Re-purposing of curcumin as an anti-metastatic agent for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer: in vitro model using cancer stem cell enriched ovarian cancer spheroids

Malignant epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) spheroids high frequently are detected in the malignant ascites of the patients with the extensive peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancer, which represent a significant obstacle to efficacious treatment. Clinical data also suggested that EOC spheroids play a putative role in the development of chemoresistance. Since standard surgery and conventional chemotherapy is the only available treatment, there is an urgent need to identify a more effective therapeutic strategy. Recent studies demonstrated that curcumin exerts an anticancer effect in a variety of human cancers including ovarian cancer. This study evaluates anti-peritoneal metastasis and chemoresistance of EOC related to the spheroids. In this study, we confirm that the high invasive EOC cells forming the spheroids express a high level of a CSC marker, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1 (ALDH1A1), which was significantly down-regulated by curcumin treatment. Curcumin treatment significantly enhances the sensitivity of EOC spheroids to cisplatin in a dose-dependent manner. Our experiments provided evidence that curcumin could abolish the sphere-forming capacity of EOC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, curcumin significantly suppressed the growth of the pre-existed EOC spheroids, inhibited the adhesion of EOC spheroids to ECM as well as the invasion of EOC spheroids to the mesothelial monolayers. We propose to re-purpose curcumin as anti-metastatic and chemoresistant agent for EOC management in combination with conventional regimen. Further preclinical studies are necessary to validate the anti-cancer effect of curcumin in patients with EOC

Effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management: a perspective article

Purpose – This article discusses the effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management practices and outlines a three-pronged research agenda to stimulate knowledge development in the hotel sector. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an overview of the relevant literature on hotel marketing and management as well as the hotel guest behavior. The authors also investigated hospitality service trends to propose a research agenda. Findings – This paper presents a research agenda from three dimensions – artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, hygiene and cleanliness, and health and healthcare. First, different types of AI (mechanical, thinking, and feeling) might open up distinct research streams at the intersection of health crises and hotel management, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this paper recommends that researchers move beyond typical perspectives on the antecedents and outcomes of hotel hygiene and cleanliness to delve into guests’ perceptions of the cleanliness of specific hotel surfaces. Furthermore, a more in-depth analysis is warranted about the evolving relationship between hotels and the healthcare sector. Practical implications – The recommended research areas are intended to advance the knowledge base to help hotels recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The suggested research streams are expected to provide actionable insights to promote the development and sustainability of the hotel sector. Originality/value – This article appears to be a frontier study, critically examining possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotel marketing and management practices and how hoteliers may respond to such challenges to recover after this pandemic

Aspects of carbon monoxide in form of CO-releasing molecules used in cancer treatment: More light on the way

Carbon monoxide (CO) has always been recognised as a toxic gas, due to its higher affinity for haemoglobin than oxygen. However, biological studies have revealed an intriguing role for CO as an endogenous signalling molecule, a gasotransmitter. CO is demonstrated to exertmany cellular activities including anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and antiproliferative activities. In animal studies, CO gas administration can prevent tissues from hypoxia or ischemic-reperfusion injury. As a result, there are a plethora of reports dealing with the biological applications of CO and CO-releasing molecules (CORMs) in inflammatory and vascular diseases. CORMs have already been tested as a therapeutic agent in clinical trials. More recently, an increased interest has been drawn to CO’s potential use as an anticancer agent. In this review, we will aim to give an overview of the research focused on the role of COand CORMs in different types of cancer and expand to the recent development of the next generation CORMs for clinical application in cancer treatment

A target guided subband filter for acoustic event detection in noisy environments using wavelet packets

This paper deals with acoustic event detection (AED), such as screams, gunshots, and explosions, in noisy environments. The main aim is to improve the detection performance under adverse conditions with a very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). A novel filtering method combined with an energy detector is presented. The wavelet packet transform (WPT) is first used for time-frequency representation of the acoustic signals. The proposed filter in the wavelet packet domain then uses a priori knowledge of the target event and an estimate of noise features to selectively suppress the background noise. It is in fact a content-aware band-pass filter which can automatically pass the frequency bands that are more significant in the target than in the noise. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed filtering method is capable of enhancing the target content while suppressing the background noise for signals with a low SNR. A condition to increase the probability of correct detection is also obtained. Experiments have been carried out on a large dataset of acoustic events that are contaminated by different types of environmental noise and white noise with varying SNRs. Results show that the proposed method is more robust and better adapted to noise than ordinary energy detectors, and it can work even with an SNR as low as -15 dB. A practical system for real time processing and multi-target detection is also proposed in this work

Beyond sightseeing: How can tourism affect public/global health in modern society?

Tourism was historically regarded as a practical and business-oriented domain rather than as a research dis - cipline [1,2]. Ontologically, tourism was seen as a field in which to apply theory and as a means of fulfilling needs related to leisure, pleasure, and social health. Little effort has been made to uncover its more nuanced meanings. In 2006, John Tribe, a leading tourism scholar, published a commentary challenging the truth of tourism research and described a complex phenomenon in which the construct’s psychological, philosophi - cal, and social dimensions/values were not well understood [ 3]. He also suggested that much of the research published on tourism was influenced by key factors related to the research authors [3]

Interacting heavy fermions in a disordered optical lattice

We have theoretically studied the effect of disorder on ultracold alkaline-earth atoms governed by the Kondo lattice model in an optical lattice via simplified double-well model and hybridization mean-field theory. Disorder-induced narrowing and even complete closure of hybridization gap have been predicted and the compressibility of the system has also been investigated for metallic and Kondo insulator phases in the presence of the disordered potential. To make connection to the experimental situation, we have numerically solved the disordered Kondo lattice model with an external harmonic trap and shown both the melting of Kondo insulator plateau and an compressibility anomaly at low-density