Neovascularity patterns in breast carcinoma: Correlation of Doppler ultrasound features with sonographic tumour morphology

Objective: To determine the association and correlation between morphologic features of breast cancer on gray scale ultrasound, and vascularity patterns and indices on color and spectral Doppler ultrasound.Study design: Cross-sectional, analytical study.Place and duration of study: Department of Radiology, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital, Karachi, from August 2006 to June 2007.Methodology: Fifty adult female patients with histopathological proven breast cancer underwent ultrasound for evaluation of morphologic features on gray scale mode; vascularity patterns on color Doppler scan and flow indices measurement on spectral Doppler ultrasound. Regression analysis was conducted to determine correlation between the variables and associations of vascularity patterns.Results: The 50 studied patients had predominantly solid tumour in 46 (92%) with depth to width ratio of \u3e 1 in 37 (76%). The mean tumour size was 3.6 +/- 1.34 cm, with irregular margins in 41 (82%), posterior shadowing in 43 (86%) and calcifications in 27 (54%). Type 3 vascularity (multiple peripheral vessels) was the most frequent pattern (n=21, 42%) that showed a positive correlation with solid tumours (r=0.7, p \u3c 0.001). Low resistance spectral waveform was seen in 44 (88%) cases. The average size was 3.69 cm in vascular and 3.1 cm in avascular tumours. Mean resistive index (RI) was 0.67. Mean pulsatility index (PI) was 1.1. RI was significantly high in cystic tumours (mean=0.8, p \u3c 0.001) and significantly low in tumours measuring less than 2 cm (RI=0.18, p \u3c 0.001).Conclusion: In this study, multiple peripheral vessels with low resistance flow was the pattern most significantly associated with all appearance of focal breast cancer. Apart from a positive correlation with solid tumours, markedly high RI in cystic tumours and markedly low RI in tumours less than 2 cm, there was no consistent correlation trend difference between Doppler findings and tumour size. Histopathology, therefore, remains the main modality to evaluate the tumour type and characteristics

Randomised controlled trial: comparing effects of metformin versus myoinositol versus metformin and myoinositol on ovarian functions and metabolic factors in polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) characterized by anovulation and features of hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical) and insulin resistance. Metformin and myoinositol being insulin sensitizers improve clinical and biochemical parameters. This study was done to compare the effects of these drugs on clinical features and biochemical profile.Methods: A randomized, comparative, clinical study was conducted on 72 patients. The patients were randomized with the help of computer-generated random numbers and were allocated to either of the three treatment groups A, B and C. Patients in group A received metformin 500 mg TDS, group B received myoinositol 1000 mg BD, group C received combination of metformin 500 mg and myoinositol 550 mg BD for 24 weeks. At first visit patients detailed history and baseline investigations were recorded. Follow up was done 24 weeks after start of therapy to assess the improvement in clinical and biochemical profile.Results: There was significant improvement in menstrual irregularities, cutaneous manifestations, pregnancy rate, LH/FSH ratio, insulin sensitivity and HOMA-IR after 24 weeks of treatment in all three groups (p value <0.05), although there was greater improvement in cases treated with combination of metformin and myoinositol than metformin and myoinositol alone.Conclusions: The combination of metformin and myoinositol has resulted in more significant reduction in insulin resistance and improvement in metabolic and hormonal profile along with regularization of menstrual cycles and spontaneous conception than metformin and myoinositol alone

In vivo sedative and muscle relaxants activity of Diospyros lotus L

ABSTRACTObjectiveTo evaluate the sedative effect of Diospyros lotus L (D. lotus) extract in mice using the open field and Rota rod tests.MethodsFor the sedative and muscle relaxants activities of extract/fractions of the plant, in-vivo open field and phenobarbitone-induced sleeping time were used, while the Roda rod test was employed in animals for the assessment of muscle relaxant activity.ResultsResults from this investigation revealed that the extracts of D. lotus have exhibited significant sedative effect in mice (45.98%) at 100 mg/kg i.p. When the extract was partitioned with different solvents, the n-hexane fraction was inactive whereas the chloroform fraction was the most active with 82.67% sedative effect at 50 and 100 mg/kg i.p. On the other hand, the ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions displayed significant sedative effects (55.65% and 40.87%, respectively) at 100 mg/kg i.p. Among the tested extract/fractions, only chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions showed significant (P < 0.05) muscle relaxant activity in the Rota rod test.ConclusionsIn short, our study provided scientific background to the traditional uses of D. lotus as sedative

