Lung cancer (LC) and chronic obstructive pulmonary lung diseases (COPDs; including emphysema and chronic bronchitis) share a common etiology. Despite the known associations of alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (alpha1AD) with COPD and COPD with LC, few studies examined the association of alpha1AD alleles and LC. We hypothesize that heterozygous individuals who carry a deficient allele of the alpha1...

in this study, feasibility of upgrading and retrofitting municipal wastewater treatment plantswas investigated at laboratory scale using moving bed biofilm reactor (mbbr) process. for this purpose,an aerobic pilot was operated for nearly one year in different conditions, in which a moving bed carrier with aspecific biofilm surface area of 500 m2/m3 and a filling rate of 60% was utilized. system...

Abstract Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is characterized by recurrent bacterial and fungal infections due to reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase resulting in impaired production of reactive oxidant species, aberrant inflammation. X-linked CGD (XL-CGD) associated with a mutation the CYBB gene. XL-CGD affects more males, although some females are affected skewed X-ina...

BACKGROUND Many patients experience recurrent or persistent episodes of vaginal candidiasis. Some of these women might be carriers of an inborn error of biotin metabolism (either biotinidase deficiency or holocarboxylase synthetase activity). These women might benefit from administration of pharmacologic amounts of biotin. CASE A 38-year-old gravida 2, para 2 carrier of biotinidase deficiency...

Biallelic mutations in several genes associated with cytotoxic lymphocytes function has been related to Familial HLH (FHLH). The clinical presentation of primary and acquired may be indistinguishable, both forms are commonly triggered by infections. FHLH is well described children but the last decade late-onset cases have reported. We report immunological characteristics two adult patients carr...

BACKGROUND Chronic infection with hepatitis B (HBV) is a known risk factor for increased mortality from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and chronic liver disease (CLD). However, the specific effects of chronic HBV infection on life expectancy have not been adequately studied. Taiwan is endemic for HBV infection, and thus provides sufficient information for such estimates. METHODS Population mo...

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection constitutes a major public health problem particularly in developing countries in East Asia, South-East Asia, the Pacific Basin and Africa. In Malaysia, a developing nation in the South East Asian region, the chronic HBV carrier rate varies between < 1% to about 10% depending on the ethnic group studied. The highest frequency is seen among the Chinese, ...

MicroRNA polymorphisms may be associated with carcinogenesis or immunopathogenesis of infection. We evaluated whether the mircoRNA-604 (miR-604) polymorphism can affect the persistence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and the development to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic HBV infection. A total of 1,439 subjects, who have either past or present HBV infection, were e...

The water-soluble vitamin biotin is essential for normal cellular functions and its deficiency leads to a variety of clinical abnormalities. Mammals obtain biotin from exogenous sources via intestinal absorption, a process mediated by the sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT). Chronic alcohol use in humans is associated with a significant reduction in plasma biotin levels, and animal...