Acupressure in Everyday Life

Acupressure is a healing method used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by which certain meridian points in the human body are manually stimulated in order to heal the body and introduce the correct circulation of the vital energy "Qi". Chinese medicine theory states that the constant flow of Qi through the meridians is essential to maintaining the health of the body. Acupressure is a manual, non-invasive method to influence the well-being of the body. It is performed by a person who has undergone specialized training, but it can also be applied independently on one's own body with training from a specialist in this field. Common everyday complaints, including stress, anxiety, panic, headaches, and high blood pressure, are typically addressed using established Western medical practices such as pharmacological interventions and other medicinal treatments. Nevertheless, complementary methods like acupressure can supplement the primary therapy by exerting a holistic influence on the entire body. Numerous scientific studies support the efficacy of acupressure as a standalone approach for managing some of these everyday complaints. Additionally, acupressure can be combined with other natural remedies like essential oils, climate-based factors, and bee products. They gently influence the Qi energy and, in combination with acupressure, are a natural way to rebalance the body to optimize health and overall well-being and to cope with the stressful living conditions that accompany today's hectic lifestyle

Assessing accuracy and utility of epigenetic age prediction algorithm in a large-scale targeted methylation sequencing study

The Horvath epigenetic clock was developed using Illumina HumanMethylation 450K and 27K array data with the purpose of predicting epigenetic age. In this study targeted methylation sequencing using Illumina’s MethylCapture sequencing library was completed on 932 samples from three Canadian studies - The Canadian Asthma Primary Prevention Study (CAPPS, n=632 samples); the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean study (SLSJ, n=180 samples) and the Canadian Peanut Allergy Registry (CanPAR, n=120). CAPPS is a longitudinal cohort that follows children at high-risk for developing asthma from birth to year 15, with targeted methylation sequencing done on at least one of three occasions- birth, and/or years 7 and 15. Maternal samples for CAPPS were also included in the methylation study. SLSJ consists of three-generational triads from families of French-Canadian descent. CanPAR consists of individuals with peanut allergy. The objective of this study was three-fold: Assess the accuracy of the Horvath epigenetic clock in children To evaluate its applicability and its utility as a quality control (QC) metric in targeted methylation sequencing experiments Identify age informative CpG sites in dataset The Horvath age prediction algorithm was shown to be accurate in this data set with a mean absolute error (MAE±S.D.= 7.00±7.03, median absolute error=4.57). Additional QCs included principal component analyses to assess age, ethnicity and cell counts, and genotype concordance checks using overlap SNPs from GWAS and sequencing studies. These steps identified possibly swapped samples which were also noted as outliers by the age prediction with their relative difference (RD, RD = abs (predicted age-expected age)/expected age)) > mean + 2 S.D. for their reported groups. Linear and mixed Effects models that utilize the CAPPS longitudinal data structure identified hundreds of thousands of new CpG sites significantly associated with age in children. We have demonstrated the applicability of the Horvath age algorithm to targeted methylation sequencing studies and the opportunity for its improvement.Science, Faculty ofGraduat

Response of the spacecraft isolate Acinetobacter radioresistens 50V1 to copper-containing antimicrobial materials and their relevance to Planetary Protection

During life-detection mission on Mars, Planetary Protection policies ensure that forward and backward contaminations are avoided. However, some extremotolerant strains like Acinetobacter radioresistens 50V1 can proliferate despite the strict cleaning protocols aboard a spacecraft and thus interfere with space exploration. To avoid contaminations improved and novel disinfection techniques are needed, for example utilizing materials with intrinsic antimicrobial properties. In this thesis the response of A. radioresistens 50V1 to desiccation, vacuum, copper-containing surfaces and solutions was examined and compared to the type strain A. radioresistens DSMZ 6976. Desiccation on steel for a week induced significant decrease in the survival fractions of both strains, whereas in vacuum both 50V1 and DSMZ 6976 exhibited higher survivability than after desiccation alone. Under both conditions 50V1 demonstrated higher survival fractions than DSMZ 6976. When the two Acinetobacter strains were deposited on plastic copper-containing materials with 0.5% or 6.64% CuSO4, neither of the bacteria was inactivated. When exposed to copper and copper alloys containing more than 60% of copper, DSMZ 6976 was completely neutralized in less than two hours. 50V1 demonstrated higher survivability than the type strain for all of the metallic materials. Nevertheless, significant reduction in the survivability of the spacecraft contaminant was determined for all of the tested alloys. Examining the growth of 50V1 in copper-containing media revealed that 1 mM of CuSO4 or CuCl2 affects only the growth rate of the NASA isolate. In contrast, DSMZ 6976 could not proliferate under these conditions and demonstrated decreased viable count over time. Based on these observations, it can be concluded that 50V1 is more resistant than DSMZ 6976 to all of the tested stress factors. However, both strains have the potential to be persistent spacecraft contaminants due to their tolerance to desiccation and vacuum. However, utilizing coppercontaining materials and solutions with sufficiently high copper concentrations can diminish such contaminations in alignment with Planetary Protection goals

A Review of the Epigenetic Clock: Emerging Biomarkers for Asthma and Allergic Disease

DNA methylation (DNAm) is a dynamic, age-dependent epigenetic modification that can be used to study interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Environmental exposures during critical periods of growth and development may alter DNAm patterns, leading to increased susceptibility to diseases such as asthma and allergies. One method to study the role of DNAm is the epigenetic clock—an algorithm that uses DNAm levels at select age-informative Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine (CpG) dinucleotides to predict epigenetic age (EA). The difference between EA and calendar age (CA) is termed epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and reveals information about the biological capacity of an individual. Associations between EAA and disease susceptibility have been demonstrated for a variety of age-related conditions and, more recently, phenotypes such as asthma and allergic diseases, which often begin in childhood and progress throughout the lifespan. In this review, we explore different epigenetic clocks and how they have been applied, particularly as related to childhood asthma. We delve into how in utero and early life exposures (e.g., smoking, air pollution, maternal BMI) result in methylation changes. Furthermore, we explore the potential for EAA to be used as a biomarker for asthma and allergic diseases and identify areas for further study.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCMedicine, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearche

Prevalence of chronic comorbidities in chikungunya: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Epidemiologic evidence suggests that patients with chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection may be at risk of severe disease complications when they also have comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes, cardiac diseases, and/or asthma. However, the prevalence of these co-existing medical conditions in severe CHIKV cases has not been systematically reported. Objective: The aim of the present study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to describe the prevalence of chronic comorbidities in CHIKV and evaluate their possible contributions to disease severity. Methods: A search strategy was developed for online databases. Search terms used were “Chikungunya” AND “Diabetes, Hypertension, Stroke, Cardiovascular Diseases, Coronary Artery Diseases, Obesity, OR Asthma”. Only 11 articles documenting the frequency of comorbidities in CHIKV were included. Meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate the overall prevalence of comorbidities in the CHIKV infection and stratify the estimates by severity. Results: Among 2,773 CHIKV patients, hypertension was the most prevalent comorbidity (31.3%; 95%CI: 17.9-48.8%) followed by diabetes (20.5%; 95%CI: 12.7-31.3%), cardiac diseases (14.8%; 95%CI: 8.1-25.5%) and asthma (7.9%; 95%CI: 3.3-17.7). There was 4- to 5-fold significant increased prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and cardiac diseases in CHIKV patients over 50 years of age compared to their younger counterparts. Severe CHIKV cases had a significantly higher proportion of diabetes than non-severe cases (p < 0.05). CHIKV patients with diabetes had OR of 1.2 (95%CI: 1.05-1.48; p = 0.0135) for developing severe infection outcome compared to those with no diabetes. Conclusion: Hypertension, diabetes and cardiac diseases may contribute to the severe outcome of CHIKV. Diabetic subjects may be at higher risk of severe infection. These findings may be relevant in developing public health measures and practices targeting CHIKV patients with comorbidities to avert the severe outcome of the infectious disease

Observation of laser-induced electronic structure in oriented polyatomic molecules

All attosecond time-resolved measurements have so far relied on the use of intense near-infrared laser pulses. In particular, attosecond streaking, laser-induced electron diffraction and high-harmonic generation all make use of non-perturbative light–matter interactions. Remarkably, the effect of the strong laser field on the studied sample has often been neglected in previous studies. Here we use high-harmonic spectroscopy to measure laser-induced modifications of the electronic structure of molecules. We study high-harmonic spectra of spatially oriented CH3F and CH3Br as generic examples of polar polyatomic molecules. We accurately measure intensity ratios of even and odd-harmonic orders, and of the emission from aligned and unaligned molecules. We show that these robust observables reveal a substantial modification of the molecular electronic structure by the external laser field. Our insights offer new challenges and opportunities for a range of emerging strong-field attosecond spectroscopies.ISSN:2041-172

Prevalence of chronic comorbidities in dengue fever and West Nile virus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>Flavivirus diseases such as dengue fever (DENV), West Nile virus (WNV), Zika and yellow fever represent a substantial global public health concern. Preexisting chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and asthma were thought to predict risk of progression to severe infections.</p><p>Objective</p><p>We aimed to quantify the frequency of chronic comorbidities in flavivirus diseases to provide an estimate for their prevalence in severe and non-severe infections and examine whether chronic diseases contribute to the increased risk of severe viral expression.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We conducted a comprehensive search in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE(R), Embase and Embase Classic and grey literature databases to identify studies reporting prevalence estimates of comorbidities in flavivirus diseases. Study quality was assessed with the risk of bias tool. Age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated for severe infection in the presence of chronic comorbidities.</p><p>Results</p><p>We identified 65 studies as eligible for inclusion for DENV (47 studies) and WNV (18 studies). Obesity and overweight (i.e., BMI> 25 kg/m², prevalence: 24.5%, 95% CI: 18.6–31.6%), hypertension (17.1%, 13.3–21.8%) and diabetes (13.3%, 9.3–18.8%) were the most prevalent comorbidities in DENV. However, hypertension (45.0%, 39.1–51.0%), diabetes (24.7%, 20.2–29.8%) and heart diseases (25.6%, 19.5–32.7%) were the most prevalent in WNV. ORs of severe flavivirus diseases were about 2 to 4 in infected patients with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. The small number of studies in JEV, YFV and Zika did not permit estimating the prevalence of comorbidities in these infections.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Higher prevalence of chronic comorbidities was found in severe cases of flavivirus diseases compared to non-severe cases. Findings of the present study may guide public health practitioners and clinicians to evaluate infection severity based on the presence of comorbidity, a critical public health measure that may avert severe disease outcome given the current dearth of clear prevention practices for some flavivirus diseases.</p></div

Pooled prevalence estimates of comorbidities in severe and non-severe cases of flavivirus infections dengue fever and West Nile virus.

<p>Pooled prevalence estimates of comorbidities in severe and non-severe cases of flavivirus infections dengue fever and West Nile virus.</p

Keywords for the search related terms and synonyms.

<p>Keywords for the search related terms and synonyms.</p

Characteristics of studies included in meta-analysis for prevalence of chronic comorbidities in flavivirus infections.

<p>Characteristics of studies included in meta-analysis for prevalence of chronic comorbidities in flavivirus infections.</p