The Glenn Shunt Revisited, A Single Center Registry in Ain Shams University Cardiology Department

Background:Bidirectional Glenn shunts have long been available as palliative procedures for patients with single ventricle physiology that is,patients unsuitable for biventricular repair.In our country they are performed at an older age than that recommended by the literature.So,we aim to assess post bidirectional Glenn shunt patients to detect the presence of any complications and to evaluate their functional capacity.Methods:This was a descriptive study that included all patients who underwent a bidirectional Glenn shunt and were referred for follow up in Ain shams university hospitals.History taking including NYHA class and physical activity,clinical examination,six-minutes-walk test,laboratory investigations,full echocardiographic assessment were done for all patients.Some patients needed invasive cardiac catheterization.Results:Our registry included 178 patients who underwent bidirectional Glenn procedure referred for follow up in Ain Shams university hospital from January 2019 till July 2020.The mean age of the registry was 18.7±8.26 years(range between 5 and 37 years),85 males(48%)and 93 females(52%).Regarding the basic anatomy,double outlet right ventricle with hypoplastic left ventricle was the commonest.Furthermore,our descriptive study confirmed many characteristic similarities between our patients and patients in developing countries.Our patients underwent bidirectional Glenn shunt at a median age of 6 years which is considered a relatively old age but similar to other studies that have been made in developing countries like Pakistan,India and Iran.There is a significant delay in the operation in Egyptian patients due to lack of patients’awareness,few numbers of primary health care facilities and high economic burden.Conclusion:Although the presence of slight systemic desaturation,our study demonstrated a satisfactory functional capacity among our patients;thus,bidirectional Glenn can be considered an acceptable definite univentricular repair in patients with late presentation.

Genetic Variability and Phenotypic Correlations Study among Grain Quality Traits and Mineral Elements Concentrations in Colored and Non-Colored Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Twenty-four rice genotypes were examined to assess genetic variability,heritability,and correlations for seven-grain quality traits,eight nutritional elements,and protein.ANOVA revealed significant differences for the quality traits studied.For every trait under study,the phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the correspon-dence genotypic coefficient of variation.Heritability in a broad sense varied from 29.75%for grain length to 98.31%for the elongation trait.Hulling percentage recovery had a highly significant positive correlation with milling and head rice percentage.Consequently,milling percentage had a highly positive correlation with head rice percentage.In amylose percentage,all the genotypes belonged to low amylose except the Hassawi-1 variety,which had intermediate amylose content.Mineral nutrition contents of magnesium(Mg),sodium(Na),potas-sium(K),calcium(Ca),copper(Cu),manganese(Mn),zinc(Zn),iron(Fe),or protein percentage gave different variations for 24 rice genotypes under all the nutritional elements.Among the 24 genotypes,ten rice genotypes–HighNutrient-1,HighNutrient-2,HighNutrient-9,HighNutrient-8,HighNutrient-3,Hassawi-2,HighNutrient-7,HighNutrient-6,Hassawi-1,and HighNutrient-4–had the highest heist value for all nutritional and protein con-tents,and could be used as a donor to improving new varieties.There was a positive and significant correlation between magnesium Mg,K,Zn and Fe.Consequently,K had a positive correlation with zinc Zn,Fe,and protein percentage.Clustering analysis was divided into two groups:thefirst group included all genotypes rich in nutri-ents,while the remaining genotypes with low nutritional content were included in the second group.

Evaluation of Azadirachta indica cultivated in Egypt against biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Insights from molecular docking studies targeting LasR

Background:Azadirachta indica(A.indica),commonly known as neem,is a widely distributed medicinal plant in Asia and Africa and is well known to have a wide spectrum of biological activity.A.indica is considered a skin food that was traditionally used in different cultures to treat a wide range of skin disorders.A.indica was reported to possess antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa(P.aeruginosa)which is considered the most common biofilm model organism.This study aims to investigate the ability of A.indica cultivated in Egypt to inhibit/reduce the biofilm formation by P.aeruginosa.Methods:The microtiter plate assay was used to evaluate the anti-biofilm activity of neem,cultivated in Egypt,leaves against P.aeruginosa as well as the ability to reduce the activity of P.aeruginosa.To investigate the phytocompounds responsible for their bioactivity and to explore potential interactions between their bioactive components and one of the quorum-sensing regulatory proteins of P.aeruginosa involved in biofilm formation,liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric and molecular docking studies were done.Results:Results showed that methanol extract of leaves can reduce the formation of P.aeruginosa biofilm at lower concentrations than those reported in other regions with 1.25 mg/mL as the optimum concentration.The two-way analysis of variance revealed the significance of the extract effect and its concentration on the reduction of biofilm formation(P<0.05).Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric study revealed the presence of fourteen compounds that belong to limonoids and flavonoids.Molecular docking analysis against LasR,the quorum-sensing regulatory protein,of P.aeruginosa supported these findings.Nimbolinin,a limonoid,has achieved the highest Libdock score of 138.769.Conclusion:It was concluded that A.indica,cultivated in Egypt,leaves can target LasR as a new mechanism of action for biofilm control by A.indica and therefore could be a good source of leads for anti-biofilm medicine.

Entrepreneurship training:its influences on innovation potentials among nursing students

Objective:To evaluate the influences of entrepreneurship training on the innovation potential among nursing students.Methods:A quasi-experimental design was utilized to conduct this study.The study was conducted in the classroom at the faculty of nursing,and the“i Hub”center at Ain Shams University(ASU)in Cairo,Egypt.A purposive sample of 42 nursing students who participated in the“Ain Shams University-innovate”competition from the Faculty of Nursing of ASU were included in this study.Data collection tools included(1)Nursing students'innovation skills assessment questionnaire and(2)Innovative projects evaluation tool.Results:There was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of nursing students'total innovation skills pre-and post-implementation of entrepreneurship training,where P-value<0.05.Conclusions:The results of the current study support the research hypothesis because the implementation of entrepreneurship training positively affects nursing students'innovation potential.Developing entrepreneurship education in nursing and integrating it into nursing programs will stimulate creativity,innovation,and entrepreneurship among nursing students and health care services.

A narrative review on inhibitory effects of edible mushrooms against malaria and tuberculosis-the world’s deadliest diseases

The isolated secondary metabolites from 39 edible mushrooms are reported,among which 107 compounds were active,61 demonstrated antitubercular activities with IC_(50) range of 0.2-50μg/mL and 46 manifested antimalarial effects with IC_(50) range of 0.061-36μg/mL.While more than 2000 strains of edible mushrooms are identified,this review shows the paucity of research in these rich organisms featuring a vital culinary ingredient worldwide.A thorough search was conducted on basidiomycetes to discuss the chemistry and biology of the isolated compounds,structure activity relationships(SAR)as well as the cytotoxicity profiles of,primarily,the active anti-plasmodial and antitubercular molecules.With a safe cellular profile,lanostane triterpenoids were found to be the only molecules with combined activities against both diseases.SAR correlations reviewed here indicated the significance of 3β-and 7α-hydroxylation in the anti-tuberculosis activity and the terminal unsaturated moiety between C-4 and C-28 in the antimalarial activity in the same terpene skeleton.This review will attract the attention of medicinal chemists,and food scientists to optimize and rationalize the use of mushrooms both as unexploited sources of novel molecules and as nutraceuticals to treat two of the deadliest infectious diseases,malaria,and tuberculosis.

Metabolites Composition of Bacillus subtilis HussainT-AMU Determined by LC-MS and Their Effect on Fusarium Dry Rot of Potato Seed Tuber

