Use of an in vitro gastrointestinal model to evaluate the potential impact of a vegetal extract on human intestinal health

editorial reviewedThere are numerous medicinal plants and fruits traditionally used to treat gastrointestinal disorders. However, the effects caused by these vegetal products on the intestinal microbial populations are poorly understood. METHODS: An in vitro simulator of human digestion (SHIME®) was used to analyze the intestinal effects of two weeks of treatment with three increasing doses of a vegetal extract. Gut microbiota community and metabolites were studied on ascending (AC), transverse (TC), and descending (DC) colons using qPCR and SPME-GC/MS methods, respectively. RESULTS: A significant increase of acetic acid in TC, and of butyrate in all colons were observed by the end of treatment, while propionate levels remained unchanged. On 11 targeted microbial populations, most decreased in DC during the treatment, and Bacteroidetes decreased in all colon compartments, while Firmicutes increased. Bifidobacterium increased in AC even two weeks after completing the treatment. Akkermansia muciniphila increased in TC and DC following treatment with the higher doses. During the two weeks after completing the treatment, Bacteroides-Prevotella populations significantly increased in TC and DC regions, probably as a residual effect induced by the vegetal extract. Overall, the studied vegetal extract increased health-promoting bacteria which could have a beneficial impact on gastrointestinal health and gut barrier.GutTansit Projec

Hypnose, méditation et transe cognitive auto-induite pour améliorer la qualité de vie des patients oncologiques après le traitement

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Hypnosis, meditation and self-induced cognitive trance to improve post-treatment oncological patients’ quality of life: study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: A symptom cluster is very common among oncological patients: cancer-related fatigue (CRF), emotional distress, sleep difficulties, pain, and cognitive difficulties. Clinical applications of interventions based on non-ordinary states of consciousness, mostly hypnosis and meditation, are starting to be investigated in oncology settings. They revealed encouraging results in terms of improvements of these symptoms. However, these studies often focused on breast cancer patients, with methodological limitations (e.g., small sample size, no control group, and no follow-up). Another non-ordinary state of consciousness may also have therapeutic applications in oncology: self-induced cognitive trance (SICT). It seems to differ from hypnosis and meditation, as it involves the body more directly. Thus, investigating its clinical applications, along with hypnosis and meditation interventions, could improve available therapeutic options in oncology. This article details the study protocol of a preference-based longitudinal controlled superiority trial aiming to assess the effectiveness of 3 group interventions (hypnosis, meditation, and SICT) to improve oncological patients’ quality of life, and more specifically CRF, emotional distress, sleep, pain, and cognitive difficulties (primary outcomes). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A power analysis required a total sample of 160 patients. Main inclusion criteria are: cancer diagnosis, active treatments completed for less than a year, no practice of hypnosis, meditation, or SICT, and presence of at least one of these four symptoms: fatigue, sleep difficulties, depression, or anxiety. Each participant will choose the intervention in which they want to participate (hypnosis, mindful self-compassion meditation, SICT, or no intervention—control group). To test the effectiveness of the interventions, data will be collected by questionnaires and neurobiological measures and directly from the medical record at four time points: before inclusion in the study (baseline); immediately after the intervention; and at 3- and 12-month follow-up. The longitudinal data in each group will then be measured. DISCUSSION: In addition to standard cancer therapies, there is a growing interest from patients in complementary approaches, such as hypnosis, meditation, and SICT. The results of this study will be useful to increase knowledge about short- and long-term effectiveness of 3 group interventions for CRF, emotional distress, sleep, pain, and cognitive difficulties in patients with different cancers. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov/ (NCT04873661). Retrospectively registered on the 29th of April 2021. url: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT0487366

Impact de l’auto-hypnose, la méditation et la transe cognitive auto-induite chez des patients en oncologie : protocole d’étude.

