Spinal cord tumors, though rare, present formidable challenges in clinical management due to their intricate nature. Traditional treatment modalities like surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy have been the mainstay for managing these tumors. However, despite significant advancements, challenges persist, including the limitations of surgical resection and the potential side effects associated with radiation therapy. In response to these limitations, a wave of innovative approaches is reshaping the treatment landscape for spinal cord tumors. Advancements in gene therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy are offering groundbreaking possibilities. Gene therapy holds the potential to modify the genes responsible for tumor growth, while immunotherapy harnesses the body\'s own immune system to fight cancer cells. Targeted therapy aims to strike a specific vulnerability within the tumor cells, offering a more precise and potentially less toxic approach. Additionally, novel surgical adjuncts are being explored to improve visualization and minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue during tumor removal. These developments pave the way for a future of personalized medicine for spinal cord tumors. By delving deeper into the molecular makeup of individual tumors, doctors can tailor treatment strategies to target specific mutations and vulnerabilities. This personalized approach offers the potential for more effective interventions with fewer side effects, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes and a better quality of life. This evolving landscape of spinal cord tumor management signifies the crucial integration of established and innovative strategies to create a brighter future for patients battling this complex condition.

Neuropathic pain arises from injuries to the nervous system in diseases such as diabetes, infections, toxicity, and traumas. The underlying mechanism of neuropathic pain involves peripheral and central pathological modifications. Peripheral mechanisms entail nerve damage, leading to neuronal hypersensitivity and ectopic action potentials. Central sensitization involves a neuropathological process with increased responsiveness of the nociceptive neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) to their normal or subthreshold input due to persistent stimuli, leading to sustained electrical discharge, synaptic plasticity, and aberrant processing in the CNS. Current treatments, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, aim to alleviate symptoms but often face challenges due to the complexity of neuropathic pain. Neuromodulation is emerging as an important therapeutic approach for the treatment of neuropathic pain in patients unresponsive to common therapies, by promoting the normalization of neuronal and/or glial activity and by targeting cerebral cortical regions, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, and nerve endings. Having a better understanding of the efficacy, adverse events and applicability of neuromodulation through pre-clinical studies is of great importance. Unveiling the mechanisms and characteristics of neuromodulation to manage neuropathic pain is essential to understand how to use it. In the present article, we review the current understanding supporting dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord neuromodulation as a therapeutic approach for neuropathic pain.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) prevails in approximately 33% of females of reproductive age globally. Although the root cause of the disease is unknown, attempts are made to clinically manage the disturbed hormone levels and symptoms arising due to hyperandrogenism, a hallmark of PCOS. This review presents detailed insights on the etiology, risk factors, current treatment strategies, and challenges therein. Medicinal agents currently in clinical trials and those in the development pipeline are emphasized. The significance of the inclusion of herbal supplements in PCOS and the benefits of improved lifestyle are also explained. Last, emerging therapeutic targets for treating PCOS are elaborated. The present review will assist the research fraternity working in the concerned domain to access significant knowledge associated with PCOS.

Silicosis, an occupational lung disease that can be prevented, is still a significant public health concern in many countries, despite its considerably decreased incidence over the years. The latency period for silicosis ranges from a few years to several decades, depending on the duration and intensity of exposure to silica dust. The complex pathogenic mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood, but it is known to be characterized by inflammation, the formation of silicotic nodules, and progressive and irreversible fibrosis. The aim of this paper was to present the current sources of exposure to silica dust and summarize the updates on risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, genetic susceptibility) and sex differences, silico-tuberculosis, prognostic markers including 16-kDa Clara cell secretory protein, antifibrotic treatment, and other therapeutic possibilities with promising results. There are no effective treatment options for silicosis, and prevention remains the primary tool to significantly reduce the risk of disease. There are promising new treatments under investigation including antifibrotic, cellular, and immunomodulatory therapies, but further research is needed to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of these therapies in adequately powered clinical trials.

UNASSIGNED: Adherence to medications is one of the key determinants of therapeutic control of high blood pressure and is seen as a bottleneck in our fight against hypertension control. We have little scientific evidence from India that highlights the determinants of treatment adherence.
UNASSIGNED: The purpose of this study was to identify the predictor adherence to the currently prescribed antihypertensive medications.
UNASSIGNED: We did a secondary data analysis of the National Family Health Survey, 2015-2016 datasets. As there were no direct variables to measure adherence, this was derived from the responses to the survey question: \"currently taking a prescribed hypertensive medication to lower Blood Pressure\" among those already diagnosed as hypertensives by the physician. The other sociodemographic and household-level variables were used as independent variables for analysis.
UNASSIGNED: The level of awareness about their hypertensive status among the 15-49-year-olds who were subjected to blood pressure measurement was 9.34% (70,267/80,3081). Of these, 70,267 participants, 65878 with valid hypertensive individual data were included in the final analysis. Among them, 26.78% are currently adhering to antihypertensive medication. Female gender (adj OR; 95% CI: 1.17 [1.09-1.24]) and non-reserved caste ([OR] 1.24; 95% [CI]: 1.18-1.32) depicted better adherence to the current treatment. The hypertensives who preferred taking treatment from shops or at home or some other place in comparison to health facilities had a significant association with adherence (adj OR: 1.64; 95% CI: [1.43-1.88]).
UNASSIGNED: The current study reported low adherence to the current antihypertensive medication. Gender, higher age group, obesity, and place of taking the treatment were strongly associated with adherence to treatment.

T-cell lymphomas are a relatively rare group of malignancies with a diverse range of pathologic features and clinical behaviors. Recent molecular studies have revealed a wide array of different mechanisms that drive the development of these malignancies and may be associated with resistance to therapies. Although widely accepted chemotherapeutic agents and combinations, including stem cell transplantation, obtain responses as initial therapy for these diseases, most patients will develop a relapse, and the median survival is only 5 years. Most patients with relapsed disease succumb within 2 to 3 years. Since 2006, the USFDA has approved five medications for treatment of these diseases, and only anti-CD30-therapy has made a change in these statistics. Clearly, newer agents are needed for treatment of these disorders, and investigators have proposed studies that evaluate agents that target these malignancies and the microenvironment depending upon the molecular mechanisms thought to underlie their pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss the currently known molecular mechanisms driving the development and persistence of these cancers and discuss novel targets for therapy of these diseases and agents that may improve outcomes for these patients.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has become an emerging problem in Indonesia despite its relatively low prevalence as opposed to other Southeast Asian and Asian countries. Strains containing less virulent genotypes predominantly found in Indonesia is suggested to be the rationale for why the disease prevalence, as well as its gastric cancer complication, remain inferior in respect of neighboring counterparts. Although endoscopic evaluation is still necessary to determine the gastric mucosal status of those infected with H. pylori, the infection itself can be easily diagnosed with test-and-treat strategy especially in areas with limited resources. Several findings revealed high rates of antibiotic resistance varying among Indonesian regions and ethnicities, suggesting that triple therapy regimen may not be suitable for all population. Whereas treatment should be based on the pattern of resistance in respected region, novel regimens involving furazolidone, rifabutin, and sitafloxacin are proposed as potential drugs of choice to eradicate H. pylori infection. In order to determine the adequate approach for H. pylori infection in Indonesia, further multicenter studies involving larger sample size should be conducted.

We report an approach to fabricate high conductivity graphite sheets based on a heat-and-current treatment of filtrated, exfoliated graphite flakes. This treatment combines heating (~ 900 °C) and in-plane electrical current flow (550 A·cm-2) to improve electrical conductivity through the reduction of crystalline defects. This process was shown to require only a 1-min treatment time, which resulted in a 2.1-fold increase in electrical conductivity (from 1088 ± 72 to 2275 ± 50 S·cm-1). Structural characterization by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction indicated that the improvement electrical conductivity originated from a 30-fold improvement in the crystallinity (Raman G/D ratio increase from 2.8 to 85.3) with no other observable structural transformations. Significantly, this treatment was found to act uniformly across a macroscopic (10 mm) sheet surface indicating it is on the development of applications, such as electrodes for energy generation and storage and electromagnetic shielding, as well as on the potential for the development of large-scale treatment technologies.

Gonorrhea and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae are major public health concerns globally. Dual antimicrobial therapy (mainly ceftriaxone 250-500 mg × 1 plus azithromycin 1-2 g × 1) is currently recommended in many countries. These dual therapies have high cure rates, have likely been involved in decreasing the level of cephalosporin resistance internationally, and inhibit the spread of AMR gonococcal strains. However, ceftriaxone-resistant strains are currently spreading internationally, predominately associated with travel to Asia. Furthermore, the first global treatment failure with recommended dual therapy was reported in 2016 and the first isolates with combined ceftriaxone resistance and high-level azithromycin resistance were reported in 2018 in the UK and Australia. New antimicrobials for treatment of gonorrhea are essential and, of the few antimicrobials in clinical development, zoliflodacin particularly appears promising. Holistic actions are imperative. These include an enhanced advocacy; prevention, early diagnosis, contact tracing, treatment, test-of-cure, and additional measures for effective management of anogenital and pharyngeal gonorrhea; antimicrobial stewardship; surveillance of infection, AMR and treatment failures; and intensified research, for example, regarding rapid molecular point-of-care detection of gonococci and AMR, novel AMR determinants, new antimicrobials, and an effective gonococcal vaccine, which is the only sustainable solution for management and control of gonorrhea.

Poorly differentiated gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas (GEPNECs) are a rare neoplasm with a bleak prognosis. Currently there are little prospective data available for optimal treatment. This review discusses the current available regimens and the future direction for the treatment of GEPNECs. Treatment plans for GEPNECs are often adapted from those devised for small cell lung cancer; however, differences in these malignancies exist, and GEPNECs require their own treatment paradigms. As such, current first-line treatment for GEPNECs is platinum-based chemotherapy with etoposide. Studies show that response rate and overall survival remain comparable between cisplatin and carboplatin versus etoposide and irinotecan; however, prognosis remains poor, and more efficacious therapy is needed to treat this malignancy. Additional first-line and second-line treatment options beyond platinum-based chemotherapy have also been investigated and may offer further treatment options, but again with suboptimal outcomes. Recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in low- and intermediate-grade neuroendocrine tumors may open the door for further research in its usefulness in GEPNECs. Additionally, the availability of checkpoint inhibitors lends promise to the treatment of GEPNECs. This review highlights the lack of large, prospective studies that focus on the treatment of GEPNECs. There is a need for randomized control trials to elucidate optimal treatment regimens specific to this malignancy. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: There are limited data available for the treatment of poorly differentiated gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas (GEPNECs) because of the rarity of this malignancy. Much of the treatment regimens used in practice today come from research in small cell lung cancer. Given the poor prognosis of GEPNECs, it is necessary to have treatment paradigms specific to this malignancy. The aim of this literature review is to summarize the available first- and second-line GEPNEC therapy, outline future treatments, and highlight the vast gap in the literature.