Serum Levels of Vitamin D in Diabetic Patients With and Without Retinopathy

Purpose: To evaluate the levels of vitamin D in the serum of diabetic patients with and without diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: Thirty patients with DR and thirty diabetic patients without retinopathy were included in this cross-sectional study. Based on ophthalmic examination, patients with DR were categorized into having non-proliferative retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative retinopathy (PDR). Patients were tested for fasting blood sugar (FBS), hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25 (OH) D), and creatinine levels in the serum, and for urine protein. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as a serum 25 (OH) D level < 20 ng/mL. Results: We found that all diabetic patients had mild vitamin D deficiency (serum 25 (OH) D level = 10–20 ng/mL). The mean serum 25 (OH) D concentration in patients with DR was lower than in those without DR (12.10 ± 14.62 ng/mL vs 15.61 ± 9.40 ng/mL, respectively, P = 0.012). Trace or more proteinuria was frequently present in patients with DR than in those without DR (56% in DR vs 30% in non-DR; P = 0.037). There were no significant differences in the FBS, HbA1C, and serum creatinine levels between patients with or without retinopathy. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that patients with DR had lower levels of serum vitamin D compared with those without retinopathy

Effect of deep brain stimulation on vocal motor control mechanisms in Parkinson's disease

Published online: March 07, 2019motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD); however, its effect on vocal motor function has yielded conflicted and highly variable results. The present study investigated the effects of STN-DBS on the mechanisms of vocal production and motor control. Methods: A total of 10 PD subjects with bilateral STN-DBS implantation were tested with DBS ON and OFF while they performed steady vowel vocalizations and received randomized upward or downward pitch-shift stimuli (±100 cents) in their voice auditory feedback. Results: Data showed that the magnitude of vocal compensation responses to pitch-shift stimuli was significantly attenuated during DBS ON vs. OFF (p = 0.012). This effect was direction-specific and was only observed when subjects raised their voice fundamental frequency (F0) in the opposite direction to downward stimuli (p = 0.019). In addition, we found that voice F0 perturbation (i.e. jitter) was significantly reduced during DBS ON vs. OFF (p = 0.022), and this DBS-induced modulation was positively correlated with the attenuation of vocal compensation responses to downward pitch-shift stimuli (r = +0.57, p = 0.028). Conclusions: These findings provide the first data supporting the role of STN in vocal F0 motor control in response to altered auditory feedback. The DBS-induced attenuation of vocal compensation responses may result from increased inhibitory effects of the subcortical hyperdirect (fronto-subthalamic) pathways on the vocal motor cortex, which can help stabilize voice F0 and ameliorate vocal motor symptoms by impeding PD subjects’ abnormal (i.e. overshooting) vocal responses to alterations in the auditory feedback

Tocotrienol rich fraction supplementation improved lipid profile and oxidative status in healthy older adults: A randomized controlled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vitamin E supplements containing tocotrienols are now being recommended for optimum health but its effects are scarcely known. The objective was to determine the effects of Tocotrienol Rich Fraction (TRF) supplementation on lipid profile and oxidative status in healthy older individuals at a dose of 160 mg/day for 6 months.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty-two subjects were recruited from two age groups: 35-49 years (n = 31) and above 50 years (n = 31), and randomly assigned to receive either TRF or placebo capsules for six months. Blood samples were obtained at 0, 3^rdand 6^thmonths.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HDL-cholesterol in the TRF-supplemented group was elevated after 6 months (p < 0.01). Protein carbonyl contents were markedly decreased (p < 0.001), whereas AGE levels were lowered in the > 50 year-old group (p < 0.05). Plasma levels of total vitamin E particularly tocopherols were significantly increased in the TRF-supplemented group after 3 months (p < 0.01). Plasma total tocotrienols were only increased in the > 50 year-old group after receiving 6 months of TRF supplementation. Changes in enzyme activities were only observed in the > 50 year-old group. SOD activity was decreased after 3 (p < 0.05) and 6 (p < 0.05) months of TRF supplementation whereas CAT activity was decreased after 3 (p < 0.01) and 6 (p < 0.05) months in the placebo group. GPx activity was increased at 6 months for both treatment and placebo groups (p < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The observed improvement of plasma cholesterol, AGE and antioxidant vitamin levels as well as the reduced protein damage may indicate a restoration of redox balance after TRF supplementation, particularly in individuals over 50 years of age.</p

A Survey on 6G Enabled Light Weight Authentication Protocol for UAVs, Security, Open Research Issues and Future Directions

This paper demonstrates a broad exploration of existing authentication and secure communication of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a ‘6G network’. We begin with an overview of existing surveys that deal with UAV authentication in 6G and beyond communications, standardization, applications and security. In order to highlight the impact of blockchain and UAV authentication in ‘UAV networks’ in future communication systems, we categorize the groups in this review into two comprehensive groups. The first group, named the Performance Group (PG), comprises the performance-related needs on data rates, latency, reliability and massive connectivity. Meanwhile, the second group, named the Specifications Group (SG), is included in the authentication-related needs on non-reputability, data integrity and audit ability. In the 6G network, with blockchain and UAV authentication, the network decentralization and resource sharing would minimize resource under-utilization thereby facilitating PG targets. Furthermore, through an appropriate selection of blockchain type and consensus algorithms, the SG’s needs of UAV authentication in 6G network applications can also be readily addressed. In this study, the combination of blockchain and UAV authentication in 6G network emergence is reviewed as a detailed review for secure and universal future communication. Finally, we conclude on the critical identification of challenges and future research directions on the subjec

Hyperparameter tuning and pipeline optimization via grid search method and tree-based AutoML in breast cancer prediction

Automated machine learning (AutoML) has been recognized as a powerful tool to build a system that automates the design and optimizes the model selection machine learning (ML) pipelines. In this study, we present a tree-based pipeline optimization tool (TPOT) as a method for determining ML models with significant performance and less complex breast cancer diagnostic pipelines. Some features of pre-processors and ML models are defined as expression trees and optimal gene programming (GP) pipelines, a stochastic search system. Features of radiomics have been presented as a guide for the ML pipeline selection from the breast cancer data set based on TPOT. Breast cancer data were used in a comparative analysis of the TPOT-generated ML pipelines with the selected ML classifiers, optimized by a grid search approach. The principal component analysis (PCA) random forest (RF) classification was proven to be the most reliable pipeline with the lowest complexity. The TPOT model selection technique exceeded the performance of grid search (GS) optimization. The RF classifier showed an outstanding outcome amongst the models in combination with only two pre-processors, with a precision of 0.83. The grid search optimized for support vector machine (SVM) classifiers generated a difference of 12% in comparison, while the other two classifiers, naïve Bayes (NB) and artificial neural network—multilayer perceptron (ANN-MLP), generated a difference of almost 39%. The method’s performance was based on sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis

Development of custom lead shield and strainer for targeted irradiation for mice in the gamma cell chamber

We presented a development of a custom lead shield and mouse strainer for targeted irradiation from the gamma-cell chamber. This study was divided into two parts i.e., to (i) fabricate the shield and strainer from a lead (Pb) and (ii) optimize the irradiation to the mice-bearing tumour model with 2 and 8 Gy absorbed doses. The lead shielding was fabricated into a cuboid shape with a canal on the top and a hole on the vertical side for the beam path. Respective deliveries doses of 28 and 75 Gy from gamma-cell were used to achieve 2 and 8 Gy absorbed doses at the tumour sites

Deep Brain Stimulation for Substance Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a significant public health issue with a high mortality rate. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has shown promising results in treating SUD in certain cases. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of DBS in the treatment of SUD and reduction of relapse rates. METHODS: We performed a thorough and methodical search of the existing scientific literature, adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, to identify 16 original studies that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. We used the evidence levels recommended by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine to assess bias. The R version 4.2.3 software was utilized to calculate the mean effect size. We estimated study heterogeneity by employing tau2 and I2 indices and conducting Cochran\u27s Q test. RESULTS: The results showed that DBS treatment resulted in a significant improvement in the clinical SUD scales of patients, with an average improvement of 59.6%. The observed relapse rate was 8%. The meta-analysis estimated a mean effect size of 55.9 [40.4; 71.4]. Heterogeneity analysis showed a large degree of heterogeneity among the included studies. Subgroup and meta-regression analysis based on age and SUD type suggested that DBS may be more effective for patients above 45 years of age, and for alcohol and opioid addiction compared to nicotine addiction. CONCLUSION: The current literature suggests that DBS has a moderate effect on SUD symptoms. However, the limited number of studies and small sample size indicate that more research is needed to better understand the factors that influence its effectiveness

The phase diagram of water at high pressures as obtained by computer simulations of the TIP4P/2005 model: the appearance of a plastic crystal phase

In this work the high pressure region of the phase diagram of water has been studied by computer simulation by using the TIP4P/2005 model of water. Free energy calculations were performed for ices VII and VIII and for the fluid phase to determine the melting curve of these ices. In addition molecular dynamics simulations were performed at high temperatures (440K) observing the spontaneous freezing of the liquid into a solid phase at pressures of about 80000 bar. The analysis of the structure obtained lead to the conclusion that a plastic crystal phase was formed. In the plastic crystal phase the oxygen atoms were arranged forming a body center cubic structure, as in ice VII, but the water molecules were able to rotate almost freely. Free energy calculations were performed for this new phase, and it was found that for TIP4P/2005 this plastic crystal phase is thermodynamically stable with respect to ices VII and VIII for temperatures higher than about 400K, although the precise value depends on the pressure. By using Gibbs Duhem simulations, all coexistence lines were determined, and the phase diagram of the TIP4P/2005 model was obtained, including ices VIII and VII and the new plastic crystal phase. The TIP4P/2005 model is able to describe qualitatively the phase diagram of water. It would be of interest to study if such a plastic crystal phase does indeed exist for real water. The nearly spherical shape of water makes possible the formation of a plastic crystal phase at high temperatures. The formation of a plastic crystal phase at high temperatures (with a bcc arrangements of oxygen atoms) is fast from a kinetic point of view occurring in about 2ns. This is in contrast to the nucleation of ice Ih which requires simulations of the order of hundreds of ns

69th Issue Info Kampus UiTM Sarawak Buletin : Januari 2015 / Professor Dato Dr. Jamil Hj Hamali... [et al.]

A very happy 2015 to UITM staff and students. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Yang Amat Berhormat Dato Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Haji Adenan bin Haji Satem and the Vice - Chancellor of UITM,Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato' Sri Professor Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar, FASc for the continues support given to UITM Sarawak.To the staff, i thank you all for your cooperation and dedication which have contributed to the tremendous development made by UITM Sarawak.In addition, i also encourage UITM Sarawak student to work hard and excel in their studies

Twelve-month observational study of children with cancer in 41 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction Childhood cancer is a leading cause of death. It is unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted childhood cancer mortality. In this study, we aimed to establish all-cause mortality rates for childhood cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the factors associated with mortality. Methods Prospective cohort study in 109 institutions in 41 countries. Inclusion criteria: children &lt;18 years who were newly diagnosed with or undergoing active treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms tumour, glioma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. Of 2327 cases, 2118 patients were included in the study. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality at 30 days, 90 days and 12 months. Results All-cause mortality was 3.4% (n=71/2084) at 30-day follow-up, 5.7% (n=113/1969) at 90-day follow-up and 13.0% (n=206/1581) at 12-month follow-up. The median time from diagnosis to multidisciplinary team (MDT) plan was longest in low-income countries (7 days, IQR 3-11). Multivariable analysis revealed several factors associated with 12-month mortality, including low-income (OR 6.99 (95% CI 2.49 to 19.68); p&lt;0.001), lower middle income (OR 3.32 (95% CI 1.96 to 5.61); p&lt;0.001) and upper middle income (OR 3.49 (95% CI 2.02 to 6.03); p&lt;0.001) country status and chemotherapy (OR 0.55 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.86); p=0.008) and immunotherapy (OR 0.27 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.91); p=0.035) within 30 days from MDT plan. Multivariable analysis revealed laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR 5.33 (95% CI 1.19 to 23.84); p=0.029) was associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusions Children with cancer are more likely to die within 30 days if infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, timely treatment reduced odds of death. This report provides crucial information to balance the benefits of providing anticancer therapy against the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children with cancer