Happiness among Pregnant Women: A Concept Analysis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the concept of happiness among pregnant women. METHODS: Walker and Avant's method for concept analysis was used. RESULTS: The defining attributes of happiness among pregnant women were 1) period of pregnancy, 2) emotional dimension (positive affect), and 3) cognitive dimension(existence need-satisfaction, relatedness need-satisfaction, growth need-satisfaction). The antecedents of happiness among pregnant women were 1) intrapersonal characteristics, 2) reproductive history and related characteristics, 3) interpersonal relationship, and 4) external factors. The consequences included 1) pregnant women's well-being, 2) fetal well-being, 3) maternal well-being, and 4) child's happiness. CONCLUSION: Although further studies are required to refine the diverse attributes of the concept, the results of this study contribute to explaining happiness among pregnant women. In addition, the development of adequate interventions to increase prenatal happiness is needed

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Coated with Galactose-Carrying Polymer for Hepatocyte Targeting

Our goal is to develop the functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) demonstrating the capacities to be delivered in liver specifically and to be dispersed in physiological environment stably. For this purpose, SPIONs were coated with polyvinylbenzyl-O-β-D-galactopyranosyl-D-gluconamide (PVLA) having galactose moieties to be recognized by asialoglycoprotein receptors (ASGP-R) on hepatocytes. For use as a control, we also prepared SPIONs coordinated with 2-pyrrolidone. The sizes, size distribution, structure, and coating of the nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electrophoretic light scattering spectrophotometer (ELS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), respectively. Intracellular uptake of the PVLA-coated SPIONs was visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy, and their hepatocyte-specific delivery was also investigated through magnetic resonance (MR) images of rat liver. MRI experimental results indicated that the PVLA-coated SPIONs possess the more specific accumulation property in liver compared with control, which suggests their potential utility as liver-targeting MRI contrast agent

Transcriptional Regulator TonEBP Mediates Oxidative Damages in Ischemic Kidney Injury

TonEBP (tonicity-responsive enhancer binding protein) is a transcriptional regulator whose expression is elevated in response to various forms of stress including hyperglycemia, inflammation, and hypoxia. Here we investigated the role of TonEBP in acute kidney injury (AKI) using a line of TonEBP haplo-deficient mice subjected to bilateral renal ischemia followed by reperfusion (I/R). In the TonEBP haplo-deficient animals, induction of TonEBP, oxidative stress, inflammation, cell death, and functional injury in the kidney in response to I/R were all reduced. Analyses of renal transcriptome revealed that genes in several cellular pathways including peroxisome and mitochondrial inner membrane were suppressed in response to I/R, and the suppression was relieved in the TonEBP deficiency. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the cellular injury was reproduced in a renal epithelial cell line in response to hypoxia, ATP depletion, or hydrogen peroxide. The knockdown of TonEBP reduced ROS production and cellular injury in correlation with increased expression of the suppressed genes. The cellular injury was also blocked by inhibitors of necrosis. These results demonstrate that ischemic insult suppresses many genes involved in cellular metabolism leading to local oxidative stress by way of TonEBP induction. Thus, TonEBP is a promising target to prevent AKI

Short-Term Effects of Combined Serial Casting and Botulinum Toxin Injection for Spastic Equinus in Ambulatory Children with Cerebral Palsy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that combination therapy of serial cast and botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection can further enhance the effects of a BTX-A injection in ambulant children with cerebral palsy (CP) who have an equinus foot. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Children in group A (30 legs of 21 children) received a serial casting application after an injection of BTX-A, and children in group B (25 legs of 17 children) received only a BTX-A injection. Assessments were performed before the intervention and 1 month after the intervention. RESULTS: After the intervention, there were significant improvements in tone, dynamic spasticity, and passive range of motion (ROM) in both groups. However, the changes were greater in group A than in group B. Dimension D (standing) in Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)-66 was significantly improved in group A but not in group B. On the other hand, there were no significant changes in dimension E (walking, running, jumping) in GMFM-66 in either group. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that a serial casting application after BTX-A injection can enhance the benefits of BTX-A injection in children with cerebral palsy.ope

Electroacupuncture Delays Hypertension Development through Enhancing NO/NOS Activity in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), this study investigated whether electroacupuncture (EA) could reduce early stage hypertension by examining nitric oxide (NO) levels in plasma and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) levels in the mesenteric resistance artery. EA was applied to the acupuncture point Governor Vessel 20 (GV20) or to a non-acupuncture point in the tail twice weekly for 3 weeks under anesthesia. In conscious SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, blood pressure was determined the day after EA treatment by the tail-cuff method. We measured plasma NO concentration, and evaluated endothelial NO syntheses (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) protein expression in the mesenteric artery. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were lower after 3 weeks of GV20 treatment than EA at non-acupuncture point and no treatment control in SHR. nNOS expression by EA was significantly different between both WKY and no treatment SHR control, and EA at GV20 in SHR. eNOS expression was significantly high in EA at GV 20 compared with no treatment control. In conclusion, EA could attenuate the blood pressure elevation of SHR, along with enhancing NO/NOS activity in the mesenteric artery in SHR

Chfr is linked to tumour metastasis through the downregulation of HDAC1

Chfr is a ubiquitin ligase that functions in the mitotic checkpoint by delaying entry into metaphase in response to mitotic stress. It has been suggested that Chfr is a tumour suppressor as Chfr is frequently silenced in human cancers. To better understand how Chfr activity relates to cell-cycle progression and tumorigenesis, we sought to identify Chfr-interacting proteins using affinity purification combined with mass spectrometry. Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), which represses transcription by deacetylating histones, was newly isolated as a Chfr-interacting protein. Chfr binds and downregulates HDAC1 by inducing its polyubiquitylation, both in vitro and in vivo. Ectopic expression of Chfr in cancer cells that normally do not express it results in downregulation of HDAC1, leading to upregulation of the Cdk inhibitor p21^(CIP1/WAF1) and the metastasis suppressors KAI1 and E-cadherin. Coincident with these changes, cells arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and become less invasive. Collectively, our data suggest that Chfr functions as a tumour suppressor by regulating HDAC1

Good Glycemic Control Is Associated with Better Survival in Diabetic Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis: A Prospective Observational Study

BACKGROUND: The effect of glycemic control after starting peritoneal dialysis (PD) on the survival of diabetic PD patients has largely been unexplored, especially in Asian population. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study, in which 140 incident PD patients with diabetes were recruited. Patients were divided into tertiles according to the means of quarterly HbA1C levels measured during the first year after starting PD. We examined the association between HbA1C and all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: The mean age was 58.7 years, 59.3% were male, and the mean follow-up duration was 3.5 years (range 0.4-9.5 years). The mean HbA1C levels were 6.3%, 7.1%, and 8.5% in the 1(st), 2(nd), and 3(rd) tertiles, respectively. Compared to the 1(st) tertile, the all-cause mortality rates were higher in the 2(nd) [hazard ratio (HR), 4.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.91-18.94; p = 0.065] and significantly higher in the 3(rd) (HR, 13.16; 95% CI, 2.67-64.92; p = 0.002) tertiles (p for trend = 0.005), after adjusting for confounding factors. Cardiovascular mortality, however, did not differ significantly among the tertiles (p for trend = 0.682). In contrast, non-cardiovascular deaths, most of which were caused by infection, were more frequent in the 2(nd) (HR, 7.67; 95% CI, 0.68-86.37; p = 0.099) and the 3(rd) (HR, 51.24; 95% CI, 3.85-681.35; p = 0.003) tertiles than the 1(st) tertile (p for trend = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Poor glycemic control is associated with high mortality rates in diabetic PD patients, suggesting that better glycemic control may improve the outcomes of these patients

Junctional membrane inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor complex coordinates sensitization of the silent EGF-induced Ca2+ signaling

Ca2+ is a highly versatile intracellular signal that regulates many different cellular processes, and cells have developed mechanisms to have exquisite control over Ca2+ signaling. Epidermal growth factor (EGF), which fails to mobilize intracellular Ca2+ when administrated alone, becomes capable of evoking [Ca2+]i increase and exocytosis after bradykinin (BK) stimulation in chromaffin cells. Here, we provide evidence that this sensitization process is coordinated by a macromolecular signaling complex comprised of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type I (IP3R1), cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), EGF receptor (EGFR), and an A-kinase anchoring protein, yotiao. The IP3R complex functions as a focal point to promote Ca2+ release in two ways: (1) it facilitates PKA-dependent phosphorylation of IP3R1 in response to BK-induced elevation of cAMP, and (2) it couples the plasmalemmal EGFR with IP3R1 at the Ca2+ store located juxtaposed to the plasma membrane. Our study illustrates how the junctional membrane IP3R complex connects different signaling pathways to define the fidelity and specificity of Ca2+ signaling