367 research outputs found
COVID-19 and Its Impact on Onset and Progression of Parkinson’s and Cognitive Dysfunction
In the COVID-19 pandemic, neurological complications have emerged as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. A wide range of neurological manifestations ranging from cognitive or memory disturbances, headache, loss of smell or taste, confusion, and disabling strokes have been reported during and post COVID conditions. The COVID-19 virus can utilize two possible pathways for invasion into the brain, either through retrograde axonal transport (olfactory route) or by crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Furthermore, the production of SARS-CoV-2-associated cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, IL-1b, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), is able to disrupt the BBB. The neuroinvasive nature of SARS-CoV-2 has a more severe impact on patients with preexisting neurological manifestations such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Pathological features of PD include selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and aggregation of α-syn proteins present in neurons. Interaction between SARS-COV-2 infection and α-synuclein might have long-term implications on the onset of Parkinsonism by the formation of toxic protein clumps called amyloid fibrils—a hallmark of Parkinson’s. Molecular modeling is an emerging tool to predict potential inhibitors against the enzyme α-synuclein in neurodegenerative diseases by using plant bioactive molecules
Inhibition of STAT3 dimerization and acetylation by garcinol suppresses the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo
10.1186/1476-4598-13-66Molecular Cancer131-MCOA
An ARPES view on the high-Tc problem: phonons vs spin-fluctuations
We review the search for a mediator of high-Tc superconductivity focusing on
ARPES experiment. In case of HTSC cuprates, we summarize and discuss a
consistent view of electronic interactions that provides natural explanation of
both the origin of the pseudogap state and the mechanism for high temperature
superconductivity. Within this scenario, the spin-fluctuations play a decisive
role in formation of the fermionic excitation spectrum in the normal state and
are sufficient to explain the high transition temperatures to the
superconducting state while the pseudogap phenomenon is a consequence of a
Peierls-type intrinsic instability of electronic system to formation of an
incommensurate density wave. On the other hand, a similar analysis being
applied to the iron pnictides reveals especially strong electron-phonon
coupling that suggests important role of phonons for high-Tc superconductivity
in pnictides.Comment: A summary of the ARPES part of the Research Unit FOR538,
http://for538.wmi.badw.d
Tracking development assistance for health and for COVID-19 : a review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 204 countries and territories, 1990-2050
Background The rapid spread of COVID-19 renewed the focus on how health systems across the globe are financed, especially during public health emergencies. Development assistance is an important source of health financing in many low-income countries, yet little is known about how much of this funding was disbursed for COVID-19. We aimed to put development assistance for health for COVID-19 in the context of broader trends in global health financing, and to estimate total health spending from 1995 to 2050 and development assistance for COVID-19 in 2020. Methods We estimated domestic health spending and development assistance for health to generate total health-sector spending estimates for 204 countries and territories. We leveraged data from the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database to produce estimates of domestic health spending. To generate estimates for development assistance for health, we relied on project-level disbursement data from the major international development agencies' online databases and annual financial statements and reports for information on income sources. To adjust our estimates for 2020 to include disbursements related to COVID-19, we extracted project data on commitments and disbursements from a broader set of databases (because not all of the data sources used to estimate the historical series extend to 2020), including the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance Financial Tracking Service and the International Aid Transparency Initiative. We reported all the historic and future spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2020 US per capita, purchasing-power parity-adjusted US8. 8 trillion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8.7-8.8) or 40.4 billion (0.5%, 95% UI 0.5-0.5) was development assistance for health provided to low-income and middle-income countries, which made up 24.6% (UI 24.0-25.1) of total spending in low-income countries. We estimate that 13.7 billion was targeted toward the COVID-19 health response. 1.4 billion was repurposed from existing health projects. 2.4 billion (17.9%) was for supply chain and logistics. Only 1519 (1448-1591) per person in 2050, although spending across countries is expected to remain varied. Interpretation Global health spending is expected to continue to grow, but remain unequally distributed between countries. We estimate that development organisations substantially increased the amount of development assistance for health provided in 2020. Continued efforts are needed to raise sufficient resources to mitigate the pandemic for the most vulnerable, and to help curtail the pandemic for all. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe
Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018
Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe
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