Factors Associated With Informational Support in Transitional Care for Older Adults With Chronic Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study.

To evaluate the current situation and associated factors of informational support for older adults with chronic diseases in transitional care. Study was conducted in five hospitals of five different cities in Jiangsu Province, China. A random cluster sample of 800 older adults with chronic diseases responded to the informational support questionnaire of transitional care survey. Descriptive analysis, t-tests, variance analysis, and stepwise multiple linear regression were used to analyze data. The STROBE statement for observational studies was applied. Total score of ISQTC for older adults with chronic diseases was (44.05 ± 17.21). Marital status, educational level, past occupation, close friends, medical insurance, complications, and exercise habits were significantly correlated with informational support. The level of informational support in transitional care for older adults with chronic diseases was low. Clinical staff should periodically and primarily assess their informational support, help find information resources for those who have low initial informational support, and identify which information they preferred to carry out accurate transitional care.

Nutrient Properties and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Based Metabonomic Analysis of Macrofungi.

Many delicious and nutritional macrofungi are widely distributed and used in East Asian regions, considered as edible and medicinal foods. In this study, 11 species of dried and fresh, edible and medicinal macrofungi, Ganoderma amboinense, Agaricus subrufescens, Dictyophora indusiata, Pleurotus sajor-caju, Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus geesteranu, Hericium erinaceus, Stropharia rugosoannulata, Pleurotus sapidus, Antrodia camphorata, and Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Sing, were investigated to determine the content of their nutritional components, including proteins, fat, carbohydrates, trace minerals, coarse cellulose, vitamins, and amino acids. The amino acid patterns and similarity of macrofungi were distinguished through principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analyses, respectively. A total of 103 metabolic small molecules of macrofungi were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and were aggregated by heatmap. Moreover, the macrofungi were classified by principal component analysis based on these metabolites. The results show that carbohydrates and proteins are two main components, as well as the nutritional ingredients, that differ among various species and varied between fresh and dried macrofungi. The amino acid patterns in L. edodes and A. subrufescens were different compared with that of the other tested mushrooms.

Anti-diabetic effect of oligosaccharides from seaweed Sargassum confusum via JNK-IRS1/PI3K signalling pathways and regulation of gut microbiota.

Brown seaweed Sargassum confusum (C. Agardh) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anti-diabetic effect of oligosaccharides from brown seaweed S. confusum (SCO). The anti-diabetic effect of SCO was evaluated in vivo using high-fat/high-sucrose fed hamsters. Molecular mechanisms of modulating gene expression of specific members of insulin signaling pathways were determined. The components of the intestinal microflora in diabetic animals were also analyzed by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. And it was found that SCO had a sequence of sulfated anhydrogalactose and methyl sulfated galactoside units. Fasting blood glucose levels were significantly decreased after SCO administration. Histology showed that SCO could protect the cellular architecture of the liver. SCO could also significantly increase the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Clostridium XIVa and decrease that of Allobaculum, Bacteroides and Clostridium IV. The active role of SCO in anti-diabetic effect was revealed by its regulation of insulin receptor substrate 1/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathways. These results suggested that SCO might be used as a functional material to regulate gut microbiota in obese and diabetic individuals.

Two-dimensional gas chromatographic analysis of ambient light hydrocarbons.

Ambient level hydrocarbons lighter than C6 were analyzed by the Deans switch-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) method with flame ionization detection (FID). A thermal desorption (TD) device built in-house connects the GC×GC system to pre-concentrate the target compounds at ambient levels prior to GC analysis. Because the conventional orthogonality based on polarity difference for normal GC×GC separation does not provide sufficient retention for the target compounds of extremely high volatility, the orthogonality of non-polar vs. adsorptive force was adopted instead. The system employed a 100% polydimethyl siloxane column serving as the first-dimension column to provide separation based on dispersive interaction, with a short PLOT column serving as the second-dimension column to provide the needed retention based on gas-solid adsorption interactions. The shortest possible length of the PLOT column was tested to minimize the modulation period (PM) and wraparound and, at the same time, to maintain the desired resolution. The tests led to the final optimal parameters of 1.1m for the PLOT column length, 9s for the PM, 0.013 for the modulation duty cycle (DC) and a modulation ratio (MR) of 3.7 with minimal wraparound. Important criteria for quality assurance of precision and linearity are reported. The low cost and ease of construction and operation make the in-house Deans switch TD-GC×GC-FID system practical and useful for the analysis of light hydrocarbons in urban or industrial environments.

Synthesis, characterization and property of a mixed-valent Ag(I)/Ag(II) coordination polymer.

A novel mixed-valent Ag(I)/Ag(II) coordination polymer {[Ag(I)(2)Ag(II)(0.5)(SO(4))(HSO(4))(pyz)(2.5)]·H(2)O}(n) (1, pyz = pyrazine) was synthesized and characterized. The results show it presents semiconducting and photoluminescent properties.

DNA damage, apoptosis and C-myc, C-fos, and C-jun overexpression induced by selenium in rat hepatocytes.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of selenium on DNA damage, apoptosis and c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun expression in rat hepatocytes. METHODS: Sodium selenite at the doses of 5, 10, and 20 micromol/kg was given to rats by i.p. and there were 5 male SD rats in each group. Hepatocellular DNA damage was detected by single cell gel electrophoresis (or comet assay). Hepatocellular apoptosis was determined by TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling) and flow cytometry. C-myc, c-fos, and c-jun expression in rat hepatocytes were assayed by Northern dot hybridization. C-myc, c-fos, and c-jun protein were detected by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: At the doses of 5, 10, and 20 micromol/kg, DNA damage was induced by sodium selenite in rat hepatocytes and the rates of comet cells were 34.40%, 74.80%, and 91.40% respectively. Results also showed an obvious dose-response relationship between the rates of comet cells and the doses of sodium selenite (r=0.9501, P<0.01). Sodium selenite at the doses of 5, 10, and 20 micromol/kg caused c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun overexpression obviously. The positive brown-yellow signal for proteins of c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun was mainly located in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes with immunohistochemical method. TUNEL-positive cells were detected in selenium-treated rat livers. Apoptotic rates (%) of selenium-treated liver cells at the doses of 5, 10, and 20 micromol/kg were (3.72 +/- 1.76), (5.82 +/- 1.42), and (11.76 +/- 1.87) respectively, being much higher than those in the control. Besides an obvious dose-response relationship between apoptotic rates and the doses of sodium selenite (r=0.9897, P<0.01), these results displayed a close relationship between DNA damage rates and apoptotic rates, and the relative coefficient was 0.9021, P<0.01. CONCLUSION: Selenium at 5-20 micromol/kg can induce DNA damage, apoptosis, and overexpression of c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun in rat hepatocytes.

[Effects of selenium on expression of TERT, c-Myc and p53 induced by cadmium in rat liver].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of sodium selenite on expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA, c-Myc and p53 induced by cadmium chloride in rat liver. METHODS: Male SD rats were divided randomly into 6 groups, each group had 5 animals. The groups comprised the control group, Se group (5 micromol/kg sodium selenite), 5 micromol/kg cadmium chloride group, 10 micromol/kg cadmium chloride group, Se (5 micromol/kg sodium selenite) + 5 micromol/kg cadmium chloride group, Se (5 micromol/kg sodium selenite) + 10 micromol/kg cadmium chloride group. After 48 hours of the first injection, the expression of TERT mRNA was measured with RT-PCR and c-Myc, and p53 proteins were measured by immunohistochemistry method. RESULTS: Compared with control group, the expression of TERT was increased in 5 micromol/kg Cd group and 10 micromol/kg Cd group, c-Myc protein was increased in 10 micromol/kg Cd group, and the expression of p53 protein was increased in 5 micromol/kg group and 10 micromol/kg Cd group. TERT expression in Se + 10 micromol/kg Cd group was lower than that of 10 micromol/kg Cd group significantly. c-Myc protein was decreased in Se + 10 micromol/kg Cd group compared with 10 micromol/kg Cd group. p53 protein of Se + 5 micromol/kg Cd group and Se + 10 micromol/kg Cd group were decreased significantly compared with 5 micromol/kg Cd group and 10 micromol/kg Cd group respectively. CONCLUSION: The cadmium at the doses of between 5 and 10 micromol/kg can activate TERT and up-regulate c-Myc and p53 proteins. The selenium at the dose of 5 micromol/kg has the antagonistic effect on expression of TERT, c-Myc and p53 induced by cadmium in rat liver.

Suppressed NF-kappaB and sustained JNK activation contribute to the sensitization effect of parthenolide to TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis in human cancer cells.

Parthenolide (PN) is the main sesquiterpene lactone found in feverfew with potent anti-inflammatory function. The anticancer property of PN has been demonstrated in both in vitro cell culture and in vivo animal model, while the molecular mechanisms remain to be further elucidated. In the present study, we evaluated the involvement of nuclear transcription factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in the anticancer activity of PN by examining the sensitization effect of PN on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced apoptosis in human cancer cells. Pre-treatment with PN greatly sensitized various human cancer cells to TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis. Such sensitization is closely associated with the inhibitory effect of PN on TNF-alpha-mediated NF-kappaB activation. Our study revealed a new mechanism that PN inhibits TNF-alpha-mediated NF-kappaB activation via disrupting the recruitment of the IkappaB kinases (IKK) complex to TNF receptor, which then blocked the subsequent signaling events including IKK kinase activation, IkappaBalpha degradation, p65 nuclear translocation, DNA binding and transactivation. Moreover, PN also markedly enhanced and sustained TNF-alpha-mediated JNK activation. A specific JNK inhibitor (SP600125), as well as over-expression of dominant-negative forms of JNK1 and JNK2 abolished the sensitization effect of PN on TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis. It is thus believed that suppressed NF-kappaB activation and sustained JNK activation contribute to the sensitization effect of PN to TNF-alpha-mediated cell death in human cancer cells.