Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy in endometrial cancer — a feasibility study using cervical injection of radiotracer and blue dye

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection using preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intra-operative gamma probe/blue dye for endometrial cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty four consecutive patients with endometrial cancer were recruited. All patients underwent lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy using combined intracervical radiotracer and blue dye injections. Pelvic lymph node dissection was performed for all patients. Para-aortic lymphadenectomy was done in high risk patients. All SLNs were examined by frozen section and Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) permanent sections. RESULTS: Pre-operative lymphoscintigraphy showed at least one SLN in 21/24 patients. Intra-operatively, at least one SLN could be harvested by gamma probe and/or blue dye methods. A total of 95 SLNs were detected. Four SLNs were detected only by blue dye, 42 only by radiotracer, and 49 were hot/blue. Median number of SLN per patient was 3. Three patients had positive pelvic lymph nodes. All of them had positive SLN (no false negative case). Frozen section could identify SLN involvement in two of three patients with positive pathology. CONCLUSION: Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy is feasible and accurate in endometrial cancer patients using combined radiotracer and blue dye methods. Frozen section accuracy was lower and underscores the importance of expert pathologists for SLN mapping technique.

Evaluation of morphologic method for the detection of nervous tissue in minced meat

Producing meat products with ingredients which are not consistent with the label is considered fraud. Due to the high economic value of meat, the use of unauthorized tissue in meat products is possible. Aside from the adulteration aspect, it is important to note that some animal tissues like the brain and the spinal cord can bear infective agents which are transmissible to humans. Based on these observations, the aim of the present study was to apply morphological method for detection of nervous tissues in minced meat. Laboratory adulterated minced beef meat; each containing 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% of beef brain was prepared. Then each sample was divided into three parts and four paraffin embedded blocks were prepared from each part. The sections were stained using sudan black and cresyl violet and also the immunohistochemical staining with fluorescent method were applied using anti-neurofilament 200 antibody for the determination of nervous tissue. Although the neuronal cell bodies and neuronal fibers were clearly detectable in Cresyl violet staining and sudan black staining, respectively, however, staining intensity did not show any difference according to different percentages of added brain. In contrary, immunohistochemical study revealed that neurofilament 200- immunolabeling was present in all percentages of added brain samples and the intensity of the labeling varying from weak to strong consisted by the increasing the amount of brain in samples. In conclusion, the immunohistochemical technique with fluorescent method is an effective method for evaluations of additive brain tissue in minced meat with high sensitivity

Comparison of nuclear P16 immunostaining in atypical and normal endocervical glands: A descriptive analytical study

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and a major problem in the healthcare system. Nowadays, the importance of biomarkers in the diagnosis of malignancies is proven. Some studies have pointed to the role of P16 in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. The purpose of this study was to compare the nucleic reactivity with P16 antibody in atypical vs normal endocervical glands. Methods: We enrolled 60 patients who had undergone the hysterectomy due to non-endocervical causes at Alzahra University Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences to a descriptive-analytical study. We selected 25 patients with atypical endocervical glands and 35 subjects with normal glands based on the pathologic examination using hematoxylin-eosin staining. Then, we assessed the frequency of nucleic reactivity of the tissues with P16 antibody in both groups. Results: No P16 expression was observed in any of the samples from normal subjects. However, only 2 (8.0%) out of 25 samples from the atypical group, were not reactive to the P16 antibody. Also, 20 samples (80.0%) were diffusely stained continuous, whereas three samples (12.0%) were stained locally. Accordingly, in the group with atypical endocervical glands, the reaction with P16 antibody was significantly higher than that of normal endocervical glands (p= 0.001). Conclusion: P16 biomarker may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of cervical cancer and can be used as a diagnostic marker for this purpose

SNUPN deficiency causes a recessive muscular dystrophy due to RNA mis-splicing and ECM dysregulation

SNURPORTIN-1, encoded by SNUPN, plays a central role in the nuclear import of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins. However, its physiological function remains unexplored. In this study, we investigate 18 children from 15 unrelated families who present with atypical muscular dystrophy and neurological defects. Nine hypomorphic SNUPN biallelic variants, predominantly clustered in the last coding exon, are ascertained to segregate with the disease. We demonstrate that mutant SPN1 failed to oligomerize leading to cytoplasmic aggregation in patients’ primary fibroblasts and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutant cell lines. Additionally, mutant nuclei exhibit defective spliceosomal maturation and breakdown of Cajal bodies. Transcriptome analyses reveal splicing and mRNA expression dysregulation, particularly in sarcolemmal components, causing disruption of cytoskeletal organization in mutant cells and patient muscle tissues. Our findings establish SNUPN deficiency as the genetic etiology of a previously unrecognized subtype of muscular dystrophy and provide robust evidence of the role of SPN1 for muscle homeostasis

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Corporate Culture Prevailing on University Central Libraries and its Impact on the Extent of Knowledge Management Implementation

The sample in this research was drawn from all central libraries within comprehensive universities that have been operating at least for twenty years. Questionnaires were sent out to 23 libraries. Findings indicated that team, hierarchical and business patterns of corporate culture are dominant in central libraries. The library staff said that the preferred corporate culture is the team and entrepreneurial pattern. No correlation was observed between the extent of knowledge management implementation and various corporate culture patterns. There was, however, a positive correlation between entrepreneurial/team corporate cultural patterns with the extent of knowledge management implementation. No correlation was observed between individuals’ characteristics (such as education, posting and experience) and the accepted cultural pattern