Fusarium dry rot is considered to be the most critical soilborne and postharvest disease that damages potato tubers worldwide when they are stored for a long time.This study was performed to demonstrate the effect of crude extract,culture filtrate,and cell suspension obtained from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis Hussain T-AMU,on the net house and field.From oil-contaminated soil,through the serial dilution method,biosurfactant bacteria were isolated on nutrient agar medium.To isolate and screen the prospective biosurfactant strain,various biosurfactant screening methods were used.Standard protocols were carried out for morphological,molecular,and chemical characterization.The disease incidences were significantly decreased under net house and field conditions after treatment with biosurfactant extract(20%,70%),culture filtrate(23%,49%),and bacterial cell suspension(46%,27%),respectively.These results indicate a significant effect of B.subtilis HussainT-AMU against Fusarium oxysporum.The characterization of the partially purified extract by gas-chromatography indicated the existence of a high amount of methyl ester fatty acids.The quantitative analysis determined the presence of lipopeptide-surfactin,fengycin,and iturin in the biosurfactant extract.Scanning electron microscopy revealed that morphological variation was revealed in the structure of stomata size in leaves and in the mycelia of the pathogen that was investigated.This promising biocontrol agent can be a plausible option for further research and can also be used for the production of green biomolecules at an additional industrial level.

The Impact of Inoculum Preparation Media on Pollutant Removal through Phycoremediation of Agricultural Drainage Water by Desmodesmus sp.

Water is the most essential natural resource for the future development.Agriculture production is extensively water-dependent and a significant polluter of water resources.So,this work investigated the effect of two different preparation media[Bold’s Basal Medium(BBM)and Domiati cheese whey(DCW)]for agricultural drainage water(ADW)remediation.All treatments were incubated for 6 days.According to the results of biomass productivity,specific growth rate,photosynthetic pigments,and biochemical composition,Desmodesmus sp.can grow in drainage water without dilution.The two treatments significantly reduced the concentration of nitrate,phosphate,chemical oxygen demand,and sodium in ADW.Finally,using cheese whey with BBM as inoculum preparation media enhanced the lipid accumulation in the algal biomass(25.4%w/w)and gave the best biodiesel properties among treatments.Therefore,combining remediation of drainage water with microalgae mass production can achieve the sustainability of agriculture.

Al-Biruni Based Optimization of Rainfall Forecasting in Ethiopia

Rainfall plays a significant role in managing the water level in the reser-voir.The unpredictable amount of rainfall due to the climate change can cause either overflow or dry in the reservoir.Many individuals,especially those in the agricultural sector,rely on rain forecasts.Forecasting rainfall is challenging because of the changing nature of the weather.The area of Jimma in southwest Oromia,Ethiopia is the subject of this research,which aims to develop a rainfall forecasting model.To estimate Jimma's daily rainfall,we propose a novel approach based on optimizing the parameters of long short-term memory(LSTM)using Al-Biruni earth radius(BER)optimization algorithm for boosting the fore-casting accuracy.N ash-Sutcliffe model eficiency(NSE),mean square error(MSE),root MSE(RMSE),mean absolute error(MAE),and R2 were all used in the conducted experiments to assess the proposed approach,with final scores of(0.61),(430.81),(19.12),and(11.09),respectively.Moreover,we compared the proposed model to current machine-learning regression models;such as non-optimized LSTM,bidirectional LSTM(BiLSTM),gated recurrent unit(GRU),and convolutional LSTM(ConvLSTM).It was found that the proposed approach achieved the lowest RMSE of(19.12).In addition,the experimental results show that the proposed model has R-with a value outperforming the other models,which confirms the superiority of the proposed approach.On the other hand,a statistical analysis is performed to measure the significance and stability of the proposed approach and the recorded results proved the expected perfomance.

Robust Malicious Executable Detection Using Host-Based Machine Learning Classifier

The continuous development of cyberattacks is threatening digital transformation endeavors worldwide and leadsto wide losses for various organizations. These dangers have proven that signature-based approaches are insufficientto prevent emerging and polymorphic attacks. Therefore, this paper is proposing a Robust Malicious ExecutableDetection (RMED) using Host-based Machine Learning Classifier to discover malicious Portable Executable (PE)files in hosts using Windows operating systems through collecting PE headers and applying machine learningmechanisms to detect unknown infected files. The authors have collected a novel reliable dataset containing 116,031benign files and 179,071 malware samples from diverse sources to ensure the efficiency of RMED approach.The most effective PE headers that can highly differentiate between benign and malware files were selected totrain the model on 15 PE features to speed up the classification process and achieve real-time detection formalicious executables. The evaluation results showed that RMED succeeded in shrinking the classification timeto 91 milliseconds for each file while reaching an accuracy of 98.42% with a false positive rate equal to 1.58. Inconclusion, this paper contributes to the field of cybersecurity by presenting a comprehensive framework thatleverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to proactively detect and prevent cyber-attacks.

