Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys
January 2025
Many medical students experience psychological distress from high academic demands, potentially harming their performance and mental health. Binaural beats (BB) stimulation, particularly gamma band entrainment, has been suggested to enhance neural communication, cognition, and reduce anxiety. This study aimed to determine whether 40 Hz BB could improve cognitive performance and mood in medical students.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonitoring yellow fever in non-human primates (NHPs) is an early warning system for sylvatic yellow fever outbreaks, aiding in preventing human cases. However, current diagnostic tests for this disease, primarily relying on RT-qPCR, are complex and costly. Therefore, there is a critical need for simpler and more cost-effective methods to detect yellow fever virus (YFV) infection in NHPs, enabling early identification of viral circulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe establishment of a virus infection is the result of the pathogen's ability to replicate in a hostile environment generated by the host's immune system. Here, we found that ISG15 restricts Dengue and Zika viruses' replication through the stabilization of its binding partner USP18. ISG15 expression was necessary to control DV replication driven by both autocrine and paracrine type one interferon (IFN-I) signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ability of cells to mount an interferon response to virus infections depends on intracellular nucleic acid sensing pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). RIG-I is an intracellular PRR that binds short double-stranded viral RNAs to trigger MAVS-dependent signalling. The RIG-I/MAVS signalling complex requires the coordinated activity of multiple kinases and E3 ubiquitin ligases to activate the transcription factors that drive type I and type III interferon production from infected cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA detailed understanding of how host fitness changes in response to variations in microbe density (an ecological measure of disease tolerance) is an important aim of infection biology. Here, we applied dose-response curves to study Aedes aegypti survival upon exposure to different microbes. We challenged female mosquitoes with Listeria monocytogenes, a model bacterial pathogen, Dengue 4 virus and Zika virus, two medically relevant arboviruses, to understand the distribution of mosquito survival following microbe exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSepsis is a severe condition secondary to dysregulated host response to infection leading to tissue damage and organ dysfunction. Cannabinoid CB receptor has modulatory effects on the immune response. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of a cannabinoid CB receptor agonist on the local and systemic inflammatory process associated with pneumonia-induced sepsis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the fundamental features that make viruses intracellular parasites is the necessity to use cellular translational machinery. Hence, this is a crucial checkpoint for controlling infections. Here, we show that dengue and Zika viruses, responsible for nearly 400 million infections every year worldwide, explore such control for optimal replication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRetinoic acid (RA) is a fundamental vitamin A metabolite involved in regulating immune responses through the nuclear RA receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor. While performing experiments using THP-1 cells as a model for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, we observed that serum-supplemented cultures displayed high levels of baseline RAR activation in the presence of live, but not heat-killed, bacteria, suggesting that M. tuberculosis robustly induces the endogenous RAR pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ)
August 2024
Background Obesity and overweight have emerged as significant public health concerns on a global scale. In the pursuit of evaluating body composition and identifying potential health risks, two widely utilized measures are Body Mass Index and waist circumference. These anthropometric indicators are considered economical, practical, and also crucial for screening, monitoring the individual's nutritional status, and anticipating future disease risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: An atd angle is one of the dermatoglyphic patterns which is an indication of the degree of distal displacement of the axial triradius on the palm. This is one of the markers of diabetes mellitus that is used as a screening tool in order to reduce the risk of onset and initiate early treatment. The aim of this study is to find the mean atd angle among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients visiting a tertiary care centre.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 has accounted for more than 6 million deaths worldwide. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the existing tuberculosis vaccine, is known to induce heterologous effects over other infections due to trained immunity and has been proposed to be a potential strategy against SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this report, we constructed a recombinant BCG (rBCG) expressing domains of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and spike proteins (termed rBCG-ChD6), recognized as major candidates for vaccine development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ)
April 2023
Background The important morphological parameters of distal radius namely palmar tilt, radial inclination, radial height and ulnar variance are consequential in the evaluation and management of the distal radius fracture, distal radius plate design and kinesiology. Correction of these parameters in anatomical alignment is important to restore the normal biomechanics of the wrist joint. Objective To ascertain the distal radius parameters in the patients attending tertiary care hospital with regard to gender and age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The liver possesses different patterns of intrahepatic duct confluences. Even though the typical pattern of the intrahepatic biliary duct is common, atypical variations are also frequently witnessed. The knowledge of the atypical intrahepatic biliary confluences is inevitable during hepato-biliary surgery to reduce post-operative complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ)
August 2024
Background Online education has gained popularity in various fields, including medicine, owing to its flexibility and time-saving advantages. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated its adoption as an alternative to traditional in-person learning. Medical students appreciate the ability to study at their own pace, access resources remotely, and engage in virtual collaboration and networking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The potential of rideshare services to facilitate timely radiation therapy (RT), especially for resource-limited patients, is understudied.
Methods: Patients (n = 63) who received 73 courses of RT (1,513 fractions) and utilized free hospital-provided rideshare service (537 rides) were included in this retrospective study. A multidimensional analysis was conducted including a comparison of demographic, disease characteristics, and treatment completion data; a revenue analysis to evaluate the financial impact of rideshare services; and a geospatial analysis to evaluate community-level characteristics of patients.
Background And Purpose: Neutrophil overstimulation plays a crucial role in tissue damage during severe infections. Because pathogen-derived neuraminidase (NEU) stimulates neutrophils, we investigated whether host NEU can be targeted to regulate the neutrophil dysregulation observed in severe infections.
Experimental Approach: The effects of NEU inhibitors on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated neutrophils from healthy donors or COVID-19 patients were determined by evaluating the shedding of surface sialic acids, cell activation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production.
(ZIKV) is a single-strand RNA mosquito-borne flavivirus with significant public health impact. ZIKV infection induces double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) in human neural progenitor cells that may contribute to severe neuronal manifestations in newborns. The DNA-PK complex plays a critical role in repairing DSBs and in the innate immune response to infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn preparation for tracheal intubation during induction of anesthesia, the patient may be ventilated with 100% oxygen. To investigate the impact of acute isocapnic hyperoxia on endothelial activation and vascular remodeling, ten healthy young men (24±3 years) were exposed to 5-min normoxia (21% O2) and 10-min hyperoxia trials (100% O2). During hyperoxia, intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM-1) (hyperoxia: 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a seasonal pathogen responsible for the highest percentage of viral bronchiolitis in pediatric patients. There are currently no vaccine available and therapeutic methods to mitigate the severity of RSV bronchiolitis are limited. OM-85, an oral standardized bacterial lysate isolated from human respiratory strains and widely used to prevent recurrent infections and/or exacerbations in populations at risk, has been shown to be effective and safe in children and adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens frequently provide insufficient disease control in patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We evaluated intensification of fludarabine/busulfan (Flu/Bu) RIC with targeted marrow irradiation (TMI) in a dose escalation with expansion phase I clinical trial. TMI doses were delivered at 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenomic and epidemiological surveillance are paramount for the discovery of new viruses with the potential to cross species barriers. Here, we present a new member of the genus found in and mosquitoes, tentatively named Pirahy virus (PIRAV). PIRAV was isolated from mosquito pools collected in a rural area of Piraí do Sul, South Brazil.
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