An association of boswellia, betaine and myo-inositol (Eumastós) in the treatment of mammographic breast density. A randomized, double-blind study

Mammographic breast density is a recognized risk factor for breast cancer. The causes that lead to the proliferation of the glandular breast tissue and, therefore, to an increase of breast density are still unclear. However, a treatment strategy to reduce the mammary density may bring about very relevant clinical outcomes in breast cancer prevention. Myo-inositol is a six-fold alcohol of cyclohexane, has already been proved to modulate different pathways: inflammatory, metabolic, oxidative and endocrine processes, in a wide array of human diseases, including cancer and the genesis of mammary gland and breast diseases, like fibrosis, as well as metabolic and endocrine cues. Similarly, boswellic acid and betaine (three-methyl glycine) both inhibit inflammation and exert protective effects on breast physiology. Based on this scientific background, we hypothesized that a combination including, boswellic acid, betaine and myo-inositol would be able to reduce breast density working on different pathways.OBJECTIVE: Mammographic breast density is a recognized risk factor for breast cancer. The causes that lead to the proliferation of the glandular breast tissue and, therefore, to an increase of breast density are still unclear. However, a treatment strategy to reduce the mammary density may bring about very relevant clinical outcomes in breast cancer prevention. Myo-inositol is a six-fold alcohol of cyclohexane, has already been proved to modulate different pathways: inflammatory, metabolic, oxidative and endocrine processes, in a wide array of human diseases, including cancer and the genesis of mammary gland and breast diseases, like fibrosis, as well as metabolic and endocrine cues. Similarly, boswellic acid and betaine (threemethyl glycine) both inhibit inflammation and exert protective effects on breast physiology. Based on this scientific background, we hypothesized that a combinat ion including, boswellic acid, betaine and myo-inositol would be able to reduce breast density working on different pathways. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, seventy-six premenopausal women were randomly assigned to the placebo and the experimental drug arms (Eumastós®) for six months. RESULTS: After 6 months of treatment, statistically significant difference between the two groups was recorded on the breast density reduction (60% vs. 9%), using mammographic as well as ultrasound examination. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary data collected here with support the starting assumptions,that the association comprising boswellic acid, betaine and myo-inositol significantly reduces mammary density, providing the first evidence for a new and safe approach for the management of mammographic density treatment

<i>Schmidtea mediterranea</i> phylogeography: an old species surviving on a few Mediterranean islands?

Background: Schmidtea mediterranea (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Continenticola) is found in scattered localities on a few islands and in coastal areas of the western Mediterranean. Although S. mediterranea is the object of many regeneration studies, little is known about its evolutionary history. Its present distribution has been proposed to stem from the fragmentation and migration of the Corsica-Sardinia microplate during the formation of the western Mediterranean basin, which implies an ancient origin for the species. To test this hypothesis, we obtained a large number of samples from across its distribution area. Using known and new molecular markers and, for the first time in planarians, a molecular clock, we analysed the genetic variability and demographic parameters within the species and between its sexual and asexual populations to estimate when they diverged. Results: A total of 2 kb from three markers (COI, CYB and a nuclear intron N13) was amplified from ~200 specimens. Molecular data clustered the studied populations into three groups that correspond to the west, central and southeastern geographical locations of the current distribution of S. mediterranea. Mitochondrial genes show low haplotype and nucleotide diversity within populations but demonstrate higher values when all individuals are considered. The nuclear marker shows higher values of genetic diversity than the mitochondrial genes at the population level, but asexual populations present lower variability than the sexual ones. Neutrality tests are significant for some populations. Phylogenetic and dating analyses show the three groups to be monophyletic, with the west group being the basal group. The time when the diversification of the species occurred is between ~20 and ~4 mya, although the asexual nature of the western populations could have affected the dating analyses. Conclusions: S. mediterranea is an old species that is sparsely distributed in a harsh habitat, which is probably the consequence of the migration of the Corsica-Sardinia block. This species probably adapted to temperate climates in the middle of a changing Mediterranean climate that eventually became dry and hot. These data also suggest that in the mainland localities of Europe and Africa, sexual individuals of S. mediterranea are being replaced by asexual individuals that are either conspecific or are from other species that are better adapted to the Mediterranean climate

Sudden unexpected death related to enterovirus myocarditis: histopathology, immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology diagnosis at post-mortem

