Experimental simulation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP)-pancreatic beta cell membrane interactions: Inferences and implications in the etiopathogenesis of diabetes mellitus type II

Pancreatic beta cells secrete insulin, an endocrine hormone that regulates blood glucose levels and maintains normal physiological activity in humans and animals. Diabetes mellitus type II is a consequence of the gradual destruction of these important cells, likely by human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) that is co-secreted with insulin. Increasing health care costs, coupled with the World Health Organization’s prediction of a worldwide diabetic epidemic by year 2030, make experimental diabetes research a crucial prologue to future clinical trials in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Diabetes mellitus type II. Our experimental set-up simulates hIAPP peptide fragment and pancreatic beta cell membrane interactions, and it uses density functional methods and circular dichroism spectroscopic analysis of the hIAPP molecule to uncover factors that initiate and promote progression of beta cell death. Results from our study establish the potential role of hIAPP and a two-step molecular mechanism of pancreatic beta cell damage in diabetes mellitus type II

Development of a Column Model to Predict Silica Breakthrough in a Mixed Bed Ion Exchanger

A computer model was developed to predict silica breakthrough in an ion exchange column. Column material balance equations are derived using the assumptions of film diffusion control and bulk phase neutralization. The variations in outlet concentrations due to various model parameters were studied. Most of the literature on ion exchange modeling addressing the removal of silica is qualitative in nature. This study extends this qualitative background and makes a first attempt at quantitative silica ion exchange issues. The silica particulates are accounted for in the model

Porting of an Existing Software From the Sun Workstations to A Personal Computer Environment

The purpose of this study was to port an existing software component, which has been designed for Sun workstations, to a Personal Computer environment. The software component involves the access of remote objects through Java networking. The ported software was tested on various machines housing different file servers of the Oklahoma State University Computing and Information Services Department. A new user interface was developed for the ported software component and a number of enhanced features were introduced. The software worked fairly well on all of the test machines. The new feature (i.e., finding out the time taken to look for a remote server) resulted in a more user-informative environment. Other user friendly features such as information about the current server, the reset feature, and the option of returning to the default server were also introduced. The amount of time taken to look for a method located on a specified server is more when the server is searched for the first time compared to the time taken to relocate the same server. This can be attributed to the Registry mechanism of Java, which is like a simple register containing the information of all the successfully located servers. This mechanism makes a record of all the servers that are accessed, and every lookup for a remote server is first searched across the registry. Thus, it reduces the total lookup time for already accessed servers.Computer Scienc

Ten-year Trends and Prediction Model of 30-day Inpatient Mortality for Alcoholic Hepatitis in the United States

BACKGROUND: Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) results in significant morbidity, mortality and healthcare burden. We aimed to evaluate the temporal trends of AH hospitalizations in the last decade and to devise a mortality scoring system for risk stratification. METHODS: National Inpatient Sample (NIS) databases from 2009-2019 were used to identify AH hospitalizations. Outcomes of interest included temporal trend analysis of length of stay (LOS), mean inpatient cost (MIC), mortality, and mortality predictors. A mortality scoring system was derived using multivariate Cox regression and validated using receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: There was an increase in total AH hospitalizations, from 67,070 in 2009 to 125,540 in 2019 (P=0.004). The inpatient mortality increased from 2.48% in 2009 to 3.78% in 2019 (P=0.008). The MIC was $31,189 in 2009 and$62,229 in 2019 (P60 years, female sex, mechanical ventilation, vasopressor use, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, acute renal failure, coagulopathy (thrombocytopenia), and hepatic encephalopathy. The score has a maximum of eight points, and the cutoff for predicting mortality was set as 4 points. The area under the curve (AUC) of the derivation cohort was 0.8766 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.865-0.888) and AUC 0.862 (95%CI 0.855-0.868) for a 30-day period. CONCLUSIONS: There has been an increase in AH hospitalizations and mortality in the last decade. The Tahira score provides an easy objective method to estimate inpatient 30-day mortality for AH hospitalizations

Pancreatic Cancer Incidence Trends in the United States from 2000-2017: Analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Database

