Common Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Polymorphisms (A1298C & C677T) in Ectopic Trophoblasts and Methotrexate Treatment Failure in Tubal Pregnancies

Objectives: The success rate of methotrexate (MTX) therapy varies among tubal ectopic pregnancies. Commonmethylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms (C677T&A1298C) have been suggested to alter MTX effect. This study aimed to assess and compare MTX treatment failure rates with respect to MTHFR polymorphisms in trophoblasts of ectopic tubal pregnancies.Material and methods: A retrospective chart review of tubal ectopic pregnancies was conducted and 34 eligible cases were found. Paraffinized blocks of ectopic trophoblastic tissues were retrieved from the archives of pathology department.Common MTHFR polymorphisms were studied on microdissected trophoblastic tissues. Sixteen cases with history of failed MTX therapy (study group) and 18 control cases were compared for their pertinent clinical characteristics and common MTHFR polymorphisms (C677T&A1298) data.Results: In the study group, there were 8 (50%) C677T single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and 9 (56.7%) A1298C SNP. Polymorphism rates were not found to be different between two groups for neither polymorphism (p > 0.05 for both). Number of compound heterozygotes was 3 (18.7%) in study group and 5 (27.7%) in controls (p = 0.693). In addition, MTHFR polymorphism presence seemed to have no effect on interval serum β-hCG concentration change in MTX-fail group (p=0.693).Conclusions: Our data implied that common MTHFR polymorphisms of ectopic trophoblastic tissue are not associated with MTX failure in patients with tubal pregnancies. Additionally, serum β-hCG concentration changes caused by MTX treatment and studied MTHFR polymorphisms are likely independent

A comparison of pelvic organ prolapse and sexual function after abdominal and laparoscopic hysterectomy

Objectives: Hysterectomy is one of the risk factors of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). There is no consensus on whether the route of hysterectomy affects the subsequent development of POP. The aim of the study was to assess POP and sexual function 1 year after a hysterectomy when comparing total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) with total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH). The study applied the pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) as the measure of POP and a short-form of the POP/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Function Questionnaire (PISQ-12).Material and methods: All patients that underwent either TAH or TLH due to benign causes between March 2016 and March 2017 at the tertiary hospital used for the study were included in our prospective cohort study. POP-Q measurements and PISQ-12 scores were assessed 1 year postoperatively.Results: We included 182 patients in the clinical examinations. There were no statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics between the TAH and TLH groups. Also, there we no differences observed in the objective POP measurements between the two study groups. Results of the two groups’ PISQ-12 scores were also similar. However, postoperative vaginal lengths were found to be significantly shorter in the patients who had undergone TAH compared with those who had undergone TLH.Conclusions: TAH and TLH are comparable regarding short-term objective pelvic organ prolapse. Although we foundstatistically a significant difference in vaginal lengths between the two groups, no clinical significance was found in terms of sexual function

Анализ методов вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков

Цель работы - выработка рекомендаций по применению методов вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков в конкретной задаче. Объект исследования - методы и комплексы вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков. Предмет исследования – систематизация и обобщение методов вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков. Актуальность - отсутствие простой для реализации методики виброиспытаний. В процессе работы были рассмотрены различные методы вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков, сделаны предложения по применению методов вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков в каждой конкретной задаче, создана универсальная методика проведения вибродиагностики металлорежущих станков диагностическим комплексом "Виброрегистратор-М2".The aim of the work is to develop recommendations on the application of vibration diagnostics methods for metal-cutting machine tools in a specific task. The object of research is methods and complexes of vibration diagnostics of metal cutting machines. The subject of the study is the systematization and generalization of methods of vibration diagnostics of metal-cutting machines. Actuality is the absence of a simple vibration testing technique. In the course of the work various methods of vibration diagnostics of metal cutting machines were considered, suggestions were made on the application of vibration diagnostics methods for metal cutting machines in each specific task, a universal technique for performing vibration diagnostics of metal cutting machines with the Vibroregistrator-M2

Evaluation of reduced toxicity of deoxynivalenol and zearalenone by extrusion processing as determined by the MTT bioassay using mammalian cell cultures

The most sensitive mammalian cell lines to Fusarium mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisin (FUM), and moniliformin (MON), were investigated for further toxicological investigations as alternatives to whole animal testing for screening extracts of Fusarium spp. contaminated foods and feeds. The Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) for DON and FUM, hepatocel lular carcinoma (HepG2) for MON, and Balb/c mice keratinocyte (C5-O) for ZEN were found to be the most sensitive cell lines with IC50 values of 0.27, 85.5, 26.8, and 24.1 μg/ml, respectively, as measured by the MTT bioassay. In the following study, reduced DON concentrations in contaminated corn grits after extrusion were analyzed by chemical (HPLC) and biochemical (ELISA) methods. The loss of toxicity of DON was confirmed by the MTT bioassay using the CHO-K1 cell line. Extrusion temperatures of 160, 180, 200 and 220°C and screw speeds of 50, 80, 110 and 140 rpm significantly reduced DON levels in contaminated corn grits by 22–35% (P \u3c 0.05). A second extrusion processing was designed to evaluate reduction of levels of both DON and ZEN in F. graminearum contaminated corn grits. This was analyzed by HPLC and ELISA, and reduced toxicity a was confirmed by the MTT bioassay. The CHO-K1 cells was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of DON, whereas the adenocarcinoma human breast cells (MCF-7), which has estrogen receptors, was used to evaluate the estrogenic activity of ZEN. The effect of extrusion temperatures of 150, 175, and 200°C was found to be a linear, with DON reduced by 22–35%, whereas a quadratic response on reduced ZEN by 67–81%. The MTT bioassay results were more closely correlated with the HPLC results (r = 0.90 for DON, r = 0.96 for ZEN) than the ELISA results (r = 0.78 for DON, 0.83 for ZEN). The MTT bioassay was proved to be a useful method for quantification of DON and ZEN, as well as a potential toxicity screening method for contaminated extruded cereal based products

Outlier detection in a preliminary test estimator of the mean

WOS: 000391036900006Pre-test estimator has earlier been introduced to estimate the mean of a normal distribution when non-sample prior information is available. In this paper, our aim is to consider the pre-test estimator for the mean in the presence of outliers. A well known procedure to define the pre-test estimator of the mean is based on the sample mean. However, the sample mean is not a robust location estimator. In order to overcome this problem, we replace it by M-location estimators. In particular, we use the M-location estimators obtained from Huber [6], Hampel[3] and Tukey [12]. Also, we use the median as an alternative location estimator. Cook's squared distance (Cook [2]) is used to study the influential observations in a Monte Carlo study. We conduct a simulation study to illustrate the performance of the pre-test estimator of the mean in the presence of outliers in the data

Zero-bias offsets in I-V characteristics of the staircase type quantum well infrared photodetectors

In this work, observed zero-bias offsets in I-V characteristics and differences in J-V characteristics of staircase quantum well infrared photodetectors were investigated. Temperature and voltage sweep rate dependence of the zero-bias offsets were studied on mesa structures shaped in different diameters. Furthermore, effect of mesa diameter on J-V characteristics was investigated. The temperature, initial bias voltage and voltage sweep rate dependence of the zero-bias offsets were explained by a qualitative model, which is based on a RC equivalent circuit of the quantum well infrared photodetector. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved