Ιατρικά Άρθρα Αλέξανδρος Γ. Σφακιανάκης: 04/11/16

Δευτέρα 11 Απριλίου 2016

Multiple effects of a commercial Roundup® formulation on the soil filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans at low doses: evidence of an unexpected impact on energetic metabolism

Abstract

Soil microorganisms are highly exposed to glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH), especially to Roundup® which is widely used worldwide. However, studies on the effects of GBH formulations on specific non-rhizosphere soil microbial species are scarce. We evaluated the toxicity of a commercial formulation of Roundup® (R450), containing 450 g/L of glyphosate (GLY), on the soil filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, an experimental model microorganism. The median lethal dose (LD₅₀) on solid media was between 90 and 112 mg/L GLY (among adjuvants, which are also included in the Roundup® formulation), which corresponds to a dilution percentage about 100 times lower than that used in agriculture. The LOAEL and NOAEL (lowest- and no-observed-adverse-effect levels) associated to morphology and growth were 33.75 and 31.5 mg/L GLY among adjuvants, respectively. The formulation R450 proved to be much more active than technical GLY. At the LD₅₀ and lower concentrations, R450 impaired growth, cellular polarity, endocytosis, and mitochondria (average number, total volume and metabolism). In contrast with the depletion of mitochondrial activities reported in animal studies, R450 caused a stimulation of mitochondrial enzyme activities, thus revealing a different mode of action of Roundup® on energetic metabolism. These mitochondrial disruptions were also evident at a low dose corresponding to the NOAEL for macroscopic parameters, indicating that these mitochondrial biomarkers are more sensitive than those for growth and morphological ones. Altogether, our data indicate that GBH toxic effects on soil filamentous fungi, and thus potential impairment of soil ecosystems, may occur at doses far below recommended agricultural application rate.

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Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and UV filters in swimming pools and spas

Abstract

The occurrence of 32 pharmaceuticals and 14 UV filters in swimming pools and spas was studied. Fifty-one water samples were collected from 17 pools located in sport centres and hotels in Catalonia, Spain. The samples were analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The pharmaceuticals atenolol, carbamazepine, hydrochlorothiazide, metronidazole, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen and phenazone were measured in water samples at concentrations higher than their limit of quantification (LOQ). The highest concentration of any individual pharmaceutical was measured for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (904 ng/L). The most frequently detected pharmaceutical was carbamazepine, as it was observed in more than half of all the water samples measured (53 %, 27/51). The UV filters at concentrations higher than LOQ in water samples were BP1, BP2, BP3, BP8, THB, 4DHB, 4MBC, OD-PABA, 1HBT, MeBT and DMeBT. The highest concentration of UV filter observed was 4MBC (69.3 ng/L) while the most frequent UV filters in the samples were 1HBT (59 %, 30/51). The results also showed that pharmaceuticals and UV filters were most frequently found in spas. Finally, from a water treatment technology perspective, the lowest occurrence of pharmaceuticals was in the pools applying sand filters followed by disinfection by sodium hypochlorite, while the lowest occurrence of UV filters was in the pools applying coagulation, sand filtration, UV and salt electrolysis.

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Shifts in microbial community structure during in situ surfactant-enhanced bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-contaminated soil

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the microbial mechanism of in situ surfactant-enhanced bioremediation (SEBR). Various concentrations of rhamnolipids, Tween 80, and sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS) were separately sprayed onto soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for years. Within 90 days, the highest level of degradation (95 %) was observed in the soil treated with rhamnolipids (10 mg/kg), followed by 92 % degradation with Tween 80 (50 mg/kg) and 90 % degradation with SDBS (50 mg/kg). The results of the microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) suggest that bacteria dominated the enhanced PAH biodegradation (94 % of the maximum contribution). The shift of bacterial community structure during the surfactant treatment was analyzed by using the 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. In the presence of surfactants, the number of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Sphingomonas increased from 2–3 to 15–30 % at the end of the experiment (two to three times of control). Gene prediction with phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) shows that the PAH-degrading genes, such as 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoate dioxygenase and PAH dioxygenase large subunit, significantly increased after the surfactant applications (p < 0.05). The findings of this study provide insights into the surfactant-induced shifts of microbial community, as well as critical factors for efficient bioremediation.

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Lagos lagoon sediment organic extracts and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons induce embryotoxic, teratogenic and genotoxic effects in Danio rerio (zebrafish) embryos

Abstract

An expansion of anthropogenic activity around Lagos lagoon, Nigeria, has raised concerns over increasing contaminants entering the lagoon’s ecosystem. The embryotoxicity, teratogenicity and genotoxicity of sediment organic extracts from four sampling zones around Lagos lagoon, Ilaje, Iddo, Atlas Cove and Apapa, as well as the dominant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) identified in water measured during the wet season (naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene and a mixture of these), were assessed with Danio rerio embryos. Embryos were exposed to varying concentrations of toxicants from 0–72 h post-fertilization (hpf). Embryotoxicity at 72 hpf showed a dose-dependent increase in mortality upon exposure to extracts from all zones, except Atlas Cove. Similarly, higher levels of teratogenic effects, such as increased oedema, and haemorrhage and developmental abnormalities resulted from exposure to extracts from Ilaje, Iddo and Apapa zones. Treatment with single PAHs revealed that significant levels of detrimental effects were obtained only for phenanthrene. The modified comet assay revealed that the oxidative damage to DNA was generally low (<12 %) overall for all sediment extracts, but was significantly elevated with Ilaje and Iddo sediment extracts when compared with solvent controls. Oxidative damage was observed with the single PAHs, phenanthrene and benzo[a]pyrene, as well as with the PAH mixture. This study highlights that Lagos lagoon sediment extracts have teratogenic, embryotoxic and genotoxic properties, which are likely due to the high molecular weight PAHs present in the extracts, some of which are known or are suspected human carcinogens.

