Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

When fate meets its maker : bidirectional effects between beliefs in anthropomorphic God and fate

Past studies have shown that fate and belief in God are strongly associated. However, finer-grained investigations into this association have been lacking. The current research sought to highlight the key role anthropomorphic perceptions of God plays in this association, as well as demonstrate the bidirectional causal effects between beliefs in an anthropomorphic God and fate. In Study 1, participants reminded of an anthropomorphic God were found to have stronger fate beliefs than participants primed with other non-anthropomorphic entities. Study 2 examined the reverse causal flow, and showed that experimentally inducing inclinations toward fate beliefs elicited strong religiosity among the participants. Additionally, Study 2 also shed light on specific anthropomorphic qualities that were essential for the causal effect of fate beliefs on religiosity. Specifically, while anthropomorphic perceptions of other entities’ mental world typically follow two dimensions, agency and experience, perceiving God to possess agency was crucial for fate beliefs to increase one’s belief in God. Taken together, findings across both studies illustrated the bidirectional causality between beliefs in fate and God, and showed that anthropomorphic perception of God was imperative to the aforementioned effects. Implications of the findings were also discussed.Bachelor of Art

Pitfalls of self-reported measures of self-control: Surprising insights from extreme debtors

10.1111/jopy.12733JOURNAL OF PERSONALIT

Transcriptomic analysis of the role of RasGEF1B circular RNA in the TLR4/LPS pathway

Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently emerged as a large class of novel non-coding RNA species. However, the detailed functional significance of the vast majority of them remains to be elucidated. Most functional characterization studies targeting circRNAs have been limited to resting cells, leaving their role in dynamic cellular responses to stimuli largely unexplored. In this study, we focus on the LPS-induced cytoplasmic circRNA, mcircRasGEF1B, and combine targeted mcircRasGEF1B depletion with high-throughput transcriptomic analysis to gain insight into its function during the cellular response to LPS stimulation. We show that knockdown of mcircRasGEF1B results in altered expression of a wide array of genes. Pathway analysis revealed an overall enrichment of genes involved in cell cycle progression, mitotic division, active metabolism, and of particular interest, NF-κB, LPS signaling pathways, and macrophage activation. These findings expand the set of functionally characterized circRNAs and support the regulatory role of mcircRasGEF1B in immune response during macrophage activation and protection against microbial infections

Prospective randomized study of thrice weekly six-month and nine-month chemotherapy for cervical tuberculous lymphadenopathy

The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of a thrice weekly 6- month regimen, 4S3H3R3Z3/2H3R3 (which consists of an initial 4 months of streptomycin (S), isoniazid (H), rifampicin (R), and pyrazinamide (Z) followed by 2 months of isoniazid and rifampicin), with o thrice weekly 9- month regimen, 4S3H3R3Z3/5H3R3 (which consists of an initial 4 months of streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin, and pyrazinamide followed by 5 months of isoniazid and rifampicin), in the treatment of cervical tuberculous lymphadenopathy. A total of 113 patients were recruited between August 1987 and December 1993. Twenty-two patients were excluded from the analysis because of defaulting treatment or modification of regimen. Ninety- one patients were included in the analysis. Forty-three patients were given the 6-month regimen, and 48 patients were given the 9-month regimen. Two (5%) patients of the 6-month regimen and one (2%) patient of the 9-month regimen had primary failure after completion of treatment (relative risk, 2.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.21 to 23.76). Of the 88 patients who had initial clinical remission after completion of treatment, the 5-year actuarial remission rates were 89% for the 6-month regimen and 90% for the 9-month regimen (Wilcoxon, p = 0.44). There were no significant differences of both primary failure rate and 5-year actuarial remission rate of the two regimens. The 6-month regimen is recommended as the initial treatment of tuberculous lymphadenopathy.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Inhibition of Euchromatic Histone Methyltransferase 1 and 2 Sensitizes Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells to Interferon Treatment

<div><p>Background</p><p>H3K9 methylation is one of the essential histone post-translational modifications for heterochromatin formation and transcriptional repression. Recently, several studies have demonstrated that H3K9 methylation negatively regulates the type I interferon response.</p><p>Results</p><p>We report the application of EHMT1 and EHMT2 specific chemical inhibitors to sensitize CML cell lines to interferon and imatinib treatments. Inhibition of EHMT1 and EHMT2 with BIX01294 enhances the cytotoxicity of IFNα2a in four CML cell lines, K562, KCL22, BV173 and KT1 cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay shows that BIX01294 treatment enhances type I interferon response by reducing H3K9me2 at the promoters of interferon-stimulated genes. Additionally, BIX01294 treatment augments IFNα2a- and imatinib-mediated apoptosis in CML cell lines. Moreover, our data suggest that the expression level of EHMT1 and EHMT2 inversely correlates with the type I interferon responsiveness in CML cell lines.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Our study sheds light on the role of EHMT1 and EHMT2 as potential targets in improving the efficacy of standard treatments of CML.</p></div

BIX01294 slightly enhance IFNα2a-induced anti-proliferation in non-CML cells.

<p>Jurkat (<b>A</b>), HeLa (<b>B</b>) and HaCat (<b>C</b>) cells were cultured with various concentrations of BIX01294 and IFNα2a as indicated. After four days, cell proliferation was measured with a MTT assay. Results represent the mean ± SD in quadruplicate experiments.</p

BIX01294 enhances the expressions of ISGs in K562 cells.

<p>(<b>A</b>) K562 cells were incubated with 2.5 µM BIX01294 for 24 hours. The cells were then treated with various concentrations of IFNα2a as indicated. After two hours of IFNα2a stimulation, the expression of various ISGs was measured with RT-qPCR. Error bars represent the variation range of duplicate experiments. *: p<0.05, **: p<0.01. (<b>B</b>) K562 cells were incubated with 2.5 µM BIX01294 for 24 hours. The cells were then treated with IFNβ or IFNγ for two hours. The expression of <i>IFIT2</i> and <i>IFIT3</i> was measured with RT-qPCR. Error bars represent the variation range of duplicate experiments. *: p<0.05.</p

Expression level of EHMT1 inversely correlates with the sensitivity of CML cells to interferon.

<p>(<b>A</b>) KT1, K562, KCL22 and BV173 cells were treated with or without 1000 IU/ml IFNα2a for 2 hours, the expression of <i>IFIT2</i> and <i>IFIT3</i> was measured with RT-qPCR. Error bars represent the variation range of duplicate experiments. *: p<0.05, **: p<0.01. (<b>B</b>) KT1, K562, KCL22 and BV173 cells were incubated with or without 2.5 µM BIX01294 for 24 hours. Cells were then infected with VSV-GFP at a MOI of 0.5 for 24 hours. GFP positive cells were sorted by FACS. Results represent the mean ± SD in triplicate experiments (<b>C)</b> Whole cell extracts were prepared from K562, KT1, BV173 and KCL22 cells, and examined by immunoblotting using the indicated antibodies. (<b>D</b>) The relative mRNA levels of EHMT1 and EHMT2 were measured with RT-qPCR. Results represent the mean ± SD in quadruplicate experiments. *: p<0.05. (<b>E</b>) Empty vector or FLAG-mEHMT1-HA-mEHMT2 KT1 cells were treated with or without IFNα2a (1000 IU/ml) for two hours, the expression of <i>IFIT2</i> and <i>IFIT3</i> was measured with RT-qPCR<b>.</b> Error bars represent the variation range of duplicate experiments. **: p<0.01.</p