Prostate Cancer: Countdown to Choice between Stitch in Time and Eleventh Hour Begins

Androgen ablation therapy presumed to be an effective treatment for advanced prostate cancer (PCa) is relentlessly challenged. Remissions are impermanent and patients almost inescapably progress to become castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). CRPC is almost invincible and is the major stumbling block in the treatment. It is a dramatic shift of androgen receptor (AR) from normal activities to the oncogenesis. AR signaling is remarkably increased under an androgen-depleted environment. It utilizes a miscellany of mechanisms and pathways to compensate for the decreasing levels of androgens. These range from mutations in the receptor more like a business tactic to attract more clients, to the illegitimate crosstalks which promote the signaling. The review will encompass various mechanistic insights of the AR manipulations. Moreover efficacy of therapeutic interventions recently designed keeping in view the molecular hierarchy will be evaluated

Ultrasound guided percutaneous biopsy of omentum: a safest technique to detect the causes of omental thickening

Background: The objective of our study was to determine the diagnostic value and safety of ultrasound guided percutaneous biopsy of omental thickening.Methods: We prospectively analyzed 60 patients who underwent USG-guided omental biopsies in our institute from January 2016 to December 2016.Results: Total 60 patients were included in our study. There were 40 (66.7%) female and 20 (33.3%) male patients. There were total 36 (60%) malignant cases, 20 (33.3%) chronic inflammation suggestive of TB while 4 (6.7%) were chronic peritoneal infection. Out of 36 malignant cases, majority 24 (66.7%) had ovarian cancer, 8 (22.2%) had endometrium cancer and 4 (11.1%) had large bowel cancer. Repeat biopsies were performed only in 4 (6.7%) cases.Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided percutaneous biopsy of omentum is less expensive, safe and effective method with a high diagnostic accuracy

Mathematical Understanding of Sequence Alignment and Phylogenetic Algorithms: A Comprehensive Review of Computation of Different Methods

Pairwise sequence alignment is one of the ways to position two biological sequences to identify regions of similarity that may suggest the functional, structural and evolutionary relationship among proteins and nucleic acids. There are two strategies in pairwise alignment: local sequence alignment (Smith Waterman algorithm) and global sequence alignment (Needleman Wunsch algorithm). In the prior approach, two sequences that may or may not be related, are aligned to find regions of local similarities in large sequences, whereas in the later one, two sequences of same length are aligned to identify their conserved regions. Moreover, similarities and divergence between biological sequences also has to be rationalized and visualized in the form of phylogenetic trees, so the dendrogram construction approaches were developed and divided into distance-based and character-based methods. In this review article, different algorithms of sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction were meditated with examples and compared by looking into the background computation for the better understanding of the algorithms, which will be helpful for molecular biology, computational sciences and mathematics/statistics novices. Phylogenetic trees are constructed through various methods, some are computationally robust but does not provide precise evolutionary insight, whereas some provide accurate evolutionary understandings, but computationally exhaustive and cumbersome. So, there is a need to understand the implicit mathematics and intricate computation behind the dendrogram construction for improving the existing algorithms and developing new methods.  Keywords: Local sequence alignment; Global sequence alignment; UPGMA; Neighbour joining; Fitch Margoliash; Maximum-Parsimony; Maximum-Likelihood  

Frequency and Risk factors of Low Birth Weight in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Background: Low birth weight is a key determinant of infant survival, health and development. There are many maternal and biological risk factors for it. The objective of this study is to determine frequency and associated risk factors of Low birth weight. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in department of obstetrics and gynecology; al Razi hospital, Rawalpindi from June 2016 till June 2020. Total sample size was 20,681 which was the total births during these years in this hospital setting. A structured pre tested questionnaire was used for data collection. SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. Frequencies and percentages were calculated. Chi square test was used to determine association between LBW and socio demographic variables Result: The overall frequency of LBW was found to be 8.9%. Female babies were more likely to have LBW as compared to male babies (p=0.000). LBW babies had poor APGAR scoring as compared to normal weight (p=0.000). The frequency of LBW was higher amongst the mother who were <20years of age and >30years. Maternal weight had a direct while parity had inverse relationship with LBW. Conclusion: Low birth weight babies have poor APGAR scoring and associated with maternal risk factors

