Age and site of Colonic Neoplastic Lesions: Implications of screening in South Asia.

Objective : To evaluate the Age of patients and the site of Colonic Neoplastic Lesions (CNL) and to determine the appropriate screening strategy for Colorectal Carcinoma (CRC) (sigmoidoscopy versus colonoscopy) in our population. Methods : This is a cross sectional study. Data of all patients more than 16 years of age who underwent full colonoscopic examination at the Aga Khan University hospital between January 2011 till December 2013 and were diagnosed to have CRC or advanced adenomas (defined as polyp more than 1 cm and/or having villous morphology on histology) was recorded. Lesions found distal to the splenic flexure were characterized as distal lesions and while lesions found between the splenic flexure and the cecum were characterized as proximal lesions. RESULTS: During the study period colonic neoplastic lesions were found in 217 patients; 186 (85.7%) patients had CRC and 31(14.3%) patients had advanced adenomatous polyps. Mean age was 55.8±14 years and amongst them 72 (33.2%) patients were less than 50 years of age while 145 (66.8%) were more than 50 years. In 144 (66.4%) patients lesions were located in the distal colon, 65 (30%) had lesions in the proximal colon while in 8 (3.7%) patients the neoplastic lesions were found both in the proximal and distal colon. The predominant symptoms were bleeding per rectum in 39.6% of patients followed by weight loss in 31.8% of patients. Only 3 patients had familial syndromes with multiple polyps. When patients younger than 50 years of age were compared with patients more than 50 years there was no statistically significant difference between the site of neoplastic lesion as well as the presenting symptoms. (p value 0.85). CONCLUSION: Colonic Neoplastic Lesions presented at younger age in our study population and one third of the lesions were found in the right sided colon. Hence screening for CNLs should be implied at an earlier age preferably with colonoscopy. More population based data is required to further validate our results

Development of body stress analyzer based on physiological signal

Ehealth is one of the system that use modern technologies that be apply to the healthcare organization. This system allowed the patient to access the system to monitor their health records and else by using internet as a platform to communicate. Thus, this project is inspired by Ehealth system to making a hardware device with software application that act as monitoring system to the people. For the hardware, the user only need to grasped the two terminal in the device that contains of all the sensor for doing the testing procedure. Thus, all the data that be contain will be sent to the apps via internet of things for storing them. This will helps physical education and health teacher to do observation and record the data obtain from the apps.Besides, this way also will avoiding any incident to be occur towards the students if they carry on the activities in abnormal condition of their body system. The scope for this project is focusing on monitoring students body condition before they starting their outdoor activities in the field. The way for sensing the parameter including pulse sensor, LM35 and Galvanic Skin Response sensor with arduino as a microcontroller to process the input and output signal

Assessing respiratory inflammation among children living near to non-sanitary landfill using interleukin-6 (IL-6)

Aims: To determine the respiratory inflammation among children living near to non-sanitary municipal solid waste landfill area and the concentration of Interleukin-6 cytokine. Study Design: A cross-sectional comparative study design. Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Pajam, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, between September 2013 and April 2014. Methodology: A total of 72 children were randomly selected based on the inclusive and exclusive criteria. A set of pre-tested questionnaires were utilized to obtain socio-demographic information and to predict health risk faced by the respondents. Saliva samples of the respondents were collected and analyzed using Human Interleukin-6 (IL-6) Platinum ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) kit. Results: The PM10 concentration for the exposed group was higher than the unexposed group with the mean ± standard deviation (SD) of 152.31±31.07 μg/m3 and 87.77±30.77 μg/m3 respectively. The mean ± SD of the Interleukin-6 for the exposed group was slightly higher than the unexposed group with the mean ± SD of 6.34±1.95 pg/ml and 5.77±1.08 pg/ml respectively. The most common symptoms reported was sneezing and sore throat. There was no significant correlation between PM10 concentration and IL-6 in this study. Conclusion: The findings exhibit that there was no association between Interleukin-6 and PM10 concentration of the respondent. However, there are likely potential adverse health impacts arising from particulates exposure among exposed children in this study. Respondents are advised to have a medical check-up in order to determine respiratory health status thus elimination the risks of acquiring respiratory inflammation

Lentiviral Engineered Fibroblasts Expressing Codon Optimized COL7A1 Restore Anchoring Fibrils in RDEB

Cells therapies, engineered to secrete replacement proteins, are being developed to ameliorate otherwise debilitating diseases. Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is caused by defects of type VII collagen (C7), a protein essential for anchoring fibril formation at the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ). Whilst allogeneic fibroblasts injected directly into the dermis can mediate transient disease modulation, autologous gene-modified fibroblasts should evade immunological rejection and support sustained delivery of C7 at the DEJ. We demonstrate the feasibility of such an approach using a therapeutic grade, self-inactivating-lentiviral vector, encoding codon optimized COL7A1, to transduce RDEB fibroblasts under conditions suitable for clinical application. Expression and secretion of C7 was confirmed, with transduced cells exhibiting supra-normal levels of protein expression and ex vivo migration of fibroblasts was restored in functional assays. Gene modified RDEB fibroblasts also deposited C7 at the DEJ of human RDEB skin xenografts placed on NOD-scid IL2Rgamma(null) recipients, with reconstruction of human epidermal structure and regeneration of anchoring fibrils at the DEJ. Fibroblast mediated restoration of protein and structural defects in this RDEB model strongly supports proposed therapeutic applications in man

Phytoconstituents from Vernonia glaberrima Welw. Ex O. Hoffm. leaves and their cytotoxic activities on a panel of human cancer cell lines

Vernonia glaberrima is a medicinal plant that is used in African traditional medicine for the treatment of skin cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer activity of V. glaberrima leaves and isolate its bioactive constituents. Crude methanolic leaves extract of V. glaberrima showing significant cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines was subjected to chromatographic separation, purification and hydrolysis to yield four compounds namely, nonacosanoic acid, lupeol, 5-methylcoumarin-4-β-glucoside and 4-hydroxy-5-methylcoumarin. Three of the isolated compounds showed significant cytotoxic activity against human malignant melanoma (A375) cell line (IC50: 59.18 ± 2.70 to 139.53 ± 10.79 μg/mL) and human caucasian colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell line (IC50: 4.22 ± 0.13 to 20.0 ± 1.91 μg/mL) while only lupeol displayed significant activity against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) (IC50: 34.15 ± 2.32 μg/mL) cell line. CDK2 receptor and CAIX were identified through molecular docking as potential targets for the bioactive compounds. The findings of this study have revealed the therapeutic potential of V. glaberrima against breast cancer, skin cancer and colorectal carcinoma, respectively and further support its traditional uses in the treatment of skin cancer. Keywords: Vernonia glaberrima; Anticancer activity; 5-Methylcoumarin-4-β-glucoside; Molecular docking; Carbonic anhydrase I

Lentiviral Engineered Fibroblasts Expressing Codon-Optimized COL7A1 Restore Anchoring Fibrils in RDEB

Cells therapies, engineered to secrete replacement proteins, are being developed to ameliorate otherwise debilitating diseases. Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is caused by defects of type VII collagen, a protein essential for anchoring fibril formation at the dermal-epidermal junction. Whereas allogeneic fibroblasts injected directly into the dermis can mediate transient disease modulation, autologous gene-modified fibroblasts should evade immunological rejection and support sustained delivery of type VII collagen at the dermal-epidermal junction. We demonstrate the feasibility of such an approach using a therapeutic grade, self-inactivating-lentiviral vector, encoding codon-optimized COL7A1, to transduce RDEB fibroblasts under conditions suitable for clinical application. Expression and secretion of type VII collagen was confirmed with transduced cells exhibiting supranormal levels of protein expression, and ex vivo migration of fibroblasts was restored in functional assays. Gene-modified RDEB fibroblasts also deposited type VII collagen at the dermal-epidermal junction of human RDEB skin xenografts placed on NOD-scid IL2Rgammanull recipients, with reconstruction of human epidermal structure and regeneration of anchoring fibrils at the dermal-epidermal junction. Fibroblast-mediated restoration of protein and structural defects in this RDEB model strongly supports proposed therapeutic applications in man

Food safety knowledge, beliefs and behaviour among health sciences-related field undergraduate students at a local university

Foodborne disease is among the primary illness that causes morbidity and mortality in the world. Several studies show that most students do not have adequate food safety knowledge to protect themselves against foodborne diseases. This study aimed to determine the food safety knowledge, behaviour, and beliefs among undergraduate students at a local university in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study involves 121 respondents from three health science-related faculties at the studied institution. The questionnaire was distributed via an online platform. This study used multiple-choice-format questions for Food Safety Knowledge and a Likert type scale for Food Safety Behaviour and Belief question statements. Most of the respondents were female (78%). About 16% of the respondents have experience working /volunteering in food services, and half of them are involved in food handling during their services. This study recorded a moderate score in all sections (knowledge, behaviour, beliefs) with a total percentage score of 60.3%, 60.3%, and 66.1%, respectively. A strong but not significant correlation between food safety knowledge and beliefs (r = 0.69 p > 0.05) and between food safety knowledge and behaviour (r = 0.83 p > 0.05) were observed. This study is useful as a basis to develop a targeted food safety education program among undergraduate students. Students with high knowledge of food safety will increase food safety beliefs and behaviour, thus preventing them from getting any foodborne illness

