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Information regarding the radiation risk posed by radioactive emissions from the petrologic units in North eastern Nigeria is extremely limited. Consequently, there has been little research conducted on the environmental impact of radiation exposure from different petrologic units in this region. Hence, the 13 petrologic components of the area that comprises of the migmatites-gneiss (MG), banded gneiss (BG), biotite-hornblende granites (OGe), porphyritic biotite-hornblende granites (OGp), charnockytes (Ch), ignimbrites (JYG), basalts (bb), Keri-Keri Formation (KK), Gombe Sandstones (GS), Pindiga Formation (PS), Yolde Formation (YL), Bima Sandstones (BS), and alluvium (AL) deposits were assessed using aero-radiometric data (equivalent uranium, equivalent thorium, and percentage potassium radio-elements) acquired by Nigerian geological survey agency (NGSA) in 2009. The objective of this study is to compute the amount of radiation across the various rock units of the study area, and examine their radiation risk parameters. The results of this study showed variable levels of radiation across the various rock units examined. The average total activity concentration values recorded ranges from 261.67 ± 447.12 Bq/Kg across KK rock unit to 1482.02 ± 447.12 Bq/Kg across OGp/OGe rock types of the study area. Moreover, the average radium equivalent (Rn eq), absorbed dose rates (D) estimated ranges from 113.83±461.33 Bq/Kg to 305.19 ± 58.51 Bq/Kg, and 51.88 ± 29.65 nGyh−1 to 144.94 ± 29.65 nGyh−1 along KK Formation, OGp, and same KK Formation, and OGp respectively. The average environmental radiation hazard parameters of the annual effective dose rate (AEDE), activity utilization index (AUI), respiratory dysfunction parameters (RH in, RH out), annual gonad dose equivalent (AGDE), and excess life cancer risk (ELCR) measured across all rock units were found to be within or above their respective acceptable limits of 1 mSv/y, 300 μSv/y, and 0.29 × 10−3. Additionally, based on the conspicuously higher hazardous radiation (D, Rn eq, AEDE AGDE, RH in, RH out, and ELCR) emissions estimated from the OGp, OGe, MG, BG, and Ch petrologic units, the inhabitants of these localities should therefore limit themselves from excessive exposure to these rocks. Therefore, periodic monitoring of these areas is recommended.

Background: Plantago major, historically renowned for its medicinal attributes across diverse cultures, has recently been under the research spotlight for its antihypertrophic scar effects. Aim: To investigate the efficacy of Plantago major extracts in the treatment of hypertrophic scars, particularly comparing the effects of methanol and ethyl acetate extracts. Methodology: Samples of the plant, procured from Baghdad's Al-Salihiya Neighbourhood in November 2021, underwent authentication at the Iraqi local Herbarium in the Al-Razi centre for alternative medicine. Using the Soxhlet apparatus, the dried plant material was extracted with methanol and subsequently partitioned with ethyl acetate. Both the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were later formulated into ointments. Results: The ointments were tested on hypertrophic scars induced in rats. Three groups of 12 rats each were used—ethyl acetate, methanol, and a control group using only Vaseline. Both extracts demonstrated efficacy in reducing scars, with the methanol extract showing more pronounced results. Conclusion: The methanol extract displayed superior outcomes, potentially attributable to its richer phytochemical content compared to the ethyl acetate extract.

In this paper, a biophysical fractional diffusive cancer model with virotherapy is thoroughly analyzed and analytically simulated. The goal of this biophysical model is to represent both the dynamics of cancer development and the results of virotherapy, which uses viruses to target and destroy cancer cells. The Caputo sense is applied to the fractional derivatives. We look at the governing model's existence and uniqueness. For analytical solutions, the Laplace residual power series approach is used. The study investigates the model's dynamic behavior, shedding light on the development of cancer and the effects of virotherapy. The research advances our knowledge of cancer modeling and treatment options. Numerical simulations show the agreement between the analytical results and the related numerical solutions, proving the usefulness of the analytical solution.

