Metal-organic frameworks: synthesis, properties, wound dressing, challenges and scopes in advanced wound dressing.

Wound healing is a critical but complex biological process of skin tissue repair and regeneration resulting from various systems working together at the cellular and molecular levels. Quick wound healing and the problems associated with traditional wound repair techniques are being overcome with multifunctional materials. Over time, this research area has drawn significant attention. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), owning to their peculiar physicochemical characteristics, are now considered a promising class of well-suited porous materials for wound healing in addition to their other biological applications. This detailed literature review provides an overview of the latest developments in MOFs for wound healing applications. We have discussed the synthesis, essential biomedical properties, wound-healing mechanism, MOF-based dressing materials, and their wound-healing applications. The possible major challenges and limitations of MOFs have been discussed, along with conclusions and future perspectives. This overview of the literature review addresses MOFs-based wound healing from several angles and covers the most current developments in the subject. The readers may discover how the MOFs advanced this discipline by producing more inventive, useful, and successful dressings. It influences the development of future generations of biomaterials for the healing and regeneration of skin wounds.

Current Perspectives of Protein in Bone Tissue Engineering: Bone Structure, Ideal Scaffolds, Fabrication Techniques, Applications, Scopes, and Future Advances.

In view of their exceptional approach, excellent inherent biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, and interaction with the local extracellular matrix, protein-based polymers have received attention in bone tissue engineering, which is a multidisciplinary field that repairs and regenerates fractured bones. Bone is a multihierarchical complex structure, and it performs several essential biofunctions, including maintaining mineral balance and structural support and protecting soft organs. Protein-based polymers have gained interest in developing ideal scaffolds as emerging biomaterials for bone fractured healing and regeneration, and it is challenging to design ideal bone substitutes as perfect biomaterials. Several protein-based polymers, including collagen, keratin, gelatin, serum albumin, etc., are potential materials due to their inherent cytocompatibility, controlled biodegradability, high biofunctionalization, and tunable mechanical characteristics. While numerous studies have indicated the encouraging possibilities of proteins in BTE, there are still major challenges concerning their biodegradability, stability in physiological conditions, and continuous release of growth factors and bioactive molecules. Robust scaffolds derived from proteins can be used to replace broken or diseased bone with a biocompatible substitute; proteins, being biopolymers, provide excellent scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Herein, recent developments in protein polymers for cutting-edge bone tissue engineering are addressed in this review within 3-5 years, with a focus on the significant challenges and future perspectives. The first section discusses the structural fundamentals of bone anatomy and ideal scaffolds, and the second section describes the fabrication techniques of scaffolds. The third section highlights the importance of proteins and their applications in BTE. Hence, the recent development of protein polymers for state-of-the-art bone tissue engineering has been discussed, highlighting the significant challenges and future perspectives.

Current progress of protein-based dressing for wound healing applications - A review.

Protein-based wound dressings have garnered increasing interest in recent years owing to their distinct physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. The intricate molecular composition of proteins gives rise to unique characteristics, such as exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, and responsiveness, which contribute to the promotion of wound healing. Wound healing is an intricate and ongoing process influenced by multiple causes, and it consists of four distinct phases. Various treatments have been developed to repair different types of skin wounds, thanks to advancements in medical technology and the recognition of the diverse nature of wounds. This review has literature reviewed within the last 3-5 years-the recent progress and development of protein in wound dressings and the fundamental properties of an ideal wound dressing. Herein, the recent strides in protein-based state-of-the-art wound dressing emphasize the significant challenges and summarize future perspectives for wound healing applications.

A comprehensive investigation of the use of freeze concentration appro aches for the concentration of fish protein hydrolysates.

Fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) are inherently unstable in their liquid form, necessitating either freezing or dewatering for stabilization. Gentle methods such as freeze concentration can be used to remove water, this can be achieved by freezing water in solution by decreasing the bulk temperature below freezing point and separating pure ice crystals from concentrated solution. This approach serves as an alternative to techniques like evaporation and reverse osmosis for concentrating solutions that have high water content, significant nutritional value, and thermolabile compounds. This is crucial as many bioactive compounds degrade when exposed to elevated temperatures. Another notable advantage of this technology is its potential to reduce energy consumption by up to 40% when integrated into the FPH drying process. Although this technology is currently industrialized primarily for juices, it can achieve concentrations of up to 60°Brix and manage viscosities up to 400 mPa.s. Numerous studies have been dedicated to enhancing design and processes, leading to a 35% reduction in the system's capital cost and a 20% reduction in energy consumption. Moreover, freeze concentration can synergize with other concentration techniques, creating more efficient hybrid processes. This review aims to introduce freeze concentration as a superior option for preserving fish protein hydrolysates, enhancing their stability, and maintaining their nutritional and bioactive qualities.

Chitosan-Based Polymeric Nanoparticles as an Efficient Gene Delivery System to Cross Blood Brain Barrier: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluations.

Significant progress has been made in the field of gene therapy, but effective treatments for brain tumors remain challenging due to their complex nature. Current treatment options have limitations, especially due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and precisely target cancer cells. Therefore options that are safer, more effective, and capable of specifically targeting cancer cells are urgently required as alternatives. This current study aimed to develop highly biocompatible natural biopolymeric chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) as potential gene delivery vehicles that can cross the BBB and serve as gene or drug delivery vehicles for brain disease therapeutics. The efficiency of the CNPs was evaluated via in vitro transfection of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-tagged plasmid in HEK293-293 and brain cancer MG-U87 cell lines, as well as within in vivo mouse models. The CNPs were prepared via a complex coacervation method, resulting in nanoparticles of approximately 260 nm in size. In vitro cytotoxicity analysis revealed that the CNPs had better cell viability (85%) in U87 cells compared to the chemical transfection reagent (CTR) (72%). Moreover, the transfection efficiency of the CNPs was also higher, as indicated by fluorescent emission microscopy (20.56% vs. 17.79%) and fluorescent-activated cell sorting (53% vs. 27%). In vivo assays using Balb/c mice revealed that the CNPs could efficiently cross the BBB, suggesting their potential as efficient gene delivery vehicles for targeted therapies against brain cancers as well as other brain diseases for which the efficient targeting of a therapeutic load to the brain cells has proven to be a real challenge.

Fabrication of Bilayer Nanofibrous-Hydrogel Scaffold from Bacterial Cellulose, PVA, and Gelatin as Advanced Dressing for Wound Healing and Soft Tissue Engineering.

Tissue engineering is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of engineering, requiring the fabrication of advanced and multifunctional materials that can be used as scaffolds or dressings for tissue regeneration. In this work, we report a bilayer material prepared by electrospinning a hybrid material of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and bacterial cellulose (BC NFs) (top layer) over a highly interconnected porous 3D gelatin-PVA hydrogel obtained by a freeze-drying process (bottom layer). The techniques were combined to produce an advanced material with synergistic effects on the physical and biological properties of the two materials. The bilayer material was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a water contact measurement system (WCMS). Studies on swelling, degradability, porosity, drug release, cellular and antibacterial activities were performed using standardized procedures and assays. FTIR confirmed cross-linking of both the top and bottom layers, and SEM showed porous structure for the bottom layer, random deposition of NFs on the surface, and aligned NFs in the cross section. The water contact angle (WCA) showed a hydrophilic surface for the bilayer material. Swelling analysis showed high swelling, and degradation analysis showed good stability. The bilayer material released Ag-sulfadiazine in a sustained and controlled manner and showed good antibacterial activities against severe disease-causing gram + ive and -ive (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacterial strains. In vitro biological studies were performed on fibroblasts (3T3) and human embryonic kidneys (HEK-293), which showed desirable cell viability, proliferation, and adhesion to the bilayer. Thus, the synergistic effect of NFs and the hydrogel resulted in a potential wound dressing material for wound healing and soft tissue engineering.

Multilevel Pain Assessment with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: Evaluating ΔHBO2 and ΔHHB Measures for Comprehensive Analysis.

