Validity of 3-Tesla diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for distinction of reactive and metastatic lymph nodes in head-and-neck carcinoma

Objectives

The objective was to study the relationship of 3-Tesla (3T) diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value for distinction of reactive and metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) in head-and-neck carcinoma (HNC) patients and to determine the ADC cutoff value for metastatic LNs at various levels.

Materials and Methods

3T DW and T1- and T2-weighted imaging sequences were done in 34 patients with biopsy-proven primary HNC of 100 cervical LNs ≥1 cm in diameter. The mean ADC values were compared with histopathologically proven LNs using the independent t-test. ADC cutoff value was evaluated with sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Results

The mean ADC value of reactive LN was 1.2933 × 10^-3 mm²/s and metastatic LN was 0.908 × 10^-3 mm²/s. An ADC cutoff value was 0.868 × 10^-3 mm²/s with 84% sensitivity, 96% specificity, 93% accuracy, 87.5% positive predictive value, and 94.7% negative predictive value. A significant difference in mean ADC value between reactive and metastatic LNs was noted (P< 0.001).

Conclusion

3T DW-MRI is useful in differentiating reactive and metastatic cervical LNs in HNC patients. However, studies with larger sample size have to be performed to validate ADC threshold value with 3T DW-MRI in differentiating between reactive and metastatic LNs for clinical practice.

Bubble Coalescence at Wormlike Micellar Solution-Air Interfaces

Surfactants in aqueous solutions self-assemble in the presence of salt, to form long, flexible, wormlike micelles (WLM). WLM solutions exhibit viscoelastic properties and are used in many applications, such as for cosmetic products, drag reduction, and hydraulic fracturing. Understanding the coalescence stability of bubbles in WLM solutions is important for the development of WLM based products that require a stable dispersion of bubbles. In this paper, we investigate the thin film drainage dynamics leading up to the coalescence of bubbles at flat WLM solution-air interfaces. The salts and surfactant type and concentrations were chosen so as to have the viscoelastic properties of the tested WLM solutions span over 2 orders of magnitude in moduli and relaxation times. The various stages in drainage and coalescence, the formation of a thick region at the apex (a dimple), the thinning and washout of this dimple, and the final stages of drainage before rupture, are modified by the viscoelasticity of the wormlike micellar solutions. As a result of the unique viscoelastic properties of the WLM solutions, we also observe a number of interesting fluid dynamic phenomena during the drainage processes including elastic recoil, thin film ripping, and single-step terminal drainage.

Computer-Aided Diagnosis system for diagnosis of pulmonary emphysema using bio-inspired algorithms

Pulmonary emphysema is a condition characterized by the destruction and permanent enlargement of the alveoli of the lungs. The destruction of gas-exchanging alveoli causes shortness of breath followed by a chronic cough and sputum production. A Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) framework for diagnosing pulmonary emphysema from chest Computed Tomography (CT) slices has been designed and implemented in this study. The process of implementing the CAD framework includes segmenting the lung tissues and extracting the regions of interest (ROIs) using the Spatial Intuitionistic Fuzzy C-Means clustering algorithm. The ROIs that were considered in this work were emphysematous lesions - namely, centrilobular, paraseptal, and bullae that were labelled by an expert radiologist. The shape, texture, and run-length features were extracted from each ROI. A wrapper approach that employed four bio-inspired algorithms - namely, Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO), Firefly Optimization (FFO), Artificial Bee Colony Optimization, and Ant Colony Optimization - with the accuracy of the support vector machine classifier as the fitness function was used to select the optimal feature subset. The selected features of each bio-inspired algorithm were trained independently using the Extreme Learning Machine classifier based on the tenfold cross-validation technique. The framework was tested on real-time and public emphysema datasets to perform binary classification of lung CT slices of patients with and without the presence of emphysema. The framework that used MFO and FFO for feature selection produced superior results regarding accuracy, precision, recall, and specificity for the real-time dataset and the public dataset, respectively, when compared to the other bio-inspired algorithms.

