Risk factors of Oral cancer- A hospital based case control study

Oral cancer is a highly prevalent malignancy in Pakistan. Among various risk factors associated with this neoplasm, habits such as smoked and smokeless tobacco usage, betel quid, and betel nut consumption are the major culprits in our society. In the present study, we aimed to ascertain prevalent risk factors for OC in our population and to compare our findings with healthy controls to establish their significance. A hospital-based case control study was conducted at Dow University of Health Sciences, Pakistan from January 2015 ? September 2016. Information pertaining to unhealthy oral habits was obtained from 62 oral cancer patients (cases) and 62 healthy controls on specifically designed proforma by the principal investigator. Smokeless tobacco is strong, independent risk factor for oral cancer development in our study population. Buccal mucosa is the predominantly affected site (71%) which corresponds with high smokeless tobacco use. All studied habits increase risk of oral cancer as demonstrated by high odds ratio. Despite advancement in our knowledge and understanding of carcinogenic potential of these hazardous substances not enough efforts have been put forth to effectively control their widespread sale and consumption, particularly by the youth in our society

Prevalence of Submandibular Gland Metastasis in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of Oral Cavity

Background: The oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the most common malignant tumor of the oral cavity, have aggressive biological behavior and is treated with surgical excision, lymph node dissection and submandibular gland excision. However, the submandibular gland is rarely involved by OSCC. The study aimed to identify the prevalence of submandibular gland involvement with metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity patients at a tertiary care center in Pakistan. Methods: The oral cancer patients (139) having wide excisions with neck dissection cases were included from the Dow Diagnostic Research and Reference Laboratory (DDRRL), between May 2017-2019. The cancer cases summary was recorded in a specifically designed protocol. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 21. The Chi-square test was used to find an association between categorical variables and p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The male to female ratio was 2.7: 1. A wide age range (20-84 years) with a mean age of 46±13 years. Most patients 48 (34.5%) belonged to >51 years of age group. The most frequently involved sites were Buccal mucosa 75 (52.9%), followed by tongue 24 (17.45%). A significant association was recorded between tumor size and tumor thickness (p<0.005), as well as tumor size and histological grade (p=0.023). In this study, only 3 (2.1%) submandibular glands were involved by metastatic carcinoma. Conclusion: The involvement of the Submandibular gland with metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma prevalence was very low to warrant efforts towards the preservation of gland in early-stage patients. Keywords: Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Submandibular Gland; Neck Dissection

Screening of Metal Oxides and Hydroxides for Arsenic Removal from Water Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Arsenic in groundwater is a harmful and hazardous substance that must be removed to protect human health and safety. Adsorption, particularly using metal oxides, is a cost-effective way to treat contaminated water. These metal oxides must be selected systematically to identify the best material and optimal operating conditions for the removal of arsenic from water. Experimental research has been the primary emphasis of prior work, which is time-consuming and costly. The previous simulation studies have been limited to specific adsorbents such as iron oxides. It is necessary to study other metal oxides to determine which ones are the most effective at removing arsenic from water. In this work, a molecular simulation computational framework using molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations was developed to investigate the adsorption of arsenic using various potential metal oxides. The molecular structures have been optimized and proceeded with sorption calculations to observe the adsorption capabilities of metal oxides. In this study, 15 selected metal oxides were screened at a pressure of 100 kPa and a temperature of 298 K for As(V) in the form of HAsO4 at pH 7. Based on adsorption capacity calculations for selected metal oxides/hydroxides, aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3), ferric hydroxide (FeOOH), lanthanum hydroxide La(OH)3, and stannic oxide (SnO2) were the most effective adsorbents with adsorption capacities of 197, 73.6, 151, and 42.7 mg/g, respectively, suggesting that metal hydroxides are more effective in treating arsenic-contaminated water than metal oxides. The computational results were comparable with previously published literature with a percentage error of 1%. Additionally, SnO2, which is rather unconventional to be used in this application, demonstrates potential for arsenic removal and could be further explored. The effects of pH from 1 to 13, temperature from 281.15 to 331.15 K, and pressure from 100 to 350 kPa were studied. Results revealed that adsorption capacity decreased for the high-temperature applications while experiencing an increase in pressure-promoted adsorption. Furthermore, response surface methodology (RSM) has been employed to develop a regression model to describe the effect of operating variables on the adsorption capacity of screened adsorbents for arsenic removal. The RSM models utilizing CCD (central composite design) were developed for Al(OH)3, La(OH)3, and FeOOH, having R2 values 0.92, 0.67, and 0.95, respectively, suggesting that the models developed were correct

Comparative clinical and epidemiological study of central nervous system tumors in Pakistan and global database

Introduction: Brain tumors encompass a broad group showing wide geographic and ethnic variation in incidence. In keeping view the critical dearth of epidemiological data on brain tumors from Pakistan we undertook this study, with the aim to first describe spectrum of brain tumors at our center, and then to compare our results with prevalence pattern in global population using TCGA clinical dataset. Material and methods: Data was retrospectively collected from Histopathology archives of Dow Diagnostic Reference and Research Lab (DDRRL), Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Pakistan. Clinical data set for Low Grade Gliomas (LGG) and Glioblastoma (GBM) cohort (TCGA) was downloaded from cbioportal (www.cbioportal.org). All the analyses were performed in IBM SPSS v. 24 and P value 36 years). Significant difference was recorded between our centre and global dataset with respect to age (P < 0.0001), common histological subtype (P < 0.0001), and histological grade (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Present study shows significant variation in CNS tumor prevalence pattern between our population and global data highlighting the need for epidemiological and scientific studies to delineate the environmental and genetic risk factors pertaining to our population

