Recent studies

INTRODUCTION: Strong clinical data demonstrate that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an independent risk factor for Clostridiodes difficile infection (CDI) and suggest a globally increased prevalence and severity of C. difficile coinfection in IBD patients (CDI-IBD). In addition to elderly individuals, children are also at higher risk of CDI-IBD. Rapid diagnosis is essential since the clinical manifestations of active IBD and CDI-IBD are indistinguishable. Antibiotics have been well established in the treatment of CDI-IBD, but they do not prevent recurrence...

The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner regularly assumes jurisdiction over deaths that are suspicious, unusual, or unattended by a medical professional. In recent years, the presence of counterfeit pills is occasionally suggested by investigatory notes and/or scene findings that document reported consumption of prescription drugs, or prescription drugs on scene, which are not reflected in the final autopsy findings after toxicological analysis of the decedent's blood samples. Counterfeit pill consumption is a major public health hazard worthy of attention from the forensic toxicology community...

Inflammation is a complex and necessary mechanism of an organ's response to biological, chemical and/or physical stimuli. In recent years, investigations on natural compounds with therapeutic actions for the treatment of different diseases have increased. Among these compounds, bromelain is highlighted, as a cysteine protease isolated from the Ananas comosus (pineapple) stem. This review aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of bromelain, as well as its pathways on inflammatory mediators, through a systematic review with in vitro studies on different cell lines...

BACKGROUND: Socio-economically disadvantaged women have poor maternal health outcomes. Maternal health interventions often fail to reach those who need them most and may exacerbate inequalities. In Bauchi State, Nigeria, a recent cluster randomised controlled trial (CRCT) showed an impressive impact on maternal health outcomes of universal home visits to pregnant women and their spouses. The home visitors shared evidence about local risk factors actionable by households themselves and the program included specific efforts to ensure all households in the intervention areas received visits...

The impact of caregiving on caregivers' mental health is typically considered within the caregiver stress and burden literature; however, more recently, research has investigated the experience of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in caregivers. As an emerging area of research, it is timely to conduct a scoping review to map the existing literature in relation to PTSS among adult caregivers of children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), neurocognitive disorders, and psychiatric disorders...

BACKGROUND: Menstrual health is an important indicator of overall health and has large impacts on quality of life. Despite number and impact, discussion of menstruation remains largely taboo within health care. Patients and physicians are not engaging in regular, meaningful discussions on menstruation. Family physicians, as primary care providers, can facilitate these important conversations. OBJECTIVES: We sought to understand the profile of menstrual care providing family physicians and assessed physician comfort, knowledge, training, and perceived importance regarding menstrual care...

Ferroptosis is a unique form of cell death that was first described in 2012 and plays a significant role in various diseases, including neurodegenerative conditions. It depends on a dysregulation of cellular iron metabolism, which increases free, redox-active, iron that can trigger Fenton reactions, generating hydroxyl radicals that damage cells through oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxides, resulting mainly from unsaturated fatty acids, damage cells by disrupting membrane integrity and propagating cell death signals...

INTRODUCTION: . The classic paradigm for the management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) consists of (chemo)radiotherapy (C)RT), total mesorectal excision and adjuvant chemotherapy (CHT). At present, due to the high rate of distant metastasis (up to 30%), the total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) with the administration of systemic CHT in the neoadjuvant setting has gained acceptance as standard of care.Our aim is to critically review current literature on LARC management and summarize the different approaches recently proposed to improve clinical outcomes...

Heart failure (HF) is a multi-faceted, complex clinical syndrome characterized by significant morbidity, high mortality rate, reduced quality of life, and rapidly increasing healthcare costs. A larger proportion of these costs comprise both ambulatory and emergency department visits, as well as hospital admissions. Despite the methods used by telehealth (TH) to improve self-care and quality of life, patient outcomes remain poor. HF management is associated with numerous challenges, such as conflicting evidence from clinical trials, heterogeneity of TH devices, variability in patient inclusion and exclusion criteria, and discrepancies between healthcare systems...

Recently, the utilization of metal halide perovskites in sensing and their application in environmental studies have reached a new height. Among the different metal halide perovskites, cesium lead halide perovskites (CsPbX3 ; X = Cl, Br, and I) and composites have attracted great interest in sensing applications owing to their exceptional optoelectronic properties. Most CsPbX3 nanostructures and composites possess great structural stability, luminescence, and electrical properties for developing distinct optical and photonic devices...

Since the integration of electronic devices and intelligent electronic devices into the power grid, power quality (PQ) has consistently remained a significant concern for system operators and experts. Maintaining high standards of power quality is crucial to preventing malfunctions and faults in electric assets and connected loads. Recently, PQ studies have shifted their focus to a specific frequency range, previously not considered problematic-the supraharmonic 2 kHz to 150 kHz range. This range is not populated by easily recognizable harmonic components of the 50 Hz to 60 Hz mains fundamental, but by a combination of intentional emissions, switching non-linearities and byproducts, and various types of resonances...

Recently, there has been increased interest in adopting novel sensing technologies for continuously monitoring structural systems. In this respect, micro-electrical mechanical system (MEMS) sensors are widely used in several applications, including structural health monitoring (SHM), in which accelerometric samples are acquired to perform modal analysis. Thanks to their significantly lower cost, ease of installation in the structure, and lower power consumption, they enable extensive, pervasive, and battery-less monitoring systems...

The use of drones has recently gained popularity in a diverse range of applications, such as aerial photography, agriculture, search and rescue operations, the entertainment industry, and more. However, misuse of drone technology can potentially lead to military threats, terrorist acts, as well as privacy and safety breaches. This emphasizes the need for effective and fast remote detection of potentially threatening drones. In this study, we propose a novel approach for automatic drone detection utilizing the usage of both radio frequency communication signals and acoustic signals derived from UAV rotor sounds...

Recently, the community has seen a rise in interest and development regarding holographic antennas. The planar hologram is made of subwavelength metal patches printed on a grounded dielectric board, constituting flat metasurfaces. When a known reference wave is launched, the hologram produces a pencil beam towards a prescribed direction. Most earlier works on such antennas have considered only a single beam. For the few later ones that studied multiple beams, they were achieved either by having each beam taken care of by a distinct frequency or by partitioning the hologram, thereby depriving each beam of the directivity it could have had it not shared the holographic aperture with other beams...

In recent decades, technological advancements have transformed the industry, highlighting the efficiency of automation and safety. The integration of augmented reality (AR) and gesture recognition has emerged as an innovative approach to create interactive environments for industrial equipment. Gesture recognition enhances AR applications by allowing intuitive interactions. This study presents a web-based architecture for the integration of AR and gesture recognition, designed to interact with industrial equipment...

Classification-based myoelectric control has attracted significant interest in recent years, leading to prosthetic hands with advanced functionality, such as multi-grip hands. Thus far, high classification accuracies have been achieved by increasing the number of surface electromyography (sEMG) electrodes or adding other sensing mechanisms. While many prescribed myoelectric hands still adopt two-electrode sEMG systems, detailed studies on signal processing and classification performance are still lacking. In this study, nine able-bodied participants were recruited to perform six typical hand actions, from which sEMG signals from two electrodes were acquired using a Delsys Trigno Research+ acquisition system...

Bellinger River virus (BRV) is a serpentovirus (nidovirus) that was likely responsible for the catastrophic mortality of the Australian freshwater turtle Myuchelys georgesi in February 2015. From November 2015 to November 2020, swabs were collected from turtles during repeated river surveys to estimate the prevalence of BRV RNA, identify risk factors associated with BRV infection, and refine sample collection. BRV RNA prevalence at first capture was significantly higher in M. georgesi (10.8%) than in a coexisting turtle, Emydura macquarii (1...

Differentiated HepaRG cells are popular in vitro cell models for hepatotoxicity studies. Their differentiation is usually supported by the addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an amphipathic solvent widely used in biomedicine, for example, in potential novel therapeutic drugs and cryopreservation of oocytes. Recent studies have demonstrated drastic effects, especially on epigenetics and extracellular matrix composition, induced by DMSO, making its postulated inert character doubtful. In this work, the influence of DMSO and DMSO-mediated modulation of differentiation on human adenovirus (HAdV) infection of HepaRG cells was investigated...

Southern Africa Territories 2 (SAT2) foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has crossed long-standing regional boundaries in recent years and entered the Middle East. However, the existing vaccines offer poor cross-protection against the circulating strains in the field. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an alternative design approach for vaccines in anticipation of a pandemic of SAT2 Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). The porcine parvovirus (PPV) VP2 protein can embed exogenous epitopes into the four loops on its surface, assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs), and induce antibodies and cytokines to PPV and the exogenous epitope...

AIMS: To evaluate whether antibodies specific for the vaccinia virus (VV) are still detectable after at least 45 years from immunization. To confirm that VV-specific antibodies are endowed with the capacity to neutralize Mpox virus (MPXV) in vitro. To test a possible role of polyclonal non-specific activation in the maintenance of immunologic memory. METHODS: Sera were collected from the following groups: smallpox-vaccinated individuals with or without latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), unvaccinated donors, and convalescent individuals after MPXV infection...