Is there a relationship between lumbosacral epidural spinal injections and lumbosacral epidural lipomatosis? A retrospective study.

Background: We aim to investigate the potential association between the administration of Lumbosacral epidural steroid injections (LESIs) and the subsequent onset or progression of Lumbosacral epidural lipomatosis (LEL) in patients devoid of established risk factors for LEL.

Methods: We carried out a single-center retrospective study on patients who underwent LESI. We collected demographics including age and gender as well as clinical and radiological characteristics including the type of corticosteroids utilized, the number of LESIs administered, the use of epidural guidance during LESI procedures, and LEL grading.

Recent advances in bioactive materials: Future perspectives and opportunities in oral cancer biosensing.

Bioactive materials and biosensing technologies are emerging as pivotal tools in the early detection and management of oral cancer, a disease characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates. Recent advancements in nanotechnology have facilitated the development of innovative biosensors that utilize bioactive materials for non-invasive diagnostics, particularly through salivary analysis. These biosensors, including electrochemical, optical, and molecular types, target specific biomarkers such as DNA, RNA, and proteins associated with oral cancer.

In-silico discovery of efficient second-generation drug derivatives with enhanced antihistamine potency and selectivity.

The current study focuses on the potential of second-generation antihistamines, which exhibit fewer side effects compared to first-generation drugs, to block the Histamine H receptor (HR) and mitigate allergic responses. We screened several derivatives of second-generation drugs taking Desloratadine (Deslo) and Acrivastine (Acra) as seed compounds. We performed molecular docking, drug-likeness, quantum chemical calculations, UV-visible and infrared spectroscopy, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) mapping for understanding drug derivatives potential as efficient drugs and molecular dynamics (MD).

Towards circular consumer behavior: Analysis of discount schemes on coffee cup use.

Through a natural experiment setting in Hong Kong, this study examines the effects of financial incentives and nudges on consumer choices among three types of coffee cups: bring-your-own-cup (BYOC), shop-provided reusable cups, and disposable cups. Our dataset comprises 223 structured observations of coffee shops with 522 data points. The financial incentive-a direct price instrument set as a discount-is offered exclusively to customers who bring their own cups, while shop-provided (reusable) cups are not eligible.

Autoantibodies against phosphatidylserine and DNA during canine Dirofilaria immitis infection.

Heartworm infection caused by Dirofilaria immitis induces a devastating disease that greatly affects the global canine population. The mechanism leading to heartworm pathology has been attributed to be mostly by mechanical damage of the worm to the dog´s vascular system and immune-mediated, but the latter processes are not completely understood. Autoantibodies targeting host molecules such as lipids and nucleic acids have been described with pathological roles during malaria and COVID-19 and mediating anemia and thrombocytopenia.

Innovative rheumatoid arthritis management using injection replacement approach via dual therapeutic effects of hyalurosomes-encapsulated luteolin and dexamethasone.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a highly prevalent debilitating condition linked to inflammation. The effectiveness of the present therapeutic techniques is constrained; so, there is an urgent requirement for a novel nanoplatform entailing drugs with proven efficacy. The current work highlighted the development of dexamethasone and luteolin co-encapsulated hyalurosomes (LUT-DEX hyalurosomes).

Mandibular trabecular bone pattern before and two years after medical or surgical obesity treatment in young Swedish women.

Objective: To investigate if changes in body mass index (BMI) result in changes of the mandibular trabecular bone structure.

Materials And Methods: Females (18-35 years at baseline, mean BMI 42,3) were followed from before (n = 117) until two years (n = 66) after obesity treatment (medical or surgical). The mandibular bone trabeculation was classified as sparse, dense, or mixed on intraoral radiographs (Lindh's index).

Pharmacognistic, proximate and phytochemical analysis of stem of Cistanche tubulosa (Schenck) Hook. F.

A medicinal plant is any plant that in one or more of its organs contains substances that can be used by it or their constituent for therapeutic purposes. The present work was done to evaluate pharmacognostic, fluorescence, proximate and phytochemical analysis of ethanolic extracts of Cistanche tubulosa (Orobanchaceae) along with antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial activity against four bacterial strains S.