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'Having cancer saved my life', says former Dunblane Primary Pupil - ITV News

ITV News

'Having cancer saved my life', says former Dunblane Primary Pupil
ITV News
He told the Daily Record newspaper: "I believe having cancer saved my life and I'm here 20 years later in good health." Mr Dow was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia aged five, after his parents took him to hospital with suspected tonsillitis.
Former Dunblane schoolboy escaped massacre as he was in hospital battling cancerMirror.co.uk
'Cancer saved my life': Dunblane schoolboy diagnosed with leukaemia says disease stopped him dying at hand of ...Scottish Daily Record

all 3 news articles »

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IJERPH, Vol. 13, Pages 414: A Simulation-Based Comparison of Covariate Adjustment Methods for the Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Covariate adjustment methods are frequently used when baseline covariate information is available for randomized controlled trials. Using a simulation study, we compared the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with three nonparametric covariate adjustment methods with respect to point and interval estimation for the difference between means. The three alternative methods were based on important members of the generalized empirical likelihood (GEL) family, specifically on the empirical likelihood (EL) method, the exponential tilting (ET) method, and the continuous updated estimator (CUE) method. Two criteria were considered for the comparison of the four statistical methods: the root mean squared error and the empirical coverage of the nominal 95% confidence intervals for the difference between means. Based on the results of the simulation study, for sensitivity analysis purposes, we recommend the use of ANCOVA (with robust standard errors when heteroscedasticity is present) together with the CUE-based covariate adjustment method.

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Primary surgery is linked with survival benefit in patients with advanced throat cancer - Science Daily

Primary surgery is linked with survival benefit in patients with advanced throat cancer
Science Daily
Dr Cheng and his colleagues used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Claims Database and the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database to identify all newly-diagnosed oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer patients in Taiwan. They found 2,387 ...

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'Liquid biopsy' blood test detects genetic mutations in common form of lung cancer: https://t.co/OGybtLFair

'Liquid biopsy' blood test detects genetic mutations in common form of lung cancer: https://t.co/OGybtLFair

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Novel technologies for understanding the repertoire of tumour infiltrating T cells in cancer https://t.co/cOK008RImx

Novel technologies for understanding the repertoire of tumour infiltrating T cells in cancer https://t.co/cOK008RImx

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First demonstration of new imaging technique in Europe rolled out as part of @CRUKresearch trial https://t.co/WLcnBiCeZf

First demonstration of new imaging technique in Europe rolled out as part of @CRUKresearch trial https://t.co/WLcnBiCeZf

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Pericardial Metastasis Induced Tamponade from Urothelial Carcinoma: A Rare Entity

Urothelial carcinoma in a few cases may result in cardiac metastasis. A rare presentation of this condition is its diagnosis as a result of cardiac tamponade. Tamponade is an unusual entity as a result of urothelial carcinoma and has only been reported in four cases. There have also been only a total of fifteen cases of cardiac metastasis from this form of malignancy. It is through this discussion that we emphasize the importance of early detection and monitoring of cardiac symptoms with the implementation of echocardiogram imaging. Although not feasible in all patients it may be considered in those presenting with cardiac and pulmonary symptoms. In this case we discuss the presentation of a 71-year-old gentleman with a history of urothelial carcinoma after cystectomy and while on chemotherapy presented with new onset atrial fibrillation and later was diagnosed with cardiac tamponade as a result of malignant metastasis.

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Different Levels of DNA Methylation Detected in Human Sperms after Morphological Selection Using High Magnification Microscopy

Objective. To analyze DNA methylation levels between two groups of spermatozoa taken from the same sample, following morphological selection by high magnification (HM) at 6100x microscopy. A prospective study was conducted and studied 876 spermatozoa from 10 randomly selected men. Sperm morphology was characterized at HM according to criteria previously established. High-scoring Score 6 and low-scoring Score 0 sperm were selected. Sperm DNA methylation level was assessed using an immunoassay method targeting 5-methylcytosine residues by fluorescence microscopy with imaging analysis system to detect DNA methylation in single spermatozoon. Results. In total, 448 S6 spermatozoa and 428 S0 spermatozoa were analyzed. A strong relationship was found between sperm DNA methylation levels and sperm morphology observed at HM. Sperm DNA methylation level in the S6 group was significantly lower compared with that in the S0 group (), OR = 2.4; and , as determined using the Wilcoxon test. Conclusion. Differences in DNA methylation levels are associated with sperm morphology variations as observed at HM, which allows spermatozoa with abnormal levels to be discarded and ultimately decrease birth defects, malformations, and epigenetic diseases that may be transmitted from sperm to offspring in ICSI.

