325 research outputs found
Hepatitis C virus entry: role of host and viral factors
No full textAbstract not availableBaila Samreen, Saba Khaliq, Usman Ali Ashfaq, Mahwish Khan, Nadeem Afzal, Muhammad Aiman Shahzad, Sabeen Riaz, Shah Jaha
Nephroprotective effects of Helianthus annuus seeds extract in gentamicin induced nephrotoxic male mice
No full textAcute kidney injury (AKI) causes a decrease in renal function which leads to failure in balancing electrolyte, fluid and acid-base homoeostasis. AKI is a damaging and life-threatening disorder, but it can be managed if identified earlier. This study aimed to investigate the possible nephroprotective effect of Helianthus annuus seeds extract against gentamicin (GM) induced nephrotoxicity in male mice. The control group (0.5 ml normal saline i.p.,), Gentamycin (GM) group (GM 100 mg/kg i.p), silymarin + GM group (silymarin 50 mg/kg and GM 100 mg/kg i.p.,), H. annuus extract (HAE) and GM, group (HAE 250 mg/kg and GM 100 mg/kg i.p), HAE2 + GM group (HAE2; 500 mg/kg and GM 100 mg/kg i.p) and H. annuus oil (HAO) + GM (HAO 2.5 ml/kg and GM 100 mg/kg i.p). Serum creatinine, urea and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were significantly (P< 0.001) elevated in the GM group compared to the control group. The elevated level of serum creatinine, urea and BUN were decreased significantly (P<0.001) in groups treated with HAE and HAO extracts compared to the GM group. The kidney histopathological study from the GM group showed tubular necrosis, vacuolation and fibrosis. However, the animal that received HAE and HAO showed no tubular necrosis and vacuolation. Only mild inflammation was observed compared to the GM group. In conclusion, the extract caused marked radical scavenger and protected the kidney from oxidative damage of GM. H. annuus seeds contain strong antioxidant compounds, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, tocopherols and minerals, which could be responsible for the current show
Alkaloids and colon cancer: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications for cell cycle arrest
No full textCancer is the second most fatal disease worldwide, with colon cancer being the third most prevalent and fatal form of cancer in several Western countries. The risk of acquisition of resistance to chemotherapy remains a significant hurdle in the management of various types of cancer, especially colon cancer. Therefore, it is essential to develop alternative treatment modalities. Naturally occurring alkaloids have been shown to regulate various mechanistic pathways linked to cell proliferation, cell cycle, and metastasis. This review aims to shed light on the potential of alkaloids as anti-colon-cancer chemotherapy agents that can modulate or arrest the cell cycle. Preclinical investigated alkaloids have shown anti-colon cancer activities and inhibition of cancer cell proliferation via cell cycle arrest at different stages, suggesting that alkaloids may have the potential to act as anticancer molecules
Thermal conductance of interfaces between titanium nitride and group IV semiconductors at high temperatures
No full textThis article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Samreen Khan, Xinping Shi, Joseph Feser, Richard Wilson; Thermal conductance of interfaces between titanium nitride and group IV semiconductors at high temperatures. Appl. Phys. Lett. 22 July 2024; 125 (4): 041601. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0220124 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0220124.
© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.
This article will be embargoed until 07/22/2025.Measuring the temperature dependence of material properties is a standard method for better understanding the microscopic origins for that property. Surprisingly, only a few experimental studies of thermal boundary conductance at high temperatures exist. This lack of high temperature data makes it difficult to evaluate competing theories for how inelastic processes contribute to thermal conductance. To address this, we report time domain thermoreflectance measurements of the thermal boundary conductance for TiN on diamond, silicon-carbide, silicon, and germanium between 120 and 1000 K. In all systems, the interface conductance increases monotonically without stagnating at higher temperatures. For TiN/SiC interfaces, ranges from 330 to 1000 MW/m2-K, with a room temperature conductance of 750 MW/m2-K. The interface conductance for TiN/diamond ranges from 140 to 950 MW/m2-K. Notably, for all four interfacial systems, the conductance continues to increase with temperature even after all phonon modes in the vibrationally soft material are thermally excited. This observation suggests that inelastic processes are significant contributors to the thermal conductance in all four interfacial systems, regardless of whether the materials forming the interface are vibrationally similar or dissimilar. Our study fills a notable gap in the literature for how interfacial conductance evolves at high temperatures and tests burgeoning theories for the role of inelastic processes in interfacial thermal transport.This work was supported as part of ULTRA, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC0021230
Suppression of inflammatory response by chrysin, a flavone isolated from Potentilla evestita Th. Wolf. in silico predictive study on its mechanistic effect
