Prevalence And Risk Factors Of Sarcopenia In Patients With Cirrhosis: An Observational Study.

Objective: To identify the prevalence and predictors of sarcopenia in cirrhotic patients. METHODS: This observational, cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Institute of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Karachi, from January 30 to July 31, 2021, and comprised cirrhotic patients of either gender between aged 18-60 years. Clinical and laboratory data was recorded for each patient. Body weight was adjusted for ascites. Sarcopenia was determined based on the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia-2019 guideline via hand grip strength and chair standing. Independent predictors for sarcopenia were identified. Data was analysed using SPSS 26. RESULTS: Out of 434 cirrhotic patients assessed, 386(89%) were enrolled. Of them, 237(61.4%) were males, 149(38.6%) were females, 327(84.7%) were aged >45 years and 201(52.1%) had moderate professional activity. Sarcopenia was detected in 314(81.3%) patients; 185(59%) males and 129(41%) females. Age, chair exercise and hand grip scores as well as haemoglobin, albumin and potassium levels were significantly associated with sarcopenia (p<0.05). Conclusion: Sarcopenia was found to be very common in patients with cirrhosis. Increasing age, concomitant comorbidities, and presence of liver decompensation increased the risk of sarcopenia.

Effect of nurse led education on anxiety level among coronary artery bypass grafting pre-operative patients.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify the effect of nurse-led pre-operative education in minimizing the level of anxiety among patients waiting for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. METHODS: This experimental study was accomplished at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. Out of 136, there were 80 patients identified with the presence of anxiety using AKUADS 4 to 6 weeks before CABG. Data were collected by the primary researcher from July 2016 to December 2016. Patients with anxiety were divided into experimental and non-experimental groups. After pre-operative education to the experimental group, patients from both groups were re-assessed for anxiety level one week before CABG. RESULTS: Data were assessed through non-parametric Wilcoxon sign ranked and Mann Whitney tests. It was found that anxiety reduced significantly in post-assessment among experimental group participants. No significant difference was found for pre-anxiety assessment between experimental and non-experimental groups. It was noted that post assessment anxiety differed significantly between experimental and non-experimental groups. CONCLUSION: Pre-operative education was found effective to decrease level of anxiety among patients waiting for CABG. There was no significant difference between pre and post assessment among patients from non-experimental group.

Studies on effects of umbelliferon derivatives against periodontal bacteria; antibiofilm, inhibition of quorum sensing and molecular docking analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Umbelliferon derivatives are exclusively found in plants of Ferula spp. that are commonly used in curing various health concerns related to oral cavity. Diabetic patient are especially effected with periodontitis and allied complications. METHOD: We investigated various compounds isolated from Ferula narthex exudate against clinical strains obtained from diabetic patients with periodontitis. Further antibiofilm, antiquorum sensing and molecular docking studies and ADMET analysis were performed. RESULTS: The docking target included 2Q0J, 2UV0, 3QP5 and 3QP1. HYDE affinity assessment was performed for the first 30 top ranking docked conformations within these active sites. The binding free energy ΔG, FlexX docking score and the most favorable poses for all the compounds were determined. During in vitro analysis, feselol presented high inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC 0.01 mg/mL, MBC 0.02 mg/mL). Similarly, Feselol presented significant inhibition against clinical strain S. epidermidis (MIC 0.087 mg/mL, MBC 0.174 mg/mL) and S. aureus (MIC 0.087 mg/mL, MBC 0.087 mg/mL) preceded by 10'-R-acetyl-karatavacinol against S. epidermidis (MIC 0.56 mg/mL, MBC 0.56 mg/mL) and S. aureus (MIC 0.28 mg/mL, MBC 0.28 mg/mL). During antibiofilm inhibition assay, 10' R-acetyl-karatavacinol showed significant inhibition (54% at a final concentration 0.45 mg/mL), whereas slight antiquorum sensing activity was recorded. CONCLUSIONS: The umbelliferon derivatives have significant inhibition of clinical isolates and moderate antibiofilm potential.

Burnout among nurses working at Dow and Civil Hospitals in Karachi: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the frequency of burnout and its associated factors among nurses. METHODS: The analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Karachi from February 1 to March 31, 2018, and comprised nurses from Dow University Hospital and Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital who had minimum one-year working experience in a tertiary care setting. Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure burnout among the nurses. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 227 nurses, 155(68.3%) were males, 115(50.7%) had 3-5 years of professional experience, and 145(63.9%) had moderate burnout. There was significant association of burnout with duration of professional experience (p=0.004), job nature (p=0.044) and equipment facility in the assigned units (p=0.22). CONCLUSIONS: Moderate level of burnout was found among two-third of the nurses working in tertiary care hospitals in Karachi.

