Publications by authors named "Saran A"

Mutations in the E3 ubiquitin ligase parkin cause a familial form of Parkinson's disease. Parkin and the mitochondrial kinase PTEN-induced kinase 1 assure quality control of mitochondria through selective autophagy of mitochondria (mitophagy). Whereas numerous parkin mutations have been functionally and structurally characterized, several Parkinson's disease mutations found in the catalytic Rcat domain of parkin remain poorly understood.

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This is the protocol for an evidence and gap map, which aims to map the existing evidence on the effectiveness of social accountability interventions in low- and middle-income countries. This map will help users identify the size and quality of the evidence base, guide strategic program development, and highlight gaps for future research. The map will cover studies published after 2000, including systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, non-experimental designs, and before-after designs.

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Background And Objective: Scoping reviews are a type of evidence synthesis that aims to identify and map the breadth of evidence available on a particular topic, field, concept, or issue, within or across a defined context or contexts. Scoping reviews can contribute to clinical practice guideline development, policy making, reduce research waste by eliminating duplication of research effort, and be a precursor to a systematic review or inform further primary research. This article aims to provide a brief introduction of how to conduct and report scoping reviews.

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Cognitive states like motor imagery (MI; simulating actions without overtly executing them) share a close correspondence with action execution, and hence, activate the motor system in a similar way. However, as people age, reduction in specific cognitive abilities like motor action simulation and action planning/prediction are commonly experienced. The present study examined the effect of visual-spatial processing for both typical and challenging upper-limb movements using the Hand Laterality Judgment Task (HLJT), in which participants were asked to judge whether the depicted hand is a left or right hand.

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In both developed and developing countries, atmospheric pollution with particulate matter (PM) remains an important issue. Despite the health effects of poor air quality, studies on air pollution are often limited by the high costs of continuous monitoring and the need for extensive sampling. Furthermore, these particles are often enriched with potentially toxic trace elements and organic pollutants.

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Background: Climate change poses a significant threat to agricultural production worldwide, with developing countries being particularly vulnerable to its negative impacts. Agriculture, which is a crucial factor in ensuring food security and livelihoods, is particularly vulnerable to changes in climate patterns, such as increased temperatures, drought, and extreme weather events. One approach to addressing these challenges is by promoting the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices among farmers.

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Article Synopsis
  • The type IX secretion system (T9SS) helps bacterial pathogens infect hosts, and its activation is regulated by a signaling cascade, with PorX being a key protein that could be targeted for drug development.
  • Structural analysis shows that PorX has a unique enzyme domain similar to alkaline phosphatase, indicating its involvement in previously unlinked nucleotide and lipid signaling pathways.
  • PorX acts as a zinc sensor and is crucial for the secretion of virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria, suggesting it could be an effective target for strategies to disrupt T9SS and reduce virulence.
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Objective: This paper describes several automation tools and software that can be considered during evidence synthesis projects and provides guidance for their integration in the conduct of scoping reviews.

Study Design And Setting: The guidance presented in this work is adapted from the results of a scoping review and consultations with the JBI Scoping Review Methodology group.

Results: This paper describes several reliable, validated automation tools and software that can be used to enhance the conduct of scoping reviews.

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  • Platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) are valuable and cost-effective indicators for diagnosing and managing thrombocytopenia, particularly in pregnant women where anemia is also common.
  • The study, conducted in New Delhi with 150 pregnant women over 28 weeks gestation, categorized participants into mild, moderate, and severe thrombocytopenia groups, revealing higher complications like anemia and the need for transfusions in the severe group.
  • The findings indicate that thrombocytopenia is significantly impacted by maternal health factors and that platelet indices such as PDW and MPV are crucial in assessing the condition and predicting potential risks for both mother and fetus.
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Article Synopsis
  • The Type-IX secretion system (T9SS) is a bacterial nanomachinery critical for the infection process, regulated by a signaling cascade led by the protein PorX, making it a potential target for drugs.
  • Research on PorX revealed it has a unique enzymatic domain similar to alkaline phosphatases, indicating it plays a role in nucleotide and lipid signaling that was previously unrecognized in the context of T9SS.
  • PorX exhibits zinc-dependent phosphodiesterase activity and can dimerize through a novel mechanism involving zinc, suggesting it's a cellular zinc sensor and further emphasizing its importance in virulence factor secretion in pathogenic bacteria.
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Background And Purpose: Medulloblastoma (MB) is a common primary brain cancer in children. Proton therapy in pediatric MB is intensively studied and widely adopted. Compared to photon, proton radiations offer potential for reduced toxicity due to the characteristic Bragg Peak at the end of their path in tissue.

