Search Results (392)

Ferritins are globular proteins that, upon self-assembly in nanocages, are capable of bio-safely storing huge concentrations of bioavailable iron. They are present in most cell types and organisms; one of the exceptions is yeast. Heterologous expression of either human or vegetal ferritins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed new and unknown functions for soya bean ferritins; validated this model by confirming previously characterized functions in human ferritins and also demonstrated that, like human H chain, vegetal H1, and H2 chains also shown a tendency to localize in the nucleus when expressed in an eukaryotic cell model lacking plastids and chloroplasts. Furthermore, when expressed in the system budding yeast, the four ferritins (human H and L and soya bean H1 and H2 chains) present equivalent and relevant functions as protectors against oxidative damage and against the accumulation of double-strand breaks in the DNA. We present evidence demonstrating that these effects are exclusively observed with oxidative agents that operate through the Fenton reaction, such as H₂O₂. Here, we also discuss the ferritin requirement for N-glycosylation to exert these functions. We believe that our approach might contribute to extending the knowledge around ferritin function and its consequent relevance to human health. Full article

The Kitchen God has always been regarded as the protector of Chinese families and one of the most common and far-reaching gods in Chinese folk beliefs. The emergence and development of the Kitchen God are inseparable from the material carrier of the stove. The Han Dynasty was a critical period for the development and integration of stoves and the Kitchen God belief. Based on archaeological discoveries of cultural relics, characters and images, as well as relevant historical documents and records, this paper focuses on the interactive and symbiotic relationship between the spiritual belief in the Kitchen God and the material culture of kitchen stoves and its influence during the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty combined stoves with high cooking benches, large stove chambers, multiple burners, and functional designs that incorporated images of the Kitchen God, making them both practical and spiritual. The Kitchen God’s identity and functions were transformed from ancestor to household god, from giving food to monitoring merits and demerits, along with the renewal of stoves. These developments laid the foundation for the Chinese people’s earnest hope for a prosperous life and a peaceful and harmonious family. Full article

IV line connectors often become contaminated between infusions, which leads to line infections. A flexible shield was developed to prevent this by means of passive protection. It was tested in a simulated bedside environment and protected from touch contamination as well as airborne transmission of skin bacteria to the connector hub. This flexible shield can compensate for the unavoidable human factor infection control lapses that occur during IV line handling by healthcare workers. Full article

In the current landscape of hearing rehabilitation, ear mold manufacturing typically involves the injection of silicone into the external ear canal (EEC) of each patient. This invasive procedure poses several risks, including the potential for silicone residue retention and tympanic membrane perforation, which may necessitate surgical intervention. To mitigate these risks, we present the design of a video otoscope that integrates a scanner capable of capturing high-precision, real-time images of the EEC’s geometry. The developed device allows (i) the generation of a 3D CAD model leading to the direct, quick, and low-cost production of customized hearing aids using 3D printing and (ii) the establishment of medical protocols for carrying out diagnoses and monitoring of hearing pathology evolution using methodologies based on Artificial Intelligence. Furthermore, the use of customized hearing aids that allow the application of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) and music therapy enhances audiology as an alternative and innovative way to treat cognitive and degenerative diseases, as well as pathological disorders. Full article

Fluoride has remained the most important ingredient in the prevention of tooth decay for many years. Therefore, fluoride prophylaxis should be highly individualized to provide patients with maximum benefits while minimizing the risk of toxic effects. This study aims to compare the degree of fluoride ion release from two commercially available dental fluoride gels (Fluormex and Fluor Protector Gel) in five different physiological solutions as well as their effect on pH. The concentration of fluoride ions and pH of tap water, distilled water, demineralized water, NaCl, and artificial saliva were evaluated before and after 48 h after dissolving and incubating the same amounts of gels. The concentration of fluoride ions was higher in solutions containing Fluormex than Fluor Pro-tector Gel (p < 0.05), with the highest concentration in demineralized water (16,917 ppm). It was accompanied by a decrease in pH below the critical value of 5.5 in all solutions except tap water. Not only the composition of the gel but also the chemical composition of the environment affects the release of fluoride ions. No relationship was found between the change in pH and the concentration of fluoride ions. Full article

