Medico-legal study of the hymen.

Background: The study of hymen morphology and injuries is critical in forensic medicine, particularly in Iraq and other Asian countries. Problems with the hymen can have serious social consequences.

Aim Of The Study: The aim of this study is to shed light on various hymen's variants, as well as the possible causes of their injuries and their medicolegal significance.

Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives Contribute to a Healthy and Sustainable Diet.

Plant-based foods are increasing in popularity as more and more people are concerned about personal and planetary health. The consumption of plant-based dairy alternatives (PBDAs) has assumed a more significant dietary role in populations shifting to more sustainable eating habits. Plant-based drinks (PBDs) made from soya and other legumes have ample protein levels.

Nutritional Supplement Use in a UK High-Performance Swimming Club.

The aim of this study was to observe the nutritional supplement practices of highly trained swimmers on a national talent pathway, since it is often reported that swimmers engage in widespread supplement use at the elite level. Thus, this study employed a validated supplement intake questionnaire with forty-four swimmers from a high-performance swimming club, which had three distinct talent stages: development (aged 11-14 years, = 20), age-group (aged 13-17 years, = 13), and national level (aged ≥ 16 years, = 11). Ninety-eight percent of the interviewed swimmers reported using at least one supplement, with performance (34%) and recovery (19%) cited as the primary reasons.

The evolutionary history of bees in time and space.

Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began ca. 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and when bees spread across the planet has greatly obscured investigations of this key mutualism.

Barriers to and facilitators of physical activity in adults living with and beyond cancer, with special emphasis on head and neck cancer: a systematic review of qualitative and mixed methods studies.

Purpose: Physical activity can improve health outcomes for cancer patients; however, only 30% of patients are physically active. This review explored barriers to and facilitators of physical activity promotion and participation in patients living with and beyond cancer. Secondary aims were to (1) explore similarities and differences in barriers and facilitators experienced in head and neck cancer versus other cancers, and (2) identify how many studies considered the influence of socioeconomic characteristics on physical activity behaviour.

Adrenaline blocks key cell cycle genes and exhibits antifibrotic and vasoconstrictor effects in glaucoma surgery.

Adrenaline is a sympathomimetic drug used to maintain pupil dilation and to decrease the risk of bleeding. The aim of this study was to demonstrate if adrenaline could exert antifibrotic effects in glaucoma surgery. Adrenaline was tested in fibroblast-populated collagen contraction assays and there was a dose-response decrease in fibroblast contractility: matrices decreased to 47.

DNA methylation mediates overgrazing-induced clonal transgenerational plasticity.

Overgrazing generally induces dwarfism in grassland plants, and these phenotypic traits could be transmitted to clonal offspring even when overgrazing is excluded. However, the dwarfism-transmitted mechanism remains largely unknown, despite generally thought to be enabled by epigenetic modification. To clarify the potential role of DNA methylation on clonal transgenerational effects, we conducted a greenhouse experiment with Leymus chinensis clonal offspring from different cattle/sheep overgrazing histories via the demethylating agent 5-azacytidine.

Plasma protein biomarkers for early prediction of lung cancer.

Background: Individual plasma proteins have been identified as minimally invasive biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis with potential utility in early detection. Plasma proteomes provide insight into contributing biological factors; we investigated their potential for future lung cancer prediction.

Methods: The Olink® Explore-3072 platform quantitated 2941 proteins in 496 Liverpool Lung Project plasma samples, including 131 cases taken 1-10 years prior to diagnosis, 237 controls, and 90 subjects at multiple times.

Motivation and Hesitancies in Obtaining the COVID-19 Vaccine-A Cross-Sectional Study in Norway, USA, UK, and Australia.

Background: Vaccinations protect the public against serious diseases or death; however, some individuals are hesitant in obtaining them. We aim to contribute to the understanding of the challenges of vaccination roll-out by examining the motivations, hesitancies, and their associated factors, in obtaining the COVID-19 vaccines two years into the pandemic.

Methods: Cross-sectional online surveys were conducted in Norway, the USA, the UK, and Australia (N = 1649).

Lower Limb Anthropometric Profiling in Professional Female Soccer Players: A Proof of Concept for Asymmetry Assessment Using Video Analysis.

The objective was to evaluate the clinical joint and limb measures in professional female soccer players. The study was a cross-sectional observational design. It was a preseason clinical setting.

Efficacy of Electrochemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients of Different Receptor Status: The INSPECT Experience.

Electrochemotherapy has been proven to be an efficient treatment for cutaneous metastases of various cancers. Data on breast cancer (BC) patients with cutaneous metastases were retrieved from the INSPECT database. Patients were divided by their receptor status: HER2+, HR+ (ER/PgR+), and TN (triple negative).

The potential of phenothiazinium dyes as cytotoxicity markers in cisplatin-treated cells.

