TRA-1-60-positive/CD45low cells found in the peripheral blood of prostate cancer patients with metastatic disease – A proof-of-concept study

Purpose Over 90% of all cancer related deaths are due to metastasis. However, current diagnostic tools can\u27t reliably discriminate between invasive and localized cancers. Patients and methods In this proof-of-concept study, we employed the embryonic stem cell marker TRA-1-60 (TRA+) to identify TRA + cells within the blood of prostate cancer patients and searched for TRA + cells in men with metastatic and localized cancers. We isolated whole peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 26 metastatic prostate cancer patients, from 13 patients with localized prostate cancer and from 17 healthy controls. Cells were stained for DAPI, CD45 and TRA + by immunofluorescence and imaged by epi-fluorescence microscopy. Imaged-based software was used both to identify TRA + cells, and to analyze CD45 levels in TRA+ and negative cells. Results We found high numbers of TRA + cells within the blood of metastatic cancer patients, whereas healthy individuals or men with localized prostate cancer showed none or very low numbers of TRA + cells. Further analysis of the CD45 levels of TRA + cells revealed a small population of TRA + cells with almost undetectable CD45 levels that were found frequently in metastatic prostate cancer patients. By excluding CD45 positive cells from the TRA + cell pool, we were able to refine the assay to be highly specific in identifying men with metastatic disease. In fact, the difference of CD45 levels between TRA+ and negative cells was a robust measure to distinguish between men with localized and metastatic prostate cancers in this small patient cohort. Conclusions The data suggest that metastatic prostate cancer patient have significant numbers of TRA+/CD45low cells which might represent a potential tool for diagnostic assessment in the future

Post-stroke patients’ rehabilitation exercise assessment from Vicon-based skeletal angle displacement using Convolutional Neural Network

Stroke is one of the leading causes of neurological disorders, and around 1 million people suffer from stroke in the United States. Two-thirds of these individuals survive and requires rehabilitation exercise in their daily life to improve their quality of life. Automatically assessing these performed rehabilitation movements is inherent to improving post-stroke patients\u27 overall physical condition. With the recent growth in computer vision research, people are using motion capture systems to perform physical exercises, workouts, and training at their preferred place, as these systems occupy less space but provide flexibility to the users. This work assesses post-stroke patient rehabilitation movement from full-body skeletal joint displacement data sensed through vision-based Vicon sensors for ten exercises. We take advantage of transfer learning to strike the right balance between computation and performance. We propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) and train it using 117-dimensional skeletal angle displacement data from Vicon. This pre-trained convolutional neural network is fine-tuned for each post-stroke exercise movement. We use the publicly available rehabilitation exercise dataset to showcase the effectiveness and efficacy of our proposed simple CNN model. Our pretrained CNN model outperforms existing state-of-the-art complex Spatio Temporal Convolutional NN and achieves an average of 0.005795 MAD and 0.00786944 RMS error

Motor Imagery Detection Toward Non-Invasive Brainwave Based Typing

Electroencephalography (EEG) signals can be captured non-invasively with the help of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). These EEG signals contain many essential information that can serve a great purpose when used correctly. By the appropriate interpretation of this EEG signal, we can provide people with limited ability to perform certain actions which they are unable to do due to their current condition. Paralyzed and semi-paralyzed people who are often found struggling to express themselves due to their medical condition can greatly benefit from the application of EEG. Typing or writing a letter requires functional motor movement. If we can detect the motor imagery movement from the EEG signal and determine the intent of the subject who is unable to perform motor functions but is imagining them, we can apply it to determine what they are trying to express in typed textual format. However, extracting features from EEG signals is incredibly challenging as EEG is susceptible to noise. Due to the absence of any informative association between the signals and the activity of the brain detecting motor movements and classifying them is difficult. Deep neural networks are proficient in understanding complicated features and performing computation which is very demanding. In this paper, we utilize the potential of deep neural networks to develop a model which is able to identify the motor imagery movement from the EEG signal of a subject. We envision to use this motor imagery obtained from the non-invasive brainwave to move the cursor using user thought to write letters and form words

Physics-based trade-off curves to develop a control access product in set-based concurrent engineering environment

Purpose This paper aims to present a process to generate physics-based trade-off curves (ToCs) to facilitate lean product development processes by enabling two key activities of set-based concurrent engineering (SBCE) process model that are comparing alternative design solutions and narrowing down the design set. The developed process of generating physics-based ToCs has been demonstrated via an industrial case study which is a research project. Design/methodology/approach The adapted research approach for this paper consists of three phases: a review of the related literature, developing the process of generating physics-based ToCs in the concept of lean product development, implementing the developed process in an industrial case study for validation through the SBCE process model. Findings Findings of this application showed that physics-based ToC is an effective tool to enable SBCE activities, as well as to save time and provide the required knowledge environment for the designers to support their decision-making. Practical implications Authors expect that this paper will guide companies, which are implementing SBCE processes throughout their lean product development journey. Physics-based ToCs will facilitate accurate decision-making in comparing and narrowing down the design-set through the provision of the right knowledge environment. Originality/value SBCE is a useful approach to develop a new product. It is essential to provide the right knowledge environment in a quick and visual manner which has been addressed by demonstrating physics knowledge in ToCs. Therefore, a systematic process has been developed and presented in this paper. The research found that physics-based ToCs could help to identify different physics characteristics of the product in the form of design parameters and visualise in a single graph for all stakeholders to understand without a need for an extensive engineering background and for designers to make a decision faster

Histological Examination in Obtaining a Diagnosis in Patients with Lymphadenopathy in Lima, Peru.

The differential diagnosis for lymphadenopathy is wide and clinical presentations overlap, making obtaining an accurate diagnosis challenging. We sought to characterize the clinical and radiological characteristics, histological findings, and diagnoses for a cohort of patients with lymphadenopathy of unknown etiology. 121 Peruvian adults with lymphadenopathy underwent lymph node biopsy for microbiological and histopathological evaluation. Mean patient age was 41 years (Interquartile Range 26-52), 56% were males, and 39% were HIV positive. Patients reported fever (31%), weight loss (23%), and headache (22%); HIV infection was associated with fever (P < 0.05) and gastrointestinal symptoms (P < 0.05). Abnormalities were reported in 40% of chest X-rays (N = 101). Physicians suspected TB in 92 patients (76%), lymphoma in 19 patients (16%), and other malignancy in seven patients (5.8%). Histological diagnoses (N = 117) included tuberculosis (34%), hyperplasia (27%), lymphoma (13%), and nonlymphoma malignancy (14%). Hyperplasia was more common (P < 0.001) and lymphoma less common (P = 0.005) among HIV-positive than HIV-negative patients. There was a trend toward reduced frequency of caseous necrosis in samples from HIV-positive than HIV-negative TB patients (67 versus 93%, P = 0.055). The spectrum of diagnoses was broad, and clinical and radiological features correlated poorly with diagnosis. On the basis of clinical features, physicians over-diagnosed TB, and under-diagnosed malignancy. Although this may not be inappropriate in resource-limited settings where TB is the most frequent easily treatable cause of lymphadenopathy, diagnostic delays can be detrimental to patients with malignancy. It is important that patients with lymphadenopathy undergo a full diagnostic work-up including sampling for histological evaluation to obtain an accurate diagnosis

Relevance and perception of thermal comfort in the classroom learning process.

Este estudo tem como objetivo demonstrar a relev?ncia do conforto t?rmico e seu impacto sobre a aprendizagem segundo a percep??o dos estudantes na sala de aula. Como m?todo, realizou-se breve revis?o bibliogr?fica sobre o conforto t?rmico em edifica??es escolares. Em seguida, aplicou-se question?rio entre alunos de uma institui??o de ensino superior de Belo Horizonte nas salas de aula em dias das quatro esta??es do ano. O desconforto t?rmico, para 70% dos estudantes, prejudicou a atividade de estudo e a aten??o ao conte?do das aulas, causando impaci?ncia.This study aims to demonstrate the relevance of thermal comfort and its impact on learning according to students? perception in the classroom. As a method, a brief bibliographical review was carried out on thermal comfort in school buildings. Then, a questionnaire was applied among students of a higher education institution in Belo Horizonte in the classrooms on days of the four seasons. The thermal discomfort, for 70% of the students, impaired study activity and attention to the content of the classes, causing impatience

Functional and genomic characterization of ligilactobacillus salivarius TUCO-L2 isolated from lama glama milk: a promising immunobiotic strain to combat infections

Potential probiotic or immunobiotic effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from the milk of the South American camelid llama (Lama glama) have not been reported in published studies. The aim of the present work was to isolate beneficial LAB from llama milk that can be used as potential probiotics active against bacterial pathogens. LAB strains were isolated from llama milk samples. In vitro functional characterization of the strains was performed by evaluating the resistance against gastrointestinal conditions and inhibition of the pathogen growth. Additionally, the adhesive and immunomodulatory properties of the strains were assessed. The functional studies were complemented with a comparative genomic evaluation and in vivo studies in mice. Ligilactobacillus salivarius TUCO-L2 showed enhanced probiotic/immunobiotic potential compared to that of other tested strains. The TUCO-L2 strain was resistant to pH and high bile salt concentrations and demonstrated antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative intestinal pathogens and adhesion to mucins and epithelial cells. L. salivarius TUCO-L2 modulated the innate immune response triggered by Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 activation in intestinal epithelial cells. This effect involved differential regulation of the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines mediated by the modulation of the negative regulators of the TLR signaling pathway. Moreover, the TUCO-L2 strain enhanced the resistance of mice to Salmonella infection. This is the first report on the isolation and characterization of a potential probiotic/immunobiotic strain from llama milk. The in vitro, in vivo, and in silico investigation performed in this study reveals several research directions that are needed to characterize the TUCO-L2 strain in detail to position this strain as a probiotic or immunobiotic that can be used against infections in humans or animals, including llama.Fil: Quilodrán Vega, Sandra. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Albarracín, Leonardo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Mansilla, Flavia Ivana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Arce, Lorena Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Zhou, Binghui. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Islam, Md Aminul. Tohoku University; Japón. Bangladesh Agricultural University; BangladeshFil: Tomokiyo, Mikado. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Al Kassaa, Imad. Lebanese University. Faculty of Public Health; LíbanoFil: Suda, Yoshihito. Miyagi University; JapónFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; Japó

Therapeutic effect of hyperbaric oxygen in psoriasis vulgaris: two case reports and a review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Psoriasis is an inflammatory and immunological cutaneous disease. The high morbidity in patients with psoriasis results from severe clinical manifestations and/or adverse effects of treatment. The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society and Federal Medicare and Medicaid Services have approved the use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) for more than 15 indications, including wound healing, infections and late effects of radiation, which are largely unresponsive to conventional treatments. Accumulated data show that HBO₂ has anti-inflammatory effects and other positive influences on the immune system, making it a rational treatment in the management of psoriasis plaques and arthritis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the cases of two patients with long histories of psoriasis vulgarus who exhibited marked improvement with use of HBO_2. The first patient was 40 years old and had pustular psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. He was treated with six sessions of HBO₂ (at 2.8 atmospheres of pressure for 60 minutes), which successfully controlled his symptoms. At the 18-month post-treatment follow up, the patient exhibited complete remission of psoriasis and marked improvement in psoriatic arthritis without medication. The second patient was 55 years old with extensive psoriatic lesions, and exhibited marked improvement within 15 sessions of HBO₂. No adverse effects of HBO₂ were identified.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HBO₂ may possess potential therapeutic efficacy in the management of psoriasis. We outline the pathogenesis of psoriasis and the selective anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of HBO₂. We hope that this will provide a basis for elucidating the mechanisms of action and consequently pave the way for further controlled studies.</p