Association of Ego Defense Mechanisms with Academic Performance, Anxiety and Depression in Medical Students: A Mixed Methods Study.

Background:  Ego defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes that help an individual to prevent anxiety when exposed to a stressful situation. These mechanisms are important in psychiatric practice to assess an individual's personality dynamics, psychopathologies, and modes of coping with stressful situations, and hence, to design appropriate individualized treatment. Our study delineates the relationship of ego defense mechanisms with anxiety, depression, and academic performance of Pakistani medical students.

A cornucopia of screening and diagnostic techniques for human papillomavirus associated cervical carcinomas.

Cervical carcinoma is one of the major consequences of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Although HPV infections of cervix do not always progress to cancer, 90% cases of cervical cancer have been found associated with high risk HPV (hrHPV) infection. Usually, HPV infection is asymptomatic; however, this asymptomatic infection can cause abnormal changes in cervix ultimately leading to cancer development.

Interferon lambda-3 polymorphism and response to pegylated interferon in patients with hepatitis D.

Background: Specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the interferon lambda-3 (IFNλ3) gene (formerly interleukin 28B) influence the response to treatment with interferon in hepatitis C patients. We aimed to investigate such an influence in hepatitis D patients.

Methods: The study population consisted of hepatitis D patients who were previously treated with pegylated interferon for one year and who were spontaneous clearers of the virus post recent superinfection.

Promoter hypermethylation of Wnt pathway inhibitors in hepatitis C virus - induced multistep hepatocarcinogenesis.

Background: Aberrant DNA methylation profiles are a characteristic feature of almost all types of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and play an important role in carcinogenesis. In spite of the accumulating evidence that suggests appearance of such aberrations at precancerous stages, very little effort has been invested to investigate such possible methylation events in patients at risk of developing HCC i.e.

Impact of Preoperative Counselling on Early Postoperative Mobilization and Its Role in Smooth Recovery.

Background and Objectives. Preoperative counseling is effective to foster early postoperative mobilization that reduces pulmonary complications following abdominal surgery. This study aims at evaluating the effect of preoperative counseling regarding postoperative mobilization and its impact on reducing pulmonary complications.

Ab initio calculations of thermochemical properties of methanol clusters.

Highly accurate ab initio calculations of binding enthalpies and entropies of gas phase clusters of methanol have been performed, yielding uncertainties smaller than 1 kJ/mol per hydrogen bond in the Gibbs free energy of reaction. This requires quantum chemical RIMP2 and CCSD(T) post-Hartree-Fock methods with basis sets up to aug-cc-pV5Z for energy calculations. An analysis of topological symmetry and hindered rotor effects proves necessary for reliable entropies.

Deciphering the epigenetic code: an overview of DNA methylation analysis methods.

Significance: Methylation of cytosine in DNA is linked with gene regulation, and this has profound implications in development, normal biology, and disease conditions in many eukaryotic organisms. A wide range of methods and approaches exist for its identification, quantification, and mapping within the genome. While the earliest approaches were nonspecific and were at best useful for quantification of total methylated cytosines in the chunk of DNA, this field has seen considerable progress and development over the past decades.