Assessing the in vitro toxicity of compounds on cell cultures is an important step during the screening of candidate molecules for diverse applications. Among the strategies employed to determine cytotoxicity, MTT, neutral red, and resazurin are commonly used. Methylene blue (MB), a phenothiazinium salt, has several uses, such as dye, redox indicator, and even as treatment for human disease and health conditions, such as malaria and methemoglobinemia.

Multidisciplinary docking, kinetics and X-ray crystallography studies of baicalein acting as a glycogen phosphorylase inhibitor and determination of its' potential against glioblastoma in cellular models.

Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is the rate-determining enzyme in the glycogenolysis pathway. Glioblastoma (GBM) is amongst the most aggressive cancers of the central nervous system. The role of GP and glycogen metabolism in the context of cancer cell metabolic reprogramming is recognised, so that GP inhibitors may have potential treatment benefits.

Reflective, pragmatic, and reactive decision-making by maternity service providers during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic health system shock: a qualitative, grounded theory analysis.

Background: Pregnant and postpartum women were identified as having particular vulnerability to severe symptomatology of SARS-CoV-2 infection, so maternity services significantly reconfigured their care provision. We examined the experiences and perceptions of maternity care staff who provided care during the pandemic in South London, United Kingdom - a region of high ethnic diversity with varied levels of social complexity.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative interview study, as part of a service evaluation between August and November 2020, using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a range of staff (N = 29) working in maternity services.

Hereditary Tyrosinemia Type 1 Mice under Continuous Nitisinone Treatment Display Remnants of an Uncorrected Liver Disease Phenotype.

Hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT1) is a genetic disorder of the tyrosine degradation pathway (TIMD) with unmet therapeutic needs. HT1 patients are unable to fully break down the amino acid tyrosine due to a deficient fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH) enzyme and, therefore, accumulate toxic tyrosine intermediates. If left untreated, they experience hepatic failure with comorbidities involving the renal and neurological system and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

'ZOOMing' in on Consulting with Children and Parents Remotely to Co-Create Health Information Resources.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the way many people worked. Remote and creative ways were favoured and utilised for consultation activities. In this paper, we draw attention to how we have used creative methods over the teleconferencing platform 'ZOOM' to consult with children and their parents when we were unable to consult with them face-to-face.

The Effect of Cryoprotectants and Storage Conditions on the Transfection Efficiency, Stability, and Safety of Lipid-Based Nanoparticles for mRNA and DNA Delivery.

Lipid-based nanoparticles have recently shown great promise, establishing themselves as the gold standard in delivering novel RNA therapeutics. However, research on the effects of storage on their efficacy, safety, and stability is still lacking. Herein, the impact of storage temperature on two types of lipid-based nanocarriers, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and receptor-targeted nanoparticles (RTNs), loaded with either DNA or messenger RNA (mRNA), is explored and the effects of different cryoprotectants on the stability and efficacy of the formulations are investigated.

Analysis of Wild Type and Variant B Cystatin C Interactome in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells Reveals Variant B Interacting Mitochondrial Proteins.

Cystatin C, a secreted cysteine protease inhibitor, is abundantly expressed in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. A mutation in the protein's leader sequence, corresponding to formation of an alternate variant B protein, has been linked with an increased risk for both age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Variant B cystatin C displays intracellular mistrafficking with partial mitochondrial association.

A cross sectional study investigating dynamic balance when stepping to targets in children with cerebral palsy compared to typically developing children.

Background: Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) have altered anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) during gait initiation. These APAs may affect dynamic balance in tasks such as stepping.

Research Questions: How are APAs in children with CP affected during stepping to precise targets? How do children with CP modulate APAs when stepping to medial and lateral targets? What is the association between APAs and symptom severity, movement quality and impairment profile?

Method: Children undertook a stepping task to laterally and medially placed targets with either leg, in a randomised order.

Fear of Cancer Recurrence in Patients with Sarcoma in the United Kingdom.

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a persistent concern among those living with cancer and is associated with a variety of negative psychosocial outcomes. However, people with sarcoma have been underrepresented within this area of research. We aimed to determine the prevalence of FCR experienced by people with sarcoma in the United Kingdom and explore factors that may predict FCR, such as the perceived impact of cancer and psychological flexibility.

Green aid, aid fragmentation and carbon emissions.

The existing studies that examined the green aid effectiveness in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions found mixed results; however, neither of these studies considered the role of aid fragmentation in the effectiveness of green aid flows. By using the dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) methodology to panel data of 92 countries covering the period between 2002 and 2018, this study examines the impact of green aid fragmentation on the effectiveness of green aid flows in reducing CO2 emissions. Using different fragmentation measures, this paper finds that green aid fragmentation is detrimental to the effectiveness of green aid flows in reducing CO2 emissions per capita.

Using experience-based co-design to prioritise areas for improvement for patients recovering from critical illness.

Objectives: Critical illness recovery is a journey; from intensive care unit to hospital ward to home. However, evidence is limited on how best to enable recovery from critical illness. This study aimed to prioritise areas for improvement in care and services for patients recovering from critical illness.