Glioma dataset from Rabat: Clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and disease progression features of 32 Moroccan patients with diffuse Glioma.

The Moroccan Glioma Dataset contains the clinical data of 32 patients with glioma. The clinical data including demographic data (age, sex), tumor characteristics (tumor location, Glioma type, Karnofsky performance score, mitotic activity, cell density, necrosis, endotheliocapillary vascular proliferation, MRI contrast pick-up, corpus collosum infiltration and Oedema), treatment strategy (subtotal resection, gross resection, biopsy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy), expression pattern of tumor biomarkers (IDH1, HIF-1alpha, P53, Ki-67), and survival data (Kaplan-Meier curves for disease progression). The dataset can be used to relate tumor characteristics to tumor biomarkers and to predict disease progression for a better treatment management. The data were presented, analyzed, and described in the article "Immunohistochemical expression of HIF-1α, IDH1 and TP53: prognostic profile of Moroccan patients with diffuse glioma" published in Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy [1].

Immunohistochemical expression of HIF-1α, IDH1 and TP53: Prognostic profile of Moroccan patients with diffuse glioma.

Diffuse gliomas are growing brain tumors that occur in adult life. This study was designed to determine whether the immunohistochemical analysis of IDH1, HIF-1alpha, or TP53 can provide useful biomarkers of clinical severity and progression of diffuse gliomas. Also, it is hypothesized that the expression of IDH1 mutant induces HIF-1alpha. Immunohistochemical staining for HIF-1alpha, IDH1, and TP 53 was performed in biopsy or resection (sub-total or gross-total) tissue from diffuse gliomas in a clinical series of 32 patients. Associations of the HIF-1alpha, IDH1, and TP53 with clinical characteristics were evaluated and the co-expression of two biomarkers (HIF-1alpha and IDH1) was tested. Our data revealed that each biomarker is expressed in a subset of gliomas (IDH1 was positive in 56% cases, HIF-1alpha was positive in 50% cases and TP53 was positive in 44% cases). While no associations were found between clinical characteristics and the expression of HIF-1alpha, and TP53, IDH1 expression was associated with less severe clinical presentation (Karnofsky Performance Status) and disease progression and was more often expressed in females than males. In addition, there was no clear association between IDH1 and HIF-1alpha expression (21.9% of patients co-expressed IDH1 and HIF-1alpha). The current series provides clinical and immunohistochemical findings that can be useful for the clinical management of patients with diffused gliomas.

Almond oil: A comprehensive review of chemical composition, extraction methods, preservation conditions, potential health benefits, and safety.

Almond oil, a rich source of macronutrients and micronutrients, is extracted for food flavorings and the cosmetics industry. In recent years, the need for high-quality and high-quantity production of almond oil for human consumption has been increased. The present review examines the chemical composition of almond oil, storage conditions, and clinical evidence supporting the health benefits of almond oil. From the reviewed studies, it appears that almond oil contains a significant proportion of poly and monounsaturated fatty acids, with oleic acid as the main compound, and an important amount of tocopherol and phytosterol content. Some variations in almond oil composition can be found depending on the kernel's origin and the extraction system used. Some new technologies such as ultrasonic-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, subcritical fluid extraction, and salt-assisted aqueous extraction have emerged as the most promising extraction techniques that allow eco-friendly and effective recovery of almond oil. This safe oil was reported by several clinical studies to have potential roles in cardiovascular risk management, glucose homeostasis, oxidative stress reduction, neuroprotection, and many dermatologic and cosmetic applications. However, the anticarcinogenic and fertility benefits of almond oil have yet to be experimentally verified.

Exploring the predictors of health-protective behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country comparison.

In recent years, examining the determinants of health behaviors on a multi-country level remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the key factors that may enhance the adoption of health-protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco and India. A theoretical framework derived from the health belief model (HBM) was used for this research. Data was collected from a sample of 444 adult individuals split across Morocco (n = 215) and India (n = 229). Data analysis was carried out using two-stage multiple-analytic techniques. First, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. Second, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was employed to rank the significant independent variables obtained from SEM analysis. The results of SEM showed that perceived benefit is the key predictor of the protective behavior in Morocco, followed by self-efficacy, and then perceived severity. By contrast, ANN analysis showed that perceived severity was the most vital factor for predicting the protective behavior in Morocco, followed by perceived benefits, and then self-efficacy. For the Indian sample, both SEM analysis and the ANN model revealed that the impact of perceived susceptibility on the adoption of the protective measure is stronger than that of cues to action. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are also discussed toward the end.

