Search

Introduction: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have a higher incidence of respiratory dysfunction than healthy children. Virtual reality breathing therapy is an assistive technology that is becoming popular in the rehabilitation of children with CP., Methods: This experimental study included a total of 32 children with spastic diplegic CP who were divided into two groups: the virtual reality breathing training (VRBT) group and the incentive spirometry (IST) group. Individuals classified as levels I to III on the gross motor function classification system (GMFCS) were recruited using the simple random sampling method., Result: The results of comparing the values of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), and the ratio of FVC/FEV1 showed a significant difference between groups. A significant difference was found in the VRBT group compared to the IST group, except for the peak expiratory flow (PEF) values, which showed a nonsignificant difference between the groups., Conclusion: There were significant differences in FVC and FEV1 between the VRBT and IST groups. It has been concluded that VRBT has additional benefits in improving pulmonary functions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, S et al.)

Today, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which is believed to be transmitted from bats to humans where the people of Wuhan city, China exposed to the wet animal market is an important international public health anxiety (Xiong et al., 2020). Although, several measures were undertaken to treat the diseases by various medical advancements and by a variety of treatment procedures, still the mortality is higher. Hence, social distancing has been implemented to control the current outburst of this pandemic which spreads through human to human transmission. As a consequence, there is a need to completely understand the route of invasions of the virus into the humans and the target receptors besides the other factors leading to the disease. Several vaccines and drugs have been developed with its own pros and cons. Many are still under the various phase of R&D and clinical trials. Here we highlight the possible entry molecules, pathogenesis, symptomatology, probable cure and the recently developed vaccines for the existing pandemic due to the COVID-19., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Inspite of various health warnings from Government and health organizations, Calcium carbide (CaC 2 ) is still the most commonly and widely used artificial fruit ripener, probably due to its easy availability, low cost and convenience of usage. Assessment of the hazardous effects of the CaC 2 applications for fruit ripening has been a matter of interest since long. Several in vivo studies have reported the toxicological outcomes such as histopathological changes in lungs and kidneys, haematological and immunological responses, upon exposure with CaC 2 . However, a well-controlled study investigating the effects of CaC 2 under in-vitro setup was lacking. Hence, this study has been conducted to explore the toxicity associated cellular events in L929 cells exposed with varying concentrations of CaC 2 (0.00312-0.2 μg/μl) for 24 h exposure time. A 23.14% reduction in cell viability was observed at the highest dose of CaC 2 . A similar trend in cellular stress levels at 0.2 μg/μl dose was observed in terms of rounded cellular morphology and decreased adherence as compared to the control. Furthermore, Annexin V FITC/PI staining and subsequent confocal imaging revealed a similar trend of CaC 2 induced apoptosis in a dose dependent manner. A gradual elevation of intracellular ROS has also been observed up to 0.025 μg/μl dose. Thus, the study concludes that short term CaC 2 exposure may increase the cellular oxidative stress and disturb the redox balance of the cell which then undergoes apoptosis. The study concludes that the exposure of CaC 2 can be associated with severe diseases and suggests to stop the uses of CaC 2 as fruit ripening agent.