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- Thomas, HS, et al.
(författare)
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- 2019
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swepub:Mat__t
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4. |
- Drake, TM, et al.
(författare)
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Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in children: an international, multicentre, prospective cohort study
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMJ global health. - : BMJ. - 2059-7908. ; 5:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). However, there is a lack of data available about SSI in children worldwide, especially from low-income and middle-income countries. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of SSI in children and associations between SSI and morbidity across human development settings.MethodsA multicentre, international, prospective, validated cohort study of children aged under 16 years undergoing clean-contaminated, contaminated or dirty gastrointestinal surgery. Any hospital in the world providing paediatric surgery was eligible to contribute data between January and July 2016. The primary outcome was the incidence of SSI by 30 days. Relationships between explanatory variables and SSI were examined using multilevel logistic regression. Countries were stratified into high development, middle development and low development groups using the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI).ResultsOf 1159 children across 181 hospitals in 51 countries, 523 (45·1%) children were from high HDI, 397 (34·2%) from middle HDI and 239 (20·6%) from low HDI countries. The 30-day SSI rate was 6.3% (33/523) in high HDI, 12·8% (51/397) in middle HDI and 24·7% (59/239) in low HDI countries. SSI was associated with higher incidence of 30-day mortality, intervention, organ-space infection and other HAIs, with the highest rates seen in low HDI countries. Median length of stay in patients who had an SSI was longer (7.0 days), compared with 3.0 days in patients who did not have an SSI. Use of laparoscopy was associated with significantly lower SSI rates, even after accounting for HDI.ConclusionThe odds of SSI in children is nearly four times greater in low HDI compared with high HDI countries. Policies to reduce SSI should be prioritised as part of the wider global agenda.
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5. |
- Sbarra, AN, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping routine measles vaccination in low- and middle-income countries
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 589:7842, s. 415-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The safe, highly effective measles vaccine has been recommended globally since 1974, yet in 2017 there were more than 17 million cases of measles and 83,400 deaths in children under 5 years old, and more than 99% of both occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1–4. Globally comparable, annual, local estimates of routine first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) coverage are critical for understanding geographically precise immunity patterns, progress towards the targets of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and high-risk areas amid disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)5–8. Here we generated annual estimates of routine childhood MCV1 coverage at 5 × 5-km2pixel and second administrative levels from 2000 to 2019 in 101 LMICs, quantified geographical inequality and assessed vaccination status by geographical remoteness. After widespread MCV1 gains from 2000 to 2010, coverage regressed in more than half of the districts between 2010 and 2019, leaving many LMICs far from the GVAP goal of 80% coverage in all districts by 2019. MCV1 coverage was lower in rural than in urban locations, although a larger proportion of unvaccinated children overall lived in urban locations; strategies to provide essential vaccination services should address both geographical contexts. These results provide a tool for decision-makers to strengthen routine MCV1 immunization programmes and provide equitable disease protection for all children.
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6. |
- Lozano, Rafael, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - : Elsevier. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 392:10159, s. 2091-2138
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of “leaving no one behind”, it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017), we measured progress on 41 of 52 health-related SDG indicators and estimated the health-related SDG index for 195 countries and territories for the period 1990–2017, projected indicators to 2030, and analysed global attainment. Methods: We measured progress on 41 health-related SDG indicators from 1990 to 2017, an increase of four indicators since GBD 2016 (new indicators were health worker density, sexual violence by non-intimate partners, population census status, and prevalence of physical and sexual violence [reported separately]). We also improved the measurement of several previously reported indicators. We constructed national-level estimates and, for a subset of health-related SDGs, examined indicator-level differences by sex and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile. We also did subnational assessments of performance for selected countries. To construct the health-related SDG index, we transformed the value for each indicator on a scale of 0–100, with 0 as the 2·5th percentile and 100 as the 97·5th percentile of 1000 draws calculated from 1990 to 2030, and took the geometric mean of the scaled indicators by target. To generate projections through 2030, we used a forecasting framework that drew estimates from the broader GBD study and used weighted averages of indicator-specific and country-specific annualised rates of change from 1990 to 2017 to inform future estimates. We assessed attainment of indicators with defined targets in two ways: first, using mean values projected for 2030, and then using the probability of attainment in 2030 calculated from 1000 draws. We also did a global attainment analysis of the feasibility of attaining SDG targets on the basis of past trends. Using 2015 global averages of indicators with defined SDG targets, we calculated the global annualised rates of change required from 2015 to 2030 to meet these targets, and then identified in what percentiles the required global annualised rates of change fell in the distribution of country-level rates of change from 1990 to 2015. We took the mean of these global percentile values across indicators and applied the past rate of change at this mean global percentile to all health-related SDG indicators, irrespective of target definition, to estimate the equivalent 2030 global average value and percentage change from 2015 to 2030 for each indicator. Findings: The global median health-related SDG index in 2017 was 59·4 (IQR 35·4–67·3), ranging from a low of 11·6 (95% uncertainty interval 9·6–14·0) to a high of 84·9 (83·1–86·7). SDG index values in countries assessed at the subnational level varied substantially, particularly in China and India, although scores in Japan and the UK were more homogeneous. Indicators also varied by SDI quintile and sex, with males having worse outcomes than females for non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality, alcohol use, and smoking, among others. Most countries were projected to have a higher health-related SDG index in 2030 than in 2017, while country-level probabilities of attainment by 2030 varied widely by indicator. Under-5 mortality, neonatal mortality, maternal mortality ratio, and malaria indicators had the most countries with at least 95% probability of target attainment. Other indicators, including NCD mortality and suicide mortality, had no countries projected to meet corresponding SDG targets on the basis of projected mean values for 2030 but showed some probability of attainment by 2030. For some indicators, including child malnutrition, several infectious diseases, and most violence measures, the annualised rates of change required to meet SDG targets far exceeded the pace of progress achieved by any country in the recent past. We found that applying the mean global annualised rate of change to indicators without defined targets would equate to about 19% and 22% reductions in global smoking and alcohol consumption, respectively; a 47% decline in adolescent birth rates; and a more than 85% increase in health worker density per 1000 population by 2030. Interpretation: The GBD study offers a unique, robust platform for monitoring the health-related SDGs across demographic and geographic dimensions. Our findings underscore the importance of increased collection and analysis of disaggregated data and highlight where more deliberate design or targeting of interventions could accelerate progress in attaining the SDGs. Current projections show that many health-related SDG indicators, NCDs, NCD-related risks, and violence-related indicators will require a concerted shift away from what might have driven past gains—curative interventions in the case of NCDs—towards multisectoral, prevention-oriented policy action and investments to achieve SDG aims. Notably, several targets, if they are to be met by 2030, demand a pace of progress that no country has achieved in the recent past. The future is fundamentally uncertain, and no model can fully predict what breakthroughs or events might alter the course of the SDGs. What is clear is that our actions—or inaction—today will ultimately dictate how close the world, collectively, can get to leaving no one behind by 2030.
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7. |
- Stanaway, Jeffrey D., et al.
(författare)
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Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 392:10159, s. 1923-1994
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk-outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk-outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk- outcome associations. Methods We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk-outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017.
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8. |
- Abbafati, Cristiana, et al.
(författare)
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- 2020
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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9. |
- Feigin, Valery L., et al.
