Complementary Approaches Research Articles

Diabetic Neuropathy: An Overview of Molecular Pathways and Protective Mechanisms of Phytobioactives.

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is a common and debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus that affects the peripheral nerves and causes pain, numbness, and impaired function. The pathogenesis of DN involves multiple molecular mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and pathways of advanced glycation end products, polyol, hexosamine, and protein kinase C. Phytochemicals are natural compounds derived from plants that have various biological activities and therapeutic potential. Flavonoids, terpenes, alkaloids, stilbenes, and tannins are some of the phytochemicals that have been identified as having protective potential for diabetic neuropathy. These compounds can modulate various cellular pathways involved in the development and progression of neuropathy, including reducing oxidative stress and inflammation and promoting nerve growth and repair. In this review, the current evidence on the effects of phytochemicals on DN by focusing on five major classes, flavonoids, terpenes, alkaloids, stilbenes, and tannins, are summarized. This compilation also discusses the possible molecular targets of numerous pathways of DN that these phytochemicals modulate. These phytochemicals may offer a promising alternative or complementary approach to conventional drugs for DN management by modulating multiple pathological pathways and restoring nerve function.

Protein purification via consecutive histidine-polyphosphate interaction.

While nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) has greatly advanced recombinant protein purification, its limitations, including nonspecific binding and partial purification for certain proteins, highlight the necessity for additional purification such as size exclusion and ion exchange chromatography. However, specialized equipment such as FPLC is typically needed but not often available in many laboratories. Here, we show a novel method utilizing polyphosphate (polyP) for purifying proteins with histidine repeats via non-covalent interactions. Our study demonstrates that immobilized polyP efficiently binds to histidine-tagged proteins across a pH range of 5.5-7.5, maintaining binding efficacy even in the presence of reducing agent DTT and chelating agent EDTA. We carried out experiments of purifying various proteins from cell lysates and fractions post-Ni-NTA. Our results demonstrate that polyP resin is capable of further purification post-Ni-NTA without the need for specialized equipment and without compromising protein activity. This cost-effective and convenient method offers a viable approach as a complementary approach to Ni-NTA.

A Case Study Based on a Complementary and Alternative Medicine Approach on an Oligoasthenoteratozoospermic Patient and its Effect on Assisted Reproductive Technology Outcome

ABSTRACT A couple visited the IVF clinic to seek treatment for primary infertility. A 45-year-old quadragenarian female and her 49-year-old male partner were recommended infertility treatment after 2 years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive. The woman had a recent history of dengue and chickenpox. The male partner was advised to do a semen analysis. The report showed asthenoteratozoospermia and the semen sample viscous. On the other hand, the female was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The male patient was given a 3-month medication treatment that included probiotic supplements and cranberry juice to treat bacterial infections and urinary tract infections. The male partner also advised medication, and regular semen analysis was performed after every 3 months. The treatment plan included intrauterine insemination (IUI), which increased the possibility of pregnancy. Fourteen days following the IUI and pregnancy test, the outcomes were positive. The case illustrates the difficulties in treating primary infertility by combining reproductive procedures, medication, and lifestyle modifications. Regularly monitoring semen quality and hormonal levels is crucial in assessing treatment success. The positive outcome of IUI suggests the effectiveness of the fertility treatment plan.

Copper-Catalyzed Chemoselective Nitro Reduction

AbstractThe reduction of nitro compounds into the highly valuable anilines is reported using a Cu catalyst and B2Pin2. The reactions proceed under very mild conditions and showcase excellent functional group tolerance. This method is applied to a large panel of nitro derivatives, including biorelevant molecules and important synthetic intermediates, toward the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). This novel reaction manifold intends to provide a complementary approach to the existing portfolio of nitro-reduction methods.

Sedimentary ancient DNA and HBI biomarkers as sea‐ice indicators: A complementary approach in Antarctic fjord environments

Sedimentary ancient DNA and HBI biomarkers as sea‐ice indicators: A complementary approach in Antarctic fjord environments

What is diagnostic safety? A review of safety science paradigms and rethinking paths to improving diagnosis.

