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Objective: To determine the association between endoscopic findings vs. serology findings of patients with suspected celiac disease Methods: All the suspected cases (based on their clinical manifestations) of celiac disease were initially recruited having age >14 years and

Herein, we studied the novel and emerging group of 2D materials namely MXene along with its nanocomposites. This work entails detailed experimental as well as computational study of the electrochemical behavior of vanadium carbide (V2CTx) MXene and MnO2-V2C nanocomposite with varying percentages of MnO2. A specific capacitance of 551.8 F/g was achieved for MnO2-V2C nanocomposite in 1 M KOH electrolyte solution, which is more than two times higher than the gravimetric capacitance of 196.5 F/g obtained for V2C. The cyclic stability achieved for the MnO2-V2C nanocomposite resulted in a retentivity of 96.5% until 5000 cycles. The c-lattice parameter achieved for MXene is 22.6 Å, which was 13.01 Å for MAX phase. The nanocomposite resulted in a c-lattice parameter of 27.2 Å, which showed that the spatial distance between the MXene layers was efficiently obtained. The method of wet etching was used for the preparation of pristine MXene and the liquid phase precipitation method was opted for the synthesis of the MnO2-V2C nanocomposite. Density functional theory calculation was exercised so as to complement the experimental results and to understand the microscopic details, such as structure stability and electronic structure. The current report presents a comprehensive experimental and computational study on 2D MXenes for future energy storage applications.

Objective To evaluate the effects of platelet-rich plasma injection on histological changes of osteoarthritis using the modified Mankin score in monoiodoacetate-induced rat knee model. Study design Laboratory-based experimental study. Place and duration of study Department of Anatomy, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad from March to May 2018. Methodology Thirty-two pathogen-free male rats aged 3-4 months were selected and divided into two groups with 8 and 24 animals, respectively. Groups A was used as control. Experimental group B was further subgrouped as B1, B2 and B3 with 8 animals, in each subgroup. Monoiodoacetate solution was injected into the articular cavity of the right knee joint of all the animals in group B. Both the control (A) and experimental group B1 were sacrificed after 2 weeks of MIA injection, for observing the histological changes in the articular cartilage. Group B2 received a single injection of platelet rich plasma (PRP) while group B3 was reared as such. Both groups were sacrificed after 4 weeks of intra-articular administration of PRP. Articular cartilage was collected, processed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) and toludine blue (T.B). Routine histological study was done and Mankin score was calculated to determine the grade of arthritis. SPSS Version 21 was used for the statistical analysis and p-value was considered significant at the cut-off value of 0.05. Results The mean Mankin score of group B3 (9.37) was significantly higher than that of group B2 (7.37, p=0.003). Conclusion Platelet-rich plasma treatment controls the histological changes of chemically-induced osteoarthritis in rat knee.

The two-dimensional (2D) carbides namely MXene have attracted tremendous attention recently owing to their enormous potential for various applications such as 2D spintronics. Derived from its parent Ti3AlC2 MAX phase, the magnetic behavior of chemically-etched Ti3C2 MXene is still unknown and offers a vast space to for researchers to study and explore its magnetic properties. We have prepared Nb-doped Ti3C2 MXene and characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID: Quantum Design). The density functional theory (DFT) calculation were also done in order to explore the magnetic behavior. The c-lattice parameter was increased from 19.2 angstrom, to 23.4 angstrom, after doping and the surface morphology exhibits a successful doping process. The magnetic study showed that niobium doped MXene is a ferromagnetic compound through the experimental as well as computational examination. The doped MXene is a soft ferromagnet with more significance than MXene on the basis of its structural stability with a calculated magnetic moment of 2.10 mu B. The doped MXene showed a good improved ferromagnetic behavior compared to the pristine MXene while the DFT study showed the ferromagnetic behavior for both the MXene and Nb-doped MXene structures with the magnetic moments of 3.04 mu B and 2.10 mu B, respectively. The current work is a step forward towards understanding of two-dimensional materials and explores potential of 2D MXenes for spintronics applications.

Salvage palliative chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer has been associated with significant improvement in survival. However, not all patients receive all available therapies. Travel burden can affect patient access and use of future therapy. The present study aims to determine relationship between travel distance (TD) and salvage palliative chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.A patient cohort diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer during 2006-2010 in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada was studied. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess relationship between travel distance and subsequent line therapies.The median age of 264 eligible patients was 62 years [interquartile range (IQR): 53-72]. The patients who received salvage systemic therapy had a median distance to travel of 60.0 km (IQR: 4.7-144) compared with 88.1 km (IQR: 4.8-189) if they did not receive second- or third-line therapy (P=0.06). In multivariate analysis distance to the cancer center100 km, odds ratio (OR) 1.69 (95% CI: 1.003-2.84), no metastasectomy, OR 1.89 (95% CI: 1.03-3.46), and absence of comorbid illness as per Charlson comorbid index, OR 1.45 (95% CI: 1.19-1.77) were correlated with the use of second- and subsequent line therapies.Our result revealed that travel distance to the cancer center greater than 100 km was associated less frequent use of second or subsequent line therapies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

724 Background: Second and third line therapies in stage IV colorectal (CRC) have been associated with significant improvement in survival. However, not all patients receive all available therapies. Delay in starting treatment and travel burden can affect patient access and use of future therapy. Little is known about time to first line chemotherapy (TC) and travel distance to cancer center (TD) and their relationship to future therapies in stage IV CRC. The study aims to determine relationship between TC and TD with second and subsequent line of therapies. Methods: A patients cohort diagnosed with synchronous stage IV CRC during 2006-2010 in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada was studied. Patients with ECOG performance status of > 1 or who did not receive chemotherapy were excluded. The logistic regression analyses were performed to assess relationship between TC and TD and subsequent line therapies. Results: 569 patients were diagnosed with synchronous stage IV CRC. 326 patients received first line chemotherapy (mostly FOLFIRI ± bevacizumab). Of 326 patients 62 with ECOG performance status (PS) > 1 were excluded. The median age of 264 eligible patients was 62 yrs (IQR:53-72). 61% were male and 38% had ECOG PS of 0. Mean Charlson score was 9±1.3. 24% underwent metastasectomy. Median TC was 77 days (IQR: 53-107) and median TD was 64.4 km (IQR:4.8-166). 42.8% patients had to travel > 100 km for their treatment. Of 326 patients 144 (55%) received future therapies. On multivariate analysis absence of comorbid illness (as per Charlson comorbid index), odd ratio (OR) 1.45 (95% CI: 1.19-1.77), no metastasectomy, OR 1.89 (1.03-3.46) and TD < 100 km, OR 1.69 (1.003-2.84) were correlated with the utility of 2ndand subsequent line therapies. Conclusions: Our result revealed that although time to first line chemotherapy did not correlate with future systemic therapies, travel distance to Cancer Center > 100 km was associated with low rate of second or subsequent line therapies in statge IV CRC patients with good performance status.

The observed oscillatory linewidths of theV′=3 level ofB3Π0+ state of I35Cl and I37Cl are explained as due to heterogeneous predissociation caused by the crossing of an unstableZ1Π state. The crossing point and the slopes of the curves have been fixed to predict the observed linewidths.