Advances in Medical Imaging Technology for Accurate Detection of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequently diagnosed non-cutaneous male malignancy and one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in the United States. Biologic heterogeneity of PCa results is different presentations ranging from indolent to highly aggressive tumors with high morbidity and mortality. Due to this broad range of clinical behavior, it is required to differentiate clinically significant PCa (csPCa) tumors and reduce detection of indolent cancers. PCa is generally diagnosed with non-targeted systematic trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsy in patients with elevated prostate serum antigen (PSA) or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE). Non-targeted systematic TRUS as the typical imaging modality for assessing the prostate, samples only a small part of the gland with a high possibly that the biopsy results may not catch the most aggressive tumor in the gland accurately. Multi-parametric (MP) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as the most specific and sensitive imaging modality in PCa management, has been reported to be the reference standard for prostate imaging endorsed. However, there are a variety of interpretive pitfalls, which have been reported to be encountered at mpMRI of the prostate. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a summary of the current advances in accurate detection of PCa

The Role of Renin-Angiotensin System in Ocular Inflammation and Uveitis

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammation and autoimmune dysfunction. Uveitis is a sight-threatening intraocular inflammatory disorder caused by infectious agents, autoimmune mechanisms, exposure to toxins and many other unknown factors. Most components of RAS have been identified in every organ including the eye. The tissue-specific RAS is believed to exert diverse physiological effects locally independent of circulating angiotensin II (AT II) which functions as the effector arm of RAS causing potent proinflammatory responses via Angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R). AT II mediated stimulation of tissue factor (TF), the principal initiator of the clotting cascade and a major regulator of haemostasis and thrombosis rapidly inducible by inflammatory agents in several cell lines including monocytes. Activation of NFκB, a key redox-sensitive transcription factor encoding for the TF gene, plays a key role in that mechanism amplified by locally synthesized angiotensin I. (AT I) The second arm of RAS establishes systemic and local protective axis against inflammation and autoimmune dysfunction via angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) which is a zinc-metallopeptidase able to cleave AT II to form angiotensin-(1–7) [AT-(1–7)]. AT-(1–7), a biologically active peptide, binds to a G-protein coupled receptor Mas, and activates signaling pathways that counteract the effects of AT II by negatively effecting inflammatory responses and negatively modulating leukocyte migration, cytokine expression and release, and fibrogenic pathways. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze both pro-inflammatory and protective role of RAS in ocular inflammation and uveitis both in humans and experimental models

Immuno-Oncology, Imaging Biomarkers and Response to Chemotherapy in Cancer Treatment

Immuno-oncology is a young and growing field in cancer therapy. It stimulates immune system to target and attack the tumor or inhibiting the immune response. Recent findings in cancer immunotherapy has revealed that the immune system can control many cancers across various histologies, producing durable responses in a way which not seen with many small molecule drugs. Advances in understanding the role and molecular mechanisms of immunotherapy are revolutionizing clinical practice in cancer treatment. Immunotherapy is being intensively explored with the aim of improving primary response rates or prolonging overall survival. The purpose of this chapter is to review the different aspect of immunotherapy including blockade of immunological checkpoints, immuno-oncology and imaging biomarkers, immune response, therapeutic resistance and combination therapy, while several additional immuno-therapeutic strategies are also highlighted

Profiling Green Consumers with Data Mining

Concern about the environment has led to a new segment of consumers called green consumers. Because not all the consumers are equally green, using target marketing for persuading them to buy green product is essential. The first step in target marketing strategy is to segment the market and then develop profiles of the resulting market segments. This study aims to identify distinct green market segments based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral variables and also investigate the relationship between each variable and green consumer behavior. This study uses self-organizing maps (SOM) to segment and then develop profiles of Iranian green consumers. Based on the results, four market segments have been identified and were named intense greens, potential greens, egoist browns, and intense browns based on profiles of consumers in each segment. The results of this study also indicate that the level of education and income together with egoistic value and environmental unfriendly habits correlate negatively with the greenness (intent and intense of green behaviors) of Iranian consumers and the age of consumers together with environmental attitude and knowledge, biospheric and altruistic values, and religiosity correlate positively

Age-related alterations in functional connectivity patterns during working memory encoding of emotional items