Viola odorata is a viola family flowering plant native to Europe and Asia. This is a small, hardy, herbaceous, perennial plant. It is also known as sweet violet and English violet. Numerous pharmacological properties of this flowering plant include anticancer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antipyretic properties. Previous literature review of different parts of Viola odorata resulted in detection of different chemical constituents such as flavonoids (Quercetin, kaempferol), glycosides (Rutin) and terpenoids (stigma sterol). Stigmasterol was detected using TLC and GC-MS in this study. It was isolated from Viola odorata using preparative layer chromatography. HPLC and FTIR analysis confirmed the isolated Stigmasterol

Like other members of the viola family, Viola odorata may be found naturally occurring in Europe and Asia. This little plant is tough and perennially herbaceous. It's also known as sweet violet and English violet. There are several medicinal uses for this flowering plant, including its ability to fight cancer, bacteria, and inflammation., antioxidant activity, and antipyretic activity. The phytochemical studies of different parts of Viola odorata resulted in the isolation of different chemical constituents such as Coumarins, caffeic acid, methyl salicylate, flavonoids (Quercetin, kaempferol), glycosides (Rutin), and terpenoids (stigma sterol). Coumarins are important natural phenolic compounds of the family of benzopyrone. Coumarin's basic structure consists of a pyrone ring fused with a benzene ring. Umbelliferone and esculetin are the most common simple coumarins in nature. Coumarins become an attractive backbone drug with innovative impacts on illnesses and reduced side effects on healthy cells. Anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and other biological properties are among those attributed to coumarins derivatives. In this study, Umbelliferone and esculetin of Viola odorata were identified by TLC, and HPTLC.

Predicting heart attacks using machine learning is an important topic. Medical data sets contain different features, some of which are related to the target group for prediction and some are not. In addition, the data sets are excessively unbalanced, which leads to the bias of machine learning models when modeling heart attacks. To model the unbalanced heart attack data set, this paper proposes the hybridization of Particle swarm optimization (PSO), BAT, and Cuckoo Search (CS) to select the features and adopt the precision for minority classes as a fitness function for each swarm to select the influential features. In order to model the data, set in which the features were selected, it was proposed to use the boosting (Catboost) as a classifier for predicting heart attacks. The proposed method to select features has been compared with each of the three swarms, and the Catboost algorithm has been compared to traditional classification algorithms (naive Bayes, decision trees). The study found that the proposed method of hybridization of the results of the (PSO, BAT, and BCS) algorithms in selecting features is a promising solution in the field of selecting features and increases the accuracy of the system, and that traditional machine learning models are biased in the case of unbalanced data sets and that selecting the important features according to the target class has an impact on the performance of the models, In addition, the definition of hyperparameters reduces the bias of the selected model. The final model achieved an overall accuracy of 96% on the Accuracy scale and 56% on the Precision scale for the minority class

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) faces challenges in protecting its limited natural water resources. The centralized sewage treatment plants (STPs) contribute to conserving natural water resources in various regions of KSA. For sustainable wastewater management strategies in arid environments, the performance of STPs needs to be assessed for various beneficial uses in addition to the existing regulations. The present study used extensive effluent quality data of four STPs to develop a performance assessment approach using multi-criteria and principal component analyses. The performance levels were derived from the compliance rate of effluent standards with different reuses and the efficacy of biosolids management. The proposed approach evaluated the STPs based on the planned applications of treated effluents, considering the land use characteristics of each plant’s disposal point. The factors loadings obtained for the STPs, encompassing total suspended and dissolved solids, and total dissolved solids, oxidizing demanding pollutants (BOD and COD), and nutrients (NO _3 and PO _4 ), with 3 to 4 principal components demonstrating above 60% of the effluent monitoring data, established the importance of the effluent quality parameters. The effluent quality index (EQI) was developed for existing and potential reuses, e.g., irrigation, landscaping, fishery, and recreation, during dry (summer) and wet (winter) periods. All STPs showed high EQI for both periods for the present reuse standards of unrestricted irrigation and landscaping. The overall performance index, aggregating EQI and the efficacy of sludge management practices, illustrated declining performance, suggesting staged improvements (tertiary-level treatment, air floatation, sludge digestion, and waste-to-energy) through a periodic assessment process. STPs must enhance their sludge management efficacy to produce Class-A biosolids and waste-to-energy. The proposed approach will help make strategic decisions regarding improvements for STPs and the allocation of financial resources to protect natural resources in various regions across KSA.

