BioMed Research International最新文献

Background: The brachial plexus is the primary nerve source for the upper limb. Variations in its anatomy can alter the nerve supply to the upper extremity. Such deviations are clinically important, as they can change the symptomatology of various pathologic conditions, leading to misdiagnosis, inadequate treatment, and surgical failures as a consequence. Materials and Methods: The upper limbs of 16 human cadavers (32 extremities) were dissected at the Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Medical University-Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Eight cadavers were male and eight female, with age ranging 40-95 years (mean age: 72.63 years). Results: Three variations (18.8%) were identified unilaterally, exclusively in male cadavers; however, no statistically significant sex-based distribution was observed. The first variation involved a communicating branch between the musculocutaneous nerve and median nerve. The second was a high bifurcation of the radial nerve in the axillary fossa into two divisions. The third one was a communicating branch between the axillary nerve and the radial nerve, forming a loop beneath the subscapular artery. Conclusion: Our study identified greater variability in the branches of the posterior cord compared to the existing literature. These variations must be taken under clinical consideration to prevent diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical errors.

Hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are major public health issues in developing countries, including Ethiopia. These viruses can be transmitted from mother to child during birth or through contact with contaminated blood. In many areas of Ethiopia, viral hepatitis and HIV infections are significant health concerns for pregnant women. However, there is limited information about these issues in various parts of the country, particularly in the Amhara Region. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV infections and identifies the associated risk factors among pregnant women attending an antenatal care (ANC) unit at Simada Hospital, Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 248 pregnant women from January 2021 to March 2021. Five milliliters of venous blood was collected from each study participant, and serum was tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV, and anti-HIV antibodies using commercially available rapid test kits. A logistic regression analysis was used to identify possible risk factors for the occurrence of hepatitis and HIV infections. The overall seroprevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV infections was 10 (4%), 5 (2%), and 5 (2%), respectively. Prevalence of coinfection was 1.2% (3/248), 0.4% (1/248), and 0.4% (1/248) for HBV/HCV, HBV/HIV, and HCV/HIV, respectively. History of abortion (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 11.028, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.671-72.776, p value = 0.013) and a history of blood transfusions (AOR = 11.298, 95%CI = 1.066-119.777, p value = 0.044) were observed to be significantly associated with an increased risk of HBV infections. However, having multiple sexual partners (AOR = 18.819, 95%CI = 1.074-329.680, p value = 0.045) and history of abortion (AOR = 12.550, 95%CI = 1.174-134.202, p value = 0.036) were the only significant predictors of HCV and HIV infection, respectively. In the current study, we found an intermediate prevalence of HBV and HCV in pregnant women. Therefore, continuous screening of pregnant women for the stated viral infections should be performed to minimize the transmission of the viruses to their children.

Environmental pollution has been a significant concern for the last few years. The leather industry significantly contributes to the economy but is one of Bangladesh's most prominent polluting industries. It is also responsible for several severe diseases such as cancer, lung diseases, and heart diseases of leather workers because they use bleaching agents and chemicals, and these have numerous adverse effects on human health. The study was aimed at isolating, identifying, and molecularly characterizing bacteria that produce protease enzymes that are highly capable of dehairing goat hide. Several attempts were made to isolate and identify protease-producing bacterial strains from different soil samples of tannery wastes. Initially, a total of four isolates were selected from tannery soil. After the different phenotypic and morphological characterization, one isolate (BS2) showed Gram-positive, rod-shaped, and spore-forming characteristics and could produce novel hair-degrading protease enzymes. The growth profile and protease activity of the bacteria at 37°C were observed; a basal level of extracellular protease increased with time. The enzyme's proteolytic activity was measured, and the unit of enzyme activity of the enzyme sample was 18.1. The ExPASy server (ProtParam) tool was used to estimate the physicochemical characteristics of the proteins and found molecular weight (MW) (7375.94 Da), aliphatic index (71.56), instability index (II, 80.63), Grand Average of Hydropathy (GRAVY) (-0.231), and isoelectric point (11.41). The protein-protein interactions (PPI) networks were generated using the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database and Cytoscape software. The PSIPRED v.4.0 and SAVES v.6.0 programs were used to determine the secondary and three-dimensional assembly of the selected protein. They found alpha helix (16, 25.00%), extended strand (6, 9.38%), beta-turn (5, 7.81%), and random coil (37, 57.81%). DNA isolation and purification were carried out, and the purity ratio was ~2.17 at 260 and 280 nm. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplifying the 16S rRNA gene was conducted, and the isolate was authentically recognized as Bacillus cereus (BS2) based on morphological, biochemical, and molecular analyses. The quantitative assessment has shown that 40 mL of culture centrifugation could dehair 2 × 1 cm of goat leather sample in 9 h. This potential bacterial strain can be used in the leather industry as an ecofriendly alternative to chemical dehairing, which can reduce environmental pollution and the risk of severe diseases among leather industry workers.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important pathogen affecting dairy cattle all over the world by causing significant economic losses due to reproductive and respiratory problems, immunosuppressive effects, increased risk of morbidity, and calf mortality. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2021 to August 2021 to determine the seroprevalence of bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and identify risk factors associated with its occurrence in and around Nekemte Town of Ethiopia. Blood samples were collected from 305 dairy cattle of 41 herds by using cluster-sampling method. All sampled animals were identified by their age, breeds, origin, parity, pregnancy status, and history of reproductive and respiratory problems. Competitive ELISA was used in the laboratory to detect the presence of antibodies in the serum. At the animal and herd level, descriptive statistics were utilized to assess the amount of BVDV viral antibody circulation, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to detect potential risk variables. The result demonstrates 9.84% (95% confidence interval (CI): 6.49-13.18) and 28.52% (95% CI: 23.46-33.59) seroprevalence of BVDV antibody at individual and herd level, respectively. Abortion (odds ratio (OR) = 2.75; p = 0.019), retention of fetal membrane (OR = 3.33; p = 0.011), purchasing of animals (OR = 2.98; p = 0.017), and pregnancy (OR = 3.16; p = 0.019) were variables significantly associated with the seropositivity of BVDV. Herd size was found to be substantially linked with BVDV infection at the herd level (p = 0.009). These moderate seroprevalence of BVDV results indicate that the virus is widely spread among dairy cattle at various farms in and around Nekemte Town, hurting dairy farm production and productivity. To reduce the seroprevalence of this infectious agent, cows with a history of reproductive disorders should be tested, and new animals should be quarantined before being introduced into herds, and more research should be done to assess the impact of reproductive failure and other effects associated with this virus.

