There is an increasing interest in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing in the forensic field.SNPs are very useful for deftning Y chromosome or mtDNA haplotypes and DNA phenotyping.We focus on comparative advantages of SNP typing over length variations and expected number of loci required to gain probabilities equal to sTR loci in use.This review also offers to the reader a state of the art of SNP genotyping technologies with the advantages and disadvantages of the different techniques and platforms for different forensic requirements.

INTRODUCTIONAn investigation was carried out to determine the morphological characteristics of fibroblasts in two portions of the vocal fold (VF) mucosa, the macula flava (MF) and Reinke's space (RS), of three different age groups: newborns, adults and geriatrics.

METHODSNormal human VF obtained from autopsy cases were included in this study: four from mature newborns; four from middle-aged adults; and four from geriatric cases. Fibroblasts in RS and MF were investigated by transmission electron microscopy.

RESULTSThe fibroblasts of the MF in both adults and newborns tended to be stellate in shape, with a small nucleus/cytoplasm (N/C) ratio and a well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) and Golgi apparatus (GA). Most of the fibroblasts present in RS were oval in newborns and spindle-shaped in adults, with a large N/C ratio and less developed rER and GA. The majority of fibroblasts of the geriatric MF were stellate in shape; while in geriatric RS, the majority of fibroblasts were spindle-shaped with an N/C ratio of 0.5 to 2.0 as in the case of adults. However, the development of rER and GA was less marked in geriatrics than in adults.

CONCLUSIONHistological changes of fibroblasts in the VF mucosa are one of the important causes of the change in voice quality with ageing. Furthermore, geriatric changes in the vocal ligament can be attributed to the activities and the presence of ageing processes in fibroblasts of geriatric VF mucosa.

Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Cell Nucleus ; ultrastructure ; Cytoplasm ; ultrastructure ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; ultrastructure ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; ultrastructure ; Golgi Apparatus ; ultrastructure ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Laryngeal Mucosa ; ultrastructure ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; methods ; Vocal Cords ; ultrastructure

Poultry farming not only provides high nutritious food but also creates employment opportunity for rural masses. Documented evidences elaborates that helminth parasitism is most deciduous problem of chickens especially in developing world. Ascaridia (A.) galli, a nematode of small intestine, has been considered as the most common and important parasite of chicken. The present study was carried out to investigate prevalence and severity of A. galli in White Leghorn layers (housing type: battery cage and deep litter, 50 each) and Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red crossbred (male and female: 50 each) flock rearing at Government Poultry Farm, Dina, Punjab, Pakistan. Two hundred faecal samples were examined by using standard parasitological and McMaster egg counting technique. The overall prevalence was 24.5% at farm, 13% in White leghorn layer (battery cage=2%, deep litter=24%) and 36% in Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red (male=34%, female=38%). It was also observed that White leghorn layer rearing in deep litter had more severe infection (EPG=1920) of A. galli compare with battery cages birds (EPG=500). Parasite prevalence was significantly related with sex (P<0.05) in Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red and male birds had less number of average parasites (0.34±0.47) as compared to females (0.38±0.490). Additionally, female birds were under serious threat of infection (EPG=2270) compared with its counterpart (EPG=1250). Given the high infection rates, particular attention should be paid to management and provision of feed supplement to White leghorn layer housing in deep litter and female bird of Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red crossbred.

Aims: The aim of this study was to isolate the endophytic fungi from Catharanthus roseus and screen the cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity of alkaloids extracted from these fungi. Methodology and results: A total of 56 endophytic fungal isolates were screened from C. roseus plant parts. Aspergillus fumigatus and Fusarium oxysporum were the most frequent species. Determinations of alkaloids extracted from the most dominant endophytic fungal species were done. The highest significant total alkaloids productions were by A. fumigatus and Aspergillus niger, while the least significant one was by Botrytis cinera. Antimicrobial assay of endophytic fungal extracts indicated that both A. niger and F. oxysporum exhibited significant antimicrobial activities, while A. fumigatus exerted the least activity. In vitro cytotoxicity assay of the endophytic fungal extracts was done against human breast cancer (MCF-7) and liver cancer (HEPG-2) cell lines using SRB assay method. A. niger extract showed potential cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 cell line with IC50 value of 42.1 μg/mL, while the least cytotoxic effect was exhibited by F. oxysporum on MCF-7 cell line with IC50 value of 66.9 μg/mL. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) was used for analysis of alkaloids in mycelial and filtrate extracts of A. niger, where eleven compounds were detected. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Alkaloids extracted from Catharanthus roseus associated endophytic fungi had cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess nursing staff's work-related problems as perceived bytheir managers and thereafter develop strategies that would serve as a guide for nurse managers tomanage these problems. Methods: A descriptive research design was used. The participants included in the study consisted of thefollowing two groups: Group 1-a convenience sample of 150 first-line managers working at threedifferent hospitals; and Group 2-a panel of experts for the Delphi technique, selected using theSnowball sampling technique. Tools for data collection included the following: Tool 1-questionnaireabout nursing staff's problems; Tool 2-Delphi technique to develop strategies for managing nursingstaff's problems; and Tool 3-opinionnaire format. Results: The recruited first nurse managers were of the opinion that job stress, work overload, conflict,workplace violence, poor performance, staff turnover, demotivation, lack of empowerment, and staffabsenteeism were among the common problems faced by staff nurses at work. Conclusion From the expert panelists’ perspectives, the newly developed strategy in this study wasconsidered valid; the researchers recommend the strategy developed in this study to be universalized indifferent health care settings and used as a guide for nurse managers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess nursing staff's work-related problems as perceived bytheir managers and thereafter develop strategies that would serve as a guide for nurse managers tomanage these problems. Methods: A descriptive research design was used. The participants included in the study consisted of thefollowing two groups: Group 1-a convenience sample of 150 first-line managers working at threedifferent hospitals; and Group 2-a panel of experts for the Delphi technique, selected using theSnowball sampling technique. Tools for data collection included the following: Tool 1-questionnaireabout nursing staff's problems; Tool 2-Delphi technique to develop strategies for managing nursingstaff's problems; and Tool 3-opinionnaire format. Results: The recruited first nurse managers were of the opinion that job stress, work overload, conflict,workplace violence, poor performance, staff turnover, demotivation, lack of empowerment, and staffabsenteeism were among the common problems faced by staff nurses at work. Conclusion From the expert panelists’ perspectives, the newly developed strategy in this study wasconsidered valid; the researchers recommend the strategy developed in this study to be universalized indifferent health care settings and used as a guide for nurse managers.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has strained health care systems worldwide and resulted in high mortality. The current COVID-19 treatment is based on supportive and symptomatic care. Therefore, convalescent plasma (CP), which provides passive immunization against many infectious diseases, has been studied for COVID-19 management. To date, a large number of randomized and non-randomized clinical trials as well as many systematic reviews have revealed conflicting results. This article summarizes the basic principles of passive immunization, particularly addressing CP in COVID-19. It also evaluates the effectiveness of CP as a therapy in patients with COVID-19, clinical trial reports and systematic reviews, regulatory considerations and different protocols that are authorized in different countries to use it safely and effectively.An advanced search was carried out in major databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE) and Google Scholar using the following key words: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, convalescent plasma, and the applied query was “convalescent plasma” AND “COVID-19 OR SARS-CoV-2”. The results were filtered and duplicate data were removed.Collective evidence indicates that two cardinal players determine the effectiveness of CP use, time of infusion, and quality of CP. Early administration of CP with high neutralizing anti-spike IgG titer is hypothesized to be effective in improving clinical outcome, prevent progression, decrease the length of hospital stay, and reduce mortality. However, more reliable, high quality, well-controlled, double-blinded, randomized, international and multicenter collaborative trials are still needed.

There is an increasing interest in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing in the forensic field. SNPs are very useful for defining Y chromosome or mtDNA haplotypes and DNA phenotyping. We focus on comparative advantages of SNP typing over length variations and expected number of loci required to gain probabilities equal to STR loci in use. This review also offers to the reader a state of the art of SNP genotyping technologies with the advantages and disadvantages of the different techniques and platforms for different forensic requirements.
Alleles ; Chromosomes, Human, Y ; DNA Fingerprinting/methods* ; DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics* ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Phenotype ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Tandem Repeat Sequences

One of the uncommon congenital variations is intrathoracic rib which a normal, a bifid, or an accessory rib lies within the thoracic cavity that is founded accidentally. Clinically, in most cases they are without symptoms; however, it may cause intrathoracic problems therefore it is important for radiologists and physicians to identify to prevent of excessive intervention and treatment during imaging diagnostic techniques of thoracic problems. In this report, we provide the case of a rare presentation of an intrathoracic rib in a 3-year-old boy arising from the inferior portion of a second rib based on findings from computed tomography. To our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of this type of intrathoracic rib that demonstrated with computed tomography.
Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Male ; Ribs* ; Thoracic Cavity

Advancement in cell culture protocols, multidisciplinary research approach, and the need of clinical implication to reconstruct damaged or diseased tissues has led to the establishment of three-dimensional (3D) test systems for regeneration and repair. Regenerative therapies, including dental tissue engineering, have been pursued as a new prospect to repair and rebuild the diseased/lost oral tissues. Interactions between the different cell types, growth factors, and extracellular matrix components involved in angiogenesis are vital in the mechanisms of new vessel formation for tissue regeneration. In vitro pre-vascularization is one of the leading scopes in the tissue-engineering field. Vascularization strategies that are associated with co-culture systems have proved that there is communication between different cell types with mutual beneficial effects in vascularization and tissue regeneration in two-dimensional or 3D cultures. Endothelial cells with different cell populations, including osteoblasts, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts in a co-culture have shown their ability to advocate pre-vascularization. In this review, a co-culture perspective of human gingival fibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells is discussed with the main focus on vascularization and future perspective of this model in regeneration and repair.
Cell Culture Techniques ; Coculture Techniques* ; Endothelial Cells* ; Extracellular Matrix ; Fibroblasts* ; Humans* ; In Vitro Techniques ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Osteoblasts ; Regeneration ; Tissue Engineering