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Reddy Ramireddy VS, Kurakula R, Velayudhaperumal Chellam P, James A, van Hullebusch ED. Systematic computational toxicity analysis of the ozonolytic degraded compounds of azo dyes: Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) and adverse outcome pathway (AOP) based approach. Environ Res 2023; 231:116142. [PMID: 37217122 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The present study identifies and analyses the degraded products of three azo dyes (Reactive Orange 16, Reactive Red 120, and Direct Red 80) and proffers their in silico toxicity predictions. In our previously published work, the synthetic dye effluents were degraded using an ozonolysis-based Advanced Oxidation Process. In the present study, the degraded products of the three dyes were analysed using GC-MS at endpoint strategy and further subjected to in silico toxicity analysis using Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (TEST), Prediction Of TOXicity of chemicals (ProTox-II), and Estimation Programs Interface Suite (EPI Suite). Several physiological toxicity endpoints, such as hepatotoxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, cellular and molecular interactions, were considered to assess the Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR) and adverse outcome pathways. The environmental fate of the by-products in terms of their biodegradability and possible bioaccumulation was also assessed. Results of ProTox-II suggested that the azo dye degradation products are carcinogenic, immunotoxic, and cytotoxic and displayed toxicity towards Androgen Receptor and Mitochondrial Membrane Potential. TEST results predicted LC50 and IGC50 values for three organisms Tetrahymena pyriformis, Daphnia magna, and Pimephales promelas. EPISUITE software via the BCFBAF module surmises that the degradation products' bioaccumulation (BAF) and bioconcentration factors (BCF) are high. The cumulative inference of the results suggests that most degradation by-products are toxic and need further remediation strategies. The study aims to complement existing tests to predict toxicity and prioritise the elimination/reduction of harmful degradation products of primary treatment procedures. The novelty of this study is that it streamlines in silico approaches to predict the nature of toxicity of degradation by-products of toxic industrial affluents like azo dyes. These approaches can assist the first phase of toxicology assessments for any pollutant for regulatory decision-making bodies to chalk out appropriate action plans for their remediation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rakshitha Kurakula
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Andhra Pradesh, India
| | | | - Anina James
- Department of Zoology, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, New Delhi, India.
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Nelms MD, Karmaus AL, Patlewicz G. An evaluation of the performance of selected (Q)SARs/expert systems for predicting acute oral toxicity. Comput Toxicol 2020; 16:100135. [PMID: 33163737 PMCID: PMC7641510 DOI: 10.1016/j.comtox.2020.100135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Multiple US agencies use acute oral toxicity data in a variety of regulatory contexts. One of the ad-hoc groups that the US Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) established to implement the ICCVAM Strategic Roadmap was the Acute Toxicity Workgroup (ATWG) to support the development, acceptance, and actualisation of new approach methodologies (NAMs). One of the ATWG charges was to evaluate in vitro and in silico methods for predicting rat acute systemic toxicity. Collaboratively, the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) collected a large body of rat oral acute toxicity data (~16,713 studies for 11,992 substances) to serve as a reference set to evaluate the performance and coverage of new and existing models as well as build understanding of the inherent variability of the animal data. Here, we focus on evaluating in silico models for predicting the Lethal Dose (LD50) as implemented within two expert systems, TIMES and TEST. The performance and coverage were evaluated against the reference dataset. The performance of both models were similar, but TEST was able to make predictions for more chemicals than TIMES. The subset of the data with multiple (>3) LD50 values was used to evaluate the variability in data and served as a benchmark to compare model performance. Enrichment analysis was conducted using ToxPrint chemical fingerprints to identify the types of chemicals where predictions lay outside the upper 95% confidence interval. Overall, TEST and TIMES models performed similarly but had different chemical features associated with low accuracy predictions, reaffirming that these models are complementary and both worth evaluation when seeking to predict rat LD50 values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark D. Nelms
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA
- Center for Computational Toxicology & Exposure (CCTE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, 27709, USA
| | | | - Grace Patlewicz
- Center for Computational Toxicology & Exposure (CCTE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, 27709, USA