Background: Recent incidence trends of pancreatic cancers were reviewed by demographics and histologic type to observe any new findings. Methods: Data was used from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry 18 (2000-2017) and it underwent temporal trend analysis. Pancreatic cancer incidence rates were reported based on histological subtype and demographics. Results: The incidence rate of white males increased significantly during 2000-2017 (annual percent change (APC) = 3.5%) compared to previously reported APCs. The incidence of white females grew from an APC of 1.29% to 2.9%. Rates among black ethnicity increased with an APC of 4.2%. Rates among Hispanics and other ethnicities also showed increment. The rates for ductal adenocarcinoma showed a positive trend in all races, with the APC ≥ 6 % for females and APC ≥ 6.5 % for males. The rates of non-secretory endocrine tumors showed a decline in both genders of all five races in recent years after showing an initial positive trend till 2010. Rates for pancreatic adenocarcinoma continued to rise in all ethnicities from 2000-2017. Interestingly, there was a rise in carcinoid type pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) in all ethnicities. Cumulatively, males had a higher incidence than females; male to female Incidence Risk Ratio (IRRs) was 1.32. The IRR was > 1 for age groups ≥ 35 years. The male to female IRRs was less than 1 for cystic adenocarcinoma, secretory endocrine, and solid pseudopapillary carcinomas (IRR = 0.5, 0.9, and 0.2 respectively, confidence intervals 0.4–0.6 and 0.9-1.3, 0.2–0.3, respectively). Conclusion: Pancreatic cancer incidence continued to rise in the years 2000-2017. However, incidence differed by demographics and histologic type. Interestingly, recent years discerned a rise in PNETs (carcinoid type) which has not been reported previously

Relation between Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Depression, and Inpatient Outcomes in the United States

The relationship between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and depression is complicated. The effect of depression on ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) among the inpatient US population has not previously been studied. We retrospectively analyzed patients admitted with UC and CD from 2016 to 2019 using the National Inpatient Sample database. Our primary outcome was the effect of depression on hospital length of stay (LOS), costs, and mortality. Secondary outcomes included the comparison between UC and CD cases. In the UC population, 13.4% had depression, compared to 14.9% in the CD population. LOS was longer in UC and CD patients with depression (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that LOS was longer in CD patients than UC patients in the depressed cohort (P < 0.001). Inpatient hospital costs were lower in IBD patients with depression (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that hospital cost was $17,974 higher in CD patients than UC patients (P < 0.001). Depression did not increase mortality in the IBD population but increased LOS, with a greater impact on CD than UC. White women were found to have an increased prevalence of depression in the IBD population

Inpatient Outcomes of Dieulafoy’s Lesions in the United States

Dieulafoy’s lesions are arguably underidentified rather than an infrequent cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. No population-based study exists regarding its inpatient outcomes in the United States. We evaluated the characteristics and inpatient outcomes for Dieulafoy’s lesions using the National Inpatient Sample from 2016 to 2019. We identified 30,015 weighted hospitalizations for Dieulafoy’s lesions. An initial diagnosis of Dieulafoy’s lesions was established for 53.85% of patients on admission. The mean age was 68.7 ± 0.04 years, with male (56%) and white race predominance (70%). The mean length of stay and hospital cost were 7.87 days and $111,914, respectively. Significant predictors of inpatient mortality included heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, coagulopathy, protein-calorie malnutrition, and alcoholism (P < 0.001). During inpatient hospitalization, 78% of patients underwent endoscopies, and 11% had colonoscopies. Inpatient mortality was 4.65%. Common comorbidities in Dieulafoy’s lesions patients included heart failure (34%), cardiac arrhythmias (41%), hypertension (32%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (25%), coagulopathic disorders (22%), and alcohol abuse (12%). Dieulafoy’s lesions have a significant effect on length of stay and hospital cost. Endoscopies were used substantially more than colonoscopies for Dieulafoy’s lesions, indicating a predominant presentation as upper gastrointestinal bleed. Cardiac disorders increase mortality in patients with Dieulafoy’s lesions