Polymorphism of Prolactin Gene and Its Association with Egg Production Trait in Four Commercial Chicken Lines

Δε διατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικάBroodiness is a behavioral trait observed in most common breeds of domestic fowl and due to its fundamental role in avian reproduction, it has been of great interest to poultry scientists, breeders and producers of hatching eggs. Prolactin gene (PRL) is generally accepted as crucial to the onset and maintenance of broodiness in birds and thus plays a crucial role in egg production. Therefore, the present study aimed to screen the Single Nucleotides Polymorphisms (SNPs) of prolactin gene in four commercial chicken lines namely Hubbard F15, Lohmann, Cobb500, and Avian48 using PCR and direct sequencing. A total number of forty chickens (ten females from each of the four commercial chicken lines) were used. Blood samples were collected aseptically from brachial (wing) vein of the chickens for genomic DNA extraction. PCR reaction was done using five pairs of primers, one sense (F) and one antisense (R) primer for each of the five exons of prolactin gene. Finally, DNA sequencing and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) analysis was done using Laser gene Megalign program. The results showed three SNPs in Hubbard F15 chicken line; one synonymous SNP at the position 3838 bp (ACC/ACT-transition) in exon 2 while in exon 5, two SNPs were detected; one non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism at the position 7921bp (CCT/TCT-transition) which results in amino acid changes at codon positions 169 (P/S), and one synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism at the position 8187 bp T/ C. The study concluded that this SNP in PRL gene could be used as the potential molecular markers for egg production traits in chicken

Rapid photocatalytic degradation of phenol from water using composite nanofibers under UV

Background The removal of phenol from aqueous solution via photocatalytic degradation has been recognized as an environmentally friendly technique for generating clean water. The composite nanofibers containing PAN polymer, CNT, and TiO$_{2}$ NPs were successfully prepared via electrospinning method. The prepared photocatalyst is characterized by SEM, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy. Different parameters are studied such as catalyst amount, the effect of pH, phenol concentration, photodegradation mechanism, flow rate, and stability of the composite nanofiber to evaluate the highest efficiency of the photocatalyst. Results The composite nanofibers showed the highest photodegradation performance for the removal of phenol using UV light within 7 min. The pH has a major effect on the photodegradation of phenol with its maximum performance being at pH 5. Conclusions Given the stability and flexibility of the composite nanofibers, their use in a dynamic filtration is possible and can be even reused after several cycles

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

Immunoglobulin, glucocorticoid, or combination therapy for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: a propensity-weighted cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a hyperinflammatory condition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, has emerged as a serious illness in children worldwide. Immunoglobulin or glucocorticoids, or both, are currently recommended treatments. METHODS: The Best Available Treatment Study evaluated immunomodulatory treatments for MIS-C in an international observational cohort. Analysis of the first 614 patients was previously reported. In this propensity-weighted cohort study, clinical and outcome data from children with suspected or proven MIS-C were collected onto a web-based Research Electronic Data Capture database. After excluding neonates and incomplete or duplicate records, inverse probability weighting was used to compare primary treatments with intravenous immunoglobulin, intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, or glucocorticoids alone, using intravenous immunoglobulin as the reference treatment. Primary outcomes were a composite of inotropic or ventilator support from the second day after treatment initiation, or death, and time to improvement on an ordinal clinical severity scale. Secondary outcomes included treatment escalation, clinical deterioration, fever, and coronary artery aneurysm occurrence and resolution. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN69546370. FINDINGS: We enrolled 2101 children (aged 0 months to 19 years) with clinically diagnosed MIS-C from 39 countries between June 14, 2020, and April 25, 2022, and, following exclusions, 2009 patients were included for analysis (median age 8·0 years [IQR 4·2-11·4], 1191 [59·3%] male and 818 [40·7%] female, and 825 [41·1%] White). 680 (33·8%) patients received primary treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, 698 (34·7%) with intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, 487 (24·2%) with glucocorticoids alone; 59 (2·9%) patients received other combinations, including biologicals, and 85 (4·2%) patients received no immunomodulators. There were no significant differences between treatments for primary outcomes for the 1586 patients with complete baseline and outcome data that were considered for primary analysis. Adjusted odds ratios for ventilation, inotropic support, or death were 1·09 (95% CI 0·75-1·58; corrected p value=1·00) for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids and 0·93 (0·58-1·47; corrected p value=1·00) for glucocorticoids alone, versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Adjusted average hazard ratios for time to improvement were 1·04 (95% CI 0·91-1·20; corrected p value=1·00) for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, and 0·84 (0·70-1·00; corrected p value=0·22) for glucocorticoids alone, versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Treatment escalation was less frequent for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids (OR 0·15 [95% CI 0·11-0·20]; p<0·0001) and glucocorticoids alone (0·68 [0·50-0·93]; p=0·014) versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Persistent fever (from day 2 onward) was less common with intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids compared with either intravenous immunoglobulin alone (OR 0·50 [95% CI 0·38-0·67]; p<0·0001) or glucocorticoids alone (0·63 [0·45-0·88]; p=0·0058). Coronary artery aneurysm occurrence and resolution did not differ significantly between treatment groups. INTERPRETATION: Recovery rates, including occurrence and resolution of coronary artery aneurysms, were similar for primary treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin when compared to glucocorticoids or intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids. Initial treatment with glucocorticoids appears to be a safe alternative to immunoglobulin or combined therapy, and might be advantageous in view of the cost and limited availability of intravenous immunoglobulin in many countries. FUNDING: Imperial College London, the European Union's Horizon 2020, Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Foundation, UK National Institute for Health and Care Research, and National Institutes of Health

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Feature Selection and Radial Basis Function Network for Parkinson Disease Classification

Recently, several works have focused on detection of a different disease using computational intelligence techniques. In this paper, we applied feature selection method and radial basis function neural network (RBFN) to classify the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. The feature selection (FS) method used to reduce the number of attributes in Parkinson disease data. The Parkinson disease dataset is acquired from UCI repository of large well-known data sets. The experimental results have revealed significant improvement to detect Parkinson’s disease using feature selection method and RBF network

Experiences of Kurdish immigrants with the management of type 2 diabetes: a qualitative study from Norway

Objective: To explore the experiences of immigrant Kurdish patients in Oslo, Norway, related to the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Design: A qualitative study with focus group interviews. Setting: Participants were recruited at meeting places in Oslo through Kurdish networks. Subjects: Eighteen Kurdish immigrants (9 females and 9 males) living in Oslo, aged 40 to 64 years, diagnosed with T2DM participated in a total of five focus groups. Participants had to be proficient in the Norwegian language to be eligible. Main outcome measures: Immigrant Kurdish patients’ experiences with being diagnosed with T2DM, their disease management, and need for medical information. Results: Participants stressed that living with T2DM was emotionally challenging, mainly because they were afraid of possible complications of the disease. They claimed to adhere satisfactorily to their medicines and blood glucose measurements. The majority of participants shared that they had made changes to their diet, even though it was difficult. To the contrary, physical activity received only minimal attention. The participants’ main source of information was general practitioners and the majority of them were satisfied with the information that they had received about their disease and its management. Conclusion: Kurdish T2DM patients in the present study from Norway reported that they adhered to the medical treatment, even if they were stressed about living with the disease. However, they were more occupied with changing their diet than to be physically active. Therefore, healthcare personnel should try to be aware of lifestyle challenges among their patients

Improvement of DAS-28 ESR score in Egyptian children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis treated with etanercept

Aim of study: To assess the efficacy and safety of using anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), Etanercept (ETN) in treatment of children and adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study included 18 children and adolescents who were diagnosed as JIA and treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), ETN for at least 6 months due to failure of synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (sDMARDS) as methotrexate (MTX). Before starting ETN treatment, all patients were receiving MTX in addition to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Other medications used were Prednisolone, Leflunamide and Hydroxychloroquine. As per recommendations of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), failure of these DMARDs is an indication to start biological DMARDs. Anti TNF-α, mainly ETN is one of the most commonly used biological DMARDs in treating JIA. Clinical scoring using DAS28-ESR score was done for all patients at time of enrollment, 3 months and 6 months after starting ETN. The effect of different clinical and laboratory variables on the outcome of ETN treatment was assessed. Results: There was statistically significant improvement in DAS28-ESR after 3 months of treatment (p = 0.001) and after 6 months (p = 0.049). There was no statistically significant difference in DAS-28 score between males and females, patients younger than 10 years and patients older than 10 years, neither at onset nor at 6 months’ follow up. Similarly, the duration of illness before starting ETN did not affect DAS28 score at 6 months of treatment. Conclusion: ETN treatment of JIA children and adolescents demonstrated safety and efficacy in clinical improvement of DAS28-ESR score at 3 and 6 months of treatment. However, further studies on a bigger number of patients, longer duration and using different biological agents are needed

Ubiquinol attenuates γ-radiation induced coronary and aortic changes via PDGF/p38 MAPK/ICAM-1 related pathway

Abstract Endothelial vascular injury is one of the most pivotal disorders emerging during radiotherapy. It is crucial to rely on strong antioxidants to defend against vascular damage. The current study was carried out to investigate the ameliorative effect of ubiquinol (Ubq) against gamma (γ)-radiation induced aortic and coronary changes, with highlighting its role in suppression of p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK). Exposure to γ-radiation was adopted as a potent detrimental model that induces vascular tissue damage. Concisely, male albino rats were irradiated at a dose level of 7 Gy and treated daily with Ubq (10 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 7 days pre-and post-irradiation. At the end of the experiment, lipid profile, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), gene expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), p38 MAPK and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were estimated. Exposure to radiation significantly deteriorates aortic and coronary tissues. Conversely, administration of Ubq significantly reduced serum t-cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides (p = 0.001). In addition, Ubq prevented oxidative DNA damage (8-OHdG) (p = 0.1) and reduced serum MMP-9 (p = 0.001) which contributed to the endothelial cells damage. The positive impact of Ubq was more apparent in suppression of both PDGF (p = 0.001) and p38 MAPK (p = 0.1) protein concentrations, leading subsequently in reduction of ICAM-1 (p = 0.001) gene expression. As a conclusion, vascular endothelial damage brought on by γ-radiation is one of the leading causes of coronary and aortic deteriorations which could be successfully mitigated by Ubq