At the crossroads

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between chronic pain and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is poorly understood, and the situation in rural Australia is particularly unclear. The objective here was to determine the socio-demographic factors associated with the use of CAM for the treatment of chronic pain in a region of rural Australia. METHODS: This secondary analysis used data from a population health survey, Crossroads-II, to assess the relationships of various socio-demographic factors with the use of CAM by those suffering from chronic pain...

Background: The rapid evolution of neuroendovascular intervention has resulted in the inclusion of endovascular techniques as a core competency in neurosurgical residency training. Methods: We conducted a literature review of studies involving the training of neurosurgical residents in cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery. We reviewed the evolution of cerebrovascular neurosurgery and the effects of these changes on residency, and we propose interventions to supplement contemporary training. Results: A total of 48 studies were included for full review...

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, noncoding RNAs with essential roles in cellular pathways and are often associated with various diseases and stress conditions. Recently, they have been discovered in mitochondria, termed "mitomiRs," with unique functions. Mitochondria, crucial organelles for energy production and stress responses, Dysregulated mitomiRs functions and expression has been evident in stress conditions such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative. In this meta-analysis we have systematically identified miR-34a & miR-146a as possible potential biomarkers for affliction...

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the major current public health problems, its incidence being high worldwide. This condition is associated with other pathologies such as peptic ulcer or gastric cancer, causing a real challenge for specialists in the medical field. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study that includes a cohort of 275 patients who performed EGD and were tested for the presence of H. pylori by the stool antigen test, between July 2022 and December 2023. Results: The cohort had an average age of 62...

Although it has been known for decades that lysosomes are central for degradation and recycling in the cell, their pivotal role as nutrient sensing signaling hubs has recently become of central interest. Since lysosomes are highly dynamic and in constant change regarding content and intracellular position, fusion/fission events allow communication between organelles in the cell, as well as cell-to-cell communication via exocytosis of lysosomal content and release of extracellular vesicles. Lysosomes also mediate different forms of regulated cell death by permeabilization of the lysosomal membrane and release of their content to the cytosol...

Over the past decade, research has prominently established neutrophils as key contributors to the intricate landscape of tumor immune biology. As polymorphonuclear granulocytes within the innate immune system, neutrophils play a pivotal and abundant role, constituting approximately ∼70% of all peripheral leukocytes in humans and ∼10-20% in mice. This substantial presence positions them as the frontline defense against potential threats. Equipped with a diverse array of mechanisms, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, degranulation, phagocytosis, and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), neutrophils undeniably serve as indispensable components of the innate immune system...

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is the most common muscle disease of older people and is clinically characterized by slowly progressive asymmetrical muscle weakness, predominantly affecting the quadriceps, deep finger flexors, and foot extensors. At present, there are no enduring treatments for this relentless disease that eventually leads to severe disability and wheelchair dependency. Although sIBM is considered a rare muscle disorder, its prevalence is certainly higher as the disease is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed...

The burden of increasing cancer incidence among the population, and, in particular, of prostate cancer in men living in highly developed countries, brings with it, on one hand, the need for new devices that allow a faster and earlier diagnosis, ideally in a non-invasive way and with low consumption of expensive reagents, and on the other the need for the assessment of new in vitro models that allow a more reliable assessment of cancer features, including its microenvironment and sensibility to different drugs...

Examining assemblage turnover and variation along geographic and environmental distances is a useful approach to evaluate beta diversity patterns and associated driving mechanisms. However, such studies are relatively limited in freshwater systems. Here, we compared the relationships between freshwater fish beta diversity and geographic distances among 165 hydrological units (HUs) in four zoogeographical regions (PA, Palearctic Region; CA, High Central Asia; EA, East Asia, SA, South Asia) across China and adjacent areas...

Graphic medicine, an interdisciplinary field situated at the crossroads of comics and healthcare, operates as a medium through which the intricate nature of experiences with illness can be articulated, challenging orthodox medical dogmatism in an engaging and accessible way. Combining the affordances of comics and the narrative power of storytelling, graphic medicine elucidates the socio-cultural stigmatization of dementia influenced by a multitude of discourses. Diverging from existing discourses that depict individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) as zombies, brain-dead, or empty shells, graphic memoirs reconstruct these reductive notions and represent them as imaginative, productive, and perceptive...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Nigeria sits at the crossroads of West and Central Africa; two increasingly critical regions for global health security. To strengthen cross-border collaboration for health security between its neighbors from West and Central Africa, the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria through the public health authority at the Points of Entry-Port Health Services, led the design of a multi-lateral framework for cross-border collaboration between Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, the Republic of Chad, the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of Niger...

Loss of proteostasis and dysregulated mitochondrial function are part of the traditional hallmarks of aging, and in their last revision impaired macroautophagy and chronic inflammation are also included. Mitophagy is at the intersection of all these processes but whether it undergoes age-associated perturbations was not known. In our recent work, we performed a systematic and systemic analysis of mitolysosome levels in mice and found that, despite the already-known decrease in non-selective macroautophagy, mitophagy remains stable or increases upon aging in all tissues analyzed and is mediated by the PINK1-PRKN-dependent pathway...

The classification of tumors into subtypes, characterized by phenotypes determined by specific differentiation pathways, aids diagnosis and directs therapy towards targeted approaches. However, with the advent and explosion of next-generation sequencing, cancer phenotypes are turning out to be far more heterogenous than initially thought, and the classification is continually being updated to include more subtypes. Tumors are indeed highly dynamic, and they can evolve and undergo various changes in their characteristics during disease progression...

The commencement of a new editorial tenure within the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition ( JPSP: ASC ) provides an opportunity for reflection regarding the journal's core mission. The editors recognize that social psychology is at a crossroads due to competing demands that may have led to reduced submissions and posed challenges for previous editors in filling the journal's pages. Now, JPSP: AS C has been allotted more pages to allow for growth during this editorial term...

BACKGROUND: Neuregulin-1 (NRG1) is implicated in both cancer and neurologic diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); however, to date, there has been little cross-field discussion between neurology and oncology in regard to these genes and their functions. MAIN BODY: Approximately 0.15-0.5% of cancers harbor NRG1 fusions that upregulate NRG1 activity and hence that of the cognate ERBB3/ERBB4 (HER3/HER4) receptors; abrogating this activity with small molecule inhibitors/antibodies shows preliminary tissue-agnostic anti-cancer activity...

BACKGROUND: Moments of failure during learning present a wide range of opportunities for growth. However, experimental research and meta reviews focused on failure and learning tend to target singular valued learning processes, such as efficient fixes or transfer of conceptual understanding. These analytical decisions conflict with research documenting that teachers and students pursue heterogeneous learning processes following impasses, including preparing to curb recurring problems and preparing for novel impasses...

In this paper, we examine how a practice-theoretical perspective may complement and expand the central tenet of the attention-based view (ABV) that attention is contextually situated. We put forward three main arguments. First, the components that make a practice possible and that locate it in history and context (practice architecture) also prefigure a situated horizon of relevance and possibilities (pragmatic field of attention). Attention thus often befalls organizational members outside the realm of discursive consciousness as a consequence of being engaged in socio-material practices...

The present study fills a knowledge gap in the distribution and genetic variation of Morimus populations in the Balkans, by studiyng the representatives of the genus in Bulgaria - M.asperfunereus Mulsant, 1862, M.verecundusbulgaricus Danilevsky, 2016 and M.orientalis Reitter, 1894. Additional information is provided for Albania and northern Greece. The mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) marker and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) were used for the genetic analyses. Three of the previously-defined mitochondrial lineages (Lb/HgA, L2 and L3) were detected in Bulgaria, as well as a new lineage (Str) from the Strandzha Mountains (south-eastern Bulgaria)...

PBX1 is a critical transcription factor at the top of various cell fate-determining pathways. In cancer, PBX1 stands at the crossroads of multiple oncogenic signaling pathways and mediates responses by recruiting a broad repertoire of downstream targets. Research thus far has corroborated the involvement of PBX1 in cancer proliferation, resisting apoptosis, tumor-associated neoangiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis, immune evasion, genome instability, and dysregulating cellular metabolism...