Recent Articles

This work is a pilot study that introduces an improved method for estimation of a chronological age of a human being using the incremental lines in a dental cementum. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of longitudinal sections of the tooth roots were subject to SEM analysis. The protocol allows accurate age estimation even if the SEM images reveal a limited number of distinct incremental lines. Micrographs were analyzed with a calibrated thickness measuring tool, such as ImageJ. The study was based on fifteen freshly extracted teeth from adult males and females of a known age. An average cementum thickness (C) and average incremental line thickness (IL) was calculated for each chosen perpendicular level of the tooth root from the SEM image.

This work is a pilot study that introduces an improved method for estimation of a chronological age of a human being using the incremental lines in a dental cementum. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of longitudinal sections of the tooth roots were subject to SEM analysis. The protocol allows accurate age estimation even if the SEM images reveal a limited number of distinct incremental lines. Micrographs were analyzed with a calibrated thickness measuring tool, such as ImageJ. The study was based on fifteen freshly extracted teeth from adult males and females of a known age. An average cementum thickness (C) and average incremental line thickness (IL) was calculated for each chosen perpendicular level of the tooth root from the SEM image.

A sixty-five-years-old male patient with history of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the right orbit and a fifty-years-old female patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with peripheral lymphocytosis were treated on TomoTherapy. In the first case, a 1 cm beam was used for planning a delivery of 30.6 Gy in 17 fractions with a sequential boost of 9 Gy in 5 fractions. Tumor involvement of the ipsilateral lens and lacrimal gland in the planning target volume necessitated a compromise between preserving patient’s vision and delivery of tumoricidal dose to the target. In the second case, 30 Gy in 20 fractions delivery was planned with a 2.5 cm beam. The tumor extended anteriorly and this technique allowed sparing more orbital tissue and required a high modulation factor.

Acquired amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia is an unusual hematological disorder characterized by severe thrombocytopenia in association with a marked decrease, or the absence, of megakaryocytes in bone marrow. Its pathogenesis is not well understood and its clinical course is variable. Several treatments have been used, producing different responses. We present a case that was successfully treated with a calcineurin inhibitor combined with a thrombopoiesis-stimulating agent.

Malignancies of the thyroid gland are common in certain parts of the world. In Ghana there are no available data on the trends and gender characteristics of thyroid malignancies (TMs). The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the trends and gender characteristics of TMs in the Department of Pathology.

A 72-h fast results in a rapid decrease in circulating glucose to a lower level without a change in non-water body mass. Several metabolic adjustments are necessary. A nutrient-sufficient, carbohydrate (CHO)-free diet also has been reported to result in a decrease in glucose, and similar metabolic perturbations. However, direct comparisons are not available in subjects without, or with, type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

This study employed a case-series design with infants aged between 1 and 4 months. Infants with symptoms of constipation were recruited at two paediatric clinics in Barcelona, Spain. At the time of recruitment, all infants were fed a standard formula made with cow milk protein. Infants were provided with a formula based on goat milk protein and 55% of total fat from goat milk. After 3 weeks, stool consistency, stool frequency, crying and infant behaviour were measured. Fat, nitrogen, water and carbohydrates in the stools were also determined by NIRA (near-infrared reflectance analysis).

Intrinsic noise embedded in stochastic gene regulation due to low copy number of species has been studied using the approach of theoretical modeling and computational simulation, including the standard methods of stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA) and linear noise approximation (LNA). At average cell level, Hill functions are widely used as a compact format to represent gene regulation involving multi-transcription-factor binding and cooperativity. Heuristic SSA and LNA methods (hSSA and hLNA) have been applied to study stochastic models employing Hill functions. It is however unclear which modeling and simulation method is suitable to characterize intrinsic noise of Hill-type gene regulation with sufficient accuracy and computational efficiency. In this work, we perform noise analysis of two gene regulatory models represented by second-order activating and inhibitory Hill functions, seeking to evaluate the performance of five existing noise modeling methods.

Allergenic diseases are on the rise in the United States and already affect 50 million Americans. Ambrosia pollen is one of the most allergenic forms of pollen, partially due to the shear volume of pollen that each Ambrosia plant generates. This paper describes a machine learning approach used to forecast the Ambrosia pollen levels in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Machine learning along with comprehensive environmental data (reflectance values derived from Landsat satellite images and parameters from the NASA MERRA meteorological analysis) are utilized to predict Ambrosia pollen levels. The outcome shows an improvement over previous studies and gives new information that could be advantageous for future pollen forecasting. In this study, 21 different machine learning approaches for predicting the ragweed pollen levels were tested. These studies highlighted several Landsat variables were useful in forecasting the ragweed pollen levels, including the shortwave infrared (SWIR1) and near-infrared (NIR) reflectance of various time lags.

The microbiological quality of coastal or river waters can be affected by faecal pollution from human or animal sources. Contamination of fresh produce with pathogenic bacteria can be attributed directly or indirectly to the raw wastewater (domestic, industrial effluents, human and animal excrement). This includes water sources that are routinely used for crop irrigation and produce washing. An efficient MST (Microbial Source Tracking) toolbox consisting of several host-specific markers would, therefore, be valuable for identifying the origin of the faecal pollution in the environment and thus for effective resource management and remediation. As a result, the need for expanding from traditional techniques to molecular methods has been highly recommended.

Onset of schizophrenia is often preceded by other symptoms and types of behaviour, usually referred to as prodromal symptoms. Identify the main prodromal symptoms and signs preceding the full blown picture of first episode schizophrenia. This is a cross-section study. 328 Iraqi first episode schizophrenic inpatients admitted to Ibn-Rushed psychiatric mental hospital were examined during the period June, 1st, 2009 to June, 1st, 2011. Diagnosis confirmed through a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR. List of sociodemographic and clinical data was used. Detailed psychiatric history taking and mental state examination were applied. Supplemental information was obtained from patients and family members.

Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in Brugada syndrome (BrS) has been performed both endocardially and epicardially. The substrate in BrS is thus unclear. Objectives: To investigate the functional endocardial substrate and its correlation with clinical, electrophysiological and ECG findings in order to guide an endocardial ablation. Methods: Thirteen patients (38.7±12.3 years old) with spontaneous type 1 ECG BrS pattern, inducible VF with programmed ventricular stimulation (PVS) and syncope without prodromes were enrolled. Before to endocardial mapping the patients underwent flecainide testing with the purpose of measuring the greatest ST-segment elevation for to be correlated with the size and location of substrate in the electro-anatomic map

For the investigation of micromycetes-contaminants in children foods and their toxigenic activity, 173 samples of children foods traded in local markets in al-Hasakah governorate -northeastern Syria- were collected and tested during the period (2011-2012). The tested samples were included in 4 food groups: oily seeds (35 samples), potato & maize chips (53 samples), biscuits (45 samples) and powdered milk & sugars (40 samples).The Sample investigation was undertaken in the plant diseases laboratory in Al-Qamishli Agricultural Research Center. The results of the analysis showed that most of the samples tested were contaminated with fungi in varying degrees ranged between 1× 10² and 5×10⁷ spore / gram of food substance. Only 2.3% of the samples tested exceeded 10⁴ spore / gram of food substance.

We identified 8 eligible trials that enrolled 1392 infants. There was significant effect of prophylactic fluconazole on fungal colonization (RR, 0.31, 95%C1:-0.24 to 0.41; P

The present study evaluated the efficacy and safety of biosimilar infliximab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis on a stable dose of methotrexate. Subjects were assigned randomly to either study infliximab or reference infliximab product in an approved dose of 3 mg/kg as an intravenous infusion at week 0, followed by similar doses at Weeks 2, 6 and 14. Primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of subjects achieving ACR20 criteria at week 16 and secondary efficacy assessment included proportion of subjects achieving ACR20, ACR50 and ACR70 at week 16. In the open-label phase, all responders were followed till week 54. The non-responders entered a follow-up phase for immunogenicity and safety for an additional 3 months.

Osteoid osteoma (OO) is a benign bone tumour. In 1935, the jaffe reported it first. The fifty percent of OOs occur in long bones of the lower extremities but it may affect any bone. Only 1 % OOs affects the ribs and surgical excision was reported only in 14 cases in the literature. Complete surgical excision is the standard treatment method for osteoid osteoma is complete surgical excision which is reserved for the patients not responding to conservative treatment. In this report, we present a case of osteoid osteoma of the posterior part of the shaft of the sixth rib affecting a 30-year-old male, who had presented with symptoms of severe pain over the affected area and underwent surgical resection. Excised rib segment showed no osteosclerotic lesion on X-ray so immediately extended resection of the sixth rib was done. Here we have tried to evaluate the importance of the presence of the skeletal scintigraphy or C Arm image intensifier intraoperatively by comparing our experience with the available literature.

Based on theoretical considerations which hypothesize a significant influence of emotions on eating behavior a laboratory experiment was conducted. 127 subjects of both sexes were investigated after the induction of joy or sadness with subsequent presentation of chocolate. Neither gender nor the quality of the emotion had a significant effect on the consumed amount of chocolate, but habitual dietary restraint of the subjects lead to lower intake of the sweet food. The results are discussed with respect to the usefulness of a cognitive control of eating behavior in successful treatment programs for obesity

Selenium (Se) is a trace element present in many foods. Selenium-protein co-factor plays a critical anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory role in thyroid function, but quite recently its ability to prevent adipocyte hypertrophy and adipogenesis has also been evaluated. The aim of our study was to assess whether thyroid function, as well as, body mass index (BMI) and body composition might improve in Se-treated obese patients as compared to those getting placebo (P).

To date, Obesity is considered prime concern of public health with multi-dimensional factors engaged in metabolic discrepancy that is rooted from multifactorial causes (i.e., environmental intoxication or genetic abnormality), and the unmet landscape of health care system seeks for therapeutic or preventive measures. Compelling evidence support Omics as strategic tool of systemic biology is benefit to define wiring of molecular circuit in metabolic malfunction and evaluation of metabolic modulator such as synthetic drugs, stem cell replacement, and natural secondary metabolites from various resources.

Clay bricks have been made since ancient periods. The higher demand for this brick fails to support the needs. This is because clay is the non-renewable materials. Therefore, new artificial cement blocks have been introduced to satisfy the fast demand in the world. However, the clay bricks are the most eco-friendly and form green environment. Thus, the government, researchers, and engineers trying to introduce the clay bricks with the value addition of natural agro waste materials. In one way, these materials improve the physical properties of the clay as well as reduce the environmental pollutions. Our aim at this research was to introduce a green environment clay bricks of value-added Groundnut Shell Ash (GSA) as a partial substitution.