Functional Characterization of Neurotensin Receptors in Human Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma Malignant Lymphocytes

Cutaneous T cell lymphomas are a clonal proliferation of CD4+ T lymphocytes primarily involving the skin. Mycosis fungoides is an epidermotropic CD4+ cutaneous T cell lymphoma, and a more aggressive form, Sezary syndrome, occurs when the malignant cells become nonepidermotropic. The role of neuropeptides in the growth and chemotaxis capacity of cutaneous T cell lymphoma cells remains unknown. In this report, we found that cutaneous T cell lymphoma cells, similarly to normal resting or activated peripheral lymphocytes, were able to bind neurotensin. We used an interleukin-2-dependent cutaneous T cell lymphoma malignant T cell line derived from cutaneous T cell lymphoma lesions in order to study the role of neurotensin in the proliferation and migration of these malignant cells. First, we determined that the malignant cells expressed neurotensin receptors on their cell membrane. Functional results indicated that neurotensin did not stimulate the growth of the cell line. In contrast, this neuropeptide inhibited the proliferation of the tumor cells in response to exogenous interleukin-2. Furthermore, we found that neurotensin enhanced both spontaneous and chemoattractant-induced migration of the malignant cells. This suggests that neurotensin in skin can play a role in the disease by locally limiting the growth of the cutaneous T cell lymphoma tumor cells in response to cytokines and by enhancing their chemotaxis capacity

Using community website as an informal learning environment among Malaysian pharmacy students

Objective: This study was conducted to analyse students’ insight on informal learning by means of social networks and community websites. Methods: Survey forms were distributed to all 360 students of Kulliyyah of Pharmacy of IIUM. Data analysis has been done using IBM SPSS software 20, and descriptive statistics were used to study the demographic characteristics of the students in relation to their use of social networking sites (SNSs). Results: 240 students were answered. The results revealed that the highest rating with mean (SD) = 4.53 (0.63) were related to accessing course notes and other teaching materials. Most students agreed that SNSs were helpful to their courses, mean (SD) = 4.18 (0.73). Conclusion: The findings of the study indicate that pharmacy students at IIUM use SNSs and other community websites as tools for academic purposes

MultiWave-Net: An Optimized Spatiotemporal Network for Abnormal Action Recognition Using Wavelet-Based Channel Augmentation

Human behavior is regarded as one of the most complex notions present nowadays, due to the large magnitude of possibilities. These behaviors and actions can be distinguished as normal and abnormal. However, abnormal behavior is a vast spectrum, so in this work, abnormal behavior is regarded as human aggression or in another context when car accidents occur on the road. As this behavior can negatively affect the surrounding traffic participants, such as vehicles and other pedestrians, it is crucial to monitor such behavior. Given the current prevalent spread of cameras everywhere with different types, they can be used to classify and monitor such behavior. Accordingly, this work proposes a new optimized model based on a novel integrated wavelet-based channel augmentation unit for classifying human behavior in various scenes, having a total number of trainable parameters of 5.3 m with an average inference time of 0.09 s. The model has been trained and evaluated on four public datasets: Real Live Violence Situations (RLVS), Highway Incident Detection (HWID), Movie Fights, and Hockey Fights. The proposed technique achieved accuracies in the range of 92% to 99.5% across the used benchmark datasets. Comprehensive analysis and comparisons between different versions of the model and the state-of-the-art have been performed to confirm the model’s performance in terms of accuracy and efficiency. The proposed model has higher accuracy with an average of 4.97%, and higher efficiency by reducing the number of parameters by around 139.1 m compared to other models trained and tested on the same benchmark datasets

Shisha smokers’ determinants of use, knowledge and perception towards shisha (waterpipe) smoking in Penang, Malaysia

Background: Tobacco smoking is a serious health problem worldwide. Malaysia as many of south Asian countries faces the challenge of rising tobacco consumption. Despite the apparent spread of Shisha smoking phenomenon among Malaysian population, little is known about the safety concerns and determinants of Shisha smokers in this community. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the social determinants of Shisha smoking among Malaysian population in Penang Island, Malaysia and to explore their health related knowledge and perception toward Shisha smoking. Methods: The survey was conducted using simple random sampling by randomly distributing self-administered questionnaires to consumers in Shisha lounges located in Penang Island. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. Results: A total number of 171 (42.75%) of respondents participated in this study. Mean age was 21.5±4.4 years. The majority were male, Malay (79.6%, 63.1% respectively). About 97.1% of respondents smoke Shisha either alone or with tobacco cigarettes. The majority (63.1%) started Shisha smoking at an age ≤ 20 years old, always in a café' (72.2%), share Shisha smoking with others (81.6%). Only 35.9% of respondents reported smoking Shisha daily. 71% reported smoking ≤ 7 bowls per week. 50.5% claimed smoking Shisha for more than 60 minutes per session. Boredom, outing and meeting with friends and family ranked first among the motives for smoking Shisha. Regarding knowledge about Shisha smoking, the majority believes that cigarettes are more harmful, more addictive and has more nicotine than waterpipe (60.2%, 71.8% and 67%; respectively). A large proportion (66%) of respondents believes that Shisha smoking doesn't transmit hepatitis infection. The majority of respondents perceived Shisha smoking acceptable by society and parents, compared to cigarettes (67% and 60.2%; respectively). The vast majority of respondents believe that Shisha smoking relieves stress and tension (77.7%), while the minority believes that Shisha smokers have more friends than non-smokers. Regarding access to Shisha, half of respondents agreed that Shisha is easily accessible than cigarettes. The majority of respondent foresees increasing popularity of Shisha smoking in the next 5 years (83.5%). Conclusion: This study showed that there is a high prevalence of Shisha smoking among the Malaysian youth associated with false believes about its health effects. Further studies involving larger population are encouraged

