To compare quality of life (QOL) outcomes of percutaneous and transcutaneous bone conduction devices (pBCD and tBCD, respectively).
Pubmed, Scopus, CINAHL.
A systematic review was performed searching ...for English language articles from inception to March 15, 2023. Studies reporting QOL outcomes measured using a validated tool following implantation of either pBCDs or tBCDs were considered for inclusion. QOL outcomes included scores for Glasgow Benefit Inventory, Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory, Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, and the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale. A meta-analysis of continuous measures was performed.
A total of 52 articles with 1,469 patients were included. Six hundred eighty-nine patients were implanted with pBCDs, and the remaining 780 were implanted with tBCDs. Average Glasgow Benefit Inventory scores for the tBCD group (33.0, 95% confidence interval 22.7-43.3) were significantly higher than the pBCD group (30.9 25.2-36.6) (Δ2.1 1.4-2.8, p < 0.0001). Mean Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory scores (Δ3.9 2.0-5.8, p = 0.0001) and mean gain in Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit scores (Δ5.6 4.8-6.4, p < 0.0001) were significantly higher among patients implanted with tBCDs than those implanted with pBCDs. Patients implanted with tBCDs also had significantly higher gains on the Speech (Δ1.1 0.9-1.3, p < 0.0001), Spatial (Δ0.8 0.7-0.9, p < 0.0001), and Qualities of Hearing (Δ1.2 1.1-1.3, p < 0.0001) portions of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale than those implanted with pBCDs.
Patients implanted with transcutaneous devices had better QOL outcomes than those implanted with percutaneous devices.
In an effort to identify novel anti-cancer agents, we employed a well-established High Throughput Screening (HTS) assay to assess the cytotoxic effect of compounds within the ChemBridge DIVERSet ...Library on a lymphoma cell line. This screen revealed a novel thiophene, F8 (methyl 5-(dimethylamino)carbonyl-4-methyl-2-(3-phenyl-2-propynoyl) amino-3-thiophenecarboxylate), that displays anti-cancer activity on lymphoma, leukemia, and other cancer cell lines. Thiophenes and thiophene derivatives have emerged as an important class of heterocyclic compounds that have displayed favorable drug characteristics. They have been previously reported to exhibit a broad spectrum of properties and varied uses in the field of medicine. In addition, they have proven to be effective drugs in various disease scenarios. They contain anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, estrogen receptor modulating, anti-mitotic, kinase inhibiting and anti-cancer activities, rendering compounds with a thiophene a subject of significant interest in the scientific community. Compound F8 consistently induced cell death at a low micromolar range on a small panel of cancer cell lines after a 48 h period. Further investigation revealed that F8 induced phosphatidylserine externalization, reactive oxygen species generation, mitochondrial depolarization, kinase inhibition, and induces apoptosis. These findings demonstrate that F8 has promising anti-cancer activity.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is an extremely aggressive malignancy, which carries a dismal prognosis. Activating mutations of the Kras gene are common to the vast majority of human PDA. In ...addition, recent studies have demonstrated that embryonic signaling pathway such as Hedgehog and Notch are inappropriately upregulated in this disease. The role of another embryonic signaling pathway, namely the canonical Wnt cascade, is still controversial. Here, we use gene array analysis as a platform to demonstrate general activation of the canonical arm of the Wnt pathway in human PDA. Furthermore, we provide evidence for Wnt activation in mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Our results also indicate that Wnt signaling might be activated downstream of Hedgehog signaling, which is an early event in PDA evolution. Wnt inhibition blocked proliferation and induced apoptosis of cultured adenocarcinoma cells, thereby providing evidence to support the development of novel therapeutical strategies for Wnt inhibition in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
The extracellular space of solid tumors ranges from being well-nurtured to being completely ischemic and can serve as a source of intratumoral heterogeneity, determining the behavior and molecular ...profiles of malignant and stromal cells. Here, we discuss how the metabolic tumor microenvironment modulates the phenotypes of the immune cells that infiltrate tumors, with an emphasis on tumor-associated macrophages. These cells constitute a diverse population that has pro-tumoral and anti-inflammatory properties, and are likened to anti-inflammatory 'M2' macrophages. Recent findings show how different metabolic microenvironments specify an array of phenotypic changes in macrophages. In tumors, extracellular metabolite levels vary predictably according to proximity to the vasculature, and phenotypic changes in tumor-associated macrophages and in other immune cells are also predictable. We speculate that this 'metabolic axis' of macrophage polarization modulates - and is modulated by - the response to inflammatory cues, creating a wide variety of possible phenotypic states. Understanding how extracellular metabolites influence cell phenotypes allows us to predict how tumor-associated macrophages and other tumor cells might change, with the aim of harnessing this predictability for therapy. Overall, we describe an emerging picture in which chemokines, growth factors and the metabolic tumor microenvironment act together to determine the phenotypes of tumor-infiltrating immune cells.
