Lung cancer: risk factors, management, and prognosis

Lung cancer or lung tumor the most common cause of cancer death in men and second most common in women after breast cancer. Highest rates in North America, Europe, and East Asia, with one third of new cases in China, lower rates in Africa and South Asia. Worldwide in 2012 lung cancer resulted in 1.6 million deaths. Risk factors include smoking, exposure to radon gas, asbestos, second-hand smoke, air pollution, and geneticfactors. Pathogenesis is similar to other cancers, by activation of oncogenes or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. Two main types of lung cancer are small-cell lung carcinoma(SCLC),and non-small-cell lung carcinoma(NSCLC) Clinical manifestation include coughing, coughing blood, weight loss, weakness, fever or clubbing of the fingernails, hypercalcemia, myasthenia syndrome (muscle weakness), and metastases. Metastatic disease includes weight loss, bone pain and neurological symptoms. Diagnosis mainly by chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans. Lung cancers are classified according to histological type, staging uses TNM (tumor, lymph node and metastases) system. Management depends on cancer specific type, by surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In the U.S 16.8% survive for at least five years, in England overall five year survival less than 10%.Prevention, cessation of smoking, screening for lung cancer for those long smoking history and between 55 and 80 years. Long term intake of vitamin A,vitamin vitamin D, or vitamin E does not reduce risk of lung cancer. Higher intake of vegetables and fruit tend to lower risk. There is no clear association between diet and lung cancer

Liver cancer: contributory factors, diagnosis and treatment

Liver cancer have high mortality secondary to hepatitis B,hepatitis C and secondary to alcohol.Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),most common form of liver cancer with highest rates in China and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 75% of all primary liver cancer is HCC (also named hepatoma). Cholangiocarcinoma can form within liver as the bile duct.Liver fluke infection increases the risk of cholangiocarcinoma in Thailand.Tumor of blood vessels-angiosarcoma.Cancers produced from muscles in the liver are leiomyosarcoma.Many cancers in the liver are due to metastasis. Contributory factors of liver cancer includes: viral infection either with hepatitis C (HCV) or hepatitis B (HBV). Viruses cause HCC because massive inflammation, fibrosis and eventual cirrhosis within the liver. Aflatoxin exposure can lead to the development of HCC. High grade dysplastic nodules are precancerous lesions of the liver. Beckwith-Weidemann syndrome is associated with hepatoblastoma in children. Liver cancer is associated with abdominal mass, abdominal pain, emesis, anemia, back pain, jaundice, itching, weight loss and fever. Diagnosis mainly by ultrasound, CT, MRI, and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). Tests for tumor markers are helpful. Treatment by surgery, antiviral drugs and liver transplant. Prevention by reducing exposure to risk factor for liver cancer, vaccination against hepatitis B virus, reducing alcohol abuse,prevention of carcinogenesis and treatment to prevent recurrence of liver cancer, by the chemotherapy drugs and antiviral drugs.With the advances in diagnosis and treatment the prognosis in liver cancer remains poor

Working Group Report: Heavy-Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma

This is the report of Heavy Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma at WHEPP-09 which was part of Working Group-4. Discussion and work on some aspects of Quark-Gluon Plasma believed to have created in heavy-ion collisions and in early universe are reported.Comment: 20 pages, 6 eps figures, Heavy-ion physics and QGP activity report in "IX Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-09)" held in Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India, during January 3-14, 2006. To be published in PRAMANA - Journal of Physics (Indian Academy of Science

Structural and Optical Properties of Diluted Magnetic Ga1−xMnxAs–AlAs Quantum Wells Grown on High-Index GaAs Planes

We report on the structural and optical properties of Ga₁₋ᵪ Mn ᵪ As-AlAs quantum wells (QWs) with χ=0.1% grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on semi-insulating GaAs substrates with orientations (100), (110), (311)B and (411)B. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques were used to investigate these QWs. AFM results have evidenced the formation of Mn-induced islands, which are randomly distributed on the surface. These islands tend to segregate for samples grown on (110) and (411)B planes, while no clear segregation was observed for samples grown on (100) and (311)B orientations. Results show that the PL line width increases with Mn segregation. XRD measurements were used to determine 2θ,d and cell parameters

The Effect of chitosan on microbial, chemical and sensory traitsof minced meat

Chitosan is a naturally obtained biopolymer and has many applications in the food industry. The effect of chitosan (1% and 3%) added individually to meat on microbiological profile represented by aerobic plate count (APC), Psychrotrophic, mold and yeast counts; chemical (pH, TVB-N & TBA) and sensory traits (color, odor, appearance and consistency) was studied. Thus, the minced meat samples were divided into 3 groups. The first group was prepared as control (Untreated group) and the other two groups were treated with chitosan at ratio of 1% and 3%. The results indicated that chitosan either 1% or 3% had great destructive effect in all tested microbial groups as compared with control group. From chemical point of view, such concentrations of chitosan improved the chemical quality indices of minced meat. Organoleptically, the control samples were decomposed after the 4th day, while the using of chitosan particularly at 3% extended the shelf life of the experimented minced meat till the 9th day. Finally, it can be concluded that chitosan had great effect on the quality and prolong the shelf life of minced meat as it improves the microbiological and chemical as well as sensory characteristics of minced mea