Erosion control of Chinese loess using polymer SH and ryegrass

The China Loess Plateau is subjected to severe soil erosion triggered by intense rainfall,resulting in significant harm and losses to both human society and the natural surroundings.In this study,a novel technique for managing loess erosion is introduced,which involves the utilization of a combined polymer SH and ryegrass.A comprehensive series of tests were undertaken,including rainfall erosion tests,disintegration experiments,and scanning electron microscopy examinations,to assess the accumulative sediment yield(ASY),disintegration ratio,and microstructural features of both untreated and treated loess samples.The results showed a significant reduction in ASY with increased dry density of untreated loess.Furthermore,the combined technique effectively controlled erosion,limiting ASY to 266.2 g/cm^(2)in 60 minutes.This was approximately one-sixth,one-ninth,and one-fifteenth of the ASY in SH-treated loess(L-SH),ryegrass-treated loess(L-R),and untreated loess,respectively.It resisted disintegration better than ryegrass alone but slightly less than SH.This improvement was due to the combined effect of SH and ryegrass,which reduced raindrop impact,improved loess microstructure,and boosted ryegrass growth.The innovative technique holds the potential to be applied as a field-scale technique in the Loess Plateau region of China.

Exact solutions for magnetohydrodynamic nanofluids flow and heat transfer over a permeable axisymmetric radially stretching/shrinking sheet

We report on the magnetohydrodynamic impact on the axisymmetric flow of Al_(2)O_(3)/Cu nanoparticles suspended in H_(2)O past a stretched/shrinked sheet.With the use of partial differential equations and the corresponding thermophysical characteristics of nanoparticles,the physical flow process is illustrated.The resultant nonlinear system of partial differential equations is converted into a system of ordinary differential equations using the suitable similarity transformations.The transformed differential equations are solved analytically.Impacts of the magnetic parameter,solid volume fraction and stretching/shrinking parameter on momentum and temperature distribution have been analyzed and interpreted graphically.The skin friction and Nusselt number were also evaluated.In addition,existence of dual solution was deduced for the shrinking sheet and unique solution for the stretching one.Further,Al_(2)O_(3)/H_(2)O nanofluid flow has better thermal conductivity on comparing with Cu/H_(2)O nanofluid.Furthermore,it was found that the first solutions of the stream are stable and physically realizable,whereas those of the second ones are unstable.

Beyond p-y method:A review of artificial intelligence approaches for predicting lateral capacity of drilled shafts in clayey soils

In 2023,pivotal advancements in artificial intelligence(AI)have significantly experienced.With that in mind,traditional methodologies,notably the p-y approach,have struggled to accurately model the complex,nonlinear soil-structure interactions of laterally loaded large-diameter drilled shafts.This study undertakes a rigorous evaluation of machine learning(ML)and deep learning(DL)techniques,offering a comprehensive review of their application in addressing this geotechnical challenge.A thorough review and comparative analysis have been carried out to investigate various AI models such as artificial neural networks(ANNs),relevance vector machines(RVMs),and least squares support vector machines(LSSVMs).It was found that despite ML approaches outperforming classic methods in predicting the lateral behavior of piles,their‘black box'nature and reliance only on a data-driven approach made their results showcase statistical robustness rather than clear geotechnical insights,a fact underscored by the mathematical equations derived from these studies.Furthermore,the research identified a gap in the availability of drilled shaft datasets,limiting the extendibility of current findings to large-diameter piles.An extensive dataset,compiled from a series of lateral loading tests on free-head drilled shaft with varying properties and geometries,was introduced to bridge this gap.The paper concluded with a direction for future research,proposes the integration of physics-informed neural networks(PINNs),combining data-driven models with fundamental geotechnical principles to improve both the interpretability and predictive accuracy of AI applications in geotechnical engineering,marking a novel contribution to the field.

