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Purpose: To evaluate the association between first trimester (≤ 12 weeks gestation) subchorionic hemorrhage (SCH), and maternal and neonatal outcomes in women who conceived with the help of assisted reproductive technique (ART). Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for observational studies that specifically focused on women who achieved pregnancy via ART and investigated the relationship between early pregnancy (within 12 weeks of gestation) SCH and maternal and neonatal outcomes. Only studies with singleton pregnancies and reporting data on the comparator group (women without SCH) were included. Primary outcomes of interest included incidences of early (within 20 weeks of gestation) pregnancy loss, preterm delivery, caesarean section, and live birth rates. Pooled effect sizes were reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Nine studies were included. All studies had a cohort design. In all studies, the primary assisted reproduction technique used was in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Compared to pregnancies without SCH, women with diagnosed early pregnancy SCH have a similar risk of preterm birth (< 37 weeks) (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.83, 1.22), low birth weight (< 2500 g) (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.59, 1.73) and fetal growth restriction (OR 1.57, 95% CI 0.62, 4.02). The gestational age (in weeks) (weighted mean difference (WMD) − 0.06, 95% CI − 0.18, 0.06) and the birth weight (in grams) (WMD − 16.5, 95% CI − 62.9, 29.8) were also similar in the two groups. The odds of early pregnancy loss (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.97, 2.01), live birth (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.55, 1.08) and caesarean delivery (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.81, 1.16) were statistically similar in both groups. The risk of maternal adverse outcomes such as gestational diabetes (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.74, 1.29), hypertensive disorder (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.63, 1.43), premature rupture of membranes (PROM) (OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.90, 2.05) and placental abruption (OR 2.44, 95% CI 0.57, 10.5) was also similar in both the groups. There was no evidence of publication bias. Conclusion: The findings suggest that SCH may not significantly increase the risk of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes in pregnancies conceived through ART, particularly IVF. Trial registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42024533996 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Thyroid disorders and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are the most common endocrine conditions in the general population. PCOS is characterised by various menstrual and hormonal irregularities culminating in anovulation, infertility, and hyperandrogenism. PCOS is viewed as a heterogeneous disorder of multifactorial aetiology also associated with increased metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors. Both PCOD and thyroid dysfunction have multiple common presentations and both have profound effect on fertility and reproductive biology. In patients with PCOS, thyroid dysfunction can worsen the existing insulin resistance, leading to higher levels of androgens and cardiovascular disorders. AIM To determine the association between thyroid function profile of patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and to compare it with healthy women. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a cross-sectional study on 80 patients with PCOS at Sri Siddartha medical centre, over a period of 6 months. In this study, PCOS was diagnosed based on Rotterdam criteria and patient details regarding history, physical examination and thyroid profile were obtained. In all these patients, thyroid profile, age, BMI, W/H ratio, Clinical hirsutism and Menstrual abnormalities were studied. RESULTS PCOS was more common in the age group of 26-30 years. The women in group P were found to have a higher BMI as compared to women in Group H, and the difference was found to be statistically significant (p=0.0065). The mean TSH level in PCOS was found to be higher than Non PCOS, and the difference was found to be statistically significant (p<0.001).20 % of PCOS patients diagnosed to have hypothyroidism, 15% patients found to have Sub-clinical hypothyroidism and rest 80 % were euthyroid. 63% of PCOS patients with hypothyroidism presented with complaints of irregular menstrual cycle, 26% with complaints of infertility and 11% with other complaints. CONCLUSION The prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism was found to be significantly high in women with PCOS. Periodic testing can reduce the likelihood of additional health issues and improve overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the utility of the transepidermal water loss (TEWL) to stratum corneum hydration (SCH) ratio in atopic dermatitis (AD). The study compares the performance of the TEWL:SCH ratio to TEWL and SCH alone in differentiating nonlesional skin in AD from healthy controls, differentiating disease severity in nonlesional AD skin, and identifying changes after emollient treatment in nonlesional AD skin. The results show that TEWL alone is the best indicator for distinguishing AD from controls and disease severity, while the TEWL:SCH ratio may be more sensitive to changes after emollient use. The study suggests that the TEWL:SCH ratio could be a useful measure in future dermatology trials. [Extracted from the article]

