Supplementary use of HbA1c as hyperglycemic criterion to detect metabolic syndrome

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) refers to a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors including hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity and hypertension. An effective detection of MetS not only reflects the prediction risk of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases but also helps to plan for management strategy which could reduce the healthcare burden of the society. This study aimed to compare the use of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) to fasting plasma glucose (FPG) as the hyperglycemic component in MetS diagnosis. Methods: Waist circumference, blood pressure, blood triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, FPG, and HbA1c were examined in 120 Hong Kong Chinese adults with MetS and 120 without MetS. After reviewing the subject basal characteristics, 11 of them were found with undiagnosed diabetes (FPG ≧7.0 mmol/L) and were excluded for further analysis. Results: The most prevalent MetS components among the included subjects were elevated systolic blood pressure and central obesity. Significant correlation relationships existed between FPG and HbA1c in both subject pools diagnosed with and without MetS (p < 0.001). The diagnostic rate of MetS using HbA1c was compared to FPG by the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis which suggested an area under curve of 0.807 (95% CI: 0.727 to 0.887). The agreement was 90.7% in MetS-positive group with increased FPG as one of the criterion co-existed with elevated HbA1c. If including HbA1c as an additional criterion to FPG in the MetS diagnosis, 30 more participants in MetS-negative group would be MetS-positive leading to an increase in detection rate. Furthermore, 47 subjects (38 from MetS-positive group and 9 from MetS-negative group) were found having HbA1c ≧6.5%, who would have been diagnosed with diabetes based on the diagnostic criteria implemented by the Expert Group in 2009. Conclusion: These findings suggest that HbA1c enhances the detection of hyperglycemia for the diagnosis of MetS.Department of Health Technology and Informatic

Conductas internalizantes y externalizantes en adolescentes

La adolescencia es un periodo de cambios rápidos en todos los aspectos del desarrollo humano. Es en esta etapa en la que se suelen presentar dificultades y manifestaciones de problemas de salud mental. El objetivo del estudio es conocer las conductas internalizantes y externalizantes reportadas por adolescentes estudiantes de secundaria. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 298 estudiantes entre 12 a 18 años (M = 14.98, DE = 1.28) de ambos sexos (54.4 % mujeres) de dos instituciones educativas públicas donde la mayoría se encontraba cursando el 4.o año de secundaria (33.6 %). La muestra se seleccionó de manera no probabilística, por conveniencia, y se informó a todos los participantes del objetivo y actividades del estudio, del carácter voluntario de su participación, y del cuidado en mantener el anonimato y la confidencialidad de todos los datos recogidos. Se utilizó el autorreporte de jóvenes entre 11 y 18 años (YSR 11-18, Achenbach y Rescorla, 2001) para identificar las conductas internalizantes y externalizantes y sus respectivas dimensiones. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas por sexo. Las mujeres puntuaron más alto que los hombres en ansiedaddepresión, quejas somáticas, problemas de atención, y conductas internalizantes, mientras que los hombres puntuaron más alto en rompimiento de reglas y conductas externalizantes

A new approach to predict the fish fillet shelf-life in presence of natural preservative agents

Three data sets concerning the behaviour of spoilage flora of fillets treated with natural preservative substances (NPS) were used to construct a new kind of mathematical predictive model. This model, unlike other ones, allows expressing the antibacterial effect of the NPS separately from the prediction of the growth rate. This approach, based on the introduction of a parameter into the predictive primary model, produced a good fitting of observed data and allowed characterising quantitatively the increase of shelf-life of fillets

Chætognath transcriptome reveals ancestral and unique features among bilaterians

Background: The chætognaths (arrow worms) have puzzled zoologists for years because of their astonishing morphological and developmental characteristics. Despite their deuterostome-like development, phylogenomic studies recently positioned the chætognath phylum in protostomes, most likely in an early branching. This key phylogenetic position and the peculiar characteristics of chætognaths prompted further investigation of their genomic features. / Results: Transcriptomic and genomic data were collected from the chætognath Spadella cephaloptera through the sequencing of expressed sequence tags and genomic bacterial artificial chromosome clones. Transcript comparisons at various taxonomic scales emphasized the conservation of a core gene set and phylogenomic analysis confirmed the basal position of chætognaths among protostomes. A detailed survey of transcript diversity and individual genotyping revealed a past genome duplication event in the chætognath lineage, which was, surprisingly, followed by a high retention rate of duplicated genes. Moreover, striking genetic heterogeneity was detected within the sampled population at the nuclear and mitochondrial levels but cannot be explained by cryptic speciation. Finally, we found evidence for trans-splicing maturation of transcripts through splice-leader addition in the chætognath phylum and we further report that this processing is associated with operonic transcription. / Conclusion: These findings reveal both shared ancestral and unique derived characteristics of the chætognath genome, which suggests that this genome is likely the product of a very original evolutionary history. These features promote chætognaths as a pivotal model for comparative genomics, which could provide new clues for the investigation of the evolution of animal genomes

