ABSTRACT
Hyaluronan (HA) is involved in wound healing and its biological properties depend on its molecular size. The effects of native HA and HA‐12 and HA‐880 saccharide fragments on human ...fibroblast proliferation and expression of matrix‐related genes were studied. The three HA forms promoted cell adhesion and proliferation. Matrix metalloproteinase‐1 and ‐3 mRNA were increased by all HA forms, whereas only HA‐12 stimulated the expression of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1. HA‐12 enhanced type I collagen and transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) 1 expression. Interestingly, HA‐12 and native HA stimulated type III collagen and TGF‐β3. HA and its fragments activated Akt and extracellular‐regulated kinases 1/2 and p38. Inhibition of these signaling pathways suggested their implication in most of the effects. Only native HA activated nuclear factor‐κB and activating protein 1. Use of CD44 siRNA suggests that this HA receptor is partly implicated in the effects, although it does not rule out the involvement of other receptors. Depending on its size, HA may exert differential regulation on the wound‐healing process. Furthermore, the HA up‐regulation of type III collagen and TGF‐β3 expression suggests that it may promote a fetal‐like cell environment that favors scarless healing.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the lives of countless members of the general population. Older adults are known to experience loneliness, age discrimination, and excessive worry. It is ...therefore reasonable to anticipate that they would experience greater negative outcomes related to the COVID-19 pandemic given their increased isolation and risk for complications than younger adults.
This study aims to synthesize the existing research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, on older adults. The secondary objective is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, on older adults with Alzheimer disease and related dementias.
A rapid review of the published literature was conducted on October 6, 2020, through a search of 6 online databases to synthesize results from published original studies regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults. The Human Development Model conceptual framework-Disability Creation Process was used to describe and understand interactions between personal factors, environmental factors, and life habits. Methods and results are reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Statement.
A total of 135 records were included from the initial search strategy of 13,452 individual studies. Of these, 113 (83.7%) studies were determined to be of level 4 according to the levels of evidence classification by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. The presence of psychological symptoms, exacerbation of ageism, and physical deterioration of aged populations were reported in the included studies. Decreased social life and fewer in-person social interactions reported during the COVID-19 pandemic were occasionally associated with reduced quality of life and increased depression. Difficulties accessing services, sleep disturbances, and a reduction of physical activity were also noted.
Our results highlight the need for adequate isolation and protective measures. Older adults represent a heterogeneous group, which could explain the contradictory results found in the literature. Individual, organizational, and institutional strategies should be established to ensure that older adults are able to maintain social contacts, preserve family ties, and maintain the ability to give or receive help during the current pandemic. Future studies should focus on specific consequences and needs of more at-risk older adults to ensure their inclusion, both in public health recommendations and considerations made by policy makers.
One of the numerous objectives of the European CBCI project is to develop a circular biobased wall element. As part of the design process, the first prototypes are analysed using life cycle ...assessment (LCA) and compared to a more traditional wood-skeleton element. The results indicate that the prototypes have a significantly higher impact than the reference solution, mainly because of the specific selection of biobased finishing materials. Also, considering an in-use service life of 60 years, the use of metal connectors to enable dismantling and reuse of the structure is not justifiable from an environmental perspective as their impact is about as high as the structure itself. In conclusion, the case study illustrates how LCA allows to evaluate the environmental relevance of specific circular building solutions and can be used to identify optimization strategies.
Introduction: Rehabilitation practices that adopt a strengths-based perspective are known as transdisciplinary evidence-based practices. However, little is known about whether and how such a ...perspective is experienced by people living with a neurological condition during their rehabilitation. Objective: To explore how core components of a strengths-based rehabilitation perspective (i.e., hope, self-determination, and mobilization of personal strengths) are envisioned and experienced in outpatient-based rehabilitation by adults living with multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury. Methods: A descriptive exploratory study with mixed data collection was conducted with adults living with spinal cord injury (n = 9) or multiple sclerosis (n = 11). Participants completed two semi-structured interviews and the Recovery Promoting Relationship Scale (RPRS). The qualitative analysis relied on a hybrid inductive and deductive approach. Results: Four themes depict a strengths-based rehabilitation perspective: (1) The mobilization of personal strengths (e.g., what a strengths-based perspective could offer); (2) hope (e.g., what hinders hope in rehabilitation); (3) accessing information for decision-making (e.g., navigating the system); and (4) exercising self-determination (e.g., influencing the length or intensity of rehabilitation services). Conclusions: Hope, self-determination, and the mobilization of personal strengths are of the utmost importance throughout the rehabilitation of adults living with multiple sclerosis and or spinal cord injury. This paper raises awareness about elements specific to the contexts in which services are offered or to the therapeutic relationships influencing how these three strength-based constructs are envisioned and experienced in rehabilitation.
This study investigated the influence of carbon fibre addition on the thermal performances of gypsum compositions doped with 20 wt % of phase-change material (PCM) microspheres. The influences of the ...length (150 µm/3 mm) and additive amount (0.5/2/4 wt %) of the carbon fibres were investigated. Characterizations were performed throughout the various preparation steps to check that the materials aligned with the construction standards. The consistency of compositions with 3 mm carbon fibres did not seem to be suitable for construction implementation. On the contrary, thanks to an adequate amount of thinning additive, the compositions with 150 µm carbon fibres showed acceptable implementation properties. The materials were tested in a climatic chamber under temperature cycles that were either favourable (15 °C/40 °C) or unfavourable (20 °C/40 °C) for the regeneration process of the PCM. Tests with a plateau at 40 °C/15 °C were also performed to obtain a better understanding of the thermal behaviours. The tests were performed using walls with thicknesses of either 15 mm or 30 mm. The results show that, in all cases, the addition of carbon fibres was not beneficial to the thermal performance of the PCM. These observations were in opposition to those of other studies in the literature. We hypothesized that the performances of these composite materials would be different under convective or conductive fluxes. It was also shown that, in unfavourable conditions (20 °C/40 °C), the large thickness of 30 mm could not be fully regenerated, even in the compositions with carbon fibres. However, the PCM of boxes with 15 mm thick walls was deactivated faster (after ~400 min) than that of those with 30 mm thick walls (after ~700 min). Finally, the laboratory results were compared with the results of a previous large-scale study. It was estimated that, despite a surface-to-volume ratio that was 25 times higher, the energy storage efficiency was only increased by a factor of 2.6 between our laboratory study and the large-scale study. Hence, the PCM storage process seems to be mainly involved in maintaining the temperature of the gypsum walls rather than the temperature of the air.
Current strategies for teaching evacuation methods in private seniors' residences (PSR) and long-term care (LTCH) homes may pose risks to people with disabilities (PWD) and seniors' physical and ...psychological health. This study aimed to address the following questions: (1) Which are the current fire evacuation learning strategies used with PWD or seniors? (2) What are the barriers and facilitators for PWD and seniors' during fire evacuation and learning strategies in PSR and LTCH? (3) What is the existing equipment that could be used with PWD seniors?. A scoping review of grey and scientific literature was done in six databases and Google scholar. Additional information was found on Québec government websites. This review identified 13 scientific papers and 22 documents. Twenty barriers (personal = 9, environmental = 11), and 14 facilitators (personal = 4, environmental = 10) were extracted. The current fire evacuation learning strategies currently used can be grouped into three categories: drills; training; promotion of a fire safety plan. Six types of evacuation equipment were found; however, their use has been scarcely documented. Safety for seniors during fire evacuation is still an important issue to be improved. Increasing awareness and creating new practices and tools that consider the strengths and difficulties of seniors seems to be a promising avenue for improving evacuation.
Ni/SiO
2
cogelled xerogel catalysts have been prepared in ethanol containing nickel acetylacetonate, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), an aqueous ammonia solution of 0.54 mol L
−1
and either a commercial ...sylilated ligand,
3
-(
2
-aminoethyl)aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (EDAPMS), or a home-made new silylated pyrazolypyridine ligands, respectively
2
-
4
-
3
-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl-
3
,
5
-dimethyl-
1H
-pyrazol-1-ylpyridine (MS-PzPy) and
2
-
4
-
3
-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl-
3
,
5
-dimethyl-
1H
-pyrazol-1-yl-
6
-methylpyridine (MS-PzPyMe), able to form a chelate with a metal ion such as Ni
2+
. All samples form homogeneous and very highly dispersed Ni/SiO
2
cogelled xerogel catalysts. The resulting catalysts are composed of nickel nanoparticles with a diameter of about 2.8 nm, located inside primary silica particles exhibiting a monodisperse microporous distribution. The silylated organic ligand has a strong influence on the textural properties of cogelled xerogel catalysts, both before and after calcination and reduction steps. Changing the nature of the silylated ligand permits tailoring textural properties such as pore volume, pore size and surface area. Homogenous nickel complexes synthesized from pyrazolylpyridine derivatives are inactive for ethylene polymerization. In opposite, heterogenous nickel-based catalysts onto silica xerogel synthesized from pyrazolylpyridine derivatives bearing a tethered trialkoxysilyl group allow increasing ethylene polymerization activity. Although nickel nanoparticles are located inside the silica crystallites, their complete accessibility, via the micropore network, has been shown. For
1,2
-dichloroethane hydrodechlorination over Ni/SiO
2
catalysts, the conversion of
1,2
-dichloroethane is high at the temperature of 350 °C and mainly ethane is produced.
