Role of chemotherapy in the management of locally advanced carcinoma cervix

Background: This study was undertaken to evaluate role of chemotherapy in the management of locally advanced carcinoma cervix in J.N. Medical College Hospital, A.M.U. Aligarh.Methods: A total of 50 cases were studied. 25 cases received radiotherapy alone or surgery followed by radiotherapy. In remaining 25 cases, 18 patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery or radiotherapy where as seven patients out of 25 received concurrent chemo-radiation. SPSS software was used for data analysis.Results: Mean age of patient was 51.5 years. Majority of patients (60%) were in FIGO clinical stage IIB followed by stage IIIB (20%), stage IVA (12%) and stage IIA (8%). Out of 25 patients receiving chemotherapy, 68% showed CR whereas 20% showed PR, 4% showed minimal response and 8%showed PD while on chemotherapy. In radiotherapy group, CR was found in 56% and PR in 36% of cases.8% of patients showed PD while on radiotherapy. Patients with stage IIB disease showed best response with CR in 70% and PR in 16.66% cases. 6.66% of patients showed SD and 6.66% showed PD while on therapy. 55.55% of patients with SCC showed CR and 33.33% showed PR. In adenocarcinoma, CR was seen in 100% cases. In adenosquamous carcinoma, 66.66% showed CR whereas 33.33% showed PR. 61.9% of well differentiated carcinoma showed CR and 28.57% showed PR. 4.76% showed SD and 4.76% showed PD. 58.33% of moderately differentiated carcinoma showed CR, 37.5% showed PR and 4.17% showed SD. 20% of poorly differentiated carcinoma showed CR, 60% showed PR and PD was seen in 20%cases. Patients with bulkly tumours in present study, irrespective of their response to chemotherapy, appeared to have worse prognosis than patients with more advanced pelvic disease. These findings suggest that the biology of bulky stage lb, IIa & IIb disease may be more aggressive than that of more extensive locally advanced disease.Conclusions: Chemotherapy can be considered as an adjuvant to available modalities of treatment, like surgery or radiotherapy, to improve the overall survival of cancer cervix patients

Status of introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Pakistan

Streptococcus pneumoniae infection causes a wide spectrum of diseases ranging from acute otitis media to Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD) presenting as pneumonia, meningitis, joint effusions, bacteraemia and septicaemia. Pakistan was the first country in the South Asian region to introduce PCV-10 within the routine immunisation program. Government of Pakistan, with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and other partners, introduced PCV-10 in phased manner, starting October 2012. Vaccination schedules matched other age-appropriate vaccines offered within existing Routine Immunisation (RI) schedules and were offered at 6, 10 and 14 weeks after birth. Catch up immunization was not done. Few studies conducted before vaccine introduction showed that the burden of IPD and the serotype distribution was similar to other countries in the region. The selection of PCV-10 instead of PCV-13 in Pakistan\u27s Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) was based largely on earlier availability of PCV-10, and the impression that there would be marginal gain in serotype coverage from a higher valence vaccine. A few studies are currently underway to assess the impact of PCV introduction in Pakistan\u27s EPI

VRHAZE: The simulation of synthetic haze based on visibility range for dehazing method in single image

Outdoor images are typically degraded by light scattering and absorption from aerosols, such as dust, mist, and smoke in the atmosphere. Because of poor visibility, dimmed brightness, low contrast, and colour distortion, these phenomena affect the captured image. Therefore, it is a critical challenge to recover pictures taken in a haze condition, which is called image dehazing. The primary aim of image dehazing is to improve details on visibility, edge, and texture and retain the image structure and colours without data loss. There are no proven benchmarks for their assessment, despite the many algorithms suggested for single image dehazing. In previous publications, arbitrary comparisons were mostly focused on a small number of images, with different publications using different sets of images. This paper presents VRHAZE, a new dataset that includes eight image pairs of hazy and corresponding outdoor images that are haze-free (ground-truth). Most of the current hazy database presented in a single image simulated synthetic haze indicated complicated calculation of the depth map. Unlike most of the current dehazing databases, a synthetic haze, which is determined by the atmospheric scattering algorithm derived from the actual distance from the camera to the scene object, has simulated hazy images. In the separate range, the synthetic haze derivation referred from the meteorological range explicitly based on haze conditions. On a clear day as referred to as a low Air Pollutant Index, this experiment simulated synthetic haze in the Malaysian outdoor scene. The haze simulation illustrates how this VRHAZE approach can lead to better outcomes in the measurement of image quality than the current state-of-the-art dehazing method

Prognostics of Cyclin-D1 expression with chemoradiation response in patients of locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: Cyclin-D1 has been strongly implicated in cell cycle proliferation particularly in the G1/S checkpoint in the cell cycle, and prognosis in many human malignancies. The present study evaluates its prognostic significance with chemoradiation response in patients of locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Materials and Methods: A total of 97 OSCC patients (females = 19 and males = 78), aged 20-67 years and stage III/IV were recruited. Treatment response was assessed according to World Health Organization criteria. Cyclin-D1 expression in tumor tissue was estimated by immunohistochemical method and quantified as percentage positive nuclei. Results: The Cyclin-D1 expression showed significant (P < 0.01 or P < 0.001) association with tumor size, lymph node status, and clinical stage. After chemoradiation, there were 53.6% complete response (CR) and 34.0% partial response (PR) in primary tumor, and 49.5% CR and 39.2% PR in lymph node; giving an overall response rate of 85.6%. Further, the mean Cyclin-D1 expression showed significant (P < 0.05 or P < 0.001) and inverse association with chemoradiation responses (tumor size, lymph node status and overall treatment response). The 2-year progression-free and overall survival (OS) was 95.89% and 83.31% respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis found site of primary tumor, clinical stage, and Cyclin-D1 expression the significant (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) and independent prognostic markers of OS and among these Cyclin-D1 expression showed the worst prognosis. The high Cyclin-D1 expression (>50%) also showed significantly lower survival in OSCC patients when compared with those had low (<10%) and moderate expressions (10-50%) (Logrank test: χ2 = 44.42, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The high Cyclin-D1 expression may serve as a poor prognostic marker in OSCC

