Loftnoer4906

l of blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors before the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality explode in the rural communities.

Lichen planus is a darkly pigmented skin disease that impairs the quality of life of patients. The effect of lichen planus on patient's quality of life (QoL) is not widely documented. The study's objective was to determine QoL impairment of LP patients, determine what aspect of QoL is impaired, and correlate clinical and sociodemographic characteristics with QOL impairment.

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted from February 2018 to January 2019 at the outpatient dermatology clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. All consecutive newly diagnosed LP patients who gave their consent were recruited into the study. Socio-demographic data and QoL (using the dermatology life quality index, DLQI) was documented. The hospital's ethical committee gave ethical approval for the study. The patients were clinically examined. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 22. The level of significance of all tests was set at 5%.

Quality of life was impaired in 95.5% of the patients. The mean DLQI score was 10±6.7. The minimum DLQI was one and the highest 24. Quality of life was mildly, moderately and severely impaired in 38.01%, 23.81% and 38.01% respectively. Pruritus was significantly associated with QoL impairment. Feelings of embarrassment (54.5%), itchy skin (54.5%), interference with being in public (54.5%), social life (50%) and having to deliberately choose clothes to cover the LP lesions (61.1%) were the main items impaired in the DLQI instrument.

Lichen planus affects QoL of patients negatively. The items of impairment are feelings of embarrassment, social functioning and choice of clothing.

Lichen planus affects QoL of patients negatively. The items of impairment are feelings of embarrassment, social functioning and choice of clothing.Chronic exposure to altitude has been associated with hypobaric hypoxia in its inhabitants. Two entities have been associated with it, high altitude pulmonary hypertension and chronic mountain sickness. Its physiological and pulmonary circulation characteristics are described, as well as its clinical profile and diagnosis.

Sickle cell anaemia (SCA, HbSS) is a genetic disorder of haemoglobin with marked variation in clinical manifestation. The aim of this study was to determine the foetal haemoglobin (HbF) status of patients with HbSS, compared with that of individuals with HbAS and HbAA control as well as to establish the relationship between HbF level and age and gender of the participants.

This was a cross-sectional study in which HbF values of known HbSS patients along with HbAS and HbAA controls were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Socio-demographic and other information were obtained with the use of questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS software, version 20.0. Ethical approval was obtained for the study.

One hundred and two (102) participants were recruited for the study, comprising 60 patients with HbSS, 22 HbAS and 20 HbAA controls, with mean age of 11.0 years±9.6, 11.7 years ±8.8 and 12.3 years±8.1 respectively. There were 30 (61.2%) males and 30 (56.6%) females for HbSS group, 9 (18.4bin level tend to decrease with advancing age and higher in females. Increased HbF level may play a compensatory mechanism in sickling in HbSS, thus the use of agent that increase HbF level may improve clinical outcome.

To explore the biological function of miR-425/PAK4 axis in proliferation, metastasis, and apoptosis of ovarian cancer (OC) cells.

qRT-PCR and Western blot were adopted to examine miR-425 and PAK4 expressions in OC tissues and cell lines. Selleck A-366 Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and BrdU assays were applied to detect the proliferation ability of OC cells, and Transwell assay was adopted to assess the migration and invasion of OC cells. Flow cytometry was employed to evaluate the apoptosis of OC cells. The interaction between miR-425 and PAK4 was predicted and verified by bioinformatics analysis and dual luciferase reporter gene assay, respectively.

miR-425 was reduced in OC tissues and cell lines, and its underexpression was in evident correlation with the shorter overall survival time of OC patients. miR-425 impeded OC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and accelerated apoptosis. Additionally, PAK4 was validated as the target of miR-425, and the cotransfection of PAK4 reversed the antitumor effect of miR-425.

miR-425 suppresses the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OC cells and enhances apoptosis via inhibiting PAK4, and it is expected to be a prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for the patients with OC.