Gene network exploration of crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy in chronic myelogenous leukemia

Copyright © 2015 Fengfeng Wang et al. Background. Gene expression levels change to adapt the stress, such as starvation, toxin, and radiation. The changes are signals transmitted through molecular interactions, eventually leading to two cellular fates, apoptosis and autophagy. Due to genetic variations, the signals may not be effectively transmitted to modulate apoptotic and autophagic responses. Such aberrant modulation may lead to carcinogenesis and drug resistance. The balance between apoptosis and autophagy becomes very crucial in coping with the stress. Though there have been evidences illustrating the apoptosis-autophagy interplay, the underlying mechanism and the participation of the regulators including transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) remain unclear. Results. Gene network is a graphical illustration for exploring the functional linkages and the potential coordinate regulations of genes. Microarray dataset for the study of chronic myeloid leukemia was obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus. The expression profiles of those genes related to apoptosis and autophagy, including MCL1, BCL2, ATG, beclin-1, BAX, BAK, E2F, cMYC, PI3K, AKT, BAD, and LC3, were extracted from the dataset to construct the gene networks. Conclusion. The network analysis of these genes explored the underlying mechanisms and the roles of TFs and miRNAs for the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

SIRT1-dependent myoprotective effects of resveratrol on muscle injury induced by compression

© 2015 Sin, Yung, Yip, Chan, Wong, Tam and Siu. Our current understanding on the molecular mechanisms by which sustained compression induces skeletal muscle injury is very limited. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that activation of SIRT1 by the natural antioxidant resveratrol could deactivate apoptotic and catabolic signaling in skeletal muscle exposed to moderate compression. Two cycles of 6-h constant pressure at 100 mmHg was applied to the tibialis region of right, but not left hindlimbs of Sprague Dawley rats pre-treated with DMSO (vehicle control) or resveratrol with/without sirtinol. Skeletal muscle tissues lying underneath and spatially corresponding to the compressed sites were collected for analyses. Resveratrol prevented the compression-induced manifestations of pathohistological damages including elevations of the number of interstitial nuclei and area of interstitial space and ameliorated oxidative damages measured as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4HNE) and nitrotyrosine in skeletal muscle. In parallel, resveratrol augmented the expression level and activity of SIRT1 and phosphorylation levels of Foxo3a and Akt while suppressed the increases in protein abundances of p53, Bax, MAFbx, and ubiquitin, enzymatic activities of caspase 3 and 20S proteasome, and apoptotic DNA fragmentation in the compressed muscle. These favorable myoprotective effects of resveratrol were diminished upon pharmacological blockade of SIRT1 by using sirtinol. These novel data support the hypothesis that the anti-apoptotic and anti-catabolic effects of resveratrol on compression injury in skeletal muscle required the action of SIRT1.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Implications of MicroRNAs in the treatment of gefitinib-resistant non-small cell lung cancer

2015-2016 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

S100A8 and S100A9 Are Associated with Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity in the Heart of Diabetic Mice

© 2016 Pei, Tam, Sin, Wang, Yung, Chan, Wong, Ying, Lai and Siu. Cardiomyopathy is a clinical problem that occurs in the hearts of type 2 diabetic patients as well as cancer patients undergoing doxorubicin chemotherapy. The number of diabetic cancer patients is increasing but surprisingly the cardiac damaging effects of doxorubicin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug, on diabetic hearts have not been well-examined. As the signaling mechanisms of the doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy in type 2 diabetic heart are largely unknown, this study examined the molecular signaling pathways that are responsible for the doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in type 2 diabetic hearts. Male 14- to 18-week-old db/db mice were used as the type 2 diabetic model, and age-matched non-diabetic db/+ mice served as controls. The db/+ non-diabetic and db/db diabetic mice were randomly assigned to the following groups: db/+CON, db/+DOX-5d, db/+DOX-7d, db/dbCON, db/dbDOX-5d, and db/dbDOX-7d. Mice assigned to doxorubicin (DOX) group were exposed to an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of DOX at a dose of 15 mg/kg to induce cardiomyopathy. Mice in control (CON) groups were i.p. injected with the same volume of saline instead of DOX. Mice were euthanized by overdose of ketamine and xylazine 5 or 7 days after the DOX injection. Microarray analysis was adopted to examine the changes of the whole transcriptional profile in response to doxorubicin exposure in diabetic hearts. Ventricular fractional shortening was examined as an indicator of cardiac function by transthoracic echocardiography. The presence of diabetic cardiomyopathy in db/db mice was evident by the reduction of fractional shortening. There was a further impairment of cardiac contractile function 7 days after the DOX administration in db/db diabetic mice. According to our microarray analysis, we identified a panel of regulatory genes associated with cardiac remodeling, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and metabolism in the DOX-induced cardiac injury in diabetic heart. The microarray results of selected genes were confirmed by real time PCR. Notably, S100A8 and S100A9 were found to have a unique specific expression pattern that was coincident with the DOX-induced cardiomyopathy in diabetic hearts. Correspondingly, NF-κB expression in diabetic hearts was increased together with the elevation of S100A8/9 and activation of p38 MAPK signaling after DOX administration, which induced cardiac inflammation as demonstrated by the elevation of cardiac IL-6 level. These findings provide novel pre-clinical information for revealing the S100A8/A9-associated molecular signaling pathways that mediate the doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in diabetic hearts.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Processing of UHTCMCs

There is an increasing demand for advanced materials with temperature capability in highly corrosive environments for aerospace. Rocket nozzles of solid/hybrid rocket motors must survive harsh thermochemical and mechanical environments produced by high performance solid propellants (2700-3500°C). Thermal protection systems (TPS) for space vehicles flying at Mach 7 must withstand projected service temperatures up to 2500°C associated to convective heat fluxes up to 15 MWm-2 and intense mechanical vibrations at launch and re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The combination of extremely hot temperatures, chemically aggressive environments and rapid heating/cooling is beyond the capabilities of current materials. As indicated by the previous talk, the main purpose of C3HARME is to design, develop, manufacture, test and validate a new class of out-performing, reliable, cost-effective and scalable Ultra High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites (UHTCMCs) based on C fibre preforms enriched with ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) and capable of in-situ repairing damage induced during operation in severe aerospace environments. Two main applications are envisaged: near-ZERO erosion rocket nozzles that must maintain dimensional stability during firing in combustion chambers, and near-ZERO ablation thermal protection systems enabling hypersonic space vehicles to maintain flight performance. This talk aims at providing an indication of progress to date within Work Package 2, which is focused on the processing of Cf-ZrB2 UHTCMCs. Four primary routes are being investigated, these include: green forming of fibre reinforced UHT ceramics followed by spark plasma sintering; radio-frequency enhanced chemical vapour infiltration of UHTCMCs; reactive melt infiltration of UHTCMCs and polymer infiltration and pyrolysis of UHTCMCs. All four approaches will be outlined and conclusions drawn, plus there will be a brief mention of ongoing work into atomistic modelling of processes at materials interfaces and nanoparticle dispersion with a view to imparting self-healing properties. Acknowledgements: This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 “Research and innovation programme” under grant agreement N°685594 (C3HARME

RELAÇÃO ENTRE ANSIEDADE DOS TESTES E O DESEMPENHO NOS TESTES DA FACULDADE: ANÁLISE PRELIMINAR DA DIFERENÇA DE ACORDO COM O CURSO

El objetivo del presente estudio fue conocer si la relación entre la Ansiedad ante Exámenes - Estado (AE-E) y el rendimiento en exámenes (RE) difiere entre dos grupos de estudiantes de ciclos distintos. En el estudio participaron 76 estudiantes de psicología (87.1% mujeres) de cuarto ciclo (n = 44) y séptimo ciclo (n = 32) provenientes de una universidad privada de la ciudad de Lima Metropolitana, con edades entre 18 y 30 años (M = 22.07). Se aplicó el Test Anxiety Inventory – Estado (TAI-Estado), y dos medidas breves, de autoeficacia académica y agotamiento emocional académico. La relación hallada entre AE-E y RE fue negativa y significativa, pero de diferente magnitud según el ciclo académico. Se discuten las implicancias del estudio.The objective of this study was to find out if the relation between State - Test Anxiety (S-TA) and Exam Performance (EP) varies between two groups of students from different terms. The study was conducted on 76 Psychology program students (87.1 % female) in the fourth term (n = 44), and the seventh term (n = 32), from a private university located in Lima Metropolitan Area, between the ages of 18 and 30 (M = 22.07). The State Test - Anxiety Inventory (S-TAI) and two brief measures—academic self-efficacy and academic emotional exhaustion—were applied. The relation found between S-TA and EP was negative and significant, but of different magnitude according to the academic term. The implications of the study are discussed.O objetivo deste estudo foi saber se a relação entre a ansiedade dos testes - Estado (AE-E) e o desempenho em testes de (RE) diferem entre dois grupos de alunos de diferentes ciclos. 76 estudantes de psicologia participaram do estudo (87,1% do sexo feminino), do quarto ciclo (n = 44) e sétimo ciclo (n = 32) de uma universidade particular na cidade de Lima, com idades entre 18 e 30 anos (M = 22,07). É aplicado o teste Test Anxiety Inventory - Estado (TAI-estado), e duas medidas curtas, de auto-eficácia acadêmica e exaustão emocional acadêmica. A relação encontrada entre o AE-E e RE foi negativa e significativa, mas de diferentes magnitudes de acordo com o ciclo acadêmico. São discutidas as implicações do estudo