Clinical Profile and Outcome among Infants of Diabetic Mothers Delivered At the Brooklyn Hospital Center

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the commonest complication of pregnancy, negatively impacting mothers and fetuses. Few studies suggest amelioration of negative outcomes of DM-associated pregnancies in recent years, due in part to improved care. But increasing prevalence of overweight in developed countries is also affecting many women of childbearing age with concomitant poor glycemic control especially in pregnancy. Hyperglycemia, even at sub-diabetic levels, is associated with increased risk of macrosomia and Cesarean section. There is evidence demonstrating that outcomes of DM-associated pregnancies are similar with those characterized by hyperglycemia of sub-diabetic levels. Perhaps, improvement of care for DM-associated pregnancies on one hand, and the impact of obesity epidemic may have changed the relative frequencies of negative outcomes typically reported for infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) compared with controls.Aims/Objective: We re-evaluated the relative frequencies of negative outcomes of pregnancies complicated by DM compared with non-diabetic pregnancies.Method/Design: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted.Result: There were 50 diabetic and 83 non-diabetic mother-infant pairs. Mothers with DM-associated pregnancies had increased risk of delivery by C/Sxn, macrosomic babies, admission to NICU and prolonged hospitalization. Only IDMs had documented birth defects. Notable improvements over previous studies for IDMs include similar gestational ages at delivery and excellent APGAR scores in both groups.Conclusion: IDMs still have higher frequencies of negative outcomes compared with controls but some improvements are noteworthy and should provide impetus for efforts at reducing prevalence of obesity while improving care for DM-associated pregnancies

The effect of ω-fatty acids on mrna expression level of PPARγ in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma

Background: The antineoplastic role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) ligandshas previously been demonstrated in several gastric cancer cell lines. Activation of PPARγ by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) inhibits growth and proliferationof tumor cells. In this double-blind clinical study, we evaluate the effect of PUFAs on PPARγ mRNA expression in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods: A total of 34 chemotherapy-naive patients diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma were enrolled in the present study. According to treatment strategies, all subjects were divided into two groups, the first group (17 individuals) received cisplatin without supplements and the second group (17 individuals) received cisplatin plus orally administered PUFAs supplements for 3 weeks. The gastric biopsy samples were obtained from all participants before and after treatment, and PPARγ mRNA expression levels were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using validated reference genes. Results: Our findings revealed that PPARγ mRNA expression is significantly upregulated in group II afterreceiving cisplatin plus orally administered PUFAs supplements for three weeks (p < 0.0001), whereas PPARγ mRNA expression did not show significant alteration in group I after receiving cisplatin alone. Conclusion: The results of the study evidence that PPARγ may act as a potential target for the therapy of human gastric adenocarcinoma

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of some guaiphenesin-containing cough-cold preparations

This paper presents different HPLC methods for the simultaneous determination of some guaiphenesin-containing cough-cold preparations. Three pharmaceutically available combinations were analyzed: salbutamol sulfate (SAL) and guaiphenesin (GUA), combination I; ascorbic acid (ASC), paracetamol (PAR) and guaiphenesin (GUA), combination II; and theophylline anhydrous (THE), guaiphenesin (GUA) and ambroxol hydrochloride (AMB), combination III. A 250 × 4.6 mm C-18 column was used for all combinations. The mobile phase for the three combinations consisted of a mixture of methanol and 0.01 M aqueous phosphate buffer solution. The pH of the mobile phase was adjusted to 3.2, 6.2 and 3.8 for combinations I, II and III, respectively. The proposed HPLC methods were successfully applied to the determination of the investigated drugs, both in synthetic mixtures and in pharmaceutical preparations, without any matrix interference and with high precision and accuracy. Different aspects of analytical validation are presented in the text

Application of artificial neural networks for response surface modelling in HPLC method development

This paper discusses the usefulness of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for response surface modelling in HPLC method development. In this study, the combined effect of pH and mobile phase composition on the reversed-phase liquid chromatographic behaviour of a mixture of salbutamol (SAL) and guaiphenesin (GUA), combination I, and a mixture of ascorbic acid (ASC), paracetamol (PAR) and guaiphenesin (GUA), combination II, was investigated. The results were compared with those produced using multiple regression (REG) analysis. To examine the respective predictive power of the regression model and the neural network model, experimental and predicted response factor values, mean of squares error (MSE), average error percentage (Er%), and coefficients of correlation (r) were compared. It was clear that the best networks were able to predict the experimental responses more accurately than the multiple regression analysis

