Concurrent Acquisition of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Diverse Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.2 Sub-clades

Highly pathogenic Influenza A H5N1 was first identified in Guangdong Province in 1996, followed by human cases in Hong Kong in 1997. The number of confirmed human cases now exceeds 300, and the associated Case Fatality Rate exceeds 60%. The genetic diversity of the serotype continues to increase. Four distinct clades or sub-clades have been linked to human cases. The gradual genetic changes identified in the sub-clades have been attributed to copy errors by viral encoded polymerases that lack an editing function, thereby resulting in antigenic drift. We report here the concurrent acquisition of the same polymorphism by multiple, genetically distinct, clade 2.2 sub-clades in Egypt, Russia, and Ghana. These changes are not easily explained by the current theory of “random mutation” through copy error, and are more easily explained by recombination with a common source. This conclusion is supported by additional polymorphisms shared by clade 2.2 isolates in Egypt and Germany

Aggregation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in a Human H5N1 Clade 2.2 Hemagglutinin

The rapid evolution of the H5N1 serotype of avian influenza has been explained by a mechanism involving the selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms generated by copy errors. The recent emergence of H5N1 Clade 2.2 in fifty countries, offered a unique opportunity to view the acquisition of new polymorphism in these evolving genomes. We analyzed the H5N1 hemagglutinin gene from a fatal human case from Nigeria in 2007. The newly emerged polymorphisms were present in diverse H5N1 isolates from the previous year. The aggregation of these polymorphisms from clade 2.2 sub-clades was not supported by recent random mutations, and was most easily explained by recombination between closely related sequences

Symptomatic Acute Hepatitis C in Egypt: Diagnosis, Spontaneous Viral Clearance, and Delayed Treatment with 12 Weeks of Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2a

The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of spontaneous viral clearance (SVC) after symptomatic acute hepatitis C and to evaluate the efficacy of 12 weeks of pegylated interferon alfa-2a in patients who did not clear the virus spontaneously.Patients with symptomatic acute hepatitis C were recruited from two "fever hospitals" in Cairo, Egypt. Patients still viremic three months after the onset of symptoms were considered for treatment with 12 weeks of pegylated interferon alfa-2a (180 microg/week).Between May 2002 and February 2006, 2243 adult patients with acute hepatitis were enrolled in the study. The SVC rate among 117 patients with acute hepatitis C was 33.8% (95%CI [25.9%-43.2%]) at three months and 41.5% (95%CI [33.0%-51.2%]) at six months. The sustained virological response (SVR) rate among the 17 patients who started treatment 4-6 months after onset of symptoms was 15/17 = 88.2% (95%CI [63.6%-98.5%]).Spontaneous viral clearance was high (41.5% six months after the onset of symptoms) in this population with symptomatic acute hepatitis C. Allowing time for spontaneous clearance should be considered before treatment is initiated for symptomatic acute hepatitis C

Autophagy in antitumor activity of aloin for breast cancer cells compared with doxorubicin

252-264Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in women worldwide. Natural product compounds have attracted significant attention for their potent effects against human cancers. Aloin, a natural phytochemical anthraquinone glycoside extracted from Aloe sp., has been previously reported for its antitumor activity. Autophagy is a highly conserved process that mediates the degradation of dysfunctional cellular components, such as senescent proteins and organelles. In the present study, we verified the involvement of autophagy in tolerance to aloin, especially in breast cancer cells with negative estrogen receptors, and as an alternative pathway to promote cell death in cells expressing mutant p53 status, which often limits the efficacy and accounts for resistance to chemotherapy. We studied the effect of aloin on 2 types of breast cancer cell lines, estrogen receptor-positive (T47D) and triple negative (MDA-MB231), and compared to an anthraquinone analog, doxorubicin (Dox) as a reference compound. Aloin inhibited the cell growth of both T47D and MDA-MB231 cancer cells, in a time- and dose-dependent manner with a more pronounced effect in the 72 h exposure regimen, and in the ERα+ breast cell line. The autophagic activity of aloin was emphasized by the formation of autophagosomes and autolysophagosomes, as early and late autophagic compartments, respectively, as well as the accumulation of acidic vesicular organelles in the tumor cells. Also, upregulation in the protein expression of some marker genes of autophagy such as beclin 1 and LC3BII/LC3I, and conversely down-regulation in pmTOR and p62 was recorded. The results suggest that autophagy can be regarded as one of the mechanistic modes of aloin cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells that evade apoptosis through genetic mutations in p53

Smart Home IoT System by Using RF Energy Harvesting

IoT system becomes a hot topic nowadays for smart home. IoT helps devices to communicate together without human intervention inside home, so it is offering many challenges. A new smart home IoT platform powered using electromagnetic energy harvesting is proposed in this paper. It contains a high gain transmitted antenna array and efficient circularly polarized array rectenna system to harvest enough power from any direction to increase lifetime of the batteries used in the IoT system. Optimized energy consumption, the software with adopting the Zigbee protocol of the sensor node, and a low-power microcontroller are used to operate in lower power modes. The proposed system has an 84.6-day lifetime which is approximately 10 times the lifetime for a similar system. On the other hand, the proposed power management circuit is operated at 0.3 V DC to boost the voltage to ~3.7 V from radio frequency energy harvesting and manage battery level to increase the battery lifetime. A predictive indoor environment monitoring system is designed based on a novel hybrid system to provide a nonstatic plan, approve energy consumption, and avoid failure of sensor nodes in a smart home

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research