Osteoporosis Prediction for Trabecular Bone using Machine Learning: A Review

Trabecular bone holds the utmost importance due to its significance regarding early bone loss. Diseases like osteoporosis greatly affect the structure of the Trabecular bone which results in different outcomes like high risk of fracture. The objective of this paper is to inspect the characteristics of the Trabecular Bone by using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique. These characteristics prove to be quite helpful in studying different studies related to Trabecular bone such as osteoporosis. The things that were considered before the selection of the articles for the systematic review were language, research field, and electronic sources. Only those articles written in the English language were selected as it is the most prominent language used in scientific, engineering, computer science, and biomedical researches. This literature review was conducted on the articles published between 2006 and 2020. A total of 62 research papers out of 1050 papers were extracted which were according to our topic of review after screening abstract and article content for the title and abstract screening. The findings from those researches were compiled at the end of the result section. This systematic literature review presents a comprehensive report on scientific researches and studies that have been done in the medical area concerning trabecular bone.     

Climate change and the UN-2030 agenda: Do mitigation technologies represent a driving factor? New evidence from OECD economies

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - The United Nations 2030 agenda states various sustainable development goals (SDGs) to counter climate change affecting individuals' health and...     

Tuning the interlaminar shear strength and thermo-mechanical properties of glass fiber composites by incorporation of (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane-functionalized carbon black

The incorporation of functionalized nanoscale fillers into traditional glass fiber/unsaturated polyester (GF/UPE) composites provides a more robust mechanical attributes. The current study demonstrates the potential of 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTS)-functionalized carbon black (f-CB) for enhancing the thermo-mechanical properties of GF composites. The composites infused with 1, 3 and 5 wt% of pristine and MPTS-functionalized CB were fabricated by hand lay-up and hot press processing. Tensile testing, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) testing and dynamic mechanical analysis were used to evaluate the performance of nanocomposites. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy validated the MPTS functionalization of CB. Pristine CB-loaded nanocomposites exhibited marginal improvement in ultimate tensile strength (UTS), ILSS and thermo-mechanical properties. However, with the addition of f-CB, the improvement in all the studied properties was more substantial. The inclusion of 5 wt% f-CB increased the elastic modulus and UTS by 16 and 22%, respectively, whereas the ILSS was enhanced by 36%, in comparison to the neat GF composite. The scanning electron microscope analysis of fractured ILSS samples revealed better fiber-matrix adhesion and compatibility in f-CB-loaded nanocomposites. At the same filler weight percentage, the storage modulus at 25 °C was ~ 19% higher than that of neat composite. The f-CB inclusion resulted in increment of T _g by ~ 13 °C over the T _g of neat GF/UPE composite (~ 109 °C). These improvements were due to the chemical connection of f-CB to the UPE matrix and GF surface. With such improvements in thermal and mechanical properties, these nanocomposites can replace the conventional GF composites with prominent improvements in performance.     

Nanostructured materials with biomimetic recognition abilities for chemical sensing

Binding features found in biological systems can be implemented into man-made materials to design nanostructured artificial receptor matrices which are suitable, e.g., for chemical sensing applications. A range of different non-covalent interactions can be utilized based on the chemical properties of the respective analyte. One example is the formation of coordinative bonds between a polymerizable ligand (e.g., N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) and a metal ion (e.g., Cu(II)). Optimized molecularly imprinted sensor layers lead to selectivity factors of at least 2 compared to other bivalent ions. In the same way, H-bonds can be utilized for such sensing purposes, as shown in the case of Escherichia coli. The respective molecularly imprinted polymer leads to the selectivity factor of more than 5 between the W and B strains, respectively. Furthermore, nanoparticles with optimized Pearson hardness allow for designing sensors to detect organic thiols in air. The ‘harder’ MoS₂ yields only about 40% of the signals towards octane thiol as compared to the ‘softer’ Cu₂S. However, both materials strongly prefer molecules with -SH functionality over others, such as hydrocarbon chains. Finally, selectivity studies with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) reveal that artificial receptors yield selectivities between WGA and bovine serum albumin that are only about a factor of 2 which is smaller than natural ligands.     

