Sympathetic Response of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder During Dental Treatment Performed in a Sensory-Adapted Dental Environment.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in social interaction, communication, and sensory processing. These challenges often make dental visits overwhelming and distressing for children with ASD. This study explores the use of electrodermal activity (EDA) to measure physiological stress responses and evaluates strategies to enhance cooperation during dental treatments in a sensory-adapted dental environment.

Conditional loss of CaMKK2 in Osterix-positive osteoprogenitors enhances osteoblast function in a sex-divergent manner.

Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2) is a multi-functional, serine/threonine protein kinase with predominant roles in inflammation, systemic energy metabolism, and bone remodeling. We previously reported that global ablation of CaMKK2 or its systemic pharmacological inhibition led to bone mass accrual in mice by stimulating osteoblasts and inhibiting osteoclasts. However, a direct, cell-intrinsic role for the kinase in the osteoblast lineage has not been established.

High prevalence of "non-pathogenic" POLE mutation with poor prognosis in a cohort of endometrial cancer from South India.

Objective: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project identified favorable prognosis regarding the ultra-mutated endometrial cancer (EC) subtype linked to polymerase epsilon gene (POLE) mutations. This study investigated POLE mutations in EC of Indian patients.

Methods: This retrospective analytical study was conducted between January 2016 and January 2023 at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, and the MVR Cancer Center, Kozhikode, Kerala.

Loss of the auxiliary αδ voltage-sensitive calcium channel subunit impairs bone formation and anabolic responses to mechanical loading.

Voltage-sensitive calcium channels (VSCCs) influence bone structure and function, including anabolic responses to mechanical loading. While the pore-forming (α) subunit of VSCCs allows Ca influx, auxiliary subunits regulate the biophysical properties of the pore. The αδ subunit influences gating kinetics of the α pore and enables mechanically induced signaling in osteocytes; however, the skeletal function of αδ in vivo remains unknown.

Deletion of the auxiliary α2δ1 voltage sensitive calcium channel subunit in osteocytes and late-stage osteoblasts impairs femur strength and load-induced bone formation in male mice.

Osteocytes sense and respond to mechanical force by controlling the activity of other bone cells. However, the mechanisms by which osteocytes sense mechanical input and transmit biological signals remain unclear. Voltage-sensitive calcium channels (VSCCs) regulate calcium (Ca2+) influx in response to external stimuli.