Written Emotional Disclosure Buffers the Effects of Social Constraints on Distress Among Cancer Patients.

The aims of the present study were to examine whether written emotional disclosure would reduce distress among cancer patients and whether it would buffer the effects of high levels of social constraint (negative social responses to patients' expressions of emotion regarding their cancer) on distress. Cancer patients (N=104) were randomly assigned to write about their emotions regarding their cancer 20 min a day for 3 days or to write about a nonemotional topic. They completed questionnaires at baseline and 6 months postintervention. Results showed that written disclosure buffered the effects of social constraints on stress at the 6-month follow-up and that avoidance partly mediated these effects. The present data reinforce the notion that interventions should be tailored to patients' needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distribution of nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity in the mouse brain

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous intercellular messenger with a wide range of neural functions. NO is synthesized by activation of different isoforms of nitric oxide synthases (NOS). At present NOS immunoreactivity has been described in mouse brain in restricted and definite areas and no detailed mapping studies have yet been reported for NOS immunoreactivity. We have studied the distribution of neuronal NOS-containing neurons in the brain of three months male mice, using a specific commercial polyclonal antibody against the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Neuronal cell bodies exhibiting nNOS immunoreactivity were found in several distinct nuclei throughout the brain. The neurons that were positively stained exhibited different intensities of reaction. In some brain areas (i.e., cortex, striatum, tegmental nuclei) neurons were intensely stained in a Golgi-like fashion. In other regions, immunoreactive cells are moderately stained (i.e., magnocellular nucleus of the posterior commissure, amygdaloid nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus, lateral periaqueductal gray) or weakly stained (i.e., vascular organ of the lamina terminalis, hippocampus, inferior colliculus, reticular nucleus). In the mouse, the NO-producing system appears well developed and widely diffused. In particular, nNOS immunoreactive neurons seem chiefly present in several sensory pathways like all the nuclei of the olfactory system, as well as in many regions of the lymbic system. These data suggest a widespread role for the NO system in the mouse nervous system.     

Proteins as biomarkers of oxidative/nitrosative stress in diseases: the contribution of redox proteomics

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) contribute to the pathogenesis and/or progression of several human diseases. Proteins are important molecular signposts of oxidative/nitrosative damage. However, it is generally unresolved whether the presence of oxidatively/nitrosatively modified proteins has a causal role or simply reflects secondary epiphenomena. Only direct identification and characterization of the modified protein(s) in a given pathophysiological condition can decipher the potential roles played by ROS/RNS-induced protein modifications. During the last few years, mass spectrometry (MS)-based technologies have contributed in a significant way to foster a better understanding of disease processes. The study of oxidative/nitrosative modifications, investigated by redox proteomics, is contributing to establish a relationship between pathological hallmarks of disease and protein structural and functional abnormalities. MS-based technologies promise a contribution in a new era of molecular medicine, especially in the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers of oxidative/nitrosative stress, enabling early detection of diseases. Indeed, identification and characterization of oxidatively/nitrosatively modified proteins in human diseases has just begun.     

Web-GIS models: accomplishing modularity with aspects

Spatial concerns of Web geographical information systems (Web-GIS) are inherently crosscutting and volatile: crosscutting because they affect multiple functionalities of Web-GIS systems, and volatile because their status may change often. If these concerns are not modularized properly, the quality of Web-GIS services, particularly with regard to adaptation and evolution, can be severely compromised. This paper uses aspect-orientation to model crosscutting and volatile spatial concerns. By modeling both types of concerns, crosscutting and volatile, as candidate aspects, one can use dynamic weaving to add or remove them from a system at runtime. The aspect-oriented approach proposed starts with the identification and specification of crosscutting concerns and follows by composing these using modeling aspects using a transformation approach, an aspect-oriented modeling technique. The conflicts that can emerge due to the composition order are also taken into consideration. Finally, this paper proposes a set of reusable GIS crosscutting concerns, documenting them in a concern catalogue.     

