Role resources and work-family enrichment: The role of work engagement

The majority of work-family research has focused on negative spillover between demands and outcomes and between the work and family domains (e.g., work-family conflict; see review by Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). The theory that guided this research was in most cases role stress theory (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985) or the role scarcity hypothesis (Edwards & Rothbard, 2000). However, according to spillover theory, work-related activities and satisfaction also affect non-work performance, and vice versa. Recently, in line with the positive psychology movement (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), work-family interaction research has also included concepts of positive spillover (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000). This emerging focus supplements the dominant conflict perspective by identifying new ways of cultivating human resource strength

Plasma treatment in textile industry

Plasma technology applied to textiles is a dry, environmentally- and worker-friendly method to achieve surface alteration without modifying the bulk properties of different materials. In particular, atmospheric non-thermal plasmas are suited because most textile materials are heat sensitive polymers and applicable in a continuous processes. In the last years plasma technology has become a very active, high growth research field, assuming a great importance among all available material surface modifications in textile industry. The main objective of this review is to provide a critical update on the current state of art relating plasma technologies applied to textile industryFernando Oliveira (SFRH/BD/65254/2009) acknowledges Fundacao para a Cioncia e Tecnologia, Portugal, for its doctoral grant financial support. Andrea Zille (C2011-UMINHO-2C2T-01) acknowledges funding from Programa Compromisso para a Cioncia 2008, Portugal

Rhabdastrellic Acid-A Induced Autophagy-Associated Cell Death through Blocking Akt Pathway in Human Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND: Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved protein degradation pathway. A defect in autophagy may contribute to tumorigenesis. Autophagy inducers could have a potential function in tumor prevention and treatment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Our results showed that Rhabdastrellic acid-A, an isomalabaricane triterpenoid isolated from the sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata, inhibited proliferation of human cancer cell lines Hep3B and A549 and induced caspase-independent cell death in both the cell lines. Further investigation showed that Rhabdastrellic acid-A induced autophagy of cancer cells determined by YFP-LC3 punctation and increased LC3-II. The pretreatment with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA inhibited Rhabdastrellic acid-A-induced cell death. Knockdown of autophagy-related gene Atg5 inhibited Rhabdastrellic acid-A-induced cell death in A549 cells. Also, phospho-Akt and its downstream targets significantly decreased after treatment with Rhabdastrellic acid-A in both cancer cell lines. Transfection of constitutive active Akt plasmid abrogated autophagy and cell death induced by Rhabdastrellic acid-A. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that Rhabdastrellic acid-A could induce autophagy-associated cell death through blocking Akt pathway in cancer cells. It also provides the evidence that Rhabdastrellic acid-A deserves further investigation as a potential anticancer or cancer preventive agent

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Joint analysis of three genome-wide association studies of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese populations

We conducted a joint (pooled) analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) 1-3 of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in ethnic Chinese (5,337 ESCC cases and 5,787 controls) with 9,654 ESCC cases and 10,058 controls for follow-up. In a logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, study, and two eigenvectors, two new loci achieved genome-wide significance, marked by rs7447927 at 5q31.2 (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.85, 95% CI 0.82-0.88; P=7.72x10−20) and rs1642764 at 17p13.1 (per-allele OR= 0.88, 95% CI 0.85-0.91; P=3.10x10−13). rs7447927 is a synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TMEM173 and rs1642764 is an intronic SNP in ATP1B2, near TP53. Furthermore, a locus in the HLA class II region at 6p21.32 (rs35597309) achieved genome-wide significance in the two populations at highest risk for ESSC (OR=1.33, 95% CI 1.22-1.46; P=1.99x10−10). Our joint analysis identified new ESCC susceptibility loci overall as well as a new locus unique to the ESCC high risk Taihang Mountain region

Current recommendations for the Japanese encephalitis vaccine

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus infection and an important cause of encephalitis in most of Asia and parts of the western Pacific. Most people infected with the JE virus (JEV) are asymptomatic or seemingly suffer from a nonspecific, flu-like illness; in others, JE can cause illness ranging from fever and headache to severe encephalitis. Although it can cause significant morbidity and mortality, JE is a vaccine-preventable disease, and vaccination programs have proven most effective in preventing and diminishing the burden of disease. Such JE vaccines have been available for decades with four types of JE vaccines—live attenuated SA14-14-2 vaccine, inactivated mouse brain-derived vaccine (JE-MB), inactivated Vero cell culture vaccine (JE-VC), and live attenuated chimeric vaccine (IMOJEV)—and are currently used in most countries. In some Asian countries such as Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand, immunization programs have been conducted for children and so the ongoing incidence of JE has declined considerably in recent decades. Until quite recently, the primary JE vaccine in use internationally has been the JE-MB, which is now commonly replaced by cell culture-based vaccines

Can probiotics be used to treat allergic diseases?

Probiotics are proprietary formulations of specific microorganisms and quantified populations of live bacteria that are intended to confer a health benefit on the host. These different strains and combinations of microorganisms have a wide and varying range of clinical and immunologic capacities that can modify intestinal microbial populations in ways that can benefit the host. The enhanced presence of probiotic bacteria in the intestinal microbiota has been found to correlate with protection against atopy. The prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis has increased sharply over the past 2–3 decades in many countries, and allergies are now the most common chronic disease among children throughout the world. In the past few years, probiotics have been advocated for the management of allergic diseases in many parts of the world. So far, probiotics have shown more promise, albeit limited, in the primary prevention of allergic disease rather than in the treatment of established disease

Color Doppler Echocardiographic Study on the Incidence and Natural History of Early-Infancy Muscular Ventricular Septal Defect

Most small muscular ventricular septal defect (M-VSD) types have been diagnosed using color Doppler echocardiography. The purpose of this study was to understand the incidence of small M-VSD in the neonatal period and analyze the natural history of these M-VSDs. Materials and Methods: All individuals in our study were neonates delivered at term who had a normal healthy appearance. Each accepted neonate had an examination with complete color Doppler echocardiography once before discharge. If the examination was confirmed for M-VSD, the study participants were then classified according to defect type. Further examination was arranged with color Doppler echocardiography at 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months of age or until there was complete spontaneous closure. Results: Among 2891 neonates, we found that 72 (24.9/1000) were diagnosed with M-VSD. Among this group, 38 were male and 34 were female. Only six infants were lost to follow-up. Fifty-four of the 66 infants (81.8%) had M-VSD closed spontaneously at 12 months’ follow-up. Significantly, 33 of 37 infants (89.2%) with mid-muscular type, the most common type of M-VSD, closed within the 1st year of life compared with apical type (17/24:70.8%). Four of the five infants (80%) had anterior type M-VSD closed. Infants with posterior type M-VSD were not seen during this study period. Conclusion: Although the incidence of M-VSD was common in the neonatal period, there was also a high rate of spontaneous closure. Therefore, comparison of M-VSD appearance with the incidence of congenital heart disease in neonates had a decisive influence on analysis