Assessing the stakeholders\u27 perception on rice husk ash as supplementary cementitious material using the latent dirichlet allocation model

Rice husk ash (RHA) is a byproduct of the rice milling process and is produced through the controlled combustion of the rice husk. Given its high silica content, it is a material that is beneficiary to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Many studies have been conducted on this material in other parts of the world and is already being implemented, but the researchers have observed that this material is not commonly used in the local construction industry despite the Philippines being a rice-producing nation. The researchers hypothesize that this is due to the lack of research, as stakeholders prioritize more traditional methods over more contemporary ones such as RHA. Given this observation, this study aims to assess stakeholders’ current state of awareness, or perception, of RHA as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). stakeholders were: the academe, professional organizations, and industry. Documents were collected from these stakeholders using these specific keywords: RHA, sustainability, and geopolymer. The collection was used as input data in the MATLAB program, wherein the researchers used the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) Model to perform bibliometric analysis on the documents. Based on the results, it showed that the academe has the highest organizational maturity level, generating topic models that mentioned RHA the most frequently. This is followed by the industry at the middle level, and lastly the professional organization at the lowest organizational maturity level, due to their lack of data on RHA. An adoption framework was created based on the organizational maturity and trends observed from the results of the study

Do blood parasites infect Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) in the wild? Prospective investigation and climatogeographic considerations

Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) are native to Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands. Magellanic penguins are highly susceptible to blood parasites such as the mosquito-borne Plasmodium spp., which have been documented causing high morbidity and mortality in zoos and rehabilitation centres. However, to date no blood parasites have been detected in wild Magellanic penguins, and it is not clear whether this is reflective of their true absence or is instead related to an insufficiency in sampling effort or a failure of the diagnostic methods. We examined blood smears of 284 Magellanic penguins from the Argentinean coast and tested their blood samples with nested polymerase chain reaction tests targeting Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, Leucocytozoon and Babesia. No blood parasites were detected. Analysing the sampling effort of previous studies and the climatogeography of the region, we found there is strong basis to conclude that haemosporidians do not infect wild Magellanic penguins on the Argentinean coast. However, at present it is not possible to determine whether such parasites occur on the Chilean coast and at the Falkland Islands. Furthermore, it is troubling that the northward distribution expansion of Magellanic penguins and the poleward distribution shift of vectors may lead to novel opportunities for the transmission of blood parasites.Fil: Vanstreels, Ralph Eric Thijl. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Uhart, Marcela María. University of California at Davis; Estados Unidos. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Rago, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Hurtado, Renata. Institute of Research and Rehabilitation of Marine Animals; BrasilFil: Epiphanio, Sabrina. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Catão DIas, José Luiz. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

Music-dance-imaging training for young adults with Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neurobehavioral disorder, which is characterized by motor and sound tics. Current studies have identified some specific factors that lead to tic reduction, such as relaxation, concentration, musical activities, and the execution of voluntary and finalistic movements. Patients with TS show a higher level of creativity than other people, which can be channeled, together with their excessive motor energy, into various functional activities that favor the reduction of tics. Moreover, in the last decades, music has been used as a rehabilitative tool, since it has shown to induce a positive effect on TS patients\u2019 mood and to facilitate the performance of fluid and rhythmic voluntary movements. The present study refers to \u201cImagine, Tourette!\u201d, a motor imagery, music-based intervention aimed at reducing the manifestation of motor and sound tics in adult TS patients. To test the specific effect of such a kind of training, 8 TS patients were exposed to one of two interventions: the experimental group performed motor tasks based on music whereas the control group performed motor tasks without the accompaniment of music. The hypothesis tested was that performing motor tasks accompanied by music could reduce the severity of tics and have an effect on patients\u2019 mood more than simply performing motor tasks alone. The results supported the hypothesis: music played a specific effect on the manifestation of tics and on the patients\u2019 mood, confirming its potentially positive role in motor interventions addressed to TS

Different Expression Patterns of Metabolic Reprogramming Proteins in Testicular Germ Cell Cancer

Metabolic reprogramming is an emerging hallmark of cancer, involving the overexpression of metabolism-related proteins, such as glucose and monocarboxylate transporters and intracellular glycolytic enzymes. The biology of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) is very complex, and although their metabolic profile has been scantily explored, some authors have recently reported that the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells resulted in an association with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics. In this study we have investigated, by immunohistochemical analysis, the expression of key proteins sustaining the hyperglycolytic phenotype in pure seminoma (SE, nr. 35), pure embryonal carcinoma (EC, nr. 17) tissues samples, and normal testes (nr. 5). GLUT1, CD44, PFK-1, MCT1, MCT4, LDH-A, and PDH resulted in more expression in EC cells compared to SE cells. TOM20 was more expressed in SE than in EC. GLUT1, MCT1, and MCT4 expression showed a statistically significant association with SE histology, while for EC, the association resulted in being significant only for GLUT1 and MCT4. Finally, we observed that EC resulted as negative for p53, suggesting that the GLUT1 and MTC overexpression observed in EC could be also attributed to p53 downregulation. In conclusion, our findings evidenced that EC exhibits a higher expression of markers of active aerobic glycolysis compared to SE, suggesting that the aggressive phenotype is associated with a higher glycolytic rate. These data corroborate the emerging evidence on the involvement of metabolic reprogramming in testicular malignancies as well, highlighting that the metabolic players should be explored in the future as promising therapeutic targets

