Category: Nevin Manimala

Microb Cell Fact. 2025 Mar 8;24(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s12934-025-02671-7.

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT AND GOAL: This study aimed to isolate and optimize a high-yield lipase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain from biological samples, enhance enzyme production through random mutagenesis, and evaluate its potential anticancer activity. Fifty-one biological samples (blood, urine, sputum, wound pus) were screened, and three isolates demonstrated significant lipase activity. The isolate with the highest activity, identified as P. aeruginosa (GenBank accession number PP436388), was subjected to ethidium bromide-induced mutagenesis, resulting in a two-fold increase in lipase activity (312 U/ml). Lipase production was optimized using submerged fermentation, with critical factors identified statistically as Tween 80, peptone, and substrate concentration. The enzyme was purified via ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-100 chromatography, and its molecular weight (53 kDa) was confirmed by SDS-PAGE.

FINDINGS: Optimal conditions for enzyme production included a pH of 9, temperature of 20 °C, and a 24-h incubation period. The partially purified enzyme exhibited high stability at pH values up to 10 and storage temperatures of 4 °C. Anticancer activity was evaluated using the MTT assay, revealing an IC₅₀ of 78.21 U/ml against human hepatocellular carcinoma using HepG-2 cells, with no cytotoxicity observed against Vero cells. Flow cytometry confirmed that the enzyme’s anticancer potential was mediated through apoptosis and necrosis. QRT-PCR data revealed that the expression of the Bcl-2 gene was significantly downregulated by 62% (P < 0.05) following the treatment of HepG-2 cells with the lipase enzyme. These findings suggest that lipase from P. aeruginosa holds promise as a novel therapeutic agent for hepatocellular carcinoma, addressing the limitations of current treatments.

PMID:40057735 | DOI:10.1186/s12934-025-02671-7

Lipids Health Dis. 2025 Mar 8;24(1):88. doi: 10.1186/s12944-025-02500-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The MoKaRi study aims to evaluate the impact of two nutritional concepts on cardiometabolic risk factors.

METHODS: For our 20-week intervention study, 65 participants with moderate elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; ≥ 3 mmol/l) and without lipid-lowering therapy were recruited. The intervention to improve nutritional behavior was based on individualized menu plans which were characterized by defined energy and nutrient intake. To improve compliance, individual nutritional counselling sessions were held every two weeks. In addition to motivation, cooking skills were strengthened and nutritional knowledge was imparted. Follow-up visits were carried out after 10 and 20 weeks.

RESULTS: The MoKaRi diet lowered the concentrations of total cholesterol (menu plan group (MP): -15%; menu plan plus fish oil group (MP-FO): -11%), LDL-C (MP: -14%; MP-FO: -16%) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (MP: -16%; MP-FO: -13%) (p < 0.001). Body weight (MP: -5%; MP-FO: -8%; p < 0.05), waist circumference (MP: -6%; MP-FO: -9%) as well as diastolic blood pressure (MP: -8%; MP-FO: -8%), apolipoprotein A1 (MP: -15%; MP-FO: -20%), apolipoprotein B (MP: -15%; MP-FO: -6%) and glycated hemoglobin A_1c (HbA1c) (MP: -1.8%; MP-FO: -3.6%) were also reduced in both groups after 20 weeks (p < 0.05). In both intervention groups, a maximum reduction in LDL-c of approx. 26% was achieved within the 20 weeks of intervention. Individual participants achieved a reduction of 45-49%. The supplementation of fish oil on top of the menu plans resulted in more substantial effects on body weight (MP: -5% vs. MP-FO: -8%), body fat (MP: -11% vs. MP-FO: -20%), triglycerides (MP: -14% vs. MP-FO: -28%), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (MP: -19% vs. MP-FO: -43%) and HbA1c (MP: -1.8% vs. MP-FO:-3.6%; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The MoKaRi diet resulted in a significant reduction of cardiometabolic risk factors. Our data highlights the additional benefit of the combination between menu plans and fish oil supplementation, which resulted in more substantial effects on body weight, BMI, TG, HbA1c and hs-CRP.

GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT02637778.

PMID:40057729 | DOI:10.1186/s12944-025-02500-1

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2025 Mar 8;25(1):257. doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07367-9.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To comprehensively evaluate the risk factors for recurrent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in women with a history of GDM during re-pregnancy.

