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Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... Jun 2024The alterations of EGFR and HER2/neu as growth factor receptors and the cytoplasmic signal transduction proteins of RAS/RAF/MAP kinases including its end effector...
Evaluation of the Expression EGFR, HER2/NEU and the End Effector ERK of the RAS/RAF/MAP Kinase Pathway in Prostatic Adenocarcinoma for a Possible Role as New Target Therapy.
UNLABELLED
The alterations of EGFR and HER2/neu as growth factor receptors and the cytoplasmic signal transduction proteins of RAS/RAF/MAP kinases including its end effector molecule (ERK) are important in the carcinogenesis of many tumors. The activation of these protooncogenes in prostate cancer is still under investigation. The aim of this work was to study EGFR, HER2- neu, inactive (non-phosphorylated) and active (phosphorylated) ERK expression in prostatic adenocarcinomas in correlation to the clinical and pathological parameters.
METHODS
Immunohistochemistry- using tissue microarrays- for EGFR, HER2/neu, non-phosphorylated, and phosphor-ERK, was performed on tissues from 166 patients- with primary prostatic adenocarcinoma with no prior treatment-. The results of different markers expression were correlated with the clinical and pathological parameters and were analyzed statistically.
RESULTS
The prostatic tissue showed EGFR, HER2 neu, phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated ERK expression in 8.4%, 1.4%, 78.2%, and 83.4% respectively whether low (patchy) or high expression (diffuse). There were no significant correlations found between patient characteristics and expression of the tested markers. The negative immune reactivity for non-phosphorylated ERK and EGFR- was significantly correlated with high tumor stage (p values 0.03 and 0.01, respectively).
CONCLUSION
EGFR and HER2/neu may play a limited role in prostatic adenocarcinoma as they showed positive expression in a limited number of the examined tissues specifically HER2neu. The expression of non-phosphorylated ERK (mostly weak to moderate) and phosphorylated ERK (mostly moderate to strong)- was appreciated in most cases. Thus, we suggest that anti-EGFR drugs may have a limited role in the treatment of castrate-resistant prostate cancer, but anti-MEK/ERK drugs may have more promising role as a target therapy. It is recommended to perform further molecular testing to elucidate the exact mechanism and significance of these markers.
Topics: Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms; ErbB Receptors; Receptor, ErbB-2; Adenocarcinoma; Biomarkers, Tumor; Aged; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Phosphorylation; raf Kinases; Follow-Up Studies; MAP Kinase Signaling System; ras Proteins; Aged, 80 and over; Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 38918683
DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.6.2193 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... Jun 2024Cancer is a complex disease characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation and the development of metastatic features. The aim of the study is to examine the patient's...
OBJECTIVE
Cancer is a complex disease characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation and the development of metastatic features. The aim of the study is to examine the patient's satisfaction with the quality of healthcare services provided at the Middle Euphrates Cancer Centre in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Governorate.
METHODS
Cancer patients who visited during 2021-2023 Middle Euphrates Cancer Center in Al-Najaf Al Ashraf Governorate in 2021-2023 were enrolled in the study. In the cross sectional study, enrolled cancer patients were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. In this study, cancer patient satisfaction assessment was made based on responses from a 59 items questionnaire.
RESULTS
In the study period, 400 cancer patients who visited the Middle Euphrates Cancer Center in Al-Najaf Al Ashraf Governorate enrolled in the study. Cancer patient's satisfaction was assessed based on the care provided by physicians, nurses, the infrastructure of the organization, and their socioeconomic status. Under the category of care provided by the physician, the level of assessment reported was low [L] =1-2.33; moderate [M] =2.34-3.66; 2.34-3.66, and high [H] =3.67-5). However, in the case of care provided by nurses, the level of assessment is low ([L] =1-2.33; moderate [M]=2.34-3.66; high [H]=3.67-5.0). The level of assessment (low [L] =1-2.33; moderate [M] = -3.66; high [H]=3.67-5) at the organization level for the services and facilities.
CONCLUSION
Findings clearly demonstrate that the participants were dissatisfied with some services provided by doctors, nurses, or organizations. The findings also emphasize the critical need to tailor healthcare services, enhance accessibility, and elevate the overall quality of care to enhance patient satisfaction significantly.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Patient Satisfaction; Neoplasms; Female; Male; Quality of Health Care; Iraq; Middle Aged; Surveys and Questionnaires; Adult; Follow-Up Studies; Prognosis; Aged; Young Adult
PubMed: 38918679
DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.6.2159 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... Jun 2024This study examined the morphological changes in the colonic mucosa and the presence of inflammation in rats induced with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) 30 mg/kg BW over 9,...
