Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute heart failure syndrome characterised by catecholamine-induced oxidative tissue damage. Punica granatum, a fruit-bearing tree, is known to have high polyphenolic content and has been proven to be a potent antioxidant. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) pre-treatment on isoprenaline-induced takotsubo-like myocardial injury in rats. Male Wistar rats were randomised into four groups. Animals in the PoPEx(P) and PoPEx + isoprenaline group (P + I) were pre-treated for 7 days with 100 mg/kg/day of PoPEx. On the sixth and the seventh day, TTS-like syndrome was induced in rats from the isoprenaline(I) and P + I groups by administering 85 mg/kg/day of isoprenaline. PoPEx pre-treatment led to the elevation of superoxide dismutase and catalase (p < 0.05), reduced glutathione (p < 0.001) levels, decreased the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (p < 0.001), H2O2, O2− (p < 0.05), and NO2− (p < 0.001), in the P + I group, when compared to the I group. In addition, a significant reduction in the levels of cardiac damage markers, as well as a reduction in the extent of cardiac damage, was found. In conclusion, PoPEx pre-treatment significantly attenuated the isoprenaline-induced myocardial damage, primarily via the preservation of endogenous antioxidant capacity in the rat model of takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy.

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common in men and women of all ages in all sociodemographic strata of society. Pain and functional limitations caused by MSDs severely limit independence and quality of life and interfere with an individual’s ability to participate in family and social life and work. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the Kinesio Tape (KT) technique on pain intensity in patients with MSDs of the upper and/or lower extremities before, during, and after therapeutic treatment. Methods: The study involved 123 patients of both sexes and all ages diagnosed with MSDs of the upper and/or lower extremities. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, a control group and an experimental group. The control group received the standard therapy protocol for MSDs, while the experimental group received the standard therapy protocol for MSDs plus the KT technique on the treated segment. The brief pain inventory was used to assess pain intensity. Both groups of participants were tested with the research instruments at baseline, during and after therapeutic treatment. Results: The ability to walk due to pain was significantly less impaired in the control group than in participants in the experimental group, in whom pain significantly impeded walking (p < 0.001). Normal walking was significantly more impaired in the experimental group than in the control group (p = 0.001). Pain significantly impaired relationships with others in the experimental group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Subjects in the experimental group showed a significant decrease in pain in all areas after therapeutic treatment with KT compared to subjects in the control group.

Abstract Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (LC) are closely related diseases associated with smoking history and dysregulated immune response. However, not all smokers develop the disease, indicating that genetic susceptibility could be important. Therefore, the aim of this study was to search for the potential overlapping genetic biomarkers, with a focus on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the regulatory regions of immune-related genes. Additionally, the aim was to see if an identified SNP has potentially an effect on proinflamma-tory cytokine concentration in the serum of COPD patients. We extracted summary data of variants in 1511 immune-related genes from COPD and LC genome-wide association studies (GWAS) from the UK Biobank. The LC data had 203 cases, patients diagnosed with LC, and 360 938 controls, while COPD data had 1 897 cases and 359 297 controls. Assuming 1 association/gene, SNPs with a p-value < 3.3 × 10–5 were considered statistically significantly associated with the disease. We identified seven SNPs located in different genes (BAG6, BTNL2, TNF, HCP5, MICB, NCR3, ABCF1, TCF7L1) to be associated with the COPD risk and two with the LC risk (HLA-C, HLA-B), with statistical significance. We also identified two SNPs located in the IL2RA gene associated with LC (rs2386841; p = 1.86 × 10−4) and COPD (rs11256442; p = 9.79 × 10−3) but with lower significance. Functional studies conducted on COPD patients showed that RNA expression of IL2RA, IFNγ and related proinflammatory cytokines in blood serum did not correlate with a specific genotype. Although results presented in this study do not fully support our hypothesis, it is worth to mention that the identified genes/SNPs that were associated with either COPD or LC risk, all were involved in the activation of the NF-κB transcription factor which is closely related to the regulation of the inflammatory response, a condition associated with both pathologies.

The subject of this research is the evaluation of electric cars and the choice of car that best meets the set research criteria. To this end, the criteria weights were determined using the entropy method with two-step normalization and a full consistency check. In addition, the entropy method was extended further with q-rung orthopair fuzzy (qROF) information and Einstein aggregation for carrying out decision making under uncertainty with imprecise information. Sustainable transportation was selected as the area of application. The current work compared a set of 20 leading EVs in India using the proposed decision-making model. The comparison was designed to cover two aspects: technical attributes and user opinions. For the ranking of the EVs, a recently developed multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) model, the alternative ranking order method with two-step normalization (AROMAN), was used. The present work is a novel hybridization of the entropy method, full consistency method (FUCOM), and AROMAN in an uncertain environment. The results show that the electricity consumption criterion (w = 0.0944) received the greatest weight, while the best ranked alternative was A7. The results also show robustness and stability, as revealed through a comparison with the other MCDM models and a sensitivity analysis. The present work is different from the past studies, as it provides a robust hybrid decision-making model that uses both objective and subjective information.