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A Protection Mechanism against Malicious HTML and JavaScript Code in Vulnerable Web Applications

The high-profile attacks of malicious HTML and JavaScript code have seen a dramatic increase in both awareness and exploitation in recent years. Unfortunately, exiting security mechanisms provide no enough protection. We propose a new protection mechanism named PMHJ based on the support of both web applications and web browsers against malicious HTML and JavaScript code in vulnerable web applications. PMHJ prevents the injection attack of HTML elements with a random attribute value and the node-split attack by an attribute with the hash value of the HTML element. PMHJ ensures the content security in web pages by verifying HTML elements, confining the insecure HTML usages which can be exploited by attackers, and disabling the JavaScript APIs which may incur injection vulnerabilities. PMHJ provides a flexible way to rein the high-risk JavaScript APIs with powerful ability according to the principle of least authority. The PMHJ policy is easy to be deployed into real-world web applications. The test results show that PMHJ has little influence on the run time and code size of web pages.

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ELDP: Extended Link Duration Prediction Model for Vehicular Networks

Link duration between two vehicles is considered an important quality of service metric in designing a network protocol for vehicular networks. There exist many works that study the probability density functions of link duration in a vehicular network given various vehicle mobility models, for example, the random waypoint model. None of them, however, provides a practical solution to estimating the link duration between two vehicles on the road. This is in part because link duration between vehicles is affected by many factors including the distance between vehicles, their turning directions at intersections, and the impact of traffic lights. Considering these factors, we propose the extended link duration prediction (ELDP) model which allows a vehicle to accurately estimate how long it will be connected to another vehicle. The ELDP model does not assume that vehicles follow certain mobility models; instead, it assumes that a vehicle’s velocity follows the Normal distribution. We validate the ELDP model in both highway and city scenarios in simulations. Our detailed simulations illustrate that relative speed between vehicles plays a vital role in accurately predicting link duration in a vehicular network. On the other hand, we find that the turning directions of a vehicle at intersections have subtle impact on the prediction results.

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PPARgene: A Database of Experimentally Verified and Computationally Predicted PPAR Target Genes

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Upon ligand binding, PPARs activate target gene transcription and regulate a variety of important physiological processes such as lipid metabolism, inflammation, and wound healing. Here, we describe the first database of PPAR target genes, PPARgene. Among the 225 experimentally verified PPAR target genes, 83 are for PPARα, 83 are for PPARβ/δ, and 104 are for PPARγ. Detailed information including tissue types, species, and reference PubMed IDs was also provided. In addition, we developed a machine learning method to predict novel PPAR target genes by integrating in silico PPAR-responsive element (PPRE) analysis with high throughput gene expression data. Fivefold cross validation showed that the performance of this prediction method was significantly improved compared to the in silico PPRE analysis method. The prediction tool is also implemented in the PPARgene database.

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Hydrogen Sulfide: Biogenesis, Physiology, and Pathology

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Sorption Profile of Phosphorus Ions onto ZnO Nanorods Synthesized via Sonic Technique

High surface area zinc oxide material in nanorod morphological structure was synthesized using an ultrasonic technique in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone as stabilizing agent. The crystallite, morphology, and surface area of the prepared white powder material were identified using XRD, SEM, and BET techniques, respectively. X-ray analysis confirms the high purity of synthesized ZnO. The evaluated specific surface area of prepared ZnO was 16.7 m2/g; this value guarantees high efficiency for water purification. The feasibility of synthesized ZnO nanorods for phosphorus sorption from aqueous solution was established using batch technique. Nano-zinc oxide exhibits high efficiency for phosphorus removal; the equilibrium state was recorded within 90 minutes. The most effective hydrogen ion concentration of the polluted solution was recorded at pH = 1 for phosphorus decontamination. The equilibrium of phosphorus sorption onto ZnO nanorods was well explained using both Langmuir and Temkin isotherm models. The calculated maximum monolayer sorption capacity was 89 mg/g according to Langmuir isotherm at 27°C. In order to explain the phosphorus sorption mechanism onto the prepared ZnO nanorods, three simplified kinetic models of pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and intraparticle diffusion rate models were tested. Kinetics was well fitted by pseudo-second order kinetic model with a contribution of intraparticle diffusion.

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Limited Trabecular Bone Density Heterogeneity in the Human Skeleton

There is evidence for variation in trabecular bone density and volume within an individual skeleton, albeit in a few anatomical sites, which is partly dependent on mechanical loading. However, little is known regarding the basic variation in trabecular bone density throughout the skeleton in healthy human adults. This is because research on bone density has been confined to a few skeletal elements, which can be readily measured using available imaging technology particularly in clinical settings. This study comprehensively investigates the distribution of trabecular bone density within the human skeleton in nine skeletal sites (femur, proximal and distal tibia, third metatarsal, humerus, ulna, radius, third metacarpal, and axis) in a sample of individuals (11 males and 9 females). pQCT results showed that the proximal ulna (mean = 231.3 mg/cm3) and axis vertebra (mean = 234.3 mg/cm3) displayed significantly greater () trabecular bone density than other elements, whereas there was no significant variation among the rest of the elements (). The homogeneity of the majority of elements suggests that these sites are potentially responsive to site-specific genetic factors. Secondly, the lack of correlation between elements () suggests that density measurements of one anatomical region are not necessarily accurate measures of other anatomical regions.

