To describe the dermoscopic features of congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) and assess whether predominant dermoscopic patterns present in CMN are related to an individual's age ( Ͻ12 years vs Ն12 years), sex, or lesional site (head, neck, and trunk vs extremities).

Therapeutic angiogenesis utilizing genetic and cellular modalities in the treatment of arterial obstructive diseases continues to evolve. This is, in part, because the mechanism of vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and arteriogenesis (the three processes by which the body responds to obstruction of large conduit arteries) is a complex process that is still under investigation. To date, the majority of human trials utilizing molecular, genetic, and cellular modalities for therapeutic angiogenesis in the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) have not shown efficacy. Consequently, the current available knowledge is yet to be translated into novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of PAD. The aim of this review is to discuss relevant scientific and clinical advances in therapeutic angiogenesis and their potential application in the treatment of ischemic diseases of the peripheral arteries. Additionally, this review article discusses past and recent developments, such as some unconventional approaches that have the potential to be applied as therapeutic targets. The article also includes advances in the delivery of genetic, cellular, and bioactive endothelial growth factors.

Species living in extremely cold environments resist the freezing conditions through antifreeze proteins (Afps). Apart from being essential proteins for various organisms living in sub-zero temperatures, Afpshave numerous applications in different industries. They possess very small resemblance to each other and cannot be easily identified using simple search algorithms such as BLAST and PSI-BLAST. Diverse AFPs found in fishes (Type I, II, III, IV and antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs)), are sub-types and show low sequence and structural similarity, making their accurate prediction challenging. Although several machine-learning methods have been proposed for the classification of AFPs, prediction methods that have greater reliability are required. In this paper, we propose a novel machine-learning-based approach for the prediction of AFP sequences using latent space learning through a deep auto-encoder method. For latent space pruning, we use the output of the auto-encoder with a deep neural network classifier to learn the non-linear mapping of the protein sequence descriptor and class label. The proposed method outperformed the existing methods, yielding excellent results in comparison. A comprehensive ablation study is performed, and the proposed method is evaluated in terms of widely used performance measures. In particular, the proposed method demonstrated a high Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.52, F-score of 0.49, and Youden's index of 0.81 on an independent test dataset, thereby outperforming the existing methods for Afp prediction.In Antarctic fish, a survival mechanism that prevented them from freezing in seawater at sub-zero temperatures was observed, which led to the discovery of antifreeze proteins (AFP) 1 . AFPs have been identified as a crucial substance for resisting a freezing environment in various species including plants, bacteria, fungi, insects, and animals 2 . Ice exists in different geometric shapes due to the varying arrangements of oxygen atoms; therefore, the structural and sequential arrangements of AFPs largely vary to accommodate this heterogeneity of ice molecules 3 . Ice also exhibits the property of recrystallization, by which small ice crystals bind to the water molecules, thus becoming a large ice lattice, causing severe damage to the cell membrane, which, in some cases, may be lethal 4 . AFPs are commonly categorized into glycoproteins (AFGPs) and non-glycoproteins (AFPs) 5 . They protect the organisms using two mechanisms: (i) thermal hysteresis (TH), by which the freezing point of water is depressed to a few degrees by the adsorption-inhibition effect without altering the melting point 6 ; (ii) ice crystal inhibition, by which the AFP sites bind to the surfaces of ice and inhibit their growth to become a larger ice lattice, developing either small harmless ice crystals or forming a needle-shaped lattice, thus diminishing the recrystallization property of ice 2 .AFPs are indispensable in organisms such as fish 7 , fungi 8 , bacteria 9 , plants 10 , and insects 11 . Furthermo...

Acute and chronic viral hepatitis are common public health problems in Pakistan, and associated with serious complications. The carrier rate of HBsAg is quoted to be around 10% in general population while the prevalence of HCV in blood donors is 4.8 %. Data regarding the prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infections among healthy blood donors is well established in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Lahore and Abbotabad areas, but similar data is not available for Multan population. Data regarding the epidemiology of HIV infection among blood donors is not available at most of the blood transfusion centers. In this study six thousands (6000) consecutive young healthy voluntary blood donors (age 16-50 years) comprising of 5476 males and 524 females, belonging to Multan region were included from "Blood Transfusion Center Nishtar Hospital Multan" & "Fatmid Blood Transfusion Center Multan" and were tested for HbsAg, Anti-HCV and HIV. Prevalence of Hepatitis B, C and HIV Infection was 3.37%, 0.27% and 0% respectively. The reported prevalence figures for HBsAg & Anti-HCV in other studies are quite variable, depending upon screening protocol, study groups selected and methodology of testing. If data from all the blood transfusion centers of Pakistan is collected and published, we can get representative prevalence values of HBV, HCV and HIV infection of the general population.

Background Liver fibrosis is a chronic liver disease with excessive production of extracellular matrix proteins, leading to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death. Purpose This study aimed at the development of a novel derivative of polyethyleneimine (PEI) that can effectively deliver transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) siRNA and inhibit chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) for TGFβ silencing and CXCR4 Inhibition, respectively, to treat CCl 4 -induced liver fibrosis in a mouse model. Methods Cyclam-modified PEI (PEI-Cyclam) was synthesized by incorporating cyclam moiety into PEI by nucleophilic substitution reaction. Gel electrophoresis confirmed the PEI-Cyclam polyplex formation and stability against RNAase and serum degradation. Transmission electron microscopy and zeta sizer were employed for the morphology, particle size, and zeta potential, respectively. The gene silencing and CXCR4 targeting abilities of PEI-Cyclam polyplex were evaluated by luciferase and CXCR4 redistribution assays, respectively. The histological and immunohistochemical staining determined the anti-fibrotic activity of PEI-Cyclam polyplex. The TGFβ silencing of PEI-Cyclam polyplex was authenticated by Western blotting. Results The 1 H NMR of PEI-Cyclam exhibited successful incorporation of cyclam content onto PEI. The PEI-Cyclam polyplex displayed spherical morphology, positive surface charge, and stability against RNAse and serum degradation. Cyclam modification decreased the cytotoxicity and demonstrated CXCR4 antagonistic and luciferase gene silencing efficiency. PEI-Cyclam/siTGFβ polyplexes decreased inflammation, collagen deposition, apoptosis, and cell proliferation, thus ameliorating liver fibrosis. Also, PEI-Cyclam/siTGFβ polyplex significantly downregulated α-smooth muscle actin, TGFβ, and collagen type III. Conclusion Our findings validate the feasibility of using PEI-Cyclam as a siRNA delivery vector for simultaneous TGFβ siRNA delivery and CXCR4 inhibition for the combined anti-fibrotic effects in a setting of CCl 4 -induced liver fibrosis.