Crop insurance is used to reduce risk in agriculture. This research is focused on selecting an insurance company that provides the best policy conditions for crop insurance. A total of five insurance companies that provide crop insurance services in the Republic of Serbia were selected. To choose the insurance company that provides the best policy conditions for farmers, expert opinions were solicited. In addition, fuzzy methods were used to assess the weights of the various criteria and to evaluate insurance companies. The weight of each criterion was determined using a combined approach based on fuzzy LMAW (the logarithm methodology of additive weights) and entropy methods. Fuzzy LMAW was used to determine the weights subjectively through expert ratings, while fuzzy entropy was used to determine the weights objectively. The results of these methods showed that the price criterion received the highest weight. The selection of the insurance company was made using the fuzzy CRADIS (compromise ranking of alternatives, from distance to ideal solution) method. The results of this method showed that the insurance company DDOR offers the best conditions for crop insurance for farmers. These results were confirmed by a validation of the results and sensitivity analysis. Based on all of this, it was shown that fuzzy methods can be used in the selection of insurance companies.

3117 Background: TAPUR is a phase II basket study evaluating antitumor activity of commercially available targeted agents in pts with advanced cancers with genomic alterations. Results in cohorts of pts with breast cancer (BC) and other solid tumors with PIK3CA mut treated with T are reported. Methods: Eligible pts had BC or other solid tumors, measurable disease, ECOG performance status (PS) 0-2, adequate organ function, and no standard treatment (tx) options. Genomic testing was performed in CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited site selected labs. After antihistamine pre-tx, 25 mg of T was infused over 30-60 minutes once weekly until disease progression. Primary endpoint was disease control (DC), defined as complete or partial (PR) response, or stable disease of at least 16+ weeks (wks) duration (SD16+) per RECIST v1.1. For the BC cohort, Simon’s optimal 2-stage design with null DC rate of 15% vs. 35% (power=0.85, α=0.10) was used with stage 1 (n=10) stopping for futility if < 2/10 pts had DC. Low accruing histology-specific cohorts with PIK3CA and T tx were collapsed into 1 histology-pooled (HP) cohort. For the HP cohort, the hypothesized null DC rate of 15% was evaluated by a 1-sided exact binomial test with α=0.10. Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: 12 pts with PIK3CA mut with BC and 29 pts with PIK3CA mut in other solid tumors (across 9 tumor types) were enrolled. 2 pts (1 in each cohort) were found to be ineligible after enrolling and were not included in efficacy analyses. Demographics and outcomes for each cohort are shown. At the end of stage 1 in the BC cohort, 1 PR was observed for DC and OR rates of 9%; the cohort was closed for futility (p=0.83). For the HP cohort, 3 PR and 5 SD16+ were observed for DC rate of 29% (p=0.049) and OR rate of 11%; the null hypothesis was rejected. Cancer types in pts with OR or SD16+ included cervical, ovarian and head/neck; most common muts were H1047R/L (3), E545K (2) and E542K (2). 1 pt with ovarian and H1047R has ongoing PR at 86 wks. 11/41 pts had ≥1 tx-related grade 3-4 adverse or serious adverse event, including anemia, headache, hyperglycemia, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, mucositis oral, lymphocyte, neutrophil or platelet count decrease, pneumonitis, and sepsis. Conclusions: Although T does not appear to have antitumor activity in pts with BC with PIK3CA mut, it does show antitumor activity in pts with other solid tumors with PIK3CA mut and warrants further study. Clinical trial information: NCT02693535 . [Table: see text]

