Background
The objective of this research was to evaluate the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the level of life contentment and coping mechanisms employed by college ...students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
A total of 588 students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Higher School of Medicine, Kraljevo, University of Kragujevac, Central Serbia, participated in an online cross-sectional survey in the period September–October 2022. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) was used to measure the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The Coping Questionnaire—a shorter version (Brief Cope Inventories) assesses the coping strategies a person uses in stressful situations, and the 5-item Life Satisfaction Scale is used to examine the level of life satisfaction.
Results
The symptoms of depression were reported by 34.9%, of anxiety by 47.1% and of stress by 44.2%. The type of faculty (
p
= 0.001), and place of residence (
p
= 0.036) correlated with depression, gender with anxiety (
p
= 0.001) and stress (
p
= 0.015). In terms of coping mechanisms, the most frequently mentioned strategies, based on average scores, were acceptance (5.76), positive interpretation (5.55), humor (5.46).
Conclusion
The adverse impact of COVID-19 was a risk factor for depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. A negative correlation exists between the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and the overall life satisfaction of university students. Offering the necessary assistance through psychological interventions and effective coping techniques is crucial in ensuring the optimal mental health of university students.
Background & Aims Normalization of serum alkaline phosphatase (SAP) was recently shown to correlate with better prognosis in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). We aimed at evaluating the impact of ...SAP improvement to below 1.5 the upper limit of normal (ULN) on the prognosis of this cholestatic liver disease. Methods Oxford PSC database was screened for cases diagnosed between 1980 and 2004. Cases which met the inclusion criteria were retrospectively examined for clinical parameters, laboratory values, and clinical end points (liver decompensation, liver transplantation, and liver-related deaths including cholangiocarcinoma). Cases were followed-up to 31/12/2010. Results 139 patients were included, (87 males). Improvement of SAP to below 1.5 ULN was achieved by 55 (40%) patients in a median time of 2 years, compared to 84 (60%) who did not. 3/55 (6%) patients with SAP improvement reached an end point compared to 32/84 (38%) patients with no SAP improvement ( p <0.0001). 13/84 (15%) patients with no SAP improvement developed cholangiocarcinoma compared to no cholangiocarcinoma in the group with SAP improvement ( p = 0.002). The end point free survival was significantly longer in patients with SAP improvement ( p <0.0001). The significance of SAP improvement as a predictor of prognosis persisted after controlling for other clinical and laboratory variables. Improvement of SAP to below 1.5 ULN was comparable to complete normalization of SAP in terms of prognosis. Conclusions Improvement in SAP to below 1.5 ULN is associated with better outcome and reduced risk of CCA in PSC. This was comparable to the achievement of complete normalization of SAP.
Functional neuroimaging methods have been used extensively during the last decades to explore the neural substrates of olfactory processing. While a general consensus on the functional anatomy of ...olfactory cortex is beginning to emerge, the mechanisms behind the functions of individual processing nodes still remain debated. Further, it remains unclear to which extent divergent findings result from differences in methodological approaches. Using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE), the aim of the present study was to statistically combine all published data on functional neuroimaging of olfaction to provide a probability map reflecting the state of the field to date. Additionally, we grouped studies according to various methodological approaches to investigate whether these systematically affected the reported findings. A total of 45 studies (69 contrasts, 594 foci) met our inclusion criteria. Significant ALE peaks for odor against baseline were observed in areas commonly labeled as primary and secondary olfactory cortex, such as the piriform and orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, anterior insula, and ventral putamen. In addition, differences were observed in the extent to which different methods were able to induce activation in these different nodes of the olfactory network.
► The complete olfactory system is still poorly mapped ► All published olfactory neuroimaging data were statistically assessed ► The results map the olfactory system with a high statistical certainty ► The results also demonstrate the large impact of various common methods
The University of Belgrade was chosen to host an international conference “1st European Symposium on Phytochemicals in Medicine and Food”, that was successfully held on 7–9. September 2022 in ...Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. The main goals of the conference were to promote the scientific achievements of researchers in the field of natural products and their implementation in food and medicine, as well as to bring together well recognized scientists from all around the world and young researchers that are starting their careers in the research fields covered by the conference topics. In that respect 1‐EuSPMF fulfilled the expectations of the participants and the organizers.
The University of Belgrade hosted an international conference “1st European Symposium on Phytochemicals in Medicine and Food”, that was successfully held on 7–9. September 2022 in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. The conference brought together well recognized scientists from all around the world and young researchers that are starting their careers in the research fields covered by the conference topics. 1‐EuSPMF fulfilled the expectations of the participants and the organizers.
Facial phenotype is influenced by genes and environment; however, little is known about their relative contributions to normal facial morphology. The aim of this study was to assess the relative ...genetic and environmental contributions to facial morphological variation using a three-dimensional (3D) population-based approach and the classical twin study design.
3D facial images of 1380 female twins from the TwinsUK Registry database were used. All faces were landmarked, by manually placing 37 landmark points, and Procrustes registered. Three groups of traits were extracted and analysed: 19 principal components (uPC) and 23 principal components (sPC), derived from the unscaled and scaled landmark configurations respectively, and 1275 linear distances measured between 51 landmarks (37 manually identified and 14 automatically calculated). The intraclass correlation coefficients, rMZ and rDZ, broad-sense heritability (h2), common (c2) and unique (e2) environment contributions were calculated for all traits for the monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins.
Heritability of 13 uPC and 17 sPC reached statistical significance, with h2 ranging from 38.8% to 78.5% in the former and 30.5% to 84.8% in the latter group. Also, 1222 distances showed evidence of genetic control. Common environment contributed to one PC in both groups and 53 linear distances (4.3%). Unique environment contributed to 17 uPC and 20 sPC and 1245 distances.
Genetic factors can explain more than 70% of the phenotypic facial variation in facial size, nose (width, prominence and height), lips prominence and inter-ocular distance. A few traits have shown potential dominant genetic influence: the prominence and height of the nose, the lower lip prominence in relation to the chin and upper lip philtrum length. Environmental contribution to facial variation seems to be the greatest for the mandibular ramus height and horizontal facial asymmetry.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), one of the major pandemic diseases. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is the standard ...HIV-treatment regimen that usually comprises a combination of three or more antiretroviral drugs. HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors are the main HAART target, which involves the use of both nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). However, compounds affecting other aspects of HIV replication, such as virus entry and fusion or important viral enzymes, such as integrases and proteases, have also been developed. Natural compounds from different sources, like plants, microbial and marine organisms, showed promising anti-HIV activities to the point of establishing the basis for developing new drugs. Indeed, natural compounds-based therapies have the potential to become more efficient than conventional HAART, with less or no side effects. This review aims to gather and discuss the current information about the anti-HIV activity of natural and synthetic compounds, their history and mechanism of action as well as the role of plants and their bioactive compounds as a source of new anti-HIV drugs.
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•HIV is one of the most widespread infectious diseases in the world.•anti-HIV drugs comes as a result of the scientific community's collaborative efforts in the last two decades.•Plants represent a rich source of bioactive compounds with significant anti-HIV potential.
Abstract Knowledge of the antioxidant defense in the stress-responding structures of the CNS is of crucial importance, since oxidative damage is a phenomenon accompanying many stress-related ...disorders. Regulation of antioxidative and anti-inflammatory defense through Nrf2 (nuclear factor 2 eritroid related factor 2) pathway has emerged as a promising approach for neuroprotection. In this study, we used chronic social isolation of male Wistar rats to induce depressive-like behavior. We hypothesized that Nrf2–Keap1 pathway is compromised in the limbic brain after prolonged stress. Since subcellular trafficking of Nrf2 and its inhibitor Keap1 (Kelch ECH associating protein 1) is essential for the activation of Nrf2, we determined their protein level in cytosolic and nuclear compartments of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC). We also determined mRNA levels of Nrf2-regulated genes involved in the production and utilization of glutathione, glutamate cysteine ligase (Gclm), glutathione S-transferase (Gsta3) and glutathione reductase (Gsr). Our results showed that chronic isolation induced anxiety and depressive-like behavior, decreased Nrf2 and in parallel increased Keap1 and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) in the hippocampus, which were not accompanied by expression profiles of Nrf2-regulated genes. Chronically stressed rats challenged with acute stress failed to induce any response of examined genes in either of brain structures, even though Nrf2/Keap1 was altered, while in naïve animals Nrf2 activity corresponded with an expression of Nrf2-regulated genes. Our results reveal maladaptive character of chronic stress at Nrf2/Keap1 level followed by pro-inflammatory conditions, and suggest a possible role of these alterations in pathogenesis of depressive/anxiety disorders.
After being discovered over a century ago, insulin was long considered to be a hormone exclusively produced by the pancreas. Insulin presence was later discovered in the brain, which was originally ...accounted for by its transport across the blood-brain barrier. Considering that both insulin mRNA and insulin were detected in the central nervous system (CNS), it is now known that this hormone is also synthesized in several brain regions, including the hypothalamus, hippocampus, cerebral and cerebellar cortex, and olfactory bulb. Although many roles of insulin in the CNS have been described, it was initially unknown which of them could be attributed to brain-derived and which to pancreatic insulin or whether their actions in the brain overlap. However, more and more studies have been emerging lately, focusing solely on the roles of brain-derived insulin. The aim of this review was to present the latest findings on the roles of brain-derived insulin, including neuroprotection, control of growth hormone secretion, and regulation of appetite and neuronal glucose uptake. Lastly, the impairment of signaling initiated by brain-derived insulin was addressed in regard to memory decline in humans.
Social support as a complex construct has a positive influence not only on a patient's condition but also on the process of the patient's emotional adjustment to cancer. The goal of this study is to ...investigate aspects of the level of social support in oncology patients and its interconnection with sociodemographic and medical variables.
The study was conducted as a prospective observational study in 2020, including 250 patients aged 19 and over, both sexes, with a diagnosis of oncological disease. The research was conducted in the Department of General Medicine of the Health Center Trstenik, Central Serbia, after approval by the Ethics Committee of the Health Center Trstenik, Central Serbia. A social support assessment questionnaire (Oslo-3 Social Support Scale) was used as a research instrument.
Data collected from the entire study population showed that bad social support was present in almost 90% of cases. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis showed a statistically significant influence of the following variables on the bad social support: education level, activity limitation, difficulties in performing daily activities, the impact of pain on the performance of activities, the need for additional help with activity, the need for help at home, unfulfilled needs for health care, means of information, anxiety score and depression score.
Interventions to increase social support may be important for enhancing mental health and quality of life in cancer patients.
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