(författare)
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Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders, 1990–2016 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016
- 2019
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Ingår i: Lancet Neurology. - : Elsevier. - 1474-4422 .- 1474-4465. ; 18:5, s. 459-480
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Neurological disorders are increasingly recognised as major causes of death and disability worldwide. The aim of this analysis from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 is to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date estimates of the global, regional, and national burden from neurological disorders.Methods: We estimated prevalence, incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs; the sum of years of life lost [YLLs] and years lived with disability [YLDs]) by age and sex for 15 neurological disorder categories (tetanus, meningitis, encephalitis, stroke, brain and other CNS cancers, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron diseases, idiopathic epilepsy, migraine, tension-type headache, and a residual category for other less common neurological disorders) in 195 countries from 1990 to 2016. DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, was the main method of estimation of prevalence and incidence, and the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODEm) was used for mortality estimation. We quantified the contribution of 84 risks and combinations of risk to the disease estimates for the 15 neurological disorder categories using the GBD comparative risk assessment approach.Findings: Globally, in 2016, neurological disorders were the leading cause of DALYs (276 million [95% UI 247–308]) and second leading cause of deaths (9·0 million [8·8–9·4]). The absolute number of deaths and DALYs from all neurological disorders combined increased (deaths by 39% [34–44] and DALYs by 15% [9–21]) whereas their age-standardised rates decreased (deaths by 28% [26–30] and DALYs by 27% [24–31]) between 1990 and 2016. The only neurological disorders that had a decrease in rates and absolute numbers of deaths and DALYs were tetanus, meningitis, and encephalitis. The four largest contributors of neurological DALYs were stroke (42·2% [38·6–46·1]), migraine (16·3% [11·7–20·8]), Alzheimer's and other dementias (10·4% [9·0–12·1]), and meningitis (7·9% [6·6–10·4]). For the combined neurological disorders, age-standardised DALY rates were significantly higher in males than in females (male-to-female ratio 1·12 [1·05–1·20]), but migraine, multiple sclerosis, and tension-type headache were more common and caused more burden in females, with male-to-female ratios of less than 0·7. The 84 risks quantified in GBD explain less than 10% of neurological disorder DALY burdens, except stroke, for which 88·8% (86·5–90·9) of DALYs are attributable to risk factors, and to a lesser extent Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (22·3% [11·8–35·1] of DALYs are risk attributable) and idiopathic epilepsy (14·1% [10·8–17·5] of DALYs are risk attributable).Interpretation: Globally, the burden of neurological disorders, as measured by the absolute number of DALYs, continues to increase. As populations are growing and ageing, and the prevalence of major disabling neurological disorders steeply increases with age, governments will face increasing demand for treatment, rehabilitation, and support services for neurological disorders. The scarcity of established modifiable risks for most of the neurological burden demonstrates that new knowledge is required to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies.Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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10. |
- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(författare)
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Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
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Ingår i: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource-poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally.Methods: Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality, analysed by multilevel logistic regression.Results: This study included 1409 patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and 694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95% CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009) countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per 1000 procedures performed.Conclusions: Adjusted mortality in children following emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health agendas.
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11. |
- Nguyen, Thanh N, et al.
(författare)
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Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stroke Volumes and Cerebrovascular Events: A 1-Year Follow-up.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 100:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Declines in stroke admission, IV thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), IVT, and mechanical thrombectomy over a 1-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020).We conducted a longitudinal retrospective study across 6 continents, 56 countries, and 275 stroke centers. We collected volume data for COVID-19 admissions and 4 stroke metrics: ischemic stroke admissions, ICH admissions, IVT treatments, and mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.There were 148,895 stroke admissions in the 1 year immediately before compared with 138,453 admissions during the 1-year pandemic, representing a 7% decline (95% CI [95% CI 7.1-6.9]; p < 0.0001). ICH volumes declined from 29,585 to 28,156 (4.8% [5.1-4.6]; p < 0.0001) and IVT volume from 24,584 to 23,077 (6.1% [6.4-5.8]; p < 0.0001). Larger declines were observed at high-volume compared with low-volume centers (all p < 0.0001). There was no significant change in mechanical thrombectomy volumes (0.7% [0.6-0.9]; p = 0.49). Stroke was diagnosed in 1.3% [1.31-1.38] of 406,792 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in 2.9% ([2.82-2.97], 5,656/195,539) of all stroke hospitalizations.There was a global decline and shift to lower-volume centers of stroke admission volumes, ICH volumes, and IVT volumes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prior year. Mechanical thrombectomy volumes were preserved. These results suggest preservation in the stroke care of higher severity of disease through the first pandemic year.This study is registered under NCT04934020.
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12. |
- Bauer, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Association between solar insolation and a history of suicide attempts in bipolar I disorder.
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of psychiatric research. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1379 .- 0022-3956. ; 113, s. 1-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many international studies, rates of completed suicide and suicide attempts have a seasonal pattern that peaks in spring or summer. This exploratory study investigated the association between solar insolation and a history of suicide attempt in patients with bipolar I disorder. Solar insolation is the amount of electromagnetic energy from the Sun striking a surface area on Earth. Data were collected previously from 5536 patients with bipolar I disorder at 50 collection sites in 32 countries at a wide range of latitudes in both hemispheres. Suicide related data were available for 3365 patients from 310 onset locations in 51 countries. 1047 (31.1%) had a history of suicide attempt. There was a significant inverse association between a history of suicide attempt and the ratio of mean winter solar insolation/mean summer solar insolation. This ratio is smallest near the poles where the winter insolation is very small compared to the summer insolation. This ratio is largest near the equator where there is relatively little variation in the insolation over the year. Other variables in the model that were positively associated with suicide attempt were being female, a history of alcohol or substance abuse, and being in a younger birth cohort. Living in a country with a state-sponsored religion decreased the association. (All estimated coefficients p<0.01). In summary, living in locations with large changes in solar insolation between winter and summer may be associated with increased suicide attempts in patients with bipolar disorder. Further investigation of the impacts of solar insolation on the course of bipolar disorder is needed.
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13. |
- Ebrahimi-Fakhari, Darius, et al.
(författare)
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Defining the clinical, molecular and imaging spectrum of adaptor protein complex 4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia
- 2020
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Ingår i: Brain. - OXFORD ENGLAND : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 143:10, s. 2929-2944
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in genes that encode subunits of the adaptor protein complex 4 (AP-4) lead to prototypical yet poorly understood forms of childhood-onset and complex hereditary spastic paraplegia: SPG47 (AP4B1), SPG50 (AP4M1), SPG51 (AP4E1) and SPG52 (AP4S1). Here, we report a detailed cross-sectional analysis of clinical, imaging and molecular data of 156 patients from 101 families. Enrolled patients were of diverse ethnic backgrounds and covered a wide age range (1.0-49.3 years). While the mean age at symptom onset was 0.8 +/- 0.6 years [standard deviation (SD), range 0.2-5.0], the mean age at diagnosis was 10.2 +/- 8.5 years (SD, range 0.1-46.3). We define a set of core features: early-onset developmental delay with delayed motor milestones and significant speech delay (50% non-verbal); intellectual disability in the moderate to severe range; mild hypotonia in infancy followed by spastic diplegia (mean age: 8.4 +/- 5.1 years, SD) and later tetraplegia (mean age: 16.1 +/- 9.8 years, SD); postnatal microcephaly (83%); foot deformities (69%); and epilepsy (66%) that is intractable in a subset. At last follow-up, 36% ambulated with assistance (mean age: 8.9 +/- 6.4 years, SD) and 54% were wheelchair-dependent (mean age: 13.4 +/- 9.8 years, SD). Episodes of stereotypic laughing, possibly consistent with a pseudobulbar affect, were found in 56% of patients. Key features on neuroimaging include a thin corpus callosum (90%), ventriculomegaly (65%) often with colpocephaly, and periventricular white-matter signal abnormalities (68%). Iron deposition and polymicrogyria were found in a subset of patients. AP4B1-associated SPG47 and AP4M1-associated SPG50 accounted for the majority of cases. About two-thirds of patients were born to consanguineous parents, and 82% carried homozygous variants. Over 70 unique variants were present, the majority of which are frameshift or nonsense mutations. To track disease progression across the age spectrum, we defined the relationship between disease severity as measured by several rating scales and disease duration. We found that the presence of epilepsy, which manifested before the age of 3 years in the majority of patients, was associated with worse motor outcomes. Exploring genotype-phenotype correlations, we found that disease severity and major phenotypes were equally distributed among the four subtypes, establishing that SPG47, SPG50, SPG51 and SPG52 share a common phenotype, an 'AP-4 deficiency syndrome'. By delineating the core clinical, imaging, and molecular features of AP-4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia across the age spectrum our results will facilitate early diagnosis, enable counselling and anticipatory guidance of affected families and help define endpoints for future interventional trials.
