Notes

Standardised Hydrangea serrata (Thunb.) Ser. Extract Ameliorates Being overweight throughout db/db Rodents.
This article proposes a theoretical framework on the role of pharmaceuticals in transforming perspectives and shaping contemporary subjectivities. It outlines the significant role drugs play in three fundamental processes of social transformation in Western societies medicalisation, molecularisation and biosocialisation. Indeed, drugs can be envisaged as major devices of a pharmaceutical regime, which is more akin to the notion of dispositif, as used by Foucault, than to the sole result of high-level scheming by powerful economic interests, a notion which informs a significant share of the literature. Medications serve as a key vector of the transformation of perspective (or gaze) that characterises medicalisation, molecularisation and biosocialisation, by shifting our view on health, nature and identity from a categorical to a dimensional framework. Hence, central to this thesis is that the same underlying mechanism is at work. Indeed, in all three processes there is an evolving polarity between two antinomic categories, the positions of which are constantly being redefined by the various uses of drugs. Due to their concreteness, the fluidity of their use and the plasticity of the identities they authorise, drugs colonise all areas of contemporary social experiences, far beyond the medical sphere. A video abstract of this article can be found at https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=djIBY7DHKW4&feature=youtu.be.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common comorbidity in many diseases, but the frequency in rheumatic disease has not been well understood.

We investigated the prevalence of GERD by GerdQ in 530 rheumatic patients [systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE; n = 120), rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 117), polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR; n = 40), dermatomyositis and polymyositis (PM/DM; n = 38), systemic scleroderma (SSc; n = 37), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD; n = 18), Behçet disease (BD; n = 17), adult onset still disease (AOSD; n = 14), and other rheumatic diseases (n = 129)].

The mean GerdQ scores of patients was 6.2 ± 1.8, respectively, and no significant differences were observed between all patients. However, the GERD prevalence in SSc and BD was increased compared to that in SLE, RA, PMR, PM/DM, MCTD, and AOSD. In no medication of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), a significant increase in the risk of GERD symptoms was 2.5 times compared with that in the medication of PPIs in all patients by multivariable regression analysis. On the other hand, there were no increased risks of GERD symptoms with corticosteroids.

In rheumatic diseases, GerdQ would be the useful tool of diagnosis GERD, regardless whether the patients complain or not about gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.
In rheumatic diseases, GerdQ would be the useful tool of diagnosis GERD, regardless whether the patients complain or not about gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.
Previous reports have documented the feasibility of utilizing electrocochleographic (ECoG) responses to acoustic signals to assess trauma caused during cochlear implantation. The hypothesis is that intraoperative round window ECoG before and after electrode insertion will help predict postoperative hearing preservation outcomes in cochlear implant recipients.

Prospective cohort study.

Intraoperative round window ECoG responses were collected from 31 cochlear implant recipients (14 children and 17 adults) immediately prior to and just after electrode insertion. Hearing preservation was determined by postoperative changes in behavioral thresholds.

On average, the postinsertion response was smaller than the preinsertion response by an average of 4 dB across frequencies. However, in some cases (12 of 31) the response increased after insertion. The subsequent hearing loss was greater than the acute loss in the ECoG, averaging 22 dB across the same frequency range (250-1,000 Hz). There was no correlation between the change in the ECoG response and the corresponding change in audiometric threshold.

Intraoperative ECoG is a sensitive method for detecting electrophysiologic changes during implantation but had limited prognostic value regarding hearing preservation in the current conventional cochlear implant patient population where hearing preservation was not intended.

2b Laryngoscope, 1261193-1200, 2016.
2b Laryngoscope, 1261193-1200, 2016.
The purpose of this review of the literature is to identify a comprehensive list of the barriers that impact the effective implementation and sustainment of hourly rounding on the adult inpatient medical or surgical unit.

Despite the benefits associated with hourly rounding, challenges with the implementation and sustainment of this intervention have been reported on medical-surgical units. Some hospitals have multiple campaigns to implement rounding, yet sustainment eludes them.

Four databases were searched independently by two reviewers. Articles were screened according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria and 20 articles resulted.

Clear themes of barriers emerged across the literature consisting of workload issues, burdensome rounding logs, missing staff buy-in, patient acuity levels, lack of adequate staff education and a lack of sustainability.

The barriers identified are all directly related and perceived by the front line staff that is performing hourly rounding. The barriers identified may be limiting the organisation's ability to sustain the hourly rounding process.

Leaders can utilise this information to analyse and create successful options to overcome these barriers before, during and after the implementation process. Further studies are needed to identify targeted strategies to alleviate these barriers.
Leaders can utilise this information to analyse and create successful options to overcome these barriers before, during and after the implementation process. Further studies are needed to identify targeted strategies to alleviate these barriers.The hormone relaxin (RLX) has been reported to influence gastrointestinal motility in mice. However, at present, nothing is known about the effects of RLX on the biophysical properties of the gastrointestinal smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Other than extending previous knowledge of RLX on colonic motility, the purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of the hormone to induce changes in resting membrane potential (RMP) and on sarcolemmal ion channels of colonic SMCs of mice that are related to its mechanical activity. To this aim, we used a combined mechanical and electrophysiological approach. In the mechanical experiments, we observed that RLX caused a decay of the basal tone coupled to an increase of the spontaneous contractions, completely abolished by the guanylate cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]-quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ). The electrophysiological results indicate for the first time that RLX directly affects the SMC biophysical properties inducing hyperpolarization of RMP and cycles of slow hyperpolarization/depolarization oscillations. The effects of RLX on RMP were abolished by ODQ as well as by a specific inhibitor of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase, KT5823. RLX reduced Ca(2+) entry through the voltage-dependent L-type channels and modulated either voltage- or ATP-dependent K(+) channels. JAK inhibitor These effects were abolished by ODQ, suggesting the involvement of the nitric oxide/guanylate cyclase pathway in the effects of RLX on RMP and ion channel modulation. These actions of RLX on membrane properties may contribute to the regulation of the proximal colon motility by the nitric oxide/cGMP/cGMP-dependent protein kinase pathway.Maintenance of cell polarity is essential for Sertoli cell and blood-testis barrier (BTB) function and spermatogenesis; however, the signaling mechanisms that regulate the integrity of the cytoskeleton and polarity of Sertoli cells are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that rapamycin-insensitive component of target of rapamycin (TOR) (Rictor), a core component of mechanistic TOR complex 2 (mTORC2), was expressed in the seminiferous epithelium during testicular development, and was down-regulated in a cadmium chloride-induced BTB damage model. We then conditionally deleted the Rictor gene in Sertoli cells and mutant mice exhibited azoospermia and were sterile as early as 3 months old. Further study revealed that Rictor may regulate actin organization via both mTORC2-dependent and mTORC2-independent mechanisms, in which the small GTPase, ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1, and phosphorylation of the actin filament regulatory protein, Paxillin, are involved, respectively. Loss of Rictor in Sertoli cells perturbed actin dynamics and caused microtubule disarrangement, both of which accumulatively disrupted Sertoli cell polarity and BTB integrity, accompanied by testicular developmental defects, spermiogenic arrest and excessive germ cell loss in mutant mice. Together, these findings establish the importance of Rictor/mTORC2 signaling in Sertoli cell function and spermatogenesis through the maintenance of Sertoli cell cytoskeletal dynamics, BTB integrity, and cell polarity.Though research has begun to highlight the centrality of communication in palliative care, studies have yet to focus on the use of mindful communication. Mindful communication is associated with increases in patient care and decreases in physician burnout. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews the authors sought mindful communication practices from palliative care leaders in American Hospital Association Circle of Life® award-wining units. Four key mindful communication practices emerged Know your audience, ask questions, discard scripts, and recognize your role. The discussion articulates how key mindful communication practices may be used as a stage model, where key practices may be used individually or in concert, by sole practitioners or within interdisciplinary teams and by new and seasoned clinicians. Theoretical contributions and areas for future inquiry are also discussed.An efficient synthesis of several N-[(1-benzyl-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl]carboxamides in the 13β- and 13α-d-secoestrone series is reported. Novel triazoles were synthesized via the Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition of steroidal alkynyl carboxamides and p-substituted benzyl azides. Each of the products was evaluated in vitro by means of MTT assays for antiproliferative activity against a panel of human adherent cancer cell lines (HeLa, MCF-7, A431 and A2780). link2 Some of them exhibited activities similar to those of the reference agent cisplatin. On change of the substitution pattern of the benzyl group of the azide, great differences in the cell growth-inhibitory properties were observed. The p-alkylbenzyl-substituted triazoles selectively exerted high cytostatic action against A2780 cells, with IC50 values of 1 µM. We investigated the potential inhibitory action exerted on the human 17β-HSD1 activity of the new secosteroids. Three triazoles effectively suppressed the estrone to 17β-estradiol conversion with IC50 values in low micromolar range.Recent reports have suggested that leprosy originated in Africa, extended to Asia and Europe, and arrived in the Americas during European colonization and the African slave trade. Due to colonization, the contemporary Colombian population is an admixture of Native-American, European and African ancestries. Because microorganisms are known to accompany humans during migrations, patterns of human migration can be traced by examining genomic changes in associated microbes. The current study analyzed 118 leprosy cases and 116 unrelated controls from two Colombian regions endemic for leprosy (Atlantic and Andean) in order to determine possible associations of leprosy with patient ancestral background (determined using 36 ancestry informative markers), Mycobacterium leprae genotype and/or patient geographical origin. We found significant differences between ancestral genetic composition. European components were predominant in Andean populations. In contrast, African components were higher in the Atlantic region. link3 M.
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