Assessing pain in non-verbal patients is challenging, often depending on clinical judgment which can be unreliable due to fluctuations in vital signs caused by underlying medical conditions. To date, there is a notable absence of objective diagnostic tests to aid healthcare practitioners in pain assessment, especially affecting critically-ill or advanced dementia patients. Neurophysiological information, i.e., functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) or electroencephalogram (EEG), unveils the brain's active regions and patterns, revealing the neural mechanisms behind the experience and processing of pain. This study focuses on assessing pain via the analysis of fNIRS signals combined with machine learning, utilising multiple fNIRS measures including oxygenated haemoglobin (ΔHBO2) and deoxygenated haemoglobin (ΔHHB). Initially, a channel selection process filters out highly contaminated channels with high-frequency and high-amplitude artifacts from the 24-channel fNIRS data. The remaining channels are then preprocessed by applying a low-pass filter and common average referencing to remove cardio-respiratory artifacts and common gain noise, respectively. Subsequently, the preprocessed channels are averaged to create a single time series vector for both ΔHBO2 and ΔHHB measures. From each measure, ten statistical features are extracted and fusion occurs at the feature level, resulting in a fused feature vector. The most relevant features, selected using the Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance method, are passed to a Support Vector Machines classifier. Using leave-one-subject-out cross validation, the system achieved an accuracy of 68.51%±9.02% in a multi-class task (No Pain, Low Pain, and High Pain) using a fusion of ΔHBO2 and ΔHHB. These two measures collectively demonstrated superior performance compared to when they were used independently. This study contributes to the pursuit of an objective pain assessment and proposes a potential biomarker for human pain using fNIRS.

Fundamental properties of smart hydrogels for tissue engineering applications: A review.

Tissue engineering is an advanced and potential biomedical approach to treat patients suffering from lost or failed an organ or tissue to repair and regenerate damaged tissues that increase life expectancy. The biopolymers have been used to fabricate smart hydrogels to repair damaged tissue as they imitate the extracellular matrix (ECM) with intricate structural and functional characteristics. These hydrogels offer desired and controllable qualities, such as tunable mechanical stiffness and strength, inherent adaptability and biocompatibility, swellability, and biodegradability, all crucial for tissue engineering. Smart hydrogels provide a superior cellular environment for tissue engineering, enabling the generation of cutting-edge synthetic tissues due to their special qualities, such as stimuli sensitivity and reactivity. Numerous review articles have presented the exceptional potential of hydrogels for various biomedical applications, including drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. Still, it is essential to write a comprehensive review article on smart hydrogels that successfully addresses the essential challenging issues in tissue engineering. Hence, the recent development on smart hydrogel for state-of-the-art tissue engineering conferred progress, highlighting significant challenges and future perspectives. This review discusses recent advances in smart hydrogels fabricated from biological macromolecules and their use for advanced tissue engineering. It also provides critical insight, emphasizing future research directions and progress in tissue engineering.

"Where does it hurt?": Exploring EDA Signals to Detect and Localise Acute Pain.

Pain is a highly unpleasant sensory experience, for which currently no objective diagnostic test exists to measure it. Identification and localisation of pain, where the subject is unable to communicate, is a key step in enhancing therapeutic outcomes. Numerous studies have been conducted to categorise pain, but no reliable conclusion has been achieved. This is the first study that aims to show a strict relation between Electrodermal Activity (EDA) signal features and the presence of pain and to clarify the relation of classified signals to the location of the pain. For that purpose, EDA signals were recorded from 28 healthy subjects by inducing electrical pain at two anatomical locations (hand and forearm) of each subject. The EDA data were preprocessed with a Discrete Wavelet Transform to remove any irrelevant information. Chi-square feature selection was used to select features extracted from three domains: time, frequency, and cepstrum. The final feature vector was fed to a pool of classification schemes where an Artificial Neural Network classifier performed best. The proposed method, evaluated through leave-one-subject-out cross-validation, provided 90% accuracy in pain detection (no pain vs. pain), whereas the pain localisation experiment (hand pain vs. forearm pain) achieved 66.67% accuracy.Clinical relevance- This is the first study to provide an analysis of EDA signals in finding the source of the pain. This research explores the viability of using EDA for pain localisation, which may be helpful in the treatment of noncommunicable patients.

Graphene Oxide-Functionalized Bacterial Cellulose-Gelatin Hydrogel with Curcumin Release and Kinetics: In Vitro Biological Evaluation.

