Antifungal, antiaflatoxigenic, and cytotoxic properties of bioactive secondary metabolites derived from Bacillus species.

Aflatoxins (AFs) are hazardous carcinogens and mutagens produced by some molds, particularly Aspergillus spp. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to isolate and identify endophytic bacteria, extract and characterize their bioactive metabolites, and evaluate their antifungal, antiaflatoxigenic, and cytotoxic efficacy against brine shrimp (Artemia salina) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2). Among the 36 bacterial strains isolated, ten bacterial isolates showed high antifungal activity, and thus were identified using biochemical parameters and MALDI-TOF MS.

Value of Serum Asymmetric Dimethylarginine (ADMA) As a Novel Biomarker for Uveitis in Behçet's Disease.

Purpose: To evaluate the serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) level as a biomarker for uveitis in Behçet's Disease (BD).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, two groups of BD patients were examined: 33 with uveitis and 27 without uveitis. All patients were clinically evaluated, with disease activity measured by Behçet's Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF) score.

Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism in Egyptian multiple sclerosis patients.

One of the most common neurological illnesses in the world is multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). MS has both a genetic and an environmental origin. In terms of environmental factors, vitamin D deficiency is one of the most important risk factors and closely connected with gene polymorphisms involved in vitamin D metabolism, transport, or activity.

Neuromuscular Ultrasound in Polyneuropathies.

Neuromuscular ultrasound is a painless, radiation-free, high-resolution imaging technique for assessing the peripheral nervous system. It can accurately depict changes in the nerves and muscles of individuals with neuromuscular conditions, and it is therefore a robust diagnostic tool for the assessment of individuals with polyneuropathies. This review will outline the typical ultrasonographic changes found in a wide variety of polyneuropathies.

Evaluation of Serum Neurofilament Light Chain and Nerve Ultrasound in Diabetic Neuropathy.

Objective: To assess the role of serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels in individuals with diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) compared with controls, as well as to highlight the different sonographic changes in DPN and determine if NfL correlates with sonographic, clinical, and functional parameters.

Methods: Diabetic individuals with signs or symptoms consistent with peripheral nerve involvement were recruited. They were evaluated by examination, functional neuropathy severity scores, laboratory assessments (including NfL), nerve conduction studies (NCS), and ultrasound.

Exploration of Neurofilament Light Chain and Nerve Ultrasound in Leprotic Neuropathy.

Objectives: To explore neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels in leprotic neuropathy compared to controls, and to determine if the changes correlate with ultrasonographic nerve findings.

Methods: Individuals with leprosy with signs or symptoms suggestive of peripheral nerve involvement were recruited. They were evaluated by clinical examination, functional scores, laboratory assessments (including NfL), nerve conduction studies (NCS), and ultrasound.

An Eco-Friendly Approach Utilizing Green Synthesized Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles for Leather Conservation against a Fungal Strain, AL1, Involved in the Biodeterioration of a Historical Manuscript.

The main hypothesis of the present research is investigating the efficacy of titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO-NPs) to prevent the growth of fungal strains when applied on leather under an experimental study. Therefore, fifteen fungal strains were isolated from a deteriorated historical manuscript (papers and leathers) and identified by traditional methods and ITS sequence analysis, including (one isolate), (two strains), (four strains), (one strain), (one strain), (two strains), (two strains), and (two strains). The enzymes cellulase, amylase, pectinase, and gelatinase, which play a crucial role in biodegradation, were highly active in these fungal strains.

Ross procedure versus pulmonary homograft versus mechanical valve versus bioprosthetic valve versus Ozaki procedure for surgical aortic valve replacement: a frequentist network meta-analysis.

Background: There has been a resurgence in interest regarding the Ross procedure due to recent publications detailing positive long-term outcomes. Conversely, surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) with a pulmonary homograft (PH), mechanical (MV), bioprosthetic (BV), or the Ozaki procedure each has its own technical advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, we performed a network meta-analysis (NMA) comparing other alternatives to Ross procedure.

Efficacy of ultraviolet B radiation versus vitamin D on postural control and cognitive functions in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A randomized controlled study.

Background: The relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is the most common type of MS with prevalence rate 20-60 patients/100.000 individuals in Egypt. Poor postural control and cognitive dysfunctions are well-established complications of RRMS without potent remedy yet.

A clinical comparative analysis between expanded NIHSS and original NIHSS in posterior circulation ischemic stroke.

Background: The NIHSS is used routinely but has drawbacks. One of them is its inefficiency in detecting all signs of posterior circulation strokes. Since its declaration as a possible substitute for NIHSS in posterior circulation strokes in 2016; the expanded NIHSS (e-NIHSS) has not been paid much attention.

Antifungal Activity of Cell-Free Filtrate of Probiotic Bacteria ATCC-7469 against Fungal Strains Isolated from a Historical Manuscript.

Herein, twelve fungal strains were isolated from a deteriorated historical manuscript dated back to the 18th century. The obtained fungal strains were identified, using the traditional method and ITS sequence analysis, as (two strains), (five strains), (one strain), (two strains), (one strain), and (one strain). The ability of these fungal strains to degrade the main components of the paper was investigated by their activity to secrete extracellular enzymes including cellulase, amylase, gelatinase, and pectinase.

Extraction and characterization of bioactive secondary metabolites from lactic acid bacteria and evaluating their antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic activity.