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Six-membered ring systems: with O and/or S atoms

A large variety of publications involving O- and S-6-membered ring systems have appeared in 2017. The importance of these heterocyclic compounds is highlighted by the huge number of publications on the total synthesis of natural oxygen derivatives and of other communications dedicated to synthetic derivatives. Reviews on stereoselective organocatalytic synthesis of tetrahydropyrans (17EJO4666), of tetrahydropyrans and their application in total synthesis of natural products (17CSR1661), on the synthesis of the less thermodynamically stable 2,6-trans-tetrahydropyrans (17S4899), on enantioselective synthesis of polyfunctionalized pyran and chromene derivatives (17TA1462), and on enantioselective and racemic total synthesis of camptothecins, including the formation of their pyran-2-one ring (17SL1134), have appeared. Advances in the transition metal-catalyzed synthesis of pyran-2/4-ones (17TL263), N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed achiral synthesis of pyran-2-one, coumarin and (thio)chromone derivatives (17OBC4731), on the synthesis and transformation of 2H-pyran-2-ones (17T2529) and 2-styrylchromones (17EJO3115) into other heterocyclic compounds, have been surveyed. The strategies to build up the tetrahydropyranyl core of brevisamide (17H(95)81) and the reactions of ketyl radicals, generated from carbonyl derivatives under transition-metal photoredox-catalyzed conditions, leading to isochromen- and chroman-type compounds (17CC13093) were disclosed. Developments in the synthesis of pentafluorosulfanyl(chromene and coumarin) derivatives (17TL4803), photoswitchable D9-tetrahydrocannabinol derivatives (17JA18206), and aminobenzopyranoxanthenes with nitrogen-containing rings (17JOC13626) have been studied.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

De la digitalización y la automatización a la revolución de los trabajadores digitales: un análisis de la tecnología RPA

Digitalization and automation in the revolution of digital workers. Nowadays many new technologies are emerging to help simplifying our work and improve a company’s efficiency and profitability. The robotic process automation (RPA) is one of them. There are various papers treating RPA. They analyze its scope of action, the saving that it can bring, the effect on services improvement, etc. But fewer are trying to understand where these technologies come from and what is the best way to implement and use them. This paper tries to analyze those two aspects. To do so, we used, on one hand, a corpus of specialized articles and, on the other hand, knowledge retrieved from a consulting firm working on RPA implementations in various countries. We will also use a Colombian business case of implementation to illustrate our research.Digitalization and automation in the revolution of digital workers. Nowadays many new technologies are emerging to help simplifying our work and improve a company’s efficiency and profitability. The robotic process automation (RPA) is one of them. There are various papers treating RPA. They analyze its scope of action, the saving that it can bring, the effect on services improvement, etc. But fewer are trying to understand where these technologies come from and what is the best way to implement and use them. This paper tries to analyze those two aspects. To do so, we used, on one hand, a corpus of specialized articles and, on the other hand, knowledge retrieved from a consulting firm working on RPA implementations in various countries. We will also use a Colombian business case of implementation to illustrate our research

Synthetic studies towards aruncin B: total synthesis, structural revision and synthesis of analogues for biological evaluation

This thesis describes synthetic studies towards the recently isolated and previously unsynthesised cytotoxin aruncin B, a small molecule inhibitor of the Bcl-2 family antiapoptotic proteins. An initial approach relying on an Achmatowicz reaction is first presented. This method was unsuccessful. An alternative approach relying on a RCM / ethoxyselenation-selenoxide elimination was then envisaged. This method successfully delivered the Na salts of the Z- and E- isomer of the originally proposed structure of aruncin B, along with a third closely related isomeric Na salt. The free acids could not be obtained from these salts, suggesting structural misassignment of aruncin B. An alternative g-alkylidenebutenolide structure is proposed, and its synthesis using a related RCM / hydroxyselenation-selenoxide sequence is presented. This sequence confirmed the true structure of aruncin B, but suffered from reproducibility issues. An alternative sequence based on b-iodo MBH followed by Sonogashira cross-coupling-5- exo-dig-lactonisation was successfully applied to the synthesis of the true structure of aruncin B, as well as 15 analogues for biological evaluation.</p