Effects of Art Therapy on Autistic Children with Visual Impairment

The use of art in therapeutic form is very popular and its benefits are proven. Many therapists employ artistic methods to address the complications of autism for a long time but the increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorder with visual impairment is being witnessed these days. The present study aims to study the effects of art therapy intervention on the dual disability of autism and blindness. For this study two children having moderate autism with visual impairment were selected. Activities planned for them majorly focused on the stimulation of their tactile senses. The art therapy project for these students was divided into four stages: Pre-stage - the exploration of art material. In this stage, children were made familiar with different art materials. The second stage included tactile art-sand drawing, and the third and last stage activities were coins activity and paper weaving activity. It was designed to enhance motor skills and coordinated hand and body movement. There was resistance shown by both of them at the initial stage. However, the results after extensive sessions of their participation in activities indicated positive improvement in concentration. Their typical behavior of avoidance was also reduced. The results suggest that a tailored approach with the coordination of other experts and parents can help to overcome the complexity of their disorder

Research Support Services: An Analysis of top Science and Technology Institutions

Purpose – This research article aims to find out the different types of research support services provided by the top fifty libraries listed under science and technology institutions category in the QS ranking 2022. The analysis results will provide an in-depth view of the research support services offered by these institutions and will be helpful to libraries everywhere in designing their research support service. Design/methodology/approach – The top 50 institutions listed in the 2022 QS World University Rankings in the category of science and technology were taken. Out of them, 44 libraries were selected on the basis of research support services provided by them. The available research support services were investigated using the website analysis of these institutions. The data so obtained are filtered, categorised, analysed and visualised to get results. Findings – With regard to research and data-intensive research, research support service has emerged as one of the most important services offered by academic institutions in the sciences and technologies category. Research data management (39, 88.63%), research guides (40, 90.90%), research consultation (42, 95.45%), research tools recommendation (36, 81.81%), scholarly publishing/communication (39, 88.63%), open access (37, 84.09%) and training and workshop (36, 81.81%) are the most common types of research support services. The leading three countries are the USA (29.54 per cent), the UK (11.36 per cent) and Australia (9.09 per cent). Most of the institutions under the QS top 50 ranking are from the USA. Originality/value – This report conducts a thorough study of research support services offered by academic libraries at world-class science and technology institutions. The results will aid science and technology academic libraries in enhancing their research support services, which will, in turn, aid researchers in their efforts and advance scientific discovery. Also, the article will assist other institutions in planning their research support services

Relationship of decreased amniotic fluid and perinatal outcome: a comparative study

Background: A decreased amniotic fluid volume is frequently one of the first clues to an underlying fetal abnormality or maternal diseased state. Isolated oligohydramnios may occur in late pregnancy in patients with no other high risk factors and diagnosed on routine ultrasound. This study was conducted to assess the effect of oligohydramnios on perinatal outcome at or beyond 34 weeks of gestation with amniotic fluid index (AFI) ≤ 5.Methods: 50 cases and equal controls were taken in the study which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A written and informed consent was taken from all the subjects entering into the study. An ultrasound examination was performed on all the subjects entering the study. Phelan method was used for measurement of AFI. Measurement of the deepest pool in each quadrant was summated and AFI was recorded in centimeters.Results: Anthropometric variables were comparable in both the groups. The distribution of non-stress test (NST) and onset of labor was significantly different in both the groups. The presence of meconium stained liquor was non significantly same in both groups. Regarding neonatal outcome, birth weight less than 2.5 kg and APGAR score less than 7 was significantly higher in cases as compared to controls.Conclusions: Oligohydramnios (AFI< 5) was associated with more number of preterm deliveries, non-reactive NST, fetal distress and more NICU admissions. More studies are needed for defining threshold levels for measuring AFI

Managing dub with progesterone - locally or orally which is a better option?

Background: The levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) is a safe and effective form of contraception used by millions of people worldwide. Other than this, it has many non-contraceptive benefits-treatments for dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB), fibroid uterus, endometriosis and endometrial hyperplasia.Methods: A prospective longitudinal comparative study was carried out at department of obstetrics and gynaecology S.N. Medical College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India including 100 women of 20-45 years of age group (comparable in all aspects), with DUB. All cases were subjected to detailed history, examination and baseline investigations- Hemoglobin (Hb), endometrial aspiration, histopathology and ultrasound pelvis (along with endometrial thickness) and PBAC scoring before starting the treatment. Then cases were randomly allocated in two equal groups. In group A LNG-IUS was inserted. In group B cases were prescribed oral medroxy progesterone acetate 10 mg bd from 5th and 25th day of menstrual cycle. Cases were followed at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after starting treatment. At each follow-up visit primary outcome in terms of subjective assessment by patient, PBAC scores and secondary outcome as Hb levels and side-effects were recorded.Results: Reduction in PBAC Scores, improvement in Hb and reduction in endometrial thickness were seen with both treatment modalities but results were significantly (p <0.0001) better with LNG-IUS group as compared to MPA. LNG-IUS was found to be more effective in endometrial hyperplasia and proliferative type of endometrium.Conclusions: LNG-IUS is a good alternative to oral progesterone therapy for patients of DUB

