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impaired by injury, genetic or chronic diseases. Among all skin diseases, melanoma is one 23 of the most severe, which can lead to death, due to the metastization process. 24 Mechanotransduction has a crucial role for invasion mot...
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impaired by injury, genetic or chronic diseases. Among all skin diseases, melanoma is one 23 of the most severe, which can lead to death, due to the metastization process. 24 Mechanotransduction has a crucial role for invasion motility, adhesion and metastization 25 processes, since it deals with the response of cells to physical forces. It is important to explore 26 signalling pathways in order to understand how biophysical forces, produced or mediated by 27 the Extracellular Matrix (ECM), affect the interior of healthy and tumour cells. It is also 28 important to address how healthy cells and the ECM respond to forces caused by tumour 29 tissue. During these processes, several molecules (in the nucleus and cytoplasm) are activated 30 due to physical cues originating from the microenvironment. Melanocytes, keratinocytes, 31 fibroblasts and the ECM are the cells, which play a crucial role in melanoma formation. This 32 manuscript will address these components, considering their mechanical contribution and 33 relevance in this disease. The pigmentation of melanoma cells can also influence the 34 mechanical properties of these cells, which can be associated with changes in their stiffness. 35 These mechanical changes can be related with the migration, adhesion or invasiveness 36 potential of these cells promoting a high metastization capacity of this cancer. 37 Mechanosensing, mechanotransduction and mechanoresponse will be highlighted with 38 respect to the motility, invasion, , adhesion and metastization in melanoma cancer.
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This study aimed to identify the repercussions of corruption on the external environment in the stateof Palestine by answering the following question: to what extent did corruption affect the external environmentin Palestine? In o...
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This study aimed to identify the repercussions of corruption on the external environment in the stateof Palestine by answering the following question: to what extent did corruption affect the external environmentin Palestine? In order to answer the study question, the researcher relied on the qualitative method throughinterviewing. The study population consisted of all employees in the non-ministerial public institutions and thePalestinian private sector. The sample was recruited based on the purposeful sampling procedure to performthe study. The study revealed many results as follows: the impact of corruption on the economic environmentin Palestine to a medium degree, the results of the study showed that the Palestinian society suffers from theimpact of corruption to a high degree on the social environment. Regarding the domain of the repercussionsof corruption on the political environment in Palestine, the results of the study showed a high response. Theresults of the study also found that the impact of corruption on the legal environment in Palestine is high. Theresults of the study showed that corruption affected the cultural environment in Palestine to a medium degree.The results of the study showed that the impact of corruption on the external environment from the point ofview of employees with high response reflects the lack of trust among the citizens and the state. The studyintroduced several recommendations, the most important of which were: the cabinet?s demand that a nationalstrategic plan be adopted across sectors to enhance the anti-corruption efforts and the need to reform thePalestinian tax system through issuing simple and modern legislation and establishing the principle of taxes forservices. And therefore, the need to work towards the adoption of a comprehensive plan of action by theCouncil of Ministers on the rationalization of public expenditure and raise awareness of the community oncorruption issues and the mechanism to participate in combating and reporting thereon, rebuilding a social andeconomic system based on social justice and the need for the judiciary to exercise its role as required by theprovisions of the constitution and the law and to build an independent judiciary and take into account thenecessary separation between the authorities in the political system and activate mutual control between themand work on the need to activate the role of the Legislative Council because of its vital role in the control ofthe executive authority, in addition to the implementation of further research on the phenomenon of corruptionand its implications in the state of Palestine.
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Context: Since its inception more than 150?years ago, the School of Medicine at Queen’s University has aspired ‘to advance the tradition of preparing excellent physicians and leaders in health care by embracing a spirit of inqui...
