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Aim: To compare the effect of 90 versus 60 min of early skin‐to‐skin contact (SSC) among vaginally born healthy infants ≥35 weeks of gestation on their exclusive breastfeeding rates and breastfeeding behaviour. Methods: This parallel‐group, open‐label, randomised controlled trial enrolled healthy term and late preterm infants born vaginally. Infants in the intervention group received early SSC for 90 min compared to 60 min in the control group. The primary outcome was the proportion of infants on exclusive breastfeeding at 60 ± 12 h. Results: One hundred ninety‐eight mother–infant dyads were randomised (99 in each group). The infants in the 90‐min SSC group were more likely to be exclusively breastfed at 60 ± 12 h as compared to the 60‐min SSC group (RR, 95% CI‐1.44, [1.15–1.79], p < 0.01). The modified infant breastfeeding assessment tool score at 60 ± 12 h was significantly higher in the 90‐min SSC group (median [IQR]‐9, [8, 10] versus 8 [7, 10], p = 0.03]. The proportion of infants on exclusive breastfeeding at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age was also significantly higher in the 90‐min SSC group (RR, 95% CI‐1.39 [1.11–1.74], 1.36 [1.08–1.07], and 1.38 [1.08–1.75], respectively). Conclusion: Increasing the duration of early SSC showed a dose–response benefit on exclusive breastfeeding rates and breastfeeding behaviour. Trial registration: CTRI/2018/09/015632, registered on 06/09/2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Motherhood and pregnancy are cherished moments in a life and considered one of the most important events in a women's life. So, she does the best to maintain good health to bring into this world a healthy baby. The fear of pregnancy is called tocophobia and it is defined as an intense state of anxiety which leads to fear of childbirth. Fear of childbirth result in increased number of visits to the obstetrician and in frequent request for cesarean delivery. The study aimed to assess the fear of childbirth and factors contributing to fear of childbirth among primigravidae at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methodology: Descriptive design with Quantitative approach was used and a sample of 269 primigravidae women by using consecutive sampling. Data was collected at Antenatal OPD, by using standardized tool Wijma delivery expectancy questionnaire Version - A and a checklist for factors contributing to fear of childbirth. Results: Level of fear of childbirth among primigravidae (24.4%) having severe level, (44.8%) high level and 24.1% having moderate level, 6.7% low level of fear of childbirth. Major contributing factor for fear of childbirth was Fear of labor pain (80.7%), and least common was disturbed self image and feeling of insecurity (27.9%). Conclusion: Majority of the primigravidae women face fear of childbirth, as contributed by various factors that affect fear of childbirth. Primigravidae women were counseled on one to one basis and they were made aware about the physiology of labor and what to expect during labor to alleviate their fear after the completion of the data collection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea urchins are premier model organisms for the study of early development. However, the lengthy generation times of commonly used species have precluded application of stable genetic approaches. Here, we use the painted sea urchin Lytechinus pictus to address this limitation and to generate a homozygous mutant sea urchin line. L. pictus has one of the shortest generation times of any currently used sea urchin. We leveraged this advantage to generate a knockout mutant of the sea urchin homolog of the drug transporter ABCB1, a major player in xenobiotic disposition for all animals. Using CRISPR/Cas9, we generated large fragment deletions of ABCB1 and used these readily detected deletions to rapidly genotype and breed mutant animals to homozygosity in the F2 generation. The knockout larvae are produced according to expected Mendelian distribution, exhibit reduced xenobiotic efflux activity and can be grown to maturity. This study represents a major step towards more sophisticated genetic manipulation of the sea urchin and the establishment of reproducible sea urchin animal resources [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Breastfeeding is the best way of providing nutrients to young infants for their healthy growth and development. World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend that breastfeeding should be initiated as early as possible after delivery and exclusive breastfeeding should be continued till 6 months of age. The proper positioning of the baby and mother makes breastfeeding effective. Aim: The study aimed to determine the effect of lactation counseling on breastfeeding practices, breast engorgement, and newborn feeding behavior among postnatal mothers. Methods: A quasi-experiment posttest-only control group research design was used and the setting of the study was antenatal OPD and postnatal ward at a teaching institution. A sample of 60 primigravidae in the age group of 18–35 years with gestational age ≥ 36 weeks seeking antenatal care at antenatal OPD were selected by consecutive sampling technique. The experimental group received two lactation counseling sessions of 30 min each 1 week apart (in person/video call), whereas control group received routine care. Breastfeeding practices, breast engorgement, and newborn feeding behavior were assessed on the 3rd postnatal day using breastfeeding practices checklist, breast engorgement scale, and newborn feeding behavior assessment tool, respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Result: There was significant improvement in breastfeeding practices (t = 7.18, P = 0.00), breast engorgement (t = 2.41, P = 0.01), and newborn feeding behavior (t = 5.24, P = 0.00) in the experimental group, which proves that the prenatal lactation counseling was effective in improving breastfeeding practices, newborn feeding behavior, and reducing breast engorgement. Conclusion: The study concluded that prenatal lactation counseling was effective in improving breastfeeding practices, breast engorgement, and newborn breastfeeding behavior among primigravidae. These findings suggest that if proper lactation counseling is provided to the mothers even at the primary health centers and periphery level it can contribute to improving the breastfeeding practices, newborn feeding behavior and can prevent breast engorgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus spreads very rapidly and nursing staff is fighting like warrior. They are facing so many psychological issues. During the pandemic, positive and negative emotions of frontline nurses interlace and exist. Objectives: To explore the psychological experience of nursing officers caring coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Materials and Methods: Phenomenological research approach was adopted. Twelve nursing officers were enrolled with nonprobability purposive