Biopolymer-based bioactive hydrogels are excellent wound dressing materials for wound healing applications. They have excellent properties, including hydrophilicity, tunable mechanical and morphological properties, controllable functionality, biodegradability, and desirable biocompatibility. The bioactive hydrogels were fabricated from bacterial cellulose (BC), gelatin, and graphene oxide (GO). The GO-functionalized-BC (GO-f-BC) was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and chemically crosslinked with bacterial cellulose and gelatin using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a crosslinker. The structural, morphological, and wettability properties were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a universal testing machine (UTM), respectively. The swelling analysis was conducted in different media, and aqueous medium exhibited maximum hydrogel swelling compared to other media. The Franz diffusion method was used to study curcumin (Cur) release (Max = 69.32%, Min = 49.32%), and Cur release kinetics followed the Hixson-Crowell model. Fibroblast (3T3) cell lines were employed to determine the cell viability and proliferation to bioactive hydrogels. Antibacterial activities of bioactive hydrogels were evaluated against infection-causing bacterial strains. Bioactive hydrogels are hemocompatible due to their less than 0.5% hemolysis against fresh human blood. The results show that bioactive hydrogels can be potential wound dressing materials for wound healing applications.

Potential use of iPSCs for disease modeling, drug screening, and cell-based therapy for Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic illness marked by increasing cognitive decline and nervous system deterioration. At this time, there is no known medication that will stop the course of Alzheimer's disease; instead, most symptoms are treated. Clinical trial failure rates for new drugs remain high, highlighting the urgent need for improved AD modeling for improving understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of disease and improving drug development. The development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has made it possible to model neurological diseases like AD, giving access to an infinite number of patient-derived cells capable of differentiating neuronal fates. This advance will accelerate Alzheimer's disease research and provide an opportunity to create more accurate patient-specific models of Alzheimer's disease to support pathophysiological research, drug development, and the potential application of stem cell-based therapeutics. This review article provides a complete summary of research done to date on the potential use of iPSCs from AD patients for disease modeling, drug discovery, and cell-based therapeutics. Current technological developments in AD research including 3D modeling, genome editing, gene therapy for AD, and research on familial (FAD) and sporadic (SAD) forms of the disease are discussed. Finally, we outline the issues that need to be elucidated and future directions for iPSC modeling in AD.

Fabrication of amine-functionalized and multi-layered PAN-(TiO2)-gelatin nanofibrous wound dressing: In-vitro evaluation.

The development of advanced multifunctional wound dressings remains a major challenge. Herein, a novel multilayer (ML) electrospun nanofibers (NFs) wound dressing based on diethylenetriamine (DETA) functionalized polyacrylonitrile (PAN), TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) coating (Ct), and bioderived gelatin (Gel) was developed for potential applications in wound healing. The ML PAN-DETA-Ct-Gel membrane was developed by combining electrospinning, chemical functionalization, synthesis, and electrospray techniques, using a layer-by-layer method. The ML PAN-DETA-Ct-Gel membrane is comprised of an outer layer of PAN-DETA as a barrier to external microorganisms and structural support, an interlayer TiO2 NPs (Ct) as antibacterial function, and a contact layer (Gel) to improve biocompatibility and cell viability. The NFs membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface profilometry, BET analysis, and water contact angle techniques to investigate their morphology, surface roughness, porosity, and wettability. The ML PAN-DETA-Ct-Gel wound dressing exhibited good surface roughness, porosity, and better wettability. Cell morphology, proliferation, and viability were determined using fibroblasts (3T3), and antibacterial assays were performed against six pathogens. The ML PAN-DETA-Ct-Gel NFs membrane showed good cell morphology, proliferation, viability, and antibacterial activity compared with other membranes. This new class of ML NFs membranes offers a multifunctional architecture with adequate biocompatibility, cell viability, and antibacterial activity.

Dietary Patterns and Physical Activity Levels Among People With Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective: The aim of our study was to assess the association of eating habits with the dietary patterns of people with diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (NIDE), Dow University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A total 301 patients aged >18 with type 2 diabetes came to Outpatient department were recruited. Structured questionnaire was used to assess general characteristics, Anthropometric measurements, biochemical markers, and dietary intake. Results: A total of 301 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in this study. The average age of patients was 51.6 (SD ± 11.1) years which ranged from 21 to 80 years whereas the average BMI was 27.2 kg / m2 (SD ± 5.6). Overall, 42% of patients were found to often have less than 1 serving of fruit, and 45% had less than 3 servings of vegetables daily. Of all, 77 (26%) patients often distributed carbohydrates all over the day. Results revealed that HbA1c was higher in those patients who took more than 3 roti (approximately each roti weight 60-80 g) (P-value < .001) and full plate rice approximately 300 to 355 g cooked weight in a whole day (P-value < .001) as compared to those patients whose intake of roti was 3 or less than 3 and rice was a half plate. Moreover, out of 301 patients, 102 were found physically active (52% females and 48% males), while 199 were not active. Pain in legs and lack of motivation were common barrier to physical activity. Conclusion: Our study revealed that patients' fruits and vegetable intake was not optimum, diet was not balanced and the quantity of starchy carbohydrates was not controlled which may affect their HBA1C levels. Proper counseling and awareness about the importance of a balanced diet and portion control in diabetes are needed.

The Leading Role Of Evidence-Based Practices In The Treatment Of Patients With Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To explore the effectiveness of motivational interviewing, motivational enhancement therapy, and cognitive behaviour therapy for patients with substance use disorders, and to estimate the effect of such comparison in patient care setting. METHODS: The systematic review was conducted from September 2021 to February 2022, and comprised search on MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Clinical Trials.gov and OvidSP databases for experimental studies and randomised controlled trials related to substance use disorders published in peer-reviewed English-language journals between 2001 and 2021. Quality of the studies was assessed using the Modified Cochrane Collaboration risk of the bias assessment criteria. RESULTS: Of the 314 studies initially identified, 41(13%) were subjected to full-text assessment, and, of them, 16(39%) were reviewed and analysed. There were 8(50%) studies done is the United States, 4(25%) in the United Kingdom, and 1(6.25%) each in Germany, Australia, South Korea and South Africa. All the 16(100%) studies were intervention-based, with 6(37.5%) being randomised controlled trials. There were 8(50%) studies using motivational interviewing and cognitive behaviour therapy, 5(31.25%) had significant results with a combination of motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy, 3(18.75%) supported motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy in combination, and 2(12.5%) studies combined motivational interviewing, motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy, reporting significant results while simultaneously addressing multiple patient variables. Conclusion: All studies were heterogeneous. Motivational interviewing produced short-term treatment outcomes and played a supportive role in sustaining motivation. Motivational enhancement therapy was an effective therapeutic intervention that significantly addressed inadequate causes, and enhanced motivation for treatment. Cognitive behaviour therapy had a short-term impact and remained influential in the long term as well in handling cognitive and behavioural setbacks.

Brief cognitive behavior therapy for stigmatization, depression, quality of life, social support and adherence to treatment among patients with HIV/AIDS: a randomized control trial.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals living with HIV/AIDs are at a high risk of many problems like depression, stigma, quality of life, decreased adherence to treatment, and lack of social support. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of brief-cognitive behavior therapy (B-CBT) on reducing depression and stigma and improving treatment adherence, quality of life, and social support among patients with HIV/AIDS attending antiretroviral therapy (ART). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was conducted at ART Clinic in the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Shahkot Nankana Sahib from July 2021 to October 2021. After baseline screening, 126 patients met the eligibility criteria and 63 were allocated to the experimental group (EXPg = 63) and 63 to waitlist-control group (WLCg = 63). Participants' age range was from 20 to 55 years. Participants who were taking ART treatment were enrolled for the CBT treatment. Before this, all the participants completed a baseline assessment to ensure a level of severity and diagnosis. A total of eight CBT based therapeutic sessions were conducted individually with EXPg. To assess the outcomes among patients receiving ART, we used Demographic form, Patient health questionnaire, HIV stigma scale, General medication adherence scale, Multidimensional scale of perceived social support, and WHOQOL BREF scale. RESULTS: Findings suggest that B-CBT significantly reduced the level of depression (i.e. F (1, 78) = 101.38, p < .000, η2 = .599), and social stigma (i.e. F (1, 78) = 208.47, p < .000, η2 = .787) among patients with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, CBT substantially improved the level of adherence to treatment (i.e. F(1,78) = 24.75, p < .000, η2 = .503), social support (i.e. F (1, 78) = 128.33, p < .000, η2 = .606), and quality of life (i.e. F (1, 78) = 373.39, p < .000, η2 = .837) among patients with HIV/AIDS. Significant mean difference M(SD) on PHQ at post-analysis in the EXPg vs. WLCg was seen 1.22(0.47) vs. 2.30(0.68) and similarly, on MPSS at a post-analysis in the EXPg vs. WLCg 2.85(0.36) vs. 1.70(0.51) which indicates sound therapeutic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive behavioral therapy effectively decreases the level of depression and stigma and enhances the level of social support, quality of life, and adherence to treatment among HIV/AIDS patients. It is concluded that cognitive behavior therapy is an effective treatment approach for patients with HIV/AIDS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Thai clinical trial registry (i.e. TCTR = TCTR20210702002 ).

Role of Graphene Oxide in Bacterial Cellulose-Gelatin Hydrogels for Wound Dressing Applications.

Biopolymer-based hydrogels have several advantages, including robust mechanical tunability, high biocompatibility, and excellent optical properties. These hydrogels can be ideal wound dressing materials and advantageous to repair and regenerate skin wounds. In this work, we prepared composite hydrogels by blending gelatin and graphene oxide-functionalized bacterial cellulose (GO-f-BC) with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The hydrogels were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and water contact angle analyses to explore functional groups and their interactions, surface morphology, and wetting behavior, respectively. The swelling, biodegradation, and water retention were tested to respond to the biofluid. Maximum swelling was exhibited by GBG-1 (0.01 mg GO amount) in all media (aqueous = 1902.83%, PBS = 1546.63%, and electrolyte = 1367.32%). All hydrogels were hemocompatible, as their hemolysis was less than 0.5%, and blood coagulation time decreased as the hydrogel concentration and GO amount increased under in vitro standard conditions. These hydrogels exhibited unusual antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. The cell viability and proliferation were increased with an increased GO amount, and maximum values were found for GBG-4 (0.04 mg GO amount) against fibroblast (3T3) cell lines. The mature and well-adhered cell morphology of 3T3 cells was found for all hydrogel samples. Based on all findings, these hydrogels would be a potential wound dressing skin material for wound healing applications.

Distress tolerance, anxiety-related symptoms, stress, and depression among dropout and non-dropout university students: a mediation analysis.

This study explores the relationship between distress tolerance and depression with mediating role of anxiety-related symptoms and stress among dropout and non-dropout university students. This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2019 to December 2020. Participants' age ranged between 20-40 years. Data was collected using the Distress Tolerance Scale and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. Descriptive, t-test, and mediation analyses were performed to calculate the results. A sample of 500 respondents was recruited. A significant difference was noted between dropout and non-dropout students on CGPA (p<0.001), depression (p<.001), anxiety (p<0.001), stress (p<0.001), tolerance (p<.001), absorption (p<0.001), appraisal (p<0.001), and distress tolerance (p<0.001). Mediation analysis reveals that stress and anxiety significantly mediates between distress tolerance and depressive symptoms (i.e., F (498) = 31.14, p<0.001; F (498) =34.14, p<0.001; F (496) = 161.21, p<0.001). It is concluded that low distress tolerance increases stress and anxiety, triggering depressive symptoms.

Experimental Exploration of Multilevel Human Pain Assessment Using Blood Volume Pulse (BVP) Signals.

Critically ill patients often lack cognitive or communicative functions, making it challenging to assess their pain levels using self-reporting mechanisms. There is an urgent need for an accurate system that can assess pain levels without relying on patient-reported information. Blood volume pulse (BVP) is a relatively unexplored physiological measure with the potential to assess pain levels. This study aims to develop an accurate pain intensity classification system based on BVP signals through comprehensive experimental analysis. Twenty-two healthy subjects participated in the study, in which we analyzed the classification performance of BVP signals for various pain intensities using time, frequency, and morphological features through fourteen different machine learning classifiers. Three experiments were conducted using leave-one-subject-out cross-validation to better examine the hidden signatures of BVP signals for pain level classification. The results of the experiments showed that BVP signals combined with machine learning can provide an objective and quantitative evaluation of pain levels in clinical settings. Specifically, no pain and high pain BVP signals were classified with 96.6% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and 91.6% specificity using a combination of time, frequency, and morphological features with artificial neural networks (ANNs). The classification of no pain and low pain BVP signals yielded 83.3% accuracy using a combination of time and morphological features with the AdaBoost classifier. Finally, the multi-class experiment, which classified no pain, low pain, and high pain, achieved 69% overall accuracy using a combination of time and morphological features with ANN. In conclusion, the experimental results suggest that BVP signals combined with machine learning can offer an objective and reliable assessment of pain levels in clinical settings.

Phylogeny and population structure of Echinococcus granulosus (sensu stricto) based on full-length cytb-nad2-atp6 mitochondrial genes - First report from Sialkot District of Pakistan.

Cystic echinococcosis is a zoonotic disease of livestock having serious economic setbacks. The etiological agents of the disease belong to Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. Despite of worldwide distribution of the disease, the molecular studies mainly employ amplification of cox1, nad1 and nad5 genes. To further strengthen the knowledge about significance of other molecular markers and to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of Echinococcus species in Pakistan, the current study was designed in which full length mitochondrial cytb, atp6 and nad2 genes were amplified. Based on BLAST searches of the generated cytb, atp6 and nad2 gene sequences from a total of 18 hydatid cysts collected from cattle, 12 isolates were identified as E. granulousus G3 and 6 as E. granulosus (G1). The phylogeny inferred by the Bayesian method using nucleotide sequences of cytb-atp6-nad2 further confirmed their identity. The diversity indices indicated a high haplotype and a low nucleotide diversity. The negative values of Tajima's D and Fu's Fs test demonstrated deviation from neutrality suggesting a recent population expansion. To the best of our knowledge, the present study described the genetic variation of E. granulosus population for the first time in Pakistan using full-length cytb, atp6 and nad2 mitochondrial genes. The findings on the genetic variation of E. granulosus in Pakistan will constitute useful baseline information for future studies on the prevalence and population structure of E. granulosus based on full-length cytb, atp6 and nad2.

Multifunctional Bioactive Scaffolds from ARX-g-(Zn@rGO)-HAp for Bone Tissue Engineering: In Vitro Antibacterial, Antitumor, and Biocompatibility Evaluations.

Advanced biomaterials are required with enhanced antibacterial and anticancer activities to obtain desirable biocompatibility during and after scaffold implantation in tissue engineering. Here, we report the development of a nanosystem by the hydrothermal method using different zinc (Zn) amounts and reduced graphene oxide (GO). Arabinoxylan, the nanosystem (Zn@rGO), and nanohydroxyapatite polymeric nanocomposites ARX-g-(Zn@rGO)/HAp were prepared by the free radical polymerization method, and porous bioactive scaffolds were fabricated via the freeze-drying technique. The structural, morphological, and elemental analyses of the bioactive scaffolds were conducted using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The wetting behavior was studied by a water contact meter and swelling in aqueous and phosphate-buffered saline solutions at 37 °C. The degradation was also studied in the phosphate-buffered saline solution at 37 °C. The increase in Zn content increased the pore size, and hydrophobic behavior shifted to hydrophilic (AGZ-1 = 131.40° at 0 s and 120.60° at 10 s to AGZ-1 = 81.30° at 0 s and 69.20° at 10 s) with the increase in contact time. Maximum swelling was observed in deionized water (AGZ-1 = 52.87%, AGZ-4 = 90.20%), followed by phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; AGZ-1 = 44.80%, AGZ-4 = 67.90%) and electrolyte (AGZ-1 = 32.40%, AGZ-4 = 63.47%), and biodegradation in PBS media increased (AGZ-1 = 36.80%, AGZ-4 = 55.92%). Antimicrobial activities against severe infection-causing pathogens and antitumor activity against U87 cell lines showed exceptional results. Cell viability and cell proliferation studies were conducted against preosteoblast cell lines, and increased cell viability and proliferation were observed from AGZ-1 to AGZ-4. Antimicrobial and anticancer activities were enhanced with the increase of Zn content in the Zn@rGO system. The bioactive scaffolds with different formulations could be potential biomaterials to treat and regenerate defected bone tissue.