Previous findings indicate age-related differences in frontal-amygdala connectivity during emotional processing. However, direct evidence for age differences in brain functional activation and connectivity during emotional processing and concomitant behavioral implications is lacking. In the present study, we examined the impact of aging on the neural signature of selective attention to emotional information during working memory (WM) encoding. Participants completed an emotional WM task in which they were asked to attend to emotional targets and ignore irrelevant distractors. Despite an overall reduction in accuracy for older relative to younger adults, no behavioral age effect was observed as a function of emotional valence. The functional connectivity patterns of left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex showed that younger adults recruited one network for encoding of both positive and negative emotional targets and this network contributed to higher memory accuracy in this cohort. Older adults, on the other hand, engaged two distinct networks for encoding of positive and negative targets. The functional connectivity analysis using left amygdala further demonstrated that older adults recruited one single network during encoding of positive as well as negative targets whereas younger adults recruited this network only for encoding of negative items. The engagement of amygdala functional network also contributed to higher memory performance and faster response times in older adults. Our findings provide novel insights into the differential roles of functional brain networks connected to the medial PFC and amygdala during encoding of emotionally-valenced items with advancing age

Ocular Graft Versus Host Disease Following Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Review of Current Knowledge and Recommendations

Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is a common complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Ocular GVHD develops in approximately 40-60% of patients following allo-SCT and its most common clinical manifestations include keratoconjunctivitis sicca and cicatricial conjunctivitis. Ocular GVHD may lead to severe ocular surface disease, which can significantly diminish quality of life and restrict daily activities. It is thus important to monitor the condition closely since with timely diagnosis, irreversible damage can be avoided. The current review will focus on updated information regarding ocular GVHD

Comparison of physical workload and physical work capacity among municipality cleaners in Shiraz to determine number of workers needed to counterbalance physical workload

Assessing physical workload is the most important step in deciding whether a workload is high and adopting appropriate control strategies to reduce physical workload. This study aimed to compare physical workload and Physical Work Capacity (PWC) among municipality cleaners in Shiraz to determine the number of workers needed to counterbalance physical workload. Methods The present cross-sectional study was performed on 97 municipality cleaners in Shiraz. In the first step, the participants' maximum aerobic capacity (VO2-max) was estimated in the laboratory using an ergometer bicycle and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) protocol, based on which the PWC was estimated. Secondly, energy expenditure and heart rate during work were measured using a POLAR400 device in an eight-hour shift. At the end of the work shift, the workers’ perceived physical exertion was assessed using a Rating of Perceived Exertion 6–20 (RPE 6–20) Borg scale. In the final stage, the physical workload was assessed based on the results of the two steps. Results The mean VO2-max of the cleaners and PWC were estimated to be 2.6 ± 0.66 l min−1 and 4.3 ± 1.088 kcal min−1, respectively. The average energy consumed during work was 4.122 ± 1.016 kcal min−1. The overall results of this study showed that physical workload was greater than PWC in 46% of the municipality cleaners. In addition, it was found that 12.45% workforce was required to be added to the street cleaners of Shiraz municipality to reduce the physiological workload on the employed workforce. Conclusions With respect to the high level of physical activity in a significant proportion of the cleaners, measures such as increasing the workforce are suggested

Frontiers in Ophthalmology and Ocular Imaging

Imagination is the key to any discovery, and its presence in the science to improve vision is no exception. Vision science is racing forward, spurred on by a host of exciting novel research discoveries and the efforts of scientists. This book, a collection of reviewed and relevant research chapters, intends to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the latest and most advanced findings in several aspects of ophthalmology, ophthalmic pathology, ocular imaging, and certain treatments and surgical strategies. It is an excellent, well-integrated review of treatment options in eye disease that aims to provide a thorough overview of the recent developments written by international authors. ""Frontiers in Ophthalmology and Ocular Imaging"" can be used as an important reference for clinically oriented ophthalmologists and scientists

Minimal gene selection for classification and diagnosis prediction based on gene expression profile

Background: Up to date different methods have been used in order to dimensions reduction, classification, clustering and prediction of cancers based on gene expression profiling. The aim of this study is extracting most significant genes and classifying of Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) patients on the basis of their gene expression profiles. Materials and Methods: We studied 40 DLBCL patients and 4026 genes. We utilized Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for classification of patients in two groups: Germinal center and Activated like. As we were faced with low number of patients (40) and numerous genes (4026), we tried to deploy one optimum network and achieve to minimum error. Moreover we used signal to noise (S/N) ratio as a main tool for dimension reduction. We tried to select suitable training data and so to train just one network instead of 26 networks. Finally, we extracted two most significant genes. Result: In this study two most significant genes based on their S/N ratios were selected. After selection of suitable training samples, the training and testing error were 0 and 7% respectively. Conclusion: We have shown that the use of two most significant genes based on their S/N ratios and selection of suitable training samples can lead to classify DLBCL patients with a rather good result. Actually with the aid of mentioned methods we could compensate lack of enough number of patients, improve accuracy of classifying and reduce complication of computations and so running time