Assessment of Plasma von Willebrand factor antigen in non-metastatic Prostate Cancerpatients: across-sectional study of the Sudanese Population

Backgrounds: VonWillebrand disease (VWD) is reportedly the most common inherited bleeding disorder and can also arise as an acquired syndrome (AVWS). These disorders arise due to defects and/or deficiency of the plasma protein von Willebrand factor (VWF)..High plasma vWF concentrations have been reported in patients with various types of cancer, such as prostatic cancer.Metastasization may be associated with activation of haemostatic processes resulting in increased levels of circulating factor VIII-related antigen (FVIIIRAg) (von Willebrand factor antigen). Objective: To evaluate the status of VWF AginSudanese patients with Prostate Cancer attending RICK Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in Khartoum state at Khartoum oncology (RICK) hospital, during the period from April to June 2018, 45 samples were collected from patients with non-metastatic CA prostate, their ages ranged between 51 to 82 years. The vWF level was measured using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data were analyzed by the statistical package for social science (SPSS).   Results: Serology for vWF antigen was done for 45 cases of prostate cancer. According to the age, 2(8%) of patients with age 51-66 had a high concentration of VWF while 24(92%) had normal vWF antigen concentration; of those with age 67-82 years, 4(21%) had high vWF antigen and 15(79%) had normal antigen. Conclusion: The study revealedthat more than 80% of Sudanese patients withnon-metastatic prostate cancer have anormal concentration of VWF. Keywords: vWF, Prostate cancer, Age, ELIS

Les infrastructures à la lumière des théories du commerce : le rôle des coûts de transport

There is some conviction that the costs of logistics and transport were not integrated into the economic question until the late 19th century. Nevertheless, several studies have revealed that the importance of transport was evident, so it would be interesting to highlight the starting point for the consideration of transport in trade. The objective of this paper is to provide a critical review of the theoretical work governing the link between macroinfrastructure and trade. Our analysis of trade is informed by the limitations that have marked the neglect of space in the classical field of trade, looking at classical trade theories related to the notion of comparative advantage. This shortcoming has been the subject of much criticism by spatial economists. Subsequently, transport costs, which were somewhat neglected in classical trade theory, became the focus of new trade theories. This can be seen in the Samuelson model and in the advances of the new classical trade theory. The results of our critical analysis have shown that the inclusion of transport costs has followed a gradual sequence that has eventually made transport costs a cornerstone of economic analysis, and that its omission will lead to results that escape reality.   Keywords: Transportation costs, Infrastructure, Trade JEL Classification:  B17 Paper type: Theoretical Research Il existe une certaine conviction que les coûts de la logistique et du transport n'ont pas été intégrés dans la question économique avant la fin du 19ème siècle. Néanmoins, plusieurs études ont révélé que l'importance du transport était évidente, il serait donc intéressant de mettre en évidence le point de départ de la prise en compte du transport dans le commerce. L’objectif de cet article est de fournir une revue critique des travaux théoriques régissant le lien entre la macro-infrastructure et le commerce. Notre analyse du commerce est éclairée par les limites qui ont marqué la négligence de l'espace dans le champ classique du commerce, en se penchant sur les théories commerciales classiques liées à la notion d'avantage comparatif. Cette lacune a fait l'objet de nombreuses critiques de la part des économistes spatiaux. Par la suite, les coûts de transport, qui étaient quelque peu négligés dans la théorie classique du commerce, sont devenus le centre d'intérêt des nouvelles théories du commerce. Ceci se manifeste à travers le modèle de Samuelson et les avancées de la nouvelle théorie classique du commerce. Les résultats de notre analyse critique ont montré que la prise en compte des coûts de transport a suivi une séquence graduelle qui a fini par faire des coûts de transport, une pierre angulaire de l'analyse économique, et que son omission conduira à des résultats qui échappent à la réalité.   Mots clés : Coûts de transport, Infrastructure, Commerce Classification JEL:  B17 Type de l’article : Recherche théorique. &nbsp

Capital immatériel et logistique : examen de l’impact de l’innovation sur la performance logistique à travers un Modèle ARDL

Le passage de l'économie traditionnelle à une économie basée sur l'immatériel a montré que les actifs immatériels sont la clé du développement économique. C'est à la lumière de ce constat que la littérature s'est enrichie d'analyses sur l'importance du capital immatériel comme déterminant du progrès économique. Ainsi, le développement du commerce international est principalement mu par l'innovation technologique ayant un retentissement sur la compétitivité internationale d'un pays, à travers un impact remarquable sur les performances logistiques.L'objectif de cet article est de souligner l'importance du capital immatériel pour la performance logistique en examinant la relation entre le capital immatériel et la performance logistique et ses effets innovants sur le commerce transfrontalier. Notre analyse basée sur un modèle autorégressif à retards échelonnés ARDL utilisant les données sur l'innovation de l'indice global d'innovation et les données sur les coûts et les délais du commerce transfrontalier du Maroc sur la période 2007-2019 montre un effet positif significatif à long et à court terme de l'innovation sur la performance logistique marocaine

Corruption et Commerce : Une digue ou lubrifiant des exportations marocaines ? Une analyse dynamique.

En théorie normative, le commerce et la corruption sont incompatibles. Cependant, lespreuves empiriques illustrent une antilogie dans le débat qui s’articule sur les effets de la corruption sur le commerce. Ce papier a pour objectif d’examiner le lien entre la corruption et les exportations marocaines. Nous avons appliqué un modèle de gravité dynamique sur les exportations du Maroc vers un groupe de 80 principaux partenaires commerciaux durant 2008-2018, afin de déceler la nature de la relation entre la corruption et l’offre exportatrice marocaine. Nos résultats suggèrent un lien négatif entre la corruption et les exportations marocaines, en outre, une diminution des pratiques de corruption entrainera une expansion des flux à l’export, en somme, le Maroc en améliorant la qualité de ses institutions, moyennant une lutte efficace contre la corruption, renforcera sa compétitivité internationale

Infrastructures de transport et croissance économique : Une analyse économétrique à travers le modèle autorégressif à retards échelonnés ARDL

The economic literature has clearly proven that infrastructure development is an essential lever for productivity and sustained economic growth. This hypothesis has been tested in depth in the literature using different approaches and methods. This research aims to study the dynamics of the short- and long-term impacts of transport infrastructure on Morocco's economic growth over the period 1984-2019 from an investment perspective. To accomplish this, we used the Auto-regressive distributed lags ARDL of (( Pesaran, Shin and Smith (2001)). Our results show that the positive effects of transport infrastructure on economic growth in Morocco occur in the short and long term. Economic theory has revealed that the beneficial effects of transport infrastructure will be felt in monetary terms and in other terms such as travel time, environmental effects, safety and so on, which implies the need for Morocco to take this constant into account in order to strengthen its accessibility and internal mobility and thus promote its integration into the world economy.La littérature économique a clairement démontré que le développement des infrastructures est un levier essentiel pour la productivité et la croissance économique soutenue. Cette conjecture a été vérifiée en profondeur dans la littérature à l'aide de différentes approches et méthodes. Cette recherche vise à étudier la dynamique de l'impact à court et long terme des infrastructures de transport sur la croissance économique du Maroc au cours de la période 1984-2019, considérée sous l'angle des investissements. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé le modèle autorégressif à retards échelonnés ARDL de (Pesaran, Shin et Smith (2001)). Nos résultats font ressortir que les effets positifs des infrastructures de transport sur la croissance économique au Maroc se concrétisent à court et à long terme. La théorie économique a révélé que les effets bénéfiques des infrastructures de transport se feront sentir en termes monétaires et en d'autres termes tels que le temps de trajet, les effets environnementaux, la sécurité, etc., ce qui implique la nécessité pour le Maroc de prendre en compte cette constante afin de renforcer son accessibilité et sa mobilité interne et ainsi promouvoir son insertion dans l'économie mondiale &nbsp

Sequencing, Analysis, and Annotation of Expressed Sequence Tags for Camelus dromedarius

Despite its economical, cultural, and biological importance, there has not been a large scale sequencing project to date for Camelus dromedarius. With the goal of sequencing complete DNA of the organism, we first established and sequenced camel EST libraries, generating 70,272 reads. Following trimming, chimera check, repeat masking, cluster and assembly, we obtained 23,602 putative gene sequences, out of which over 4,500 potentially novel or fast evolving gene sequences do not carry any homology to other available genomes. Functional annotation of sequences with similarities in nucleotide and protein databases has been obtained using Gene Ontology classification. Comparison to available full length cDNA sequences and Open Reading Frame (ORF) analysis of camel sequences that exhibit homology to known genes show more than 80% of the contigs with an ORF>300 bp and ~40% hits extending to the start codons of full length cDNAs suggesting successful characterization of camel genes. Similarity analyses are done separately for different organisms including human, mouse, bovine, and rat. Accompanying web portal, CAGBASE (http://camel.kacst.edu.sa/), hosts a relational database containing annotated EST sequences and analysis tools with possibility to add sequences from public domain. We anticipate our results to provide a home base for genomic studies of camel and other comparative studies enabling a starting point for whole genome sequencing of the organism

Sequencing, Analysis, and Annotation of Expressed Sequence Tags for \u3ci\u3eCamelus dromedarius\u3c/i\u3e

Despite its economical, cultural, and biological importance, there has not been a large scale sequencing project to date for Camelus dromedarius. With the goal of sequencing complete DNA of the organism, we first established and sequenced camel EST libraries, generating 70,272 reads. Following trimming, chimera check, repeat masking, cluster and assembly, we obtained 23,602 putative gene sequences, out of which over 4,500 potentially novel or fast evolving gene sequences do not carry any homology to other available genomes. Functional annotation of sequences with similarities in nucleotide and protein databases has been obtained using Gene Ontology classification. Comparison to available full length cDNA sequences and Open Reading Frame (ORF) analysis of camel sequences that exhibit homology to known genes show more than 80% of the contigs with an ORF\u3e300 bp and ~40% hits extending to the start codons of full length cDNAs suggesting successful characterization of camel genes. Similarity analyses are done separately for different organisms including human, mouse, bovine, and rat. Accompanying web portal, CAGBASE (http://camel.kacst.edu.sa/), hosts a relational database containing annotated EST sequences and analysis tools with possibility to add sequences from public domain. We anticipate our results to provide a home base for genomic studies of camel and other comparative studies enabling a starting point for whole genome sequencing of the organism

Randomized placebo controlled trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of single low dose intracoronary insulin like growth factor following percutaneous coronary intervention in acute myocardial infarction (RESUS-AMI)

Background: Residual and significant post-infarction left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, despite technically successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), remains an important clinical issue. In preclinical models low dose insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) has potent cytoprotective and positive cardiac remodelling effects. We studied the safety and efficacy of immediate post PCI low dose intracoronary IGF1 infusion in STEMI patients. Methods: Using a double-blind, placebo controlled, multi-dose study design, we randomized 47 STEMI patients with significantly reduced (≤ 40%) LV ejection fraction (LVEF) after successful PCI to single intracoronary infusion of placebo (n=15), 1.5ng IGF1 (n=16) or 15ng IGF1 (n=16). All received optimal medical therapy. Safety endpoints were freedom from hypoglycaemia, hypotension or significant arrhythmias within 1 hour of therapy. The primary efficacy endpoint was LVEF and secondary endpoints were LV volumes, mass, stroke volume, and infarct size at 2 months follow up, all assessed by MRI. Treatment effects were estimated by analysis of covariance adjusted for baseline (24hrs) outcome. Results: No significant differences in safety endpoints occurred between treatment groups out to 30 days (chi squared test, p-value = 0.77).There were no statistically significant differences in baseline (24 hrs post STEMI) clinical characteristics or LVEF among groups. LVEF at 2 months, compared to baseline, increased in all groups with no statistically significant differences related to treatment assignment. However, compared with placebo or 1.5ng IGF1, treatment with 15ng IGF1 was associated with a significant improvement in indexed LV end-diastolic volume (p=0.018), LV mass (p=0.004) and stroke volume (p=0.016). Late gadolinium enhancement (±SD) at 2 months was lower in 15ng IGF1 (34.5±29.6g) compared to placebo (49.1±19.3g) or 1.5ng IGF1 (47.4±22.4g) treated patients, though the result was not statistically significant (p = 0.095). Conclusion: In this pilot trial, low dose IGF1, given after optimal mechanical reperfusion in STEMI, is safe but does not improve LVEF. However, there is a signal for a dose dependent benefit on post MI remodeling that may warrant further study. Despite timely reperfusion by primary PCI (PPCI) a significant cohort of patients develop adverse left ventricular remodelling with clinical sequelae such as arrhythmia and heart failure[1].Therapeutic approaches to avert such remodeling, including a variety of cell therapy and ischemia- reperfusion-injury mitigation trials have achieved modest success 2.;3. Thus, there remains a significant opportunity for novel therapies in this field

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe