Interpersonal Relationships among University Safety Professionals: The Impact of a Safety Departmentf

PresentationForming strong interpersonal relationships enables an organization or individual to achieve more favorable outcomes. The objectives of this study were to examine the frequency of interpersonal interactions among safety professionals (SPs) employed at Taiwanese universities and the factors that affected this frequency. To accomplish these objectives, we mailed questionnaires to a simple random sampling of 200 university SPs. Moreover, an interpersonal relationship scale was developed in this study; exploratory factor and internal consistency analyses revealed that the scale was valid and reliable. Results derived from the questionnaire revealed that in SP interpersonal relationships, general affairs department personnel, laboratory or internship unit supervisors, and teaching staff ranked highest in frequency of interactions. Multivariate analysis of variance results showed that establishing a safety department exerted a statistically significant effect on SP interpersonal relationships. SPs employed by universities with safety departments interacted more frequently with both internal and external relationships. Therefore, we suggest that universities without a safety department establish such a department to strengthen the labor safety and health structure, thereby benefitting SPs in fulfilling responsibilities to promote safety and health management

Age of Migration Life Expectancy with Functional Limitations and Morbidity among Mexican Americans

The U.S. Mexican American population enjoys longer life expectancies relative to other racial/ethnic groups but is disproportionately affected by chronic conditions and functional limitations. Studying the impact of heterogeneity in age, time and other characteristics of migration among older Mexican Americans can inform our understanding of health disparities and health care needs in later-life. This research employed 20 years of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to assess the proportion of life spent with functional limitations and one or more morbidity (by age of migration and gender) in the United States Mexican American population. Our results indicate early-life and late-life migrant women spend a larger number of years with performance-oriented mobility assessment (POMA) limitations than U.S.-born women. Conversely, mid-life migrant women were not statistically different from U.S.-born women in years spent disabled. Among men, mid-life migrants had longer life expectancies and spent more years disability-free than U.S.-born men. For morbidity, late-life migrant women spent a significantly smaller proportion of their elderly years with morbidity than U.S.-born women. However, late-life migrant men spent more years with morbidity than U.S.-born men. These findings illustrate that older Mexican Americans in the United States are heterogeneous in nativity and health outcomes. More years spent disabled/unhealthy may result in greater burden on family members and higher dependency on public resources. These findings have implications for the development of social and health policies to appropriately target the medical conditions and disabilities of older Mexican Americans entering late-life

Temperature Swing Adsorption Process for CO2 Capture Using Polyaniline Solid Sorbent

AbstractTo capture carbon dioxide from power plant flue gas which consists of 15% CO2 and 85% N2, with a temperature swing adsorption (TSA) by using polyaniline solid sorbent as the adsorbent, is explored experimentally and theoretically. First, single component adsorption equilibrium data of carbon dioxide on polyaniline solid sorbent is obtained by using Micro-Balance Thermo D-200. Then isotherm curves and the parameters are obtained by numerical method. The adsorption is expressed by the Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm. After accomplishment of isotherm curves, the breakthrough curve experiment is investigated with single adsorption column. The experiments test the change in adsorbed gas concentration at the outlet by adsorbed gas, CO2, and non-adsorbed gas, helium. Finally, this study accentuates the TSA experiments on CO2 purity and recovery by operation variable discussion which includes feed pressure, adsorption temperature and desorption temperature to find optimal operation condition. The results of optimal operation condition are CO2 purity of 47.65% with a 92.46% recovery

Fucosyltransferase 1 and 2 play pivotal roles in breast cancer cells.

FUT1 and FUT2 encode alpha 1, 2-fucosyltransferases which catalyze the addition of alpha 1, 2-linked fucose to glycans. Glycan products of FUT1 and FUT2, such as Globo H and Lewis Y, are highly expressed on malignant tissues, including breast cancer. Herein, we investigated the roles of FUT1 and FUT2 in breast cancer. Silencing of FUT1 or FUT2 by shRNAs inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and tumorigenicity in mice. This was associated with diminished properties of cancer stem cell (CSC), including mammosphere formation and CSC marker both in vitro and in xenografts. Silencing of FUT2, but not FUT1, significantly changed the cuboidal morphology to dense clusters of small and round cells with reduced adhesion to polystyrene and extracellular matrix, including laminin, fibronectin and collagen. Silencing of FUT1 or FUT2 suppressed cell migration in wound healing assay, whereas FUT1 and FUT2 overexpression increased cell migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis of breast cancer in vivo. A decrease in mesenchymal like markers such as fibronectin, vimentin, and twist, along with increased epithelial like marker, E-cadherin, was observed upon FUT1/2 knockdown, while the opposite was noted by overexpression of FUT1 or FUT2. As expected, FUT1 or FUT2 knockdown reduced Globo H, whereas FUT1 or FUT2 overexpression showed contrary effects. Exogenous addition of Globo H-ceramide reversed the suppression of cell migration by FUT1 knockdown but not the inhibition of cell adhesion by FUT2 silencing, suggesting that at least part of the effects of FUT1/2 knockdown were mediated by Globo H. Our results imply that FUT1 and FUT2 play important roles in regulating growth, adhesion, migration and CSC properties of breast cancer, and may serve as therapeutic targets for breast cancer

