ABSTRACT Background Although the development of allergic rhinitis (AR) is associated with multiple genetic and hygienic environmental factors, previous studies have focused mostly on the effect of a single factor on the development of AR. This study aimed to investigate the combined effect of multiple genetic and hygienic environmental risk factors on AR development in school children. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study, comprising 1,797 children aged 9–12 years. Weighted environmental risk score (ERS) was calculated by using four hygienic environmental factors, including antibiotic use during infancy, cesarean section delivery, breast milk feeding, and having older siblings. Weighted polygenic risk score (PRS) was calculated by using four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including interleukin-13 (rs20541), cluster of differentiation 14 (rs2569190), toll-like receptor 4 (rs1927911), and glutathione S-transferase P1 (rs1695). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used. Results More than three courses of antibiotic use during infancy increased the risk of current AR (adjusted odd ratio [aOR], 2.058; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.290–3.284). Having older siblings, especially >2 (aOR, 0.526; 95% Cl: 0.303–0.913) had a protective effect. High ERS (>median; aOR, 2.079; 95% Cl: 1.466–2.947) and PRS (>median; aOR, 1.627; 95% Cl: 1.117–2.370) increased the risk of current AR independently. Furthermore, children who had both high ERS and PRS showed a higher risk of current AR (aOR, 3.176; 95% Cl: 1.787–5.645). Conclusions Exposure to multiple hygienic risk factors during early life increases the risk of AR in genetically susceptible children. Key words: Allergic rhinitis, Hygiene, Genes, Risk factors, Child, Gene-environment interaction, Anti-bacterial agent

In this study, firstly, tube surfaces given with Flc frame are introduced. The Gaussian and mean curvature of these surfaces were found and their singular points were determined. By investigating the conditions for parameter curves on the surface to be asymptotic, geodesic and curvature lines, it has been shown that θ parameter curves of the surface can never be asymptotic, but always geodesic. In particular, it is concluded that the parameter curves t and θ are curvature lines if they are planar curves. Afterwards, the focal surfaces of the tube surfaces given with the Flc frame are defined. By calculating the Gaussian and mean curvatures of these focal surfaces, it was found that they are always developable and never minimal. Afterwards, the conditions for parameter curves on the focal surface to be asymptotic, geodesic and curvature lines were investigated, and it was seen that the t parameter curves of the surface could never be asymptotic and the θ parameter curves were always asymptotic curves and curvature lines. Finally, examples of these surfaces are given using the Maple program.

BACKGROUND: Since ultrasonography (USG) technology was discovered more than 40 years ago, fetal biometry with ultrasound measurements has become the prima donna, and it is considered an accurate method of estimating the baby’s birth weight AIM: this study is expected to provide more parameters and accurate results in determining fetal growth estimates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study is an analytical study using a cross-sectional approach to determine fetal growth biometry in the Minangkabau ethnic group. The selected sample was pregnant women who came to check their pregnancy in December 2020 at Fetomaternal clinic Hospital M. Djamil Padang and Network Hospital in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty of Medicine Andalas University. Bivariate analysis using Pearson correlation test because the data distribution was normally distributed with P value <0,05 and then multivariate analysis using linear regression. RESULTS: Four hundred pregnant women who came to check their pregnancy at 1st trimester (4-13 weeks by USG). The characteristics of the research subjects were the average age of pregnant women ranging from 21-31 years, primigravida, and the average level of education at senior high school. Based on the Pearson analysis, Correlation between of each variable GS and CRL to LMP, there is the strongest correlation between LMP (p-value 0,000). CONCLUSIONS: We have produced a national prescriptive standard for the initial measurement of fetal growth and the first-trimester ultrasound dating of pregnancy that can be used in Indonesia, especially in the Minangkabau ethnic group.

Reduced fetal movements: time to move on?Lawrence Impey, BA, FRCOG. Department of Fetal Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Nuffield Department of Women’s Reproductive Health, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University, Oxford, OX3 9DU, United KingdomNatalia Abadi-Cuchi MD. Servicio de Ginecologia y Obstetricia, Hospital Clinico Unversitario Lozano Blesa, Avda. San Juan Bosco 15, 50009, Zaragoza, SpainCorresponding author:Lawrence ImpeyEmail: lawrence.impey@ouh.nhs.ukTel: +44 1865 851165ORCID 0000-0002-4462-112XRunning title: Reduced fetal movements: time to move on?The authors declare no conflict of interestsBoth authors contributed to the conception and writing up of this commentaryWord count: 1445 words

• Introduction: Labour is a natural phenomenon which produces intolerable pain that requires effective methods for pain relief which is often challenging and complex task without regional analgesia. Epidural analgesia is most widely accepted method used to reduce labour pain. • Aims and Objectives: Assessment of epidural analgesia in pain relief during labour, duration of different stages of labour, maternal and foetal outcome. • Methodology: This study is a Prospective Observational study conducted at RL JALAPPA Hospital, Kolar from January 2020 to June 2021.40 women admitted for normal vaginal delivery opting labour analgesia were studied. Data collected was entered in Microsoft excel spread sheet and results were analysed. • Results: The mean duration of first stage of labour was153 minutes, mean duration of second stage was 30minutes, and mean duration of third stage was 12 minutes. During first stage of labour, 20 women (52%) had no pain, 12 women (31%) had mild pain and 6 women (15%) had moderate pain. During second stage of labour, 16 women (42%) had mild pain, 15 women (39%) had no pain and 7 women (18%) had moderate pain .During third stage of labour, 30 women (78.9%) had no pain and 8 women (21%) had mild pain. The mean Apgar score of all babies at 1 minute was 7/10 and 5 minute was 9/10. • Conclusion: Epidural analgesia is a safe and effective technique during labour and provides significant pain relief with excellent patient satisfaction.

The Fritillaria species has become rare due to excessive harvesting, and thus identifying new ecological distribution of Fritillaria species and predicting its response to climate change are necessary for plant conservation and cultivation. In this study, areas with potential ecological suitability for Fritillaria delavayi, Fritillaria taipaiensis, and Fritillaria wabuensis were predicted using Biomod2 according to current occurrence records and bioclimatic variables. Temperature seasonality was the most important environmental variable for Fritillaria taipaiensis and Fritillaria wabuensis, while isothermality was most important for Fritillaria delavayi. The current suitable areas for three Fritillaria species were found to be distributed in south-west China, accounting for approximately 17.72%, 23.06% and 20.60% of the total area of China, respectively. During the highest concentration of greenhouse gas emission (SSP585), the suitable habitats of F. delavayi and F. wabuensis reached the maximum from 2021 to 2100, while that of F. taipaiensis reached the maximum from 2021 to 2100 during low emission (SSP126). The niche overlap of three Fritillaria species was found to be significantly related to the clustering tree based on chemical composition (P≤0.05), while no correlation was observed between niche overlap and DNA phylogenies, indicating that spatial distribution had a major influence on chemical composition in the Fritillaria species. Species-specific habitats were also predicted in order to decrease habitat competition. Overall, the findings of this study may offer new insight into the potential distribution and ecological niche of the three species for future conservation and management.

