MicroRNA modulation networks in Glioblastoma Multiforme subtypes

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityBecause Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) usually results in death for most patients diagnosed, it is extremely important to delineate the molecular subtypes of GBM and determine molecular targets for therapy. Though there have been various previous studies that have determined subtypes for GBM, there are no studies that have determined molecular subtypes with a specific gene signature, as well as a specific miRNA signature. This study seeks to expand on the generally accepted and recently discovered subtype determinations, Neural, Proneural, Mesenchymal and Classical by elucidating a miRNA signature for each. In order to determine possible signature miRNAs, functional miRNA-target interactions were integrated with miRNA and mRNA/gene expression to infer mRNA-mediated miRNA-miRNA interactions, using conditional mutual information, for each subtype. The generated network represent miRNA modulation via common target mRNA. Each subtype had a group of most highly connected miRNAs. Because many of these highly connected have experimentally validated evidence linking their regulation or dysregulation in GBM, those without any experimentally validated evidence could also be linked to GBM initiation or progression. Thus, these miRNAs could become future targets for therapeutic discovery and innovation. Further analysis is required to definitively classify miRNAs as linked to GBM in a significant fashion

Anemia a Contributory Factor Affecting Quality of Life in Type 2 Diabete1s Mellitus Patients

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and its effects on the quality of life in diabetic patients. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Pathology, Government Naseer Ullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan. All diabetic patients admitted to the medical ward were included in this study, and their blood samples were obtained in heparinised and EthyleneDiamineTetracetic Acid (EDTA) tubes by aseptic technique after informed consent. All samples were assessed for sugar levels and complete blood count. RESULTS: 118 diabetic patients were enrolled in this study, 66% of patients were females, and 34% were males. Female patients in age groups 1, 2 and 3 were more than males, and in age group 4, all patients were male. Anemia was found in about 79% of females and 21% of male patients. CONCLUSION: Albuminuria and renal insufficiency are important factors in understanding and investigations of anemia. Diabetic patients must be screened for anemia and treated accordingly to improve the quality of life in such patients and reduce morbidity and mortality rate

The Direct Method: A Good Start to Teach Oral Language

Language of oral is always important role in the politics and journalism foreign is used to describe people, jobs and activities to countries that are not the country of the person or government concerned process of learning. Oral proficiency in something that you show ability or skill at it are also a basic role in the language of foreign. The strategy of communication is important to oral ability. This study focus the students to communicate with each other using the target or result that you are trying to achieve in the classroom. This research focus the advantage of Direct Method to give instruction how to communicate in the language of target. Keywords: Speech, Direct Method, Target Language, Communicatio

Physicochemical properties and characterization of nata de coco from local food industries as a source of cellulose (Sifat fizikokimia dan pencirian nata de coco daripada industri makanan tempatan sebagai sumber selulosa)

Nata de coco, a dessert originally from the Philippines is produced by fermentation of coconut water with a culture of Acetobacter xylinum, a gram negative bacterium. Acetobacter xylinum metabolizes glucose in coconut juice and converts it into bacterial cellulose that has unique properties including high purity, crystallinity and mechanical strength. Because the main component of nata de coco is bacterial cellulose, nata de coco was purified, extracted and characterized to determine whether pure cellulose could be isolated from it. The FTIR spectra of bacterial cellulose from nata de coco showed distinguish peaks of 3440 cm-1, 2926 cm-1, 1300 cm-1, 1440 cm-1, 1163 cm-1 and 1040 cm-1, which correspond to O-H stretching, C-H stretching, C-H bending, CH2 bending, C-O-C stretching and C-O stretching, respectively, and represent the fingerprints of pure cellulose component. Moreover, the FTIR curve showed a pattern similar to other bacterial cellulose spectra reported by report. Thermal analysis showed a DTG peak at 342°C, which falls in the range of cellulose degradation peaks (330°C - 370°C). On the other hand, the TGA curve showed 1 step of degradation, and this finding confirmed the purity of nata de coco. Bacterial cellulose powder produced from nata de coco was found to be soluble only in cupriethylenediamine, a well known solvent for cellulose; thus, it was confirmed that nata de coco is a good source of bacterial cellulose. The purity of bacterial cellulose produced from nata de coco renders it suitable for research that uses pure cellulos

Retrospective cost-utility and budget impact assessments of Hypericum perforatum in contrast with Fluoxetine treatment for depression in Karachi, Pakistan

