The South African guidelines on enuresis: 2024 update.

Background: Enuresis, also referred to as nocturnal enuresis, is characterised by discrete episodes of urinary incontinence during sleep in children aged ≥5 years in the absence of congenital or acquired neurological disorders. This guideline is an update of the 2017 version.

Recommendations: The guideline provides recommendations and suggestions for various therapeutic options for enuresis available in South Africa (SA).

The burden of poisoning in children hospitalised at a tertiary-level hospital in South Africa.

Introduction: Globally, childhood poisoning, accounts for a significant proportion of emergency department admissions. There is a paucity of data from low- and middle-income countries on poisoning in children.

Objective: To describe the incidence, case fatality rate, and types of poisoning in children admitted to a tertiary-level hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The treatment of aggressive prolactinomas with everolimus.

Introduction: Aggressive prolactinomas are life-limiting tumors without a standard of care treatment option after the oral alkylator, temozolomide, fails to provide tumor control.

Methods: We reviewed an institutional database of pituitary tumors for patients with aggressive prolactinomas who progressed following treatment with a dopamine receptor agonist, radiotherapy and temozolomide. Within this cohort, we identified four patients who were treated with everolimus and we report their response to this therapy.

Perspectives: Neonatal acute kidney injury (AKI) in low and middle income countries (LMIC).

Neonatal AKI (NAKI) remains a challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this perspective, we address issues of diagnosis and risk factors particular to less well-resourced regions. The conservative management pre-kidney replacement therapy (pre-KRT) is prioritized and challenges of KRT are described with improvised dialysis techniques also included.

Multifocal multilobar focal cortical dysplasia type IIa in Febrile Infection Related Epilepsy Syndrome (FIRES).

A seven-year-old girl with history of type I diabetes and no history of seizures presented for altered mental status with convulsions nearly one week after a febrile illness. Serum and laboratory studies were normal with EEG showing biparietal fast activity and seizures originating from right occipital lobe consistent with FIRES. A collaborative decision was ultimately made to withdraw care.

COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign for healthcare workers in a low-resource setting: A clinician-driven initiative.

COVID-19 vaccination has been globally accepted as a critical public health response measure to prevent severe disease and death, alleviate strain on healthcare systems, and prevent onward transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The South African Department of Health's plan to vaccinate 1.25 million healthcare workers through the Sisonke Early Access Vaccine Rollout for Healthcare Workers presented both opportunities and challenges in terms of designing and implementing a mass vaccination roll-out in the resource-limited state sector.

Bone mass and vertebral fractures in South African children on prolonged oral glucocorticoids for chronic non-malignant illnesses.

Introduction: We hypothesized that the prevalence of vertebral fractures would be low and that bone mineral density (BMD) would be less severely affected in a black South African (SA) population treated with glucocorticoids (GCs) than that reported in mainly white populations.

Methods: All children aged 5-17.9 years with chronic non-malignant illnesses who were on GCs (intravenous or oral) for greater than 3 months duration were evaluated.

Preliminary findings regarding the use of direct oral anticoagulants in cerebral venous thrombosis.

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have entered the treatment paradigms of various conditions based upon large randomized controlled trials. However, use of DOACs for thrombosis at unusual sites, such as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), is less clear as the ability to conduct large randomized controlled trials is limited by its rarity. Furthermore, its use in the setting of malignancy or in the elderly remains an area of ongoing research.

[The cardiological evaluation in patients undergoing to Day Surgery: when is indicated].

Aim: Guidelines established preoperative cardiac management of the patient undergoing non-cardiac surgery in hospitalization. Regarding the patients undergoing the surgery in DS, the management is not defined. Aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of the cardiological consultation requested by the patients undergoing surgery with this method.

Failure of working memory training to enhance cognition or intelligence.

Fluid intelligence is important for successful functioning in the modern world, but much evidence suggests that fluid intelligence is largely immutable after childhood. Recently, however, researchers have reported gains in fluid intelligence after multiple sessions of adaptive working memory training in adults. The current study attempted to replicate and expand those results by administering a broad assessment of cognitive abilities and personality traits to young adults who underwent 20 sessions of an adaptive dual n-back working memory training program and comparing their post-training performance on those tests to a matched set of young adults who underwent 20 sessions of an adaptive attentional tracking program.

Overattachment and perceived disability in chronic migraineurs.

Objectives: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess whether stagnation dimensions and depression were associated with perceived disability in chronic migraineurs.

