Development and verification of a three-dimensional (3D) breast cancer tumor model composed of circulating tumor cell (CTC) subsets

Molecular Biology Reports - Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer types among women in which early tumor invasion leads to metastases and death. EpCAM (epithelial cellular adhesion...     

Structural and Practical Identifiability Analysis of Zika Epidemiological Models

The Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic has caused an ongoing threat to global health security and spurred new investigations of the virus. Use of epidemiological models for arbovirus diseases can be a powerful tool to assist in prevention and control of the emerging disease. In this article, we introduce six models of ZIKV, beginning with a general vector-borne model and gradually including different transmission routes of ZIKV. These epidemiological models use various combinations of disease transmission (vector and direct) and infectious classes (asymptomatic and pregnant), with addition to loss of immunity being included. The disease-induced death rate is omitted from the models. We test the structural and practical identifiability of the models to find whether unknown model parameters can uniquely be determined. The models were fit to obtain time-series data of cumulative incidences and pregnant infections from the Florida Department of Health Daily Zika Update Reports. The average relative estimation errors (AREs) were computed from the Monte Carlo simulations to further analyze the identifiability of the models. We show that direct transmission rates are not practically identifiable; however, fixed recovery rates improve identifiability overall. We found ARE is low for each model (only slightly higher for those that account for a pregnant class) and help to confirm a reproduction number greater than one at the start of the Florida epidemic. Basic reproduction number, \(\mathcal {R}_0\), is an epidemiologically important threshold value which gives the number of secondary cases generated by one infected individual in a totally susceptible population in duration of infectiousness. Elasticity of the reproduction numbers suggests that the mosquito-to-human ratio, mosquito life span and biting rate have the greatest potential for reducing the reproduction number of Zika, and therefore, corresponding control measures need to be focused on.     

Effectiveness of a WHO self‐help psychological intervention for preventing mental disorders among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a randomized controlled trial

Refugees are at high risk of developing mental disorders. There is no evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that psychological interventions can prevent the onset of mental disorders in this group. We assessed the effectiveness of a self‐help psychological intervention developed by the World Health Organization, called Self‐Help Plus, in preventing the development of mental disorders among Syrian refugees experiencing psychological distress in Turkey. A two‐arm, assessor‐masked RCT was conducted in two Turkish areas. Eligible participants were adult Syrian refugees experiencing psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire ≥3), but without a diagnosis of mental disorder. They were randomly assigned either to the Self‐Help Plus arm (consisting of Self‐Help Plus combined with Enhanced Care as Usual, ECAU) or to ECAU only in a 1:1 ratio. Self‐Help Plus was delivered in a group format by two facilitators over five sessions. The primary outcome measure was the presence of any mental disorder assessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview at six‐month follow‐up. Secondary outcome measures were the presence of mental disorders at post‐intervention, and psychological distress, symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder and depression, personally identified psychological outcomes, functional impairment, subjective well‐being, and quality of life at post‐intervention and six‐month follow‐up. Between October 1, 2018 and November 30, 2019, 1,186 refugees were assessed for inclusion. Five hundred forty‐four people were ineligible, and 642 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to either Self‐Help Plus (N=322) or ECAU (N=320). Self‐Help Plus participants were significantly less likely to have any mental disorders at six‐month follow‐up compared to the ECAU group (21.69% vs. 40.73%; Cramer''s V = 0.205, p<0.001, risk ratio: 0.533, 95% CI: 0.408‐0.696). Analysis of secondary outcomes suggested that Self‐Help Plus was not effective immediately post‐intervention, but was associated with beneficial effects at six‐month follow‐up in terms of symptoms of depression, personally identified psychological outcomes, and quality of life. This is the first prevention RCT ever conducted among refugees experiencing psychological distress but without a mental disorder. Self‐Help Plus was found to be an effective strategy for preventing the onset of mental disorders. Based on these findings, this low‐intensity self‐help psychological intervention could be scaled up as a public health strategy to prevent mental disorders in refugee populations exposed to ongoing adversities.     

