Articles

This research centered on the transition from sustainability to the post-COVID-19 era, significantly altered and transformed cities, city plans, and housing models holistically approach. Although the academic world concentrating on sustainable urban and housing design since the 1990s, the pandemic has emerged as a critical paradigm shift in context since 2019. During the COVID-19 period the Paris city 15 minutes concept, first introduced by Paris Mayor A. Hidalgo initially sparked controversy as temporary now considered permanent in Paris recently, Oxford. In the post-pandemic era, sustainability has become significant on the global agenda, shaping cities, city models, and residences through profound and radical changes. Some efforts are supported by Climate-change conferences in the world and subsequently some determinations like the Paris Agreement and UN declarations that guide more livable environments and houses. Due to COVID-19 the newly emerged conditions and compulsory changes that have taken place in the cities the social isolation, distance living, and remote working led to radical changes in the living style, environment, city plans, housing models, and typologies holistically. Although many publications have been published in the last few years about the pandemic and the Paris City 15 minutes concept, they only address the city and urban scale solutions. There is no research with a holistic approach that relates the subject from the urban scale to the architectural scale, housing, and blocks. Within the 15-minute concept, searched, developed, innovative, and sustainable urban and housing-oriented suggestions for cities in the future are presented at the end of the research. In conclusion, it is revealed that the issue of sustainability has gained importance with an increasing momentum in the world agenda, witnessed the radical changes in cities and residences, in the post-COVID-19 period in the last 2-3 years.

After kidney transplantation, BK polyomavirus reactivation can manifest as nephropathy in 1% to 10% of patients. PCR testing of urine and blood is commonly used to screen for BK polyomavirus nephropathy. The study aims to detect BK virus infection in kidney transplant patients to prevent tubulointerstitial nephropathy and graft loss. This retrospective study includes 26 patients who underwent kidney transplants between January 2019 and December 2023. We diagnosed BK virus infection by performing real-time PCR on blood and urine samples. BKV DNA was detected in 3 patients. Reducing immunosuppressive therapy led to negative PCR results and favorable clinical and biological outcomes in these 3 patients.

Gut microbial flora is the largest micro-ecosystem in the human body, it is symbiotically associated with the host; and maintains normal physiological processes in a dynamic equilibrium state. A plethora of evidence supports that gut microbial flora influences the neurotransmitters of the central nervous system. This gut flora influences cognitive function, anxiety, depression; and mood disorders as they are capable of synthesizing neurotransmitters in the nervous system. Therefore intake of probiotics influences gut microbiome; and depression. The versatility and number of gut microbial flora varies individually, so the content of common gut microbes may affect the neurotransmitters, manipulating the gut microbiota with probiotics offers a novel approach to treat brain disorders such as depression via GUT-BRAIN AXIS. The present review outlines the aspect of such alterations and how modulation of gut microbiota influences depression.

Herbarium records provide a valuable historical database for assessing plant phenology shifts in the context of global climate change. The herbarium specimens, collected from diverse locations and periods, offer comprehensive data illustrating how many plants are altering their blooming times in response to global climate change. The appropriate use and analysis of long-term herbarium records offer an additional dimension for the study of plant phenology through the application of advanced experimental methodologies such as bioinformatics and satellite imagery, statistics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) which, coupled with field observations, will improve ecosystems evaluation. These efforts can significantly contribute to conservation strategies and climate change mitigation and further support the synchronization of scientific inputs for evaluating the impacts of climate change and its ecological implications.

The nuclear fusion reaction can be catalyzed in a suitable fusion fuel by muons (heavy electrons). “For the fractal relations, ranging from DNA knots to solar neutrino flux signals”, ever derived of scale-invariant properties distinguished between classical invariant theory & quantum invariant theory subfactors. Accompanying isomorphic & Connes FusionTensor Product retrieved to μ-catalyzed fusion where surroundings of room temperature fusion driven by the balance in mtDNA fusion & fission. On behalf of the nanometer dimension of the radius of heavy electrons & wavelength of UV-light, it assumed that muons can be produced by oxidation-like decay when UV-light impinging water.

West Africa’s population is projected to reach 500 million by 2050, exacerbating the need for reliable drought detection and management strategies to ensure food and water security. This study investigated drought detection in West Africa using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The objective is to evaluate the performance of SPI and SPEI in detecting droughts and compare their strengths and limitations. The results revealed that both indices detected droughts effectively, but SPEI was more sensitive to evapotranspiration and temperature change. The findings offer valuable insights into climate change impacts, drought monitoring, and sustainable water resource management in the regions under investigation in West Africa.

Pure Red Cell Aplasia (PRCA) is a well-recognized complication of Major ABO-incompatible allogeneic stem cell transplantation. It is featured by anemia, Reticulocytopenia, and the absence of erythroblasts in a normal-appearing bone marrow biopsy. The mechanism for PRCA is presumed to be the persistence of recipient isoagglutinins, produced by residual host B lymphocytes or plasma cells, which probably interfere with the engraftment of donor erythroid cells. Several risk factors for PRCA have been reported, such as the presence of Anti-A Isoagglutininsbefore transplantation, reduced intensity conditioning, absence of Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD), sibling donor and Cyclosporin A(CsA) as GVHD prophylaxis. PRCA is not a barrier to going ahead with Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). There are many therapeutic options however few recover spontaneously, among the available options include high-dose steroids, Erythropoietin(EPO), Plasma exchange, Donor lymphocyte Infusion (DLI), treatment with Rituximab, Bortezomib, Daratumumab and tapering or discontinuation of immunosuppression. All these options have variable success in the literature ranging from 30% - 70%, Non-responders become red cell transfusion dependent and their quality of life is impaired. We are reporting a novel therapeutic option, Ibrutinib as an armamentarium in treating the PRCA post-HSCT, which works by blocking the Bruton Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) pathway thereby inhibiting the host B cell isoagglutinins production and good clinical response.

Background: Some studies have shown an association between spinal curvature and strabismus, but the genetic association has not been clarified. Therefore, the present study is proposed to be a Mendelian randomization study aiming to investigate the genetic causal association between spinal curvature and strabismus.Purpose: Genetic causal associations between strabismus, convergent concomitant strabismus (Ccs), Divergent concomitant strabismus (Dcs), Other specified and unspecified strabismus (Osus), Other strabismus (Os) and spinal curvature were investigated by a bidirectionalMendelian randomization study to provide a basis for the prevention and treatment of spinal curvature.Methods: Significant and independent Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in genome-wide association studies were selected as Instrumental Variables (IVs) for Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis. Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW), MR-Egger regression, Weighted Median (WME), Simple Mode (SM), and weighted mode (WM) were used to analyze causal association; Heterogeneity and multiplicity tests were also performed and analyzed using the leave-one-out method to assess the stability of the results.Results: MR and reverse MR were utilized to assess the impact of scoliosis on strabismus, revealing that the 95% confidence intervals of all instrumental variables’ OR values spanned 1 and the p values were all above 0.05. These results indicate a lack of evidence supporting a causal relationship between scoliosis and strabismus. Conclusion: There is currently no conclusive evidence of a genetic causal relationship between scoliosis and strabismus, including their subtypes. Further laboratory studies are needed to confirm these findings, and future research with larger sample sizes is necessary to provide more robust support.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock waves combined with traditional Chinese medicine bone-setting manipulation for external humeral epicondylitis. Methods: Ninety-two patients with external humeral epicondylitis were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group. Patients in the control group were treated with extracorporeal shock waves while those in the observation group with traditional Chinese medicine bone-setting manipulation based on the control group. Patients in both groups were evaluated by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS), and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) before and after treatment. The inflammatory factors such as IL-6, IL-10, TNF-ɑ, and clinical outcomes were contrasted before and after treatment. Results: There were statistically significant differences in VAS score, MEPS score, and DASH score between the two groups before and after treatment (p < 0.05). The observation group exhibited a more pronounced improvement in each score compared to the control group. Post-treatment, the inflammatory factors of both groups were significantly lower than pre-treatment levels (p < 0.05), with the observation group showing a more noticeable decrease. The overall effectiveness of the observation group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The combination of extracorporeal shock wave therapy and traditional Chinese medicine bone-setting manipulation can effectively alleviate pain symptoms and improve dysfunction caused by external humeral epicondylitis, while also reducing inflammatory factor expression. This combined treatment may prove more effective than extracorporeal shock wave therapy alone.Clinical Trial: Registration: ChiCTR2200066075.

Physiotherapy treatments employ complex approaches tailored to the patient’s diagnosis. Exercise is the primary strategy to enhance rehabilitation processes for most individuals. However, electrophysical agents, such as Photobiomodulation (PBM), that utilize specific wavelengths of light to penetrate tissues and stimulate cellular activity, can modulate various biological processes and may improve physiotherapy outcomes. This non-invasive treatment can reduce pain and inflammation, promote tissue repair, and accelerate tissue healing. Currently, PBM has numerous applications, including pain and inflammation treatment, wound healing (such as diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, post-surgery wounds, and skin grafts in burn injuries), and the management of musculoskeletal disorders (such as arthritis, tendinopathies, muscle injuries, and spinal disorders). It is also utilized to improve muscle performance and recovery in rehabilitation and sports. Additionally, transcranial PBM has shown promise in enhancing neurorehabilitative processes by facilitating the recovery of cognitive and motor functions in various types of lesions. The safety and efficacy of this treatment allow it to be incorporated alongside regular exercises and manual therapies as an adjunctive treatment, potentially enhancing outcomes in different areas of rehabilitation.