Anti-inflammatory effect of functionalized sulfasalazine boron nitride nanocages on cardiovascular disease and breast cancer: An in-silico simulation

The objective of this research work is to investigate the ability of sulfasalazine (as an anti-cytokine drug) functionalized B₁₆N₁₆, B₁₅GeN₁₆ and B₁₅SiN₁₆ nanocages to treat inflammatory cardiovascular disease and breast cancer in comparison with the pure sulfasalazine (SSZ). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at PBE1 functional were used to investigate the structural, electronic and spectral properties of sulfasalazine decorated B₁₆N₁₆, B₁₅GeN₁₆ and B15SiN16 nanocage

Use of ribotyping and random amplified polymorphic DNA to differentiate isolates of Burkholderia andropogonis

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the genetic diversity among isolates of Burkholderia andropogonis from various host plant species and geographic locations. Methods and Results: Both random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and ribotyping analyses were used to assess the diversity of B. andropogonis isolates and compare these results with pathogenicity assays carried out on a number of common hosts of the organism. Conclusions: Both RAPD and ribotyping analyses revealed a high level of genetic diversity between isolates of B. andropogonis. Both methods demonstrated a similar clustering of isolates. However, there was no strict correlation between the genetic diversity revealed and the original host, geographic location or pathogenicity of the isolates. Significance and Impact of the Study: This is the first report on the genetic diversity of isolates of B. andropogonis. The great degree of diversity revealed in this study contrasts with the lack of phenotypic diversity within this species

Avirulence (AVR) gene-based diagnosis complements existing pathogen surveillance tools for effective deployment of resistance (R) genes against rice blast disease

Avirulence (AVR) genes in Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungal pathogen that causes the devastating rice blast disease, have been documented to be major targets subject to mutations to avoid recognition by resistance (R) genes. In this study, an AVR-gene-based diagnosis tool for determining the virulence spectrum of a rice blast pathogen population was developed and validated. A set of 77 single-spore field isolates was subjected to pathotype analysis using differential lines, each containing a single R gene, and classified into 20 virulent pathotypes, except for 4 isolates that lost pathogenicity. In all, 10 differential lines showed low frequency (95%), inferring the effectiveness of R genes present in the respective differential lines. In addition, the haplotypes of seven AVR genes were determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing, if applicable. The calculated frequency of different AVR genes displayed significant variations in the population. AVRPiz-t and AVR-Pii were detected in 100 and 84.9% of the isolates, respectively. Five AVR genes such as AVR-Pik-D (20.5%) and AVR-Pik-E (1.4%), AVRPiz-t (2.7%), AVR-Pita (0%), AVR-Pia (0%), and AVR1-CO39 (0%) displayed low or even zero frequency. The frequency of AVR genes correlated almost perfectly with the resistance frequency of the cognate R genes in differential lines, except for International Rice Research Institute-bred blast-resistant lines IRBLzt-T, IRBLta-K1, and IRBLkp-K60. Both genetic analysis and molecular marker validation revealed an additional R gene, most likely Pi19 or its allele, in these three differential lines. This can explain the spuriously higher resistance frequency of each target R gene based on conventional pathotyping. This study demonstrates that AVR-gene-based diagnosis provides a precise, R-gene-specific, and differential line-free assessment method that can be used for determining the virulence spectrum of a rice blast pathogen population and for predicting the effectiveness of target R genes in rice varieties

Anti-inflammatory effect of functionalized sulfasalazine boron nitride nanocages on cardiovascular disease and breast cancer: An in-silico simulation

The objective of this research work is to investigate the ability of sulfasalazine (as an anti-cytokine drug) functionalized B16N16, B15GeN16 and B15SiN16 nanocages to treat inflammatory cardiovascular disease and breast cancer in comparison with the pure sulfasalazine (SSZ). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at PBE1 functional were used to investigate the structural, electronic and spectral properties of sulfasalazine decorated B16N16, B15GeN16 and B15SiN16 nanocages. The most stable state was obtained on adsorption of SSZ over B16N16, B15GeN16 and B15SiN16 nanocages via its pyridine ring. Also, the adsorption of SSZ through SO2 group over B16N16, B16GeN16 and B16SiN16 nanocages causes the lower binding energy and the increment of dipole moment as both factors can lead to increased sensitivity of the B16GeN16 nanocage to the drug. Molecular docking simulation illustrates that the interaction of SSZ via its pyridine ring with B15GeN16 gives the best binding affinity and inhibition potential of HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-alpha) whereas interaction of -SO2 group with B16N16 gives the best binding affinity and inhibition potential of COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) and IL-1 (Interleukin-1) receptors. The predicted results demonstrated that SSZ/B16N16 and SSZ/B16GeN16 complexes can serve as a promising and preventive agent for inflammatory cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. © 2022 Elsevier B.V

