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Abstract The paper presents and addresses the concept of “spontaneous sustainability”, the informal and unplanned sustainable development of communities, as the basis and framework to support the notion, drives, and agendas of “formal sustainability”. It follows the interdependence between the “spontaneous sustainability” of “distinct” communities and their “cultural” characteristics, including history, spatial continuity, values and behaviors, the associated physical settings, and tangible and intangible products, which enabled them to continue, survive, and develop. The research aims at formulating and validating a “framework” for monitoring and enhancing the “spontaneous sustainability” of “distinct” communities to enable, support and link it, to the broader frameworks of “sustainable development”. The proposed “framework” combines “sustainability” dimensions: environmental, economic, and socio-cultural; and the levels of community contexts, and spatial impact. The “framework” is formulated by integrating selected “urban sustainability” approaches, and systems, with later research that developed the key aspects, criteria, and indicators of those systems, together with research addressing “social and cultural sustainability”, and assessment aspects, criteria, and indicators. The “framework” is developed and validated through a limited questionnaire, involving local experts and specialists, academics, and practitioners, to point out limitations and potential, and to suggest the relative importance of its components, key aspects, and criteria. The validation supported the research propositions, the formulation, and development of the proposed “spontaneous sustainability framework” and emphasized its flexibility to include other approaches and agendas, and potential for further development and application in distinct local communities.

Abstract Background Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a significant endogenous mediator that has been implicated in the progression of various forms of cancer including breast cancer (BC). Cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS), cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3MST) are the three principal mammalian enzymes responsible for H2S production. Overexpression of CBS, CSE and 3MST was found to be associated with poor prognosis of BC patients. Moreover, H2S was linked to an immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment in BC. Recently it was observed that BC cells, in response to single or dual inhibition of H2S synthesizing enzymes, develop an escape mechanism by overexpressing alternative sources of H2S generation. Thus, the aim of this work is to escape the H2S compensatory mechanism by pan repressing the three enzymes using microRNAs (miRNAs) and to investigate their impact on the oncogenic and immunogenic profile of BC cells. Methods BC female patients (n = 25) were recruited. In-silico analysis was used to identify miRNAs targeting CBS, CSE, and 3MST. MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured and transfected using oligonucleotides. Total RNA was extracted using Biazol, reverse transcribed and quantified using qRT-PCR. H2S levels were measured using AzMc assay. BC hallmarks were assessed using trans-well migration, wound healing, MTT, and colony forming assays. Results miR-193a and miR-548c were validated by eight different bioinformatics software to simultaneously target CBS, CSE and 3MST. MiR-193a and miR-548c were significantly downregulated in BC tissues compared to their non-cancerous counterparts. Ectopic expression of miR-193a and miR-548c in MDA-MB-231 TNBC cells resulted in a marked repression of CBS, CSE, and 3MST transcript and protein levels, a significant decrease in H2S levels, reduction in cellular viability, inhibition of migration and colony forming ability, repression of immune-suppressor proteins GAL3 GAL9, and CD155 and upregulation of the immunostimulatory MICA and MICB proteins. Conclusion This study sheds the light onto miR-193a and miR-548c as potential pan-repressors of the H2S synthesizing enzymes. and identifies them as novel tumor suppressor and immunomodulatory miRNAs in TNBC.

Abstract Background Cognitive decline is one of the aging health problems that strongly affects daily functioning and quality of life of older adults and threatens their independence. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairment (CI) among community-dwelling elderly in Egypt and the contribution of socioeconomic status to inequality in cognitive impairment. Methods A cross-sectional study involved 470 community-dwelling elderly aged 60 years or older living in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Egypt. Subjects were recruited from home visits, geriatric clubs, and outpatient clinics. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment tools (MoCA & MoCA-B) were used to assess the prevalence of cognitive impairment, Hachinski ischemic score (HIS) to investigate the type of cognitive impairment, Ain Shams Cognitive Assessment (ASCA) tool to assess the pattern of specific cognitive domain affection, and an Egyptian socioeconomic status (SES) scale to classify the SES of the study participants. Results The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 50.2% distributed as 37.7% for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 12.5% for dementia. The most common type of cognitive impairment was the degenerative type (47.9%). Pattern of specific domain affection among cognitively impaired subjects ranged from 94% for visuospatial function to 12.7% for abstraction. Cognitive impairment was significantly higher with increasing age, female sex, marital status (single or widow), low education, higher number of comorbidities, and positive family history of cognitive impairment (p

Listeria monocytogenes causes listeriosis, an infectious and potentially fatal disease of animals and humans. A diverse network of transcriptional regulators, including LysR-type catabolite control protein C (CcpC), is critical for the survival of L. monocytogenes and its ability to transition into the host environment. In this study, we explored the physiological and genetic consequences of deleting ccpC and the effects of such deletion on the ability of L. monocytogenes to cause disease. We found that ccpC deletion did not impact hemolytic activity, whereas it resulted in significant reductions in phospholipase activities. Western blotting revealed that the ΔccpC strain produced significantly reduced levels of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin LLO relative to the wildtype F2365 strain. However, the ΔccpC mutant displayed no significant intracellular growth defect in macrophages. Furthermore, ΔccpC strain exhibited reduction in plaque numbers in fibroblasts compared to F2365, but plaque size was not significantly affected by ccpC deletion. In a murine model system, the ΔccpC strain exhibited a significantly reduced bacterial burden in the liver and spleen compared to the wildtype F2365 strain. Interestingly, the deletion of this gene also enhanced the survival of L. monocytogenes under conditions of H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Transcriptomic analyses performed under H2O2-induced oxidative stress conditions revealed that DNA repair, cellular responses to DNA damage and stress, metalloregulatory proteins, and genes involved in the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan and teichoic acids were significantly induced in the ccpC deletion strain relative to F2365. In contrast, genes encoding internalin, 1-phosphatidylinositol phosphodiesterase, and genes associated with sugar-specific phosphotransferase system components, porphyrin, branched-chain amino acids, and pentose phosphate pathway were significantly downregulated in the ccpC deletion strain relative to F2365. This finding highlights CcpC as a key factor that regulates L. monocytogenes physiology and responses to oxidative stress by controlling the expression of important metabolic pathways.

Carboplatin (Cp) is a potent chemotherapeutic agent, but its effectiveness is constrained by its associated side effects. Frankincense, an oleo-gum resin from the Boswellia sacra tree, has demonstrated cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. This study explored the synergistic potential of nanoparticles formulated from Boswellia sacra methanolic extract (BME), to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of Cp at reduced doses. Nanoparticles were prepared via the nanoprecipitation method, loaded with Cp, and coated with positively charged chitosan (CS) for enhanced cell interaction, yielding Cp@CS/BME NPs with an average size of 160.2 ± 4.6 nm and a zeta potential of 12.7 ± 1.5 mV. In vitro release studies revealed a pH-sensitive release profile, with higher release rates at pH 5.4 than at pH 7.4, highlighting the potential for targeted drug delivery in acidic tumor environments. In vitro studies on HT-29 and Caco-2 colorectal cancer cell lines demonstrated the nanoformulation’s ability to significantly increase Cp uptake and cytotoxic activity. Apoptosis assays further confirmed increased induction of cell death with Cp@CS/BME NPs. Cell-cycle analysis revealed that treatment with Cp@CS/BME NPs led to a significant increase in the sub-G1 phase, indicative of enhanced apoptosis, and a marked decrease in the G1-phase population coupled with an increased G2/M-phase arrest in both cell lines. Further gene expression analysis demonstrated a substantial downregulation of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 and an upregulation of the pro-apoptotic genes Bax, PUMA, and BID following treatment with Cp@CS/BME NPs. Thus, this study presents a promising and innovative strategy for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents using naturally derived ingredients while limiting the side effects.

Abstract Global distribution of salt-affected soils (SAS) has remained at about 1 billion hectares in the literature over the years despite changes in climate, sea levels, and land use patterns which influence the distribution. Lack of periodic update of input soil data, data gaps, and inconsistency are part of the reasons for constant SAS distribution in the literature. This paper proposes harmonization as a suitable alternative for managing inconsistent data and minimizing data gaps. It developed a new harmonization service for supporting country-driven global SAS information update. The service contains a global library of harmonization models for harmonizing inconsistent soil data. It also contains models for identifying gaps in SAS database and for showing global distribution where harmonization of available data is needed. The service can be used by countries to develop national SAS information and update global SAS distribution. Its data availability index is useful in identifying countries without SAS data in the global database, which is a convenient way to identify countries to mobilize when updating global SAS information. Its application in 27 countries showed that the countries have more SAS data than they currently share with the global databases and that most of their data require SAS harmonization.

Abstract Background Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are critical players in the pathogenesis of numerous neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which is responsible for most cases of dementia in the elderly. With the lack of curative treatments, natural phenolics are potential candidates to delay the onset and progression of such age-related disorders due to their potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aims at assessing the phytochemical characteristics of Origanum majorana L. (OM) hydroalcohol extract and its neuroprotective activities in a murine neuroinflammatory model. Methods OM phytochemical analysis was done by HPLC/PDA/ESI-MSn. Oxidative stress was induced in vitro by hydrogen peroxide and cell viability was measured using WST-1 assay. Swiss albino mice were injected intraperitoneally with OM extract at a dose of 100 mg/kg for 12 days and with 250 μg/kg LPS daily starting from day 6 to induce neuroinflammation. Cognitive functions were assessed by novel object recognition and Y-maze behavioral tests. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to assess the degree of neurodegeneration in the brain. Reactive astrogliosis and inflammation were assessed by immunohistochemistry using GFAP and COX-2 antibodies, respectively. Results OM is rich in phenolics, with rosmarinic acid and its derivatives being major constituents. OM extract and rosmarinic acid significantly protected microglial cells against oxidative stress-induced cell death (p

Recently, myriad studies have defined the versatile abilities of gasotransmitters and their synthesizing enzymes to play a “Maestro” role in orchestrating several oncological and non-oncological circuits and, thus, nominated them as possible therapeutic targets. Although a significant amount of work has been conducted on the role of nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) and their inter-relationship in the field of oncology, research about hydrogen sulfide (H2S) remains in its infancy. Recently, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been reported to play a dominating role in the regulation of the endogenous machinery system of H2S in several pathological contexts. A growing list of microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are leading the way as upstream regulators for H2S biosynthesis in different mammalian cells during the development and progression of human diseases; therefore, their targeting can be of great therapeutic benefit. In the current review, the authors shed the light onto the biosynthetic pathways of H2S and their regulation by miRNAs and lncRNAs in various oncological and non-oncological disorders.

The present research report describes on the characterization of potassium bisulfate or potassium hydrogen sulphate (KHS) single crystals grown using slow evaporation method at room temperature. The KHS crystal was found to be crystallizing in centrosymmetric orthorhombic structure. The existence of different functional groups in the crystal was assured by FTIR investigation. The optical transmittance of the KHS crystal was investigated using the UV visible spectrum. Moreover, the band gap energy as well as optical constants including dielectric constant, reflectance, extinction coefficient, optical conductivity, refractive index, and electrical conductivity was reported.

Currently, the main pillars in treating breast cancer involve tumorectomy pursued by hormonal, radio, or chemotherapies. Nonetheless, these approaches exhibit severe adverse effects and might suffer from tumor recurrence. Therefore, there is a considerable demand to fabricate an innovative controlled-release nano-delivery system to be implanted after tumor surgical removal to guard against cancer recurrence. In addition, combining platinum-based drugs with phytochemicals is a promising approach to improving the anticancer activity of the chemotherapeutics against tumor cells while minimizing their systemic effects. This study designed polycaprolactone (PCL)-based electrospun nanofiber mats encapsulating nedaplatin (N) and Peganum harmala alkaloid-rich fraction (L). In addition to physicochemical characterization, including average diameters, morphological features, degradation study, thermal stability, and release kinetics study, the formulated nanofibers were assessed in terms of cytotoxicity, where they demonstrated potentiated effects and higher selectivity towards breast cancer cells. The dual-loaded nanofiber mats (N + L@PCL) demonstrated the highest antiproliferative effects against MCF-7 cells with a recorded IC50 of 3.21 µg/mL, as well as the topmost achieved selectivity index (20.45) towards cancer cells amongst all the tested agents (N, L, N@PCL, and L@PCL). This indicates that the dual-loaded nanofiber excelled at conserving the normal breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A). The combined therapy, N + L@PCL treatment, resulted in a significantly higher percent cell population in the late apoptosis and necrosis quartiles as compared to all other treatment groups (p-value of ≤0.001). Moreover, this study of cell cycle kinetics revealed potentiated effects of the dual-loaded nanofiber (N + L@PCL) at trapping more than 90% of cells in the sub-G1 phase and reducing the number of cells undergoing DNA synthesis in the S-phase by 15-fold as compared to nontreated cells; hence, causing cessation of the cell cycle and confirming the apoptosis assay results. As such, our findings suggest the potential use of the designed nanofiber mats as perfect implants to prevent tumor recurrence after tumorectomy.

Background Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) have undergone significant evolution in recent years. Clinical epidemiological data on ILDs from Egypt are limited. We performed this research to assess the epidemiological, clinical, and radiological patterns of ILDs at a single center for 1-year duration. Patients and methods An observational cohort study was performed on 100 patients of ILDs. Patients’ demographic, clinical examination, spirometry, 6-min walk test, collagen profile, and high-resolution computed tomography of the chest data were collected. Results A total of 100 patients with ILDs were studied, and 77 of them were females. The mean age of the patients was 48 years, 88% of them from rural areas, and ∼50% of them were housewives with significant exposure to bird breeding. The distribution of ILD cases was hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) (51%) followed by idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (26%), unclassifiable ILD (13%), and lastly, connective tissue disease associated with ILD (10%). Most of the clinical features had nearly an equal distribution among the different types of ILDs (P>0.05). Regarding radiological pattern on high-resolution computed tomography chest, it was found that ground-glass opacity was the only pattern that had a significant occurrence in patients with HP than other subtypes. Conclusion Approximately half of the studied patients had HP, so attention to those exposed patients is an important element for early diagnosis of HP as the most common subtype of ILD.

Abstract Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most economic crops in Egypt. Production of amylase from the waste of maize is the most economic and cheap renewable and most abundant raw materials present in environment. Biosynthesis of Cu-chitosan nanoparticles for amylase production by co-culturing between Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens at different ratios compared to free conditions was the main purpose of this study. The optimum ratio 8:2, recorded between P. fluorescens: T. harzianum, was the most promising for production of amylase produce 22.47 and 28.60 U/ml for free and nano, respectively. The UV visible spectral analysis Cu-chitosan NPs was 220 nm, while the mean diameter, using transmission electron microscopy was 0.5 μm. Application of fermented maize wastes by co-cultivation of P. fluorescence and T. harzianum, as a grain dressing before sowing declared the reduction in both root and foliar diseases during the maize growing season, starting from germination up to 70 days of its vegetative growth under field conditions. A promising approach is the creation and use of environmentally safe products, whose protective effect is based on the induction of hydrolase inhibitors in plants.

Since its emergence, Canine Parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) has been considered as a deadly pathogen in dogs with high mortality in puppies for its clinical gastroenteritis and severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea. Although several studies on CPV-2 were conducted in Bangladesh, molecular investigation is poorly understood. The aim of the study was molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of CPV in diarrhoeic pet dogs. During Jan-July 2019, anal swabs were collected from 96 unvaccinated pet dogs with suspected CPV infection from Sylhet region of Bangladesh. The CPV infection was initially screened through rapid Immunochromatographic (IC) strip test, and then CPV-2 (VP2 gene) were detected by conventional PCR assay. Then the nucleotide sequence of amplified VP2 gene was compared with other CPV strains from GeneBank. Of the total samples, 17.7% (17/96) found positive in IC strip test, and 15.62% (15/96) were found positive in PCR assay by using primer pair P2 that detect original CPV-2 type. The IC test showed 100% sensitivity and 97.5% specificity with PCR. In sequence analysis, our isolates showed the highest 90.40% homology with the isolates of China and the USA. Our strains had also an evolutionary relationship with the other strains of CPV from China and India. This study demonstrates the presence of CPV-2 in Bangladesh and futher sequence analysis of more VP2 gene will help in details insight of the molecular and genetic evolution of CPV in Bangladesh.

The nanoindentation test was used to investigate the mechanical properties of borosilicate glass with a composition (mol%) of 40 Na2B4O7-40 SiO2-(20-x) V2O5-x Co2O3, with x = 0, 1, 3, and 5 mol% for samples A, B, C, and D, respectively. Samples were prepared using the melt quenching technique at 1100 °C. A load–displacement curve was plotted and used to extract select mechanical properties of the glass samples. The creep deformation behavior of the glass composition was studied. The maximum creep rate was observed for the sample that contained the highest vanadium oxide content, and the creep rate decreased with a decrease in the vanadium oxide content in the glass samples. The hardness and reduced modulus of elasticity were obtained. The Maxwell–Voigt model was applied to investigate the relaxation kinetics and deformation of the bulk glass.

Case summary Organophosphates and pyrethroids have been widely used as agricultural and domestic insecticides. This case report describes a 3-month-old free-roaming female kitten, weighing 930 g, that developed hypersalivation, hypothermia, dyspnoea due to increased bronchial secretion, bradycardia, miosis and neurological signs, including restlessness, ataxia, disorientation, apparent hallucination, muscle twitching and seizures within 6 h of accidental ingestion of an insecticide containing chlorpyrifos (500 g/l) and cypermethrin (50 g/l). The kitten was treated empirically with intramuscular atropine and dexamethasone, and rectal diazepam. The history of insecticide exposure was obtained after 6 h of treatment and intramuscular 2-pyridine aldoxime methochloride (pralidoxime [2-PAM]) and atropine therapy was started 2 h later. Recovery was complicated by suspected aspiration, but there were no sequelae from the insecticide exposure and by 7 days post-ingestion the kitten was normal and playful. Relevance and novel information To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of successful management of chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin toxicosis in a cat in Bangladesh. This case report suggests that 2-PAM followed by atropine and other supportive therapy may be an effective strategy to manage a cat poisoned by chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin; however, expanded clinical trials are needed.

Abstract Background The accurate determination of resectability in patients with pancreatic cancer is a main goal of preoperative imaging after diagnosis. With advances in surgical techniques, the definition of resectability is in evolution, and it is crucial for radiologists to have an understanding of findings that are relevant to the determination of resectability. The parallel advancements in imaging technology are aiming to improve the ability of imaging modalities to predict resectability. Fifty patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) were analyzed for capability of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values to predict possible tumor resectability. The patients were classified into resectable and unresectable groups based on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging criteria. Logistic regression analysis was used. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was reconstructed. Results Out of different prognostic variables, tumor size was the only significant predictor of tumor resectability. ROC curve analysis showed that ADC value is not a discriminator of tumor resectability (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.5, P value = 0.452). Conclusions In patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, ADC values might be unreliable for prediction of tumor resectability in clinical practice. Low ADC value in such tumors is more attributed to fibrotic nature rather than grade of the tumor.

Network intrusion detection based on anomaly detection techniques has a significant role in protecting networks and systems against harmful activities. Different metaheuristic techniques have been used for anomaly detector generation. Yet, reported literature has not studied the use of the multi-start metaheuristic method for detector generation. This paper proposes a hybrid approach for anomaly detection in large scale datasets using detectors generated based on multi-start metaheuristic method and genetic algorithms. The proposed approach has taken some inspiration of negative selection-based detector generation. The evaluation of this approach is performed using NSL-KDD dataset which is a modified version of the widely used KDD CUP 99 dataset. The results show its effectiveness in generating a suitable number of detectors with an accuracy of 96.1% compared to other competitors of machine learning algorithms.