High Frequency of cagA and vacA s1a/m2 Genotype among Helicobacter pylori Infected Gastric Biopsies of Pakistani Children

The vacuolating cytotoxin VacA and cytotoxin associated gene product CagA, encoded by vacA and cagA are major virulence determinants associated with pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori. The presence and prevalence of two major H. pylori virulence associated genes among gastric biopsies of Pakistani children were investigated in the current study. Fifty one gastric biopsy specimens of children were analysed for 16S rRNA, vacA and cagA genes using PCR. The results showed that 21 (41.2%) biopsies were positive for H. pylori as determined by 16S rRNA PCR. In the 21 H. pylori positive gastric biopsies, 19 (90.5%) showed vacA s1a, 1 (4.75%) was vacA s1b and 1 (4.75%) was vacA s2 whereas, 5 (23.8%) were vacA m1 and 16 (76.2%) were vacA m2. None of the H. pylori positive biopsies carried vacA s1c subtype. The cagA gene was found in 13 (61.9%) of H. pylori infected biopsies and different vacA combinations were found with or without cagA gene. H. pylori was detected with high frequency of cagA while vacA s1a and vacA m2 regions with vacA s1a/m2 genotype were predominant in H. pylori infected gastric biopsies of children

Evaluation of Anomalous Coronary Arteries on 64 Slice Multidetector Computerized Tomographic Angiography

Introduction: Anomalous Coronary arteries is a well-known congenital entity with variable effects. The majority of such patients are asymptomatic but some can have adverse effects like ischemia and arrhythmia. Its association with Sudden Cardiac Death in young is established. Objective: To determine the frequency of   ACA on MDCT in patients referred for coronary artery disease assessment and to determine the origin, course, and morphological variable of SCD of ACA on MDCT. Materials and Methods: The study was done in the Department of Cardiovascular Imaging at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. A retrospective data of patients undergoing CTA for CAD between a  period of Jan 2009 and Dec 2017 were analyzed for the presence of  Anomalous Coronary Artery (ACA). All patients having anomalous origin from opposite coronary cusp and its course were included. The patients with myocardial bridging and coronary artery fistula were excluded. Results: Total patients analyzed with MDCT for CAD and graft assessment between Jan 2009 and December 2017 were 8028. Fifty-three patients were excluded because of poor image quality. Among these ACA were found in 166 (2.08%). Gender distributions were 126 (75.9%) males and 40 (24.09%) females, the mean age in years was 49.31 ± 13.23. The most common ACA was Right coronary artery 83 followed by Left Circumflex 44 (26.50%), Left Anterior Descending Artery 22 (13.25%), and Left Main Stem 17 (10.24%) respectively. Fifty-three (31.92%) patients had previously unknown ACA and were found to have ACA on MDCT and 82 (49.39%) patients were referred following ICA for the confirmation of ACA. The Inter-arterial course was predominant in RCA and Left Coronary Artery 97% and 77% respectively. A retro artic course was predominant (100%) in LCx. Seven patients had associated cyanotic heart disease with ACA. Two patients(one LAD and one RCA) had origin from the Main Pulmonary artery. Conclusion: MDCT is the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of ACA. It can identify the origin of ACA from opposite coronary cusp and defines the malignant course of ACA for the potential risk of sudden cardiac death

Spectroscopic studies of laser generated plasma X-rays and their effects on polymeric materials

Surface modification of polymers by X-rays produced from laser plasma can put a wide range of changes and are magnificently used in effectively all industries ranging from coatings, semiconductors, household appliances, automotive, and biomedical implants. Polymeric materials commonly have outstanding bulk physical and chemical properties. Different properties like electrical, chemical and physical properties can be modify when an extreme dose of X-rays is exposed on the surface of polymers. Currently X-rays are irradiated on the surface of two different polymers including polypropylene and polyethylene. These X-rays are detected with pin photodiode (BPX-65), generated from laser generated Cu plasma where Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm, 10 mJ) is focused on copper. Polymer surface is exposed to X-rays by different shots of laser which are varied from 100 to 400 with a gap of 100. Morphological structure has been studied by using optical microscopy and four point probes are used for studying the resistivity and conductivity. It has been observed that irradiation of X-rays from laser produced plasma produce changes in the bonding structure of polymers due to cross linking and chain-seasoning which are highly responsible for breakage or formation of a bond. A similar type of a result is deduced from four-point probe method that the resistivity of polymers is decreased due to the breakage of the H-C bond

Synthesis of Schiff bases derived from 2-hydroxy-1- naphth- aldehyde and their tin(II) complexes for antimicribial and antioxidant activities

The current studies were designed to prepare tin(II) complexes of various Schiff base derivatives of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (HN) with L-histidine and sulfamethazine have been prepared and characterized by different physiochemical studies such as elemental analysis, atomic absorption, UV-Vis spectra, FTIR spectra, 1H–NMR, 13C-NMR and conductance studies. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were also calculated. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by the agar-well diffusion method. Two Gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli) and three Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis) bacterial strains were used. Antifungal activity was resolute against three fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Alternaria solani) by using the agar tube dilution method. The antioxidant activity of ligands and their complexes was measured on the basis of the radical scavenging effect of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH)-free radical activity. Ligand HNSM exhibited excellent activities as antibacterial activity (22 mm), antifungal activity (55%) and antioxidant activity (119 ppm).               KEY WORDS: Schiff base, 2-Hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde, L-Histidine and sulfamethazine, Tin(II) complexes, Antimicrobial activities, Antioxidant activities Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2017, 31(3), 445-456. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v31i3.

