Search results for: motor neuron disease

Authors: Michael Ricardo Lang, AdriéLle Costa, Ivana Iesbik, Karine Haag, Leonardo Trindade Buffara, Oscar Reimann Junior, Chelin Auswaldt Steclan

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Stroke affects not only the individual, but has significant impacts on the social and family context. Therefore, it is necessary to know the peculiarities of each region, in order to contribute to regional public health policies effectively. Thus, the present study discusses biomarkers in a post-stroke population, admitted to a stroke unit (U-stroke) of reference in the southern region of Brazil. Biomarkers were analyzed, such as age, length of stay, mortality rate, survival time, risk factors and family history of stroke in patients after ischemic stroke. In this studied population, comparing men and women, it was identified that men were more affected than women, and the average age of women affected was higher, as they also had the highest mortality rate and the shortest hospital stay. The risk factors identified here were according to the global scenario; with SAH being the most frequent and those associated with sedentary lifestyle in women the most frequent (dyspilipidemia, heart disease and obesity). In view of this, the importance of studies that characterize populations regionally is evident, strengthening the strategic planning of policies in favor of health care.

Keywords: biomarkers, sex, stroke, stroke unit, population

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Authors: Jaomai Tungsiripat, Patompong Satapornpong

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Allopurinol have been used to treat diseases that relating with the reduction of uric acid and be a treatment preventing the severity of, including gout, chronic kidney disease, chronic heart failure, and diabetes mellitus (type 2). However, allopurinol metabolites can cause a severe cutaneous adverse reaction (SCARs) consist of Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome(SJS)/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN). Previous studies, we found only HLA-B*58:01 allele has a strongly association with allopurinol-induced SCARs in many populations: Han Chinese [P value = 4.7 x 10−24], European [P value <10−6], and Thai [P value <0.001].However, there was no update the frequency of HLA-B alleles and pharmacogenetics markers distribution in healthy Thais and support for screening before the initiation of treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HLA-B*58:01 allele associated with allopurinol-induced SCARs in healthy Thai population. A retrospective study of 260 individual healthy subjects who living in Thailand. HLA-B were genotyped using sequence-specific oligonucleotides (PCR-SSOs).In this study, we identified the prevalence of HLA-B alleles consist ofHLA-B*46:01 (12.69%), HLA-B*15:02 (8.85%), HLA-B*13:01 (6.35%), HLA-B*40:01 (6.35%), HLA-B*38:02 (5.00%), HLA-B*51:01 (5.00%), HLA-B*58:01 (4.81%), HLA-B*44:03 (4.62%), HLA-B*18:01 (3.85%) and HLA-B*15:25 (3.08%). Therefore, the distribution of HLA-B*58:01 will support the clinical implementation and screening usage of allopurinol in Thai population.

Keywords: allopurinol, HLA-B*58: 01, Thai population, SCARs

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Authors: F. J. Puertas, M. Castro, A. Tebar, P. J. Fito, R. Gadea, J. M. Monzó, R. J. Colom

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There is a great diversity of diseases that affect the integrity of the walls of the esophagus, generally of a digestive nature. Among them, gastroesophageal reflux is a common disease in the general population, affecting the patient's quality of life; however, there are still unmet diagnostic and therapeutic issues. The consequences of untreated or asymptomatic acid reflux on the esophageal mucosa are not only pain, heartburn, and acid regurgitation but also an increased risk of esophageal cancer. Currently, the diagnostic methods to detect problems in the esophageal tract are invasive and annoying, as 24-hour impedance-pH monitoring forces the patient to be uncomfortable for hours to be able to make a correct diagnosis. In this work, the development of a sensor able to measure in depth is proposed, allowing the detection of liquids circulating in the esophageal tract. The multisensor detection system is based on radiofrequency photospectrometry. At an experimental level, consumers representative of the population in terms of sex and age have been used, placing the sensors between the trachea and the diaphragm analyzing the measurements in vacuum, water, orange juice and saline medium. The results obtained have allowed us to detect the appearance of different liquid media in the esophagus, segregating them based on their ionic content.

Keywords: bioimpedance, dielectric spectroscopy, gastroesophageal reflux, GERD

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Authors: Sandeep Pandey, Nimra Habib, Ranjana Singh, Abbas Ali Mahdi

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Leukemia is a malignancy of blood that mainly affects children and young adults; while advancement in the early diagnosis will have the potential to improve the outcome of diseases. A wide range of disease including leukemia shows inflammatory signals in their pathogenesis. In a pilot study conducted in our laboratory, 52 people were screened, of which 26 had leukemia and 26 were free from any kind of malignancy. We performed the estimation of the inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-8 and it was found significantly raised in all the leukemia patients concerning healthy volunteers who participated in the study. Flow cytometry had been performed for the confirmation of leukemia and further genomic, and proteomic, analyses of the sample revealed that IL-8 levels showed a positive correlation in patients with leukemia. The results had shown constitutive secretion of interleukin-8 by leukemia cells. So, our finding demonstrated that IL-8 is considered to have a role in the pathogenesis of leukemia, and quantification of IL-8 levels in leukemia conditions might be more useful and feasible in the clinical setting for the prediction of drug responses where it may represent a putative target for innovative diagnostic toward effective therapeutic approaches. However, further research explorations in this area are needed that include a greater number of patients with all different forms of leukemia, and estimating their IL-8 levels may hold the key for the additional predictive values on the recurrence of leukemia and its prognosis.

