Fungal endophytes from medicinal plants have the potential to promote plant growth and the accumulation of active ingredients via different mechanisms. In this study, an endophytic fungus was isolated from the roots of Codonopsis pilosula, and was identified as Trichoderma strain RHTA01 based on morphological analysis, fatty acid composition, Fourier infrared spectroscopy and molecular analysis. The strain exhibited good plant growth promoting capacity. In C. pilosula plants inoculated with Trichoderma strain RHTA01, the plant defense system, total chlorophyll content and root activity were enhanced, and levels of antioxidant enzymes, non-enzymatic ingredients and single molecules including nitric oxide (NO), jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were up-regulated in different tissues (Root, Stem and Leave). Activities of enzymes involved in polysaccharide and Lobetyolin biosynthesis were up-regulated, thus increasing their accumulation in C. pilosula plants. The function of endophytic fungi was further clarified by structural equation modeling (SEM). Overall, our results provide a strong foundation for further investigation of the interaction between endophytic fungi and plants.

Abstract Objective: To evaluate whether smoking cessation has an effect on female sexual function and quality of life. Methodology: After approval by the local ethics committee, smoking and non-smoking female participants were included in the study and all participants filled the female sexual function index (FSFI) and the short form 36 (SF-36). The same questionnaires were filled again at the 9th month control after smoking cessation. The scores of these questionnaires were compared between the groups. In addition, the FSFI and SF-36 scores of the participants in the smoking group were also compared with the scores at the 9th month after smoking cessation. Results: The rate of FSD was significantly higher in the smoking group when compared with control group (86.0% vs 32.5%; p<0,001). The FSFI total and sub domains score was significantly lower in the smoking group when compared control group [21.5 (min:14.4-max:28.69) and 28.9 (min:17.7-max:32.8); p<0.001 respectively]. The rate of FSD was significantly decreased after nine months smoking cessation (86% to 35.1%; p<0.001). After smoking cessation significant improvements on FSFI total and sub-domain scores and SF-36 sub-domain scores were determined. Conclusion: In this study, it was shown that smoking negatively affected FSD and QOL when compared to healthy non-smoking women, and smoking cessation caused significant improvements in FSFI and SF-36 scores in these women after 9 months. Keywords: female sexual dysfunction, female sexual function index, smoking cessation, the Short Form 36, quality of life.

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify serum copeptin levels in patients diagnosed with unstable angina (UA) and to evaluate the relationship between copeptin levels and angiographic severity of the patients. Materials and Methods: Two hundred patients who had been diagnosed with UA and undergone coronary angiography were included in the study. Each patient underwent a clinical evaluation, including a 12-lead electrocardiogram, echocardiographic evaluation, laboratory tests (high sensitive troponin-T and copeptin level tests) and The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) 1.0 risk score calculation at the time of admission. Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX-1) score was calculated after coronary angiography. Results: We isolated and defined two subgroups within our study population: group 1 included patients with non-significant coronary artery disease (CAD) (<50% diameter stenosis, n:105); group 2 included patients with significant CAD (≧50% diameter stenosis, n:95). The number of cases with a GRACE score higher than 140 was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1 (p<0.001). SYNTAX scores and copeptin levels were significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1 (p<0.001 for both). A positive correlation was detected between copeptin levels and SYNTAX scores (r = 0.683; P < 0.001), and the cutoff level of copeptin level was 18.3 pmol/l (sensitivity of 74.7 %, specificity of 83.8% and area under curve of 0.795). Conclusion: Our study suggests that it may be beneficial to use both conventional scoring systems and serum copeptin levels when attempting to identify high-risk UA patients.

Advanced and accurate forecasting of COVID-19 cases play a crucial role in management of hospital facility, policy decision, logistic support, and economy of the country. Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques have proved its capability in time series forecasting of the non-linear problems. The present study assessed the relationship between weather parameters and COVID-19 cases and found the specific humidity have strong positive association, maximum temperature have negative and minimum temperature have positive association in most of the states in India. Further, we have developed a weather integrated LSTM (long short term memory) models for advanced (1-14 days) forecasting of the COVID-19 cases over different states in India. To achieve the goal we have utilized the humidity and temperature time series data along with the COVID-19 confirmed cases data (1st April-30th June 2020) to optimise the LSTM model in univariate and multivariate modes. The optimised models are utilized to forecast the COVID-19 cases for the period 1st July, 2020 to 31st July 2020 with 1 to 14days lead time. The results shows that the univariate LSTM model (past COVID-19 input) have reasonably good skill (Relative Error < 20%) in short range forecast (1day lead) for most of the selected states, whereas the skill is degraded with the medium and long range forecast. The major finding of the current study is that the medium range (1-7days) forecasting skill is enhanced in some of the states with the weather integrated multivariate LSTM models. The states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab) located in West and North West India region, humidity play a key role in enhancement of medium range forecasting skill of the LSTM model. It is also observed that the states located in high humid regions (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal) temperature plays a key role in model enhancement.

Classical taxonomic approaches to quantifying biodiversity can be notoriously laborious and restrictive. Instead, molecular metabarcoding is emerging as a rapid, high-throughput and cost-effective tool to catalogue biodiversity. Despite the appeal of metabarcoding however, methodological and procedural biases must be understood before robust biodiversity inferences can be made. Here, we use CO1 metabarcoding to characterize marine eukaryote communities associated with the holdfasts of Ecklonia radiata, the dominant eco-engineering kelp of temperate New Zealand and Australia. To establish a standardized and reproducible community metabarcoding protocol, we examined the influence of different sample preparation, laboratory and bioinformatic steps on inferences of species richness and composition for kelp-holdfast communities. Specifically, we examined: the effect of fractioning the community into different size classes, the replicability of results across DNA extractions, PCR reactions, and sequencing. Overall, our approach identified 18 marine eukaryote Phyla in the holdfast communities. We found that size fractioning the sample before DNA extraction enabled detection of a greater diversity of taxa, especially smaller organisms. When compared with traditional morphology-based inventories of kelp-holdfast biodiversity, we found that although the taxonomic precision of our metabarcoding approach at the species and genus level was limited by the availability of reference sequences in public repositories, we recovered a greater number of operational taxonomic units, and a greater taxonomic breadth of organisms than morphological surveys. Based on our findings, we provide methodological guidelines for the use of metabarcoding as a tool for surveying and monitoring the hyperdiverse species assemblages associated with kelp-holdfasts.

Abstract Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women with coronavirus disease (COVID‑19) on a national scale in Japan. Design: A nationwide questionnaire-based survey forwarded to all 2185 maternity services in Japan. Setting: A total of 1418 obstetric units that responded (65% of all delivery institutions in Japan). Population: Pregnant women with COVID-19 diagnosed between January and June 2020. Methods: Data were extracted from the questionnaire results. Main outcome measures: Incidence of pregnant women with COVID-19 and infant infection, positive rate of the universal screening test for asymptomatic pregnant women, identification of infection route, and rates of maternal death, severe cases, and caesarean sections. Results: Seventy-two pregnant women were reported to be diagnosed with COVID-19. The positive rate of the universal screening test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for asymptomatic pregnant women was 0.03% (2/7428). The most common route of infection was familial (57%). Fifty-eight pregnant women with COVID-19 were symptomatic; of whom five (8.6%) had a severe infection and one patient died (a tourist). Severe respiratory symptoms, oxygen administration, and pneumonia were frequently reported in the third trimester and postpartum period compared to early pregnancy (22.2% vs. 2.5% [p=0.03], 38.9% vs. 7.5% [p=0.01], and 50.0% vs. 7.5% [p<0.01], respectively). All pregnant women with COVID-19 underwent caesarean section, regardless of symptoms. There was no SARS-CoV-2 transmission to the newborns. Conclusion: The importance of infection prevention should be emphasized, especially in pregnant women, their families, and their roommates during late pregnancy.

Objective We evaluated patient and professional’s experience with virtual antenatal clinic appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic, to determine satisfaction and enquire into the safety and quality of care received. Design, Setting, Population and Methods A total of 148 women who attended a virtual antenatal clinic appointment at our UK tertiary obstetric care centre over a two-week period provided feedback (62% response rate). A further 37 health care professionals (HCP) delivering care in the virtual antenatal clinics participated in another questionnaire study (82% response rate). Main Outcome Measures and Results We showed that women were highly satisfied with the virtual clinics, with 86% rating their experience as good/very good, and this was not associated with any statistically significant differences in age, ethnicity, number of previous births or pregnancy loss(es) (p>0.05). Even though, 56% preferred face-to-face appointments, 44% either expressed no preference or preferred virtual, and these preferences were not associated with significant differences in patient demographics (p>0.05). For HCP, 67% rated their experience of virtual clinics as good/very good; 78% described their experience as the same or better than face-to-face clinics; 15% preferred virtual clinics and 44% had no preference. Importantly, 67% found it easy/very easy to adapt to virtual clinics. Over 90% of HCP agreed virtual clinics should be implemented long-term. Conclusions Our study demonstrates high satisfaction with telephone, antenatal clinics during the pandemic, which supports the transition towards widespread digitalisation of antenatal care, suited to twenty first century patients and professionals. Funding None Keywords COVID-19, Virtual clinic, antenatal, satisfaction