3115 Background: TAPUR is a phase II basket study evaluating antitumor activity of commercially available targeted agents in pts with advanced cancers with specific genomic alterations. Results in a cohort of pts with solid tumors with BRCA1/2 mut treated with Tala are reported. Methods: Eligible pts had measurable disease, ECOG performance status (PS) 0-2, adequate organ function, and no standard treatment (tx) options. Genomic testing was performed in CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited site selected labs. Pts received 1 mg of Tala orally daily until disease progression. Primary endpoint was disease control (DC) per investigator defined as complete (CR) or partial (PR) response or stable disease (SD) of at least 16+ weeks (wks) duration (SD16+) per RECIST v1.1. The hypothesized null DC rate of 15% was evaluated by a 1-sided exact binomial test (alpha 0.10; 82% power). Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), duration of response (DOR) and SD, and safety. DOR is defined as time from pt’s first documented objective response (OR) to progressive disease (PD). Duration of SD is defined as time from tx start to PD. Results: 28 pts with 16 solid tumors (6/28 pts had lung cancer) with BRCA1 (n=9) , BRCA2 (n=16) , or BRCA1/2 (n=3) mut were enrolled from Dec 2019 to Sept 2021. All pts were included in efficacy analyses. Demographics and outcomes are shown. 1 CR, 9 PR and 6 SD16+ were observed for a DC rate of 57% (1-sided 90% CI: 43% to 100%) and an OR rate of 36% (95% CI: 19% to 56%); the null hypothesis of a 15% DC rate was rejected (p<0.001). 11/16 pts with OR or SD16+ had a BRCA2 mut, 4 had BRCA1 mut, and 1 had both. The pt with a CR (duration of 93 wks) had non-melanoma skin cancer, with BRCA2 and ATM muts, and was microsatellite instability high with 41 muts per megabase. Pts with PR had various solid tumors; 6/9 pts had BRCA2 mut, 2 had BRCA1 mut , 1 had both. Of pts with DC, 11 had tumor types for which PARP inhibitors are not yet FDA approved. Median duration of PR was 20 wks (range, 11-80). 10/16 pts with DC had a co-alteration in the 24 homologous recombination-related genes examined, mainly ATM (3) or ARID1A (2). 13 pts had ≥1 grade 3 tx-related adverse or serious adverse events including: anemia, AST or bilirubin increase, hyponatremia, nausea, vomiting, neutrophil, platelet, or white blood cell decrease. Conclusions: Tala demonstrated antitumor activity in heavily pretreated pts with advanced solid tumors with BRCA1/2 mut. Additional study is warranted to confirm the efficacy of Tala in non-breast, non-ovarian cancer pts with BRCA1/2 mut. Clinical trial information: NCT02693535 . [Table: see text]

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) still remains as one of the most common causes of hospital admission with a high mortality rate. Aim: To investigate the possible prognostic role of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), high-sensitivity (hs) cardiac troponin (cTn) I, cystatin C, and cancer antigen 125 (CA125) in the prediction of decompensation after an index hospitalization and to investigate their possible additive prognostic value. Patients and Methods: Two hundred twenty-two patients hospitalized with acute HF were monitored and followed for 18 months. Results: BNP at discharge has the highest sensitivity and specificity in the prediction of decompensation. For a cutoff value of 423.3 pg/ml, sensitivity was 64.3% and specificity was 64.5%, with a positive predictive value of 71.6% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.69 (P < 0.001). The hazard risk (HR) for decompensation when the discharge BNP was above the cutoff value was 2.18. Cystatin C, at a cutoff value of 1.46 mg/L, had a sensitivity of 57% and specificity of 57.8%, with a positive predictive value of 65.8% and an AUC of 0.59 (P = 0.028). CA125, in the prediction of decompensation in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) and at a cutoff value of 80.5 IU/L, had a sensitivity of 60.5% and specificity of 53.3%, with a positive predictive value of 64.5% and an AUC of 0.59 (P = 0.022). The time till onset of decompensation was significantly shorter in patients with four versus three elevated biomarkers (P = 0.047), with five versus three elevated biomarkers (P = 0.026), and in patients with four versus two elevated biomarkers (P = 0.026). The HR for decompensation in patients with five positive biomarkers was 3.7 (P = 0.001) and in patients with four positive biomarkers was 2.5 (P = 0.014), compared to patients who had fewer positive biomarkers. Conclusion: BNP, cystatin C, and CA125 are predictors of decompensation, and their combined usage leads to better prediction of new decompensation.

Analysis of mechanical properties of external unilateral fixation device „ Ultra X “, in the case of torque load, is presented in this paper. Fixation device is applied on lower leg in the case of unstable fracture. Computer aided design (CAD) model and finite element model (FEM) are developed according to the dimensions and material properties of real fixation device. In the next step principal stress and deformation analysis is performed in CATIA V5 software. During numerical analysis values of stresses at critical places are monitored and analyzed. In addi - tion, values of displacements are measured on important places on fixation device and bone fracture. Using values of displacements at the place of bone fracture, stiffness of the fracture is calculated. The same methodology is used to calculate stiffness of the fixation device. Using obtained results, several conclusions about the mechanical properties of the fixation device “Ultra X” are formulated at the end of the paper.

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