Pre-conditioning

Communities with higher levels of social capital perform better than communities with lower social capital in community-level water and sanitation interventions and have better health outcomes. Although research recommends bolstering social capital to improve intervention outcomes, few studies provide empirical evidence on the effect of intervention activities on social capital. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of participatory design and community engagement activities on social capital among urban informal settlements in Suva, Fiji and Makassar, Indonesia enrolled in the Revitalizing Informal Settlements and their Environments trial using the Short Adapted Social Capital Assessment Tool...

AIM: To investigate novel diagnostic markers for pulpitis and validate by clinical samples from normal and inflamed pulp. To explore the relationship between diagnostic markers and immune cells or their phenotypes during pulp inflammation. METHODOLOGY: Two microarray datasets, GSE77459 and GSE92681, and identified differential expression genes were integrated. To understand immune features, gene functions, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Disease Ontology (DO) and ImmuneSigDB Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were analysed...

Acoustic agglomeration is a technique that leverages on sound waves to promote the collision of aerosol particulate matter, thus leading to the formation of larger particle agglomerates. In this study, this acoustics-driven phenomenon is demonstrated for its usefulness as an aerosol pre-conditioning method to significantly enhance the efficiency of filtration systems in particle treatment processes. Specifically, favorable changes in pressure drop across the filters are observed as a result of receiving less particle mass, for which filters are shown to be able to have their operational life extended remarkably by more than 50%...

Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) has become a standard in preventing GVHD in related and unrelated donor transplantation, but there is no consensus on the best administration schedule. The PARACHUTE trial reported excellent CD4 immune reconstitution (CD4 IR) using a dosing schedule based on the patient's weight and pre-conditioning absolute lymphocyte count (ALC). In 2015 we introduced the PARACHUTE dosing schedule for pediatric patients at our center. One hundred one patients were transplanted for malignant and non-malignant diseases...

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Current reperfusion treatments for ischaemic stroke are limited due to their narrow therapeutic window in rescuing ischaemic penumbra. Stem cell therapy offers a promising alternative. As a regenerative medicine, stem cells offer a wider range of treatment strategies, including long-term intervention for chronic patients, through the reparation and replacement of injured cells via mechanisms of differentiation and proliferation. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the therapeutic role of stem cells for ischaemic stroke...

BACKGROUND: Hematologic malignancies disproportionately affect older adults. Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is potentially curative, but poor overall survival (OS) has limited its use in older adults. Fried's frailty phenotype (FFP) is a geriatric assessment that combines objective and subjective performance measures: gait speed, grip strength, activity level, exhaustion, and weight loss. People fulfilling ≥3 criteria are classified as frail, 1-2 as pre-frail, and 0 as fit...

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of 0, 1, 2, or 3-d of oral electrolyte solutions (OES) following transport on calf behavior, biochemical measures of hydration, and subsequent health. Two cohorts of 60 Holstein bull calves approximately 3-7 d of age were included in this experiment. Calves (n=30/treatment) were randomized to 1 of 4 treatments on arrival at a calf-raising facility: 1) 1-d OES; 2) 2-d OES; 3) 3-d OES; or 4) no OES (control). Calves were evaluated for signs of arthritis, depression, dehydration, diarrhea, fever, navel inflammation, and respiratory disease on arrival (d 0) and 1, 2, 3, and 7 d after arrival...

Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) exhibits inferior mechanical and durability properties owing to the deterioration of the recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) surface quality. To improve the surface properties of RCA, the reinforcement efficiency of RAC, and the maneuverability of the surface treatment method, this study used magnesium phosphate cement (MPC), a clinker-free low-carbon cement with excellent bonding properties, to precoat RCA under three-day pre-conditioning. Moreover, variable amounts of fly ash (FA) or granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) were utilized to partly substitute MPC to enhance the compressive strength and chloride ion penetration resistance...

Pre-exercise mangiferin-quercetin may enhance athletic performance. This study investigated the effect of mangiferin-quercetin supplementation on high-level male basketball players during a basketball exercise simulation test (BEST) comprising 24 circuits of 30 s activities with various movement distances. The participants were divided into two groups (EXP = 19 and CON = 19) and given a placebo one hour before the BEST (PRE-condition). The following week, the EXP group received mangiferin-quercetin (84 mg/140 mg), while the CON group received a placebo (POST-condition) before the BEST in a double-blind, cross-over design...

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a life-threatening disease caused by infection, and developing novel strategies against sepsis is still required. Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown promising therapeutic potential for various diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the action and mechanism of exosomes derived from IL-1β-pre-conditioned bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) in sepsis. METHODS: Exosomes were isolated from BMSCs that were pretreated with (IL-1β- BMSC/exos) or without IL-1β (BMSC/exos)...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: ABO-incompatible transplantations allow patients to receive timely transplants. Isoagglutinin titration to ascertain levels of incompatible antibodies in the recipient is important in determining patient selection and transplant survivability. To find out the prevalent trends in India, the largest, first of its kind survey was carried out among the transplant centers regarding their practices in isoagglutinin titration. METHODS: The survey was drafted by a working group of Transfusion and Transplant Immunology specialists from six different centers...

The concurrent impacts of multiple disturbances have the potential to modify ecosystem functioning by diminishing recovery capacity and resilience. Nevertheless, it remains uncertain how plant species from tropical communities respond to the cumulative effects of drought and fire. In this study, we evaluated the responses of six plant species from campos rupestres subjected to a mild drought followed by fire and tested if plants subjected to simulated drought show reductions in carbon uptake and depletion of non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) reserves, thus constraining their resprouting...

Soccer is a complex sport, and balance appears to play a crucial role in the quality execution of technical skills, which are mostly performed while standing on one foot. Nevertheless, in younger ages, when learning still affects soccer performance, the effect of a balance-training program on the player's balance and technical skills remains unexplored. This research examined the effect of a balance-training program (BTP) on balance and technical skills of adolescent soccer players. Τhe participating volunteers were thirty-two soccer players (12-13 years old with 3...

BACKGROUND: Collaborative clinical reasoning (CCR) occurs when two or more healthcare professionals reflect and negotiate an issue regarding patient's situation or care. This represents a crucial learning goal that needs to be achieved during healthcare education. PURPOSE: To describe the characteristics of and the pre-conditions for learning collaborative clinical reasoning in healthcare education. METHOD: An integrative review was conducted...

The secretome, or conditioned medium (CM), from Mesenchymal Stem/stromal Cells (MSCs) has recently emerged as a promising cell-free therapeutic against osteoarthritis (OA), capable of promoting cartilage regeneration and immunoregulation. Priming MSCs with 10 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and/or 10 ng/ml interleukin 1β (IL-1β) aims at mimicking the pathological milieu of OA joints in order to target their secretion towards a pathology-tailored phenotype. Here we compare the composition of the CM obtained after 24 or 72 h from untreated and cytokine-treated adipose-derived MSCs (ASCs)...

BACKGROUND: The Family in Intensive Care UnitS (FICUS) trial investigates the clinical effectiveness of a multicomponent, nurse-led interprofessional family support intervention (FSI) and explores its implementation in intensive care units (ICUs). The local context of each ICU strongly influences intervention performance in practice. To promote FSI uptake and to reduce variation in intervention delivery, we aimed to develop tailored implementation strategies. METHODS: A mixed method contextual analysis guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was performed from March to June 2022 on eight ICUs assigned to the intervention group...

The pharmacological interest in mitochondria is very relevant since these crucial organelles are involved in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases, such as cancer. In order to modulate cellular redox/oxidative balance and enhance mitochondrial function, numerous polyphenolic derivatives targeting mitochondria have been developed. Still, due to the drug resistance emergence in several cancer therapies, significant efforts are being made to develop drugs that combine the induction of mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming with the ability to generate reactive oxygen species, taking into consideration the varying metabolic profiles of different cell types...

Besides respiratory illness, SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, leads to neurological symptoms. The molecular mechanisms leading to neuropathology after SARS-CoV-2 infection are sparsely explored. SARS-CoV-2 enters human cells via different receptors, including ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and TMEM106B. In this study, we used a human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neuronal model, which expresses ACE-2, TMPRSS2, TMEM106B, and other possible SARS-CoV-2 receptors, to evaluate its susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection...

Dendritic cell (DC) subsets play a crucial role in shaping anti-tumour immunity. Cancer escapes from the control immune system by hijacking DC functions. Yet, bases for such subversion are only partially understood. Tumour cells display aberrant glycan motifs on surface glycoproteins and glycolipids. Such carbohydrate patterns can be sensed by DCs through C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) that are critical to shape and orientate immune responses. We recently demonstrated that melanoma tumour cells harboured an aberrant 'glyco-code,' and that circulating and tumour-infiltrating DCs from melanoma patients displayed major perturbations in their CLR profiles...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common condition that lacks effective treatments. In part, this shortcoming is due to an incomplete understanding of the genetic mechanisms that control pathogenesis and recovery. Identifying the molecular and genetic regulators unique to nephron segments that dictate vulnerability to injury and regenerative potential could lead to new therapeutic targets to treat ischemic kidney injury. Pax2 and Pax8 are homologous transcription factors with overlapping functions that are critical for kidney development and are re-activated in AKI...