Echocardiographic parameters versus CHA2DS2-VASc score in prediction of overall cardiac events, heart failure, and stroke in non-valvular atrial fibrillation

     Background: Apart from stroke, atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with higher mortality and heart failure (HF), in which risk stratification scheme is lacking. Therefore this investigation examined the prognostic value of echocardiographic predictors against CHA2DS2-VASc score in permanent non- -valvular AF (NVAF). Methods: In 252 asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic consecutive patients with NVAF, comprehensive echocardiography was performed. Left atrial deformation parameters were also obtained by two-dimen­sional speckle tracking echocardiography. End-points pertaining to HF deterioration, ischemic stroke and cardiac death were recorded. Results: There were 74 cardiovascular events, including 44 deterioration of HF, 22 ischemic strokes and 8 cardiovascular deaths during an average follow-up period of 20.8 ± 13.5 months (interquartile range, 8–31 months). For prediction of overall prognosis and HF, left ventricular mass index, peak early filling velocity (E), and E to tissue Doppler mitral annular early diastolic velocity ratio (E/e’) outper­formed CHA2DS2-VASc score in multivariate analysis, area under curve, and stepwise nested regression models. Left ventricular hypertrophy and E/e’ > 8 showed worse overall and heart-failure free survival in Kaplan-Meier curves. For prediction of ischemic stroke, the addition of E or E/e’ to CHA2DS2-VASc score provides extra prognostic value. Conclusions: Echocardiographic parameters offer incremental value over CHA2DS2-VASc score for prediction of future cardiac events in NVAF. (Cardiol J 2018; 25, 1: 60–71

They are different: molecular approach on Tirathaba pest infesting on oil palm and coconut tree

There are some confusion among agriculturists on the species of Tirathba beetles that are infesting on oil palm and coconut trees. Many thought they are the same species.nIn this study, the mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) of Tirathaba pest infested oil palm and coconut tree were compared. The mitochondrial DNAnCytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of the targeted Tirathaba sp. infesting onnoil palm and coconut tree were sequenced. The sequences were trimmed to remove gaps and produce a final aligned fragment of 603 bp for oil palm Tirathaba samplenand 602 bp for coconut pest sample. The DNA sequences were analyzed with other Tirathaba sp. sequences available in Gene bank using phylogenetic tree constructed with Neighbor-Joining (NJ) and genetic distance analysis algorithms. The result of this study indicates they were two different species. This knowledge will provide important data elements in the development of pest management strategy

Aerosolized amphotericin B as prophylaxis for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: a meta-analysis

SummaryObjectivesInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is associated with high mortality in high-risk (immunosuppressed) patients. Many studies have investigated whether prophylactic inhalation of amphotericin B (AMB) reduces the incidence of IPA, but no definitive conclusions have been reached. The present meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic inhalation of AMB for the prevention of IPA.MethodsMEDLINE and other databases were searched for relevant articles published until December 2013. Randomized controlled trials that compared aerosolized AMB with placebo were included. Two reviewers independently assessed and extracted the data of all trials.ResultsSix animal studies and two clinical trials involving 768 high-risk patients were eligible. The animal studies showed lower overall mortality rate among animals that underwent aerosolized AMB prophylaxis (odds ratio (OR) 0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.08–0.21). Similarly, the clinical trials showed a lower incidence of IPA among patients who underwent aerosolized AMB prophylaxis (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.22–0.79).ConclusionsThis analysis provides evidence supporting the notion that the prophylactic use of aerosolized AMB effectively reduces the incidence of IPA among high-risk patients

Effectiveness of RSS feed item duplication detection using word matching

Users of feed aggregators know that duplicated articles are found occasionally on the feeds they subscribe to. It can be time consuming to read all articles and stumble upon duplicated items they have already read. Our work here is to determine the effectiveness of using basic word matching to remove duplicated items and only show the most relevant item, thus saving readers’ time. The method described in this paper to remove duplicates involves word matching heuristics with an appropriate matching percentage. The duplicated feeds are then ranked to only display the highest ranked article. Ranking is done using the number of search items found on the titles of the news feeds where the highest number returned will be considered the highest ranked article. Using Malaysian online news feeds, our method found that with a matching percentage of 40%, our method will be able to minimize duplicates effectively with minimal errors. We did further empirical studies using 9 technology blog feeds over a longer period to provide us with a better averaging results. The matching percentage obtained is also within the same quantum. The method described here has a low overhead in terms of processing for the duplicates and with careful selection of matching percentage, the system will effectively remove the majority of duplicate

4-Vinylguaiacol, an Active Metabolite of Ferulic Acid by Enteric Microbiota and Probiotics, Possesses Significant Activities against Drug-Resistant Human Colorectal Cancer Cells