Interaction Analysis of MRP1 with Anticancer Drugs Used in Ovarian Cancer: In Silico Approach

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the major therapeutic challenges that limits the efficacy of chemotherapeutic response resulting in poor prognosis of ovarian cancer (OC). The multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1) is a membrane-bound ABC transporter involved in cross resistance to many structurally and functionally diverse classes of anticancer drugs including doxorubicin, taxane, and platinum. In this study, we utilize homology modelling and molecular docking analysis to determine the binding affinity and the potential interaction sites of MRP1 with Carboplatin, Gemcitabine, Doxorubicin, Paclitaxel, and Topotecan. We used AutoDock Vina scores to compare the binding affinities of the anticancer drugs against MRP1. Our results depicted Carboplatin \u3c Gemcitabine \u3c Topotecan \u3c Doxorubicin \u3c Paclitaxel as the order of binding affinities. Paclitaxel has shown the highest binding affinity whereas Carboplatin displayed the lowest affinity to MRP1. Interestingly, our data showed that Carboplatin, Paclitaxel, and Topotecan bind specifically to Asn510 residue in the transmembrane domains 1 of the MRP1. Our results suggest that Carboplatin could be an appropriate therapeutic choice against MRP1 in OC as it couples weakly with Carboplatin. Further, our findings also recommend opting Carboplatin with Gemcitabine as a combinatorial chemotherapeutic approach to overcome MDR phenotype associated with recurrent OC. View Full-Tex

Fluxes in M-theory on 7-manifolds and G structures

We consider warp compactifications of M-theory on 7-manifolds in the presence of 4-form fluxes and investigate the constraints imposed by supersymmetry. As long as the 7-manifold supports only one Killing spinor we infer from the Killing spinor equations that non-trivial 4-form fluxes will necessarily curve the external 4-dimensional space. On the other hand, if the 7-manifold has at least two Killing spinors, there is a non-trivial Killing vector yielding a reduction of the 7-manifold to a 6-manifold and we confirm that 4-form fluxes can be incorporated if one includes non-trivial SU(3) structures.Comment: 13 pages, Latex; minor changes & add reference

Women With Large Vessel Occlusion Acute Ischemic Stroke Are Less Likely to Be Routed to Comprehensive Stroke Centers

Background Prehospital routing of patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) acute ischemic stroke (AIS) to centers capable of performing endovascular therapy may improve clinical outcomes. Here, we explore whether distance to comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs), stroke severity, and sex are associated with direct‐to‐CSC prehospital routing in patients with LVO AIS. Methods and Results In this cross‐sectional study, we identified consecutive patients with LVO AIS from a prospectively collected multihospital registry throughout the greater Houston area from January 2019 to June 2020. Primary outcome was prehospital routing to CSC and was compared between men and women using modified Poisson regression including age, sex, race or ethnicity, first in‐hospital National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, travel time, and distances to the closest primary stroke center and CSC. Among 503 patients with LVO AIS, 413 (82%) were routed to CSCs, and women comprised 46% of the study participants. Women with LVO AIS compared with men were older (73 versus 65, P\u3c0.01) and presented with greater National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (14 versus 12, P=0.01). In modified Poisson regression, women were 9% less likely to be routed to CSCs compared with men (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 0.91 [0.84–0.99], P=0.024) and distance to nearest CSC ≤10 miles was associated with 38% increased chance of routing to CSC (aRR, 1.38 [1.26–1.52], P\u3c0.001). Conclusions Despite presenting with more significant stroke syndromes and living within comparable distance to CSCs, women with LVO AIS were less likely to be routed to CSCs compared with men. Further study of the mechanisms behind this disparity is needed

Women With Large Vessel Occlusion acute Ischemic Stroke are Less Likely to Be Routed to Comprehensive Stroke Centers

Background Prehospital routing of patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) acute ischemic stroke (AIS) to centers capable of performing endovascular therapy may improve clinical outcomes. Here, we explore whether distance to comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs), stroke severity, and sex are associated with direct-to-CSC prehospital routing in patients with LVO AIS. Methods and Results In this cross-sectional study, we identified consecutive patients with LVO AIS from a prospectively collected multihospital registry throughout the greater Houston area from January 2019 to June 2020. Primary outcome was prehospital routing to CSC and was compared between men and women using modified Poisson regression including age, sex, race or ethnicity, first in-hospital National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, travel time, and distances to the closest primary stroke center and CSC. Among 503 patients with LVO AIS, 413 (82%) were routed to CSCs, and women comprised 46% of the study participants. Women with LVO AIS compared with men were older (73 versus 65