Bullying of medical students in Pakistan: a cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Background: Several studies from other countries have shown that bullying, harassment, abuse or belittlement are a regular phenomenon faced not only by medical students, but also junior doctors, doctors undertaking research and other healthcare professionals. While research has been carried out on bullying experienced by psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees in Pakistan no such research has been conducted on medical students in this country. Methodology/Principal Findings: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey on final year medical students in six medical colleges of Pakistan. The response rate was 63%. Fifty-two percent of respondents reported that they had faced bullying or harassment during their medical education, about 28% of them experiencing it once a month or even more frequently. The overwhelming form of bullying had been verbal abuse (57%), while consultants were the most frequent (46%) perpetrators. Students who were slightly older, males, those who reported that their medical college did not have a policy on bullying or harassment, and those who felt that adequate support was not in place at their medical college for bullied individuals, were significantly more likely to have experienced bullying. Conclusion: Bullying or harassment is faced by quite a large proportion of medical students in Pakistan. The most frequent perpetrators of this bullying are consultants. Adoption of a policy against bullying and harassment by medical colleges, and providing avenues of support for students who have been bullied may help reduce this phenomenon, as the presence of these two was associated with decreased likelihood of students reporting having being bullied

Rat Nucleus Accumbens Core Astrocytes Modulate Reward and the Motivation to Self-Administer Ethanol after Abstinence

Our understanding of the active role that astrocytes play in modulating neuronal function and behavior is rapidly expanding, but little is known about the role that astrocytes may play in drug-seeking behavior for commonly abused substances. Given that the nucleus accumbens is critically involved in substance abuse and motivation, we sought to determine whether nucleus accumbens astrocytes influence the motivation to self-administer ethanol following abstinence. We found that the packing density of astrocytes that were expressing glial fibrillary acidic protein increased in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcore) during abstinence from EtOH self-administration. No change was observed in the nucleus accumbens shell. This increased NAcore astrocyte density positively correlated with the motivation for ethanol. Astrocytes can communicate with one another and influence neuronal activity through gap-junction hemichannels. Because of this, the effect of blocking gap-junction hemichannels on the motivation for ethanol was examined. The motivation to self-administer ethanol after 3 weeks abstinence was increased following microinjection of gap-junction hemichannel blockers into the NAcore at doses that block both neuronal and astrocytic channels. In contrast, no effect was observed following microinjection of doses that are not thought to block astrocytic channels or following microinjection of either dose into the nucleus accumbens shell. Additionally, the motivation for sucrose after 3 weeks abstinence was unaffected by NAcore gap-junction hemichannel blockers. Next, Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) were selectively expressed in NAcore astrocytes to test the effect of astrocyte stimulation. DREADD activation increased cytosolic calcium in primary astrocytes, facilitated responding for rewarding brain stimulation, and reduced the motivation for ethanol after 3 weeks abstinence. This is the first work to modulate drug-seeking behavior with astrocyte-specific DREADDs. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that NAcore astrocytes can shape the motivation to self-administer ethanol; suggesting that the development of ligands which selectively stimulate astrocytes may be a successful strategy to abate ethanol-seeking behavior

Potential anticancer agents identification of Hystrix Brachyura Bezoar through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and protein-ligand interaction with molecular docking analyses

Background: Bezoar (PB) is a rare, solidified form of undigested food commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of porcupine (Hystrix brachyura). It is believed to be traditionally used to treat various diseases including different kinds of cancers in Malaysia. However, its active principles have not been found out yet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anticancer property of PB extract as well as to identify the metabolites responsible for its anticancer effect through a widely acclaimed metabolomics approach. Methods: Initially, 25 PB extracts using various solvent ratios of methanol–water (100, 75, 50, 25, 0% v/v) were prepared in regard to metabolomics approach and subsequently the cytotoxicity of each extract was determined against (melanoma) A375 cell line. The metabolites profiling of the most potent extract was conducted using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and in silico investigation was performed on Bcl-2 and cyclin/CDK1 complex protein. Results: The correlation of the bioactivity with GC-MS data produced an orthogonal partial least square (OPLS) model which pinpointed four putative active compounds namely (1) cholest-7-en-3-beta-ol,4,4-dimethyl-,acetate; (2) 4-androsten-4-ol-3,17-dione; (3) isolongifolol and (4) gallic acid. The in silico data suggested the binding score and binding mode of active metabolites with the amino acid residues of protein via hydrophobic interactions. Conclusion: This study is the first to report the identified anticancer compounds from PB extract and evaluate them using molecular docking. This further confirms and justifies its traditional usage as an alternative medicine for the treatment of cancer in Malaysia