Awareness of Dengue Fever among the Urban Youth in Colombo and its Suburbs, Sri Lanka in November 2014

The study was conducted to assess the knowledge regarding dengue infection that the laymen should have specifically in facing the consequences that comes after acquiring the infection. Dengue fever is a serious disease condition going on in Sri Lanka which is transmitted by carrier mosquitos Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. According to the epidemiology unit of health ministry Sri Lanka, 57.82% out of 23,355 cases reported in the year 2014 by July are from the western province. In this research dengue awareness among young people in Colombo and its suburbs, especially after acquiring the infection is assessed, in November 2014.The objective of this study was to assess the dengue awareness and knowledge that the laymen should have especially in facing the events that comes after acquiring the infection, among the youth in Colombo and its suburbs. A descriptive study was done on 150 individuals residing in Colombo and its suburbs within the age range of 16-25 years using a simple online questionnaire, which was provided to the participants via a popular online social network. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Though 90% of the participants knew common signs and symptoms of fever, only 48% knew the specific symptoms of dengue fever. 66% knew that the same set of drugs given for general body aches cannot be given in dengue fever. The only satisfactory result obtained was that 86% knew blood tests are done to detect dengue. Though only 16% of the participants had sufficient knowledge on contra indicated food, 66% knew the reasons for the contra indication, showing the overall knowledge in contraindicated food is poor. Only 32% had a clear idea on the popular indigenous practice of papaya leaf extracts as a treatment, that is there is only a possibility of curing dengue. 86% knew that some official should be informed when there is an infection going on in an area, other than hospitalization, while only 52% knew where and whom to inform. The study revealed that the urban youth in Sri Lanka lacks sufficient awareness and knowledge that they should have in facing the events that comes after acquiring the infection

Growth and yield performance of some exotic clones of Hevea brasiliensis in North Kerala region

The growth and yield performance of a set of exotic clones from Malaysia and Ivory Coast was evaluated in comparison with RRII 105, a popular high yielding indigenous clone, for their adaptability in the northern tract of Kerala. The region is characterised by absence of sufficient summer showers and relatively long dry spells. Analysis of growth up to 16 years after planting revealed significant clonal differences in growth pattern, only from the 10th year of planting. Girth and girth increment was the highest in IRCA 130, followed by PB 330. The lowest girth was observed in RRIM 703. The clone IRCA 130 also exhibited significantly high annual and summer yield followed by PB 255. Peak rubber yield was recorded in the month of September irrespective of clones. IRCA 130 showed significantly superior branching height and bole volume followed by PB 255. Incidence of tapping panel dryness (TPD) and pink disease in IRCA 130 was comparable to clone RRII 105. The suitability of the newly introduced clones for the region is discussed

A rare case of neonatal Apert syndrome

Apert syndrome is a rare Type I acrocephalosyndactyly syndrome. It is a congenital disorder characterized by premature fusionof cranial sutures (craniosynostosis), malformation of skull, hands, face, and feet. Apert syndrome has an incidence of 1/50,000to 1/80,000 live births. It is classified as a branchial arch syndrome, affecting the first branchial or pharyngeal arch, the precursorof the maxilla and mandible. Disturbances in the development of branchial arches in the fetal development create lasting andwidespread effects. It is inherited as an autosomal dominant and occurs due to the gene mutations in the receptors of the fibroblastgrowth factor. Management of Apert syndrome requires multidisciplinary approach. We, hereby, report a case of a 5‑h‑old neonatewith Apert syndrome

Metabolome-wide association study on ABCA7 indicates a role of ceramide metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified genetic loci associated with the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the molecular mechanisms by which they confer risk are largely unknown. We conducted a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) of AD-associated loci from GWASs using untargeted metabolic profiling (metabolomics) by ultraperformance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). We identified an association of lactosylceramides (LacCer) with AD-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ABCA7 (P = 5.0 × 10−5 to 1.3 × 10−44). We showed that plasma LacCer concentrations are associated with cognitive performance and genetically modified levels of LacCer are associated with AD risk. We then showed that concentrations of sphingomyelins, ceramides, and hexosylceramides were altered in brain tissue from Abca7 knockout mice, compared with wild type (WT) (P = 0.049–1.4 × 10−5), but not in a mouse model of amyloidosis. Furthermore, activation of microglia increases intracellular concentrations of hexosylceramides in part through induction in the expression of sphingosine kinase, an enzyme with a high control coefficient for sphingolipid and ceramide synthesis. Our work suggests that the risk for AD arising from functional variations in ABCA7 is mediated at least in part through ceramides. Modulation of their metabolism or downstream signaling may offer new therapeutic opportunities for AD

