Introduction: There is increasing prevalence of overweight ever-married non¬pregnant women while underweight women of the same category remain common. Thus, this study aimed to identify body mass index (BMI) trends as well as the determinants of nutritional status across urban and rural areas and Bangladesh as a whole over the survey years of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007 and 2011. Method: The nationally representative samples of 9,241 and 14,975 ever-married non-pregnant women 15 to 49 years old were extracted from the BDHS 2007 and 2011, respectively. BMI was used as a proxy to measure nutritional status. Binary logistic regression models were fitted separately for urban and rural areas and Bangladesh as a whole to identify the changes in determinants. Results: The prevalence of underweight women decreased 5.3% while the prevalence for overweight women increased 3.1% between the survey years of BDHS 2007 and 2011. Women in rural areas were found more likely to be underweight while the percentage of women with normal nutritional status was found to increase in the urban areas. Respondents' age, education, marital status, children ever born, wealth index, age at first birth, husbands' occupation and husbands' education were identified as the most important determinants of nutritional status in both the survey years. Conclusion: The burden of underweight, and overweight to obese women in Bangladesh is strongly related to an individual's demographic and socio-economic position. These findings underscore the need for public health efforts aimed at combating underweight among women.

INTRODUCTIONThe use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Singapore for a variety of conditions has been reported to be high. However in Asian chronic pain patients, there is no data on their use of CAM and its perceived benefits.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA cross-sectional survey of 210 patients was carried out in Pain Management Centre. Patients were interviewed directly on their use of CAM. The outcomes were prevalence of CAM use, the types of CAM used, the perceived efficacy and factors influencing its use.

RESULTSThe prevalence of CAM users in chronic pain is 84%. The most common class of CAM is traditional Chinese medicine (68%) the subset of which, acupuncture, was most frequently utilised (49% of patients using CAM). In univariate analyses, ethnicity was significantly linked to CAM use but not gender, age, education level and income (P = 0.027). Specifically for neck pain, it was significant that patients were more likely to see a chiropractor, to use massage, to take take vitamins and ginseng to alleviate their symptoms. With upper limb pain, it was the use of Tui na, massage and seeing a TCM practitioner. For abdominal pain, it was the use of herbal medicines. The majority felt that CAM helped with their pain (72%) although less expressed satisfaction with CAM (64%). Reasons for using CAM included: having more control over their pain; fewer side effects; safety and lower costs compared to conventional medicine.

CONCLUSIONThe use of CAM in chronic pain patients is higher than the general population. Most felt that it improved their pain. As part of multimodal therapy, CAM may have a role in the management of chronic pain.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Chronic Pain ; therapy ; Complementary Therapies ; utilization ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Singapore ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Young Adult

Biofilms are adherent, multi-layered colonies of bacteria that are typically more resistant to the host immune response and routine antibiotic therapy. HA biomaterial comprises of a single-phased hydroxyapatite scaffold with interconnected pore structure. The device is designed as osteoconductive space filler to be gently packed into bony voids or gaps following tooth extraction or any surgical procedure. Gentamycin-coated biomaterial (locally made hydroxyapatite) was evaluated to reduce or eradicate the biofilm on the implant materials. The results indicated that the HA coated with gentamycin was biocompatible to human osteoblast cell line and the biofilm has been reduced after being treated with different concentrations of gentamycin-coated hydroxyapatite (HA).

Leptin, a peptide hormone secreted by adipocytes in proportion of the amount of energy stored in fat, plays a central role in regulating human energy homeostasis. In addition, leptin plays a significant permissive role in the physiological regulation of several neuroendocrine axes, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal, -thyroid, -growth hormone, and -adrenal axes. Decreased levels of leptin, also known as hypoleptinemia, signal to the brain a state of energy deprivation. Hypoleptinemia can be a congenital or acquired condition, and is associated with alterations of the aforementioned axes aimed at promoting survival. More specifically, gonadotropin levels decrease and become less pulsatile under conditions of energy deprivation, and these changes can be at least partially reversed through leptin administration in physiological replacement doses. Similarly, leptin deficiency is associated with thyroid axis abnormalities including abnormal levels of thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and leptin administration may at least partially attenuate this effect. Leptin deficiency results in decreased insulin-like growth factor 1 levels which can be partially ameliorated through leptin administration, and leptin appears to have a much more pronounced effect on the growth of rodents than that of humans. Similarly, adrenal axis function is regulated more tightly by low leptin in rodents than in humans. In addition to congenital leptin deficiency, conditions that may be associated with decreased leptin levels include hypothalamic amenorrhea, anorexia nervosa, and congenital or acquired lipodystrophy syndromes. Accumulating evidence from proof of concept studies suggests that leptin administration, in replacement doses, may ameliorate neuroendocrine abnormalities in individuals who suffer from these conditions.
Amenorrhea/metabolism ; Animals ; Female ; Humans ; Leptin/blood/deficiency/genetics/*metabolism ; Male ; Neurosecretory Systems/*metabolism

Objective:To explore the value of serum activin A (ACT-A) level in early identification of moderate and severe acute pancreatitis (AP).Methods:A prospective case control study was conducted. A total of 120 patients with AP admitted to department of hepatobiliary surgery of Affiliated Nanhua Hospital of Hengyang Medical College of University of South China between October 2020 and April 2022 were recruited. According to the revised Atlanta classification, all patients were classified into mild AP group and moderate-to-severe AP group. The blood samples within 24 hours of onset were drawn, and the serum ACT-A and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The Ranson score and the modified CT severity index (MCTSI) were performed. Pearson correlation method was used to analyze the correlation of various parameters. The receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was plotted to analyze the predictive value of ACT-A and CRP for moderate-to-severe AP.Results:A total of 120 patients with AP were enrolled, including 83 patients with mild AP and 37 patients with moderate-to-severe AP. Serum ACT-A and CRP levels within 24 hours of onset in the moderate-to-severe AP group were significantly higher than those in the mild AP group [ACT-A (ng/L): 140.4±37.7 vs. 53.9±30.5, lg CRP: 1.42±0.91 vs. 0.77±0.70, both P < 0.01], and the Ranson score and MCTSI score were also significantly higher than those in the mild AP group (Ranson score: 5.3±1.3 vs. 1.8±1.6, MCTSI score: 5.5±1.0 vs. 2.7±1.2, both P < 0.01). Correlation analysis showed that the serum ACT-A level was positively correlated with serum CRP level, Ranson score and MCTSI score ( R2 value was 0.272, 0.841, 0.616, respectively, all P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the serum ACT-A, CRP and Ranson score had predictive value for moderate-to-severe AP. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.948 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.909-0.986], 0.711 (95% CI was 0.606-0.815), 0.946 (95% CI was 0.910-0.982), respectively. When serum ACT-A > 112.6 ng/L, the sensitivity and specificity of predicting moderate-to-severe AP were 78.38% and 96.39%, respectively, which was better than serum CRP with sensitivity and specificity of 72.92% and 66.27%, respectively, and the specificity was better than Ranson score (71.08%). Conclusion:ACT-A can be detected in the early stage of AP, and it is positively correlated with the disease severity, which can early identify moderate-to-severe AP.

Gloeostereum incarnatum has edible and medicinal value and was first cultivated and domesticated in China. We sequenced the G. incarnatum monokaryotic strain GiC-126 on an Illumina HiSeq X Ten system and obtained a 34.52-Mb genome assembly sequence that encoded 16,895 predicted genes. We combined the GiC-126 genome with the published genome of G. incarnatum strain CCMJ2665 to construct a genetic linkage map (GiC-126 genome) that had 10 linkage groups (LGs), and the 15 assembly sequences of CCMJ2665 were integrated into 8 LGs. We identified 1912 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci and detected 700 genes containing 768 SSRs in the genome; 65 and 100 of them were annotated with gene ontology (GO) terms and KEGG pathways, respectively. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) were identified in 20 fungal genomes and annotated; among them, 144 CAZymes were annotated in the GiC-126 genome. The A mating-type locus (MAT-A) of G. incarnatum was located on scaffold885 at 38.9 cM of LG1 and was flanked by two homeodomain (HD1) genes, mip and beta-fg. Fourteen segregation distortion markers were detected in the genetic linkage map, all of which were skewed toward the parent GiC-126. They formed three segregation distortion regions (SDR1–SDR3), and 22 predictive genes were found in scaffold1920 where three segregation distortion markers were located in SDR1. In this study, we corrected and updated the genomic information of G. incarnatum. Our results will provide a theoretical basis for fine gene mapping, functional gene cloning, and genetic breeding the follow-up of G. incarnatum.

Gloeostereum incarnatum has edible and medicinal value and was first cultivated and domesticated in China. We sequenced the G. incarnatum monokaryotic strain GiC-126 on an Illumina HiSeq X Ten system and obtained a 34.52-Mb genome assembly sequence that encoded 16,895 predicted genes. We combined the GiC-126 genome with the published genome of G. incarnatum strain CCMJ2665 to construct a genetic linkage map (GiC-126 genome) that had 10 linkage groups (LGs), and the 15 assembly sequences of CCMJ2665 were integrated into 8 LGs. We identified 1912 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci and detected 700 genes containing 768 SSRs in the genome; 65 and 100 of them were annotated with gene ontology (GO) terms and KEGG pathways, respectively. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) were identified in 20 fungal genomes and annotated; among them, 144 CAZymes were annotated in the GiC-126 genome. The A mating-type locus (MAT-A) of G. incarnatum was located on scaffold885 at 38.9 cM of LG1 and was flanked by two homeodomain (HD1) genes, mip and beta-fg. Fourteen segregation distortion markers were detected in the genetic linkage map, all of which were skewed toward the parent GiC-126. They formed three segregation distortion regions (SDR1–SDR3), and 22 predictive genes were found in scaffold1920 where three segregation distortion markers were located in SDR1. In this study, we corrected and updated the genomic information of G. incarnatum. Our results will provide a theoretical basis for fine gene mapping, functional gene cloning, and genetic breeding the follow-up of G. incarnatum.

Over the past few decades, complementary and alternative treatments have become increasingly popular worldwide. The purported therapeutic characteristics of natural products have come under increased scrutiny both in vitro and in vivo as part of efforts to legitimize their usage. One such product is tea tree oil (TTO), a volatile essential oil primarily obtained from the native Australian plant, Melaleuca alternifolia, which has diverse traditional and industrial applications such as topical preparations for the treatment of skin infections. Its anti-inflammatory-linked immunomodulatory actions have also been reported. This systematic review focuses on the anti-inflammatory effects of TTO and its main components that have shown strong immunomodulatory potential. An extensive literature search was performed electronically for data curation on worldwide accepted scientific databases, such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and esteemed publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Frontiers, and Taylor & Francis. Considering that the majority of pharmacological studies were conducted on crude oils only, the extracted data were critically analyzed to gain further insight into the prospects of TTO being used as a neuroprotective agent by drug formulation or dietary supplement. In addition, the active constituents contributing to the activity of TTO have not been well justified, and the core mechanisms need to be unveiled especially for anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects leading to neuroprotection. Therefore, this review attempts to correlate the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity of TTO with its neuroprotective mechanisms.
Tea Tree Oil/therapeutic use* ; Melaleuca ; Neuroprotection ; Drug Repositioning ; Neuroinflammatory Diseases ; Australia ; Oils, Volatile ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology*

Cervical Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging* ; Humans ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Spondylosis/diagnostic imaging* ; Treatment Outcome

Asthenoteratozoospermia is one of the most severe types of qualitative sperm defects. Most cases are due to mutations in genes encoding the components of sperm flagella, which have an ultrastructure similar to that of motile cilia. Coiled-coil domain containing 103 (CCDC103) is an outer dynein arm assembly factor, and pathogenic variants of CCDC103 cause primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). However, whether CCDC103 pathogenic variants cause severe asthenoteratozoospermia has yet to be determined. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed for two individuals with nonsyndromic asthenoteratozoospermia in a consanguineous family. A homozygous CCDC103 variant segregating recessively with an infertility phenotype was identified (ENST00000035776.2, c.461A>C, p.His154Pro). CCDC103 p.His154Pro was previously reported as a high prevalence mutation causing PCD, though the reproductive phenotype of these PCD individuals is unknown. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of affected individuals' spermatozoa showed that the mid-piece was severely damaged with disorganized dynein arms, similar to the abnormal ultrastructure of respiratory ciliary of PCD individuals with the same mutation. Thus, our findings expand the phenotype spectrum of CCDC103 p.His154Pro as a novel pathogenic gene for nonsyndromic asthenospermia.
Asthenozoospermia/pathology* ; Dyneins/genetics* ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; Mutation ; Mutation, Missense ; Sperm Tail/metabolism*