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Objective: To assess the feasibility of implementing a simple point-of-care lung ultrasound (LU) evaluation and reporting protocol in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and its effect on patient management.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study of LU examinations performed in a level III NICU. Each examination was performed according to a standardized protocol.

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Background: Road Traffic injuries (RTI) are among the top ten leading causes of death in the world resulting in 1.35 million deaths every year, about 93% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite several global resolutions to reduce traffic injuries, they have continued to grow in many countries.

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This scoping review aims to identify and systematically review published mapping reviews to assess their commonality and heterogeneity and determine whether additional efforts should be made to standardise methodology and reporting. The following databases were searched; Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Campbell collaboration database, Social Science Abstracts, Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA). Following a pilot-test on a random sample of 20 citations included within title and abstracts, two team members independently completed all screening.

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Over the last few decades, the global rise in energy demand has prompted researchers to investigate the energy requirements from alternative green fuels apart from the conventional fossil fuels, due to the surge in CO emission levels. In this context, the global demand for hydrogen is anticipated to extend by 4-5% in the next 5 years. Different production technologies like gasification of coal, partial oxidation of hydrocarbons, and reforming of natural gas are used to obtain high yields of hydrogen.

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Trace elements pollution of soils became a global concern because of their persistence in the environment which can lead to accumulation in food chains up to toxic levels. At the same time, there is a shortage of arable land for growing food, fodder and industrial crops, which highlights the need for remediation/use of polluted land. Restoration of degraded lands has been included as a vital component of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows: The primary objective of this review is to understand as well as evaluate what approaches, strategies or interventions focused on women's engagement in agricultural value chains and markets that have led to women's economic empowerment in low-and-middle-income countries. The secondary objective of this review is to examine in which contexts are these approaches effective (or ineffective)? What are the contextual barriers and facilitators, determining the participation of women in, and benefits from, engagement in the value chain in low-and middle-income countries programme effectiveness.

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Background: The prioritisation of updating published systematic reviews of interventions is vital to prevent research waste and ensure relevance to stakeholders. The consideration of health equity in reviews is also important to ensure interventions will not exacerbate the existing inequities of the disadvantaged if universally implemented. This study aimed to pilot a priority setting exercise based on systematic reviews of interventions published in the Cochrane Library, to identify and prioritise reviews to be updated with a focus on health equity.

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Background: People with disabilities-more than a billion people worldwide-are frequently excluded from social and political life, and often experience stigmatising attitudes and behaviours from people without disabilities. This stigma, coupled with inaccessible environments and systems and institutional barriers (e.g.

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This prospective cohort study was conducted at our tertiary care center from October, 2021 to April, 2022 to compare the parents' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores during neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay and at 3 months follow-up. Pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL) family impact module questionnaires were used in 46 mothers and 39 fathers during NICU stay, and 42 mothers and 38 fathers at 3-month follow-up. Greater proportions of mothers were severely affected and had higher stress levels as compared to fathers both during NICU stay (67.

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Scoping reviews, mapping reviews, and evidence and gap maps are evidence synthesis methodologies that address broad research questions, aiming to describe a bigger picture rather than address a specific question about intervention effectiveness. They are being increasingly used to support a range of purposes including guiding research priorities and decision making. There is however a confusing array of terminology used to describe these different approaches.

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Background: People with disabilities-more than a billion people worldwide-are frequently excluded from livelihood opportunities, including employment, social protection, and access to finance. Interventions are therefore needed to improve livelihood outcomes for people with disabilities, such as improving access to financial capital (e.g.

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