Study Of Factors Promoting And Hindering Subjective Well-Being Among Institutionalized Older Adults In Japan.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the factors that promote or inhibit subjective well-being among Japanese older adults. Methods: Factors that promote or hinder subjective well-being among residents of Japanese senior care facilities were identified and analyzed based on the background and characteristics of the Japanese people. Results: Factors found to promote subjective well-being included a total of 23 items related to age and physical and mental health, functions and roles in life, health and vitality, participation and perception of roles, level of freedom in activities and level of staff responsiveness, and connection with nature. The inhibiting factors included 14 items related to aging, morbidity, pain, decreased mental and physical functions that inhibit activities, and dissatisfaction with family and facilities. Conclusion: The subjective well-being of the institutionalized elderly in Japan is promoted when the degree of freedom at the behavioral level is high and inhibited when it is low. In addition, because of the Japanese elderly's unique traditions, culture, and lifestyle, they are less receptive to care from others outside the family, making institutionalization an inhibiting factor for their subjective well-being. In this context, it is useful older adults to acquire new roles and thereby recognize their dignity

Guia das plantas do Parque Ecológico do Córrego Grande, uma ferramenta para popularização da botânica

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Ciências Biológicas.Atualmente a botânica é vista como uma matéria entediante na esfera escolar, passível até de exclusão curricular devido à negligência para esta disciplina. A atitude de não perceber as plantas ao redor foi nomeado como “cegueira botânica”, que inclui também desviar os olhos para questões ambientais. E dentro de uma sociedade em que a urbanização está crescendo, a presença de áreas verdes, como parques, torna-se importante para manter a qualidade de vida das pessoas no meio urbano. Além de servir como um local de lazer, os parques também são locais propícios para a educação ambiental. Uma das diversas formas de educação ambiental é a elaboração de guias fotográficos informativos, com o objetivo de destacar a importância de uma determinada região. No Brasil, guias de plantas voltadas para o público leigo ainda são escassos. Assim, o presente trabalho, com registros fotográficos de 97 espécies distribuídas em 46 famílias e 88 gêneros, tem como finalidade informar ao público leigo sobre as plantas presentes no Parque Ecológico do Córrego Grande, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina.Currently botany is seen as a boring subject in the education system, even liable to exclusion from the school curriculum due to its negligence. The attitude of not noticing the plants around had been coined as “plant blindness” that also includes ignoring environmental issues. And in a society with a growing urbanization, green spaces such as parks are important to keep the quality of life in the urban area. Besides being an area of leisure, parks are also an ideal place for environmental education. And one of many ways of environmental education is the creation of photographic guides, to highlight the importance of a specific region. In Brazil, plant guides for general public are still scarce. Therefore, this work contains photographs of 97 species, distributed into 46 families and 88 genera, aiming to bring information for the general public about the plants found in Parque Ecológico do Córrego Grande, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina

Effects of tongue cleaning on bacterial flora in tongue coating and dental plaque: a crossover study

BACKGROUND: The effects of tongue cleaning on reconstruction of bacterial flora in dental plaque and tongue coating itself are obscure. We assessed changes in the amounts of total bacteria as well as Fusobacterium nucleatum in tongue coating and dental plaque specimens obtained with and without tongue cleaning. METHODS: We conducted a randomized examiner-blind crossover study using 30 volunteers (average 23.7 ± 3.2 years old) without periodontitis. After dividing randomly into 2 groups, 1 group was instructed to clean the tongue, while the other did not. On days 1 (baseline), 3, and 10, tongue coating and dental plaque samples were collected after recording tongue coating score (Winkel tongue coating index: WTCI). After a washout period of 3 weeks, the same examinations were performed with the subjects allocated to the alternate group. Genomic DNA was purified from the samples and applied to SYBR® Green-based real-time PCR to quantify the amounts of total bacteria and F. nucleatum. RESULTS: After 3 days, the WTCI score recovered to baseline, though the amount of total bacteria in tongue coating was significantly lower as compared to the baseline. In plaque samples, the bacterial amounts on day 3 and 10 were significantly lower than the baseline with and without tongue cleaning. Principal component analysis showed that variations of bacterial amounts in the tongue coating and dental plaque samples were independent from each other. Furthermore, we found a strong association between amounts of total bacteria and F. nucleatum in specimens both. CONCLUSIONS: Tongue cleaning reduced the amount of bacteria in tongue coating. However, the cleaning had no obvious contribution to inhibit dental plaque formation. Furthermore, recovery of the total bacterial amount induced an increase in F. nucleatum in both tongue coating and dental plaque. Thus, it is recommended that tongue cleaning and tooth brushing should both be performed for promoting oral health

癌関連脂肪細胞は膵癌のSAA1発現を誘導して膵癌の進展を促進する

Although pancreatic cancer often invades peripancreatic adipose tissue, little information is known about cancer-adipocyte interaction. We first investigated the ability of adipocytes to de-differentiate to cancer-associated adipocytes (CAAs) by co-culturing with pancreatic cancer cells. We then examined the effects of CAA-conditioned medium (CAA-CM) on the malignant characteristics of cancer cells, the mechanism underlying those effects, and their clinical relevance in pancreatic cancer. When 3T3-L1 adipocytes were co-cultured with pancreatic cancer cells (PANC-1) using the Transwell system, adipocytes lost their lipid droplets and changed morphologically to fibroblast-like cells (CAA). Adipocyte-specific marker mRNA levels significantly decreased but those of fibroblast-specific markers appeared, characteristic findings of CAA, as revealed by real-time PCR. When PANC-1 cells were cultured with CAA-CM, significantly higher migration/invasion capability, chemoresistance, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) properties were observed compared with control cells. To investigate the mechanism underlying these effects, we performed microarray analysis of PANC-1 cells cultured with CAA-CM and found a 78.5- fold higher expression of SAA1 compared with control cells. When the SAA1 gene in PANC-1 cells was knocked down with SAA1 siRNA, migration/invasion capability, chemoresistance, and EMT properties were significantly attenuated compared with control cells. Immunohistochemical analysis on human pancreatic cancer tissues revealed positive SAA1 expression in 46/61 (75.4%). Overall survival in the SAA1-positive group was significantly shorter than in the SAA1-negative group (P = .013). In conclusion, we demonstrated that pancreatic cancer cells induced de-differentiation in adipocytes toward CAA, and that CAA promoted malignant characteristics of pancreatic cancer via SAA1 expression, suggesting that SAA1 is a novel therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer

IPC2008-64281 NEAR NEUTRAL pH SCC OF GRADE X80 LINEPIPE STEELS UNDER CYCLIC LOADING

ABSTRACT Susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of Grade X80 linepipe steels, which were produced by recent TMCP (Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Processing) technique, controlled rolling (CR) followed by accelerated cooling process (ACC), in near neutral pH conditions was investigated, and cracking behavior was compared with conventional Grade X65 linepipe. Longitudinal strip specimens with small surface notches were cyclically loaded in the NS4 solution with cathodic polarization of -1000mV vs. SCE. No significant difference in susceptibility to SCC was found between Grades X80 and X65 linepipes, both produced by TMCP process, even under higher stress condition for X80 linepipe steel. Hydrogen permeation test reviled the strong effect of hydrogen for the cracking under the SCC test condition. Transgranular cracking and quasi-cleavage fracture were observed as an evidence of the effect of both corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement on near neutral pH SCC