Objective: To analyze in vivo neuro-pharmacological effects of Alpinia nigra as anxiety is a particular form of behavioral inhibition that occurs in response to novel environmental events.Methods:In present study, the extract of Alpinia nigra was evaluated for its central nervous system depressant effect using mice behavioral models, such as hole cross, open field and thiopental sodium induced sleeping time tests for its sedative properties and an elevated plus-maze test for its anxiolytic potential, respectively.Results:In anxiolytic study, the extract displayed increased percentage of entry into open arm at the dose of 400 and 200 mg/kg. The extract produced a significant (P<0.01) increase in sleeping duration and reduction of onset of sleep compared to sodium thiopental at both doses (200 and 400 mg/kg). The extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) also showed a dose-dependent suppression of motor activity and exploratory activity of the mice in both open field and hole cross test.Conclusion:This study demonstrates that the treated extract has significant central nervous system depressant effect. Further studies on active constituent of the extract can provide approaches for therapeutic intervention.

ntroduction: Oral cancer is a life-threatening disease. Lack of public awareness is a potent barrier for the early detection of oral cancer, especially for high-risk populations. Objective: This study aimed to determine the awareness and knowledge of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer among a Siamese ethnic group in Tumpat, Kelantan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, using a guided questionnaire on sociodemography, habits, awareness and knowledge of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer. Individuals under 18 years old and who had been diagnosed with oral cancer were excluded from this study. Results: A total of 195 respondents participated, 61.5% were female and the mean age was 46 (1.64). About 41% of the respondents had received secondary education and 35.4% were illiterate. Most respondents were self-employed (21.5%), followed by farmers (19.5%) and housewives (20%). The majority of them had a monthly income that fell below the poverty level of RM 830 (76.9%). Among the respondents, 22.6% had the habit of smoking, 25.6% consumed alcohol, 8.2% were betel quid chewers and 2.6% chewed tobacco. Out of 195 respondents, only 6.7% were aware of oral cancer. About 16.9% of the respondents correctly answered all of the questions regarding the signs and symptoms of oral cancer and only 4.1% knew the risk factors of oral cancer. Conclusion: The awareness and knowledge of oral cancer in this targeted population were unsatisfactory. Future effective health promotion programs and education should be emphasised.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with periodontal disease due to its hyperinflammatory state. Limited studies have explored the prevalence of periodontal disease among CKD patients in Malaysia. Objective: To assess the periodontal status of pre-dialysis CKD patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Methods: A total of 46 pre-dialysis CKD patients who attended the nephrology clinic at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia were enrolled in this study. Periodontal examination was performed using the periodontal probing depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL) and plaque index. Results: The majority of the CKD patients were Malay (95.7%) and 80.4% were males. The mean age of the patients was 58.5 years. Using PPD measurement, 37 (74.0%) of the patients had mild periodontitis, 9 (20.0%) had moderate periodontitis and 3 (6.0%) had no periodontitis. Based on CAL measurement, 12 (26%) patients had mild periodontitis, 29 (63.0%) had moderate periodontitis and 5 (11%) had severe periodontitis. The mean (standard deviation [SD]) value of mild and moderate-to-severe periodontitis by PPD measurement were 4.26 (0.26) and 5.24 (0.36), respectively. The mean of mild and moderate-to-severe periodontitis by CAL measurement were 2.66 (0.62) and 4.98 (0.73), respectively. There was no correlation between the periodontal parameters and estimated glomerular filtration rate (PPD: r = −0.160, P = 0.914; CAL: r = −0.135, P = 0.372; plaque index: r = 0.005, P = 0.974). Conclusion: This study revealed a greater prevalence and severity of chronic periodontitis among CKD patients. Thus, the periodontal health of CKD patients’ needs to be screened and monitored.

Objectives: Users share valuable information through online smoking cessation communities (OSCCs), which help people maintain and improve smoking cessation behavior. Although OSCC utilization is common among smokers, limitations exist in identifying the smoking status of OSCC users (“quit” vs. “not quit”). Thus, the current study implicitly analyzed user-generated content (UGC) to identify individual users’ smoking status through advanced computational methods and real data from an OSCC. Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using data from 3,833 users of BcomeAnEX.org. Domain experts reviewed posts and comments to determine the authors’ smoking status when they wrote them. Seven types of feature sets were extracted from UGC (textual, Doc2Vec, social influence, domain-specific, author-based, and thread-based features, as well as adjacent posts). Results: Introducing novel features boosted smoking status recognition (quit vs. not quit) by 9.3% relative to the use of text-only post features. Furthermore, advanced computational methods outperformed baseline algorithms across all models and increased the smoking status prediction performance by up to 12%. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that the current research method provides a valuable platform for researchers involved in online cessation interventions and furnishes a framework for on-going machine learning applications. The results may help practitioners design a sustainable real-time intervention via personalized post recommendations in OSCCs. A major limitation is that only users’ smoking status was detected. Future research might involve programming machine learning classification methods to identify abstinence duration using larger datasets.

Objectives: Users share valuable information through online smoking cessation communities (OSCCs), which help people maintain and improve smoking cessation behavior. Although OSCC utilization is common among smokers, limitations exist in identifying the smoking status of OSCC users (“quit” vs. “not quit”). Thus, the current study implicitly analyzed user-generated content (UGC) to identify individual users’ smoking status through advanced computational methods and real data from an OSCC. Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using data from 3,833 users of BcomeAnEX.org. Domain experts reviewed posts and comments to determine the authors’ smoking status when they wrote them. Seven types of feature sets were extracted from UGC (textual, Doc2Vec, social influence, domain-specific, author-based, and thread-based features, as well as adjacent posts). Results: Introducing novel features boosted smoking status recognition (quit vs. not quit) by 9.3% relative to the use of text-only post features. Furthermore, advanced computational methods outperformed baseline algorithms across all models and increased the smoking status prediction performance by up to 12%. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that the current research method provides a valuable platform for researchers involved in online cessation interventions and furnishes a framework for on-going machine learning applications. The results may help practitioners design a sustainable real-time intervention via personalized post recommendations in OSCCs. A major limitation is that only users’ smoking status was detected. Future research might involve programming machine learning classification methods to identify abstinence duration using larger datasets.

From 2013 to 2015, the National Institute of Health, Pakistan, received 1,270 blood samples of suspected dengue cases reported from inpatient and outpatient departments of various hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province. In this study, we determined the circulating dengue virus (DENV) serotypes using real-time reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR to understand the serotype-based epidemiology of DENV. All four serotypes (DENV-1 [6%], DENV-2 [33%], DENV-3 [47%], and DENV-4 [0.1%]) were found circulating during the study period. Our findings suggest the need for an active surveillance system coupled with the laboratory diagnosis, especially in the chronic endemic areas of the country. Public awareness programs are needed for effective control and prevention of outbreaks in the future.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Dengue/diagnosis/*epidemiology/virology ; Dengue Virus/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pakistan/epidemiology ; RNA, Viral/genetics/metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Serogroup ; Young Adult

A plethora of paraneoplastic syndromes have been reported as remote effects of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). However, there is a dearth of data pertaining to the association of this cancer with demyelinating neuropathies. Herein, we describe the case of a young woman diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins and prednisone did not improve her condition, and her neurological symptoms worsened. Subsequently, she was readmitted with exertional dyspnea, lightheadedness, malaise, and black stools. Colonoscopy revealed a necrotic mass in the ascending colon, which directly invaded the second part of the duodenum. Pathologic results confirmed the diagnosis of locally advanced CRC. Upon surgical resection of the cancer, her CIDP showed dramatic resolution without any additional therapy. Patients with CRC may develop CIDP as a type of paraneoplastic syndrome. Clinicians should remain cognizant of this potential association, as it is of paramount importance for the necessary holistic clinical management.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The Central California Valley has a diverse population with significant proportions of Hispanics and Asians. This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in healthy blood donors in the Valley. METHODS: A total of 217,738 voluntary blood donors were identified between 2006 and 2010 (36,795 first-time donors; 180,943 repeat donors). RESULTS: Among the first-time donors, the HBV and HCV prevalence was 0.28% and 0.52%, respectively. Higher HBV prevalence seen in Asians (3%) followed by Caucasians (0.05%), African Americans (0.15%), and Hispanics (0.05%). Hmong had a HBV prevalence of 7.63% with a peak prevalence of 8.76% among the 16- to 35-year-old age group. Highest HCV prevalence in Native Americans (2.8) followed by Caucasians (0.59%), Hispanics (0.45%), African Americans (0.38%), and Asians (0.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic disparities persist with regard to the prevalence of HBV and HCV in the Central California Valley. The reported prevalence may be an underestimate because our study enrolled healthy volunteer blood donors only. The development of aggressive public health measures to evaluate the true prevalence of HBV and HCV and to identify those in need of HBV and HCV prevention measures and therapy is critically important.
African Americans ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Donors ; California ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hispanic Americans ; Humans ; Indians, North American ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Tissue Donors

Objective: To profile the secondary metabolites and to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of hydroethanolic leaf extracts of Conocarpus lancifolius. Methods: The various hydroethanolic extracts of Conocarpus lancifolius leaf were prepared by ultrasonication assisted freeze-drying. Total phenolic contents, flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitions of leaf extracts were determined. The metabolite profiling was accomplished by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis. The antidiabetic assessment of the most potent extract was carried out by measuring the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect in the high fat diet-fed diabetic albino mice. The blood glucose level, haemoglobin, total cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) were determined. Results: The 60% ethanolic extract exhibited the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents of (349.39 ± 2.13) mg GAE/g dry extract and (116.95 ± 2.34) mg RE/g dry extracts, respectively, and the highest DPPH scavenging activity with an IC50 value of (32.87 ± 1.11) μg/mL. The IC50 values for α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitions were (38.64 ± 0.93) μg/mL and (44.80 ± 1.57) μg/mL, respectively. UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis confirmed the presence of gallic acid, ellagic acid, corilagin, kaempherol-3-O-rutinoside, caffeic acid derivative, isorhamnetin and galloyl derivatives in the 60% ethanolic extract. Plant extract at a dose of 450 mg/kg body weight reduced blood glucose level, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL, and increased haemoglobin in alloxan-induced diabetic mice, Conclusions: Conocarpus lancifolius leaves are proved as a good source of biologically functional metabolites and possess antidiabetic activity which may be further explored to treat diabetes.

Objective To evaluate NS1 antigen detection ELISA for the early laboratory diagnosis of dengue virus infection. Methods The present study was conducted to evaluate the overall positivity of NS1 antigen detection ELISA and its comparison with viral RNA detection via real time PCR and IgM antibodies detection by ELISA. Results A total of 1270 serum samples were tested 86% (1097/1270) were detected positive by one or more than one diagnostic test. Out of 1 270, 64% (807/1270) were positive by NS1 ELISA and 52% (662/1270), 51% (646/1270) were positive by real-time RT-PCR and IgM ELISA respectively. Conclusions NS1 antigen detection ELISA is highly suitable diagnostic tools and it also has great value for use in outbreak and epidemic situation.