Health-related Quality of Life of Nurses Working in Tertiary Care Hospital of Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess nurses' health-related quality of life. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical study was accomplished among 154 nurses. Data were collected from two tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. Consent was taken prior to data collection from every participant. Questionnaire Short Form Health Survey-26 (SF-26) and Patients Health Questionnaire-9(PHQ-9) were used as a study tool. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 21. RESULTS: ANOVA and T-test confirmed that energy/fatigue domain differed significantly with level of education, duty shift and monthly income with p-values 0.025, 0.001 and 0.006 respectively. It was observed that mean scores of physical functioning, role limitation due to physical health and pain domains differ significantly between depressive and non-depressive participants, with p-values 0.045, 0.01 and 0.005 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Health related quality of life differs in comparison of physical health domain with depressive and non-depressive nurses. Only energy/fatigue domain was significantly associated with level of education, duty shift and monthly income of nurses.

Recent Trend in Specialty Choices of Medical Students and House Officers from Public Sector Medical Universities, Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To determine career choices of medical students of public-sector medical universities and factors affecting their career choices. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Dow University of Health Sciences and Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, from May 2015 to May 2016, and comprised 4th and 5th year medical students and house officers. A self-administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data which was entered and analysed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: Of the 445 Subjects, 314(70.6%) were females. There were 206(46.3%) 4th year students, 194(43.6%) were from the 5th year and 45(10%) were house officers. Top 15 medical specialties were ranked according to the respondents' top three choices. Internal medicine 67(15.1%), cardiology 47(10.6%), paediatrics 46(10.3%) and general surgery 40(9.0%) were the four highest ranked specialties. Overall, 377(84.7%) subjects said prestige in working in that field was the reason of their respective choices. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students chose a wider range of specialties and stated varying factors affecting their choices.

Impact of morning and rotational duties on physical health of nurses working in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: In the system related to health care, shifting duties are considered essential and obligatory to make sure the stability of care in hospitals. Scheduling and shifting are the key uniqueness of shift work and nurses are mostly bounded into different schedules that facilitate 24-hour care. Our objective was to identify the impact of morning and rotational duties on physical health of nurses working in tertiary care hospitals. METHODS: A total of 154 nurses from two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi were included in this study. Data were collected through the Short Form Health Servay-26 between May to June 2017. Questionnaire form consisted of five domains including Physical functioning, Role limitations due to physical health, Energy/Fatigue, Pain and General health. RESULTS: Most of the study participants were staff nurses (66.9%) and few were head nurse and assistant head nurses 13.6% and 8.4% respectively. Nurses' characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, designation and monthly income were found significant with duty shift with p-values 0.049, 0.007, <0.001 and 0.017 respectively. Energy/Fatigue was only domain of SF-26 which showed significant mean difference (p-value <0.001) between morning and rotational duties. CONCLUSION: This research concludes that nurses working in rotational duties were more prone to develop physical problem as compared to morning duties. Energy/Fatigue showed significant mean difference.

Frequency and associated risk factors for neck pain among software engineers in Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of neck pain and its association with risk factors among software engineers. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from February to March 2016, and comprised software engineers from 19 different locations. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select individuals spending at least 6 hours in front of computer screens every day and having a work experience of at least 6 months. Data were collected using a self-administrable questionnaire. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 185 participants, 49(26.5%) had neck pain at the time of data-gathering, while 136(73.5%) reported no pain. However, 119(64.32%) participants had a previous history of neck pain. Other factors like smoking, physical inactivity, history of any muscular pain and neck pain, uncomfortable workstation, and work-related mental stress and insufficient sleep at night, were found to be significantly associated with current neck pain (p<0.05 each). CONCLUSIONS: Intensive computer users are likely to experience at least one episode of computer-associated neck pain.

Effect of Ramadan fasting on glucose level, lipid profile, HbA1c and uric acid among medical students in Karachi, Pakistan.