BACKGROUND: Viral myocarditis is a major cause of sudden unexpected death in children and young adults. Until recently, coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) has been the most commonly implicated virus in myocarditis. At present, no standard diagnosis is generally accepted due to the insensitivity of traditional diagnostic tests. This has prompted health professionals to seek new diagnostic approaches, which resulted in the emergence of new molecular pathological tests and a more detailed immunohistochemical and histopathological analysis. When supplemented with immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology, conventional histopathology may provide important clues regarding myocarditis underlying etiology. METHODS: This study is based on post-mortem samples from sudden unexpected death victims and controls who were investigated prospectively. Immunohistochemical investigations for the detection of the enteroviral capsid protein VP1 and the characterization and quantification of myocardial inflammatory reactions as well as molecular pathological methods for enteroviral genome detection were performed. RESULTS: Overall, 48 sudden unexpected death victims were enrolled. As for controls, 37 cases of unnatural traffic accident victims were studied. Enterovirus was detected in 6 sudden unexpected death cases (12.5 %). The control samples were completely enterovirus negative. Furthermore, the enteroviral capsid protein VP1 in the myocardium was detected in enterovirus-positive cases revealed by means of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Unlike control samples, immunohistochemical investigations showed a significant presence of T and B lymphocytes in sudden unexpected death victims. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate clearly a higher prevalence of viral myocarditis in cases of sudden unexpected death compared to control subjects, suggesting that coxsackie B enterovirus may contribute to myocarditis pathogenesis significantly

Perinatal characteristics and risk of polio among Swedish twins

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90577/1/j.1365-3016.2012.01268.x.pd

Ant Colony-based Approach for solving an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Routing Problem

Waste management issues are affecting the economic and environmental aspects of modern societies. Thus, growing the interest of academic and industrial research and development in optimizing the process of waste management. As these issues greatly impact human health and environmental aspects and impose a threat, hazardous waste management requires even much more attention. The problem studied in this research is a variant of the vehicle routing problem using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The focus of this research is on planning the routes for waste collection and disposal using a UAV. The aim is to collect all the waste as early as possible respecting two constraints; the maximum flying and load capacities of the UAV. A two-phase approach has been proposed to solve the investigated problem. This approach is a hybridization of a developed heuristic (IMWMTT) and an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. The experimental study showed that the hybrid approach outperforms a recently published heuristic MWMTT for all tested instances of various size

An Algorithm Based on Priority Rules for Solving a Multi-drone Routing Problem in Hazardous Waste Collection

This research investigates the problem of assigning pre-scheduled trips to multiple drones to collect hazardous waste from different sites in the minimum time. Each drone is subject to essential restrictions: maximum flying capacity and recharge operation. The goal is to assign the trips to the drones so that the waste is collected in the minimum time. This is done if the total flying time is equally distributed among the drones. An algorithm was developed to solve the problem. The algorithm is based on two main ideas: sort the trips according to a given priority rule and assign the current trip to the first available drone. Three different priority rules have been tested: Shortest Flying Time, Longest Flying Time, and Median Flying Time. Two recharging conditions are maintained: recharging needed time and recharging full duration. By applying each priority rule and each recharging condition, we generate a six versions of the algorithm. The six versions of the proposed algorithm were implemented in Java programming language.The results were analyzed and compared proving that the Longest Flying Time priority rule surpasses the other two rules. Moreover, recharging a drone just enough for taking the next trip proved to be better than fully recharging it

Optimal Algorithm for Managing On-Campus Student Transportation

This study analyzed the transportation issues at the University of Bahrain Sakhir campus, where a bus system with an unorganized and fixed number of buses allocated each semester was in place. Data was collected through a survey, onsite observations, and student schedules to estimate the number of buses needed. The study was limited to students who require to move between buildings for academic purposes and not those who choose to ride buses for other reasons. An algorithm was designed to calculate the optimal number of buses for each time slot, and for each day. This solution could improve transportation efficiency, lower costs, enhance students’ mobility experience, and decrease CO2 emissions. A series of recommendations were provided to university officials including the need for further research to examine creating new routes and implementing express buses

Induction and flow cytometry identification of mixoploidy through colchicine treatment of Trigonella foenum-graecum L.

Polyploidy plays an important role in plant evolution and constitutes an important mechanism of diversification and genetic variations creation. The objective of this study was to produce a polyploid cultivar of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (2n=16) and to evaluate its cytological potentialities. Polyploidy induction was carried out by using a 0.05% colchicine solution. Ploidy level was determined by an analysis of flow cytometry, which is suitable, quick and easy for the identification of ploidy level. Quantification of DNA by spectrophotometric methods showed that treated plants presented higher contents of cellular DNA than diploid plants, and this quantification was checked by fluorescence method and comparison of the DNA profiles showed a more significant thickness of the DNA band in the extract from the treated plants than the diploid plants. In addition, the tested plants were classed as diploid and mixoploid by flow cytometry. The cytological characteristics such as the stomata size and pollen grain diameter of the mixoploid were significantly larger than those of the diploid. Polyploidy induction is an effective method to increase plant performance.Key words: Fenugreek, colchicine, flow cytometry, polyploidy, mixoploidy