Diagnosis and molecular characterization of three allexiviruses infecting garlic crop in Saudi Arabia.

Forty-four samples of garlic plants showing virus-like symptoms were collected, during the growing season (2021-2022) from different locations in Qassim province, Saudi Arabia. These samples were analyzed by ELISA against the important Allium allexiviruses including garlic virus A (GarV-A), garlic virus B (GarV-B), garlic virus C (GarV-C), and Shallot virus X (ShVX). The obtained results showed that 22/44 (50%) samples were found to be infected with one of the tested viruses.

Fit accuracy and fracture resistance evaluation of advanced lithium disilicate crowns (in- vitro study).

Background: Increasing demand for durable and aesthetically pleasing dental restorations, including laminates, inlays, onlays, and crowns, has led to advancements in all-ceramic systems, particularly with the development of advanced lithium disilicate materials. However, limited data on the fit accuracy and fracture resistance of these materials restricts their wider application in clinical restorative practices.

Aim Of The Study: This in vitro study aims to compare the marginal and internal fit, assess the fracture resistance, and evaluate the failure modes of crowns fabricated from advanced and conventional lithium disilicate materials.

Burden of intestinal parasites among diabetic patients in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Intestinal parasite infections remain a serious public health concern around the world, particularly in countries with inadequate sanitation. The study aims to ascertain the total magnitude of intestinal parasites in diabetes patients throughout the African countries.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the general burden of intestinal parasites among diabetic patients in Africa.

Prevalence and contributors to anaemia among children aged 6 to 59 months in Kyangwali Refugee settlement, Western Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Anaemia is a major cause of morbidity among children under five years in Uganda. However, its magnitude among refugee populations is marginally documented. In this study, the prevalence and contributors to anaemia among children 6 to 59 months in Kyangwali refugee settlement in Western Uganda was determined.

Explicit travelling wave solutions to the time fractional Phi-four equation and their applications in mathematical physics.

In applied research, fractional calculus plays an important role for comprehending a wide range of intricate physical phenomena. One of the Klein-Gordon model's peculiar case yields the Phi-four equation. Additionally, throughout the past few decades it has been utilized to explain the kink and anti-kink solitary waveform contacts that occur in biological systems and in the field of nuclear mechanics.

Nationwide cervical precancer screening in Ghana: concurrent HPV DNA testing and visual inspection under an expanded hub-and-spoke model.

Cervical cancer continues to disproportionately burden women in sub-Saharan Africa, and is the commonest gynecological cancer in Ghana. The Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre (CCPTC), Battor, Ghana spearheaded the Ghana arm of the mPharma 10,000 Women Initiative (mTTWI) between September 2021 and October 2022. The aim of this study was to examine the outcomes of nationwide concurrent screening using high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) DNA testing and visual inspection methods, as well as factors associated with the screening outcomes.

The role of fat-soluble vitamins for graft-versus host disease after myeloablative conditioning in allogeneic stem cell transplanted patients.

Whether the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K are associated with development of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, is unclear. We assessed if the levels of these vitamins were associated with development of GvHD during the first year after transplantation using data from a two-armed randomized nutritional intervention trial. Changes in plasma levels during 1-year follow-up were analyzed using a linear mixed model for repeated measurements.

Efficient removal of tetracycline by VCo-layered double hydroxide encapsulated with chitosan: Optimization via Box-Behnken design, and thermodynamics.

The VCo-LDH/CS hydrogel beads were created by combining VCo-layered double hydroxide (VCo-LDH) and chitosan (CS) using a cross-linking process with epichlorohydrin. These beads were specifically designed to remove tetracycline (TTC). To characterize the VCo-LDH/CS hydrogel beads, several analytical techniques were used, with PXRD, XPS, FESEM, EDX, and FT-IR.

Optimized microwave-assisted extraction and characterization of spray dried Luffa aegyptiaca nanomucilage: Physicochemical properties, biological activities, and anticancer efficacy against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

Microwave-assisted extraction conditions were optimized using response surface methodology to evaluate the effects of extraction parameters on the yield and carbohydrate content of Luffa aegyptiaca mucilage. Extraction at 540 W for 2 min with a 1:20 (g/mL) was determined as the optimal parameter, resulting in a maximum yield of 5.90 % (w/w) with 63 % carbohydrate content consisting of glucose, galactose, maltose, mannose, and galacturonic acid, with structural linkages of β (1 → 4) and β (1 → 6) glycosidic bonds.

