Prospective validation of microRNA signatures for detecting pancreatic malignant transformation in endoscopic-ultrasound guided fine-needle aspiration biopsies

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease. Novel biomarkers are required to aid treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are potentially ideal diagnostic biomarkers, as they are stable molecules, and tumour and tissue specific.Results: Logistic regression analysis revealed an endoscopic-ultrasound fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) 2-miRNA classifier (miR-21 + miR-155) capable of distinguishing benign from malignant pancreatic lesions with a sensitivity of 81.5% and a specificity of 85.7% (AUC 0.930). Validation FNA cohorts confirmed both miRNAs were overexpressed in malignant disease, while circulating miRNAs performed poorly.Methods: Fifty-five patients with a suspicious pancreatic lesion on cross-sectional imaging were evaluated by EUS-FNA. At echo-endoscopy, the first part of the FNA was sent for cytological assessment and the second part was used for total RNA extraction. Candidate miRNAs were selected after careful review of the literature and expression was quantified by qRT-PCR. Validation was performed on an independent cohort of EUS-FNAs, as well as formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) and plasma samples.Conclusions: We provide further evidence for using miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for pancreatic malignancy. We demonstrate the feasibility of using fresh EUS-FNAs to establish miRNA-based signatures unique to pancreatic malignant transformation and the potential to enhance risk stratification and selection for surgery

Are school zones effective in reducing speeds and improving safety?

This paper describes a study undertaken to assess the speed and safety effects of reducing speed limits from 50 to 30 km/h in school zones. Mean speeds and 85th percentile speeds were reduced by 12.2 and 11.6 km/h, respectively. Speed variation was also reduced, and the speed cumulative distributions shifted to the left, indicating further reductions for all speed ranges. The safety evaluation results revealed fatal/injury collisions were significantly reduced by 45.3% and injuries to vulnerable road users were reduced by 55.3%. In fact, for every 1 km/h reduction in mean speed, fatal/injury crashes were reduced by about 4%, which is consistent with findings from previous research. Neither spatial nor temporal collision migration/spillover effects were significant factors in the analysis. Consequently, the results of this study provide strong evidence that reducing speed limits to 30 km/h in school zones can bring significant safety benefits by reducing vehicular speeds and fatal/injury crashes.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

The SAFE study: Stress and fatigue control by exercise: Acute and long-term effects of aerobic exercise in lactating employed mothers

BACKGROUND: Stress and fatigue experienced by lactating employed mothers can affect mothers’ and babies’ mental and physical health detrimentally. Aerobic exercise is known to control stress and fatigue, but the dosages of the exercises needed to maintain long-term effects are still under investigation. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the acute and long-term effects of aerobic exercise on controlling stress and fatigue in lactating, employed mothers. METHODS: This randomized control study involved sixty lactating, employed mothers suffering from stress and fatigue. They were divided into two groups: Group A received five sessions of 30-minute aerobic training on a treadmill per week, in addition to lifestyle modification advice for six weeks. Group B received the same lifestyle routine advice for the same duration without being trained. Assessments of stress and fatigue levels were done before, after 6 weeks, and after 6 months from the baseline assessments using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), respectively. RESULTS: Post-six-week comparisons within and between both groups showed a significant decline in PSS-10 and FAS in group A compared with group B (p  0.05). CONCLUSION: Aerobic exercises for 6 weeks can induce an acute but not long-term effect on stress and fatigue control in lactating-employed mothers. Future research is needed to tailor the exercise prescription needed to maintain training’s long-term benefits

C-banding Karyotype and Relationship of the Dipodids Allactaga and Jaculus (Mammalia: Rodentia) in Egypt

The C-banding karyotype of the jerboas Allactaga tetradactyla, Jaculus jaculus jaculus, and Jaculus orientalis was described and interspecific relationships were discussed. Despite the conservation of a relatively small amount of C-heterochromatin located at the centromeric region of some chromosomes in all karyotypes, a striking loss of C-heterochromatin was clearly observed in J. orientalis. C-bands were totally absent in 33 of the 48 chromosomes of J. orientalis, compared to only 7 for J. j. jaculus and 11 for A. tetradactyla. The differences in C-banding amongst karyotypes of the three species were attributed either to transformation of heterochromatin into euchromatin or vice versa, deletion of heterochromatic segments resulting from pericentric inversions, or to variation of euchromatin content and its correlation with the chromosome size and arrangement of heterochromatin. The present findings are consistent with the main hypotheses derived from morphological, chromosomal, and biochemical data that the genera Allactaga and Jaculus have independently developed from a common ancestral form and that J. jaculus and J. orientalis are both distinct congeneric species, but revealed that the C-banding karyotypes of both J. j. jaculus and J. orientalis are distantly related to each other. Therefore, it is concluded that the karyotype of J. j. jaculus may be ancestral and that of J. orientalis may have derived from it