The Role of Self-Accumulated Peptide Amphiphile in Spinal Cord Injury Functional Reclamation

Injection into an experimentally injured spinal cord of a self-assembling peptide amphiphile (PA) that displays an IKVAV epitope reduced glial scarring and improved functional reclamation (Tysseling-Mattiace et al., 2008). Injection of a material that lacked this epitope did not alter outcome suggesting that signaling by the IKVAV epitope was central to the beneficial effects of IKVAV-PA. However the mechanical properties of implanted materials may also alter tissue and cell behavior in vivo (Discher et al., 2005). We therefore explored whether the mechanical properties of PAs might affect outcome after spinal cord injury. By treating animals with a spinal cord injury with different PAs that varied in their mechanical properties without epitope presentation, we found that the beneficial effects of the PAs are primarily dependent upon the presentation of a bioactive epitope presentation rather than the mechanical properties of the PA scaffold

Small Integrin-Binding Ligand N-Linked Glycoproteins (Siblings): A Study On Human Salivary Gland Cancer

Salivary gland carcinomas constitute a rare but deadly group of head and neck cancers, but timely diagnosis is often delayed due to inherent variability in etiology, heterogeneity and histopathological characterization. SIBLINGs are a family of secreted glycophosphoproteins that include osteopontin (OPN), bone sialoprotein (BSP), dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), dentin matrix protein-1 (DMP-1), and matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE). SIBLINGs were first discovered in bone and teeth, and were considered to be exclusively expressed in mineralized tissue. In addition to mineralized tissue, SIBLINGs have now been shown to have variable expression in normal, non-mineralized tissue and in cancers. However, there have been no studies evaluating SIBLING expression in human salivary gland cancers. Our study tested the hypothesis that SIBLINGs, specifically, BSP, DSPP and OPN, would be significantly overexpressed in human salivary gland cancer. We also hypothesized that the cancer secretome would influence SIBLING expression in normal salivary gland cells. Methods: Normal and cancerous human salivary gland tissue obtained from the NDRI were processed using routine immunohistochemistry techniques to evaluate expression of BSP, DSP, and OPN. In addition normal HSG cell line and cancer HTB-41 cell line were evaluated using immunofluorescence techniques to localize expression of BSP, DSP and OPN. Normal HSG, cancer HTB-41 and HSG* cells (normal HSG cells exposed to a cancer HTB-41 secretome) were propagated using routine cell culture techniques for 24, 48, and 72 hours. Western blotting techniques were utilized ii to quantify and compare SIBLING protein expression levels in HSG, HTB-41 and HSG* cells. Normal HSG, cancer HTB-41, and HSG* cells were processed via immunoflourescence in order to observe localization of SIBLINGs. Results: Immunohistochemistry and western blot showed increased expression of SIBLINGs in human salivary gland cancers. Furthermore, immunoflourescence revealed distinct localization of SIBLING proteins in HSG and HTB-41 cell lines. In terms of HSG*, it was found that cells exposed to cancer secretome exhibited similar SIBLING expression to HTB-41. Conclusion: Our studies confirm that SIBLING proteins are selectively expressed in human salivary gland cancer. Also, the cancer secretome is found to affect SIBLING expression in normal cells, similar to HTB-41 cancer cell lines

Comparative Efficacy of Chitosan with or Without Honey on Cutaneous Wound Healing in Donkeys

The domesticated donkey, derived from the African wild ass, has played a crucial role in human history for over 5,000 years, serving as a working and pack animal. However, donkeys often suffer from skin wounds and injuries due to various factors, including equipment use, road accidents, and lack of veterinary care. Wound healing is a complex process involving inflammation, proliferation, and maturation phases, with impaired cell proliferation potentially delaying healing. Equines, including donkeys, are particularly susceptible to traumatic skin wounds, with limb wounds healing more slowly due to factors such as tissue loss, contamination, and excessive skin tension. In such cases, wound healing by second intention is common but can lead to complications. Chitosan, a biopolymer derived from the shells of crustaceans, has shown promise in promoting wound healing. It helps with tissue granulation, collagen deposition, and tissue regeneration, while also preventing wound contamination and maintaining a sterile environment. Honey, with its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties, is another natural remedy that accelerates wound healing and is often used in combination with chitosan for optimal results. This biologically-based approaches hold potential for improving the healing of donkey wounds and preventing infections, offering safer and more effective alternatives to traditional wound care