Metabolome-wide association study on ABCA7 indicates a role of ceramide metabolism in Alzheimer's disease.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified genetic loci associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the molecular mechanisms by which they confer risk are largely unknown. We conducted a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) of AD-associated loci from GWASs using untargeted metabolic profiling (metabolomics) by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). We identified an association of lactosylceramides (LacCer) with AD-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ABCA7 (P = 5.0 × 10-5 to 1.3 × 10-44). We showed that plasma LacCer concentrations are associated with cognitive performance and genetically modified levels of LacCer are associated with AD risk. We then showed that concentrations of sphingomyelins, ceramides, and hexosylceramides were altered in brain tissue from Abca7 knockout mice, compared with wild type (WT) (P = 0.049-1.4 × 10-5), but not in a mouse model of amyloidosis. Furthermore, activation of microglia increases intracellular concentrations of hexosylceramides in part through induction in the expression of sphingosine kinase, an enzyme with a high control coefficient for sphingolipid and ceramide synthesis. Our work suggests that the risk for AD arising from functional variations in ABCA7 is mediated at least in part through ceramides. Modulation of their metabolism or downstream signaling may offer new therapeutic opportunities for AD

Low levels of cathepsin D are associated with a poor prognosis in endometrial cancer

Total cytosolic cathepsin D (Cat D) levels were estimated by an immunoradiometric assay in a series of 156 consecutive patients with surgical stages I–III primary endometrial adenocarcinoma. Simultaneously, the tissue content of both oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors, and p185HER-2/neu, DNA content (ploidy), and the fraction of S-phase cells (S-phase) were also estimated. Tumoral Cat D content ranged from 0 to 243 pmol mg−1 protein (median 44 pmol mg−1 protein) and was not associated with any of the established clinicopathological and biological prognostic variables, with the exception of a weak positive correlation with the tumoral p185HER-2/neu levels. Univariable analysis performed on a subset of 97 patients, followed for a minimum of 2 years or until death, showed that patient age at diagnosis, high histological grade, advanced surgical stage, vascular invasion, positive peritoneal cytology, low levels of Cat D, negative ER and PR status, aneuploidy, and high S-phase were predictive of the presence of persistent or recurrent disease. However, multivariable analysis revealed that only histological grade, surgical stage, Cat D and PR were significantly associated with the patient's outcome. From these findings, we conclude that Cat D is an independent prognostic factor in endometrial adenocarcinoma, its low levels being associated with a worse clinical outcome. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Umbilical endosalpingiosis: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Endosalpingiosis describes the ectopic growth of Fallopian tube epithelium. Pathology confirms the presence of a tube-like epithelium containing three types of cells: ciliated, columnar cells; non-ciliated, columnar secretory mucous cells; and intercalary cells.</p> <p>We report the case of a woman with umbilical endosalpingiosis and examine the nature and characteristics of cutaneous endosalpingiosis by reviewing and combining the other four cases existing in the international literature.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 50-year-old Caucasian, Greek woman presented with a pale brown nodule in her umbilicus. The nodule was asymptomatic, with no cyclical discomfort or variation in size. Her personal medical, surgical and gynecologic history was uneventful. An excision within healthy margins was performed under local anesthesia. A cystic formation measuring 2.7×1.7×1 cm was removed. Histological examination confirmed umbilical endosalpingiosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Umbilical endosalpingiosis is a very rare manifestation of the non-neoplasmatic disorders of the Müllerian system. It appears with cyclic symptoms of pain and swelling of the umbilicus, but not always. The disease is diagnosed using pathologic findings and surgical excision is the definitive treatment.</p

Blinding for precision scattering experiments: The MUSE approach as a case study

Human bias is capable of changing the analysis of measured data sufficiently to alter the results of an experiment. It is incumbent upon modern experiments, especially those investigating quantities considered contentious in the broader community, to blind their analysis in an effort to minimize bias. The choice of a blinding model is experiment specific, but should also aim to prevent accidental release of results before an analysis is finalized. In this paper, we discuss common threats to an unbiased analysis, as well as common quantities that can be blinded in different types of nuclear physics experiments. We use the Muon Scattering Experiment as an example, and detail the blinding scheme used therein.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure