Implication of CDKAL1 single-nucleotide polymorphism rs 9465871 in obese and non-obese Egyptian children.

INTRODUCTION: CDKAL1 single-nucleotide polymorphism rs 9465871variant is a risk locus for Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM).The study evaluated the associations of CDKAL1- rs9465871 with glycosylated hemoglobin A1C Level (HbA1c), fasting insulin level, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome among obese and non- obese Egyptian children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 43 obese children and 40 normal weight children. Anthropometric body measurements, bio-specimen and biochemistry assays were done. Genotyping of rs9465871 (CDKAL1) was conducted. RESULTS: The percentages of the CC, CT, and TT genotypes of rs9465871in the lean children were 15%, 42.5%, and 42.5%, respectively. Regarding obese children, the frequencies were 18.6%, 58.1% and 23.3% respectively with no significant statistical difference. Comparison between the CDKAL1 rs 9465871 polymorphism showed that the highest value of fasting insulin was recorded in CC genotype (22.80± 15.18 [uIU/mL] P<.014). Levels of HOMA-IR, FBS and HBA1C were highest in CC group with no statistical significant differences. However, fasting insulin level was higher in the CC group than in the TT+ CT group (P<.01). A higher level of HbA1c was found among CC group at CDKAL1-rs9465871 (5.9%) than TT+CT genotype group (5.6%), with no statistical significant difference. There was increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes the percentages were 78.6% and 46.4% respectively when comparing CC with TT+CT genotype groups ( P<.039). CC group was not associated with significant increase in metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: There is a significant risk association between CDKAL1-rs9465871polymorphism and development of T2DM in a subset of the Egyptian children.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation identifies cortical excitability changes in monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.

OBJECTIVES: A limited number of electroencephalography (EEG) studies in nocturnal enuresis (NE) have reported cortical dysmaturity. The aim of the present study was to test this notion by examining cortical excitability in subjects with nocturnal enuresis (NE) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We investigated 41 patients with NE meeting the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for NE, and 18 age- and sex-matched controls. Each subject was assessed clinically regarding frequency, duration of enuresis and Health Survey Measurement. Neurophysiological measures included resting and active motor thresholds (RMT, AMT), motor evoked potentials (MEP) of upper and lower limbs, cortical silent period duration (CSP) and transcallosal inhibition (TCI), in the upper limbs. RESULTS: Patients had a significantly lower Health Survey Measurement score for both physical and mental health components compared to the control group. RMT and AMT of both upper and lower limbs as well as the duration of the CSP and TCI were significantly reduced compared with the control group. There was significant positive correlation between RMT, AMT and Health Survey Measurement scores, especially Social Functioning. CONCLUSION: Patients with nocturnal enuresis are characterized by pathologically increased excitability and reduced inhibitory processing in the motor cortex, which could contribute to the pathogenesis of nocturnal enuresis.

Life cycle assessment of energy self-sufficiency systems based on agricultural residues for organic arable farms.

The agricultural industry today consumes large amounts of fossil fuels. This study used consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyse two potential energy self-sufficient systems for organic arable farms, based on agricultural residues. The analysis focused on energy balance, resource use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A scenario based on straw was found to require straw harvest from 25% of the farm area; 45% of the total energy produced from the straw was required for energy carrier production and GHG emissions were reduced by 9% compared with a fossil fuel-based reference scenario. In a scenario based on anaerobic digestion of ley, the corresponding figures were 13%, 24% and 35%. The final result was sensitive to assumptions regarding, e.g., soil carbon content and handling of by-products.

Cheese Slurry in the Acceleration of Cephalotyre "Ras" Cheese Ripening.

A method has been adopted for the acceleration of Cephalotyre "Ras" cheese ripening. Ras cheese slurry incubated at 30° C for 7 d was added to cheese milk before addition of the starter or to the cheese curd before hooping. Flavor development. protein degradation and fat hydrolysis were enhanced in cheeses with added slurry. Moreover, the ripening period was reduced to 2 months compared with 4 months required for the control cheese. The effect of cheese slurry was more remarkable when it was added to the curd.

Image analysis of atypical bronchial squamous epithelial cells. A quantitative and qualitative examination of squamous cell carcinogenesis.

