Absence of the interthalamic adhesion (ITA) as a neuroanatomical association or risk factor for neuropsychiatric disorders: A systemic review and meta-analysis.

Background: This study aimed to provide an up-to-date account of the frequency of "the absence of interthalamic adhesion (AITA) as a risk factor or association" in healthy subjects and neuropsychiatric patients. Owing to the increased interest in the contribution of ITA to neurological function in previous literature, a meta-analysis of its frequency and sex dependency is required. Aim: This study aimed to study whether the AITA is associated with neuropsychiatric disorders. Settings and Design: This study is a meta-analysis and systemic review. Methods and Material: Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using the keywords "interthalamic adhesion," "massa intermedia," "adhesio interthalamica," and "adhesion" along with the Boolean operators (OR, AND, and NOT). Three reviewers independently assessed the abstracts and full texts for validation based on the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 2019 for descriptive studies and RevMan 5.2 for comparative studies. Results: The incidence of absent ITA was 15.3% in healthy subjects and 28.76% in neuropsychiatric subjects. The relative probability of AITA was 2.30 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.96-2.70] in neuropsychiatric illness. Healthy men were 1.91 times more likely, and men with neuropsychiatric disorders were 1.82 times more likely to have absent ITA than women. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, a consistent association of AITA with psychiatric disorders was observed, rendering the condition to be treated as an associated risk factor affecting the function of the habenula nuclear complex via the stria medullaris thalami. A cohort or longitudinal study is needed to compare the incidence of psychiatric disorders in individuals with or without ITA and to calculate the attributed risk.

Correlation between screen time and psychosomatic symptoms in children during COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown.

Background: This study was planned to estimate the effect of lockdown on psychosomatic problems and sleep of children and their association with screen the time during the lockdown. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1-12-year-old children at a tertiary care hospital in South India. A pre-validated questionnaire with 20 related questions was disseminated through pediatric OPD, telemedicine service, and social media to eligible parents. Results: A total of 278 children aged 1-12 years with a mean (SD) age of 6.92 (3.01) years were studied. Most under 5-year-oldchildren had screen time of ≤2 hours/day, whereas 58.16% of children between 5 and 12 years spent >4 hours/day (P < 0.000). A significant proportion of participants aged 5-12 years had vision problems (P = 0.019), whereas under 5-year-old children had significant associated behavioral changes (P = 0.016) and sleep problems (P = 0.043). Conclusion: Behavioral and sleep problems were significantly high and correlated with an increase in screen time among under 5-year-old children. Vision problems were more in 5-12-year-old children.

Effectiveness of 3D-printed models prepared from radiological data for anatomy education: A meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of 22 randomized, controlled, crossover trials.

BACKGROUND: Many academicians suggested the supplementary use of 3D-printed models reconstructed from radiological images for optimal anatomy education. 3D-printed model is newer technology available to us. The purpose of this systematic review was to capture the usefulness or effectiveness of this newer technology in anatomy education. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria for quantitative synthesis. The included studies were sub-grouped according to the interventions and participants. No restrictions were applied based on geographical location, language and publication years. Randomized, controlled trial, cross-sectional and cross-over designs were included. The effect size of each intervention in both participants was computed as a standardized mean difference (SMD). RESULTS: Twenty-two randomized, controlled trials were included for quantitative estimation of effect size of knowledge acquisition as standardized mean difference in 1435 participants. The pooled effect size for 3D-printed model was 0.77 (0.45-1.09, 95% CI, P < 0.0001) with 86% heterogeneity. The accuracy score was measured in only three studies and estimated effect size was 2.81 (1.08-4.54, 95% CI, P = 0.001) with 92% heterogeneity. The satisfaction score was examined by questionnaire in 6 studies. The estimated effect size was 2.00 (0.69-3.32, 95% CI, P = 0.003) with significant heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: The participants exposed to the 3D-printed model performed better than participants who used traditional methodologies. Thus, the 3D-printed model is a potential tool for anatomy education.

Synthesis, antitubercular activity and molecular docking study of substituted [1,3]dioxino[4,5-d]pyrimidine derivatives via facile CAN catalyzed Biginelli reaction.

We have developed a simple and convenient method for the synthesis of substituted-aryllidine-2,2-dimethyl-7-thioxo/oxo-4H-[1,3]dioxino[4,5-d]pyrimidine derivatives (4a-g) via one-pot Biginelli reaction of Meldrum's acid (1), indole-3-carbaldehyde/thiophene-2-carbaldehyde/2-chloro-quinoline-3-carbaldehyde (2) and amines (3) in aqueous ethanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of CAN. The obtained pyrimidine hybrids were screened for their antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculi H37RV strain. The antimycobacterial results showed that compounds 4a and 4b exhibited excellent activity with MIC value of 1.6 µg/mL, four-fold greater than the standard streptomycin (6.24 µg/mL), while compounds (4c-g) showed lower efficacy. To study the interaction between the synthesized compounds and receptor, the compounds 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d were studied for molecular docking on the enzyme enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (enoyl-ACP reductase) and the compounds 4a and 4b have emerged as active antitubercular agents with least binding energy -9.4 kcal/mol and -9.3 kcal/mol respectively.

Neural tube defects: Different types and brief review of neurulation process and its clinical implication.

Neural Tube Defects are the most typical congenital malformations, with almost 300,000 cases annually worldwide. The incidence varies amongst geographical ranges from 0.2 to up to 11 per 1000 live births. In India, incidence is reportedly higher in north than south and can be attributable to diet and genetic variances. Etiology is multifactorial. Severe forms of whitethorn are allied with syndromes. Primary neurulation and secondary neurulation are the most crucial steps in the formation and closure of the neural tube; any interruption can lead to mild to severe NTDs depending on the level of insult during embryogenesis. Various molecular and cellular events take place simultaneously for neural tube bending and closure of the neural tube. Neurological deficit in the newborn is contingent on the level of defect and severity of the structures affected. Survival of the newborn also depends on the severity of the lesion. Folic acid supplementation in all prospective mothers, preferably 4 weeks before conception and at least 12 weeks after conception, can prevent NTDs in folic responsive groups. But there is a significant number of other causes leading to neural tube defects apart from folic acid. Hydrocephalus is the commonest abnormality allied with NTDs in syndromic cases. Conclusion: NTDs are a frequent cause of stillbirths, infant mortality, and palsies in children. There are various reasons for NTDs, but the process of neurulation points towards some factors of NTC, which can be taken care of to lessen the burden of NTDs.

Synthesis, characterization and biological investigations of potentially bioactive heterocyclic compounds containing 4-hydroxy coumarin.

In this paper, we have reported the synthesis of a series of heterocyclic azo dyes containing 4-hydroxy coumarin by diazo-coupling reaction. The structural aspect of the newly synthesized compounds was accomplished by various physico-chemical techniques like UV-Visible, FT-IR, NMR, and mass spectrometry. The computational calculations and geometrical optimization of the newly synthesized azo dyes were investigated by using Gaussian software with the help of Density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP method using 6-31G(d,p) basis set at gaseous phase. Also, the quantum chemical parameters were evaluated to understand the structural activity concept of the dyes. The pharmacological efficacy of the azo dyes was investigated by antimicrobial, antitubercular, DNA cleavage and in silico molecular docking studies. All the newly synthesized compounds were able to exhibit significant inhibitory activity against tested microbes. Further, the in silico molecular docking showed effective binding properties of the compounds against RpsA target receptor.

Synthesis, growth and characterisations of semi-organic nonlinear optical crystal glycine barium nitrate (GBN).

Transparent crystal of glycine barium nitrate (GBN) has been grown from aqueous solution by slow evaporation technique at room temperature. Powder XRD study reveals the crystalline nature of the grown sample. Single crystal XRD study shows that the GBN belongs to orthorhombic crystal system. FTIR spectral study confirms the presence of the functional groups in the grown crystal. The presence of wide transparency window in the UV-visible region makes GBN crystal suitable for opto-electronic device applications. The grown sample has SHG efficiency is 0.8 times that of standard KDP crystal. Dielectric studies reveal that both dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreases with increase in frequency. Photoconductivity study confirms the negative photoconducting nature of the crystal.

Studies on the distribution of 210Po and 210Pb in the ecosystem of Point Calimere Coast (Palk Strait), India.

A systematic study on the natural radionuclides such as 210Po and 210Pb in the environmental matrices of Point Calimere ecosystem has been undertaken to establish a baseline data on the radiation profile of Point Calimere environment. The environmental samples such as water, sediment and biota (seaweeds, crustaceans, molluscs and fish) have been subjected to analyses. It has been observed that the concentration of 210Po and 210Pb in the water samples of Point Calimere to be 0.5 mBq/l and 1.3 mBq/l, respectively. The soft tissues of the organisms accumulated higher 210Po content while shells and bones contained more 210Pb. The bivalve molluscs Meretrix casta have been identified to accumulate higher concentration of 210Po suggesting that they could serve as bio-indicator of radionuclides like 210Po in the Point Calimere ecosystem. The concentration factor of 210Po for the biotic components ranged from approximately 10(3) to 10(6) while for 210Pb it ranged from approximately 10(3) to 10(5).