Diagnostic errors in health care are a global threat to patient safety. Researchers have traditionally focused diagnostic safety efforts on identifying errors and their causes with the goal of reducing diagnostic error rates. More recently, complementary approaches to diagnostic errors have focused on improving diagnostic performance drawn from the safety sciences. These approaches have beencalled Safety-II and Safety-III, which apply resilience engineering and system safety principles, respectively. This review explores the safety science paradigms andtheir implications for analyzing diagnostic errors, highlighting their distinct yet complementary perspectives. The integration of Safety-I, Safety-II, and Safety-III paradigms presents a promising pathway for improving diagnosis. Diagnostic researchers not yet familiar with the various approaches and potential paradigm shift in diagnostic safetyresearch may use this review as a starting point for considering Safety-I, Safety-II, and Safety-III in their efforts toboth reduce diagnostic errors and improve diagnostic performance.

Fertility preservation through natural and artificial ovaries: a review

Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) is currently the exclusive choice for preserving fertility in both young girls before reaching puberty and young women who require immediate chemotherapy. Ovarian tissue transplantation has proven to be effective in restoring hormonal cycles and fertility. However, in certain cancer cases, there is a potential risk of inadvertently reintroducing malignant cells when transplanting cryopreserved ovarian tissue. Therefore, the use of an artificial ovary as an innovative and complementary approach allows for the development of isolated follicles, facilitates oocyte maturation and ovulation, and can partially restore endocrine function. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of techniques used to preserve fertility in natural ovarian tissues, including slow freezing, vitrification and hydrogel encapsulation methods. Additionally, it reviews fertility preservation techniques for artificial ovarian tissues, such as strategies involving hydrogel-encapsulated follicle, scaffolding for constructing ovarian microtissues, and 3D printing engineering. Lastly, this article explores current challenges and difficulties encountered in preserving ovarian tissue fertility, while also anticipating future trends in development, making it a valuable reference for the implementation of ovarian tissue fertility preservation.

NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE AND CATASTROPHIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE: A COMPLEMENTARY LOG-LOG APPROACH ON YOGYAKARTA’S INCIDENCE 2022

National Health Insurance (JKN) aims to provide health care benefits to meet people's basic health needs. However, despite the high JKN coverage in D.I.Yogyakarta Province, catastrophic health expenditure events remain high. The study examines the implementation of National Health Insurance (JKN) in D.I.Yogyakarta Province and its effectiveness in reducing devastating health expenditures in 2022. Using the Complementary Log-log approach on the 2022 National Social and Economic Survey data, the research findings reveal that the implementation of JKN has been successful, and the ownership of JKN positively affects the reduction of catastrophic health expenditure. The study also shows that the education level of household members and household size have positive effects on reducing the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures. However, the presence of babies or the elderly, household economic status, and inpatient status could increase the risk of having catastrophic health expenditures. The study highlights the need for attention to be given to implementing JKN in D.I.Yogyakarta Province and other variables to achieve universal health coverage and reduce catastrophic health expenditure.

Larger nations benefit more than smaller nations from the stabilizing effects of crop diversity.

Crop diversification is increasingly recognized as a strategy to stabilize national food production, yet the benefits of this approach may vary across nations due to the scale dependence of crop diversity and stability. Here we use crop production data from 131 nations from 1961 to 2020 to explore the spatial scale dependence of the crop diversity-stability relationship. Drawing on ecological theory and complementary analytical approaches, we find that as the total national harvested area increases, yield stability increases. Crop diversity stabilizes national yield stability, as does an increase in the number of farms, but these stabilizing effects are weaker in smaller countries. Our findings suggest that enhancing crop diversity at the national level may not provide a de facto universal strategy for increasing yield stability across all countries-with implications for national strategies promoting crop diversification to protect against food system shocks.