Background & Objectives: Bleeding per vaginum in the first trimester occurs in 15-25 % of all pregnancies with 50% pregnancy loss. The significance of bleeding in early pregnancy may vary in presentation from simple implantation bleeding to life threatening emergency like ectopic or molar pregnancy. This bleeding might be associated with subchorionic hemorrhage or hematoma which in turn will effect the maternal and perinatal outcome. To identify the cause of vaginal bleeding in first trimester and to evaluate the maternal and perinatal outcome of first trimester bleeding per vaginum; To discuss the role of ultrasound in pregnancy outcome of first trimester bleeding per vaginum. Methods: This is a Prospective observational study which included obstetric cases with history of bleeding per vaginum in first trimester of pregnancy, who give informed consent for the study during the period of May 2022 to March 2023, who were selected by systematic randomization method. A detailed history was taken, clinical examination including complete general physical examination and local examination was done to arrive at a provisional clinical diagnosis which followed by an ultrasound examination. Maternal and perinatal outcome was then assessed in terms of the maternal and perinatal outcome. Results: In 95 cases of first trimester bleeding, there were 16 first trimester miscarriage, 4 second trimester miscarriage and 75 pregnancies proceeded to the period of viability. Preterm births were 13, full term were 62. Out of all, 6 underwent caesarean section and 56 patients delivered vaginally, 3 instrumental deliveries and 1 breech extraction. Total of 1 perinatal mortality due to birth asphyxia. Conclusion: To conclude that early diagnosis, bed rest and regular antenatal follow-up will help in continuing the pregnancy till term with good maternal and fetal outcome. Ultrasound being a sensitive, cost effective and most important non-invasive diagnostic tool, helped in confirming the clinical diagnosis and instituting appropriate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the spontaneous course of SCH and to identify the risk factors, which enhances the occurrence of overt hypothyroidism (OH). Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted at Department of General medicine for 1.5 years. A total of 50 patients were recruited in this study. Results: Mean ± SD age, BMI and WC were 42.28±12.48 years, 26.49±4.82 kg/m2 and 94.12±19.81 CM, respectively. There was no significant age, BMI and WC difference between male and females' group. Central obesity was present in 84%, 80% and 85.71% all, males and females respectively and there was no significant difference between males and females. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was present in 30%, 53.34% and 20% all, males and females respectively. Anti-TPO antibody was present in 34%, 20% and 42.85% all, males and females respectively. At one-year follow up examination 11 (18.97%) patients progressed to OH (defined as TSH ≥10 IU/L). Rate of progression was significantly higher in anti-TPO positive group as compared to negative (p<0.023). Conclusion: In a cohort of 50 patients followed for one year only the presence of anti-TPO antibody was predictive of OH. The initial risk stratification can identify patients with SCH at greatest risk for progression to OH in which treatment is mandatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siderocalin/Lipocalin 2/Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin/24p3 is an innate immune system protein with bacteriostatic activity, acting by tightly binding and sequestering diverse catecholate and mixed-type ferric siderophores from enteric bacteria and mycobacteria. Bacterial virulence achieved through siderophore modifications, or utilization of alternate siderophores, can be explained by evasion of Siderocalin binding. Siderocalin has also been implicated in a wide variety of disease processes, though often in seemingly contradictory ways, and has been proposed to bind to a broader array of ligands beyond siderophores. Using structural, directed mutational, and binding studies, we have sought to rigorously test, and fully elucidate, the Siderocalin recognition mechanism. Several proposed ligands fail to meet rigorous binding criteria, including the bacterial siderophore pyochelin, the iron-chelating catecholamine hormone norepinephrine, and the bacterial second messenger cyclic diguanylate monophosphate. While possessing a remarkably rigid structure, in principle simplifying analyses of ligand recognition, understanding Scn recognition is complicated by the observed conformational and stoichiometric plasticity, and instability, of its bona fide siderophore ligands. Since the role of Siderocalin at the early host/pathogen interface is to compete for bacterial ferric siderophores, we also analyzed how bacterial siderophore binding proteins and enzymes alternately recognize siderophores that efficiently bind to, or evade, Siderocalin sequestration - including determining the crystal structure of Bacillus cereus YfiY bound to schizokinen. These studies combine to refine the potential physiological functions of Siderocalin by defining its multiplexed recognition mechanism.

Context: Adult studies have shown the association of subclinical hypothyroid (SCH) with various cardiovascular dysfunction, which indicates SCH may be a potentially modifiable risk factor of CV disease and mortality. However, there is still controversy about the association of cardiovascular dysfunction in children with SCH. Epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is a reliable and sensitive marker of cardiovascular risk and has become an emerging modality to predict CV risks. Aims: To measure the EFT in children with subclinical hypothyroidism and compare with healthy children. To find its correlation with subclinical atherosclerosis. To compare EFT between TPO positive and TPO negative subclinical hypothyroid patients. Materials and Methods: Children of subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >5 μIU/ml with normal FT3, FT4, and age and sex matched control were included as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. Clinical data was collected from all study subjects. Thyroid function tests including FT3, FT4 and TSH, TPO antibody, fasting insulin, hsCRP, Lp(a), USG neck for carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), USG brachial artery for flow mediated dilation (FMD) and echocardiography for epicardial fat thickness (EFT) were done in all patients. Results: A total 42 number of SCH and 50 age and sex matched controls were recruited and screened for various parameters of subclinical atherosclerosis. EFT was significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (6.27 mm vs 4.54 mm) with P value < 0.001. Brachial FMD was significantly lower in cases than the cohort (4.5% vs 8.93%, P < 0.001). Difference in CIMT was not significant amongst the cases and controls. EFT failed to correlate with the level of TSH though it had significant positive correlation with hsCRP. The patients who were TPO positive, had higher fasting insulin, HOMAIR, hsCRP, Lp(a) than those who were TPO negative. Conclusion: Results of this study show the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in children with SCH regardless of the aetiologies. The patients of Hashimoto thyroiditis had significantly high insulin resistance and inflammation than the SCH patients of other aetiologies.

