Malignant Psoas abscess or pseudomyxoma extraperitonei

Primary adenocarcinoma of appendix is an uncommon gastrointestinal malignancy. Similarly, Psoas abscess is an entity, which sometimes requires extensive work-up to reach a diagnosis. Combined presentation of these two rare conditions is not only exceptional, but also diagnostically challenging. We present a case of a lady who presented with recurrent UTI secondary to right sided ureteric obstruction, referred right hip joint pain resulting from a Psoas abscess, which eventually turned out to be a consequence of metastatic adenocarcinoma of appendix, causing pseudomyxoma extraperitonei, with simultaneous intraperitoneal deposits

SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORT FOR WOMEN WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Background and Purpose: Social media is a key source of health information. Previous studies have indicated that women with endometriosis turn to the internet for information about the condition and illness management. However, there is a dearth of study on endometriosis online supportgroups. In contrast, studies examining the role of online support groups for other long-termconditions have been extensive.  Addressing this gap, a systematic review of research on endometriosis support groups on social media and its efficacy were conducted.   Methodology: Using a qualitative systematic review method and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P)., research database namely Research Gate, Springer, Wiley Online Library, Science Direct, Jstore, PubMed were manually searched using keywords such as "social support," "endometriosis support online," and "Facebook support & online communication". The review examined research related to endometriosis support on Facebook. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 100 full-text papers were extracted from the initial 200 publications found. 36 papers were selected following the appraisal stage and thematically analysed.    Findings: Social media platform namely Endometriosis Facebook support groups are found to set expectations, provide education, and highlight ways to manage chronic illness. Three prominent themes were identified: (1) topics related to social media support groups, (2) efficiency of Virtual Help Communities for Endometriosis Patients, and (3) forms of support that women with endometriosis require.   Contributions: The findings support two primary points. Endometriosis Facebook support groups educate women about the illness, connects them with others in similar situations, and promotes illness discussion and networking, hence pointing to the potential benefit of Facebook support groups as a platform to provide both support and education.    Keywords: Health communication, women health research, social media, online support, endometriosis.   Cite as:  Kaur, K., Ibrahim, N. A., & Wan Adnan, W. N. A. (2023). Social media support for women with endometriosis: A systematic review. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(1), 287-313. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp287-31

NEUROPROTECTION OF ABELMOSCHUS ESCULENTUS L. AGAINST DIABETIC NEUROPATHY

Objective: The present study was designed to determine the neuroprotective effect of Abelmoschus esculentus L. on alloxan-induced diabetic neuropathy in rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in rats with a single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan monohydrate (130 mg/kg b.w). The ethanol extract of A. esculentus L. at a dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg of body weight was administered at single dose per day to alloxan-induced diabetic rats for 21 days. The fasting blood glucose was screened in the intermittent on day 0, day 14, and day 21. Behavioral tests such as thermal hyperalgesia test and rotarod performance test were performed to assess the thermal sensitivity and muscle grip strength. At the end of the study period, experimental animals were sacrificed and sciatic nerve tissues were obtained for histopathological investigation.Results: Animals treated with A. esculentus L. extarct at a dose of 200 mg/kg of body weight significantly reduced (p<0.05) in hyperglycemia and thermal hyperalgesia and significantly increased (p<0.05) in rotarod performance. The sciatic nerve fiber of diabetic rats receiving 200 mg/kg of body weight of A. esculentus L. extract also shows no swelling of nerve fibers, and lesser demyelination was observed.Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that A. esculentus L. exhibits significant antidiabetic and neuroprotective effect against alloxan-induced diabetic neuropathy in rats

Wheat in the Era of Genomics and Transgenics

Wheat, as one of the most important cereal crops in the world and second major caloric source in the world after rice, is the major staple food in South Asia and many other countries of the world. Prior to onset of “Green Revolution,” South Asian countries were facing the threat of severe famine. Green Revolution wheat genotypes brought out these countries from the crisis they were facing and has helped them to sustain their productions for more than half a century. With the emergence of molecular biology and biotechnology, another window of opportunity is opened to sustain wheat yields by using modern techniques of genes identification and utilization. Through this chapter, we have tried to gather information that was generated for wheat improvement in last 3 decades. These afforest included the development of molecular markers, mapping of genes, sequencing of markers genes, and their utilization through marker-assisted selection. The other part recorded various efforts to genetically transform wheat for traits improvements and/or to study their molecular control

Boosting Wnt activity during colorectal cancer progression through selective hypermethylation of Wnt signaling antagonists.

BACKGROUND: There is emerging evidence that Wnt pathway activity may increase during the progression from colorectal adenoma to carcinoma and that this increase is potentially an important step towards the invasive stage. Here, we investigated whether epigenetic silencing of Wnt antagonists is the biological driver for this increased Wnt activity in human tissues and how these methylation changes correlate with MSI (Microsatelite Instability) and CIMP (CpG Island Methylator Phenotype) statuses as well as known mutations in genes driving colorectal neoplasia. METHODS: We conducted a systematic analysis by pyrosequencing, to determine the promoter methylation of CpG islands associated with 17 Wnt signaling component genes. Methylation levels were correlated with MSI and CIMP statuses and known mutations within the APC, BRAF and KRAS genes in 264 matched samples representing the progression from normal to pre-invasive adenoma to colorectal carcinoma. RESULTS: We discovered widespread hypermethylation of the Wnt antagonists SFRP1, SFRP2, SFRP5, DKK2, WIF1 and SOX17 in the transition from normal to adenoma with only the Wnt antagonists SFRP1, SFRP2, DKK2 and WIF1 showing further significant increase in methylation from adenoma to carcinoma. We show this to be accompanied by loss of expression of these Wnt antagonists, and by an increase in nuclear Wnt pathway activity. Mixed effects models revealed that mutations in APC, BRAF and KRAS occur at the transition from normal to adenoma stages whilst the hypermethylation of the Wnt antagonists continued to accumulate during the transitions from adenoma to carcinoma stages. CONCLUSION: Our study provides strong evidence for a correlation between progressive hypermethylation and silencing of several Wnt antagonists with stepping-up in Wnt pathway activity beyond the APC loss associated tumour-initiating Wnt signalling levels.A.L.S. was supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portugal); A.I. by a Clinician Scientist Fellowship from Cancer Research UK (grant no C10112/A11388); M.B. by the Medical Research Council (U105192713) and by Cancer Research UK (grant no C7379/A8709).This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/14/891

2,3-Dibromo-1-(2,4-dichloro-5-fluoro­phen­yl)-3-phenyl­propan-1-one

In the title compound, C15H9Br2Cl2FO, the dihedral angle between the two aromatic rings is 6.0 (1)°. The dibromo­ethane fragment of the propan-1-one unit is disordered over two positions, with occupancies of ca 0.83 and 0.17. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, C—H⋯π inter­actions, and Br⋯Cl [3.505 (2) and 3.576 (6) Å] and Cl⋯F [3.176 (2) Å] short contacts

Biosurfactant and degradative enzymes mediated crude oil degradation by bacterium Bacillus subtilis A1

In this work, the biodegradation of the crude oil by the potential biosurfactant producing Bacillus subtilis A1 was investigated. The isolate had the ability to synthesize degradative enzymes such as alkane hydroxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase at the time of biodegradation of hydrocarbon. The biosurfactant producing conditions were optimized as pH 7.0, temperature 40°C, 2% sucrose and 3% of yeast extract as best carbon and nitrogen sources for maximum production of biosurfactant (4.85 g l-1). Specifically, the low molecular weight compounds, i.e., C10–C14 were completely degraded, while C15–C19 were degraded up to 97% from the total hydrocarbon pools. Overall crude oil degradation efficiency of the strain A1 was about 87% within a short period of time (7 days). The accumulated biosurfactant from the biodegradation medium was characterized to be lipopeptide in nature. The strain A1 was found to be more robust than other reported biosurfactant producing bacteria in degradation efficiency of crude oil due to their enzyme production capability and therefore can be used to remove the hydrocarbon pollutants from contaminated environment

Detection of colorectal dysplasia using fluorescently labelled lectins.

Colorectal cancer screening using conventional colonoscopy lacks molecular information and can miss dysplastic lesions. We tested here the ability of fluorescently labelled lectins to distinguish dysplasia from normal tissue when sprayed on to the luminal surface epithelium of freshly resected colon tissue from the Apc(min) mouse and when applied to fixed human colorectal tissue sections. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) showed significantly decreased binding to adenomas in the mouse tissue and in sections of human colon from 47 patients. Changes in WGA binding to the human surface epithelium allowed regions containing normal epithelium (NE) or hyperplastic polyps (HP) to be distinguished from regions containing low-grade dysplasia (LGD), high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or carcinoma (C), with 81% sensitivity, 87% specificity and 93% positive predictive value (PPV). Helix pomatia agglutinin (HGA) distinguished epithelial regions containing NE from regions containing HP, LGD, HGD or C, with 89% sensitivity, 87% specificity and 97% PPV. The decreased binding of WGA and HPA to the luminal surface epithelium in human dysplasia suggests that these lectins may enable more sensitive detection of disease in the clinic using fluorescence colonoscopy.This work was supported by grants from Cancer Research UK (17242, 16465) to KMB.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via https://doi.org/10.1038/srep2423