Aflatoxins are toxic carcinogens and mutagens formed by some moulds, specifically spp. Therefore, this study aimed to extract and identify bioactive secondary metabolites from species, to evaluate their efficacy in reducing fungal growth and aflatoxin production and to investigate their toxicity. The bioactive secondary metabolites of species showed variable degrees of antifungal activity, whereas ethyl acetate extract No.

Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Among Students of Four Undergraduate Health Professions Education Programs.

Background: In interprofessional learning, students from different professions learn about, from, and with each other so that they can collaborate effectively, deliver high-quality healthcare, and achieve positive health outcomes. This study aimed to explore the readiness of students from four health professions education programs for interprofessional learning.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 339 students.

Effective Approaches to Fetal Brain Segmentation in MRI and Gestational Age Estimation by Utilizing a Multiview Deep Inception Residual Network and Radiomics.

To completely comprehend neurodevelopment in healthy and congenitally abnormal fetuses, quantitative analysis of the human fetal brain is essential. This analysis requires the use of automatic multi-tissue fetal brain segmentation techniques. This paper proposes an end-to-end automatic yet effective method for a multi-tissue fetal brain segmentation model called IRMMNET.

Efficient Staining-Invariant Nuclei Segmentation Approach Using Self-Supervised Deep Contrastive Network.

Existing nuclei segmentation methods face challenges with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) whole slide imaging (WSI) due to the variations in staining methods and nuclei shapes and sizes. Most existing approaches require a stain normalization step that may cause losing source information and fail to handle the inter-scanner feature instability problem. To mitigate these issues, this article proposes an efficient staining-invariant nuclei segmentation method based on self-supervised contrastive learning and an effective weighted hybrid dilated convolution (WHDC) block.

Modulation of the miR-122/Sirt-6/ACE2 axis on experimentally-induced myocardial infarction.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a progressive myocardial necrosis that can lead to a number of life-threatening complications. MiRNAs have a crucial role in the pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases. Remarkably, miR-122 targets the sirtuin-6 (Sirt-6) gene, which is an essential regulator of cardiovascular function and is considered a partial angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) activator.

Fungal Biodeterioration of a Historical Manuscript Dating Back to the 14th Century: An Insight into Various Fungal Strains and Their Enzymatic Activities.

This study aims to assess the deterioration aspects of a historical manuscript dating back to the 14th century that was deposited in the Library of the Arabic Language Academy, Cairo, Egypt. The study aims at the exploration of the role of various fungal strains that had colonized this deteriorated manuscript in its biodeterioration through their efficacy in the secretion of various hydrolytic enzymes. To evaluate the deterioration, various techniques, including visual inspection, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), color change, and pH value, were utilized.

An Enhanced Scheme for Reducing the Complexity of Pointwise Convolutions in CNNs for Image Classification Based on Interleaved Grouped Filters without Divisibility Constraints.

In image classification with Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs), the number of parameters in pointwise convolutions rapidly grows due to the multiplication of the number of filters by the number of input channels that come from the previous layer. Existing studies demonstrated that a subnetwork can replace pointwise convolutional layers with significantly fewer parameters and fewer floating-point computations, while maintaining the learning capacity. In this paper, we propose an improved scheme for reducing the complexity of pointwise convolutions in DCNNs for image classification based on interleaved grouped filters without divisibility constraints.

Diacetylrhein, an anthraquinone antiarthritic agent, suppresses dextran sodium sulfate-induced inflammation in rats: A possible mechanism for a protective effect against ulcerative colitis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory life-threatening and premalignant disorder with no cure that even might end up with surgical removal of a large section or even all of the colon. It is characterized by relapsing-remitting courses of intestinal inflammation and mucosal damage in which oxidative stress and exaggerated inflammatory response play a significant role. Most of the current medications to maintain remission are symptomatic and have many adverse reactions.

Pimitespib, an HSP90 inhibitor, augments nifuroxazide-induced disruption in the IL-6/STAT3/HIF-1α autocrine loop in rats with bleomycin-challenged lungs: Evolutionary perspective in managing pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal lung disorder in which the etiology and pathogenesis are still unobvious. Effective treatments are urgently needed considering that lung transplantation is the only treatment that could improve outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic significance of the dual administration of pimitespib, an HSP90 inhibitor, and nifuroxazide, a STAT3 inhibitor, against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.

Hydroxy-γ-sanshool from (prickly ash) induces apoptosis of human colorectal cancer cell by activating P53 and Caspase 8.

Sanshools, long-chain polyunsaturated amides in (prickly ash), have important bioactivity. The objective was to assess inhibitory effects and molecular mechanisms of sanshools isolated from supercritical fluid (SCF) extract on human colon adenocarcinoma cells (HCT-116) cultured . Cells were exposed to various concentrations (0, 50, 90, or 130 μM) of sanshools for 24 or 48 h, with assessment of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest as well as regulatory gene and protein expression associated with apoptosis and the cell cycle.

Predicting Breast Tumor Malignancy Using Deep ConvNeXt Radiomics and Quality-Based Score Pooling in Ultrasound Sequences.

Breast cancer needs to be detected early to reduce mortality rate. Ultrasound imaging (US) could significantly enhance diagnosing cases with dense breasts. Most of the existing computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems employ a single ultrasound image for the breast tumor to extract features to classify it as benign or malignant.