Macroinvertebrate biodiversity is routinely used to assess the ecological condition of freshwater environments. Macroinvertebrates are traditionally identified morphologically to mostly family level but using DNA metabarcoding they can be rapidly and reliably identified to species. Developing standardised, robust and cost-effective protocols would enable DNA metabarcoding to be broadly used for routine freshwater biological assessments leading to both potential cost savings as well as increased taxonomic resolution. To further reduce the cost and time it takes to process samples, we examine the feasibility of DNA metabarcoding unsorted macroinvertebrates (macroinvertebrates and debris) from sweep net samples collected from stream pool or edge habitats. We processed these unsorted samples with a standardised method and tested multiple primer sets widely used for invertebrate DNA metabarcoding. We found that currently available DNA metabarcoding primers are well suited for processing unsorted samples, though some performed better than others. However, macroinvertebrate density affected the number of species detected with DNA metabarcoding, particularly the detection of rare taxa. These findings show that DNA metabarcoding of unsorted net contents could streamline macroinvertebrate sample processing for bioassessment, but the optimal amounts of unsorted material for sub-sampling needs to be considered when assessing macroinvertebrate biodiversity.

Abstract Objective: We aimed to preliminarily assess whether low-dose aspirin（LDA）is beneficial in preventing preeclampsia in twin pregnancies. Design: An observational cohort study. Setting: Two hospital centers in Chongqing, China. Population: 932 twin-pregnant women. Methods: Among 932 participants, 277 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were routinely treated with aspirin (100mg daily) from 12-16 weeks to 35 weeks of gestational age, while 655 in Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children were not taking aspirin during the whole pregnancy. We followed each subject and the individual details were recorded. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome was to compare the incidence of preeclampsia in women with or without aspirin intaking. Results: LDA significantly reduced the risk of PE (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24-0.95, p=0.048) and ＜34 weeks preterm birth (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.29-0.86, p=0.013), but showed possible benefits to lower the rate of SGA babies (OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55-1.00, p=0.063). Moreover, the risk of postpartum hemorrhage was not increased by LDA (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.35-2.26, p=1.000). Conclusions: Treatment with low-dose aspirin in women pregnant with twins could offer some protection against adverse pregnancy outcomes in the absence of any significantly increased risk of postpartum hemorrhage. Funding: The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1002900), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (81520108013, 81771613, 81671488, 81871189). Keywords: Twin pregnancy, low-dose aspirin, preeclampsia, preterm birth, small for gestational age

Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of spontaneous pushing with pursed lips breathing compared to directed pushing during the second period of labor in the occurrence of episiotomy. Methods: this is a quasi-randomized clinical trial, with 62 low-risk pregnant women in the second stage of labor. They were randomly allocated in control (CG) (n = 31) and intervention (IG) (n = 31) groups. The IG performed spontaneous pushing with pursed lips breathing while the CG was oriented to perform directed pushing associated with Valsalva Maneuver (MV). Results: There was no difference between the groups regarding the occurrence of episiotomy (RR 1,1; 95%IC 1,0 to 1,2). However, there was a decrease in the duration of the maternal pushing by 3.2 minutes (MD 3,2; 95%CI 1,4 to 5,1) and a difference in maternal anxiety (Md (IQR) IG 46 (35-52), CG 51 (44-56) p:0,049), both favoring the IG. There was no difference in others maternal and neonatal outcomes Conclusions: spontaneous pushing with pursed lips breathing was effective in reducing the duration of the pushing and showed a difference in maternal anxiety, but did not decrease the occurrence of episiotomy, nor did it alter the other studied maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Background: Renal complications following cardiac surgery are fairly common and may require renal replacement therapy. Most of such cases recover with either conservative management or temporary, short period requirements for renal replacement therapy. Several studies highlight compelling evidence for such complications to be recognised and managed promptly. Aim: In this review, we aim to address the identified risk factors and pathophysiology of cardiac surgery associated renal injury. Furthermore, data regarding acute kidney injury and the long-term renal complications post-cardiac surgery will also be analysed. Methods: A comprehensive review of literature was conducted using appropriate keywords on search engines of SCOPUS, Wiley, PubMed, and SAGE Journals. Conclusion: Various risk factors during the periods of surgery have been identified to be linked to the occurrence of these adverse outcomes. Many of these factors have been identified through extensive research and are modifiable while several others are still unclear or needs deeper understanding and studies.

