Explore the vast range of titles available.

The 70-kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70s) are a conserved class of chaperones that play critical roles during the normal life cycle of plants. HSP70s are particularly involved in the regulation of biotic and abiotic stress responses. In this paper, the potential roles of this protein were investigated. A reverse genetic approach was employed for transient silencing of hsp70 gene in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to evaluate different growth and physiological parameters under normal conditions and during the response to drought stress. A combined ANOVA (analysis of variance) and HCA (hierarchical clustering analysis) showed that hsp70 silencing led to severe growth retardation and mortality, significant membrane damage and leakage, decline in relative water content, low rate of pigment accumulation, and reduced antioxidant enzyme activity under normal and drought stress conditions. Among the different parameters, proline was the only trait that was unaffected by gene silencing and accumulated by similar amounts to that of nonsilent plants. In conclusion, HSP70 played critical roles in maintaining the cellular homeostasis of plants during adaptation to drought and under normal plant life conditions. It was speculated that proline was, to some extent, involved in improving the loss of protein folding or function resulting from HSP70 deficiency, and played a crucial role in the adaptation of plants on exposure to stress.

In a randomized trial involving patients with previously untreated advanced non–small-cell lung cancer, pembrolizumab was associated with a higher response rate, longer progression-free and overall survival, and fewer adverse events than was platinum-based chemotherapy. Approximately 23 to 28% of patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a high level of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, which is defined as membranous PD-L1 expression on at least 50% of tumor cells, regardless of the staining intensity (i.e., a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of 50% or greater). 1 , 2 Data from the phase 1 KEYNOTE-001 and phase 3 KEYNOTE-010 studies indicated that patients with advanced NSCLC and a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of 50% or greater were more likely than those with lower tumor proportion scores to have a response to pembrolizumab, a highly selective, humanized . . .

The prevalence of speech disorders among individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) has been reported to be as high as 89%. Speech impairment in PD results from a combination of motor and nonmotor deficits. The production of speech depends upon the coordination of various motor activities: respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance and prosody. A speech disorder is defined as impairment in any of its inter-related components. Despite the high prevalence of speech disorders in PD, only 3-4% receive speech treatment. Treatment modalities include pharmacological intervention, speech therapy, surgery, deep brain stimulation and vocal fold augmentation. Although management of Parkinsonian dysarthria is clinically challenging, speech treatment in PD should be part of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care in this disease.

Microalgae as one of the key components of food chains in aquatic environments are promising biological models for investigating gamma irradiation effects on eukaryotic organisms. Understanding resistance mechanisms in these organisms as simple models might illuminate how gamma irradiation resistance improves in these algae and even more complex organisms. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ionizing irradiation on Chlorella vulgaris as a stress-tolerant microalga and to find how the eukaryotic cells would tolerate such stressful conditions. The physiological responses and biochemical alterations of C. vulgaris were analyzed at three different time points (0, 16, and 48 h) after 600 Gy gamma irradiation. Compared to the control, gamma-irradiated algae had slower growth rate with significantly longer lag phase, less chlorophyll and protein contents at time 0, which were compensated and recovered during the next 48 h. The results also showed spontaneous H2O2 burst accompanied by a higher rate of lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage, a rapid increase of catalase activity and more ferric reducing antioxidant power immediately after irradiation. During a 48-h period, most alterations stabilized. Raising trends were observed in the carotenoid contents, the ratios of carbohydrates, amide I and amide II to fatty acids. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering suggest two possible distinct mechanisms: a “quick” one including spontaneous responses by boosting H2O2, amplifying enzymatic antioxidant systems, and increasing compatible solutes like proline and a “delayed” responsive strategy including the increase of soluble carbohydrates, carotenoids, and stress-related proteins triggered several hours after irradiation.

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases, which increases resistance to insulin in target tissues. The measurement of miRNAs quantity is a molecular approach for diagnosis of diabetes. miRNAs are small non-coding RNA strings of 21–23 long nucleotides that act as inhibitors in proteins translation. Several methods including Northern blot, qRT-PCR and Microarray have been used for diagnosis of miRNA molecules. Real time PCR is an expensive and accurate quantitative method that is widely used in miRNA studies. The miR-21 is an important miRNA in diabetes. In this study, for the first time, a semi-quantitative protocol was developed to quantify different amounts of a synthetic miR-21. In addition to semi-quantitative method, the miR-21 quantity was determined by quantitative method in several patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy people. The results indicated that there was a direct relationship between the amount of synthetic miR-21 and the intensity of the PCR bands. We also showed that the expression of miR-21 in people with type 2 diabetes increased compared to healthy people. The results were observed by both quantitative and semi-quantitative methods. The real-time RT-PCR was more sensitive than semi-quantitative PCR in identification of miRNAs. However, semi-quantitative PCR method benefited from higher simplicity and lower costs for defining general patterns of miRNA expression.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is common with an annual incidence of 1 to 5 per 1,000, resulting in major morbidity, mortality, and increased health care costs. It is more common in the elderly, obese, those with cancer, those undergoing surgery, and those with previous VTE. Strategy to reduce its occurrence has important public health implications. Pleotropic effects of statins may have beneficial effects on a number of potential targets associated with VTE. Statins have excellent safety profile and seem to be associated with beneficial effects in VTE in case-control studies, large observational studies, meta-analyses, and a randomized trial. In conclusion, after critically reviewing the clinical data supporting statin use in the prevention of VTE, we presented clinical recommendations for the use of statins in reducing VTE occurrence, especially in high-risk situations.

