Deregulation of AKT (protein kinase B) is frequently observed in human malignancies including gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Here we have reviewed the association between AKT phosphorylation (activation) and clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with GI cancer. Articles in the EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched up to July 2018. Eighteen studies comprising 1,698 patients with 5 different cancer types were included in the meta-analysis. In the pooled analysis, AKT phosphorylation was positively correlated with tumor size (r = 0.14, 95% CI 0.06-0.22; P less then 0.001), tumor grade (r = 0.08, 95% CI 0.02-0.14; P less then 0.009), tumor stage (r = 0.19, 95% CI 0.13-0.24; P less then 0.001), lymph node status (r = 0.18, 95% CI 0.09-0.25; P less then 0.001) and the presence of distant metastasis (r = 0.14, 95% CI 0.06-0.22; P less then 0.001) in the patients with GI cancer. These findings support the potential clinical value of AKT as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in patients with GI carcinomas.Melanoma is a skin cancer caused by a malignancy of melanocytes. Incidence of melanoma is rapidly increasing worldwide, which results in public health problems. Primary extracutaneous melanomas can be ocular, gastrointestinal, mucosal, leptomeningeal, genitourinary, and lymphatic. The relationship between exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light and development of melanoma is intensively acute and complex, and intermittent sun exposure greatly increases the risk of melanoma. It is the fifth most common type of cancer in men number and the sixth most common in women. The diagnosis of melanoma is made through clinical assessment of the pigmented by health care professionals. Architectural features of malignant melanoma including asymmetry, confluence of growth, marked cellularity, and poor circumscription. The cytological feature of malignant melanoma include an irregular and thick nuclear membrane and prominent nucleoli. The preventive measures include reducing exposure to UV light and the sun. The early detection of skin cancer greatly reduces both short- and long-term morbidity and mortality. The treatment and follow-up with the doctor for melanoma patients may differ because of the stage of the tumor and the primary lesion. The typical therapy for malignant melanoma is surgical excision, immunotherapy such as interleukin 2 (IL-2), gene therapy, and biochemotherapy.Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine with lower circulating levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Cytokines such as IL-10 downregulate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which impair proper function of insulin. So any mutation in the IL-10 gene results in increased production of proinflammatory cytokines, which in turn affect insulin action and cause T2DM. In this study, a polymorphism (rs1800896) in the gene (IL-10) and its association with T2DM was determined with the amplification-refractory mutation system with PCR (ARMS-PCR). Study subjects were divided in two groups, control and T2DM. DNA was extracted from blood, and ARMS-PCR was performed by using specific primers for the promoter region. An amplified product was obtained at 258 base pairs (bp). In the control group, heterozygous bands with both alleles (A/G) were present, whereas AA and GG homozygosity was observed in the T2DM group. This polymorphism (rs1800896) in the IL-10 gene is associated with T2DM. Physical measurements were also obtained, and significant differences between the groups were determined with an independent t-test. Significance was based on a p-value level of 0.05 or less, and highly significant was based on a p-value of 0.01 or less at 95% confidence interval.

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive technique for cytological and histological diagnosis. The objective of this study was to explore the role of cytological diagnosis in EBUS-TBNAs.

Eight hundred and thirteen consecutive cases performed EBUS-TBNA with both cytological and histological diagnoses were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were followed up for clinical data.

Before immunohistochemical examination, the cytological sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of EBUS-TBNAs were 92.9% (421/453), 98.9% (348/352), 95.5% (769/805), respectively. After immunohistochemical examination, the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy were 93.0% (423/455), 99.4% (348/350), 95.8% (771/805), respectively. The majority of false-negative were cases whose cytological diagnosis was „atypical” or the cytological diagnosis suggested „inadequate.” „Neoplastic” were also prone to false-negative cytology. The diagnostic accordance ratsis. False-negative results occurred more commonly in cases whose cytological diagnosis was „atypical” or the cytological diagnosis suggested „inadequate” or the corresponding histological diagnosis was „Neoplastic.”The feasibility of using waste glycerol from the biodiesel industry for biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) by Burkholderia cepacia BPT1213 was evaluated. Culture conditions were optimized by growing B. cepacia BPT1213 in mineral salt medium supplemented with 2% waste glycerol in a 2.5 L bioreactor. Response surface methodology was used to determine the influence of aeration rate (0.6-1.8 vvm), agitation speed (100-300 rpm), and cultivation period (48-72 hr) on PHA production. The optimum conditions for the growth and PHA accumulation were 1.5 vvm, 300 rpm, and 72 hr, with predicted values of 5.08 g/L cell dry weight (CDW), 66.07% PHA content, and 3.35 g/L total PHA concentration. Using these conditions, the experimental system produced 5.63 g/L of CDW with 64.00% wt/wt PHA content, which is threefold higher PHA concentration (3.60 g/L) compared to the non-optimized conditions. The melting temperature (Tm ) of purified PHA was 173.45 ± 1.05°C. In conclusion, the statistical approach was significantly increased the PHA production using waste glycerol as the sole carbon source.Insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) plays an important role in the regulation of ovarian function. Despite its extensive study in several species, there is a paucity of information about IGF-1`s function and localization in the canine ovary. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of IGF-1 on oocyte nuclear maturation and to immunolocalize the IGF-1 and its receptor (IGF-1R) in the ovary. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were obtained from 34 bitches. The COCs from each bitch were incubated in TCM 199-HEPES in the absence (n = 199) or presence (n = 204) of 100 ng/ml IGF-1 for 96 hr at 38ºC in 5% CO2 , stained and evaluated for nuclear maturation by fluorescence microscopy. The results showed that the addition of IGF-1 did not have an effect (p ˃ 0.05) on the nuclear maturation under these conditions. The immunohistochemical study revealed nuclear and cytoplasmic staining for IGF-1 and IGF-1R, respectively. Both were localized in all ovarian structures including the corpus luteum, but not in the granulosa cells from primordial follicles. In addition, IGF-1 was not localized in the oocytes in tertiary follicles. The results obtained show the presence of IGF-1 through the stages of follicular growth and in the corpus luteum of the canine ovary. However, its role on oocyte nuclear maturation could not be demonstrated.Since March 2020, Spain (along with many other countries) has been severely affected by the ongoing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the rapid spread of a new virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SARS-CoV-2). As part of global efforts to improve disease surveillance, we investigated how readily SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected in environmental samples collected from an isolated rural community in Spain with a high COVID-19 prevalence (6% of the population of 883 inhabitants). The first diagnosis of COVID-19-compatible symptoms in the village was recorded on 3 March 2020, and the last known active case resolved on 5 June 2020. By 15 May, two months after strict movement constraints were imposed (’lockdown’), and the cumulative number of symptomatic cases had increased to 53. Of those cases, 22 (41%) had been tested and confirmed by RT-PCR. On 13 May and 5 June, samples were collected from high-use surfaces and clothes in the homes of 13 confirmed cases, from surfaces in nine public service sites (e.g. supermarket and petrol station) and from the wastewater of the village sewage system. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 7 of 57 (12%) samples, including three households and three public sites. While there is not yet sufficient evidence to recommend environmental surveillance as a standard approach for COVID-19 epidemiology, environmental surveillance research may contribute to advance knowledge about COVID-19 by further elucidating virus shedding dynamics and environmental contamination, including the potential identification of animal reservoirs.The objective of the study was to define and then evaluate an early decision indicator (EDI) trigger that operated within the first 5 weeks of a response that would indicate a large and/or long outbreak of FMD was developing, to be able to inform control options within an adaptive management framework. To define the EDI trigger, a previous dataset of 10,000 simulated FMD outbreaks in New Zealand, controlled by the standard stamping-out approach, was re-analysed at various time points between Days 11 and 35 of each response to find threshold values of cumulative detected infected premises (IPs) that indicated upper quartile sized outbreaks and estimated dissemination rate (EDR) values that indicated sustained spread. Both sets of thresholds were then parameterized within the InterSpread Plus modelling framework, such that if either the cumulative IPs or the EDR exceeded the defined thresholds, the EDI trigger would fire. A new series of simulations were then generated. The EDI trigger was like two diagnostic tests interpreted in parallel, with the diagnostic outcome positive if either test was positive at any time point between Days 11 and 35 inclusive. The diagnostic result was then compared to the final size of each outbreak, to see if the outbreak was an upper quartile outbreak in terms of cumulative IPs and/or final duration. The performance of the EDI trigger was then evaluated across the population of outbreaks, and the sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated. The Se, Sp, PPV and NPV for predicting large outbreaks were 0.997, 0.513, 0.404 and 0.998, respectively. The study showed that the EDI trigger was very sensitive to detecting large outbreaks, although not all outbreaks predicted to be large were so, whereas outbreaks predicted to be small invariably were small. Therefore, it shows promise as a mechanism that could support an adaptive management approach to FMD control.Chromobox (CBX) family members are vital epigenetic regulators that repress the transcription of target genes through chromatin modification. Several studies have investigated the role of CBX family members in cancer. However, the function and prognostic value of diverse CBX family members in non-small-cell lung cancer remain largely unknown. In this study, we reveal that CBX family members are overexpressed in non-small-cell lung cancer tissue compared with normal lung tissue, with the exception of CBX6. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high expressions of CBX1 and CBX3 are correlated with overall survival, disease-specific survival, disease-free interval, and progression-free interval for patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Furthermore, regression model analysis suggests that CBX3 may be suitable as an independent prediction factor for overall survival and progression-free interval in patients with LUAD. In addition, CBX3 mRNA expression was found to be associated with tumor diameter and lymph node metastasis.