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14. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., et al.
(författare)
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First Dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:12, s. e84041-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dinosaur remains from the Arabian subcontinent are exceedingly rare, and those that have been documented manifest indeterminate affinities. Consequently the discovery of a small, but diagnostic, accumulation of elements from Campanian-Maastrichtian (similar to 75 Ma) deposits in northwestern Saudi Arabia is significant because it constitutes the first taxonomically identifiable dinosaur material described from the Arabian Peninsula. The fossils include a series of possible lithostrotian titanosaur caudal vertebrae, and some isolated theropod marginal teeth that share unique character states and metric parameters (analyzed using multivariate statistical methods) with derived abelisaurids - this is the first justifiable example of a non-avian carnivorous dinosaur clade from Arabia. The recognition of titanosaurians and abelisaurids from Saudi Arabia extends the palaeogeographical range of these groups along the entire northern Gondwanan margin during the latest Cretaceous. Moreover, given the extreme paucity of coeval occurrences elsewhere, the Saudi Arabian fossils provide a tantalizing glimpse into dinosaurian assemblage diversity within the region.
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15. |
- Samir, A., et al.
(författare)
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Splenomegaly versus pathological lung volume during COVID-19 infection with or without cytokine storm; a linear regression analysis using CT volumetry
- 2022
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Ingår i: Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2090-4762. ; 53:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Due to the paucity of scientific evidence, it is unclear among pulmonologists and physicians in critical care units if and when splenomegaly in novel coronavirus disease (2019) (COVID-19) patients is worrisome. This study aims to evaluate the significance of splenic volume during COVID-19 infection with or without cytokine storm and correlates splenic volume to the volume of pathological lung changes through linear regression analysis. Results: A retrospective study collected 509 polymerase chain reaction proved COVID-19 patients (399 males, 110 females; mean age 48 years, age range 24-78 years) between June and November 2021, without a history of splenic pathology. A control group of age and sex-matched 509 healthy subjects was used and analyzed according to the splenic volume. Five consulting radiologists evaluated initial and follow-up computed tomography (CT) examinations using lung CT volumetry and splenic volume calculation in consensus. Three consulting pulmonologists correlated the severity of clinical and laboratory findings, including oxygen requirements and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. The T test results for comparison between the COVID-19 patients and the healthy subjects control group regarding the splenic volume were significant (Tvalue was - 4.731452 and p value was 0.00002). There was no significant correlation between the severity of the disease and normal-sized spleen (26% of patients, p= 0.916) or splenomegaly (24% of patients, p= 0.579). On the other hand, all patients with a small spleen or progressive splenomegaly during serial follow-up imaging had clinically severe disease with a statistically significant correlation (p= 0.017 and 0.003, respectively). Ninety-seven percent of patients with clinically mild disease and splenomegaly had 0-20% lung involvement (CT-severity score 1) while all patients with clinically severe disease and splenomegaly had 27-73% lung involvement (CT-severity score 2 and 3) (r = 0.305, p = 0.030). Conclusions: Splenomegaly is a non-specific sign that may be found during mild and severe COVID-19 infection, it was not statistically correlated with the clinical severity and a weak positive relationship was found between the splenic size and the CT-severity score of the pathological lung volume. On the other hand, the presence of splenic atrophy or progressive splenomegaly was correlated with severe COVID-19 presentation and "cytokine storm". Therefore, the splenic volume changes should not be overlooked in COVID-19 serial CT examinations, particularly in severe or critically ill patients with cytokine storms.
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16. |
- Abdul-Jabbar, Thealfaqar A., et al.
(författare)
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Efficient Battery Cell Balancing Methods for Low-Voltage Applications: A Review
- 2022
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Ingår i: 2022 IEEE International Conference in Power Engineering Application, ICPEA 2022 - Proceedings.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Battery balancing technologies are a crucial mech anism for the safe operation of electrochemical energy storage systems, such as lithium-ion batteries. Moreover, balancing be tween battery cells is essential for battery systems' life. Without any balancing circuitry, individual cell voltages can reach their maximum/minimum battery voltage limit faster than others, posing safety hazards. Furthermore, battery capacity reduction can occur when overcharging/over-discharging individual cells. So far, many balancing methodologies have been proposed and discussed in available literature. This paper presents a review of different state-of-The-Art cell balancing methods suitable for low voltage applications. The required control complexity, switch stress, balancing speed, cost and circuit size are considered as key aspects. Typically, cell bypass techniques, such as passive balancing, have the lowest cost and require no complex control strategies. In contrast, cell-To-cell balancing techniques can significantly increase the energy efficiency compared to cell bypass balancers, but these come with higher system costs and control complexity.
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17. |
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18. |
- Alsalmah, Hessa A., et al.
(författare)
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Developing polymer nanocomposite films of ZnO/NiFe2O4 nanohybrids, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and chitosan for flexible electromagnetic
- 2024
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Ingår i: Ceramics International. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0272-8842 .- 1873-3956. ; 50:16, s. 28794-28804
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study used ultra-sonication approach to manufacture ZnO/NiFe2O4 (ZNF) and casting technique to prepare ZnO/NiFe2O4-Cs/PVP nanocomposite films. The successful creation of these nanocomposites with a significant decrease in the % crystallinity of the polymer blend with doping agent was verified by XRD results. ZNF and the Cs/PVP chains interacted in the polymer nanocomposites, as seen by the spectra of the FTIR. To determine the direct and indirect optical band gaps, tauc graphs were studied using data from UV-Vis analysis. The results indicate that while the Urbach energy was found to increase, the optical band gaps decreased as the weight percentage of the nanofiller increased. Using a thermogravimetric approach, the thermal stability of the produced PNCs has been investigated. Conductivity experiments demonstrated that when the nanofiller ZNF content increased to 2.5 wt%, so did AC conductivity, the dielectric loss, and the dielectric constant. The correlation between the mechanism of conduction and the amount of nanoparticles indicates that an increase in the percentage of ZNF in nanocomposites could increase their conductivity, with values ranging from 3.72 x 10-12 for pure blend to 7.72 x 10-8 S/cm for 2.5%ZNF-Cs/PVP at 100 Hz. The dielectric measurements for the nanocomposite films showed an increase in dielectric losses and dielectric constant, which is indicative of the films' enhanced dielectric polarization. The results of characterization point to possible uses of these polymer nanocomposites in flexible optoelectronic and magneto-electronic applications and energy storage devices.
