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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent and debilitating respiratory condition with limited treatment options. Stem cell therapy has emerged as a promising approach for COPD management due to its regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. This review article aims to comprehensively explore the therapeutic potential of stem cells in COPD management. The introduction provides background on COPD, highlighting its impact on health and the need for novel therapies. The different types of stem cells relevant to COPD, including embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells, are described along with their properties and characteristics. The pathogenesis of COPD is discussed, emphasizing the key mechanisms involved in disease development and progression. Subsequently, the role of stem cells in tissue repair, regeneration, and immunomodulation is examined, highlighting their ability to address specific pathological processes in COPD. Mechanisms of action, such as paracrine signaling, immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory effects, and tissue regeneration, are explored. The interaction between stem cells and the host environment, which promotes lung repair, is also discussed. Challenges in stem cell therapy for COPD, including optimal cell sources, delivery methods, safety, and efficacy, are identified. Regulatory considerations and the importance of standardization are emphasized. Potential strategies for optimizing the therapeutic potential of stem cells in COPD management, such as combination therapies and preconditioning techniques, are outlined. Emerging trends and future directions are highlighted, including advanced cell engineering and patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells. In conclusion, stem cell therapy holds significant promise for COPD management, addressing the limitations of current treatments. Continued research and development are necessary to overcome challenges, optimize therapies, and realize stem cells' full potential in improving the lives of patients with COPD.

While in-situ underwater adhesives are highly desirable for marine exploration and underwater robotics, existing underwater adhesives suffer from significantly reduced performance compared to air-cured adhesives, mainly due to difficulties in removing interfacial water molecules. Here, we develop a pressure-sensitive in-situ underwater adhesive featuring superabsorbent particles infused with functional silane and hydrogel precursors. When injected into an underwater crack, the particles quickly absorb water, swell, and fill the crack. Mechanical pressure is applied to improve particle-particle and particle-substrate interactions, while heat is utilized to trigger thermal polymerization of the hydrogel precursors. This process creates porous adhesives via bulk polymerization and forms covalent bonding with the substrate via surface silanization. Our experiments demonstrate that mechanical pressure significantly enhances the adhesive’s stretchability (from 3 to 5), stiffness (from 37 kPa to 78 kPa), fracture toughness (from 1 kJ/m 2 to 7 kJ/m 2 ), and interfacial toughness with glass substrates (from 45 J/m 2 to 270 J/m 2 ). There is a demand for reliable and fast sealing underwater adhesives for industrial applications but reduced adhesive performance due to the wet environment is a persistent issue. Here, the authors report a pressure-sensitive in-situ underwater adhesive that combines superabsorbent particles with applied mechanical pressure to increase the level of adhesion between the contact areas and adhesive particles while removing interfacial water molecules.

Thermal comfort is a relatively emerging topic in the Nepalese context. The role of thermal comfort in building performance is foreshadowed by peoples’ emphasis on only the structural aspect and active heating/cooling systems. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of passive thermal retrofitting techniques in an earthquake-resistant building in a small community called Thakle Namuna Basti of Melamchi, Nepal. Only three retrofitting techniques are used in this simulation; the addition of gypsum plaster on the wall, the use of foam on the floor, and the application of double-glazed windows. The study was conducted through a two-phased survey, and simulation in TRNSYS. The heating and cooling loads before and after retrofitting are compared. It showed that applying passive thermal retrofitting techniques reduced the overall annual heating load by 35% in the winter but increased the overall cooling load by 4% in the summer.

In this paper, we propose an exact model-based method for near-field sources localization with a bistatic multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) radar system, and compare it with an approximated model-based method. The aim of this paper is to propose an efficient way to use the exact model of the received signals of near-field sources in order to eliminate the systematic error introduced by the use of approximated model in most existing near-field sources localization techniques. The proposed method uses parallel factor (PARAFAC) decomposition to deal with the exact model. Thanks to the exact model, the proposed method has better precision and resolution than the compared approximated model-based method. The simulation results show the performance of the proposed method.

