This study determines the effect of the configuration of the magnetic field on the movement of gas bubbles that evolve from platinum electrodes. Oxygen and hydrogen bubbles respectively evolve from ...the surface of the anode and cathode and behave differently in the presence of a magnetic field due to their paramagnetic and diamagnetic characteristics. A magnetic field perpendicular to the surface of the horizontal electrode causes the bubbles to revolve. Oxygen and hydrogen bubbles revolve in opposite directions to create a swirling flow and spread the bubbles between the electrodes, which increases conductivity and the effectiveness of electrolysis. For vertical electrodes under the influence of a parallel magnetic field, a horizontal Lorentz force effectively detaches the bubbles and increases the conductivity and the effectiveness of electrolysis. However, if the layout of the electrodes and magnetic field results in upward or downward Lorentz forces that counter the buoyancy force, a sluggish flow in the duct inhibits the movement of the bubbles and decreases the conductivity and the charging performance. The results in this study determine the optimal layout for an electrode and a magnetic field to increase the conductivity and the effectiveness of water electrolysis, which is applicable to various fields including energy conversion, biotechnology, and magnetohydrodynamic thruster used in seawater.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Emergency nurses, especially when caring for pediatric patients, typically establish relationships with their patients under hectic and busy conditions. Thus, these nurses often rely on semi-coaxing .../ slightly stressful methods to quickly prepare patients to undergo necessary medical procedures. However these approaches cause tense relationships. To establish friendly bridges with pediatric patients, emergency nurses should adopt sincere and caring approaches. An approach based on Swanson's caring theory for applying child-friendly healthcare in the emergency department is proposed in this article. It is important to establish a friendly bridge with pediatric patients with emergency treatment needs and their families in a sincere and caring manner; to understand the needs of these children and their families when seeking medical treatment; to be present, listen, and respond to these patients and provide decision-making power when appropriate; and to provide professional care and method knowledge to empower fa
Aim and objectives
To determine whether the virtual reality as a distracting intervention could reduce pain and fear in school‐age children receiving intravenous injections at an emergency ...department.
Background
An intravenous injection is the most common invasive procedure that paediatric patients encounter in emergency department. School‐age children seldom show their fear or discomfort during the procedure which may be ignored.
Design
A randomised controlled trial was conducted from December 2017–May 2018 and performed according to the CONSORT guidelines.
Methods
One hundred and thirty‐six children aged 7–12 years were randomly allocated to receive either a routine intravenous injection procedure or one with an immersive virtual reality experience. Children were asked to rate their pain and fear along with their caregivers and nurses on the Wong–Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale and Children's Fear Scale, respectively. The time required for successful intravenous insertion was also assessed in the emergency department. Clinical trial registration was done (ClinicalTrials.gov.: NCT04081935).
Results
Pain and fear scores were significantly lower in the virtual reality group, as were the children's ratings as perceived by their caregivers and nurses. The children's ratings of pain and fear were positively correlated with the caregivers’ ratings and the nurses' ratings as well. The time required for successful intravenous insertion was significantly lower in the virtual reality group.
Conclusion
Visual reality intervention can effectively reduce the pain and fear during intravenous procedure in school‐age children in emergency department.
Relevance to clinical practice
The results of this study indicate the feasible clinical value of virtual reality interventions during the administration of intravenous injections in school‐age children in emergency departments.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Aims
To synthesise and evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality interventions in preoperative children.
Background
Children consider operations as a predictable threat and stressful event. ...Children's anxiety before an operation increases as the time draws closer. Children could understand the operating room environment and process before the operation using virtual reality, which may reduce their anxiety before an operation.
Design
A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomised controlled trials following the Cochrane method were conducted.
Method
CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, Joanna Briggs Institute, MEDLINE and PubMed databases were searched for randomised controlled trials published before February 2021. A random‐effects model meta‐analysis to calculate pooled prevalence and 95% confidence intervals was performed. Conduction of the review adheres to the PRISMA checklist.
Results
Of 257 articles screened, six interventions involving 529 participants aged 4–12 years were included in the analysis. All study evidence levels were B2/Level 2, the quality was medium to high on the modified Jadad scale, with a low risk of bias. The results revealed that virtual reality significantly reduced preoperative anxiety in children (SMD: −0.91, 95% CI: −1.43 to −0.39, p = .0006). Furthermore, virtual reality significantly improved children's compliance with anaesthesia (SMD: 3.49, 95% CI: 1.32 to 9.21, p = .01).