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Harnan S, Tappenden P, Cooper K, Stevens J, Bessey A, Rafia R, Ward S, Wong R, Stein RC, Brown J. Tumour profiling tests to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer: a systematic review and economic analysis. Health Technol Assess 2020; 23:1-328. [PMID: 31264581 DOI: 10.3310/hta23300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Breast cancer and its treatment can have an impact on health-related quality of life and survival. Tumour profiling tests aim to identify whether or not women need chemotherapy owing to their risk of relapse. OBJECTIVES To conduct a systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the tumour profiling tests oncotype DX® (Genomic Health, Inc., Redwood City, CA, USA), MammaPrint® (Agendia, Inc., Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Prosigna® (NanoString Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, USA), EndoPredict® (Myriad Genetics Ltd, London, UK) and immunohistochemistry 4 (IHC4). To develop a health economic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of these tests compared with clinical tools to guide the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage breast cancer from the perspective of the NHS and Personal Social Services. DESIGN A systematic review and health economic analysis were conducted. REVIEW METHODS The systematic review was partially an update of a 2013 review. Nine databases were searched in February 2017. The review included studies assessing clinical effectiveness in people with oestrogen receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative, stage I or II cancer with zero to three positive lymph nodes. The economic analysis included a review of existing analyses and the development of a de novo model. RESULTS A total of 153 studies were identified. Only one completed randomised controlled trial (RCT) using a tumour profiling test in clinical practice was identified: Microarray In Node-negative Disease may Avoid ChemoTherapy (MINDACT) for MammaPrint. Other studies suggest that all the tests can provide information on the risk of relapse; however, results were more varied in lymph node-positive (LN+) patients than in lymph node-negative (LN0) patients. There is limited and varying evidence that oncotype DX and MammaPrint can predict benefit from chemotherapy. The net change in the percentage of patients with a chemotherapy recommendation or decision pre/post test ranged from an increase of 1% to a decrease of 23% among UK studies and a decrease of 0% to 64% across European studies. The health economic analysis suggests that the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for the tests versus current practice are broadly favourable for the following scenarios: (1) oncotype DX, for the LN0 subgroup with a Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) of > 3.4 and the one to three positive lymph nodes (LN1-3) subgroup (if a predictive benefit is assumed); (2) IHC4 plus clinical factors (IHC4+C), for all patient subgroups; (3) Prosigna, for the LN0 subgroup with a NPI of > 3.4 and the LN1-3 subgroup; (4) EndoPredict Clinical, for the LN1-3 subgroup only; and (5) MammaPrint, for no subgroups. LIMITATIONS There was only one completed RCT using a tumour profiling test in clinical practice. Except for oncotype DX in the LN0 group with a NPI score of > 3.4 (clinical intermediate risk), evidence surrounding pre- and post-test chemotherapy probabilities is subject to considerable uncertainty. There is uncertainty regarding whether or not oncotype DX and MammaPrint are predictive of chemotherapy benefit. The MammaPrint analysis uses a different data source to the other four tests. The Translational substudy of the Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination (TransATAC) study (used in the economic modelling) has a number of limitations. CONCLUSIONS The review suggests that all the tests can provide prognostic information on the risk of relapse; results were more varied in LN+ patients than in LN0 patients. There is limited and varying evidence that oncotype DX and MammaPrint are predictive of chemotherapy benefit. Health economic analyses indicate that some tests may have a favourable cost-effectiveness profile for certain patient subgroups; all estimates are subject to uncertainty. More evidence is needed on the prediction of chemotherapy benefit, long-term impacts and changes in UK pre-/post-chemotherapy decisions. STUDY REGISTRATION This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42017059561. FUNDING The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sue Harnan
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Paul Tappenden
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Katy Cooper
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - John Stevens
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Alice Bessey
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Rachid Rafia
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Sue Ward
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Ruth Wong
- Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Robert C Stein
- University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK.,Research Department of Oncology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Janet Brown
- Department of Oncology and Metabolism, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Murias Quintana E, Sánchez Lasheras F, Costilla García SM, Cadenas Rodríguez M, Calvo Blanco J, Baladrón Romero J. Psychometric analysis of questions associated with radiological images in the competitive examination for access to residency programs in Spain. Radiologia (Engl Ed) 2019; 61:412-429. [PMID: 31239077 DOI: 10.1016/j.rx.2019.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Revised: 04/21/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Psychometrics is a simple, intuitive approach used in educational research and in multiple-choice questionnaires. Since 2009, the competitive examination through which access to residency programs in Spain is determined (MIR) has included questions related to radiological images. The objective of this paper is to show the results of the psychometric analysis of these questions with the aim of comparing their degree of difficulty, discriminative capacity, and internal structure with respect to those of the other questions on the examination. MATERIAL AND METHODS We analyzed all questions on the examination since 2009, classifying them as clinical cases with and without radiological images, clinical cases with and without non-radiological images, multiple choice questions, and negative questions. We used classical test theory and item response theory to assess the difficulty and degree of discrimination of the questions. RESULTS Of 225 questions, between 11% and 15% of the questions included in the examinations were associated with images. The questions associated with radiological images were more difficult (corrected difficulty index, 0.51) and had worse discriminative capacity. The increased difficulty of radiological questions was associated with worse discriminative capacity, especially if the clinical information provided was inadequate or if the clinical information was contrary to the radiological concept or if there had never been any questions about the concept in previoous MIR examinations. CONCLUSIONS To equalize the standards of the MIR examination, it is necessary to maintain an appropriate structure in devising radiology questions, with terms from the clinical context, appropriate use of distracters, and a lower level of difficulty, which could be achieved by using radiological images with typical radiological findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Murias Quintana
- Doctor en Medicina y Cirugía, Profesor Asociado de Radiología, Universidad de Oviedo. Especialista en Radiología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias. Profesor de Radiología, Curso Intensivo MIR Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
| | - F Sánchez Lasheras
- Doctor en Técnicas de Análisis de Datos e Inteligencia Artificial, Profesor en el Departamento de Construcción e Ingeniería de Fabricación, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, España
| | - S M Costilla García
- Doctor en Medicina y Cirugía, Profesor Titular de Radiología, Universidad de Oviedo. Jefe de Sección de Radiología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España
| | - M Cadenas Rodríguez
- Graduada en Enfermería, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España
| | - J Calvo Blanco
- Doctor en Medicina y Cirugía, Profesor de Radiología, Universidad de Oviedo. Especialista en Radiología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España
| | - J Baladrón Romero
- Doctor en Medicina y Cirugía. Director de la Academia de alto rendimiento Curso MIR Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España
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Galarza DA, Ladrón de Guevara M, Beltrán-Breña P, Sánchez-Calabuig MJ, Rizos D, López-Sebastián A, Santiago-Moreno J. Influence of sperm filtration and the addition of glycerol to UHT skimmed milk- and TEST-based extenders on the quality and fertilizing capacity of chilled ram sperm. Theriogenology 2019; 133:29-37. [PMID: 31055159 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2019.04.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2019] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The poor fertility of ram semen stored chilled for long periods has encouraged the development of protocols designed to improve the kinetic vigour and cervical barrier-crossing capacity of sperm. The present work evaluated the effect of sperm selection with Sephadex filtration and the supplementation of 2% glycerol (GLY) to extenders based on ultra-heat-treated skimmed milk (UHT) or Tris-Tes-Glucose (TEST) on ram sperm kinetic parameters, plasma membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, mitochondrial function and fertilizing ability, over long chilling times. The results showed that for non-filtered semen, values for progressive sperm motility (%PSM), straight line velocity (VSL, μm/s) and the percentage of sperm with an intact plasma membrane/intact acrosome/a high mitochondrial function index (%IPIAHM) at all times up to 96 h of chilling were higher when the UHT extender (P < 0.01) was used compared to TEST extender irrespective of the presence of GLY. When semen was previously filtered with Sephadex, the addition of GLY to the UHT extender improved total motility (%TM), the %PSM and the VSL at 96 h compared to all other treatments (P < 0.01). The best results of all were obtained with non-filtered semen and UHT either with or without GLY. Heterologous IVF using zona-intact bovine oocytes was used to assess the fertilizing capacity of non-filtered fresh (FS0), chilled-for-24 h (CS24) or chilled-for-48 h (CS48) ram semen diluted in UHT extender (GLY-free). Heterologous IVF showed that ram sperm, either FS0, CS24 or CS48, were equally capable of penetrating zona pellucida intact bovine oocytes, leading to pronuclear formation and hybrid embryo cleavage (46.3 ± 3.2; 48.8 ± 3.2; and 43.3 ± 3.5, respectively). No differences were seen with respect to fresh sperm in terms of sperm binding, penetration, polyspermy, pronucleus formation or cleavage rates (P > 0.05). In conclusion, neither Sephadex filtration nor addition of glycerol provided extra benefits to ram sperm chilled up to 96 h. Chilled, non-filtered sperm extended with UHT without GLY showed better sperm functionality than did similar sperm extended with TEST extenders. Indeed, sperm diluted in UHT extender, maintained fertilizing ability up to 48 h.
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Affiliation(s)
- D A Galarza
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA, 28040, Madrid, Spain; Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Cuenca, EC010205, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | | | - P Beltrán-Breña
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - M J Sánchez-Calabuig
- Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, UCM, Madrid, Spain.
| | - D Rizos
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, INIA, 28040, Madrid, Spain
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