Assessment of circulating PPAR-γ Level as a risk and diagnostic biomarker in Acute Coronary Syndrome

متلازمة الشريان التاجي الحاد: هو مصطلح يشمل كلا من الذبحة الصدرية غير المستقرة واحتشاء عضلة القلب. وهو اضطراب يهدد الحياة ويظل مصدراً لارتفاع معدلات المراضة والوفيات على الرغم من التقدم في العلاج.... تقييم المخاطر باستخدام عوامل الخطر وعلامات المخاطر, واحد من علامات الخطر الناشئة هو ارتفاع مستوى تعميم -يتم عامل النسخ محتمل الهامة PPAR-γ .  تمثل هذه الدراسة محاولة لتقييم دور هذه التحليلات كمؤشر مرتبط بالمخاطر للأحداث القلبية الوعائية المستقبلية، وتقييم   PPRA-Yكمؤشر تشخيصي جديد محتمل لـمتلازمة الشريان التاجي. تم اخذ 80 مريض وتم تشخيصهم بمتلازمة الشريان التاجي ودراسة عامل النسخ المذكور انفا عليهم وتبين وجود صلة ذات اهميه مع متلازمة الشريان التاجي.Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a term that encompasses both unstable angina and myocardial infarction (MI) with or without ST-segment elevation. “It is a life-threatening disorder that remains a source of high morbidity and mortality despite advances in treatment. “Risk assessment done by using risk factors and risk markers. “One of the emerged risk markers is high circulating level of PPAR-γ (a potentially important transcription factor). “This study represents a try to evaluate the role of this analyte as a risk biomarker for future cardiovascular events, and evaluation of PPAR-γ as a possible diagnostic biomarker for MI. “It was a case –control study enrolled 160 subjects; 80 patients diagnosed as ACS patients by expert physicians. “An equivalent age and sex matched population without coronary disease with similar risk factors considered a control group. Serum levels of PPAR-γ were measured by using ELISA technique, cTpI was investigated by qualitative membrane- based immunoassay. “Independent sample t-test was used to compare means between two groups. “ANOVA were used to compare means between different groups, p value ≤ 0.05 is significant. “There were significant differences in mean serum levels of PPAR-γ, by patients and control. “There was a significant difference in PPAR- γ serum levels between positive and negative cTpI groups. “There was an insignificant difference in PPAR- γ level among different ECG finding groups. “Circulating level of PPAR- γ seems to be used as a risk biomarker for ACS, it is suggested that it could be used as a diagnostic biomarker for MI

Dirofilaria immitis infestation in imported police (K-9) dogs in Iraq:: clinicopathological and molecular investigations study

Dirofilaria immitis, the cause of heartworm infestation (HWI) or dirofilariasis, affects members of the Canidae and remains a worldwide clinical problem. In Iraq, dirofilariasis was believed absent until 2009, when the Karbala Governorate was reported as an endemic area for canine dirofilariasis. Consequently, this study intended to investigate the occurrence of Dirofilaria immitis in police dogs in one police academy in Iraq and to study the gross and histopathological changes in 5 dead dogs, as well as to identify the species of the causative parasite using PCR technique. Thirty-nine police dogs, aged between 6 months and 12 years were included in this study. For the microfilariae investigation, 5 ml blood samples were collected from all dogs in EDTA tubes and examined by Knott’s method. The systemic necropsy performed in five dead dogs showed severe clinical signs of dirofilariasis and tissue specimens were sent for routine histopathological processing. For the molecular analysis, adult worms of the detected Dirofilaria spp. were used for DNA extraction andamplification of the cox1 gene. Fifteen of 39 (38.46%) dogs were diagnosed with moderate to severe microfilariasis. The dead dogs revealed typical severe clinical signs of dirofilariasis. Moreover, typical gross and histopathological changes were also seen, accompanied by generalized thromboembolic lesions, suggesting the occurrence of the caval syndrome. The PCR investigation confirmed that D. immitis was the species present in Iraq. In conclusion, this study establishes that Iraq is a newly reported endemic area for dirofilariasis. Moreover, the infestation occurring in these cases most probably happened inside Iraq. The authors recommend doing further epidemiological studies concerning the occurrence of D. immitis in local dogs as well as in the imported dogs in all Iraqi governorates to better understand the epidemiological map of this disease and to introduce an active treatment and preventive program. Awareness and education regarding this disease should be provided to the veterinarians, dog guiders and people in direct contact with dogs, as this disease is one of the important zoonotic diseases.A Dirofilaria immitis, causadora da infestação pelo verme do coração (IVC) ou dirofilariose afeta os membros da família Canidae e ainda é um problema clínico mundial. Até o ano de 2009, acreditava-se que o Iraque fosse livre da dirofilariose, porém nessa ocasião a governadoria de Kerbala foi relatada como uma área endêmica de dirofilariose. Assim, o presente trabalho foi realizado para investigar a ocorrência da Dirofilaria immitis em cães policiais em uma academia de polícia do Iraque, estudar as alterações macroscópicas e histopatológicas em cinco cães mortos, bem como, identificar as espécies do parasita causador com o emprego da técnida de PCR. Trinta e nove cães policiais com 6 meses a 12 anos de idade foram incluídos no estudo. Amostras de sangue de cinco mililitros foram colhidas por animal, em tubos com EDTA e foram examinadas pelo método de Knott. A necropsia sistêmica foi realizada em cinco cães que haviamapresentado sinais clínicos severos de dirofilariose e espécimens dos seus tecidos foram enviados para o processamento histopatológico de rotina. Para a análise molecular dos vermes adultos de Dirofilaria spp, foi empregada a extração do DNA e a amplificação do gene cox1. Quinze de 39(38,46%) cães foram diagnosticados com uma microfilariase variável de moderada para severa. As alterações macroscópicas e histopatológicas foram acompanhadas por lesões generalizadas tromboembólicas sugestivas da ocorrência da síndrome da veia cava. A investigação de PCR confirmou que a D.immitis era a espécie presente no Iraque. A conclusão do estudo estabeleceu que o Iraque deve passar a ser considerado como uma nova área endêmica da dirofilariose. Além da infestação registrada nos casos descritos é provável que ela também esteja presente em outras regiões do Iraque. Os autores recomendam a realização de estudos epidemiológicos para investigar a ocorrência de D.immitis tanto nos cães locais bem como em cães importados em todas as governadorias do Iraque, para ser construído o mapa epidemiológico da distribuição da doença e implantadas as ações de tratamento e de um progrma preventivo. Ações de educação em saúde sobre a doença deverão ser dirigidas para os veterinários, tratadores de cães e para pessoas em geral que tenham contato com os cães, pois esta doença é uma importante zoonose

A successive optimization approach to pilot design for multi-cell massive MIMO systems

In this letter, we introduce a novel pilot design approach that minimizes the total mean square errors of the minimum mean square error estimators of all base stations (BSs) subject to the transmit power constraints of individual users in the network, while tackling the pilot contamination in multicell Massive MIMO systems. First, we decompose the original non-convex problem into distributed optimization sub-problems at individual BSs, where each BS can optimize its own pilot signals given the knowledge of pilot signals from the remaining BSs. We then introduce a successive optimization approach to transform each optimization sub-problem into a linear matrix inequality (LMI) form, which is convex and can be solved by available optimization packages. Simulation results confirm the fast convergence of the proposed approach and prevails a benchmark scheme in terms of providing higher accuracy