The protective role of carotenoids and polyphenols in patients with head and neck cancer

AbstractHead and neck cancer is a critical global health problem and approximately 650,000 patients per year are diagnosed with this type of cancer. In addition, head and neck cancer exhibits a high recurrence rate, readily causing second primary cancers in other locations, often yielding a poor prognosis. Current medical and surgical treatment options result in considerable impairment of speaking and swallowing functions, with side effects such as nausea, vomiting, bone marrow suppression, and renal damage, thereby impairing patients' quality of life. Thus, developing a prevention and therapeutic intervention strategy for head and neck cancer is vital. Phytochemicals have been shown to have a unique ability to protect cells from damage and modulation of cell repair. The chemopreventive activities of phytochemicals have also been demonstrated to be associated with their antioxidant properties and the induction and stimulation of intercellular communication via gap junctions, which play a role in the regulation of cancer cell cycle, differentiation, apoptosis, and stagnate cancer cell growth. Phytochemicals can also regulate cancer cell signaling pathways, reduce the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, and protect normal cells during treatment, thus reducing the damage caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The most studied of the chemopreventive effects of phytochemicals are the carotenoids and phenolics. In this review, we investigated the multiple mechanisms of carotenoids and polyphenols (PPs) for use in preventing head and neck cancer, reducing the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, improving patient survival rates, and reducing the occurrence rate of second primary cancers

Examining The Influencing Factors Of R&D Engineers Creativity In Original Design Manufacturing Sector

The purpose of this study is to examine the direct effect of the perception of organizational learning variables, the perception of organizational factors and knowledge management efficiency with Research and Development (R&D) engineer’s creativity; and investigate whether knowledge management have moderating effect in the above relationship. Organizational learning variable comprises of four sub-elements which is the managerial commitment, system perspective, openness & experimentation, knowledge transfer& integration. Meanwhile organizational factor consist five sub-elements of organization support, organization integration, information & communication, organization resources, corporate culture

CULTURAL VARIATION IN GRATITUDE DEMONSTRATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND TAIWAN

Linking two well-developed yet rarely conversing bodies of literature, I propose a general cultural paradigm for testing the functions of emotions. Taking gratitude for example, I predicted that, for gratitude to function, people in Confucius cultures would use self-improvement (cultivating personal skills and living up to social roles) to communicate gratitude, whereas people in individualist cultures would use bodily contact instead. Indeed, although both Taiwanese (Confucius) and American (individualist) participants communicated gratitude by verbal acknowledgment and reciprocating kindness (Study 1 & 2), they spontaneously demonstrated their respective cultural behaviors when being asked to thank someone they chose (Study 1), deliberately listed down such behaviors as their everyday gratitude demonstration strategies more than did the other group (Study 1), and reported applying their cultural behaviors but not those of the other culture similarly to applying non-cultural demonstrations of gratitude (acknowledgment and reciprocity; Study 2). Extending to the perception side of dyadic communication, I further presented participants with manipulated gratitude demonstrations that conveyed the intent of either reciprocity, bodily contact, or self-improvement, and found that Americans perceived gratitude in bodily contact (v. self-improvement) as in reciprocity, whereas the Taiwanese sensed gratitude in self-improvement (v. bodily contact) as in reciprocity (Study 3). Together, this research deconfounds gratitude’s underlying relational function from its ostensible manifestations, bolstering its function over specific behavioral manifestations. The research, therefore, demonstrates the utility of studying culture to further functionalist emotion theories; I also developed and demonstrate a new method for de-biasing cross-cultural comparisons along the way.Doctor of Philosoph

When does activism benefit well-being? Evidence from a longitudinal study of Clinton voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election

Contrary to the expectations of many, Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The initial shock to her supporters turned into despair for most, but not everyone was affected equally. We draw from the literature on political activism, identity, and self-other overlap in predicting that not all Clinton voters would be equivalently crushed by her loss. Specifically, we hypothesize that pre-election measures of political activism, and level of self-other identification between participants and Clinton-that is, how much a person was "with her"-will interact to predict the level of distress of Clinton voters two months later. Longitudinal data support our hypothesis. Notably, among Clinton voters, greater activism negatively predicted depressive symptoms, and positively predicted sleep quality, but only when participants were highly identified with Clinton. We discuss the implications of the results for theory and research on social action and well-being

Thoracoscopic plication for a huge thoracic meningocele in a patient with Neurofibromatosis

Intrathoracic meningoceles associated with neurofibromatosis type I are rare, and the optimal treatment is still unknown. Herein, we present the case of a 48-year-old Asian female with a huge thoracic meningocele associated with cutaneous neurofibromatosis type I and kyphoscoliosis of the thoracic spine. The large thoracic meningocele was successfully treated through thoracoscopic plication

Interferon-b Modulates Inflammatory Response in Cerebral Ischemia

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a leading cause of death in the world. In >80% of strokes, the initial acute phase of ischemic injury is due to the occlusion of a blood vessel resulting in severe focal hypoperfusion, excitotoxicity, and oxidative damage. Interferon-β (IFNβ), a cytokine with immunomodulatory properties, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis for more than a decade. Its anti-inflammatory properties and well-characterized safety profile suggest that IFNβ has therapeutic potential for the treatment of ischemic stroke. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated the therapeutic effect of IFNβ in the mouse model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion. We found that IFNβ not only reduced infarct size in ischemic brains but also lessened neurological deficits in ischemic stroke animals. Further, multiple molecular mechanisms by which IFNβ modulates ischemic brain inflammation were identified. IFNβ reduced central nervous system infiltration of monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, CD4(+) T cells, and γδ T cells; inhibited the production of inflammatory mediators; suppressed the expression of adhesion molecules on brain endothelial cells; and repressed microglia activation in the ischemic brain. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that IFNβ exerts a protective effect against ischemic stroke through its anti-inflammatory properties and suggest that IFNβ is a potential therapeutic agent, targeting the reperfusion damage subsequent to the treatment with tissue plasminogen activator

Smoking, Habitual Tea Drinking and Metabolic Syndrome in Elderly Men Living in Rural Community: The Tianliao Old People (TOP) Study 02

The literature shows an inconsistent relationship between lifestyle behaviors and metabolic syndrome (MetS), especially in the elderly. We designed this study to investigate the interrelationships among cigarette smoking, tea drinking and MetS, and to verify the factors associated with MetS in elderly males dwelling in rural community. In July 2010, with a whole community sampling method, 414 male subjects aged over 65 dwelling in Tianliao township were randomly sampled. The response rate was 60.8%. Each subject completed the structured questionnaires including sociodemographic characteristics, habitual behaviors (including cigarette smoking and tea drinking habits) and medical history. After an overnight fast, the laboratory and anthropometric data were obtained. MetS was confirmed according to the criteria defined by the modified NCEP ATP III for the male Chinese population. Subjects were split into either non-MetS or MetS groups for further analysis. Of the 361 subjects with complete data, 132 (36.6%) elderly men were classified as having MetS. Using binary logistic regression, body mass index, serum uric acid, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, HOMA index, current smokers (OR = 2.72, 95%CI: 1.03 ∼ 7.19), total smoking amount > = 30 (OR = 2.78, 95%CI: 1.31 ∼ 5.90) and more than 20 cigarettes daily (OR = 2.54, 95%CI: 1.24 ∼ 5.18) were positively associated with MetS. Current un- or partial fermented tea drinker (OR = 0.42, 95%CI: 0.22 ∼ 0.84), tea drinking habit for 1–9 years (OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.15 ∼ 0.90) and more than 240cc daily (OR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.17 ∼ 0.72) were negatively associated with MetS. In conclusion, this study suggests that smoking habit was positively associated with MetS, but tea drinking habit was negatively associated with MetS in elderly men dwelling in rural community

Developing and Validating Service Innovation Readiness

Services have emerged as major economic activities in Taiwan in recent years, since more than 70% of GDP in Taiwan is generated by service sectors. Nevertheless, knowledge of service innovation remained under-explored. To address this research gap, this study proposed the concept of “Service Innovation Readiness” based on expert interviews of five service industries (Department Stores and Retail, Financial, Biotechnology and Medicine, Tourism, and Information Services) and a review of existing literature. Given this, we propose a multi-dimensional construct of Service Innovation Readiness (SIR) consisting of five factors: Strategic Investment, Risk Tolerance, Innovative Champion, IT Experience, and Inter-Organizational Collaboration. To validate the framework of SIR, a survey was conducted in the five service sectors and the final sample consisted of 312 valid cases. The results grant support to the framework, showing that SIR is a multi-dimensional construct. The positive relationship between SIR and service performance provides further evidence to support the predictive validity of the construct measurement. Conclusion and implications are included