Campsis grandiflora (Bignoniaceae) is a fast growing deciduous climber, the dried flowers have been used as a carminative, blood tonic, and febrifuge in Chinese traditional medicine. This plant has an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-depressant, and anti-bacterial effect; with a beneficial role in stagnant blood and endometriosis conditions. In this study, the detection of beta-sitosterol in the hexane extract of Iraqi C.grandiflora flowers was performed using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC); while the isolation done by preparative layer chromatography then structure elucidation of isolated compound was done by FTIR and 1HNMR. Furthermore, assessment of the anti-oxidant activity of the ethyl acetate extract of Iraqi C.grandiflora flowers using three different methods and total flavonoid content, then measuring the pearson’s correlation coefficient between these methods. The results showed that the hexane extract of Iraqi C.grandiflora flowers contain beta-sitosterol compound and the ethyl acetate extract of this plant possesses an excellent anti-oxidant effect using the single-electron transfer (SET) pathway in scavenging the free radicals, and this activity attributed to the potent antioxidant i.e. polyphenols.

Rosa canina belongs to rosacea family. Rosa. canina has a high concentration of phyto-constituents such as flavonoids, carotenoids, triterpene and vitamins as vitamin C, E, and A Rosa canina have an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The antioxidant effect belongs to presence of large quantities of phytochemicals such as flavonoids and polyphenols. Rosa canina has been used for arthritis gout, osteoarthritis, urinary tract disorder, diabetes, inflammation and cancer. After grinding the leaves of Rosa canina, they are extracted by using ethanol solvent (cold extraction method), then the extract concentrated by rotary evaporator at 40 c° and leaving it to dry. Median lethal dose (LD50) has been examined on 84 mice (male and female) divided into seven groups, each one contains 12 (6 male and 6 female). The animals were monitored for signs and any behavior changes after administration of Rosa canina ethanol extract. Acute toxicity study was done on 20 rats (male and female for fourteen days. The weight of animals was taken at day 0, 7, and 14. At day fourteen, relative organ weight as well as histopathological examination for (heart, liver, spleen, kidney, lung, abdominal stomach, testes and ovaries) were taken. In addition to the serum biochemical tests for) blood glucose, urea, creatinine, ALT, AST and total bilirubin (were done at day fourteen. The result of this study, indicated that lethal dose 50 was 16.527 gram/kilogram. Acute toxicity study, revealed that there is no significant difference between relative organ weight of controlled and treated groups for all organs that were selected and mentioned above. In addition, there is no significant difference between serum biochemical tests for both controlled and treated groups. Finally, no changes have been found between controlled and treated groups regarding histopathology examination due to the p value was P ˃ 0.05. Conclusion According to the presented study, ethanol extract of Rosa canina showed wide range of safety depending on the result of lethal dose 50h (16.527 g/kg). Therefore, the extract considered nontoxic. No cytotoxic effect appeared by using ethanol extract of Rosa canina in acute toxicity study. This belongs to the results obtained, which include no significant difference between control and treated male and female rats in biochemistry tests and histopathological examination.

oleifera L., a Moringaceae family is fast-growing tree. M. oleifera's dried leaves are Characterized with high in phenolic compounds. phenolic compounds have anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and antioxidant activities. Therefore, The current study involved isolation Cryptochlorogenic acid by preparative TLC from M.oleifera leaves grown in Iraq, and study its cytotoxicity effect against a breast cancer cell line (MCF7) using the MTT cell viability assay, and comparing it to a standard anticancer drug (Tamoxifen). The isolated Cryptochlorogenic acid was cytotoxic to the MCF7 cell line, with an IC50 of 20.8M.

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTIONIntercalated degrees are one of the most focused undergraduate research training activities offered to medical students worldwide. The effect of intercalating on actual career choices has not been previously investigated. AIMTo examine the effect of obtaining an intercalated research degree on choosing general practice as a career. METHODSThis was a retrospective, matched cohort study of intercalating students at the University of Otago, New Zealand (1995–2008). Medical students who completed the intercalated Bachelor of Medical Sciences with Honours, BMedSc(Hons), degree were retrospectively identified. Gender- and graduation year-matched controls were identified from a publicly available graduate database in a 1:1 ratio. MEDLINE® and Google Scholar-indexed publications resulting from BMedSc(Hons) projects were determined using standardised search criteria. Speciality choice was obtained from online lists of registered doctors. RESULTSOver the 14-year period, 99 (3.9%) students completed an intercalated degree with a publication rate of 36.4%. Of these, 42 (42.4%) were female and over two-thirds (68.7%) of projects were laboratory-based. The median follow-up period after graduation was 14 years (range 7.7–21.7 years). The congruence between students' BMedSc(Hons) research subject area and clinical speciality was 9.1%. Sixteen (16.2%) intercalating students chose general practice as a career, whereas 83 (83.8%) chose 19 different hospital-based specialties. Compared to controls, students who completed an intercalated degree were significantly less likely to pursue a career in general practice (odds ratio 0.37; 95% confidence interval=0.18 – 0.77; P=0.007). DISCUSSIONThe present study findings suggest that completing an intercalated degree is associated with lower odds of pursuing a career in general practice. Future research should explore reasons for this observation to help develop strategies to promote primary care and general practice careers among medical graduates, including those interested in research careers.

Abstract Background The aim of this bibliometric study was to examine trends in the quality and quantity of published diabetes‐related foot disease (DRFD) research in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) over the past five decades. Method In July 2021, the Scopus® database was searched for DRFD‐related publications (1970–2020) using predetermined search and inclusion criteria. Bibliometric data were extracted from Scopus® and Journal Citation Reports. Retrieved bibliometric indicators were analysed in Biblioshiny, an R Statistical Software interface and reported using descriptive statistics. Results Forty‐seven DRFD‐related articles were identified. The annual number of publications showed a significant upward trend increasing from one in 1988 to a peak of six in 2018 (P

Due to the various hazards of using synthetic chemical compounds in pharmaceutics, agriculture, and industry, scientists and researchers do their best to explore and assess new green natural compounds from natural resources with potent activity. The essential oil (EO) from the resin collected from Araucaria heterophylla Salisb. was extracted by the microwave technique and chemically characterized via GC-MS analysis. Furthermore, the extract EO was assessed for its antioxidant and phytotoxic activities. The EO has 33 compounds, mainly terpenes (98.23%), and the major compounds were α-pinene (62.57%), β-pinene (6.60%), germacrene D (5.88%), and β-caryophyllene (3.56%). The extracted EO showed substantial antioxidant activity, where it showed IC50 values of 142.42 and 118.03 mg L−1 for DPPH and ABTS, respectively. On the other hand, the EO revealed considerable phytotoxicity against the weed Chenopodium murale, where the EO showed IC50 values of 304.0, 230.1, and 147.1 mg L−1, for seed germination, seedling shoot growth, and seedling root growth, respectively. Moreover, the EO showed the same pattern of allelopathic inhibition against the weed Sonchus oleraceus, where it showed IC50 values of 295.7, 224.5, and 106.1 mg L−1, for seed germination, seedling shoot growth, and seedling root growth, respectively. The present study showed that the extraction technique affects the constituents of the EO, particularly the quantitative composition. The EO of A. heterophylla resin also revealed considerable antioxidant and phytotoxic activity against weeds. Therefore, it can be considered a promising natural resource that could be integrated into the weed management approach. However, further study is recommended for deep characterization of their authentic compounds and evaluation of their mode of action(s) on a wide spectrum of weeds.

The presented work was directed to develop the dynamic performance of an electro-hydraulic proportional system (EHPS). A mathematical model of the EHPS is presented using electro- hydraulic proportional valve (EHPV) by Matlab-Simulink, which facilitates the simulation of the hydraulic behavior inside the main control unit. Experimental work is done and the closed loop system is designed using the linear variable displacement transducer sensor (LVDT). The controller of the system is an Arduino uno, which is considered as a processor of the system. The model is validated by the experimental system. The study also presents a real time tracking control method, based on pulse width modulation, by controlling the speed of the actuator to achieve the position tracking with minimum error and low transient time, by applying the constant input signal 50mm the transient time was 0.9 seconds and the error 1.8%.

The process of improvement software quality began from early stages of software engineering development. It uses multiple quality metrics which are very important in software development. To calculate the standards quality of in software testing has been adopted. The software testing is focusing on the Software defect. In this paper is proposed new methods which combine the particle swarm optimization (PSO) to handle the best features Extraction with back-propagation networks to testing and evaluation of the data set . The paper depended database for NASA standards data. The result and experiment method improved quality performance for all classification methods used in the research"Combining Particle Swarm Optimization based Feature Selection and Bagging for Software Defect Prediction ".

The current study was done to evaluate the effect of adding Jerusalem artichoke powder on growth of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus. acidophlic and Lactobacillus. plant arum) as probiotic in single-strength carrot juice during fermentation at 37°cfor 48 hour. The obtained results showed that there increasing in titrable acidity (as lactic acid) and there is also increasing in number of probiotic bacteria and decreasing in pH value and content of total soluble sugars (non-reducing and reducing sugars) of packaged carrot juice. Treated with probiotic bacteria or sample treated with probiotic bacteria and probiotic as Jerusalem artichoke powder effect fermentation at 37°C for 48 hours. The number of probiotic and prebiotic is higher than their number in sample treated with only probiotic bacteria after incubation at 37°C for 48 hours. From the results, the study ends with the results that the normal carrot juice is suitable media and Jerusalem artichoke is suitable as probiotic for L. acidophilus and L. plant arum growth

Mitochondrial genomes co-evolve with the nuclear genome over evolutionary timescales and are shaped by selection in the female germline. Here we investigate how mismatching between nuclear and mitochondrial ancestry impacts the somatic evolution of the mitochondrial genome in different tissues throughout ageing. We used ultrasensitive duplex sequencing to profile ~2.5 million mitochondrial genomes across five mitochondrial haplotypes and three tissues in young and aged mice, cataloguing ~1.2 million mitochondrial somatic and ultralow-frequency inherited mutations, of which 81,097 are unique. We identify haplotype-specific mutational patterns and several mutational hotspots, including at the light strand origin of replication, which consistently exhibits the highest mutation frequency. We show that rodents exhibit a distinct mitochondrial somatic mutational spectrum compared with primates with a surfeit of reactive oxygen species-associated G > T/C > A mutations, and that somatic mutations in protein-coding genes exhibit signatures of negative selection. Lastly, we identify an extensive enrichment in somatic reversion mutations that re-align mito-nuclear ancestry within an organisms lifespan. Together, our findings demonstrate that mitochondrial genomes are a dynamically evolving subcellular population shaped by somatic mutation and selection throughout organismal lifetimes.

The genus Centaurea is recognized in folk medicine for anti-inflammatory, anti-itch, antitussive, purgative, astringent, and tonic activities. To study the chemical determinant for antimicrobial activity essential oils (EOs), five Centaurea species were analyzed including: C. scoparia, C. calcitrapa, C. glomerata, C. lipii and C. alexandrina. Conventional hydro-distillation (HD) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), as new green technologies, were compared for the extraction of essential oils. GC/MS analysis identified 120 EOs including mostly terpenoid except from C. lipii and C. alexandrina in which nonterpenoids were the major constituents. Major terpenoids included spathulenol, caryophyllene oxide and alloaromadendrene oxide-2. To probe antibacterial activity, potential EO inhibitors of a bacterial type II DNA topoisomerase, DNA gyrase B were screened via an in silico molecular docking approach. Spathulenol and alloaromadendrene oxide-2 possessed the best binding affinity in the ATP- binding pocket of Gyrase B enzyme. Principal component analysis and agglomerative hierarchical clustering were used for sample classification and revealed that sesquiterpenes contributed the most for accessions classification. In vitro antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger for all EOs were also evaluated. EOs from C. lipii, C. glomerata and C. calcitrapa exhibited significant MIC against S. aureus with an MIC value of 31.25 µg/mL.

Essential oils (EOs) have been described as promising eco-friendly secondary products of aromatic plants with several biological activities. The present study aimed to characterize the chemical composition and explore phytotoxic and antimicrobial activities of Teucrium polium and Thymus decussatus EOs extracted using hydrodistillation (HD) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) methods. Twenty-seven and twenty-eight compounds were identified from HD and MAE extracted EOs of T. polium, respectively. The oxygenated sesquiterpenes (57.68%) were characterized as the main components of the hydrodistilled EO with a prominence of 6-epi-shyobunol (33.00%), while sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (54.48%) were the main components of the MAE method, with a prominence of delta-cadinene (25.13%). Eighteen and nineteen compounds, were characterized in T. decussatus EOs extracted using HD and MAE methods, respectively, and oxygenated monoterpenes represented the main components of both EOs with carvacrol (94.40% and 75.91%, respectively) as the main compound. The EOs extracted using the MAE method were slightly more phytotoxic than those extracted using the HD method. The T. decussatus EO extracted using the MAE method showed a higher inhibitory effect than T. polium by 16-, 32-, and 24-fold, regarding seed germination, shoot, and root growth of lettuce, respectively. Moreover, EOs extracted by HD method showed a similar pattern with 16-, 28-, and 14-fold effects. Both T. decussatus EOs exhibited potent inhibitory effect against all tested bacteria with an inhibition zone of 34–39 mm and the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.49, 0.98, and 1.95 μg/mL against Aspergillus niger, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. However, the EOs of T. polium showed weak antibacterial activity and no antifungal effect. Further studies are needed for the characterization of bioactive major compounds, either singular or synergistic, at field scale and to determine their modes of action and safety.

One of the most contradictory media scenes is the Middle East &North Africa (MENA), which is a reflection of its rather contrasting,and troubled societies that suffer from the negative effects ofimposed democracies, and the internal tripled-edged syndromesof illness, poverty and illiteracy. Using the metaphor of walkingon egg shells, the author discusses the depiction of the perplexityof the MENA in which societies just never knowing when theywill run afoul of some unknown rules, expectations, and evensuffering more when they do. Such rhetoric resonates withhow the public in MENA has become victims of the BorderlinePersonality Disorder (B.P.D.).

Face recognition is considered one of the visual tasks which humans can do almost effortlessly while for computers it is a difficult and challenging task. This research deals with the problem of face recognition. A novel approach is presented for both face feature extraction and recognition, first, we introduce Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for face feature extraction, Generalized Regression Artificial Neural network for face recognition. The performance of the whole system was done after training with 120 color images (40 human faces with 3 poses) and testing using 40 color images. The images were taken from Collection of Facial Images: Faces95 by Computer Vision Science Research Projects. Experimental results for proposed human face recognition confirm that the proposed method lends itself to good extraction and classification accuracy relative to existing techniques.

Face Recognition is an emerging field of research with many challenges such as large set of images,. Artificial Neural Network approach is one of the simplest and most efficient method to overcome these obstacles in developing a system for Face Recognition.. This research deals with both face extraction and recognition, Firstly, Eigenfaces are eigenvectors of covariance matrix, representing given image space. Any new face image can then be represented as a linear combination of these Eigenfaces which can be found by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for face extraction,and by Recurrent (Time Cycling) Back Propagation artificial neural network for face recognition. The whole system was performed by training using 120 color images (40 human faces with 3 poses) and testing using 40 color images. The images were taken from Collection of Facial Images: Faces95 by Computer Vision Science Research Projects. The results indicated that the proposed method lends itself to good extraction and classification accuracy relative to existing techniques.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility has a strong genetic component. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) across trans-ancestral populations show both common and distinct genetic variants of susceptibility across European and Asian ancestries, while many other ethnic populations remain underexplored. We conducted the first SLE GWAS on Egyptians-an admixed North African/Middle Eastern population-using 537 patients and 883 controls. To identify novel susceptibility loci and replicate previously known loci, we performed imputation-based association analysis with 6,382,276 SNPs while accounting for individual admixture. We validated the association analysis using adaptive permutation tests (n = 109). We identified a novel genome-wide significant locus near IRS1/miR-5702 (Pcorrected = 1.98 × 10-8) and eight novel suggestive loci (Pcorrected < 1.0 × 10-5). We also replicated (Pperm < 0.01) 97 previously known loci with at least one associated nearby SNP, with ITGAM, DEF6-PPARD and IRF5 the top three replicated loci. SNPs correlated (r 2 > 0.8) with lead SNPs from four suggestive loci (ARMC9, DIAPH3, IFLDT1, and ENTPD3) were associated with differential gene expression (3.5 × 10-95 < p < 1.0 × 10-2) across diverse tissues. These loci are involved in cellular proliferation and invasion-pathways prominent in lupus and nephritis. Our study highlights the utility of GWAS in an admixed Egyptian population for delineating new genetic associations and for understanding SLE pathogenesis.

Abstract Background The family of 14-3-3 proteins plays an important role in cancer biology by interfering with intracellular signalling pathways and cell cycle checkpoints. The 14-3-3σ isoform acts as a tumor suppressor and is often inactivated during tumor development. Results Here, we demonstrate enhanced CpG methylation of the 14-3-3σ gene in lymph node and cutaneous melanoma metastases compared with primary tumors, associated with dramatically reduced mRNA expression. In line with this, treatment of different metastatic melanoma cell lines with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR), a potent inhibitor of cytosine methylation, significantly induces 14-3-3σ protein expression. Additional treatment with histone deacetylase inhibitor 4-phenylbutyric acid (Pba) further enhances 14-3-3σ expression. Induction of 14-3-3σ expression by 5-Aza-CdR/Pba treatment leads to almost complete inhibition of cell proliferation, with cells predominantly arrested in G2-M. The antiproliferative effect of 5-Aza-CdR/Pba was reversed in 14-3-3σ knockdown cells. Similarly, melanoma cell lines stably overexpressing 14-3-3σ show dramatically reduced cell proliferation rates. Moreover, synchronous 14-3-3σ stably overexpressing cells do not progress through cell cycle, but display a permanent increase in the population of 4n DNA containing cells. Interestingly, overexpression of 14-3-3σ induces senescence of melanoma cells and is involved in melanoma cell senescence under genotoxic stress. Finally, 14-3-3σ knockdown supports migratory capacity of melanoma cells in vitro, while 14-3-3σ overexpression has opposing effects. Conclusion Taken together, the present report indicates that epigenetic silencing of 14-3-3σ might contribute to tumor progression in malignant melanoma via loss of cell cycle control, impaired cellular senescence program and support of migratory capacity.

