Evaluation of nutritional characteristics of corn stored in metallic silos

This study assessed the nutritional quality attributes of maize (Zea mays) stored in metallic silos for a period of eight months in the humid tropics of Nigeria. The nutritional properties (NP) evaluated are percentage ash content (AC), crude fibre (CF), crude protein (CP), carbohydrate content (CHO), fat content (FC), and energy value (EV). The initial or control values were compared with the values obtained during storage. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 20) was used to determine the significant levels of data while the Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Duncan’s multivariate test were used to determine the trend of deterioration (P<0.05) for all the values. The minimum and maximum average temperatures during storage were 29oC in July (wet season) and 34.7oC in April (dry season) respectively. The minimum and maximum average relative humidities during the storage period were 51% in March (dry season) and 71% in May (wet season) respectively. The mean deviation of FC, CP, AC, CHO, CF and EV are 7.25%±1.00%, 8.79%±0.87%, 3.5%±0.88%, 63.36%±0.99%, 6.25%±0.96% and 361.55%±1.00% respectively for the control in respect of the position of the grain in the bulk. FC, CP, AC, and CF decreases from 7.0% to 1.2%, 8.79% to 6.33%, 3.5% to 2.3% and 6.25% to 3.21% respectively during storage while the values CHO and EV increases from 63.36% to 83.2% and 360 kcal to 395 kcal during the storage

Multidimensional applications and potential health implications of nanocomposites

This study reviews the concept, classifications, and techniques involved in the synthesis of nanocomposites. The environmental and health implications of nanoparticles and composite materials were detailed, as well as the applications of nanocomposites in water remediation, antibacterial application, and printed circuit boards. The study gave insights into the challenges of water pollution treatment and provided a broad list of nanocomposites that have been explored for water remediation. Moreover, the emergence of multi-drug resistance to many antibiotics has made current antibiotics inadequate in the treatment of disease. This has engineered the development of alternative strategies in the drug industries for the production of effective therapeutic agents, comprising nanocomposites with antibacterial agents. The new therapeutic agents known as nanoantibiotics are more efficient and have paved the way to handle the challenges of antibiotic resistance. In printed circuit boards, nanocomposites have shown promising applications because of their distinct mechanical, thermal, and electrical characteristics. The uniqueness of the write-up is that it provides a broad explanation of the concept, synthesis, application, toxicity, and harmful effects of nanocomposites. Thus, it will provide all-inclusive awareness to readers to identify research gaps and motivate researchers to synthesize novel nanocomposites for use in various fields. HIGHLIGHTS The size of nanocomposites makes them ideal for different applications.; The applications of nanocomposites in water treatment, antibacterial activity, and printed circuit boards are detailed.; There are concerns about the environmental and health implications of nanomaterials.; The review gave insights into the challenges, research gaps, future considerations, and health implications of nanocomposites.

Incident Kaposi sarcoma during the expansion of antiretroviral therapy eligibility in Nigeria: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Introduction The expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility could lead to earlier initiation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) treatment and consequently reduce the risk of HIV-associated Kaposi Sarcoma (KS). We investigated the impact of changes in the Nigerian HIV treatment guidelines on KS incidence among adults enrolled in HIV care in Nigeria. Methods We analyzed data of adults who enrolled for HIV care from January 2006 to December 2016 at one of Nigeria’s largest HIV treatment centers. Based on changes in HIV treatment guidelines, we classified 2006–2009 as the pre-expansion period and 2010–2016 as the post-expansion period. We used Kaplan Meier curves to compare the incidence of KS in the pre-expansion to the post-expansion period. We used Cox regression models to assess the hazard for incident KS between the two periods after adjusting for potential confounders. Results Among 14,479 patients with HIV, the overall KS incidence was 2.35; 95% CI 2.01–2.74/1,000 person-years. The incidence of KS decreased from 2.53 to 1.58 per 1,000 person-years from 2006 to 2009 to 2010–2016. In models adjusting for age, sex, CD4-T cell count, and ART use, the risk for KS remained lower in 2010–2016 compared to 2006–2009. In analyses restricted to time on ART, there was no significant difference in KS incidence between HIV patients who enrolled in 2006–2009 and 2010–2016 after adjusting for age, sex, and CD4 T-cell count. Conclusion The expansion of ART eligibility was associated with a reduced incidence of HIV-associated KS among adults initiating HIV care in Jos, Nigeria. The reduction was likely driven by earlier enrollment for HIV care and ART initiation

Haploidentical Donors in Addition to Transplantation in Chronic Phase Associate with Improved Gvhd-Free Relapse-Free Survival (GRFS) for Patients with Advanced CML

Abstract Introduction: Despite the successes of treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients with CML, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) continues to be a potentially curative option for patients with advanced disease of who fail TKI therapy. Here we analyzed outcomes of patients with advanced CML (aCML) (beyond first chronic phase-CP1) who received an ASCT at our institution to identify factors associated with improved survival. Methods:207 consecutive patients withaCML treated at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center after year 2000 were included. The median age was 44 years (range 2-70 years), 135 (65%) were male, 77% had less than 5% bone marrow (BM) blasts, 129 (65%) had persistentPh-chromosome positive, and 176 patients (85%) were less than a major molecular response at transplant. Forty of 114 tested patients (35%) had resistant BCR-ABL mutations and 10 patients (8.7%) had T315I mutation at transplant. Conditioning regimen wasmyeloablative (MAC) in 140 patients (68%). Donors were matched related (MRD), matched unrelated (MUD),haploidentical (HAPLO), mismatched unrelated (MMUD), umbilical cord blood (UCB) and 1Ag mismatched related (MMRD) in 79 (38%), 75 (36%), 18 (9%), 17 (8%), 11 (5%) and 7 (3%) patients, respectively. The median time from diagnosis to transplant was 27 months (range 1-318 months) while the median follow-up duration was 20 months (range 1-194 months). Results:At 30 days post-transplant, 180 of 200 tested patients (90%) and 134 of 201 tested patients (67%) achieved a complete cytogenetic and at least a major molecular response, respectively. The response to transplant by day 30assessment correlated significantly with the disease status before transplant. A higher percentage of patients who experienced cytogenetic response before transplant experienced molecular response post-transplant (77%) compared with those who did not (61%; p=0.027). For the entire group, the 1-year cumulative incidence (CI) of acute GVHD (aGVHD) grade II-IV and grade III-IV were 41% and 15%, respectively; 5-year CI of extensive chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was 31%.Haploidentical transplant patients had lesscGVHD compared with HLA matched donor transplants (14% vs. 32% for HLA matched transplants). The CI of non-relapse mortality at 100 days and 1 year was 14% and 30%, respectively. Sixty-five patients (31%) had molecular relapse after transplant, which correlated with the degree of disease control before transplant. The CI of cytogenetic and molecular relapse at 5 years was 22% and 31%, respectively. Overall the 5-year survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS)was49%, 34%, and 22%, respectively. Adjusting for all significant measures, percentage of BM blasts before transplant and donor type were significantly associated with PFS and GRFS (Table1, Figure 1).Haplodenticaltransplant patients had longer PFS and GRFS compared with other donor types including matched related or unrelated donor (5-year GRFS for HAPLO, MRD, MUD, MMUD, UCB and MMRD were 53%, 19%, 23%, 29%, 9%, and 0%, respectively; p=0.033) (Table 1, Figure 1). Cytogenetic and molecular response before transplant as well as year of transplant did not predict survival after transplant. Conclusions: ASCT is curative for a proportion of patients withaCML. PFS and GRFS are favorably influenced by percentage of BM blasts and donor type, withhaploidentical donor having at least as good outcomes as HLA matched donors, while molecular and cytogenetic response before transplant do not appear to correlate with survival post-transplant. Table 1 Multivariable analysis for PFS and GRFS Table 1. Multivariable analysis for PFS and GRFS Figure 1 PFS and GRFS based on percentage of BM blasts before transplant and donor types Figure 1. PFS and GRFS based on percentage of BM blasts before transplant and donor types Disclosures Cortes: Arog: Research Funding; Teva: Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Ariad: Consultancy, Research Funding; Astellas: Research Funding; Ambit: Research Funding. Champlin:Intrexon: Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties; Ziopharm Oncology: Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. Ciurea:Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Other: Advisory Board; Cyto-Sen Therapeutics: Equity Ownership

