CHIR99021 Augmented the Function of Late Endothelial Progenitor Cells by Preventing Replicative Senescence

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are specialized cells in circulating blood, well known for their ability to form new vascular structures. Aging and various ailments such as diabetes, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease make EPCs vulnerable to decreasing in number, which affects their migration, proliferation and angiogenesis. Myocardial ischemia is also linked to a reduced number of EPCs and their endothelial functional role, which hinders proper blood circulation to the myocardium. The current study shows that an aminopyrimidine derivative compound (CHIR99021) induces the inhibition of GSK-3β in cultured late EPCs. GSK-3β inhibition subsequently inhibits mTOR by blocking the phosphorylation of TSC2 and lysosomal localization of mTOR. Furthermore, suppression of GSK-3β activity considerably increased lysosomal activation and autophagy. The activation of lysosomes and autophagy by GSK-3β inhibition not only prevented replicative senescence of the late EPCs but also directed their migration, proliferation and angiogenesis. To conclude, our results demonstrate that lysosome activation and autophagy play a crucial role in blocking the replicative senescence of EPCs and in increasing their endothelial function. Thus, the findings provide an insight towards the treatment of ischemia-associated cardiovascular diseases based on the role of late EPCs.     

Impact of hydropower dam development on agriculturally based livelihoods of resettled communities: a case study of Duong Hoa Commune in central Vietnam

Dam development is widespread in central Vietnam. Interviews were conducted with households that had been resettled and those that had not to determine the type of agricultural livelihoods that were re-established nine years after resettlement due to the Ta Trach reservoir project. Results showed that resettled households, despite having more forest land, were economically worse off compared with households that were not moved. This discrepancy between households was attributed to less arable land allocated to resettled households. The provision of good-quality land, able to grow crops and food trees, was essential if households were to re-establish a comparable agriculturally based livelihood.     

Hybrid film of chemically modified graphene and vapor-phase-polymerized PEDOT for electronic nose applications

A hybrid of graphene and conducting polymer holds great potential as the active materials for high performance chemical sensor application. In this work, a thin hybrid film of reduced graphene oxide (RG-O) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was fabricated by means of vapor phase polymerization and explored as active material for chemical sensors. The chemical sensors based on hybrid film of RG-O and PEDOT are capable of detecting electrical signals caused by the absorption of trace levels of different analyte vapors with high sensitivity, selectivity and fast response.     

Nonthermal plasma for pesticide and microbial elimination on fruits and vegetables: an overview

Nonthermal plasma (NTP) is defined in terms of partly ionised gas which overall temperature is quite low because the stored energy is mostly in free electrons. Applications of NTP have been expanded to new areas of food applications such as the microbial inactivation and also the elimination of pesticide and toxic chemical residues in food such as fruits and vegetables while nutritional content and key characteristics are still preserved. Plasma treatment has successfully decreased the concentrations of pesticides by about 45‐71%. In this article, NTP technologies as well as investigations about applying of NTP for removing pesticide residues and improving microbial safety in fresh produce are described. Potential applications of NTP in food processing together with some of their challenges and limitations are also discussed.     

Pd coated one-dimensional Ag nanostructures: Controllable architecture and their electrocatalytic performance for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media

One-dimensional (1D) metal-coated Pd structures are efficient catalysts for the ethanol electro-oxidation and promising strategy for minimizing the Pd-loading toward commercialization of direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs). Herein, the decorated and core-shell architectures of a novel Pd coating on Ag nanowires (PdAg-NWs) are controllable by a two-step polyol method based on the galvanic replacement reaction. The integration of uniform shell with a low Pd concentration and partial hollow structure onto 1D PdAg-NWs exhibits the highest efficiency for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline solution. In comparison with Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs/C), the PdAgNWs/C performes 11 times superior EOR activity, and the onset potential shifts 80 mV negatively. The presence of Ag in PdAg-NWs enhances the absorption capacity of ethanol molecules and hydroxyl ions on the active sites, and improves the catalyst tolerance to CO-like intermediates, making them a potential anodic catalyst for DEFCs.     

Recommender systems in the healthcare domain: state-of-the-art and research issues

Journal of Intelligent Information Systems - Nowadays, a vast amount of clinical data scattered across different sites on the Internet hinders users from finding helpful information for their...