Background and Objective: Vitiligo is a chronic skin damage disease, triggered by differential melanocyte death. Vitiligo (0.5%-1% of the population) is one of the most severe skin conditions. In general, the foundation of the condition of vitiligo remains gradual patchy loss of skin pigmentation, overlying blood, and sometimes mucus. This paper provides a systematic review of the relevant publications and conference papers based on the subject of vitiligo diagnosis and confirmation through computer-aided machine learning (ML) techniques. Materials and Methods: A search was conducted using a predetermined set of keywords across three databases, namely, Science Direct, PubMed, and IEEE Xplore. The selection process involved the application of eligibility criteria, which led to the inclusion of research published in reputable journals and conference proceedings up until June 2024. These selected papers were then subjected to full-text screening for additional analysis. Research publications that involved application of ML techniques with targeted population of vitiligo were selected for further systematic review. Results: Ten selected and screened studies are included in this systematic review after applying eligibility criteria along with inclusion and exclusion criteria applied on initial search result which was 244 studies based on vitiligo. Priority is given to those studies only which use ML techniques to perform detection and diagnosis on vitiligo-targeted population. Data analysis was carried out only from the selected and screened research articles that were published in authentic journals and conference proceedings. Conclusion: The importance of applying ML techniques in the clinical diagnosis of vitiligo can give more accurate results and at the same also eliminate the need of biased human judgement. Based on a comprehensive examination of the research, encompassing the methodologies employed and the metrics utilized to assess outcomes, it was determined that there is a need for further research and investigation regarding the application of ML algorithm for the detection and diagnosis of vitiligo with different datasets and more feature extraction.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into physical and mental rehabilitation has the potential to significantly transform these fields. AI innovations, including machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and computer vision, offer occupational therapists advanced tools to improve care quality. These technologies facilitate more precise assessments, the development of tailored intervention plans, more efficient treatment delivery, and enhanced outcome evaluation. This review explores the integration of AI across various aspects of rehabilitation, providing a thorough examination of recent advancements and current applications. It highlights how AI applications, such as natural language processing, computer vision, virtual reality, machine learning, and robotics, are shaping the future of physical and mental recovery in occupational therapy.

Necroptosis is a critical process in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). This research is aimed at identifying key genes regulating necroptosis in IDD to provide a theoretical basis for early diagnosis and treatment. Transcriptome data from patients with IDD and normal samples were obtained from the GSE34095 and GSE124272 datasets of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) public database. Necroptosis-related genes (NRGs) were sourced from the GeneCards database and literature. Differentially expressed necroptosis-related genes (DE-NRGs) in IDD were identified by intersecting these sources. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used for gene annotation analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and nomogram analyses assessed the diagnostic efficiency of DE-NRGs. The miRWalk and starBase databases helped construct the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network of DE-NRGs. We identified 517 differential genes in tissue and 2974 in blood, with 62 genes in common. DE-NRGs (AIFM1, CCT8, HNRNPA1, KHDRBS1, SERBP1) were identified by intersecting NRGs with these 62 common genes. The ROC curve showed an area under the curve (AUC) > 0.70 for DE-NRGs, and the nomogram indicated that a higher DE-NRG score correlates with a higher risk of IDD. CCT8, KHDRBS1, and AIFM1 emerged as potential therapeutic targets for IDD through target drug prediction. qRT-PCR (quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction), Western blot, and immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of AIFM1, CCT8, HNRNPA1, KHDRBS1, and SERBP1 in patients' nucleus pulposus tissue, suggesting these genes as key targets for IDD risk assessment and drug therapy.

Runners frequently suffer from medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), often linked to excessive eccentric muscle contractions causing periosteal traction by the muscles in the deep posterior compartment. However, the effects of MTSS on these muscles and tendons remain underexplored. This study is aimed at investigating changes in muscle and tendon volumes in this compartment, as well as cross-sectional area measurements, using magnetic resonance imaging. Thirty individuals were divided into two groups: MTSS (n = 18; mean age 30.3 ± 12.4) and control (n = 12; age 35.2 ± 9.2). The anterior, deep posterior, superficial posterior, and lateral compartment muscles, along with their respective tendons, were compared between groups, and possible sex differences were also evaluated. The deep posterior compartment showed a significant volume difference of 0.41 cm³/kg³/⁴ in the MTSS group (p = 0.034), primarily due to the flexor hallucis longus (FHL), which had a 0.55 cm³/kg³/⁴ greater normalized volume (17.12% greater mean muscle volume) compared to controls (p = 0.023; Cohen d = 0.895). No association between sex and MTSS was found (p = 0.752). In conclusion, the FHL muscle exhibited increased normalized volume in the MTSS group compared to controls, with no sex-related differences in MTSS. Clinicians should consider the assessment of FHL muscle volume in routine evaluations of patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of MTSS.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/9744153.].