Scope
Some polyphenol‐derived metabolites reach human breast cancer (BC) tissues at concentrations that induce cell senescence. However, this is unknown for isoflavones, curcuminoids, and lignans. ...Here, their metabolic profiling in normal (NT) and malignant (MT) mammary tissues of newly‐diagnosed BC patients and the tissue‐occurring metabolites’ anticancer activity are evaluated.
Methods and results
Patients (n = 26) consumed 3 capsules/day (turmeric, red clover, and flaxseed extracts plus resveratrol; 296.4 mg phenolics/capsule) from biopsy‐confirmed diagnosis to surgery (5 ± 2 days) or did not consume capsules (n = 13). NT and MT, blood, and urine are analyzed by UPLC‐QTOF‐MS using targeted metabolomics. Anticancer activity was tested in MCF‐7 and MDA‐MB‐231 BC cells. Mainly phase‐II metabolites were detected (108, 84, 49, and 47 in urine, plasma, NT, and MT, respectively). Total metabolite concentrations reached 10.7 ± 11.1 and 2.5 ± 2.4 µmol L–1 in NT and MT, respectively. Free curcumin, but not its glucuronide, was detected in the tissues (1.1 ± 1.8 and 0.2 ± 0.2 µmol L–1 in NT and MT, respectively). Breast tissue‐occurring metabolites’ antiproliferation was mainly exerted in p53‐wild‐type MCF‐7 cells by curcuminoids through cell cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis induction via p53/p21 induction, while isoflavone‐derived metabolites exerted estrogenic‐like activity.
Conclusion
Curcuminoids could be coadjuvants that might help fight BC upon regular consumption.
A total of 47 curcuminoid, isoflavone, resveratrol, and lignan‐derived metabolites, mostly conjugated, were detected in malignant mammary tissues of breast cancer patients. However, free curcumin, but not its glucuronide, was detected at micromolar concentration, likely due to a glucuronidation‐saturation process. Breast tissue‐occurring metabolites, mainly, curcuminoids, induced cell cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis via p53/p21, while isoflavone metabolites exerted estrogenic activity.
Objective To determine whether luteal phase endometrial transcriptome is altered in obese women during the window of implantation (WOI), considering the presence of infertility, fat distribution and ...association with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Design Prospective study. Setting University-affiliated infertility clinic, between May 2007 and March 2009. Patient(s) One control group of women with normal weight (n = 4), and four study groups of obese women (n = 6 each one) according to the association with infertility, PCOS, and ovarian stimulation. Intervention(s) The endometrium was biopsied 7 days after LH surge or hCG administration in 28 women. Main Outcome Measure(s) Endometrial gene expression during the WOI. Result(s) One hundred and fifty-one genes were dysregulated in obese groups compared with controls. This dysregulation was more pronounced when infertility was associated. The biologic processes of these genes belonged mainly to development and regulation of different biological functions such as transcription and biosynthesis. The molecular functions overrepresented were transcription and peptide receptor activity. The endometrium of obese women with PCOS showed dysregulated genes related to biologic processes such as development, morphogenesis, and the immune system, as well as different molecular functions such as protein binding, binding, growth factor activity, and carboxylic acid transmembrane transporter activity. Some of these genes have been previously related to implantation and unexplained infertility. Conclusion(s) Obese women present a different endometrial gene expression than controls during the WOI, which is more pronounced when infertility or polycystic ovary syndrome are associated.
This study analyses the potential of a learning analytics (LA) based formative assessment to construct personalised teaching sequences in Mathematics for 5th‐grade primary school students. A total of ...127 students from Spanish public schools participated in the study. The quasi‐experimental study was conducted over the course of six sessions, in which both control and experimental groups participated in a teaching sequence based on mathematical problems. In each session, both groups used audience response systems to record their responses to mathematical tasks about fractions. After each session, students from the control group were given generic homework on fractions—the same activities for all the participants—while students from the experimental group were given a personalised set of activities. The provision of personalised homework was based on the students' errors detected from the use of the LA‐based formative assessment. After the intervention, the results indicate a higher student level of understanding of the concept of fractions in the experimental group compared to the control group. Related to motivational dimensions, results indicated that instruction using audience response systems has a positive effect compared to regular mathematics classes.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic
Developing an understanding of fractions is one of the most challenging concepts in elementary mathematics and a solid predictor of future achievements in mathematics.
Learning analytics (LA) has the potential to provide quality, functional data for assessing and supporting learners' difficulties.
Audience response systems (ARS) are one of the most practical ways to collect data for LA in classroom environments.
There is a scarcity of field research implementations on LA mediated by ARS in real contexts of elementary school classrooms.
What this paper adds
Empirical evidence about how LA‐based formative assessments can enable personalised homework to support student understanding of fractions.
Personalised homework based on an LA‐based formative assessment improves the students' comprehension of fractions.
Using ARS for the teaching of fractions has a positive effect in terms of student motivation.
Implications for practice and/or policy
Teachers should be given LA/ARS tools that allow them to quickly provide students with personalised mathematical instruction.
Researchers should continue exploring these potentially beneficial educational implementations in other areas.
Quantifying space use and segregation, as well as the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting them, is crucial to increase our knowledge of species-specific movement ecology and to design effective ...management and conservation measures. This is particularly relevant in the case of species that are highly mobile and dependent on sparse and unpredictable trophic resources, such as vultures. Here, we used the GPS-tagged data of 127 adult Griffon Vultures
captured at five different breeding regions in Spain to describe the movement patterns (home-range size and fidelity, and monthly cumulative distance). We also examined how individual sex, season, and breeding region determined the cumulative distance traveled and the size and overlap between consecutive monthly home-ranges. Overall, Griffon Vultures exhibited very large annual home-range sizes of 5027 ± 2123 km
, mean monthly cumulative distances of 1776 ± 1497 km, and showed a monthly home-range fidelity of 67.8 ± 25.5%. However, individuals from northern breeding regions showed smaller home-ranges and traveled shorter monthly distances than those from southern ones. In all cases, home-ranges were larger in spring and summer than in winter and autumn, which could be related to difference in flying conditions and food requirements associated with reproduction. Moreover, females showed larger home-ranges and less monthly fidelity than males, indicating that the latter tended to use the similar areas throughout the year. Overall, our results indicate that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors modulate the home-range of the Griffon Vulture and that spatial segregation depends on sex and season at the individual level, without relevant differences between breeding regions in individual site fidelity. These results have important implications for conservation, such as identifying key threat factors necessary to improve management actions and policy decisions.
Purpose
The aim of the study was to compare the outcomes of patients with post‐COVID‐19 condition undergoing supervised therapeutic exercise intervention or following the self‐management WHO (World ...Health Organization) rehabilitation leaflet.
Methods
A randomized controlled trial was carried out that included 39 participants with post‐COVID‐19 condition who had a chronic symptomatic phase lasting >12 weeks. Comprehensive medical screening, patient‐reported symptoms, and cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength were assessed. Patients were randomly assigned to a tailored multicomponent exercise program based on concurrent training for 8 weeks (two supervised sessions per week comprised resistance training combined with aerobic training moderate intensity variable training, plus a third day of monitored light intensity continuous training), or to a control group which followed the WHO guidelines for rehabilitation after COVID‐19.
Results
After follow‐up, there were changes in physical outcomes in both groups, however, the magnitude of the change pre–post intervention favored the exercise group in cardiovascular and strength markers: VO2max +5.7%, sit‐to‐stand −22.7% and load‐velocity profiles in bench press +6.3%, and half squat +16.9%, (p < 0.05). In addition, exercise intervention resulted in a significantly better quality of life, less fatigue, less depression, and improved functional status, as well as in superior cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength compared to controls (p < 0.05). No adverse events were observed during the training sessions.
Conclusion
Compared to current WHO recommendations, a supervised, tailored concurrent training at low and moderate intensity for both resistance and endurance training is a more effective, safe, and well‐tolerated intervention in post‐COVID‐19 conditions.
Aim
The genus Fusarium comprises plant pathogenic species with agricultural relevance. Fusarium oxysporum causes tomato wilt disease with significant production losses. The use of agrochemicals to ...control the Fusarium wilt of tomato is not environmentally friendly. Bacillus species, as biocontrol agents, provide a safe and sustainable means to control Fusarium‐induced plant diseases. In this study, the ability of Bacillus cereus MH778713, a strain isolated from root nodules of Prosopis laevigata, to protect tomato plants against Fusarium wilt was evaluated.
Methods and results
Bacillus cereus MH778713 and its volatiles inhibited the radial growth of F. oxysporum and stimulated tomato seedling growth in in vitro and in vivo tests. When tomato plants growing in the greenhouse were inoculated with B. cereus MH778713, the percentage of wilted plants decreased from 96% to 12%, indicating an effective crop protection against Fusarium wilt. Among the metabolites produced by B. cereus MH778713, hentriacontane and 2,4‐di‐tert‐butylphenol promoted tomato seedling growth and showed antifungal activity against the target pathogen.
Conclusion
The inoculation of B. cereus MH778713 on tomato seedlings helped plants to manage Fusarium wilt, suggesting the potential of B. cereus MH778713 as a biocontrol agent.
Significance and Impact of the Study
These results complement our previous studies on chromium tolerance and bioremediation traits of B. cereus MH778713 by highlighting the potential of this metal‐resistant micro‐organism to boost crop growth and disease resistance.
The problem of optimally sizing hybrid energy storage systems (HESS) installed in electric railway systems, considering the effect of regenerative braking is studied in this paper. HESSs combine ...traditional batteries and newly developed ultracapacitors, taking advantage of the high energy capacity of batteries and of the flexibility and ability to capture high power density of ultracapacitors. A novel mixed integer linear programming formulation that includes the counting of battery cycles is presented. Some particularities of battery operation are included in the model, like the dependence of its performance on the number of cycles and the depth of discharge (DOD). Results are reported first for a illustrative case study, allowing us to perform sensitivity studies for several parameters; results are also reported and for a larger case, closely resembling the problem faced by railway energy systems planners and operators.
Breast cancer patients under neoadjuvant chemotherapy includes a heterogeneous group of patients who eventually develop distal disease, not detectable by current methods. We propose the use of ...exosomal miRNAs and circulating tumor cells as diagnostic and predictive biomarkers in these patients.
Fifty-three breast cancer women initially diagnosed with localized breast cancer under neoadjuvant chemotherapy were prospectively enrolled in this study. However, six of them were later re-evaluated and diagnosed as metastatic breast cancer patients by PET-CT scan. Additionally, eight healthy donors were included. Circulating tumor cells and serum exosomal miRNAs were isolated from blood samples before and at the middle of neoadjuvant therapy and exosomal miRNA levels analyzed by qPCR.
Before neoadjuvant therapy, exosomal miRNA-21 and 105 expression levels were higher in metastatic versus non-metastatic patients and healthy donors. Likewise, higher levels of miRNA-222 were observed in basal-like (p = 0.037) and in luminal B versus luminal A (p = 0.0145) tumor subtypes. Exosomal miRNA-222 levels correlated with clinical and pathological variables such as progesterone receptor status (p = 0.017) and Ki67 (p = 0.05). During neoadjuvant treatment, exosomal miRNA-21 expression levels directly correlated with tumor size (p = 0.039) and inversely with Ki67 expression (p = 0.031). Finally, higher levels of exosomal miRNA-21, miRNA-222, and miRNA-155 were significantly associated with the presence of circulating tumor cells.
Liquid biopsies based on exosomal miRNAs and circulating tumor cells can be a complementary clinical tool for improving breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
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