Role of Tuition Centers in the Performance and Achievement of Students: A Case of Hyderabad District, Sindh, Pakistan

This research is designed to explore the importance of tuition centers in the perception of students. It tries to find out the role, supporting methods, environment and good characteristics of tuition centers, their owners and management to support the student to learn effectively and bring good grades in their board examinations. A qualitative research method employed to collect data from the 30 participating students who receive tuition at different centers of Hyderabad district. Semi-structured interview protocol was design; discussed with five experts of field; improved as per suggestions of field experts; piloted on three students; and then implemented and conducted on the recruited sample of students of class Higher Secondary Certificate -II (XII) in order to collect data. The results revealed that the students who receive tuition at different centers bring good grades in their examination and have suitable knowledge about their subjects taught at centers. Their previous grades were found good and attractive such as A-1 and A with more than 80% and 70% marks respectively, due to coaching received at tuition centers that time, reveled from experiences shared by students

Global variation of COVID-19 mortality rates in the initial phase

Objectives: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused devastation in over 200 countries. Italy, Spain, and the United States (US) were most severely affected by the first wave of the pandemic. The reasons why some countries were more strongly affected than others remain unknown. We identified the most-affected and less-affected countries and states and explored environmental, host, and infrastructure risk factors that may explain differences in the SARS-CoV-2 mortality burden. Methods: We identified the top 10 countries/US states with the highest deaths per population until May 2020. For each of these 10 case countries/states, we identified 6 control countries/ states with a similar population size and at least 3 times fewer deaths per population. We extracted data for 30 risk factors from publicly available, trusted sources. We compared case and control countries/states using the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and conducted a secondary cluster analysis to explore the relationship between the number of cases per population and the number of deaths per population using a scalable EM (expectation–maximization) clustering algorithm. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in 16 of 30 investigated risk factors, the most important of which were temperature, neonatal and under-5 mortality rates, the percentage of under-5 deaths due to acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and diarrhea, and tuberculosis incidence (p < 0.05) Conclusion: Countries with a higher burden of baseline pediatric mortality rates, higher pediatric mortality from preventable diseases like diarrhea and ARI, and higher tuberculosis incidence had lower rates of coronavirus disease 2019-associated mortality, supporting the hygiene hypothesis

Comparative analysis of hyoscine in wild-type and in vitro grown Datura innoxia by high performance liquid chromatography

Purpose: To compare the hyoscine contents of Datura innoxia plant grown in the wild and that grown in vitro.Methods: For callus induction from leaf explants, 15 combinations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid, gibberellic acid, benzyl amino purine and kinetin were used. For regeneration of shoots, 8 combinations of BAP, kinetin and indole butyric acid (IBA) were tested. Different concentrations of IBA were used for rooting. The hyoscine contents of the wild and in vitro samples was initially identified by TLC and subsequently quantified by high performance liquid chromatography using hyoscine N-butyl bromide as standard.Results: For callus induction, 2,4-D at 2 mg/L produced maximum calli (96 %). Maximum shoots regeneration was obtained with 2 mg/L BAP and 1 mg/L kinetin. IBA at 0.5 mg/L induced good rooting. Substantial amount of hyoscine was detected in the extracts of in vitro grown plants through TLC and HPLC. Wild root, stem and leaves exhibited higher amounts (approx. 2 μg/mL) of hyoscine than the parts of in vitro grown plants. Green callus grown in vitro contained a maximum concentration of hyoscine (1.01 μg/mL) followed by leaf (0.82 μg/mL) and brown callus (0.432 μg/mL).Conclusion: The callus cultures of D. innoxia are capable of yielding good amounts of hyoscine, and therefore can be exploited to increase hyoscine production using chemical/hormone treatments on a large scale. Thus, this study provides a sustainable and efficient way for the sustainable production of a natural hyoscine product via in vitro-grown D. innoxia cultures.Keywords: Datura innoxia, Hyoscine, Callus, Hyoscine, Explant, Gibberellic acid, Benzyl amino purine, Kineti

Global variation of COVID-19 mortality rates in the initial phase

Objective: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused devastation in over 200 countries. Italy, Spain, and the United States (US) were most severely affected by the first wave of the pandemic. The reasons why some countries were more strongly affected than others remain unknown. We identified the most-affected and less-affected countries and states and explored environmental, host, and infrastructure risk factors that may explain differences in the SARS-CoV-2 mortality burden.Methods: We identified the top 10 countries/US states with the highest deaths per population until May 2020. For each of these 10 case countries/states, we identified 6 control countries/states with a similar population size and at least 3 times fewer deaths per population. We extracted data for 30 risk factors from publicly available, trusted sources. We compared case and control countries/states using the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and conducted a secondary cluster analysis to explore the relationship between the number of cases per population and the number of deaths per population using a scalable EM (expectation-maximization) clustering algorithm.Results: Statistically significant differences were found in 16 of 30 investigated risk factors, the most important of which were temperature, neonatal and under-5 mortality rates, the percentage of under-5 deaths due to acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and diarrhea, and tuberculosis incidence (p \u3c 0.05).Conclusion: Countries with a higher burden of baseline pediatric mortality rates, higher pediatric mortality from preventable diseases like diarrhea and ARI, and higher tuberculosis incidence had lower rates of coronavirus disease 2019-associated mortality, supporting the hygiene hypothesis

Reversal of Multidrug Resistance in Mouse Lymphoma Cells by Extracts and Flavonoids from Pistacia integerrima

Phytochemical investigation of Pistacia integerrima has highlighted isolation of two known compounds naringenin (1) and dihydrokaempferol (2). A crude extract and these isolated compounds were here evaluated for their effects on reversion of multidrug resistance (MDR) mediated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp). The multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein is a target for chemotherapeutic drugs from cancer cells. In the present study rhodamine- 123 exclusion screening test on human mdr1 gene transfected mouse gene transfected L5178 and L5178Y mouse T-cell lymphoma cells showed excellent MDR reversing effects in a dose dependent manner. In-silico molecular docking investigations demonstrated a common binding site for Rhodamine123, and compounds naringenin and dihydrokaempferol. Our results showed that the relative docking energies estimated by docking softwares were in satisfactory correlation with the experimental activities. Preliminary interaction profile of P-gp docked complexes were also analysed in order to understand the nature of binding modes of these compounds. Our computational investigation suggested that the compounds interactions with the hydrophobic pocket of P-gp are mainly related to the inhibitory activity. Moreover this study s a platform for the discovery of novel natural compounds from herbal origin, as inhibitor molecules against the P-glycoprotein for the treatment of cancer

Antidiabetic potential of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf extract in type 2 diabetic rats, and its mechanism of action

Purpose: To explore the antidiabetic potential of Moringa oleifera leaf extract in type 2 diabetic rats, and the underlying mechanisms.Methods: Streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 40 mg/kg was given to high fat diet (HFD)- fed rats to induce type 2 diabetes. M. oleifera leaf extract at doses 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg were given to 3 groups of type 2 diabetic rats. The area under curve (AUC) of glucose and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-R) were calculated using appropriate formulas, whereas levels of glucose,insulin, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPARγ, dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β and TNFα) were assayed using ELISA kits.Results: The leaf extract of M. oleifera significantly reduced the levels of glucose, insulin and cytokines in treated type 2 diabetic groups (p &lt; 0.05). DC group had significantly increased AUC for glucose, whereas the extract-treated groups showed significant&nbsp; decrease in glucose AUC. There was significant decrease in insulin sensitivity parameters, as indicated by increase in HOMA-R and decrease in PPARγ levels in the DC group (p &lt; 0.05). However, treatment with the M. oleifera extract reversed this trend via marked decrease in HOMA-R level and significant rise in PPARγ level. In contrast, the extract had no effect on DPP-IV concentration in diabetic treated groups (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: These results indicate that M. oleifera leaf extract mitigates hyperglycemia in type 2 DM by modulating hyperinsulinemia, PPARγ and inflammatory cytokines. Thus, the extract is a potential source of drug for the management of type 2 DM. Keywords: Moringa oleifera, Diabetes mellitus, Streptozotocin, Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ, Dipeptidyl peptidase I