Thermally stimulated luminescence glow curve structure of β‐irradiated CaB4O7:Dy

Thermally stimulated luminescence glow curves of CaB₄O₇:Dy samples after β‐irradiation showed glow peaks at ~335, 530 and 675 K, with a heating rate of 2 K/s. The main peak at 530 K was analyzed using the T_max–T_stop method and was found to be composed of at least five overlapping glow peaks. A curve‐fitting program was used to perform computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGCD) analysis of the complex peak of the dosimetric material of interest. The kinetic parameters, namely activation energy (E) and frequency factor (s), associated with the main glow peak of CaB₄O₇:Dy at 520 K were evaluated using peak shape (PS) and isothermal luminescence decay (ILD) methods. In addition, the kinetics was determined to be first order (b =1) by applying the additive dose method. The activation energies and frequency factors obtained using PS and ILD methods are calculated to be 0.72 and 0.72 eV and 8.76 × 10⁵ and 1.44 × 10⁶/s, respectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inducible nitric oxide synthase and apoptosis in human B cell lymphomas

Nitric oxide synthases are isoenzymes that catalyse the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO). NO plays both pathological and physiological roles depending on its rate of synthesis and concentration in cellular source and microenvironment. Apoptosis is an important biological factor in lymphomas. This study evaluates expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in human lymphomas and its relation with apoptosis. This study comprised 46 cases of B-cell lymphoma. The lymphomas were classified as 3 mantle cell, 5 marginal zone, 4 follicular, 2 Burkitt, 25 diffuse large cell, 2 anaplastic large cell, 3 lymphoblastic, 2 lymphoplasmacytic according to WHO classification of lymphoid neoplasms. Hematoxylin eosin slides of the cases were reviewed and immunoperoxidase technique was performed iNOS and Caspase monoclonal antibodies to selected sections of each case. Antigen staining was carried out with iNOS and Caspase proteins and Ultravision Polyvalent, HRP-AEC kit (Neomarkers-Biogen USA). For the evaluation of iNOS and Caspase, tumor areas with a high density of expression were chosen. Positive stained cells were counted in 5 different areas at a magnification ×40 by an Olympus B × 51 microscope in each case. The iNOS and Caspase expressions were independently recorded by four pathologists and the results were averaged. All of the cases were positive for the iNOS and Caspase. But there is not a statistically important relation between lymphoma grade and iNOS activity. We could not find a correlation between iNOS and patients age. This study reveals the capacity of B-cell neoplasms to express iNOS in situ. In conclusion, our study revealed that there is a positive relation between iNOS expression and apoptosis (p $=$ 0.032 spearman correlation).     

Comparison of the effects of glutamine and an amino acid solution on post-thawed ram sperm parameters,lipid peroxidation and anti-oxidant activities

Ram semen contains sufficient quantities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and much lower concentrations of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and catalase (CAT) to prevent oxidative damage. The anti-oxidant capacity of the sperm cell is limited, due to a small cytoplasmic component, which contains these anti-oxidants to scavenge the oxidants. However, the concentration of these anti-oxidants may decrease considerably by the dilution of the semen. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of two anti-oxidants, namely, glutamine and an amino acid solution (BME) in a Tris-based extender on ram sperm parameters, lipid peroxidation and anti-oxidant capacity after the cryopreservation/thawing process. Ejaculates collected from 4 Akkaraman rams were evaluated and pooled at 37 °C. Semen samples which were diluted with the tris-based extender containing glutamine (2.5 or 5 mM), BME (13 or 26%), and no anti-oxidants (control) were cooled to 5 °C and frozen in 0.25-ml French straws and stored in liquid nitrogen. Frozen straws were thawed individually at 37 °C for 20 s in a water bath for evaluation. The freezing extender supplemented with 5 mM glutamine led to higher motility rate (68.0 ± 4.4%) and hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) (64.1 ± 5.5%), when compared to glutamine (2.5 mM) and BME (13 and 26%) (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed regarding sperm motility and HOST, following the supplementation of the freezing extender with glutamine 2.5 mM and BME (13 and 26%) after thawing. CAT activity remained significantly higher following the addition of glutamine 5 mM (6.4 ± 0.9 kU/g protein), compared to the other treatments (P < 0.01). The anti-oxidants at different levels were not effective in the elimination of malondialdehyde (MDA) formation and maintenance of SOD activities, when compared to the control (P < 0.05). Findings showed that glutamine (5 mM) supplementation in semen extenders, was of greater benefit to frozen–thawed ram sperm. Future efforts are needed to find the appropriate anti-oxidants and their effective concentrations to improve post-thaw sperm parameters (e.g. motility, membrane integrity, fertility) and anti-oxidant activities when frozen–thawed ram sperm is used.