Acupuncture transmitted infections.

published_or_final_versio

How and When Service Beneficiaries' Gratitude Enriches Employees' Daily Lives

Conventional research on gratitude has focused on the benefits of expressing or experiencing gratitude for the individual. However, recent theory and research have highlighted that there may too be benefits associated with receiving others’ gratitude. Grounded in the Work–Home Resources model, we develop a conceptual model to understand whether, how, and for whom service providers (i.e., healthcare professionals) benefit from receiving service beneficiaries’ (i.e., patients) gratitude in their daily work. We hypothesize that perceived gratitude from service beneficiaries enhances service providers’ relational energy at work, which spills over to benefit their family lives later in the day. In addition, we hypothesize that the effect of gratitude on relational energy and its subsequent spillover effect to the family are contingent on employees’ occupational identity. Two experience sampling studies with data collected from healthcare professionals and their spouses for two consecutive weeks (each) provided support for our hypothesized model. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our work

Prioritized Sweeping Neural DynaQ with Multiple Predecessors, and Hippocampal Replays

During sleep and awake rest, the hippocampus replays sequences of place cells that have been activated during prior experiences. These have been interpreted as a memory consolidation process, but recent results suggest a possible interpretation in terms of reinforcement learning. The Dyna reinforcement learning algorithms use off-line replays to improve learning. Under limited replay budget, a prioritized sweeping approach, which requires a model of the transitions to the predecessors, can be used to improve performance. We investigate whether such algorithms can explain the experimentally observed replays. We propose a neural network version of prioritized sweeping Q-learning, for which we developed a growing multiple expert algorithm, able to cope with multiple predecessors. The resulting architecture is able to improve the learning of simulated agents confronted to a navigation task. We predict that, in animals, learning the world model should occur during rest periods, and that the corresponding replays should be shuffled.Comment: Living Machines 2018 (Paris, France

Demonstration of mixed properties of RU486 in progesterone receptor (PR)-transfected MDA-MB-231 cells: a model for studying the functions of progesterone analogues

Progesterone antagonist RU486 (mifepristone) has been implicated for many anti-neoplastic and obstetrical applications. But the compound has demonstrated undesired agonist-like effect depending on cell, tissue and species studied. Using PR-transfected breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231, this report describes the similarities and differences between progesterone- and RU486-mediated effects on cell growth, cell differentiation and, at the molecular level, on the activation of p44/p42 MAP kinases (MAPK). Like progesterone, RU486 inhibited cells growth by arresting the cells in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle. In contrast to progesterone that induced cell spreading, RU486 induced a multipolar, stellate morphology. RU486-treated cells showed no increase of stress fibers, nor was there any increase of focal adhesions as progesterone-treated cells did. Furthermore, despite of the fact that both compounds inhibited cell growth, RU486 significantly stimulated the activation of p44/p42 MAP kinases whereas progesterone markedly inhibited the activation. Nonetheless, the effects of RU486 were PR-mediated and RU486 was able to antagonize the effect of progesterone on cell growth and focal adhesion. In conclusion, RU486 can act not only as a progesterone antagonist, a progesterone agonist but also induced morphological and molecular changes that were distinct from progesterone-mediated effects in PR-transfected MDA-MB-231 cells. The non-progesterone-like effect of RU486 may be mediated through a pathway that is different from the progesterone-mediated pathway, or it is the result of a blockade of certain critical step(s) in the progesterone-mediated pathway. In any case, undesired side effects of antiprogestin may create clinical complications. PR-transfected MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells provide a model for studying the functions of progesterone analogues.© 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Head Position in Stroke Trial (HeadPoST)- sitting-up vs lying-flat positioning of patients with acute stroke: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