miR-425 suppresses the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OC cells and enhances apoptosis via inhibiting PAK4, and it is expected to be a prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for the patients with OC.Nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB) can reduce nitrogen at ambient pressure and temperature. In this study, we treated effluent from a paper mill in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) and monitored the abundance and activity of NFB with a view to producing a sludge that could work as a biofertilizer. Four reactors were inoculated with activated sludge enriched with NFB and fed with a high C/N waste (1000.5) from a paper mill. Though the reactors were able to reduce the organic load of the wastewater by up to 89%, they did not have any nitrogen-fixing activity and showed a decrease in the putative number of NFB (quantified with qPCR). The most abundant species in the reactors treating high C/N paper mill wastewater was identified by Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing as Methyloversatilis sp. (relative abundance of 4.4%). Nitrogen fixation was observed when the C/N ratio was increased by adding sucrose. We suspect that real-world biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) will only occur where there is a C/N ratio ≤1000.07. Consequently, operators should actively avoid adding or allowing nitrogen in the waste streams if they wish to valorize their sludge and reduce running costs. PRACTITIONER POINTS Efficient biological wastewater treatment of low nitrogen paper mill effluent was achieved without nutrient supplementation. The sludge was still capable of fixing nitrogen although this process was not observed in the wastewater treatment system. This high C/N wastewater treatment technology could be used with effluents from cassava flour, olive oil, wine and dairy industries.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were made of the incidence of recurrences in patients with proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) subjected to different types of treatment.

The study was carried out following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines. A literature search was made in the Medline (PubMed), EMBASE, and Web of Science databases, together with a manual search, covering the period from 1985 to January 2020, with no language restrictions. Studies were included if they described treatments applied to at least 10 patients with the corresponding outcomes. Methodological quality was evaluated using Jadad scale and Newcastle-Ottawa tool. Global incidence was calculated by random effects meta-analysis using the Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 3.0 software. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots and the Duval and Tweedie trim and fill method.

Of the 922 identified articles, 12 were found to meet the inclusion criteria. Most of them presented moderate or low risk of bias. A total of 397 patients were analyzed. The mean age was 62.34years and 248 were women (62.5%). The mean follow-up was 79.3months. The most frequent treatment was surgical removal with a cold scalpel or laser (339 patients). A total of 232 subjects presented lesion recurrence. The combination of proportions global effect meta-analysis yielded a recurrence rate of 67.2% (95% CI 48.3-81.8), with the absence of publication bias.

There is not enough scientific evidence to conclude that any treatment strategy is able to reduce the recurrence in PVL.

There is not enough scientific evidence to conclude that any treatment strategy is able to reduce the recurrence in PVL.

The use of immunotherapy to treat recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has become a popular research topic in recent years, and many clinical trials have been carried out.

To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in the treatment of recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and other databases up to 1 November 2019 for publications reporting the use of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Revman 5.0 was used for combination analysis, and the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), overall response rate (ORR) and adverse events were determined.

Five articles were included. Compared with other treatment methods, this meta-analysis showed that treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors can significantly improve OS (P<.0001), but there was no significant improvement in PFS or ORR. The risk of anaemia and nausea was significantly reduced by treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.

Treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors alone can improve the overall survival rate for recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck but there is no obvious advantage in other aspects and adverse events.

Treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors alone can improve the overall survival rate for recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck but there is no obvious advantage in other aspects and adverse events.There has been growing recognition of the harmful consequences of loneliness for health and well-being, and the need for community intervention, particularly in times of global crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic with its imperatives of distancing, isolation, and quarantine. Social capital and a sense of social cohesion are known to have roles in buffering against the effects of adverse life circumstances. Our study sought to investigate the association of a range of social attitudes and activities - as proxies for social capital - with loneliness while taking into account socio-demographic factors. We undertook a national survey on a stratified random sample of the New Zealand (NZ) adult population aged 18+ in 2017 (n = 1,358), data from which included the requisite variables. The prevalence of loneliness was highest in young adults (18-30), falling with age until a slight rise in older people (76+). Loneliness was associated with socio-demographic factors, being more prevalent in the more disadvantaged groups the deprived, Māori (the indigenous people of NZ), the non-partnered, and the less educated. Controlling for these socio-demographic factors, pro-social attitudes (that is towards political efficacy, trust in others, not feeling exploited, or being committed to family) and participation in social activities (that is being employed or being involved in recreation groups) - were protective against loneliness. Our study supports asset-based approaches to tackling loneliness - with implications for health and social care - that emphasise mobilising existing social resources, building social capital, and raising social cohesion in our communities. Such intervention on loneliness would help to prevent and ameliorate its detrimental consequences for public health.