Adulteration of hypoglycemic products: the silent threat

Background. The growing tendency toward the adulteration of hypoglycemic products in the market to increase the seller’s profits, the increased promotions of such products by unscrupulous promoters, and the higher rate of consumption by diabetic patients in the community all of these represent an alarm for serious health problems that could be fatal and have a potential threat to public health when using them. Aim. This review aims to attract the attention of the researchers to the hazardous clinical outcomes of adulterated hypoglycemic products and encourage them to do further studies analyzing the compositions of the available hypoglycemic products. Results. Based on the obtained data from the latest studies, the available hypoglycemic products have undeclared and banned anti-diabetic agents that lead to serious side effects. Conclusion. The popularity and abundance of adulterated hypoglycemic products in the market that are claimed to be effective for type 2 diabetes mellitus (Ty2DM) are hazardous to public health and have significant clinical outcomes due to their undeclared anti-diabetic agents which could be lethal to diabetic patients

Using Orthogonal Locality Preserving Projections to Find Dominant Features for Classifying Retinal Blood Vessels

Automatically classifying retinal blood vessels appearing in fundus camera imaging into arterioles and venules can be problematic due to variations between people as well as in image quality, contrast and brightness. Using the most dominant features for retinal vessel types in each image rather than predefining the set of characteristic features prior to classification may achieve better performance. In this paper, we present a novel approach to classifying retinal vessels extracted from fundus camera images which combines an Orthogonal Locality Preserving Projections for feature extraction and a Gaussian Mixture Model with Expectation-Maximization unsupervised classifier. The classification rate with 47 features (the largest dimension tested) using OLPP on our own ORCADES dataset and the publicly available DRIVE dataset was 90.56% and 86.7% respectively

Melatonin as a potential treatment option in diabetes complications

Recent research indicates that disrupted sleeping and eating patterns along with ageing can contribute to the development of diabetes mellitus (DM) via effects on circadian rhythms and metabolic control. The use of anti- -DM drugs alone is insufficient to achieve control of the reduction in β-cell function, insulin resistance, inflammatory mediation, oxidative stress and the DM-related complications. To prevent micro- and macrovascular DM complications, researchers are exploring the therapeutic potential of melatonin, a hormone secreted from the pineal gland with peak at night-time. We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed and Google Scholar databases for relevant articles. Review articles, clinical research and case studies about the impact of melatonin on DM complications, the anti-oxidant action of melatonin, anti-inflammatory action of melatonin and the combination of melatonin plus DM drugs were included in this review. One hundred three articles that met our selection criteria, published between November 2004 and January 2024 were analyzed. This review aims to summarize the literature regarding melatonin’s mechanisms of action and potential as a therapeutic option in the treatment of DM complications

Overview of Mobile Attack Detection and Prevention Techniques Using Machine Learning

In light of the increasing sophistication and frequency of mobile attacks, there is a growing demand for advanced intelligent techniques capable of offering comprehensive mobile attack detection and prevention. This paper aims to critically evaluate the landscape of mobile security, outlining the evolution of mobile attack vectors and pinpointing the deficiencies in traditional security methods. The text embarks on a journey to understand the connection between machine learning (ML) and its promising applications in enhancing mobile security. First, we outline the current state of mobile attacks and the traditional methods used for their detection, emphasizing the clear limitations and the necessity for an innovative approach. Following this, we will elucidate the fundamentals of ML and its implications in cybersecurity, exploring the benefits it can provide to mobile attack detection frameworks. We delve into discussing various ML algorithms, such as decision trees, random forests, and support vector machines, highlighting their effectiveness and the metrics used to evaluate ML models in security tasks. Moreover, the paper sheds light on novel approaches such as semi-supervised and unsupervised learning in anomaly detection, as well as the applications of transfer learning in security. Addressing the pressing challenges faced in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven mobile attack detection, we delve deep into the intricacies of data collection, labeling, and the prevailing issues of imbalance and overfitting. Furthermore, we explore contemporary adversarial attacks and defenses, scrutinizing the real-world adaptability of AI models and the pivotal role of human-AI collaboration in enhancing attack detection mechanisms

2021 Thalassaemia International Federation Guidelines for the Management of Transfusion-dependent Thalassemia

Beta-thalassemia and particularly its transfusion-dependent form (TDT) is a demanding clinical condition, requiring life-long care and follow-up, ideally in specialized centers and by multidisciplinary teams of experts. Despite the significant progress in TDT diagnosis and treatment over the past decades that has dramatically improved patients' prognosis, its management remains challenging. On one hand, diagnostic and therapeutic advances are not equally applied to all patients across the world, particularly in several high-prevalence eastern regions. On the other, healthcare systems in low-prevalence western countries that have recently received large numbers of migrant thalassemia patients, were not ready to address patients' special needs. Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF), a global patient-driven umbrella federation with 232 member-associations in 62 countries, strives for equal access to quality care for all patients suffering from thalassemia or other hemoglobinopathies in every part of the world by promoting education, research, awareness, and advocacy. One of TIF's main actions is the development and dissemination of clinical practice guidelines for the management of these patients. In 2021, the fourth edition of TIF's guidelines for the management of TDT was published. The full text provides detailed information on the management of TDT patients and the clinical presentation, pathophysiology, diagnostic approach, and treatment of disease complications or other clinical entities that may occur in these patients, while also covering relevant psychosocial and organizational issues. The present document is a summary of the 2021 TIF guidelines for TDT that focuses mainly on clinical practice issues and recommendations

Global phylogeography and ancient evolution of the widespread human gut virus crAssphage

Microbiomes are vast communities of microorganisms and viruses that populate all natural ecosystems. Viruses have been considered to be the most variable component of microbiomes, as supported by virome surveys and examples of high genomic mosaicism. However, recent evidence suggests that the human gut virome is remarkably stable compared with that of other environments. Here, we investigate the origin, evolution and epidemiology of crAssphage, a widespread human gut virus. Through a global collaboration, we obtained DNA sequences of crAssphage from more than one-third of the world's countries and showed that the phylogeography of crAssphage is locally clustered within countries, cities and individuals. We also found fully colinear crAssphage-like genomes in both Old-World and New-World primates, suggesting that the association of crAssphage with primates may be millions of years old. Finally, by exploiting a large cohort of more than 1,000 individuals, we tested whether crAssphage is associated with bacterial taxonomic groups of the gut microbiome, diverse human health parameters and a wide range of dietary factors. We identified strong correlations with different clades of bacteria that are related to Bacteroidetes and weak associations with several diet categories, but no significant association with health or disease. We conclude that crAssphage is a benign cosmopolitan virus that may have coevolved with the human lineage and is an integral part of the normal human gut virome

Global phylogeography and ancient evolution of the widespread human gut virus crAssphage

Microbiomes are vast communities of microorganisms and viruses that populate all natural ecosystems. Viruses have been considered to be the most variable component of microbiomes, as supported by virome surveys and examples of high genomic mosaicism. However, recent evidence suggests that the human gut virome is remarkably stable compared with that of other environments. Here, we investigate the origin, evolution and epidemiology of crAssphage, a widespread human gut virus. Through a global collaboration, we obtained DNA sequences of crAssphage from more than one-third of the world’s countries and showed that the phylogeography of crAssphage is locally clustered within countries, cities and individuals. We also found fully colinear crAssphage-like genomes in both Old-World and New-World primates, suggesting that the association of crAssphage with primates may be millions of years old. Finally, by exploiting a large cohort of more than 1,000 individuals, we tested whether crAssphage is associated with bacterial taxonomic groups of the gut microbiome, diverse human health parameters and a wide range of dietary factors. We identified strong correlations with different clades of bacteria that are related to Bacteroidetes and weak associations with several diet categories, but no significant association with health or disease. We conclude that crAssphage is a benign cosmopolitan virus that may have coevolved with the human lineage and is an integral part of the normal human gut virome

Antidiabetic agents as potential cytotoxic candidates for cancer therapy

Hyperglycemia is an overlooked triggering factor for cancer, despite being critical to the survival and growth of cancer cells through a unique process known as the “Warburg effect.” Therefore, blocking glycolysis by using antidiabetic agents is an attractive approach for impeding cancer growth and enhancing their responsiveness to cancer treatments, while leaving healthy cells unaffected. This review aims to explore the potential of antidiabetics as cytotoxic agents for cancer treatment through their role as glucose deprivation candidates and the clinical considerations of using antidiabetics with their risk as carcinogenic in cancer therapy

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 2,4-Diaminoquinazolines as Potential Antitumor Agents

In the present study, a set of 2-anilino-4-alkylaminoquinazoline derivatives were synthesized and tested for their antitumor activities in vitro against a panel of four human cancer cell lines and for their DNA-binding affinity. Among the synthesized compounds, 4c and 5b with 4-substitution at the phenyl ring were found to have the highest inhibitory effects against breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), colon cancer (HCT-116), hepatocellular carcinoma (HePG-2), and human skin cancer (HFB4). Further investigation revealed that compounds 4a and 5d exhibited better affinity to bind with DNA than other tested compounds