EXPLORING THE FEASIBILITY OF PLATELET-RICH PLASMA INJECTIONS FOR INTERVERTEBRAL DISCOPATHY: A PILOT STUDY.

Objective: This longitudinal pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety and potential benefits of Platelet-Rich Plasma injections into the lumbar intervertebral discs in patients with low back pain and degenerative intervertebral monodiscopathy, assessing potential efficacy on disability.

Design: Longitudinal pilot study.

Methods: Six participants with chronic low back pain and lumbar degenerative intervertebral disc (monodiscopathy) disease underwent 1 Platelet-Rich Plasma injection, with a 1-year follow-up.

Risk Factors of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in Sindh Province, Pakistan.

Objectives: In Sindh Province, Pakistan, confirmed Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) increased from zero in 2008 to 16 in 2015-2016. To counter this increase, in 2016, we initiated structured CCHF surveillance to improve estimates of risk factors for CCHF in Sindh and to identify potential interventions.

Methods: Beginning in 2016, all referral hospitals in Sindh reported all CCHF cases to surveillance agents.

Day length regulates gonadotrope proliferation and reproduction via an intra-pituitary pathway in the model vertebrate Oryzias latipes.

In seasonally breeding mammals and birds, the production of the hormones that regulate reproduction (gonadotropins) is controlled by a complex pituitary-brain-pituitary pathway. Indeed, the pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) regulates gonadotropin expression in pituitary gonadotropes, via dio2-expressing tanycytes, hypothalamic Kisspeptin, RFamide-related peptide, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons. However, in fish, how seasonal environmental signals influence gonadotropins remains unclear.

Virtual reality hypnosis prior to radiofrequency thermocoagulation for patients with chronic pain: an exploratory clinical trial.

Background: The management of chronic pain may involve an array of tools, including radiofrequency thermocoagulation (Rf-Tc) of sensory nerve terminals. Like many other invasive procedures, Rf-Tc can generate anxiety in a lot of patients, either during the expectation of the procedure or in the course of it. Virtual reality hypnosis (VRH) is a promising tool for managing anxiety and pain in several situations, but its anxiolytic property has not been investigated in participants with chronic pain and going through a Rf-Tc procedure.

A pediatric HIV outbreak in Pakistan.

Background: Following reports of an outbreak of HIV infection among children in Larkana District, Pakistan, an international team investigated the extent and cause of the outbreak between April and June 2019.

Aims: To investigate the incidence of HIV among children in Larkana District, Pakistan and describe the distribution of cases by time, place and person.

Methods: Self-referred persons were tested for HIV using the national testing protocol.

Vertebrate damage to Azorean vineyards: the role of the endemic Azores Woodpigeon Columba palumbus azorica.

In the Azores, complaints about grape loss to birds have become recurrent. Although winegrowers frequently blame the endemic Azores Woodpigeon Columba palumbus azorica, data about the magnitude of grape damage and the species responsible for them are lacking. This study provides detailed information about grape damage caused by vertebrates on Pico Island, home to the main wine-growing area of the region.

Time-of-flight scatter rejection in x-ray radiography.

Time-of-flight (TOF) scatter rejection allows for identifying and discarding scattered photons without the use of an anti-scatter grid (ASG). Although TOF scatter rejection was initially presented for cone-beam computed tomography, we propose, herein, to extend this approach to x-ray radiography. This work aims to evaluate with simulations if TOF scatter rejection can outperform ASGs for radiography.

Untangling the effects of multiple exposures with a common reference group in an epidemiologic study: A practical revisit.

When assessing multiple exposures in epidemiologic studies, epidemiologists often use multivariable regression models with main effects only to control for confounding. This method can mask the true effects of individual exposures, potentially leading to wrong conclusions. We revisited a simple, practical, and often overlooked approach to untangle effects of the exposures of interest, in which the combinations of all levels of the exposures of interest are recoded into a single, multicategory variable.

Enhanced fetal hematopoiesis in response to symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.

Background: Pregnant women and their fetuses are particularly susceptible to respiratory pathogens. How they respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection is still under investigation.

Methods: We studied the transcriptome and phenotype of umbilical cord blood cells in pregnant women infected or not with SARS-CoV-2.

Early Achromobacter xylosoxidans Endocarditis After the Valvular Mitral Replacement Complicated by an Agranulocytosis on B-lactams: A Case Report.

An immunocompetent 82-year-old woman developed endocarditis caused by an atypical organism called Achromobacter xylosoxidans, after a first valvular surgery. The intravenous antibiotic therapy with ceftazidime - 2 g every 8 hours during five weeks - a key part of the treatment, induced agranulocytosis as an adverse event. Cross-reactivity between antibiotics was suspected.

Individual and contextual risk factors for mortality in nursing home residents during the first wave of COVID-19 in France: a multilevel analysis of a nationwide cohort study.

Background: Mortality amongst nursing home (NH) residents increased by 43% during the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We estimated the 'contextual effect' on mortality, tried to explain it by NH characteristics and identified resident- and NH-level risk factors for mortality.

