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British Dental Journal Jun 2024
Topics: Humans; United Kingdom
PubMed: 38942874
DOI: 10.1038/s41415-024-7596-0 -
British Dental Journal Jun 2024Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) is a common condition, with patients reporting symptoms to both dentists and doctors. The aetiology of TMD is likely to be...
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) is a common condition, with patients reporting symptoms to both dentists and doctors. The aetiology of TMD is likely to be multifactorial, with occlusal, parafunctional and psychological factors all potentially playing a part to varying degrees in different individuals. A personal account by a dentist, suffering from TMD for over 40 years, chronicles their experience of different treatments and concludes that supporting a patient to 'learn to live' with TMD is pivotal to management.
Topics: Humans; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders; Chronic Disease
PubMed: 38942855
DOI: 10.1038/s41415-024-7507-4 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024Gravitational wave telescope place extremely high demands on structural thermal deformation, making material selection a critical issue. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer...
Gravitational wave telescope place extremely high demands on structural thermal deformation, making material selection a critical issue. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is an ideal choice for the support structure of telescope due to its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and designable properties. However, current research on the optimization of the CTE of CFRP is scarce, and conventional methods struggle to find layups that meet the requirements. In this paper, an unconventional layup optimization method is proposed to solve this problem. Initially defining the characteristics of the telescope structure and using different layup material for the main and side support rods to minimize thermal deformation. Subsequently, the NSGA-II algorithm is used to optimize the layups which are divided into conventional and unconventional layups. Specimens are then produced from these results and tested to assess the impact of processing errors on practical applications. The results demonstrate that the optimized CFRP meet the CTE requirements and, when applied to the structure, significantly reduces the thermal deformation in the eccentric direction compared to conventional designs. Additionally, a numerical analysis evaluates the effect of ply orientation errors on the performance of unconventional layups, discussing the method's limitations within these contexts.
PubMed: 38942818
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65836-1 -
Communications Biology Jun 2024Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to the clinical management of typhoid fever. AMR in Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) is commonly associated with the H58...
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to the clinical management of typhoid fever. AMR in Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) is commonly associated with the H58 lineage, a lineage that arose comparatively recently before becoming globally disseminated. To better understand when and how H58 emerged and became dominant, we performed detailed phylogenetic analyses on contemporary genome sequences from S. Typhi isolated in the period spanning the emergence. Our dataset, which contains the earliest described H58 S. Typhi organism, indicates that ancestral H58 organisms were already multi-drug resistant (MDR). These organisms emerged spontaneously in India in 1987 and became radially distributed throughout South Asia and then globally in the ensuing years. These early organisms were associated with a single long branch, possessing mutations associated with increased bile tolerance, suggesting that the first H58 organism was generated during chronic carriage. The subsequent use of fluoroquinolones led to several independent mutations in gyrA. The ability of H58 to acquire and maintain AMR genes continues to pose a threat, as extensively drug-resistant (XDR; MDR plus resistance to ciprofloxacin and third generation cephalosporins) variants, have emerged recently in this lineage. Understanding where and how H58 S. Typhi originated and became successful is key to understand how AMR drives successful lineages of bacterial pathogens. Additionally, these data can inform optimal targeting of typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs) for reducing the potential for emergence and the impact of new drug-resistant variants. Emphasis should also be placed upon the prospective identification and treatment of chronic carriers to prevent the emergence of new drug resistant variants with the ability to spread efficiently.
Topics: Salmonella typhi; Typhoid Fever; Phylogeny; Humans; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; Haplotypes; Mutation; Genome, Bacterial
PubMed: 38942806
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06451-8 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024HIV/AIDS is one of the most devastating infectious diseases affecting humankind all over the world and its impact goes beyond public health problems. This study was...
Determinants of hemoglobin level and time to default from Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) for adult clients living with HIV under treatment; a retrospective cohort study design.