Effect of Melatonin Implants during the Non-Breeding Season on the Onset of Ovarian Activity and the Plasma Prolactin in Dromedary Camel.

To examine a possible control of reproductive seasonality by melatonin, continual-release subcutaneous melatonin implants were inserted 4.5 months before the natural breeding season (October-April) into female camels (Melatonin-treated group). The animals were exposed to an artificial long photoperiod (16L:8D) for 41 days prior to implant placement to facilitate receptivity to the short-day signal that is expected with melatonin implants. The treated and control groups (untreated females) were maintained separately under outdoor natural conditions. Ovarian follicular development was monitored in both groups by transrectal ultrasonography and by plasma estradiol-17ß concentrations performed weekly for 8 weeks and then for 14 weeks following implant insertion. Plasma prolactin concentrations were determined at 45 and 15 days before and 0, 14, 28, 56, and 98 days after implant insertion. Plasma melatonin concentration was determined to validate response to the artificial long photoperiod and to verify the pattern of release from the implants. Results showed that the artificial long photoperiod induced a melatonin secretion peak of significantly (P < 0.05) shorter duration (about 2.5 h). Melatonin release from the implants resulted in higher circulating plasma melatonin levels during daytime and nighttime which persisted for more than 12 weeks following implants insertion. Treatment with melatonin implants advanced the onset of follicular growth activity by 3.5 months compared to untreated animals. Plasma estradiol-17ß increased gradually from the second week after the beginning of treatment to reach significantly (P < 0.01) higher concentrations (39.2 ± 6.2 to 46.4 ± 4.5 pg/ml) between the third and the fifth week post insertion of melatonin implants. Treatment with melatonin implants also induced a moderate, but significant (P < 0.05) suppressive effect on plasma prolactin concentration on the 28th day. These results demonstrate that photoperiod appears to be involved in dromedary reproductive seasonality. Melatonin implants may be a useful tool to manipulate seasonality and to improve reproductive performance in this species. Administration of subcutaneous melatonin implants during the transition period to the breeding season following an artificial signal of long photoperiod have the potential to advance the breeding season in camels by about 2.5 months.

Feature selection and extraction for class prediction in dysphonia measures analysis:A case study on Parkinson's disease speech rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND: Speech disorders such as dysphonia and dysarthria represent an early and common manifestation of Parkinson's disease. Class prediction is an essential task in automatic speech treatment, particularly in the Parkinson's disease case. Many classification experiments have been performed which focus on the automatic detection of Parkinson's disease patients from healthy speakers but results are still not optimistic. A major problem in accomplishing this task is high dimensionality of speech data. OBJECTIVE: In this work, the potential of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based modeling in dimensionality reduction is taken into consideration as the data smoothening tool with multiclass target expression data. METHODS: On the basis of suggested PCA-based modeling, the power of class prediction using logistic regression (LR) and C5.0 in numeric data is investigated in publicly available Parkinson's disease dataset Silverman voice treatment (LSVT) to develop an advanced classification model. RESULTS: The main advantage of our model is the effective reduction of the number of factors from p= 309 to k= 32 for LSVT Voice Rehabilitation dataset, with a fine classification accuracy of 100% and 99.92% for PCA-LR and PCA-C5.0 respectively. In addition, using only 9 dysphonia features, classification accuracy was (99.20%) and (99.11%) for PCA-LR, and PCA-C5.0 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our combined dimension reduction and data smoothening approaches have significant potential to minimize the number of features and increase the classification accuracy and then automatically classify subjects into Parkinson's disease patients or healthy speakers.

Anticancer potential of Trigonella foenum graecum: Cellular and molecular targets.

A growing body of evidence supported by numerous studies on tumorigenesis confirms that it is possible to target various hallmarks of cancer. Recent studies have shown that plant-derived molecules may be used in targeting different signaling pathways for cancer drug discovery. The present paper gives an insight into the anticancer potential of fenugreek and lists the existing studies that have been carried out to demonstrate the advantages of the use of fenugreek in cancer treatment and prevention. It also aims at opening up new perspectives in the development of new drugs of natural origins in the future clinical trials. This review article will discuss; (1) the chemical constituents and bioactive compounds of fenugreek; (2) effects on oxidative stress and inflammation; (3) effects on proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion; (4) toxicity of fenugreek; and 5) future directions in cancer drug development. All of the experimental studies discussed in this paper suggest that multiple signaling pathways (hallmarks) are involved in the anticancer activities of fenugreek, but their efficacy is still unclear, which requires further investigation.

Toxicological properties of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum).

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum), used as traditional medicine and natural additive food, has been shown to exert significant antiatherogenic, antidiabetic, antianorexic, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antihyperlipidemic, galactogogue and anti-inflammatory effects in several human and animal models. Besides, several medicinal pharmaceutical and nutraceutical properties, fenugreek have toxic effects as well. The aim of this review is discuss the cumulative evidence, which suggests that consumption of fenugreek induced some serious toxicological side effects. In this review, many teratogenic effects of fenugreek, from congenital malformations to death, were reported in human, rodent, rabbit, and chick. Moreover, results obtained in rats, mice and rabbits show a testicular toxicity and anti-fertility effects in male associated with oxidative stress and DNA damage, as well as anti-fertility, antiimplantation and abortifacient activity in females related to saponin compound of fenugreek which suggest that fenugreek is not recommended for use during pregnancy. Indeed, the consumption of fenugreek should be avoided for persons having peanut and chickpeas allergy because of possible cross-reactivity as well as chronic asthma. Accumulating evidence suggest also that fenugreek may have neurodevelopmental, neurobehavioral and neuropathological side effects. It is suggested that future studies would be conducted to identify molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the fenugreek toxicological properties.

Etiological theories of addiction: A comprehensive update on neurobiological, genetic and behavioural vulnerability.

Currently, about 246 million people around the world have used an illicit drug. The reasons for this use are multiple: e.g. to augment the sensation of pleasure or to reduce the withdrawal and other aversive effects of a given substance. This raises the problem of addiction, which remains a disease of modern society. This review offers a comprehensive update of the different theories about the etiology of addictive behaviors with emphasis on the neurobiological, environmental, psychopathological, behavioural and genetic aspects of addictions, discussed from an evolutionary perspective. The main conclusion of this review is that vulnerability to drug addiction suggests an interaction between many brain systems (including the reward, decision-making, serotonergic, oxytocin, interoceptive insula, CRF, norepinephrine, dynorphin/KOR, orexin and vasopressin systems), genetic predisposition, sociocultural context, impulsivity and drugs types. Further advances in biological and psychological science are needed to address the problems of addiction at its roots.

Physiological and pharmacological properties of 5-methoxytryptophol.

5-methoxytryptophol (5-ML) is a pineal indoleamine derived from serotonin shown to be biologically active in a number of species. This indolamine exhibits a circadian pattern synchronized with the day-night cycle with significant increases during daylight, already recognized in vertebrates. The multiplicity of physiological and endocrine functions of 5-ML is remarkable; it is involved in circadian rhythms, reproduction and sexual processes. Furthermore, a number of pharmacological benefits of 5-ML have been reported, including immunomodulatory, antitumor and antioxidative activities. However, the molecular mechanisms of these pharmacological effects remain unclear. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview on the general properties and physiological functions of 5-ML. An attempt has been made to fully document all studies performed using 5-ML. In addition, this article aims to gain insight into the current state of knowledge regarding pharmacological and therapeutic effects of this indoleamine.

Insight in schizophrenia: from conceptualization to neuroscience.

Lack of insight into illness is a prevalent and distinguishing feature of schizophrenia, which has a complex history and has been given a variety of definitions. Currently, insight is measured and treated as a multidimensional phenomenon, because it is believed to result from psychological, neuropsychological and organic factors. Thus, schizophrenia patients may display dramatic disorders including demoralization, depression and a higher risk of suicide, all of which are directly or indirectly related to a lack of insight into their illness, and make the treatment difficult. To improve the treatment of people with schizophrenia, it is thus crucial to advance research on insight into their illness. Insight is studied in a variety of ways. Studies may focus on the relationship between insight and psychopathology, may view behavioral outcomes or look discretely at the cognitive dysfunction versus anatomy level of insight. All have merit but they are dispersed across a wide body of literature and rarely are the findings integrated and synthesized in a meaningful way. The aim of this study was to synthesize findings across the large body of literature dealing with insight, to highlight its multidimensional nature, measurement, neuropsychology and social impact in schizophrenia. The extensive literature on the cognitive consequences of lack of insight and the contribution of neuroimaging techniques to elucidating neurological etiology of insight deficits, is also reviewed.