Methods: The contextual effect was measured for two cohorts of NH residents managed by the general scheme in metropolitan France (RESIDESMS data from 03/01/2020 to 05/31/2020 and 03/01/2019 to 05/31/2019) by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) estimated from mixed-effects logistic regression.

Artificial light at night disrupts male dominance relationships and reproductive success in a model fish species.

Environmental light is perceived and anticipated by organisms to synchronize their biological cycles. Therefore, artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts both diurnal and seasonal biological rhythms. Reproduction is a complex physiological process involving integration of environmental signals by the brain, and release of endocrine signals by the pituitary that regulate gametogenesis and spawning.

Learning to see via epiretinal implant stimulationwith model-based deep reinforcement learning.

Objective: Diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa cause the degradation of the photoreceptor layer. One approach to restore vision is to electrically stimulate the surviving retinal ganglion cells with a microelectrode array such as epiretinal implants. Epiretinal implants are known to generate visible anisotropic shapes elongated along the axon fascicles of neighboring retinal ganglion cells.

Considerations on the Obstacles That Lead to Slow Recruitment in a Pain Management Clinical Trial: Experiences from the Belgian PELICAN (PrEgabalin Lidocaine Capsaicin Neuropathic Pain) Pragmatic Study.

Background: A qualitative evaluation study of the prematurely terminated PrEgabalin Lidocaine Capsaicin Neuropathic Pain (PELICAN) study was performed. The PELICAN study aimed to examine pain management for localized neuropathic pain (LNP), as epidemiological figures have shown a high percentage of LNP patients in Belgium. The study compared systemic and topical medications according to pain relief, adverse effects, and several measures of quality of life.

Prevalence of elevated blood lead levels and risk factors among children living in Patna, Bihar, India 2020.

Childhood lead exposure remains a key health concern for officials worldwide, contributing some 600,000 new cases of intellectually disabled children annually. Most children affected by high exposure to lead live in low- and middle-income countries. The leaded gasoline phase out in India was completed in 2000.

Sexually Dimorphic Regulation of Gonadotrope Cell Hyperplasia in Medaka Pituitary via Mitosis and Transdifferentiation.

The 2 pituitary gonadotropins, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), regulate the reproductive function in all vertebrates. While many studies have investigated the regulation of gonadotropin production and release by sex steroid feedback, its role on the regulation of gonadotrope cell number remains unclear. Using medaka as a model and an optimized protocol to restore physiological sex steroids levels following gonadectomy, we show that gonadal sex steroids not only decrease fshb transcript levels, but also Fsh cell number in both sexes.

An RNA-seq time series of the medaka pituitary gland during sexual maturation.

Directing both organismal homeostasis and physiological adaptation, the pituitary is a key endocrine gland in all vertebrates. One of its major tasks is to coordinate sexual maturation through the production and release of hormones stimulating gonad development. In order to study its developmental dynamics in the model fish medaka (Oryzias latipes), we sampled both the pituitary and the ovaries of 68 female fish.

Tri-trophic interactions among , Tephritid species and host plants suggest apparent competition.

When several polyphagous herbivore species share a parasitoid, the tri-trophic interaction networks can be difficult to predict. In addition to direct effects, the parasitoid may influence the herbivore community by mediating indirect interactions among hosts. The plant species can also modulate the parasitoid preference for a specific host.

Evaluation of intensive rehabilitation under continuous suprascapular nerve blockade for the treatment of refractory adhesive shoulder capsulitis. Case series.

Introduction: Treatment of refractory adhesive shoulder capsulitis is a challenge. This observational retrospective study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of intensive physiotherapy protocol under a continuous peripheral blockade of the suprascapular nerve (cSSNB).

Method: We reviewed 29 medical records of patients suffering from adhesive capsulitis and treated with intensive physiotherapy under cSSNB during 10 days.

Sperm Collection and Computer-Assisted Sperm Analysis in the Teleost Model Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes).

Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) is a teleost fish and an emerging vertebrate model for ecotoxicology, developmental, genetics, and physiology research. Medaka is also used extensively to investigate vertebrate reproduction, which is an essential biological function as it allows a species to perpetuate. Sperm quality is an important indicator of male fertility and, thus, reproduction success.

Functional and developmental heterogeneity of pituitary lactotropes in medaka.

In fish, prolactin-producing cells (lactotropes) are located in the anterior part of the pituitary and play an essential role in osmoregulation. However, small satellite lactotrope clusters have been described in other parts of the pituitary in several species. The functional and developmental backgrounds of these satellite clusters are not known.

CCL2 recruits fetal microchimeric cells and dampens maternal brain damage in post-partum mice.

Preventing brain cell loss and enhancing tissue repair are crucial objectives to improve the outcome of stroke. Fetal microchimerism has been implicated in brain repair following ischemic stroke in mice. CCL2/CCR2 signaling pathway triggers fetal progenitors trafficking to cutaneous wounds.