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Environmental Disease
Published in Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell, Living with the Earth, 2018
Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell
Some genes are co-dominant. Co-dominant genes are partly expressed if present as a single allele (an allele is one of a pair of genes situated at the same site on paired chromosomes) and fully expressed if present on both. If the gene is defective on one chromosome, with a normal gene on its counterpart chromosome, the expression of the gene may be subdued. When defective on both chromosomes, the disease may be fully expressed, and may even be fatal. An example of a co-dominant gene is that which produces Sickle cell disease. The term “sickle cell” describes the distinctive crescent or “sickle”-shaped erythrocytes (red blood cells), which develop in de-oxygenated erythrocytes carrying hemoglobin S. It is a disease seen primarily in the black race. Hemoglobin S differs from normal hemoglobin A by the substitution of a single amino acid in one of the three polypeptide chains that make up the protein portion of the molecule. The misshapen erythrocytes are quite fragile and become “sickled,” or curved, and accumulate in the tiny capillaries where oxygen is released to the tissues. This causes vascular obstruction, tiny infarcts, and fibrosis. When the defective gene responsible for sickle cell disease is present on one chromosome, about 40 percent of the hemoglobin will be hemoglobin S. When defective in both genes, the sickle cell disease will be fully expressed leading to severe anemia and probable death in early adulthood, if untreated.
Segmentation for Medical Image Mining
Published in Wahiba Ben Abdessalem Karaa, Nilanjan Dey, Mining Multimedia Documents, 2017
Sickle cell disease is an inherited red blood cell disorder set that leads to abnormal hemoglobin on the patient’s red blood cells. Normal hemoglobin has a disc shape, while the abnormal hemoglobin has crescent-/sickle-shape. Consequently, Revathi and Jeevitha [58] applied the watershed transformation based on region processing segmentation to identify the blood samples’ boundary through finding the regional minima on the real images. The authors used an elliptical matching approach to identify the elliptical and circular objects in the cellular cluster having normal and elongated erythrocytes in the sickle cell disease image samples. In the blood smear samples, the segmentation was employed to identify the cells/cluster of the overlapping cells. After segmentation process, the borders of the segmented objects were obtained by using an automatic technique based on the gray scale intensities. Afterward, the circumference adjustment algorithm was applied to analyze the circular objects to detect the best fit to the arch. The watershed transformation procedure provided a global segmentation and border closure with high accuracy.
Recent advances in micro-sized oxygen carriers inspired by red blood cells
Published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2023
Qiming Zhang, Natsuko F. Inagaki, Taichi Ito
Notably, however, obstructions can occur during RBC circulation through the microvasculature when the integrity or morphology of the RBCs is affected by hemolysis, inflammation, adhesion, and damage. As one of the most famous examples, sickle cell disease alters the rheology properties of blood by impairing the RBCs’ ability to deformation. As a result, the viscosity of the blood increases, leading to a loss of microvascular function [38]. Thus, the physical and mechanical properties of RBCs are tightly related to their behaviors in microcirculation. The rigidity of RBCs has been proven to affect their intracapillary transport resistance, pulmonary arterial pressure, and oxygenation [39–41]. In general, the balance of the oxygen capacity and stiffness of RBCs are naturally optimized so that they can continuously release oxygen during microcirculation. The microcirculation phenomenon has been extensively studied; in this context, microfluidics have been demonstrated as an effective approach to accurately simulating the microcirculation of RBCs [42]. RBC capillary models would also be useful in the design of the parameters for micro-sized AOCs (such as their shape and softness) to obtain the desired rheological properties for circulation in capillary-size vessels.
Serum substance P level as a marker for subclinical rheumatoid arthritis activity
Published in Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2023
Shimaa Borham Mohamed, Mohammed Fouad Elkenawy, Tamer Omar Elsaid, Ghada El-Saeed Mashaly
Asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, fibromyalgia, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic disorders, such as RA, are among the pathological disorders where substance P levels are elevated [11]. Since pro-inflammatory cytokines like IFN- α, TNF α and γ IL-1b are linked to the degeneration of cartilage and bone erosion in RA, the ability of SP to regulate the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the synovium suggests that it played a key role in the development of RA [12]. TNF is a well-known cytokine that is present in both the synovium and serum of RA patients. It is a strong inducer of proinflammatory cytokines and disturbs the physiological balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators [13]. A decrease in serum SP brought on by anti-TNF therapy is associated with a reduction in RA disease activity [14]. Limited information is available about the variation of SP serum level in different stages of RA activity and its role as a diagnostic marker for RA. This study was aimed at investigating serum level of substance P as a marker of subclinical rheumatoid arthritis activity.
In situ characterization of human fingernails by optical front-face fluorescence for the identification of primary hypothyroidism
Published in Instrumentation Science & Technology, 2023
Mohamed Nakkach, Rihem Nouir, Imen Cherni, Mehdi Somaï, Fatma Daoued, Besma Ben Dhaou, Fatma Boussema, Sami Hamzaoui, Hassen Ghalila
This was a descriptive study from April to July 2022 with prospective data collection, conducted in the Internal Medicine Department of the Habib Thameur University Hospital Center. This study was realized under agreement of ethical approval and consent of participants. After agreement of all the patients, standardized operative forms were recovered, gathering all the data such as age, TSH level, and the presence or not of other diseases. Participants with severe anemia, sickle cell disease, thalassemia, end-stage renal disease, chronic alcohol intoxication, or pregnancy were not included. Additionally, participants with colored nails were excluded. The investigated cohort is composed of 100 participants divided in two groups: 50 healthy (control group) and 50 with primary hypothyroid (Table 1).