Enhancement of pulmonary tumour seeding by human coagulation factors II, IX, X--an investigation into the possible mechanisms involved.

Warfarin inhibits metastasis in the animal model and injection of the Warfarin-dependent coagulation factor complex II, IX, X enhances pulmonary metastasis in the same model. We have studied two possible mechanisms responsible for the observed effect. Mtln3, rat mammary carcinoma cells, radiolabelled with 5-(125) Iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IUDR) were injected intravenously in female Fisher 344 rats either alone or in combination with factor complex II, IX, X or bovine serum albumin. Following sacrifice at various intervals, measured lung radioactivity was significantly higher (20%) in animals administered cells with the factor complex than in the other two groups (P less than 0.001, ANOVA and Student's t-test). These results indicate increased entrapment of tumour cells in the pulmonary microcirculation. In a second experiment, rat factor complex II, IX, X was prepared, and Mtln3 cells were then injected in female Fisher 344 rats alone or in combination with either human factor complex or rat factor complex. Following sacrifice, the number of pulmonary nodules in animals receiving cells with rat factor complex was similar to that in animals receiving human factor complex, and significantly higher than that in the control (P less than 0.001, ANOVA and Mann-Whitney), indicating that the observed enhancement of pulmonary seeding is unrelated to the xenogeneic properties of the human factor complex

Microscopic changes in the spinal extensor musculature in people with chronic spinal pain: a systematic review.

Chronic spinal pain is one the most common musculoskeletal disorders. Previous studies have observed microscopic structural changes in the spinal extensor muscles in people with chronic spinal pain. This systematic review synthesizes and analyses all the existing evidence of muscle microscopic changes in people with chronic spinal pain. To assess the microscopy of spinal extensor muscles including the fiber type composition, the area occupied by fiber types, fiber size/cross sectional area (CSA) and narrow diameter (ND) in people with and without chronic spinal pain. Further, to compare these outcome measures across different regions of the spine in people with chronic neck, thoracic and low back pain. Systematic review with meta-analysis METHODS: MEDLINE (Ovid Interface), Embase, PubMed, CINAHL Plus and Web of Science were searched from inception to October 2020. Key journals, conference proceedings, grey literature and hand searching of reference lists from eligible studies were also searched. Two independent reviewers were involved in the selection process. Only studies examining the muscle microscopy of the spinal extensor muscles (erector spinae (ES) and/or multifidus (MF)) between people with and without chronic spinal pain were selected. The risk of bias from the studies was assessed using modified Newcastle Ottawa Scale and the level of evidence was established using the GRADE approach. Data were synthesized based on homogeneity on the methodology and outcome measures of the studies for ES and MF muscles and only four studies were eligible for analysis. All the five studies included were related to chronic low back pain (CLBP). Meta-analysis (inverse variance method for random effect to calculate mean difference and 95% CI) was performed for the ES fiber type composition by numbers for both type I and type II fibers (I =43% and 0% respectively indicating homogeneity of studies) and showed no difference between the people with and without CLBP with an overall effect estimate Z= 1.49 (p=0.14) and Z=1.06 (p=0.29) respectively. Meta-analysis was performed for ES fiber CSA for both type I and type II fibers (I =0 for both) and showed no difference between people with and without CLBP with an overall effect estimate Z= 0.08 (p=0.43) and Z=0.75 (p=0.45) respectively. Analysis was not performed for ES area occupied by fiber types and ND due to heterogeneity of studies and lack of evidence respectively. Similarly, meta-analysis was not performed for MF fiber type composition by numbers due to heterogeneity of studies. MF analysis for area occupied by fiber type, fiber CSA and ND did not yield sufficient evidence. For the ES muscle, there was no difference in fiber type composition and fiber CSA between people with and without CLBP and no conclusions could be drawn for ND for the ES. For the MF, no conclusions could be drawn for any of the muscle microscopy outcome measures. Overall, the quality of evidence is very low and there is very low evidence that there are no differences in microscopic muscle features between people with and without CLBP. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Monitoring the response to neoadjuvant hormone therapy for locally advanced breast cancer using three-dimensional time-resolved optical mammography.

Optical mammography is a functional imaging technique that uses near-infrared light to produce three-dimensional breast images of tissue oxygen saturation and hemoglobin concentration. It has been used to monitor the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. We present the first results on monitoring tumor response to hormone therapy using optical mammography. We present three case studies from postmenopausal women treated with neoadjuvant hormone therapy for locally advanced breast cancer. The women were scanned before starting treatment, once during treatment, and then before surgery. Changes in physiological and optical properties within the tumor and in the rest of the breast were evaluated. At the time of surgery, two patients partially responded to treatment and one did not respond. The patients that partially responded on ultrasound revealed a corresponding recovery to normal in the hemoglobin concentration images, whereas the nonresponder indicated an increase in hemoglobin concentration in the tumor compared to her pretreatment images. These case studies suggest that optical imaging of the breast during neoadjuvant hormone treatment can provide potentially valuable information, and that physiological changes within the tumor can be seen in response to treatment

Estimation of amino acids, urea and uric acid in tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury

Abstract: The tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury, Andhra local ecorace is an exclusive race of Andhra Pradesh. It is on the verge of extinction due to difficulty of acclimatisation at breeding and rearing stages. As an attempt to protect this race, a method of total indoor rearing has been done. In this context, the estimation of free amino acids, excretory products-urea and uric acid were compared during the fourth and fifth instars of tasar silkworm, reared under outdoor and indoor conditions. The study has revealed that amino acids decreased in the fat body in outdoor and indoor reared larvae in contrast to that in the haemolymph where it has gradually increased from first to third crops. This is an important finding as it reveals that indoor worms seem to adopt proteolytic activity in the haemolymph. Secondly, in the fifth instar the excretory products are more compared to fourth instar in the indoor reared worms. During fifth instar, formation of nitrogenous products lessens as silk synthesis enhances. The present study reveals that decrease in uric acid in fifth instar implies increase in growth rate and silk synthesis in both outdoor and indoor worms. The findings of the present investigation is helpful in the conservation and protection of the A. mylitta, Andhra local ecorace

TOXICITY EVALUATION OF AMMONIUM SULFATE TO ALBINO RAT

Objective: The present study was designed to find out the acute median lethal dose (LD50) of ammonium sulfate (inorganic fertilizer) in Wister albino rats.Methods: A single dose of ammonium sulfate dissolved in distilled water (Milli-Q) and administered intraperitoneally at concentrations of 10, 30, 50,70, 90, 110, 130, and 170 mg/kg body weight, respectively, to experimental animals, and then, they were observed every 3 hrs from prior dose giventime, later 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs, to 48 hrs of noticing any abnormal behaviors and toxic signs, symptoms. After 48 hrs, counted the number of rats departed in each group and mortality percentage was calculated.Results: The obtained results were evaluated by the Statistical Probit Analysis Method and 48 hrs LD value for albino rats was found to be 91.5 mg/kg. At a single dose of 10 mg/kg, there is no morality and toxic behaviors were observed. Therefore, this concentration is considered as no observed adverse effect level dose. Conclusion: From the earlier consequences, identification and evaluation of the LD50 50 against ammonium sulfate is crucial for understanding thehyperammonemia because ammonium sulfate has been highly utilized as inorganic fertilizer in agriculture and household gardens. Thus, theknowledge about toxic impacts of ammonia useful for clinical or toxicological approaches; however, the toxicity data are unclear. Hence, the in vitroLD 50 evaluations of target chemical in Wistar rats is highly associated toward in ammonia-related peculiar disorders perceptive and therapy.Keywords: Ammonium sulfate, Fertilizer, Median lethal dose, Mortality, No observed adverse effect level.50 Objective:Thepresentstudywasdesignedtofindouttheacutemedianlethaldose(LD )ofammoniumsulfate(inorganicfertilizer)inWisteralbinorats.  Methods:Asingledoseofammoniumsulfatedissolvedindistilledwater(Milli-Q)andadministeredintraperitoneallyatconcentrationsof10,30,50,70, 90, 110, 130, and 170 mg/kg body weight, respectively, to experimental animals, and then, they were observed every 3 hrs from prior dose given time, later 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs, to 48 hrs of noticing any abnormal behaviors and toxic signs, symptoms. After 48 hrs, counted the number of rats departed in each group and mortality percentage was calculated.  50 Results:  The  obtained  results  were  evaluated  by  the  Statistical  Probit  Analysis  Method  and  48  hrs  LD  value  for  albino  rats  was  found  to be91.5mg/kg.Atasingledoseof10mg/kg,thereisnomoralityandtoxicbehaviorswereobserved.Therefore,thisconcentrationisconsideredas no observed adverse effect level dose.  50 Conclusion:Fromtheearlierconsequences,identificationandevaluationoftheLD  againstammoniumsulfateiscrucialforunderstandingthe hyperammonemiabecauseammoniumsulfatehasbeenhighlyutilizedasinorganicfertilizerinagricultureandhouseholdgardens.Thus,the knowledgeabouttoxicimpactsofammoniausefulforclinicalortoxicologicalapproaches;however,thetoxicitydataareunclear.Hence,theinvitroLD 50 evaluations of target chemical in Wistar rats is highly associated toward in ammonia-related peculiar disorders perceptive and therapy. Keywords: Ammonium sulfate, Fertilizer, Median lethal dose, Mortality, No observed adverse effect leve

Collaborative Deep Learning for Recommender Systems

Collaborative filtering (CF) is a successful approach commonly used by many recommender systems. Conventional CF-based methods use the ratings given to items by users as the sole source of information for learning to make recommendation. However, the ratings are often very sparse in many applications, causing CF-based methods to degrade significantly in their recommendation performance. To address this sparsity problem, auxiliary information such as item content information may be utilized. Collaborative topic regression (CTR) is an appealing recent method taking this approach which tightly couples the two components that learn from two different sources of information. Nevertheless, the latent representation learned by CTR may not be very effective when the auxiliary information is very sparse. To address this problem, we generalize recent advances in deep learning from i.i.d. input to non-i.i.d. (CF-based) input and propose in this paper a hierarchical Bayesian model called collaborative deep learning (CDL), which jointly performs deep representation learning for the content information and collaborative filtering for the ratings (feedback) matrix. Extensive experiments on three real-world datasets from different domains show that CDL can significantly advance the state of the art