To assess the effect of Ramadan fasting on blood pressure, fasting glucose, lipid profile, uric acid, HbA1c, body mass index, body adiposity index and visceral adiposity index among fasting medical students, 35 students were recorded before, during and after Ramadan (August) 2011, for their blood pressure, anthropometric measurements, questionnaire response and blood sample. A blood sample was taken at each visit for glucose, lipid profile and HbA1c. Total physical activity, weight-to-height ratio, body adiposity index and visceral adiposity index were calculated for insulin sensitivity. Changes in anthropometric measurements were not statistically significant. However, physical activities increased significantly after Ramadan. Changes in blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, HbA1c, uric acid and triglyceride were not statistically significant. Mean high density lipoprotein decreased significantly in Ramadan, while low density lipoprotein increased significantly.

Comparative bioavailability and pharmacokinetic study of Cefadroxil capsules in male healthy volunteers of Pakistan.

The current study was aimed to judge bioequivalence between two formulations of cefadroxil capsules as guided by FDA guidelines. Another objective was to conduct pharmacokinetic evaluation in Pakistani population. A single-dose, randomized, cross-over pharmacokinetic study was conducted during the month of May'2013 to August'2013. Washout period was one week. Fourteen healthy male adult volunteers were enrolled in the study, however twelve completed the study. Cefadroxil plasma concentration was analyzed by using validated HPLC method. Protein precipitation was achieved by the addition of 6% tri chloro acetic acid in 1:1 ratio and detection was done at 260 nm. Retention time was 7.792 min and correlation coefficient (R2) was 0.9953 showing linearity of the method. Blood sampling was carried out at different time intervals after administration of either test (TEST 500 mg) or reference (REF® 500 mg) formulation. Pharmacokinetic parameters (AUC0→ ∞, AUC0→ t, Cmax, Tmax, t1/2 and kel) were calculated using Kinetica® PK/PD software. The geometric mean ratios and 90% confidence interval (CI) of these pharmacokinetic parameters for cefadroxil (test and reference) formulations were 0.986 (90.83-106.98%) for AUC0→ t; 0.967 (89.13-104.92%) for AUC0→ ∞ and 0.999 (91.06-109.69%) for Cmax. The differences between Tmax of both formulations were not found to be statistically significant (p-value was more than 0.05). The 90% CI of the test/reference AUC and Cmax ratio of cefadroxil were within the FDA recommended range for bioequivalence. Maximum plasma concentration Cmax was 12.5 µg/ml for test and 12.47 µg/ml for reference formulations. Average time to reach Cmax for test and reference formulation was 1.54 and 1.5 hrs. The two formulations of cefadroxil studied during the above study were verified bioequivalent. Maximum plasma concentration of cefadroxil was lower than those mentioned in some previous studies, while Tmax and half-life were near to values reported in literature.

Weather-related changes in the dehydration of respiratory droplets on surfaces bolster bacterial endurance.

HYPOTHESIS: The study shows for the first time a fivefold difference in the survivability of the bacterium Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (PA) in a realistic respiratory fluid droplet on fomites undergoing drying at different environmental conditions. For instance, in 2023, the annual average outdoor relative humidity (RH) and temperature in London (UK) is 71 % and 11 °C, whereas in New Delhi (India), it is 45 % and 26 °C, showing that disease spread from fomites could have a demographic dependence. Respiratory fluid droplet ejections containing pathogens on inanimate surfaces are crucial in disease spread, especially in nosocomial settings. However, the interplay between evaporation dynamics, internal fluid flow and precipitation and their collective influence on the distribution and survivability of pathogens at different environmental conditions are less known. EXPERIMENTS: Shadowgraphy imaging is employed to study evaporation, and optical microscopy imaging is used for precipitation dynamics. Micro-particle image velocimetry (MicroPIV) measurements reveal the internal flow dynamics. Confocal imaging of fluorescently labelled PA elucidates the bacterial distribution within the deposits. FINDINGS: The study finds that the evaporation rate is drastically impeded during drying at elevated solutal concentrations, particularly at high RH and low temperature conditions. MicroPIV shows reduced internal flow under high RH and low temperature (low evaporation rate) conditions. Evaporation rate influences crystal growth, with delayed efflorescence and extending crystallization times. PA forms denser peripheral arrangements under high evaporation rates and shows a fivefold increase in survivability under low evaporation rates. These findings highlight the critical impact of environmental conditions on pathogen persistence and disease spread from inanimate surfaces.

2D Janus ZrSSe/SnSSe Heterostructure: A Promising Candidate for Photocatalytic Water Splitting.

The distinctive physical characteristics and wide range of potential applications in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices have ignited significant interest in two-dimensional materials. Intensive research attention has been focused on Janus transition metal dichalcogenides due to their unique properties resulting from symmetry disruption and their potential in photocatalysis applications. Motivated by the current fascination with Janus TMD heterostructures, we conducted first-principles calculations to examine the stability, electronic, and optical properties of monolayers consisting of ZrSSe, SnSSe, and the ZrSSe/SnSSe heterostructure. The results indicate that the Janus ZrSSe/SnSSe heterostructure exhibits a structural and mechanical stability. Using the HSE06 functional, the ZrSSe/SnSSe heterostructure shows an indirect band gap of 1.20 eV, and band edge analysis reveals a type-II band alignment. The potential for photo/electrocatalysis in the ZrSSe/SnSSe heterostructure for water splitting or generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been explored, and it was found that the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) can spontaneously activate in acidic (pH = 0) media under light irradiation, with a potential of U = 1.82 eV. Additionally, the ZrSSe/SnSSe heterostructure exhibits strong light absorption across a wide range, from visible light to the ultraviolet region, at various levels. These findings open up possibilities for the application of ZrSSe/SnSSe-based materials in optoelectronic devices.

Health-related quality of life among people with diabetes: A cross-sectional study in Hail region, Saudi Arabia ​.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes Mellitus is a serious and expanding health problem, together with the issues of health- related quality of life (HRQoL). This further puts pressure on the government to allocate more funds for public healthcare. OBJECTIVES: This study was devised to evaluate the health-related quality of life of people living with diabetes in Hail region of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This cross-sectional research was carried out at eight locations in the Hail region of Saudi Arabia between 21st March-20th May 2022 using the adapted version of the Euro QoL-5 dimension (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire. A multistage random sample approach was used to choose the diabetes clinics, and data collectors approached the participants in the waiting areas to collect the information. The data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis, Mann-Whitney test, and Kruskal-Wallis tests in IBM SPSS statistics 21.0. RESULTS: The mean HRQoL score was 0.71±0.21 with a visual analog score of 68.4±16.2. Despite having much higher levels of quality of life in terms of self-care (85.8%), regular activity (73.8%) and anxiety (71.8%), nearly one half of the people reported moderate pain or discomfort, and more than one third reported having moderate mobility issues. In general, the quality of life for women was poorer than for men. Individuals with diabetes who were unmarried, young, educated, financially secure, and taking only oral medication had much improved HRQoL. The Euro QoL of people with diabetes patients were significantly influenced by gender, marital status, age, education, employment and treatment modality (p-values < 0.05), whereas only treatment modality had a significant impact on the patients' visual analogue measures (p-values < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The HRQoL of people with diabetes in Hail region was moderate in general, with pain and mobility issues being particularly prevalent. Gender, marital status, age, education, employment and type of medication therapy are significant predictors of HRQoL of patients with diabetes. Hence, planning and programs to enhance the HRQoL of people with diabetes, especially women is recommended.

Current efficacy of antibiotics against Klebsiella isolates from urine samples - a multi-centric experience in Karachi.

Due to emergence of bacterial resistant strains, the effectiveness of current antibiotic treatment without culture/sensitivity testing is questionable. Our study aims to assess the present sensitivity profiles of Klebsiella isolates from urine samples and provide options for empiric prescription in critically ill patients. Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates collected over a period of 28 months till January 2011 from 1,617 urine samples of subjects presenting with Urinary Tract Infections were identified at a local diagnostic lab using standard protocol and subjected to Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion sensitivity testing. MICs were also estimated by E-nephelometry. Among 20 drugs used, low sensitivity was found to amoxicillin (0.1%), doxycycline (11.5%), nitrofurantoin (15.5%), amoxiclav (18.2%), gentamicin (35.4%), pipemidic acid, cephradine (40.3%) and cotrimoxazole (43.1%). The isolates were more sensitive to cefuroxime (55.9%), cefixime (57.7%), ciprofloxacin (62.5%), ofloxacin (63%), ceftriaxone (66.2%), ceftazidime (66.4%), cefotaxime (66.6%), fosfomycin (77.5%) and amikacin (89.4). Most effective were cefroperazone.sulbactam (95.8%), piperacillin.tazobactam (95.7%) and imipenem (97.7%). Self-medication, lack of awareness, and the misuse of antibiotics by doctors has exacerbated the menace of microbial resistance. The study warrants the prudent choice of drugs in adherence with prevailing sensitivity profiles.