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Pneumothorax Caused by an Isolated Midshaft Clavicle Fracture

Patients with isolated clavicle fractures are frequent in the emergency department. However, unusual clavicle fractures complications, such as pneumothorax, are rare. Previous reports indicated that all pneumothorax cases were treated via performing thoracostomy. Conservatively, the treatment of the clavicle fracture, like in our case, was successful. Despite the fact that isolated clavicle fractures rarely cause complications and generally heal with immobilization, serious complications may occur requiring urgent treatment. It has been proven that physical examinations, with particular attention to the neurovascular and chest examinations, and radiographs of the clavicle are necessary to prevent overlooking these potentially dangerous complications.

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An Interactive Astronaut-Robot System with Gesture Control

Human-robot interaction (HRI) plays an important role in future planetary exploration mission, where astronauts with extravehicular activities (EVA) have to communicate with robot assistants by speech-type or gesture-type user interfaces embedded in their space suits. This paper presents an interactive astronaut-robot system integrating a data-glove with a space suit for the astronaut to use hand gestures to control a snake-like robot. Support vector machine (SVM) is employed to recognize hand gestures and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of SVM to further improve its recognition accuracy. Various hand gestures from American Sign Language (ASL) have been selected and used to test and validate the performance of the proposed system.

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A Rare Case of an Early Postoperative Obstructive Ileus in a Young Female Patient due to a Residual Trichobezoar Mass

Trichobezoar is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction, whereby a mass forms most commonly in the stomach and duodenum of young females, from ingestion of hair, a condition known as trichophagia. We present a case of recurrent small bowel obstruction due to a residual hair mass that was removed surgically in a young female patient who had a laparotomy and gastrotomy for removal of a large gastric trichobezoar just two weeks prior to the current admission. This case illustrates the importance of a thorough inspection of the whole bowel to ensure that no residual bezoars remain after surgery.

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A Case of Polyarticular Pasteurella multocida Septic Arthritis

A 76-year-old man with a history of osteoarthritis presents with right leg erythema and inability to weight-bear and pain in his right shoulder. Synovial fluid cell count of the knee and shoulder showed abundant neutrophils, and cultures of the knee showed growth of Pasteurella multocida. The patient owned four cats with which he had frequent contact, but history and physical examination elicited no evidence of scratches or bites. This case highlights the invasive potential of Pasteurella multocida in an immunocompetent individual and its capacity to cause septic arthritis in the setting of frequent animal contact.

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The Engrailed-1 Gene Stimulates Brown Adipogenesis

As a thermogenic organ, brown adipose tissue (BAT) has received a great attention in treating obesity and related diseases. It has been reported that brown adipocyte was derived from engrailed-1 (EN1) positive central dermomyotome. However, functions of EN1 in brown adipogenesis are largely unknown. Here we demonstrated that EN1 overexpression increased while EN1 knockdown decreased lipid accumulation and the expressions of key adipogenic genes including PPARγ2 and C/EBPα and mitochondrial OXPHOS as well as BAT specific marker UCP1. Taken together, our findings clearly indicate that EN1 is a positive regulator of brown adipogenesis.

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Local cancer survivor shares her story - Aiken Standard

Aiken Standard

Local cancer survivor shares her story
Aiken Standard
“A doctor determined I had calcium deposits in my largest saliva gland. The deposits were blocking the ducts where saliva drains.” Drinkwater's specialist then decided it would be best for her to have surgery to remove the upper part of her gland. “I ...

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Self-management support in patients with adrenal insufficiency

Abstract

Objective

Patient education is an important intervention to prevent an adrenal crisis in patients with adrenal insufficiency. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of adjusting the dose of glucocorticoids in special circumstances in patients with adrenal insufficiency who had previously been educated on this topic. In patients with insufficient knowledge we tried to identify the underlying causes and care needs.

Design

Quantitative and qualitative study.

Methods

Adult patients with chronic primary and secondary adrenal insufficiency who received glucocorticoid stress management education were invited to participate in a telephone interview in which we tested their knowledge using hypothetical situations of physical and mental stress. In respondents with insufficient knowledge we conducted a qualitative semi-structured interview to elicit underlying reasons from patients’ perspective for their lack of knowledge and determine their care needs.

Results

Forty-three of the eighty-three patients who previously received education, had insufficient knowledge about how to act during stressful situations. We found a significant association between education level and level of knowledge after the educational consult. The following underlying factors were identified: unawareness of the seriousness of their condition, ineffective coping strategies, lack of experience with self-management skills and misconceptions. The most important care needs were: repetition of education, the use of guidelines, learning from experience and optimizing social support.

Conclusion

One or two educational consults is not effective to achieve adequate self-management skills. There is a need for structural follow-up where education is repeated and practical implementation of this knowledge is tested in order to identify potential inadequate action.

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Incidence of Permanent Hypocalcaemia after Total Thyroidectomy with or without Central Neck Dissection for Thyroid Carcinoma: A Nationwide Claim Study

Summary

Objective

Permanent hypocalcaemia is the most common and serious complication after total thyroidectomy (TT). This study examined the impact of central neck dissection (CND) and institutional volume on rates of permanent hypocalcaemia by analysing data held in the nationwide claim database of South Korea.

