How changing work and family demands during COVID-19 (De)motivated academic parents to craft sustainable careers?

BACKGROUND: Covid-19 has introduced many contextual changes into individuals' work and family lives, affecting their career sustainability. Although previous studies have provided evidence for these changes, little is known about how changing contextual demands (de)motivated them to take proactive initiatives for crafting sustainable careers. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore how changing work and family demands of academic parents during Covid-19 affected their career sustainability indicators and career initiatives regarding health, happiness, and productivity. METHODS: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 academic parents during the post-lockdown period of Covid-19 in Turkey. We analyzed the qualitative data by using content analysis via MAXQDA software. RESULTS: Results revealed differing career sustainability experiences and initiatives regarding gender roles, career stage, and work/family demands and resources. Notably, women academics with higher contextual demands and lower contextual resources and early-career academics reported relatively adverse experiences concerning their health, happiness, and productivity. Besides, even though early-career academics faced problems with sustaining their career development, they were relatively more oriented to engage in career initiatives, such as reorganizing developmental needs, improving career skills, and seeking career support and guidance. CONCLUSIONS: This study sheds light on the context, time, and person aspects of sustainable careers during Covid-19. Moreover, the study represents one of the first investigations into the proactive initiatives for crafting sustainable careers during the pandemic and provides a deeper insight into the (de)motivators for career proactivity.

Modeling of methylene blue removal on Fe3O4 modified activated carbon with artificial neural network (ANN).

In this study, AC/Fe3O4 adsorbent was first synthesized by modifying activated carbon with Fe3O4. The structure of the adsorbent was then characterized using analysis techniques specific surface area (BET), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Equilibrium, thermodynamic and kinetic studies were carried out on the removal of methylene blue (MB) dyestuff from aqueous solutions AC/Fe3O4 adsorbent. The Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity of AC/Fe3O4 was 312.8 mg g-1, and the best fitness was observed with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model, with an endothermic adsorption process. In the final stage of the study, the adsorption process of MB on AC/Fe3O4 was modeled using artificial neural network modeling (ANN). Considering the smallest mean square error (MSE), The backpropagation neural network was configured as a three-layer ANN with a tangent sigmoid transfer function (Tansig) at the hidden layer with 10 neurons, linear transfer function (Purelin) the at output layer and Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation training algorithm (LMA). Input parameters included initial solution pH (2.0-9.0), amount (0.05-0.5 g L-1), temperature (298-318 K), contact time (5-180 min), and concentration (50-500 mg L-1). The effect of each parameter on the removal and adsorption percentages was evaluated. The performance of the ANN model was adjusted by changing parameters such as the number of neurons in the middle layer, the number of inputs, and the learning coefficient. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was used to evaluate the model's accuracy for the removal and adsorption percentage output parameters. The absolute fraction of variance (R2) values were 99.83, 99.36, and 98.26% for the dyestuff training, validation, and test sets, respectively.

The aspect of the study, which is expected to contribute to the literature, firstly, we performed the characterization process of the iron-coated activated carbon with analytical measurements. Then, we verified the adsorption process by performing pH effect, equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies. Our primary goal is to statistically demonstrate that efficiency estimation can be made in a shorter time with smart methods, especially by comparing real experimental results with ANN estimation results obtained from modern artificial intelligence techniques. We believe that this aim will provide a different perspective to the literature in terms of obtaining results with minimum cost and effort for these processes with high accuracy and consistency.

Effects of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on doxorubicin-induced liver injury in rats.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a potent chemotherapeutic agent and has toxic effects on various organs, including the liver. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effects of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) administration on DOX-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. 24 Wistar-albino rats were divided into three groups: Control, DOX, and DOX+MSC. DOX (20 mg/kg) was administered to the DOX group. In the DOX + MSC group, BM-MSCs (2 × 106 ) were given through the tail vein following DOX administration. DOX administration led to significant structural liver injury. Besides this, oxidative balance in the liver was impaired following DOX administration. DOX administration also led to an increase in apoptotic cell death in the liver. Structural and oxidative changes were significantly alleviated with the administration of BM-MSCs. Furthermore, BM-MSC administration suppressed excessive apoptotic cell death. Our findings revealed that BM-MSC administration may alleviate DOX-induced liver injury via improving the oxidative status and limiting apoptotic cell death in the liver tissue.

Hemodialysis Patients' Knowledge of, Beliefs about, and Practices in Using Complementary and Alternative Medicine: An Exploratory Study.

Context: Patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) are increasingly interested in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) due to their desire to access symptom-reducing interventions, the inability of most medical teams to devote enough time to their patients, and the cost of treatments. Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge of, beliefs about, and practices in using CAM of HD patients living in eastern Turkey. Design: The research team performed a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting: The study was carried out between April 2019 and June 2020 in Atatürk University Research Hospital and Regional Training and Research Hospital located in eastern Turkey. Participants: A power analysis was performed to determine the sample size of the study, with the 120 HD participants being included in the sample at the 85% confidence range. Outcome Measures: The research team prepared a questionnaire for determining the identifying characteristics of participants and their knowledge of, beliefs about, and practices in using CAM. Results: Of the 120 participants, 70.8% had information about CAM, and 60.8% of them had obtained it from their families. In general, participants had a positive opinion about CAM, and most didn't obtain approval from their physicians for the use of CAM. Among CAM methods, participants mostly used phytotherapy (80%), especially garlic (57.5%), parsley (56.7%), and linden (50%). Conclusions: Because the participants in the current study usually tended to hide the fact that they used CAM, healthcare professionals should be careful about establishing a proper and reassuring relationship with patients and avoid criticizing them for preferring these methods. Patients should be especially informed about the use of phytotherapy, especially garlic, and be warned about its potential risks.