Keywords: T-ALL, IL-8, leukemia pathogenesis, cancer therapeutics

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Authors: Rosa S. Wong, Keith T.S. Tung, Winnie W. Y. Tso, King-Wa Fu, Nirmala Rao, Patrick Ip

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Electronic devices have become an essential part of our lives. Various reports have highlighted the alarming usage of electronic devices at early ages and its long-term developmental consequences. More sedentary screen time was associated with increased adiposity, worse cognitive and motor development, and psychosocial health. Apart from the problems caused by children’s own screen time, parents today are often paying less attention to their children due to hand-held device. Some anecdotes suggest that distracted parenting has negative impact on parent-child relationship. This study examined whether distracted parenting detrimentally affected parent-child activities which may, in turn, impair children’s psychosocial health. In 2018/19, we recruited a cohort of preschoolers from 32 local kindergartens in Tin Shui Wai and Sham Shui Po for a 5-year programme aiming to build stronger foundations for children from disadvantaged backgrounds through an integrated support model involving medical, education and social service sectors. A comprehensive set of questionnaires were used to survey parents on their frequency of being distracted while parenting and their frequency of learning and recreational activities with children. Furthermore, they were asked to report children’s screen time amount and their psychosocial problems. Mediation analyses were performed to test the direct and indirect effects of electronic device-distracted parenting on children’s psychosocial problems. This study recruited 873 children (448 females and 425 males, average age: 3.42±0.35). Longer screen time was associated with more psychosocial difficulties (Adjusted B=0.37, 95%CI: 0.12 to 0.62, p=0.004). Children’s screen time positively correlated with electronic device-distracted parenting (r=0.369, p < 01). We also found that electronic device-distracted parenting was associated with more hyperactive/inattentive problems (Adjusted B=0.66, p < 0.01), fewer prosocial behavior (Adjusted B=-0.74, p < 0.01), and more emotional symptoms (Adjusted B=0.61, p < 0.001) in children. Further analyses showed that electronic device-distracted parenting exerted influences both directly and indirectly through parent-child interactions but to different extent depending upon the outcome under investigation (38.8% for hyperactivity/inattention, 31.3% for prosocial behavior, and 15.6% for emotional symptoms). We found that parents’ use of devices and children’s own screen time both have negative effects on children’s psychosocial health. It is important for parents to set “device-free times” each day so as to ensure enough relaxed downtime for connecting with children and responding to their needs.

Keywords: early childhood, electronic device, psychosocial wellbeing, parenting

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Authors: Ali Oztuna, Meral Sarper, Deniz Torun, Fatma Bayrakdar, Selcuk Kilic, Mehmet Baysallar

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Bacillus anthracis is one of the biological agents most likely to be used in case of bioterrorist attack as well as being the cause of anthrax. The bacterium's major virulence factors are the anthrax toxins and an antiphagocytic polyglutamic capsule. TEM8 (ANTXR1) and CMG2 (ANTXR2) are ubiquitously expressed type I transmembrane proteins, and ANTXR2 is the major receptor for anthrax toxins. MicroRNAs are 21-24 bp small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression by base pairing with the 3' UTR (untranslated regions) of their target mRNAs resulting in mRNA degradation and/or translational repression. MicroRNAs contribute to regulation of most biological processes and influence numerous pathological states like infectious disease. In this study, post-exposure (toxins) protective effect of the hsa-miR-124-3p against Bacillus anthracis was examined. In this context, i) THP-1 and U937 cells were differentiated to MΦ macrophage, ii) miRNA transfection efficiencies were evaluated by flow cytometry and qPCR, iii) protection against Bacillus anthracis toxins were investigated by XTT, cAMP ELISA and MEK2 cleavage assays. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under Grant SBAG-218S467.

Keywords: ANTXR2, hsa-miR-124-3p, MΦ macrophage, THP-1, U937

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Authors: Ghoul Rachid Brahim, Trad Khodja Rafik

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Vertebral localization of the hydatid cyst is a severe form of bone hydatidosis, is a parasitic infection caused by the larval forms of the tapeworms Echinococcus granulosus, The disease is slowly remaining silent (a long incubation period) which may explain why this pathology is often discovered at the stage of neurological complications. The objective of this study is to recall the clinical and radiological aspects of this condition and the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate management. We report a study of 5 patients with vertebral hydatidosis, four men and one woman, four (04) patients operated in the emergency setting for spinal cord compression (decompression by wide laminectomy with evacuation of intra and extra canal vesicles).Albendazole-based medical treatment is instituted in all patients. Results: The evolution was favorable for three patients, the other two patients reoperated for a local recurrence. Conclusion: Vertebral hydatidosis is a rare condition with a poor prognosis due to the risk of neurological damage, the infiltrating nature of bone lesions, the frequency of relapses and therapeutic difficulties. The only curative method remains surgery, which must aim for complete and large excision of the lesions as if it were a “malignant tumour”.

Keywords: hydatidosis, Echinococcosis granulosus, hydatid cyst, spinal cord compression, laminectomy

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Authors: Ye Wei, Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fahri Benli, Fiona Wahr

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The present digital world poses many challenges to various stakeholders in the education sector. In particular, lecturers of higher education (HE) are faced with the problem of ensuring that students are able to achieve the required learning outcomes despite rapid changes taking place worldwide. Different strategies are adopted to retain student engagement and commitment in classrooms to address the differences in learning habits, preferences, and styles of the digital generation of students recently. Further, the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in online teaching being mandatory. These changes have compounded the problems in the learning engagement and short attention span of HE students. New agile methodologies that have been successfully employed to manage projects in different fields are gaining prominence in the education domain. In this paper, we present the application of Scrum as an agile methodology to enhance student learning and engagement in an online smart classroom environment. We demonstrate the use of our proposed approach using a case study to teach key topics in information technology that require students to gain technical and business-related data analytics skills.