Dissection of the interventricular septum (IVS) is an extremely rare entity. The patients with venticular septum dissection have been reported before. Most cases were diagnosed with coronary artery disease, Bechet’s disease or injury. However, we will report the case not linked to them and treated by aortic valve repair. It may be the first case of spontaneous contained aortic annulus rupture with dissection of IVS, which was successfully treated by surgery.

Chronic pulmonary thromboembolism is one of the pathogenic mechanisms for the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in thalassemic patients, but there are no current recommendations for the management of this complication. We report performing successful pulmonary thrombo-endarterectomy in a patient with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension linked to β-thalassemia, which was followed by substantial hemodynamic and functional improvements. This report supports the feasibility of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy in thalassemic patients, and highlights the need for a comprehensive evaluation for both the presence and cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension prior to determining the likelihood of surgical cure.

The incidence of placenta accreta has risen significantly owing to global surge in caesarian section rates. It is associated with significant morbidities and mortality and is usually managed with caesarean hysterectomy (CsH). Uterine preserving conservative surgeries have advantages over CsH and leaving placenta in-situ techniques. We present a new conservative surgery technique that was applied on 20 patients with abnormally invasive placenta. It was successful in 90% of cases for preservation of the uterus. It was associated with relatively low blood loss and morbidity outcomes. Our simplified easy to learn technique can be useful especially for countries with limited resources.

A new method for hemoglobin (Hb) deoxygenation and re-oxygenation, in suspension or within red blood cells, RBCs, is described using the commercial enzyme product, EC-Oxyrase®. This method using EC-Oxyrase has several advantages over established deoxygenation methodologies, such as avoiding side reactions that produce methemoglobin, eliminating the need of a sparging deoxygenation gas and airtight vessels, as well as easy re-oxygenation by washing and adding to a normal buffer with dissolved oxygen (DO). Spectra of deoxyHb and metHb from RBCs using three preparation methods: sodium dithionite, sodium nitrite and Oxyrase, show high purity of the deoxyHb using Oxyrase (with little to no methemoglobin or hemichrome production from side reactions). The deoxygenation action of Oxyrase follows first order reaction kinetics. Paramagnetic characteristics of intracellular hemoglobin in RBCs are compared using cell tracking velocimetry for healthy and sickle cell disease (SCD) donors and oxygen dissociation curves show that the function of healthy RBCs is unchanged after Oxyrase treatment. The results confirm that this enzymatic approach to deoxygenation produces pure deoxyhemoglobin, can be re-oxygenated easily, prepared aerobically and has similar paramagnetic mobility to the existing methods.

Detailed knowledge of the bacterial growth kinetics is essential to ensure optimized biodegradation of the wastewater at high volume processing. A potential azo-dye degrading bacterium (Bacillus subtilis MN372379) was isolated from the sludge-waste nearby carpet-dyeing unit at Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh, India. The isolated bacterial strain was used to decolorize simulated wastewater containing Congo Red dye in a batch reactor. This study primarily aimed at developing a parametric bacterial growth model to account the decelerating bacterial growth, caused by toxic metabolites present in the decelerating log phase, which was generally ignored in the previous studies. Specifically, this study proposed a computational approach to determine a time-averaged specific bacterial growth rate for the entire sigmoidal log phase, instead of using the conventional exponential growth kinetic which is valid only in the initial part of accelerating log phase. The nature of metabolite inhibition in the decelerating part of log phase was also determined and found to be non-competitive. Further, the computed time-averaged specific bacterial growth rate was incorporated into three substrate inhibition models to account for both, the metabolite- and substrate-, inhibitions, and their corresponding kinetic parameters were determined. Finally, the initial dye concentration and inoculum size were optimized to yield maximum dye utilization rate.