Design

Data from patients who underwent TT due to thyroid carcinoma from 2007–2013 were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. Of these, patients prescribed more than 1,000 mg of elemental calcium for more than 288 days during the first 360 days post-surgery were defined as having permanent hypocalcaemia.

Results

In total, 192,333 patients (32,988 male and 159,345 female) were eligible for analysis. Of these, 52,707 (27.4%) underwent TT alone and 139,626 (72.6%) underwent TT plus CND. The incidence of permanent hypocalcaemia was greater in the TT plus CND group than in the TT alone group (5.4% vs. 4.6%, p<0.001). The age- and sex-adjusted risk for permanent hypocalcaemia in the TT plus CND group was 1.20 (p < 0.001). CND did not raise the rates of permanent hypocalcaemia in institutes with a low volume of annual cases (<200), whereas permanent hypocalcaemia was more common in the TT plus CND group than in the TT alone group (3.5% vs. 2.9%, p=0.002) in institutes with a large volume of annual cases (≥800).

Conclusions

TT plus CND was associated with a greater risk of permanent hypocalcaemia than TT alone. Surgeons should consider the risk of permanent hypocalcaemia when deciding whether to perform CND.

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WWOX CNV-67048 Functions as a Risk Factor for Epithelial Ovarian Cancer in Chinese Women by Negatively Interacting with Oral Contraceptive Use

Copy number variations (CNVs) have attracted increasing evidences to represent their roles as cancer susceptibility regulators. However, little is known about the role of CNV in epithelia ovarian cancer (EOC). Recently, the CNV-67048 of WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) was reported to alter cancer risks. Considering that WWOX also plays a role in EOC, we hypothesized that the CNV-67048 was associated with EOC risk. In a case-control study of 549 EOC patients and 571 age (±5 years) matched cancer-free controls, we found that the low copy number of CNV-67048 (1-copy and 0-copy) conferred a significantly increased risk of EOC (OR = 1.346, 95% CI = 1.037–1.747) and it determined the risk by means of copy number-dependent dosage effect (). Data from TCGA also confirmed the abovementioned association as the frequency of low copies in EOC group was 3.68 times more than that in healthy group (). The CNV also negatively interacted with oral contraceptive use on EOC risk (). Functional analyses further showed a lower mRNA level of WWOX in tissues with the 0-copy or 1-copy than that in those with the 2-copy (). Our data suggested the CNV-67048 to be a risk factor of EOC in Chinese women.

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Phenotypic Variation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Primary Care

Introduction. Despite the high number of inactive patients with COPD, not all inactive patients are referred to physical therapy, unlike recommendations of general practitioner (GP) guidelines. It is likely that GPs take other factors into account, determining a subpopulation that is treated by a physical therapist (PT). The aim of this study is to explore the phenotypic differences between inactive patients treated in GP practice and inactive patients treated in GP practice combined with PT. Additionally this study provides an overview of the phenotype of patients with COPD in PT practice. Methods. In a cross-sectional study, COPD patient characteristics were extracted from questionnaires. Differences regarding perceived health status, degree of airway obstruction, exacerbation frequency, and comorbidity were studied in a subgroup of 290 inactive patients and in all 438 patients. Results. Patients treated in GP practice combined with PT reported higher degree of airway obstruction, more exacerbations, more vascular comorbidity, and lower health status compared to patients who were not referred to and treated by a PT. Conclusion. Unequal patient phenotypes in different primary care settings have important clinical implications. It can be carefully concluded that other factors, besides the level of inactivity, play a role in referral to PT.

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Solving Fractional Dynamical System with Freeplay by Combining Memory-Free Approach and Precise Integration Method

The Yuan-Agrawal (YA) memory-free approach is employed to study fractional dynamical systems with freeplay nonlinearities subjected to a harmonic excitation, by combining it with the precise integration method (PIM). By the YA method, the original equations are transformed into a set of first-order piecewise-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). These ODEs are further separated as three linear inhomogeneous subsystems, which are solved by PIM together with a predictor-corrector process. Numerical examples show that the results by the presented method agree well with the solutions obtained by the Runge-Kutta method and a modified fractional predictor-corrector algorithm. More importantly, the presented method has higher computational efficiency.

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Widening and Elaboration of Consecutive Research into Therapeutic Antioxidant Enzyme Derivatives

Undiminishing actuality of enzyme modification for therapeutic purposes has been confirmed by application of modified enzymes in clinical practice and numerous research data on them. Intravenous injection of the superoxide dismutase-chondroitin sulfate-catalase (SOD-CHS-CAT) conjugate in preventive and medicative regimes in rats with endotoxin shock induced with a lipopolysaccharide bolus has demonstrated that antioxidant agents not only effectively prevent damage caused by oxidative stress (as believed previously) but also can be used for antioxidative stress therapy. The results obtained emphasize the importance of investigation into the pathogenesis of vascular damage and the role of oxidative stress in it. The effects of intravenous medicative injection of SOD-CHS-CAT in a rat model of endotoxin shock have demonstrated a variety in the activity of this conjugate in addition to prevention of NO conversion in peroxynitrite upon interaction with superoxide radical. Together with the literature data, these findings offer a prospect for the study of NO-independent therapeutic effects of SOD-CHS-CAT, implying the importance of a better insight into the mechanisms of the conjugate activity in modeled cardiovascular damage involving vasoactive agents other than NO.

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Synthesis of Thinned Planar Antenna Array Using Multiobjective Normal Mutated Binary Cat Swarm Optimization

The process of thinned antenna array synthesis involves the optimization of a number of mutually conflicting parameters, such as peak sidelobe level, first null beam width, and number of active elements. This necessitates the development of a multiobjective optimization approach which will provide the best compromised solution based on the application at hand. In this paper, a novel multiobjective normal mutated binary cat swarm optimization (MO-NMBCSO) is developed and proposed for the synthesis of thinned planar antenna arrays. Through this method, a high degree of flexibility is introduced to the realm of thinned array design. A Pareto-optimal front containing all the probable designs is obtained in this process. Targeted solutions may be chosen from the Pareto front to satisfy the different requirements demonstrating the superiority of the proposed approach over multiobjective binary particle swarm optimization method (MO-BPSO). A comparative study is carried out to quantify the performance of the two algorithms using two performance metrics.

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Genome Editing of the CYP1A1 Locus in iPSCs as a Platform to Map AHR Expression throughout Human Development

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand activated transcription factor that increases the expression of detoxifying enzymes upon ligand stimulation. Recent studies now suggest that novel endogenous roles of the AHR exist throughout development. In an effort to create an optimized model system for the study of AHR signaling in several cellular lineages, we have employed a CRISPR/CAS9 genome editing strategy in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to incorporate a reporter cassette at the transcription start site of one of its canonical targets, cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1). This cell line faithfully reports on CYP1A1 expression, with luciferase levels as its functional readout, when treated with an endogenous AHR ligand (FICZ) at escalating doses. iPSC-derived fibroblast-like cells respond to acute exposure to environmental and endogenous AHR ligands, and iPSC-derived hepatocytes increase CYP1A1 in a similar manner to primary hepatocytes. This cell line is an important innovation that can be used to map AHR activity in discrete cellular subsets throughout developmental ontogeny. As further endogenous ligands are proposed, this line can be used to screen for safety and efficacy and can report on the ability of small molecules to regulate critical cellular processes by modulating the activity of the AHR.

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A Bioinspired Fair Resource-Allocation Algorithm for TDMA-Based Distributed Sensor Networks for IoT

Many studies on distributed resource-allocation algorithms have been conducted recently because of the increasing number of network nodes and the rapidly changing network environments in the Internet of Things (IoT). In this paper, we propose the multihop DESYNC algorithm, which is a bioinspired Time Division Multiple Access- (TDMA-) based distributed resource-allocation scheme for distributed sensor networks. We define a detailed frame structure for the proposed multihop DESYNC algorithm and a firing message, which acts as a reference for resource allocation. In addition, operating procedures for resource allocation and collision detection avoidance under multihop DESYNC are explained. Simulations show that multihop DESYNC effectively resolves the hidden-node problem and that it fairly shares resources among nearby nodes in multihop networks. Moreover, it achieves better performance than the CSMA/CA algorithm in terms of channel reuse gain and average throughput.

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Trace Attack against Biometric Mobile Applications

With the exponential increase in the dependence on mobile devices in everyday life, there is a growing concern related to privacy and security issues in the Gulf countries; therefore, it is imperative that security threats should be analyzed in detail. Mobile devices store enormous amounts of personal and financial information, unfortunately without any security. In order to secure mobile devices against different threats, biometrics has been applied and shown to be effective. However, biometric mobile applications are also vulnerable to several types of attacks that can decrease their security. Biometric information itself is considered sensitive data; for example, fingerprints can leave traces in touched objects and facial images can be captured everywhere or accessed by the attacker if the facial image is stored in the mobile device (lost or stolen). Hence, an attacker can easily forge the identity of a legitimate user and access data on a device. In this paper, the effects of a trace attack on the sensitivity of biometric mobile applications are investigated in terms of security and user privacy. Experimental results carried out on facial and fingerprint mobile authentication applications using different databases have shown that these mobile applications are vulnerable to the proposed attack, which poses a serious threat to the overall system security and user privacy.

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Photoinduced chemiluminescence determination of carbamate pesticides

Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2016, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C6PP00056H, Paper

Monica Catala-Icardo, Susana Meseguer-Lloret, Sagrario Torres-Cartas
A liquid chromatography method with post-column photoinduced chemiluminescence (PICL) detection is proposed for the simultaneous determination of eight carbamate pesticides, namely aldicarb, butocarboxim, ethiofencarb, methomyl, methiocarb, thiodicarb, thiofanox and thiophanate-methyl....
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Role of certain amino acid residues of coelenterazine-binding cavity in bioluminescence of light-sensitive Ca2+-regulated photoprotein berovin

Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2016, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C6PP00050A, Paper

Ludmila P Burakova, Galina A. Stepanyuk, Elena V. Eremeeva, Eugene S. Vysotski
Bright bioluminescence of ctenophores is caused by Ca²⁺-regulated photoproteins. Although these photoproteins are functionally identical to and share many properties of cnidarian photoproteins, like aequorin and obelin, and retain the...
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The first comprehensive report on Indigenous Australian women's inequalities in cervical screening: A retrospective registry cohort study in Queensland, Australia (2000-2011)

BACKGROUND

The Australian National Cervical Screening Program, introduced more than 20 years ago, does not record the Indigenous status of screening participants. This article reports the first population-based estimates of participation in cervical screening for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian women.