Keywords: agile methodology, Scrum, online learning, smart classroom environment, student engagement, active learning

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Authors: Patricia Abigail B. Miranda, Imelda A. Luna

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Introduction: COVID-19 infection is a novel viral illness that began as a local epidemic in December 2019 in Wuhan, China which quickly emerged into a pandemic by February 2020. The virus causes a spectrum of signs and symptoms, ranging from mild upper respiratory symptoms to acute respiratory distress syndrome, which may lead to death. Among children and neonates, those afflicted with the disease may present asymptomatically or with mild symptoms. To date, there has been limited local data that describes the outcomes of the growing number of COVID-19 cases, specifically in neonates. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the outcomes of neonates born to COVID-19 Positive Mothers from March 2020 until June 2022. The prevalence of COVID-19 among these neonates was also determined. Results: COVID-positive prevalence after 24 hours of life is at 8%, while prevalence after 48 hours among those who still underwent testing was at 13.51%. Moreover, among those COVID-19-negative neonates who had symptoms, they mostly presented with tachypnea (5.7%). The prevalence of complications among COVID-19-negative neonates delivered to COVID-19-positive mothers is 22.7%. Conclusion: Neonates born to COVID-19-positive mothers who yielded positive COVID-19 results are generally asymptomatic. Moreover, there are no associated mortalities among those who yielded positive results.

Keywords: COVID-19, neonates, outcomes, clinical profile

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Authors: Joseph M. Rich, Vinay A. Duddalwar, Assad A. Oberai

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Prostate adenocarcinoma is the most common cancer in males, with osseous metastases as the commonest site of metastatic prostate carcinoma (mPC). Treatment monitoring is based on the evaluation and characterization of lesions on multiple imaging studies, including Computed Tomography (CT). Monitoring of the osseous disease burden, including follow-up of lesions and identification and characterization of new lesions, is a laborious task for radiologists. Deep learning algorithms are increasingly used to perform tasks such as identification and segmentation for osseous metastatic disease and provide accurate information regarding metastatic burden. Here, nnUNet was used to produce a model which can segment CT scan images of prostate adenocarcinoma vertebral bone metastatic lesions. nnUNet is an open-source Python package that adds optimizations to deep learning-based UNet architecture but has not been extensively combined with transfer learning techniques due to the absence of a readily available functionality of this method. The IRB-approved study data set includes imaging studies from patients with mPC who were enrolled in clinical trials at the University of Southern California (USC) Health Science Campus and Los Angeles County (LAC)/USC medical center. Manual segmentation of metastatic lesions was completed by an expert radiologist Dr. Vinay Duddalwar (20+ years in radiology and oncologic imaging), to serve as ground truths for the automated segmentation. Despite nnUNet’s success on some medical segmentation tasks, it only produced an average Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.31 on the USC dataset. DSC results fell in a bimodal distribution, with most scores falling either over 0.66 (reasonably accurate) or at 0 (no lesion detected). Applying more aggressive data augmentation techniques dropped the DSC to 0.15, and reducing the number of epochs reduced the DSC to below 0.1. Datasets have been identified for transfer learning, which involve balancing between size and similarity of the dataset. Identified datasets include the Pancreas data from the Medical Segmentation Decathlon, Pelvic Reference Data, and CT volumes with multiple organ segmentations (CT-ORG). Some of the challenges of producing an accurate model from the USC dataset include small dataset size (115 images), 2D data (as nnUNet generally performs better on 3D data), and the limited amount of public data capturing annotated CT images of bone lesions. Optimizations and improvements will be made by applying transfer learning and generative methods, including incorporating generative adversarial networks and diffusion models in order to augment the dataset. Performance with different libraries, including MONAI and custom architectures with Pytorch, will be compared. In the future, molecular correlations will be tracked with radiologic features for the purpose of multimodal composite biomarker identification. Once validated, these models will be incorporated into evaluation workflows to optimize radiologist evaluation. Our work demonstrates the challenges of applying automated image segmentation to small medical datasets and lays a foundation for techniques to improve performance. As machine learning models become increasingly incorporated into the workflow of radiologists, these findings will help improve the speed and accuracy of vertebral metastatic lesions detection.

Keywords: deep learning, image segmentation, medicine, nnUNet, prostate carcinoma, radiomics

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Authors: M. Golzade Gangraj, A. Abdi, H.faraji

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Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of six weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise with pomegranate juice (PJ) on plasma leptin in adult women selection of type-2 diabetes. Methods: Survey postmenopausal diabetic women aged 45 to 60 years in the city of Babylon, who coordinated Diabetes Association presented the city, among them 34 were selected as subjects were randomly divided into four groups: control, PJ, practice and PJ. Experimental groups consisted of 6 weeks of aerobic exercise training program three times a week for at least 45 minutes per meeting. Two days before and after the training period in the fasting state (12 h) blood samples from the brachial vein was performed in a sitting position. Results: Results showed that aerobic exercise with consumption of pomegranate juice alone and interaction with each significantly decrease levels of leptin plasma in older women with type 2 diabetes compared to control group. Conclusion: According to the research findings can be stated the exercise with pomegranate juice beneficially effects fat tissue and decreases plasma leptin in adult women with type 2 diabetes and thereby reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: aerobic exercise, pomegranate, leptin, diabetes

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Authors: Zahra Ghasemi, Fatemeh Babaei

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Plasma-derived medicinal products are vital categories of biological therapies. These products are used to treat rare, chronic, severe, and life-threatening conditions, such as bleeding disorders (Hemophilia A and B), hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, severe infections, burns and liver diseases, and other diseases caused by the absence or malfunction of certain proteins. In addition, they improve the patient’s quality of life. The process of producing plasma-derived medicinal products begins with the collection of human plasma from healthy donors. This initial stage is complex and is monitored with high precision and sensitivity by global authorities to maintain the quality and safety of the final products as well as the health of the donors. The amount of manufactured plasma-derived medicinal products depends on the availability of its raw material, human plasma, so collecting enough plasma for fractionation is essential. Therefore, adopting a suitable national policy regarding plasma donation, establishing collection centers, and increasing public awareness of the importance of plasma donation will improve any country’s conditions regarding the timely and sufficient supply of these medicines. In this study, we tried to briefly examine the importance of sustainability of the plasma industry and its situation in our beloved country of Iran.

