Relapse, mortality, and the associated factors in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; a competing risks analysis

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most frequent form of malignant neoplasia diagnosed in ages 0 to 14 years old. Efforts have not yet converted into a better prospect. Bone marrow relapse is still the leading cause of person-year of life lost in this malignancy. Objectives: This study aimed at identifying the associated risk factors for relapse and mortality for pediatric patients with ALL in standard and high-risk groups. Methods: This study included a cohort of pediatric (0-16 years old) patients with ALL referred to Sheikh Hospital, Mashhad, Iran from 2007 to 2016. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory information were considered. Hazard ration (HR) with 95 highest posterior density region was obtained, using a Bayesian competing risks model. Results: Of 424 patients with a mean age of 5.56 ± 3.75 years, 172 (40) were female. Median follow-up time was 43.29 months, 10.6 had a relapse, and 17.2 had mortality related to ALL. Relapse-free survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 97, 91, and 88, respectively. Overall survival rates were 86, 83, and 82, respectively. In the standard-risk group, tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) significantly increased either the relapse risk HR: 13.47 (2.05-67.54) or mortality risk HR: 19.57 (2.24-32.18). In the high-risk group, the higher level of hemoglobin, platelet, and lactic acid dehydrogenase was significantly associated with higher relapse risk. TLS was associated with a higher risk of mortality in high-risk groups. Conclusions: It was suggested that TLS was a predictor for the disease relapse as well as mortality in pediatric patients with ALL. However, further evaluation on the larger population of patients is demanded to ascertain the precision of such parameters in leukemic management strategies. © 2021, Author(s)

Keratin intermediate filaments in the colon: guardians of epithelial homeostasis

Keratin intermediate filament proteins are major cytoskeletal components of the mammalian simple layered columnar epithelium in the gastrointestinal tract. Human colon crypt epithelial cells express keratins 18, 19 and 20 as the major type I keratins, and keratin 8 as the type II keratin. Keratin expression patterns vary between species, and mouse colonocytes express keratin 7 as a second type II keratin. Colonic keratin patterns change during cell differentiation, such that K20 increases in the more differentiated crypt cells closer to the central lumen. Keratins provide a structural and mechanical scaffold to support cellular stability, integrity and stress protection in this rapidly regenerating tissue. They participate in central colonocyte processes including barrier function, ion transport, differentiation, proliferation and inflammatory signaling. The cell-specific keratin compositions in different epithelial tissues has allowed for the utilization of keratin-based diagnostic methods. Since the keratin expression pattern in tumors often resembles that in the primary tissue, it can be used to recognize metastases of colonic origin. This review focuses on recent findings on the biological functions of mammalian colon epithelial keratins obtained from pivotal in vivo models. We also discuss the diagnostic value of keratins in chronic colonic disease and known keratin alterations in colon pathologies. This review describes the biochemical properties of keratins and their molecular actions in colonic epithelial cells and highlights diagnostic data in colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease patients, which may facilitate the recognition of disease subtypes and the establishment of personal therapies in the future

Inhibition of Orobanche crenata Seed Germination and Radicle Growth by Allelochemicals Identified in Cereals

Orobanche crenata is a parasitic weed that causes severe yield losses in important grain and forage legume crops. Cereals have been reported to inhibit O. crenata parasitism when grown intercropped with susceptible legumes, but the responsible metabolites have not been identified. A number of metabolites have been reported in cereals that have allelopathic properties against weeds, pests, and pathogens. We tested the effect of several allelochemicals identified in cereals on O. crenata seed germination and radicle development. We found that 2-benzoxazolinone, its derivative 6-chloroacetyl-2-benzoxazolinone, and scopoletin significantly inhibited O. crenata seed germination. Benzoxazolinones, l-tryptophan, and coumalic acid caused the stronger inhibition of radicle growth. Also, other metabolites reduced radicle length, this inhibition being dose-dependent. Only scopoletin caused cell necrotic-like darkening in the young radicles. Prospects for their application to parasitic weed management are discussed. © 2013 American Chemical Society.This research is supported by projects FP7-ARIMNet-MEDILEG and AGL2011-22524 (cofinanced by FEDER funds).Peer Reviewe

Data for: Predicting gasoline prices using Michigan survey data

Abstract of associated article: This study investigates the predictive power of Michigan Surveys of Consumers (MSC) data for gasoline prices. Specifically, we utilize the MSC data on both expected inflation and consumer sentiment to construct a vector autoregressive (VAR) model for forecasting gasoline prices for 2003–2014. Our findings indicate that the VAR forecasts are superior to the comparable benchmark forecasts obtained from a univariate integrated moving average (MA) model in terms of both predictive information content and directional accuracy. As such, we conclude that the MSC data on both expected inflation and consumer sentiment have significant predictive information for gasoline prices. Further inspection reveals that the VAR forecasts are particularly accurate for the period since 2008, reinforcing the notion that consumers are “economically” rational

Application of Spirulina algae as a food supplementation in the zinc fortification of bread

Background: Zinc is the second only to iron among trace elements in the human body. Approximately 48 of the people worldwide suffer from the zinc deficiency disorders, such as hypogonadism, hypospermia, growth retardation, immune deficiencies. Routinely, the use of food supplementation in daily regiments is common. Use of sea foods as one of the richest source of supplementaries, persuade us to exploit it. Materials and Methods: Academic scientific databases (e.g. Scopus and Elsevier) were researched. Results: A green single-cell algae "Spirulina" is one of these sources. Nowadays this algae has its top position among other microalgae for the production and consumption by man. In addition, Spirulina has 8 essential amino acids and various vitamins (e.g. A,E,C,B1,B2,B6,B12,biotin) and minerals such as Fe, Ca, Mg, Zn. Furthermore this sea source has essential fatty acids such as Omega 6 and Omega 9. Presence of these compounds in Spirulina algae is its unique characteristic comparing to other supplements. Furthermore, this algae has various therapeutic benefits such as amplifying an immunity system, excretion of heavy metals, aiding the food digestion, ulcer repair, improving vision. Conclusion: According to the food pyramid among the cereal products, we choose bread for this fortifying purpose. This bread was prepared in two colors. We inspected and examined this product under laboratorial assessment which proved our hypotheses