Case Report: A Rare Case of Sternal Erosion Due to Bronchogenic Carcinoma

Background: Primary sternal malignancy is very uncommon. Secondary sternal malignancy is usually caused by either hematological dissemination or by direct extension due to parasternal lymph node involvement from breast or lung carcinoma.Case Details: A 72 years old smoker presented with a dull aching pain over the sternum. Computed tomography (CT) of the thorax revealed osteolytic erosion of manubrium sterni, along with a mass of lesion in the upper lobe of left lung and left sided mediastinal lymphadenopathy. CT guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the left lung mass showed squamous cell carcinoma and FNAC of the sternal lesion revealed metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.Conclusion: Direct erosion of sternum in case of squamous cell carcinoma of lung is a rarity. We have reported this case to increase the awareness of clinicians regarding the possibility of direct sternal involvement from lung cancer. Moreover, local removal can improve the prognosis.Keywords: Sternal erosion, Lung cancer, Local sprea

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Not AvailableSoils of large areas of the globe are affected by deficiency or toxicity of iron (Fe), making it one of the major limitations to higher productivity of rice. Deficiency of Fe, an essential micronutrient for growth and development of rice, produces grain with low Fe-content. Consumption of low-Fe rice causes malnutrition affecting human health. Biofortification is an easy and low-cost way to enhance Fe content in rice, the staple food of more than half of the global population. Identification of relevant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and genes controlling the stresses are needed for developing tolerant genotype(s). Fe deficiency is commonly observed in alkaline and aerobic soils, while toxicity is seen in low pH soils of lowland rice ecology. Rice plants cope up under deficiency or toxicity conditions through various morphological, physiological and differential gene expression strategies.Rice plant uses various transporter genes like OsNAS1, OsNAS2, OsIRT1, OsIRT2, OsNRAMP1, OsYSL15 and OsYSL16 under deficiency stress while OsIRT1, OsFRO2, OsVIT1, OsVIT2, OsNRAMP6, OsNAAT1, OsNAS3, OsNAC4, OsNAC5 and OsNAC6 under toxicity condition are involved for Fe homeostasis. Several QTLs including qFe3:1, qFe3:2, qFe7:1, qFe9:1, qFe9:2, qFe10:1, Fe11:1, qFe3.3 and qFe7.3 associated with grain-Fe content have been identified. Many Fe binding and transporters genes like OsZIP1, OsHMA4, OsACA2, OsZIP2, OsCNGC, OsZIP3, OsZIP5, OsZIP9, OsHma2, ABC transporter, OsNAS3, heavy metal transporter, Chy zinc finger and OsACA9 have been identified to improve grain-Fe content. Donor lines for grain-Fe content have been identified from rice germplasms showing even up to 147 μg g−1 in brown rice. Fe content in rice grain has been enhanced to many folds using ferritin genes of soybean and common bean, NAS gene and mugineic acid synthase genes (HvNAS1 and HvNAAT-A,-B or IDS3) of barley, nicotianamine transporter gene (OsYSL2) and nicotinamine synthase genes (OsNAS1, OsNAS2 and OsNAS3) through transgenic approach. The paper analyses the mechanisms of tolerance to Fe-deficiency and toxicity, identification of genes/QTLs responsible for tolerance under the stresses and helping for biofortification, assesses the stress affected symptoms, reviews the screening and summarizes the efforts for breeding programs for improving tolerance to Fe-deficiency and toxicity in rice.Not Availabl

Long range transport of soil dust and smoke pollution in the South Asian Region.

Transboundary transport of air pollution in the South Asian region has been an issue of increasing importance over the past several decades. Long–range transport of anthropogenic pollution is contrasted with that of pollution produced by natural processes such as dust storms or natural forest fires. Airborne particulate matter datasets covering the period from 2002 to 2007 from the neighboring countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were used to find the source areas that are primarily responsible for long range transported pollutants. All four countries collected samples with the same type of sampler and follow the same technique for mass and BC measurements. It was found that high fine soil contributions were from dust storms. On the other hand, smoke in this region mainly comes from northern India where agricultural waste is often burned. © Elsevier B.V

Synthesis and characterization of PCU@C-Ag/AgCl nanoparticles as an antimicrobial material for respiratory tract infection

Abstract The pregnant cow urine (PCU) is an active source of antimicrobial agents that is used for fabricating chitosan coated Ag/AgCl nanoparticles (NPs) in the present study. These PCU@C-Ag/AgCl NPs were physicochemically characterized and evaluated for antimicrobial activity against selected respiratory tract infection (RTI) pathogens. The absorption band around 420 nm in UV-Visible spectrum indicated the presence of Ag NPs. The spherical shape of NPs was observed using TEM. Also, the crystalline structure was confirmed using the XRD pattern. The PCU@C-Ag/AgCl NPs showed strong antimicrobial activity against all tested RTI pathogens. In addition, FESEM analysis showed morphological changes in RTI bacterial pathogens. Thereby, PCU@C-Ag/AgCl NPs may be used as an antimicrobial material to treat RTIs in near future at clinical level.</jats:p

Suppression of FOXM1 Sensitizes Human Cancer Cells to Cell Death Induced by DNA-Damage

Irradiation and DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents are commonly used in anticancer treatments. Following DNA damage FOXM1 protein levels are often elevated. In this study, we sought to investigate the potential role of FOXM1 in programmed cell death induced by DNA-damage. Human cancer cells after FOXM1 suppression were subjected to doxorubicin or γ-irradiation treatment. Our findings indicate that FOXM1 downregulation by stable or transient knockdown using RNAi or by treatment with proteasome inhibitors that target FOXM1 strongly sensitized human cancer cells of different origin to DNA-damage-induced apoptosis. We showed that FOXM1 suppresses the activation of pro-apoptotic JNK and positively regulates anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, suggesting that JNK activation and Bcl-2 down-regulation could mediate sensitivity to DNA-damaging agent-induced apoptosis after targeting FOXM1. Since FOXM1 is widely expressed in human cancers, our data further support the fact that it is a valid target for combinatorial anticancer therapy

A recombinant fragment of Human surfactant protein D binds Spike protein and inhibits infectivity and replication of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples

COVID -19 is an acute infectious disease caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Human surfactant protein D (SP-D) is known to interact with spike protein of SARS-CoV, but its immune-surveillance against SARS-CoV-2 is not known. The study aimed to examine the potential of a recombinant fragment of human SP-D (rfhSP-D) as an inhibitor of replication and infection of SARS-CoV-2. The interaction of rfhSP-D with spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and hACE-2 receptor was predicted via docking analysis. The inhibition of interaction between spike protein and ACE-2 by rfhSP-D was confirmed using direct and indirect ELISA. The effect of rfhSP-D on replication and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 from clinical samples was studied by measuring the expression of RdRp gene of the virus using qPCR. In-silico interaction studies indicated that three amino acid residues in the RBD of spike of SARS-CoV-2 were commonly involved in interacting with rfhSP-D and ACE-2. Studies using clinical samples of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases (asymptomatic, n=7 and symptomatic, n=8 and negative controls n=15) demonstrated that treatment with 1.67 µM rfhSP-D inhibited viral replication by ~5.5 fold and was more efficient than Remdesivir (100 µM). Approximately, a 2-fold reduction in viral infectivity was also observed after treatment with 1.67 µM rfhSP-D. These results conclusively demonstrate that the calcium independent rfhSP-D mediated inhibition of binding between the receptor binding domain of the S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and human ACE-2, its host cell receptor, and a significant reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication in-vitro

Peroxiredoxin 3 Is a Redox-Dependent Target of Thiostrepton in Malignant Mesothelioma Cells

Thiostrepton (TS) is a thiazole antibiotic that inhibits expression of FOXM1, an oncogenic transcription factor required for cell cycle progression and resistance to oncogene-induced oxidative stress. The mechanism of action of TS is unclear and strategies that enhance TS activity will improve its therapeutic potential. Analysis of human tumor specimens showed FOXM1 is broadly expressed in malignant mesothelioma (MM), an intractable tumor associated with asbestos exposure. The mechanism of action of TS was investigated in a cell culture model of human MM. As for other tumor cell types, TS inhibited expression of FOXM1 in MM cells in a dose-dependent manner. Suppression of FOXM1 expression and coincidental activation of ERK1/2 by TS were abrogated by pre-incubation of cells with the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), indicating its mechanism of action in MM cells is redox-dependent. Examination of the mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase 2 (TR2)-thioredoxin 2 (TRX2)-peroxiredoxin 3 (PRX3) antioxidant network revealed that TS modifies the electrophoretic mobility of PRX3. Incubation of recombinant human PRX3 with TS in vitro also resulted in PRX3 with altered electrophoretic mobility. The cellular and recombinant species of modified PRX3 were resistant to dithiothreitol and SDS and suppressed by NAC, indicating that TS covalently adducts cysteine residues in PRX3. Reduction of endogenous mitochondrial TRX2 levels by the cationic triphenylmethane gentian violet (GV) promoted modification of PRX3 by TS and significantly enhanced its cytotoxic activity. Our results indicate TS covalently adducts PRX3, thereby disabling a major mitochondrial antioxidant network that counters chronic mitochondrial oxidative stress. Redox-active compounds like GV that modify the TR2/TRX2 network may significantly enhance the efficacy of TS, thereby providing a combinatorial approach for exploiting redox-dependent perturbations in mitochondrial function as a therapeutic approach in mesothelioma

