Health activism

BACKGROUND: The role of serum uric acid (SUA) in the development of adverse health outcomes in advanced age is still uncertain. AIMS: The aim of the study was to assess the association of disability with SUA levels in older community-dwelling subjects. METHODS: We assessed the association of disability with SUA in all 351 inhabitants of Tuscania (Italy) aged 75+. Functional ability was estimated using the instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)...

Urban parks provide connectedness to nature as a health resilience environment for promoting health. Virtual reality can provide opportunities for urban citizens to be exposed to natural elements with health benefits. The purpose was to explore the effects of actual and virtual parks on the quality of life and physical activity of urban residents. The study design was a cluster trial. Participants were healthy adults aged 20-50 years, recruited from three college campuses, and randomly assigned to two experimental groups (n = 30, 32) and one control group (n = 30)...

Autophagy, a catabolic process integral to cellular homeostasis, is constitutively active under physiological and stress conditions. The role of autophagy as a cellular defense response becomes particularly evident upon exposure to nanomaterials (NMs), especially environmental nanoparticles (NPs) and nanoplastics (nPs). This has positioned autophagy modulation at the forefront of nanotechnology-based therapeutic interventions. While NMs can exploit autophagy to enhance therapeutic outcomes, they can also trigger it as a pro-survival response against NP-induced toxicity...

This paper analyzes the technology-related outputs from The National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). We seek to answer the questions: What are the types and frequency of assistive technology (AT) technology transfer (ATTT) outputs from NIDILRR grants? How does NIDILRR's ATTT generation compare to other granting organizations? What types of ATTT outputs occur, how, and what is the relative productivity of the most frequently funded universities and small businesses performing with funding by NIDILRR grants? An online search was conducted for indications of ATTT from grants funded from 1983-2021 through publicly available databases, the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), and the internet...

With an increasing interest in dietary fibers (DFs) to promote intestinal health and the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, there is a continued rise in the incorporation of refined DFs in processed foods. It is still unclear how refined fibers, such as guar gum, affect the gut microbiota activity and pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our study elucidated the effect and underlying mechanisms of guar gum, a fermentable DF (FDF) commonly present in a wide range of processed foods, on colitis development...

In the field of contemporary medicine, inflammation has emerged as a significant concern in global public health. Among the current anti-inflammatory strategies, nanozymes possess distinctive advantages and demonstrate unexpected efficacy in combating inflammation. However, the indeterminate structures and limited enzyme-like activity exhibited by most developed nanozymes impede their clinical translation and therapeutic effectiveness. In this paper, we developed a nanozyme derived from a well-defined metal-organic cage (MOC)...

INTRODUCTION: There is a consensus that adolescents' participation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTAs) is pro-developmental and beneficial for youth mental health. While enjoyment in OLTA is commonly regarded as positive, the role of obligation in the context of adolescents' OLTA has been scarcely researched. The present study investigated how these theoretically contradictory experiences (enjoyment and/or obligation) in OLTA participation relate to adolescents' wellbeing and incidence of psychological complaints accounting for their possible co-occurrence...

Skin aging, a complex and inevitable biological process, results in wrinkles, dermal laxity, and skin cancer, profoundly influencing appearance and overall health. Collagen serves as the fundamental element of the dermal matrix; nevertheless, collagen is susceptible to enzymatic degradation within the body. Crosslinking is employed to enhance the physicochemical properties of collagen. However, conventional crosslinking agents may harbor potential issues such as cytotoxicity and calcification risks, constraining their application in the biomedical field...

OBJECTIVE: Cancer clinical trials (CCTs) provide access to emerging therapies and extra clinical care. We aimed to describe the volume and characteristics of CCTs available across Victoria, Australia, and identify factors associated with rural trial location. METHODS: Quantitative analysis of secondary data from Cancer Council Victoria's Clinical Trials Management Scheme dataset. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design was used. SETTING: CCTs were available Victoria-wide in 2018...

Bovine mastitis is a frequent infection in lactating cattle, causing great economic losses. Staphylococcus aureus represents the main etiological agent, which causes recurrent and persistent intramammary infections because conventional antibiotics are ineffective against it. Mastoparan-like peptides are multifunctional molecules with broad antimicrobial potential, constituting an attractive alternative. Nevertheless, their toxicity to host cells has hindered their therapeutic application. Previously, our group engineered three mastoparan-L analogs, namely mastoparan-MO, mastoparan-R1, and [I5 , R8 ] MP, to improve cell selectivity and potential...

