A new method for concomitant evaluation of drug combinations for their antimicrobial properties.

Microbial pathogens have developed resistance mechanisms to almost every antibiotic available. There is a need to synthesize or screen new natural compounds to combat the development of drug-resistant pathogens. One of the commonly used methods to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of two or more antibiotics involves a checkerboard assay, which is cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive.

Cell2Sentence: Teaching Large Language Models the Language of Biology.

We introduce Cell2Sentence (C2S), a novel method to directly adapt large language models to a biological context, specifically single-cell transcriptomics. By transforming gene expression data into "cell sentences," C2S bridges the gap between natural language processing and biology. We demonstrate cell sentences enable the finetuning of language models for diverse tasks in biology, including cell generation, complex celltype annotation, and direct data-driven text generation.

Cellulose ether and carbopol 971 based gastroretentive controlled release formulation design, optimization and physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling of ondansetron hydrochloride minitablets.

This study aims to design and optimize ondansetron (OND) gastro-retentive floating minitablets for better and prolonged control of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) with improved patient compliance. Minitablets were directly compressed and encapsulated in a size 2 capsule shell with an overall dose of 24 mg. Central composite design (CCD) was applied keeping one cellulose ether derivative HPMC K15M and Carbopol 971 as variable and used as swelling and rate retarding agents.

Endemic Bladder Stone Disease in Children, Pattern And Current Management: Experience From A Centre In Peri-Urban Setting In Pakistan.

Purpose: To share our recent experience of the pattern and demography of endemic bladder calculi in children and the outcomes of current management strategies for the removal of bladder calculi in a peri-urban setting.

Material And Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study was carried out at a dedicated urology centre. All patients with endemic bladder stones from January 2020 to December 2021 managed at our centre were included in this study.

Local Contrastive Learning for Medical Image Recognition.

The proliferation of Deep Learning (DL)-based methods for radiographic image analysis has created a great demand for expert-labeled radiology data. Recent self-supervised frameworks have alleviated the need for expert labeling by obtaining supervision from associated radiology reports. These frameworks, however, struggle to distinguish the subtle differences between different pathologies in medical images.

Varicella Zoster Associated Vasculopathy and Retinitis with Natalizumab Use in Multiple Sclerosis.

Natalizumab (Tysabri®, NTZ) is a monoclonal autoantibody approved for treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. NTZ inhibits leukocyte migration across the blood-brain barrier, preventing autoreactive cells from inciting an inflammatory immune response. This immunosuppression is highly efficacious in attenuating the risk of relapse of disease, but has been associated with opportunistic central nervous system (CNS) infections, most notably progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

The genus Neopsittaconirmus (Psocodea: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from parrots of Pakistan, and evaluation of its distribution on captive parrots (Psittaciformes) around the world.

The genus Neopsittaconirmus Conci, 1942 is a host-specific genus, found on both wild and captive parrots and love birds (order Psittaciformes). Two species of this genus: N. lybartota (Ansari, 1947) and N.

An Infected, Noncoronary, Bare Metal Stent Presenting as a Right Groin Abscess.

Bare metal stent infections complicating peripheral endovascular stenting are rare but can be associated with devastating morbidities. The current standard of care necessitates explantation and extra-anatomical bypass of the affected limb. We report the case of a patient presenting with a right groin abscess with draining sinuses secondary to an infected common femoral and right external iliac artery bare metal stent.

Disseminated tuberculosis involving the eye, skin, axillary lymph nodes and lungs in an immunocompetent host.

A female in her early 40s presented to the outpatient clinic for weight loss, fatigue, cough, followed by a gradual painful loss of vision in the right eye associated with redness over the past 3 months. Physical examination revealed bilateral axillary lymphadenopathy and non-healing skin ulcers on the left forearm and the left gluteal region. The patient had no light perception in the right eye and grade 4+ cells in the anterior chamber.

Effect of Caffeine on Colonic Manometry in Children.

