Functioning, disability, and health of individuals with Hikikomori (prolonged social withdrawal) and their families: A systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.

Background: Currently, paradoxical findings exist regarding the level of functioning in individuals with Hikikomori (prolonged social withdrawal).

Aims: This systematic review aimed to clarify the functioning, disability, and health of individuals with Hikikomori and their families in comparison to those without Hikikomori.

Method: Relevant studies were searched from April 22 to 25, 2022, using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and two Japanese databases.

Precision of Intraoperative Cone-Beam Computed Tomography in Electrode Placement and Complications in Asleep Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery: A Multidetector Computed Tomography-Verified Comparative Study.

Aim: Successful deep brain stimulation (DBS) requires precise electrode placement. However, brain shift from loss of cerebrospinal fluid or pneumocephalus still affects aim accuracy. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) provides absolute spatial sensitivity, and intraoperative cone-beam computed tomography (iCBCT) has become increasingly used in DBS procedures.

Brachial Artery Access for Carotid Artery Stenting: A Pooled Analysis.

Introduction In the realm of Carotid Artery Stenting (CAS), various access methods such as Transfemoral access (TFA), Transradial Artery access (TRA), and Transbrachial access (TBA) have been employed. While TFA is widely established, TRA and TBA offer alternative options. TBA lacks comprehensive studies, and there is a notable lack of comprehensive evidence systematically evaluating its outcomes.

Analysis of intracranial compliance through noninvasive intracranial pressure waveforms in hydrocephalus patients. A pilot study.

Aim: To assess the changes of intracranial pressure waveforms (ICPW) acquired noninvasively in a set of acute hydrocephalus patients prior to and posterior to interventions.

Material And Methods: Patients with clinical and radiological diagnoses of hydrocephalus were evaluated for alterations in ICPW by means of a system that detects cranial micro expansions just before and immediately after interventions. The system quantified the difference between ICPW peaks (P1 and P2), providing the P2/P1 ratio.

Effects of HDAC Activity in Hydroxychloroquine-Applied Human Primary Chondrocyte and Nucleus Pulposus Cultures.

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro effects of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzyme activity and interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression. HDAC enzyme activity and the expression of inflammation markers were tested, with the presence of the HDAC inhibitor valproic acid, in human primary cell cultures prepared from two different tissues.

Material And Methods: Primary cell cultures were prepared.

Morphometry of Latissimus Dorsi in Fetal Cadavers for Prenatal Spina Bifida Surgery.

Aim: Latissimus dorsi is a multi-purpose muscle that can be used to repair defects in many areas of the body. The current study aims to investigate latissimus dorsi morphometry, innervation, vascularization, and variational situations in fetuses.

Material And Methods: Forty-nine fetuses, aged between 15 and 40 weeks of gestation, were examined for the morphological development of the latissimus dorsi.

Assessing the potential of transorbital and supraorbital approaches for stereotactic surgery: an anatomical feasibility study.

Aim: The Transorbital and supraorbital minimally invasive approaches have been defined to reach intraorbital structures, adjacent sinuses, skull base, and other intracranial targets in this region. These approaches reduce the possible cosmetic and brain retraction-related morbidities caused by traditional transcranial approaches. Although these pathways are being studied endoscopically, a stereotactic approach has not been defined.

The Effect of Obesity on the Treatment Outcomes of Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of obesity on the treatment outcomes of lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs).

Material And Methods: This retrospective study included patients who underwent single-level TFESI in a pain management center between January 2021 and April 2023. Body mass index (BMI) of the patients was evaluated based on the World Health Organization guidelines.

Evaluation of the sella morphology in Chiari malformation type I.

Aim: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the morphology of sella turcica (ST) in Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) using computed tomography.

Material And Methods: The size and shape of ST were examined using the radiological images of 32 CM-I patients (21 women/11 men, mean age: 26.09 ± 15.

Cytotoxic effects of Hypericum perforatum on Glioblastoma Cells by Inducing Oxidative Stress, Autophagy and Apoptosis.

Aim: St. John\'s Wort Oil (JWO) has a sedative property and it is used traditionally for the treatment of depression, neuralgia and excitability. JWO has been shown to have anticancer activity via apoptosis in glioblastoma cells.

