Neuromodulation techniques in traumatic brain injury: a narrative review of the current state.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability throughout the world. Despite significant advances in medical care, many TBI survivors continue to have cognitive, physical, and psychological deficits that have a significant impact on their quality of life. Neuromodulation techniques, which use electrical or magnetic stimulation to modulate brain activity, have shown promise in the treatment of TBI symptoms.

Comparison of Subdural and Intracortical Recordings of Somatosensory Evoked Responses.

Micro-electrocorticography (µECoG) electrodes have emerged to balance the trade-off between invasiveness and signal quality in brain recordings. However, its large-scale applicability is still hindered by a lack of comparative studies assessing the relationship between ECoG and traditional recording methods such as penetrating electrodes. This study aimed to compare somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) through the lenses of a µECoG and an intracortical microelectrode array (MEA).

Enhancing cancer care through addressing a neglected pillar: a narrative review on quality of life in Pakistani patients.

The current narrative review was planned to evaluate the quality of life of Pakistani cancer patients. Using relevant questionnaires and comparing global data over the last 2 decades, the review planned to explore artificial intelligence's role in cancer care, and to develop strategies for better outcomes. The review yielded poor results and exposed huge and neglected gaps in the overall approach towards the management of cancer patients based on different tumour types and categories.

Sedation Vacations in Neurocritical Care: Friend or Foe?

Purpose Of Review: To evaluate the role of sedation vacations in optimizing patient outcomes and enhancing the quality of care in neurological intensive care units (ICUs). We discuss the importance of sedation management in neurocritical care, considering recent research findings and clinical guidelines.

Recent Findings: Recent studies have highlighted the significance of sedation interruption protocols in improving patient outcomes in the ICU setting.

A systematic review and meta-analysis on glycemic control in traumatic brain injury.

Background: Hyperglycemia is associated with adverse outcomes in patent with traumatic brain injury. There is convincing evidence of the deleterious effects of early systemic hyperglycemia on neurological outcomes and guides management toward intensive glycemic control. The purpose of this systematic review and meta analysis is to evaluate and summarize the level of evidence on the role of glycemic control in traumatic brain injury.

Aeromonas hydrophila induced necrotizing fasciitis following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Necrotizi ng fasciit is [NF] i s a m ultifaceted disease of the muscle fascia and body tissues which demands the earliest intervention. Past reviews have documented ver y few cases of Aeromonas Hydroph ila [AH] induced N F fol lo wing abdominal surgery. AH can cause fatal NF as seen in a 72 year old female patient reported at Liaquat National Hospital &Medical College; a ter tiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan on 2nd April, 2022.

Engineered smart materials for RNA based molecular therapy to treat Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive malignancy of the central nervous system (CNS) that remains incurable despite the multitude of improvements in cancer therapeutics. The conventional chemo and radiotherapy post-surgery have only been able to improve the prognosis slightly; however, the development of resistance and/or tumor recurrence is almost inevitable. There is a pressing need for adjuvant molecular therapies that can successfully and efficiently block tumor progression.

Cannabidiol - Help and hype in targeting mucosal diseases.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the most commonly utilised phytocannabinoids due to its non-psychoactive and multiple potential therapeutic properties and its non-selective pharmacology. Recent studies have demonstrated efficacy of CBD in some types of drug resistant epilepsies in combination with other therapies; comparative efficacy to other agents or placebo has been hoped for anxiety, chronic pain, and inflammatory disorders based on animal data. Although CBD products are generally treated as a restricted substance, these are being eased, partially in response to significant growth in CBD product usage and increased production but more due to emerging evidence about its safety and pharmacological properties.

Silica nanoparticles for brain cancer.

Introduction: Brain cancer is a debilitating disease with a poor survival rate. There are significant challenges for effective treatment due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-tumor barrier (BTB) which impedes drug delivery to tumor sites. Many nanomedicines have been tested in improving both the survival and quality of life of patients with brain cancer with the recent focus on inorganic nanoparticles such as silica nanoparticles (SNPs).

Silica nanoparticles: A review of their safety and current strategies to overcome biological barriers.

Silica nanoparticles (SNP) have gained tremendous attention in the recent decades. They have been used in many different biomedical fields including diagnosis, biosensing and drug delivery. Medical uses of SNP for anti-cancer, anti-microbial and theranostic applications are especially prominent due to their exceptional performance to deliver many different small molecules and recently biologics (mRNA, siRNA, antigens, antibodies, proteins, and peptides) at targeted sites.