No full textFlavonoids are the most abundant natural polyphenols widely distributed in plants. Among them, chrysin has recently attracted the attention for its anti-tumor and anti-oxidant activities and also for its protective effects on allergic inflammation. Therefore, in this study, we set out to investigate and characterize the effects of chrysin in classical models of inflammation reasoning that this would expand our knowledge on the pharmacological properties of this flavone. To this aim we have firstly isolated chrysin from Potentilla evestita Th. Wolf. and successively evaluated its anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential on writhing and formalin test and also on carrageenan-induced paw oedema. Finally, the present study was planned to investigate, by the aim of docking analysis, the molecular interaction of this compound on the binding site of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. On writhing test, we observed a significant inhibition of writhings after the administration of chrysin at 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg i.p. (25.00 +/- 9.22% and 55.67 +/- 7.62% respectively). On formalin test, the flavone at dose of 10.0 mg/kg i.p. displayed its maximum analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect on both early (35.67 +/- 7.88%) and late phase (50.57 +/- 5.36%) and similarly displayed at 4 h a significant anti-inflammatory effect in carrageenan-induced paw oedema. Moreover, in silica analysis of receptor ligand complex shows that chrysin interacts weakly with COX-1 binding site whereas displayed a remarkable interaction with COX-2. These findings suggest that the flavone chrysin isolated from P. evestita Th. Wolf. possesses in vivo anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive potential, which are supported in silica by an interaction with COX-2 binding site
An Investigation of Weeds in the Wheat Crops in Tehsil Paharpur District Dera Ismail Khan
No full textWeed infestation is a serious problem for crop yield. It causes a huge yield loss. A comprehensive study to investigate the main wheat weeds within Tehsil Pharpur (Dhakki, Headbilot, Dhupsari, Malakheil, Kalapani, Laar, Rakh Bandkura) in the Dera Ismail Khan region was conducted during the 2020-21 harvest. About 21 species were collected and the weeds competed with the wheat crop for nutrients, water, and light and disrupted the wheat crop. Data was collected in a weed growth phase and a quadratic method was used. Homophobic (RD), relative frequency (RF), relative coefficient (RCC), and value index (IVI) were recorded. It was determined that the most problematic weeds in this area were Chenopodium album, Medicago polymorpha, Lathyrus aphaca, Rumex dentatus, Polygonum plebeium, Mazus japonicus, Oxallis corniculata, Fumaria indica, Sonchus asper, Emex spinose, Galium aparine, Melilotus parviflora, Anagallis arvensis, Viccia sativa, Euphorbia helioscopia, Chenopodium murale, Launea procumbens, Phyllanthus maderaspatensis, Scirpus maritimus, Beta maritima
Machine Learning Based Automated Segmentation and Hybrid Feature Analysis for Diabetic Retinopathy Classification Using Fundus Image
No full textKumam, Poom/0000-0002-5463-4581; Sulaiman, Muhammad/0000-0002-4040-6211; GOKTAS, Atilla/0000-0001-7929-2912; Qadri, salman/0000-0002-3503-6535; Mashwani, Wali Khan/0000-0002-5081-741X; Kumam, Wiyada/0000-0001-8773-4821; ALI, AQIB/0000-0001-9374-791X; Jamal, Farrukh/0000-0001-6192-9890; Naeem, Samreen/0000-0003-0529-8187WOS: 000541900700014The object of this study was to demonstrate the ability of machine learning (ML) methods for the segmentation and classification of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Two-dimensional (2D) retinal fundus (RF) images were used. The datasets of DR-that is, the mild, moderate, non-proliferative, proliferative, and normal human eye ones-were acquired from 500 patients at Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Five hundred RF datasets (sized 256 x 256) for each DR stage and a total of 2500 (500 x 5) datasets of the five DR stages were acquired. This research introduces the novel clustering-based automated region growing framework. For texture analysis, four types of features-histogram (H), wavelet (W), co-occurrence matrix (COM) and run-length matrix (RLM)-were extracted, and various ML classifiers were employed, achieving 77.67%, 80%, 89.87%, and 96.33% classification accuracies, respectively. To improve classification accuracy, a fused hybrid-feature dataset was generated by applying the data fusion approach. From each image, 245 pieces of hybrid feature data (H, W, COM, and RLM) were observed, while 13 optimized features were selected after applying four different feature selection techniques, namely Fisher, correlation-based feature selection, mutual information, and probability of error plus average correlation. Five ML classifiers named sequential minimal optimization (SMO), logistic (Lg), multi-layer perceptron (MLP), logistic model tree (LMT), and simple logistic (SLg) were deployed on selected optimized features (using 10-fold cross-validation), and they showed considerably high classification accuracies of 98.53%, 99%, 99.66%, 99.73%, and 99.73%, respectively.Program in Applied Statistics, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT), Thanyaburi, Pathumthani , ThailandProgram in Applied Statistics, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT), Thanyaburi, Pathumthani 12110, Thailand
When less-virulent becomes virulent!! An atypical presentation of Streptococcus Viridians.