Non-Adherence to WHO recommendations regarding infant feeding practices results in dilemma of malnourishment: A community-based prospective cohort study conducted in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: The prevalence of chronic malnutrition and its associated morbid outcomes has been a significant cause of health loss globally, affecting millions of children hampering their mental, physical, social, and immune system development. World Health Organization\u27s (WHO) recommendations presenting infant feeding guidelines have largely controlled this burden. However, developing countries including Pakistan have failed to promote these guidelines and still succumb to a huge burden of morbidity and mortality secondary to malnourishment among infants.Methodology: Our study is a prospective cohort including 300 infants without predisposing congenital anomaly, followed from 6 months to 18 months of age. The primary outcome involved was classifying patients as malnourished based on anthropometric measurements, assessing the prevalence of co-morbidities and comparison of results in compliance with WHO guidelines.Results: A total of 276 infants were included and the rest were lost to follow-up. Stratification on socioeconomic status was done; 53% of infants were diagnosed as malnourished, either due to stunted growth, underweight, or both. The odds of development of malnourishment based on non-adherence to WHO guidelines on breastfeeding were 2.87 (p=0.001). The incidence of morbid complications was higher in the malnourished group, including gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections.Conclusion: The implementation of WHO recommendations on infant feeding techniques can prove to be a pivotal instrument to control the soaring index of morbidities and mortalities associated with malnourishment. A strong focus on parental education and awareness among masses is required for its promulgation and controlling the infant health burden linked to this preventable condition

Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124. Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98). Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Performance Evaluation of Soft Computing for Modeling the Strength Properties of Waste Substitute Green Concrete

The waste disposal crisis and development of various types of concrete simulated by the construction industry has encouraged further research to safely utilize the wastes and develop accurate predictive models for estimation of concrete properties. In the present study, sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), a by-product from the agricultural industry, was processed and used in the production of green concrete. An advanced variant of machine learning, i.e., multi expression programming (MEP), was then used to develop predictive models for modeling the mechanical properties of SCBA substitute concrete. The most significant parameters, i.e., water-to-cement ratio, SCBA replacement percentage, amount of cement, and quantity of coarse and fine aggregate, were used as modeling inputs. The MEP models were developed and trained by the data acquired from the literature; furthermore, the modeling outcome was validated through laboratory obtained results. The accuracy of the models was then assessed by statistical criteria. The results revealed a good approximation capacity of the trained MEP models with correlation coefficient above 0.9 and root means squared error (RMSE) value below 3.5 MPa. The results of cross-validation confirmed a generalized outcome and the resolved modeling overfitting. The parametric study has reflected the effect of inputs in the modeling process. Hence, the MEP-based modeling followed by validation with laboratory results, cross-validation, and parametric study could be an effective approach for accurate modeling of the concrete properties.publishedVersio

Microcosm Study on the Potential of Aquatic Macrophytes for Phytoremediation of Phosphorus-Induced Eutrophication