HIV/AIDS is one of the most devastating infectious diseases affecting humankind all over the world and its impact goes beyond public health problems. This study was conducted to investigate the joint predictors of hemoglobin level and time to default from treatment for adult clients living with HIV/AIDS under HAART at the University of Gondar Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital, North-west Ethiopia. The study was conducted using a retrospective cohort design from the medical records of 403 randomly selected adult clients living with HIV whose follow-ups were from September 2015 to March 2022. Hemoglobin level was projected using Sahli's acid-hematin method. Hence, the hemoglobin tube was filled with N/10 hydrochloric acid up to 2 g % marking and the graduated tube was placed in Sahli's hemoglobin meter. The blood samples were collected using the finger-pick method, considering 22 G disposable needles. The health staff did this. From a total of 403 adult patients living with HIV/AIDS included in the current study, about 44.2% defaulted from therapy. The overall mean and median estimated survival time of adult clients under study were 44.3 and 42 months respectively. The patient's lymphocyte count (AHR = 0.7498, 95% CI: (0.7411: 0.7587), p-value < 0.01), The weight of adult patients living with HIV/AIDS (AHR = 0.9741, 95% CI: (0.9736: 0.9747), p-value = 0.012), sex of adult clients (AHR = 0.6019, 95% CI: (0.5979, 0.6059), p-value < 0.01), WHO stages III compared to Stage I (AHR = 1.4073, 95% CI: (1.3262, 1.5078), p-value < 0.01), poor adherence level (AHR = 0.2796, 95% CI: (0.2082, 0.3705) and p-value < 0.01), bedridden patients (AHR = 1.5346, 95% CI: (1.4199, 1.6495), p-value = 0.008), and opportunistic infections (AHR = 0.2237, 95% CI: (0.0248, 0.4740), p-value = 0.004) had significant effect on both hemoglobin level and time to default from treatment. Similarly, other co-morbidity conditions, disclosure status of the HIV disease, and tobacco and alcohol addiction had a significant effect on the variables of interest. The estimate of the association parameter in the slope value of Hgb level and time default was negative, indicating that the Hgb level increased as the hazard of defaulting from treatment decreased. A patient with abnormal BMI like underweight, overweight, or obese was negatively associated with the risk of anemia (lower hemoglobin level). As a recommendation, more attention should be given to those patients with abnormal BMI, patients with other co-morbidity conditions, patients with opportunistic infections, and low lymphocytes, and bedridden and ambulatory patients. Health-related education should be given to adult clients living with HIV/AIDS to be good adherents for medical treatment.
Topics: Humans; Male; Adult; Female; Retrospective Studies; HIV Infections; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; Hemoglobins; Middle Aged; Ethiopia; Young Adult; Anti-HIV Agents; Undertreatment
PubMed: 38942753
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62952-w -
Academic Radiology Jun 2024RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Detection of tumor marker location in the breast and axilla using a less commonly utilized color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) artifact.
UNLABELLED
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Detection of tumor marker location in the breast and axilla using a less commonly utilized color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) artifact.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This prospective study was conducted between August and December 2023 and included consecutive patients with markers placed in the breast and axilla, both before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Examinations were conducted using a 14 to 5 MHz linear array transducer with B-mode and Doppler capability. By reducing the velocity scale and increasing the color gain values, adjustments were made to create a bloom-like artifact. CDUS was performed with the ultrasound transmit frequency set between 14-5 MHz, color frequency between 6 and 7, color gain ranging from 58 to 80, and velocity scale within the range of 4.6-6.1 cm/s.
RESULTS
Twenty patients, with a mean age of 55.50 years ± 12.04 SD (range, 31-72), were included in the study. 14 (70%) were pre-NACT, and six (30%) were post-NACT patients. A total of 20 breast lesions and six axillary lymph nodes were marked. The breast lesions and axillary lymph nodes where the biopsy marker was placed (14 breast lesions and five axillary lymph nodes before NACT, six breast lesions and one axillary lymph node after NACT) were localized with blooming-like artifact. The average size of breast lesions was 20.95 mm ± 6.56 SD (range, 15-40). For axillary lymph nodes, the average size was 20.63 mm ± 5.01 SD (range: 31-14).
CONCLUSION
The blooming-like CDUS artifact is a novel and easily applicable method determining the location of metallic markers in the breast and axilla on diagnostic examinations.
PubMed: 38942644
DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2024.05.036 -
Progress in Molecular Biology and... 2024Obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders place a huge burden on both the physical health and financial well-being of the community. While the need for effective... (Review)
Review
Obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders place a huge burden on both the physical health and financial well-being of the community. While the need for effective treatment of metabolic disorders remains urgent and the reality is that traditional drug development involves high costs and a very long time with many pre-clinical and clinical trials, the need for drug repurposing has emerged as a potential alternative. Scientific evidence has shown the anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects of old drugs, which were initially utilized for the treatment of inflammation, depression, infections, and even cancers. The drug library used modern technological methods to conduct drug screening. Computational molecular docking, genome-wide association studies, or omics data mining are advantageous and unavoidable methods for drug repurposing. Drug repurposing offers a promising avenue for economic efficiency in healthcare, especially for less common metabolic diseases, despite the need for rigorous research and validation. In this chapter, we aim to explore the scientific, technological, and economic issues surrounding drug repurposing for metabolic disorders. We hope to shed light on the potential of this approach and the challenges that need to be addressed to make it a viable option in the treatment of metabolic disorders, especially in the future fight against metabolic disorders.
Topics: Drug Repositioning; Humans; Metabolic Diseases; Animals
PubMed: 38942542
DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2024.02.006 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jun 2024During navigation, the neocortex must actively integrate learned spatial context with current sensory experience to guide behaviours. However, the relative encoding of...
