Safety and efficacy of early augmentation with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging modality with demonstrated efficacy in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), however, there is paucity of research in adolescent depression. This study attempts to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tDCS in adolescents with MDD as an early augmentation to drug therapy.

Methods: Adolescents with MDD aged 10-18 years were enrolled in the study and allocated to active or sham groups as per randomization.

Does Physician-Hospital Vertical Integration Affect Hospital Output?

Background: Physician-hospital vertical integration is gaining steam but it is unclear how they affect hospital output.

Objective: To examine the direct impact of vertical integration on hospital output.

Design: A pooled design with 6-year data using linear regressions was used.

Floristic diversity and species composition along altitudinal gradient in the alpine ecosystem of the cold desert region in Western Himalaya, India.

In India, the Trans-Himalayan zone lies in the rain shadow of the main Himalayan region and is usually described as a "high-altitude cold desert". These regions are represented by sparse but unique vegetation composition. The present study is an attempt to investigate the vegetation composition in the alpine ecosystem of the cold desert landscape of the Nelang Valley in Western Himalayas (Uttarakhand), India.

Predictive metabolite signatures for risk of progression to active TB from QuantiFERON supernatants of household contacts of TB patients.

The identification of individuals with the greatest risk of progression to active tuberculosis (TB) disease from the huge reservoir of () infected individuals continues to remain an arduous ascent in the global effort to control TB. In a two-year prospective study, we analysed metabolic profiles in the unstimulated and TB antigen stimulated QuantiFERON supernatants of 14 healthy household contacts (HHCs) who progressed to TB disease (Progressors) and 14 HHCs who remained healthy (Non-Progressors). We identified 21 significantly dysregulated metabolites in the TB antigen-stimulated QuantiFERON supernatants of Progressors, of which the combination of Malic acid and N-Arachidonoylglycine had maximum AUC of 0.

Trajectory shaping guidance for impact angle control of planetary hopping robots.

This paper presents a novel optimal trajectory-shaping control concept for a planetary hopping robot. The hopping robot suffers from uncontrolled in-flight and undesired after-landing motions, leading to a position drift at landing. The proposed concept thrives on the Generalized Vector Explicit (GENEX) guidance, which can generate and shape the optimal trajectory and satisfy the end-point constraints like the impact angle of the velocity vector.

The HDAC6 inhibitor AVS100 (SS208) induces a pro-inflammatory tumor microenvironment and potentiates immunotherapy.

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibition is associated with an increased pro-inflammatory tumor microenvironment and antitumoral immune responses. Here, we show that the HDAC6 inhibitor AVS100 (SS208) had an antitumoral effect in SM1 melanoma and CT26 colon cancer models and increased the efficacy of anti-programmed cell death protein 1 treatment, leading to complete remission in melanoma and increased response in colon cancer. AVS100 treatment increased pro-inflammatory tumor-infiltrating macrophages and CD8 effector T cells with an inflammatory and T cell effector gene signature.

Estimating the cost of asthma: moderating effect of race/ethnicity on the relationship between asthma severity and the direct cost.

Objective: Marginalized racial/ethnic populations showed higher rates of asthma prevalence and high-cost healthcare utilization for asthma. However, few studies investigated the disproportionate financial burden of asthma among the underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. This study aims to estimate the direct cost of asthma by severity and race/ethnicity and examine the moderating effects of race/ethnicity on the relationship between asthma severity and the cost.

Case Report: Unusual case of candy wrapper aspiration.

Foreign body (FB) aspiration is a life-threatening medical emergency that usually presents with a history of choking episodes, followed by cough and shortness of breath. However, when the signs and symptoms are subtle, they can be easily missed by the parents or the child, causing delays in the diagnosis and management, suspecting other respiratory illnesses. Here, we report an eight years old neurologically stable girl without a history of choking episodes, with only subtle respiratory symptoms, with a candy wrapper stuck in the left bronchus missed by X-ray and computer tomography (CT)- scan of the chest and diagnosed and removed by flexible bronchoscopy.

Cell line-based models of normal and chronic bronchitis-like airway mucosa to study the toxic potential of aerosolized palladium nanoparticles.

Background: Physiologically relevant cell line-based models of human airway mucosa are needed to assess nanoparticle-mediated pulmonary toxicity for any xenbiotics expsoure study. Palladium nanoparticles (Pd-NP) originating from catalytic converters in vehicles pose health risks. We aimed to develop airway models to assess the toxic potential of Pd-NP in normal (Non-CB) and chronic bronchitis-like (CB-like) mucosa models.