Introduction: Moisturizers play an essential role in maintaining the integrity of the skin barrier by increasing stratum corneum hydration (SCH) and reducing transepidermal water loss (TEWL). According to dermatology and allergy guidelines, moisturizers should be applied on the skin within 3 min after bathing or showering. However, there is very little evidence supporting this recommendation. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of immediate and delayed moisturizing after bathing/washing on the improvement of SCH and TEWL. Methods: This was a crossover study of 60 healthy Vietnamese volunteers aged 18–25 years. In each subject, SCH and TEWL levels were measured at three areas: non‐moisturized, immediate moisturizing after washing, and delayed moisturizing at 30 min after washing. Results: In non‐moisturized skin, SCH and TEWL levels were significantly different from the baseline at 60 min after washing, while significantly decreased TEWL levels were observed immediately after moisturizing. In addition, moisturized skin had significantly higher SCH and lower TEWL levels compared with non‐moisturized areas at every time point (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the percentage changes of SCH and TEWL levels from baseline did not differ between immediately and delayed moisturized areas. Conclusions: Tested moisturizer helped increase SCH and decrease TEWL; however, there was no difference in moisturizing effectiveness between immediate and delayed moisturizing in healthy skin. The recommendation of immediate application of moisturizers after bathing/washing should be reconsidered, and more studies are needed to establish a stronger recommendation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Adult studies have shown the association of subclinical hypothyroid (SCH) with various cardiovascular dysfunction, which indicates SCH may be a potentially modifiable risk factor of CV disease and mortality. However, there is still controversy about the association of cardiovascular dysfunction in children with SCH. Epicardial fat thickness(EFT) is a reliable and sensitive marker of cardiovascular risk and has become an emerging modality to predict CV risks. Aims: To measure the EFT in children with subclinical hypothyroidism and compare with healthy children. To find its correlation with subclinical atherosclerosis. To compare EFT between TPO positive and TPO negative subclinical hypothyroid patients. Materials and Methods: Children of subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >5 µIU/ml with normal FT3, FT4, and age and sex matched control were included as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. Clinical data was collected from all study subjects. Thyroid function tests including FT3, FT4 and TSH, TPO antibody, fasting insulin, hsCRP, Lp(a), USG neck for carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), USG brachial artery for flow mediated dilation (FMD) and echocardiography for epicardial fat thickness (EFT) were done in all patients. Results: A total 42 number of SCH and 50 age and sex matched controls were recruited and screened for various parameters of subclinical atherosclerosis. EFT was significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (6.27 mm vs 4.54 mm) with P value < 0.001. Brachial FMD was significantly lower in cases than the cohort (4.5% vs 8.93%, P < 0.001). Difference in CIMT was not significant amongst the cases and controls. EFT failed to correlate with the level of TSH though it had significant positive correlation with hsCRP. The patients who were TPO positive, had higher fasting insulin, HOMAIR, hsCRP, Lp(a) than those who were TPO negative. Conclusion: Results of this study show the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in children with SCH regardless of the aetiologies. The patients of Hashimoto thyroiditis had significantly high insulin resistance and inflammation than the SCH patients of other aetiologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To assess the relationship between first-trimester subchorionic hematoma (SCH) size and preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, we included patients with a singleton intrauterine pregnancy between 5 and 14 gestational weeks. After analyzing the 1,440 pregnant women who applied for inclusion in the study based on vaginal bleeding during their first trimester, we found that 228 had SCH. After excluding those who had miscarried before viability and who had complicated pregnancies, 186 remained who were included in the final analysis. The SCH group was subdivided into three groups according to hematoma size as follows: mild (n: 62), moderate (n: 56), and severe SCH (n: 68). The severity of SCH was calculated according to the ratio of the gestational sac length to the linear length of the bleeding area. Results: Maternal demographic characteristics were similar among the groups. The gestational age at delivery was significantly lower in the severe SCH group than in the other groups. The fetal birth weight was significantly lower in the severe SCH group than in the other groups. PPROM rates were significantly higher in the severe SCH compared to mild SCH, moderate SCH and control group. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the presence of a first-trimester mild or moderate SCH in singleton pregnancies is not associated PPROM, but that severe SCH is associated with PPROM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts were made to analyze 5807 citations of Webology published during 2004 to 2019. The citations were classified on the basis of type of material which clearly indicates that periodicals and web resources were the most popular type of resources used by the authors for writing research papers. The study found that out of 5807 citations 2580 citations were authored by the single author and single authorship pattern was found as the most popular authorship pattern among the authors. The study founds the two oldest citations were from the books which were published before 1900. The findings of the study show the notable change in the use of type of resources being used for writing the research papers. The results of the study shoes that use the of periodicals and web resources for writing research papers was increased from 1951 and onward. The study also presented the list of the twenty five highly cited journals, ten highly cited authors, fifteen highly cited web links and five highly cited books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive dysfunction is a common clinical feature of mental disorders. A number of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies have shown reduced prefrontal activation during the verbal fluency task (VFT) in schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, no studies have examined and compared the brain activation patterns during the Tower of London (TOL), which is another classic, high-sensitivity executive function testing tool, in these two serious mental disorders. This study aimed to assess the characteristics of brain activation during the two different cognitive tasks in SZ and MDD patients.Methods: This study recruited 30 patients with SZ, 30 patients with MDD, and 30 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs). The hemodynamic changes of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were measured using 32-channel fNIRS during performance of the TOL task and VFT task.Results: SZ patients showed poorer VFT performance than MDD patients and HCs, and the two patient groups showed poorer TOL performance than HCs. Compared to HCs, both of the patient groups exhibited a significant decreased activation in the extensive PFC. Particularly in certain channels in the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), SZ patients exhibited significantly decreased hemodynamic changes than the MDD patients.Conclusions: Patients with SZ and MDD have different levels of impairment in different cognitive domains and different patterns of brain activation during the two cognitive tasks. Further research is needed to determine the use of fNIRS for clinical evaluation and diagnosis.

Background: Cognitive dysfunction is a common clinical feature of mental disorders. A number of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies have shown reduced prefrontal activation during the verbal fluency task (VFT) in schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, no studies have examined and compared the brain activation patterns during the Tower of London (TOL), which is another classic, high-sensitivity executive function testing tool, in these two serious mental disorders. This study aimed to assess the characteristics of brain activation during the two different cognitive tasks in SZ and MDD patients. Methods: This study recruited 30 patients with SZ, 30 patients with MDD, and 30 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs). The hemodynamic changes of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were measured using 32-channel fNIRS during performance of the TOL task and VFT task. Results: SZ patients showed poorer VFT performance than MDD patients and HCs, and the two patient groups showed poorer TOL performance than HCs. Compared to HCs, both of the patient groups exhibited a significant decreased activation in the extensive PFC. Particularly in certain channels in the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), SZ patients exhibited significantly decreased hemodynamic changes than the MDD patients. Conclusions: Patients with SZ and MDD have different levels of impairment in different cognitive domains and different patterns of brain activation during the two cognitive tasks. Further research is needed to determine the use of fNIRS for clinical evaluation and diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transmission of safety applications in VANET is clearly the top concern. However, the non-safety applications, which improve the quality of experience, as well as the efficiency of the traffic, also need to be paid more attention. In VANET, the safety applications are transmitted in control channel interval and the non-safety applications can be transmitted only in service channel interval. In this paper, we propose a priority-based multichannel MAC to support the non-safety applications in service channel interval in Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication with the presence of roadside unit. The novel MAC also allocates service channel according to the priority and divides the vehicles, which have the same required service channel, into four priority groups to enhance the EDCA mechanism. We use the mathematical model and the simulation for evaluating the performance under the influence of velocity with a different number of vehicles in the network.

Wireless Sensor Network is easy to configure and deployment of network is also simple. It is very useful in gathering the information. As sensor device are small in size and it is operated by the battery which once die is not rechargeable, so minimizing energy consumption and node death rate is challenging issues in WSN. Once node die it can’t take part in information gathering which is not good for the overall system performance. Making cluster is a way to reduce the energy consumption in WSN by making cluster head which only communicate with base station and rest of the node communicate with cluster head, because distance is major factor for energy consumption in transmission of data. Wireless Sensor Network need more improvement and hence proposed intra and inter-cluster communication with sleep/active rate of node in WSN. Author establish a tradeoff between active node and energy consumption because if more node in sleep state then for achieving the target packet failure probability or error free communication all node take more energy take part in Sub-cluster head communication or more hop-distance communication with more energy. Result in terms of network life time, energy consumption, node decay rate and communication overhead shows that presented work performed well when compare with existing technique.