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the morphological changes in the colonic mucosa and the presence of inflammation in rats induced with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) 30 mg/kg BW over 9, 11, and 13 weeks without a latency period.
METHODS
Hematoxylin and eosin staining was performed to assess the morphology and characteristic alteration of the epitheliocytes in the colon. Immunohistochemistry was employed to assess the expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). The difference in the severity of inflammation and COX-2 expression was examined using one-way analysis of variance. The correlation of COX-2 expression with the severity of inflammation was analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation test.
RESULT
Until week 13, chronic inflammation and non-hyperplastic and hyperplastic aberrant crypt foci occurred. The severity of inflammation gradually shifted from high moderate to low moderate. TNF-α expression was high in all groups; however, COX-2 expression was gradually lower with longer duration of induction, which corresponded with the severity of inflammation.
CONCLUSION
DMH induction until week 13 without a latency period caused chronic inflammation without the formation of adenoma or adenocarcinoma. A very strong correlation was established between COX-2 expression and inflammation.
Topics: Animals; 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine; Rats; Colorectal Neoplasms; Cyclooxygenase 2; Inflammation; Male; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Intestinal Mucosa; Carcinogens; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Aberrant Crypt Foci; Colon; Adenocarcinoma
PubMed: 38918668
DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.6.2059 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... Jun 2024Tobacco has been among the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In reducing tobacco consumption, media campaigns are crucial in raising awareness...
BACKGROUND
Tobacco has been among the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In reducing tobacco consumption, media campaigns are crucial in raising awareness and encouraging individuals to quit. The present study aimed to profile participants of GATS-2, including tobacco usage patterns and media exposure, and explore the factors associated with quitting in the presence of media exposure.
METHODS
Secondary data analysis of Global Adult Tobacco Survey-India (2016-17) data was done among current daily cigarette smokers and smokeless tobacco users. The primary independent variable was an intention to quit, while media exposure was the primary independent variable. Respondents were profiled as per various socio-demographic variables, and exposure to media advertisements and intention to quit were assessed using weighted bivariate analysis and multivariate log regression analysis.
RESULTS
Males, and respondents aged 15 to 45, had more exposure to media and advertisements than female respondents. Cigarette smokers with moderate consumption, better awareness, those who had made any quit attempts in the last 12 months, and moderate to high media exposure depicted better intention to quit. In SLT users, intention to quit depicted significant odds per education level quit attempts and exposure to media and advertisements.
CONCLUSION
We report a high intention to quit among those exposed to advertisements. Media campaigns play an important role in promoting tobacco control. There is a need to assess the impact of such advertisements on behavioral aspects. At the same time, comprehensive tobacco control policies should go hand in hand in reducing smoking rates.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Adult; India; Adolescent; Intention; Young Adult; Advertising; Middle Aged; Smoking Cessation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Mass Media; Follow-Up Studies; Prognosis; Tobacco Use; Tobacco Use Cessation
PubMed: 38918658
DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.6.1969 -
BMJ Open Ophthalmology Jun 2024Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial in ROP management. Thus, the... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial in ROP management. Thus, the identification of prominent risk factors could facilitate immediate action. Among various risk factors, the effects of mode of delivery on ROP remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to assess the association between different modes of delivery on ROP incidence.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
Comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCOHost and Cochrane databases, to evaluate the association of mode of delivery-vaginal delivery or caesarean section (c-section)-and the incidence of ROP from inception to December 2023. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled OR along with their 95% CIs.
RESULTS
This review included 5 cohort studies involving 2048 babies. A higher incidence of ROP was observed in infants born through vaginal delivery compared with caesarean section. Meta-analysis showed that C-section decreased the unadjusted odds of having ROP infants by 46% with low heterogeneity (OR 0.54 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.73); I=40.73%). However, pooled adjusted effects were statistically insignificant with moderate heterogeneity (adjusted OR 0.59 (95% CI 0.28 to 1.23); I=70.51%), possibly stemming from multiple variations in the controlled variables of each study.
CONCLUSION
Despite varying statistical significance, our findings underscore the crucial need to comprehend the influence of delivery mode on neonatal ophthalmic outcomes. Due to a limited number of existing studies, further research is needed to confirm the association.
PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42023486278.
Topics: Humans; Retinopathy of Prematurity; Incidence; Infant, Newborn; Delivery, Obstetric; Female; Risk Factors; Pregnancy; Cesarean Section; Gestational Age
PubMed: 38918018
DOI: 10.1136/bmjophth-2024-001678 -
PloS One 2024Much research on the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the unequal impact on men and women in many countries but empirical evidence on later stages of...
OBJECTIVE
Much research on the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the unequal impact on men and women in many countries but empirical evidence on later stages of the pandemic remains limited. The objective of this paper is to study differences between men and women in work location, the relative division of childcare, and perceived work-life balance across and throughout different phases of the pandemic using six waves of probability-based survey data collected in the Netherlands between April 2020 and April 2022 (including retrospective pre-pandemic measures).
METHOD
The study used descriptive methods (longitudinal crosstabulations) and multivariate modelling (cross-sectional multinomial logits, with and without moderators) in a repeated cross-sectional design.
RESULTS
Results suggest the pandemic is associated with several phase-specific differences between men and women in where they worked and their relative division of childcare in the Netherlands. Men were less likely than women to work fully from home at the start of each lockdown and to work on location during the first lockdown. Amongst parents, fathers increased their share of childcare throughout the first phase of the pandemic, and this increase remains visible at the end of the pandemic. Women in the Netherlands did not experience worse work-life balance than men throughout the pandemic, but mothers did experience worse work-life balance than fathers at various points during the pandemic.
DISCUSSION
Our results suggest varying long-term implications for gender inequality in society. Gender differences in work location raise concerns about the possible longer-term impact on gender inequalities in career development. Our findings on childcare suggest that many households have experienced different divisions of childcare at different stages of the pandemic, with some potential for longer-term change.
CONCLUSION
Inequalities between men and women in work, childcare, and wellbeing have neither been alleviated by nor unilaterally worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; Female; Male; Work-Life Balance; Child Care; Netherlands; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Child; Pandemics; Middle Aged; SARS-CoV-2; Gender Equity; Sex Factors; Employment; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38917187
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302633 -
PloS One 2024Society asks individuals, such as front-line medical and emergency personnel or social media moderators, to help others under highly negative emotional circumstances,...
Society asks individuals, such as front-line medical and emergency personnel or social media moderators, to help others under highly negative emotional circumstances, and those individuals need to regulate their emotions for their own well being. A well-studied form of emotion regulation is reappraisal, the use of cognitive processes used to reinterpret initial emotional responses to negative events. Distancing (pretending that a situation is distant in time or space) is well documented to be an effective form of emotion regulation, but it may not be applicable in social contexts where individuals must engage with distressing events to help others. Here, for the first time, we asked whether a novel reappraisal strategy focused on Social Good-imagining that an aversive event is also an opportunity to prevent harm to others-can be an effective form of reappraisal. In a pre-registered experiment, participants were randomly assigned to Distancing or Social Good conditions as they viewed neutral or highly aversive images and then reported their subjective emotional states with or without reappraisal. Both Distancing and Social Good reappraisals led to significantly less negative affect. Distancing yielded a stronger effect, but importantly, participants reported both Distancing and Social Good as equally easy to employ and both were effective across multiple demographic and personality characteristics, indicating the broad value of both as effective forms of reappraisal. Across both reappraisal conditions, effective reappraisal increased with age and positive affect. These findings indicate that Social Good is an effective reappraisal strategy and raise the possibility that it could be particularly valuable in contexts in which emotionally demanding tasks are completed on behalf of the good for other people.
Topics: Humans; Emotional Regulation; Female; Male; Adult; Young Adult; Emotions; Adolescent; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38917180
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305756 -
PloS One 2024Geochemical proxies of sea surface temperature (SST) and seawater pH (pHsw) in scleractinian coral skeletons are valuable tools for reconstructing tropical climate...
Geochemical proxies of sea surface temperature (SST) and seawater pH (pHsw) in scleractinian coral skeletons are valuable tools for reconstructing tropical climate variability. However, most coral skeletal SST and pHsw proxies are univariate methods that are limited in their capacity to circumvent non-climate-related variability. Here we present a novel multivariate method for reconstructing SST and pHsw from the geochemistry of coral skeletons. Our Scleractinian Multivariate Isotope and Trace Element (SMITE) method optimizes reconstruction skill by leveraging the covariance across an array of coral elemental and isotopic data with SST and pHsw. First, using a synthetic proxy experiment, we find that SMITE SST reconstruction statistics (correlation, accuracy, and precision) are insensitive to noise and variable calibration period lengths relative to Sr/Ca. While SMITE pHsw reconstruction statistics remain relative to δ11B throughout the same synthetic experiment, the magnitude of the long-term trend in pHsw is progressively lost under conditions of moderate-to-high analytical uncertainty. Next, we apply the SMITE method to an array of seven coral-based geochemical variables (B/Ca, δ11B, Li/Ca, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, U/Ca & Li/Mg) measured from two Bermudan Porites astreoides corals. Despite a <3.5 year calibration period, SMITE SST and pHsw estimates exhibit significantly better accuracy, precision, and correlation with their respective climate targets than the best single- and dual-proxy estimators. Furthermore, SMITE model parameters are highly reproducible between the two coral cores, indicating great potential for fossil applications (when preservation is high). The results shown here indicate that the SMITE method can outperform the most common coral-based SST and pHsw reconstructions methods to date, particularly in datasets with a large variety of geochemical variables. We therefore provide a list of recommendations and procedures for users to begin implementing the SMITE method as well as an open-source software package to facilitate dissemination of the SMITE method.
Topics: Seawater; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Anthozoa; Animals; Temperature; Trace Elements
PubMed: 38917168
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305607 -
PloS One 2024Fulfilling corporate social responsibility (CSR) is crucial for society's sustainable development. Executives' academic experience significantly affects their awareness...
Fulfilling corporate social responsibility (CSR) is crucial for society's sustainable development. Executives' academic experience significantly affects their awareness of social responsibility, value orientation, professional ability, and network resources. Thus, it is critical in CSR-related corporate decision-making. This paper explores the impact of executives' academic experience on the fulfillment of CSR. It focuses on non-financial, Special treatment enterprises (ST), and ST* enterprises listed in the A-share market from 2012 to 2021. It utilizes a fixed-effects analysis model to examine the relationship between executives' academic experience and CSR fulfillment. The CSR score and executives' academic experience were positively correlated. This paper also explores the intermediary role of compensation incentives and the moderating effect of marketization level. Both compensation incentives and the level of marketization positively moderated the relationship between executives' academic experience and CSR fulfillment. Meanwhile, the robustness results showed that the experimental findings still held after replacing the explained and explanatory variables. This paper contributes to the advancement of the Upper Echelons Theory and provides empirical evidence for the society's sustainable development.
Topics: Social Responsibility; China; Humans; Administrative Personnel; Motivation; Sustainable Development
PubMed: 38917164
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305813 -
PloS One 2024Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) are both associated with hypercoagulability. Altered clot properties could be a potential mechanism...
BACKGROUND
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) are both associated with hypercoagulability. Altered clot properties could be a potential mechanism thereof. We aimed to investigate the association of HIV and ART, with fibrinogen and plasma clot properties in a group of Black South Africans.
METHODS
At baseline, 151 newly diagnosed people living with HIV (PLWH) and 176 controls were recruited. Some PLWH subsequently commenced with ARTs (n = 70) while others remained ART-naïve (n = 81). Fibrinogen and clot properties (turbidity assay) were investigated from baseline to 5-year follow-up. A sub-group of 21 women (n = 10 ART-treated; n = 11 ART-naïve) with HIV was systematically selected and matched with 12 controls, and additional clot properties (rheometry, permeability and fibre diameter) were investigated.
RESULTS
Fibrinogen was lower in the HIV groups compared to the controls, while % γ' fibrinogen was higher. PLWH had shorter lag times and lower maximum absorbance than the controls (p<0.05). Their CLTs on the other hand were longer. Most variables increased over time in all groups, but differences in the degree of change over time was observed for lag time (p = 0.024) and permeability (p = 0.03). Participants who commenced with ART had a tendency of delayed clot formation (p = 0.08) and increased clot permeability (p = 0.005).
CONCLUSION
PLWH had lower total fibrinogen concentration and formed less dense clots. They also formed clots that were more difficult to lyse, which likely not resulted from altered clot properties. ART use (NNRTI's) had a moderately protective effect, delaying clot formation, and increasing clot permeability.
Topics: Humans; Female; HIV Infections; South Africa; Adult; Fibrinogen; Black People; Male; Blood Coagulation; Middle Aged; Case-Control Studies; African People
PubMed: 38917149
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305826