Prognostic Utility of Albumin-to-gamma-Glutamyltransferase Ratio in Patients with High-Grade Glioma and the Development of a Nomogram for Overall Survival.

Aim: Many combinations of inflammation-based markers have been reported their prognostic ability. The prognostic value of albumin-to-gama-glutamyltransferase ratio (AGR), an inflammation-related index, has been identified for several cancers. However, the predictive value of AGR for high-grade glioma patients remains unclear.

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of Tim-3 and Rel-B expression in grade 4 diffuse gliomas.

Aim: This study aims to assess the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of Tim-3, an immune checkpoint molecule, and Rel-B, an NF-κB subunit, in grade 4 diffuse glioma samples and their relationship with each other.

Material And Methods: The demographic, radiologic, prognostic, and treatment data of patients diagnosed with grade 4 diffuse glioma between 2016 and 2019 were reviewed and recorded. Tim-3 and Rel-B were applied to the paraffin-embedded tissues by immunohistochemistry method.

Combining Hard Shell with Soft Core to Enhance Enzyme Activity and Resist External Disturbances.

Immobilizing enzymes onto solid supports having enhanced catalytic activity and resistance to harsh external conditions is considered as a promising and critical method of broadening enzymatic applications in biosensing, biocatalysis, and biomedical devices; however, it is considerably hampered by limited strategies. Here, a core-shell strategy involving a soft-core hexahistidine metal assembly (HmA) is innovatively developed and characterized with encapsulated enzymes (catalase (CAT), horseradish peroxidase, glucose oxidase (GOx), and cascade enzymes (CAT+GOx)) and hard porous shells (zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF), ZIF-8, ZIF-67, ZIF-90, calcium carbonate, and hydroxyapatite). The enzyme-friendly environment provided by the embedded HmA proves beneficial for enhanced catalytic activity, which is particularly effective in preserving fragile enzymes that will have been deactivated without the HmA core during the mineralization of porous shells.

CTB6 Confers Cold Tolerance at the Booting Stage by Maintaining Tapetum Development in Rice.

Rice is highly sensitive to cold stress, particularly at the booting stage, which significantly threatens rice production. In this study, we cloned a gene, CTB6, encoding a lipid transfer protein involved in cold tolerance at the booting stage in rice, based on our previous fine-mapped quantitative trait locus (QTL) qCTB10-2. CTB6 is mainly expressed in the tapetum and young microspores of the anther.

Artificial Intelligence in Detecting and Segmenting Vertical Misfit of Prosthesis in Radiographic Images of Dental Implants: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Objective: This study evaluated ResNet-50 and U-Net models for detecting and segmenting vertical misfit in dental implant crowns using periapical radiographic images.

Methods: Periapical radiographs of dental implant crowns were classified by two experts based on the presence of vertical misfit (reference group). The misfit area was manually annotated in images exhibiting vertical misfit.

Global Protein Interactome Mapping in Rice Using Barcode-Indexed PCR Coupled with HiFi Long-Read Sequencing.

Establishing the protein-protein interaction network sheds light on functional genomics studies by providing insights from known counterparts. However, the rice interactome has barely been studied due to the lack of massive, reliable, and cost-effective methodologies. Here, the development of a barcode-indexed PCR coupled with HiFi long-read sequencing pipeline (BIP-seq) is reported for high throughput Protein Protein Interaction (PPI)identification.

Self-Immobilizing Fluorogenic Probe for In Situ Labeling of Granzyme B Activity in Host Immune Response to Bacterial Infections.

Bacterial infections, particularly those caused by drug-resistant bacteria, represent a pressing global health challenge. During the interaction between pathogen infection and host defense, bacterial infections initiate the host's immune response, which involves the activation of proteases that play a critical role in antibacterial defense. Granzyme B (GzmB), a key immune-related biomarker associated with cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), plays a pivotal role in this process.

Chiral and Quantum Plasmonic Sensors: New Frontiers in Selective and Ultra-Sensitive Sensing.

Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) and Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances (LSPRs) are fundamental phenomena in plasmonics that enable the confinement of electromagnetic waves beyond the diffraction limit. This confinement results in a significant enhancement of the electric field, making this phenomenon particularly beneficial for sensitive detection applications. However, conventional plasmonic sensors face several challenges, notably their difficulty in distinguishing chiral molecules, which are vital in drug development.

Managing Pregnancies of Unknown Location With the M4 Prediction Model or the NICE Algorithm: A Randomised Controlled Trial With Cross-Sectional Diagnostic Accuracy Data.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic performance and clinical utility of the M4 prediction model and the NICE algorithm managing women with pregnancy of unknown location (PUL).

Design: The study has a superiority design regarding specificity for non-ectopic pregnancy for M4, given that the primary outcome of sensitivity for ectopic pregnancy (EP) is non-inferior in comparison with the NICE algorithm.

Setting: Emergency gynaecology units in Sweden.

A Homozygous Variant in HSD17B1 Identified in Women With Poor Ovarian Response.

An increasing number of patients utilizing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and assisted reproductive technology (ART) are characterized as impaired or poor ovarian responders (PORs). Owing to its unclear molecular etiology, the management of patients with age-related ovarian characteristics remains a controversial and complex clinical concern. Therefore, it is important to identify and understand the etiological causes behind POR to develop more effective and efficient management strategies for these patients.

Photobiomodulation Combined With Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modulates the Polarization of Microglia.

Neuroinflammation plays a key role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, with microglia regulating this process through pro-inflammatory M1 and anti-inflammatory M2 phenotypes. Studies have shown that human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) modulate neuroinflammation by secreting anti-inflammatory cytokines. Photobiomodulation (PBM), a non-invasive therapy, has demonstrated significant potential in alleviating neuroinflammation.

3D-Printed Myocardium-Specific Structure Enhances Maturation and Therapeutic Efficacy of Engineered Heart Tissue in Myocardial Infarction.

Despite advancements in engineered heart tissue (EHT), challenges persist in achieving accurate dimensional accuracy of scaffolds and maturing human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs), a primary source of functional cardiac cells. Drawing inspiration from cardiac muscle fiber arrangement, a three-dimensional (3D)-printed multi-layered microporous polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold is created with interlayer angles set at 45° to replicate the precise structure of native cardiac tissue. Compared with the control group and 90° PCL scaffolds, the 45° PCL scaffolds exhibited superior biocompatibility for cell culture and improved hiPSC-CM maturation in calcium handling.

Improved Efficacy of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Immunotherapy via Hydrogel-Based Co-Delivery of CAR-T Cells and Mitophagy Agonist.

Leaky and structurally abnormal blood vessels and increased pressure in the tumor interstitium reduce the infiltration of CAR-T cells in solid tumors, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Furthermore, high burden of tumor cells may cause reduction of infiltrating CAR-T cells and their functional exhaustion. In this study, various effector-to-target (E:T) ratio experiments are established to model the treatment using CAR-T cells in leukemia (high E:T ratio) and solid tumor (low E:T ratio).

ZnFe Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets Loaded with Cu Single-Atom Nanozymes with Multi-Enzyme-Like Catalytic Activities as an Effective Treatment for Bacterial Keratitis.

Bacterial keratitis (BK) is a type of corneal inflammation resulting from bacterial infection in the eye. Although nanozymes have been explored as promising materials in corneal wound healing, currently available nanozymes lack sufficient catalytic activity and the ability to penetrate bacterial biofilms, limiting their efficacy against the treatment of BK. To remedy this, ZnFe layered double hydroxide (ZnFe-LDH) nanosheets are loaded with Cu single-atom nanozymes (Cu-SAzymes) and aminated dextran (Dex-NH), resulting in the formation of the nanozyme DT-ZnFe-LDH@Cu, which possesses peroxidase (POD)-, oxidase (OXD)-, and catalase (CAT)-like catalytic activities.

Association of prostate-specific antigen density with prostate cancer mortality after a benign systematic prostate biopsy result.

Objective: To assess the association between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) density (PSAD) and prostate cancer mortality after a benign result on systematic transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective study used data from the Finnish Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (FinRSPC) collected between 1996 and 2020. We identified men aged 55-71 years randomised to the screening arm with PSA ≥4.