A straightforward assessment of anterior mitral isthmus lines block

Abstract Background Complex atrial fibrillation (AF) and left atrial flutter (LAFL) ablation procedures often involve creating lines on the anterior wall of the left atrium, such as the anterior septal and lateral mitral isthmus lines. Purpose This study aims to evaluate the role of a simplified criteria to demonstrate the achievement of conduction block across the anterior wall of the left atrium ("anterior mitral isthmus") after linear ablation (LA). Methods Patients scheduled for persistent AF or LAFT ablation were prospectively recruited. The procedure employed a homogeneous LA strategy that included the anteromedial, anterolateral and roof lines. The following intervals were measured before and after LA, placing a multipolar catheter in the left atrial appendage (LAA) in order to register the earliest egm in a reproducible position: 1) P-LAA: conduction time from the sinus P wave onset to the LAA, 2) IASp-LAA: conduction time pacing at CL 500 ms from the interatrial septum to the LAA, 3) CSp-LAA: conduction time pacing at CL 500 ms from the distal CS to the LAA, 4) LAA-QRS onset. Patients with linear ablation were further divided according to the presence or block (BG) or non-block group (NBG) in the anterior at the end of the procedure, demonstrated with a high-density activation map. A parallel control group (CG) of patients with paroxysmal AF without LA was also included for comparison. Statistical analysis involved the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni correction. Results 21 patients were enrolled in the study: mean age 66.67 years (± 8.48), 80% male sex. Among them, 16 had AF and AFL and underwent LA, while the remaining 5 constitute the CG. Baseline measures before LA did not exhibit significant differences compared to the CG with mean values for P-LAA at 93±20 ms (P=2.35), IASs-LAA at 82±27 ms (P=1.94), CSs-LAA at 52±17 ms (P=0.91), and LAA-QRS at 80±27 ms (P=1.82). However, upon comparing the BG and NBG, significant differences emerged in P-LAA (82±10 ms vs. 11±5 ms (P=0.002) and IAS-LAA (83±17 ms vs. 27±24 ms (P=0.004), while no significant differences were observed in the remaining intervals. In comparisons between the BG and the CG, significant differences were noted in P-LAA (82±10 ms vs. 16±10 ms (P=0.01) and IAS-LAA (83±17 ms vs. 1.2±17 ms (P=0.01), without differences in the other intervals. Conversely, when comparing NB to the CG, no significant differences were observed in any of the intervals. Finally, P-LAA >70 ms and the IASp-LAA >55 ms showed a sensitivity of 100 % and specifitity of 100 vs. 87% respectively to discriminate anterior wall block. Conclusion The simple measurement of the P-LAA and IAS-LAA interval proves highly valuable in evaluating anterior mitral isthmus lines block, serving as a complementary approach to conventional maneuvers. P-LAA >70 ms and IASp-LAA > 55 ms could be usefull to discriminate anterior wall block.Anterior linear ablation with block

Gut microbial metabolite targets HDAC3-FOXK1-interferon axis in fibroblast-like synoviocytes to ameliorate rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease. Early studies hold an opinion that gut microbiota is environmentally acquired and associated with RA susceptibility. However, accumulating evidence demonstrates that genetics also shape the gut microbiota. It is known that some strains of inbred laboratory mice are highly susceptible to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), while the others are resistant to CIA. Here, we show that transplantation of fecal microbiota of CIA-resistant C57BL/6J mice to CIA-susceptible DBA/1J mice confer CIA resistance in DBA/1J mice. C57BL/6J mice and healthy human individuals have enriched B. fragilis than DBA/1J mice and RA patients. Transplantation of B. fragilis prevents CIA in DBA/1J mice. We identify that B. fragilis mainly produces propionate and C57BL/6J mice and healthy human individuals have higher level of propionate. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) in RA are activated to undergo tumor-like transformation. Propionate disrupts HDAC3-FOXK1 interaction to increase acetylation of FOXK1, resulting in reduced FOXK1 stability, blocked interferon signaling and deactivation of RA-FLSs. We treat CIA mice with propionate and show that propionate attenuates CIA. Moreover, a combination of propionate with anti-TNF etanercept synergistically relieves CIA. These results suggest that B. fragilis or propionate could be an alternative or complementary approach to the current therapies.

A complementary approach for neocortical cytoarchitecture inspection with cellular resolution imaging at whole brain scale

Cytoarchitecture, the organization of cells within organs and tissues, serves as a crucial anatomical foundation for the delineation of various regions. It enables the segmentation of the cortex into distinct areas with unique structural and functional characteristics. While traditional 2D atlases have focused on cytoarchitectonic mapping of cortical regions through individual sections, the intricate cortical gyri and sulci demands a 3D perspective for unambiguous interpretation. In this study, we employed fluorescent micro-optical sectioning tomography to acquire architectural datasets of the entire macaque brain at a resolution of 0.65 μm × 0.65 μm × 3 μm. With these volumetric data, the cortical laminar textures were remarkably presented in appropriate view planes. Additionally, we established a stereo coordinate system to represent the cytoarchitectonic information as surface-based tomograms. Utilizing these cytoarchitectonic features, we were able to three-dimensionally parcel the macaque cortex into multiple regions exhibiting contrasting architectural patterns. The whole-brain analysis was also conducted on mice that clearly revealed the presence of barrel cortex and reflected biological reasonability of this method. Leveraging these high-resolution continuous datasets, our method offers a robust tool for exploring the organizational logic and pathological mechanisms of the brain’s 3D anatomical structure.