Background: Radiation therapy normal tissue dose constraints are critical when treating pediatric patients. However, there is limited evidence supporting proposed constraints which has led to variations in constraints over the years. In this study we identify these variations in dose constraints within pediatric trials both in the United States (US) and in Europe used in the past 30 years. Procedure: All pediatric trials from the Children’s Oncology Group website were queried from inception until January 2022 and a sampling of European studies was included. Dose constraints were identified and built into an organ-based interactive web application with filters to display data by organs-at-risk (OARs), protocol, start date, dose, volume, and fractionation scheme. Dose constraints were evaluated for consistency over time and compared between pediatric US trials and European trials Results: One hundred and five closed trials were included—93 US trials and 12 European trials. Thirty-eight separate OARs were found with high dose constraint variability. Across all trials, nine organs had greater than 10 different constraints (median 16, range 11-26), including serial organs. When comparing US versus European dose tolerances, US constraints were higher for seven OARs, lower for one, and identical for five. No OARs had constraints change systematically over the last 30 years. Conclusion: Review of pediatric dose-volume constraints in clinical trials showed substantial variability for all OARs. Continued efforts focused on standardization of OAR dose constraints and risk profiles are essential to increase consistency of protocol outcomes and ultimately to reduce radiation toxicities in the pediatric population.

Tramadol has been classified as a controlled drug in several countries in recent decades due to increasing prevalence of abuse, overdose and its potential for adverse effects. Tramadol has been associated with multiple adverse effects including seizures, serotonin syndrome and even anaphylactoid reactions. Despite this it remains unregulated and is available over the counter in some countries. We describe two cases of tramadol-related seizures in patients prescribed therapeutic doses of tramadol, identified through neurology clinics at a neurology tertiary referral centre in Ireland. Literature review was carried out and revealed a significant lack of recent literature relating to Tramadol and risk of seizure. In particular, there was a lack of human studies investigating tramadol at therapeutic, rather than supra-therapeutic, doses. We suggest that further studies are required examining the use of therapeutic doses of Tramadol and its potential for adverse effects, looking particularly at seizure risk. We feel that Tramadol, like other opioids, can be useful as part of a multi-modal analgesia regimen in patients with moderate-to-severe pain, but that prescribers need to be more aware of the potential risk of seizures associated with prescribing it.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the surgical and conservative management of RPOC after 34 weeks of gestation and to elucidate its natural course. Design: Retrospective cohort study Setting: Study in a single center Population: Patients diagnosed RPOC at Kindai university from January 2013 to March 2022 Methods: Clinical data from patients’ electronic medical records was reviewed retrospectively. Main outcome measures: The onset of heavy bleeding, date of RPOC disappearance, and serial changes of serum hCG. Results: 19 of 41 cases of RPOC diagnosed after 34 weeks of gestation had the retained placenta manually removed within 24 hours of delivery; nine cases had no emergent symptoms before placental removal; and five and three cases experienced heavy bleeding during and after placental removal, respectively. Six out of 22 cases with RPOC managed conservatively had heavy bleeding for no determinable reason. Six cases experienced heavy bleeding during the placental extraction trial. These events occurred within 60 days of delivery. RPOC disappeared spontaneously in 17 cases (77%), with a median time of 130 days. Serum human chorionic gonadotropin of the 14 patients who did not undergo UAE, fell below the measurable threshold at a median of 67 days postpartum, with a half-life of 4.7 days. Conclusion: RPOC in late pregnancy can cause heavy bleeding and infection, but these events do not occur after 60 days postpartum, and spontaneous resolution of RPOC is possible. Conservative management may be an option in the treatment protocols for RPOC.

In this work, high quality hafnium and hydrogen co-doped In 2O 3 (IHfO:H) transparent conductive films are developed via a reactive plasma deposition (RPD) technique followed by air atmosphere annealing. Crystallinity, valence states, and opto-electronic properties of the IHfO:H films under different H 2 concentration (0-1.5 %) and different annealing temperature (100-250 °C) are systematically investigated. The effects of hydrogen doping and annealing temperature on the properties of the IHfO:H films are discussed. The high average transmittances (400-800 nm: 87.92 %; 800-2300 nm: 86.68 %), a sheet resistance of 27.53 Ω/□, and a Hall mobility of 102.92 cm 2V −1s −1 are achieved on the optimized IHfO:H thin film fabricated using 0.8 % H 2 concentration with a 200 °C annealing temperature. Finally, the IHfO:H films are applied to the bifacial silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells to serve as the front-side transparent electrode. The significant improvement in the long wavelength spectral response compared to the control SHJ device with an indium tin oxide (ITO) front-side transparent electrode leads to an increase of about 0.3 % in the efficiency and an efficiency of over 25 % is achieved on the SHJ solar cell with an IHfO:H front-side transparent electrode.

Root and soil microbial communities constitute the below-ground plant microbiome, are drivers of nutrient cycling, and affect plant productivity. However, our understanding of their spatiotemporal patterns is confounded by exogenous factors that covary spatially, such as changes in host plant species, climate, and edaphic factors. These spatiotemporal patterns likely differ across microbiome domains (bacteria and fungi) and niches (root vs. soil). To capture spatial patterns at a regional scale, we sampled the below-ground microbiome of switchgrass monocultures of five sites spanning >3 degrees of latitude within the Great Lakes region. To capture temporal patterns, we sampled the below-ground microbiome across the growing season within a single site. We compared the strength of spatiotemporal factors to nitrogen addition determining the major drivers in our perennial cropping system. All microbial communities were most strongly structured by sampling site, though collection date also had strong effects; in contrast, nitrogen addition had little to no effect on communities. Though all microbial communities were found to have significant spatiotemporal patterns, the structure of bacterial communities was better explained by spatiotemporal factors than fungal communities, which appeared more structured by stochastic processes. Root communities, especially bacterial, were more temporally structured than soil communities which were more spatially structured, both across and within sampling sites. These differential responses of bacterial and fungal communities to spatiotemporal factors likely alter interactions and assembly of the plant microbiome.

Objective To investigate the relationship between maternal supplementation with folic acid/ multiple micronutrients containing folic acid (MM-FA) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Haidian Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Beijing, China. Population 3,458 pregnant women and 653 cases of GDM were approached between October 2017 and December 2020. Methods Sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle data, and information on folic acid supplementation were obtained from a structured questionnaire. GDM was diagnosed according to IADPSG criteria (2010). After adjusting for confounding variables, associations between folic acid/MM-FA supplementation and GDM risk were estimated using binary logistic regression analysis. Main outcome measures Incident GDM. Results Taking MM-FA periconceptionally was associated with a higher GDM risk (aOR 1.33; 95% CI 1.05–1.69) compared to exclusive folic acid supplementation. And this association was observed exclusively in women with a pre-pregnancy BMI < 24kg/m2 (aOR 1.39; 95% CI 1.06–1.82). In separate analysis of pre-conception supplementation, women without folic acid supplementation before conception were more likely to develop GDM than those taking folic acid alone (aOR 1.40; 95% CI 1.01–1.96). Conclusions Maternal MM-FA supplementation may enhance the risk for GDM. These findings indicated that pregnant women should to be mindful of the risk of iron and other micronutrients over-supplementation when using folic acid supplements. It’s recommended that women take pure folic acid in preference and begin taking them from pre-conception in accordance with the recommended guidelines. Key words Folic acid; Multiple micronutrients; Gestational diabetes mellitus; Cohort

Objective To evaluate the epidemiological trends and patterns of cervical cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer in China in 1990 and 2019. Design Systematical and updated worldwide epidemiological study. Setting Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. Population or Sample. Chinese population was obtained from World Health Organization (WHO) World Standard Population Distribution (2000-2025) and the United Nations World Population Prospects 2019 Revision. Methods Data were extracted from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019. GBD methodology was used to estimate the burden of gynecological malignancies in China, including cervical cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer. Main Outcome Measures The incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) were systematically analyzed. We additionally predicted the incidence and mortality of gynecological malignancies from 2020 to 2030. Results From 1990 to 2019, the numbers of incidence cases, deaths and DALYs of cervical cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer all significantly increased. The EAPCs in age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of three cancers were 1.61 (95% CI: 1.35, 1.88), 1.26 (95% CI: 0.58, 1.94) and 1.88 (95% CI: 1.79, 1.98). From 2020 to 2030, the predicted numbers of incident cases and deaths of gynecological malignancies should continue to increase, and the incidences of uterine cancer would expect to exceed cervical cancer in 2030. Conclusions In China, the numbers of new cases and deaths of gynecological malignancies will continue to increase in the next ten years. Reducing the prevalence of gynecological malignancies should be prioritized in future work.

An important property of niche construction is that its consequences can persist for a long period of time, affecting several subsequent generations. This phenomenon is known as the niche construction time lags. Time lags in niche construction can result in the evolution of cooperation. Here, we study the evolutionary consequences of cooperation by incorporating time lags in a negative niche construction process. We consider a population that extrudes waste into its environment as it consumes resources. Higher consumption rates can lead to higher waste production, as it is associated with higher \textit{per capita} growth and reproduction rates. We showed that increasing consumption rates often evolve as pollution is equally experienced by the whole population while benefits are at the individual level. When we consider rapid evolution, intragenerational time lags, and stochasticity, however, such increases are no longer favoured and lower consumption rates resulting in less waste production can be an outcome. Interestingly, in the long term, drift becomes more important than natural selection, as selection becomes progressively weaker while population sizes are severely depressed by the cumulative effects of pollution.

The rapid adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 within the host species and the increased viral transmission triggered the evolution of different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Though numerous monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been identified as prophylactic therapy for SARS-CoV-2, the ongoing surge in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections shows the importance of understanding the mutations in the spike and developing novel vaccine strategies to target all variants. Here, we report the map of experimentally validated 74 SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing mAb binding epitopes of all variants. The majority (87.84%) of the potent neutralizing epitopes are localized to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and overlap with each other, whereas limited (12.16%) epitopes are found in the N-terminal domain (NTD). Notably, 69 out of 74 mAb targets have at least one mutation at the epitope sites. The potent epitopes found in the RBD show higher mutations (4-10aa) compared to lower or modest neutralizing antibodies, suggesting that these epitopes might co-evolve with the immune pressure. The current study shows the importance of determining the critical mutations at the antibody recognition epitopes, leading to the development of broadly reactive immunogens targeting multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants. Further, vaccines inducing both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses might prevent the escape of SARS-CoV-2 variants from neutralizing antibodies.

Background Ramadan fasting (RF) is mandatory for all healthy Muslims in the ninth month of Islamic calendar. Pregnant women are exempt from fasting but many willfully practise it. There are concerns that fasting during pregnancy is harmful to the fetus but there are no firm recommendations regarding its safety. Objectives To provide a systematic review on the effects of RF on fetal health. Search Strategy We conducted literature search for peer-reviewed articles through Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) until 31 December 2021. Selection Criteria All case-control and observational cohort studies that reported on fetal outcomes of pregnant women who underwent RF for at least 1 day at any point of time during pregnancy are included. Data Collection and Analysis Two researchers independently reviewed the eligibility of all studies. A third researcher resolved any conflict between researchers. Findings are extracted from eligible papers and presented as narratives. Main Results 18 articles are included based on eligibility criteria, with a total sample size of 3,213,070. There are studies demonstrating negative associations between RF and neonatal weight, amniotic fluid index, preterm birth and growth parameters mainly during second and third trimesters, but those evidences are not strongly supported. Conclusion There is limited data to elucidate the relationship between RF and fetal health, hence the need for more studies to provide better understanding. Funding None. Keywords Ramadan fasting, pregnant women, fetal outcomes.

We demonstrate a high-speed 8.5 μm quantum cascade laser with room temperature continuous wave operation. The maximum output power of 141 mW is obtained at 20 ℃. The parasitic capacitance of the device is decreased from 36.6 pF to 7.1 pF by monolithic integrating a π-shape metal contact electrode. This results in an increase in the -3 dB RF modulation bandwidth from 870 MHz to 4.5 GHz compared with the conventional electrode configuration.

