A new journal... on spindle cells

Welcome to Clinical Sarcoma Research a new open access, online medical journal providing a forum for clinical knowledge on rare solid cancers - sarcomas. We believe there is a vacuum, which this effort may hope to fill at least in part. Indeed, we ought to share first-hand medical experience and clinically meaningful translational ideas much more within the sarcoma community worldwide. This journal is intended to be one of the many tools we need for this purpose

Peran Brand Image Memediasi Pengaruh Kredibilitas Celebrity Endorser terhadap Purchase Intention (Studi pada Produk Kosmetik Etude House di Kota Denpasar)

Kebutuhan untuk tampil cantik dan menarik dengan menggunakan produk kosmetik, kini tengah menjadi perhatian remaja putri. Seiring dengan pesatnya perkembangan produk kosmetik, maka Perusahaan kosmetik memiliki tujuan pemasaran untuk memenuhi kebutuhan dan keinginan konsumen dengan sasaran agar konsumen puas. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui peran brand image dalam memediasi pengaruh kredibilitas celebrity endorser terhadap purchase intention pada produk kosmetik Etude House di Kota Denpasar. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah remaja putri yang merupakan masyarakat di Kota Denpasar di mana remaja putri ini memiliki niat membeli produk kosmetik Etude House. Ukuran sampel yang diambil sebanyak 100 responden, dengan metode non probability sampling khususnya insidental dan purposive sampling menggunakan analisis PLS (Partial Least Square). Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kredibilitas celebrity endorser memiliki pengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap purchase intention dan brand image. Variabel brand image memediasi secara parsial pengaruh kredibilitas celebrity endorser terhadap purchase intention. Bentuk partial mediation ini menunjukkan bahwa brand image bukan satu-satunya pemediasi hubungan kredibilitas celebrity endorser terhadap purchase intention namun terdapat faktor pemediasi lain

AYURVEDIC MANAGEMENT OF PRIMARY INFERTILITY DUE TO POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE UTERINE FIBROIDS: A CASE REPORT

Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. As one of the leading causes of anovulatory infertility, it is believed that 5-10% of the reproductive-aged female population is living with polycystic ovary syndrome. Ayurveda considers the excellence of 4 factors- Ritu (ovulatory phase), Kshetra (garbhasaya), Ambu (proper nourishment to embryo), and Bija (healthy sperm and ovum) for a successful pregnancy. Impairment to any of these factors leads to Vandhytva or pregnancy failure. This case study helps to plan a treatment protocol for the patient with PCOS having infertility. A 25 yr old female having regular cycles came to OPD of Streeroga of IPGT & RA, having the complaints of weight gain and failure to conceive since 2 year of active married life. On presentation she was a medium sized woman with android body habits and had mild hirsute and acanthosis nigricans over nape of neck. Gynaecological examination revealed a normal sized uterus with no other abnormalities. Sonography revealed bulky ovaries with multiple small follicles with no evidence of ovulation along with small fibroids on anterior wall (1.8cm×1.5cm) and posterior wall (2.7cm×2.8cm). Her husbands semen analysis was normal. Based on clinical findings and investigation, anovulatory factor infertility due to PCOS was diagnosed along with fibroid. Virechana and Samana were decided due to both of these factors and Sthanyasodhana gana kashaya was selected as Samana drug. Treatment was done for 3 months, during treatment itself ovulation occured and the patient conceived after 3 months. This case being a Krichrasadhya vyadhi, proper care was taken including correction of the lifestyle and food habits. This case will help to understand the importance of Sodhana in gynecological disorders and explore the probable mode of action of Sthanyasodhana gana kashaya which helped in menstrual regulation

Performance analysis and design optimization of parallel-type slew-rate enhancers for switched-capacitor applications

The design of single-stage OTAs for accurate switched-capacitor circuits involves challenging trade-offs between speed and power consumption. The addition of a Slew-Rate Enhancer (SRE) circuit placed in parallel to the main OTA (parallel-type SRE) constitutes a viable solution to reduce the settling time, at the cost of low-power overhead and no modifications of the main OTA. In this work, a practical analytical model has been developed to predict the settling time reduction achievable with OTA/SRE systems and to show the effect of the various design parameters. The model has been applied to a real case, consisting of the combination of a standard folded-cascode OTA with an existing parallel-type SRE solution. Simulations performed on a circuit designed with a commercial 180-nm CMOS technology revealed that the actual settling-time reduction was significantly smaller than predicted by the model. This discrepancy was explained by taking into account the internal delays of the SRE, which is exacerbated when a high output current gain is combined with high power efficiency. To overcome this problem, we propose a simple modification of the original SRE circuit, consisting in the addition of a single capacitor which temporarily boosts the OTA/SRE currents reducing the internal turn-on delay. With the proposed approach a settling-time reduction of 57% has been demonstrated with an SRE that introduces only a 10% power-overhead with respect of the single OTA solution. The robustness of the results have been validated by means of Monte-Carlo simulations