METHODS: Articles about risk factors for recurrent GDM were searched in China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from the date of establishment to January 2023. Meta-analysis of risk factors for recurrent GDM was performed using STATA/SE 15.1 software.

RESULTS: A total of 19 studies were included in the meta-analysis, comprising 15 case-control studies and 4 cohort studies, involving 11,385 patients. Among them, 2,462 patients experienced recurrent GDM, while 2,909 did not. The analysis of case-control studies revealed a GDM recurrence rate of 48%. Meta-analysis identified several significant risk factors for GDM recurrence: advanced maternal age at subsequent pregnancy [ES = 3.02, 95% CI (1.24,2.79), P = 0.003], increased BMI prior to the subsequent pregnancy [ES = 2.23, 95% CI (1.04,1.72), P = 0.026], elevated 1-hour plasma glucose levels in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) during previous pregnancy [ES = 2.79, 95% CI (1.11,1.78), P = 0.005], increased 2-hour OGTT glucose levels in previous pregnancy [ES = 2.75, 95% CI (1.11,1.91), P = 0.006], and previous delivery of macrosomia [ES = 3.48, 95% CI (1.38,3.18), P = 0.001]. All these factors showed statistically significant differences between the recurrence and non-recurrence groups. Pregnant women with a history of GDM can reduce the risk of recurrence by adopting a reasonable pregnancy plan, such as avoiding advanced maternal age, managing body weight, controlling blood glucose levels during pregnancy, and losing weight before conception.

CONCLUSION: Advanced maternal age, elevated BMI before subsequent pregnancy, increased OGTT levels during the previous pregnancy, and the delivery of macrosomia are significant risk factors for recurrent GDM.

PMID:40057727 | DOI:10.1186/s12884-025-07367-9

BMC Nurs. 2025 Mar 8;24(1):261. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-02868-6.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Critical care nurses face complex ethical dilemmas and high-pressure situations that require quick ethical decision-making. Personality traits have been recognized as influencing individuals’ ethical decision-making processes and attitudes toward safety in healthcare. Moral sensitivity helps nurses recognize ethical issues and respond appropriately to these challenges. So, this study aimed to assess the mediation role of moral sensitivity on safety attitudes and personality traits among critical care nurses.

METHOD: This study used a convenience sample method and a descriptive correlational research design to conduct it on 232 critical care nurses who worked at intensive care units and emergency departments of nine Sohag Governmental Hospitals. Three tools were used to collect data: the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire (MSQ), the Big Five Factors of Personality Inventory sheet, and the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential tests (multivariate linear regression using the backward method).

RESULT: The study revealed the personality profiles of the participants, with a total personality traits mean score (150.012 ± 9.628) and higher mean scores in conscientiousness and openness. The highest mean in moral sensitivity was interpersonal orientation, 22.76 ± 3.339, and moral meaning, 26.97 ± 4.279. Participants had low average mean scores regarding safety attitude 73.254 ± 11.368. There was a positive correlation between personality traits, moral sensitivity, and safety attitude. Finally, moral sensitivity acted as a mediating factor between personality traits and safety attitude.

CONCLUSION: The results of the present study suggest that personality assessment and moral sensitivity training be incorporated into nursing education and professional development programs. By enhancing nurses’ self-awareness and sensitivity to ethical dilemmas, institutions can potentially improve safety attitudes and, consequently, patient care outcomes.

PMID:40057726 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-025-02868-6

BMC Womens Health. 2025 Mar 8;25(1):107. doi: 10.1186/s12905-025-03636-z.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Nigeria faces a dual challenge of high fertility rates and limited female education. Studies suggest that education can contribute to fertility reduction. This study aimed to show the differences and quantify the disparity in fertility rates between educated and uneducated women in Nigeria.

METHODS: A repeated cross-sectional analysis was conducted using secondary data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (2003, 2008, 2013, 2018; Total = 121,774). Fertility differentials for women aged 15-49 were measured using Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition (α = 0.05).

RESULTS: The proportion of women without education remained high throughout the study period (41.6% in 2003, 35.8% in 2008, 37.8% in 2013 and 34.9% in 2018). Uneducated women consistently exhibited higher fertility rates than educated women across all survey years and regions. The risk difference of high fertility was greatest in the SouthEast region (34.0) and lowest in the North East (22.19). Factors contributing to the disparity included maternal age, age at first marriage, wealth index, and age at first birth.