CARACTERISATION FONCTIONNELLE DU RECEPTEUR DE LA NEUROTENSINE 1 EXPRIME A LA SURFACE DES LYMPHOMES T CUTANES HUMAINS

PARIS12-CRETEIL BU Multidisc. (940282102) / SudocSudocFranceF

Challenges to web-based learning in pharmacy education in Arabic language speaking countries

Web‑based learning and web 2.0 tools which include new online educational technologies (EdTech) and social media websites like Facebook ® are playing crucial roles nowadays in pharmacy and medical education among millennial learners. Podcasting, webinars, and online learning management systems like Moodle® and other web 2.0 tools have been used in pharmacy and medical education to interactively share knowledge with peers and students. Learners can use laptops, iPads, iPhones, or tablet devices with a stable and good Internet connection to enroll in many online courses. Implementation of novel online EdTech in pharmacy and medical curricula has been noticed in developed countries such as European countries, the US, Canada, and Australia. However, these trends are scarce in the majority of Arabic language speaking countries (ALSC), where traditional and didactic educational methods are still being used with some exceptions seen in Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Qatar. Although these new trends are promising to push pharmacy and medical education forward, major barriers regarding adaptation of E‑learning and new online EdTech in Arab states have been reported such as higher connectivity costs, information communication technology (ICT) problems, language barriers, wars and political conflicts, poor education, financial problems, and lack of qualified ICT‑savvy educators. More research efforts are encouraged to study the effectiveness and proper use of web‑based learning and emerging online EdTech in pharmacy education not only in ALSC but also in developing and developed countries

Utilization of Water-Cooled and Air-Cooled Slag Aggregate in Concrete: A Solution to the Secular Economy

Aggregates are generally thought of as inert filler within a concrete mix, and a typical concrete mix is comprised of as much as 70–80% of them. They play an essential role in the properties of both fresh and hardened concrete. Nowadays, scientists are aiming to use waste materials, thereby replacing natural aggregates for economic and environmental considerations. This study investigates the effect of the utilization of steel slag by-product aggregates (air- and water-cooled slag) as concrete aggregates on the behavior characteristics of concrete. Various concrete mixtures, with different levels of replacement of slag aggregate (50, 75, and 100%), were conducted in order to find the optimum percentages to improve the microstructure and different properties of concrete (fresh and hardened). The results showed that increasing the fine aggregate replacement percentage led to a decrease in compressive strength values, in contrast with coarse aggregate replaced with slag aggregate. The steel slag aggregates showed potential to be used as replacement for natural aggregate with comparable compressive strength and acceptable workability

Comparison between intracranial collaterals and cerebral hemodynamics in patients with extracranial carotid stenosis versus combined extra- and intracranial stenosis using transcranial duplex

Abstract Background In acute ischemic stroke, collateral circulation plays an important role in maintaining blood flow to the tissue that is at risk of progressing into ischemia, and in increasing the successful recanalization rate without hemorrhagic transformation. Objectives To compare between collaterals in patients with extracranial carotid stenosis alone and in patients having both extracranial and intracranial carotid stenosis and therefore the difference in prognosis between them. Materials and methods A total of 30 patients of acute ischemic stroke were enrolled. The extracranial part of the carotid artery was assessed with color-coded duplex. Transcranial color-coded duplex was done to assess cerebral hemodynamics and collaterals to differentiate between extracranial significant carotid stenosis alone versus combined extra- and intracranial significant carotid stenosis. Results Out of 15 patients with significant extracranial stenosis, 3 of them obtained reversed flow in the ophthalmic artery and 3 patients of them showed change of flow in the anterior cerebral artery(ACA), whereas the other 15 patients of combined stenosis did not show any reversed blood flow in the same arteries which considered nonsignificant. The residual deficit of patients with extracranial stenosis alone was better when compared to that of the other group. Conclusion Our study concluded that transcranial duplex provides useful information about cerebral reserve and status of collaterals which show nonsignificant difference between two studied groups regarding intracranial collaterals. Furthermore, patients with combined extra- and intracranial stenosis were found to have more deficit and worse prognosis than patients with internal carotid stenosis only

Predictors for Retrograde Ureteral Stenting Failure as an Initial Drainage Method for Emergent Complicated Acute Calculus Obstructive Uropathy

ObjectiveTo define predictors for initial retrograde ureteral stenting (RUS) failure with the need for the percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) insertion as a drainage method in patients with complicated acute calculus obstructive uropathy. MethodsWe undertook a retrospective evaluation of patients who presented with complicated obstructive calculus uropathy (acute renal failure or obstructive pyelonephritis) between January 2016 and January 2020. Patients in whom there was failure to visualize ipsilateral ureteric orifice and those with extrinsic ureteral obstruction were excluded. Patient demographics and radiological data including stone site, hydronephrosis grade, maximum transverse stone diameter, periureteral density (PUD) and pericalcular ureteric thickness (P-CUT) at the maximum transverse stone diameter were assessed using non-contrast computed tomography at the time of admission. ResultsThe study included 256 patients who were managed initially by RUS trial. Of them, 48 (18.8 %) had RUS failure. The presence of acute pyelonephritis, increased maximum transverse stone diameter ≥ 9.5 mm, P-CUT ≥ 7.5 mm, and PUD at stone level ≥ 17.5 HU were risk factors associated with RUS failure (P = 0.007, 0.002, < 0.001, and < 0.001, respectively). ConclusionInitial radiological stone and ureteric characteristics, in addition to the clinical diagnosis of obstructive pyelonephritis, can be used to determine PCN insertion as the preferred option over RUS for urinary drainage