Keywords: plasma, source plasma, plasma-derived medicinal products, fractionation

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Authors: Zineb Ouahdi

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Spirocyclic compound derivatives, with their unique heterocyclic motifs, serve as a continual source of inspiration in the pursuit of developing potential therapeutic agents. These compounds are diverse in their chemical structures; some have fully saturated skeletons, while others are partially unsaturated. Nevertheless, these compounds share a characteristic feature with natural products - the presence of at least one heteroatom in one of their rings. The inclusion of a C = O dipolarophile in pyridazinones imparts an exciting aspect for 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions, the focal point of our study. Our research has involved a detailed theoretical investigation of the reaction between ethyl (Z)-2-bromo-2-(2-(p-tolyl)hydrazono)acetate and 6-methyl-4,5-dihydropyridazine-3(2H)-one. This has been accomplished using the DFT/B3LYP/6-31g(d,p) method, intending to illuminate the chemical pathway of this reaction. The chemical reactivity theories we used for this purpose included FMO, TS, and local and global indices derived from conceptual DFT. The theoretical framework outlined in this study allowed us to propose a reaction mechanism for cycloaddition reactions. It also enabled the identification of the potential activities of the analyzed compounds (P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6) against the major protease of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This was achieved using various computational tools, including AutoDock Tools, Autodock Vina, Autodock 4, and PYRX.

Keywords: MEDT, pyridazin, cycloaddition, FMO, DFT, docking

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Authors: Marcela Parra-Vargas, Ana Sandoval-Rodriguez, Roberto Rodriguez-Echevarria, Jose Dominguez-Rosales, Juan Armendariz-Borunda

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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by an excess of hepatic lipids, and it is to author’s best knowledge, the most prevalent chronic liver disorder. Anthocyanin-rich food consumption is linked to health benefits in metabolic disorders associated with obesity and NAFLD, although the precise functional role of anthocyanidin delphinidin (Dp) has yet to be established. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the Dp in NAFLD metabolic alterations by evaluating prevention or amelioration of hepatic lipid accumulation, as well as molecular mechanisms in two experimental obesity-related models of NALFD. In vitro: HepG2 cells were incubated with sodium palmitate (PA, 1 mM) to induce lipotoxic damage, and concomitantly treated with Dp (180 uM) for 24 h. Subsequently, total lipid accumulation was measured by colorimetric staining with Oil Red O, and total intrahepatic triglycerides were determined by an enzymatic assay. To assess molecular mechanisms, cells were pre-treated with PA for 24 h and then exposed to Dp for 1 h. In vivo: four-week-old male C57BL/6Nhsd mice were allocated in two main groups. Mice were fed with standard diet (control) or high-fat and high-carbohydrate diet (45% fat, HFD) for 16 wk to induce NAFLD. Then HFD was divided into subgroups: one treated orally with Dp (15 mg/kg bw, HFD-Dp) every day for 4 wk, while HFD group treated with vehicle (DMSO). Weight and fasting glucose were recorded weekly, while dietary ingestion was measured daily. Insulin tolerance test was performed at the end of treatment. Liver histology was evaluated with H&E and Masson’s trichrome stain. RT-PCR was used to evaluate gene expression and Western Blot to determine levels of protein in both experimental models. Parametric data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric data, and P < 0.5 were considered significant. Dp prevented hepatic lipid accumulation by PA in HepG2 hepatocytes. Furthermore, Dp down-regulated gene expression of SREBP1c, FAS, and CPT1a without modifying AMPK phosphorylation levels. In vivo, Dp oral administration did not ameliorate lipid metabolic alterations raised by HFD. Adiposity, dietary ingestion, fasting glucose, and insulin sensitivity after Dp treatment remained similar to HFD group. Histological analysis showed hepatic damage in HFD groups and no differences between HFD and HFD-Dp groups were found. Hepatic gene expression of ACC and FAS were not altered by HFD. SREBP1c was similar in both HFD and HFD-Dp groups. No significant changes were observed in SREBP1c, ACC, and FAS adipose tissue gene expression by HFD or Dp treatment. Additionally, immunoblotting analysis revealed no changes in pathway SIRT1-LKB-AMPK and PPAR alpha by both HFD groups compared to control. In conclusion, the antioxidant Dp may provoke beneficial effects in the prevention of hepatic lipid accumulation. Nevertheless, the oral dose administrated in mice that simulated the total intake of anthocyanins consumed daily by humans has no effect as a treatment on hepatic lipid metabolic alterations and histological abnormalities associated with exposure to chronic HFD. A healthy lifestyle with regular intake of antioxidants such as anthocyanins may prevent metabolic alterations in NAFLD.

Keywords: anthocyanins, antioxidants, delphinidin, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity

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Authors: Adineh Tajmousavilangerudi, Ali Zein Alabiden Tlais, Raffaella Di Cagno

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The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has exposed our vulnerability to new illnesses and novel viruses that attack our immune systems, particularly in the elderly. The vaccine is being gradually introduced over the world, but new strains of the virus and COVID-19 will emerge and continue to cause illness. Aging is associated with significant changes in intestinal physiology, which increases the production of inflammatory products, alters the gut microbiota, and consequently establish inadequate immune response to minimize symptoms and disease development. In this context, older people who followed a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in polyphenols and dietary fiber, performed better physically and mentally (1,2). This demonstrates the importance of the human gut microbiome in transforming complex dietary macromolecules into the most biologically available and active nutrients, which in turn help to regulate metabolism and both intestinal and systemic immune function (3,4). The role of lactic acid fermentation is prominent also as a powerful tool for improving the nutritional quality of the human diet by releasing nutrients and boosting the complex bioactive compounds and vitamin content. the PhD project aims to design fermented and functional foods/beverages capable of modulating human immune function via the gut microbiome.

Keywords: functional bevarage, fermented beverage, gut microbiota functionality, immun system

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Authors: Joana PaScoa Pinheiro, David Goncalves Ferreira, Filipe Ramos, Joaquim Soares Do Brito, Samuel Martins, Marco Sarmento

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Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic was identified in January 2020 in China, in the city of Wuhan. The increase in the number of cases over the following months was responsible for the restructuring of hospitals and departments in order to accommodate admissions related to COVID-19. Essential services, such as trauma, had to readapt to maintain their functionality and thus guarantee quick and safe access in case of an emergency. Objectives: This study describes the impact of COVID-19 on a Level III Trauma Center and particularly on the clinical management of hospitalized patients with spine injuries. Study Design & Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study whose results were obtained through the medical records of patients with spine injuries who underwent surgical intervention in the years 2019 and 2020 (period from March 1st to December 31st). A comparison between the two groups was made. In the study patients with injuries in the context of trauma were included who underwent surgery in the periods previously described. Patients hospitalized with a spine injury in a non-traumatic context and/or were not surgically treated were excluded. Results: In total, 137 patients underwent trauma spine surgery of which 71 in 2019 (51.8%) were without significant differences in intergroup comparisons. The most frequent injury mechanism in 2019 was motor vehicle crash (47.9%) compared to 2020 which was of a person falling from a height between 2-4 meters (37.9%). Cervical trauma was reported to be the most frequent spine injury in both years. There was a significant decrease in the need for intensive care in 2020, 51.4% vs 30.3%, p = .015 and the number of complications was also lower in 2020 (1.35% vs 0.98%), including the number of deaths, being the difference marginally significant. There were no significant differences regarding time for presentation to surgery or in the total days of hospitalization. Conclusions: The restructuring made in the trauma unit at a Level III Trauma Center in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic was effective, with no significant differences between the years of 2019 vs 2020 when compared with the time for presentation to surgery or the number of days of hospitalization. It was also found that lockdown rules in 2020 were probably responsible for the decrease in the number of road traffic accidents, which justifies a significant decrease in the need for intensive care as well as in the number of complications in patients hospitalized in the context of spine trauma.

Keywords: trauma, spine, impact, covid-19

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Authors: Cassandra Springate, Alexandra Furber, Jack E. Hines

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Objectives: To create an evidence map of the cost-utility studies available with non-small cell lung cancer patients, and identify the geographical settings and interventions used. Methods: Using the Disease, Study Type, and Model Type filters in heoro.com we identified all cost-utility studies published between 1960 and 2017 with patients with non-small cell lung cancer. These papers were then indexed according to pre-specified categories. Results: Heoro.com identified 89 independent publications, published between 1995 and 2017. Of the 89 papers, 74 were published since 2010, 28 were from the USA, and 35 were from Europe, 16 of which were from the UK. Other publications were from China and Japan (13), Canada (9), Australia and New Zealand (4), and other countries (8). Fifty-nine studies included a chemotherapy intervention, of which 23 included erlotinib or gefitinib, 21 included pemetrexed or docetaxel, others included nivolumab (3), pembrolizumab (2), crizotinib (2), denosumab (2), necitumumab (1), and bevacizumab (1). Also, 19 studies modeled screening, staging, or surveillance strategies. Conclusions: The cost-utility studies found for NSCLC most commonly looked at the effectiveness of different chemotherapy treatments, with some also evaluating the addition of screening strategies. Most were also conducted with patient data from the USA and Europe.

Keywords: cancer, cost-utility, economic model, non-small cell lung cancer

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Authors: Awdhesh Narayan Sharma

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The use of herbal medicines for the cure of various ailments among the tribal population is as old as human origin itself. Most of the tribal populations of Madhya Pradesh inhabit in remote and inaccessible ecological setup. From long back, tribals and forests are interrelated to each other. They use an enormous range of wild plants for their basic needs and medicines. The tribal developed a unique understanding with wild plants, herbs, etc., and earned specialized knowledge of disease pattern and curative therapy-through hard experiences, common sense, trial, and error methods. They have passed this knowledge through traditions, taboos, totems, folklore by words of mouth from generation to generation. Here, an attempt has been made to study the possible aspects of herbal medicine for the cure of Jaundice among the tribal populations of Madhya Pradesh, India, through primary data as well as available secondary data. The data have been collected from the 305 Bharias of Patalkot, Madhya Pradesh, India, and included available secondary source of data by various investigators. It may be concluded that a sizable herbal medicinal plants' wealth exists in Madhya Pradesh, India, which still awaits for scientific exploration. The existing herbal medicines used for the cure of jaundice need an extensive investigation from the pharmaceutical point of view.

Keywords: Bharias, herbal medicine, tribal, Madhya Pradesh

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Authors: Angelis P. Barlampas

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Target: The (SARS-CoV-2) is still a threat. AI software could be useful, categorizing the disease into different severities and indicate the extent of the lesions. Materials and methods: AI is a new revolutionary technique, which uses powered computerized systems, to do what a human being does more rapidly, more easily, as accurate and diagnostically safe as the original medical report and, in certain circumstances, even better, saving time and helping the health system to overcome problems, such as work overload and human fatigue. Results: It will be given an effort to describe to the inexperienced reader (see figures), as simple as possible, how an artificial intelligence system diagnoses computed tomography pictures. First, the computerized machine learns the physiologic motives of lung parenchyma by being feeded with normal structured images of the lung tissue. Having being used to recognizing normal structures, it can then easily indentify the pathologic ones, as their images do not fit to known normal picture motives. It is the same way as when someone spends his free time in reading magazines with quizzes, such as <> and <>. General conclusion: The AI mimics the physiological processes of the human mind, but it does that more efficiently and rapidly and provides results in a few seconds, whereas an experienced radiologist needs many days to do that, or even worse, he is unable to accomplish such a huge task.