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Context: Since its inception more than 150?years ago, the School of Medicine at Queen’s University has aspired ‘to advance the tradition of preparing excellent physicians and leaders in health care by embracing a spirit of inquiry and innovation in education and research’. As part of this continuing commitment, Queen’s School of Medicine developed the Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS). As Canada’s only 2-year accelerated-entry premedical programme, QuARMS was designed to reduce training time, the associated expense of medical training, and to encourage a collaborative premedical experience. Students enter QuARMS directly from high school and then spend 2?years enrolled in an undergraduate degree programme. They then are eligible to enter the first-year MD curriculum. The 2-year QuARMS academic curriculum includes traditional undergraduate coursework, small group sessions, and independent activities. The QuARMS curriculum is built on 4 pillars: communication skills, critical thinking, the role of physician (including community service learning [CSL]), and scientific foundations. Self-regulated learning (SRL) is explicitly developed throughout all aspects of the curriculum. Medical educators have defined SRL as the cyclical control of academic and clinical performance through several key processes that include goal-directed behaviour, use of specific strategies to attain goals, and the adaptation and modification to behaviours or strategies that optimize learning and performance. Based on Zimmerman’s social cognitive framework, this definition includes relationships among the individual, his or her behaviour, and the environment, with the expectation that individuals will monitor and adjust their behaviours to influence future outcomes. Objectives: This study evaluated the students’ learning as perceived by them at the conclusion of their first 2 academic years. Methods: At the end of the QuARMS learning stream, the first and second cohorts of students completed a 26-item, 4-point Likert-type instrument with space for optional narrative details for each question. A focus group with each group explored emergent issues. Consent was obtained from 9 out of 10 and 7 out of 8 participants to report the 2015 survey and focus group data, respectively, and from 10 out of 10 and 9 out of 10 participants to report the 2016 survey and focus group data, respectively. Thematic analysis and a constructivist interpretive paradigm were used. A distanced facilitator, standard protocols, and a dual approach assured consistency and trustworthiness of data. Results: Both analyses were congruent. Students described experiences consistent with curricular goals including critical thinking, communication, role of a physician, CSL, and SRL. Needs included additional mentorship, more structure for CSL, more feedback, explicit continuity between in-class sessions, and more clinical experience. Expectations of students towards engaging in independent learning led to some feelings of disconnectedness. Conclusions: Participants described benefit from the sessions and an experience consistent with the curricular goals, which were intentionally focused on foundational skills. In contrast to the goal of SRL, students described a need for an explicit educational structure. Thus, scaffolding of the curriculum from more structured in year 1 to less structured in year 2 using additional mentorship and feedback is planned for subsequent years. Added clinical exposure may increase relevance but poses challenges for integration with the first-year medical class.
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This review examines the interaction of nanomaterials (NMs) with cells from the perspective of major cellular differentiations. The structure and composition of cells reflect their role and function in a particular organ or enviro...
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This review examines the interaction of nanomaterials (NMs) with cells from the perspective of major cellular differentiations. The structure and composition of cells reflect their role and function in a particular organ or environment. The normal differentiated-state and diseased cells may respond to NMs very differently. This review progresses with due care on nanotoxicology while emphasizing the potential of NMs in treating stress-associated disorders, including cancer and degeneration. The striking potential of NMs in inducing ROS, scavenging ROS, depleting cellular antioxidants, replenishing antioxidants, mimicking antioxidant enzyme activity, and modulating the immune system all show their considerable potential in treating cancer and other aging-associated disorders. It is now clear that NMs become more active and versatile when they come into contact with biological machinery, surprisingly in some cases, in a manner dependent on cell type. The mechanisms leading to the contrasting bioresponse of NMs ranging from toxicity to anticancer and from cell survival to carcinogenicity followed by their immuno-modulating potential show NMs to be a highly promising agent in biomedical therapy. This first-of-its-kind article seeks the challenges to be addressed that could provide a solid rationale in translating the promises of nanomedicine. A thorough understanding of normal and cancer biology could help to minimize the gap between basic and translational research in nanotechnology-based therapy.
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This paper aims at investigating the change over time in the environmental awareness in rural Chinese communities and its correlation with environmental management measures implemented at the local level. We identify three main co...