Oleuropein Counteracts Both the Proliferation and Migration of Intra- and Extragonadal Seminoma Cells

Recent and growing literature has reported that oleuropein (OLE), the main polyphenol in olive leaf extract, inhibits tumor cell proliferation and reduces the invasiveness properties of cancer cells; therefore, OLE may play a significant role in the development of new drugs for cancer treatment. These antineoplastic properties have been reported in many experimental cancer models, but the effect of OLE on seminoma cells is yet to be evaluated. In the present study, we demonstrate, for the first time, that OLE reduces cell viability in both intra- and extragonadal TCAM-2 and SEM-1 seminoma cells, respectively, in a dose-dependent manner. As shown by Western-blot analysis, OLE exposure reduced cyclin-D1 expression and upregulated p21Cip/WAF1, concomitantly affecting the upstream pathway of NF-κB, leading to the reduction of its nuclear content, thereby suggesting that OLE could modulate cell-cycle regulators by inhibiting NF-κB. Moreover, Annexin V staining revealed that OLE induced apoptosis in cancer cells and upregulated the pro-apoptotic factor BAX. Through wound-healing scratch and transmigration assays, we also demonstrated that OLE significantly reduced the migration and motility of TCAM-2 and SEM-1 cells, and downregulated the expression of TGFβ-1, which is known to be the main pro-fibrotic factor involved in the acquisition of the migratory and invasive properties of cancer cells. Collectively, our results indicate that OLE reduces seminoma cell proliferation, promotes apoptosis, and counteracts cell migration and motility. Further studies are needed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying these observed effects

Different Expression Patterns of Metabolic Reprogramming Proteins in Testicular Germ Cell Cancer

Metabolic reprogramming is an emerging hallmark of cancer, involving the overexpression of metabolism-related proteins, such as glucose and monocarboxylate transporters and intracellular glycolytic enzymes. The biology of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) is very complex, and although their metabolic profile has been scantily explored, some authors have recently reported that the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells resulted in an association with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics. In this study we have investigated, by immunohistochemical analysis, the expression of key proteins sustaining the hyperglycolytic phenotype in pure seminoma (SE, nr. 35), pure embryonal carcinoma (EC, nr. 17) tissues samples, and normal testes (nr. 5). GLUT1, CD44, PFK-1, MCT1, MCT4, LDH-A, and PDH resulted in more expression in EC cells compared to SE cells. TOM20 was more expressed in SE than in EC. GLUT1, MCT1, and MCT4 expression showed a statistically significant association with SE histology, while for EC, the association resulted in being significant only for GLUT1 and MCT4. Finally, we observed that EC resulted as negative for p53, suggesting that the GLUT1 and MTC overexpression observed in EC could be also attributed to p53 downregulation. In conclusion, our findings evidenced that EC exhibits a higher expression of markers of active aerobic glycolysis compared to SE, suggesting that the aggressive phenotype is associated with a higher glycolytic rate. These data corroborate the emerging evidence on the involvement of metabolic reprogramming in testicular malignancies as well, highlighting that the metabolic players should be explored in the future as promising therapeutic targets

Effects of One-Shot Hyaluronic Acid Injection in Lifelong Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study

The therapeutic management of premature lifelong ejaculation (PE) ranges from behavioral therapy to pharmacological and surgical treatments. Hyaluronic Acid (HA) injection into the glans penis is a non-surgical procedure, intended to reduce glans hypersensitivity, improving the intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT). HA injection can be performed through different techniques that, although safe and effective, rarely can cause local complications. In this pilot uncontrolled study, we tested the effectiveness of a new technique based on a single HA injection into the frenulum of the glans, to improve IELT in a sample of patients affected by PE. We observed a significant increase of the IELT after one (median 73.3, IQR 66.2–79.9 s) and two months (66.2, 63.1–73.9) that gradually decreased at three months, remaining still significantly higher than at baseline (34.8, 30.9–37.4). PEDT and IIEF questionnaires significantly improved compared to baseline in the first two months of follow-up (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the preliminary results emerging from this pilot uncontrolled study, highlight the effectiveness of this one-shot HA injection approach, although a larger sample and longer follow-up time are needed to standardize the procedure