Political and social determinants of life expectancy in less developed countries: A longitudinal study

EstE livro corrEspondE à primeira experiência didática do Grupo de trabalho desenvolvimento Urbano do conselho latinoamericano de ciências sociais (clAcso), que reúne cerca de quarenta pesquisadores de diferentes instituições da região. Esta experiência tornou-se possível, graças ao fato da proposta deste curso ter sido aprovada no âmbito da cátedra Florestan Fernandes do conselho. completamente desenvolvida através do campus virtual do clAcso, teve, por principal objetivo, estimular a reflexão sobre alguns dos principais eixos teórico-conceituais e empíricos orientadores da análise da urbanização latino-americana

CXCL-8 Regulates Head and Neck Carcinoma Progression through NOD Signalling Pathway

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks sixth among the most common cancers in the world. Interlukin-8 (CXCL-8), a major role in inflammatory response and tumor microenvironment, correlates with tumor progression, metastasis and invasion. We explored CXCL-8 promotes tumor progression in different differentiation HNSCC cells. This project would apply to development on biomarker and target in HNSCC as well as provide a basis of early diagnosis and treatment for clinical. CXCL-8, NOD1 (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1) and receptor-interacting protein kinase (RIPK2) levels were detected statistically higher in patient tissue with HNSCC than in non-cancerous matched tissue (NCMT) in the microarray and qRT-PCR study, whereas NOD2 was weakly expressed. Similar results were obtained for CXCL-8, NOD1, NOD2 and RIP2 from RT-PCR and western blotting. High CXCL-8, NOD1 and RIP2 expressions were found on HNSCC patient tissue than that of NCMT, whereas NOD2 was weakly expressed. The analytical results indicate that CXCL-8 is required in NOD 1-mediated signalling pathways in HNSCC

Characterization of magnetic properties of Sr2CuWO6 and Sr2CuMoO6

In this work we examine the low-temperature magnetic properties of the two double-perovskite compounds Sr2CuWO6 and Sr2CuMoO6 using magnetic susceptibility, muon spin rotation and relaxation, and neutron powder diffraction measurements. Additionally, the most relevant spin exchange interaction constants are derived from ab initio electronic structure calculations, aided by x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The compounds exhibit quasi-two-dimensional magnetic properties, with broad maxima at Tmax = 83 and 95 K for Sr2CuWO6 and Sr2CuMoO6, respectively. However, three-dimensional long-range order takes place below TN = 24(1) and 28(2) K for Sr2CuWO6 and Sr2CuMoO6, respectively. Our results show that the low-dimensional magnetic correlations are mainly due to the significant next-nearest-neighbor interactions in the ab plane of the double-perovskite structure, whereas three-dimensional long-range magnetic order is caused by weaker next-nearest-neighbor interactions along the c axis. Next-nearest-neighbor interactions are also slightly frustrated by weaker nearest-neighbor interactions within the ab plane. Based on these results we predict the low-temperature magnetic structure in these compounds to be type-II antiferromagnetic order of the double-perovskite lattice.Peer reviewe

GPER-induced signaling is essential for the survival of breast cancer stem cells.

G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 (GPER), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, mediates estrogen-induced proliferation of normal and malignant breast epithelial cells. However, its role in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) remains unclear. Here we showed greater expression of GPER in BCSCs than non-BCSCs of three patient-derived xenografts of ER- /PR+ breast cancers. GPER silencing reduced stemness features of BCSCs as reflected by reduced mammosphere forming capacity in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo with decreased BCSC populations. Comparative phosphoproteomics revealed greater GPER-mediated PKA/BAD signaling in BCSCs. Activation of GPER by its ligands, including tamoxifen (TMX), induced phosphorylation of PKA and BAD-Ser118 to sustain BCSC characteristics. Transfection with a dominant-negative mutant BAD (Ser118Ala) led to reduced cell survival. Taken together, GPER and its downstream signaling play a key role in maintaining the stemness of BCSCs, suggesting that GPER is a potential therapeutic target for eradicating BCSCs

Low Cost Seismic Network Practical Applications for Producing Quick Shaking Maps in Taiwan

