Nevin Manimala

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 28;9(9):e19435. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19435. eCollection 2023 Sep.

ABSTRACT

Selective T-cell depletion prior to cell or organ transplantation is considered a preconditioning regimen to induce tolerance and immunosuppression. An immunotoxin consisting of a recombinant anti-CD3 antibody conjugated with diphtheria toxin was used to eliminate T-cells. It showed significant T-cell depletion activity in the peripheral blood and lymph nodes in animal models used in previous studies. To date, a comprehensive evaluation of T-cell depletion and CD3 proliferation for all lymphoid tissues has not been conducted. Here, two rhesus macaques were administered A-dmDT390-SCFBdb (CD3-IT) intravenously at 25 μg/kg twice daily for four days. Samples were collected one day prior to and four days post administration. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence staining were used to evaluate treatment efficiency accurately. Our preliminary results suggest that CD3-IT treatment may induce higher depletion of CD3 and CD4 T-cells in the lymph nodes and spleen, but is ineffective in the colon and thymus. The data showed a better elimination tendency of CD4 T-cells in the B-cell zone relative to the germinal center in the lymph nodes. Further, CD3-IT treatment may lead to a reduction in germinal center T follicular helper CD4 cells in the lymph nodes compared to healthy controls. The number of proliferating CD3 T-cell indicated that repopulation in different lymphoid tissues may occur four days post treatment. Our results provide insights into the differential efficacy of CD3-IT treatment and T-cell proliferation post treatment in different lymphoid tissues. Overall, CD3-IT treatment shows potential efficacy in depleting T-cells in the periphery, lymph nodes, and spleen, making it a viable preconditioning regimen for cell or organ transplantation. Our pilot study provides critical descriptive statistics and can contribute to the design of larger future studies.

PMID:37810095 | PMC:PMC10558572 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19435

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 9;9(9):e19717. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19717. eCollection 2023 Sep.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, firstly, the ” Haar wavelet method ” is used to give approximate solutions for coupled systems of linear fractional Fredholm integro-differential equations. Moreover, we consider the fractional derivative to be described in the Caputo sense. The general idea of this technique is simply based on reducing this kinds of coupled systems into systems of algebraic equations which are easily to deal with and solve. Also, Laplace transform operator is included to develop a sophisticated approach which we called ” Laplace Haar wavelet method ” as an adjustment to ” Haar wavelet method ” to reduce the error and computational time. We provide illustrative examples to confirm validity, efficiency, accuracy, and applicability of the proposed methods.

PMID:37810092 | PMC:PMC10558993 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19717

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 13;9(9):e20121. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20121. eCollection 2023 Sep.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Health-seeking behavior is an action taken by an individual who perceives to have a health problem. Many childhood morbidities and mortalities are associated with a low level of a mother’s healthcare-seeking behavior. However, there are limited studies about modern health-seeking behavior among mothers of ill under-five children in the study area.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of modern health-seeking behavior of mothers/caregivers and associated factors for childhood illness in Hawassa city, Sidama, Ethiopia 2021.

METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 15 to December 15, 2021, in Hawassa City. Eight kebeles were selected by using simple random sampling methods. A total of 366 mothers with children less than five years were included in this study and an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data entry, cleaning, and analysis were done by using Statistical Package for Social sciences version 24 and logistic regression was used to determine the presence of association, and significance was declared at p-value <0.05.

RESULT: The study found that 70.2% of mothers/caregivers seek modern health care for their child’s illnesses. Number of Antenatal care follow up ([AOR(Adjusted Odds Ratio) = 2.106; 95% CI(Confidence Interval) (1.097-4.042)), urban residence ([AOR = 2.688; 95% CI (1.403-5.149)), perceived severity of illness ([AOR2.832; 95% CI1.101-7.290)), four or above birth order (5.501; 95% CI (1.761-17.184)) and symptoms guiding severity of illness ([AOR = 4.664; 95% CI (1.918-11.342)) were associated with modern health-seeking behavior.

CONCLUSION: The overall modern health-seeking behaviors of mothers of under-five children are higher than in previous studies. However, a still significant proportion of mothers do not seek modern health care for their ill children. mothers/caregivers’ residence, birth order, number of Antenatal care follow-ups, perceived severity of childhood illness, and perceived guiding symptoms of severity are the significant predictors of mothers’ healthcare-seeking behavior.

PMID:37810091 | PMC:PMC10559870 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20121

Small. 2023 Oct 8:e2304670. doi: 10.1002/smll.202304670. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The Stokes-Einstein-Sutherland (SES) equation is at the foundation of statistical physics, relating a particle’s diffusion coefficient and size with the fluid viscosity, temperature, and the boundary condition for the particle-solvent interface. It is assumed that it relies on the separation of scales between the particle and the solvent, hence it is expected to break down for diffusive transport on the molecular scale. This assumption is however challenged by a number of experimental studies showing a remarkably small, if any, violation, while simulations systematically report the opposite. To understand these discrepancies, analytical ultracentrifugation experiments are combined with molecular simulations, both performed at unprecedented accuracies, to study the transport of buckminsterfullerene C₆₀ in toluene at infinite dilution. This system is demonstrated to clearly violate the conditions of slow momentum relaxation. Yet, through a linear response to a constant force, the SES equation can be recovered in the long time limit with no more than 4% uncertainty both in experiments and in simulations. This nonetheless requires partial slip on the particle interface, extracted consistently from all the data. These results, thus, resolve a long-standing discussion on the validity and limits of the SES equation at the molecular scale.

PMID:37806757 | DOI:10.1002/smll.202304670

J Sep Sci. 2023 Oct 8:e2300196. doi: 10.1002/jssc.202300196. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

After medicinal market research, it was found that the harvest time of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF) was chaotic in practice. In order to determine the optimal harvest period of LLF to ensure its pharmacological activity, metabolomics analysis of LLF at different harvest times based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole-(linear ion trap)-tandem mass spectrometry was established. In this study, 166 differential metabolites (DMs) in 448 metabolites at different harvest times were screened out based on variable importance in projection value, and among them, 94 DMs with regular trends of change in relative content (59 increased and 35 decreased with the growth period) were chosen to further research. The result of the multivariate statistical analysis showed that November was the optimal harvest period of LLF. Additionally, 10-hydroxyligustroside, oleoside 11-methyl ester, and salidroside were screened out to be used as the evaluation indicators of immature LLF, while specnuezhenide, nuezhenoside G13, and neonuezhenide were the evaluation indicators of mature LLF. This study provides fundamental insight for metabolite identification and proposes the best harvest period of LLF to avoid confusion in the medicinal market.

PMID:37806751 | DOI:10.1002/jssc.202300196

Enferm Clin (Engl Ed). 2023 Sep-Oct;33(5):316-326. doi: 10.1016/j.enfcle.2023.07.002.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of an educational intervention on midwives’ knowledge, detection and management of intimate partner violence (IPV).

METHODS: A quasi-experimental study involving 158 midwives from two districts in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The sample was divided into experimental and control groups (79 midwives per group). Data were collected using a questionnaire and an observation checklist. A customized educational training program on IPV detection and management was conducted in the experimental group. Measurement was performed before the intervention, immediately after and 6 weeks later. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square and binary logistic regression) with a level of significance set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS: Prior knowledge regarding IPV detection and management among midwives in both groups was poor, with only 16.5 % of the experimental group and 17.7 % of the control group having good knowledge in the pre-intervention phase. The experimental group had a significant improvement in knowledge of IPV screening and management, with 82.1 % having good knowledge immediately after the intervention and 92.0 % at 6 weeks after the intervention (p = 0.001). Observed practice of IPV detection and management improved significantly from 21.9 % satisfactory practice before the intervention to 63.5 % after the intervention (p = 0.001) in the experimental group, with no appreciable improvement in practice detected in the control group (21.9% versus 36.5%; p = 0.682).

CONCLUSION: The use of a customized educational training program improved midwives’ knowledge and practice in the detection and management of intimate partner violence.

PMID:37806710 | DOI:10.1016/j.enfcle.2023.07.002

J Nutr Educ Behav. 2023 Oct;55(10):755-760. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2023.08.001.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the presence of body image and diet culture rhetoric in videos under the hashtag #HealthyLifestyle on TikTok.

METHODS: The top 250 videos under #HealthyLifestyle were categorized using a codebook of wellness topics. We conducted descriptive statistics and interrater reliability analysis.

RESULTS: #HealthyLifestyle videos had high rates of all coded categories, including negative and positive messages about body image and diet culture. Nearly all content with positive connotations was counteracted by coexisting negative messaging.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest that content under #HealthyLifestyle contains messaging conflicting with the definition of a healthy lifestyle. Considering the young audience consuming this content, improved nutrition education and health literacy in schools is essential.

PMID:37806709 | DOI:10.1016/j.jneb.2023.08.001

Risk Anal. 2023 Oct 8. doi: 10.1111/risa.14234. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We consider directed tree networks with a single source, where there exists a positive probability of a disruptive event at any node. Such networks model security considerations in pipelines as well as in unidirectional digital networks. If a disruptive event occurs at a certain node, that node and its downstream nodes incur economic losses. Users thus have an incentive to invest in upstream locations as well as their own sites to reduce the probability of a disruptive event. The initial model we develop to reduce the expected investment plus disruption costs is a multiplicative model for which closed-form solutions cannot be obtained in general. We overcome this problem with an additive model that we show closely approximates the initial formulation. This model reduces the security problem to a public goods setting where we minimize the total expected cost at each node. The users then need to share these costs in an equitable fashion, which gives rise to a set of cooperative games. For the case where disutilities to all users are identical, the Shapley value can be computed efficiently, along the lines of an Airport Game. We also treat the case where risk reduction and disutility vary across the network. Finally, we prove that the cooperative game is concave in this general case, which guarantees that the core of the game is nonempty and that the Shapley value is an element of the core.

PMID:37806672 | DOI:10.1111/risa.14234

J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 6:S2667-2960(23)00127-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jaclp.2023.09.004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Delirium is the most prevalent neuropsychiatric syndrome experienced by patients admitted to inpatient clinical units, occurring in at least 20% of medically hospitalized patients and up to 85% of those admitted to critical care units. Although current guidelines recommend the implementation of universal prevention strategies, the use of management strategies largely depend on constant surveillance and screening. This allows for the timely diagnosis and the correction of its underlying causes and implementation of management strategies.

OBJECTIVE: It was to adapt and analyze the Spanish adaptation of the Stanford Proxy Test for Delirium (S-PTDsv) instrument for its use among Spanish-speaking populations. The S-PTD is an instrument consisting of 13 observational items to be completed by a clinician observer, usually the patient’s nurse. The completion of the questionnaire takes about one minute and does not require the active participation of the person evaluated, which has important clinical advantages compared to other available instruments (e.g., the Confusion Assessment Method [CAM]).

METHODS: The psychometric properties of the S-PTDsv were evaluated in a population of 123 patients, using a quantitative, cross-sectional design. All subjects were over 18 years of age and hospitalized in various inpatient medico-surgical and Intensive care Unit services, either to the Barcelona Clinical Hospital (Barcelona, Spain) or the UC-Christus Health Network Clinical Hospital (Santiago, Chile, S.A.). The ultimate diagnosis of delirium was made by a member of the Psychiatry Consult Service, by means of an independent neuropsychiatric evaluation based on the 5^th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria, published in 2013 and is the latest version of the diagnostic manual. All study tests were performed by study personnel who were blinded to each other’s test results and within an hour of each other.

RESULTS: In the ROC analysis, the S-PTDsv demonstrated excellent classification qualities when compared with the DSM-5, as the classification gold-standard. Using a cut-off point of ≥3, the S-PTDsv had a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 97%. The AUC indicator was equal to 0.95, suggesting the S-PTDsv has an excellent overall performance in accurately identifying cases of Delirium. Accordingly, the S-PTDsv’s positive predictive value (PPV) = 0.93, and the negative predictive value (NPV) = 0.97. The internal reliability measured with Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.96. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a one-dimensional structure with high loadings (>0.72), demonstrating that all items similarly contribute to the total diagnostic dimension, suggesting adequate construct validity. This provided evidence of convergent validity.

CONCLUSION: The performance of the S-PTDsv, as compared to a blinded neuropsychiatric assessment based on DSM-5, indicates that it is an effective instrument for the detection of Delirium, in the Spanish speaking populations. These results are comparable and consistent with previously published studies in the English language version.

PMID:37806639 | DOI:10.1016/j.jaclp.2023.09.004

Anaerobe. 2023 Oct 6:102784. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2023.102784. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Bacteroides fragilis is considered to act in an anti-inflammatory manner on the intestinal tract. On the contrary, enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF), a subtype of B. fragilis, produces an enterotoxin (BFT; B. fragilis toxin), leading to asymptomatic chronic infections and colonic tumor formation. However, the impact of B. fragilis and ETBF on the clinical outcome of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. We aim to assess whether their presence affects the outcome in patients with CRC after curative resection.

METHODS: We obtained 197 pairs of matched formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from cancerous and adjacent non-cancerous tissues of patients with pathological stage (pstage) II and III CRC after curative resection. The presence ofB. fragilisand ETBF were estimated using real-time polymerase chain reaction, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of the patients were analyzed.

RESULTS: 16S rRNA for B. fragilis and bft DNA were detected in 120 (60.9%) and 12 (6.1%) of the 197 patients, respectively. B. fragilis-positive patients had better RFS than B. fragilis-negative patients, although that was not statistically significant. In subgroup analysis, better outcomes on RFS were observed in the presence of B. fragilis in pstage II and left-sided CRC. The association of B. fragilis positivity on OS was accentuated in the depth of the T4 subgroup. No significant differences were observed in RFS and OS between ETBF and non-toxigenic B. fragilis.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the presence of B. fragilis is associated with better outcomes in patients with pstage II and III CRC after curative resection.

PMID:37806638 | DOI:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2023.102784