Aging and MPTP Sensitivity Depend on Molecular and Ultrastructural Signatures of Astroglia and Microglia in Mice Substantia Nigra.

Both astroglia and microglia show region-specific distribution in CNS and often maladapt to age-associated alterations within their niche. Studies on autopsied substantia nigra (SN) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and experimental models propose gliosis as a trigger for neuronal loss. Epidemiological studies propose an ethnic bias in PD prevalence, since Caucasians are more susceptible than non-whites.

RECQL4 affects MHC class II-mediated signalling and favours an immune-evasive signature that limits response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in patients with malignant melanoma.

Background: Cancer immunotherapy has transformed metastatic cancer treatment, yet challenges persist regarding therapeutic efficacy. RECQL4, a RecQ-like helicase, plays a central role in DNA replication and repair as part of the DNA damage response, a pathway implicated in enhancing efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies. However, its role in patient response to ICI remains unclear.

Comparison between Duke, ESC-2015, ISCVID-2023 and ESC-2023 criteria for the diagnosis of TAVR-related infective endocarditis.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement-related infective endocarditis (TAVR-IE) is associated with a poor prognosis. TAVR-IE diagnosis is challenging, and benefits of the most recent classifications (ESC-2015, ISCVID-2023 and ESC-2023) have not been compared with the conventional Duke criteria on this population.

Objectives: The primary objective was to compare the diagnostic value of the Duke, ESC-2015, ISCVID-2023, and ESC-2023 criteria for the diagnosis of TAVR-IE.

Does psychoeducation module-based community intervention address Internet addiction among school-going adolescents? A quasi-experimental study from Mangalore, India.

Unlabelled: Excessive and uncontrolled use of the Internet leads to Internet addiction and negatively affects the physical and mental health of adolescents. Normalization of the Internet and electronic gadgets during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the vulnerability of adolescents to developing behavioral dependency on Internet use. Intervention is needed to protect the formative years and to grow as responsible net users.

Vaccination generates functional progenitor tumor-specific CD8 T cells and long-term tumor control.

Background: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies are an important treatment for patients with advanced cancers; however, only a subset of patients with certain types of cancer achieve durable remission. Cancer vaccines are an attractive strategy to boost patient immune responses, but less is known about whether and how immunization can induce long-term tumor immune reprogramming and arrest cancer progression. We developed a clinically relevant genetic cancer mouse model in which hepatocytes sporadically undergo oncogenic transformation.

Analysis of the polymeric mixture in hypoxen, using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Rationale: Hypoxen is a medication known for providing individuals with a "second wind," by lowering the threshold for muscle fatigue and enhancing the body's efficiency under challenging conditions. Athletes who have used this medication report enhanced training outcomes and increased physical endurance. It is crucial to emphasize that hypoxen is not categorized as a prohibited substance as yet and is thus assumed safe for use in competitive sports.

Equine metabolic investigation of the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor ibudilast as a potential performance enhancer.

Rationale: Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitors are a newer class of drugs that induce bronchodilation and have anti-inflammatory effects, making them susceptible to misuse as performance enhancers in competitive sports.

Methods: This study explores the metabolic conversion of PDE4 inhibitor ibudilast in thoroughbred horses after oral administration and in vitro using equine liver microsomes and Cunninghamella elegans. A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry method was used to postulate the plausible structures of the detected metabolites.

Airway Management May Not Improve in Adult Patients With Pierre Robin Sequence: A Case Report.

Infants with Pierre Robin sequence present with difficult airways due to their triad of micrognathia, glossoptosis, and cleft palate. This creates a difficult airway to intubate and ventilate. Typically, with various interventions and the growth of the mandible with age, the airway gets easier to manage into adulthood.

Effect of sex on sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 antagonists and glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists in heart failure.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that medications not primarily targeting the cardiovascular (CV) system may have cardioprotective effects in patients with heart failure (HF), in particular the anti-diabetic therapies sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) antagonists and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists. We conducted a systematic review to assess the pooled evidence for the use of SGLT-2 antagonists and GLP-1 agonists in patients with HF and the effect of biological sex on the results.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library and clinical trial databases were searched until February 2023.

METASEED: a novel approach to full-length 16S rRNA gene reconstruction from short read data.

Background: With the emergence of Oxford Nanopore technology, now the on-site sequencing of 16S rRNA from environments is available. Due to the error level and structure, the analysis of such data demands some database of reference sequences. However, many taxa from complex and diverse environments, have poor representation in publicly available databases.

Development and Validation of Prognostic Models Using Radiomic Features from Pre-Treatment Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Images in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) Patients.

High-dimensional radiomics features derived from pre-treatment positron emission tomography (PET) images offer prognostic insights for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Using 124 PET radiomics features and clinical variables (age, sex, stage of cancer, site of cancer) from a cohort of 232 patients, we evaluated four survival models-penalized Cox model, random forest, gradient boosted model and support vector machine-to predict all-cause mortality (ACM), locoregional recurrence/residual disease (LR) and distant metastasis (DM) probability during 36, 24 and 24 months of follow-up, respectively. We developed models with five-fold cross-validation, selected the best-performing model for each outcome based on the concordance index (C-statistic) and the integrated Brier score (IBS) and validated them in an independent cohort of 102 patients.

Prevalence and Predictors of Internet Addiction Among Adolescents Before the First Wave of COVID-19 Lockdown in India.

Background Internet dependency behavior was found to be prevalent among adolescents even before the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns across the world including India. Adolescent users develop Internet addiction due to various risk factors. Aim The aim is to measure the prevalence and psychosocial predictors of internet addiction among adolescents before the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown in India.

Clinical effects of a yoga-based intervention for patients with schizophrenia - A six-month randomized controlled trial.

Background: Yoga has shown promise as an add-on therapy for patients with schizophrenia. However, most studies have been short-term, with methodological limitations.

Methods: We conducted a six-month parallel-group randomized-controlled trial (with rater blinding) to evaluate the effectiveness of a yoga-based intervention in improving symptoms and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Self-Report Assessment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent guidelines have had a substantial effect on social norms. This likely affected self-report assessment of psychopathology, namely those that assess obsessive-compulsive tendencies routinely used to screen for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It was hypothesized that self-report assessment of OCD likely produces inflated, non-discriminating scale scores.

Measurement and analysis of change in research scholars' knowledge and attitudes toward statistics after PhD coursework.

Background: Knowledge of statistics is highly important for research scholars, as they are expected to submit a thesis based on original research as part of a PhD program. As statistics play a major role in the analysis and interpretation of scientific data, intensive training at the beginning of a PhD programme is essential. PhD coursework is mandatory in universities and higher education institutes in India.

Atrioventricular conduction disorders in aortic valve infective endocarditis.

Background: Aortic valve infective endocarditis may be complicated by high-degree atrioventricular block in up to 10-20% of cases.

Aim: To assess high-degree atrioventricular block occurrence, contributing factors, prognosis and evolution in patients referred for aortic infective endocarditis.

Methods: Two hundred and five patients referred for aortic valve infective endocarditis between January 2018 and March 2021 were included in this study.

Levels of work stress among information technology professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in an Indian metropolis.

Introduction: Amid the ongoing Non-Communicable Disease and COVID-19 pandemic, understanding prevalence and characteristics associated with work stress is vital from a health and economic perspective, more so among information technology (IT) professionals.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with work stress among IT professionals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Bengaluru, India.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken on a convenient sample of 356 IT professionals in Bengaluru, India, between September 2020 and March 2021 to assess work stress.

Study on awareness and management based health action using video intervention (SAMBHAV) for postpartum depression among mothers attending immunisation clinic in a tertiary medical college hospital: Study protocol.

Introduction: Pregnancy exerts a detrimental effect on women's mental health. Maternal mental health is considered as one of the public health concerns as it impacts the health of both mother and the child. One in five people in developing countries experience serious mental health issues during pregnancy and after giving birth.