Gastrointestinal Basidiobolomycosis Mimicking Colon Cancer in a Sudanese Patient

Basidiobolomycosisis a rare disease caused by the fungus Basidiobolus ranarum. The incidence Rate of Gastrointestinal Basidiobolomycosis is approximately 1 in 45,333,334 or 0.00% in every 5 people in USA), member of the class Zygomycetes found worldwide (1).Basidiobolomycosis is usually a subcutaneous infection but rarely gastrointestinal1. This fungus is found mainly in the soil and on decaying vegetations2. It has been isolated from the banks of tropical rivers in West Africa, and has also been found in association with some insects2. The fungus is known to be present in the gastrointestinal tracts of reptiles, amphibians, and some bat species3. Definitive diagnosis requires culture and serological testing may be helpful. The fungal morphology and the Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon are characteristic histological features. Basidiobolomycosis is treated with surgical resection and itracanzole 200mg BD for three months or Amphotericin B 5mg /kg iv/24 hrs4.Keywords: Zygomycetes, vegetations, subcutaneous infection.

Characterizing the morbid genome of ciliopathies

Background Ciliopathies are clinically diverse disorders of the primary cilium. Remarkable progress has been made in understanding the molecular basis of these genetically heterogeneous conditions; however, our knowledge of their morbid genome, pleiotropy, and variable expressivity remains incomplete. Results We applied genomic approaches on a large patient cohort of 371 affected individuals from 265 families, with phenotypes that span the entire ciliopathy spectrum. Likely causal mutations in previously described ciliopathy genes were identified in 85% (225/265) of the families, adding 32 novel alleles. Consistent with a fully penetrant model for these genes, we found no significant difference in their “mutation load” beyond the causal variants between our ciliopathy cohort and a control non-ciliopathy cohort. Genomic analysis of our cohort further identified mutations in a novel morbid gene TXNDC15, encoding a thiol isomerase, based on independent loss of function mutations in individuals with a consistent ciliopathy phenotype (Meckel-Gruber syndrome) and a functional effect of its deficiency on ciliary signaling. Our study also highlighted seven novel candidate genes (TRAPPC3, EXOC3L2, FAM98C, C17orf61, LRRCC1, NEK4, and CELSR2) some of which have established links to ciliogenesis. Finally, we show that the morbid genome of ciliopathies encompasses many founder mutations, the combined carrier frequency of which accounts for a high disease burden in the study population. Conclusions Our study increases our understanding of the morbid genome of ciliopathies. We also provide the strongest evidence, to date, in support of the classical Mendelian inheritance of Bardet-Biedl syndrome and other ciliopathies

Numerical study of radiative Maxwell viscoelastic magnetized flow from a stretching permeable sheet with the Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model

In this article, the Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model is implemented to study non-Fourier heat and mass transfer in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of an upper convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid over a permeable stretching sheet under a transverse constant magnetic field. Thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects are also considered. The nonlinear partial differential conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy and species conservation are transformed with appropriate similarity variables into a system of coupled, highly nonlinear ordinary differential equations with appropriate boundary conditions. Numerical solutions have been presented for the influence of elasticity parameter (), magnetic parameter (M2), suction/injection parameter (λ), Prandtl number (Pr), conduction-radiation parameter (Rd), sheet stretching parameter (A), Schmidt number (Sc), chemical reaction parameter (γ_c), modified Deborah number with respect to relaxation time of heat flux (i.e. non-Fourier Deborah number) on velocity components, temperature and concentration profiles using the successive Taylor series linearization method (STSLM) utilizing Chebyshev interpolating polynomials and Gauss-Lobatto collocation. The effects of selected parameters on skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are also presented with the help of tables. Verification of the STSLM solutions is achieved with existing published results demonstrating close agreement. Further validation of skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number values computed with STSLM is included using Mathematica software shooting quadrature

Animal welfare in studies on murine tuberculosis : assessing progress over a 12-year period and the need for further improvement

There is growing concern over the welfare of animals used in research, in particular when these animals develop pathology. The present study aims to identify the main sources of animal distress and to assess the possible implementation of refinement measures in experimental infection research, using mouse models of tuberculosis (TB) as a case study. This choice is based on the historical relevance of mouse studies in understanding the disease and the present and long-standing impact of TB on a global scale. Literature published between 1997 and 2009 was analysed, focusing on the welfare impact on the animals used and the implementation of refinement measures to reduce this impact. In this 12-year period, we observed a rise in reports of ethical approval of experiments. The proportion of studies classified into the most severe category did however not change significantly over the studied period. Information on important research parameters, such as method for euthanasia or sex of the animals, were absent in a substantial number of papers. Overall, this study shows that progress has been made in the application of humane endpoints in TB research, but that a considerable potential for improvement remains.Nuno H. Franco is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/38337/2007). This work is funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under the project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022718 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0002/2011