Mental health interventions for university students: A critical review of literature

Being a student, the high intensity of events within a university setting creates significant levels of stress, which may also be associated with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. This review aims to examine the impact of mental health interventions on mental health challenges among university students. A comprehensive literature search in Google Scholar, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, and APA. Thirty-two articles were included in the review from the database searched according to the PRISMA criteria. Eligible articles were appraised using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tools. In total, 14 randomised controlled trials and 19 cross-sectional studies with the intervention were included. Only eleven studies reported racial/ethnic characteristics of participants, and most of the studies (60%) involved female participants. Evidence indicates that cognitive-behavioural therapy applied in different modalities is a major effective therapy to reduce depression, anxiety, and suicidal symptoms and increase well-being. This review identified the effectiveness of mental health interventions on depression and anxiety among university students. The review highlighted the disparity of ethnic minority representation in mental health intervention studies; hence it is suggested that future research should incorporate elements of ethnic minorities in mental health interventions

Relationship between systolic time intervals and arterial blood pressure.

It has been suggested that systolic time intervals (STI) can be used to monitor the cardiac effects of antihypertensive treatments and also to evaluate hypertensive patients. STI changes observed in hypertensives have been ascribed to myocardial disease, although they could be due to the existence of a relationship between STI and blood pressure. A group of 37 subjects (18 normotensives and 19 hypertensives) with no signs of heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction were studied to examine the relationship of STI to blood pressure. Pacing with an external battery pulse generator was performed at the rate of 95 beats/min in order to eliminate differences in heart rate. STI were measured from good quality high speed (100 mm/s) recordings and the average value of 10 consecutive cardiac cycles was used for statistical analysis. Normal subjects showed significantly lower values of pre-ejection period (PEP), electromechanical systole (QS2), and pre-ejection period/left ventricular ejection time ratio (PEP/LVET). Moreover, a significant inverse relationship between diastolic pressure and LVET and significant direct relationships between diastolic pressure and PEP, systolic pressure and PEP, diastolic pressure and PEP/LVET, and between systolic pressure and PEP/LVET were demonstrated. We suggest to consider the relation of STI to blood pressure to provide regression equations to best appreciate and use STI

Real-time neural signals decoding onto off-the-shelf DSP processors for neuroprosthetic applications.

The control of upper limb neuroprostheses through the peripheral nervous system (PNS) can allow restoring motor functions in amputees. At present, the important aspect of the real-time implementation of neural decoding algorithms on embedded systems has been often overlooked, notwithstanding the impact that limited hardware resources have on the efficiency/effectiveness of any given algorithm. Present study is addressing the optimization of a template matching based algorithm for PNS signals decoding that is a milestone for its real-time, full implementation onto a floating-point Digital Signal Processor (DSP). The proposed optimized real-time algorithm achieves up to 96% of correct classification on real PNS signals acquired through LIFE electrodes on animals, and can correctly sort spikes of a synthetic cortical dataset with sufficiently uncorrelated spike morphologies (93% average correct classification) comparably to the results obtained with top spike sorter (94% on average on the same dataset). The power consumption enables more than 24 hours processing at the maximum load, and latency model has been derived to enable a fair performance assessment. The final embodiment demonstrates the real-time performance onto a low-power off-the-shelf DSP, opening to experiments exploiting the efferent signals to control a motor neuroprosthesis

Primary prostatic adenocarcinoma in a domestic short-haired cat

An 8-years-old, domestic short-haired cat was presented for constipation and symptoms referable to the lower urinary tract. A solid mass located in the caudal area of the abdomen was palpated. Abdominal ultrasonography, positive-contrast retrograde urethrocystography and total body computed tomography showed the presence of a prostatic neoformation occupying almost completely the pelvic cavity. The neoformation displaced dorsolaterally the descending colon and completely englobed the prostatic urethra, without apparent involvement of the urethral lumen. Histopathologic examination revealed a prostatic carcinoma. Neoplastic cells showed a moderate to intense cytoplasmatic expression of AE1/AE3, while no expression of cytokeratin 7 and Uroplakin III was observed. Topographical, histological and immunohistochemical findings were consistent with a diagnosis of primary adenocarcinoma of the prostate body

Thyroid disorders induced by checkpoint inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that inhibit the "checkpoint molecules". Different types of cancer immune checkpoint inhibitors have been approved recently: CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies (as ipilimumab); anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies (as pembrolizumab and nivolumab); and anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies (as atezolizumab, avelumab, and durmalumab). The increased immune response induced by these agents leads to immune-related adverse events (irAEs), that can vary from mild to fatal, according to the organ system and severity. Immune-related endocrine toxicities are thyroid dysfunctions, hypophysitis, adrenal insufficiency, and type 1 diabetes mellitus, and are usually irreversible in 50%. In particular, hypophysitis is the most frequent anti-CTLA-4-antibodies-related irAE, while thyroid abnormalities (as hypothyroidism, thyrotoxicosis, painless thyroiditis, or even "thyroid storm") are more frequently associated with anti-PD-1-antibodies. The combination of anti-CTLA-4-antibodies, with anti-PD-1-antibodies, is associated with about 30% of irAEs. Clinical signs and symptoms vary according to the influenced target organ. Endocrinopathies can often be managed by the treating oncologist. However in more severe cases (i.e. in the presence of insulin-dependent diabetes, adrenal insufficiency, or disorders of gonadal hormones, or severe hyperthyroidism, or hypothyroidism, or long-lasting management of hypophysitis) an endocrinological evaluation, and a prompt therapy, are needed

Renal Measures in Healthy Italian Trotter Foals and Correlation Between Renal and Biometric Measures: Preliminary Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate ultrasonographic renal measures in healthy foals aged 1–6 weeks and to verify the correlation between biometric measures to ultrasonographic renal ones. A total of nine Italian trotter foals born in the same stud farm and underwent similar management conditions were enrolled. Inclusion criteria were normal gestation time, unassisted delivery, and normal physical examination at all evaluation times. Length and height of both kidneys were measured by ultrasound weekly from 1 to 6 weeks of life, along with the thoracic and the middle third of the metacarpal area circumferences. Data were expressed as mean and standard deviation, and distribution was evaluated. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to verify differences related to time. The Pearson correlation test was carried out to evaluate the linearity between time versus all the parameters measured. Student's t test was used to verify differences in ultrasound measures between right and left kidney at all recorded times. The Pearson test was applied to a mean-variance matrix to verify the correlation between each biometrical versus all renal measures. Significance level was set at P <.05. One-way ANOVA showed differences in biometric and renal measures related to time. Correlation test revealed a linear growth. Differences in ultrasound renal measures between right and left kidney were obtained. Correlation was found between biometrical parameters versus kidney measures. Renal measures and differences between left and right kidneys were in line with literature. Correlation test revealed a linear growth. Renal growth is correlated with age and biometric measure

Memantine prodrug as a new agent for alzheimer’s disease

Hydrogen sulphide has recently drawn much attention due to its potent anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective roles in brain functions. The purpose of the current study was to exploit these beneficial properties of H 2 S to design a new agent for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To pursue our aims, we replaced the free amine group of memantine with an isothiocyanate functionality as a putative H 2 S-donor moiety. The new chemical entity, named memit, was then tested in vitro to determine whether it retains the pharmacological profile of the “native drug”, while also providing a source of H 2 S in the CNS. Indeed, Memit showed the ability to release H 2 S through a cysteine-mediated mechanism, thus generating memantine. Moreover, the new hybrid molecule exerts protective effects against neuronal inflammation and induces a drastic fall in ROS production. In addition, memit was also able to reduce the Aβ(1-42) self-induced aggregation and exerted cytoprotective effect against Aβ oligomers-induced damage in both human neurons and rat microglia cells. Finally, similarly to memantine, the new compound promotes autophagy, a complex process required for cellular homeostasis in cell survival that results to be altered in neurodegenerative diseases. In conclusion, our study revealed that memit is a prodrug of memantine. Further in vivo studies will be necessary to fully investigate the synergic or cumulative effects due to the H 2 S-releasing moiety and the native drug

Radiographic parameters of the digit in a cohort population of amiata donkeys

Background: The most common musculoskeletal conditions reported in donkeys are related to the foot. Radiographic examinations are clinically important in the diagnosis of foot abnormalities and are commonly used. However, few studies have been conducted to establish the normal radiographic appearance of a donkey’s foot. Aim: To determine the radiographic features of the front digit in healthy Amiata donkeys. Methods: Radiographic examinations were performed on 56 forefeet of 28 Amiata donkeys. Three radiographic views of each front foot were taken: lateromedial, dorsopalmar and dorso-65°proximal/palmarodistal oblique. Seventeen angular and linear radiographic parameters and the crena solearis were evaluated in all forefeet, and 18 morphometric parameters were evaluated in 16 out of 56 forefeet. Statistical analysis was carried out on all the measures assessed. Results: The radiographic appearance of the forefoot was ascertained, and data were reported as median ± standard error, minimum and maximum values. No statistical differences were obtained between the right and left forefeet. Conclusion: The normal baseline parameters of the forefeet of Amiata donkeys were recorded and described and compared with other donkey breeds and horses. The findings highlighted that the donkey breed affects the radiographic parameters of the digit