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This study aimed to analyze medication adherence and persistence among open-angle glaucoma patients in Korea. A retrospective study was conducted using the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) claims database from 2016 to 2019. Newly diagnosed open-angle glaucoma patients who were prescribed with the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering eyedrops were included. Adherence was measured using the medication possession ratio (MPR), and persistence was measured using the duration of therapy during the 24 month follow-up period. During the study period, 14,648 open-angle glaucoma patients were identified, and 3118 (21.3%) and 4481 patients (30.6%) were adherent to and persistent with their glaucoma treatment, respectively. The mean MPR was 48.8%, and the mean duration of therapy was 357.2 days. Logistic regression analysis showed that patients who are older, female, using prostaglandins as the index medication, and visiting secondary or tertiary hospitals were significantly associated with greater rates of adherence (odds ratio (OR) = 1.21, 1.12, 1.27, and 1.73, respectively) and persistence (OR = 1.11, 1.17, 1.16, 1.17, and 1.36, respectively) during the study period. Patients with open-angle glaucoma in Korea had substandard medication adherence and discontinued their treatment. Ophthalmologists should pay more attention to younger, male patients to improve adherence.Human behavior is implicated in most road accidents. The current study examined drivers' behavior that interferes with decision making and reaction time to an incidence. Adults (≥17 years-old) participated in a questionnaire-based survey for driver's behavior. Dataset was weighed according to sex, age and education based on the 2011 census. Differences between groups were assessed with Chi-squared tests while logistic regression models were used to identify drivers' characteristics for specific behaviors. A total 1601 adults participated in the survey-48% males and 52% females. Texting, Global Positioning System (GPS) setting and smoking were observed more by professional drivers and drivers of an urban area, while smoking was also dependent on social class. Drink driving was observed more by males (20% vs. 5% females), while after adjusting for age, the odds of drink driving in males were 5 times higher than females (p less then 0.001). A different effect of age depending on the driver's sex and vice versa was observed regarding phone calls. Drivers' behavior with distractive potential differed by age, sex, social class and area of residence. Male drivers were more likely to perform drink driving, while professional drivers were more likely to use cell phone for calls and texting, set the GPS and smoke while driving.Glioblastoma display vast cellular heterogeneity, with glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) at the apex. The critical role of GSCs in tumour growth and resistance to therapy highlights the need to delineate mechanisms that control stemness and differentiation potential of GSC. Dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) regulates neural progenitor cell differentiation, but its role in cancer stem cell differentiation is largely unknown. Herein, we demonstrate that DYRK1A kinase is crucial for the differentiation commitment of glioblastoma stem cells. DYRK1A inhibition insulates the self-renewing population of GSCs from potent differentiation-inducing signals. Mechanistically, we show that DYRK1A promotes differentiation and limits stemness acquisition via deactivation of CDK5, an unconventional kinase recently described as an oncogene. DYRK1A-dependent inactivation of CDK5 results in decreased expression of the stemness gene SOX2 and promotes the commitment of GSC to differentiate. Our investigations of the novel DYRK1A-CDK5-SOX2 pathway provide further insights into the mechanisms underlying glioblastoma stem cell maintenance.This study examined the combined effects of breakfast and exercise on short-term academic and cognitive performance in adolescents. Eighty-two adolescents (64 female), aged 14-19 years, were randomized to four groups over a 4-hour morning (i) a group who fasted and were sedentary (F-S); (ii) a group who ate breakfast but were sedentary (B-S); (iii) a group who fasted but completed a 30-min exercise bout (F-E); and (iv) a group who ate breakfast and completed a 30-min exercise bout (B-E). Individuals completed academic and cognitive tests over the morning. Adolescents in B-E significantly improved their mathematics score (B-E 15.2% improvement on correct answers, vs. F-S 6.7% improvement on correct answers; p = 0.014) and computation time for correct answers (B-E 16.7% improvement, vs. F-S 7.4% improvement; p = 0.004) over the morning compared with the F-S group. The B-E group had faster reaction times for congruent, incongruent and control trials of the Stroop Color-Word Task compared with F-S mid-morning (all p less then 0.05). Morning breakfast and exercise combine to improve short-term mathematical task performance and speed in adolescents.Over the past 25 years, cannabis plants have gained major popularity in the research community. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant capacity and stabilization efficiency of cannabidiol (CBD) extract in two different polymers polylactide (PLA) and ethylene-norbornene copolymer (Topas) that are used in packaging materials more often. The research technology included weathering in a special chamber, surface free energy and color change measurements, surface morphology and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, thermogravimetry, and determination of the oxidation induction time or temperature (OIT) values, based on which the effectiveness of the cannabidiol extract could be estimated. Obtained results showed that the addition of CBD to polymer mixtures significantly increased their resistance to oxidation, and it can be used as a natural stabilizer for polymeric products. Moreover, samples with cannabidiol changed their coloration as a result of weathering. Therefore, this natural additive can also be considered as a colorimetric indicator of aging that informs about the changes in polymeric materials during their lifetime. On the other hand, surface properties of samples with cannabidiol content did not alter much compared to pure Topas and PLA.Influenza virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have caused respiratory diseases worldwide. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now a global health concern requiring emergent measures. These viruses enter the human body through the oral cavity and infect respiratory cells. read more Since the oral cavity has a complex microbiota, influence of oral bacteria on respiratory virus infection is considered. Saliva has immune molecules which work as the front line in the biophylactic mechanism and has considerable influence on the incidence and progression of respiratory viral infection. Salivary scavenger molecules, such as gp340 and sialic acid, have been reported to exert anti-influenza virus activity. Salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) has potential to acquire immunity against these viruses. Biological features of the oral cavity are thought to affect viral infection in respiratory organs in various ways. In this review, we reviewed the literature addressing the impact of oral conditions on respiratory infectious diseases caused by viruses.The median overall survival (OS) and local control (LC) of patients with melanoma brain metastases (MBMs) are poor even with immune checkpoint inhibitors and/or radiotherapy (RT). The aims of the study were to evaluate the association and timing of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT)/radiosurgery (SRS) performed with the CyberKnife® System and ipilimumab (IPI). A total of 63 MBMs patients were analyzed 53 received RT+IPI and 10 RT alone. Therefore, the patients were divided into four groups RT PRE-PI (>4 weeks before IPI) (18), RT CONC-IPI (4 weeks before/between first and last cycle/within 3 months of last cycle of IPI) (20), RT POST-IPI (>3 months after IPI) (15), and NO-IPI (10). A total of 127 lesions were treated 75 with SRS (one fraction) and 24 with SRT (three to five fractions). The median follow-up was 10.6 months. The median OS was 10.6 months for all patients, 10.7 months for RT+IPI, and 3.3 months for NO-IPI (p = 0.96). One-year LC was 50% for all patients, 56% for RT+IPI, and 18% for NO-IPI (p = 0.08). The 1-year intracranial control was 45% for all patients, 44% for RT+IPI, and 51% for NO-IPI (p = 0.73). IPI with SRS/SRT in MBMs treatment could improve LC. However, the impact and timing of the two modalities on patients' outcomes are still unclear.Synthesis of RNA nucleobases from formamide is one of the recurring topics of prebiotic chemistry research. Earlier reports suggest that thymine, the substitute for uracil in DNA, may also be synthesized from formamide in the presence of catalysts enabling conversion of formamide to formaldehyde. In the current paper, we show that to a lesser extent conversion of uracil to thymine may occur even in the absence of catalysts. This is enabled by the presence of formic acid in the reaction mixture that forms as the hydrolysis product of formamide. Under the reaction conditions of our study, the disproportionation of formic acid may produce formaldehyde that hydroxymethylates uracil in the first step of the conversion process. The experiments are supplemented by quantum chemical modeling of the reaction pathway, supporting the plausibility of the mechanism suggested by Saladino and coworkers.