Transcriptional Profiling of Cardiac Cells Links Age-Dependent Changes in Acetyl-CoA Signaling to Chromatin Modifications

Metabolism has emerged as a regulator of core stem cell properties such as proliferation, survival, self-renewal, and multilineage potential. Metabolites serve as secondary messengers, fine-tuning signaling pathways in response to microenvironment alterations. Studies show a role for central metabolite acetyl-CoA in the regulation of chromatin state through changes in histone acetylation. Nevertheless, metabolic regulators of chromatin remodeling in cardiac cells in response to increasing biological age remains unknown. Previously, we identified novel cardiac-derived stem-like cells (CTSCs) that exhibit increased functional properties in the neonatal heart (nCTSC). These cells are linked to a unique metabolism which is altered with CTSC aging (aCTSC). Here, we present an in-depth, RNA-sequencing-based (RNA-Seq) bioinformatic with cluster analysis that details a distinct epigenome present in nCTSCs but not in aCTSCs. Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment reveal biological processes, including metabolism, gene regulation enriched in nCTSCs, and STRING analysis that identifies a network of genes related to acetyl-CoA that can potentially influence chromatin remodeling. Additional validation by Western blot and qRT-PCR shows increased acetyl-CoA signaling and histone acetylation in nCTSCs compared to aCTSCs. In conclusion, our data reveal that the link between metabolism and histone acetylation in cardiac cells is altered with the aging of the cardiac tissue.     

Strain Improvement Through UV and Chemical Mutagenesis for Enhanced Citric Acid Production in Molasses-Based Solid State Fermentation

Aspergillus niger was subjected to UV radiation and chemical mutagenesis to develop its hyper-producing mutants for enhanced citric acid production. Ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) and Ethidium bromide (EB) were used for chemical mutagenesis of Aspergillus niger. UV, and chemically treated mutants of Aspergillus niger were identified by using 2-deoxy, D-glucose as selective marker. The selected mutants were cultured in solid state fermentation (SSF) of sugarcane molasses medium (10%) using corn cobs, banana stalk, sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and wheat bran as carrier substrates. After pH adjustment and sterilization, the triplicate flasks were inoculated with 5 mLof homogenous spore suspensions of selected mutants of A. niger and the flasks were subjected to SSF under still culture conditions. The mutant EB-3 (treated with 1 mg/mL ethidium bromide for 120 min) giving highest citric acid yield (64.2 mg/mL) in 72 h was selected as hyper-producing mutant. Citric acid production process using EB-3 mutant was then optimized to enhance citric acid production by the mutant in SSF. Aspergillus niger EB-3 mutant could produce 67.72 mg/mL citric acid in 72 h using banana stalks as support material under optimum conditions of pH (pH 6), incubation temperature (35°C) and inoculum size (5 mL) in SSF.     

Self-efficacy as a marker of cardiac function and predictor of heart failure hospitalization and mortality in patients with stable coronary heart disease: Findings from the Heart and Soul Study.

Objective: The authors sought to evaluate the association of self-efficacy with objective measures of cardiac function, subsequent hospitalization for heart failure (HF), and all-cause mortality. Design: Observational cohort of ambulatory patients with stable CHD. The authors measured self-efficacy using a published, validated, 5-item summative scale, the Sullivan Self-Efficacy to Maintain Function Scale. The authors also performed a cardiac assessment, including an exercise treadmill test with stress echocardiography. Main Outcome Measures: Hospitalizations for HF, as determined by blinded review of medical records, and all-cause mortality, with adjustment for demographics, medical history, medication use, depressive symptoms, and social support. Results: Of the 1,024 predominately male, older CHD patients, 1013 (99%) were available for follow-up, 124 (12%) were hospitalized for HF, and 235 (23%) died during 4.3 years of follow-up. Mean cardiac self-efficacy score was 9.7 (SD 4.5, range 0–20), corresponding to responses between “not at all confident” and “somewhat confident” for ability to maintain function. Lower self-efficacy predicted subsequent HF hospitalization (OR per SD decrease = 1.4, p = .0006), and all-cause mortality (OR per SD decrease = 1.4, p Conclusion: Among patients with CHD, self-efficacy was a reasonable proxy for predicting HF hospitalizations. The increased risk of HF associated with lower baseline self-efficacy was explained by worse cardiac function. These findings indicate that measuring cardiac self-efficacy provides a rapid and potentially useful assessment of cardiac function among outpatients with CHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relevance of functional foods in the Mediterranean diet: the role of olive oil,berries and honey in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular diseases

Abstract

The traditional Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is a well-known dietary pattern associated with longevity and improvement of life quality as it reduces the risk of the most common chronic pathologies, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), that represent the principal cause of death worldwide. One of the most characteristic foods of MedDiet is olive oil, a very complex matrix, which constitutes the main source of fats and is used in the preparation of foods, both raw as an ingredient in recipes, and in cooking. Similarly, strawberries and raspberries are tasty and powerful foods which are commonly consumed in the Mediterranean area in fresh and processed forms and have attracted the scientific and consumer attention worldwide for their beneficial properties for human health. Besides olive oil and berries, honey has lately been introduced in the MedDiet thanks to its relevant nutritional, phytochemical and antioxidant profile. It is a sweet substance that has recently been classified as a functional food. The aim of this review is to present and discuss the recent evidence, obtained from in vitro, in vivo and epidemiological studies, on the potential roles exerted by these foods in the prevention and progression of different types of cancer and CVDs.