Pro-apoptotic, anti-metastatic, and anti-telomerase activity of and its active polysaccharide arabinogalactan during Benzo(a)pyrene-induced lung carcinogenesis.

Background: The present study aims to unravel the pro-apoptotic, anti-metastatic, and anti-telomerase activity of aqueous extract of Tinospora cordifolia stem (Aq.Tc) and its active component arabinogalactan (AG) during Benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P]-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice.

Materials And Methods: Lung tumors were induced in male BALB/c mice using B(a)P as a carcinogen.

Role of neurotransmitters in the regulation of cutaneous wound healing.

Wound healing is a highly coordinated and dynamic process of tissue repair after injury. The global burden of disease associated with wounds, both acute and chronic, is a significantly rising health concern. Upon skin wounding, neurons have the ability to sense the disruption to mediate the release of neurotransmitters into the wound microenvironment.

A critical assessment of stillbirths at a tertiary care hospital.

Background: Globally in 2015, 2.6 million stillbirths occurred with estimated stillbirth rate (SBR) of 18.4/1000 births.

Diabetic neuropathy: an insight on the transition from synthetic drugs to herbal therapies.

The global pandemic of prediabetes and diabetes has led to a severe corresponding complication of these disorders. Neuropathy is one of the most prevalent complication of diabetes is, affecting blood supply of the peripheral nervous system that may eventually results into loss of sensations, injuries, diabetic foot and death. The utmost identified risk of diabetic neuropathy is uncontrolled high blood glucose levels.

Evaluation of commercial SARS-CoV-2 serological assays in Canadian public health laboratories.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the influx of immunoassays for the detection of antibodies towards severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) into the global market. The Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network Serology Task Force undertook a nationwide evaluation of twelve laboratory and 6 point-of-care based commercial serological assays for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We determined that there was considerable variability in the performance of individual tests and that an orthogonal testing algorithm should be prioritized to maximize the accuracy and comparability of results across the country.

Chemopreventive role of arabinogalactan against experimentally induced pulmonary carcinogenesis: a study in relation to its initiation phase.

The aim of the present study is to divulge the chemopreventive potential of arabinogalactan (AG) on benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] induced initiation of lung carcinogenesis. AG is one of the naturally occurring bioactive polysaccharides which is widely found in medicinal plants. Male Balb/c mice were divided into four experimental groups.

Azadirachta indica mitigates DMBA-induced hepatotoxicity: a biochemical and radiometric study.

The hepatoprotective potential of aqueous Azadirachta indica leaf extract (AAILE) was assessed against DMBA-induced hepatotoxicity. DMBA (7,12-dimethylbenz[a] anthracene) treatment (40 mg/kg body weight, ip) to male Balb/c mice resulted in the derailment of liver function as revealed by extremely slow clearance of 99mTc-mebrofenin from liver, elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine transaminase (ALT), compared to control group. In addition, elevated micronuclei score and high apoptotic index indicated hepatogenotoxicity in DMBA-treated mice.

Estimation of Myocardial Volume at Risk from CT Angiography.

The determination of myocardial volume at risk distal to coronary stenosis provides important information for prognosis and treatment of coronary artery disease. In this paper, we present a novel computational framework for estimating the myocardial volume at risk in computed tomography angiography (CTA) imagery. Initially, epicardial and endocardial surfaces, and coronary arteries are extracted using an active contour method.

Development of stereotactic mass spectrometry for brain tumor surgery.

Background: Surgery remains the first and most important treatment modality for the majority of solid tumors. Across a range of brain tumor types and grades, postoperative residual tumor has a great impact on prognosis. The principal challenge and objective of neurosurgical intervention is therefore to maximize tumor resection while minimizing the potential for neurological deficit by preserving critical tissue.

Tubular surface segmentation for extracting anatomical structures from medical imagery.

This work provides a model for tubular structures, and devises an algorithm to automatically extract tubular anatomical structures from medical imagery. Our model fits many anatomical structures in medical imagery, in particular, various fiber bundles in the brain (imaged through diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (DW-MRI)) such as the cingulum bundle, and blood vessel trees in computed tomography angiograms (CTAs). Extraction of the cingulum bundle is of interest because of possible ties to schizophrenia, and extracting blood vessels is helpful in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.

Imaging of meningioma progression by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Often considered benign, meningiomas represent 32% of intracranial tumors with three grades of malignancy defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) histology based classification. Malignant meningiomas are associated with less than 2 years median survival. The inability to predict recurrence and progression of meningiomas induces significant anxiety for patients and limits physicians in implementing prophylactic treatment approaches.

Finsler tractography for white matter connectivity analysis of the cingulum bundle.

In this paper, we present a novel approach for the segmentation of white matter tracts based on Finsler active contours. This technique provides an optimal measure of connectivity, explicitly segments the connecting fiber bundle, and is equipped with a metric which is able to utilize the directional information of high angular resolution data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm for segmenting the cingulum bundle.

Locally-Constrained Region-Based Methods for DW-MRI Segmentation.

In this paper, we describe a method for segmenting fiber bundles from diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images using a locally-constrained region based approach. From a pre-computed optimal path, the algorithm propagates outward capturing only those voxels which are locally connected to the fiber bundle. Rather than attempting to find large numbers of open curves or single fibers, which individually have questionable meaning, this method segments the full fiber bundle region.