The Colombian conundrum: transitional injustice and beyond

The fall of the last major leftist insurgency in Latin America might finally give the Colombians some cause for happiness. It seems that the world’s longest running civil war will soon be brought to an end after a bilateral ceasefire was signed between President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Timoleón Jiménez alias “Timochenko”. This deal was signed with the presence of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, the Presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Chile, and the Norwegian Foreign Minister. The accord has been hailed as a tremendous milestone in the history of Colombia and it is perceived by many Colombian citizens as the peaceful culmination of the era of strife and violence which they were born into. But a final peace deal is yet to be negotiated or put to a referendum. While pessimists have written-off the current peace deal, some sections believe that concrete steps beyond mere handshakes can and will be taken

Stress, Cortisol and Periodontal Status: A Cross sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Stress is an unpleasant emotion which is faced in day to day life, the term stress is a Latin word which means “strained”, the concept of stress was introduced by Hans Selye in 1936, in layman term stress is an unpleasant emotion, the stimuli which lead to the stressful condition is called stressor, this stressor is broadly classified into major stressor and minor stressor. Many studies have stated that stress can lead to a change in the immune response through neural and endocrine pathways. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between salivary Cortisol levels and anxiety STAI scale in healthy, gingivitis and chronic periodontitis individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety systemically healthy individuals were selected for the study and divided into 3 Groups, Group-1 (30 periodontally healthy individuals), Group-2 (30 gingivitis individuals) and Group-3(chronic periodontitis individuals). Clinical parameters such as plaque index, gingival index, probing depth and clinical attachment level were measured. Psychoanalytical questionnaire STAI was answered by all the individuals and the morning saliva sample was collected and analyzed using salivary Cortisol ELISA kit. RESULTS: Significantly higher mean of salivary Cortisol level and STAI was associated with chronic periodontitis group when compared between group-2 and group-3. CONCLUSION: It has been concluded that salivary Cortisol level was elevated in chronic periodontitis individuals and a positive correlation to the STAI inventory anxiety scale was observed, when compared to group-1 and group-2

Selangor government has little influence over Syabas: Subsidiary points finger at water concessionaire's majority shareholder for recent water woes

THE Selangor government has limited influence over the decision making at Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), a representative from state subsidiary Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) said yesterday

Ameliorating Effect Of Quercetin On Ethanol-Induced Liver Injury Via Targeting RISC Machinery

Background: Over the past few decades, increased alcohol consumption has had deleterious effects on human health. Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) is becoming a major global challenge, as the currently approved drugs for AFLDs are subject to several side effects. This has broadened the scope of the use of natural compounds as therapeutics. Recent advances in nutraceuticals as therapeutics have shed light on flavonoids such as Quercetin. It is a natural antioxidant of multiple dietary origins and has been extensively studied for its beneficial role as an anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agent. Objective: Based on this framework, in the proposed study, we investigated the therapeutic role of Quercetin in Ethanol-induced liver damage using the Swiss Albino mice model and the hepatic cell line HepG2. Methodology: WST-1 assay was performed to access the effect of Quercetin on cell proliferation. The impact of Ethanol on the body and liver weights of mice was measured, and liver injury was determined by H&E staining and TMS. The mRNA expression levels of inflammatory genes (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) and SND1, a significant unit of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), were analyzed. The liver enzyme levels were also measured. Results: Our experimental results showed that HepG2 cells treated with ethanol had a lower proliferation rate, which was later mitigated by treatment with quercetin. In the mice model, a considerable reduction in body weight was detected after ethanol treatment. Conversely, there was a significant elevation in liver weight and enzyme activity. All of these effects were ameliorated by Quercetin treatment. Immunohistochemistry data revealed an improvement in the inflammation and fibrosis characteristics in liver tissues of the Quercetin-treated group. Decreased expression of inflammatory markers and SND1 levels were also observed in the Quercetin-treated group. Conclusion: Based on our results it may be concluded that Quercetin demonstrated hepatoprotective activity in both ethanol-treated HepG2 cell line and ethanol-induced liver injury in mice model. Here, we elucidated a novel and possible therapeutic role of Quercetin in Alcohol-Related Liver Disease (ARLD) by targeting the RISC machinery

Scale and structure dependent solute diffusivity within microporous tissue engineering scaffolds

Abstract: Diffusion of nutrients to cells cultured within three-dimensional scaffolds is fundamental for cell survival during development of the tissue construct, when no vasculature is present to aid transport. Significant efforts have been made to characterize the effect of structure on solute diffusivity in nanoporous hydrogels, yet a similar thorough characterization has not been attempted for microporous scaffolds. Here, we make use of freeze-dried collagen scaffolds, possessing pore sizes in the range 150–250 μm and isotropic or aligned morphology, to study the diffusivity of fluorescent dextran molecules. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching is used to measure the self diffusivity of the solutes within single pores, while Fickian diffusion over scales larger than the pore size is studied by assessing the solute concentration profile within the materials over time. We show that, not only do the morphological parameters of the scaffolds significantly affect the diffusivity of the solutes, but also that the assessment of such diffusivity depends on the length scale of diffusion of the molecules under investigation, with the resulting diffusion coefficients being differently affected by the scaffold structure. The results provided can guide the design of scaffolds with tailored diffusivity and nutrient concentration profiles