Introduction: Women suffering from clinical depression often present with prominent somatic complaints. Epidemiological studies have found that the prevalence of somatic depression, but not pure depression, distinguished women from men. The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether somatic symptoms of depression are more prevalent in females than in males. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was carried out at a tertiary level referral hospital attached to a medical college in Rajasthan by the department of psychiatry. Consecutive patients (both male and female) suffering from depression were recruited for the study, diagnosed as per the International Classification of Diseases-10. Eighty-two male and 86 female adult psychiatric outpatients with diagnosis of depressive disorder were assessed using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) and Somatic Symptom Scale-Adult (derived from Patient Health Questionnaire Physical Symptoms) to quantify the severity of depression and somatic symptoms, respectively, and compared. Data collected from the patients were analyzed using unpaired t-test and Fisher's exact test. 95% confidence interval and P ≤ 0.05 were used to indicate a significant difference between the groups. Results: No statistically significant difference was found in the severity of depression between male and female patients. Somatic symptom scores were higher in female patients, both on somatic symptom score and HAM-D. Conclusions: Higher prevalence of somatic depression was found in female patients suffering from depression.

An orthopedic bone bank's creation and management is a challenging procedure where medical organization and legal requirements interact. There are no formal regulations for the management and organization of an orthopedic bone bank in the Netherlands or any other nation in Europe. The recently revised \"law of security and quality for utilizing human materials in the Netherlands establishes guidelines for the technical and administrative elements of using human tissue and cells. The bone bank's processes involve a rigorous questionnaire for choosing donors, a complete bacteriological, histological, and serological examination, as well as industry-standard, practices for registering, processing, preserving, distributing, and storing bone allografts. This article explains how an approved bone bank is run, and it may be used as a suggestion for formal regulation or as a model for additional orthopedic bone banks in Europe. Osseous graft manufacture, testing, packing, storage, and transportation are all handled by bone banks. Their primary responsibility is to guarantee the transplants' biological characteristics and microbial cleanliness by legal and quality criteria. All orthopedic surgeons face the challenge of reconstructing bone defects; to address this issue, there are several methods, including the use of autografts, allografts, and bone substitutes to enhance and speed bone recovery. Although autografts have superior biological qualities, their volume is constrained and they are linked to donor site morbidity. Allografts are readily accessible, however, there are still worries about the possibility of infections, and they lack osteosarcoma qualities.

BACKGROUND: Various kinds of stressors and psychological problems have been reported in the adolescent student population. This study assessed and compared depression, anxiety, and various coping styles among high school students attending coaching classes for medical entrance examination (MEE) and those not. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Systemic random sampling technique was used to recruit 400 high school students with equal number of those attending (Group 1) and those not attending any coaching class for MEE (Group 2). They underwent screening for depression and anxiety through Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item. Coping styles were assessed through brief COPE inventory. Screening positive subjects were assessed in detail by a psychiatrist using ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision), Diagnostic Criteria for Research (DCR). The severity of depression and anxiety was measured through HAM-D and HAM-A, respectively. RESULTS: Depression and anxiety were reported by higher proportion of Group 1 (36%) than Group 2 (22%), χ2(1) = 9.52; P = 0.002. In both the groups, depressive disorder was the most common, followed by generalised anxiety-disorder and mixed anxiety-depression. The severity of depression (HAM-D score) and anxiety (HAM-A Score) was significantly more Group 1. \"Active coping\" (χ2= 4.79 P = 0.02) and \"Humor\" (χ2= 30.90, P ≤ 0.01) were more commonly used by healthy students, while \"Religious coping\" (χ2= 37.92 P ≤ 0.01) were the most common among those diagnosed with depression/anxiety disorder. CONCLUSION: Higher prevalence of the psychological problems in adolescent school students preparing for MEE highlights the importance of aptitude assessment, career counseling, and school mental health program before their exposure to the competitive academic atmosphere.