Unambiguous Characterization of p-Cresyl Sulfate, a Protein-Bound Uremic Toxin, as Biomarker of Heart and Kidney Disease

p-Cresyl sulfate is one of the bound uremic toxins whose level increases in the sera of patients with the severity of chronic kidney disease and is therefore used as a standard for clinical investigations. Our first attempts to obtain p-cresyl sulfate led exclusively to the product of sulfonation of the aromatic ring instead of sulfation on the OH moiety. Nevertheless, this initial discouraging result allowed us to handle both p-cresyl sulfate and 2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzenesulfonic acid obtained by different synthetic pathways. Interestingly, the comparison between the two isomers pointed out that the two molecules show the same fragmentation pattern and are indistinguishable by mass spectrometry. They cannot be separated on several commercially available columns. The only difference between the two compounds is a 10-fold higher ionization yield under negative ion electrospray ionization. NMR spectral studies definitely confirmed the different molecular structures. We present here an unambiguous biomimetic synthetic route for p-cresyl sulfate and the spectroscopic characterization of both the compounds by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry

PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYTO-CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF PIPPALYADI YOGA: A POLYHERBAL FORMULATION

Pippalyadi Yoga is Churna Kalpana described by Acharya Chakrapani in Vandhyatva (infertility). Ovulatory dysfunction is the prime cause of Infertility among the world, Pippalyadi Yoga is useful in patients especially having Anovulation which is known as Abeejatva in Ayurveda. So a new pharmaceutical preparation Pippalyadi Yoga in the form of Churna (powder) was tried to standardize which is economical in terms of time and machinery usage. Pharmacognostical and phyto-chemical observations revealed the specific characters of all active constituents used in the preparation. The present work was carried out to standardize the finished product of Pippalyadi Yoga to confirm its identity, quality and purity. The presence of stone cells, oil globules, olio resin cells, parenchymatous cells, oval & beaker shaped starch grains, pollen grains were the characteristic features observed in the microscopy of the prepared drug. Phyto-chemical analysis showed Loss on drying 10.07 % w/w, ash value 6.55 %w/w, water soluble extract 14 % w/w, methanol soluble 13.40 % w/w, particle consistency above 60 mesh 4.10 % w/w, between 60-85 mesh 9.20 % w/w, between 85-120 mesh 13.30 % w/w & below 120 mesh 73.37 % w/w & pH 5.0. HPTLC of Pippalyadi Yoga is the preliminary quantitative analysis which shows 8 prominent spots at Rf. 0.09, 0.61, 0.67, 0.74, 0.80, 0.86, 0.91, 1.00 in UV 254 nm and 7 prominent spots at Rf. 0.06, 0.17, 0.63, 0.67, 0.75, 0.82, 0.88 in UV 366 nm. Pippalyadi Yoga, a polyherbal formulation of 4 ingredients was prepared and HPTLC finger print profile was developed and it can be considered pharmacopial standard of Pippalyadi Yoga

An Innovative Lipidomic Workflow to Investigate the Lipid Profile in a Cystic Fibrosis Cell Line

Altered lipid metabolism has been associated to cystic fibrosis disease, which is characterized by chronic lung inflammation and various organs dysfunction. Here, we present the validation of an untargeted lipidomics approach based on high-resolution mass spectrometry aimed at identifying those lipid species that unequivocally sign CF pathophysiology. Of n.13375 mass spectra recorded on cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial airways epithelial cells IB3, n.7787 presented the MS/MS data, and, after software and manual validation, the final number of annotated lipids was restricted to n.1159. On these lipids, univariate and multivariate statistical approaches were employed in order to select relevant lipids for cellular phenotype discrimination between cystic fibrosis and HBE healthy cells. In cystic fibrosis IB3 cells, a pervasive alteration in the lipid metabolism revealed changes in the classes of ether-linked phospholipids, cholesterol esters, and glycosylated sphingolipids. Through functions association, it was evidenced that lipids variation involves the moiety implicated in membrane composition, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria compartments, and chemical and biophysical lipids properties. This study provides a new perspective in understanding the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis and strengthens the need to use a validated mass spectrometry-based lipidomics approach for the discovery of potential biomarkers and perturbed metabolism