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Political redistricting is a process used to redraw political boundaries based on a number of criteria that include demographic criteria (e.g. population equality and minority representation) and geographic criteria (e.g. contiguity and compactness). Redistricting can be highly controversial because it is possible that the drafters can be involved in the decision making where to draw political boundaries. The use of computers in political redistricting can remove several factors such as intentions of the decision makers or the majority in political views or race from the redistricting process. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a heuristic approach called Give-And-Take Greedy model in order to solve large scale political redistricting problem with respect to a strict population equality and contiguity. The heuristic follows the basic greedy concept to accept a best solution every iteration. The distinctive concept of the heuristic is to exchange or swapping population units within specified districts as well as to use the more efficient contiguity checking method. The computational results from Give-And-Take greedy heuristic can successfully be applied to real redistricting plans, especially for a congressional redistricting in the United States in satisfying with a strict equal population.

The Optical Wide-field patroL-Network (OWL-Net) is a global optical network for Space Situational Awareness in Korea. The primary operational goal of the OWL-Net is to track Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites operated by Korea and to monitor the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) region near the Korean peninsula. To obtain dense measurements on LEO tracking, the chopper system was adopted in the OWL-Net’s back-end system. Dozens of angle-only measurements can be obtained for a single shot with the observation mode for LEO tracking. In previous work, the reduction process of the LEO tracking data was presented, along with the mechanical specification of the back-end system of the OWL-Net. In this research, we describe an integrity assessment method of time-position matching and verification of results from real observations of LEO satellites. The change rate of the angle of each streak in the shot was checked to assess the results of the matching process. The time error due to the chopper rotation motion was corrected after re-matching of time and position. The corrected measurements were compared with the simulated observation data, which were taken from the Consolidated Prediction File from the International Laser Ranging Service. The comparison results are presented in the In-track and Cross-track frame.

We compared the interfacial activity of two classes of POSS-bottlebrush block copolymers (POSSBBCPs) in the breath-figure (BF) self-assembly. Poly[3-(5-norbornene-exo-2,3-dicarboximido)propyl-heptaisobutyl POSS]-block-poly(exo-5-norbornene-2-carbonylate-graft-benzyl methacrylate) (P1-b-P(NB-g-BzMA)) and poly[3-(2-(5-norbornene-exo-2,3-dicarboximido)ethylamino)propyl-heptaisobutyl POSS]-block-poly(exo-5-norbornene-2-carbonylate-graft-benzyl methacrylate) (P2-b-P(NB-g-BzMA)), which contain nonfunctionalized and secondary-amino-functionalized POSS-based blocks, respectively, were prepared by sequential ring-opening metathesis polymerization of norbornenyl monomers (P1-b-P(NB-g-BzMA) with fP1 = 50 wt % (1–50): Mn = 213 kDa, Đ = 1.12; P2-b-P(NB-g-BzMA)s with fP2 = 5/11/20/50 wt % (2–5/11/20/50): Mn = 2464/1043/581/268 kDa, Đ = 1.46/1.26/1.24/1.20). Of 1–50 and 2–50, only 2–50 afforded the three-dimensional porous films with unimodal pore size distributions. At high wet thickness, the efficient encapsulation of...

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries owing to its high theoretical capacity and low cost. However, it exhibits low electrical conductivity and volume expansion, resulting in poor electrochemical performance. In this work, three-dimensional porous carbon/MoS2 composites with Fe3O4 nanoparticles (C-MF) are synthesized via a mix-bake-wash method. The few-layered MoS2 in the porous carbon matrix provides improved electrical conductivity and facilitates lithium ion diffusion, so the composites exhibit a high specific capacity of 939.6 mA h g-1 on average at 0.1 A g-1 and a high rate capability (515.9 mA h g-1 at 5 A g-1). Moreover, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles in C-MF, which are anchored on the composites, improve the specific capacity and effectively mitigate diffusion of lithium polysulfides during cycling, resulting in remarkable cycling stability (590.1 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles at 2 A g-1). This work suggests that not only C-MF but also C@MoS2 with other metal oxides synthesized using this facile strategy have potential for energy-related applications.

Mutations in Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by affecting the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Although several FLT3 inhibitors have been developed, the occurrence of secondary TKD mutations of FLT3 such FLT3/D835Y and FLT3/F691L lead to drug resistance and has become a key area of unmet medical needs. To overcome the obstacle of secondary TKD mutations, a new series of indirubin-3'-aminooxy-acetamide derivatives was discovered as potent and selective FLT3 and FLT3/D835Y inhibitors that were predicted to bind at the DFG-in active conformation of FLT3 in molecular docking studies. Through structure-activity relationship studies, the most optimized compound 13a was developed as a potent inhibitor at FLT3 and FLT3/D835Y with IC

Background Alopecia refers to a condition developed by gradual reduction of hair loss by various abnormal causes such as endocrine system, genetic factors, and stress. Stromal vascular fraction (SVF) isolated from the fat is one of the latest innovative solutions in the field of regeneration therapy. We focused on presenting effectiveness of clinical cases to improve AGA through transplantation of autologous SVF into the scalp. Objective To confirm the efficacy of the autologous SVF usage to the patients with AGA. Methods Nine patients (age range 43–64 years; 4 men, grade IV to V and 5 women, grade I to III), who are suffering from androgenic alopecia (AGA), were treated with single transplantation of autologous SVF in the upper scalp. Autologous SVF was isolated and characterized prior to the injection of live 7–9 × 106 cells into the patients’ treatment site. The hair loss improvement effect was assessed by three test criteria: hair skin quality, hair thickness and hair density 3 and 6 months after post-injection compared to pre-injection status. Results Hair density of SVF-treated side was significantly increased after 3 and 6 months of transplantation compared to non-treated side (P = 0.01 and P = 0.009 per each). And significant improvement in the score of the keratin on the scalp was seen in the injected area as compared to the non-injected area 6 months after transplantation (P = 0.032). Although thickness increase was observed at 3 and 6 months after transplantation, there was no statistical significance (P = 0.142 and 0.155, respectively). Conclusions One transplantation of autologous SVF for the AGA patients, hair density and score for the keratin were significantly increased within 6 months. This study shows that SVF is a very effective way to treat hair loss and most of subjects are satisfied with the result after treatment.

[Image: see text] This study evaluated the potential use of senescence-inducing small molecules in the treatment of melanoma. We screened commercially available small-molecule libraries with high-throughput screening and high-content screening image-based technology. Our findings showed an initial hit with the embedded N-arylpiperidine-3-carboxamide scaffold-induced senescence-like phenotypic changes in human melanoma A375 cells without serious cytotoxicity against normal cells. A focused library containing diversely modified analogues were constructed and examined to evaluate the structure–activity relationship of N-arylpiperidine-3-carboxamide derivatives starting from hit 1. This work identified a novel compound with remarkable antiproliferative activity in vitro and demonstrated the key structural moieties within.

Virtual and augmented reality devices and applications have enabled the user to experience a variety of simulated real-life experiences through first-person visual, auditory, and haptic feedback. However, among the numerous everyday interactions that have been emulated, the familiar interaction of touching or rubbing the eyes is yet to be explored and remains to be understood. In this paper, we aim to understand the components of natural hand-eye interaction, propose an interaction technique through a proof-of-concept prototype head-mounted display, and evaluate the user experience of the prototype through a user study. In addition, we share insights emerged from the studies with suggestions for further development of interaction techniques based on combinations of hardware and software.

Full list of authors: Marciniak, A.; Ďurech, J.; Alí-Lagoa, V.; Ogłoza, W.; Szakáts, R.; Müller, T. G.; Molnár, L.; Pál, A.; Monteiro, F.; Arcoverde, P.; Behrend, R.; Benkhaldoun, Z.; Bernasconi, L.; Bosch, J.; Brincat, S.; Brunetto, L.; Butkiewicz-Bąk, M.; Del Freo, F.; Duffard, R.; Evangelista-Santana, M.; Farroni, G.; Fauvaud, S.; Fauvaud, M.; Ferrais, M.; Geier, S.; Golonka, J.; Grice, J.; Hirsch, R.; Horbowicz, J.; Jehin, E.; Julien, P.; Kalup, Cs.; Kamiński, K.; Kamińska, M. K.; Kankiewicz, P.; Kecskeméthy, V.; Kim, D. -H.; Kim, M. -J.; Konstanciak, I.; Krajewski, J.; Kudak, V.; Kulczak, P.; Kundera, T.; Lazzaro, D.; Manzini, F.; Medeiros, H.; Michimani-Garcia, J.; Morales, N.; Nadolny, J.; Oszkiewicz, D.; Pakštienė, E.; Pawłowski, M.; Perig, V.; Pilcher, F.; Pinel, P.; Podlewska-Gaca, E.; Polakis, T.; Richard, F.; Rodrigues, T.; Rondón, E.; Roy, R.; Sanabria, J. J.; Santana-Ros, T.; Skiff, B.; Skrzypek, J.; Sobkowiak, K.; Sonbas, E.; Stachowski, G.; Strajnic, J.; Trela, P.; Tychoniec, Ł.; Urakawa, S.; Verebelyi, E.; Wagrez, K.; Żejmo, M.; Żukowski, K., Context. Recent results for asteroid rotation periods from the TESS mission showed how strongly previous studies have underestimated the number of slow rotators, revealing the importance of studying those targets. For most slowly rotating asteroids (those with P > 12 h), no spin and shape model is available because of observation selection effects. This hampers determination of their thermal parameters and accurate sizes. Also, it is still unclear whether signatures of different surface material properties can be seen in thermal inertia determined from mid-infrared thermal flux fitting. Aims. We continue our campaign in minimising selection effects among main belt asteroids. Our targets are slow rotators with low light-curve amplitudes. Our goal is to provide their scaled spin and shape models together with thermal inertia, albedo, and surface roughness to complete the statistics. Methods. Rich multi-apparition datasets of dense light curves are supplemented with data from Kepler and TESS spacecrafts. In addition to data in the visible range, we also use thermal data from infrared space observatories (mainly IRAS, Akari and WISE) in a combined optimisation process using the Convex Inversion Thermophysical Model. This novel method has so far been applied to only a few targets, and therefore in this work we further validate the method itself. Results. We present the models of 16 slow rotators, including two updated models. All provide good fits to both thermal and visible data.The obtained sizes are on average accurate at the 5% precision level, with diameters found to be in the range from 25 to 145 km. The rotation periods of our targets range from 11 to 59 h, and the thermal inertia covers a wide range of values, from 2 to, This work was was initiated with the support from the National Science Centre, Poland, through grant no. 2014/13/D/ST9/01818; and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement no 687378 (SBNAF). The work of J.D. was supported by the grant 20-08218S of the Czech Science Foundation. A.P. and R.S. have been supported by the K-125015 grant of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), Hungary. This project has been supported by the Lendulet grant LP2012-31 of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This project has been supported by the GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00003 grant of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH). L.M. was supported by the Premium Postdoctoral Research Program of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The research leading to these results has received funding from the LP2018-7/2020 Lendulet grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The work of T.S.-R. was carried out through grant APOSTD/2019/046 by Generalitat Valenciana (Spain). This work was supported by the MINECO (Spanish Ministry of Economy) through grant RTI2018-095076-B-C21 (MINECO/FEDER, UE). E. P. acknowledges the Europlanet 2024 RI project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant agreement No. 871149). This article is based on observations obtained at the Observatorio Astronomico do Sertao de Itaparica (OASI, Itacuruba) of the Observatorio Nacional, Brazil. F.M. would like to thank the financial support given by FAPERJ (Process E-26/201.877/2020). E.R., P.A., H.M., M.E. and J.M. would like to thank CNPq and CAPES (Brazilian agencies) for their support through diverse fellowships. Support by CNPq (Process 305409/2016-6) and FAPERJ (Process E-26/202.841/2017) is acknowledged by D.L. The Joan Oro Telescope (TJO) of the Montsec Astronomical Observatory (OAdM) is owned by the Catalan Government and operated by the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC). This article is based on observations made in the Observatorios de Canarias del IAC with the 0.82 m IAC80 telescope operated on the island of Tenerife by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in the Observatorio del Teide. This article is based on observations made with the SARA telescopes (Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy), whose nodes are located at the Observatorios de Canarias del IAC on the island of La Palma in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos; Kitt Peak, AZ under the auspices of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO); and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in La Serena, Chile. This project uses data from the SuperWASP archive. The WASP project is currently funded and operated by Warwick University and Keele University, and was originally set up by Queen's University Belfast, the Universities of Keele, St. Andrews, and Leicester, the Open University, the Isaac Newton Group, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the South African Astronomical Observatory, and by STFC. TRAPPIST-South is a project funded by the Belgian Fonds (National) de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) under grant PDR T.0120.21. TRAPPIST-North is a project funded by the University of Liege, in collaboration with the Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakech (Morocco). E. Jehin is FNRS Senior Research Associate. Funding for the Kepler and K2 missions are provided by the NASA Science Mission Directorate. The data presented in this paper were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for MAST for non-HST data is provided by the NASA Office of Space Science via grant NNX09AF08G and by other grants and contracts. Data from Pic du Midi Observatory have been obtained with the 0.6-m telescope, a facility operated by Observatoire Midi Pyrenees and Association T60, an amateur association. We acknowledge the contributions of the occultation observers who have provided the observations in the dataset. Most of those observers are affiliated with one or more of: European Asteroidal Occultation Network (EAON), International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA), International Occultation Timing Association European Section (IOTA/ES), Japanese Occultation Information Network (JOIN), and Trans Tasman Occultation Alliance (TTOA)., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

The OWL@OUKA is the Optical Wide-field patroL (OWL) facility designed and built by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and installed in 2015 at Oukaimeden Observatory. For the first time we used the opportunities offered by this instrument for the detection and monitoring the exoplanets by the transit method. In this work, we present, first, the validation of the OWL@OUKA for the transit method by reporting the observations we have done to calibrate the instrument in order to chose the best exposure time for a given star. We report on the results obtained form the first observations, in V filter, of a known transit event of the planet Qatar-1b, a hot Jupiter orbiting a metal-rich K dwarf star (Teff = 5013.0, Vmag = 12.84). We have used the software AstroImagJ to reduce the data and the software EXOFASTv2 to fit the transit and extract the planetary parameters, where we obtained a transit depth 0.0207+0.0044 -0.0040 and a planetary radius of 1.09 ± 0.11 RJ , that are in good consistence with the discovery paper. Given the good results obtained, we moved to the second stage of our program, which consists of tracking TESS candidates.

We present ElaStick, a handheld variable stiffness controller capable of simulating the kinesthetic sensation of deformable and flexible objects when swung or shaken. ElaStick is capable of rendering gradual changes of stiffness along two independent axes over a wide continuous range. Two trackers on the controller enable a closed-loop feedback that allows to accurately map the device’s deformations to the visuals of a Virtual Reality application.

Objetivo: Investigar a influência de fatores relacionados aos aspectos multidimensionais do envelhecimento em um grupo de idosos com baixo peso assistidos pelo setor privado de saúde. Métodos: Estudo transversal conduzido com 243 idosos com índice de massa corpórea

Sestrins are a family of proteins that respond to a variety of environmental stresses, including genotoxic, oxidative, and nutritional stresses. Sestrins affect multiple signaling pathways: AMP-activated protein kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin complexes, insulin-AKT, and redox signaling pathways. By regulating these pathways, Sestrins are thought to help adapt to stressful environments and subsequently restore cell and tissue homeostasis. In this review, we describe how Sestrins mediate physiological stress responses in the context of nutritional and chemical stresses (liver), physical movement and exercise (skeletal muscle), and chemical, physical, and inflammatory injuries (heart). These findings also support the idea that Sestrins are a molecular mediator of hormesis, a paradoxical beneficial effect of low- or moderate-level stresses in living organisms.

Haptic controllers have an important role in providing rich and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. While previous works have succeeded in creating handheld devices that simulate dynamic properties of rigid objects, such as weight, shape, and movement, recreating the behavior of flexible objects with different stiffness using ungrounded controllers remains an open challenge. In this paper we present ElaStick, a variable-stiffness controller that simulates the dynamic response resulting from shaking or swinging flexible virtual objects. This is achieved by dynamically changing the stiffness of four custom elastic tendons along a joint that effectively increase and reduce the overall stiffness of a perceived object in 2-DoF. We show that with the proposed mechanism, we can render stiffness with high precision and granularity in a continuous range between 10.8 and 71.5Nmm/degree. We estimate the threshold of the human perception of stiffness with a just-noticeable difference (JND) study and investigate the levels of immersion, realism and enjoyment using a VR application.

On-body electronics and sensors offer the opportunity to seamlessly augment the human with computing power. Accordingly, numerous previous work investigated methods that exploit conductive materials and flexible substrates to fabricate circuits in the form of wearable devices, stretchable patches, and stickers that can be attached to the skin. For all these methods, the fabrication process involves several manual steps, such as designing the circuit in software, constructing conductive patches, and manually placing these physical patches on the body. In contrast, in this work, we propose to fabricate electronics directly on the skin. We present BodyPrinter, a wearable conductive-ink deposition machine, that prints flexible electronics directly on the body using skin-safe conductive ink. The paper describes our system in detail and, through a series of examples and a technical evaluation, we show how direct on-body fabrication of electronic circuits and sensors can further enhance the human body.

Using the high-cadence lightcurves collected from the FOSSIL survey, rotation periods of 17 small (diameter 1 km < D < 3 km) Hilda asteroids (hereinafter Hildas) were obtained. Combined with the previously measured rotation periods of Hildas, a spin-rate limit appears at around 3 hr. Assuming rubble-pile structures for the Hildas, a bulk density of ∼1.5 g cm−3 is required to withstand this spin-rate limit. This value is similar to that of the C-type asteroids (1.33 g cm−3) and higher than the ∼1 g cm−3 bulk density of the Jupiter Trojans. This suggests that the Hildas population may contain more C-type asteroids than expected, and the limit at 3 hr simply reflects the spin-rate limit for C-type asteroids. In addition, a Hilda superfast rotator was found, which has a rotation period of 1.633 hr and an estimated diameter of 0.7 km. This object is unlikely to be explained by a rubble-pile or monolithic structure.

A successful political redistricting plan should be neutral by satisfying a number of requirements, such as equal population, and contiguity as well as compactness. Modeling approaches to solving this problem becomes either computationally intensive when the contiguity requirement is explicitly addressed, and requirements are used as more than one objective In this paper, a multiobjective mixed integer optimization model was developed based on developments in solving land acquisition problems. Using the approach, geographical criteria such as contiguity and compactness can be explicitly addressed. Tradeoff between compactness and equal population can be evaluated. The use of the approach based on synthetic data was demonstrated using a set of experiments.

Context: Salicornia europaea (Amaranthaceae) (SE) has been shown to reduce obesity, but it remains a problem as a food supplement because of its high salt content (25–35% NaCl). Objectives: This study investigated the anti-obesity effects and mechanism of action of desalted SE powder (DSP). Materials and methods: Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 50) were divided into a normal control group (NC), a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity control group (HFD), and HFD groups co-administered DSP (250 and 500 mg/kg) or Garcinia cambogia (Clusiaceae) extract (GE, 200 mg/kg, standard control) orally each day for 12 weeks. Results: The body weight was significantly reduced by co-administration of DSP (596.51 ± 19.84 kg, 4.60% and 562.08 ± 9.74 kg, 10.10%, respectively) and GE (576.00 ± 11.29 kg, 7.88%) relative to the HFD group (625.25 ± 14.02 kg) and was accompanied by reduced abdominal fat mass, and serum lipid levels, with no effects on feed intake. To find the underlying mechanism of the anti-obesity effects, trans-ferulic acid (TFA) was identified as the main ingredient and investigated with regard to whether it attenuated adipogenesity in 3T3L-1 cells. DSP-derived TFA suppressed adipocyte differentiation and accumulation of intracellular lipids. TFA also down-regulated the adipogenesis-related gene expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α and fatty acid synthase. Conclusions: These findings suggest that DSP may be considered for use as a food supplement intent of controlling obesity through its antiobesity and antiadipogenic properties.

Cube-like polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) is a promising candidate for isotropically bulky pendants to expand the dimensional limit of polymer main chains. This paper presents molecular and kinetic insights into the controlled synthesis of rod-like POSS-containing polynorbornenes. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was performed on three norbornene-substituted POSS monomers with different spacers. For monomers possessing non- and amide functionalities at the spacers, ROMP at the maximum concentration ([M]0 = 0.4 M) led to 100% conversion, predictable molecular weights (Mn ≤ 1236 kDa) and low dispersities (Đ ≤ 1.20) in homopolymers. Scaling analysis for POSS-containing polynorbornenes revealed an unusual finding, namely, that the periodic clustering of POSS pendants favored by long flexible spacers (16-atom chains) enhanced the rigidity of polynorbornene main chains, leading to their rod-like conformation. Kinetically optimized ROMP allowed the subsequent addition of a macromonomer to create POSS-bottlebrush copolymers (POSSBBCPs). These POSSBBCPs self-assembled into thin films to form ordered nanostructures with diverse morphologies and periodicities greater than 100 nm.

Background The incidence of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) in young patients has recently increased, and these TSCCs are believed to be etiologically distinct from those in older patients, who have longer exposure to risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol. The prognosis of TSCCs in young patients remains controversial. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the records of 117 patients (2001–2011) who were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue. Patients were divided into two age groups, older (ages over 40) and younger (ages 40 and younger). Data were compared between the two groups, and survival rates were analyzed. Results The results show that there are significant differences in overall, disease-free, and distant metastasis-free survival rates between the two groups. Five-year overall survival rates were 70% in older patients and 42% in young patients (p = 0.033). Five-year disease-free survival rates were 73% in older patients and 40% in young patients (p = 0.011), and 5-year distant metastasis-free survival rates were 97% in older patients and 62% in young patients (p = 0.033). Multivariate analysis revealed that histologic grade was the only independent risk factor for overall survival in both groups of patients (p = 0.002, HR = 2.287). The analysis also demonstrated that age was the critical risk factor for distant metastasis (p = 0.046, HR = 9.687). Conclusion In this study, young (ages 40 and younger) patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue had a higher rate of distant metastasis and a worse prognosis. Accordingly, we propose the necessity of an extensive therapeutic regimen that should be used in all young patients with TSCC.

Esta pesquisa traz revisão integrativa sobre o tema “Ageísmo durante a pandemia de COVID-19”, buscando responder à questão se existiu eclosão do ageísmo durante a pandemia ou apenas se tornaram visíveis estereótipos já presentes na sociedade. A revisão seguiu os passos dispostos no protocolo PRISMA- Principais Itens para Relatar Revisões Sistemáticas e Meta-análises, tendo selecionado 34 artigos entre os meses de agosto a outubro de 2020 e abril a junho de 2021. Nota-se recrudescimento de estereótipos já presentes contra o grupo etário composto por pessoas idosas, o qual foi tratado de forma homogênea. As pessoas idosas foram retratadas como um fardo para a sociedade e amplamente associadas, principalmente por governos, profissionais de saúde, mídias e redes sociais ao declínio, inutilidade e dependência, atitudes estas que reforçaram embates intergeracionais, preconceitos e discriminação. Entretanto, manifestações de empatia também surgiram, em contraposição a estas posições. Destaca-se que, em um mundo onde as vulnerabilidades sociais, o acesso aos cuidados e a determinação social do adoecer se tornaram especialmente visíveis pela pandemia, é importante enfrentar firmemente o ageísmo em todas as suas formas, oferecendo esperança para com os grupos em desvantagem social. Destaca-se, por último, o pouco interesse que o tema despertou para a literatura acadêmica nacional, sendo muito mais amplamente analisado e discutido fora do Brasil, como o observado nesta revisão.

Numerous studies implicate miR-146a as pleiotropic regulator of carcinogenesis; however, its roles in carcinogenesis are not fully understood. A clue from expression analyses of miR-146a-5p in all 13 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines examined and in OSCC tissues, whole blood and whole saliva of OSCC patients in vivo revealed that miR‑146a-5p expression was highly upregulated. Particularly, we widened the view of its upregulation in saliva, implicating that high miR-146a-5p expression is not only correlated closely to the development of human oral cancer, but also to a possible candidate as a diagnostic marker of OSCC. Indeed, further examination showed that exogenous miR-146a-5p expression showed pleiotropic effects on cell proliferation and apoptosis which were partially based on the contextual responses of activation of JNK, downstream of TRAF6 that was targeted by miR-146a-5p in normal human keratinocytes and OSCC cell lines. TRAF6 suppression by a TRAF6-specific siRNA resulted in contradictory consequences on cellular processes in normal and OSCC cells. Notably, TRAF6 downregulation by both miR-146a-5p and TRAF6-specific siRNA deactivated JNK in SCC-9, but not in normal human keratinocytes. In support of the proliferation-promoting effect of miR-146a-5p, silencing of endogenous miR-146a-5p significantly reduced proliferation of SCC-9. Together, these results suggest that miR-146a-5p affects proliferation and apoptosis in a cellular context-dependent manner and selectively disarms the TRAF6-mediated branch of the TGF-β signaling in OSCC cell lines by sparing Smad4 involvement.

The objective was to investigate the effects of melatonin and exercise on insulin resistance (IR), hypertension and fatigue syndrome in a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Rats were divided into 5 groups namely normal control (NC), T2DM control group (DC), diabetes plus exercise (DE), diabetes plus oral melatonin supplement (DM) and diabetes plus melatonin and exercise (DME) groups. Melatonin was administered orally 5mg/kg twice daily and 40min swimming/day 5days/week were regimented after diabetes induction.Blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, insulin, IR, serum leptin, lipid profiles, inflammatory cytokines, lipid peroxidation increased significantly (P0.01) while serum adiponectin, antioxidant activities (superoxide dismutase, glutathione), exercise performance significantly decreased (P0.001) in the DC group compared with the control group. Combined effects of exercise and melatonin ameliorated markedly hypertension, IR, biochemical alteration induced by diabetes and significantly increased exercise performance (P0.01). The expression glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) mitochondrial biogenesis related proteins such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1 α), nuclear respiratory factor (NRFs) and mitochondrial transcription factor-A were up-regulated skeletal and cardiac muscle in the DME group.Melatonin supplementation in combination with exercise behavior may ameliorate IR, hypertension and exercise performance or fatigue possibly by improving antioxidative activities, hyperlipidemia, inflammatory cytokines via up-regulation of GLUT4, PGC-1 α and mitochondrial biogenesis in T2DM rats.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the amount and pattern of postsurgical relapse after 2-jaw surgery in cleft lip and palate patients in terms of the sagittal and vertical aspects. The samples consisted of 21 adult patients who had the similar initial skeletodental pattern before surgery and underwent 2-jaw surgery. They were divided into high relapse (n = 11) and low relapse groups (n = 10) (criteria, 30% forward relapse of the B point). After the cephalometric variables of cephalograms taken at 1 month before surgery (T0), immediately after surgery (T1), and at least 1 year after surgery (T2) were measured, the Wilcoxon test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Pearson correlation test were performed for statistical analysis. When compared with the low relapse group, the high relapse group exhibited significant counterclockwise rotation of the distal segment of the mandible resulting in more forward movement of the mandible and significant labioversion of the maxillary incisors during T1-T2. The amount of postsurgical relapse of the mandible had a positive relationship with the amounts of setback and clockwise rotation of the mandible with surgery. In addition, the more decrease in overbite through surgery occurred, the more relapse (forward movement of the mandible) produced. Therefore, for the prevention of significant postsurgical relapse of the mandible in cleft patients, it is necessary to reduce unnecessary clockwise rotation of the mandible and to increase the vertical stability of maxilla during orthognathic surgery.

Cerebral palsy is a non-progressive disorder resulting from central nervous system damage caused by multiple factors. Almost all cerebral palsy patients have a movement disorder that makes dental treatment difficult. Oral hygiene management is difficult and the risks for periodontitis, dental caries and loss of multiple teeth are high. Placement of dental implants for multiple missing teeth in cerebral palsy patients needs multiple rounds of general anesthesia, and the prognosis is poor despite the expense. Therefore, making the decision to perform multiple dental implant treatments on cerebral palsy patients is difficult. A 33-year-old female patient with cerebral palsy and mental retardation was scheduled for multiple implant treatments. She underwent computed tomography (CT) under sedation and the operation of nine dental implants under general anesthesia. Implant-supported fixed prosthesis treatment was completed. During follow-up, she had the anterior incisors extracted and underwent the surgery of 3 additional dental implants, completing the prosthetic treatment. Although oral parafunctions existed due to cerebral palsy, no implant failure was observed 9 years after the first implant surgery.

Sigesbeckia pubescens (SP) is a traditional Chinese medicine, possessing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we evaluate the neuroprotective activities of SP extract on glutamate-induced oxidative stress in HT22 cells and the molecular mechanism underlying neuroprotection. We applied 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), crystal violet, reactive oxygen species (ROS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and western blot analyses for assessing the neuroprotective effects of SP extract. The experimental study revealed that SP considerably increased the cell viability, and reduced the oxidative stress promoted ROS and LDH generation in HT22 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, the morphology of HT22 cells was effectively improved by SP. Upregulated gene expressions of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were markedly attenuated by SP. Similarly, SP notably suppressed the ROS-mediated phosphorylation of MAPK (pERK1/2, pJNK, and pp38) cascades and activation of apoptotic factor caspase-3 signaling pathway that overall contributed to the neuroprotection. Taken together, SP may exert neuroprotective effects via alteration of MAPK and caspase-3 pathways under oxidative stress condition. Therefore, SP is a potential agent for preventing oxidative stress-mediated neuronal cell death.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common adult onset motor neuron disease, is pathologically characterized by progressive loss of the upper and lower motor neurons. Mutations in the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene (SOD1) account for about 20% of familial ALS cases and a small percentage of sporadic ALS (SALS) cases, and have revealed a validated genotype-phenotype correlation. Herein, we report a p.Gly13Arg mutation in SOD1 exon 1 in a patient with SALS who presented with a rapidly progressive course, predominantly affecting the lower motor neurons. A 48-year-old man presented with progressive weakness and muscle atrophy of the left upper and lower limbs, followed by muscle fasciculation and cramping. The clinical features of the patient were clearly suggestive of ALS, and implied a sporadic form with rapid progression, predominantly affecting the lower motor neurons. Sequencing of the SOD1 gene by PCR revealed a missense mutation of G to C (c.37G>C) in exon 1, and amino acid substitution of glycine by arginine (p.Gly13Arg). This is the first case identifying the p.Gly13Arg mutation of SOD1 in the Korean population, and clinical assessments of this patient revealed a different phenotype compared with other cases.

[Image: see text] Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a major health concern with 260 million people having been infected globally, and approximately 680,000 deaths have occurred annually from cirrhosis and liver cancer. The modulation of HBV capsid assembly has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for curing chronic HBV infection. Small-molecule capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) can broadly be classified as heteroaryldihydropyrimidines and sulfamoylbenzamides (SBAs). SBAs are capsid activators that inhibit viral replication by achieving capsid assembly before polymerase encapsulation. Herein, we report a novel series of HBV CAMs based on NVR 3-778, a potent CAM belonging to the SBA class. The lead compound (KR-26556) exhibited improved pharmacological activity and was examined through molecular docking studies.

Force feedback is said to be the next frontier in virtual reality (VR). Recently, with consumers pushing forward with untethered VR, researchers turned away from solutions based on bulky hardware (e.g., exoskeletons and robotic arms) and started exploring smaller portable or wearable devices. However, when it comes to rendering inertial forces, such as when moving a heavy object around or when interacting with objects with unique mass properties, current ungrounded force feedback devices are unable to provide quick weight shifting sensations that can realistically simulate weight changes over 2D surfaces. In this paper we introduce Aero-plane, a force-feedback handheld controller based on two miniature jet propellers that can render shifting weights of up to 14 N within 0.3 seconds. Through two user studies we: (1) characterize the users' ability to perceive and correctly recognize different motion paths on a virtual plane while using our device; and, (2) tested the level of realism and immersion of the controller when used in two VR applications (a rolling ball on a plane, and using kitchen tools of different shapes and sizes). Lastly, we present a set of applications that further explore different usage cases and alternative form-factors for our device.

To meet the ever-increasing market requirements for energy storage devices with improved performances, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries with high theoretical capacity and energy density have been extensively studied. However, to bring Li–S batteries into real life, several challenges still need to be overcome, such as dissolution of intermediate polysulfides, large volume change, and low electrical conductivity of sulfur. In this study, phosphorus-doped graphene anchored with well-dispersed cerium oxide nanocrystals (CeO2/PG) were prepared as effective sulfur host materials through a hydrothermal synthesis method followed by a thermal treatment process. The cerium oxide nanocrystals/phosphorus-doped graphene (CeO2/PG) nanocomposites can provide high electrical conductivity, sufficient spaces for the storage of sulfur, and strong chemical binding with polysulfides. In particular, well-dispersed polar CeO2 nanocrystals effectively exhibit chemical affinity with polysulfides and promote polysulfide redox reactions during the cycling. Furthermore, phosphorus dopants can offer a sufficient number of active sites for polysulfide trapping and enhance the overall electrical conductivity of graphene nanosheets. As a result, a S@CeO2/PG cathode with 72.3 wt% sulfur content exhibits a high specific capacity (1287 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C-rate) and good cycling stability (577.7 mA h g−1 at 1 C-rate after 100 cycles).

The purpose of the present study was to investigate and compare the clinical characteristics of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) patients with bilateral and unilateral symptoms. Of 769 patients with oral burning sensation, 421 patients with primary BMS were included. Among them, 324 patients who complained of oral symptoms on both sides of the oral cavity were assigned to the bilateral group and 97 patients who complained of symptoms only on one side of the oral cavity were assigned to the unilateral group. Clinical characteristics, psychological status, and salivary secretion were compared between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the mean age, sex ratio, unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rates, or duration of symptoms between the two groups. The bilateral group had higher levels of psychological distresses compared with the unilateral group. The bilateral group had higher prevalence rates in burning, taste alteration, and xerostomia than the unilateral group. The proportion of patients who considered dental procedures as an initiating factor of BMS symptoms was higher in the unilateral group than in the bilateral group. Conclusively, BMS patients with bilateral and unilateral symptoms had different clinical characteristics, suggesting that the neuropathic mechanisms in these two groups are different.

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-associated inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system and results in serious disability. Although many disease-modifying therapy drugs have been developed, these drugs have shown limited clinical efficacy and some adverse effects in previous studies, therefore, there has been reasonable need for less harmful and cost-effective therapeutics. Herein, we tested the anti-inflammatory effect of sulforaphane (SFN) in a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Methods The EAE mice were randomly assigned into two experimental groups: the phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated EAE group and SFN-treated EAE group. After EAE mice induction by auto-immunization against the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide, we evaluated EAE symptom scores and biochemical analyses such as infiltration of inflammatory cells and demyelination of the spinal cord. Furthermore, western blotting was performed using the spinal cords of EAE mice. Results In the behavioral study, the SFN-treated EAE mice showed favorable clinical scores compared with PBS-treated EAE mice at the 13th day (1.30 ± 0.15 vs. 1.90 ± 0.18; P = 0.043) and 14th day (1.80 ± 0.13 vs. 2.75 ± 0.17; P = 0.003). Additionally, the biochemical studies revealed that SFN treatment inhibited the inflammatory infiltration, demyelinating injury of the spinal cords, and the up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the EAE mice. Conclusion The SFN treatment showed anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects in the EAE mice. Conclusively, this study suggests that SFN has neuroprotective effects via anti-inflammatory processing, so it could be a new therapeutic or nutritional supplement for MS., Graphical Abstract

We investigated the influence of annealing on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a roll-bonded two-ply clad sheet made of aluminum and copper alloys. Various microstructures were obtained via heat treatment at 400 °C. Initially Al2Cu and Al4Cu9 phases were indexed at interface whose overall thickness was 1 μm by annealing for 20 min. By the progress of annealing for 120 min, another thin intermetallic compound (IMC) layer, AlCu phase, was formed between initially generated Al2Cu and Al4Cu9 layers. Total thickness of IMCs was considerably increased by 3.12 ± 0.24 μm. Uniaxial tensile and peel tests were performed and the results indicated simultaneous improvements of the bonding strength and elongation without much expense of tensile strength by suitable short-time annealing for 10 min at 400 °C, where the aluminum‑copper joint kept its mechanical integrity when the overall thickness of intermetallic compound layers limited less than 1 μm.

Square-shaped absorption towers are compact and provide high volumetric efficiency, enabling the installation of closed-loop flue gas desulfurization (FGD) in limited spaces of a ship. For FGD processes, diluted sodium hydroxide (NaOH) has been considered as a viable absorbent. Thus, a square-shaped scrubber with square spray nozzle distributor using a diluted NaOH solution was proposed for marine sulfur oxides removal, aiming to reduce volume/space, weight, pressure drop, investment, and operating and maintenance costs while increasing efficiency. A systematic methodology for the square-shaped FGD design was proposed, experiments to treat the flue gas released from a marine diesel engine (720 kW) were performed, and simulation and sensitivity analyses were conducted using Aspen Plus V10. Good agreement was observed between experimental and simulated results. A liquid-to-gas mass ratio of approximately 4.32 kg.kg−1 provided SO2 removal efficiency higher than 95 %. Most part of mass and heat transfers occurred in the bottom section of the scrubber and a low pressure drop was achieved.

Current research suggests therapy-induced senescence (TIS) of cancer cells characterized by distinct morphological and biochemical phenotypic changes represent a novel functional target that may enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapy. In order to identify novel small-molecule inducers of cellular senescence and determine the potential to be used for the treatment of melanoma, a new method of high-throughput screening (HTS) and high-contents screening (HCS) based on the detection of morphological changes was designed. This image-based and whole cell-based technology was applied to screen and select a novel class of antiproliferative agents on cancer cells, 4H-chromeno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-one derivatives, which induced senescence-like phenotypic changes in human melanoma A375 cells without serious cytotoxicity against normal cells. To evaluate structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of 4H-chromeno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-one scaffold starting from hit 3, a focused library containing diversely modified analogues was constructed and which led to the identification of 38, a novel compound to have remarkable anti-melanoma activity in vitro with good metabolic stability.

The correlation between meteorological data collected at the optical wide-field patrol network (OWL-Net) Station No. 1 and the seeing of satellite optical observation data was analyzed. Meteorological data and satellite optical observation data from June 2014 to November 2015 were analyzed. The analyzed meteorological data were the outdoor air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and cloud index data, and the analyzed satellite optical observation data were the seeing full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) data. The annual meteorological pattern for Mongolia was analyzed by collecting meteorological data over four seasons, with data collection beginning after the installation and initial set-up of the OWL-Net Station No. 1 in Mongolia. A comparison of the meteorological data and the seeing of the satellite optical observation data showed that the seeing degrades as the wind strength increases and as the cloud cover decreases. This finding is explained by the bias effect, which is caused by the fact that the number of images taken on the less cloudy days was relatively small. The seeing FWHM showed no clear correlation with either temperature or relative humidity.