Keywords: covid-19, artificial intelligence, automated imaging, CT, chest imaging

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Authors: Mubarak Jan Beebee Zeba Mahetaab, Sumera Bibi Keenoo

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Background: Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan. On 13th March 2020, WHO declared Covid-19 as a pandemic disease with 140,936 cases globally. The outbreak of covid-19 occurred in over 184 countries, and it created a lot of medical and mental burdens. Aside from the physical problems, the mental health of the medical staff has been of critical concern. Aims and Objectives: To determine the prevalence of burnout among HCW dealing with COVID-19, identify the risk factors and find measures to support their mental health while dealing with the current and future pandemic. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the HCW who fought against COVID-19 in SSRN Hospital in Mauritius. The HCWs were recruited using the snowballing sampling technique. Age, gender, job category, income, duration of vacation, working environment and importance of mental health were measured. Results: The prevalence of burnout was highest among HCA. Age had no significant association with pandemic-related burnout. In Mauritius, burnout during the pandemic is linked with lower income and having less vacation days. Conclusion: Burnout is prevalent among healthcare workers working during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Interventions such as psychological counselling, yoga and financial increments need to be implemented to help the healthcare workers.

Keywords: burnout, Covid-19, health care professionals, pandemic

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Authors: Aliakbar Hafezi, Jalal Taherian, Mahsa Elahi, Jamshid Abedi

Abstract:

Background: Patients with breast cancer with different molecular subtypes may have different pathological responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the pathological response to NAC in patients with locally advanced breast cancer based on molecular subtypes. Method: In this retrospective cohort study, 210 female patients with breast cancer candidate for NAC referred to the radiation oncology departments in southern Iran between August 2019 and September 2024 were evaluated in terms of pathologic complete response (pCR) based on immunohistochemical molecular markers (estrogen and progesterone receptors, Her-2/neu and Ki-67), overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: The mean age of the patients was 38.22 ± 10.34 years, and 68 patients (32.4%) had a positive family history of breast cancer. The pCR rate was 17.6% (37 patients), which in the subtypes of luminal A, luminal B, Her-2/neu positive and triple negative was 7.7%, 16.9%, 26.5% and 21.05%, respectively. Patients with pCR had significantly better OS (78.4% vs. 49.1%, P = 0.014) and DFS (83.8% vs. 51.4%, P = 0.020) than patients with partial/no pathological response. Conclusion: It seems that the molecular subtype plays a decisive role in the clinical outcome and the pathological response to NAC in patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Keywords: locally advanced breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, pathologic complete response, clinical outcomes

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Authors: Safa Safdar

Abstract:

Breast cancer is a type of cancer which is developed by the formation of a tumor on the breast. This tumor invades and causes different electrolyte imbalance. The present study was designed to measure the serum calcium and inorganic phosphorous levels and to check the frequency of hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia in breast cancer patients. Serum calcium and phosphorous levels of fifty breast cancer women of 18-70 years of age group and fifty healthy women of same age group were measured by using semi-automated chemistry analyzer ( Humalyzer 3000, Human, Germany ). Significant variation in these levels was observed. The mean calcium value in BC patients was higher 9.398 mg/dl as compared to controls which were 8.694 mg/dl. Whereas the mean value of inorganic phosphorus level was lower 4.060 mg/dl in BC patients as compared to controls having 4.456 mg/dl. In this study, the frequency of hypercalcemia in Breast cancer patients was 10% i.e. only 10 out of 50 Breast cancer patients were suffering from hypercalcemia. Whereas the frequency of hypophosphatemia in this study was only 2 % i.e. only 1 out of 50 patients was suffering from hypophosphatemia. Thus it is concluded that there is a significant change in serum calcium and inorganic phosphorous levels in Breast cancer patients as the disease progresses. So, this study will be helpful for the clinicians to maintain serum calcium and phosphorous levels in Breast cancer patients and also preventing them from further complications.

Keywords: serum analysis, calcium, inorganic phosphorus, hpercalcemia hypophosphatemia

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Authors: Saeed S. Al-Sokari, Nasser A. Awadh Ali, Lianet Monzote

Abstract:

Leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in at least 82 countries and considered to be a major public-health problem (1). The annual incidence of CL is 1–1.5 million cases of which 90% occur in only seven countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Brazil, Iran, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Syria (2). In Saudi Arabia, the disease was first described in 1973 by Moursy and Shoura (3). Currently, CL is common in the human population in different localities, including the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and in particular the Al-Hassa Oasis that is a known endemic area for CL (4). Five methanolic extracts obtained from Achillea biebersteinii (flower leaf), Euphorbia antiquorm, Solanum incanum (leaf and fruit extracts), collected from Albaha region and selected from ethno-botanical data, were screened for their anti-leishmanial activity against Leishmania amazonensis (6). The cytotoxic activity against normal peritoneal macrophages from normal BALB/c mice was also determined (6). The five extracts had IC50 values ranging from < 12.5 to 37.8 µg/ml against promastigotes. Achillea biebersteinii flower, Euphorbia antiquorm, Solanum incanum leaf extracts showed anti-leishmanial activities with IC50 between < 12.5 - 26.9µg/mL and acceptable selectivity indices of 8 - 5.

