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Ramin Khanabdali,1 Anbarieh Saadat,1 Maizatul Fazilah,1 Khairul Fidaa’ Khairul Bazli,1 Rida-e-Maria Qazi,2 Ramla Sana Khalid,2 Durriyyah Sharifah Hasan Adli,1 Soheil Zorofchian Moghadamtousi,1 Nadia Naeem,2 Irfan Khan,2 Asmat Salim,2 ShamsulAzlin Ahmad Shamsuddin,1 Gokula Mohan1 1Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan Abstract: Small molecules, growth factors, and cytokines have been used to induce differentiation of stem cells into different lineages. Similarly, demethylating agents can trigger differentiation in adult stem cells. Here, we investigated the in vitro differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into cardiomyocytes by a demethylating agent, zebularine, as well as neuronal-like cells by β-mercaptoethanol in a growth factor or cytokines-free media. Isolated bone marrow-derived MSCs cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium exhibited a fibroblast-like morphology. These cells expressed positive markers for CD29, CD44, and CD117 and were negative for CD34 and CD45. After treatment with 1 µM zebularine for 24 hours, the MSCs formed myotube-like structures after 10 days in culture. Expression of cardiac-specific genes showed that treated MSCs expressed significantly higher levels of cardiac troponin-T, Nkx2.5, and GATA-4 compared with untreated cells. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that differentiated cells also expressed cardiac proteins, GATA-4, Nkx 2.5, and cardiac troponin-T. For neuronal differentiation, MSCs were treated with 1 and 10 mM β-mercaptoethanol overnight for 3 hours in complete and serum-free Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium, respectively. Following overnight treatment, neuron-like cells with axonal and dendritic-like projections originating from the cell body toward the neighboring cells were observed in the culture. The mRNA expression of neuronal-specific markers, Map2, Nefl, Tau, and Nestin, was significantly higher, indicating that the treated cells differentiated into neuronal-like cells. Immunostaining showed that differentiated cells were positive for the neuronal markers Flk, Nef, Nestin, and β-tubulin. Keywords: MSCs, cardiomyocytes, demethylating agent, zebularine, neuron-like cells, β-mercaptoethanol

A family F is an intersecting family if any two members have a nonempty intersection. Erdős, Ko, and Rado showed that | F | ≤ n − 1 k − 1 holds for a k-uniform intersecting family F of subsets of [ n ] . The Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for non-uniform intersecting families of subsets of [ n ] of size at most k can be easily proved by applying the above result to each uniform subfamily of a given family. It establishes that | F | ≤ n − 1 k − 1 + n − 1 k − 2 + ⋯ + n − 1 0 holds for non-uniform intersecting families of subsets of [ n ] of size at most k. In this paper, we prove that the same upper bound of the Erdős-Ko-Rado Theorem for k-uniform intersecting families of subsets of [ n ] holds also in the non-uniform family of subsets of [ n ] of size at least k and at most n − k with one more additional intersection condition. Our proof is based on the method of linearly independent polynomials.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is chronic relapsing, pruritic, inflammatory skin disease. It usually accompanies other atopic problems like asthma and allergic rhinitis. Eosinophil plays a role in patients with AD.Objectives:To assess blood eosinophils in patients with AD and to evaluate the factors that are affecting the blood eosinophilia.Materials and methods:This prospective study was conducted at Hit General Hospital in the period from October 2018-October 2019. The age, gender, and personal or family history of asthmaor allergic rhinitis of the patients with AD were recorded. The severity of the disease was assessed by the SCORAD score. The total number of eosinophil was measured for each subject. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.Results:Out of 70 patients with AD, 38 (54.3%) were females, and 32 (45.7%) males. The age of the patients ranged from 8 months to 30 years (mean 7.59±7.40). The highest age group affected was 2-12 years 40 (57.1%). The SCORAD score ranged from 6-80 (mean 24.19±17.59). The majority of our patients with mild course 50 (71.1%). The majority of the cases were without a history of asthma (n=53,75.7%), and around 50% without allergic rhinitis. The range of eosinophil count was 42-3360 (mean 636.44±491.37). The majority of the subjects (n=53,75.7%) with mildeosinophilia (500-1500/ mm3). The age, gender, and patients with a history of allergic rhinitis orasthma had no significant effect on the number of eosinophils (P-Value>0.05). While, there was a high statistically significant difference between the eosinophils count, and the severity of AD(P-Value=0.000). Conclusion:From these findings we concluded that blood eosinophilia is a relatively common laboratory finding of AD. Blood eosinophilia was influenced by the severity of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : The study aims to : 1.Identification and isolation of candida spp in Patients with renal dialysis. 2.To identify the relationship between some important parameters(age, gender,other disease) associated with chronic kidney disease and oral candidiasis. 3.Study of antifungal susceptibility profile for C. albicans in oral candidiasis. This study was performed in AL- Zahraa Teaching Hospital (Kidney Center) Wasit Governorate during the period from the first of December 2018 to the end of July 2019.The samples were collected from oral swabs,then cultured on sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA), examined under microscope to show hypha and pseudohypha of Candida spp and cultured on chrom agar for identifying the Candida spp. The molecular methods that used in this study were vitek 2 system and Polymerase chain reaction(PCR). The results showed that from 50 oral sample from Patients with renal dialysis 24 (48%) infected with Candidiasis 20 (83.3%)was C.albicans and 4 (16.7%)other Candida Spp (C.Famata, C.Prosabilosis and C.Tropicalis), while 26 (52%) non infected. There is not relationship between the age,gender and other disease in chronic kidney disease and the infections with oral candidiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hirsutism results in severe cosmetic and psychological problems. Many types of lasers and intense lights have been developed for the treatment of hirsute ladies. Intense pulse light (IPL) is one of the most useful broadband light for hirsutism. Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency of IPL in ladies with hirsutism. Materials and methods: This prospective study was conducted at the private dermatological clinic in Hit city, Anbar province, Iraq from May 2018 to May 2019. A hirsute ladies subjected to 6 sessions of IPL were enrolled in the study. The age of the females, Fitzpatrick skin type, site, history of polycystic ovary disease, patient satisfaction, and hair reduction rate were recorded and analyzed. Results: The mean age of the enrolled 62 patients was 32.02 years ± 7.939 (range 18-51 years). The highest age group affected was 18-40 years (n = 55, 88.7%). Most of the patients were of skin type 3 (n = 36, 58.1%). The most common site was ”upper lip, chin, and sides of the face” in 23 patients (37.2%). Thirty-five (56.5%) ladies were with polycystic ovary disease. Good and Excellent hair reduction rates to IPL treatment were 62.9 and 25.8% respectively. The satisfied and very satisfied feeling of the treated ladies was 71 and 25.8% respectively. No statistically significant difference between treatment response and age of the patient, skin type, and site (P-Value> 0.05). While there was a high statistically significant difference (P-Value = 0.000) between hair reduction in relation to patients’ satisfaction and history of polycystic ovarian disease. Most patients complained from transient erythema after treatment for 1- 2 hours. Conclusion: IPL is a safe and efficient mode for facial hair removal in hirsute ladies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel digital microfluidics platform that utilizes PCB substrate designed on Easy EDA software and is based on electrowetting on a dielectric (EWOD) phenomenon. For droplet actuation, the platform’s performance was examined at different DC voltages ranging from 300V to 450V. The fabrication process was made simple and inexpensive by using readily available, low-cost ingredients including silicone oil, cooking oil, and olive oil with grafting tape as a dielectric layer. Compared to other oils used for droplet actuation, cooking oil yields the highest droplet velocity. Due to its affordable and easy-to-fabricate nature, our suggested digital microfluidics platform will be feasible for droplet actuation and can also be applied to medical diagnostic applications like DNA analysis and cell culture, as well as the detection of environmental pollutants.

The impact of tilted angles on contact angles of water droplets in digital microfluidics was investigated. Experiments were conducted tilting the chip from 0 to 10 degrees at voltage increments of 50V from 250V to 400V DC. Both advancing and receding contact angles of the water droplets were measured at each angle and voltage combination. As the tilted angle increased from horizontal to 10 degrees, the advancing contact angle generally decreased whereas the receding contact angle increased. This trend held for all tested voltages. The changes were more pronounced at higher tilt angles above 5 degrees. Voltage was also found to influence the contact angles, with both advancing and receding angles decreasing with increasing driving voltage. The results provide insight into how tilted surface angles affect wetting properties in digital microfluidics. By understanding these relationships between contact angles, tilt angles and driving voltages, design parameters like maximum operational tilt angles before droplet pinning or instability can be better determined. The findings may assist in designing and optimizing tilted or three-dimensional digital microfluidic devices and applications.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the commonest non-Hodgkin lymphoma encountered by hematopathologists and oncologists. Management guidelines for DLBCL are developed and published by countries with high income and do not cater for practical challenges faced in resource-constrained settings. This report by a multidisciplinary panel of experts from Pakistan is on behalf of three major national cancer societies: Society of Medical Oncology Pakistan, Pakistan Society of Hematology, and Pakistan Society of Clinical Oncology. The aim is to develop a practical and standardized guideline for managing DLBCL in Pakistan, keeping in view local challenges, which are similar across most of the low- and middle-income countries across the globe. Modified Delphi methodology was used to develop consensus guidelines. Guidelines questions were drafted, and meetings were convened by a steering committee to develop initial recommendations on the basis of local challenges and review of the literature. A consensus panel reviewed the initial draft recommendations and rated the guidelines on a five-point Likert scale; recommendations achieving more than 75% consensus were accepted. Resource grouping initially suggested by Breast Health Global Initiative was applied for resource stratification into basic, limited, and enhanced resource settings. The panel generated consensus ratings for 35 questions of interest and concluded that diagnosis and treatment recommendations in resource-constrained settings need to be based on available resources and management expertise.

Background: We aimed to estimate the incidence of Toxoplasma infection in T. gondii-seropositive patients under allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods: The present research was a prospective study on 54 whole blood samples of allogeneic HSCT recipients, who were referring to bone narrow transplantation centers affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran in 2018. All patients were IgG positive against T. gondii. Results: Overall, 54 Toxoplasma positive pre-HCTSP patients were enrolled. 53.7% (n= 29) were male, also 1.9% (n=1) had germ-line type of the disease. The Multiple myeloma patients had higher age in comparison with other disease, but pairwise comparison showed the difference of age between Multiple myeloma patients were statistically significant with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Acute myeloblastic leukemia and Huntington's disease (P< 0.05). The results of PCR assay showed 5.6% (n= 3) of the patients were infected with Toxoplasma. Conclusion: PCR method has detected considerable incidence of Toxoplasma infection for monitoring HSCT recipients at risk for toxoplasmosis, and many patients who showed the incidence of toxoplasmosis had previous infections with the Toxoplasma parasite.

The development of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) using indigenous sources in under developing countries is highlgy required. In the present study, chickpea based RUTF was prepared, analyzed and evaluated for true digestibility (TD), net protein utilization (NPU), biological value (BV), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and feed efficiency ratio (FER) in Sprague Dawley rats in comparison to peanut based Plumpy 'nut and casein as standard. The proximate analysis of novel RUTF showed that it contains 97.9% dry matter, whereas crude fat, crude protein, crude fiber and nitrogen free extract were 31.33%, 12.4%, 2.17% and 50.6%, respectively and was statistically similar to Plumpy'nut. The protein quality experiments showed that the TD of RUTF, Plumpy'nut and casein was 83.78, 86.98 and 93.16, NPU was 73.54, 77.42 and 86.58, BV was 87.77, 89.01 and 92.98, respectively, and these parameters of RUTF and Plumpy'nut were statistically similar to each other but lower than casein. The PER was statistically different for all treatments and was 1.92, 2.13 and 2.82 for RUTF, Plumpy'nut and casein, respectively. The FER of RUTF (0.228) was statistically higher than Plumpy 'nut (0.193) but lower than casein (0.275). It can be concluded that novel indigenous source chickpea based RUTF is similar to Plumpy 'nutwith respect to nutritional value and protein quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]