Integrating climate change and sustainability in nursing education.

Climate change has led to negative health outcomes and significant challenges in healthcare delivery, calling for a transformative approach to nursing curricula. To effectively address the adverse health impacts of climate change, it is imperative to equip future nurses with the necessary knowledge and competency. This can be accomplished by enhancing awareness among nurse educators, integrating climate change contents into nursing curricula, adopting inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches, nurturing nursing practice skills, and cultivating advocacy and leadership competencies. Implementation of these strategies in nursing education can nurture future nurses who can confront the health challenges associated with climate change, empowering them to advocate for sustainable nursing practice and public health policies related to mitigating the impact of climate change on health. This comprehensive, practical, and leadership-focused strategy in nursing education ensures that future nurses are well-prepared to effectively address health issues caused by climate change.

Enterovirus71 (EV71) utilise host microRNAs to mediate host immune system enhancing survival during infection.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a self-limiting viral disease that mainly affects infants and children. In contrast with other HFMD causing enteroviruses, Enterovirus71 (EV71) has commonly been associated with severe clinical manifestation leading to death. Currently, due to a lack in understanding of EV71 pathogenesis, there is no antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of HFMD patients. Therefore the need to better understand the mechanism of EV71 pathogenesis is warranted. We have previously reported a human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HT29) based model to study the pathogenesis of EV71. Using this system, we showed that knockdown of DGCR8, an essential cofactor for microRNAs biogenesis resulted in a reduction of EV71 replication. We also demonstrated that there are miRNAs changes during EV71 pathogenesis and EV71 utilise host miRNAs to attenuate antiviral pathways during infection. Together, data from this study provide critical information on the role of miRNAs during EV71 infection.

Droplet digital PCR as a useful tool for the quantitative detection of Enterovirus 71.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a contagious viral disease that frequently affects infants and children and present with blisters and flu-like symptoms. This disease is caused by a group of enteroviruses such as enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CA16). However, unlike other HFMD causing enteroviruses, EV71 have also been shown to be associated with more severe clinical manifestation such as aseptic meningitis, brainstem and cerebellar encephalitis which may lead to cardiopulmonary failure and death. Clinically, HFMD caused by EV71 is indistinguishable from other HFMD causing enteroviruses such as CA16. Molecular diagnosis methods such as the use of real-time PCR has been used commonly for the identification of EV71. In this study, two platforms namely the real-time PCR and the droplet digital PCR were compared for the detection quantitation of known EV71 viral copy number. The results reveal accurate and consistent results between the two platforms. In summary, the droplet digital PCR was demonstrated to be a promising technology for the identification and quantitation of EV71 viral copy number.

Elucidating the host-pathogen interaction between human colorectal cells and invading Enterovirus 71 using transcriptomics profiling.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the main etiological agents for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) and has been shown to be associated with severe clinical manifestation. Currently, there is no antiviral therapeutic for the treatment of HFMD patients owing to a lack of understanding of EV71 pathogenesis. This study seeks to elucidate the transcriptomic changes that result from EV71 infection. Human whole genome microarray was employed to monitor changes in genomic profiles between infected and uninfected cells. The results reveal altered expression of human genes involved in critical pathways including the immune response and the stress response. Together, data from this study provide valuable insights into the host-pathogen interaction between human colorectal cells and EV71.

The research of acupuncture effective biomolecules: retrospect and prospect.

Acupuncture is an effective, safe and convenient therapy that has been applied for 2,500 years. The acupuncture researches have obtained significant improvement with the technical support of the life sciences and the studies of acupuncture have in turn accelerated the development of biomedical science. The effects of acupuncture influence important physiopathologic and biological activities, including gene expression, protein-protein interactions, and other biological processes. Cerebrospinal fluid, serum, organs, and tissues are reported to be carriers of the biomolecules of the effects of acupuncture. The paper summarized the progress of acupuncture effective biomolecules researches and found that biomolecules play important roles in the mechanism of acupuncture. With the development of omics technologies and translational medicine, the acupuncture research will meet both opportunities and challenges.

Characterisation of enterovirus 71 replication kinetics in human colorectal cell line, HT29.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD), a contagious viral disease that commonly affects infants and children with blisters and flu like symptoms, is caused by a group of enteroviruses such as Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CA16). However some HFMD caused by EV71 may further develop into severe neurological complications such as encephalitis and meningitis. The route of transmission was postulated that the virus transmit from one person to another through direct contact of vesicular fluid or droplet from the infected or via faecal-oral route. To this end, this study utilised a human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HT29) with epithelioid morphology as an in vitro model for the investigation of EV71 replication kinetics. Using qPCR, viral RNA was first detected in HT29 cells as early as 12 h post infection (hpi) while viral protein was first detected at 48 hpi. A significant change in HT29 cells' morphology was also observed after 48 hpi. Furthermore HT29 cell viability also significantly decreased at 72 hpi. Together, data from this study demonstrated that co-culture of HT29 with EV71 is a useful in vitro model to study the pathogenesis of EV71.

Beta-actin variant is necessary for Enterovirus 71 replication.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the main etiological agents of the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) and has been known to cause fatal neurological complications such as herpangina, aseptic meningitis, poliomyelitis-like paralysis and encephalitis. EV71 is endemic in the Asia-Pacific region and causes occasional epidemics. In order to better understand EV71 infection, we compared the proteome between EV71-susceptible and EV71-resistant human Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cell line. We found significant differences in the ß-actin variants between the EV71-susceptible RD cells and EV71-resistant RD cells, suggesting that ß-actin, in association with other proteins such as annexin 2 is required in vesicular transport of EV71. This finding further support our previous study that actin potentially plays a role in pathogenesis and the establishment of the disease in HFMD.

High incidence of mortality and recurrent bleeding in patients with Helicobacter pylori-negative idiopathic bleeding ulcers.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The long-term prognosis of peptic ulcers associated with neither Helicobacter pylori nor nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is unknown. METHODS: This 7-year prospective cohort study recruited patients with bleeding ulcers from January to December 2000. H pylori-negative idiopathic bleeding ulcers were defined as having tested negative for H pylori, having no exposure to aspirin or analgesics within 4 weeks before endoscopy, and having no other identifiable causative factors. After ulcers healed, patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with prior H pylori-negative idiopathic bleeding ulcers (H pylori-negative idiopathic ulcer cohort; n = 120) and those with H pylori-positive, NSAID-negative bleeding ulcers who received eradication therapy (H pylori ulcer cohort; n = 213). Both groups were followed for

[Association study of chromosome 4 STRs polymorphisms with nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a complex disease caused by an interaction of EBV chronic infection, environment and host genes, in a multi-step process of carcinogenesis. However, which genetic factors play an important role in the development of chronic EBV infection and NPC remain elusive. The objective of this study is to identify genetic variations associated with two key clinical stages of NPC development: persistent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection of nasopharyngeal epithelia and progression to NPC. We inspected a NPC-associated region on the short arm of chromosome 4 previously implicated by a genome-wide linkage analysis of familial NPC. We determined genotypes for 319 alleles in 34 microsatellite markers spanning an 18 Mb region in 350 NPC cases, 288 individuals with IgA antibodies to EBV capsid antigen (IgA/VCA+) and 346 controls seronegative for IgA antibodies to EBV capsid antigen (IgA/VCA-). The cases and controls were Han Chinese from Wuzhou city and Cangwu County, Guangxi province where the incidence of NPC is as high as 25-50 per 100,000 individuals. Comparing NPC cases to IgA/VCA+ subjects, we found 9 alleles marginally associated with developing NPC from IgA+ status, 5 for risk (OR=1.51-5.36, P=0.01-0.03) and 4 for restrictive (OR=0.3-0.71, P=0.02-0.045). Comparing IgA/VCA+ subjects and IgA/VCA- controls, and comparing all IgA seropositives with and without NPC to IgA seronegatives revealed 12 significant and 3 highly significant (P<0.01) alleles associated with IgA+ serostatus in the two comparing groups. Alleles D4S3241-136 (P=0.004, OR=1.91, 95% CI=1.2-3.0) and D4S3347-213 (P=0.001, OR=1.6, 95% CI=1.2-2.1) were for risk. Allele D4S174-202 (P=0.001, OR=0.5, 95%CI=0.3-0.7) was restrictive. However, statistical significance was lost for all when corrected for multiple comparisons test. Our study could not affirm the genetic association within this region with NPC as did another pedigree study, but provide an opportunity for further gene discovery in this highly endemic NPC population and suggest that this region warrants further study.