Induction of resistance to Aplidin in a human ovarian cancer cell line related to MDR expression.

Aplidin-resistant IGROV-1/APL cells were derived from the human ovarian cancer IGROV-1 cell line by exposing the cells to increasing concentration of Aplidin for eight months, starting from a concentration of 10 nM to a final concentration of 4 microM. IGROV-1/APL cell line possesses five fold relative resistance to Aplidin. IGROV-1/APL resistant cell line shows the typical MDR phenotype: (1) increased expression of membrane-associated P-glycoprotein, (2) cross-resistance to drugs like etoposide, doxorubicin, vinblastine, vincristine, taxol, colchicin and the novel anticancer drug Yondelis (ET-743). The Pgp inhibitor cyclosporin-A restored the sensitivity of IGROV-1/APL cells to Aplidin by increasing the drug intracellular concentration. The resistance to Aplidin was not due to the other proteins, such as LPR-1 and MRP-1, being expressed at the same level in resistant and parental cell line. The finding that cells over-expressing Pgp are resistant to Aplidin was confirmed in CEM/VLB 100 cells, that was found to be 5-fold resistant to Aplidin compared to the CEM parental cell line

Does the Mediterranean diet predict longevity in the elderly? A Swedish perspective

Dietary pattern analysis represents a useful improvement in the investigation of diet and health relationships. Particularly, the Mediterranean diet pattern has been associated with reduced mortality risk in several studies involving both younger and elderly population groups. In this research, relationships between dietary macronutrient composition, as well as the Mediterranean diet, and total mortality were assessed in 1,037 seventy-year-old subjects (540 females) information. Diet macronutrient composition was not associated with mortality, while a refined version of the modified Mediterranean diet index showed a significant inverse association (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.89; 0.98). As expected, inactive subjects, smokers and those with a higher waist circumference had a higher mortality, while a reduced risk characterized married and more educated people. Sensitivity analyses (which confirmed our results) consisted of: exclusion of one food group at a time in the Mediterranean diet index, exclusion of early deaths, censoring at fixed follow-up time, adjusting for activities of daily living and main cardiovascular risk factors including weight/waist circumference changes at follow up. In conclusion, we can reasonably state that a higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern, especially by consuming wholegrain cereals, foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and a limited amount of alcohol, predicts increased longevity in the elderly

Control-Aware Motion Planning for Task-Constrained Aerial Manipulation

International audienceThis paper presents a new method to address the problem of task-constrained motion planning for aerial manipulators. We propose a control-aware planner based on the paradigm of tight coupling between planning and control. Such paradigm is especially useful in aerial manipulation, where the separation between planning and control is not advisable. The proposed sampling based motion planner uses a controller composed of a second-order inverse kinematics algorithm and a dynamic tracker, as a local planner, thus allowing a more natural consideration of the closed-loop system dynamics. For task constrained motions, this method lets to i) sample directly in the reduced and more relevant task space, ii) predict the behavior of the controller avoiding motions that bring to singularities or large tracking errors, and iii) guarantee the correct execution of the maneuver. The method is tested in simulation for a multidirectional-thrust vehicle endowed with a two-DoF manipulator. The proposed approach is very general, and could be applied to ground and underwater robotic systems to perform manipulation or inspection tasks

Planning engagement with web resources to improve diet quality and break up sedentary time for home-working employees: A mixed methods study.

As home working becomes more common, employers may struggle to provide health promotion interventions that can successfully bridge the gap between employees’ intentions to engage in healthier behaviors and actual action. Based on past evidence that action planning can successfully encourage the adoption of healthier behaviors, this mixed-methods study of a web-based self-help intervention incorporated a randomized planning trial that included quantitative measures of engagement and follow-up qualitative interviews with a subsample of participants. Participants either (a) selected a movement plan for incorporating a series of 2-min exercise videos into their work week to break up sedentary time and a balanced meal plan with recipe cards for a week’s lunches and dinners or (b) received access to these resources without a plan. Selecting a movement plan was more effective at increasing engagement with the web resources compared to the no-plan condition. In the follow-up interviews, participants indicated that the plan helped to remind participants to engage with the resources and made it simpler for them to follow the guidance for exercises and meals. Ease of use and being able to fit exercises and meals around work tasks were key factors that facilitated uptake of the resources, while lack of time and worries about how colleagues would perceive them taking breaks to use the resources were barriers to uptake. Participants’ self-efficacy was associated with general resource use but not plan adherence. Overall, including plans with online self-help resources could enhance their uptake

Nonfermented milk and other dairy products : Associations with all-cause mortality

Background: A positive association between nonfermented milk intake and increased all-cause mortality was recently reported, but overall, the association between dairy intake and mortality is inconclusive. Objective: We studied associations between intake of dairy products and all-cause mortality with an emphasis on nonfermented milk and fat content. Design: A total of 103,256 adult participants (women: 51.0%) from Northern Sweden were included (7121 deaths; mean follow-up: 13.7 y). Associations between all-cause mortality and reported intakes of nonfermented milk (total or by fat content), fermented milk, cheese, and butter were tested with the use of Cox proportional hazards models that were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, education, energy intake, examination year, and physical activity. To circumvent confounding, Mendelian randomization was applied in a subsample via the lactase LCT-13910 C/T single nucleotide polymorphism that is associated with lactose tolerance and milk intake. Results: High consumers of nonfermented milk (≥2.5 times/d) had a 32% increased hazard (HR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.48) for all-cause mortality compared with that of subjects who consumed milk ≤1 time/wk. The corresponding value for butter was 11% (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.21). All nonfermented milk-fat types were independently associated with increased HRs, but compared with full-fat milk, HRs were lower in consumers of medium-and low-fat milk. Fermented milk intake (HR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.86, 0.94) and cheese intake (HR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.91, 0.96) were negatively associated with mortality. Results were slightly attenuated by lifestyle adjustments but were robust in sensitivity analyses. Mortality was not significantly associated with the LCT-13910 C/T genotype in the smaller subsample. The amount and type of milk intake was associated with lifestyle variables. Conclusions: In the present Swedish cohort study, intakes of nonfermented milk and butter are associated with higher all-cause mortality, and fermented milk and cheese intakes are associated with lower all-cause mortality. Residual confounding by lifestyle cannot be excluded, and Mendelian randomization needs to be examined in a larger sample. Am J Clin Nutr 2017;105:1502-11

Development of the choices 5-level criteria to support multiple food system actions

In 2008, the Choices International Foundation developed its logo criteria, identifying best-in-class food products. More advanced, global and graded nutrient profiling systems (NPSs) are needed to substantiate different national nutrition policies. The objective of this work was to extend Choices NPS to identify five levels of the healthiness of food products, so that the Choices NPS can also be used to support other nutrition policies, next to front-of-pack labelling. Based on the same principles as the previous logo criteria, four sets of threshold criteria were determined using a com-bination of compliance levels, calculated from a large international food group-specific database, the Choices logo criteria, and WHO-NPSs developed to restrict marketing to children. Validation consisted of a comparison with indicator foods from food-based dietary guidelines from various countries. Some thresholds were adjusted after the validation, e.g., because intermediate thresholds were too lenient. This resulted in a new international NPS that can be applied to different contexts and to support a variety of health policies, to prevent both undernutrition and obesity. It can effi-ciently evaluate mixed food products and represents a flexible tool, applicable in various settings and populations. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.CC BY 4.0Correspondence Address: Smorenburg, H.; Choices International Foundation Netherlands; email: [email protected]</p