METHODS

This was a retrospective, population-based study of 1,334,795 female Queensland residents, aged 20 to 69 years, who participated in cervical screening from 2000 to 2011; 26,829 were identified as Indigenous through linkage to hospitalization records. Participation rates were calculated as the number of women screened divided by the average estimated resident population, with adjustments made for hysterectomies, for each 2-, 3-, and 5-year screening period. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), which were adjusted for age group, place of residence, and socioeconomic disadvantage.

RESULTS

In 2010-2011, the 2-year participation rate was 55.7% (95% CI, 55.6%-55.9%) for non-Indigenous women and 33.5% (95% CI, 32.9%-34.1%) for Indigenous women; this represented a decrease from 2000-2001 (57.7% [95% CI, 57.6%-57.9%] and 35.3% [95% CI, 34.5%-36.1%], respectively). The difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women was greatest for those aged 45 to 49 years. The 3- and 5-year participation rates were higher within both groups, and the absolute differences between the 2 groups were larger. Significant interactions between the Indigenous status and the place of residence and socioeconomic disadvantage highlight that the Indigenous/non-Indigenous differential was evident in all places of residence except for very remote areas (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.95-1.02) and was greatest in the most affluent areas (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.24-0.27).

CONCLUSIONS

Indigenous Australian women participate less than non-Indigenous women, and this gap has not closed. These results provide important benchmarks for the new Australian cervical screening program commencing in 2017, which will provide opportunities to reduce inequities for Indigenous women and address longstanding data deficiencies in the collection of the Indigenous status. Cancer 2016. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society.

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Er det trygt å føde hjemme?

I en stor amerikansk studie var planlagt hjemmefødsel assosiert med flere dødsfall enn ved planlagt sykehusfødsel.

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Anche il sesso tra le cause dei tumori del cavo orale, otorinolaringologi a congresso a Torino - La Repubblica

La Repubblica

Anche il sesso tra le cause dei tumori del cavo orale, otorinolaringologi a congresso a Torino
La Repubblica
Sono colpiti più frequentemente gli uomini rispetto alle donne (in una proporzione di circa 6 ad 1) e la fascia di età più colpita è quella compresa tra i 50 ad i 70 anni. Fra i tumori della testa e del collo (naso, laringe, cavo orale) molti sono ...
Salute, infezione da Papilloma causa del 36% dei tumori dell'orofaringeMeteo Web
Screening gratuito per prevenire i tumori del cavo orale a Le Scotte ea EmpoliValdelsa.net
Alla Asl lo screening gratuito per la prevenzione dai tumori del cavo oraleArezzo Notizie
Humanitas Salute -Il Secolo XIX -Il Tirreno
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An Experimental Reproduction of Necrotic Enteritis in Broiler Chickens

The post An Experimental Reproduction of Necrotic Enteritis in Broiler Chickens appeared first on Welcome to Avens.

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A Pilot Psychometric Study on the Validation of the Older Women’s Non-Medical Stress Scale (OWNMSS) on an Ethnically Diverse Sample

The post A Pilot Psychometric Study on the Validation of the Older Women’s Non-Medical Stress Scale (OWNMSS) on an Ethnically Diverse Sample appeared first on Welcome to Avens.

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Role of Vanadium in Cellular and Molecular Immunology: Association with Immune-Related Inflammation and Pharmacotoxicology Mechanisms

Over the last decade, a diverse spectrum of vanadium compounds has arisen as anti-inflammatory therapeutic metallodrugs targeting various diseases. Recent studies have demonstrated that select well-defined vanadium species are involved in many immune-driven molecular mechanisms that regulate and influence immune responses. In addition, advances in cell immunotherapy have relied on the use of metallodrugs to create a “safe,” highly regulated, environment for optimal control of immune response. Emerging findings include optimal regulation of B/T cell signaling and expression of immune suppressive or anti-inflammatory cytokines, critical for immune cell effector functions. Furthermore, in-depth perusals have explored NF-κB and Toll-like receptor signaling mechanisms in order to enhance adaptive immune responses and promote recruitment or conversion of inflammatory cells to immunodeficient tissues. Consequently, well-defined vanadium metallodrugs, poised to access and resensitize the immune microenvironment, interact with various biomolecular targets, such as B cells, T cells, interleukin markers, and transcription factors, thereby influencing and affecting immune signaling. A synthetically formulated and structure-based (bio)chemical reactivity account of vanadoforms emerges as a plausible strategy for designing drugs characterized by selectivity and specificity, with respect to the cellular molecular targets intimately linked to immune responses, thereby giving rise to a challenging field linked to the development of immune system vanadodrugs.