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19. |
- El Massry, Abdel Moneim, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and structure elucidation of novel fused 1,2,4-triazine derivatives as potent inhibitors targeting CYP1A1 activity
- 2012
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Ingår i: Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0968-0896 .- 1464-3391. ; 20:8, s. 2624-2637
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Synthesis and structure elucidation of new series of novel fused 1,2,4-triazine derivatives 3a-3f, 4a-4i and 6a-6b and their inhibitory activities are presented. Molecular structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, MS spectra and elemental analyses. X-ray crystallographic analysis was performed on 2-acetyl-8-(N,N-diacetylamino)-6-(4-methoxybenzyl)-3-(4-methoxy-phenyl)- 7-oxo-2,3-dihydro-7H-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b][1,2,4]triazine 3d and 2-acetyl-8-(N-acetyl- amino)-6-benzyl-3-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-methyl-7-oxo-2,3-dihydro-7H-[1,2,4] triazolo[4,3-b][1,2,4]triazine 4e to secure their structures. The inhibitory effect of these compounds toward the CPY1A1 activity was screened to determine their potential as promising anticancer drugs. Our data showed that compounds 4e, 5a, 5b and 6b possess the highest inhibitory effects among all tested compounds. Furthermore, analysis of triazolotriazine derivatives docking showed that these compounds bind only at the interface of substrate recognition site 2 (SRS2) and (SRS6) at the outer surface of the protein. Amino-acids ASN214, SER216 and ILE462 participate in the binding of these compounds through H-bonds.
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20. |
- Eswias, Adel A., et al.
(författare)
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First thermal response test in Libya
- 2009
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Ingår i: Abstract book and proceedings Effstock 2009. - Stockholm : Energi- och Miljötekniska Föreningen / EMTF Förlag.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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21. |
- Hagag, Naglaa M., et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Analysis of Avian Influenza A(H5) Viruses Circulating in Egypt, 2019-2021
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Viruses. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4915. ; 14:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 virus was first detected in Egypt in late 2016. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly among different poultry sectors, becoming the dominant HPAI H5 subtype reported in Egypt. Different genotypes of the HPAI H5N8 virus were reported in Egypt; however, the geographic patterns and molecular evolution of the Egyptian HPAI H5N8 viruses are still unclear. Here, extensive epidemiological surveillance was conducted, including more than half a million samples collected from different poultry sectors (farms/backyards/live bird markets) from all governorates in Egypt during 2019-2021. In addition, genetic characterization and evolutionary analyses were performed using 47 selected positive H5N8 isolates obtained during the same period. The result of the conducted surveillance showed that HPAI H5N8 viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b continue to circulate in different locations in Egypt, with an obvious seasonal pattern, and no further detection of the HPAI H5N1 virus of clade 2.2.1.2 was observed in the poultry population during 2019-2021. In addition, phylogenetic and Bayesian analyses revealed that two major genotypes (G5 and G6) of HPAI H5N8 viruses were continually expanding among the poultry sectors in Egypt. Notably, molecular dating analysis suggested that the Egyptian HPAI H5N8 virus is the potential ancestral viruses of the European H5N8 viruses of 2020-2021. In summary, the data of this study highlight the current epidemiology, diversity, and evolution of HPAI H5N8 viruses in Egypt and call for continuous monitoring of the genetic features of the avian influenza viruses in Egypt.
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22. |
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23. |
- Jerjes, Waseem K., et al.
(författare)
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The future of medical diagnostics: review paper
- 2011
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Ingår i: Head & Neck Oncology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-3284. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While histopathology of excised tissue remains the gold standard for diagnosis, several new, non-invasive diagnostic techniques are being developed. They rely on physical and biochemical changes that precede and mirror malignant change within tissue. The basic principle involves simple optical techniques of tissue interrogation. Their accuracy, expressed as sensitivity and specificity, are reported in a number of studies suggests that they have a potential for cost effective, real-time, in situ diagnosis. We review the Third Scientific Meeting of the Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics Society held in Congress Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria on the 11th May 2011. For the first time the HNODS Annual Scientific Meeting was held in association with the International Photodynamic Association (IPA) and the European Platform for Photodynamic Medicine (EPPM). The aim was to enhance the interdisciplinary aspects of optical diagnostics and other photodynamic applications. The meeting included 2 sections: oral communication sessions running in parallel to the IPA programme and poster presentation sessions combined with the IPA and EPPM posters sessions.
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24. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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A review of aquatic vertebrate remains from the Middle-Upper Triassic Jilh Formation of Saudi Arabia
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. - 0035-9211. ; 122:1, s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A recent field survey of the Middle–Upper Triassic (upper Anisian to lowermost Carnian) paralic marine deposits of the Jilh Formation in central Saudi Arabia has yielded large quantities of vertebrate fossils. These finds prompt a revision of the existing faunal list and include at least one novel stratigraphical occurrence for the Arabian Peninsula. The remains comprise sauropterygian marine reptiles (Psephosauriscus sp., Nothosaurus cf. tchernovi, Nothosaurus cf. giganteus, Simosaurus sp.), a lungfish (Ceratodus sp.),hybodontiform sharks (Hybodus sp.) and saurichthyform actinopterygians (Saurichthys sp.). Palaeobiogeographical assessment reinforces Tethyan affinities for the assemblage and reflects the close proximity of the Arabian region to the ‘Sephardic Realm’, a compositionally distinct circum-Mediterranean faunal province characterized by hypersaline Muschelkalk facies.
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25. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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First Triassic lungfish from the Arabian Peninsula
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Paleontology. - 0022-3360 .- 1937-2337. ; 34:1, s. 137-140
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Triassic lungfish (Dipnoi) have been extensively documented from the Gondwanan continental and marine shelf deposits of Africa and Madagascar (Teixeira, 1949; Lehman et al., 1959; Beltan, 1968; Martin, 1979, 1981; Kemp 1996), Australia (Kemp, 1993, 1994, 1997a, 1998), India (Jainet al., 1964; Jain, 1968), and Antarctica (Dziewa, 1980). Numerous records also exist from Laurasian land masses including Europe (Agassiz, 1838; Schultze, 1981), North America (Case, 1921) and central and eastern Asia (Liu and Yeh, 1957; Vorobyeva, 1967; Martin and Ingavat, 1982). By comparison, nothing is known of contemporary lungfish fossils from the Middle East. Thus, the recent recovery of asingle tooth plate representing a new geographic occurrence of the genus Ceratodus Agassiz, 1838 from paralic marine deposits of the Jilh Formation, a latest Anisian to lower Carnian unit that crops out along the eastern margin of the Proterozoic Arabian Shield in central Saudi Arabia, is significant because it provides the stratigraphically oldest record of dipnoans from the Arabian Peninsula.