Low temperature (LT)-induced membrane lipid metabolism resulted in different degrees of chilling injury (CI) in five different chill-sensitive peach varieties. Among them, ‘Chibaifen’ peaches had the most serious occurrence of CI and the strongest cold sensitivity by having the largest up- and down-regulated numbers of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and triacylglycerol (TAG) components and maintaining higher levels of fold change, peak area abundance and unsaturation of TAG components induced by LT. However, ‘Hujing’ peaches had the most lightest occurrence of CI and had the strongest cold tolerance by having the more up-regulated numbers of PC and TAG components, but maintaining lower levels of fold change, peak area abundance and unsaturation of each lipid component induced by LT. This study provides suitable research materials for improving chill-sensitive peach varieties and developing effective fresh-keeping technologies and a scientific basis for improving the quality competitiveness of cold-tolerant peach varieties.

Several poverty studies have been carried out in Nigeria at all levels to reflect the poverty status using a unidimensional approach. However, poverty is a multidimensional concept. This study therefore analysed poverty among rural women in Oyo state using a multidimensional poverty framework. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 180 respondents for this study. The data collected were analysed using multiple correspondence analysis, Alkire and Foster multidimensional poverty measures and logit regression model. The results of the multidimensional poverty estimates showed that 68.9% of the women were multidimensionally poor. It was also revealed that cooking fuel, sanitation and education indicators contributed most to multidimensional poverty among the women in the study area. Findings from the logit regression revealed that household size, agriculture as major occupation of women, agriculture as major occupation of household head and gender of household head had positive and significant effects on multidimensional poverty among the women in the study area. In conclusion, majority of the women were poor, deprived mostly of cooking fuel, sanitation and education. Having a secondary occupation, increase monthly expenditure and marital status were the key determinants in reducing poverty among the women in the study area

Astrocytes release extracellular functional mitochondria and transfer them into neurons to rescue injured neurons after a stroke. However, there are no reports on drugs that might interfere with intercellular mitochondrial transfer. In this study, chrysophanol (CHR) which had proven to be an effective drug for cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) was selected as the test drug to investigate whether CHR exerted a neuroprotective role by affecting the astrocytic mitochondrial transfer. We used the astrocyte-neuron co-culture system for establishing an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) cell model in vitro and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) animal model in vivo, to investigate the effect of CHR on astrocytic mitochondrial transfer efficiency and neurons. The results showed that in the in vitro experiment, CHR improved the neuronal activity and mitochondrial function in the co-culture system by attenuating neuron injury after OGD/R. In the subsequent in vivo experiment, CHR decreased the neurological deficit score and infarction volume, recovered cell morphology, decreased the neuronal apoptosis rate in ischemic penumbra, and improved the CIRI in rats. In addition, the mitochondrial fluorescence probe labeling technique showed that CHR accelerated the transfer of mitochondria from astrocytes to neurons, suggesting that the mitochondrial transfer between astrocytes and neurons might be an important target for CHR to improve ischemic brain injury and that they might also be a potential target for ischemic brain injury drugs.

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) exhibit a constellation of sensory and perceptual impairments, including hyporeactivity to external input. However, individuals with SSD also report subjective experiences of sensory flooding, suggesting sensory hyperexcitability. To identify the extent to which behavioral indices of hyperexcitability are related to non-psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, we tested a non-clinical population measured for schizophrenia-like traits (schizotypy), and a behavioral measure of sensory hyperexcitability, specifically the number of illusions seen in the Pattern Glare Test. Two samples totaling 913 individuals completed an online version of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – Brief Revised (SPQ-BR) and the Pattern Glare Test. Individuals with higher schizotypy traits reported more illusions in the Pattern Glare Test. Additionally, one of the three SPQ-BR factors, the disorganized factor, significantly predicted the number of illusions reported. These data illustrate the potential for research in non-clinical samples to inform clinically relevant research.

Purpose: The thalamus, a part of the diencephalon, controls emotion and memory; any thalamic lesion may lead to impairments in recall and recognition. There is no concrete proof that depression is the only mental condition in which thalamic abnormalities are present. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with depression had any structural changes in their thalamic grey matter volume. Methods: The thalamic grey matter volume was measured in 50 patients with depression (25 males, mean age = 24 ± 5.02 years) and 50 sex- and-age-matched controls (25 males, mean age = 24 ± 5.28 years) using BrainSuite automated segmentation of the T1-weighted magnetic resonance images obtained using Magnetization Prepared Rapid Acquisition. Between-group and sex-based comparisons were made using Student’s t-test. Results: The mean grey matter volume of the right and left thalamus was 5.98 ± 7.03 cm3 and 6.21 ± 7.68 cm3 in patients, respectively, and 2.18 ± 4.74 cm3 on the right side and 2.15 ± 4.87 cm3 on the left side in the controls (p < 0.05). The female subjects had relatively greater mean thalamic grey matter volumes on both sides (patients: right = 6.47 ± 4.17 cm3, left = 6.77 ± 4.30 cm3; controls: right = 3.25 ± 6.55 cm3, left = 3.13 ± 6.77 cm3; p < 0.05). Conclusion: The volume of thalamic grey matter is increased in patients with depression, which is more pronounced in female patients. There is also a possible association between depression and right-sided volume reduction.

Angiotensin II (ANG II) is involved in the renal sodium homeostasis in close relation with sympathetic nervous system (SNS) under normal and pathological conditions. Vasopressin (AVP), a hormone that modulates renal sodium and water reabsorptionis synthetized and released from supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) under ANG II influence. We hypothesized that brain ANG II AT1 receptors (AT1-R) regulate renal sodium and water reabsorption and excretion through SNS. In this study male Wistar rats with renal denervation/sham and fed with hypersodic (4%) or normal (0.4%) diet were evaluated during 5 days in metabolic cages. On day 5 were injected in lateral ventricle with losartan (AT1-R antagonist) and sacrificed 12 hours later. The urine was daily collected, blood samples and brains were obtained for determinations. The parameters analyzed were: a) c-Fos immunoreactivity in SON, PVN, subfornical (SFO) and organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis nucleus (OVLT), b) c-Fos-AVP immunoreactivity in SON in sham group, c) sodium and water intake, d) water, sodium and creatinine excretion. Results: c-Fos expression in SFO, OVLT and PVN was differentially affected by hypersodic diet or losartan depending on renal nerve integrity. In sham animals losartan prevented the hypersodic diet effects in water intake, c-Fos and AVP positive neurons in SON. Renal denervation modified the effect of hypersodic diet in water intake, urinary volume and creatinine excretion; losartan prevented these alterations. Food intake was similar in all groups. Our results suggest that brain AT1-R regulate renal sodium and water reabsorption through SNS in close interaction with AVP.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a clinically prevalent neurodegenerative disorder mainly affecting the elderly, characterized by loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra. Its main clinical manifestations are motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity, and postural gait disturbances. Given the complexity and multisystem effects of PD, the exact cause is yet to be elucidated. But multiple mechanisms have been shown to be associated with the pathophysiology of PD, such as the accumulation of α-synuclein, oxidative stress, abnormal apoptosis, and neuroinflammation. MicroRNA (miRNA) is a non-coding single-stranded RNA molecule encoded by endogenous genes. Over the past decade, many studies have reported that miRNA functions in a series of important processes in life process. Moreover, numerous experiments in animal models and clinical investigations have identified miRNA dysregulation in PD and demonstrated that miRNAs play an important role in the development of PD through different pathways. This paper reviews some important miRNAs involved in the development of Parkinson’s disease.