Cymbopogon citratus and Camellia sinensis extracts selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells and reduce growth of lymphoma xenografts in vivo

Cancer is a progressive disease characterized by a biological disharmony in which damaged or mutated cells are able to survive and proliferate by escaping cell death. Moreover, these cells are reported to have elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and are highly dependent on cellular defense mechanisms against oxidative stress. A specific cancer of the lymphatic system, lymphoma, affects our body’s infection-fighting cells while posing a great risk to all age groups. Numerous nutraceuticals and natural polyphenolic compounds have a wide range of abilities to alter cellular redox states with potential implications in various diseases. Furthermore, therapeutic options for cancers are mostly nonselective treatments including genotoxic or tubulin-targeting compounds. Some of the natural extracts, containing multiple bioactive compounds, could target multiple pathways in cancer cells to selectively induce cell death. Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) and Camellia sinensis (white tea) extracts have been shown to have medicinal properties, however, their activity against lymphoma, as well as mechanistic details, have not been fully characterized. Herein, we report potent anti-cancer properties in dose and time-dependent manners of ethanolic lemongrass and hot water white tea extracts in lymphoma and leukemia models. Both extracts were able to effectively induce apoptosis selectively in these human cancer cell types. Interestingly, ethanolic lemongrass extract induces apoptosis primarily by the extrinsic pathway and was found to be dependent on the generation of ROS. Conversely, apoptotic induction by hot water white tea extract was independent of ROS. Furthermore, both of these extracts caused mitochondrial depolarization and decreased rates of oxygen consumption in lymphoma and leukemia cells, leading to cell death. Most importantly, both these extracts were effective in reducing tumor growth in human lymphoma xenograft models when administered orally. Thus, these natural extracts could have potential for being nontoxic alternatives for the treatment of cancer

Functional Knee Bracing: Effects and Efficacy

Functional knee braces are intended to provide stability to the unstable knee joint. The purpose of this literature review is to examine available research on functional knee braces in order to summarize their effects and efficacy. Research indicates that the most effective brace for controlling abnormal knee motions would be a custom designed shell brace with rigid straps and a polycentric hinge. However, individual characteristics of the wearer must also be considered. Subjective research indicates that functional knee braces improve function and provide support for the unstable knee. However, these findings do not correlate with objective findings. Results of biomechanical research show that braces are effective when subjected to low forces, but their effectiveness decreases as the loads increase. Objective functional analysis demonstrates that wearing a knee brace can ultimately impair performance by increasing energy and oxygen consumption and by changing neuromuscular control patterns. Effects and efficacy of functional knee bracing remains controversial and the choice of whether or not to brace should be up to the individual

Impact de l'alimentation lactée et des performances pré-sevrages sur la productivité des vaches en première lactation

Ce projet avait comme objectif d'évaluer l'impact de l'alimentation lactée en pré-sevrage sur le développement des génisses et sur les performances en première lactation. Deux traitements ont été mis en place, le premier suivant la recommandation canadienne actuellement en vigueur (20 % de poids vif à la naissance en aliment lacté) et le second offrant du lactoremplaceur à volonté en période de pré-sevrage. Des collectes de données ont été réalisées afin d'obtenir le poids corporel, la circonférence thoracique, la hauteur aux hanches et au garrot ainsi que la largeur aux hanches sur un total de 179 génisses Holstein d'une ferme commerciale de la région de Québec. Les données de lactation ont été récoltées au cours de la première lactation à l'aide du logiciel en place sur la ferme de l'étude. Les résultats du projet ont montré qu'offrir du lactoremplaceur à volonté permet aux génisses d'atteindre un poids corporel plus élevé à 55 jours d'âge et à 11 mois d'âge en comparaison à l'alimentation selon la recommandation canadienne. Le gain moyen quotidien était aussi plus important pour les génisses suivant un régime alimentaire à volonté pour les mêmes périodes. La hauteur aux hanches était significativement supérieure à 55 jours d'âge, au sevrage et à 11 mois d'âge pour les génisses consommant du lactoremplaceur à volonté avec une consommation de plus de 7,5 l/jour. L'abandon d'une des fermes du projet a résulté en un nombre plus faible que prévu de génisses suivies en post-sevrage, ce qui n'a pas permis de conclure sur l'impact des traitements pour la productivité des animaux en lactation. Les résultats du projet indiquent que la différence de croissance des animaux lorsque nourris à volonté persistent après le sevrage, jusqu'à l'approche de la puberté, et ce même si le traitement comparatif correspond à une quantité d'aliment lacté qui est considéré comme répondant aux besoins des animaux.The objective of this project was to assess the impact of milk replacer feeding in pre-weaning on the development of heifers as well as on the performance of cows in first lactation. Two treatments during the pre-weaning period were compared 1) the current Canadian recommendation and 2) offering ad libitum access to milk replacer. Measured parameters were: body weight, thoracic circumference, withers height, hips height and hips width. A total of 179 Holstein heifers from a commercial farm in the region of Quebec City participated in the study. Lactation data was recorded throughout the entire lactation using the software in place on the study farm. Results showed that ad libitum milk replacer allows heifers to achieve higher body weight at 55 days of age and at 11 months of age compared to the Canadian recommendation. Thus, the average daily gain was also greater for heifers receiving an ad libitum diet for the same periods. Hip height was significantly higher at 55 days of age, at weaning and at 11 months of age for heifers consuming milk replacer ad libitum with a consumption of more than 7.5 l/day. One of the farms of the project quit for post-weaning measurements resulting in less data, which did not make it possible to conclude on the impact of treatments on the productivity of lactating animals. Results from the project confirm that the increase in growth performance is maintained after weaning, up to puberty, even if in the comparative treatment, the offer of milk replacer is considered to meet the animal needs

Learning to Simulate Dynamic Environments with GameGAN

Simulation is a crucial component of any robotic system. In order to simulate correctly, we need to write complex rules of the environment: how dynamic agents behave, and how the actions of each of the agents affect the behavior of others. In this paper, we aim to learn a simulator by simply watching an agent interact with an environment. We focus on graphics games as a proxy of the real environment. We introduce GameGAN, a generative model that learns to visually imitate a desired game by ingesting screenplay and keyboard actions during training. Given a key pressed by the agent, GameGAN "renders" the next screen using a carefully designed generative adversarial network. Our approach offers key advantages over existing work: we design a memory module that builds an internal map of the environment, allowing for the agent to return to previously visited locations with high visual consistency. In addition, GameGAN is able to disentangle static and dynamic components within an image making the behavior of the model more interpretable, and relevant for downstream tasks that require explicit reasoning over dynamic elements. This enables many interesting applications such as swapping different components of the game to build new games that do not exist.Comment: CVPR 202