Nursing students' trait mindfulness and psychological stress: A correlation and mediation analysis

Background Nursing students face a great amount of psychological stress during their nursing education. Mindfulness-based training has received increased recognition from nurse educators regarding its effect on reducing students' psychological stress. Study evidence has supported that cultivation of trait mindfulness through Mindfulness-based training was the key to this effect. However, there is a lack of research that focuses on intricate relationships between various facets of trait mindfulness and psychological stress. Objective Examining the relationships between various trait mindfulness facets and psychological stress. Design A cross-sectional design was used to collect data on trait mindfulness facets and psychological stress. Participants A convenience sample of 99 undergraduate nursing students from a Bachelor of Nursing program completed this study. Setting This study was conducted in a university in the south-eastern United States. Method Participants completed an online questionnaire, which collected their demographic information, trait mindfulness (the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire), and psychological stress (the Perceived Stress Scale-10). Correlation and mediation analyses were applied. Results Other than the trait mindfulness facet of observing, the remaining three facets (acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reactivity) were negatively correlated with psychological stress. Observing had little to low correlations with non-judging and acting with awareness, but attained a moderately positive correlation with non-reactivity. Moreover, observing could indirectly predict psychological stress, when non-reactivity served as a mediator. Finally, non-judging partially mediated the relationship between acting with awareness and psychological stress. Conclusions The results of the current study can help nurse educators better understand the intricate relationships between various facets of trait mindfulness and psychological stress. Specifically, facets of acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reactivity are directly relevant to the reduction of psychological stress. Therefore, regardless of formal or informal practices of mindfulness, nurse educators ought to assist students in cultivating these facets as means toward stress management

The efficacy of Herceptin therapies is influenced by the expression of other erbB receptors, their ligands and the activation of downstream signalling proteins

ErbB2 and EGFR are attractive oncology therapeutic targets as their overexpression in tumors predicts a poorer clinical outcome in a variety of epithelial malignancies. However, clinical results with therapeutic compounds targeting these receptors have been mixed. Therefore, there is a need for improved predictive biomarkers for these targeted therapeutics. In this study we analysed tissue microarrays of patients treated with combination chemotherapy and Herceptin for expression or phosphorylation of signalling proteins associated with erbB receptors to identify protein biomarkers that are predictive of breast cancer patient response. A comparison of expression or phosphorylation of these markers with patient outcome revealed that response to Herceptin depended not only on expression levels of erbB2 but also on expression of EGFR, expression of erbB ligands, expression of other receptors and phosphorylation of downstream proteins. Elucidating the biological effects of EGFR/erbB2 targeted therapeutics will enable patient tumor profiling to identify likely responders and the determination of biologically effective doses that allows chronic administration of these agents in order to maximise efficacy

Manufacturing flow line systems: a review of models and analytical results

The most important models and results of the manufacturing flow line literature are described. These include the major classes of models (asynchronous, synchronous, and continuous); the major features (blocking, processing times, failures and repairs); the major properties (conservation of flow, flow rate-idle time, reversibility, and others); and the relationships among different models. Exact and approximate methods for obtaining quantitative measures of performance are also reviewed. The exact methods are appropriate for small systems. The approximate methods, which are the only means available for large systems, are generally based on decomposition, and make use of the exact methods for small systems. Extensions are briefly discussed. Directions for future research are suggested.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DDM-8914277

Novel Characterization of Lymphatic Valve Formation during Corneal Inflammation

Lymphatic research has progressed rapidly in recent years. Though lymphatic dysfunction has been found in a wide array of disorders from transplant rejection to cancer metastasis, to date, there is still little effective treatment for lymphatic diseases. The cornea offers an optimal site for lymphatic research due to its accessible location, transparent nature, and lymphatic-free but inducible features. However, it still remains unknown whether lymphatic valves exist in newly formed lymphatic vessels in the cornea, and how this relates to an inflammatory response. In this study, we provide the first evidence showing that lymphatic valves were formed in mouse cornea during suture-induced inflammation with the up-regulation of integrin alpha 9. The number of corneal valves increased with the progression of inflammatory lymphangiogenesis. Moreover, we have detected lymphatic valves at various developmental stages, from incomplete to more developed ones. In addition to defining the average diameter of lymphatic vessels equipped with lymphatic valves, we also report that lymphatic valves were more often located near the branching points. Taken together, these novel findings not only provide new insights into corneal lymphatic formation and maturation, but also identify a new model for future investigation on lymphatic valve formation and possibly therapeutic intervention

Effects of interactions between the constituents of chitosan-edible films on their physical properties

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of chitosan and plasticizer concentrations and oil presence on the physical and mechanical properties of edible films. The effect of the film constituents and their in-between interactions were studied through the evaluation of permeability, opacity and mechanical properties. The effects of the studied variables (concentrations of chitosan, plasticizer and oil) were analysed according to a 2 3 factorial design. Pareto charts were used to identify the most significant factors in the studied properties (water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide permeability; opacity; tensile strength; elongation at break and Young's modulus). When addressing the influence of the interactions between the films' constituents on the properties above, results show that chitosan and plasticizer concentrations are the most significant factors affecting most of the studied properties, while oil incorporation has shown to be of a great importance in the particular case of transport properties (gas permeability), essentially due to its hydrophobicity. Water vapour permeability values (ranging from 1. 62 × 10 -11 to 4. 24 × 10 -11 g m -1 s -1 Pa -1) were half of those reported for cellophane films. Also the mechanical properties (tensile strength values from 0. 43 to 13. 72 MPa and elongation-at-break values from 58. 62% to 166. 70%) were in the range of those reported for LDPE and HDPE. Based on these results, we recommend the use of 1. 5% (w/w) chitosan concentration to produce films, where the oil and plasticizer proportions will have to be adjusted in a case-by-case basis according to the use intended for the material. This work provides a useful guide to the formulation of chitosan-based film-forming solutions for food packaging applications.The author MA Cerqueira is a recipient of a fellowship from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT, SFRH/BD/23897/2005) and BWS Souza is a recipient of a fellowship from the Coordenacao Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior, Brazil (Capes, Brazil)

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Downregulate Checkpoint Kinase 1 Expression to Induce Cell Death in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

Background: Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) are promising anticancer drugs; however, the molecular mechanisms leading to HDACi-induced cell death have not been well understood and no clear mechanism of resistance has been elucidated to explain limited efficacy of HDACis in clinical trials. Methods and Findings: Here, we show that protein levels of checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1), which has a major role in G2 cell cycle checkpoint regulation, was markedly reduced at the protein and transcriptional levels in lung cancer cells treated with pan-and selective HDACis LBH589, scriptaid, valproic acid, apicidin, and MS-275. In HDACi treated cells Chk1 function was impaired as determined by decreased inhibitory phosphorylation of cdc25c and its downstream target cdc2 and increased expression of cdc25A and phosphorylated histone H3, a marker of mitotic entry. In time course experiments, Chk1 downregulation occurred after HDACi treatment, preceding apoptosis. Ectopic expression of Chk1 overcame HDACiinduced cell death, and pretreating cells with the cdc2 inhibitor purvalanol A blocked entry into mitosis and prevented cell death by HDACis. Finally, pharmacological inhibition of Chk1 showed strong synergistic effect with LBH589 in lung cancer cells. Conclusions: These results define a pathway through which Chk1 inhibition can mediate HDACi-induced mitotic entry and cell death and suggest that Chk1 could be an early pharmacodynamic marker to assess HDACi efficacy in clinical samples

Rapid Cellular Turnover in Adipose Tissue

It was recently shown that cellular turnover occurs within the human adipocyte population. Through three independent experimental approaches — dilution of an inducible histone 2B-green fluorescent protein (H2BGFP), labeling with the cell cycle marker Ki67 and incorporation of BrdU — we characterized the degree of cellular turnover in murine adipose tissue. We observed rapid turnover of the adipocyte population, finding that 4.8% of preadipocytes are replicating at any time and that between 1–5% of adipocytes are replaced each day. In light of these findings, we suggest that adipose tissue turnover represents a possible new avenue of therapeutic intervention against obesity