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26. |
- Kobo, Ofer, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of Multisite artery disease on Clinical Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention : An Analysis from the e-Ultimaster Registry
- 2023
-
Ingår i: European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes. - : Oxford University Press. - 2058-5225 .- 2058-1742. ; 9:4, s. 417-426
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Multisite artery disease is considered a 'malignant' type of atherosclerotic disease associated with an increased cardiovascular risk, but the impact of multisite artery disease on clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown.METHODS: Patients enrolled in the large, prospective e-Ultimaster study were grouped into 1) those without known prior vascular disease; 2) those with known single-territory vascular disease 3) those with known 2-3 territories (i.e, coronary, cerebrovascular, or peripheral) vascular disease (multisite artery disease). The primary outcome was coronary target lesion failure (TLF) defined as the composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction, and clinically driven target lesion revascularization at 1-year. Inverse propensity score weighted (IPSW) analysis was performed to address differences in baseline patient and lesion characteristics.RESULTS: Of the 37,198 patients included in the study, 62.3% had no prior known vascular disease, 32.6% had single-territory vascular disease, and 5.1% multisite artery disease. Patients with known vascular disease were older and were more likely to be men and to have more co-morbidities. After IPSW, the TLF rate incrementally increased with the number of diseased vascular beds (3.16%, 4.44% and 6.42% for no, single- and multisite artery disease, p<0.01 for all comparisons). This was also true for all cause death (2.22%, 3.28% and 5.29%, p<0.01 for all comparisons) and cardiac mortality (1.26%, 1.91% and 3.62%, p≤0.01 for all comparisons).CONCLUSIONS: Patients with previously known vascular disease experienced an increased risk for adverse cardiovascular events and mortality post percutaneous coronary intervention. This risk is highest among patients with multisite artery disease.
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27. |
- Upile, Tahwinder, et al.
(författare)
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At the frontiers of surgery: review
- 2011
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Ingår i: Head & Neck Oncology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-3284. ; 3
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The complete surgical removal of disease is a desirable outcome particularly in oncology. Unfortunately much disease is microscopic and difficult to detect causing a liability to recurrence and worsened overall prognosis with attendant costs in terms of morbidity and mortality. It is hoped that by advances in optical diagnostic technology we could better define our surgical margin and so increase the rate of truly negative margins on the one hand and on the other hand to take out only the necessary amount of tissue and leave more unaffected non-diseased areas so preserving function of vital structures. The task has not been easy but progress is being made as exemplified by the presentations at the 2nd Scientific Meeting of the Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics Society (HNODS) in San Francisco in January 2010. We review the salient advances in the field and propose further directions of investigation.
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28. |
- Abedpour Dehkordi, Adel, et al.
(författare)
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Interleukin-6 reduces paraoxonase-1 activity in a dose-dependent manner : evidence for a potential novel lipoprotein-based modulatory mechanism
- 2016
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Ingår i: Atherosclerosis. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 252, s. E113-E114
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Objectives: The anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory nature of HDL is mainly associated with paraoxonase-1 (PON1). Previous studies have revealed an inverse correlation between Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and PON1 expression. The current study investigates the effect of IL-6 on serum PON1 activity in vitro, given the potential structural capability of PON1 to host multiple ligands. Methods: PON1 activity was measured spectrophotometrically (234 nm) using paraoxon substrate in the presence of concentrations of IL-6 than control samples. A sequence alignment using the FASTA sequence was manually conducted to identify possible homologies between PON1 and the IL-6-binding protein. Statistical analysis was conducted using GraphPad Prism v5.0. Results: PON1 enzyme activity decreased by 15%, 26% (P<0.05) and 55% (P<0.001) in the presence of 4, 10 and 20 pg/ml of IL-6, respectively. in comparison with the controls. Student t. test was used as statistical method (p<0.05: statistically significant). There are potential homologies between PON1 active sites and know IL-6-binding residues. Conclusions: This study shows that IL-6 directly reduce the PON1 activity in a dose-dependent manner. This observation supports some studies indicating inverse correlation between PON1 and IL-6. However, as opposed to the gene-mediated approach, this study suggest that IL-6 may act directly through specific binding to PON1 (biochemical modulation). X ray crystallography can further scrutinize the present finding.
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29. |
- Adel, Amany, et al.
(författare)
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Epidemiological and molecular analysis of circulating fowl adenoviruses and emerging of serotypes 1, 3, and 8b in Egypt
- 2021
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Ingår i: Heliyon. - : Elsevier. - 2405-8440. ; 7:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) are a large group of viruses of different serotypes. They are responsible for inclusion body hepatitis, adenoviral gizzard erosion, and hepatitis hydropericardium syndrome. The present study presents a comprehensive overview of FAdVs in Egypt, with a focus on the epidemiological features of virus serotypes across the country. We conducted molecular investigation of multiple FAdV species based on the genetic signature of hypervariable regions 1-4 in the loop1 (L1) region of the hexon gene. Epidemiologically, the Nile Delta governorates showed high positivity of FAdVs, which were more commonly found in broilers than in layers. Genetically, species D and serotype 8a/E dominated, and the findings also revealed the emergence of new FAdV serotypes 1, 3, and 8b. The comparative analysis of hypervariable regions in the L1 region of the hexon gene revealed variables specific to each virus serotype. In silico predictions of L1 region revealed variations in the molecular structure and predicted the antigenic epitopes which may affect the cross-antigenicity between the different FAdV species and serotypes.
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30. |
- Adel, Amany, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic Variations among Different Variants of G1-like Avian Influenza H9N2 Viruses and Their Pathogenicity in Chickens
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Viruses. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4915. ; 14:5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since it was first discovered, the low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H9N2 subtype has established linages infecting the poultry population globally and has become one of the most prevalent influenza subtypes in domestic poultry. Several different variants and genotypes of LPAI H9N2 viruses have been reported in Egypt, but little is known about their pathogenicity and how they have evolved. In this study, four different Egyptian LPAI H9N2 viruses were genetically and antigenically characterized and compared to representative H9N2 viruses from G1 lineage. Furthermore, the pathogenicity of three genetically distinct Egyptian LPAI H9N2 viruses was assessed by experimental infection in chickens. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that the H9N2 virus of the Egy-2 G1-B lineage (pigeon-like) has become the dominant circulating H9N2 genotype in Egypt since 2016. Considerable variation in virus shedding at day 7 post-infections was detected in infected chickens, but no significant difference in pathogenicity was found between the infected groups. The rapid spread and emergence of new genotypes of the influenza viruses pinpoint the importance of continuous surveillance for the detection of novel reassortant viruses, as well as monitoring the viral evolution.
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31. |
- Adel Fahmideh, Maral, et al.
(författare)
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A Weighted Genetic Risk Score of Adult Glioma Susceptibility Loci Associated with Pediatric Brain Tumor Risk.
- 2019
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 9:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic risk score (GRS) is used to demonstrate the genetic variants contributing to the polygenic architecture of complex diseases. By using a GRS, we have investigated the additive impact of the known adult glioma susceptibility loci on the pediatric brain tumor (PBT) risk and assessed the proportion of PBT heritability attributable to these susceptibility loci. A GRS was generated for PBTs based on the alleles and associated effect sizes derived from a previously published genome-wide association study on adult glioma. The GRS was calculated in CEFALO, a population-based case-control study of brain tumors in children and adolescents including saliva DNA of 245 cases and 489 controls. The unconditional logistic regression model was used to investigate the association between standardized GRS and risk of PBTs. To measure the variance explained by the effect of GRS, Nagelkerke pseudo-R2 was calculated. The GRS for adult brain tumors was associated with an increased risk of PBTs (OR 1.25 [95% CI 1.06-1.49], p=0.009) and 0.3% of the variance in PBTs could be explained by the effect of GRS on the liability scale. This study provides evidence that heritable risks of PBTs are in-part attributable to some common genetic variants associated with adult glioma.
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32. |
- Adel Fahmideh, Maral, et al.