Sodium-glucose co-transporter type 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have emerged as a class of agents relevant for managing diabetic nephropathy and cardiopathy. In a previous report, we noticed that these drugs share, with other drugs with “nephroprotective” effects, the ability to reduce the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), thus suggesting the kidney hemodynamic effect as a proxy for optimal drug dosage. We also noticed that all known nephroprotective drugs exert cardioprotective functions, suggesting the possibility of activities not mediated by the kidney. Finally, we observe that nephroprotective drugs can be grouped according to their effects on hemoglobin levels, thus suggesting their mechanism of action. While the primary mechanism of SGLT2i involves glycosuria and natriuria, growing evidence suggests broader therapeutic effects beyond hemodynamic modulation. Specifically, the evidence that SGLT2 can be expressed in several atypical regions under pathological conditions, supports the possibility that its inhibition has several extratubular effects. Evidence supports the hypothesis that SGLT2i influence mitochondrial function in various cell types affected by diabetes, particularly in the context of diabetic nephropathy. Notably, in SGLT2i-treated patients, the extent of albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) reduction post-treatment may be correlated with mitochondrial staining intensity in glomerular endothelial cells. This implies that the anti-proteinuric effects of SGLT2i could involve direct actions on glomerular endothelial cell. Our investigation into the role of SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in endothelial function suggests that the aberrant expression of SGLT2 in endothelial cells in T2DM would lead to intracellular accumulation of glucose; therefore, SGLT2i are the first type of endothelial protective drugs available today, with potential implications for ageing-related kidney disease. The review reveals two major novel findings: SGLT2 inhibitors are the first known class of endothelial-protective drugs, due to their ability to prevent glucose accumulation in endothelial cells where SGLT2 is aberrantly expressed in Type 2 Diabetes. Additionally, the research demonstrates that SGLT2 inhibitors share a GFR-reducing effect with other nephroprotective drugs, suggesting both a mechanism for optimal drug dosing and potential broader applications in ageing-related kidney disease through their effects on mitochondrial function and glomerular endothelial cells. Full article

This study examines the origins and symbolic meanings of the iconography of Vaiśravaṇa, which gained prominence in East Asia during the 200 years after the 8th century, through the lens of royal imagery as both a devotee and protector. As Vaiśravaṇa’s iconography spread along the Silk Road, it integrated diverse cultural traditions from the ancient Near East and the Indo-Iranian world, with Gandhāra and Khotan as central hubs. The iconography evolved into a distinctive form, featuring a cylindrical crown adorned with bird motifs, shoulder flames, a cross belt, a Stūpa, a spear, and celestial maidens. Previous studies often limited its origin to either Gandhāra or Khotan; however, this research highlights contributions from both regions, emphasizing their roles in shaping iconography. By focusing on Gandhāra and the Kushan Empire, this study explores how these elements reflect the diversity of regional cultures, political ideals, and religious values. It contextualizes these developments within historical and cultural exchanges between regions, offering a broader understanding of Vaiśravaṇa’s formation. The findings reveal that Vaiśravaṇa’s iconography reflects cultural exchange and symbolizes the sacred earthly ruler. This perspective highlights how regional diversity and intercultural interactions shaped its development, enriching the study of Buddhist iconography. Full article

This article explores the veneration of Hatixhe, an 18th-century Sufi saint from Tirana, Albania, whose legacy continues to resonate across religious and cultural boundaries. Despite limited historical records, Hatixhe’s sainthood is venerated through hagiographic narratives that portray her as a compassionate healer, spiritual protector, and symbol of resilience. This study investigates the visual, ritual, and sensory dimensions of her shrine, which has become one of the focal points for interfaith devotion in post-socialist Albania. Embodied rituals—such as touching her tomb and lighting candles—allow devotees to connect with her shenjtëri (“sainthood”). Through these acts, Hatixhe’s legacy as a grua e shenjt (“holy woman”) or grua e mirë (“good woman”) is anchored in both religious and cultural contexts, as her shenjtëri integrates local and national values, partly transcending Islamic frameworks. Hatixhe’s teqe, preserved through the efforts of her female heirs during the communist era, serves as a unique testament to a female lineage in Albanian Sufism. By examining the spatial, material, and symbolic aspects of her veneration, this study underscores the significance of Hatixhe’s shenjtëri as a site of blessing and communal solidarity for women, enriching the understanding of their roles in Albanian spiritual and social life. Full article

Cyperus esculentus L. var sativus is cultivated in Spain, only in the L’Horta Nord in the Valencia region. In this country, tubers are consumed fresh to make a popular beverage in the Valencia region called “horchata de chufa” (chufa milk). This drink is considered beneficial for human health thanks to its high nutritional value and medicinal importance in several treatments. This work evaluates the antifungal potential of the Thymus zygis essential oil against fungi found in tiger nut warehouses to preserve tubers under the best conditions. The analyzed commercial thyme essential oil belongs to the thymol/p-cymene/γ-terpinene chemotype. Thymol was found in larger quantities (51.34%), followed by the identified biogenetic precursors p-cymene (35.16%) and γ-terpinene (3.53%). Carvacrol also appeared, but in small quantities (3.53%). During in vitro tests, the T. zygis EO showed strong inhibition (98.85% to 91.81% MGI) against fungi Alternaria alternata, Fusarium andiyazi, Fusarium incarnatum, and Fusarium oxysporum at 300 µg/mL. It totally inhibited their growth (100% MGI) at 400 µg/mL, and did so strongly (75.94%, 72.02%, and 70.78%) with fungi Podospora australis, Penicillium commune, and Cladosporium subuliforme, respectively. Under in vivo conditions, formulated as a protective biofilm, and by forcing the environmental conditions of temperature and humidity to the maximum for fungus F. andiyazi growth on tiger nut tubers, the created film acted as a strong protector against fungal attacks. Full article

After his questionable re-election in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros (NMM) began a campaign to attract the attention of evangelical leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, and church members to secure their votes for the 2024 campaign. The main reason for this move was the surprising growth of the evangelical population in the country, which reached almost 30% by the end of 2023. Several independent churches and denominations accepted NMM’s invitation to meet and participate in government programs specifically targeted at evangelical churches. Despite allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and violations of the Venezuelan constitution, some evangelicals created a narrative about NMM as the “protector of families” and as God’s chosen one to usher in a new era of prosperity for the nation. Through acts of “identificational” repentance staged at the Miraflores Palace, a contrite NMM received prophetic declarations and prayers from apostles and pastors, and the country was cleansed of curses and satanic influences. This article seeks to document, analyze, and situate these discourses in relation to contemporary theological trends, as an important case of evangelical alignment with left-wing politics in Latin America. Moreover, the article also seeks to show how these events relate to the evolution of Venezuelan evangelical involvement in national politics, particularly under 25 years of socialist governments of Hugo Chávez Frías and Nicolás Maduro Moros. Full article

Background: Numerous studies have shown the presence of multiple defence factors in placental tissue, although their role is partially understood; therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB); human beta-defensin 2, 3, and 4 (HBD-2,3,4); cathelicidine (LL-37); heat shock protein 60 (HSP60); and interleukin 10 (IL-10) in dissimilar gestational week placental tissue and display correlations between immunoreactive cells. Methods: A total of 15 human placental tissue samples were acquired from mothers with different gestational weeks: 28, 31, and 40. Routine staining and immunohistochemistry for the samples were executed. The evaluation of data was performed with semi-quantitative methods, and, for statistical analysis, the Kruskal–Wallis test was used. Spearman’s rank correlation was used for calculating correlations. Results: NF-κB, HBD- 2,3,4, HSP60, and IL-10 expression were discovered in every examined placental tissue cell type. LL-37 expression was found only in Hofbauer cells. A rise in expression with higher gestational weeks was noted in LL-37-positive Hofbauer cells (p = 0.03), HBD-3-positive cytotrophoblasts (p = 0.007), endothelial cells (p = 0.024), extraembryonic mesodermal cells (p = 0.004), and HBD-4-positive endothelial cells (p = 0.001). Numerous statistically significant moderate and strong positive correlations between defence factors were discovered. Conclusions: The persistence of Hofbauer cell accumulations underlines the growing significance of placental macrophages in placental protection. The expression of positive defence factors and a rise in expression in tissue protection factors (HBD-3, LL-37, HBD-4) in higher gestational weeks may indicate these factors as the most significant protectors of the placenta in ontogenetic aspects. The high number of statistically significant positive and negative correlations between positive cells show a strong network to sustain distressed placental growth and therefore pregnancy. Full article

Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding glycoprotein of the transferrin family and has been suggested to have a variety of biological functions, including anticancer activity. However, the effects of LF and its mechanisms in anticancer therapies, especially in radiotherapy against cancer cells under hypoxic conditions, are not well-determined. In this study, we focused on the molecular mechanisms of LF functions in cells under hypoxic conditions. High-dose LF treatment showed cytotoxic activity in a variety of cells, including both non-cancer and cancer cells. Interestingly, hypoxic treatment increased the sensitivity to LF in some cancer cells but decreased it in non-cancer cells. LF treatment also altered sensitivity to radiation treatment: LF significantly increased the viability of irradiated KD non-cancer cells under hypoxic conditions but decreased that of HSC2 cancer cells. These effects were only observed when LF was treated within 3 h of irradiation, but not before irradiation. Importantly, knockdown of HIF1A counteracted these effects in both cell lines. Measurements of ROS activity showed that LF decreased ROS production in KD cells but increased it in HSC2 cells, resulting in a decrease in γH2AX foci in KD cells but an increase in HSC2 cells. RNA-seq and gene set enrichment analysis showed that LF treatment regulated gene expression related to the cell cycle, apoptosis, inflammation, and the NRF2 antioxidant signaling pathway. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the downregulation of the pro-apoptotic gene ASC in KD cells and the NRF2-regulated genes in HSC2 cells by LF treatment. Knockdown experiments confirmed the role of ASC in irradiated KD cells and NRF2 in irradiated HSC2 cells with LF treatment. In conclusion, lactoferrin was shown to affect radiation treatment by regulating apoptosis and NRF2 signaling in a cell type-specific manner under hypoxic conditions, suggesting its potential application as a protector or sensitizer for radiation therapy. Full article

Objectives: Dementia is becoming a major health problem in the world, and chronic brain ischemia is an established important risk factor in predisposing this disease. Astrocytes, as one major part of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), are activated during chronic cerebral blood flow hypoperfusion. Reactive astrocytes have been classified into phenotype pro-inflammatory type A1 or neuroprotective type A2. However, the specific subtype change of astrocyte and the mechanisms of chronic brain ischemia are still unknown. Methods: In order to depict the phenotype changes and their possible roles during this process, a rat bilateral common carotid artery occlusion model (BCAO) was employed in the present study. Meanwhile, the signaling pathways that possibly regulate these changes were investigated as well. Results: After four-week occlusion, astrocytes in the cortex of BCAO rats were shown to be the A2 phenotype, identified by the significant up-regulation of S100a10 accompanied by the down-regulation of Connexin 43 (CX43) protein. Next, we established in vitro hypoxia models, which were set up by stimulating primary astrocyte cultures from rat cortex with cobalt chloride, low glucose, or/and fibrinogen. Consistent with in vivo data, the cultured astrocytes also transformed into the A2 phenotype with the up-regulation of S100a10 and the down-regulation of CX43. In order to explore the mechanism of CX43 protein changes, C6 astrocyte cells were handled in both hypoxia and low-glucose stimulus, in which decreased pERK and pJNK expression were found. Conclusions: In conclusion, our data suggest that in chronic cerebral ischemia conditions, the gradual ischemic insults could promote the transformation of astrocytes into A2 type instead of A1 type, and the phosphorylation of CX43 was negatively regulated by the phosphorylation of ERK and JNK. Also, our data could provide some new evidence of how to leverage the endogenous astrocytes phenotype changes during CNS injury by promoting them to be “protector” and not “culprit”. Full article

Background: Ethics is one of the essential concepts associated with professional nursing practice, and can play a part in the development of compassion. Although a number of instruments have been developed for the measurement of ethics, most are context-specific or excessively lengthy. The Santa Clara Ethics Scale (SCES) overcomes these problems. The goal is to translate, adapt, and validate the Spanish version of the Santa Clara Ethics Scale and to study the role of ethics, as a moral resource, in the prediction of the levels of compassion of nursing students. Methods: This study is a translation, adaptation, and validation study, with a cross-sectional design. A total of 924 Spanish nursing students participated in this study. Ethics and compassion for others were measured. Analyses included a confirmatory factor analysis, reliability estimates, and a structural equation model in which ethics explained the five correlated dimensions of compassion for others. Results: The confirmatory factor analysis had an adequate fit: χ²(35) = 173.56 (p < 0.01), CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.07 [90% CI = 0.06, 0.08], and SRMR = 0.05. Internal consistency was adequate (α = 0.74; ω = 0.83). The predictive model pointed to positive and statistically significant relationships between ethics and all dimensions of compassion for others. Conclusions: The SCES can be considered a suitable instrument for the assessment of ethics in the Spanish nursing population and, thus, can be used as a tool for the measurement of key ethical competencies during the nursing degree. Moreover, the development of ethics is likely to improve the compassion levels of students. Ethics is, then, a key internal resource for both nursing students’ compassionate care skills and, consequently, must be taken into account when redefining nursing students’ curricula. Full article

Background: Occupational stress and workplace violence are highly prevalent risk factors among healthcare professionals and can affect not only the psychosocial well-being of workers but also that of patients and healthcare organizations. Objective: The objective of this study is to translate and cross-culturally adapt the ENvironmental PRotectors against hOspital work Stress scale to facilitate future psychometric validation of the instrument. Methods: A methodological study was conducted at the School of Medicine of São Paulo State University (UNESP) in São Paulo, Brazil. This study involved three steps: translation and backtranslation by independent native language speakers, analysis by an expert panel, and a pre-test phase. Ten specialists adjusted and approved the final version for semantic, idiomatic, and cultural accuracy across nine items. Results: The content validity index was satisfactory (CVI ≥ 0.80). The final version was administered to 36 nursing and medical staff at a public hospital in São Paulo. No items were excluded from the instrument. Satisfactory content and face validity were achieved, and the criteria recommended by the literature were met. Conclusions: The Portuguese version of ENPROS is appropriate and culturally adapted for use in Brazil. Full article