Effects of friction stir processing and nano-hydroxyapatite on the microstructure,hardness,degradation rate and in-vitro bioactivity of WE43 alloy for biomedical applications

Nowadays,magnesium alloys are emerging in biomedical implants for their similar properties to natural bones.However,the rapid degradation of magnesium alloys in biological media hinders successful implantation.Refinement of microstructure,as well as reinforcement particles can significantly improve the degradation rate.In this work,multi-pass friction stir processing(FSP)was proposed to synthesize WE43/nano-hydroxyapatite(n HA)surface composite,the microstructure,reinforced particle distribution,micro-hardness,corrosion behavior and in-vitro bioactivity were studied.The subsequent FSP passes of WE43 alloy and WE43/n HA composite refined the grain size which was reduced by 94.29%and 95.92%(2.63 and 1.88μm,respectively)compared to base metal after three passes.This resulted in increasing the microhardness by 120%(90.86 HV0.1)and 135%(105.59 HV0.1)for the WE43 and WE43-n HA,respectively.It is found that increasing FSP passes improved the uniform distribution of n HA particles within the composite matrix which led to improved corrosion resistance and less degradation rate.The corrosion rate of the FSPed WE43/n HA composite after three passes was reduced by 38.2%(4.13 mm/year)and the degradation rate was reduced by 69.7%(2.87 mm/y).This is attributed to secondary phase(Mg24Y5and Mg41Nd5)particle fragmentation and redistribution,as well as a homogeneous distribution of n HA.Additionally,the growing Ca-P and Mg(OH)2layer formed on the surface represented a protective layer that reduced the degradation rate.The wettability test revealed a relatively hydrophilic surface with water contact angle of 49.1±2.2°compared to 71.2±2.1°for base metal.Also,biomineralization test showed that apatite layer grew after immersion 7d in simulated body fluid with atomic ratio of Ca/P 1.60 approaching the stoichiometric ratio(1.67)indicating superior bioactivity of FSPed WE43/n HA composite after three passes.These results raise that the grain refinement by FSP and introduction of n HA particles significantly improved the degradation rate and in-vitro bioactivity of WE43 alloy for biomedical applications.

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors: Who, When & How? Guidance for Use from a Multidisciplinary Practical Approach

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2 inhibitors) have transformed diabetes management by targeting renal glucose reabsorption. Designed initially as antidiabetic agents, their ability to lower blood glucose levels independently of insulin is well-documented. Beyond glycemic control, emerging research has unveiled their profound cardiorenal benefits. By inhibiting SGLT-2 protein, these drugs enhance glucose excretion in urine, reducing blood glucose levels. This mechanism has translated into significant cardiovascular and renal protection, establishing SGLT-2 inhibitors as pivotal in managing not only diabetes but also cardiovascular and renal diseases. Recent studies have illuminated the broader therapeutic potential of SGLT-2 inhibitors beyond diabetes. Evidence indicates their efficacy in managing heart failure, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and cardiovascular complications in individuals with or without diabetes. This expanded therapeutic landscape has catalyzed a paradigm shift in SGLT-2 inhibitor use, positioning them as key agents in the cardiorenal metabolic continuum. Moreover, their role in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events and slowing CKD progression in T2DM patients has garnered considerable attention. This consensus-based review aims to offer practical guidance in an algorithmic approach to primary care healthcare professionals to optimize SGLT-2 inhibitors utilization and maximize their benefits. The review seeks to empower clinicians to effectively manage patients who may benefit from SGLT-2 inhibitor therapy by addressing common initiation barriers and optimizing treatment strategies. Additionally, it aims to raise awareness among primary care physicians regarding the multifaceted benefits of these medications and overcome clinical inertia in their adoption into routine clinical practice.

Assessment of Radiological Hazards of Sedimentary, Igneous and Sediments Natural Rocks

Gamma-ray spectroscopy based on a 100% efficiency hyper-pure germanium detector was used to evaluate the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K natural radionuclides in sedimentary, conglomerate, igneous and sedi-ments rock samples collected from four different locations in Eastern desert in Egypt. The obtained activity concentrations are used to evaluate the radi-ological hazards indices, absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent in air, radium equivalent, external and internal hazard index, radiation level index, annual gonadal dose equivalent, excess lifetime cancer risk and expo-sure rate. The results show that 1) the absorbed dose rate depends on the rock type, 2) the annual effective dose equivalent in air in 71% of sample below 20 mSvy-1 (permissible limit for workers), 3) the conglomerate rocks show low radioactivity level, 4) sedimentary rocks are rich in radium while igneous rocks are rich in thorium and the sediments rocks are rich in both radium and thorium.

Challenges related to clinical decision-making in hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence post-liver transplantation: Is there a hope?

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is a common liver malignancy and represents a serious cause of cancer-related mortality and morbidity.One of the favourable curative surgical therapeutic options for HCC is liver transplantation(LT)in selected patients fulfilling the known standard Milan/University of California San Francisco criteria which have shown better outcomes and longer-term survival.Despite careful adherence to the strict HCC selection criteria for LT in different transplant centres,the recurrence rate still occurs which could negatively affect HCC patients’survival.Hence HCC recurrence post-LT could predict patients’survival and prognosis,depending on the exact timing of recurrence after LT(early or late),and whether intra/extrahepatic HCC recurrence.Several factors may aid in such a complication,particularly tumour-related criteria including larger sizes,higher grades or poor tumour differentiation,microvascular invasion,and elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein.Therefore,managing such cases is challenging,different therapeutic options have been proposed,including curative surgical and ablative treatments that have shown better outcomes,compared to the palliative locoregional and systemic therapies,which may be helpful in those with unresectable tumour burden.To handle all these issues in our review.

Effect of Single- versus Double-Layer Uterine Closure during Caesarean Section on Niche Formation and Menstrual Irregularity

Background: The myometrium at the location of the CS (caesarean section) scars, also known as residual myometrium thickness (RMT), is larger after a double-layer uterine closure procedure than following a single-layer one. It may lessen the formation of a niche that is the myometrium’s disruption at the location of the scar of the uterus. Gynecological manifestations, obstetric problems in a future pregnancy and birth, and maybe subfertility are linked to thin RMT and a niche. Objective: To ascertain if double-layer unlocked closure of the uterus is better than single-layer one in terms of post-menstrual spotting and niche development following a first CS. Patients and Methods: In this randomized clinical study, 287 patients were evaluated for qualifying. Of all eligible individuals, 57 patients were excluded from the study based on the inclusion criteria. Results: The variation in ages, gestational age, body mass index (BMI), and cesarean section indications between the two assigned groups is statistically insignificant. However, postmenstrual spotting was statistically significantly more common in single-layer group compared to in double-group. The current study revealed ultrasound findings suggestive of niche formation was statistically significantly more common in single-layer group compared to in double-layer group. Conclusion: As evident from the current study, it demonstrates the advantages of double-layer unlocked closure of the uterus over single-layer one in terms of post-menstrual spotting and niche development following first-time cs. Thus, we deduced that fewer niches are formed, and fewer menstrual spotting occurs in the presence of double unlocked layers closure. To ascertain the impact of uterus closure method on post-operative niche development and the risk of obstetrics and gynaecological problems, further prospective trials with extended follow-up periods are required.

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells ameliorate sodium nitrite-induced hypoxic brain injury in a rat model

Sodium nitrite（Na NO2） is an inorganic salt used broadly in chemical industry. Na NO2 is highly reactive with hemoglobin causing hypoxia. Mesenchymal stem cells（MSCs） are capable of differentiating into a variety of tissue specific cells and MSC therapy is a potential method for improving brain functions. This work aims to investigate the possible therapeutic role of bone marrow-derived MSCs against Na NO2 induced hypoxic brain injury. Rats were divided into control group（treated for 3 or 6 weeks）, hypoxic（HP） group（subcutaneous injection of 35 mg/kg Na NO2 for 3 weeks to induce hypoxic brain injury）, HP recovery groups N-2 w R and N-3 w R（treated with the same dose of Na NO2 for 2 and 3 weeks respectively, followed by 4-week or 3-week self-recovery respectively）, and MSCs treated groups N-2 w SC and N-3 w SC（treated with the same dose of Na NO2 for 2 and 3 weeks respectively, followed by one injection of 2 × 106 MSCs via the tail vein in combination with 4 week self-recovery or intravenous injection of Na NO2 for 1 week in combination with 3 week self-recovery）. The levels of neurotransmitters（norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin）, energy substances（adenosine monophosphate, adenosine diphosphate, adenosine triphosphate）, and oxidative stress markers（malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, glutathione reduced form, and oxidized glutathione） in the frontal cortex and midbrain were measured using high performance liquid chromatography. At the same time, hematoxylin-eosin staining was performed to observe the pathological change of the injured brain tissue. Compared with HP group, pathological change of brain tissue was milder, the levels of malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, oxidized glutathione, 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, norepinephrine, serotonin, glutathione reduced form, and adenosine triphosphate in the frontal cortex and midbrain were significantly decreased, and glutathione reduced form/oxidized glutathione and adenosine monophosphate/adenosine triphosphate ratio were significantly increased in the MSCs treated groups. These findings suggest that bone marrow-derived MSCs exhibit neuroprotective effects against Na NO2-induced hypoxic brain injury through exerting anti-oxidative effects and providing energy to the brain.

Exploring the role of molecular biomarkers as a potential weapon against gastric cancer: a review of the literature

Gastric cancer(GC) is a global health problem and a major cause of cancer-related death with high recurrence rates ranging from 25% to 40% for GC patients staging Ⅱ-Ⅳ. Unfortunately, while the majority of GC patients usually present with advanced tumor stage; there is still limited evidence-based therapeutic options. Current approach to GC management consists mainly of; endoscopy followed by, gastrectomy and chemotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy. Recent studies in GC have confirmed that it is a heterogeneous disease. Many molecular characterization studies have been performed in GC. Recent discoveries of the molecular pathways underlying the disease have opened the door to more personalized treatment and better predictable outcome. The identification of molecular markers is a useful tool for clinical managementin GC patients, assisting in diagnosis, evaluation of response to treatment and development of novel therapeutic modalities. While chemotherapeutic agents have certain physiological effects on the tumor cells, the prediction of the response is different from one type of tumor to the other. The specificity of molecular biomarkers is a principal feature driving their application in anticancer therapies. Here we are trying to focus on the role of molecular pathways of GC and well-established molecular markers that can guide the therapeutic management.

Possible ameliorative effect of breastfeeding and the uptake of human colostrum against coeliac disease in autistic rats

AIM: To examine the possible ameliorative effect of breastfeeding and the uptake of human colostrum against coeliac disease in autistic rats. METHODS: Female rats were fed a standard diet and received a single intraperitoneal injection of 600 mg/kg sodium valproate on day 12.5 after conception. In study 1, neonatal rats were randomly subjected to blood tests to investigate autism. In study 2, the 1st group was fed by the mother after an injection of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and administration of gliadin. The pups in the 2nd group were prevented from accessing maternal milk, injected IFN-γ, administered gliadin, and hand-fed human colostrum. The normal littermates fed by the table mothers were injected with physiological saline and served as normal controls in this study.RESULTS: The protein concentration was higher in group 2 than in group 1 in the duodenum (161.6 ± 9 and 135.4 ± 7 mg/g of tissue, respectively, P < 0.01). A significant increase (P < 0.001) in body weight was detected in human colostrum-treated pups on post natal day (PND) 7 and 21 vs suckling pups in group 1. A delay in eye opening was noticed in the treated rats in group 1 on PND 13 compared with the control group and group 2. Administration of a single intraperitoneal injection of 600 mg/kg sodium valproate on day 12.5 after conception resulted in significantly reduced calcium and vitamin D levels in study 1 compared with the control groups (P < 0.001). However, human colostrum uptake inhibited increases in the level of transglutaminase antibody in autistic pups with coeliac disease. CONCLUSION: The effects of early-life nutrition and human colostrum on the functional maturation of the duodenal villi in autistic rats with coeliac disease that might limit or prevent the coeliac risk with autism.