10 research outputs found
Peritoneal morphological and functional changes associated with platelet-derived growth factor B
No full textBackground:
Morphological changes associated with long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) include increased vascular surface area due to angiogenesis, submesothelial fibrosis and epithelial mesenchymal transition. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been associated with all of these phenomena, and is a prototypical & response to injury & growth factor.
Methods: Rats received an intraperitoneal injection of adenoviral vector expressing PDGF-B. At sacrifice, we analysed the structure and function of the peritoneal membrane. Gene expression in the peritoneal tissue was assessed for changes suggestive of epithelial mesenchymal transition.
Results: Over-expression of PDGF in the rat peritoneum led to significant angiogenesis, cellular proliferation and submesothelial thickening. Although PDGF induced expression of transforming growth factor beta, there was a lack of activation of this growth factor, and we believe that this explains the lack of significant collagen accumulation observed by a hydroxyproline assay. Despite evidence of angiogenesis and subsequent increased solute transport, we observed only a transient, non-significant impact on ultrafiltration function. This suggests that increased vascular surface area is necessary, but not sufficient, to produce ultrafiltration dysfunction. There was no evidence of epithelial mesenchymal transition observed either in regulation of associated genes such as Snail or E-Cadherin or in the lack of dual-labelled epithelial and mesenchymal cells on immunofluorescence. Mesothelial cells exposed to PDGF-B demonstrated increased collagen gene expression.
Conclusions: PDGF-B induced angiogenesis without fibrosis in the peritoneum. The lack of significant ultrafiltration dysfunction and epithelial mesenchymal transition, as observed in patients on PD, suggests that PDGF-B may play a role, but is not the integral component, in response to peritoneal injury.
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Finite Element Modeling and Simulation of Arteries in the Human Arm to Study the Aortic Pulse Wave Propagation
No full textAbstractFinite modelling and simulation of the arterial network in the human arm has been presented in this paper with an objective to study the aortic pulse wave propagation. In the biomedical domain, it becomes extremely essential to understand the propagation of the aortic pulse along the arterial network, to get a better insight about the functioning of the cardiovascular system. This would assist in haemodynamic measurements, diagnosing disorders and visualizing the effect of medical treatment. The fluid structure interaction has been simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.4 with an objective to obtain the pressure, velocity profile of the aortic pulse and wall shear stresses at the ascending aorta, carotid, brachial, interosseous, ulnar and radial artery. The arterial walls are considered flexible and pulsatile pressure pulse has been used as boundary condition. The validity of the finite element simulation has been supported by comparing the numerical results to the standard published results
Platelet derived growth factor B and epithelial mesenchymal transition of peritoneal mesothelial cells
No full textMigraine and the Scope of Homeopathy
No full textAbstractMigraine is usually a genetic disorder. In the United States, every 10 seconds someone with a migraine goes to the emergency room. Approximately 1.2 million annual visits to the emergency room occur due to acute migraine attacks. About 90% of migraine patients have a family history of this illness. More than 90% of sufferers are unable to work or function normally during their migraine episode, affecting their quality of life and medical expenditure. While the majority of patients experience attacks once or twice a month, more than four million people suffer due to a chronic migraine with at least 15 migraine days per month. Migraine is often undiagnosed and undertreated and remains a poorly understood disease. In spite of the high prevalence of migraine and its effects on patients, research into migraine is still underfunded. In this article, the author reviewed facts about migraine, the best possible suggested treatments and the scope of homeopathy for its treatment. More research and clinical trials with improved trial designs are warranted. Publications of large numbers of homeopathic case studies worldwide, long-term observational studies of treated migraine patients having no further migraine recurrences are needed to see the role of homeopathy for the complete cure.</jats:p
Investigation of Interaction Between Emergency Management Agencies and Public During Crisis Situations
No full textThe full text of this item is not available at this time because the author has placed this item under an embargo until August 26, 2026.Over the last decade, platforms such as Twitter have reshaped how emergency management agencies warn the public, answer questions, and monitor sentiment during crises accelerating uncertainty reduction, combating rumors, and coordinating relief. Yet three critical questions remain unanswered. First, we have little systematic insight into which official messages people choose to share whether they respond more to concrete instructions or to emotional appeal. Second, the evolution of tone and style in both agency and public posts across the four crisis phases (buildup, impact, chronic response, recovery) has not been fully mapped. Third, the timing interplay between proactive alerts and reactive replies and its influence on how quickly people respond and how long conversations endure lacks precise modeling.
To bridge these gaps, this dissertation presents three complementary studies grounded in the Dual Pathway Model, Speech Act Theory, and Uncertainty Reduction Theory. In chapter 2, we combine topic modeling with negative binomial regression on tweets from Hurricanes Florence (2018), Michael (2018), Nicole (2022), and Winter Storm Uri (2021) to show that utility focused, action oriented messages drive resharing when audiences expect the threat, whereas affect laden, emotional replies better engage those confronting unexpected hazards. In chapter 3, manual coding of speech acts mapped to Fink’s four stage framework reveals a clear “stylistic composition”: directives lead in early phases, solidarity expressions peak at impact, resource centered commitments dominate chronic response, and reflective memorials close out recovery. In chapter 4, mediation analyses demonstrate that, under low ambiguity, authoritative proactive alerts prolong response intervals, while under high uncertainty, interactive reactive posts hasten replies and truncate discussion lifespans.
Together, these studies offer a layered framework mobilization mechanics, rhetorical sequencing, and temporal dynamics to help emergency managers craft phase appropriate, audience tuned, and time sensitive social media strategies that maximize reach, engagement, and community resilience when it matters most.Information Systems and Cyber Securit
Outcomes of pregnancies that screened positive for sex chromosome aneuploidy ascertained via cell-free DNA screening
No full textBackground: Cell-free DNA screening (cfDNA), also referred to as non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS), is utilized to screen for fetal chromosomal aneuploidies during pregnancy, including sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs). All patients within our center are offered diagnostic testing following a positive NIPS for an SCA, but not all patients pursue this testing. Objectives: The primary objective of our study is to understand how often patients undergo confirmatory diagnostic testing when NIPS is positive for an SCA and the outcomes. We also describe the outcomes of cases where patients had a normal NIPS result, however the predicted fetal sex is discrepant from the fetal sex by ultrasound. Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of patients with an abnormal NIPS for SCA or discrepant fetal sex at a single academic medical center over a period of eight years. Results: Fifty-six patients had a positive or inconclusive NIPS for SCA and 64.3% pursued confirmatory testing either via prenatal (19 patients) or postnatal (17 patients) diagnostic testing. For the cases (36/56) where confirmatory diagnostic information was available, an SCA was confirmed in 44.4%. A maternal SCA was discovered to be the cause of a positive NIPS in two cases. The positive predictive value (PPV) of NIPS for all SCAs, Turner, triple X, Klinefelter, Jacobs, and inconclusive results were 41.7%, 27.8%, 50%, 100%, 100%, and 0%, respectively. Nine patients had a negative NIPS, however the fetal sex was discrepant by ultrasound. In 3/9 cases, this lead to a fetal ascertainment of a disorder of sexual development (DSD), which would not have been possible without the NIPS result. Conclusion: Only a third of patients who screen positive for an SCA pursued confirmatory prenatal diagnostic testing. Another third of patients did have postnatal confirmatory testing but a third were lost to follow-up or no testing was completed. In patients where the fetal sex predicted via NIPS is discrepant from the ultrasound predicted sex, a third of our patients had a disorder of sexual development. We propose a standardized protocol for post-test counseling for this patient population.M.S.Includes bibliographical reference
Development of New, Rapid and Sensitive Validated High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Method for Estimation of Berberine Hcl and Thymoquinone in Bulk and Its Combination Containing Microemulgel
No full textAccording to ICH Q2 (R1) criteria, two different, simple and sensitive densitometric High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography methodologies for assessment of Berberine HCl (BER) and Thymoquinone (TQ) in bulk individually and in established microemulgel formulation has been developed and validated. The analysis was conducted separately for BER and TQ on Merck HPTLC aluminum sheets of silica gel 60 F254 by using a mixture of Ethanol: Glacial acetic acid: Water (16:2:2 v/v/v) for BER and Toluene: Acetone: Formic acid (5:4:0.2 v/v/v) for TQ as a mobile phase and densitometric determination was carried out by TLC scanner (CAMAG) at 366 nm and 254 nm respectively for BER and TQ. The approach produced well-defined peaks for BER and TQ with Rf values of 0.468 and 0.817, respectively. The calibration plots for BER and TQ exhibited a satisfactory linear relationship with regression coefficient (r2) of 0.9991 and 0.9953, respectively, in the range of concentrations of 50-350 ng/band and 50-300 ng/band. The limit of detection and quantification were 10.76 and 32.65 ng/band respectively for BER, 3.77 and 11.43 ng/band respectively for TQ. Further, the study provides additional evidence that accuracy, precision and repeatability were all within the acceptable range. The method has been successfully applied to the identification and quantitative determination of BER and TQ in bulk and its combination containing formulation
Patient uptake rates of targeted versus genome-wide cell-free DNA screening
No full textCell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening has been offered to pregnant women for the last decade to screen for aneuploidy. While professional societies have recommended this technology be used to screen for aneuploidies involving chromosomes 21, 18, and 13, and have recommended informing women of its ability to screen for sex chromosome aneuploidies and select copy number variants, there is a genome-wide platform available clinically that is not yet endorsed for routine use by these societies. Our retrospective chart review sought to assess uptake rates of cfDNA screening with a specific focus on patient motivations for selecting targeted versus genome-wide cfDNA screening. In summary, low-risk patients are more likely to either decline cfDNA screening or to opt for the targeted platform, while high-risk patients are more likely to opt for the genome-wide platform. When reviewing data from patients with ultrasound findings, most patients who decline cfDNA screening pursue invasive testing instead. In contrast, patients that opt for cfDNA screening in the presence of ultrasound findings are more likely to choose the genome-wide platform, possibly to get as much information as possible without the risk associated with invasive diagnostic testing. This study also sought to evaluate whether abnormal noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) results affected pregnancy management decisions and had clinically relevant outcomes. While our study echoed a previous study’s findings that the genome-wide platform rarely affected pregnancy management, we saw that this screen may provide insight into the underlying cause of an early pregnancy loss which may help grieving patients have closure and reassurance for future pregnancies.M.S.Includes bibliographical reference
Investigation of Phytochemicals and Pharmacognostic Features of Feronia Limonia Fruit and Its In Vivo Effects on Oxidative Stress
No full textFeronia limonia, commonly known as wood apple, is a medicinal plant widely used in traditional medicine for its therapeutic properties. This study investigates the phytochemical constituents, pharmacognostic characteristics, and in vivo antioxidant potential of F. limonia fruit to provide a scientific foundation for its medicinal applications. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of key bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and phenolic compounds. Pharmacognostic and physicochemical analyses were performed to establish quality control and standardization parameters for the fruit. In addition, the methanolic extract was evaluated for its antioxidant activity using a carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced oxidative stress model in Wistar rats. The extract significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and restored antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, GSH) in a dose-dependent manner, supported by histopathological findings of hepatoprotection. These results validate the traditional use of F. limonia and highlight its potential as a natural source of antioxidant agents for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical development