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This paper aims at investigating the change over time in the environmental awareness in rural Chinese communities and its correlation with environmental management measures implemented at the local level. We identify three main components of awareness, namely: perception, behavior, and attitude toward environmental management measures. Data were collected from two surveys in three villages in northern China in 2006 and 2015 that interviewed 125 and 129 respondents, respectively, and were analyzed employing an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. The results discussed in the paper show that environmental awareness increased between 2006–2015, and was mainly manifested in better environmental behavior and understanding of environmental status due an improvement in rural infrastructure and a greater amount of information provided to rural residents about the environment. Place of residence had a considerable influence on respondents’ environmental awareness: residents in eco-villages had a higher environmental awareness than those living in common agricultural villages. This appears to indicate a positive nexus between the comprehensiveness of environmental management measures implemented locally, and environmental awareness. Also, the universality of environment issues reduced the importance of socioeconomic and demographic factors in determining the degree of environmental awareness. However, more attention should be paid to villagers’ external behavior and inner feelings, such as their attitude to governmental management policies. These findings yield important policy implications that are relevant to the promotion of environmental awareness in China’s rural communities, and the adoption of more effective environmental management measures.
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Objective: This study evaluated the effect of melatonin on the response of patients suffering from metabolic syndrome (MEBS) treated with metformin. Design: This study used two-armed groups in a double-blind, randomized controlled...
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Objective: This study evaluated the effect of melatonin on the response of patients suffering from metabolic syndrome (MEBS) treated with metformin. Design: This study used two-armed groups in a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial. Materials and Methods: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study was carried out on female patients diagnosed as having MEBS, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) diagnosing criteria of MEBS (2005), from the outpatient clinic in Al-Zahraa Teaching Hospital/Kut, Iraq. They were diagnosed utilizing laboratory and clinical investigations, then randomized into two groups. The first group (group A) was treated with metformin (500 mg) twice daily, in addition to a placebo formula once daily at bedtime for three months. The second group (group B) was treated with metformin (500 mg) twice daily after meals, in addition to melatonin (10 mg) once daily at bedtime for three months. Results: The treatment of patients with MEBS using metformin–melatonin showed an improvement in most MEBS components such as fasting serum glucose (FSG), lipid profile, and body mass index (BMI), in addition to a reduction in insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. Simultaneously, there were increments in serum uric acid (UA), leptin, prolactin (PRL), and estradiol levels, while serum progesterone level decreased. Furthermore, patients treated with metformin–placebo showed less improvement in the studied parameters compared to that produced due to the inclusion of melatonin in the treatment protocol. Conclusion: Melatonin improves the effect of metformin on several components of MEBS such as FSG, lipid profile, and BMI, in addition to insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, compared to metformin alone.
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Over the last two decades, migration-as-adaptation discourses have theorized and studied how migration could facilitate adaptation to deal with the effects of adverse environmental change. However, contextual factors, such as migr...
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Over the last two decades, migration-as-adaptation discourses have theorized and studied how migration could facilitate adaptation to deal with the effects of adverse environmental change. However, contextual factors, such as migration trends and local social and economic contexts, as well as perceptions of this linkage have often been neglected. This study aims to understand how people perceive this relationship and whether and how migration, often in the form of remittances, is used for adaptation purposes. For this study, 48 semi-structured interviews were conducted with inhabitants of Tangier and Tinghir (Morocco). These regions are confronted differently by environmental change impacts. While both face increasing precipitation and temperature changes, Tinghir is additionally confronted with drought, desertification, water scarcity, and a growing number of more extreme weather events. Furthermore, both regions receive internal migrants and experienced significant emigration towards Europe. Results indicate that migration, as well as the sending of remittances, could produce a multitude of adaptation outcomes towards environmental change, resulting in an exacerbation of existing social vulnerabilities, alter economic development at the community level, and impact the development of alternative adaptation strategies, at both the individual/household and community levels. Findings demonstrate that migration-as-adaptation discourses must be considered within social, political, economic, and environmental contexts. These discourses should consider local migration histories and prevalent cultures of migration.
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Most research has used individual or group features to explain why migrants have different preferred number of children. However, these features can be identified and subdivided infinitely, with none of them broadly answering the ...
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Most research has used individual or group features to explain why migrants have different preferred number of children. However, these features can be identified and subdivided infinitely, with none of them broadly answering the question “why migrants desire more or less children”? This paper identified “environmental shocks”, which are a common experience for all migrants, as determinants of dissimilar preferred number of children across internal migrants in China. Environmental shocks refer to the uncertainty experienced by physical and sociocultural changes in the environment. Environmental shocks were treated as a variable rather than a constant in the analysis because shocks may differ between migrants. By sampling the 1667 internal migrants who participated in China’s 2015 General Social Survey, a quantitative analysis revealed that a farther migration distance (meaning greater environmental shocks) leads to lower preferred number of children for migrants. However, the mitigation of environmental shocks by the period at the current residence has no significant influence. Semi-structured interviews conducted with internal migrants in China revealed that the time since migration could mitigate environmental shocks and increase desired number of children, but the time since migration brings other challenges that may decrease preferred number of children. This study improves our understanding of the determinants of migrants’ childbearing willingness and suggests that the government need to help weaken the impact of environmental shocks and uncertainties on migrants to prevent their preferred number of children from decreasing.
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Microtubules are highly dynamic αβ-tubulin polymers. In vitro and in living cells, microtubules are most often cold- and nocodazole-sensitive. When present, the MAP6/STOP family of proteins protects microtubules from cold- and n...
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Microtubules are highly dynamic αβ-tubulin polymers. In vitro and in living cells, microtubules are most often cold- and nocodazole-sensitive. When present, the MAP6/STOP family of proteins protects microtubules from cold- and nocodazole-induced depolymerization but the molecular and structure determinants by which these proteins stabilize microtubules remain under debate. We show here that a short protein fragment from MAP6-N, which encompasses its Mn1 and Mn2 modules (MAP6(90–177)), recapitulates the function of the full-length MAP6-N protein toward microtubules, i.e. its ability to stabilize microtubules in vitro and in cultured cells in ice-cold conditions or in the presence of nocodazole. We further show for the first time, using biochemical assays and NMR spectroscopy, that these effects result from the binding of MAP6(90–177) to microtubules with a 1:1 MAP6(90–177):tubulin heterodimer stoichiometry. NMR data demonstrate that the binding of MAP6(90–177) to microtubules involve its two Mn modules but that a single one is also able to interact with microtubules in a closely similar manner. This suggests that the Mn modules represent each a full microtubule binding domain and that MAP6 proteins may stabilize microtubules by bridging tubulin heterodimers from adjacent protofilaments or within a protofilament. Finally, we demonstrate that Ca2+-calmodulin competes with microtubules for MAP6(90–177) binding and that the binding mode of MAP6(90–177) to microtubules and Ca2+-calmodulin involves a common stretch of amino acid residues on the MAP6(90–177) side. This result accounts for the regulation of microtubule stability in cold condition by Ca2+-calmodulin.
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The decentralisation of environmental governance is often associated with the interests of political parties and the fight for political power. In Mexico, constitutional reforms sought to provide more autonomy to local municipal g...
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The decentralisation of environmental governance is often associated with the interests of political parties and the fight for political power. In Mexico, constitutional reforms sought to provide more autonomy to local municipal governments, but until now, have had paradoxical effects. Now, in the face of international commitments like REDD+, Mexico is promoting the formation of decentralised parastatal organisations called Inter-municipal Juntas, to oversee broadly-defined environmental conservation activities at the local scale. Although the Juntas are proposed to be a model of decentralised environmental governance, this article draws upon a case study of one such Junta in the state of Jalisco to demonstrate that in reality, they merely serve to re-centralise political power at the local scale. Utilising the literature on decentralised environmental governance as well as the literature on democracy, decentralisation, and state power in Mexico, this article illustrates how the economic and political marginalisation of the municipalities in the region combined with the power of the political parties, particularly the PRI, undermine the process of decentralisation, and consequently the democratisation of environmental governance in Mexico. Such deficiencies have implications not only for environmental governance in Mexico but also for the broader process of democracy in Mexico.
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