Bioactive peptides (BPs) are amino acid sequences derived from food proteins. Their relevance lies in the biological activities they have once they are released from the parent protein. BPs or ...protein hydrolysates can be commercialized as nutraceutical products or functional ingredients according to their activities. Different food protein sources have been researched for their potential to generate BPs. However, with the exception of lunasin (derived from soy), animal protein sources have been predominantly exploited as commercial BPs sources. On the other hand, pulses have shown diverse BP contents without further impact on their commercialization. Pulses are a rich source of protein in the human diet and their consumption has been associated with the prevention of chronic diseases. The beneficial effect in human health has been related to their micronutrients, phytochemical bioactive compounds, and recently BPs. This article reviews the current literature about pulse protein hydrolysates and BPs with proved angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory, antioxidant, cancer preventing, and other health promoting activities. Proteolysis process is commonly achieved by digestive and microorganism enzymes. BP purification and identification has consisted mainly on size segregation procedures followed by mass spectrometry techniques. Hydrolysis time, peptide size, and hydrophobicity are employed as process variants and structural features relevant for the BP activities. Finally, some considerations about industrial processing and BPs used as functional food ingredients were reviewed.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous synthetic chemicals that may disrupt blood pressure controls; however, human evidence to support this hypothesis is scant. We ...examined the association between serum concentrations of PFAS and risks of developing hypertension.
This study included 1058 midlife women initially free of hypertension from the multiracial and multiethnic SWAN (Study of Women's Health Across the Nation) with annual follow-up visits between 1999 and 2017. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg systolic or ≥90 mm Hg diastolic or receiving antihypertensive treatment. Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to calculate hazard ratios and 95% CIs. Quantile g-computation was implemented to evaluate the joint effect of PFAS mixtures.
During 11 722 person-years of follow-up, 470 participants developed incident hypertension (40.1 cases per 1000 person-years). Compared with the lowest tertile, women in the highest tertile of baseline serum concentrations had adjusted hazard ratios of 1.42 (95% CI, 1.19-1.68) for perfluorooctane sulfonate (
trend=0.01), 1.47 (95% CI, 1.24-1.75) for linear perfluorooctanoate (
trend=0.01), and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.19-1.70) for 2-(N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetate (
trend=0.01). No significant associations were observed for perfluorononanoate and perfluorohexane sulfonate. In the mixture analysis, women in the highest tertile of overall PFAS concentrations had a hazard ratio of 1.71 (95% CI, 1.15-2.54;
trend=0.008), compared with those in the lowest tertile.
Several PFAS showed positive associations with incident hypertension. These findings suggest that PFAS might be an underappreciated contributing factor to women's cardiovascular disease risk.
To compare audiometric outcomes, complications, and revisions required for percutaneous (pBCD) versus transcutaneous (tBCD) implantable bone-conduction devices for the treatment of hearing loss ...associated with congenital aural atresia (CAA).Databases Reviewed.PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL.
A systematic review was performed searching for English language articles from inception to December 14, 2022. Studies reporting audiometric outcomes or complications for either pBCDs or tBCDs for the treatment of CAA were selected for inclusion. A meta-analysis of single means and meta-analysis of proportions with comparison (Δ) of weighted proportions was conducted.
A total of 56 articles with 756 patients were selected for inclusion. One hundred ninety patients were implanted with pBCDs, whereas the remaining 566 were implanted with tBCDs. Mean pure-tone audiometry improvement in the pBCD group (39.1 ± 1.1 dB) was significantly higher than in the tBCD group (34.6 ± 1.6 dB; Δ4.5 dB; 95% confidence interval, 4.2-4.7 dB; p < 0.0001). The average improvement in speech reception threshold was 38.6 ± 2.5 dB in the percutaneous group as compared with 32.7 ± 1.6 dB in the transcutaneous group (Δ5.9 dB 5.3-6.5 dB, p < 0.0001). Overall complication rates for patients implanted with pBCDs and tBCDs were 29.0% (15.7-44.4%) and 9.4% (6.5%-13.0%), respectively (Δ19.6% 12.0-27.7%, p < 0.0001).
Patients with CAA implanted with pBCDs had significantly better audiometric outcomes than those implanted with tBCDs. However, complication rates were significantly higher among the pBCD group.
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have the potential to benefit undergraduates and longer UREs have been shown to lead to greater benefits for students. However, no studies have examined what ...causes students to stay in or consider leaving their UREs. In this study, we examined what factors cause students to stay in their UREs, what factors cause students to consider leaving their UREs, and what factors cause students to leave their UREs. We sampled from 25 research-intensive (R1) public universities across the United States and surveyed 768 life sciences undergraduates who were currently participating in or had previously participated in a URE. Students answered closed-ended and open-ended questions about factors that they perceived influenced their persistence in UREs. We used logistic regression to explore to what extent student demographics predicted what factors influenced students to stay in or consider leaving their UREs. We applied open-coding methods to probe the student-reported reasons why students chose to stay in and leave their UREs. Fifty percent of survey respondents considered leaving their URE, and 53.1% of those students actually left their URE. Students who reported having a positive lab environment and students who indicated enjoying their everyday research tasks were more likely to not consider leaving their UREs. In contrast, students who reported a negative lab environment or that they were not gaining important knowledge or skills were more likely to leave their UREs. Further, we identified that gender, race/ethnicity, college generation status, and GPA predicted which factors influenced students' decisions to persist in their UREs. This research provides important insight into how research mentors can create UREs that undergraduates are willing and able to participate in for as long as possible.
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