In this study we have compared two different types of therapies i.e. herbal and allopathic system of therapies for Depression and studied them from the social perspectives. The Hypericum perforatum is compared with Fluoxetine [HCL] in terms of cost-utility and financial savings thereby evaluating its influence on annual expenditure of depressive patients that were randomly selected from 178 union councils of the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For both system of therapies a total of 356 patients were selected by stratified random sampling. Taking frequency of depression as ‘1’ annually with discount rate at 3% for calculating the burden-of-illness in terms of disability-adjusted-life-years. The cost-utility and the budget-impact assessments were carried out to assess incremental-cost-effectiveness-ratio, and the budget-impact-per-onset as well as budget-impact-per-year values. In comparison with the Fluoxetine therapy, the Hypericum perforatum was found to relieve symptoms in 21.47% less cost; owing 29.23% less disability-adjusted-life-years and 21.45% less budget-impact-per-onset as well as budget-impact-peryear. The annual mean incremental-cost-effectiveness-ratio was found to be at 36.95±270.74 (less than GDP per capita threshold of Rs. 38,173.02). Hypericum perforatum provide the optimal utility with less impact on budget of a patient in comparison with the treatment of symptoms of depression with Fluoxetine

Clinico-haematological profile of adult pancytopenia patients at a tertiary care institute in South India

Background: Pancytopenia is not a disease by itself; rather it describes simultaneous presence of anemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia resulting from a number of disease processes. Varieties of hematological and non-hematological disorders may affect bone marrow either primarily or secondarily, resulting in the manifestation of pancytopenia. The incidence of various hematological disorders causing pancytopenia varies due to geographical distribution and genetic predisposition. This study highlights the spectrum of causes, clinical presentation and bone marrow morphology of pancytopenia.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted for a period of two years at Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, Bangalore. During this period, fifty patients with a hematological diagnosis of pancytopenia were studied during period in the department of pathology.Results: Among the 50 cases studied, 35 were males and 15 were females. Most of the patients presented with generalized weakness and fever. The commonest physical finding was pallor, followed by splenomegaly and hepatomegaly. Dimorphic anemia was predominant blood picture. Bone marrow study showed 72% hypercellular marrow, 12% normocellular and 16% hypocellular marrow. The commonest cause for pancytopenia was megaloblastic anemia followed by iron deficiency anaemia and malaria.Conclusions: The present study concludes that detailed hematological investigations along with bone marrow examination in pancytopenic patients is helpful to diagnose or rule out the causes of pancytopenia.

FACTORS AFFECTING INTEGRATION OF LOCAL CULTURE IN SAUDI ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

Language and culture are perhaps inseparable; however, foreign language and local culture may not be compatible with each other. Therefore, integration of local culture (Arab) in foreign (English) language teaching is cynically questioned. Studies support the notion that foreign language teaching can be boosted by the incorporation of foreign (British) culture in the target language (English) classroom. But, the application of local culture in the target language classroom poses great challenges as many factors affect the process such as: teachers’ native background, L2 teachers’ experience in native countries, L2 teachers’ preferences, teachers’ lack of local culture’s perception, lack of bilingual or multicultural awareness, administrators’ attitude towards local culture integration, students’ liking for native teacher and native contents, and traditional method of teaching English. Integration of local culture is required if the current books don’t have enough local material, and books are written by foreign authors. In short, the paper explores factors affecting integration of local culture apart from initially eliciting some advantages of Arab culture in English classrooms, and teachers’ preparedness to incorporate local culture. The study is of descriptive type which includes 2 samples: 3 types of teacher-group, and a group of students. The findings of the study lead to innovation of a teaching strategy by incorporating local culture in L2 class for motivating the students further.  Article visualizations

Efficacy of Oral Zinc Sulphate in the Treatment of Recalcitrant Common Warts

Background: To determine the efficacy of oral Zinc Sulphate in treatment of recalcitrant common warts.Methods: In this randomized control trial 90 patients with recalcitrant warts were randomly allocated to two groups by lottery method named Group A (Oral Zinc sulphate) and Group B (Placebo). Group A patients were given oral zinc sulphate in a dose of 10mg/kg to a maximum dose of 600mg/day for two months. Group B received glucose tablets as placeboResults: Out of 45 patients in oral zinc sulphate group, 28 (62.22%) patients had complete eradication or at least 75% reduction in number of warts noted at presentation. On the other hand in the placebo group only 2 (4.44%) patients had > 75% reduction in number of warts.In oral zinc sulphate group it was noted that only 6 (13.3%) patients had less than 50% reduction in no. of warts. 11 (24.4%) had 50-75% efficacy and majority 28 (62.2%) patients had > 75 % reduction in number of warts. In contrast, in the placebo group 33 patients (73.3%) had less than 50% reduction, followed by 10 (22.2%) patients having 50-75% reduction and only 2 (4.4%) patients had > 75% reduction in no. of wartsConclusion: Warts are common viral infection of skin caused by Human Papilloma Virus. Despite various treatment options available at times warts become recalcitrant. Oral zinc sulphate is an effective treatment option for recalcitrant multiple viral warts. Being oral therapy it is easy to take with less frequent follow up visits required