Prevalence of neck pain among unilateral upper limb amputees: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Neck pain is a significant health concern for unilateral upper limb amputees (UULAs), affecting their functional status and quality of life.

Objectives: To address the neck pain burden that is adding to UULA's pre-existing disability and help Physical therapists to judiciously design and execute effective therapeutic strategies.

Methods: We searched databases for articles till October 23, 2023, and included primary studies reporting neck pain prevalence among UULAs.

The current status and challenges of bioethics education in undergraduate medical education in Karachi, Pakistan.

Background: The importance of including bioethics in the medical curricula has been recognized globally. Certain countries including Pakistan continue to lag behind although some developments have occurred recently.

Objectives: The research aimed to provide a snapshot of bioethics education in undergraduate medical colleges in Karachi, Pakistan.

Unraveling determinants of integrated farming systems adoption for sustainable livelihood and dietary diversity.

Introduction: Over the years, smallholder farmers have faced more vulnerability to risk and uncertainty in India due to their dependence on cereal crops. One way to reduce this risk is through diversified agriculture, integrating different practices for efficient resource utilization, and adopting a farming systems approach. An integrated farming system (IFS) is one such technique that provides year-round income from different components of enterprises.

Exploring Edible Mushrooms for Diabetes: Unveiling Their Role in Prevention and Treatment.

Diabetes mellitus is a complex illness in which the body does not create enough insulin to control blood glucose levels. Worldwide, this disease is life-threatening and requires low-cost, side-effect-free medicine. Due to adverse effects, many synthetic hypoglycemic medications for diabetes fail.

Development and validation of a rapid and easy-to-perform point-of-care lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

Development and validation of rapid and easy-to-perform diagnostics continue to be a high priority during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Although vaccines are now widely available, early detection and consistent transmission control provide ideal means to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Nucleic acid-based real-time PCR tests are widely acknowledged as the gold standard for reliable diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.

Analysis of Physiological Variations and Genetic Architecture for Photosynthetic Capacity of Japanese Soybean Germplasm.

The culmination of conventional yield improving parameters has widened the margin between food demand and crop yield, leaving the potential yield productivity to be bridged by the manipulation of photosynthetic processes in plants. Efficient strategies to assess photosynthetic capacity in crops need to be developed to identify suitable targets that have the potential to improve photosynthetic efficiencies. Here, we assessed the photosynthetic capacity of the Japanese soybean mini core collection (GmJMC) using a newly developed high-throughput photosynthesis measurement system "MIC-100" to analyze physiological mechanisms and genetic architecture underpinning photosynthesis.

Depression, anxiety and stress and their associated social determinants in the Saudi college students.

Globally, students suffer from stress, anxiety, and depression in higher education and seek counselling since education process has negative impacts on mental health of some students. This study was aimed at measuring the depression, stress, and anxiety and their associated social determinants like (income, education, residence, marital status, and educational difficulties) in undergraduate students of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU). Arabic version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) validated from the original English version instrument by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995) was used; A sample of 373 respondents through clustered sampling was drawn from the five randomly chosen faculties of the University.

Rehabilitation of Silicosis Victims of District Karauli, Rajasthan, India.

Background: This study was carried out to assess the reach of medico-social and economic programs to the silicosis victims in Karauli. The district is infamous for large-scale unregulated sandstone mining, a pulmonary hazard, causing silicosis, a debilitating occupational disease compensable under Indian laws.

Methodology: A sample of 250 silicosis cases from 38 villages were randomly recruited and interviewed from four different sites.

Exploring the heat-responsive chaperones and microsatellite markers associated with terminal heat stress tolerance in developing wheat.

Global warming is a major threat for agriculture and food security, and in many cases the negative impacts are already apparent. Wheat is one of the most important staple food crops and is highly sensitive to the heat stress (HS) during reproductive and grain-filling stages. Here, whole transcriptome analysis of thermotolerant wheat cv.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of Assam Bora rice starch-based bioadhesive microsphere as a drug carrier for colon targeting.

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop, characterize and evaluate (in vitro and in vivo) a novel colon-targeted bioadhesive microsphere (BAM) containing metronidazole (MTZ).

Methods: BAMs are prepared using Assam Bora rice starch as a natural bioadhesive polymer by a double emulsion solvent evaporation method.

Results: The prepared microspheres showed a uniform spherical shape, with excellent retention time.

Cell surface expression of the vaccinia virus complement control protein is mediated by interaction with the viral A56 protein and protects infected cells from complement attack.

The vaccinia virus (VACV) complement control protein (VCP) is the major protein secreted from VACV-infected cells. It has been reported that VCP binds to the surfaces of uninfected cells by interacting with heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). In this study, we show that VCP is also expressed on the surfaces of infected cells and demonstrate that surface localization occurs independently of HSPGs.

Support Vector Machine-based classification of protein folds using the structural properties of amino acid residues and amino acid residue pairs.

Motivation: Fold recognition is a key step in the protein structure discovery process, especially when traditional sequence comparison methods fail to yield convincing structural homologies. Although many methods have been developed for protein fold recognition, their accuracies remain low. This can be attributed to insufficient exploitation of fold discriminatory features.

The identification and characterization of a monoclonal antibody to the vaccinia virus E3 protein.

Monoclonal antibodies with reactivity to vaccinia virus specific proteins are useful reagents to study the proteins as well as to help understand aspects of the poxvirus life cycle. Using a vaccinia virus proteomics microarray, we found a hybridoma (MAb 3015B2) from a vaccinia virus vaccinated mouse that reacted with the product of the E3L gene. The specificity to the E3 protein was confirmed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence of cells infected with either wild-type vaccinia virus or a mutant virus with the E3L gene deleted.

Trivalent vaccine against botulinum toxin serotypes A, B, and E that can be administered by the mucosal route.

Most reports dealing with vaccines against botulinum toxin have focused on the injection route of administration. This is unfortunate, because a mucosal vaccine is likely to be more efficacious for patients and pose fewer risks to health care workers and to the environment. Therefore, efforts were made to generate a mucosal vaccine that provides protection against the botulinum serotypes that typically cause human illness (serotypes A, B, and E).

The envelope G3L protein is essential for entry of vaccinia virus into host cells.

The vaccinia virus G3L/WR079 gene encodes a conserved protein with a predicted transmembrane domain. Our proteomic analyses of vaccinia virus revealed that G3L protein is incorporated into intracellular mature virus; however, the function of G3L protein in the vaccinia virus life cycle has not been investigated. In this study, a recombinant vaccinia virus, viG3L, expressing G3L protein under IPTG (isopropyl-beta-d-thiogalactopyranoside) regulation was constructed.

Sevoflurane-induced structural changes in a four-alpha-helix bundle protein.

The mechanisms whereby volatile general anesthetics reversibly alter protein function in the central nervous system remain obscure. Using three different spectroscopic approaches, evidence is presented that binding of the modern general anesthetic sevoflurane to the hydrophobic core of a model four-alpha-helix bundle protein results in structural changes. Aromatic residues in the hydrophobic core reorient into new environments upon anesthetic binding, and the protein as a whole becomes less dynamic and exhibits structural tightening.

Expression and characterization of a four-alpha-helix bundle protein that binds the volatile general anesthetic halothane.

The structural features of volatile anesthetic binding sites on proteins are being investigated with the use of a defined model system consisting of a four-alpha-helix bundle scaffold with a hydrophobic core. The current study describes the bacterial expression, purification, and initial characterization of the four-alpha-helix bundle (Aalpha(2)-L1M/L38M)(2). The alpha-helical content and stability of the expressed protein are comparable to that of the chemically synthesized four-alpha-helix bundle (Aalpha(2)-L38M)(2) reported earlier.

Antibodies against the extracellular enveloped virus B5R protein are mainly responsible for the EEV neutralizing capacity of vaccinia immune globulin.

In the event of smallpox bioterrorism, widespread vaccination may be required. Vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) has been used to treat complications from the smallpox vaccine. While the potency of VIG was defined by its ability to neutralize intracellular mature virus, a second form of vaccinia called the extracellular enveloped virus (EEV) is critical for virus spread in the host.

Metastatic melanoma of mesentery.

A case of malignant melanoma metastatic to small bowel mesentery in an old female is reported. Her primary malignant melanoma of nasal mucosa was already treated. She presented with intestinal obstruction, underwent surgical excision of the tumour and was tumour-free postoperatively.

Restoration of complement-enhanced neutralization of vaccinia virus virions by novel monoclonal antibodies raised against the vaccinia virus complement control protein.

The vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) is secreted by infected cells and has been shown to inhibit complement activation through interactions with C3b/C4b. It contains four short consensus repeat (SCR) domains. It has been suggested that all four SCRs are required for VCP's activity.