Biohybrid Bovine Bone Matrix for Controlled Release of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell Lyosecretome: A Device for Bone Regeneration

SmartBone^® (SB) is a biohybrid bone substitute advantageously proposed as a class III medical device for bone regeneration in reconstructive surgeries (oral, maxillofacial, orthopedic, and oncology). In the present study, a new strategy to improve SB osteoinductivity was developed. SB scaffolds were loaded with lyosecretome, a freeze-dried formulation of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-secretome, containing proteins and extracellular vesicles (EVs). Lyosecretome-loaded SB scaffolds (SBlyo) were prepared using an absorption method. A burst release of proteins and EVs (38% and 50% after 30 min, respectively) was observed, and then proteins were released more slowly with respect to EVs, most likely because they more strongly adsorbed onto the SB surface. In vitro tests were conducted using adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) plated on SB or SBlyo. After 14 days, significant cell proliferation improvement was observed on SBlyo with respect to SB, where cells filled the cavities between the native trabeculae. On SB, on the other hand, the process was still present, but tissue formation was less organized at 60 days. On both scaffolds, cells differentiated into osteoblasts and were able to mineralize after 60 days. Nonetheless, SBlyo showed a higher expression of osteoblast markers and a higher quantity of newly formed trabeculae than SB alone. The quantification analysis of the newly formed mineralized tissue and the immunohistochemical studies demonstrated that SBlyo induces bone formation more effectively. This osteoinductive effect is likely due to the osteogenic factors present in the lyosecretome, such as fibronectin, alpha-2-macroglobulin, apolipoprotein A, and TGF-β.     

Using Twitter® as source of information for dietary market research: a study on veganism and plant-based diets

Social media has experienced rapid growth in recent years and has been subjected of discussions on a wide range of topics including new lifestyles and eating habits, providing a great opportunity to obtain spontaneous consumer information. In this sense, the present work aimed to understand the perception of Twitter^® users about themes of veganism and plant-based diets. The social networking data mining methodology was applied to measure the relationship between both terms. The significant differences found were analysed using the global chi-square (χ²) test, and their sources of variation were investigated by the chi-square per cell. The results indicate that the vegan group's posts are more related to the categories of recipes, trends, criticism and negative comments about veganism, being more often citing sources when compared to the other group. The results of the plant-based diet group are more significantly related to the impacts of nutrition, physical activity and consumer health. In conclusion, Twitter^® has proved to be an interesting tool for obtaining data on (re) produced food publications on social media and their results can guide the market and the academic environment in creating new products, services and marketing strategies to answer the needs of specific consumers.     

Beta control charts for monitoring fraction data

p-Charts and np-Charts are commonly used in monitoring variables of the fraction type and these charts assume that the monitored variables are binomially distributed. In this paper we propose a new control chart called Beta Charts, for monitoring fraction data (p). The Beta Chart presents the control limits based on the Beta probability distribution. It was applied for monitoring the variables in three real studies, and it was compared to the control limits with three schemes. The comparative analysis showed that: (i) Beta approximation to the Binomial distribution was more appropriate with values confined in the [0, 1]-interval; and (ii) the charts proposed were more sensitive to the average run length (ARL), in both in-control and out-of-control processes monitoring. The Beta Charts outperform the control charts analyzed for monitoring fraction data.     

Synthesis and degradation of agar‐carbomer based hydrogels for tissue engineering applications

Hydrogels studied in this investigation, synthesized starting from agarose and Carbomer 974P, were chosen for their potential use in tissue engineering. The strong ability of hydrogels to mimic living tissues should be complemented with optimized degradation time profiles: a critical property for biomaterials but essential for the integration with target tissue. In this study, chosen hydrogels were characterized both from a rheological and a structural point of view before studying the chemistry of their degradation, which was performed by several analysis: infrared bond response [Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR)], calorimetry [differential scanning Calorimetry (DSC)], and % mass loss. Degradation behaviors of Agar‐Carbomer hydrogels with different degrees of crosslinkers were evaluated monitoring peak shifts and thermal property changes. It was found that the amount of crosslinks heavily affect the time and the magnitude related to the process. The results indicate that the degradation rates of Agar‐Carbomer hydrogels can be controlled and tuned to adapt the hydrogel degradation kinetics for different cell housing and drug delivery applications. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011