(författare)
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Common genetic variations in cell cycle and DNA repair pathways associated with pediatric brain tumor susceptibility
- 2016
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine. - 1949-2553.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knowledge on the role of genetic polymorphisms in the etiology of pediatric brain tumors (PBTs) is limited. Therefore, we investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identified by candidate gene-association studies on adult brain tumors, and PBT risk. The study is based on the largest series of PBT cases to date. Saliva DNA from 245 cases and 489 controls, aged 7–19 years at diagnosis/reference date, was genotyped for 68 SNPs. Data were analyzed using unconditional logistic regression. The results showed EGFRrs730437 and EGFRrs11506105 may decrease susceptibility to PBTs, whereas ERCC1rs3212986 may increase risk of these tumors. Moreover, stratifid analyses indicated CHAF1Ars243341, CHAF1Ars2992, and XRCC1rs25487 were associated with a decreased risk of astrocytoma subtype. Furthermore, an increased risk of non-astrocytoma subtype associated with EGFRrs9642393, EME1rs12450550, ATMrs170548, and GLTSCRrs1035938 as well as a decreased risk of this subtype associated with XRCC4rs7721416 and XRCC4rs2662242 were detected. This study indicates SNPs in EGFR, ERCC1, CHAF1A, XRCC1, EME1, ATM, GLTSCR1, and XRCC4 may be associated with the risk of PBTs. Therefore, cell cycle and DNA repair pathways variations associated with susceptibility to adult brain tumors also seem to be associated with PBT risk, suggesting pediatric and adult brain tumors might share similar etiological pathways.
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33. |
- Alizadeh, Javad, et al.
(författare)
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Mevalonate Cascade Inhibition by Simvastatin Induces the Intrinsic Apoptosis Pathway via Depletion of Isoprenoids in Tumor Cells
- 2017
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2045-2322. ; 7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mevalonate (MEV) cascade is responsible for cholesterol biosynthesis and the formation of the intermediate metabolites geranylgeranylpyrophosphate (GGPP) and farnesylpyrophosphate (FPP) used in the prenylation of proteins. Here we show that the MEV cascade inhibitor simvastatin induced significant cell death in a wide range of human tumor cell lines, including glioblastoma, astrocytoma, neuroblastoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and breast cancer. Simvastatin induced apoptotic cell death via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. In all cancer cell types tested, simvastatin-induced cell death was not rescued by cholesterol, but was dependent on GGPP-and FPP-depletion. We confirmed that simvastatin caused the translocation of the small Rho GTPases RhoA, Cdc42, and Rac1/2/3 from cell membranes to the cytosol in U251 (glioblastoma), A549 (lung adenocarcinoma) and MDA-MB231( breast cancer). Simvastatin-induced Rho-GTP loading significantly increased in U251 cells which were reversed with MEV, FPP, GGPP. In contrast, simvastatin did not change Rho-GTP loading in A549 and MDA-MB-231. Inhibition of geranylgeranyltransferase I by GGTi-298, but not farnesyltransferase by FTi-277, induced significant cell death in U251, A549, and MDA-MB-231. These results indicate that MEV cascade inhibition by simvastatin induced the intrinsic apoptosis pathway via inhibition of Rho family prenylation and depletion of GGPP, in a variety of different human cancer cell lines.
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34. |
- Almasalmeh, O, et al.
(författare)
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Soil erosion and sediment transport modelling using hydrological models and remote sensing techniques in Wadi Billi, Egypt
- 2021
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Ingår i: Modeling Earth Systems and Environment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2363-6203 .- 2363-6211. ; 8:1, s. 1215-1226
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modelling soil erosion and sediment transport are vital to assess the impact of the flash floods. However, limited research works have studied sediment transport, especially in Egypt. This paper employs the HEC-HMS lumped hydrological model to predict the sediment load due to the flood event of 9th March 2014 in Wadi Billi, Egypt. The Modified USLE model has been used to calculate the total upland erosion, while Laursen-Copeland has been used to simulate load streams' sediment transport potential. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been applied over Landsat 8 image captured on 20th February 2014 using ArcMap 10.5 to determine the vegetation cover based on its spectral footprint. The resulted sedigraph showed accumulation of more than five thousand tons of sediments at the Wadi's outlet. The results are crucial to design a suitable stormwater management system to protect the downstream urban area and to use flood water for groundwater recharge.
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35. |
- Avakian, Maureen D., et al.
(författare)
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The origin, fate, and health effects of combustion by-products : A research framework
- 2002
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives. - : National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. - 0091-6765 .- 1552-9924. ; 110:11, s. 1155-1162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Incomplete combustion processes can emit organic pollutants, metals, and fine particles. Combustion by-products represent global human and environmental health challenges that are relevant not only in heavily industrialized nations, but also in developing nations where up to 90% of rural households rely on unprocessed biomass fuels for cooking, warmth, and light. These issues were addressed at the Seventh International Congress on Combustion BY-Products, which convened 4-6 June 2001 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This congress included a diverse group of multidisciplinary researchers and practitioners who discussed recent developments and future goals in the control of combustion by-products and their effects of exposure on human and ecologic health. Participants recommended that interdisciplinary, coordinated research efforts should be focused to capitalize on the important potential synergisms between efforts to reduce the adverse human health effects linked to exposures to combustion by-products and broader efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy through efficiency. In this article we summarize the principal findings and recommendations for research focus and direction.
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36. |
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37. |
- Chamorro, Harold R., et al.
(författare)
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Impact of Non-Synchronous Generation on Transmission Oscillations Paths
- 2018
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Ingår i: 2018 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC). - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 9781538610060
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The large scale penetration of non-synchronous generation has been causing several impacts on the power systems dynamics. The low-frequency oscillations affect the power exchanged along the transmission lines/corridors. This paper uses the Multi-Prony Analysis mode estimation technique to monitor and suggest the dominant oscillation modes which can be useful for wide-area control purposes. Moreover, the oscillation modes are also monitored under gradual cases of non-synchronous generation integration in the system. The methodology is applied to two different test transmission systems: i) the two area system and, ii) the Nordic 32 system. The results illustrate the similarity and differences in the scenarios proposed.
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38. |
- Conklin, Annalijn I., et al.
(författare)
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The impact of rising food prices on obesity in women: a longitudinal analysis of 31 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2014
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Obesity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0307-0565 .- 1476-5497. ; 43, s. 774-781
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2018, Springer Nature Limited. Objectives: To examine whether changes in food prices are associated with changes in obesity prevalence among women in developing countries, and assess effect modification by individual socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: Longitudinal study of country-level food price inflation temporally and geographically linked to anthropometric data on non-pregnant adult women (n = 295,984) in 31 low-income and middle-income countries over the 2000–2014 time period, using separate multivariable multilevel growth models of five SES indicators. Post-estimation analysis computed the relationship between food price inflation and predicted mean probabilities of being obese, by SES. Results: Rising food price inflation was strongly associated with women’s obesity prevalence, and SES consistently modified the relationship. Regardless of indicator used, higher food price inflation was positively associated with obesity among women in top SES categories, but was flat or negative among women in low SES categories, averaging over time. The SES differences were widest across educational strata and were most pronounced when food price inflation was highest. Overall, for every 1-unit increase in food price inflation, predicted mean obesity prevalence was between 0.02 and 0.06 percentage points greater in women of high SES compared to low SES women. Conclusion: There is a strong link between food price inflation and obesity in adult women in developing countries which is clearly modified by individuals’ SES. Greater food price inflation was associated with greater obesity prevalence only among women in higher SES groups, who may be net food buyers most at risk of obesity in low-income and middle-income countries.
