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Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective modality of treatment for a variety of psychiatric disorders. However, it has always been accused of being a coercive, unethical, and dangerous modality of treatment. The dangerousness of ECT has been mainly attributed to its claimed ability to cause brain damage. This narrative review aims to provide an update of the evidence with regard to whether the practice of ECT is associated with damage to the brain. An accepted definition of brain damage remains elusive. There are also ethical and technical problems in designing studies that look at this question specifically. Thus, even though there are newer technological tools and innovations, any review attempting to answer this question would have to take recourse to indirect methods. These include structural, functional, and metabolic neuroimaging; body fluid biochemical marker studies; and follow-up studies of cognitive impairment and incidence of dementia in people who have received ECT among others. The review of literature and present evidence suggests that ECT has a demonstrable impact on the structure and function of the brain. However, there is a lack of evidence at present to suggest that ECT causes brain damage.

Candidiasis still remains as a common opportunistic infection in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Drug resistance has become a serious health concern because of indiscriminate usage and dosage.

To determine the antifungal resistance pattern of

and non-albicans Candida (NAC) from HIV patients.

The study was carried out in the department of microbiology at a tertiary care hospital. Candida isolates obtained from HIV patients were tested for drug susceptibility by Vitek-2 automated system.

Antifungal susceptibility pattern (n=109) revealed that 15% of the isolates were resistant to at-least one and 85% were sensitive to all the drugs tested. About 10% and 19% of

showed resistance to fluconazole and flucytosine respectively. Among non-albicans tested, only

(14%) exhibited resistance to flucytosine.

Knowledge on epidemiology, species prevalence, and drug resistance pattern may guide for effective therapy. This reduces morbidity and also improves the quality of life.

Knowledge on epidemiology, species prevalence, and drug resistance pattern may guide for effective therapy. This reduces morbidity and also improves the quality of life.

The causes underlying suicidal behaviour in patients with obsessive-compulsive (OCD) are not fully understood.

In this study, we examined whether lifetime suicide attempt (SA), and suicide ideation (SI) was associated with affective temperaments, impulsivity, childhood traumatic events or separation anxiety.

We compared OCD patients with lifetime SA (Group 1;

=25), lifetime suicide ideation (SI) (Group 2;

=62), and without lifetime SI and SA (Group 3;

=73) through Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI), Baratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Post hoc tests showed that educational level was significantly lower in Group 1 than in both Group 2 and 3. find more Childhood abuse were significantly higher in attempters than ideators, and non-suicidal patients. The depressive, cyclothymic, and anxious temperaments were significantly higher in attempters and ideators compared to control subjects. The aggressive obsessions (

=0.002), childhood abuse history (

=0.009), lifetime major depression (

=0.017), and lower educational levels (

=0.006) strongly predicted the increased risk of lifetime SA, compared to non-suicidal patients. Childhood abuse (

=0.022) was the most significant predictor of lifetime SA in OCD.

We suggested that childhood abuse history emerged as the most significant variable that distinguished lifetime attempters from only ideators in OCD patients.

We suggested that childhood abuse history emerged as the most significant variable that distinguished lifetime attempters from only ideators in OCD patients.

To investigate socioeconomic and ethnic group inequalities in prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the 27 federative units of Brazil.

In this cross-sectional study, three household surveys were carried out on May 14-21, June 4-7, and June 21-24, 2020 in 133 Brazilian urban areas. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 250 individuals in each city to undergo a rapid antibody test. Subjects answered a questionnaire on household assets, schooling and self-reported skin color/ethnicity using the standard Brazilian classification in five categories white, black, brown, Asian or indigenous. Principal component analyses of assets was used to classify socioeconomic position into five wealth quintiles. Poisson regression was used for the analyses.

25 025 subjects were tested in the first, 31 165 in the second, and 33 207 in the third wave of the survey, with prevalence of positive results equal to 1.4%, 2.4%, and 2.9% respectively. Individuals in the poorest quintile were 2.16 times (95% confidence interval 1.86; 2.51) more likely to test positive than those in the wealthiest quintile, and those with 12 or more years of schooling had lower prevalence than subjects with less education. Indigenous individuals had 4.71 (3.65; 6.08) times higher prevalence than whites, as did those with black or brown skin color. Adjustment for region of the country reduced the prevalence ratios according to wealth, education and ethnicity, but results remained statistically significant.

The prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil shows steep class and ethnic gradients, with lowest risks among white, educated and wealthy individuals.

The prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil shows steep class and ethnic gradients, with lowest risks among white, educated and wealthy individuals.

The study aimed to investigate the mutual interaction between cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and gastric cancer cells.

Cell proliferation was determined using MTT assay. The characteristic proteins of CAFs were examined by immunohistochemistry assay, western blot, and real time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The effect of CAFs in promotion of tumor growth and progression was evaluated in gastric tumor-bearing mice.

We confirmed that CAFs promote proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells (MKN-45). Co-incubation of normal human fibroblast cells (BJ cells) with MKN-45-conditioned medium resulted in overexpression of biomarkers of CAFs, such as FAP, α-SMA, MMP, GAL-1, PDGFRβ, and VIM. Furthermore, the mice co-implanted with MKN-45 cells and CAFs exhibited the rapidest tumor growth rate and shortest survival time when compared with others. Tumors of mice injected with MKN-45 cells and BJ cells progressed faster than those of mice injected only with MKN-45 cells. Further immunohistochemical assay revealed that tumor tissues of the MKN-45 + CAF group displayed the most obvious vasculature formation, which facilitates tumor progression and metastasis.