Academia is far from a meritocratic distribution of opportunities. This leads to inequalities, lack of diversity, and unfairness. The objective of this conceptual paper is to propose an integrative framework to help the academic community address the pervasive but persistent inequalities of opportunities. The framework emerges from the intersections of Bourdieu, Bronfenbrenner, and Rawls frameworks and propose the use of ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) to contextualise merit and generate true equality of opportunities. More specifically, I argue that academia has structures and doxa that may be inaccessible to individuals from different social origins, and perpetuated by those privileged individuals who achieve positions of power within academia.  The privileged individuals inherit and are exposed to opportunities to acquire capital from early life, resulting in the continuation of status quo practices and alienation of minorities that do not share – or do not have the ability to acquire – capital. I argue that this process occurs from as a result of the social origins of the individual and that Bronfenbrennian framework suggests that not only disadvantaged individuals lack (inherited) capital, but also lack the ability and opportunities to acquire capital relative to privileged counterparts. I argue that the only way to mitigate this inequitable system is to retrieve the Rawlsian original position of ignorance (veil of ignorance) in the allocation of academic capital based on merit, which can only be objectively quantified relative to social origins of individuals. As opposed to current subjective assessments (e.g., peer-review) or lottery systems, I propose the use of Big Data and ethical AI to reconstruct the position of ignorance and contextualise merit based on the expected merit given individuals’ social origins. I also discuss the concept of ‘years post-PhD’ as it is used to introduce fairness in allocation of academic capital, and propose a different and less relativistic landmark that accounts for the years post-first authorship publication. This is a novel conceptual framework which can stimulate further research into the ecology of social justice.

Spinal cord ischemia remains a dreadful complication after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair. The role of cerebrospinal fluid drain in such patients needs further clarifications. Tam and colleagues carried out an interesting decision analysis study that supports the routine use of the cerebrospinal fluid drain after thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair. They also demonstrated that the use of the cerebrospinal drain was safe. Here, we firstly discuss the paper's finding and methodology and, secondly, we try to simply explain what a decision analysis study is and, broadly, and how to construct a Markov model.

Sustained ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation (VF) are life-threatening arrhythmias which remain highly prevalent in patients with advanced heart failure. These ventricular arrhythmias may impair the support provided by CF-LVADs and lead to frequent hospitalizations, antiarrhythmic medication use, external defibrillations, and need for heart transplantation. We report a case in which a patient with a CF-LVAD and an ICD at end-of-life (EOL) presented with asymptomatic low-flow alarms and was found to have VF of unknown duration. Unique in our case was the presence of organized contractility and rhythmic opening of the mitral valve on echocardiogram despite VF on ECG.

N. W. Ruktanonchai et al. assessed the impact of coordinated COVID-19 exit strategies across Europe (1). Their recommendation emphasized the effect of community coordination of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). NPIs are similar to community mitigation strategies (CMSs). Data of Europe shows the resurgence of the number of deaths due to COVID-19 reaching 1000 deaths per day. Europe needs the stronger quarantine monitoring for COVID-19 exit strategies.According to Worldometer, as of Oct. 8 in 2020 the number of deaths due to the COVID-19 in the United States per day is around 500 per day so that the strong surveillance fence against COVID-19 is needed in order to exit from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statista as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 1 shows the resurgence of the number of deaths in Europe due to COVID-19 reaching 1000 deaths per day. Relaxing lockdown together may immediately spread the COVID-19 pandemic again.In order to relax the lockdown in Europe, the best effective surveillance should be implemented among surveillances in many countries (2).Hsiao-HuiTsou et al. showed three mathematical strategies and analyzed their models: Strategy A: lack of prevention of subclinical transmission, Strategy B: partial prevention using testing with different accuracy, and Strategy C (Taiwan policy): complete prevention by isolating all at-risk people (3). They recommended the complete prevention strategy of Taiwan.Data from Worldometer as of Oct. 7 2020 revealed that the cumulative number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Taiwan is only 7 while that of Europe is 235310 as of Oct. 5 2020 according to ECDC. The number of deaths in Europe is often over 500 per day as shown in Fig.1. Therefore, Europe needs the stronger quarantine monitoring which Taiwan has been operating in order to relax NPIs or CMSs.