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39. |
- Ejjeh, Adel, et al.
(författare)
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HPVM2FPGA: Enabling True Hardware-Agnostic FPGA Programming
- 2022
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Ingår i: IEEE 33rd International Conference on Application-specific Systems, Architectures and Processors (ASAP). - 9781665483087 - 9781665483094
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Current FPGA programming tools require extensive hardware-specific manual code tuning to achieve performance, which is intractable for most software application teams. We present HPVM2FPGA, a novel end-to-end compiler and autotuning system that can automatically tune hardware-agnostic programs for FPGAs. HPVM2FPGA uses a hardware-agnostic abstraction of parallelism as an intermediate representation (IR) to represent hardware-agnostic programs. HPVM2FPGA’s powerful optimization framework uses sophisticated compiler optimizations and design space exploration (DSE) to automatically tune a hardware-agnostic program for a given FPGA. HPVM2FPGA is able to support software programmers by shifting the burden of performing hardware-specific optimizations to the compiler and DSE. We show that HPVM2FPGA can achieve up to 33× speedup compared to unoptimized baselines and can match the performance of hand-tuned HLS code for three of four benchmarks. We have designed HPVM2FPGA to be a modular and extensible framework, and we expect it to match handtuned code for most programs as the system matures with more optimizations. Overall, we believe that it constitutes a solid step closer to fully hardware-agnostic FPGA programming, making it a suitable cornerstone for future FPGA compiler research.
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40. |
- Eltantawi, I., et al.
(författare)
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Bond performance of tensile lap-spliced basalt-FRP reinforcement in high-strength concrete beams
- 2022
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Ingår i: Composite structures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0263-8223 .- 1879-1085. ; 281
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates the bond between high-strength concrete (HSC) and tensile lap-spliced basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) bars. Ten large-scale BFRP-reinforced concrete beams (300 × 450 × 3900 mm) were fabricated and tested under four-point loading until failure. The parameters investigated included the BFRP bar diameter (10, 12, and 16 mm), the splice length (400–1200 mm range), and the bar surface texture (sand-coated (SC) and helically wrapped (HW)). Test results demonstrated that the flexural capacity of the beams reinforced with SC-BFRP bars was almost similar to that of beams reinforced with HW-BFRP bars. However, SC-BFRP bars showed a slightly higher bond with concrete compared to that of helically wrapped counterparts. The bond strength of spliced BFRP bars was inversely related to the splice length. Also, BFRP bars with larger diameter bars require longer splice lengths to reach their maximum capacity. Finally, the experimentally estimated critical splice lengths were compared to those calculated by existing models and code-based equations. Both ACI 440.1R-15 and CSA S806-12 provisions were conservative in predicting splice length for BFRP bars. However, the CSA-S6-14 design code was more accurate in estimating the splice length for BFRP with bigger diameters. Though, it was not conservative with smaller diameters.
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41. |
- Gadallah, Adel S., et al.
(författare)
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Anti-Inflammatory Principles from Tamarix aphylla L. : A Bioassay-Guided Fractionation Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecules. - : MDPI AG. - 1431-5157 .- 1420-3049. ; 25:13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Natural products have served as primary remedies since ancient times due to their cultural acceptance and outstanding biodiversity. To investigate whether Tamarix aphylla L. modulates an inflammatory process, we carried out bioassay-guided isolation where the extracts and isolated compounds were tested for their modulatory effects on several inflammatory indicators, such as nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), proinflammatory cytokine; tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), as well as the proliferation of the lymphocyte T-cells. The aqueous ethanolic extract of the plant inhibited the intracellular ROS production, NO generation, and T-cell proliferation. The aqueous ethanolic crude extract was partitioned by liquid-liquid fractionation using n-hexane (n-C6H6), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EtOAc),n-butanol (n-BuOH), and water (H2O). The DCM and n-BuOH extracts showed the highest activity against most inflammatory indicators and were further purified to obtain compounds 1-4. The structures of 3,5-dihydroxy-4',7-dimethoxyflavone (1) and 3,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid methyl ester (2) from the DCM extracts; and kaempferol (3), and 3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-(E)-cinnamic acid (4) from then-BuOH extract were elucidated by different spectroscopic tools, including MS, NMR, UV, and IR. Compound 2 inhibited the production of ROS and TNF-alpha, whereas compound 3 showed inhibitory activity against all the tested mediators. A better understanding of the potential aspect of Tamarix aphylla L. derivatives as anti-inflammatory agents could open the door for the development of advanced anti-inflammatory entities.
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42. |
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43. |
- Ghavami, Saeid, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Autophagy and Apoptosis Dysfunction in Neurodegenerative Disorders
- 2014
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Ingår i: Progress in Neurobiology. - Kidlington, Oxford, United Kingdom : Pergamon Press. - 0301-0082 .- 1873-5118. ; 112, s. 24-49
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autophagy and apoptosis are basic physiologic processes contributing to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Autophagy encompasses pathways that target long-lived cytosolic proteins and damaged organelles. It involves a sequential set of events including double membrane formation, elongation, vesicle maturation and finally delivery of the targeted materials to the lysosome. Apoptotic cell death is best described through its morphology. It is characterized by cell rounding, membrane blebbing, cytoskeletal collapse, cytoplasmic condensation, and fragmentation, nuclear pyknosis, chromatin condensation/fragmentation, and formation of membrane-enveloped apoptotic bodies, that are rapidly phagocytosed by macrophages or neighboring cells. Neurodegenerative disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent, especially in the Western societies, with larger percentage of members living to an older age. They have to be seen not only as a health problem, but since they are care-intensive, they also carry a significant economic burden. Deregulation of autophagy plays a pivotal role in the etiology and/or progress of many of these diseases. Herein, we briefly review the latest findings that indicate the involvement of autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases. We provide a brief introduction to autophagy and apoptosis pathways focusing on the role of mitochondria and lysosomes. We then briefly highlight pathophysiology of common neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's diseases, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Then, we describe functions of autophagy and apoptosis in brain homeostasis, especially in the context of the aforementioned disorders. Finally, we discuss different ways that autophagy and apoptosis modulation may be employed for therapeutic intervention during the maintenance of neurodegenerative disorders.
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44. |
- Ghazzali, Mohamed I D M, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis, EPR and DFT calculations of rare Ag(II)porphyrins and the crystal structure of [Zn(II)tetrakis(4-bromo-2-thiophene)porphyrin]
- 2008
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Ingår i: Inorganic Chemistry Communication. - : Elsevier BV. - 1387-7003 .- 1879-0259. ; 11:9, s. 1019-1022
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Meso-tetrakis (4-bromo-2-thiophene) and (5-bromo-2-thiophene) porphyrins were synthesized in 18% yield from freshly distilled pyrrole and the corresponding aldehydes in refluxing propionic acid. Reaction of both porphyrins with either Zn(OAc) 2 · 2H 2 O or Ag(OAc) afforded the corresponding metal complexes in 20% yield. The free bases and metal complexes were characterized by IR, NMR, EPR, MS and XPS. The crystal structure of 5,10,15,20(4-bromo-2-thiophene)porphyrinato Zn(II) was determined by X-ray diffraction and shows a 'zigzag-like' packing pattern due to S···S intermolecular interaction. Structural features of these molecules are discussed by DFT quantum chemical calculations. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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45. |
- Hutchinson, Peter J, et al.