Three-dimensional cardiac models: a pre-clinical testing platform.

Major advancements in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology over recent years have yielded valuable tools for cardiovascular research. Multi-cell type 3-dimensional (3D) cardiac models in particular, are providing complementary approaches to animal studies that are better representatives than simple 2-dimensional (2D) cultures of differentiated hPSCs. These human 3D cardiac models can be broadly divided into two categories; namely those generated through aggregating pre-differentiated cells and those that form self-organizing structures during their in vitro differentiation from hPSCs. These models can either replicate aspects of cardiac development or enable the examination of interactions among constituent cell types, with some of these models showing increased maturity compared with 2D systems. Both groups have already emerged as physiologically relevant pre-clinical platforms for studying heart disease mechanisms, exhibiting key functional attributes of the human heart. In this review, we describe the different cardiac organoid models derived from hPSCs, their generation methods, applications in cardiovascular disease research and use in drug screening. We also address their current limitations and challenges as pre-clinical testing platforms and propose potential improvements to enhance their efficacy in cardiac drug discovery.

Comparison Utilization of UAV Images & Satellite Images for Geospatial Analysis

The rapid advancements in remote sensing technologies have opened new avenues for geospatial analysis by providing high-quality imagery and data. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and satellites have emerged as prominent tools for capturing Earth's surface information, each offering unique advantages and limitations. This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of the utilisation of UAV images and satellite images in geospatial analysis. The practical implications of employing UAVs and satellites in diverse scenarios include environmental monitoring, disaster management, urban planning, and agriculture. The benefits of UAVs, such as their ability to capture high- resolution images with precision and on-demand deployment, are contrasted with satellites' global coverage and consistent monitoring capabilities. Integrating UAV and satellite data is emphasized as a complementary approach to geospatial analysis. Techniques for fusing data from these sources are discussed, enabling the creation of comprehensive datasets that combine detailed local information from UAVs with broader context from satellite imagery.

Dual targeting negative enrichment strategy for highly sensitive and purity detection of CTCs

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have significant clinical value in early tumor detection, dynamic monitoring and immunotherapy. CTC detection stands out as a leading non-invasive approach for tumor diagnostics and therapeutics. However, the high heterogeneity of CTCs and the occurrence of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during metastasis pose challenges to methods relying on EpCAM-positive enrichment. To address these limitations, a method based on negative enrichment of CTCs using specific leukocyte targets has been developed. In this study, aiming to overcome the low purity associated with immunomagnetic beads targeting solely the leukocyte common antigen CD45, we introduced CD66b-modified immunomagnetic beads. CD66b, a specific target for neutrophils with abundant residues, was chosen as a complementary approach. The process involved initial collection of nucleated cells from whole blood samples using density gradient centrifugation. Subsequently, magnetically labeled leukocytes were removed by magnetic field, enabling the capture of CTCs with higher sensitivity and purity while retaining their activity. Finally, we selected 20 clinical blood samples from patients with various cancers to validate the effectiveness of this strategy, providing a new generalized tool for the clinical detection of CTCs.

Nurturing Hope: Reproductive Outcomes with Sinosomatics Following Unsuccessful IVF Attempts.

For women who have experienced failed attempts at in vitro fertilization (IVF) and face medical issues leading to infertility, the renewed effort to seek fertility treatment, coupled with decreasing likelihood of success, can exert substantial emotional and physical strains. Consequently, many couples opt to discontinue treatment before attaining pregnancy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reproductive outcomes in patients with unsuccessful prior IVF attempts who received a complementary treatment designed to alleviate emotional distress and burden. A retrospective analysis of data from infertile patients who initiated the complementary intervention at a private clinic between January 2014 and December 2016 was conducted. Information on diagnosis, history of infertility, prior assisted reproductive technologies treatments, mode of conception, and pregnancy outcomes were retrieved. The data of 133 patients with a history of one or more unsuccessful IVF treatments were analyzed. Patients had an average age of 36.7 years (± 4.4 SD) and had been experiencing infertility for an average of 4.6 years (± 2.7 SD). The two main causes of their infertility were endometriosis (36.1%, 48 patients) and diminished egg quality (31.6%, 42 patients). By May 2020, a significant proportion of the patients, 81.2% (108 patients), had achieved pregnancy, leading to 94 live births, which represents a 70.7% success rate. These pregnancies mostly resulted from natural-cycle IVF (35.1%), donor cycles (23.4%), and conventional IVF (21.3%). The dropout rate was comparatively low at 23.3%. The median time from the start of complementary treatment to delivery was 18 months, with a range of 12 to 28 months. This study highlights the potential value of complementary treatment approaches in conjunction with standard medical care for women who have experienced unsuccessful IVF treatments in the past and thus face a reduced chance of motherhood. The reported 71% live birth rate is notably high, indicating that the inclusion of complementary treatments may provide women with past IVF failures a tangible opportunity for achieving successful pregnancy and childbirth. However, these findings need to be confirmed through randomized controlled studies.

Estimation of battery temperature during drive cycle operation by the time evolution of voltage and current

During the operation of electric vehicles, accurate temperature monitoring of lithium-ion batteries by battery management system is crucial to their safety. However, temperature sensors possess limitations as they necessitate regular calibration to avoid inaccuracies, which can be challenging to accomplish in certain scenarios. As an alternative, a general sensorless temperature estimation framework is developed in this study to either serve as a complementary approach alongside sensors or function independently to ensure reliable temperature measurement. The proposed framework relies solely on data regarding battery voltage and current measurements, and this information is employed to determine the parameters of the equivalent circuit model via the vector-type recursive least squares algorithm in the first step. In the second step, these parameters and the voltage/current data serve as the input to the deep neural network (DNN) to estimate the instantaneous battery surface temperature during dynamic driving cycles under various ambient temperatures and degradation scenarios. To reflect the effect of past battery operation on the current temperature, a newly defined current integral function is proposed, by which the input time length of the DNN model is suggested. Four combinations of the model input are studied, and the best input option yields an average estimation error of the battery temperature that falls below 0.5 °C.

Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants as Potential Adjuvants in the Treatment of Mild Acne Vulgaris

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of medicinal plants and phytochemicals as potential treatments for acne vulgaris. This condition, characterized by chronic inflammation, predominantly affects adolescents and young adults. Conventional treatment typically targets the key factors contributing to its development: the proliferation of Cutibacterium acnes and the associated inflammation. However, these treatments often involve the use of potent drugs. As a result, the exploration of herbal medicine as a complementary approach has emerged as a promising strategy. By harnessing the therapeutic properties of medicinal plants and phytochemicals, it may be possible to address acne vulgaris while minimizing the reliance on strong drugs. This approach not only offers potential benefits for individuals seeking alternative treatments but also underscores the importance of natural remedies of plant origin in dermatological care. The primary aim of this study was to assess the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties of plants and their phytochemical constituents in the management of mild acne vulgaris. A comprehensive search of scientific databases was conducted from 2018 to September 2023. The findings of this review suggest that medicinal plants and their phytochemical components hold promise as treatments for mild acne vulgaris. However, it is crucial to note that further research employing high-quality evidence and standardized methodologies is essential to substantiate their efficacy and safety profiles.

Decoding imagined speech with delay differential analysis

Speech decoding from non-invasive EEG signals can achieve relatively high accuracy (70–80%) for strictly delimited classification tasks, but for more complex tasks non-invasive speech decoding typically yields a 20–50% classification accuracy. However, decoder generalization, or how well algorithms perform objectively across datasets, is complicated by the small size and heterogeneity of existing EEG datasets. Furthermore, the limited availability of open access code hampers a comparison between methods. This study explores the application of a novel non-linear method for signal processing, delay differential analysis (DDA), to speech decoding. We provide a systematic evaluation of its performance on two public imagined speech decoding datasets relative to all publicly available deep learning methods. The results support DDA as a compelling alternative or complementary approach to deep learning methods for speech decoding. DDA is a fast and efficient time-domain open-source method that fits data using only few strong features and does not require extensive preprocessing.

Recruitment Barriers and Potential Strategies for Inclusion of Older Asian Americans in Alzheimer's Disease Research.

The makeup of the US population of older adults continues to become more diverse as numbers from ethnic subgroups increase. However, these subgroups are generally underrepresented in research focused on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). This paper examines barriers to recruitment for older Asian Americans, to underpin potential strategies for future research, with particular emphasis on recruitment of Vietnamese Americans. The paper discusses three recommended strategies: implementing appropriate recruitment outreach methods, establishing and maintaining community partnerships, and adopting flexible and convenient assessment methods. All three complementary approaches may be applied to improve Vietnamese American aging research participation. This has the potential to promote early intervention, foster longevity, ameliorate health disparities, and reduce healthcare burdens for this population.