Central line

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects neuronal cells in the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in neurological symptoms. In the present study, we intended to explore the mechanism of RSV infection-induced neuroinflammatory injury from the perspective of the immune response and sought to identify effective protective measures against the injury. The findings showed that toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was activated after RSV infection in human neuronal SY5Y cells. Furthermore, TLR4 activation induced autophagy and apoptosis in neuronal cells, promoted the formation of the NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, and increased the secretion of downstream inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)...

OBJECTIVES: Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs) pose a serious mortality and morbidity risk. An institutional protocol was developed for the evaluation and empirical antibiotic treatment of possible CLABSIs. The potential impact of de-escalating antimicrobial therapy based on initial Gram stain and molecular identification was assessed. METHODS: All positive blood cultures from patients admitted to the gastroenterology service at a large pediatric medical center were collected from 1/1/14 to 12/31/20...

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to assess salt production and iodization practices by artisanal salt producers located at six districts across Greater Accra and Central regions. METHODS: One Hundred and Sixty-Six (166) salt miners in Greater Accra and Central Regions were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and their production sites inspected for salt iodization practices. RESULTS: The study revealed that salt iodization is not practiced among majority (69...

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is a condition with several cardiopulmonary etiologies that has the potential of progressing to right heart failure without proper intervention. After a history, physical exam, and investigations, cases of suspected PH typically undergo imaging via a transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). This is a resource-intensive procedure that is less accessible in remote communities. However, point of care ultrasound (POCUS), a portable ultrasound administered at the bedside, has potential to aid in the diagnostic process of PH...

BACKGROUND: Cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS) has shown increasing utility as a tool for diagnosing and managing heart failure (HF). Within cardiology, intravascular volume assessment leveraging visualization of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a central aspect of care, as IVC size correlates with central venous pressure. This targeted literature review aimed to examine the existing literature assessing the use of POCUS in diagnosis and management of HF patients utilizing POCUS-based IVC measurement either alone or in combination with secondary methods...

The bantam gene encodes a vital microRNA and has a complex expression pattern in various tissues at different stages of Drosophila development. This microRNA is involved in the control of normal development of the ocular and wing imaginal discs, the central nervous system, and also in maintaining the undifferentiated state of stem cells in the ovaries of adult females. At the cellular level, bantam stimulates cell proliferation and prevents apoptosis. The bantam gene is a target of several conserved signaling cascades, in particular, Hippo...

In 2021, the World Health Organization released the fifth edition of the central nervous system (CNS) tumor classification. This classification uses histopathology and molecular pathogenesis to group tumors into more biologically and molecularly defined entities. The prognosis of brain cancer, particularly malignant tumors, has remained poor worldwide, approximately 308,102 new cases of brain and other CNS tumors were diagnosed in the year 2020, with an estimated 251,329 deaths. The cost and time-consuming nature of studies to find new anticancer agents makes it necessary to have well-designed studies...

A Phaseolus vulgaris L. leaf showing necrotic spots was collected in an experimental bean field in central Slovenia in August 2021. The field contained diverse common bean lines sourced from genebank collections, with each line represented by 10 plants. While symptomatic leaves were seen across various lines, the reported species derived exclusively from a Huasca Huallaga Colorado plant (single-seed descent, USDA accession PI153714, doi: 10.18730/H7P9N), a Peruvian landrace. After incubating the leaf for 2 d at ambient temperature in a moist chamber, setose acervuli developed producing curved, distally tapering and proximately truncated conidia...

Functional abdominal pain is a disorder in which central and peripheral sensitization processes converge, leading to hypersensitivity and allodynia. Differential diagnosis is made with organic digestive, renal, gynecological, endocrine, or neurological diseases. Treatment should be individualized for each patient. In cases of debilitating pain, therapy combining drugs with different mechanisms of action can be initiated, while in less severe cases, therapy with a progressive introduction of drugs based on clinical response is advised...

Xyloglucan is believed to play a significant role in cell wall mechanics of dicot plants. Surprisingly, Arabidopsis plants defective in xyloglucan biosynthesis exhibit nearly normal growth and development. We investigated a mutant line, cslc-Δ5, lacking activity in all five Arabidopsis cellulose synthase like-C (CSLC) genes responsible for xyloglucan backbone biosynthesis. We observed that this xyloglucan-deficient line exhibited reduced cellulose crystallinity and increased pectin levels, suggesting the existence of feedback mechanisms that regulate wall composition to compensate for the absence of xyloglucan...

BACKGROUND: Gynaecological cancer symptoms are often vague and non-specific. Quality health information is central to timely cancer diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate the quality of online text-based patient information resources regarding gynaecological cancer symptoms. METHODS: A targeted website search and Google search were conducted to identify health information resources published by the Australian government and non-government health organisations...

This article presents the design of a low-power low noise amplifier (LNA) implemented in 45 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology using the gm/ID methodology. The Ka-band LNA achieves a very low power consumption of only 1.98 mW andis the first time the gm/ID approach is applied at such a high frequency. The circuit is suitable for Ka-band applications with a central frequency of 28 GHz, as the circuit is intended to operate in the n257 frequency band defined by the 3GPP 5G new radio (NR) specification. The proposed cascode LNA uses the gm/ID methodology in an RF/MW scenario to exploit the advantages of moderate inversion region operation...

In the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of discovered viruses that are transmitted by arthropods. Some of them are pathogenic for humans and mammals, and the pathogenic potential of others is unknown. The genus Orthoflavivirus belongs to the family Flaviviridae and includes arboviruses that cause severe human diseases with damage to the central nervous system and hemorrhagic fevers, as well as viruses with unknown vectors and viruses specific only to insects. The latter group includes Lammi virus, first isolated from a mosquito pool in Finland...

[177 Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 has recently been successfully approved by the FDA, the MHRA, Health Canada and the EMA as Pluvicto® . However, salivary gland (SG) and kidney toxicities account for its main dose-limiting side-effects, while its corresponding uptake and retention mechanisms still remain elusive. Recently, the presence of different ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, such as human breast cancer resistance proteins (BCRP), multidrug resistance proteins (MDR1), multidrug-resistance-related proteins (MRP1, MRP4) and solute cassette (SLC) transporters, such as multidrug and toxin extrusion proteins (MATE1, MATE2-K), organic anion transporters (OAT1, OAT2v1, OAT3, OAT4) and peptide transporters (PEPT2), has been verified at different abundances in human SGs and kidneys...

Inflammation processes of the central nervous system (CNS) play a vital role in the pathogenesis of several neurological and psychiatric disorders like depression. These processes are characterized by the activation of glia cells, such as microglia. Clinical studies showed a decrease in symptoms associated with the mentioned diseases after the treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs. Therefore, the investigation of novel anti-inflammatory drugs could hold substantial potential in the treatment of disorders with a neuroinflammatory background...

The need, or even the obligation, to take care of the natural environment compels a search for new technological solutions, or for known solutions to be adapted to new applications. The maxim is 'don't harm, but improve the world for future generations'. In the wood industry in particular, given that it is based on a natural raw material, we must look for ecological solutions. Trees grow, but the demand for wood exceeds the volume of tree growth. In industrial manufacturing, one of the ways to make full use of wood is through chipless processing, which occurs during rotary cutting (peeling)...

A survey was conducted from 2018 to 2023 to assess the presence of Salmonella in 280 hunted wild boar (carcasses after evisceration and skinning, N = 226; liver, N = 258; and fecal samples, N = 174). The overall prevalence was 2.86% (confidence interval 95%, 1.45-5.45%) with five positive samples detected in carcasses, three in the liver, and one in a fecal sample. This prevalence was in line with those found in nearby areas denoting a low number of positive samples. Positive animals were over 24 months of age and weighed, before skinning, 59...

Astrocytes are the main homeostatic cells in the central nervous system, with the unique ability to transform from quiescent into a reactive state in response to pathological conditions by reacquiring some precursor properties. This process is known as reactive astrogliosis, a compensatory response that mediates tissue damage and recovery. Although it is well known that SOX transcription factors drive the expression of phenotype-specific genetic programs during neurodevelopment, their roles in mature astrocytes have not been studied extensively...

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is associated with impaired muscle regeneration, progressive muscle weakness, damage, and wasting. While the cause of DMD is an X-linked loss of function mutation in the gene encoding dystrophin, the exact mechanisms that perpetuate the disease progression are unknown. Our laboratory has demonstrated that pannexin 1 (Panx1 in rodents; PANX1 in humans) is critical for the development, strength, and regeneration of male skeletal muscle. In normal skeletal muscle, Panx1 is part of a multiprotein complex with dystrophin...

BACKGROUND: Ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2), a steroidal compound extracted from roots of ginseng, has been extensively studied in tumor therapy. However, its specific regulatory mechanism in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is not well understood. Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4), a central regulator of cellular energy metabolism, is highly expressed in various malignant tumors. We investigated the impact of G-Rh2 on the malignant progression of NSCLC and how it regulated PDK4 to influence tumor aerobic glycolysis and mitochondrial function...