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Background: Worldwide, cancer is claimed a major public health problem and is another leading cause of death after ischemic heart diseases. Currently, the nutraceuticals and their biologically active phytoconstituents have received immense attention for the prevention and treatment of cancer due to origin authenticity, natural compatibility, and least toxicity. Objective: The contemporary research venture aimed to investigate the anticancer potential of polar fractions of the Chrozophora tinctoria plant. The plant was selected due to its wide-ranging therapeutic potential having its role in wound healing, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antineoplastic as well as antioxidant activities. Methods: The aerial part of the C. tinctoria was extracted with methanol and then fractionated with liquid-liquid extraction by utilizing water, butanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and n-hexane. In addition to total phenolic, the flavonoid contents were also determined. Phytochemical analysis was performed and maximum phenolic and flavonoid contents were obtained in chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions. Results: The obtained fractions were assessed for potential anticancer agents by utilizing HeLa and MCF-7 cells. The most active fractions from initial anticancer screening were further investigated microscopically to determine apoptosis, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as cell cycle arrest (flow cytometry). Interestingly, the maximum cytotoxic activity in cancer cells was observed by ethyl acetate and chloroform fraction. Conclusion: It is concluded that ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions showed the most promising anticancer activity and would be a new treatment option for the most common cancer in females.

Background: Plants are a vital source of natural drugs as the traditional use of plants as therapeutic agents for a variety of ailments has been traced back thousands of years. The utilization of Heliotropium calcareum has been evident since ancient times for treating various disease states like inflammation associated with gout and rheumatism, poisonous bites, and other skin disorders. The current research work was carried out to determine the phytochemistry and biological activities of the crude methanolic extract obtained through maceration from the aerial parts of Heliotropium calcareum. Methods: The plant was collected from district Bhakkar, Punjab, Pakistan. Maximum phenolic (74.5 μg GAE/mg) and flavonoid contents (58.99 μg QE/mg) were observed in ethyl acetate fraction. Significant antioxidant potential was observed in ethyl acetate fraction with the highest free radical hunting activity of 92.6 ± 6.7 μM. Results: Cytotoxicity assay using MTT dye was performed where non-polar (n-hexane) and polar (ethyl acetate) fractions displayed excellent cytotoxicity against HeLa cells (IC50 = 79.95 ± 3.718 & 164 ± 4 μg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, the above fractions showed momentous results in cell cycle analysis and promising proapoptotic effect against cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines. An nhexane and ethyl acetate fraction were selected for cell cycle analysis to determine the quantitative measurement of the degree of apoptosis. According to the results given below in the figure, the cervical (HeLa) cancer cells were treated with n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions at various concentrations. An increase in the cell population at G0/G1 phase and a decrease in the S-phase population concerning untreated cells suggested the G0/G1 phase arrest in n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions treated HeLa cells. Conclusion: Taken together, n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions were found to be the most promising and active elements of H. calcareum and may be utilized to explore their cytotoxic effects further in the animal model.

During the early 1980’s and 1990’s, clerical child sexual abuse (cCSA) in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) gained public attention, escalating into a major scandal by the beginning of the 21st century. The Vatican’s response and ignorance expressed globally created the impression that the RCC had encountered the problem of cCSA for the first time, only recently; in the 20th century. The ecclesiastical authorities sought to justify their strategies of non-reporting of abuse to secular authorities, silencing victims, and transferring abusing priests to other locations, as a result of being surprised and confused by a phenomenon, they had been unaware of. The ‘Nolan Report’ commented that the RCC’s ignorance of pedophilia compounded by a desire to save the reputation of the Church, and a Christian instinct to forgive, led to failures to recognize the extent of abuse, scrutinize candidates for priesthood, and appropriately convey suspicion or proof of alleged misconduct. This paper examines the organizational laws and management policies developed by the RCC in the 20th century to address reported cCSA and highlights the perception of ignorance of the ecclesiastical authorities regarding pedophilia and deviant sexual behaviors amongst clerics as incredulous, in light of historical evidence. Such evidence includes knowledge, awareness, and development of organizational laws and internal institutional management strategies at the highest level of ecclesiastical governance, a continuously developed culture of secrecy, and an organized effort to avoid intervention of secular authorities.

PurposeMost myeloablative regimens before stem cell transplant involved total body irradiation (TBI). Pulmonary complications from TBI contribute to treatment-related mortality and toxicity. We report the rate of acute respiratory complications after TBI at our institution. In an exploratory analysis, we investigated differences in dosimetry between patients who did and did not experience respiratory complications.Methods and materialsIn this single institution retrospective study, 49 patients received TBI from 2016 to 2018 and had dosimetry data available for analysis. Patients were prescribed 1200 cGy to be delivered over 6 fractions. Lung doses were limited using custom lung blocks. Clinical lung complications (eg, coughing and shortness of breath) were reviewed for the hospitalization period during transplant, at 4 months after transplant, and at 1 year after transplant. Supplemental oxygen use during the hospitalization period was also reported. Median anterior-posterior diameter at the umbilicus, body mass index, and lung doses were compared between patients with and without respiratory complications using a Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsDuring the hospitalization period, 14% (n = 7) of patients used supplemental oxygen administered by nasal canula and 16% (n = 8) experienced respiratory symptoms. At the 4-month follow-up, 16% (n = 8) of patients had documented respiratory symptoms. Respiratory symptoms were grade 1 to 2 except for one grade 3 attributed to infection during the hospitalization period and another grade 3 due to infection during the 4-month follow-up. At 1-year post-TBI, 4% (n = 2) of patients reported grade 1 to 2 chronic cough. Patients with respiratory complications at the 4-month follow-up had a larger umbilical anterior-posterior diameter (31.5 cm vs 26.5 cm, P = .01) and body mass index (34.5 kg/m2 vs 29.7 kg/m2, P = .02) than patients without respiratory complication. Respiratory complications were not associated with higher lung doses.ConclusionsThere was no respiratory-related mortality using the individualized planning technique described here. Acute and chronic respiratory complications were minor, with the most significant intervention requiring antibiotics for respiratory infection.

Large scale adoption of novel solutions is the ultimate goal in many domains, and numerous factors need to be addressed to reach that success. This process is even more challenging when those systems are intended for human operators. Not only the technical performance of the system needs to be of the desired quality, but a range of other characteristics also gets scrutinized as well. The design and development of learning and training solutions will be encumbered by additional factors characteristic of learning and training processes. Current adoption of learning and training solutions is far from the desired state: the extent to which learning and training solutions became an every-day practice of their intended users is still much lower than the investment made in this domain. Our research suggests that a good part of that blame can be laid on elements of system design that did not match users’ needs, skills, and expectations. In this paper, we report the results and lessons learned in multiple efforts focused on design and prototyping of a diverse set of training systems that used both immersive and non-immersive virtual reality technologies and a variety of 3D user interface solutions. Approaches discussed and suggested in this paper are equally applicable to the design of systems intended for other human activities in both civilian and military domains.

Cortical thickness, surface area and volumes (MRI cortical measures) vary with age and cognitive function, and in neurological and psychiatric diseases. We examined heritability, genetic correlations and genome-wide associations of cortical measures across the whole cortex, and in 34 anatomically predefined regions. Our discovery sample comprised 22,822 individuals from 20 cohorts within the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium and the United Kingdom Biobank. Significant associations were replicated in the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-analysis (ENIGMA) consortium, and their biological implications explored using bioinformatic annotation and pathway analyses. We identified genetic heterogeneity between cortical measures and brain regions, and 161 genome-wide significant associations pointing to wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β and sonic hedgehog pathways. There was enrichment for genes involved in anthropometric traits, hindbrain development, vascular and neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric conditions. These data are a rich resource for studies of the biological mechanisms behind cortical development and aging.

Man portable air defense systems (MANPADS) are point-defense weapons that typically form the penultimate layer of defense against aerial threats. Deployed at close ranges to the installation being defended, MANPADS operators get little reaction time to engage attacking aircraft. The situation becomes more complex in a multi-threat scenario such as an airfield under attack. Dealing with such situations requires high proficiency and the capability to make tactical decisions quickly. Live training opportunities allow few operators to fire during live exercises. Simulation training is effective, but customized high-fidelity immersive training facilities are limited. Moreover, low trainee throughput from such high-end facilities is an ongoing obstacle. The main focus of this thesis research is a feasibility study for building a low-cost MANPADS training solution that uses commercial off-the-shelf components. The developed prototype leverages a fully immersive virtual reality system with head-mounted display, game engine, and passive haptics. It provides MANPADS operators with alternative training opportunities in target acquisition, tactical decision making, and situational awareness in a multi-threat scenario, and has the potential of addressing the current training gap. This development experience will provide valuable insights that can be employed to design and create a new generation of low-cost training solutions in other domains as well. http://archive.org/details/useofvrtechnolog1094556170 Squadron Leader, Pakistan Air Force Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Objective SKyphoplasty is a new method of percutaneous spinal augmentation. Despite its limited availability in the United States, SKyphoplasty has experienced considerable growth in recent years. In this article, we aim to provide a stepwise documentation of the technique, with brief reference to the 2 established methods, vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Conclusion Experience with SKyphoplasty is relatively limited, and little information has appeared in the literature to support its theoretical benefits. After review of previously published material, an audit of our institutional experience, and discussion with other practioners who perform this procedure, it would appear that pain relief by using this device is at best similar to that of conventional vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. There was no evidence of height restoration in our patient population, an advantage that has been brought into question.