BackgroundAs evidence continues to accumulate regarding the multi-organ dysfunction associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), it is still unclear as to whether PD increases the risk of hematological pathology. In this study, the authors investigate the association between PD and hematological pathology risk factors.MethodsThis retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using 8 years of the National Readmission Database. All individuals diagnosed with PD were queried at the time of primary admission. Readmissions, complications, and risk factors were analyzed at 30-, 90-, 180-, and 300-day intervals. Statistical analysis included multivariate Gaussian-fitted modeling using age, sex, comorbidities, and discharge weights as covariates. Coefficients of model variables were exponentiated and interpreted as odds ratios.ResultsThe database query yielded 1,765,800 PD patients (mean age: 76.3 ± 10.4; 44.1% female). Rates of percutaneous blood transfusion in readmitted patients at 30, 90, 180, and 300 days were found to be 8.7%, 8.6%, 8.3%, and 8.3% respectively. Those with anti-parkinsonism medication side effects at the primary admission had increased rates of gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage (OR: 1.02; 95%CI: 1.01–1.03, p < 0.0001) and blood transfusion (OR: 1.06; 95%CI: 1.05–1.08, p < 0.0001) at all timepoints after readmission. PD patients who experienced GI hemorrhage of any etiology, including as a side effect of anti-parkinsonism medication, were found to have significantly higher rates of blood transfusion at all timepoints (OR: 1.14; 95%CI: 1.13–1.16, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsBlood transfusions were found to be significantly associated with anti-parkinsonism drug side effects and GI hemorrhage of any etiology.

Many patients with growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma (GHPA) fail to achieve biochemical remission, warranting investigation into epigenetic and molecular signatures associated with tumorigenesis and hormonal secretion. Prior work exploring the DNA methylome showed Myc-Associated Protein X (MAX), a transcription factor involved in cell cycle regulation, was differentially methylated between GHPA and nonfunctional pituitary adenoma (NFPA). We aimed to validate the differential DNA methylation and related MAX protein expression profiles between NFPA and GHPA. DNA methylation levels were measured in 52 surgically resected tumors (37 NFPA, 15 GHPA) at ~100,000 known MAX binding sites derived using ChIP-seq analysis from ENCODE. Findings were correlated with MAX protein expression using a constructed tissue microarray (TMA). Gene ontology analysis was performed to explore downstream genetic and signaling pathways regulated by MAX. GHPA had more hypomethylation events across all known MAX binding sites. Of binding sites defined using ChIP-seq analysis, 1,551 sites had significantly different methylation patterns between the two cohorts; 432 occurred near promoter regions potentially regulated by MAX, including promoters of TNF and MMP9. Gene ontology analysis suggested enrichment in genes involved in oxygen response, immune system regulation, and cell proliferation. Thirteen MAX binding sites were within coding regions of genes. GHPA demonstrated significantly increased expression of MAX protein compared to NFPA. GHPA have significantly different DNA methylation and downstream protein expression levels of MAX compared to NFPA. These differences may influence mechanisms involved with cellular proliferation, tumor invasion and hormonal secretion.

At the time of writing of this article, there have been over 110 million cases and 2.4 million deaths worldwide since the start of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, postponing millions of non-urgent surgeries. Existing literature explores the complexities of rationing medical care. However, implications of non-urgent surgery postponement during the COVID-19 pandemic have not yet been analyzed within the context of the four pillars of medical ethics. The objective of this review is to discuss the ethics of elective surgery cancellation during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy. This review hypothesizes that a more equitable decision-making algorithm can be formulated by analyzing the ethical dilemmas of elective surgical care during the pandemic through the lens of these four pillars. This paper’s analysis shows that non-urgent surgeries treat conditions that can become urgent if left untreated. Postponement of these surgeries can cause cumulative harm downstream. An improved algorithm can address these issues of beneficence by weighing local pandemic stressors within predictive algorithms to appropriately increase surgeries. Additionally, the potential harms of performing non-urgent surgeries extend beyond the patient. Non-maleficence is maintained through using enhanced screening protocols and modifying surgical techniques to reduce risks to patients and clinicians. This model proposes a system to transfer patients from areas of high to low burden, addressing the challenge of justice by considering facility burden rather than value judgments concerning the nature of a particular surgery, such as cosmetic surgeries. Autonomy can be respected by giving patients the option to cancel or postpone non-urgent surgeries. However, in the context of limited resources in a global pandemic, autonomy is not absolute. Non-urgent surgeries can ethically be postponed in opposition to the patient’s preference. The proposed algorithm attempts to uphold the four principles of medical ethics in rationing non-urgent surgical care by building upon existing decision models, using additional measures of resource burden and surgical safety to increase health care access and decrease long-term harm as much as possible. The next global health crisis will undoubtedly present its own unique challenges. This model may serve as a comprehensive starting point in determining future guidelines for non-urgent surgical care.