Virus-like Silica Nanoparticles Improve Permeability of Macromolecules across the Blood-Brain Barrier In Vitro.

The presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits the delivery of therapies into the brain. There has been significant interest in overcoming the BBB for the effective delivery of therapies to the brain. Inorganic nanomaterials, especially silica nanoparticles with varying surface chemistry and surface topology, have been recently used as permeation enhancers for oral protein delivery.

Morphology and morphometry of the ulnar nerve in the forelimb of pigs.

The knowledge of the morphology and morphometry of peripheral nerves is essential for developing neural interfaces and understanding nerve regeneration in basic and applied research. Currently, the most adopted animal model is the rat, even though recent studies have suggested that the neuroanatomy of large animal models is more comparable to humans. The present knowledge of the morphological structure of large animal models is limited; therefore, the present study aims to describe the morphological characteristics of the Ulnar Nerve (UN) in pigs.

Comparison of Oxidant and Antioxidant Status in the Aqueous Humour of Cataract Patients with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Objectives: To compare the total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and oxidative stress index (OSI) in the aqueous humour of cataract patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Physiology, Army Medical College, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan in collaboration with Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, from 1st June 2022 to 31st January 2023.

Cornea plana in a family from Pakistan: Case series and literature review on the principles of management.

Cornea plana (CP) is a rare ocular condition existing in two distinct clinical and hereditary forms: a milder, autosomal dominant type I and a more severe, autosomal recessive type II. The condition is more commonly found in Finnish, Saudi, and Czech families. We report three brothers from a consanguineous marriage that presented with complaints of decreased vision of varying degrees.

Virus-like silica nanoparticles enhance macromolecule permeation .

Nanoparticle based permeation enhancers have the potential to improve the oral delivery of biologics. Recently, solid silica nanoparticles were discovered to improve the intestinal permeability of peptides and proteins transient opening of the gut epithelium. In this study, we have developed small-sized (∼60 nm) virus-like silica nanoparticles (VSNP) as a reversible and next generation non-toxic permeation enhancer for oral delivery of biologics.

Influence of Pore Size and Surface Functionalization of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles on the Solubility and Antioxidant Activity of Confined Coenzyme Q10.

Coenzyme Q10 is a potent antioxidant that plays an important role in the maintenance of various biochemical pathways of the body and has a wide range of therapeutic applications. However, it has low aqueous solubility and oral bioavailability. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MCM-41 and SBA-15 types) exhibiting varying pore sizes and modified with phosphonate and amino groups were used to study the influence of pore structure and surface chemistry on the solubility, release profile, and intracellular ROS inhibition activity of coenzyme Q10.

Supraorbital vs pterional keyhole for anterior circulation aneurysms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The supraorbital approach is a modification of the traditional pterional approach, and it offers the benefits of a shorter skin incision and a smaller craniotomy than the pterional approach. The purpose of this systemic review study was to compare the two surgical approaches for raptured and unruptured anterior cerebral circulation aneurysms.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, and MEDLINE, up to August 2021, for published studies on the supraorbital vs pterional keyhole approach for anterior cerebral circulation aneurysms, and reviewers performed a brief qualitative descriptive analysis of both approaches.

Efficient delivery of Temozolomide using ultrasmall large-pore silica nanoparticles for glioblastoma.

The prognosis of brain cancers such as glioblastoma remains poor despite numerous advancements in the field of neuro-oncology. The presence of the blood brain barrier (BBB) along with the highly invasive and aggressive nature of glioblastoma presents a difficult challenge for developing effective therapies. Temozolomide (TMZ) is a first line agent used in the clinic for glioblastoma and it has been useful in increasing patient survival rates.

Isolated Chorioretinal Coloboma: A Case Report.

Ocular coloboma is a rare congenital anomaly that arises due to an abnormality in embryogenesis. It occurs due to failed fusion of the embryonic fissure resulting in a persistent defect. Colobomas may present with vision loss but are most commonly asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally.

Nanobiomaterials to modulate natural killer cell responses for effective cancer immunotherapy.

Natural killer (NK) cells have emerged as a major target for cancer immunotherapies, particularly as cellular therapy modalities because they have relatively less toxicity than T lymphocytes. However, NK cell-based therapy suffers from many challenges, including problems with its activation, resistance to genetic engineering, and large-scale expansion needed for therapeutic purposes. Recently, nanobiomaterials have emerged as a promising solution to control the challenges associated with NK cells.