Elevated serum Homocysteine levels a possible non-invasive diagnostic biomarker in patients with Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Lack of independent biomarkers is very much evident in NAFLD. Early detection of NAFLD is difficult due to the absence of specific diagnostic and prognostic markers and clinical symptoms. We retrospectively collected the information of patients hospitalised with NAFLD diagnosis and metabolic syndrome during 2019-2020 using the tertiary care hospital inpatient sample database and evaluated the changes in their serum homocysteine levels. We found that 59.063% of NAFLD in the male population and 41.667% of NAFLD in the female population had increased serum homocysteine. This shows that elevated serum homocysteine can act as a potential biomarker for NAFLD

Quercetin activates vitamin D receptor and ameliorates breast cancer induced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis

AimsTo explore the hepatoprotective role of quercetin and its novel molecular mechanism of action on breast cancer associated hepatic inflammation and fibrosis via Vitamin D receptor (VDR).Main methodsWe used Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (mouse mammary carcinoma) model for our in-vivo experiments and human breast cancer cell lines for in-vitro assays. We inoculated 1.5 × 106 Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells into female Swiss albino mice. Quercetin (50 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally for 15 days. Liver enzymes activity was determined using a spectrophotometric assay. The hallmarks of inflammation and fibrosis were determined using Immunohistochemistry. The effect of quercetin on tumor formation was elucidated using human breast cancer cell lines and chick chorioallantoic membrane assay. Docking study was performed to explore the binding mode of quercetin with VDR.Key findingsIn EAC tumor-bearing mice, cell numbers, tumor volume, body weight and liver weight were dramatically increased, while they significantly decreased in mice treated with quercetin. Additionally, the peritoneal neo-angiogenesis was also significantly suppressed in the quercetin-treated mice, compared to the control. In addition, quercetin treated EAC tumor bearing mice had lower levels of liver enzymes, decreased hepatic inflammation and fibrosis compared with EAC tumor bearing mice. Docking study confirmed VDR-quercetin interaction. Furthermore, in-vitro assays and chick chorioallantoic membrane assay revealed the Vitamin D mimicking effect of quercetin.SignificanceDietary flavonoid, quercetin could act as a promising therapeutic drug to suppress the breast cancer induced tumor angiogenesis, hepatic inflammation, and fibrosis possibly via activation of VDR

Genomes of trombidid mites reveal novel predicted allergens and laterally-transferred genes associated with secondary metabolism

Trombidid mites have a unique lifecycle in which only the larval stage is ectoparasitic. In the superfamily Trombiculoidea (“chiggers”), the larvae feed preferentially on vertebrates, including humans. Species in the genus Leptotrombidium are vectors of a potentially fatal bacterial infection, scrub typhus, which affects 1 million people annually. Moreover, chiggers can cause pruritic dermatitis (trombiculiasis) in humans and domesticated animals. In the Trombidioidea (velvet mites), the larvae feed on other arthropods and are potential biological control agents for agricultural pests. Here, we present the first trombidid mites genomes, obtained both for a chigger, Leptotrombidium deliense, and for a velvet mite, Dinothrombium tinctorium

Targeting the gp130/STAT3 Axis Attenuates Tumor Microenvironment Mediated Chemoresistance in Group 3 Medulloblastoma Cells

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Of the four molecular subgroups, Group 3 MB is the most aggressive and has the worst prognosis. To understand the origins of chemoresistance involving IL-6/STAT3 signaling, we used in vitro co-culture systems to investigate the contribution of microglia as a brain tumor microenvironment cellular source of paracrine cytokines that promotes acquired drug resistance in Group 3 MB. MB cells subjected to co-culture with microglia exhibited increased expression of phosphorylated JAK1 and STAT3, which was correlated with enhanced resistance to vincristine. We found that both microglia and MB cells co-cultured with microglia secreted significant quantities of IL-6, indicating that IL-6 is a paracrine and autocrine cytokine able to initiate and sustain STAT3 activity in MB cells. Surprisingly, IL-6R−/− MB cells, which cannot respond to exogenous IL-6 stimuli, were responsive to microglia co-culture induced activation of STAT3 and chemoresistance. Subsequently, we found that MB cells conditioned in vitro with the IL-6 family cytokines, IL-6, OSM, LIF, or IL-11, exhibited enhanced JAK1/STAT3 activity and chemoresistance. Intriguingly, MB cells conditioned with any one of the IL-6 family cytokine secreted multiple IL-6 family cytokines, implicating a feedback network involving multiple cytokines. The IL-6 family cytokine receptors share a common signal transducing β-subunit, gp130, which may be targeted to mitigate tumor chemoresistance. We showed that microglia co-culture failed to induce chemoresistance of gp130−/− MB cells, and that combination treatment using gp130 inhibitors, or with the JAK inhibitor ruxolitinib, effectively overcame the observed resistance to vincristine in gp130 expressing MB cells. Our in vitro studies highlight the gp130/JAK/STAT pathway as a therapeutic target in combating acquired treatment resistance in Group 3 MB