Forensic analysis of offline signature using multi-layer perception and random forest

Forensic applications having great importance in the digital era, for the investigation of different types of crimes. The forensic analysis includes Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test, crime scene video and images,, forged documents analysis, computer-based data recovery, fingerprint identifications, handwritten signature verification and facial recognition. The signatures are divided into two types i.e. genuine and forgery. The forgery signature can lead to the huge amount of financial losses and create other legal issues as well. The process of forensic investigation for the verification of genune signature and detection of forgery signature in law related departements has been manula and the same can be automated using digital image processing techniques, and automated forensic signature verificatiob applications. The signatures represent any person's authority to the forged signature may also be used in a crime. Research has been done to automate the forensic investigation process, but due to the internal verification of signatures, the automation of signature verification still remains a challenging problem for researchers. In this paper, we have further extended previous research carried out in [1-2] and proposed a Forensic signature verification model based on two classifiers i.e. Multi-layer Perception (MLP) and Random Forest for the classification of genuine and forgery signatures

Association of Kaiso and partner proteins in oral squamous cell carcinoma

الملخص: أهداف البحث: تهدف هذه الدراسة لتحديد تعبير البروتين وتوطين الخلايا الفرعية لبروتينات إي-كادهيرين، ب120-كاتينين وكايسو في سرطان الفم ولدراسة التعبير البروتيني عن سايكلن-د1 وسي-ميك؛ وتمييز علاقتها وموقعها الخلوي مقارنة بالتعبير لبروتين كايسو. طريقة البحث: تم إجراء التصنيف النسيجي وفقا لمعايير ''بوردر''. تم الحصول على بيانات التعبير والموقع الخلوي لبروتينات إي-كادهيرين، و ب120-كاتينين، وكايسو، سايكلن-د1، وسي-ميك، واي سي باستخدام الكيمياء الهستولوجية المناعية. النتائج: من أصل 47 سرطان فم، أظهر 36٪ تعبيرا منخفضا عن إي-كادهيرين و 34٪ ب120-كاتينين منخفضا. تم التعرف على تعبير كايسو المنخفض في 78 ٪ من عينات الورم. شوهد الموقع الخلوي الزائغ في الهيولى لبروتين ب120-كاتينين في 80.8 ٪ من الحالات. تم تقدير الموقع الخلوي لبروتين كايسو في الهيولى في 87٪ من أنسجة الورم، بينما 29.7٪ افتقرت إلى بروتين كايسو داخل النواة. ارتبط تعبير بروتين كايسو بشكل كبير بالتعبير عن سايكلن-د1 ولكن ليس مع سي-ميك. الاستنتاجات: حددت الدراسة الحالية تغيرا في الموقع الخلوي لبروتين كايسو في سرطان الفم. يجب التحقق من أهمية هذا فيما يتعلق بالسرطان الفموي والتشخيص بالورم مع مزيد من الدراسات باستخدام أحجام عينات أكبر وأدوات جزيئية أكثر حساسية. Abstract: Objectives:: 1. Identification of protein expression and subcellular localization of E-cadherin (E-cad), p120 catenin (P120ctn), and Kaiso in oral cancer (OC). 2. To study the protein expression of cyclin D1 and c-Myc (Kaiso targets) and determine their relationship with the expression and localization of Kaiso. Methods: Histological grading was performed in accordance with Broder's criteria. Expression and localization data for E-cad, p120ctn, Kaiso, cyclin D1, and c-Myc were acquired using immunohistochemistry. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. The chi-square test was used to measure the statistical significance of associations, with p < 0.05 as statistically significant. Results: Of 47 OC cases, 36% showed low E-cad expression and 34% showed low p120ctn. Low Kaiso expression was recognized in 78% of tumor specimens. Aberrant cytoplasmic localization of p120ctn was seen in 80.8% cases. Cytoplasmic Kaiso localization was appreciated in 87% of tumor tissues, whereas 29.7% lacked any nuclear Kaiso. Kaiso expression was significantly associated with the expression of cyclin D1 but not with c-Myc. Conclusion: The present study identified a change in the localization of Kaiso in OC. The significance of this in relation to OC and tumor prognosis needs to be investigated with further studies using larger sample sizes and more sensitive molecular tools

Toward Efficient Land Cover Mapping: An Overview of the National Land Representation System and Land Cover Map 2015 of Bangladesh

In response to prevailing classification inconsistency between land cover maps, developed by different organizations in different times at different scales, an object-based National Land Representation System (NLRS) for Bangladesh has been developed. The process, which began in 2013 and was completed in 2016, brought together several national organizations and involved an extensive process of consultation, data collection, translation, and analysis of existing land cover/use classification systems. The process focused on the interpretation of three legends from historic national land cover/use maps. Field inventory data were collected from over 1000 sites across the country to assist the process of land characterization and the development of a dynamic and representative overview of land cover and land use in Bangladesh. The system has been applied to the development of a wall-to-wall national land cover map for the year 2015. In this article, the methodological process and results of NLRS formulation and land cover map 2015 are presented. We also provide examples of how this interoperable system and the land cover dataset are being used for variety of applications including national forest resources assessment, estimation of REDD+ activity data, integration of biophysical and socioeconomic information, and semantic similarity assessment