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is a microbe with wide genetic diversity that infects the stomach of most people in developing countries, leading to several clinical outcomes among different individuals such as gastritis, ulcers,...

Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) are common in clinical practice. The accurate classification and diagnosis of these lesions are crucial to avoid unnecessary treatment of benign lesions and missed opportunities for early treatment of potentially malignant lesions.To evaluate the role of cyst fluid analysis of different tumor markers such as cancer antigens [This study included 76 patients diagnosed with PCLs using different imaging modalities. All patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and EUS-fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for characterization and sampling of different PCLs.The mean age of studied patients was 47.4 ± 11.4 years, with a slight female predominance (59.2%). Mucin stain showed high statistical significance in predicting malignancy with a sensitivity of 87.1% and specificity of 95.56%. It also showed a positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 93.1% and 91.49%, respectively (EUS examination of cyst morphology with cytopathological analysis and cyst fluid analysis could improve the differentiation between malignant and benign pancreatic cysts. Also, CEA, glucose, and SPINK1 could be used as promising markers to predict malignant pancreatic cysts.

Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. NAFLD is considered to represent the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. NAFLD was traditionally considered as a relatively benign liver disease. However, some patients with NAFLD progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma 8-13. Therefore, the precise diagnosis and staging of NAFLD patients is clinically important. Liver biopsy is the gold standard for the evaluation of NAFLD patients in terms of staging. However, liver biopsy is an invasive technique, and the identification of noninvasive biomarkers is required. Objective To assess the value of MicroRNA-122 as a non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis of NAFLD and NASH related Cirrhosis. Patients and Methods In the present study, we assess the value of MicroRNA-122 as a noninvasive biomarker for diagnosis of NAFLD and NASH related Cirrhosis. Gastroenterology and Hepatology outpatient clinic at: Ain Shams University Hospitals, Shebin El-Kom Teaching Hospital, Kafr Elsheikh University Hospitals. Clinical Pathology department at Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University. Results Patients with NASH had higher NAFLD score than patients with NAFLD than normal control. Patients with NASH had significantly higher frequency of upregulated miRNA-22. Patients with NASH had higher miRNA 122 expression than normal controls and patients with NAFLD. Likewise, patients with NAFLD had higher miRNA 122 expression than normal controls. The miRNA 122 was a significant discriminator of NAFLD and NASH with a sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 82% for NAFLD and a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 86% for the NASH. Conclusion miRNA-122 is a sensitive and specific biomarker in the early detection of NAFLD and NASH as they are linked to the lipid metabolism reducing the need for liver biopsy. NAFLD fibrosis score had high sensitivity in differentiating the NAFLD groups from the control group and in differentiating the steatosis group from the NASH group. Serum levels of miRNA-122 were positively correlated with BMI, ALT and AST.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a pathological condition characterized by the accumulation of triglycerides (TGs) in the hepatocytes and has usually been associated with hyperlipidemia, obesity, and insulin resistance. Besides, it is a progressive condition that has become one of the most common liver disorder in developed countries and is usually accompanied by increased cardiovascular and land liver disease mortality. NAFLD is a spectrum of liver disorders, progressing from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis which is characterized by inflammation and hepatocellular injury then fibrosis which finally results in cirrhosis and even hepatocellular cancer. However, the molecular mechanism contributing to NAFLD progression is not fully understood. Its pathogenesis has usually been recognized by the "double-insult" hypothesis. the "first insult" includes accumulation of TGs in the hepatocyte, followed by a "second insult" where inflammatory mediators convince hepatocellular injury, inflammation, and fibrosis. In NAFLD, insulin resistance initiates the hepatic steatosis by different mechanisms. Furthermore, it was shown that NAFLD is associated with an inhibition of fatty acid oxidation in the mitochondria and an increase in the release of very-low-density lipoproteins. This review discusses the pathophysiology of NAFLD and the role of insulin resistance, obesity and inflammatory markers in the initiation of NAFLD. in addition to the different Therapeutic approaches for NAFLD.

This paper evaluates the construction quality of aggregate base course layers in terms of the variability and uniformity in density and modulus based measurements. Field and laboratory tests were conducted on 10 aggregate base course layers during HMA pavement construction in Wisconsin. Field tests consisted of in-place unit weight, LWD, DCP, and Stiffness Gauge measurement while laboratory tests included particle size analysis, compaction test, and repeated load triaxial test. Moreover, sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the influence of the base course layer input parameters on the long-term performance of HMA pavements using the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design software. Field and laboratory test results demonstrated the existence of high spatial variability in both density (relative compaction ranged from 82.6 to 109.1%, with 17% of test points having values

Tablets are the most widely utilized solid oral dosage forms because of the advantages of self-administration, stability, ease of handling, transportation, and good patient compliance. Over time, extensive advances have been made in tableting technology. This review aims to provide an insight about the advances in tablet excipients, manufacturing, analytical techniques and deployment of Quality by Design (QbD). Various excipients offering novel functionalities such as solubility enhancement, super-disintegration, taste masking and drug release modifications have been developed. Furthermore, co-processed multifunctional ready-to-use excipients, particularly for tablet dosage forms, have benefitted manufacturing with shorter processing times. Advances in granulation methods, including moist, thermal adhesion, steam, melt, freeze, foam, reverse wet and pneumatic dry granulation, have been proposed to improve product and process performance. Furthermore, methods for particle engineering including hot melt extrusion, extrusion-spheronization, injection molding, spray drying / congealing, co-precipitation and nanotechnology-based approaches have been employed to produce robust tablet formulations. A wide range of tableting technologies including rapidly disintegrating, matrix, tablet-in-tablet, tablet-in-capsule, multilayer tablets and multiparticulate systems have been developed to achieve customized formulation performance. In addition to conventional invasive characterization methods, novel techniques based on laser, tomography, fluorescence, spectroscopy and acoustic approaches have been developed to assess the physical-mechanical attributes of tablet formulations in a non- or minimally invasive manner. Conventional UV-Visible spectroscopy method has been improved (e.g., fiber-optic probes and UV imaging-based approaches) to efficiently record the dissolution profile of tablet formulations. Numerous modifications in tableting presses have also been made to aid machine product changeover, cleaning, and enhance efficiency and productivity. Various process analytical technologies have been employed to track the formulation properties and critical process parameters. These advances will contribute to a strategy for robust tablet dosage forms with excellent performance attributes.