Boosting the adsorptive and photocatalytic performance of MIL-101(Fe) against methylene blue dye through a thermal post-synthesis modification

Abstract Photocatalytic degradation under ultra-low powered light is a viable advanced oxidation process technique against extensive emerging contaminants. As a new and remarkable class of nanoporous materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), attract interest for the supreme adsorptive and photocatalytic functionalities. An outstanding MOF, MIL-101(Fe) chosen as a photocatalyst template for the synthesis of α-Fe2O3 by a simple thermal modification to improve the structural properties toward methylene blue (MB) eradication. Octahedron-like α-Fe2O3 photocatalyst (Modified MIL-101(Fe), M-MIL-101(Fe)) was superior in dispersion and separation properties in aqueous medium. Moreover, the adsorptive and catalytic performance was increased for modified form by ~ 7.3% and ~ 17.1% compared to pristine MIL-101(Fe), respectively. Synergistic improvement of MB removal achieved by simultaneous adsorption/degradation under 5-W LED irradiation. Parametric study indicated an 18.1% and 44.5% improvement in MB removal was observed by increasing pH from 4 to 10, and M-MIL-101(Fe) dose from 0.2 to 1 g L−1, respectively. MB removal followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and the process efficiency dropped by 38% as MB concentration increased from 5 to 20 mg L−1. Radical trapping tests revealed the significant role of $${\mathrm{OH}}^{.}$$ OH . and electron radicals as the major participants in dye degradation. A significant loss in the efficiency of M-MIL-101(Fe) was observed in the reusability tests that is good to study further. In conclusion, a simple thermal post-synthesis modification on MIL-101(Fe) improved its structural, catalytic, and adsorptive properties against MB

Tailoring the topology of ZIF-67 metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) adsorbents to capture humic acids

Chlorination is a versatile technique to combat water-borne pathogens. Over the last years, there has been continued research interest to abate the formation of chlorinated disinfection by-products (DBPs). To prevent hazardous DBPs in drinking water, it is decided to diminish organic precursors, among which humic acids (HA) resulting from the decomposition and transformation of biomass. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) such as zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) have recently received tremendous attention in water purification. Herein, customized ZIF-67 MOFs possessing various physicochemical properties were prepared by changing the cobalt source. The HA removal by ZIF-67-Cl, ZIF-67-OAc, ZIF-67-NO3, and ZIF-67-SO4 were 85.6%, 68.9%, 86.1%, and 87.4%, respectively, evidently affected by the specific surface area. HA uptake by ZIF-67-SO4 indicated a removal efficiency beyond 90% in 4  90% after 60 min mixing the solution with 0.3 g L−1 ZIF-67-SO4. Notably, an acceptable removal performance (∼72.3%) was obtained even at HA concentrations up to 100 mg L−1. The equilibrium data fitted well with the isotherm models in the order of Langmuir> Hill > BET> Khan > Redlich-Peterson> Jovanovic> Freundlich > and Temkin. The maximum adsorption capacity qm for HA uptake by ZIF-67-SO4 was 175.89 mg g−1, well above the majority of adsorbents. The pseudo-first-order model described the rate of HA adsorption by time. In conclusion, ZIF-67-SO4 presented promising adsorptive properties against HA. Further studies would be needed to minimize cobalt leaching from the ZIF-67-SO4 structure and improve its reusability safely, to ensure its effectiveness and the economy of adsorption system

Antibiotic resistance pattern and assessment of Temorina gene in clinical strains of extendedspectrum beta-lactamase enzyme producing Escherichia coli isolated from patients, Babol City, Mazandaran Province

Introduction: Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are a common cause of various clinical infections. Resistance of this bacteria to several common antibiotics due to production of extended spectrum betalactamase (ESBL) enzyme has caused therapeutic problems. The aim of this study was to determine the resistance pattern to beta-lactam antibiotics and also to assess the Temorina (TEM) gen in the E. coli strains isolated from the patients in Babol, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 at Babol County, Iran. The E. coli strains were isolated and identified by standard laboratory tests. The sensitivity test to beta-lactam antibiotics was performed by combined disk method. The TEM gene was identified in the resistant strains by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The data were analyzed by SPSS 20 and by using T-test and Chi-squared tests. Results: Of the 10,341 clinical samples, 525 E. coli isolated of which 200 (38%) were ESBL-producing strains. Piperacillin-tazobactam, amikacin, ampicillin-sulbactam and ampicillin (98%, 90.33%, 86.4% and 76.60%, respectively) had the most inhibition effect on the strains. Highest antibiotic resistance was observed for ceftriaxone (43.80%) and ciprofloxacin (38.74%). PCR showed that 80% (n=160) of the resistant strains had the TEM gene. There was a significant correlation between TEM gene and the production of ESBL (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Resistance to antibiotics was observed in this study. Resistant and ESBL-producing strains of E. coli had TEM gene. The clinicians should be aware of antibiotic resistant pattern to choose effective medicines for treatment of these infections. Keywords: Escherichia coli Antibiotic resistance pattern Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase Temorin