Honey and Apoptosis in Human Gastric Mucosa

Background: Gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in the world. Honey is acomplex mixture of special biological active constituents. Honey possesses antioxidant and antitumorproperties. Nutritional studies have indicated that consumption of honey modulates therisk of developing gastric cancer. On the other hand, apoptosis has been reported to play a decisiverole in precancerous changes. Our chief study was conducted to assess the relationship betweenconsumption of honey and apoptosis in human gastric mucosa.Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 98 subjects over 18 years old, referred totwo hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. Subjects were undergone an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, 62subjects were finally enrolled. Honey consumption was assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire(FFQ) and apoptosis was detected by TUNEL technique. We tested polynomial curve tofind the best fit between honey consumption and apoptosis.Results: A positive relation between honey consumption and apoptosis was found (P=0.024).Our results indicated that the final and the best fit curve was: apoptosis = 1.714+1.648(honeyamount) - 0.533(honey amount)2 +1.833×10-5(honey amount)7.Conclusion: Honey consumption had positive effects on gastric cancer by inducing apoptosis ingastric mucosa

Expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor A, mucin-1, colony-stimulating factor-1, heparinbinding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor 2 genes in the female reproductive tracts of women with ectopic pregnancy

Full Title: Expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor A, mucin-1, colony-stimulating factor-1, heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor 2 genes in the female reproductive tracts of women with ectopic pregnancy: A case-control study Background: Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is defined as embryo implantation in a location other than the uterine cavity. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the expression of several genes, which may play a role in EP, in the ampulla region of fallopian tubes and endometrial tissue of women with EP. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 5 women who underwent salpingectomy due to EP, comprised the 5 pseudo-pregnant women as a control group. These participants referred to the Royan Institute, Shariati, and Arash hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2019-2021. We evaluated the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor A, mucin-1, colony-stimulating factor-1, heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HBEGF), and fibroblast growth factor 2 genes in the fallopian tube and endometrium of EP cases by real-time polymerase chain reaction using specific primers. Results: The vascular endothelial growth factor expression was significantly higher in the ampulla region of the controls. However, no significant differences were observed in endometrial tissue. Assessments of colony-stimulating factor-1 and fibroblast growth factor 2 showed no significant differences between the case and control groups. HBEGF showed significantly higher expression in the ampulla region of EP cases, but no significant difference was observed in HBEGF expression in the endometrial tissues of the study groups. Mucin-1 expression was significantly higher in both study regions of the EP cases. Conclusion: Our results have strongly suggested that these genes play important roles in proper implantation, and disruptions in their expression patterns could lead to EP. However, more studies are needed to confirm the current findings. Key words: Ectopic pregnancy, Gene expression, Vascular endothelial growth factor A, Mucin-1, Colony-stimulating factor-1, Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor, Fibroblast growth factor 2

Association between Level of Vitamin D with Environmental and Bioelement Factors in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a behavioral disorder. The exact pathophysiology of ADHD is not completely recognized. Previous studies have shown the role of different genetic and environmental factors in it. This study investigates the relationship between vitamin D and environmental factors in ADHD. Methods: In this study, 182 children from 2 to 18 years with confirmed ADHD were allocated in this cross-sectional study. Patients with a history of any chronic disease, anticonvulsants and corticosteroids consumption were excluded from the study. The ADHD severity was assessed by Conners’ parent scale test. The level of serum vitamin D, ferritin, iron, total iron binding capacity, zinc, magnesium, calcium and routine complete blood count (CBC) were measured. Results: Although the results showed a U shaped pattern between vitamin D levels and ADHD severity, the correlation between vitamin D level did not show any significant relation with ADHD symptoms severity (p=0.786). Our data showed significant relation between level of vitamin D and ferritin in patients with ADHD (p=0.003). The analysis demonstrates significant relation between vitamin D level and duration of daily TV watching in children with ADHD (p=0.002). Conclusion: The vitamin D supplementation may improve ADHD symptoms in patients with vitamin D deficiency. In addition, due to the proved effect of ferritin level in ADHD and significant relation with vitamin D level in this study, treatment of vitamin D deficiency is necessary in children with ADHD. Replacing TV watching by more outdoor activity may improve ADHD symptoms

Chronic Activation of γ2 AMPK Induces Obesity and Reduces β Cell Function.

Despite significant advances in our understanding of the biology determining systemic energy homeostasis, the treatment of obesity remains a medical challenge. Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has been proposed as an attractive strategy for the treatment of obesity and its complications. AMPK is a conserved, ubiquitously expressed, heterotrimeric serine/threonine kinase whose short-term activation has multiple beneficial metabolic effects. Whether these translate into long-term benefits for obesity and its complications is unknown. Here, we observe that mice with chronic AMPK activation, resulting from mutation of the AMPK γ2 subunit, exhibit ghrelin signaling-dependent hyperphagia, obesity, and impaired pancreatic islet insulin secretion. Humans bearing the homologous mutation manifest a congruent phenotype. Our studies highlight that long-term AMPK activation throughout all tissues can have adverse metabolic consequences, with implications for pharmacological strategies seeking to chronically activate AMPK systemically to treat metabolic disease

Planification tactique du problème intégré production-distribution avec prise en compte des délais de transport: Cas de la chaine logistique textile

International audienceRESUME : L'objet de ce travail est de développer une approche intégrant la planification de la production et de la distribution dans la chaîne logistique d'une industrie textile. En effet, la mondialisation des échanges, la diversité croissante des produits personnalisés et le raccourcissement de leur cycle de vie obligent les entreprises textiles à réfléchir à intégrer leurs chaînes logistiques afin de réduire les niveaux des stocks et à être plus agiles pour répondre aux besoins des clients tout en offrant les meilleurs prix dans un délai optimum. Une telle industrie est caractérisée par sa chaîne logistique complexe, faisant intervenir différents acteurs tels que les producteurs, les sous-traitants, les dépôts de stockage, les distributeurs et les clients finaux. Une maîtrise coordonnée des flux physiques et informationnels entre ces acteurs, implique donc la planification de la production, la stratégie de stockage des produits dans les dépôts ainsi que la planification de la distribution. Ce problème de planification posé au niveau tactique est modélisé sous forme d'un programme linéaire en nombres mixtes. L'objectif consiste à minimiser les coûts de production, de stockage et de distribution entre les différents inter-venants, en prenant en compte simultanément deux modes de production en flux tiré et en flux poussé et en considérant différents modes de transport

Capacity planning in textile and apparel supply chains

International audienceThis study deals with production and distribution planning for a textile and apparel supply chain. Given the seasonal nature of demand, global character of the textile and apparel supply chain, short life cycle of apparel products and demand unpredictability of trendy items, manufacturers require an efficient and flexible planning system that incorporates in-season replenishment orders with short lead time and preseason orders with medium lead time. A planning approach integrating tactical and operational decisions is proposed. Using a rolling horizon, the proposed approach determines the quantities to produce, store and deliver, which minimize the total production and distribution cost. At the tactical planning level, a percentage of production capacity is reserved in order to accommodate replenishment orders that are difficult to predict. Moreover, production of standardized items with predictable demand could be assigned to overseas low-cost subcontractors. For operational planning, local subcontracting and overtime could be used as options to address the unpredictability of the demand tied to replenishment orders. Our results show that the proposed approach results in a 10% cost saving over current practice

Planification séquentielle tactique-opérationnelle d'une chaîne logistique textile

International audience– Dans ce papier, nous présentons une approche séquentielle de planification de la production-distribution-intégrant les niveaux de décision tactique et opérationnel. Cette approche s'applique dans les chaînes logistiques où on vise le choix des sous-traitants, la définition des quantités optimales à produire des différents produits au sein des différentes unités de production et des quantités à acheminer vers les différents clients, passant par les dépôts de stockage, telle que la chaîne logistique textile. Deux modèles mathématiques ont été conjointement développés en vue de déterminer les décisions optimales pour chaque niveau de décision. Dans la modélisation, les relations entre décisions tactiques et décisions opérationnelles sont mises en avant afin de garantir une décision cohérente dans l'ensemble. L'objectif est la minimisation des coûts et tient compte, en plus des coûts de production, stockage et distribution, d'un coût périodique de sous-utilisation de la capacité interne de production. Un horizon de planification de six mois est proposé pour le modèle tactique. Un horizon glissant de périodicité hebdomadaire est utilisé, au niveau opérationnel, pour intégrer les commandes qui arrivent au fil des semaines, lorsque d'autres productions planifiées sont déjà en cours de réalisation sur le mois. Ici, notre ambition est de prouver, à travers un cas d'étude réel d'une multinationale travaillant dans le domaine textile et habillement, l'intérêt de la considération d'une réserve de capacité de production interne pour le cas où nous ne disposons pas d'une information avancée sur les ventes des clients. Abstract-This paper describes a sequential approach integrating tactical and operational decision levels to model the multi-product and multi-period production and distribution planning problem. This approach aims to define optimal quantities to produce, to store and to deliver, while taking into account outsourcing options. The objective is the minimization of the overall costs ; it considers, in addition to production, storage and distribution costs, the cost incurred by under-utilization of internal production capacities. A rolling weekly periodicity is used at the operational level, to integrate new production orders, coming weekly, taking into account the ongoing production planned for the month. The aim of this paper is to prove, through a real case study of an apparel multinational company, that the consideration of a safety production capacity will be useful to best perform customers' unforeseen requirements, especially when no advance information, on customers' sales, is available. Mots clés-intégration des niveaux de décisions, coût de sous-utilisation de la capacité de production, distribution, horizon glissant, chaîne logistique textile

The beneficial effect of information sharing in the integrated production–distribution planning of textile and apparel supply chain

The present paper proposes an integrated production–distribution planning approach for a textile and apparel supply chain. Tactical and operational decisions are considered in the proposed multi-product and multi-period planning problem. Using a rolling horizon, the approach aims at defining optimal quantities to produce, to store and to deliver. The integration consists in coordinating informational flows between producer and retailer. Information sharing will allow the producer to estimate more accurately the future replenishment orders that may happen at the operational level and adjust production capacity requirements accordingly. For this purpose, a two-stage planning approach is devised; the first stage deals with the tactical level while the second stage deals with the operational level. The monthly decisions taken at the tactical planning level are accounted for in the operational planning considering a variable rolling horizon. Moreover, accurate forecasts of future replenishment orders are established based on information sharing and introduced in the operational planning to determine the weekly decisions. Linear programming models are used to build production and distribution plans at the tactical and operational levels. Using real-life data from a textile and apparel Tunisian firm, we show that producer-retailer coordination based on the sharing of current sales information, yields significant cost savings reaching up to 20% of the supply chain cost. These findings can only motivate the partnership between producer and retailer through reliable information sharing in joint tactical-operational and production–distribution planning