Over the past few years, attention has been paid to the coexistence of dysphonia with dysphagia, in the context of functional disorders. The aim of this work was to objectify logopaedic examination of dysphonic patients with coexisting swallowing difficulties by surface electromyography.

The material of the work included 58 patients with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). Each patient underwent otolaryngologic, phoniatric and logopaedic examination. We collected information about medical history and asked patients to fill out Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI) and Swallowing Disorder Scale (SDS). The algorithm of dysphagia diagnostics in our clinic assumes parallel surface electromyography (SEMG) during Functional Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing.

In comparison to patients suffering from atypical swallowing, patients with muscle tension dysphagia (MTDg) obtained higher values from almost all questionnaires. Logopaedic evaluation revealed abnormalithat, apart from longer swallows, patients with MTDg differ from patients with non-normative swallowing patterns in the muscle activity measured by SEMG, abnormalities in logopaedic evaluation and the severity of complaints reported by patients.Supercritical CO2 loading of preformed 3D printed drug carriers with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) shows great potential in the development of oral dosage forms for future personalized medicine. We designed 3D printed scaffold like drug carriers with varying pore sizes made from polylactic acid (PLA) using a fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printer. The 3D printed drug carriers were then loaded with Ibuprofen as a model drug, employing the controlled particle deposition (CPD) process from supercritical CO2. Carriers with varying pore sizes (0.027-0.125 mm) were constructed and loaded with Ibuprofen to yield drug-loaded carriers with a total amount of 0.83-2.67 mg API (0.32-1.41% w/w). Dissolution studies of the carriers show a significantly decreasing dissolution rate with decreasing pore sizes with a mean dissolution time (MDT) of 8.7 min for the largest pore size and 128.2 min for the smallest pore size. The API dissolution mechanism from the carriers was determined to be Fickian diffusion from the non-soluble, non-swelling carriers.