Judiciary and litigation are the two most prominent types of activities within the legal profession. The judicial aspect of the profession entails the interpretation of laws and the administration of justice in a fair and impartial manner. As a concept, justice entails protecting society from offenders and evildoers who deviate from society’s norms and engage in illegal behaviour by punishing and sentencing them. Due to the predominance of the human factor in the legal profession, which has such a significant impact on the lives of all members of society, it is crucial to investigate whether there is a guiding force behind dispensing justice and, if so, how effective these guidelines or policy measures have been. As crime rates rise and societal standards fall in the contemporary era, the legal profession grapples with the complexities of modern criminal behaviour. Particularly in the realm of judicial sentencing, there is a need for guidelines that account for the diversity of crimes and their individualistic nature. In India, long pungencies in court cases and a decline in the State’s conviction rate further exacerbate these issues. This paper examines the pressing need for comprehensive, well-structured sentencing guidelines that promote transparency, fairness and efficiency in the judicial process. Through a detailed review of recent high-profile court cases and an analysis of current practices and policies, this paper highlights the urgency of reform in the sentencing process to enhance public trust in the legal system. This article provides additional information on the subject.

Food supplements may be consumed through diet and have been shown to modify skin functions, making them helpful in the management of skin aging. However, there are not many clinical trials that back up these assertions. The stratum corneum, which acts as the organism's contact with its environment, is the principal function of the epidermis of land vertebrates. Antioxidants are chemicals that slow down or prevent other molecules from oxidizing. In people's diets, their use has considerably expanded in recent years. Due to their benefits for health, nutrition, and therapy, natural antioxidants are increasingly being used in place of synthetic antioxidant components. A popular component thought to be an antioxidant is hydrolyzed collagen. With aging comes a steady loss of physiological integrity, capacity to handle stress from the inside out, and function. This is a byproduct of several intricate biological processes that are affected by diseases both local and systemic as well as constitutive and environmental variables. Systemic and constitutive (genetic) variables influence skin aging and its phenotypic manifestation. The biological process of skin aging is complicated and impacted by both external and endogenous causes. The primary contributor to skin cancer is sun exposure. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun can kill skin cells by directly absorbing DNA damage. The skin's hydration is a crucial factor that affects its mechanical and physical characteristics. This study looks at how the stratum corneum's molecular and macroscopic characteristics interact and change with skin wetness. Although there is little information written about them and even less is understood about them, moisturizers are a crucial component of a dermatologist's toolkit. There is a plethora of anticipated skin products on the market, but their true scientific function is yet unknown. These items play a well-known part in many skin problems, while occasionally being dismissed as simple cosmetics.

Background: Chronic use of alcohol affects almost every organ system of the body, including male sexual functions. There are only a few Indian studies, which have assessed sexual functions in alcohol-dependent (AD) men and many of them have limitations. This study was aimed to assess sexual functions and marital satisfaction among AD individuals compared to matched controls. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 70 AD men (study group) and an equal number of matched controls and their spouses in the Department of psychiatry of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Ajmer. Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised, and Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ) were used to assess withdrawal state and severity of alcohol dependence in the AD group. Marital Adjustment Test (MAT) and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) were used in both study and control groups to assess marital satisfaction and various aspects of sexual functioning. Results: More than half of the men (58.6%) with alcohol dependence were found to have sexual dysfunction compared to only one-fifth in the control group (18.5%). The most commonly affected sexual functions were the ability to get and keep erection (70%) and arousal (62.8%). There was a large negative correlation of MAT scores in the AD group with the SADQ, rho (ρ) = −0.68, and sexual dysfunction (ASEX), rho (ρ) = −0.57. However, the duration of alcohol use did not have any significant association with marital satisfaction. Conclusions: This study showed that participants with AD were more likely to have sexual dysfunction and lower level of marital satisfaction in their spouses. This effect was not because of acute intoxication of alcohol or withdrawal symptoms. We need further research to ascertain whether sexual dysfunction and marital dissatisfaction is a result of alcohol dependence or its reinforcer or both.