Conclusion
Children who used virtual reality before an operation felt more familiar with the operating room environment and understood the preoperative preparation procedures. Virtual reality effectively reduced children's anxiety and improved their compliance with anaesthesia.
Relevance to clinical practice
This systematic review and meta‐analysis investigated the effect of virtual reality on preoperative anxiety in children and the findings supported its positive effects. The results could provide a reference for incorporating virtual reality into preoperative preparation guidelines.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Oxidative stress is mainly caused by intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which is highly associated with normal physiological homeostasis and the pathogenesis of diseases, ...particularly ocular diseases. Autophagy is a self-clearance pathway that removes oxidized cellular components and regulates cellular ROS levels. ROS can modulate autophagy activity through transcriptional and posttranslational mechanisms. Autophagy further triggers transcription factor activation and degrades impaired organelles and proteins to eliminate excessive ROS in cells. Thus, autophagy may play an antioxidant role in protecting ocular cells from oxidative stress. Nevertheless, excessive autophagy may cause autophagic cell death. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms of interaction between ROS and autophagy and their roles in the pathogenesis of several ocular diseases, including glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and optic nerve atrophy, which are major causes of blindness. The autophagy modulators used to treat ocular diseases are further discussed. The findings of the studies reviewed here might shed light on the development and use of autophagy modulators for the future treatment of ocular diseases.
Very few olefin block copolymer (OBC)‐based shape memory polymers (SMPs) studies were reported in the literature so far. This study investigated the preparation of OBC and silicone elastomeric blends ...(70/30 and 50/50) using a melt‐blending technique to form the first two‐way OBC‐based SMPs, to our best knowledge. Two phr of ((2,5‐bis(tert‐butylperoxy)‐2,5‐dimethylhexane (DHBP) was used to prepare flexible OBC/silicone D2 (D2 representing 2 phr of DHBP) networks. DHBP not only assisted the curing of OBC and silicone but also increased their compatibility in the blends. Despite the very low crystallinity of the OBC elastomer component, 10.4%, corresponding to only ~7% based on total resins in the OBC/silicone D2 70/30 blend, the rare two‐way shape memory behavior at such a low crystallinity was still envisaged. Regarding two‐way shape memory results at various loads, both entropy‐driven and crystallization‐driven contributions to the overall actuation magnitude (Ract) were at the highest level under 450 kPa, attributing to the highest orientation of molecular networks in the blends. With increasing the applied stress, the Ract of OBC/silicone (70/30) sample increased from 4.1% to 23.7% due to the increased strain‐induced crystallization effect confirmed by the XRD (X‐ray diffraction) evaluation, while the recovery magnitude (Rrec) was maintained at the high level, close to 90%, without the hindrance of high load on the recovery due to high elasticity of silicone rubber. Besides, the crystallization‐driven contribution to the overall actuation magnitude was higher for the blends containing the higher amount of crystalline OBC elastomer in the blends. On behalf of silicone with outstanding thermal stability, high elastic behavior, and high hydrophobicity, OBC/silicone SMP blends with versatile properties could meet different applications.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Background and Aims
Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is rare and has limited treatment options. We aimed to examine aspirin use on cancer‐specific survival in various BTC subtypes, including gallbladder ...cancer, ampulla of Vater cancer, and cholangiocarcinoma.
Approach and Results
Nationwide prospective cohort of newly diagnosed BTC between 2007 and 2015 were included and followed until December 31, 2017. Three nationwide databases, namely the Cancer Registration, National Health Insurance, and Death Certification System, were used for computerized data linkage. Aspirin use was defined as one or more prescriptions, and the maximum defined daily dose was used to evaluate the dose–response relationship. Cox’s proportional hazards models were applied for estimating HRs and 95% CIs. Analyses accounted for competing risk of cardiovascular deaths, and landmark analyses to avoid immortal time bias were performed. In total, 2,519 of patients with BTC were exposed to aspirin after their diagnosis (15.7%). After a mean follow‐up of 1.59 years, the 5‐year survival rate was 27.4%. The multivariate‐adjusted HR for postdiagnosis aspirin users, as compared with nonusers, was 0.55 (95% CI: 0.51 to 0.58) for BTC‐specific death. Adjusted HRs for BTC‐specific death were 0.53 (95% CI: 0.48 to 0.59) and 0.42 (95% CI: 0.31 to 0.58) for ≤ 1 and > 1 maximum defined daily dose, respectively, and showed a dose–response trend (P < 0.001; nonusers as a reference). Cancer‐specific mortality was lower with postdiagnosis aspirin use in patients with all major BTC subtypes.