Resveratrol Induced Premature Senescence Is Associated with DNA Damage Mediated SIRT1 and SIRT2 Down-Regulation.

The natural polyphenolic compound resveratrol (3,4,5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) has broad spectrum health beneficial activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, anti-cancer, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects. Remarkably, resveratrol also induces apoptosis and cellular senescence in primary and cancer cells. Resveratrol's anti-aging effects both in vitro and in vivo attributed to activation of a (NAD)-dependent histone deacetylase family member sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) protein. In mammals seven members (SIRT1-7) of sirtuin family have been identified. Among those, SIRT1 is the most extensively studied with perceptive effects on mammalian physiology and suppression of the diseases of aging. Yet no data has specified the role of sirtuins, under conditions where resveratrol treatment induces senescence. Current study was undertaken to investigate the effects of resveratrol in human primary dermal fibroblasts (BJ) and to clarify the role of sirtuin family members in particular SIRT1 and SIRT2 that are known to be involved in cellular stress responses and cell cycle, respectively. Here, we show that resveratrol decreases proliferation of BJ cells in a time and dose dependent manner. In addition the increase in senescence associated ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-gal) activity and methylated H3K9-me indicate the induction of premature senescence. A significant increase in phosphorylation of γ-H2AX, a surrogate of DNA double strand breaks, as well as in levels of p53, p21CIP1 and p16INK4A is also detected. Interestingly, at concentrations where resveratrol induced premature senescence we show a significant decrease in SIRT1 and SIRT2 levels by Western Blot and quantitative RT-PCR analysis. Conversely inhibition of SIRT1 and SIRT2 via siRNA or sirtinol treatment also induced senescence in BJ fibroblasts associated with increased SA-ß-gal activity, γ-H2AX phosphorylation and p53, p21CIP1 and p16INK4A levels. Interestingly DNA damaging agent doxorubicin also induced senescence in BJ fibroblasts associated with decreased SIRT1/2 levels. In conclusion our data reveal that resveratrol induced premature senescence is associated with SIRT1 and SIRT2 down regulation in human dermal fibroblasts. Here we suggest that the concomitant decline in SIRT1/2 expression in response to resveratrol treatment may be a cause for induction of senescence, which is most likely mediated by a regulatory mechanism activated by DNA damage response.

The role of hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha in bypassing oncogene-induced senescence.

Oncogene induced senescence (OIS) is a sustained anti-proliferative response acutely induced in primary cells via activation of mitogenic oncogenes such as Ras/BRAF. This mechanism acts as an initial barrier preventing normal cells transformation into malignant cell. Besides oncogenic activation and DNA damage response (DDR), senescence is modulated by a plethora of other factors, and one of the most important one is oxygen tension of the tissue. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of hypoxia on RasV12-induced senescence in human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs). We showed here that hypoxia prevents execution of oncogene induced senescence (OIS), through a strong down-regulation of senescence hallmarks, such as SA- ß-galactosidase, H3K9me3, HP1γ, p53, p21CIP1 and p16INK4a in association with induction of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). In addition, hypoxia also decreased marks of H-RasV12-induced DDR in both cell lines through down-regulation of ATM/ATR, Chk1 and Chk2 phosphorylation as well as decreased γ-H2AX positivity. Utilizing shRNA system targeting HIF-1α we show that HIF-1α is directly involved in down regulation of p53 and its target p21CIP1 but not p16INK4a. In line with this finding we found that knock down of HIF-1α leads to a strong induction of apoptotic response, but not restoration of senescence in Ras expressing HDFs in hypoxia. This indicates that HIF-1α is an important player in early steps of tumorigenesis, leading to suppression of senescence through its negative regulation of p53 and p21CIP1. In our work we describe a mechanism through which hypoxia and specifically HIF-1α preclude cells from maintaining senescence-driven anti proliferative response. These findings indicate the possible mechanism through which hypoxic environment helps premalignant cells to evade impingement of cellular failsafe pathways.

Targeting PI3K/Akt represses Hypoxia inducible factor-1α activation and sensitizes Rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma cells for apoptosis.

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia inducible factor-1 α (HIF-1α) has been identified as an important novel target in apoptosis resistance of pediatric tumors such as Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and Ewing's sarcoma (ES). Evidence suggests that PI3K/Akt signaling plays a role in regulation of HIF-1α activation as well as apoptosis resistance in various adult tumors. However the relevance of PI3K/Akt signaling in HIF-1bα activation and apoptosis resistance in childhood tumors has not been addressed yet. Thus, this study was to investigate whether PI3K/Akt signaling is involved in hypoxia induced activation of HIF-1α as well as in resistance to hypoxia-induced apoptosis in childhood tumors such as RMS and ES. METHODS: Constitutive activation of PI3K/Akt signaling was analyzed by Western blotting. Hypoxic activation of HIF-1α was determined by Western Blot analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometric analysis of the propidium iodine stained nuclei of cells treated with PI3K inhibitor LY294002 in combination with either TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) or doxorubicin. RESULTS: This study demonstrated that PI3K/Akt signaling was constitutively activated in RMS and ES cell lines, A204 and A673, respectively. Targeting PI3K/Akt signaling by the inhibitor LY294002 (30 µM) significantly decreased the protein expression as well as DNA binding activity of HIF-1α and restored the apoptosis-inducing ability of cells in hypoxia Additionally, pretreatment with LY294002 sensitized A204 and A673 cells to TRAIL or doxorubicin induced apoptosis under hypoxia. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the constitutively active PI3K/Akt signaling contributes to hypoxic activation of HIF-1α as well as HIF1α-mediated apoptosis resistance in RMS and ES cells under hypoxia.