Dysregulation of non-coding microRNAs during the course of tumor development, invasion and/or progression to the distant organs, makes them a promising candidate marker for the diagnosis of cancer and associated malignancies. This exploratory study aims at evaluating the usefulness of plasma concentration of circulating mir-146a as a non-invasive biomarker for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Total RNA including miRNA was isolated from 110 plasma samples of patients (n = 66), healthy controls (n = 24) and follow up (n = 20) cases and reverse transcribed. Relative concentrations were assessed using real-time quantitative PCR and fold-change was calculated by 2−ΔΔCt method. Finally, relative concentrations were correlated to clinicopathological factors. Patients (n = 66) were analyzed to determine fold expression of miR-146a in plasma samples of ALL. Before chemotherapy, pediatric (n = 42) and adult (n = 24) showed overexpression of miR-146a compared with healthy controls (P < 0.0001). There was no effect of age and gender on mir-146a expression in plasma. mirR-146a expression was independent of clinical and hematological features. Moreover, miR-146a levels in plasma of paired samples (n = 20) after treatment showed significant decrease in expression (P < 0.001). Expression of plasma miR-146a may be utilized as non-invasive marker to diagnose and predict prognosis in pediatric and adult patients with ALL. Moreover predicted targets may be utilized for ALL therapy in future.
In this work, Sr-substituted samples of single-phase spinel monoferrites with chemical formula [Formula: see text] (x = 0.00, 0.33, 0.67, 1.00) were synthesized using sol–gel auto-combustion method. In order to confirm the single-phase formation of these samples, a sample (x = 0.00) was chosen for heat treatment at different temperatures (100, 300, 400, 600 and [Formula: see text]) for 4 h. The heat treated sample was then investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and results showed that a single-phase sample can be successfully synthesized at a temperature of [Formula: see text], which is much lower than that reported in earlier literature for synthesis of same structured samples. All the synthesized samples were then sintered at [Formula: see text] for 4 h to achieve better crystallinity. From XRD patterns, lattice parameters, cell volume and XRD density as a function of Sr-substitution were calculated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that the grain size increased as the temperature was increased. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results confirmed the single-phase spinel monoferrites at [Formula: see text]. From M–H loops (x = 0.0, 0.33, 0.67 and 1.00), different magnetic parameters such as saturation magnetization [Formula: see text], remanance [Formula: see text], coercivity [Formula: see text] and magnetic moment [Formula: see text] were calculated. Magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant and Y–K angles of Sr-doped Ba monoferrites were also calculated. In addition, the variation of different dielectric parameters (real permittivity, imaginary permittivity, real permeability, imaginary permeability, ac conductivity and loss tangent) as a function of frequency (1–6 GHz) has been discussed in this work. The results suggest that the synthesized materials have many advantages over previously reported single-phase spinel monoferrites.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.