Background and Purpose Clinical and experimental studies have shown that the sharp reduction of estrogen is one of the important reasons for the high incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in elderly women, but there is currently no such drug for treatment of AD. Our group first designed and synthesized a novel compound named FMDB. In this study, our aim is to investigate the neuroprotective effects and mechanism of FMDB in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. Experimental Approach 6 months old APP/PS1 transgenic mice were intragastrically administered with FMDB (1.25mg/kg, 2.5mg/kg and 5 mg/kg) every other day for 8 weeks. LV-ERβ-shRNA was injected bilaterally into the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice to knockdown ERβ. Morris water maze test, novel object recognition test and open field test were used to evaluate the cognitive function. Immunofluorescence, TUNEL staining and Western Blot analysis were used for evaluating the hippocampal neurogenesis, apoptosis and signal transduction pathway related proteins. Key Results We found that FMDB ameliorate cognitive impairment in the Morris water maze and novel object recognition tests, increase hippocampal neurogenesis and prevent hippocampal apoptotic responses in APP/PS1 mice. Importantly, FMDB activated nuclear ERβ mediated CBP/p300, CREB and BDNF signaling, and membrane ERβ mediated PI3K/Akt, CREB and BDNF signaling in the hippocampus. Conclusion and Implications Our study demonstrates the contributions and mechanism of FMDB to cognition, neurogenesis and apoptosis in APP/PS1 mice. These lay the experimental foundation for the development of new anti-AD drugs.

Background and Purpose: Metabolic and cardiovascular disease is the most prevalent disease burden in the world and risk factor for progressive cognitive decline. Evidence associates cardiovascular risk factors to unfavorable systemic and neuro-inflammation and to cognitive decline. Cardiovascular therapeutics (e.g., statins and anti-hypertensives) possess immune-modulatory functions in parallel to their cholesterol- or blood pressure (BP)-lowering properties. How their ability to modify immune responses affects cognitive function is unknown. Experimental Approach: By using flow cytometry, Elisa, qPCR, Western blotting and object recognition tasks, we examined the effect of chronic hypercholesterolemia on inflammation and memory function in Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout mice and normocholesterolemic wild-type mice. Key results: Chronic hypercholesterolemia associated to moderate BP elevations and apparent immune system activation characterized by increases in circulating pro-inflammatory Ly6Chi monocytes in ApoE-/- mice. The persistent low-grade immune activation associated to chronic hypercholesterolemia facilitates the infiltration of pro-inflammatory Ly6Chi monocytes into the brain of aged ApoE-/- but not wild-type mice, linking to memory dysfunction. Therapeutic administration of cholesterol-lowering simvastatin reduced BP, systemic and neuro-inflammation, and the occurrence of memory deficits in aged ApoE-/- mice. BP-lowering therapy alone (i.e. hydralazine) attenuated some neuro-inflammatory signatures but not the occurrence of memory deficits. When administered in combination, it reduced effectiveness of statin therapy in some instances. Conclusions and Implications: Our study suggests a link between chronic hypercholesterolemia, myeloid cell activation and neuro-inflammation with memory impairment. Cholesterol-lowering therapy provides effectiveness to attenuate memory impairment and inflammatory events and hence, emerges as safe therapeutic strategy to control hypercholesterolemia-associated memory decline.

A document by Nilay Aksoy. Click on the document to view its contents.

OBJECTIVE: The current study was designed to highlight the physical and psychological health hazards that young Egyptian athletes faced during the COVID-19 lockdown. SETTING: Private sporting club in Cairo. DESIGN: Cross sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: This study included 37 young Egyptian male soccer players whose ages ranged between 9 and 11 years. INTERVENTIONS: Each athlete was subjected to detailed history taking and their anthropometric measurements were taken, mainly weight and height with calculation of their body mass index (BMI). Two questionnaires were filled by each of the enrolled athlete covering their sleep habits and their quality of life (QoL). Finally, the mothers were asked to fill in a questionnaire concerned with depression, anxiety and stress. RESULTS: More than 50% of the enrolled athletes gained weight during the lockdown. Significantly more young athletes who gained weight reported no compliance to the assigned home exercises and more sleeping hours. The mothers‘ depression score correlated negatively and their anxiety score correlated positively with the increased BMI of the athletes. The athletes mean QoL Score worsened significantly from March to July 2020. Additionally, a significant negative correlation was found between the increased BMI and the change of QoL. CONCLUSION: The recent pandemic lockdown had both physical and psychological effects on Egyptian young athletes. The increased BMI was significantly reported among those who didn’t do home exercises and had a negative correlation with their QoL change throughout the lockdown. Additionally, the mothers‘ depression and anxiety had a possible reflection on their youngsters’ weight gain.