Blood-sampling collection prior to surgery may have a significant influence upon biomarker concentrations measured

Abstract Background Biomarkers can be subtle tools to aid the diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of therapy and disease progression. The validation of biomarkers is a cumbersome process involving many steps. Serum samples from lung cancer patients were collected in the framework of a larger study for evaluation of biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer. The analysis of biomarker levels measured revealed a noticeable difference in certain biomarker values that exhibited a dependence of the time point and setting of the sampling. Biomarker concentrations differed significantly if taken before or after the induction of anesthesia and if sampled via venipuncture or arterial catheter. Methods To investigate this observation, blood samples from 13 patients were drawn 1–2 days prior to surgery (T1), on the same day by venipuncture (T2) and after induction of anesthesia via arterial catheter (T3). The biomarkers Squamous Cell Carcinoma antigen (CanAG SCC EIA, Fujirebio Diagnostics, Malvern, USA), Carcinoembrionic Antigen (CEA), and CYFRA 21-1 (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) were analyzed. Results SCC showed a very strong effect in relation to the sampling time and procedure. While the first two points in time (T1; T2) were highly comparable (median fold-change: 0.84; p = 0.7354; correlation ρ = 0.883), patients showed a significant increase (median fold-change: 4.96; p = 0.0017; correlation ρ = -0.036) in concentration when comparing T1 with the sample time subsequent to anesthesia induction (T3). A much weaker increase was found for CYFRA 21-1 at T3 (median fold-change: 1.40; p = 0.0479). The concentration of CEA showed a very small, but systematic decrease (median fold-change: 0.72; p = 0.0039). Conclusions In this study we show the unexpectedly marked influence of blood withdrawal timing (before vs. after anesthesia) and procedure (venous versus arterial vessel puncture) has on the concentration of the protein biomarker SCC and to a less extent upon CYFRA21-1. The potential causes for these effects remain to be elucidated in subsequent studies, however these findings highlight the importance of a standardized, controlled blood collection protocol for biomarker detection

Tumor suppression in mice lacking GABARAP, an Atg8/LC3 family member implicated in autophagy, is associated with alterations in cytokine secretion and cell death

GABARAP belongs to an evolutionary highly conserved gene family that has a fundamental role in autophagy. There is ample evidence for a crosstalk between autophagy and apoptosis as well as the immune response. However, the molecular details for these interactions are not fully characterized. Here, we report that the ablation of murine GABARAP, a member of the Atg8/LC3 family that is central to autophagosome formation, suppresses the incidence of tumor formation mediated by the carcinogen DMBA and results in an enhancement of the immune response through increased secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-2 and IFN-γ from stimulated macrophages and lymphocytes. In contrast, TGF-β1 was significantly reduced in the serum of these knockout mice. Further, DMBA treatment of these GABARAP knockout mice reduced the cellularity of the spleen and the growth of mammary glands through the induction of apoptosis. Gene expression profiling of mammary glands revealed significantly elevated levels of Xaf1, an apoptotic inducer and tumor-suppressor gene, in knockout mice. Furthermore, DMBA treatment triggered the upregulation of pro-apoptotic (Bid, Apaf1, Bax), cell death (Tnfrsf10b, Ripk1) and cell cycle inhibitor (Cdkn1a, Cdkn2c) genes in the mammary glands. Finally, tumor growth of B16 melanoma cells after subcutaneous inoculation was inhibited in GABARAP-deficient mice. Together, these data provide strong evidence for the involvement of GABARAP in tumorigenesis in vivo by delaying cell death and its associated immune-related response

Produção orgânica de calêndula: um estudo de caso.