CONCLUSION: Marked fertility inequalities exist between educated and uneducated women across Nigerian regions. These findings highlight the crucial role of female education in fertility reduction efforts.

PMID:40057721 | DOI:10.1186/s12905-025-03636-z

Eur J Radiol. 2025 Feb 27;185:112017. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112017. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: CT-Guided Microwave Ablation Combined with Percutaneous Vertebroplasty for Spinal Metastases is an emerging minimally invasive therapeutic option. This study aimed to compare the clinical efficacy and risk factors for bone cement leakage in CT-guided percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) with or without microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment of spinal metastases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 69 patients with 104 vertebral metastases treated between January 2019 and December 2022, divided into two groups: PVP group(n = 23, 37 vertebrae) underwent PVP alone, and MWA + PVP group(n = 46, 67 vertebrae) underwent MWA combined with PVP. Postoperative pain, daily living capabilities, and other parameters were compared, and CT and MRI were used to assess bone cement leakage and tumor control. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors for leakage.

RESULTS: The technical success rate was 100 % for both groups.The Visual Analog Scale（VAS), Daily Morphine Consumption(DMC), Oswestry Disability Index(ODI), and Activity of Daily Living Scale(ADL) scores at various postoperative time points in both the PVP and MWA + PVP groups showed significant improvements compared to preoperative levels (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the two groups within 12 weeks (P > 0.05), but at the 24-week follow-up, the MWA + PVP group exhibited superior scores (P < 0.05).At the 24-week postoperative follow-up, the local tumor control rates for patients and lesions in the PVP group were 78.26 % (18/23) and 78.38 % (29/37), respectively, while those in the MWA + PVP group were 91.30 % (42/46) and 91.04 % (61/67), respectively. PVP group had mild bone cement leakage in 64.80 % of vertebrae, compared to 22.30 % in MWA + PVP group. Multifactorial logistic analysis revealed that microwave ablation is an independent protective factor against bone cement leakage, cortical bone cement leakage, and vascular bone cement leakage, with an approximately consistent odds ratio (OR) of 0.2 for its protective effect, and these associations were statistically significant (P-values of 0.008, 0.005, and 0.007, respectively).Conversely, Pathological fractures (OR = 29.6,P < 0.001)and posterior vertebral wall ruptures（OR = 17.3,P = 0.01） were two independent risk factors for bone cement leakage, and the volume of bone cement injected was an independent risk factor for spinal canal bone cement leakage （OR = 1.7, P = 0.01）.

CONCLUSION: Compared with PVP alone, MWA combined with PVP in the treatment of spinal metastases not only demonstrates more pronounced tumor control efficacy but also effectively reduces the risk of bone cement leakage. This finding offers a novel perspective for the minimally invasive treatment of spinal metastases and provides robust clinical evidence for optimizing treatment regimens and enhancing patients’ quality of life. It holds promise as one of the significant options in the therapeutic arsenal against spinal metastases.

PMID:40054036 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112017

Neural Netw. 2025 Feb 26;187:107297. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2025.107297. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In feed-forward neural networks, dataset-free weight-initialization methods such as LeCun, Xavier (or Glorot), and He initializations have been developed. These methods randomly determine the initial values of weight parameters based on specific distributions (e.g., Gaussian or uniform distributions) without using training datasets. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, such a dataset-free weight-initialization method is yet to be developed for restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs), which are probabilistic neural networks consisting of two layers. In this study, we derive a dataset-free weight-initialization method for Bernoulli-Bernoulli RBMs based on statistical mechanical analysis. In the proposed weight-initialization method, the weight parameters are drawn from a Gaussian distribution with zero mean. The standard deviation of the Gaussian distribution is optimized based on our hypothesis that a standard deviation providing a larger layer correlation (LC) between the two layers improves the learning efficiency. The expression of the LC is derived based on a statistical mechanical analysis. The optimal value of the standard deviation corresponds to the maximum point of the LC. The proposed weight-initialization method is identical to Xavier initialization in a specific case (i.e., when the sizes of the two layers are the same, the random variables of the layers are {-1,1}-binary, and all bias parameters are zero). The validity of the proposed weight-initialization method is demonstrated in numerical experiments using a toy dataset and real-world datasets.

