Elemental Dynamics in Hair Accurately Predict Future Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis: An International Multi-Center Study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition diagnosed in approximately 2% of children. Reliance on the emergence of clinically observable behavioral patterns only delays the mean age of diagnosis to approximately 4 years. However, neural pathways critical to language and social functions develop during infancy, and current diagnostic protocols miss the age when therapy would be most effective.

Appearance of medullary and cortical veins on multiphase CT-angiography in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Objective: We sought to determine if interhemispheric asymmetry of cortical and medullary veins evaluated on CT angiography can provide a more accurate prediction of outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke when compared to hemispheric asymmetry of cortical or medullary vein drainage alone.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a database of patients with anterior circulation distribution acute ischemic stroke, who were evaluated by multiphase CTA. Cortical veins were evaluated using the adopted Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke (PRECISE) system.

Financial Burden in Blood or Marrow Transplantation Survivors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A BMTSS Report.

Purpose: The financial burden experienced by blood or marrow transplant (BMT) survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unstudied. We evaluated the risk for high out-of-pocket medical costs and associated financial burden experienced by BMT survivors and a sibling comparison group during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This study included 2,370 BMT survivors and 750 siblings who completed the BMT Survivor Study survey during the pandemic.

Efficacy of Clonidine as an Adjuvant to Ropivacaine in Transversus Abdominis Plane Block in Adult Renal Transplant Recipients: A Double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background And Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been used to provide analgesia in renal transplant surgery with varying results. This study was designed to assess if the addition of clonidine in TAP block would decrease 24-h postoperative morphine consumption in adult renal transplant recipients.

Materials And Methods: Forty adult patients undergoing renal transplantation under general anesthesia in a tertiary care hospital were randomized into either group RC (TAP block with 20 mL of 0.

Impact of COVID-19 on postgraduate medical education: Cross sectional survey from an Indian Medical College.

Background: The corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread effect on the lives of health care professionals. The postgraduate medical students, who are the major pillars of medical institutions had to bear multitude of setbacks due to the pandemic involving academic, research and well-being issues.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross sectional feedback based online survey done in the month of October 2021 to study the effect of COVID-19 pandemic induced changes in the postgraduate medical education; amongst 78 students pursuing MD/MS degree in all departments of a tertiary medical institute in Himalayan foothills of North India.

Complications Associated with Foodborne Listeriosis: A Scoping Review.

is a relatively rare but highly pathogenic bacterium that can cause foodborne infections. In the United States there are ∼1600 cases per year, 94% of which result in hospitalizations and 20% in deaths. Per-case burden is high because the disease also causes serious complications, including sepsis, encephalitis, meningitis, miscarriage, and stillbirth.

MmpL3 Inhibition as a Promising Approach to Develop Novel Therapies against Tuberculosis: A Spotlight on SQ109, Clinical Studies, and Patents Literature.

Tuberculosis (TB) is accountable for considerable global morbidity and mortality. Effective TB therapy with multiple drugs completes in about six months. The longer duration of TB therapy challenges patient compliance and contributes to treatment collapse and drug resistance (DR) progress.

Demographics of Cauda Equina Syndrome: A Population-Based Incidence Study.

Introduction: Cauda equina syndrome (CES) has significant medical, social, and legal consequences. Understanding the number of people presenting with CES and their demographic features is essential for planning healthcare services to ensure timely and appropriate management. We aimed to establish the incidence of CES in a single country and stratify incidence by age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Who should be referred for a CT coronary calcium score? Introducing a simple patient risk questionnaire combining traditional and novel risk factors.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a leading cause of death. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) strongly predicts the risk of ASCVD. There is a need to know who would benefit most from CAC scanning.

Socio-Economic Status Differences in Changing Affordability of Tobacco Products from 2011-2012 to 2018-2019 in India.

Introduction: We studied the change in affordability of tobacco products, an important determinant of tobacco use, across the different socio-economic status (SES) in India.

Aims And Methods: We calculated affordability in the form of relative income price (RIP-cost of tobacco products relative to income) for the years 2011-2012 and 2018-2019 using three different denominators, that is per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and net state domestic product at national and state levels, respectively; monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE); and individual wages. We investigated RIP for cigarettes, bidis, and smokeless tobacco (SLT) across different SES groups (caste groups, type of employment, and education).

Biomarkers of maternal lead exposure during pregnancy using micro-spatial child deciduous dentine measurements.

Background: Lead is a toxic chemical of public health concern, however limited biomarkers are able to reconstruct prior lead exposures in early-life when biospecimens are not collected and stored. Although child tooth dentine measurements accurately assess past child perinatal lead exposure, it has not been established if they reflect maternal exposure in pregnancy.

Aim: To assess the prenatal relationship between child tooth dentine and maternal blood lead measurements and to estimate maternal lead exposure during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy from weekly child dentine profiles.

Australian arm of the International Spinal Cord Injury (Aus-InSCI) community survey: 1. population-based design, methodology and cohort profile.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: To describe design and methods of Australian arm of International Spinal Cord Injury (Aus-InSCI) community survey, reporting on participation rates, potential non-response bias and cohort characteristics.

Setting: Survey of community-dwelling people with SCI at least 12 months post-injury, recruited between March 2018 and January 2019, from state-wide SCI services, a government insurance agency and not-for-profit consumer organisations across four Australian states.

Patient-centric outcome assessment of endodontic microsurgery using periapical radiography versus cone beam computed tomography: A randomized clinical trial.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate whether utilizing additional cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging has any effect on quality of life and healing outcome following periapical surgery compared with periapical radiographs (PR).

Methodology: The study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04333940).

Daily persistent headache with nutcracker physiology and spinal epidural venous congestion: Treatment with lumbar vein embolization.

Nutcracker phenomenon (NCP) can cause various congestion syndromes secondary to the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) compressing the left renal vein (LRV) resulting in venous reflux. It has recently been suggested that reflux into the lumbar vein (LV) and epidural venous plexus (EVP) may cause headaches in some patients with NCP. This report illustrates an example of a patient with refractory headaches and imaging findings suggestive of NCP that underwent treatment with percutaneous LV embolization.

Engagement of health workers and peer educators from the National Adolescent Health Programme-Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a situational analysis.

Background: To understand the impact of COVID-19 on implementation of the peer education programme of the National Adolescent Health Programme-Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK); repurposing of the RKSK health workers and Peer Educators (PEs) in COVID-19 response activities and effect on adolescents´ health and development issues.

Methods: Virtual in-depth interviews were conducted with stakeholders (n = 31) (aged 15 to 54 years) engaged in the implementation of the RKSK and peer education programme at state, district, block, and village levels in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra (India). These interviews were thematically coded and analysed to address the research objectives.

Hydrological and water quality performance of Waste Tire Permeable Pavements: Field monitoring and numerical analysis.

Permeable pavements can reduce the amount of surface runoff and peak flow rate and delay the occurrence of peak flow by allowing water to infiltrate underground similar to natural undeveloped catchments. Such suite of benefits of permeable pavements have made them one of the preferred stormwater control measures in most of the integrated land and water programs. Waste tire permeable pavements (WTPPs), as a relatively new permeable pavement technology, are designed with a surface layer made of up to 50% recycled tire particles.

Effect of vaccination on the HRCT profile of COVID-19 patients - A single-center experience.

Introduction: Vaccination against the global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a promising way out of the havoc caused by the disease. The clinico-radiological profile of COVID-19 patients in relation to the vaccination status is depicted in the present study.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective observational imaging and hospital data-based study performed on 214 confirmed and clinically suspicious patients of COVID-19 who underwent high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of the thorax at the Department of Radio-Diagnosis of a tertiary medical center in the Himalayan foothills.

Netarsudil-induced corneal honeycombing in childhood glaucomas.

Netarsudil is a hypotensive drug that reduces intraocular pressure (IOP). Although it is used to treat corneal decompensation/edema in normotensive eyes, we observed the occurrence of corneal epithelial edema with corneal honeycombing in children with uncontrolled IOP (primary or secondary glaucoma) on maximal topical medication following netarsudil (0.02%) therapy of >2 weeks.

Oral Nanocurcumin Alone or in Combination with Insulin Alleviates STZ-Induced Diabetic Neuropathy in Rats.

Diabetes mellitus (DM), a multifaceted metabolic disorder if not managed properly leads to secondary complications. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one such complication caused by nerve damage that cannot be reversed but can be delayed. Recently, diabetes patients are using dietary supplements, although there remains a general skepticism about this practice.

How to promote a healthy lifestyle among schoolchildren: Development of an intervention module (i-PROMISe).

Objective: Lifestyle preferences are inculcated in childhood and once established, persist into adulthood. The Project PROMoting Health LIteracy in School (i-PROMISe) aims to promote a healthy lifestyle among students for the universal prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes.

Study Design: Qualitative study using focus-group-discussions (FGDs) and In-Depth Interviews (IDI).

Anxiety and depression among adult tobacco users during the COVID-19 restrictions in India.

Background: The world witnessed a highly contagious and deadly disease, COVID-19, toward the end of 2019. India is one of the worst affected countries. We aimed to assess anxiety and depression levels among adult tobacco users and people who recently quit tobacco during COVID-19 lockdown in India.

Reprint of: Elemental dysregulation in psychotic spectrum disorders: A review and research synthesis.

Accumulating evidence from observational studies, genetic research, and animal models suggests a relationship between toxic and nutritive elements and psychotic spectrum disorders (PSD). This review systematically evaluates the current research evidence for two hypotheses: 1) that exposures to abnormal levels of toxic and nutritive elements early in life contributes to the subsequent development of PSD, and 2) that an imbalance of element levels is linked to psychotic illness and clinical severity. We focused on the extant literature on five elements, lead (Pb), copper (Cu), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn), because of their previously documented associations with psychiatric problems and the availability of pertinent literature.