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The Whole Genome Assembly and Comparative Genomic Research of Thellungiella parvula (Extremophile Crucifer) Mitochondrion

The complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of an extremophile species Thellungiella parvula (T. parvula) have been determined with the lengths of 255,773 bp. T. parvula mt genome is a circular sequence and contains 32 protein-coding genes, 19 tRNA genes, and three ribosomal RNA genes with a 11.5% coding sequence. The base composition of 27.5% A, 27.5% T, 22.7% C, and 22.3% G in descending order shows a slight bias of 55% AT. Fifty-three repeats were identified in the mitochondrial genome of T. parvula, including 24 direct repeats, 28 tandem repeats (TRs), and one palindromic repeat. Furthermore, a total of 199 perfect microsatellites have been mined with a high A/T content (83.1%) through simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis and they were distributed unevenly within this mitochondrial genome. We also analyzed other plant mitochondrial genomes’ evolution in general, providing clues for the understanding of the evolution of organelles genomes in plants. Comparing with other Brassicaceae species, T. parvula is related to Arabidopsis thaliana whose characters of low temperature resistance have been well documented. This study will provide important genetic tools for other Brassicaceae species research and improve yields of economically important plants.

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Sofosbuvir-Based Therapy for Genotype 4 HCV Recurrence Post-Liver Transplant Treatment-Experienced Patients

Background and Aim. This is an open label prospective cohort study conducted at a tertiary care hospital. The primary endpoint is SVR12 in patients treated with sofosbuvir-based therapy in post-liver transplant patients with genotype 4 HCV recurrence. Methodology. Thirty-six treatment-experienced liver transplant patients with HCV recurrence received sofosbuvir and ribavirin ± peginterferon. Results. We report here safety and efficacy data on 36 patients who completed the follow-up period. Mean age was 56 years, and the cohort included 24 males and one patient had cirrhosis. Mean baseline HCV RNA was 6.2 log10 IU/mL. The majority of patients had ≥ stage 2 fibrosis. Twenty-eight patients were treated with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in addition to sofosbuvir for 12 weeks and the remaining were treated with sofosbuvir plus ribavirin only for 24 weeks. By week 4, only four (11.1%) patients had detectable HCV RNA. Of the 36 patients, 2 (5.5%) relapsed and one died (2.75%). Conclusion. Our results suggest that sofosbuvir + ribavirin ± pegylated interferon can be utilized successfully to treat liver transplant patients with HCV recurrence.

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Privacy Leakage in Mobile Sensing: Your Unlock Passwords Can Be Leaked through Wireless Hotspot Functionality

Mobile sensing has become a new style of applications and most of the smart devices are equipped with varieties of sensors or functionalities to enhance sensing capabilities. Current sensing systems concentrate on how to enhance sensing capabilities; however, the sensors or functionalities may lead to the leakage of users’ privacy. In this paper, we present WiPass, a way to leverage the wireless hotspot functionality on the smart devices to snoop the unlock passwords/patterns without the support of additional hardware. The attacker can “see” your unlock passwords/patterns even one meter away. WiPass leverages the impacts of finger motions on the wireless signals during the unlocking period to analyze the passwords/patterns. To practically implement WiPass, we are facing the difficult feature extraction and complex unlock passwords matching, making the analysis of the finger motions challenging. To conquer the challenges, we use DCASW to extract feature and hierarchical DTW to do unlock passwords matching. Besides, the combination of amplitude and phase information is used to accurately recognize the passwords/patterns. We implement a prototype of WiPass and evaluate its performance under various environments. The experimental results show that WiPass achieves the detection accuracy of 85.6% and 74.7% for passwords/patterns detection in LOS and in NLOS scenarios, respectively.

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Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and Diabetes Insipidus in a Young Smoker

Langerhans cell histiocytosis is characterized by the abnormal nodular proliferation of histiocytes in various organ systems. Pulmonary involvement seen in young adults is nearly always seen in the context of past or current cigarette smoking. Although it tends to be a single-system disease, extrapulmonary manifestations involving the skin, bone, and hypothalamic-pituitary-axis are possible. High resolution CT (HRCT) of the thorax findings includes centrilobular nodules and cysts that are bizarre in shape, variable in size, and thin-walled. Often the diagnosis can be made based on the appropriate clinical presentation and typical imaging findings. Treatment includes smoking cessation and the potential use of glucocorticoids or cytotoxic agents depending on the severity of disease and multisystem involvement.

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Nuclear Power Plant Construction Scheduling Problem with Time Restrictions: A Particle Swarm Optimization Approach

In nuclear power plant construction scheduling, a project is generally defined by its dependent preparation time, the time required for construction, and its reactor installation time. The issues of multiple construction teams and multiple reactor installation teams are considered. In this paper, a hierarchical particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the nuclear power plant construction scheduling problem and minimize the occurrence of projects failing to achieve deliverables within applicable due times and deadlines.

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Allergic reactions to milk appear sooner than reactions to hen’s eggs: a retrospective study

Oral food challenge test doses are recommended to be performed at least 20 min apart; however, the times of symptom provocation from the start of the oral food challenge have never been compared between differ...

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MRI rules out competing diagnoses in ARVC/D

2016_04_08_11_10_37_737_2016_04_11_CMR_1 Cardiac MRI (CMR) can diagnose arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia...

Screening for gestational diabetes is too late to prevent ill health effects on offspring, study finds

Obese women who develop gestational diabetes are five times more likely to carry a baby with excessive fetal growth by six months of pregnancy than women who do not develop impaired glucose tolerance...