Apresenta-se caracterização do processo de produção agrícola orgânica de Calendula officinalis L. no Estado de Santa Catarina, evidenciando particularidades e discrepâncias frente aos modelos já descritos na literatura especializada, a partir de visitas a campo, observação participante e entrevistas com um produtor de plantas medicinais. Identificaram-se como principais particularidades a saúde na agricultura familiar, demonstrada pela prática da cultura orgânica, além do controle de pragas e manuseio da produção. Os principais problemas ou divergências evidenciados foram: características do solo; época de plantio da calêndula e suas etapas posteriores, como transplante e floração. Aspectos da colheita foram discrepantes quanto ao período do dia indicado para o procedimento, bem como a ausência de informações do produtor quanto à existência de outros incentivos governamentais ao setor agrícola. Recomenda-se aos extensionistas rurais e/ou instituições competentes que busquem orientar os produtores orgânicos de calêndula para promover a adequação das práticas de cultivo dessa espécie medicinal

Hemipteran Insect Pests Associated with Different Agricultural Crops from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (M.S), India

A field investigation was conducted in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, from May 2023 to April 2024 to look into the seasonal occurrence of hemipteran pests in different agricultural sectors. In this study, 10 hemipteran insect species from 9 genera, 6 families, and 8 subfamilies were collected from the study area. The Aphididae family was the most abundant. This study aimed to give a brief overview of hemipteran insects and the damages they cause to agricultural crops in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district

Evaluation of leaf extract of Lantana camara aginast seed mycoflora - biopesticides approach

The Seed treatment with pant extract of Lantana camara does not have any adverse effect on the germinated of seeds even after the treatment for 30 minutes. The seed were treated with aqneous extract, alcoholic extract, and ethyl acetate extract of Lantana camara leavers for 5 minutes, 15 minutes and 30 minutes. It is evident that the treatment of ethyl acetate extract for 30 minutes inhibited the growth of dominant fungi like curvularia lunata A.flavus, A.niger and fusarium moniliforme. So the ethylacetate extract of leaves of Lantana camara can be utilised for the biological control of seeds borne fungi of soybean. So the seed treatment of plant extract will not cause any problem of pollution and the chemical of plant extracts are easily degraded in the soil, So the plant extract of Lantana camara can be used as biopesticide.&nbsp

VARIATIONS IN THE RATE OF OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, AMMONIA EXCRETION AND O:N RATIO OF FRESHWATER BIVALVE, INDONAIA CAERULEUS (PRASHAD, 1918)IN RELATION TO BODY SIZE DURING SUMMER

Considering the size specific variations in metabolic rates of bivalve shell-fishes we report here the size dependent variation in the O: N ratio in freshwater bivalve molluscs, Indonaia caeruleus from the banks of Godavari River at Paithan, near Aurangabad. The freshwater bivalves with specific size i.e. small (42-48mm in shell-length) and large (56-63 mm in shell-length) were selected for determination of changes in the rate of oxygen consumption, rate of ammonia excretion and O:N ratio on April and May during summer. The adult bivalves with small size, showed high values of O:N ratio (29.5547±3.7473) on April and (32.2309±3.2949) on May during summer compared to larger sized animals(20.5216±1.2097) on April and (17.5520±2.8302)on May. The values of O:N ratio were found to be greater in large sized bivalves on May during summer season. The results are discussed in the light of metabolic processes in fresh-water bivalve molluscs

Improving women’s diet quality pre-conceptionally and during gestation: effects on birth weight and prevalence of low birth weight; a randomized controlled efficacy trial in India (Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Project)

BACKGROUND: Low birth weight (LBW) is an important public health problem in undernourished populations.OBJECTIVE: We tested whether improving women's dietary micronutrient quality before conception and throughout pregnancy increases birth weight in a high-risk Indian population.DESIGN: The study was a nonblinded, individually randomized controlled trial. The intervention was a daily snack made from green leafy vegetables, fruit, and milk (treatment group) or low-micronutrient vegetables (potato and onion) (control group) from ? 90 d before pregnancy until delivery in addition to the usual diet. Treatment snacks contained 0.69 MJ of energy (controls: 0.37 MJ) and 10-23% of WHO Reference Nutrient Intakes of ?-carotene, riboflavin, folate, vitamin B-12, calcium, and iron (controls: 0-7%). The primary outcome was birth weight.RESULTS: Of 6513 women randomly assigned, 2291 women became pregnant, 1962 women delivered live singleton newborns, and 1360 newborns were measured. In an intention-to-treat analysis, there was no overall increase in birth weight in the treatment group (+26 g; 95% CI: -15, 68 g; P = 0.22). There was an interaction (P &lt; 0.001) between the allocation group and maternal prepregnant body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) [birth-weight effect: -23, +34, and +96 g in lowest (&lt;18.6), middle (18.6-21.8), and highest (&gt;21.8) thirds of BMI, respectively]. In 1094 newborns whose mothers started supplementation ? 90 d before pregnancy (per-protocol analysis), birth weight was higher in the treatment group (+48 g; 95% CI: 1, 96 g; P = 0.046). Again, the effect increased with maternal BMI (-8, +79, and +113 g; P-interaction = 0.001). There were similar results for LBW (intention-to-treat OR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.66, 1.05; P = 0.10; per-protocol OR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.98; P = 0.03) but no effect on gestational age in either analysis.CONCLUSIONS: A daily snack providing additional green leafy vegetables, fruit, and milk before conception and throughout pregnancy had no overall effect on birth weight. Per-protocol and subgroup analyses indicated a possible increase in birth weight if the mother was supplemented ? 3 mo before conception and was not underweight. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/ as ISRCTN62811278<br/

Studies on Routine Urine Analysis of Urinary Tract Infection

The data obtained form routine urine analysis Viz physical examination, chemical examination and microscopic examination revealed that, in case of physical examination of urine sample is yellow to milky colour was observed while in case of appearance it was turbid to hazy where as putrefied odor was observed in all sample n=10. The data obtained form chemical examination indicates presence of albumin in all sample. Bile salt is present only one sample. The data obtained form microscopic examination revealed that pus cell count increases in all samples suffering from Urinary tract infection (uti)

Influence of common genetic variation on lung cancer risk: meta-analysis of 14 900 cases and 29 485 controls

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified common genetic variants at 5p15.33, 6p21-6p22 and 15q25.1 associated with lung cancer risk. Several other genetic regions including variants of CHEK2 (22q12), TP53BP1 (15q15) and RAD52 (12p13) have been demonstrated to influence lung cancer risk in candidate- or pathway-based analyses. To identify novel risk variants for lung cancer, we performed a meta-analysis of 16 GWASs, totaling 14 900 cases and 29 485 controls of European descent. Our data provided increased support for previously identified risk loci at 5p15 (P = 7.2 × 10−16), 6p21 (P = 2.3 × 10−14) and 15q25 (P = 2.2 × 10−63). Furthermore, we demonstrated histology-specific effects for 5p15, 6p21 and 12p13 loci but not for the 15q25 region. Subgroup analysis also identified a novel disease locus for squamous cell carcinoma at 9p21 (CDKN2A/p16INK4A/p14ARF/CDKN2B/p15INK4B/ANRIL; rs1333040, P = 3.0 × 10−7) which was replicated in a series of 5415 Han Chinese (P = 0.03; combined analysis, P = 2.3 × 10−8). This large analysis provides additional evidence for the role of inherited genetic susceptibility to lung cancer and insight into biological differences in the development of the different histological types of lung cance

Progenitor-mass-dependent yields amplify intrinsic scatter in dwarf-galaxy elemental abundance ratios

In hydrodynamic simulations, prevailing subgrid chemical-evolution models often use a single, "IMF-averaged" supernova yield, ignoring variations in elemental abundance ratios (particularly [$\alpha$/Fe]) in the ejecta of higher- and lower-mass supernova progenitors within a stellar population. To understand the impact of this simplification and understand the impact of more explicit models, we run FIRE simulations of a dwarf galaxy $(M_\star($z = 0$) \sim 10^6 M_\odot)$ using nucleosynthetic yields from the NuGrid database that depend on the stellar progenitor mass and metallicity. While NuGrid exhibits lower aggregate $\alpha$-element production than default-FIRE yields, we find that its explicit mass dependence substantially widens the intrinsic scatter in the simulated [Fe/H]-[$\alpha$/Fe] -- a phenomenon potentially visible in recent observations of dwarf galaxies.Comment: MNRAS submitted. 7 pages; 6 figures. Comments and questions welcom