PMID:40054026 | DOI:10.1016/j.neunet.2025.107297

Sleep Med Rev. 2025 Jan 15;80:102048. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102048. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and Insomnia disorder (ID) are characterized by sleep alterations. To define their polysomnographic profiles, we conducted a Network Meta-Analysis comparing MDD and ID patients versus healthy controls (HCs). The literature search, conducted from 2008 up to January 2023 and following PRISMA guidelines, covered PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases. We addressed publication bias using funnel plot asymmetry inspection and Egger’s test, evaluated statistical heterogeneity with I², and local and global inconsistencies with the separate indirect from direct evidence method and Q between designs, respectively. Pairwise meta-analyses employed a fixed-effects model, while network analysis utilized a random-effect approach. We evaluated 86 ID and 17 MDD studies, comparing sleep parameters for 636 MDDs versus 491 HCs, and 3661 IDs versus 2792 HCs. The network meta-analysis reported that patients with MDD have greater rapid eye movement (REM) sleep duration and REMs density, and lower REM sleep latency compared to IDs. ID patients instead exhibited lower total sleep time and time in bed, and greater wake after sleep onset and non-REM sleep stage 3 than MDD patients. This work emphasized sleep depth and continuity alterations in both MDD and ID, with major involvement of REM sleep in MDD.

PMID:40054014 | DOI:10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102048

J Phys Chem Lett. 2025 Mar 7:2778-2784. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5c00073. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structural features of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the liquid and supercritical phases at different isobars. Density fluctuations, which mark the liquid-to-gas-like crossover, were quantified using advanced statistical tools such as nearest-neighbor distance distributions, interaction energies, and local density profiles derived from Voronoi analysis and density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise. Our findings reveal that these fluctuations arise from the temperature-dependent difference in the spatial extent of attractive contributions from electrostatic (ES) and Lennard-Jones (LJ) potentials, leading to a maximum in the contrast between the packed and loose density domains. Specifically, we demonstrate that the first and second solvation shells are characterized by neighbors experiencing maximal LJ and minimal ES attractive contributions, respectively. Within these shells, the orientation of the CO₂ molecules is governed by the maximal attractive contribution of ES interactions.

PMID:40054008 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.5c00073

JMIR Hum Factors. 2025 Mar 7;12:e63607. doi: 10.2196/63607.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mobile health care (mHealth) apps are emerging worldwide as a vital component of internet health care, but there are issues, especially among older adults.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to investigate the factors influencing the intention to use (ITU) mHealth apps, focusing on those with and without prior mHealth experience.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted from August 2022 to July 2023 included Thai citizens aged 45 years or older. Self-reported questionnaires collected data on sociodemographic information, health conditions, smartphone or tablet ownership, and mHealth usage experience. The Thai mHealth Senior Technology Acceptance Model questionnaires with a 10-point Likert scale evaluated mHealth acceptance. A multivariable logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, gender, education, income, and living area, was performed for 2 subgroups: those who used ITU mHealth apps and those who did not.

RESULTS: Of 1100 participants, 537 (48.8%) intended to use mHealth apps, while 563 (51.2%) did not. The ITU group had a younger average age, higher education levels, higher income, and fewer underlying diseases compared to those who did not intend to use mHealth apps. For those who had never used mHealth apps, having a smartphone was strongly associated with higher odds of ITU (adjusted odds ratio 2.81, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.93; P<.001), while having any underlying disease was associated with lower odds of ITU (adjusted odds ratio 0.63, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.97; P=.034). Higher acceptance levels, characterized by a positive attitude toward mHealth and lower fear of making mistakes, were also associated with higher ITU. For those with prior mHealth experience, acceptance in areas such as perceived ease of use, gerontechnology anxiety, and facilitating conditions was significantly associated with ITU.

CONCLUSIONS: Among inexperienced users, a positive attitude toward mHealth significantly enhanced ITU. Conversely, having an underlying disease decreased ITU, indicating a need for tailored mHealth apps. For experienced users, acceptance levels in areas such as ease of use and gerontechnology anxiety were crucial. Future research should explore specific mHealth apps for more targeted insights.

PMID:40054006 | DOI:10.2196/63607