Background: Plantago major, a plant well recognized for its therapeutic features, has been widely adopted in several cultural instances and conventionally used due to its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and wound-healing characteristics. Recent research efforts have been focused on the identification and validation of the phytochemical elements of P. major in order to establish their association with their corresponding pharmacological effects. The main aim of this study is to precisely define, isolate, purify, and completely analyse the chemical composition of beta-sitosterol, a phytosterol obtained from the Plantago major plant native to Iraq. Methods: In November 2021, P. major samples were procured from the Al-Salihiya Neighbourhood in Baghdad. These samples were afterward verified for authenticity by the Iraqi local Herbarium, located at the Al-Razi institute for alternative medicine. The desiccated botanical matter was subjected to a hexane-based defatting process inside a Soxhlet device, followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis in order to ascertain the presence of bioactive compounds. The evaluation of beta-sitosterol’s presence was afterwards conducted via the use of conventional and preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC) methodologies and high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The identification of the molecule was further validated by the use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques. Results: The findings revealed that Compound No. 5 had notable attributes that were consistent with those of Beta-Sitosterol. The provided data pertains to mass spectrometry (MS), especially the observation of a molecular ion peak at 414. This finding is consistent with the previously documented characteristics of beta-sitosterol. This finding provides further evidence supporting its classification as a prominent organic component originating from P. major. Conclusions: We effectively determined beta-sitosterol as the primary bioactive component in the P. major samples collected. The compound’s existence highlights the plant’s longstanding therapeutic standing, ascribing it several advantageous pharmacological benefits.

Abstract Highly aggressive, rapidly growing tumors are exposed to hypoxia or even anoxia which occurs as a consequence of inadequate blood supply. Both hypoxia and consecutive hypoxia/reoxygenation exert a variety of influences on tumor cell biology. Among these are activation of certain signal transduction pathways and gene regulatory mechanisms, induction of selection processes for gene mutations, tumor cell apoptosis and tumor angiogenesis. Most of these mechanisms contribute to tumor progression. Therefore, tissue hypoxia has been regarded as a central factor for tumor aggressiveness and metastasis. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about the molecular mechanisms induced by tumor cell hypoxia with a special emphasis on intracellular signal transduction, gene regulation, angiogenesis and apoptosis. Interfering with these pathways might open perspectives for future innovative treatment of highly aggressive metastasizing tumors.

Background/Objectives: The prevalence of food allergy (FA) in children is increasing. Dysbiosis of the microbiome has been linked to FA but needs to be better understood. We aimed to characterize the gut and skin microbiome of young food-allergic children over time and within different types of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated FA. Methods: We studied 23 patients, as a pilot study of an ongoing prospective multicenter cohort study including children < 2y with newly diagnosed IgE-mediated FA. Samples (feces/skin swabs) were collected at enrollment and at 1-year follow-up and sequenced for the bacterial 16S rRNA gene (hypervariable v1–v2 region). Results: Gut and skin bacterial diversity was significantly higher in patients compared with controls and increased over time (beta test, Shannon diversity, p < 0.01). Within different types of IgE-mediated FA, bacterial diversity was similar. Community composition differed significantly over time and within IgE-mediated FA types (PERMANOVA: p < 0.01). Several significantly different genus abundances were revealed. We observed a positive correlation between high total IgE and a high abundance of the genus Collinsella in patients with a higher number of allergies/sensitizations (≥3), and patients with tree nut and/or peanut allergy. Conclusions: This study revealed an increased bacterial diversity in children with FA compared with non-atopic children. Importantly, the gut and skin microbiome differed in their composition over time and within different types of IgE-mediated FA. These findings contribute to the understanding of microbiome changes in children with FA and indicate the potential of the genus Collinsella as a biomarker for tree nut and/or peanut allergy and possibly for allergy persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]