Mechanisms underlying Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae exotoxin ApxI induced expression of IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α in porcine alveolar macrophages

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (A. pleuropneumoniae) causes fibrino-hemorrhagic necrotizing pleuropneumonia in pigs. Production of proinflammatory mediators in the lungs is an important feature of A. pleuropneumoniae infection. However, bacterial components other than lipopolysaccharide involved in this process remain unidentified. The goals of this study were to determine the role of A. pleuropneumoniae exotoxin ApxI in cytokine induction and to delineate the underlying mechanisms. Using real-time quantitative PCR analysis, we found native ApxI stimulated porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) to transcribe mRNAs of IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Heat-inactivation or pre-incubation of ApxI with a neutralizing antiserum attenuated ApxI bioactivity to induce cytokine gene expression. The secretion of IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α protein from PAMs stimulated with ApxI was also confirmed by quantitative ELISA. In delineating the underlying signaling pathways contributing to cytokine expression, we observed mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) p38 and cJun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) were activated upon ApxI stimulation. Administration of an inhibitor specific to p38 or JNK resulted in varying degrees of attenuation on ApxI-induced cytokine expression, suggesting the differential regulatory roles of p38 and JNK in IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α production. Further, pre-incubation of PAMs with a CD18-blocking antibody prior to ApxI stimulation significantly reduced the activation of p38 and JNK, and subsequent expression of IL-1β, IL-8 or TNF-α gene, indicating a pivotal role of β2 integrins in the ApxI-mediated effect. Collectively, this study demonstrated ApxI induces gene expression of IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α in PAMs that involves β2 integrins and downstream MAPKs

Color-tunable mixed photoluminescence emission from Alq3 organic layer in metal-Alq3-metal surface plasmon structure

This work reports the color-tunable mixed photoluminescence (PL) emission from an Alq(3) organic layer in an Au-Alq(3)-Au plasmonic structure through the combination of organic fluorescence emission and another form of emission that is enabled by the surface plasmons in the plasmonic structure. The emission wavelength of the latter depends on the Alq(3) thickness and can be tuned within the Alq(3) fluorescent spectra. Therefore, a two-color broadband, color-tunable mixed PL structure was obtained. Obvious changes in the Commission Internationale d’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates and the corresponding emission colors of Au-Alq(3)-Au samples clearly varied with the Alq(3) thickness (90, 130, and 156 nm)

Persistent and multisite homophobic harassment during childhood and adolescence and its association with school difficulties in gay and bisexual men in Taiwan

Background: Homophobic harassment can compromise mental health of sexual minority youths. Objectives: This study examined the rates of persistent and multisite homophobic harassment and their associations with school difficulties during childhood and adolescence among gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. Methods: Participants were recruited through advertisements on the Facebook, Bulletin Board Systems, and the home pages of health promotion and counseling centers for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community. The experiences of traditional and cyber harassment based on gender role nonconformity and sexual orientation of 500 gay or bisexual men were examined. The associations of multisite and persistent harassment victimization with school difficulties were evaluated. Results: A total of 239 (47.8%) and 131 (26.2%) participants experienced persistent and multisite harassment victimization, respectively. Harassment victimization was significantly associated with low satisfaction with academic performance in any stage of study. Moreover, the participants who were harassed in senior high schools were more likely to miss classes or be truant than those who were not harassed. The victims of multisite harassment at senior high schools were more likely to miss classes or be truant than those of school-only harassment. Discussion: Prevention and intervention programs are warranted to reduce homophobic harassment in sexual minority youths

Sialylation of vasorin by ST3Gal1 facilitates TGF-β1-mediated tumor angiogenesis and progression.

ST3Gal1 is a key sialyltransferase which adds α2,3-linked sialic acid to substrates and generates core 1 O-glycan structure. Upregulation of ST3Gal1 has been associated with worse prognosis of breast cancer patients. However, the protein substrates of ST3Gal1 implicated in tumor progression remain elusive. In our study, we demonstrated that ST3GAL1-silencing significantly reduced tumor growth along with a notable decrease in vascularity of MCF7 xenograft tumors. We identified vasorin (VASN) which was shown to bind TGF-β1, as a potential candidate that links ST3Gal1 to angiogenesis. LC-MS/MS analysis of VASN secreted from MCF7, revealed that more than 80% of its O-glycans are sialyl-3T and disialyl-T. ST3GAL1-silencing or desialylation of VASN by neuraminidase enhanced its binding to TGF-β1 by 2- to 3-fold and thereby dampening TGF-β1 signaling and angiogenesis, as indicated by impaired tube formation of HUVECs, suppressed angiogenesis gene expression and reduced activation of Smad2 and Smad3 in HUVEC cells. Examination of 114 fresh primary breast cancer and their adjacent normal tissues showed that the expression levels of ST3Gal1 and TGFB1 were high in tumor part and the expression of two genes was positively correlated. Kaplan Meier survival analysis showed a significantly shorter relapse-free survival for those with lower expression VASN, notably, the combination of low VASN with high ST3GAL1 yielded even higher risk of recurrence (p = 0.025, HR = 2.967, 95% CI = 1.14-7.67). Since TGF-β1 is known to transcriptionally activate ST3Gal1, our findings illustrated a feedback regulatory loop in which TGF-β1 upregulates ST3Gal1 to circumvent the negative impact of VASN