Mx proteins, first identified in mammals, encode potent antiviral activity against a wide range of viruses. Mx proteins arose within the Dynamin superfamily of proteins (DSP), which mediate critical cellular processes, such as endocytosis and mitochondrial, plastid, and peroxisomal dynamics. Despite their crucial role, the evolutionary origins of Mx proteins are poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Soil-transmitted helminthiasis remains a daunting challenge to global health, exerting its greatest toll on resource-limited regions of the world. A dual drug approach using the co-administration of ivermectin and albendazole has shown promising results in comparison to the traditional monotherapy strategy. In light of this, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLangenbecks Arch Surg
January 2025
Purpose: International guidelines for management of acute biliary pathology recommend emergency cholecystectomy (EmC), citing improved outcomes compared to elective cholecystectomy (ElC) based on trials which may not reflect the capacity constraints in clinical practice, nor selection based on multiple prior attendances with emergency biliary pathology or attendances following a decision for ElC. We therefore conducted a longitudinal retrospective study evaluating all attendances with biliary pathology prior to cholecystectomy with the aim of assessing whether EmC is justified in this context.
Methods: Data was collected on patients undergoing cholecystectomy between 2016 and 2021 at four centres.
Climate change represents an unprecedented global public health crisis with extensive and profound implications. The Lancet Commission identified it as the foremost health challenge of the 21st century. In 2015, air pollution alone caused approximately 9 million premature deaths worldwide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Standard postoperative care following laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) typically includes routine blood tests. Recent studies have assessed the safety of omitting routine postoperative labs in minimally invasive surgeries to reduce hospital costs. Our primary objective was to evaluate if routine postoperative day 1 (POD1) labs were necessary following LRN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Thermal and chemical ablation techniques may consolidate recurrent metastatic cervical lymph nodes as alternatives to repeat neck dissection in thyroid cancer patients. This meta-analysis aims to compare the efficacy and safety across modalities.
Methods: Four databases were searched for studies on radiofrequency (RFA), microwave (MWA), laser (LA), and ethanol ablation (EA) treating metastatic cervical nodes from thyroid cancer.
Gliomas are tumors arising in the central nervous system, frequently associated with Class I mutations and BRAF fusions. These mutations are adverse prognostic factors in juvenile gliomas, leading to high rates of recurrence and poor response to current treatments. The blood-brain barrier and the heterogeneity of gliomas complicate the development of a single treatment strategy for all cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a Gram-negative, curved, rod-shaped organism that can cause sepsis due to either gastroenteritis when ingested (usually via raw oysters) or skin infections when introduced into cuts or abrasions. Found in estuarine waters (coastal waters where fresh water from streams mixes with salt water from the ocean resulting in water of intermediate salinity (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Childhood obesity is a significant public health issue with far-reaching implications. The World Health Organization reported that in 2020, around 38 million children under five were overweight or obese globally, and in 2016, 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were affected. In Pakistan, the situation is alarming; 66.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The pharmaceutical promotion is "all informational and persuasive activities by manufacturers and distributors, the effect of which is to induce the prescription, supply, purchase and/or use of medicinal drugs. These promotional activities affect the dispensing behavior of physicians and pharmacists and influence begins from educational institutes.
Objective: Our study's main aim was to evaluate opinion and attitude of pharmacy students towards pharmaceutical promotion.
Polymicrobial communities are often recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment because interactions between different microbes can dramatically alter their responses and susceptibility to antimicrobials. However, the mechanisms of evolving antimicrobial resistance in such polymicrobial environments are poorly understood. We previously reported that Mg depletion caused by the fungus can enable to acquire significant resistance to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic targeting bacterial membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntiviral restriction factors such as MxA (myxovirus resistance protein A) inhibit a broad range of viruses. However, they face the challenge of maintaining this breadth as viruses evolve to escape their defense. Viral escape drives restriction factors to evolve rapidly, selecting for amino acid changes at their virus-binding interfaces to regain defense.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Failure to rescue (FTR) is defined as the inability to prevent death after the development of a complication. FTR is a parameter in evaluating multidisciplinary postoperative complication management. The aim of this study was to evaluate FTR rates after major liver resection for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) and analyze factors associated with FTR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInnate immunity senses microbial ligands known as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Except for nucleic acids, PAMPs are exceedingly taxa-specific, thus enabling pattern recognition receptors to detect cognate pathogens while ignoring others. How the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF213 can respond to phylogenetically distant pathogens, including Gram-negative Salmonella, Gram-positive Listeria, and eukaryotic Toxoplasma, remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The docking protein IRS2 (insulin receptor substrate protein-2) is an important mediator of insulin signaling and may also regulate other signaling pathways. Murine hearts with cardiomyocyte-restricted deletion of (cIRS2-KO) are more susceptible to pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction, implying a critical protective role of IRS2 in cardiac adaptation to stress through mechanisms that are not fully understood. There is limited evidence regarding the function of IRS2 beyond metabolic homeostasis regulation, particularly in the context of cardiac disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor the first time, explicit stabilization of all the three conformers, viz. (cis,cis), (cis,trans) and (trans,trans), of a 'nano-sized' highly-flexible urea-bridged Zn(II)porphyrin dimer have been achieved via careful manipulations of external stimuli such as solvent dielectrics, temperature, anionic interactions, axial ligation and surface-induced stabilization. The conformers differ widely in their structures, chemical and photophysical properties and thus have vast potential applicability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlphaviruses are enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses that often require transmission between arthropod and vertebrate hosts for their sustained propagation. Most alphaviruses encode an opal (UGA) termination codon in nonstructural protein 3 (nsP3) upstream of the viral polymerase, nsP4. The selective constraints underlying the conservation of the opal codon are poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Two-tiered preference signaling has been implemented in the radiology residency application system to reduce congestion in the setting of high-volume applications. Signals are an indicator of strong interest that an applicant can transmit to a limited number of programs. This study assessed the impact of program signaling on interview invitations, how applicants strategically used signals based on their application's competitiveness, and applicants' attitudes toward the current signaling system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovascular disease (CVD) stands as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the continued search for novel therapeutics is vital for addressing this global health challenge. Over the past decade, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) has garnered significant attention in the field of medical research, as it has been proven to be a cardioprotective gaseous signaling molecule. It joins nitric oxide and carbon monoxide as endogenously produced gasotransmitters.
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