Metal nanoparticles entrapment in chitosan-carbon black composite hydrogel towards sustainable environmental solutions.

A catalytic system has been developed, utilizing metal nanoparticles confined within a chitosan‑carbon black composite hydrogel (M-CH/CB), aimed at improving ease of use and recovery in catalytic processes. The M-CH/CBs were characterized by XPS, XRD, SEM, and EDX, the M-CH/CB system demonstrated exceptional catalytic activity in producing hydrogen gas (H) from water and methanol, and in reducing several hazardous materials including 2-nitrophenol (2-NP), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 2,6-dinitrophenol (2,6-DNP), acridine orange (ArO), methyl orange (MO), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB), and potassium ferricyanide (PFC). Among the tested nanocatalysts, CH/CB showed the highest efficiency for H₂ production, while Fe-CH/CB excelled in contaminant reduction (7.

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial application of carrageenan/TiO composite materials.

In this study, a highly crystalline anatase/rutile mixed phase carrageenan/TiO nanocomposite with a larger surface area was synthesized via the sol-gel process and calcined at 450 °C and 650 °C. The synthesized composite materials were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, BET and TGA. FTIR confirms the presence of C-Ti-O bond formation in composite.

Engineering nanoliposomal tiotropium bromide embedded in a lactose-arginine carrier forming Trojan-particle dry powders for efficient pulmonary drug delivery: A combined approach of in vitro-3D printing and in silico-CFD modeling.

Nanocarrier-based dry powders for lung disease treatment are crucial, with in vitro and in silico research being pivotal to their success. This study introduces a method for creating Tiotropium-bromide liposomal inhalation dry powder, termed "Trojan-particles," utilizing thin-film hydration and spray-drying with lactose-arginine carriers. Encapsulating tiotropium-bromide in nanoliposomes enhances lung treatment via liposomes' unique features.

DNA-binding affinity and specificity determine the phenotypic diversity in BCL11B-related disorders.

BCL11B is a Cys2-His2 zinc-finger (C2H2-ZnF) domain-containing, DNA-binding, transcription factor with established roles in the development of various organs and tissues, primarily the immune and nervous systems. BCL11B germline variants have been associated with a variety of developmental syndromes. However, genotype-phenotype correlations along with pathophysiologic mechanisms of selected variants mostly remain elusive.

Discovery of novel tris-1,2,3-triazole-based hybrids as VEGFR2 inhibitors with potent anti-proliferative and cytotoxicity through apoptosis induction.

The discovery of novel anti-cancer drugs motivated us to synthesize a new series of triple 1,2,3-triazole-based arm scaffolds featuring distinct un functionalized alkyl and/or aryl side chains with possible anti-cancer action using the click chemistry approach under both conventional and green microwave irradiation (MWI) methods. The Cu(I) catalyzed cycloaddition reaction of targeted tris-alkyne with un functionalized aliphatic and aromatic azides has been adopted as an efficient approach for synthesizing the desired click adducts. Microwave irradiation improved the synthetic processes, resulting in higher yields and faster reaction times.

First evidence of molecular response of the shrimp Hippolyte inermis to biodegradable microplastics.

The increasing demand for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics has propelled the interest in bioplastics. A few papers reported on the effects of plastics on crustaceans, but no indication about biodegradable polymers is available. Hippolyte inermis Leach, 1816 is a protandric shrimp commonly living on leaves of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, in the Mediterranean Sea.

Visualization of in-situ chemical flow through sand using neutron radiography.

Chemical movement through soil is an important process in agriculture and ecology. Observing the spatial and temporal dynamics of these processes using conventional chemical ecology methods requires techniques that are destructive and/or lack resolution. Neutron radiography has the capability to allow chemical motion through sand/soil to be tracked with high spatial and temporal resolution, and we show that it allows for the motion of hydrophobic and hydrophilic chemicals to be distinguished.