Atypical bronchial squamous epithelial cells from cigarette smokers were digitized using a high-resolution microphotometric scanning system operating at a wavelength of 530 nm. All cells used for the purpose of developing a training set as well as those used as a test set were classified by a team of three cytopathologists. Reduction in the dimensionality of the feature space and cell classification were performed using a new system known as the atypia status index (ASI); this dual-purpose system will specifically classify cells into five distinct classes of progressive atypia as well as quantitate the degree of atypicality of each individual cell. The distribution of cellular ASI values was arranged from lowest to highest and plotted for each subject as a profile. The ASI range has well-defined intervals, representing the five different atypia classes used in the study (squamous metaplasia, mild atypia, moderate atypia, severe atypia and carcinoma). Subjects at different stages of carcinogenesis were found to have significantly different profiles (P less than 0.01). Changes in visual morphologic characteristics and their relation to changes in ASI values for the five different classes of atypia are presented.

Nuclear boundary detection algorithm based on a minimax derivative statistic for atypical bronchial squamous epithelial cells.

The thresholding approach in scene segmentation of digitized cell images was found to be unreliable for use with squamous epithelial cells characterized by chromatin condensation within the nucleus. It was observed that the nuclear boundaries of such cells were visually distinguishable. An algorithm was developed for detecting nuclear boundaries in digitized cell images. This algorithm is based on a minimax derivative statistic that has maximum values at nuclear boundaries and low values elsewhere. The statistical properties of the confusion matrix of cellular scene segmentation are outlined. A measurement and a test statistic for scene segmentation errors based on those properties are presented.

Aytpia status index of respiratory cells: a measurement for the detection and monitoring of neoplastic changes in squamous cell carcinogenesis.

A statistical procedure was developed for calculating an atypia status index (ASI) for cells from the bronchial mucosa. These indices represent the degree of abnormal changes in these cells and classify them as squamous metaplasia, mild atypia, moderate atypia, servere atypia or carcinoma. The classification accuracy of the procedure was more than 99% on trained data and was accomplished by minimizing the overlapping areas between the adjacent multivariate distributions of cell groups for selected features whose group means represent a monotonic function and for which the cell categories are distinguishable. The calculated ASI may reflect abnormal changes in the cell that may not be clearly evident visually. It appears that progression or reversal of bronchial epithelial atypia can be accurately monitored by studying the changes in the ASI, not only for preneoplasia but also for reactions to chemotherapy and various pulmonary infectious disease processes, such as influenza.

Cell atypia profiles for bronchial epithelial cells: mathematical evaluation of sputum cellular atypia in squamous cell carcinogenesis of the lung.

Atypical bronchial epithelial cells from the sputum of male cigarette smokers were digitized by scanning microphotometry and analyzed by computerized image analysis techniques. A set of specific analytic features based on cell morphology was extracted and combined mathematically to be expressed as a single number (Atypia Status Index). This index represented the stages of the cellular atypia (squamous metaplasia; mild, moderate or severe atypia; or carcinoma) quantiatively as a single number varying between 0.0 and 5.5 The Atypia Status Index for each cell correlated highly (94% to 99%) with visual cytopathologic classification. The distributions of cells according to their indices were profiled for patients at various stages of carcinogenesis and used to classify patients relative to their degree of cell atypia. These results compared favorable to those of the clinical evaluation.

Effect of prehatching weightlessness on adult fish behavior in dynamic environments.

At 16-17 months of age, three groups of fish from the embryonated eggs in the ASTP killifish experiment were subjected to postflight tests consisting of rapidly changing environments. It was found that the group of fish with the least amount of development at orbital insertion (A-32) had a decreased rheotropism for both the moving background and the rotating water current tests when compared to ground control fish. Exposure to parabolic aircraft flight conditions revealed that the A-32 fish were less disoriented during zero gravity periods and were hypersensitive to high-gravity periods. These results suggested a modified vestibular competency due to a 9-d prehatching weightlessness exposure.

Behavioral analyses of killifish exposed to weightlessness in the Apollo-Soyuz test project.

Two groups of killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, which were flown aboard Apollo-Soyuz, were subjected to postflight behavioral testing. The first group examined consisted of a graded series of embryos representing key developmental stages at orbital insertion (32-h, 66-h, and 128-h stages; pre-liftoff fertilization times). The tests revealed that the young adults from the flight 32-h stage had a significantly decreased positive geotaxis and increased negative phototaxis when compared with ground controls. These findings suggested a greater sensitization of the least-developed flight stage to post-hatching environmental influences. The second group consisted of 21-d old juveniles which were subjected to light orientation tests soon after recovery. No significant differences were detected.