On the cognitive interference channel with causal unidirectional destination cooperation

In previous works, the cognitive interference channel with unidirectional destination cooperation has been studied. In this model, the cognitive receiver acts as a relay of the primary user's message, and its operation is assumed to be strictly causal. In this letter, we study the same channel model with a causal rather than a strictly causal relay, i.e., the relay's transmit symbol depends not only on its past but also on its current received symbol. We propose an outer bound for the discrete memoryless channel, which is later used to compute an outer bound for the Gaussian channel. We also propose an achievable scheme based on instantaneous amplify-and-forward relaying that meets the outer bound in the very strong interference regime

International databases open the door to improved care for rare bleeding disorders

Abstract The development of registries through international collaboration has facilitated better understanding of the rare bleeding disorders. Such work has shown that rare bleeding disorders are heterogeneous and need to be studied singularly, and that heterozygous patients may bleed. There is a need to understand the minimum plasma coagulant activity level to prevent spontaneous bleeding. Moreover, due to the low prevalence of rare bleeding disorders, the management of this patient population remains a challenge. Data collection on clinical history, efficacy and side effects of treatment needs to be harmonised

The evaluation of head and neck neoplasm in young and old adults

Background: Head and neck neoplasm (HNN) is one of the most common neoplasms in 6th and 7th of life. Its incidence rate is different in various human societies. Some neoplasms have an increasing trend in the young population, and some have a decreasing trend. According to the limited evidence in Iran, we decided to investigate the types and basic characteristics of HNN in young patients with less than 40 years and old patients more than 40 years of age. Methods: In this cross sectional study, we assessed the medical records of 695 patients in the department of Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) of Loghman Hakim Hospital during 2007- 2017 to compare the fundamental characteristics and types of HNN in young and old adults. Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test were used and interpreted with a significant level of less than 0.05. Results: The average age of our patients was 51.80±17.39 years old. The majority of the patients were more than 40 years old (n=514, 73.95%) and the rest were younger (n=181, 26.05%). Significantly, the percentage of male patients, diabetic patients, positive history of smoking were more predominant in old adults as compared to young adults (72.76% vs. 49.18%, 10.31% vs. 2.20%, 66.99% vs. 25.44%; all P<0.001). However the neoplasms of salivary glands, thyroid, and paranasal sinus had a significantly higher frequency in young adults (41.98%(n=76); P<0.001, 21.55%(n=39);P<0.001, 6.10%(n=11); P=0.033 respectively). There was a high percentage of larynx neoplasm in old adults as compared to young adults (42.22 %(n=217) vs. 4.41%(n=8); P=0.001). Conclusion: Larynx neoplasm was common among old smokers. The percentage of salivary glands and thyroid neoplasms were higher than other HNN in young adults (≤40 years old), especially female patients and non-smokers. Therefore, HNN is not rare in young people and the physicians must consider it while cancer screening young adults

Protective Effect of Retinoic acid preconditioning on H2O2-induced Apoptosis in Hair Cell-like Cells

Background: Several researches have proven that high levels of noise can induce oxidative stress and increase free radical's formation, particularly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitric oxide (NO) production. Retinoids are polyisoprenoid lipids derived from vitamin A or retinol. These molecules are essential regulatory elements in cell processes. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) plays a vital function in cellular growth, apoptosis, reproduction, cell differentiation, and immune feature by binding to its nuclear receptors. Aim: In this study, we studied the protective effect of ATRA on H2O2-induced damage to bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSCs)-derived hair cells in culture. Methods: Expression of MATH1 and SOX2 genes were assayed by immunocytochemistry (ICC). In order to evaluate the tolerance of ATRA-treated cells, after incubation of hair cells-like cells with ATRA, it was exposed to H2O2 as an oxidative stress model. Then, the apoptosis percentage of cultivated hair cell-like cells was evaluated by acridin-orange staining method. Results: Our findings revealed that apoptotic cells were markedly diminished in the ATRA +H2O2 co-treated cells in comparison with the H2O2 only–treated group. Conclusion: ATRA has the protective effect against oxidative stress damage in the cultivated hair cells- like cells by reducing the apoptosis

Measurement solubility of Acetylsalicylic Acid in water and alcohols

Low aqueous solubility of drug is one of the problems in pharmaceutical industry and the enhancement of the solubility of these poorly soluble drugs has recently attracted the consideration of researchers. In this way, one of the essential methods to overcome this challenge is to use co-solvents. In this study, a set of experiments was conducted to measure the solubility and density of Acetylsalicylic Acid as a painkiller drug in water, 1-octanol, ethanol, methanol, and ethylene glycol as solvents in the temperature range of 298 to 330 K. Furthermore, the experiments are carried out at 298K in the binary mixture of solvents to investigate the interaction effect of another solvent or anti-solvent in different percentages of mixtures. The results of this investigation revealed that using binary solution of water and ethanol, as a solvent aid, was able to increase the solubility especially in high percentage of ethanol. Moreover, to indicate the applicability of simple empirical model, the experimental data was used to optimize two adjustable parameters of the selected model. In future research, a successful thermodynamic models will be offered based on gathered data for prediction of solubility in the different temperature with high accuracy.&nbsp