Novel prospects in targeting neurodegenerative disorders via autophagy.

Protein aggregation occurs as a consequence of dysfunction in the normal cellular proteostasis, which leads to the accumulation of toxic fibrillar aggregates of certain proteins in the cell. Enhancing the activity of proteolytic pathways may serve as a way of clearing these aggregates in a cell, and consequently, autophagy has surfaced as a promising target for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. Several strategies involving small molecule compounds that stimulate autophagic pathway of cell have been discovered.

Development and Performance of a PANI@NiMnO Nanocomposite for Enhanced Supercapacitors and Photocatalytic Applications.

Conductive polymers are gaining considerable attention as a potential material for supercapacitor electrodes due to their favorable properties. Among these, polyaniline (PANI) stands out as a cost-effective and easy to synthesize, making it a promising candidate for improving energy storage applications. This study presents the synthesis of a hybrid composite consisting of PANI and NiMnO (NMO) perovskite using the chemical oxidative polymerization method.

The Influence of Hospital Physician Integration on Culture of Patient Safety.

Background: Medical errors are responsible for a large number of deaths every year in the Unites States. Hospitals use various strategies including leadership, staffing, and structural changes to deal with this concerning issue. Hospital physician integration is a structural strategy to possibly improve patient safety.

Hypochlorite Accident in a Pediatric Patient.

Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), the most used irrigation solution is a reducing agent that is a clear, yellowish solution. Since hypochlorite is one of the most commonly used solutions in dental procedures, accidents are common. The report describes a case of sodium hypochlorite accidentally being injected into a 10-year-old girl instead of local anesthesia who was appointed for a pulpotomy procedure.

Capturing Correlation Effects in Positron Binding to Atoms and Molecules.

A major challenge in contemporary electronic structure theory involves the development of methods to describe in a balanced manner the contribution of correlation effects to energy differences. This challenge can be even greater for multicomponent systems containing more than one type of quantum particle. In the present work, we describe a flexible code for carrying out self-consistent field and configuration interaction (CI) calculations on multicomponent systems and use it to generate trial wave functions for use in diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations of the positron affinity of Be, Be, Be, Mg, CS, and benzene.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence lipid PDIM inhibits autophagy in mice.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infects several lung macrophage populations, which have distinct abilities to restrict Mtb. What enables Mtb survival in certain macrophage populations is not well understood. Here we used transposon sequencing analysis of Mtb in wild-type and autophagy-deficient mouse macrophages lacking ATG5 or ATG7, and found that Mtb genes involved in phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM) virulence lipid synthesis confer resistance to autophagy.

Synchrotron induced X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy reveals heavy metal translocation in sludge amended soil-plant systems: assessment of ecological and health risks.

The use of composted sludge from sewage treatment plants as a soil amendment is a common practice of recycling nutrients like organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The sewage generated in larger cities of developing countries is often contaminated with various heavy metals (HMs) that ultimately end up in composted sludge. Thus, using such composted sludge is likely to pose ecological and human health risks.

Contrasting effects of intracellular and extracellular human PCSK9 on inflammation, lipid alteration and cell death.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is one of the major regulators of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR). Information on role and regulation of PCSK9 in lung is very limited. Our study focuses on understanding the role and regulation of PCSK9 in the lung.

Factors Affecting Survival in Severe and Very Severe COPD after Admission in ICUs of Tertiary Care Centers of India (FAST COPD): Study Protocol for a Multicentric Cohort Study.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, there is a lack of comprehensive data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) regarding factors influencing COPD outcomes, particularly in regions where biomass exposure is prevalent.

Objective: The Factors Affecting Survival in Severe and Very Severe COPD Patients Admitted to Tertiary Centers of India (FAST) study aims to address this gap by evaluating factors impacting survival and exacerbation rates among COPD patients in LMICs like India, with a specific focus on biomass exposure, clinical phenotypes, and nutritional status in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

An model of adipose tissue-associated macrophages.

Obesity-related chronic low-grade inflammation plays a central role in the development of insulin resistance. Macrophages are key players in adipose tissue homeostasis, and their phenotypic shift from the anti-inflammatory or alternatively activated (M2) form to the pro-inflammatory, classically activated (M1) form is a hallmark of insulin resistance. However, adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) have been identified as a distinct subpopulation of macrophages in several recent studies.