No full textWhen Less Virulent Becomes Virulent!!
An Atypical Presentation Of Streptococcus Viridians
Samreen Kahn, MBBS
Providence Portland Medical Center – Portland, OR
Additional Authors: Stavan Patel MS, MD
Introduction: There are several cardiac and non-cardiac causes and risk factors for the development of infective endocarditis (IE) in young healthy adults. Some risk factors include prior IE, history of valvular or congenital heart disease, IV drug use, indwelling intravenous lines, immunosuppression, or a recent dental or surgical procedure. Most two common sites of IE are mitral and aortic valve. We present a case of a 45-year-old man with no-known risk factors, who presented with respiratory distress and was found to have streptococcal viridians (SV) endocarditis.
Case Presentation: A healthy 45-year-old male presented with a four-day history of acute dyspnea and new-onset of fevers and chills for 24 hours before arrival. He denied any chest pain, dizziness, palpitations, LOC, weakness, increasing LE edema, or palpations. Patient denied any recent travels, prolonged non-ambulatory state, recent sick contacts, IV drug abuse, high risk sexual activities, no-known personal cardiac history, no recent dental manipulation. While in ED, he reported new onset of chest heaviness, and a non-productive cough. Vitals: T 37.2 C, BP 125/9, P 122, RR 26. EKG showed sinus tachycardia with non- specific ST&T wave abnormalities/No prior ECG where available to compare. Troponin 64 ng/L. ABG pH 7.230, PCO2 27.4 mmHg, PO2 82.1 mmHg. A-a gradient calculated to be greater than 200. CXR showed pulmonary vascular congestion. CTPA for PE was deferred as patient could not remain supine during examination secondary to worsening respiratory status. Patient was moved to medical ICU, with rapid worsening of respiratory status requiring intubation. Urgent bronchoscopy revealed diffuse alveolar hemorrhage consistent with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with multifocal pneumonia. On initial presentation IE was not excepted and patient was treated for viral and bacterial causes of ARDS. Echocardiogram showed aortic valve insufficiency with questionable vegetation with leaflet disruption. Subsequently blood cultures showed gram-positive cocci. Given the combination of aortic insufficiency (AI) and gram-positive cocci IE speculated which was soon followed by aortic valve replacement with intraoperative finding of aortic intra-annular abscess. Clinical course was complicated with cardiogenic shock and multi-organ failure. Blood cultures subsequently grew SV.
Case Discussion: Despite advances in medical, surgical and critical care interventions, IE remains a life-threatening illness. SV is not uncommon but are routinely seen in those with underlying heart disease and dental manipulation. SV is responsible for 40-60% of IE in normal valves [3, 4] and patients (young males and over 45 years of age) usually with mitral valves. It is commonly associated with heart failure and lesion such as peri-annular abscesses, fistulas, or pseudo-aneurysms with risk of mortality at 15% [1, 2]. Diagnosis may be difficult given no risk factors, non-specific symptoms but does not exclude this pathogen as a cause.https://digitalcommons.providence.org/ppmc_internal/1013/thumbnail.jp
A Community Based Study on Pelvic Inflammatory Disease in Postmenopausal Females: Microbiological Spectrum and Socio- Demographic Correlates
No full textChanges in Immigration Policy Regarding Muslim Immigrants Across the Obama and Trump Administrations
No full textImmigration to the United States has always been complicated, with legislation and the appreciation of immigrants often falling along racial, ethnic, and religious lines. This dominant theme has persisted and even emboldened in recent years, particularly for Muslim immigrants after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This presentation argues that there exist significant changes and continuities in immigration policy regarding Muslim-majority countries, across the Obama and Trump presidencies, and that the cultural rhetoric surrounding Muslims during each directly impacted policy. Based on an analysis of laws, including executive orders, Congressional hearings, and past legislation, juxtaposed with rhetoric regarding Muslim immigration, I maintain that the laws put into place by each President contrast starkly. The hostile narrative adopted by former President Trump and his administration was directly reflected in his legal actions, whilst Obama’s more cooperative stance with the Muslim world was made clear with many of his decisions. Data from the Department of Homeland Security and independent immigration organizations illustrate the significant drop in Muslim immigrants and refugees accepted by the Trump administration, in sharp contrast with the record number of Muslim refugees accepted by the Obama administration. This data is used in conjunction with legislation and scholarly articles regarding the Muslim experience after 9/11 to more accurately portray the implications of policy on the people it affects. The attitude toward immigrants in the United States often seems cyclical, with feelings of xenophobia toward certain groups manifesting itself in legislation. In order to prevent discriminatory legislation from being established and mitigate harm to immigrants and refugees, we must recognize these patterns and remedy the grievances people hold toward immigrants
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