Impact of Duration of Catheterization on the Success Rate of Trial Without Catheter in Acute Urinary Retention Due to Benign Prostatic Enlargement.

BACKGROUND: The most common cause of acute urinary retention in men over 50 is benign prostate enlargement (BPE). Following the urethral catheterization, a trial without a catheter (TWOC) under the cover of alpha-blockers is given. The timing of TWOC varies from Day 3 to Day 7 of the retention episode. There is a need to study the improvement in the success rate of TWOC with the increasing number of days of catheterization. OBJECTIVE: To measure the success rate of TWOC in acute urinary retention due to benign prostatic enlargement with increasing days of catheterization. METHOD: The study was conducted in Social Security Teaching Hospital Lahore. Patients who presented with acute urinary retention due to benign prostatic enlargement were catheterized and given alpha-blockers. The patients were divided into two groups, one group having TWOC after three days and the other having TWOC after seven days. The success rate of TWOC was calculated and compared in the two groups. All patients included in the study had the first episode of acute retention with a moderately enlarged prostate and no element of second pathology or neurological deficit. RESULTS: A total of 48 patients were included in the study, divided into two groups of 24 patients each. In the first group who underwent TWOC after seven days of catheterization, 15 out of 24 patients had successful TWOC with a success rate of 62.5%. In the second group of 24 patients, who had TWOC after three days of catheterization, only 11 patients had successful TWOC with a success rate of 45.8%. CONCLUSION: There was a marked improvement in the success rate of TWOC with increasing days of catheterization after an acute retention episode, secondary to BPE.

Physics of self-assembly and morpho-topological changes of Klebsiella pneumoniae in desiccating sessile droplets.

HYPOTHESIS: The bacteria suspended in pure water self-assemble into unique patterns depending on bacteria-bacteria, bacteria-substrate and bacteria-liquid interactions. The physical forces acting on bacteria vary based on their respective spatial location inside the droplet cause an assorted magnitude of physical stress. The shear and dehydration induced stress on pathogens(bacteria) in drying bio-fluid droplets alters the viability and infectivity. EXPERIMENTS: We have investigated the flow and desiccation-driven self-assembly of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the naturally evaporating sessile droplets. Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibits extensive changes in its morphology and forms unique patterns as the droplet dries, revealing hitherto unexplored rich physics governing its survival and infection strategies. Self-assembly of bacteria at the droplet contact line is characterized by order-to-disorder packing transitions with high packing densities and excessive deformations (analysed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy). In contrast, thin-film instability-led hole formation at the center of the droplet engenders spatial packing of bacteria analogous to honeycomb weathering. FINDINGS: Self-assembly favors the bacteria at the rim of the droplet, leading to enhanced viability and pathogenesis on the famously known "coffee ring" of the droplet compared to the bacteria present at the center of the droplet residue. Mechanistic insights gained via our study can have far-reaching implications for bacterial infection through droplets, e.g., through open wounds.

Knowledge of Medical Students Towards the Re-emergence of Human Monkeypox Virus.

INTRODUCTION: Declaration of human monkeypox(HMPX) virus as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concerns among the public andlack of knowledge is a prominent challenge in curbing this outbreak. Therefore, assessment ofknowledge level on this outbreak among the medical students is also necessary due to the fact that they are the future healthcare practitioners who will be directly involved in the disease management as well as a major source of knowledge dissemination to the public. AIM: The main objective of this study is to assess the knowledge level of medical students at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) regarding the emergence of HMPX. Additionally, the study aims to investigate potential associations between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge levels, while also identifying factors that predict a high level of knowledge in this context.. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among UniSZA undergraduatemedical students from Year 1 to Year 5. A validated questionnaire comprising six socio-demographic variables and 27 knowledge items was shared online. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and multivariate logistic regression were performed using SPSS software. RESULTS: A total of 138 medical students out of 300 participated in this study. Overall, the average knowledge score was 73.95% ±4.43, which indicates that the medical students have moderate knowledge level. Nearly half of them had good knowledge level (n= 68; 49.3%), 43 of them had moderate knowledge level (31.2%), and 27 of them had poor knowledge level (19.6%). There was a significant association between knowledge level and two factors: receiving information on HMPX during their education and seniority (P-value < 0.01 and P-value < 0.05, respectively). Besides, received information on HMPX during their education was a significant predicting factor of good knowledge level (P-value = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The knowledge level among the medical students was relatively inadequate.