The dynamic transmission map for dehazing method in single image with tropical atmospheric condition

Normally, outdoor images are degraded by light scattering and absorption from the atmosphere's dust, mist, haze, and smoke. These affect the image captured and cause poor visibility, dimmed luminosity, low contrast, and colour distortion. Therefore, it is crucial to restoring images captured, especially in haze conditions called image dehazing. The crucial aim of image dehazing is to improve the details on visibility, edge, and texture and retain the structure and colours of the image without data loss. Most algorithmic methods, considering the large number of algorithms suggested for single image dehazing, introduce dehazing at a certain haze level. There is a lack of a dehazing algorithm focused on the visibility range to overcome several haze levels. This paper proposes an improvement of the dehazing algorithm based on the meteorological visibility range with a dynamic transmission map to fix this problem This algorithm focuses on removing haze at different levels based on the determination of the visibility range, which is different from most existing dehazing algorithms. The dehazing algorithm emphasizes this proposed method contribute to better image quality than the existing state-of-the-art dehazing process

Developing a Test-bed for Distributed Search by Mobile Sensors

Abstract-- The goal of this Systems and Information Engineering Capstone project is to develop a physical test-bed in order to analyze the efficiency of swarmbased distributed search algorithms. This test-bed demonstrates a distributed search system using actual moving search agents and target detection. The goal of this test-bed is to provide a tool that can be used in future research to better understand swarm-based distributed search by mobile sensors. I

Exploring the association of ESR1 and ESR2 gene SNPs with polycystic ovary syndrome in human females: a comprehensive association study

Abstract Background Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects a significant proportion of human females worldwide and is characterized by hormonal, metabolic, and reproductive dysfunctions, including infertility, irregular menstrual cycles, acanthosis nigricans, and hirsutism. Mutations in the estrogen receptor genes ESR1 and ESR2, involved in normal follicular development and ovulation, can contribute to development of the PCOS. The present study focuses on investigating the potential correlation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ESR1 and ESR2 genes and the incidence of this syndrome. Methods For this study, SNPs in ESR1 and ESR2 genes were retrieved from the ENSEMBL database and analyzed for their effect on mutated proteins using different bioinformatics tools including SIFT, PolyPhen, CADD, REVEL, MetaLR, I-Mutant, CELLO2GO, ProtParam, SOPMA, SWISS-MODEL and HDDOCK. Results All the SNPs documented in the present study were deleterious. All the SNPs except rs1583384537, rs1450198518, and rs78255744 decreased protein stability. Two variants rs1463893698 and rs766843910 in the ESR2 gene altered the localization of mutated proteins i.e. in addition to the nucleus, proteins were also found in mitochondria and extracellular, respectively. SNPs rs104893956 in ESR1 and rs140630557, rs140630557, rs1596423459, rs766843910, rs1596405923, rs762454979 and rs1384121511 in ESR2 gene significantly changed the secondary structure of proteins (2D). SNPs that markedly changed 3D configuration included rs1554259481, rs188957694 and rs755667747 in ESR1 gene and rs1463893698, rs140630557, rs1596423459, rs766843910, rs1596405923, rs762454979 and rs1384121511 in ESR2 gene. Variants rs1467954450 (ESR1) and rs140630557 (ESR2) were identified to reduce the binding tendency of ESRα and β receptors with estradiol as reflected by the docking scores i.e. -164.97 and -173.23, respectively. Conclusion Due to the significant impact on the encoded proteins, these variants might be proposed as biomarkers to predict the likelihood of developing PCOS in the future and for diagnostic purposes

Body mass index and altered lipid profile as major risk markers for breast cancer progression: a cross-sectional study of postmenopausal women in Pakistan

Abstract Background In Pakistan, the death rate for post-menopausal women with breast cancer is significant due to late detection and delayed referral to proper facilities. There are a few reports on Pakistan’s epidemiology and breast cancer risk factors. There are modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors associated with the development of breast carcinoma; of which body mass index (BMI), central obesity, and lipid profile are considered as major risk markers. Methods This was a cross-sectional analytical study. A total of 384 women constituted the present study sample. Purposive sampling was used to collect 192 confirmed new breast cancer cases throughout the study. By using basic random sampling, an equal number of controls were chosen. Studied parameters included age, fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, triglyceride, serum high-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, weight, height, BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio. The inclusion criteria of this study were post-menopausal women (45–65 years) in Pakistan. The confirmation of breast carcinoma was done through histopathology. Breast cancer occurrence was taken as a dependent variable, whereas BMI, central obesity, and lipid profile were taken as independent variables. Results Studied risk factors (cholesterol, BMI, and central obesity) significantly correlated with breast cancer. Cholesterol has a significantly high positive correlation (0.646) with breast cancer. BMI has a positive significant correlation (0.491) with breast cancer, and central obesity has a low but positive significant correlation (0.266) with breast cancer. Moreover, the binary logistic regression model also showed a significant association between biochemical factors and breast cancer occurrence. Regression analysis depicted a linear relationship between a dependent variable (breast cancer occurrence) and independent variables (central obesity, cholesterol, BMI). Conclusion Postmenopausal overweight (central obesity), increased BMI and high cholesterol levels are major risk factors for breast cancer. Moreover, high total cholesterol proved to be the most significant risk marker for the occurrence of breast cancer in post-menopausal women of Pakistan