Additional file 1 of Incident Kaposi sarcoma during the expansion of antiretroviral therapy eligibility in Nigeria: a retrospective cohort study

Additional file 1: Table S1. Characteristics of adults who initiated ART in Jos, Nigeria (2006-2018). Figure S1. Box plot of time from enrollment in care to initiation of antiretroviral therapy in adults with HIV in Jos, Nigeria (2006-2016). Table S2. Cox regression of predictors of Kaposi Sarcoma using Multiply Imputed Data from adults with HIV in Jos, Nigeria (2006-2016) (n=14,479, events=160). Table S3. Missing Data Pattern. Table S4. MICE model and corresponding populations and variables. Figure S2. MICE Mode A (Analytical Models 1 to 3). Figure S3. MICE Model B (Analytical Model 4) and MICE Model C (Analytical Model 5). Figure S4. MICE Model D (Analytical Model 6). Table S5. Cox Regression models of predictors of Kaposi Sarcoma among adults with HIV in Jos Nigeria (2006-2016). Table S6. Multivariate cox regression models of predictors of Kaposi Sarcoma among adults with HIV in Jos, Nigeria based on use of antiretroviral therapy (2006-2016

Comparison of High Doses of Total Body Irradiation in Myeloablative Conditioning before Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Malignancy relapse is the most common cause of treatment failure among recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Conditioning dose intensity can reduce disease relapse but is offset by toxicities. Improvements in radiotherapy techniques and supportive care may translate to better outcomes with higher irradiation doses in the modern era. This study compares outcomes of recipients of increasing doses of high-dose total body irradiation (TBI) divided into intermediate high dose (IH; 13-13.75 Gy) and high dose (HD; 14 Gy) with standard dose (SD; 12 Gy) with cyclophosphamide. A total of 2721 patients ages 18 to 60 years with hematologic malignancies receiving HCT from 2001 to 2013 were included. Cumulative incidences of nonrelapse mortality (NRM) at 5 years were 28% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25% to 30%), 32% (95% CI, 29% to 36%), and 34% (95% CI, 28% to 39%) for SD, IH, and HD, respectively (P =.02). Patients receiving IH-TBI had a 25% higher risk of NRM compared with those receiving SD-TBI (12 Gy) (P =.007). Corresponding cumulative incidences of relapse were 36% (95% CI, 34% to 38%), 32% (95% CI, 29% to 36%), and 26% (95% CI, 21% to 31%; P =.001). Hazard ratios for mortality compared with SD were 1.06 (95% CI,.94 to 1.19; P =.36) for IH and.89 (95% CI,.76 to 1.05; P =.17) for HD. The study demonstrates that despite improvements in supportive care, myeloablative conditioning using higher doses of TBI (with cyclophosphamide) leads to worse NRM and offers no survival benefit over SD, despite reducing disease relapse

An 8-year pragmatic observation evaluation of the benefits of allogeneic HCT in older and medically infirm AML patients

We designed a prospective, observational study enrolling patients presenting for treatment of AML at 13 institutions to analyze associations between hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and survival, quality of life (QOL), function and geriatric health, in 6 groups: 1) the entire cohort, 2) ≥65 years old, 3) high comorbidity burden, 4) intermediate cytogenetic-risk, 5) adverse cytogenetic-risk, and 6) first complete remission with or without measurable residual disease. Patient health and preferences were assessed eight times across 2 years. Time-dependent regression models were used. Among 692 evaluable patients, 46% received HCT with 2-year survival of 58%. In unadjusted models, HCT was associated with reduced risks of mortality in the entire group and most of the subgroups. However, after accounting for covariates associated with increased mortality (age, comorbidity-burden, disease risks, frailty, impaired QOL, depression, and impaired function), the associations between HCT and longer survival disappeared in all groups. While function, social life, performance status, and depressive symptoms were better for those selected for HCT compared to those who were not, these health advantages were lost after receiving HCT. Recipients and non-recipients of HCT similarly ranked and expected cure as main goal of therapy, while physicians expected more cure for the formers. Accounting for health impairments negate survival benefits from HCT for AML, suggesting that the unadjusted observed benefit is due mostly to selection of the healthier candidates. Considering patients' overall expectations of cure but also the QOL burdens of HCT motivate the need for randomized trials to identify the best candidates for HCT