Yolk sac tumor in an antenatal patient: a challenging case

Pregnancy complicated with adnexal masses is a very common occurrence. However, most of these adnexal masses encountered in pregnancy are benign in nature and are found incidentally during routine antenatal ultrasound. Malignant ovarian neoplasms account for 1%-8% of all persistent adnexal masses diagnosed during pregnancy. Yolk sac tumor (YST) complicating pregnancy is very rare and has no proper guidelines for its diagnosis and management hence causing a therapeutic dilemma for the clinicians. Therefore, an individualised approach is preferred in such cases. It is very important to report such cases for better understanding and management of these cases. Here we present a case report of a 23-year-old primigravida at 30 weeks gestation with yolk sac tumor of right ovary, surgical stage IIIc who responded well to fertility sparing surgery with cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy. She has no evidence of disease post treatment and has been put on regular follow up

Effect of Radix Platycodonis and Radix Cyathulae in Xuefu Zhuyu Tang on tissuedistribution of paeoniflorin in blood-stasis mice by HPLC: Experimentalevidence on Shi ingredients in traditional formula compatibility

Xuefu Zhuyu Tang (XFZY), a famous formula in traditional Chinese medicine, has been demonstrated to show goodtherapeutic effects on diseases caused by blood stasis syndrome. Two of its eleven herbs, Radix Platycodonis and RadixCyathulae, have been considered as Shi ingredients in the hierarchy of traditional formula compatibility and provenpossessing synergistic properties that strengthen the formula's potency of activating blood circulation and resolving bloodstagnation. However, its mechanism is still not clearly elucidated. In our previous study, we observed their effects onpaeoniflorin pharmacokinetics of XFZY in rats. In this study, we continued by detecting and comparing their effect on thetissue distribution of paeoniflorin after oral administration of XFZY and its three variants (XFZY without RadixPlatycodonis or/and Radix Cyathulae) in blood-stasis mice via HPLC assay. The results indicated that combining usage ofRadix Platycodonis and Radix Cyathula increased the distribution of paeoniflorin in the lung and kidney and introduced thepaeoniflorin into the liver, spleen and heart. It might explain their synergistic properties that strengthen the formula's effectof invigorating blood and dissolving stasis and provide experimental evidence to understand the pharmacological effects ofShi herbs in the hierarchy of traditional formula compatibility

A Correlation of Tumor Budding and Tumor Stroma Ratio with Clinicopathological Factors in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common carcinoma in the head and neck region. Both tumor budding and tumor stroma ratio are being studied in the recent years in various solid tumors for their role as a prognostic marker, however the studies in oral squamous cell carcinoma are limited. Methods: A total of 50 patients of oral squamous cell carcinoma proved histologically were included in the study over a period of 4 months (July 2022-October 2022). Tumor budding(TB) and Tumor stroma ratio (TSR) were evaluated on routine hematoxylin and eosin stained sections and these were correlated with clinicopathological parameters. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test and p value &lt;.05 considered significant. Result: The mean age was 52.72 +_ 13.16 and M: F of 7.1:1. Most of the tumors were located on tongue (46%) followed by buccal mucosa (26%), gingivobuccal sulcus (12%) and retromolar trigone (8%). Palate and alveolus were the other sites involved constituting 4% each. Both TB and TSR were found to be significantly associated with grade of the tuumor, lymph node metastasis and size of the tumor. A highly significant correlation was also found between Tb and TSR with a p value &lt;.001. Conclusion: Both TB and TSR can be easily evaluated on routine H&amp;E sections and are highly reproducible and found to be reliable independent prognostic markers in OSCC. Thus, this simple and cost-effective method of prognostification which is currently lacking will help in identifying patients with poor prognosis and thus, individualise the treatment plan. Keywords: Tumor Budding, Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Tumor stroma ratio

Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiency in the UK

In March 2020, the United Kingdom Primary Immunodeficiency Network (UKPIN) established a registry of cases to collate the outcomes of individuals with PID and SID following SARS-CoV-2 infection and treatment. A total of 310 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals with PID or SID have now been reported in the UK. The overall mortality within the cohort was 17.7% (n = 55/310). Individuals with CVID demonstrated an infection fatality rate (IFR) of 18.3% (n = 17/93), individuals with PID receiving IgRT had an IFR of 16.3% (n = 26/159) and individuals with SID, an IFR of 27.2% (n = 25/92). Individuals with PID and SID had higher inpatient mortality and died at a younger age than the general population. Increasing age, low pre-SARS-CoV-2 infection lymphocyte count and the presence of common co-morbidities increased the risk of mortality in PID. Access to specific COVID-19 treatments in this cohort was limited: only 22.9% (n = 33/144) of patients admitted to the hospital received dexamethasone, remdesivir, an anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody-based therapeutic (e.g. REGN-COV2 or convalescent plasma) or tocilizumab as a monotherapy or in combination. Dexamethasone, remdesivir, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody-based therapeutics appeared efficacious in PID and SID. Compared to the general population, individuals with PID or SID are at high risk of mortality following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Increasing age, low baseline lymphocyte count, and the presence of co-morbidities are additional risk factors for poor outcome in this cohort

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival