Hunterdixon7527
Based on longitudinal data collected in a sample of Chinese medical students, this study tested the measurement invariance of the strength of motivation for medical school framework and examined the growth trajectories of their motivation for medical school over time. Results revealed that the strength of motivation for medical school scale demonstrated longitudinal measurement invariance. Medical students in our sample showed an overall decline over time in all three types of motivation for medical school. Most of the drop occurred during the first year of medical study. Individual variability was observed in the initial levels and the growth rates of motivation for medical school. We advised medical educators to provide sustained support to help medical students (especially for those early in medical school) improve their learning experience.Ambient air pollution is a leading cause of non-communicable disease in the world. PM2.5 has the potential to change the miRNAs profiles, which in turn causes cardiovascular effects. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 plays a critical role in the development of atherosclerosis. Yet, the possible role of miR-939-5p/HIF-1α in PM2.5-induced endothelial injury remains elusive. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the effects of miR-939-5p and HIF-1α on PM2.5-triggered endothelial injury. The results from immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, LSCM, and western blot assays demonstrated that PM2.5 increased the levels of HIF-1α, inflammation and apoptosis in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). Congo Red order Yet, the inflammatory response and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis pathway were effectively inhibited in HIF-1α knockdown HAECs lines. The expression of miR-939-5p was significantly down-regulated in HAECs after exposed to PM2.5. The luciferase reporter, qRT-PCR and western blot results demonstrated that miR-939-5p could directly targeted HIF-1α. And the miR-939-5p overexpression restricted PM2.5-triggered decreases in cell viability and increases in lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and inflammation. In addition, miR-939-5p overexpression remarkably suppressed PM2.5-triggered BcL-2/Bax ratio reduction and Cytochrome C, Cleaved Caspase-9 and Cleaved Caspase-3 expression increase, revealed that miR-939-5p hampered PM2.5-induced endothelial apoptosis through mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis pathway. Our results demonstrated that PM2.5 increased the expression of HIF-1α followed by a pro-inflammatory and apoptotic response in HAECs. The protective effect of miR-939-5p on PM2.5-triggered endothelial cell injury by negatively regulating HIF-1α. miR-939-5p might present a new therapeutic target for PM2.5 induced endothelial injury.The newly isolated Burkholderia gladioli BRM58833 strain was shown to secrete an alkaline lipase highly active and stable in organic solvents. Lipase production was optimized through the cultivation of the strain by solid-state fermentation in wheat bran. The lipase extraction conditions were also optimized. The low-cost extract obtained has shown a high hydrolytic activity of 1096.7 ± 39.3 U·gds-1 (units per gram of dry solids) against pNPP and 374.2 ± 20.4 U·gds-1 against triolein. Proteomic analysis revealed the optimized extract is composed of two esterases and three true lipases, showing a preference for long-chain substrates. The highest activity was obtained at 50 °C and pH 9. However, the extract maintained more than 50% of its maximum activity between pH 8.0 and 10.0 and throughout the whole temperature range evaluated (32-70 °C). The enzymes were inhibited by SDS, EDTA, ZnSO4 and FeCl3 and activated by FeSO4, MgCl2 and BaCl2. The lipases conserved their activity when incubated in solvents as acetonitrile, diethyl ether, n-heptane n-hexane, toluene, methanol and t-butanol. The resistance of these lipases to solvents and expressive thermostability when compared to other lipases, reveal their potential both in hydrolysis reactions and in synthesis of esters.Background This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the SF-12 questionnaire (in comparison to the EQ-5D questionnaire also), based on a survey conducted on a sample representing the general population of Poland.Methods The respondents completed Polish versions of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires SF-12, EQ-5D-5L, EQ VAS, and EQ-5D-3L, together with demographic and socioeconomic characteristic items. The following psychometric properties were analyzed informativity power, ceiling and floor effects, reliability, and construct validity. We also conducted an exploratory factor analysis.Results A total of 3,896 respondents (mean age 48.3 years, 53.2% female) were included in the analysis. The results showed exceptional informativity power of SF-12 items. We did not observe any ceiling and floor effects for the PCS and MCS components. The high values of the Cronbach's alpha coefficients confirmed the reliability of SF-12. Our hypothesis about lower scores for the summary components among older respondents, females and patients having declared diabetes was confirmed. The results of factor analysis also provided evidence for a positive assessment of construct validity.Conclusions Our results confirmed that the Polish version of the SF-12 questionnaire is a valid instrument for use in HRQoL assessment among the general population of Poland.
Deep-tissue localization of thermal doses is a long-standing challenge in magnetic field hyperthermia (MFH), and remains a limitation of the clinical application of MFH to date. Here, we show that pulse sequencing of MFH leads to a more persistent inhibition of tumor growth and less systemic impact than continuous MFH, even when delivering the same thermal dose.
We used an
orthotopic murine model of pancreatic PANC-1 cancer, which was designed with a view to the forthcoming 'NoCanTher' clinical study, and featured MFH alongside systemic chemotherapy (SyC gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel). In parallel,
thermal modelling was implemented.
Tumor volumes 27 days after the start of MFH/SyC treatment were 53% (of the initial volume) in the pulse MFH group, compared to 136% in the continuous MFH group, and 337% in the non-treated controls. Systemically, pulse MFH led to ca. 50% less core-temperature increase in the mice for a given injected dose of magnetic heating agent, and inflicted lower levels of the stress marker, as seen in the blood-borne neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (1.