Distinct survival and clinical profile of infantile glioblastoma: insights from a national database

Background The diagnosis of glioblastoma (GBM) in infants aged <= 1 year is extremely rare, and its comparability to the more common adult diagnosis is underexplored. Correspondingly, the objective of this study was to interrogate a national cancer database to elucidate the typical survival and clinical profile of this demographic. Methods All GBM patients aged <= 1 year in the U.S. National Cancer Database (NCDB) between 2005 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Data were summarized, and overall survival (OS) was modeled using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Results A total of 86 patients satisfied criteria for entry into study, making up 0.08% of all GBM diagnoses in the database. There were 32 (37%) females and 54 (63%) males. Irrespective of treatment, median OS was 67.3 months (95% CI, 46-91), which was distinct from all other ages and pediatric age groups. There were 74 (86%) treated by surgery, 51 (59%) treated by chemotherapy, and 17 (20%) treated by radiation therapy. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that Hispanic status (HR = 3.41, P = 0.02) and the presence of comorbidity (HR = 3.24, P = 0.01) independently predicted shorter OS, whereas treatment with chemotherapy (HR = 0.18, P < 0.01) independently predicted longer OS. Neither extent of surgery nor radiation therapy demonstrated independent statistical significance. Conclusion Infantile GBM should be viewed as a distinct GBM entity with a longer OS than other pediatric and adult patients. Chemotherapy is a statistically significant component in the treatment of this demographic, and the value of surgical treatment is likely universal. Future studies into understanding the biological and genetic profile of infantile GBM are needed to advance both pediatric and adult fields

Age of diagnosis clinically differentiates atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors diagnosed below age of 3 years: a database study

Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is a rare and largely pediatric diagnosis, with poor survival. Diagnosis below the age of 3 years is characteristically seen as a poor prognostic sign. However, elucidating if clinical differences exist within this niche age group has never been attempted before. Correspondingly, we sought to characterize clinical profile of ATRT diagnoses before the age of 3 years based on separate ages of diagnosis. All pediatric ATRT patients aged < 3 years in the US National Cancer Database (NCDB) between 2005 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Age groups were divided based on diagnoses at ages 0-1 years in group 1, 1-2 years in group 2, and 2-3 years in group 3. Data were summarized, and overall survival (OS) was modeled using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. A total of 354 ATRT diagnoses were made before the age of 3 years, with surgery used in 316 (89%) cases, chemotherapy in 242 (68%) cases, and radiation therapy in 118 (33%) cases. In terms of diagnosis age, there were 153 (43%) in group 1, 137 (39%) in group 2, and 64 (18%) in group 3. With respect to OS, median value was 9.9 months in group 1, 28.4 months in group 2, and 15.9 months in group 3. Upon multivariate analysis, receiving radiation therapy was the only parameter shared amongst all three groups as independently prognostic of longer OS (HR 0.53, P = 0.01 in group 1; HR 0.34, P < 0.01 in group 2; HR 0.31, P < 0.01 in group 3). In group 1, surgery (HR 0.47, P < 0.01) and chemotherapy (HR 0.44, P < 0.01) were also independently prognostic of longer OS. In group 3, multiple socioeconomic parameters were identified to independently predict longer OS. There were no additional predictive parameters identified in group 2. Although ATRT diagnosed before the age of 3 is typically viewed a poor prognostic age category, our findings demonstrate that the clinical profile of this pediatric niche is highly heterogeneous based on age of diagnosis. Survival of only those diagnosed between 0 and 1 years is independently prognosticated by all three treatment modalities; patients diagnosed between 1 and 2 years trend towards longest survival, and socioeconomic parameters are most influential in those diagnosed between 2 and 3 years

Clinical next generation sequencing of pediatric-type malignancies in adult patients identifies novel somatic aberrations

Pediatric malignancies in adults, in contrast to the same diseases in children are clinically more aggressive, resistant to chemotherapeutics, and carry a higher risk of relapse. Molecular profiling of tumor sample using next generation sequencing (NGS) has recently become clinically available. We report the results of targeted exome sequencing of six adult patients with pediatric-type malignancies : Wilms tumor(n=2), medulloblastoma(n=2), Ewing's sarcoma( n=1) and desmoplastic small round cell tumor (n=1) with a median age of 28.8 years. Detection of druggable somatic aberrations in tumors is feasible. However, identification of actionable target therapies in these rare adult patients with pediatric-type malignancies is challenging. Continuous efforts to establish a rare disease registry are warranted

Clinical next generation sequencing of pediatric-type malignancies in adult patients identifies novel somatic aberrations

Pediatric malignancies in adults, in contrast to the same diseases in children are clinically more aggressive, resistant to chemotherapeutics, and carry a higher risk of relapse. Molecular profiling of tumor sample using next generation sequencing (NGS) has recently become clinically available. We report the results of targeted exome sequencing of six adult patients with pediatric-type malignancies : Wilms tumor(n=2), medulloblastoma(n=2), Ewing's sarcoma( n=1) and desmoplastic small round cell tumor (n=1) with a median age of 28.8 years. Detection of druggable somatic aberrations in tumors is feasible. However, identification of actionable target therapies in these rare adult patients with pediatric-type malignancies is challenging. Continuous efforts to establish a rare disease registry are warranted

Contemporary outcomes of diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor in pediatric patients: A case series and literature review

Diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor (DLGNT), also known as oligodendrogliomatosis, is a rare neuro-oncologic condition along the neuraxis that remains poorly understood in children. We sought to describe our institutional experience and quantitively summarize the clinical survival and prognostic features of DLGNT in the pediatric population across the contemporary literature. We report four institutional cases of pediatric DLGNT diagnosed between 2000 and 2020 based on retrospective review of our records, and performed a comprehensive literature search for published cases from 2000 onwards to create an integrated cohort for analysis. Kaplan-Meier estimations, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression were utilized to interrogate the data. Of our four cases, three females aged 2-, 3- and 13-years old at diagnosis survived 6-years, 3-years and 14-months respectively, and one male aged 5-years old at diagnosis was still alive 5 years later. Our overall integrated cohort consisted of 54 pediatric DLGNT patients, with 19 (35%) female and 35 (65%) male patients diagnosed at an average age of 6.4 years (range, 1.3-17 years) by means of surgical biopsy. Chemotherapy was used in 45 cases (83%), and mean follow-up time of 54 months (range, 3-204). Across the entire cohort, overall survival 1 month after diagnosis was 96% (95% CI 86-99%), and by 10 years was 69% (95% CI 49-82%). On multivariate analysis of complete data, chemotherapy treatment (HR=0.23, P = 0.04) was statistically predictive of longer overall survival. More than 2-out-of-3 pediatric DLGNT patients survive beyond one decade. Chemotherapy is statistically associated with longer survival in DLGNT pediatric patients and should form the core of any treatment regimen in this setting. Early detection by means of judicious imaging and surgical biopsy for tissue diagnosis can lead to earlier treatment and likely superior outcomes

Data on photo-nanofiller models for self-cleaning foul release coating of ship hulls

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “Smart photo-induced silicone/TiO2 nanocomposites with dominant [110] exposed surfaces for self-cleaning foul-release coatings of ship hulls” (Selimet al., 2016) [1]. This article reports on successfully designing and controlling TiO2 spherical single crystal photo-nanofillers and indicating evidence of fouling resistance after stimulation through UV radiation exposure. These data also reveal that the influence of well-dispersed spherical TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) into the polymer matrix surface features on the prepared fouling release (FR) coating. Single crystal TiO2 nanospheres have played a large role in the scenario of photocatalysis due to its cost effectiveness, inert nature and photo stability. The model output and the surface and mechanical behavior data of the fabricated UV-irradiated silicone-based FR nanocoatings are made publicly available through analyzing nanocomposite topology, superhydrophilicity and self-cleaning efficiency in order to enable critical analysis of the tailored model. It also investigates the photo-bactericidal effect confirmed through biofilm coverage data disability. The modeled nanocomposites were subjected to comparable studies with other published models so as to understand how different UV-irradiated nano-scale parameters propagate and affect bulk film response. Keywords: Nanofillers, Fouling release, Self-cleaning, Photo-bactericida