Background Positioning a patient lying-flat in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke may improve recovery and reduce disability, but such a possibility has not been formally tested in a randomised trial. We therefore initiated the Head Position in Stroke Trial (HeadPoST) to determine the effects of lying-flat (0°) compared with sitting-up (≥30°) head positioning in the first 24 hours of hospital admission for patients with acute stroke. Methods/Design We plan to conduct an international, cluster randomised, crossover, open, blinded outcome-assessed clinical trial involving 140 study hospitals (clusters) with established acute stroke care programs. Each hospital will be randomly assigned to sequential policies of lying-flat (0°) or sitting-up (≥30°) head position as a ‘business as usual’ stroke care policy during the first 24 hours of admittance. Each hospital is required to recruit 60 consecutive patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS), and all patients with acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) (an estimated average of 10), in the first randomised head position policy before crossing over to the second head position policy with a similar recruitment target. After collection of in-hospital clinical and management data and 7-day outcomes, central trained blinded assessors will conduct a telephone disability assessment with the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. The primary outcome for analysis is a shift (defined as improvement) in death or disability on this scale. For a cluster size of 60 patients with AIS per intervention and with various assumptions including an intracluster correlation coefficient of 0.03, a sample size of 16,800 patients at 140 centres will provide 90 % power (α 0.05) to detect at least a 16 % relative improvement (shift) in an ordinal logistic regression analysis of the primary outcome. The treatment effect will also be assessed in all patients with ICH who are recruited during each treatment study period. Discussion HeadPoST is a large international clinical trial in which we will rigorously evaluate the effects of different head positioning in patients with acute stroke. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02162017 (date of registration: 27 April 2014); ANZCTR identifier: ACTRN12614000483651 (date of registration: 9 May 2014). Protocol version and date: version 2.2, 19 June 2014

Anatomical features, fiber morphological, physical and mechanical properties of three years old new hybrid Paulownia: green Paulownia

Objective: Green Paulownia (hybridization of Paulownia elongata × Paulownia fotunei and tropical Paulownia spp.) is new hybrid claimed as one of the fast-growing woody plants with the high potential as a fiber material or lignocellulosic material. The material for this study originates from the area of Nanning in China. Methodology: Cell morphology and anatomical appearances were observed and evaluated under the image analysis system (Leica DMLS). Physical and mechanical properties were evaluated based on the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. Results: From the results, average value of the mean fiber length was 0.905 mm, mean fiber length 34.59 μm, lumen thickness 26.80 μm and cell wall thickness 3.89 μm. Fiber dimensions of green Paulownia are in the normal range for hardwoods. The physical and mechanical properties of 3 years old green Paulownia have similar properties than those 7-11 years old Paulownia published in China. Conclusion: The 3 years old green Paulownia timbers can be used as materials for furniture

Enhancement of the Nernst effect by stripe order in a high-Tc superconductor

The Nernst effect in metals is highly sensitive to two kinds of phase transition: superconductivity and density-wave order. The large positive Nernst signal observed in hole-doped high-Tc superconductors above their transition temperature Tc has so far been attributed to fluctuating superconductivity. Here we show that in some of these materials the large Nernst signal is in fact caused by stripe order, a form of spin / charge modulation which causes a reconstruction of the Fermi surface. In LSCO doped with Nd or Eu, the onset of stripe order causes the Nernst signal to go from small and negative to large and positive, as revealed either by lowering the hole concentration across the quantum critical point in Nd-LSCO, or lowering the temperature across the ordering temperature in Eu-LSCO. In the latter case, two separate peaks are resolved, respectively associated with the onset of stripe order at high temperature and superconductivity near Tc. This sensitivity to Fermi-surface reconstruction makes the Nernst effect a promising probe of broken symmetry in high-Tc superconductors

The role of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma among endemic population: a meta-analysis of the phase iii randomized trials

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The main objective of this meta-analysis was to determine the clinical benefit of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) compared with radiation alone (RT) in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients in endemic geographic areas.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a prospective meta-analysis protocol, two independent investigators reviewed the publications and extracted the data. Published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which patients with NPC in endemic areas were randomly assigned to receive CCRT or RT alone were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven trials (totally 1608 patients) were eligible. Risk ratios (RRs) of 0.63 (95% CI, 0.50 to 0.80), 0.76 (95% CI, 0.61 to 0.93) and 0.74 (95% CI, 0.62 to 0.89) were observed for 2, 3 and 5 years OS respectively in favor of the CCRT group. The RRs were larger than that detected in the previously reported meta-analyses (including both endemic and non-endemic), indicating that the relative benefit of survival was smaller than what considered before.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first meta-analysis of CCRT vs. RT alone in NPC treatment which included studies only done in endemic area. The results confirmed that CCRT was more beneficial compared with RT alone. However, the relative benefit of CCRT in endemic population might be less than that from previous meta-analyses.</p