Seroprevalence and Associated Factors of SARS CoV-2 Antibodies among employees of IMDC and its teaching hospital

Abstract: Background: Since the emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, it has claimed many lives and global economic losses. Healthcare workers have been the most exposed group in this pandemic. This study aims to determine the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among the employees of Islamabad Medical and Dental College and its allied hospital Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital. Methodology: All members of the staff and faculty of Islamabad Medical and Dental College and allied hospital Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital were encouraged to get tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and 294 employees volunteered for the study from 23rd July to 30th July,2020 through Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 (Immunoassay for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in human serum and plasma). Results: Out of 284 volunteers, 87 (30.6%) were SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive, with the mean antibody level in seropositive individuals recorded as 24.4418 ± 25.3494. , housekeeping and sanitary workers were the most affected; 14 (48.3%) were antibody positive, while 15 (51.7%) were antibody negative. After housekeeping and sanitary staff, the second most affected workers were lab technicians (37.1% were positive compared to 62.9% negative). Fever, loss of taste or smell and breathing difficulty were the most significantly associated symptoms with COVID-19 antibody seroprevalence as suggested by the p values 0.003, 0.004 and 0.032 respectively. Out of the 13 PCR positive participants (in the preceding 3 months) 10 (76.9%) showed positive antibody in their serum and 3 (23.1%) had not developed antibodies. Conclusion: Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was estimated to be high among the healthcare staff (30.6%), with the housekeeping and sanitary staff to be the most affected employees, probably due to the breach of personal protection. Fever, loss of taste or smell and breathing were strongly associated with seropositivity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Key Words: SARS-CoV-2, antibody testing, Covid-19, healthcare worker

Diagnostic accuracy of pelvic MRI for determination of the cervical involvement in endometrial cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of pelvic MRI for assessment of the cervical involvement in endometrial cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Radiology Department of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi from January 2014 to December 2015. METHODOLOGY: Patients with biopsy-proven endometrial cancer were included, who had both their MRI and histopathological diagnosis performed at our institution. Those patients treated with chemo/radiotherapy or had incomplete medical records, were excluded. The extent of cervical involvement by endometrial carcinoma was seen on T2WI images, and findings were correlated after surgery taking histopathology as the gold standard. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy were calculated. RESULTS: The mean age of the 56 patients was 60.87 ±8.80 years (range 37-84 years). The most common clinical indication was post-menopausal bleeding (n=37, 66.1%). The most common histological subtype was endometrioid adenocarcinoma (n=50, 89.3%). The sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of MRI in the detection of cervical invasion were 92.85%, 88.09%, 89.28%, 72.22% and 97.36%, respectively. CONCLUSION: MRI is a highly sensitive and specific imaging modality for detection of cervical invasion in endometrial carcinoma

A Study on Orientation of Women Empowerment and its Relationship with Students’ Academic Achievement

The present study aimed to explore an orientation of women empowerment and its relationship with students’ academic achievement at Haroonabad. A rating scale addressing the prominent clauses relating to women empowerment was explored in-depth about the orientation of the general mobs. Population consisted of parents whose female students were studying in the secondary schools of Haroonabad. Female parents willing to participate were selected as sample on the basis of their informed consent. Data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings shown that there was a significant positive weak correlation between the women empowerment and the students’ academic achievement. Furthermore, that women empowerment as the students of secondary school female parents are more empowered in the real sense as compared to uneducated parents. Awareness among women is required to be developed for equipping their female kids with future-oriented and need-based skills education. &nbsp