AKR1C1 overexpression attenuates the inhibitory effect of glycyrrhizic acid on gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration

Purpose: To investigate the involvement of aldo-keto reductase family 1 member C1 (AKR1C1) in glycyrrhizic acid-mediated gastric cancer.Methods: Immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and western blot were used to assess AKR1C1 expression in gastric cancer. Cell proliferation was assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and colony formation assay. Apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry. Transwell and wound healing assays were performed to investigate cell invasion and migration, respectively.Results: AKR1C1 was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer tissues and cells (p < 0.01). AKR1C1 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer, but promoted cell apoptosis. Glycyrrhizic acid treatment reduced AKR1C1 expression in gastric cancer cells (p < 0.05). AKR1C1 overexpression attenuated the glycyrrhizic acid-induced increase in gastric cancer cell apoptosis as well as the decrease in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.Conclusion: AKR1C1 contributes to gastric cancer cell proliferation and metastasis and counteracts the suppressive effects of glycyrrhizic acid on gastric cancer cell proliferation and metastasis

Quantification of Myocardial Perfusion Lesions Using Spatially Variant Finite Mixture Modelling of DCE-MRI

Dynamic Contract Enhanced Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging (DCE-MRI) can reveal differences in myocardial perfusion (microvascular or capillary blood flow) within the myocardium. The detection and quantification of hypo-perfused lesions within the myocardium is important for understanding aetiology of coronary heart disease (CHD). In this paper, a modification of a traditional method, the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm for Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM), is implemented. This modification, the Spatially Variant Finite Mixture Model (SVFMM), is able to take the neighbourhood information of a voxel in the MR image into account. An experiment based on both synthetic and real images illustrates and quantifies the improvement achieved with SVFMM over the traditional GMM method

Effect of hydrofracking fluid on colloid transport in the unsaturated zone

Hydraulic fracturing is expanding rapidly in the US to meet increasing energy demand and requires high volumes of hydrofracking fluid to displace natural gas from shale. Accidental spills and deliberate land application of hydrofracking fluids, which return to the surface during hydrofracking, are common causes of environmental contamination. Since the chemistry of hydrofracking fluids favors transport of colloids and mineral particles through rock cracks, it may also facilitate transport of in situ colloids and associated pollutants in unsaturated soils. We investigated this by subsequently injecting deionized water and flowback fluid at increasing flow rates into unsaturated sand columns containing colloids. Colloid retention and mobilization was measured in the column effluent and visualized in situ with bright field microscopy. While <5% of initial colloids were released by flushing with deionized water, 32–36% were released by flushing with flowback fluid in two distinct breakthrough peaks. These peaks resulted from 1) surface tension reduction and steric repulsion and 2) slow kinetic disaggregation of colloid flocs. Increasing the flow rate of the flowback fluid mobilized an additional 36% of colloids, due to the expansion of water filled pore space. This study suggests that hydrofracking fluid may also indirectly contaminate groundwater by remobilizing existing colloidal pollutants

Impact of continuous pharmaceutical care led by clinical pharmacists during transitions of care on medication adherence and clinical outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease: a prospective cohort study

Objectives: The study aimed to explore the impact of a continuous pharmaceutical care (CPC) program during care transitions on medication adherence and clinical outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from April 2020 to February 2021. Patients diagnosed with CHD were selected and divided into intervention (CPC) and usual care (UC) groups by nurses at equal intervals based on admission time. The intervention group received CPC services provided by clinical pharmacists (including medication reconciliation, disease education, medication guidance, lifestyle counseling, and follow-up services) and usual care. The UC group received only routine medical care. The study compared medication adherence, clinical indicators (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], blood pressure [BP], glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] control rates), the incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and readmission rates (overall, major adverse cardiovascular events [MACEs]-related, and CHD risk factors-related) at admission and 1, 3, and 6 months after discharge between the two groups.Results: A total of 228 patients with CHD completed the study, including 113 patients in the CPC group and 115 patients in the UC group. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in both groups in demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline. A total of 101 drug-related problems were identified in the CPC group (an average of 0.89 per person). The CPC group showed significantly higher medication adherence at 1, 3, and 6 months after discharge than the UC group (p < 0.05). At 3 and 6 months after discharge, the intervention group had significantly higher control rates of LDL-C (61.11% vs. 44.64% at 3 months, 78.18% vs. 51.43% at 6 months), and BP (91.15% vs. 77.39% at 3 months, 88.50% vs. 77.19% at 6 months). The CPC group had higher HbA1c control rates (53.85% vs. 34.21% at 3 months, 54.05% vs. 38.46% at 6 months) than the UC group. However, the differences were not statistically significant. The incidence of ADRs 6 months after discharge was significantly lower in the CPC group than in the UC group (5.13% vs. 12.17%, p < 0.05). The CPC group had a lower overall readmission rate (13.27% vs. 20.00%), MACE-related readmission rate (5.31% vs. 12.17%), and readmission rate related to CHD risk factors (0.88% vs. 2.61%) 6 months after discharge compared to the UC group. However, these differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).Conclusion: CPC led by clinical pharmacists during care transitions effectively improved medication adherence, safety, and risk factor control in patients with CHD

Conjugation of Functionalized SPIONs with Transferrin for Targeting and Imaging Brain Glial Tumors in Rat Model

Currently, effective and specific diagnostic imaging of brain glioma is a major challenge. Nanomedicine plays an essential role by delivering the contrast agent in a targeted manner to specific tumor cells, leading to improvement in accurate diagnosis by good visualization and specific demonstration of tumor cells. This study investigated the preparation and characterization of a targeted MR contrast agent, transferrin-conjugated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Tf-SPIONs), for brain glioma detection. MR imaging showed the obvious contrast change of brain glioma before and after administration of Tf-SPIONs in C6 glioma rat model in vivo on T2 weighted imaging. Significant contrast enhancement of brain glioma could still be clearly seen even 48 h post injection, due to the retention of Tf-SPIONs in cytoplasm of tumor cells which was proved by Prussian blue staining. Thus, these results suggest that Tf-SPIONs could be a potential targeting MR contrast agent for the brain glioma

Chinese young people's online communication with their families during the COVID-19 Pandemic

En los últimos años, la globalización y el desarrollo de las tecnologías de la información han provocado enormes cambios en los aspectos económicos y culturales de la sociedad. Los avances tecnológicos en materia de producción, distribución y consumo de información acompañan e incluso sustituyen gradualmente, a ciertas actividades que anteriormente sólo se podían llevar a cabo de forma presencial. Por eso se dice que el mundo está viviendo un proceso de virtualización. Además de los cambios en los ámbitos laborales, educativos, lúdicos, económicos y un largo etcétera, la vida familiar también se ha visto afectada por la tecnología. Específicamente, se han visto afectadas las interacciones comunicativas entre los miembros del grupo familiar. En ocasiones, esas afectaciones parecen ser negativas, pero en otras son del todo positivas. Por ejemplo, cumplen una función relevante en el mantenimiento de los vínculos entre padres e hijos, cuando éstos viven en contextos geográficos muy lejanos. En el caso de China, en los últimos años numerosos jóvenes han viajado a otros países por motivos educativos. Por ejemplo, y según los datos publicados por el Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones de España a 31 de diciembre de 2022, el número de estudiantes chinos en España en 2021 era de 5.304. De ellos, solo 15 vivían con su familia. Es claro que la inmensa mayoría pasaron la Pandemia COVID-19 fuera de su núcleo familiar. Durante ésta y debido a las políticas de cuarentena; a las restricciones de entrada y salida tanto en España como en China, los estudiantes chinos no pudieron volver a su país. En ese contexto, la comunicación online adquirió gran importancia para las familias chinas. Padres e hijos virtualizaron sus relaciones como nunca lo habían hecho. Por este motivo el objetivo de este trabajo de fin de Máster ha sido el estudiar la comunicación virtual entre los jóvenes chinos residentes en España y sus familias durante la Pandemia de COVID-19. Se ha realizado una investigación descriptiva de naturaleza exploratoria, consistente en la aplicación de una encuesta online a 323 estudiantes en el año 2022. Entre las principales conclusiones destaca que a la mayoría de los encuestados les gusta estar conectados a Internet y se sintieron satisfechos con la comunicación en línea con sus familias durante la pandemia. Aún así, son más numerosos quienes prefieren las interacciones presenciales a las virtuales por considerar que la comunicación no verbal y la expresión emocional no pueden ser sustituidas por las actividades online.In recent years, globalization and the development of information technologies have brought about enormous changes in the economic and cultural aspects of human society. Technological advances in the production, distribution and consumption of information are gradually accompanying and even replacing certain activities that previously could only be carried out face-to-face. Therefore, it is said that the world is undergoing a process of virtualization. In addition to changes in the fields of work, education, leisure, economics and a long etcetera, family life has also been affected by technology. Specifically, communicative interactions between family members have been affected. At times, these effects appear to be negative, but at other times they are entirely positive. For example, they play an important role in maintaining links between parents and children when they live in very distant geographical contexts. In the case of China, in recent years many young people have traveled to other countries for educational purposes. For example, according to data published by the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration as of 31 December 2022, the total amount of Chinese with valid study residence permits in Spain in 2021 was 5,304. Of these, 5,289 were students and the remaining 15 were their family members. This figure indicates that almost all of them did not live with their families during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Due to quarantine policies and entry and exit restrictions in both Spain and China, Chinese students were unable to return to their families during this period. In this context, online communication became very important for Chinese families. Parents and children virtualized their interpersonal relationships as never before. For this reason, the master’s thesis presented here is descriptive research of an exploratory nature. The objective was to study virtual communication between young Chinese residents in Spain and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology consisted mainly in the application of an online survey to 323 students in the year 2022. The main findings found that many Chinese young people liked being connected to the Internet and were satisfied with online communication with their families during the epidemic. However, when asked about their preference for virtual and in-person interactions, many of them preferred the in-person ones, which they considered not only practical and efficient, but that non-verbal communication and emotional expression could not be replaced by online activities.Depto. de Sociología: Metodología y TeoríaFac. de Ciencias de la InformaciónTRUEsubmitte

Myocardial Perfusion Classification Using A Markov Random Field Constrained Gaussian Mixture Model

Dynamic Contract Enhanced Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging (DCE-MRI) has been widely used as a non-invasive assessment approach to estimate the myocardial blood flow (MBF). The delineation of a hypo-perfused region (low MBF region) is important for understanding a patient’s heart condition in clinical diagnosis. In this paper, a Markov random field constrained Gaussian mixture model (GMM-MRF) classification method is introduced to classify MBF maps using myocardial perfusion DCE-MRI data. The GMM-MRF method, trained with an ICM algorithm, makes use of spatial neighbourhood information to improve classification accuracy. The proposed method is applied to and assessed on both synthetic and clinical data, and compared with established classification methods

Fabrication of Functional Super-Hydrophilic TiO₂ Thin Film for pH Detection

A super-hydrophilic pH-sensitive electrode with a porous TiO2 thin film is proposed in this work and fabricated using the chemical etching method. In total, 30 groups of porous TiO2 thin film were obtained by immersing a Ti sheet in NaOH, with the solution concentration ranging from 0.5–4 M and the reaction time ranging from 15–240 min. SEM, XRD, XPS, and a contact angle meter were used to investigate the influence of the chemical etching parameters on the morphology, composition, and wettability of the fabricated electrodes. The chemical etching parameters were found to have a significant influence on the specific surface area and the component of the films, which strongly affected the wettability and pH sensing characteristics of the electrodes. The electrode obtained with a solution concentration of 1 M and reaction time of 120 min is the ideal product because of its excellent wettability, with a contact angle of 5.46°, and good pH sensing characteristics in pH buffer solutions. The electrode also showed good stability regarding its wettability and pH sensing properties during storage and utilization

Structural Properties of Graphene Oxide Prepared from Graphite by Three Different Methods and the Effect on Removal of Cr(VI) from Aqueous Solution

Herein, three types of graphene oxides (GOs, GO-M1, GO-M2 and GO-M3) have been successfully prepared from graphite by three different methods and utilized for the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. Further, the effects of initial concentration and pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature on the adsorption performance of GOs were investigated by batch adsorption experiments. Furthermore, the adsorption mechanisms for Cr(VI) adsorption by GOs are mainly the redox reaction and electrostatic attraction, while there are also pore filling, ion exchange and complexation involved in these adsorption processes. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm data indicate that these adsorption processes of GOs on Cr(VI) are dominantly monolayer chemisorption and equilibrium can be reached in 30 min. The saturation adsorption capacities (Qm, 298.15 K) of GO-M1, GO-M2 and GO-M3 for Cr(VI) are estimated to be 3.5412 mg⋅g−1, 2.3631 mg⋅g−1 and 7.0358 mg⋅g−1, respectively. Moreover, the adsorption thermodynamic study showed that these adsorption processes of Cr(VI) by the three types of GOs at 298.15 K to 323.15 K are endothermic, entropy-driven and thermodynamically spontaneous and feasible. Overall, these findings provided vital insights into the mechanism and application of Cr(VI) removal by GOs

Quantification of Myocardial Perfusion Lesions Using Spatially Variant Finite Mixture Modelling of DCE-MRI

Dynamic Contract Enhanced Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging (DCE-MRI) can reveal differences in myocardial perfusion (microvascular or capillary blood flow) within the myocardium. The detection and quantification of hypo-perfused lesions within the myocardium is important for understanding aetiology of coronary heart disease (CHD). In this paper, a modification of a traditional method, the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm for Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM), is implemented. This modification, the Spatially Variant Finite Mixture Model (SVFMM), is able to take the neighbourhood information of a voxel in the MR image into account. An experiment based on both synthetic and real images illustrates and quantifies the improvement achieved with SVFMM over the traditional GMM method