Methods: Participants were 69 consecutive adult outpatients admitted to the Regional Referral Headache Centre of the Sant'Andrea Hospital in Rome, Italy. Patients were administered the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Stagnation Scale, and the Italian Perceived Disability Scale.

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta is expressed in satellite cells and controls myogenesis.

Upon injury, muscle satellite cells become activated and produce skeletal muscle precursors that engage in myogenesis. We demonstrate that the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPβ) is expressed in the satellite cells of healthy muscle. C/EBPβ expression is regulated during myogenesis such that C/EBPβ is rapidly and massively downregulated upon induction to differentiate.

Mechanisms in decorin regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor-induced human trophoblast migration and acquisition of endothelial phenotype.

Extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells of the human placenta invade the uterine decidua and utero-placental arteries to establish an efficient exchange of key molecules between maternal and fetal blood. Trophoblast invasion is stringently regulated in situ both positively and negatively by a variety of factors at the fetal-maternal interface to maintain a healthy utero-placental homeostasis. One such factor, decorin, a transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta binding, leucine-rich proteoglycan produced by the decidua, negatively regulates EVT proliferation, migration, and invasiveness independent of TGF-beta.

Pharmacokinetic evaluation of frovatriptan.

Introduction: Migraine is the most common painful neurological disorder, affecting 13% of the general population. Triptans represent a powerful pharmacological tool in acute migraine treatment, however, a significant portion of treated patients cannot have access to this class due to possible adverse affects. Today, a total of seven triptan molecules are available, representing a commonly prescribed migraine treatment.

Decorin is a novel VEGFR-2-binding antagonist for the human extravillous trophoblast.

Extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) of the human placenta invade the uterine decidua and its arteries to ensure successful placentation. We previously identified two decidua-derived molecules, TGF-β and a TGF-β-binding proteoglycan decorin (DCN), as negative regulators of EVT proliferation, migration, and invasiveness and reported that DCN acts via multiple tyrosine kinase receptors [epidermal growth factor-receptor (EGF-R), IGF receptor-1 (IGFR1), and vascular endothelial growth factor 2 receptor (VEGFR-2)]. Because binding of DCN to VEGFR-2 has never been reported earlier, present study explored this binding, the approximate location of VEGFR-2-binding site in DCN, and its functional role in our human first trimester EVT cell line HTR-8/SVneo.

The role of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.

The aim of this review is to assess the current evidence in scientific literature that supports the use of physical activity as a fundamental tool for primary and secondary prevention and to encourage its use conscientiously. Observational studies and international guidelines have been examined to evaluate the positive effects of physical activity as primary prevention on some of the most common diseases. We have also evaluated those studies which demonstrate that the association of physical activity with drug therapy in chronic diseases results in a better prognosis.

Gene polymorphisms involved in triptans pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in migraine therapy.

Importance Of The Field: Migraine is a debilitating and painful neurological disorder affecting millions of people worldwide and often worsened by chronification. Triptans represent a powerful pharmacological resource in migraine management; nevertheless, a significant portion of treated patients do not obtain consistent pain relief through triptans. Pharmacogenomics may offer a new way to rationalise triptans administration, based on characterisation of the individual genomic profile.

Genetic polymorphisms related to efficacy and overuse of triptans in chronic migraine.

Migraine is a common type of headache and its most severe attacks are usually treated with triptans, the efficacy of which is extremely variable. Several SNPs in genes involved in metabolism and target mechanisms of triptans have been described. To define an association between genetic profile and triptan response, we classified a migrainous population on the basis of triptan response and characterized it for polymorphisms in the genes coding for monoamine oxidase A, G protein β3 and the cytochrome CYP1A2.

Preparation of Surface Adsorbed and Impregnated Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube/Nylon-6 Nanofiber Composites and Investigation of their Gas Sensing Ability.

We have prepared electrospun Nylon-6 nanofibers via electrospinning, and adsorbed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) onto the surface of Nylon-6 fibers using Triton(®) X-100 to form a MWCNTs/Nylon-6 nanofiber composite. The dispersed MWCNTs have been found to be stable in hexafluoroisopropanol for several months without precipitation. A MWCNTs/Nylon-6 nanofiber composite based chemical sensor has demonstrated its responsiveness towards a wide range of solvent vapours at room temperature and only mg quantities of MWCNTs were expended.