Feeding status of free-range scavenging chickens in different agro-climatic regions of India

1. The aim of this study was to determine the nutritional status of backyard chickens reared under 4 different agro-climatic conditions (tropical, humid subtropical, cool-temperate and semi-arid) of India during different seasons of the year and to compare their nutritional status with those reared under confined feeding system (CFS). In each season, 15 adult and 15 grower chickens were slaughtered for collecting content of crop and gizzard to assess the nutritional status from different agro-climatic conditions.2. The dry matter content of crop and gizzard was higher (P < 0.01) in chickens reared under backyard conditions compared to those reared under CFS.3. Higher (P < 0.01) crop and gizzard contents were recorded during winter compared to the rainy season. The proportion of grains in the crop during summer and winter season was higher compared to rainy season. Further, there were more insects present in the crop during the rainy season and winter compared to summer.4. The proportion of insects was higher in chickens reared in humid, subtropical and cool temperate regions compared to semi-arid conditions. The consumption of grasses was higher in cool-temperate regions as compared to those reared under other areas.5. Crude protein (CP), Ca, P and gross energy (GE) content of the crop were higher in chickens reared under CFS compared to those reared in backyard systems and CP in the crop contents was lower in backyard chickens reared in humid subtropical and semi-arid regions compared to other areas. Similarly, lower (P < 0.01) Ca levels were seen in crop and gizzard contents from birds reared in semi-arid Rajasthan, and P and GE were lower in tropical wet and dry Telangana (TWT) compared to the chickens reared in the backyard conditions in other regions.6. Based on the results, the nutrient intake for birds utilising the scavenging feed resource base (SFRB) in the TWT region was below the requirements of backyard chickens from the other regions selected in the present study. GE and CP were critically deficient in the SFRB of the TWT region. Therefore, evolving location-specific supplementary diets using locally available feed resources to meet nutrient requirement of backyard chickens is required for optimising production potential.

Effect of graded levels of soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) shell powder on reproductive performance in broiler breeders

Objective

This study investigated the effects of soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) shell powder (SSP) on serum hormone level, egg quality, semen characteristics and reproductive performance of broiler breeders fed with a maize-soybean meal based diet.

Methods

Ninety six female and twenty four male CARIBRO-VISHAL broiler breeders, 38-week old, were individually caged and randomly allocated to four treatment groups (24 female breeders/treatment and 6 male breeders/treatment): an un-supplemented control (T1) and three groups with 0.0176% SSP (group T2), 0.026% SSP (group T3) and 0.0528% SSP (group T4), to have supplementary saponin at 0, 50, 75, and 150 ppm, respectively, for 42 days.

Results

The results indicated that serum (p<0.001) and seminal plasma (p<0.05) testosterone level, semen volume (p<0.001), mass motility (p<0.001), and live spermatozoa count (p<0.001) was increased in groups T3 and T4 compared to T2 and control groups. Compared with control group, total sperm count was increased (p<0.001) and dead spermatozoa count was decreased (p<0.001) in SSP supplemented groups. Supplementation of SSP did not affected the quality of egg lay. Compared with control group, fertility (p<0.01) and hatchability (total eggs set and fertile eggs set) (p<0.001) were significantly improved in SSP supplemented groups with the highest improvement in T3 treatment group. Embryonic death was decreased (p< 0.001) in SSP supplemented groups compared to control; lowest embryonic death was recorded in T3 treatment group.

Conclusion

Thus, it was concluded that dietary supplementation of 0.026% SSP (saponin equivalent 75 ppm) improved the reproductive performance of broiler breeders.

Prevailing practices in airway management: a prospective single-centre observational study of endotracheal intubation

INTRODUCTION

Airway management during anaesthesia has potential difficulties and risks. We aimed to investigate the utility of routine airway assessment for predicting difficult tracheal intubation, review the prevailing practice of videolaryngoscope use amongst anaesthetists in a teaching hospital and determine the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative airway-related complications.

METHODS

A prospective observational study of 1,654 patients undergoing general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation over a seven-month period was performed. Data regarding airway and anaesthetic management was collected and analysed.

RESULTS

Videolaryngoscopes were used as the first-choice equipment in 60.5% of the cohort. The incidence of difficult intubation was 2.1%, of which 45.7% of cases were unanticipated. The sensitivity of airway assessment was 54.3%, with a positive predictive value of 8.1%. When difficult intubation was anticipated, more videolaryngoscopes were used as the first equipment of choice compared to the Macintosh laryngoscope (p < 0.001). In the Macintosh group, more patients required a change of airway equipment (p = 0.015), but the number of intubation attempts was similar (p = 0.293). The incidence of intraoperative (p = 0.920) and postoperative complications (p = 0.380) were similar in both groups.

CONCLUSION

Using the current predictors of difficult intubation, half of the difficult airways we encountered were unanticipated. Videolaryngoscopes were preferred when difficulty was anticipated and were also used in routine tracheal intubation.

Degradation of euptox A by tannase-producing rumen bacteria from migratory goats

AIMS

The gut microbiota capable of degrading plant biomass and antinutritional phytometabolites are of immense importance. This study reports isolation and characterization of tannase-producing rumen bacteria that could also degrade euptox A (9-oxo-10,11-dehydroageraphorone) present in Eupatorium adenophorum (Spreng).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Migratory Gaddi goats were selected as source of inoculums for isolating rumen bacteria with ability to produce tannase which catalyses degradation of hydrolysable tannins (HTs). Three rumen bacterial isolates producing tannase were studied, and identified as Klebsiella variicola strain PLP G-17 LC, K. variicola strain PLP S-18 and Klebsiella pneumoniae strain PLP G-17 SC. The isolates exhibited optimal tannase activity at 40°C, and pH 6·0. The bacteria could also degrade euptox A, a potent hepatotoxin in E. adenophorum Spreng, a widely distributed noxious weed.

CONCLUSIONS

The rumen bacteria could degrade antinutritional HTs and euptox A. Culture-independent metagenomic interventions are envisioned to completely decipher the rumen microbial ecology and exploit its genetic and metabolic potential.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The bacteria producing tannase which catalyses degradation of HTs, and concurrently degrading euptox A, may have potential as microbial feed additives to increase utilization of plant biomass containing antinutritional phytometabolites.

Feature selection using ant colony optimization with tandem-run recruitment to diagnose bronchitis from CT scan images

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) plays a vital role in the routine clinical activity for the detection of lung disorders using computed tomography (CT) images. It serves as a source of second opinion that radiologists may consider in order to interpret CT images. In this work, the purpose of CAD is to improve the diagnostic accuracy of pulmonary bronchitis from CT images of the lung.

METHODS

Left and right lung fields are segmented using optimal thresholding from the lung CT images. Texture and shape features are extracted from the pathology bearing regions. A hybrid feature selection approach based on ant colony optimization (ACO) combining cosine similarity and support vector machine (SVM) classifier is used to select relevant features. Additionally, tandem run recruitment strategy is included in the selection activity to choose the promising features. The SVM classifier is trained using the selected features and the performance of the trained classifier is evaluated using trivial performance evaluation measures.

RESULTS

The training and testing datasets used in building the classifier model are disjoint and contains 200 CT slices affected with bronchitis, 50 normal slices and 300 slices with cancer. Out of 100 features extracted from each CT slice, a subset of 60 features is used for classification. ACO with tandem run strategy yielded 81.66% of accuracy whereas ACO without tandem run yielded an accuracy of 77.52%. When all the features are used for classifier training without feature selection algorithm, an accuracy of 75.14% is achieved.

CONCLUSION

From the results, it is inferred that identifying relevant features to train the classifier has a definite impact on the classifier performance.

Abstract P6-01-15: Novel regulation of breast cancer cell aggressiveness by cancer testis antigen

We recently demonstrated that a vesicular endocytosis associated protein SH3GL2, attenuates spontaneous metastases of breast cancer cells by inducing a mesenchymal to epithelial differentiation and the onset of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. The present study aims to understand the molecular mechanism behind the SH3Gl2 mediated reduction of spontaneous metastasis of the breast cancer cells.

We employed a cDNA microarray analysis of the SH3GL2-overexpressing breast cancer cells exhibiting reduced pulmonary metastasis and identified a 12.1 fold downregulation of SPANXB1, a cancer-testis antigen that regulates sperm motility. A limited number of studies reported an association between increased SPANXB1 expression and progression of melanoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Augmented SPANXB1 mRNA and protein expression was evident in primary breast tumors and its upregulation was associated with pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer cells. However, the expression pattern of SPANXB1 and its role in BCa development and progression is unknown. By immunohistochemical analysis, we detected high expression (p=0.002) of SPANXB1 in 78% (18/23) of the primary breast cancer tissues and corresponding lymph node metastases compared to the matched normal breast tissues. A couple of non-tumorigenic human breast epithelial cell lines were stably transformed with SPANXB1 to understand its effect on cellular growth and progression. The SPANXB1-transformed cells exhibited increased invasion (p=0.0001) and epithelial to mesenchymal transition accompanied by an augmented expression ratio of Vimentin/E-Cadherin, molecules regulating differentiation and metastasis. The SPANXB1-transformed cells also exhibited a markedly reduced expression of SH3GL2, implicating a SPANXB1:SH3GL2 crosstalk accompanied by an enhanced production of lactate (p=0.004). Our investigation identifies new breast cancer promoting role of a cancer testis antigen, which bears potential for biomarker and targeted therapeutic development.

Citation Format: Kannan A, Wells RM, Ikebe M, Dasgupta S. Novel regulation of breast cancer cell aggressiveness by cancer testis antigen [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-01-15.