBI and 4,642 controls) to develop three ANNs employing body mass index (BMI, Network I), BMI and HbA1C (as a proxy for diabetes; Network II) and BMI, HbA1C and education (as a proxy for socioeconomic status; Network III).

Acute-on-chronic liver failure in Egypt: an underestimated complication of liver cirrhosis.

Background: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a severe liver cirrhosis complication with high mortality rates. Despite that chronic liver diseases are prevalent in Egypt, there is no available data about patients with ACLF. We aimed to evaluate the pattern of ACLF in Egypt.

Glucodynamics and glucocracy in type 2 diabetes mellitus: clinical evidence and practice-based opinion on modern sulfonylurea use, from an International Expert Group (South Asia, Middle East & Africa) via modified Delphi method.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global epidemic. According to international guidelines, the management protocol of T2DM includes lowering of blood glucose, along with preventing disease-related complications and maintaining optimal quality of life. Further, the guidelines recommend the use of a patient-centric approaches for the management of T2DM; however, Asian population is underrepresented in landmark cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs).

Centralized Pan-Middle East Survey on the Under-Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia: Results from the CEPHEUS Study in Egypt.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality; however, the risks associated with this disease can be reduced by targeting circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) with lipid-lowering drugs, as recommended in many treatment guidelines. Their effectiveness for hypercholesterolemia management depends on appropriate use in at-risk patients. Observational studies have shown varying adherence to national and international guidelines on reaching LDL-C treatment goals.

Formulation of microemulsion gel systems for transdermal delivery of celecoxib: In vitro permeation, anti-inflammatory activity and skin irritation tests.

The aim of this study was to develop suitable microemulsion gel systems for transdermal delivery that could assist dissolution enhancement of poorly water soluble celecoxib and thus improve its skin permeability. Long term oral administration of celecoxib causes serious gastrointestinal adverse effects, which makes it a good candidate for transdermal formulations, yet its low water solubility (4 mg/L) makes this challenging. Ternary phase diagrams were constructed using isopropyl myristate and oleic acid as oils, Tween 80 as surfactant, and Cremophor RH40 as cosurfactant.

Study of different risk factor profiles in stroke patients in Alexandria.

The study included 94 stroke cases. They were admitted at the Internal Medicine Department between October 1994 and March 1995. For each case studied, an attempt was made to obtain, from the same hospital, age and sex matched control patient.