Event-based knowledge elicitation of operating room management decision-making using scenarios adapted from information systems data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>No systematic process has previously been described for a needs assessment that identifies the operating room (OR) management decisions made by the anesthesiologists and nurse managers at a facility that do not maximize the efficiency of use of OR time. We evaluated whether event-based knowledge elicitation can be used practically for rapid assessment of OR management decision-making at facilities, whether scenarios can be adapted automatically from information systems data, and the usefulness of the approach.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A process of event-based knowledge elicitation was developed to assess OR management decision-making that may reduce the efficiency of use of OR time. Hypothetical scenarios addressing every OR management decision influencing OR efficiency were created from published examples. Scenarios are adapted, so that cues about conditions are accurate and appropriate for each facility (e.g., if OR 1 is used as an example in a scenario, the listed procedure is a type of procedure performed at the facility in OR 1). Adaptation is performed automatically using the facility's OR information system or anesthesia information management system (AIMS) data for most scenarios (43 of 45). Performing the needs assessment takes approximately 1 hour of local managers' time while they decide if their decisions are consistent with the described scenarios. A table of contents of the indexed scenarios is created automatically, providing a simple version of problem solving using case-based reasoning. For example, a new OR manager wanting to know the best way to decide whether to move a case can look in the chapter on "Moving Cases on the Day of Surgery" to find a scenario that describes the situation being encountered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Scenarios have been adapted and used at 22 hospitals. Few changes in decisions were needed to increase the efficiency of use of OR time. The few changes were heterogeneous among hospitals, showing the usefulness of individualized assessments.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our technical advance is the development and use of automated event-based knowledge elicitation to identify suboptimal OR management decisions that decrease the efficiency of use of OR time. The adapted scenarios can be used in future decision-making.</p

Transcriptome analysis of mRNA and miRNA in skeletal muscle indicates an important network for differential Residual Feed Intake in pigs

Feed efficiency (FE) can be measured by feed conversion ratio (FCR) or residual feed intake (RFI). In this study, we measured the FE related phenotypes of 236 castrated purebred Yorkshire boars, and selected 10 extreme individuals with high and low RFI for transcriptome analysis. We used RNA-seq analyses to determine the differential expression of genes and miRNAs in skeletal muscle. There were 99 differentially expressed genes identified (q ≤ 0.05). The down-regulated genes were mainly involved in mitochondrial energy metabolism, including FABP3, RCAN, PPARGC1 (PGC-1A), HK2 and PRKAG2. The up-regulated genes were mainly involved in skeletal muscle differentiation and proliferation, including IGF2, PDE7A, CEBPD, PIK3R1 and MYH6. Moreover, 15 differentially expressed miRNAs (|log2FC| ≥ 1, total reads count ≥ 20, p ≤ 0.05) were identified. Among them, miR-136, miR-30e-5p, miR-1, miR-208b, miR-199a, miR-101 and miR-29c were up-regulated, while miR-215, miR-365-5p, miR-486, miR-1271, miR-145, miR-99b, miR-191 and miR-10b were down-regulated in low RFI pigs. We conclude that decreasing mitochondrial energy metabolism, possibly through AMPK - PGC-1A pathways, and increasing muscle growth, through IGF-1/2 and TGF-β signaling pathways, are potential strategies for the improvement of FE in pigs (and possibly other livestock). This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms that determine RFI and FE in pigs

Living knowledge of the healing plants: Ethno-phytotherapy in the Chepang communities from the Mid-Hills of Nepal

Contribution of indigenous knowledge in developing more effective drugs with minimum or no side effects helped to realise importance of study of indigenous remedies and the conservation of biological resources. This study analysed indigenous knowledge regarding medicinal plants use among the Chepang communities from ward number 3 and 4 of Shaktikhor Village Development Committee located in the central mid hills of Nepal. Data were collected in a one-year period and included interviews with traditional healers and elders. Chepangs are rich in knowledge regarding use of different plants and were using a total 219 plant parts from 115 species including one mushroom (belonging 55 families) for medicinal uses. Out of these, 75 species had 118 different new medicinal uses and 18 of them were not reported in any previous documents from Nepal as medicinal plants. Spiritual belief, economy and limitation of alternative health facilities were cause of continuity of people's dependency on traditional healers. Change in socio-economic activities not only threatened traditional knowledge but also resource base of the area. Enforcement of local institution in management of forest resources and legitimating traditional knowledge and practices could help to preserve indigenous knowledge