Assessment of incidence of cerebral vascular diseases and prediction of stroke risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients using multimodal biomarkers.

BACKGROUND: Early assessment of cerebrovascular disease in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is an important issue for a favorable influence on the quality of life. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional case-control study was conducted on 38 eligible COPD patients (mean age 55.5 ± 11.5, 25 males, and 13 females) and 26 age-/sex-matched healthy controls. All participants were subjected to stroke risk screening instruments that included the Stroke Riskometer™, the Framingham 10-Year Risk Score, the stroke risk screening tool (the Department of Disease Control of Thailand), the My Risk Stroke Calculator, and Q Stroke. Radiologically, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and echo-gradient MRI (T2 star) T2 star imaging were done. Color-coded duplex sonography was done. Laboratory investigations included C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A, plasma fibrinogen level, serum IL6, 8-Isoprostane, vWF and urinary albumin creatinine ratio. RESULTS: Stroke risk screening instruments revealed a significant increase in COPD patients. DTI showed a significant bilateral reduction in fractional isotropy and a significant bilateral increase in mean diffusivity of white matter through many areas in COPD patients. Patients also had a significant increase of intima-media thickness, presence of atherosclerotic focal thicknesses or plaques on duplex sonography. There was a significant elevation of CRP, serum amyloid A, plasma fibrinogen level, serum IL6, 8-isoprostane, von Willebrand factor (vWF), and urinary albumin creatinine ratio in COPD patients. CONCLUSION: COPD patients had an increased risk for stroke that could be assessed on stroke risk screening instruments, DTI, T2 star, duplex sonography, and laboratory investigation and could be correlated with the severity of the disease.

Effects of aflatoxin B1 on human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells: cytotoxicity, oxidative damage, metabolic, and immune-modulatory transcriptomic changes.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a potent mycotoxin that is commonly produced by molds such as Aspergillus (A.) flavus and A. parasiticus. AFB1 is associated with several health adverse effects in humans including mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. Aflatoxin is commonly secreted in the milk leading to deleterious effects on breast tissue and potential nursing infants. However, the effects of aflatoxins, particularly AFB1, on the breast cells are less investigated. In this study, AFB1-associated effects on human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) were investigated. AFB1 caused significant cytotoxicity on MCF-7 cells. Such cytotoxicity had a positive correlation with the induction of oxidative stress. In addition, AFB1 caused significant transcriptomic alterations in xenobiotics and drug-metabolizing enzymes, transporters, and antioxidant enzymes. Besides, AFB1 upregulated pro-inflammatory markers such as tumor necrosis factor-α and cyclooxygenase-2 with a significant reduction of mRNA expressions of the immunity-related genes including interleukins 8 and 10.

Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli Causing Ventilator Associated Pneumonia: Study of MASTDISCS Combi Carba Plus for Detection of Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacterales.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria has been proven to be an escalating public health challenge in Egypt owing to its high mortality rate and raised health care costs. Purpose: Detection of carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacilli among VAP patients, genotypic identification of carbapenemase genes in the isolated strains with evaluation of their impact on patient outcome and detection of carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales by MASTDISCS combi Carba plus disc system. Methods: Broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and endotracheal aspirate were collected aseptically from clinically suspected VAP patients. Pathogen identification and antibiotic sensitivity testing were done. Carbapenemase-encoding genes (bla KPC, bla NDM, and bla OXA-48) were tested by PCR in all carbapenem-resistant gram-negative isolates. Performance of MASTDISCS combi Carba plus in isolated Enterobacterales was assessed in relation to the PCR results. Results: Eighty-three carbapenem-resistant gram-negative isolates were detected. The most frequent pathogens were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa representing 34.9%, 20.5% and 18.1%, respectively. bla KPC was the predominant gene. Patients with persistent mechanical ventilation less than 15 days and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection were significantly associated with a higher death rate. MAST-Carba plus had the highest sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for detecting OXA-48 carbapenemases representing 81.8%, 92.5%, 75% and 94.9%, respectively. Conclusion: Worse outcome in VAP patients was associated with carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacilli. MASTDISCS combi Carba plus is an efficient simple method for identification of different carbapenemases among enterobacterales.