Phosphorous (P) is one of the primary nutrients to cause the eutrophication of water bodies. This process leads to algal blooms and anoxic conditions which have consequences in the form of mortality of aquatic animals, and impaired water quality. Aquatic macrophytes could be the promising candidates that can filter P from water contaminated with high levels of nutrients. In the present microcosm research, two types of floating macrophytes, i.e., salvinia floater (Salvinia natans) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) were deployed to compare their P-removal rates and efficiency under different incubation times (72, 168, and 264 h intervals). Plants were exposed to different treatments, i.e., (1) P-fed plants, (2) P-starved plants, (3) control treatments, and (4) synthetic wastewater treatment. Both plant species showed substantial P-removal efficiency from P-eutrophicated solutions and removed P-amounts were significantly correlated (R2 ≅ 1 at p ≤ 0.05) with P-accumulated in plant biomass. Plants in the P-starved state showed significantly higher P-removal rates and removal efficiency compared to plants without P-starvation. When Salvinia natans was exposed to 10 mg L−1 of P for 264 h of incubation, 21 g of fresh biomass was recorded during the P-starved phase, more than P. stratiotes (14 g) under similar conditions. The P. stratiotes removed 86.04% of P from 5 mg L−1 P solution, 53.76% from 10 mg L−1 P solution and 66.84% from SWW in the P-starved phase whereas, removal efficiency without the P-starvation phase was 33.03% from 5 mg L−1 P solution, 39.66% from 10 mg L−1 P solution, and 31.64% from SWW after 264 h interval. Compared to S. natans, P. stratiotes removed 86.0% P from a 5 mg L−1 P solution, whereas S. natans removed 56.6% when exposed to the same P solution (5 mg L−1 P solution). Bioconcentration factor (BCF) values were higher in Salvinia natans 10.5 (0.5 mg L−1 P solutions) and 1.5 (5 mg L−1 P solutions) compared to 9.9 and 1.3 of Pistia stratiotes under P-starved conditions. The present work highlighted that these aquatic plants can be a potential green sustainable solution for purifying water with excessive nutrients (N and P), especially waters of wetlands, lagoons, and ponds

Machine Learning-Based Modeling with Optimization Algorithm for Predicting Mechanical Properties of Sustainable Concrete

In this research, multiexpression programming (MEP) has been employed to model the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength of waste sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) concrete. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used to fine-tune the hyperparameter of the proposed MEP. The formulation of SCBA concrete was correlated with five input parameters. To train and test the proposed model, a large number of data were collected from the published literature. Afterward, waste SCBA was collected, processed, and characterized for partial replacement of cement in concrete. Concrete specimens with varying proportion of SCBA were prepared in the laboratory, and results were used for model validation. The performance of the developed models was then evaluated by statistical criteria and error assessment tests. The result shows that the performance of MEP with PSO algorithm significantly enhanced its accuracy. The essential input variables affecting the output were revealed, and the parametric analysis confirms that the models are accurate and have captured the essential properties of SCBA. Finally, the cross validation ensured the generalized capacity and robustness of the models. Hence, the adopted approach, i.e., MEP-based modeling with PSO, could be an effective tool for accurate modeling of the concrete properties, thus directly contributing to the construction sector by consuming waste and protecting the environment

Optimize Elasticity in Cloud Computing using Container Based Virtualization

Cloud computing emphasis on using and underlying infrastructure in a much efficient way. That’s why it is gaining immense importance in today’s industry. Like every other field, cloud computing also has some key feature for estimating the standard of working of every cloud provider. Elasticity is one of these key features. The term elasticity in cloud computing is directly related to response time (a server takes towards user request during resource providing and de-providing. With increase in demand and a huge shift of industry towards cloud, the problem of handling user requests also arisen. For a long time, the concept of virtualization held industry with all its merits and demerits to handle multiple requests over cloud. Biggest disadvantage of virtualization shown heavy load on underlying kernel or server but from past some decades an alternative technology emerges and get popular in a short time due to great efficiency known as containerization. In this paper we will discuss about elasticity in cloud, working of containers to see how it can help to improve elasticity in cloud for this will using some tools for analyzing two technologies i.e. virtualization and containerization. We will observe whether containers show less response time than virtual machine. If yes that’s mean elasticity can be improved in cloud on larger scale which may improve cloud efficiency to a large extent and will make cloud more eye catching. Full Tex