Using multiple classifiers for predicting the risk of endovascular aortic aneurysm repair re-intervention through hybrid feature selection.

Feature selection is essential in medical area; however, its process becomes complicated with the presence of censoring which is the unique character of survival analysis. Most survival feature selection methods are based on Cox's proportional hazard model, though machine learning classifiers are preferred. They are less employed in survival analysis due to censoring which prevents them from directly being used to survival data. Among the few work that employed machine learning classifiers, partial logistic artificial neural network with auto-relevance determination is a well-known method that deals with censoring and perform feature selection for survival data. However, it depends on data replication to handle censoring which leads to unbalanced and biased prediction results especially in highly censored data. Other methods cannot deal with high censoring. Therefore, in this article, a new hybrid feature selection method is proposed which presents a solution to high level censoring. It combines support vector machine, neural network, and K-nearest neighbor classifiers using simple majority voting and a new weighted majority voting method based on survival metric to construct a multiple classifier system. The new hybrid feature selection process uses multiple classifier system as a wrapper method and merges it with iterated feature ranking filter method to further reduce features. Two endovascular aortic repair datasets containing 91% censored patients collected from two centers were used to construct a multicenter study to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The results showed the proposed technique outperformed individual classifiers and variable selection methods based on Cox's model such as Akaike and Bayesian information criterions and least absolute shrinkage and selector operator in p values of the log-rank test, sensitivity, and concordance index. This indicates that the proposed classifier is more powerful in correctly predicting the risk of re-intervention enabling doctor in selecting patients' future follow-up plan

Isolation of a potential anticancer agent with protein phosphatase inhibitory activity from soil-derived Penicillium sp. strain H9318

Purpose: To determine the effect of the secondary metabolites from Penicillium sp. H9318 on cytotoxicity and cell cycle progression. Methods: A yeast PP1 inhibitory screening system was carried out to confirm the presence of anti-PP1c activity in crude acetone extracts of strain H9318. The extracts were fractionated and identified as Fraction S1 and Citrinin 9318 (CTN9318). Various cancer cell lines were used to test for the toxicity of the crude acetone extracts, Fraction S1 and Citrinin 9318, using MTT viability assay. Results: It was found that a colorectal cancer cell line, HT-29, was susceptible to Fraction S1 and Citrinin 9318. A propidium iodide (PI)-incorporated DNA assay was used to show that there was G2/M arrest in HT-29 by Citrinin 9318. Conclusion: Citrinin 9318 inhibits the viability of HT-29 via mitotic block. The results suggest that Citrinin 9318 is capable of exerting cytotoxicity and mitotic arrest in a colon cancer cell line, HT29

Assessment Of Genetic Relatedness Among Hydrilla Verticillata (L. F.) Royle Accessions In Malaysia Using RAPD And AFLP Markers

Genetic relationships among 119 accessions of Hydrilla verticillata from 28 locations in Malaysia were determined using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 82 accessions of H. verticillata from 26 locations were studied using the Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) technique. A total of nine RAPD primers produced 143 amplified fragments with 105 of them were polymorphic. RAPD data used to generate a Neighbour-Joining tree and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCO) clustered these accessions into four groups that did not separate them according to geographical areas

Screening and characterization De inhibitors of protein Kinases and protein Phosphatases for the treatment of latent Tuberculosis

No Abstrac

Diversidad de nematodos parásitos de peces en el Valle de Lerma, provincia de Salta (Argentina)

El objetivo de este trabajo de tesis fue ampliar y actualizar el conocimiento taxonómico y ecológico de los nematodos parásitos de peces en ambientes lóticos y lénticos pertenecientes a las Altas Cuencas de los ríos Bermejo y Juramento de la provincia de Salta.Asociación Parasitológica Argentin

New records of helminth parasites in two species of river fish, province of Salta, Argentina