Deep learning model for fully automated breast cancer detection system from thermograms.

Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases among women worldwide. It is considered one of the leading causes of death among women. Therefore, early detection is necessary to save lives. Thermography imaging is an effective diagnostic technique which is used for breast cancer detection with the help of infrared technology. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic breast cancer detection system. First, U-Net network is used to automatically extract and isolate the breast area from the rest of the body which behaves as noise during the breast cancer detection model. Second, we propose a two-class deep learning model, which is trained from scratch for the classification of normal and abnormal breast tissues from thermal images. Also, it is used to extract more characteristics from the dataset that is helpful in training the network and improve the efficiency of the classification process. The proposed system is evaluated using real data (A benchmark, database (DMR-IR)) and achieved accuracy = 99.33%, sensitivity = 100% and specificity = 98.67%. The proposed system is expected to be a helpful tool for physicians in clinical use.

Design, synthesis, docking study and anticancer evaluation of new trimethoxyphenyl pyridine derivatives as tubulin inhibitors and apoptosis inducers.

Microtubules have become an appealing target for anticancer drug development including mainly colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs). A new series of novel trimethoxypyridine derivatives were designed and synthesized as tubulin targeting agents. In vitro anti-proliferative activities of the tested compounds compared to colchicine against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2), colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116), and breast cancer (MCF-7) was carried out. Most of compounds showed significant cytotoxic activities. Compounds Vb, Vc, Vf, Vj and VI showed superior anti-proliferative activities to colchicine. Where compound VI showed IC50 values of 4.83, 3.25 and 6.11 µM compared to colchicine (7.40, 9.32, 10.41 µM) against HCT 116, HepG-2 and MCF-7, respectively. The enzymatic activity against tubulin enzyme was carried out for the compounds that showed high anti-proliferative activity. Also, compound VI exhibited the highest tubulin polymerization inhibitory effect with an IC50 value of 8.92 nM compared to colchicine (IC50 value = 9.85 nM). Compounds Vb, Vc, Vf, Vj, & VIIIb showed promising activities with IC50 values of 22.41, 17.64, 20.39, 10.75, 31.86 nM, respectively. Cell cycle and apoptosis test for compound VI against HepG-2 cells, indicated that compound VI can arrest cell cycle at G2/M phase, and can cause apoptosis at pre-G1 phase, with high apoptotic effect 18.53%. Molecular docking studies of the designed compounds confirmed the essential hydrogen bonding with CYS241 beside the hydrophobic interaction at the binding site compared to reference compounds which assisted in the prediction of the structure requirements for the detected antitumor activity.

Optical properties of bisacryl-, composite-, ceramic- resin restorative materials: An aging simulation study.

OBJECTIVE: Compare optical properties of a bisacryl-, composite-, and ceramic-resin restorative materials pre and post artificial aging. METHODS: Bisacryl-resin (LuxaCrown [LC], DMG), resin-composite (Filtek Supreme Ultra, [Filtek SU] 3M ESPE), and ceramic-resin (Enamic, VITA Zahnfabrik) specimens were prepared. The L*, C*ab , and hab values were measured pre and post artificial aging to determine color stability (CIEDE2000) and changes in contrast ratio (CR), transmittance block, and relative translucency parameter. The datasets were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA followed by pairwise comparisons. RESULTS: Color difference data showed a significant interaction between materials and treatments [F(6:60) = 375.04, P < .0001] with Enamic being most color stable material and coffee having most effect on color stability. CR data showed a significant interaction between materials and treatments [F(6:60) = 4.12, P = .0016]. LC showing most change in CR values with coffee treatment. Change in transmittance blocked by Filtek SU and LC was greater for coffee treatment than that by each of the other treatments (P < .0001). Filtek SU and LC, coffee produced a greater decrease in relative translucency than that each of the other treatments (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Resin-based materials demonstrate optical properties that encourage their use for direct/indirect restorative options. Color stability and translucency of these materials are proportionally related. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Understanding the optical properties of resin-based materials provides help in material selection and provides insight into clinical performance and esthetic longevity. The optical stability of certain bisacryl-resin is better than what was previously determined for these restorative materials.