Keywords: plant extracts, Albaha, Leishmania amazonensis, Medicinal

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Authors: A. Bouaouiche, M. S. Boulakoud

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The functioning of the pineal gland, the transducer body of environmental information to the neuroendocrine system is subject to a circadian rhythm. Melatonin is the main neuro-hormone expressing this operation. It is synthesized in the pinealocytes after conversion serotonin via N-acetyl-transferase enzyme, itself subject to a photoperiodic modulation (activation dark inhibition by light). Some authors have suggested that melatonin is involved in diabetic disease and found that it could have a diabetogenic effect. To this study the effect of this hormone on glucose metabolism has long been subject to controversy. Agreeing in effect and hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic effect. In order to illustrate the level of interaction of melatonin with neuro-immune- corticotropin axis and its impact on carbohydrate metabolism, we studied the impact homeostatic (glucose) through the solicitation of two control systems (gland pineal and corticotropin axis). We then found that melatonin could have an indirect influence on insulin control (glucose metabolism) to the levels of the growth hormone axis (somatostatin) and adrenocorticotropic (corticotropin). In addition, we have suggested that melatonin might limit the hyperglycemic action of corticosteroids by direct action at peripheral level.

Keywords: pinéal gland, melatonin, neuro-immuno-corticotrop, metabolism

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Authors: Asma'u Mahe, Abdullahi A. Imam, Adamu J. Alhassan, Nasiru Abdullahi, Sadiya A. Bichi, Nura Lawal, Kamaluddeen Babagana

Abstract:

Malaria is a disease with global health significance. It is caused by parasites and transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. Increase in insecticide resistance threatens the disease vector control. The strength of selection pressure acting on a mosquito population in relation to insecticide resistance can be assess by determining the genetic diversity of a fragment spanning exon- 20 of IIS6 of the voltage gated sodium channel (VGSC). Larval samples reared to adulthood were identified and kdr (knock down resistance) profile was determined. The DNA sequences were used to assess the patterns of genetic differentiation by determining the levels of genetic variability between the Anopheles mosquitoes. Genetic differentiation of the Anopheles mosquitoes based on a portion of the voltage gated sodium channel gene was obtained. Polymorphisms were detected; sequence variation and analysis were presented as a phylogenetic tree. Phylogenetic tree of VGSC haplotypes was constructed for samples of the Anopheles mosquitoes using the maximum likelihood method in MEGA 6.0 software. DNA sequences were edited using BioEdit sequence editor. The edited sequences were aligned with reference sequence (Kisumu strain). Analyses were performed as contained in dnaSP 5.10. Results of genetic parameters of polymorphism and haplotype reconstruction were presented in count. Twenty sequences were used for the analysis. Regions selected were 1- 576, invariable (monomorphic) sites were 460 while variable (polymorphic) sites were 5 giving the number of total mutations observed in this study. Mutations obtained from the study were at codon 105: TTC- Phenylalanine replaces TCC- Serine, codon 513: TAG- Termination replaces TTG- Leucine, codon 153, 300 and 553 mutations were non-synonymous. From the constructed phylogenetic tree, some groups were shown to be closer with Exon20Gambiae Kisumu (Reference strain) having some genetic distance, while 5-Exon20Gambiae-F I13.ab1, 18-Exon20Gambiae-F C17.ab1, and 2-Exon20Gambiae-F C13.ab1 clustered together genetically differentiated away from others. Mutations observed in this study can be attributed to the high insecticide resistance profile recorded in the study areas. Haplotype networks of pattern of genetic variability and polymorphism for the fragment of the VGSC sequences of sampled Anopheles mosquitoes revealed low haplotypes for the present study. Haplotypes are set of closely linked DNA variation on X-chromosome. Haplotypes were scaled accordingly to reflect their respective frequencies. Low haplotype number, four VGSC-1014F haplotypes were observed in this study. A positive association was previously established between low haplotype number of VGSC diversity and pyrethroid resistance through kdr mechanism. Significant values at (P < 0.05) of Tajima D and Fu and Li D’ were observed for some of the results indicating possible signature of positive selection on the fragment of VGSC in the study. This is the first report of VGSC-1014F in the study site. Based on the results, the mutation was present in low frequencies. However, the roles played by the observed mutations need further investigation. Mutations, environmental factors among others can affect genetic diversity. The study area has recorded increase in insecticide resistance that can affect vector control in the area. This finding might affect the efforts made against malaria. Sequences were deposited in GenBank for Accession Number.

Keywords: anopheles mosquitoes, insecticide resistance, kdr, malaria, voltage gated sodium channel

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Authors: Alexander Dao, Oscar Wambuguh

Abstract:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a heterogeneous functional bowel disease that is characterized by chronic visceral abdominal pain and abnormal bowel function and habits. Its multifactorial pathophysiology and mechanisms are still largely a mystery to the contemporary biomedical community, although there are many hypotheses to try to explain IBS’s presumed physiological, psychosocial, genetic, and environmental etiologies. IBS’s symptomatic presentation is varied and divided into four major subtypes: IBS-C, IBS-D, IBS-M, and IBS-U. Given its diverse presentation and unclear mechanisms, diagnosis is done through a combination of positive identification utilizing the “Rome IV Irritable Bowel Syndrome Criteria'' (Rome IV) diagnostic criteria while also excluding other potential conditions with similar symptoms. Treatment of IBS is focused on the management of symptoms using an assortment of pharmaceuticals, lifestyle changes, and dietary changes, with future potential in microbial treatment and psychotherapy as other therapy methods. Its chronic, heterogeneous nature and disruptive gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are negatively impactful on patients’ daily lives, health systems, and society. However, with a better understanding of the gaps in knowledge and technological advances in IBS’s pathophysiology, management, and treatment options, there is optimism for the millions of people worldwide who are suffering from the debilitating effects of IBS.