En ríos y otros cursos de agua de la provincia de Salta se capturaron ejemplares de Trichomycterus spegazzini (Berg, 1897) y Jenynsia alternimaculata (Fowler, 1916); ambos resultaron parasitados por los nematodes Contracaecum sp. y Cucullanus (Cucullanus) pinnai pinnai (Travassos, Artigas & Pereira, 1928); el cestode Nomimoscolex sp. y metacestodes no identificados. El nematode Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) pintoi (Kohn & Fernandes, 1988) y el digeneo Genarchella sp. infectaron sólo ejemplares de Trichomycterus spegazzini (Berg, 1897). A su vez, los nematodes Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) hilarii (Vaz & Pereira, 1934) y Rhabdochona (Rhabdochona) acuminata (Molin, 1860) fueron exclusivos de los ejemplares de Jenynsia alternimaculata (Fowler, 1916). De este modo, se extendió la distribución geográfica de P (S.) hilarii, P (S.) pintoi, Contracaecum sp., Rhabdochona (R.) acuminata, C. (C.) pinnai pinnai, Nomimoscolex sp. y Genarchella sp., y se registraron como nuevos hospedadores a Trichomycterus spegazzini y Jenynsia alternimaculata, respectivamente.Specimens of Trichomycterus spegazzini (Berg, 1897) and Jenynsia alternimaculata (Fowler, 1916) were collected in rivers and other water courses in the province of Salta. Both species were parasitized with the nematode Contracaecum sp. and Cucullanus (Cucullanus) pinnai pinnai (Travassos, Ar tigas & Pereira, 1928), the cestode Nomimoscolex sp. and unidentified metacestodes. However, the nematode Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) pintoi (Kohn & Fernandes, 1988) and the digenean Genarchella sp. infected only specimens of Trichomycterus spegazzini (Berg, 1897). Moreover, the nematodes Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) hilarii (Vaz & Pereira), 1934 and Rhabdochona (Rhabdochona) acuminata (Molin, 1860) were exclusive of specimens of Jenynsia alternimaculata (Fowler, 1916). In addition, the geographical distribution of the following species was enlarged: P. (S.) hilarii, P (S.) pintoi, Contracaecum sp., Rhabdochona (R.) acuminata, C. (C.) pinnai pinnai, Nomimoscolex sp. and Genarchella sp. Furthermore, we recorded Trichomycterus spegazzini and Jenynsia alternimaculata as new hosts for these species.Fil: Ramallo, Geraldine. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ailan Choke, Lorena Gisela. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Nieva, Lucia. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Davies, Dora Ana. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Anti-proliferative and anti-invasive properties of a purified fraction from Streptomyces sp. H7372.

Secondary metabolites from actinomycetes especially the genus Streptomyces may be one of the most important sources for novel anticancer agents. A purified fraction from a novel actinomycete strain, Streptomyces sp. H7372, was elucidated in breast cancer cells. We have isolated three purified fractions from a novel strain, Streptomyces sp. H7372. One of the fractions, designated as 31-2, exhibited the strongest growth-inhibitory effect and thereby was selected for further studies. 31-2 exerted a growth-inhibitory effect on a panel of 15 human cancer and 2 non-malignant cell lines. In MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, 31-2 induced a cytostatic (anti-proliferative) effect without causing cytotoxicity (cell death). Our data suggest that the cytostasis resulted from cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase in MCF-7 cells and at the S phase in MDA-MB-231 cells. Western blot analysis demonstrated a modulation of phosphorylation of the Rb and CDC2 proteins and of CDK4, cyclin D1 and cyclin D3 in the 31-2-treated breast cancer cell lines. The protein levels of CDK2, CDK6, and PCNA were not affected by 31-2 treatment. 31-2 also exhibited an anti-invasive effect in MDA-MB-231 cells. However, this effect is not attributed to the modulation of proteolytic activity in MDA-MB-231 cells as the enzymatic degradation of type IV collagen was not affected by 31-2. The 31-2 is a potent cytostatic and anti-invasive agent and modulates the cell cycle pathway. Together, these results will have important implications in searching for novel approaches to treat cancer

Isolation of actinomycetes from Sabah and the screening for inhibitor against Eukaryotic signal transdustion

Actinomycetes strains isolated from 504 soil samples collected from Sabah terrestrial ecosystem were studied and screened for novel bioactive compounds inhibitory against eukaryotic signal transduction. All the soil samples were collected under trees identified to species or genus level. Isolation of Streptomyces and non-Streptomyces actinomycetes on HV (humic acid + B-vitamins) medium yielded 569 strains. Morphology characterisation of the isolated actinomycetes was carried out including aerial mycelium, substrate colour, diffusible pigment and spore morphology- on oatmeal medium while chemotaxonomic identification based on Diaminopimelic Acid. All actinomycetes strains were grown under aerobic condition in liquid culture and extracted with acetone. In this research, yeast MAPK kinase and MAP kinase phosphatase are the molecular level targeted proteins. The screening system was developed for searching MAPK kinase and MAP kinase phosphatase inhibitors. MKKIP386 and MKKI P386-MSG5 mutant yeast were used to screen for inhibitors, as these yeast kinase and phosphatase have homologous proteins in the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway in human. Strain H7553 and H7597 showed potential MAPK kinase inhibitors. The in vivo RaslRaf interaction with the yeast two hybrid screening system was used to screen against RaslRaf protein interaction inhibitor. Strain H7520 showed potential inhibitor for yeast Type 1 protein serine/threonine phosphatase (GLC7) screening system. Extract H7944 showed inhibition effect in the ERK signal transduction (the chain-reaction of phosphorylation from MEK 112 to ERK 112) when inhibited phosphorylation of MEK to ERK. Thus, strain H7944 (MBA94-2) was able to prevent activation of MEK. Strain H7944 was a potential MEK 112 inhibitor since p-galactosidase assay confirmed that H7944 do not inhibited the Ras/Raf pathway. Aktinomiset dipencilkan daripada 504 sampel tanah dikutip dari ekosistem Sabah dikaji dan penyaringan compaun bioaktif terhadap perencatan transduksi isyarat eukariot. Semua sampel tanah dikutip di bawah pokok yang dikenalpasti sehingga peringkat spesies atau genus. Pemencilan aktimomiset Streptomyces dan bukan Streptomyces menggunakan media asid humik-vitamin (HV) agar be~aya memencilkan sebanyak 569 strain aknomiset. Pencirian morfologi strain aktinomiset yang dipencilkan dilakukan melalui pencirian warna aerial miselium, warna substrak dan penyebaran warna pigment ke atas media agar oatmeal manakala pencirian kimiataksonomi dilakukan melalui teknik isomer asid diaminopimelik. Semua strain aktinomiset dikulturkan secara aerobik dalam media cecair dan diekstrak dengan menggunakan aseton. Dalam kajian ini, MAPK kinase dan MAP kinase fosfotase adalah sasaran protein molekular dalam yis. Sistem penyaringan dibangunkan untuk mencari perencat untuk MAPK kinase dan MAP kinase fosfotase. Vis mutant, MKK 1 P386 dan MKK 1 P386 -MSG5 digunakan untuk tujuan penyaringan disebabkan kinase dan fosfotase yis mempunyai persamaan dengan protein dalam transduksi isyarat MAP kinase dalam manusia. Strain H7553 dan H7597 menunjukkan potensi perencat untuk MAPK kinase. Sistem penyaringan in vivo interakasi RasIRaf dalam yis dual-hybrid digunakan untuk menyaring perencat protein interakasi RaslRaf. Ekstrak daripada aktinomiset H7520 menunjukkan potensi perencat untuk protein serine/threonine fosfotase (GLC7) dalam yis dalam penyaringan yang dijalankan. Ekstrak H7944 menunjukkan kesan perencatan dalam isyarat transduksi apabila ia merencat fosforilasi terhadap MEK daripada ERK. Ini bermakna H7944 berupaya mencegah pengaktifan MEK. Strain H7944 mempunyai potensi menjadi perencat MEK 1/2 kerana kajian p-galaktosidase yang dijalankan menunjukkan ia tidak merencat kitaran Ras/Ra

An integrative approach assesses the intraspecific variations of Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus, a common parasite in Neotropical freshwater fishes, and the phylogenetic patterns of Camallanidae

Integrative taxonomy was used to evaluate two component populations of Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus in Brazil and the phylogeny Camallanidae. Parasite populations were collected in the characiform Anostomoides passionis from River Xingu (Amazon basin) and Megaleporinus elongatus from River Miranda (Paraguay basin). Morphology was analysed using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Genetic characterization was based on partial sequences of the 18S and 28S rDNA, and COI mtDNA. Phylogenies were based on 18S and COI due to data availability. Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent (GMYC), Poisson Tree Process (PTP) and BEAST were used for species delimitation and validation. SEM revealed for the first time the presence of minute denticles and pore-like structures surrounding the oral opening, phasmids in females and confirmed other important morphological aspects. Statistical comparison between the two-component populations indicated morphometric variations, especially among males. The different component population of P. (S.) inopinatus showed variable morphometry, but uniform morphology and were validated as conspecific by the GMYC, PTP and BEAST. Some camallanid sequences in GenBank have incorrect taxonomic labelling. Host, environment and geographic aspects seem to be related to some lineages within Camallanidae; however, their real phylogenetic meanings are still unclear.Fil: Ailan Choke, Lorena Gisela. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta; ArgentinaFil: Tavares, Luiz E. R.. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Luque, José L.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Pereira, Felipe B.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas; Brasi