Studying the Effect of Aqueous Extract from Curcuma Longa on Some Parameters of Cytogenetic, Immunity and Fertility in Female Mice

The research work was conducted to investigate the effect of oral administration of aqueous extract of turmeric at doses of (5, 10) mg/kg body weight for two weeks daily by determining the genotoxic effect (mitotic index), evaluation of immunological effect (IgG, IgM, IgA, C3, C4) and measuring fertility hormones (follicles stimulation hormone/FSH, lutenising hormone/LH) levels with histological examinations of female albino swiss mice ovaries in comparison with control (normal saline). A clear effect in increasing mitotic activity was reveled for both doses in comparison with control. Results also showed a significant increase in the value of all immunological parameters at both doses, in comparison with control. Also, obvious raise was seen in the levels of FSH and LH hormones for both doses when compared with normal saline treated mice with no significant damage seen in female ovaries tissue, in fact, there were certain changes in mice ovaries tissue which were represented by increasing in the numbers of primary and secondary follicles and in the numbers of corpus luteum at both doses also

Deep learning inspired feature engineering for classifying tremor severity

Bio-signals pattern recognition systems can be impacted by several factors with a potential to limit their associated performance and clinical translation. Among these factors, selecting the optimum feature extraction method, that can effectively exploit the interaction between the temporal and spatial information, is the most prominent. Despite the potential of deep learning (DL) models for extracting temporal, spatial, or temporal-spatial information, they are typically restricted by their need for a large amount of training data. The deep wavelet scattering transform (WST) is a relatively recent advancement within the DL literature to replace expensive convolution neural networks models with computationally less demanding methods. However, while some studies have used WST to extract features from biological signals, it has not been investigated before for electromyogram (EMG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals feature extraction. To investigate the hypothesis of the usefulness of WST for processing EMG and EEG signals, this study used a tremor dataset collected by the authors from people with tremor disorders. Specifically, the proposed work achieved three goals: (a) study the performance of extracting features from low-density EMG signals (8 channels), using the WST approach, (b) study the effect of extracting the features from high-density EEG signals (33 channels), using WST and study its robustness against changing the spatial and temporal aspects of classification accuracy, and (c) classify tremor severity using the WST method and compare the results with other well-known feature extraction approaches. The classification error rates were significantly reduced (maximum of nearly 12 %) compared with other feature sets

Determination of the Inhibitory Efficacy of Iraqi Tribulus Terrestris l. Fruit Extract Against Some Types of Staphylococcus Aureus and Detection of Its Active Compounds

A total number of 50 Staphylococcus aureus (56.81)% from 88 isolates of Staphylococci were isolated and identified from wounds, burns, ear, urine, eyes, pus and skin boils, in laboratories of Maternity and Child Teaching Hospital, Ramadi Teaching Hospital, and Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad for the period from March to May/2017. Isolates diagnosis depended on microbial, cultural, and biochemical characteristics. Concentrations series of Tribulus terrestris ethanolic extract were prepared at concentrations of 3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 mg/ml with inhibition zones of 0, 0, 11.3, 16.6, 21.3, and 25.6 mm respectively, minimum inhibitory concentration determined as 12.5 mg/ml. The results of GC-MS showed that extract contains many active chemical compounds most important which phytol, pyrrole, lupeol, taraxerone, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids that play essential role in growth inhibition of bacteria and have ability to reduce biofilm production, also many active groups were identified by using fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique. Results showed that ethanolic extract reduced the ability of S.aureus to produce the biofilm by using sub – MIC of 50 – 81.4 %

Incidence and Predictors of Early Treatment-Related Mortality In Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia In Baghdad (Iraq)