(författare)
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Consensus statement from the 2014 International Microdialysis Forum
- 2015
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Ingår i: Intensive Care Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0342-4642 .- 1432-1238. ; 41:9, s. 1517-1528
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microdialysis enables the chemistry of the extracellular interstitial space to be monitored. Use of this technique in patients with acute brain injury has increased our understanding of the pathophysiology of several acute neurological disorders. In 2004, a consensus document on the clinical application of cerebral microdialysis was published. Since then, there have been significant advances in the clinical use of microdialysis in neurocritical care. The objective of this review is to report on the International Microdialysis Forum held in Cambridge, UK, in April 2014 and to produce a revised and updated consensus statement about its clinical use including technique, data interpretation, relationship with outcome, role in guiding therapy in neurocritical care and research applications.
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46. |
- Kameda-Smith, Michelle, et al.
(författare)
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Third Nerve Palsy Due to Intracranial Aneurysms and Recovery after Endovascular Coiling
- 2022
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Ingår i: Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. - : CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS. - 0317-1671. ; 49:4, s. 560-568
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The modality of treatment of third nerve palsy (TNP) associated with intracranial aneurysms remains controversial. While treatment varies with the location of the aneurysm, microsurgical clipping of PComm aneurysms has generally been the traditional choice, with endovascular coiling emerging as a reasonable alternative. Methods: Patients with TNP due to an intracranial aneurysm who subsequently underwent treatment at a mid-sized Canadian neurosurgical center over a 15-year period (2003-2018) were examined. Results: A total of 616 intracranial aneurysms in 538 patients were treated; the majority underwent endovascular coiling with only 24 patients treated with surgical clipping. Only 37 patients (6.9%) presented with either a partial or complete TNP and underwent endovascular embolization; of these, 17 presented with a SAH secondary to intracranial aneurysm rupture. Aneurysms associated with TNP included PComm (64.9%), terminal ICA (29.7%), proximal MCA (2.7%), and basilar tip (2.7%) aneurysms. In general, smaller aneurysms and earlier treatment were provided for patients for ruptured aneurysms with a shorter mean interval to TNP recovery. In the endovascularly treated cohort initially presenting with TNP, seven presented with a complete TNP and the remaining were partial TNPs. TNP resolved completely in 20 patients (55.1%) and partially in 10 patients (27.0%). Neither time to coiling nor SAH at presentation were significantly associated with the recovery status of TNP. Conclusion: Endovascular coil embolization is a viable treatment modality for patients presenting with an associated cranial nerve palsy.
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47. |
- Katsanos, Aristeidis H, et al.
(författare)
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Blood Pressure After Endovascular Thrombectomy and Outcomes in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: An Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 98:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To explore the association between blood pressure (BP) levels after endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) and the clinical outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO).A study was eligible if it enrolled AIS patients older than 18 years, with an LVO treated with either successful or unsuccessful EVT, and provided either individual or mean 24-hour systolic BP values after the end of the EVT procedure. Individual patient data from all studies were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed-effects model.A total of 5874 patients (mean age: 69±14 years, 50% women, median NIHSS on admission: 16) from 7 published studies were included. Increasing mean systolic BP levels per 10 mm Hg during the first 24 hours after the end of the EVT were associated with a lower odds of functional improvement (unadjusted common OR=0.82, 95%CI:0.80-0.85; adjusted common OR=0.88, 95%CI:0.84-0.93) and modified Ranking Scale score≤2 (unadjusted OR=0.82, 95%CI:0.79-0.85; adjusted OR=0.87, 95%CI:0.82-0.93), and a higher odds of all-cause mortality (unadjusted OR=1.18, 95%CI:1.13-1.24; adjusted OR=1.15, 95%CI:1.06-1.23) at 3 months. Higher 24-hour mean systolic BP levels were also associated with an increased likelihood of early neurological deterioration (unadjusted OR=1.14, 95%CI:1.07-1.21; adjusted OR=1.14, 95%CI:1.03-1.24) and a higher odds of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (unadjusted OR=1.20, 95%CI:1.09-1.29; adjusted OR=1.20, 95%CI:1.03-1.38) after EVT.Increased mean systolic BP levels in the first 24 hours after EVT are independently associated with a higher odds of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, early neurological deterioration, three-month mortality, and worse three-month functional outcomes.
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48. |
- Khattab, Serine N., et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis of new series of quinoxaline based MAO-inhibitors and docking studies
- 2010
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Ingår i: European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0223-5234 .- 1768-3254. ; 45:10, s. 4479-4489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of 2-benzyl-3-(2-arylidenehydrazinyl)quinoxalines 3, 4-benzyl-1-aryl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalines 4 and phenyl(1-aryl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-4-yl)methanones 5 analogues were synthesized and investigated for their monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitory property. The inhibition profile was found to be competitive for compounds 3k, 3m, 5f and 5n with MAO-A selectivity. Observation of the docked positions of these compounds revealed interactions with many residues previously reported to have an effect on the inhibition of the enzyme. The structural features of the new compounds have been determined from the microanalytical, IR, 1H, 13C NMR spectral studies and X-ray crystalography.
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49. |
- Korany, Ahmed H., et al.
(författare)
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Comparative structural analysis of different mycobacteriophage-derived mycolylarabinogalactan esterases (Lysin B)
- 2019
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Ingår i: Biomolecules. - : MDPI AG. - 2218-273X. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mycobacteriophage endolysins have emerged as a potential alternative to the current antimycobacterial agents. This study focuses on mycolylarabinogalactan hydrolase (LysB) enzymes of the α/β-hydrolase family, which disrupt the unique mycolic acid layer of mycobacterium cell wall. Multiple sequence alignment and structural analysis studies showed LysB-D29, the only enzyme with a solved three-dimensional structure, to share several common features with esterases (lacking lid domain) and lipases (acting on long chain lipids). Sequence and structural comparisons of 30 LysB homology models showed great variation in domain organizations and total protein length with major differences in the loop-5 motif harboring the catalytic histidine residue. Docking of different p-nitrophenyl ligands (C4-C18) to LysB-3D models revealed that the differences in length and residues of loop-5 contributed towards wide diversity of active site conformations (long tunnels, deep and superficial funnels, shallow bowls, and a narrow buried cave) resembling that of lipases, cutinases, and esterases. A set of seven LysB enzymes were recombinantly produced; their activity against p-nitrophenyl esters could be related to their active site conformation and acyl binding site. LysB-D29 (long tunnel) showed the highest activity with long chain p-nitrophenyl palmitate followed by LysB-Omega (shallow bowl) and LysB-Saal (deep funnel).
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50. |
- Lidington, Darcy, et al.
(författare)
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CFTR Therapeutics Normalize Cerebral Perfusion Deficits in Mouse Models of Heart Failure and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
- 2019
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Ingår i: JACC: Basic to Translational Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2452-302X. ; 4:8, s. 940-958
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heart failure (HF) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) chronically reduce cerebral perfusion, which negatively affects clinical outcome. This work demonstrates a strong relationship between cerebral artery cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) expression and altered cerebrovascular reactivity in HF and SAH. In HF and SAH, CFTR corrector compounds (C18 or lumacaftor) normalize pathological alterations in cerebral artery CFTR expression, vascular reactivity, and cerebral perfusion, without affecting systemic hemodynamic parameters. This normalization correlates with reduced neuronal injury. Therefore, CFTR therapeutics have emerged as valuable clinical tools to manage cerebrovascular dysfunction, impaired cerebral perfusion, and neuronal injury.
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