Male infertility microsurgical training

A strong foundation in microsurgical techniques is imperative for urologists and clinical andrologists specializing in male infertility. Laboratory-based microsurgical training enhances surgical skills, improves surgeon confidence, and reduces stress and operating time, thereby benefiting both the patient and the surgeon. The laboratory environment additionally allows for the development of novel and innovative techniques. This review provides guidelines for setting up a microsurgical laboratory to develop and enhance microsurgical skills using synthetic and animal models.     

Trichoderma harzianum ThU and Its Metabolites Underscore Alteration in Essential Oils of Ocimum basilicum and Ocimum sanctum

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences - Ocimum, an important commercial aromatic crop, is well known for the industrially acclaimed essential oil. In...     

Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus Due to a Novel ABCC8 Gene Mutation Mimicking an Organic Acidemia

Neonatal diabetes mellitus and organic acidemias, may present with similar features like hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis and failure to thrive. A four-mo-old girl presented with diabetic ketoacidosis following a febrile respiratory illness during which high anion gap metabolic acidosis and hyperglycemia were detected. She also had hyperammonemia, which led to diagnostic uncertainty. Euglycemia was achieved with insulin injections. Genotyping revealed a homozygous novel mutation of the ABCC8 gene coding for the SUR1 subunit of the pancreatic beta cell potassium channel. Subsequently, the child was successfully transitioned to oral glibenclamide therapy. Developmental delay was noted on follow-up which raised the possibility of intermediate DEND syndrome. A possible cause for hyperammonemia in neonatal diabetes mellitus has been postulated in the discussion.     

FGF21 is increased by inflammatory stimuli and protects leptin-deficient ob/ob mice from the toxicity of sepsis

The acute phase response (APR) produces marked alterations in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism including decreasing plasma ketone levels. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a recently discovered hormone that regulates lipid and glucose metabolism and stimulates ketogenesis. Here we demonstrate that lipopolysaccharide (LPS), zymosan, and turpentine, which induce the APR, increase serum FGF21 levels 2-fold. Although LPS, zymosan, and turpentine decrease the hepatic expression of FGF21, they increase FGF21 expression in adipose tissue and muscle, suggesting that extrahepatic tissues account for the increase in serum FGF21. After LPS administration, the characteristic decrease in plasma ketone levels is accentuated in FGF21-/- mice, but this is not due to differences in expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1α or hydroxymethyglutaryl-CoA synthase 2 in liver, because LPS induces similar decreases in the expression of these genes in FGF21-/- and control mice. However, in FGF21-/- mice, the ability of LPS to increase plasma free fatty acid levels is blunted. This failure to increase plasma free fatty acid could contribute to the accentuated decrease in plasma ketone levels because the transport of fatty acids from adipose tissue to liver provides the substrate for ketogenesis. Treatment with exogenous FGF21 reduced the number of animals that die and the rapidity of death after LPS administration in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice and to a lesser extent in control mice. FGF21 also protected from the toxic effects of cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis. Thus, FGF21 is a positive APR protein that protects animals from the toxic effects of LPS and sepsis.     

Socket‐shield technique for implant placement to stabilize the facial gingival and osseous architecture: A systematic review

The aim of the present study was to establish the efficacy of the socket‐shield technique (SST) for the stabilization of the facial gingival and osseous architecture. An electronic search including the Cochrane databases, EBSCOhost, Medline/PubMed and Web of Science was performed. Articles related to SST for placing dental implants were included. Articles and abstracts not written in English were excluded. The initial literature search resulted in 113 articles related to questions raised. Hand searching of the journals related to implants and cross‐referencing related to SST within the selected articles resulted in 1 more paper. Finally, 20 full texts and abstract of 1 article were included in the present systematic review: 11 case reports, 6 case series, 1 human randomized control trial (RCT), 1 technical report and 2 animal RCT. Recent modifications in SST, along with long follow‐up studies with increased sample size, provided promising results. This systematic review still recommends that SST should not be used in routine clinical practise until a higher level of evidence established. Further RCT on SST are required to establish the clinical efficacy of this technique.     

The effect of motivational interviewing on physical activity level among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Aim: To determine the reported effect of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using Motivational Interviewing (MI) to advance physical activity among older adults.

Methods: We searched for RCTs in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AgeLine, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library from inception until March, 2019. Identified trials that used MI for improving physical activity in community-dwelling older adults (≥65?years).

Results: From 5616 citations identified from the search, we included three trials (four publications). There was no evidence of a significant difference between the effect of MI and usual care on physical activity in older adults (Standard Mean Difference (SMD) -0.02, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.05 to 0.46, I² 16%; 3 trials; 84 participants).

Conclusion: There is insufficient evidence to support the effect of MI on improving physical activity among older adults. There is a need for more high quality trials to show that MI is beneficial in older adults who are physically inactive.     

Carbohydrate molecules: an expanding horizon in drug delivery and biomedicine

This review presents successful applications of carbohydrate molecules in drug delivery, vaccine development, cancer, HIV and various other diseases based on advances in glycobiology and glycochemistry. Carbohydrate-mediated delivery could be site specific/cell specific. Carbohydrate-based delivery system has been successfully utilized for the delivery of macromolecular drugs, antigen, and potential therapeutic drug candidates. Lectin, the high affinity carbohydrate-binding nonimmune glycoproteins has specific and noncovalent binding sites for defined carbohydrates. Endogenous surface lectins of cancer cells participate in the regulation of tumor cell growth. The oligosaccharides constitute potential recognition sites for carbohydrate-mediated interactions between cells and drug carriers bearing suitable site directing molecules. The recognition of carbohydrate immunodeterminants has created great attention in the development of carbohydrate-based vaccines. Peptide mimotopes provide a strategy to augment human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) specific carbohydrate reactive immune responses. Experimental cancer and HIV vaccines are being developed in attempts to overcome weak immunological responses to carbohydrate-rich surface antigens using carriers, adjuvants, and novel carbohydrate antigen constructs. Current carbohydrate-based vaccines are used for prostate cancer, typhus, pneumonia, and meningitis; vaccines for malaria, anthrax, and leishmaniasis are under development. This article discusses the current research involved in the role of carbohydrate molecules in targeted controlled drug delivery, immunology, and vaccine development.