The overall cure rates for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated and managed in high-income countries have reached approximately 80% over the last two decades. Unfortunately, these advances in survival have not fully translated into low-income countries where the survival rates remain significantly lower (<35%). Potential reasons for these different results include higher rates of relapse, a high degree of treatment abandonment, insufficient diagnostic work-up procedures, limited availability of effective drugs and supportive measures, and, consequently, high rates of treatment-related mortality (TRM). We examined the incidence, causes and risk factors for early (<60 days) TRM in pediatric patients (15 years) with newly diagnosed ALL managed at the oncology unit of the Children Welfare Teaching Hospital in Baghdad (Iraq), over a 3-year period (2007 – 2009). Data were prospectively collected in Baghdad and analyzed at the GIMEMA Data Center in Rome. From January 2007 to December 2009, a total of 319 children (median age 5.2 years, range 0.3–13.9; 171 males and 148 females) with newly diagnosed ALL were registered; the diagnosis of ALL was confirmed by BM aspirate, according to the FAB classification; patients with L3 morphology (6 cases) were included. The median duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis was 4 weeks, ranging from 1 to 76 weeks. At disease onset, 179 children (56%) presented fever and 30 (9.4%) had hemorrhages; liver and renal functions were impaired in 9/290 (3%) and 21/289 (7.3%) patients with available data. The median Hb level was 7.0 g/dl (range 2.4–14.9), the median WBC count was 16.9 x 109/l (range 0.2–900) and the median platelet count was 35.0 x 109/l (range 0.1–598). CSF was positive in 14/290 children (4.8%). Patients were defined as low (153, 48%), intermediate (127, 40%) or high (33, 10%) risk according to clinical and laboratory parameters (age, hepatosplenomegaly, mediastinal mass, WBC, Hb level, platelet count, CNS and testicular infiltration). Sixteen children were discharged following the parents’ decision (14 before any treatment and 2 after 2 days); 303 children are evaluable for early TRM. Treatment consisted of a modified BFM-95 protocol in the first 31, a modified MRC UKALL-2003 protocol in 266 and the LMB/FAB-96 protocol in the 6 children with ALL-L3 morphology. Up to September 25, 2008 all trials did not include the 7-day steroid pre-phase that was introduced thereafter. A total of 249 children (82%) achieved a complete response in the first 60 days of treatment. The cumulative incidence of early TRM was 16% (48/303); it significantly decreased throughout the study period (2007: 21/88, 24%; 2008: 15/98, 15%; 2009: 12/117, 10% p 0.009). Several variables (sex, age, symptoms duration, hepatosplenomegaly, Hb level, WBC count, platelet count, bleeding, fever, impaired liver and renal function, CNS positivity, risk group, steroid pre-phase and induction complications) were examined as potential predictors of TRM. In univariate analysis, the occurrence of induction complications significantly increased the early TRM: hemorrhage 26% vs 11% p 0.001; infection 18% vs 2% p 0.005. A highly significant favorable impact on early TRM was represented by the 7-day steroid pre-phase; 36/169 children (21%) who did not receive the pre-phase died within the first 60 days of treatment compared to 12/134 children (9%) who underwent the steroid pre-phase (p 0.003). When the steroid pre-phase was placed in multivariable models with each of induction complications or other clinical parameters, it remained an independent predictor of TRM. Our experience confirms that a protocol-based care of children with ALL has to include the prednisone pre-phase that in low-income countries may contribute to a better risk definition and also to a significant reduction of early TRM

Multinational study on profile preference of laypersons

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the facial profile preferences of lay people in seven locations from different countries and whether their place of residence, sex, age, race, education, or income influenced the decision. METHODS: After altering the lip and nose in 1 mm increments in the sagittal and sagittal/vertical directions, 50 profile silhouettes with white-like facial features were rated by evaluators. The soft tissue values were integrated into the profiles, and profile preferences were identified for each location. An ANOVA with post hoc Tukey test was used to compare the differences in mean preference in each location. A multivariable regression model was used to assess the effect of the demographics of the evaluator on preference. RESULTS: Thirteen profiles were ultimately analyzed. The mean for profile preference was significantly different across locations (P < 0.0001). For evaluators in the United States and Lebanon, the most preferred profile had the original lip and original nose. In Switzerland and South Africa, retrusive lips, and a small and less upturned nose was most preferred. In Japan and Saudi Arabia, the most preferred profile had the original lip and a protrusive nose that was less upturned. A protrusive lip with a small, upturned nose was preferred in Turkey. Profile change (P < 0.0001), location (P < 0.0001), sex (P < 0.0001), and race (P = 0.02) were significant confounders; in contrast, age, education, and income were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Profile preference is different among the seven locations. For the most part, lay people prefer profiles within one SD from white norms. Also, an upturned nose is the least favored in most of the locations. Sex and race are also significant confounders. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: An orthodontic treatment plan decision is affected by an individual's preference for their facial appearance. This study helps clinicians understand how racial and regional differences may affect patients' preferences and, therefore, their expectations for orthodontic treatment results