Novel Similarity Measure Based on the Transformed Right-Angled Triangles Between Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and its Applications

Intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) is one of the most robust and trustworthy tools for portraying the imprecise information with the help of the membership degrees. Similarity measure, one of the information measures, plays an important role in treating imperfect and ambiguous information to reach the final decision by determining the degree of similarity between the pairs of the numbers. Motivated by these, this paper aims to present a novel distance/ similarity among the IFSs based on the transformation techniques with their characteristics. To explore the study, the given IFSs are transformed into the right-angled triangle over a unit square area, and hence based on the intersection of the triangles, novel distance and similarity measures are proposed. An algorithm to solve the decision-making problems with the proposed similarity measure is developed and implemented to execute their performance over the numerous examples such as pattern recognition and clustering analysis. The reliability of the developed measure is investigated by applying it in clustering and the pattern recognition problems and their results are compared with some prevailing studies. From the investigation, we conclude that several existing measures fail to give classification results under the different instances such as “division by zero problems” or “counter-intuitive cases” while the proposed measure successfully overcomes this drawback.

     

A Comparative Randomized Open Label Study to Evaluate Efficacy,Safety and Cost Effectiveness Between Topical 2% Sertaconazole and Topical 1% Butenafine in Tinea Infections of Skin

Background:

Dermatophytoses are the superficial fungal infections of skin, hair, and nail. Butenafine is a benzylamine group of antifungal that inhibits the biosynthesis of ergosterol by blocking squalene epoxidase. Sertaconazole is a newer imidazole antifungal which inhibits the biosynthesis of ergosterol by inhibiting 14-α lanosterol demethylase. The study was done to compare a newer antifungal with a relatively older one.

Aim:

To compare the efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness of topical 2% sertaconazole cream and 1% butenafine in tinea infections of skin.

Materials and Methods:

Patients were randomly allocated to two treatment groups. They were advised to apply the drug topically twice a day for one month on the lesions. They were followed up at an interval of 10 days. Clinical score and Global Evaluation Response were assessed at baseline and during each follow up.

Results:

A total 125 patients were recruited, out of them 111 completed the whole study. Median Sign and Symptom Score of tinea on the baseline was 9 [5,9] that was reduced to 0 [0,4] by 2% sertaconazole while it was 9 [6,9] in the butenafine group on the baseline that was reduced to 0 [0,6] at the end of the treatment. 98% and 90% of the patients got complete clearance of the lesions with butenafine and sertaconazole, respectively. Treatment with butenafine was more cost effective as compared to sertaconazole.

Conclusion:

1% butenafine is more efficacious, cost effective, and equally safe as compared to 2% sertaconazole in the tinea infections of skin.     

Cross-cultural study of a biochemical abnormality in paranoid schizophrenia

We studied 24-hour urinary excretion of phenylethylamine (PEA) and creatinine in 50 schizophrenic (39 paranoid and 11 nonparanoid) and 19 nonpsychiatric patients from Bombay, India. Methods for diagnosis, clinical assessment, and 24-hour urine collection were identical to those used in an earlier study done in a Washington, D.C. hospital. Clinical evaluations were done in Bombay, while urinary PEA and creatinine estimations were performed at NIMH, Washington, without knowledge of the subjects' identity. Paranoid schizophrenic patients had significantly greater 24-hour urinary excretion of PEA than both nonparanoid schizophrenic patients and nonpsychiatric controls. The mean amount of PEA per g creatinine in urine was also highest for paranoid schizophrenic patients. Our findings provide cross-cultural support to the possibility of abnormal PEA metabolism in at least some patients with paranoid schizophrenia.     

Glycated albumin (GA) and inflammation: role of GA as a potential marker of inflammation

Aims

Abnormal levels of glycated albumin (GA) are associated with the onset of both diabetes and inflammation. Although inflammation has long been associated with diabetes, this article aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of this relationship as it pertains to the role of GA.

Methods

We have reviewed 52 research articles since the year 2000. Common search terms used were “(inflammatory mediator) and GA” or “inflammation and GA”. The findings have been organized according to diabetic complications with respect to the interactions of GA and inflammatory mediators. Glycated albumin and specific inflammatory mediators have been reported to play various roles in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, retinopathy, and nephropathy. In the case of nephropathy and recently retinopathy, there is considerable evidence for GA in concert with inflammation playing a direct role in organ pathology. There is copious literature detailing GA’s involvement in stimulating inflammatory markers and certain pro-inflammatory cytokines. A recent clinical study has shown GA to be a marker for inflammation in non-diabetic rheumatoid arthritis patients with the significance of standard inflammatory markers.

Conclusions

The clinical utility of GA measurement may likely reside in its versatility as both a mediator of inflammation as well as a marker to track hyperglycemia and other diabetes complications. Further understanding of the role GA plays in glycemic and inflammatory diseases could lead to its acceptance as an independent bio-inflammatory marker.

     

Role of PELP1/MNAR signaling in ovarian tumorigenesis

Emerging evidence suggests that nuclear receptor (NR) coregulators have potential to act as master genes and their deregulation can promote oncogenesis. Proline-, glutamic acid-, and leucine-rich protein-1 (PELP1/MNAR) is a novel NR coregulator. Its expression is deregulated in hormone-driven cancers. However, the role of PELP1/MNAR in ovarian cancer progression remains unknown. Analysis of serial analysis of gene expression data suggested deregulation of PELP1/MNAR expression in ovarian tumors. Western analysis of PELP1/MNAR in normal and serous ovarian tumor tissues showed 3- to 4-fold higher PELP1/MNAR expression in serous tumors compared with normal ovarian tissues. To examine the significance of PELP1/MNAR in ovarian cancer progression, we have generated model cells that overexpress PELP1/MNAR and ovarian cancer cells in which PELP1/MNAR expression is down-regulated by stable expression of PELP1/MNAR-specific shRNA. Down-regulation of PELP1/MNAR in cancerous ovarian model cells (OVCAR3) resulted in reduced proliferation, affected the magnitude of c-Src and protein kinase B (AKT) signaling, and reduced tumorigenic potential of ovarian cancer cells in a nude mouse model. PELP1/MNAR overexpression in nontumorigenic immortalized surface epithelial cells (IOSE cells) promoted constitutive activation of c-Src and AKT signaling pathways and promoted anchorage-independent growth. Immunohistochemical studies using human ovarian cancer tissue arrays (n = 123) showed that PELP1/MNAR is 2- to 3-fold overexpressed in 60% of ovarian tumors, and PELP1/MNAR deregulation occurs in all different types of ovarian cancer. Collectively, these results suggest that PELP1/MNAR signaling plays a role in ovarian cancer cell proliferation and survival, and that its expression is deregulated in ovarian carcinomas.     

A comparative study to evaluate efficacy,safety and cost-effectiveness between Whitfield's ointment + oral fluconazole versus topical 1% butenafine in tinea infections of skin

Aims and Objectives:

The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of topical Whitfield''s ointment plus oral fluconazole with topical 1% butenafine in tinea infections of the skin.

Materials and Methods:

Patients were randomly allocated to the two treatment groups and advised to apply either agent topically twice-a-day for 4 weeks on the lesions and fluconazole (150 mg) was administered once a week for 4 weeks in the study group applying Whitfield''s ointment. Patients were followed-up at an interval of 10 days for clinical score and global evaluation response was assessed at baseline and during each follow-up.

Results:

Out of 120 patients enrolled in the study 103 completed the study. Patients treated with Whitfield''s ointment and oral fluconazole reduced mean sign and symptom score from 8.81 ± 0.82 to 0.18 ± 0.59 while butenafine treated patients reduced it from 8.88 ± 0.53 to 0.31 ± 0.67 at the end of the treatment. Nearly, 98% patients were completely cleared of the lesion on the 3^rd follow-up with both treatments.

Conclusion:

Whitfield''s ointment with oral fluconazole is as efficacious, safe and cost-effective as compared with 1% butenafine in tinea infections of the skin.KEY WORDS: Butenafine, fluconazole, tinea infections, Whitfield''s ointment     

High intake of saturated fat and early occurrence of specific biomarkers may explain the prevalence of chronic disease in northern Mexico

To investigate whether the high prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and type II diabetes prevalent in Northern Mexico could be related to the presence at a young age of biomarkers for chronic disease, 25 boys and 29 girls (8-12 y old) from a low socioeconomic group were recruited. Plasma lipids, LDL phenotype, apolipoproteins (apos), glucose, and insulin were evaluated. Analysis of 3-d dietary records indicated the typical intake of this region to be high in total fat (37-43% energy) and saturated fat (11-13% energy). Boys and girls had an average of 6623 +/- 2892 and 6112 +/- 2793 steps/d, respectively, as measured by a pedometer, suggesting a low level of activity. Plasma total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) were within the 50th percentile. In contrast, the study population was characterized by having high triglycerides (TG) (95th percentile, 1.25 +/- 0.37 mmol/L in boys and 1.19 +/- 0.38 mmol/L in girls). HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations were low (25th percentile), 1.22 +/- 0.20 mmol/L in girls and 1.29 +/- 0.20 mmol/L in boys. There was also a high prevalence of the small dense LDL phenotype B (69%), which is associated with increased risk for CHD. These results suggest that the population of children studied may have 2 different components of risk, one being the high-fat diet, which could be associated with the elevated levels of plasma LDL-C present in the adult population. A second component, related to the insulin resistance syndrome, may be principally genetic and associated with the high TG, low HDL, and LDL phenotype B observed in these Mexican children.     

Induction of neutralizing antibodies to Hendra and Nipah glycoproteins using a Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus in vivo expression system

The emergence of Hendra Virus (HeV) and Nipah Virus (NiV) which can cause fatal infections in both animals and humans has triggered a search for an effective vaccine. Here, we have explored the potential for generating an effective humoral immune response to these zoonotic pathogens using an alphavirus-based vaccine platform. Groups of mice were immunized with Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replicon particles (VRPs) encoding the attachment or fusion glycoproteins of either HeV or NiV. We demonstrate the induction of highly potent cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies to both viruses using this approach. Preliminary study suggested early enhancement in the antibody response with use of a modified version of VRP. Overall, these data suggest that the use of an alphavirus-derived vaccine platform might serve as a viable approach for the development of an effective vaccine against the henipaviruses.