Therapeutic Applications of Herbal Medicines for Cancer Patients

Medicinal herbs and their derivative phytocompounds are being increasingly recognized as useful complementary treatments for cancer. A large volume of clinical studies have reported the beneficial effects of herbal medicines on the survival, immune modulation, and quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients, when these herbal medicines are used in combination with conventional therapeutics. Here, we briefly review some examples of clinical studies that investigated the use of herbal medicines for various cancers and the development of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in this emerging research area. In addition, we also report recent studies on the biochemical and cellular mechanisms of herbal medicines in specific tumor microenvironments and the potential application of specific phytochemicals in cell-based cancer vaccine systems. This review should provide useful technological support for evidence-based application of herbal medicines in cancer therapy

USE JD-R THEORY TO EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT—TAKING JOB DEMANDS AS THE MODERATING VARIABLE

Past research has proven that employee experience has a positive impact on employee engagement. Based on the conceptual framework of Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) model, this study regards efficient employee experience as a job resource to explore the impact of "employee experience" and” job demands” on employee engagement in organizations. Work requirements are further divided into challenge demand and hindrance demand. This study adopts the experimental design of the scenario method and uses two two-factor independent sample designs, namely 2x2(employee experience is high / employee experience is low x challenging job demands is high / challenging job demands is low) and 2x2(employee experience is high / employee experience is low x hindering job demands is high / hindering job demands is low).A total of 176 valid questionnaires were collected. The research results found that when employee experience is high, employee engagement is higher than when employee experience is low. Employee experience and job demands have an interactive effect on employee engagement. When employee experience is high, employee engagement will be higher when challenging job demands are added than when hindering job demands are added. It is expected that the results of this study can help in theoretical and practical application

Ter94 ATPase Complex Targets K11-Linked Ubiquitinated Ci to Proteasomes for Partial Degradation

SummaryThe Cubitus interruptus (Ci)/Gli family of transcription factors can be degraded either completely or partially from a full-length form (Ci155/GliFL) to a truncated repressor (Ci75/GliR) by proteasomes to mediate Hedgehog (Hh) signaling. The mechanism by which proteasomes distinguish ubiquitinated Ci/Gli to carry out complete versus partial degradation is not known. Here, we show that Ter94 ATPase and its mammalian counterpart, p97, are involved in processing Ci and Gli3 into Ci75 and Gli3R, respectively. Ter94 regulates the partial degradation of ubiquitinated Ci by Cul1-Slimb-based E3 ligase through its adaptors Ufd1-like and dNpl4. We demonstrate that Cul1-Slimb-based E3 ligase, but not Cul3-Rdx-based E3 ligase, modifies Ci by efficient addition of K11-linked ubiquitin chains. Ter94Ufd1-like/dNpl4 complex interacts directly with Cul1-Slimb, and, intriguingly, it prefers K11-linked ubiquitinated Ci. Thus, Ter94 ATPase and K11-linked ubiquitination in Ci contribute to the selectivity by proteasomes for partial degradation

A LITERATURE REVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM (1990-2016): DEVELOPMENT TRAJECTORY AND FRAMEWORK

Purpose of the study—Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world. Just like an enterprise today, sustainability is the long-term objective pursued by tourism industry. However, little effort has been made to systematically provide sufficient information to academicians and practitioners who have great research interests in sustainable tourism. Therefore, this paper aims to figure out the knowledge mapping of sustainable tourism and to indicate its research hot spots and trends for future research. Methodology—This paper surveys the development trajectory of sustainable tourism using a literature review and classification of articles retrieved from 5 online databases with solo keyword “sustainable tourism” from 1900 to 2016. Main findings—Based on the scope of 641 articles, this study reveals that the number of publication on sustainable tourism has significantly increased since 2006. In addition, these articles are scattered across 125 journals and mostly published in 23 academic journals. The majority of targeted countries/regions for sustainable tourism focus on Asia, Europe and America. Limitation—Restricted to limited knowledge, we make a brief literature survey on sustainable tourism from 1990-2016 to explore how sustainable tourism and its applications have developed in this period. Originality/value—In fact, sustainable tourism is a belief and an overall concept in every tourism activities. Though this research has done lots, it still has rooms to make more complete. Finally, we present a conceptual framework integrating 13 classifications criteria derived from our analysis with 3247 keywords. Most interestingly, we further present a conceptual framework with a visual effect to operationalize the coverage of sustainable tourism. Based on our analysis, any researcher can easily find the popular and right journal to get into it, if he/she is in need, he/she also can roughly know its applications so far and completely get a whole picture of sustainable tourism quickly

L’Occidente secondo Taiwan. Occidente, cultura occidentale e cristianesimo nelle opinioni dei taiwanesi