Conclusions
The nationwide study revealed that postdiagnosis aspirin use was associated with improved BTC‐specific mortality of various subtypes. The findings suggest that additional randomized trials are required to investigate aspirin’s efficacy in BTC.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released by cells to mediate intercellular communication under pathological and physiological conditions. While small EVs (sEVs; <100–200 nm, exosomes) are intensely ...investigated, the properties and functions of medium and large EVs (big EVs (bEVs); >200 nm, microvesicles) are less well explored. Here, bEVs and sEVs are identified as distinct EV populations, and it is determined that bEVs are released in a greater bEV:sEV ratio in the aggressive human triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype. PalmGRET, bioluminescence‐resonance‐energy‐transfer (BRET)‐based EV reporter, reveals dose‐dependent EV biodistribution at nonlethal and physiological EV dosages, as compared to lipophilic fluorescent dyes. Remarkably, the bEVs and sEVs exhibit unique biodistribution profiles, yet individually promote in vivo tumor growth in a syngeneic immunocompetent TNBC breast tumor murine model. The bEVs and sEVs share mass‐spectrometry‐identified tumor‐progression‐associated EV surface membrane proteins (tpEVSurfMEMs), which include solute carrier family 29 member 1, Cd9, and Cd44. tpEVSurfMEM depletion attenuates EV lung organotropism, alters biodistribution, and reduces protumorigenic potential. This study identifies distinct in vivo property and function of bEVs and sEVs in breast cancer, which suggest the significant role of bEVs in diseases, diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Big and small extracellular vesicles circulate differentially and confer tumorigenic function modulatable by extracellular vesicle (EV) membrane proteins. Malignant breast cancers release more big EVs, in addition to small EVs, than normal cells to target organs and individually promote tumor growth via tumor‐progression‐associated EV surface membrane proteins.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Monocytes/macrophages are important in orchestrating inflammatory responses. However, knowledge of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) regulation of monocytic cell differentiation and diseases remains ...limited. We aimed to elucidate the role of the 17 kb lncRNA noncoding transcript in T cells (
) in monocyte functions. Knockdown and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays in THP-1 cells (human monocytic leukemia cell line) revealed that
is regulated by the monocyte key transcription factor C/EBPβ and that it binds to the promoter of nearby gene
via hnRNP-U. Overexpression of
in THP-1 cells resulted in cell cycle G1 arrest, differentiation into macrophages, a marked increase in
and
mRNA levels, and upregulation of the costimulatory molecules. In contrast to the downregulated
observed in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated THP-1 cells, the
axis was found to be hyperactivated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of first-time diagnosed untreated early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and their gene expression levels decreased markedly after treatment. Higher initial
expression levels were associated with a trend of higher disease activity DAS28 scores. In conclusion, our study suggests that the lncRNA
is a regulator of inflammation in monocytes, and its activation participates in monocyte/macrophage differentiation and the pathogenesis of RA.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background and Aim
A large genetic effect of a novel gallstone‐associated genetic variant, the hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4A) rs1800961 polymorphism, has been identified through recent ...genome‐wide association studies. However, this effect has not been validated in Asian populations. We investigated the association between the rs1800961 variant and gallstones among a Taiwanese population.
Methods
A total of 20 405 participants aged between 30 and 70 years voluntarily enrolled in the Taiwan Biobank. Self‐report questionnaires, physical examinations, biochemical tests, and genotyping were used for analysis. The association of the HNF4A rs1800961 variant and other metabolic risks with gallstone disease was analyzed using multiple logistic regression models.
Results
The minor T allele of HNF4A rs1800961 was associated with an increased risk of gallstone, and the association remained significant even after adjustment for other risk factors including age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and cigarette smoking (adjusted odds ratio OR = 1.90, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.31 to 2.75) in male participants. When further stratified by BMI and age, the lithogenic effect was the most significant in male participants with obesity (adjusted OR = 3.55, 95% CI = 1.92 to 6.56) and who were younger (adjusted OR = 2.45, 95% CI = 1.49 to 4.04).
Conclusion
The novel gallstone‐associated HNF4A rs1800961 variant was associated with the risk of gallstone in the Taiwanese men. Screening for the rs1800961 polymorphism may be particularly useful in assessing the risk of gallstone formation in younger or obese men.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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