In this article we prove three main theorems: (1) guessing models are internally unbounded, (2) for any regular cardinal κ ≥ ω2, ISP(κ) implies that SCH holds above κ, and (3) forcing posets which have the ω1- approximation property also have the countable covering property. These results solve open problems of Viale [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 163 (2012), no. 11, 1660-1678] and Hachtman and Sinapova [J. Symb. Log. 84 (2019), no. 2, 713-725]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the push towards control and elimination of soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis in low- and middle-income countries, there is a need to develop alternative diagnostic assays that complement the current in-country resources, preferably at a lower cost. Here, we describe a novel high-resolution melt (HRM) curve assay with six PCR primer pairs, designed to sub-regions of the nuclear ribosomal locus. Used within a single reaction and dye detection channel, they are able to discriminate Ancylostoma duodenale , Necator americanus , Strongyloides stercoralis , Ascaris lumbricoides , Trichuris trichiuria and Schistosoma spp. by HRM curve analysis. Here we describe the primers and the results of a pilot assessment whereby the HRM assay was tested against a selection of archived fecal samples from Ghanaian children as characterized by Kato–Katz and real-time PCR analysis with species-specific TaqMan hydrolysis probes. The resulting sensitivity and specificity of the HRM was 80 and 98.6% respectively. We judge the assay to be appropriate in modestly equipped and resourced laboratories. This method provides a potentially cheaper alternative to the TaqMan method for laboratories in lower resource settings. However, the assay requires a more extensive assessment as the samples used were not representative of all target organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hadoop on datacentre is a popular analytical platform for enterprises. Cloud vendors host Hadoop clusters on the datacentre to provide high performance analytical computing facilities to its customers, who demand a parallel programming model to deal with huge data. Effective cost/time management and ingenious resource consumption among the concurrent users, must be the primary concern without which the key aspiration behind high performance cloud computing would suffer. Workflows portray such high performance applications in terms of individual jobs and dependencies between them. Workflows can be scheduled on virtual machines (VMs) in datacentre to make best possible use of resources. In the authors' earlier work, a mechanism to pack and execute the customer jobs as workflows on Hadoop platform was proposed which minimises the VM cost and also executes the workflow jobs within deadline. In this work, the authors try to optimise certain other parameters such as load on cloud, response time for workflows, resource usage effectiveness by applying soft computing methods. Stochastic hill climbing (SCH) is a soft computing approach used to solve many optimisation problems. In this study, they have employed the SHC approach to schedule workflow jobs to VMs and thereby optimise the above mentioned multiple parameters in cloud datacentre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless Sensor Network is easy to configure and deployment of network is also simple. It is very useful in gathering the information. As sensor device are small in size and it is operated by the battery which once die is not rechargeable, so minimizing energy consumption and node death rate is challenging issues in WSN. Once node die it can't take part in information gathering which is not good for the overall system performance. Making cluster is a way to reduce the energy consumption in WSN by making cluster head which only communicate with base station and rest of the node communicate with cluster head, because distance is major factor for energy consumption in transmission of data. Wireless Sensor Network need more improvement and hence proposed intra and inter-cluster communication with sleep/active rate of node in WSN. Author establish a tradeoff between active node and energy consumption because if more node in sleep state then for achieving the target packet failure probability or error free communication all node take more energy take part in Sub-cluster head communication or more hop-distance communication with more energy. Result in terms of network life time, energy consumption, node decay rate and communication overhead shows that presented work performed well when compare with existing technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing amount of evidence suggesting a relationship between depression and subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), the exact mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of plasma Nesfatin-1 levels and dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axes in the comorbidity of depression and SCH. Dysfunctions of the HPA and HPT axes were detected by measuring plasma corticosterone and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations, respectively. Subjects in the patient group were selected from patients hospitalized at the Anhui Mental Health Center, and subjects in the control group were recruited from healthy volunteers. Healthy control subjects were matched to the patients in terms of weight and body mass index. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was administered to both the groups. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to measure plasma Nesfatin-1, corticosterone, and TSH levels. A radioimmunoassay kit was used for the measurement of the plasma-free triiodothyronine and plasma-free thyroxine. The results showed that the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores and average Nesfatin-1, corticosterone, and TSH levels were significantly higher in depressed patients with SCH than in the control group. Moreover, positive relationships were observed between Nesfatin-1 levels and the concentrations of corticosterone (r=0.626, P<0.001) and TSH (r=0.229, P=0.036) in depressed patients with SCH. These findings indicate that Nesfatin-1 is involved in the comor- bidity of depression and SCH, and the mechanism underlying this involvement might be related to the dysfunction of the HPA and HPT axes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionospheric tomography is a very cost-effective method which is used frequently to modeling of electron density distributions. In this paper, residual minimization training neural network (RMTNN) is used in voxel based ionospheric tomography. Due to the use of wavelet neural network (WNN) with back-propagation (BP) algorithm in RMTNN method, the new method is named modified RMTNN (MRMTNN). To train the WNN with BP algorithm, two cost functions is defined: total and vertical cost functions. Using minimization of cost functions, temporal and spatial ionospheric variations is studied. The GPS measurements of the international GNSS service (IGS) in the central Europe have been used for constructing a 3-D image of the electron density. Three days (2009.04.15, 2011.07.20 and 2013.06.01) with different solar activity index is used for the processing. To validate and better assess reliability of the proposed method, 4 ionosonde and 3 testing stations have been used. Also the results of MRMTNN has been compared to that of the RMTNN method, international reference ionosphere model 2012 (IRI-2012) and spherical cap harmonic (SCH) method as a local ionospheric model. The comparison of MRMTNN results with RMTNN, IRI-2012 and SCH models shows that the root mean square error (RMSE) and standard deviation of the proposed approach are superior to those of the traditional method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spindle cell hemangioma (SCH) is an exceptionally uncommon vascular neoplasm, primarily manifesting on the extremities. This article delves into a singular case of a 20-year-old female presenting with erythema and discomfort in the left palm, diagnosed with SCH. Post-consultation with a dermatologic neoplasm consortium, she underwent a comprehensive excision, followed by a bi-phasic skin graft. Despite non-clear surgical perimeters, the patient, five years post-procedure, has experienced neither re-emergence nor functional encumbrance. The discussion emphasizes the notable recurrence propensity of SCH, with a historical recurrence rate surpassing 50%, and underscores the importance of an interdisciplinary strategy, enduring surveillance, and bespoke therapeutic decisions for management. The paper concludes by advocating for augmented research and expansive case compilations to enhance therapeutic paradigms for such atypical vascular lesions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Yamazaki et al.)

Background:To evaluate the possible relationship between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and metabolic syndrome (MS) and the response to clomiphene citrate (CC) stimulation in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods:One hundred and ninety-six women with PCOS were divided into two groups: (1) the SCH group with 92 patients; (2) the euthyroid (EU) group with 104 patients. Physical characteristics and metabolic parameters as well as the reaction to CC stimulating test were compared between these two groups. Results:(1) In the SCH group, significantly higher body mass index, Ferriman–Gallwey score, serum triglyceride, insulin and glucose of oral glucose tolerance test, homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and significantly lower serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was observed in comparison with those in the EU group (p < 0.05). (2) The prevalence of CC resistance (30.4%), IR (43.5%) and MS (34.8%) in the SCH group was significantly higher than that in the EU group (p< 0.05). Conclusions:SCH was found associated with IR, MS and CC resistance in women with PCOS. PCOS patients with SCH may have a poorer treatment response to ovulation induction with CC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism characterised by elevated level of total cholesterol, is controversial. Females are more affected by subclinical hypothyroidism comparing to males. Material & Methods: Total 131 both male & female were enrolled for the study compared with 61 healthy controls. Body mass index, serum concentration of TSH and FT4 and Total cholesterol was measured. Thyroid profile of the participants was estimated by ELISA. Total cholesterol (TC) was measured by CHOD-POD method. Results: SCH patients were characterised by higher body mass index and elevated level of total cholesterol compared to control group (<0.01). Females with SCH were having higher BMI (<0.01) and higher total cholesterol (<0.05) when compared with male of SCH. TSH was positively correlated with TC in male group of SCH (r=0.32, p= <0.05) as well as female group of SCH(r=0.34, p=<0.05). Conclusion: Hypercholesterolemia was associated with subclinical hypothyroidism. Females with SCH were characterised by higher risk of hypercholesterolemia comparing to males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides definitions and necessary concepts for synchronization channel decoding of GSM radio interface (Um) to obtain the base station identity code (BSIC) and the frame number (FN). These data are essentials for the protocol analyzer synchronization process with a Base Transceiver Station (BTS). This research is a piece of a big developing solution to achieve this objective. It was made a study and analysis of the physical layer protocols described in the GSM Standards. Contribution of this research was obtained consistent and comprehensive documentation of GSM physical layer protocols which was scattered in the literature to our scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in VLSI and Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEM) devices have led to the development of Wireless Sensor Networks, where energy awareness is an essential consideration. Many new protocols have been developed in order to extend the network lifetime by saving some battery power. However, most of the attention has given to the routing protocols as it differs depending on the Network application and architecture. Typically, sensors are deployed in a hazardous environment to gather the data periodically. During the data transmission, they consume considerable amount of energy. However, sensor nodes are constrained with battery power and bandwidth. So, there is a limitation on the lifetime of the battery power and it is a challenging issue. Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) is the most famous hierarchical routing protocol, where the cluster head is selected randomly based on a threshold value and only cluster heads can send the information to the base station (BS). So, research on energy saving routings for static Wireless Sensor Networks that maximizes the network life time is well addressed in the literature. But, there is a lack of routing protocols for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks in the existing literature. So, in this paper, attempt has been made to enhance the performance of LEACH protocol for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks by introducing mobility at the base station. Simulation result shows that our proposed protocol maximizes the network lifetime 30%-40% over LEACH protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine) as an empathogenic drug causes neurotoxicity although the mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. The A2a adenosine receptor modulates the reinforcement efficacy and neurotoxicity of MDMA. A2a receptor activation inhibits Nuclear Factor-Kappa B (NF-κB) activation and nuclear translocation by a known mechanism. In the present study, we aimed to compare the NF-κB activity level in rat hippocampus between two doses of MDMA exposure (10 and 20 mg /kg) using either A2aR agonist (CGS) or A2aR antagonist (SCH). Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to MDMA followed by intraperitoneal CGS (0.03 mg/kg) or SCH (0.03 mg/kg) injection. The hippocampi were then removed for western blot and RTPCR analyses. Administration of MDMA dose-dependently increased the expression of NF-κB both at mRNA and protein levels. We also found that administration of CGS following MDMA significantly increased the NF-κB expression especially in MDMA 20 +CGS group. By contrast, administration of the A2a-R antagonist SCH resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in NF-κB mRNA and protein. Our study results revealed that MDMA has powerful detrimental effects on expression of NF-κB in a dose-dependent manner. On the other hand, co-administration of A2a agonist (CGS) can protect against MDMA neurotoxic effects by increasing NF-κB expression levels; suggesting a potential application for protection against the neurotoxic effects observed in MDMA users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This was a randomized, parallel, and placebo-controlled study. Forty subjects were divided into a test group and a placebo group. The study was focused on the potential effects of a mixture of Schisandra fruit extract and sesamin (hereinafter called 'SCH') in the subjects with borderline high levels (40-60 U/L) of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Twenty subjects taking SCH (four tablets per day) and 20 subjects taking a placebo (four tablets per day) were studied. The effects of SCH on ALT, AST, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, free radical levels, total antioxidant status, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and the lag time for low-density lipoprotein oxidation were determined. The total test period was 5 months. Intervention of SCH clearly reduced the levels of ALT and AST, but it made no change in the total bilirubin and direct bilirubin. Intake of SCH also greatly increased the antioxidant capacity and decreased the values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, total free radicals, and superoxide anion radicals in the plasma. The activities of glutathione peroxidase and reductase in the erythrocytes were significantly increased. In addition, the lag time for low-density lipoprotein oxidation, an inflammatory marker, was evidently increased. Fatty liver was found to have been significantly improved in this study. SCH proved to have the effects of antioxidation and improving liver function. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To replicate previous association between TAAR6 and schizophrenia, including our own finding in the Irish Study of High Density Schizophrenia Families (ISHDSF) sample, we genotyped 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Irish Case-Control Study of Schizophrenia (ICCSS) sample. Only rs9389020 provided nominal evidence for association (p <0.0228), which did not withstand the permutation testing (p <0.2196). The combined odds ratio from ISHDSF and ICCSS samples [OR (95%CI)=1.0564 (1.0078-1.1074); p =0.02], while nominally significant, did not survive correction for multiple testing. Here we demonstrate that TAAR6 is not associated with schizophrenia in the ICCSS sample. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present some results which suggest that the Singular Cardinals Hypothesis follows from the Proper Forcing Axiom. What will be proved is that a form of simultaneous reflection follows from the Set Mapping Reflection Principle, a consequence of PFA. While the results fall short of showing that MRP implies SCH, it will be shown that MRP implies that if SCH fails first at then every stationary subset of reflects. It will also be demonstrated that MRP always fails in a generic extension by Prikry forcing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We show that the Proper Forcing Axiom implies the Singular Cardinal Hypothesis. The proof uses the reflection principle MRP introduced by Moore in [11]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within a tertiary system entrepreneurs frequently must choose between places that command the largest local tributary population and places that possess the most desirable collection of complementary service activities. When command of tributary population is chosen over functional complementarity, the central place system increasingly assumes the clustering of activities in centers of a Läsch-like system and diverges from those to be expected in a Christaller-like system. From 1960 to 1970 some activities in central Iowa were becoming more closely associated with other activities, but others were becoming more independent. Overall. there were more departures from Christallcr's conditional order of entry principle at the end of this ten-year period than at the beginning. Seven functions in southern Minnesota from 1930 through 1970 showed departures from an order of entry scale that could be explained in terms of tributary areas which were larger than average for activities in places which lacked complementary activities, and smaller than average for activities absent from places which had a full complement of supporting activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are common endocrinological abnormalities associated with pregnancy. The presence of a raised anti-thyroperoxidase (anti-TPO) antibody titer increases the risk of progression of subclinical hypothyroidism to overt hypothyroidism. Subclinical hypothyroidism and GDM are known to affect maternal and fetal outcomes adversely. A few studies have shown an increased risk of GDM with autoimmune hypothyroidism. However, data regarding this association between GDM, SCH, and anti-TPO Ab are scarce. This study aimed to find the prevalence of autoimmune subclinical hypothyroidism and its association with GDM in pregnancy. Materials and methods In a cross-sectional study, 382 pregnant women at their first antenatal checkup (ANC) were enrolled in the study. Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free T4 (FT4), anti-TPO Ab, and the 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were evaluated. The results obtained were analyzed in Systat Version 13.2 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Observations Results showed an SCH prevalence of 37.69% with a raised anti-TPO Ab titer in 49.31% of the diagnosed SCH cases, pointing towards an autoimmune etiology. Our study revealed a GDM prevalence of 12.04%. Out of the 46 GDM cases, 16 were found to have SCH and 3 cases had raised anti-TPO Ab titers. In our study, 27.73% of euthyroid pregnant women had a raised anti-TPO Ab titer. Our study revealed no significant association between GDM, SCH, and raised anti-TPO Ab titer. Conclusion Anti-TPO antibody subsequently leads to hypothyroxinemia, for which it is necessary that cases with high titer of anti-TPO antibody though euthyroid should be meticulously followed up and screened for to detect development of hypothyroidism or SCH, particularly in future pregnancies. However, GDM prevalence was at par with the national figure, but with no significant association of SCH and a high anti-TPO ab titer was found with GDM in our study. Further studies with a larger cohort may establish a causal association between the two most common endocrinological disorders observed in pregnancy., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2022, Dash et al.)

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation. It may also influence thyroid hormones. Increasing evidence suggests that PCOS is linked with an increased prevalence of thyroid diseases such as nodular goiter, autoimmune thyroiditis, and subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). Due to very limited global and regional data related to the prevalence of SCH in women with PCOS, we will determine the association between the two., Methods: This case-control study was conducted in the endocrinology ward of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan from March 2020 to April 2021. We enrolled 200 females between the ages of 18 and 30 years, with documented evidence of PCOS in the study. Further 200 females without PCOS were enrolled as the case group. After demographics were noted, blood was drawn from their cubital vein via phlebotomy and sent to the laboratory to assess for thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, and free triiodothyronine., Results: SCH was found to be more prevalent in participant with PCOS compared to participants without PCOS (43.5% vs. 20.5%; p-value: <0.00001). Increased weight (65.12 ± 5.62 kg vs. 60.02 ± 4.41 kg; p-value: <0.0001) and BMI (25.12 ± 2.51 kg/m 2 vs. 22.51 ± 2.01 kg/m 2 ; p-value: <0.0001) was significantly more in participants with PCOS compared to participants without PCOS., Conclusion: Based on our findings, this study demonstrated the strong association of SCH in women with PCOS as compared to their normal counterparts. Therefore, the clinical implication is to maintain a high index of suspicion for signs and symptoms of SCH, and awareness is needed for such women to enhance the reproductive and clinical pregnancy outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2021, Raj et al.)

Introduction: Thyroid hormone affects lipid metabolism. Various studies have shown a contradictory relationship between lipid profile (LP) and subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). Currently, there is a scarcity of regional data on the relationship between LP and SCH., Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted in the internal medicine and cardiology units of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan from September 2019 to March 2021. A total of 900 participants, of either gender and between the ages of 40 to 70 years, were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were sent to the laboratory to determine lipid and thyroid parameters. Participants were divided into two groups based on the presence of SCH., Results: In our study, 179 (19.8%) participants had SCH. Total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was significantly higher in participants with SCH compared to participants without SCH (228.41 ± 35.21 mg/dL vs. 171.21 ± 30.21 mg/dL; p-value: <0.00001) and (131.65 ± 28.22 mg/dL vs. 89.26 ± 18.52 mg/dL; p-value: <0.0001), respectively., Conclusion: In conclusion, this study found an increased incidence of dyslipidemias in patients with SCH. It is associated with elevated TC and LDL levels, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and mortality., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2021, Ejaz et al.)