Two major earthquakes of ML greater than 6.0 occurred in Taiwan in the first half of 2013. The vibrant shaking brought landslides, falling rocks and casualties. This paper presents a seismic network developed by National Taiwan University (NTU) with 401 Micro-Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerators. The network recorded high quality strong motion signals from the two events and produced delicate shaking maps within one minute after the earthquake occurrence. The high shaking regions of the intensity map produced by the NTU system suggest damage and casualty locations. Equipped with a dense array of MEMS accelerometers, the NTU system is able to accommodate 10% signals loss from part of the seismic stations and maintain its normal functions for producing shaking maps. The system also has the potential to identify the rupture direction which is one of the key indices used to estimate possible damage. The low cost MEMS accelerator array shows its potential in real-time earthquake shaking map generation and damage avoidance

Static Magnetic Field Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation in Pulp Cells by Affecting Cell Membrane Stability

One of the causes of dental pulpitis is lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced inflammatory response. Following pulp tissue inflammation, odontoblasts, dental pulp cells (DPCs), and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) will activate and repair damaged tissue to maintain homeostasis. However, when LPS infection is too serious, dental repair is impossible and disease may progress to irreversible pulpitis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether static magnetic field (SMF) can attenuate inflammatory response of dental pulp cells challenged with LPS. In methodology, dental pulp cells were isolated from extracted teeth. The population of DPSCs in the cultured DPCs was identified by phenotypes and multilineage differentiation. The effects of 0.4 T SMF on DPCs were observed through MTT assay and fluorescent anisotropy assay. Our results showed that the SMF exposure had no effect on surface markers or multilineage differentiation capability. However, SMF exposure increases cell viability by 15%. In addition, SMF increased cell membrane rigidity which is directly related to higher fluorescent anisotropy. In the LPS-challenged condition, DPCs treated with SMF demonstrated a higher tolerance to LPS-induced inflammatory response when compared to untreated controls. According to these results, we suggest that 0.4 T SMF attenuates LPS-induced inflammatory response to DPCs by changing cell membrane stability

Prospective memory in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia

Although a number of studies have found prospective memory (PM) impairment in patients with schizophrenia, very little is known about the PM performance in non-psychotic relatives of these patients. The current study aimed to explore the PM performance in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of these patients. Two groups of participants (26 non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy comparison participants) were administered three PM tasks (time-, event-, and activity-based) and a set of neurocognitive tests. Results showed that the relatives performed significantly worse than the comparisons on most indices of the PM tasks, with a similar pattern of impairment found in other neurocognitive measures. Together with findings from previous studies, results of the current study suggest that PM may be a potential endophenotype for schizophrenia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Establishment of Asia-Pacific Network for Enterovirus Surveillance

Enteroviruses (EV), the major pathogens of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and herpangina, affect millions of children each year. Most human enteroviruses cause self-limited infections except polioviruses, enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), and several echoviruses (Echo) and coxsackieviruses (CV). Especially, EV-A71 has repeatedly caused large-scale outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997. Some Asian countries have experienced cyclical outbreaks of severe EV-A71 infections and initiated development of EV-A71 vaccines. Five EV-A71 vaccine candidates have been clinically evaluated and three of them were approved for marketing in China. However, none of the China-approved products seek marketing approval in other countries. This situation supports a role for collaboration among Asian countries to facilitate clinical trials and licensure of EV-A71 vaccines. Additionally, enterovirus D68 outbreaks have been reported in the US and Taiwan currently and caused severe complications and deaths. Hence, an Asia-Pacific Network for Enterovirus Surveillance (APNES) has been established to estimate disease burden, understand virus evolution, and facilitate vaccine development through harmonizing laboratory diagnosis and data collection. Founded in 2017, the APNES is comprised of internationally recognized experts in the field of enterovirus in Asian countries working to raise awareness of this potentially fatal and debilitating disease. This article demonstrated the summaries of the first expert meeting, 2017 International Workshop on Enterovirus Surveillance and Vaccine Development, held by APNES in Taipei, Taiwan, March 2017

Experience of Pleasure and Emotional Expression in Individuals with Schizotypal Personality Features

Difficulties in feeling pleasure and expressing emotions are one of the key features of schizophrenia spectrum conditions, and are significant contributors to constricted interpersonal interactions. The current study examined the experience of pleasure and emotional expression in college students who demonstrated high and low levels of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) traits on self-report questionnaires. One hundred and seventeen subjects with SPD traits and 116 comparison controls were recruited to participate. Cluster analyses conducted in the SPD group identified negative SPD and positive SPD subgroups. The negative SPD group exhibited deficient emotional expression and anticipatory pleasure, but showed intact consummatory pleasure. The positive SPD group reported significantly greater levels of anticipatory, consummatory and total pleasure compared to the control group. Both SPD groups reported significantly more problems in everyday memory and greater levels of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms