Background: Non-secretory multiple myeloma (NSMM) is defined as clonal bone marrow plasma cells ≥10% or biopsy proven plasmacytoma, evidence of end-organ damage due to underlying plasma cell dyscrasia, namely hypercalcemia, renal insufficiency, anaemia, bone lesions and lack of serum and urinary monoclonal protein on electrophoresis and immunofixation. They represent 3-5% of multiple myeloma (MM). With the advent of serum free light chain (s FLC) measurement, most of NSMMs have been classified as Light chain Multiple myeloma (LCMM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient Educ Couns
February 2025
Objectives: To investigate patient perspectives on the gender of physiotherapists in stroke rehabilitation.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a diverse group of patients with stroke (N = 143) who required manual assistance with transfer and ambulation. Participants were asked about their preferences for the gender of their physiotherapist and responses were categorized as male physiotherapist, female physiotherapist, or gender doesn't matter.
Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor dysfunctions and nonmotor symptoms. Current treatments do not alter disease progression, highlighting the need for alternative therapies. Music, dance, and mindfulness meditation have shown the potential to improve symptoms and quality of life in patients with PD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnticancer Agents Med Chem
February 2025
Background: Ultra-short peptides are essential therapeutic agents due to their heightened selectivity and reduced toxicity. Scientific literature documents the utilization of dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides as promising agents for combating cancer. We have created a range of tryptophan-based peptides derived from literature sources in order to assess their potential as anticancer drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: For most clinicians and nursing officers, laboratory testing is an unfamiliar part of medical caregiving, and ignorance may lead to serious avoidable errors. Phlebotomy, the first basic step towards laboratory testing, is to be taken seriously otherwise unnecessary repeat testing becomes mandatory. We hypothesized that there are some gaps in knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among these nursing officers regarding practices of phlebotomy, which may influence the quality of blood samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are mainly associated with medium and small vessel vasculitis. Two main methodologies currently available for detection of these antibodies are indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and monospecific proteinase 3 (PR3) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) based immunoassays. However, well-defined guidelines regarding mode of testing for ANCA in laboratories still don't exist, leading to problems in diagnosis and further patient management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIron and zinc malnutrition is a global humanitarian concern that mostly affects newborns, children, and women in low- and middle-income countries where plant-based diets are regularly consumed. This kind of malnutrition has the potential to result in a number of immediate and long-term implications, including stunted growth, an elevated risk of infectious diseases, and poor development, all of which may ultimately cause children to not develop to the fullest extent possible. A determination of the contributions from genotype, environment, and genotype by environment interactions is necessary for the production of nutrient-dense lentil varieties that offer greater availability of iron and zinc with a high level of trait stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmunofluorescence on human epithelial type 2 cells is the standard screening assay for the detection of antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Cytoplasmic speckled patterns are a common finding. However, the less commonly reported ones include the cytoplasmic fibrillar patterns on indirect immunofluorescence technique (IIFT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbstract: The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the site for protein synthesis, its folding and secretion. An intricate set of signalling pathways, called UPR pathways, have been evolved by ER in mammalian cells, to allow the cell to respond the presence of misfolded proteins within the ER. Breaching of these signalling systems by disease oriented accumulation of unfolded proteins may develop cellular stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLaboratory investigations for any suspected case of solitary plasmacytoma of bone include routine biochemical and hematological investigations along with β2-microglobulin, electrophoresis of serum protein and/or 24-hour urine protein, serum protein immunofixation (IFE), and nephelometric quantification of total immunoglobulin isotype and serum free light chain levels. Bone marrow aspirate and trephine biopsy are mandatory to confirm the absence of clonal plasma cells (for solitary plasmacytoma) or the presence of less than 10% clonal cells (solitary plasmacytoma with minimal bone marrow involvement). Imaging studies such as X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography/CT should be used to complement laboratory tests in diagnosis, staging, and defining the local extent of the plasmacytoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGround level UV-B (290-315 nm) and UV-A (315-400 nm) radiation regulates multiple aspects of plant growth and development. In a natural environment, UV radiation interacts in a complex manner with other environmental factors (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMarker-assisted backcross breeding enables selective insertion of targeted traits into the genome to improve yield, quality, and stress resistance in wheat. In the current investigation, we transferred four drought tolerance quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling traits, canopy temperature, normalized difference vegetative index, chlorophyll content, and grain yield from the drought-tolerant donor line, C306, into a popular high-yielding, drought-sensitive variety, HD2733. Marker-assisted selection coupled with stringent phenotypic screening was used to advance each generation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19, a global pandemic that led to increased morbidity and mortality worldwide since its outcome at the end of the year 2019. A newly discovered variant of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was the arbitrator for spreading the syndrome by droplet transmission causing multi-organ failure in many occasions. A post-infection-pro-diabetic disposition was found evident in this study with the persistence of hepato-pancreatic aberrations in respect of reference range of tissue specific bio-markers in hospital admitted COVID-19 cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExposure to toxic metals alters host response and that leads to disease development. Studies have revealed the effects of metals on microbial physiology, however, the role of metal resistant bacteria on host response to metals is unclear. The hypothesis that xenobiotic interactions between gut microbes and arsenic influence the host physiology and toxicity was assessed in a Caenorhabditis elegans model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of phosphorus-efficient crop cultivars boosts productivity while lowering eutrophication in the environment. It is feasible to improve the efficiency of phosphorus (P) absorption in lentils by enhancing phosphorus absorption through root architectural traits. The root architectural traits of 110 diverse lentil genotypes of Indian and Mediterranean origin were assessed, and the relationships between traits were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbout 95% of the ultraviolet (UV) photons reaching the Earth's surface are UV-A (315-400 nm) photons. Plant responses to UV-A radiation have been less frequently studied than those to UV-B (280-315 nm) radiation. Most previous studies on UV-A radiation have used an unrealistic balance between UV-A, UV-B, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important food grain legume, but its production capacity is threatened by global warming, which can intensify plant stress and limit future production. Identifying new variation of key root traits in mungbean will provide the basis for breeding lines with effective root characteristics for improved water uptake to mitigate heat and drought stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery has its own set of risks and complications. This study from a single center and a single surgeon analyzes various risk factors for complications and tries to establish if there is a learning curve effect in minimizing the complications.
Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis of 519 patients (1024 leads) who underwent DBS surgery and 232 patients who underwent implantable pulse generator replacement (IPG), by a single surgeon, between the years 1999 and 2019 was performed.
Roots enable the plant to survive in the natural environment by providing anchorage and acquisition of water and nutrients. In this study, root architectural traits of 153 mungbean genotypes were compared under optimum and low phosphorus (P) conditions. Significant variations and medium to high heritability were observed for the root traits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe photoreceptors UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) and CRYPTOCHROMES 1 and 2 (CRYs) play major roles in the perception of UV-B (280-315 nm) and UV-A/blue radiation (315-500 nm), respectively. However, it is poorly understood how they function in sunlight. The roles of UVR8 and CRYs were assessed in a factorial experiment with Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type and photoreceptor mutants exposed to sunlight for 6 or 12 hr under five types of filters with cut-offs in UV and blue-light regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCryptochromes (CRYs) and UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) photoreceptors perceive UV-A/blue (315-500 nm) and UV-B (280-315 nm) radiation in plants, respectively. While the roles of CRYs and UVR8 have been studied in separate controlled-environment experiments, little is known about the interaction between these photoreceptors. Here, Arabidopsis wild-type Ler, CRYs and UVR8 photoreceptor mutants (uvr8-2, cry1cry2 and cry1cry2uvr8-2), and a flavonoid biosynthesis-defective mutant (tt4) were grown in a sun simulator.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants perceive ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation through the UV-B photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8), and initiate regulatory responses via associated signalling networks, gene expression and metabolic pathways. Various regulatory adaptations to UV-B radiation enable plants to harvest information about fluctuations in UV-B irradiance and spectral composition in natural environments, and to defend themselves against UV-B exposure. Given that UVR8 is present across plant organs and tissues, knowledge of the systemic signalling involved in its activation and function throughout the plant is important for understanding the context of specific responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study evaluated the toxicity of metal contamination in soils from an art glass factory in Småland Sweden using a Caenorhabditis elegans nematode model. The aim of the study was to chemically analyze the soil samples and study the biological effects of water-soluble leachates on the nematodes using different physiological endpoints. The total metal content showed that As, Cd and Pb were at levels above the guideline values for soils in areas around the factory.
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