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There is a dearth of psychological interventions for self-harm that have been tested and found acceptable by youth in low- and middle income countries. ĀTMAN (Sanskrit word meaning "self" or "self-existent essence") is one such contextually adapted psychological intervention developed in India. It has three key elements; problem-solving, emotion regulation, and social network strengthening skills. We delivered ATMAN in a series of young people who self-harm to optimize the content, structure and delivery mechanisms, and to assess their experiences of therapy and engagement. ATMAN was delivered sequentially by a psychiatrist and non-specialist counselor in 16 participants between 14 to 24 years who presented to a tertiary level public hospital in Mumbai with self-harm. Quantitative measurement tools included Beck's Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSI), the Patient Health Questionnaire −9 (PHQ-9), Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation, and session feedback form. Qualitative tools included PSYCHLOPS and exit interviews. Eight female and four male participants completed therapy with a mean of five sessions and an average duration of 50 min. There were no differences in module wise feedback ratings of the psychiatrist and counselor. There were significant differences in the pre- and post-therapy scores on BSI (mean difference (confidence interval)) (−16.8 (−20.2, −13.3)) and PHQ-9 (−10.8 (−14.5, −7.04)). Various content modifications were undertaken during this phase. ATMAN was acceptable to youth in India who self-harm. Modifications introduced during pilot trial phase make ATMAN better suited to the needs of the youth. ATMAN has the potential to be delivered by non- specialist counselors and to be integrated at all levels of health care settings including primary health care to reduce the burden of suicide in young people. However, an extended randomized controlled trial of ATMAN treatment with multiple counselors will help in identifying key competencies that should be developed during training and supervision, and various quality assurance measures that can be undertaken for effective implementation of ATMAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To find out usefulness of screening by Carotid Doppler in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with the four major modifiable risk factors i.e. smoking, hypertension, obesity and lipid profile by evaluating for the presence & extent of atherosclerotic carotid artery disease in asymptomatic Type 2 diabetics, by Carotid artery Doppler Ultrasonography. Methods: This study, conducted in a tertiary care hospital of South Gujarat, enrolled 50 subjects who were known cases of type 2 DM with risk factors for accelerated atherosclerosis. Result: The target population constituted 60% males and 40% females. There was a positive correlation of increase CIMT with duration of diabetes mellitus, HbA1c, LDL, TG and diabetic retinopathy. Conclusion: The routine use of carotid Doppler screening of the type 2 DM with risk factors can be recommended in patient with longer duration of DM (>7 years), HbA1c (>7.5%), and altered lipid profile or patient having any end organ damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of uric acid as a risk factor for vascular disease and acute stroke is controversial and there is little information about it. In this study, we determined serum uric acid levels in patients with acute ischemic CV stroke and assessed its relationship with cerebrovascular risk factors. Material And Methods: In this cross sectional study, we have assessed patients with acute ischemic CV stroke who were admitted in SMIMER Hospital from September 2018 to March 2019. Clinical records of patients and their serum uric acid level was investigated. Finally, the collected data was analysed using SPSS software Ver.16. Result: 73 patients with acute stroke were evaluated, 26 of these patients were female and 47of those were male. The mean age of patients was 57.57 ± 1.89 years. Mean serum uric acid levels in the patients studied was 6.72 ± 0.43 mg/dL, and about half of the patients (53%) were hyperuricemic. There was a significant negative correlation between age of patients and their serum uric acid level (p >0.05). Uric acid level was significantly higher in men than women (p <0.05). Hyperuricemia was associated with increased amounts of triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (p<0.05). In patients with acute ischemic stroke, there was no significant association between serum uric acid level and diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking. Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of hyperuricemia in patients with acute ischemic stroke, and its accompanying increase in other modifiable risk factors of atherosclerosis, it can be considered as a risk factor for acute ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paramagnetic endohedral fullerenes with long spin coherence times, such as N@C60 and Y@C82, are being explored as potential spin quantum bits (qubits). Their use for quantum information processing requires a way to hold them in fixed spatial arrangements. Here we report the synthesis of a porphyrin-based two-site receptor 1, offering a rigid structure that binds spin-active fullerenes (Y@C82) at a center-to-center distance of 5.0 nm, predicted from molecular simulations. The spin-spin dipolar coupling was measured with the pulsed EPR spectroscopy technique of double electron electron resonance and analyzed to give a distance of 4.87 nm with a small distribution of distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis and characterization of four new nitroxide-radical-containing next-generation maleimides are presented. Each new label has a single leaving group which is either a phenoxyl or bromide. The linker between the maleimide and the nitroxide-containing framework is either a racemic mixture of a short chain or an achiral longer chain. These molecules have been designed to site-specifically label vicinal cysteines in proteins for magnetic resonance studies. The characterization of the final products includes crystallography and the labeling of sperm whale myoglobin protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We evaluated whether the addition of docetaxel (D) to a combination comprising 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) or capecitabine (C) plus oxaliplatin (O) (DOF/DOX) improved overall survival (OS) compared with 6 months of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or capecitabine in combination with oxaliplatin (FOLFOX/CAPOX) alone in advanced HER2-negative gastroesophageal junction and gastric adenocarcinomas (G/GEJ)., Methods: This study was an investigator-initiated, open-label, multi-institutional, randomized phase III trial in adult patients with HER2-negative advanced G/GEJs. The primary endpoint of the study was a comparison of median OS by Kaplan-Meier method. Next-generation sequencing was performed on tissue., Results: Of the 324 patients randomly assigned between July 2020 and November 2022, 305 patients were evaluable for analysis (FOLFOX/CAPOX: 156; DOF/DOX: 149). With a median follow-up time of 19.2 months (95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 16.5 months to 21.9 months) for the entire cohort, the median OS was 10.1 months (95% CI = 9.2 to 10.9) for FOLFOX/CAPOX and 8.9 months (95% CI = 7.3 to 10.5) for DOF/DOX, and this difference was not statistically significant (P = .70). An increased proportion of grade 3 or grade 4 neutropenia (21% vs 3%; P < .001) and grade 2/3 neuropathy (17% vs 7%; P = .005) was seen in patients receiving DOF/DOX. Genomic profiling revealed a low incidence of microsatellite instability (1%) and a high incidence of BRCA1 (8.4%) and BRCA2 (7.5%) somatic alterations., Conclusion: FOLFOX or CAPOX chemotherapy for 6 months remains one of the standards of care in advanced HER2-negative gastroesophageal junction and gastric adenocarcinomas, with no additional survival benefit seen with the addition of docetaxel. Genomic profiling of patients revealed a higher than previously known incidence of somatic BRCA alterations, which requires further evaluation.CTRI (Clinical Trial Registry of India: CTRI/2020/03/023944)., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.)