Long-term treatment for emotional distress in women with breast cancer

Purpose: Breast cancer patients have many needs, including strategies to cope with the associated distress, during and after cancer treatment. Establishing and implementing adequate social and emotional support for these women, to reduce the detrimental effects of stress resulting from their treatment and disease, is the need of the hour. This study aims to assess how women, diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, combat emotional stress using mechanisms of coping and control and emotional defense, as well as to identify potential groups among them, with different long-term patterns and needs. Methods: 98 patients belonging to a local breast cancer support association (ALMOM), were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire specifically designed for them was administered, and its internal consistency and reliability assessed. A hierarchical clustering was employed to classify the women. The questionnaire focused on four sections, including personal feelings, coping strategies, environmental influences and maladaptive coping. Results: An adequate internal reliability was obtained with Cronbach's α near or greater than 0.60. Personal feelings were significant and clearly correlated with coping strategies and maladaptive coping. Three groups of women with different patterns of emotional characteristics and needs were identified: positivist, unsafe, and hopeless women, with different long-term emotional needs to be satisfied. Conclusions: Psychological therapeutic interventions should be maintained in many breast cancer patients over time, even after treatment completion, in order to consolidate adaptive and sustainable responses

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

Assessing the Expression of Emotions in Breast Cancer Survivors during the Time of Recovery: Perspective from Focus Groups

Breast cancer has major public health implications, as it is the most frequent malignant tumor and the leading cause of cancer death in women. Survivors have many needs, including strategies to cope with the associated distress. We explore whether focus groups are useful for nurses to obtain information about the emotional state of breast cancer women, and develop strategies for coping with the stress that this disease entails. A qualitative study was carried out, involving 25 focus groups with 83 women treated for breast cancer, recruited from the local Breast Cancer Association (ALMOM). Four open-ended questions were employed, and 60-min discussions were carried out. They were transcribed, analyzed, coded, and the themes identified. Four major themes emerged, including “complex emotional evolution”, “emotional isolation”, “lack of information” and “inability to give advice”. Women admitted that this disease had been a stressful factor for them, causing emotional (anxiety, irritability, anger or guilt) and cognitive disorders (confusion, lack of concentration, forgetfulness). The use of focus groups in breast cancer survivors allows nurses to evaluate the expression of emotions in these women, and collect and share information about their feelings, thoughts and experiences, so that survivors can cope more easily with the stress related to their illness

Transcriptome profiling of liver of non-genetic low birth weight and long term health consequences

BACKGROUND: It is believed that the main factors of low prenatal growth in mammals are genetic and environmental. We used isogenic mice maintained in standard conditions to analyze how natural non-genetic microsomia (low birth weight) is produced in inbred mice and its long term effect on health. To better understand the molecular basis of non-genetic microsomia, we undertook transcriptome profiling of both male and female livers from small and normal size mice at birth. RESULTS: Naturally occurring neonatal microsomia was defined as a gender-specific weanling weight under the 10th percentile of the colony. Birth weight variation was similar in inbred and outbred lines. Mice were phenotyped by weight, size, blood pressure, organ size, their response to a glucose challenge, and survival rates. Regardless of diet, adult mice born with microsomia showed a significantly lower body weight and size, and differences in the weight of several organs of microsomic adult mice compared to normal birth weight adults were found. After a high-fat diet, microsomic mice were less prone to obesity, showing a better glucose tolerance and lower blood pressure. Through a transcriptome analysis, we detected a different pattern of mRNA transcription in the liver at birth comparing male vs female and microsomic vs normal mice, noting some modifications in epigenetic regulatory genes in females and modifications in some growth factor genes in males. Finally, using embryo transfer of embryos of different quality and age, we identified a putative preimplantation origin of this non-genetic microsomia. CONCLUSIONS: (1) neonatal microsomia is not always a risk factor for adult metabolic syndrome, (2) neonatal non-genetic microsomia displays changes in the expression of important epigenetic genes and changes in liver mRNA transcription profile at birth, exaggerating sexual dimorphism, and (3) random preimplantation phenotypic variability could partially explain body birth weight variation in isogenic lines

Engineered Tissue-Stent Biocomposites as Tracheal Replacements

Here we report the creation of a novel tracheal construct in the form of an engineered, acellular tissue-stent biocomposite trachea (TSBT). Allogeneic or xenogeneic smooth muscle cells are cultured on polyglycolic acid polymer-metal stent scaffold leading to the formation of a tissue comprising cells, their deposited collagenous matrix, and the stent material. Thorough decellularization then produces a final acellular tubular construct. Engineered TSBTs were tested as end-to-end tracheal replacements in 11 rats and 3 nonhuman primates. Over a period of 8 weeks, no instances of airway perforation, infection, stent migration, or erosion were observed. Histological analyses reveal that the patent implants remodel adaptively with native host cells, including formation of connective tissue in the tracheal wall and formation of a confluent, columnar epithelium in the graft lumen, although some instances of airway stenosis were observed. Overall, TSBTs resisted collapse and compression that often limit the function of other decellularized tracheal replacements, and additionally do not require any cells from the intended recipient. Such engineered TSBTs represent a model for future efforts in tracheal regeneration

Effect of testosterone and a nutritional supplement, alone and in combination, on hospital admissions in undernourished older men and women

First published January 14, 2009Background: In older people, undernutrition is associated with increased hospitalization rates and mortality. Because weight loss in older people often reflects a disproportionate reduction of skeletal muscle, anabolic treatments may be beneficial. Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the hypothesis that testosterone treatment and a nutritional supplement have additive benefits. Design: Oral testosterone undecanoate (40 mg daily for women, 80 mg twice daily for men) and an oral nutritional supplement (475 kcal/d) were administered, alone or combined, for 1 y to 49 community-dwelling, undernourished people [Mini Nutritional Assessment score 7.5% over 3 mo)] aged >65 y (mean age: 77 y; 26 women and 23 men). Hospital admissions and other variables were assessed. Results: In subjects receiving combined testosterone and nutritional supplements (n = 11), there were no hospital admissions, whereas there were 9 admissions (2 elective) in 13 subjects in the no-treatment group, 4 in the testosterone-treated group (n = 12), and 5 in the supplement-treated group (n = 13); P = 0.06 with no-treatment compared with combined treatment. When compared with the no-treatment group, the combined-treatment group had significantly fewer subjects admitted to hospital (0 compared with 5, P = 0.03), fewer days in hospital (0 compared with 74, P = 0.041), and a longer time to hospital admission (P = 0.017). Conclusions: In undernourished older people, combined treatment with testosterone and nutritional supplementation reduced the number of people hospitalized and the duration of hospital admissions, which are important endpoints in this group. Larger, confirmatory studies are now needed. This trial was registered before commencement at clinical trials.gov as NCT00117000.Ian M Chapman, Renuka Visvanathan, Angela J Hammond, John E Morley, John BF Field, Kamilia Tai, Damien P Belobrajdic, Richard YT Chen, and Michael Horowit