Graphical Abstract
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a leading life-threatening health challenge worldwide, with pressing needs for novel therapeutic strategies. Sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1), a well-established ...pro-cancer enzyme, is aberrantly overexpressed in a multitude of malignancies, including HCC. Our previous research has shown that genetic ablation of Sphk1 mitigates HCC progression in mice. Therefore, the development of PF-543, a highly selective SphK1 inhibitor, opens a new avenue for HCC treatment. However, the anti-cancer efficacy of PF-543 has not yet been investigated in primary cancer models in vivo, thereby limiting its further translation.
Building upon the identification of the active form of SphK1 as a viable therapeutic target in human HCC specimens, we assessed the capacity of PF-543 in suppressing tumor progression using a diethylnitrosamine-induced mouse model of primary HCC. We further delineated its underlying mechanisms in both HCC and endothelial cells. Key findings were validated in Sphk1 knockout mice and lentiviral-mediated SphK1 knockdown cells.
SphK1 activity was found to be elevated in human HCC tissues. Administration of PF-543 effectively abrogated hepatic SphK1 activity and significantly suppressed HCC progression in diethylnitrosamine-treated mice. The primary mechanism of action was through the inhibition of tumor neovascularization, as PF-543 disrupted endothelial cell angiogenesis even in a pro-angiogenic milieu. Mechanistically, PF-543 induced proteasomal degradation of the critical glycolytic enzyme 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3, thus restricting the energy supply essential for tumor angiogenesis. These effects of PF-543 could be reversed upon S1P supplementation in an S1P receptor-dependent manner.
This study provides the first in vivo evidence supporting the potential of PF-543 as an effective anti-HCC agent. It also uncovers previously undescribed links between the pro-cancer, pro-angiogenic and pro-glycolytic roles of the SphK1/S1P/S1P receptor axis. Importantly, unlike conventional anti-HCC drugs that target individual pro-angiogenic drivers, PF-543 impairs the PFKFB3-dictated glycolytic energy engine that fuels tumor angiogenesis, representing a novel and potentially safer therapeutic strategy for HCC.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This article consists of a scoping review completed to describe the impacts of refurbished hearing aids (HAs) for people with hearing loss, and to identify existing HA refurbishing programs around ...the world. In this review, JBI methodological guidance for scoping reviews was followed. All types of sources of evidence were considered. Thirty-six sources of evidence were included, 11 articles and 25 web pages. Results suggest that refurbished HAs may improve communication and social participation for individuals with hearing loss and provide monetary savings to them and to governmental agencies. Twenty-five HA refurbishing programs were identified, all based in developed countries and distributing refurbished HAs mostly locally, but also in developing countries. Issues related to refurbished HAs were highlighted, such as potential cross-contamination, quick obsolescence, and repairing problems. Some facilitators for the success of this intervention are to offer accessible and affordable follow-up services, repairs, and batteries, and to ensure awareness and participation of hearing healthcare professionals and citizens with hearing loss. In conclusion, the use of refurbished HAs appears to be a valuable option for low-income people with hearing loss, but it should be included in a more global intervention program to ensure its sustainability.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study presents the development of a method for the washcoating of Ni/boehmite gels, prepared by the sol–gel process, onto the surface of a commercial ceramic monolith. Indeed, a cordierite ...monolith in a honeycomb shape was used as the substrate for the Ni/Al2O3 deposition. An experimental assembly was made in order to apply the coating on the cordierite surface. Different suspensions were used with various viscosities, and multiple coating parameters were tested as the withdrawal speed, or the number of impregnations. It was observed that the simple deposition of the Ni/boehmite gel led to the formation of coating. Different morphologies were observed, and defects were highlighted as cracks, coating-free areas or aggregates. Among the various parameters studied, the pH of the sol appeared to play a role even more important than the viscosity. Indeed, the sol acidified with nitric acid showed a coating which was almost free of cracks or of large aggregates. Moreover, the use of a slurry mix of calcined alumina particles and colloidal boehmite appeared also as an interesting path. The beneficial influence of the slurry was attributed to a better resistance of the coating against the stresses induced during drying, and a deviation of the cracks in the gels by slurry grains.
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