Albumin as a prognostic marker for ulcerative colitis

AIM To evaluate the role of albumin at the time of ulcerative colitis(UC) diagnosis in predicting the clinical course of disease.METHODS Nationwide cohort of patients with newly diagnosed UC in the Veterans Affairs health care system was identified and divided into two categories: hypoalbuminemia(i.e.,≤ 3.5 gm/dl) or normal albumin levels(i.e.,> 3.5 gm/dl) at the time of UC diagnosis. The exposure of interest was presence of hypoalbuminemia defined asalbumin level ≤ 3.5 g/dl at the time of UC diagnosis. Patients were then followed over time to identify the use of ≥ 2 courses of corticosteroids(CS),thiopurines,anti-TNF medications and requirement of colectomy for UC management. RESULTS The eligible study cohort included 802 patients,but 92(11.4%) patients did not have their albumin levels checked at the time of UC diagnosis,and they were excluded. A total of 710 patients,who had albumin levels checked at time of UC diagnosis,were included in our study. Amongst them,536 patients had a normal albumin level and 174 patients had hypoalbuminemia. Patients with hypoalbuminemia at diagnosis had a higher likelihood of ≥ 2 courses of CS use(adjusted HR = 1.7,95%CI: 1.3-2.3),higher likelihood of thiopurine or anti-TNF use(adjusted HR = 1.72,95%CI: 1.23-2.40) than patients with normal albumin level at diagnosis. There was a trend of higher likelihood of colectomy in hypoalbuminemic patients,but it was not statistically significant(Adjusted HR = 1.7,95%CI: 0.90-3.25).CONCLUSION Hypoalbuminemia at disease diagnosis can serve as a prognostic marker to predict the clinical course of UC at the time of diagnosis.

Generalized Model of Blood Flow in a Vertical Tube with Suspension of Gold Nanomaterials: Applications in the Cancer Therapy

Gold metallic nanoparticles are generally used within a lab as a tracer,to uncover on the presence of specific proteins or DNA in a sample,as well as for the recognition of various antibiotics.They are bio companionable and have properties to carry thermal energy to tumor cells by utilizing different clinical approaches.As the cancer cells are very smaller so for the infiltration,the properly sized nanoparticles have been injected in the blood.For this reason,gold nanoparticles are very effective.Keeping in mind the above applications,in the present work a generalized model of blood flow containing gold nanoparticles is considered in this work.The blood motion is considered in a cylindrical tube under the oscillating pressure gradient and magnetic field.The problem formulation is done using two types of fractional approaches namely CF(Caputo Fabrizio)and AB(Atangana-Baleanue)derivatives,whereas blood is considered as a counter-example of Casson fluid.Exact solutions of the problem are obtained using joint Laplace and Hankel transforms,and a comparative analysis is made between CF and AB.Results are computed in tables and shown in various plots for embedded parameters and discussed.It is found that adding 0.04-unit gold nanoparticles to blood,increase its heat transfer rate by 4 percent compared to regular blood.It is also noted that the heat transfer can be enhanced in the blood with memory.