ABSTRACT
The purpose of this narrative review is to provide a comprehensive overview of current research on heart-gut cross talk and its implications for cardiovascular disease. To uncover relevant preclinical and clinical research examining heart-gut cross talk, a thorough literature search was undertaken utilising electronic databases. The chosen publications were critically examined, and major findings were synthesised to offer a thorough perspective on the subject. We want to synthesise the most recent study findings, explain the underlying mechanisms, and provide potential treatment techniques. By exploring bidirectional connection between the heart and the gut, we shed light on novel future options for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The heart-gut cross talk is an exciting field of study with implications for cardiovascular disease. Understanding the complex connection between the heart and the gastrointestinal tract may lead to the development of novel therapeutic targets and therapies for the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases. Future research should concentrate on identifying the specific processes driving this crosstalk as well as assessing the efficacy of therapies targeting the gut microbiota and the gut-brain axis in improving cardiovascular outcomes.
ABSTRACT
Between 2017 and 2020, a team of researchers from the George Washington University collaborated with NASA and Freelancer.com to design and launch the "Astrobee Challenge Series," a large-scale field experiment that aimed to generate data to characterize the relationship among how a technical problem is formulated and who is able and willing to solve, and the quality of solutions they generate. The core experimental manipulation was of the architecture of the problem posed; the typical open innovation process was instrumented to collect unusually rich data but otherwise untouched. In all, 17 individual contests were run over a period of 12 months. Over the course of the challenge series, we tracked a population of 16,249 potential solvers, of which 6,219 initiated solving, and a subset of 147 unique solvers submitted 263 judgeable solutions. The resultant dataset is unique because it captures demographic and expertise data on the full population of potential solvers and links their activity to their solving processes and solution outcomes. Moreover, in addition to winning designs (the typical basis of analysis), it captures design outcomes for all submitted design artifacts allowing analysis of the variety of solutions to the same problem. This data explainer documents the research design and implementation process and provides a detailed explanation of each data record, carefully characterizing potential limitations associated with research design choices. This data should be useful for researchers interested in studying the design and innovation process, particularly those focused on novelty, variety, feasibility of solutions or expertise, diversity and capability of solvers.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Scrotal ultrasound, though reliable in distinguishing between intratesticular and extratesticular lesions and characterizing them as cystic and solid, cannot distinguish benign from malignant pathology. Although fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has proved to be of great diagnostic importance in testicular lesions, its scope in extratesticular lesions is largely unexplored. AIM: To evaluate extratesticular scrotal lesions cytologically and compare it with their clinical, radiological, and histological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty five patients with extratesticular scrotal lesions were assessed clinically, radiologically, and cytologically. Histopathology was done in 45 cases where surgical exploration was undertaken. All the data were then analyzed and correlated. RESULTS: Extratesticular lesions accounted for 72.2% of the scrotal swellings. Of these, the epididymis is most commonly involved (61.5% cases) with the commonest type of lesion being cystic (49.3% cases). Ultrasonography preferably with color doppler is highly useful for the evaluation of the scrotum. Apart from distinguishing extratesticular from testicular and cystic from solid lesions, it has an important role in identifying individual lesions, thus reducing the list of differential diagnosis. Fine needle aspiration cytology contributed to a definitive diagnosis in 47.7% cases. It helps classify cystic masses on the basis of their contents and defines the etiology of chronic inflammatory lesions, apart from corroborating with the clinico-radiological diagnosis. Histological evaluation was possible only in cases where surgery was performed and helps further define the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Fine needle aspiration cytology is essentially non-traumatic and easy to carry out and should be a technique of choice for the study of scrotal pathology, main advantage being avoidance of delays in diagnosis.