Ferulic acid, a hydroxycinnamic acid, is abundant in vegetables, grains, and medicinal plants. Emerging evidence suggests that ferulic acid may exert beneficial effects against colorectal cancer. However, the anticancer activity of ferulic acid is relatively low, and its metabolism after oral administration is largely unknown. In this study, mimicking the enteric environment, human intestinal microflora and commercial probiotics were used to metabolize ferulic acid to its metabolites, and their anticancer activities were evaluated. Ferulic acid can be biotransformed to 4-vinylguaiacol (2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol), and the contents of ferulic acid and 4-vinylguaiacol in bio-transformed extracts were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Using the chemotherapy-sensitive cell line HCT-116 and the chemo-resistant cell line HT-29, the cell proliferation was determined by the modified trichrome stain assay. The cell cycle and induction of apoptosis were assayed using flow cytometry. HPLC data showed that there was a marked transformation from ferulic acid to 4-vinylguaiacol, and the conversion rates of intestinal microflora and four probiotics were from 1.3 to 36.8%. Both ferulic acid and 4-vinylguaiacol possessed dose- and time-related anticancer activities on the two cell lines, while 4-vinylguaiacol showed more potent effects than ferulic acid. Interestingly, 4-vinylguaiacol exhibited significantly higher antiproliferative effects on the HT-29 cell line than that on HCT-116. The IC50 of the metabolite 4-vinylguaiacol on HT-29 cells was 350 μM, 3.7-fold higher than its parent compound. The potential of cancer cell growth inhibition of 4-vinylguaiacol was mediated by cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase and induction of apoptosis. Data from this study indicate that the oral administration of ferulic acid offers a promising approach to increase its anticancer activity through gut microbial conversion to 4-vinylguaiacol, and the biotransformation could also be achieved by selected commercial probiotics. 4-Vinylguaiacol is a potential anticancer metabolite from ferulic acid for chemotherapy-resistant colon cancer cells

Nanoscale integration of single cell biologics discovery processes using optofluidic manipulation and monitoring.

The new and rapid advancement in the complexity of biologics drug discovery has been driven by a deeper understanding of biological systems combined with innovative new therapeutic modalities, paving the way to breakthrough therapies for previously intractable diseases. These exciting times in biomedical innovation require the development of novel technologies to facilitate the sophisticated, multifaceted, high-paced workflows necessary to support modern large molecule drug discovery. A high-level aspiration is a true integration of "lab-on-a-chip" methods that vastly miniaturize cellulmical experiments could transform the speed, cost, and success of multiple workstreams in biologics development. Several microscale bioprocess technologies have been established that incrementally address these needs, yet each is inflexibly designed for a very specific process thus limiting an integrated holistic application. A more fully integrated nanoscale approach that incorporates manipulation, culture, analytics, and traceable digital record keeping of thousands of single cells in a relevant nanoenvironment would be a transformative technology capable of keeping pace with today's rapid and complex drug discovery demands. The recent advent of optical manipulation of cells using light-induced electrokinetics with micro- and nanoscale cell culture is poised to revolutionize both fundamental and applied biological research. In this review, we summarize the current state of the art for optical manipulation techniques and discuss emerging biological applications of this technology. In particular, we focus on promising prospects for drug discovery workflows, including antibody discovery, bioassay development, antibody engineering, and cell line development, which are enabled by the automation and industrialization of an integrated optoelectronic single-cell manipulation and culture platform. Continued development of such platforms will be well positioned to overcome many of the challenges currently associated with fragmented, low-throughput bioprocess workflows in biopharma and life science research

The impact of emotional intelligence on problem behaviour among adolescents in Malaysia

Juvenile offences are on the rise over the recent years and have led to serious societal concern in Malaysia. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the relationship of both interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional intelligence relating to problem behaviours among adolescents in Malaysia. A quantitative research design method and cross-sectional research design was selected as our main data collection method to obtain data from different age groups and demography status of populations at same period. By using multistage cluster sampling method, 600 school-going adolescents from Penang, Perak and Johor were recruited and 496 sets of questionnaires were completed. The age of the participants ranged from 13 to 17 (m = 15.07, SD = 1.08). Profile of Emotional (PEC) scale and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used as the instruments to assess the variables understudy. The results showed that both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence were negatively correlated with problem behaviours. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis revealed that intrapersonal emotional intelligence is the only significant predictor in explaining adolescents’ problem behaviours. This research provides empirical support to the importance of intrapersonal emotional intelligence in discouraging adolescents from developing problem behaviours

Life cycle of oil palm bunch moth, Tirathaba mundella walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) reared under laboratory conditions on artificial diet

Tirathaba mundella Walker is an important pest in many oil palm plantations especially those established on peatland. The life cycle of T. mundella has not been described in detail despite its economic importance. This study aimed to describe the bionomic characteristics of T. mundella, rearing on an artificial diet, at 25 oC. The duration of a complete metamorphosis cycle of T. mundella was about 51.63 ± 3.80 days. The incubation period was the shortest (3.33 ± 0.80 days.), The most detrimental stage of the pest to oil palm is at larval stage, which took 33.90 ± 2.60 days before pupating. The pupal period took about 5 to 11 days with a mean ± SD period of 8.53 ± 1.48 days. The average of the adult’s longevity was about 6.05 ± 1.81 days. There is no statistical difference between the duration of male and female longevity. Adult male and female moths reared in captivity feeded with 10% sucrose solution would mate readily and produce fertile eggs. The mean preoviposition period were 4 days. Successful of rearing T. mundella using artificial diet under laboratory conditions promises laboratory assessment for pesticide development which is less tedious and time consuming than conventional field experiments