Keywords: irritable bowel syndrome, lifestyle, diet, functional gastrointestinal disorder

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Authors: Sabreen Al Shamli, Abdul Rahman Al azure

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Microscopic examination by histopathology is the gold standard for diagnosing many oral and maxillofacial pathologies. Current clinical guidelines and medicolegal regulations recommend the utilization of histopathology services for confirming pathologies being treated. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of oral and maxillofacial biopsies that had been histopathologically diagnosed at Anahdha Hospital (ANH). A total of 512 biopsies randomly selected from a ground total of 3310 biopsies, which were submitted for oral and maxillofacial histopathological specimens, were analyzed at Nahdha Hospital in Oman between January 2010 and December 2022. Data collected retrospectively selected from all case notes of patients who had oral histopathology examinations performed as part of their treatment. Data collected from the Shifa system was transferred to Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS. Research ethics approval was obtained from the research committee of the hospital. This study provides background information on oral histopathology prevalence that could be helpful in future research in Oman. The findings of the present study are in agreement with the reported data from other investigations, even when it is taken into account how difficult it is to compare prevalence rates from different studies.

Keywords: oral biopsy, maxillofacial histopathology, oral disease, maxillofacial specimens

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Authors: Hyo Seon Choi, Ju Sun Kim, DY Kim

Abstract:

Introduction: This study was aimed to evaluate temporo-spatial patterns during the reach and grasp task in hemiplegic stroke patients and to identify movement pattern according to severity of motor impairment. Method: 29 subacute post-stroke patients were enrolled in this study. The temporo-spatial and kinematic data were obtained during reach and grasp task through 3D motion analysis (VICON). The reach and grasp task was composed of four sub-tasks: reach (T1), transport to mouth (T2), transport back to table (T3) and return (T4). The movement time, joint angle and sum of deviation angles from normative data were compared between affected side and unaffected side. They were also compared between two groups (mild to moderate group: 28~66, severe group: 0~27) divided by upper-Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale. Result: In affected side, total time and durations of all four tasks were significantly longer than those in unaffected side (p < 0.001). The affected side demonstrated significant larger shoulder abduction, shoulder internal rotation, wrist flexion, wrist pronation, thoracic external rotation and smaller shoulder flexion during reach and grasp task (p < 0.05). The significant differences between mild to moderate group and severe group were observed in total duration, durations of T1, T2, and T3 in reach and grasp task (p < 0.01). The severe group showed significant larger shoulder internal rotation during T2 (p < 0.05) and wrist flexion during T2, T3 (p < 0.05) than mild to moderate group. In range of motion during each task, shoulder abduction-adduction during T2 and T3, shoulder internal-external rotation during T2, elbow flexion-extension during T1 showed significant difference between two groups (p < 0.05). The severe group had significant larger total deviation angles in shoulder internal-external rotation and wrist extension-flexion during reach and grasp task (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study suggests that post-stroke hemiplegic patients have an unique temporo-spatial and kinematic patterns during reach and grasp task, and the movement pattern may be related to affected upper limb severity. These results may be useful to interpret the motion of upper extremity in stroke patients.

Keywords: Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), motion analysis, reach and grasp, stroke

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Authors: Eman Al-khateeba, Ebaa Al-Zayadneha, Osama Al-Dalahmahb, Zeinab Alawadib, Faisal Khatiba, Randa Naffaa, Yanal Shafagoj

Abstract:

The purpose of the current study was to examine the association of plasma copper and lipid concentrations with changes in cognitive function in elderly Jordanian individuals. The study population consisted of two groups; 52 subjects with dementia, and 50 controls. All individuals were screened with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clock drawing test (CDT).Serum copper and lipid profile were assessed in all subjects, and the results were statistically evaluated at P < 0.05 level of significance. Dementia group had 10.1 % higher copper levels than controls however the difference was not statistically significant. No significant differences could be found between the two groups in lipid profile levels. There was no significant correlation between serum copper, lipid profile and cognitive decline in elderly Jordanians. Demographic variables indicate that educational level less than 12 years and illiterate demonstrated a 3.29 fold (p=0.026) and 6.29 fold (p=0.002) increase in risk of developing dementia, respectively. While coffee intake showed a protective effect against cognitive decline with 6.25 fold lower risk with increased coffee intake.

Keywords: copper, cholesterol, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, lipid profile, coffee

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Authors: Merve Aydin, Mağfiret Kara Kaşikçi

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Aim: To determine the perceptions of inpatients about care at Farabi Hospital in KTU. Material and Method: This research was conducted by using the universe known examples of formulas and probability selected by sampling method with 277 chosen patients in the hospital at least 14 days in other internal and surgical clinics except for pediatric, psychiatry, and intensive care unit services between January-March 2014 in KTU Farabi Hospital. The data was collected through the forms of nursing care perception scale of patients and defining characteristics of patients. In the evaluation of data, percentage, mean, Mann Whitney U, Student t and Kurskall Wallis tests were applied. Results: The average point the patients got in nursing care perception scale is 62.64±10.08’dir. 48.7 % of patients regard nursing care well and 36.8 % of them regard it very well. 19 % of the patients regard nursing care badly. When the age, sex, occupation, marital status, educational background, residential place, income level, hospitalization period, hospitalization clinic and having a hospital attendant were compared with nursing care perception average point, the difference among point averages was not found meaningful statistically (p > 0.05). The average point of nursing care perception was found greater in those having chronic disease (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The perception point of patients about nursing care is above the average according to the average of the lowest and highest points. The great majority of patients regard nursing care well or very well.

Keywords: hospital, patient, perception of nursing care, nursing care

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