sampling technique who provided care for COVID-19 patients. The interviews were conducted face-to-face and were analyzed by the Colaizzi's 7-step method. Results: The data were obtained from 12 nursing officers caring for patients with COVID-19. The mean age of the participants was 28 ± 1.87 years, with a mean work experience of 3.75 ± 1.05. Three themes were extracted from the detailed interview. First theme: the expression of negative emotions in the initial stage consisting of fear and anxiety regarding infection and family member, fatigue and discomfort related to high work intensity, and protective gear and anxiety regarding changing of ward and long duty hours. Second theme: the use of coping strategies and self-care styles consisting of communication with family members and friends and adjustment to the new era of life. Third theme: expressing positive emotions as adjusted with duty comprised of motivation and support from senior authority, feeling happy to be a part of humanity service, and satisfied with my duty and postduty quarantine facilities. Conclusions: The results of this study show that nursing officers caring COVID-19 patients are experiencing mental and emotional distress at initial stage of duty. As days passed participants used coping strategies and understand the new era of situation. Gradually, they expressed positive emotions and they were happy and satisfied with work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dentists encounter numerous professional stressful situations, beginning from education to day-to-day practice. The resulting stress tends to have a negative impact on their personal as well as professional lives. Objectives: To measure daily burnout, and to investigate the extent of expectations from dental career and the feeling of being unqualified new dental practitioner. Materials and Methods: A close-ended questionnaire, i.e., "the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory," was utilized for evaluation. A total of 121 dentists with an experience ranging between 6 months and 5 years were included. The period was considered initiating from graduation to dental practicing in urban or rural areas. Ninety-seven dentists replied with filled questionnaires (80.16%). The multivariant analysis was done using SPSS 11.0 ver. (Chicago, USA). Results: Using measures analysis, the mean scores for dentists on the basis of age and sex (n = 97) were calculated. The factors most commonly considered responsible for professional burnout were emotional exhaustion (39.27%), frustrations (47.83%), feeling worn out at the end of the day (35.05%), feeling worn out at the end of the working day (46.80%), exhaustion in the morning at the thought of another day at work (35.05%), feeling that every working hour is tiring (46.80%), less energy and less time for family and friends (47.83%). The most common cause for stress was professional burnout that was recorded commonly in females in the age range of 26-28 years. Conclusions: Dentists are more prone for professional burnout, anxiety, and depression. The main reason for this is the nature of their practice and their personality traits, especially while pursuing dentistry as a carrier. Stress may lead to negative impact on dentists' personal as well as professional lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in using sublingual route of administration. Which directly inject the dug in to the blood stream. So for drugs having less bioavailability it can be helpful to increase absorption. Also it quits the first past metabolism. Therefore drug like methylcobalamine which is having very less bioavailability when given by this route will lead to increase the absorption and at last the bioavailability. Hear by using polymers like PVA and PVP in a combination with penetration enhancer like SLS and PEG 400 as plasticizer we had prepared fast dissolving sublingual film. The result itself shows increase in the absorption (penetration) of methylcobalamine much more than given by the GI tract. Our work demonstrates that the obtained fast dissolving sublingual film of methylcobalamin can be used for the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gene signatures of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) brains reflect an output of a complex interplay of genetic, epigenetic, epi-transcriptomic, and post-transcriptional regulations. To identify the most significant factor that shapes the AD brain signature, we developed a machine learning model (DEcode-tree) to integrate cellular and molecular factors explaining differential gene expression in AD. Our model indicates that YTHDF proteins, the canonical readers of N6-methyladenosine RNA modification (m6A), are the most influential predictors of the AD brain signature. We then show that protein modules containing YTHDFs are downregulated in human AD brains, and knocking out YTHDFs in iPSC-derived neural cells recapitulates the AD brain gene signature in vitro . Furthermore, eCLIP-seq analysis revealed that YTHDF proteins influence AD signatures through both m6A-dependent and independent pathways. These results indicate the central role of YTHDF proteins in shaping the gene signature of AD brains.

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and surrounding glial activation are prominent histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, it is unclear how Aβ plaques interact with surrounding glial cells in the human brain. Here, we applied spatial transcriptomics (ST) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for Aβ, GFAP, and IBA1 to acquire data from 258,987 ST spots within 78 postmortem brain sections of 21 individuals. By coupling ST and adjacent-section IHC, we showed that low Aβ spots exhibit transcriptomic profiles indicative of greater neuronal loss than high Aβ spots, and high-glia spots present transcriptomic changes indicative of more significant inflammation and neurodegeneration. Furthermore, we observed that this ST glial response bears signatures of reported mouse gene modules of plaque-induced genes (PIG), oligodendrocyte (OLIG) response, disease-associated microglia (DAM), and disease-associated astrocytes (DAA), as well as different microglia (MG) states identified in human AD brains, indicating that multiple glial cell states arise around plaques and contribute to local immune response. We then validated the observed effects of Aβ on cell apoptosis and plaque-surrounding glia on inflammation and synaptic loss using IHC. In addition, transcriptomic changes of iPSC-derived microglia-like cells upon short-interval Aβ treatment mimic the ST glial response and mirror the reported activated MG states. Our results demonstrate an exacerbation of synaptic and neuronal loss in low-Aβ or high-glia areas, indicating that microglia response to Aβ-oligomers likely initiates glial activation in plaque-glia niches. Our study lays the groundwork for future pathology genomics studies, opening the door for investigating pathological heterogeneity and causal effects in neurodegenerative diseases.