During navigation, the neocortex must actively integrate learned spatial context with current sensory experience to guide behaviours. However, the relative encoding of spatial and sensorimotor information among cortical cells, and whether hippocampal feedback continues to modify these properties in familiar environments, remains poorly understood. Thus, two-photon microscopy of male and female Thy1-GCaMP6s mice was used to longitudinally image neurons spanning superficial retrosplenial cortex and layers II-Va of primary and secondary motor cortices before and after bilateral dorsal hippocampal lesions. During behaviour on a familiar cued treadmill, the locations of two added obstacles were interchanged to decouple place-tuning from cue-tuning among the position correlated cells with fields at those locations. The subpopulations of place- and cue-tuned cells each formed interareal gradients such that higher-level cortical regions exhibited higher fractions of place cells, whereas lower-level regions exhibited higher fractions of cue cells. Position correlated cells in motor cortex also formed translaminar gradients; cells closer to the cortical surface were more likely to exhibit fields and were more sparsely and precisely tuned than deeper cells. After dorsal hippocampal lesions, a neural representation of the learned environment persisted but retrosplenial cortex exhibited significantly increased cue-tuning and, in motor cortices, both position correlated cell recruitment and population activity at the unstable obstacle locations became more homogeneously elevated across laminae. Altogether, these results support that the hippocampus continues to modulate cortical responses in familiar environments, and the relative impact of top-down feedback obeys hierarchical interareal and interlaminar gradients opposite to the flow of bottom-up sensory inputs. During learning, the hippocampus imparts spatial context to memory representations throughout the superficial neocortex. However, the post-learning role of the hippocampus has not been well defined. The results of this study suggest that, during navigation of a familiar environment, the hippocampus continues to link unreliable sensory attributes to a stable contextual framework, effectively updating the learned model of the environment. The results are also consistent with top-down suppression of sensory-evoked activity during behaviour, which varied in strength according to hierarchical proximity to the hippocampus. This effect was abolished by bilateral lesions of the dorsal hippocampus, supporting that the hippocampus plays an ongoing role in propagating context-dependent predictions throughout the cortical hierarchy, a core hypothesis of the predictive coding theoretical framework.
PubMed: 38942472
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1619-23.2024 -
Pharmacological Research Jun 2024Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have a complex pathogenesis and pose a major threat to human health. Cardiomyocytes have a low regenerative capacity, and their death is a... (Review)
Review
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have a complex pathogenesis and pose a major threat to human health. Cardiomyocytes have a low regenerative capacity, and their death is a key factor in the morbidity and mortality of many CVDs. Cardiomyocyte death can be regulated by specific signaling pathways known as programmed cell death (PCD), including apoptosis, necroptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis, etc. Abnormalities in PCD can lead to the development of a variety of cardiovascular diseases, and there are also molecular-level interconnections between different PCD pathways under the same cardiovascular disease model. Currently, the link between programmed cell death in cardiomyocytes and cardiovascular disease is not fully understood. This review describes the molecular mechanisms of programmed death and the impact of cardiomyocyte death on cardiovascular disease development. Emphasis is placed on a summary of drugs and potential therapeutic approaches that can be used to treat cardiovascular disease by targeting and blocking programmed cell death in cardiomyocytes.
PubMed: 38942341
DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2024.107281 -
The Science of the Total Environment Jun 2024Virus spillovers from managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, are thought to contribute to the decline of wild pollinators, including bumble bees. However, data on the...
Virus spillovers from managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, are thought to contribute to the decline of wild pollinators, including bumble bees. However, data on the impact of such viruses on wild pollinators remain scarce, and the influence of landscape structure on virus dynamics is poorly understood. In this study, we deployed bumble bee colonies in an agricultural landscape and studied changes in the bumble bee virome during field placement under varying habitat composition and configuration using a multiscale analytical framework. We estimated prevalence of viruses and viral loads (i.e. number of viral genomic equivalent copies) in bumble bees before and after placing them in the field using next generation sequencing and quantitative PCR. The results show that viral loads and number of different viruses present increased during placement in the field and that the virus composition of the colonies shifted from an initial dominance of honey bee associated viruses to a higher number (in both viral loads and number of viruses present) of bumble bee associated viruses. Especially DWV-B, typical for honey bees, drastically decreased after the time in the field. Viral loads prior to placing colonies in the field showed no effect on colony development, suggesting low impacts of these viruses in field settings. Notably, we further demonstrate that increased habitat diversity results in a lower number of different viruses present in Bombus colonies, while colonies in areas with well-connected farmland patches decreased in their total viral load after field placement. Our results emphasize the importance of landscape heterogeneity and connectivity for wild pollinator health and that these influences predominate at fine spatial scales.
PubMed: 38942311
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174280