РОЛЬ EZH2 И ARID1A В ДИАГНОСТИКЕ ПЛОСКИХ УРОТЕЛИАЛЬНЫХ ОПУХОЛЕЙ С АТИПИЕЙ

Background. Diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma in situ is of great importance because it has prognostic and therapeutic value.We aim to determine the utility of EZH2 and ARID1A as a new tool in the diagnosis of carcinoma in situ.Material and Methods. This retrospective cross-sectional study included Twenty-four specimens of flat urothelial lesions, twenty specimens of CIS, and 10 of normal adjacent urothelium that was taken by cystoscopic resection biopsy procedure. immunohistochemical expression of EZH2 and ARID1A. were evaluated in all studied cases.Results. All normal urothelium specimens showed high nuclear staining for ARID1A and negative nuclear staining for EZH2. High EZH2 expression was observed in 80 % of CIS specimens compared to 20 % of flat urothelial lesions with atypia (p=0.001 ), while high ARID1A expression was observed in 70.8 % of flat urothelial lesions with atypia compared to 25 % of CIS specimens (p=0.001). EZH2 was more accurate and specific in the diagnosis of carcinoma in situ.Conclusion. EZH2 and ARID1A are promising diagnostic markers for urothelial CIS. EZH2 is more accurate and specific than ARID1A in the diagnosis of carcinoma in situ versus other flat urothelial lesions. Актуальность. Диагностика уротелиальной карциномы in situ имеет большое значение, поскольку обладает прогностической и терапевтической ценностью.Целью исследования было определить роль EZH2 и ARID1A в диагностике карциномы in situ.Материал и методы. Ретроспективное перекрестное исследование включало 24 образца плоских уротелиальных опухолей, 20 образцов CIS и 10 образцов нормального прилегающего уротелия, взятых при цистоскопической биопсии. Во всех случаях была оценена иммуногистохимическая экспрессия EZH2 и ARID1A.Результаты. Все образцы нормального уротелия показали высокое ядерное окрашивание на ARID1A и отрицательное ядерное окрашивание на EZH2. Высокая экспрессия EZH2 наблюдалась в 80 % образцов CIS по сравнению с 20 % плоских уротелиальных опухолей с атипией (p=0,001), в то время как высокая экспрессия ARID1A наблюдалась в 70,8 % плоских уротелиальных опухолей с атипией по сравнению с 25 % образцов CIS (р=0,001). EZH2 был более точным и специфичным при диагностике карциномы in situ.Заключение. EZH2 и ARID1A являются перспективными диагностическими маркерами уротелиальной карциномы in situ. EZH2 более точен и специфичен, чем ARID1A, в диагностике карциномы in situ по сравнению с другими плоскими уротелиальными опухолями.

Vitamin D level in preschool children with recurrent wheezy chest, and its relation to the severity of the wheezing episodes

Background: Recurrent wheezy chest is a common complaint in pediatric practice. Vitamin D is a potent immunomodulator in allergic diseases as wheezy chest and asthma. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been increasing in Egypt leading to significant morbidities.Objectives: This study aimed to assess serum 25 hydroxy (OH) Vitamin D level in preschool children with recurrent wheezy chest, and to assess its relation to the recurrence, severity, and level of control of the wheezing episodes.Methods: The study included 100 preschool children (aged 2 to 5 years), of both sexes, recruited from the Emergency department, Allergy and Pulmonology units at Assiut University Children Hospital, Egypt. They should have at least 3 documented episodes of wheeze, cough, and difficulty breathing in the last year with clinical improvement on inhaled short-acting beta 2 agonists. Patients were subjected to questionnaire-based history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations (complete blood count (CBC) with the absolute eosinophil count, serum total IgE level, and serum 25 hydroxy (OH) Vitamin D level). Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM score) for assessment of the severity of the wheezing episodes and Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) based level of asthma control for children 5 years and younger were applied. The patients were grouped according to PRAM score to mild, moderate and severe episodes and according to vitamin D level as sufficient and below-sufficient groups (including deficient and insufficient patients).Results: 25(OH) Vitamin D level was below-sufficient in 53% of the studied patients (deficient in 32% and insufficient in 21%). PRAM score was significantly lower in patients with sufficient 25(OH) Vitamin D level versus those with below-sufficient level (p < 0.025). There was a significant negative correlation between PRAM score and 25 (OH) Vitamin D level (r = -0.334, p = 0.001).Conclusion: There is an inverse relationship between 25(OH)vitamin D level and parameters of asthma severity, as well as with the level of asthma control in preschool children with recurrent wheezy chest.Keywords: Vitamin D, recurrent wheezy chest, preschool childre