Exposure to hexavalent chromium damages genetic materials like DNA and chromosomes, further elevating cancer risk, yet research rarely focuses on related immunological mechanisms, which play an important role in the occurrence and development of cancer. We investigated the association between blood chromium (Cr) levels and genetic damage biomarkers as well as the immune regulatory mechanism involved, such as costimulatory molecules, in 120 workers exposed to chromates. Higher blood Cr levels were linearly correlated with higher genetic damage, reflected by urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and blood micronucleus frequency (MNF)...

Introduction: Hypopressive exercise (HE) can be viewed as a mind-body activity, characterized by the integration of breath control and stretching postures. Proponents of HE claim that this type of training can offer potential therapeutic or health benefits. To date, there is no existing comprehensive published overview on HE. This scoping review aims to map and summarize the current literature reporting data on HE and identify key knowledge gaps and future research directions. Methods: This review considered studies that report on the immediate, short-, or long-term practice of HE regardless of condition, sex, age, and/or level of practice or physical condition...

Studies of sexuality have long been interested in understanding the construction of sexual subjectivity, especially amongst people whose participation in more nonnormative and kinkier forms of sex/uality have been discursively framed in terms of sexual and health "risk." Here sexual subjectivity refers to a person's sense of themself "as a sexual being who feels entitled to sexual pleasure and sexual safety, who makes active sexual choices, and who has an identity as a sexual being" (p. 6). This study explored what meanings fist-fuckers narratively draw on in understanding and interpreting their sexual subjectivity...

BACKGROUND: Women with BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants (PVs) have a choice of preventive options. To help these women decide for themselves, we developed and implemented a decision coaching (DC) program and evaluated it for congruence between the participants' desired and actual roles in decision-making. METHODS: Healthy BRCA1/2 PV carriers (from 25 to 60 years of age) were recruited at six centers in Germany. Those returning baseline T1-questionnaires were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG)...

OBJECTIVES: Surgeons are exposed to high levels of physical stress while working in the operating room. In industry, so-called exoskeletons are used to support the back and shoulder area. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and effects of an upper body exoskeleton on postoperative physical complaints of surgeons. METHODS: Surgeons from a university hospital in the fields of orthopaedics, trauma- and visceral surgery performed two operations of the same type and planned length on two different days...

Background: The stigma and discrimination experienced by individuals with an alcohol/substance use disorder often extends to the family members and friends who provide care, which is known as courtesy stigma. This courtesy stigma can lead to isolation, poor mental health and might impact the quality-of-care these individuals provide. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of experienced courtesy stigma/discrimination in individuals in a family support service for a loved one's substance use, and to examine any cross-sectional associations with changes in mood, health- and social-related outcomes...

In the contemporary era, heightened emphasis on health and safety has emerged as a paramount concern among individuals with food. The concepts of "natural" and "green" have progressively asserted dominance in the food consumption market. Consequently, through continuous exploration and development, an escalating array of natural bioactive ingredients is finding application in both nutrition delivery and the broader food industry. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenolic compound widely distributed in various plants in nature, has garnered significant attention...

Microplastic pollution in the soil environment has received extensive attention, but the effects of different land use patterns on the sub-watershed scale on soil microplastic pollution are poorly understood. The Luoshijiang sub-watershed in the north of Erhai Lake was selected as the research object, and the characteristics of microplastic pollution in farmland, riparian zone, grassland, and woodland soils were analyzed. The pollution risks of microplastics in the four types of soil were assessed using the polymer risk index method, and the effects of land use patterns on the distribution and risk of microplastic pollution were further explored...

Research on microplastics (MPs) is gaining more attention in the soil environment, but their impact on soil microbiota and related nitrogen processes remains poorly understood. Nitrous oxide (N2 O) is one of the important greenhouse gases of the nitrogen cycle in agricultural soil, which mainly originates from microbial-mediated nitrogen (N) transformation processes. Microplastics can influence soil nitrogen transformation, as well as nitrogen-related functional enzymes and genes, and its enrichment may profoundly affect the N2 O emissions in soil...

Through lettuce potting experiments, the effects of different types of biochar (apple branch, corn straw, and modified sorghum straw biochar with phosphoric acid modification) on lettuce growth under tetracycline (TC) and copper (Cu) co-pollution were investigated. The results showed that compared with those under CK, the addition of biochar treatment significantly increased the plant height, root length, shoot fresh weight, and root fresh weight of lettuce ( P < 0.05). The addition of different biochars significantly increased the nitrate nitrogen, chlorophyll, and soluble protein content in lettuce physiological indicators to varying degrees, while also significantly decreasing the levels of malondialdehyde, proline content, and catalase activity...