Epidemiologic Features and Outcomes of Caustic Ingestions; a 10-Year Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Caustic ingestions are among the most prevalent causes of toxic exposure. The present 10-year survey aimed to evaluate the epidemiologic features and outcomes of caustic ingestion cases presenting to emergency department.Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study on patients who were admitted to a referral toxicology center during 2004 to 2014, following caustic ingestion. Baseline characteristics, presenting chief complaint, severity of mucosal injury, complications, imaging and laboratory findings as well as outcomes (need for ICU admission, need for surgery, mortality) were recorded, reviewing patients’ medical profile, and analyzed using SPSS 22.Results: 348 patients with mean age of 37.76 ± 17.62 years were studied (55.6% male). The mean amount of ingested caustic agent was 106.69 ± 100.24 mL (59.2 % intentional). Intentional ingestions (p < 0.0001), acidic substance (p = 0.054), and higher volume of ingestion (p = 0.021) were significantly associated with higher severity of mucosal damage. 28 (8%) cases had died, 53 (15.2%) were admitted to ICU, and 115 (33%) cases underwent surgery.Conclusion: It seems that, suicidal intention, higher grade of mucosal injury, higher volume of ingestion, lower level of consciousness, lower serum pH, and higher respiratory rate are among the most important predictors of need for ICU admission, need for surgery, and mortality

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms in Perioperative Hepatic Protection: A Review of Current Interventions

Liver is one of the most important organs needing great concern during the perioperative period. There are a number of different mechanisms that interact with liver cells and might affect their integrity and cell live. Though these mechanisms are not all the same, there is a great common point: all affect the metabolic pathways of the liver. Ischemia, anesthetic drug effects and other perioperative insults may affect the liver. Disturbance in an organ’s blood flow is an inherent part of diverse surgical procedures, which leads to lack of oxygen and nutrient supply. These ischemic periods can be particularly long in case of liver surgeries, such as resection of large hepatic tumors, management of hepatic trauma and liver transplant. Once the blood flow and oxygen supply are restored, the interruption of blood flow affects the oxygen dependent cells in liver, which require mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation for their metabolism. Molecular mechanisms such as Redox status, ionic interchange disturbances as well as different mediators and cells like KC, SEC, dendritic cells, leukocytes, and lymphocytes, are involved in the process ultimately leading to cell death by apoptosis and necrosis. This review provides an overview on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in liver injuries, categorizing these mechanisms in 3 different classes: preoperative mechanisms, intraoperative mechanisms and postoperative mechanisms. Each of them are discussed in a different part of the manuscrip

Accuracy of Endoscopy in Predicting the Depth of Mucosal Injury Following Caustic Ingestion; a Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is currently considered as the primary method of determining the degree of mucosal injury following caustic ingestion. The present study aimed to evaluate the screening performance characteristics of EGD in predicting the depth of gastrointestinal mucosal injuries following caustic ingestion.Methods: Adult patients who were referred to emergency department due to ingestion of corrosive materials, over a 7-year period, were enrolled to this diagnostic accuracy study. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values as well as negative and positive likelihood ratios of EGD in predicting the depth of mucosal injury was calculated using pathologic findings as the gold standard.Results: 54 cases with the mean age of 35 ± 11.2 years were enrolled (59.25% male). Primary endoscopic results defined 28 (51.85%) cases as second grade and 26 (48.14%) as third grade of mucosal injury. On the other hand, pathologic findings reported 21 (38.88%) patients as first grade, 14 (25.92%) as second, and 19 patients (35.18%) as third grade. Sensitivity and specificity of endoscopy for determining grade II tissue injury were 50.00 (23.04-76.96) and 47.50 (31.51-63.87), respectively. These measures were 100.00 (82.35-100) and 80.00 (63.06-91.56), respectively for grade III. Accuracy of EGD was 87.03% for grade III and 48.14% for grade II.Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, endoscopic grading of caustic related mucosal injury based on the Zargar’s classification has good accuracy in predicting grade III (87%) and fail accuracy in grade II injuries (48%). It seems that we should be cautious in planning treatment for these patients solely based on endoscopic results.

Neuroprotective Effects of Curcumin on the Proliferation and Viability of Neural Stem Cells against H2O2

Background: Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation have found to be implicated in several neurodegenerative disorders (ND). Neuroprotection against oxidative agents has been proposed as a therapy on the basis that it might prevent neuroinflammation. Curcumin is an anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory properties which has been proposed to be used as a therapeutic agent in ND.Aim: In this study, we examined the neuroprotective effect of curcumin on neural stem cells (NSCs) exposed to H2O2 as an oxidative injury model.Methods: After culturing NSCs, they were co-treated with curcumin and H2O2, after which their effects were tested on cell viability using MTT assay.Results: Our results indicated that the high concentration of H2O2 significantly promoted cell death. Specifically, after using 250 µM of H2O2, the mortality increased dramatically in comparison with the control groups. On the other hand, the presence of curcumin encouraged cell survival of NSCs treated with H2O2.Conclusion: Our result showed that curcumin has a protective effect on NSCs against H2O2 and it may ameliorate the mortality rate induced by H2O2