FCM-Based Approach for Locating Visible Video Watermarks

The increased usage demand for digital multimedia has induced significant challenges regarding copyright protection, which is the copy control and proof of ownership. Digital watermarking serves as a solution to these kinds of problems. Among different types of digital watermarking, visible watermarking protects the copyrights effectively, since the approach not only prevents pirates but also visually proves the copyright of the broadcasted video. A visible watermark could be in any location on the frame (corner, center, diagonal, etc.). In addition, it could either completely or partially disappear for some frames. The same video also might have multiple watermarks. In order to strengthen the techniques of adding visible watermarks, there is a need to discover the weakness of the used watermarks. Since the major step of attacking a visible watermark is to locate it accurately, in this paper, a Fuzzy C-Means (FCM)-based approach is proposed to locate visible watermarks in video. Broadcasting channels are used to utilize video logos, which can be considered as a form of visible watermark that represents a trademark or symbol to declare the intellectual property ownership. In general, a high-standard video watermark has such properties as a clear background with distinctive shape without additional texture obscuring the watermark area. In addition, the probability of the logo appearing in the four corners of the video frames is higher than in the center. Based on these common properties of the video watermark, the proposed scheme locates the visible watermark using the Fuzzy C-Means technique without any prior information. The proposed technique has two stages: the first stage is positioning, and the second is masking (extracting the watermark mask). Due to real-world limitations such as noise, shadowing, and variations in cameras, the positioning stage is developed by employing gradient and Fuzzy C-Means classifier techniques. By using the dilation and erosion operators, the masking stage is developed to extract the watermark mask. Using a set of trademark videos, the proposed algorithm is tested and evaluated. A comparative study shows that the proposed FCM-based technique is able to achieve higher accuracy at a reasonable computational cost in comparison to the most related and recent published work. The proposed technique could locate different watermarks with high symmetry in their pattern, even if they appeared mutually in the same location. Still, it will be a challenge if the symmetry is low between used watermarks in the same location

Photobiomodulation and trigger band technique on groin adductor strain in athletes: Single-blinded randomized control trial

Aim of the study: In athletes, groin pain-related adductor strain is a common problem in sports medicine, like groin injuries, so the study investigated the effect of Photobiomodulation (905 nm) and Trigger Band Technique (TBT) on handball athletes' groin adductor strain. Methods: Forty handball athletes with adductor groin strain were divided into an experimental group (A) that received Diode laser 905nm, TBT, and medical treatment, while control group (B) received sham laser with TBT and medical treatment for four weeks. Outcome measures investigated Copenhangen hip and groin outcome score, pressure algometry, creatine kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase levels. Results: Both groups showed a significant improvement in the post-treatment outcome measures, where experimental group showed more significant improvement than the control group with p-value >0.05. Conclusion: results imply that treatment of handball athlete's groin adductor strain by TBT and low-level laser is more effective than TBT alone

Microbiome diversity in African American, European American, and Egyptian colorectal cancer patients

Purpose: Although there is an established role for microbiome dysbiosis in the pathobiology of colorectal cancer (CRC), CRC patients of various race/ethnicities demonstrate distinct clinical behaviors. Thus, we investigated microbiome dysbiosis in Egyptian, African American (AA), and European American (EA) CRC patients. Patients and methods: CRCs and their corresponding normal tissues from Egyptian (n = 17) patients of the Alexandria University Hospital, Egypt, and tissues from AA (n = 18) and EA (n = 19) patients at the University of Alabama at Birmingham were collected. DNA was isolated from frozen tissues, and the microbiome composition was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Differential microbial abundance, diversity, and metabolic pathways were identified using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size analyses. Additionally, we compared these profiles with our previously published microbiome data derived from Kenyan CRC patients. Results: Differential microbiome analysis of CRCs across all racial/ethnic groups showed dysbiosis. There were high abundances of Herbaspirillum and Staphylococcus in CRCs of Egyptians, Leptotrichia in CRCs of AAs, Flexspiria and Streptococcus in CRCs of EAs, and Akkermansia muciniphila and Prevotella nigrescens in CRCs of Kenyans (LDA score >4, adj. p-value <0.05). Functional analyses showed distinct microbial metabolic pathways in CRCs compared to normal tissues within the racial/ethnic groups. Egyptian CRCs, compared to normal tissues, showed lower l-methionine biosynthesis and higher galactose degradation pathways. Conclusions: Our findings showed altered mucosa-associated microbiome profiles of CRCs and their metabolic pathways across racial/ethnic groups. These findings provide a basis for future studies to link racial/ethnic microbiome differences with distinct clinical behaviors in CRC