Magnitude of flat foot and its associated factors among school-aged children in Southern Ethiopia: an institution-based cross-sectional study.

Background: Flat foot, also known as pes planus, is a common condition among primary school children and is a leading cause of all clinical visits related to foot problems worldwide. It can cause skeletal problems and joint misalignment. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of flat foot and its associated factors among public primary school children.

The Magnitude of Refractive Error and Its Associated Factors Among Patients Visiting Ophthalmology Clinics in Southern Ethiopia, 2022.

Introduction: Refractive error is a vision-impairing condition due to light rays not being able to focus on the retina, resulting in the visual outcome of a cloudy image. It is one of the main causes of central vision impairment globally and in Africa, including Ethiopia. This study was conducted to assess the magnitude of refractive error and its associated factors among patients attending ophthalmic clinics.

Images in electroconvulsive therapy: electroconvulsive shocks dose-dependently increase dendritic arborization in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampus.

Stress and depression are associated with impaired neuroplasticity in the hippocampus: there is decreased dendritic arborization and synaptogenesis, which is hypothesized to explain decreased adaptive competence of the organism. Representative light microscopy images are presented that show that 6 once-daily electroconvulsive shocks (ECSs) dose-dependently increased dendritic arborization in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in healthy, adult, male Wistar rats (n = 10 in each of sham, 10-mC, and 40-mC ECS groups). These neuroplasticity changes, identified 1 month after the last ECS, may explain a part of the mechanism of action of electroconvulsive therapy in conditions such as depression.

Electroconvulsive therapy attenuates dendritic arborization in the basolateral amygdala.

Stress and depression are associated with aberrant neuroplasticity in the amygdala: there is increased dendritic arborization and synaptogenesis, perhaps explaining the increased anxiety and fear that are often apparent in depressed patients. Light microscopy images are presented, which show that 6 once-daily high (but not low)-dose electroconvulsive shocks attenuated dendritic arborization in the basolateral amygdala of Wistar rats, which changes were apparent even 1 month after the last electroconvulsive shock. These changes may explain a part of the mechanism of action of electroconvulsive therapy in conditions such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Images in electroconvulsive therapy: Pilot impressions suggesting that ECT reduces excitatory synapses in the basolateral amygdala.

Background: In animal models, stress and depression are associated with excitatory changes in the amygdala; this aberrant neuroplasticity may represent increased fear learning, explaining the anxiety, fear, and related symptoms that characterize clinical depression.

Materials And Methods: In a pilot investigation, we treated adult, male, Wistar rats with sham electroconvulsive shocks (ECS; n=3), low-dose ECS (10 mC; n=3), and high-dose ECS (60 mC; n=3). The rats were sacrificed 1 month after the last of 6 once-daily ECS and, after dissection, sections of the basolateral amygdala were examined using transmission electron microscopy under low (×11,000) and high (×30,000) magnification.