Objectives: Coffee and caffeinated products have been widely consumed for many centuries. Previous adult studies have suggested that both coffee and decaffeinated beverages induce colonic motility. However, no study has been conducted in pediatrics, and the role of caffeine alone in pediatric colonic motility needs to be explored.

Primary hyperoxaluria: Comprehensive mutation screening of the disease causing genes and spectrum of disease-associated pathogenic variants.

The primary hyperoxalurias are rare disorders of glyoxylate metabolism. Accurate diagnosis is essential for therapeutic and management strategies. We conducted a molecular study on patients suffering from recurrent calcium-oxalate stones and nephrocalcinosis and screened primary hyperoxaluria causing genes in a large cohort of early-onset cases.

Intranasal Xylitol for the Treatment of COVID-19 in the Outpatient Setting: A Pilot Study.

It is well known that acute COVID-19 infection can present with a variety of symptoms, including fever, cough, rhinitis, loss of taste, and the cardinal sign of loss of smell (anosmia). Recently, nasal irrigations with saline and other agents have shown promise for the treatment of COVID-19. Xylitol has been shown to display virucidal effects against SARS-CoV-2.

Identifying Mast Cells in Gastrointestinal Biopsies in Pediatric Irritable Bowel Patients.

Objectives: Mast cells (MCs) have been proposed to be involved in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Nonetheless, the quantity and distribution of MCs in the gastrointestinal tract of pediatric patients with IBS are not well defined. This study aimed to compare the number of MCs in children with and without IBS and to establish histopathological reference values in pediatrics.

Esophageal epithelial immunoglobulin G is an important marker for the diagnosis and management of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis.

Background And Aim: Our primary aim was to describe the prevalence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and its subclass IgG4 in immunohistochemistry staining in esophageal biopsy specimens of children with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) compared with that of specimens from children with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Methods: Esophageal biopsy specimens from children with EoE or GERD were stained prospectively for IgG and IgG4 antibodies. Subjects with EoE were divided into cohorts with either active EoE or EoE in remission.

Hospital medicine team perception of diversity and inclusion at work.

Background: : Diversity and Inclusion concepts are crucial in healthcare as the patient population we encounter as hospitalist medicine team is diverse. A diverse and inclusive environment for healthcare employees can lead to improved job satisfaction and high-quality medical care of patients. However, hospitalist perspectives on diversity and inclusion in their work environment are not well studied and noted in literature.

Formulation and optimization of dimenhydrinate emulgels for topical delivery using response surface methodology.

Development of dimenhydrinate (DMN) emulgel formulation has been described in this work with enhanced permeation for transdermal delivery of DMN for effective management of motion sickness. Various DMN emulgel formulations were prepared using central composite design in response surface methodology. Propylene glycol and olive oil were used in varying ratios as permeation enhancers along-with carbopol-934 as gelling agent.

Efficacy of Short Course of Preksha Dhyana for Functional Abdominal Pain Disorder in a Busy Pediatric Clinic.

Mind body techniques such as meditation improve symptoms in children and adults with IBS. Typical courses, however, are lengthy and difficult to administer. We report our experience with a short course of (PD), a child-friendly focused meditation with yoga.

A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial to Test the Efficacy of Intranasal Chlorpheniramine Maleate With Xylitol for the Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis.

The prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR), including symptoms of sneezing, nasal itching, airflow obstruction, and nasal discharge caused by histamine and immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated reactions, is ~30% in the U.S. Recent studies seem to suggest that the allergic inflammatory processes in AR may be induced by the interaction between an allergen (trigger) and the nasal microbiome (substrate).

Bilateral serous retinal detachment: an unusual complication of HELLP syndrome.

A 23-year-old primigravida presented to the emergency department with reports of headache. On examination, her blood pressure was found to be 190/140 mm Hg. Her laboratory results were notable for proteinuria, deranged liver function and low platelets.