Esiti di una ricerca su Taiwan e i rapporti con il mondo occidentale, passati e presenti, con particolare riferimento alla dimensione della presenza del cristianesimo e della cultura occidentale nei media e nell’opinione pubblica taiwanese.- Indice #5- Introduzione #9- Cap.I Taiwan incontra l’Occidente: passato e presente #13- Cap.II L’Occidente e il cristianesimo nei libri di testo #33- Cap.III La chiesa cattolica nei giornali di Taiwan #121- Cap.IV Le opinioni della gente sull’Occidente e sul cristianesimo #145- Cap.V Commenti ai risultati della ricerca #24

Power Spectral Analyses of Index Finger Skin Blood Perfusion in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Diabetic Polyneuropathy

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of frequency domain analysis on laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) data recorded from the index fingers of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN). Patients with numbness of the palm were recruited and grouped according to the results of electrophysiological examinations into 2×2 groups by the existence or nonexistence of CTS and/or DPN. Skin blood perfusion was recorded by LDF in both the neutral position and the maximally flexed position (the Phalen test). S-transformation was utilized to decompose the recorded data into frequency bands, and the relative band power and power dispersion were calculated. Analysis of variance was used to test the effects of DPN, CTS, and the Phalen test results. The results showed that (1) DPN decreased the absolute power and the relative power in some frequency bands in both positions and CTS increased the power dispersion of some frequency bands only during the Phalen test and (2) there was no difference in the LDF results between patients with positive or negative Phalen test results

Genetic population structure of the alpine species Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum sensu lato (Ericaceae) inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A complex of incipient species with different degrees of morphological or ecological differentiation provides an ideal model for studying species divergence. We examined the phylogeography and the evolutionary history of the <it>Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum </it>s. l.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Systematic inconsistency was detected between gene genealogies of the cpDNA and nrDNA. Rooted at <it>R. hyperythrum </it>and <it>R. formosana</it>, both trees lacked reciprocal monophyly for all members of the complex. For <it>R. pseudochrysanthum </it>s.l., the spatial distribution of the cpDNA had a noteworthy pattern showing high genetic differentiation (F_ST= 0.56-0.72) between populations in the Yushan Mountain Range and populations of the other mountain ranges.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both incomplete lineage sorting and interspecific hybridization/introgression may have contributed to the lack of monophyly among <it>R. hyperythrum</it>, <it>R. formosana </it>and <it>R. pseudochrysanthum </it>s.l. Independent colonizations, plus low capabilities of seed dispersal in current environments, may have resulted in the genetic differentiation between populations of different mountain ranges. At the population level, the populations of Central, and Sheishan Mountains may have undergone postglacial demographic expansion, while populations of the Yushan Mountain Range are likely to have remained stable ever since the colonization. In contrast, the single population of the Alishan Mountain Range with a fixed cpDNA haplotype may have experienced bottleneck/founder's events.</p

Metabolic labelling of cholesteryl glucosides in Helicobacter pylori reveals how the uptake of human lipids enhances bacterial virulence.

Helicobacter pylori infects approximately half of the human population and is the main cause of various gastric diseases. This pathogen is auxotrophic for cholesterol, which it converts upon uptake to various cholesteryl α-glucoside derivatives, including cholesteryl 6'-acyl and 6'-phosphatidyl α-glucosides (CAGs and CPGs). Owing to a lack of sensitive analytical methods, it is not known if CAGs and CPGs play distinct physiological roles or how the acyl chain component affects function. Herein we established a metabolite-labelling method for characterising these derivatives qualitatively and quantitatively with a femtomolar detection limit. The development generated an MS/MS database of CGds, allowing for profiling of all the cholesterol-derived metabolites. The subsequent analysis led to the unprecedented information that these bacteria acquire phospholipids from the membrane of epithelial cells for CAG biosynthesis. The resulting increase in longer or/and unsaturated CAG acyl chains helps to promote lipid raft formation and thus delivery of the virulence factor CagA into the host cell, supporting the idea that the host/pathogen interplay enhances bacterial virulence. These findings demonstrate an important connection between the chain length of CAGs and the bacterial pathogenicity

Gender Difference in Statin Intervention on Blood Lipid Control among Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

SummaryBackgroundThe aim of this study was to clarify the current status in the effective control of dyslipidemia in Taiwanese women and men with coronary heart disease (CHD).Materials and methodsA total 1584 patients with CHD (1188 men, aged 64.8 ± 11.6 years and 396 women, aged 69.0 ± 9.8 years) from 3486 patients who had atherosclerotic vascular disease and complete lipids measured values [total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)] were used for analysis.ResultsThe waist, height, weight, and creatinine levels were higher in men than in women. The systolic blood pressure, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, fasting blood glucose, and platelet were lower in men than in women. Men were more likely to achieve the target goal than women in TC < 160 mg/dL, LDL-C < 100 mg/dL, and TG < 150 mg/dL as well as to achieve HDL-C goal.ConclusionA significant gap was found between the guidelines and clinical practice in statin intervention among these CHD patients, particularly for women. The strategy in control of dyslipidemia should consider gender difference