Machine Learning-Based Fragility Assessment of Reinforced Concrete Buildings.

In the past, large earthquakes caused the collapse of infrastructure and killed thousands of people in Pakistan, a seismically active region. Therefore, the seismic assessment of infrastructure is a dire need that can be done using the fragility analysis. This study focuses on the fragility analysis of school buildings in Muzaffarabad district, seismic zone-4 of Pakistan. Fragility curves were developed using incremental dynamic analysis (IDA); however, the numerical analysis is computationally time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, soft computing techniques such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Gene Expression Programming (GEP) were employed as alternative methods to establish the fragility curves for the prediction of seismic performance. The optimized ANN model [5-25-1] was used. The feedforward backpropagation network was considered in this study. To achieve a reliable model, 70% of the data was selected for training and 15% for validation and 15% of data was used for testing the model. Similarly, the GEP model was also employed to predict the fragility curves. The results of both ANN and GEP were compared based on the coefficient of determination, R 2. The ANN model accurately predicts the global drift values with R 2 equal to 0.938 compared to the GEP model having R 2 equal to 0.87.

Multiscale vapor-mediateddendritic pattern formation and bacterial aggregation in complex respiratory biofluid droplets.

HYPOTHESIS: Deposits of biofluid droplets on surfaces (such as respiratory droplets formed during an expiratory) are composed of water-based salt-protein solution that may also contain an infection (bacterial/viral). The final patterns of the deposit formed and bacterial aggregation on the deposits are dictated by the fluid composition and flow dynamics within the droplet. EXPERIMENTS: This work reports the spatio-temporal, topological regulation of deposits of respiratory fluid droplets and control of bacterial aggregation by tweaking flow inside droplets using non-contact vapor-mediated interactions. Desiccated respiratory droplets form deposits with haphazard multiscale dendritic, cruciform-shaped precipitates when evaporated on a glass substrate. However, we showcase that short and long-range vapor-mediated interaction between the droplets can be used as a tool to control these deposits at nano-micro-millimeter scales. We morphologically control hierarchial dendrite size, orientation and subsequently suppress cruciform-shaped crystals by placing a droplet of ethanol in the vicinity of the biofluid droplet. Active living matter in respiratory fluids like bacteria is preferentially segregated and agglomerated without its viability and pathogenesis attenuation. FINDINGS: The nucleation sites can be controlled via preferential transfer of solutes in the droplets; thus, achieving control over crystal occurrence, growth dynamics, and the final topology of the deposit. For the first time, we have experimentally presented a proof-of-concept to control the aggregation of live active matter like bacteria without any direct contact. The methodology can have ramifications in biomedical applications like disease detection and bacterial segregation.

The 7-Hydroxyflavone attenuates chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain by targeting inflammatory pathway.

Vincristine and paclitaxel are widely used chemotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of brain tumors, breast cancer, leukemia, lymphomas, and malignant solid tumors. Though, these drugs are associated with some severe adverse effects including peripheral neuropathic pain. The anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties of the 7-Hydroxyflavone (7HF) were evaluated in the mice using thermally- and chemically-induced nociception, naloxone antagonistic test, and carrageenan-induced paw edema models. Initially, the in-vitro cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) inhibitory assays were carried out. Peripheral neuropathic pain was induced in the Sprague Dawley (SD) rats by administration of paclitaxel (4 mg/kg) and vincristine (200 µg/kg) on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, respectively. The protective effect of 7HF was assessed against the chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in the rats. Moreover, the expression of the inflammatory mediators in the spinal cord was investigated through RT-PCR. In addition, a computational study was performed to find the potential therapeutic targets and the binding mechanism of 7HF. The 7HF caused concentration-dependent inhibition of COX-2 and 5-LOX, it attenuated the nociceptive pain, carrageenan-induced paw edema, and the development of mechanical and cold allodynia, and hyperalgesia dose-dependently without causing motor coordination deficit. Likewise, the 7HF decreased the vincristine-induced increased expression of different inflammatory mediators including COX-2, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). The computational study showed the effective interactions of 7HF with the binding sites of NF-κB, COX-2, and 5-LOX, exert its inhibitory activities. These findings reveal that the 7HF has anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and anti-neuropathic potentials.