Gender difference in the prevalence of burnout syndrome among third year students of De La Salle Health Sciences Institute-College of Medicine, A.Y. 2015-2016

Analytic, cross-sectional study was employed by the researchers. The total population of the third year medical students was 278 and of which 162 were female and 116 were male. The respondents were identified using stratified random sampling. A self-administered questionnaire of MBI-SS was utilized in collecting the data. The data was then analyzed using t-test and chi-square. Study showed that majority were positive for burnout syndrome, but although a high percentage of respondents were found to be burnout, the results of this research suggests that there was no significant gender difference in the prevalence of burnout syndrome among the third year medical students of De La Salle Health Sciences Institute. This indicated the level of coping or stress management was the same between the two genders, or that the third year of medical school was stressful enough to cause burnout syndrome among students regardless of their gender. This could mean that coping mechanisms from either gender was not the problem nor were the cofounders stated but could be assumed to be due to academic load alone. The study showed that majority of the participants scored high in the professional efficacy despite also having high scores in exhaustion and cynicism. This may indicate that there was a good coping mechanism among the participants despite the heavy workload in the third year of medical school. However, this may be alarming since they were being cynical about their studies and could also be the same in the future towards their patients

A comparative study on the mental alertness of physically active versus sedentary 1st year and 2nd year medical students of De La Salle Health Sciences Institute, Dasmarinas City, Cavite S.Y. 2016-2017

The study used cross sectional research design to determine and compare the mental alertness between physically active and sedentary first and second year medical students in De La Salle University Health Sciences Institute Dasmarinas City, Cavite, SY 2016-2017. Using simple random sampling, 177 first year and second year medical students were selected. A questionnaire was used to obtain the socio-demographic profile of the subjects such as age, gender and year level. Additionally, a psycho-motor Vigilance Test (PVT) was used to measure the reaction time of the subjects. Participants who had an average reaction time of less than 500 milliseconds were classified as mentally alert, while those who scored greater than or equal to 500 milliseconds were classified as not mentally alert. A prevalence ratio (PR) was computed to determine the association of mental alertness between physically active versus sedentary subjects and to establish if the age and gender of the subjects could be considered confounding variables to mental alertness. A Chi-square Test with a confidence level of 95% was performed and interpreted to determine the significance between mental alertness and physical activity. There was a significant association between the mental alertness of physically active versus sedentary first and second year medical students. Moreover, the old and young age groups were both significant, indicating that age was not a confounding variable. The male and female sexes were both significant as well, hence sex was also not a confounding variable

Mapping LIDC, RadLex™, and Lung Nodule Image Features

Ideally, an image should be reported and interpreted in the same way (e.g., the same perceived likelihood of malignancy) or similarly by any two radiologists; however, as much research has demonstrated, this is not often the case. Various efforts have made an attempt at tackling the problem of reducing the variability in radiologists’ interpretations of images. The Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) has provided a database of lung nodule images and associated radiologist ratings in an effort to provide images to aid in the analysis of computer-aided tools. Likewise, the Radiological Society of North America has developed a radiological lexicon called RadLex. As such, the goal of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of associating LIDC characteristics and terminology with RadLex terminology. If matches between LIDC characteristics and RadLex terms are found, probabilistic models based on image features may be used as decision-based rules to predict if an image or lung nodule could be characterized or classified as an associated RadLex term. The results of this study were matches for 25 (74%) out of 34 LIDC terms in RadLex. This suggests that LIDC characteristics and associated rating terminology may be better conceptualized or reduced to produce even more matches with RadLex. Ultimately, the goal is to identify and establish a more standardized rating system and terminology to reduce the subjective variability between radiologist annotations. A standardized rating system can then be utilized by future researchers to develop automatic annotation models and tools for computer-aided decision systems